Chapter 201: When No Trivial Matters Hang on the Mind
After Cao Xi, who liked to speak bluntly and loudly, left, the Xie residence immediately returned to tranquility. The entire household, from the matriarch in charge to the pair of children, and then to the several old servants and maids, all walked tiptoeing, afraid to disturb Xie Shi's rest. During this period, every member of the Xie family lived in a state of unreality. Suddenly, from that Jiayin woodblock-printed clan genealogy, a living, breathing ancestor had stepped out, one who had lived through countless springs and autumns.
Perhaps only the long-browed youth, who had been taciturn since childhood, remained relatively calm in mind, because Xie Shi had roughly explained the outside world to him and told the youth to temporarily follow Ruan Qiong in sword forging and blacksmithing. As for opportunities, it wasn't necessarily better to follow one's own ancestor and throw one's weight around. The long-browed youth had a resilient temperament. Even after learning that his ancestor Xie Shi was about to become the first Heavenly Lord of the northern Julu Continent, surpassing his master Ruan Qiong in both cultivation and status, the youth showed no sign of wanting to switch allegiances. This earned him a hint of approval from Xie Shi—this was the kind of magnanimity a Xie descendant should have.
The youth would never know that if he had shown even the slightest wavering of resolve, Xie Shi would have given up on nurturing him and would even have spoken to Ruan Qiong to prevent family misfortune and future calamities.
This meant the long-browed youth would have almost completely lost the possibility of attaining the Dao of immortality and restoring the family's prestige.
Mountain immortals, especially Daoist terrestrial immortals, attached great importance to cultivating the mind when accepting disciples. It was often not a matter decided in a few years; they would wander the lands for decades before finding a satisfactory disciple worthy of inheriting their legacy. During this period, many immortals would subject them to various tests—wealth and honor, life and death, love and affection. All the major worldly matters were barriers on the path to immortality. Whether one remained a mere fish in the river or leaped over the dragon's gate could hinge on a single thought.
The Great Dao is long and arduous. Every Qi refiner who reaches the tenth realm, especially the upper five realms, is, without exception, a person of extraordinary talent.
However, there are three thousand great paths, and the way up the mountain is not fixed. Therefore, each has their own fate. What Heavenly Lord Xie Shi disliked could be seen as a fine piece of raw jade by other sages or heterodox schools. Hence the old saying: Heaven never seals off all exits.
Of course, Xie Shi's lofty status gave him a far-reaching vision. In truth, with the long-browed youth's talent and aptitude, he would be a highly sought-after cultivation seedling among the immortal sects of Bottle Gourd Continent. Any sect would take him as a disciple first and ask questions later. Having one more middle-five realm deity in the sect would be a great help, whether for intimidating the emperors and generals of secular dynasties or managing delicate relations with neighboring mountain "neighbors." They would not be as fault-finding as Heavenly Lord Xie.
Xie Shi slowly drank his wine, a look of worry on his face.
"Ancestor, do you have something on your mind?" The long-browed youth sat across the table. A pair of incense fire figurines of excellent quality, seeing no outsiders at home, jumped down from the hall plaque and chased each other playfully on the youth's shoulders and head, frolicking joyfully. The youth had long since grown accustomed to this.
Xie Shi drank his melancholy wine. "I am merely ashamed of my own conscience."
The long-browed youth was taken aback. "Ancestor is so powerful, do you still need to do things against your conscience?"
Xie Shi smiled. "You will experience such unpleasantness yourself one day. No need to be alarmed. Your nature is more straightforward than nimble. Learning the sword is good. The Daoist pursuit of tranquility sounds like a stagnant pool, but it's not. It requires constant self-examination, and every path and principle is not easy."
The long-browed Xie family member nodded.
Xie Shi looked at the slightly immature face and sighed inwardly.
Chaos was coming. Heroes would vie for supremacy. It would be a spectacular time, but it would also bring many helpless partings of life and death. On the mountains and below, it would be much the same.
Xie Shi waved his hand, indicating the youth could leave.
The pair of incense fire figurines hopped back onto the plaque, nestling together and whispering.
Xie Shi closed his eyes to rest, breathing slowly, sitting in forgetfulness, and wandering in spirit.
