# Chapter 1063: Superfluous Is Tenderness
Chen Ping'an brought Guo Zhujiu and Xie Gou, along with the palm law Changming, together into the Lotus Root Paradise, intending to first visit the Fox Kingdom, which was still in a state of mountain closure.
Riding the same talisman boat, they passed through layers of clouds. Xie Gou was terribly bored and restless, so she stood at the bow, shouting and whooping, repeatedly extending her palm to disperse the clouds on both sides, or punching holes in the cloud piles.
Xiao Mo had gone to the Green Firmament World to drink, and she wasn't in a good mood. Chen Ping'an fetched some pastries from his own New Year's shop, opened the food box, and handed a piece of almond cake to Guo Zhujiu. Guo Zhujiu took it with both hands, raised it high above her head, thanked her master for the gift, then swallowed it whole. Chen Ping'an also handed a piece of peach blossom cake to both her and Changming, smiling as he told Guo Zhujiu to eat more slowly. Changming sat beside the mountain master, squinting and smiling.
A magnificent scene of the human world, mountains and rivers like a grand scroll painting.
How beautiful this painting was.
Xie Gou withdrew her fist techniques, made a gesture of sinking qi into the dantian, and sat beside the alliance master of her own little mountain, asking, "Guo Zhujiu, is that Cao Ci really so unmatched in fist techniques? Even our mountain master can't beat him?"
In front of Mountain Master Chen, Xie Gou found it inconvenient to address Guo Zhujiu as alliance master.
Chen Ping'an actually knew all about it, but as for these factions of little mountains, the mountain master always turned a blind eye, pretending not to know. Guo Zhujiu nodded, "He must be formidable—if he can beat my master, how could he not be? Cao Ci is just ridiculously powerful, definitely unmatched in martial arts. But in the final analysis, Cao Ci still benefits from being older than my master. If he had been born a few days or months later, he might have been eating dust behind my master."
If Cao Ci's fist techniques weren't formidable, how would the master who lost the fist fight manage?
Xie Gou nodded vigorously, deeply in agreement.
Changming spoke with heart voice, "Young master, the paradise has yet to see the emergence of a native sword cultivator."
As the hidden "historian" of this Lotus Root Paradise, palm law Changming had been closely monitoring the trends of the entire world over the years.
Chen Ping'an also replied with heart voice, "It might be a kind of Great Way rejection toward me. After the meeting ends, I will retrieve that talisman clone used for observing the Way."
Having finally received a definitive answer, palm law Changming cautiously offered advice, "Young master, won't you wait a little longer?"
Chen Ping'an shook his head, "If fate doesn't grant it, don't force it. I shouldn't delay the birth of the paradise's first sword cultivator. Human hearts are insatiable, and the Dao heart suffers for it." Changming still couldn't bear to see her young master give up such a great celestial fortune, and continued persuading, "How is the young master being greedy? If Heaven offers and you don't take, you'll suffer for it instead. Even if the sword cultivator appears a few years later, what does it matter? I refuse to believe this world truly cannot perceive the young master's sincerity. Maybe it's waiting for the outcome of tomorrow's Autumn Qi Lake meeting?"
Chen Ping'an nodded, "That is possible."
He was observing this world of the Lotus Root Paradise, and presumably this world was also observing him.
When he was young, he had stumbled into the depths of lotus flowers with a sword on his back, settled in the Nanyuan Kingdom capital, and visited Xinxiang Temple where he met the abbot, a monk who cultivated Buddhism only in ordinary matters. The old monk had spoken similar words. Perhaps as Changming said, Chen Ping'an was waiting for the sword cultivator's appearance, and the ethereal Great Way of this world was also, in some unseen manner, waiting for the words and actions of this mountain master of Fallen Mountain, the nominal master of the paradise. He remembered that a certain Jia Sheng of Haoran had once written in his "Great Governance" chapter: "A gentleman's words must be feasible before spoken, and his actions must be speakable before performed." Chen Ping'an smiled and explained, "Maintaining the normal speech, thought, and travel of the nine talisman clones is very costly. Every action, every word, even every thought, requires expenditure of spiritual qi from my true body at the village school. Spending spiritual qi is just spending immortal coins. After the Qingming Festival, once private matters in Yuxuan Kingdom's capital are settled, I'll retrieve them all, then go into seclusion to recover my Upper Five Realm cultivation as soon as possible."
Seven manifesting and two hidden—having the formation had its benefits, preventing any stray thought from going awry and being irretrievable, but it required constant consumption of Chen Ping'an's true body's spiritual qi reserves. If it were simply a talisman clone wandering the mountains and rivers, drifting like a broken kite string through heaven and earth, there would be no such extra expense. How long a clone could wander outside depended on the quality of the talisman material.
Changming said helplessly, "Young master, this excuse is far too flimsy."
Retrieving all the talisman clones meant only that some matter had come to an end, the dust had settled. With the young master's talisman mastery, nearly at the level of a master, couldn't he just sacrifice another heart-mind clone?
Seeing that the young master remained silent, Changming had to use her trump card, "Young master, as a pure sword cultivator, whether one has ambition or not makes a world of difference in achievement."
Chen Ping'an chuckled wryly, picked up a piece of pastry, chewed it slowly, and teased, "This is a masterstroke from Chief Zhou, isn't it, passed on to the mountain gate's palm law? Well now, you all love each other like family. If you later win over Old Cook and Steward Wei and start another mountain, won't you end up sidelining me, the absentee mountain master?"
Changming also found this idea amusing, her expression soft as she smiled.
Since the young master had made his decision, if she persisted, it would be tiresome.
Xie Gou looked as if she'd seen a ghost—our Fallen Mountain's palm law Changming could smile like that? Truly frightening.
Chen Ping'an was actually in a difficult position. To go into seclusion at Jise Peak, he needed to break through and return to the Jade Pu Realm, which meant he had to retrieve all his mustard-seed heart minds.
