Chapter 1131: What Is Three Times Three?
Peach blossoms are best viewed from a boat on the water, while the bright moon is best appreciated while lying on a rooftop.
This was Cui Dongshan’s crooked reasoning.
Feng Xuetao felt as if he had been stuck to a piece of sticky toffee; he had no choice but to follow the white-clad youth around as he wandered aimlessly.
Feng Xuetao was actually not a particularly patient or good-tempered person, but when it came to someone like Cui Dongshan, he was at his wit’s end. The key point was that Cui Dongshan was an irritating chatterbox. Earlier on the boat, he hadn’t drunk his fill of wine, but he had certainly heard his fill of talk.
Cui Dongshan hadn’t lied to Xie Gou. He had indeed gone through the list of Qi refiners who had presented their travel permits, roughly checking each one against the Ministry of Justice’s archives.
The selection of offices in the mountain headquarters had already been completed, which meant that there were more official hats and empty chairs than registered cultivators. The Green Ping Sword Sect was truly short on manpower. The blame could only be placed on this sect leader’s lack of prestige; he was unable to gather a host of heroes with a single raised arm.
Fortunately, earlier on the Tongyin Ferry boat, the Master and Xie Gou had each recommended a Qi refiner for different reasons. Xie Gou said that little girl had decent aptitude, while the Master said that particular cultivator had a good nature.
After dragging Feng Xuetao around for a full circuit, Cui Dongshan had already decided to take that young female cultivator with freckles under his wing. As for that pretty girl named Jian Xiu, the decision was still pending.
Cui Dongshan asked mysteriously, “Brother Feng, what do you think of Kuang Kui’s aptitude?”
Feng Xuetao, who mistakenly thought he had misjudged, used his divine abilities to take another look at Kuang Kui. After confirming there was no mistake, he gave a relatively tactful evaluation, “Very ordinary.”
Cui Dongshan said, “Brother Feng, didn’t you notice that this kid comes from a family with deep scholarly roots and is proficient in the art of observing qi?”
Feng Xuetao stated truthfully, “I didn’t notice.”
Even if he had, so what? If a Qi refiner was skilled in observing qi, it was indeed a nice addition. But for someone like Feng Xuetao, who was at the Ascension Realm, Kuang Kui’s little bit of ability was negligible.
Cui Dongshan asked, “I’ve never asked before, Brother Feng, do you have any outstanding disciples?”
Feng Xuetao said, “I only have a few unregistered disciples. Most of them have already died of old age. Of the few remaining, I haven’t seen them in many years, and I don’t plan to look for them either. Why does Sect Leader Cui ask?”
Cui Dongshan lifted his chin, “Taking on disciples on behalf of your own disciples—that would make for a beautiful story.”
Feng Xuetao shook his head. Messy and chaotic, what was he even talking about?
Cui Dongshan asked with a shocked expression, “Could it be that Brother Feng is thinking of taking on disciples on behalf of your master?”
Feng Xuetao’s face stiffened. He said in a deep voice, “Sect Leader Cui, please don’t joke around.”
Cui Dongshan rubbed his hands together and snickered.
Feng Xuetao asked, “Sect Leader Cui, can you speak to me plainly?”
Cui Dongshan clapped his hands vigorously, “That’s the spirit! Brother Feng, don’t try to guess my thoughts; just ask directly.”
Feng Xuetao said, “I’m all ears.”
Cui Dongshan rarely put on a serious expression as he said, “Kuang Kui has a good nature. That was my Master’s assessment. Feng Xuetao, you should know that when my Master says someone has a good nature, it’s a very, very high praise. To put it bluntly, you wouldn’t get that kind of evaluation, at least not yet. Of course, your view of my Master is probably similar. Next, I will definitely take Kuang Kui to the Green Ping Sword Sect for cultivation, but I have my own plans for how to arrange his status. If I remember correctly, Brother Feng, you have an unregistered disciple named Yin Yi. He has a mountain peak called Boundary Mountain on the Ai’ai Continent, and he is currently at the Jade Pu Realm. He has lofty aspirations but suffers from a lack of battle merits, so he has never been able to establish his own sect. He also has a daughter who is a cultivation prodigy and also a sword cultivator. Since she was young, she has yearned for the Sword Qi Great Wall. But Yin Yi dotes on his daughter and couldn’t bear to send her there for training. Yin Ying ran away from home twice, and both times her old-fashioned father brought her back to the mountain. So over the past few decades, the father-daughter relationship has become very strained. When the Sword Qi Great Wall lifted off and flew to the Five Colors World, Yin Ying knew that she would never be able to go to the battlefield to kill demons like the two sword immortals from her own continent. She was utterly disappointed, and the relationship hit rock bottom. She even threatened to abandon her sword cultivation path. Yin Yi is at his wit’s end over this. As for how to untie this knot, of course, the one who tied it must untie it. He, Yin Yi, can first acknowledge Kuang Kui as his personal disciple. With this connection, I can help him find a sword immortal from the Sword Qi Great Wall to take Yin Ying on as a disciple. But Yin Yi must pay a price that isn’t really a price. He and Boundary Mountain must become the Green Ping Sword Sect’s Dedicated Supporter and subsidiary mountain respectively. The price is that he will never again have the chance to rely solely on his own abilities and luck to become a founding patriarch of his own sect. It isn’t a price because, given Yin Yi’s cultivation potential, qualifications, and connections, such an ambition was always a luxury. Of course, once we meet, I can make him completely give up and be convinced. He, Yin Yi, simply doesn’t have the fate to establish his own sect. But at the same time, his daughter has a great opportunity. On the Ai’ai Continent, after two thousand years, she could break the precedent and establish the first sword cultivation sect. The Green Ping Sword Sect and I would be happy to see this happen. And if the Green Ping Sword Sect is involved, then the Bei Ju Lu Continent, which has always been at odds with the Ai’ai Continent, would have to show a bit more tolerance. They would have to consider whether this matter has the approval of my Master and the Fallen Mountain Sect. During this not-short, not-long period of time, since you, Feng Xuetao, are Yin Yi’s dao-teacher, don’t think you can stay out of it. Earlier, when we were talking, I, Cui Dongshan, said I was a transitional sect leader. Aren’t you, then, a transitional Dedicated Supporter of the Jade Gui Sect? Jiang Shangzhen truly considers you a friend. He knows very well that you, an old wild cultivator who loves a life of leisure like Qing Bi, don’t fit in with the atmosphere of the Jade Gui Sect. Naturally, he wouldn’t want to, nor will he, bind you completely to the Jade Gui Sect.”
