Chapter 1119: Heaven and Earth Like Boundary Painting
Lu Chen sighed, deeply emotional. "Melancholy thoughts waste wine and time, the sun and moon shuttle like a leaping pill."
In years past, this was where the imperial princesses sang and danced. Later, not even the sound of water clocks could be heard in the palaces. It wasn't until Prefect Yu took over the entire Black Vine Mountain, repaired and expanded this long-abandoned private residence for that golden branch and jade leaf of a noblewoman—who had been enfeoffed as a county mistress—that its former prosperity and elegance were restored. The three of them were merely approaching Powder Pellet Manor, hadn't even stepped through the gate, yet they could already smell a thick scent of wine and rouge wafting in the night wind.
Lu Chen asked casually, "Chen Ping'an, do you know the origin of the names Falling Kite Mountain and Powder Pellet Manor?"
Chen Ping'an replied, "Zhou Qiu only mentioned that Falling Kite Mountain has cave cliff carvings, and the mountain's name is related to a prophecy, considered by Zhao Fuyang to be the foundation of his path. As for Powder Pellet Manor, I'm not clear."
Earlier, at the peak of Ink Splash Peak, when Chen Ping'an looked into the distance toward Joy Mountain, he had seen two specks of fluorescence. Besides the upper and lower mountains Falling Kite and Black Vine intertwining like two snakes, the geographical positions of Haze Manor and Powder Pellet Manor also had a hidden subtlety—the connection of yang and yin energies. However, Chen Ping'an could only make a rough observation, after all, realm is like a mountain; only by standing high can one see far. At this moment, this talisman puppet avatar, to which a strand of his mind was attached, greatly limited Chen Ping'an's vision.
Lu Chen smiled. "If you look at the moon's phase from beyond the heavens, it's like a pellet on the ground. Someone paints half of it with powder; when viewed from the side, the painted part appears like a hook. Right?"
Chen Ping'an recalled the magnificent scenes of overlooking the Great Sui from beyond the heavens, passing by the ancient star Blazing Mars, and nodded. "Master Lu has made a fine analogy."
Lu Chen rubbed his hands together. "A small wager lifts the spirits. Care to bet?"
Without even asking what the bet was, Chen Ping'an cut straight to the chase with two words: "Stakes."
Lu Chen said, "If I win, Zhao Fuyang will be handed over to me for disposal. If I lose, I'll clean up the entire mess of shit, piss, and filth in the Joy Mountain domain tonight like a night soil man. Besides that, let's add a bit of a side bet: one hundred gold essence copper coins?"
Only then did Chen Ping'an ask, "What are we betting on?"
Lu Chen extended his hand and shook it.
Chen Ping'an said, "Don't be so cryptic. At least give me a hint."
Lu Chen slapped his forehead, forgetting that the young Hidden Official beside him was now only a fourth-refinement martial artist skilled in swordsmanship. Many of his qi-viewing abilities—like those of mountain gods or lake lords' innate divine powers—and talisman techniques had likely been entrusted to that fellow Wu Di in the capital of Jade Proclamation Kingdom. The content of the meeting at Falling Kite Mountain's shrine was probably something Chen Ping'an genuinely didn't know. So Lu Chen pointed toward the manor ahead and gave a clue: "Since he's walking a path that combines mountain refinement and bedroom arts, Zhao Fuyang doesn't want to crawl like a tortoise. He can only rely on absorbing the imperial seal's dragon qi to refine Falling Kite and Black Vine Mountains, breaking through the golden core bottleneck. Not only does he want to become a Nascent Soul, but he also wants to drag his Dao partner Yu Chunzhi along, hoping both of them can break through tonight and give the Liu clan of Green Apricot Kingdom and the Zhang clan of Heaven Commandery a solid slap in the face. So, we bet on whether the entire Falling Kite Mountain will roll left or right when it overturns."
Chen Ping'an understood immediately. "Is Master Lu deliberately throwing money away?"
Setting up Powder Pellet Manor was Zhao Fuyang's doing. According to the information Lu Chen leaked, Zhao Fuyang had a deep connection with Golden Gate Sect and Soaring View Abbey. His cultivation path belonged to a very pure Daoist lineage. Additionally, Confucianism advocates that the seven luminaries follow heaven and rotate leftward, while the Yin-Yang and Five Elements school, as well as calendar experts, hold the opposite view. That being said, Zhao Fuyang, who had already merged with Falling Kite Mountain, would surely roll rightward.
Pei Qian keenly sensed a slight tremor in the mountain root's earth veins beneath her feet. She quickly looked up at the sky; the constellations were normal. Since it wasn't a natural disaster, it must be a man-made calamity carefully arranged by cultivators. Moving the mountain's momentum perfectly matched the Dark Talisman Scripture's saying: "When earth emits killing intent, dragons and serpents rise from the land."
Perhaps for the various heroes inside Powder Pellet Manor who were busy guzzling wine and devouring meat, most were already half-drunk and might not realize this unusual sign.
Was this going to be a one-pot end? This Zhao Fuyang was truly ruthless. The guests in Powder Pellet Manor were drinking and eating, and he planned to swallow them, wine and meat, all into his belly, wiping the plate clean? He was making a good calculation: not letting fertile water flow into another's fields.
Chen Ping'an said, "I bet the earth won't move and the mountain won't shake."
Earlier, the twig in Lu Chen's hand was most likely used for dragon-searching and point-acupoint. In a seemingly playful manner, Lu Chen had casually suppressed the entire Joy Mountain.
Lu Chen walked sideways, raised both hands, and gave a thumbs-up. "All brilliant."
