Chapter 1526: Phoenix Blood

Chapter 1526: Phoenix Blood

Mo Hua's heart tightened slightly upon hearing this.

Although he considered his Heavenly Secret Algorithm and Harmony through Cause and Effect to have reached a certain level of proficiency, he did not dare to be overly arrogant.

After all, everything he had learned was self-taught through unorthodox mean. His Heavenly Secret Algorithm still lacked a proper system, and his harmony through Cause and Effect had no standard to reference.

Moreover, as Martial Aunt Bai had said, his cultivation was only at the Golden Core stage after all.

With insufficient cultivation realm, he could not stand tall enough or see far enough. He had no way of knowing what terrifying beings still existed in this world.

But still...

Mo Hua's heart sank. He had already waited for far too long.

He was still young. He could continue cultivating, continue waiting, continue enduring...

But what about his Master? How much longer could his Master wait?

If the Pure Light Lamp were to be exhausted—even for just a single moment—everything would be over.

He would never be able to see his Master again...

Mo Hua's emotions churned restlessly, and a pained expression appeared on his face.

Bai Qingcheng watched Mo Hua like this, feeling an inexplicable melancholy and a flood of emotions.

She knew that Senior Brother Zhuang had been proud and arrogant his entire life, subjected to cold stares, abandoned by kin and allies alike, enduring the fickleness of the world and treachery of human hearts.

The Eldest Senior Brother had wanted to kill him, to take his Dao Bone and seize his vitality.

And she, as his junior sister, had also schemed against him for her own selfish interests.

Yet unexpectedly, Senior Brother Zhuang, at the end of his life, had taken in a little disciple, one so devoted and loyal, treating him with such sincerity.

It was as if all the coldness and callousness he had suffered in his life had been repaid to him in full.

Bai Qingcheng's heart ached with bitterness, and then her gaze sharpened.

It was precisely for this reason that there were some matters this child must never be involved in.

If Mo Hua—the only young disciple Senior Brother Zhuang had cared for in his final days—were to die in the terrifying cause and effect of the sect, or perish in some other feud or struggle for power and influence...

Then how could she ever face Senior Brother Zhuang in the underworld?

At this thought, Bai Qingcheng felt a pang of guilt and became even more resolute in her intentions.

The usually proud woman softened her tone considerably and said:

"Regarding your Master's matter, I have my own considerations. You need not worry about it."

"This is not something you can concern yourself with. You are still young, with limited experience. Just focus on your cultivation."

Mo Hua hesitated for a moment, then nodded gently. "Mm."

Bai Qingcheng wanted to ask Mo Hua more questions, but feeling that the timing was not right, she sighed and said:

"I don't have much time, so I won't say more. If you encounter any trouble, feel free to come find me. After all, I am your senior martial aunt. I will keep you safe."

Mo Hua felt grateful and said, "Thank you, Senior Aunt."

Bai Qingcheng nodded slightly, then without another word, her figure faded and she vanished.

Leaving Mo Hua alone where he stood, thinking of his Master's life and death, memories surging over him like tidal waves, his heart filled with complex and indescribable emotions.

...

Bai Qingcheng, at the Feathered Ascension Realm, left Mo Hua's room.

The moment her figure materialized in the corridor, she saw another graceful and breathtakingly beautiful figure there.

This figure had shoulders carved like jade, a waist as slender as silk, ethereal as the moon, equally transcendent and immortal in bearing.

Bai Qingcheng looked at this figure—one that resembled her younger self yet possessed a beauty entirely different in brow, eye, and temperament—and her emotions swelled with a thousand thoughts.

Zixi had truly grown up.

Every few years apart, she would blossom a little more, mature a little more. Each time she saw her, she was more exquisite with skin like ice and bones of jade, more captivating in grace.

Even Bai Qingcheng sometimes found it hard to believe that she could have given birth to such a beautiful daughter...

