# Chapter 1158: Dao Protection
At the summit of Gathering Spirit Peak, Liu Xiang simultaneously bestowed upon Lu Shen the means of clairvoyance and telepathy. Even with just a glimpse of the Dao, Lu Shen felt dizzy and disoriented, reaching out to grasp the white jade railing, doing his utmost to stabilize his Dao heart.
Ineffable, breathtakingly marvelous.
So the Earth Mirror Chapter he had written could be interpreted and executed in such a manner?!
Liu Xiang withdrew his divine powers and said, "The Lu Shen who wrote the Earth Mirror Chapter understands nothing of the Earth Mirror Chapter."
Lu Shen chuckled softly.
This glimpse of the Dao had been immensely beneficial. Lu Shen already had the urge to return immediately to Heaven Capital Peak to go into seclusion. Intuition told him that although he still could not bypass Zouzi and take a direct step to transcendence, compared to the Dao sequela brought by borrowing Zheng Juzhong's book, he had still come out ahead. Compared to his past seclusions of arduous contemplation and searching high and low, the Dao benefits would only be greater. Especially this technique where swordsmanship was Dao magic itself...
Liu Xiang, however, guessed Lu Shen's thoughts and said, "Before Dao Integration, do not hope to simply copy the pattern. Be careful not to incur Heaven's aversion."
Lu Shen quickly said, "I will keep that in mind."
Zheng Juzhong said, "Let each attend to his own matters."
Liu Xiang nodded, "I'll go to the Snowy Continent."
At their parting, there was a strange exchange of questions and answers.
Liu Xiang asked, "This deprivation, are there any dietary restrictions?"
Zheng Juzhong replied, "No dietary restrictions, only fear of not eating enough."
Liu Xiang did not ask further.
Lu Shen mistakenly thought that Liu Xiang's "deprivation" referred to Zheng Juzhong and Chen Ping'an joining forces to "waylay" the sword cultivator Huang Zhen, so he did not think much of it.
With a single step shrinking the earth to the mountain gate boundary, Zheng Juzhong walked slowly out of the archway and said, "Next, you go find some random job at Cloak Cloud Mountain. If Lord Wei won't take you in, go to Jump Fish Mountain's Flower Shadow Peak to be a menial servant. One reminder: do not think about going to the old Dao field. That ferry crossing ruins have nothing to do with you anymore. Just quietly wait for the fated person to take possession, and only then will you truly escape the calamity."
Zhou Hu nodded and said in a dialect, "This servant understands."
Earlier she was at the mountain foot while Zheng Juzhong was at the summit, and she still dared to act presumptuously.
Now face to face with Zheng Juzhong, Zhou Hu was utterly terrified, with no more spirit to call him to account.
Zheng Juzhong said, "Act as you see fit."
Zhou Hu nodded.
The first outer sect menial disciple of Fallen Mountain was none other than the white-haired child of the Outer Heaven Demon, the first roster compiler, "Konghou."
The second was one with the Dao name Silver Deer, formerly the deputy city lord of the Savage Land's Immortal Tassel City, now renamed Zeng Cuo.
If Zhou Hu did not go to Cloak Cloud Mountain for duty, but instead settled at Jump Fish Mountain, she would become the third menial disciple in Fallen Mountain's history.
Zhou Hu asked, "Is Mr. Zheng returning to White Emperor City for seclusion?"
Zheng Juzhong had already left directly, destination unknown.
Having nothing to do and feeling quite bored, Chen Lingjun swung his sleeves as he wandered down the back mountain, taking the initiative to visit Cloak Cloud Mountain.
The green-clad child formed a hand seal, summoning a mass of water vapor, rising slowly into the air, concealing his tracks, drifting toward the Northern Marchmount, landing in a secluded spot, dispersing the clouds and mist, alighting gracefully on the ground. He strolled leisurely to the mountain gate, hands on his hips. Not bad, not bad—the mountain was not short and was bustling with noise and excitement. Wei Yeyou's fortunes had grown more prosperous over the years.