The great benefit of observing the Way—"the first sword cultivator of heaven and earth, born in harmony with time, place, and harmony, arising in response to destiny"—Chen Ping'an naturally didn't want to let it go lightly. But once Chen Ping'an went into seclusion, a gap would inevitably appear in the observation process. If, during this period, the paradise happened to give birth to its first sword cultivator, it would be more than just awkward for Chen Ping'an. It would mean that the Great Way of this world did not recognize the mountain master of Fallen Mountain, who had entered the paradise with a sword as a youth and was now its "god of heaven."
As the old saying goes, "If fate only measures eight feet, don't seek ten." If one were truly a pure sword cultivator with undivided focus, one could certainly force those two extra feet, contending with heaven and earth on the path.
That's why earlier, when Chen Ping'an was walking with Xiao Mo in the Great Li capital, and saw a child flying a paper kite, he said "you pure sword cultivators" instead of "we."
Aside from occasionally picking "flying swords" from baskets and making odd remarks, Chen Ping'an was usually quite careful in conversation. If he forcibly contended for those two feet of fate with the Great Way of the Lotus Root Paradise and succeeded—personally witnessing the birth of the first sword cultivator—that would be the best outcome, as it would also mean this world recognized Chen Ping'an and Fallen Mountain as the paradise's masters. But if, before seclusion, it never happened, three other outcomes awaited Chen Ping'an.
First: during seclusion, the sword cultivator appears, as if the paradise's Great Way tells Fallen Mountain, "We'll keep to ourselves, well water not intruding on river water."
Second: after seclusion, the sword cultivator hasn't appeared yet, and Chen Ping'an chooses to continue observing. This world sees his sincerity and grants his wish. This outcome is also good—good things come to those who wait—and would allow Chen Ping'an's host identity to be both "in name and reality."
Third: Chen Ping'an gets stubborn—if the paradise won't give him this immortal fortune for one day, he'll keep observing for one day, and this world won't have a native sword cultivator for another day. Both drag it out, seeing who outlasts whom.
Like two neighbors who've completely soured their relationship, neither willing to take a step back, caught in a tug-of-war of pride. Neither gets to live well. Thus, the grudges of the previous generation are passed down. Any martial artist or Qi refiner from Fallen Mountain entering the paradise, whether for training or sightseeing, will be suppressed by heaven and earth, always encountering obstacles. Name and reality—Fallen Mountain and the paradise's Great Way each hold one, unable to do anything to each other but able to annoy each other.
"The human heart of a cultivator cannot deceive the heart of heaven; human calculations cannot outdo heavenly calculations."
Chen Ping'an said with heart voice and a smile, "'If I knew it would entangle the heart so, why was I infatuated in the first place?' This doesn't apply only to love between men and women."
Changming asked doubtfully, "Does the young master regret upgrading the paradise to an upper tier so quickly?"
Like over-encouraging someone—spoiling them, making them insolent and unbridled, forgetting both rewards and punishments.
Chen Ping'an shook his head and smiled, "No regrets, just stating the facts."
Changming rarely joked, "When the young master says that, his molars are grinding audibly."
Chen Ping'an lifted a cloth shoe and laughed, "Changming Daoist, don't joke like that—I'm so embarrassed I could dig my toes into the ground."
Palm law Changming covered her mouth with her hand, her gaze soft, her smile gentle.
"Tall and stately is she, with a cicada-like forehead and moth-like eyebrows, hands like tender sprouts, a smile both clever and sweet."
Beautiful is this passage, beautiful is this person.
Xie Gou looked at the dignified palm law Changming, thinking: Office seeker! With the biggest official hat, the mountain master, she smiles so obsequiously!
No wonder Bai Jing couldn't sleep with Xiao Mo—there was a reason.
Lucky that meeting Zhu Lian at Fallen Mountain had opened her eyes a little.
But Chen Ping'an seemed distracted, lost in his own thoughts.
He had also considered that if he couldn't personally observe that process, he could let another sword cultivator try their luck—like Xiao Mo.
Xiao Mo was Chen Ping'an's first choice.
After all, Xiao Mo had almost broken through to the Fourteen Realm at the Demon Suppression Tower. Xiao Mo himself didn't care, but Chen Ping'an still regretted it. However, when Chen Ping'an discussed it with Xiao Mo, Xiao Mo said he had no interest in such matters, and his sword talent had never benefited from such things. If it were useful, ten thousand years ago he wouldn't have let so many Dao fates slip by; he would have been a Fourteen Realm pure sword cultivator. Chen Ping'an refused to let it go and even shamelessly argued, "Xiao Mo, what if it works? What if it's been waiting for ten thousand years? When I go out later, I'll still have you as my attendant—a Flying Ascension Realm sword cultivator versus a Fourteen Realm sword cultivator—the prestige is different, isn't it?"
So Xiao Mo recommended two best candidates in his mind: Chief Zhou and Bai Jing.
He said Chief Zhou was also an old hand from the paradise, with a decent realm. If they were gambling on luck, let Chief Zhou try. As for Bai Jing, she had excellent sword talent and a high realm, already a Flying Ascension Realm perfectionist. Perhaps this world was waiting for such a sword cultivator, to grant her a portion of the Way, helping her reach the Fourteen Realm while also getting an equal reward. Once Bai Jing entered the Fourteen Realm, she would naturally become the greatest protector of the entire Lotus Root Paradise.
After that, Xiao Mo also mentioned two "alternates" for observing the Way: Cao Qinglang, a "true to name" native Qi refiner of the paradise, and Guo Zhujiu, whose hometown was the Sword Qi Great Wall.
Their realms were still too low, so Fallen Mountain would need to "open their heavenly eyes" for them to observe the Way.
When saying the idiom "true to name," Xiao Mo put particular emphasis.
Having an elder at home is like having a treasure—especially Xiao Mo with his ten-thousand-year Dao age.
Truly worthy of being the one who brewed wine with Bixiao Cave Master. His vision, knowledge, sword techniques, and scholarship were all very high.
Perhaps, except for not being able to beat Bai Jing, Xiao Mo had no flaws?
So Chen Ping'an made a new decision: he would continue observing without interruption, and when he went into seclusion, he would have Cao Qinglang take over the observation.
