Chapter 1145: Also a Sword Cultivator and Freedom

Chapter 1145: Also a Sword Cultivator and Freedom

In the Barren Wastes World, the azure sky was as clear as if washed clean, like the glaze of a green porcelain, seeming as if the next moment it would truly drip onto the earth.

Pei Qian asked, "Going up against Jiang She, can there really be a fight?"

Zouzi nodded. "The commotion will be great, the impact far-reaching."

Pei Qian sighed in admiration. "Unfortunately, I cannot watch from the sidelines."

Zouzi said, "Even if you could watch, it's best not to get involved."

Pei Qian asked, "Why?"

Zouzi said, "Zheng Juzhong is present."

Pei Qian fell silent.

Suddenly, Zouzi spoke with his heart voice, "Bixiao Fellow Daoist said it well. His letting go of Gu Can is precisely not letting go of himself. Not letting go of Ma Kuxuan is truly letting go of himself."

Pei Qian asked suspiciously, "When did you see Bixiao Cave Lord?" He had followed Zouzi when they left Swallow-Leaf Continent to travel through the various states of the Azure Firmament World. They had not gone to that bright moon, the Glorious Moon. Even though they knew Bixiao Cave Lord and that demonic sword immortal with the dao name Xi Zhu were staying in the territory of Yaxiang Yao Qing, they deliberately took a detour. In Pei Qian's view, Zouzi didn't make trouble, and Bixiao Cave Lord didn't cause obstacles. But once Zouzi decided something was a matter, or if Bixiao Cave Lord hindered anyone's Dao, then it was no small matter. Pei Qian was familiar with old history and knew that there were still two or three Daoists, even though their dao age and Dao power were extremely high, who still had to obediently hide from Bixiao Cave Lord, not daring to meet him. This hiding had lasted for thousands of years. There was no other way; once you angered Bixiao Cave Lord, who had once used the old dao name "Caizhou Daoist" and later founded a Guan Daoist Temple in Haoran, he would never forgive.

For ten thousand years, the only one who could slightly temper Bixiao Cave Lord's stubborn temper was the Dao Ancestor himself.

Zouzi explained, "Earlier, when Fellow Daoist Bixiao was a guest at Fallen Mountain, in his words, he intentionally mentioned 'Zouzi,' which was of course meant for me to hear."

Pei Qian was even more puzzled and asked tentatively, "Since it was intentional, what did Bixiao Cave Lord seek? At that time, as a mountain-visiting guest, did he want to clear the name for a mountain master?" Bixiao Cave Lord had high standards and a strange temper. His dao career spanned nearly twenty thousand years, with dao age and seniority beyond imagination. He rarely favored any young junior, but Pei Qian knew well that that young mountain master who once carried Chen Qingdu's sword "Long Qi" and mistakenly entered the depths of the lotus root had indeed caught his eye. According to Zouzi, this was because the heart and actions of the straw-sandal boy matched Bixiao Fellow Daoist's temperament. He was willing to meddle in trivial worldly matters as fine as cow hair, and he handled them well. When he hit a wall, he wouldn't turn back. What he recognized, he wouldn't 'repent' even if it meant bleeding and breaking his head. A man weighing a hundred catties would insist on carrying a burden of two hundred catties, yet he could still find joy in hardship, walking with a swaying load, grinning through gritted teeth as he looked ahead at tomorrow.

Zouzi also couldn't be sure of that fellow Daoist's true intentions and shook his head. "Still unclear, the threads aren't visible. However, just before returning to the Bright Moon Daoist Sanctuary, Fellow Daoist Bixiao also laughed and said to me, 'If a man does not act for himself, heaven and earth will destroy him.'"

This was originally an ancient Daoist saying with profound meaning. If a Daoist is not truly himself and deceives himself and others, heaven and earth will not tolerate it. In the end, he cannot escape turning into ashes of calamity. But as the old saying was passed down, its meaning changed and became stale.

Pei Qian's expression changed slightly. Zouzi discussed heaven and Lu's family discussed earth; one person and one surname each occupied half of the Yin-Yang school. But Bixiao Cave Lord had to throw in a "heaven and earth will destroy him"... When Pei Qian heard this, he always felt a murderous aura rushing toward him.

Even with sword arts as high as Pei Qian, when chatting and mentioning the old temple master, he would respectfully call him Bixiao Cave Lord, not daring to address him as Fellow Daoist like Zouzi.

He was afraid that the old Daoist would suddenly appear out of nowhere and say to him, "Pei Qian, are you very familiar with this poor Daoist?" It was said that in the early days of the Azure Firmament World, when chaos was primordial and heaven and earth were first separated, Bixiao Cave Lord, who had great merit in the entire human world, rode the wind coldly, came to overlook the mountains and rivers, picked a piece of land that looked pleasing to the eye, roughly drew a circle with his whisk, and marked Caizhou as his Daoist sanctuary without consulting the Dao Ancestor who was building the White Jade Capital. This caused a dispute with a mountaintop Daoist who had opened a cave abode in Caizhou earlier. The latter had accumulated battle merits and survived the battle to ascend to heaven, and was no easy person. He left his cave abode, manifested his true form and Dharma image, sacrificed a host of refined supreme treasures, and was ready to settle the score with that old Daoist, to see true skill in Dao arts. As for the outcome, naturally, after a hard fight, he was not a match and had to beg for mercy. But Bixiao Cave Lord was relentless and wanted to take that great cultivator as a child to guard the gate of his Daoist sanctuary... The cultivator was a veteran of countless battles and a renowned hero. How could he accept such humiliation? He had to use escape techniques, abandon his cave abode, and leave Caizhou to avoid the sharp edge, seeking refuge with a good friend whose cave abode was in ancient Gu Pizhou. Bixiao Cave Lord followed unhurriedly behind. That friend who had claimed the land and set up his own banner was also loyal. Although hesitant and after much deliberation, he still opened the restrictions of the cave abode, at whose entrance stood two stelae inscribed with "Gold Well" and "Silence," and let the cultivator enter. But the worst mistake was that he couldn't help complaining to the fallen friend, "Why did you have to provoke that stubborn old Daoist? Look at this now, it's wonderful!" Bixiao Cave Lord heard this, and the result was that the two friends shared both blessings and hardships, accompanying each other on the road of escape. It was said that that righteous friend, who was loyal to the skies, hid everywhere. Although he was never caught by Bixiao Cave Lord, on his path of cultivation, he failed to successfully cross the tribulation, failed to achieve union with the Dao, and had to undergo a military liberation and reincarnation. After wandering through the mountains and the mortal world, he finally ended up at the Guan Daoist Temple on the East Sea, becoming a fire-tending Daoist boy in charge of alchemy.

Pei Qian laughed. "At Wang Zhu's East Sea Water Lord's Mansion, those two didn't fight. Was it because they both have the surname Chen?"

Zouzi explained, "Their life stories are similar, and their situations in youth were about the same—incredibly bleak. So Chen Qingliu could tolerate it. If anyone else had dared to block his way, given his usual temper, he would have drawn his sword long ago."

Pei Qian said, "I have to admit that this Chen Ping'an fellow's luck with elders is indeed remarkable." Zouzi said, "At that time, Chen Qingliu actually wanted to go with the flow and help Chen Ping'an walk onto a safer fork in the path. Calling it a fork was only relative to the latter's predetermined path; it was still a main road. But Chen Ping'an was destined not to accept this kindness."

Pei Qian asked, "How so?" Zouzi said, "For example, if he chose to be chopped to death by Chen Qingliu's sword and become a ghost, he would have sufficient reason to no longer concern himself with the general trend of the world. He could go into hiding, cultivate his mind and nature, and just take care of the household affairs at Fallen Mountain. If he closed up for cultivation for a few hundred years, with Chen Ping'an's intelligence, it wouldn't be difficult for him to find a path toward a more 'pure' sword Dao, step by step reaching the summit, and when he was high enough in realm, he could go find trouble with the White Jade Capital."

Pei Qian thought for a moment and agreed, "Becoming a ghost is no small price, but not having to deal with external matters allows one to focus on refining swords in the mountains, concentrate on cultivation, and strive for purity. It is not a bad safe shortcut."