“My Master helped the Green Ping Sword Sect find a secret Protector of the Dao, Qing Tong. So I, as Cao Qinglang’s junior brother, should also find a reliable Protector of the Dao for the next sect leader.”
“After hearing all this, Brother Feng, doesn’t it suddenly become clear? After all this going around in circles, the one I truly have my eye on is still you, fellow Daoist Qing Bi.”
Feng Xuetao stood there speechless, as if meeting the slovenly white-clad youth for the first time.
Cui Dongshan continued to speak eloquently, “You’ve probably heard a little rumor. The City God Temples in the Haoran World secretly maintain a list of ‘Red Figures’ who have accumulated merit. People like my senior sister are on that list, so when she travels through the various nations of Haoran and passes by City God Temples of any size, she receives special treatment. As for Feng Xuetao, you don’t have that treatment yet. But over at the Confucian Temple, it’s actually a bit different. Only because you, the wild cultivator Qing Bi, once risked your life, first following A Liang into the depths of the wasteland, then pairing up with Jiang Shangzhen to protect a group of young people including Cao Ci, and having a close-quarters, one-on-one life-and-death battle with the Heavenly Stem lineage cultivators of the wasteland. But Feng Xuetao has absolutely no idea how to leverage this seemingly nominal merit. I, however, know how to maximize its benefits, and in a reasonable way that follows the rules and definitely doesn’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg.”
“My Master is a scholar. I am a businessman. My Master is strict in his studies and self-cultivation, seeking both benevolence and achievement. I only pursue achievement. So while I am still the sect leader of the Green Ping Sword Sect, you should cherish this once-in-a-millennium, fleeting opportunity. Feng Xuetao, I’ve laid all my cards on the table. Will you do this deal?”
“I’ll count to ten. Miss this chance, and it’s gone.”
Just as Cui Dongshan was about to count to ten, Feng Xuetao spoke up, “I only have one utilitarian question, in the style of a wild cultivator.”
Cui Dongshan cut him off, nodded with a smile, “I’ve been waiting for you to ask that. Don’t worry, I’ll point you towards a path to merging with the Dao. As for whether you can succeed, a conservative estimate is fifty-fifty.”
Feng Xuetao steadied his dao heart and asked, “Really?!”
Cui Dongshan said, “Let me be clear beforehand. It will definitely take you a long time. It could be as short as eight hundred years or as long as a few thousand years.”
Feng Xuetao said in a deep voice, “It’s a deal.”
Cui Dongshan asked tentatively, “For such an open and honest gentleman’s agreement, there’s no need to swear an oath or sign a contract, right?”
Feng Xuetao said, “Friendship is friendship, business is business. We need to find a middleman to witness this matter.”
Cui Dongshan asked cautiously, “Such as?”
Feng Xuetao said with a chuckle, “Sect Leader Cui is a man of profound learning, best at discerning people’s hearts. You and I both know this, so why be redundant?”
Cui Dongshan stomped his foot, “My relationship with the highly respected Fiery Dragon Patriarch is just so-so!”
Feng Xuetao said with a dark face, “I meant Chen Ping’an!”
Cui Dongshan hesitated for a moment, pretending to have an inner monologue, then let out a sigh of relief and said with conviction, “After much difficulty, my Master has finally agreed.”
Feng Xuetao said with a sneer, “Sect Leader Cui, can you show a little sincerity? Do you take me for a fool?”
Cui Dongshan shook his sleeves and said with a smirk, “Fine, I’ll be completely open and tell you the honest truth. In business, there’s no way to avoid risk. And let me kindly remind you of one thing: if you dare to use my Master to threaten me, I’ll kill you.”
Damn, he changed his face faster than turning a page.
Feng Xuetao’s intuition at that moment told him that the white-clad youth wasn’t joking.
