Chapter 654: Young Zhu Lian
Outside Clear Wind City, on a small slope in a desolate wilderness, beneath a solitary wild peach tree, two people stared at each other with wide eyes.
Liu Chicheng glared fiercely, but did not spare a hand to wipe the blood from his face.
The pink Daoist robe Liu Chicheng wore could compete with peach blossoms in beauty.
The Nascent Soul wild cultivator who had been detained here revealed his true form, surprisingly a short “youth,” but with white hair and a slightly aged face.
The unusual thing was that hanging from his white jade belt carved with chi dragon patterns was a long string of antique jade pendants and small bottles and jars.
This man’s body was swaying, but he still tried his best to maintain a standing posture, afraid that if he tilted his head or shook his leg, the pink-robed Daoist in front of him would slap him to death.
At this moment, his mood was like facing a table full of delicious food, about to gorge himself, when the table was suddenly overturned. Not only had he not taken a single bite, but the table had also hit him all over the head.
Even now, he didn’t know how he had dropped in realm! From the bottleneck of Nascent Soul all the way down to the miserable state of just having formed a Golden Core.
Even stranger was why the other party, being so powerful, also seemed heavily injured? The problem was that he himself hadn’t even made a move, right?
He had once been a hegemon dominating a region, the undisputed shadow emperor behind several small countries. He liked to conceal his identity and search for treasures everywhere. He had a considerable reputation throughout the entire Bottle Gourd Continent. He had fought with Li Tuanjing of Wind Thunder Garden, taking a few swords and barely surviving. He had been chased for ten thousand li by an old Daoist immortal of the Divine Proclamation Sect, and still hadn’t died. In his early years, he was both enemy and friend with Liu Laocheng of Letter Lake; they had once explored the immortal mansion ruins of the ancient Shu kingdom’s secret realm together. Due to unequal distribution of spoils, Liu Laocheng, who was at the same realm, had beaten him half to death. Later, even though Liu Laocheng had made a meteoric rise, he still managed to ambush and kill several direct disciples of Willow Palace Island who were traveling abroad. Liu Laocheng couldn’t find him and had to give up. His life had been full of excitement; what strange things hadn’t he experienced? But none were as baffling as today: who was the other party, how had he made his move, why had he come here, and would he die here...
Liu Chicheng shook the blood off his hand and smiled. “I thank you, then.”
That “youth”-faced mountain marsh wild cultivator, seeing that the senior was a Daoist immortal, tried to please him. He made a Daoli salute and said softly, “Junior Chai Bofu, Dao name Long Bo. I believe Senior should have heard of me.”
“Closes distance in a few steps, exhales into giant clouds.”
This is what was said about the famous mountain marsh wild cultivator Long Bo. He was extremely skilled in assassination and escape, and well-versed in water-based attacks. It was rumored that he had some great Dao conflict with Liu Zhimao of Letter Lake, and they had even fought over an immortal secret manual that could lead to heaven. It was said that both sides were vicious and spared no effort, almost fighting until brains splattered.
Liu Chicheng ground his teeth and said, “Heard of you, my ass. I am Liu Chicheng, from White Water Kingdom. Have you heard of me?”
Chai Bofu steeled himself and said, “Junior is shallow and ignorant, and indeed has not heard of Senior’s great name.”
Liu Chicheng sat down on the ground, leaning against the peach tree, looking dejected. “Picking chicken shit from a rock crevice, digging dog droppings beside the mud, finally accumulated a little bit of cultivation, and it’s gone with one slap. I don’t want to live anymore. You kill me.”
Chai Bofu did not move, nor would he pretend to be terrified or speak any sincere words. In dealing with such highly cultivated but little-known free spirits, the worst thing was to act clever or add unnecessary embellishments.
Liu Chicheng began to rest with his eyes closed, lightly knocking his head against the peach tree again and again, muttering, “Cut down the peach tree, ruin the scenery.”