Zouzi said, "You still underestimate Chen Ping'an's spirit."

Pei Qian laughed. "Just how great is that spirit, that it can be underestimated by both me and Fellow Daoist Qingzhu?"

Zouzi said, "That spirit lies in one word: 'strive.'"

Pei Qian said, "He once dared to have nothing, and now he dares to strive for everything. That's a complete transformation of character." Zouzi said, "Not entirely. His character hasn't gone to extremes; rather, it's a kind of liberation, returning to a state of 'freedom.' When Chen Ping'an was a youth walking the corridor bridge, he already strived fiercely. At that time, Qi Jingchun told him not to stop and to take a few more steps forward. On the surface, it was encouragement, but in fact, it was still Chen Ping'an's own heart driving him. Without this foundation as support, that supreme being probably wouldn't even deign to glance at Chen Ping'an."

Pei Qian suddenly smiled. "A person who has stolen watermelon to eat is really different."

Zouzi nodded. "He rectifies his position, sets his mind at ease, and settles his spirit."

Pei Qian lifted his chin. "They're here." Lu Tai, holding a bamboo climbing staff, was hacking away at wildflowers as he slowly ambled toward the two mountaintop figures who were his preaching masters. When they met, his opening line was a very disrespectful rebuke: "Why do you two have to target Chen Ping'an?"

One of the three pinnacles of Haoran, the tall and thin old man, the sword art master Pei Qian, said, "Did you get the order wrong?" In the Great Spring Dynasty of Swallow-Leaf Continent, during a sword inquiry under the rain curtain outside the Heavenly Palace Temple, Pei Qian, who had disguised himself as the steward of the High Duke's mansion for decades, had murderous intent but no killing intent in his heart. It was more like a sparring and inquiry into the Dao. Of course, if the young Hidden Official couldn't handle it, he would have become a dead man. For this, Zuo You, who had "gone overseas to seek immortals," had sought him out again. Ning Yao, sword in hand, had left the Five Colors World and come to Haoran World to seek him out as well. As for Cui Dongshan and Jiang Shangzhen, they had been secretly searching for his whereabouts all these years.

But Pei Qian, accompanying Zouzi, had secretly gone to the Azure Firmament World. The latest top ten and alternates were all the work of Zouzi.

So it could be said that Zouzi had no fixed abode. He "kept his feet on the ground" as he walked through the human world, targeting both the sword cultivator Chen Ping'an and the White Jade Capital Daoist Yu Dou, and incidentally also targeting the head of the Central Earth Lu family.

In short, whether the already perfected Nascent Soul Lu Shen could unite with the Dao and when he would break into the fourteenth realm all depended on Zouzi's will.

Lu Tai grinned cheekily. "Before, he was hiding from Zuo You; now, he's hiding from Ning Yao. Second Master, you've really come up in the world."

Pei Qian laughed. "Good disciple. You deserve to be afraid of heights."

It was clear that the master-disciple relationship wasn't bad.

When Lu Chen found Lu Tai, he had also talked about Liu Cai and Liucai, and in the course of conversation, had also mentioned Zouzi.

Lu Tai didn't dare hide this matter and said with his heart voice, "First master, Lu the Third previously found me. That usually slovenly fellow actually spoke a rare harsh word."

Without needing to deduce the content of their conversation, Zouzi could guess the gist of it, and asked, "He asked you to pass along a message: he shouldn't be considered to be engaging in Dao inquiry with you?"

Lu Tai nodded. That was about it.

Zouzi laughed. "The supreme one turns to look within; the next seeks from others. Lu Zhangjiao is not so petty. He deliberately put on a stern face to scare you."

Generally speaking, someone who has attained the Way of longevity has no time to worry about themselves, let alone have the leisure to haggle over the mortal dust outside. How could they dare to easily be distracted?

Lu Chen was, of course, not an ordinary person. He was more like a man of ancient times, seeking the Way of longevity, seeing through life and death. Life is but a temporary stay; death is but a temporary dwelling.

That was why Gao Gu of Difei Mountain so highly esteemed Lu Chen. In his final preaching, he said that if anyone could learn seventy or eighty percent of the essence of Lu Chen's view of life and death, then on the path of cultivation, there would be no life-and-death barrier.

It wasn't just the Daoist Gao Gu, but also the Old Scholar of the Sage of Literature. They both had sincere admiration for Lu Chen's learning.

Lu Tai looked at the two behind him and couldn't help but sigh softly in his heart. What the hell is all this?

A young man, tall in stature, robust in build, in coarse linen clothes, walking slowly with a sword on his back and two ancient gourds hanging at his waist.

Beside him was a young woman with a cold expression, her clothes colorful and extremely gorgeous. The only flaw was that her appearance was too ordinary. It was a pity for that dazzling dharma robe; it seemed to have been wasted on her.

Sword cultivator Liu Cai, Jade Jade realm.

Female cultivator Liucai, Willow Sinew realm.

Finally seeing these two "selves," Lu Tai, as the "original," had a complicated expression.

One was a Yang Spirit out-of-body; the other was a Yin Spirit leaving the body to travel far.

Lu Tai looked at them, and they observed Lu Tai.

Liucai laughed. "Neither of us looks at you with resentment or hatred, so why do you look at us like we're thieves?"

Liu Cai said, "Easy to understand: without saying a word, you shift the blame to cover up your guilt."

Lu Tai returned to his usual mischievous state and said with a grin, "You two are putting on a show here, huh?"

Liu Cai could be said to be exceptionally gifted, uniquely favored by heaven. He was truly a born-of-the-times, bursting-on-the-scene first-class figure.

The first time the world knew his name was when he appeared on the list of the top ten young cultivators of several worlds.

He was also destined for a sword inquiry with that young Hidden Official, recently hailed as "the most famous in thirty years."

The sword cultivator's ancestral home, master-student lineage, and resume were all blank. It was only said that after the battle at Fuyang Continent, Bai Ye's immortal sword "Tai Bai" had split into four, each piece choosing its master based on Dao affinity. Chen Ping'an got the sword tip, which carried the greatest killing power, and from it he refined his Night Travel sword. Liu Cai got the sword body, which contained the most sword qi.

To use Cui Dongshan's description, he had done nothing and yet became instantly famous. In the whole world, where could such a cheap deal be found?

Liu Cai's "ancestral home" was in the Green Shade Blessed Land, controlled by the Liu family of the Bai Bai Continent.

And the female cultivator Liucai's origin, the Tianjing Blessed Land, was also a private property of the Liu family. The Green Shade Blessed Land was the most populous of the seventy-two blessed lands, a lower-grade blessed land with as many as ninety million people. But Liu Jubao, rich as he was, deliberately never raised its grade, so the spiritual qi of heaven and earth there was thin. To cultivate and become an immortal was almost something only talked about in books. As long as someone accidentally stumbled onto the path of cultivation and managed to advance to the Cave Dwelling realm, they would be taken away from the Green Shade Blessed Land. It stood to reason that a blessed land with such a huge local population could be "monetized" to create a money-making cornucopia. It was said that two strategist family elders of the Liu family had long ago convinced Liu Jubao not to make money this way. In contrast, for the Tianjing Blessed Land, Liu Jubao had poured money into it, raising it from a lower-grade to an upper-grade blessed land. To this day, every Spring Day, the Liu family still maintained a tradition: the younger female members of the Liu family would ride the wind above the sky and scatter varying amounts of snowflake coins down to the people. It was said that the smallest amount was counted in the tens of thousands. Heavenly maidens scattering flowers—beautiful as a mural.

Liu Cai was personally brought out of the Green Shade Blessed Land by Zouzi. But it was the sword cultivator Yuan Bai, from the old Zhu Ying dynasty of Bai Bai Continent, who had traveled alone and taken Liucai out of the Tianjing Blessed Land.

Perhaps feeling there was nothing to talk about with them, Lu Tai went back to catch up with his two preaching masters.

Liucai asked, "Exactly how many natal flying swords does Mr. Pei have?"

Liu Cai said, "Four. For now, I've only seen three of them."