In an instant, Cui Dongshan was about to slip away.
But someone grabbed him by the back of the neck, also with a smirk, saying, “Sect Leader Cui is quite impressive! Is this how you kindly do business with people?”
Feng Xuetao laughed heartily, savoring the schadenfreude. Indeed, everyone has their match.
It turned out that while Cui Dongshan was pretending to have an inner monologue with his Master, Feng Xuetao had actually used his inner voice to tell Chen Ping’an about the matter, but he had edited it, only saying that he and Sect Leader Cui had reached an agreement and was willing to immediately switch to being a long-term registered Dedicated Supporter of the Green Ping Sword Sect after resigning from the Jade Gui Sect. Although Chen Ping’an didn’t know how Cui Dongshan had convinced this Ascension Realm wild cultivator, it was undoubtedly a great thing, and he had no reason to refuse. But just as he projected his mind here, he heard Cui Dongshan talking about some honest truth and threatening to kill someone.
Cui Dongshan shrank his neck and cursed Feng Xuetao, “Damned wild cultivator!”
A flick on the head made the white-clad youth yelp. Chen Ping’an scolded, “Since we’re all family now, is this how you talk to our future Dedicated Supporter?”
Chen Ping’an cupped his fists and smiled, “Fellow Daoist Qing Bi, please be more tolerant in the future.”
Feng Xuetao returned the gesture, “It’s nothing.”
Chen Ping’an said with a smile, “When you arrive at the Green Ping Sword Sect in the future, feel free to visit Fallen Mountain often for tea and wine.”
Feng Xuetao caught the subtle hint and laughed, “I’ll spare you the tattling. I trust Sect Leader Cui’s business acumen.”
Chen Ping’an nodded, “Dong Shan usually talks nonsense, but most of the time he’s reliable in his actions.”
Feng Xuetao hesitated for a moment, then said, “I have my doubts.”
Chen Ping’an laughed heartily, “It seems Brother Feng no longer considers himself an outsider. Very good, very good.”
For some reason, Feng Xuetao noticed that after Chen Ping’an appeared, Cui Dongshan became a completely different person. To be precise, when this master and student were both present, like at the wine table on the Tongyin Ferry, Cui Dongshan would lose all his bravado without any awkwardness. It was like a wordless, instinctive understanding, natural and inexplicable.
Chen Ping’an said, “No need to talk about Dong Shan. Over at the Green Ping Sword Sect, Qing Lang is more of a proper scholar than my master is, yet he’s also more flexible. His heart is firm in seeking knowledge and the Dao. I hope Brother Feng will look after him and guide him in the future. I thank you in advance.”
Feng Xuetao said, “Mm. I’ve had a few interactions with Cao Qinglang here in the capital. I have a good impression of him.”
Feeling the harmonious teacher-student relationship between Chen Ping’an, Cui Dongshan, and Cao Qinglang, Feng Xuetao sighed inwardly with a tinge of emotion. Maybe he really should go to the Ai’ai Continent and see his disciple Yin Yi, who wouldn’t dare come to him unless he went first? Among his many unregistered disciples, their aptitudes varied and their hearts were different. Some used his name to pull the wool over others’ eyes; some drifted apart until they became strangers. Since you, Feng Xuetao, didn’t take them seriously, they didn’t care about being registered or not. But there was also an odd one like Yin Yi, who always wanted to cultivate properly and establish his own sect, so that one day he could prove to his teacher that he was worthy of being a personal disciple.
It seemed he had heard that Yin Yi had considered inviting Xie Songhua to be Yin Ying’s sword technique teacher. Remembering this, Feng Xuetao asked, “Why hasn’t Xie Songhua become a Dedicated Supporter of the Green Ping Sword Sect?”
Cui Dongshan snickered.
Chen Ping’an said helplessly, “Probably Sword Immortal Xie likes her freedom and doesn’t like being bound by a sect. I guess the reason she’s willing to be the family Dedicated Supporter of the Liu Clan on the Ai’ai Continent is out of a sense of hometown fellowship.”
Cui Dongshan kept snickering to himself, only to receive another solid flick on the head.
Feng Xuetao was puzzled but didn’t probe further.
It turned out that Chen Ping’an was truly afraid of Xie Songhua and felt intimidated every time they met. This female sword immortal from the Ai’ai Continent was extraordinarily unrestrained in her speech, a veteran at drinking and telling dirty jokes.
“If I really can’t find a suitable dao partner, I guess Deputy Chen could do in a pinch. Don’t worry, I don’t need a title. Just keep me as a hidden beauty in a golden house.”
“Don’t think that woman Song Pin acts all cold and aloof in public, putting on airs. When she talks about private feminine matters, it’s all fierce talk. Even I can’t handle it, tsk tsk tsk...”
Even if Chen Ping’an had the guts, how could he dare to... invite a wolf into the house?
Cui Dongshan asked cheerfully, “Why is that Emperor of the Cloud Rock Nation standing in the alley, leading a bunch of powerful high-ranking officials like wooden figures?”
Chen Ping’an said impatiently, “Can’t an alley be cooler than a tavern?”
Cui Dongshan nodded eagerly, “Alright, alright, yes, yes.”