But during this time, Chen Ping'an intended to bring Bai Jing and Guo Zhujiu into the paradise together—to... get familiar with the Lotus Root Paradise.
This was Guo Zhujiu's first time wandering a proper "paradise" of the human world. In recent years, a series of landscape secret realms had appeared in the Five Colors World, several of which were not inferior to the Thirty-Six Lesser Cave Heavens and Seventy-Two Paradises, but they had not been "canonized," and some names had not yet spread widely among the mountain and secular worlds. Don't underestimate such word-of-mouth transmission—the words spoken by the human world can both "melting gold" (public opinion) and "every mouth as good as monument," invisibly becoming a different kind of canonization.
Xie Gou whispered, "Guo Zhujiu, I heard that your Senior Sister Pei has some self-created fist techniques with tremendous momentum. From some small news from the Great Li secondary capital and Jinjia Continent battlefield, they say Pei Qian's fist intent is so grand that whenever she throws a punch, nearby martial artists can't help but want to kowtow in respect?"
Guo Zhujiu chuckled.
Xie Gou asked, "Then if she spars with Cao Ci or has a friendly match with the mountain master... wouldn't it be?"
Guo Zhujiu pretended to gasp in shock.
Chen Ping'an said with a gentle smile, "Cao Ci is a pure martial artist, but I'm different. Besides being a pure martial artist, I'm also a sword cultivator and a talisman practitioner."
Xie Gou suddenly understood, hitting her palm with a fist, "So that's how it is."
Our mountain master is a good hand at picking vegetables, and his cooking isn't bad either.
No wonder everyone, when eating Old Cook's sumptuous meals or wild mountain offerings, the mountain master would occasionally sourly blurt out something like, "If I put my mind to cooking, I could do..." At the dining table, besides Old Cook nodding along, at most Xiaomi Li would hurriedly put down her chopsticks and clap quickly but silently.
According to her secret manual's exquisite scholarship, this was "silence speaks louder than words."
But the rest of the table wouldn't speak—those eating just ate, those picking dishes just picked, those drinking just drank.
Probably during his school years, that barefoot boy who always carried a woodcutter's knife and often fished had been hurt, so many years later he still got hung up on this matter.
As for why everyone at Fallen Mountain knew this but pretended otherwise, never responding at the table—it was all intentional, letting the mountain master stew in discomfort.
Of course, it was Xiaomi Li fighting for her good mountain master.
For example, when she lingered in the back mountain with Old Cook, who taught her fist techniques, Xiaomi Li would say, "My good mountain master's cooking is no worse than Old Cook's."
Then Cao Yin and Cao Yang instantly understood: Mr. Chen was probably good at everything except... cooking was mediocre.
Chen Ping'an clearly didn't want Xie Gou to keep harping on this, and said, "Changming Daoist, introduce the recent situation of the paradise to Zhujiu."
Palm law Changming nodded, smiled, and explained, "Zhujiu, although our Lotus Root Paradise has now reached the upper tier, at a bottleneck where it can't be raised further, the number of Qi refiners is still very small. Across the entire world, we can only make a rough estimate—no more than fifty—and they are still quite cautious about traveling by cloud. In Haoran World, Earth Immortals sending out Yin Spirits is a common thing, but Gao Jun, as the paradise's first Golden Core cultivator, regarded it as a fearful path and never dared to try easily. So when she went out training this time and borrowed many Dao books and secret texts from Piyun Mountain, I believe Sect Leader Gao benefited greatly. Returning to Lake Mountain Sect to cultivate in seclusion, her practice will be faster."
Xie Gou snickered, "A frog at the bottom of a well, seeing a lamp as the sun."
Changming ignored Xie's interjection and continued introducing local customs to Guo Zhujiu, "As for the various mountain and river spirits, goblins, and ghosts springing up like bamboo shoots after rain—the former need to fumble about learning how to refine their golden bodies with people's incense offerings, and can't easily leave their territories. Many officially canonized spirits, ignorant of proper conduct, have left their posts: mountain gods crossing water, water gods climbing mountains, violating the taboo of conflicting elements, damaging their golden bodies. As for unorthodox shrines, mountain and river immortals, ghostly yin beings, they also don't dare swagger through the human world openly. The heavenly gale is everywhere, and thunderstorm weather is a hard time for them."
Xie Gou snorted in disdain.
A second seat offering was about equal in rank to a mountain's palm law!
Back when she and Xiao Mo cultivated in ancient times, unless they encountered a certain god of the Heavenly Court's Thunder Department, it wasn't called a difficulty.
Palm law Changming pointed to a landscape, "The Fox Kingdom has set up a layer of mountain and river restrictions, so few locals know of this 'rouge den' yet."
With a Fox Kingdom taking root here, its lord, Pei Xiang, had enough qualifications, along with Gao Jun and Zhong Qian, to participate as local powers in the "summit" meeting of the world.
Gao Jun, as the undisputed number one of the world, was the convener.
Only she could gather all the heroes together. Not only was she the paradise's first Golden Core Earth Immortal, but this contemporary sect leader of Lake Mountain Sect had traveled far and wide with a gentle personality, and had dealt with many Qi refiners and mountain-and-river spirits. If someone else held such a meeting, but they were of singularly high realm with a personality like Ding Ying's, how could anyone dare to attend, fearing they'd be caught in one net?
The previous Lake Mountain Sect leader, Yu Zhenyi, was the first native "immortal" in the paradise's history to cultivate the Dao method in a strict sense.
After Yu Zhenyi ascended, who would become the new number one of the world? Some thought they could claim it—like Nanyuan Kingdom's retired emperor, Wei Liang, who voluntarily abdicated.
But in recent years, Wei Liang had been stuck at the Dragon Gate Realm bottleneck. After two seclusions, he failed to break through and become the paradise's first Golden Core Earth Immortal.
One step slow, step after step slow—what he lacked wasn't just that he started cultivating too late, beginning at age sixty, but more importantly, the time and place favored Gao Jun of Lake Mountain Sect, not him.
Unlike the ambitious Gao Jun, Zhong Qian was reluctant to get involved in such matters, preferring to stay at Fallen Mountain "ordering dishes."