Liucai had only asked casually; she had a more curious question. "Do you really like earning money that much? You're not short of money either." It was really a case of the same person having different fates. Liucai seemed to have nothing remarkable about her, while Liu Cai alone had two sword-nurturing gourds made by the Dao Ancestor himself. He used the "Heart's Affair" gourd to nurture his natal flying sword "Blue Sky" and the "Immediately" gourd to nurture his flying sword "White Colt."

Liu Cai said, "I'm not short of money now, but I was terrified of poverty before. Now that I'm learning the sword smoothly and have two gourds, there's no need to spend all my time on sword refining. I have to find something to do. If I want to read books, I have to buy them." Without family background or imperial examination merit, the libraries of scholarly families and local gentry had higher thresholds. Occasionally, someone would open their doors, but to copy books inside, you had to watch their faces. Not being allowed to light a lamp was one thing; the servants would watch him like he was a thief. Every time he returned a book, the servants would stare at the nails on his hands.

Liu Cai asked, "When you were at Zhengyang Mountain, you witnessed that sword inquiry firsthand. What did you feel?"

Liucai curled her lips, looking unconcerned. "It wasn't you. I'm only in the Willow Sinew realm, my Dao is shallow, I couldn't see clearly."

Earlier, during that sword inquiry at Zhengyang Mountain, Chen Ping'an and Liu Xianyang met at the Crossing Cloud Tower Inn. He had been extremely cautious and careful.

As it turned out, Chen Ping'an hadn't been crying wolf; it wasn't paranoia. There really were ghosts.

At that time, not only were Ma Kuxuan and Yu Shiwu waiting for an opportunity, but Zouzi was also watching from the sidelines.

The mantis stalks the cicada, the oriole is behind; the slingshot is below. So when Chen Ping'an suddenly stopped outside the threshold of the first peak ancestral hall at Zhengyang Mountain, looked at those startled female cultivators from the Flowers and Woods Workshop, and muttered to himself for a while, as if making a negotiation, asking Zouzi to perhaps delay the sword inquiry for a while. After that, Chen Ping'an stepped over the threshold and went about his business. Zouzi had apparently agreed to this agreement and "recalled" the Liucai who was serving as a maid to sword cultivator Yuan Bai at Dui Xue Peak.

At that time, Zhengyang Mountain's various peaks were in chaos. Even Wu Tijing, a genius sword cultivator, had left the sect and betrayed the school, and they had no energy to retain him, let alone bother with an unknown female qi refiner at Dui Xue Peak.

Liucai asked, "Facing him as an enemy, what do you think? Are you nervous?"

"Of course I'm nervous, but it won't hinder the sword inquiry." Liu Cai had stayed in Swallow-Leaf Continent for a few years and said, "Digging a great river can save countless lives. It's not an exaggeration to say it's boundless merit."

"The key is that this move can make the stagnant Swallow-Leaf Continent—both the people and the money of the mountain and below—start moving. With this movement, Swallow-Leaf Continent will have infinite vitality."

"To have a sword inquiry with this kind of person is an honor."

Liucai laughed. "As expected of someone who likes to read. You speak so well. You should be a master at an academy."

Liu Cai smiled. "I'd like to."

Liucai lifted her chin toward the sky. "Being targeted by that one, and he even found that mountain Daoist temple. If you had come down the mountain a few days later, you might have been caught red-handed. Aren't you afraid in hindsight?"

It turned out that earlier, when She Yue, at Zhou Mi's behest, had landed on Swallow-Leaf Continent, she had two purposes. One of them was to find Liu Cai.

If she could find Liu Cai, then Zhou Mi could naturally find Zouzi. Once found, what Zhou Mi had in mind might have been to be open and frank with Zouzi, to see if there was a chance for cooperation. Why talk about heaven on earth? Why not ascend to heaven and look down on earth, unifying the Five Elements and the Yin-Yang school? Or perhaps, if they couldn't reach an agreement, he would just devour him?

Maybe he was just taking a walk, discussing learning, and having a chat? Zhou Mi had once taken his first disciple, Shou Chen, on a tour of an unremarkable small Daoist temple in Swallow-Leaf Continent. The temple master was a Guanhai realm Daoist. During those chaotic times, he had let those disciples and resident Daoists cultivate in the mountains while he himself, using the excuse of wandering the human world, left alone to subdue demons and eliminate evil, to do his bit for the world to see the light of day again. Ten-odd years passed in the blink of an eye. The flowers in the mountains bloomed and withered many times. The temple remained quiet and elegant as before. The Daoists inside were still waiting for that master or the old Daoist ancestor to return to the mountain, to come home. At that time, Zhou Mi had performed a divination technique on that little Daoist boy and picked up some threads. Liu Cai was merely a local commoner, not an officially ordained Daoist. The little temple boy only knew that the rustic called Liu Mutou had a relationship with a big donor of the temple, allowing him to frequently do business with the temple, selling mountain products for copper coins and silver bits.

Liu Cai shook his head. "I'll deal with whatever comes. If I can't block it, I'll die. Besides, if he had actually found me, whether the outcome would be good or bad... it's something that can't be verified anyway. In short, thinking too much does no good."

Liucai clicked her tongue. "You're quite open-minded."

Liu Cai said calmly, "A living man can't be choked to death by piss."

Liucai said with a playful expression, "I have a feeling that you and Chen Ping'an are very alike. Greedy for money, fond of reading, willing to suffer hardship, good mentality, not old but with many opportunities, and you manage to gather them all in your hands."

Liu Cai laughed dryly. "You said it yourself: it's a feeling."

Liucai continued as if to herself, "Right. Not all enemies and friends have to be righteous gentlemen and evil villains going at it. Bad people killing bad people, good people killing good people—all are common."

Liu Cai said, "Back then, I really couldn't survive. If it weren't for Mr. Zou, I wouldn't even know where I would have been reborn in this life."

Liucai laughed. "The books call that a dead man."

Liu Cai said, "This is also fate. In a person's life, some collect debts, some repay debts. Everyone needs to settle accounts."

Liucai's voice was soft, as if speaking in dialect, and she said a folk saying, "I too feel somewhat alike, but fate is not as low as others' in being born."

Liu Cai didn't agree with this and shook his head. "Everyone has their own fate. Seeking is the same seeking. If you don't seek wealth and honor in danger, you seek a way to live in death."

Liucai murmured, "Fate, ah."

——

That young Daoist named Lu Chen had barely left when another guest followed? What's going on? Do they really think this is a temple fair? The cultivator suddenly opened his eyes. In the distance, ripples appeared, and he vaguely saw a blurry, tall figure slowly approaching. The figure had a solemn appearance and full Dao achievement. The cultivator's Dao heart shook violently—what he feared had come. Could it be that Lu Chen had leaked his whereabouts? In the Azure Firmament World, morals were truly declining. To please Bixiao Cave Lord of Luo Bao Beach, what despicable deeds wouldn't they stoop to? Wasn't he just a freshly minted fifteenth realm? What are you afraid of? No matter how high your Dao arts are, can they surpass the Dao Ancestor?

Seeing that enemy whom he wished he could skin, eat his flesh, and drink his blood, the cultivator's expression shifted between dark and light. In the end, he didn't dare to say anything.

The old Daoist was already tall, and with one standing and one sitting, the latter appeared even smaller and lower in Dao.

The cultivator simply closed his eyes. The old Daoist wasn't in a hurry to speak. Patiently, he looked over the acquaintance with whom there seemed to be some misunderstanding. The old Daoist was silent for a moment, then laughed heartily. "Yo, isn't this... what's that Fellow Daoist again? Sorry, truly, the years have been too long. It's been too long since I last dealt with you, Fellow Daoist. I've inadvertently forgotten."

The cultivator gritted his teeth, said not a word, and was determined to play dumb and act crazy.

The old Daoist nodded to himself, approvingly. "As expected, the more skilled, the bolder. No matter who you meet outside, you're not afraid. So-and-so Fellow Daoist still has the same spirit as back then. Although your Dao power has weakened a notch, your composure has certainly increased."

