Chapter 1083: Invitation to Wine

Chapter 1083: Invitation to Wine

After three consecutive days of heavy rain, there was a day's pause, and the mountains and rivers of the human world seemed as if they were inviting wine.

On the mountain peak formerly known as White Mountain but now called Qiyun Mountain, Gu Can was staying there temporarily. He sent a flying sword message to that fellow who loved to show off, Liu Chicheng, asking him to come and discuss some matters. The flattered Liu Chicheng hurriedly set off from the immortal guest inn in Chuzhou City as soon as he received the message, not delaying a moment. Before leaving, Pavilion Master Liu specially put on his pink Daoist robe again. As his uncle, he always had to support his nephew in front of outsiders, to avoid appearing shabby and losing face for Gu Can. However, when he arrived at that geomantically blessed place called Qiyun Mountain, besides Gu Can, there was only that maidservant Gu Can had abducted from the Barren Wastes world, standing together at the cliffside on the mountainside. Liu Chicheng was a bit puzzled. He descended from the clouds and didn't dare complain, but couldn't help asking, "Gu Can, are you bored here and calling your uncle to drink?"

Gu Can said, "Someone specifically asked to see you."

Liu Chicheng sneered, "Quite the airs, specifically asking to see me?"

Gu Can suddenly clasped his hands in salute toward the outside of the cliff and said in a low voice, "Gu Can pays respects to Patriarch."

Liu Chicheng turned around, not raising his head, and immediately knelt down, performing a grand kowtow, "Disciple pays respects to Master." After a moment, he only heard the female cultivator from the Barren Wastes covering her mouth and laughing coquettishly. Only then did Liu Chicheng, still kneeling, realize that he had been tricked by that brat Gu Can. He stood up somewhat resentfully, shook the sleeves of his Daoist robe to brush off some dust, but he didn't get angry.

Just then, there was a rustling sound behind him. Liu Chicheng mistakenly thought it was Gu Can playing tricks again and said angrily, "That's enough. My temper has its limits." Immediately after, Liu Chicheng received a kick and a scolding in a very familiar voice, "What a disgraceful thing, and you still have the face to go to Fallen Mountain? Wearing such flashy clothes every day, why don't you just carve a line of gold characters on your forehead: 'My senior brother is Zheng Juzhong'?"

Liu Chicheng turned around and saw the dignified, gaunt old man. His lips trembled, his eyes reddened, and he fell to the ground again, saying with a choked sob, "Master!"

Wearing a green long gown, it was the idle Chen Qingliu.

Beside him was a disheveled, barefoot Daoist with nothing on him except an umbrella slanted across his back.

Two old friends who had known each other for a long time had arranged to meet here.

Chen Qingliu lifted the toe of his shoe and then set it down, "Get up. If you and your senior brother could share your reverence for teachers and your cultivation level, that would be perfect." Liu Chicheng stood up, wiping his tears with the side of his hand, unable to control his emotions. To be precise, since he was suppressed under Treasure Bottle Continent by the Grand Heavenly Master of Dragon Tiger Mountain a thousand years ago, after escaping, not counting today, he had only seen his master once. As for why Senior Brother Zheng hadn't saved him, his senior brother must have had his reasons. Why his master, clearly on Treasure Bottle Continent, hadn't casually swung his sword to break the seal, he must have had his difficulties. Liu Chicheng had not a single complaint.

Chen Qingliu introduced him to the Daoist beside him with a slightly sarcastic tone, "Daoist Ziqing, this is my proud disciple Liu Daochun, the Pavilion Master of White Jade City. Now he seems to have changed his name to Liu Chicheng. He's the Pavilion Master who says, 'Others laugh at me for being too foolish, I laugh at others for not having a senior brother.'"

That slovenly Daoist smiled and said, "I've heard many deeds, a long-renowned name."

A non-sword cultivator who dared to roam the Central Plains Divine Continent on the strength of Jade Pure Realm alone.

Chen Qingliu smiled and introduced the slovenly Daoist beside him, "This Daoist Ziqing, his secular surname is Ge, he calls himself the Three Hundred Coin Daoist, also known as 'Huainan.' He is a true recluse, traveling among famous mountains with no fixed whereabouts, not one of those half-baked hermits seeking fame. In his early years, he had several Daoist temples; the more famous one is Yulong Palace, the less famous ones include Wenbi Peak on the Xu River, and another place later occupied by scholars, which he couldn't take back. He has a fairly good relationship with me, I suppose?"

The barefoot Daoist with the umbrella smiled and added, "Half a friend."

Gu Can intentionally or unintentionally glanced at the Daoist's shoulder.

Liu Chicheng was completely confused.

Both were Jade Pure Realm, but the difference was clear.

Gu Can made a Daoist salutation, "Gu Can of White Jade City pays respects to Immortal Lord Ge."

Liu Chicheng moved to stand beside his master, not knowing how to speak appropriately. Only after Gu Can spoke did Liu Chicheng follow suit.

The Daoist surnamed Ge, whose Dao name was Ziqing, looked at Gu Can and nodded approvingly, "A scholar must be like this to cultivate and attain the Dao."

Chen Qingliu glanced at that female cultivator from the Barren Wastes. The old man frowned slightly, and she immediately understood and left without daring to say a word.

Fourteen Realm is Fourteen Realm.

Even if the Dao methods of Fourteen Realm have their highs and lows, and their means have strengths and weaknesses, those are matters among Fourteen Realms.

This man in front, who used his sword art to suppress all water spirits in the world as the Dragon Slayer, had been missing for three thousand years. Upon his first formal appearance, he had uttered the words, "Killing whom is not killing whom?" No one thought that was an empty boast.

Chen Qingliu smiled and said, "Daoist Ziqing, we haven't seen each other for a long time. If someone hadn't said you were at the Central Marchmount, I wouldn't have known you were wandering around Treasure Bottle Continent."

The Daoist smiled and replied, "It's only because my master ordered me to go and see Junior Brother Wei."

Chen Qingliu laughed, "Wei Benyuan of Peach Leaf Alley? That stinky Daoist has finally remembered the past?"

The Daoist nodded, "Mainly thanks to the two talismans Li Xisheng gave Junior Brother Wei."

Chen Qingliu said with schadenfreude, "He has no one to blame but himself. With his sky-high ambition, who else would he pick a fight with? He had to go and arm-wrestle with Zouzi, and on the topic of the Five Elements, no less." The Daoist smiled wryly and said nothing. This Junior Brother Wei had exceptionally high talent, and his high spirit was understandable. Moreover, Wei Senior Brother was only an unregistered disciple of the master, never allowed to enter the inner circle as a direct disciple, so he was more eager than anyone to prove himself to the master.

Chen Qingliu laughed heartily, "When I entered the small town back then, Wei Benyuan had already left Peach Leaf Alley. Otherwise, I would have definitely gone to his door to ask for advice, asking him what he was thinking back then. How could his head be so hard?"

The Daoist coughed to remind him that his disciple and grand-disciple were here, so don't be so outspoken.

Chen Qingliu smiled faintly, "One is an idiot who only knows how to respect his master and nothing else; the other is lawless and rebellious, destined one day to betray his master. What do I have to put on airs about?"

Liu Chicheng was full of pride.

Gu Can was calm and composed.

The Daoist hesitated for a moment, then asked, "I heard that Fellow Daoist Chen is particularly close to Fallen Mountain?"

Chen Qingliu hummed in acknowledgment, "Halfly because Mr. Qi took on all the backlash from the heavenly Dao. I owe him a favor, so I have to show some gratitude. Halfly because there's a good friend in Fallen Mountain who I enjoy drinking with. Without him, drinking has no flavor."

The Daoist nodded, "I see."

In the eyes of ordinary qi refiners, the Dragon-Slaying Campaign had long ended.

But in the eyes of this Daoist surnamed Ge, Chen Qingliu had only killed a large portion back then. When Wang Zhu appeared, she gradually gathered all the true dragon's qi luck onto herself. Had Qi Jingchun not taken on all the karma, a scene should have occurred: the qi luck would have counterattacked, as if returning a sword strike to Chen Qingliu from afar, unavoidable. Not that Chen Qingliu couldn't handle it, but it would have been more troublesome, not as clean and easy as now, where he only needed to stand by and quietly wait for the appearance of a second true dragon besides Wang Zhu.

Chen Qingliu lifted one shoe, stepped onto a rock by the cliff, and gently scraped off the yellow mud from the sole. Squinting, he said, "In the Dragon-Slaying Campaign, the more I killed, the harder it became. The bitterness of this is not for outsiders to know." This was no falsehood. It was so difficult that Chen Qingliu had to stop his sword and rest for a while back then, because in the final stage, the sword he swung was not just cutting down a true dragon, but the qi luck of all dragons in the world. Hence, the qi refiners went crazy trying to pick up leftovers. Whenever a giant fell, opportunities followed. This had been a rule in the mountains since ancient times. Because of this, the Li Zhu Cave Heaven later came into being, and gradually the four clans and ten surnames of the small town emerged, totaling over six hundred households, over thirty dragon kilns, and the western mountains stretched endlessly. Old Man Yang used that as the examination board for the incense-filled, fog-born flower event...

