Chapter 709: White Clouds Escort Liu Sixteen Returning to the Mountains

Chapter 709: White Clouds Escort Liu Sixteen Returning to the Mountains

(This month's updates have been very unstable. There will be many short chapters coming up. I apologize and ask for your understanding.)

On a stone arch bridge in the bustling market, weeds grew thick in the gaps between the bluestone slabs.

An imperial mausoleum that had gone unvisited for only a few years already presented a desolate scene of foxes and rabbits haunting the grounds.

Mountain and marsh spirits formed groups, leaving their hidden caves and lairs in the mountains and waters, rampaging through the towns below without restraint, barking provocatively outside martial arts temples, city god temples, and mountain-and-water shrines, emboldened and fearless.

A king lay drunk in a beauty's arms, muttering over and over that the fault was not his. The woman reached out and gently kneaded the face of the man in the dragon robe. Earlier, in the great hall, one military officer after another had been pale as death, and the civil officials had lined up to advise surrendering the national jade seal and leaving the city.

Previously, at the Lower Prime Festival, on the fifteenth day of the tenth month, when the Water Officer relieves calamities, there had been the customs of burning incense sticks in the fields, burning gold and silver packets, and praying with heavenly lanterns. But that year, no one burned incense or gold packets, and no one released heavenly lanterns to pray for blessings.

There was a father and son who served respectively as prime minister and vice minister of a nation, discussing matters in secret with an immortal enshrinement in a hidden chamber. The old man, who was the arbiter of scholarly elegance in the nation, kept comforting himself, saying there must be a way, there was no reason to uproot everything, it was impossible to exterminate them completely and leave nothing behind.

In a county town, the stage was adjacent to the village school. Originally the old teacher hated most for students to go watch those powdered actresses perform. That night at dusk, the old teacher sat on a long bench together with the children from the elementary school, ghosts listening to ghosts performing opera.

In a remote small kingdom not yet engulfed by the flames of war, there was a Daoist temple built on a cliff face, accessible only by a winding goat path.

A scholar in Confucian robes led a young-looking sword cultivator, slowly climbing the mountain. The small temple, seemingly embedded into the cliff, had once been a temporary resting place of a certain "legitimate direct disciple of Taiping Mountain." In his early years there, he had accepted an unregistered disciple. The incense smoke wavered, but the lineage had been passed down, though it was an unintentional gesture. The disciple did not amount to much. As a cultivator, over a hundred years old, he was already decrepit. Several disciples of the next generation were even more lacking in talent—each generation worse than the last. It was believed that even now, that old Daoist had no idea who the "young" master in the ancestral hall portrait truly was.

The scholar and the sword cultivator traveled here together without any particular objective. The scholar had returned from the Indus Leaf Sect, and the sword cultivator happened to be nearby in the military camp, so they agreed to come here to relax.

Earlier, three great demons had planned for a long time on Indus Leaf Continent. Among them, the "young Daoist" who had successfully become a legitimate direct disciple of Taiping Mountain had contributed the most. What was said to be the exposure of his scheme by a youth from the Planchette Sect had forced him to act early, seemingly ruining the plan. But in the long run, it unexpectedly turned out to be a brilliant divine move. What a pity that he could not join forces with the white ape to kill Zhong Kui. Since he had now disappeared without a trace, probably due to the old Daoist from Contemplation Daoist Temple having made some move against him, they might as well help him gather together what little incense fires he still had left in the HaoRan Heaven.

The scholar said, "You shouldn't have killed her. Killing any Jade Capital stage cultivator would have been fine, but not this one. You even preserved an entire Immortal Mushroom Ridge for her sake."

The sword cultivator said, "Master, at the time I saw her begging for mercy too much like a beggar, so I couldn't help it."

The scholar laughed despite his anger. "If Feiran had said that, I wouldn't be surprised. But for you, Shouchen, to say it leaves a bad taste in the mouth."

Shouchen nodded. "I was too smooth-sailing on Indus Leaf Continent and became a bit arrogant."

The scholar said, "Originally, the upheaval at Immortal Mushroom Ridge could have been a turning point for the situation on Indus Leaf Continent, marking the transition from chaos to order. Then I could have recorded a merit for you in the Cycle Sixty Ledger. I should have known better and sent you to Taiping Mountain to protect your junior brothers and sisters, then they wouldn't have fallen. Including you, it's not that you cannot die, but dying too early is a terrible waste of talent. You have learned so much, but haven't yet had the chance to realize your ambitions."

Two fellow disciples had died in battle. Shouchen, as the senior brother, felt some sorrow but not a trace of guilt.

The scholar was Zhou Mi. The sword cultivator was Shouchen. They were master and disciple.

Zhou Mi led his disciple Shouchen on foot along the path. The small temple was already in sight.

