I Want You to See Me Return to Your Side with Your Own Eyes
At the edge of the sky, specks of dawn finally appeared deep within the sea of clouds.
The light broke through the clouds and fell upon the two figures embracing in the distance. They sat atop the white tiger, poised above the clouds, while the cool wind sent the cloud sea rolling around them. The warmth of the rising sun had yet to reach them.
Feng Qi drew the cloak closed, wrapping the person in his arms more tightly. “Cold?”
“Not cold.” Ji Chaoyun leaned against him and smiled. “Have you forgotten? My dragon pearl protects me now. I don’t get cold anymore.”
Feng Qi smiled but still did not release him.
The light in the distance grew brighter. The rising sunlight fell across Ji Chaoyun’s face, as though gilding his features with a faint warmth. Facing the sunlight, he said softly, “It’s almost time for Immortal Venerable Tianshu to open the Gate of Ascension.”
“Mm. Let’s go back.”
The white tiger spread its wings and flew toward Hongmeng Academy. Before long, the blue-tiled rooftops of the academy appeared and disappeared among the clouds.
The two landed before the gates of Hongmeng Academy.
The mountain gate was exceedingly quiet in the early morning. Only a few disciples assigned to sweeping were clearing fallen leaves. When they saw the two arrive, they stepped aside one after another. Feng Qi did not make Ji Chaoyun dismount and instead urged the white tiger directly up the ten-thousand-step staircase.
The news that Feng Qi intended to ascend the Gate of Ascension had not been announced beforehand, so everything in Hongmeng Academy continued as usual. Only after they entered the academy did the number of people around them gradually increase.
In its true form, the mottled spirit tiger stood as tall as a person, making it impossible not to attract attention. More people began looking their way. Ji Chaoyun shifted uneasily, seeming to want to slip free from Feng Qi’s embrace, but then he appeared to remember something and stopped moving.
Feng Qi noticed his reaction and asked softly, “Want me to hold you a little longer?”
“...Mm.”
Feng Qi sighed softly and asked beside his ear, “Are you afraid?”
Ji Chaoyun said, “I’m not afraid. I believe in you.”
He raised his hand and took Feng Qi’s left hand where it rested around his waist, gently rubbing the mark on his wrist. “Look, I’m always with you. You’ll succeed.”
The white tiger slowly crossed the front mountain plaza of Hongmeng Academy. No one could see that beneath the cloak, their hands were clasped together.
Feng Qi said, “After performing the bowing rite beneath the banyan tree, we can only be considered betrothed. I still have to follow the customs of the Immortal Realm, with three matchmakers and six betrothal rites, and properly join our names.”
“...Don’t be afraid, little dragon. Nothing will happen.”
The Gate of Ascension was ordinarily hidden from sight. Only the Academy Master of Hongmeng Academy could open it. The place from which one entered lay atop Nine Heavens Cliff, the highest point in the academy.
Feng Qi urged the white tiger toward Nine Heavens Cliff. They had only just entered the forest when they saw someone waiting ahead.
Bai Qiuyue.
Feng Qi’s brows drew together slightly. Without showing anything, he exchanged a glance with Ji Chaoyun.
The two leaped down from the white tiger.
Bai Qiuyue leaned against a tree trunk and tilted his head at them with a smile. “Last night, I wanted to go to Wenqu Peak to find you. I called outside the teleportation array for ages and no one answered. Only after asking around did I learn that the two of you had slipped out to amuse yourselves again. It’s the little dragon’s first time participating in the Heaven Ranking Tournament. Taking him around everywhere like this isn’t very proper, is it?”
Feng Qi ignored all of that and asked directly, “Why were you looking for me?”
Bai Qiuyue said, “Three days ago, Immortal Venerable Tianshu removed every scroll concerning the Gate of Ascension from the Scripture Pavilion and placed a restriction around Nine Heavens Cliff, forbidding disciples from entering. I grew curious, but I couldn’t find anyone to ask, so I could only come to you. After all, the last person Immortal Venerable Tianshu met that day was you.”
Feng Qi said calmly, “Haven’t you already guessed?”
“The Gate of Ascension.” Bai Qiuyue walked up to them, the smile fading from his eyes. “Do you know how dangerous it is?”
“I know.”
“Then you still—”
Feng Qi said, “Bai Qiuyue, you understand the present state of the Immortal Realm better than I do. At this point, if we want to break this deadlock, someone has to take that step.”
