Chapter 369: Gathering and Parting
(Resuming updates. 13,000 words.)
While the flying swords First and Fifteen were about to finish eating that foot-long ruler-shaped Dragon-Slaying Platform, time flowed leisurely, flying swords whooshed, and it was already the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month.
Pei Qian, Wei Xian, and Sui Youbian had purchased a full load of New Year goods for the Dusty Medicine Shop, running back and forth five or six times. Pei Qian had begged Sui Youbian to accompany them, and not without reason. Whenever Sui Youbian stood near any shop, Pei Qian and Wei Xian didn’t even need to haggle with the shopkeeper—the price would plummet on its own.
Every day, they left early and returned late. The old man under the locust tree at the corner of the alley would be flipping through a book. At first, he was a bit reserved, but after getting familiar, he’d greet them. On the last two trips, Wei Xian, who had been the beast of burden, didn’t come along. Sui Youbian carried Chen Ping’an’s green bamboo bookcase and led Pei Qian back to the alley today. The old man greeted them again. Pei Qian responded sweetly, but Sui Youbian said nothing. As they entered the alley, Pei Qian chuckled, saying that scholar—seemingly a successful candidate or a *xiucai*—was truly a lifelong reader, endlessly devoted to the sea of books. It was just that he was a bit old. Sui Youbian tugged on Pei Qian’s ear and said with a smirk, “Has the old gentleman promised you a thick red envelope of New Year’s money?” Pei Qian pretended to be oblivious and cried out in pain.
They crossed the threshold and entered the medicine shop. Chen Ping’an was still sitting behind the counter. When Sui Youbian let go of Pei Qian’s ear, Pei Qian began loudly reciting where and when they had bought what items, at what original price, and at what price they had purchased them in each shop. Chen Ping’an was clicking the abacus. As Pei Qian’s voice trailed off, the crisp, pleasant sound of the abacus beads also abruptly stopped. Chen Ping’an gave Sui Youbian a thumbs-up. “Just on the desk furnishings alone, we saved about a hundred taels of silver.”
Pei Qian helped Sui Youbian lift the bamboo curtain, and Sui Youbian went to the back of the shop to unload the New Year goods.
Pei Qian tiptoed back to the counter, stood on her toes, rested her chin on the table, and showed off a face full of eager credit.
Chen Ping’an glanced toward the bamboo curtain, furtively took out seven or eight copper coins, and said, “This is your dividend. Keep it safe. If she sees it, both of us will be in trouble.”
Pei Qian carefully stowed away this small fortune, then dashed to the backyard to store it away properly in her treasure cabinet.
Chen Ping’an reminded her, “Remember to help unload the goods. Finish what you start. And remember to tell her ‘thanks for the hard work’ at the end.”
“Got it!” Pei Qian shouted in agreement.
Watching the green bamboo curtain sway back and forth, Chen Ping’an smiled knowingly.
Tomorrow would be New Year’s Eve—the end of the month and the year. Eve of the New Year, bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new.
Chen Ping’an had never imagined that he would be spending the New Year with so many people in this Dusty Medicine Shop in Old Dragon City.
On the earlier trips to buy New Year goods, Sui Youbian had been reluctant. Later, when Wei Xian got tired of going, it was Sui Youbian who became addicted, dragging Pei Qian along on a shopping spree, endlessly enjoying it.
At first, Zhu Lian had privately negotiated with Pei Qian, promising her a set of four treasures of the study and a New Year’s money gift if she could coax Sui Youbian out. Pei Qian said she’d consider it and then went to Chen Ping’an. Chen Ping’an felt that Sui Youbian really should get out more—even soaking up some of the mundane worldly atmosphere would do her good—so he told Pei Qian to agree. Thus, Sui Youbian couldn’t stand Pei Qian buzzing around like a little fly, disturbing her practice of the Sword Furnace Stance, and had no choice but to go out with her and Wei Xian for a change of scenery.
Later, Sui Youbian herself took the green bamboo bookcase from the corner of their room, dragged Pei Qian out to shop, and Chen Ping’an secretly made an agreement with Pei Qian: every time Sui Youbian haggled with a shopkeeper, Pei Qian would get one copper coin as a dividend.
