Chapter 400: Far Journey, Northward Return
The group had originally planned to stay at an inn at the foot of the mountain, but unexpectedly found it packed to capacity. Most places had only one room left here, one room there. Chen Ping'an, worried that Shi Rou alone couldn't protect Pei Qian, had no choice but to take a flying boat back to the ferryboat Azure Garment hovering in midair.
Zhu Lian asked about the incense offerings at the Middle Mountain Shrine on the mountaintop. Chen Ping'an said they hadn't gone inside to burn incense, just walked around the summit. However, on the way up, passing several Taoist temples and Buddhist monasteries, it was clear they spared no effort in vying for pilgrims. The Taoist temples had high-ranking third-rank officials from the Chengtian Kingdom erect stone stelae outside their gates, while the monasteries hired famous calligraphers to write plaques. Beyond that, they had paved the mountain paths leading to their respective temples and monasteries with exceptional smoothness, shaded by lush green trees.
On a single Sacred Mountain, this was the case. Between the Five Sacred Mountains of a kingdom, the competition for incense offerings was even fiercer—one could say they stopped at nothing. Mountain deities would often invite Middle Five Realm Qi refiners to build thatched huts and cultivate on their peaks. Even if the cultivators didn't actually come, as long as the huts were there, it worked—this followed the saying, "A mountain need not be high; it becomes famous with an immortal present." They would also warmly invite literati and refined scholars to tour the scenery on their mountain peaks, leaving behind poems and calligraphy treasures. Then they'd have people spread word in the mortal dynasties to stir up enthusiasm—an endless array of tricks. Word had it that on the Southern Sacred Mountain of the Chengtian Kingdom, a famous minister later hailed as the "Plantain Scholar" wrote a widely acclaimed masterpiece poem while sheltering from the rain. This poem was highly praised by the Vice Academy Principal of Guanhu Academy, who compiled it into a poetry anthology and used it as the culminating piece. Even a hundred years later, the Southern Mountain Shrine still benefited from this "scholarly aura."
Chen Ping'an neither particularly liked nor disliked these operations that had nothing to do with immortal aura.
He figured that if he ever truly wanted to establish a small sect back home in Longquan Commandery, he might need to copy these methods outright.
Just before the flying boat ascended, Zhu Lian said softly, "Young Master, should this old servant show off a bit? Pei Qian obtained that piece of lampstone marrow, so there are bound to be covetous people."
Chen Ping'an shook his head and smiled. "Right now, we're not stirring up trouble, nor are we incapable of dealing with ordinary shady characters. There's no reason for a good person to guard against thieves every night or beat drums and gongs about it. If someone really comes knocking, Zhu Lian, you can just consider it ridding the world of a pest."
Shi Rou rarely spoke up, but she said, "But we're carrying a heavy treasure—that's what makes people greedy."
Chen Ping'an patiently explained, "You're wrong. First, being moved by wealth to covet it and harbor murderous intent is inherently wrong. Second, it seems like we're the ones guilty of possessing a treasure, which makes others envious. But in reality, it's that evil exists in the hearts of wicked people first. Today they see the lampstone marrow, tomorrow they'd see some magic treasure or spiritual artifact, the day after they'd see someone else's good fortune—any of these becomes their excuse to take risks and ignore the law."
Speak of the order front and back, explain it clearly—Chen Ping'an had already broken the principle down completely. Shi Rou nodded to show she understood.
Chen Ping'an finally smiled and said, "The Jianghu is already murky enough. There's no need for us to be harsh on good people. 'Spring and Autumn Annals censuring the virtuous'—that was the painstaking intention of the greatest sage of old. It's not something just anyone in later generations can rigidly apply."
Zhu Lian asked Pei Qian with a grin, "Did you understand any of that?"
Pei Qian glared at him. "None of your business?!"
Zhu Lian clicked his tongue. "The little money-loser finally stepped in dog shit and made a big profit for once. Her backbone's stiffer than a walking stick now."
The flying boat slowly rose into the sky.
Pei Qian sat beside Chen Ping'an, struggling to hold back a laugh.
Zhu Lian asked, "Why didn't you buy a few more pieces of lampstone... to try your luck? For example, you still have three Snow Flower Coins on hand. If worse comes to worst, you could have Shi Rou sell that small piece of lampstone marrow—use a little to win big, keep earning more, mountains of gold and silver. Wouldn't this be a prime spot for you to strike it rich? Not to mention this year's birthday gift for your master—maybe even next year's and the year after's would all be taken care of..."
Pei Qian extended two fingers, looking smug.
Zhu Lian smiled. "Enlighten me. I'm all ears."
Pei Qian, imitating Chen Ping'an's slow manner, said, "First, on the way out of Lion Garden, Master taught me that a gentleman does not take what others cherish. So I definitely won't ask Shi Rou to sell the lampstone marrow. Second, when walking the Jianghu, you know when to quit while you're ahead! Master taught me that too."
Zhu Lian cupped his fists. "I stand instructed, I stand instructed. I wonder when Pei the Swordswoman, Pei the Master, will open a school to transmit the Way? I'll be sure to attend."
Pei Qian threw a punch to scare Zhu Lian, but the old cook didn't flinch at all. She withdrew her fist, somewhat deflated. "Old Cook, why are you so childish?"
Zhu Lian threw a punch.
Pei Qian instantly leaned back, dodging the blow, then burst into laughter.
Zhu Lian and Chen Ping'an exchanged knowing smiles.
