# Chapter 1128: Twenty People and the Alternates (Part 10)
The moment Zou Zi spoke these words, it was like a thunderclap rising from flat ground—truly a shocking opening statement.
It was like a deep spring mountain where no visitors came all season, where pine flowers fell along the path, clouds and mist wrapped around doors and windows, and suddenly a flute sound startled the silence.
None of the assembled meeting members were fools. They understood extremely clearly that having three Fifteen Realm cultivators simultaneously in the human world, compared to having only one, was like the difference between heaven and earth.
Everyone involuntarily sat up straight and proper. Even Du Shanyin, who was never stage-frightened and had been wearing a perpetually lazy expression, began to hold his breath and concentrate, pricking up his ears to listen.
They had originally thought that after the Three Teaching Founders scattered their Dao, within the next thousand years, heroes would rise together, and the key to contending for crossing would lie in the Immortal Realm's attainment of Dao and ascension, and even more in the old ascenders taking another step forward on their hundred-foot poles, merging with the Dao at the Fourteenth Realm.
Just like Du Shanyin the sword cultivator, whose current realm was still unremarkable, yet he was extremely confident that there would certainly be a place for him on the future mountain peaks of the human world. Not to say he would sit as equals with those old Fourteenth Realm cultivators who were like transforming divine dragons, but he could at least exchange a few words with new Fourteenth Realm cultivators, or at least with Ascension Realm cultivators, and they would have to seriously listen to what he said and whether it made any sense.
Who would have thought that within a mere three to five hundred years, the human world might hope to see a brand new Fifteen Realm cultivator appear. No matter who it was, no matter which world they came from, if they obtained this Great Dao, it was believed that this person could rely on their own strength to influence the direction of all five worlds.
Xu Xie, now the foremost great sword immortal of Golden Armor Continent, was the first to speak, asking: "Ritual Sage?"
The one who had originally invited Xu Xie to serve as a restraining force back then was none other than this Zou Zi. Even if the other's appearance had changed, his divine manner and Dao aura remained the same.
Zou Zi shook his head. "It is definitely not the Ritual Sage."
Xu Xie asked in confusion: "Why?"
The old Daoist Zhang Jiao helped explain: "First, Zhou Mi still exists. Although he's been blocked at the old Heavenly Court ruins by the Three Teaching Founders' External Dao Bodies, given Zhou Mi's temperament and methods, he has certainly left behind countermeasures in the human world. He absolutely would not sit idly by and watch the Ritual Sage obtain this Great Dao. Moreover, given the Ritual Sage's own method of merging with the Dao at the Fourteenth Realm, it truly is not suitable for taking another step forward."
Zou Zi added a sentence: "Even so, whether the Ritual Sage ascends to the Fifteen Realm does not depend on whether it's feasible, whether his merit is sufficient, or whether Zhou Mi will block him. It depends solely on whether the Ritual Sage himself is willing."
For this reason, Zou Zi had once rushed beyond the heavens and had long ago had a frank, heart-to-heart conversation with the Ritual Sage. Back then, Zou Zi had shown the Ritual Sage his own deductions about the future state of the world.
And it was beyond the heavens.
Most people in the world knew at most that the previous generation's Grand Heavenly Master of Dragon Tiger Mountain and a few other worthies had perished beyond the heavens, body and Dao extinguished, doing great merit for the human world. But very few people knew that Zou Zi and Master San Shan Jiu Hou had been the main force behind the scenes assisting the Ritual Sage in hunting down the remnants of the ancient gods.
Once the Ritual Sage replaced the Supreme Sage, rising another level within the Confucian orthodoxy to become the Dao Lord of the entire Haoran World, then the Ritual Sage's rules would Dao-transform the Nine Provinces of Haoran at an extremely rapid pace. The rules would be everywhere, becoming seamless and watertight. On the surface, the Great Dao cycle would become increasingly without flaw, but in Zou Zi's eyes, the world would in the future become stagnant, rotten, and rigid. This was a paradox. Zou Zi described this situation as "the Great Dao halting," losing all possibilities.
Luo Shan was not as surprised as the others, only because she had once accompanied Xiao Xun on an inspection of the city wall when they had encountered the old great sword immortal and overheard them casually chatting about a few off-topic things.
It had started with Xiao Xun acting childishly, wanting to ask the old great sword immortal who in the current upper echelons of the world—the old ones, the relatively young ones—could actually fight. For example, that Dao Number Two from the White Jade Capital who was clamoring about being invincible, and that Zheng Juzhong of White Emperor City who had a great reputation in Haoran. Anyway, Xiao Xun had reported a whole string of names. Presumably, this list she provided had more weight than the selections made by various landscape gazettes.
The old great sword immortal had not extended the conversation along Xiao Xun's words. In Chen Qingdu's view, fighting ability and killing power were just so-so.
As the main pillar of the Sword Qi Great Wall, which served as the boundary line between Haoran and the Barren Wastes, and as the backbone of this ten-thousand-year-old city, Chen Qingdu only had two evaluations that were like final judgments.
That Bai Ze existed in the Barren Wastes was the misfortune of the demon race and the great fortune of the human world. That the Ritual Sage emerged in the human world was the fortune of the Confucian school and the misfortune of others.
