Chapter 2113: Three Sisters

Outside Primordial World, within the Palace of Eight Views...

Sage Laozi had indeed summoned his junior brother because of Sect Master Tongtian.

But isn’t Tongtian’s reincarnated form supposed to be cultivating here in the Palace of Eight Views while searching for memories of her past life?

So why has Laozi suddenly called me over?

Celestial Venerable Yuanshi curiously made his way toward his senior brother’s training hall.

Inside, Sage Laozi had already been waiting for quite some time. The moment Yuanshi entered, a wry smile appeared on his face.

Standing somewhat nervously in the middle of the hall was Duan Ning.

In just a few hundred years, the girl who had once been only at the Golden Core Realm had already grown into a cultivator at the peak of the Heavenly Immortal Realm[1].

It was precisely because of this breakthrough that Duan Ning had finally managed to master a divine ability Laozi had taught her not long ago.

“Senior Brother, what exactly is going on here?” Celestial Venerable Yuanshi asked in surprise.

Before Laozi could answer, Duan Ning spoke first, with a trace of grievance in her voice.

“How was I supposed to know back then whether you were good or bad? I only vaguely suspected that someone might have been secretly hunting my big brother. I couldn’t even sense your auras back then, and you suddenly brought me to Jade Void Palace and then to the Palace of Eight Views...”

“Back then, I hadn’t even left the Heaven Cloud Empire, which was part of the Aolai Kingdom on the Eastern Purva Continent...” Duan Ning muttered, lowering her head.

Back then, Duan Ning had followed Celestial Venerable Yuanshi to the Palace of Eight Views without really understanding what was happening. She certainly had not intended to steal an opportunity that belonged to her brother.

If anything, she had wanted to protect him!

It was only after living in the Palace of Eight Views for some time that Duan Ning gradually began to understand just how vast Primordial World and the Immortal Realm Civilization truly were.

Her exceptionally easygoing senior brother, Xuan Du, had helped her greatly in that regard, patiently explaining all sorts of things she had never known before.

Through him, Duan Ning finally began to understand what kind of existence Celestial Venerable Yuanshi truly was.

More importantly, she finally understood what kind of being her own master, Laozi, was.

Expecting a Rank Two Golden Core cultivator who had never even stepped outside the Heaven Cloud Empire, and whose strongest encounter had merely been with a Nascent Soul cultivator, to comprehend what a top-tier Rank Eight sage represented was simply asking too much.

Back then, Duan Ning could not even fathom the aura of her own brother, who had already reached the Earthly Immortal Realm.

The word big brother from Duan Ning’s lips made Celestial Venerable Yuanshi pause.

“You mean...” He pointed at Duan Ning, clearly taken aback.

Duan Ning nodded firmly. “My brother is probably the person you’ve been looking for.”

“Then you...” Celestial Venerable Yuanshi was still somewhat puzzled.

Someone blessed with Sect Master Tongtian’s extraordinary fortune, a figure who had even received special attention from Dao Ancestor Hongjun before his departure, should not have a sister, even after reincarnating and beginning an entirely new cultivation journey.

More importantly, Duan Ning had indeed carried traces of Sect Master Tongtian’s aura back then. That meant she and Tongtian’s reincarnated form truly were biological siblings!

Seeing the questioning look on Celestial Venerable Yuanshi’s face, Duan Ning instinctively turned toward her master.

Sage Laozi sighed softly before nodding. “Show it to your martial uncle.”

Even Laozi, who was usually as calm as still water, could not help feeling a little strange referring to Yuanshi as someone’s martial uncle.

The mysteries of reincarnation were truly profound.

Even Sage Laozi, who had delved deeper into the Great Dao than nearly any other sage in the Immortal Realm, could not help marveling at them.

Duan Ning still looked somewhat nervous and unsure of herself. She glanced toward Xuan Du, who stood off to one side of the hall. The elderly-looking cultivator gave her a gentle smile, helping her relax a little.

Still in the appearance of a young lady, Duan Ning pouted and muttered under her breath, “Master keeps insisting that I’m the reincarnation of that person, but why don’t I feel anything myself? Besides, what happened back then wasn’t entirely my fault...”

