Zhenyun, looking at the person in front of him, almost sighed out of relief:
"Thank you for coming" he said. "I'm very sorry, I know you were doing something important, but master's state suddenly worsened, and I couldn't think of anyone else to help…"
"It's alright, Zhenyun, I just finished to heal the Bong clan elder before you called. And more importantly, you and uncle Jianhong are my family, I can't just leave you in such a delicate situation, right?"
As she said this, Jin Yue gently pressed her hands against the temples of the sleeping Liu Jianhong, a pleasant light emanating from them. The latter, who had been agitated in his sleep, gradually calmed down, and his expression switched to a more peaceful one.
"He should feel better once he wakes up" she said.
This time, Zhenyun actually sighed in relief, hugging her:
"Thank you, I don't believe we would have survived until now without you"
"You know, coming from the most talented of the six geniuses, it sounds fake"
"Ehm…"
Jin Yue rolled her eyes playfully. But then, she became more serious:
"And you tell me that the reason for his state is because this guy who once was your fellow disciple, Baotian, just so happened to come here too?"
Zhenyun nodded, causing her to sigh:
"You know, it might sound rough but… you need to do something, Zhenyun"
"Like what? Didn't I already tell you? The one time I managed to get him, he used a grand perfect Nascent Soul level array to escape. After that, I didn't get any more occasion to meet him until today, and he's under the kingdom's protection"
"Yes, you already told me about it. That day, you tried to seal him, and he managed to distract you using the good words and escaped with the formation"
"Yes, that's correct" Zhenyun said before his expression darkened: "Are you trying to imply that this day, I should have killed him?"
Jin Yue shook her head:
"Many righteous cultivators would tell you that, but I'm not part of them" she replied. "From just the amount of blood essence he used during his match, it's easy to guess that the amount of people he killed is enormous, and there is no doubt he deserves death"
She pressed her hands on his shoulders:
"But Zhenyun, you don't need to become some emissary of absolute justice! You are a human being too. I know that you truly don't want to kill your former senior brother, and that is perfectly understandable. That is also why you haven't made that much effort to catch him during these previous years, right?"
Zhenyun looked aside, but didn't deny:
"Yes, you're right" he admitted. "I… I also made sure that the entire responsibility to catch it fell on me, so that no one else in the clan would intensely hunt him down… because I knew they would kill him. All this time, I was just… an accomplice of his murders, because I was too weak to do what should have been done"
The more he spoke, the more shameful he looked. Jin Yue's expression too darkened
"You probably deserve to blame yourself, to feel guilty and ashamed" she said. "In our world, weakness is indeed a sin. Even then… weakness doesn't make one evil"
She reported her attention on Liu Jianhong, but kept talking:
"You know it, my Earth talent, Twin Ascension Physic, allows me to share my tribulation with another cultivator's tribulation, allowing me and this other person to team up to face the two tribulation, even though normally a tribulation would automatically fail if someone else intervene" she said. "That is what allowed me to choose the Benevolent Light Mantra, a scripture solely specialized in healing, because I knew that healers, as a very rare type of cultivators, were very prized, and that I would always find someone ready to pass their tribulation with me in exchange for my service, especially if I continuously healed them while facing it.
It is true that helping others is a large part of why I chose this scripture, but if it wasn't for my Earth talent, I would not have chosen it, simply because I am not ready to risk having insufficient power to pass the tribulations because of it. Zhenyun, being weak and selfish isn't good, but sometimes it's part of what makes us humans. You can still act righteously when you're not too weak for this.
It's just that right now, it has been over a dozen years since you last met him, and your master is still suffering due to his actions. If you have to be selfish, then please be it by prioritizing uncle Jianhong and, after the contest is over, resume hunting down Zhang Baotian and seal him for good. It's not just better for uncle… it's also the best for you"
Once she was done talking, for a few minutes, silence reigned in their residence. Then Zhenyun nodded:
"You're right, once the contest is over, I will resume hunting down Baotian" he said before turning around. "I will go take a walk catch a bit of fresh air, I trust you with master"
But before he could leave, Jin Yue touched his shoulder:
"Zhenyun, I know you too well to not see it" she said. "There's something you have been wanting to discuss with him, right? You just didn't do so because of uncle and I, right?"
