Chapter 253: Someone Delivers a Sword, Someone Waits
(12,000 words.)
Like a timid child hiding in a dusty pharmacy deep within an alley, besides the women's long legs and the shopkeeper's bawdy jokes, there was really nothing to do all day. Business was sparse, and sometimes even the women couldn't understand why they were being paid to work here. If it were because the clueless shopkeeper groped them every day, that would be somewhat understandable, but the man, while loose with his words and lecherous in his gaze, never actually took advantage of them. This left them a bit puzzled. Still, since their monthly wages were never short a single copper coin, they were happy enough to idly pass the time in this pharmacy. After all, being stared at by the shopkeeper a few times a day didn't cost them a slice of flesh. The pay was generous, they had no worries about food or clothing, and their families' meals had improved considerably. Most of the women had even gained two or three pounds, which was a worry in itself.
Zheng Dafeng received another message today. The messenger was a Yin spirit who had left the Pearl Bead Cave Heaven with him. No matter how much Zheng Dafeng joked around or tried to call him brother, the Yin spirit just played deaf and dumb, refusing to reveal even the slightest detail. To this day, Zheng Dafeng still couldn't fathom the Yin spirit's cultivation realm.
The old man had the Yin spirit tell Zheng Dafeng two things. First, Chen Ping'an's True Qi Eight Liang Talisman had shattered, so Zheng Dafeng no longer needed to remove it. Second, the Dao Transmitter and the Dao Guardian were both in Old Dragon City, and he should be careful.
The first matter was straightforward. The key was the second matter. The old man's words were very ambiguous and vague. When Zheng Dafeng tried to press for more details, the Yin spirit, equipped with talismans, had already vanished from sight.
Zheng Dafeng was thoroughly puzzled and sat on the pharmacy's threshold, lost in thought. The matter of his master and the Dao Transmitter had always been a knot in his heart. The old man had admitted to being his and his senior brother Li Er's master, but not their Dao Transmitter. Instead, he had made Li Er's daughter, Li Liu, recognize him as her Dao Transmitter. As for the role of Dao Guardian, Zheng Dafeng was now considered the Dao Guardian for that kid from the Fan family, tasked with ensuring the little fellow successfully broke through the bottleneck of the Third Martial Realm, and then helping him all the way to the Spirit Refining Realm of a pure martial artist.
The old man's attitude toward Chen Ping'an was also quite inscrutable. But Zheng Dafeng could be sure of one thing: the Mud Vase Alley youth was just one of many people the master had placed bets on. His weight was far less than that of Ma Kuxuan, favored by the Heavenly Dao, or Li Liu, who was born with knowledge. The breathing technique the master had taught Chen Ping'an back then was actually quite crude, not a top-tier martial arts method. Zheng Dafeng guessed that it was because Chen Ping'an's martial arts rise had been too astonishing in recent years, now already advancing from the Body Refining Realm to the Qi Refining Realm, so the old man had started to increase his investment.
Zheng Dafeng frowned in thought, muttering to himself, "Could it be that I'm supposed to be Chen Ping'an's Dao Transmitter or Dao Guardian? No, that's not right. In the past, when the old man assigned someone to such tasks, he was always direct and clear—who, for how many years, until what realm to protect—never so secretive."
Zheng Dafeng hugged his head in his hands, sighing helplessly, "Besides, Chen Ping'an and I just don't click. That rigid youth who doesn't understand romance, I really can't bring myself to like him. Obviously, letting Li Er be Chen Ping'an's Dao Guardian would be the most appropriate. Master, what in the world are you thinking? Can you just give me a straight answer? Being his Dao Guardian for a year or half a year would be tolerable—I could just pinch my nose and bear it. But if I have to be his Dao Transmitter, that would be the death of me."
A lively young girl sat beside the threshold, cracking melon seeds, and asked with a smile, "Shopkeeper, what are you worrying about?"
Zheng Dafeng turned his head and glanced at the girl's slightly flat chest, speaking in a grave tone, "Little Lotus, you've got to keep up. You can't just grow long legs and not any meat elsewhere."
The girl, bold by nature and having spent so much time with him, had long grown accustomed to such bawdy talk. She continued cracking her melon seeds, unfazed, and said, "If you want meat in certain places, you need to eat more. But the monthly salary from the pharmacy is just so little. I'd love to be more... prominent there, but the silver in my pocket won't allow it. What can I do? Shopkeeper, how about secretly giving me a raise? I promise I won't tell the others."
Zheng Dafeng didn't grin cheekily this time. "With that chattering little mouth of yours, you can't keep a secret. If I gave you a raise, everyone would ask for one by the next day. Do you think my silver falls from the sky? Supporting such a big group of young girls and older women is very hard work, you know."
The young girl sat her little bottom on the threshold, deliberately stretching her long legs out the door, and laughed, "Shopkeeper, isn't there that older sister on the next street who's smitten with you? She's so well-endowed, just your type. Why don't you agree to be with her? She's really... got meat in all the right places. None of us girls in the pharmacy can compare to her."
The girl tossed aside her melon seeds and cupped her chest with both hands.
Zheng Dafeng grimaced and waved her away, "And you, a young girl, saying such shameless things. Careful you don't end up unable to find a husband. Go on, go sweep the shop!"
The girl refused to budge, saying with full justification, "Our shop is called the Dust Pharmacy. Sweeping it too clean would be out of character."
