Chapter 18- The Yellow Leaf Valley

Longmin and Longwei had reached the Yellow Leaf Valley and were now waiting with the disciples of the major sects and clans for the Lesser Pocket Realm to open.

The Yellow Leaf Valley itself was located within the Yellow Leaf Mountain range on the eastern side of the Wu Continent.

The name was given to it because of the countless yellow-leafed orchid trees in the area.

Whether it was winter, summer, autumn, or spring, they would be filled with resplendent yellow blooming flowers. Another name that was given to this type of orchid tree was the eternally blooming sunflower orchid tree.

There was even a legend among cultivators and mortals involving why they were blooming all year round.

It was said that in the past there was once a roaming scholar who stumbled upon this mountain range by accident. At that time, the numerous orchid trees only bloomed once after an entire sixty-year circle and the leaves they bloomed were blood red.

When the sagely scholar happened upon the mountain range, it was during the blooming period for the orchid trees.

Amazed by the breathtaking sight he saw, he made up a poem that flowed past his lips.

“What does it mean to be beautiful? It's the ability to leave an indelible mark upon one’s heart so as to make them never forget your sight. A fleeting existence that fades away from sight but not from the heart, that is true beauty.”

The sagely scholar had been entranced by the blooming orchid trees when suddenly, a melodious voice echoed behind him.

“Those words are like sand between one’s fingers, in that it holds no weight.”

The scholar was a man who roam the world and took pride in himself for knowing all there was to life, he treated his words like gold, and for someone to blatantly disregard his words was nothing more than a slap in his face.

Angered by the voice, he swerved around to rain down his wisdom on this uneducated person. But when he came face to face with the speaker he froze and the words of wisdom that had come to his mind to defend his dignity dissipated.

What replaced those words was a single line of thought.

‘A goddess in heaven has descended to the mortal world.'

Standing in front of him was a stunningly beautiful woman in a flowing red dress. As she walked closer to him, it seemed as if she had blended seamlessly with the surroundings filled with the red flowers of the blooming orchid trees. Her charm and elegance were unmatched by any queen or empress, she indeed could only be described as a celestial goddess that had descended to the mortal world.

Upon seeing the scholar’s reaction, the beautiful woman placed a hand over her mouth and laughed.

The scholar snapped out of his dazed state immediately and once again became angry.

“What do you mean by my words holds no weight, are you claiming that they are false?!”

The beautiful woman smiled and said.

“Your words are indeed false. You claim that being beautiful is to have an existence that fades away from sight but not from the heart.”

“And what’s wrong with that?”

The scholar impatiently interjected but the woman only smiled and continued.

“To be beautiful means to be perfect. If you are an existence that fades away soon after appearing, then that means you are imperfect and cannot be imprinted onto someone’s heart. Imperfection cannot be beautiful and what is beautiful cannot be imperfect. If you had called them unique then that would’ve been a more appropriate term.”

In sudden agitation, the scholar wanted to immediately refute the woman’s words, but as he calmed down he realized he had nothing to say.

The more the scholar thought about her words, the more he felt like he was the one that was wrong and she was the one that was right.

Unwilling to admit his defeat, the scholar chose to ask for the woman’s views on other things in order to debate against her and find a fault in her view of the world. But frustration ate at him as each topic he chose, the woman’s views and words on them would leave him contemplating at one point and baffled at another.

The sagely scholar was beginning to think that all the years he spent roaming the world had been for nothing.

“…If the heavens were all-knowing then it wouldn’t have created man, that eventually gained the potential to replace or even surpass it.”

As the woman’s final words echoed out, the sun on the horizon was beginning to set and the red orchid flowers were closing their petals, signaling their last moments of blooming before another sixty years cycle passed.

The scholar had exhausted topics to debate with against the beautiful woman, but his pride was embedded within his bones so without saying anything he left the mountain range.

Even though he didn’t admit that the woman’s views were correct, he determinedly planned on roaming the world once more and come back to this mountain range to debate with the red flower orchid goddess, a name he had given to her, once again.

However, he would not return for another sixty years cycle.

When he back came to the mountain range, he looked the same as if he hadn’t aged a day, but the woman had died from old age.

The sagely scholar felt strangely sad as he sat within the mountain range. The blooming red orchids were his only company as he mourned the loss of the woman. Regret permeated his being as he realize he would never be able to debate his newfound views of the world with her.

At sunset that day, he whispered the words.

“If you are an existence that fades away soon after appearing, then that means you are imperfect. Imperfection cannot be beautiful and what is beautiful cannot be imperfect.”

After scholarly said that, he left the mountain range, but not before standing at the entrance and waving one of his hands in the air.

While walking into the setting sun, behind him, the red flowers on all the orchid trees that were about to close opened up one by one while turning yellow in the process.

From then on, no matter the season they would be eternally in bloom, signifying their beauty.

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As Longmin finished retelling this story, Longwei who was beside him frowned and said with confusion.

“Why did he choose to turn the flowers yellow though?”

Longmin thought for a moment then said.

“The book I read said that he had called her red flower orchid goddess as a way to insult her looks using her own words, as she said that the red orchids were not beautiful. By making them eternally blooming is essentially calling her beautiful, and turning them yellow the same as the sun, I think it is to show how important she was to him like the sun is to the mortals?”

Longwei began to rub his forehead and then criticized the story.

“So the scholar was an immortal? That story has so much meaning to it, I’m confused just thinking about it. And weren’t there more than one version of this story as well?”

Longmin’s brows came together as he said accusingly.

“You were the one who ask why the valley was named Yellow Leaf Valley, but now your complaining when I tell you?”

Longwei rolled his eyes.

“A simple answer like, ‘because there are a lot of sunflower orchid trees’ would’ve been okay. That long and confusing story was not necessary little brother.”

Longmin became incensed at his brother’s ungratefulness. He sent out a kick backed by his fleshly body, but it was quickly avoided by Longwei to his annoyance.

In the surroundings, a few elders and the various groups of disciples from the major sects and clans were in the area watching them with a somewhat irritated gaze.