After repeating this process three or four times, Fu Ling couldn’t help but wonder if her jinxed mouth was actually that effective.
Li Yunxian also wondered if her luck was truly that bad.
Only Su Wenjing knew that these scenes had nothing to do with jinxes or luck. These creepy entities were coming for him.
The foundation of the creepy entities in heaven’s ruins was the resentment of ancient cultivators who had died here.
The portion belonging to the path of righteousness was minimal because they had ultimately known they were victorious. Therefore, most of the resentment belonged to the deceased from the demonic path.
As a participant in the original war, Su Wenjing was their enemy. Even though they were dead, their resentment instinctively gathered toward him.
Su Wenjing watched Li Yunxian. Seeing her calm down after several attacks, he silently moved them to a new location after the most recent ambush.
They arrived at a dougong-style structure built from a pile of markers. Once they reached it, their figures were completely hidden by the building. Su Wenjing took out a spray-type magic tool and pressed it.
A scent of blood qi permeated the air. Both Li Yunxian and Fu Ling frowned. The aura of the demonic path in this blood qi was far too dense.
“Rest for a while,” Su Wenjing said. “Those creepy entities won’t come near for a short time.”
This scent could conceal the presence of all three of them. More importantly, it hid Su Wenjing’s aura.
Li Yunxian and Fu Ling breathed a sigh of relief. Especially Fu Ling—she had used a significant amount of Lingli to help Li Yunxian escape from Mahayana Stage entities several times. Being able to rest now was a blessing.
Fu Ling took the time to recover her strength. Li Yunxian, on the other hand, hadn’t spent much energy.
Seeing many markers inside this dougong structure, she remembered her promise to Fu Ling and scanned them. Her gaze soon caught something unusual.
The central support of this dougong structure was a long, slanted pole. At its end hung an irregularly shaped, filthy strip of cloth.
One could vaguely tell it had originally been yellow, and there appeared to be a character written on it.
Li Yunxian couldn’t tell what the character was. Human civilizations in various worlds had undergone many transitions, and their writing systems had changed several times.
However, in worlds where people could practice cultivation, the rules of the Tiandao were similar, so writing systems would eventually evolve into something comparable.
Needless to say, she knew modern writing. In the cultivation world where she had previously lived, the script was somewhere between clerical and regular script.
However, Li Yunxian had never studied characters from the truly distant past.
She instinctively wanted to check her phone, but upon taking it out, she remembered there was no signal in heaven’s ruins. Independent spaces were like that.
Li Yunxian lamented briefly. Having been back in her own world for over two years, she had finally developed the habits of a modern person. As for knowing what that character was… there was a simpler way.
“Professor Su, do you recognize what character that is?” Li Yunxian asked directly.
Su Wenjing had told her before that he had lived for over 4,000 years. Li Yunxian’s history knowledge was decent; 4,000 years ago, society should have been using oracle bone script.
That was the very beginning of human civilization. Su Wenjing had been alive since then, so he had likely learned every script that had ever appeared in history. It was easier to just ask him.
Su Wenjing looked up at the banner and answered in a flat voice, “It is the character for ‘Sang.'”
A yellow banner…
Li Yunxian quickly realized what it was. She had learned about it. It was the flag of the sang army from over 2,000 years ago. Back then, there was still a feudal dynasty and an emperor.
It was the banner of resistance for the common people at the end of the dynasty when they could no longer survive.
It was the ‘Sang’ as in ‘stray dog.’ It was the ‘Sang’ of doom.
The Sang Army.
Li Yunxian looked at the flag and thought for a moment. She turned to Fu Ling, who had heard their conversation and was looking over. “Senior, do you recognize this character?”
Li Yunxian’s question was tactful, but Fu Ling knew her purpose.
She replied honestly, “I recognize it, but I have no memory of it. This isn’t my Marker.”
Fu Ling had seen this flagpole during previous entries into heaven’s ruins. While it wasn’t as tall as the ginkgo tree or as prominent as the distant hill, its size among the many markers was certainly significant.
“It probably belongs to someone else,” Fu Ling judged.
Li Yunxian believed Fu Ling was telling the truth, but she felt something was wrong.
She continued, “This flag is over 2,000 years old. Cultivators who have lived from that era to the present would either be at the clone or spirit fusion stage.”
“Anyone who didn’t reach that level would have long since reached the end of their lifespan.”
Fu Ling felt a warmth in her heart upon hearing this. She knew Li Yunxian was doing her best to find her marker. However…
“I really don’t remember it.” Fu Ling’s face was full of helplessness.
“I am at the spirit fusion stage, after all. I have the ability of a perfect memory. If I want to, I can remember things from a long time ago, though it takes some effort. I have never even seen this thing before.”
If she hadn’t seen it, then it definitely wasn’t hers.
Li Yunxian had thought that since they had been so unlucky recently, their luck might balance out and lead to a discovery. It seemed she had overthought it.