At that time, Xiao Xun had sat on the city wall, her hands clutching her two goat-horn braids, staring blankly at the old great sword immortal, and asked: "What about you?"
Luo Shan had felt at that time that the atmosphere was not right.
The old great sword immortal had laughed and patted Xiao Xun's head. "Don't be so disrespectful. As for right and wrong, merit and fault, wait until I'm dead and you're still alive to talk about it."
Chen Qingdu's implication was actually quite simple and not difficult to guess. It contained two layers of meaning.
This matched Luo Shan's consistent impression of the old great sword immortal. He always spoke directly and frankly, without needing sword cultivators to speculate.
When he was still in charge of the Sword Qi Great Wall, if you, Xiao Xun, had grievances in your heart, you had to swallow them. After he died, he wouldn't be able to control anyone, and if you wanted to curse, you could curse all you wanted.
But there was a premise here: you, Xiao Xun, as the current Hidden Officer of the Sword Qi Great Wall, had to keep living. You couldn't die before him.
Or to put it more directly, it was a reminder that Xiao Xun could not die by Chen Qingdu's hands, and could not, as the Hidden Officer, do anything out of line that didn't conform to the Hidden Officer's role.
A warning, a threat, an admonition? Actually, none of it mattered. Anyway, Xiao Xun just grinned. She lightly reached out to push away that hand, but at that time, she couldn't push it away.
The old great sword immortal, who had kept his hand pressing down on the head of the goat-horn-braided little girl, gazed into the distance toward that old neighbor in the Ten Thousand Mountains.
Perhaps in the eyes of the old great sword immortal, who looked down on everything, the person in the human world who could truly fight was far away yet right before his eyes.
The young people of the current world merely thought they knew that old blind man could fight.
During the battle to ascend to the heavens ten thousand years ago, many unexpected events had occurred that were not recorded in any texts at the time and about which later generations knew nothing. One of these events was that Zhi Ci had actually broken countless divine golden bodies and single-handedly opened a path to heaven.
Why had the second-ranking attendant of Fallen Mountain, Xie Gou—or Bai Jing—been quite well-behaved last time she went to the Ten Thousand Mountains and encountered the old blind man, showing great respect for local customs?
The proud and arrogant Bai Jing was certainly not only because Fellow Daoist Zhi Ci had lived long enough.
Bai Jing would not have been so restrained with Cave Master Bixiao, who had not participated in the battle to ascend to heaven. Not being able to defeat him was one thing, but the old temple master hadn't yet made Bai Jing feel... admiration and awe from the bottom of her heart.
Her politeness was more because the old temple master had a good relationship with Xiao Mo. Hah, her husband's few close friends, she had to give face!
Now that she had built a good relationship with Cave Master Bixiao, if she ever had a quarrel with Xiao Mo someday and he went looking for someone to drink with gloomily, wouldn't Cave Master Bixiao have to put in a few good words for her?
Wahaha, what a great plan! She was more than qualified to be a second-ranking attendant.
Luo Shan laughed and said through heart-to-heart communication: "Du Shanyin, our Hidden Officer invites your master, whenever she's free, to go to the Barren Wastes and drink with her. Don't worry, it's just drinking."
Du Shanyin's impression of that new summer retreat palace where outsiders gathered was mediocre. He never denied or hid his dislike for Chen Ping'an, but he had great respect for the sword cultivators of the old Hidden Officer lineage. He explained helplessly: "Before Master left Haoran, she didn't leave any mountain techniques that would allow master and disciple to talk temporarily."
Luo Shan nodded. She didn't make things difficult for Du Shanyin. She said regretfully: "The Hidden Officer has been yearning for the immortal wines of the White Jade Capital all these years. It seems this little scheme of hers is going to fall through."
In the early years at the Sword Qi Great Wall, Xiao Xun had indeed often sneaked into that prison overseen by the Old Deaf Man, primarily to find the most careless executioner, Hao Su, to drink together.
Du Shanyin said: "Mr. Luo, whenever I have the chance to see Master in the future, I will definitely help pass along the message."
Luo Shan laughed: "Mr. Luo? Isn't that strange? I find it awkward to hear. Who did you learn that from? What a bad habit."
Du Shanyin smiled wryly.
Luo Shan was naturally willing to show some closeness to Du Shanyin, who was a descendant from her hometown.
Moreover, Du Shanyin was one of the few from the old summer retreat palace...
It could even be said that Du Shanyin and his peer You Yu had received the old great sword immortal's approval to enter the prison together and become the personally taught disciples of Hao Su and Gan Tang respectively. This had all been foreshadowed long ago, largely thanks to the discerning eye of the previous generation's Hidden Officer lineage's sword cultivators. For example, among the youngest generation of sword cultivators, Luo Shan had chosen You Yu, while the sword immortal Zhu An had selected Du Shanyin. Going back several generations, it was the same, never without the secret support and resource favor of the summer retreat palace. Often, when Xiao Xun saw a suitable candidate, she would wave her hand over that booklet and write down two characters: "Cultivate!" Occasionally there were exceptions, and she would add the two characters "Key Point."
But there were very few who received such honor and treatment. For example, Chou Miao. Generally speaking, there was at most one per generation, sometimes none at all.