Xiaomi Li, serving as Fallen Mountain's right protector, was very warm-hearted, helping Zhong Qian get a cookbook from Old Cook so she could order dishes with purpose. This first Golden Body Realm martial artist of the paradise was indeed unambitious. In his days of freeloading at Fallen Mountain, he didn't emanate martial intent or master aura—instead, every day when he went out, it was as if he had a note stuck to his forehead reading, "Don't help me up; lying down is comfortable enough."
A large group of big shots from the higher sect arrived at the dao field. At the Fox Kingdom, Pei Xiang personally "opened the door" to receive the guests. The talisman boat would land in a quiet courtyard of one of Pei Xiang's villas.
Pei Xiang had hung a large red lantern, a Fox Kingdom secret, in the courtyard, its radiance flowing in the night, eye-catching. At this moment, the only "outsiders" of Fallen Mountain in the courtyard were Pei Xiang's two most valued personal disciples. They were young, not yet having formed their golden cores, but with excellent bone aptitude—outstanding cultivation seedlings within the Fox Kingdom. Pei Xiang couldn't emulate the mountain master's lofty style. As the Fox Kingdom's lord and the only Nascent Soul realm cultivator, she loved to pick the best, taking the most promising young fox spirits as nominal disciples. As for truly teaching her disciples the Way—whether she could do her best, whether she might mislead them, whether it was the best arrangement for her kingdom—Pei Xiang didn't care; she'd grab them first.
Brought by Pei Xiang to meet the legendary sword immortal mountain master, these two disciples were obviously very nervous. Both were beautiful young women—one biting her lip, her chest a landscape of rolling hills rippling like water; the other clutching her robe corner so tightly that if it weren't a dharma robe personally bestowed by their master, it would have torn. No wonder they were so flustered—their master Pei Xiang herself, when she first arrived at Fallen Mountain, wasn't nervous?
Pei Xiang laughed, "Don't be so nervous. To others, you'll look petty. Among women of equal beauty, a little beauty is good, but can it compare to a great lady?"
The plumper disciple groaned with heart voice, "Master, I'm afraid." She had heard a hair-raising rumor: back when Chen the Sword Immortal was alone on the city wall of the Sword Qi Great Wall, a Jade Pu Realm wild fox immortal passed by. It was said she only looked down at the hot-tempered, murderous last Hidden Official, and was dragged onto the city wall. If an ordinary man had captured a Upper Five Realm fox immortal, he might cherish her as a concubine or kill her—but before killing, wouldn't he...? But having fallen into the hands of that last Hidden Official, the fox immortal was torn apart on the spot by Chen Ping'an...
Bones and flesh scattered all over. The most terrifying part—some Fox Kingdom cultivators swore they'd seen it themselves—said that young Hidden Official, on the city wall, tore off the fox immortal's head, held it in his hand, stood in a pool of blood, and took big bites of the head, using a hand as a bowl to drink blood like wine...
Pei Xiang smiled, "Don't believe these rumors—they're all lies. Our Mountain Master Chen is actually a gentleman of grace and elegance. When you see him, you'll understand what it means to be 'gentle in demeanor, handsome of face, a gentleman like jade, sword like rainbow.'"
It was no wonder the disciples were terrified. Not to mention them, even Liu Shiliu's student, Zheng Youqian, a goblin from Tongye Continent, before meeting Little Uncle Master, was led by Liu Shiliu to see him as if going to his death. So much so that before meeting Chen Ping'an, Zheng Youqian even had to ask Liu Shiliu obliquely, "Master, your relationship with that Little Uncle Master—it's okay, right?"
The other slender girl, clutching her robe corner so hard her fair hand showed bulging veins, said tremblingly, "Master, you and Senior Sister can host the guests. I want to go back and refine qi for my lessons. For us cultivators, an inch of time is an inch of gold. Don't worry, Master, I'll cultivate hard in the future."
Regarding cultivation, this girl, blessed with natural talent, cherished her fortune as Pei Xiang's personal disciple and never slacked off, but she wasn't particularly diligent.
Pei Xiang was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. Look at you all scared. Once you see Mountain Master Chen later, you'll know how mistaken you are.
The other female cultivator glared at her "let others die rather than oneself" junior sister, extended two fingers, and gently tugged her master's sleeve, "Master, Junior Sister is beautiful—pitiable and charming. When Mountain Master Chen sees her, even if he doesn't like her, he won't hate her. But I'm not like that—anyone who sees me will call me a fox spirit. Don't let me offend Mountain Master Chen and make the master seem inhospitable."
Pei Xiang laughed in exasperation, "You two little vixens! Do you have any sisterly loyalty?!"
But in truth, Pei Xiang had a hand in spreading those terrifying rumors. With the help of several other personal disciples, the never-seen Hidden Official Chen was more than just infamous—he was bloodthirsty.
The higher-level Qi refiners of the Fox Kingdom, familiar with the customs of Bottle Gourd Continent, had their doubts—they knew the truth couldn't be that exaggerated. How much water was in those spine-chilling stories?
But the younger fox spirits took them seriously. They said that Hidden Official Chen, who hated demon clan Qi refiners most, would enter their Fox Kingdom with a ravenous appetite, hungry and thirsty.
Eating his way through, drinking his way through.
Whoever he met was doomed—they might as well think about reincarnating into a better life next time.
Pei Xiang liked to casually drop "recent" feats of Chen the Sword Immortal during Fox Kingdom ancestral hall meetings.
She was subtly warning certain restless, greedy vixens.
For years, they'd complained to Pei Xiang that the kingdom's closure was too hard—not going into the mortal world to temper their Dao hearts hurt their cultivation. "Ancestral Master Pei, what is Mountain Master Chen thinking? Once the closure is lifted, our disciples, upon reaching the Middle Five Realm or becoming Earth Immortals, each get a chance to shed their old skins. According to Fox Kingdom tradition, just change the target from Qingfeng City's Xu clan to Fallen Mountain. Offer the fox pelts as tribute, Chen the Sword Immortal can refine them into talismans and sell them for a good profit—we show our filial piety, Fallen Mountain earns some money, a win-win. Why close the mountain and waste both sides' time?"