Among Daoist practitioners, they observe stars and gaze at the moon; the temple observes the Dao. Looking up at celestial phenomena, looking down at earthly patterns—hence temples are often built on mountaintops.

Zhou Mi did not rush to enter the temple with its tightly closed gates. He took Shouchen to gaze at the landscape from afar, and said softly with a smile, "A person who goes blind after having seen the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers suffers more than someone who has been blind since childhood."

Shouchen understood his master's implication.

A person who loses something and then regains it will cherish what they have even more. Therefore, as long as the Wildlands Continent plans properly from now on, the survivors on Indus Leaf Continent—both on the mountains and below—will not feel grateful to the HaoRan Heaven that brought them these experiences. Instead, most will secretly feel relieved and grateful to the Wildlands Continent for showing mercy, then turn to resent the Central Plains Confucian Temple, blaming all their suffering on Confucianism. They will hate the war, and they will hate every continent that was not ravaged by the flames of war.

A young gatekeeper boy swaggered over to the two of them, made a Daoist hand gesture, then asked the scholar in the local official language why he had come.

The boy was about seven or eight years old, and his speech was filled with arrogance. He had been taught the rituals by his grandmaster, and he felt that he couldn't let them go to waste—otherwise, why would he trouble himself with being polite to these two mortal scholars whose fleshly forms were fast decaying?

His own grandmaster, the old temple master, was an old immortal at the Sight Observation realm, rarely matched within the entire nation. Wherever he went, he would be respectfully called Supreme Immortal or True Person. The boy's master had told him privately that the old master was only two steps away from the so-called "Earth Immortal" mentioned in Daoist texts.

The two people before him had come from the mortal world below the mountain. So what if they had a little money? So what if they came from a wealthy family? Weren't they still mortals coming to see someone from the mountains?

Zhou Mi glanced again at the young boy, then turned and smiled, "I searched high and low without finding it, and yet here it is without any effort. The heavenly timing of Indus Leaf Continent is truly on our side now. Shouchen, can you see anything?"

Shouchen was completely puzzled. "Please enlighten me, Master."

Zhou Mi reached out and grabbed the boy's arm, then lightly tapped his wrist with two fingers. The boy, as if being lifted like a chick, had to stand on tiptoe. Whether it was fortune touching his heart or not, he held back his temper and did not curse the mortal scholar.

Shouchen concentrated his gaze and saw that after his master had used his divine ability on the boy, faint traces of light and color rose from the child's palm, soon vanishing with the wind.

It was as if the boy's palm had been dipped in ink and not thoroughly cleaned, leaving some residue.

Zhou Mi released the boy's wrist and asked, "Is there a Daoist named Liu Cai in this temple who went down the mountain to travel? When he left, did he carry some large and small gourds with him?"

The boy rubbed his wrist and stepped back, shrinking in fear. "How do you know about that? But there's no Liu Cai here. There's only a country bumpkin nicknamed Liu Wood—he can do all sorts of odd jobs: fishing, hunting, woodcutting, whatever makes money. According to my master, if there were a Buddhist nunnery on the mountain, he'd even sell rouge and powder there. That bumpkin comes to our temple every now and then to cheat us out of money. He's a big donor of our temple. It was another person who first brought that bumpkin here, so my master didn't bother with him all these years. The last time that bumpkin came, he carried a basket of pine knots and a few big black fish. He didn't want copper cash or silver—he just went into the storehouse and picked up a bunch of broken gourds that had been gathering dust for years, saying they could be counted as silver. At the time, I thought it was strange. In the storehouse, he picked up those junk items one by one, held them to his ear, and shook them."

The temple's so-called storehouse was really just a woodshed full of discarded items.

Zhou Mi glanced at the small temple and laughed. "Chain upon chain interlocking. Truly a masterstroke."

Shouchen communicated through mind-to-mind: "Master, those two 'heartfelt concerns' and 'immediate' gourd-shaped sword-nurturing vessels that Liu Cai had—did he get them here?"

Zhou Mi shook his head. "Liu Cai had the two gourd-shaped vessels first, then the two 'destiny flying swords.' Otherwise, the founding patriarch here, as an upper fifth-realm cultivator, wouldn't have been so short-sighted as to fail to recognize the quality of the gourd vessels—especially since he himself had a hobby of collecting such things. So what he truly couldn't see through were the two strange flying swords."

What his master said next made Shouchen's expression even more serious.

"That big donor of the temple is most likely Liu Cai's teacher and protector. Because the Liu Cai who came to this temple was merely a yin spirit traveling far away from his body. His true self might not even be on Indus Leaf Continent."

Shouchen asked, "So when you told Moon Credits to find Liu Cai, it wasn't just because you wanted him to suppress Chen Ping'an? It was also to meet that 'donor'?"