Pilgrims coming to burn incense streamed in an endless procession, including relatives of high officials and nobles, children of aristocratic families, and elderly people of humble means who had walked hundreds of miles. It was not only ordinary mortals climbing the mountain to offer incense, but also many cultivators coming to sincerely seek immortal destinies or pay respects to the mountain. As the old saying goes, "courtesy costs nothing"—a truth applicable everywhere.
The Five Marchmounts were not strictly guarded immortal mansions where idlers were forbidden, so aside from hosting the Night Travel Banquet, Cloak Cloud Mountain did not set up a "gatekeeper" at the foot of the mountain.
Chen Lingjun looked up at one spot and grinned to himself.
It was the bamboo grove of Cloak Cloud Mountain. Like Lord Wei's study, it was forbidden ground—no pavilions, no houses, no platforms, no railings, left wild in the mountains. When bamboo shoots emerged in winter and spring, no one was allowed in to see them. Even Wei Bo, the owner of the grove, rarely set foot there, letting nature take its course.
A few years ago, there was a black-clad little girl carrying a green bamboo staff who often came here alone to play. She did not use immortal wind-riding methods but simply climbed the mountain on foot. Once inside, she would deliberately choose secluded paths, as if hiding and seeking, peeking out from behind trees, looking left and right, then suddenly dashing in an arrow to the next hiding spot... The little girl was just short of writing "THIEF" in big letters on her forehead, heading straight for the bamboo grove every time...
At first, when the goddess of the Ritual Department and the immortal clerks of the Patrol Department learned of this, being bound by duty, they were of course extremely nervous. Fortunately, they soon received an edict from Lord Wei telling them to pretend not to know. So every time the little girl climbed the mountain, they could neither show themselves to block her way nor dare to shout reprimands. They could only watch helplessly as that bold Fallen Mountain guest entered the bamboo grove.
They feared most that when the little girl emerged from the bamboo grove, she would already be carrying several bamboo poles on her shoulder, swaggering down the mountain.
Stop her or not? Would stopping her even matter? Lord Wei had said not to worry, but if she actually "stole," who would take the blame in the end?
"Tsk tsk, a rare guest."
Wei Bo, disguised with an illusion technique as an elegant scholar, said, "Why isn't Old Ancestor Jingqing staying in the mountain to entertain guests, coming here instead?"
Chen Lingjun said crossly, "What's this? Haven't even entered the gate and you're already driving guests away? Brother Wei, you're hurting my feelings. And calling me Old Ancestor Jingqing—who are you trying to disgust?"
Wei Bo reached out and pressed the green-clad child's head, saying with a grin, "How dare you speak to me like that. Hmm?"
Chen Lingjun shrank his neck and explained, "I was just afraid that with me there, Nephew Zheng might feel constrained in his words and actions."
Wei Bo said, "Mr. Zheng has already left Fallen Mountain."
Chen Lingjun complained, "That old cook is not shrewd. I told him to repeatedly urge him to stay, and he couldn't even handle such a small matter."
Wei Bo asked, "How was he not shrewd?"
Chen Lingjun explained, "If I had been the one to urge him to stay, Nephew Zheng wouldn't know my standing within Fallen Mountain. He'd probably feel obliged out of face and be afraid of troubling me. As an elder, it wouldn't be proper for me to tell a junior how trusted I am by the mountain master, how prominent I am in the mountain. But the old cook is known to all as Fallen Mountain's great steward. If he repeatedly urges the guest to stay, Nephew Zheng can politely decline once or twice, then go along with the flow and stay. When I get back, I'll have a word with that old cook... Forget it, forget it. Next time my Turbid Stream brother comes up the mountain, I'll just drink three bowls as penance before we even meet."
Wei Bo laughed, "You really acknowledge him as your nephew, huh."
Chen Lingjun fumed, "What else? Abandon poor relatives once you've made it big? What kind of hero would that be, huh?!"
Wei Bo pressed down on the dog head, saying, "With such a loud voice, you must indeed be a hero, right?"
Chen Lingjun immediately deflated.
Zhou Hu followed behind and arrived at Cloak Cloud Mountain.
Wei Bo nodded and said through heart voice with a smile, "Daoist Friend Meizhen, feel free to tour the Northern Marchmount."
Zhou Hu returned the greeting and found a lame excuse, "I haven't walked in too long. Came here to clear my mind."
