The following translation still contains Chinese characters that were not translated. Please provide the corrected FULL translation with these terms translated or transliterated into English:

The following translation still contains Chinese characters that were not translated. Please provide the corrected FULL translation with these terms translated or transliterated into English:

Untranslated terms found: 浩然, 青冥

Original translation (fix the Chinese terms in place, output the complete corrected chapter):
# Chapter 1031: Mo Yu'er, Lose Half

Spring grass grew lush, the bright moon hung lazily, and a babbling brook seemed to urge them to drink.

Chen Ping'an had Zhao Shuxia bring out bamboo chairs for the guests, then go prepare a midnight snack—nothing too fancy, just whatever was at hand.

Lu Chen quickly spoke up: "Shuxia, you just go busy yourself in the kitchen. This poor Daoist will get his own chair. As for appetizers to go with the wine, I've got some right here."

Otherwise, Sect Leader Lu worried he might not have a seat and would have to squat while drinking.

Lu Chen, familiar with the place, went into Chen Ping'an's room, brought out a small table and two chairs, and after sitting down, our Sect Leader Lu made sure to wipe the tabletop with his sleeve.

Chen Ping'an smiled and asked, "Ning Ji, have you thought it through? No regrets?"

The young man's gaze was resolute. He nodded and said, "Teacher Chen, I've made up my mind. I want to be your student. I'll also remember Sect Leader Lu's kindness and repay it when I have the chance."

Chen Ping'an glanced at Lu Chen. He didn't need to think twice to know that this fellow must have taken the youth through a long river of time.

Lu Chen started patting himself on the back, waving his hand. "A minor skill. Not hard at all. Not a bit of trouble."

A river of time was not something just anyone could wade through. Even great cultivators dared not casually tour the ages. Even if they entered it, most Flying Ascension realm cultivators only did so when forced, when their physical bodies were decaying and they were about to undergo forced dissolution. They had to use the river of time to "wash their hearts and change their faces," or try their luck to see if they could find some blessed cave or paradise lost in the long river of history. What they feared most were unexpected countercurrents, especially those funnel-like whirlpools that could easily drag a qi refiner deep down and lose them without a trace. In history, many great cultivators who claimed to be in seclusion and had failed their breakthroughs were actually like clay oxen entering the sea in the river of time, making wedding clothes for others. Later generations of great cultivators fishing for golden body fragments from the river of time came from this. Even more, there were phenomena like whirlpools forming lakes or river water rebounding to form eddies. Earlier, when "Chen Ping'an" and the Sword Holder had invited Bai Jing to sit at the same table in the shop on Qilong Lane, that was one such manifestation of the Great Way.

In the mountains, only true peak cultivators, wielding certain heavy treasures, could thus transmit the Dao and protect it for their disciples. This practice tempered the physical body and brought many benefits, especially nourishing the three souls and seven spirits of a qi refiner. But the risks were great. With one misstep, many originally highly accomplished cultivators could directly become idiots or fools, because their memories and divine consciousness drowned, drifting with the water, losing their minds, and later their souls could not be summoned back.

Chen Ping'an himself had walked through it several times. The first was following Master Qi, the second in the Guan Dao Temple in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, beside the old temple master, experiencing a scroll of time spanning one or two hundred years.

Lu Chen glanced at the young man sitting upright beside him and praised, "Ning Ji performed very well. This poor Daoist didn't need to help him at all. He quickly adapted to walking through the scroll of time."

Chen Ping'an nodded. "That's impressive. I remember the first time I waded through, I was dizzy and nearly threw up on the spot."

Lu Chen smiled slightly. "This is the gap between a half-baked Earth Rank talent and a Heaven-made genius who stands out from the crowd."

That straw-sandaled young man with a broken destiny porcelain was indeed a half-baked Earth Immortal talent. Lu Chen's assessment was quite objective.

Chen Ping'an didn't mind at all. In fact, hearing this made him happy. Who would dislike a student or disciple with extraordinary bone structure and outstanding aptitude for learning the Dao?

Ning Ji was extremely embarrassed, clenching his fists on his knees, at a loss.

The young man didn't yet know that Sect Leader Lu and Teacher Chen's praise was no exaggeration, nor did he understand the danger of wading through the river. He mistakenly thought it was the kind of good words elders said about "other people's children," full of water.

"Taking a disciple has its merits, of course it's very good. As for the price... I imagine you know better than I do."

Lu Chen's smile faded as he asked, "Chen Ping'an, have you thought this through as well?"

To be honest, finding Ning Ji so quickly had indeed surprised Lu Chen.

This was what they meant by "even immortals find it hard to fish at noon."

Originally, Lu Chen had prepared to wander around the Haoran world for at least three to five years, maybe seven or eight. He could use this opportunity to wipe his ass and solve some historical problems with which he had some causal connection. For example, the old turtle in the Dragon King Temple at Baihua Lake earlier, the little Dao seed on Shi Rou in Qilong Lane, Zhu Lu who should have been one of the senior brother's guardians, and of course Gu Qingsong with the Dao name Xiancha—he also needed to settle matters. Whether to make the boatman completely give up hope of being included in the Nanhua City register, or to take the old boatman to the White Jade Capital, Lu Chen was still considering. Additionally, because of the last true dragon three thousand years ago, Lu Chen owed a favor to "Zhu Cao Burned Forehead" Feng Yi. A whole basket of such big and small matters left Lu Chen feeling quite weary.

Chen Ping'an nodded. "As long as Ning Ji has made up his mind, I have no problem with it."

Lu Chen said, "I need to thank you for this."

Plant flowers deliberately, but they don't bloom; plant willows carelessly, and they provide shade.