Zhou Mi sighed with emotion, "When it comes to the art of yin-yang evolution under heaven, that man alone occupies half the territory."

—

The ancestral mountain of the Jade Gui Sect, Divine Seal Peak.

The old sect master Xun Yuan had already died a heroic death. A Flying Ascension realm grand cultivator, his glazed golden body shattered into pieces scattered between heaven and earth, most of which were intercepted by great demons.

The current sect master, Jiang Shangzhen, had used a fleeting appearance method to prove he was still alive—and very lively at that.

But the general trend was collapsing. An Immortal realm cultivator who had lost the protection of heavenly timing could not prop up the crumbling edifice alone.

Nine Chess Peak's peak master, Wei Ying, who originally had a better chance than Jiang Shangzhen to inherit the sect master position, had gone to Bottle Gourd Continent to serve as the lower sect's sect master, temporarily working for the Great Li Song clan, and could not cross continents to return to the Jade Gui Sect.

The patriarch in charge of the law glanced at the chair opposite him, then at the two empty chairs beneath the portraits in the ancestral hall.

Jiang Shangzhen had moved from that opposite seat to one beneath the portraits.

Just one look was enough to cause heartache.

So he turned his gaze to the moonlight outside the gate.

A certain financial god in charge of the Jade Gui Sect's immortal money and treasures, named Song Shengtang, bellowed in anger: "Why is our sect master Jiang still wandering around outside? Is he going to just watch the sect suffer daily casualties? What difference does it make where he swings his sword? If he won't even help his own mountain, what's the point of him?"

Calling him "Sect Master Jiang" was a bit redundant, rather than simply "the Sect Master." It was a subtle gesture of distance.

Jiang Shangzhen had never truly won the admiration of the Jade Gui Sect's ancestral hall.

An important reason for this awkward position was that the old sect master Xun Yuan had still been alive until recently.

Plus, the Cloud Cave Blessed Land controlled by the Jiang clan had always been a fief-like enclave within the Jade Gui Sect, too irritating. So Song Shengtang and Jiang Shangzhen had never gotten along. Whenever the Divine Seal Peak ancestral hall closed its doors for discussions, it was notoriously a scene of dogs biting each other until hair flew everywhere—though Jiang Shangzhen always had the advantage. He had even given Song Shengtang the nickname "Baldy Old Shedding-Dog."

A female elder who had a deep enmity with Jiang Shangzhen, named Liu Huamao, sat near the gate. Her talent was not outstanding, and she had barely managed to reach the upper fifth realm by consuming a large amount of immortal money and heavenly treasures in her early years.

Every time there was a discussion, Jiang Shangzhen would almost always start by chatting up Liu Huamao.

"Sister Liu, what a wonderful name—'flourishing prime,' forever eighteen, your face always youthful year after year."

In such a perilous situation, even Liu Huamao had to suppress her anger and speak a fair word for Jiang Shangzhen: "There must be a seat-level great demon watching this area to kill Jiang Shangzhen. It might even be more than one old beast lying in ambush."

She would never call Jiang Shangzhen "Sect Master."

The reason for her hatred was that in her youth, when she wanted to take advantage of the close proximity to properly travel through the Cloud Cave Blessed Land—with tempering her Dao heart as a secondary concern—Jiang Shangzhen, then the young master of the Cloud Cave Blessed Land, had used a strange secret technique to secretly attach himself to a woman of the blessed land. He then met Liu Huamao, hit it off with her, and they called each other sisters. Naturally, they ended up traveling together. Then one time, while visiting a place in the Cloud Cave Blessed Land called Hibiscus Shore, in the lovely moonlight and solitude, that "woman" shyly and blushingly began to undress, blushing deeply. At the time, Liu Huamao even teased her and pinched the "woman's" tender cheek.

Thinking back on it later—it was a heart-wrenching, earth-shattering tragedy.

After that, Liu Huamao began a crazy cultivation spree, just to catch up to Jiang Shangzhen's realm, so she could find any excuse to chop that bastard half to death.

But on the path of cultivation, there is always someone better in talent, bone structure, and temperament. Jiang Shangzhen, who had been widely recognized as the next peak master of Nine Chess Peak, didn't seem to cultivate diligently, yet he always casually remained two realms ahead of her. Once, when she had almost caught up to him by one realm, Jiang Shangzhen ran into her, pestered her with flattery, then left—and broke through to the next realm later that same day.

Discussions in the Jade Gui Sect's ancestral hall had a very interesting dynamic.

Whoever talked the most and had the loudest voice didn't depend much on their realm, but on how bad their relationship with Jiang Shangzhen was.

Over time, someone like Liu Huamao, a mediocre Jade Capital realm cultivator, could speak at the Divine Seal Peak ancestral hall discussions and carry considerable weight.

