Chapter 712: When the Time Comes, Heaven and Earth Unite in Power
A deteriorating mountain where the mountain lord was temporarily absent, like a gentleman hiding a jade in his bosom, waiting for the right moment to act.
When the world follows the Way, it appears; when the world is without the Way, it hides. As for this saying, the Deteriorating Mountain had none. When the world was bad, they preferred not to become immortal recluses accompanied by white clouds and green mountains; everyone descended the mountain. But for now, not everything had come to light yet, and Liu Shiliu was not anxious about this. Moreover, with that little junior brother's choices and his actions, as a senior brother, he could no longer demand more.
So as an outsider and the senior brother of the mountain lord, Liu Shiliu's impression of this mountain grew better and better.
But Liu Shiliu had a great doubt in his heart. Was the "her" he had reunited with earlier actually the sword attendant who had once followed that supreme existence to conquer all directions—the so-called immortal sword spirit of later ages? Or was she simply the true owner of that sword attendant, deliberately putting on a different appearance to deceive people of later generations? Because in Liu Shiliu's view, there was no sword attendant or sword spirit; at least not a complete existence.
He asked, but unfortunately she gave no answer.
Her gaze was as cold as ever, not even deigning to show a look of disdain.
Mi Yu did not accompany Little Rice Grain on the mountain patrol today. Instead, he went to the top of the steps and found Liu Shiliu sitting on the ground.
Mi Yu sat down beside him and said, "With Mr. Liu on the Deteriorating Mountain, I can rest easy."
Mi Yu planned to take his sword for a trip to Old Dragon City.
So Mi Yu removed the sword-nurturing gourd "Haoliang" from his waist, smiled, and said, "I'm not going to seek death, but just in case, please hand this over to Fellow Daoist Chang Ming. I won't go to Riding Dragon Alley myself to get a cold reception."
Liu Shiliu shook his head. "I won't stay long."
Suddenly remembering something—that existence at the Yang Family Medicine Shop, the Deteriorating Mountain's proximity to Cloak Cloud Mountain, and that woman from the Dragon Spring Sword Sect—
Liu Shiliu changed his mind. "Sword Immortal, take care. When I go south and reach Old Dragon City, I'll throw a few extra punches for you. Then you can return to the Deteriorating Mountain."
Mi Yu was a bit helpless. Being respectfully addressed as "Sword Immortal" by Liu Shiliu felt like an insult.
What made Mi Yu even more helpless was that he had to remind him once again, "My surname is Mi."
Even calling me "Sword Immortal Mi" would be slightly more intimate, wouldn't it?
Liu Shiliu laughed heartily. "Alright, Sword Immortal Mi."
Mi Yu then relaxed, looked at the scenery beyond the mountain, and smiled. "Then I'll shamelessly accept your kindness. On the Old Dragon City battlefield, I'll count the days on my fingers waiting for you to arrive."
Liu Shiliu suddenly thought of that young man practicing swordsmanship in his dreams.
The big man grew increasingly worried. The people around his little junior brother all seemed to have thick skin. Among acquaintances, speaking frankly was fine, but this level of informality was rare, wasn't it?
According to their master, the little junior brother's nature embodied warmth, kindness, courtesy, frugality, and deference—not missing a single virtue. He was best at observing propriety. When few were around, his heart was free; when many were present, he was even more cautious alone. He pursued the realm of a pure Confucian, his learning tending toward becoming a great scholar, and his conduct had the bearing of a hero...
The master's words, back when the four of them studied, were always pointed and never exaggerated about his disciples. For example, when the outside world heaped praise like a tide on the three disciples of the Literary Sage lineage, the master only said that his little Qi's scholarship was passable, but he was still far from being a true sage. You old fellows shouldn't try to force growth!
He would say that Cui Chan's handwriting was barely acceptable, his chess skills ordinary—look, he couldn't even beat the City Lord of White Emperor City.
He said that Zuo You's swordsmanship started too late. Whatever skill he had was by sheer luck. He wasn't even a sword immortal embryo; how much achievement could he amount to? Wasn't that the truth?
After Senior Brother Zuo stirred up trouble, the master had even more to say. "You are of higher seniority. Why get angry at a junior? Not worth it, not worth it. I'll discipline him when I return. Zuo You! What are you glaring for? No manners at all. Hurry, apologize to the seniors. Be sincere. Lower your head a bit more..."
Mi Yu understood but was too lazy to remedy the situation, as it could easily backfire.
This unusually tall Mr. Liu, though he looked simple and honest, could never be regarded as careless.
Although Mi Yu was a native sword cultivator of the Sword Qi Great Wall, he had seen quite a few gentlemen and virtuous men. So he wouldn't utter certain strange sayings of the Great Wall, like "Far away, it's A Liang; up close, it's the Hidden Officer."
In his homeland, when it came to arguing and making strange remarks, the Hidden Officer had never lost when facing people face-to-face—whether inside or outside the Summer Resort on the Sword Qi Great Wall, or inside or outside the Spring Banners Studio on the Hanging Mountain. But he couldn't stop people from gossiping behind his back, could he?
Moreover, the countless shills in taverns and gambling dens cursed that second shopkeeper who privately sent them money, seemingly fiercer than anyone else.
After all, Liu Shiliu was the Hidden Officer's senior brother. Some things, Mi Yu, an outsider to the literary lineage, truly shouldn't say.
If Mi Yu were truly foolish, would he be the Sword Immortal Mi who had incurred countless romantic debts?
Liu Shiliu said, "You should have guessed by now that I am of demon race origin."
Mi Yu nodded. "I've seen too much to find it strange."
Speaking of this, Mi Yu was very much a sword immortal.
Liu Shiliu said no more.
On the Deteriorating Mountain, a little girl in black, hopping and skipping, first helped Sister Warm Tree clean the Ancestral Hall on Sunny Haze Peak, then began her mountain patrol alone. She was in a good mood today, probably because she had made new friends. She didn't run as fast as usual. She was cheerfully calling out to a little girl, "Sitting in the middle of the water, hey! Wearing red clothes, rowing a boat without paddles, yo! The big one can't guess what it is, hey... A little red jar, full of red dumplings. The big one doesn't know, still scratches his head, hey..."
Liu Shiliu rested his hands on his knees. "Sword Immortal, I won't see you off. When we meet again at Old Dragon City, after we drink, you won't see me off either."
Mi Yu smiled bitterly. "My surname is Mi."
Then he smiled broadly. "Little Warm Tree and Little Rice Grain, Mr. Liu, please protect them as much as you can."
"Sword Immortal, rest assured. As long as I'm here, nothing will go wrong."
Liu Shiliu's promise was spoken with utmost nonchalance.
Then he smiled, reached out, and patted Mi Yu on the shoulder. "You're a good man!"
Mi Yu no longer cared about the sword immortal title without the word "Mi." It seemed no matter how many times he corrected it, it was useless.
The sword immortal in blue robes smiled, rose gracefully, gave Liu Shiliu a deep fist salute, then flew away on his sword. In an instant, he turned into a rainbow heading south. Afraid that Little Rice Grain would see and be sad—better to know early and be sad early, or know late and be sad late—Mi Yu deliberately concealed his aura and the sight of his sword flight. The sword light only flashed by.
But Mi Yu didn't yet know what Liu Shiliu's assessment of "a good man" meant.
Earlier, Liu Shiliu had talked with Liu Xianyang about his good friend Bai Ye.
That was "My good friend Bai Ye, his swordsmanship is not bad"...
Liu Shiliu continued to wait patiently for the heavenly canopy to reopen.
Mountain Lord Wei Po was very loyal. As the senior brother and mountain lord, he had to help his little junior brother repay some debts of gratitude.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have the face to see their master again.
Liu Shiliu suddenly laughed. "Little junior brother, you've really been hiding your light too much. Have you already been looked down upon by many?"
At the several night wandering feasts on Cloak Cloud Mountain, the Deteriorating Mountain's steward Zhu Lian and Chen Lingjun, originally from the Imperial River, had both shown their faces. As for Pei Qian, Chen Warm Tree, and Zhou Mili back then, they had gone to Cloak Cloud Mountain but kept their distance, just joining in the fun. Amidst the night wandering feasts crowded with registered immortals, city and mountain gods, and land deities, the three little girls didn't attract attention.