Almost all of these sword cultivators came from poor backgrounds. To use Xiao Xun's words, those who had been born into good circumstances and landed in large, wealthy families—since they didn't lack money for practicing the sword—didn't need the summer retreat palace to add icing on the cake. If they were going to do something, they should only do the good deed of sending charcoal in snowy weather. However, there were exceptions, like Guo Zhujiu, whose family circumstances weren't bad.
Du Shanyin hesitated for a moment, then asked curiously: "Has there been any conclusion about where Ah Liang and Zuo You have gone?"
A silver-thread woven pouch was tied at his waist, emitting strands of golden light. Everyone present was an extraordinary person, and they recognized at a glance that it was gold body fragments, which were now priceless but unavailable on the market.
Luo Shan shook her head: "Their whereabouts are unknown, life and death uncertain. It seems hard to say clearly."
Du Shanyin was a sword cultivator. He would admire Ah Liang and would also genuinely respect Zuo You. One was a descendant of a sage, the other a disciple of a sage, yet they had two completely different styles of conduct. One constantly boasted about being a scholar, yet everything he did at the Sword Qi Great Wall had nothing to do with being a scholar. The other was silent and taciturn, keeping strangers at a distance, yet he valued the path of scholarly study more than practicing the sword.
Du Shanyin came from a poor background, having been impoverished in his youth. He wasn't the same type of person as them.
Moreover, there was a difference in generation and age between them.
Besides, they were all bachelors.
So when it came to Chen Ping'an, Du Shanyin was even more conflicted. Perhaps this was jealousy at work.
Since they were roughly the same age, it was inevitable that they would be compared. They both seemed to have risen from the muck and mire of a bottom-of-the-barrel life situation, struggling to rise. Their fortunes afterwards weren't bad either, each having their own opportunities and fortunes. Why did he, Chen Ping'an, deserve to win Ning Yao's favor? Why did he, who wasn't even a sword cultivator, deserve to take over the summer retreat palace? Why did he get to go to the city wall every so often, receive sword technique guidance from Zuo You, and even talk with the old great sword immortal? Why did all of us native sword cultivators have to obey his battle formations and have him decide life and death?
Du Shanyin had gone to the battlefield to kill demons many times and had nearly died there.
So he had always found it hard to let go of a certain conclusion. He felt that you, Chen Ping'an, went to the battlefield to kill demons because you knew you wouldn't die. As the new Hidden Officer, the old great sword immortal would step in to save you. So when you were on the battlefield, you never had any worries about the future. You were different from all of us native sword cultivators, who could die at any moment, including those fellow sword cultivators from your hometown in Haoran. Why?
The old Daoist Zhang Jiao pulled a white-leather gourd with a bright glossy patina from his sleeve and looked at Zou Zi. The latter nodded, acknowledging the old Daoist's guess.
Zhang Jiao pulled out the stopper, tilted his head back, and took a gulp of his homemade wine. Thinking back to those days, before he had gone to the Western Buddhist Kingdom, he had traveled together with a like-minded fellow Daoist from another land to tour the various islands of a certain province. They had also accomplished a few great feats. Their Dao hearts were in accord. Together with that Lü-named true person, they had frolicked in the human world, drunkenly stroked black beards, angrily drawn frost swords... Putting away his thoughts, Zhang Jiao continued: "Earlier, I couldn't see clearly from afar. I could only vaguely see the Barren Wastes world like a ferry boat, charging aggressively towards your Haoran World. This must be Zhou Mi's insidious method of secretly plotting, trying to embed the two worlds together, mixing up heaven's time, earth's advantage, and human harmony, creating a chaotic mess. He probably wants certain chess pieces to take the opportunity to fish in troubled waters. If successful, it can both delay the Supreme Sage's scattering of Dao and allow the new master of the Barren Wastes, Feiran, to profit as a fisherman, stealthily taking a share from the Haoran World. If unsuccessful, then relying on this to wear down the Ritual Sage's Dao cultivation, preventing the Ritual Sage from fully unleashing his power to go to the Barren Wastes and restrain Bai Ze, whose Dao power is growing day by day. Then the great demons of the Barren Wastes making such a grand show of force to besiege Ah Liang and Zuo You becomes very understandable—it's precisely a key hand in helping to change the trajectory of the Barren Wastes' blue Dao, so that the abundant sword Qi of these two Fourteenth Realm sword cultivators can serve as one of the powerful driving forces for the Barren Wastes as this suspended boat."
Lu Xu was shocked, his face full of astonishment: "Two boats colliding? Such a big commotion, why have none of us noticed at all?"
Zhang Jiao pointed upward with his finger and laughed: "Everyone in the world says 'Zou Zi talks about heaven, Lu family talks about earth.' But if I remember correctly, besides having an Observatory that can coordinate with the Zhi Lan Bureau responsible for measuring the earth, isn't Fellow Daoist Huang Yu also the leader of the Observatory's Timekeepers?"
This old Daoist was clearly rubbing salt in Lu Xu's wounds. The Lu family's Observatory, used for observing celestial phenomena, had already collapsed.
Lu Xu laughed awkwardly and didn't dare to engage in any verbal dispute with this old Daoist.
He certainly couldn't, just because there were relatively many Fourteenth Realm cultivators present today, not take the Fourteenth Realm seriously.
