Chapter 729: Life Seems to Always Wander in Humble Alleys
(An hour late in updating, sorry sorry. 23,000 words.)
Chen Ping'an had met three sword cultivators who styled themselves as swordsmen—the earliest being A Liang, later Pu Rang in the Ghost Prison Valley, and finally the great-bearded wandering warrior beside him.
The pressure Liu Cha exerted on Chen Ping'an surpassed that of the Dragon Lord, who had been his neighbor for many years.
On one hand, Liu Cha's sword techniques and sword intent were higher; on the other, the Dragon Lord, due to his incomplete physical body, had never returned to the peak of his realm.
Moreover, the Dragon Lord was ultimately a human sword cultivator, while Liu Cha was a demon. The path of the Sewing Needle, which carried Chen Ping'an's true name, held a mysterious mutual suppression relationship with Liu Cha.
Liu Cha studied the young Hidden Officer with great interest. His own founding disciple, Zhu Qie, had suffered a loss at this young man's hands. That was fine—it saved him from not knowing the immensity of heaven and earth, thinking that beyond the Sword Qi Great Wall, there were no sword cultivators in the Haoran World.
Chen Ping'an stood motionless, only his dharma robe turning back to bright red. He asked, "How is Ascension City?"
Liu Cha took out a flask of wine, tilted his head back and took a gulp, then glanced at the young man, who seemed moved yet calm at heart. He retorted, "Do you still have the ability to worry about others?"
Chen Ping'an nodded. "Indeed, the will is there but the strength falls short."
The Dragon Lord in his gray robe had already been slain by the Great Sword Immortal just moments ago.
Chen Qingdu had once said that if the Dragon Lord dared to step northward beyond the city wall, he would die.
That was the truth.
Unfortunately, Chen Ping'an had not been able to witness the scene of the sword cutting down the Dragon Lord.
But Chen Ping'an did not know what that sword tip was. Did it come from a sword of the Dragon Lord's that had never been revealed? Or was it a relic left here by the Great Sword Immortal? Based on the earlier abnormal celestial phenomenon, it seemed to come from the direction of the Inverted Mountain ruins gate, but who would throw a sword tip to the Sword Qi Great Wall? If it was really some wandering object, then why didn't Sword Immortal Zhang Lu and the Barren Wilderness World stop it?
As for that gray-white "tattered cotton cloth" entangled with the sword tip, it was clear evidence of the Dragon Lord's death. Those remnants of his gray robe resembled the natal flying sword of a sword cultivator who had died suddenly or undergone dissolution, stripped away by great divine abilities. So it was certainly not a dharma robe.
The Great Sword Immortal only told him to take it well and refine it carefully—not as a natal object, but as an external sword. Refine the sword tip into a longsword, and the gray cloth into a scabbard. It should become a fine sword for a swordsman.
Chen Ping'an changed the question. "Is Lu Zhi dead?"
In his heart, he silently recited, Don't die. Please don't die.
Too many sword immortals of the Sword Qi Great Wall had already died. It had been hard enough to leave the Sword Qi Great Wall. Those predecessors like Lu Zhi, who had wandered far and had nothing to be ashamed of before their swords, their homeland, and heaven and earth, should not have died even a few days earlier.
Whether it was Lu Zhi's temperament as a female great sword immortal, which earned Chen Ping'an's admiration, or the thousand-year future of the Sword Qi Great Wall across several worlds, Chen Ping'an hoped Lu Zhi could live for several thousand years. Even if Lu Zhi were to establish a sect in the Haoran World and completely sever ties with the Sword Qi Great Wall and Ascension City, that would still be a great thing. The style of a founding patriarch often determined the atmosphere of a mountain for a hundred or a thousand years.
If he ever had the chance to meet Lu Zhi again, Chen Ping'an's first words would be to tell her that she was indeed a beauty who could topple cities and nations. Anyone who denied it, he'd damn well fight them.
Liu Cha said, "No, Lu Zhi is currently fighting fiercely with Yang Zhi and Yuan Shou. But your senior brother is near the battlefield, and since Xiao Xun had a good relationship with Lu Zhi when she was Hidden Officer, Lu Zhi shouldn't have much trouble returning to Southern Bodhisattva Continent."
Chen Ping'an immediately asked, "Floating Blessing Continent?"
Liu Cha said, "Bai Ye fell into Mr. Zhou's trap, and the immortal sword Tai Bai is shattered. But the Barren Wilderness World paid a heavy price as well, losing Bai Ying and Qie Yun."
After this battle, the number of new faces among the fourteen throne demons of the Barren Wilderness World would increase.
On the Haoran World side, Xiao Xun's sword cut down Xun Yuan of Parasol Leaf Continent, Yao Jia killed Zhou Shenzhi of the Central Earth, Bai Ying refined Wanyan Laojing of Golden Armor Continent, and a native Flying Ascension cultivator from Floating Blessing Continent was severely wounded and fled far away, barely losing two realms and only managing to preserve his Immortal identity. If not for Qi Tingji's sword rescue, his name would have been carved on the city wall. Now he had hidden away in a White Porcelain Small Paradise of a subsidiary sect in Floating Cloud Continent to heal his wounds.
Chen Ping'an seemed lost in thought.
No wonder. That sword tip was part of the immortal sword Tai Bai.
No wonder the Dragon Lord had swept over the city wall to block the sword tip from approaching him.
But why did Bai Ye give away such a thing? And why the sword tip, the part with the greatest killing power of an immortal sword?
The throne great demons of the Barren Wilderness World who had perished one after another: Lotus Temple Abbot, Huang Luan, Yao Jia, Bai Ying, Qie Yun.
That Bai Ye, the peerless poet, the most proud under heaven—could he really die?! Why was the battlefield in the southwestern Floating Blessing Continent instead of Golden Armor Continent, which was closer to the Central Earth Divine Continent? How had the Confucian Temple in the Central Earth planned this war? But then again, Bai Ye's relationship with the temple was mediocre; Confucianism had no right to dictate where Bai Ye wielded his sword. Besides, Chen Ping'an had no ability to predict the specific situations in Floating Blessing and Golden Armor Continents; he could only infer a little from the names "Zhou Shenzhi" and "Wanyan Laojing" carved on the city wall.
And when Liu Cha said that two throne great demons had been sacrificed, and that Liu Cha had followed the tip of the immortal sword Tai Bai here, did it mean that this battle, which could be called the pinnacle of the human world, was an unprecedented and unrepeatable siege? Did the Confucian Temple and the Central Earth Divine Continent have countermeasures? Had Liu Cha participated in it at all? Or had Zhou Mi used his divine abilities, similar to Cui Chan's reversal of mountains and rivers, to send Liu Cha directly here? To prevent any mishap and kill him early?
Too many questions, no answers, no truth—because there were too few clues. Moreover, Liu Cha's words could only be believed at most seventy to eighty percent.
But Chen Ping'an understood one thing clearly: the more the Barren Wilderness World and the Sixty-Year Tent wanted to eradicate half the city wall, the better the trend in the Haoran World. There was absolutely no way it had degenerated badly. At the very least, the Southern Bodhisattva Continent and his homeland, the Precious Vase Continent, must still be firmly defended. Otherwise, there would be no need for Liu Cha, the third-highest-ranked throne, to personally come and wield his sword against half a Sword Qi Great Wall and a land immortal sword cultivator like him.
Chen Ping'an's body and soul at the Mountain Summit realm were shattered by a sudden punch from Liu Cha.
Liu Cha didn't draw his sword; he only punched with his sword cultivator's physique, and even then, he held the wine flask in one hand.