In the Northern Sacred Mountain territory, the impression of the Deteriorating Mountain, which had established its sect right after the Dragon Spring Sword Sect, was still relatively deep. Besides the young mountain lord's origin from the humble alley of Pearly Shell Cave Heaven, it was more because the Northern Sacred Mountain Lord Wei Po looked upon the Deteriorating Mountain with special favor, arousing envy and jealousy. Additionally, the Deteriorating Mountain's close relationship with the Dragon Spring Sword Sect was a topic of much discussion. It was an acknowledged fact that the Dragon Spring Sword Sect had leased three peaks from the Deteriorating Mountain. More importantly, there were rumors that the young mountain lord, who had risen from the bottom of the market, had been quite close to Ruan Xiu, the saint's only daughter, in his early years before his rise. This story was told with great detail. Moreover, Saint Yuan Qiong and his daughter Ruan Xiu had never formally denied it, which made it very intriguing.
It was by clinging to Yuan Qiong and later gaining the protection of Wei Po that the Deteriorating Mountain's hidden, never-appearing young man named Chen had managed to soar to great heights, rising rapidly to become a mountain sect that could not be underestimated on the old Great Li map.
Occupying half of Ox Horn Mountain Ferry, taking over all the architectural assets left by the burden vendors, and forming an alliance with Pearl Hairpin Island, which had moved from Letter Lake. The golden core female immortal Liu Zhongrun even personally served as the ferry manager for the dragon boat "Spilled Ink."
Unfortunately, the Deteriorating Mountain was just an empty shell, never having a decent face-level cultivator.
It was said that this young man named Chen Ping'an was a pure martial artist, not even a cultivator of the Dao.
It had a large territory but very few people. As the biggest landowner of the thousand-mile mountains and rivers of the former Pearly Shell Cave Heaven, it had never had a top-tier figure to anchor it.
For over twenty years, it had been hiding in the shade of the big trees of Cloak Cloud Mountain and the Dragon Spring Sword Sect, half-revealing its face.
Being looked down upon by outsiders seemed inevitable.
Liu Shiliu laughed, because a little girl in black had run all the way up the steps to the mountaintop. She stopped and deliberately panted heavily.
Liu Shiliu was so tall that even sitting down, he could gently pat Zhou Mili on the back.
Zhou Mili sat down beside him and asked, "Want some sunflower seeds?"
Liu Shiliu shook his head.
Zhou Mili sighed. "Then I won't eat any either."
After sitting with the big man for a while, Zhou Mili said she was going to visit a friend, said goodbye, and ran off.
She took out three small bags of sunflower seeds and called out softly, "Mountain Lord Wei, Mountain Lord Wei."
Wei Po appeared near the mountain god shrine, took the three bags of seeds, and smiled. "Going to Yellow Lake Waterside, or Grey Dim Mountain Green Mud Slope?"
Zhou Mili looked a bit guilty today. She hugged her green bamboo staff and small golden carrying pole together, extended a hand, and said, "Mountain Lord Wei, I know you have important things to do. This is the last time, I promise!"
Wei Po put the seeds into his sleeve and smiled. "Nothing urgent for now, no need for the Right Protector to worry. If something does come up, calling me wouldn't help anyway. So whether there's something or not, shouting on the Deteriorating Mountain doesn't matter."
Zhou Mili shook her head. "I said it's the last time I'll trouble Mountain Lord Wei, so I have to keep my word. Today I'm going to Yellow Lake Mountain to visit Sister Hong Xia."
Wei Po had no choice but to nod and "send" the little girl to the Yellow Lake Waterside.
That great python, who went by the alias Yellow-Dressed Woman and whose real name was Fo Song, but preferred to call herself "Hong Xia" only when with Zhou Mili.
Zhou Mili put down her carrying pole and bamboo staff. As usual, she took a few deep breaths to muster courage, then lay down by the water, stuck her head into the water, and widened her eyes.
After a long time, she still couldn't see Sister Hong Xia.
Hong Xia, in a pale yellow dress, was actually standing on the shore with a smile, crouching beside Zhou Mili, gently patting her head.
Poor Little Rice Grain was so startled that she plunged entirely into the water, flailing her arms and instantly moving dozens of zhang underwater.
Hong Xia suddenly felt guilty.
After a moment, Zhou Mili popped her head out. At first, she was so flustered she cried, because all her belongings were left on the shore. But soon, the little girl grinned and laughed heartily.
Here, she could open her mouth wide as a dustpan, and no one cared.
Zhou Mili leaped out of the water, striding confidently across the waves. She crouched down, patted her carrying pole and bamboo staff, and said seriously, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. I was just messing with you."
Hong Xia hesitated but ultimately didn't ask Zhou Mili about the faint terrifying aura on the Deteriorating Mountain.
It involved the Great Dao and enormous matters; she shouldn't drag the little girl into it.
So Hong Xia just smiled and asked, "What river-lake story do you want to tell me today?"
Zhou Mili grinned. "The oar creaks and the mountains and waters turn green. Ever heard of it?"
Hong Xia laughed. "Yes, I've heard of it."
Zhou Mili was stunned. Oh no, didn't get off to a good start today.
Suddenly, Hong Xia was filled with immense terror. The culprit that made her dare not have the slightest thought of leaving the river and becoming a dragon had arrived at Yellow Lake Mountain for the first time.
From the Dragon Spring Sword Sect—the woman Ruan Xiu.
This was an existence that had seemed to "ascend" to the heavenly canopy of Vase Bottle Continent, personally killing an ancient god.
Fortunately, Zhou Mili, still kept in the dark, saw her beloved Sister Xiu Xiu and waved vigorously. "Sister Xiu Xiu, want some sunflower seeds!"
Ruan Xiu smiled warmly, slowly walked up to Little Rice Grain, bent down to ruffle her head, and took a big handful of seeds from her.
Ruan Xiu glanced sideways at the trembling Hong Xia and communicated via heart voice: "So this is how you act as a member of the Deteriorating Mountain? Just lazing around and waiting to die? Why don't you leave the lake and the mountain to become a river dragon? Are you waiting for me to die first before you move?"
Hong Xia's face turned pale.
How could she dare have such thoughts?
She would be utterly wronged.
Ruan Xiu said, "After I leave, you immediately get out and go become a river dragon."
Hong Xia's teeth chattered, and she could only nod slightly.
In fact, she wasn't even sure if she had actually nodded.
Zhou Mili blinked, looked at Sister Xiu Xiu eating sunflower seeds, then at Sister Hong Xia, and asked softly, "Sister Xiu Xiu, why does Sister Hong Xia seem afraid of you?"
Ruan Xiu laughed. "She's just timid. Even more timid than Rice Grain."
Zhou Mili was about to laugh, but since Sister Xiu Xiu was talking about Sister Hong Xia, she didn't. Instead, she secretly waved her hand toward Sister Hong Xia, indicating "no, no."
Ruan Xiu said, "Want to go play at Divine Show Mountain?"
Zhou Mili looked troubled. "I just got here and haven't chatted much with Sister Hong Xia yet."
Ruan Xiu said, "You two talk first. I'll sit to the side."
In the end, the little girl in black sat in the middle.
How could Hong Xia dare sit next to Ruan Xiu?
After Ruan Xiu heard a story about the Mute Lake, she unfolded a handkerchief, picked up a piece of pastry, and handed it to Little Rice Grain.
Zhou Mili immediately understood, shook her head, and ate the pastry first.
Then she would tell a river-lake story about the good mountain lord!
She had plenty—a whole basketful.
For example, last time she told about how Good Man Chen met a mountain spirit but couldn't compose a poem, and ended up being chased out of its cave. Sister Xiu Xiu was so happy; Zhou Mili had seen her laugh like that for the first time.
At that moment, Sister Xiu Xiu went from "really beautiful" to "the most beautiful."
— —
The Yang Family Shop. Liu Shiliu was invited to help with the shielding formation.
Old Man Yang also summoned Ruan Xiu.
Liu Shiliu was truly helpless.
Not meeting before was one thing, but now facing each other was indeed awkward.
And then there was "Li Liu," with whom both sides had deep connections in the past but had ended up at odds due to diverging paths on the Great Dao.
What was with this place where the little junior brother grew up?
Old Man Yang tucked his old tobacco pipe into his waist.
Suddenly, Old Man Yang looked at Ruan Xiu, took down the pipe, and said, "Here, give it to him."
Ruan Xiu nodded and caught the old pipe that Old Man Yang tossed over.
Liu Shiliu's eyes immediately lit up, with a hint of a smile.
Back then, among the Literary Sage lineage, Liu Shiliu's three senior brothers—which one wasn't a dragon among men? Yet each seemed to guard their purity like jade. In truth, the number of women who admired the three of them, whether on the mountain or below, was not small. I dare not say it was like fish crossing a river, but it was certainly considerable.
Unfortunately, the senior brother Cui Chan was single-minded and high-aspiring. When it came to women, he never deliberately snubbed or rejected them, but at most treated them with courtesy.