The cultivator, whose dao name had even been "inadvertently" forgotten by Bixiao Cave Lord, widened his eyes. He stopped pretending. In an instant, his eyes were red, his grief and indignation reached their peak, and he said angrily, "Wasn't it just a few complaints back then, that you chose to stand by and do nothing during the battle to ascend to heaven, that you were afraid of death, and weren't heroic enough? What great hatred is this? To go so far as to take my cave abode, cut off my incense, ruin my great Dao, and harm my life?!"

The old Daoist wore a slight smile and said nothing.

To someone familiar, it was a bit chilling. Probably fearing that extreme fear would turn to anger, the cultivator stood up, no longer showing any sign of cowardice. The futon made of ashes scattered in the wind. Standing in the pile of ashes, the cultivator, who had had the face of a youth, visibly aged and withered. He ignored the frightening sign of Dao power flowing away like a flood bursting a dam. The resentment and grievance accumulated for countless years truly needed to be vented. He pointed at the tall old Daoist's nose and began to curse, "You stinking old Daoist, you forced me to live here in disgrace. How many millennia has it been?! Fine, fine, fine. You've tracked me here. I, your Daoist master, admit defeat. Come, come, come! If you have the ability, just slap me dead and be done with it!"

He no longer dared to fight back, to sacrifice magic treasures, or to duel in Dao arts.

The old Daoist sighed. "Silly child."

The cultivator looked around: the futon was gone, the ashes scattered. The idea of dying to witness the Dao had completely failed. The only retreat had become a dead end. The cultivator was heartbroken, his face covered in tears. "It's over. It's all over."

The old Daoist's eyes were filled with pity. "Straying from the path without knowing it, wasting spirit while secretly rejoicing. In the end, drawing water with a bamboo basket—it's all empty. What Dao are you cultivating?"

The cultivator made a vicious decision and continued to curse, completely giving up. Since he had been found by this stinking old Daoist, death was inevitable. He might as well find some pleasure to make up for his loss. The old Daoist shook his head, with an expression of pity for his misfortune and anger for his unyieldingness. "Back then, when I saw you had gone astray, taking the credit for heaven's work as your own, I still thought you had some innate nature, which was rare. You were destined for a mountain immortal fate with me. We should have had a proper gathering and parting. I didn't want you to decay like this, so I intended to give you a hand, to pull you out of the furnace of blazing fire, to help you seek a chance at survival. But you were stupid and ignorant of heavenly secrets. So many years, and still you couldn't open your mind. All you did was sit there, deluded and unawakened. Like a wooden puppet in a shrine whose river has already changed course and who has lost the advantage of heaven and earth—how can that be called true following the Dao naturally and governing by non-action?"

Hearing these words, the cultivator was stunned.

The old Daoist shook his head, turned around and left, dropping a final verdict: "Mending the pen after the sheep is lost—it's all empty. Misleading others and oneself, letting down this body."

The cultivator, not being stupid after all, hurriedly caught up. "Bixiao Cave Lord, save me, save me!"

The old Daoist didn't turn his head but mocked, "Now you're not a hero, not calling yourself 'Daoist master' anymore?"

The cultivator's face showed shame. The old Daoist couldn't be bothered to waste another word. "The new cave abode I've opened is now in that bright moon, the Glorious Moon. If you're not ashamed to come, go there and be a gatekeeper, warehouse keeper, and guest receptionist. If you're unwilling, that's understandable; I won't force you. With the little Dao power you have left, it's a bit of a stretch to fight and wrestle with others. But if you go back to the Azure Firmament World, it's easy enough for you to be a honored guest in any sect-level Daoist temple and have your portrait hung on the wall."

The cultivator immediately said, "I am willing to follow Senior Bixiao in cultivation."

The old Daoist said, "It's a cold temple with little incense, the vegetarian meals are simple. Fellow Daoist, you might have to lower yourself."

The cultivator quickly exchanged a few pleasantries. Remembering something, he cautiously said, "Congratulations to the Cave Lord on entering the fifteenth realm."

The old temple master raised an eyebrow slightly, chuckled, and said, "Well, well."

As they walked together in this place, no poet or prose writer, however brilliant, could describe even a hundredth of the desolation and stillness here.

It was said that the Dao Ancestor traveled to the outer heavens, journeying extremely far and wide, seeing many strange, bizarre, and mysterious things, so incredible that words could not describe them, and the Dao could not be Dao-ed.

The Dao Ancestor had once revealed a heavenly secret to Bixiao Cave Lord: that their homeland was a high plateau, the birthplace of all dragon veins in the human world, and the origin of countless small thousand worlds in the outer heavens.

That homeland was called Kunlun.

What the Buddha had shown Lu Chen back then was one of those small thousand worlds.

The old temple master casually asked, "Gu He, how many reincarnations have you been through?"

The cultivator who had once used the dao name "Gu He" honestly replied, "I painstakingly held on to a flicker of true spirit, reconfiguring my physical body and soul. I have already undergone thirty-six military liberations and reconstructions. The hardship of this is beyond words." The old temple master rarely showed a hint of admiration and nodded. "The remarkable thing about this is that with each reincarnation, memory, spiritual energy, and soul have hardly been lost. It's truly creating a self-circulating small world. It can also be considered a heterodox path that opens up a new route. I'll introduce you to a fellow Daoist later."

Gu He quickly bowed and thanked.

Following the two important tributary clues of Lu Chen and Chen Ping'an, he found the main river of what could be considered the future fourteenth realm. The old temple master stopped, finding it strange and novel. The old temple master slightly activated his divine power, and behind that cultivator, a Dharma image appeared. Only bones were visible, no flesh and blood. But they weren't real bones; they were the cultivator's entire Dao qi condensed into a jade-like substance. The Dharma image dripped with golden light. Several main Qi channels were all in the form of waterfalls flowing backwards. In the mortal world, one would use "golden branches and jade leaves" to describe the Dao body of a seeker of immortality. This was it, nearly flawless. The reason it was "nearly" was naturally because the old temple master had extremely high standards and had seen a truly flawless Dao body.

In the coastal cities of the human world, when rivers enter the sea, there is often a tidal bore. The mysterious river of time was also like this.

The old temple master used his heart voice to remind the newly recruited mountain-protecting elder beside him, "Gu He, from now on, just play deaf and mute. Remember, don't stir up any trouble or throw yourself into the net."

Huang Zhen stood up, made a bow, and said reverently, "I, Huang Zhen, with the dao name Great Tide, am a native of the Li Zhu Cave Heaven in Vase Bottle Continent of Haoran. I greet Fellow Daoist Bixiao and Fellow Daoist Weichen."

The old temple master nodded. Since they had met on the "path," addressing each other as Fellow Daoist was appropriate.

Gu He asked with his heart voice, "Cave Lord, we've never met before. How does this fellow know my long-abandoned dao name? Could he be the reincarnation of some old acquaintance?"

The old temple master roughly explained, "This child has a divine power: he can know future events." Gu He didn't take it seriously. So-called foreseeing the future and stealing glimpses of heavenly secrets—what kind of skill was that, what genuine Dao arts? In ancient times, it was these Daoists who had the bitterest fate. No wonder this one had to come here to hide. Otherwise, if the Heavenly Mind stirred slightly, disaster would come, and he would just turn to ashes. But he couldn't take Bixiao Cave Lord's warning lightly. Gu He decided to just play deaf and mute. The old temple master laughed. "Huang Zhen, since several attempts to assassinate Chen Ping'an have failed, and your attempt to obstruct his step toward uniting with the Dao has had very limited effect, you've turned to a desperate gamble. Unfortunately, your interception of Lu Chen also failed, yet you still dare not move? You still haven't fled?"

"Zhangjiao Lu has a broad Dao and a broad mind; he'll probably not bother with you. But Chen Ping'an has held grudges since he was a child. You know that well enough. Are you waiting for him to find you? Are you planning to follow Zhengyang Mountain's example, or Ma Kuxuan's?"

"What? Did it 'write' in the 'book' that this poor Daoist's time is short? Or did it write clearly that this Fellow Daoist beside me will die on a certain year, month, and day, destined not to live long, not to attain the Way of longevity? So you're squatting by the roadside in advance, watching for an opportunity, waiting for the rabbit, trying to pick up an easy gain?"

Indeed, as soon as an expert makes a move, you know if there's any.

