Dressing Box

Should one say such things to a mere Golden Core snake demon with whom one has no ties?

Bai Yujing took a distracted sip of sweet plum dew.

He had been dull-witted in matters of romance since he was young, a fact that had caused no small amount of trouble and earned him many punishments from that person.

Back then, a spirit plant from the neighboring mountain who always bullied him had coiled a flower around his tail when he was heading home. Seeing how pretty the flower was, he brought it back and gave it to his benefactor as a gift.

Then… well, the past was a bit too painful to recall. Bai Yujing quickly cut off the memory, unable to stop himself from pressing his legs together.

Now, he was no longer that little twenty-year-old snake of the past; he could finally discern that something was slightly “off” here.

While Bai Yujing was lost in thought, the auction finally reached its true climax, leading with a heavyweight item.

A Golden Core attendant held a Qiankun Bag with both hands, carefully placing it upon the auction stage.

Many swept the bag with their divine sense, only to find a silver dragon swimming within the space of the pouch.

The auctioneer paused for dramatic effect before calling out: “Welcome, everyone, to today’s grand finale! Please welcome our first Heaven-tier item—a Grade-2 Spirit Vein! Starting bid: two thousand high-grade spirit stones!”

Gasps of shock erupted throughout the hall. Su Jiushao, clearly seeing such a spectacle for the first time, couldn’t help but sit bolt upright.

Bai Yujing snapped out of his daze and licked his sweetened lips.

Logically speaking, if a spirit vein could gain sentience and take form, it would be considered part of the Spirit Race. So… did auctioning a spirit vein count as auctioning off Xuan Lie’s second uncle?

Amused by his own thought, Bai Yujing suppressed a smile and turned to look at Xuan Lie.

“What is it?”

“Nothing.” The little beauty smiled, honeyed words of praise falling effortlessly from his lips. “I just thought Lang-jun looked handsome and wanted to look a while longer.”

Even knowing he was talking nonsense and likely harbored ill intentions, Xuan Lie paused, his expression softening ever so slightly.

Confronted with a Grade-2 Spirit Vein, many were “all thunder and no rain.” There were many onlookers but few bidders, though every bid that did emerge was an astronomical sum. Clearly, while the audience for a spirit vein was narrow, there were a few willing to throw away fortunes for it.

Ultimately, without Bai Yujing or Xuan Lie intervening, a Transformation Stage cultivator secured the entire spirit vein for fifty thousand high-grade spirit stones.

Had it not been for Xuan Lie’s previous bids, this would have been a staggering figure to many cultivators from minor worlds.

However, the real show was only just beginning.

“Today’s second Heaven-tier item—the Nine Songs Phoenix-Facing Vanity, a cosmetic case once used by the Great Shaman! Starting bid: five thousand high-grade spirit stones!”

Bai Yujing’s eyes snapped upward.

…Whose vanity?

In the Three Thousand Worlds, certain titles were fixed.

The leader of the Righteous Path was called the Immortal Sovereign; the leader of the Demonic Path was the Demon Sovereign. The master of ten thousand demons was the Demon Emperor; the ruler of humans was the Emperor. The master of ghosts was the Yama; the master of spirits was the Spirit Emperor; and the lord of the Asuras was the Great Asura King.

And for the rarest of all, the Ancient Shaman Race, their leader was called the Great Shaman.

The current Great Shaman held the title “Qianji,” specialized in divining fortune and calamity.

But just as Xuan Lie could drop “Xuantian” and be called simply the Immortal Sovereign, there was only one person in all of history who was referred to as “The Great Shaman” without any other title.

—The first Shaman Lord, the first person to ascend since the creation of heaven and earth, and the only cultivator in eternity to ascend through the Path of Emotionlessness: Great Shaman Guiyao.

But how could her vanity case appear in such an obscure little world?

Seeing Bai Yujing sit up straight, Su Jiushao couldn’t help but ask, “Does Senior intend to bid for this?”