Senior Brother Zuo You thought women were annoying. "Why like me? Go like Cui Chan or Qi Jingchun instead."
Little Qi was simply oblivious.
After Liu Shiliu and Ruan Xiu, Mountain Lord Wei Po was also summoned. The Northern Sacred Mountain lord looked grave.
Mountain Lord Wei and Liu Shiliu, who had used a disguise technique, stood to the side. In recent days, when occasionally asked, Wei Po had publicly claimed that Liu Shiliu was an old friend from the Central Plains on his Cloak Cloud Mountain.
Whether anyone believed it, Wei Po didn't care.
It wasn't as if he had told outsiders he would never hold night wandering feasts again.
Wei Po asked, "Does the junior need to activate the mountains and rivers?"
Old Man Yang shook his head. "I know a thing or two about divine powers."
Wei Po was speechless.
Liu Shiliu smiled. This old man, who had always been unsmiling in the past, was getting better at conversation.
Ten thousand years in the human world hadn't been wasted.
In an instant, the entire Northern Sacred Mountain territory appeared as a vast expanse of white mist to cultivators. As for ordinary people, they noticed nothing.
Today was a great day unprecedented in ten thousand years.
Because this Old Man Yang, who had suffered in the human world for ten thousand years to continue the incense of the divine path, was about to reopen the Ascension Platform in the human world in his true form as the ancient Young Lad Heavenly Lord.
Still without seeing how Old Man Yang activated his divine powers, the earthly immortal cultivators who had quietly arrived at various parts of Dragon Prefecture suddenly found themselves standing on a platform.
It was so bizarre that many nascent soul and golden core cultivators looked at each other in confusion, but they quickly calmed their minds and stabilized their Dao hearts.
On the platform were old men who had long lived in the mountains and talented young people from the mountains.
This large group of Vase Bottle Continent golden core and nascent soul earthly immortal cultivators had previously received a secret decree from the Great Li Ministry of Justice. The content was earth-shattering, and the letter's end had extremely harsh wording, ordering them not to leak a single word and to secretly proceed to the Great Li Dragon Prefecture territory.
Taoists from the Divine Revelation Sect, military cultivators from True Martial Mountain and Wind Snow Temple, the illegitimate son Jiang Yun of the Lin Cloud Jiang Clan, two old sword cultivators from Sunny Sun Mountain, and the clan head of Breeze City Xu Clan, who was at the nascent soul bottleneck...
The Dragon Spring Sword Sect's senior disciple Dong Gu and Xie Ling. The Deteriorating Mountain's golden core bottleneck sword cultivator Cui Wei, and Cloud Mist Mountain golden core cultivator Cai Jinjian...
Also, there was Liu Baqiao, a sword cultivator from the Wind Thunder Garden who was revisiting Dragon Prefecture.
The garden master, Yellow River, even though he had received the Great Li decree, directly gave up this great Dao blessing and only let Liu Baqiao make the journey. He told his junior brother, "In my life, I practice sword alone. I accept no favors from anyone except my master."
Liu Baqiao tried to persuade him, but in the end, Yellow River said something "very Li Tuanjing and very Yellow River himself": "Your talent is inferior to mine. For the next hundred or thousand years, I will focus on practicing my sword. If you, the new garden master, are too low in realm, you'll disgrace our master and the Wind Thunder Garden. You have no right to bargain with me, so get the hell to Great Li Dragon Prefecture."
Earlier, Yuan Bai, a direct-line sword cultivator from the Sunny Sun Mountain Ancestral Hall, had challenged Yellow River, the Wind Thunder Garden master. Yuan Bai had used his lifebound flying sword, "Jade Stone"—the "jade stone" of "burning both jade and stone."
Although Yellow River hadn't fallen to golden core, his Great Dao had undoubtedly been damaged. Even so, coming to Great Li Dragon Prefecture gave him hope of recovering his nascent soul perfection, and with his talent, he might even enter the upper five realms.
Yet Yellow River still refused to come.
From the True Realm Sect, the lower sect of the Jade Gui Sect, there were three people, including the sword cultivator Sui Youbian, who had just broken through the Dragon Gate bottleneck.
In a time of great chaos, there would be scorched earth, people living in misery, mountains and rivers sinking.
There would also be countless heroes and warlords rising with the times, each showing their brilliance.
In the back courtyard of the medicine shop, Liu Shiliu said, "I'll go wait at the heavenly canopy first, to avoid fumbling and receiving guests poorly. Greeting guests at the door is more sincere."
Ruan Xiu had just finished eating a pastry, clapped her hands, and said, "Same logic."
Old Man Yang nodded.
— —
The Great Li National Master, Confucian scholar Cui Chan, held the White Jade Capital in his hand, with the divine human corpse sitting in the sky.
Cui Chan lightly uttered one word.
"Slash."
On the entire continent, wherever Cui Chan's gaze fell, sword light reached.
In an instant, the head of a great demon at the immortal realm was cut off.
In the five sacred mountain territories, all jurisdictions, within all the Great Li vassal states, prefectures, and counties far from the war, countless incense burners for distant worship of the five sacred mountains were set up. Local civil and military officials, together with the clerks, led the people in burning incense day and night. City gods, assistant officials, civil and military heroic spirits, and land and river deities were responsible for examining and weighing the essence of the incense, reporting to the various states' ministries of rites, and then submitting them on time to the Great Li Ministry of Rites and academies for compilation.
In the small Vase Bottle Continent, tens of thousands of "five sacred mountain poems" suddenly emerged, known as "five sacred mountain poetry." Ultimately, a hundred were selected, compiled into a book, and distributed to academies and village schools across the continent. The poems were taught to children in the streets as songs.
The five great mountain lords kept half of the continuous stream of essence incense flowing into the great mountains to maintain their towering golden bodies. Two-tenths were given to the crown prince's mountain, and the remaining three-tenths were distributed to the many land and river shrines within their jurisdictions. In turn, this nourished the mountain and river luck of the various vassal states, boosted national fortunes, extended dynastic reigns, and ultimately increased national power, further nourishing the Great Li Dynasty and the overall feng shui of the continent.
On Parasol Leaf Continent, even the emperor fled, and earthly immortals also escaped.
But on Vase Bottle Continent, even the little children in the streets, lanes, and villages, in their ignorant singing of these poems, unconsciously contributed to the stabilization of the continent's overall situation. Drop by drop, water accumulated into rivers; grain by grain, earth accumulated into mountains.
The Great Li had already changed its laws, allowing each vassal state to select two or four heroic spirits. From the capital to cities to villages, their images were pasted on all doors as "door gods," reshaping golden bodies to protect the locality from sporadic demon incursions. They coordinated with local immortal families and state-surnamed retainers to jointly set up defenses, preventing demons from disturbing the people's hearts and causing harm.
On a distant mountain peak far from Cui Chan's incarnation in central Vase Bottle Continent, more than a dozen people were overlooking the mountains and rivers.
It was Mr. Fan, the founding patriarch of the Merchant clan, leading a group of successive Merchant clan patriarchs who had gradually arrived in Vase Bottle Continent.
The Merchant clan ancestor, who didn't look old, withdrew his gaze after Cui Chan made his sword strike. He sighed emotionally, "Distant water goes to meet distant mountains. Old friends leave behind stories."
But after a brief moment of reflection on worldly affairs, Mr. Fan turned to the main topic, smiling. "Gentlemen, it's often said that water flows as mountains turn. The world's water veins are constantly shifting, only mountains are immovable. But is it truly that only water moves and mountains don't?"
An old man who had served for many years laughed. "Not enough money."
This was the mountain-top expert who had once surrounded A Liang and managed to escape, cheerfully nicknaming himself "Half-Pinnacle."
Upon hearing this, this group of Merchant clan magnates, who were wealthy enough to rival entire countries across the nine continents, all burst into hearty laughter.
They really had nothing much—except money.
The Merchant clan had already spent a huge sum to relocate inland mountain ranges to the coast, turning them into passes, or moving some coastal mountains that obstructed the Great Li cavalry inland, forming majestic battle lines that "appear natural but are actually man-made"!
More money would be spent next! Immortal money, Guyu money!
Snowflake money and Xiaoshu money? Naturally, not a single coin—too shabby!
In short, the Merchant clan wanted to ensure that the vassal state troops of Vase Bottle Continent, which lacked cavalry, could hold the passes.
They also needed to clear space for the Great Li's invincible iron cavalry to gallop freely across the vast plains.
Mr. Fan smiled. "Gentlemen, get to work. Scatter money across the continent."
Each obeyed the ancestor's decree, their forms dissipating into the wind and dispersing through heaven and earth.
On the Old Dragon City battlefield, several ancient gods had appeared earlier, unstoppable.