Then Liu Chicheng slapped his own face hard, as if slapped awake, and beamed with joy. “I should be happy. Who else in the world has survived such a calamity like me? There must be future blessings, and abundant blessings!”
Liu Chicheng stood up, instantly changing from listless to high-spirited. He straightened his waist, shook his sleeves, and pinched out three sticks of incense. Then he looked at the wild cultivator standing stupidly in place, and they began staring at each other again. “Still not getting the hell out? Do you want to delay me in burning incense and worshiping gods?”
Liu Chicheng suddenly took a deep breath. “No, no, no. Must be kind to others, treat people with courtesy, and follow the principles of a scholar.”
Chai Bofu moved away step by step, only daring to stop when he was five or six zhang away.
He didn’t feel the least bit aggrieved. A qi refiner of mountain marsh wild cultivator origin who could reach Chai Bofu’s position had to have some depth to him.
Wind Thunder Garden’s Li Tuanjing once said with a smile that those in the world with the deepest cultivation of the heart were not the registered immortal masters, but the wild cultivators. It was just a pity they had to take side doors and heretical paths; otherwise, their Great Dao would be most promising.
Liu Chicheng gathered his thoughts, discarded distractions, and began to recite incantations. Then he rubbed the incense head between his fingers and slowly lit it. Liu Chicheng appeared to be bowing three times to heaven and earth.
In fact, the first bow was to the White Emperor City ancestral hall that had imparted the Dao to him.
The second bow was to the blue-clad Confucian scholar in the ancient temple who had thrust out a sword. The swordsmanship was extraordinarily high, and the purity of the righteous qi was the best he had ever seen in his life.
The third bow was to the “middle-aged Daoist” whose heavenly might was vast.
Gu Can, cautious and careful, while riding the wind, saw Liu Chicheng who had not deliberately concealed his aura. He landed near the wild peach tree. Only after Liu Chicheng finished his three bows did Gu Can speak. “What if? Why bother?”
Liu Chicheng remained silent. Only when the incense in his hand had burned out did he return to his usual demeanor. He grinned and said, “Alright, alright, stop rubbing salt in my wound. My heart and liver ache right now.”
Gu Can didn’t even bother to glance at the wild cultivator, but his second sentence revealed his true nature and mind. “What’s the point of keeping him?”
Liu Chicheng asked with a smile, “Gu Can, do you want to become my junior brother or my junior nephew?”
Gu Can said, “That’s not for me to choose. Why talk about it?”
In recent years, if a stranger met Gu Can for the first time, they would feel he was a gentle and respectful scholar, a young man with good upbringing.
But Gu Can and Liu Chicheng had been traveling north together, spending days and nights side by side. Each knew the other’s true character.
If Gu Can said he didn’t hold today’s grudge, that would be an insult to Liu Chicheng.
Gu Can said bluntly, “You said it yourself: Master Qi once did you a great favor, giving you a golden saying that guided you through a barrier and allowed you to successfully enter the Upper Five Realms. You also made a promise to Master Qi: that when Chen Ping’an visits White Emperor City, you owe that favor to Master Qi, and thus to Chen Ping’an. So you must show him goodwill. Now you weigh the consequences yourself. What you did today is, first, ungrateful, and second, has made an enemy of me. You, Liu Chicheng, truly deserve to be called a White Emperor City expert. You act as you please. I look forward to White Emperor City even more. That is probably the only thing you did right today.”
Gu Can did not communicate with Liu Chicheng through secret voice.
Liu Chicheng squinted at the wild cultivator Chai Bofu, who was resigned to death, then withdrew his gaze and said helplessly, “Are you so eager for Brother Long Bo to die?”
Gu Can did not speak.
Liu Chicheng explained patiently. “First, yesterday’s matters are yesterday’s matters; tomorrow’s matters are tomorrow’s matters. For example, if Chen Ping’an wants to argue with me later, I will bring out my senior brother. If Chen Ping’an dies, I will follow the flow and then bring up Master Qi’s favor. That would be equivalent to saving Chen Ping’an’s life. Wouldn’t that repay the favor?”