Conversely, certain old immortals of high seniority—contemporaries of old sect master Xun Yuan, and of high cultivation—who never argued with Jiang Shangzhen and liked to play the peacemaker and muddle things, found themselves disregarded when serious matters were discussed.

If you haven't even cursed Jiang Shangzhen a few times or thrown a chair at him, how can you claim to be devoted to the sect?

The law patriarch felt heavy-hearted and patted the armrest gently. "With the change of heavenly timing, the advantage has reversed. The old sect master shouldn't have appeared."

With the Three Enclosures and Four Symbols Grand Formation protecting him, although Xun Yuan had only recently entered the Flying Ascension realm, he had enjoyed full advantage of timing and location, making his cultivation seem perfect and flawless at the peak of that realm. Once Taiping Mountain and the Planchette Sect were successively destroyed and the grand formation dissipated, he was immediately reduced to his original state.

The old Heavenly Lord of Taiping Mountain, at the cost of his own life, had used the Bright Moon Mirror and the grand formation's flying sword to kill a great sword immortal of the Wildlands Continent.

As for the Taiping Mountain Daoists, their merits in slaying demons were unparalleled across the entire continent.

As for the Planchette Sect, sect master Ji Hai, though only a Jade Capital realm cultivator, had managed to hold out until after Taiping Mountain's destruction—that in itself was a remarkable feat.

And all the battle merits of the Jade Gui Sect came almost entirely from the two sect masters, Xun Yuan and Jiang Shangzhen.

Flying Ascension realm Xun Yuan had killed two Immortal realm great demons and one Jade Capital realm sword immortal.

As for Jiang Shangzhen, swinging his sword here and there, he had unknowingly killed four Jade Capital realm cultivators, plus a bunch of earthly immortal realm demon cultivators as a bonus.

Song Shengtang said in confusion, "How did Xiao Xun go from being the hidden official of the Sword Qi Great Wall to a seat-level figure on the Wildlands Continent?"

The law patriarch sneered, "What does the reason matter? What matters is that she seems to be merging with the Dao of the Wildlands Continent. She herself is a Flying Ascension realm sword cultivator. On our Indus Leaf Continent, which is practically part of the Wildlands Continent's territory now, if Xiao Xun attacks again—and if she actually uses her sword instead of just flailing her fists—who can stop her sword's challenge?!"

A somewhat junior elder sitting near the door said softly, "Indus Leaf Sect still has the sword immortal Zuo You."

The cultivators of the Jade Gui Sect had a decent impression of that second disciple of the Wen Sheng lineage.

A messenger flying sword hovered outside the ancestral hall gate. The law patriarch reached out, grabbed the secret letter, read it, and his face turned ashen.

Liu Huamao asked worriedly and cautiously, "What is it?"

The law patriarch said grimly, "Zhou Mi personally showed up on Indus Leaf Sect territory and gave them a huge promise. If the Indus Leaf Sect dismantles their mountain-protecting grand formation, the Parasol Heaven Umbrella, they will be allowed to establish an independent regime. Not only that, they will receive a thousand years of protection from Zhou Mi and the Tou Yue Mountain. Additionally, the new sect master of Indus Leaf Sect will become the master of a new army tent. Except in name, where they will become vassals to the future master of the continent, everything else remains the same. The Wildlands Continent is even willing to send two great sword immortals, including Shouchen, to serve respectively as Indus Leaf Sect's enshrinement and guest elder. These two will have no right to interfere with the ancestral hall's discussions, but must draw their swords for the sect three times."

Liu Huamao asked, "What about the sword immortal Zuo You?"

The law patriarch said helplessly, "The Indus Leaf Sect cultivators won't even need to do anything difficult. They don't have to expel Zuo You from the sect. They just need to withdraw the mountain-and-river grand formation and choose to stand by and watch when Zuo You draws his sword."

Liu Huamao frowned deeply. "Wouldn't Zuo You be completely isolated?!"

For the Indus Leaf Sect, Zuo You was already an outsider. Earlier, when he stood with his sword to protect the entire sect, it had united the hearts of the people, making the Indus Leaf Sect cultivators willing to sacrifice their lives.

Zhou Mi's move was clearly meant to set Zuo You against the hearts of all the Indus Leaf Sect cultivators.

Should Zuo You defend the Indus Leaf Sect? If he doesn't, the sect's mountain-and-river qi will fall into the hands of the Wildlands Continent. If he does, with the Parasol Heaven Umbrella withdrawn, every time he draws his sword, if it catches innocent bystanders in the crossfire, the hearts of the entire sect will waver.

Song Shengtang pulled at his beard and squinted. "Troublesome. A huge problem."

