Grasping the Evil-Chapter 986: The Path Blocked by Heaven

"May I ask, young master, what is wine?"

"The word ’wine’ refers to the water of the hour of You. You is the tenth of the earthly branches, symbolizing the west, autumn, and the time when rice is ripe. Grain brewed into water is called wine!"

"These are words from classics, but I wish to hear the young master’s heartfelt thoughts."

"Anything that intoxicates is wine. Beautiful women, wealth, fame, and fortune in the world—anything that can intoxicate the heart, what is not wine?"

"May I ask, young master, what is intoxication?"

"To die by wine is intoxication, to live by wine is sobriety! Between intoxication and sobriety lies the meaning of life and death..."

...

The scene of discussing wine in the Endless Sea gradually surfaced in Ning Fan’s mind.

The Rain World today—could it be the same person as back then... If it is, why is the aura different, and the cultivation vastly disparate!

Back then, Tantai Weiyu that Ning Fan encountered was merely of the Void Fragmentation realm, and arrived in the lower realms only as a spirit sense, but now...

The Rain World in front of him has reached the peak of the Eternal Fifth Calamity!

Actually a Pinnacle Immortal King!

The Rain World of that year, Ning Fan could use the Mind Reading Technique to see what was in her heart, but today’s Rain World, he cannot do so at all; the Mind Reading Technique has no effect...

It’s not that Ning Fan’s cultivation is insufficient, but rather that this Rain World possesses an almost terrifying suction that seems to devour any spirit sense, any divine skills that approach her...

"The Rain World who discussed wine with you years ago was a witchcraft body double I left in the southern heavenly gate. The Southern Sky Dantai Clan is an ancient branch of my family. I secretly sent a witchcraft body double out to have fun, and the elders in the clan are unaware, so please don’t tell anyone about this, okay?"

Seeing Ning Fan’s confusion, Tantai Weiyu explained proactively.

"Witchcraft body double?" Ning Fan was slightly stunned.

"Yes, it’s a witchcraft body double. If I didn’t send a little one to secretly have fun, I’d be bored to death. You might find it hard to imagine, but I haven’t stepped out of the house for three million years... Fortunately, you startled my family’s elders, so I took this opportunity to come out and play."

"Startled your family’s elders?" Ning Fan was once again stunned.

"My family is in the Southern Clan. Though our home is there, my homeland is not..." Tantai Weiyu sighed softly.

The Southern Clan!

Ning Fan’s eyes narrowed slightly; he originally had many doubts in his heart, but after hearing "Southern Clan" from Rain World’s mouth, everything clicked.

This woman follows him for matters concerning the Southern Clan!

If she is the same Rain World from back then, she must know his background! Is she here to expose my identity as a cultivator from the Rain Immortal World? But the fact of being from the Rain Immortal World is not something that cannot be explained away...

It’s just...

For some reason, facing Tantai Weiyu’s sly gaze, Ning Fan felt an odd sensation of being completely exposed in front of this woman.

Moreover, if she really harbored ill intentions, she would not have come alone, as those Southern Clan old monsters would show no mercy...

"You’ve followed me for seven days but haven’t shown yourself. Could it be, you just wanted to scare me..." Ning Fan suddenly had a bizarre guess.

"I can’t be blamed for this. Who told you to shatter the Quasi-Saint body double of third grandpa, scaring my grandfathers to the point of fearing a great enemy for the Southern Clan. Hehe, so I scared you back. Even ancient great cultivator, Zhao Jian... Sister almost believed it, how did it feel these seven days, Young Master Ning?"

Tantai Weiyu put down the wine cup, elegantly covering her mouth with a laugh, exuding a dignified maturity, yet giving off a scheming impression. As if chasing Ning Fan across the entire starry sky was somehow amusing...

Ning Fan was at a loss for words.

These seven days, he thought a supreme being was targeting him; though he wasn’t utterly terrified, he was extremely cautious, treating it as a grave threat...

Turns out, it was just this woman’s prank!

Playing tricks to scare him for seven days, did she find it that amusing? The world of the scheming is indeed incomprehensible.

Another matter left Ning Fan slightly distracted. Tantai Weiyu referred to herself as "sister," which inadvertently reminded Ning Fan of Luo You.

That woman also liked to call herself a sister. Not sure where that woman is now, has she returned to Northern Heaven, after all, it’s her hometown...

