Chapter 127: The Sea of Untoward Fate
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The Jade Pool Sacred Land would soon hold its Pantao Grand Assembly, an event of great significance, and had invited many members of the other sacred lands to join in the celebration.
Because the Soaring Cloud Ranking had been postponed, this gathering at the Jade Pool attracted even more attention.
Dawn bathed the earth in light as the sea of clouds piled across the sky gradually dispersed.
A blue luan flew slowly above a vast, shimmering expanse of water, its enormous iridescent wings sending countless ripples across the surface.
The weather was fair and bright.
“The Jade Pool once sent an invitation to the Abyssal Sacred Hall,” Su Mo said.
“The Jade Pool’s Holy Maiden invited me some time ago as well. I happened to be planning to take a look.”
Shen Yu raised a brow. “Are you interested too, Senior Brother?”
“Not originally. But since I have come out this time, I may as well take a look. Besides, you are here, Junior Brother.”
Shen Yu was somewhat puzzled.
“Because you are the best fighter in the Dao Sect.”
Su Mo smiled. “If someone comes looking for trouble, and I find it troublesome to deal with them, you can settle it instead.”
Shen Yu still did not quite understand.
The Jade Pool had always remained aloof from worldly affairs, cultivating in seclusion. It enjoyed great prestige throughout the Spiritual Wilderness. Moreover, all those invited to the Pantao Grand Assembly had to pass through the soul-examining trial of the Nether Ghosts in the Sea of No Delusion. Only those with tranquil minds and unwavering hearts could pass. Naturally, everyone who entered would be an outstanding cultivator or disciple of exceptional cultivation and character.
Everyone under heaven knew that Su Mo could not cultivate.
Under ordinary circumstances, therefore, no one would deliberately make things difficult for him at a time like this and cause the Dao Sect to lose face.
Besides, in Shen Yu’s view, if matters truly reached that point, it was far from certain whose face would be lost.
Su Mo thought for a moment. “Because people from Flowing Wave Mountain will be there as well.”
There were nine great sacred lands beneath heaven:
Kunlun, the Jade Pool, Hidden Spirit Temple, the Academy, the Dao Sect, Azure Emperor City, Sword Immortal City, East King Island, and Flowing Wave Mountain.
Kunlun, the Jade Pool, and the Dao Sect belonged to the Daoist tradition.
Hidden Spirit Temple represented the Buddhist tradition.
The Academy was the mainstream of Confucianism throughout the world.
Sword Immortal City was the sacred land of sword cultivators everywhere.
East King Island was said to be the inheritor of the ancient Earth Immortals.
Azure Emperor City was home to martial artists outside the world’s three great traditions.
Flowing Wave Mountain alone refused to be confined by convention. It drew upon the strengths of every school, fused them into one, and was famed as the meeting place of a hundred schools, versed in all things.
More importantly, it had always maintained close ties with the Flood Dragon lineage of the demon race.
“Back then, both our Master and our Junior Uncle once visited Flowing Wave Mountain. And both of them... encountered certain incidents there.”
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A helpless smile appeared on Su Mo’s face.
“Before that great tragedy befell the human world, Junior Uncle had just mastered the spear and traveled to Flowing Wave Mountain. In truth, he went there deliberately to cause trouble over a certain matter. As it happened, he encountered a little flood dragon that had been stirring up storms, and, in a moment of hot temper...”
Shen Yu said, “He butchered it?”
Su Mo nodded and sighed. “On the Sea Cliff of Flowing Wave Mountain, he roasted that little flood dragon and ate it in front of everyone. As luck would have it, the little creature was the most beloved offspring of a flood dragon that had already entered the Immortal Realm.”
“So afterward, Flowing Wave Mountain and the flood dragon clan flew into a rage and pursued Junior Uncle for hundreds of thousands of miles.”
Shen Yu grew interested. “And then?”
Su Mo shook his head.
“There was no afterward.”
“Later, Master emerged from seclusion to gaze upon the sea. With a single sword stroke, he cleaved apart the entire Sea Cliff and the Dragon Palace buried ten thousand miles beneath the seabed.”
“After that, no one ever mentioned the matter again.”
...
To reach the Jade Pool, one first had to cross the Sea of No Delusion.
The Sea of No Delusion lay in the southern reaches of Eastern Ancestral Province. It was a desolate stretch of open land connected to a distant ocean without end.
Throughout the Spiritual Wilderness, any place whose name contained the words “No Delusion” was considered a notorious perilous region.
