Chapter 141.1: [Newly Addition] The Choice (End)

As Xu Qianyu opened the door, Yun Chu stood outside.
The young man wore a brand-new Daoist robe and a hair crown, with a snow-white horsetail whisk shimmering in the sunlight. “Senior Sister Xu.”

“Didn’t you want to see the grand formation?” He lifted his gaze. “Today happens to be the day I am in charge of the ritual. Let’s go.”

The formation was the Wind-Thunder Eight Trigrams Formation that Fu Shao had mentioned before. It was said that Elder Yi and other disciples used this formation to manipulate the flow of fortune as they wished, and even Lu You was summoned through it.

Earlier, when Xu Qianyu encountered Yun Chu, she did mention that if he wanted to repay the favor for the lampwick, he should take her to see what the underground formation in Penglai looked like.

Yun Chu was an elusive person, but he seemed to have a sense of conscience and integrity. They had fought together, and Xu Qianyu wanted to see if there was any chance Yun Chu would stand with them.

At the time, Yun Chu neither agreed nor refused. Xu Qianyu assumed he didn’t dare to betray Elder Yi and let it go. She hadn’t expected he would eventually respond.

Xu Qianyu immediately followed him to the rear garden.

In the dense woods, the disciples’ autumn hunt trophies hung everywhere. Demons were trapped in spirit-infused cages, floating like bubbles in various sizes. Yun Chu deftly dragged out two demons to use for the ritual.

The two then entered the spell palace, where Yun Chu performed hand seals and chants. A complex formation appeared on the ground, opening up on either side, revealing an underground realm.

“The grand formation covers the entire Penglai, originally used to control the sect’s protective mechanisms underground. Years ago, after Elder Yi became an elder, he secretly and gradually transformed it into the Wind-Thunder Eight Trigrams Formation based on ancient texts.”

Xu Qianyu remembered the protective mechanism vividly: “During the last disciple assembly, when Xu Qianqian and I fell into the crevice, it filled with water and shot arrows at us. That must have been due to someone triggering the Eight Trigram Formation, right?”

Yun Chu didn’t respond, as he was the one who had triggered the formation at that time.

The two stood on a horizontal beam along a cliff, looking down to see many more beams, jagged like canine teeth, forming a disorganized stairway leading further down.

Xu Qianyu followed Yun Chu, leaping downward step by step. “Is the grand formation offering sacrifices every year?”

“It has been for the past few years,” Yun Chu replied, glancing back at her. “Sacrificing to the formation actually means providing it with power. The Wind-Thunder Eight Trigrams Formation is a type of spell formation that needs energy. It used to have a natural source of power from Penglai’s spiritual vortex. But over a decade ago, the spiritual energy within the vortex ran low, so demons have been used to replenish it annually.”

“There’s something else I need to tell you.” Yun Chu looked at Xu Qianyu. “Those evil spirits—like the dog you captured—were meant to be released back into the world by Master, but I used them as sacrifices instead.”

“No need to thank me.” Yun Chu’s eyelids drooped slightly. “Finding sacrificial offerings is troublesome, and I just didn’t want to bother.”

How could someone do good and still need an excuse? Xu Qianyu was left speechless by his comment.

Yun Chu held the demons like bundles of dying fish. Sensing their fate, the demons struggled desperately, so Xu Qianyu helped to restrain them.

The black mist that looked like dark clouds represented the demons, while the vine-like entities represented spirits. Whenever they struggled, the chains binding them glowed as if quenched in fire, tightening rapidly.

Xu Qianyu’s mind suddenly flashed to an image: her grasping Shen Suwei’s pale wrist to tie a red string around it, where similar chains had appeared on his wrist, terrifyingly vivid.

“This chain…”

“A Spirit-Restraining Lock, designed to bind a demon’s meridians,” Yun Chu explained, lifting the trussed demons with his horsetail whisk. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten even this.”

“Of course I remember,” Xu Qianyu replied, annoyed. Seeing these chains on a cultivator was so absurd that she couldn’t tell if it had truly happened or was merely a dream.

They continued jumping downward, but the further they went, the more dizzy Xu Qianyu felt, and the air grew thin. The dark cave gave an ominous sensation, as though it were an unfathomable eye staring deeply, forbidding their exploration.

At this point, jumping further down would cause an upward force to repel them, preventing descent.

“We can’t go any lower.”

“Do you feel the resistance? This is the force of Heaven’s Will.” Yun Chu’s voice was cold. “The world’s fortunes cannot be defied or spied upon; Heaven will stop cultivators from attempting to manipulate fate.”

