The other elders stepped in to smooth things over for You Su Yu. “Why are we chatting at the entrance? Come inside.”
Once settled, an elder turned to Su Wenjing and asked, “You came to find us the moment you returned. Did you discover something?”
“It is not a situation, but a gift,” Su Wenjing said, glancing at Li Yunxian.
Drawing courage from her, he pulled out the Memory Jade Slip and looked at his elders once more. “This contains my memories. Do you wish to see them?”
The elders exchanged looks. Seeing the expression on Su Wenjing’s face, they realized these memories were likely far from simple. However…
“We’ll look. Of course we’ll look,” You Su Yu replied without much hesitation.
As the leader of a clan, she knew very well that avoidance solved nothing. Besides, if there was trouble…
It was only right that the elders shouldered it first. There was no reason to leave Su Wenjing to face it alone!
“Let us go to the Council of Elders first.”
No one objected.
You Su Yu did not actually take the news Su Wenjing brought back too seriously.
In her mind, the worst-case scenario was simply that the area outside Qingqiu had been surrounded by the Demonic Path. That sort of thing had happened before.
The several elders sat down casually in the courtyard. You Su Yu reached out to take the jade slip Su Wenjing handed over and, following his instructions, pressed it against her forehead.
In an instant, the massive flood of memories within the jade slip poured into You Su Yu’s mind.
The memories Su Wenjing had ultimately edited were not 800 years long. Most of his time had been quite mundane, so after picking and choosing, he had only produced a sequence covering 500 years.
To You Su Yu, 500 years was neither too long nor too short. She spent several hours processing it all, managing to grasp the general situation.
Immediately, clusters of her own memories began to surface in her mind.
You Su Yu remained silent for a long time.
Seeing the expression on her face, the elders could not help but grow tense. One called out softly, “Clan Leader?”
You Su Yu took a deep breath. She did not answer the call but instead tossed the Memory Jade Slip into the hands of the oldest person present, signaling for him to see the contents as well.
You Su Yu said, “Have the others who didn’t come yet make a trip to the Council of Elders as well.”
As she spoke, she looked at Su Wenjing and suddenly laughed. “This is a good thing. If we miss this chance, we might never get another one.”
The time spent waiting for You Su Yu to finish watching the memories had been exceptionally agonizing for Su Wenjing.
He had imagined many ways his aunt might react, but he never expected her to conclude that it was a “good thing.”
Yet, it also seemed normal. His aunt, the leader of the You Su Fox Tribe, had always been like this — she could shoulder even the heaviest of burdens.
“Aunt…” Su Wenjing lowered his eyes and called out softly, his voice thick with uncontrollable distress.
You Su Yu smiled and reached out to pat his head. “It is fine, it is fine.”
“I remember now. Those things you did… I was the ones who ordered them.”
“You did very well,” You Su Yu said softly.
Su Wenjing was stunned. He looked up at her abruptly.
You Su Yu’s gaze was deep and steady. It was the exact state she had been in during the latter stages of the war between the righteous and demonic paths.
The person standing before him now was no longer the You Su Yu who existed only in his past memories. This was her true divine soul, fully conscious.
Su Wenjing had never expected to see his aunt with her full awareness intact. For a moment, he could not recover from the shock.
Li Yunxian also sensed a change in You Su Yu’s aura. Originally, the Clan Leader’s aura had been pure and bright, but now, a lingering scent of blood and battle clung to her.
That was something only found in those who had spent long periods killing on a battlefield.
Li Yunxian realized the change and quickly guessed the cause. She peeked her head out and asked curiously, “What exactly did you order Su Wenjing to do?”
You Su Yu smiled and answered directly, “To dismantle the Source of Spiritual Qi.”
Li Yunxian froze for a second before turning to Su Wenjing, her voice filled with disbelief. “You actually took credit for your aunt’s achievements!”
Su Wenjing’s jaw dropped. “I was the one who actually did it! What do you mean I’m taking credit for her work?”
Looking at how Su Wenjing suddenly became lively again in front of Li Yunxian, You Su Yu chuckled. She said to Li Yunxian, “Little Wenjing is like this. Though he is smart, he is a bit too honest for a fox.”
“He always needs someone to give him an order before he knows what he should do.”
Li Yunxian thought about it for a moment and felt that You Su Yu’s summary of Su Wenjing’s behavior was remarkably accurate.
Su Wenjing was indeed very accustomed to being in a position where things were arranged for him.
“Are you sure that counts as being smart?” Li Yunxian teased.
You Su Yu contemplated this, her expression becoming solemn. “I… I think so.”
“He still judges the orders given to him. He only acts if he agrees with them.”
“He should be considered smart,” You Su Yu said, sounding a bit uncertain.
Su Wenjing: “…”
Su Wenjing: “…”
“Hey! You two! Do not speak ill of me right to my face!” Su Wenjing snapped.
Li Yunxian and You Su Yu immediately burst into laughter. Ignoring his annoyed expression, they continued to chat as if no one else were there.
You Su Yu asked, “How did you and little Wenjing meet in the beginning?”
Li Yunxian explained.
You Su Yu gasped. “Heavens, little Wenjing just stood by and watched in a situation like that? That is too much!”
Su Wenjing opened his mouth to protest but hesitated. He wasn’t about to compete with an Assistant Instructor for the credit of taking down a few Qi Refining Hunters! In that situation, a Golden Core cultivator’s intervention was more than enough.