Shi Rou, not being a pure martial artist, had no idea about the subtleties involved.
After the group boarded the ferry, perhaps the rumor of "one young sword cultivator, two life-bound flying swords" was so intimidating—far more fearsome than the allure of three Rain Grain Coins—that until the ferry left the Chengtian Kingdom, no miscreant dared test the sword cultivator's mettle.
However, the ferry's slowness, its circuitous route, and its countless money-grabbing schemes truly earned Chen Ping'an's utmost admiration.
On a day when the ferry hovered again and flying boats fanned out toward an immortal manor to cross a "single-plank bridge," even Chen Ping'an couldn't help but curse, saying they had really boarded a pirate ship.
That immortal sect was only third-rate in Vase Bottle Continent, but between two mountain peaks, they had built a single-plank bridge over ten miles long. It was perpetually above the sea of clouds, the scenery wasn't bad, but the fee was no joke—crossing it once cost three whole Snow Flower Coins. It was said that back then, that upper fifth realm wild cultivator from Bee Tail Ferry had crossed this single-plank bridge just as the rising sun appeared. Struck by inspiration, he realized the truth and broke through to a higher realm—right there, he advanced to become a Golden Elixir Earth Immortal. It was precisely this step that allowed him to later achieve great things standing proudly at the summit of Vase Bottle Continent despite his lowly status as a wild cultivator.
Chen Ping'an obediently paid twelve Snow Flower Coins.
Pei Qian initially thought about running back and forth seven or eight times, but a young maidservant lucky enough to be cultivating at the immortal manor smiled and reminded everyone that this single-plank bridge had a rule: you couldn't walk back the way you came.
Pei Qian stomped her feet in frustration. Another loss?!
Though called a single-plank bridge, it wasn't actually narrow or difficult to traverse.
The bridge that wild cultivator from Bee Tail Ferry had walked back then was indeed dilapidated.
Later, the sect had sold everything they had to rebuild it to its current scale—not only wide and sturdy, but also exquisitely beautiful.
After that, the ferry detoured around the war-torn central region of Vase Bottle Continent, making a truly huge loop.
So much so that beneath the ferry's path lay the very Walking Dragon Path that Chen Ping'an had once taken south by boat.
That time, Chen Ping'an had parted ways with Zhang Shanfeng and Xu Yuanxia and continued south alone.
This time, he had Pei Qian, Zhu Lian, and Shi Rou by his side.
During this time on the ferry, besides practicing his fist stances, Chen Ping'an had to spend half his time entering meditation, self-forgetting, and inner observation, absorbing spiritual qi to nourish that "Water Palace."
The longer he delved into the path of cultivation, the more deeply he felt the aftereffects of treading both the path of Qi refinement and martial arts. Chen Ping'an roughly concluded that this path would offer a brief period of benefits after he reached the seventh realm of martial arts and the Cavern Dwelling realm of Qi refinement. But looking further ahead, especially after his life-bound treasures were fully refined and he eventually formed a Golden Elixir, the conflict between the two paths would become increasingly irreconcilable. This would make every step in martial arts difficult and advancing to Nascent Soul realm even harder than hard.
But these were matters for the future.
For now, fists still had to be thrown, and heavenly spiritual qi still had to be absorbed and refined with all his might.
By this point, Chen Ping'an had completed a full million punches on the Sword Qi Great Wall with the most basic Six-Step Walking Stance. From leaving Inverted Mountain to Parasol Leaf Continent, then to Lotus Flower Blessed Land, then to the Great Spring Dynasty and Azure Tiger Palace and Old Dragon City at the southernmost tip of Vase Bottle Continent, and now from the Azure Luan Kingdom in the southeast heading north to Great Sui, he had thrown roughly four hundred thousand more punches.
After the Azure Garment ferry sailed away.
During the Lesser Heat solar term, stepping into the scorching heat of "steaming above and boiling below," three old men climbed the mountain to the single-plank bridge.
There were few tourists.
Aside from the mountain gate women collecting fees at both ends of the bridge, there were almost no guests on it.
One old man, short in stature and wearing a hemp robe, had a very bandit-like appearance. He was the shortest, but he had the most imposing presence. He slapped another old man on the shoulder. "Hey, Xun, what are you standing there for? Pay up!"
That old man surnamed Xun was busy asking the young woman about the unique sights of this place. When his shoulder was grabbed, he immediately and obsequiously took out nine Snow Flower Coins, playing the fool who pays.
This old man who footed the bill was none other than the "Old Senior Xun" in Zhu Lian's words—the one who had gifted Zhu Lian several books of immortals fighting and talented scholars and beautiful maidens back at the Dust and Ashes Medicine Shop in Old Dragon City.
Zhu Lian deeply admired this senior's scholarship; his learning was truly profound.
Later, Sui Youbian had gone to the Jade Gui Sect on Parasol Leaf Continent where this old man resided. After Du Mao of Parasol Leaf Sect failed in his ascension and suffered heavy losses, the Jade Gui Sect had now become the undisputed leader of the continent.
The remaining old man, with an ordinary appearance, wanted to say something but stopped. He wanted to advise his boisterous old friend—Senior Xun had kindly come across continents to visit you, yet you haven't shown him a single bit of courtesy from start to finish. What's that about? Do you really treat this senior as if he were a younger disciple of your Invincible Fist Sect? Moreover, if it hadn't been for Senior Xun's help this time, how could he have smoothly obtained the largest piece of Du Mao's glazed golden body fragment left in the mortal world?