As long as Lu Chen found Ning Ji, regardless of the reason or the difficulty of the process, the Confucian Temple only looked at the result. They would record a great amount of merit for him, clearly on the books. The more someone like Lu Chen, who held a high position, understood insider information and truth, the more he appreciated the preciousness of adding a few lines to the Confucian Temple's Book of Merits. This was especially true now, at this critical juncture when the Three Religion Founders were about to dissolve their teachings. To give a simple example: down in the world, wealthy clans and prosperous families left money, property, even books to their descendants, which might not always land in the right place, but those seemingly ethereal ancestral blessings and karmic rewards were never off by a hair and never failed.

Chen Ping'an said, "It's nothing much. Besides, Taoist Lu accompanying Ning Ji on this journey through mountains and waters is enough to count as a thank-you gift."

Lu Chen was silent for a moment, as if he couldn't think of a suitable gift. He placed a jug of wine on the table. "Tonight, just a small drink. Let's not overdo it, lest we lose our composure and make a fool of ourselves in front of our juniors."

Chen Ping'an looked at that jug of Gengyun Peak Spring Sleep wine and said in mock surprise, "Sect Leader Lu is already so familiar with Mount Huang?"

Lu Chen boasted without shame, "We're very familiar. How could we not be? We hit it off like old friends at first sight."

Gengyun Peak's Huang Zhonghou was now the new mountain master of Yunxia Mountain. This had sparked much speculation in Vase Bottle Continent. A Golden Core Earth Immortal with relatively shallow seniority had taken over Yunxia Mountain, which had the foundation to be a sect candidate. Take Caijinfeng's Cai Jinjian, for example. She was about the same age as Huang Zhonghou, but she was already at the Nascent Soul stage. Yet she still lost out in this "change of dynasty." Outsiders couldn't help but wonder if the ancestral mountain lineage was deliberately suppressing that rapidly rising Caijinfeng Peak?

Many sects and immortal residences with long histories faced similar situations. Closer to home, for instance, the loss of power at Qingjingfeng's Golden Immortal Nunnery and the guest-becoming-host at Chuijing Peak.

A little further away, the Bamboo Branch Sect, one of Zhengyang Mountain's vassal forces, and the Caishan Mountain lineage of outer sect greeter Chen Jiu, were in similar straits. The current sect leader, Guo Huifeng, was not actually from the founding patriarch's lineage, so cultivators from Jizu Mountain like Liang Yuping inevitably had some thoughts about it.

This was like future Luopo Mountain. Perhaps one day the mountain master might not be a direct or second-generation disciple of Pei Qian, Guo Zhujiu, or the others, but might come from other vassal peaks or Dao lineages. Perhaps it would be a disciple or grand-disciple of Zhang Gui Changming, or a disciple of Wei Wenlong, Chen Lingjun, or the like. In short, on Luopo Mountain's golden jade register, it would be a "side road," branching off. Future generations of Luopo Mountain disciples would trace their ancestry back to Chen Ping'an, of course, but the ancestral spirit tablet might not be him.

Lu Chen suddenly asked with a grin, "Chen Ping'an, if Luopo Mountain one day faces the same situation, as the founding mountain master, would you feel a bit awkward?"

Chen Ping'an just smiled and let it go.

Lu Chen turned toward the kitchen and shouted, "Shuxia, if you have cilantro, put some on my noodles. If not, it's fine. But don't skimp on the chopped chili and garlic. The more, the better."

Ning Ji stood up to help bring over several bowls of steaming noodles. There were plenty of toppings, mostly dried bamboo shoots and tofu from the school's own supplies.

Zhao Shuxia took an immediate liking to this new junior brother, who seemed to have dropped from the sky.

The young man was sensitive and soon noticed Zhao Shuxia's goodwill and closeness. Ning Ji felt a bit more at ease.

Lu Chen picked up his chopsticks and was about to dig in.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, Sect Leader Lu noticed that both Ning Ji and Zhao Shuxia waited until Chen Ping'an had picked up his chopsticks and taken the first bite before they quietly lowered their heads and started eating their noodles.

Holding his chopsticks suspended in the air for a while, Sect Leader Lu ended up being the last to eat noodles. So it's like that, is it? This poor Daoist is the only outsider at the table, right?

Sect Leader Lu felt indignant. If he had been ruthless earlier and gritted his teeth to take Ning Ji as his direct disciple, then it would be master versus master, disciple versus disciple, two against two—numerically, they wouldn't be at a disadvantage!

Chen Ping'an seemed to guess Lu Chen's frustration and joked, "Sect Leader Lu, it's not too late to change your mind. Knock Ning Ji out with a single blow, stuff him in a sack, and make a run for it."

Lu Chen, imitating the Old Scholar's signature tone, sighed, "Say a few less hurtful, nonsense words. This poor Daoist has always acted with integrity and honor. I can't do such a thing."

As for taking Ning Ji as a disciple, with Chen Ping'an responsible for personally teaching the method to this ill-fated youth, the many obvious benefits could be summed up in one: Luopo Mountain could gain a cultivation genius similar to Chai Wu, or even one whose Dao achievements might surpass her. Even by conservative estimates, Ning Ji had a very good chance of becoming a Flying Ascension realm cultivator in the future. Moreover, Ning Ji was likely to be an extremely young Flying Ascension realm cultivator, bursting onto the scene and shocking everyone.

But the trouble was not small. Ning Ji's Dao roots had already determined that on his future cultivation path, he would not let Chen Ping'an and Luopo Mountain rest easy. This was somewhat similar to the Old Scholar taking Liu Shiliu as his direct disciple. But when Chen Ping'an's senior brother, Jun Qian, had become the Old Scholar's student, besides having a sufficiently high cultivation realm, the key was that his self was already close to clarity. Coupled with the fact that the Old Scholar was at the height of his power at the time, aside from some idle gossip in the mountains, it didn't cause much substantial harm to the Confucian Sage lineage.

