Chapter 655: High Places Without People
Pei Qian opened the courtyard gate. Zhou Mili, holding a walking staff and carrying a small shoulder pole with a sack of sunflower seeds hanging from each end, was chatting with the stone lion at the entrance. One chattered incessantly, the other remained silent—they got along splendidly.
Zhou Mili heard the creak of the opening door and quickly turned to look at Pei Qian, about to ask something, but Pei Qian motioned for her to stay quiet, then turned to gaze at a distant rooftop ridge.
A martial grandmaster in the prime of his life stood atop the main ridge of a magnificent building with a hip-and-gable roof. Since his presence had already been detected, he intended to leave this place and return to the imperial palace to report the situation to the young emperor. In truth, he knew very little—the emperor was merely wary of the girl who had ascended into the sky, thrown a punch, and scattered the clouds, hastily ordering him to come investigate. He had arrived too late, only to see the woman descend back to the earth like an arrow piercing the ground. But unlike the earlier tremors in the capital and the disturbance in the dragon vein, when the girl landed, it was the exact opposite—silent and soundless, like a feather touching down. This sent a chill through the martial grandmaster. Reaching the pinnacle could indeed be called the realm of transformation.
After the great demon Ding Ying had been killed, Yu Zhenyi, who had turned to cultivating immortal arts, had vanished without a trace, rumored to have secretly ascended beyond the heavens. Spring Tide Palace's Zhou Fei and Grand Preceptor Zhong Qiu had both long since gone on distant travels. Many top experts like Lu Fang of the Bird's Eye Peak, and especially Lu Tai, who had appeared out of nowhere and unified the demonic cult forces in less than a decade before challenging Yu Zhenyi, had all faded away. Since then, no more ultimate experts had appeared in the martial world for many years.
Could the "girl" before him be a legendary Daoist who had mastered the art of preserving youth?
Was she an exiled immortal who had descended from heaven to travel this land?
The martial world was now declining, but the immortal aura in the mountains was growing richer and richer, full of strange and wonderful phenomena.
Unexpectedly, the girl took only a few steps—first leaping onto a wall, then flying across a rooftop ridge, and in an instant, she reached the opposite roof's sloping ridge, standing opposite the middle-aged grandmaster. Pei Qian's position was slightly lower. She withdrew her fist stance, clasped her hands in salute, and spoke in pure Nanyuan Kingdom official language: "I am Pei Qian, a member of the Fallen Mountain sect from Nanyuan Kingdom. May I ask what your intentions are?"
The middle-aged martial artist, with a saber at his waist, suppressed his awkward expression and returned the salute. "I am Dong Zhongxia, currently a humble guest of the Wei clan and a martial arts instructor for the Imperial Guard."
Dong Zhongxia smiled and said, "I dare not offer any guidance. I was merely ordered to patrol this area. Since Miss Pei is practicing here, I can return and report with peace of mind."
The emperor had issued a secret decree: wherever Fallen Mountain cultivators were encountered, Nanyuan Kingdom was to treat them with due respect.
The previous emperor of the Wei clan, Wei Liang, had been in his prime when he unexpectedly abdicated in favor of his eldest son. The new emperor, Wei Yan, upon ascending the throne, had vigorously promoted the imperial examinations, granted amnesty to the three surname fishing households, Western Shanxi musician households, Yuzhou beggar households, and others, abolishing the "lowly registration" and allowing their children to participate in the exams. He also established military examinations, allowing border garrison and military camp descendants, as well as martial arts practitioners from families with clean records for three generations, to participate. The imperial edict explicitly stated that the purpose of the military exams was to promote capable and loyal officers for the state's use. The third matter was to build shrines and temples for mountains and rivers, ordering the Ministry of Rites to review local gazetteers, select loyal ministers and virtuous men from the past, and cast golden statues for them, hoping they would become guardian spirits after death and continue to protect the land. Furthermore, the Wei emperor of Nanyuan Kingdom began secretly supporting and cultivating Daoists to help suppress the ghosts and monsters that had emerged everywhere, preventing them from harming the people. Otherwise, although the martial heroes of various regions had formidable fist techniques, facing these strange beings they had never encountered before, they were truly powerless and suffered heavy losses.
But Dong Zhongxia was one of the foremost among the latest first-rate grandmasters in the martial world. At forty years old, he had broken through a bottleneck in martial arts a few years ago. After traveling far and wide, he had suppressed several notorious demons and monsters along the way, gaining a reputation. It was then that the new emperor Wei Yan took a liking to him and appointed him as one of Nanyuan Kingdom's martial arts guests. Dong Zhongxia now knew that the emperor himself was a true martial grandmaster of profound achievement.