Hearing this, Huang Zhen sighed in admiration. "Fellow Daoist Bixiao is truly a scholar of heaven and man. You are one of the true seers of the Dao, past and present." The old temple master waved his hand, unwilling to accept such flattery. "Kid, since you've glimpsed some heavenly secrets and managed to harness the descendant of that Yin-Yang fish, to use a not-so-apt analogy, you can move freely between two knots. You have the advantage of taking the initiative and have the authority to decide the direction of thousands of paths. This is already an enormous freedom that even ordinary fourteenth realms would find incredible. Under normal circumstances, you should cherish your blessings and your life. Yes, you're not an ordinary person either. If you had followed the rules, you wouldn't have made it this far."

Huang Zhen said nothing. The speaker intended, and the listener was attentive. Gu He's Dao heart stirred slightly as if he understood something. After pondering for a moment, he stretched out his hand from his sleeve and used a Dao art to manifest a writing brush. With one hand holding the brush handle and the fingertip of the other pressing against the tip, he saw all the strands of the brush bend, each with a different arc. If the brush tip was considered the end point of a person or event, a certain node, then all the fine strands were individual paths with fixed endpoints. No matter how they curved, how far or near, no matter whether the "paths" were rugged or smooth... He shook his head, still feeling there was something missing, that it couldn't withstand further scrutiny. He gave up. This exercise was too exhausting, and empty thought was useless.

It was better to go and help Fellow Daoist Bixiao look after the gate of his Daoist sanctuary. Being a mountain-protecting elder for a fifteenth realm cultivator brought glory; there was no shame in it.

Gu He merely silently noted the name "Chen Ping'an."

A person whom Bixiao Cave Lord said held grudges?

Could it be that when this fellow was in a bad mood and went out for a walk to relax, if anyone on the road happened to look at him, they might end up half dead?

As for Bixiao Cave Lord's mention of "Yin-Yang fish," it seemed to be a real object? This was the first time Gu He had heard of it, so he made a mental note.

Huang Zhen directly asked a crucial question: "Fellow Daoist Bixiao, will you forcefully act on Chen Ping'an's behalf and protect his Dao?"

The old temple master smiled faintly. "Chen Ping'an and I are neither family nor master and disciple. Why would I go out of my way to forcibly twist this magnificent Dao lineage and break it? Wouldn't it be better to stand with cold eyes and observe the Dao?"

Huang Zhen nodded. "I trust Fellow Daoist Bixiao."

Beside him, Gu He was a bit skeptical. Did he really trust Fellow Daoist Bixiao? It was more like he couldn't defeat Bixiao Cave Lord.

The old temple master was not unfamiliar with the Huaihuang County in the Lizhu Cave Heaven. He flicked his sleeve, raised his palm, and began to make calculations with his fingers, performing a divination. Between the joints of the old Daoist's four fingers, the ten Celestial Stems appeared. The ten characters formed a circle, just like the layout of a copper coin with a round sky and square earth, unusual. The old Daoist pressed his thumb first on the character Gui, then went backward through the Celestial Stems to the character Jia, then used Jia as a starting point and went forward through the Celestial Stems...

It was laughable to say, but this great Dao struggle between Huang Zhen and Chen Ping'an could be traced back to a debt of one hundred taels of silver. The most interesting part was that neither party was present at the time. Huang Zhen's family home was not far from Mud Vase Alley, and next to it was also a well. But compared to the Iron Lock Well, which was crowded every morning, this was an inconspicuous well, privately owned by a few nearby families. The well was small and the water shallow, easy to draw. There was also a vegetable patch and an alley even narrower and more cramped than Mud Vase Alley, often icy and slippery in winter.

Chen Ping'an had once walked that narrow alley with Chen Lingjun, passing that vegetable patch. Things had changed, and people were no longer the same.

Huang Zhen seemed to feel something and said to himself, "In my youth, my heart was higher than the sky. I always felt that fame, fortune, and glory were within easy reach. In my youth, I bumped around everywhere and still didn't believe in fate. I believed that all the hardships of the present were the steps to the future. In my prime, I felt discouraged and understood one principle: 'the rope is short and the well is deep'—the rope is fate, the ancestral blessing. The water drawn, whether wealth and honor or longevity, was all flowers in dreams, moons in wells. Only then could I resign myself to fate. Looking back, I would feel that the shallow water of the small well in my hometown was a peaceful life. Unexpectedly, at that moment, my fortune turned. I entered the mountains, learned the Dao, and stepped onto the path of qi refining, learning that there was another world beyond."

Huang Zhen was a few years younger than Chen Ping'an. When he was young, he knew Chen Ping'an, but they had never spoken. After all, in those days, aside from Blessing and Prosperity Street and Peach Leaf Alley, almost all the old and young, men and women of the small town knew Chen Ping'an. Huang Zhen's family circumstances were average, but he had no problem studying. Going to and from morning school, if he happened to meet Chen Ping'an, who floated around doing nothing all day like a piece of charcoal, they would each go their own way.

Without exception, they would both make way. Same action, but two mindsets.

One was because the family elders and neighbor women often talked about it, afraid of catching bad luck. The other was because he was afraid of causing trouble for others and wasn't likable.

At that time, one was a dark, shy orphan, the other a delicate, fair-skinned child attending school. Neither probably knew what the future was or what it meant.

Perhaps tomorrow meant another day of reading and writing, and perhaps tomorrow meant another day with an empty rice jar.

At that time, if Chen Ping'an met Huang Zhen's mother on the road, he would call her Second Aunt. Even if the woman felt awkward, she would still nod and give a smile. As for the woman later saying to Ruan Xiu that Chen Ping'an often came to their home for meals as a child, and that the fish and meat in the bowl were not given to her son but put into Chen Ping'an's bowl—that, of course, was not to be taken seriously. Because earlier, Chen Ping'an's father had good skills in making pottery. If his neighbors and fellow tradesmen asked, the man was willing to teach. So in the early years, the two families' relationship was indeed not bad, at least they would often visit each other.

Later, when things changed, Huang Zhen soon moved to the state capital with his elders. The family bought fields, houses, and shops there and began to have a comfortable life.

The old temple master slowly said, "In the backyard patio of Yang's Medicine Shop, there is a stick of incense for you. In those days, the incense smoke was not low, and it was ranked high. But unfortunately, you offended Ruan Xiu. She disliked you, and you essentially had one foot taken off the gambling table. After that, your fortune weakened."

Huang Zhen said nothing.

Such a secret—how could he, a little kid at the time, have known it? Later, he tried again and again to use the tidal bore of the river of time to change the outcome, but never succeeded.

Either he couldn't stop Chen Ping'an, or even when he managed to stop him, he couldn't achieve his own goal. There was never a way to have both.

The old temple master said, "When the woman asked for a hundred taels of silver on the street, you could have bargained. Fifty taels? Thirty taels would have worked too?"

Huang Zhen's expression was normal. "I would have been satisfied with ten taels." Later, when his family declined, the young Huang Zhen began to blame heaven and other people. Even later, there were always assumptions and ifs: If he had been a few years older, the same age as Lin Shouyi, Dong Shuijing, and the others, when the small town changed, would he have gone with Chen Ping'an and the others to the Dayan Mountain Cliff Academy, smoothly becoming Qi Jingchun's personal disciple and one of the Sage of Literature's successors? If on his first journey, he had come back covered in dust, and at the beginning of his return, he had been willing to go to Fallen Mountain and take the initiative to find the already successful Chen Ping'an to resolve the knot in his heart—could he have stayed there to cultivate? After going through hardships and seeking immortality, Huang Zhen gradually climbed to the top of the mountain. When he finally learned the truth, he couldn't help but be deeply pained. Before going up the mountain, there were no ambitions, adrift in a foreign land with nothing to rely on. On the road, he always clearly remembered a certain scene that kept him tossing and turning at night. Whenever he thought of it, his heart would clench a few times. The phrase "unforgettable" is not an exaggeration. After the change, before the move, there was a commotion. A large group of women went to Yang's shop to cause trouble. That old man Yang in the backyard once coldly glanced at Huang Zhen and said a strange thing with a strange expression. At the time, Huang Zhen was confused, but he remembered every word:

"What a pity. The hundred taels of silver given to your mother have cut off the path to longevity. In the future, when you can't find a foothold in the western mountains and are forced to wander far from home, think more about what I said today."