At the end of the main street of Abundance Town, near the mountain gate, there was a large tree. The accountant, who had been yawning behind a table, was startled by a rustling sound. It turned out to be a twig that had fallen to the ground. By the light of the memorial arch and the red lanterns from nearby taverns, the young man craned his neck to look. It felt strange—it wasn't a dead branch from the tree. Why did it look familiar? An accountant generally has a good memory. After a moment's thought, he recalled that earlier, that cotton-robed Daoist who had taken out three red envelopes had been holding exactly such a "mountain-walking staff." How did it come to be thrown down the mountain?
Inside Powder Pellet Manor, the two maidservants temporarily serving as doorkeepers never expected that so late at night, guests would still arrive to offer congratulations. One graceful young girl quickly hid the pastry in her hand into her sleeve and turned her head to wipe the corner of her mouth.
The grass-shoe-clad youth carrying a sword on his back, the green-robed Daoist with cloth strips wrapped around his calves, and the ordinary-looking young woman—none of them looked like the sort who frequented wealthy circles. So quite naturally, the maidservant led them through corridors and walkways, finally into a side hall. The seven or eight tables originally full were now sparse, with at least half the seats empty. Steward Yu, who was in charge of pouring wine here, was also helpless. These bastards, each holding a wine jug in one hand and a cup in the other, had taken the initiative to go to the two adjacent banquet halls to toast. Some had even taken root there. Others, whose status wasn't high enough, would rather stand and drink than return to their original seats in the side hall.
The Pipa Madam of Celestial Cavern was chatting very congenially with the old man who styled himself Black Dragon Immortal Lord. The plump woman laughed like a flower swaying in the wind, rocking back and forth. Around them gathered a group of listeners holding cups in both hands, some trying to slip in a toast, others there specifically to flatter the two bigwigs. No one was idle. With Pipa Madam's exaggerated movements, many eyes shifted, Adam's apples moving slightly.
The great demon who had opened a cave on the Ape Path and the sixth-refinement martial artist who had dared to visit empty-handed were urging each other to drink, exchanging insights on the art of body tempering. They didn't use cups or bowls; they just picked up wine jugs, removed the clay seals, and drank. This manor-brewed immortal wine was imbued with spiritual energy, far surpassing ordinary celestial brews. If sold at a ferry port, one couldn't get it for less than three or five snowflake coins. Moreover, tonight's wine seemed especially mellow, with a richness of spiritual energy far exceeding the banquets previously held on Joy Mountain. Were the two manor lords really that wealthy? Hosting this wedding feast would likely cost several times the entire fortune of Clear White Manor at Wedge Ridge.
Many of the maidservants from Powder Pellet Manor, tasked with serving dishes and fetching wine, moved like threading needles, like a flock of warblers and swallows. Some had been urged to drink too much; the wine's fragrance mingled with thin clothes in the cool air, and the cool clothes were damp with fragrant sweat.
Across one banquet hall, the mountain goddess of Falling Kite Mountain had also drunk quite a bit, already showing a tipsy, charming state, her eyes seductive as silk.
Lu Chen chuckled. "Feasting outside the gates of hell, drinking beheading wine inside the pink tent."
The crane-cloaked scholar spotted the figure of the sword-carrying youth, pointed at him with his chopsticks, and said helplessly, "How stubborn can you be? You love joining any excitement."
The sword-carrying youth smiled. "I've loved crowds since I was a kid. What I owed before, I'm making up for now."
White Thatched beckoned, lowering his voice. "Since you're here, sit down and take your time. Eat and drink your fill, try to make back your gift money."
Earlier, White Thatched had been heartbroken over his red envelope—a full fifty snowflake coins. Now that there was an additional Chen Ren, and this sword-carrying youth had even brought two friends to freeload on the feast, his heart felt much more at ease, as if he hadn't lost too much. Seeing Steward Yu busy urging drinks at another table, White Thatched continued to remind, "Chen Ren, remember tonight, drink as many jugs as you can. It's free good wine, real immortal brew. The steward said, according to the manor's rules, one jug per person. But if you ask, you can get a second. As for a third, it depends on your tongue and whether the steward will show you face. See that table over there? The one with the fan, pale and delicate, a refined scoundrel. He flirted a bit with the maidservant and secretly got himself a third jug."
The sword-carrying youth sat down and said, "I'm thin-skinned, I don't dare beg for more wine."
White Thatched was momentarily speechless.
The youth said, "It's fine, I brought someone thick-skinned with me. Let him speak later. He'll read the maid's palm, calculate her fate, and we'll get a couple of jugs."
The young Daoist slumped in his chair, leaning back, rubbing his left shoulder with his right hand. When the crane-cloaked scholar cast a glance his way, the Daoist beamed, cupping his hands. "Little Daoist is skilled in palmistry—even better for women."
Chen Ping'an looked at the mountain goddess of Falling Kite Mountain Shrine, thought for a moment, and remembered. No wonder she seemed familiar.
Years had passed, and her overall appearance hadn't changed much, but after becoming a mountain god, her aura had changed considerably, and she looked about ten years younger. That was one benefit of cultivation.
Many female cultivators with good aptitude might never know what crow's feet at the corners of their eyes were. Since ancient times, cultivation realm had always been the best makeup for women.
Pei Qian used sound-condensing into a thread to ask secretly, "Master, an acquaintance?"
Chen Ping'an shook his head. "Not really. When I traveled through Comb Water Kingdom before, I barely crossed paths with her, never exchanged a word. If my memory serves, her given name was Xiao. I don't know why she became the mountain goddess of Falling Kite Mountain."
Comb Water Kingdom was quite a distance from this Joy Mountain domain.