The Daoist sighed, "Those who travel a hundred miles often stop at ninety."

Gu Can said, "To drive birds into the thicket, to drive fish into the deep."

The Daoist gave a surprised "Eh?" and asked with a smile, "Can that saying be used this way?"

Gu Can made another Daoist salute, "This junior is making a fool of myself."

Chen Qingliu asked, "All these years, has Bai Chang never sought you, the senior brother, to ask Master Three Mountains Nine Marquises for a few lost ancient sword techniques?"

The Daoist shook his head, "Junior Brother Lu and Junior Brother Wang are both proud. Since the master refuses to see them on his own, they will never go to him."

The Daoist had once dug a well and refined pills in Jing Mountain of Northern Juzhou. The local people built a statue of him and offered incense without ceasing. On the statue's shoulder was placed an exquisitely carved white jade toad. Chen Qingliu explained to Gu Can, "Wei Benyuan's previous incarnation was a Daoist named Wang Min. He, along with Daoist Ziqing, Lu Yue, and the former powerful Qingjun of Fangzhu Mountain, are all disciples of Master Three Mountains Nine Marquises, some nominal, some not. As for Wang Min, I suspect he entered the Li Zhu Cave Heaven together with his master. The dragon-trapping method was probably his master's idea, but it was Wang Min who actually set up the formation. As compensation, he got that piece of Immortal Grave. Otherwise, I can't think of another reason why an outsider could occupy most of the Immortal Grave. Then he lost the debate with Zouzi, which is how he became the current Old Master Wei?"

The Daoist surnamed Ge sighed, "Except for the order, everything else is correct. Junior Brother Wang first lost the debate with Zouzi, then went to wade in the muddy waters of Li Zhu Cave Heaven. After helping his master set up the formation, he voluntarily underwent dissolution, reincarnating again and again within the cave heaven. His consciousness became increasingly muddled. He could barely maintain a sliver of true spirit from the Dao seed, flickering like a lantern flame in the wind."

Chen Qingliu asked with a smile, "According to the rules set by Qingtong Celestial Lord, in the three thousand years of the small town, as the great Dao circulates on its own, is there a hidden process of continuously stripping, expelling, and cleansing immortal seeds? Was the birth of the Destiny Porcelain meant to eliminate all qi refiners, to refine the so-called cultivation vessels, removing the impure to preserve the pure, so that when he abdicates and reshapes the divine temple? When immortals retreat, can gods return to their positions?"

When Chen Qingliu said the word "Qing," the barefoot Daoist had already opened the umbrella on his back, shielding the heavenly secrets to prevent eavesdroppers. So Liu Chicheng, standing right next to them, couldn't hear what his master said. In theory, Gu Can shouldn't have been able to hear either, but Chen Qingliu deliberately made an exception. He formed his two fingers into a sword and gently cut open a crack, intentionally leaking the heavenly secret so that Gu Can, an insider, could hear everything clearly.

The Daoist surnamed Ge's expression turned serious, and he spoke with his mind, "This truth was only deduced by Senior Brother Qingjun in recent years."

Chen Qingliu had a strange smile, "The wood has already been crafted into a boat. What's the point of deducing it? The established fact is right in front of us. Why waste merit and Dao energy? What's the meaning?"

The Daoist sighed deeply, "A Daoist seeks truth; it's in his nature."

Chen Qingliu laughed heartily, "How many clever people end up with nothing for all their trouble. Worthy of Dongwanggong, worthy of the male earthly immortal ancestor."

He was silent for a moment, then showed a rare expression of emotion and sadness, speaking softly, "Worthy of Qingtong Celestial Lord, the first human to become a god. He plotted for ten thousand years with great effort. This deed deserves a song, deserves tears."

Chen Qingliu gathered his thoughts and asked with a smile, "As for the specific operation of the rules, I'm extremely curious, so much so that I'm dying of curiosity. Does your Senior Brother Qingjun have any clues? Has he deduced it together?"

The Daoist smiled bitterly and shook his head, "Senior Brother made an analogy: The veils are as numerous and high as mountains, insurmountable. He is but a speck of dust on the path at the foot of the mountain. Even taking a detour is a luxury."

Chen Qingliu nodded, "That's right. Otherwise, the cultivation of the Three Patriarchs would be useless. But from this, it can be seen that Master Three Mountains Nine Marquises has his own thoughts on the trend of this world. There must be some divergence of opinion. Coupled with the push from Mr. Qi and Cui Chan, outsiders are even more confused."

The Daoist said awkwardly, "I beg Fellow Daoist Chen to speak cautiously."

You, Fellow Daoist, are a lone man with no sect. But I have a master and fellow disciples.

The Daoist surnamed Ge suddenly asked in confusion, "Fellow Daoist Chen, why do you call Xiu Hu (Cui Chan) by his name directly, but refer to Qi Jingchun as Mr. Qi?"

Chen Qingliu smiled, "The first person to find the Daoist Jia Sheng was Mr. Qi. He invited me... us for a drink. We hit it off well at the table."

You give me face, I give you face. That's what the jianghu is all about.

Besides, Qi Jingchun gave me a very high evaluation, and it was a sincere remark.

When I was young, I once yearned for the jianghu, only because there was a young swordsman in a green shirt whose surname I knew.

Chen Qingliu signaled the Daoist to put away the "Cloud Nest" umbrella, then turned to Liu Chicheng and asked, "When you arrived at Fallen Mountain, did you drink with Fellow Daoist Jingqing?"

Liu Chicheng was confused, "That green-robed little boy named Chen Lingjun, a water dragon in the Nascent Soul Realm?"

Chen Qingliu reached out and pressed his disciple's head, "In terms of jianghu seniority, he calls you a nephew. You should acknowledge it."

Gu Can asked abruptly, "Master-in-Law, according to your reasoning, was Chen Ping'an becoming the ultimate winner a matter of fate or self-seeking?"

Chen Qingliu jerked his chin towards the Daoist. These Daoists are best at fortune-telling.

The Daoist smiled, "Those who seek themselves gain blessings."

Gu Can suddenly beamed with a bright smile.

But Chen Qingliu had other worries. Back then, Qi Jingchun had taken the initiative to drink with him at the same table and said some strange words that sounded like prophecies.

"It's a pity there is no White Emperor to open his eyes; fortunately there are green mountains to share old age, seemingly gentle as well. Old poems are light like goose-yellow wine; new sorrows are thick like the Yellow River waterfall, as if untouched."

When Chen Qingliu asked further, Qi Jingchun only said to wait and see, raised his wine bowl to toast him, and laughed, saying, "I offer the world the first, and we shall drink the wine of invitation."

Thinking it over, Chen Qingliu could never figure it out, which is why he rarely made a trip to White Jade City. At the end, he asked Zheng Juzhong, "You wouldn't happen to have the same surname as me, would you?"

Zheng Juzhong immediately saw the crux and laughed on the spot, "Since I am not the Dao Ancestor, I certainly can't be Chen Ping'an returning against the current."

---

Outside Breeze City, in a secluded and scenic spot, an outsider had built a mansion. Today, a strange-faced visitor arrived.

The one who opened the door was a young, graceful maidservant. The middle-aged man took off his bamboo hat and smiled, "My name is Lu Yue. I'm from the same hometown. I've come to visit Senior Brother Wei."

The maidservant named Tao Ya said in surprise, "Senior Brother Wei?" Grandpa Wei, who had never taken disciples or spoken of his master, when did he get a junior brother? She dared not casually open the door. The Xu clan of Breeze City had long suspected they were accomplices in the theft of Fox'er Town. What if this was a villain? Grandpa Wei had closed his doors to visitors for years.

The middle-aged man calling himself Lu Yue changed his words, "I'm looking for Wei Benyuan, Daoist Boyang. I left the small town earlier than you. Now I cultivate in Northern Juzhou, on a small mountain with modest incense and only two masters and disciples. Tao Ya, please go and report. If Wei Benyuan doesn't recognize any Lu Yue, I'll just go back and say the time hasn't come yet, and I'll visit another day."