Although Zheng Juzhong had told her to seek a job here and draw a salary—likely just a matter of her opening her mouth and Lord Wei nodding—she found it hard to bring herself to ask. A Flying Ascension cultivator who had failed at Dao Integration was as different from a Flying Ascension cultivator who could never find a true Dao path as heaven from earth.
Chen Lingjun mistakenly thought she was a goddess of some bureau in Cloak Cloud Mountain and had no interest in forming a friendship.
He didn't know Zhou Hu's background, but Zhou Hu was extremely familiar with this green-clad child. He never walked properly—going up or down the mountain he liked to swing his two big sleeves. When Pei Qian was in the mountain, he liked to go to Grey Haze Mountain to chat with Yunzi; when Pei Qian wasn't there, he would accompany Little Rice Grain on several more patrols around the mountain.
Wei Bo led the two of them on a mountain tour.
The fiery clouds at the horizon were like a goddess applying makeup before a mirror, starting to dress up and apply rouge.
Sitting together on bamboo chairs at the mountain gate, about to finish work, Little Rice Grain softly called out, "Immortal Wei, Immortal Wei, Daoist Priest."
Immortal Wei put away his book and rubbed his eyes, "Hmm?"
Little Rice Grain grabbed the armrests of her chair, moving herself and the bamboo chair closer to Immortal Wei, then opened her mouth, shaking her head back and forth.
Immortal Wei understood and laughed, "Erhu or Daoist chanting?"
Little Rice Grain replied without hesitation, "Just sing that 'Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea' from your hometown. It's truly lingering music around the rafters as the book says—I never tire of hearing it."
When Daoist Priest Immortal Wei chanted the Daoist tunes, it was such a sight to behold.
Immortal Wei smiled knowingly, "Alright."
He stood up, coughed lightly a few times to clear his throat.
Before the young Daoist could even make a sound, Little Rice Grain had already clapped silently.
Immortal Wei closed his eyes, a smile on his face. The young Daoist with a wooden hairpin shook his sleeves, raised his hand, two fingers pressed together, gently swaying, and began to sing of the Yellow Millet Dream, riding a donkey backward, mist and haze shrouding everything...
---
Southern Saha Continent, Dragon Elephant Sword Sect.
Lu Zhi walked out of the quiet cave dwelling used for seclusion, raised her hand to shield her brow, and looked at the sky. Though it was the time of sunset behind the western mountains, she found it somewhat blinding.
Mrs. Tuoyan carefully asked, "Mr. Lu, did you succeed?"
In the past two years, those peak cultivators of Haoran proving dao and ascending had made quite a stir, always accompanied by various auspicious omens. In future ancestral hall records or mountain chronicles, there would inevitably be several bold strokes of the brush. Proving dao and ascending, much like a cultivator forming a golden core, had differences in rank. For example, ascending in broad daylight, open and aboveboard, as if grandly announcing to heaven and earth, would certainly be higher than crossing the tribulation and lifting the form in the dark of night. Side paths, ghost immortals, and the like mostly chose the latter.
But from start to finish, Lu Zhi's seclusion this time produced no anomalous phenomena whatsoever, so Mrs. Tuoyan had no idea at all whether Lu Zhi had actually proven dao and ascended. She was even starting to suspect that Lu Zhi hadn't really been in seclusion at all—just shut the door to hide from the world.
But she couldn't very well ask Lu Zhi outright if she hadn't succeeded. How inauspicious.
During this time, Mrs. Tuoyan had been keeping watch outside. She couldn't help much, but it was a gesture of goodwill.
She was one who loved comfort and never treated herself poorly, so she had set up a temporary awning outside the cave dwelling, spread a bamboo mat, lit an incense burner, boiled wine, and read books—specifically picking several steamy romances of gifted scholars and beautiful maidens. In the dead of night, when all was silent, it seemed as if the only sound in the world was the gentle rustling of pages. The bright stars in the sky were like fish swimming in the water—truly a time of peace, a scene of peace, an affair of peace.
Lu Zhi walked toward the awning and nodded, "I succeeded."
Not only had she succeeded, but the process of crossing the tribulation and proving dao had been like a fantastical roaming immortal poem.