Pei Qian asked with a smile, "Senior Dong, are you not from Nanyuan Kingdom?"
Otherwise, the peak fist stance she had deliberately revealed earlier, which originated from Nanyuan Kingdom's former grand preceptor, Master Zhong, would have been recognized by him.
From this, it was evident that Dong Zhongxia might not be the emperor's true confidant.
Dong Zhongxia nodded. "I am from Songlai Kingdom and have only recently arrived in Nanyuan Kingdom."
Pei Qian turned her head to look elsewhere, frowning. Was this hiding and concealing any fun? Her earlier punch had been a bit too loud, and a Nanyuan Kingdom expert had come to investigate, bearing an official identity—it was his duty. Pei Qian had treated him with courtesy. But besides Dong Zhongxia, there was another person who, after she appeared, mistakenly thought she hadn't noticed and actually went further, secretly using a technique to condense a few tiny water droplets around Pei Qian and Dong Zhongxia, apparently to eavesdrop on their conversation.
Pei Qian took her leave from Dong Zhongxia.
Dong Zhongxia was slightly surprised. It seemed she truly wasn't an exiled immortal from a greater world.
The tiles around Pei Qian remained almost motionless, but the dust on the tiles burst outward. The next moment, Dong Zhongxia could no longer see Pei Qian's figure.
Pei Qian was already crouching beside the upturned eaves of a distant rooftop ridge, staring at a young man sitting cross-legged with his hands forming seals. He wore a Dharma robe still rare in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, a green jade crown on his head, and a white jade short sword tucked into his belt.
The young man stood up with a smile. "Wang Guangjing, a guest official of the Prince's residence. Greetings, Miss Pei."
Pei Qian asked, "Mister Wang, the immortal from the Prince's mansion? Weren't you and two other Daoist adepts summoned by decree to leave the capital and reopen the old Dragon Pool Water Rock Mine?"
Nowadays, the capital of Nanyuan Kingdom was a mixed bag. There were plenty of immortal masters and Daoist priests seeking fame, but there were also some true cultivators. Either they seized the trend in scenic places and "established sects," or they attached themselves to the rulers of the three kingdoms, collecting the immortal coins that everyone was seeing for the first time. Fallen Mountain kept detailed records of such matters. Nuan Shu would copy them every few days and send them to the Ancestral Hall on Jise Peak for archiving, while the originals were kept at Old Cook Zhu Lian's place. In the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, Fallen Mountain had secretly established two channels for gathering intelligence. One was personally created by Master Zhong and known to both the old emperor Wei Liang and the new emperor Wei Yan, as it was part of the contract between Fallen Mountain and Nanyuan Kingdom. The other was far away in Songlai Kingdom, managed by Zhu Lian.
Although Pei Qian didn't fully understand these court affairs, she knew that the relationship between the old and new emperors wasn't as harmonious as it appeared on the surface. Otherwise, the old emperor wouldn't have gotten so close to his second son, Wei Yun, and the new emperor Wei Yan wouldn't have appointed his imperial brother Wei Yun as the capital's prefect, nor would he have let a powerful old minister who had long favored Crown Prince Wei Yun serve as the state's chancellor of finance. If it weren't for the Minister of Rites, who would oversee mountain and river deities in the future, being the young emperor's confidant, Pei Qian would have thought that the old emperor was still running Nanyuan Kingdom.
Wang Guangjing was slightly surprised inside but showed a look of shame on his face. "Before departing, I was in a hurry to break through my bottleneck. I made a mistake in my cultivation and suffered a considerable mishap. I had to stay in the capital to recover."
As Dong Zhongxia left, he glanced back at them from afar, his heart heavy.
That Prince Wei Yun was certainly no easy figure. With the support of the retired emperor in recent years, he had absorbed a large number of Daoists.
If that female martial artist surnamed Pei were to be recruited by the Prince's mansion as a guest, wouldn't that make the undercurrents in Nanyuan Kingdom's capital even more turbulent?
Dong Zhongxia hurried back to a hidden residence near the imperial palace, which had once been the cultivation site of the former Grand Preceptor Zhong Qiu. There, he saw the man in civilian clothes and was startled. He quickly descended, clasped his hands, and said softly, "Your Majesty."