Chen Ping’an turned his head and looked outside the medicine shop.
The light in the alley instantly darkened, turning eerie and gloomy. Moreover, the light seemed to have gained weight, making it appear heavy.
A green robe descended from the sky. It was Fan Junmao.
Chen Ping’an came out from behind the counter and stepped over the threshold.
Fan Junmao asked, “Have you made up your mind?”
Chen Ping’an nodded. “I hope to end this year on a good note.”
Fan Junmao reminded the Zhao-named Yin Spirit, which was billowing with black smoke and drifting with baleful energy, “Don’t get too clever. Snooping around the movements above the cloud sea will only make things hard for Chen Ping’an.”
The Yin Spirit nodded. If it used the shop’s formation to attain the Jade Pure realm, it could indeed observe a thing or two about the cloud sea above Old Dragon City. However, the cloud sea’s spiritual energy was pure and clean, while the Yin Spirit and the formation were filled with foul, baleful energy. Clashing directly could easily cause chaos in the cloud sea, ruining Chen Ping’an’s refinement of his destined item and damaging his foundational path.
Fan Junmao reached out and grabbed Chen Ping’an, preparing to ride clouds up to the cloud sea above.
Chen Ping’an suddenly asked, “According to the books, before immortals refine pills, after choosing an auspicious date and a favorable location, shouldn’t they fast, bathe, change clothes, kneel, and hold up the furnace, praying to heaven and earth?”
Fan Junmao sneered, “On this cloud sea, I am like the mountain lord in a mountain, the scholar in an academy, the true man in a Daoist temple, or the arhat in a temple. I am the sage of this small world of clouds. Who should I worship? Myself? If you, Chen Ping’an, are willing to kneel and kowtow, I might just take another sword slash and fall another realm. I don’t mind—I can always repair a lost realm. But your chance to kowtow might not come again.”
Chen Ping’an understood.
It seemed that Lu Yong of the Azure Tiger Temple, though an old Nascent Soul cultivator in that Qingjing Mountain, was still not a local sage and could not freely call upon the “geographical advantage” of the mountain and river’s spiritual energy.
Fan Junmao grabbed Chen Ping’an and pulled him into the cloud sea. Once Chen Ping’an steadied himself, he gently stamped on the cloud sea beneath his feet. It didn’t collapse or dissipate; it felt no different from an ordinary dirt path. It reminded him of when his Yin Spirit had traveled far to the Water God Temple, able to stand on wind atop the blue waves. Not a bad feeling.
Fan Junmao flicked her sleeve, and a snow-white desk appeared out of thin air in front of Chen Ping’an. It was formed from the essence of condensed clouds, with a surface smooth as a mirror. Auspicious clouds drifted around it, and a misty, otherworldly aura filled the air.
Chen Ping’an manipulated the square-inch object flying sword Fifteen and the inch-wish object—the plain white jade tablet—and suspended them above the desk. He began taking out items needed for refining the Water element of his destined item, one by one, moving slowly. In addition to the Five-Colored Golden Cauldron, which Lu Yong of the Azure Tiger Temple had sold to Chen Ping’an for fifty Grain Rain Coins, there were also the various heavenly materials and earthly treasures that Fan Junmao had exchanged for Chen Ping’an’s Inner Core from the Nascent Soul old flood dragon in Flood Dragon Gully. All together, there were over forty items, including twelve types of cinnabar alone, used at different stages and temperatures to regulate water and fire and harmonize the five elements.
Chen Ping’an’s unhurried pace made Fan Junmao a bit impatient. Why was he so slow?
Fan Junmao slapped an Old Dragon Rain-Bringing Pendant onto the cloud desk. “You’re going to refine that Water Character Seal. As the most important auxiliary material, the Water Essence’s quality must match up, or it’ll hold you back. This Old Dragon Pendant is the best Water Essence I can find right now. It’s about as old as Old Dragon City and has absorbed plenty of water essence from the cloud sea. Don’t talk to me about money. Like that medicinal wine made from the little-refined flood dragon’s Inner Core, this is my investment, Fan Junmao. If you insist on talking money, fine. I’ll sell this pendant cheap—thirty Grain Rain Coins!”
Chen Ping’an smiled. “You’re the one who keeps talking about money, not me.”
