Chapter 940: One Moment More I Don't Want to Stay

During the meal, Azhe remained silent, his gaze occasionally darting towards "Yellow Springs" on the table. Jinxu sat beside him, patiently waiting. She didn't eat frequently, only joining Azhe for meals on occasion.

"Sister Jin, I want to leave Jiufeng Mountain," Azhe said suddenly.

Azhe's sudden words surprised Jinxu slightly, but she quickly smiled, pretending to be unaware of his true intentions.

"Are you homesick?" she asked. "It should be fine. I'll ask Grandmaster if I can accompany you down the mountain after a while. We could visit Shannan Inn to see how Ah Long and Ah Gu are doing. Their children must be quite grown by now; they'll be so surprised to see you're still so young!"

Azhe put down his chopsticks and looked up at Jinxu.

"Sister Jin," Azhe clarified, "I want to leave Jiufeng Mountain. I want to leave Jiufeng Heavenly Grotto and go out into the true, vast world to find Mr. Ji."

"Mr. Ji..."

Memories of her travels with Mr. Ji years ago flashed through Jinxu's mind. His calm, pale eyes and extraordinary demeanor were vivid in her memory, yet felt so distant.

"Azhe," she said, "the outside world isn't as peaceful as Jiufeng Heavenly Grotto. There are many demons and monsters out there..."

"But outside, there are also immortals like Mr. Ji!" Azhe retorted.

Azhe's retort made Jinxu frown slightly as she pondered deeply.

"Mr. Ji travels the world, making his home wherever he goes," she explained. "What's more, he is a true immortal, and his whereabouts are impossible to pin down. If he doesn't come looking for you, you won't find him."

"I don't believe it!" Azhe insisted. "As long as I search diligently, I'll find Mr. Ji. Even if I can't find him immediately, I can go to Dazhen, to Haoran Academy. As long as I find the person who wrote this book, I should be able to learn something about his whereabouts!"

Jinxu knew, of course, that Mr. Ji had written the preface for the book on the table. Perhaps finding the novel's author really could lead to Mr. Ji. But that wasn't the main issue; the crucial point was that Azhe simply couldn't leave Jiufeng Mountain.

"Azhe," she said, "Dazhen is in Dongtu Yunzhou, extremely far from here."

Azhe, no longer completely naive, put down his bowl and chopsticks and spoke.

"I know about realm ferries," he stated. "We can find an immortal port and take a realm ferry that goes to Yunzhou. We'd be there in half a year at most!"

"Realm ferries aren't something you can just take whenever you want," Jinxu replied, "and there might not even be one going to Yunzhou. You might not encounter one in ten years..."

Jinxu, feeling a little guilty, tried to mislead Azhe, then quickly added.

"In a few years, our Jiufeng Mountain will have a flying boat departing. When that happens, I'll speak to the Honored Master; perhaps then..."

Azhe, who had been watching Jinxu the whole time, suddenly interrupted her.

"Sister Jin," Azhe said, "I want to leave Jiufeng Mountain. Even if I can't find Mr. Ji immediately, I don't want to stay here anymore. They just keep me trapped on this cliff. Besides you, I've barely seen any other Jiufeng Mountain disciples. I don't want to continue living like this!"

"Azhe, don't overthink this," Jinxu pleaded. "The Honored Master truly cares about you. He just wants you to focus on cultivation. He'll naturally allow you to go out when the time is right."

Azhe smiled, shaking his head.

"Sister Jin, you don't have to lie to me anymore," he said. "I know you don't want me to be sad, but I also know you rarely see the Honored Master, and he doesn't consider me a Jiufeng Mountain disciple at all."

"Azhe..."

Jinxu started to speak, but Azhe raised a hand to stop her and continued.

"I've been able to absorb spiritual energy and condense a conceptual Danlu for a long time now. I've been cultivating for so many years. This Cliff Mountain, though not small, is surrounded by cliffs on all sides and floats in the air. Isn't this just to trap me? Otherwise, why haven't they taught me the art of flight?"

Jinxu had no answer to this. Given Azhe's talent, it was clear that they hadn't withheld the art of flight because he couldn't learn it; it was precisely because they didn't want him to leave.

"So they never really considered me a Jiufeng Mountain disciple," Azhe continued. "Perhaps at first, they genuinely wanted to teach me, but later they decided I had deep demonic roots. They were even extremely surprised that I could manifest a conceptual Danlu, and then they calculated that my so-called Dao foundation Danlu was half immortal and half demonic. They believe the higher my cultivation, the more dangerous it will be for me to fall into demonic ways in the future. They want to trap me on this Cliff Mountain until I die of old age, don't they? You just said you'd take me to Nanshan Inn, but I'm afraid that's just a pipe dream."

Azhe spoke calmly, without the hysterical anger Jinxu might have expected, which left her feeling somewhat at a loss.

"Azhe, you've already established an immortal foundation," she stammered. "How could you possibly die of old age so easily..."

Her feeble rebuttal made Azhe laugh again.

"Sister Jin," he said, "I know you're good to me. You're the only one in all of Jiufeng Mountain who truly cares about me. You even bring me books to read from time to time, and permitted cultivation texts. But I don't want to spend the rest of my life on this Cliff Mountain. I don't want to..."

"Sister Jin, I want to leave here. I want to leave Jiufeng Mountain! But I don't know how..."

Jinxu remained silent. Azhe spoke a few more words, but seeing her unresponsiveness, he also fell silent. The rest of the meal passed in unusual gloom.

