Chapter 421: Young Hero Meets Great Hero
Riding the magnificent brocade ship transformed from that pit-carved boat, after just one hour, they broke through a sea of clouds and landed among mist-shrouded peaks.
Ziyang Prefecture had arrived.
From a slightly higher vantage point, this immortal sect's scale was no less than the imperial palace of a secular dynasty. In the central area, there was a large expanse of magnificent buildings that shimmered with a purple-gold hue under the sunlight.
After Chen Ping'an and his group disembarked, the tall female cultivator who called herself Dongling True Lord Wu Yi put away the pit-carved boat into her sleeve. As for those twittering and chirping young maidens, they all turned into talisman papers, but the Dongling True Lord did not take them back. Instead, with a casual flick of her sleeve, she struck them into a nearby babbling river, where they transformed into dense, hazy spiritual energy and merged into the water.
A thin, tall old man immediately and perceptively appeared on the opposite bank. He knelt and kowtowed to this female cultivator, loudly proclaiming: "The minor god of Jixiang Temple pays respects to Patriarch Dongling, and here kowtows in gratitude for the great kindness and virtue of the Patriarch!"
Zhu Lian slapped Pei Qian on the head and said softly: "Your kindred spirit has appeared again. Aren't you going to go and clasp arms in joy with him?"
Pei Qian rolled her eyes.
Wu Yi's expression was indifferent. "If you have no business, return to your Jixiang Temple."
That deity quickly rose and withdrew, transforming into a wisp of blue smoke mixed with specks of golden light that plunged into the river, disappearing in a flash.
Wu Yi smiled and explained: "This is one of the downsides of going out—it's hard to find peace and quiet."
Chen Ping'an nodded, indicating understanding.
Wu Yi casually asked: "Young Master Chen, among those who accompanied you last time, like the little girl in the red cotton-padded jacket that my father liked so much, why is none of them here now?"
Chen Ping'an smiled: "They are all studying in Dali."
Wu Yi seemed a bit regretful.
Her father had once revealed that the tall youth named Yu Lu was actually the incognito crown prince of the fallen Lu Dynasty!
His body was thick with dragon qi, practically the most delicious food in the world.
Back then, for some unknown reason, her father hadn't taken a bite. Under her father's watchful eyes, she didn't dare act rashly either, so she missed the opportunity. She just wondered if there would be a chance to feast in the future, maybe even break through that damned Golden Core bottleneck.
To break through to the Nascent Soul stage, the so-called "end of the path" for their dragon-kin lineage, her brother had gone so far as to become the river god of Hanshi River. She herself diligently cultivated various Daoist side techniques. It wasn't that they were useless, but progress was extremely slow, enough to drive one crazy.
Would she really have to live for another hundred or thousand years in her father's shadow? Always on tenterhooks, afraid that one day her father would get hungry, or get seriously injured in a fight and need tonic, and then use the two of them as food to fill his stomach?
Back then, when she and her poor brother accompanied their father to meet Dali's State Preceptor Cui Chan, that experience wasn't good. Father was forcibly stripped of three hundred years of cultivation by the Embroidery Tiger using an ancient inkstone with ancient divine powers. Afterwards, father vented his anger on her and her brother, beating them terribly. Still, the result wasn't too bad—father finally left Huangting Kingdom, and she and her brother no longer felt like a mountain was pressing on their hearts. After all, in the thousands of years of time, the number of descendants eaten by this violent-tempered father was incalculable. Moreover, Ziyang Prefecture and Hanshi River had each become recognized buffer territories of the Dali court, standing independently outside Huangting Kingdom.
Wu Yi was, of course, just an alias. As the founding ancestor of Ziyang Prefecture, her true form was a descendant of the ancient Shu dragons. If it weren't for the family letter sent by her father, even if Chen Ping'an had a Far Travel realm martial artist as his attendant, she wouldn't have bothered with him. At most, they would have gone their separate ways—one on a single-plank bridge, the other on a broad highway. Why would she go to such trouble to personally welcome him and force a smile at a young man against her nature?
Wu Yi led Chen Ping'an and the others slowly along the riverside road. The road was exceptionally flat, paved with large blocks of blue stone slabs that reflected images clearly.
Pei Qian, holding her Mountain-traveling Staff, kept staring at the mirror-like blue stone ground, watching the dark-skinned girl inside, grimacing and amusing herself.
Wu Yi hadn't chatted much with Chen Ping'an on the ship earlier, so she took this opportunity to give him a general introduction to Ziyang Prefecture's history and origins.
Chen Ping'an's responses could only be described as barely polite. In such matters, not to mention Liu Baqiao of Wind and Thunder Garden, even Li Huai was better than him.
Perhaps because he had opened a Water Mansion and refined a Water Word Seal, when stepping on the ground, Chen Ping'an could detect strands of water fortune essence hidden within the blue boulders beneath his feet.
Chen Ping'an looked around and understood in his heart.
All creatures of the dragon-kin lineage must cultivate near water. Even dragon-kin descendants whose fundamental path seemed more mountain-oriented still had to obediently leave the mountain peaks once they formed a Golden Core, moving to rivers to become flood dragons or evolving into rivers to become true dragons—all inseparable from the element of water.
Surely, generations of cultivators at Ziyang Prefecture had racked their brains trying to figure out why their founding ancestor chose this place to build the sect and spread its branches.
Ziyang Prefecture was among the top immortal sects in Huangting Kingdom, yet unlike ordinary immortal caves, it wasn't built on a mountain peak but placed beside a beautiful river with broad views. The river, formed by converging mountain streams and creeks, was called the Tiequan River. It was the upper reaches of the Baihu River, the third largest river in Huangting Kingdom, making it the source water of the mighty Baihu River. Among the rivers, Baihu was second only to Hanshi River and Yu River. Thus, the legitimate River God of Huangting Kingdom had received an imperial appointment, allowing him to forge a golden body and build temples, helping the successive emperors of the Huangting Kingdom Hong clan to oversee eight hundred miles of water transportation.
