Chapter 1126: Twenty People and the Reserves (8)

Chapter 1126: Twenty People and the Reserves (8)

The capital of Yunyan Kingdom was a brilliantly lit city that never slept. On the main street, a white-robed youth shook his sleeves so vigorously that they fluttered like two patches of white clouds falling to the ground, swinging like bagged fireflies.

Passing by a money-squandering den thick with the scent of powder and perfume, women with red sleeves and silken fans leaned over the balcony railings to beckon guests. When they spotted the handsome young man on the street, they either hid their faces behind round silk fans or let their autumn-wave glances drift, lowering their voices.

Pei Qian asked, "Bluffing, talking nonsense?"

Cui Dongshan sighed. "When you're out and about, you must treat others with sincerity. Those were heartfelt words, completely sincere."

Pei Qian didn't believe the white goose's claim for a second.

So Cui Dongshan changed his tune. "When you're discussing things over drinks, it's basically just 'Sure,' 'No problem, it's easy,' 'Leave it to me,' 'Drink this cup and we're friends,' 'Next time, my treat.'"

Pei Qian said, "Chen Lingjun loves wine so much he wants to soak in a vat all day, but he doesn't act like that."

Cui Dongshan laughed. "It's different. He's never actually drunk any."

Pei Qian didn't quite understand that statement.

Cui Dongshan didn't explain further.

If a cultivator flew through the air and looked down from above, the night was heavy, and the myriad household lights in a city were like a cage of fireflies. Unlike top-tier powers like the Jade Gui Sect or Mount Pu's Cloud Grass Hall, the Qingping Sword Sect had never bought a mansion in the capital. The Emperor of Yunyan Kingdom and the Ministry of Rites had long been prepared, not daring to neglect this unique sword sect of the Tongye Continent. But Zhong Qiu had politely declined, choosing to stay at Yulin Ferry instead, handling accommodation and training on their own ferryboat.

The Fallen Mountain and the Qingping Sword Sect, the upper and lower sects, now possessed two enviable cross-continent ferries: the Fengyuan and the Leiju, purchased respectively from the Central Plains' Xuanmi Dynasty and the Daquan Yao Clan. The former ran the north-south trade route linking the Northern Julu Continent, the Vase Continent, and the Tongye Continent, while the latter ran the east-west trade route linking the Tongye Continent, the Southern Poshou Continent, and the Fuyang Continent, with a clear division of labor. As for the dragon boat "Fan Mo" and the "Tong Yin" that the Wealth God Liu had gifted to the Qingping Sword Sect as an observation ceremony gift, both stayed within the continent, following the money, opening up a path of wealth while also expanding the sect's influence along the way.

As for the Da Li sword boat "Bing Ding," it was now docked at Yulin Ferry.

On the Tongye Continent, they had only heard that this type of sword boat killed monsters as easily as pruning flowers or cutting grass.

This sword boat had been "cried over" by the Cui Sect Leader, who felt powerless in the Jise Peak Ancestral Hall, and was considered a temporary loan to the lower sect.

Poor Cui Sect Leader always felt he was becoming more and more unwelcome at Fallen Mountain, with his own master guarding against him like a thief.

Cui Dongshan turned his head and glanced back at the city gate.

Fortune and misfortune share the same door, benefit and harm share the same city. The sounds of joy and anger are like cicadas singing on tall willows; the sorrows and partings of life are like water flowing under the ice. In one night, how many flowers bloom and fall in the human world? The white-robed youth raised his gaze slightly, looking toward the city wall. He remembered that back in the day, after that old bastard finished his official duties, he would read miscellaneous books late into the night by lamplight. Sometimes, when he put down the book, just before dawn, he would go to the outer city wall and watch the various people waiting to enter or leave the city.

Arriving at the ferry, Cui Dongshan saw the ferryboat and couldn't help feeling a pang of melancholy. Ever since he took on the role of this long-suffering transitional sect leader, he had become estranged from Fallen Mountain.