Chen Ping'an could have blocked it but didn't. He took the punch head-on, then reassembled his form nearby. He was greatly puzzled, not understanding Liu Cha's intention. A punch like this would have the same result as the Dragon Lord's earlier sword strikes—it couldn't kill him, who was merged with half the Sword Qi Great Wall. In fact, it was similar to the former Hidden Officer Xiao Xun's punches. What Chen Ping'an lacked most at the moment was precisely this kind of "martial artist's fist tempered in the body."
But Chen Ping'an had no fluke mentality, nor did he dare to ask Liu Cha for another punch.
Liu Cha took a sip of wine and laughed. "No wonder you could endure so many sword strikes from the Dragon Lord. Your martial artist foundation is excellent."
So many sword strikes? That damn Dragon Lord had delivered a hundred and seventy-nine times!
Chen Ping'an asked, "How is Ascension City?"
He couldn't help asking the same question again.
Liu Cha replied, "Ascension City has not only gained a firm foothold in that new world but is currently the one among the five major factions that has expanded the most territory."
Chen Ping'an felt relieved.
Then he sighed. If Liu Cha was answering every question so readily, his own situation didn't look good.
For a small land immortal sword cultivator like him, who had nowhere to go, was it really necessary for Liu Cha to personally come and cut down the Great Wall?
Sure enough, Liu Cha laughed. "You ask a question, and I'll deliver a sword. So you can ask as many as you like. As long as it's more than three swords, the difference won't matter much."
Chen Ping'an actually asked again, "Did Zhou Mi have an agreement with the Tusita Mountain Grand Ancestor, so that Zhou Mi is not only the mastermind but also the strongest combatant in the Barren Wilderness World?"
Liu Cha smiled but said nothing.
Chen Ping'an said, "Lost Bai Ying and Qie Yun? More like half of them, right? For my third question, Mr. Liu didn't answer; for the second, Mr. Liu went even further and answered falsely. So deliver a sword, just a token one. Otherwise, if I keep asking, Mr. Liu might end up owing me a few swords."
Liu Cha ignored Chen Ping'an and casually walked through the earth, traversing the city wall of this half Sword Qi Great Wall.
Chen Ping'an kept following this former third-highest throne swordsman.
Liu Cha crouched down, placed his hand on the city wall in one spot, pressed lightly, then quickly stood up and went elsewhere. He said casually to the young Hidden Officer beside him, "Consider it two swords I owe you. You can deliver twenty swords, and then I'll deliver my own."
As he spoke, he looked around, and the world changed. The Sword Qi was stern and severe.
Liu Cha took a sip of wine and laughed. "You're not being polite at all."
He tossed a flask of wine. "Alright, I was just scaring you earlier. I also said it deliberately for the old blind man to hear. Zhou Mi wants me to use you as bait to lure the old blind man here to die."
Liu Cha had been moved by Zhou Mi's "righteous cause of the world," and combined with the Tusita Mountain Grand Ancestor's decree of "moving him with reason," he had done something against his will once. He would absolutely not deliver another sword to a young man on the Sword Qi Great Wall. But if it meant cutting down a fourteenth-realm old blind man, Liu Cha wouldn't mind delivering an extra sword. As long as the old blind man left the Hundred Thousand Mountains, Liu Cha would strike with full force.
The wine flask didn't fall to the ground. Instead, it moved erratically, appearing in various places.
As for that young Hidden Officer, he was nowhere to be seen.
Liu Cha smiled. This kid was cautious... just like Zhou Mi.
On the opposite city wall, Li Zhen stood up with a puzzled expression.
Zhou Mi suddenly appeared and laughed. "You should thank me. I'm going to make a certain river of time deviate slightly from its original course."
Li Zhen sighed. "In the end, I'm the fool."
Zhou Mi shook his head. "In my early years, when I read that old almanac at Tusita Mountain, I always believed that among the ancient sword cultivators, whether they died in battle or survived, Guan Zhao was vastly underestimated. At that riverside council, you should have had a seat. But it seems no one wants someone standing beside them who looks like they're waiting for someone at a ferry on the lower reaches of the river of time.
"Back then, I specifically derived many outcomes for you—how you could save yourself and survive as long as possible to reach a farther ferry. It was hard to find a foolproof plan. But the unexpected joy was that it inspired me, so I planned this siege early on. However, the ambush I envisioned back then was aimed at Li Sheng, who would have crashed into the Haoran World from beyond the heavens together with many ancient gods. If successful, there would be no more Little Master in the world, and Bai Ze might change his mind."
Li Zhen frowned. "Bai Ze and Li Sheng have a very good relationship. He wouldn't turn completely against the Barren Wilderness World because of this, would he?"
Zhou Mi smiled. "Between victory and defeat, it's hard to help either side. But when the Barren Wilderness World has a sixty percent chance of winning, whether to reduce deaths in the Haoran World or to let the Barren Wilderness World gain a foothold, Bai Ze's choice will only be one. Clean and decisive, a swift battle—only with the world settled can there be a chance for recuperation. Of course, before that, I will definitely approach Bai Ze myself, promise some things, and make significant concessions."
Zhou Mi turned his head to look at the distant Hundred Thousand Mountains in the far south and smiled. "Demon Bai Ze speaks for the Haoran World, human Jia Sheng schemes for the Barren Wilderness World. Don't you think there are no more suitable natural allies than us?"
Li Zhen said, "Too bad it didn't work out."
Zhou Mi said, "Indeed, a pity."
Li Zhen sighed emotionally. "Jia Sheng's methods are truly insidious."
Zhou Mi smiled. "Use aboveboard tactics when you can, and use underhanded ones when you must. If you can make underhanded tactics appear as aboveboard, then you have mastered the art of the military strategist."
Li Zhen muttered softly, "Back then, the Confucian Temple shouldn't have let you leave the Haoran World alive. At the very least, on the Sword Qi Great Wall, they should have let Jia Sheng die inexplicably."
Zhou Mi just shook his head.
Li Zhen asked, "How many great demons do you need to devour before you stop? I'm very curious—are you really only at the fourteenth realm now? You and my master..."
Zhou Mi waved his hand. "If there are things you shouldn't know, don't ask, and don't think about them."
Liu Cha's all-out sword strike at Bai Ye had made the river of time stagnate into a lake. But then it seemed to suddenly return to its original course, allowing Bai Ye to wield four immortal swords and indeed cut down four throne great demons. After that, Bai Ye had completely exhausted his spiritual energy and most proud poems. Then Zhou Mi reversed and reversed the current of that stretch of the river of time again, leaving only a dead Bai Ye with his broken sword at the ferry of the river of time. All the rest—the land and everything on that continent, including six thrones and Liu Cha, who had killed Bai Ye with a single sword—returned to the lake of time.
But during this period, Bai Ye, sensing that his opponent Qie Yun was Jia Sheng, had already wielded Tai Bai and cut down Qie Yun. Not only that, but the Bai Ye killed by Liu Cha's sword also used the technique of the Yin Spirit leaving the body to travel far, returning the favor in kind: reversing time, going upstream, and at the cost of destroying the immortal sword, delivering another sword to kill "Bai Ying." Only at this point did Zhou Mi truly open the lake's restrictions, allowing the river of time to flow normally again, surging through heaven and earth.
That was why, afterward, the river of time on that continent became so fragmented and chaotic.
The purpose was to keep the future Bai Ye as far away from the present Bai Ye as possible. Without the fourteenth realm cultivation and having lost the immortal sword Tai Bai completely, Bai Ye would no longer obstruct the overall trend of the world. After that, whether Bai Ye could return to his peak in the next hundred or thousand years, Zhou Mi not only didn't fear it but was full of anticipation.