In the vast, boundless void, bleak and lifeless, in a daze, she seemed to encounter a wall of infinite height.
Lu Zhi's mind-spirit mistakenly thought she had arrived at the edge of the world, touching the legendary fence of the Dao.
Above her head, countless golden lights spread like branches and leaves, shimmering like brilliant rivers of stars, swaying gracefully.
One particle of Lu Zhi's mind-spirit began to "ascend upward," only to discover that it was actually a cypresswood boat. At the prow stood a woman with flowing hair in a golden robe, possessing eyes of pure clarity.
Before meeting "her," Lu Zhi's mind-spirit journey had seen some inexplicable things. There were beings resembling humans in appearance, "ferry boats" strange and oddly shaped, formations and barriers, certain light clusters fluttering like birds, vortices that inspired fear at a glance... Occasionally there were sounds like tearing silk or shattering porcelain, and huge beings reaching out to pluck stars and stuff them into their mouths to chew vigorously...
Lu Zhi asked, "Was it you who called me here?"
She shook her head.
Lu Zhi couldn't help asking, "What are those beings? What is the purpose of the journey?"
"Migration, refuge, expansion—the purposes vary. But the greatest aspiration remains tracing back to the source, seeking roots and ancestors."
She paused briefly, looking at Lu Zhi, "Simply put, they want to take a look at you."
"The nonexistent river of time is nothing but prisons with different scales."
"But this is the boundary and limit of what Lu Zhi can understand. If Lu Chen were here, he could discuss a few more layers of meaning."
"In short, for you in the ancestral land, any subtle fluctuation of thought in an instant is what they call a cycle of birth and death in some boundless place beyond the heavens, where 'infinite time spans eons.'"
Lu Zhi thought of the wooden ferry boat beneath her feet and was about to say something when a particle of mind-spirit had already retreated back to the cave dwelling.
A journey of the mind-spirit—so dreamlike, hard to distinguish truth from falsehood.
Mrs. Tuoyan, surprised and delighted, couldn't help feeling that Lu Zhi seemed somewhat disheartened, not very cheerful.
Could it be that ten out of ten certainty wasn't worth celebrating?
Right—proving dao and ascending, in other cave dwellings, would be a monumental event, but Qi Tingji couldn't even be bothered to guard Lu Zhi's retreat. He had gone off wandering around Blessing Rock Continent himself. All of you truly have hearts bigger than mountains.
Lu Zhi sat down on the ground and casually picked up a book with many dog-eared pages from the low table.
Mrs. Tuoyan reached out to snatch it. Lu Zhi dodged sideways, holding the book high, and glanced at the title, "What's there to hide about this?"
Blushing slightly, Mrs. Tuoyan knelt on the bamboo mat and asked tentatively, "Mr. Lu, is something on your mind?"
Lu Zhi hummed in affirmation.
Mrs. Tuoyan smiled consolingly, "Mr. Lu has already proven dao and ascended. A few concerns are nothing."
Lu Zhi looked up and said something that would startle others to death, "After proving dao and ascending, I had a... an experience. So I grew greedy, wanting to press on and break through another realm. The result was that I failed in Dao Integration."
Mrs. Tuoyan was stunned, "Ah?"
Lu Zhi continued through heart voice, "Outside the heavens, I saw Ruan Xiu."
Mrs. Tuoyan instinctively reached out to cover Lu Zhi's mouth.
Lu Zhi used the book to slap away Mrs. Tuoyan's hand, still speaking through heart voice, repeating the same phrase, "It's not something that can't be brought to light."
Qi Tingji appeared on the scene and said to Mrs. Tuoyan, "I need to discuss something with Lu Zhi."
Catching sight of Old Sword Immortal Qi's expression, Mrs. Tuoyan quickly rose, performed a curtsy, and without another word, hurriedly left.
---
Where did that third flying sword come from, able to sever Fourteen with a flying sword?
Jiang She's mind-spirit shook violently. He stopped in his tracks. This First Ancestor of the Military Strategist family showed an expression of disbelief for the first time.
The one who had ambushed Chen Ping'an was clearly a Fourteen Realm sword cultivator of no small Dao power. Whether he was "pure" Jiang She could not yet determine.
