Chapter 1020: Fan Ying and Her Master

Chapter 1020: Chapter 1020: Fan Ying and Her Master

Fan Ying’s words made Shen Mo involuntarily recall the events of that year.

More than two hundred and fifty years ago, Jade Spring Fairy engaged Hollow Venerable in a magic duel. In order to prevent this Demon True Immortal from gathering enough demons to set up the God Slaying Array, the Fairy mobilized forces from all sides and many powerful experts to launch a crusade against the Corpse Mountain Range.

And in that great war, Shen Mo accepted the mission issued by the Taihua Mirror Spirit, and rushed with the replica immortal mirror to reinforce Jade Verdant Cave, which lay on the eastern slope of Five Dragon Mountain!

Only, by then, Jade Verdant Cave had long since been infiltrated by Hollow Venerable’s power, turned into a trap aimed specifically at the Taihua Mirror.

Just as Shen Mo set up the replica immortal mirror, Hollow Venerable activated the sacrificial method he had prepared for so long, causing eight hundred million immortals and mortals within the Dungeon to all twist and distort into Evil Insects, endlessly pouring into the replica immortal mirror, attempting to use the close link between the two to directly Corrupt and even destroy the Taihua Mirror, that celestial artifact!

Witnessing the tragic sight of hundreds of millions of human immortals and mortals falling into Evil Insects, Shen Mo’s Path Heart suffered a tremendous shock, and even his own cultivation realm showed signs of falling.

Fortunately, at that time he was startled awake by the crying of a little girl, barely managing to hold his Dao-heart and cultivation together—and that little girl was Fan Ying. So, strictly speaking, Fan Ying even has the merit of awakening him!

At that time Fan Ying was still very young, with no cultivation on her body. Yet she was the reincarnation of a celestial being, her soul different from the norm, and thus could endure under distortion and Corrupt longer than ordinary cultivators. Shen Mo fed her the Exorcism Pill, preserving her life, but her parents had already turned into two piles of Evil Insects.

After that, the Jade Verdant Cave Dungeon was thoroughly shattered and melted away under the corrosion of Evil Insects and foul bugs. The relic of that place is still a perilous region of Five Dragon Mountain, where, from time to time, powerful Evil Insects and Demons will be born, requiring sect experts to regularly purge them.

Fan Ying and Lv Xiangtai, the Golden Core Realm cultivator who had gone out seeking aid, were the only two survivors among the hundreds of millions of immortals and mortals in the whole Jade Verdant Cave Dungeon!

The former obtained the legacy and belongings of Divine Bridge Realm cultivator Cheng Qianbao, master of Jade Verdant Cave, was brought back to Red Flame Sect by Shen Mo, then took Senior Sister Jiang Lingfeng as Master. Under many opportunities and blessings she cultivated step by step to this day, and is now already a late-stage Golden Core Realm cultivator, the disciple among the new generation most likely to achieve the Divine Bridge.

The latter, having consecutively witnessed the destruction of Red Lotus Cave and Jade Verdant Cave, and then the tragedy of hundreds of millions turning into Evil Insects, had his Dao-heart damaged. After cultivating for several years in Red Flame Sect, he fell when Heart Demons ran rampant and his True Yuan went berserk. Before his death, he took out all his Spirit Stone resources and entrusted someone to deliver them to Senior Sister Jiang Lingfeng, begging her to take good care of Fan Ying, the sole remaining seedling of Jade Verdant Cave!

"Your parents..."

Shen Mo’s gaze fell on Fan Ying’s face, full of hope. For a moment, his expression became somewhat troubled.

Because the Jade Verdant Cave incident was too hideous to recount, shortly after Shen Mo brought Fan Ying back to Red Flame Sect, he personally sealed her childhood memories!

Thus, from the time Fan Ying can remember, she was already a disciple of Red Flame Sect, but she does not remember the faces of her parents, nor the scene of Shen Mo rescuing her from the pile of Evil Insects. She has, however, often heard Senior Sister Jiang Lingfeng mention her origins. Precisely because of this, Shen Mo holds a very high place in her heart, almost second only to her Master, Senior Sister Jiang Lingfeng.

Yet Shen Mo does not know the exact situation of her parents; the only impression he has is of those two piles of Evil Insects writhing beside Fan Ying.