Putting it a hundred steps back, Xun Yuan was still a Grand Cultivator of the Immortal realm from Parasol Leaf Continent, and moreover the former Sect Leader of the Jade Gui Sect! You, who've fallen back to the Nascent Soul realm, where do you get the confidence to order this senior around every day?
This old man was none other than the upper fifth realm wild cultivator from Bee Tail Ferry, and also Jiang Yun's master.
Thus, this single-plank bridge was the blessed land where the old man had formed his Golden Elixir back in the day.
The maidservant, only a third realm Qi refiner, couldn't discern the depth of the three old men. Not just her—even if the Sea Observation realm mountain master stood here, he wouldn't see through their backgrounds.
One Immortal realm, one Jade Pu realm, one Nascent Soul realm.
Any one of them stomping his foot would probably cause this mountain to collapse.
After Xun Yuan paid the fee, the three old men walked slowly across the single-plank bridge.
In terms of age and cultivation, Xun Yuan was the most senior.
But this One-Foot Spear of Parasol Leaf Continent simply couldn't put up a strong front in front of the Jade-Faced Young Gentleman of Vase Bottle Continent.
Once, they watched the same Mirror Flower Water Moon show, and the Young Gentleman took the initiative for the first time to ask the One-Foot Spear if he could fight. If so, come help with a small matter.
Xun Yuan patted his chest and guaranteed that even if he couldn't fight, he definitely wouldn't hold them back.
Then the sect leader of the so-called Invincible Fist Sect, though himself a Qi refiner, gave Xun Yuan an address and told him to meet there.
Xun Yuan directly rode the wind, arriving at lightning speed.
The result was that the newly promoted twelfth realm Taoist Celestial Lord of the Divine Declaration Sect and the Jade Pu realm wild cultivator of Bee Tail Ferry had clashed, both determined to claim that piece of glazed golden body fragment, and neither would budge.
If nothing unexpected happened, no matter the final outcome, at the very least the Invincible Fist Sect would have made an enemy of the Divine Declaration Sect.
But after Xun Yuan appeared, the deadlock was immediately broken.
It was barely a win-win situation. The Jade Pu realm wild cultivator spent money—almost emptying his entire fortune—to buy that massive, once-in-a-millennium glazed golden body fragment. However, it was obvious that Qi Zhen, the Taoist Celestial Lord nominally the number one cultivator in Vase Bottle Continent, had yielded considerably. Besides accepting the money, Xun Yuan also helped the Divine Declaration Sect request from a Confucian Sage among the Seventy-Two Worthies stationed above Vase Bottle Continent's territory the right to an ancient, nameless shattered cave heaven ruin that the glazed golden body fragment had burrowed into. This was given to Celestial Lord Qi Zhen to take back to his sect for repair and patching. If managed well, it would become a small blessed land where Divine Declaration Sect disciples could train with twice the results.
Generally, upper fifth realm cultivators wouldn't easily enter fragments of cave heavens and blessed lands. But there were exceptions to everything.
Moreover, among the Confucian Sages of the Haoran World, there was a dedicated group of "pioneering" sages who sought out ruins drifting at the bottom of the River of Time. After retrieving them, they would either stabilize them as new cave heavens or blessed lands, or directly integrate them into the Haoran World's territory.
Throughout history, not a few Confucian Sages had completely perished in the River of Time because of this, and countless more had damaged their foundation of the Great Way.
But the mortal world knew nothing of these dangers and sacrifices.
---
After Li Huai came to study at the Cliff Academy in Great Sui, he was bullied terribly at first. But after the storm passed, not only did no one in the academy bother him anymore, he also made two new friends of the same age. One was a talented youth from a poor family named Liu Guan.
One was born into a Great Sui powerful clan with generations of official service, named Ma Lian.
Liu Guan, from a poor background, was audacious and always had wild, imaginative ideas. Ma Lian, despite having the best background, was timid and unable to act freely, becoming their little follower, content to just hang around Liu Guan and Li Huai. Because Ma Lian's clan was one of Great Sui's top-tier noble families, with marriage ties to the Ge Yang Gao family, and Ma Lian was even the direct eldest grandson, yet he now mixed with Li Huai and Liu Guan, he was ostracized by other students of the same age at the academy, mocked as a bootlicker and a moneybag.
After summer began, the three boys of the same year, classmates and roommates, snuck out of their dormitory after curfew to go to the lakeside to cool off. If caught by the masters, it would mean lectures, copying texts, standing in punishment, or getting caned.
Tonight, Liu Guan led the way, swaggering as if he were an academy master doing night patrol. Li Huai looked around nervously, being more cautious. Ma Lian walked with a bitter face, head hanging low, carefully following behind Li Huai.
They made it to the lake without incident. Liu Guan took off his boots and put his feet into the cool lake water. Finding it somewhat unsatisfying, he turned to a companion who had breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Ma Lian, it's summer, swelteringly hot. Your Ma family is known as the number one fan collection in the capital, right? Bring out three fans later—give one to me and one to Li Huai. We can fan ourselves when doing our lessons to escape the heat."
Ma Lian said with a pained face, "My grandfather treasures those fans the most. Every single one is his precious darling. He won't give them to me."
Liu Guan rolled his eyes. "Then steal a few fans he doesn't often take out to play with. If he finds out, he's not going to beat his grandson to death, is he?"
Ma Lian wanted to cry but had no tears.
