Chapter 414: The Joys and Sorrows That Sway at the Heart's Tip
The academy had already become a small world presided over by a sage. At the summit of East Hua Mountain, another hidden paradise existed.
After Mao Xiaodong performed his great divine ability, the weather at the mountaintop had already turned to the golden autumn season.
The autumn sky was clear and crisp.
Chen Ping'an sat in the due west position. Before him lay a five-colored golden cauldron. Using the spiritual qi stored and nurtured in the Water Treasury to "fan the flames," and using the true qi of a pure martial artist to "ignite the fire," he drove clusters of refining true fire to blaze fiercely within the furnace.
The furnace suddenly radiated brilliant light, like a human sun in the mortal world.
That golden literary courage hovered above the furnace, slowly descending.
Chen Ping'an was no stranger to this. Step by step, following the immortal object-refining technique derived from the Immortal's Rain-Praying Stele before the Mai River Water God Temple, he controlled a jar of golden sand the size of a palm, sprinkling it into the furnace. The fire surged even more violently, illuminating Chen Ping'an's entire face a bright, vivid red, especially those clear eyes that had seen a thousand mountains and rivers, becoming even more extraordinarily spirited. The hands that had once fired ceramics and shaped clay countless times did not tremble in the slightest. The lake of his heart was like a mirror, and an ancient well within remained undisturbed, without ripples.
That golden literary courage, "cut out" from the chest by the City God Shen Wen, rose and fell within the furnace, slowly rotating and tumbling.
It contained centuries of incense offerings from devout men and women of the Colored Garment Kingdom, year after year. It also held the majestic righteousness of the civil official Shen Wen, who maintained a wisp of undying true spirit after death. Additionally, there was the divine luminescence nurtured from day-and-night companionship with a seal personally engraved by the Grand Heavenly Master of Dragon Tiger Mountain—sparks of starlight, like grains of stars scattered across the night sky for the first time.
Among the numerous heavenly materials and earthly treasures, the most difficult to refine were the relic saber of a Martial Sage from the military temple of a certain kingdom within Vase Bottle Continent, and the millennium ox horn half a zhang in length.
Chen Ping'an's mind was calm and at peace. He simply proceeded steadily, making no mistakes, slowly refining with the immortal technique of "all things can be refined."
The saber that had once followed that Martial Sage through a lifetime of military campaigns hovered above the furnace, gradually dissolving. Starting from the tip of the blade, golden droplets melted and fell into the five-colored golden cauldron. As time went on, the droplets fell faster and faster, forming a continuous string. If someone could use inner vision to inhabit the small world inside the furnace and look up, that string of droplets would resemble a golden heavenly river waterfall descending into the mortal world.
Gold governs the lungs.
To nourish the lungs, cultivators had long discovered a pattern: the three acupoints of the Sea of Qi, the Danzhong, and the Lung Shu were of utmost importance.
As Chen Ping'an breathed, he intentionally used the operation method of Sword Qi Eighteen Stops to channel his vital energy through these three qi mansions and three passes. Immediately, the sword qi became like a rainbow. Chen Ping'an's outwardly manifested skin rose and fell slightly, like drumming on a battlefield. At the summit of East Hua Mountain, no sound was heard, but within the small world of his body, the three battlefields were filled with a killing intent dominated by sword qi, like three vast battlefield ruins where sword immortals' spirits refused to rest.
The more than thirty heavenly materials and earthly treasures had a precise sequence for refinement. They had to enter the furnace at predetermined times, without the slightest error, and the furnace's heat could not deviate.
At that moment, Mao Xiaodong, as the Confucian sage presiding over the academy, could use a pure secret technique to remind Chen Ping'an without worrying about distracting him and causing a qi deviation.
But Chen Ping'an did not give him that opportunity.
Chen Ping'an remained fully focused, his mind free of distractions. Using the immortal object-refining technique, he transformed each heavenly material and earthly treasure from substantial to insubstantial. Using the Water Treasury's continued spiritual qi and bursts of newly generated pure true qi, he carefully controlled the furnace's heat. With Sword Qi Eighteen Stops, he strengthened the "battlefield" momentum of the three qi mansion passes. Since the refinement of this golden literary courage involved Confucian cultivation, compared to ordinary qi refiners refining their lifebound objects, there was an additional great trouble: he had to silently recite texts related to the metal element of the Five Phases, such as those sages' writings and poems containing characters like "west," "autumn," or "nature." Most of these were selections Chen Ping'an had chosen from bamboo slips, with a small portion being Mao Xiaodong's suggestions from the study.
This stage, in Confucian cultivation, was known as "using heartfelt words to visit and consult the sages."
Mao Xiaodong was actually quite worried about this hurdle.