"I… I-"
"It's alright. You can't do anything to him before the contest ends anyway, and master will be asleep for a while, so if it helps you lighten your heart, don't hesitate"
Zhenyun paused for an instant, and then turned to embrace his lover, their lips connecting for a moment, before finally separating.
"I already said it, but thank you for coming, Yue" he said. "I wasn't exaggerating saying I can't live without you"
He embraced her again, and then walked out.
.
.
.
"Oh, for the love of heavens, what kind of joke is this!?" Baotian exclaimed.
He had an incredulous look on his face as he heard Bai Zisheng recount him the events that happened while he was out cold: even after he had taken out Ye Mu, arguably the strongest Qi Building of the Spirit Beasts' team, the other Xuanhe kingdom's cultivators still lost, by a gap of three people!
Considering there were thirty-two remaining participants in each team after Baotian and Ye Mu's fight ended, it wasn't that wide of a gap. Even then, Baotian felt pretty pissed about the whole ordeal:
"Ahh… these dogshit righteous cultivators" he swore. "Can't even honor their country as well as a filthy demonic cultivator, tssk tssk"
"Haha, calm down, calm down, little Baotian" the older demonic cultivator said. "Nonetheless, you still did manage to defeat the most powerful cultivator of your round, and to win the first match of the contest with a brilliant prestation. There is no doubt you will be properly remunerated for this"
"It's not about that, senior Bai… it's just frustrating that my side, if we can call it this, lost because of something that was beyond my influence"
Senior Bai shook his head:
"That's just how things are, little Baotian" he replied. "Even if you cultivate to a realm above everyone else, others won't just magically advance to follow you, so you must do as much as you can by yourself so what's left will be manageable for them. It's not fair but it's like this"
He smiled, and then went to join the other human Core Formation cultivators:
"But don't worry, I feel like with today's allies, especially this junior brother of yours, this round will be our win" he said.
And so, the round of the Core Formation level began. As the fights proceeded, just like in the first round, most fighters seemed to approach the end of their lifespan beside senior Bai and Liu Zhenyun. They were those who failed to advance to the next realm, and hoped that the king would grant them an opportunity to do so if their performances were good enough.
'Hmm? Talking about this, where is Zhenyun?'
"Are you searching for someone?"
Hearing Zhenyun's voice coming from besides him, Baotian nearly had a heart attack:
"Gah!" he exclaimed, startled.
His former junior brother, seeing this, couldn't help but smirk for an instant, but this smirk quickly disappeared from his face, which became serious again:
"Don't worry, I won't make our Liu clan the enemy of the kingdom by acting against you right now" he said. "I only came here to finish our conversation"
Hearing this, Baotian felt pleasantly surprised, until he heard Zhenyun's next words:
"If I understand correctly, when you say 'transmigrator', you mean 'a person from another world that reincarnated', right? But Baotian, I'm not stupid, I connected the dots since our meeting yesterday and realized that when you were talking, you were constantly trying to push me to reveal if I really am a transmigrator or not. In truth, you aren't sure at all, are you?"
Baotian's eyes turned into narrow slits:
"Let's assume you are right, then what?" he asked.
"Then you have to give me a reason to tell you" Zhenyun replied.
Hearing that, the older of the two had his expression crumble even more. Eventually, though, he found something he could concede without losing much:
"Alright, then let's make a trade" he said.
"A trade?" Zhenyun repeated, raising his eyebrow. "What trade?"
"I… after researching, I found a place where there might be answers as to why I, or we, transmigrated. If you confirm whether you come from another world like me or not, I will tell you where this place is located"
Zhenyun frowned, but he couldn't contain his curiosity, and ended up agreeing.