Emperor Wei Yan listened carefully to Dong Zhongxia's report, then smiled. "A mountain rat and snake dares to talk about recruitment in front of a dragon?"
How could the small pond in Prince Wei Yun's mansion withstand a river-crossing dragon that had seen great rivers? How could it play host?
Standing beside Wei Yan was a graceful young woman, his sister Wei Zhen.
Wei Zhen asked softly, "That girl is from Fallen Mountain. What is her relationship with that Sword Immortal Chen? Brother, why not ask?"
Wei Yan warned, "This is a matter of state. Don't cause trouble."
Wei Zhen looked a bit disappointed.
She was now half a cultivator herself and yearned greatly for the world where Fallen Mountain was located. Over the years, she had pored over the palace's secret archives and grown even more enamored.
Over at Pei Qian's side, she listened to Wang Guangjing's roundabout speech, her expression calm but finding it somewhat amusing inside.
Although Pei Qian had previously "suppressed" her own mind and body deliberately, remaining short and dark-skinned like a charcoal girl, when it came to understanding people's hearts, even back when she first left the Flower Blossom Blessed Land, she was no child. Otherwise, those two veteran constables in the border town of Daquan Dynasty wouldn't have been led around by her nonsense and sent her back to Jiu Niang's inn with all due respect. Later, even Li Huai and his two academy friends still believed that Pei Qian was a "princess who had fallen among commoners."
Pei Qian declined Wang Guangjing's invitation and wanted to return to the house to meet up with Xiao Mili.
Unexpectedly, Wang Guangjing was still unwilling to give up. He pestered her, invoking Prince Wei Yun, saying that the prince was most courteous to the wise and especially generous to martial artists. Even if Pei Qian didn't want to take a few steps to visit the Prince's mansion, that was fine—the prince could personally visit her. If Pei Qian would just nod, the prince would surely make time to come.
Pei Qian's head ached from listening. He couldn't just speak plainly. Either he was throwing around names to intimidate her or spouting pretentious nonsense. How did Wei Yun find such an idiotic guest official? Was he trying to recruit people for the Prince's mansion or drive them away?
Pei Qian then thought to herself: although Wang Guangjing was full of lies about his closed-door cultivation having gone wrong, it had actually succeeded. He had broken through to the Cave Dwelling realm, becoming one of the earliest mid-five realm Qi refiners in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land. He was indeed half an immortal now. The blessed land's spiritual energy was growing richer, and more and more people were taking up mountain cultivation. But those who could reach the mid-five realms were still few and far between, each one precious. The key was that those who advanced quickly would continue to advance. The next time the best Qi refiners would stop would be when the Lotus Flower Blessed Land encountered the bottleneck of a medium-grade blessed land.
Regarding when the Lotus Flower Blessed Land would become a high-grade blessed land, Old Cook had once said: even if they could produce the necessary Guyu coins, there was no rush—and besides, Fallen Mountain really didn't have that money.
At the time, in their little courtyard, all eyes—Chen Lingjun hadn't yet traveled to North Jambudvipa, Zheng Dafeng was still watching the gate—had turned to Mountain Lord Wei Po.
Zheng Dafeng had joked, "Words must be spoken slowly, but money must be earned quickly."
Wei Po had smiled and said, "If you keep this up, I'll flip the chessboard."
Now, Pei Qian suddenly remembered Old Cook's reminder before she left: don't try to imitate your master's conduct in everything. You have your own journey in the martial world. If you're too much like your master, he'll always worry about you. In his eyes, you'll forever be a child who needs his support.
Pei Qian raised an eyebrow, finding this reasonable. Looking at Wang Guangjing again, she transformed her demeanor. No longer like when she spoke with Dong Zhongxia, she said bluntly, "Stop trying to scheme against my Fallen Mountain. I won't meddle in the Wei family's affairs. You, this prince's guest official, leave quickly and cultivate your Dao properly. Remember, I only state my principles once. If someone speaks well, I'll listen well. But if you harbor ill intentions and try to test me with underhanded tricks..."
Pei Qian raised a fist and shook it lightly. "I'm afraid you won't be able to withstand this punch."
Wang Guangjing put on a helpless expression. "I've heard that Sword Immortal Chen is the most reasonable person. Miss Pei, as someone who is half a countryman and half an exiled immortal..."
"Master said that using grand principles to disgust good people is not much different from bullying others with power."