The old temple master said, "The great flaw in life is being dissatisfied with what is already in hand, and only hating what is not yet in hand."

Huang Zhen said, "Uniting with the Dao to reach the fourteenth realm—it's a single-plank bridge. Is there still a way back?"

Gu He hated hearing any talk of "uniting with the Dao" and "fourteenth realm."

Huang Zhen dismissed it with a laugh.

The old temple master said, "A small town in the Lizhu Cave Heaven—a tiny place—has produced far stronger people than those handsome youths of the Qing Shen Dynasty and those 'fellow townsmen' sword immortal seeds of the Barren Wastes."

Chen Ping'an of Mud Vase Alley, the true dragon neighbor Wang Zhu, Huang Zhen of the dao name Great Tide.

It was a pity about Ma Kuxuan of Apricot Flower Alley; otherwise, there would be one more fourteenth realm in the world.

Three alleys in the small town, a palm-sized piece of land. What? Were fourteenth realms so cheap that you could gather a table of four for mahjong? Back then, on the mountain top, those cultivators who knew the inside story either regretted or were surprised by Qi Jingchun's taking on the heavenly tribulation and dying. Those who understood said it was a scholar's not yielding. Those who didn't said it was womanly kindness. The more worldly said that Qi Jingchun had made a bad deal. Actually, it wasn't that complicated. You just needed to look a few hundred or a thousand years into the future, then settle the accounts on paper, and you'd know whether Qi Jingchun's actions were a gain or a loss.

The old temple master asked, "What was the cost to get to this point?"

Huang Zhen shook his head. "It cannot be told to outsiders."

The old temple master asked, "Sword cultivator?"

Huang Zhen's expression was calm, and he nodded.

The old temple master asked again, "Pure?"

Huang Zhen nodded again, with a hint of pride.

The old temple master nodded. "With these two words, 'pure,' you can be proud. You certainly have the capital to stand as equals with anyone you meet."

Gu He suddenly understood. No wonder the kid dared to be so arrogant in front of Bixiao Cave Lord. He was an extremely rare fourteenth-realm pure sword cultivator.

Huang Zhen's eyes suddenly lit up. "I have always enjoyed reading the biographies of wandering knights and assassins. My favorite is a five-character quatrain."

Gu He understood in his heart. This kid's actions were sneaky; no wonder he liked reading biographies of assassins.

But Gu He became even more convinced that the fellow named Chen Ping'an was definitely not someone to mess with. The simplest reason was: if he were an easy mark, how could he have provoked a fourteenth realm like Huang Zhen?

Regardless, from now on, when he saw that guy, he would definitely take a detour. Perhaps it was because he had been sitting here in solitude for so many years, with too long a time not having a thorough conversation with anyone. Huang Zhen was especially talkative today. "The poet who wrote the poem was from the same era as Vice Headmaster Han of the Confucian Temple. In his imperial examination essays, there were lines about chanting 'ill cicadas.' He straightforwardly wrote something like 'What yellow sparrows, what crows, all want to harm the cicadas.' Writing that, of course, he failed the exam without any suspense. Later came this quatrain, directly expressing his feelings. When I first saw it, I felt a deep resonance. Looking through his poetry collection, at first glance it was full of cold grass, lonely swans, abandoned buildings, broken inns, lean horses, autumn fireflies, cold moons, withered trees. It made one see a thin, bitter-looking scholar outside the book, hungry, with misplaced complaints. But after reading it a few more times, I began to taste the aftertaste. It turned out that someone could truly send such strange, solitary, grotesque, and many other images, one by one, into a plain realm, just like a hundred rivers entering the sea."

The old temple master smiled knowingly. "It's nothing for a scholar to make a few complaints in ordinary times. But to write like that in an imperial examination essay is considered a skill. He was a straightforward and honest man with a temper. It would be strange if he could become a high official."

Huang Zhen murmured to himself, "The poem is titled 'The Swordsman,' also titled 'Describing the Sword.'"

Ten years to grind a sword, its frosty edge never tried. Today I show it to you, who has an injustice to right?

How many 'ten years' had he, Huang Zhen, been refining his sword?

He had waited long years.

Finally, the chance for Chen Ping'an and Jiang She to fight to the death had come.

You, Chen Ping'an, dare to take my sword?

——

In the Confucian Temple's Meritorious Forest of the Central Earth, those eating prison meals who could carve out a landscape secret realm for solitary confinement with such high treatment were few and far between.

At Liu Cha's place, visitors were few, less than a handful.

On this day, an old man in a blue long gown walked in, hands behind his back. He saw Liu Cha squatting by the river fishing and stood aside, as if waiting for Liu Cha's catch.

Liu Cha repeatedly lifted his rod to scatter bait, then kneaded the bait and cast again, treating the visiting old man as if he didn't exist.

The old man seemed to have average patience and directly asked, "Since you rely on eating great demons to increase your Dao power, who you eat is who you eat. Since Zhou Mi has the ability to pick and choose, why didn't he just eat you too?"

The visitor was Chen Qingliu, who was wandering everywhere to relax. He had previously visited the Barren Wastes World, and this time he had just returned from the Western Buddhist Kingdom. He planned to visit the Azure Firmament World again soon.

Liu Cha naturally recognized the other party's identity. "Eating me would break his teeth."

Zhou Mi was certainly very capable in a fight, but if he really forced a fourteenth-realm pure sword cultivator into a corner, it's debatable whether his Dao power would increase or decrease.

Chen Qingliu nodded. "Even if he forced himself to eat you, Zhou Mi would probably have a hard time digesting it. He'd be prone to diarrhea."

After all, Liu Cha once carried a complete sword Dao.

Liu Cha seemed disgusted by Chen Qingliu's words and no longer wanted to talk.

Chen Qingliu said, "If Li Saint seizes the opportunity and finds the flaw in Zhou Mi's Great Dao, then when the two sides fight, once they engage, it will be world-shaking. As long as Zhou Mi can be confirmed to be killed, given Li Saint's temper, no matter the cost, he will certainly act. Cui Chan and Qi Jingchun once teamed up to test Zhou Mi, and they may well have been helping Li Saint check the quality of Zhou Mi's Great Dao during that time on Swallow-Leaf Continent. Judging by the result, Zhou Mi didn't give them that chance."

Liu Cha was not interested in these matters.

When Zhou Mi chose whom to eat, that was also an art. Liu Cha said casually, "Yangzhi, Feifei, and the like—on the one hand, they needed to contribute on the battlefield; on the other, they were kept for greater use. Under their feet were the rudiments of a Great Dao. At that time, Crescent Moon Mountain believed that they could at least occupy half of Haoran World. These potentially realm-achieving great demons were to be used to gradually erode and weaken Li Saint's rules. This kind of open strategy was to win the favor of heaven, earth, and people, and to turn from guest to host in your Haoran. Eating them early would have been more trouble than it was worth. Whether being an official or running a sect, the art of learning lies in employing people. It's just about whether you have useful people at hand and who to use for what. Even a cook stir-frying a dish needs ingredients and seasonings."

Liu Cha and the other throne great demons were certainly extremely powerful in combat, but their tempers were also foul. Their biggest flaw was that they were hard to control. Even the Crescent Moon Army Register couldn't easily order them around. If Liu Cha wanted to stay out of the battlefield, even someone as high as Zhou Mi would have a headache. For example, in the interception of Bai Ye at Fuyang Continent, Liu Cha was tasked with delivering the final blow, and even then, Zhou Mi had to invoke the Crescent Moon Grand Ancestor to convince Liu Cha.

Chen Qingliu asked, "But what about the ones like Shuijiao? Why didn't he eat them either?"

Liu Cha shook his head. "Not sure. Probably had a secret pact with the Crescent Moon Grand Ancestor."

Chen Qingliu asked, "Was it for fear of angering Bai Ze, who had shut his door and played the tortoise, into coming out directly and siding with the Confucian Temple? In a rage, charging straight to the heart of the Barren Wastes to have a head-on collision with Zhou Mi?"