Moreover, Lu Xu knew a certain secret at the mountain peaks. The old Fourteenth Realm cultivators on the Green Obscurity World side weren't as well-behaved as those in their own Haoran. They often made moves to block others "from ascending to the same rank." Regarding this matter, the White Jade Capital didn't always intervene. There had once been a great cultivator who had half-stepped into the Fourteenth Realm but had fallen all the way back to the Immortal Realm. He was so enraged that he didn't hesitate to beat the Heavenly Drum to lodge a complaint with a certain White Jade Capital headmaster, demanding justice. Unfortunately, the result was no result.
The one in charge of world affairs for that hundred-year period, Lu Chen, simply didn't bother with governing.
Tian Wan had wanted to add a few more sarcastic remarks about adding frost to snow, but found that her senior brother glanced at her, and she immediately swallowed the words that had come to her lips.
The old Daoist Zhang Jiao stroked his beard and laughed: "Fellow Daoist Lu Shen truly deserves to be called brilliantly talented."
Many years ago, he had witnessed Lu Shen secretly using his Yin Spirit to travel to the Western Buddhist Kingdom.
The head of the Lu clan, with the Dao name "Sky's Edge," was responsible for the clan's most important Dao lineage of heaven-watching.
Although Lu Xu bore the title of leader of the Observatory's Timekeepers, he actually had no real power.
According to that Fellow Daoist Xian Cha's way of speaking: your Dao name is Huang Yu (Yellow Chariot/Earth), yet your given name is "Lu Xu (Void)." Heaven is void, earth is solid. Your name wasn't well chosen. You have to blame your parents for not looking up the dictionary when they gave birth to you.
Look at that Fellow Daoist with the Dao name "Da Ju" (Great Rectangle/Square), also implying earth, and whose name is Lu Zai (Earth Carrying). The meaning of the name "earth carries all things" is very good, so it's perfectly justified that she is in charge of the Land Official lineage.
If it weren't for the fact that Gu Qingsong was Lu Chen's unregistered first disciple, Lu Xu would have wanted to have a good debate with this scoundrel.
Finally, Gu Qingsong had even dropped the remark: "Your tolerance is insufficient. I imagine when you go to the ancestral hall to burn incense and offer sacrifices to the ancestors, it won't work. My master certainly wouldn't be willing to acknowledge you."
The founding ancestor of their branch of the Lu clan was one of the Six Officials of the Confucian Temple's literary temple, the Grand Diviner, responsible for preserving that Dao book known as the ancestor of all scriptures.
This book was said to be the cultivation insights of an ancient Daoist priest.
From it were derived two auxiliary scriptures. One, the "Heavenly Book," was hidden in the Lin Tai of the Temple's Merit Forest. It was said that the sutra-born Xi Ping was the Dao manifestation derived from this book. So-called duty of guarding it was just a facade. The other, the "Earthly Book," was under the care of the Lu clan's Zhi Lan Bureau. Over the years, relying on the painstaking deductions of successive generations of Lu clan ancestors, another innovation led to the Earth Mirror Chapter, breaking new ground with a principle different from Zou Zi's theory of the Five Elements' mutual generation and restraint.
It was said that when Lu Chen was young, he had read it once. When he closed the book, he had unknowingly covered his face with tears, lamenting the limited and the infinite.
Like the Daoist Zhang Jiao in that Lotus World, he had once seen an ordinary old monk who didn't practice cultivation or Qi training. In fifty years, he had journeyed ten thousand miles through mountains and rivers, benefiting sentient beings as fortune allowed along the way. Before his death, he returned to his small temple, where there were only seven or eight monks. He ascended to the seat and gave a discourse. Finally, the old monk's expression was compassionate. He looked around, tears streaming down his face, and choked out the words "All sentient beings suffer," then closed his eyes and passed into nirvana.
Those who are wild and arrogant and ride in carriages weeping at the end of the road—these three kinds of people must have something in common.
It's hard for ordinary people to understand this kind of sentiment.
If each level of breakthrough for cultivation practitioners is compared to a flower petal blooming, then within the next ten thousand years of the human world, flowers are destined to bloom countless times.
But as for the latest Fifteen Realm, which family this flower will fall into—this is something that mountain cultivators, mortal scholars, and all sentient beings with consciousness, without exception, cannot bypass.
After all, this existence's personal likes and dislikes will determine the world's pattern. If the superior likes something, the inferiors will go even further.
Liu Zhou, the founding ancestor of the Rain Dragon Sect, asked: "Could it be that great headmaster of the White Jade Capital who has been missing for many years?"
Song Hong, the founding ancestor of the Grand Dragon Pool, laughed: "It's not exactly 'many years,' is it?"
Zhang Jiao nodded: "Counting fully, it hasn't exceeded two hundred years."
As Wei She had said, the current Fourteenth Realm is not much different from the previous Ascension Realm.
The Three Teaching Founders chose to scatter their Dao, and Dao techniques and opportunities fell like rain.
But "before the rain" tea has a better flavor.
Zou Zi nodded: "I can only say the possibility is high, but the variables are also not small."
This trip to the Green Obscurity World was an attempt to trace back to the source.
And earlier, when he set up a stall in that small town in the Li Zhu Cave Heaven, Zou Zi was observing how things would develop.
Xie Shiji finally spoke, asking: "Is it Junior Disciple Zheng?"