Li Huai mediated, "Forget it. Ma Lian's timid, and his face can't hide anything. If he goes home to steal fans, his parents will probably see through him the moment he arrives."
Ma Lian nodded vigorously.
Liu Guan sighed. "What a waste of such a good background. Can't do this, don't dare do that. Ma Lian, when you grow up, I don't think you'll amount to much—at most, you'll live off your inheritance. Look, your grandfather is our Great Sui's Minister of Revenue with the concurrent title of Academician of the Wenyi Hall. By your father's generation, he's only been a commandery governor stationed in a local area. Your uncle, though a capital official, is a lowly Seal Lord with a sesame-sized position. When it's your turn to be an official, I reckon you'll only manage to be a county magistrate."
Ma Lian sighed dejectedly and didn't talk back. He didn't have the guts to argue with Liu Guan, and he also felt Liu Guan was right.
Among the three, although the teachers scolded Liu Guan the most, even a blind man could see that the masters actually had the highest expectations of him. Ma Lian was neither here nor there, slightly better than perennial bottom-dweller Li Huai in his lessons.
Li Huai patted Ma Lian's shoulder and comforted him, "Being a county magistrate is already impressive. Back in my hometown, earlier on, the biggest official was some Kiln Affairs Superintendent with who-knows-how-big an official hat. Only recently did we get a proper county magistrate. Besides, whether the official position is big or small, aren't you still me and Liu Guan's friend? If it's a small one, I and Liu Guan will definitely still treat you as a friend. But don't you treat us like friends anymore if you become a big official, okay?"
Ma Lian quickly promised, "I won't. I'll see you both as my best friends my whole life."
Liu Guan grinned. "Then between me and Li Huai, who's your best friend?"
Ma Lian was speechless, feeling that no matter how he answered, he wouldn't come out ahead. Although he admired Liu Guan's intelligence and his decisive, almost adult-like way of doing things, deep down, Ma Lian actually preferred spending time with Li Huai. Li Huai was easy to talk to, didn't jab him with words, and didn't make him feel inferior.
Li Huai put his feet into the water with a laugh, gasped at the cold, shivered, and laughed heartily. "I'll settle for second best. I won't compete with Liu Guan for first. Anyway, Liu Guan is first at everything."
Liu Guan threw an arm around Li Huai's neck and laughed. "Saying that like you're letting me win on purpose, kid. As if you could beat me."
Li Huai quickly begged for mercy. "Can't beat you, can't beat you. Liu Guan, why are you trying to compete with someone at the bottom of the class? Don't you feel embarrassed?"
Ma Lian snickered secretly.
These three children were, after all, still living carefree years.
Suddenly, in the distance, a master's angry roar was heard. Liu Guan pushed Li Huai and Ma Lian's shoulders. "You two run first. I'll hold off that red-nosed Master Han!"
Ma Lian immediately sprinted away, still barefoot.
Li Huai picked up Ma Lian's boots and asked, "What about you?"
Liu Guan glared. "Go! If we all get caught, tomorrow will be worse—the punishment will be heavier!"
Li Huai hastily put on his boots and ran more steadily than Ma Lian. After all, he had made the journey all the way from Great Li's Longquan Commandery to the Great Sui Cliff Academy.
In the end, Liu Guan single-handedly bore the brunt of the irate Master Han, who had been on night duty. If not for a series of questions and answers where Liu Guan responded flawlessly, the old master would have made him stand by the lake all night.
Liu Guan returned to the dormitory. Li Huai opened the door and asked, "How was it?"
Liu Guan held up his right hand and snapped his fingers proudly. "There's no problem in the world I, Liu Guan, can't solve."
Li Huai, sharp-eyed, asked, "Aren't you left-handed?"
Liu Guan immediately cursed under his breath. He sat at the table and spread out his palm. His left hand was red and swollen. He said indignantly, "That old drunk Han was definitely nursing a grudge—either the wine prices in the capital went up, or those two worthless descendants of his caused trouble again. He deliberately took it out on me. The ruler hit especially hard today."
Liu Guan had a big heart and was one of those people who could fall asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. While Li Huai and Ma Lian lay anxiously worrying about the trouble they'd face tomorrow, Liu Guan was already fast asleep.
Liu Guan slept on the outermost edge of the mat on the bed. Li Huai's bedding was against the wall. Ma Lian slept in the middle.
Li Huai couldn't sleep. Leaning against the wall by moonlight, he held a painted wooden puppet and muttered to himself.
Ma Lian asked softly, "Li Huai, why haven't you been playing with Li Baoping lately?"
Li Huai said casually, "I've been scared of her since I was a kid. Besides, constantly hanging out with a girl is a bad look. If people misunderstand and think I like Li Baoping, and rumors start flying, she'll beat me within an inch of my life."
Ma Lian let out an "oh," feeling a bit disappointed.
He thought that girl in the red cotton-padded jacket was really pretty.
If he could just catch a glimpse of her from afar at the academy someday, he'd be happy the whole day.
Ma Lian was silent for a long time. Li Huai was still waving that painted wooden puppet around, pretending to be a commanding general, playing without tiring.
Ma Lian knew that inside Li Huai's little green bamboo box were a bunch of things Li Huai liked most.
Ma Lian suddenly asked, "Li Huai, that Chen Ping'an you always talk about—you've been at the academy almost three years now. Why has he never come to see you?"
Li Huai stopped his movements and stared blankly into space. Finally, he smiled and said, "He's busy."
