Chance Encounter

Once, I heard a song that described love in this way:

“Love is happiness, is sorrow, is intoxication, is emotion, or, in the future, regarded as legend.
Love is promise, is habit, is time, is gray hair, and brings sudden surprise or joy.
Completely forgetting oneself, one can pledge life and death.
Who will ask about the future, when the sky is high and the wind fierce, and two fly far together?
Love is a smile, a wild laugh, a silly laugh, a jest, or fear of loneliness.
What is the price of love, what is its reason, in which world, and why bring warmth in the snow of this world?
Who can pray for anything, the result can move one to song or tears.
Who can bear the consequences, overturning heaven and sea, never regretting the beginning.”

Love and affection are not limited to lovers alone. The love for parents and elders, the friendship among friends, the kindness shown to strangers with good intentions, the passion for things one cherishes—all of these are forms of love.

Hansu never believed that to become immortal, one must abandon all emotion and cultivate into a cold, detached “celestial being.” She had heard that some, unable to overcome tribulations due to attachment to their beloved, would sever their emotional ties with a sword, even killing the other to aid their own ascension.

What meaning is left in becoming such an immortal?

Most people pursue cultivation for the sake of immortality. Yet, if nothing can touch the softest part of their hearts, what is the point of immortality?

It is said that to become a Golden Immortal, one must sever three corpses—representing three internal vices: selfishness, hunger, and lust.

But this does not mean immortals cannot eat or fall in love.

Desire and emotion are fundamentally different.

For Hansu, her initial motivation for cultivation was to return home, to her original world. She wished to go back because she could not bear to part with her parents, family, and friends.

When she learned she could not return, her cultivation became a means to prevent calamity from befalling this world, to protect its people, her parents and companions.

No matter how her state of mind changed, she always kept a loving heart.

What about the road ahead? She now understood that the truth was not so simple as she had previously imagined, nor could it be resolved merely by keeping an eye on Lu Tanxian. But that did not mean she would devote herself solely to the pursuit of the Dao, ignoring all else.

She harbored attachments in her heart, yet did not regard them as obstacles. She kept her feelings steady as water, doing what she ought and wished, without clinging to reward or outcome. This was the path she chose to walk.

Her “Dao” was becoming ever clearer and more definite, the pressure gradually lessening. The shadow of her parents from her past life, stooped and supporting each other, faded; she saw them face things positively, crossing hardships together. The scenes of her parents in this life, and her siblings and peers of the Yaohua Sect, lying bloodied on the ground, grew indistinct. The mad figures of Su Yunmo and Lu Tanxian, shouting at the sky, were torn apart, replaced by Su Yunmo and Lin Tai smiling at each other.

The surrounding spiritual energy surged toward her, washing through her meridians again and again—Golden Core, seventh level!

With all her years of traveling, and her steadfast Dao heart, at last, upon reaching the seventh level of Golden Core, she became a qualified cultivator.

It took her ten days to calm the turbulent spiritual energy and adjust the external pressure.

Hansu finished her cultivation, opened the training room. Outside, the moon was at its zenith; the courtyard, meticulously cleaned by Rongrong, was spotless. The osmanthus tree released a gentle fragrance. It was time to go.

She packed away her puppets and scattered implements, making no attempt to conceal them, and simply walked out the door.

She could sense the spiritual awareness of Ji Yan and others, but they wisely did not pursue her. She could not say she was relieved, but Hansu certainly felt less troubled.

Her destination this time was Fuhai Realm.

In fact, her previous intentional stop at Shiyu Realm to hunt sea beasts had a purpose—she wanted to go to Fuhai Realm. When she discovered the underwater Crystal Palace last time, she had sent a jade talisman to Lord Rongling. The Immortal Lord did not mention his own affairs, only said he would go take a look. But he gave her specific advice: to visit more diverse places, experience different people and events, and enrich her state of mind.

Vaguely, Hansu felt something drawing her toward Fuhai Realm—not just a wish to see how Huaiyin was doing, and why she had received no news for so long. There was a voice in her heart calling her to go, to Fuhai Realm.

