Chapter 1035: A Broad Road Naturally Appears

Chapter 1035: A Broad Road Naturally Appears

The two walked down the mountain together. Without any warning, a light rain began to fall midway. Lu Chen smiled and produced two oilpaper umbrellas, asking Chen Ping'an if he needed a straw rain cape as well. Chen Ping'an shook his head, took the umbrella, hesitated for a moment, then slowly descended the mountain. He took the initiative to ask Lu Chen for a jug of wine, and the two drank as they walked, truly carrying wine into the mountain rain. As they held their umbrellas and made their way out of the Dragon Palace ruins, they abruptly returned to the rural road leading to the village school. Chen Ping'an folded his umbrella and said, "Whether one has a flying sword or not, and whether one can become a sword cultivator—the crux of the matter is Zhu Lian?"

Lu Chen vigorously shook the rainwater off his umbrella and laughed. "See through it but don't say it. Say it and we won't be friends anymore."

Chen Ping'an looked at his cloth shoes, soaked through and stained with mud. He concentrated for a moment, sighed, then looked up with a smile. "I call that being a blunt friend."

There was no need to doubt Lu Chen's intellect and methods—profound Dao and numerous arts, universally acknowledged. If he had been born seven thousand years earlier, he would surely have had a place among the Ten Masters of the ancient world.

In a certain sense, Chen Ping'an's use of talisman clones to sharpen his realm, fusing together as much knowledge as possible from the Three Teachings and a hundred schools of thought, ultimately paving the way for Caged Sparrow and Moon in Well to form the prototype of three thousand small worlds, was an imitation of "quitting while ahead." For instance, earlier, the sword spirit—or rather, the Sword Holder—had leaked a heavenly secret, saying that Lu Chen might be secretly practicing fist techniques, trying to climb to the summit of the martial path. This was one of the clues that led Chen Ping'an to his conjecture by the water. Since it was all just guesswork anyway, he might as well be bold and imagine the gradually serious-minded Lu Chen as formidable, more formidable, even... the most formidable existence in the future of the mortal world.

Lu Chen raised his closed umbrella, holding it like a sword, and swung his arm in a circle. He said frankly, "Becoming a sword cultivator isn't all good. For my own cultivation, it brings endless troubles, a foolish act that narrows one's path. Lu Chen, from a Daoist aiming for the Fifteenth Realm, went from treading in the void to focusing on the practical, becoming a pure sword cultivator. It was certainly a last resort. The Third Sect Leader of Jade Capital had to elevate his combat power a level, so he took that inferior strategy. It was a move born of necessity."

Having said this, Lu Chen turned his head and smiled at Chen Ping'an. "Don't be nervous. It has little to do with you. These are all historical problems that have never been fully resolved."

Every family has a difficult scripture to recite. Every world is the same.

"Your efforts are well-intentioned, Lu Daoist, a kind of preparation for a rainy day."

After giving this fair assessment, Chen Ping'an paused for a moment and said, "To explain a principle without giving examples is like not explaining at all. For instance?"

Lu Chen held his umbrella, poking it into the ground as he walked, a bit like young Liu Xianyang back then. He said slowly, "For instance, if the celestial seasons change, Jade Capital may totter, and the Daoist tradition of an entire world may be in danger. Another example: given the developments in the Azure World, my elder brother Yu has to stand against half a world, isolated and weak. The invincible Yu might actually face a threat to his life. The incense of Jade Capital, which seemed like it could last for a hundred generations or ten thousand years, might be in danger of being cut off. Regardless, I must change from an onlooker to someone who stands shoulder to shoulder with him."

"To be qualified to stand alongside Yu, facing the tide of the world's situation together, this poor Daoist has only two choices: either step into the false Fifteenth Realm in one go, intimidating all the heroes of the world, forcing the Azure World to have no more futile attacks against stone; or slap my own face, making the great Dao I have proven over three thousand years crumble at the last moment. The Five Dreams Seven Mind-Phases, after all that hard work, end up drawing water with a bamboo basket. I would only pick one of those sword paths to climb high, infinitely close to the Fifteenth Realm, yet infinitely far from it. What I couldn't accomplish in the past three thousand years, but had a glimmer of hope for, I might never achieve in the next six thousand. I have no choice but to go my own way, taking over the authority of governing the world fromYu's hands, no longer limited to a hundred years. I will sit in Jade Capital for a long time, my final situation similar to the senior sword immortal of Sword Qi Great Wall."

"Kill to stop killing. No matter who, transgress and you die."

If that happened, then the Lu Chen of old would cease to exist in the mortal world.

And Bai would not need to take the initiative to visit Nanhua City.