In fact, the reason he had previously gone to the Great Sui capital's Confucian Temple, not only to retrieve the academy's deserved dividends but also to borrow more ritual vessels and sacrificial implements, was precisely because Mao Xiaodong feared that Chen Ping'an might make a mistake here. After all, Chen Ping'an had never been exposed to the cultivation methods of academy Confucian disciples, and there was no shortcut to hide the truth from heaven. He could only rely on the rich literary fortune contained within the temple's artifacts to compensate and forcefully break through.
But fortunately, Chen Ping'an performed even better than the old man had imagined.
This meant that Chen Ping'an had truly absorbed what he read. When a reader reads the principles in books and mutually acknowledges them, they become the foundation of Chen Ping'an's own conduct. Just like when Mao Xiaodong casually said on the way to the Confucian Temple with Chen Ping'an, "The words in books don't have legs of their own. Whether they can run into your belly and fly into your heart depends on you 'breaking' them—the 'breaking' in 'breaking through ten thousand volumes'! The principles of Confucianism are indeed numerous, but they have never been a cage to constrain people. That is the very foundation of being able to follow one's heart's desires without overstepping the bounds."
Mao Xiaodong sighed with emotion.
In the orthodox Confucian Temple of the Central Continent, there was a secret Hall of Learning, not shown to outsiders, containing all the essays and principles left by Confucian sages to the Bright World, and recognized by heaven and earth.
The characters varied in size, and the golden light varied in intensity.
The golden characters closest to the ground tended to have larger fonts and emitted brighter, purer radiance.
There had been founding patriarchs of various schools of thought, or some rising stars who had shaken the world, who came to pay homage here. They were free to display their divine abilities. Some of the higher-placed characters, already weighing ten thousand jun each, as immovable as the five sacred mountains of the Central Continent, enough to leave a lasting legacy for a hundred generations, they could shake, and even move many of those characters elsewhere. But to this day, no one had been able to move the golden characters on the ground, which were like large grains of millet.
For those were the fundamental teachings of the Supreme Sage and the Ritual Sage.
But even so, some of the characters of the Supreme Sage and the Ritual Sage, suspended at a slightly higher level in the Hall of Learning, would still have their golden luster fade and would dissipate on their own. When this first occurred in the secret history of the temple, the sages of the academies were shaken and terrified. Even the Confucian Vice-Leader stationed at the temple at the time had to hastily bathe and change clothes before going to the statues of the Supreme Sage and the Ritual Sage, lighting incense for each.
But the two sages still did not appear.
It was at that time that a scholar, not yet revered as the Second Sage by the Confucian lineage, said a sentence: "There are no eternal and unchanging doctrines under heaven, and there are no perfect essays under heaven. This is nothing to be alarmed about. Otherwise, what need would we later generations have for reading and studying?"
The Confucian Temple was thus greatly reassured.
Mao Xiaodong withdrew his thoughts and looked at the young man sitting opposite him.
In form, his divine bearing was lofty and clear, like a forest of jade trees, naturally transcending the mundane world.
In spirit, he was like a nocturnal pearl, like a miniature bright moon fallen from the mortal world, not yet reclaimed by the moon palace immortals, with countless fragments like brilliant starlight, resembling a myriad of stars surrounding the moon.
To have such a junior martial brother.
As his senior brother, how could one not feel honored?
This had nothing to do with birth status or level of cultivation.
His master was the Literary Sage, his senior brothers included Qi Jingchun and Zuo You, he had long known Ah Liang, and was favored by the Rites College. He had even once sought the Way from that Central Continent scholar who had opened the Yellow River Small Heaven with a single sword.
He too had experienced many great opportunities, walked many paths of learning, met countless lofty recluses, and even drunk countless jars of wine with the Ancestor of the Farmer's Sect, traveling ten thousand miles together.
But Mao Xiaodong still felt he was inferior to Chen Ping'an.
Because Mao Xiaodong had missed too much, failed to grasp it.
Cui Dongshan had once inadvertently mentioned the most dangerous part of Chen Ping'an's mental journey after leaving the Pearl Grotto-Heaven.
It was not about fighting and killing, but about Ah Liang finding him.
In that trial, which seemed to have only blessings and no risks, if Chen Ping'an's mind had wavered in the slightest, he would have become like Zhao Yao. Perhaps in the years to come, he might have had his own opportunities, like Zhao Yao, but Chen Ping'an would have definitely missed Ah Liang, missed Qi Jingchun, missed the greatest opportunity Qi Jingchun had worked so hard to secure for him, missed the Old Scholar, and finally missed the woman he had set his heart on. One wrong step, step after step wrong, and the entire game would be lost.
Mao Xiaodong had to ask, "Then on what basis did Chen Ping'an survive the danger?"