Ma Lian noticed that Li Huai quickly lay down on the straw mat, placing the painted puppet beside his head. Normally, Li Huai would mess around for a good half an hour. Today was an exception.
Li Huai actually lay there with his eyes wide open, staring at the moonlight outside the window.
The green bamboo book box, a pair of straw sandals, and a jade hairpin engraved with "Huai Yin," made of inkstone jade.
These three things were Li Huai's most treasured possessions.
Li Baoping and Lin Shouyi also had hairpins like that one. Chen Ping'an had given them all together back then. But Li Huai felt theirs weren't as good as his.
There was also a book called "Splitting Water at the Great Cliff," bought at Red Candle Town, paid for with Chen Ping'an's silver.
And then there was this painted puppet that Li Huai often took out to play with and show off. Along with the delicate yellow wooden box, it was loot they'd divided up from Wei Po, the Earth God of Qidun Mountain. The puppet was Li Huai's number one general.
Back then, Li Huai had wanted to give it to Chen Ping'an, but Chen Ping'an didn't take it. He just told Li Huai to keep it safe.
So he'd tucked it inside that "Splitting Water at the Great Cliff" book.
There was also a set of lifelike clay figurines, given by Wei Jin of the Wind and Snow Temple. They weren't as "tall and mighty" as the painted puppet. The five clay figurines were only half a finger tall: a wandering swordsman, a Taoist with a whisk, a general in armor, a woman riding a crane, and a night watchman with a gong. Li Huai had given them all nicknames and bestowed them with titles like General So-and-so.
That Sword Immortal Wei who flew around had said some things back then, but Li Huai had long forgotten them. Something about Yin-Yang schools, Mohist puppet arts, Taoist talisman sects, or whatever—Middle Eighth Realm Qi refiners, things like that. At the time, he'd been too busy having fun to pay attention to all that messy stuff. Later, when introducing the clay figurines to his two friends, he wanted to boast about how valuable those five little guys were. He racked his brains but couldn't spin a good story. Only then did he remember this. But he didn't go ask Li Baoping or Lin Shouyi, who had good memories. He just thought that since Chen Ping'an had said he'd come to the academy to see them, he'd just ask Chen Ping'an when he arrived. Anyway, Chen Ping'an remembered everything.
There was also a piece of paper with the character "Qi" written on it, which Teacher Qi had asked them to copy back then.
But it seemed Chen Ping'an had forgotten about them.
At first, he would write letters to Li Baoping and send her scroll paintings. Later, it seemed even the letters stopped.
---
Compared to Li Huai's petty squabbles with his two friends of the same age.
Lin Shouyi was already recognized as the favored son of heaven at Cliff Academy.
He excelled at both scholarship and cultivation, deeply valued by many of the academy's masters.
Early on, he had followed an old immortal well-versed in thunder magic on travels through the Great Sui mountains and rivers. He spent almost half his time inside the academy and half outside.
The last person to receive this treatment was the youngest worthy scholar of Guanhu Academy in Great Sui, who was praised by the Vice Academy Principal for having the character of a gentleman.
As he grew older, Lin Shouyi transformed from a graceful young boy into a dashing noble youth. More and more women inside and outside the academy admired him. Many marriageable young women from the top noble families of the Great Sui capital would come specifically to this academy built atop Little East Mountain, just to catch a glimpse of Lin Shouyi from afar.
A transcendent aura, as if he were leaving the human world behind, gradually took shape within Lin Shouyi.
As Lin Shouyi's fame grew, and because he seemed flawlessly pure like white jade, the decision-makers of many great clans in the Great Sui capital heard the name Lin Shouyi more and more often in idle chats with colleagues at government offices or in conversations with younger family members in their own courtyards. They all began to focus their attention on this young scholar to varying degrees.
As for this attention from behind the scenes, and the many daily entanglements.
Lin Shouyi, born a bastard son of a clerk in the Longquan Commandery office, neither became arrogant and complacent nor found it endlessly annoying.
Cultivating the mind was also cultivation.
The more hard work you put into tempering your resolve today and tomorrow, the fewer flaws you would have when breaking through to higher realms in the future.
Lin Shouyi had seen and heard a great deal about the rising and falling currents of Great Sui's court and countryside due to his travels. Originally, this most literarily prosperous dynasty in the north of the continent had a mournful atmosphere.
But Lin Shouyi wasn't interested in any of this.
He wasn't even particularly interested in his own homeland's Great Li Iron Cavalry's unstoppable southward advance.
Apart from the thunder magic taught by the old master of the academy, Lin Shouyi had been diligently studying the "Cloud Ascending, Clear Clear Book" obtained from Qidun Mountain.
This time, he had followed the old master to the Northern Sacred Mountain on the Great Sui border and an immortal cave dwelling called Divine Thunder Mountain. It had taken three months. Lin Shouyi had also ridden an immortal flying skiff for the first time in his life, all to get a close-up view of a thundercloud. The spectacle was magnificent and breathtaking. The old master rode the wind, leaving the swaying flying skiff, and performed a technique of grasping lightning with his bare hands, collecting it in an immortal porcelain bottle specially used to contain thunder and lightning, called a Thunder-Toothed Bottle. The old master gave it to Lin Shouyi as a gift, so that he could absorb spiritual qi from it when he returned to the academy.
Tonight, Lin Shouyi walked alone under the night sky toward the library to read ancient texts. The master on duty naturally wouldn't stop him. Confucian academies had many rules, but they weren't rigid.
He climbed the library tower and studied by lamplight until dawn.
