Accidentally Reincarnated in Cultivation World-Chapter 382: Old Man Riding Clouds

"You know what that thing is?" Yu Xuan asked, his voice low.

"I do," Old Yu replied calmly.

"Or rather you do, but just not now."

Yu Xuan frowned.

"For the time being, you don’t need to know its true nature. What matters is that, unlike what they think, we do not require its protection to keep the mind intact." Old Yu continued, unfazed.

"But what is that thing?" Yu Xuan pressed.

Old Yu paused for a moment, then spoke with deliberate vagueness.

"For now, think of it as the first fire born at the creation of Heaven."

Yu Xuan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"...So its nature is different."

Old Yu smiled faintly.

"Naturally. But do you really think I’d tell you the whole truth at this stage?"

Yu Xuan exhaled loudly, clearly dissatisfied.

"Then why did you come to see me now?" he asked.

"Do you want control of the body again?"

The memory of the Martial Ancestor’s Inheritance still lingered in his mind.

And Old Yu’s expression instantly soured.

"Why do you look at me like I’m some sort of body thief?"

"...Because you are suspicious."

"Really?" Old Yu looked hurt.

"But this time, I genuinely pulled you here just to talk, there is really no grand scheme at play."

"..."

Yu Xuan didn’t reply.

He simply sat there, silently eating his chocolate-chip ice cream for a full minute, eyes fixed on Old Yu as if trying to peel lies straight off his face.

Old Yu endured the stare with unsettling composure.

Finally, Yu Xuan stood up.

"Alright. I’m leaving."

He closed his eyes and focused on returning.

When he opened them again.

Old Yu was still there, barely holding back laughter.

A vein twitched on Yu Xuan’s forehead.

The world changed.

And Yu Xuan returned to his body.

The crystal cup had vanished from his hands. The ethereal flames were gone.

In front of him stood Hundun, silent and unmoving.

After a brief pause, Hundun’s voice echoed directly within Yu Xuan’s mind.

"...You are qualified."

Yu Xuan raised an eyebrow.

For the first time since meeting Hundun, that ancient, unfathomable voice carried a trace of something unusual.

Confusion.

"So, what do I do now to awaken this Supreme Will?" Yu Xuan asked calmly.

"For now you will proceed to a residence in the eastern region and settle there. Before the awakening, a ceremony must be performed." Hundun replied

Yu Xuan nodded lightly. He didn’t ask what this ceremony was.

Strangely, he felt no impatience – only a faint, unsettling sensation, as if a malicious gaze lingered somewhere beyond perception.

He couldn’t tell whether it was real or merely the aftereffect of standing among beings that bent reality by their presence alone.

"You may leave now," Hundun said, his attention already drifting away.

As Yu Xuan turned to go, Hundun remained still, but within his formless being, unease rippled.

The First Spark of Heaven had burned.

Yet no protective layer had formed or maybe it did?

And when Hundun checked the crystal cup, now storing the result of Yu Xuan’s evaluation, it had only one thought.

’Why... is it this heavy?’

The cup’s weight adjusted itself based on potential alone.

And right now, it was terrifyingly heavy...

***

Yu Xuan exited the pagoda without delay.

Outside, the air felt different.

He instinctively searched for the Nine-Headed Calamity Serpent Empress, but found no trace of her.

It was as if she had never been there.

With no other living beings in sight, Yu Xuan turned eastward, following Hundun’s instruction to find a place to settle.

After some time.

"Hohohohohohoho!"

A boisterous laugh echoed through the skies.

Yu Xuan halted.

From above, an old man descended leisurely atop a drifting cloud.

He had a long, suspiciously exaggerated beard, which he stroked with one hand as if proud of it.

His eyes gleamed with mischief.

"Hohoho! What a rare sight! A newcomer wandering this place all alone!"

Yu Xuan looked up, expression unreadable.

’...Why do I suddenly feel like I’ve just met trouble incarnate?’

"Indeed, indeed! What a rare sight to encounter such a beautiful human female wandering alone!" the old man declared loudly examining Yu Xuan.

Yu Xuan’s eyelid twitched.

"Senior," he replied calmly, though his eyes narrowed, "while I may look beautiful by your standards, I am, in fact, a male."

There was no way he was going to take the ramblings of a suspicious, cloud-riding old man to heart.

He wasn’t that black-hearted.

"And I’m heading east to find a residence. Could you help me with that?" Yu Xuan continued politely.

"Hohohohoho! What a well mannered child!" the old man laughed, stroking his long beard.

"But first answer a question for this old man, will you?"

Yu Xuan nodded, playing along.

"If you were hungry," the old man asked slowly, eyes gleaming.

"And there was a peach tree before you... would you eat the peaches from that tree?"

Yu Xuan fell into deep thought, his brows knitting together as if contemplating the mysteries of heaven and earth.

Several long seconds passed.

Then he looked back at the old man with clear eyes.

He knew exactly what answer to give to this errentic Old man.

"Of course I would eat them," Yu Xuan said seriously.

"I’d eat all the peaches."

The old man’s smile widened.

"And then I will plant the seeds instead of discarding them. After all, we belong to Mother Nature and I believe in equivalent exchange, so in return for eating the peaches, I’ll ensure even more peaches grow... for me to eat later." Yu Xuan said smoothly.

The old man stared at him.

One second.

Two seconds.

Then.

"HOHOHOHOHOHO! What a brilliant idea!" the old man roared with laughter.

"Here, take this peach as a reward!"

A peach flew toward Yu Xuan, who caught it effortlessly.

"Senior," Yu Xuan said, examining the fruit, "I don’t mean to be rude, but may I try something?"

"Hoho! Hoho! Go ahead!" the old man replied cheerfully.

Yu Xuan stepped closer.

"This beard is so gre—"

Pluck.

The sentence died in his throat.

Because the beard came off.

Cleanly.

It dangled in Yu Xuan’s hand like a detached prop.

"..."

Silence descended.

The cloud wobbled.

Yu Xuan slowly looked up.

The old man slowly looked down.

"..."

The air grew very, very awkward.