Pei Qian stamped her foot and in an instant appeared in front of Wang Guangjing. The latter couldn't dodge, panic filling his heart. The girl's fist was already close to his forehead, less than an inch away.
Pei Qian said, "Still not leaving? Do you prefer to lie down and enjoy happiness, being carried away?"
Wang Guangjing's white jade short sword, which looked like an ornamental paperweight, glowed with spiritual light.
Pei Qian didn't even look at it. "Do you really want to test your sword against my fist? Do you know how many sword cultivators and sword immortals I've seen?"
Wang Guangjing took a step back and laughed. "Since Miss Pei doesn't wish to accept the Prince's mansion's goodwill, that's fine. The mountains are high and the waters are distant. We are all cultivators. Perhaps we can still become friends in the future."
Pei Qian withdrew her fist, glanced at the scene in Wang Guangjing's mind lake, and changed her demeanor again, saying sternly, "Grandmaster Cui said that if a martial artist can punch the bad intentions out of a villain and shrink a wicked man's courage, then he should strike decisively."
Wang Guangjing said with a bitter smile, "Miss Pei, why must you be so aggressive? Are you trying to make me kneel and confess my faults? Have I shown any disrespect from start to finish?"
Pei Qian was conflicted. She was afraid that her thoughts were correct and her observations accurate, but that her punch might be too heavy and she might have done something wrong.
It was the same dilemma she had faced in front of the Jade Liquid River Water God Temple.
She wasn't as decisive as Chen Lingjun had been.
Suddenly, Pei Qian looked up.
A gray-robed figure descended with the wind, landing lightly. He grabbed Wang Guangjing's head, twisted his wrist, and sent the latter spinning through the air toward the main street.
Zhu Lian, his back to the street where Wang Guangjing lay, raised a hand and casually waved it behind him. Wang Guangjing, who hadn't even regained his footing, had his head struck as if by a heavy hammer, sent flying backward, sliding dozens of feet across the street. His eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot.
Zhu Lian laughed heartily. "There's no such thing as guarding against thieves every day. One rotten rat could spoil the whole pot."
Zhu Lian leaned back slightly, looking elsewhere. Some cultivators lurking in the shadows were preparing to rescue Wang Guangjing. Zhu Lian asked, "Do the people from the Prince's mansion all like to pick up chicken droppings and dog shit?"
That Wei Yun had been restless for a long time.
As for the retired emperor Wei Liang, with his imperial mindset, even if he intended to seek Dao and cultivate immortality, he had never truly seen the scenery of the Haoran world. Having taken off his dragon robe but not yet achieving success in Dao cultivation, he too was constantly making small moves. Of course, there was also the intention of using this to bargain with Fallen Mountain.
If not for the current Son of Heaven Wei Yan being relatively fair-minded, this Lotus Flower Blessed Land would soon be in complete chaos, and the ones who would suffer the most would only be Master Zhong Qiu and Cao Qinglang.
Pei Qian formed a sound thread and asked in confusion, "Old Cook, why are you putting on a different face?"
Zhu Lian said helplessly, "The wind is strong on the mountain. It blew my face away."
Zhu Lian turned to look at the young immortal lying on the street, apparently asleep, and remained silent.
Pei Qian suddenly asked a question. "Old Cook, at Fallen Mountain, would one be unfree?"
Zhu Lian sighed emotionally. "As expected, only when you've grown up can you ask such a question. I thought only the young master would ask me this after returning home."
Pei Qian smiled. "I was just asking casually. You can tell Master the answer yourself when you see him."
Zhu Lian said slowly, "The freedom to throw a punch might be somewhat limited. But in life, the freedom to speak without restraint, the freedom to cook meals, the freedom to earn and spend money, the freedom to lower your head and read or raise your head to enjoy the scenery, the freedom to play chess with friends without caring about winning or losing, the freedom to watch younger generations grow day by day—which of these isn't freedom?"
Pei Qian wasn't used to Old Cook being an old man who wasn't himself, so she quickly changed the subject. "What about that Wang Guangjing, who's playing dead?"
Zhu Lian said, "Yu Lu and Xie Xie have already taken leave from the academy's Principal Mao. For the next two years, they'll travel together through the Lotus Flower Blessed Land. When the time comes, they'll borrow someone from Wei Yun and have Wang Guangjing act as their guide. With Yu Lu around, the problem of his heart cultivation won't be a big issue."
Pei Qian asked curiously, "Li Huai didn't join in on the fun?"