One must know that in the many kingdoms of the Haoran World, the enfeoffment of mountain and river gods was a matter of utmost importance concerning the nation's mountains and rivers, and could determine whether an emperor could sit securely on the dragon throne. Because the quotas were limited, the Five Mountain Gods were first-come, first-served, usually decided by the founding emperor. Generally speaking, later emperors and monarchs would not easily replace them, as the implications were too extensive, causing great upheaval. All river gods, river deities, and elder river gods subordinate to legitimate River Gods, along with the minor mountain gods below the Five Mountains and the lowly local earth gods, were also not to be squandered at will by successive emperors. Even the most inept and ignorant monarchs did not wish to trifle with this matter. And even in courts overrun with petty men and powerful ministers, no one dared let the emperor act recklessly.
Only when the national treasury was sufficiently full, enough to be converted into sufficient immortal money, and with permission from one of the seventy-two Confucian academies—where a noble Confucian would appear, mouth holding the heavenly mandate, personally arriving at that mountain or river to "point out the rivers and mountains" for a kingdom—could that court legitimately create an additional orthodox deity for its own territory. This deity would in turn nourish the national fortune and stabilize its destiny.
This was called the auspicious sign of a peaceful and prosperous era. It would certainly be congratulated by the civil and military officials, celebrated nationwide, and the emperor would often be overjoyed, issuing a general amnesty from prisons, as this would surely be recorded in history as a sign of a revival and wise ruler.
However, this kind of worldly conduct was consistently derided by cultivators on the mountains as "adding one more layer to the commoners' coffins, adding one more piece of wood to the emperor's dragon throne," and they sneered at it.
As for why various kingdoms often had rampant, unlicensed shrines that were repeatedly banned but never eliminated—was it really because the court was weak and powerless to eradicate them?
To a large extent, many of these unlicensed shrines tacitly tolerated by the courts were those not recognized by the Confucian academies, unable to have a nobleman utter a golden pronouncement. So the courts turned a blind eye to such popular shrines. Some courts even secretly supplied these shrines with a steady stream of immortal money behind the academies' backs, quietly encouraging local literati and poets to go burn incense, leading the local populace to follow suit in droves.
The Tiequan River also had a legitimate River God, who was precisely that humble old man who had come and gone in a hurry earlier.
For centuries, this river god, whose golden body was enshrined in Jixiang Temple, had been a puppet under Ziyang Prefecture's control. One of the trials for lower-realm cultivators of Ziyang Prefecture often involved this Tiequan River God—derided by his colleagues as "the death of a friend is better than the death of a poor Daoist; the poor Daoist will help you pick up your wallet"—sending river spirits to their deaths. Those poor minions practically stretched out their necks for the aspiring cultivators to chop. Those lucky enough managed to escape. Over time, the naturally born spirits of the Tiequan River became insufficient, so the river god had to spend his own money to increase water fortune essence. In years of poor harvest, he even had to bring gifts and visit Ziyang Prefecture's immortals, begging them to toss some immortal money into the river to replenish water fortune and spiritual energy, speeding up the growth of water ghosts and spirits, so as not to delay the training of Ziyang's inner disciples.
It sounded degrading, almost like barely surviving by the skin of one's teeth. But in truth, countless river and mountain gods in Huangting Kingdom were immensely envious of this arrangement.
The reasoning was simple. The Tiequan River was just a river god, yet the solidity of his golden body was not inferior to that of the Baihu River's legitimate River God, the third largest river in Huangting Kingdom.
How did he manage that? Naturally, by scraping together the leftovers that dripped from Ziyang Prefecture's fingers year after year, accumulating over time, and relying on the incense offerings at his golden body's temple, Jixiang Temple.
Ziyang Prefecture cultivators had always disliked outsiders disturbing their cultivation. Many famous nobles and officials who came in admiration could only stop at Jixiang Temple, two hundred miles from Ziyang Prefecture.
After stopping there, they naturally had to burn incense and worship the gods. Some shady matters also required the Tiequan River God to help relay messages to Ziyang Prefecture, because Ziyang had a profitable system. From third-realm cultivators all the way up to Dragon Gate realm cultivators, each had a general price when invited to "travel." But Ziyang cultivators were always haughty—even if ordinary wealthy nobles had the money, these immortals might not be willing to see them. That's where the Tiequan River's Jixiang Temple, familiar with Ziyang Prefecture, came in to broker connections.
During this process, the Tiequan River God absolutely dared not take any profit for himself, not even a single copper coin. He simply ensured that when nobles, ministers, and wealthy officials from outside paid money to worship and flatter Ziyang's immortals, those immortals would come out to handle matters. After the deed was done, a sum of incense money unrelated to Ziyang Prefecture would naturally be sent to Jixiang Temple.
They neared the Ziyang Prefecture estate.
Outside the prefecture gate was a white jade square.
It was already packed with a grand crowd of Ziyang Prefecture members waiting to welcome the patriarch back. Ziyang Prefecture was divided into inner and outer sects. The inner sect disciples were the direct descendants of the founding patriarch Wu Yi's lineage, successive Ziyang prefecture masters and their disciples, along with various elderly Dragon Gate realm honored guests and powerful Sea Observation realm cultivators managing various affairs. The outer sect was more mixed, including mediocre cultivators, mountain and wild cultivators who had sought refuge with Ziyang, pure martial artists, and generations of servants and menials who had served Ziyang for generations. The outer sect naturally had far more people than the inner sect, which focused on deep cultivation.
Nearly a thousand people.
On the square, everyone stood according to their status and position, with no room for error.
As if to prevent Chen Ping'an from mistakenly thinking she was putting on a show of power, Wu Yi smiled and explained: "I haven't shown my face in Ziyang Prefecture for over a hundred years. Earlier, I announced that I had chosen a blessed cave heaven for secluded cultivation. I was simply too tired of those inevitable social obligations, so I just hid away from everyone."
When Wu Yi stepped from the blue stone road onto the edge of the white jade square, everyone simultaneously knelt and kowtowed, shouting in unison: "Congratulations on the patriarch's emergence from seclusion!"
To Pei Qian's ears, it was like thunder.
Such a spectacle, such a grand display—it made Pei Qian's eyes gleam.
Wu Yi raised a hand.
Pei Qian marveled at how the thousand-plus people, who had clearly been kneeling with heads down, all stood up as if they had eyes on the tops of their heads.