Li Zhen suddenly probed, "Is Bai Ying... your Yang Spirit external incarnation? And during the cultivation process, you mixed in many souls to make 'Bai Ying' think she was Bai Ying?"
Zhou Mi smiled. "You, Guan Zhao, said you were a fool. I don't think so. That's why I've always valued you as a direct disciple of Tusita Mountain. If not for a small accident where the young Hidden Officer replaced Ning Yao in battle, 'Li Zhen' would now know even more inside information. Of course, one of the four immortal swords, 'Tian Zhen,' would either be destroyed or become one of my natal objects."
Li Zhen asked, "Zhou Mi, over the past few thousand years, how many great demons have you 'merged with'?"
So-called merging with the Dao at the fourteenth realm for Zhou Mi meant devouring: devouring Lotus Temple Abbot, devouring Yao Jia, devouring Qie Yun, merging with the Yang Spirit "Bai Ying"—wasn't that still devouring?
In fact, there was also the throne great demon Huang Luan, who had fallen to the Nascent Soul realm!
And that Golden Armor Continent Flying Ascension cultivator Wanyan Laojing, who thought he could live on by any means necessary—what happened to him? He fell into Zhou Mi's hands. What else could happen?
In the Barren Wilderness World, few could easily see Zhou Mi. Those he did see were mostly young people worth cultivating. Otherwise, without Zhou Mi needing to stop them, the direct disciples of Tusita Mountain would do it for him.
Therefore, Zhou Mi's second-highest throne ranking had always given the Barren Wilderness World the impression that it was intentional on Tusita Mountain's part, as if Tusita Mountain needed someone with a good enough brain to help relay messages.
Thus, Wenhai Zhou Mi had always been considered at most a peak Flying Ascension cultivator—a throne with a high rank but relatively low combat power.
And the bone throne great demon Bai Ying had almost never fought against other thrones or Flying Ascension cultivators. He liked underhanded schemes, digging three feet deep, specifically targeting those great demons secretly healing. It was rumored that he refined them into puppets. So while Bai Ying seemed low in combat power, he was famous for his deep resources and deep scheming.
Not only did Bai Ying have the sword attendant Long Jian, formed from the Dragon Lord's head, but also that longsword refined from part of Guan Zhao's remnant soul.
Bai Ying's actions could truly be called unrestrained.
Li Zhen was quite helpless, feeling powerless. He crouched down again, sighing heavily.
Even with his natal flying sword being "River of Time," Li Zhen dared not claim that what he saw was the truth.
Many times, seeing a part of the truth made people most self-righteous.
But ordinary people lived easier the more self-righteous they were, whether on the mountain or off it.
Li Zhen was an exception.
Li Zhen suddenly remembered something and almost laughed to tears.
Legend had it that the great demon Bai Ying once asked Wenhai Zhou Mi a question: Would Mr. Zhou become the civilizing lord of the Barren Wilderness World?
Zhou Mi seemed to have only answered with two words: "Not enough."
Li Zhen looked up and stared blankly at that scholar dressed in a green robe.
Were scholars so terrifying?
Zhou Mi quietly waited for the old blind man's choice.
The old blind man was still the same.
As long as the old blind man didn't leave his mountain top, Zhou Mi wouldn't bother to go mess around in the Hundred Thousand Mountains.
Zhou Mi transmitted his thoughts and laughed, "Li Zhen, think it over carefully. When you've figured it out, come find me in Parasol Leaf Continent. If you can't figure it out, that's fine too. Just stay in the old Barren Wilderness World territory."
In the Floating Blessing Continent campaign, to kill Bai Ye, besides all those endless divine abilities, the most fundamental cost was that half of Bai Ying's and half of Qie Yun's Dao on Zhou Mi had been flushed away. The former had long been obtained from the Barren Wilderness World, the latter newly gained from the Haoran World.
In the conversation between the young Hidden Officer and Liu Cha, he had stumbled upon the truth by chance. But it was actually a guess.
How did he guess? Simple: by putting himself in the other's shoes, imagining the scheming of a scholar, and speculating about others' intentions with the greatest malice, thinking of as many methods as possible as "thorough and meticulous."
There were actually a few clues. For example, the death of Lotus Temple Abbot. If the Tusita Mountain Grand Ancestor and Chen Qingdu mutually suppressed each other's Dao and couldn't act, then Zhou Mi, as the "Hidden Officer" of the Barren Wilderness World, should at least have stopped it, instead of watching Elder Dong cut down the great demon and even drag down a bright moon to the mortal world.
As for how Zhou Mi "convinced" Qie Yun, Li Zhen couldn't figure it out.
Zhou Mi seemed to guess Li Zhen's doubt and took the initiative to explain, "In my overall plan, the sword cultivator Fei Ran is an extremely important existence, far more important than She Yue, Yu Si, and the like."
Zhou Mi then said something that made Li Zhen's heart tremble, "Guan Zhao is the same. In my heart, his importance is second only to Fei Ran. So all the wandering of Guan Zhao's remnant soul have always been under my control."
Zhou Mi then said, "Angry? Is it necessary? Does you, Li Zhen, who has been complaining on this city wall for so many years, really not want to break free from the constraints of the river of time's course? You don't even have to be the sword cultivator Guan Zhao anymore?"
Zhou Mi pointed to the distant battlefield where Chen Qingdu had slain the Dragon Lord.
On this city wall, there had once been the offices of Executioner and Hidden Officer. In even earlier times, the ancient Guan Zhao had even served as a former Executioner.
Even earlier, in the ancient heavenly court, there were the Sword Bearer and the Armor Bearer.
But Bai Ye actually gave his sword to Fei Ran in Parasol Leaf Continent, which made Zhou Mi a little displeased. He would need to divert his attention to kill a major unexpected variable.
In the past, when he lectured and transmitted the Dao to Fei Ran, although there was no formal master-student relationship, Zhou Mi had actually been more diligent in teaching Fei Ran than his direct disciples like Shou Chen, Liu Bai, and the like.
In fact, Fei Ran's sect, which only had three remaining members, had long been arranged by the Tusita Mountain Grand Ancestor to be Zhou Mi's chess pieces. Zhou Mi originally planned to appear one day as Fei Ran's "teacher who transmitted the Dao" in a certain sense, and also return half of his senior brother Qie Yun to him, to make Fei Ran follow him wholeheartedly on that almost endless path. Behind the two of them would be Li Zhen, and then Yu Si, Tan, and the like, following far behind.
In those years on Tusita Mountain, Zhou Mi found the Barren Wilderness Grand Ancestor, who had been healing for six thousand years. Zhou Mi proposed three strategies: superior, mediocre, and inferior.
The first unexpected event was the entire Sword Qi Great Wall ascending to the fifth world.
Otherwise, the Barren Wilderness World's battle losses at the Sword Qi Great Wall would have been much smaller.
The second unexpected event was Embroidery Tiger Cui Chan's annexation of a continent, blocking the demon forces of Parasol Leaf Continent from advancing north.
In addition, things like the fourteenth-realm Bai Ye's sword strikes, the Guan Dao Temple Abbot helping both sides and then watching from afar, and of course the young man next door becoming Hidden Officer—none of these counted as real surprises.
Otherwise, Zhou Mi's superior strategy would have already succeeded: breaking through the southwestern Floating Blessing Continent in one go, sending the main force to attack the weak southeastern Parasol Leaf Continent, marching north to conquer the most vulnerable Precious Vase Continent, then taking the Northern Jambu Continent, which had low combat power, and finally the last fence-sitter, the Snowy Continent.