Tao Ya hesitated, then asked Immortal Master Lu to wait. She went to inform Grandpa Wei, who was busy refining pills all year round. Wei Benyuan, sitting cross-legged on a cushion beside the furnace, opened his eyes. As the girl reached the door, the old man had already stood up with a soft sigh. They would come knocking sooner or later, but it was a few years earlier than expected. Since Bai Chang was already here, avoiding him would indeed seem uncollegial. Wei Benyuan's Dao name was indeed "Boyang," but he hadn't used it for many years, only "accidentally" remembering it a few years ago. Back then, when the old man quietly left his hometown, Li Zhu Cave Heaven, he only brought Tao Ya, whom he had always regarded as a junior. He exchanged land with the Xu clan of Breeze City and settled here on the ancestral land of the Xu clan to build a thatched hut and cultivate. This was according to the instructions in an early letter, telling him to bring Tao Ya here and wait for an opportunity, seemingly related to the Fox Kingdom. It turned out that the contents of the "letter" were true. Tao Ya did obtain two blessings in the Fox Kingdom: a multicolored silk belt that recognized her as its master on its own, and a withered peach branch she found in the mountains guided by the belt.

The sender of the letter was none other than "Qingjun," a name once famous in ancient times. However, the signature on the letter was "Jun Qing." At the time, Wei Benyuan didn't know the true identity of the sender and mistakenly thought it was some ancestor who had left home early. Wei Benyuan's ability to embark on the path of cultivation in this life was also due to a letter sent by "Ancestor Jun Qing" to Peach Leaf Alley when he was young.

Wei Benyuan only learned his true identity and that of the other party after recovering his memory.

Qingjun of Fangzhu Mountain had once received a personal invitation from the Ritual Sage. His seat was at the venerated Fangzhu Mountain, where this terrestrial true person was responsible for managing all the cave heavens, blessed lands, and the registers of earthly immortals.

Qingjun was also one of the direct disciples of Master Three Mountains Nine Marquises. He had left some traces on Qidun Mountain. As compensation for assisting his master in setting up the cave heaven formation and the sword-suppressing archway, Qingjun only took a symbolic reward: he casually took a carp from Li Zhu Cave Heaven, which is now Li Jin, the River God of Chongdan River.

Wei Benyuan personally went out to welcome Bai Chang, or rather, the earliest Lu Yue of Fortune Street, later Lu Qing, the founding emperor of the Lu Dynasty, and now the number one sword immortal of Northern Juzhou.

The old Daoist, with a complex expression, performed a Daoist greeting.

Bai Chang smiled and said, "Greetings, Senior Brother Wang."

True persons do not reveal themselves; those who reveal themselves are not true persons. Both were unregistered disciples of Master Three Mountains Nine Marquises, and both had been in the small town of Li Zhu Cave Heaven. But few knew of this to this day.

In the old small town, many liked to play chess. Rich families on Fortune Street and Peach Leaf Alley often enjoyed a game for pleasure. But there might have been only three chess masters: besides the Li family head of Fortune Street, there was Wei Benyuan of Peach Leaf Alley, the head of the Wei family, recognized as the "big landlord" of the town. These two old men, who had similar temperaments and deep friendship, also had a hidden identity: they were both accomplished cultivators. In the extremely cultivation-unfriendly Li Zhu Cave Heaven, they surprisingly managed to cultivate to the Golden Core Earth Immortal realm.

As for the third master, it was naturally the gatekeeper Zheng Dafeng.

When Chen Ping'an was earning money by delivering letters, he had delivered two letters to the Wei family at the corner of Peach Leaf Alley. The old man had even invited the boy into the house to rest and drink water, but the boy politely declined. Wei Benyuan also once reminded Chen Ping'an to sit under the locust tree when free, saying that if he found locust leaves or branches, he could take them home to repel ants, centipedes, and such. The boy silently remembered and bowed to the old man from the steps to thank him.

In his hometown, Wei Benyuan often played chess with Li Xisheng, giving him several books of chess records and repeatedly chanting those chess principles.

Li Xisheng and Li Baoping's grandfather had preferred talismanic arts in his early years. After Li Zhu Cave Heaven shattered and fell to the ground, the suppression of the great Dao on qi refiners disappeared, and the old man quickly advanced to the Nascent Soul Realm.

Wei Benyuan, who liked refining pills, could never break through the Golden Core bottleneck. Here, in this paradise-like place, he continued to refine pills, as he had for over twenty years. The old man was not in a hurry. Later, Li Baoping traveled here and visited him. She brought two talismans from her older brother Li Xisheng for Grandpa Wei: a Elixir Formation Talisman and a Mud Ball Talisman, both made of green Daoist paper. The former had a talisman core like a blessed land, flowing with golden clouds; the latter was like a lotus altar surrounded by purple qi. These were a gift of thanks for the old man's help in protecting her path. Wei Benyuan could transfer them to the exceptional "Tao Ya" to help her successfully form her golden core and smoothly advance to the Upper Five Realms from there.

Bai Chang glanced at Tao Ya, who was still in the dark, "Senior Brother Wei, what a pity."

This was a double entendre. First, it meant that Tao Ya missed out on the blessings of the small town, failing to stand out among the younger generation and become the biggest winner. According to the arrangements of the old man in the back courtyard of the Yang Family Pharmacy, among the young people in the town during that "Sixty-Year Great Examination," the demon race was bound to occupy a seat. It seemed that this woman, Tao Ya, was the most promising candidate.

Second, it also meant that Tao Ya failed to take over the Fox Kingdom, which was like passing by her family's door without entering. She couldn't recover her past life's memories or inherit the ruined Qingqiu ruins, thus failing to become the rightful fox master of the world.

The old Daoist looked open and unburdened. He stroked his beard and smiled, "Nothing to pity. It's merely the mindful losing to the mindful. At least the fat water doesn't flow into outsiders' fields."

Tao Ya listened in confusion. However, the phrase "mindful person" she had only heard once before today, and it left a deep impression.

She remembered that time Grandpa Wei said she and the letter-delivering boy were both "mindful people."

Wei Benyuan smiled, "Blessings in the world vary in size. The most suitable is the best. Tao Ya girl has her current fortune, which is enough. As for her future achievements on the great Dao, she just needs to take it step by step."

In the Three Thousand Words of the Dao Ancestor, there is a saying, "One who possesses abundant virtue is comparable to a newborn babe." The Second Sage also had a similar saying: "One who does not lose his innocent heart is called a great person."

Bai Chang asked, "Senior Brother, how did you recover your memory?"

Wei Benyuan smiled slightly, "While refining pills in the mountains, there was nothing else. As I refined, I remembered."

Bai Chang was amused. When fellow disciples from the same lineage meet, why should they be so reserved?

Wei Benyuan, the head of the Wei clan, was the "lesser self." The "true self" was Wang Min, the ancient enlightened true person with the Dao name Boyang.

It was similar to the blind Daoist Jia Sheng, the coachman Bai Mang, and the scholar Chen Zhuoliu, all three of whom were the "lesser selves" of the dragon-slayer Chen Qingliu.

But there were some differences between Wang Min and Chen Qingliu. For a Daoist, the lesser self might actually be the greater person, while the true self of the true body might be a lesser person.

As one of the unregistered disciples of Master Three Mountains Nine Marquises, the Daoist Wang Min was said to be a true person of high virtue who loved to travel to the five capitals bearing precepts. He once followed his master's decree to go overseas to seek immortals.

However, he once had a debate with Zouzi and lost. Wang Min, who aspired not to be confined by yin-yang and the Five Elements, lost utterly. His person and his Dao heart both sank into the mud, unable to extricate themselves.

The debate on the mountaintop seemed illusory, but the danger far exceeded the seemingly life-risking magical duels among great cultivators.

The price of losing that debate was that Daoist Wang Min had to remain in Li Zhu Cave Heaven, life after life, trapped as if in a painting.

Wei Benyuan sighed, "Actually, it wasn't a wasted trip. Amidst the rolling red dust, cultivating the spirit, nourishing the will in nothingness, embracing simplicity, preserving purity, only following the Dao."

Bai Chang laughed, "Sure enough, refining pills and drawing talismans are not as good as practicing the sword."

Wei Benyuan glared, "How do you speak to your senior brother?"

Bai Chang said, "We're both unregistered."

Wei Benyuan asked, "Do you regret leaving your hometown?"

Bai Chang shook his head, "Women fear marrying the wrong man, men fear entering the wrong profession. If you can avoid getting on the gambling table, don't."

Wei Benyuan nodded and pulled Bai Chang into the study. On an unusually large desk were piled long bamboo strips, coiled like a green snake.

Bai Chang glanced at them and quickly sensed the mystery. The bamboo pieces were almost identical in shape, but each was engraved with different numbers, from one to over nine hundred.

Bai Chang asked, "Why aren't they arranged in order starting from one?"

Looking more closely, Bai Chang could confirm that the numbers on the bamboo were chaotic, with no discernible pattern.

Wei Benyuan stroked his beard and said seriously, "This is a difficult problem set for me by Senior Brother Qingjun. He only gave one hint: he asked me why I occasionally feel a sense of déjà vu about certain scenes."