---
After leaving Peach Leaf Lane, Cao Xi wandered aimlessly, strolling through the streets and alleys. He looked like a smiling wealthy old man. Outsiders didn't know his illustrious identity, but Cao Xi could chat with anyone. If it weren't for the fact that the treasures of Lit Pearl Cave Heaven had already been thoroughly looted, Cao Xi, with his "pluck every feather that passes by" temper from Bohea Continent, wouldn't have been satisfied until he had turned the entire town upside down. Cao Xi was inwardly furious, annoyed at the Great Li Dynasty's previous forced purchases. According to secret letters from the descendants of the Great Li Cao clan, that dynasty's "draining the pond to catch all the fish" approach to collecting magical treasures had been quite fruitful. Even someone as highly cultivated as Cao Xi found it tempting.
In the dragon-slaying battle, the sages of the Three Teachings and Hundred Schools had fought here, turning the world upside down. Bodies fell like snowflakes. Then four saints descended from the sky, drawing a boundary and imprisoning all the treasures within the small heaven. Once every sixty years, the gates opened to welcome guests. Each person paid to enter, relied on their own eyesight to find bargains, and many lucky ones left with their cultivation realms suddenly skyrocketing.
Cao Xi hesitated for a moment, then muttered to himself, "Sons and grandsons have their own blessings? Bullshit. If I don't give a few pointers, I think it's dicey."
He arrived at the Supervisor's Office. The gatekeeper was not sharp-eyed and wasn't qualified to know about Cao family affairs or mountain matters. He blocked Cao Xi aggressively. Cao Xi wasn't angry. He stood outside the office chatting with the gatekeeper, and after a while, they became quite friendly. When Cao Jun, who had moved from the Cao ancestral home to temporarily live here, sensed something unusual, he mentioned it to the Supervisor Cao Mao. The eldest legitimate grandson of the Pillar of State Cao clan was terrified. He immediately ran to the main entrance and saw the ancestor he had longed for day and night. Without a word, he threw himself to the ground and kowtowed heavily.
The gatekeeper clerk was scared out of his wits.
Although Cao Mao chatted and laughed with the commandery governor Wu Yuan, he didn't really take this common-born disciple of the National Teacher seriously. He was a well-known noble son in the Great Li capital. But today, before Cao Xi, he was unambiguous. This wasn't because Cao Mao had lost his composure. Cao Xi, the greatest ancestor of the family, was even more exalted than the ancestor who had won the family the title of Pillar of State. Only the legitimate sons of each generation of the Cao clan were qualified to know this huge secret, to be revealed in times of crisis. This ancestor, a terrestrial sword immortal of Bohea Continent and half-owner of Zhenhai Tower, was a life-saving charm more effective than a golden immunity tablet.
Cao Xi walked over to Cao Mao and kicked him. "Get up. Stop making a spectacle of yourself here."
Cao Mao quickly rose, not even bothering to brush the dust off his official robes. The young man's eyes were red with emotion, heartfelt.
Could one just casually meet a deity of the upper five realms? And this was an ancestor whose full name was clearly written in the family genealogy!
With such a huge backer, from now on, wouldn't the Cao descendants be able to walk sideways not just in this corner of the Great Li Dynasty, but in the entire Bottle Gourd Continent?
Cao Xi asked, "Have you checked Chen Ping'an's ancestral home?"
Cao Mao replied respectfully, "Reporting to the ancestor, it has been checked. There is nothing special. Tracing back hundreds of years, it's all ordinary townsfolk. Not a single Qi refiner on record has appeared."
Cao Xi grunted. "Then the current matter is simple. But it's still strange and odd. Either the Longwei Creek Chen clan did something, or some ancestor's luck was too 'exclusive,' eating into the provisions of future generations. Forget it, no need to bother with that. It's a trivial matter."
Cao Mao bent over, wanting to lead the ancestor to the main hall of the office. Cao Xi said impatiently, "A petty official position like yours? I'd be ashamed to sit in that hall."
Cao Mao was at a loss.
He really had no experience in dealing with a divine ancestor. He figured even his grandfather, the current head of the Great Li Pillar of State Cao clan, would be equally flustered.
Cao Xi stood under the memorial archway in the office square and sneered, "Cao Jun, get your ass out here."
