Extra 2 + Extra 3

Translated by Jinyu & Shanyang

Edited by SH (partially)

Proofread by Snake

Extra 2: Fu Dongyuan

Fu Dongyuan always felt that Jiufang Changming had not died.

This was not just his intuition, but what he believed had happened.

The battle at the Zhengrong Mountain Villa was quite fierce. During the decisive battle between Jiufang and Luomei, many disciples of the Wanjian Immortal Clan and the Zhengrong Mountain Villa got involved as well and started attacking the others, which inevitably made the battle so monumental that the sky trembled and the earth shook. Yet in the end, neither side won. Instead, all sides suffered heavy casualties.

Even though Ouyang of the Celestial Abode Shenxiao had taken precautions and gathered his disciples nearby to protect them, his barrier still could not prevent every injury. Most of the people present could not fight against the pressure caused by the intermixing demonic qi and spiritual power. While there were many cultivators who had managed to preserve their lives, their cultivation bases were decimated, leading them to eventually cut off all ties with the world of those who sought immortality.

These days, he felt the most pressure on his shoulders, even more so than during the battle itself. Although Fu Dongyuan was not the sect master, he was already supposed to assist his shizun in handling such affairs.

All this time, he never forgot Jiufang Changming. After all, Fu Dongyuan really took their fight to heart.

Fu Dongyuan had no doubt that while pretending to be Sun Wuxia, Jiufang Changming did not use even half of his actual power.

How could Fu Dongyuan, the first disciple of the Celestial Abode Shenxiao, tolerate losing to someone who had popped out of nowhere?

Even though he learned of Jiufang Changming’s actual strength later, Fu Dongyuan always wanted to surpass him. This desire urged him to never give up on cultivation, so even when he had to share his shizun’s burden, he often found time to meditate and work towards a breakthrough.

Unfortunately, the person he wanted to find never appeared again.

After several years, Ouyang perished, so the position of the clan master was handed over to Fu Dongyuan. He accepted his own disciples, and he had many followers. There was now a world of difference between his skills at that time in the Zhengrong Mountain Villa and his current cultivation level, yet the opponent he strived to surpass had vanished into thin air.

No one had forgotten Jiufang Changming.

Just like Fu Dongyuan, who could not erase him from his memory, there were others who also remembered that glorious battle.

The later generations who did not have the chance to witness it were nevertheless captivated by the story that was kept alive by their predecessors.

At Fu Dongyuan’s suggestion, several clan masters acknowledged Jiufang Changming as the strongest cultivator in the world.

Even though the man was not in the Jianghu, the Jianghu would always hold legends of him.

But Fu Dongyuan was still despondent.

In the end, the only thing he could do was to remember Jiufang Changming and ensure that no one forgot his opponent.

Fu Dongyuan never would have thought that he would see him again in his life.

The snow-white tips of his hair, the elegant and refreshing appearance—he looked the same as he was in Fu Dongyuan’s memories.

It was just that his clothes were damaged and he looked wounded, as if he had just finished that battle.

Fu Dongyuan froze for a moment before grabbing his sleeve.

“Jiufang Changming, it’s time for you to pay back with that battle you owe me!”

The man was caught off guard and let Fu Dongyuan catch his sleeve.

“Daoyou Fu is quite enthusiastic!” Jiufang Changming raised his eyebrows.

A wave of Yun Weisi’s chilly qi struck Fu Dongyuan, forcing him to let go.

Fu Dongyuan was irritated: “You disappeared for so many years that I was afraid that you’d run away!”

Some people could associate with each other until their hair turned gray yet remain strangers, while others would feel a sense of familiarity after the first encounter. Fu Dongyuan and Jiufang Changming seemed to belong to the second category.

Jiufang Changming stopped for a second and suddenly smiled: “You’ve become the clan master? I haven’t congratulated you yet.”

Fu Dongyuan: “No need for that. Just fight me.”

Jiufang Changming felt helpless: “You’re really… If I say that we actually belong to this timeline but traveled to the past, met you, killed Luomei and changed history, will you believe me?”

Fu Dongyuan stared at him blankly.

A person who was standing nearby stroked his beard with a smile: “See? The important guests I’ve predicted actually appeared!”

Fu Dongyuan sighed, trying to digest Jiufang Changming’s words.

“Are you joking?”

“Is daoyou Fu going to listen to our story while standing at the gates?”

“P-please, come in! Let this venerable one personally greet my guests!”

“That is a long story that can’t be summed up in just a few words.”

Extra 3: Now, when we shall be returning

Now, when we shall be returning: Book of Poetry, Minor odes of the kingdom, Cai Wei (eng. tr. by James Legge)

Jiufang Changming also did not expect Fu Dongyuan to be so drastically different from the one he used to know.

The Fu Dongyuan he knew was a crafty and evasive person, as sly and sharp as a fox.

He seemed to have partially guessed Luomei’s careful plan but refused to get himself involved.

After what happened with the Liuhe Zhutian Formation on the Sacred Mountain Wan, Fu Dongyuan realized that he was unable to stop Luomei. That was why he decided to hide inside his turtle shell that was the Celestial Abode Shenxiao and protect them without moving unless absolutely necessary.

That disciple of his, He Qingmo, was more hot-blooded.

The current Fu Dongyuan was not much different from the one Jiufang Changming met in the Zhengrong Mountain Villa.

Perhaps, he had become more prudent after these years, but his competitive mindset remained unchanged. As soon as he saw Jiufang Changming, he demanded a battle.

It was likely that that grand battle had changed not only past events, but also many fates. Fu Dongyuan’s life was only a small part of the changes.