You Su Yu continued to listen to Li Yunxian describe their second meeting.
You Su Yu laughed so hard she leaned back. “Fine, little Wenjing really is a dummy. I believe it now.”
“He finally takes the initiative for once, and he completely misreads the situation, thinking you were a soul possessor. Hahaha!”
“He didn’t even stop to think — what kind of Qi Refining body could possibly withstand the divine soul of a transcendence stage expert?”
Li Yunxian nodded solemnly. “Exactly. In the future, we call that ‘one moment of extroversion leading to a lifetime of introversion.'”
Su Wenjing’s ears turned bright red. “Aunt! I gave you those memories so you would understand the situation, not so you could gossip about this!”
At that moment, the elder who had just finished viewing the memories walked over. He chuckled and passed the jade slip to the next elder before sitting down between the three of them.
“If little Wenjing won’t let your aunt talk, then this old man can chat instead,” the elder said cheerfully.
Su Wenjing let out a frustrated cry. “Fifth Grandpa, please stop acting so undignified for your age!”
However, no one listened to him. The three continued to chat happily about his past.
Li Yunxian told them about how they met and what everyone’s impression of him was — like how he acted so cold and aloof outside, a “flower on a high peak” that no one dared to approach.
In return, You Su Yu and the elders shared every embarrassing thing that had happened to Su Wenjing from his birth until now.
The sound of gossip was never-ending.
Su Wenjing realized he should never have let Li Yunxian come in with him.
The number of elders in the You Su Fox Tribe was not large. Within a single day, all of them had taken turns viewing the jade slip.
By the time they finished, everyone had joined in the conversation, and they still hadn’t had their fill of teasing him.
However, seeing that Su Wenjing’s patience had reached its limit, the group clicked their tongues and regretfully stopped testing his temper.
Everyone in the Council of Elders knew they had been dead for thousands of years. They were nothing more than lingering remnant souls, and they couldn’t withstand the suppressed fury of a youngster like him.
Finally, the elders returned to the main topic. One asked, “Little Wenjing, we’ve seen everything there is to see, but we still can’t tell what you want from us here in the ruins.”
The elders sounded perplexed, looking at him with suspicion. “Little Wenjing, you didn’t just come here because you missed us, did you?”
As they spoke, they began to playfully mess with his hair. “Alright, alright. Seeing that you have grown up well is enough for us.”
Su Wenjing remained silent. He could not deny that he had indeed carried that small sentiment when entering the ruins. Though it wasn’t the primary goal…
Su Wenjing’s face went wooden. He was truly starting to regret this. He had been away from these elders for so long that his memories of them had been filtered through a thick lens of nostalgia.
He had completely forgotten how much these old fogeys loved to bully people!
“I came here for serious business!” Su Wenjing growled through gritted teeth. “I came to inform you that I am quitting!”
“I am going to take those Sources of Spiritual Qi that I dismantled and smashed, and I am going to put them all back.”
“I’m not going to look after this world anymore!” Su Wenjing shouted, as if trying to hide his own unease and hesitation.
The elders froze, processing his words. It took a moment for them to realize what he was actually referring to.
Finally, You Su Yu scratched her head. “Then… just don’t look after it.”
“Anyway, there are only a few of our You Su foxes left. Whatever happens, happens.”
“We are all dead. We don’t really care about things concerning the fate of the world.”
Watching their reactions, Su Wenjing’s mouth twitched. He was indeed a smart man, especially when it came to people he knew well. He realized something.
“Wasn’t this the task you all coughed up blood to entrust to me when you were dying?!” Su Wenjing asked, grinding his teeth. “You gave me a thousand instructions and made me promise to see it through!”
You Su Yu and the others gave awkward laughs. “Well… that is true, in a way.”
“However…”
You Su Yu recalled the scene from back then and sighed. “If we hadn’t said it that way, if we hadn’t entrusted you with something of that magnitude, you would have definitely followed us into death, little Wenjing.”
“Someone had to survive.”
“Otherwise, what would happen to the path of righteousness? What would happen to our You Su Fox Tribe?”
“In that situation, only you, with your Space Talent, could have survived.”
“Furthermore, I felt that while destroying 80% of the world’s spiritual energy might have its problems, it was the best solution for the state of the world after the war.”
“As for how you chose to do it, how long you chose to maintain it, or whether you wanted to restore it… that was always up to you.”
You Su Yu’s gaze turned distant, as if looking through the layers of time into the future. “Changing things is normal. Do not fear change. No arrangement can eternally adapt to a constantly shifting era.”
“The only ones who can make decisions for the future are those of you living in the present, not those of us trapped in the past.”
Su Wenjing was struck dumb. After a long silence, he responded muffledly, “I… I understand.”
“The Other Races in Shenzhou are no longer enough of a threat to the path of righteousness,” Su Wenjing began, finally voicing his own thoughts.
“And on the interstellar side, there are far too many people with high cultivation levels. Because of the lack of spiritual energy, Shenzhou is relatively weak.”
“That cannot continue.”
“Shenzhou… cannot fall behind.”
Su Wenjing took a deep breath and turned to look at Li Yunxian, his voice softening. “Besides, I also plan to… look forward.”
“I will not stay in Shenzhou forever.”
“I want to… ascend with her.”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.