Apart from herself, upon hearing this form of address, most of the meeting members probably felt the mood was strange.
Like that Liu Daochun, who swaggered through the streets in a pink Dao robe, always attracting criticism: what qualifications did he have to call Chen Qingliu his master and address Zheng Juzhong as senior brother?
Not to mention that Zheng Juzhong was Xie Shiji's junior disciple (in the sect sense).
Zou Zi said: "It's hard to say."
Since the Supreme Sage and the Dao Ancestor had both been to White Emperor City, did that mean they approved of some path that Zheng Juzhong had chosen?
Zhang Jiao asked through heart-to-heart communication: "Can that Lu Shen merge with the Dao?"
Zou Zi replied: "As long as I have a few days out of the year when my feet walk on the earth, he is destined to be unable to merge with the Dao."
With Lu Shen's exceptional talent, even if he wanted to achieve success in seclusion, it still couldn't be accomplished in a year or two.
Having barely seized the opportunity, when Zou Zi, the "Heaven-Talker," was "off the ground," Lu Shen would immediately go into seclusion. But when Zou Zi "landed," he would be forced to come out of seclusion.
After trying several times, Lu Shen had no choice but to give up. It was like accepting fate: "don't contend with heaven."
In short, Zou Zi wouldn't yield the Dao path. Lu Shen, who had already reached the peak of the Ascension Realm, was simply drawing water with a bamboo basket.
Lu Shen had been kept outside the door like this, unable to advance, his realm stagnant, wasting nearly a thousand years.
Zhang Jiao asked: "Is it because of a Great Dao rivalry that you're deliberately annoying him?"
Zou Zi said: "Not at all. I'm just waiting for him to come to me to 'talk about heaven.'"
"Talking about heaven" was a pun, carrying two meanings.
Zhang Jiao tentatively asked: "Mr. Zou, are you coveting that original first-edition scripture? Use stones from other mountains to attack jade, and thereby break the theorem that 'heaven and earth are inherently incomplete, and all things have flaws,' so you can patch up your Great Dao, actively achieve an unprecedented state of Fourteenth Realm perfection. You wouldn't need to be Fifteen Realm, yet could permanently maintain a mysterious state of pseudo-Fifteen Realm?"
Zou Zi shook his head: "First, my ambition doesn't lie there. Moreover, I must maintain my standpoint as an observer. If I were to enter the Fifteen Realm state, there would be a fifty percent chance that I would be forcibly dragged toward the Fifteen Realm. The horror of that involuntary state is not something I can explain to outsiders."
The question was asked directly, and the answer was given with sincerity.
Zhang Jiao then changed to a lighter topic, laughing as he asked: "How many times have you seen that chatterbox?"
Zou Zi said: "Only twice. Once each in Haoran and Green Obscurity."
Zhang Jiao said: "With my formation shielding this place, we can speak names directly now. It might fool certain Fourteenth Realm cultivators, but it may not necessarily fool this sharp-eared and bright-eyed Great headmaster Lu."
Those who had been calling "Lu Chen" and "Great headmaster Lu" one after another had clearly been set up by this old Daoist. Old ginger is indeed the spiciest.
Zou Zi said: "Even if he and Zheng Juzhong overhear, it doesn't matter. One fears trouble the most, and the other knows best what he wants, with single-minded focus."
Who wouldn't envy Lu Chen's utterly unique, unparalleled free wandering in the world?
"This Daoist doesn't bring trouble to this world, and this world won't trouble me."
Never seeking trouble for himself. He is proper in his conduct and demeanor, moderate in his eating, drinking, and daily life, and has the method. Hence, he is the most unrestrained by heaven and earth among the Dao-merged cultivators.
"This Daoist is meticulous in his actions and uncompromising in his dealings with people. As long as you don't curse me to my face, I'll just let it go in one ear and out the other. If you dare curse me to my face, don't blame me for cursing you back."
As for Zheng Juzhong, just don't provoke him. He wouldn't bother targeting anyone anyway.
But if he deliberately targeted someone, even Zou Zi would find it extremely troublesome.
For example, Zheng Juzhong emptying White Emperor City and now quietly walking the river of time was to block the road, preventing Lu Chen from returning to the White Jade Capital.
The chaos in the Green Obscurity World was no longer a matter of signs and hints of wind moving or grass stirring. It was already plainly a rampant chaos. Both inside and outside the White Jade Capital, the Dao officials of the human world were very clear that troubled times had arrived.
Even though the Second headmaster Yu Dou sat in the White Jade Capital, using a Mount Yu Jing to enter the pseudo-Fifteen Realm, facing a second joint inquiry into the Dao, Yu Dou still stood alone, his sword slaying several Fourteenth Realm cultivators.
Such a feat was truly unprecedented and would never be seen again.
On the surface, it seemed to have temporarily suppressed the chaos, but in reality, the undercurrents were surging more than ever.
Great headmaster Kou Ming was still unable to unify the three teachings. If Lu Chen were also blocked in the river of time by Zheng Juzhong?
With Yu Dou's consistently decisive and iron-fisted style, any conflict between the White Jade Capital and the various provinces would have no room for maneuver.
The old Daoist's mood was complicated: "To be honest, after so many years, I'm still afraid of him."