If he were in Zuo You's place, anyone would find it a dilemma.

Liu Huamao asked, "Who sent this intelligence?"

The law patriarch destroyed the secret letter and said, "A young female cultivator named Yu Xin."

For a moment, the atmosphere in the Jade Gui Sect ancestral hall relaxed slightly. The law patriarch smiled. "She is the reincarnation of the mother of our sect's reviving ancestor."

Jiang Shangzhen was good at saying strange things. He had described Du Mao as "a prodigal son of Indus Leaf Continent, half a reviving ancestor of the Jade Gui Sect."

That saying was wonderfully apt in the Divine Seal Peak ancestral hall, and it quickly spread throughout the Jade Gui Sect.

After all, the animosity between the Jade Gui Sect and the Indus Leaf Sect had lasted for more than a thousand or two thousand years. This wasn't even the worst of it.

If not for this great calamity, the Divine Seal Peak ancestral hall would have discussed a scheme to beat a dog when it's down, gradually eating away at the Indus Leaf Sect's foundations. It would have been both in keeping with Confucian rules and secretly damaging.

Liu Huamao sighed. "If not careful, this matter alone could bring disaster upon her."

The law patriarch said, "Then we will pretend we never saw this intelligence. We must uphold some integrity. No matter what, regardless of the fate of both sects in the future, we should all be generous in our words and deeds toward this Yu Xin. Think of it as a favor. If the opportunity arises, we can even help her a little."

The old man repeated, "If the opportunity arises."

He suddenly stood up, and soon everyone followed him out of the ancestral hall gate. Outside the mountain-and-river protection formation, a young woman in a cotton-padded jacket, using the refined language of Indus Leaf Continent she had just learned, began to speak slowly. According to logic, the Jade Gui Sect's mountain protection formation should have completely sealed off heaven and earth, and since she hadn't used any method to temporarily break the formation's restrictions, they shouldn't have been able to hear her voice. But her words were clear to all Jade Gui Sect cultivators, as if the moonlight were everywhere in the human world.

The woman in the cotton jacket did not say much. Her meaning was simple: The Jade Gui Sect did not need to vacate the sect. Its cultivators did not need to leave the mountain. They only needed to hand over one Cloud Cave Blessed Land.

—

A blue-robed swordsman using the alias Chen Yin, tall and slender, carried a sword on his back.

He had bought a black-canopied boat at the Peach Leaf Ferry. The usually graceful young boatwomen and the old helmsmen who could recite poetry better than scholar-officials had all fled in all directions.

So the blue-robed swordsman had to pole the boat himself.

At a time like this, in the capital region of the Great Spring Dynasty, which gentleman of letters or high official would have the leisure to enjoy a boat ride and the scenery?

Therefore, this person must be an immortal master from elsewhere.

The black-canopied boats at Peach Leaf Ferry were not the small foot-paddling boats common in watery regions. Their prows were carved with a bird decoration resembling an egret. It was because of this ancient "figurehead" that the blue-robed swordsman had taken an interest in poling the boat.

At his waist hung a jade tablet from an ancestral hall, bearing the inscriptions: "Continuing the Incense of the Ancestral Hall," and "Taiping Mountain Cultivates the True Self."

This jade tablet was just one of the spoils from a certain army tent, and he had taken it.

Feiran had a favorable impression of the Great Spring Dynasty. It was a land of many magnificent places, blessed with outstanding people and spiritual energy. In particular, the elite cavalry of the Great Spring border forces and the combat strength of its garrisons had earned the admiration of several army tents in central Indus Leaf Continent.

The overall situation below the mountains on Indus Leaf Continent was actually much better than the Cycle Sixty Tent had expected. In short, the performance of the secular dynasties on the battlefield could be summed up in two words: abysmal.

A strong wind reveals the strength of the grass. The more resilient the grass, the more it highlights the exceptional quality of the Great Spring Dynasty. But grass is ultimately grass—no matter how tough, a wildfire will reduce it to ashes.

After all, the "heavenly timing" of Indus Leaf Continent was now in the hands of the Wildlands Continent's Tou Yue Mountain.

Feiran abandoned the bamboo pole. The black-canopied boat continued on its own.

However, in the army tent stationed near the Southern Qi capital, there was a heated dispute over the fate of the Liu clan's rule over the Great Spring Dynasty. One faction insisted on exterminating the entire capital of Mirror Lake City, massacring the city to build a skull pyramid, as a warning to all the central dynasties and vassal states of Indus Leaf Continent. They wanted to cut off the heads of feudal princes and high ministers, then have cultivators hang them one by one at the city gates of various small kingdoms, displaying the heads as a lesson—this was the fate of stubborn resistance.