Having said all this in one breath, Lu Chen casually tossed his empty wine jug into the stream. "Just thinking about it is vexing. Not thinking about it is impossible, which only makes it more vexing."

Chen Ping'an smiled and comforted him. "All sorts of people eat the same grain. Be the head of a household for three years, and even the dogs will hate you. How much more so for governing a world for a hundred years."

Lu Chen's expression turned strange. Back in Jade Capital, when he, as the junior brother, had used a similar principle to comfort his elder brother Yu, he had received a sideways glance in return. Yu clearly hadn't appreciated it.

Chen Ping'an asked, "When you say half a world, do you mean the half of the Azure World outside Jade Capital, or does Jade Capital itself count as well?"

Lu Chen laughed heartily. "Maybe both are possible."

The "little Daoist boy" Jiang Yunsheng of Divine Sky City, the "little Yu Dou" Zhang Fenghai of Jade Pivot City, and others—they could all be considered native-born Dao officials of Jade Capital. The different threads revealed in them, their cultivation paths and mental journeys—when too many "coincidences" appear, it is actually a kind of inevitability.

Back then, when Lu Chen lent Chen Ping'an the Daoist arts of the Fourteenth Realm, the aftereffects had gradually become apparent. It was like pulling up seedlings to help them grow, temporarily giving Chen Ping'an a realm that was not his own. With the status of a Fourteenth Realm cultivator, he traveled through the Barren Wastes with a sword, and looked down on the mountains and rivers of Vase Bottle Continent as if reading a palm. When the realm was returned, a gap appeared, like a poor man suddenly becoming rich, or a rich man suddenly losing his fortune. If it were not properly resolved, Chen Ping'an would one day... become weary of the world.

So when Lu Chen returned to Haoran this time, besides the public matter of finding Ning Ji, he also had a private motive: he wanted to see Chen Ping'an's current state of mind. If there was an opportunity, he would remind him of a few things. If Chen Ping'an was willing, Lu Chen would also help find and fill any gaps.

This is why Lu Chen was Lu Chen, and why there could only be one Lu Chen in the human world.

And Chen Ping'an did not disappoint Lu Chen. A total of nine talisman clones, seven manifest and two hidden, were scattered across an entire continent. Some were in the mortal streets, others at the foot of mountains, at most halfway up.

This was a kind of remedy for Chen Ping'an, an effort to deepen his impressions of the human world and the secular realm before reaching the Upper Five Realms.

Of course, there was also another hidden intention, unknown to others, which Chen Ping'an deliberately but unconsciously pursued. Lu Chen, by the ancient pond, had roughly guessed why Chen Ping'an was so painstakingly "deceiving himself" and thereby hiding his tracks from heaven.

As the true body, Chen Ping'an was using the alias "Chen Ji" here.

In fact, earlier when drinking with Gao Niang, the river god of Fine Brow River, Lu Chen had already detected subtle traces, but Chen Ping'an himself hadn't treated it seriously, and Gao Niang only considered it a form of flattery.

There are words where the speaker is careless and the listener is attentive. And there are also words where the speaker is attentive and the listener is careless.

For example, "Already become traces of the past, future readers will also be moved by this essay, moved by this essay." Or again, "Always a long-term spectator, never allowed to walk away."

Lu Chen looked at Chen Ping'an and patted him on the shoulder. "In some matters, you are far stronger than I am."

So Lu Chen was willing to pretend not to know about it, to see through but not say.

Only because at this moment, Chen Ping'an was destined not to understand these things. Lu Chen then changed the subject and continued, "Because you cannot possess a Yin Spirit, you settled for the next best thing, setting up the Northern Dipper star pattern and dividing yourself into nine clones. There is no need for you to belittle yourself and regard it as a clumsy imitation of Lu Chen's Five Dreams Seven Mind-Phases. How old are you? To have achieved such skill is already quite remarkable."

Chen Ping'an smiled. "Lu Daoist's method of self-praise is even more remarkable."

Lu Chen asked, "May I ask bluntly, why did your two attempts to break through the realm fail?"

Within the private Dao field inside the Secret Snow Peak Eternal Spring Grotto-Heaven, Chen Ping'an had already twice failed to enter the Jade Purity Realm. So for the third time, he was being cautious beyond caution.