After dinner, Jinxu cleared the dishes, briefly asked Azhe what he wanted to eat next time, and then left.

Not long after, Jinxu, riding the wind, gathered her courage and flew to the courtyard of the Honored Master of Jiufeng Mountain. Apart from the birdsong and fragrant flowers, there were no other senior masters nearby, yet Jinxu hesitated outside the courtyard for a long time.

Azhe was right; she hadn't seen the Honored Master in almost ten years. Usually, she only consulted her own Grandmaster about Azhe's affairs.

Just as Jinxu gathered her courage to knock, a voice came from within.

"Is that Jinxu?"

Jinxu quickly bowed in a respectful greeting.

"Your disciple, Jinxu, greets the Honored Master!"

The courtyard gate opened gently from within, and the Honored Master of Jiufeng Mountain stood at the entrance, looking at the sect disciple before him.

"No need for such formality," he said. "You're here about Azhe, aren't you?"

Jinxu looked up, gritted her teeth, and spoke, momentarily forgetting she was addressing the Honored Master.

"Honored Master," she pressed, "why won't you let Azhe learn the art of flight? Why won't you let him leave the mountain? Are you truly going to let him die of old age here?"

"Hm? Who told you that?"

Jinxu's voice faltered. She whispered, "I... I just imagined it myself..."

Zhao Yu, the Honored Master of Jiufeng Mountain, shook his head and sighed.

"Azhe's talent truly exceeds our imagination, but this isn't merely a matter of cultivation aptitude anymore," he explained. "Do you know that the basic cultivation method of the Jiufeng Mountain lineage that Azhe practices is inherently flawed?"

Jinxu looked bewildered.

"What's wrong with it?" she asked.

Zhao Yu stepped out of the courtyard and looked at the distant floating Cliff Mountain, shrouded in mist, speaking slowly.

"The cultivation method Azhe practices should, by all accounts, make it impossible to condense a conceptual Danlu," he stated. "Yet, he managed to do it."

Jinxu's mouth fell slightly open as she stared at the Honored Master in disbelief.

"Impossible to cultivate? Why..."

"The esteemed elders in the sect divined Azhe's fate and found his destiny vague and difficult to discern. Combined with his demonic thoughts, they still wanted him to settle his mind and absorb spiritual energy for twenty years before considering other paths. But Azhe proved too unpredictable."

Jinxu felt this couldn't be blamed on Azhe, but not daring to question the Honored Master, she could only ask cautiously,

"Honored Master, what about Azhe then? Does he really have to stay on Cliff Mountain forever?"

To her surprise, Zhao Yu smiled.

"So many years have passed," Zhao Yu said. "It's fortunate he had the patience to remain on that desolate mountain all this time. I suppose no one can object now. It's time for Azhe to learn the art of flight and to receive the cultivation methods of my Jiufeng Mountain lineage. Tell him to cultivate well here; it won't be too late to leave the mountain once he has mastered his skills. If Mr. Ji can trust him, then why shouldn't I?"

As Zhao Yu spoke, he handed Jinxu a small token, and a look of surprise appeared on her face.

"Your disciple accepts the decree!"

Jinxu was utterly overjoyed, happier than if she herself had received the Honored Master's approval. Taking the token, she bade farewell to Zhao Yu, then gleefully rushed to the Dharma Pavilion. She quickly found several cultivation techniques suitable for Azhe and hurried back to Cliff Mountain.

"Azhe—Azhe—the Honored Master says you can learn the art of flight now, Azhe—"

Jinxu entered Azhe's room and placed the jade slips, jade tags, and mystic jade scrolls she had brought onto the table, but Azhe was nowhere to be found.

"Azhe?"

Although Cliff Mountain was suspended in the air, it wasn't just a single peak. In addition to nine massive mountain peaks, it was actually a small mountain sustained by the Jiufeng Mountain grand formation. Measuring tens of li square, it offered ample space for activity and even boasted flowers, trees, flying insects, and walking beasts.

Unable to find Azhe, Jinxu left the house and flew out into the mountain to call him. Strangely, despite searching all the familiar places, Azhe was nowhere to be seen.

"He doesn't know how to fly. Could he have fallen off the mountain... No, no, that's impossible!" she murmured anxiously.

Suddenly, Jinxu sensed something. She quickly rode the wind back to Azhe's room and saw him standing at the table, flipping through a cultivation manual. He turned his head to look at Jinxu at the doorway.

"Sister Jin, has the Honored Master really allowed me to learn these?" Azhe asked.

"Yes!" Jinxu exclaimed. "The Honored Master told me himself, and he said he trusts you! This is the token he gave, saying you can leave the mountain once you've mastered your skills!"

Jinxu's excellent mood was evident.

"Oh, by the way," she added, "why couldn't I find you anywhere just now? I couldn't even sense your aura."

"Hmm, maybe we just missed each other, Sister Jin," Azhe replied.

"Why aren't you smiling?" Jinxu prompted. "Once you can fly, I'll take you to see all the beautiful sights of Jiufeng Mountain!"

"Mm, okay!" Azhe said.

Azhe finally managed a small smile, but his peripheral vision had already returned to the book in his hands: methods of riding the wind, controlling water and mist, condensing spells into clouds...

'Sister Jin,' he thought, 'if it weren't for you, I wouldn't want to stay in Jiufeng Mountain for a single moment!'