But she had heard the realm was chaotic, being a place where demon cultivators gathered. The conflicts among demon clans were intense. Even just passing through, human cultivators often got caught up in disputes. Some demon clans were hostile to humans, so she had to be well prepared to avoid unexpected death.

The sea beasts along Shiyu Realm’s coast, though not comparable to demon cultivators, shared certain traits, so Hansu chose to train here.

Moreover, this place was the trading hub of the Three Realms, with the most reliable news. Over these days, she had gathered all the information she needed, prepared thoroughly, and, right as she advanced in cultivation, decided to set out.

Due to trade, Wuting Town had a teleportation array leading to Fuhai Realm. But to use it, one had to register and pay a hefty sum of spirit stones.

Though Hansu had no shortage of spirit stones, she did not plan to use the teleportation array. Few could afford cross-realm teleportation, but many cultivators needed to cross realms. Besides teleportation, another way to reach Fuhai Realm was through the underwater passage.

Flying over the sea was possible, but tedious, and the fierce winds made survival unlikely for anyone below Nascent Soul stage. The underwater route was clearer, with towns along the way for resupply. With a Water Avoidance Pearl, it was relatively easy.

She was not in a hurry. When she met Su Yunmo in Tumeat City, she was given a map of the underwater passage, which not only marked all the routes but also detailed the towns along the way. No wonder Su Yunmo managed to escape through the sea with only Foundation Establishment cultivation.

Hansu affixed a Swift Step talisman to her leg, and swiftly reached the sea.

Xiao Ba had given her good advice—her rented cave residence was tranquil, a bit far from the city center, but very convenient for reaching the shore. The entry point marked on the sea map was nearby.

Hansu took out a high-grade Water Avoidance Pearl and wore it, then entered the water.

The Immortal Palace was still with her, having been refined and stored in her dantian. Immortal Lord Rongling had not taken it back when he left, but Hansu rarely used it now. She understood that relying on external objects was not dependable; only improving and relying on herself was the most secure and reassuring path.

If she operated the Immortal Palace, many troubles would be avoided, but her purpose was to immerse herself in the world. Fewer troubles meant less opportunity for growth, a poor exchange. Experiencing it herself was what gave meaning.

The underwater situation was unpredictable; so-called underwater passage was merely a relatively safe and stable route, not much different from other sea regions.

Day and night blurred in the sea; she did not know how long she traveled. Her excitement and awe at the beautiful underwater world faded into ennui. Fortunately, she finally encountered the first underwater town.

This town had a beautiful name: Glaze. From afar, the whole small town shimmered with a glass-like glow, peaceful and tranquil.

Hansu entered the town. The guard was a demon cultivator equivalent to a human at the Qi Refining stage.

The difference between demon cultivators and demon beasts lies in intelligence. Some demon beasts reach the seventh or eighth tier yet remain ignorant, driven only by instinct, unable to be called demon cultivators. Only those who gain intelligence or transform into human form and begin to practice demon cultivation techniques are no longer demon beasts.

Some, like descendants of powerful divine beasts, are born with intelligence, regardless of cultivation.

For demon cultivator offspring, the most direct way to gain intelligence is Emperor Nectar.

On the night of the seventh lunar month, Emperor Nectar, resembling countless olives and golden threads, descends, stringing down to the mortal world. Grass and trees blessed by its essence can become demons.

This means every sixty years, on the night of the full moon, Emperor Nectar descends. Even demon children rarely gain intelligence at birth; loving elders fly to the closest point to the moon to await the nectar, collect it in special jade bottles, and grant their young hope of awakening intelligence.

But not every attempt succeeds. Some powerful demon cultivators, capable of moving mountains and seas, cover half a city, yet the nectar passes them by, falling instead on a simple rabbit grazing below.

Thus, demon cultivators are not numerous, nor do all originate from transformed beasts. Various cultivation levels and races coexist. No wonder the town guard’s transformation was incomplete, his long fish tail still sweeping the ground.

Though the world was peaceful and humans and demons held little animosity, in such a remote town, human cultivators remained rare.