“Second, regardless of the current outcome, my thinking at the time was very simple: making an enemy of you, compared to helping senior brother forge another path to the top—Gu Can, you do the math. If you were me, what would you choose?”
“Finally, I respect and fear senior brother, but I love and miss White Emperor City. I don’t want it to be just a stepping stone. Someone needs to appear, to give senior brother a reason to convince himself.”
Gu Can understood everything except Liu Chicheng’s last sentence.
Regardless of whether Liu Chicheng’s reasoning seemed twisted or circuitous to Gu Can, it was the reasoning that Liu Chicheng genuinely believed in. Liu Chicheng was speaking from the heart to Gu Can.
Gu Can could disagree, but then he would have to offer his own “reasoning.” Fists, Daoist arts, or clever talk—all were acceptable.
In the end, Liu Chicheng had always been looking down on Gu Can. What he had in mind and within his field of vision was the highest point of White Emperor City, his senior brother, and those other sect members of his generation.
If Liu Chicheng wanted to accept a disciple on behalf of his master, his greatest enemy, or rather obstacle, was actually those fellow sect members.
Chai Bofu felt a chill down his spine. On his cultivation path, having experienced many hardships, he felt despair for the first time in his life.
The words “White Emperor City” were like a mountain pressing on his heart lake, suppressing Chai Bofu until he could hardly breathe.
Among the nine continents in the world, there were countless mountain marsh wild cultivators, but there was only one sacred land in their hearts: White Emperor City in the Central Continent. Its city lord was recognized as the number one demonic overlord.
Yet this pink-robed Daoist, along with a young man, talked about White Emperor City and senior and junior brothers as if it were nothing.
So Chai Bofu, when the two fell silent, opened his mouth and asked, “Senior Liu, Gu Can, how can I survive?”
The person he truly asked was only the young man in blue, whose realm was not high.
Since Liu Chicheng had detained him here, at least his life was safe, but Gu Can had some old and new grievances with him.
Chai Bofu had heard of the name Gu Can, mainly because of River-Cutting True Lord Liu Zhimao. It was rumored that in previous years, Gu Can, as Liu Zhimao’s direct disciple, was a mere child who owned a Nascent Soul-level flood dragon. He had killed wildly in Letter Lake, but then suddenly fell silent. The flood dragon disappeared, and Gu Can vanished from sight. Then the entire Letter Lake was taken over by foreign cultivators, becoming the subordinate sect territory of Jade Gui Sect’s Tongye Continent. Those who complied prospered, those who defied perished. The unruly ones were probably fed to the fish by True Realm Sect, while those who recognized the situation seemed to have taken an immortal bath in Letter Lake, washing off the wild cultivator filth and transforming into legitimate registered immortal masters of a proper sect.
Chai Bofu felt his recent luck had been extremely awful.
How had he run into this little devil? And how was Gu Can connected to this powerful dragon like Liu Chicheng, and to White Emperor City?
Liu Chicheng pointed at Gu Can. “Life or death, ask my future little junior brother.”
The higher Gu Can’s Dao achievement, the smoother Liu Chicheng’s return to White Emperor City would be.
Gu Can said, “Dead, then you won’t need to die.”
Liu Chicheng was amused.
That was a novel way of putting it.
Chai Bofu said in a deep voice, “Gu Can, why are you so aggressive? Why do you insist on killing me? Even if I have some old grudges with your master, you are a wild cultivator, and so am I. What does that little enmity count for?”
Liu Chicheng said with interest, “Brother Long Bo, you and Liu Zhimao?”
Chai Bofu said, “For competing over a copy of the River-Cutting True Scripture...”
At this point, Chai Bofu suddenly understood. “Gu Can, did Liu Zhimao truly take you as his inheritor? Did you also learn that True Scripture? Is he afraid that me being by your side would clash with your Dao and harm your luck?”
