The Price of Revenge and a Fated Encounter

The two disembarked from the flying boat and passed through the gates of the Imperial City. Once inside, they summoned the vessel again and flew towards the Spirit Painting Pavilion.

It was early March, so Chai Niang should likely be within the pavilion.

Before long, the flying boat arrived in the vicinity of the Spirit Painting Pavilion. Chi Qiu guided the vessel to a gentle landing not far away. They disembarked, Chi Qiu stowed the boat, and they proceeded on foot to the pavilion’s entrance.

An old man was reclining on a long bench before the main doors, fanning himself with a rush fan and leisurely sipping tea, looking utterly content.

“Guests… oh, it is you two esteemed guests. Have you come to my Spirit Painting Pavilion seeking paintings again today?”

Seeing Chi Qiu and Su Hanxing approach with clear purpose, the old man set down his tea and rose to greet them.

Although it had been over a year since their last visit, the old man still remembered them clearly. With a smile on his face, he welcomed Chi Qiu and Su Hanxing into the Spirit Painting Pavilion.

“Is Chai Niang in the pavilion?”

Chi Qiu followed the old man inside, and before he could even offer to brew tea, she took the initiative to ask.

“She is, she is. She’s still in the same studio as before. Shall I guide you?” The old man nodded repeatedly.

“No need, we’ll go up ourselves.” Hearing that Chai Niang was indeed present, Chi Qiu’s face lit up with joy. She waved her hand, declining the old man’s offer. Then, exchanging a glance with Su Hanxing, the two immediately headed upstairs to the studio where Chai Niang resided.

“Come in.”

Chi Qiu and Su Hanxing pushed the door open and entered. The black-haired, purple-eyed Chai Niang was not painting; instead, she reclined on a soft couch, her chin resting in her right hand, lost in thought.

“It’s you two? Have you found that Heart God Sect elder?”

Upon seeing Chi Qiu and Su Hanxing enter, Chai Niang’s eyes instantly brightened, and she hurriedly stood up to ask.

“Since we have come to find you, naturally we have found him.” Chi Qiu smiled faintly. She pulled Su Hanxing along, found two chairs at random, and sat down before speaking.

“Where is he? What is his strength?” Chai Niang rushed before them, her expression a complex mix of anxiety and hesitation, her thoughts seemingly turbulent.

“I want the item for cultivating the Dao of Ink Wash Painting first,” Chi Qiu said, extending her hand.

“This… words are no guarantee. If you deceive me with nonsense, wouldn’t I lose my treasure for nothing?” Chai Niang blinked her purple eyes, her face filled with hesitation.

“We are both cultivators participating in the Heavenly Martial Assembly. We certainly won’t leave the Imperial City for the next two years. We reside by the arenas outside the city; if the information is false, you can simply find us there,” Su Hanxing said, tapping his fingers on the wooden armrest.

“Very well. I know you are both young prodigies; I assume you wouldn’t embezzle my meager belongings.” Chai Niang sighed. She opened her storage artifact, retrieved a scroll, and handed it to Chi Qiu.

The moment Chai Niang produced the painting, Chi Qiu keenly sensed a peculiar aura of the “Dao” rushing towards her, making her itch to open and examine it immediately.

Chi Qiu suppressed the surge of emotion in her heart and glanced sideways at Su Hanxing. He was looking at the scroll with a puzzled expression, evidently not sensing even a shred of the Dao’s aura.

It seems Su Hanxing’s talent for comprehending the Grand Dao is truly abysmal to an inconceivable degree… Chi Qiu thought to herself.

“That Heart God Sect elder is surnamed Song. He serves as an outer sect steward within the Heart God Sect and is also a master of spiritual power,” Chi Qiu said after a brief pause. “With the opening of the Heavenly Martial Assembly, he accompanied the participating Heart God Sect disciples to the Imperial City. They are currently stationed about eight hundred li west of the five arenas outside the South Gate.”

“God Concealing stage…”

Chai Niang’s expression grew heavy. She then pressed, “There are disparities even between cultivators of the God Concealing stage. How does his strength compare to others in that realm?”

Su Hanxing pondered for a moment, then answered decisively, “His strength is far greater than many of the young talents participating in the Heavenly Martial Assembly.”

Although the Heavenly Martial Assembly was grand in scale, its participants were all cultivators under the age of fifty. The Dharma Manifestation Realm was like a heavenly chasm; many exceptionally talented cultivators could not cross it in their entire lifetimes.

After realizing they had no hope of breaking through to the Dharma Manifestation Realm, these cultivators often sought alternative paths, using methods that might seem unorthodox to others to enhance their strength. Relying on the accumulation of years, their power was naturally much greater than that of younger cultivators.

“Is he truly that strong…”

Chai Niang’s face turned ashen. She turned back and sat on the long couch, muttering something under her breath, looking extremely dejected.

“Miss Chai, allow me to ask a presumptuous question. Why do you seek this Steward Song of the Heart God Sect?”

Seeing Chai Niang in such a state, Su Hanxing couldn’t help but ask, even though he had already guessed the likely reason.

After all, the Heart God Sect and his Tianyan Sect were sworn enemies, and Heart God Sect cultivators rarely revealed themselves. If he could glean some intelligence about them here, it would be for the best.

“I suppose you can tell. I seek this man for revenge.”

Hearing this, Chai Niang looked up at Su Hanxing. After a moment of hesitation, she finally spoke.

“My father was a cultivator. His talent was extremely poor; he spent his entire life barely reaching the Spirit Nourishing Realm. In his early years, he served as a servant disciple in a sect. Later, feeling he had no hope in the Dao, he married a mortal wife and subsequently had me.” Chai Niang did not directly speak of her grudge with the steward but began by introducing her background.

“After marrying and having a child, my father still frequently went to the sect to work as a servant disciple. He knew cultivation was hopeless for him, but he still wanted to try.”

At this, both Chi Qiu and Su Hanxing nodded. The satisfaction brought by improving one’s realm and increasing strength could surpass almost all worldly pleasures. Chai Niang’s father’s mindset was perfectly normal.

“One day when I was five years old, my father returned home covered in blood. He told my mother that the sect had been attacked and was nearly wiped out. He seized the opportunity to steal a treasure from within the sect and brought it out.” Chai Niang paused, then looked at Chi Qiu and said, “It is that scroll.”

No wonder Chai Niang, a Heart Scripture Realm cultivator, possesses such a treasure of the Grand Dao. It turns out her father stole it from a sect.

One must know that within the territory of Daqi, only cultivators of the Dharma Manifestation Realm could establish a sect. Therefore, even the smallest sect would possess treasures that were quite extraordinary.

“Father knew someone was pursuing him, so he hid the treasure at home and then fled for his life. However, he didn’t get very far before he was crushed to pieces by a palm print descending from the sky…”

Chai Niang spoke slowly, her tone almost devoid of fluctuation. Though she spoke of a heartbreaking past, the expression on her face did not change much, as if she had long become accustomed to the pain.

“The person who struck with that palm print is the Steward Song I asked you to find. His goal at the time was very clear: to take my father’s life. He completely ignored the treasure my father had stolen. After confirming my father was dead, he simply left.”