But thinking of her connection to Mo Hua, Bai Qingcheng's expression turned serious once more.

"Follow me," Bai Qingcheng said coolly.

Bai Zixi softly replied, "Mm."

Then Bai Qingcheng walked ahead, with Bai Zixi following behind.

Both were dressed in white—one tall, one small—like two figures carved from the same mold, two peerlessly elegant beauties.

Bai Qingcheng walked straight into Bai Zixi's private chamber, finding it refined and otherworldly.

A white jade desk, wutong wood, a plain ice zither, a celadon incense burner, and heavenly silk white gauze embroidered with the Dual Polarity Flowing Light Golden Phoenix Rune, all combining simplicity and elegance with a beauty and luxury that transcended the mortal world.

The air within the chamber was also impeccably pure, clearly a place where Zixi lived alone, untouched by others.

Only then did Bai Qingcheng nod inwardly, her demeanor softening slightly as she turned to look at Bai Zixi.

Bai Zixi gracefully performed a bow. "Mother."

Her voice was like ice springs striking jade, like autumn waters rippling, crisp and clear, yet laced with a magnetic warmth.

Even Bai Qingcheng felt her heartstrings tremble upon hearing it, a fondness rising within her, and she sighed inwardly:

"Truly a being fashioned by heaven and earth..."

Then Bai Qingcheng collected her thoughts, her expression turning slightly grave as she asked, "What happened with Mo Hua?"

Bai Zixi replied calmly, "Little Junior Brother had fallen into the hands of the Earth Sect. I rescued him."

Bai Qingcheng frowned. "Is that all?"

Bai Zixi nodded. "Mm."

Bai Qingcheng asked, "How did he end up in the hands of the Earth Sect?"

Bai Zixi shook her head. "I don't know... He fell from the sky."

Bai Qingcheng was taken aback. "Mo Hua fell from the sky?"

Bai Zixi: "Mm."

Bai Qingcheng glanced at Bai Zixi and furrowed her brow.

Truly, a grown daughter is no longer one's own, once her heart begins to stir, she won't even speak the truth, let alone spout such nonsense.

Bai Qingcheng couldn't be bothered to press further.

After a moment of silence, she quietly looked at Bai Zixi and asked, "What do you plan to do?"

Bai Zixi's gaze flickered slightly. "Do about what?"

"Mo Hua," Bai Qingcheng said.

"Mo Hua..." Bai Zixi said softly. "He's just my Little Junior Brother."

Bai Qingcheng asked, "Really?"

"Mm." Bai Zixi nodded gently.

Bai Qingcheng said, "Then I'll take him away and drop him off somewhere else..."

"Mother..." Bai Zixi said helplessly.

Bai Qingcheng sighed. "Tell your mother the truth... what is it that you truly feel in your heart?"

"I..." Bai Zixi paused for a moment. For the first time, a tangled expression of longing and worry surfaced on her cold, clear face. Finally, she murmured, "...I don't know."

It was also the first time Bai Qingcheng had ever seen such a look on Zixi's face—one who had always been as calm as still water—now showing these confused, budding feelings and the torment of longing.

Her heart sank.

Just as she feared...

These two children, after all these years, she had thought that faint affection had long been worn away by the years of cultivation.

But who could have known that fate would play such tricks?

For some reason, the destinies of these two children had become intertwined once more.

That love which had once been budding but suppressed was naturally beginning to stir again.

But this kind of love was forbidden, absolutely not to be permitted, especially at this time.

Zixi had already gained the Grand Matriarch's favor...

This was a blessing that countless people would spend their entire lives seeking and never obtain.

Bai Qingcheng took a slight breath, looked at Bai Zixi, and her voice turned several degrees more serious:

"You're a clever child. There are some things I don't need to say for you to understand."

"Mo Hua... he wasn't born into a great clan. There are many things at higher levels that he knows nothing about."