Feng Xuetao just smiled and let it go.
Chen Ping’an withdrew a grain of his mind and returned to that cheap eatery, continuing to drink and eat the hotpot with Fan Tong and Xie Sanniang.
At the next table, a group got up, paid, and left the eatery. Soon they noticed the unusual situation in the alley outside. A narrow alley was roughly divided into three “small factions”. At the very front was a pampered-looking middle-aged man with a dragon-patterned jade pendant at his waist. Beside him stood two imposing old men. One was pale with no beard, hands tucked into his sleeves, habitually bowing his head. The other wore a tall cap and had an ancient appearance, full of dao aura and sharp eyes. Behind them were about seven or eight men with heavy official airs, varying in age, all in casual clothes. Further back, near the corner of the alley entrance, were sturdy young men with standard-issue swords and sabers of the court. Under the moonlight, some had the glint of inner armor faintly visible at their cuffs.
The group that had left the eatery, seeing this scene, had to turn and walk away through another path in the alley, not moving quickly.
Before they had even left the alley, a woman in the group said excitedly in a trembling voice, “I recognize two of the Dukes in the alley!”
Another woman, beaming, said in a low voice, “It looks like the Minister of Rites is there too.”
As for the few Qi refiners, they communicated with their inner voices, “The man standing next to the middle-aged man seems to be the new National Teacher of the Cloud Rock Nation.”
“So, is the Emperor himself here?”
“Could it be that he’s waiting for someone? If so, that’s very strange. Who has such a big presence nowadays?”
“Could it be Wei Ying, the Sect Leader of the Jade Gui Sect?”
“Is Sword Immortal Wei so free that he’s eating hotpot in the same eatery as us?”
“Is it that Sect Leader Cui of the Green Ping Sword Sect? No, I heard that sect leader looks like a young man because he maintains his appearance, and he likes to wear white clothes.”
Anyway, they were utterly baffled.
Inside the shop, Chen Ping’an asked casually, “Fan Tong, do you want to find a job in the mortal world, like a secure position in some small country’s officialdom, or go up to the mountains and find a suitable immortal sect for cultivation?”
Fan Tong said carelessly, “What’s there to choose? Anything is fine, right? The problem is who would take us, Immortal Master Chen, right?”
Xie Sanniang thought for a moment and said, “Immortal Master Chen, to be honest, we’d rather go up the mountain and seek some immortal fate.”
Chen Ping’an nodded, “Understood.”
He stood up, cupped his fists, and said, “I’ve had my fill of wine and food. The mountains are high and the rivers are long. Let us meet again if fate permits.”
Chen Ping’an made a downward gesture, indicating they needn’t stand up to see him off. “We’re this familiar, no need for formalities.”
Fan Tong remembered something and was about to speak, reminding Immortal Master Chen that he had forgotten to pay, as they had agreed he would treat them. But his wife stomped on his foot and glared at him.
The man was a bit confused. Immortal Master Chen wasn’t short on a few coins. This time he treated, next time we’ll treat him back. Immortal Master Chen himself said they were familiar, so no need to be formal.
In the quiet alley.
A local woman from the capital, walking at the back of the group, turned her head to look back into the alley for some unknown reason.
She had spent years in the world of pleasure and entertainment. What grand sights and wealthy auras hadn’t she seen? But she still witnessed a scene she would never forget, one that defied reason. She remembered that earlier, since they were at the next table, she had been sitting back-to-back with the last man to sit down at the adjacent table. Once, when she was toasting the few immortal masters, she found the space cramped and wanted to ask the man behind her to move closer to his own table. But after she finished toasting and turned around, she saw that he had already moved his bench on his own.
However, when that shabby, blue-clad man walked out of the eatery, the middle-aged man in the alley began to bow and make a formal salute. At the same time, everyone either performed a bow of the head or lowered themselves, and the faint clanking of metal armor could be heard.
---
The Discipline Master of the Dan Jing Sect, Zhao Tieyan, was a Cavern Dwelling Realm Qi refiner. He had been cultivating for over a hundred years. The man was short in stature but had sharp eyes. He wore plain clothes and straw sandals, with an iron mace inscribed with Thunder Department talismans tucked into his belt.
When Zhao Tieyan and his group of Qi refiners arrived at the capital of the Cloud Rock Nation, it was like small fish from a stream entering a dragon’s pool. They didn’t make a single ripple. It was nothing like in those remote, small countries where they could still be addressed as “immortals”.
Here, in the capital, Zhao Tieyan had a sect-owned property. He had opened a general store at the Fish Scale Ferry. It was a maze of twists and turns, hard to find, and needed directions. As for business, it was probably not as good as the nearby late-night eatery selling grilled fish. Zhao Tieyan saw his fellow sect brother, the dejected Shang Zuo, and could only comfort him by saying, “Mountain business is always like this. Three years without opening, and one sale feeds you for three years.”
The other two groups of Qi refiners traveling with them had thought they could bask in some reflected glory and at least have a place to stay in the capital, but they ended up having to find an inn themselves.
Actually, both sides were embarrassed, but they had to pretend they weren’t, which made it even more awkward.