Wu Yi walked straight ahead. Chen Ping'an deliberately lagged one step behind to avoid stealing the thunder of Ziyang Prefecture's founding ancestor. Unexpectedly, Wu Yi also stopped and communicated to Chen Ping'an through ripple in the lake of the heart, with a hint of genuine smile in her words: "Young Master Chen, no need to be so polite. You are a rare guest that Ziyang Prefecture has not seen in a hundred years. This small territory of mine is in a rural area, far from sages, but the proper way to treat guests must still be observed. So, Young Master Chen, just walk alongside me."
Wu Yi was naturally arrogant, known across Huangting Kingdom as a proud earthly immortal. Initially, going to meet Chen Ping'an had been a matter of gritting her teeth. But since Chen Ping'an's words and actions were proper in every way, not throwing his weight around because of his familiarity with her father, the Embroidery Tiger, and Wei Bo, it made Wu Yi feel much more comfortable. Hence these words from the heart.
Chen Ping'an smiled and shook his head: "True Lord Wu has not returned to the immortal mansion in a hundred years. On ordinary days, I might dare to walk side by side with the True Lord, but today it is absolutely not possible. I hope the True Lord will go ahead, and we will follow closely."
Wu Yi smiled, didn't insist, and walked ahead alone.
He was a young man who knew his limits.
But he was a bit too rigid and pedantic, like an academy teacher. Not disagreeable, but not to her liking either.
As Wu Yi advanced, the sea of people on the square immediately parted into a path.
Only five or six people in succession were qualified to come behind Wu Yi. The higher their status in Ziyang Prefecture, the further forward they stood. For instance, the middle-aged cultivator who came to Chen Ping'an's right was the current Ziyang Prefecture master, a Golden Core earthly immortal. The two cultivators roughly at the same level as Pei Qian, Zhu Lian, and Shi Rou were elderly Dragon Gate realm cultivators of even higher seniority than the prefecture master—one in charge of rewards and punishments, the other managing money. So the position of Ziyang Prefecture master was always a nominal one, with no real power, essentially a figurehead for dealing with the Huangting court and other mountain strongholds.
However, among the seven successive Ziyang Prefecture masters, only one had relied on his own talent and aptitude to become a land deity. The other six, including the current one, had their realms forcibly built up through Ziyang Prefecture's immortal money. Their actual combat strength was far inferior to Golden Core earthly immortals from major sects, especially wild earthly immortals who had carved their own paths.
Ziyang Prefecture's foundation was, of course, not limited to this. There were also several former prefecture masters or early disciples taken by Wu Yi—later generation Ziyang grandmasters—who were still in seclusion. Some were aged cultivators with no hope for the Great Path, their Golden Cores already decayed and useless from the erosion of time, forced to hide in a few of Ziyang's spiritually rich mansions, like ordinary mortals on sickbeds using ginseng to prolong life, hidden from the world.
Everyone in Ziyang Prefecture was speculating about the identity of the young man carrying a bamboo box.
Could he be a new disciple taken in by Patriarch Dongling while she was out? If so, might he be the next prefecture master candidate?
Wu Yi led Chen Ping'an into Ziyang Prefecture, going directly to the central Purple Qi Palace. She instructed the prefecture master to prepare a grand banquet in the evening to welcome the honored guest.
Once inside the Purple Qi Palace, Wu Yi told everyone to go wait in the Sword Scolding Hall first, saying she would personally arrange Young Master Chen's lodging.
Honored guest?
The group exchanged glances.
Could he be a direct disciple of some Nascent Soul earthly immortal from Dali, or a scion of a noble family like Dali's Yuan or Cao?
Wu Yi indeed personally settled Chen Ping'an and his companions before heading to the Sword Scolding Hall, where Ziyang's bigwigs had gathered. She sat on the main dragon throne made of purple sandalwood and began to let those present report on affairs: Ziyang Prefecture's immortal money income and expenditure over the past century, the cultivation progress of some promising disciples, the conditions of some elderly members. For the most part, she just listened without commenting. If it were otherwise, she couldn't have vanished for a hundred years as an absentee manager, nor would she have continued to select puppet prefecture masters despite being alive.
In truth, everyone knew the old ancestor didn't like hearing these trivialities. Their serious reports were just going through the motions.
Wu Yi didn't bother to hide her boredom. She slouched, propping her cheek on one hand, occasionally nodding.
Overall, Ziyang Prefecture could be described as "thriving day by day."
That was enough.
Wu Yi couldn't be bothered with the petty schemes and gossip beyond cultivation.
The reason she had built Ziyang Prefecture in the first place, becoming its founding ancestor, was a whim born of sheer boredom.
Furthermore, many remnants of the dragon-kin species enjoyed establishing mansions to show off and to store the treasures they had gathered from all over.
Huangting Kingdom was part of the old territory after the split of the ancient Shu Kingdom. The Divine Water Kingdom, which had inexplicably collapsed overnight in the past, was also such a place—a feng shui treasure land coveted by dragon-kin, due to its abundant water fortune. Moreover, ancient sword immortals had liked to come here to slay dragons, and many had fallen in the resulting battles, leaving behind numerous magical artifacts. Although most had been collected into national treasuries by powerful dynasties like the Divine Water Kingdom, becoming state heirlooms passed down through generations, and later transferred from one old dynasty to a new one's emperor, there were still many lost treasures that her father had quietly taken into his possession.
She knew best how deep her father's coffers were.
That magical artifact made from a pit carving, the boat she carried, was merely a small gift her father had casually bestowed when she reached the Cave Abode realm.
However, the richness of her father's collection was the most exaggerated among all earthly immortal cultivators in northern Bottleneck Continent.
The Fu family of Old Dragon City in the south might be slightly better off, but that was the accumulated wealth of the entire Fu clan over two thousand years, while her father had done it alone.
So Wu Yi, who could never understand her father's inner thoughts, simultaneously hated him, feared him, and respected him—hatred on the surface, fear in her bones, respect in the deepest part of her heart. She assumed her brother felt similarly.
Wu Yi looked up. Someone had asked how Ziyang Prefecture should entertain that Young Master Chen.