Having already left the Green Obscurity World for so many years, whenever he thought of Yu Dou, an old Fourteenth Realm cultivator was still terrified. From this, one could see how deeply Yu Dou's accumulated authority weighed.
Zou Zi said: "Those who are open and aboveboard, without selfish motives, possess the most authority."
The old Daoist's expression was bitter as he murmured: "Thinking it over, I always feel I wasn't wrong."
If he had to hold his nose and admit that Yu Dou strictly adhered to the rules in his actions, that the law tolerated no personal feelings, then where exactly had it gone wrong?
Zou Zi offered two rather metaphysical sayings: "When the heavenly heart touches the earth, changes naturally occur. Yu Dou assumes everyone is rational."
Just as there are some people who believe everyone can reform and become good.
Zou Zi wouldn't deliberately target anyone, but he would watch those crossroads of the world from afar.
Lu Xu asked tentatively: "Is it Great headmaster Lu?"
After all, Lu Chen was their own clan's founding ancestor.
Even though Lu Chen didn't think much of them, these descendants and disciples. No matter how the Lu clan offered sacrifices and incense year after year at the ancestral hall, there had never been a successful example of inviting the spirit to descend in their history. There were a few times when they faced difficulties so bitter they could barely endure, and the Lu clan had to get through them on their own. Yet even so, the flowers blooming inside the wall were fragrant outside. Having an ancestor who was a headmaster at the White Jade Capital was ultimately not a bad thing. Just as a certain damnable fellow had said: even if the portrait of an ancestor hanging in your clan's ancestral hall doesn't work, at least it looks good.
That scoundrel had spoken with fervor and assurance, his expression sincere: "Miss Lu, rough words but not rough reasoning, right?"
At that time, Lu Zai's face was as cold as ice. She caught the thief red-handed and said, stretching out her hand: "This is not a reason for you to replace the ancestral portrait with your own. Hand over the old portrait! I want to put it back in its original place in the ancestral hall!"
Only someone like him would do such a disrespectful thing.
During that secret visit to the Lu clan, Ah Liang had wanted to find Pei Min, the sword practitioner who served as a house guest of the Lu clan, for a spar. Otherwise, outsiders always said his victories were too inflated.
The reason he climbed over the wall instead of sending a visiting card and entering through the main gate was to avoid the Lu clan having heard so much about him, being too hospitable, and treating guests with excessive enthusiasm. As for the Lu clan ancestral hall, he was just passing through.
Zou Zi smiled: "Great headmaster Lu is not so easily able to break through his heart barrier and recognize himself."
To recognize oneself requires a mirror, a coordinate. That is very difficult.
Luo Shan laughed and asked: "Is it Ning Yao?"
She was even willing to be close to Du Shanyin, so naturally she was even more so toward Ning Yao, truly treating her as a junior in her own family.
Even toward Chen Ping'an and the sword cultivators of the new Hidden Officer lineage, Luo Shan felt from the bottom of her heart that these young people had done very well, better than them, the old-timers.
Zou Zi didn't say anything, just shook his head.
Duan Qingchen frowned and asked: "It can't be Feiran, can it?"
Ning Yao and Feiran—these two young sword cultivators—were both genuine number ones under heaven, matching name with reality.
Logically speaking, they indeed had a very good chance, more innate advantages than anyone else.
Immortal Cong Qian asked in a deep voice: "Is Sword Cultivator Feiran becoming the common lord of the Barren Wastes a kind of omen? Part of Zhou Mi's long-term layout?"
If so, shouldn't we start making plans today?
It was said that Feiran was an anomaly among the Barren Wastes demons, greatly revering the Ritual Sage's teachings.
Zou Zi said calmly: "I met Feiran long ago. He has no intention of changing heaven and earth. At most, he has thoughts of patching and perfecting."
Wei She, however, was unwilling to let this matter pass lightly. He pressed: "After all, times have changed. With different realms and different status, is it impossible that Feiran's intentions might change?"
Zou Zi seemed to answer evasively: "Rest assured, Feiran is certainly not Zhou Mi's External Incarnation Body. Otherwise, Feiran would not have been able to become Dao partners with Gui Ke."
Wei She smiled and didn't say anything more.
Yun Miao listened with a pounding heart. In previous meetings, they didn't talk about this kind of thing, did they?
From the tone of Zou Zi and the others, it sounded like if Feiran had such an intention, they would come up with a plan today and make a move against Feiran tomorrow.
Wei She said: "We need to be careful of that nameless one in the Barren Wastes."
Zou Zi nodded: "He is indeed deeply hidden. Bai Ze probably hesitated about whether to awaken this person earlier."
Du Shanyin suddenly asked: "I've heard that when the Three Teaching Founders travel to other worlds, it's like visiting houses. They are heavily suppressed by the 'heavenly will and earthly Qi' of other houses. So to a large extent, they must follow local customs and strictly observe the rules of host and guest. Otherwise, even if two Fifteen Realm cultivators don't meet, their Dao auras will provoke each other, forcing a Great Dao battle. Only the Barren Wastes world is an exception. Its Great Dao roots are all different from the three teachings. So can I understand it this way: once a Qi refiner in the Barren Wastes is the first to ascend to the Fifteen Realm, the several worlds of the human world should merge? No one can stop it?"
Zou Zi nodded: "You could say that."
Zhang Jiao stroked his beard and laughed, squinting as he asked: "What broad knowledge! Whose child is this?"