They loved to speak with veiled barbs. "If you have the guts, go complain at Jiling Peak's ancestral hall!"
"Don't even get near Jiling Peak's ancestral hall, you sharp-tongued women. Just stand steady at Fallen Mountain, speak without your voice trembling, and I'll call you brave!"
The talisman boat drifted down.
Pei Xiang sighed softly.
This Mountain Master Chen was too polite.
Because the boat didn't land directly in the courtyard—it stopped outside the villa gate.
Pei Xiang told her two disciples not to think of running away, embarrassing her. She alone stepped through the earth vein, arriving at the gate. She performed a curtsy, exchanged proper pleasantries, then led Mountain Master Chen and the group of Fallen Mountain registered cultivators into the residence. Worried her two disciples might lose composure and make Chen Ping'an and the others laugh, she explained a bit why they were so startled.
Chen Ping'an rubbed his brow, saying nothing.
By the roadside, peach blossoms in varying shades of red, always lazily leaning on the spring breeze. Approaching the courtyard with the lantern, they passed a path between rockeries. The highest rocks on both sides faced each other like a maiden's double topknots, spiraling like conch shells. On both sides of the path and atop the rocks grew lotuses, peonies, and peonies—flowers and leaves climbing the slopes. Viewed from afar, it was like a woman wearing flowers. Heaven and earth were rich in spiritual qi and water transport, rippling constantly. As people walked the path, looking up, lotus flowers stood tall, seemingly in the sky above.
They passed through a moon-shaped flower gate inscribed with the words "Magpie Bridge," entering the quiet courtyard. Pei Xiang, having been a frequent guest at Fallen Mountain, knew Mountain Master Chen's preferences.
She had already prepared several bamboo chairs under the eaves, with small tea tables between them storing prepared tea, snacks, dried fruit, and candied preserves.
To entertain guests from Fallen Mountain, the Fox Kingdom could handle hospitality simply without much fuss.
When they finally saw the green-robed sword immortal—neither too young nor too old—Pei Xiang's two disciples were already standing at the courtyard steps, performing a curtsy.
Their long, autumn-water eyes, with tacit understanding, each looked to the side, not daring to face the legendary young Hidden Official who ate demons like snacks, Fallen Mountain's Mountain Master Chen.
Chen Ping'an just smiled and returned the salute with cupped hands. Since saying too much would invite mistakes, he simply said nothing.
He had learned this lesson the hard way years ago, with Cen Yuanji.
Everyone took their seats. Pei Xiang picked up the painting rod on her tea table, looked at Mountain Master Chen, who nodded. In the twilight colors of the courtyard below the steps, a truly magnificent landscape map of the paradise appeared—mountains undulating, rivers winding, various countries, prefectures, and counties, landscape dao fields, immortal sects, and spirit temples all meticulously marked, red ink characters like morning clouds hanging in the sky.
If one's realm was insufficient and eyesight poor to clearly see a certain landscape, Pei Xiang could use the painting rod to "point to the landscape," expanding a location a hundred or thousand times.
Chen Ping'an first peeled a citrus for Guo Zhujiu beside him, then named several places and people.
Pei Xiang used the rod to point to the corresponding sects and dao fields, including the Nanyuan Kingdom Wei clan's place of rising prosperity.
As Chen Ping'an expected, when Gao Jun formed her golden core, the first Qi refiner to detect the celestial phenomenon was Wei Liang, who had opened a dao field in a place rich in dragon qi.
Wei Liang was so furious at the time that his Dao heart wavered, nearly going berserk.
Fallen Mountain had once given Wei Liang a stone box containing three volumes of Dao texts, but by agreement, they only guaranteed to help him reach the Middle Five Realm.
Because Wei Liang also held the title of retired emperor, for years the Nanyuan Kingdom court had secretly supported and co-opted the Five Sacred Mountain Lords and various river gods, hoping to counterbalance the Qi refiners led by Lake Mountain Sect.
Chen Ping'an said, "Human hearts differ, Dao lineages vary, and everyone walks old paths."
Changming nodded, "Wei Liang, having been an emperor, became a Qi refiner but never shed his secular identity. Everything he does tends toward strategy and military thought. It's not that this is wrong, but excess is as bad as deficiency. If he doesn't draw a clear line soon, forming his golden core and becoming an Earth Immortal will still be very difficult. By contrast, Gao Jun, despite being a sect leader of Lake Mountain Sect, has a Dao heart and spirit that surpasses Wei Liang."
In the old days, the paradise's Ten Greats included Zhong Qiu, who followed drum sounds to climb the city wall and obtained a painting of the Five Sacred Mountains' true forms—the true origin of today's Five Sacred Mountains. Additionally, the four kingdoms each had their own emperors officiating at the Five Sacred Mountains' sacrifices, hence the division into Greater and Lesser Five Sacred Mountains.
When Lotus Flower Paradise upgraded from a lower-tier paradise to Lotus Root Paradise, an upper-tier paradise, the biggest change was the spiritual qi, shifting from near-nothing barrenness to extreme abundance. As for shrines: officially canonized mountain and river gods by various kingdoms, shrines for civil and martial spirits, plus folk shrines and grotto-spirits occupying places, over a hundred shrines had already nurtured incense-fire spirits.
Besides changes in spiritual qi, the paradise's martial transport also surged. However, because Old Abbot had split the Lotus Flower Paradise into four parts, the mountains and rivers faded like white-line sketches. For older Jianghu masters like Cheng Yuanshan and Tang Tieyi, their souls became incomplete. Whether in cultivation—with low martial records at the time, Lake Mountain Sect's Gao Jun instead turned misfortune into fortune, easier to turn around—or in martial arts, the young martial artist of Beijin Kingdom, Zhong Qian, got there first, becoming the first Golden Body Realm martial artist. Moreover, Cheng Yuanshan and Tang Tieyi, compared to martial pinnacle and worldly glory, couldn't resist the temptation of "proving the Way to longevity, immortal on earth, as eternal as sun and moon," and had secretly switched to cultivation.