Zheng Dafeng, unable to out-argue the little girl, crossed his legs, clasped his hands behind his head, and looked up at the sky.
Others couldn't see anything in that sea of clouds, but he, an Eighth-Realm peak Martial Grandmaster, could.
Above magical treasures lay immortal weapons.
But for a sect with the word "Sect" in its name, they were already as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns in Bottle Gourd Continent. Immortal weapons were even harder to come by. How hard? To give the simplest example: The master of Divine Edict Sect, the orthodoxy of the continent, Zhen Ji, was given an immortal weapon by the orthodox sect of the Central Plains Divine Continent only after he had advanced to the Heavenly Lord realm.
Thus, semi-immortal weapons—one step below immortal weapons but a step above magical treasures—became the dream of all Qi refiners.
Currently, Old Dragon City had four such items. Two were held by the ancestors of the city lord's Fu family, both heavy offensive treasures. The one newly purchased from the Central Plains Divine Continent was a heavy treasure inclined toward defense and protection of the city. As for that sea of clouds above the city, Old Dragon City publicly claimed it was held by the Fu family, but the truth of the matter—whether it was truly the Fu family's trump card—was debatable. As for the legend from eight hundred years ago, during the righteous-evil war, about a woman sleeping in the sea of clouds who awoke and wielded that semi-immortal weapon to slay hordes of demons, what nonsense. If such overwhelming power truly existed, two conditions must be met: first, that sea of clouds above the city was no semi-immortal weapon, and second, the user must be an Upper Five Realm Qi refiner.
The girl looked at the man's profile, curious, and asked, "Shopkeeper, what are you looking at?"
Zheng Dafeng strained his eyes wide, looking up, and answered lightly, "Checking if there are any graceful, scantily clad immortals flying by."
The girl rolled her eyes. "Keep looking. Be careful an immortal pisses on your head."
Zheng Dafeng smacked his lips. "That would be a drought finally meeting rain."
The girl stood up. "Disgusting!"
Zheng Dafeng burst out laughing.
Just as the girl stepped over the threshold, she suddenly turned back and asked, "Shopkeeper, that folk song you hummed last time—could you hum it again?"
Zheng Dafeng shook his head vigorously. "That's my ultimate trick for winning a lady's heart. I can't just show it off lightly. Go on, go busy yourself."
The girl whispered, "Just hum it. Maybe I'll become your wife someday?"
Zheng Dafeng's eyes lit up, and he was about to stand, but the girl had already sat back down on the threshold, looking back at the man with a pitying expression. "Shopkeeper, and you actually believed that? You're going to have a hard time finding a wife."
Zheng Dafeng plopped back down, and after a moment of silence, he began to whistle. The tune was still that folk ballad, but this time the man didn't sing the lyrics.
The girl bent over, resting her chin in her hands, quietly listening to the whistle. Anyway, when the shopkeeper had hummed the song before, it was in his hometown dialect, and she couldn't understand it anyway.
The crescent moon on the first day, the full moon on the fifteenth. I heard Granny say, if you eat a mooncake and wave at the moon, your troubles will disappear.
The spring wind blows, the autumn wind stirs. I heard Granny say, bright red persimmons weigh down the branches. If you fall and get hurt, don't worry; the persimmons will fill your basket.
The dark clouds come, the dark clouds go. I heard Granny say, after the rain, a ribbon will hang at the edge of the sky. It's the old immortals building a high tower up there...
---
Old Dragon City was about to witness a grand event: the young city lord, Fu Nanhua, was about to marry the legitimate daughter of the Yunlin Jiang clan.
The Yunlin Jiang clan was one of the oldest and most powerful families in Bottle Gourd Continent. Legend had it that in ancient times, when Confucianism had just become the orthodox path of the Haoran World and everything was waiting to be rebuilt, the Ritual Sage established the earliest Confucian rules. The Jiang clan had produced several Great Priests, who, according to the "Great Rites Spring Official," were listed alongside the Grand Historian and Grand Steward as one of the Six Heavenly Officials, primarily in charge of various prayers for blessings from the gods.
The Yunlin Jiang clan was located on the southeastern coast of Bottle Gourd Continent, facing the sea. Their mansion had an extremely wide processional way, over thirty li long, extending all the way into the sea, ending with a pair of huge natural reefs serving as gate towers, as if to encompass the Eastern Sea, an exceedingly grand gesture.
During the long years after migrating from the Central Plains Divine Continent to Bottle Gourd Continent, the Jiang clan gradually abandoned literature for commerce. Through countless upheavals, the family stood firm, becoming truly wealthy enough to rival a nation. The Old Dragon City Fu family was the same. Thus, the alliance between these two families was the biggest news in southern Bottle Gourd Continent recently. Some were curious about what the Fu family's betrothal gifts were; others wondered about the Jiang woman's dowry—would it be a semi-immortal weapon? And what precious gifts would the mountain immortals' mansions, generations-old friends of the Fu family, offer? As a result, countless mountain cultivators had flooded into Old Dragon City in the past two months just to watch the spectacle. Added to this were rumors that the Jiang woman was incredibly ugly, which only fueled more wild speculation.
Fu Nanhua, known throughout Old Dragon City for his wide circle of friends, had suddenly become reclusive after returning from the northern Pearl Bead Cave Heaven. Although he hadn't entirely shut his doors to visitors, aside from old friends like Sun Jiashu who could still meet him, Fu Nanhua had made no new acquaintances. He stayed in the Fu mansion and never again showed his face in the several pleasure quarters that had made his name known across half the continent.