Cui Dongshan gave a very unserious answer: "My master knows he's stupid, of course. And he had some luck too."
Mao Xiaodong wanted to get to the bottom of it, but Cui Dongshan was unwilling to say more.
In the end, the ritual vessels and sacrificial implements Mao Xiaodong had brought from the capital's Confucian Temple did not provide timely aid; they were just the icing on the cake.
But Mao Xiaodong was, of course, even happier about that.
It meant that the grade of this golden literary courage refined into a lifebound object would be higher.
It would naturally be inferior to the Water-Character Seal, but where in the world could one find another seal carved with Qi Jingchun's own spirit and qi?
Even Mao Xiaodong felt a sense of regret for Chen Ping'an, that the Mountain-Character Seal had been destroyed at the Flood Dragon Gully. Otherwise, creating the great pattern of "mountains and waters depending on each other" would have allowed him, after successfully refining two lifebound objects, to not just break through the bottleneck of the second realm and reach the peak of the second realm of Qi Refining so simply. He would have surely reached the peak of the third realm! Even if the remaining three lifebound objects were of poor grade, as long as he gathered the five elemental attributes, he would inevitably break through the first major threshold of Qi Refining and reach the middle five realms directly!
But Mao Xiaodong also knew that taking Qi Jingchun's Mountain-Character Seal to Inverted Mountain would likely cause great upheavals.
These seemingly untraceable gains and losses were probably the "fundamental learning" that was even more intrinsic to Chen Ping'an than his fist techniques, sword practice, reading, and even some principles he had already comprehended.
On this matter, Cui Dongshan actually had the deepest research. The distinction between gods and humans, deep within the soul, why one is human—Cui Dongshan and Cui Chan had traveled extremely far on this subtle and profound path, perhaps farther than anyone else in the world.
It was said that before Cui Chan decided to rebel against the Literary Sage's lineage, he went to the Hall of Learning in the Central Confucian Temple. There, he said nothing, just looked at the golden characters like grains of millet on the ground for three whole days and nights, only looking at the lowest ones, not a single character at a higher level.
Mao Xiaodong sighed softly.
Regardless, being able to smoothly refine this golden literary courage into a lifebound object was already an extraordinary opportunity.
Do not seek perfection in matters; do not set your heart too high.
No longer letting his mind wander, Mao Xiaodong poured the literary fortune from the ritual vessels and sacrificial implements into the furnace one after another, his technique reaching the pinnacle of subtlety.
Thus, in Shi Rou's eyes, the flow of time on the mountaintop was tinged with a layer of golden luster, a breathtakingly beautiful scene.
The five-colored, cloud-like aura surrounding the furnace suddenly fell silent, and the mist dispersed.
The golden literary courage, lying quietly at the bottom of the five-colored golden cauldron, turned into a golden liquid, then slowly "grew" and rose to become a one-finger-tall Confucian-robed scholar with a sword on his back. But he was entirely golden. With a jump, he landed on the edge of the furnace's top, looking up at Chen Ping'an. His face was still blurry, not yet clearly formed, roughly resembling Chen Ping'an's appearance. Besides the long sword on his back, he had a few small golden books tied with thin golden threads at his waist. The little golden Confucian-robed figure said in a world-weary tone, "Read more! And, as you yourself said, 'It is great that one can correct one's mistakes!'"
Chen Ping'an, drenched in sweat, wiped his forehead and nodded with a smile, "Let's encourage each other."
The little golden Confucian scholar transformed into a rainbow streak, quickly flew into an acupoint in Chen Ping'an's lungs, sat cross-legged, and picked up one of the books tied at his waist, beginning to read.
Besides that, a golden literary courage hovered in the cave dwelling, actually one with the little Confucian-robed figure with a sword and books.
Mao Xiaodong was momentarily stunned, then frowned.
Chen Ping'an asked in confusion, "Is there something wrong?"
Mao Xiaodong's expression turned serious, and he asked, "As for that golden literary courage refined into a lifebound object, it condensed into a Confucian-robed scholar. I don't find that too surprising or strange. But why did it say that sentence?"
Chen Ping'an thought carefully for a moment, then said, "After I learned to read and write, I've always been afraid that the principles I've summarized might be wrong. So whether it was facing that green-clad child back then, or later Pei Qian, or Cui Dongshan asking me those two questions, I was always afraid that my understanding might actually be reasonable for me, but wrong for others, or at least insufficiently comprehensive and profound. So I was worried about misleading others."
Mao Xiaodong relaxed, instead smiling with satisfaction, "This is... very right!"