"It's situated in the north-east of the kingdom, in the danger zone near the forest where the Spirit Beasts invaded, in the place where an entire clan once disappeared" Baotian revealed first, not doubting Zhenyun's sincere nature. "Inside, there is a place called Purple Sky Village, where a powerful being far above even the Void Ascension realm resides. But this being didn't seem to hold any aggressiveness toward outsider, and they talked about things from our world, so I'm fairly certain they know something about transmigration"
There were two reasons why Baotian chose to reveal this information. First, by revealing this place without mentioning the brainwashing effect of being in the village, he hoped that Zhenyun's brave nature would lead him to go there, thinking that if Baotian survived, he would too, and then exhaust his lifespan in this cursed place. That way, he would avoid any complication related to him in the future, be it being captured by him or even just suffer from heaven's persecution due to his existence, as said in the story about the golden iron and the hidden gem.
Which led to the second reason: beside the intel about the Purple Sky Village, the story of the golden iron and the hidden gem was the only interesting information he possessed, and revealing it to Zhenyun might increase his wariness toward him, considering how that made their two existences fundamentally incompatible.
"The Purple Sky Village… I already went near the zone you just told me about, and when I did, a powerful force tried to suck me in" he said. "I managed to barely escape but, doing so, I felt a malicious intent directed toward me. Maybe this being only dislikes me or you simply were lucky, but I don't believe it is worth taking this risk as far as I'm concerned"
'Damnation' Baotian thought.
His trap had failed. And more than that…
"So it was really you pursuing you that day, Zi Moyan and I, forcing us to go into the Purple Sky Village to escape!"
"So it was you… I thought I felt your spiritual energy that day, but I wasn't sure until now"
Baotian felt slight killing intent rising into him. Even if he knew he couldn't compare to Zhenyun's little finger, he couldn't help himself: this bastard had caused him to lose over twenty-five years of his lifespan! That was definitely courting death!
"But anyway, a deal is a deal and a promise is a promise, so I'll tell you" Zhenyun said. "Your guess was correct, I am a transmigrator"
Zhenyun continued talking but, at this point, Baotian's expression had already twisted.
"However, back in my original world, I was in very particular circumstances, so even if you describe me this 'Earth' you come from as much as you can, I will not be able to confirm if I come from there too" he said. "And whether or not I come from Earth, it wouldn't change anything. I am not like you, I don't believe these people are any more uncivilised, simple-minded or anything compared to my original world. When I was reborn into the Liu clan, I was offered a home, a life, and a chance at happiness"
He stood up:
"We both share a unique origin in this world, and we both started our cultivation journey under the same master, so you will always be more than just another evil demon in my heart. But even then, I can't ignore your crimes any longer, Baotian" he said. "After the international contest, I will start to sincerely hunt you down to seal you, and put an end to your demonic deeds by sealing you if I can, and killing you if I must. That… that was all I had to say"
And so, Zhenyun left.
Baotian had engraved each little piece of information he just obtained in his mind but, for now, he was much too furious to think it over. It wasn't just the Nascent Soul demonic cave he was forced to abandon to escape him, it wasn't even the twenty-five years Zhenyun had made him lose by forcing him to escape into the Purple Sky Village either.
It was the fact that now, he had the confirmation that the story of the golden iron and the hidden gem was most likely true, and that Zhenyun was the sole reason he had been forced down this path to survive.
'Curse you, curse you, curse you! Liu Zhenyun!'
Baotian had always accepted that his actions were evil until now, and felt repulsed by himself. Yet, deep inside, he had always turned part of his self-hatred toward Zhenyun, deciding to trust the story. Maybe deep inside, he also hoped the story was false, so he would finally be able to confront his acts without any excuse in-between, too.
But now that it had been confirmed instead, he only felt visceral hatred:
'Kill… I will kill him!'
And as Baotian was crying tears of blood, the Core Formation round arrived in its later part: there were only two remaining cultivators on the Xuanhe kingdom's side, and three for the Lands of Yaoling. And the next cultivator to fight for their side was none other than Bai Zisheng. As he arrived on the stage, there was not a single person paying attention to Baotian's meltdown. Drowned in his hatred, he felt more alone than ever.