Chapter 1418 - 857: Star-Crossed Lovers, the Daoist of Five Treasures’ Request
Chapter 1418: Chapter 857: Star-Crossed Lovers, the Daoist of Five Treasures’ Request
At that time, Yun Shu was in the late stage of Foundation Establishment, and a top-grade elixir was greatly beneficial for her to break through to the Golden Core Realm.
Becoming the Master’s Direct Disciple was an opportunity countless disciples dreamed of.
But Yun Shu merely glanced at him indifferently and held up the Peach Wood Sword Pendant in front of him: "Young Sect Leader, I have long made a promise with my senior brother, I will marry none but him in this life. I appreciate your kindness."
Being rejected in public, Shao Sida’s face darkened at first, but soon he regained his gentle demeanor and said with a smile: "Junior Sister Yun Shu has someone in her heart, it was my presumptuousness."
At that time, Five Treasure Taoist was hiding behind a tree, moved by Yun Shu’s determination and grateful for Shao Sida’s "magnanimity".
He thought this matter would pass, but little did he know that the humiliation of being rejected had already planted a seed of hatred in Shao Sida’s heart.
Since then, Shao Sida still seemed to show great care for Yun Shu, but secretly began to investigate everything about her.
Five Treasure Taoist later learned that Shao Sida used his identity as Young Sect Leader to access secret archives within the sect and bribed an elder who knew the inside story to discover Yun Shu’s secret of the Spirit Charm Furnace Body.
"What he valued was never Yun Shu as a person, but her physique."
Five Treasure Taoist gritted his teeth, the hatred in his eyes almost overflowing.
"He knew that with the assistance of the Spirit Charm Furnace Body, breaking through to the Primordial Spirit Realm would be as easy as reaching into a bag, and he could even quickly advance within that realm, becoming a pillar of the sect’s future."
Yun Shu knew nothing about this, still single-mindedly accompanying Five Treasure Taoist in cultivation, as they approached their agreed time to form the core.
With Yun Shu’s help, Five Treasure Taoist finally touched the threshold of the Golden Core Realm.
The twist of fate occurred on the day Yun Shu descended the mountain to carry out a sect training task.
It was not a dangerous task, just going to the workshop under the sect to collect the annual tribute.
According to past practice, Yun Shu only needed to bring two Outer Disciples to complete it smoothly.
Before departure, Yun Shu specially prepared Five Treasure Taoist’s favorite spirit cake and said with a smile: "Senior Brother, when I return, we will go into seclusion together to break through to the Golden Core. We will definitely succeed."
Five Treasure Taoist still remembers escorting her to the mountain gate, watching her ride the Immortal Crane and gradually disappear with the disciples, his heart full of hope for the future.
He thought he would see his cherished junior sister after just half a month, but unexpectedly, it became a final farewell.
On the tenth day after Yun Shu left, the sect received news from the workshop saying Yun Shu’s party was attacked by Demon Cultivators on their way back. The two Outer Disciples perished on the spot, and Yun Shu’s fate was unknown.
This news was like a thunderbolt, shattering Five Treasure Taoist’s soul.
He didn’t have time to think, didn’t pack a thing, grabbed the Peach Wood Sword Pendant, and dashed out of the sect like a madman.
"At that time, I thought it was truly the work of Demon Cultivators."
Five Treasure Taoist’s voice choked.
"Demon Cultivators have always lurked within the human territories of the Heavenly Origin Great World, and there were vague rumors from the workshop area too. I blamed myself for not accompanying her, blamed myself for being too weak to protect her."
He searched every mountain and valley where Yun Shu disappeared, asking everyone he met about Yun Shu’s whereabouts.
He fought with Demon Cultivators, was beaten bruised and battered, yet refused to give up.
He spent all the Spirit Stones he had, offering rewards for any news about Yun Shu, no matter how small the clue, he would rush there immediately.
Day by day passed, Yun Shu’s news vanished like a stone sinking into the sea.
Five Treasure Taoist’s cultivation declined by half a pace instead of breaking into the Golden Core due to exhaustion from the search.
People in the sect advised him, saying Yun Shu must have met an untimely end and urged him to grieve and move on, but he wouldn’t believe it. He firmly believed Yun Shu was still alive, waiting for him.
This search lasted five years.
In those five years, he traveled across the length and breadth of the Heavenly Origin Great World.
From the flourishing Holy Land of the sect to the remote wilderness, the Daoist robe on him wore out one after another, the youthful look on his face faded, leaving only weathered and resolute features.
His master, feeling for him, urged him to give up, but he knelt before his master, his forehead bloodied and broken: "Master, Junior Sister Shu is still waiting for me, I can’t give up."
Until the autumn of the fifth year, he encountered a severely injured Primordial Spirit Realm Demon Beast in a desolate ancient Cave Mansion.
The beast intended to devour him, but he fought back with all his might, ultimately perishing together.
Just when he thought he was doomed, he accidentally triggered a mechanism on the stone wall of the Cave Mansion, revealing a cultivation technique scroll and a Secret Treasure in the shape of a compass hidden within.
That scroll was the "Ziwei Fate Scripture," a long-lost divination cultivation technique.
It could deduce the causes and effects of events through subtle clues, but practicing this technique required expending vast amounts of heart and spirit, and had certain cultivation requirements.
And the compass-like item, named "Purple Star Plate," was precisely the Secret Treasure used alongside the "Ziwei Fate Scripture".
Five Treasure Taoist revived himself with the remaining Spiritual Medicine in the Cave Mansion.
After recovering from his injuries, he began practicing the "Ziwei Fate Scripture".
He was naturally meticulous, with an innate understanding of divination, and five years of trial had made his Dao Heart even more resolute.
Within just three years, he managed to bring the "Ziwei Fate Scripture" to the introductory realm.
At this time, by a stroke of luck, his cultivation also broke through to the Golden Core Realm.
But he felt no joy; the only thought in his heart was to use the "Ziwei Fate Scripture" to find Yun Shu’s whereabouts and her killer.