Bai Yujing nodded. “Mhm. Though the story of ‘Killing a husband to prove one’s Dao’ hangs over it, it is a relic of the Great Shaman after all. There will likely be many bidders; best to prepare early.”

Su Jiushao was wondering what “preparing early” meant when, in the next moment, she saw him turn and grab Xuan Lie’s wrist. He gave it a calculated couple of tugs, the gold and jade on his wrist chiming crisply. “Lang-jun, I want it.”

Su Jiushao: “…”

…So ‘preparing’ meant preparing for this?

She had seen plenty of sycophantic, haughty beauties, but most of those who acted entitled were merely faking it; in reality, they were masters at reading the room. Bai Yujing’s haughtiness, however, was entirely natural—it was as if he weren’t afraid of the other person becoming annoyed at all.

Xuan Lie, however, remained unmoved, acting as if he were truly beyond the reach of beauty.

“Eight thousand high-grade spirit stones!”

The bidding outside made the silence in the room exceptionally awkward.

Su Jiushao tried to break the tension. “May I ask Senior, what does ‘Killing a husband to prove one’s Dao’ refer to?”

Bai Yujing didn’t seem ashamed that his attempt at acting spoiled had failed. Instead, he spoke with perfect composure: “The Three Living Paths: Human, Demon, and Spirit. The Three Destructive Paths: Ghost, Shaman, and Asura. Each of the six races has its own path of cultivation, and the gaps between them are difficult to bridge.”

Legend said there was once a genius who used a demon’s body to practice the human path and achieved mastery in the Way of the Sword. But legends were just legends; Bai Yujing, using his five hundred years as the Demon Emperor as proof, had never seen such a talent among the demons.

“The Human Race is short-lived but possesses great wisdom; the Demon Race is long-lived but lacks faith.”

“Only the Spirit Race is both long-lived and wise—the legendary ‘Natural Immortal Seeds.’ However… they lack a heart.”

…Isn’t he just calling the Spirit Race ‘heartless and brainless’?

Su Jiushao broke into a cold sweat. She finally realized this ancestor hadn’t gotten what he wanted, so he was taking his frustration out on the person next to him. She couldn’t help but steal a nervous glance at Xuan Lie.

Bai Yujing continued unperturbed: “The Spirit Race seeks no past life and cares not for the next; they only cultivate the Spirit Heart of this life. The day the Spirit Heart reaches completion is the day they ascend.”

He spoke eloquently, even entrancing the attendants nearby.

A disciple of the Su family couldn’t help but ask, “But what does that have to do with the Great Shaman?”

“The Spirit Race is naturally suited for the Path of Emotionlessness. Unfortunately, ‘the Way of Heaven takes from those who have plenty to supplement those who lack.’ They are the only ones who cannot practice the Path of Emotionlessness; they must walk the opposite path to obtain a heart and prove their Dao.”

“And legend says the first Spirit Lord was the husband of the Great Shaman Guiyao. The two were a legitimate Daoist couple.”

Hearing this, Su Jiushao instantly understood Bai Yujing’s unspoken point—Great Shaman Guiyao walked the Path of Emotionlessness, while the Spirit Lord was born without emotions.

She had initiated the bond with the Spirit Lord; perhaps there was no true love at the start, only a wager between them. The Shaman wagered she could comprehend the Great Dao from the heartless Spirit Lord, while the Spirit Lord hoped to cultivate a Spirit Heart from the Shaman Lord who was best at divining human hearts.

“Unfortunately, the Shaman who calculated everything eventually became the loser—she was the first to fall in love, deeply and irrevocably.”

“For this, Guiyao even abandoned ten thousand years of cultivation, shattered her emotionless Dao-heart, and performed the Shaman Dance that communicates with the gods for the Spirit Lord, begging him to become her husband.”

“The Spirit Lord actually agreed. And so, draped in the glow of the sunset, they bowed to Heaven and Earth and became husband and wife.”

