Chapter 415: The Most Triumphant in the World
The Great Sui Gao Dynasty Emperor hosted the Thousand Old Men Banquet. The Great Dali emissary was none other than the former Ministry of Rites Vice Minister who had once visited Longquan Commandery. If Chen Ping'an had seen him, he would have recognized him at a glance.
Everywhere was a feast of white-haired elders. Sitting on either side of the Great Dali Vice Minister were Song Jixin and Xu Ruo, both using false names. Zhigui did not appear.
Xu Ruo still wore the traveler’s attire with a sword slung horizontally across his back.
Perhaps apart from that young Embroidery Tiger, no one knew what a great deed Xu Ruo had accomplished.
He had come face to face with Mr. Fan and, on behalf of the Great Dali Song Clan, promised one branch of the merchant families that they could barge into the middle of this gluttonous feast sweeping across the entire continent, allowing it to flourish freely, with the Great Dali Song Clan guaranteeing non-interference for thirty years.
Xu Ruo drank wine, but his thoughts were not on these grand trends and great events. Instead, he was pondering how to train Dong Shuijing—the man who still bought wontons every day—into a true Shedao Man (debt collector).
Song Jixin looked at the Great Sui Gao Dynasty Emperor, then glanced around, feeling only that the entire Great Sui court and countryside were steeped in gloom and decay.
Zhigui, or rather Wang Zhu, had remained alone in the quiet inn.
A tall, thin middle-aged Daoist used an illusion technique to conceal his true appearance. Accompanied by two True Martial Mountain cultivators, he silently entered the inn and found Zhigui leaning against the railing under the eaves, listening to the wind chimes.
The middle-aged Daoist dispelled the technique, revealing his true form. He was wreathed in immortal aura, wearing a fish-tail crown. Standing in the courtyard, he exuded a profound, far-reaching aura of coexisting with heaven and earth, like a great mountain standing firm between heaven and earth.
Zhigui merely glanced at this Dao Lord of the Shengao Sect, Qi Zhen, the orthodoxy leader of Vase Bottle Continent. As for the sword-bearing cultivator from True Martial Mountain, she didn't even deign to look at him. Her attention was more focused on the young man with a black cat squatting on his shoulder. He appeared refined and quiet, somewhat similar to that fool from Apricot Flower Lane in her memories—rather delicate. His face was slightly pale as he looked at her, filled with warm smiles and, hidden deep in his eyes, a burning desire for possession.
Zhigui didn't really like this fellow. It wasn't that she had any particular prejudice against him, but she absolutely loathed Ma Kuxuan's grandmother. That old woman seemed to possess every vile habit a marketplace hag could or couldn't have. Every time Zhigui went to the Iron Lock Well to fetch water, if she ran into that old crone, she was sure to endure a few rounds of snide, sarcastic remarks. If it weren't for the oppressive rules of Lizhu Cave Heaven back then, she would have had a hundred ways to make that long-tongued old woman wish she were dead. Later, Old Man Yang lost his mind and actually granted the old woman a stroke of fortune, making her the river spirit of Dragon Beard River in the small town. Zhigui had no choice but to wait for the right moment. One day, she would make that old woman, whose real name was Ma Lanhua, taste the torments of hell.
As for how Ma Kuxuan would react then, did she care? Not in the slightest.
Qi Zhen said with a smile, "Miss Zhigui, what Sect Master Lu instructed me to do has been done. The Shengao Sect has just acquired a new shattered blessed land. I welcome Miss Zhigui to enter and seek opportunities. I am willing to escort you all the way."
Tracing back to the source, Qi Zhen was a descendant of that Dao Two lineage, but Lu Chen was one of the three great sect masters, and was now responsible for overseeing the Jade Capital. Naturally, Qi Zhen was overjoyed to do something for Lu Chen. To have caught the attention of Sect Master Lu, Qi Zhen was firmly convinced that his future advancement to the Flying Ascension realm was no longer a mere hope. In his youth, Qi Zhen had received a prophecy from a hermit: "Even immortals must quench thirst by looking at plums." Before the twelfth realm, it was an auspicious saying. But once Qi Zhen reached the Celestial Lord realm, it became an ominous prophecy of reaching the end and waiting for death. And Sect Master Lu Chen happened to be one of the great figures across several worlds who most enjoyed changing the fates of those he favored. It was said that Sect Master Lu delighted in four leisurely pursuits, one of which was "carving rotten wood."