Fan Junmao’s expression turned strange. For once, she seemed a bit unsure of herself. “Do you really feel at ease accepting such a valuable Old Dragon Rain-Bringing Pendant? This is an old artifact that has been worshipped in the Fu family’s ancestral hall for a thousand years! It’s very valuable! Thirty Grain Rain Coins is nothing compared to how it affects the quality of your destined item. You still won’t pay up?”
Chen Ping’an glanced at her. “This is just part of the Fu family’s astronomical compensation. You’re just acting as a middleman, and you want to make thirty Grain Rain Coins? Looks like you’re having a tough end of the year. I suspect your fall in realm isn’t just from Nascent Soul back to Golden Core. What, did you get hit as hard as I did with the Sword-Swallowing Ship? Did it damage your foundation? You’re healing by consuming the cloud sea, but the effect isn’t very noticeable. However, replenishing the cloud sea’s water essence that you’re losing must be costing you a lot, right?”
Fan Junmao said angrily, “You’re not stupid, Chen Ping’an.”
Chen Ping’an finally took out the Water Character Seal and gently placed it on the cloud desk.
Fan Junmao took a deep look at the small private seal. “You really want to refine this thing? If you do, it will be connected to your destiny. If you ever use it to stamp the water transport of rivers in the future, it will damage your own cultivation path. Of course, if you don’t do that foolish thing, using this seal as the Water element of your destined item will greatly benefit your establishment of a residence. An ordinary person might dig a well, at most a pond, but with this, you might be able to open up a small lake. Your current dangerous situation—where spiritual energy is flooding your body, rampaging through your acupoints, and eroding that pure true qi—can indeed be easily resolved.”
Chen Ping’an nodded solemnly. “This Water Character Seal it is!”
He reached out his finger and gently stroked the Old Dragon Rain-Bringing Pendant. It felt familiar. He frowned and looked up at Fan Junmao. “This is Water Essence? The essence of the world’s water veins and water transport condensed into substance?”
Fan Junmao’s eyes turned cold, and she sneered, “What, afraid I’m tricking you?!”
Chen Ping’an shook his head. After hesitating for a moment, he took out the jade slip given to him by the Alluvial River Water God Goddess and held it in his palm. “Is this also Water Essence?”
As soon as this object appeared, the surrounding cloud sea seemed to become sentient, stirring joyfully like a group of children eyeing candied treats.
Fan Junmao’s expression turned serious. She didn’t answer but instead asked, “Where did you get this?”
Chen Ping’an smiled. “So it is. And it seems better than this Old Dragon Rain-Bringing Pendant from the Fu family ancestral hall.”
Fan Junmao’s eyes burned with desire again. This was the second time. The first was when she heard that Chen Ping’an possessed a twelfth-level demon beast’s Inner Core, and she had lingered outside the medicine shop back then.
But this time, Fan Junmao quickly suppressed her covetousness. She didn’t dare force a sale anymore. She moved closer and examined the jade slip, most of its seal script covered by Chen Ping’an, observing its crystalline translucence and flowing luster. It was enough just to feast her eyes on it.
Chen Ping’an didn’t recognize its value, but she did. It had to be the water transport essence condensed from some great river vein in the Dragon Palace of a major river—a surviving artifact from an ancient ruin. Compared to this, the Old Dragon Rain-Bringing Pendant that the Fu family ancestor had worn for many years was like mud compared to clouds. Innate spiritual treasures and acquired artifacts were separated by a vast chasm. Fan Junmao was so eager because if she could refine this jade slip, it would more than make up for the cloud sea’s losses, help her return to the Nascent Soul realm in one step, and even leave surplus. Then, she could easily advance to the upper five realms within just thirty or forty years. After that, she would need to expend effort seeking opportunities in various fragmented cave paradises and secret realms—revisiting old haunts. But compared to the deadly perils ordinary qi cultivators faced when exploring such ruins, it would be heaven and earth apart.
Chen Ping’an asked, “Can I use this as the Water Essence for refining my destined Water Character Seal?”