Today, however, Fu Nanhua unexpectedly left his private residence and walked alone to the main gate of Fu City. He wore a tall crown and a jade-white robe, with a vibrant green dragon-shaped jade pendant hanging from his waist. The young city lord, though his demeanor was composed, seemed somewhat melancholic, a far cry from the high-spirited energy he had when he set out for the Pearl Bead Cave Heaven.
During this time, distinguished guests had been streaming into Fu City in an endless flow. Even though the Fu family was likely more experienced in social etiquette than a royal court, they still found themselves overwhelmed.
At this moment, outside the city gates, several groups of important figures from mountain immortal mansions had arrived to offer congratulations on the marriage, hailed by the world as "a match of gold and jade." Among them was Cloud Mist Mountain. Cloud Mist Mountain wasn't among the most top-tier sects, but its specialty, Cloud Root Stone, was popular across several continents, bringing in a steady stream of wealth. Thus, the sect was also enjoying a period of prosperity. If one or two favored sons of heaven capable of carrying the banner emerged, Cloud Mist Mountain's rise to the ranks of first-class immortal families in Bottle Gourd Continent would be within reach.
Old Dragon City and Cloud Mist Mountain had a centuries-old bond of incense and fire. The Cloud Root Stone produced by Cloud Mist Mountain was one of the important goods transported aboard the Fu family's two ferry ships, the Treasure-Swallowing Whale and the Floating Mountain. Grindstones refined from Cloud Root Stone were excellent items for Sword Qi Great Wall swordsmen to sharpen their blades. Because they were cheap and good, and most importantly, affordable—even if their effect was vastly inferior to the world's best sword-sharpening stone, the Dragon-Slaying Platform—a single coin could stump a hero. When wars with the demon race were raging unceasingly, even if they had to buy on credit and pile up debts, they couldn't afford to care. For a swordsman, nothing was more important than a good sword.
Of course, when they said "cheap," it was relative to other rare items shipped to the Sword Qi Great Wall via the Inverted Mountain. The price Cloud Mist Mountain sold its Cloud Root Stone for to Bottle Gourd Continent cultivators, to the Old Dragon City Fu family, and to the Sword Qi Great Wall swordsmen were three vastly different figures.
This time, Cloud Mist Mountain sent four people: two mountain gate patriarchs and their respective proud disciples.
Fu Nanhua had made an unprecedented trip out to welcome guests today, specifically to meet someone who should have been dead: the Cloud Mist Mountain immortal, Cai Jinjian.
When Fu Nanhua unexpectedly appeared, the crowd at the city gate immediately buzzed with discussion. Greetings and congratulations poured in. Fu Nanhua handled them all, never losing his decorum. Finally, he arrived before two carriages at the rear, pulled by two extraordinarily spirited blue horses with a distant dragon bloodline. They were probably hired carts from the Sun family's post station. Everyone inside and outside Old Dragon City knew that there were two most expensive ways to tour the city: one was to buy an Old Dragon Cloud-Turning Pendant from the Fu family; the other was to hire a cart from a shop owned by that fellow Sun Jiashu. Generally, only two types of people did this: those who really had money, and country bumpkins who were showing off.
The two patriarchs of Cloud Mist Mountain were certainly not stupid. They could afford this bit of face, and it was necessary to do so.
Seeing Fu Nanhua personally coming out to greet them, the two patriarchs quickly alighted from their carriages with their proud disciples. Among them was one direct disciple of Cloud Mist Mountain, the fairy Cai Jinjian, her face slightly pale but her features alluring. The other was a spirited young man whose robe seemed faintly wreathed in clouds and mist.
After exchanging pleasantries with the two Cloud Mist Mountain patriarchs, Fu Nanhua made a small request: that he be allowed to take Fairy Cai into the city first to enjoy the sights and catch up.
Cai Jinjian's Dao-transmitting master was flattered beyond measure. How could he refuse such a kind gesture? Previously, when Cai Jinjian had returned to the mountain empty-handed from the Pearl Bead Cave Heaven, having lost an entire pouch of Golden Essence Copper Coins—it was worse than skipping stones; there wasn't even a splash. Those were Golden Essence Copper Coins! The Grain Rain Coins were like a titled lady meeting the empress—they weren't even worth mentioning.
This had dragged the old man through two years of scorn and criticism at Cloud Mist Mountain. Originally intending to gradually push Cai Jinjian onto the mountain master's throne, the old man had become disheartened. But what angered him even more was that Cai Jinjian, on whom he had placed so much hope, had been acting like a living corpse for these two years, slacking off in cultivating the mountain gate's divine abilities. This made the old man both grieved and indignant, yet he couldn't bear to scold or hit her, afraid she would give up entirely and degenerate into a waste like Su Jia of Zhengyang Mountain.
Fu Nanhua walked shoulder to shoulder with Cai Jinjian, passing through the city gates, leading the somewhat famous Fairy Cai toward his magnificent private residence within the city.
Back when he was seeking opportunities in the Pearl Bead Cave Heaven, Fu Nanhua was just one of many candidate future family heads. Thus, Fu Nanhua, who was shrewd in business, had been very courteous to Cai Jinjian, who was then a step below him. But now, with his Dao-transmitting ancestor, who looked upon him with special favor, on the verge of a breakthrough, and with this marriage to the Yunlin Jiang clan's legitimate daughter adding to his momentum, Fu Nanhua's worth had risen dramatically. He was no longer the same person.