After that, he would enter a stalemate with the Central Earth Divine Continent, Floating Cloud Continent, and Southern Bodhisattva Continent. During this time, he would temporarily return Floating Blessing Continent to the Central Earth Confucian Temple, but ultimately, the Barren Wilderness World would seize Floating Blessing and Golden Armor Continents.
However, if Zhou Mi could take Precious Vase Continent, that would be a major turning point.
The most interesting thing about the three strategies, superior and inferior, was that the trend of the Barren Wilderness World was exactly opposite to Wenhai Zhou Mi's Dao achievements.
Zhou Mi hid nothing about this and frankly told the gray-robed elder. The latter laughed heartily, and instead of casually slapping the then-mediocre Jia Sheng from the Haoran World to death, he told Zhou Mi to go ahead and do as he pleased. Over the next few thousand years, Jia Sheng became Zhou Mi, and Zhou Mi created another Bai Ying. As for the war at the Sword Qi Great Wall, Zhou Mi had actually been secretly planning it all along. Besides slowly persuading sword immortals and sword cultivators to turn, his focus was even more on the hearts of the Haoran World, such as the Rain Dragon Sect, the Flood Dragon Ditch, the Mountain and Water Cave in Floating Blessing Continent, and instructing three great demons to lie low in Parasol Leaf Continent...
As for whose strategy would ultimately be superior or inferior, both the Tusita Mountain Grand Ancestor and Zhou Mi could accept it.
A Barren Wilderness World with no civilization to speak of, yet it treated Jia Sheng from the Haoran World as a national scholar—wasn't that the biggest joke under heaven?
How could Zhou Mi not exhaust his mind, silently scheming for the grand trend of Tusita Mountain for thousands of years?
Zhou Mi suddenly frowned slightly, then relaxed and smiled. "Good talisman Yu Xuan. He spoiled two of my minor matters in a row. One day, I'll have to reason with him."
Outside the gate of a Bright Moon Palace ruin.
The purple-robed, white-haired old man who had "ascended" here staggered and nearly fell. Despite his injuries, his mind stirred and he angrily bellowed. Without hesitation, he used his technique to crush tens of thousands of residual talismans, causing one of them, a golden Bright Moon talisman, to suddenly transform into a scholar's figure. The figure smiled slightly, then dissipated. Yu Xuan cursed loudly, "You dog Jia Sheng, I wouldn't even give you dog shit to eat!"
To escape the constraints of the river of time in Floating Blessing Continent, Yu Xuan held the Tai Bai sword sheath that Bai Ye had thrown to him. The old man did not hesitate to shatter an entire star river of heart imagery from a wine flask. Half of it he used as a return gift, desperately trying to protect Bai Ye's soul, so that the Sage seated atop Sui Mountain could have a greater chance and more certainty, preserving more of Bai Ye's soul. As for the remaining half of the star river, there were still over four hundred thousand talismans, which interconnected with that celestial star river, forming a talisman bridge like an ascension platform, dragging Yu Xuan away from the mortal world and eventually bringing him to this cold, desolate Bright Moon Palace ruin, one of the Haoran World's forbidden places for ten thousand years.
Even so, it was extremely dangerous. If not for a sword immortal other than Bai Ye intervening with a sword strike, Yu Xuan might have been knocked down to the mortal world by a girl with pigtails.
But he never expected that Zhou Mi, using some unknown method, managed to hide a grain of his mind and spirit attached to a talisman, following all the way here. Even Yu Xuan only sensed something was wrong after landing, relying purely on intuition. Without a second word, he chose to "smash the pot and break the jars," preferring to crush the remaining talismans of a fundamental life-bound object rather than allow the slightest possibility. Events proved that Talisman Yu Xuan's gamble was correct.
Zhou Mi didn't even bother to retrieve that grain of mind, which had been disguised by She Yue's natal light. He chose to let it dissipate along with that golden talisman, to avoid being seized by the Sage.
Outside the Bright Moon Palace ruins, Talisman Yu Xuan slumped to the ground, holding the Tai Bai sword sheath that Bai Ye had entrusted him to return to the Great Profound Metropolis Temple. The old man laughed loudly. "Damn it, I'll never be a hero again."
But then he stroked his beard and laughed. "To hell with the fourteenth realm. I feel damn good!"
He looked down and saw his snow-white beard stained with blood. His stroking became a tug, and he started cursing that dog Jia Sheng again.
After cursing, Yu Xuan tried to stand and leave this trouble spot. But unexpectedly, another page of text appeared out of thin air, floating down before him.
The old man reached out and grabbed it. His entire body was dragged away, as if Talisman Yu Xuan was being taken into the vast starry river by a single page.
On it were verses: "The stars are brilliant, as if coming from within it."
And a line that seemed like an annotation: "Talisman Yu Xuan, merge with the Dao here."
Yu Xuan stood on that talisman, which had suddenly grown as large as a virtual boat, as if traveling far on the Dao, an immortal riding a raft floating on a sea of stars.
Yu Xuan made a Daoist bow.
In his heart lake, ripples sounded: "Yu Xuan's spirit energy is very Haoran."
Yu Xuan laughed heartily. "The Sage overpraises me, truly overpraises me."
At the Sword Qi Great Wall, Zhou Mi opened the restriction of a small world and stepped into the "Caged Sparrow" on the opposite city wall.
Zhou Mi laughed silently. The two swordsmen seemed to be in separate corners of the world, each drinking alone.
Liu Cha stood up first, breaking the world restriction of that "Caged Sparrow," and returned to the Southern Bodhisattva Continent in the Haoran World. According to Zhou Mi's intention, since three continents had been taken, the next step was to make that pure Confucian lose his integrity in his later years. They would strive to take both Southern Bodhisattva Continent and Eastern Precious Vase Continent at the same time. The battle for Bodhisattva Continent would be handed over to Liu Cha. He only needed to challenge Chen Chun'an with his sword. He didn't need to worry about the rest.
Chen Ping'an stood up and said with a grin, "The old blind man isn't easy to kill, is he?"
Zhou Mi looked around and nodded. "Harder to kill than the Hidden Officer, yes."
Chen Ping'an put the wine flask in his sleeve and asked, "How could Bai Ye be killed?"
Zhou Mi answered, not directly to the question, "You are a sword cultivator, yet you couldn't see Bai Ye's sword strike. A pity."
Chen Ping'an said, "In the future, Bai Ye can watch me wield my sword."
Zhou Mi smiled. The young Hidden Officer's words sounded very bold. Ordinary people would hear it as a young man looking down on everyone, even Bai Ye. But Zhou Mi knew this was the same reasoning as the Haoran World scholar Chen Ping'an speaking to the Haoran Jia Sheng.
A pity often disappoints.
But I still want to avoid disappointing others.
Zhou Mi looked at this homeless dog, who might be talking big or might have the heart of a child. He said slowly, "That is someone who has never truly been disappointed."
Chen Ping'an squinted his eyes and spoke just as slowly. "Once, there was a little girl on the road of exile. She saw her own mother hiding from her husband and daughter, stealing a bun. The little girl just stared numbly at the scene. You tell me, was she disappointed? Desperate? Even that can change, can be altered. If you are a scholar, are you superior? Will your disappointments be greater? I don't think so."
Zhou Mi shook his head. "It's a good principle, but still too small."
The young Hidden Officer suddenly laughed. "Of course. I am young and shallow in learning. How could I compare with Wenhai Zhou Mi in 'greatness,' 'principles,' and 'reason'?"
Zhou Mi clasped his hands behind his back. "How many selves must one personally kill before truly accepting fate and then changing heaven and earth step by step?"
Chen Ping'an's expression was blank.