Those invited to the meeting included the Greater Five Sacred Mountains' lords. As for the Lesser Five Sacred Mountains within the four kingdoms—Gao Jun had already invited the four emperors—none of the twenty mountain lords received invitations from Lake Mountain Sect. Instead, river gods, lake lords, and some mountain gods who hadn't pledged allegiance to any surname were allowed to attend.
Pei Xiang's planned seating arrangement: Mountain Master Chen in the center; herself as hostess; Fallen Mountain's palm law Changming beside Chen Ping'an; then Chen Ping'an's personal disciple Guo Zhujiu; then the mink-hatted girl who joined the mountain later; and Pei Xiang's two disciples on her side. This way Chen Ping'an would sit in the middle.
Ha, except for Mountain Master Chen, both sides were women!
But unexpectedly, palm law Changming directly yielded her seat to Guo Zhujiu.
Then the mink-hatted girl, whose background Pei Xiang could never figure out, was even more restless. She pressed both hands on the chair armrests, shook her shoulders, moved her chair backward, then turned around, "walking" swaying along the corridor near the inner door and window, all the way to beside Pei Xiang's disciples, where she "sat down" and sighed to herself—or rather "borrowed" from a bookshelf—"Cultivation is hard, truly tiring. Clouds and rain bury mountains, wind and waves on the tide—the path of the human world is indeed difficult."
The fox female cultivator nodded blankly.
After all, this was a high-ranking immortal master from the upper sect, and a "girl" who could be at the Hidden Official's side.
The mink-hatted girl slapped her palm with a fist, "Oh ho! Turns out we're kindred spirits. May I ask the sister's realm and age?"
The fox spirit replied honestly, "Nineteen, just Observation Sea realm, stuck at a bottleneck."
She spoke in a naturally small voice, and the word "bottleneck" was barely a whisper.
After saying those two words, the ashamed girl looked down at the ground.
The mink-hatted girl looked astonished, "Oh ho ho! Sister is under twenty and already a Middle Five Realm immortal? No wonder you can be Ancestral Master Pei Xiang's personal disciple. Pleasure to meet you. My name is Xie Gou, Dao name Plum Blossom. I just became a registered cultivator of Fallen Mountain a few days ago—it's because my Dao partner has a good relationship with Mountain Master Chen, so I got in through connections. My own realm? Not high, really—I've been stuck too many years without progress. That's why I sigh about the difficulty of the path. But enough complaints."
The fox girl, hearing that this Dao-named "Plum Blossom," surname Xie (who couldn't actually be named "Dog," could she?), was also a newcomer to Fallen Mountain and claimed her realm was low, immediately relaxed and whispered secretly, "Immortal Master Xie, my name is Qiu Qing—Qiu as in 'hill,' Qing as in 'minister.' I haven't decided on a Dao name yet, because I heard all registered cultivators' Dao names need to be reported and approved by the Confucian academy outside. Finding a good one, satisfying, and 'fitting the Way' as my master says—it's too hard. So it's been delayed. Oh, my childhood name is Xiaoyi—you can call me that."
Actually, Pei Xiang had nicknamed this naturally smiling disciple "Armpit."
"Immortal Master Xie, next to me is my senior sister. She's called Luo Fumei, Dao name 'Yu Diao.' Senior Sister's cultivation talent is excellent—under thirty and already Dragon Gate Realm. Master says Senior Sister Luo will definitely form a golden core someday. With me, Master never says such things—won't even bother to lie. Senior Sister also has a childhood name, but she hates it when people call her that. Ha, it's 'Chou Nuer'—ugly girl—even though she's so beautiful. I don't know what Master was thinking. I never dare call her that."
Xie Gou was a bit taken aback. Little girl, you really can chat! In this age, are fox cubs from that wild woman's lineage all this trustful? In the ancient times when rules were lax and cultivators did whatever they wanted, several human dynasties and demon kingdoms in the mortal world were ruined by that vixen. She almost used that to merge with the Fourteen Realm—just one step short—before Little Master couldn't stand it anymore and brought White Lord to "talk" with her. She got wind of it, didn't dare face Little Master, and went into hiding.
That woman's greatest skill was beguiling people—men and women alike. In the eyes of ancient Daoists and scholars, many ancient Earth Immortals who could have reached higher on the Great Way fell victim to her, one after another. Heroes always fall for beautiful women—in the end, they all died within her scarlet skirt embroidered with peonies and pomegranate flowers.
I recall she had a second dao field outside her lair, somewhere called Mizhi? Near the Wuding River, one of the Wildlands' Yelo River tributaries.
But that's all ancient history.
Xie Gou had hoped to see this former common master of all fox clans among the awakened Dao friends, but when they gathered by the Yelo River, she never saw her.
Why did Xie Gou miss her so much? Of course, to... chop her to death and snatch two Dao names that Bai Jing had long coveted: "Hook Thief" and "Troubled Water"!
Plus, that shameless vixen, back when Xie Gou first became an Earth Immortal, she blocked the way, swaying, spreading fox tails to block the sky, and actually wanted to sleep with her!
Don't think all Bai Jing's Dao names were self-chosen.
Chen Ping'an asked, "Pei Xiang, about the Greater Five Sacred Mountains' lords—their Dao roots? Have you investigated them thoroughly?"
Fallen Mountain hadn't done this directly but had Pei Xiang and the Fox Kingdom investigate and gather intelligence.
Actually, doing this might be considered superfluous. Even if Fallen Mountain closed the paradise for a thousand years, letting an upper-tier paradise flourish, then opened the door and assumed Gao Jun's "entire world" produced a bunch of Earth Immortals to fight today's Fallen Mountain in a "battle of slaying pairs," the outcome would still be no contest. The only suspense was how many sword cultivators and martial artists Fallen Mountain would need to dispatch.
Pei Xiang nodded, pulling a booklet from her sleeve, "Besides the Greater and Lesser Five Sacred Mountains' lords, various officially canonized mountain and river spirits, and those flourishing unorthodox shrines, of the wild cultivators who've stood out, and ghostly spirits with hope of reaching the Middle Five Realm—I've recorded them all here. In fact, we secretly dispatched nine registered Middle Five Realm cultivators specifically to keep watch."