“That doesn’t mean you can gamble with your life!” Seeming to realize that he had lost his composure, Bai Qiuyue drew a deep breath and softened his tone. “I looked into it these past few days as well. It has been more than eight thousand years since the Gate of Ascension was established. During that time, fifty-six people have attempted to ascend.”
He turned his head toward Ji Chaoyun. “Little dragon, take a guess. How many ultimately succeeded?”
Ji Chaoyun’s face went pale. “I... I don’t know.”
“Three.”
Ji Chaoyun’s hand trembled faintly.
Bai Qiuyue continued leisurely, “Those three were all senior immortals who had cultivated for several thousand years. Would you also like to know what happened to those who failed?”
“Bai Qiuyue, enough.”
Bai Qiuyue said, “They were burned to death by heavenly fire, their souls scattered, their bodies reduced to ash, without even bones left behind.”
“Bai Qiuyue—”
“I’m trying to save you!” Bai Qiuyue cut him off. “I don’t know how you persuaded Immortal Venerable Tianshu and Phoenix Lorrd Feng Ji, but this isn’t something you can rush into. You are indeed the academy’s most gifted disciple in the past hundred years, but you are still far from being capable of ascending the Gate of Ascension. Going now is simply throwing your life away!”
The atmosphere within the pine forest turned rigid.
After a long while, Feng Qi said calmly, “Step aside, Bai Qiuyue. I know you mean well, but I’ve already made up my mind. You can’t stop me.”
Bai Qiuyue did not move. He looked silently at Feng Qi and said softly, “Feng Qi, I’ve always considered you a friend.”
“...My parents died when I was young. The entire Heavenly Fox Clan has rested on my shoulders ever since. Only during my years at Hongmeng Academy could I finally catch my breath for a little while.” Bai Qiuyue said, “You and I are close in age, and we entered the academy at the same time. You could almost be called... my only friend in the Immortal Realm.”
Feng Qi frowned and interrupted, “Wait. I’m not dead yet. Why are you suddenly pouring your heart out to me?”
Bai Qiuyue gave a bitter smile and sighed. “I don’t know. Perhaps I simply don’t want to lose my only friend.”
Feng Qi fell silent.
After a moment, he raised a hand and patted Bai Qiuyue’s shoulder. “I understand. You’re also one of the few people in the academy with whom I can truly speak from the heart. Trust me this once. I can come back.”
A smile curved Feng Qi’s lips. “Not only can I come back, but I can also destroy the Demon Clan, kill Yan Huaqing, save the entire Immortal Realm, and avenge your parents. Isn’t that what you’ve always wanted? Don’t worry. I’ll do what I said.”
Bai Qiuyue lowered his eyes and did not answer.
After a long while, he suddenly gave a soft laugh. “Looks like I was worrying like the man of Qi about the sky.”
He stepped half a pace aside. “Go. I’ll wait for good news from you. When you return, I’ll personally prepare a gift and come congratulate you.”
“All right. I’ll remember that.”
After saying this, Feng Qi took Ji Chaoyun’s hand and continued onward.
Behind them, Bai Qiuyue remained standing in place for a long time, watching the two figures disappear before finally letting out a long, quiet sigh.
The two did not ride the white tiger again and instead walked slowly up the mountain. Immortal Tianshu had placed a restriction over the mountain path, and only the two of them were permitted to enter.
No one else was in the forest. It was so quiet that only the rustle of the wind passing through the trees could be heard.
Ever since they encountered Bai Qiuyue, Ji Chaoyun had not spoken a single word.
Feng Qi naturally knew what he was thinking. Secretly feeling a headache coming on, he said as though he did not care, “Don’t you think Bai Qiuyue is strange? I’m only going to attempt the Gate of Ascension. I’ll be back in a little while, yet he deliberately came all the way here to say so many sentimental things to me. Truly unbearable.”
“...Once I return, I must properly mock him for it.”
Ji Chaoyun still did not speak.
Nine Heavens Cliff was already close ahead. Spiritual power now surged across the summit, fierce winds howling as four towering stone pillars rose from the grass, reaching toward the heavens.
Tianshu sat cross-legged beside the stone pillars, while Feng Ji stood quietly at his side.