Liu Cha shook his head again. "I've never understood Old Master Bai's thoughts."

Chen Qingliu snorted. "What times are these? Still calling him Old Master Bai?"

Liu Cha couldn't be bothered to reply.

Chen Qingliu suddenly laughed. "A fourteenth-realm pure sword cultivator, and the battlefield wasn't even in an academy, but he was beaten down to a lower realm by a Nascent Soul cultivator. Truly Liu Cha. Very Liu Cha."

Liu Cha had a dark face and said nothing.

Earlier, someone worse than a dog had already detailed the meaning of "Liu Cha" in this world. In Haoran World, that word was now on everyone's lips. He said he was so envious, teach him...

As for the other fellow of similar ilk, he hadn't used this topic to sarcastically remark at Liu Cha, but before leaving, he threw a stone into the water.

Chen Qingliu sighed. "A teacher exemplary in virtue, an exemplar of the age. It's a pity about the pure Confucian Chen Chun'an."

He was indeed a rare kind of scholar, which would remind Chen Qingliu of an old friend from his hometown.

Chen Qingliu glanced at the empty fish basket. "Do you really know how to fish?"

Liu Cai said calmly, "In the mountains, mediocrities have many magic treasures. That's called 'a master uses one rod, a novice sets up a stall.'"

Chen Qingliu chuckled. "Liu Cha."

Liu Cha said, "Don't come anymore in the future."

Chen Qingliu said, "I won't have time soon. I have to go to the Azure Firmament World."

Liu Cha frowned and asked, "I've heard about your many deeds from friends. It seems you and Lu Chen are old acquaintances?"

Chen Qingliu nodded and gave his answer. "I'm going to bid farewell to this old friend with whom the relationship is actually just so-so."

——

The full moon in the sky watched over countless separated people in the world.

Since a new bright moon had migrated from the Barren Wastes, countless Dao officials and literary romantics had become even more keen on the elegant pursuit of night walks under the moon.

Looking up at the two bright, pure jade plates, shining together—truly a feast for the eyes.

To say that in the past, when mentioning the young Hidden Official, it was mostly through well-informed mountain-top Dao officials, because of Flying Ascension City and Ning Yao of the Five Colors World, or Cao Ci, that Chen Ping'an was brought up in passing.

Then now, as people gradually came to know the inside story of the moon's relocation—that Chen Ping'an had taken the lead and brought about the two great feats of opening the mountain and moving the moon—the reputation of this young Hidden Official among the Dao officials of the Azure Firmament World was quite good. Especially those mountain and river spirits of the sun-and-moon worship lineage were quite grateful. It was said that in some remote, simple Dao sanctuaries and cave abodes, successfully transformed demonic cultivators had even set up shrine tablets for him, offering incense and worship daily.

The problem was that they only knew a hearsay title of "Hidden Official." They had no way to ask what this sword immortal's name was, so for now, they used "Hidden Official" as a substitute. Besides, when various Dao lineages refined the essence of the sun and moon, there was always a distinction between internal and external refinement. The external refinement path, cultivating only the sun or the moon, was not forbidden, but it was easy to go astray. It was better to seek the harmony of Yin and Yang. So having one more bright moon brought some extra benefits.

In the bright moon known as the Glorious Moon, hanging high in the sky, there was a lean Daoist in a cotton robe. He habitually kept his hands tucked in his sleeves, hunched over, squatting outside the door, and asked toward the inside, "Brother Gold Well, our master left on a temporary trip. Who is he going to see, and with whom is he discussing the Dao?" A young Daoist boy, with a huge gourd slanted behind his back, sat on a bench, having to watch the alchemy furnace fire. If he missed the timing and ruined the quality of a batch of elixirs, he would be in trouble. "Junior Brother Yuan, the master only said he was going on a long trip. Here, we're missing a gatekeeper. It doesn't look good."

Wang Yuansai muttered, "Too many fancy rules."

Seeing the youthful-looking senior brother's displeasure, the beanpole Wang Yuansai had to change his tune. "Brother Gold Well, there are not many who respect the teacher as much as you do. No wonder our master takes you wherever he goes."

The young Daoist boy nodded. "Junior Brother Yuansai, even though you're now on the Dao register and have the status of a personal disciple, I think in the master's heart, he is still closer to me."

Wang Yuansai said, "Definitely. The master is nostalgic." When the old Daoist was present, Wang Yuansai and Daoist Gold Well, whose name was Xun Lanling, wouldn't address each other as brothers. There was no help for it. The old Daoist only recognized Wang Yuansai, who came from the Mi Zei lineage, as his personal disciple. Xun Lanling was always just a fire-tending boy in charge of the alchemy furnace. He was happy to take advantage of the old temple master's absence to verbally lord it over Wang Yuansai.

A young Daoist with a lotus flower crown on his head walked with a gust of wind, noisily shouting for tea to quench his thirst.

The Daoist boy was not afraid of this "same generation" third Zhangjiao of the White Jade Capital. "Lu the Third, here to freeload again?"

Since Lu Chen had to call his master "Uncle Bixiao," weren't they of the same generation? Besides, here, he was half the host. Lu Chen was a guest. Did he dare to act up?

Zhangjiao Lu nodded, humming in agreement. "Great honor, your presence brings light to my humble abode. I've honored you by coming here for a snack. Go, bring out good wine and meat."

The Daoist boy was furious and was about to curse when he saw Lu Chen pivot on the ball of his foot and turn to leave with a fluid motion.

But the old temple master reached out and pressed his shoulder. "You just got here and you're already leaving? Don't want to chat a bit?"

Gu He saw the young Daoist boy, was stunned for a moment, then became emotional, saying shakily, "Fellow Daoist Gold Well."

The old temple master's expression was calm. Wang Yuansai was puzzled. The Daoist boy was bewildered. "Do we know each other?"

Lu Chen looked at the Fellow Daoist he had met again, and asked in a low voice, "Have you congratulated my Uncle Bixiao?"

Gu He nodded.

Lu Chen gave a thumbs-up. "So smooth. Your cultivation here will be stable from now on."

The Daoist boy asked suspiciously, "Congratulate for what?"

Lu Chen said, "This Fellow Daoist is congratulating Uncle Bixiao on entering the fifteenth realm."

The Daoist boy's face was blank. What the hell?

Wang Yuansai gasped, tucked his hands in his sleeves, and involuntarily shrank his neck.

Lu Chen changed the subject, laughing. "Fellow Daoist Weichen, now that you've seen the light of day again, what do you think?"

Although Gu He knew something was wrong, he still forced himself to be calm. "On the path of longevity, it's unbearable to look back. Old friends are gone forever, scattered like dust."

The old temple master looked at Lu Chen's Dao heart.

The Daoist seemed to have a grand aspiration to clear the dust from the world.

Why must it be so?

Lu Chen shook his two wide sleeves and asked with a grin, "A fake fifteenth realm, the difference as thin as a hair—is it considered a fifteenth realm?"

The Daoist boy shook his head. "Still not."

Wang Yuansai said, "Of course it is."

Lu Chen laughed and reached out to press down on the Daoist boy's head, holding him still.

The Daoist boy couldn't pry open Lu Chen's claws and asked strangely, "Lu Chen, what are you doing?"

Lu Chen said seriously, "I'm going to do two things."

The Daoist boy asked, "Going to fight someone?"

Lu Chen looked shocked. "What a brain! You guessed that?"

The Daoist boy struck Lu Chen's hand with lightning speed.

Lu Chen immediately withdrew his hand. A dull thud sounded—the Daoist boy's punch hit his own head, making him see stars.

Lu Chen rubbed the young Daoist boy's head and teased, "You really can throw a heavy punch. Finally opened your mind?"

The old temple master waved his hand, signaling them to stop fooling around, and led Lu Chen for a walk toward the temple gate.

He had to do his duty as the Zhangjiao of the White Jade Capital.

To keep the Azure Firmament World from descending into irreparable chaos, he needed to help his senior brother Yu Dou resolve a worry.

He had to take the lead to clear a path and eliminate hidden dangers for his senior brother Kou Ming, who would return home at an unknown time.

"Lu Chen of the White Jade Capital bids farewell to Uncle."