Ma Kuxuan had merely returned to True Martial Mountain, one of the martial family ancestral courts of Vase Bottle Continent. Shortly after returning to Old Dragon City, he encountered heavenly gods descending from the sky gate to visit the continent.
As one of the ten young candidates across several worlds, Ma Kuxuan actually summoned over a dozen ancient gods in return to attack the heavens.
Furthermore, there was the Southern Sacred Mountain Lord Fan Junmao, the only female mountain lord. Her golden body incarnation towered a thousand zhang. She held part of the moon's soul from an ancient great moon "Truth," secretly gifted by Madam Gui. In Fan Junmao's hands, the crescent moon was like a bow, pulled to a full moon, using the essence of sun and moonlight as bowstring and arrow.
When an arrow shot out—whether toward the heavenly canopy to slay ancient gods or toward the sea to kill great demons—it had earth-shattering power.
On the Dragon Ascension Platform by the sea in Old Dragon City, the woman Zhi Gui, with her golden eyes, stared intently at a Noxious Seat great demon far out at sea.
The other was also staring back at Zhi Gui.
Zhi Gui curled her lips, slowly raised a hand, and made a twisting-neck gesture toward the Crimson Consort.
— —
Letter Lake.
An elegant elderly man in a tall hat and broad belt stood by the water of an island.
Wei Ying, the True Realm Sect master, sensed something but didn't rashly use the divine ability of "viewing mountains and rivers with a wave of the hand" to peer into the distance.
Hundreds of strange heroic spirits, all without exception, were wronged souls who had managed to maintain a spark of true spirit for a hundred or a thousand years. They surged out of the lake, appearing and returning to the human world.
During their lifetimes, they were among the countless wild cultivators of Letter Lake, a lawless place. Many had died violently, their wronged souls lingering. Some were innocent, some deserved their fate, some died unjustly but not deserving death. They gathered around the old man, opening their eyes to see the Letter Lake's mortal realm—year after year, human hearts remained the same, life and death uncertain, the strong freely killing the weak, the weak dying without knowing their true mistake, only feeling it was because their cultivation was too low.
In the end, all the vengeful spirits and ghosts had a common doubt: Which was the mortal world—the lake bottom or the shore? Which was the underworld?
Finally, an emaciated outsider young man arrived at this place. For the countless lingering vengeful spirits, for the question in their hearts, he gave an answer.
Gu Can's wanton killing was wrong; him not killing Gu Can was also wrong. This custom of Letter Lake, even after a thousand or ten thousand years, would still be wrong. Some wrongdoings and the pain in one's heart would haunt a person for a lifetime.
Because in heaven and earth, wrong is wrong. So if there is a mistake, it must be corrected. "It has always been thus"—is that right? Should future generations hundreds or thousands of years later still have this question? Of course not, and it shouldn't be.
The wrongfully deceased spirits who said goodbye to the young man also gave answers.
Together with that young man, they gave Letter Lake a reply—an answer still full of sadness and regret.
"Chen, you're as thin as a bamboo pole. How will you find a wife later? When you leave this damned place, remember to eat plenty of meat and many bowls of rice! I'm not bragging, but my cooking is excellent. A hotpot that could make Buddha jump over the wall. Haha, too bad you don't have the luck to taste it."
"Chen Ping'an, take it easy. Let's not meet again too soon. And oh, you lousy accountant, remember to slap Gu Can a few times to relieve boredom when you have nothing to do. Having such a bastard like Gu Can is your eight-lifetime misfortune. Stop minding other people's business in the future. It's not worth it."
"Mr. Chen, I still don't think the world is too beautiful, but... there seems to be a bit of hope. I'm leaving now. Take care, Mr. Chen."
In those years, the outsider, who had just left his teens, would smile and wave goodbye to them. He would say "take care" in a hoarse voice. When he couldn't speak, he would raise his fist and tap his heart, or clasp his fists in farewell.
Only after those spirits dissipated would the young man become increasingly silent.
The old man not only approved of the young man's self-imposed troubles and remedial measures but was also gratified by those farewells that carried their own regrets yet did not lead to utter despair.
The old man collected his thoughts and smiled. "Since you can still maintain a spark of spirit, it shows you haven't yet become numb. That's why I've detained you here, unable to find release. This time, as your souls completely dissipate, I'll accumulate some yin virtue for you. Past faults will offset faults; good fortune will accumulate good fortune."
The old man's words seemed like heaven's decree. The spirits received a great pardon, transforming from heroic spirits into golden-bodied water gods.
Before this, the Great Li had already laid out a land-based divine path early on, allowing these heroic spirits, akin to lake gods, to go to the middle of Vase Bottle Continent to the Qi Du River.
The old man laughed again. "All water spirits and mountain ghosts under heaven are my friends—isn't that so?"
The old man answered his own question: "Whether it's so or not, so it shall be!"
On all the mountains and peaks of the continent, countless mountain ghosts suddenly materialized.
The old man raised one hand. "Heaven manifests signs."
Along the coastal areas in all directions of the continent, at a total of twenty-four mountain peaks, a white-clad youth had pre-buried twenty-four bamboo slips.
The army of mountain ghosts, vast and unprecedented, like a ghostly army crossing borders, flew together toward those twenty-four mountain peaks.
Finally, the old man went to the Green Gorge Island ferry, stood there, and looked down.
That day, after the young man had fallen asleep exhausted, Ruan Xiu and Zhong Kui had both come to visit him as he lay on the ground snoring like thunder.
In fact, it wasn't just the two of them.
The old man laughed. Truly, the great world was full of wonders.
The old man looked up again. Vase Bottle Continent had no Three Walls or Four Symbols Great Formation, but it had this even more magnificent and more aligned Twenty-Four Seasons Great Formation.
The formation followed the cycle of seasons, continuous, protecting the continent without flaw.
A middle-aged ascetic monk, carrying a bowl and traveling, had wandered across this continent year after year.
He uttered a Buddhist chant.
Wherever his feet had trod in the past—on the earth, in the markets, on the mountains, by the water, in bustling or secluded places—lotuses bloomed.
In the end, the entire continent's mountains and rivers, Vase Bottle Continent, was like a vase for display on a desk somewhere in the human world. Inside the vase, a great golden lotus bloomed.
Twelve sword boats, massive as mountains, were positioned behind the front line of battle, hovering in the air behind Old Dragon City.
Countless military strongmen used secret arts to beat drums, boosting morale and adding a mysterious seasonal advantage to the flying swords.
The flying swords had long been inscribed with cloud patterns and secret codes by talisman sect cultivators, who spared no expense in immortal money and spiritual energy.
For a time, flying swords clustered like a torrential rain, heading toward the demon army besieging the city from the sea.
Vase Bottle Continent, the smallest in territory in the Hazy Heaven, was the only continent that, since the war began, had not only maintained a stable defense but still had the strength to launch a magnificent attack on the Wild Continent.
The vassal king Song Jixin neither guarded the Great Li's auxiliary capital in central Vase Bottle Continent nor moved his princely residence to the relatively safe Southern Sacred Mountain. He remained in Old Dragon City, alongside the two highest-ranking Great Li military patrol envoys, Cao Ping and Su Gaoshan, as one of the mainstays of the southern battlefield. However, the two grand marshals were not in the city but on the plains behind Old Dragon City, with horses' hooves resounding, ready for battle.
And Song Mu, no longer the young noble from Mud Vase Alley, clenched his fists, his eyes red. The war had dragged on for a year, and the vassal king showed no sign of retreat. He had heard that the Wild Continent had used tens of thousands of sword cultivators to challenge the Sword Qi Great Wall.
Song Jixin stood on the top floor of his princely mansion, both hands gripping the railing, the veins on the back of his hands bulging. He laughed angrily, "Come! Challenge my Great Li to another sword duel!"
A gentleman from View Lake Academy had arrived at Old Dragon City. Before leaving, he bowed to his academy mountain master and said farewell, heading to the front line of battle.
The gentleman held a jade porcelain bottle, crystal clear, seemingly filled with thunder and lightning, like a small thunder pool.
In truth, the lightning in the bottle was the subtle manifestation of his entire learning and Dao—each character from the sages' books.
After bidding his master farewell, he privately said to a younger fellow townsman from the academy, smiling, "When the hometown flowers bloom next year, take a few extra looks for me."
A Confucian scholar who had disagreed with him in scholarly debates, even vehemently, happened to accompany him to the battlefield.
It turned out that a scholar's academic disputes were truly the disputes of gentlemen.
They were like-minded men.
The gentleman and the sage looked at each other and smiled, words unspoken.