Chai Bofu muttered to himself, “Liu Zhimao is most petty and vindictive. He wishes to kill all fellow daoists in the world. How could he be willing to pass on the fundamental method of the Great Dao to you?”
Gu Can naturally would not reveal the inside story. Back then, Liu Zhimao was not confident about breaking through in seclusion and was likely to die by dissolution. Otherwise, why would Liu Zhimao have been willing to give Gu Can that water method true scripture? And how could Gu Can have been sought out by Liu Chicheng, the true owner of that true scripture?
Liu Chicheng, after being tricked by Cui Chan and freed, once took on a registered disciple. That youth was a former disciple of Old Demon Mi, named Yuan Tiandi. Unfortunately, though Liu Chicheng had put in some effort, the results were poor. He was too embarrassed to keep him by his side, so he left him on a small mountain to fend for himself. By the youth’s side was that little fox spirit. When Liu Chicheng parted with them, he gave no gift to his registered disciple, but gave the little fox spirit a cultivation method and two protective items. However, it was unlikely she would be diligent in her future cultivation. As for whether Yuan Tiandi could learn that Daoist method from her, and what grudges and loves would develop between them, Liu Chicheng didn’t care. On the path of cultivation, it all depends on fate.
Liu Chicheng didn’t mind being a wild man for beautiful women, but he didn’t want to be a wild father to anyone. His earlier help to that little fox spirit was not because he pitied her situation, but because he pitied himself.
After leaving Yuan Tiandi behind, Liu Chicheng traveled alone. He never expected that his River-Cutting True Scripture would fall into the hands of wild cultivator Liu Zhimao, who made quite a name for himself, earning the title River-Cutting True Lord.
On the path of life, you always find that you plant flowers with care but they don’t bloom, yet you plant willows without intent and they form shade.
Gu Can glanced at Chai Bofu and suddenly smiled. “Forget it. We can walk the Great Dao together in the future. We can exchange Dao techniques.”
Since Liu Chicheng didn’t want to kill, and Gu Can wasn’t confident in doing it himself, he would keep Chai Bofu around.
Liu Chicheng actually looked down on Chai Bofu’s realm. Even if he returned to Nascent Soul, what then? Even if he worked like an ox or horse for Liu Chicheng, what meaning would it have at White Emperor City? Cultivation at White Emperor City was not like ordinary immortal sect methods; they never cared about supporting each other or forming alliances.
Liu Chicheng’s real reason for not killing this man was to use Chai Bofu’s causal connection with Li Baoping, through his senior brother’s Heavenly Calculations, to help his senior brother play chess with that “middle-aged Daoist” in the future. Even if White Emperor City only gained a sliver of an advantage, it would be a great blessing.
He believed that this little calculation of his had probably already been accounted for by that “middle-aged Daoist.” No matter; in the end, it would all be for his senior brother to worry about.
The junior brother does his junior brother’s duty; the senior brother plays his senior brother’s chess.
Afterwards, the three of them did not ride the wind but walked together towards Clear Wind City.
Liu Chicheng said casually, “Brother Long Bo, these six natal objects of yours are flashy. Two of them are only at the spiritual tool level. What’s up with that?”
Chai Bofu said bitterly, “For a mountain marsh wild cultivator, getting started is the hardest. For a lower Five Realms wild cultivator, being able to successfully refine one or two spiritual tools into natal objects is already a great fortune. By the time your realm is high enough and you have enough magic treasures on hand, if you want to forcibly replace those natal objects that are deeply rooted and connected to your life and Dao, it’s possible, but it’s too damaging. What you fear most is that your enemies get wind of it. Such secluded cultivation would be suicide. Even if you don’t die, some idle registered immortal master might follow the clues, secretly interfere, and interrupt your seclusion. The gain wouldn’t be worth the loss.”