Lu Chen stopped, made a proper bow, and used two terms: "The Daoist Lu Chen bids farewell to Fellow Daoist Bixiao."

Seeing this from afar, the Daoist boy was even more puzzled. Has the sun risen in the west? Lu Chen actually has manners?

The old temple master seemed to want to speak but stopped. Finally, he nodded and asked with his heart voice, "What about Zhu Lian of Fallen Mountain? Not going to deal with him?"

Lu Chen smiled freely. "Born and die, die and born. Why fuss about the identity of host and guest? In this mortal world, no matter the order of arrival, all are returning guests."

To accomplish this, Lu Chen had to be the first pseudo-fifteenth realm in the new human world after the Three Religions' Ancestors scattered their Dao.

After all, it took a pseudo-fifteenth to deal with a pseudo-fifteenth.

In the Azure Firmament World, on the ground, in the old Caizhou territory, that wandering outside-heavenly demon was on high alert. It suddenly looked up at a bright moon, felt a great fear for the first time, and began to flee without hesitation.

The Daoist descended from the bright moon, to the human world.

——

In this barren foreign land, the road beneath was faint. Liucai asked, "Following Mr. Zou, you've seen many extraordinary people, haven't you?"

Liu Cai nodded. "I've seen quite a few. The one that left the deepest impression was a scholar whose realm I couldn't discern."

Liucai asked curiously, "Did this person duel with Mr. Zou? Who won?"

Liu Cai shook his head.

Li Xisheng had once found Zouzi in an ordinary market town. At the time, Liu Cai was following Zouzi, wandering through the human world.

He had come to find Zouzi for his sister, Li Baoping.

After that, Li Baoping no longer had to wear red clothes. What Zouzi had done back then was a form of protection for Li Baoping.

But Cui Chan and the Great Li had, in a way, schemed against Li Xisheng. However, Cui Chan's scheme was an open strategy. Since you, Kou Ming, the first Zhangjiao of the White Jade Capital, wanted to use "One Qi Transforming Three Pure Ones" with your own Three Teachings roots to attempt the fusion of the Three Teachings, then in Haoran's history, there had been many divergences and convergences of Ritualism and Metaphysics. This involved the reconciliation of the School of Names and Nature, the conflict between group rules and individual consciousness, and a series of debates about the sages of the Great Dao being sentient or insentient... You, Li Xisheng, as a Confucian disciple, cannot bypass the two words of family "ritual" and the "affection" of relatives. Whether to abandon or establish, to discard or forget—you can deceive anyone, but you cannot deceive your own heart. Don't think you can muddle through.

A gentleman can be deceived through his own principles.

A tooth for a tooth.

Pei Qian asked, "Has Chen Ping'an already sensed something?"

Zouzi said, "Definitely."

Pei Qian's expression turned strange, and he turned to look at his old friend.

Zouzi laughed. "Why must the bystander rush to know the truth?" Chen Ping'an had been searching for clues about the sword cultivator Liu Cai all these years, but he didn't expect this fellow to be in Pan River County, earning money by copying the Xiping Stone Classics, and then renting a bookshop to sell books. When he had free time, he went fishing at Yuanyang Islet. So last time when Chen Ping'an attended the Confucian Temple meeting in the Central Earth, he was within arm's reach of Liu Cai.

Chen Ping'an had long suspected that the last fragment of his natal porcelain had fallen into the hands of Tian Wan or Zouzi. Now he could confirm that Tian Wan had not hidden any porcelain fragments. Since Zouzi was determined to use the sword cultivator Liu Cai to perform a Yin-Yang suppressive method and target him everywhere, putting himself in Zouzi's shoes, Chen Ping'an could deduce one thing: the porcelain fragment was not only in Zouzi's hands, but had been refined by Zouzi into a trump card, a decisive move.

So Chen Ping'an had to try to find Zouzi and Liu Cai before the sword cultivator met Lu Tai and his Yang Spirit returned to its body, forming something like a "Dao union."

It would be better to harm Lu Tai's Dao foundation than to force the old friend into armed conflict, to a point where one must die and the other live.

Even if he tried to get ahead, the chance was certainly slim. But he couldn't just do nothing and let Zouzi steadily set up a new inquiry of the heart.

Liu Xianyang had taught Chen Ping'an that sword art. Some Barren Wastes demonic cultivators, such as those in Qingrang, although careful enough and never gossiping, never even mentioning Chen Ping'an's name, still fell into the trap. Before Liucai followed the sword cultivator Yuan Bai into Zhengyang Mountain and settled at Dui Xue Peak, she had certainly used an illusion technique to hide her true appearance. The effect of Chen Ping'an's sword art was greatly reduced, but it couldn't be said to be completely without chance. Unfortunately, the vigilant one could not sleep.

It turned out that the true man had no dreams.

Not to boast of himself, but Chen Ping'an had faced many opponents in this life. How many were easy to deal with? It wasn't that he was afraid of so-called strong enemies; after all, he had seen some of the world.

What he feared was that this unavoidable sword inquiry, Zouzi's meticulous scheme, didn't need to be in sword arts. It only needed to be in the heart.

For example, after Chen Ping'an passed the great hurdle of the Nascent Soul realm, when he tried to take another step to unite with the Dao and enter the mysterious fourteenth realm, he would have to retrieve all the fragments of his natal porcelain to complete his soul without any flaw.

The fear was that "Sword Cultivator Liu Cai" was not only Lu Tai's Yang Spirit out-of-body, but also refined and shaped from Chen Ping'an's porcelain fragment, already fused with the soul?!

To kill Liu Cai would be to kill Lu Tai. Would he kill or not?

If Lu Tai was unwilling to make things difficult for Chen Ping'an and chose to voluntarily step aside, then Lu Tai would have to undergo military liberation.

But the question was: if Lu Tai did that, would it truly help Chen Ping'an?

To unite with the Dao, one first had to find a never-before-seen Great Dao. It was said there was also a heart-barrier to pass. The easy ones were very easy, the difficult ones were extremely difficult.

Another example: If Zouzi had more arrangements, such that killing one person could benefit the whole world, would Chen Ping'an kill or not?

In the old days, on the journey of study, a straw-sandal youth gritted his teeth, his heart longing for being without fault.

In the same life circumstances, there were many who muddled through, who affirmed their faults, who gave up completely.

He felt that there were too many wrong things in this world that needed someone to admit faults, correct errors, amend, and perfect.

The youth's heart was pure. In his bitter life, he had always protected himself well. This was no easy feat.

He mistakenly thought that without fault was the beginning, not knowing that without fault was the end. The high and bright heavenly gods, limited by their own positions, dare not claim they are truly without fault. To protect Li Baoping, Li Huai, and those children, he was willing to toil without complaint, to think and observe more along the way, striving to ensure no oversights. When he wanted to see the girl he admired, he just went. When he wanted to take a journey through the world for the respected Mr. Qi, he just traveled across thousands of mountains and rivers, taking in the scenery along the way.

Is this what Lu Chen called a kind of seeing the Dao in one's gaze?

Pei Qian sighed. "He is free."

"Don't you agree, Mr. Zou?" After a pause, Pei Qian said, "I envy that kind of person."

Zouzi said, "I'm fine. I don't particularly envy him."

Lu Tai almost blurted out, wanting to curse Pei the old fool's mother.

But Lu Tai knew the tempers of his two preaching masters. His pointless bickering would only make this reunion more meaningless.

The real reason was that Pei Qian's words, "free," best understood Chen Ping'an's heart.

The hopes and visions others gave him, large or small, were precisely what he had yearned for since childhood. As long as one could feel that others gave them hope, they wouldn't be alone, and they wouldn't be utterly hopeless.

So he almost never complained to anyone.

Beside him, Lu Tai tightened his grip on the walking staff.

But.

Chen Ping'an's "self-awareness" was too weak.

This might be his greatest barrier to crossing the Nascent Soul realm and entering the fourteenth realm in the future.

A person who has been most fond of self-denial since childhood—how can he truly achieve a self that acts on its own?

"Lu Tai, we came here to see you."

Zouzi said slowly, "And then we wait for him to eat something, and then come here to find me."

Meet on the path.