The chief retainer of the Fu family in Old Dragon City, an old sword cultivator who had once spent years practicing near the Dragon Ascension Platform, traveled together with a retainer from the Sun family who looked like a woodcutter. They each bid farewell to their respective clan heads and went together to the most dangerous part of the battlefield.
As they flew, the Sun family retainer, who had also read the sages' books but had not become an academy disciple, smiled slightly. "Green mud, how winding, a hundred steps, nine turns, winding around cliffs. Even if my heart, the world, is a thousand times muddy, that is no excuse for you beasts to break through the door."
The old sword cultivator laughed. "Flowery and sour. I can't say it. I'll follow your lead and say something crude as my last words. If you want to pass this road, to enter this house, you'll have to kill me first."
An old cultivator who had safely left Parasol Leaf Continent, an old nascent soul who had once done a big deal with the outsider young man and Jiang Shangzhen, gathered all the cultivators in his sect.
The old man's sect was the Green Tiger Palace at Heaven's Que Peak in northern Parasol Leaf Continent. He was the old palace master, Lu Yong, who was skilled in alchemy.
Before the Wild Continent demons had even landed, the well-informed and self-preserving Old Palace Master Lu had taken his disciples on an immortal ferry and fled early into Vase Bottle Continent. A week later, they would have found no one to answer their calls.
But like all other clever people, even after entering Old Dragon City territory, they could not enter the city for safe refuge. They were gathered together like prisoners, guarded.
However, their lives were saved, but life was still hard.
The Great Li military accompanying cultivators never spoke a word to them. They either killed some fools who broke the rules or stood far away, coldly watching them, the Parasol Leaf Continent refugees.
Different military cultivators had the same look in their eyes.
No pity, only the inherent cruelty of the battlefield and the mockery of one person looking at something less than human.
But on the high buildings of the "cage," if one had the leisure to view the battlefield from afar, the Great Li did not stop them.
After witnessing the day-after-day bloody battle outside Old Dragon City, the old man spoke less and less. Until today, Lu Yong suddenly flew into a rage, his beard and hair bristling. "Though fierce winds shake the earth, wild thunder and heavy rain, how dare you uproot the thousand-year tree beside my house?!"
Finally, the old nascent soul smiled bitterly, telling his direct disciples to live well in this foreign land. Since they had managed to escape here, they shouldn't die easily. Even if they were more pathetic, they should still cultivate well and refine more good pills.
Finally, the old cultivator looked at the youngest children, his expression relieved.
With my death, the Vase Bottle Continent cultivators who mocked you as survivors and stray dogs will be much fewer. It will be much easier for the younger generation to establish themselves in Vase Bottle Continent.
A monk from a large temple arrived at the Old Dragon City battlefield, shaking his staff in the air, sending ripples.
The monk finally sat cross-legged in the air, hands clasped.
The Bodhisattva's hooks and locks, all his bones resonated.
His body was like a spiritual pagoda, shining like fire.
An unknown Daoist master stood on a treasure boat flying with the wind, his expression leisurely, as if he had come to see the sights.
The old Daoist performed the divine ability of "sprouting beans to become soldiers," scattering talisman papers like a commoner scattering funeral money.
On the cloud sea stood over a hundred talisman puppets, each several zhang tall.
In the vast area between Old Dragon City and the Southern Sacred Mountain, the land was flat and endless.
Two columns of Great Li iron cavalry, roughly lined up, were stationed there.
Like a tide at the edge, still and unmoving.
Waiting for the enemy.
A military general, not yet armored, rode along the battle line, inspecting. He also carried a saber and held a spear; otherwise, it didn't feel right.
This powerful Great Li patrol envoy suddenly halted his horse. Man and horse faced south.
Our Great Li iron cavalry, horses' hooves from north to south, had pierced through a continent!
Where the horses' hooves reached, their killing skill—not to mention a continent—the entire world already knew!
Now, where the horses' hooves stood, they would slaughter countless demons!
Grand General Su Gaoshan lightly raised his iron spear, pointing south. "If you dare come here, I'll grind you all to dust!"
— —
The Great Li Emperor Song He remained in the northern capital.
After the court session, he ordered the eunuchs in python robes to retreat far away, walking alone along the base of a tall red wall.
At the national master's behest, the emperor had issued a series of identical imperial decrees. Those who received the decrees were all the monarchs of the continent's vassal states.
If Great Li lost this great war, the continent's mountains and rivers would be destroyed, and everyone would have no home or country.
But if Great Li won this war, among all vassal states, the thirty with the highest proportion of war dead could restore their states, thereby breaking away from the Great Li Song clan's territory. Even if only one person remained, the Great Li Dynasty would actively help them restore their state. In at most a century, they would surely become strong Vase Bottle nations, forming generations of alliance with Great Li.
The Great Li Emperor personally swore an oath before the one river and five sacred mountains. If he violated this agreement, both men and gods would be enraged, and the Great Li Song clan's dynasty would end.
Before the decree was issued, there was a conversation between ruler and minister, teacher and student.
Cui Chan asked Song He.
The national master asked the emperor.
The teacher asked the student.
"Your Majesty, once this is done, Great Li may not even be able to hold its position among the Ten Great Dynasties in the future."
"But once this is done, you, Song He, as a descendant of the Great Li Song clan, will surely become a wise ruler in history for a thousand or ten thousand years."
"The choice is yours, Song He."
Song He laughed at the time. "National Master, you underestimate my magnanimity. Among the many Ten Great Dynasties that have come and gone in the Hazy Heaven, how many emperors and monarchs deserve the grand title of 'famous in history for a thousand or ten thousand years'?"
"I, Song He, want the future descendants of the Song clan, when offering sacrifices to their ancestors, to face their portraits and linger longest before mine, to yearn for me the most!"
Upon hearing this answer, the Embroidery Tiger smiled and nodded.
Song He had a question he couldn't help asking. "I have only one question."
"If I had refused, and not fulfilled the National Master's wish?"
Cui Chan had laughed at the time. "Your Majesty knows full well in your heart."
The Great Li Emperor laughed heartily. "Well said, Embroidery Tiger."
Finally, the emperor looked at this national master who had overstepped his bounds far too much.
Cui Chan nodded.
The emperor's face showed bitterness. With the Embroidery Tiger beside him, he, as emperor, couldn't help but feel constrained.
But if Great Li truly lost this ever-calculating Embroidery Tiger, wouldn't Song He be somewhat panicked?
Cui Chan finally said slowly, "Qi Jingchun and I have left so many different seeds of learning for your Great Li Dynasty. Even if the Great Li territory is reduced by half, there will still be great opportunities for resurgence in the future. It's just that during your reign, you may not live to see it. Only on this matter, your fate is similar to the late emperor's. There is indeed a great regret. From this, it can be seen that having me as your national master is a blessing for Great Li, but not necessarily a blessing for either of you two emperors."
"A small misfortune. Great Li and Song He have already been extraordinarily fortunate to have this opportunity, this magnificent undertaking, under the guidance of my teacher."
The emperor bowed to the old man and said softly, "Then the student bids the teacher farewell here."
Song He now let out a heavy breath, slapped the wall hard, then braced himself against the wall, saying solemnly, "Together, we shall uphold the collapsing heavens!"
A eunuch in python robes suddenly stepped forward quickly, then quietly stopped and said softly, "Your Majesty, someone has arrived from the north."
Song He's face lit up. He quickly walked to the space between two walls, looked up, and though he couldn't see them—they wouldn't arrive over the Great Li capital so early—Song He couldn't help but take that look.
Now, East Vase Bottle Continent and North Julu Continent, under that great handiwork, were as one continent's territory!
Fire Dragon True Lord, Li Liu, and the obese woman of the Transcended Ascension realm from the Green Water Pit were still guarding this sea route.
The two stood on left and right, protecting the "bridge" connecting the two continents.
A large number of North Julu Continent sword cultivators were flying south along that path to Vase Bottle Continent.
The North's number one sword immortal, Bai Shang; the Taiwei Sword Sect's law-enforcing patriarch, Huang Tong; the Floating Duckweed Sword Lake's Li Cai...
In addition to sword cultivators, there were also Fire Dragon True Lord's two eminent disciples: Yuan Lingdian from the Finger Mystery lineage, and the White Cloud lineage.
A group of Daoist masters from the Great Source Dynasty's Chongxuan Office; the Pima Sect's master, Zhu Quan; and the bone sword cultivator from the Ghost Valley at Skeleton Beach, the female heroic spirit Pu Rang.
Gao Cheng of Jingguan City had once opened the heavenly restrictions to let Pu Rang offer a sword.