Zhu Lian shook his head. "According to Big Brother Dafeng, if Li Huai were to get involved, the cultivators of the Lotus Flower Blessed Land would probably forget about any great opportunities."
Pei Qian had an idea but didn't dare say it.
Zhu Lian asked, "Do you want to go to Lion Peak in North Jambudvipa to find Li Huai's father?"
Pei Qian nodded. "Senior Gu is no longer in this world, but Uncle Li's fist techniques are also very powerful, and he taught Master. So I want to go there to practice fist techniques. Coincidentally, Li Huai also wants to go there to see his parents and sister."
Zhu Lian thought for a moment. "Alright."
Pei Qian sat on the edge of the eaves, looking a bit disappointed. "But for something like this, Master should be the one to nod and agree."
Zhu Lian crouched beside her and said softly, "If the young master were here, he would definitely agree."
On the street, a little girl came running with a small shoulder pole carrying two bags of sunflower seeds. Zhu Lian found it both amusing and exasperating. "Are you planning to eat sunflower seeds as a meal?"
Pei Qian leaped forward and landed on the street.
As Zhou Mili ran over, she carefully skirted around Wang Guangjing lying on the ground, keeping her back to the unconscious man. "I didn't see you, you didn't see me. We're all wandering the martial world—well water and river water don't mix." After passing the drowsy man, Zhou Mili quickened her pace, the small shoulder pole swaying with the two small sacks. She came to a stop, reached out to steady the bags, and asked softly, "Old Cook, I saw Pei Qian chatting with someone from a distance. Why did you attack? A sneak attack—that's not proper manners. Next time, give a warning before fighting, or word will spread badly in the martial world. Let me first eat some seeds to build up courage, yell a few times to wake him up, then you can come at him again?"
Zhu Lian mimicked the little girl's speech and nodded with a smile. "That's acceptable. I approve."
Zhu Lian's earlier attack had been extremely light, so Wang Guangjing had actually woken up by the time Zhou Mili passed by. Now, with his sharp ears, he heard the little girl's words that sounded so kind-hearted but were actually completely unreasonable. This young immortal, who was both a guest official and a behind-the-scenes strategist at the Prince's mansion, almost shed tears.
Pei Qian pinched Zhou Mili's cheek and pulled. Zhou Mili immediately tilted her head and stood on tiptoe, gently tapping Pei Qian's fingers and mumbling indistinctly, "No need for this. No need."
Zhu Lian stomped his foot.
Wang Guangjing's body bounced up. He no longer dared to pretend to be asleep. After standing, he said tremblingly, "Greetings, Old Immortal."
Zhu Lian nodded, his expression kindly, and reached out to pat him.
The pat sent Wang Guangjing flying to the very end of the street.
Zhu Lian laughed. "That punch should have shrunk his courage."
Zhu Lian looked around and muttered to himself, "It's a pity. When we met long ago, Ding Ying was still a little child. By the time I managed to come back, he was gone. Otherwise, I could have taught him how to be a junior."
It wasn't a martial madman talking nonsense.
In fact, Ding Ying's later actions had largely followed Zhu Lian's old path. Even earlier, in the Sixty-Year Agreement, Zhu Lian had fought nine men alone, killing most of the grandmasters on the world's top ten list at the time. The reason Zhu Lian hadn't killed Ding Ying was simply that he thought his chances of ascending were slim and, at that moment, felt that ascending wasn't that meaningful anyway. So he deliberately gifted Ding Ying, who was barely passable in his eyes, a great head and the corresponding martial fortune. It could be said that Ding Ying's later achievements on the Dao, whether in martial arts or in heart nature, were half due to Zhu Lian.
And during Zhu Lian's lifetime.
In this world, he was first in both literature and martial arts.
Pei Qian said, "Let's go back?"
Zhu Lian nodded. "Let's finish one sack of sunflower seeds first, or else Nuan Shu will probably complain that you bought too many."
Back at the house, Pei Qian asked about how to break through the sixth-realm bottleneck and how to deal with martial fortune in North Jambudvipa.
Zhou Mili reminded Pei Qian to ask about the seventh- and eighth-realm bottlenecks as well.
Pei Qian shot her a glare. "Eager to eat hot tofu?"
Zhou Mili was a bit confused. Wasn't any hot tofu just a single mouthful?
Zhu Lian still explained some precautions to Pei Qian.
After that, Zhu Lian soon returned to Fallen Mountain.
