While Yun Jie faced his inner demons, the other cultivators also struggled inside the dreamland. Instead of opening the formation in a wide area, Ming Ren affected group by group so as not to disturb those who should not be disturbed. He wanted to leave right away but had one last stop.
Yun Shuqing sat cross-legged inside her room cultivating, heart in turmoil. Her father prohibited any communication with her elder sister. How could she not tell something was wrong when they took Ming Ren away?
And yet she was powerless without a voice inside the clan. People whispered about the untalented daughter of the patriarch, pretty to look at but useless. No one dared to utter anything in front of Yun Jie, but behind his back, they considered Shuqing a waste of resources.
When Shufen brought Min Ren, she empathized with him. Untalented, shadowed by his talented siblings and friends, doomed never to amount to anything. That’s also when her inner demons manifested at such a young age.
Ailments of the mind and soul might seem like nothing to cultivators but they are the hardest to spot and cure. She received many spirit herbs and pills before, yet they did nothing to help break through the bottleneck.
Ming Ren saw there was nothing wrong with her body when they met earlier. Her physique and bloodline, although not as good as Shufen’s, were more than enough to reach the Spirit Gate Realm and above.
So why would she be stuck at a mere fourth layer of the Body Tempering Realm?
The Divine Light Dragon Body special requirements caused Ming Ren’s plight. Shuqing had nothing of the sort. Had she not met Ming Ren, she would not overcome those shackles without some heaven-defying treasure or encounter because the Lower Realms lacked fundamental knowledge about cultivation and the mysteries of the world.
Cultivators had two standings only: talented and untalented. Those with fast cultivation would be “talents”. Those with talents and special characteristics, such as bloodlines, true elements, and rare energies would be Heaven’s Chosen or Heaven defying talents. Everyone else was trash.
Yet Ming Ren knew this to be wrong. Special physiques, powerful techniques, and tyrannical bodies sometimes had huge requirements. While those at big sects and families enjoyed smooth sailing because of their noble birth, everyone else could not pass those obstacles with ease. Slower didn’t always mean worse. His physique would cultivate slower, but its might would shake the world.
They discovered Shufen’s talent early but considered Shuqing only a normal prospect. Yun Jie doted on both of them, but even he couldn’t help but give more attention to Shufen. It worsened as they aged. Shuqing’s comprehension and dedication didn’t lose to Shufen’s, but bloodline and physique did.
They urged her to surpass her elder sister, but it would be impossible without heaven-defying luck. They gave no freedom or considered her feelings. For a clan that specialized in the mind like the Cloud Clan, they neglected this aspect of cultivation. Not that Shuqing had physical problems and couldn’t break through…
…Somewhere inside, she didn’t want to. She didn’t want to compete with her sister. She didn’t want to live in this world of cultivation. She formed an inner demon at such a young age but all they looked for were physical problems. It was good she didn’t force a breakthrough, or Qi deviation would be certain under those conditions.
*
Ming Ren brought Yun Shuqing into the dreamland. He should have bolted out of the Cloud Clan as fast as possible, yet he sympathized with her. If he was at the Spirit Sea Realm a more direct approach would be possible, but now the fastest method was to take advantage of the dreamland and help her fight the inner demons.
Shuqing always thought she would be happier without cultivation. Why would she live forever, anyway? Beauty, possessions, strength, fame, and status. She wanted none. Immortality? Why? Why would she want to live forever in this world?
She acted bright, forcing herself to be lively on the outside. Inside, she hated this world. Sometimes, everything, and everyone else. She didn’t envy her sister’s talent nor the attention she had. The world of cultivation was boring and brutal. She might as well have been born a commoner.
Inside the dreamland, Shuqing lived the life of a mere mortal. She was happy without the need to cultivate. No pain, no harsh training, no judgment. She woke up, took care of the house, lived by herself, found work as an alchemist’s assistant but never immersed herself in cultivation.
Time passed and nothing changed. Somehow, this path was also boring. Shuqing frowned, as unhappy as before. The life of a mortal was not exciting. She saw her sister and father struggle to fend off their foes, her former clan and kin attacked several times.
Powerless, bored, how could she be happier?
Then the scenery of the world changed to many people, places, and tales. The Upper Realms!
Ming Ren showed part of the memories from the Bright Scripture, beautiful sceneries that mere words could not describe. A waterfall where golden fishes swam upstream freely. A senior that flew through the skies on the top of his sword. A rainbow scaled dragon. A great kingdom of cultivators talking about the mysteries of the world. This world might bore, but couldn’t there be a world out there she wanted to see?
The shackles binding her heart suddenly disappeared. The mysteries of the world more than made up for the brutal and ruthless world of cultivation.
**
“It depends on you now, Little Shuqing,” Ming Ren smiled, walking out of the Cloud Clan from the front door. The servants bowed even not knowing who he was.