Chen Ping'an took the not-insubstantial booklet and smiled, "And no credit for the Respect Tower?"
Pei Xiang blushed, "I knew I couldn't hide it from the mountain master."
Chen Ping'an opened the first page. There was even a preface, writing about the cooperation between the Fox Kingdom and the Respect Tower. He glanced at Pei Xiang, then turned to the second page, "On the Greater and Lesser Five Sacred Mountains." He didn't rush to read the content, flipped a few more pages. The second section was "On Emperors and Generals." Judging by the summary at the section head, the first four entries were: Nanyuan Kingdom Emperor Wei Yan, Beijin Kingdom's Tang Tieyi, then the young monarch of Songlai Kingdom, and the northern grassland lord Jinzhang Tuoba. After that, he randomly flipped to... "On the Beauties of the World," which even included floral-paper portraits of painted beauties in fine brushwork. Just a glance, and he saw a beautiful woman in a monochrome silk gown, sitting on an embroidered stool, showing her profile, holding a book beneath flowers. In the blank space of the portrait, there seemed to be a poem praising beauty. What impressed Chen Ping'an most was the woman's pinkie finger, which held the book page, long and splendid nail guards glistening—clearly no ordinary item.
There were likely more sections on spirits and goblins, immortals and Qi refinement, and Jianghu martial artists. Chen Ping'an flipped back to the second page, seemingly muttering to himself, "Zhu Lian doesn't know how to teach anything good."
Pei Xiang blushed again.
Indeed, having the Fox Kingdom cooperate with the Respect Tower, writing the "storyline" in the preface, and categorizing the main text—all of it was Zhu Lian's idea.
Qiu Qing, while whispering with the "kindred spirit" Immortal Master Xie, also pricked up her ears to catch the young Hidden Official's words and the green-robed man's voice.
Hey, it wasn't the murderous tone she'd imagined. His voice was warm and mellow, and he spoke quite nicely.
As for Luo Fumei, she focused entirely on Chen the Sword Immortal—first, afraid he might find the tea and snacks bland and suddenly say "add a meal," wanting some tender flesh... she was closer to him than her junior sister! Second, she was just curious: how would such a faraway, lofty figure... chat with people?
Beyond heaven is heaven, above people are people.
Chen Ping'an looked up at a spot in the sky and began rubbing his temples.
Changming said with heart voice, "They seem to have changed their minds temporarily. They're not coming to the Fox Kingdom for now."
Chen Ping'an nodded, "Let them go."
It turned out that Zhu Lian had temporarily opened the gate of Fallen Mountain's Jise Peak, letting two outsiders of Fallen Mountain into the Lotus Root Paradise.
As the head steward, Zhu Lian hadn't even informed the mountain master—neither before nor after. That wasn't a common move.
Zhu Lian personally guided the way, and the two outsiders grandly rode a talisman boat toward Nanyuan Kingdom territory.
Xie Gou glanced in that direction, then looked back, and asked with heart voice curiously, "Mountain master, who's that, so full of themselves, without even greeting us?"
Consider herself—at least now she was the second seat offering of Fallen Mountain. In the next Jise Peak ancestral hall meeting, she'd be sitting in the front row!
Chen Ping'an smiled, "Friends."
Changming explained with a smile, "It's the current sect leader of Dragon Abyss Sword Sect, Liu Xianyang. And the personal disciple of Mr. Zheng of White Emperor City, Gu Can. They are both the young master's hometown friends, grew up together."
Xie Gou nodded. No wonder... but wait, even if they were close friends, they were still guests of Fallen Mountain. Why didn't Old Man Zhu tell the mountain master?
Changming had to continue explaining...
Chen Ping'an said with some guilt, "Changming, if Liu Xianyang does something excessive here, count it on me. We'll follow the established rules."
Xie Gou clicked her tongue. Earlier it was "Changming Daoist," now no suffix, and not "palm law" either?
Changming squinted and smiled, her voice soft, "Mountain master, I only know Zhu Lian entered the paradise. I have no idea outsiders trespassed here."
Xie Gou kept clicking her tongue. Ooh, sour.
Calling him "young master" instead of "mountain master"—what was that if not using public office for private gain?
Zhu Lian piloted a talisman boat toward Nanyuan Kingdom's capital. Gu Can said coldly with heart voice, "You really don't stand on ceremony."
"Why stand on ceremony with Chen Ping'an?"
Gu Can said nothing.
I, too, once didn't stand on ceremony with him.
Liu Xianyang deliberately rubbed salt in the wound, laughing, "Is this the same? You're Chen Ping'an's tailgater; I'm his tailgater."
Gu Can twitched the corner of his mouth, "Tailgater—good word. You're a fart."
Liu Xianyang extended a palm, "Booger, come smell this fart—does it smell like shit?"
Gu Can slapped away Liu Xianyang's proffered arm.
Zhu Lian smiled.
If it were just Gu Can asking to enter Lotus Flower Paradise, of course it would be fine, but Zhu Lian would have informed the young master.
But since Gu Can had Liu Xianyang with him, it was unnecessary.
If there was anyone in the world who could make his young master not retaliate when hit or curse when yelled at—perhaps aside from the mountain master's wife—it was Liu Xianyang.
Zhu Lian rarely thought his young master lucky. But having met Liu Xianyang early, Zhu Lian genuinely felt his young master was fortunate. He even felt that without anyone else, the young master would still be the young master, but without Liu Xianyang on his youthful path, the young master could hardly have achieved what he had.
Before coming to Fallen Mountain, Gu Can hadn't gone to Dragon Abyss Sword Sect's Youyi Peak but stayed in the old Baiyue territory. While the two women went shopping at the immortal ferry market, he and Liu Xianyang found a tavern for a drink. Then they each ditched their fiancée and attendant, saying they had urgent business. Gu Can told his attendant Lingyan to stay with Miss Yu.