Ma Kuxuan's eyes were only on her. Looking at the girl he had long admired, he smiled and said, "No need to trouble the Celestial Lord. I can handle it myself."
Zhigui paid no attention to a Daoist Celestial Lord. She didn't even bother to sit up straight. Still lazily tilting her head, she looked at Ma Kuxuan. "You're the blessing that Lu Chen promised to give me? From now on, will you obey all my commands?"
Back then, when Lu Chen set up his fortune-telling stall, after meeting the Great Dali Emperor and Song Jixin, he went alone to Mud Bottle Alley and found her. He said that through a bit of scheming, he had gotten Song Zhengchun to utter a phrase that suited Lu Chen's intentions: "Let it go." This allowed him to rightfully and smoothly take Ma Kuxuan into his fold. He intended to give Ma Kuxuan to Zhigui.
Zhigui didn't care about the ins and outs. She hadn't taken it to heart at first, because she didn't think a Ma Kuxuan could amount to much. Later, when Ma Kuxuan made a name for himself at True Martial Mountain, breaking through realms twice in rapid succession, she began to think that perhaps Ma Kuxuan wasn't one of the five, but might hold some other secret. Zhigui was too lazy to think more about it. Having an extra blade in her hand couldn't be a bad thing. Currently, apart from the Fu Family of Old Dragon City, she had few underlings she could freely command.
Ma Kuxuan nodded. "I'll listen to everything you say. If you want someone killed, just say the word. As long as it's not some old turtle in the Upper Five Realms, I guarantee I'll bring back his head. As for the Upper Five Realms, wait a bit longer. I can handle them later too, and it shouldn't take too long."
Because of his infatuation with Zhigui, back in the ancestral home on Apricot Flower Lane, Ma Kuxuan had been nagged and complained about by his grandmother many times.
Only on this matter did his most doting grandmother criticize him.
Zhigui asked, "Can you kill Chen Ping'an?"
The guardian from True Martial Mountain tensed and said sternly, "Impossible."
Zhigui only stared at Ma Kuxuan.
Ma Kuxuan smiled. "At Cliff School, with a sage in residence, I can't kill Chen Ping'an. But you can give me a deadline, like a year, three years, something like that. But to be honest, if the rumors are true, the current Chen Ping'an isn't easy to kill, unless..."
Zhigui let out an "oh" and directly interrupted Ma Kuxuan's words. "Then forget it. It seems you're not that impressive either. Lu Chen isn't very generous. He gave a descendant of Celestial Lord Xie Shi, that silly Long-Browed Boy, a miniature pagoda comparable to a celestial soldier. But when it comes to me, he's so stingy."
The military cultivator from True Martial Mountain feared that Ma Kuxuan would be angered by these words. Unexpectedly, when he used a secret technique to observe Ma Kuxuan's heart-lake, it was calm as a mirror, and the mirror even showed brilliant colors symbolizing joy.
Ma Kuxuan grinned brilliantly. "Wang Zhu, just wait. One day, you'll know I'm the best. What are priceless celestial soldiers? What are favored children of heaven? When you look back then, they'll all be just trash and ants."
Zhigui found it strange. "What do you like about me? In the small town, I didn't have much interaction with you. I don't remember clearly. Maybe we never even spoke."
Being so ignored and snubbed, Ma Kuxuan still behaved in a way that would have stunned all the True Martial Mountain ancestors. He showed a rare hint of shyness but didn't give an answer.
Zhigui suddenly laughed, pointing at Ma Kuxuan. "Aren't you, Ma Kuxuan, yourself the most famous favored child of heaven in Vase Bottle Continent right now?"