Wu Yi thought for a moment. "You don't need to get involved in this. I'll give orders myself on what to do."
---
Wu Yi's arrangement was quite interesting. She placed Chen Ping'an and his four companions in a six-story building that was essentially a treasure pavilion.
Every floor was filled with the collected treasures of this Dongling True Lord and generations of Ziyang Prefecture cultivators.
Before leaving, Wu Yi only said that the top two floors should not be casually climbed, but the remaining four below could be freely explored.
Since the building covered a large area, besides the first floor, each upper floor had rooms, beds, study chambers. The third floor even had a training hall with three one-zhang-tall puppet mechanisms. So Chen Ping'an and his group didn't have to worry about having only dazzling treasures and no place to rest.
Just the first floor alone made Pei Qian wish she had an extra pair of eyeballs.
This trip to Ziyang Prefecture had opened Pei Qian's eyes wide, filling her with joy.
She used to think that in the future, besides the multi-treasure box given by Yao Jinzhi, adding one or two multi-treasure shelves would be the limit of her little head's imagination. But now, entering this building in the Purple Qi Palace, she realized how rich the truly wealthy could be!
She no longer needed Chen Ping'an's reminders not to touch the strange old treasures.
She decided she wouldn't sleep tonight—she absolutely had to see all the hundreds of treasures on four floors, or she would regret it for life.
Leaving Pei Qian and the equally excited Shi Rou to "appreciate the scenery" on the first floor, Chen Ping'an and Zhu Lian stood on the fourth floor, looking down over half of Ziyang Prefecture from a height.
Chen Ping'an smiled: "I once talked with someone about what my ideal mountain stronghold would be like. Looking back, that was when I was still poor and just daydreaming. Ziyang Prefecture is a living example."
He quickly added: "Actually, I wasn't poor even then."
Zhu Lian asked: "Master, this Dongling True Lord doesn't seem like an ordinary Golden Core earthly immortal?"
Chen Ping'an nodded: "Equivalent to about half a Nascent Soul cultivator."
Since they were freeloading on someone else's territory, Chen Ping'an didn't elaborate to Zhu Lian.
Zhu Lian understood.
With Wu Yi in Ziyang Prefecture, and the immortal formation equivalent to a small world, she could almost be considered a Nascent Soul combatant.
Zhu Lian joked: "If some wild mountain cultivator could sweep this whole building clean, he'd be rich. I've heard there is a Jade Pure realm wild cultivator in Bottleneck Continent."
Chen Ping'an took a jug of wine from his inches-and-feet object and handed it to Zhu Lian, shaking his head: "The deterrent power of Confucian academies over all earthly immortals, especially those in the upper five realms, is immense. They may not be able to watch everything, but once a Confucian academy sets its sights on someone, it means that no matter how vast the world, there's nowhere to hide. So it subtly suppresses many conflicts among high-level cultivators."
Zhu Lian took a sip of wine and chuckled: "Why is it that in the Haoran World, the constraints on us pure martial artists are relatively lighter? Is it because eight-realm and nine-realm martial artists are too few? I've heard that if a martial artist kills an emperor or monarch, a Confucian academy might not necessarily send someone to hunt them down."
Chen Ping'an said softly: "This involves many ancient secrets buried in dust. Cui Dongshan doesn't like to talk about them much, and I'm not very interested either. Back home in Longquan County, when I first traveled far, the kiln supervisor and later the newly appointed county magistrate were the highest officials I knew. I always felt that the emperor and such were too far away. Later, a consort in the Dali imperial palace, Song Jixin's biological mother, sent people to kill me. I've always kept that debt in mind. When I met Song Jixin, my old neighbor from Clay Bottle Alley, at the Shanya Academy last time, we cleared things up. But, don't laugh at me—even now when I look at Song Jixin, I still can't imagine him as a Dali prince. Gao Xuan is a bit easier, since the first time we met he was dressed brightly and had attendants. But Song Jixin—no matter how I look at him, he's still that carefree guy from back then."
Zhu Lian raised his wine jug and gently clinked it against Chen Ping'an's Sword-nurturing Gourd. Chen Ping'an hadn't touched his gourd until now, finally taking his first sip.
Zhu Lian sighed: "If Song Jixin ever becomes the Dali emperor someday, Master, won't that be even harder to imagine?"
Chen Ping'an nodded: "Definitely."
They were silent for a moment.
Chen Ping'an suddenly said: "Cui Dongshan once had a very interesting notion. He said the three religions' sages were all trying to find a way to slow down the inevitable flow of the river of time."
Zhu Lian perked up, curious: "How to slow it down?"
Chen Ping'an leaned on the railing, tapping it: "Immortal mountain strongholds are one thing."
Zhu Lian was baffled.
Chen Ping'an continued: "Mortal cities are another."
Chen Ping'an slowly said: "War is yet another."
Finally, he said: "And all the various schools of thought that can immerse people's minds—those seem to be as well."
Zhu Lian's head spun: "Cui Dongshan's talk is so mystical, I'm even more confused."
Chen Ping'an drank his wine and smiled: "I don't understand it either."
Zhu Lian asked softly: "Then does Master want to understand these profound principles?"
Chen Ping'an thought for a moment and shook his head: "If I can avoid understanding, then I'll just avoid it."
Zhu Lian hummed in agreement: "Master already understands enough. Indeed, there's no need to investigate everything and trace everything to its source."
Chen Ping'an turned his head: "Zhu Lian, can you change this habit of seizing every opportunity to flatter me?"
Zhu Lian raised his arm, shaking the wine jug, and laughed heartily: "Why should I change? If I change, will I still get wine to drink?"
Chen Ping'an smiled: "True enough."
Zhu Lian tentatively asked: "Earlier, Master said he wanted to go to Beiju Continent alone for training. Really can't take me along? Without a cook by your side, and without a flattering attendant, how boring would that be?"
Chen Ping'an nodded: "You stay put at Luopo Mountain. I still hope you can reach a higher level on the martial path. That old man Cui's method of feeding punches suited me, and it's even more suitable for you. If you can one day reach the mountain peak realm, then when Pei Qian first travels the martial world, even if she goes far away, even to other continents with Li Huai, as long as you're covertly protecting her, I can rest easy."
