Chapter 8

Lan Ruo originally wanted to chase after, but before she took a step, she suddenly felt an unfamiliar spiritual power fluctuation within the barrier of the back mountain.

The back mountain was a forbidden area, and Lan Ruo hadn’t seen with her own eyes whether Li You had come out from there.

Now the strange spiritual power was still present in the back mountain. Lan Ruo could clearly distinguish between what was familiar and what was not.

She hurriedly chased the source of the spiritual power into the back mountain, but as soon as she entered, that spiritual power disappeared.

Lan Ruo frowned, very cautiously walking slowly through the pear orchard. After taking a few steps forward, she suddenly saw Yu Wu lying by the jade stone at the lake’s edge.

All previous caution vanished instantly. Lan Ruo quickly ran over and half-lifted Yu Wu.

“Yu Wu, Yu Wu, wake up.”

Lan Ruo gently patted Yu Wu’s face, trying to wake her up, but Yu Wu was in a deep sleep without any response.

Lan Ruo looked around. Besides Yu Wu, there was indeed no one else in the entire back mountain now.

Lan Ruo didn’t have time to figure out the strange spiritual power from earlier. She carried Yu Wu on her back and hurriedly left the back mountain.

*

It was that dream again, a narrow place completely dark, but unlike before, the sound of waves slapping against the shore suddenly appeared in the dream.

The cool breeze blew again and again, and Yu Wu in the dream shivered uncontrollably, feeling both scared and cold.

Reaching out to feel around again, she touched something ice-cold and hard. This time Yu Wu looked down at her hand, and unexpectedly saw a silver dragon claw, which seemed familiar from somewhere.

Waking from the dream, Yu Wu felt extremely sore all over her body and stretched out lazily.

Yu Wu suddenly stopped her stretching motion. She held her breath, suddenly feeling an unprecedented clarity of everything around her.

Yu Wu was startled because at this moment, she had not yet opened her eyes.

The sun had already shone into the room. Besides her, there were Lan Ruo and Yu Tong dozing off at the table.

Yu Wu had never experienced this before and felt a bit panicked.

Slowly retracting her movement, Yu Wu opened her eyes and looked towards the table and window. Indeed, everything was exactly the same as what she had sensed before opening her eyes.

Yu Wu sat up, recalling what happened before she ‘fell asleep’. She suddenly remembered that the silver dragon seemed to ask if she wanted to practice, and then pressed against her forehead.

And then…

Yu Wu seemed to suddenly understand something. She hurriedly sat up cross-legged, closed her eyes and focused according to the long-familiar incantation.

Unlike every previous failure, this time Yu Wu truly felt the so-called essence of heaven and earth.

A warmth spread throughout her body, not even missing a single hair. This feeling was truly too wonderful to be described in words.

Yu Tong and Lan Ruo, who had originally stayed up watching over Yu Wu until dawn before taking a brief nap, were not awakened by Yu Wu’s movements. Instead, they both opened their eyes almost simultaneously upon sensing a powerful and unfamiliar spiritual power.

Lan Ruo reacted faster because this unfamiliar spiritual power was exactly the same as what he had felt in the back mountain last night.

Just as they were about to be on guard, they simultaneously saw Yu Wu sitting in meditation on the bed.

A faint cyan-colored spiritual light was emanating from her body.

The unfamiliar spiritual power they felt was actually coming from Yu Wu.

Both of them were shocked.

Before they could figure out what was going on, Yu Wu’s mother pushed the door open and walked in.

When Yu Wu’s mother saw Yu Wu’s condition, her face was full of disbelief, her expression no less than that of the two juniors, Lan Ruo and Yu Tong.

“Mother, what’s happening to Elder Sister? Didn’t she lose her spiritual root as a child? But this spiritual energy around her…”

Yu Tong spoke excitedly, worried about Yu Wu.

Yu Wu’s mother raised her hand, stopping Yu Tong’s chatter, and waited alongside Lan Ruo and Yu Tong for Yu Wu to regain consciousness.

Yu Wu was immersed in the wonderful feeling of resonating with heaven and earth, and unknowingly remained in meditation for over an hour.

When the novelty had mostly passed, Yu Wu finally withdrew her thoughts and slowly opened her eyes.

As she looked up, she saw her mother, Lan Ruo, and Yu Tong standing in front of her.

“Mother, why are you here too?”

Yu Wu hurried to get out of bed. The Qingluan Sect valued etiquette highly; with her mother standing there, Yu Wu had no reason to remain seated.

Yu Wu’s mother pressed Yu Wu back down, her face full of gentleness:

“No need to get up. Yu Wu, your mother wants to ask you, did you meet anyone or did anything happen in the back mountain the night before last?”

Yu Wu was startled. She wasn’t good at lying, but the appearance of the silver dragon in the back mountain was a big deal. She hadn’t reported to her mother immediately about an outsider entering the back mountain, and she was afraid of being punished.

Seeing Yu Wu’s hesitation in answering, Yu Wu’s mother immediately asked Lan Ruo and Yu Tong to leave.

“There’s no one else here now, you can speak freely. Even if you saw an outsider in the back mountain, I won’t blame you for concealing it.”

When Yu Wu lost her spiritual root by accident as a child, her mother and the Jade family elders had tried many times but couldn’t find a solution.

Now that Yu Wu suddenly had spiritual power around her body and could even resonate with heaven and earth to enter meditation, it was definitely not something she could achieve on her own.

So Yu Wu’s mother guessed that Yu Wu must have encountered someone in the back mountain.