But Ning Ji's life experiences, especially his temperament, were full of countless unknowns.

The young Hidden Officer, who had just been able to rest a little, would probably have to busy himself for decades again.

First there was Pei Qian, now Ning Ji. Haha! Lu Chen rolled up a big tangle of noodles, suddenly in a much better mood. His cheeks were bulging as he blew out a few breaths.

While eating the noodles, Lu Chen mumbled an idea, "Living off the mountain, you eat from the mountain; living off the water, you eat from the water. You've got so many mountain vegetables and wild greens, and plenty of fish in the Wu Stream. Next time, a clay pot stew would be great for a midnight snack. Especially in winter, when it's freezing outside and hot steam hits your face—the taste is incredible. If there's a foot warmer and a jar of warm yellow wine or glutinous rice wine, hmm, just thinking about it makes my mouth water."

Chen Ping'an smiled. "That'll be hard."

It wasn't that a clay pot stew was hard to make, but that you, Lu Chen, would find it hard to eat it again. Since matters in the Haoran world were settled here, and the Green Void world was seething with undercurrents, it was unlikely that Lu Chen, as a White Jade Capital sect leader, could stay here for long. Earlier, Cui Dongshan had sent a secret letter to Luopo Mountain with the latest list of the top ten and alternate candidates in the Green Void world. No matter how you looked at it, the White Jade Capital couldn't afford to be careless.

Lu Chen sighed deeply. Then he looked up and asked casually, "Chen Ping'an, do you remember when you first drank alcohol?"

Chen Ping'an thought for a moment and said, "Back when I was practicing boxing and couldn't bear the hardship, I think I borrowed some wine from Wei Bo. After that, it was downhill all the way. I couldn't stop even if I wanted to."

Lu Chen asked with a smile, "I've always been curious—do you really like drinking?"

Chen Ping'an smiled. "Anyone who asks that question obviously doesn't like drinking themselves."

Lu Chen took out a few salted duck eggs from his sleeve and placed them on the table. "These are a specialty from a place called Gaoyou. Very famous. Duck eggs from the Wa Pi Lake. 'Wa Pi' as in 'Da zai wa pi' (the Way lies in tiles and shards)."

Chen Ping'an and the others each took an egg, gently cracked them open, and didn't stand on ceremony with Sect Leader Lu.

Lu Chen suddenly sighed, "Grandmasters everywhere, true men filling the sky. This is what the next thousand years will look like. You and I aren't walking the shady side of the mountain road, so what else can it be?"

Chen Ping'an nodded in agreement. "Too much to take in."

Lu Chen said, "Gu Can is revisiting old haunts. He's in the Letter Lake now."

Chen Ping'an nodded.

Lu Chen was like a well-informed informant. "Over in the Wildlands, because of that wild cultivator with the Dao name Qing Bi, two groups met on a narrow path. One wanted to kill, the other to save. Neither would give way. Since it was in the Wildlands, the Heavenly Stems Ten had the advantage of time and place. So in this breakout, the two who contributed the most were, without much suspense, Cao Ci, who had advanced to the Divine Reach layer, and then Gu Can. His performance from start to finish was impressive. In the end, victory was due to Gu Can. If not for him, the fight would have dragged on, and it wouldn't have ended so quickly. I imagine that now Pure Azure, Xu Bai, and a few other young prodigies of their generation have mixed feelings toward Gu Can—gratitude and wariness. Their emotions are quite complicated."

"As for how Gu Can achieved this feat, he relied on a worn locust leaf that was like a chicken rib—kept for many years despite being useless. 'Zhao' the Young Celestial Master, 'Xu' Bai, 'Cao' Ci, and a few others were divinely aided. As for Yu Juanfu, Pure Azure, and others, although their surnames were uncommon and they didn't directly benefit from the locust leaf, they still shared in the fortune. Because Gu Can had hidden it well and it came as a surprise, the originally balanced situation shifted. Cao Ci found an opportunity, relying on his martial fortune, and delivered a punch equivalent to the eleventh realm, completely shattering the formation."

"Gu Can also managed to abduct one of the Wildlands' Ten Heavenly Stems—a female cultivator named Zi Wu Meng, with the Dao name 'Spring Night.'"

"Heh, as teacher, so disciple. Master Zheng stole an entire Golden Emerald City, and his disciple likes to follow suit."

Chen Ping'an stopped his chopsticks and frowned. "What is he doing in Letter Lake?"

Lu Chen smiled. "In Letter Lake, he didn't go to Liu Zhimao's Green Gorge Island, nor to Zeng Ye's Five Islands Sect. Instead, he first visited his senior sister Tian Hujun, then Zhong Su of Yellow Oriole Island. The last was a commoner in a city by the lake—a youth who wasn't good at studying and used his strength to work as a sedan chair bearer for officials and literati who came to tour the area. He earned a meager living that way. Gu Can is nostalgic. After finding this youth, who used to chat with him when they were neighbors, they discussed it and pooled some money to open a shop. Gu Can only contributed the money, not the effort. Huh, so that would make Gu Can... a second boss?"

Chen Ping'an's eyes showed a hint of amusement.

Lu Chen held his chopsticks in one hand and twitched his sleeve with the other, pretending to calculate on his fingers. "Logically, after breaking out, there should have been a celebration. But Gu Can turned his back on everyone and went to fight Cao Ci, stubbornly clinging to him. The angrier Gu Can got, the more he fought. Cao Ci had no choice but to hit a little harder, and Gu Can was pretty badly injured."

Chen Ping'an said, "That's reckless!"

Lu Chen nodded. "He was a bit confused. Provoking anyone, why did he have to provoke Cao Ci?"