Chen Ping'an hesitated for a moment, but then frankly described the rough process and outcome of the two seclusions. "The first time, I encountered an extremely large number of inner demons, which was very different from the past experiences of Nascent Soul cultivators that I knew. However, these inner demons were too fragile. Although it seemed dangerous and I went through some difficulties, I killed them one by one, each time a false alarm without real danger. So I sensed something was wrong. At the threshold of the Jade Purity Realm, I stopped; I dared not take that step, fearing there was a huge trap. Before the second seclusion, I made a series of targeted arrangements, thinking everything was foolproof. But inside that realm, it was different again. No specific manifest inner demons appeared. The world was empty and desolate, alone and solitary. Then I found that my memory was problematic; I couldn't remember many people and many things. With every step I took, I forgot a little. If I stopped, the river of time would also stop, without the slightest change. When I took a step back, I would remember one more person or one more thing. Going forward meant forgetting. Since I was in seclusion to break through the realm, I couldn't just keep going in circles, hitting a wall as if haunted. In a daze, I walked for who knows how long or how far. Finally, I came across a river that was not wide but impossible to cross. On the opposite bank, it seemed there stood people without faces, staring at me. I knew they all recognized me, that they were even the most important people in my life, but I simply couldn't remember them. The more I tried to remember them, the wider the river became. The most terrifying thing was when I turned back; the people beside me, whose faces were originally clear, all became blurred. My Dao heart did not collapse because of this; instead, it became more steadfast. It seemed that through countless precise calculations and reasoning in the dark, I ultimately made a decision to choose the lesser of two evils. But intuition told me that this rational correctness was a cultivation path that did not follow my expected straight road. It could also climb high, even to the summit, but it would be two of me... two selves, two Chen Ping'ans."

Chen Ping'an, who rarely sighed, couldn't help but let out a long sigh after saying all this.

Lu Chen laughed. "When you withdrew from this strange state of mind, did you feel it was troubling yourself for no reason?"

Chen Ping'an said helplessly, "Inside the Dao field, I thought for a long time and had no answer. When I walked out, I was forced to cut off these thoughts to avoid affecting my daily life."

Lu Chen stretched out his arm, holding the "long sword," gently brushing the grass and trees by the roadside, and spoke of some unrelated matters, revealing the heavenly secret in one sentence. "Back in Jade Capital, using an external object, I did some calculations. It came out that the immortal painting in the hands of Ye Yunyun of Pu Mountain Cloud Grass Hall—it was right of you not to open it. Because hidden inside is a fake Qi Jingchun, one created by..."

Lu Chen pointed at the sky. "That fellow's imaginary Qi Jingchun. If you had opened the scroll in Tung Leaf Continent and encountered this Qi Jingchun, you would have been in big trouble. This trouble wouldn't have kept you stuck at the Earth Immortal level; on the contrary, it could have helped you break through an equally false inner demon. Within the Dao field of the Green Duckweed Sword Sect, you could have entered the Jade Purity Realm without obstruction, and even advanced rapidly through the Immortal Realm into the Ascension Realm. That is pulling up seedlings to help them grow, using a Qi refiner's Dao heart to nourish and strengthen your divinity. The result of this kind of behavior is somewhat similar to me abandoning the Five Dreams Seven Mind-Phases for a pure sword cultivator. In the short term, it's a great blessing; in the long term, it's an endless curse."

Chen Ping'an's heart trembled with fear.

After saying this, Lu Chen couldn't help but curse. He reached up and wiped his nose; it was bleeding. Lu Chen tilted his head back, gently rubbing his nose to stop the blood. Now he was completely letting loose, cursing loudly, calling Zhou Mi a persistent bastard ghost. "Zhou Mi, if you have the guts, come to the human world and fight this poor Daoist! You damn thing, using an ancient Heavenly Court as your Dao field to bully a Lu Chen whose Yin Spirit and Yang Spirit haven't even returned to their positions—what kind of skill is that..."

Chen Ping'an turned to look at Lu Chen. Lu Chen waved his hand and laughed. "It's nothing. After all, he's far away. That bastard Zhou Mi can't use his full strength; it's only equivalent to an all-out strike of a Fourteenth Realm peak cultivator. A drizzle, doesn't hurt a bit..."

Chen Ping'an was silent for a moment, then reminded him, "Lu Daoist, your nose is bleeding again. Wipe it."

Lu Chen looked displeased, wiped his nose again, and continued muttering like a shrew, cursing Zhou Mi to have sons without anuses, to be struck by lightning when walking, to die without money for a coffin...

Chen Ping'an was about to speak.

In an instant, Lu Chen changed from a sickly appearance to one brimming with vitality, speaking vigorously. "What are you thinking? If I were to turn myself in your mindscape into Zhou Mi, it would be too early. Where would your winning chances be? On the battlefield, acting purely on impulse only delivers heads and military merits—never do that. You've been a Hidden Officer; you shouldn't need me to explain such an obvious truth."

Chen Ping'an asked, "How bad is the injury?"

Lu Chen swaggered. "No matter how good our relationship, no matter how much friends we are, we brothers will inevitably still have to ask about the Dao and fight one day. I can't let you know the depth of your poor Daoist's ability to take a hit too early."