The sea was an extraordinarily deep color. From a distance, it looked black as ink, and it was poisonous as well, resembling an abyssal black hole. Anyone who stared into it for too long would feel terror seize their mind.
The Jade Pool lay at the far end of the Sea of No Delusion. There were no formations protecting the route, yet countless cultivators were unable to fly across it directly on swords or upon the wind.
The sea was shrouded year-round in thick mist, leaving no line of sight. Moreover, fierce astral winds howled across its surface, possessing power comparable to that of cultivators in the Upper Three Realms. A cultivator of ordinary cultivation who was even slightly careless would be reduced to ashes, body and soul destroyed.
More dangerous still was the ghost that dwelled within the Sea of No Delusion.
It was called the Nether Ghost.
The Nether Ghost was a vengeful spirit born from the resentment of the world and the negative emotions left behind by the dead. Anyone who crossed the sea while lacking inner composure or possessing an unstable Dao-heart might unknowingly scatter their own three souls and seven spirits, becoming a walking corpse and losing themselves in the Sea of No Delusion until they eventually died of old age.
Within the Daoist tradition, there was also a saying that the Nether Ghost represented the tribulation of the inner demon. It was said that a Daoist predecessor had once come here specifically to overcome his inner demon and become an immortal.
The blue luan halted in midair at the edge of the Sea of No Delusion.
Shen Yu looked up. At the harbor ahead stood a grand ship radiating majestic righteousness.
The vessel had a full nine decks and towered like a mountain.
With the opening of the Pantao Grand Assembly, invitees arrived one after another and boarded the ship. Only a few streaks of rainbow light, emanating from powerful beings, passed by without stopping and vanished directly into the sea.
“ The Yang family once promised to give me a ticket for the ship,” Shen Yu said.
Su Mo smiled. “There is no need. An invitation is enough.”
Su Mo took out a cloth pouch. After the blue luan gave an unwilling cry, it vanished into the pouch.
Shen Yu glanced at it and understood.
The two then boarded the ship on foot. Their spiritual energy fluctuated only faintly, and the people passing nearby merely glanced at them before looking away.
The pair were received by a middle-aged woman of extraordinary allure, with a graceful figure and mature beauty.
Every word and smile she offered carried an indescribable charm.
Shen Yu glanced at her once, then looked away.
Only after boarding did they discover that the space within was far larger than they had imagined.
The two were assigned a pair of courtyards on the ship’s fourth deck. From a distance, they were not particularly magnificent, but they could just barely be considered simple, elegant, and tranquil.
Everyone aboard was a renowned cultivator from one of the various regions. The Jade Pool naturally was not foolish enough to deliberately divide its guests into different ranks, but subtle distinctions could still be noticed.
The guests with slightly higher cultivation were assigned rooms a little farther up, while those of more ordinary cultivation were unconsciously placed somewhat lower.
In the end, every arrangement came down to the invisible balance held in the mind of the steward in charge of receiving guests.
On a nine-story ship, the fourth deck was already considered a lower-class residence.
Fortunately, neither of them cared about such matters. In fact, Shen Yu was quite satisfied.
There were trees in the courtyard and chairs beneath them. That was enough.
...
The Sea of No Delusion was vast, and the ship traveled slowly, so another long journey was inevitable.
During the first few days of the voyage, Su Mo wandered casually around the ship. It held not only living quarters, but also all manner of places for amusement and entertainment. There were even shops for trading the goods needed by cultivators, as well as gambling houses and brothels.
In his spare time, Su Mo liked to observe people, objects, and scenery.
Shen Yu, meanwhile, remained beneath the old scholar tree in the courtyard, never taking a single step outside.
The leaves blocked the light, causing the expression on Shen Yu’s face to shift between brightness and shadow, making him appear almost uncanny.
“A Pantao Grand Assembly.”
Shen Yu gazed absently through the window.
He had once visited the Jade Pool. To return to an old place—he did not know whether that was a blessing or a misfortune.
“Will the peaches at the gathering still taste as awful as they used to?”
“Has the demon sealed within the Jade Pool been completely refined?”
“And the Jade Pool’s Holy Maiden who was caught by chance when she stole a peach back then—does even a trace of her soul still remain between heaven and earth?”
...
“Is the Great Dao truly without end, and is immortality eternal?”
Shen Yu murmured softly, “Yet even after three thousand years, I still do not like it.”
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