Wei She laughed and introduced: "He is the personally taught disciple of Hao Su, the previous executioner of the Sword Qi Great Wall."
Zhang Jiao nodded: "Hao Su's great name is known even in the Western Buddhist Kingdom where I was."
The Three Teaching Founders each merged with the Dao in their respective worlds, but for ten thousand years, they almost never showed themselves in their own worlds, and naturally they didn't visit each other.
It was to avoid Daoizing the world.
For example, the Dao Ancestor had only made his whereabouts public once, appearing as a young Daoist boy riding a green ox, and only going to the Barren Wastes world.
In the eyes of some later great cultivators, the Dao Ancestor's action was somewhat bullying.
Precisely because of this, the three worlds of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism had coexisted peacefully, maintaining a general state of neighborly harmony.
If the four worlds were seen as four households, then each had its own family traditions.
The Haoran World revered Confucianism, and the Wen Temple hadn't abolished the Hundred Schools, but it also feared that the roads would be filled with self-righteous, selfless Confucian moralists occupying important positions, fond of using reason to kill people in every matter, with clear consciences, and treating the world harshly.
It feared that the rules would be too rigid, leaving everyone unable to move. So unless absolutely necessary, the Ritual Sage would never take that step. His situation was probably similar to Bai Ze's.
No wonder they were close friends.
On the Green Obscurity World side, because they emphasized the mutual complement of Yin and Yang, the number of great female cultivators standing at the mountain peaks was relatively the highest.
The Dao Ancestor stood aloof from events and chose to let his three headmaster disciples take turns managing affairs for a hundred years. This was a choice to keep flowing water from stagnating and door hinges from getting worm-eaten.
The human world had once experienced three catastrophes of heaven and earth that were full of variables.
The first was the Barren Wastes Grand Ancestor secretly refining one of the Ascension Platforms into Holding Moon Mountain, attempting to reconnect the earth and the Heavenly Court, gradually linking to the underworld, helping demon Qi refiners and certain heroic spirits who had died in the battle to ascend to heaven, taking them under his command, recreating gods, and reshaping the Heavenly Court.
The second was the great demon Chu Sheng creating the Hall of Heroic Spirits, pointing out a more extreme and practical path for the Barren Wastes world—weakening all sentient beings under heaven while strengthening a small handful of great demons.
The final catastrophe was, of course, the bitterly disappointed Jia Sheng of Haoran, who became Wen Hai Zhou Mi of the Barren Wastes. He secretly devoured a group of great demons, starving the world to fatten himself.
Since he hadn't been able to swallow Haoran in one fell swoop, Zhou Mi, who had eaten again and again, had no choice but to leave the world and ascend to heaven, changing the battlefield.
This brought a huge hidden danger to the Barren Wastes world. If it weren't for Bai Ze returning to the Barren Wastes, awakening that group of ancient great demons who had slept for ten thousand years, combined with Bai Ze's own peculiar way of merging with the Dao, which made any Fourteenth Realm cultivator feel extreme dread, then the new Barren Wastes' lack of top-tier combat power would have made Haoran's counterattack against the Barren Wastes as easy as splitting bamboo, with no suspense about the outcome.
The first catastrophe was settled by three sword cultivators.
The second, the Dao Ancestor personally appeared and suppressed it with one hand.
So later generations of mountain cultivators couldn't help but feel less deeply about it.
The third catastrophe made both worlds feel the pain.
Think back to those days when the three sword cultivators left the Sword Qi Great Wall together and rushed to Holding Moon Mountain.
Someone asked: "Since you have so much resentment, why are you still willing to follow?"
Someone replied: "I'm not helping those Confucian scholars. I'm not even helping you, Chen Qingdu. I just think those old friends who have died certainly wouldn't be willing to be forced to work as hired thugs."
As for that sword cultivator who had been silent all along, the moment he could see Holding Moon Mountain in the distance, he finally spoke, muttering to himself: "On the path of cultivation, I've been protected by all of you all along. It's time for me to protect the human world for once. It was so hard to get this human world. We can't just go back to the old road."
They were Chen Qingdu, Dragon Lord, and Guan Zhao.
Their respective natal flying swords were named Duckweed, Great Ruins Immortal Tomb, and River of Time.
The Zeng Master laughed and asked: "Has Mr. Zou missed someone?"
The assembled people suddenly became enlightened, and the atmosphere immediately turned strange.
Zou Zi laughed: "Me?"
He shook his head at himself, self-deprecatingly: "I call myself a person who mends and hangs nets. How could I be a fish that escaped the net at the same time?"
Back then, when he cooperated with the Ritual Sage on the distant journey beyond the heavens, Zou Zi had brought five bags of earth. Combining them with Master San Shan Jiu Hou's talismans, they had successfully laid out five heavenly return paths whose length couldn't be calculated.
So when Zou Zi's five-colored earth was used up, that was the end of the road for that pursuit. The Ritual Sage and the others had to turn back then.
However, there were some among the seated whose hearts stirred slightly. A net might miss a fish big enough to swallow a boat. If Zou Zi himself was that fish, wouldn't that be even better?
In the "room next door," there was another ancestral hall. The people there were the alternates, and for now, their number hadn't reached fifteen.