Soon after, Cao Jun, wearing a long and short sword at his waist, swaggered over lazily. He didn't bother to stand on ceremony when he saw Cao Xi. He laughed, "What, got bullied at the Xie residence and want to take it out on me? Came all this way just to drag me out and curse me?"
Cao Xi glanced sideways at Cao Jun. "What a look!"
Cao Jun chuckled. "No choice. Takes after the ancestor."
Cao Mao, deep down, envied this young swordsman, whose name and clan origin he only knew. He dared to talk to the ancestor in such a flippant tone.
Cao Xi was silent for a moment, carefully examining the layout and feng shui flow of the office. Without warning, he asked, "Has this office been recently renovated? Whose idea was it?"
Cao Mao looked around, then lowered his voice. "Grandfather took the office blueprints to a Lu clan expert in the capital and asked for a few pointers. Ancestor, is there something wrong?"
Cao Xi's face darkened. "Wrong? Perfectly right. Better than before at gathering wind and water. With a slight modification, it's a brilliant finishing touch. It will most likely become Cao Mao's place of rising fortune. Hmm, don't misunderstand. You don't have the luck to be a true dragon emperor. If nothing unexpected happens, the most you'll get in this life is a hereditary Pillar of State title. With luck, you might become the revivalist ancestor on the family tree."
Cao Mao was overjoyed, barely able to hide it.
Cao Jun narrowed his eyes and smiled habitually.
Cao Xi was somewhat helpless. He had finally managed to build a large, flourishing family, but in the end, they were all worthless oafs. Was a Pillar of State title in a dynasty enough to make them grin from ear to ear?
Cao Xi's mood soured greatly, but he didn't show it on his face.
Cao Xi suddenly thought of the ancestral home, which had been renovated by others and was different from his memory. For example, during heavy rain, the water droplets from the eaves and courtyard in his dilapidated childhood home had year after year worn everything down. They had no money to mend it. When it rained, water splashed everywhere on the ground. In wealthy households, regardless of rain or snow, "wealth and fortune" would fall into the pool under the courtyard, but the ground around the courtyard would never get wet. That was called cleanly accepting feng shui. According to the old folks in the town, if ancestors accumulated virtue and bestowed a hundred grains of rice, the descendants could use the pool on the ground, like a big bowl, to catch all hundred grains perfectly, unlike Cao Xi's childhood home, which could catch at most half a bowl.
Now, the ancestral home, which had collapsed and been rebuilt, had turned misfortune into good fortune. If one believed in that superstitious talk, it meant catching all of the ancestral blessings.
Cao Xi murmured, "'A family that accumulates goodness will have abundant blessings.' Should I believe in that a little?"
A fiery red fox sitting on the memorial archway sneered, "Others believing that is one thing, but you, Cao Xi? If you really believed, you wouldn't have come this far!"
Cao Xi didn't look up, sneering, "That's because I, Cao Xi, have a hard fate and great ability, so I can afford not to believe. But this worthless branch of the Cao family in Bottle Gourd Continent—if I don't believe a little, I'm afraid they might disappear one day."
Cao Jun teased, "Really believe? What, is the ancestor going to do good deeds? That really would be the sun rising in the west."
Cao Xi turned to Cao Jun. "Don't set your heart on that sword embryo. If you feel uneasy about it, I'll compensate you myself later."
Cao Jun's smile turned cold. "Why?"
Cao Xi threw out a sentence: "I am your ancestor."
Cao Jun suddenly burst out laughing. "Then it's settled! Good people have good fortune. May the ancestor live ten thousand years!"
The fiery red fox stood on the archway, clapping its paws vigorously in celebration, but its mouth was full of biting sarcasm. "Wow, such a scene of fatherly kindness and filial piety. The ancestor is generous, the descendant is dutiful. So heartwarming. I can't take it. I'm about to shed tears..."
Cao Xi snorted, ignoring the sharp-tongued fox. He turned, flicked his sleeves, and strode away.
When the old man walked out of the office, the sky was gloomy. It was indeed going to rain.
He returned to his ancestral home in Mud Vase Alley. An unexpected spring rain began to fall, growing heavier and heavier.
Cao Xi sat alone in the small hall. There was no plaque. The incense fire figurine that had barely emerged had long been eaten.
It was just a lonely, dilapidated house.