But even if he was something like a Daoist sword immortal from the Azure Green World, as long as he was Fourteen Realm, he was certainly not weak.
Facing such a sword cultivator, defeating him versus killing him were as different as heaven and earth.
Furthermore, this so-called "killing" had distinctions—forcing him to undergo sword dissolution and reincarnate, versus complete annihilation of body and Dao, were also poles apart.
Jiang She reached out, using two fingers to lightly rub some ash of tribulation. This substance was most undeniably authentic—a remnant of genuine Dao essence, indeed containing a wisp of supremely refined sword intent. Jiang She could now confirm that a Fourteen Realm sword cultivator had truly been erased from existence.
Which ill-fated new Fourteen? The Savage Land? The Azure Green World?
To describe the Dao combat between Fourteen Realms as "heaven and earth overturning with passionate resolve" would not be an exaggeration.
For example, Yu Dou of the Azure Green World had once donned his Dharma robe, wielded his immortal sword, and personally descended upon Zhu Province, striking his friend who had transgressed the prohibitions from the Fourteen Realm down to the Immortal Realm.
In the Blessing Rock Continent campaign, Zhou Mi had set up a scheme to besiege and kill Bai Ye. In the depths of the Savage Land, A Liang and Zuo You had vanished without trace.
As for the one Ning Yao had slain, it was ultimately only a Fourteen Realm candidate ghostly being; it had not truly achieved Dao Integration. Even so, it had caused great disturbances in the underworld Fengdu.
Jiang She was silent for a moment before he couldn't help asking, "Chen Ping'an, how did you all manage this?"
Chen Ping'an, manifesting in the form of "half a One," with his divine nature, was merely extremely troublesome, hard to kill. Coupled with his cooperation with Zheng Juzhong to create a prototype of a "Dao within the Dao," it was equivalent to possessing a complete small thousand world of the Heavenly Dao. With Chen Ping'an situated within it, he was almost the embodiment of the "Dao" itself, so Jiang She had no way to deal with him.
Chen Ping'an's greatest disadvantage was his low killing power, so Jiang She could afford to spar with him, confidently refining the martial fortune.
Previously, when Zhou Mi had intervened, without the golden longsword manifested by the Sword Holder, Chen Ping'an was even less impressive.
For Jiang She, this fight had only two variables: the existence of the Sword Holder and Zheng Juzhong's contingency measures.
As for Ning Yao, even though she was the sovereign of the Five Colors World and wielded one of the immortal swords, Tianzhen, she was still not someone Jiang She would take seriously.
Not that Ning Yao lacked killing power, but her status as world sovereign was precisely a double-edged sword. It was both her protective talisman and something that would tie her hands in other worlds. If she drew her sword in the Haoran World, the Confucian Temple would interfere; even in the Azure Green World, the White Jade Capital would interfere. If in the Five Colors World... thinking of this, Jiang She's heart jolted. But upon second thought, he quickly dismissed his concern. If Zheng Juzhong and Wu Shuangjiang joined forces to "enter the house and seize the inheritance," attempting a usurpation, and if the battlefield were in the "young age" Five Colors World, and they truly poked a hole through heaven, then it would be Jiang She's turn to "enter the house" and disrupt the world's favorable timing and terrain. He believed that the being manifested by the Dao of that world would surely part ways with Ning Yao and become enemies.
Wu Shuangjiang smiled and said, "Senior can rest assured. The battlefield is not in the Five Colors World. I once suggested this course of action, but the Hidden Official didn't agree, and Mr. Zheng also felt it unnecessary."
But Wu Shuangjiang's next words made even Jiang She's scalp tingle. "In fact, the battlefield is in the Savage Land World, at the site of the former Gold Emerald City. Mr. Zheng has been planning this for a long time. One of his avatars achieved Dao Integration there, seizing a portion of the Savage Land's fortune for Haoran. Relocating the city—this diminishes the Savage Land while enriching Haoran—that's the merit of two Gold Emerald Cities and tens of thousands of Dharma robes. Secretly building a Dao field to establish a ferry for returning to the Savage Land in the future—three gains in one."