The other faction felt that many civil and military officials of the Great Spring were useful talents worth cultivating. With proper manipulation, they could set up a puppet emperor, becoming a great asset to the army tent. Besides, the young emperor had abandoned his kingdom and fled to the fifth world after looting the national treasury, which could be used for propaganda.

All major cities of the Great Spring had been locked down, allowing entry only, forbidding exit, to prevent the people from freely migrating and fleeing. The demons were secretly guiding and exploiting such chaos to break through defense lines, eventually leading to the nation's destruction.

But Feiran was not here for sightseeing today. He had to meet someone.

Du Hanling, the temple master of the Golden Peak Temple. His realm was not high—only an earthly immortal of the Aurous Core stage, not a sword cultivator—but he had a sharp mind.

The youth on the Observation Terrace of the Resentment Sentence Sect had encountered Feiran. Fortune and disaster were intertwined in an instant. Originally, he had hoped to follow Feiran up the mountain to cultivate, but he inexplicably died.

Lu Jianxin in the old Northern Jinzhou City, who had ultimately been strangled by "himself," encountered Rain Four. If Jiang Shangzhen hadn't interfered, he might have had a chance to transform like a fish into a dragon, gaining great fortune. Becoming the master of a city was secondary; attaching himself to Rain Four and also to a clogs-wearing man from the Jia Shen Tent who was observing him—these would have been the two greatest protective talismans, making it hard for him to die.

Feiran had been repeatedly pondering Mr. Zhou's words: the Confucian academies and schools had delegated too much power to the secular dynasties, unwilling to use an iron fist to gather and constrain people's hearts.

The Confucian Three Academies and Seventy-Two Schools sounded like many, but placed across the vast Indus Leaf Continent, they amounted to only three schools, including the Great Fu School.

Furthermore, the Confucian Temple restrained the school's virtuous men and gentlemen from meddling too much in court affairs and absolutely forbade the Confucian scholars from acting as behind-the-scenes emperors of the various states.

Thus, each state governed itself; cultivators secluded themselves from the world; the lofty were weary of worldly affairs; generals and ministers often sought fame through hypocrisy; false scholars of morality squeezed out true sages. The mountains and the mortal world, each state and each place, were a heap of scattered sand.

But Feiran was very curious about Mr. Zhou's establishment of a school and his claim to be a patriarch. What was the fundamental doctrine and purpose? How could it fundamentally change such a deep-seated problem?

Just the issue of cohabitation between demons and humans in the future was an enormous difficulty.

As for Mr. Zhou's true identity, Feiran had heard something about it.

Zhou Mi was, of course, an alias. He had once been a genuine Confucian scholar of the HaoRan Heaven.

According to his senior brother Qie Yun, Mr. Zhou was brilliant in his youth and possessed great learning.

But his learning was never accepted by the Confucian Temple. After a debate with someone, he became completely disheartened and traveled far away to the Wildlands Continent.

This scholar had presented a set of "Twelve Policies for Peace" to the Confucian Temple.

First: Compile a "Self-Cultivation Chapter" for all scholars under heaven. Roughly, the school's virtuous men, gentlemen, and sages should correspond respectively to the family, the state, and the world. All emperors and monarchs of secular dynasties and vassal states must be disciples of the schools. Non-Confucian scholars shall not serve as rulers. Every school headmaster should be a teacher of emperors! Gentlemen and virtuous men shall serve as national preceptors. Whether the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, or the Three Departments and Six Ministries, all these central ministers must also be disciples of the schools. Every court hall must establish an official position that can disregard palace restrictions, responsible for meticulously recording the merits, demerits, gains, and losses of the monarch, generals, and ministers, serving as the school's triennial examination.

Second: Exterminate all upper fifth-realm demon cultivators currently on the HaoRan Heaven. All earthly immortal realm demons shall be expelled to a single continent and strictly supervised. Once a demon reaches the Dragon Gate realm, it must, before or after that, proactively report to the Central Plains Confucian Temple and local schools, registering its "true name" in the archives. After such demon cultivators advance to the Aurous Core stage, they must assist local mountain and water gods in ensuring a hundred years of favorable weather within their jurisdictions, mainly by killing troublesome ghosts and goblins, acting like a "county commandant." The schools will then evaluate their merits to determine whether they can be granted the title of Mountain Chief or Water Immortal, or continue their labor for another hundred years. Once promoted to Mountain Chief or Water Immortal, it is equivalent to a promotion from turbid to clear flow in the mortal officialdom, and their subsequent career path will be no different from that of river gods and mountain lords.