"But you, Zixi, you're different. You cultivate under the Grand Matriarch. You understand what kind of world exists at the very summit of the Nine Provinces."

"The higher you stand, the colder it gets. The precipice cannot be climbed. The might of heaven cannot be defied..."

"When one is immersed in the throes of love, one doesn't think about such things. But some truths don't cease to exist just because you refuse to think about them."

"You know your identity. You know the Bai Clan. You know what the Grand Matriarch expects of you."

"Do you want to disappoint those expectations?"

"Do you truly want to follow only your own selfish desires and drag your Little Junior Brother into these great affairs?"

Though Bai Qingcheng's tone was light, her words fell like cold, heavy mountains.

Bai Zixi said nothing, but her face grew paler and paler, and her expression became visibly more despondent.

Bai Qingcheng watched Zixi like this, and her heart ached with pity. Yet she could only keep her face stern and continue in a heavy voice:

"Mo Hua is your junior brother. It's understandable that there are things he doesn't know."

"But you are the senior sister. You cannot be without awareness. Some feelings should never have existed from the very beginning."

"You..."

Bai Qingcheng paused briefly, hesitated for a moment, and finally said slowly: "Do you want to be the death of your junior brother?"

Hearing this, Bai Zixi's body stiffened. She stammered, "Little Junior Brother... he won't be in danger..."

Bai Qingcheng said coldly, "And what if he is? The path of cultivation is fraught with countless perils. How can you be certain nothing will happen to him?"

"Especially... do you know that once you let your heart move and become entangled with Mo Hua in cause and effect, how many people will want him dead?"

"Will the Grand Matriarch spare him?"

"Will the high elders of the Bai Clan, the Feathered Ascension Elders, and those ancestors who have been in seclusion for who knows how many years, ones you may have heard of or may never have heard of at all, spare him?"

"And the Dao Court? The central Dao Court... how will those several Dao Princes treat Mo Hua?"

"The Dao Princes are proud and aloof. Perhaps they wouldn't stoop to petty schemes out of jealousy."

"But those at the very top of the Dao Court, would they do nothing about someone who defiles the bloodline heritage of the Dao Court?"

"And also..."

Bai Qingcheng's gaze grew grave. "Don't forget your bloodline..."

"The phoenix is the sovereign of all birds."

"If you and Mo Hua ever go beyond the bounds of senior and junior sister, how many Direct Line Daughters of Luan-Phoenix Bloodline clans will want Mo Hua dead out of the jealousy ingrained in their blood?"

"Have you thought through all of this?"

Bai Zixi pressed her lips tightly together. Her stunningly beautiful face seemed covered in frost, the color draining from it. The light in her eyes dimmed bit by bit.

Even Bai Qingcheng felt her heart clench at the sight.

But these were words she had to say.

If she couldn't bear the pain of severing this now, it would only lead to a tragedy far deeper and more devastating in the future.

Bai Qingcheng let out a soft sigh and spoke slowly:

"You've always had your own mind, and I won't force you, but you must think this through clearly for yourself."

"Mo Hua is your master's most beloved disciple, your only little junior brother. Don't let him meet an untimely end because of some matter of the heart...

"You... take care of yourself."

Bai Qingcheng said no more, then turned around. Her figure faded like feathered glass, gradually dissolving into nothing as she departed completely.

Within the elegant boudoir, only Bai Zixi remained.

Her expression was still cold and aloof, but deep within her eyes, it was as if the strings of joy had been cut from a puppet, leaving them hollow and vacant.

No one knew how long passed before Bai Zixi slowly sat down at the edge of her bed.

She thought for a long while, then silently reached beneath her pillow and withdrew a white storage bag embroidered with exquisite, pale-gold phoenix rune-patterns.

This storage bag was delicately crafted, smaller than most, with a hint of endearing charm, it was the one she had used as a child.

