Chapter Sixty-Five: Ji Mo's Origins (Part One)

"What's so strange about that? Don't you know that many sects in the cultivation worlds have corresponding factions in the Celestial Realm?" Ao Feng found Ji Mo's astonishment rather curious. This young girl before him possessed remarkable talent, keen intelligence, and even carried a soul imprint from the Celestial Realm in her mind, yet she seemed utterly ignorant of the affairs of both the cultivation world and the heavens—something he found quite amusing.

The divine beast inhabiting this palace was not something that the withered soul of the Peony Fairy in Ji Mo's sea of consciousness could compare to. Under the gaze of its divine eyes, Ji Mo had no secrets at all; even the Peony Fairy hidden deep within her consciousness could find no refuge. Fortunately, the beast seemed uninterested in such matters. Nevertheless, ever since they entered the palace, the Peony Fairy had retreated to some corner of Ji Mo's mind, her once arrogant tail now firmly tucked away, not daring to stir.

"Senior, are you saying that the sect corresponding to Moonwatch Sect in the Celestial Realm is the Blue Moon Divine Palace? That can't be right. My master once told me that in the hundreds of thousands of years of Moonwatch Sect's history, the highest cultivation ever achieved was only the Nascent Soul stage—no one has ever ascended." Ji Mo interjected in surprise, but then immediately shook her head, denying her own guess.

"You're both right and wrong," Ao Feng replied. "In a sense, the origin of Moonwatch Sect does indeed trace back to the Blue Moon Divine Palace, but their relationship is unlike that of other subordinate sects in the lower and upper realms. The Blue Moon Divine Palace was originally a celestial sect—as you’ve guessed. But that was in the past; now, the Celestial Realm no longer has the Blue Moon Divine Palace."

"Many years ago, the Blue Moon Divine Palace faced a great catastrophe. At the brink of destruction, its mighty elders expended all their divine power to refine this palace into a spatial artifact, pushing it through a rift in space-time into this cultivation realm, sealing it here. As the palace’s guardian divine beast, I naturally followed it down."

"Not long after I settled here, the first ancestor of Moonwatch Sect, Leng Henshui, by a stroke of fate, obtained countless treasures and techniques from the Blue Moon Tide. Afterwards, he founded the Moonwatch Sect. You might wonder: since the Blue Moon Divine Palace was a celestial sect, why did the treasures and techniques it left behind only allow Moonwatch Sect to become a mere fifth-grade sect?"

"The main reason is that I did not wish to attract too much attention. If I had bestowed treasures of too high a grade, it would have quickly drawn the eyes of the great sects, and those great sects frequently produce those who ascend to the Celestial Realm."

"Although your cultivation world is only a medium-sized realm, far inferior to the ten great cultivation worlds, and most who ascend end up in only a minor celestial sect, there are always exceptions. If word were to leak out and attract the old enemies of the Blue Moon Divine Palace, many unpredictable variables could arise," Ao Feng explained patiently.

Ji Mo nodded, indicating her understanding. Though she was curious about the ten great cultivation worlds Ao Feng mentioned, she refrained from asking further. Ao Feng gave her a sidelong glance, then continued, "Now do you see the cause and effect? Moonwatch Sect came into being because of the Blue Moon Divine Palace. As a disciple of Moonwatch Sect, you have come to this palace to receive its inheritance—isn't that perfectly natural?"

"In theory, yes," Ji Mo replied with a bitter face, "but I fear my talent is lacking and my temperament too lazy—I worry I’ll fail the expectations of the elders of Blue Moon Divine Palace."

"That's nonsense. Your talent is anything but poor. You possess a natural Five Elements spiritual body—a gift one in ten thousand, even in the days of the Blue Moon Divine Palace. Moreover, if I’m not mistaken, you have a human-demon hybrid constitution, and you’re cultivating the number one body-tempering art of the demon world, the Celestial Demon Body Refinement Technique. Someone like you, as long as you do not fall midway, will surely become a figure admired by all in the Celestial Realm. How could you possibly call that poor talent?"

"The only issue, as you yourself said, is your indolent nature. You love freedom and dislike shouldering unnecessary responsibilities. Such a temperament will inevitably diminish the potential of your gifts," Ao Feng said with a thoughtful pause.

"Exactly! No matter how great one's talent, without ambition, it's useless. I think you’d be better off choosing someone else," Ji Mo quickly interjected, showing not the slightest shame at her own lack of drive.

"Nonsense! Do you think a natural Five Elements spiritual body, combined with a human-demon hybrid physique, can be easily found?" Ao Feng snapped, clearly displeased.

"Human-demon hybrid constitution? No, senior, what do you mean by that?" The first time Ao Feng mentioned this, Ji Mo hadn’t paid much attention, but now, hearing it again, she sensed something was off and hurried to ask.

"The meaning is literal. Your parents—one is human, the other a demon; only thus could you have been born. Moreover, in their respective races, your parents must hold extraordinary talent and status, or it would have been nearly impossible for them to produce a child like you," Ao Feng replied.

"That's absurd! My parents are both human—why would you say one of them is a demon?" Ji Mo was furious. She had always believed herself to be purely human, and to be told she was half-demon was too much to accept.

"Is it so difficult for you to accept that one of your parents is a demon? Or do you simply look down on demons?" For the first time, there was a trace of displeasure and coldness in Ao Feng’s usually even-tempered voice. Though a divine beast, he was still considered a demon, and naturally could not understand why humans so resisted the idea of demon blood.

Ji Mo paused in surprise. This wasn’t a matter of prejudice against demons. She’d had few dealings with demons—so she neither liked nor disliked them. The demon she was closest to was Chi Yan, but as her master’s spirit beast, she regarded Chi Yan as an elder and respected him greatly, never thinking him evil.

Aside from Chi Yan, the demon she interacted with most was Xiao Jin, with whom she had recently formed a beast contract—a sly and often troublesome creature. Yet for all its mischief, Ji Mo never thought it truly wicked or cruel. Based on these two examples, Ji Mo realized she did not hate demons. But not hating them was not the same as accepting demon blood in herself.

She had always believed herself to be of pure human lineage. Humans and demons were fundamentally different races. Now, to be told that one of her parents was a demon and that she herself was a hybrid—how could she accept that calmly?

"Senior, it's not that I look down on or despise the demon race, it's just..." Ji Mo hesitated, searching for words that would not offend.

"Just what?" Ao Feng interrupted her impatiently.