So, in the eyes of the two Cloud Mist Mountain patriarchs, Fu Nanhua's closeness to Cai Jinjian could hardly be explained merely by a brief alliance in the Pearl Bead Cave Heaven. Could they have had a fleeting romantic encounter? That didn't seem right either; Cai Jinjian was clearly still a virgin. But regardless, Fu Nanhua, who would one day don the Old Dragon Robe, was willing to treat Cloud Mist Mountain with such exceptional courtesy, and the two patriarchs felt honored.
Fu Nanhua and Cai Jinjian moved with great tacit understanding, speaking very little along the way. Not until they reached Fu Nanhua's private mansion did they speak. In the main hall, Fu Nanhua took a seat, patted the new jade pendant his father had personally bestowed on his waist, and looked at the fairy who had once had her throat pierced by a youth with a porcelain shard in that alley. "We can speak openly now," he said.
Cai Jinjian appeared to smile sweetly, but the smile was actually lifeless. "Speak about what?"
Fu Nanhua stared intently at this woman, who should have died and scattered in the Pearl Bead Cave Heaven. "I won't ask how you came back to life. I only want to know: why did that person save you, and after saving you, what did he want you to do?"
Cai Jinjian's smile faded. "What if I said you're measuring a gentleman's heart with a petty man's measure? Would you believe that?"
Fu Nanhua sneered coldly. "A gentleman? If Qi Jingchun were merely a gentleman, then wouldn't Confucian sages have to occupy all four worlds?"
Cai Jinjian's expression was flat. "Fu Nanhua, splitting hairs isn't very interesting, is it?"
Fu Nanhua took a deep breath. "Then I'll be frank with you. After you fell in a pool of blood, I also capsized in a ditch and almost fell in that damn place. That fellow surnamed Qi saved me from under that mud-legged little bastard..."
Fu Nanhua suddenly caught the playful hint of a smile at the corner of Cai Jinjian's mouth. He immediately stopped himself and changed his tune. "He, Qi Jingchun, stopped Chen Ping'an and said a few words to me, telling me to leave the Pearl Bead Cave Heaven. But he casually gave me an opportunity that wasn't a magical weapon or artifact. I won't go into details with you. But it's strange—from beginning to end, Qi Jingchun never demanded that I swear to let Chen Ping'an go in the future, not to cause him trouble, or any of that 'better to end a feud than to keep it up' advice."
Cai Jinjian looked around the hall, her expression indifferent. Finally, she turned to Fu Nanhua and said with a faint smile, "To someone who saved your life and a sage, shouldn't you address him with the honorific 'Mister' after his surname?"
Fu Nanhua twitched the corner of his mouth. "He's dead, crushed to death by various celestial immortals working together, with the Confucian Temple standing by. Qi Jingchun clearly has no chance of turning the tables. So what if he's a sage? What of it? Mister? And what of Qi Jingchun?"
Cai Jinjian let out a soft laugh and remarked on an unrelated matter, "The cultivation grounds of several of our Cloud Mist Mountain patriarchs aren't as richly endowed with spiritual energy as this mansion. Fu Nanhua, your Fu family really is wealthy."
This private Fu residence had eight main beams, each called a "Dragon Wrapping Beam," carved with true dragons coiling around them, holding pearls in their mouths. Each pearl was a congenital spiritual artifact of incalculable value, allowing this mansion to gather vast amounts of spiritual energy, like a small cave heaven or blessed land, greatly aiding cultivation.
So, truly top-tier immortal children: drinking tea and chatting was cultivation; sleeping and dozing was still cultivation. Not a drop of moisture was false.
It was only natural for rootless wild cultivators in the wilderness to envy and resent this.
Fu Nanhua's expression grew impatient. He squinted his eyes. "Cai Jinjian, don't be ungrateful. I'm about to have a Treasure-Swallowing Whale ferry ship. If I stop buying your Cloud Mist Mountain's Cloud Root Stone, your mountain gate's income will drop by twenty percent. No matter how much that patriarch favors you, you've already lost a pouch of Golden Essence Copper Coins. If you also become the reason Cloud Mist Mountain loses a lucrative revenue stream, you can weigh the consequences yourself!"
Cai Jinjian laughed. "Enough, Fu Nanhua, stop threatening me. I don't know exactly how wealthy the Old Dragon City Fu family is, but I know perfectly well how the Fu family has done business for thousands of years. Even if you own a Treasure-Swallowing Whale, even if you actually become city lord, you wouldn't tamper with such ancestral rules."
Fu Nanhua sighed. "Since you're so smart, and we once shared hardships in the Pearl Bead Cave Heaven, why can't we join forces for mutual benefit? You and I can deal with each other sincerely and completely eliminate the aftereffects of that disaster. After that, I won't just strive for the city lord's seat; I can also help you rise higher. Just imagine: I only need to slightly increase the price the Treasure-Swallowing Whale pays for Cloud Root Stone and let it be known that it's because of you, Cai Jinjian. How would Cloud Mist Mountain dare to neglect you, their lucky charm? Besides, you have excellent talent, and your master, who has placed all his bets on you, as your backing within the mountain gate. With Old Dragon City as a powerful external ally, the position of Cloud Mist Mountain's mountain master will surely be yours within a century at most!"