He remembered leaving Sword Water Mountain Villa and traveling alone. A large crowd of martial artists had burst out of the woods noisily, heading for a carriage team on the official road belonging to a noble's family of Comb Water Kingdom. They had bad intelligence; they didn't know they were kicking an iron plate. The carriage team included not only the wife of General Chu Hao but also two women of unusual status. Apart from a squad of elite cavalry escorts, among the accompanying military cultivators alone, there was a Dragon Gate talisman cultivator and a Viewing Ocean sword cultivator. Any one of them could have killed off that crowd of "assassins" in an instant. Some old veteran of the martial world, though advanced in years, was less than honorable. He deliberately used the banners of Sword Water Mountain Villa and Song Yushao, trying to muddy the waters of the kingdom's martial world. He cared nothing for whether the villa and Senior Song lived or died, whether the court of Comb Water would send troops to wipe them out. What was more, as this old veteran brushed past Chen Ping'an, he conceived a scheme on the spot and foisted upon Chen Ping'an the name and identity of "Chu Yueyi" of Sword Water Mountain Villa…
In the end, Chen Ping'an had to fight that Viewing Ocean sword cultivator to settle the storm, and incidentally let that crowd of martial artists escape with their lives. They didn't feel much gratitude, of course.
According to the old Viewing Ocean sword cultivator, calling her "little widow," each head could fetch immortal coins. She should be worth at least a minor summer coin.
Not long after, at Earth Dragon Mountain Ferry, before Chen Ping'an reached the Green Frog Shop run by Zhang Caiqin, he heard a rumor on the road. Led by the "female hero Xiao," a band of righteous martial artists had risked life and death to fight the treacherous Chu faction. Unfortunately, among the carriage team, a young and an old sword immortal were guarding, willing to be accomplices, which led to their failure.
White Thatched noticed the sword-carrying youth staring fixedly, "lost in thought," and laughed heartily. "Brother Chen, truly a kindred spirit! Meeting like this, there's always a reason!"
Then this Wedge Ridge White Manor Lord noticed the ordinary-looking young woman—barely of average appearance—staring at him with strange eyes.
White Thatched smiled and asked, "Brother Chen, this young lady is?"
Chen Ping'an smiled. "My eldest disciple. She's been studying martial arts with me for years. Name Zheng Qian. Good aptitude, made a name for herself. Her fame in the martial world surpasses mine, her master's."
White Thatched had already roughly grasped the pattern of chatting with this guy: as long as he completely let go and was thick-skinned enough, there would be no more awkwardness. Then shooting the breeze became indescribably relaxed and pleasant. He nodded. "It's normal for her fame to surpass Brother Chen's. The student surpasses the master after all. Good thing. They say in the martial world, a wise master seeks a worthy apprentice for three years, and a worthy apprentice seeks a wise master for three years. Mutual achievement is how a school flourishes. Better than the one misleading the student and the other wasting time."
Actually, White Thatched wanted to say: With your age, Chen Ren, how many years have you been in the martial world? What fame can you have? Comparable to that young sword immortal Zhang Yujiao?
White Thatched turned to look at the young woman with freckles. The manor lord put on a smile, took on the air of an elder, and asked, "Have you entered the third refinement yet?"
Pei Qian smiled. "Depends on the opponent's realm."
White Thatched was taken aback.
Truly a worthy disciple of Chen Ren.
From your mouths, a penny's worth seems to have the weight of a pound. Is this how young people in the martial world talk nowadays?
Chen Ping'an picked up his chopsticks. "Let's eat."
Pei Qian, who had been sitting up straight, then followed suit and picked up her chopsticks.
White Thatched nodded inwardly. At least there was some discipline.
The woman didn't drink, only ate the dishes in front of her.
As for that young Daoist in the cotton robe, he looked like a starving ghost reincarnated. While almost everyone else was busy drinking an extra gulp, he actually asked a maidservant for two bowls of rice, specifically requesting large bowls, and was now shoveling it down. The Daoist crown on his head caught White Thatched's eye—he was a connoisseur in life—and he felt it might be worth something.
Lu Chen looked up, took a big bite of vegetables, and mumbled, "Lord White, aren't you curious why Miss Zheng chose to apprentice with our Brother Chen?"
White Thatched smiled. "Where the Dao exists, the master exists. Age is nothing. On the martial path, the one ahead is the elder."
The young Daoist nodded vigorously. "No wonder they say a master bows to a disciple's disciple; the Dao makes the senior. I used to only half-understand. Lord White's words today have made it completely clear."
"Daoist, why aren't you drinking? This is the one and only immortal brew in the entire Joy Mountain domain. Is it because your lineage's precepts forbid alcohol?"
Earlier, Steward Yu had sent three jugs of Powder Pellet immortal wine. True to form, he didn't give more, only saying that if they felt it wasn't enough after drinking, they could let him know.
After all, this side hall was low-status. In other banquet halls, guests got two jugs per person to start. As for Pipa Madam, she was practically drinking wine like water.
But the problem was that this young Daoist wearing a lotus crown was a master at eating meat. Normally, meat and drink go together—why was he only eating dishes and not drinking?
"Where, where. Our lineage is poor. No founding patriarch, and my master doesn't care about this either."
The young Daoist waved his hand. "Besides, listening to you talk is like drinking three jugs of wine."
White Thatched laughed heartily. Finally, a normal person who could talk.
Taking a sip of wine, White Thatched had a flash of inspiration. He finally understood why he'd felt something was off. He turned and asked, "Zheng Qian? The Zheng of 'ear'? The Qian of 'money'?"
Pei Qian nodded.
White Thatched tapped the table with his finger. "Girl, what were you thinking? Allow me, this manor lord, to presume on my age and say this: no matter how much you admire that great female grandmaster, you didn't have to change your surname and given name as well."
Pei Qian twitched the corner of her mouth but said nothing.
If this were when she was little Black Charcoal, the ancestral graves of Lord White's eighteen generations would already be piled with firecrackers.