Chen Ping'an smiled. "Since Lu Daoist says so, then I'll believe it."

Lu Chen nodded vigorously. "Worry about anyone but this poor Daoist. I'll boast right here today!"

Because he had entered Chen Ping'an's mindscape, Lu Chen had even faced that existence directly.

He understood clearly the key to Chen Ping'an's self-imprisonment. The formation of the cities of books and the mountains of books were secondary. The empty, void, crisscrossing "fence" lines were the key to imprisoning that existence. Because every line was a deliberate "forgetting" by Chen Ping'an.

Through this, Lu Chen knew why Chen Ping'an had failed twice in returning to the Jade Purity Realm.

Lu Chen had once said a careless word: all newly formed habits are a kind of forgetting, a betrayal of oneself.

And Chen Ping'an's "inner demon" was a layer deeper. To fight it, Chen Ping'an would need to actively forget the beautiful people and things on his life's path.

This inner demon could be said to be as light as a feather. As long as Chen Ping'an was willing to take that step, pass this heart hurdle, it would be easy—when the water flows, a channel forms.

But could Chen Ping'an do it?

This is perhaps the true difficulty and terror of the inner demons that Dao cultivators must face.

Just like back then, when Zou Zi set up his stall in Apricot Flower Lane, that free sugar-coated hawthorn skewer—probably any child in Pearl Grotto-Heaven could eat it without consequence, except for that orphan from Mud Vase Lane.

In short, we might be able to walk out of a Book-Bamboo Lake full of suffering, but we might not be able to walk out of a Downcast Mountain full of beauty.

As for the past that is unbearable to recall, we walk with our backs to it. With every step on the path of life, if we don't look back, we can eventually walk further and further away, until we are completely relieved.

Lu Chen suddenly said, "Among ordinary people, who dares to say it will definitely rain or not rain tomorrow? How many people carry an umbrella with them every time they go out?"

Chen Ping'an nodded. "I've already figured it out."

The sudden mountain rain in the Dragon Palace ruins was naturally caused by Lu Chen.

Back in the Great Li capital, when Chen Ping'an went to look for the female martial arts master Zhou Haijing in the narrow alley, he was also wearing cloth shoes. When Chen Ping'an went back and forth, his cloth shoes didn't get dirty.

This had even been misunderstood by the meticulous Zhou Haijing, who took Chen Ping'an for the kind of mountain cultivator who, every time he descended the mountain, was either condescendingly training or amusing himself in the human world.

In Lu Chen's view, you, Chen Ping'an, could keep a pair of cloth shoes unworn and preserved for a long time. That is enough.

The other cloth shoes, you should wear them. Whether it's sunny or rainy, you should walk out of the house in them, on main roads and small paths. If they get dirty, they get dirty. If they get dirty, you wash them. Being overly precious actually goes against the original intention of the person who gave you the shoes.

Lu Chen smiled slightly. "If all the beautiful things in our hearts become a burden, then what is the meaning of beauty? If so, then we must have done something wrong."

Chen Ping'an nodded. "I've only just discovered that Lu Daoist is excellent at explaining principles."

Lu Chen laughed heartily. "Only just realized?"

After that, they chatted while walking.

They talked about the three kinds of immortal money that condense heaven and earth's spiritual energy, which were once the scattered remains of gods in the river of time, later condensed into physical objects.

The establishment of a subordinate sect by Downcast Mountain was imperative. In Lu Chen's view, having the Green Duckweed Sword Sect in Tung Leaf Continent was not hasty at all; on the contrary, the timing was perfect. Otherwise, if everything were crowded onto Downcast Mountain—even though there were a few vassal peaks there—with just Xiao Mo, Bai Jing, and the others, even if they didn't absorb the local spiritual energy, you and I both know that great cultivators are great cultivators. Even if they don't move a muscle, don't take a single shred from the outside, their influence on the qi numbers of the landscape is still considerable and far-reaching. If Downcast Mountain didn't split off a subordinate sect, then adding Cui Dongshan, Mi Yu, and the others staying on the mountain would be too bloated. Becoming too dominant would invisibly thin out the qi luck of Downcast Mountain, even Cloud-Cloaked Mountain, and the entire Northern Sacred Mountain region."

I miss certain people very much.

Missing is a drunken land that requires no wine. The only way to leave this drunken land is by drinking.

Young people, full of vitality, like and dare to deny the many irrationalities of the world.

The magnanimity of certain old gentlemen was all expanded by history and suffering. That is why, among all kinds of young people, these old men are willing to say "good" and give affirmation to the words and deeds of young people.