Mao Xiaodong stood up, waved his hand, and withdrew the sage's divine ability at the mountaintop, but the academy's small world remained. He instructed, "I'll give you the time it takes to burn an incense stick. Next, you can take out that golden jade plaque inscribed with 'I nourish my vast, righteous qi' and absorb the remaining literary fortune from the ritual vessels and sacrificial implements. Don't worry about overstepping your bounds and inadvertently stealing East Hua Mountain's literary fortune and spiritual qi. I'll weigh the pros and cons myself. After this, you'll be a bona fide second-realm Qi Refiner."
Chen Ping'an hurriedly stood up to thank him.
Mao Xiaodong waved his hand, complaining, "I really don't know who you learned this overly polite attitude from, Junior Martial Brother."
Chen Ping'an joked, "Maybe from the old Literary Sage?"
Mao Xiaodong immediately put on a stern face and said seriously, "You must properly understand the master's good intentions!"
Chen Ping'an said awkwardly, "I was joking."
Mao Xiaodong scolded, "The master's teachings are in words, in deeds, in every little detail. As a junior, how can you be careless? How can you joke about this!"
Chen Ping'an had no choice but to nod.
Mao Xiaodong turned around, a smile on his face. Where was there any sign of anger? Junior Martial Brother, you're still too green.
At the mountaintop, the river of time flowed slowly backward. The golden autumn retreated back to the midsummer scene. Falling leaves returned to the branches, and withered yellow turned back to lush green.
After Mao Xiaodong left, Chen Ping'an took out the golden jade plaque, held it in his hand, and began to absorb the residual literary fortune at the summit of East Hua Mountain that had not been refined by the furnace.
A small golden stream, as thick as a thumb, coiled around the jade plaque, then slowly flowed into it.
From the jade plaque, it then merged into Chen Ping'an's palm, heading towards the qi mansion where the golden literary courage Confucian-robed figure resided.
Along the way, it moistened Chen Ping'an's heart-field.
When the golden literary fortune stream surged into the qi mansion, the Confucian-robed figure immediately stopped reading, laughed uncontrollably, and hopped and danced about.
This was probably Chen Ping'an's rarely exposed childlike nature, which had surfaced as he grew up.
After the golden stream stagnated in the cave dwelling, the little figure waded through the water, walked to the entrance of the cave dwelling, and shouted loudly. A fire dragon, transformed from pure true qi, flew over.
With a jump, it sat on the dragon's head, shouting and hollering, swinging its legs vigorously, riding the dragon to patrol this small world of the human body.
When Chen Ping'an saw this through his inner vision, he felt a bit embarrassed.
How could "he" be so mischievous?
It didn't seem much better than Gu Can and the green-clad child, did it?
————
Mao Xiaodong had actually been quietly observing all along.
In the end, Chen Ping'an used the golden jade plaque to absorb all the literary fortune from the Great Sui Confucian Temple, not a drop left.
And even though refining the lifebound object had nearly exhausted the accumulated spiritual qi of that Water Treasury, and he was now a genuine Qi Refiner, he didn't take a single bit of East Hua Mountain's literary fortune, or even the relatively less valuable spiritual qi, even though his senior brother had already given him permission.
It was only at this moment that Mao Xiaodong felt he roughly understood why Chen Ping'an had been able to survive that dangerous mental journey.
Self-restraint.
It was that simple.
Such an almost pedantic and rigid adherence to rules, a cultivator who didn't know how to maximize benefits, would give the clever people of the world every reason to sneer and mock.
Thus, the principles derived by Chen Ping'an would make unreasonable people particularly detest him.
Mao Xiaodong's heart suddenly trembled.
That boulder pressing down on his state of mind, the obstruction that had almost cut off Mao Xiaodong's path to the upper five realms, seemed to begin to loosen.
Principles were not confined to any single lineage.
He, Mao Xiaodong, respected his master and had resolved to follow only his master in this life, but he didn't need to be bound by sectarian views, to deliberately exclude the teachings of the Ritual Sage for the sake of the academy's literary fortune and incense.
Some principles in the world were interconnected and complemented each other.
Mao Xiaodong sat in his study, gently removed the ruler of discipline, placed it on the desk, and began to close his eyes in contemplation.
Accumulated thickness, a sudden enlightenment, heaven and earth shifting, the wind and moon bright and clear.
————
At the courtyard corridor, Cui Dongshan sat up, startled. "That blockhead Mao Xiaodong is about to achieve union with the Dao?"
Cui Dongshan fell backward, flailing his arms and legs like a white turtle turned over on its back. He shouted loudly, "How am I still a lousy Nascent Soul? How am I supposed to live? I have no face to see my master! Someone, come and kill me!"
————
Bee Tail Ferry.
Three old men walked side by side.
They seemed around the same age, but in reality, they were vastly different.