White Thatched was a scholar who valued face. Unable to handle her, he turned to Chen Ren. "Brother Chen, you're the master. Such a big matter, and you don't manage it?"
Chen Ping'an smiled and nodded. "Right, right, reasonable. I've been wandering outside for years, neglecting my disciple's discipline."
Pei Qian picked up a big piece of mountain delicacy, chewed slowly, cheeks bulging, crunching.
Lu Shen gloatingly smiled. "Lord White, we two are in the same boat. Let's toast—I'll use soup as wine."
White Thatched raised his cup and drank it all.
Lu Shen took out a floral-and-bird painting album from his sleeve. "Lord White, you look like a great collector. I acquired this at a high price as a lucky find. Please take a look and appraise it for me."
White Thatched smiled, flicked his sleeve, and accepted the album. What was this? Paid a high price and still a lucky find? He flipped through a few pages, hesitated, and said, "To be honest, there's skill here. Clearly from a wealthy family. It captures the essence of boundary painting—meticulous, rigorous, neat. But ultimately, it's dead painting. And these flowers and birds, besides being plain and restrained, after looking for a while, there's a trace of yin qi."
Seeing the young Daoist look thunderstruck, White Thatched quickly explained, "When I say yin qi, I don't mean it derogatorily. It's like some water-and-land paintings in temples or abbeys, gloomy and eerie enough to warn the heart. I'm just worried that the album's owner might not be long-lived. You should know that if a famous painter has a short life, his achievements and fame are hard to come by. If he can't undergo a transformation in his later years, the price often won't rise."
The young Daoist looked bleak. "If one doesn't live long, there are few peers to sing in harmony, few disciples and disciples' disciples. With few filial descendants, the strength to promote his name is small. With small strength, he cannot be elevated to the altar by later generations. Without climbing the altar, how can he sell at a high price? How can he be valuable? When times get better in the future, people will have more idle money. Even more fools with money but no knowledge only recognize reputations, not people. Especially in this antique trade, how can one make up stories to cheat big money?"
White Thatched slapped his thigh. "Daoist, this insight is like clearing away the clouds to see the moon."
Chen Ping'an glanced at the flowers and birds painted in the album. There was no signature, but several private seal impressions. From these, he already knew the album came from the crown prince of the Liu clan of Green Apricot Kingdom. White Thatched's eye was decent—there was indeed some yin qi. As a latent dragon of a kingdom, this crown prince lacked the majestic aura of a revitalizing monarch. His brushwork was weak and delicate. To put it harshly, it seemed more the handiwork of a king of a fallen state. As for the street gossip in Green Apricot Kingdom's capital, and idle talk in immortal inns, they all spoke highly of this talented Liu crown prince.
Lu Chen smiled. "In the final analysis, he still fails to grasp the essence of boundary painting. Otherwise, it would be lively, full of life. How could it make Lord White feel merely dull, devoid of vitality?"
Saying this, Lu Chen sighed, slammed the album heavily on the table, and said, "Forget it, forget it. Consider it a quiet loss. Out of sight, out of mind. I'd rather sell it cheap to Lord White."
White Thatched saw the young Daoist's shamelessness—he was actually pressing the album toward him with two fingers together. Was this forced sale? So the so-called "high-priced lucky find" was just preparing for this racket of fleecing a friend? Truly a case of the picture being revealed and the dagger showing! White Thatched pressed his hand firmly on the album, gave a smile that wasn't a smile, and said, "Even if it's not a priceless treasure, it's certainly no crude painting. A gentleman does not take away what others love. Even if the Daoist is willing to sell cheaply, I, White, would be too embarrassed to buy. I beg the Daoist, take it back!"
The young Daoist strained, his two fingers trembling slightly, secretly increasing pressure, but still couldn't move the album. His face flushed instantly. "Lord White, we're friends who got along well. The price can be negotiated."
"Daoist, why part with what you love?"
"To tell you the truth, behind this album there's also a Daoist scripture copied by an anonymous hand, over a thousand characters, supremely profound. According to the content, besides being able to grow flesh on white bones, it speaks of many cultivation truths, like 'If white bones can grow flesh, what can grow bones?' Lord White, money can't buy a recipe for immortality. A rare opportunity! Miss it, and you won't find another shop!"
"If it contains a recipe for immortality, why would the Daoist resell it to someone else?"
"My cultivation aptitude is so-so, very so-so. I've learned all I can. I really can't learn more."
"How much?"
"Two snowflake coins. No less!"
"..."
White Thatched's face stiffened; he almost cursed aloud. Did he think I'm an idiot? A so-called immortality recipe for only two snowflake coins?
"Considering we're friends, even one snowflake coin will do!"
"..."
White Thatched's face darkened. He could confirm: the other party was an idiot, and trying to drag him along to be an idiot too.
At that moment, the sword-carrying youth raised his hand and asked a maidservant for another jug of immortal wine. White Thatched thought for a moment, then took a snowflake coin from his sleeve and placed it on top of the floral-and-bird album.
Money in hand, goods delivered. Actually, White Thatched had originally intended to buy the album and then return it, earnestly advising the young Daoist with his clumsy deception to stop fooling around—he'd get beaten up outside. But White Thatched worried that would embarrass the man, so he let it go. Consider it spending a snowflake coin to make an unreliable friend. They'd never meet again anyway.
As he gave the immortal coin, a page in the album gained a gold-character Daoist scripture pointing directly to the golden core.
When White Thatched had that thought, another section of the scripture's middle part appeared, reaching all the way to the Jade Advancement realm.
One of the avatars of the Jade Capital Heavenly Lord Lu Chen, the White Bone True Man under the plum tree.
He was now one of the newest ten candidates in the Azure Underworld.
This Daoist formula was precisely the foundation of the White Bone True Man's cultivation. What Lu Chen called "the Deathless Formula" was indeed worthy of the name.