Pei Qian said she wanted to finish a few things. She went to Cao Qinglang's ancestral home and, together with Zhou Mili, helped tidy up the house. Then she took Zhou Mili to the Baihe Temple night market and had a hearty meal of that numbing and spicy stuff her master had mentioned, ordering two clay pot servings for Zhou Mili. Full, they took a distant look at the official family's library where her master had once borrowed books. Pei Qian said it was shorter than the Zhilan Tower in Nuan Shu's hometown by the height of several little Zhou Milis.
Later, Pei Qian also went to see a peer who had become a young woman earlier than she had. A few years ago, this woman had married an out-of-town scholar who had passed the imperial examinations, and his official career was going smoothly.
When the woman's family took a carriage to a temple in the capital to burn incense and pray for blessings, Pei Qian followed from a distance without showing herself.
Finally, on behalf of her master, Pei Qian visited Scholar's Alley. Long ago, there had been a story there about a poor scholar heading for the exams and a wandering woman with a pipa in her arms—lovers who never became a couple.
When she asked at a local bookstore, she learned that the scholar had failed the exams twice and wept bitterly. It seemed he had given up entirely and returned to his hometown to open a school.
She wondered if that scholar would ever meet a girl he liked again.
Who knew.
On the last day before leaving Nanyuan Kingdom, Pei Qian climbed onto the roof late at night.
Zhou Mili followed.
A thin girl not very old and a little girl not very young lay together on the rooftop ridge, gazing at the round moon.
Zhou Mili cracked sunflower seeds and asked casually, "The more you practice fist techniques, the less you dare to throw a punch?"
Pei Qian said, "Master treats other people's lives and deaths like a fragile piece of porcelain. Master has never said this, but I've always seen it."
Zhou Mili nodded vigorously. "That's really good. Then don't be in a hurry to throw punches, Pei Qian. Don't rush, don't rush."
Pei Qian laughed. "What do you mean 'we'? You don't practice fist techniques. It's fine if you don't. It's actually very hard. See, Master said back then that I shouldn't start practicing too early. The only time I didn't listen to Master, I suffered greatly. So, you must always listen to your master."
Zhou Mili secretly moved her hand that was holding the sunflower seeds farther away—these were hurtful words that spoke of separation. Pei Qian reached out to grab, missed, and the little girl laughed heartily, quickly moving her hand back.
Pei Qian looked up at the sky, smiled, and scratched her head. She had thought that if she threw a punch at the highest place, she might see Grandpa Cui one more time.
***
Gu Can and Liu Chicheng, along with Chai Bofu, who had fallen two realms in a row, traveled north together.
As expected, Liu Chicheng stopped at the border between the two prefectures.
Gu Can continued on alone.
Liu Chicheng and his "Dragon Uncle" brother strolled through a bustling prefectural city in Chizhou. Liu Chicheng was there to look at the beauties of the mortal world. Chai Bofu, who looked like a young man with white hair, couldn't even bother with illusion techniques and spent the whole time healing his injuries. It couldn't be helped—he had said one wrong sentence earlier and earned another slap from Liu Chicheng, nearly losing his Dragon Gate realm. And with Gu Can beside him, seemingly always ready to dig a hole and bury someone, this once-illustrious Nascent Soul bottleneck wild cultivator, who had crossed fists with many peak figures in Vase Bottle Prefecture, was now living as if he were back in the miserable days of a lower-five realm cultivator.
When Liu Chicheng and Chai Bofu returned to their immortal guest inn, Liu Chicheng, who was swaggering along, felt as if struck by lightning.
He told Chai Bofu to get lost.
Chai Bofu, swallowing his pride, immediately went out alone, not even daring to stay in the inn.
Liu Chicheng actually retracted that pink Daoist robe and showed only the original owner's scholar's attire, knocking softly on the door.
Inside the courtyard, two people were playing chess. Neither acknowledged him.
Liu Chicheng steeled himself and pushed open the door, silently walking behind a man in white, his eyes on his nose and nose on his heart.
The man playing chess with the white-robed one was a solemn old Confucian scholar in blue.
The white-robed man smiled. "Cui Chan, that move wasn't bad. If Gu Can can become my disciple, I won't hold your meddling in saving that piece of trash against you. If he becomes my junior apprentice brother, I will grant what you asked for."
Cui Chan nodded. "Then it's agreed."
Cui Chan held a Go stone, ready to play, but hadn't placed it on the board, so the board remained completely empty.
Liu Chicheng held his breath and focused.