Ma Kuxuan's lips curled up. In an instant, he reverted to the domineering cultivator the world knew—peerless talent, making peers despair, making old cultivators feel that centuries of their lives had been wasted on dogs. The key point was that every time Ma Kuxuan descended the mountain for tempering, or faced opponents on the True Martial Mountain arena, he was decisive, cruel, and bloody. In an instant, life and death were decided, and he always liked to eliminate the root. Whether he was in the right or not, he never showed mercy.
Ma Kuxuan said slowly, "I'm no favored child of heaven."
The black cat squatting on his shoulder curled up, raised a paw, and licked it, appearing especially docile.
Zhigui looked him over, pursed her lips. "Whatever you say."
Ma Kuxuan asked, "If one day I beat Song Jixin to death, would you be angry?"
Zhigui seemed somewhat annoyed, glaring. "Ma Kuxuan, please, before you have any real ability, talk less big. Otherwise, it's really annoying."
Ma Kuxuan laughed. "I'll listen to you."
The True Martial Mountain guardian, who had watched Ma Kuxuan grow up step by step, had mixed feelings.
Celestial Lord Qi Zhen was indifferent to all this.
He was only standing here, patiently watching these juniors chat like children playing house, out of respect for Sect Master Lu Chen, who had returned to the Jade Capital.
No matter the identities of Zhigui and Ma Kuxuan, as long as they hadn't reached the Upper Five Realms, they were just two delicate pieces of porcelain that could shatter at any moment.
Ma Kuxuan said regretfully, "I need to go to the Zhu Ying Dynasty and kill a few earth immortal sword cultivators as an opportunity to break through."
Zhigui said nonchalantly, "I don't care where you go."
Ma Kuxuan laughed heartily, turned to Qi Zhen, and said, "Then I'll ask the Celestial Lord to take us out of the city."
Qi Zhen nodded, said to Zhigui, "Until we meet again," and the three figures vanished.
The Great Sui capital's grand formation detected nothing unusual.
As if entering an unguarded place.
In all of Vase Bottle Continent's secular world, perhaps only the Great Dali capital would give this Celestial Lord some pause.
Zhigui lay on the railing, a drowsiness creeping over her. She closed her eyes, and her slender fingernail idly scraped along the railing, making a creaking sound.
She turned over, leaning her back against the railing, head tilted back, revealing her graceful curves.
She curled her fingers and flicked them one after another at the string of wind chimes under the eaves, which responded with a series of ding-dong sounds.
In the twilight.
She opened her eyes, which had golden vertical pupils.
The anomaly faded.
She stood up, graceful and tall, smiling toward the courtyard gate.
Song Jixin entered the courtyard, carrying a faint smell of wine.
She asked, "Was the Thousand Old Men Banquet fun?"
Song Jixin shook his sleeves and sighed dramatically. "Those old fossils at the banquet wished they could skin us, pull our tendons, eat our flesh, and drink our blood. Scared me to death."
Zhigui asked curiously, "Didn't we conclude a century-long alliance? We have no enmity with you, young master. Our Great Dali iron cavalry didn't even pass by their doorstep; we just went straight south. Why are they so unfriendly?"
Song Jixin slumped against the railing, thought for a moment, and replied, "They're used to the good life and can't tolerate even the slightest grievance."
Zhigui said with sudden understanding, "Ah, I see. Then this servant has a much better temper than them."
Song Jixin mistakenly thought she was referring to the trivial, messy affairs in the nearby streets and lanes back then, and smiled. "When your young master makes something of himself, I'll definitely help you vent your anger."
Zhigui hmmed and asked, "Those three books, young master still hasn't figured them out?"
Song Jixin looked tired, closed his eyes, and rubbed his face with both hands. "Maybe they're just ordinary books. I've been suspicious for nothing all this time."
Song Jixin suddenly reached into his sleeve and pulled out a yellowish, four-legged lizard, a common sight in the countryside. He tossed it carelessly on the ground. "At the banquet, it kept stirring restlessly. If Xu Ruo hadn't suppressed it with his sword intent, it would have pounced straight at the Great Sui Emperor and gnawed off his head for a midnight snack."