Lu Chen suddenly asked, "Whether Yuan Huajing is there or not, you will go to that discipline temple. You might just change your identity—eat vegetarian meals, copy scriptures, and occasionally follow the little novice monk, holding a staff to climb the mountain and watch the clouds rise. Right?"

Chen Ping'an nodded.

Lu Chen said, "But without Yuan Huajing's impulsive descent from the mountain and his frank conversation with you, without his reminder, you might have copied scriptures there for a long time and still not known that story, not known that the temple hides the seal imprint of the Sixth Patriarch's stone for pounding rice."

Chen Ping'an nodded. "Of course."

Lu Chen laughed. "This is the Buddhist affinity."

Chen Ping'an asked in confusion, "What are you trying to say?"

Lu Chen said, "The Buddhist arhats, the Sixteen Attendants, constantly reside in the human world to uphold the true Dharma."

Chen Ping'an smiled. "Lu Daoist, stop beating around the bush."

Lu Chen said, "The Bamboo Branch Sect has two peaks. Now the Jade-Carving Mountain lineage is in power. But originally, the ancestral mountain was Chicken Foot Mountain. And at Chicken Foot Mountain, in history, there was once an arhat who constantly resided in the world. As for the Buddhist doctrinal reasons, the history is long and there is no evidence to check, nor any opportunity to ask face-to-face. This poor Daoist can only make some reasonable speculations. For instance, among the Eight Types of Beings in Buddhism, there are the dragon types. And in the ancient Shu region, dragons and jiaos appeared in such numbers that they surpassed all worlds combined—no exception."

"Your senior brother Jun Qian. And that Chen Qingliu, who caused the Dragon-Slaying Campaign. The teacher of Sir Zheng, that Grand Immortal Chen who has now returned to the Fourteenth Realm—his place of cultivation was Green Palace Mountain on Flowing Cloud Continent, but his place of enlightenment was on Vase Bottle Continent. And his path to achieving the Fourteenth Realm as a sword cultivator was similar to a Buddhist vow."

"The Cicada-Shedding Grotto-Heaven that Cui Dongshan has been obsessed with but can't find—the sword immortal remains inside, and the many dragon and jiao skeletons, have not been lost in terms of cause and effect."

In the old days, every dragon kiln in Dragon Spring County had an experienced old master in charge of quality control. The kiln Chen Ping'an worked at had that Old Man Yao.

Buddhism speaks of the Saha world, where every person is inside a burning house.

"Under the jurisdiction of the ancient Heavenly Court, there were many sea and land dragon kings in charge of clouds and rain. One of their main superiors was the two rain masters."

"In your hometown, there is also a kiln worker named Su Han. His niece, later one of Old Man Yang's fist-technique apprentices, was Su Dian, nicknamed Rouge. Old Man Yang took apprentices and only taught fist techniques, never immortal arts or Dao methods."

Chen Ping'an finally spoke, nodding. "I understand."

In the view of Old Man Yang at the medicine shop, ten thousand years later, only as a pure martial artist could there be a chance to forge a true path to becoming a god.

Ten thousand years ago, it was a path that was only half a step away from being fully opened. But since the First Ancestor of Martialists couldn't reach the summit, ten thousand years later, it was still a brand new path.

The ancient female rain master, reincarnated in Pearl Grotto-Heaven, was actually named Su Han, a man who was scolded as a sissy.

Creation plays tricks. Unknowingly, the rain master tends the fire.

Every dragon kiln in the hometown claimed that their kiln fire had been burning for a thousand years. But the kiln where Chen Ping'an and Liu Xianyang worked eventually had its fire extinguished due to a dereliction of duty by Su Han. This led to a series of subsequent upheavals. The storm was about to break, the world was dark for a time, and then the clouds were parted again. A Pearl Grotto-Heaven, all the young people of the small town, each had their own future.

Chen Ping'an and Lu Chen slowly walked back to the school. Zhao Shuxia and Ning Ji hadn't slept yet—that was perfectly normal. It would have been strange if they had.

The old scholar was still sleeping inside. Lu Chen prepared to take his leave. He had drunk wine, eaten a late-night snack, and if he lingered any longer, he would be in the way.

Lu Chen took off the black cloth pouch at his waist and handed it to Ning Ji, laughing. "A relic from an old acquaintance. In my hands, it's utterly useless, only collecting dust. It's a waste of a thing. Ning Ji, since you like to go up the mountain to gather herbs, I'll give it to you. In the future, if you encounter some dangerous situations and have no helper by your side, no one to protect your path, you can use this to save yourself. Remember the secret signal we agreed on earlier, right? Shake this green pouch and call out the name. As for how to save people in the future, on the path of learning, climbing the mountain, don't rush. Take it one step at a time."