Fan Junmao ground her teeth. “Yes! Very yes! You, this guy, are always stepping in dog shit. Such a rare, once-in-a-millennium innate spiritual treasure—you can just stumble upon it and pocket it! Do you have any idea that in some unknown cave paradises where sages haven’t squatted and blocked the toilet, a thing like this would have a bunch of Golden Core and Nascent Soul Earth Immortals fighting over it, possibly even losing their lives, and likely contending with Jade Pure cultivators for a sliver of opportunity on the Great Way…”
Chen Ping’an interrupted Fan Junmao’s “complaints” with a smile. “Everyone has their own fate. If I were born and raised in Old Dragon City and stayed a thousand years, I might never have had the chance to stand on this cloud sea for even a moment. And you, Fan Junmao, could wander the Water God Temple for ten thousand years and never get this jade slip.”
Fan Junmao nodded. “That’s not wrong. Enough talk. Start refining!”
She took a deep breath, began stepping in the celestial pace, and formed hand seals. Wind and clouds surged around them. The vast cloud sea that sheltered all of Old Dragon City began to roll violently at its outermost edges, like a lotus that had bloomed now closing back into a snow-white bud. It enveloped her, Chen Ping’an, and the cloud desk. Countless snow-white rays of light poured down like spring water from a spring, and spiritual energy rose. For a moment, Chen Ping’an found it hard to breathe. He noticed the mischievous look in Fan Junmao’s eyes, then calmly took out the golden jade plaque and hung it at his waist.
The plaque was inscribed with the seal script: “I cultivate the noble qi.”
Countless cloud sea spiritual energies surged into the golden jade plaque.
Fan Junmao quickly waved her sleeve to disperse the cloud sea water essence that had been deliberately pressing down on Chen Ping’an, lest it all be sucked dry by that plaque—going for nothing like meat buns thrown at a dog.
Fan Junmao was decent enough to retreat backward, exiting the cloud sea bud, and only sent a message through the heart lake: “If you encounter a major problem, stop refining immediately. Getting hurt and losing money is better than losing your life. You can raise or lower the cloud desk as you wish.”
Chen Ping’an sat cross-legged, and the cloud desk descended until it lay flat like a white thatched mat on the ground.
What needed to be refined into his destined item: the Water Character Seal, the Five-Colored Golden Cauldron, the Water Essence jade slip from some great river’s Dragon Palace, and the Old Dragon Rain-Bringing Pendant, which probably wouldn’t be needed for now.
Over forty heavenly materials and earthly treasures, including more than a dozen types of cinnabar in various colors that were “inexhaustible beyond the five elements, more wondrous the longer refined.” There was the stubborn and heavy Netherwater Sand, and the sparkling, star-dotted Northern Dipper Sand—each type of cinnabar was priceless, stored in transparent glass bottles of various sizes.
Chen Ping’an sat on the cloud sea, looking around. Although he was inside the cloud sea bud formation, his vision was unobstructed. He could see the waters of the three surrounding seas.
For this refinement, he only aimed to refine the jade slip. He didn’t expect to succeed in refining the Water Character Seal into a destined item in one go.
That way, even if the refinement failed, and the jade slip—formed from the essence of the great river’s Dragon Palace—collapsed and dissipated, the spiritual energy could still be gathered into the golden jade plaque at his waist. Even if some flowed away and was lost, it would merge into the cloud sea, considered a repayment for Fan Junmao’s formation.
As a fallback, the Old Dragon Rain-Bringing Pendant could still serve as a backup Water Essence to assist in refining the Water Character Seal.
Chen Ping’an practiced the Sword Furnace Stance for a while to calm his mind. In his thoughts, he unexpectedly recalled the scene of making porcelain as a teenager—pulling the clay on the wheel.
After throwing in a handful of Lesser Summer Coins, the Five-Colored Golden Cauldron placed on the cloud desk emitted five-colored auspicious clouds, rising from the mouths of five strange beasts around the rim of the cauldron.
Chen Ping’an gently lifted that pure true qi within his body and exhaled it lightly, sending it into the Five-Colored Golden Cauldron—this was “lighting the fire.”
This stream of continuous pure true qi moved like a fire dragon, beginning to circle and swim along the inner wall of the cauldron, fire blazing everywhere.
The amount of true fire for refining determined whether the cauldron could be lit successfully, but even more important was its purity, which determined the final quality of the refined item.