The white-robed man didn't look at the board. He smiled and said, "You found a good seed for White Emperor City and also brought that person here to play chess with me. How should I thank you? No wonder Master once told me that the reason he chose you as a disciple was because he valued your talent for stirring up hornet's nests, to keep me from getting bored as a senior apprentice brother."
Liu Chicheng's mouth felt dry, and his face was stiff.
The white-robed man stood up. "Stop playing. This game is already a broken one that only the capable can handle. Cui Chan, you brought this predicament on yourself. Don't try to drag me into it from outside the board. The Great Li Dynasty can't bear the consequences."
Cui Chan sighed, put the Go stone back into its container, and stood up. "Then I won't see you off."
The white-robed man nodded and vanished in a flash.
Only then did Liu Chicheng wipe the sweat from his forehead.
Cui Chan put away the Go board and containers, glanced at Liu Chicheng, and smiled. "Your ability to court death is such that even I feel inferior."
Liu Chicheng said bitterly, "How was I to know I'd encounter so many 'what ifs' in a row?"
Cui Chan laughed. "Not many. Just three."
Liu Chicheng was indeed resigned.
Cui Chan said casually, "If you die, you no longer have to worry about dying. And you won't have to worry about accidents anymore."
Liu Chicheng bowed. "Congratulations, Grand Preceptor, on breaking through a realm."
Cui Chan said, "Congratulating a ninety-nine-year-old on living a long life is also courting death, isn't it?"
Liu Chicheng began to act shamelessly. "With my senior apprentice brother around, I'm not afraid of anything."
Cui Chan said, "To have your senior apprentice brother kill you, I only need to say a single word to expose you."
Liu Chicheng immediately bowed again, pitifully. "I implore the Grand Preceptor to speak some scholarly principles. I'm most willing to listen to those now."
Cui Chan said, "Then listen to my advice: no matter what happens to Gu Can at White Emperor City in the future, just protect him from death. Don't do nothing, but don't do too much either."
Liu Chicheng wanted to ask this true expert about more heavenly secrets, but Cui Chan had already vanished.
Liu Chicheng sighed deeply.
The old Shanya Academy site in the Great Li capital had been sealed off by the court for many years. It was desolate, overgrown with weeds, and frequented by foxes and rabbits.
A white rainbow descended from the sky, blatantly ignoring the mountain and river grand formation of the Great Li capital, as if even the Confucian sage overseeing the heavens held no sway over him.
After the white-robed man appeared, he glanced at the restless imitation of the "Jade Capital" that had been set in motion. It seemed to have received a secret decree and soon fell silent again.
This man, who actually didn't like leaving White Emperor City, walked slowly and lamented, "A grain grows beneath the flowers; remove it, it becomes an evil weed."
***
Before Gu Can returned home.
There were two pairs of masters and servants, four people in total, with three of them technically "returning home."
The Great Li prince Song Jixin from Mud Vase Alley and his maidservant Zhigui.
Ma Kuxuan from Apricot Flower Alley.
As for Ma Kuxuan's maidservant "Shudian," she was largely superfluous on this journey.
And Song Jixin was thoroughly disgusted by Ma Kuxuan, who had been using the excuse of "escorting" him the whole way.
The ferry docked at Ox Horn Mountain.
Ma Kuxuan took Shudian to the Dragon Whisker River River God Temple.
Song Jixin and Zhigui went to Mud Vase Alley.
But in the dark of night, Zhigui left the house alone, glanced at the clean courtyard next door with its Spring Festival couplets and blessings, and walked out of the alley holding up her skirt.
After she left the alley, Song Jixin, in the dead of night, took a small stool into the courtyard but didn't sit down. He stood by the earthen wall, which seemed to be growing shorter, and looked toward the neighbor's yard.
Zhigui first went to the Iron Lock Well, scooped up a handful of water, weighed it, and poured it back into the dark well.
Then she walked out of the town, near Li Huai's house, and stared at a small hill called True Pearl Mountain, her brow deeply furrowed.
There lay the true dragon body that had been refined and suppressed by the sages of the Three Teachings and their followers.
True Pearl Mountain.
Pearl: King Zhu. True Pearl: the true body of King Zhu.
And King Zhu's current physical form was transformed from the True Dragon's Draining Pearl. It wasn't her true body. She still needed someone to paint the eyes on the dragon to rightfully reclaim that true body.