Third: Near the Inverted Suspension Mountain, select three locations to serve as connecting territories to Southern Bodhi Continent, Southwest Fuyao, and Southeast Indus Leaf Continent—for example, the old Rain Dragon Sect territory. Then gradually station troops at the Sword Qi Great Wall. First, relocate all mortal commoners and those unsuitable for cultivation among the native inhabitants of the Sword Qi Great Wall to the islands under the Rain Dragon Sect's jurisdiction. Afterwards, transfer sword cultivators from Northern Ju Continent for long-term garrison at the Sword Qi Great Wall. All cultivators who commit major crimes on the HaoRan Heaven may redeem their lives through battlefield merits. All wild cultivators from mountains and marshes may purchase elixirs, secret manuals, and treasures from the mountains using battle merits. They need not necessarily leave the city to fight; during wartime, they guard the city walls; after battles, they work behind the scenes. Using the Sword Qi Great Wall as a base, continuously build cities southward, forcing the Wildlands Continent to mobilize troops at least once every thirty years.

The Sword Qi Great Wall's unique geography naturally suppresses cultivators who are not sword cultivators. Therefore, enough martial artists from pure physical cultivation should be trained. Although they too are suppressed by the great Dao and pure sword intent, unlike qi cultivators, martial artists can temper their bodies through this process. And the threshold for martial artists is lower than for qi cultivators. Ultimately, the Sword Qi Great Wall would become a war zone with this pattern: if not sword cultivators, then everyone is a martial artist. Qi cultivators beyond sword cultivators and pure martial artists mostly serve in supporting roles.

Fourth: All Immortal realm and Flying Ascension realm grand cultivators shall receive additional freedoms. These peak figures must contribute, but each contribution shall inevitably yield greater returns. The Confucian Temple recognizes their "superiority." For example, when going to the Sword Qi Great Wall, the Central Plains Confucian Temple promises they need not fight to the death or damage their Dao foundations. They only need to do things that add splendor to the scene—if the battle situation is favorable, they expand the advantage; if unfavorable, they use dharma treasures that are not their lifebound natal treasures to resist attacks from great demons, or lay down mountain-and-water formations to protect cities, walls, sword cultivators, and martial artists.

Fifth: In addition to the Seventy-Two Schools, the Central Plains Confucian Temple shall establish seventy-two Dao Technique Academies across the continents and states. Besides actively testing for cultivation aptitude, they will annually accept "tributes" from various state courts, gathering cultivation seeds from everywhere. These Confucian scholars, besides studying, will major in military strategy—not the armchair kind, but comprehensive study of all historical wars. Their final examination ground will be the ever-smoky Sword Qi Great Wall.

Sixth: Classify the myriad schools of thought (the Hundred Schools) into nine grades, with provisions for promotion and demotion, identical to the officialdom. Those who refuse to submit shall be expelled from the nine grades, their teachings banned, all books destroyed, and the founding patriarch of that school imprisoned in the Confucian Temple's Merit Forest.

Seventh: Break down the barrier between the mountains and the mortal world. One suggestion is to promote and entice mountain cultivators to form Daoist couples.

Eighth: Marginalize the teachings of Buddhism and Daoism. Ban all Daoist and Buddhist temples. Ensure the Confucian school achieves true single-party dominance on the HaoRan Heaven.

Ninth: Focus on supporting the military school, merchant school, and technical school.

There were three more policies specifically targeting the two neighboring worlds and the ancient gods.

Feiran sighed, putting away his complicated thoughts, and murmured to himself, "At the root of it, when Mr. Zhou proposed these twelve policies back then, his goal was to centralize power for the Confucian Temple. He wanted to give scholars greater freedom, to open a peaceful era for ten thousand generations."

At a dock near Peach Leaf Ferry, a black-canopied boat met another black-canopied boat.

Feiran frowned. Du Hanling had not come alone.

Beside the Aurous Core cultivator were a young Golden Core stage cultivator and a city god in official robes.

Feiran only frowned, but Du Hanling, his grand-disciple Shao Yuanran, and the city god of Great Spring's Riding Crane City had expressions like people seeing ghosts in broad daylight. Even someone like Du Hanling, with a domineering heart, was shaken upon seeing Feiran's familiar attire—blue robe, sword on back, Taiping Mountain ancestral hall jade tablet at his waist—and his faintly recognizable face. Du Hanling felt that this couldn't be such an incredible coincidence; why did it have to be this person?

At the dock, two more people walked over: Great Spring's feudal prince Liu Cong and the duke Gao Shizhen. When they saw "Feiran," they almost turned around and fled.

Feiran understood and smiled.

So they all recognized the Hidden Officer? And it seemed things hadn't gone well before.

Feiran smiled and said, "Mountains and waters reunite us. Long time no see."

—

Whenever a white cloud drifted over the Fallen Mountain's peaks, the little girl in black clothes would vigorously wave her golden carrying pole and green bamboo staff at them, greeting them—that was called being a proper host.

