Chapter 72: Tree Stump

"Alright!"

"Should I give it a try?" Shi Chun looked up again at the dazzling aurora in the sky, recalling what Duan You had said: the phenomenon could disappear at any moment, and missing it meant not knowing how long he would have to wait. He immediately steeled himself and went over to greet Duan You and the other person. "I need to go to Bian Weiying's place," he announced. "She instructed me earlier today to come at this time."

Duan You and the other person were skeptical. Wu Jinliang chuckled, "If you don't believe us, you can come along."

Bian Weiying's name carried significant weight; Duan You and the other person tacitly agreed and followed along.

On the way, they were stopped for inspection by patrolling disciples. Upon learning that Bian Weiying had summoned them, they were allowed to pass, but only with an "escort."

The path was difficult to navigate. Wet, indigo bamboo was laid everywhere, and people walked directly on it. All open-air areas on Mount Wukang were rapidly disappearing.

They were escorted all the way to Bian Weiying's residence, which was no exception; it was covered everywhere.

When Bian Weiying came out upon hearing the news, Wu Jinliang boisterously exclaimed, "City Lord Bian, didn't you ask us to come at this time? Here we are!"

Hearing this and seeing the accompanying people, Bian Weiying immediately understood the situation. She calmly turned around and said, "Come in."

Wu Jinliang chuckled with delight. He turned to Duan You and the others and said, "See? I didn't lie to you, did I? You don't need to come in; just wait here. We'll be right back."

Shi Chun suddenly spoke up, "You wait here too."

"Huh?" Wu Jinliang turned and stared at him, his face filled with disbelief. He desperately wanted to remind Shi Chun that this was *his* idea, and how could Shi Chun not let him watch? But there was nothing he could do; he couldn't argue publicly. He could only watch with a resentful expression as Shi Chun entered.

Inside the courtyard, the only non-open-air spots were indoors or under the eaves. At Shi Chun's suggestion, Bian Weiying took him to an upper pavilion, where both stood under the eaves, watching the dazzling aurora in the night sky.

Shi Chun casually asked about the indigo bamboo being handled below.

Bian Weiying answered just as casually.

It was during this seemingly casual conversation that one of Shi Chun's hands, which was close to Bian Weiying, slowly and gently moved, without the slightest tremor, softly reaching towards her buttocks.

This was the method Wu Jinliang had taught him to make himself nervous.

His moral standards were indeed not very high; thinking it might be useful, he immediately tried it.

He didn't know if it would make him nervous, but he knew that as his palm got closer and closer to Bian Weiying's buttocks, his heart rate also accelerated, and he was terrified Bian Weiying would notice.

Suddenly, a severe headache struck him, and the sensation of his spinal cord being gnawed by countless insects also erupted.

"You didn't come to find me just to chat about this, did you?" Bian Weiying suddenly turned her head to look at him.

Shi Chun's hand, which had been approaching her, was now raised, clutching his splitting head.

Noticing his face had suddenly turned a sickly pale, Bian Weiying, surprised, asked, "What's wrong with you?"

Shi Chun didn't answer; he had no mind for further conversation with her. The phenomenon in his right eye had already appeared. He struggled to steady his mind, tormented by pain, and looked up at the sky. The eaves that obstructed his view were not present in his right eye's vision.

The dazzling aurora was gone. Instead, a magnificent sight appeared in his vision.

A mist was slowly drifting down, glowing with a faint blue light. The light and shadows felt familiar to him. In this place, it was easy to associate it with the immobilization talismans. Indeed, the tendrils emerging from the immobilization talismans also emitted the same blue light.

His vision couldn't reach the highest point in the sky, and he didn't know why this mist was descending.

He watched for a while but couldn't make out anything else. The mist would clearly take some time to reach the ground. When he looked down, his gaze suddenly froze: beneath his feet was a faint greenish haze.

Evidently, this was the color of Mount Wukang.

He was slightly surprised. Mount Wukang had not disappeared in his right eye's vision; it actually retained its color and form. This was quite rare among the bizarre scenes he typically saw with his right eye.

Bian Weiying saw that he wasn't responding. Despite his sickly pale and unpleasant face, he was looking at the sky and then the ground with an extremely serious expression. Realizing that something significant might be happening, she did not disturb him, quietly waiting and observing.

Shi Chun, suddenly having an idea, blurted out, "Could you take me to see what's at the foot of the mountain?"

Bian Weiying's bright eyes twinkled as she stared at him for a moment, then she suddenly said, sharp and decisive, "Let's go!"

She was about to turn and go downstairs.

Shi Chun urged, "Hurry!"

Then he directly jumped down from the pavilion, landing on the indigo bamboo covering the ground.

There was no other way; he knew the phenomenon in his right eye had a limited duration, so he had to quickly seize the moment.

Bian Weiying returned to the railing, leaned over to look down, then, pulling up her skirt, she too leaped down. Leading the way, she quickly led Shi Chun away.

At the entrance, they ran into Wu Jinliang and the others.

Wu Jinliang asked cheerfully, "How was it?"

"Wait," Shi Chun tossed out the word and ran off.

Wu Jinliang was speechless.

Duan and Zou exchanged glances. "Didn't they say they had a grudge?" they wondered. "This doesn't look like it."