Only then could she restore her complete true dragon identity. At that time, the entire world's dragon-kind's Dao fortune would converge on her alone! Breaking through the Nascent Soul bottleneck would be nothing—even breaking through the Jade Pellet bottleneck would be easy. As long as she stabilized the Immortal realm, her combat power would be enough to rival most of the Ascension realm.
The person who would wield the brush and help "paint the eyes" was the mud-legged youth who had signed a contract with her long ago—the first person Zhigui had seen when she left the Iron Lock Well in the harsh winter snow: Chen Ping'an.
But at that time, Chen Ping'an's soul had been too weak, and his fortune was pitifully thin. She unwilling to be implicated by him, so she had chosen to "acknowledge" the Great Li prince Song Jixin as her master instead.
That four-legged snake that Song Jixin had thrown into the neighboring yard only to have it return on its own—why was it so rejected, yet still unwilling to stay long at Chen Ping'an's house?
It was also one of five great Dao opportunities. Chen Ping'an had given that little loach to Gu Can, and Gu Can had accepted it and held onto it without any problem.
By rights, since Song Jixin had discarded it several times, it should have become Chen Ping'an's opportunity.
But how would that four-legged snake with a horn on its head dare to sit on an equal footing with King Zhu?! Recognize Chen Ping'an as its master, just like King Zhu?!
King Zhu's acknowledged master-servant relationship with Song Jixin next door was just a bit of misdirection. Later, when Song Jixin renamed her Zhigui, there was even more hidden significance.
The name "Zhigui" originally came from the supervising official Song Yuzhang. Actually, Cui Chan had given it to Song Yuzhang, and then "coincidentally" Song Jixin saw it, learned it, and unconsciously kept it in his heart. It echoed in his mind until he couldn't forget it, and he finally gave King Zhu the name Zhigui.
The name "Zhigui" also had a connection to the story of "cutting through the wall to steal light."
The plaque hanging in the main hall of the Mud Vase Alley house, "Huaiyuan Hall," was written in the calligraphy of the previous Great Li emperor.
Everything was intentional.
Thus, in those years, Zhigui was able to slowly absorb the Song clan's dragon energy of the Great Li Dynasty.
Hence, Song Jixin's loss of the dragon throne—becoming only a prince and not an emperor—was not without reason.
In the unseen, there were heavenly intentions and fixed numbers.
And back when Zhigui had met Lu Chen, who had come specifically to find her in Mud Vase Alley, she had subconsciously invoked Chen Ping'an's name to ward off disaster, not Song Jixin's.
Zhigui stood there, gazing into the distance at True Pearl Mountain, silent for a long time.
Song Jixin walked up to her.
Zhigui used mental voice transmission to reveal these inner secrets.
Delaying any further would be meaningless. It might even lead to outright enmity with Song Jixin.
Unexpectedly, Song Jixin smiled and said, "I don't mind."
King Zhu blinked. "I don't mind either."
Song Jixin was struck dumb, then felt a dull ache in his heart.
***
The Fifth World.
The old scholar stood above the sea of clouds, gazing at the magnificent mountains and rivers, and clicked his tongue in admiration. "Poor Confucian moving house—moving books is like moving mountains. Only when there are books on the shelves can one be considered wealthy."
The scholar standing beside him had empty hands and carried no long sword, because at the center of heaven and earth in the distance, a sword light held up the sky and earth.
The scholar said, "The magnificent mountains and rivers will soon see endless slaughter again."
The old scholar laughed. "The sage dwells among things without harming things. Those who do not harm things cannot be harmed by things either."
The scholar shook his head. "That's the sage. How many sages are there?"
The old scholar shook his head too. "As far as I can see, there are sages everywhere. That shows that your skills in fighting are somewhat higher, but your vision and realm are somewhat lower."
The scholar was speechless. Now that only the two of them were left in this world, this boast was not false. Indeed, the old scholar wouldn't miss a chance to take advantage without paying.
This was something the old scholar had said himself, not slander from the world.
The old scholar was silent for a moment, then perked up. "Since we have nothing to do, let me tell you about my secluded disciple again?"
The scholar took a deep breath. The same old story again. It wasn't that his patience was bad, but even the best patience couldn't withstand the old scholar's constant nagging. He turned his head and said helplessly, "Can we not talk about this?"
The old scholar clutched his wrist in regret. "A regret in life!"
The scholar breathed a sigh of relief.
Drawing his sword was less exhausting than listening to the old scholar's endless chatter.
The old scholar suddenly said, "I won't talk. You talk. That's a very novel idea!"