Because the two manor lords of Joy Mountain had yet to appear, the various guests attending the marriage recruitment feast began to sense something amiss.
In a certain flower hall, the honored guest from the Summer Moon Manor of Hundred Flower Lake was suddenly in an uproar for no apparent reason.
The eldest daughter of Joy Mountain and the fourth miss Zhao Yan seemed to be placating that Lake Lord Zhang Xiangdao over there.
Yu Zhen called out Qin Que, who was in a separate room, along with Fu Qi next door, and led them straight out of Powder Pellet Manor.
The mountain goddess of Falling Kite Mountain, already tipsy, and Li Ting of Black Vine Mountain seemed to have received a secret decree from the two manor lords, saying that within at most a quarter of an hour, the night's feast would officially begin, guaranteeing no further delay for the distinguished guests.
Outside the manor, Yu Zhen cupped his hands, bowed his head, and apologized profusely, bitter. "There's been a situation in the manor. We need to close the doors and handle things. Uncle Qin, Brother Yan, please don't laugh at us."
Qin Que was a local cultivator from Script-Box Lake, accustomed to this. He didn't even ask, nor bother to cup his hands in farewell. Without a word, he mounted the wind and left.
Fu Qi, being a scion of a clean-slate powerful clan, had been out training for a few years, but this was his first encounter with such a scene. He said softly, "Have you already burned bridges with Golden Gate Sect and the Zhang clan of Heaven Commandery? If so, given the style of these mountain immortal mansions and cultivator clans, they surely have prepared. Among tonight's congratulatory guests in Powder Pellet Manor, there might even be their spies."
Yu Zhen couldn't leak his father's scheme, so he had to trot out an excuse he'd come up with at the family shrine. "The treasure vault at Haze Manor up the mountain had a town-residing treasure that my father values greatly. Just now, it was inexplicably stolen. My father is furious. He has issued a secret order to seal the mountain immediately, close the doors, and search everyone. No one allowed out, only in. Those fellows who came to congratulate tonight—you know them—none are easy. They're all unruly desperadoes. When it comes to it, there may be blood."
Fu Qi asked, "Do you really not need me to stay and help?"
In the few nearby kingdoms, manor lords like the two, along with Cheng Qian and Zhang Qiong at the golden core realm, were the pinnacle. As a Dragon Gate cultivator, he might not turn the tide, but he could at least lend a hand.
Yu Zhen shook his head, eyes sincere. "Fu Qi, take my advice. Don't get involved. This is indeed a big matter. Let's catch up another time."
Fu Qi nodded. "I plan to go to Script-Box Lake. The Yellow Oriole Island's Zhong Su has a good relationship with my family. If you need me, send a flying sword message to Yellow Oriole Island."
Abundance Town, Qi Song found Zhang Yujiao and Gold Thread. The old man wasted no words, whispered something to the youth and girl, and directly told them to follow him out of town.
Qi Song was a golden body martial artist, not yet able to travel far by stepping on the ground. The old man just made a long dash through the night.
The youth flew on his sword, barely a yard off the ground. The girl skimmed the wind beside him.
Gold Thread teased, "Grandpa Qi, you love wine like life. Why don't you go up the mountain for the feast? If you went, Zhang Yujiao and I could follow."
Qi Song, the chief guest of the Zhang clan of Heaven Commandery, was a famous old rascal beloved by younger generations. The old man now smiled. "Wine is flame that burns the body; lust is a knife that cuts flesh. If I went to the mountain, couldn't hold myself, drank until I was muddled, and that third miss took a fancy to me, Zhao Fuyang and Yu Chunzhi would insist on making me their son-in-law. To drink and then enter the bridal chamber—I couldn't handle it."
Gold Thread spat.
The old man teased, "Girl Gold, it's no wonder that Yu Youyi wouldn't fancy an old wreck like me. But if she didn't fancy a dashing young blade like Yujiao, that would be strange, wouldn't it? You'd be happy, eh?"
Zhang Yujiao asked curiously, "Grandpa Qi, that commotion ahead at the town—any explanation?"
Qi Song patted his belly and shook his head. "There is an explanation, but I can't say it. If you have the chance later, invite me for a good drink, and I'll tell you depending on my mood."
Earlier, Grandmaster Pei had warned him not to reveal her whereabouts. Qi Song wouldn't dare joke about such a thing.
The old man flicked a few pebbles with his toe, swept his sleeve, and they shot into the air. He leaped up, stepping on the pebbles as if ascending stairs.
Despite his bloated appearance, Qi Song was as light as a feather when he raised a mouthful of pure true qi. The last pebble lifted him, soaring upward.
At the highest point, he paused in midair, looking down from his height. He spotted his disciple Lü Mo traveling with a swarthy young woman.
Qi Song drifted down with a loud laugh. "Follow me. Whoever is slower buys the wine."
Yu Youyi, dressed in a night suit, moved like a ghost, darting through the woods like a rabbit rising and a falcon falling, swift as a wisp of smoke. She arrived at the foot of the mountain town.
Standing on a rooftop, she threw a blood-soaked silk bundle into a humble courtyard in a back alley. "This head belonged to Vice Military Commissioner Gu Feng. As for the mountain god Li Ting at Black Vine Shrine, neither he nor Gu Feng will live through the night. Consider this my father's and Joy Mountain's accounting to you. Stop pestering us, Miss Liu. You and Liu Tie must leave town within half an incense stick. If you're late, the consequences will be yours to bear. Even if Chief Capital Luojing later investigates, we'll have a clear conscience."
Unlike before, when she encountered the headless female ghost with an umbrella in or outside the town, Yu Youyi would always tease her like a lecher harassing a virtuous woman, insisting on chatting with "Miss Liu." Tonight, she acted without any delay. Having delivered her message, she turned and gracefully returned to the mountains.