After becoming a Qi refiner, as long as his divine energy was properly nurtured, staying up all night reading didn't tire him.
Lin Shouyi put a book back and walked to the window. It was the time between night and day when the turbid qi of the earth sank and the pure qi rose.
The world as seen by a Qi refiner was entirely different from that seen by ordinary mortals.
Mortal eyes and flesh couldn't see the flow of spiritual qi, the rise of baleful qi, the gathering of yang qi, or the dispersal of yin qi.
But ordinary mortals had their cave dwellings' gates tightly shut. While they couldn't receive the immersion and refinement of spiritual qi or prolong their lives, they were also free from the stirring and buffeting of all kinds of energetic winds in the world. Life, aging, sickness, and death were all determined by heaven.
Cui Dongshan had once recited a poem.
It made Lin Shouyi yearn for it immensely.
"The wind is high, the waves are swift. For ten thousand miles, I ride on a toad's back. Wandering through the heavenly gates, I look down at the vast, hazy accumulated air. Drunk immortals shake the cassia tree, and mortals call it the pure breeze."
After entering the academy and reading through those yellowed ancient texts, he heard that ancient immortals could indeed go to the Sun Hall and Moon Palace, drink celestial brews with the deities, and become drunk for a thousand years.
Lin Shouyi was filled with longing for this.
Lin Shouyi suddenly sighed.
If that day ever came, he hoped that woman would be by his side—the one with the willowy grace.
Thinking of her, he couldn't help but smile.
If the women of the Great Sui capital saw this, their hearts would probably be set aflutter.
Over the past few years, Lin Shouyi occasionally thought back to that adolescent journey. It had been thrilling but ultimately safe, full of novelties at every turn. Seeing mountain and river spirits for the first time, seeing an Earth God for the first time, obtaining cultivation fortune for the first time, staying in an immortal inn wreathed in immortal aura for the first time, seeing life-sized painted door gods for the first time. Receiving a small book box and a jade hairpin as gifts for the first time. For the first time, in the unfamiliar Cliff Academy in Great Sui, sharing a common enemy with those who had traveled there together, and getting through difficulties as one.
Lin Shouyi suddenly felt regret.
It seemed that after that person left, everyone had scattered. Even though they were still in the same academy and often ran into each other, their hearts were no longer together.
A clear, shallow headwater stream had begun to branch off, each branch going its own way. Even though they seemed to grow larger—some becoming cheerful mountain streams like Li Huai, some becoming surging rivers like himself, some becoming lakes that chose to stop and wait like Li Baoping, or deep wells and underground rivers like Yu Lu and Xie Xie—looking back at the earliest times, it had all been noise and commotion, bumps and bruises, everyone covered in mud to the knees, with straw sandals and bamboo boxes, eating in the wind and sleeping in the open, with someone standing guard...
Lin Shouyi sighed.
Those days were gone forever.
---
Yu Lu had initially been alone in his dormitory. Later, Prince Gao Xuan moved in, and the two became inseparable, bosom friends.
But not long ago, Yu Lu became a "loner" again. Gao Xuan had quietly left Cliff Academy and gone to the Linlu Academy on Piyun Mountain in Longquan Commandery. Ostensibly to study, but the truth was obvious to anyone with eyes: he was a hostage. After the Great Li Song clan and Great Sui Gao clan signed that sacred covenant, besides Gao Xuan, the eleventh realm gatekeeper of the Great Sui capital's Gao clan and the old flood dragon from the Yellow Court Kingdom, who had originally resigned as an official to retire in seclusion, also became Vice Academy Principals of the newly built Linlu Academy in Great Li.
At the time, Yu Lu had escorted Gao Xuan to the academy's foot and then refused to see him further.
This morning, Yu Lu, breaking precedent, knocked on the gate of a single-family courtyard.
The person who opened the door was Xie Xie.
Yu Lu saw Xie Xie holding a broom.
Even though Cui Dongshan had left the academy for some time, it seemed she still diligently carried out her maidservant duties every day.
Xie Xie said flatly, "What do you want?"
Yu Lu smiled. "Suddenly realized it's been a long time since we last met. Thought I'd come see you."
Xie Xie asked, "You've seen me now. So?"
Yu Lu said helplessly, "Is it too much to ask for a cup of tea inside?"
Xie Xie hesitated for a moment, then let this young man, whom she should have respectfully addressed as His Highness the Crown Prince, enter the courtyard.
The courtyard wasn't large, and it was very clean. If it were autumn, when leaves easily fell, or spring, when catkins drifted, it would probably be harder work.
Xie Xie pointed toward the main house. Its door was tightly shut. The veranda under the eaves was paved with green bamboo joints laid side by side, like a large straw mat. Yu Lu could even imagine that white-robed youth with a mole between his eyebrows lounging sideways there on a cool night, observing the stars.
Xie Xie reminded him, "Remember to take off your shoes before you step up. Otherwise, I'll have to clean again after you leave."
Yu Lu took off his boots and sat on the green bamboo floor. It was probably green bamboo planted by some farmer Qi refiner from an immortal manor in Great Sui. For ordinary Great Sui nobles, using it to make brush holders was already considered extravagant. When literati gave each other such gifts, it was very proper. A summer sleeping mat or a cooling bamboo chair was a matter of considerable connections and wealth. But in this courtyard, it was just... this.