The old man native to this place had come and gone before but had never wanted to show himself, simply tired of worldly entanglements.
But this time, another old geezer said, "You're not a rat in the streets, so sneaking around like that is ridiculous."
So the three of them swaggered onto the streets of Bee Tail Ferry.
The old man named Liu Laocheng had already noticed some shocked gazes, but pretended not to see them. Smiling bitterly inwardly, he silently led the other two towards the ancestral home in that alley.
Liu Laocheng thought, if you knew the identities of these two with me, you'd probably be scared out of your wits.
Besides him, Liu Laocheng, whose ancestral home was right here at Bee Tail Ferry, where the three kingdoms of Green Luan, Qingshan, and Yunxiao met, was the only person from Vase Bottle Continent still alive to have broken into the upper five realms as a wild cultivator.
The other two were Gao Mian, the former chief of the Invincible Divine Fist Gang. For the sake of martial brotherhood, he had fallen from Jade Pure realm back to Nascent Soul realm twice, a famous cultivator of Vase Bottle Continent.
He was a close friend of Liu Laocheng, so Liu Laocheng had specifically called him for this trip to compete for the fragments of Du Mao's glass-golden body after his failed ascension.
Gao Mian was short, dressed in coarse linen, full of bandit aura, and looked ferocious. He resembled a wild cultivator more than Liu Laocheng.
As for the last old man, a cultivator from another continent in a long robe, even if he had shouted his own name without Liu Laocheng and Gao Mian to vouch for him, absolutely no one would have believed him.
His surname was Xun, given name Yuan.
The former sect master of the Jade Gui Sect, the number one person in the Immortal realm of Tongye Continent.
Jiang Shangzhen, the head of the Jiang clan of the Cloud Nest Grotto-Heaven, a domineering great cultivator, had to behave himself when he saw his sect master Xun Yuan... to be precise, he had to act like a Jade Pure realm immortal.
At the end of that alley, which harbored hidden dragons and crouching tigers, Gao Mian blustered, "Old Liu, when is that Jiang Yun kid coming to our gang to serve as a patron? He's so handsome. I bet he can trick quite a few fairies into visiting my mountain."
Liu Laocheng said helplessly, "My disciple goes to the Divine Fist Gang just so you can feast your eyes on all kinds of fairies? How am I supposed to bring this up to Jiang Yun? Why don't you lend me your face?"
Gao Mian strode across the threshold, "Stop pretending with me. Back when we wandered the jianghu together, you learned that heretical secret art. What were you after? Besides stealing artifacts, how many fairies did you..."
Liu Laocheng covered Gao Mian's mouth, furious and embarrassed, "Who hasn't had a period of youthful indiscretions? Why bring up these useless things? Aren't you afraid of making Old Master Xun sick?"
Xun Yuan smiled amiably, "No, no."
Gao Mian sat down in the courtyard, waving his hand grandly, "Old Liu, go buy a few jars of the most authentic Well Immortal Brew. That brat Jiang Yun definitely finished off what we had at home. No need to even think about it."
Liu Laocheng excused himself from Xun Yuan and left the courtyard to buy wine.
When he came back, he saw the two fellows once again admiring the "water-moon mirrors" of many medium and small mountain sects in Vase Bottle Continent that had "profitable ways." It was a scroll painting. Gao Mian had already prepared a large pile of immortal money, and the old immortal Xun Yuan had even more on the table before him.
Liu Laocheng was genuinely not interested in these things, but when he handed a jug of Well Immortal Brew to Xun Yuan, he politely remarked, "Old Master truly has refined tastes."
Xun Yuan nodded with a smile.
On the scroll was a "fairy" burning incense and painting. Her figure was alluring, and she had deliberately chosen a somewhat tight-fitting dress. Since the scene in the scroll could be rotated by the viewer at will, even the size of the embroidered stool she sat on was meticulously considered. Her voluptuous curves were fully revealed.
Gao Mian glanced sideways at the formally seated Xun Yuan, gave a derisive snort, and rotated the scroll scene slightly. Immediately, it became a moving picture of a side view of a mountain peak, and with a slight movement of his fingers, the woman in the scroll suddenly enlarged a few times, while the surrounding scenery receded from the scroll.
Gao Mian didn't forget to mock, "Pretending to be proper?"
Xun Yuan smiled sheepishly, as if afraid to retort.
Liu Laocheng drank his wine by himself, feeling quite helpless.
It was said that the two Dao-companions from different continents had first become acquainted through a fight. In the jianghu of Vase Bottle Continent's various water-moon mirrors, Gao Mian, known by the alias "Jade-faced Little Gentleman" and also called "Martial Tenth Realm," was true to his words and deeds. As the former chief of the Invincible Divine Fist Gang, he had a fiery temper and liked to curse people, especially those affected and snobbish fairies. He most detested seeing them fawn over one or two gullible patrons, openly flirting while neglecting the other viewers. Meanwhile, Xun Yuan, who styled himself "One-foot Spear," had always silently thrown immortal money without saying anything, even when he saw something he didn't like.
