Chapter 40: The Eve, Kindred Spirits

After Redcloud’s attack missed its mark, he retreated to his own quarters. Sitting quietly with a cup of cool tea, he began to carefully reflect upon the foundation behind his opponent’s last move. It seemed the other’s methods were even more profound than he had imagined—far beyond what could be discerned in mere exchanges of blows. At present, he himself had only just entered the Nirvana realm, with many techniques yet to be discovered. His adversary, on the other hand, was an ancient monster who had steeped in Nirvana for countless days—surpassing him by far, making it difficult to match up in a short time.

Yet, even from that brief encounter, Redcloud had gained some insights. The opponent had turned his own weapon as light as the wind, so that when thrown, it retained its weight yet preserved its speed. Was it true that, in such a lowly world, one was left only to refine skill? In the Great Wilderness, it was one’s Dao and background that mattered—there, real battles were fought to the death, not with such intricate techniques.

Redcloud sighed inwardly. Even now, he had not found a way to break through his predicament. But now was not the time for overthinking. What mattered most was to wait for the old master of the Moonlight Pavilion to undergo his tribulation, so that he could observe closely and seek to grasp the mysteries within.

...

“Uncle Yun, I want to break through.”

Chai Xiaoyue gazed hopefully at Redcloud, her heart restless. With her unique physique and luck, her cultivation had already reached the threshold for a breakthrough. She remembered, though, what Redcloud had told her before: she must inform him when she was about to advance. That was why she now stood before him.

Redcloud glanced at her cultivation, sensing the gathering baleful energy within—indeed, she was ready to break through. He was slightly surprised.

Seeing her hopeful expression, he shook his head with a gentle laugh.

“No.”

“But, Uncle Yun, you agreed… Eh?” Xiaoyue replied instinctively, but cut herself off mid-sentence. Her ears drooped like a frostbitten eggplant.

Looking at her, Redcloud tapped her brow and the center of her chest, dissipating nearly half her baleful energy with a flick of his hand before turning to leave.

“Your foundation is still lacking,” he said. “Don’t be impatient. Let your cultivation settle for a while before you seek to break through.”

...

“Oh…” Xiaoyue responded with a long, reluctant sigh, then began to play with her flute to express her discontent. Since Redcloud had given her a new flute, she had cherished it dearly—were it not for the constraints of the day, she might have become utterly engrossed in it.

Before meeting Redcloud, she had known none of these joys. She had always lived cautiously, without spirit or vitality. Who could have imagined that this seemingly timid little girl, once she discovered her interests, would become so enraptured?

It seemed the time had come to devise a few methods for channeling baleful energy through melodies. Perhaps it would bring her a pleasant surprise. So thought Redcloud, smiling to himself. As the favored child of this world’s fate, whenever her host was constrained by the world’s rules, her intentions would unhesitatingly shift.

But there was nothing wrong with that. After all, he had been shrewd and calculating for countless eons—he knew how to weigh things. If he couldn’t discern such matters, he would have lived in vain.

...

The sixteenth night of the month. By dusk, a full moon had already risen into the sky. Beneath its glow, every building, plant, lake, and stretch of earth was bathed in silvery light.

Redcloud sat by the window in his inn, gazing at the moon, lost in thought. In the Great Wilderness, he had traveled everywhere, unhindered. He had set foot on the Taiyin Star more than once, experiencing its lunar aura and unique Dao rhythm.

When he was still at the Treasure Body realm, the moon of this Bottle World had seemed no different from any ordinary star. But now, having entered the Nirvana realm here, he could vaguely discern certain secrets.

He suddenly felt that this full moon before his eyes was strangely unreal.

Thunder rumbled.

With the peal of thunder, dense dark clouds gathered in the sky, yet the full moon remained unshrouded.

Hearing the sound, Redcloud stood. The window closed quietly behind him, but in the room, he was already gone.

...

Roughly two hundred miles from there.

Redcloud’s figure rose into the air, drifting leisurely toward the direction of the lightning tribulation. When he was still a hundred miles away, he stopped—not for lack of will, but because the tribulation clouds already spanned thirty miles; should he draw any closer, he risked being caught in the calamity.

Hmm…

As Redcloud observed, a sudden radiance enveloped him. In the next instant, he found himself standing within a formation, surrounded by more than a dozen demon cultivators, all watching him warily.

“Today our old clan chief faces his tribulation. What is your purpose here? Our Yinshade Moon Rabbit clan has not invited any outsiders!”

A dozen Treasure Body demons think they can bar my way?

Redcloud glanced at them, instantly measuring their cultivation—none higher than late Treasure Body. He sneered.

“I merely wish to observe the mysteries of the Metamorphosis Lightning Tribulation. Am I not allowed to watch?”

Seeing the flickers of anger on their faces, he let a trace of his own power leak out, pressing down on them.

“Am I not qualified to watch?”

“Nir… Nirvana!” The leader gritted his teeth, feeling the crushing pressure. If this were merely a Treasure Body cultivator, they could have easily dealt with him using the formation. Today, even with the advantage of the array and the land, the gap was simply too vast to bridge. A Nirvana demon could rule an entire province—currently, there were only three Nirvana demons in the open.

Hmm?

Just as Redcloud was about to leave the formation to observe the tribulation, he noticed something. With a flick of his finger, a tiny bat was forced from shadow into substance, frozen before him.

“So, another Nirvana expert has arrived. How rare.”

He crushed the bat, and at once, a muffled groan sounded. A figure appeared in the distance, facing Redcloud.