Xie Xie continued with her work, not bothering to pour Yu Lu any tea. Early in the morning, what tea was there to drink? Did he still think he was the Lu Crown Prince? You, Yu Lu, were worse off than Gao Xuan now. The Ge Yang Gao family was at least holding on to the Great Sui throne, unlike those Lu remnants who were being escorted to the western mountains of Longquan to serve as laborers. They suffered under the blazing sun all year round, beaten by wind and rain, constantly whipped, or else treated like goods, bought by various mountain peaks building manor houses to serve as servants and maids. The difference between them was like heaven and earth.
Yu Lu leaned back and asked, "Xie Xie, have you ever thought about what kind of life you want in the future?"
Xie Xie sat at the stone table. "Never thought about it."
Yu Lu, wearing an academy scholar's robe, folded his hands over his stomach. "Before your master left the academy, he beat me up."
Xie Xie said mockingly, "What? Can't beat Cui Dongshan, so you come to take it out on me? As expected of a seventh realm martial artist with half a kingdom's martial fortune. But are you sure you can definitely beat me?"
After she was captured by Great Li, that lady from the palace had a Great Li consecrated sword cultivator drive several Dragon Trapping Nails into key acupoints of her body. It was extremely insidious.
Later, Cui Dongshan removed half of the Dragon Trapping Nails, restoring her cultivation to the Cavern Dwelling realm of a Qi refiner. Before Cui Dongshan left the academy, he removed a few more. Xie Xie now had only one Dragon Trapping Nail left inside her, nailed to the acupoint gate where her life-bound treasure resided. For now, she had returned to the Sea Observation realm. Moreover, Cui Dongshan had arranged many secret techniques in the courtyard, most of which he had taught Xie Xie how to activate, operate, and deactivate from the control center of the formation. So as long as Xie Xie was in the courtyard, it was like having Mao Xiaodong personally stationed at Cliff Academy.
Yu Lu sat up and smiled. "If we really fought, you'd still lose."
Xie Xie said "oh," her expression indifferent. "Then you're really something. I misjudged you. Need me to apologize?"
Yu Lu lay back down again, using his hands as a pillow, and said with a sigh, "You."
Although they were both remnants of the Lu Dynasty and should have sympathized with each other and supported each other, deep down, Xie Xie found this Yu Lu, who went with the flow, utterly detestable, and she didn't bother to hide it.
Yu Lu closed his eyes. "It's comfortable lying here. Let me nap for a bit."
Xie Xie hesitated for a moment but didn't chase him away.
She was actually a little curious why Yu Lu hadn't followed Gao Xuan to Linlu Academy.
If Yu Lu went to Great Li, at the very least he could look after the Lu remnants suffering in the depths of misery. Besides, many Lu civil and military officials had now attached themselves to Great Li and were actually trusted and valued. Many generals had even followed the Great Li Iron Cavalry south and were said to have achieved remarkable feats, beginning to integrate into the Great Li military.
Even setting all that aside, Yu Lu was now a registered resident of Great Li, a Golden Core realm martial artist at such a young age.
That alone would scare people to death.
There was one thing about the Great Li Song emperor that Xie Xie had to acknowledge: he didn't lack for magnanimity.
The same went for the vassal king Song Changjing.
No matter how you looked at it, Yu Lu should go to Linlu Academy.
But Yu Lu had insisted on staying at Cliff Academy.
Among this group of outsiders who had entered the academy together, beyond the sight of the highest levels of the Great Sui court and academy, Lin Shouyi was the most brilliant—a natural cultivation seedling with the highest future potential. The little girl in the red cotton-padded jacket, Li Baoping, was the most interesting—impossible to dislike. Xie Xie had the strongest backing. Li Huai had the most mediocre aptitude for scholarship but was the most untouchable. And Yu Lu had always been the one who attracted the least attention, easy to forget. Even after becoming friends with Prince Gao Xuan, no one felt that the young man Yu Lu was worth paying attention to. On the contrary, he seemed even more contemptible—just a young man who liked to play tricks and ingratiate himself with royalty.
Yu Lu suddenly opened his eyes. "Your master said that Chen Ping'an is already a fifth realm martial artist about to break through, and his real combat strength is even higher."
Xie Xie said with schadenfreude, "What's the matter? Afraid of being caught up?"
Yu Lu shook his head. "I will definitely be caught up."
Xie Xie frowned. "Soon?"
Yu Lu nodded. "Sooner than you can imagine."
Xie Xie asked again, "Enlightenment of martial fortune?"
Yu Lu shook his head. "Precisely because it has nothing to do with that, I find it a little... disheartening."
Xie Xie was speechless.
She couldn't imagine what Chen Ping'an would be like the next time they met.
Probably still carrying a bamboo box on his back and wearing straw sandals, just a bit taller?
---
Li Baoping also lived alone in her dormitory.
This was the only thing that Mao Xiaodong and Cui Dongshan, those two archrivals, hadn't argued about.
Because the dormitory had four beds. Logically, the little girl in the red cotton-padded jacket, living alone, should have an empty room.
But in fact, besides her own bed, the other three were completely filled—stacked with paper, neatly arranged in piles.
Her teachers had to complain to several academy masters that the little girl had already copied enough books to be punished over a hundred times. How else could they punish her?
The masters on night patrol found it both ridiculous and amusing. Almost every night, they saw the little girl copying books by lamplight, writing like the wind, diligent to an excessive degree.