Bai Chang pondered for a moment, staring intently at the densely packed bamboo strips on the table, and slowly said, "Does Senior Brother Qingjun mean that the flow of the river of time is not unidirectional, so there is no such thing as going with or against the current? Suppose each piece of bamboo is a 'me' at a different moment. Most people think that the me of today is the continuation of the me of yesterday, and the me of tomorrow is the extension of the me of today. Cultivators, with a bit more boldness, only assume that life is a journey against the current, turning the pages backward. But according to Senior Brother Qingjun's explanation, the journey of life is completely disordered. The me of yesterday might be neighbors with the me of the day after tomorrow, and the me of the day after tomorrow might be neighbors with the me of a certain day two years ago. This explains the matter of foresight. The sage's saying, 'Things have roots and branches, events have beginnings and ends; knowing what comes first and what follows brings one close to the Dao,' then has a place to land. However, this raises two problems that must be solved. First, past lives, present lives, and future lives, both unified and scattered, are indeed the unchanging and unpredictable great Dao? Second is our memory..."

Wei Benyuan quickly interrupted Bai Chang's words and sincerely sighed, "The sword path is indeed a shortcut."

Wu Yuan was the first county magistrate in Huaihuang County's history, the second official position besides the kiln superintendent. Fu Yu, a scion from a family serving as a county official, had accompanied Magistrate Wu to Fortune Street and Peach Leaf Alley, where they encountered many setbacks and endured much frustration. For instance, the Ministry of Rites had sent a secret document to the county government, requiring Wu Yuan to develop the old porcelain mountain within the territory into a Wenchang Pavilion and convert the Immortal Grave into a Martial Temple. The old porcelain mountain belonged to the Liu clan of Fortune Street, and the Wei family occupied the most land in the Immortal Grave. Wu Yuan failed to accomplish either task. This was one of the reasons Wu Yuan later left in dismay. There could be many reasons: the four clans and ten surnames were too cohesive and exclusionary, the strong dragon cannot suppress the local snake, and so on. But the Great Li Dynasty valued achievements; if something wasn't done, it wasn't done. Only results mattered. Hence, during the capital inspection, the Ministry of Personnel rated Wu Yuan very poorly.

Fu Yu once complained for Magistrate Wu: why were the thresholds here higher than Alley of Intentions and Bamboo Flute Street in the capital? Later, it was Yuan Zhengding, who was as busy as a spinning top every day, and the self-proclaimed diligent, never-drinking superintendent Cao Gengxin, two scions of the Pillar State surnames, who coordinated to pry open the ironclad unity of the four clans and ten surnames, helping the court truly break through the situation there. Both of them started their official careers in the old Dragon Prefecture. Now, in terms of reputation, they are on par; in terms of career, both have advanced smoothly.

The children's pleasures in the small town included listening to the elders tell old stories in the cool shade of the old locust tree, which spread open like a large umbrella. They would wait for their elders to lift a bamboo basket containing a watermelon from the Iron Lock Well, then run across the stone arch bridge over the creek. The children had long been accustomed to the rust-covered old sword strip. They would fish at Green Ox Back, or strip off their pants in the summer and jump naked into the deep pool, then go to the old porcelain mountain to pick and choose. Stepping on the ground would produce a creaking sound. The broken characters and images on the porcelain fragments seemed to speak or sing. They played hide-and-seek in the alleys, flew kites at the Immortal Grave, caught crickets, had snowball fights and built snowmen in winter, and played house—pretending to marry, carrying a sedan chair with hands. When smoke rose from chimneys, the voices of elders shouting from their doorways for someone to come home for dinner echoed one after another.

As they grew older, boys with strength either followed their fathers to work in the fields, but most went to apprentice at the dragon kilns outside the town, eventually becoming kiln workers. Those with good talent and skill could, through perseverance, hope to become the master of a dragon kiln, earning double wages. The kiln owner might even have to defer to them. In the small town, this was the pinnacle of success. By middle age, they would take on apprentices, and when those apprentices took apprentices, they would become old men.

And the girls who picked wild vegetables by the water's edge with woven bamboo baskets might take off their embroidered shoes, leaving a series of shallow footprints on the soft soil between the fields with their clean, pale feet. Then, one day, they would marry and have children of their own. The children might study in a village school for a few years, then help with farm work, herd cattle, drive ducks, or go to the dragon kilns to fire porcelain for the legendary Emperor.

In the old small town, the five biggest visible opportunities were closely related to the Five Elements theory created by the Yin-Yang master Zouzi of the Central Plains.

The prince of the Great Sui Yiyang Gao clan, Gao Xuan, obtained a golden carp imbued with Dao meaning, with an extra Dragon King Basket thrown in. It came from Li Er. It symbolized weaponry.

Zhao Yao of Fortune Street, formerly the book boy of the schoolteacher Qi Jingchun, acquired stationery items: a wooden dragon-shaped paperweight. It was a family heirloom, with the difficulty lying in dotting the eyes.

Then there was the little loach that Gu Can of Mud Vase Alley kept in his water jar. It was given to Gu Can by Chen Ping'an, who had fished it out of a ditch in the fields. Gu Can was then just a little kid with a runny nose.

Ruan Xiu's fire dragon bracelet. She had forged it herself by the stream in her family's shop. The young girl with a ponytail, wearing a green dress, would swing her arm and strike the hammer repeatedly. The sparks flew and scattered beautifully, like a star map. Eventually, it condensed into a bright red bracelet shaped like a dragon biting its tail, circling around the girl's wrist. It seemed "heaven-made."

The four-legged snake in the courtyard of Song Jixin and his maid Zhi Gua had voluntarily gone to Mud Vase Alley to acknowledge Song Jixin as its master. It was naturally afraid of Wang Zhu and dared not approach the neighboring straw-sandaled boy. This was because Wang Zhu was the incarnation of the last true dragon in the world, and Chen Ping'an had a secret pact with her. Naturally, the creature dared not act rashly.

Later, at the Book Bamboo Lake, the water dragon Tan Xue, which grew from the "little loach," harbored fear towards Chen Ping'an. At that time, the girl dared not rely on her cultivation to kill Chen Ping'an for three reasons. First, in a sense, Chen Ping'an was her first master. However, she never had the chance to "settle down" at the ancestral home in Mud Vase Alley, completing a formal process like signing and stamping a land deed. She was soon given to Gu Can. Second, she knew very well Chen Ping'an's status in her master Gu Can's heart. But most importantly, Chen Ping'an had signed an equal contract with the true dragon Wang Zhu. Provoking Chen Ping'an meant provoking Wang Zhu. In the unseen order of things, as a creature belonging to the true dragon lineage, Tan Xue naturally dared not offend her superior.

And back then, when Chen Ping'an, whose life was as thin as paper and could not retain fortune, managed to fish up this "loach," it was related to that box of rouge buried in the alley outside his ancestral home. By virtue of this, he possessed the great Dao of affinity with water.

Metal, wood, water, fire, and earth — the Five Elements both generate and overcome each other, each having its own support and suppression.

But when they obtained these five greatest blessings on the surface, they effectively lost their chance to become the "one."

The cycle of the heavenly Dao has no thin or thick; it cannot allow someone to have all the advantages.

This was one of the bottom-level rules set by Old Man Yang of the pharmacy.

Moreover, almost every young person in the town had different methods of fluctuating incense and winning or losing.

For example, Hu Feng. His grandfather was Cai Daohuang, who ran the wedding shop. He was the master of the matchmaker's marriage shop, once managing all marriages under heaven.

Because Cai Daohuang was one of the surviving gods, he might have been one of the first to sense the scheme of Qingtong Celestial Lord.

Without overstepping the rules or offending that one of the twelve high gods, Cai Daohuang did his best to let Hu Feng take the lead, planning for his descendants. When Hu Feng was young, Cai Daohuang repeatedly instructed him not to pick up money on the ground, not to ask for help when encountering problems. If he had to ask for help and incurred a debt of gratitude, he must repay it as soon as possible, and it was best to repay more than owed. However, he could ask for more "happy money," such as blocking the road to ask for a red envelope on someone's wedding day. But he must not forget to say a few auspicious words, be kind to others, and build good relationships. If a neighbor had a funeral, he should help. If someone needed to keep vigil, the old man told Hu Feng to stay in the mourning hall all night sincerely, not to fall asleep, and only go home when dawn came. He must not give up halfway; otherwise, it was better not to help at all and not enter the mourning hall from the start.

On a certain day each year, the old man would take Hu Feng to the Immortal Grave to kowtow. This was a routine that never changed, rain or shine.

But the old man did not know that the moment Hu Feng obtained that cicada slough and took it for himself, he had already stepped off the gambling table.

Before that, Hu Feng's incense had been high enough to rank among the top three. If he had continued step by step, Hu Feng might have reached the top.