Now Gao Cheng had left Ghost Valley, and the Pima Sect cultivators had nothing to do. Pu Rang, who had died and perished in the ancient battlefield here, chose to go to another battlefield, as if silently saying goodbye to her beloved, whom she had never been able to let go. If she was destined not to become an immortal couple with him, why burden him from becoming a human Buddha? Liking someone shouldn't be like this.
The Wind Snow Temple sword immortal Wei Jin of Vase Bottle Continent had once crossed continents to challenge the North Julu Continent heavenly lord Xie Shi.
This time, he traveled with Heavenly Lord Xie Shi, both returning home, so to speak.
Before setting off, Li Cai of Floating Duckweed Sword Lake and her senior disciple Rong Chang told her two direct disciples, Chen Li and Gao Youqing, that she was going to see Old Dragon City.
"In your hometown, also my foreign land, I've already killed many demon beasts. There's no reason not to kill some more demon beasts here in the Hazy Heaven, my homeland."
"Wouldn't that make my friend Li Yu laugh at me? How would I be able to maintain a master's airs in front of you two kids in the future?"
But Li Cai had another reason she was embarrassed to tell her younger disciples.
Over there, at the southernmost point of Vase Bottle Continent, she wouldn't be separated from a certain heartbreaker, across a continent.
As Li Cai returned home, constantly hearing about the situation on Parasol Leaf Continent, it was like untangling a knot.
That heartless man had let her down. In fact, he had let down the sincere hearts of many infatuated women. But in the end, he hadn't let down the responsibility a real man should shoulder.
Such a Jiang Shangzhen was worthy of Li Cai's sadness and love.
As they traveled south across the sea, whether sword cultivators or not, few had expressions of heroic sacrifice or high spirits.
Their minds were calm.
Because it seemed like doing an ordinary thing that was only natural.
We North Julu Continent cultivators, when we close our doors, no matter how we fight and kill, scheme, and use flying swords, spells, and fists on each other—
But when the tide comes, any continent's cultivators can be missing, but not us North Julu Continent!
People going south is also chivalry going south.
— —
Liu Shiliu had already drunk wine with Mi Yu at the Dust Medicine Shop. But Mi Yu, who was supposed to go north, said he would return to the Deteriorating Mountain later.
Liu Shiliu drank an extra pot with this sword immortal.
That day, Madam Gui, the Fan family's retainer, suddenly arrived at the Dust Medicine Shop.
Liu Shiliu said, "I'm quite surprised you would do this."
Both Liu Shiliu and the most orthodox "Moon Palace Seed" Madam Gui could be considered ancient remnants.
Later books like to tell strange tales of immortals, saying that on distant seas lived ancient immortals who, as seas changed to mulberry fields, would add a weight and had filled ten rooms.
In truth, for the two of them, this was nothing special.
They, or "they," had once looked down on the earth from the heavens, personally witnessing humans appear, climb mountains, and finally ascend to heaven.
Central Vase Bottle Continent.
On a great river, the night was calm.
On a small boat, a child was struggling to pole.
A lazy white-clad youth lay on the bow, his wide white sleeves dipping into the water.
Water light and moonlight, the white sleeves grew whiter.
The youth closed his eyes and sang loudly: "Spring water carries the boat, the boat carries the man; the boat travels on spring water, together in heaven."
The youth suddenly sat up, complaining miserably, "Heaven doesn't cherish, earth doesn't pity the singer's suffering."
Cui Dongshan used a finger from each hand to rub his eyes vigorously, wanting to shed tears bitterly to match the scene.
But before he could squeeze out tears, he saw two people traveling together—one from Skeleton Beach in North Julu Continent, and one from much farther away.
Gao Cheng of Jingguan City.
Cui Dongshan came behind the poling child, slapped the back of his head. "What are you staring at? Turn around, turn around! Quickly go call Big Brother. This is your real brother!"
On the shore, Gao Cheng finally understood why, over the years, despite no internal or external troubles in Ghost Valley's Jingguan City, he had always felt restless.
As for the chicken soup old monk who had traveled from Green Luan Country in the southeastern part of the continent—
Wearing a tattered kasaya, the old monk walked by the water's edge.
Mist gathered into clouds; clouds formed a kasaya.
Moonlight reflected on water; water light returned the Bodhi heart.
Brother Gao poled hard; Cui Dongshan reached out and paddled hard, heading to the shore together.
Seeing this, Gao Cheng felt he shouldn't have come to meet this person. It was too disgusting.
In the night, the heavenly canopy of Swaying Rock Continent had fallen into the hands of the Wild Continent.
This meant that the Confucian Temple's accompanying saint guarding this continent's canopy was gone.
Bai Ye and the old scholar stood together in the void.
Like immortals in the heavenly river.
The old scholar looked troubled. "Brother Bai, do you really have to do this? This time, the Wild Continent hasn't sent any Noxious Seat great demons to provoke you."
Bai Ye was too lazy to speak.
The old scholar chuckled. "As expected of Bai Ye, the Bai Ye I once earnestly begged for poems and calligraphy! You know me best—I'm not someone who pesters shamelessly. I made an exception for you!"
Bai Ye was even less inclined to speak.
This most proud swordsman and most famous poet of the Hazy Heaven looked down at the shattered old mountains and rivers of the human world.
If I, Bai Ye, do nothing, you can be the Confucian Temple's Vice Lord or the academy's Grand Libationer standing at my door, earnestly preaching sage's principles—it will be useless.
If I, Bai Ye, decide to act, you can be the Central Earth Confucian Temple or Noxious Seat great demons trying to stop me—then try it?
The old scholar closed his eyes, as if listening to the sounds of a continent: clouds rolling, flowers blooming and falling, old men breathing, children crying...
Bai Ye gently pressed his thumb against the hilt of the immortal sword at his waist, waiting for the old scholar's answer. Once he had the answer, this disappointed man would draw his sword against a continent.
The old scholar murmured, "In peaceful times, flowers have no one to wear, wine has no one to urge, drunkenness has no one to care—but that is still a peaceful world."
Now on Swaying Rock Continent, the dead have no one to bury.
Buddhism says this world is the "Saha World," meaning "endurance." It means our world has all kinds of shortcomings.
But even if that is true, there are still places in the human world where spring rain falls urgently on apricot blossoms, and carriages and horses travel slowly through spring mountains.
A scholar with no magical powers, drunk on alcohol, would dare to say "let me scoop up the great river into my cup to quench my thirst."
"The bright moon doesn't know you've gone, still shines through the night on the study window." A woman left alone in her hometown would let her eyes wander, praying, "May you be like the moon, bright and pure every night."
The strong draw their blades, and the sword light goes not only toward the strong but also against the collapsing tide!
The old scholar's sleeves billowed as he waved his arms vigorously, starlight dotting the air.
Bai Ye then pushed his sword out of the sheath, not fully drawing it, but tens of thousands of sword lights descended onto the continent's mountains and rivers.
In Swaying Rock Continent, wherever the war had not yet reached, as long as there was still a place for studying in a school, a sword light, cool as snow, quietly descended.
Today, studying still has some use.
One man, one sword, transformed into ten thousand.
Enemies of all the demons on the continent.
Bai Ye finally said, "Old scholar, your nagging may be annoying, but it's better than no nagging at all."
The old scholar said, "As much as you want!"
Bai Ye took his sword and went into the human world.
The old scholar was silent for a moment, then nodded with a smile. "Bai Ye's poetry is unmatched, dispelling the sorrows of ten thousand ages."
The old scholar suddenly wrung his hands in regret. "I should have said that before Brother Bai left!"
— —
Wild Continent.
Beneath the Support Moon Mountain.
A disheveled man, who couldn't even get a drink of northwest wind, was in the awkward position of a giant turtle carrying a mountain. He muttered to himself.
"Turtle chanting, don't listen, don't listen? Li Huai, you little bastard, your mouth is really poisonous."
An old blind man left his own mountain for the first time, bringing a scrawny old dog with him to visit this dog-like A Liang.
After all, watching a good show alone isn't enough.
The old blind man didn't get too close to Support Moon Mountain—he wasn't here to fight. He stood a thousand li away, tilting his head and perking up his ears.
He heard A Liang's muttering and was delighted. "Dog! In the old days at the Sword Qi Great Wall, you often wandered into my house. Weren't you fond of bouncing around? Why aren't you bouncing now?"
The old blind man touched the ground with his palm and sneered, "Who was it that once came before me and brazenly said, 'With this swordsmanship, I have no need for this face; with this face, I have no need for this swordsmanship'?"
A Liang was stunned, then grinned. "Hey! Old blind man, don't tell me you've come to help me move the mountain? No, no, you don't know how comfortable it is to have a mountain pressing on your shoulders. Don't mind me. If you dare mind me, I'll... call you grandpa!"