"Young Master Ning, who has countless beauties on his mind, are you thinking of some lady again?" Tantai Weiyu covered her mouth with a meaningful smile.

"... Hmm." Ning Fan did not deny, instead thought of another lady, asking, "The one who helped ascend Fairy Suqiu back then was your witchcraft body double, how is Suqiu doing now, has she adapted to life at the Zifu Academy?"

This time, he was asking about Yin Suqiu.

"My junior is doing well, according to news from the witchcraft body double, my junior has now reached Void Refinement in cultivation..."

Tantai Weiyu’s voice paused before continuing,

"Let’s not talk about that, you haven’t answered me, would you like to try the wine from my homeland?"

"Wine from your homeland..."

Ning Fan nodded, filled a cup for himself, tasted it, and was slightly surprised.

It wasn’t wine... it was actually clear water!

But it wasn’t ordinary clear water...

No distinct taste, no spiritual energy, not even qualifying as wine, but for some reason, after drinking this cup of water, Ning Fan’s heart instantly settled into peace.

Ning Fan drank a cup, then a second, and a third... After three cups, he slowly closed his eyes, at this moment, seemed to forget the slaughter of seven days ago, forget the years of traversing the bloody mist, forget the path of swords and bones, forget his cultivation, the martial world of cultivation...

He seemed to regain the feeling of being a mortal, recalling the days of climbing mountains and gathering herbs in his youth... recalling his hometown, Hai Ning, remembering a river there, the water from that river seemed to carry this very taste...

He also remembered Yue Country, remembered the snow of Seven Apricot City, this water as wine, seemingly the melted snow water...

No, no, this is not true clear water...

Water brewed into wine is a transformation.

Wine brewed into water is a return.

This is not clear water, but... water made from brewing wine. If one insists on calling it wine, it is clear water wine!

"Good wine."

Ning Fan slowly opened his eyes, delivering a heartfelt appraisal.

The utterance wasn’t loud, but it drew the attention of many cultivators in the tavern, these low-level cultivators gathered in the tavern, naturally lovers of good wine. Upon hearing mention of good wine, they naturally paid some attention. Unfortunately, they were bound to be disappointed. Scanning with spirit sense, they found that what Ning Fan drank wasn’t wine but water.

"Is this person crazy? Drinking water and calling it good wine, must have a problem with his head? This isn’t even wine!"

"Let’s not talk about him, if you ask me, my thousand-year-old dew-induced Immortal’s Intoxication is true good wine."

"Nonsense, compared to my three-thousand-year-old Jade Maiden’s Beauty, your Immortal’s Intoxication is nothing!"

"My Heaven and Earth Red...

"My Purple Nectar..."

The hall was filled with arguments, immediately drowning out Ning Fan’s previous commendation. A few seasoned old wine lovers, reeking of alcohol, pounded the tables with laughter, treating Ning Fan’s blunder of mistaking clear water for wine as a joke. Of course, these wine lovers casually laughed a few times before letting it go, returning to their own drinking, uninterested in Ning Fan, the novice of wine ways.

Tantai Weiyu silently closed her eyes, unable to hide the turmoil within her heart.

Though she gave Ning Fan this wine, she did not expect him to understand, for until now, no Eastern Celestial Cultivator had ever grasped the subtlety of this Clear Water Wine.

Even she herself did not understand...

But Ning Fan understood...

In front of Tantai Weiyu’s eyes, the silhouette of that elder brother seemed to appear again, day after day standing at the Tantai Crossing, gazing toward the direction of the Vast Expanse Path. From dawn, to dusk, then to eternal night, from spring bloom to autumn silence, then to the depth of winter...

She could not forget the lonely expression of the elder brother as he drank the Clear Water Wine in big gulps.

She could not forget the elder brother patting her little head, telling her stories of the Vast Expanse Path with a voice full of the vicissitudes of life...

"My name is Nifan, I’m a Vast Expanse Cultivator, but also not..."

"What I’m watching is not the Vast Expanse Path, but waiting, waiting for an encounter with the butterfly. Not the Vast Expanse Nine Butterflies, but... that once insignificant self."