Sighing all the way, with his hands behind his back, he walked onto the ferry. Master Zhong had taken that batch of sword immortal seedlings out for training, so only a few old-timers remained on the boat. Feng Xuetao, with the Dao name Qingmi, was a regular here. Not long ago, he had accompanied Jiang Shangzhen on a trip to Fallen Mountain, and even earlier, he had been dragged by some bastard to the Barbaric World. But when war was about to break out, he was ridiculed as a burden who would only hinder swordplay. Back in the Central Plains Confucian Temple, he had been challenged by Zuo You and A Liang on the same day. Feng Xuetao himself felt embarrassed and didn't like to talk about it, but now it had become a widely discussed feat. With the lifting of the ban on the nine continents' landscape gazettes, the Dao name Qingmi had become increasingly famous, almost rivaling the "Tender Taoist" who had gained sudden fame in the Yuanyang Islet battle.

"By himself, he withstood two sword challenges in a row, and that old immortal Qingmi didn't even get hurt! Can you do that?"

Even if Feng Xuetao had the thickest face of a wild cultivator, he wouldn't say such things. That kind of talk was, of course, credited to the hype orchestrated by a certain close friend.

In the past, outside the Central Plains Divine Continent, the appearance of a new Jade Simplicity realm cultivator within a continent was no small matter, enough to be discussed for several years.

For example, Liu Laocheng of the Letter and Bamboo Lake, who as a wild cultivator became the first Jade Simplicity realm in the Vase Continent—any gazette that didn't give him extensive coverage would be considered disrespectful.

But nowadays, if another Nascent Soul realm cultivator managed to break into the upper five realms, the gazettes were so stingy with ink that they could barely be bothered to mention it.

Cui Dongshan curled his lips and muttered to himself, "I wonder how many new Fourteenth realms and Ascension realms will need to appear before the three huge holes are filled."

Two native Sword Qi Great Wall sword cultivators, Xing Yun and Liu Shui, were currently on the boat. They had set up a table and were hosting Feng Xuetao.

The old woman's cooking was mediocre, and after Xing Yun nagged her a bit, she quit. So it ended up with Feng Xuetao, the guest, having to go to the kitchen and cook a few of his signature dishes to go with the wine.

Mountain-and-wild cultivators were usually versatile all-rounders who knew how to get by.

Feng Xuetao was also happy that someone didn't treat him like an Ascension realm.

Sword cultivators had high standards, especially the native Sword Qi Great Wall sword cultivators. Plus, Feng Xuetao was an Ascension realm, so when they chatted, they mostly talked about the affairs of mountain peaks.

In the Haoran World, a handful of verifiable new Ascension realm cultivators had already appeared, such as Wang Jia of the Fuyang Continent, whose Dao name was Xujun, and the cave master of the Tianyu Cave Heaven in Liuxia Continent.

Even qi refiners halfway up the mountain, through various gazettes and rumors, had guessed that there was a very good chance one or two new Fourteenth realm cultivators had appeared in the human world.

But who would be the one? They would have to wait and see.

Cui Dongshan took his seat next to Xing Yun and put his arm around the old sword cultivator's shoulders.

Pei Qian quietly sat next to Liu Shui. The old woman looked at her kindly and smiled, helping the young woman tidy the hair at her temples. Girl Pei was clearly a beautiful woman, but she just didn't like to doll herself up.

Liu Shui continued their previous topic. "Listening to you all talk, it feels like Mi Xiuhua's Immortal realm suddenly isn't that valuable anymore."

Feng Xuetao shook his head. "In another hundred or a thousand years, an Immortal realm sword cultivator will still be very valuable wherever they go."

Liu Shui asked casually, "What about ten thousand years from now?"

Feng Xuetao laughed. "Who can think that far ahead?"

Cui Dongshan chuckled. "Exactly. Who knows about such distant things? Maybe by then a fourth or fifth realm mountain spirit will be a great monster rampaging across ten thousand miles. A qi refiner lucky enough to stumble into the Cave Abode realm will be a legendary land immortal who has passed the heavenly gate and can reside permanently in the human world, appearing and disappearing like a dragon with no end or beginning."

Liu Shui tilted her chin toward Feng Xuetao. "We were just talking about martial arts. Fellow Daoist Qingmi said that Cao Ci is to the martial path as a mountain is high. As for Chen Ping'an, he is like a wide river flowing long."

Xing Yun nodded. "Brother Feng's implication is that if anyone is truly going to reach the summit of the martial path, it will have to be Cao Ci. Our Hidden Official, at best, has the advantage of also being a cultivator of the Dao, achieving the Long Life and proving the Dao."