Now that the hero was in distress, he muttered quietly, "Old blind man, you've been blind for ten thousand years. You can't see my handsome face anyway."
Losing the fight but not the spirit—a good habit to keep.
The old blind man chuckled. "Seeing such a beautiful sight leaves me speechless."
The old blind man found the scrawny dog circling at his feet very annoying, so he kicked it away. The skinny old dog rolled a few times, utterly aggrieved. It had kindly reminded him not to stay here long—finish talking and go home quickly.
The old blind man remembered something and laughed. "Who is Li Huai?"
A Liang grinned. "My good brother, so he's your good brother too, old blind man."
The old blind man didn't mind. "Just based on that kid's prophetic word, I already take a liking to him."
A Liang cursed, "Blind man, what liking do you have?!"
The old blind man prepared to leave.
A Liang didn't try to stop him, just swallowed hard. "Hey, how about the two of us eat some dog meat on this winter day? Old blind man, your conscience is extremely good."
The old blind man raised a hand, and on his palm appeared the characters "Li Huai." He "stared" at the name on his palm for a moment, then nodded with a smile. "Li Huai, I'll remember you."
A Liang was stunned. "Li Huai, can I call you Grandpa Li? Your mouth is truly blessed! Old blind man, pass a message for me to that kid. Tell him to say, 'A Liang, come home quickly to eat and drink'..."
Then he said, heartbroken, "Damn, I concede! Li Huai, you're my grandpa now. Is it too late for me to agree to be your brother-in-law? Will it work?"
The old blind man looked complex. "You're not unable to leave. What nonsense are you talking? Are you willing to waste your sword intent and damage your cultivation like this? Do you really think you've completely stabilized the fourteenth realm? If you're so capable, why didn't I see you pierce the sky with a single sword at my doorstep before? Oh, you still like to pretend to be a middle-five realm great sword immortal? Well, you sure have persistence."
A Liang gave a sheepish dry laugh, then fell silent.
Damn, the old blind man wasn't so wordy before. Today, he was even being sarcastic. Who had he learned that from?
The old blind man withdrew his hand and stood up. "You won't leave yourself. Who can you blame?"
On the Hazy Heaven, the heavenly canopy had been opened, drawing in ancient gods one after another.
Below this Support Moon Mountain, the earth's veins were opened into the azure abyss, and countless fierce ghosts and spirits surged forth.
So A Liang could leave this place—one for the weight of Support Moon Mountain, the other for his conscience. He dared not, or rather, was unwilling to release those underworld beings, letting them escape from the Western Buddhist Kingdom to this Wild Continent, and then be guided by the Support Moon Mountain's Great Ancestor to the Hazy Heaven.
A Liang suddenly said, "Old blind man, open your eyes and look at the world. It's different now."
The old blind man, back to Support Moon Mountain, stopped, his hands behind his back, as if looking up at the sky. "Really?"
A Liang couldn't free his hands, or he would have slapped his chest loudly. "Trust me this once, or I'm your father!"
The old blind man still didn't turn around. He laughed. "I dare not."
— —
Li Xisheng, who had long been living in seclusion in a small, remote country of North Julu Continent, devoted to scholarship, bid farewell to that scholar who should have been named Li Baozhou, saying he was going on a journey.
After Li Xisheng returned to his own courtyard, he told his clay-born page boy, Cui Ci, to continue sweeping the courtyard daily and studying diligently.
The Confucian scholar Li Xisheng hung his lifebound peach talisman at his waist for the first time.
When he took one step and landed another, he had directly traveled from North Julu Continent to Central Earth Divine Continent.
The several saints guarding the heavenly canopies of two continents did not stop him; instead, they nodded in greeting to Li Xisheng, who had traveled across continents in an instant.
A Grand Master of the White Jade Capital, even if only one of three incarnations, was surely deserving of this courtesy?
Li Xisheng gently patted the peach talisman. This time, his journey through Central Earth Divine Continent was silent, undetectable even by the canopy saints.
Li Xisheng did not go to the Central Earth Confucian Temple or any great immortal mountain. Instead, he found an unremarkable middle-aged man in a market town at the foot of a mountain.
The man had a strange young man beside him. In Li Xisheng's deduction, the person he saw was a person from the future.
It seemed like two pieces of paper had been pasted together. The yang spirit and yin spirit overlapped but had not merged completely—still the yang spirit's body outside the body, and the yin spirit that had traveled out and not yet returned.
The yang spirit was a male body, the yin spirit a female form.
It was as if they were waiting for the true body, so that the "two" could truly return to their positions and become a complete person.
Li Xisheng was unwilling to see more heavenly secrets. Perhaps if he looked further, even with the middle-aged man present, with Li Xisheng's current Dao methods, he might not be able to see through the true body's location.
But the "female yin spirit," who was not actually here, Li Xisheng already knew her general origins—from a blessed land, now named "Liucai," located in Vase Bottle Continent.
Li Xisheng bowed. "I pay respects to Master Zou."
The suffix "zi" after a surname was a great honor.
Among the Yin-Yang school of the Hazy Heaven, there had always been the sayings "Zou who talks of heaven" and "Lu who speaks of earth."
Zou and Lu were two surnames. The former's incense dwindled, never flourishing, their family teachings not spreading. The latter was the undisputed premier family of the Yin-Yang school under heaven.
And the man before Li Xisheng, seemingly dull, stood alone on half the scholarly mountains, reputed to "exhaust all words on heavenly matters."
As for the "Lu who speaks of earth" from the Central Earth Yin-Yang school's Lu clan, that was Li Xisheng's former junior brother, whom he took as a disciple on behalf of his master, a descendant of the White Jade Capital's Third Master, Lu Chen.
The founder of the "Earth-talking Lu clan" was actually named Lu Chen, a playful coincidental harmony with heavenly will, perfectly fitting Lu Chen's style of "I roam freely in the human world."
But Lu Chen could no longer be considered the "youngest junior brother of Li Xisheng's three," because Lu Chen had followed suit, taking a disciple on behalf of his master—the Dao Ancestor's final disciple, whose Dao name was Shan Qing.
Shan Qing was a homophone for San Qing (Three Purities), naturally a rare sense of remembrance from heartless Lu Chen.
The man, as a half-Daoist offshoot, politely made a Daoist bow to Li Xisheng. "Greetings, Grand Master."
Li Xisheng straightened his back and stepped slightly aside, not accepting the bow. He smiled and shook his head. "Temporarily still not, and perhaps never will be."
The man spoke bluntly. "Since the Grand Master has come to me, you must have calculated that the one who schemed against the Grand Master and the descendants of the Li clan of Fortune Street back then was me. I wonder if this visit is to accuse guilt or to ask about the Dao?"
Li Xisheng smiled without speaking, turning to look at the young man with a string of small gourds at his waist. Two of them had some connection to the Daoist sect.
As for whether to reclaim them, there was no need.
In the early days, there had been various interpretations by the three teachings' sages about a certain bow.
Whether gain or loss, by whom and where, it was all the same principle.
The nine sword-nurturing gourds left in the Hazy Heaven, in the eyes of both "Li Xisheng of the past and the present," were still the same.
Li Xisheng said to the man, "I just need to confirm some matters. I'll debate the Dao with you later."
The man smiled and nodded. "I've been longing for that for too many years."
Li Xisheng's smile faded. "But about Vase Bottle, you can stop."
The man nodded. "I've already stopped."
Many small events of the past, which would become great events later, were merely light touches in his hands.
That incompetent junior sister—the gap between her and him was more than ten million li.
Li Xisheng took his leave.
Beside the man, the young man, who had remained silent, was taken by the man to a blessed land and then brought back out. The young man had stayed in Parasol Leaf Continent for many years, visiting a Daoist temple many times.
Within the territory of the Great Duan Dynasty on Central Earth Divine Continent.
Under the moonlight, a stunning woman in red led a white horse with one hand and raised a wine flask with the other, drinking.
She suddenly showed surprise and shyness, hiding the flask behind her back, squinting with a smile, and softly called out, "Brother."
Li Xisheng smiled. "So you haven't forgotten you have a big brother."
Li Baoping still squinted with smiling eyes.
Li Xisheng hesitated, then said, "Baoping, you should know."
Li Baoping smiled. "I know. You're my brother."
Li Xisheng also laughed.
Li Xisheng glanced into the distance. A young man with an ethereal, transcendent aura seemed to be following his younger sister from afar.
Li Baoping looked helpless. "That guy calls himself Xu Bai. He's not too much of a pest; he just likes to follow."
Li Baoping made a funny face at Li Xisheng. "This guy, what's the use of liking me? I don't like him."