The boy was still naive; he didn't rush to accept the parting gift. Instead, he asked with a puzzled expression, "Sect Leader Lu, what secret signal?"

Lu Chen grinned, forcibly stuffing the green pouch into Ning Ji's hand, and patted him on the shoulder. "It's that three-character address, concerning the private friendship between you and me... I told you once before. Think back carefully."

Ning Ji thought for a moment. It seemed he recalled that address—Little Master? Although Ning Ji knew nothing about Confucian rules or mountain cultivation, his intuition told him that this might be improper. So the boy subconsciously turned to look at Chen Ping'an.

Although Chen Ping'an didn't understand the situation, he trusted the boy's character and also trusted Lu Chen. He smiled. "With Lu Daoist, you don't need to be so rigid. You can be more casual."

This was also Ning Ji's own fate. As a teacher, one cannot think that turning a student into oneself is good—that would be a major taboo.

Before this, Lu Chen had also given Ning Ji a pair of seals, inscribed with "Opening a book is always beneficial" and "Ning Ji has read this."

Together with the green pouch, the heaviest gift was naturally the seemingly intangible address—Little Master.

This was also a kind of exception on Lu Chen's part, taking on responsibility. It meant that he had not completely handed over Ning Ji, who had already offered tea to Chen Ping'an as a master, to Chen Ping'an alone. That is, with this layer of relationship, regardless of Ning Ji's future actions, good or bad, Lu Chen would bear a portion of the cause and effect.

Lu Chen laughed. "In Yongjia County, the capital of Yu Xuan Kingdom, don't worry. Your grandfather is a man with late-life blessings."

"Ning Ji, before we part, this poor Daoist also wants to say a few formal words to you. For a scholar, the key lies in aspiration, not knowledge. For a cultivator of the Dao, it lies in the Dao, not in techniques."

"For a Qi refiner just starting to cultivate, when first training in the Inner Scene Chapter, 'inner' means the heart, 'scene' means images. The outer images are those outside the small heaven and earth of the human body: the sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, clouds, mists, rain, snow, all things. The inner images are those within one's own skin: blood, flesh, muscles, bones, organs, soul, spirit. The heart resides within the body, contemplate and visualize, let heaven move and spirit calculate. The mystery here cannot be clearly expressed in words. In the future, you will need to experience it carefully yourself."

"A youth with lofty aspirations, chivalrous spirit, and writing pure essays—that is certainly a good thing. But remember this one point: if a person has no magnanimity, no room in their heart for others, in the end it is only private passion and skill. I'm afraid it will only make the path under your feet narrower and narrower."

The former is a Daoist secret, the latter a Confucian principle.

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. For a youth studying and cultivating in his early years, setting a goal is the first priority.

"So-called 'transmitting the Dao'—the master leads the student in, but cultivation depends on the individual. So-called 'protecting the Dao'—it's like taking someone to a temple to burn incense. Once inside the mountain gate, the incense must still be burned by yourself."

Lu Chen pointed to the mountain not far from the school and said seriously, "Having seen this mountain and thought it had good scenery, then later seeing Cloud-Cloaked Mountain and thinking that was even better—that's good. But if you then think this mountain isn't so good anymore, is that truly good?"

Lu Chen coughed. "What I mean is, in the future, you mustn't see the goodness of Mr. Chen and then think that this poor Daoist is not good at all in any way."

Chen Ping'an played along, smiling. "Ning Ji, after witnessing the divine demeanor of Sect Leader Lu, whose Dao and arts are both accomplished, you mustn't despise your own teacher's shallow knowledge."

Ning Ji smiled sheepishly.

Lu Chen asked with a smile, "Do you know what the very first talisman in the human world was?"

Ning Ji was at a loss.

Unlike Ning Ji, the youngest disciple, Zhao Shuxia had been influenced by Downcast Mountain and had also traveled across two continents, so he began to frown in thought.

Lu Chen laughed. "Far away and right before your eyes. This poor Daoist has clearly already given the answer."

Ning Ji became even more puzzled.

Zhao Shuxia said nothing.

Chen Ping'an had already guessed the answer.

He had only had some speculations before, but since Lu Chen had asked this question, Chen Ping'an was certain.

Lu Chen's answer was hard to guess, but also simple. It was "sound."

For example, the Confucian sages' speech with the power of heavenly law, the Daoist masters' words that become reality, and the Buddhist secret mantras.

One of Chen Ping'an's talisman clones—the elderly Confucian scholar copying scriptures at the discipline temple within Yu Prefecture—whenever clouds rose and the little novice monk knocked on the window to invite him, they would go together to the pavilion on the cliff by the mountain.

That "Chen Ping'an" would always strike a strange pose and recite a string of syllables while watching the sea of clouds at Gathering Immortals Cliff.