But as the two of them threw more and more money and grew more famous, they eventually clashed over the question of who was the number one fairy of Vase Bottle Continent: He Xiaoliang of the Divine Declaration Sect or Su Jia of Zhengyang Mountain. They "fought fiercely," each throwing down one sentence at a time, each accompanied by a Lesser Heat coin, accumulating a huge pile. It was a sight to behold. For a time, everyone speculated which sect's old ancestor had such deep pockets, throwing Lesser Heat coins like snowflakes, yet never a word of scandal or romance with the fairies.
Many female cultivators from small mountain sects, to attract business for their masters' schools, would either willingly or be forced to let heretical qi refiners skilled in bone-reading techniques alter their innate facial features and figures. As for whether this would affect their fate or ruin their Dao cultivation, they didn't care. They simply couldn't afford to. They let those who had mastered this path do their work on their faces. When Jade-faced Little Gentleman and One-foot Spear met again, many sharp-eyed viewers immediately noticed that a fairy from some third-rate immortal sect had a significantly altered appearance. Immediately, mockery erupted, sharp and acerbic, a torrent of strange comments.
That fairy was mortified and on the verge of despair, but she didn't dare to retort a single word. She just apologized, again and again.
Thus, the more the mockery and curses poured in, the more uninhibited they became.
Unexpectedly, Jade-faced Little Gentleman suddenly threw down money and spoke up, speaking out for justice, cursing those viewers roundly. Then One-foot Spear followed suit. The two mortal enemies, for the first time ever, were united against a common foe.
In the end, after Little Gentleman had thrown away all his immortal money, he continued to curse, "Making money is hard, cultivating is hard. Did that little girl have a Dao struggle with you? Did she slaughter your entire family? Why do you have to endlessly belittle her with your words? You bastards should never have been born to your parents. If I had the great divine ability, I would go upstream along the river of time, and when your parents were fighting in bed, I'd slap the bed to pieces."
Finally, Little Gentleman threw a parting shot at One-foot Spear: "You're still a man, but your taste is off. Actually liking He Xiaoliang more than Su Jia—I can tell your cultivation won't amount to much."
After that, One-foot Spear became Jade-faced Little Gentleman's "sidekick." Whenever they met, One-foot Spear would be extremely sycophantic.
Before Gao Mian and Xun Yuan started throwing money, some people had already begun to verbally harass that fairy. In the water-moon mirrors, since no one knew who anyone else was, they were often unrestrained, habitually going down the vulgar path. Many times, when someone was admiring a scroll or a water bowl, they would have a few volumes of erotic literature popular among mortals lying nearby.
Probably due to collateral damage, the maidservant standing beside the fairy grinding ink was also implicated.
The maidservant was named Shi Qiu, a recently accepted registered disciple of this mountain sect. Whenever her mistress appeared, she would occasionally appear in the scroll, either bringing tea and water or handing over items, performing menial tasks.
In fact, her figure was even superior to that fairy's, but on the mountain, cultivation was always determined by talent and realm.
Gao Mian and Xun Yuan were old hands in this matter; they were used to it. Generally, as long as things weren't too excessive, they wouldn't say anything.
But the maidservant named Shi Qiu probably hadn't gotten used to those unbearable insults. Her eyes were red, and she bit her lip.
Misfortune never comes singly. At this angle in the scroll, Gao Mian happened to see that, under the table, the fairy, perhaps annoyed by the maidservant's mood-killing presence, quickly stomped on the maidservant's foot beside her.
Gao Mian had originally been about to start throwing immortal money, but upon seeing this, he tossed the handful of Snowflake coins back onto the pile.
He took a sip of wine from his jug and snorted coldly, "Another bitch like that. All that bookish aura she brought from a secular aristocratic family wasted."
Xun Yuan smiled faintly.
Gao Mian felt a bit deflated and just drank.
Liu Laocheng reminded him, "Old Gao, take it easy. When you're not drinking, you're from Vase Bottle Continent. When you've had wine, the entire Vase Bottle Continent belongs to you. This is my ancestral home; it can't handle your drunken temper!"
Gao Mian snorted coldly, then suddenly asked, "Little Ascension, what do you think of the name 'Invincible Divine Fist Gang'?"
Xun Yuan stared fixedly at the scroll and replied without hesitation, "Strong, invincible, domineering. It stands out like a crane among chickens in Vase Bottle Continent. One of a kind!"