Cao Xi suddenly stood up and went to the kitchen to take a large white bowl from the cupboard. He walked to the pool corresponding to the courtyard, crouched by the edge, placed his feet on the pebbles lining the small pool, and used the white bowl to catch the rainwater.
After filling the bowl about a quarter full, Cao Xi took a sip, then immediately poured it into the pool. He grumbled, "Scholars just talk nonsense. This hometown water is nowhere near as good as wine."
Cao Xi sighed, staring blankly.
Finally, the old man held the water bowl and looked back. It was as if an old woman was working inside the house. She seemed to stop her movements, holding a broom, standing quietly there, smiling at her son. The son wanted to care for his parents, but they were no longer there. The mother hadn't enjoyed any blessings. But as long as her son had made something of himself, it didn't matter.
The old man, who had long enjoyed all the glory and wealth in the world, hadn't been this sad in who knows how many centuries. His eyes blurred with tears, and he whispered softly, "Mother, oh my foolish mother."
---
At the southern foot of Piyun Mountain, the Forest Deer Academy had already broken ground. It seemed that tall buildings rose up every day. The Great Li Dynasty's emperor valued this academy as much as the construction of the Northern Peak True God Temple, issuing two imperial edicts to the prefecture and commandery governments.
The old flood dragon of the Huangting Kingdom, now going by the name Cheng Shuidong, wore a well-fitted blue robe and had the full aura of a Confucian scholar.
Very few people knew the old dragon's true identity, including the Great Li emperor and National Teacher Cui Chan. So even though Cheng Shuidong's writings were quite popular and he enjoyed a great reputation in the northern parts of Bottle Gourd Continent, having a minor vice minister from the Huangting Kingdom serve as the vice mountain lord of Forest Deer Academy still sparked considerable controversy in the Great Li court. In the imperial court, it was felt that Cheng Shuidong had no prominent titles within the Confucian scholarly tradition and lacked the weight to command respect. Military officials were even more displeased. A doddering old man from the Huangting Kingdom should consider himself lucky to be alive, and now he was supposed to be a teacher for the scholarly seeds of Great Li?
The old dragon stood side by side with Wei Po, both looking at the bustling, dusty construction site of the academy. This was their first private meeting.
The old dragon sighed emotionally. "You, Wei Po, repeatedly rise from the ashes, surprising everyone."
First, he was the Northern Peak True God of the Divine Water Kingdom. Then the Great Li shattered his golden body and sank him to the bottom of the water. After that, someone helped piece together his broken golden body, barely maintaining his incense offerings. But disaster struck from the sky again when two chess-playing immortals took away his golden body, reducing him to the lowest level of a local earth god, even worse than an ordinary river mother or river god. Yet, in the end, he was suddenly promoted to the Northern Peak True God of Piyun Mountain.
It was likely that the existing mountain peak true gods of Great Li were not lacking in the desire to fight Wei Po to the death.
The old dragon had traveled far and wide in his early years and was actually an old acquaintance of Wei Po.
It began to drizzle, and the dust was pressed back to the ground.
Of course, the old dragon and Wei Po didn't have to worry about the rain.
Wei Po stretched out a hand, gently shaking it. The curtain of rain in front of him rippled accordingly. He smiled, "Otherwise, why would all the world envy the immortals? Besides, the gods come before the immortals, right?"
The old dragon asked softly, "Is the Great Li emperor really going south to Dragon Spring Commandery?"
Wei Po didn't hide anything. He chuckled, "Yes, he's planning a trip soon. When that happens, you old dragon will have an audience with the true dragon emperor. It should be very interesting. Have you prepared your meeting gift?"
The old dragon smiled. "It's ready. Nothing worth mentioning."
Wei Po pointed towards the town and asked, "Will it break out into a fight? If it does, will you intervene?"
The old dragon hesitated for a moment, not wanting to treat this future mountain peak great god like a fool. "I'm already on the pirate ship. What else can I do?"
Wei Po was a bit troubled. "Just don't damage my Piyun Mountain too much."
The old dragon laughed heartily. "Getting attached to this place so quickly?"
Wei Po grinned. "I'm the type to love the new without forgetting the old."
The old dragon pointed at the white-robed divine man beside him. "To reach your level of 'not forgetting the old' is rare in this world."