Refining this jade slip from the Azure Wandering Palace didn’t involve his life and soul; the jade slip didn’t need to take root in his acupoints. Compared to the Water Character Seal, it required much fewer heavenly materials and various cinnabars.
Chen Ping’an had long studied the alchemy manual from old Nascent Soul cultivator Lu Yong of the Azure Tiger Temple. Even more, he had daily pondered the “direct path to the Great Way” immortal formula recorded on the jade slip. Both were like exhaustive teachings—the former from the Azure Tiger Temple’s palace lord, the latter from the Alluvial River Water God Goddess’s lifelong essence. Especially the latter: it was the Water God Goddess’s life’s work. Chen Ping’an only needed to follow the steps methodically. When to add another breath of pure true qi like fuel, when to sprinkle in how many taels of cinnabar from a certain glass bottle, when to silently recite the true formulas within the Rain Prayer Stele inscription to guide the cauldron’s aura and increase the heat, when to bring down a timely rain above the cauldron to blend water and fire with the leaping flames inside—all had clear rules.
Thus, aside from a little fatigue, Chen Ping’an remained largely calm and composed.
Fan Junmao sat outside the cloud sea formation, silently muttering: add one more tael of cinnabar, forget to refine that volcanic molten rock, hold back the pure true qi breath and let it into the cauldron later…
But every move Chen Ping’an made was methodical. When waiting for the heat, he even closed his eyes to rest. His breathing and inhalation were extremely disciplined. He didn’t make any fatal mistakes in details. There were more or less flaws and omissions, but these minor losses were negligible for the water essence of that great river Dragon Palace’s town-water treasure flowing out of the cauldron and becoming nourishment for the cloud sea. It was just a drop in the bucket. Fan Junmao was very disappointed.
The first time refining an innate spiritual treasure of such high rank, couldn’t your heart tremble a few times? Couldn’t your hands shake a few times?
Just contribute a little water essence to the cloud sea as compensation and repayment for her watching over the gate—was that too much to ask?
In the end, somewhat despairing, Fan Junmao lay down and went to sleep, no longer watching the cauldron. It was all smooth sailing, and she figured she had no hope of making a big profit.
As Fan Junmao expected, from the first watch of the human world to dawn the next day.
Chen Ping’an had already refined the jade slip to about ninety percent completion, but the special thing was that the script on the jade slip was preserved.
It seemed that the jade slip’s original owner had used the same refining method to inscribe the script onto the jade slip, and the script itself contained the true meaning of the Great Way. So, unusually, it survived. Having lost its vessel, it became sentient and refused to dissipate into the world. Among the myriad things in the world, once they gain sentience, they all fear death and desire life. But under the Great Way, life and death have cycles, opposite to each other. The path of qi cultivators seeking enlightenment is to defy heaven, striving to forge an immortal body to resist the erosion of time.
A refining incantation in the form of script gave birth to its own spirituality.
Another rare event.
Fan Junmao stood up and stared at those green, little-elf-like characters—over a thousand of them—rising and falling, spinning erratically inside the Five-Colored Golden Cauldron.
Fan Junmao hesitated. “I advise you to find a way to collect this incantation script. Later on your path, if you find a worthy disciple, you can imprint these characters into their soul and directly pass on the teachings. Those so-called personally transmitted and directly inherited teachings among the head-ranking immortal families on the mountains generally follow this method, making the transmission of incense relatively simple and easy. Before passing on the teaching, they can temper and nourish your soul and acupoints within your qi mansion. They are one of the few ‘dietary supplement’ methods for the soul under heaven, with no side effects. It’s a win-win situation.”
Chen Ping’an hesitated, unsure how to proceed.
Fan Junmao laughed. “I can’t help you with this. These characters contain the meaning of the Way. It’s not something you can capture just because you have divine powers or treasures. If you’re not careful and they sense that your Dao heart is incompatible, they will shatter instantly, and not even an Immortal realm cultivator could stop them.”
Chen Ping’an had a thought. He absolutely had to preserve these characters. He would treasure them and later return them to the Alluvial River Water God Goddess of the Azure Wandering Palace. This small legacy, though he had accidentally discovered and refined it, ultimately belonged to her. The incense of the Water God