By the end, Fu Nanhua couldn't help but stand up, his words passionate, his momentum surging, like a future monarch pointing at his kingdom.
Cai Jinjian looked up slightly at this self-satisfied young city lord. Her gaze was clear, and there wasn't much emotional fluctuation within her.
It wasn't that Fu Nanhua's words lacked sincerity or that the prospects he painted weren't beautiful. But the current Cai Jinjian was completely different in heart from that Fairy Cai who had once been burdened with the mountain gate's responsibilities and full of scheming.
Having truly died once and walked back from the gates of hell step by step was different from merely being at death's door and surviving against all odds.
That Confucian sage, who had served as a teacher in the Pearl Bead Cave Heaven, had saved her with his immense divine ability. In that school, there had been a conversation like one between an elder and a junior, just chatting about life as if idly. At the time, Cai Jinjian's physical body was still severely injured and far from healed, so Mr. Qi had separated her soul and spirit. In the school, time flowed like a babbling brook. Mr. Qi asked her many things about the world outside the cave heaven—all trivial matters: the prices of grain and rice in the mundane markets, the techniques for printing books, were they simpler and easier to disseminate, and so on. At first, Cai Jinjian was very nervous, but later she relaxed and answered Mr. Qi's questions one by one. Some she couldn't answer; some she could. The gentleman always wore a slight smile. Occasionally, Cai Jinjian would ask about cultivation problems that even her master couldn't solve, and the gentleman would explain them in a few words, pointing straight to the heart of each.
Finally, Mr. Qi also recommended some classic texts of the sages, saying that cultivation on the mountain involved more than just cultivating strength; divine abilities and techniques were naturally good in abundance, and it was better to refine the miscellaneous into the refined. But cultivating the heart was just as important. Reading the principles in those books didn't mean she had to become a sage herself, but the human heart was like a field that needed a source of living water for the crops to flourish and yield a rich harvest. Only then could cultivating the Dao be considered truly cultivating immortality...
When she finally left the Pearl Bead Cave Heaven, Cai Jinjian was still the same ambitious Cai Jinjian, but she was no longer the Cloud Mist Mountain fairy who thought cultivation was only for the sake of cultivation.
Before leaving, Cai Jinjian mustered her courage and asked the gentleman why he had been willing to save someone like her.
Mr. Qi had answered frankly with a smile, "Saving you violates the rules of this realm, but it is in accordance with my, Qi Jingchun's, own principles."
She then asked why he had been willing to teach someone like her the principles of the sages.
The gentleman's expression became solemn as he replied, "In imparting the Dao and teaching, if I can resolve one doubt, I resolve one doubt. In speaking the true principles from books, if I can speak one principle, I speak one principle."
After Cai Jinjian returned to Cloud Mist Mountain, even though her cultivation problems were gone, she no longer hurried to raise her realm. She simply read the books Mr. Qi had recommended and thought over his words again and again.
Outsiders thought she was neglecting her cultivation, but Cai Jinjian knew she wasn't.
Later, she heard from her master in private that Mr. Qi had died, above the northern territory of Bottle Gourd Continent, facing several celestial immortals alone, ultimately perishing into nothingness. Qi Jingchun was no more in the world.
Cai Jinjian wasn't overcome with grief. She just felt a little lost.
After that, she put down her books and resumed cultivation, quickly breaking through a realm, deliberately suppressing her cultivation to avoid causing a stir. That was why she had this opportunity to visit Old Dragon City.
All these vicissitudes of fortune and misfortune stemmed from that chance encounter in Mud Vase Alley.
At the root of it all, it was her own straying from the path of cultivation that had cruelly wronged that youth.
And clearly, that gentleman's attitude toward that youth was not that of a sage looking down on the mortal world, judging everything by rules, but rather that of an elder protecting a junior, even to the point of ignoring the rules.
Because if she had died in that alley, perhaps the so-called backlash of the Heavenly Dao and the karmic retribution of Buddhism would have fallen upon that youth.
After that, Mr. Qi had taught her the Dao and resolved her doubts purely, probably because he thought she was still worth saving, and so he was willing to teach.
Cai Jinjian had figured out many things she had never thought about before. Her heart had become clear, sweeping away the accumulated dust. Cloud Mist Mountain valued contemplation above all else, so she was able to break through realms so swiftly.
Standing in this auspicious mansion of the future city lord, Cai Jinjian did not shake her sleeves and walk away. Instead, she smiled knowingly and said, "Fu Nanhua, our first alliance ended in disaster. Today, for our second alliance, shall we make another big gamble? I'll bet you can wear the Old Dragon Robe, and you'll bet I can become the mountain master of Cloud Mist Mountain. How about that? I can promise you now: once I hold the power of Cloud Mist Mountain, all Cloud Root Stone will no longer be sold separately to the other five major surnames of Old Dragon City—it will all go to your Fu family! Until then, I will also do my best through my master to increase the share sold to your Treasure-Swallowing Whale."
Fu Nanhua was caught off guard. He suspected some trick or hidden agenda, and for a moment, he wasn't as confident as before.
His experience in the Pearl Bead Cave Heaven, though not becoming a demonic obstacle on his path of cultivation, he still felt uneasy if he didn't sort out the threads and quickly decide how to deal with that mud-legged youth from Mud Vase Alley.