After a few years, master and junior brother were reunited. Shang Zuo had been complaining bitterly at the wine table. It turned out that nowadays, the high officials and nobles in the capital, not to mention the imperial relatives and the Nine Ministers, had very high standards. Even the threshold for a mere junior official was hard to cross. They simply didn’t take cultivators below the fifth realm seriously. Between the lines, Shang Zuo wanted to go back to the sect, hide in the mountains, and pick up cultivation again. Zhao Tieyan felt helpless about this. He silently made up his mind that if it really came to it, he would stay here and let Junior Brother Shang take the new disciple he had just taken on back to the sect.
In the current times, immortal masters in the mountains weren’t rich, and the countries in the mortal world weren’t well-off either. Everyone was tightening their belts.
The few juniors who had come down the mountain for training this time had started cultivating late and had little experience. They didn’t have much to say about it yet, only feeling that traveling for cultivation should involve roughing it and enduring hardship. But Discipline Master Zhao Tieyan was a veteran who had enjoyed the good life. He remembered the first time he followed his senior uncle down the mountain for training when he was young. In his youth, he had read in the Daoist scriptures about the “mortal world’s myriad traps” and “fame and fortune wrapping around one like a turtle shell.” It turned out to be all nonsense. When a cultivator came down the mountain, he entered a world of glamour. The elders were also open-minded. Up in the mountains, they said one thing; privately down the mountain, it was another. They weren’t rigid and old-fashioned. They told the juniors they could be a bit more casual. The mountain’s precepts and rules didn’t have to be strictly followed. They just needed to remember not to speak carelessly when they returned to the mountain, lest the Discipline Master lineage hear about it and make a big deal out of nothing.
Shang Zuo said with a complicated expression, murmuring, “Senior Brother Zhao, it was all fine and good cultivating in the mountains. How did it turn into a business?”
After downing a bowl of weak, watery wine, Shang Zuo tugged at his collar, shook his sleeves, and said mockingly, “My whole body stinks of money. I can’t wash it off.”
Zhao Tieyan smiled and said, “The reason I came down the mountain this time was that the Sect Leader sent me to take your place.”
Shang Zuo looked at the Discipline Master senior brother and waved his hand, “Stop using such a flimsy excuse to fool me. There’s no logic in a sect’s Discipline Master spending the whole year running a shop in the marketplace to make money. I’m complaining to you, not because I want to go back and find peace. It’s frustrating to live like this, but there’s nothing I can do about it. But you can’t even let me vent, can you?”
Zhao Tieyan felt even more distressed, but he still smiled and said, “Things will get better in the future. Once the Sect Leader becomes a Golden Core Earth Immortal, our sect will finally have a real place in the Tongye Continent’s mountain world.”
Shang Zuo directly chugged a bowl of wine, his expression bitter. “I saw a good seedling not long ago. The aptitude was really good. I don’t think it was any worse than the Sect Leader’s. But I couldn’t compete for it. Someone else snatched it away. I, your old man, had to admit defeat and didn’t dare to say a word.”
Zhao Tieyan was at a loss for words. After a moment of hesitation, he asked, “Is he still in the capital? Is there any room for negotiation?”
Shang Zuo shook his head. “The one who snatched him was a young Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. Actually, the other party was quite generous and polite. Besides, the kid had already formally taken him as master. He even took the initiative to come and apologize to me. He also said to pass on a message from his master: if there’s an opportunity in the future, he will surely repay a dao debt to the Dan Jing Sect.”
Zhao Tieyan sighed. Back then, the highest realm among the sect’s successive patriarchs was the Nascent Soul. But when the great calamity befell Tongye Continent last time, the entire sect had moved with its ancestral temple to the Five Colors World. Zhao Tieyan and a few others hadn’t been willing to leave and had stayed voluntarily. Apart from the Sect Leader and the senior sister who now managed the finances, people like Zhao Tieyan and Shang Zuo hadn’t even been direct disciples of the ancestral temple back then. He had heard that the Five Colors World would open its gates once after eighty years. He wondered what it would be like then.
Zhao Tieyan said, “Before coming down the mountain, the Sect Leader and Senior Sister Huang called me in and made a decision. We want to let you know and also hear your opinion.”
Shang Zuo picked up a salted peanut, chewed it slowly, his expression mournful but his tone firm. “Whatever you guys have discussed, I’ve already made up my mind. Even if they come back to Tongye Continent in eighty years, I won’t recognize them as our patriarchs. If you three are thinking of returning to the fold, just strike my name off the Dan Jing Sect registry. I won’t go back to the mountain to be looked down upon. Whether I’m there or not, it’s the same. It was like that before, and it will be even more so in the future.”
Zhao Tieyan smiled. “You’ve got it wrong. The few of us share the same view as you.”
While they were pouring out their hearts over wine, one of Shang Zuo’s disciples came to the back courtyard to report. A Qi refiner who had come out looking for business had arrived at the shop and presented a visiting card. The man said he had a small sect and was proficient in construction, mechanisms, and economics. He wanted to see if there was an opportunity to cooperate with their sect.
Zhao Tieyan opened the card case, read the contents of the card, and handed it to his junior brother. In the end, Zhao Tieyan and Shang Zuo looked at each other, completely baffled.