At this point, Bai Yujing paused, his words seemingly pointed. “But a stone is a stone after all. The saying goes ‘The rock remains unmoved,’ but stones make for poor lovers.”

“A hundred years passed. The Great Shaman performed the dance once more upon the Sacrificial Altar, praying for Heaven and Earth to recognize their union. But beneath the bright moon, the world remained silent.”

“After a hundred years of marriage, the Spirit Lord’s heart was still empty, without a single sign of a Spirit Heart forming.”

“In utter despair, the Great Shaman wept and cursed: ‘You Spirit Race… truly are things without hearts, without galls, and without love!'”

As Bai Yujing spoke, the atmosphere suddenly froze.

He turned to see Su Jiushao and the two Su disciples staring at him in shock.

Bai Yujing blinked as if only just realizing his blunder. He turned back quickly, his explanation a bit too defensive: “Lang-jun, I am merely repeating the Great Shaman’s words. I didn’t mean anything by it.”

Su Jiushao: “…” Su disciples: “…”

“It’s fine,” Xuan Lie said faintly. “Continue.”

…This guy is actually this fond of gossip?

Bai Yujing mused with some surprise, but continued: “Then, at the height of her despair, the Great Shaman’s Path of Emotionlessness actually reached completion.”

“And as fate would have it, on the very day of his wife’s impending ascension, the Spirit Lord’s heart was moved. Before the Heavenly Ladder, he manifested a Spirit Heart for her.”

“It could be called a double blessing.”

No one present could see where the “blessing” was, but the story was indeed captivating. Su Jiushao couldn’t help but ask, “And then?”

“And then?”

“According to the surviving Shaman records—”

“[Then, the Shaman laughed and carved it out, threw it to the ground, and flicked her sleeves to ascend to immortality.]“

The room fell into a dead silence, making the auction calls outside seem exceptionally loud: “Twenty thousand high-grade spirit stones!”

“This is the story from the primordial era: of Great Shaman Guiyao carving out a heart, killing her husband, and severing her emotions to ascend.”

Bai Yujing smiled. Under the gaze of the deathly quiet crowd, he turned and looked at Xuan Lie with a grin. “Legend says that if a member of the Spirit Race obtains the Great Shaman’s relic, they will drop dead on the spot. If a member of another race obtains it, they are destined to marry a Spirit, only to then bring ruin to their wife or husband—ascending in broad daylight like Chang’e flying to the moon, destined to enjoy eternal loneliness.”

“Lang-jun,” he said, gently grasping Xuan Lie’s wrist. “Do you believe in this legend?”

“Fifty thousand high-grade spirit stones!” the auctioneer called out. “The guest from Qingzhu Pavilion bids fifty thousand for Great Shaman Guiyao’s vanity! Is there anyone else—”

Xuan Lie spoke: “One hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones.”

As soon as he spoke, the entire auction house seemed to be seized by the throat, falling instantly silent.

A moment later, countless divine senses converged upon the Ziwei Booth. Within moments, the Master of the Tianbao Pavilion personally carried the spirit tray, delivering the vanity case to the two of them.

Bai Yujing familiarly held out the spirit stones and reached for the vanity, only to have it taken a step ahead of him. His fingertips faltered.

Xuan Lie picked up the vanity case, paused for a moment, and then handed it to the person beside him with a normal expression.

“I don’t believe it.”

“Your turn.”

The words had no beginning or end, leaving the others confused, but Bai Yujing understood his meaning instantly.

—It’s your turn to answer. Do you believe in this prophecy?

“…”

Bai Yujing met Xuan Lie’s gaze for three seconds, then broke into a charming smile, reaching out to take the vanity. “How could I believe such a ridiculous rumor?”

“Thank you, Lang-jun, for fulfilling my wish. May Lang-jun’s Spirit Heart remain healthy… and may you have peace year after year.”