The maidservant crouched down, took out a Grain Rain coin, and placed it on her palm.
The four-legged lizard shrank back, hesitating to swallow the delicacy.
Song Jixin bent down, looked at the little creature with a horn-like growth on its forehead, and said helplessly, "Look at you, so spineless. Compared to that water serpent of yours at Shujian Lake, it's heaven and earth apart."
Ignoring it further, Song Jixin yawned and went into the room to sleep.
Zhigui shook her hand, but the lizard still dared not approach.
"Smart move."
Zhigui grinned and tossed the Grain Rain coin from her palm into her own mouth. The little creature seemed a bit aggrieved and let out a soft hiss.
Zhigui clenched her fist and punched it on the head. "No business for three years, then live off that business for three years. Don't you even understand that?"
She stood up, kicked the lizard so it flew into the courtyard. "You have no ability at all, yet you dare to covet the Imperial Advisor's ancient remnant form. Sneaking drools is one thing, but you got caught red-handed. How did I end up with such a useless, incompetent thing like you?"
Zhigui sat on the steps, took off one embroidered shoe, and beckoned to it.
The little creature obediently came to her feet. Still angry, she picked up the shoe and smacked it again and again.
—
On Piyun Mountain in Longquan Commandery, a new academy called Linlu Academy had been established. Gao Xuan, a prince of Great Sui, studied there. Neither Great Sui nor Great Dali made any special effort to conceal this.
This was Gao Xuan's second time entering Longquan Commandery. The first time, he had been up in the sky, needing to cross a heavenly ladder to reach Lizhu Cave Heaven. This time, he was on the ground, on the actual map of Great Dali.
Piyun Mountain was now the Northern Marchmount of Great Dali. The mountain was new, the academy was new. From the Confucian scholars who taught to the young students who sought learning, everything was new.
Linlu Academy was established by the Great Dali court. It did not yet hold the title of one of the Seventy-Two Academies. Neither the academy head nor the vice heads were particularly famous. Among them was an old vice minister from the former Great Sui vassal state of Huangting. But everyone knew that Linlu Academy was definitely aiming for that "Seventy-Two" designation. The Great Dali Song Clan was determined to achieve this.
At first, Gao Xuan thought that in the academy, he would certainly face many conflicts, or at least some disdain and coldness, if not ill-intentioned probing. Like Li Baoping and Yu Lu at Cliff School on Donghua Mountain, he figured he would have to endure some bullying as a newcomer. But after several months at Linlu Academy, Gao Xuan felt somewhat disappointed. It seemed that from the masters to the students, they didn't pay much attention to him, a student and prince from an enemy country. Almost no one showed any obvious hostility.
Gao Xuan was puzzled for quite a while. Later, the old ancestor of the Geyang Gao Clan, who was cultivating in a thatched hut on Piyun Mountain, enlightened him with a few words.
The Great Dali dynasty, in just a hundred years, had transformed from a vassal state of the Lu Dynasty—originally a muddy swamp of eunuch interference in politics and domination by imperial relatives—into the current hegemon of northern Vase Bottle Continent. During this time, wars were constant, people died, and neighboring countries were continuously annexed. Even the residents of the Great Dali capital came from all directions. There wasn't that sense of fixed status and position like in the Great Sui court. What people are now and what their ancestors were two or three hundred years ago might be entirely different.
Gao Xuan understood instantly: "Running water never stagnates; a door hinge never gets worm-eaten."
But the old Gao ancestor, who had once wandered the streets of the Great Sui capital as a storyteller, sighed, "Running water? More like running blood, isn't it?"
Whenever Gao Xuan had free time, he would carry his book box and travel alone to the western mountains of Longquan, or wander through the streets and alleys of the small town. Sometimes he would go to the newly established prefectural city to the north, or even take a slight detour to a pilgrimage road in the north that led to a mountain god temple, where he would eat a bowl of wontons. The shopkeeper was a tall young man named Dong, who was very amiable. After a few visits, Gao Xuan became friends with him. If Dong Shuijing wasn't busy, he would personally cook a couple of home-style dishes, and the two would share some wine.
