Chapter 2: The Same-Heart Jade
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away.
In the main hall of a subterranean ruin, an expedition team comprised of rogue cultivators lay sprawled haphazardly across the floor, utterly exhausted.
Not far from them rested a massive severed dragon head. Fleshy pink fangs, each as tall as an adult, protruded from its gaping, bloody maw. Dragon whiskers as thick as rice bowls sprawled in every direction, and highly corrosive saliva pooled on the ground.
The air was thick with a dizzying, nauseating stench.
“The Demon Dragon is dead. One strike, one kill,” the team leader announced as he climbed down from the dragon’s head.
The crowd erupted in cheers.
“We owe it all to the Senior Expert’s Dragon-Slaying Sword Art!” The leader’s voice pitched high with excitement as he turned and bowed respectfully toward a mysterious figure standing sideways in the shadow of a coiled dragon pillar.
The crowd burst into even more enthusiastic cheers.
The only thing more earth-shattering than encountering a legendary Demon Dragon was encountering a sword cultivation master with god-tier dragon-slaying skills at the exact same moment.
The only regret was that the expert refused to reveal his identity. All they could see was a figure in a hooded cloak, their face obscured by a dense fog.
This was typical when the gap in cultivation bases was too wide; separated by a barrier of spiritual power, one couldn’t hope to see clearly even if standing right next to them.
Even the voice was altered—muffled and sparing with words—making it impossible to guess which high-ranking master from the divine altars stood before them.
However, everyone knew the score. Great experts possessing such dragon-slaying skills could be counted on two hands. They were either elders of the Three Great Sects, the Adjudicators of the cultivation world who reigned above the sects, or transcendent wandering immortals.
These were the apex existences of the cultivation world. The rogue cultivators wandering through the mundane dust of the world never imagined they would witness such power with their own eyes. This fleeting glimpse made them realize just how vast the chasm was between themselves and the peak.
The black shadow shifted, and the mysterious expert stepped out from the darkness.
The team leader hurriedly pressed his hands down, signaling for everyone to be quiet.
The ruin hall fell so silent one could hear a pin drop.
The mysterious expert walked into the center of the crowd but didn’t stop. He headed straight for the stone door directly ahead.
It was the only passage from the hall to the treasure vault. Just moments ago, several black-green vines had surged from the stone door and snatched two expedition members.
The stone door had quickly sealed shut, seamless and tight. The bizarre patterns on its surface seemed to have been activated, pulsating with an evil black-green light.
The expert had been fixated on the patterns of this stone door from the beginning, but he seemed unsure how to crack it and hadn’t made a rash move.
Seeing the expert approach the door, the team leader quickly waved over a few knowledgeable veteran members. They gathered around, chattering and discussing the patterns to offer the expert some references.
Among them, an older medical cultivator stroked his beard. “This appears to be the script of Tura Paradox. The Tura Paradox comes from the sea…”
The expert’s hand, which had been tracing the strange patterns, suddenly paused. A muffled voice emerged from the black fog. “You also think it’s Tura Paradox script?”
“Precisely.” The older healer perked up, immediately sharing everything he knew. “However, I am ashamed to say that while I, surnamed Miao, have heard of it, I do not recognize the meaning of the characters on this door. But the Tura Paradox script is extremely wicked; I fear it cannot be broken by force.”
“Mm…” The mysterious expert suddenly waved his hand.
The black fog around him dissipated into nothingness. The crowd was shocked to reveal a face much younger than they had imagined—he looked to be only twenty-six or twenty-seven.
Gasps echoed through the team. The young male and female cultivators stared unblinkingly at that handsome, youthful face, wishing they could bore holes into it with their eyes.
Why didn’t they recall such a young figure among the top masters of the cultivation world? Was this little brother the reclusive disciple of some worldly sage, bumped into just as he descended the mountain?
Yet, his demeanor and aura were nothing like a fledgling youth stepping out for the first time.
The team leader, being more experienced, knew that experts could alter their appearance at will. Looking young didn’t mean he was actually young; it just meant he had achieved the Foundation Establishment stage early in life. Judging by his cool, grave demeanor and that aura of authority without anger, the leader would believe it if told this man was at least eighty or ninety.
“Senior looks so kind and familiar, I wonder if we have met,” the leader said respectfully. ” I dare not ask, but may I know Senior’s honorable name?”
“Surname is Rong.”
The answer was still sparing, the voice younger than before, but just as icy.
Rong?
The team leader was confused. Where in the cultivation world was there a top expert named Rong? He thought that once the expert gave a surname, he could guess the identity. He hadn’t expected the answer to tell him absolutely nothing.
It’s probably a fake name, the crowd thought in unison.
The mysterious expert’s gaze swept over the group, finally landing on a censer hanging from someone’s pack. “You are an Incense Cultivator?”
Incense Cultivation was a very rare path, using censers as tools and incense as a medium to conjure lifelike illusions.
It was a path famously known for being useless.
“I… I am.” The Incense Cultivator hadn’t expected the expert to call on her. She stammered, shrinking as she stepped forward.
“Do me a favor.” The expert pointed to the ground in front of the stone door. “Set up an incense array here. Encompass the area where I am standing and all the ghostly scrawls on the stone door. Can you do that?”
A wave of pressure bore down on her. The Incense Cultivator could barely lift her neck, squeezing a mosquito-like sound through her teeth: “I can…”
“Good.” The expert nodded.
A short while later, the array was set, and the space before the stone door was shrouded in a faint, fragrant mist.
The expert sat cross-legged, hands resting on his knees.
The crowd retreated a good ten feet away, craning their necks in curiosity.
They didn’t know what the expert intended to do. Was he going to open the door? Had he found a way to decipher the ancient text? Or was he planning to break through by force?