Of the Li clan of Fortune Street, Zhu Lu had a huge advantage from the start. But at some point, she lost all her bets to Li Baozhen.

The maidservant Tao Ya of the Wei clan on Peach Leaf Alley had been steadily increasing her bets.

A certain Lu clan member, when he nearly beat Liu Xianyang to death in a strange alley, had extremely high incense.

The kiln fires of the thirty-six dragon kilns. An old porcelain mountain. The peach trees on both sides of Peach Leaf Alley. Dragon Beard River and Iron Talisman River.

As for the archway commonly known as "Crab Arch," it was actually one of the Nine Grand Suppression Towers of the Righteous Qi World, the true Sword Suppression Tower.

The mountain ranges wound around, eventually forming a coiled dragon shape, its torso unable to stretch. The path called Riding Dragon Lane, located at the top of the steps, had two small pools nearby. The town elders said they were a pair of dragon eyes. According to this saying, Riding Dragon Lane, with its one hundred and twenty-two steps, was a section of the dragon's neck. The street next to the pools was called "Furnace Tip" by the common folk.

Among the dragon kilns outside the town, one called Bao Xi Kiln had a master surnamed Yao, whose name was unknown. He had no relatives in the town. The old man was rigid and unsmiling, extremely strict with his apprentices. Liu Xianyang, who joined the kiln later, became an apprentice earlier than the straw-sandaled boy from Mud Vase Alley. Moreover, Chen Ping'an never met Yao's standards and remained a learner rather than a formal disciple.

"Master Yao," "Medicine Buddha."

East Treasure Bottle Continent, the Lord of the Eastern Pure Lapis Lazuli World.

When crafting a divine statue, whether clay or cast, with or without gilding and painting, the face-opening was very important. Additionally, there were customs of placing gold, silver, scriptures, or the names of benefactors inside the statue.

There was an orphan from Mud Vase Alley who often ran to the Immortal Grave and kowtowed tirelessly before the three Bodhisattva statues. This child carried a basket on his back to gather herbs in the mountains, wearing out pairs of crudely woven straw sandals he made himself. In those days, the child, who faced scorn and harsh words every day, felt that Bodhisattvas were easy to find, but mountain herbs were hard to come by.

Many years later, everything had come to light. A middle-aged monk visited this place for the first time. He glanced at the completely renovated Immortal Grave and let out a Buddhist chant: "The power of vows is inexhaustible."

Now, on the Jiling Peak of Fallen Mountain, on the desk in the first floor of that bamboo building, there were several brush holders made of different materials, both porcelain and wood. They were filled with bamboo bookmarks, on which were carved beautiful words the owner had seen or heard during his travels. These were all contents that the mountain owner genuinely admired: simple truths, elegant poems, old sayings heard from hearsay.

The small book box Cui Cheng had left for Nuan Shu was filled with Buddhist scriptures. This was also why the old man had taken Little Black Charcoal on a journey to Lotus Flower Blessed Land and finally chose to stay at the Heart Phase Monastery in the capital of Southern Garden Kingdom. In his declining years, the old man had sincerely turned to Buddhism.

To the southeast of the small town, at that Immortal Grave where most divine statues were dilapidated and gradually merged with the earth, going back and forth from dust to dust, this place was later funded by the Great Li court to be rebuilt into a high-standard Martial Temple. Inside the "bellies" of the three divine statues, there were both common street copper coins and gold essence offering coins.

Cao Qinglang returned to the residence with the well. Cui Dongshan smiled and asked, "Went smoothly?"

Cao Qinglang smiled, "The Emperor agreed very readily. She also asked me to bring a message to Senior Sister Pei: come visit her when you have time."

Cui Dongshan asked an irrelevant question, "Do you think it's harder to be rejected by everyone or to be accepted by everyone?"

Cao Qinglang thought for a moment, "If you add 'everyone,' then both are very hard."

Cui Dongshan asked again, "Then take away 'everyone.' Back then, in the county town, our teacher and... say Zhao Yao, with neither of them aware, without any changes to external circumstances, one was accepted by more people, the other rejected by more people. Which was harder?"

Cao Qinglang thought seriously for a moment and said, "Relatively speaking, Zhao Yao had it harder."

Cui Dongshan nodded and gave a thumbs up, "No wonder you're a breath of fresh air in our Fallen Mountain tradition!"

Cao Qinglang asked in confusion, "Little Senior Brother, why do you ask?"

Cui Dongshan pursed his lips and said nothing, just muttering, cursing the old bastard for not being a good thing, even deceiving his "own self" when he was ruthless.

Cao Qinglang was used to it.

Cui Dongshan suddenly asked, "When did Teacher start to approve of himself?"

Cao Qinglang looked blank and shook his head, "How could I know such a thing?"

Cui Dongshan imitated Mi Li and scratched his face.

How difficult it was to make a thorough pessimist optimistic, to make a person accustomed to self-denial approve of himself. It was no less difficult than ascending to heaven.

Back then, at the Green Ox Back stone cliff by the river, it was rare for Old Man Yang, who lived in the back courtyard of the pharmacy, and the white-robed youth who shared a soul with Xiu Hu Cui Chan, to have a frank conversation. On the surface, it seemed that the identity, realm, and foundation all belonged to National Teacher Cui Chan, the main one, while the white-robed youth, who had not yet named himself Cui Dongshan, was the auxiliary. This meant that Cui Chan's mental cultivation and computational ability on the chessboard must be far above the white-robed youth.

But Old Man Yang asked a very interesting question at the time, "Even the Cui Chan in the capital doesn't know?"

The white-robed youth gave an even more sincere answer, "That me probably doesn't know anymore."

Regarding the Dao of the soul, both of them were grandmasters among grandmasters. The number of great cultivators across several worlds qualified to discuss this with them could be counted on one hand.

This question and answer actually revealed a lot of heavenly secrets.

It meant that before that, Cui Chan had already begun to lay his plans, deliberately deceiving himself and suppressing his own calculation ability to hide his actions from the heavens.

Otherwise, he could never have deceived the Three Patriarchs, nor Wen Hai Zhou Mi of the Barren Wastes.

After that, forced by the "ruler" of Old Cultivator, Cui Dongshan, along with Yu Lu and Xie Xie, stubbornly clung to Chen Ping'an like sticky candy and shamelessly acknowledged him as Teacher. From then on, the Wen Sheng lineage's generational hierarchy was disrupted by one rank. At the same time, Cui Dongshan absolutely refused to follow in the old bastard's footsteps and become the senior fellow apprentice again. So he made an agreement with Pei Qian: you be your senior sister, I'll be my little senior brother. Each has their own rank.

On Shenxiu Mountain, the ancestral mountain of the Dragon Spring Sword Sect, Dong Gu and several other direct disciples sensed a fleeting, extraordinary aura there and guessed the truth. They hurried over from their own peaks, full of joy. However, knowing their master's stubborn temper, they only offered a few congratulations. Saying more would only displease him.

Ruan Qiong walked out of the smithy, exuding a lofty and condensed immortal aura. Faced with his disciples' congratulations, the short, stocky man said nothing. Liu Xianyang hurried over from Youyi Peak, "Ruan Blacksmith, you've reached Immortal Realm already?"

Ruan Qiong hummed in acknowledgment.

The disciple asked very casually; the master answered lightly. The tradition of the Dragon Spring Sword Sect was indeed quite different from that of a certain neighboring mountain.

Liu Xianyang asked cautiously, "Master, what about this sect leader position?"

Earlier, he had voluntarily stepped down because master and disciple were on the same level. Ruan Blacksmith probably felt thin-skinned and didn't want to sit on the toilet and not shit. Now that he had advanced, he wouldn't go back on his word and take it back, would he?

Ruan Qiong said impatiently, "Continue being the sect leader. When you feel you are unworthy of the position, then give it to some Jade Pure Realm."

His advancement to Immortal Realm was due to a transaction. In his early years, Ruan Qiong had given away his own Dragon-Slaying Cliff in exchange for an ancient sword path related to forging.

However, limited by his innate talent and comprehension, Ruan Qiong only now broke through the Jade Pure bottleneck. It might have been different for Liu Xianyang or Xie Ling.

As for this secret sword technique, Ruan Qiong already had a plan for who to teach it to in the future: first Xu Xiaoqiao, then Li Shenyuan. In short, it would stay on Boil Sea Peak.

Liu Xianyang immediately squinted at Xie Ling, implying, "Little junior brother, you better not have any rebellious thoughts. Be careful, your senior brother might purge the sect."

Xie Ling was a bit flustered. As one of the only two Jade Pure Realms in the sect, he had no interest in being sect leader. He quickly said, "Senior Brother Liu should focus on cultivating Li Shenyuan of Boil Sea Peak. I think that boy has the makings of a sect leader."

Ruan Qiong nodded. That boy's aptitude was passable and his nature was excellent, worthy of great responsibility.