Zhou Mi's figure had already vanished, and even his natal flying sword "Caged Sparrow" was completely unaware of this person's arrival and departure.
Chen Ping'an took out a talisman to confirm which world he was in.
Zhou Mi appeared behind Chen Ping'an and laughed. "So timid. How did you become Hidden Officer?"
Chen Ping'an put away the talisman.
Zhou Mi said, "I look forward to your martial artist tenth realm's overwhelming spirit."
Chen Ping'an remained silent.
On the Sword Qi Great Wall beyond the two worlds, the sword immortal spirits that had emerged from the scrolls in the past began to form ranks. They would consume however much of Zhou Mi's cultivation they could.
Zhou Mi laughed. "Your golden core shattered again and again before you reached the Mountain Summit realm. What about the Nascent Soul? Isn't it better to drop one realm as a qi refiner in exchange for the Pure Martial Artist's Ultimate Realm?"
Chen Ping'an took a deep breath. If it came to it, he would sacrifice half the Sword Qi Great Wall.
That was Chen Ping'an's final trump card: using his own life and half the Sword Qi Great Wall to exchange for the Dao of a certain throne. In truth, the value of half the Sword Qi City was still immense. This deal was very disadvantageous, but also extremely interesting. Which throne great demon would be willing to exchange their Dao for it? The Dragon Lord was probably the most willing, but he had been determining whether the Great Sword Immortal had any backup plan.
Zhou Mi seemed to be determining the young Hidden Officer's resolve.
Finally, Zhou Mi flickered and vanished, first removing the world's prohibition, then breaking through the "Caged Sparrow."
Before returning to Parasol Leaf Continent, he used his sword qi to carve the characters "Bai Ye" on the city wall.
Not only that, but Zhou Mi even dispelled the mountain-and-water restrictions of the Sixty-Year Tent, allowing the young Hidden Officer to see the sky again.
Chen Ping'an appeared at the cliff's edge. Across from him was Li Zhen. With the Dragon Lord dead, only Li Zhen remained among the hundred sword immortals of Tusita Mountain on this half of the Sword Qi Great Wall.
They looked at each other from afar.
Li Zhen's expression was complicated, with a faint, enigmatic smile.
Chen Ping'an asked, "Did you eat shit, that you're so happy?"
Li Zhen asked, "Want a share?"
Chen Ping'an nodded. "Bring it on."
Li Zhen was stunned. He asked in confusion, "Chen Ping'an, have you been sick in the head since you were a child?"
Chen Ping'an said, "A hungry dog isn't afraid of a stick. You're a crane among chickens."
Li Zhen looked at the vast land to the south, then turned to look at the gate leading to the Haoran World in the north. Finally, he withdrew his gaze and looked at Chen Ping'an. "I'm leaving."
Chen Ping'an said, "Li Zhen is Li Zhen, Guan Zhao is Guan Zhao. Li Zhen is Guan Zhao, Guan Zhao is Li Zhen. Does it matter? You haven't even figured out who the person before you is. Where can you go?"
Li Zhen was dumbfounded. Damn, the Hidden Officer could actually speak human language?!
Chen Ping'an added, "You can understand human language too?"
Li Zhen cupped his fists and shook them vigorously—his first time voluntarily admitting defeat.
Chen Ping'an suddenly sat down at the cliff's edge.
Li Zhen did the same and muttered to himself, "Once I'm gone, there will be no more Li Zhen or Guan Zhao. Chen Qingdu is dead, the Dragon Lord is dead. Everyone is dead."
The history of the Sword Qi Great Wall, even the entire almanac of sword cultivators, seemed to split in two—an even more decisive break than when the Tusita Mountain Grand Ancestor physically cut the Sword Qi Great Wall in two.
Chen Ping'an said nothing. He took out a flask of wine, tossed it lightly, and shattered it with his sword qi.
A flask of wine spilled onto the earth.
A distant sacrifice to the sword cultivator Dragon Lord from ten thousand years ago, who together with two close friends, had challenged Tusita Mountain.
——
The Yu Clan of the Central Earth, in collaboration with the Liu Clan of the Snowy Continent, contributed manpower and resources on one side and money on the other. They also consumed the mountain-and-water qi of a scenic area in the Profound Secret Dynasty, draining the spiritual energy for a hundred miles in radius. Ultimately, they temporarily built a gate from the northern part of Golden Armor Continent to this location. Of course, to accomplish this, someone needed to wield a sword. That person was the inscribed sword immortal from the Sword Qi Great Wall, Qi Tingji.
Rumors about this foreign old sword immortal were now spreading like bamboo shoots after spring rain in the Central Earth Divine Continent. Almost all mountain-and-water gazettes of various lineages mentioned this newly emerged Qi Tingji to some extent. Almost all gazettes agreed on one thing: if not for Qi Tingji's swordsmanship in killing demons, Floating Blessing and Golden Armor Continents would have fallen even sooner.
The old scholar was very angry at the academy. He went to find Old Yu, that terrible chess player, to ask for some wine and also see if Old Yu had any useless items on hand.
Pei Qian, on the other hand, took Sister Bao Ping to visit Sister Zaixi, Yu Juanfu.
Jin Zhenmeng and Zhu Mei, both sword cultivators, had left the Golden Armor Continent battlefield the earliest, retreating to the northern gate. Yu Juanfu and Pei Qian, both Pure Martial Artists, left later.
In the end, only one person remained in northern Golden Armor Continent: Cao Ci.
Pei Qian had a four-match fistfight with Cao Ci, but it had to be postponed for now. Matters had their priorities; some were urgent, others not. Pei Qian understood this clearly.
Finally, the four of them returned to the Yu Clan. Unexpectedly, Lin Junbi was also nearby. He had traveled from Shao Yuan Dynasty all the way to Profound Secret Dynasty and stayed in the capital for over half a month. But Lin Junbi had not leaked any news of his trip. If Yu Juanfu and the others hadn't returned to the Central Earth Divine Continent, Lin Junbi would have stayed for another half month before returning to Shao Yuan.
The Yu Clan was one of the most outstanding powerful families in the Central Earth Divine Continent. Its branches spread far and wide, with family records filling box after box. Yu Juanfu was the legitimate daughter who carried great expectations—why else would she have been betrothed to that "Huaishi Unicorn" back then?
Lin Junbi, Jin Zhenmeng, and Zhu Mei were all sword cultivators and all from the Shao Yuan Dynasty. They now had an excellent relationship.
They were currently staying in the Yu Clan mansion, which was like the "Retired Emperor's residence" of the Profound Secret Dynasty.
Yu Juanfu was once again playing the awkward matchmaker, pulling along her clanswoman Yu Qingqing, also of the same generation, to play a game of go with Lin Junbi.
Yu Juanfu looked at the two of them and found them more and more matching—a perfect pair. It would be a pity if they didn't have a bunch of exquisite children.
As for that girl in red, who was said to be from the Cliff Academy, Yu Juanfu only treated her with proper courtesy. That was all. She and Pei Qian were sworn friends who had faced life and death together. Li Baoping was just a friend of a friend, and managing relationships was never Yu Juanfu's strong suit.
Yu Juanfu led the group to the Yingbai Pavilion, a famous scenic spot in the Yu Clan mansion. Inside the pavilion, the white jade table served as a chessboard, with only two stone stools. There were two jars of stones on the table. When playing, people sat, while others stood and watched. There were rules to it, though there were benches along the railing where one could sit, but that would put one a bit farther from the game.