Trying to get money out of them? Couldn’t he pick someone with more assets to con?
Shang Zuo instructed his disciple, “Send him away politely. No need for pointless arguments.”
Unexpectedly, the uninvited guest had already walked himself from the shop into the back courtyard, his face beaming with smiles, and greeted them, “Discipline Master Zhao, Brother Shang! Long time no see!”
He was so warm and enthusiastic, as if reuniting with old friends. Zhao Tieyan looked at Shang Zuo, and Shang Zuo looked back at Zhao Tieyan, both thinking he was a friend of the other.
They had seen obnoxious people before, but never someone so inexplicable.
The white-clad youth seemed to have no self-awareness. He stood by the well in the courtyard, talking to himself with the utmost sincerity, “I’ve heard that the Dan Jing Sect has twenty-four pools in its mountain, each named after a solar term. Truly a beautiful place suitable for cultivation, pleasing to the eye and the heart. In my humble opinion, it would be a crime against reason if no one reaches the upper five realms!”
The youth continued, “I also heard that your founding patriarch was originally a traveling doctor. In the mountain marketplace, he sold medicinal herbs and happened to meet a mysterious person. Because of his kind heart, he received an immortal fortune and thus embarked on the path of cultivation. After that, he encountered one wonderful opportunity after another, all of which he deserved. Now, the incense and lineage of the Dan Jing Sect have passed down to the current Sect Leader. How should I put it? Every family has its own difficult scriptures?”
A man standing by the doorway with his arms crossed smirked at this.
Shang Zuo said unhappily, “Get to the point.”
The youth said, “Well, I am a bona fide registered cultivator of my own mountain. But since it’s a newly established sect with shallow foundations, I have to come out and earn some money myself. Besides being a master of construction, I also have a few Cultivation Farmers and Medicine Cultivation Masters under me. We can build and manage gardens, cultivate rare flowers and exotic plants, transplant ancient immortal trees, select and relocate feng shui stones, and even do things like setting up blue cranes, white deer, cloud-flying fish, and the like. It’s not difficult. We can make a mountain sect look more like an immortal abode. We can also forge memorial archways and ancient steles, carve inscriptions on cliffs under false names, or even serve as temporary Dedicated Supporters or paper guests of honor to help bolster prestige. We can also act as intermediaries to help rent ferries with other sects. In short, as long as you can think of it, I can do it. And if you can’t think of it, and I’m not boasting, I can do it too. Basically, I rely on my skills and good conscience to go out and earn some hard-earned money.”
The youth gave a thumbs up, pointing to someone behind him. “For example, this friend behind me is a deeply skilled Medicine Cultivation Master, absolutely top-notch!”
Feng Xuetao said with a smile, “My skills are passable.”
Before becoming an Earth Immortal, Feng Xuetao’s original trade was indeed that of a Cultivation Farmer.
Zhao Tieyan suppressed a smile and asked, “How much do you charge specifically?”
The white-clad youth said, “We can sit down and discuss it slowly.”
Shang Zuo reminded him with his inner voice, “Senior Brother Zhao, be careful. They might be after your iron mace. They probably scoped out the place before you arrived.”
After all, the most valuable item the Dan Jing Sect had now was this mountain-guarding treasure.
Zhao Tieyan said, “That’s only prudent. Better safe than sorry. I’m more worried that this group has a grudge against the Dan Jing Sect.”
The youth stood on tiptoe, craning his neck to look at the table inside, “How about we have a little drink and get some appetizers? Worst comes to worst, even if the deal falls through, we can still be friends.”
Shang Zuo had sharp eyes and said, “The dharma robe this immortal master is wearing isn’t cheap.”
The white-clad youth put his hands on his hips, “Of course it isn’t! I’m putting up a front. As the old saying goes, fine clothes make the man, gold makes the Buddha. We cultivators, when we’re out and about, we’re bound to run into some snobs. So we still need to care about our appearance and showmanship.”
The young disciple who also worked as a shopkeeper, having just learned to use his inner voice, said to his master and Discipline Master uncle, “That guy was loitering outside earlier, refusing to leave. He squatted at the door and chatted with me for a long time. I can’t say for sure if he’s a con man, but he has a pretty good temper.”
The naive young man didn’t dare to say that this peer of his had praised him for having an extraordinary bone structure upon first meeting, saying he was a once-in-a-century cultivation prodigy, and asking why he was stuck in the marketplace instead of seeking immortals in the mountains.
Regardless of whether it was true or false, this kind of talk always felt good to hear.
The wealthy and powerful nobles of the capital, whose names were well-known, had recently been leading their clever young descendants around, visiting various masters. Some had already acknowledged several teachers.
Shang Zuo also wanted to take on a few inexpensive, unregistered disciples, but unfortunately, the Dan Jing Sect’s background nowadays couldn’t withstand any scrutiny. One check and they would be exposed.
Otherwise, any cultivator of the middle five realms who came to the door would be accepted. They would just teach a crude breathing technique or teach a patchwork dao formula, and give a few pills that wouldn’t kill anyone, and they could rake in a fortune.
As for this new disciple, even if his aptitude was ordinary, at least he could practice immortal arts. He was already an unexpected joy for Shang Zuo, who was satisfied just to have found him.