It was the bag she had carried at her waist during her childhood, when she had cultivated alongside her master, her elder brother, and her little junior brother in Tongxian City, and roamed through Li Province.

Bai Zixi gently opened the storage bag and took out one small item after another: little grasshoppers, little dragonflies, little flowers, little wild boars, little tigers...

Some of these items were crude, woven strand by strand from bamboo and grass by clever little hands.

Others were exquisitely crafted, their structures intricate, with Formations carved inside, when controlled by a Divine-Sense Thought, they would scurry about merrily.

These were all things her little junior brother had made with his own hands in their childhood, gifts for her, his senior sister.

Bai Zixi had kept them all in her childhood storage bag, tucked beneath her pillow. Only when she encountered troubles and felt deeply sorrowful would she take them out to look at them.

Now, Bai Zixi had taken out every single item from the storage bag.

Her slender, jade-like fingers brushed over each little dragonfly and little tiger—some exquisite, some rough.

From childhood onward, her little junior brother's smiling face, his clever expression, his angry countenance—those past experiences, bit by bit, floated before her eyes.

Yet her heart ached more and more.

Clearly, he was already so close at hand, and yet it seemed they could never be together.

Bai Zixi's heart felt as though a knife had been carved into it.

Her gaze grew increasingly vacant, and a single teardrop, silent and soundless, slowly slid from the corner of her eye.

...

On the other side, Bai Qingcheng's mood was no better.

She left the small courtyard, swept her Divine-Sense once, and walked straight into the study of Little Luan Mountain.

Inside the study, True Person Rong was still calculating something on paper.

Seeing Bai Qingcheng enter, she looked up and said calmly, "You've come?"

Bai Qingcheng frowned but said nothing.

True Person Rong set down her brush, glanced at Bai Qingcheng, and asked,  "Why didn't you send word beforehand? Why come directly?"

Bai Qingcheng was silent for a moment, then sighed. "If I had sent word, perhaps I wouldn't have seen what I wanted to see."

True Person Rong nodded. "So, you've seen all you needed to see?"

At this, Bai Qingcheng seemed somewhat reproachful. "Sister Rong, won't you keep an eye on these two children?"

True Person Rong also appeared helpless. "How am I supposed to manage them?"

Bai Qingcheng frowned. "Pay a little more attention in your daily dealings, keep them from having too much contact. Remind them to mind their boundaries... Or, from the very beginning, you shouldn't have taken in Mo Hua, found another place to settle him down."

If he hadn't been kept in the minor blessed land, if the two of them hadn't spent every day together, none of this would have happened.

And Zixi wouldn't be suffering so much right now.

Only after Bai Qingcheng finished speaking did True Person Rong say, "You don't actually think I can control Zixi, do you?"

Bai Qingcheng was momentarily stunned.

True Person Rong sighed. "Zixi... is no ordinary child."

"The only reason I can manage her is because she is willing to let me."

"If she were unwilling, even as a Feather Ascension True Person, how could I possibly control her?"

"Taking in Mo Hua was Zixi's decision. Her mind is made up, and once she's set on something, do you think... there's anything I can do about it?"

Bai Qingcheng was at a loss for words. After pondering for a moment, she could only sigh in resignation.

The Direct Line Daughter of the Bai Clan, the Grand Matriarch's darling, with a Heavenly Spirit Root, Phoenix Blood, and the title of Lord of the Orioles... who could possibly do anything against her?

Bai Qingcheng had nothing more to say. She could only find the most luxurious red jade chair in the study and sit herself down, her expression displeased.

True Person Rong raised her eyes to look at Bai Qingcheng, pondering for a moment. Her gaze turned solemn as she slowly said:

"So, Mo Hua truly is... that person's disciple?"

Bai Qingcheng was briefly startled, then feigned ignorance. "Who does Sister Rong mean?"

True Person Rong's gaze sharpened, and she softly uttered a name: "...Zhuang Daoling."

(End of Chapter)