The Flute of Past Lives

Ji Ning was unleashing his full power—Three Heads, Six Arms and other divine abilities—pouring all his strength into his fight against Xiamang Zishan while simultaneously splitting his mind to control his sword formation and tie down Greenwood Vulture. Hidden within the center of her Water-Fire Lotus, Yu Wei could only command her Ice Phoenix and Fire Phoenix in a desperate bid to protect herself. Her eyes turned red. How long had it been? Six months.

For six full months, she and Ji Ning had been roaming the Brightmoon Painting. Every single day, they had to fight for their lives in battle after battle—sometimes a hundred engagements in a single day. Sometimes their enemies were the ones fleeing. Sometimes it was Ji Ning and Yu Wei who had to run.

Ji Ning was stronger than her, and on top of that, he was a Fiendgod Body Refiner. Whenever a situation was dangerous and someone had to hold the enemy back, he was always the one charging forward. In all their previous encounters, the danger had never been as great as this—even though this time there were only two enemies. This was the most perilous moment yet.

“Senior apprentice-sister, get out of here!” Ji Ning’s voice rang out in Yu Wei’s mind.

“Again… he’s telling me to go again. Why am I always the burden?” Yu Wei gritted her teeth. Tears welled up in her eyes. She sent back mentally, “Junior apprentice-brother, don’t worry about me. I’m not strong enough. I’m giving up. I’m leaving the Brightmoon Painting. From here on out, you’ll have to rely on yourself.”

Without her weighing him down…

Ji Ning would surely have a much easier time of it. With his power, there was no need for him to fight head-on at all.

“Whoosh!” A cluster of talismans suddenly appeared before Yu Wei, scattering all around her.

She was so unwilling.

Six months… just six months.

She truly had wanted to stay by Ji Ning’s side until the full year within the Brightmoon Painting was up.

“Release the talismans, and I’ll spare your life.” High in the sky, Greenwood Vulture revealed a smile. But then his smile froze.

The woman who had just thrown out her talismans suddenly grabbed a handful of them and, with a wave of her hand, collected the ones still in midair.

“You’re courting death!” Feeling that he had been toyed with, Greenwood Vulture grew furious. He no longer bothered to stay in the air. Transforming into a streak of light, he dove downward.

Yu Wei clutched the talismans in her hand, her gaze cold and dangerous. She watched the diving Greenwood Vulture, then simply pointed a finger at him.

Instantly, the seventy-two Luoshen Needles split into two groups, floating and spinning in the air. Thirty-six of the needles stirred the power of Heaven and Earth to form a massive black phoenix.

It was completely black, its tail wreathed in dark flames.

The other thirty-six needles formed a colossal white phoenix, pure and flawless, like holy sunlight, with tendrils of light streaming from its tail.

“Hmm?” Greenwood Vulture suddenly felt a jolt of alarm. An instinctive sense of threat surged through him, and he immediately erupted with his full power.

“Swoosh!”

The twenty-zhang-tall Greenwood Vulture swung his golden right arm. His saber-strike was breathtakingly exquisite, leaving behind a curved, almost perfectly beautiful arc in the air as it slashed directly toward the black phoenix charging at the front. The black phoenix let out a screech and was knocked backward, but it did not disperse in the slightest.

“Ahh!” The white phoenix began to tear into the black vulture, causing cracks to appear all over the vulture’s form.

“How… how is this possible? She, she…” Greenwood Vulture was both shocked and enraged. This woman was clearly far weaker than he was. Ji Ning was one thing—he had already made a name for himself and was able to fight the newly empowered Xiamang Zishan to a standstill. Even if Greenwood Vulture himself were to join that fight, he would probably only be a match for Ji Ning at best.

But now he was being held back by a completely unknown woman?

“I don’t believe it!” Greenwood Vulture erupted. He too manifested Three Heads, Six Arms, producing three curved sabers. He turned into a raging gale, his saber light seeming to tear Heaven and Earth apart, unleashing a power that made the heart tremble.

Yet the black phoenix and the white phoenix supported each other, somehow managing to hold firm against the berserk Greenwood Vulture.

Mu Northson, Uncle White, Qingqing, the old madman Wufeng, Cangjiang True Immortal, Beishan Baiwei, and Nine Lotos—all of whom had been tense with worry—were stunned. How had Senior Apprentice-Sister Yu Wei suddenly erupted with such power, defending watertight and leaving Greenwood Vulture completely unable to break through? It was unbelievable.

This was Greenwood Vulture!

“Senior apprentice-sister… had she been holding back this whole time?” Mu Northson wondered. “But she hasn’t been cultivating much longer than Senior Apprentice-Brother Ji Ning either.”

Inside the main hall of the Heavenly Tribulation Palace.

The Xia Emperor couldn’t help but smile. “Now this is a twist.”

“Just when things looked darkest, a new path opened up,” Lu Dongbin marveled. “Who would have thought that this little girl could awaken her past-life memories at such a critical moment? This awakening means she has comprehended at least four complete Daos and has quite a profound insight into the Grand Dao of Taiji. Her past life was a rather formidable Loose Immortal.”

The Grand Dao of Taiji and four complete Daos—that put her among the top experts among Loose Immortals.

“She had already comprehended two Daos before,” Northern Dipper Immortal said, shaking his head as he cradled his wine jug. “With her realm high enough, it is indeed possible for her to awaken past-life memories. But for a reincarnated immortal to do so is extremely difficult. It seems that in that moment, the shock she received was so great that it triggered an explosive surge in her soul, awakening the memories buried within.”

“Yes.”

“That’s right.”

The assembled Pure Yang True Immortals nodded.

Among the hundred thousand or so candidates in the Immortal Fortunes Assembly, there were many reincarnated immortals. A sudden awakening of past-life memories was something that could happen, but it was exceedingly rare.