Zhou Qiu called Liu Tie. Liu Tie asked grimly, "What's the plan? Should we stay and wait for the three of them to come down?"
Zhou Qiu smiled. "Why worry about them? Let's go to Ink Splash Peak and wait for news."
Inside Powder Pellet Manor, Chen Ping'an suddenly asked, "How high will Zhao Fuyang's future achievements be?"
Lu Chen smiled. "Two flowers bloom, each on a separate branch. It depends."
Chen Ping'an said, "Assume he succeeds in this endeavor?"
"A new Nascent Soul by tomorrow. He has hopes of reaching Jade Advancement in the future, but it won't be easy; he'll stumble and bump around in Parasol Leaf Continent."
Lu Chen raised his hand, made a calculation on his fingers, and thought for a moment. "If he fails tonight, loses this Dao foundation by falling short, tomorrow Zhao Fuyang will drop from the golden core bottleneck to the Dragon Gate realm. As for the future, well, he'll have to start from the Immortal realm."
Except for White Thatched, who couldn't hear the conversation, Pei Qian could clearly hear Master and Lu Chen's chat.
Chen Ping'an said, "Master Lu, seems you missed one or two possibilities."
Lu Chen nodded and smiled. "If Zhao Fuyang could stay here, leaving the upper and lower mountains untouched, and coexist peacefully with the Liu clan of Green Apricot Kingdom, sooner or later he'd be killed by Gu Can. That would be the end of everything. Or if Zhao Fuyang successfully becomes a Nascent Soul, uses the 'Shouldering Mountains' divine ability passed down in the Golden Gate Sect, and finally leaves this place of trouble, then—just a 'what if,' I'm saying—he could become one of the many true dragons of the human world in time. And further, he might become the leader of the Pan-Mountain lineage, seize the terrestrial qi, and stand shoulder to shoulder on the peaks with that tiny handful of Ascension cultivators who can really fight."
"At this very moment, Zhao Fuyang has four paths to choose from."
"But which path he ultimately takes, how high he reaches, his Dao future—it seems to depend on how we two chat at this dinner table."
"Like this table: you, me, Pei Qian, and now the ghost of Wedge Ridge, White Thatched. If I wished, I could also include Steward Yu, the maidservant who brings wine and dishes."
Chen Ping'an asked, "Passing through the Great Sui, you first taught White Thatched the Deathless Formula, then accepted a nominal disciple's disciple with the potential for the Flying Ascension realm—all done casually by Master Lu?"
From what he could gather, for Zhao Fuyang to reach the summit, there was a prerequisite: he would have to follow Lu Chen, his many-generations-removed patriarch, to the Azure Underworld, a world thick with mountain qi.
Lu Chen retorted, "When you read history books, among the founding monarchs of humble origins, in their dragon-rising lands, within a single county or at most a prefecture, how is it that there are so many figures of extraordinary ability who became princes or marquises? Look across the heavens, the Bead Grotto Heaven of Bottle Gourd Continent, the Five Mausoleums Youth Den of the Azure Spirit Dynasty—how many of those are there?"
Lu Chen placed the chopsticks on his rice bowl, like a bridge suspended in midair, and answered his own question: "The roads of the world are tangled like hemp. How many great Dao paths are there? Following the right person, walking the right path—that's when the times and heaven join forces. Walk the wrong path, and even if you're a hero with ambition higher than the sky, you'll be depressed and frustrated. There may be occasional exceptions, but exceptions they remain. That said, having only a broad road to rapid advancement, without perseverance or stamina, you won't go far either."
"Chen Ping'an, you guessed wrong. For Zhao Fuyang to achieve the highest, he cannot be led by the nose by anyone. Nor can he sit in the shade of a big tree. That is his fifth path."
"Don't forget, why do they say there are no pure wild cultivators in the upper five realms? And at the same time, don't forget that Zheng Juzhong of White Emperor City has a master, but in truth, he is also a mountain-swamp wild cultivator. He is a pure wild cultivator."
Lu Chen picked up one chopstick. "A single tree cannot make a forest. Even if you get on the table, eating with your hands is unsightly. You'll have your hands slapped, be scolded by elders, or be driven from the table."
Lu Chen picked up another chopstick. "Mutual support lets you pick up food and eat. As for how much you can eat, it depends on the appetite and capacity of those sitting around the table."
"A pair of chopsticks can be Chen Ping'an of Mud Bottle Alley and Ma Kuxuan of Apricot Flower Alley, or Liu Xianyang and Chen Ping'an, or Gu Can and Song Jixin, Song Jixin and Zhao Yao, Li Huai and Hu Feng, Hu Feng and Dong Shuijing, and so on, by analogy. It can be a dinner table, a gambling table where you lose your chair, or an incense-offering altar."
---
The ancestral mountain of Golden Gate Sect, Clear Still Peak, Gold Immortal Nunnery.
The current peak master, an old crone-like golden core cultivator, led a group of direct disciples. They stood near a pavilion by a cliff overlooking a sea of white clouds, greeting the grand arrival of the "superior sect" immortal masters.
The founding patriarch of Golden Gate Sect, before her passing via weapons dissolution, left a decree for the direct disciples of the peaks, or rather her final wish. She hoped that one day, disciples of Golden Gate Sect could accumulate merits day by day, helping her regain her register identity at Soaring View Abbey in White Frost Dynasty, re-enrolling her name. That was all. At the same time, she issued a strict order: even in a life-or-death crisis for the sect, they must never disturb her master's seclusion at Soaring View Abbey. Anyone who violated this rule would be deemed a traitor to the teacher and ancestor.
Thus, even during that war, the cultivators of various peaks of Golden Gate Sect strictly adhered to the ancestral instruction, never actively contacting Soaring View Abbey.