Feng Xuetao was a bit annoyed. It was just casual talk over drinks—why did they have to be so serious? He glanced at Pei Qian.

Cui Dongshan said with exaggerated shock, "So Senior Qingmi can actually use flowery language, not just plain talk?"

Noticing Feng Xuetao's gaze, Pei Qian smiled nonchalantly. "Even my master has no confidence in defeating Cao Ci."

Cui Dongshan made a grand gesture of raising his bowl to drink, but when he set it down, the level of wine hadn't decreased. He smacked his lips. "Lu Zhi might come out of seclusion soon. A real seclusion, of course, without any external help—she can break through the bottleneck at once and reach the Ascension realm."

Xing Yun asked, "Why did Lu Zhi go to the Dragon Elephant Sword Sect to hang out with Qi Tingji instead of coming here to be a guest elder? According to Mi Yu, Lu Zhi had a pretty good relationship with the Hidden Official back then."

Cui Dongshan rubbed his chin. "Yeah, yeah. If Lu Zhi could come to our Qingping Sword Sect, Great Sword Immortal Mi could stop running around with the title of Chief. That would be wonderful."

Cui Dongshan suddenly asked, "Brother Feng, any confidence in taking it a step further? That way, I can brag about my wide network of mountain-top connections—knowing a few Fourteenth realm bigshots I've shared a drink with."

Feng Xuetao felt helpless. "With my material? I'm just a piece of useless wood gawked at by the crowd, giving people something to laugh at."

Cui Dongshan sighed. "Brother Ascension falls to younger brother Immortal. Pity we're all inferior to others. Add Chief Zhou and Great Sword Immortal Mi, who lies around sunbathing every day. If we brothers ever get a table together for a drink, I reckon we'll end up hugging and crying."

Jiang Shangzhen had dropped from the Ascension realm back to Immortal, and the difficulty of returning was obvious. Mi Yu, on the other hand, had felt perfectly content after reaching the Immortal realm and privately compiled a cookbook at Fallen Mountain, spending every day ordering dishes with Grandmaster Zhong.

After a good meal, they'd pick their teeth, burp, and walk out of the old chef's house, already planning what to eat next.

Feng Xuetao didn't respond to that kind of talk that sounded like watering down wine.

To be honest, Feng Xuetao wasn't too keen on chatting with Cui Dongshan—it was too mentally taxing. He felt every sentence had hidden meaning, and he was like an unenlightened block of wood.

Maybe it was really as Jiang Shangzhen said: extremely clever people, even when they stay silent, without showing off, have a sharpness to them.

Because he flew less and walked more, Chen Ping'an arrived at the ferry looking slightly travel-worn, accompanied by Xie Gou.

When Liu Shui caught sight of the mink-hatted girl she had vaguely heard of, she immediately stood up. Xing Yun hesitated for a moment, nodded to the young Hidden Official, and then followed the old woman away.

Chen Ping'an didn't say anything about it. There was no need to force everyone to be pleasant in every situation.

Xie Gou couldn't care less. But if those two Jade Simplicity realm cultivators were going to be so formal when they met Xiao Mo later, don't blame her for not treating them as shipmates.

Pei Qian started to stand up, but Chen Ping'an pressed his hand down twice, signaling her to just sit and drink. She was a grown woman who had traveled the jianghu for a long time—what was a little drinking now?

First, he exchanged a few pleasantries with Feng Xuetao. Then Chen Ping'an asked curiously, "Did you say something to Mr. Fan? Xie Gou told me he lingered for a long time at the corner of an alley, unwilling to come out."

Cui Dongshan was evasive, trying not to lie but also not telling the whole truth. "I bet that if Mr. Fan walked out of the alley, he could reach the Fourteenth realm. It seems Mr. Fan wasn't too confident."

Chen Ping'an smiled. "Mr. Fan isn't confident? But you are, Sect Leader Cui?"

Cui Dongshan deliberately skipped over that emotion-straining title and asked tentatively, "Master, why not ask the Rites Saint for a definitive answer? Whether it works or not, Mr. Fan will surely appreciate the favor."

Chen Ping'an glared at him. Do you think the Rites Saint, who is watching the Qing trajectory of two worlds from beyond the heavens, has as much free time as you do?!