At the entrance leading down the mountain, Shi Chun's "service" uniform was too conspicuous, and they were stopped by patrolling disciples.

"I'll take responsibility for this! Move aside!" Bian Weiying snapped mercilessly. The sect leader's daughter was indeed domineering.

The troubled disciples didn't know what to do. Finally, Bian Weiying pushed them aside, making the decision for them.

On the stone steps leading down the mountain, Shi Chun was still urging, "Faster, faster, faster!" Bian Weiying simply grabbed his arm and leaped down the tall mountain with him.

After flying down to the foot of the mountain, she then pulled him along, soaring forward. "This should be fast enough, right?"

They were almost at Linkang City when Shi Chun suddenly said, "Enough."

Bian Weiying immediately pulled him to a stop.

Shi Chun turned around. He had just had a sudden flash of insight, realizing something, and wanted to observe the phenomenon from a more comprehensive perspective.

Then he witnessed an extremely shocking sight.

It was a massive tree.

No, it was a tree stump, with only its roots remaining after it had been felled. This was the true form of Mount Wukang.

From the mountain, one couldn't see its roots.

Only from a distance could one perceive the enormous network of root tendrils extending and spreading out from the earth beneath Mount Wukang, which resembled a tree stump.

Both the tree stump and the roots beneath the earth appeared as a faint greenish haze in his right eye's vision. The immense spread of the tree's roots was immeasurable; they passed beneath their feet, extended through Linkang City, and occupied the surrounding mountain ranges.

Such a colossal and magnificent sight naturally left him in awe.

Solely from the scale of the remaining tree stump, he could imagine what Mount Wukang's complete form must have looked like. It must have been a true wonder, reaching the heavens and touching the earth, with unimaginable grandeur.

Where did this massive tree go, and who cut it down?

The faintly blue-glowing mist gradually descended upon the tree stump. The wind couldn't disperse it; it only settled in specific areas.

In the distant past, the tree's crown must have been bathing in this blue mist high above.

Just as the mist was about to touch the tree stump, his vision gradually returned to normal. In his eyes, there was only Mount Wukang, brightly lit at the summit.

Recalling the scene of the mist's descent, he finally understood what Bian Weiying meant: that even if one mastered the refining secret art, it would be useless away from Mount Wukang. So, the problem lay here: other places might not possess such unique environmental conditions.

What was the point of him coming here to secretly learn the craft then?

Considering his current predicament, he felt a bit of regret, realizing it was his own doing.

But since he had come all this way, he shouldn't leave empty-handed. If he could refine a large batch of immobilization talismans to take with him, his travels in the cultivation world would also be secured.

Seeing that he had awakened from a state of trance, Bian Weiying, who had been observing from the side, said, "Is there something to explain? You're not just trying to be mysterious with me, are you?"

What Shi Chun found most troublesome now was this woman. Bian Jixiong wanted to see him pursue Xiang Lan'er, and the plan drafted with the Demonic Dao also required him to do so. Now this woman was interfering, wanting him to abandon pursuing Xiang Lan'er and pursue her instead.

He couldn't refuse, yet he couldn't agree either.

She wasn't someone he could simply pretend to pursue. He needed to provide the explanation she wanted, but the crucial point was that he couldn't reveal the secret of his right eye. How was he going to solve this problem? Just thinking about it gave him a headache.

Fortunately, there was still room for leniency. He could only feign contemplation and say, "I need to observe a bit more."

Bian Weiying sneered, "There's plenty of time for observation, but that won't stop you from revealing your method of stealing secrets. Don't think about stalling. Whether or not you need to consult with the person behind you, I'm only giving you three days. If you can't give me the answer I want, you know the consequences!"

Shi Chun neither agreed nor spoke.

Just then, several figures flew over. Several Mount Wukang disciples appeared before them, looking at Bian Weiying with vigilance. One of them said to Shi Chun, "Shi Chun, Elder Xia is looking for you. Come with us."

Bian Weiying's eyebrow twitched slightly; she knew they were being cautious of her. They had heard she took Shi Chun and were worried she might harm him. She scoffed, decided it wasn't worth her time, and with a flick of her skirt, she swayed and vanished into the night.

Back on the mountain, Shi Chun was unable to see Elder Xia. The reason given was that Elder Xia had a sudden urgent matter.

The people on the mountain were indeed very busy. They had to turn over the spread-out indigo bamboo at regular intervals.

After meeting Wu Jinliang again, Wu Jinliang inevitably asked about the situation, and Shi Chun told him what he had seen with his right eye.

"A tree that big?" Wu Jinliang clicked his tongue in wonder. He was more concerned about whether Shi Chun had managed to touch her and if Bian Weiying had noticed.

The dazzling aurora in the sky did not disappear until the latter half of the night. A group of Mount Wukang disciples collected the indigo bamboo laid out on the ground overnight. Shi Chun and the others could not see the refining process, as the Punishment Hall side did not participate in the subsequent refining.

The next morning, Bian Weiying kept her promise, and Wu Jinliang retrieved their confiscated items.

Bian Weiying was still very considerate; she gave them all the tally sticks after they randomly carried just a few buckets of water. After taking the sticks and reporting their completion, Wu Jinliang immediately entered a state of cultivation by taking medicine, making Shi Chun quite envious.

He also had something to do: he went to see Xiang Lan'er; his pursuit of her was about to begin.