While Sect Leader Lu was chatting idly with his teacher, Zhao Shuxia quietly ate his snack.

Ning Ji was hearing about Gu Can and Cao Ci for the first time and was a bit curious. Lu Chen turned and smiled. "This Cao Ci is extraordinary. He's your teacher's lifelong rival and a tough opponent on your teacher's martial arts path. Now there's a bet on the green-white contest between Cao Ci and your teacher. Countless mountain immortals have placed their bets, spending thousands of gold."

Chen Ping'an smiled. "I've never once beaten Cao Ci. Every fistfight, I've lost. But Cao Ci's character is impeccable. No one can find a single flaw. Our relationship isn't really one of enemies or friends. There's no hostility or grudge. We're just friends."

Ning Ji nodded. "Teacher aims for the three immortalities as a scholar. Fighting and killing in the martial world aren't your proper trade."

This time, following Sect Leader Lu on that strange journey, it wasn't wasted. The youth had learned quite a few expressions from books.

The implication was that if Teacher had focused on martial arts and boxing, he could have defeated Cao Ci.

Chen Ping'an smiled and nodded. "That's true."

Zhao Shuxia gave a wry smile.

Even with the utmost respect for his teacher, Zhao Shuxia didn't think that if his teacher focused on boxing, he would definitely beat Cao Ci.

Zhu Lian had once joked privately to Zhao Shuxia that in the next hundred years, in the martial arts world, if Cao Ci didn't claim to be second in the world, no one would dare claim to be first.

Zhao Shuxia had been a bit dejected at the time. If Cao Ci was at the peak of martial arts, so invincible under heaven, how would his teacher fare?

Zhu Lian then half-jokingly asked, "Why would Cao Ci claim to be second in the world?"

Zhao Shuxia wasn't quick-witted or good at debating, so he couldn't answer.

Zhu Lian answered his own question. "Maybe Cao Ci is too powerful. No one can really decide a winner with him. But Cao Ci always feels there's someone who can compete with him for first place. However, that fight would require both sides to fight to the death to decide the true winner. So it can only be someone in the future competing with the Cao Ci of the past for first place."

Zhao Shuxia nodded. At that time, his mind was full of his teacher, whom he revered like a god, so naturally he thought that among all martial artists, only his teacher could compete with Cao Ci.

But Zhu Lian smiled and said, "Does that person have to be the mountain master who will surely cultivate in the mountains for a long time? What about you, Zhao Shuxia? Aren't you also a pure martial artist?"

Lu Chen was even more impressed with Ning Ji. Young man, you haven't even officially become a disciple yet, and you haven't even gone to Luopo Mountain.

Once you go and meet old cook Zhu Lian, little senior brother Cui Dongshan, senior sister Pei Qian, especially Old Immortal Jia and the like, and you're exposed to that every day—what will become of you?

The atmosphere at Luopo Mountain is just so peculiar.

Indeed, birds of a feather flock together.

Chen Ping'an suddenly asked Lu Chen, "Do you think the great river in Tongye Continent can be successfully excavated?"

Lu Chen smiled without hesitation. "When the time comes, heaven and earth work together. How could it not succeed? But such a grand feat is bound to have small bumps and scrapes. Consider it a blessing that comes with tribulation."

Chen Ping'an raised his white bowl toward Lu Chen. "I'll take your auspicious words. Cheers."

Lu Chen raised his bowl and lightly clinked it. "Good brothers. Cheers, cheers."

Setting up a school here and being a teacher required more effort from Chen Ping'an than returning to the Upper Five Realms.

Lu Chen asked telepathically, "Have you determined the location of the heart demon for the Nascent Soul bottleneck?"

This seemed like a pointless question. Since Chen Ping'an had already attempted to break through in the Dao field on Miso Snow Peak, and more than once, how could he not have encountered the heart demon?

But Chen Ping'an nodded and replied solemnly, "I can roughly determine it now."

The mountain night wind was cool. Lu Chen held his wine bowl and looked at the bell hanging under the school eaves, swaying slightly but silently.

But out of the corner of his eye, Lu Chen was watching the young martial artist who seemed so inconspicuous beside Chen Ping'an—Zhao Shuxia.

It could even be said that Lu Chen's appearance here was largely to have a few words with this Zhao Shuxia, who was so much like Chen Ping'an.

Because he was so similar, in the eyes of connoisseurs, he seemed like a fake painting, at most earning the comment "inferior to the true original."

But Lu Chen was not among those "connoisseurs."

At the same table, compared to the female martial artist with a bun hairdo at the Hehuan Mountain's Pink Ball Mansion—Chen Ping'an's senior disciple—Lu Chen was more worried about this one, his final disciple on the martial path.

Not that Zhao Shuxia's martial achievements would necessarily surpass Pei Qian's. Earlier, when Zhao Shuxia was practicing boxing at Songjia Ridge, Lu Chen had made a rough calculation. Zhao Shuxia's martial height indeed could not surpass his senior sister Pei Qian's. After all, Pei Qian was already a consummation realm martial artist, while Zhao Shuxia had only just broken through to the fifth realm a few days ago. He was a pure martial artist destined never to touch the word "strongest."

So Lu Chen's high regard for Zhao Shuxia was simply an unreasonable intuition. And for a cultivator like Lu Chen, such intuition was itself a mysterious truth.

After finishing the midnight snack, Zhao Shuxia and Ning Ji cleared the dishes.

Chen Ping'an and Lu Chen continued drinking. This time, the wine was some rustic home-brewed wine that Chen Ping'an had cadged from a child's family in the mountains.

Another guest arrived—an old neighbor.

It was Gao Niang, the newly appointed river god of Xi Mei River, who had just obtained a strange treasure.