Just then, a voice rang out urgently in Chen Ping'an's heart lake: "Go quickly to the small alley and see the wealthy Mr. Fan. Don't say anything. This is a free favor we can earn. First, make that rich man shell out a few thousand... We scholars don't talk about money—it's vulgar. Just say you hit it off, that you're kindred spirits."

Since it was his master speaking, Chen Ping'an didn't hesitate. He directly used the technique of Shrinking Dimensions and Mountains to head to that small alley, to see Mr. Fan, who was still hesitating about whether to take that step.

Cui Dongshan muttered under his breath, "Master really does practice what he preaches. Learned another trick."

Xie Gou quickly turned to Pei Qian. "Write that down. Put it in the ledger."

Pei Qian smiled. "You're from the same mountain as Junior Sister Guo. I'm on Youngest Senior Brother's side."

Xie Gou laughed heartily. "No, no, not at all."

Over at the small alley, Mr. Fan saw Chen Ping'an, who clasped his fists and smiled, as if congratulating him.

Mr. Fan initially thought Chen Ping'an had come to apologize on Cui Dongshan's behalf, or to discuss business with him.

But when he saw that Chen Ping'an didn't intend to speak, he suddenly understood. Still, Mr. Fan steadied his Dao heart.

Chen Ping'an said nothing. Mr. Fan, too, remained silent, and this made him increasingly certain of his guess. His mind raced as he thought it over seriously.

Chen Ping'an admired this merchant patriarch's resilient Dao heart.

Mr. Fan looked up at the sky and said slowly, "If the Rites Saint has truly nodded his approval, assuming I can definitely reach the Fourteenth realm, then it might be better to slow down. I'll set aside my Dao integration until after the Haoran World wins this war."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ping'an bowed in salute.

Mr. Fan's expression was solemn, and he returned the bow.

In the celestial river, two old men eagerly watched the developments in the small alley of the human world. Yu Xuan transmitted his voice: "Old Scholar, is it that only after passing this heart trial does Mr. Fan truly achieve perfect merit? Only then does the Rites Saint truly agree to his future Dao integration?"

The position of the merchant school among the Hundred Schools of Philosophy—no matter how high the Confucian Temple raised it—if the patriarch Mr. Fan was limited in realm, it would be a world of difference compared to if he could one day achieve Dao integration.

In fact, within the Confucian Temple, not only the Second Sage, Fu Sheng, and others, plus the seventy-two worthies, but even the Old Scholar himself had never approved of raising the merchant school's status too high.

The Old Scholar stroked his beard and smiled. "Good."

Yu Xuan asked, "You didn't hint anything to Fellow Daoist Chen, or imply anything to Mr. Fan?"

The Old Scholar glared. "Yu, you old fool, stop talking nonsense. Who do you think the Rites Saint is? If there were any shady dealings, do you think he wouldn't see through them?!"

Yu Xuan said indignantly, "Why are you getting so worked up? I was just worried you might overdo it and ruin things, dragging Fellow Daoist Chen down in the Rites Saint's eyes, making him seem like a man who forgets honor for profit."

Having said that, the old true man couldn't help glancing at the Old Scholar. Was he just putting up a front, trying to hide what's obvious?

The Old Scholar smiled and patted Yu Xuan's shoulder, saying everything without words.

Actually, their relationship used to be ordinary. One had been afraid of being poor his whole life, the other had never worried about money for a single moment. How could they talk? Were they supposed to discuss splitting the fortune evenly?

Now it was different. The two had become great brothers.

They quickly stood up—the Rites Saint had personally arrived.

The Rites Saint said, "Someone once gave me a rather utilitarian suggestion. Either the Confucian Temple openly raises the merchant school's status, but suppresses the realms of the merchant school's several patriarchs to the Immortal realm, not even allowing the Ascension realm. Or the Confucian Temple opens a path to Dao integration for Mr. Fan alone, but ensures the merchant school remains at the very bottom among the Hundred Schools of Philosophy."

Yu Xuan said, "That's truly ruthless."

Although the old true man guessed that the person who made this suggestion was trying to prevent the Great Dao of the human world from overlapping too closely with the path of wealth, when he put himself in Mr. Fan's or the merchant school disciples' shoes, he felt that if they ever learned the truth, they would all have their Dao hearts shattered.