Even with his good patience, Zhao Tieyan was starting to consider showing them the door.
Cui Dongshan said with a smile, “Don’t be in a hurry to kick us out. Actually, besides doing business, the reason I came knocking is also about a certain karmic connection.”
Zhao Tieyan asked, “What do you mean?”
Cui Dongshan said, “Earlier, my Master took a woman wearing a marten hat and saw you all at the site of a licentious mountain god. My Master mentioned this to me, saying that your mountain rules and sect atmosphere are both good.”
Zhao Tieyan felt a little more at ease. That marten-hatted girl had displayed some immortal abilities, and her cultivation level was high, quite impressive. If she and that blue-clad man who had stayed silent the whole time had really taken a fancy to his iron mace, they could have easily taken it by force in that desolate place. There was no need to go through all this trouble. The logic was simple: if you can take it by force, why bother with trickery?
Zhao Tieyan tossed the visiting card back to the white-clad youth and said, “What is it that you want? Please speak frankly.”
Cui Dongshan laughed and said, “Temples have subsidiary temples, and immortal mansions have superior sects. Isn’t that the principle? Logically speaking, you abandoned orphans of the old Dan Jing Sect, even if you’ve suffered grievances, you still have to bear the burden of humiliation and continue to guard the empty ancestral property. When they return in the future, you can obediently hand it over.”
“But the Confucian Temple’s fourth-ranked Sage, the Second Sage, said something about ‘ruler, minister, father, son.’ Haven’t you heard of that? The Second Sage didn’t teach scholars to be foolishly loyal and filial. If the ruler is not like a ruler, the minister doesn’t have to be a minister. That’s the real principle. There’s a sequence to it.”
“You need to know that the most feared thing in cultivation is going down the wrong path, acknowledging the wrong master, and calling a thief your father. Cultivators whose seven emotions and six desires run wild, unable to achieve sincerity and rectitude, with all sorts of tangled thoughts, are like worms eating away at a lion from within. One should naturally sort out the mountain rules and revive the sect atmosphere. The waves wash away the sand, and when all the sand is washed out of the pan, true gold is revealed. I think you all are very good. The upper beam isn’t straight, but the lower beam isn’t crooked. Excellent.”
“Seeking immortality through cultivation and seeking the Dao are a bit different. Being covered in the stench of money—how is that not being a cultivator? It’s just being an immortal who is not literally ‘spotless’.”
Shang Zuo said with his inner voice, “Senior Brother, I can’t out-argue him.”
Was this guy rambling drunkenly?
It didn’t seem so. When chewed over, there was some truth in it?
Zhao Tieyan said, “Maybe the Sect Leader would have something to discuss with you.”
Cui Dongshan winked, looked at the shop assistant, and said, “Young man, I took a liking to you at first sight. Let me write you a wonderful story about ‘when one man attains the Dao, even his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven’.”
The young man was overjoyed and asked timidly, “Do I really have the ability to cultivate and become an immortal?”
Cui Dongshan said with a cheeky grin, “You belong to the second half of that story, the part about the chickens and dogs.”
The young man didn’t catch the hidden meaning and looked confused. “Huh?”
Cui Dongshan patted the young man’s shoulder. “You’re so smart, no wonder we hit it off.”
Zhao Tieyan thought for a moment and asked, “Could you make it simpler?”
Cui Dongshan shouted loudly, “Since we’re all reasonable and straightforward people, I’ll come right out and say it. The reason I’m here personally today is to form an alliance with a brand new Dan Jing Sect!”
Zhao Tieyan was even more confused and curiously asked the white-clad youth, “May I ask the name of your esteemed sect?”
The white-clad youth grinned and said, “I’ve said it before, it’s a newly established sect called the Green Ping Sword Sect!”
Shang Zuo sighed and said with his inner voice, “Senior Brother, I really can’t stand this kid!”
Zhao Tieyan smiled and said, “Then may I ask if this immortal master is named Cui, with the given name Dongshan?”
The white-clad youth nodded vigorously, “Yes, I am Cui Dongshan.”
Zhao Tieyan took a deep breath, “Get lost!”
Cui Dongshan turned his head and said, “Fellow Daoist Qing Bi, see that? He even guessed my identity. His brain is quicker than yours, huh.”
Feng Xuetao smiled and nodded, “It seems so.”
Qing Bi? The new Dedicated Supporter of the Jade Gui Sect, the Ascension Realm cultivator from Ai’ai Continent? Indeed, it was said that this old immortal was currently in the capital.
Shang Zuo roared, “All of you, get the hell out!”
Cui Dongshan gave a thumbs up, “I salute you. You’re real men. I won’t argue with you. So when do we start drinking?”
Cui Dongshan turned his head and asked, “Fellow Daoist Qing Bi, it looks like the deal fell through. What do you say?”
Feng Xuetao said with a smile, “I don’t mind. I can stay for a drink or leave. Either is fine.”
Cui Dongshan cupped his fists and shook them vigorously a few times, “Until we meet again. If you ever run into trouble, can’t find a way out, and have your back against the wall, come to the Tongyin Ferry at Fish Scale Ferry and ask for someone. Say you’ve met Vice Head Xie, or directly look for this Feng Xuetao here by my side.”