This river god, who looked like an elderly scholar, held an empty wine jug in his arms. Earlier, this item had been discovered by government runners patrolling the waters. Finding it floating on Xi Mei River, those water mansion clerks had tried to move and capture it but couldn't. Despite exerting all their strength, they couldn't budge it. They reported to their superior officials. Even the water mansion officials, who bore the title of water immortals, couldn't change the jug's path downstream using their water methods, no matter how they tried. Unexpectedly, as soon as River God Gao Niang stepped in, he captured it effortlessly. He felt that the wine jug seemed to be a sentient, intelligent living creature—as if it had voluntarily acknowledged its master, as described in folk tales. This startled Gao Niang, and he instinctively wanted to throw it away, but it stuck to his hand and wouldn't come off. Gao Niang was inwardly miserable, thinking he had fallen into a trap and was about to suffer great misfortune. The surrounding water immortals, clerks, shrimp soldiers, and crab generals, not understanding the situation, naturally broke into thunderous flattery.

Gao Niang calmed down and found that the hot potato-like wine jug seemed harmless, even giving him a subtle sense of Dao resonance. After thinking it over, to be safe, he decided to visit the school at the source of Xi Mei River. If it was an item of unknown origin and hidden danger, the well-informed Hidden Officer could help appraise it and remove it. But if it was a personal gift from the Hidden Officer, he should thank him in person.

Chen Ping'an saw the wine jug, remained composed, and smiled, beckoning. "Brother Gao, come sit here."

Having received the Hidden Officer's summons, Gao Niang first hurried forward, but as he approached the table, he slowed his steps.

Seeing an empty wine jug on the table, Gao Niang was relieved. It was identical in shape to the one in his hand.

"Ning Ji, a newly enrolled student," Chen Ping'an said, taking advantage of Gao Niang's brief hesitation—which showed considerable skill—to introduce him. "This is Taoist Lu, a remarkable and skilled practitioner. He just looks young, doesn't age."

Lu Chen quickly put down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth, remained seated, turned sideways, cupped his hands, and smiled. "An honor, an honor. Greetings to the River God. This humble Daoist is a close friend of Teacher Chen, sharing both hardship and fortune."

Gao Niang hurriedly bowed. "This minor deity, Gao Niang, thanks Teacher Chen for his care and has been temporarily appointed as the river god of Xi Mei River. Greetings to Immortal Lu. I am deeply honored."

How could the Hidden Officer's mountain friends be ordinary?

Not just a bow—even kowtowing a few times would be proper etiquette and goodwill, wouldn't it?

Take last time, when he had drinks here with Yu Huiting, a female cultivator from Wind and Snow Temple. Afterwards, Gao Niang had the honor of attending a secret meeting on Dragon Palace matters. He just occupied a seat and didn't speak, but Yu Huiting was quite kind to him, chatting a bit. How glorious it was! Even the Great Li army-attached cultivators looked at him with more respect.

Zhao Shuxia brought another bamboo chair and said, "Master Gao, please sit."

Gao Niang quickly thanked him. Since he was holding a wine jug in his hand, he could only take the chair with one hand. Ning Ji had already stood up, taken the chair, and sat to the side with Zhao Shuxia.

Lu Chen said, "Has Brother Gao come to deliver wine?"

Gao Niang's expression immediately became awkward.

Chen Ping'an helped him out. "Such a treasure floating downstream naturally goes to whoever is destined. Brother Gao, just keep it."

Gao Niang was secretly delighted. A flash of treasure light, and the wine jug fell from his hands. He quickly reached out to catch it, and without ceremony, took out a green rope refined from temple incense and pure water transportation, tying it around his waist.

Lu Chen smiled. "A distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor. And with such neighborly harmony, Brother Gao is truly fortunate."

Gao Niang nodded vigorously. "Fortune! It's all fortune to be able to be neighbors with the Hidden Officer."

Zhao Shuxia had already brought a white bowl for Gao Niang.

Ning Ji was just curious about this river god's respectful title for Teacher Chen. Was it some official position?

Chen Ping'an smiled. "Good karmic connections between people are mutual, each and every one."

Kindness never hurts. Gao Niang didn't hesitate. He downed two large bowls of the rustic wine in quick succession, toasting the young Hidden Officer and Immortal Lu respectively.

Since this minor deity is not good with words, my sincere feelings and passion are all in the wine.

He was probably surprised by how strong the wine was. Gao Niang choked a bit, wondering where this rustic brew came from—such a fierce kick!

Chen Ping'an returned the toast. Lu Chen only took a sip and sighed. "Seeing Brother Gao tonight reminds me of an old friend. Also surnamed Gao. Gao Gu—'gu' as in 'lonely.' Brother Gao, your given name is 'niang' as in 'brew.' He had few friends, could count them on one finger. He always liked to say, 'The physical body is not kin, let alone things external to it,' yet he liked to drink alone. And in his whole life, he was never drunk. I think you two share some fate."

Gao Niang quickly held his bowl with both hands. "I imagine Immortal Lu's friends are all Daoist immortals above the clouds. A minor river god like me would not dare to claim such kinship."

Gao Niang's polite words were not wrong. The old friend Lu Chen referred to, Gao Gu, was indeed not someone a minor river god like him could casually claim kinship with—a venerable old Daoist immortal.

In the Green Void world, Difu Mountain's Huayang Palace, the Youzhou Daoist Gao Gu, Dao name "Great Mountain," was one of the top ten in the Green Void world, with great hope of advancing to the fourteenth realm through alchemy.

There were no delicacies on the small table, only a few plates of appetizers. Zhao Shuxia and Ning Ji were just chewing on some dried sweet potatoes sent over by a child's elder.

Gao Niang soon experienced the young Daoist's talent for idle chat. He could really talk. At the table, everyone just listened to him ramble.