Jiang Shangzhen was skeptical and looked at Cui Dongshan. Was that "Old Zheng" of ours really that... Jiang Shangzhen found himself at a loss for words.
Cui Dongshan nodded, clearly indicating that Wu Shuangjiang was not bluffing; this was precisely how Zheng Juzhong had laid his plans.
One could not overestimate Zheng Juzhong.
Only at this moment did Jiang She have to admit one thing: in the past ten thousand years, although the height of the Dao had not changed much, and there were merely more types of mortal magic arts, the scheming of today's Qi refiners was simply beyond the imagination of the Daoists of ten thousand years ago.
Wu Shuangjiang smiled gently, "This is a rare opportunity. Next, let me experience the scenery beyond the pinnacle of martial artists? Let me gauge the weight of the legendary Eleventh Realm martial artist's fists! Senior, what do you think?"
Jiang She collected his thoughts, his eyes blazing, "Perfect opportunity to clean house."
Even knowing it was superfluous, Chen Ping'an couldn't help but remind him through heart voice, "Palace Master Wu, the fists of an Eleventh Realm are no ordinary weight."
Logically speaking, Konghou, who served as the roster compiler, was practically a walking martial treasury. He knew by heart the famous techniques and ultimate fist techniques of the pinnacle martial artists of the Azure Green World. So Wu Shuangjiang's understanding of martial arts must be extremely profound, no less than any true pinnacle martial artist.
But the problem was that all worldly principles could not escape the truth that "knowledge from books is always shallow."
Chen Ping'an, however, had personally experienced Jiang She's "half fist."
Wu Shuangjiang suddenly clapped his hands, "A slight surprise—the one who came to collect debts has arrived. As the one who received the sword, he can just happen to answer Senior's doubts."
The Deaf Daoist who had been living as a "mountain hermit" at Thunder Marsh Lake was indeed soft-hearted as always.
Chen Ping'an immediately understood in his heart.
Taking this opportunity, Chen Ping'an asked about one matter, "Repairing the four replica swords—that 'some' immortal money Palace Master Wu mentioned, what exactly is the amount? Can you give me a precise number?"
He didn't know how much money would be needed to fill this bottomless pit.
But before Wu Shuangjiang could give an answer, Chen Ping'an muttered to himself, "Forget it, forget it. I don't want to know the specific amount anymore."
A ethereal figure appeared on the battlefield.
Jiang Shangzhen said, "To be fair, that scared the hell out of me. Brother Cui, just who in the world is this fellow?"
Cui Dongshan's expression darkened as he said, "He's a fellow townsman of my master, the only true disciple that Ma Kuxuan pinned his hopes on, specially chosen to disgust people."
Jiang Shangzhen slapped his forehead, "What a Dragon's Bead Cave Heaven."
Inside the Fish-Watching Pavilion at Dipper Lung Mountain, the Deaf Daoist, chosen by Ma Kuxuan as Huang Zhen's Dao protector, had secretly performed a divination and also slightly held back, quietly bestowing upon Huang Zhen an additional invisible ancient preservation talisman.
He dared not exert too much force, as the karmic consequences were too great. He had only divined the character "Zheng" before "hitting a wall," seeing three blurry figures with imposing auras, and so the old man did not continue his deduction. A figure who could simultaneously have three Fourteen Realms—how could the old man need to guess their identities? Chen Qingliu, Chen Qingliu, you really taught a good disciple!
Appearing here, Huang Zhen was overcome with emotion, his expression complex. He had wasted a thousand years of arduous cultivation, only to end up drawing water with a bamboo basket—all in vain.
He was not particularly furious, nor did he show the slightest sign of dejection. He just looked at the man, "Finally we meet again. Finally!"
Chen Ping'an said, "I'm not familiar with you. Save the nonsense. You can speak your last words."
Both used the dialect of their hometown.
Huang Zhen paid no attention, looking around on his own. Seeing so many living people at once made him, a dead man, feel deeply moved. But with time limited, he set aside some of his emotions and laughed, "You really think you've succeeded? Since Sword Cultivator Huang Zhen a thousand years from now can swim upstream to meet you here, Chen Ping'an, tell me yourself—how could I possibly die? I simply ride the fish downstream and go..."