Xu Xiaoqiao was the current peak master of Boil Sea Peak. She smiled brightly, a bit surprised that her master thought so highly of her newly accepted direct disciple.

Liu Xianyang sighed in relief and rubbed his hands, "This calls for a feast, a good meal!"

Ruan Qiong started to dismiss them. He walked towards the cliff, hands behind his back, and said calmly, "Wait until you prepare the feast. All of you, go back." Then he remembered something, slowed his pace, and without turning his head, said, "Since we've moved out of Chuzhou, Xianyang, you can inform the Great Li court later. The old rule that qi refiners and martial artists without sword talismans are not allowed to fly in the air over the mountains and towns can be abolished. Otherwise, people will gossip behind our backs, saying the Dragon Spring Sword Sect's foundation is shallow but its airs are big. The Dragon Spring Sword Sect may be poor, but it's not scraping by on the income from a few sword talismans."

Xie Ling dared not touch this sensitive topic and decided to stay out of it. Dong Gu and Xu Xiaoqiao exchanged glances and dared not express opinions either. Xu Xiaoqiao was mainly responsible for casting sword talismans for the Chuzhou government and Huaihuang County government.

Liu Xianyang nodded, "I'll first notify the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Justice. Then I'll teach Chen Ping'an a lesson and remind Fallen Mountain to tone it down a bit. Their limelight has already overshadowed me and the Dragon Spring Sword Sect, making Master Ruan unhappy. Tell them to take it easy."

Xie Ling had a complicated expression. Nowadays, few dared to mock Mountain Lord Chen like that. Liu Xianyang was truly bold.

Ruan Qiong, who had walked away, laughed and said, "As a Great Li Suppression, whether chief or lowest, by custom they are under the National Teacher. Who will give whom a hard time is still uncertain."

Liu Xianyang was speechless. Ruan Blacksmith, who used to be a man of few words, could now speak like this. It seemed he had indeed been holding a grudge, and not a small one.

Watching the figures of his disciples flying away from Shenxiu Mountain on their swords, Ruan Qiong squatted on the cliff, looking down at the large characters written on the steep cliff face.

The above characters, from top to bottom, read: "Heaven Opens Divine Beauty."

From bottom to top: "Beauty Divine Opens Heaven."

Ruan Qiong's first true disciple had not been Dong Gu, the later head disciple of the Dragon Spring Sword Sect, but a Nascent Soul cultivator still diligently training his sword skills at Wind Snow Temple. In fact, the group of disciples Ruan Qiong had taken at Wind Snow Temple in his early years were almost all mid-five realm cultivators. At that time, Ruan Qiong had not yet requested to descend the mountain to replace Qi Jingchun as the military saint stationed in Li Zhu Cave Heaven. Later, when Ruan Qiong felt that this mission was fraught with danger and uncertainty, he did not let them follow him down the mountain. Even later, when Ruan Qiong left the Wind Snow Temple registry and established the Dragon Spring Sword Sect in the old Dragon Prefecture, he still did not let those disciples enter the Dragon Spring Sword Sect.

Ruan Qiong always had a huge regret in his heart. Among those disciples, there was one on whom he had placed great hopes. This disciple was named Liu Jingzhuang. His cultivation aptitude was very ordinary. At Wind Snow Temple, his breakthroughs were slow. But the boy had an excellent temperament, which suited Ruan Qiong very well, so much so that Ruan Qiong felt he could be his closed-door disciple. However, in the end, this person not only severed the master-disciple relationship with Ruan Qiong but also left the Wind Snow Temple registry, disappearing without a trace, as if he had never existed on Treasure Bottle Continent.

Liu Jingzhuang was a military cultivator of the Wind Snow Temple lineage. He worked diligently, endured hardship without complaint, and followed Ruan Qiong in forging iron and swords. In his spare time, he liked to use yarrow stalks for divination. Later, the tools and furniture Ruan Qiong brought to his smithy in Li Zhu Cave Heaven had all been purchased piece by piece by Liu Jingzhuang in the early years.

But this ordinary qi refiner's most admired cultivator on the Righteous Qi peaks was actually Liu Qi, widely recognized as the most talented in cultivation — a genius among geniuses who turned the Tendon Refining Realm into the Retention Realm.

Throughout his life of cultivation and sword forging, Ruan Qiong had few regrets. If he really counted, there were only two. The first was neglecting Liu Jingzhuang's Dao heart.

According to the Wind Snow Temple records, Liu Jingzhuang's ancestry could be traced back to the Liu clan imperial family of the Divine Water Kingdom, which was the kingdom where Wei Bo had been the Northern Marchmount Mountain Lord.

Ruan Qiong turned his head and looked at Cloudy Mountain. As the smallest continent in the Righteous Qi World, Treasure Bottle Continent had only one military general in history who entered the Central Plains Martial Temple. However, his accompanying worship was very short-lived. This person was Zhang Ping, a famous general of the Divine Water Kingdom, later known as Gao Ping, the City God of Chuzhou City. Zhang Ping and Wei Bo — one had once enjoyed the incense of the world as a martial temple attendant spirit but was reduced to the Earth God of Mantou Mountain near Red Candle Town; the other, a dignified mountain lord, had his golden body smashed and sunk in water, then partially fished out and reduced to the Earth God of Qidun Mountain. They sank together with the national fortune of the Divine Water Kingdom, becoming the lowest-level officials in the landscape bureaucracy, former colleagues who could see each other just by lifting an eyelid. A pair of real brothers in misfortune.

As the Great Li's Northern Marchmount, Cloudy Mountain's jurisdiction included the Iron Talisman River.

The first Water God officially enshrined by the court was a palace maid named Yang Hua, who had served Great Li Empress Nan Zan.

Now she was the Marquis of Eternal Spring on Qi Crossing.

Life drifts like dust on the road; poplar flowers touch the water, myriad floating duckweeds.

Back then, the Divine Water Kingdom flourished in literary talent, especially famous for its farewell poems in the northern half of the continent. They often used objects to express ambitions. "Poplar flowers" meant willow catkins. According to etymological dictionaries, "poplar" refers to the part of the willow that rises.

Ruan Qiong was still unsure whether Yang Hua was the reincarnation of someone from the old Divine Water Kingdom or whether his disciple Liu Jingzhuang had any connection with Yang Hua.

Apart from sword forging, everything was a mess.

Liu Jingzhuang, Ruan Qiong's favorite disciple, had watched his senior and junior brothers continuously advance in realm, especially after Ruan Qiong himself reached the Upper Five Realms. Unbeknownst to anyone, Liu Jingzhuang's realm had fallen to the bottom. Then, without warning, during a meditation retreat, he seemed to have gone mad. If not for Ruan Xiu sensing something wrong and saving him, this Liu Senior Brother, who would have come out of retreat with a completely changed temperament, would have caused a catastrophe with unimaginable consequences. After that, Liu Jingzhuang, believing he had no hope in cultivation, left Wind Snow Temple in dejection. Ruan Qiong didn't stop him, knowing he couldn't.

Later, in the small town, Ruan Qiong once explained to his daughter why he only let the Mud Vase Alley boy work as a temporary helper.

The reason was that he didn't want to see a second Senior Brother Liu.

This was also the real reason Ruan Qiong was unwilling to take Chen Ping'an as a formal apprentice back then.

In recent years, Ruan Qiong sometimes wondered: if he had thought a little less and not been afraid of making a mistake, would Xiu Xiu have stayed, and would Li Liu have ended up following Zhou Mi to ascend to heaven?

Ruan Qiong pulled out a flask of wine, a local brew he had bought from the small town long ago. The stubbly man took a swig.

Regret cannot be eaten, but it can be drunk like wine.

Those four large characters carved on the cliff,

from top to bottom: "Heaven Opens Divine Beauty."

From bottom to top: "Beauty Divine Opens Heaven."

He remembered that young Daoist who told fortunes had once given Xiu Xiu a divination.

The oracle was an ancient saying that seemed deliberately obscure: "Do not open the heaven of man, but open the heaven of heaven. Opening heaven gives birth to virtue; opening man gives birth to thievery."

Ruan Qiong remembered the last time he ate with Xiu Xiu. She casually mentioned something: she had seen Senior Brother Liu.

Ruan Qiong didn't ask more.

But later, Wen Hai Zhou Mi and Ruan Xiu left together to ascend to heaven.

Huaihuang County had once had six hundred households, with large and small streets and alleys crisscrossing. There were actually quite a few alleys narrower than Mud Vase Alley. If you wanted to go from Mud Vase Alley to fetch water at the Lock Dragon Well, you could take a shortcut. That shortcut would pass through this place: two walls facing each other like a confrontation, low eaves, sunlight never reached it, dark and gloomy. When Chen Ping'an was young, he often visited this place, especially in the freezing winter when the ground in the dark alley was icy, and no one was around. He would place the bucket at one end of the alley, push it forward, then step back a few paces, take a running start, and slide sideways through the alley, finally meeting up with the bucket full of water at the other end.