Zhu Lian had to give up trying to change Chen Ping'an's mind.
Chen Ping'an asked: "Zhu Lian, can you tell me about your youth?"
Zhu Lian, for once, looked a bit embarrassed: "So many messy accounts, so many romantic debts. If I talk about those, I'm afraid Master will lose interest in drinking."
Chen Ping'an jumped up to sit on the railing: "Go ahead. Actually, I've secretly read those martial world novels you gave to Pei Qian several times. I think they're all very well written. But after all, they're just scholar's imaginings of the martial world, not real enough. I'm sure they're not as interesting as your personal experiences."
Zhu Lian also jumped up to sit on the railing, grinning: "Alright, let me narrate slowly. Master, you have no idea how dashing I was in my youth. In the martial world, how many female immortals and chivalrous women were crazy about me, pining away, never changing their hearts."
But the more he listened, the more disdainful his young master's expression became. Finally, Chen Ping'an patted Zhu Lian on the shoulder without saying much, then jumped off the railing and left.
This wounded Zhu Lian a bit.
His young master was good in every other way, but when it came to matters of love between men and women, he was far too much of a gentleman, far too different from his own kind!
Zhu Lian probably didn't know that as Chen Ping'an walked back into the building, he was muttering to himself: "You have Lady Ning, you have Lady Ning. If you dare have wild thoughts or stray desires, Lady Ning will beat you to death without a word... Is even thinking not allowed? No, no, no. When you see Lady Ning, you can't hide anything from her. She'll see through you in an instant, and you'll still be beaten half to death. And would you dare fight back?"
---
A two-story ship with simple, elegant decorations sailed from the surging Baihu River into the calm waters of the Tiequan River channel.
At the bow stood a palace-dressed woman with a cold, beautiful face. Beside her was a personal maid, and three men of varying ages and appearances.
One elderly man smiled wryly: "Madam, this visit to Ziyang Prefecture may not be welcomed."
The old man and the other two were all guests of the lady's mansion. They had known each other for a long time, and their temperaments matched—a friendship of gentlemen as pure as water. Even their alliances were about exorcising demons and upholding the Dao. For example, when, based on the lady's secret intelligence, they had pursued and captured that fox spirit that had been plaguing Centipede Ridge for a century, that was a case in point. Their atmosphere was completely different from Ziyang Prefecture's and Jixiang Temple's mercenary transactions, which were as sweet as honey.
The lady had a faint melancholy in her brow, and could only sigh.
The young maid beside her had been with her for a century. Though she was a water ghost yin entity, she had received the blessings of incense. Having been wrongfully drowned in her early years, she had turned disaster into fortune and embarked on the path of cultivation.
The maid was the lady's confidante, so she could speak up on such occasions. She said softly: "Circumstances force our hand. Hanshi River and Yu River have already received the Peace and Safety Token from the Dali Song clan. Only our Baihu River has been left out in the cold. That's not even the worst part—it just means we don't deal with the Dali court. But Madam, when you went to the capital, His Majesty hinted that there might be great calamity ahead for Baihu River. We can't hope to stay pure and uninvolved."
The old man asked in confusion: "Great calamity?"
The maid was also filled with worry, and her voice was low: "His Majesty also hinted that that despicable Yu River God has already gotten a Peace and Safety Token, yet he's still unsatisfied. He actually shamelessly went to Piyun Mountain in Lizhu Cave Heaven, and through some secret connection, managed to speak before the Northern March God Wei Bo, slandering us. It's highly likely that the Dali court will make a move against our Baihu River. The Lingyun Sect, which has already sealed off its mountain, is a precedent. His Majesty is also helpless and can only let the Dali barbarians do as they please."
The old man said helplessly: "That fellow's shamelessness is indeed well-known."
A tall, burly man stood with his arms crossed a little further away, looking at the Tiequan River. Although he had successfully broken through from the fifth realm peak to the sixth realm martial artist the year before last, the current chaotic state of the nation had left this hot-blooded man, who had originally planned to join the border army after reaching the sixth realm, feeling somewhat disheartened.
The Dali barbarians' horses trampled wantonly across Huangting Kingdom's territory, never needing to inform the current emperor.
What was even harder for the man to accept was that from the court and the common people to the martial world and the mountains, there were almost no outraged figures. Everyone was scheming and flattering, desperately trying to attach themselves to the Dali officials stationed in Huangting. A seventh-rank official of the Dali Song clan was actually more impressive and had more say than a second-rank grand official of Huangting Kingdom!
What truly made the man give up on joining the border army in the end was a rumor that had spread in the Huangting capital.
When he and his friends had been pursuing that fox spirit, she had set a trap for them at Centripede Ridge. In the end, the great bear demon that was supposed to appear and join forces with her paramour, for some unknown reason, not only didn't show up but actually refused to save her. That allowed them to work together and successfully capture the self-styled Celadon Bud Madam fox spirit, earning them a great merit with the Huangting court.
The fox spirit had been bound and sealed with secret arts, losing most of her powers, and was imprisoned in the court's prison specially used to suppress mountain wild cultivators and demon spirits.
At that time, the man and his friends drank a hearty celebration wine at the Baihu River God's mansion.
But soon, a rumor spread throughout the capital: that fox spirit, who should have been skinned and drawn to serve as a warning, had been taken into the emperor's harem and hidden in a golden chamber.
The man was furious and indignant.
This time, accompanying two cultivator friends to visit the river god mansion, the Baihu River God Lady standing at the bow had clearly told them the truth.
The rumor was true.
With the country in crisis, the monarch was enjoying himself heartily?
When the River God Lady had gone to the capital to meet the emperor, that fox spirit was indeed standing by the emperor's side, looking docile and obedient. Fortunately, the constraints set by the enshrined cultivators on it had not been fully removed by the Hong emperor, who wasn't foolish enough to do so.
That scene made the River God Lady, who had once shared a brief romantic relationship with the Hong clan's founding emperor, frown. In her memory, the current emperor didn't have a reputation for being lecherous.
But times had changed. He was ultimately the ruler of a nation, so she couldn't say much.