Chen Ping'an cut off Huang Zhen's words, "There is no past or future. All is the present."
Different cultivators had different understandings of the "Dao."
Ordinary people would hear this as merely an empty, abstruse remark—a contrived, fabricated assertion.
But not Huang Zhen. He carried a rare treasure: the descendant of one of the Dao-manifested Yin-Yang fish.
Huang Zhen was silent for a moment after hearing this, then spoke, "As expected of the greatest lucky one among the younger generation in our hometown. All the good fortune fell to you. You 'know' a little bit of everything. Child of Heaven? What child of Heaven was my master? You, Chen Ping'an—you're the real one."
Chen Ping'an tucked his hands into his sleeves, "Everything you say is correct."
Huang Zhen turned to look at that First Ancestor of the Military Strategists, his smile strange. Parents' hearts are truly touching.
Jiang She laughed and asked, "Since he was a pure sword cultivator, how did he fail at the final step?"
Huang Zhen laughed, "Unable to match the opponent, I die without regret. Besides, even if I refused to admit defeat, what could I do? That fellow was just lucky. How can I compare?"
He had, after all, a thousand years more cultivation time than Chen Ping'an.
Huang Zhen muttered to himself, "Between Sword Cultivator Huang Zhen and Chen Ping'an, there is only minor enmity but great hatred."
Huang Zhen leaked heavenly secrets, "Patriarch Jiang, rest assured. This flying sword of Chen Ping'an's can sever me, but it cannot strike your head."
He had originally intended to use sword dissolution to gain great freedom, breaking free from certain Dao constraints of being a Yin-Yang fish descendant, and ascend to the pseudo-Fifteen Realm.
Huang Zhen was very much a cultivator in the true sense: shallow in family ties, with no Dao partner, no children, no Dao friends, no disciples on his path of cultivation. He stayed far from the mortal world, a bystander by the road. At the bottom of Thunder Marsh Lake, he focused single-mindedly on cultivating his nature, dwelling in seclusion in his Dao field, ignoring worldly affairs and Chen Ping'an's actions outside, simply biding his time.
Once Huang Zhen reached the Fourteen Realm, he went there and patiently waited by the tree for the rabbit.
To put it simply, Huang Zhen's interaction with this world was very shallow.
It couldn't be said that Huang Zhen was too clever for his own good. If he hadn't been so single-minded in practicing his sword art, how could he have become a Fourteen Realm?
Huang Zhen turned to look at the master of White Emperor City, "Mr. Zheng, isn't this a bit bullying?"
Zheng Juzhong dismissed it with a smile.
It was precisely this Zheng Juzhong who had prevented Huang Zhen from escaping his tribulation and instead had him severed by the sword, causing him to fail at the last step of building a nine-story mountain.
Huang Zhen said self-deprecatingly, "To be targeted by Zheng Juzhong using external means is truly no small feat."
He had borrowed Lu Shen's Earth Mirror Chapter. Using Chen Ping'an and Huang Zhen to form the Gen trigram—this was "awakening the dragon."
He had borrowed Bai Jing's two life-bound flying swords, "Upstream" and "Downstream," to pave the way.
The Dao transmitters—Ma Kuxuan, hometown fellow Zhu Lu, and so on—were a chain of mountains forming the source and course, the bridges and ferries that guided the sword light...
On the Azure Green World side, there was Wu Shuangjiang of Year's End Palace, Gao Gu of Dipper Lung Mountain, Zhu Lu, and the Yang clan woman who went to Yingchuan Commandery...
Huang Zhen knew that before long, a private Daoist named Chen Cong would appear there, said to have once sojourned at Spirit Vision Temple.
Huang Zhen laughed and asked, "Chen Ping'an, don't you want to know the grand trends of the world over the next thousand years? What great feats did you accomplish during that time?"
Chen Ping'an simply closed his eyes and rested his mind.
Huang Zhen laughed to himself, "I remember when I was young, reading those immortal tales and wondrous records, I came across several similar sayings that puzzled me. They said something about 'so-and-so's heinous deeds had long incurred the wrath of man and heaven, but his fortune had not yet run out, so he was not fated to die for the time being,' and so on."