Chai Bofu sighed. “If you could have done it before forming the Golden Core, when your enemies weren’t at a high realm, replacing natal objects wouldn’t be a big problem. Unfortunately, for us wild cultivators to form a Core, we inevitably offend some Golden Core peers, and some registered immortal masters who cry for their parents when they get hit. Sometimes, looking around, I truly feel I’m surrounded by trouble and enemies.”
Immortal “visits,” whether for revenge or like visiting relatives, are not like commoners who consider a journey of over a hundred li as far away. Even if a continent is huge, once you talk about establishing a Dao field, it becomes very small. Any blessed land with slightly better spiritual qi has its local snakes. Famous mountains and deep waters, which one hasn’t been occupied and managed by immortal sects for many years? If it’s not a registered sect, it’s a mountain or water deity. The reason wild cultivators find it hard to succeed is simply that they have no advantage in timing, geography, or people.
Liu Chicheng nodded to show understanding.
Gu Can smiled faintly.
Chai Bofu was caught off guard when Liu Chicheng pressed down on his head and casually shattered his Golden Core. The latter collapsed to the ground, covered in blood, twitching uncontrollably.
Earlier, falling from Nascent Soul to Golden Core had been too mysterious; Chai Bofu hadn’t suffered much. This time, falling from Golden Core to Dragon Gate realm was true torture.
Liu Chicheng said with a smile, “Alright, now you can safely replace your natal objects. Otherwise, it would be hard for you to break through the Nascent Soul bottleneck. Brother Long Bo, don’t thank me.”
Liu Chicheng twirled a finger and casually set up a formation to help Brother Long Bo conceal his aura.
The techniques passed down by White Emperor City were diverse. Liu Chicheng once had a senior sister with astonishing talent who made a grand wish to master twelve types of Great Dao techniques.
But every hundred years, that senior sister’s face grew uglier by one degree, until she became the most irritable person in White Emperor City.
Chai Bofu sat cross-legged. The small heaven and earth of his human body was in chaos. Today, his Nascent Soul and Golden Core had successively disappeared and shattered. He was no longer talking about damage to the foundation of the Great Dao. First, he had to stay alive; everything else would come later.
Gu Can crouched beside Chai Bofu and asked, “I’m curious. Why didn’t you pretend to be Xu Hun? Didn’t you even have the thought of framing him? How did you become a wild cultivator? What’s the hidden story?”
Gu Can reached out and pressed on Chai Bofu’s head. “You cultivate water methods. I happen to have learned the River-Cutting True Scripture. If I take this opportunity to intercept your natal qi and water fortune, and then refine your Golden Core fragments, it would be a smooth and perfect way to greatly supplement my Dao. Speak. What unspeakable connection do you have with Clear Wind City or the Fox Kingdom that made you act so righteously in this murder and treasure snatching?”
Chai Bofu, who looked like a youth, had a pale face. Earlier, his white hair, though looking old, had lustrous strands full of vitality. Now, most of the strands had withered and died. As Gu Can merely pressed on his head, hair fell in a continuous stream, turning to ashes before it even hit the ground.
Gu Can slightly increased the pressure and, using one of the ultimate techniques from the River-Cutting True Scripture, began to plunder Chai Bofu’s water fortune on a large scale. Chai Bofu’s small heaven and earth of his human body was already in chaos, like a flood bursting forth. Gu Can’s method was like chiseling a large hole in a crumbling dam, taking only the water fortune and pocketing it. He didn’t care at all whether the flood might smash through all the remaining dams, making Chai Bofu’s cultivation path even worse, or whether he would ever have a chance to return to Golden Core or Nascent Soul.
Chai Bofu immediately began to pour out beans from a bamboo tube, revealing the inside story. “That woman, Xu Hun’s wife, and I were fellow disciples under the same master in our early years! So I wanted to badly screw over Xu Hun, this city lord, but I didn’t want the entire Clear Wind City to be in danger to the point that the entire Xu Clan wouldn’t even have a chance to cry out in grievance. If that little girl suffered harm here, Xu Hun, as city lord, would be guilty of failing to protect her, but he wouldn’t have more blame than that. However, if I had pretended to be Xu Hun and snatched the treasure, and then ‘accidentally’ left half a life in the little girl or Wei Benyuan, Clear Wind City would have lost its great prospects for a sect candidate. I didn’t want all of my junior sister’s efforts to come to nothing...”