"How vast are heaven and earth! How many are the sentient beings! For ten thousand years, the human world has existed, yet here and now, Brother Gao, you and I can meet and drink this village brew. This fate is such that we must not let the cup be full and then empty before us!"

"Alas, Brother, you speak wrongly. At the wine table, there is no distinction of seniority or background. Only the quality of one's drinking matters. And why should Brother Gao belittle himself? This humble Daoist's cultivation may be average, but I am exceptionally accurate at reading faces. Though you are older in years, your spirit is not aged. That is commendable. You are clearly an erudite scholar who has read deeply, yet you are not pedantic. Born with a posthumous name, you become a spirit after death. Serving as the river god of this Xi Mei River—what constraint is life and death to you? When old eyes can't read, so what? Just speak startlingly and refuse to die. Argue with startling boldness..."

"Riding a lone horse in blue robes, ten thousand people hail you. The imperial capital years ago commanded urgently. Chickens and dogs share the same boat—who is the guest and who is the master?"

"What was once cherished, in a blink, has become the past. Yet one cannot help but be moved by it. Having become the past, future viewers will also feel the same about these writings, feel the same!"

"Brother Gao, we are both fellow seekers of the Way. As momentary participants and long-term observers, shouldn't we drink? In the drunken world of the wine table, gain immortality and eternal life?"

Gao Niang interjected a few words occasionally. He was happy about the young Daoist's approachability, but also felt a bit awkward. Was he... meeting a kindred spirit and rival tonight?

Had this Immortal Lu been through officialdom? Otherwise, how could he brag even better than himself?

At first, when the Daoist mentioned him, River God Gao would quickly raise a bowl and drink half or a whole bowl of the rustic brew. But no matter how good his tolerance, he couldn't withstand Taoist Lu's chain of arguments. This kind of drinking persuasion was truly something else. After all, in such a once-in-a-century, once-in-a-millennium drinking session, he, Gao Niang, had to set aside his status and genuinely drink to be proper. Besides, even the Hidden Officer had started helping him decline drinks, with the clumsy excuse that there wasn't much rustic wine left and they needed to save some for Teacher Chen to refresh himself while preparing lessons.

In the end, Gao Niang drank until his face changed color. He quickly begged forgiveness, stumbled off, and ran some distance from the school to vomit.

The River God didn't even dare to use divine powers to dispel the drunkenness. He just reached out and waved his sleeve to disperse the strange smell.

Chen Ping'an was also flushed red from drinking and said with a wry smile, "If Taoist Lu really wants to increase the water transportation of Xi Mei River, at least use a different method."

Lu Chen chuckled. "If Gao Niang knew the truth, he would drink up all your wine here. Drink, throw up, then drink again. He'd vomit out his heart and liver willingly."

It turned out that every few taels of wine Gao Niang drank at the table added a few catties of water transportation to Xi Mei River.

Lu Chen clasped his hands behind his head, leaned back in the bamboo chair, burped, looked up at the sky, and murmured, "The wine tables of Gao Niang and his kind—they're probably the human world of ten thousand years ago."

After vomiting, Gao Niang felt refreshed and returned to the table, actively asking for more wine. Along with Hidden Officer Chen and Taoist Lu, the three of them drank about three or four more jugs of immortal-brewed wine. As for where the wine came from, the river god, usually so perceptive, could no longer remember clearly. He only knew he was completely drunk, rolled up his sleeves, and started shouting finger-guessing drinking games with Taoist Lu. Finally, Gao Niang thumped his head heavily on the table and fell into a deep sleep, snoring like thunder.

Zhao Shuxia and Ning Ji weren't drinking, and since they couldn't sleep anyway, they had gone for a walk together elsewhere.

Lu Chen looked at Chen Ping'an, whose eyes were shining brightly, and cursed with a smile, "Your drinking capacity is just bullying others. Has nothing to do with your drinking character. Not even half a copper coin's worth."

Chen Ping'an smiled. "Did I persuade you to drink? Your drinking character is worse than mine."

The more he drank, the clearer his mind became. Chen Ping'an had indeed been drunk only a few times in his life, easily countable. Just once when he was young in the Yellow Millet Blessed Land, and later when he went to find Xu Yuanxia—that time he also got drunk.

Lu Chen was about to speak when he raised his hand, covered his mouth, and ran off. After a while, he swaggered back to the table and collapsed into the bamboo chair. "It's been a long time since I drank like this."

He remembered the last time was a long time ago. At a small restaurant in a shabby alley, at the table were Yao Kejiu, the former city lord of Shenxiao City who had returned home from White Jade Capital, with the Dao name "Ni Gu," along with Sun Huaizhong of Xuandu Temple and Gao Gu of Huayang Palace. That drinking session had also been dark and dizzying. Afterwards, Yao Kejiu said Temple Master Sun had helped Lu Chen out of the table. Gao Gu said Yao Kejiu had carried Lu Chen away. Temple Master Sun said he had dragged Sect Leader Lu out of the alley by one leg. So that night, the small alley full of chicken and dog manure was exceptionally clean.

Lu Chen took out a porcelain bottle, poured out a few pills whose fragrance permeated the air, popped them into his mouth, and chewed loudly. Then he held out the bottle to Chen Ping'an. "They can sober you up. Your head won't spin anymore."

Chen Ping'an, who was still struggling to tough it out, somehow felt his stomach churn the moment he heard "sober up" and "head spin." He cursed under his breath, ran to the edge of the threshing ground, squatted down, and threw up into the stream for a good while. Returning to his seat, he also leaned back in the chair like Lu Chen, gently rubbing his stomach. Gao Niang continued snoring. Lu Chen picked up his chopsticks again, picked up the last of the appetizers from the plate, and smiled. "Those who cultivate the Way rarely get drunk."