Chen Ping'an opened his eyes, "You've already been annihilated in body and Dao, yet you still won't cultivate virtue with your words."
Huang Zhen roared with laughter, "'A man's words are good when he is about to die'?"
"I remember in my thirties, I returned to my hometown once, deeply distressed. Swallowing my humiliation, I went to Fallen Mountain."
"But in the end, I said nothing and simply left. Until today, I thought that was the best decision I ever made in my life."
Having said this, Huang Zhen paused, then continued, "I thought you'd look at me with a sneer and ask, 'Was it worth it?'"
Chen Ping'an said, "To you, it probably was."
There was silence between them.
Huang Zhen asked, "With so little time left, you really don't want to chat a bit more?"
Chen Ping'an hesitated, then said, "I have two questions."
Huang Zhen smiled, "I'll tell you everything I know."
Chen Ping'an asked, "During my seclusion at the Blessing Rock Foothill Dao field earlier, why did you draw your sword?"
Huang Zhen said as if suddenly enlightened, "That's easy to answer. Of course it wasn't out of impatience, carelessly stirring up the grass and startling the snakes. Rather, those seemingly light sword strikes would greatly diminish your Dao protection, Dao watching, and Dao proving."
From Chen Ping'an's mouth came a string of words in their hometown dialect.
Huang Zhen laughed heartily.
He inexplicably thought of his hometown's grain-drying ground, the icicles hanging from the eaves of alleys, the kites drifting in the wind, the curling smoke from chimneys...
A thousand years of sword practice, and he had thought to accomplish a great feat—a nameless one killing a famous one!
But unfortunately, it was not to be. Fate? Destiny?
As if forgetting that Chen Ping'an had a second question, Huang Zhen said softly, "Never thought I'd end up in the same situation as Cai Jinjian—making a wedding dress for others."
Cui Dongshan's face suddenly changed, "Master, don't let her return here! That bastard Zhou Mi is also scheming this..."
Jiang She had his suspicions. Since this place was the ancient battlefield where the conflict between Fire and Water concluded, even Zheng Juzhong could not refine an object of the old Heavenly Dao. For Chen Ping'an and Zheng Juzhong to join forces and slay a Fourteen Realm pure sword cultivator—Zheng Juzhong could take it lightly, but Chen Ping'an would bear a not insignificant "merit," which was a great tonic for his "divinity." So wouldn't the outcome of a tug-of-war be decided?
If the Sword Holder who had gone to the new Heavenly Court returned here and "connected" with Chen Ping'an's divine nature, wouldn't that mean... instant godhood?!
Huang Zhen's expression was delighted. He squinted at Chen Ping'an, "A country bumpkin becoming a god is hardly a strange thing. Just in our hometown, how much clay in those sagger boxes became Buddha?"
To turn Chen Ping'an into a complete god was no different from killing the Chen Ping'an who wanted to maintain his humanity.
Whether he could see that scene or not no longer mattered. Huang Zhen laughed heartily, ecstatic, "In the end, my great vengeance is fulfilled!"
As his form dissipated, Huang Zhen looked at Chen Ping'an one last time. His lips moved slightly, as if he spoke two words in his hometown dialect: "Thief."
From henceforth, there would be no more Huang Zhen in the world.
Zheng Juzhong looked at Chen Ping'an.
For some reason, Chen Ping'an gently shook his head.
So Zheng Juzhong did not tell Huang Zhen a certain truth.
The reason Cui Can had brought a piece of life-bound porcelain to the Azure Green World.
The reason the old man Chang Geng and the youth Chen Cong had appeared at the Spirit Vision Temple in Changshe County—Cui Can had not gone there for sightseeing.
If the Book-Bamboo Lake was the Embroidery Tiger's "late spring chill" protecting the Dao, then the Spirit Vision Temple was the great senior apprentice-brother's "winter warmth" protecting the Dao.
Chen Ping'an asked, "Is Lu Chen doing well?"
Zheng Juzhong remained silent.
Once upon a time. In a Lü School temple within the Yu Province of Great Li, moonlight streamed through the window like reading a book. On the table, on a piece of paper with a slightly rough texture, was written a single line: "Far from inverted dreams."