Cai Jinjian had already stood up and walked over to one of the Dragon Wrapping Beams, examining the snowy-white pearl with interest.
In the end, Fu Nanhua neither agreed nor refused Cai Jinjian. He only asked her to wait a few days.
After Cai Jinjian left the mansion, Fu Nanhua took off the jade pendant, which held special significance in Old Dragon City, and held it in his palm, pacing in circles in the grand hall, weighing the pros and cons.
A tall man wearing a dragon robe, exuding a deep, accumulated authority, appeared silently in the hall. He stood beside the Dragon Wrapping Beam, looking up intently at the pearl held in the giant dragon's mouth. It seemed he was trying to see further and deeper, following the gaze of Cloud Mist Mountain's Cai Jinjian.
He had arrived so silently that Fu Nanhua hadn't even noticed. By the time Fu Nanhua became aware, the man in the dragon robe had withdrawn his gaze, looking at his legitimate son, and asked casually, "Why didn't you agree to her?"
Fu Nanhua replied, "I just feel uneasy about it."
The man in the dragon robe—unmistakably the city lord of Old Dragon City, Fu Qi—said offhandedly, "It's simple. Either kill Chen Ping'an, forcibly suppress the ripples in your heart lake, and using the method of cultivating strength, strive to sever all the influence that Confucian sage has brought you. Or, go with the flow. Some hard-to-erase knots in your heart are, in other places, a flaw that grows worse as you climb higher. But in the Old Dragon City Fu family, it's actually one of the secret techniques for forming pearls in the heart lake."
The man sneered. "Such a small problem, and you still have to agonize over it? Does that mean you don't plan on wearing this Old Dragon Robe of mine in your lifetime?"
Fu Nanhua was drenched in sweat.
The man shook his head. "A dead man and a youth can make you so unhappy. I, Fu Qi, have raised a fine son."
Fu Nanhua's face turned pale.
The man twitched the corner of his mouth. "Do you know that in my early years, when I had already donned the Old Dragon Robe, I knelt on the ground, begging bitterly for the sake of the Fu family name, until the bones of my forehead were exposed? Do I have any knots in my heart now?"
Fu Nanhua's mind went blank. Tears silently streamed down his face without him realizing it.
The man gave a derisive snort and vanished.
---
If someone could pass the strange prohibition of the Inverted Mountain and successfully enter the border between the two realms, they would all marvel at the great wonder.
A towering wall, soaring into the clouds, standing eternal between heaven and earth.
South of the wall was the true master of this world.
North of the wall was a city without walls.
The earliest sword immortals to settle here had said, "If the demon race can cross the Sword Qi Great Wall, what wall would be worth speaking of under heaven?"
After that, not a single brick was laid outside the city.
Hundreds of thousands of swordsmen, isolated from the world, lived here generation after generation. Except for a very few who could go to the Inverted Mountain, almost everyone adhered to their ancestral teachings, never venturing into that Haoran World.
Born here, died here. They took pride in dying in battle outside the Sword Qi Great Wall and considered it a disgrace to die of old age within it.
In some ways, this place differed from the Haoran World outside. But in others, similarities were inevitable. For example, this nameless wall-less city also had some deeply entrenched large families. However, unlike the big families outside, which needed to tirelessly lecture their descendants about staying vigilant in times of peace, here it was utterly unnecessary. No matter how large the family, even a legitimate son, even an only son, had to undertake the duty of "delivering the sword" at the age of twelve. At the latest, at sixteen, they had to go to the city wall and strike southward with their swords. At the latest, by thirty, they had to leave the wall and go south to slay demon beasts.
Here, almost all women wanted to marry men whose swordsmanship surpassed their own. If a man died in battle, his wife would follow, and then his children after her.
No border poem popular in the world could compare to the battles here.
If outsiders showed any hint of tragic or stirring emotion, the locals would scoff. What was so remarkable about such things?
The second great war having temporarily concluded, the city north of the Sword Qi Great Wall returned to tranquility once more.
Within the city, there were also small bridges over flowing water and deep courtyards, tall gates guarded by stone lions, high towers with upturned eaves and sword shops standing in rows, and humble thatched huts where grandparents and grandchildren lived together.
At a tavern by the street, six people sat around a table. A spirited girl with brows like narrow blades and a dull-faced, one-armed girl sat on a long bench. The latter was short and slender but carried a massive sword on her back that made one click one's tongue in astonishment.
The eldest, a capped young man with handsome features, had sword qi condensed around him almost solidly. A sword at his waist faintly emitted a sense of righteous qi.
A chubby boy, sipping wine with a grin, sat cross-legged on the bench. His bottom was large, and the bench surface was narrow, so sitting was actually quite uncomfortable. He kept squirming, and the sword lying across his legs, though sheathed, crackled with purple lightning. Whenever some sparks splashed onto his belly, the chubby boy would shiver and suck in a sharp breath.
Next to him sat an ugly boy with skin like charcoal and a face full of scars. The sword hanging at his waist had a rather delicate and alluring name: Red Dress.
Across from the ugly boy sat a handsome youth with a sword hanging at each side of his waist. One sword was without a sheath, and its blade bore the simple, ancient characters "Cloud Pattern."
These six had fought side by side in the first war. That time, they had lost a friend named Cricket.
This time, luck was a bit better. Although all six were wounded, no one was killed. But their team's sword masters—two profound Tenth Realm sword cultivators—hadn't made it back alive to the Sword Qi Great Wall, couldn't descend from the city wall and return home.