"You little girl! Once you build the Divine Bridge, you will naturally recall your childhood memories. It’s getting late; follow your Master back to the room now, and do not linger here disturbing the Sect Master’s rest."

Just as Shen Mo was pondering whether or not to inform Fan Ying of the details, Senior Sister Jiang Lingfeng, who had not yet left, stood up. With a face full of pity and fondness, she lightly flicked Fan Ying’s forehead, cutting off her further questioning.

Shen Mo smiled and nodded to Master and disciple, saying no more, and the others who had been listening to his explanations likewise took their leave and departed.

In the blink of an eye, only Shen Mo and Chen Mengze remained in the room!

Once Chen Mengze had closed the door, Shen Mo naturally pulled her into his arms, savoring the rare leisure of recent days.

"Junior niece Fan Ying’s cultivation Talent is even better than Senior Sister Jiang’s. She should be able to achieve the Divine Bridge within a hundred years." Chen Mengze said calmly.

"Mm, she is a True Immortal seed."

Shen Mo holds extremely high expectations for this pair of master and disciple, Jiang Lingfeng and Fan Ying.

Many years ago, Senior Sister Jiang Lingfeng had already reached the peak of the Golden Core Realm, but her first attempt to attack the Divine Bridge failed. It was only upon trying again one Sixty Year Cycle ago that, under the dual shelter of Green Cloud Cave Fairyland and the Mountain Protection Array, she finally advanced successfully to the Divine Bridge Realm.

Now, with the Earth Yuan Array in place, when the day comes that Fan Ying builds her Divine Bridge and crosses her enlightment tribulation, it will be all the easier...

This too is part of the sect’s heritage; under the protection of powerful formations, one can weaken external tribulations to the greatest extent, allowing the sect to give birth to more Great Cultivators;

Indeed, even Shen Mo’s Immortal Tribulation could have a portion blocked by the Earth Yuan Array. Yet unless absolutely necessary, he does not intend to do this, for this big array was set to guard against Lord Blue Venerable and other calamities. If it were to be severely damaged by his Immortal Tribulation, or harm the earth vein and spiritual vein, it would be too great a loss for too little gain!

"Once Junior niece Fan cultivates the Divine Bridge, the seal prohibition within her soul will naturally unravel; otherwise that seal would affect her future path. I only hope that when she regains her childhood memories, she will not have her Dao-heart shaken by the tragedy that befell Jade Verdant Cave’s immortals and mortals and her parents!"

In Fan Ying’s previous life—or one of her earlier lives—she must have achieved considerable accomplishment upon the Immortal Path;

After falling, to be able to reincarnate as a human once more and again set foot upon cultivation is a blessing that several lifetimes might not obtain. If her childhood ordeal were to stain her Dao-heart and cut off her path, it would be far too great a pity!

Chen Mengze rose and brewed a pot of Enlightenment Tea. As she tasted the tea with Shen Mo, she said, "Her childhood memories spanned only six or seven short years, and now more than two centuries have passed. Those past memories will largely be washed away by these long years of cultivation, and her Dao-heart has already been tempered almost enough. When the Seal breaks, she should be able to calmly face the experiences of her childhood."

...

On the day the exchange meet officially began, Shen Mo flew alone into the Heavenly Cloud Palace.

Those who came were all the True Immortals who had entered the Cloud Palace to feast in years past, just one Jiuli Dark Lord short; apart from the host Xuanyuan Tongzhen who descended in his real body, the other True Immortal figures of the Immortal League all went forth in manifested bodies. Jade Spring Fairy likewise manifested a Should be the Body, so Shen Mo coming with a Standing was, by comparison, already quite sincere.

"Fellow daoists have all arrived, and the time is about right. Let us begin!" Xuanyuan Tongzhen finished speaking, then brought forth the celestial artifact Mountains and Rivers Scroll.

As strands of profound immortal light flowed, Chen Mengze, Zhou Zhiwei, Senior Sister Jiang Lingfeng, Fan Ying, Lu Ming and the other fifty Red Flame Sect cultivators, together with fourteen hundred disciples under the True Immortals’ tutelage, were all drawn into the Scroll Realm, and the "Daoist duel" began!