Later, Chen Ping'an took Chen Lingjun for a walk in the small town and passed by this place. At the entrance of the alley was a well, small and shallow, only enough for a few nearby households to draw water. Chen Ping'an had once been mistaken for a water thief and got scolded.

Beside the well was a barren vegetable patch. While chatting and walking, Chen Lingjun had taken more than a dozen steps before suddenly realizing something.

Could it be that Mountain Lord had actually stolen vegetables from that plot when he was a child? Otherwise, how could he know the taste of those vegetables was astringent and woody?

And at the time, Chen Ping'an hadn't denied it; he just asked the green-robed boy not to tell anyone.

That was an admission that he had indeed stolen things when he was young.

Back then, in the night, a black cat often roamed near Apricot Blossom Alley. It was pitch black, hard to tell if it was a house cat or a stray. It walked lightly, silently, on the ridge of the Yang Family Pharmacy roof.

It looked through the skylight into the backyard at the old man who was breathing clouds and mist.

Old Man Yang said, "Fellow Daoist Zhici, since you're here, why not come in for a chat? Outside the skylight, words cannot be hidden."

The black cat, addressed as "Fellow Daoist Zhici" by the old man, first shook its head gently, then nodded like a human, and jumped down onto a long bench under the eaves.

That old blind man of the Barren Wastes' Ten Thousand Mountains had contributed greatly to the Heaven Ascension Campaign. He was dissatisfied with the subsequent infighting, feeling that the world turned upside down was not much better. Deeply disappointed, as a human cultivator, he chose to stay in the Barren Wastes world not far from the Sword Qi Great Wall. He once gouged out his own eyes and threw them into the vast mountains and rivers beyond the Barren Wastes world. They turned into two wild cats, one black and one white, roaming the world, coldly watching the changes of the times.

However, in the past ten thousand years, the old blind man had not taken back these two "fields of vision." He was too lazy to look directly, out of sight, out of mind.

One of those black cats now often followed Ma Kuxuan. The other white cat was supposed to stay in the Azure Underworld, but somehow ended up running to the Guan Dao Temple in the Eastern Sea.

The wild cat had just come from that alley to this place. A skinny, charcoal-black child had taken advantage of the darkness to steal some vegetables and return to Mud Vase Alley. His legs were weak, and he was drenched in sweat.

Old Man Yang seemed to know what it had seen and said calmly, "Finally, there's a bit of human flavor."

The wild cat crouched on the long bench, using its paw to groom its shiny fur. It raised its head, its jet-black eyes staring straight at the old man.

Old Man Yang just squinted, staring at the scene on the ground inside the skylight. Countless sticks of incense, each one representing someone's fortune in the small town. The bottom of the well was covered with incense ash, layer upon layer, year after year.

But in the eyes of the black cat, there was nothing inside the skylight.

It put down its paw, pressed it against the bench, and used its eyes to question this old man, who had once managed the ascension of male earthly immortals in the human world.

Qi Jingchun chose his book boy Zhao Yao?

Not necessarily. It might be the opposite.

Not necessarily? Otherwise, why would Qi Jingchun have started instructing Zhao Yao so early, telling that child to pay attention to forming good connections in the ordinary?

Qi Jingchun knows he cannot see through my rules, and he is unwilling to delve into this matter, fearing it might spoil things.

Did you choose this orphan from Mud Vase Alley?

No. His fate was as thin as paper; he could not bear it. It would not be worth it for me. Believe it or not, Fellow Daoist Zhici, from the moment I taught him that breathing technique, he had already taken one foot off the gambling table.

Is there a "but"?

Yes, "but" heaven does not abandon those who strive tirelessly. This gambling table I set up is not about cultivators climbing mountains. It has no requirements for aptitude or background, so there is no high or low. In the old man's vision inside the skylight, the sticks of incense inserted in the ash heap flickered, the incense smoke rose slowly. Some incense was about to burn out, and the smoke was very low; some incense seemed just lit, yet the smoke was very high, only a little short of the skylight opening. Some incense smoke dissipated and could not stay, falling into other incense; some smoke scattered but remained organized, like canopies, like shields from wind and rain, sheltering certain incense fires that were dimly lit or half-dark; some smoke condensed into a single line, rising straight upward; some incense tilted to the side, pressing against nearby incense, about to extinguish the latter. Scenes varied, countless.

Heavy rain. Song Jixin, returning to Mud Vase Alley, was blocked by a skinny, much shorter peer who reached out and grabbed his neck. The tall youth leaned against the wall, utterly helpless. The straw-sandaled boy's eyes were red, his fingers like hooks around his neighbor's neck. He stared at Song Jixin, who had tricked him into breaking his oath. He hated this peer who was well-fed and clothed yet still insisted on harming others. In the heavy rain, both boys had tears on their faces—one of hatred and anger, the other of fear and regret.

At Bao Xi Kiln, one day, the sissy in charge of keeping watch over the kiln fire at night sat alone on a stool. A sudden rainstorm came. The man was so absorbed in watching the rain that when he came to, he was horrified to find the kiln fire had gone out. This meant nearly half a year's production of the Bao Xi Kiln was ruined. From Master Yao to all the kiln workers, everyone would blame him for his negligence. Moreover, after the incident, the officials of the Kiln Affairs Supervisory Office would investigate and hold him accountable. This timid man named Su Han, who had caused such a huge blunder, was so frightened that he ran away immediately, not daring to tell anyone. He fled deep into the mountains. The torrential rain pelted his face and body, each raindrop feeling like a lashing.

All the strong men from the kiln chased after him, conducting a large-scale search of the mountain. When the rain stopped, they lit torches one by one.

Liu Xianyang, wearing a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat, held a torch. He endured for a long time before he couldn't help saying to the old man beside him, "Old Yao, how about letting it go?"

Old Yao walked on the muddy mountain path, leaving footprints with every step. He said a strange thing to the tall youth, "Let it go? How? Put it on your head?"

Liu Xianyang grinned, "That works. I'll owe it, and I'll help him pay it back later." After a moment of silence, he added, "Chen Ping'an and I will pay it together."

That's called sharing joys and sorrows. He was good at making money, and Chen Ping'an was good at saving money. He believed the two of them could eventually repay this mess.

After all, it was a life. That sissy had a sharp tongue and had even received a slap from Liu Xianyang. But on closer inspection, he hadn't done anything truly heinous.

With this attitude tonight, wouldn't they beat him to death if they caught him? Old Yao was notoriously stubborn and unyielding.

Old Yao muttered in a low voice, "They all bring it on themselves. In this life, people are meant to repay debts. They can't avoid it. The sooner they finish, the better."

Liu Xianyang didn't hear clearly. Even if he had, being simple-hearted at that time, he wouldn't have taken it to heart. In the pitch-black night, a sudden flash of lightning and thunder. The panicked Su Han, using the light bestowed by heaven, stared blankly at the skinny boy who emerged from behind a tree. The boy silently shook his head and pointed as if showing him a way out.

Poor people with no backbone like to bully those poorer than themselves. That probably described Su Han.

But the one who let him go that night was the very boy he usually liked to provoke and insult the most. His surname was Chen, taciturn, a "sullen gourd" who never fought back. In the end, the man was caught. The sissy was tied up and brought back to the kiln. He wasn't beaten to death on the spot, but as they say, a broken bone takes a hundred days to heal. He had his limbs broken and spent nearly half a year in bed. The kiln workers and apprentices who should have taken turns caring for him all viewed this task as a chore—no profit, tiring, and the room reeked of filth mixed with the smell of medicine. It was truly unbearable. So they each found excuses, or simply didn't bother, and let Chen Ping'an handle everything. As a result, the two people in the kiln who had formerly been most averse to each other—one lying on a sickbed, the other sitting on a stool—remained silent, often not saying a word. One stared blankly at the worn-out window paper that no one else would replace; it was truly unsightly. The other skillfully decocted medicine and helped the sissy drink it. They were like mutes, repeatedly practicing the pottery-shaping posture.

Old Yao came once and asked Su Han if he had any resentment, if he wanted to leave the kiln and find work elsewhere. The sissy grinned, shook his head with difficulty, pulling at his wounds, looking uglier than a ghost.

In fact, the sissy was sensitive. He knew that if he hadn't taken this beating, and a severe one at that, the kiln owner wouldn't have let him off. A cheap life like his couldn't compensate even a hundred times over.

So Old Yao was actually helping him.