The Yu Clan's ancestral elder, a pillar of this vast family, was a child prodigy. He was known as "beautiful in demeanor, ambitious from a young age, diligent in study, and widely read." This Yingbai Pavilion was a scenic spot personally built by the Yu Clan elder Yu Panshui. But over a hundred years ago, Yu Panshui had sealed this place for three hundred years, just to play an unprecedented and unrepeatable game of immortal chess.
A total of one hundred and sixty people had placed stones on the board, because each person could only make one move. Whether they played white or black was a matter of luck.
Black's first move was exquisitely unmatched, but then it was like a river flowing straight down, collapsing in the middle game. White's position was excellent until a white-robed scholar entered the pavilion, picked up a black stone, and placed it on the board, then said, "No need to continue."
When the group entered the pavilion and looked around, they found a different world—ancient cypress trees thick and lush. It was said that each of those priceless old cypresses had been transplanted from an immortal mansion called Jin Guan City.
Bamboo grows from the Green God Mountain, cypress thrives in Jin Guan City.
Pei Qian had no interest in go. She never had. When she was little, she didn't want to use her brain, and she couldn't make money. Later, at most, she watched Old Wei, Xiao Bai, and the others kill each other on the board.
Li Baoping stood behind that woman, watching the game without saying a word.
Jin Zhenmeng and Zhu Mei stood behind Lin Junbi—family should support family.
If Yu Juanfu hadn't said that her clan's elder was a terrible chess player who just liked to pretend to be cultured and do things that were all show, Pei Qian might have thought that the Yu Clan elder could beat her little senior brother in chess.
Pei Qian had heard from Yu Juanfu in private that even the "child prodigy," "beautiful demeanor, diligent study," and so on were things her elder had fabricated after becoming clan head. In reality, he had been a chubby little kid who valued money above all else and had learned many ways to earn money from a young age.
Yu Qingqing smiled and said, "Junbi's chess principles are becoming more and more pure and orthodox."
Solid push, virtual peep—Lin Junbi executed them with masterful skill. A few years ago, when Lin Junbi visited the Yu Clan, his go technique was still forcibly pursuing so-called wonder and profundity, dragon's transformation. But in the close-quarters combat on the board, his killing intent seemed too heavy. Now, his style had changed: deep and precise, meticulous and strict, without losing steps. His killing moves were interlocking, yet his chess principles and killing intent were not heavy. Hence her evaluation of "pure and orthodox."
Yu Qingqing's go skill might not be supremely high; she could at most be considered a first-class chess attendant in the Profound Secret Dynasty, but compared to mountain summit masters who were expert in the chess path, the gap was still obvious. However, her judgment was always excellent, and the elder jokingly called her the "Yu Clan's flower of understanding."
When Lin Junbi picked up a stone from the jar, Yu Qingqing glanced at the handsome and focused young man and sighed inwardly. When a nation's fortune rises, so does its chess fortune.
In the thriving Shao Yuan Dynasty, Lin Junbi was bound to become a future national teacher.
One day, Lin Junbi's chess principles would reach the realm of "one breath clear and connected, aloof and lofty." Not all who were proficient in go could truly amount to anything outside the board, but this former youth seemed to have a path that communicated with chess, branching and leafing.
Yu Juanfu and Pei Qian sat side by side. Yu Juanfu took off her boots, sat cross-legged, took the wine flask from her waist, and handed it to Pei Qian.
Pei Qian quickly signaled Yu Juanfu with a glance, lifting her chin slightly toward Sister Baoping, who was looking serious.
Yu Juanfu smiled and drank alone, very curious. Besides her master, did Pei Qian have someone she feared?
Yu Juanfu stretched and leaned back on the railing behind her, using concentrated sound transmission to say to Pei Qian, "Cao Ci has thrown many punches on the battlefields of the two continents. It has a lot to do with your master's breakthrough to the Mountain Summit realm."
After entering the pavilion, Pei Qian had remained seated, her back straight, her fists loosely placed on her knees, nodding slightly.
Yu Juanfu said, "The Cliff Academy has become quite famous now, all thanks to that Great Li Embroidery Tiger."
But Pei Qian didn't want to talk much about the Embroidery Tiger. She just smiled and said, "I've known Sister Baoping for a very long time. My master says she has worn red clothes since she was little."
Yu Juanfu nodded.
Even though she still didn't quite understand why Pei Qian was so close to that girl in red, she didn't want to dig too deep—just like Pei Qian never mentioned Huai Qian in front of her.
Yu Juanfu drank wine, occasionally glancing at the chess game. Whether she looked or not, she couldn't tell who was winning or losing. She knew how to play go, but that was it.
She preferred elephant chess. The Yu Clan library had the first draft of the "Elephant Classic," handwritten by a military strategist ancestor.
Qi refiners on the mountain were far more contemplative and calculating than ordinary people off the mountain. But besides military strategist cultivators, Dao practitioners often valued go and looked down on elephant chess.
Yu Juanfu asked, "Do you know how to play elephant chess?"
Pei Qian shook her head. "Never played."
Back then, Old Wei and Xiao Bai often played elephant chess. But one time, her little senior brother gave them a cold and ironic tongue-lashing.
Thinking about it, Pei Qian recalled those words verbatim.
One of the most cutting lines was: "The depth of this elephant chess is like Wei Xian's capacity for drink. Aren't you two ashamed?"
Yu Juanfu, of course, didn't know about this. She said casually, "Among the ten young candidates, there's a young man named Xu Bai who is an expert at elephant chess. Half of his reputation as 'Xu the Immortal' comes from that. Because when Xu Bai was young, he once visited the Central Earth Military Strategist Ancestral Hall's Straight Hook Platform in a dream and played ten games against that Old Jiang, who had been hidden for thousands of years. Xu Bai won four and lost six. So before Xu Bai became one of the ten candidates, he was already quite famous among mountain summit cultivators. Before he was 'Xu the Immortal,' he had the nickname 'Young Jiang Taigong.'"
Yu Juanfu took a sip of wine. "If I get the chance, I must learn from him. I'm sure to lose, but I just hope it won't be too embarrassing."
Pei Qian was even more interested in Xu Bai, Xu the Immortal, so she said, "I've only met Talisman Yu Xuan, the old senior. He is indeed very immortal."
Poet Bai the Immortal, Ci Master Su the Immortal, Talisman Yu the Immortal.
Elephant Chess Xu the Immortal?
Pei Qian suddenly grinned. "Zaixi Sister, if—just if—I were your Yu Clan elder, I would secretly hide those hundred-plus black and white stones and engrave the names of the cultivators who played. That way, it would be both a collectible and very valuable."
Yu Juanfu gave her an odd look.
Pei Qian asked, "Has that already been done?"
Yu Juanfu sighed. "I wish we could switch identities."
Pei Qian shook her head.
She wouldn't be willing to trade.
It took nearly an hour for Lin Junbi and Yu Qingqing to finish their game. They still had to review it.
After getting permission from Yu Juanfu, Pei Qian took Sister Baoping for a stroll.
When they were far away, Li Baoping rubbed Pei Qian's head and said, "You don't have to be so formal when getting along with friends."
Pei Qian thought for a moment and nodded. "I'll listen to Sister Baoping."
Li Baoping continued, "You just came back from the Golden Armor Continent battlefield. It's normal to have your nerves subconsciously tensed, but you can't stay like this. Back then, when Little Uncle took us on long journeys, he would occasionally slack off. So you, as his disciple, can too."
Pei Qian said gloomily, "Even when my master slacks off, it's to gather strength and spirit. It's different."
Li Baoping smiled and said nothing.
The old scholar suddenly appeared, with a child wearing a tiger-head hat beside him. The old scholar laughed heartily and introduced the child, "You can call her Sister Baoping, or Sister Pei."
