Same Year, Same Place, Different Fate

How long will Chi Yu's seclusion last?

Chen Xia took the time to ask the imperial capital using his avatar, and was told at least a hundred years.

Since Chi Yu was in seclusion to consolidate his Dao, this was considered relatively quick.

Chen Xia decided to wait patiently. One must never disturb a brother's seclusion, lest any mishap occur and hinder the consolidation of the Dao.

Bai Lu waited alongside him, though he was waiting for the Three Thousand Flame Feather Sect selection.

"Little deer, want to play a game of chess?" Chen Xia called out to Bai Lu, who was about to leave.

"Not today. The master at the Great Dao Arena is giving a lecture. They say it's extremely beneficial for cultivators below the Nascent Soul realm, so I must attend."

Bai Lu shook his head hurriedly and walked out without looking back.

"Brother Deer, just one game! It's proper chess this time, Brother Deer." Chen Xia kept calling, but Bai Lu's figure had already disappeared through the doorway.

Chen Xia had no choice but to lie back in his chair.

This small house was rented by them, with the Spirit Stones split between the two.

The house had no Spirit Gathering Formation, no alchemy room, no technique library, and certainly no enlightenment chamber. It was just a temporary dwelling.

They had lived here for several years. Bai Lu was always striving hard. Whenever there was a lecture at the Great Dao Arena, even if the speaker was only one realm higher than him, Bai Lu would rush to attend.

Bai Lu was now at the early stage of Golden Core. For a cultivator not yet sixty years old, this was already quite remarkable.

He had been preparing diligently, hoping to make a stunning debut at the Three Thousand Flame Feather Sect selection and shock all those sects and people who had once looked down on him.

Bai Lu had confidently told Chen Xia:

"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river. Don't underestimate a poor young man!"

Chen Xia was silent for a moment, then asked:

"Which Xiao Yan are you?"

"What?" Bai Lu didn't understand.

"Never mind, just reminded me of a story with a similar beginning." Chen Xia shook his head, deciding not to tell Bai Lu the story, fearing he might take it too seriously.

The days that followed were peaceful. Chen Xia quite enjoyed this kind of life, though it would have been even better if Bai Lu was still willing to play chess with him.

Unfortunately, his chess skills had lost all credibility in Bai Lu's eyes.

Chen Xia was probably the first oddball to lose his credibility through chess.

Three hundred days passed as winter turned to spring, and nine thousand days passed inside the house.

Nearly thirty years had gone by.

Chen Xia's reclining chair had changed style, now suspended from the ceiling with him in it. He claimed it was good for the bones, specifically treating osteoporosis. Whether it was effective or not was unclear, but it certainly looked frightening.

It did add some excitement to their otherwise mundane life.

Today was different from usual. Bai Lu didn't return in the afternoon, and it wasn't until dusk that hurried footsteps were heard outside. Bai Lu excitedly pushed open the door and called out to the suspended Chen Xia:

"It's here! The Three Thousand Flame Feather Sect has finally announced their selection!"

He had been preparing for this moment for decades.

Chen Xia slid down from his suspended chair, smiling lightly: "That's great news. How about a game of chess to celebrate?"

Bai Lu shook his head, "I need to work even harder now. I can't waste any time."

So he prepared to go into seclusion, the first time on his path of cultivation.

The Three Thousand Flame Feather Sect would begin their selection in three months. Bai Lu emerged from seclusion three days before, beginning his final preparations.

Chen Xia asked worriedly: "Are you nervous? How about a game of chess to calm down?"

Bai Lu still declined.

On the day of the selection, Bai Lu set out early. Many cultivators were heading to participate, most just trying their luck. The Three Thousand Flame Feather Sect didn't look at innate talent, but rather at comprehension ability. What if one's comprehension was exceptional?

Many cultivators went, as it might be one of their few chances to enter the ancestral star.

The selection lasted many days.

Chen Xia waited in the small house, still calm, occasionally wandering out to invite others to play chess.

Others refused, as they had all been tricked by Chen Xia before.

So he waited quietly.

Until a rainy day.

Footsteps were heard outside, very slow footsteps.

Bai Lu pushed open the door, dejection etched on his face. It was clear the selection hadn't gone well.

Chen Xia lay crookedly in his rocking chair, naturally perceiving the young man's mood. He consoled:

"Don't be discouraged. How about a game of chess to lift your spirits?"

"No thanks." Bai Lu replied listlessly, climbing alone to the highest point of the roof. After several nights of stargazing, he suddenly asked Chen Xia:

"Chen Xia, am I useless?"

"Heaven creates talent for a purpose, as a mouse's son knows how to dig holes. You surely have your own talent." Chen Xia replied.

It sounded like both consolation and criticism.

Bai Lu sighed, "I always thought I was extraordinary, a hidden prodigy. But when it came to the selection, I realized I'm nothing special, just an ordinary cultivator from a remote star."

"That depends on how you view yourself. I think everyone is unique in their own way." Chen Xia chuckled in response.

"Perhaps." Bai Lu smiled bitterly.

The young man had encountered his first major setback in life and began to doubt himself.

The youthful spirit in Bai Lu's heart was diminishing.

The second year.

Bai Lu wanted to continue striving. Even if he couldn't enter the Three Thousand Flame Feather Sect, he would enter a decent sect.

Chen Xia watched silently, feeling that everything was still fine.

Until the fifth year.

Someone else came to the small house.

It was an elegantly dressed woman. Surrounded by several female cultivators, she entered the small house and looked at Bai Lu with delight, saying:

"Brother Bai, long time no see!"

Bai Lu stared at the lavishly dressed woman in a daze. After a long pause, he stammered:

"Yu... Yu Jun?"

"Yes, it's me." Yu Jun's expression was excited as she hurried forward to chat with Bai Lu. Their conversation covered many matters within the sect, such as her cultivation level, which elder favored her, and which prodigies were in the sect.

Bai Lu kept one hand behind his back, waving the other aimlessly in front of him, appearing somewhat awkward.

"Oh, by the way, Brother Bai, have you heard? Hao Lin has become an inner disciple at the Sun-Piercing Sect. He's been taken under an elder's wing, and they say he might inherit the elder's mantle and become the next Sea Inversing Realm cultivator!"

"Is... is that so." Bai Lu clenched his fist, then hurriedly relaxed it, his expression flustered and helpless.

Yu Jun seemed to notice something and her words became fewer.

One cannot remain young forever.

Once you pass the first watershed of life, every step thereafter becomes a watershed.

Same age, same place, different fate.

At this moment, it was particularly apt.

Yu Jun left afterwards.

Bai Lu stared blankly at the doorway, his expression full of bewilderment, his hands hanging limply, even his shoulders seeming to have collapsed.

Chen Xia stepped forward and patted his shoulder, consoling:

"Don't be discouraged."

He paused for a moment, then asked:

"How about a game of chess to calm your mind?"

It seemed to be never-ending.