In the current timeline, Yun Weisi and he were just two people with no background that appeared out of nowhere as their time was frozen at the battle at the Zhengrong Mountain Villa. There was no Jiufang Changming of the Yuhuang Temple, no Yun Weisi who had to avenge his family—everything was reset. They were just two people with no friends and enemies of this world, and their entire lives had been written off with one stroke.

They were not ordinary people. After spending half a day at the Celestial Abode Shenxiao, they had vaguely grasped the situation.

“Is the Wanlian Buddhist Temple still here?”

“Yes. Their head is Zen master Buku.”

Yun Weisi raised his eyebrows. This was interesting.

“Is this Zen master Buku the Sun Buku from the past?”

“I doubt it,” Jiufang Changming laughed. “This Zen master Buku probably wouldn’t bear grudges towards any other teacher. He has a glorious and bright path ahead of him despite encountering some obstacles on the way.”

Regardless of what had happened to Zen master Buku, there was no Jiufang Changming in his past.

The same was probably the case for Song Nanyan.

But they could not guess whether Zhou Keyi had gotten another chance after his disappearance.

When all was said and all was done, the only disciple that remained at his side was Yun Weisi.

“It seems that the Yuhuang Temple exists in this world, but there is no Jiufang Changming who came from the sect.”

“Then has the noble Yun family ever had you?”

Yun Weisi thought for a moment and shook his head: “I don’t know. Perhaps, there was a couple whose names were Yun Chang’an and Cong Rong, but they had never had me.”

What cultivators spent their lives pursuing was nothing else but the immortality granted by the mysterious primordial chaos of the Great Dao. Yet they would have never guessed that fate would lead them to such a finale.

Did he regret it?

No.

If they had not changed the past, the world and themselves would not have existed right now.

Of all the people he had met during his long life, many turned into passersby and gradually faded from his memories. Only Jiufang Changming, from the beginning till the end, was always walking half a step ahead of him.

He was only happy when he had Jiufang Changming.

Only then was his mind free of worry.

Where my heart is at peace, that would be my homeland.

Where my heart is at peace, that would be my homeland: no matter how awful the situation is, the important thing is how you feel. From a poem Dingfengbo, “Wan Dingguo is back from the South Sea, dedicated to Maid Yuniang”

Rarely did they have free time like this.

The wind bells under the eaves rang crisply. The two sat in the shadow cast by bamboo leaves and played chess.

The hand that moved a black chess piece was white and elegant.

Those who saw this hand could hardly guess that for its owner, one gesture was enough to summon clouds and call for rain, easily submerging the entire world into chaos.

Yun Weisi glanced at it with fascination and couldn’t resist reaching out and catching Jiufang Changming’s finger.

The chess piece slipped out of his grasp, fell on the chessboard and made a crisp sound.

Jiufang Changming looked askance at him, “Are you trying to cheat?”

Yun Weisi laughed. “The last time we played chess together was so many years ago.”

This gesture did not feel like a sudden surge of lust— it was just a craving for a little bit of warmth. This skin-to-skin contact reminded Yun Weisi that he was still alive and that person in front of him was the real deal and not one of the countless illusions created by the Nine Layers of the Abyss.

Jiufang Changming seemed to understand his feelings, so he took his hands and played with them repeatedly .

The tenderness of this moment was especially moving.

The chessboard ended up pressed down by an elbow, and the edge of a robe softly rustled against its surface.

The game was no longer important, nor was it important who had brushed it away, leaving a few of the chess pieces rolling on the ground. 

“Mh……”

The shadows cast by bamboo shoots danced, closely concealing  the subtle and ambiguous movements   and only revealed a gentle fluttering of a corner of white garments. 

A little oriole, which had been resting at this point in time, first craned its neck curiously, but couldn’t bear to continue looking at them soon after. With a clear chirp, it fluttered away, scattering the golden leaves from the branches it had shaken.

The afternoon was chilly, but there was a faint blush on their faces and the two of them were deeply in love and inseparable.

“I’ve suddenly thought of something…”

“Hm?”

“We’ve come to the past, changed the future and then came back. Does that mean that we can also go to the future? If we do so and experience something in the future, will the current timeline be erased as well?”

“I’ve been wondering about the same thing for several days. The flow of time is a profound mystery of the world that holds infinite secrets and can’t be easily understood. The core principle of the Dao is even more enigmatic, and I was only able to get a glimpse thanks to Chi Bijiang. I was already incredibly lucky to see this much, and in order to know more, I can only spend the rest of my life pursuing the truth.”

“As I see it, the flow of time is like the Milky Way. There is the main body that outshines the others as it pierces through the galaxy, but there are also countless minor tributaries that flow into the river. Eventually, all will gather into one stream to enter the sea and become one once again. This is how it is for every creature in the world, and so is it for time.”

“My disciple has truly succeeded in his studies. I see it the same way you do.”

“Since your disciple is so promising, shouldn’t shizun give him a small token of appreciation?”

“You……mh!”

Yun Weisi kissed away the wetness from the reddened corners of Jiufang Changmin’s eyes and said in a hoarse voice:

“Speaking of Chi Bijiang—do you think she’s alive this time?”

Perhaps the cultivation level of this girl was not worth mentioning, but her skills in formations as well as her understanding of the Great Dao might be greater than that of anyone else in the world. Had she survived longer, there was no way to guess how far she would have reached in her studies.

Yun Weisi looked forward to seeing how amazing she had become.

But Changming only sighed.

“Here comes the pest…”

Before Yun Weisi could understand who Changming addressed this way, Fu Dongyuan’s enraged scream reached his ears.

“Jiufang Changming! You’ve been hiding for so many days, are you really not going to fight me?!”

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