Zhao Tieyan said with a smile, “Then my junior brother and I won’t see you out.”
Shang Zuo suddenly spoke up, “No matter who you are or what your intentions are, I want to make one thing clear to you. My Dan Jing Sect also has many cultivators with pure dao hearts.”
Perhaps a longing that tugs at the heartstrings is like a person unskilled at drinking downing a bowl of strong liquor.
Cui Dongshan nodded, “Of course. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be you few who made me talk so much here. It made my drinking all for nothing, and I’m thirsty. Can’t we really have a drink together?”
Feng Xuetao couldn’t take it anymore and turned to leave first.
Cui Dongshan, imitating a character from an opera, raised his foot as if holding a whip and riding a horse, and shouted, “Fellow Daoist, go slow.”
After leaving the shop, Cui Dongshan put his hands in his sleeves and said earnestly, “Fellow Daoist Qing Bi, roaming the world, traveling thousands of miles, we shouldn’t just be passing through and seeing things with our eyes. They say the human body is a small universe. Mountain and wild cultivators, alone and unattached, have nothing to worry about... but have we really not underestimated ourselves?”
“Whether you encounter immortals, whether your mind wanders, whether you treat things like passing clouds and smoke or stand as a pillar in the current—where is not a test of the heart? At the shoals, it leaves you speechless. The heart-monkey jumps, the will-horse gallops. Those of us who climb the mountain and cultivate the Dao, walking facing a wall, how do we conduct ourselves?”
“I know that with a dao heart as firm as yours, you won’t listen to these words. But as a friend who has sworn brotherhood with me by cutting off a chicken’s head and burning yellow paper, I still have to say them.”
“Brother Feng, are you moved? Don’t you suddenly think I’m a pretty good guy?”
Feng Xuetao said with a straight face, “Get lost.”
Cui Dongshan did indeed walk away alone, “Yes sir! Orders received! I have a little donkey, and I never ride it. Clippity-clop, clippity-clop.”
---
In that river of time, which seemed like a foreign land to everyone, Lu Chen found Zheng Juzhong and asked, “Why did you have to go this far?”
Zheng Juzhong said calmly, “Headmaster Lu, do you think I need to threaten anyone with words?”
Lu Chen played dumb, “Ah? What did Mr. Zheng say?”
Zheng Juzhong ignored him.
It was about trading pieces with the Azure Underworld.
As for whether you believe it or not, that’s a matter for the Jade Capital.
Lu Chen suddenly widened his eyes and pointed to his own face, “Mr. Zheng, take a look at my expression, right now. Is it sincere? Do you believe it?”
Lu Chen stamped his chest and beat his feet, “To put it not too exaggeratedly, I believe it even more than you do!”
Zheng Juzhong simply remained silent.
A certain prearranged game of chess, with the entire Azure Underworld as the board.
The two players each had the first move.
Zheng Juzhong’s first move was to be the first to break into the Fourteenth Realm.
Headmaster Kou Ming’s first move was the Jade Capital itself.
Lu Chen’s expression was bleak, “Self-cultivation and self-salvation—isn’t that good?”
“Why take the initiative to enter the game and be a troublemaker? Ah, I shouldn’t put it that way. The Azure Underworld isn’t a cesspit, and Mr. Zheng isn’t a troublemaker.”
Lu Chen murmured to himself, “Naturally, Zheng Juzhong and the Azure Underworld are not like that.”
Zheng Juzhong finally spoke, “I remember that in ancient times, for traveling scholars and cultivators, one’s place of birth was called ‘home country’. The country one resides in and serves was called ‘family country’. The place of one’s ancestral registry was the ‘ancestral country’.”
Lu Chen asked, “Are you not being biased, helping someone? Or did you make some secret agreement with someone earlier, and you have no choice?”
Zheng Juzhong shook his head, “Neither.”
Lu Chen flew into a rare rage, pointing at Zheng Juzhong’s nose and cursing, “You bastard, relying on your own cleverness to bully people! Tell me, what the hell are you after? Can you, Zheng Juzhong, bear the karma of this great chaos under heaven?”
Zheng Juzhong smiled and said, “I am already cultivating and saving myself. If three Fourteenth Realm cultivators cannot surpass Yu Dou, then what about three pseudo-Fifteenth Realm cultivators?”
Lu Chen continued to curse, “What kind of arithmetic is that? Who taught you? Does three times three make nine, or does three times three make one?!”
Zheng Juzhong waved his sleeve, “Lu Chen, if you’re going to curse, curse, but don’t spit everywhere.”
Lu Chen slumped to the ground, looking utterly wronged, sniffled, and said, “Little Daoist here just got anxious, couldn’t help myself.”
Zheng Juzhong said slowly, “In my view, Lu Chen is the only sober person in the entire wine vat.”
But Lu Chen inexplicably thought of a sentence and muttered to himself, “Never having been drunk, one resents the wine.”
Zheng Juzhong smiled and said, “We’ll see about tomorrow when tomorrow comes. Since there’s nothing to do today, how about we drink?”
Year after year, wildflowers bloom across the mortal world.