The child squinted at the old scholar. The old scholar immediately said sheepishly, "Too much to drink, too much to drink. Don't blame me. Old Yu, I must say, his aged wines are really potent."
Then the old scholar handed Pei Qian a small, exquisite paper-cutting knife made of bamboo-yellow. Poems and inscriptions were engraved on both sides. He smiled and said, "Pei Qian, this is a meeting gift from that Senior Yu. Take it. Why be polite? When an elder gives, don't refuse. It's a 'within arm's reach' item. For Senior Yu, it's just a drop in the ocean—like a single melon seed from the Fallen Mountain. Just take it, otherwise Old Yu will get anxious."
Pei Qian was about to speak when Li Baoping tugged at her sleeve. Pei Qian scratched her head and took the precious paper-cutting knife. She did have some belongings, but without a "within arm's reach" item, she would have had trouble bringing them home. She couldn't keep owing Sister Zaixi for that item; she had said she would return it once they left Golden Armor Continent.
Then the old scholar said he had to leave for Sui Mountain.
Throughout, the old scholar never said who the child in the tiger-head hat was.
As soon as the old scholar left, Li Baoping and Pei Qian also left the Yu Clan.
Li Baoping was going back to the academy. The Cliff Academy students were currently studying there. Pei Qian was finally returning home after years of wandering. But she had to first go to the Snowy Continent, then take a detour to the Northern Jambu Continent before returning to Precious Vase Continent.
Li Baoping handed the narrow saber to Pei Qian, leaving only a sword-nurturing gourd at her waist. The girl in red led her horse away.
Pei Qian stood at the gate and called out, "Sister Baoping!" Li Baoping turned around, her eyes squinting with a bright smile. She stomped her feet lightly and waved her hands rapidly.
Pei Qian scratched her head but ultimately couldn't bring herself to act so childishly.
Pei Qian stood at the gate for a long time before turning back into the mansion. She first asked a steward to help her announce that she wanted to thank and bid farewell to the Yu Clan elder. The steward smiled and agreed.
After seeing the Yu Clan elder, Pei Qian went to bid farewell to Yu Juanfu. Yu Juanfu offered to accompany her to the immortal ferry. Pei Qian brought along her unnamed disciple, known as A Man. But at the ferry, Yu Juanfu had a sudden idea. Since Pei Qian was going to the Thunder God Temple, she wanted to go there too and see if she could learn some fist techniques from Senior Pei Kaxiang.
The Yu Clan elder stood in his private garden, in a pavilion with the plaque "Mu Ye Hu" (Wooden Wild Fox). Beside Yu Panshui stood a handsome young man in white.
Yu Panshui rubbed his hands together and laughed. "Basking in reflected glory, basking in reflected glory. Thanks to Brother Qi being here, luck is on my side. The old scholar didn't hit too hard today."
This "young man" temporarily visiting the Yu Clan was Qi Tingji. At the Mountain and Water Cave in Floating Blessing Continent, he hadn't been able to save Zhou Shenzhi. Fortunately, later in Golden Armor Continent, he cut down Wanyan Laojing with his sword. Although that Flying Ascension cultivator probably wasn't completely dead, this war merit nonetheless fell squarely on this old sword immortal from the Sword Qi Great Wall. As for that native Flying Ascension cultivator from Floating Blessing Continent, he was extremely grateful to Qi Tingji and made an appointment with him to find a place to drink after he came out of seclusion in the White Porcelain Small Paradise of Floating Cloud Continent.
"Old sword immortal" referred to Qi Tingji's years of cultivation and his inscription on the city wall. But in truth, Qi Tingji had a very youthful appearance. In the Central Earth Divine Continent, Qi Tingji first became famous, then renowned across the continent. But then Qi Tingji disappeared. There were rumors that the Liu Clan of the Snowy Continent, known as the God of Wealth, had invited Qi Tingji with a heavy reward to become the family's "supreme honored guest." Liu Clan's heavy rewards were beyond imagination, so Qi Tingji was now the Liu Clan's honored guest.
The merit accumulated on the battlefields of the two continents was enough for Qi Tingji to establish his own sect in the Haoran World.
But Qi Tingji was still hesitating. Once he took root in the Haoran World and built an ancestral hall as a founding patriarch, he would be voluntarily giving up Ascension City and the fifth world. The two gates from Floating Blessing and Parasol Leaf Continents wouldn't last many years. On the Haoran side, the mountain-and-water gazettes about Ascension City were almost blank, or else filled with randomly fabricated rumors.
Earlier, when the old scholar came to visit, Qi Tingji had intentionally avoided him. He never expected to miss that child in the tiger-head hat.
Yu Panshui hadn't even dared to name names. He hemmed and hawed, and Qi Tingji roughly guessed the final result of the Floating Blessing Continent campaign. The Confucian Temple must have paid a heavy price.
Yu Panshui laughed. "That Liu Jubao is rich and bold, but also ruthless. So he's not as good as me. Without spending a single cent, I've made Brother Qi a nominal guest elder of the Yu Clan. A gentleman's friendship is as pure as water, isn't it?"
Qi Tingji let it go with a smile.
Yu Panshui's smile faded, and he asked, "How do you plan to answer the Liu Clan?"
Qi Tingji said, "I'll meet this Liu Clan God of Wealth first."
Yu Panshui nodded. In the garden, a hundred flowers bloomed simultaneously. The next moment, a tall, slender man in simple, elegant clothes seemed to stand among the flowers. He walked to the pavilion and cupped his fists to Qi Tingji. "Liu Jubao greets Sword Immortal Qi."
Qi Tingji returned the gesture.
Yu Panshui laughed. "You two chat. I'm going to see a junior and see if I can fool the kid into marrying into the Yu Clan."
Liu Jubao tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Yu Panshui slapped his forehead, snapped his fingers, and a wisp of green smoke appeared by the plaque, eventually condensing into a voluptuous, beautiful woman who followed behind the Yu Clan elder.
In a study.
Lin Junbi stepped over the threshold, and a human immortal cultivator gently closed the door.
Only one old man was in the study, sitting on a chair with his back to the window.
Lin Junbi stepped forward and bowed.
At the Yingbai Pavilion, he sat for the game. Here in the study, there was no such luxury.
This Yu Clan elder, sitting cross-legged, looked like a wealthy old man in silk and satin—chubby, with eyes that squinted, making his face look even bigger, adding a bit of greasiness.
It was hard to imagine that this old man, at only the Jade Pupa realm, could, after the Great Cheng Dynasty fell, nurture the Profound Secret Dynasty, which was even stronger. And both the Cheng and Profound Secret Dynasties were ranked higher than the current Shao Yuan Dynasty.
In the slightly dim and quiet study.
Since the old man didn't speak, Lin Junbi just stood there.
Yu Panshui finally spoke with a smile. "I hear you're skilled at go, almost surpassing your teacher?"
"Junbi's go skill is still not as solid as my master's."
"That's oily talk. I'm asking about wins and losses, not style. According to you, I'm even more domineering at chess than the Embroidery Tiger. What's the point?"
"Junbi and you, sir, have had wins and losses."
"You little sneak. Your skill at cultivating reputation is even higher than your go skill. The Shao Yuan national teacher taught a fine disciple."
"What I deserve, don't miss by a hair. What I don't deserve, if given, I will return."
"How will you return? Treating the heart and reputation like money? Oily, oily. At such a young age, you're so shrewd, it's oily. Your way of dealing with people is even oilier."
"Within the rules, I ask my heart, I do my own things."