Under their unblinking gaze, a jade pendant the size of a copper button rose rapidly, hovering in mid-air level with the expert’s forehead.
“Is that… a Transmission Jade?”
Someone recognized the style of the pendant.
Transmission Jades were invaluable. The raw material was the precious Sound Jade of the West Sea. Two symbiotic jade embryos were cut to create two pendants. No matter the distance, they could transmit voices to one another—speaking into one was like speaking directly into the other’s ear.
“No, that is not an ordinary Transmission Jade.” The knowledgeable Healer Miao stroked his beard and spoke up again. “That is a Same-Heart Transmission Jade.”
“What is a Same-Heart Transmission Jade?” the crowd asked urgently.
“Ordinary Transmission Jades can only transmit sound. This jade, however, can transmit ‘form,’ and it consumes less spiritual energy than the ordinary kind.”
“That amazing!” The crowd’s horizons were broadened. Some from wealthy families began to get ideas. “A Same-Heart Transmission Jade must be very expensive, right?”
“No, not expensive. About the same as ordinary ones, just rarely seen on the market.” Healer Miao chuckled. “You must be wondering, if the Same-Heart Jade is both useful and cheap, why are so few in circulation?”
“Old Senior Miao, stop keeping us in suspense.”
“That is because the Same-Heart Transmission Jade can only be used between two people whose hearts are connected. It requires a compatibility of souls,” Healer Miao explained with a grin.
Eh?
Hearts connected? Souls compatible?
Wouldn’t that mean…
It could only be used between Dao Companions who were deeply in love?
The small flame of gossip in everyone’s hearts instantly whooshed into a roaring fire.
Did that mean they were about to see the mysterious expert’s Dao Companion?
Before learning the expert’s name, seeing his wife first… well, that wasn’t a bad deal either.
A thin but brilliant beam of light connected the expert’s brow to the center of the jade.
Waves of golden light rippled out, oscillating through the incense mist.
Gradually, a human form appeared within the fog.
The figure was dressed in clothes whiter than snow. Long hair cascaded like a waterfall, tied in a simple bun resting loosely at the back of the head. Two ribbons of pristine white silk fluttered in the breeze. Even from the back, the figure inspired infinite reverie.
As expected of an expert’s wife, the crowd thought. Just that posture and temperament make for a celestial figure… Their curiosity was partially satisfied.
“It’s me, Rong Er.” The expert opened his eyes, looking up at the figure in the air. His icy expression softened, and a barely-there smile rippled through his pitch-black pupils.
“Rong Er” was a fake identity Shen Bingsi had fabricated for the outside world. His real identity was too conspicuous and always invited unnecessary trouble. He used this name when walking abroad, and if he had to contact Rong Xie in front of outsiders, he would report this name first to align their stories.
This mysterious expert was none other than one of the three Great Adjudicators of the cultivation world, the Master of Huanxue Villa, Shen Bingsi. The figure forming in the incense mist was his best friend and butler, Rong Xie.
Eliminating the Demon Dragon was a mission given by the Sky Mirror. Shen Bingsi usually worked alone, and this time was no exception. He hadn’t expected to arrive and find the underground hall packed with people—a crowd comparable to the Three Sects Alliance. It turned out to be a treasure-hunting team of rogue cultivators who had stumbled in by mistake, giving Shen Bingsi quite a headache.
He had intended to kill the dragon and leave, but the bizarre stone door had snatched two people right in front of his face. He couldn’t tolerate such provocation; if he didn’t flatten this dungeon’s nest, he wasn’t leaving today.
“Mm, this script… it is indeed Tura Paradox text.” The figure in the fragrant mist floated down, attention immediately locking onto the stone door. Phantom fingers, slender as scallions, traced over the intaglio carvings.
Shen Bingsi’s smile stiffened slightly. Although the image he transmitted was facing the door, Rong Xie didn’t even acknowledge him, pouncing directly onto the ghostly scribbles on the door instead.
As for the surrounding crowd, they were immersed in a shocking realization—the expert’s wife was a man!
No matter how delicate and graceful the back view was, that voice was distinctly that of a gentle male.
Although anything could happen in the cultivation world—especially among those long-lived experts—the mainstream practice was still the harmony of yin and yang, male and female cultivators becoming Dao Companions.
Male-male unions were incredibly rare. There were no rumors of the top few experts keeping a male companion by their side.
While the crowd was busy making a fuss in their hearts, Rong Xie had already deciphered the meaning of the text.
He turned around, his eyes—like smoke wreathing a willow—lowered slightly. The corners of his mouth lifted in a sly, self-satisfied arc as he told Shen Bingsi the meaning of the words. As long as he followed the instructions, the door would open.
Shen Bingsi looked up at him, arms still resting loosely on his knees. Yet, when he spoke, he looked as if he wanted to stand up and embrace the projection. There was a sense of oneness between them so thick it couldn’t be dissolved. The crowd standing nearby felt like roadside trees—serving no purpose other than to gather dust.
“A male Dao Companion like that isn’t bad either,” the team leader commented honestly.
Shen Bingsi stood up. Following Rong Xie’s instructions, he pressed his hand against the Tura Paradox text on the door. With a pulse of spiritual energy, several of the carved characters turned from green to black, emitting a gloomy dark vapor.
Click.
It sounded like a mechanism springing open. The stone door slowly receded, revealing a dark, gaping tunnel.
“Success!” the team members cried in delight.
“Senior Rong’s Dao Companion is truly amazing!” the team leader praised lavishly.
However, Shen Bingsi, standing before the door, turned his head with a confused expression. In the mist, Rong Xie looked equally bewildered.
Almost in unison, the two asked:
“What Dao Companion?”
Recommended Reads