The Old Scholar just listened, saying nothing about whether it was good or bad, right or wrong.

The Rites Saint asked, "What do you think Chen Ping'an was thinking deep down when he stood at the mouth of that alley?"

Yu Xuan's expression changed slightly. "I don't dare to think."

Would the disciple follow Cui Chan step by step, or take the opposite path?

The Old Scholar said calmly, "There's no need to think."

---

In the Central Plains Divine Continent, a secret cave heaven not recorded in any history book.

A giant bronze ancient mirror covered an area of a hundred zhang square.

Twenty chairs were placed on the mirror's surface, like an Ancestral Hall that didn't need golden or jade genealogical records.

A qi refiner entered the secret realm silently and lit nine sticks of incense.

The cultivators attending the meeting didn't need to come in person. They didn't even need to expend a single particle of their mind.

In the history of these meetings, the full number had never been present. At most fourteen or fifteen people, at least five or six.

According to the earliest rules: one incense stick meant attend if free, ignore if busy.

Three incense sticks: try to attend. If one missed three consecutive meetings of this type, they would be automatically removed from the group and lose their qualification.

Nine incense sticks: mandatory attendance. The only exceptions were if one happened to be in a life-or-death seclusion, or facing an emergency involving the foundation of their Great Dao, or if there happened to be an Ascension realm cultivator nearby who could easily detect the anomaly. But if anyone missed two consecutive nine-incense meetings, they would bear the consequences—they would be considered a common enemy of the Dao by the other nineteen.

In the past three hundred years, the opportunity to light nine incense sticks had been rare.

From recent to distant: the Sword Qi Great Wall was breached by the Barbaric World demons; Qi Jingchun protected the Pearl Bead Cave Heaven; and the battle of the Thirteen between the Sword Qi Great Wall and the Barbaric World, among others.

The two chairs at the front were almost always empty, their occupants never seen.

Even when they rarely appeared, they rarely spoke. Whether they ever communicated with anyone via mind voice, who knew?

Members attending this meeting were either shrouded in mist, concealing their entire form, or used illusion techniques or disguises. After all, no one wanted to reveal their true identity publicly.

The most unusual thing today was the appearance of two central seats placed opposite the main seats—a significant development.

Those who attended the meeting had no distinction of rank or status. They were simply cooperating, each taking what they needed, with no forced buying or selling.

Of course, if someone guessed your identity and realm, the private negotiations and haggling were another matter.

In less than the time it took to burn one incense stick, more than half of the cultivators had arrived and taken their seats.

There were a total of twenty-two chairs. The four most special chairs, new and old, were still vacant.

Before the formal meeting began, a female cultivator laughed and asked, "Situmengjing refused to be sect leader even when it was offered, so why did he agree to go down the mountain and be a mountain master? When he hangs up portraits and offers incense in the Little Dragon Pool Ancestral Hall for the younger generation, isn't that scene rather interesting?"

Situmengjing, with the Dao name Longran, was the current mountain master of Little Dragon Pool.

That was like a minister of a board going to a local prefecture to be a prefect—a high-ranking position on paper.

Several cultivators exchanged sly glances, looking toward the immortal who was hosting the ceremony, the nominal host of this strange Ancestral Hall.

The immortal pretended not to notice, sitting in his chair with his eyes closed, resting for a moment. Then he changed the subject. "We can basically confirm that Han Yushu hasn't run into any trouble. Not long ago, he was called to Tianmu Academy by Wen Yu. The Wanyao Sect received a sternly worded 'invitation' from the academy."

Soon someone gloated, "That Wen Yu is no simpleton. Along with Gao Xuande of the Laiyuan Academy and a few other young gentlemen, he's a key training target of the Confucian Temple. They're all future academy heads, future school directors and sacrificial officers. Han Yushu won't be dealt with there, will he? Don't tell me that in a few days, Tianmu Academy will announce that Han Yushu has been taken to the Central Plains' Merit Forest for tea."

Someone spoke up for Sect Leader Han. "Wen Yu is apparently also a sword cultivator with unusual flying sword abilities. Han Yushu might not be able to extricate himself easily."