Li Yunxian let out a long sigh. Suddenly, she sensed something and turned to look at Su Wenjing.
Su Wenjing wasn’t looking at Li Yunxian; his gaze was fixed straight on Fu Ling, as if he were scrutinizing or judging something.
Even Li Yunxian could sense the abnormality in Su Wenjing’s reaction. As the one being stared at, Fu Ling realized something was wrong immediately.
“Senior Su, what is it?” she asked, startled.
Su Wenjing spoke in a calm statement, “The time you first became famous was during the Kaiyu Era.”
Fu Ling frowned as she thought, but she couldn’t figure it out. She asked, “So? Is there a problem?”
While Li Yunxian’s history was good, it wasn’t good enough to remember the specific dates of every era name in the feudal periods. She only remembered a few famous ones.
“Kaiyu? Which emperor’s era was that?” Li Yunxian asked.
Su Wenjing replied, “The Shen Pseudo-Emperor.”
Hearing that name, Li Yunxian fell silent.
This emperor was the last ruler of the Shen Dynasty. In fact, it was debatable whether he was even an emperor at all, which was why he was called the pseudo-emperor.
He was a puppet emperor forcibly established by powerful noble families during the period when the Sang army had overthrown the shen dynasty’s rule and the commoners were in turmoil, all while the various lords competed for control of Shenzhou. His reign only lasted a brief 5 years.
If Fu Ling became famous during that time, it meant she must have been practicing for a while already. Even for a genius, one would need to be at least at Level 8 or 9 of Qi Refining to gain fame.
Calculating backward, Fu Ling would undoubtedly have lived through the era when the people of Shenzhou raised the Sang banner and roared in defiance.
How could Fu Ling have no impression of it? How could she have no memory?
Yet, Fu Ling still had a bewildered expression on her face.
“There is something wrong with your memory,” Li Yunxian said to her.
Fu Ling’s expression soured as she listened to Li Yunxian explain the history of that period. Regardless of what Li Yunxian said, she still had no memory of it.
Just as she had said, once she reached her level, she could recall anything if she wanted to.
Prompted by Li Yunxian and Su Wenjing, Fu Ling immediately delved into the depths of her memories. She flipped through the memories of her childhood…
Unsurprisingly, Fu Ling discovered a piece of her memory was missing. Her memories from the ages of 14 to 16 were gone.
Fu Ling came from humble beginnings. Her hometown was just a village that followed the rhythm of the sun.
Year after year, there were no changes—just farming, labor, and hunger. Growing a year older was just a number, so even with that part of her memory missing, Fu Ling hadn’t felt anything was wrong.
Fu Ling’s last memory before that gap was of her fainting from hunger and being picked up by her master, who asked with a smile if she wanted to practice cultivation with him. After that… after that…
Fu Ling pursed her lips tightly. She had never returned to her village or her home. She had never asked or mentioned it, as if that place had been directly erased from her consciousness.
No wonder she always felt that the key to her breakthrough was in Heaven’s Ruins. No wonder she had come here so many times without finding a familiar Marker.
So that was why. That was why!
Fu Ling didn’t dwell on who had tampered with her memory; that was something to consider after leaving Heaven’s Ruins. Right now…
Fu Ling reached out and grabbed the flag. Instantly, a familiar feeling of connection flooded her heart. This was her marker.
“Please, protect me while I meditate,” Fu Ling requested of the two.
Li Yunxian nodded, about to agree, but the world suddenly spun before her eyes. In the next second, she appeared in a completely unfamiliar place.
What appeared before Li Yunxian’s eyes was a dilapidated village. Roughly twenty to thirty wooden houses were scattered about, barely surrounding a candle-holder-shaped magic tool in the center as a protective measure.
This was how villages long ago protected themselves from being targeted by evil entities. Whether in the cultivation world, Shenzhou, or somewhere in the Interstellar, this almost useless method had been obsolete for ages.
No words were needed for Li Yunxian to guess where she was. When she saw a ragged, skeletal young girl in the village who looked somewhat familiar, her guess was confirmed.
That was Fu Ling. A Fu Ling who was only about 10 years old.
Li Yunxian was shocked. ‘How did I get in here?!’
She was supposed to be guarding Fu Ling! She quickly looked around and felt relieved when she didn’t see Su Wenjing. If they had all been pulled in, it would be a disaster. There were Mahayana Stage entities outside!
But how did she get in? Li Yunxian carefully sensed her surroundings and thought back, her mind filling with frustration. She remembered that when Fu Ling resonated with the marker, her own divine soul had also been drawn in.
This attraction wasn’t because she had a connection to Fu Ling or the marker. It was simply because her divine soul was shattered and unstable; whenever she encountered anything related to souls, she was easily affected.
To put it simply, it was pure bad luck.
Li Yunxian: “…”