"...The Vast Expanse Path is the homeland of the butterfly, here cultivators worship the butterfly as a deity, simply because the Vast Expanse Nine Butterflies were born here, while countless inconspicuous Butterflies go unnoticed... People only know that only the Vast Expanse Nine Butterflies have flown out of the Vast Expanse Path, while a Butterfly attempting to traverse the Vast Expanse would turn to dust... Few know that there was once a Butterfly that flew out of the Vast Expanse Path... On that day, the Master of the Primeval Sword entered the Vast Expanse Path to bathe his sword, and a audacious butterfly hid within the sword master’s clothes..."

"...It wasn’t strong and seemed ordinary at best, but this very ordinariness caught the eye of the Purple Dou Immortal Sovereign, who saw a trace of hope in the midst of darkness, thus granting clemency outside the laws, promising upon the Master of the Primeval Sword’s earnest plea, granting the butterfly a second chance at life..."

"...When entering the Land of Dreams it was a Butterfly, in countless reincarnations it remained a Butterfly, the Purple Dou Immortal Sovereign didn’t aid the butterfly much, fearing it would alter the shadow of the butterfly, the only intervention was to link the Ancient Chaos Grand Emperor’s cause and effect with that of the butterfly... Unfortunately, the hope was still too distant, even before the Purple Dou Immortal Sovereign died in battle, there was no hope held for the butterfly, instead placing high hopes on the Ancient Ten Spirits... Alas, the Ancient Ten Spirits failed the expectations of the Purple Dou Immortal Sovereign, failed the trust of millions upon millions of Purple Astral Immortal Cultivators..."

"...We of the Vast Expanse Path have a saying, a butterfly flapping its wings is enough to alter a reincarnation... The butterfly’s origins were indeed humble, without ancient lineage, without the support of clan fate, if it wasn’t ruthless then it would have no future. No one would ever expect the path that butterfly chose was one no True Realm Cultivator dared to try! If it doesn’t die, then someday it will return to the Vast Expanse Path, I must wait for it, only then can I achieve complete success!"

Not understanding, not understanding why the elder brother had to wait bitterly for a butterfly.

Not understanding, not understanding why the elder brother loved to drink this Clear Water Wine...

Tantai Weiyu could not see the benefits of this Clear Water Wine, she always believed, if it’s beloved by the elder brother, then it must be good... Today, she simply wanted to share this wine with Ning Fan, a kindred spirit in this drink.

But Ning Fan understood...

"Young Master is indeed a connoisseur of wine, upon meeting again today, permit Weiyu to be impolite once more, may I ask Young Master, what is wine?"

For the first time, Tantai Weiyu asked for the path of wine, Ning Fan responded with life and death, real and unreal, cause and effect, reincarnation, but this time was different.

The question was still the same, but what Tantai Weiyu asked was not the path.

It was just the Clear Water Wine...

She remembered scenes from the Vast Expanse Path, remembered the elder brother, wished to understand why the elder brother loved Clear Water Wine, wished to comprehend the person she never understood... Her eyes held sadness, bitterness, but mostly longing.

Endless longing for the one far away...

Ning Fan slightly frowned, not knowing why he couldn’t bear Tantai Weiyu’s sadness, last time it was this way, and this time too. He felt no infatuation for this woman, rather such as Zhao Die’er, like regarding a younger generation. It was a kind of... elder’s affection for a younger one, a kind of... bizarre sense of familiarity across countless ages.

However, Ning Fan was certain, that in this lifetime, he had only met Tantai Weiyu these two times, thus the extreme familiarity could only be explained as an illusion.

"Is what you asked about this Clear Water Wine?"

"You indeed understand what I wish to ask." Tantai Weiyu’s sadness slightly lessened, she nodded and replied.

"Lady first gave me this Clear Water Wine, then asked this question, naturally I can infer a bit." Ning Fan paused, savoring the taste of the Clear Water Wine, for some reason, he thought of the scene of an old man fishing, after pondering, he continued,

"Last time, I saw life and death, real and unreal, cause and effect, reincarnation in the wine, this time, I saw complete success..."

Ning Fan moved the wine jug and cup aside, extended his finger, urged his mana, and drew a circle on the table, shimmering with a faint glow.

"I draw a circle, there must be a starting point, and the starting point is inevitably the endpoint of the circle, this is, perfection."

"From water to wine, what is sought is transcendence; from wine back to water, it is a process of retrospection. This retrospection is precisely the journey from the starting point, circling back to the starting point. Though still at the starting point, the circle is complete, hence this Clear Water Wine can no longer be considered merely water, for it has achieved perfection, and therefore is extraordinary."