"How you view Ning Ji this year is how we viewed Chen Ping'an back then."

Lu Chen said, "If I had told you when I was setting up my stall in the small town that one day there would be this scene, would you have believed it?"

In fact, many of the younger generation in the Lizhu Cave Heaven had long been on that gambling table. A few prodigies had only bet and lost everything at the very last moment.

Chen Ping'an said, "To achieve what I have today, to have come this far step by step—luck has played a big part."

Lu Chen smiled. "Nowadays, across the four worlds, maybe ninety-nine out of a hundred people would think so. The remaining one is either an old acquaintance like me or someone close to Luopo Mountain. After all, the saying goes, 'Only eight cups of rice are destined in life; even traveling the world, you can't fill a peck measure.'"

Chen Ping'an nodded.

Lu Chen raised his chopsticks, glanced at Gao Niang, and smiled. "You'll have to remind him later to fix that annoying habit of shaking the chopsticks three times in the air when picking up a dish. How off-putting for others at the table."

Chen Ping'an smiled. "He just drank too much."

Lu Chen put down his last chopstick and chewed the appetizer slowly. "Life is like a tree sprouting a thousand flowers, but as they fall with the wind, each lands in a different place. Some fall under the tree and become dust, like a person dying in their hometown. Others drift with the water, going far away like a wanderer who never returns. Some pass through windows and doors, brush curtains and screens, and fall onto mats and beds. Others enter walls and fences, landing in cesspits. Each has its distance, its nobility or baseness. Your Confucian sages say this is not cause and effect. But in my view, isn't it still a rut? Even the great transformers of antiquity cannot escape it."

Suddenly, Gao Niang woke up as if startled and shouted at the top of his lungs, "If fate comes of its own accord, welcome it and drive it!"

Then he fell back asleep. The River God reached out and touched the wine jug at his waist, murmuring happily, "Made it big, made it big."

Chen Ping'an was startled too. Drunk or sober? Asleep or awake?

Lu Chen couldn't help laughing. "I told you, Brother Gao is truly learned. Half-asleep, speaking the truth from his drunken heart. That's what it is."

A Luopo Mountain where "the waters recede and the rocks appear." Two gatekeepers: Zheng Dafeng and the Daoist Xian Wei.

Xiao Mo, Bai Jing of the Wildlands who went by the alias Xie Gou—these two Flying Ascension realm sword cultivators, one at the peak, one at perfection.

And the white-haired boy, the new registrator Kong Hou, who was a Flying Ascension realm external heavenly demon.

Plus those young people and children who had gradually entered Luopo Mountain—they were like plants and trees in spring, sprouting vigorously, rejoicing in the season.

Lu Chen said, "Earlier at the peak of Pomo Peak, Cao Rong asked me a question. She said that in the Third-Fourth dispute within the Confucian Temple, it seemed you were more biased toward the Confucian Sage."

Chen Ping'an smiled and asked, "What's the truth?"

Lu Chen said to himself, "According to legend, in ancient times, the gods saw no distinction between day and night."

"In the ten thousand years since, everyone in the mountains only knows that it was the young Master who created characters and the mighty Li Sheng who cast the tripods, separating heaven and earth, thus severing the connection between heaven and earth."

"In fact, this measure of Li Sheng completely cut off the possibility of Taoists in the human world advancing to the sixteenth realm."

"The Three Religion Founders all knew this well. Especially my master. Ten thousand years ago, before that riverside council, he had already calculated this result."

"When the human world and the human heart each had their own distinctions of good and evil, there was truly a difference between heaven and earth."

"So the Confucian Sage's theory that human nature is inherently evil, seemingly opposing the theory of human nature inherently good, actually worked together with the Second Sage to once again push open heaven and earth."

Hearing this, Chen Ping'an hesitated for a moment but did not take out any wine.

At the school, he had set a rule for himself: not to use any magical techniques.

Lu Chen smiled faintly. "Do you know why the Confucian Sage favors you, his final disciple, the most?"

Chen Ping'an remained silent.

Lu Chen said slowly, "Cui Chan was too smart. So he had no patience for stupid people. Combined with his long-term vision, he was filled with anxiety about the entire world. He once wanted to make an end with the world, but in the end, he chose to reconcile with this world that had disappointed him so much, and without a word, he left the few people he cared about in his heart."

"Cui Chan should have devoted himself to studying Buddhism, treating all sentient beings with an equal mind, then passing through the barrier of words and completely transcending the fences of heaven and earth. For him, it would have been easy."

"Zuo You has always been tolerant toward secular commoners. Otherwise, he wouldn't have traveled alone overseas in search of immortals, merely worried that his sword energy would affect the qi numbers of the mountains and rivers in various places. But he has always had a bad temper toward mountain qi refiners, because deep down, he always felt that those who cultivate the Way should have a Dao heart to match. In short, a person's actions should be commensurate with their knowledge. So after Zuo You started practicing the sword, the higher his sword technique, the more conflicted he became. Because he felt that no matter how high his sword technique, it was useless."

"Zuo You should have gone deep into the mountains to cultivate the Dao, setting aside benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trust, seeking only the Dao and virtue."

"Liu Shiliu, because of his background and age, had no distinction between good and evil when he first looked at the human world. Even when he became the Old Scholar's disciple, it was only because he recognized the Old Scholar as a person, nothing more."

"So your senior brother, Jun Qian, could actually become a god—at least at the level of the twelve high-ranking gods of antiquity."

"Qi Jingchun is the most regrettable."

"As for you..."

At this point, Lu Chen picked up an empty wine jug from the table, tilted his head back, shook it vigorously, smacked his lips, and said with a grin, "Chen Ping'an, you are truly pitiful."

Chen Ping'an smiled. "Lu Chen, we've been friends for many years. Don't disturb my Dao heart."