Despite her mixed feelings, Duan Ning still obediently followed Laozi’s instructions and demonstrated the most advanced Daoist technique she had mastered so far before Celestial Venerable Yuanshi...

One Qi Transforms Into Three Pure Ones!

Duan Ning assumed a peculiar stance. As obscure incantations flowed from her cherry-red lips, subtle fluctuations of law power immediately began spreading around her.

Had Sein been present, he would undoubtedly have noticed that Duan Ning’s movements and the law power she channeled were nearly identical to those of the panda he had encountered in Beastmen World all those years ago!

Boom!

A cloud of white mist suddenly surged upward.

The young lady in the red dress vanished. In her place stood three tall, stunning women dressed in flowing white dresses.

One held a sword. Another carried a flute. The last held a gourd.

The sword had been given to Duan Ning by Sage Laozi, the flute had been crafted by Xuan Du, and the gourd was a gift from Celestial Venerable Yuanshi.

With such an extraordinary divine ability and three powerful treasures at her disposal, Duan Ning’s combat prowess after transforming into the Three Pure Ones increased by far more than threefold!

The moment Celestial Venerable Yuanshi clearly saw the faces of those three women, his expression changed. He actually lost his footing and stumbled half a step backward.

Celestial Venerable Yuanshi certainly knew these three women!

Weren’t they supposed to have died long ago? More importantly, the souls of two of them had not even survived.

What made the situation even more awkward was that during the Great Investiture of the Gods back in ancient times, Celestial Venerable Yuanshi had personally relied on his own overwhelming strength to kill all three of them.

Although the Register of Deities had later allowed them to reconstruct their physical bodies, the grudge between them had already taken deep root.

This was also one of the reasons relations between the Chan Sect and Jie Sect had remained so poor for so many years.

It was not until after Sect Master Tongtian’s demise that the hostility between the two sects gradually began to ease.

“From a single breath, the Three Pure Ones arise, wondrous beyond compare. Within the vase, mystic arts vast enough to encompass even the universe lie.”

“Transplanted from elsewhere, a single tree still brings me to life. When my divided form departs, harbor no doubt.”

“Those who are executed among the wandering immortals have shallow roots and conduct. True attainment follows the Dao, which favors none.”

“I am Yunxiao!”

“I am Qiongxiao!”

“I am Bixiao!”

Although they were three different women, it was clear that all three were still Duan Ning herself.

She had not awakened any memories from a supposed past life, nor did she understand why her master insisted that she call these three forms Yunxiao, Qiongxiao, and Bixiao.

Now in the form of three tall women, Duan Ning looked between the two elders before her, completely at a loss.

When she first mastered this divine ability and discovered that she could suddenly take on a much taller appearance, she had actually been quite delighted.

She had even wanted to show it off to her older brother.

But judging from the situation now, Duan Ning had indeed, in some sense, taken away part of an opportunity that should have belonged to him.

That realization left her feeling somewhat guilty. She did not quite know how to face her master or senior brother anymore.

After spending several hundred years in the Palace of Eight Views, Duan Ning had long since come to regard them as her own family and elders.

Sage Laozi let out a long sigh.

“Before Master departed from the Astral Realm, perhaps he left behind some arrangement for all of this. Or perhaps this is simply the true will of the Great Dao. If our junior brother had grown up under the protection and guidance of the two of us, he might never have become the Sect Master Tongtian we knew.”

Laozi fell silent for a moment before sighing again.

“Forget it.”

Celestial Venerable Yuanshi also sighed. He cast a conflicted look at Duan Ning before saying, “The workings of the Great Dao are truly unfathomable.”

“I did indeed wrong these three sisters in the past. For things to return in this way now... perhaps this, too, is part of the cycle of karma and reincarnation.”[2]

Sage Laozi nodded slowly. He felt much the same.

1. Author’s Note: In other words, she has reached the peak of Rank Four. ☜

2. Translator’s Recap: In case you didn’t catch it, the three women are the Holy Mothers of the Three Skies. They are Zhao Gongming’s sisters from the Jie Sect, first mentioned back in Chapter 2031. ☜