Hey hey hey, I'm the Right Guardian of this place, the big water monster of Mute Lake. I have two friends, one named Pei Qian and one named Nuan Shu. Do you know them? Don't you know them?

Today, the Right Guardian of Fallen Mountain, along with the Left Guardian of Riding Dragon Lane—who had never been promoted—one squatting and one lying down, waited together by the cliff for the white clouds to pass by.

The Left Guardian of Riding Dragon Lane was an official as small as a saucer, not as big as her official position as big as a bowl.

Ha, white clouds like gray dogs.

Among the mountains, it was most afraid of Ruan Xiu; on Fallen Mountain, most afraid of Pei Qian. But it really liked this little silly girl.

It had once accompanied Zhou Mili, squatting together at the gate of the school run by the Longwei Creek Chen clan, waiting for Pei Qian, who always said "Chasing geese and beating dogs is the way of a hero," to get out of class and come home. Often they'd wait half a day. The little girl would talk with it for a long time. Unlike Pei Qian, who would casually grab its beak at any time, skillfully twist it, and ask what was going on.

Little Rice Grain waited anxiously for the white clouds to visit Fallen Mountain.

No other way. Now on Fallen Mountain, everyone had traveled far and not come home. The good mountain lord, who grew taller without warning; her best friend Pei Qian; the old cook who bent down to look for money on the ground but never found any; the crazy, silly big white goose that never got angry despite being beaten and scolded; Da Feng, who loved reading and was always smiling and happy; Old Man Chong, who looked most like a scholar; Little Master Cao...

Zhou Mili frowned, the more she thought, the sadder she became. What if, when Pei Qian finally came home, she was already as tall as her and Sister Nuan Shu combined? What if one day the mountain lord climbed the mountain with a basket on his back, and there was a strange little girl standing inside?

Mi Yu came and sat down beside the little girl.

Zhou Mili clapped her hands and laughed as white clouds passed through the valley.

But just after Mi Yu sat down, he immediately stood up, exchanged a few words with Wei Bo via mind-to-message, then immediately summoned his lifebound flying sword "Sunset Clouds" and flew to the ancestral hall on Rainbow-Clad Peak.

At the gate, Mi Yu saw a scholar and a burly man.

The sword-wearing scholar smiled faintly at Mi Yu, then vanished instantly—silently, having crossed continents on a distant journey.

This time, his journey to Bottle Gourd Continent was only to slightly conceal his friend, because his friend's wind-riding made too much noise. Old Scholar Xiu had appeared briefly on Fuyao Continent but quickly slipped away, vanishing.

Only the tall man remained.

He said to Mi Yu, "You can call me Liu Sixteen. I just returned to the HaoRan Heaven and came here to offer incense. Since I can't see Master, I'll look at his portrait. I'll have snot and tears all over my face soon. Just pretend you didn't see it."

Mi Yu was speechless.

After finally steadying his mind, Mi Yu said, "The key to the ancestral hall is with the girl Nuan Shu."

The man nodded. "Then please trouble the sword immortal to fetch it. I'll wait here."

Wei Bo brought Nuan Shu and Little Rice Grain.

The two little girls respectfully made bowing gestures to the man whom Wei Bo called "Mountain Lord's Senior Brother."

After seeing the two girls, the man smiled a bit more. Little junior brother truly wasn't bad.

Chen Nuan Shu opened the ancestral hall door, and they saw the burly man standing outside, his expression solemn. First he straightened his collar, then stepped over the threshold.

The scholar, who was about to cross continents by flying sword, suddenly stopped.

He encountered the sneaky Old Scholar Xiu.

He asked, "Why didn't you show up earlier?"

Old Scholar Xiu said confidently, "Waiting for that big idiot to finish crying first."

The scholar glanced at the sky.

Old Scholar Xiu said, "Brother Bai, don't miss this opportunity while passing by. Why not casually deliver a few sword strikes? What is the romantic essence of a sword immortal, if not facing the wind and wishing to slay the dragon spirit? Those ancient gods who came to visit without greeting—aren't they stronger than flood dragons? They deserve a sword strike even more! That Xiao Xun earlier, swinging her sword on Indus Leaf Continent, how shocking it was. That little girl had that kind of sword intent. You, Bai, eight feet tall and holding an immortal sword—can you tolerate it? Brother Bai, just go all out! If you're polite with me, I'll get anxious... To tell you the honest truth shamelessly, I'm good at cleaning up messes. But let me say in advance: three or five strikes is about enough. Any more, and I can't handle it. If you really feel unsatisfied, at most seven or eight..."

The scholar ignored Old Scholar Xiu and vanished in a flash.

Old Scholar Xiu stomped his feet in frustration.

Then he looked toward Fallen Mountain.

Thinking back to that year, Bai also used a white clouds song to send Liu Sixteen back to the mountains.