Among them were Shao Benchu of Flowing Sunset Gorge, Xu Xuan of North Julu Continent, Su Jia of Zhengyang Mountain's Cornus Peak, Huai Qian of Central Earth Divine Continent, and that sole surviving seedling from the Fu Ji Sect of Paulownia Leaf Continent.
There was also a young cultivator named Xu Jia, who had once been a shop assistant at the Yellow Millet Wine Shop on Upside-Down Mountain.
And there were several from other worlds. One was a middle-aged man clad in a suit of great frost armor, holding a saber propped in both hands, dozing off. His hometown was in Fu Yao Continent, but his true body was now in the Five Colors World, continuing to play emperor.
There was a wandering Daoist with the Dao name Zheng Xing, chatting with a cultivator from South Po Suo Continent who liked fishing.
Originally, they were each talking about their own things, but soon a topic got everyone involved, each expressing their own views.
Someone said: "Just two sword cultivators can penetrate deep into the Barren Wastes' hinterland and cut through the world. The demons are so useless. How can this war still be fought now? Might as well surrender early."
Xu Jia, hearing this statement, immediately became unhappy. He said they weren't ordinary Ascension Realm sword cultivators.
Although Ah Liang still owed a lot of money to his shop and had betrayed his young lady's devoted affection, on this matter, Xu Jia still had to say a few fair words for that guy.
Soon someone echoed Xu Jia's view and added that a certain someone who had returned to the Barren Wastes and that group of ancient great demons didn't seem to have participated in that siege.
A young Daoist named Wang Wu laughed and added a sentence: "If I haven't miscalculated, during the time they were trapped in the encirclement, they probably all ascended to the Fourteenth Realm."
The man clad in great frost armor, holding his saber propped, opened his eyes and asked: "If that's the case, how can those Barren Wastes beasts still fight? Were their losses heavy? Can you calculate or not, how many died?"
The Daoist Wang Wu sighed: "I don't know why, but none of the Barren Wastes demons who participated in the siege, including the sword immortal Zhang Lu who betrayed the Sword Qi Great Wall, died at all."
On the other side, Zhang Jiao said: "Now let's talk about the second matter. Who is willing to intervene in this chaotic situation in Green Obscurity World?"
Wei She seemed unsurprised by this, laughing: "We have to let people choose a side, right?"
Zou Zi said: "Of course, both sides are acceptable."
Paulownia Leaf Continent, Fish Scale Ferry, moonlight flowing like pure white silk.
On that ferry boat Tong Yin, a wine table gathered people from different hometowns.
Chen Ping'an was just slightly tipsy from drinking, but Feng Xuetao was being continuously urged to drink by Cui Dongshan, clearly quite drunk, and his speech was starting to get loose. He said that Liu Jubao and Wei She were a pair of useless fellows, unable to snatch a single character "North." Chen Ping'an smiled gently and absolutely didn't join in. Pei Qian had a strange expression. After all, this private grudge between two continents involved a certain big shot of both the black and white paths of North Julu Continent, and this old true person happened to have deep connections with their own Fallen Mountain. Cui Dongshan didn't care about any of this. Burping with alcohol, he put on an indignant face and said: "Yes, yes, it should be led by the bold and skilled Qing Secret Senior Brother to take the lead, especially needing to demand an explanation from that Crouching Peak in North Julu Continent..."
Just then, Feng Xuetao felt a chill on his back. Soon a hand pressed down on his head, and a voice laughed: "Saying nothing but foolish things. What's all this about snatching? Such words hurt harmony. My Dao cultivation is meager, my words light and my standing insignificant. When I walk on the road and see the Wealth God Liu and Wei She, I always don't even dare to fart. Come, come, come. I'll apologize to you and make amends. I'll punish myself with a few cups..."
Feng Xuetao shrank his neck, silent as a cicada in winter.
Seeing the situation was unfavorable, Cui Dongshan prepared to slip away, but as soon as he stood up, he froze in place.
The old true person stroked his beard and smiled: "Trying to run? Don't you wipe your ass after shitting?"
Besides the Fire Dragon True Person, who was pressing down on Feng Xuetao's head and casting a body-fixing spell on Cui Dongshan, another figure had now appeared on the ferry boat. It was a dashing and free-spirited Daoist with a long beard and a sword on his back.
It was Pure Yang Lü Yan.
Chen Ping'an immediately understood and stood up, walking elsewhere with Daoist Lü Yan. The latter laughed and spoke through heart-to-heart communication: "I've already chosen the place to hone my Dao heart. I'll set off immediately. Don't rush. When you're truly free one day, come over to help guard the path. I appreciate the effort."
Chen Ping'an asked curiously: "Where?"
Lü Yan said: "One of only two places in the human world—the juncture between a cave heaven and a blessed land."
Among the current five worlds, besides the Lotus Cave Heaven and the Lotus Flower Blessed Land being connected as a cave heaven and blessed land junction, there is actually another one. (Note: Chapter 320, "The Old Daoist at the Well's Edge")
Chen Ping'an nodded. This choice was indeed unexpected but reasonable.
Lü Yan hesitated for a moment, then reminded: "Over there, the rules are strict. Mountain Lord Chen may need to be like me and temporarily forget his former self."
Chen Ping'an laughed: "There's nothing difficult about that. It's just following local customs."