Even when the old abbot of Soaring View Abbey, Immortal Lord Cao Rong, emerged spectacularly and rendered immortal merits at Old Dragon City, Golden Gate Sect, especially the direct disciples of Gold Immortal Nunnery, could only keep this secret deep in their hearts, no matter how ecstatic they were.
Therefore, when Soaring View Abbey, now Soaring View Palace, took the initiative to write a letter to Gold Immortal Nunnery, saying the palace lord would visit, all the direct disciples of Gold Immortal Nunnery were delirious with joy.
In the moonlit night, a young female alchemist reduced mountains and rivers, appearing first at the cliff edge. Then a child-like venerable with white hair, holding a fly whisk and carrying a peachwood sword on his back, stood beside the female alchemist.
Among Daoist immortals, some can return to youth, white hair to a babe.
After that, thunder rumbled from the sky, and a disheveled young man arrived like lightning, tearing through the sea of clouds along the way as if sliced by a sword. He landed beside the white-haired child.
He wanted to reach out and touch the "child's" head, but a flash of sword light made him withdraw his hand.
The old crone of Gold Immortal Nunnery couldn't contain herself. Her eyes reddened. She made a Daoist salute and said, trembling, "Disciples of Clear Still Peak, Gold Immortal Nunnery, pay respects to the Xiangjun Patriarch of Soaring View Palace."
In fact, the old crone was well aware of the identities of the other two, but she had to single out this "Dongting" superior-sect Xiangjun Patriarch and address her with reverence.
Thus, she was, on behalf of the down-mountain Golden Gate Sect, paying a salute of respect to the superior sect Soaring View Palace. More precisely, she was performing a Daoist salute to the founding patriarch and her connection to Soaring View Abbey.
Xiangjun said indifferently, "No need for such courtesy. Xing Zi, keep you here. The rest, go cultivate as you were."
The old crone waved her sleeve. "All of you, withdraw."
Xiangjun walked first along a bluestone path on the cliff edge. The old crone named Xing Zi hurried to make up the salute to the "child" and the young man. "Xing Zi of Gold Immortal Nunnery pays respects to True Man Wei and Grandmaster Wen."
This True Man Wei, who seemed to have no Daoist name, was formerly the vigil-holding Daoist of Soaring View Abbey. Now that the abbey had been elevated to a palace, he had resigned as vigil keeper.
But no one thought this "little Daoist boy" had been demoted. The reason was simple: he was the closed-door disciple of the previous abbot, Cao Rong.
On the mountains, whether in immortal mansions or below, it seemed that throughout history, only the first disciple could be taken by mistake; the closed-door disciple was never wrong.
As for that "Grandmaster Wen," named Wen Zixi, with the mountain epithet "Wen the Gentleman," he was less than forty years old and already a Far Traveler martial artist. What's more, he was also a Daoist golden core earth immortal.
And he was a fickle libertine.
Xiangjun had just arrived at Golden Gate Sect from a small sect, having parted not long ago from Dong Shuijing.
Junior Brother Wei had just been in the capital of Green Apricot Kingdom. As for the grand-nephew Wen Zixi, without surprise, he had extricated himself from some brothel.
At Hanging Green Peak of Golden Gate Sect, there was a famous sight: an inverted waterfall.
Xiangjun stopped, looked at the waterfall splashing like snow with a thunderous roar, and said, "Before my master went down the mountain to travel, he handed down a secret decree, permitting her to restore her register identity at Soaring View Abbey. He also said that you of Gold Immortal Nunnery can break away from Golden Gate Sect and return to the ancestral lineage of Soaring View Palace. Of course, this is not forced. Those on Clear Still Peak may stay or leave as they wish. As for the other peaks of Golden Gate Sect outside Gold Immortal Nunnery, forget it. They wouldn't be willing, so we'll save ourselves the trouble of being sentimental."
The old crone wept uncontrollably, facing south, prostrating herself and kowtowing three times, knocking her head in thanks to that ancestor Cao Tianjun.
Xiangjun helped her up. "If Cheng Qian obstructs, I can have Junior Brother Wei and Wen Zixi stay here at Clear Still Peak."
The old crone, after rising, repeatedly covered her face and wept.
The young man smiled. "Have you heard? This spring, quite a few big things happened on Parasol Leaf Continent."
True Man Wei snorted.
Aside from the few big clans at Old Dragon City used to doing business, in Bottle Gourd Continent, almost no one cared to inquire about the mountains, waters, and people of Parasol Leaf Continent.
The wheel of fortune turns. In years past, the cultivators of Parasol Leaf Continent also looked down on their northern neighbor, Bottle Gourd Continent.
Xiangjun nodded. "They are big things."
True Man Wei then took a slight interest. "Tell me."
Wen Zixi raised both hands, shook his wrists, and smiled. "The first big thing: At the southernmost part of the Yuan Clan of the Great Abyss, a brand new sect called the Green Duckweed Sword Sect emerged, with not a whisper beforehand. This Green Duckweed Sword Sect is the subordinate sect of Fallen Mountain on Bottle Gourd Continent. The first sect master is a man named Cui Dongshan, a previously unknown figure. His only public appearance was when our young Hidden Official and his friend Liu Xianyang challenged Zhengyang Mountain. During that time, Cui Dongshan did show his face. According to the ancestral shrine register of Fallen Mountain, he is considered Chen Ping'an's student."
His realm was a mystery.
Xiangjun smiled. "Show respect to Mr. Chen of Fallen Mountain and the sect master of Green Duckweed Sword Sect."
Normally, serving as the first sect master of a subordinate sect required the Jade Advancement realm. Later successors, however, had no realm requirement, as long as the sect had a Jade Advancement cultivator registered to sit on the mountain.
