Chapter 89 — In the Palace of Absolute Freedom, Part 2
Sea of Primordial Tribulation · Page 1 of 3
"Cihang Daoren!?" At the mere mention of the name, Zhou Xuan fell silent, brooding. He pondered for a moment; the Seven-Colored Fairy and Yunxia said nothing, gazing straight at him, while Liao Yanqiao and the other two likewise stilled. For a time the cabin was utterly quiet, and a faint, curious strangeness hung in the air.
After a long while Zhou Xuan suddenly spoke: "Would this be Cihang Daoren, one of the Twelve True Immortals of the ancient Chan Sect?" To the world of cultivators, the histories of the Chan and Jie Sects were distant indeed, and both had long since ceased to exist; yet the fame of the ancient war of deification had resounded through the Three Realms, known to all. The Twelve True Immortals who had displayed such divine might in that war were famed far and wide, and Zhou Xuan knew of them well. Still, certain doubts plagued him that he could in no wise resolve, and which he could not well voice aloud—he could only turn them over in his own mind.
The Seven-Colored Fairy nodded. "Just so. The founding patriarch of our Palace of Absolute Freedom was none other than this Cihang Daoren!"
"Then you are of the Kunlun line?" Seeing his conjecture confirmed, Zhou Xuan asked again. The Seven-Colored Fairy smiled and made no answer; but beside her, Yunxiu Zi, who had kept silent all this while, let a flicker of disdain pass through her eyes—whether aimed at Zhou Xuan or at the Kunlun he had named, none could tell. "Daoist Zhou has long dwelled beyond the seas, devoting himself to the supreme heavenly Dao; the affairs of the world are to him as mist and smoke, and his memory, one supposes, is none too clear. From what Daoist Zhou has said, might one infer that the Kongtong Sect of the Central Plains Daoists is likewise of Kunlun?" Her cold tone carried a faint edge of mockery.
Zhou Xuan's powers were profound and far-reaching, yet Yunxiu Zi gave him no quarter—all the more so after he had just toyed with her and made her swallow a small loss. Yunxia was proud by nature, acting wholly by her own likes and dislikes; even within the Palace of Absolute Freedom she carried on so, and not even the palace mistress could do a thing with her.
Zhou Xuan caught the mockery in Yunxiu Zi's words, yet only laughed it off, taking no offense. "Ha! Then it is I who misspoke—pray forgive me, Fairy." He gave two dry laughs and made a Daoist salute to Yunxiu Zi in apology. As he spoke he was neither servile nor overbearing, his countenance clear and open, and truly he bore himself with eight or nine parts the air of a peerless master, a recluse of profound attainment.
Seeing such bearing in Zhou Xuan, Yunxiu Zi was slightly moved; her cold features softened by half, as when harsh winter has passed and spring comes, all things revive and a hundred flowers begin to open—a sight with a flavor all its own. Yunxia hastened to return the courtesy, her tone now somewhat more polite: "You are too kind, Daoist Zhou!" That said, she spoke no further and lapsed again into silence.
Zhou Chen, the little fox, and Liao Yanqiao exchanged glances, all of them feeling that the worldly taint about Zhou Xuan grew ever fainter; in both deed and word there was a subtle, otherworldly elegance, and more and more he carried the manner of a sect master, a grandmaster of the Dao.