Occasionally, Gao Xuan would visit an abandoned house. It was said that the owner was a man named Li Er. Now it had been taken over by his wife's family, who were trying to sell it at a high price. However, it seemed they had hit a wall at the county office's tax department, as they lacked the deed.
Inside Gao Xuan's book box was a Dragon King Basket. Every day, according to the secret technique taught by the old Gao ancestor, he would inject Minor Heat coins into it through minor refinement, making the spiritual energy inside thick as water.
Inside the woven bamboo fish basket was a golden carp swimming slowly.
That was the first time Gao Xuan had met Li Er, and Chen Ping'an as well.
Gao Xuan had actually prepared himself mentally before coming here. He thought that one day he might need to hand over the Dragon King Basket and the golden carp to some powerful figure in the Great Dali dynasty as the price for studying safely at Linlu Academy.
But so far, even County Magistrate Yuan and Prefectural Governor Wu had not come to see him.
One day, Gao Xuan crouched by a stream, washing his face. He suddenly turned and saw a handsome man dressed in a snow-white robe, with a single golden earring dangling from his ear.
Gao Xuan quickly stood up, bowed, and said, "Gao Xuan pays respects to the Northern Marchmount True God."
Wei Bo, the Northern Marchmount True God of Great Dali, smiled and said, "No need to be so formal. I've noticed you've been visiting many places. It's not convenient to always carry that Dragon King Basket around. If you trust me, why not open the basket and release that golden carp into this flowing stream to raise it in living water. Using spiritual energy as water is a dead-raising method. Over time, it will lose its spirituality. While its realm might rise quickly in the short term, it will eventually get stuck at the bottleneck of the Nascent Soul realm. Letting it swim in natural water means it will absorb spiritual energy more slowly, and its cultivation progress will be slower, but in the long run, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks."
Wei Bo pointed into the distance. "From here to Dragon Beard River, and then to Iron Talisman River, it can swim freely. I will inform the two river spirits and the river god not to restrict its cultivation."
Gao Xuan was actually hesitant.
He had never dealt with this Great Dali mountain god before. How could he be at ease?
The golden carp in the basket was considered by the old ancestor to be a being that might one day leap over the Central Dragon Gate in the Middle Earth and become a true dragon.
On the path of the Great Way, the human heart can be dark and full of schemes and calculations.
If someone forcibly seized this tremendous opportunity from him, Gao Xuan would have to accept it as a consequence of living under someone else's roof. He could acknowledge the greater situation. His own Dao heart would become even more resolute. Adversity spurs growth and tempers the mind the most.
But if he were deceived into losing a blessing that was already in his hands, it would not just be the loss of a golden carp. It would create flaws and gaps in Gao Xuan's own Great Way.
Wei Bo smiled. "It's okay. When you've made up your mind, you can release it then."
Wei Bo turned to leave.
Suddenly, the old Gao ancestor flew over from Piyun Mountain, landing beside Gao Xuan. He said to Gao Xuan, "Listen to Mr. Wei. It's all benefit and no harm."
Seeing his own ancestor appear, Gao Xuan no longer hesitated. He opened the wooden box, took out the Dragon King Basket, and released the golden carp into the stream.
The golden carp flicked its tail joyfully and darted downstream.
Gao Xuan crouched by the water, holding the empty fish basket, and murmured, "Long trapped in a cage, now returned to nature."
—
Back when Zhao Yao left Lizhu Cave Heaven in an ox cart, he was following his grandfather's arrangement to go to a immortal sect in central Vase Bottle Continent, near the western sea, to cultivate.
However, on the way, he encountered a youth with a mole between his eyebrows, who called himself the Embroidery Tiger.
In the end, Zhao Yao handed over the Spring Character Seal gifted by his teacher, because the other party was Cui Chan, the Imperial Advisor of Great Dali.
Among the students in the small town schoolhouse, Zhao Yao had spent the most time with his teacher, even more than Li Baoping and the other children, more than Song Jixin—a peer Zhao Yao greatly admired.