So, Hansu attracted much attention as she entered.

She had already prepared all necessities in Wuting Town, but since it was her first time in an underwater demon town, she wanted to buy some local specialties for her family and friends. Upon entering, she sought the market. The demon cultivators she saw were not strong, most in their original forms, not transformed, making it awkward to approach—how could she stop a shrimp and ask questions?

Fortunately, as she walked, she spotted a shop. It was the largest in town, with a sign that looked like a Daoist establishment, and she even saw the seal of the Cong family from Fanyang City in Luoxing Realm!

The Cong family was truly formidable, their business already reaching here?

Hansu paused, looked inside. The shopkeeper was indeed a human cultivator. He noticed her, smiled, and came out to invite her in.

“Rare to see a human cultivator in an underwater town. Unexpectedly, several groups arrived today. Please, Immortal, come in and browse. Whether buying or selling, our prices are fair. Even if you don’t buy, meeting here is fate—let’s become friends.”

The shopkeeper was eloquent, dressed in a blue brocade robe, a deep purple bird-patterned gold sash at his waist, hair perfectly arranged, eyes lazy but sharp when he saw Hansu, seeming shrewd and composed. His slender figure, calm and elegant, even holding a folding fan in the sea, made him look more like a refined scholar than a merchant.

He was none other than Cong Baoxin of Fanyang City.

Decades had passed since Lu Tanxian last attended his trade fair. In that time, Cong Baoxin had expanded his business across all Luoxing Realm’s towns, but was not satisfied. This year was his first foray into overseas markets!

Why choose an obscure underwater town instead of Fuhai mainland? He had his reasons.

A friend of his was the town’s lord, but had no foundation on the mainland. Starting small was wiser. Though the town was small, the sea’s produce was abundant; collecting goods here and selling them to Luoxing Realm yielded great profits. With the rise in popularity of the underwater route, more travelers found this place, and he discovered it was marked as a rest stop on sea maps. Opening a shop here made perfect sense.

His plan was sound, but implementation was less smooth, so he came to manage the shop himself, hoping to expand business.

Hansu was surprised to see a late Foundation Establishment cultivator running a shop in such a remote town, but kept her composure. She asked, “You said several groups arrived today?”

Cong Baoxin noticed her caution, but did not mind. He smiled, gestured for her to enter, personally poured her a cup of spirit tea, sipped first to show safety, and said, “Immortal Jiang is correct. Two groups of human cultivators entered the town today, coincidentally both from Luoxing Realm.”

Now Hansu was truly surprised. She put down her tea and asked, “You recognize me?”

Cong Baoxin smiled, took out a jade slip, and said, “This Yaohua Four Young Masters and Five Beauties roster is for sale in our shop. Though no one buys it in this small town, we have it in stock. Would Immortal Jiang like a copy?”

Hansu felt her face flush and regretted not disguising herself, but she had nothing to hide, no enemies or grudges. Even if recognized, it mattered little. She relaxed.

“May I know your Daoist name?”

“Oh, not at all. I am Cong Baoxin from Fanyang City.” He gently waved his fan, displaying a modest yet slightly proud smile.

“So you are Daoist Cong. Pardon my manners. I’ve just arrived and have things to buy and sell, and would appreciate your introduction to this town.”

Author’s note: Because I included over a hundred words of lyrics, but felt the lyrics were very apt for conveying the emotion I needed, I placed the extra hundred words in the author’s note to avoid charging readers for them.

Hansu knew of him. Though she spent most of these decades secluded or traveling, she often received letters from Senior Sister Lin Xiu and Tu Qiqi. Lin Xiu mostly discussed sect affairs and her parents’ wellbeing, while Tu Qiqi gossiped about everything under the sun. Therefore, Hansu knew the head of Feixing Academy, Yu Yicong, was lecturing everywhere, competing with Daoists for disciples; she knew Cong Baoxin had expanded Cong family business across Luoxing Realm’s towns, and even the Yaohua sect’s market had his shops...

She just never expected Cong Baoxin to look like this—not at all the plump, jolly merchant she had imagined.