“What is this little girl’s name?” Lu Dongbin looked at the Xia Emperor. “I don’t know it yet.”

“Her name is Yu Wei, her Daoist title is Fire Rainbow. Because she is a reincarnated immortal, she is known as the Fire Rainbow Immortal,” the Xia Emperor replied. “She is also from the Black-White College of the Anchan Commandery. The Ji Ning beside her, whom you already know, is also from the Black-White College. The Black-White College has produced a total of three disciples in this assembly—not a weak showing at all.”

“Lazy True Immortal is a disciple of Dark Empyrean and is on the same level as Greenwood Vulture, Xiamang Zishan, and Ji Ning. This Yu Wei was weak before, but after awakening her past-life memories, she is also on the same tier,” Emperor Hao said with deep emotion.

“In my opinion, Lazy True Immortal has been cultivating for over a century, and Yu Wei merely awakened her past-life memories. But Ji Ning has only been cultivating for a mere thirty years, and he has already reached this level. That is truly astonishing,” Lu Dongbin said, stroking his chin. “I think Ji Ning has tremendous potential.”

The Xia Emperor laughed. “Are you saying you want to take him as a disciple, Lu Dongbin?”

“No, no, no. I actually favor that little girl, Yu Wei,” Lu Dongbin said, his eyes lighting up. “To have her past-life memories awakened by such a strong stimulus… this little girl is interesting, very interesting.”

The others shook their heads.

Reincarnated immortals generally had little potential. If they had failed their tribulations in their past life, what hope did they have of succeeding in this one? It was far too unlikely.

“Ji Ning, on the other hand, has true potential,” the Xia Emperor mused silently. In this Immortal Fortunes Assembly, he had already noted twenty-one young people, each of exceptionally high potential. Ji Ning was one of them.

Within the Brightmoon Painting.

“Boom!”

Ji Ning was being suppressed by Xiamang Zishan. Even though he relied on his agility to counter the brute force, he was still being shaken and injured. But these were only minor wounds. He kept a constant watch on his senior apprentice-sister’s situation, and what he saw made him both shocked and delighted. Under Greenwood Vulture’s assault, Senior Apprentice-Sister Yu Wei had suddenly exploded in power, actually holding off Greenwood Vulture all on her own!

“Junior apprentice-brother, come here. Put away your sword formation!” Yu Wei sent him an urgent mental message.

“Senior apprentice-sister!” Ji Ning stopped tangling with Xiamang Zishan. With a whoosh, he appeared by Yu Wei’s side and, with a thought, retracted the Lesser Thousand Sword Formation.

“Let’s go.” Yu Wei grabbed Ji Ning’s arm.

The black phoenix and the white phoenix descended, spinning together to form a black-and-white vortex. Yu Wei grabbed Ji Ning and charged straight into it.

Whoosh!

A blinding streak of black-and-white light was left in the sky as they reached a spot thousands of li away in an instant.

“What… what technique is that?!” Xiamang Zishan walked over, stunned. “How is she so fast at escaping? Greenwood Vulture, you can’t even catch up? Didn’t you say you were the fastest among all Wanxiang Adepts?”

“I cannot catch up,” Greenwood Vulture said, shaking his head gently. “I can see that this is a highly ingenious treasure-flight technique founded on the Grand Dao of Taiji. This woman’s insights into the ‘Taiji’ Grand Dao are very deep!”

Inside a mountain cave, Ji Ning set up a simple formation and then sat down heavily.

“That Xiamang Zishan is a complete madman.” Ji Ning was exhausted. The previous battle had been pure insanity. He glanced over and noticed a pool of water deeper in the cave. He walked over, cupped his hands, and splashed some water on his face. “Ah…that feels good.”

Yu Wei smiled.

She could still walk alongside her junior apprentice-brother in the Brightmoon Painting world.

She walked over to the pool and sat down on the ground. With a flip of her hand, she produced a green jade flute and began to play softly.

The flute’s melody drifted, seemingly touching the very depths of the heart.

Ji Ning was startled. He gently set down the water cupped in his hands and sat there, listening.

The flute music floated through the air…

…There was a vast prairie, a peaceful and harmonious little tribe, and a little girl who was a part of that tribe…

…The peace shattered. Disaster descended…

…The girl took the path of slaughter, becoming a fearsome female Asura…

Scene after scene unfolded—from a childhood of innocence to the final moments of death and reincarnation. Her entire past life flashed before her eyes.

The flute music possessed an almost inconceivable magic, allowing Ji Ning to feel her joy, her rage, her sorrow, her delight. It penetrated deep into his soul. Ji Ning was completely drawn into the music. He watched the black-robed girl playing the flute, and that scene was branded into his memory, a sight he would never forget, even a very, very long time from now.

“Plop.”

A single teardrop fell, splashing into the mud.

Ji Ning was jolted out of the music. It was only then that he realized Senior Apprentice-Sister’s face was streaked with tears. He could not help but call out, “Senior apprentice-sister!” Yu Wei paused, then gently set down her flute.

“Senior apprentice-sister… are you alright?” Ji Ning was worried.

“I’m fine.” Yu Wei shook her head, looking at Ji Ning, and managed a smile. “I was just thinking about some things from a past life. Even though it has all already happened, truly recalling it… it really is hard to control one’s emotions. But that’s all in the past. Let the past be the past. I’ve already been reincarnated after all. Honestly, I’d rather not have known about my past life at all.”

“Can you tell me about it?” Ji Ning asked.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Yu Wei shook her head.

Ji Ning was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, “Did you have a Dao-companion in your past life?”

Yu Wei was taken aback. She looked at Ji Ning carefully, as if trying to read something from his eyes and expression. Then, she slowly shook her head. “No.”