Moreover, Green Duckweed Sword Sect was an extremely rare sword Dao sect, an unprecedented thing on Parasol Leaf Continent. If Cui Dongshan were truly a Jade Advancement sword immortal, on the war-torn Bottle Gourd Continent, how could he have achieved nothing, not even a single merit? It was like Chen Ping'an's first disciple, who went by the pseudonym "Zheng Qian" (Pei Qian). She had not only shone on the Central Great River battlefield but had already made a name for herself on several battlefields from central to northern Golden Armor Continent.
Thus, people debated whether Cui Dongshan was a Jade Advancement or a Nascent Soul sword immortal. Given Chen Ping'an's literary lineage status and his accumulated war merits at the Summer Retreat Palace, it would be entirely normal for the Confucian Temple to make an exception for Green Duckweed Sword Sect, allowing a non-upper-five-realm cultivator to serve as sect master. In recent years, several new sects on the Great Sui had been treated likewise—not an isolated case.
Wen Zixi smiled. "Too bad the patriarch forbade me to go down the mountain that year. Otherwise, I could have gone to the Grand Sui's secondary capital and sparred with that Pei Qian."
True Man Wei sneered. "You think that because you're only one realm behind Pei Qian, you can fight? Then why don't you go find trouble with her master, that Hidden Official Chen?"
This grand-nephew—undeniably a martial arts genius—whenever he went down the mountain for fun, loved to ask for a fistfight with suppressed realm, preferring deliberately to be one realm lower and then win.
Wen Zixi laughed heartily. "Chen Ping'an is nearly ten years younger than me! If I'd been born ten years earlier, I'd be at least an apex realm martial artist by now, if not a stopping realm."
Xiangjun said, "Pei Qian is not the kind of martial artist you imagine to be an empty shell. Her seventh and eighth refinements were only more solid than yours."
Wen Zixi squinted. "Hearing is not seeing. Seeing is believing."
The second matter concerned the Jade Gui Sect. Sect master Wei Ying had gone far away to the Barren Wasteland. The new peak master of the Nine Chess Peak was a child named Qiu Zhi, already a Dragon Gate sword cultivator.
And at Taiping Mountain, the female alchemist Huang Ting, returning from the Five Colors Underworld to Parasol Leaf Continent, had created a highly rare phenomenon in the Great Sui's history: one person, one sect.
Because her first act upon returning home was to challenge Little Dragon Falls, Huang Ting was indisputably a Jade Advancement sword immortal.
She was indeed the number one fortune on Parasol Leaf Continent, as breaking a realm was as easy for her as changing clothes.
She was, after all, the female cultivator who had once been famous alongside that "Thief Jiang."
And at Little Dragon Falls, there was earth-shattering turmoil. Two Nascent Soul cultivators, who had some merits if not great ones, committed some fault and were personally apprehended by the Dragon Beard Immortal Lord from Middle Earth's Great Dragon Falls. Not long after, Situ Mengjing personally took up the post of mountain master of Little Dragon Falls. It was like throwing a giant boulder into a pond, raising huge waves. Before the onlookers could recover their calm, a "Flying Peak" directly filled the small pond.
After this, Little Dragon Falls declared mountain closure for sixty years.
At the Pu Mountain Cloud Grass Hall, Yellow Clothes Yun seemed to have just broken through to the tenth refinement true return layer.
At the Great Fu Academy, the old dragon Cheng Longzhou had become the vice mountain master of the Luming (Deer) Academy at Piyun Mountain of the Grand Sui. However, Luming Academy was not one of the seventy-two academies. This was the first time in Confucian Temple history that a Confucian scholar of demonic origin served as an academy mountain master.
Zhou Mi, mountain master of Yufu (Fish Cast) Academy in Northern Julu Continent, was also the first mountain master in history to be sent to the Forest of Merits without a major fault, and subsequently appointed as mountain master of Wuxi Academy on Parasol Leaf Continent.
Additionally, the highly renowned exemplary scholar Wen Yu took up the post of vice mountain master of Tianmu Academy.
In outsiders' eyes, among the three academies on Parasol Leaf Continent, whose principal and vice mountains were all outsiders, there was no small undercurrent.
Though Wen Zixi was curious about how Ye Yunyun looked—whether she was a city-toppling beauty—he wasn't arrogant enough to go to Parasol Leaf Continent and challenge her to a fistfight.
He'd have to wait a dozen or twenty years. No matter. He and Yellow Clothes Yun were on the same cultivation path. The long years of Dao cultivation meant no need to rush.
Wen Zixi muttered, "Why is this Zhou Haijing so hard to find? She vanished from the Grand Sui capital without a trace. Surely not hidden away as a secret lover somewhere?"
That Pei Qian, after all, ranked second among the four great martial grandmasters of Bottle Gourd Continent, second only to Song Changjing, who was said to have once stepped into the threshold of the eleventh refinement. The bottom-ranked Zhou Haijing, also a female grandmaster, was Wen Zixi's perfect opponent for a fistfight. Apex realm, and a beautiful woman—harder to find than a lantern. To that end, Wen Zixi made a special trip to the Grand Sui capital. But Zhou Haijing, who hadn't left the capital, managed to evade Wen Zixi's search for over a month.
Xiangjun's Dao heart suddenly trembled. She raised her hand, rolled a faint green flying sword message into her sleeve, and used a secret technique to open the sword's prohibition. The voice of her master sounded in her heart lake:
"Master orders: leave Wei Fuxiao, take Wen Zixi, and go to Joy Mountain."
At first, Xiangjun didn't think much of it, only felt it was a bit odd. Then she suddenly understood: her master was referring to his… master?!
And this upper-five-realm female alchemist's master's master was currently in a side hall of Powder Pellet Manor on Joy Mountain, reading the palms of several maidservants.