Wei Po laughed boisterously. "That must mean you haven't seen enough of the world."
Understanding the hint, the old dragon immediately restrained his smile and warned, "Some things, others can do, but we cannot speak of them."
Wei Po nodded, remembering something. "I need to go to Fallen Mountain. I won't accompany you in the rain."
---
On Dragon Beard River, raindrops pounded noisily on the water surface.
Under the stone arch bridge, a woman with hair as thick as water plants hovered above the riverbed, sobbing. She thought of her grandson, and then of her own miserable plight—half of her golden body destroyed—and she became even more sorrowful. If things were this hard on her own doorstep, how much harder must it be for her grandson, cultivating at True Martial Mountain among so many immortals and spirits?
Before, she had happily patrolled Dragon Beard River every day, thinking she could use her borrowed authority and shameless intimidation to accumulate so many valuable and not-so-valuable treasures. She thought that one day she would hand them all over to her grandson so he wouldn't have to worry about money on his cultivation path. But now, suffering immense pain, having destroyed half her golden body at the river's source, this river goddess, who had no temple or incense offerings, truly understood the unpredictable nature of the Heavenly Dao and the hardships of cultivation. Lately, she had been hiding under this stone arch bridge every day, crying.
Then the woman suddenly stopped sobbing. Suppressing the terror in her heart, she quickly swam to the shallows, dutifully ceding the waterway to a superior.
The woman naturally recognized the true god of Tiefu River. Her name was Yang Hua, and she was very likely the youngest high-ranking river god in Eastern Bottle Gourd Continent. She had a long zhang of golden hair, a face covered by a mask, and carried a long sword in her arms. She had a terrible temper, and countless passing spirits and monsters had died at her hands.
Dragon Beard River was the upstream section of Tiefu River, so it naturally belonged to the Tiefu River waters. Yang Hua patrolling the river was a matter of course. But since her promotion to river god, she had never set foot on the waterfall at the boundary of that river. This was the first time. The river goddess, whose living name was Ma Lanhua, even as a deity, still had that timid, market-like demeanor. She lowered her head and timidly said a few pleasantries. When she looked up, Yang Hua had already swiftly traveled more than ten li upstream.
The woman was inwardly furious, feeling that this young woman didn't know how to conduct herself. Even if she was her immediate superior, not even saying a greeting was too unrefined.
So she began to feel sorry for herself again, feeling that she was being bullied.
Finally, she worried that her grandson might also be treated so lightly outside. The woman covered her heart with one hand and wiped her tears with the other. Then, like a carp flicking its tail, she quickly swam back to her lair to take a look at her treasures. Only by thinking that they would one day be her grandson's generous betrothal gifts could she feel a bit happier, and feel that this miserable life after death, which still brought suffering, at least had some hope.
---
Outside the courier station, a one-wheeled cart equipped with a fortune-telling stall was parked. The young Daoist hadn't even set up his stall before he started reading the palm of a superstitious courier clerk, telling his fortune. To the other clerks at the station, it was a ridiculous spectacle—one talking nonsense, the other nodding like a chicken pecking rice. In the end, the young Daoist didn't accept the clerk's copper coins. In fact, the clerk hadn't planned to pay anyway. Fortunately, the Daoist was sensible and only asked for a bowl of hot water. He stood by the cart, gulping it down loudly, looking very satisfied.
The young Daoist wiped his mouth, smiled brightly, and waved goodbye to the station. He continued pushing his cart forward.
At the station, someone rubbed his eyes vigorously. Huh? Behind that fortune-telling swindler, a woman in Daoist nun attire had suddenly appeared out of thin air?
The beautiful Daoist nun asked softly, "Little Uncle-Master, you said you're not the best at fortune-telling or Go. So who is the best?"
The Daoist named Lu Chen smiled. "Your true Little Uncle-Master, my senior brother. One of them will play Go better than me in the future, beating that demon from White Emperor City. Another will tell fortunes better than me, making... Ah, never mind that. It hurts feelings. In short, that 'one plus one is still one, plus one more is still one' senior brother has always been better than me."
The Daoist nun was He Xiaoliang, whom Lu Chen had lured away from the Divine Empyrean Sect. She was the heartless woman who had caused Wei Jin of the Wind Snow Temple to drink pot after pot of heartbreak wine.