"It's understandable, but the established rules can't be changed. One more time, and he won't need to attend the meetings. If he ends up locked up in the Merit Forest, at least he won't die."

Unlike the four chairs that were always empty, the regular attendees looked at the empty seats of the "old acquaintances" with mixed feelings.

Even if someone eventually sat in those chairs in the future, it would be a different person.

For example, the Execution Officer Hao Su had already gone to the Azure World and was currently in the Divine Thunder City of the White Jade Capital.

Moreover, Hao Su had voluntarily given up his seat, and it would be filled by his direct disciple Du Shanyin. At the last meeting, one of the agenda items had been to discuss and approve this.

So Hao Su's seat was now taken by Du Shanyin.

He was a young sword cultivator from the Sword Qi Great Wall, named Du Shanyin.

It was his first time attending the meeting, and Du Shanyin wasn't nervous. He lounged lazily against his chair back.

He both wanted to see the young Hidden Official here and hoped Chen Ping'an wouldn't show up.

A cultivator asked the newcomer, knowing his true identity but not revealing his name, "I want that servant girl Ji Qing who follows you around. Name your price. Don't worry about scaring me—just set it high."

Du Shanyin said, "If you can guarantee I'll ascend within a hundred years, I'll give Ji Qing to you today."

The man snorted scornfully. "I'm only an Immortal realm myself. That's a bit much to ask. Let's negotiate—I can guarantee you become a Sword Immortal. That's not out of the question."

Teach a young man the method of ascending? Dream on.

This Du Shanyin, worthy of being Hao Su's sole direct disciple, with such a good master backing him, spoke with such arrogance.

In the Sword Qi Great Wall prison, the girl Ji Qing was inseparable from Changming. The latter was the Great Dao manifestation of a Gold Fine Copper Coin, while Ji Qing was the incarnation of the world's Grain Rain Coin ancestor.

Du Shanyin took the initiative to ask, "Where is the incarnation of that 'Ancestral Spring' hiding now? Does any of you have definite news?"

The world's first coin was called the "Ancestral Spring."

In the past ten thousand years, it had appeared only a handful of times, with fleeting traces in the Azure World and the Western Buddhist Kingdoms. The last time it revealed its whereabouts was before the Dragon Slaying Battle, when a great cultivator discovered it hiding in an undersea Dragon Palace's scripture library.

Du Shanyin had promised his master that once his swordsmanship was perfected and he achieved Ascension, the day of the mountain flower thief's death would come.

It seemed to be because his master, while fleeing back then, had received help from the Hundred Flowers Blessed Land and owed a huge favor.

Hao Su went to the Azure World, and this debt naturally fell on Du Shanyin's shoulders.

Because he was still green, no one was willing to engage with him.

Du Shanyin, realizing he had made a fool of himself, kept his expression normal and patiently listened to the news that was hard to come by in landscape gazettes.

"The one from the Five-Colored World came to the Haoran World not long ago and made another trip to the Fengdu region. Her sword strikes were extremely ruthless."

Naturally, no one dared to call Ning Yao by name.

"It can be fully confirmed that the Wealth God Liu of the Gaigai Continent has broken into the Fourteenth realm."

"On the Northern Julu Continent, that old true man successfully integrated the Dao."

"Over on the Gaigai Continent, besides the Wealth God Liu integrating the Dao in his family shrine, wasn't there another new Fourteenth realm who integrated around the same time? Was it that fellow Wei?"

"There's quite a stir on Quanjiao Mountain in the Fuyang Continent. I hear a number of extraordinary people have appeared there."

"That mountain in the Vase Continent is becoming more unfathomable by the day. Haha, I wonder what that certain wife who lives next door thinks now."

"Heh, anyway, she has a big-shot senior brother who can do anything. She's probably not bothered by such a small matter."

"Relying on a senior brother to bulldoze through everything—there aren't many in all the worlds who can match her. That Liu Saobao counts as one? Might be able to go toe-to-toe with her."

Generally, as long as they didn't directly name the Fourteenth realm great cultivators, they could say almost anything freely. But when someone sarcastically mocked Liu Chicheng, several others quickly coughed.

There was no help for it. Forget the name Zheng Juzhong—they didn't even dare to mention White Emperor City. They had to weigh every word, and this was even before Zheng Juzhong had broken into the Fourteenth realm.