Seeing Feng Qi and Ji Chaoyun arrive, Feng Ji stepped forward. “Have you truly thought this through?”
“Naturally.”
Feng Ji looked hesitant, as though he wanted to say something, but ultimately remained silent. He turned instead toward Ji Chaoyun. “Chaoyun should wait here. Once the Gate of Ascension opens, the spiritual power will be too intense. I’m afraid you won’t be able to withstand it.”
Before Feng Qi could respond, Ji Chaoyun’s fingers tightened around his sleeve.
Feng Qi turned his head and glanced at him, then said softly, “Elder Brother, wait a moment. I still have a few words to say to him.”
“...Be quick.” Feng Ji nodded and returned to Tianshu’s side.
“Chaoyun, you—”
Feng Qi had only just begun when Ji Chaoyun suddenly embraced him from behind.
“I lied.” Ji Chaoyun’s voice trembled, and even the hands wrapped around Feng Qi were shaking slightly. “When I said I wasn’t afraid, that was a lie. When I said that if you didn’t come back, I would protect the Immortal Realm in your place, that was also a lie. Feng Qi, if anything happens to you, I won’t be able to go on living.”
Feng Qi’s eyes stung. He closed them and cursed the meddlesome Bai Qiuyue several times in his heart.
He covered Ji Chaoyun’s hands with his own and said quietly, “Then I’ll tell you a secret too. Actually... I’m a little afraid as well.”
“That’s the Gate of Ascension. No one has dared attempt it for several hundred years. It’s only natural that I’m a little afraid. That isn’t shameful, is it?” Feng Qi smiled. “That day, I told you that Feng Xiao and I were different people. Thinking about it afterward though, the foolish things I’ve done and the things he did ultimately lead down the same road. No, I’m even worse than he was.”
“I’m sorry.” Feng Qi turned around and looked into Ji Chaoyun’s reddened eyes. “I like you this much, yet I’m always making you sad. I really am a bastard.”
“Little dragon, I want to be with you forever. I also want the rivers to remain clear and the seas at peace, with no more calamities anywhere in this world. I want my clansmen, my fellow disciples, and the countless common people to never again face any threat. I want us to remain openly at each other’s side in this world, to go anywhere we wish, rather than constantly living in fear and forever worrying that we are trapped within someone else’s schemes and plots.”
Ji Chaoyun drew a deep breath, his voice hoarse. “I... I understand all of that. I understood it three hundred years ago.”
From three hundred years ago onward, he had understood this person’s deepest wishes and ideals, and naturally supported his aspirations.
Otherwise, why would he have cut out his dragon pearl and given it to him, curing him of the poison?
That wish was also the wish within Ji Chaoyun’s own heart.
Ji Chaoyun smiled bitterly. “I truly have... lived backward instead of forward.”
He had long since lost the courage he possessed back then.
He feared parting, feared danger, feared that everything would once again repeat itself.
“It isn’t your fault. It’s mine.” Feng Qi stroked his hair and said gently, “I know that someone who already broke his promise once has no right to ask you to simply believe him again. I’ll prove it with what I do.”
“Little dragon, stand here and watch me.”
“I want you to witness all of it with your own eyes. I want you to see with your own eyes as I return to your side.”
“...All right.” Ji Chaoyun raised his head and smiled faintly. “I’ll believe you once more. One last time.”
Feng Qi’s thumb brushed the corner of his eye before he stepped back half a pace. He gazed at Ji Chaoyun with lingering reluctance, the tenderness in his eyes almost identical to what it had been three hundred years ago.
Then Feng Qi turned and strode toward the summit.
A moment later, the entirety of Hongmeng Academy suddenly began to tremble violently.
Lightning flashed and thunder roared across the heavens. Tribulation clouds gathered, blotting out the sky until the whole of Hongmeng Mountain became as dark as night. A pillar of light surged from Nine Heavens Cliff into the firmament, forcibly tearing a gap through the rolling tribulation clouds.
At that moment, every disciple in the academy, and even everyone throughout the Immortal Realm, instantly understood what was happening.
The Gate of Ascension, which had not opened for several hundred years, finally opened once more on this day.
☁︎₊˚⊹ The Author’s Jade-Slip Aside ⊹˚₊☁︎
I originally wrote another section after this, but after working on it all night, I still wasn’t very satisfied. I’ll revise it some more, so I’ll post this much first orz
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