Zhao Yao journeyed onward, using the secret cultivation technique and two immortal tools that Cui Chan had given him in exchange. He managed to turn danger into safety each time.
But finally, as Zhao Yao neared that immortal cave abode, his ox cart already at the foot of the mountain, haggard in both body and spirit, he suddenly changed his mind. He abandoned the ox cart, freed the water buffalo from its harness, and continued west toward the sea alone. Eventually, he found a legendary immortal ferry port and took a ferry to a divine island isolated overseas. Then he transferred to another ferry, continuing toward the Middle Earth Divine Continent. After all, in all of Vase Bottle Continent, long-distance cross-continent ferries were only available at Old Dragon City, and most were merchant ships of Inverted Mountain. So for Vase Bottle Continent qi refiners to reach Middle Earth Divine Continent, they had to use Zhao Yao's method, hopping from one medium or short-range maritime immortal sect ferry to another.
But when he was more than halfway through his journey, the immortal ferry he was on encountered a catastrophe. A swarm of flying fish, blotting out the sky like locusts, smashed the ferry to pieces. Zhao Yao and most of the passengers fell into the sea. Some died instantly. Zhao Yao survived thanks to a protective magic treasure. But the vast ocean seemed to offer no hope. He was bound to become fish food sooner or later.
Two Golden Core cultivators on the ferry tried to flee by wind. One attempted to break through the flying fish formation upward and died in despair in the endless swarm, crushed to pieces. The other saw the situation was dire, exhausted, and had to quickly descend and dive into the seawater.
Zhao Yao sat on a large piece of wreckage, the bundle tied tightly to his body. He drifted for who knows how long, haggard, wishing he were dead.
Finally, unable to hold on, Zhao Yao lost consciousness, fell from the timber into the sea, and drifted with the current, relying on the last glimmer of his protective treasure.
When Zhao Yao groggily opened his eyes, he found himself lying on a bed. He jolted awake, sat up. It was a fairly spacious but crude thatched hut. The walls were bare, but shelves of yellowish books filled the room so densely that it was hard to walk.
Zhao Yao, now just skin and bones, stood up and found his bundle on the head of the bed. He opened it; everything inside was still there. He breathed a sigh of relief.
Following a path between book piles half a man's height, Zhao Yao walked out of the hut. He pushed open the door, and the mountain scenery opened up before him. The hut was built on a cliff top, and from the door, one could look out at the sea.
Zhao Yao also saw a sword without a scabbard stuck diagonally into the cliff top. It was rusty and dull.
Zhao Yao walked to the edge of the cliff and stared blankly into the bottomless drop below.
Just as Zhao Yao was about to take a step forward, a warm, mellow voice sounded beside him. "Heaven never seals off all exits. Are you that disappointed in yourself?"
Zhao Yao's eyes blurred with tears. He turned and saw a tall man in a green robe, gazing into the distance at the sea.
Zhao Yao, still a boy at the time, wiped his tears and suddenly asked, "Sir must be a hermit of extraordinary skill. Can you take me as a disciple? I want to learn the arts of the immortals!"
The man shook his head with a smile. "I've never taken a master myself, and I never take disciples. Too troublesome. Rest and recuperate here, and I'll send you on your way."
Zhao Yao asked, "Where is this place?"
The man smiled. "The human world. Where else would it be?"
Zhao Yao, probably feeling like he had nothing to lose and at his most desperate and fragile, pressed on rudely, "I want to know where in the human world this is!"
The man was not angry. He smiled and said, "I'm not intentionally being cryptic with you. This is just an ordinary place with no name, not some immortal's residence. The spiritual energy is thin. It's not far from the Middle Earth Divine Continent. With luck, you might run into fishermen or pearl divers."
After that, Zhao Yao stayed there to recover. After spending time with him, he found that the man, aside from being a good walker, was actually quite ordinary.
Even though the several thatched huts on the cliff top contained many books, the man never spoke any profound words. He ate meals every day and often walked down the mountain to stroll by the sea.
Zhao Yao spent his days reading or sitting blankly at the cliff edge.