When he mentioned that junior sister, Chai Bofu had mixed feelings. His expression and eyes showed the regret of ‘the sea is hard to become water.’
Liu Chicheng smiled. “Deeply in love, truly deeply in love. I like it. No wonder I felt an immediate affinity with Brother Long Bo and couldn’t bear to kill you.”
Gu Can thought for a moment and asked with a smile, “That son of Xu Hun?”
Chai Bofu said angrily, “Xu Hun is not a fool. Would he help me raise a son? My junior sister and I are pure and innocent. Don’t you insinuate and spew shit!”
Only then did Gu Can withdraw his hand and say, “What a pity.”
However, Gu Can suddenly reached out again, continuing to intercept water fortune and seize Golden Core fragments. “You don’t think Xu Hun is a fool, but you think I am? Speak. Is your junior sister at a higher realm than you, or does she hold something over you? Otherwise, this true feeling of yours is too much. When a wild cultivator makes an exception, there’s always a reason. Since that boy isn’t your son, your reason isn’t sufficient. Love between a man and a woman? If you were truly obsessed, when Clear Wind City was in mortal danger and on the verge of collapse, Xu Hun took your junior sister, and you would take his wife and child and raise them. Would you really not be able to do that?”
Chai Bofu forced his eyelids open, as if wanting to see the young man’s face clearly. He said bitterly, “Though I am a wild cultivator, I never believed there was such a thing as a natural wild cultivator. Gu Can, Gu Can, you are one!”
Chai Bofu was silent for a moment. “My junior sister has been deep and calculating since childhood. After I teamed up with her to kill our master back then, before she married into the Xu Clan of Clear Wind City, I only knew that she had another sect lineage, very obscure. I have always been wary and never dared to provoke her.”
Gu Can turned his head to look at Liu Chicheng and smiled. “My realm is low, so it doesn’t matter if I’m treated like a fool. What about you? Do you still think Brother Long Bo is deeply in love?”
Liu Chicheng smiled. “It’s fine. I’ve always been a fool.”
Only then did Gu Can withdraw his hand, stand up, and look towards Clear Wind City, which had great hopes of becoming a proper sect.
Chai Bofu was utterly disheartened. With this little bastard Gu Can’s torment, even his current Dragon Gate realm was leaking air everywhere, and patching it up would be arduous.
Gu Can said, “We don’t go to Clear Wind City. We head straight back to the town.”
Liu Chicheng smiled. “As you wish.”
Gu Can said, “When we get to my hometown, I advise you to take it easy.”
Liu Chicheng’s face became extremely ugly.
Chen Ping’an, Qi Jingchun, today’s Li Baoping, **Sheng, and on top of that, this Gu Can beside him, who made no attempt to hide his murderous intent towards him. He had also heard of Ma Kuxuan, who had joined True Martial Mountain, and the Great Li young prince Song Mu...
All of them came from that damn place.
Liu Chicheng immediately changed his mind. “First, we’ll travel north. Then Brother Long Bo and I will wait for you at the border area of that Lizhu Cave Heaven. We won’t accompany you to the town.”
Gu Can said with a smile, “As long as you keep a low profile, there’s no need to be so restrained.”
Liu Chicheng said in a grave tone, “What if? Why bother?”
Gu Can asked, “What if Li Baoping goes to the Fox Kingdom?”
Liu Chicheng smiled. “That little girl is not as simple as you think. Just her own methods alone would make any minor Fox Kingdom think twice before reaching out, or lose its tail.”
Gu Can’s face darkened. “Liu Chicheng, although I don’t know why you