Liu Xianyang, unable to stand the smell, would sit on the threshold and curse the sissy with a basketful of harsh words, then curse Chen Ping'an for being a soft-hearted fool. Neither of them, one lying inside, the other sitting, would talk back. One didn't dare argue with Liu Xianyang, the other didn't care. But whenever Liu Xianyang wasn't at the door, and when the sissy's injuries improved a bit and he regained some spirit, he would curse the heavens and the earth in a low voice, saying how the sky was unfair. When he got fired up, he would loudly curse the boy surnamed Chen, calling him a bastard born to a father and mother but not raised properly. Eventually, he got tired of cursing. Quarreling requires a back-and-forth to be interesting, but dealing with a boy who never responded was indeed boring. So the sissy gradually quieted down.

Once, the sissy, feeling extremely stifled, asked the boy, "What are you thinking? How come you never talk back? Aren't you angry? Or is it because you've been scolded by the neighbors since childhood, and if you're not scolded, you feel uncomfortable?"

The dark-faced boy was silent for a long time before telling the truth, "When you get well and can get out of bed to work, I'll give you a few slaps. If I don't knock out a few teeth from your shitty mouth, I'll take your surname..."

The sissy, who had barely escaped death's door, heard this and instead of getting angry, laughed uncontrollably. He probably pulled at his wounds, wincing in pain.

Later, the sissy could get out of bed and walk, but he still needed to recover. Occasionally, he went out in the weather between rain and shine. When he met kiln workers on the road, he would habitually raise his pinky finger or smooth his hair when trying to ingratiate himself. Others would at most laugh that a dog can't change its eating habits, teasing him to his face. The sissy used to be completely indifferent, but now he looked dejected. Walking alone, he would either slap himself or secretly grasp his right hand tightly with his left, not knowing what he was thinking.

The only time he and the Mud Vase Alley boy truly had a casual chat was once, just once. It was still the sissy rambling ten sentences to the boy's one.

And from beginning to end, the boy only said one thing that could be considered good and not against his conscience: he said the sissy's paper-cutting was very nice.

In the end, the seemingly cheerful sissy asked the boy why, when he first saw him on the mountain, he hadn't reported him to Master Yao and the others.

The skinny boy's answer was the most practical: "You're timid. If you were caught back and beaten to death, even if you turned into a vengeful ghost, you wouldn't dare seek revenge on others. You'd only come for me."

The sissy laughed heartily. When his laughter finally subsided, he called out "Hey," then the boy's name, and asked a question: "Doesn't this prove that good people get no reward?"

The boy didn't answer.

But that very day, the sissy took a pair of scissors and stabbed his own neck. Then he wrapped himself in the blanket, as if hiding inside, not wanting anyone to see his ugly death. He died quietly like that.

The day Su Han died, the sun was bright, shining everywhere, and the sky was cloudless.

At that time, Chen Ping'an wasn't particularly sad either. While keeping vigil with Liu Xianyang for the sissy, the boy just couldn't figure out two things: Since the sissy was so afraid of pain, why wasn't he afraid of death? Since he was such a timid person, how could he have the nerve to take a pair of scissors and stab a big hole in his own neck? The sissy was talked to death. But that kiln worker's casual remark was just ordinary gossip. It was lighter than cotton wool. The sissy should have been long used to such talk after a lifetime. Why did he suddenly find it unbearable?

Regardless, later, when Chen Ping'an met the swordsman in the bamboo hat, the latter casually said a principle: don't speak ill of others behind their backs. The boy silently remembered it.

It wasn't that Chen Ping'an, who didn't understand many principles, particularly treasured them, but rather that he had known very early on that sometimes a single word could truly kill a person.

The western mountains stretched for dozens of miles, some high, some low, some large, some small. But among them, very few had the water radical in their names. Near the small town, there was only one small hill. According to the archives of the Kiln Affairs Supervisory Office, it was called Yi Mountain. Of course, the Ministry of Rites of the Great Li Dynasty had a more obscure name: Zhen Zhu Mountain (Pearl Mountain). Yi Mountain, with the character "Yi" containing a water radical and also the radical for "jin" (as in the character for "balanced and careful"), which Su Han liked. Moreover, he was timid by nature and most afraid of ghosts in his life. So while alive, he had already thought of where he wanted to be buried after death: "settle" there, as close to the small town as possible. The small hill was barren, overgrown with weeds, and there were hardly a few trees suitable for cutting as firewood. Almost no one from the small town ever climbed it. After his death, he wouldn't be cursed. A small grave hidden in the weeds, not offending anyone. That would be best.

Man eats earth for a lifetime, earth eats man once.

Buried in peace.

Su Han was buried there.

Zhen Zhu Mountain was eventually bought by Chen Ping'an for just one gold essence copper coin.

At the time, Chen Ping'an hadn't thought deeply why it had to be the "Welcoming Spring" coin among the three types of gold essence copper coins.

This was fate. A good beginning and a good end—a good karmic link.

One was the Chen Ping'an who feared no ghosts; the other was the sissy who had feared Chen Ping'an the least in life.

Later, Su Dian, a girl nicknamed Rouge, became Old Man Yang's apprentice along with Shi Lingshan of Peach Leaf Alley, usually running errands at the pharmacy.

She was Su Han's niece.

After they became master and disciple, one time after teaching boxing, the old man sat in the backyard, exhaling smoke. He rarely spoke about topics unrelated to martial arts.

He asked, "Learn boxing to repay a kindness?"

Su Dian nodded.

"To repay your uncle's debts?"

Su Dian nodded again.

"Besides repaying debts and kindness?"

"My uncle and I both think he is a truly good person."

"Your uncle Su Han, the character 'Han' is easy to understand: no rain. Even a schoolchild who just started reading a few days knows its meaning: no rain, sun drying, that is drought."

The old man used his tobacco pipe to write a character in the air. Su Dian, who hadn't studied, naturally couldn't recognize it, but she guessed the answer.

"But the character 'Su' has many meanings. The ancient character 'Su' is a pictograph, meaning to lift fish by threading a string through their gills with a twig or straw. And the shape of the character shows something hanging down like tassels."

This contained two layers of meaning. The surname alone already revealed Su Han's situation and... origin.

A fish out of water, threaded through the gills and suspended, neither touching the sky nor the ground. That was punishment and suffering. The Rain Master was demoted and sank into the dust, like rain dragon's whiskers touching the ground. That was his origin.

"It's a good surname, but the given name was chosen wrongly. In an old scholar's treatise on military affairs, there is a phrase 'Su Ren Zhe Si' — 'Su' means 'facing towards.'" A fish leaves the water and comes ashore, but it's not truly put to death. As long as it returns to the water, it can revive. Hence, death and resurrection is called "Su." This also involves the Buddhist concept of regression. If turning back is the shore, what about turning back again? Doesn't that mean the fish is already in the water but suffering from not knowing contentment? That's why Su Han, among the dozens of dragon kilns, by the unseen hand of fate, chose the Bao Xi Kiln presided over by Master Yao.

Divine duty to bring rain; the rain master tends the fire. A female rain master, a male body of Su Han.

He endured all suffering and finally gained liberation. He poled his own boat to cross; do not seek outside.

Heaven helps those who help themselves.

When Su Dian was learning boxing at Crow Mountain in the Azure Underworld, she inadvertently saw a poetry collection. It happened to include a poem about praying for rain at Yi Mountain.

"Though lying snow is a foot deep, it cannot save the drought of spring and summer. The heavens do not hear the cries over the wilderness; song and dance last all night as the dragon fights... Water travels between heaven and earth in constant quantities; year after year, distribution is even without partiality..."

Tears streamed down Su Dian's face without her noticing. She looked up at the rain outside the window and whispered softly, "This heaven."

That night, the black cat visited the Yang Family Pharmacy again, leaping down from the ridge and landing lightly on the long bench. Just now, in an alley, Hu Feng had obtained the cicada slough.

This youth who wandered the streets had loved since childhood to go to the old porcelain mountain with Dong Shuijing to pick out favorite broken porcelain pieces. Whenever he found something, it was like picking up gold from a dung heap.

You chose that little brat who wears open-crotch pants and messes up his piss and shit everywhere?

Old Man Yang shook his head, thinking of Li Huai. The old man's wrinkled face rarely showed a hint of a smile.

Li Huai was the only exception. From the beginning, the old man had never put him on the gambling table. In fact, Li Huai's destiny porcelain had been bought by the old man and returned to him. But that didn't mean Li Huai's existence was unimportant. On the contrary, Li Huai, to a large extent, acted on behalf of heaven, responsible for "appointing gods," similar to the contemporary "sealing" (bestowing titles). This child distributed opportunities while remaining detached himself.

When a girl in a red cotton-padded jacket rushed out of the schoolhouse and led that Uncle Li to find Li Huai,

wearing open-crotch pants, Li Huai immediately felt goodwill towards this strange classmate. At that moment, Li Baoping's incense in the back courtyard of the pharmacy soared high in an instant.

In Mud Vase