He released his grip, and the massive demon floated down gently, as light as a willow catkin amidst the resistance.

“Peering into fate frequently can affect one’s own fortune. That’s why worldly omniscients have short lifespans. As for cultivators, although Elder Yi has mastered the Wind-Thunder Eight Trigrams Formation, he remains at the Golden Core stage because his attempts to manipulate fate have cursed him with Heaven’s decree.”

Xu Qianyu understood. “So the Elder Taishang never touches the formation himself but lets Elder Yi handle it to avoid the curse of Heaven.”

And Elder Yi always had his disciples view the formation to minimize offenses to Heaven’s Will, transferring its influence onto his disciples. Moreover, the disciples were frequently rotated, not only for secrecy but also because exposure to the formation’s effects hindered their paths and could even shorten their lives.

As for Yun Chu…

When she looked over, the young man’s expression was as calm as ever, as if he had long accepted his fate without a care. Their eyes met, and Yun Chu asked, “Do you still want to go down?”

Xu Qianyu’s hair flew upward, and the upward resistance gave her a splitting headache. “If it’s possible, I still want to go down and see what the formation looks like.”

Maybe she could even send Keyun back to her original world.

Before she could finish speaking, Yun Chu jumped down, disappearing within moments several beams below.

As he stood there, his hair and robe billowed with the force, resembling the fins of a goldfish floating in water. He tilted his head up and said, “Senior Sister Xu, I’ve gone down a few times already, so I can keep going without fear of being cursed. If you trust me, hold my hand, jump into my arms, and we’ll descend step by step.”

Inside the snowy cliff cave, Shen Suwei placed the white rabbit doll he had taken from Xu Qianyu’s domain on the table and began filling it with dried flower petals.

From within the leaves of Shenchong came Yun Chu’s voice. Upon hearing “jump into my arms, step by step,” Shen Suwei’s expression grew tense.

He keenly sensed a sudden pause in their conversation—a silence with an unsettling edge, like a hidden dagger unsheathed. It grated at his heart, stirring an involuntary sense of anxiety, even fear.

“What’s wrong?” Yun Chu asked. “Are you surprised? You defeated me, yet I went to watch your match. At the time, there were barely a handful of people cheering for you. I was one of them.

Couldn’t you tell?”

Xu Qianyu was silent for a long time, making it difficult to discern his thoughts. Finally, he spoke, his voice clear and weighty: “I don’t like owing people.”

“You don’t owe anyone,” Yun Chu replied. “You have the Lotus Seed Heartbind Curse as well, but you gave me the wick instead. I owe you a life—it’s my debt to repay.”

Shen Suwei placed the rabbit on the table.

Xu Qianyu’s Heartbind Curse with the lotus seed could have been lifted, yet she gave the wick to Yun Chu. This unexpected action had been completely hidden from him until now, and he couldn’t help but speculate wildly.

Saving someone in a moment of crisis seemed reasonable enough. But how close were they for her to make such a choice? Did she treat others the same way? His unsettled thoughts caused the chains to tremble.

Shen Suwei turned his head, suddenly sensing a stronger force approaching Xu Qianyu. He immediately adjusted the “ear” on Shenchong’s leaf.

Within the sect, only the Elder Taishang and some elders had a higher cultivation level than him. Whoever it was, if Xu Qianyu were discovered, she’d likely be sacrificed for the array today!

Shen Suwei closed his eyes, detached his spirit, and sent his incarnation straight to the Palace of Arts.

At the same time, Yun Chu and Xu Qianyu sensed the oppressive force from above. An elderly, dignified voice descended, “Yun Chu, is someone with you?”

They both froze. Yun Chu’s eyes widened in shock. This was completely unexpected: in past sacrifices for the array, only disciples participated. The Elder Taishang, focused solely on ascension, always avoided the array. Why would he come in person now?
Fortunately, the Elder Taishang was descending slowly, stepping down as if on a horizontal beam, his focus wholly on managing the array’s resistance. For the time being, he hadn’t detected Xu Qianyu’s presence. Yet he moved with ape-like agility, descending rapidly. In no time, he’d arrived overhead, leaving no place for them to hide.

In that moment, Xu Qianyu slashed through the binding chains with her sword. The vine monster broke free, scrambling downward like a worm, and she grabbed its tail to propel herself down!

Her figure quickly vanished below, while the Elder Taishang’s crane-like silhouette appeared overhead. Yun Chu was racking his brain, thinking of a way to send him back, when a golden light descended, blocking the Elder Taishang.

The newcomer’s figure appeared—clad in a snowy robe, with black hair and a sword shimmering with frost. It was none other than Shen Suwei of the Inner Sect.