Only one day, when Zhao Yao was bored out of his mind and tried to pull out the sword stuck in the ground, did the man stand at the door of his own hut and laughingly warn Zhao Yao not to touch it.
Zhao Yao asked curiously, "Does this sword have a name?"
The green-robed man shook his head. "It never did."
Zhao Yao asked again, "Did Sir fail the imperial examinations? Or is he hiding from enemies, hence leaving the mainland to live in seclusion here?"
The man shook his head again. "Neither. It's not as complicated as you think. I just quite agree with one saying: Life is truly hard, and the Great Way has many forks. Since the road is hard to walk, stop, take a lazy rest, and think things over properly."
Zhao Yao probed, "Sir is really not some hermit immortal, a Golden Core or Nascent Soul land deity?"
The man laughed and countered, "I am naturally no earthly immortal. Besides, whether I am or not, what does it have to do with you, Zhao Yao?"
Zhao Yao stayed there for nearly two years. The island wasn't very large, and he could explore it on his own. As the man had said, on lucky days, he might encounter fishermen out at sea, or pearl divers who took great risks for a chance at sudden wealth.
Zhao Yao's state of mind gradually stabilized. He took the initiative to tell the man that he wanted to travel to Middle Earth Divine Continent.
The man smiled and nodded. "Be careful on the way. Remember, don't be disappointed in yourself anymore. Perhaps that is the most disappointing thing of all."
Zhao Yao felt a bit ashamed. Finally, he took out the carved wooden chi-dragon paperweight. "To repay your life-saving grace, I want to give this to you, Sir."
The man waved his hand, seeming a bit helpless. "When did the world outside become such that saving someone within one's ability is considered such a high moral deed?"
Zhao Yao stubbornly insisted, "But Sir saved me without expecting repayment. Yet the one saved cannot be indifferent! This is the most important thing I carry. Using it to repay you is only fitting."
The man broke into a smile. "Then that means the world hasn't become too bad after all."
In the end, the man still did not accept the paperweight.
Zhao Yao built a simple raft and set off for the mainland. Standing on the raft, he bowed deeply to the man on the shore in farewell.
After that, the man continued his leisurely life.
One day, the long sword on the cliff top trembled slightly.
The man stood beside the sword, looked toward Vase Bottle Continent, and smiled. "Don't bother turning over old calendars."
The sword's trembling gradually ceased.
Later, two visitors appeared out of thin air on the island. One was an old Daoist with a red, wine-bottle nose, and the other was a young Daoist. The young Daoist immediately crouched down and vomited.
Starting from the alley in the village southeast of Vase Bottle Continent, to the western coast of Vase Bottle Continent, then to a sect-ranked immortal island out at sea, and finally here, the young Daoist had vomited over and over again.
The old Daoist quickly crouched down, gently patted his disciple's back, and said guiltily, "It's fine, it's fine. After this bout of vomiting… vomit one more time, uh, maybe twice, and you'll get through it."
The young Daoist, having vomited so much he nearly brought up bile, said with red-rimmed eyes, "Master, you say this every time. When will it end? Can you give me a straight answer?"
The old Daoist, whose peculiar Daoist robe seemed to have fire dragons swimming in its sleeves, smiled awkwardly.
The young Daoist stood up and asked, "Master, you said you wanted to take me to meet the person you admire most, but you won't say who he is. Why?"
The old Daoist smiled without speaking. He looked up and said, "Open the door. My disciple and I would like to beg for a cup of tea. Is that alright?"
The man sighed, appeared at the seaside, stood about three yards from the master and disciple, and said, "I am a mere scholar. You are a Grand Celestial Master of Dragon Tiger Mountain from a collateral family. Are you trying to compete with me in thunder magic and talismanic arts?"
The old Daoist had long used divine abilities to prevent his disciple from hearing what was being said.
Some things still needed to be hidden from this foolish disciple.
The short old Daoist laughed. "Not even letting us in? What, does that mean you've agreed to a contest of Dao skills? If I get in, I win, and you lend me that sword?"
The man shook his head. "Are you really going to pester me like this?"
Young Daoist Zhang Shanfeng couldn't hear anything his master or the green-robed man were saying.