Moreover, as the legitimate River God of a great river, over the long years, sitting high on the divine platform, watching through the ever-rising incense smoke century after century, she had long seen all kinds of absurdities in the mortal world. She was no longer surprised by such things.
She suspected that the current emperor was under too much pressure. Although the Dali Song clan had recognized Huangting Kingdom's vassal status, who knew if one day a young Song imperial family member might suddenly appear and kick him off the dragon throne?
Under such circumstances, how to relieve his sorrow? Probably only through the pleasures of the bedchamber.
The River God Lady actually understood the pent-up feelings of that martial artist Sun Dengxian.
But some things she couldn't say.
Because once spoken, the so-called friendship of gentlemen and the accumulated goodwill from past incense offerings would vanish like smoke.
The trend was set. Could the Hong emperor of Huangting Kingdom refuse to submit to the Dali barbarians? Did he really need to go to war over mere face, to smash an egg against a rock, and then anger the Dali Song clan, only to be easily crushed by Dali's border iron cavalry? Not only would the emperor become a prisoner, but how many of Huangting Kingdom's commoners would suffer the ravages of war? Hundreds of thousands? Or millions? The world would be turned upside down, the landscape would change, everything would be devastated—no one in Huangting could escape unscathed.
Those innocent commoners had simple needs in life: just to have enough to eat and wear throughout the year, to be able to add clothes when it's cold and have an extra meal when hungry—that was already a rare period of peace and stability.
This time, she insisted on visiting Ziyang Prefecture, and brought the three of them along. Did the River God Lady not know that Sun Dengxian was unhappy?
But she had to come.
She even needed the three of them to help as guards, to prevent that unpredictable Ziyang Prefecture ancestor from simply detaining her there. Having three extra people wouldn't really help, but it might make Ziyang Prefecture show a bit more restraint.
This lady could only hope that this trip would go smoothly, and in return, she would reward Sun Dengxian and the others from her own river god mansion.
After entering the Tiequan River, they became increasingly silent. When they passed the Jixiang Temple River God Temple, the old river god appeared on the bank. As a subordinate, he first bowed to the River God Lady, but when he straightened up, the words he spoke were not so pleasant. Grinning, he asked: "Lady River God, what a rare guest! I wonder what instructions you have for inspecting this subordinate's Tiequan River? If the lady still refuses to let go of the current water army commander of our Tiequan River, this subordinate doesn't dare say a word of objection. But this commander is now a registered cultivator of the Ziyang Immortal Mansion. Is the lady going upstream to argue about that old grievance with the Ziyang Immortal Mansion?"
The ferry boat continued onward, and the River God Lady said not a word.
The Tiequan River God didn't mind. Turning to watch the departing boat, he didn't forget to pour fuel on the fire, vigorously waving and shouting loudly: "Let me tell you a wonderful piece of news, my lady! The Patriarch Dongling Yuanjun of our Ziyang Immortal Mansion is currently at the mansion. As the legitimate River God of a great river, the lady will surely have the Ziyang Immortal Mansion open its grand gates wide to welcome you! Then you'll have the honor of seeing the Yuanjun's true countenance! Take your time, my lady! When you return to the Baihu River, if you have any free time, you must come sit with this subordinate at Jixiang Temple!"
Once the ferry boat had gone far away,
this river god spat heavily into the Tiequan River and cursed: "What a piece of work! Putting on airs! An unknown Nascent Soul from outside, transformed from a thrown wine cup into a white swan—just because you once offered your pillow and slept with the Huangting emperor, using your bedchamber skills to luck into being a river god, you think you're worthy to negotiate with our Yuanjun Patriarch? In all these centuries, you've never offered half a Snowflakes coin to our Ziyang Immortal Mansion. And now you want to repair the fold after losing the sheep? Haha! Too bad our Ziyang Immortal Mansion is currently under the personal rule of the Yuanjun Patriarch. Otherwise, if you shameless old wench were willing to sell your skin and climb into the prefecture master's bed, you might just have succeeded! Pleasure! Pleasure! Absolute pleasure!"
The river god turned and swaggered back into Jixiang Temple.
He suddenly swallowed a mouthful of saliva, grinning lecherously. He wondered what it would feel like to touch that golden body skin of that woman after she took off her palace dress. What would the texture and taste be like?
If the Baihu River fell into trouble, maybe he really would have a chance to get a taste?
---
Ziyang Prefecture, Sword Scolding Hall.
Wu Yi had almost reached the limit of her patience. She was about to tell those people who were still chattering, trying to claim credit and beg rewards, to withdraw.
Suddenly, a head steward from the outer sect stood behind the Sword Scolding Hall's gate and said respectfully: "Patriarch, the Baihu River God has come bearing heavy gifts and requests an audience. She hopes the Patriarch will grace her with a meeting."
The corners of her mouth curled into a smirk. Looking at everyone, she asked: "I just arrived, and this Baihu River woman follows right on my heels. Did that Jixiang Temple fellow tip her off? Does he want to die?"
Everyone present knew this was a sign of the Patriarch's anger.
Instantly, all the high-ranking Ziyang Prefecture old immortals were uneasy.
When the Patriarch got angry, it was always earth-shaking. Either it meant disaster for some blind outsider, or it meant that a bunch of her own people who had handled matters poorly would lose a layer of skin.
An old Ziyang cultivator who had a decent relationship with the Tiequan River God steeled himself and stepped forward to put in a good word for the river god, whose life hung by a thread. "Reporting to the Patriarch, the Jixiang Temple river god would never dare. That fellow's cultivation is lowly, and he's useless in everything, except in his absolute loyalty to our Ziyang Prefecture—on that matter, there's not a shred of ambiguity. So I venture to guess that when the Patriarch drove the immortal boat on her journey home, that River God woman raised her dog eyes and caught a glimpse of the Patriarch's peerless elegance. Then she scurried over to wag her tail and beg for mercy."
Wu Yi tapped the armrest of her chair with one finger. "That explanation... it's plausible."
Everyone immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Even those in the Ziyang Prefecture who usually didn't get along with the old cultivator couldn't help but silently praise him.