The chubby boy liked to drink wine and even more liked to persuade others to drink.
That handsome youth surnamed Dong seemed to love cursing the ugly, scarred boy the most.
The one-armed girl occasionally liked to glance at the capped young man.
The spirited girl liked to drink alone and daydream alone, but even when she was lost in thought, there was not a hint of weakness about her.
She remained just as valiant and spirited.
Later, two girls of about eighteen or nineteen came. One sat beside the ugly boy, and the three of them squeezed onto one long bench, causing the chubby boy's big bottom to hang off three sides, which was quite tormenting. The youth surnamed Dong didn't dare curse the ugly boy anymore. He shrank back, seeming to be very afraid of the round-faced elder sister across from him.
The other girl, with a delicate, pointed chin, unhesitatingly sat beside the handsome youth, causing him to roll his eyes in exasperation, thinking, "A little girl who isn't even as good-looking as me, and she thinks about marrying me and sharing a bed?"
After the round-faced sister inquired, they learned that the capped young man had finished his training and was about to return to the Confucian academy in the Central Plains Divine Continent, whereupon he would be promoted from Worthy to Gentleman (Junzi).
He took off that sword, "Haoran Qi," and placed it on the table, saying it was what A Liang had given to the swordsmen of the Sword Qi Great Wall, not to him personally, so he had to leave it behind.
The chubby boy beamed with joy. He had been eyeing that sword for a long time. He quickly nodded, repeatedly praising the Confucian academy young man for his loyalty and understanding of the rules, welcoming him to come again in the future, and promising he would welcome him with both hands and feet.
The dull-faced, one-armed girl spoke up for the first time, saying that he had fought two desperate battles and killed so many Middle Five Realm demon beasts, so he could take Haoran Qi with him.
The handsome youth couldn't care less about it. He looked around to see if there was any acquaintance on the street who could help him settle the bill.
The ugly boy just buried his head in his wine. The round-faced girl was his elder sister, so she advised him to drink less. The charcoal-black youth ignored her, and the girl's expression was helpless.
The spirited girl made the final decision: "Take it."
No one objected.
Even though among the people at the table, one was about to become an academy gentleman, and there were those surnamed Dong and Chen.
If someone had the surname Qi here,
then all three surnames on the Sword Qi Great Wall would be represented.
The handsome youth suddenly frowned and muttered, "How is it that wherever I go, I run into dog shit?"
A group of people appeared on the street, mostly young men in their twenties, all with profound sword intent and full of killing aura.
As luck would have it, the leader happened to be surnamed Qi. He carried a pair of swords crossed on his back. He was tall and imposing.
He stepped out of the group first, walked up to the tavern, and stared straight at the spirited girl. Trying not to appear overbearing, he asked with a gentle smile, "Ning Yao, does your family's Dragon-Slaying Platform sell or not? We can talk about the price. My family certainly won't cheat you. Besides, you know better than anyone what kind of relationship my parents had with yours. If it weren't for my grandfather's objection, we might have been betrothed since childhood, right?"
The spirited girl didn't even lift her head. "Get lost."
The man surnamed Qi didn't get angry. He rubbed his chin, turned around, and left without hesitation.
Someone in the group muttered indignantly, not too loudly, with a sarcastic tone, "Some people are just lucky. Both parents were great sword immortals. So impressive. They were so impressive they almost made us lose the entire Sword Qi Great Wall. Tsk tsk tsk."
The spirited girl remained unmoved.
But everyone at the table suddenly stood up. Even the academy gentleman who was here for training grasped the sword Haoran Qi.
The chubby boy grinned, revealing gleaming white teeth. "Oh? What did you just say? Uncle didn't hear clearly. Say it again?"
The handsome youth had already started cursing directly: "You little shit, I'll curse your ancestors for eighteen generations!"
He glanced at the charcoal-black face opposite. "What's the word? Who's first?"
The ugly boy was the most direct. He shrugged his shoulders, broke free from his sister's hold, and picked up his sword to advance.
The young man surnamed Qi stretched out an arm, signaling the people behind him to be quiet. Then he took a step forward and asked with a smile, "Dong Heitan, you really want to fight?"
The ugly boy was expressionless, just advancing, his hands already pressing on the hilts of the swords at his sides. One was Scripture, the other Cloud Pattern. Both had been casually tossed over by A Liang from a place called the Great Li Dynasty in Bottle Gourd Continent.
Now A Liang was gone. The parents of Sister Ning, who had saved him three times, were no longer here either. At a time like this, if he, Dong Huafu, didn't do something, he wouldn't be worthy of the surname Dong.
The round-faced girl said with a smile, "Just don't kill anyone. As for the rest, I can handle Grandpa on your end."
When these words were spoken, even the young man surnamed Qi found it somewhat troublesome.
Suddenly, there was a sharp sound of fingers tapping on the table.
The charcoal-black boy turned to look.
Ning Yao said calmly, "Heitan, come back and drink."
The boy turned around sulkily and sat back in his seat. The round-faced girl patted his head. The already irritated boy glared at her, and his sister made a cute face in return, making the handsome youth stare without blinking.
Only then did both sides refrain from coming to blows.
The young sword cultivator surnamed Qi led his companions away. After they had gone a considerable distance, he said to the young man who had issued the provocation, "Don't go out for a while, or go stay at my place directly."