At first, some old gentlemen felt indignant on the girl's behalf, mistakenly believing that the several colleagues responsible for Li Baoping's lessons were targeting her and being too strict. They privately complained a lot. But when they learned the truth, they didn't know whether to laugh or cry. The teachers said this was just the girl's hobby. They didn't actually need her to copy so many saintly writings. Occasionally, Li Baoping skipped class to daydream at the top of Little East Mountain or sneaked out of the academy to wander around. According to academy rules, she was punished by copying books afterward, but there was no need for this much. The problem was the girl liked copying books—how could they stop her? Other academy students, especially the lively ones their age, had to be forced by their masters with canes and rulers to copy books. But this little girl had already copied a mountain of books on her own.
Fortunately, this little girl, known to everyone in the academy, was still quite endearing despite her occasional truancy that angered the teachers. Of course, besides her bizarre questions, which often gave the masters headaches. How did her little head hold so many incredible ideas? Why do all the rivers in the world like to twist and turn? Master, do you know the answer? When it rains heavily, do the mosquitoes outside the dormitory get killed by raindrops? Master, do you know? Because after it clears up, I looked on the ground for a long time and couldn't find a single mosquito corpse. Those fish in the lake, why don't they burst from drinking so much water? Master, you don't know either, right? Is it written in a book? I'll just go look it up myself...
In the end, the several masters who taught the little girl, besides having headaches, joked among themselves that maybe they should compile a collection of "Li Baoping's Questions."
---
Today, Li Huai, for some unknown reason, didn't follow Liu Guan and Ma Lian. He said he needed to go to the toilet, but he went alone to the summit of East Mountain.
As luck would have it, he saw Li Baoping sitting on a tree branch, wearing a red skirt and jacket.
Li Huai didn't dare say hello. He just lay on the stone table at the mountaintop, looking at that girl who often came here to climb trees from afar.
After Li Baoping finished daydreaming, she hugged the tree trunk with practiced ease, slid to the ground, and sprinted off.
She also saw Li Huai over there, raising his arm high but unable to speak.
Li Baoping only glanced at him, then turned her head and ran down the mountain like the wind.
For a moment, Li Huai felt wronged and hurt. He found a twig from the ground, squatted down, and started drawing circles and scribbling.
Suddenly, Li Huai's eyes lit up. He remembered that last time he wrote the characters for "Mom" and "Dad," they had indeed come to the academy to see him.
So if he wrote Chen Ping'an's name, would that work too?
Li Huai grinned and started writing the three characters for "Chen Ping'an."
Before he could finish, a hand reached out and wiped away the characters that were just one stroke short of completion.
Li Huai was baffled. He saw Li Baoping, who had somehow turned back.
Li Huai stubbornly started writing the character "Chen" again. Li Baoping reached out and erased it.
If it were any other time, Li Huai might have backed down. But today, he seemed to have eaten a bear's heart and leopard's gall. He steeled himself and started to write again.
Li Baoping said nothing. When Li Huai wrote with the twig, she reached out and erased it.
In the end, by the time Li Huai broke the twig, he still hadn't managed to write a complete "Chen" character on the ground, let alone the "Ping'an" that came after.
Li Huai threw away the broken half of the twig and began to wail.
Li Baoping ignored him. She picked up the twig, squatted down herself—her chin, already a little pointed, resting on one arm—and began to write the characters "Little Master Uncle." After she finished, she seemed satisfied and nodded.
Li Huai roughly wiped his face, sniffling. "Li Baoping, if you keep bullying me like this, when Chen Ping'an comes, I'll tell on you! If he gets mad, maybe he won't want to be your Little Master Uncle anymore!"
Li Baoping switched to a different calligraphy style and continued writing "Little Master Uncle," staring intently at the ground, completely ignoring Li Huai's threat.
Li Huai suddenly squeezed out a smile and carefully asked, "Li Baoping, just let me write those three characters, okay? It's really effective! Maybe tomorrow Chen Ping'an will be at our academy. Honest, not lying. Last time I thought of my parents and wrote like this, they both came. You know that."
Li Baoping didn't look up, just handed over the twig.
Li Huai was overjoyed. But just as the twig touched the ground, Li Baoping frowned and said, "Write it properly!"
Li Huai was so startled his hand shook, and the characters immediately became crooked beyond recognition. He said tearfully, "What are you doing?!"
Li Baoping helped erase the marks.
Li Huai's tears turned to laughter, and he began to seriously write the character "Chen."
After he finished.
Li Baoping looked around. "Where is he?"
Li Huai said mournfully, "It's not that fast."
Li Baoping got up and ran swiftly to the big tree. Standing on a branch, she looked into the distance.
Li Huai's eyes darted around, sensing trouble. He dropped the twig and started to run.
But he couldn't outrun Li Baoping. She caught up to him quickly after coming down from the tree. Li Huai was so scared he squatted down and covered his head.
But this time, Li Baoping, breaking precedent, didn't hit him. She ran along the mountain path all the way to the academy's main gate, heading off to wander the streets and alleys of the Great Sui capital.
While Li Baoping was bustling about the capital's streets, and Li Huai, having survived the ordeal, was returning to the dormitory—
At the main gate of Great Sui's Cliff Academy.
A travel-worn group of four: a young man in white carrying a sword and a bamboo box on his back smiled and handed a travel pass to an elderly Confucian scholar at the gate.
The old scholar looked at it for a long time. The front and back were densely stamped with seals from various countries and regions across two continents. The old man was full of surprise. He looked up and smiled. "This Master Chen has traveled to so many places?"
The young man visiting the academy smiled and nodded.