Li Xisheng nodded, vanished in a flash, and appeared before Xu Bai, one of the young ten. He smiled. "Please leave."
Xu Bai seemed to want to speak but hesitated, a bit guilty, yet also wanting to say something.
Li Xisheng smiled. "One of the young ten, that's good. But don't like my sister. She won't like you. Why trouble yourself and trouble her?"
Xu Bai's gaze was firm, his face slightly red, but he said loudly, "I just like her!"
Li Xisheng shook his head, his smile fading. "I won't interfere much in the future. For now, please go elsewhere. Don't delay my sister's journey."
Xu Bai said quietly, "I won't go up to talk to her. I definitely won't bother her..."
The next moment.
Before Xu Bai could finish, he was horrified to find himself already a thousand li away.
And the blue-robed scholar stood beside him. Xu Bai was about to speak when Li Xisheng said, "Seems not far enough," and directly "invited" Xu Bai tens of thousands of li away.
Li Xisheng returned to Li Baoping's side, smiling. "There. If he dares to follow you again, just call my name in your heart. Next time, I won't be polite with him."
Li Baoping suddenly felt sad and wronged, but she didn't speak.
Li Xisheng gently pressed her head and laughed. "Where has my familiar Little Baoping gone? Help me find her."
Li Baoping managed a smile, shook the flask. "I don't drink often."
The siblings walked together in the moonlight on the mountaintop.
Li Xisheng said slowly, "Baoping, do you know why you always had to wear red cotton-padded jackets and red clothes since childhood?"
Li Baoping shook her head. "I thought it was for good luck."
Li Xisheng smiled. "Give me your hand."
Li Baoping was puzzled but extended her hand.
Li Xisheng gently patted her palm, then laughed. "From now on, there's no such rule."
Li Baoping asked, "Brother?"
Li Xisheng shook his head. "I'll tell you later."
Li Baoping didn't mind. With her big brother around, she had nothing to worry about.
Li Baoping tilted her head, smiling, and raised the flask.
Li Xisheng nodded with a smile.
The woman in red took a sip, thinking of someone.
Once upon a time, she always had her little uncle by her side.
It's okay.
I'll stop liking him tomorrow.
— —
A Confucian sage left the Hazy Heaven, traveling alone, appearing in the Western Buddhist Kingdom.
An old man in Confucian robes bowed to a Bodhisattva shining with ten thousand rays of light illuminating all directions. "Willing to contribute my meager strength for the Western Pure Land."
The Bodhisattva sitting on a lotus platform put his hands together and returned the bow of the scholar.
The old scholar, now in hell, smiled knowingly.
Reciting Buddhist scriptures and chanting the Dharma. In my heart, I am also a scholar like us.
Traveling here, both out of Confucian righteousness and personal affection, neither was neglected.
Hazy Heaven.
In the auxiliary capital of Great Li, adjacent to the Qi River in the middle of the continent.
Cui Chan held an imitation White Jade Capital, his incarnation as tall as the sky.
The continent was Cui Chan's minor heaven and earth.
A voice directly pierced through this great heaven and earth, echoing in Cui Chan's heart lake. "How long must I wait?"
Cui Chan said calmly, "Not much longer."
Central Golden Armor Continent.
A tall young woman, slightly dark-skinned, carried a book box and held a mountain travel staff.
She found Cao Ci.
She first introduced herself as the first disciple of Master Chen Ping'an, then called herself Pei Qian, and said she wanted to spar with Cao Ci in three boxing matches.
But with the war ongoing, she didn't dare delay Mr. Cao from fighting the enemy. She would wait, and in the meantime, temper her fist technique on the battlefield.
Cao Ci, as always, smiled and nodded, saying no problem.
Yu Juanfu was the most shocked. Was this the dark-skinned little girl who had traveled to the Sword Qi Great Wall back then? She had seen her a few times—a shrewd little girl. How had she changed so much?
But then Yu Juanfu thought, after all these years, it was normal for her height to have shot up.
But the completely unreasonable thing was Pei Qian's realm. Where had it come from? Fallen from the sky?!
Was Pei Qian truly a pure martial artist?
After that, on the battlefield of central Golden Armor Continent, among pure martial artists, besides Yu Juanfu and a ninth-realm old martial artist who could barely fight alongside Cao Ci,
Another person appeared—younger than Yu Juanfu, of the same realm, but with a better foundation. This woman surnamed Pei was taciturn, but she didn't lack propriety. In fact, the opposite was true: in her dealings with others between battles, she was extremely polite.
Later, everyone thought this young martial artist was probably just born not loving to talk.
Zhu Mei and Jin Mengzhen sneaked over to Golden Armor Continent, made it through with some scares, and found Yu Juanfu.
Zhu Mei still liked to address Yu Juanfu affectionately as "Zaixi Zaixi."
When she learned that Pei Qian, who had emerged from nowhere but was previously unknown, was now only a little over twenty years old and already at the bottleneck of the Far Traveling realm, Zhu Mei was nearly scared half to death.
In this foreign land, Pei Qian still threw many punches but rarely spoke.
But with Zhu Mei, Pei Qian occasionally said a little more.
Because this Sister Zhu Mei shared a surname with the old cook, Pei Qian felt an unreasonable closeness to Zhu Mei.
Pei Qian withdrew from the battlefield that day, later than Yu Juanfu, but unfortunately earlier than Cao Ci.
Alone again, she washed bloodstains from her clothes by a river, then stared blankly at the water.
Back in the old days on the mountain, perhaps lying on the second floor of the bamboo building, perhaps sitting by a stone table on the cliff, perhaps walking together on the mountain path during patrol, perhaps standing together on the white jade balustrade at the peak, perhaps at the old cook's dinner table—little Pei Qian would often chat idly with Zhou Mili about trivial matters that weren't really concerns.
"The white clouds leave without saying hello; the moonlight comes without knocking. Little Rice Grain, isn't that infuriating? How can we keep them and give them a good beating?"
"Sister Pei Qian, it's simple! Let's practice boxing every day, and our realms will soar! Then they'll know what's what! Sister Pei Qian, why haven't you called me Right Protector and Deputy Boss today? You haven't yet today. It's okay if you don't now, but don't forget before dark."
"Little Rice Grain, listen. The wind is fighting with the bamboo leaves; the birds on the branches are trying to break it up."
"Haha, Sister Pei, I heard it too! Sister Pei, I'm not lying. I really can hear it! Heaven's conscience, if I were lying, I wouldn't be the Left Protector of Riding Dragon Alley!"
"Heavy snow covers the green mountains with layers of quilts; the stream eats one stone after another, growing bigger every day."
"Yes, yes! The little girl first becomes the River Granny, then the River Lady, and finally, with a splash, enters the sea—that's marrying far away. So I don't want to be a river granny. Oh, Sister Pei Qian, are you in a hurry to grow up?"
"Not really, maybe a little. But my master told me not to rush."
"Right, Sister Pei Qian listens best to the good mountain lord. If we don't grow up, we don't grow up. I don't want to stand on tiptoes and still not reach Sister Pei Qian!"
These dialogues, which Pei Qian later recalled as very silly and naive,
Had taken place on the Deteriorating Mountain many years ago. Back then, Pei Qian was only a little taller than Little Rice Grain, about the same height as Sister Warm Tree.
Pei Qian stared blankly across the river.
Yu Juanfu came to her side and asked with a smile, "What are you thinking about? Your hometown on Vase Bottle Continent, or your master?"
Yu Juanfu liked to come to Pei Qian and listen to some little stories.
Pei Qian didn't say much. Only when they were alone would Pei Qian tell Yu Juanfu a few things about traveling the rivers and lakes with her master in her childhood.
This time, Pei Qian didn't answer the question. She just stood up, smiled, called Yu Juanfu "Sister Zaixi," and then sat down again together.
Yu Juanfu noticed that Pei Qian seemed to be in an unusually bad mood today, so she didn't speak.
But Pei Qian rarely took the initiative to speak. She turned her head and said with a smile, "Sister Zaixi, do you know which are the two farthest places in the world?"
Yu Juanfu was a bit puzzled by Pei Qian's sudden mood improvement and shook her head. "How would I know?"
Pei Qian hugged her knees, looked across the river, and said softly, "When I was little, on the road home with my master, once I gave him a little gift. He was extremely happy, and he quietly told me a small story. By a small stream, while he was stewing fish, he asked me this question. Of course, like Sister Zaixi, I didn't know the answer. I guessed wildly and said a bunch of things. Master just smiled and shook his head..."
At this point, Pei Qian laughed to herself.
The dark-skinned woman, upon closer inspection, was also a beautiful woman now.
Whenever her master smiled at her,