"Life and death is a completeness, from life to death, from death to life, thus recurring, forming a circle."

"Truth and illusion is a completeness, from seeing the truth as not true, to seeing the truth as truth, completing this circle, then the path of reality and illusion can be perfect."

"Cause and effect is also a completeness. Today a man fishes, another year the heavens fish me, the cycle of cause and effect is indeed like a circle."

"Look at the Cultivation Star, why is it round? Look at the sun and moon, why are they round? Look at human eyes, why are they round? Look at this vast starry sky, where is there no round? Every living being in this world is in pursuit of their perfection. The edges of a pebble will be rounded by the tides; the youthful spirit will be rounded by the world. This roundness is the path acknowledged by the heavens, the destination of all living beings, but, there are exceptions..."

"In this world, there are also cultivators who will not smooth out their edges, the heavens impose softness, yet they insist on showing hardness! The heavens impose roundness, yet they choose to defy with square! The same journey from start to end, except... they would rather break their heads in the cycle of reincarnation and bleed, yet retain their edges, with exposure and conflict against heavenly intentions... It’s not that they cannot retreat, but that they cannot compromise, because those edges are their path, something more crucial than their life. An ancient saying states, ’Heaven is round, earth is square,’ people blindly pursue roundness, forgetting there’s also a path of square..."

Heaven is round, earth is square... Big Brother seemed to have said similar words back then...

Tantai Weiyu stared blankly at Ning Fan, and for a moment, was under the illusion that she had returned to endless years before, as if she had returned to the Vast Expanse Path, returned to Tantai Crossing, returned to those days and nights of heavenly blue skies before rain.

She remembered the day when Big Brother Nifan stood at the crossroads, sighing long, saying this Clear Water Wine tasted best when homesick, and could be called the best wine in the world.

But, it couldn’t be called the best wine underground...

That day, she naïvely promised that she would brew an underground best wine for Big Brother, only to elicit a burst of laughter from him.

"Young Master Ning, do you think this Clear Water Wine deserves the title of best wine in the world?" Tantai Weiyu suddenly asked.

"Best wine in the world? When I drank this wine, I felt a sense of homecoming, reminiscent of youthful days; this wine, deserving of the best wine in the world." Ning Fan replied.

"Then, Young Master Ning thinks, could this wine be the best wine underground..."

"Best wine underground?"

Ning Fan was startled; it was the first time he heard such a term.

But upon reflection, it was understandable; where there’s a world, there’s underground, what’s inappropriate? The world is yang, underground is yin, the circle is heaven’s approval, this Clear Water Wine’s intent is perfect, worthy of being the best wine in the world, but if it is to be the best wine underground, it can’t pursue roundness, but must be square, must be spicy, cannot be plain...

"This wine is not worthy of being called the best wine underground." Ning Fan responded.

"If I asked you to brew the best underground wine, how would you go about it..." Tantai Weiyu pressed further.

At this moment, she had a bit of expectation; if Ning Fan knew how to brew it, perhaps she could fulfill the promise she made to Big Brother back then, and brew this wine.

Even though... Big Brother is no longer here...

"If I were to brew..." Ning Fan recalled his father, remembered the scene from years back when his father brewed wine with blood, that spiciness remains unforgettable.

"If I must brew this best underground wine, I would still brew using the method of perfection, but would add the blood and bones of my battles throughout the journey to make edges in the wine. Only by brewing with bone and blood can it be drunk with flesh and blood, worthy of the title best wine underground!"

Holder Cultivator’s wine should indeed be spicy, indeed should... walk the path of square!

If circle is yang, then square is yin, is ultimate yin...

Clearly discussing wine, yet Ning Fan seemed to have a great realization, as if at this moment, he recognized his own path.

Heaven’s Rejection of Cultivation Path, this path is blocked... Blocked meaning, this path exists, but has been sealed.

"This word ’square’... could it be the path that heaven wants to seal off for Holder Cultivators!"

Others cultivate heaven, could it be that Holder Cultivators cultivate... the earth!

With this thought burgeoning, Ning Fan’s gaze upon the Southern Dipper Star’s mountains and rivers suddenly changed! (To be continued. If you enjoyed this work, you are welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets; your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read on m.qidian.com.)