She had previously come here as a Jade Maiden, representing the Daoist lineage of Bottle Gourd Continent along with a Golden Lad, to retrieve the Suppression Treasure their patriarch had left in Lit Pearl Cave Heaven. When they left, they hadn't succeeded in taking Ma Kuxuan with them, but she had gained a beautiful piece of serpent gallbladder stone. There was no helping it—her fortune was so deep that it drew the attention of the entire continent. It was as if wherever she went, good things eagerly flocked to her, unstoppable.
The Daoist nun hesitated.
She wanted to ask a question that even the Little Uncle-Master of the Divine Empyrean Sect hadn't been able to fully figure out.
Why was this person beside her the true crux of the fatal situation for Qi Jingchun?
How could that be!
Consider that the cultivation realm Qi Jingchun had displayed at the time—if he hadn't been unwilling to shatter the entire Eastern Bottle Gourd Continent into the sea, unwilling to implicate the living beings of the town, and had instead chosen to only use two destiny characters to face the enemy, but had instead struck with full force—could this mysterious young Daoist truly contend with him? Even be sure of killing Qi Jingchun?
Defeating a cultivator of the upper five realms and killing one were worlds apart. Moreover, the terrifying destructive power unleashed when an upper-five-realm cultivator knew death was inevitable was unimaginable.
Unless there was an immortal one or two realms higher who could control the battlefield with all their might, or someone who could use a small cave heaven as a prison.
This was why Xie Shi dared to come to the town alone. He could die in Dragon Spring County, but the Great Li Dynasty would have to consider the consequences first.
Similarly, when Li Er was at the Great Sui imperial palace.
Lu Chen had already calculated her question. He smiled and said, "'The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao.' What that means is that words and text can be used to speak, but they are far from sufficient to explain the Great Dao. As for what I mean, it's simply that I won't answer the question you want to ask."
He Xiaoliang smiled bitterly.
This "Little Uncle-Master," who had appeared out of nowhere at the Divine Empyrean Sect, had said countless strange things along the way. She often couldn't make heads or tails of them, and later simply stopped trying to ponder them deeply. When he wanted to talk, he would chatter endlessly. Even if you closed your ears or even shut the doors of your heart, it was useless—his voice would still echo in your mind. But when he didn't want to talk, he could remain silent for ten days or half a month.
Lu Chen looked towards the town and started talking nonsense again. "All the world envies the immortals. Are the immortals good? Naturally, they are. But why doesn't Wei Po envy them? Because he was never a true immortal."
"Search your heart. Feel ashamed? The character for 'ashamed' (愧) has 'heart' (心) and 'ghost' (鬼). The road ahead as a Heavenly Lord will be a bit difficult for you."
"Tsk tsk, your grandson getting bullied? It's merciful of him not to bully others! He will be very accomplished, but his temperament really isn't likable. But there's no helping it—having good fate is having good fate."
"How strange. Both walked out of the same town and returned to their hometown. Xie Shi has been a good immortal all his life but has to do a shameful deed. Cao Xi has been a scoundrel all his life but did one honest thing."
At this point, the young Daoist suddenly turned to look at He Xiaoliang behind him and asked with a smile, "Can you hear the heartfelt thoughts of ordinary mortals?"
He Xiaoliang said helplessly, "Only tenth-realm Qi refiners can faintly hear them. How could I possibly do that now?"
The young Daoist let out an "oh." "Then you really need to cultivate well."
He Xiaoliang could only smile wryly.
The young Daoist felt he could talk about this, so he opened the floodgates regardless of whether He Xiaoliang was interested or not. Words poured out like beans from a bamboo tube. "I'll tell you, this kind of thing is very mysterious, but at the same time not mysterious at all. One kind is extreme sincerity. As the saying goes, 'When one's concentrated utmost sincerity reaches, metal and stone are moved.' That's why the sages said, 'Only utmost essence and utmost sincerity can move others.' Ordinary mortals, at certain moments, can also attract divine responses."
"The other kind is, of course, those with extremely high cultivation or exceptional talent. Their heartfelt thoughts are naturally louder. For example, when I want to talk to you, whether you want to hear it or not, you hear it."
"However, I think this has nothing to do with my cultivation level. It's still a matter of utmost essence and utmost sincerity. What do you think?"