Avoiding anything related to White Emperor City as much as possible seemed to be an unspoken rule here.

As they chatted, more cultivators arrived and took their seats.

Tian Wan had always been enthusiastic about attending meetings, always arriving early. But today she was late, and she seemed to have used some kind of secret technique. This proud and arrogant woman rarely showed an apologetic expression, explaining to everyone why she had gone to such trouble. "I was tricked by Cui Dongshan and Jiang Shangzhen earlier. Especially the former—he's meticulous and vicious. He regularly searches my soul and memories. I had to be careful."

The woman with a red string tied around her hand looked across at an empty seat that hadn't been filled yet and sighed. "Old Xun, what a pity."

"When it comes to senior brothers, isn't that someone even more impressive?"

"Not just senior brothers—master, Dao partner, and personal fortune—which of them is lacking?"

"Heavenly blessings and romantic fortune are abundant. We can't envy that."

A woman who had been resting her chin on her hand listening to them ramble smiled and said, "Just a heads-up: when you talk about the new Hidden Official, watch your language."

Someone sneered. "How strange. Aren't you from the opposite camp?"

Indeed, the Hidden Official lineage of sword cultivators was split into two periods. The first master of the Summer Retreat Palace was Xiao Xun, a native Sword Qi Great Wall sword cultivator who betrayed the wall. The second was Chen Ping'an, an outsider.

She laughed. "I'm just giving a warning. Whether you take it seriously is up to you."

A middle-ranked Central Plains Immortal realm cultivator was in the midst of an inner battle, hesitating whether to tip off that Mr. Zheng... no, that Mountain Master Chen.

He thought it over. Was it really necessary to be so meddlesome? With the intelligence of those two, they probably came and went as they pleased.

Just then, the immortal who was the host stood up and said gravely, "Today's meeting is different from usual. First, the owners of the four facing chairs will all appear. Second, we will all reveal our true faces today. If anyone doesn't want to face the others like this, you may leave now."

Although each person had their own thoughts and was weighing pros and cons, in the end, no one chose to get up and leave.

Someone hesitated and asked a key question that apparently no one had ever thoroughly investigated. "When this place was first established, what was its purpose?"

Two of the four facing chairs had already had their occupants appear. One was a short Taoist priest exuding vast Dao energy, holding a tiny banner. The priest had crossed over from another world. He spoke in a hoarse voice: "I never imagined so few old friends remain. Even reminiscing has become a luxury."

The other occupant surprised everyone. It was Wei She, the master of the Seventy-Two Peaks of the Gaigai Continent. He had almost never left them in three thousand years, but now he stood beside his chair, not in a hurry to sit down. He just reached out and rested his hand on the chair, smiling. "I asked that same question a long time ago. It seems to originate from a certain work by Patriarch Lu. It has an inner and an outer section, titled 'The Equality of Things' and 'The Opening of Chests' respectively. So the answer is: inner equality, outer opening."

The assembly began to chew over the deep meaning.

At a certain place, a certain Taoist priest who had been cheerfully sucking up to the gatekeeper and trying to ingratiate himself was suddenly struck dumb. It took him a long time to come to his senses. The young priest with a lotus crown on his head began to beat his chest and stamp his feet in great distress. "Fellow Daoists, don't harm me! Believe me or not, I never wrote any 'Equality of Things' or 'Opening of Chests'! You're framing me, slandering a good man, harming a loyal person! I too have a master and senior brothers to rely on. A thousand steps back, we're even from the same hometown—we should be crying tears of joy when we meet on the road! How can you be like this..."

Lu Chen suddenly stopped talking because he noticed that the gatekeeper, for the first time, had a thoughtful expression. He was staring into a certain hidden whirlpool in the river of time.

Over there, Zheng Juzhong had found a Fourteenth realm cultivator whose state was hard to define as either present or future. He smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist, your patience is truly remarkable. Unless you meet face to face, Chen Ping'an will never be able to guess it's you."

"On this matter, Ma Kuxuan indeed set a good puzzle for Chen Ping'an."

"Because of those dozens of taels of silver he never managed to collect back then—strictly speaking, it has nothing to do with Chen Ping'an, and nothing to do with you either. The two of you, the parties directly involved, never even exchanged a single word."