It wasn't that the old cultivator was being gallant, willing to say a few fair words for an outsider of Ziyang. It was because he managed the outer sect's financial dealings. Every year, from the obedient Tiequan River God, he had plenty of extra income.
Such matters could be big or small.
Generally speaking, even if this kind of trivial, dirty business came to the attention of the Patriarch Dongling, who was focused on the Great Path, she might not bother to lift an eyelid or say a single harsh word.
Probably, both the informer and the poor wretch who was exposed would be disgusted by her and driven out. She'd give each fifty big sticks and throw them both out the Ziyang Prefecture gate. The reasoning was simple: it would put her in a bad mood.
Although the Patriarch didn't like to manage Ziyang Prefecture's worldly affairs, whenever someone provoked her to anger, she would inevitably dig three feet deep, pulling out radishes and mud alike. Then both the radish and the mud would suffer, utterly destroyed—truly disregarding all ties.
Historically, several Dragon Gate realm honored guests who had served diligently, even risking their lives for Ziyang, and who had both merit and toil, as well as several of the Patriarch's direct disciples—all Golden Core earthly immortals with excellent aptitude—had been personally captured by the Patriarch after incidents, never to be heard from again.
Wu Yi still didn't give her own opinion. She asked casually: "What do you all think? Should we see her or not?"
Opinions were divided. Some said that this Baihu River God was extremely audacious, relying on her connection with the Hong clan to never pay tribute or declare allegiance to Ziyang Prefecture. Since she dared come to Ziyang, they could simply find some excuse to take her directly and imprison her in the water dungeon beneath Ziyang. Then they could support a docile puppet to succeed as the Baihu River God—killing two birds with one stone. Others retorted that this Lady Xiao Luan was ultimately one of the few legitimate great river gods in Huangting Kingdom. With undercurrents stirring in Huangting, Ziyang Prefecture might have already gotten ashore, but in the near future it was best to act cautiously. Why would a dignified Ziyang Prefecture hold a grudge against a neighboring river god? Spreading the news would only invite ridicule.
Wu Yi was annoyed. She tapped the armrest and said to the current prefecture master, a Golden Core cultivator: "This Lady Xiao Luan doesn't have that much face to make me receive her. Huang Chu, go see her. Find out what she really wants. If her talk is not to our liking, or if she's asking for favors at too low a price, then catch her and throw her into the water dungeon. If she's docile enough, or the price is fair, then do business with her. Ziyang Prefecture may have big coffers, but who wants to turn away money? If the negotiation goes well, you can invite her to tonight's banquet to welcome Young Master Chen. Her seat... hmm, just put her right by the main entrance."
Ziyang Prefecture master Huang Chu clasped his fists and accepted the order.
Wu Yi's gaze swept over everyone, and she said with a meaningful smile: "When I'm not here, what you do is your business. But now that I'm here in Ziyang, if any of you act too selfishly, you're treating me like a fool."
Prefecture Master Huang Chu, who had indeed harbored a bit of a dirty thought about the Lady Xiao Luan—famous for her beauty and whose dual cultivation method could greatly supplement a cultivator's soul—had planned to imprison her in the water dungeon, slowly wear down her edges, and then, once the Patriarch left Ziyang, do as he pleased. But Wu Yi's words scared him out of his wits, sending chills down his spine. He lowered his head and clasped his fists again: "I dare not disregard the Patriarch's nurturing grace. How could I seek my own death like that?!"
Wu Yi gave a half-smile, saying nothing.
Huang Chu slowly backed out of the Sword Scolding Hall. Once outside, he was drenched in sweat.
The others, as they left one by one, were somewhat gleeful at his misfortune.
Wu Yi suddenly frowned. She reached out and caught a streak of light that broke through the air, completely ignoring Ziyang Prefecture's formation—a flying sword message.
Such a shocking move could only be from her father, who had gone to be some academy's vice-mountain master.
After reading the contents of the letter, Wu Yi rubbed her forehead, extremely troubled, and then felt an irrepressible anger.
She slapped the armrest of the purple sandalwood dragon throne, shattering it.
Hadn't she been gracious enough? How much more hospitality did they want?!
Did they want her to enshrine this Chen Ping'an like an ancestor?
But when she thought of her father's dark expression, her face flickered between shadow and light. Finally, she sighed deeply. Fine, it was only a matter of enduring a day or two.
---
Dusk fell, and the entire Purple Qi Palace was brilliantly lit, as bright as day.
Ziyang Prefecture was hosting a grand banquet tonight at the Snowy Mang Hall within the Purple Qi Palace, reserved for the highest-ranking guests.
The Baihu River God, Lady Xiao Luan, accompanied by her personal maid and Sun Dengxian and his two companions, was led by a young female disciple of Ziyang Prefecture toward the banquet at Snowy Mang Hall.
The business had already been discussed. But for some reason, Lady Xiao Luan felt that Prefecture Master Huang Chu seemed unusually restrained, far from the high-spirited demeanor he showed when appearing at various immortal mansions in the past.
Their lodgings had been arranged by Huang Chu in a remote area of Ziyang Prefecture, nowhere near the Purple Qi Palace, which was Wu Yi's private residence. They were assigned only a single third-realm female cultivator from the outer sect to handle their meals and daily needs. Even then, this lowly third-realm cultivator didn't show any courtesy to a legitimate great River God Lady. The arrogance of Ziyang Prefecture, condescending down to their very bones, was completely on display.
Except for Lady Xiao Luan, the maid and the three men all looked rather grim. Only Lady Xiao Luan remained composed and tranquil throughout.
Then something even more excessive happened, making the maid and Sun Dengxian unable to hold their expressions, each letting out a cold snort.
That third-realm female cultivator, trembling with fear as she entered the Purple Qi Palace gate, walked each step as if on thin ice. The rumors about the Purple Qi Palace were awe-inspiring. But halfway along the path, she simply pointed out the general direction to the guests, saying that Lady Xiao Luan could find her way to the Snowy Mang Hall by herself—after all, her seat was easy to find, right by the gate.
Lady Xiao Luan tried to comfort the two, but with little effect. She could only smile wryly and go ahead.
They rounded a screen wall and in a long corridor encountered another group.