He took Yun Lin Xue’s low-grade space ring as compensation but left everything else untouched. Space rings were rare, expensive, and useful. Ming Ren wanted to go to the Jade Clan but low cultivation and the long journey made it too dangerous at the moment.
He went to the Bright Clan former grounds in hiding, gazing longingly at his home. The Silver Clan and Sunflower Pavilion members worked the spirit garden, with many new constructions and faces.
Memories of his time there surged forth. The training grounds. His house. The patriarch. All people dear to him. Now, only strangers left. With spiritual sense, Ming Ren only feared Spirit Gate Cultivators pursuing him, and even then a common cultivator’s spiritual sense only covered a few kilometers, much lower than his reach.
Ming Ren suppressed the urge to start a massacre and vowed to repay this “kindness” tenfold before leaving. Lin Xue’s space ring had coins, but he didn’t hire a spirit beast. Instead, Ming Ren paid a loose cultivator to disguise as himself and go to the neighboring city in the opposite direction.
Everyone else thought he died aside from the Cloud Clan. He didn’t need to hide but couldn’t lower his guard. He made his way towards the nearest city in the River Province direction, a huge forest in the way.
***
A surge of Qi passed through Yun Jie’s body, bringing him out of the dreamland. He fell to his knees and shouted, “Shuqing, Shufen, no, don’t leave me, I’ll treat him better!”
The elder that broke the Purple Cloud Dreamland had heavy lines all over his face. How could he not know what happened?
“…You fool of a patriarch!” The elder berated while his powerful aura fell upon Yun Jie’s body. Spirit Gate Realm, third layer!
“…F-Father… what is going on?” He still looked dazed. Where were Shuqing, Shufen, and that heartless son-in-law of his?
His father became furious, “You still don’t know? And you call yourself a cultivator from the Cloud Clan? You can’t even recognize the Purple Cloud Dreamland? Would you ever have woken up without me? Even some juniors already broke out of the formation!”
Putong!
Yun Jie fell to the ground. That was the Purple Cloud Dreamland, an illusion…? Then Shufen and Shuqing aren’t concubines? He felt such happiness tears streamed down his face. This Purple Cloud Dreamland… way too fearsome.
Yun Jie felt the killing intent emanating from his father. He might die if he kept this up, “*Ahem* What is going on, esteemed father? Why did you activate the dreamland?”
His father’s rage reached another level, “Why would I activate it, you buffoon?”
“Eh? but if it wasn’t father…” His uncle, the other Spirit Gate cultivator of the clan? Aside from them, who could have enough power to make him fall to the formation? And wasn’t the formation ineffective on their bloodline?
“We will know soon,” as the elder finished talking the other Spirit Gate Cultivator came into the room with someone under his arm, an unconscious Yun Lin Xue.
“…Lin Xue? What happened to him?” Yun Jie asked.
“He activated the formation with a few tricks and his mind got a huge backslash. He will be unconscious for a few days,” the uncle answered.
He told them how Lin Xue was unconscious inside one of the interrogation rooms. Aside from those with Shuqing, Yun Lin Xue, and Yun Jie, even the two elders hadn’t been informed of the matter. It was all Yun Jie’s decision.
Yun Jie trembled. Alone? What happened to the brat?
How could his father not feel something was amiss with his son? With a deadly glare, Yun Jie explained everything without lying. They pondered about it and roughly came to understand what happened.
Lin Xue’s somehow lost the mind battle and ended up controlled by the other party. The boy then used him to activate the formation and left the Cloud Clan. It seemed absurd no matter how they thought about it. Controlling Lin Xue, understanding, and manipulating the formation? Even the three of them wouldn’t be able to.
“This child from the Bright Clan, no wonder Shufen considers him important,” Yun Jie’s father praised.
‘Important? See if I don’t kill that bastard! I’ll never let that dream come true!’ Yun Jie thought deep inside.
His father glared at him, “You’re still harboring such simple thoughts? Heavens, how did I bear such a stupid fool for a son?”
“… F-father?” He didn’t understand why his father suddenly attacked him.
“You are a fool if you can’t tell this matter relates to that treasure of the Bright Clan, Little Jie,” the other cultivator chimed in.
“Uh?” Yun Jie shuddered, there was no way a cultivator at the fourth layer of the Body Tempering Realm could tamper with their formation. Besides, the brat slept for ten years yet his body never aged. No matter how much they investigated the source of the mystery it all ended up in nothing.
“We need to bring him back, make him spill everything,” the other cultivator said.
Yun Jie and his father agreed. They blocked all information as quickly as possible and sent their most trusted people out. The problem was that little lass, Shuqing, and how to shut her up, because Shufen couldn’t know about any of this.
If she knew…
Yun Jie could only tremble.