In fact, Zhang Shanfeng was horrified to discover that every time he looked at the green-robed man's face, he would immediately forget what he had just seen.
The old Daoist laughed heartily. "Aiyo, getting angry? If you've got the guts, come out and hit me!"
The man twitched the corner of his mouth.
Zhang Shanfeng suddenly heard his master's shameless words and couldn't help but quietly remind him, "Master, although you always claim to be a man who has attained the Dao, as a mountain qi refiner visiting someone, you should still pay attention to etiquette and decorum."
The old Daoist nodded repeatedly in agreement, then glared at the man. "Using such tricks, what kind of hero are you!"
The man said, "You can't even pull out that sword. What are you borrowing it for?"
The old Daoist's expression turned serious. "At my current realm, I still can't pull it out?"
The man nodded. "Even if you were one realm higher, you still couldn't wield it."
The old Daoist sighed deeply.
Back then, Dragon Tiger Mountain had a secret matter.
The old Daoist had promised the previous Grand Celestial Master that only after killing that Flying Ascension realm demon could he rightfully return to Dragon Tiger Mountain.
Now, the odds were eighty-twenty in his favor; he was sure to win. But if it came to life and death, it was only fifty-fifty.
The old Daoist looked at his disciple, on whom he placed the greatest hope, and resolved to try!
The man suddenly looked at the young Daoist. "This fist intent of yours?"
Zhang Shanfeng was currently carrying an ordinary Dragon Tiger Mountain peachwood sword and a damaged ancient sword inscribed with the characters "True Martial." Hearing the green-robed man's question, Zhang Shanfeng was completely baffled.
The old Daoist boasted proudly, "How about it? Pretty impressive, right? My disciple created it himself!"
The green-robed man showed an unprecedented look of appreciation. "He might just open up a new path for the martial arts of the world, and even evolve many meritorious deeds. Hmm, what's rarer is the sincerity of his heart. You've taken on a good disciple."
The old Daoist grinned from ear to ear and started rambling, "It's nothing, it's nothing, just average. I have at least seven or eight disciples like this, if not a dozen."
Zhang Shanfeng didn't think his master was boasting, nor did he feel upset. Back when he cultivated on the mountain, he was indeed the most mediocre, far inferior to his senior brothers and sisters, and even to some junior Daoist boys who were his disciples' generation…
The man smiled. "I've heard a bit about the Dragon Tiger Mountain matter from back then. You want to bring this disciple up the mountain to pay respects to the ancestors. That's as hard as reaching the heavens. But coincidentally, that demon has indeed overstepped its bounds."
The man thought for a moment. "Wait for me for the time it takes a stick of incense to burn."
He turned and walked up the cliff.
The green-robed man grabbed casually, and the long sword stuck on the cliff top came into his hand.
This outsider who was only willing to admit he was a scholar showed no hint of exaltation. Even after pulling out a sword that even a Grand Celestial Master of a collateral family couldn't draw, he did not trigger any celestial anomalies.
It was like any impoverished scholar in the world, burning the midnight oil in his study, picking up a brush to write a short essay no bigger than a piece of tofu.
He went to a bottomless abyss in Middle Earth Divine Continent that no one dared to enter. With one strike, he annihilated both body and spirit the thirteen-realm demon that had been entrenched at the bottom of the abyss.
Returning to the cliff top, he thrust the rusty sword back into the ground, walked down the mountain, and said to the old Daoist, "Now you can ascend Dragon Tiger Mountain."
The old Daoist grinned cheekily. "How embarrassing. Great grace needs no words of thanks. We'll be off now. We'll come visit some other time."
He grabbed the bewildered Zhang Shanfeng by the arm, drew a talisman with his foot, and shrank the distance by a thousand miles, appearing on a high mountain in inland Middle Earth Divine Continent.
The green-robed man didn't mind. He stood there, continuing to watch the sea.
Zhao Yao, young and ignorant back then, had asked him if he was a disappointed man.
That question was truly interesting.
Because this scholar had always been hailed as the Most Triumphant in the World.