At the table, Liu Xianyang looked at him with a resentful expression, sighing and moaning, "Gu Can, your brother here is about to get married, but I've never even had a drink in a brothel. It's not that I have wandering eyes—I'm not that kind of person—but my experience is truly lacking. After the wedding feast and getting a wife, with my character, of course I'll have to settle down..."
Gu Can said nothing, just drank.
Liu Xianyang continued pouring out his bitterness. "They say 'pass through a hundred flowers without a leaf touching the body,' but I'm bitter inside. Unlike you and Chen Ping'an—you grew up on Green Gorge Island in Letter and Bamboo Lake, surrounded by beauties, seeing the big world young. He Chen Ping'an wandered Jianghu, rubbing shoulders with immortals and female chivalrous heroes, at least meeting some fox spirits and beautiful ghosts. Look at me—people compare and it's infuriating. Every time I go out, it's across continents for study. Arriving at that 'pinnacle of archways,' the Chunru Chen clan, every day I dealt with nothing but sage books and upright gentlemen. I don't even know what a 'flower grove' looks like in this world."
Gu Can was so annoyed he said, "I'll treat you to a visit to a brothel, or a drink in a brothel, or a drink in a brothel—take your pick."
They went.
Straight to Fallen Mountain.
If you want to drink in a brothel, you need a local rich guy and a sucker to pay.
Cheating outsiders is against Jianghu ethics, but if you cheat your friends with even a shred of guilt, you're not really treating them as friends.
Chen Ping'an said slowly, "At tomorrow's Autumn Qi Lake meeting, our Fallen Mountain side has two main things to discuss openly with Gao Jun and the others. First, set a few rules for the 'mountains,' and at the same time, define boundaries between mountains, rivers, mortal world, and the yin and yang realms. As for specifics, after they've all spoken, I'll go into detail."
"Second, help the various kingdoms establish astronomical observatories and teach the art of observing qi." Saying this, Chen Ping'an picked up the teacup on the tea table—an expensive immortal vessel—took a sip, and held the cup. "There's no airtight wall in the world. Once kingdoms have this art, it will leak sooner or later. Soon all mountain and river spirits will master this divine ability, and then the whole world will know. But the threshold for this art is high, so no need to worry about it spreading everywhere."
Palm law Changming, seeing the mountain master fall silent, helped elaborate: "The higher the realm of Qi refiners and pure martial artists, the easier they are discovered by observatory Qi refiners and spirits. Of course, Qi refiners will research corresponding techniques to conceal their aura, but the more intense the battle, the more powerful the techniques and the higher the martial intent, the harder it is to hide."
For example, Lake Mountain Sect had sixteen Qi refiners. Two were deeply hidden—if Chen Ping'an hadn't revealed them when he visited, even sect leader Gao Jun would have remained unaware. Those two concealed Qi refiners were Yu Zhenyi's hidden pieces left for Lake Mountain Sect, including the former one of the world's Ten Greats, Cheng Yuanshan. So whether in numbers or average realm, Lake Mountain Sect was the world's top.
Qi refiners like Cheng Yuanshan, who sought great freedom, would likely hate the appearance of qi observers.
"The mountain master's move isn't to prevent private grudges on the mountains, but to prevent Qi refiners and martial masters from intervening too much on battlefields, killing too wantonly. For now, native immortals don't know the profound effects of mortal karma on their Dao hearts and merit. They casually move mountains and seas, rain spells like storms, indiscriminately smashing into crowded battlefields, killing countless, or using secret arts to create 'natural disasters' that are actually man-made—plagues, droughts, floods. And as more martial masters reach the Refining Spirit Three Realms, each a 'one-man army' on the battlefield—that's manageable, as national destiny often depends on martial transport. The fear is these masters roaming outside battlefields, sneaking into enemy capitals, great prefectures, or key passes to decapitate rulers and generals at will, then vanishing without a trace."
"So if the kingdoms have an astronomical observatory skilled in qi observation, they can plan and counter these threats. Even if they can't prevent it at the time, they can investigate and take revenge afterward. On the battlefield, they can also 'trade pieces' based on national strength and reserves. Even so, they can't completely prevent one-sided slaughters, but at least Qi refiners who see armored soldiers as ants, and those self-proclaimed invincible martial masters, will have to be cautious, lest they capsize in a ditch and become someone else's achievement, dying and falling."
Pei Xiang carefully crafted her words, then asked softly, "Mountain master, Palm Law, should we adopt Haoran World's restrictions on monarchs' cultivation here?"
Chen Ping'an closed the booklet in his hand, "I haven't decided yet."
He turned to his disciple, raised the booklet, and asked with a smile, "Want to read it?"
Guo Zhujiu, who had been tapping her feet in cloth shoes, quickly waved her hands.
Chen Ping'an tucked the booklet into his sleeve. After a long silence, he suddenly asked, "Pei Xiang, how do you think they see us?"
Xie Gou, already sitting cross-legged on her chair with arms folded, laughed loudly, "Stretching their necks, looking up at the sky."
After all, it was just a paradise. Even an upper-tier paradise had to be the Five Colors World—or better yet, the Green Firmament World with a Jade Capital—to qualify for Xie Gou to consider letting them know she was a sword cultivator.
Guo Zhujiu hesitated, then asked, "Master, are you nervous?"
Chen Ping'an nodded, "A little nervous."
Guo Zhujiu asked, "Compared to the first meeting at Daoshu Mountain's Chunfan Studio?"
Chen Ping'an smiled, "About the same nervousness. But it's okay."
Guo Zhujiu gently patted her master's arm and raised her fist, pumping it vigorously, "Master, don't be nervous. You're the greatest person in the world!"
Chen Ping'an squinted and smiled, nodding lightly, "Makes sense, makes sense."
Pei Xiang didn't understand at all. Neither she nor her disciples understood. They even began to fear—was Chen Ping'an preparing for a massacre?
Sensing and guessing her disciples' mood, Pei Xiang was furious, reprimanding with heart voice, "Stop thinking nonsense!"
Changming squinted and smiled.
The man beside her was worried that the sentient beings of this world wouldn't live well.