Lu Chen smiled, shook his sleeves, and gave a crisp snap of his fingers.

In Ning Ji and Zhao Shuxia's view, the fine ripples in the air rose and fell, like a painting of rippling water.

Why was the threshold for talisman cultivators so high?

The reason was simple. In the earliest times, the most suitable "Daoists" for drawing talismans were actually pure martial artists, who walked the path of deifying the body to ascend to heaven.

Complete in one breath.

"Ning Ji, in the future, when you are with your teacher, you can study the calculation arts more."

Lu Chen put away that strange phenomenon and smiled as he suggested. "The hundred schools of thought present a grand view. Among them, the calculation scholars have spent a great deal of effort on paper, but in the end, their situation is similar to that of the merchants—they are looked down upon as lowly minor arts. This is certainly wrong."

In the field of calculation, among the direct disciples of the Wen Sheng lineage, except perhaps Chen Ping'an, all were masters.

Cui Chan and Qi Jingchun were both people who could see the answer at a glance.

They could even "solve difficult problems" for this world, or even "pose difficult problems."

Additionally, Senior Brother Zuo You and Senior Brother Jun Qian were only slightly inferior. With Senior Brother Cui Chan and Junior Brother Qi Jingchun shining brightly within the lineage, the others appeared obscure and unremarkable.

As for Chen Ping'an, back in the Summer Resort Palace, he often perused calculation monographs in his spare time. That was also why he later held a high opinion of that crown prince at the Yellow Flower Temple in Mirage City.

On Sword Qi Great Wall, the disciple who later became Chen Ping'an's student as he wished, Guo Zhujiu, often spread out those calculation books, pointed here and there, and talked to herself, "Count yourself clever. I'll deal with you later." On the other hand, Lin Junbi, Cao Gun, and a few other out-of-town sword cultivators were smart people who used calculation problem-solving as a pastime, and they also liked to set their own problems to stump others. Back then, the only sword cultivator who could support the local sword cultivators and win back face was the sword immortal Chou Miao.

Lu Chen turned to look at the young martial artist. "With both patience and an enlightened teacher, this poor Daoist believes you will definitely succeed later in life."

Zhao Shuxia was taken aback. Out of politeness, he cupped his hands in thanks to Sect Leader Lu, who had suddenly spoken a "prophecy."

In truth, Zhao Shuxia did not think much about how high his martial arts achievements would eventually reach.

Earlier, on the second floor of the bamboo building at Downcast Mountain, Zhao Shuxia had become Chen Ping'an's last disciple in the art of fist techniques.

But this status was a kind of internal designation within the clan; it could not be displayed on the golden jade genealogy of Downcast Mountain. It was somewhat like the relationship between official history and private historical records.

Of course, this didn't mean that after Chen Ping'an accepted Zhao Shuxia as his last disciple, he could no longer teach fist techniques to others. But with the formal status fixed, anyone who learned fist techniques from Chen Ping'an in the future, like Ning Ji, would truly only learn the techniques.

For mountain Qi refiners, especially well-established cultivators, taking a last disciple was a matter of the utmost importance, second only to their own cultivation.

It was like a martial artist in the mortal world, reaching an advanced age and wanting to retire from the martial world—they would certainly hold a grand ceremony.

Throughout the history of the entire Haoran world, there have been cases where a great cultivator accepted a last disciple and later encountered an excellent cultivation seedling with excellent bone and spiritual roots and then reneged on the promise. Such situations have occurred. But often, the three—master and disciples—would become a laughingstock in the mountains.

If one were a pure martial artist, reaching the age of forty was naturally no longer young.

But Chen Ping'an was not only a martial artist; he was also a sword cultivator, so he was still very young. It was unlikely that Ning Ji would become Chen Ping'an's last disciple.

Lu Chen said out of the blue, "Ning Ji, when you have succeeded in your studies in the future, you will one day return to your hometown to pay respects at your ancestors' graves. Then this poor Daoist will tell you a little bit of related knowledge. In the art of geography and geomancy, not to mention the scenery at the mountaintop, but let's talk about the halfway point. It is roughly divided into two schools. One method of selecting a site for a dwelling purely uses the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams to determine the principles of generation and restraint. The other method emphasizes terrain and topography, tracing their origins, determining where they stop, to orient the direction, matching the dragon veins, caves, sand, and water. In the view of the geomaticians, mountains are like plants, with trunks and branches, receiving the qi of mountains and rivers. Like a fire mirror reflecting the sun, dry bones can bless future generations with good fortune. Does a lucky place bring good fortune? Is this principle credible?"

Lu Chen asked and answered himself. "Cannot be fully believed, cannot be fully disbelieved."