Gao Mian nodded, "You've got good taste. At least you know to speak the truth from the heart to me."
Liu Laocheng held it in, but couldn't help saying to Xun Yuan, "Old Master Xun, what are you doing? It's one thing to let this old scoundrel Gao have his way in other matters, but this ridiculous gang name he came up with makes his mountain disciples hang their heads in shame. And you still praise him so insincerely? I, Xu Laocheng... I really can't stand it!"
Xu Laocheng of Bee Tail Ferry, the number one wild cultivator in Vase Bottle Continent, a Jade Pure realm great cultivator who had fought his way to prominence as an unaffiliated wild cultivator, had seen many strange people and events.
But Xun Yuan and Gao Mian were like this: one was a Tongye Continent immortal realm leader of immortal masters, the other was a Vase Bottle Continent sect ancestor who had fallen back to the Nascent Soul realm. If one said they hit it off immediately because they were birds of a feather, that was already rare. They didn't care about the difference in realms, nor the disparity in their mountain sects' foundations. Liu Laocheng could barely understand that. But did Xun Yuan have to go so far as to flatter Gao Mian, this illiterate, rough old man, in every possible way?
At first, Xu Laocheng had worried that Xun Yuan had ulterior motives. But after Xun Yuan risked confronting the Daoist Heavenly Lord Qi Zhen, and then "Little Ascension" went to the Heavenly Veil to negotiate with the presiding sage about the ownership of the fragmented cave heaven, and then the three of them, having nothing better to do, traveled together—even a cautious man like Liu Laocheng had to admit that Xun Yuan was thoroughly fawning over Gao Mian, and Gao Mian was thoroughly ordering Xun Yuan around.
And the two of them were... sincere about it.
Xun Yuan smiled at Liu Laocheng, "I genuinely think the name 'Invincible Divine Fist Gang' is exceptionally good."
Liu Laocheng sighed, cupped his fist, and smiled bitterly, "My respects."
Gao Mian said, "Liu Laocheng, in every other respect, you're better than Little Ascension. But when it comes to aesthetic taste, you're far inferior to Little Ascension."
Xun Yuan slapped his knee, "Exactly, exactly! Little Gentleman, your words have opened my eyes. I've been wondering why I've always felt so lonely on the path of cultivation. Today, Little Gentleman has revealed the celestial secret: it's precisely my refined aesthetic taste that has left me singing a song so lofty that few can join in! If I hadn't met Little Gentleman..."
Gao Mian slammed the table, "Enough with the flattery! I've heard more than enough of that crap in the Invincible Divine Fist Gang until my ears are calloused!"
Xun Yuan had no choice but to shut up.
There were no other water-moon mirrors to watch that day, so Gao Mian deliberately withdrew his Qi Refiner's divine ability, drank himself into a stupor, and went to sleep.
Only then did Xun Yuan dare to throw a few Lesser Heat coins into the scroll and speak, saying that if Miss Shi Qiu could appear in the scroll alone in the future, he, One-foot Spear, would be willing to support her every time.
Then Xun Yuan put away the scroll.
The joys and sorrows of the human world were as numerous as ox hairs. Xun Yuan was unwilling to wade into the mire of the secular world over these matters. He would only intervene to a certain extent.
Liu Laocheng hesitated for a long time before speaking, "Old Master Xun, as Gao Mian's friend, I'd like to presume to ask: as the sect master of the Jade Gui Sect, do you truly have no designs on Gao Mian?"
Xun Yuan shook his head and smiled, "Truly none. I was just restless from stillness and wanted to take a walk around your Vase Bottle Continent. Gao Mian is the only friend I have here. If not him, then who?"
Liu Laocheng nodded.
Xun Yuan continued, "But I do have a bit of selfish motive. For a Qi Refiner to break into the upper five realms, one seeks the term 'union with the Dao,' thereby breaking the inner demon of 'the Dao is one foot tall, the demon is ten feet tall.' How should I put it? It's like borrowing something from the heavens, which must be repaid during the Immortal realm. And for the Immortal realm to advance further, it's nothing more than cultivating the Dao and seeking truth, focusing solely on this character 'truth.'"
Liu Laocheng stood up, bowed respectfully, "I have received your teachings."
Xun Yuan shook his head and smiled, "Such clichés. With your exceptional talent, Liu Laocheng, what teachings could I give you? What could I teach you?"
Liu Laocheng smiled and sat back down, "Without Gao Mian, I believe I would never have had the chance to sit and drink with you, Old Master Xun, in this lifetime, right?"
Xun Yuan nodded, "Because we would never be kindred spirits. But that doesn't prevent me from acknowledging you, Liu Laocheng, after some interaction."
Liu Laocheng said, "I am deeply fortunate!"