It was Chen Ping'an and his companions. A Dragon Gate realm old cultivator had personally come to invite Chen Ping'an earlier, but Chen Ping'an, after asking for directions, said he didn't need the old senior to guide him, that he could find his own way. The old cultivator, who held the power of life and death over all lower-realm cultivators in Ziyang, had wanted to insist, but recalling what the Patriarch had said earlier at the Sword Scolding Hall and the implications he had discerned, decided it was better to go along with Young Master Chen. He excused himself and went about his own business.
The two groups happened to meet at the intersection of two corridors.
Chen Ping'an was the first to stop, giving way to Lady Xiao Luan's group.
Lady Xiao Luan smiled and nodded slightly in acknowledgment of the stranger's courtesy.
A young man in white, carrying a sword on his back in the Purple Qi Palace?
She didn't think much of it.
Her personal maid couldn't help but take a second look at Chen Ping'an. Oh, and he had a little vermillion wine gourd hanging from his waist.
He looked quite like one of Ziyang Prefecture's registered inner sect immortal masters. But why didn't he have that aggressive arrogance typical of Ziyang cultivators?
At the very back, Sun Dengxian was feeling melancholy and depressed, so he didn't notice Chen Ping'an's group.
Suddenly, he heard someone call out: "Great hero?!"
Sun Dengxian ignored it and kept walking.
But the person continued: "Great hero! At Centipede Ridge, in front of the broken temple. We met before."
Sun Dengxian paused, stopped, and turned to look at the young man in white with a beaming smile. "You are?"
Chen Ping'an quickly stepped forward and said with a smile: "Great hero, do you remember? At that broken temple, I was with two little ones—one in blue, one in a pink skirt. After you finished subduing the demon, you kindly reminded me to be careful, saying that not all mountain cultivators are okay with someone keeping companions that have turned into spirits."
Sun Dengxian's face lit up with recognition, and he laughed heartily: "Well, well! It's you!"
Chen Ping'an scratched his head, a bit embarrassed: "I've grown quite a bit in the past two years, and I've changed my outfit. It's only natural that the great hero didn't recognize me."
Sun Dengxian slapped Chen Ping'an heavily on the shoulder: "Good lad! Not bad at all! You've made quite a name for yourself, eating and drinking at the Purple Qi Palace! Wait, I bet our seats won't be far apart. We'll have a good drink later."
Chen Ping'an just grinned and nodded.
Back at Centipede Ridge, this man had wielded a small silver sword, a talisman artifact, and together with others had pursued and captured a fox spirit disguised as a beautiful woman. They had almost clashed with a group of noble young masters traveling the martial world, but in the end, the man had subdued that ruthless fox spirit, who had called herself Celadon Bud Madam.
Chen Ping'an remembered that chance encounter vividly.
One could even say that Chen Ping'an's vague impression of the martial world—what a chivalrous hero was, what it meant to subdue demons and vanquish evil, and how to truly view the treacherous martial world—all stemmed from that encounter and his observation.
To meet that decisive, straightforward man again here at Ziyang Prefecture—Chen Ping'an felt it was an unexpected delight.
But he was too busy being happy to notice.
Pei Qian, on the other hand, had her eyes wide open.
That Huangting Kingdom sixth-realm martial artist, whoever he was, had slapped Chen Ping'an on the shoulder!
Zhu Lian watched with a smile, while Shi Rou's eyelids twitched. She thought that if Cui Dongshan were here, this reckless martial world boor would probably be dead for sure.
Lady Xiao Luan and the others ahead had also heard the commotion and stopped. Sun Dengxian turned to them and cheerfully introduced Chen Ping'an, laughing heartily: "This little brother is the young man I mentioned to you before. Young, but with impressive fist intent, and even more guts. Back then, he was only at the third or fourth realm of martial arts, yet he dared to travel the martial world with two little demons. Compared to those embroidered pillows from the eunuch clans, this young hero here is far more experienced in the ways of the martial world..."
The graceful and beautiful Lady Xiao Luan once again put on a smile, but her maid signaled Sun Dengxian with her eyes to stop dawdling and hurry to the Snowy Mang Hall banquet to avoid any complications.
An elderly man reminded softly: "Xiao Sun, you can chat while you walk."
Sun Dengxian felt a bit reluctant, but Chen Ping'an said with a smile: "The banquet is more important. Great hero, your surname is Sun? My name is Chen Ping'an. Just call me Chen Ping'an."
Sun Dengxian was naturally a bold and generous wandering chivalrous man, so he didn't stand on ceremony: "Alright, Chen Ping'an it is."
Lady Xiao Luan continued on her way.
Sun Dengxian stayed at the back, warmly chatting with Chen Ping'an.
At the end of the corridor, a scolding voice suddenly rang out: "What are you people doing?! Do you expect our Patriarch and Prefecture Master to wait for you to sit down before starting the banquet? Lady Xiao Luan, you certainly have a lot of airs!"
It was an inner sect steward of Ziyang Prefecture who had rushed around the corner, extremely arrogant, not even placing a legitimate River God in his eyes.
After scolding them, the steward turned and walked away with a dark face: "Hurry up and follow! So slow and long-winded!"
After the steward turned, Lady Xiao Luan narrowed her eyes, sighed softly, and returned to a normal expression.
Sun Dengxian muttered a curse under his breath.
Chen Ping'an said nothing.
All of Ziyang Prefecture's middle-realm cultivators had already gathered in the Snowy Mang Hall.
When Lady Xiao Luan reached the threshold of the main hall, she slowed down, feeling as if needles were pricking her back.
That steward stood at the main entrance, glaring at the Baihu River God Lady, lowering his voice: "Hurry up and sit down!"
Lady Xiao Luan expressionlessly crossed the threshold, followed by her maid and the two friends. The steward was willing to take a jab at the Baihu River God, but for those worthless nobodies behind her, he only showed cold sneers.
But when he saw Sun Dengxian, who seemed close to that young man, the steward's smile froze, and sweat immediately broke out on his forehead.
Sun Dengxian was puzzled, couldn't figure it out, and simply strode across the threshold.
Chen Ping'an, who entered the Snowy Mang Hall a step slowly, wore a calm expression.