Ning Ji's expression was complex. He hesitated to speak but ultimately nodded. He carefully put away the cloth pouch. He treated these gratuitous pieces of knowledge as a thanks to Lu Daoist along with the pouch.

Although he had only rested briefly, at most half an hour, the old scholar seemed to have slept fully and was energetic. The short old man was full of smiles, bending his elbows and rotating his arms as he walked to the doorway. He teased, "Sect Leader Lu has such vast knowledge, why are you resorting to the trick of copying books? If I remember correctly, these contents come from a literati's reading notes? What was it called?"

Chen Ping'an smiled and answered, "From the burial techniques chapter of that book 'Gaiyu Congkao.' Quite obscure, with few woodblock editions from booksellers."

Lu Chen didn't feel embarrassed at all. When it came to the thickness of face, if Old Scholar was number one under heaven, A Liang second, then this poor Daoist could definitely be number three, right?

Old Scholar stepped over the threshold, seeming to be in excellent spirits for conversation. He spoke to the boy in detail, "Even if a gentleman's grace ends after five generations, the sages still only advise people to do good. Moreover, the sages view wealth and blessings as very ordinary. They are not afraid that future generations will be worthy but poor, only afraid that future generations will be unworthy but rich. Vulgar people only consider wealth and rank as blessings, not knowing that cherishing blessings is the true blessing. How shallow!"

"Therefore, what is beyond the six directions, the sages set aside but do not discuss. Small paths certainly have their observable aspects, but if pursued too far, they tend to become narrow; thus the gentleman does not follow them."

"Hence, in feng shui and geomancy, there are hundreds or thousands of such books, and many texts circulate. They were originally clumsy formulas. The gentleman only cultivates his own character; he does not talk about geomancy. Choosing a burial site is itself one matter among self-cultivation. Otherwise, why would the great clans and aristocratic families, the immortals on the mountains, not all get lucky places, with blessings stretching for a thousand years or ten thousand years? Why do they, like ordinary families, often encounter sudden disasters, possibly even greater calamities than common people, sometimes involving the entire clan?"

"Calamities from heaven are the celestial seasons. Order and chaos are the destiny of the state. Hidden virtue is the merit of ancestors. Doing evil or good is human affairs. Suppose that a land and its water raise one kind of people; then the rise and fall of heavenly fortune will shift with human harmony, and in turn affect the advantages of the land. For the sake of argument, let's set that aside and look at the hundreds of geomancy and geography books. Among them, there is one saying that can greatly benefit the world's ways: 'A blessed land and a yin dwelling will certainly bless future generations who sincerely sweep the graves.' Those wealthy wastrels, poor and shameless men, do not sweep the graves at the proper times of the year, and even when they go to the graves, they do it perfunctorily. Imagine: if the deceased truly know what is happening beneath the ground, if the ancestors' spirits exist, seeing this scene, would they not feel disheartened?"

"Taking this one step further, both the yang dwellings of the living and the graves of the dead have real learning that can be carefully studied. It is acceptable to believe that the blessings of descendants can be cultivated through the merits of ancestors and shaded by the feng shui of yin dwellings. Then what needs attention is that the places should not be used for city walls or roads in future generations, not for plowing fields, not to be seized by powerful clans. There is no need to specifically seek fortune, but to avoid valley coldness, prevent water damage and ant infestations. At the same time, one must avoid the 'five arrow' places. If the place is a hundred li away from home, the distance is too great, making annual sacrifices difficult. If it is adjacent to a large clan, it is easily taken by force. For public clan lands, where burials are accumulated in old mountains, where the mountain owner demands a high price, or where auspicious sites are already owned by others, these all require caution. Conversely, do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself. In the future, when you become prosperous, do not make things difficult for others."

"Generally speaking, if one is not an expert in choosing a burial site, it is usually enough if the site has a bright and deep qi appearance, and the topography is broad and clean. There is no need to rigidly adhere to heavenly stars or earthly trigrams. Avoid misfortune and seek good fortune; it should be safe on its own, and one's dwelling will naturally be at peace."

"When heaven and earth harmonize, the sweet dew descends. When the yang qi rises, the soil's fatness stirs. Spring planting, autumn harvest; summer heat, winter cold—the four seasons flow, each with its own principle. Human actions within them should also follow suit."

"Whether it is cultivating one's character in life or choosing a resting place after death, I also have a most clumsy formula to offer. It is just eight words."

Having said this, the old scholar stroked his beard and smiled, deliberately teasing, but also confident that his last disciple and the vastly knowledgeable Sect Leader Lu would both be able to think of those eight words.

Lu Chen smiled. "Be an honest person, sleep in peace."

Chen Ping'an said, "Seek fairness, and a broad road naturally appears."