The other man grunted in acknowledgment without any hesitation, his heart uneasy.
After everyone had retaken their seats, Ning Yao sighed. "How old are you all, still so childish? Besides, this is a family matter of mine. What are you outsiders getting involved for? I'll remember it myself."
The table was silent.
She recalled something, twitched the corner of her mouth, and sneered, "I heard that guy got punched back to the Haoran World by the Second Dao Ancestor."
When Ning Yao mentioned this person, almost everyone smiled. Of course, the academy gentleman's smile was a bitter one.
The chubby boy was the most distracted. Whether he was thinking of something sad or happy, he took a hefty gulp of wine.
The first time he had walked up to the city wall to kill enemies.
Back then, the boy looked up with a face full of anticipation at that disheveled man and asked, "A Liang, A Liang, how was that sword strike of mine? Did I have at least half your grace?"
The man just drank his wine, giving perfunctory "ohs" and "ahs."
"A Liang! Say something! Good or bad, just say it!"
"Alright, that flurry of swordplay of yours... was very seductive."
"What does that mean?"
"I mean, your wild flurry of sword strikes was as fierce as a tiger, and in the end, you killed a mouse."
The boy, covered in blood at the time, looked as if he was about to cry, his expression pitiful, feeling as if the sky had fallen and he might never amount to much in this life.
Then the man tossed him his wineskin and said with a laugh, "When I was your age, I was worse than you."
The little chubby boy immediately puffed out his chest. That was his first time drinking wine, and damn, it was terrible.
The handsome youth propped his cheek with one hand and bit the rim of his wine cup, tilting his head back slightly to take a sip.
This move, he had learned from that very guy back then. So stylish.
"A Liang, I heard you visited the Bamboo Sea Cave Heaven. That Bamboo Wife, is she really beautiful?"
"Beautiful. Her legs are incredibly long."
"I asked about her face. What's the point of long legs?"
Then the boy was shoved in the head by the man while he was idly drinking. "We've got nothing to talk about."
Even the round-faced girl, who hadn't been drinking at all, had a tipsy smile on her face.
She had once stood boldly in front of that man and asked, "A Liang, do you miss home?"
"Yeah, I do."
"When you go home next time, will you bring back a wife?"
"I want to, too."
"A Liang, A Liang, take me, take me?"
The man's face was full of surprise and a smile. "Oh my, I never thought that I, A Liang, roaming the martial world, had never met an opponent, but today I've got my old waist bumped by a young maiden..."
The girl's younger brother at the time still had a runny nose. The little charcoal-black boy was squatting nearby, but he was old enough to understand, so he turned his head away and spat.
The man handed the wineskin to the girl and patted her head. "Forget about making me your husband. I, A Liang, am just a wandering rogue. I won't ruin a good girl."
The girl took the wineskin but didn't dare drink.
The man laughed heartily. "Take a few secret sips. It's fine. Drink my wine. Even if your family's patriarch is strict, he won't scold you. He'll only scold me, A Liang."
While the innocent girl was drinking, the man flicked his toes and stood on the parapet of the Sword Qi Great Wall, gazing into the distance. He ran his hands from his forehead over the top of his head, smoothing his hair, and said with emotion, "Wine can redden both cheeks; sorrow can whiten one's hair. Little girl, when you look for a man in the future, you have to find someone as learned and capable of composing poetry as I am... Of course, I mean find someone like me, not me."
The little charcoal-black boy suddenly shouted, "A Liang, I need to take a dump! I want to go south to take a dump! Hurry up, I can't hold it!"
The man quickly jumped down from the wall, cursing as he grabbed this little bastard, and shot away like a rainbow, heading south.
As for whether there was danger in the south or whether some great demon lurked nearby, the man naturally didn't care.
That round-faced girl didn't care either, because he was A Liang.
In this realm, there was no place that A Liang with his one sword couldn't go.
No matter how much her grandfather disliked this man, he would never say A Liang's swordsmanship wasn't high enough.
In the end, the little rascal couldn't hold it in and filled his pants entirely. As the man crouched by the pond washing the shorts, he watched the little bastard running around with his bare bottom and muttered with a low laugh, "I only rejected your mother seven or eight times back then, and now I've finally met my retribution. I'm more like a father to you than your real father is..."
Finally, this man left. The man without his sword carved the character "Fierce" and, donning a bamboo hat, left the Sword Qi Great Wall.
That day, in the city behind the Sword Qi Great Wall, countless women and girls drank wine, and their men drank even sadder wine in silence.
Later still, the man with a bamboo sword hanging at his waist found the youth that Qi Jingchun had chosen to believe in. He said to him, "My name is A Liang, 'Liang' of kindness. I am a swordsman."
After they became familiar, the man said with a smile to that Mud Vase Alley youth of the Haoran World, "Do you know how many women in this world adore me, A Liang? Countless."
The youth just thought he was bragging.
---
The table dispersed. Friends parted.
Ning Yao walked home alone.
Along the way, there were many pointing fingers.
Some showed pity, some sarcasm, some sighs, some admiration.
Ning Yao returned home. This was still one of the largest mansions in the city, and there were still many family swordsmen, but some people were missing.
She walked to the sword-testing ground, then lay down on that Dragon-Slaying Platform, which was as large as a thatched hut, and began to doze with her eyes half-closed.
A letter had said that some idiot was coming to deliver a sword to her. Why hadn't he arrived yet?
The girl was a little angry.