"As a youth, I lacked the temperament for worldly affairs; my nature loved the hills and mountains. In middle age, I grew fond of the Way, and in my later years, I made my home at the foot of the southern mountain. In old age, I forget easily, but I never forget longing."

Lu Chen picked up his bamboo chopsticks, tapped them against the wine bowl, and sang leisurely:

"What left me yesterday can no longer be kept; what troubles me today brings endless worry."

"Mo Yu'er, spring wind rolls up the embroidered curtain, facing the dogwood another year passes. Listening to the mountain spirit's song, as the year wanes, the wine keeps people here. I entrust the drunken world to you, in another place, the plum blossoms."

Beside the wine table, besides Lu Chen's voice, Chen Ping'an remained silent throughout, with only Gao Niang's alternating thunderous snores.

Not far away, Zhao Shuxia and Ning Ji were already on their way back to the school. By the bank stood an ancient tree with lush, verdant foliage, an emerald green so deep it seemed to drip.

Along the way, the two had more or less settled their master-brother relationship. Though they didn't say much, they chatted congenially, probably because their backgrounds were somewhat different but their circumstances similar.

In short, they had both suffered in their youth, solidly and truly, like eating several large dry pancakes in a row without water, then swallowing them down.

They stopped here. By the stream was a small, emerald-green pond. In the scroll of the long river of time, Ning Ji had seen many times how strong village youths went into the water, holding iron hammers with woven bamboo handles, raising their arms high, and smashing the hammer hard against the large and small stones. The fish hidden underneath would be stunned, presumably struck by lightning, and almost float to the surface, ready to be picked up and thrown into a basket.

Some people would first find a place where fish gathered, pile up rocks upstream to build a small dam, and trap a whole section of shallow water.

Ning Ji smiled and said, "Taoist Lu said that scholars doing research must understand the method of draining the pond to catch all the fish. Catching fish in the water is the same principle."

Zhao Shuxia found it both funny and confounding. Had Sect Leader Lu gotten the sequence wrong?

But then Zhao Shuxia frowned deeply.

Seeing that Zhao Shuxia didn't intend to move for a while, Ning Ji, having nothing else to do, crouched by the bank, picked up a stone, and casually tossed it into the small pond.

Earlier, when passing by this place, Taoist Lu had casually remarked that in late spring, when flowers outside the mountain withered, this tree would bloom alone, by the ravine, filling the gaps.

Hearing the words "draining the pond to catch all the fish," although he was just a pure martial artist, Zhao Shuxia inexplicably thought of a scene in the mountains.

If the fish in the stream were compared to human qi refiners, and the flowing water that gathered here from the mountains was seen as the spiritual qi between heaven and earth...

Fish in water is a matter of course. They probably don't even know that water is water. So qi refiners situated between heaven and earth—do they also take cultivating qi as the most natural thing?

Zhao Shuxia raised his eyes, shifting his gaze from the stream to the mountains, to the peaks, and finally to the sky.

Ning Ji finally spoke up. "Senior Brother Zhao, what are you thinking?"

Zhao Shuxia came back to his senses, withdrew his gaze, and smiled at the youth. "Nothing."

They returned to the school together. Then a very simple ceremony was held.

Chen Ping'an simply sat on a chair and drank a bowl of tea that Ning Ji brought.

The audience for this teacher-accepting-disciple ceremony, besides the youth's senior brother Zhao Shuxia, was only Lu Chen, with his hands tucked in his sleeves.

Ning Ji kowtowed. Chen Ping'an helped the youth to his feet.

Just then, a travel-worn, impoverished-looking old man hurried across the threshold, smiling. "Just in time, just in time."

Sensing trouble, Lu Chen was about to slip away, but the Old Scholar, standing on tiptoe, reached out and hooked his arm around Lu Chen's neck, forcing him into a shoulder-to-shoulder embrace. The Old Scholar sighed in a complaining tone and made a drinking gesture with his other hand. "Why leave so soon? We brothers rarely meet. Shouldn't we, hmm?"

Lu Chen reached out and patted the Old Scholar's arm vigorously. "Sorry, truly sorry. Too busy. I've got to go!"

The Old Scholar nodded toward Chen Ping'an and the others, beaming, while dragging Sect Leader Lu toward the wine table outside. "It won't take this one drink's time! Let's chat a bit more. As for arguing—you've done it, I've done it. We've both won. Just at different times. Too bad we never crossed paths. Let's make up for it today. We'll drink and chat. As for winning or losing, who cares? Sect Leader Lu, be magnanimous."

Lu Chen raised both hands. "This poor Daoist admits defeat!"

The Old Scholar let go of his arm, stroked his beard, and nodded with a smile. "Sect Leader Lu has great spirit! Admit defeat, lose half. When this story gets out, it'll be a beautiful tale."

Ning Ji was bewildered.

Chen Ping'an smiled. "He is your teacher's teacher."

Ning Ji was about to kowtow, but the Old Scholar quickly stepped forward and held the youth's arm. "No need. Just a bow is enough. Sincerity is more than enough."

The youth turned to look at his teacher. Chen Ping'an smiled and nodded. So the youth respectfully bowed to the old scholar.

The old man quickly straightened his clothes, shook his sleeves, stood up straight, and with a smile, accepted the bow.

For the teacher to transmit the Way, for the student to receive the knowledge, both must have peaceful hearts. The teacher's scholarship is rigorous, his demeanor serene. The student's learning is respectful, courteous, and calm.

The Old Scholar smiled so widely his mouth couldn't close. This was very good indeed.

With a pleased heart, the Old Scholar turned to Lu Chen and said with a smile, "Rest assured! The matter of admitting defeat and losing half tonight will absolutely not be spread!"