Xun Yuan suddenly said, "I plan to establish a subordinate sect of the Jade Gui Sect in Vase Bottle Continent within the next hundred years, with Jiang Shangzhen as its first sect master. Would you be willing to serve as its chief patron?"
Liu Laocheng was shocked, "Does Gao Mian know about this?"
Xun Yuan shook his head, "I haven't told him. Because I consider him a true friend. You, Liu Laocheng, are not. So we can discuss these matters."
Liu Laocheng began to weigh the pros and cons.
Xun Yuan smiled and said, "Just give me a definite answer before I leave Bee Tail Ferry. Don't worry, I won't force your hand. Besides, you, Liu Laocheng, are no small talent."
Liu Laocheng nodded, "Allow me to consider it."
Even as an immortal with miraculous arts, Xun Yuan would not have known that his small gesture would have such an effect.
That young maidservant named Shi Qiu, after the mountain sect informed her that she could "open her own scroll" and receive a share of the immortal money, first stood still, enduring slaps from that fairy over a dozen times, and hearing countless curses of "slut." Shi Qiu said nothing. After the fairy vented her anger and left, she turned and walked away. Only after walking a great distance did she dare to wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth. She returned to her cramped room, closed the door, crouched down, and carefully took out that brocade pouch, clutching it in her hand. With one hand she covered her mouth tightly, sobbing sounds seeping through her fingers bit by bit.
————
In the Green Luan Kingdom, Old Vice Minister Liu Jingting had suddenly gone from being a leader of the scholar community, an arbiter of literary elegance, to being notorious, the talk of the court and the streets.
Even the peddlers and laborers began to relish the gossip, chattering about the scholar's scandalous affairs.
Lion Garden remained closed to visitors, and Liu Jingting had never spoken a single word to the outside world.
Li Baozhen had succeeded in his great scheme, leaving the southern-refugee scholar-officials without a nominal "literary alliance leader." They had to find someone else, a local strongman in the Green Luan Kingdom's literary circles who could command respect and unite people. But Liu Jingting's experience made many of the great Confucian scholars in the scholar community, who had been eager to step up, feel uneasy. The great clans and aristocratic families who had migrated to the Green Luan Kingdom had to take a step back, hoping to find a leader from among themselves. However, this made the situation complicated. Many of these clan heads had reputations no less than Liu Jingting's, but since they were all outsiders, equally powerful invasive dragons, who would truly be willing to defer to another? Who wasn't worried that the person put forward might secretly use public office for private gain?
For a time, the native scholar community of the Green Luan Kingdom was in chaos. The foreign clans behind the scenes, who had originally planned to use Liu Jingting as a puppet to check the power of the Green Luan Kingdom's Tang Emperor, were also far from at peace.
That day, Li Baozhen went to the county government office to visit Liu Qingfeng. The two of them took a walk at dusk. Li Baozhen, with a smile, made a final judgment on those leaderless scholar-officials who had fled south: "A scholar's rebellion will never succeed, even after three years."
Liu Qingfeng smiled and nodded.
A thick smile spread across Li Baozhen's face.
But inside, he was cold.
That night after Liu Qingfeng left, Li Baozhen quickly examined the "three-pronged attack" Liu Qingfeng had devised, filling in the gaps and greatly perfecting that scheme of the pen as a blade.
At the time, those pig-brained, worthless men in the hall had been full of admiration for Li Baozhen, showering him with flattery, which had had some sincerity.
But Li Baozhen felt a chill spreading through him.
Because Li Baozhen was clever enough to know that those small flaws were precisely the scraps Liu Qingfeng had intentionally left for him.
They were a way for him to establish his authority.
This was Liu Qingfeng's silent way of leaving some leeway for others.
As Li Baozhen left the government office, he couldn't help but glance back at the archway of the yamen. He murmured to himself with a smile, "It's a good thing that cultivation within the officialdom doesn't lead to any great Dao or immortality."
Thinking of those clerks and minor officials who had once sincerely admired and respected County Magistrate Liu, but now looked at him with complex, distant gazes, and some even couldn't hide their pity for Li Baozhen—this made Li Baozhen somewhat happy. His steps became a bit lighter as he quickly walked out of the government office.
When Liu Qingfeng returned to his residence, after carefully reviewing files and archives, he suddenly remembered the man outside his door, whose real name was Wang Yifu, a Grand Secretariat Secretary of the Great Li Dynasty, formerly the number one general of the Lu Dynasty at the northernmost edge of Vase Bottle Continent. He was about to become the county sheriff, in charge of the county's public security and catching bandits. To think that such talent, capable of serving as a pillar of the Great Li court, was being used in this small role as a county sheriff in the Green Luan Kingdom...
County Magistrate Liu laughed to himself.
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