He Xiaoliang wasn't about to flatter him. "I think it's because of the Little Uncle-Master's profound Daoist techniques."
Lu Chen was a little disappointed and didn't want to talk anymore.
It was similar to when Li Xisheng, on his way up the mountain, had directly called out the name "Bai Ze," and that Lord Bai, far away on the western coast of Bottle Gourd Continent, had immediately heard him. But his student Cui Ci, even if he opened his mouth and cursed a hundred times, Lord Bai wouldn't hear him, or if he did, he wouldn't care. Of course, if he took it seriously, Cui Ci would inevitably "for no reason" drop dead on the spot from a thousand li away.
These favored children of heaven were like brilliant stars glittering above the land, naturally attracting more attention. Although worldly convention often granted the title of "sage" to tenth-realm Qi refiners, who hid like thousand-year-old turtles, in the eyes of some great figures whose cultivation reached the heavens, they were actually more exposed than ordinary people.
Of course, for divine beings to "observe the mountains and rivers" with "folded hands" was not so simple. A country or a continent had its own invisible barriers, obstructing gazes cast from elsewhere. The concept of boundary between cave heavens and blessed lands originated from this. If one wanted to spy on the inside across a whole world, the cultivation required would truly be beyond the heavens.
To the south of the town, the sound of metal striking stone would occasionally resound through the clouds. These extremely impactful sounds were completely imperceptible to ordinary people, but for Qi refiners, they were quite significant. In fact, the sound of Ruan Qiong's hammering in the sword furnace was like spring thunderclaps at the ears of the yao beings.
Those yaoguai that had lingered in the town with false hope all revealed their true forms. Their sea of qi trembled violently, and they suffered unbearable torment, going mad. Then the Great Li Qi refiners and pure martial artists, who had been prepared, joined forces to subdue them and threw them into the deep mountains. This favor was tantamount to saving their lives.
At the same time, Ruan Qiong's sword-forging aura made others sigh with emotion: a sage is indeed a sage.
But He Xiaoliang was a bit surprised. "The sword forging is nearing its end, so why is it still so intense? It's shaking the mountain roots and water veins within the territory. Is this sword's quality so high that it will shake the world?"
Lu Chen smiled but said nothing.
Sages also had to do business.
But since Qi Jingchun had already reached an agreement with his master, he would never interfere in this matter again.
This was not only out of respect for his master and his teachings, but also a way to express his own respect for that scholar.
Thinking back to those days.
The fortune-teller Lu Chen stood with his back to the school, telling fortunes and interpreting characters.
Behind him was a Confucian sage teaching the children.
As for why Qi Jingchun had to die...
It involved a very profound Great Dao.
Within Lit Pearl Cave Heaven, Qi Jingchun had thoroughly read the scriptures of the Three Teachings.
What kind of teaching was Qi Jingchun "expected to establish as a patriarch"?
Whatever it was, he had arrived at the same idea as someone else. Therefore, Lu Chen, as that person's junior brother, had to come down here personally.
Lu Chen looked up at the sky.
Once, a scholar had sat up there, single-handedly resisting the immortals of the Three Teachings.
He respected him for it. He honored him for it.
But things had to be done against one's conscience.
Later, following the course of events, Lu Chen roughly deduced and calculated Qi Jingchun's true hidden move. He left four characters for the youth, telling him to practice calligraphy. This was true, but the greatest significance was like flying a kite. He hoped that while the youth was copying those four characters, he might one day calculate the most critical chess move. It was purely the curiosity of a master Go player.
But strangely, the youth had only given Lu Chen one chance.
And Lu Chen couldn't calculate much at all.
Lu Chen didn't mind this. Since the overall situation was settled, he certainly wouldn't kick someone when they were down after Qi Jingchun's death.
The young Daoist had once personally said to the youth with a smile, "Acts of kindness that seem good are not necessarily good deeds done by good people."
This had a deeper meaning, referring not only to those few medicinal prescriptions and those four characters, but also to that long-planned string of candied hawthorns.
Lu Chen let go of the handle of the one-wheeled cart, stretched, and smiled. "When no trivial matters hang on the mind, what's the next line?"
The young Daoist nun smiled gently. "Then every moment is a beautiful season in the mortal world."