“I… I met a silver dragon in the back mountain.”

Yu Wu’s mother was slightly shocked at first, after all, since the dragon clan had secluded themselves in the South Sea, they rarely appeared in the three realms of heaven, demons, and humans.

But then, Yu Wu’s mother seemed to become calm, and her face even showed a composed expression.

“Then everything that’s happening to your body now makes sense.”

Yu Wu’s mother said after a while, leaving Yu Wu confused and unable to understand.

“You child were born with a connection to the dragon clan. When you were young and almost lost your life, you were fortunately protected by a dragon clan deity. Although you lost your spiritual root, your life was preserved.

Now, fifteen years have passed. I don’t know if you’re still receiving help from that deity, but although your spiritual root hasn’t fully recovered, you can already gather spiritual power to practice. I think it won’t be long before your spiritual root is completely restored.”

“When I was young, did Mother put me in a coffin and place me in the South Sea to save my life? Was it a secluded dragon clan deity from the South Sea who saved me?”

Yu Wu’s mother nodded.

Yu Wu suddenly understood, thinking of the dreams she had every night after transmigrating into the book. That narrow, dark place was the coffin she was placed in.

According to what her mother said, everything made sense now.

When she saw the silver dragon claw in her dream, Yu Wu felt it was familiar. Now that she thought about it carefully, it must have been the dragon claw of the silver dragon she had encountered twice.

Her sudden possession of spiritual power and ability to resonate with heaven and earth were also due to what the silver dragon did that night.

He first saved her, then helped her.

It seemed that Yu Wu already owed the dragon a debt she could never repay.

Seeing Yu Wu lost in thought, her mother stood up and patted Yu Wu’s shoulder:

“A Wu, the matter of you encountering the dragon clan deity in the back mountain should only be known between us mother and daughter. Don’t spread it to others. As for the marriage alliance with the demon realm… the celestial realm hasn’t replied yet, so let’s just let nature take its course.”

Yu Wu had been so excited about regaining her spiritual power that she had forgotten about the marriage alliance.

Although the situation had changed now, it took Yu Wu fifteen years to receive help from the dragon clan deity and regain some spiritual power. But as her mother said, Yu Wu’s spiritual root had not yet fully formed.

She was still just a useless person who could only resonate with heaven and earth.

In the following days, the news of Yu Wu regaining her spiritual power spread throughout the Qingluan Sect.

Everyone was very happy for Yu Wu and sent congratulatory gifts.

The entire Qingluan Sect was immersed in such great joy, not expecting that the celestial realm, which had not replied for so long, would send a deity personally to the Qingluan Sect.

Moreover, when the deity arrived at the Qingluan Sect, the first thing they asked was to see Yu Wu.

At this time, Yu Wu was in Li You’s room making incense.

A few days ago, because Yu Wu suddenly regained her spiritual power, Lan Ruo had forcibly kept her in the room to rest for several days, fearing her body couldn’t handle it.

Afraid that she might run away, Lan Ruo had been watching over Yu Wu the whole time.

Now that Yu Wu had fully recovered, Lan Ruo finally let her go, and the incense in Li You’s room had just burned out.

The previously blended incense had all been used up by Li You, so as soon as Yu Wu was able to come out today, she immediately came over to help Li You make new incense.

“In the incense I make myself, I always add some night-blooming jasmine. Night-blooming jasmine itself has no scent, but it has a sleep-aiding effect, which works quite well.”

While blending, Yu Wu picked up a piece of dried night-blooming jasmine and handed it to Li You.

Li You took the dried leaf and examined it closely:

“These past few days, seeing you ill, I tried to recreate this incense based on the ash in my spare time. Although the scent is consistent with what you make, it always felt like something was missing.

Now it seems, even though night-blooming jasmine is odorless, if you want it to be exactly the same, it looks like it’s still indispensable.”

“Indeed, as long as one ingredient is missing, it’s not complete, of course it’s indispensable.”

As they were talking, Lan Ruo had already arrived outside the door. Li You’s room door was open, and the situation inside could be seen from outside.

Lan Ruo saw Yu Wu and Li You sitting very close together and knocked on the door heavily twice:

“Yu Wu, a deity from the celestial realm has come to our sect. She specifically asked to see you. The master wants you to go immediately.”

“A deity?”

Yu Wu felt uneasy. The celestial realm had been slow to respond about the marriage alliance, and now they had sent a deity. It must be that they had reached a decision.

Putting down what was in her hands, Yu Wu stood up and looked at Li You:

“I’m really sorry, it looks like you’ll have to wait a bit longer. I’ll come back and continue helping you make incense later.”

“Alright.”

Yu Wu didn’t dare delay and immediately ran out of the room.

After Yu Wu left, Li You’s attention was fully on the incense materials in front of him, completely unaware that Lan Ruo, who had come to deliver the message, was still standing at the doorway.

Li You brought the night-blooming jasmine in his hand to his nose and sniffed it, his expression suddenly becoming extraordinarily gentle.

Seeing the obvious change in Li You’s expression, Lan Ruo once again recalled what he had seen on the night Yu Wu fainted.

Lan Ruo had been with Yu Wu these past few days. Yu Wu avoided talking about that day’s events, and her mother had completely suppressed the matter of that night.

Although Lan Ruo had seen Li You with his own eyes, he had no evidence and dared not speak rashly, but he was not quite satisfied.

Looking at Li You’s appearance, Lan Ruo frowned:

“That night, the one who intruded into the forbidden area of the back mountain was you, wasn’t it!”