"Your reason for going to the Sword Qi Great Wall wasn't for Yu Juanfu, was it? Are you disheartened and backing off, or are you still unwilling, planning to play the long game? This question is not easy to answer. Either you admit your motives are ulterior, or you admit that your master's heart is too dirty, placing pieces outside the board with underhanded moves. So maybe I'll help you find a reason: 'A graceful lady is a gentleman's good match'? Wouldn't that be more cultured?"
The old man held a piece of jade, smooth as congealed fat, as a hand warmer. The carving was very shallow, with only two deeper seal-script inscriptions—one saying "Yu Xuan," the other "Zhuo" (carve). He breathed on it, then switched to holding it with both hands, gently twisting it, then habitually rubbed it against his face.
Lin Junbi ignored this and said, "Yu Juanfu doesn't care for me. Yu Qingqing and I are not a good match."
Yu Panshui sneered. "How did that foolish girl fall for Chen Ping'an?"
Lin Junbi retorted, "Why doesn't Yu Juanfu care for the Hidden Officer?"
Yu Panshui squinted his eyes, raised his wrist, and gently clenched. The next moment, a seal appeared in his palm. He pinched it between two fingers.
The seal's side inscription read: "A stone in the mountain stream, how could it not be a pillar in the midstream? Shu clouds in the sky, the fist still resides in the heavens above heaven." The seal text read: "Female Martial God, by Chen and Cao's side."
Yu Panshui asked, "When you played chess, you lost to this man? Do you know who he is?"
Lin Junbi said, "It's enough that you, Mr. Yu, know."
Yu Panshui lifted the other jade hand warmer and said, "Curse this guy a few times, and I'll give this to you. Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, I know. If I don't tell and you don't tell, what's there to fear? Let me remind you, this hand warmer is a relic from the Water Painting Garden—worth half of it. Not only do you need it, even your master wouldn't turn up his nose at it."
This item came from an old pit blessed land. This rare stone, Tian Huang, was the essence of the old pit blessed land's mountain root, a unique item of that blessed land, worth a fortune. One tael of old pit stone equaled one tael of Grain Rain coins. There was even a saying: "Half of the world's seals and inkstones come from old pit blessed lands."
It was a famous, lucrative upper-class blessed land, controlled by a subsidiary sect of Talisman Yu Xuan's mountain gate.
Talisman Yu Xuan: one mountain, five sects. He controlled one upper-class blessed land, one small paradise, and two middle-class blessed lands. Among them, the Yunmeng Small Paradise had the Green Grass Lake, with several flood dragon caves, and countless water sprites and spirits. Especially rare was that they were naturally gentle and were most favored by mountain immortals.
Thanks to the chaotic mountain-and-water gazettes of the Haoran World, they had selected many essential mountain items for immortals: dragon-maiden immortal robes, Xiang River skirts, "Pearl in the Palm" bracelets starting with twelve dragon pearls, a dressing mirror refined by the White Emperor City Glazed Pavilion, a "second-grade genuine" copy of a Cloud Post or Flower Post, Floating Cloud Continent's Jade Spring Vase, slanting a plum blossom from a hundred-flowers blessed land...
How could Yu Xuan not be rich? How could his talismans not be numerous?
Even Yu Panshui, who held the treasury of the Profound Secret Dynasty's Yu Clan, had to admit inferiority.
That Liu Grand God of Wealth from the Snowy Continent, who had just "appeared" in his garden, had once actively offered to buy half of the old pit blessed land from Talisman Yu Xuan. It was said that Liu Jubao had brought a bunch of "within arm's reach" items, all filled with Grain Rain coins. Besides the mountain of immortal coins, the Liu Clan was also willing to give Yu Xuan half of their Green Shade Blessed Land.
Yu Xuan hadn't agreed.
He said, "You, Liu Jubao, may be rich, but do I look like someone who lacks money?"
In the end, things like half an old pit blessed land, half a Green Shade Blessed Land, or Liu Jubao giving money to Yu Xuan were all superficial. It was similar to a marriage alliance between worldly clans.
In fact, the Liu Clan of the Snowy Continent just wanted to embrace another powerful leg. Of course, both sides could make long-term money together.
A deal where one side makes money and the other loses money doesn't last long. It's just a "flowing water" path to wealth—here today, gone tomorrow.
Lin Junbi seemed to have had a prepared answer. Without hesitation, as if reciting, he actually cursed "Cui Dongshan" for a while.
Yu Panshui laughed heartily, very pleased, and threw the hand warmer to Lin Junbi. Lin Junbi put it in his sleeve and said, "Unfortunately, I can't carve it into a square seal."
Yu Panshui turned his head and said, "Tell that Embroidery Tiger later."
A cold, clear voice replied, "Your servant obeys."
Lin Junbi kept his eyes straight ahead, pretending not to hear.
There were too many rumors about this Yu Clan elder. Unpredictable temperament was just one of them.
Yu Panshui suddenly asked, "That young Hidden Officer, does he really make you, Lin Junbi, admire him?"
Lin Junbi nodded. "I cannot do as he does, but my spirit yearns for it."
Yu Panshui laughed. "Let's play a game?"
Lin Junbi said, "Win or lose, you, sir, shall decide."
Yu Panshui shook his wrist, put the seal back in its place, and stood up. "Let's go kill a game at the Yingbai Pavilion. You talk big, as if you can beat me."
At the capital ferry, Pei Qian and Yu Juanfu took an immortal ferry to the Snowy Continent. A Man stood by the railing on the observation deck, staring as the magnificent capital shrank to the size of a palm, then a mustard seed, and finally vanished.
Pei Qian asked, "Make up for yesterday's missed fist practice first, or you'll owe me a snow flower coin."
The child just stood on tiptoe, always looking at the distant land.
Pei Qian wasn't angry, nor did she scold. She just said, "According to the agreement, two consecutive days of not doing the post stance, you owe me half a snow flower coin. If you accumulate three days of not practicing fists, you'll owe me all of them."
Only then did the child mutter vaguely, "I'll look a little longer."
——
Chen Lingjun's river-running finally succeeded. Near the great river mouth by the Spring Dew Garden, he broke free from the suppression of a continent's mountain-and-river qi. The momentum was immense—a huge flood dragon, like a dragon entering the sea, stirred up monstrous waves.
But just as Chen Lingjun was about to grit his teeth and rush forward another thousand miles, he didn't expect to slightly raise his huge head. In the distance, on the sea surface, a figure in a blue robe stood with hands behind his back on a boat's prow, very stylish. But then, amid the huge waves, he immediately reverted to his original form. He threw random spells, but couldn't suppress the terrifying waves caused by the surging water force. This made Chen Lingjun's heart tighten. Along the banks of the great river for thousands of miles near the mouth, several immortal masters had already helped suppress the water force to prevent it from flooding the shore and harming the innocent. But unexpectedly, at the last moment, there was still an unlucky straggler. Chen Lingjun saw the young immortal master, who had been stunned, finally turn into a wooden dummy. Chen Lingjun gritted his teeth, shook his flood dragon tail, which was bloody and showed bone, changed direction, and crashed into the deep sea, slamming his head onto the seabed.
Rocks, cliffs, bridges, embankments—all land-based things were the natural enemies of flood dragons. They were the invisible Dao obstacles of river-running. River-running flood dragons sought a relentless advance, frantically absorbing water force, with floods raging. The faster they went, the easier it was. But Chen Lingjun had been bumping along all the way. With one last burst of energy, he had held on until now, but he was completely exhausted. If not for that small boat blocking the way, Chen Lingjun could have rushed out at least a thousand miles into the sea. Dizzy, Chen Lingjun shook his head. Since it had come to this, continuing into the sea was useless. Enduring the pain all over his body, he condensed back into human form, took clothes from his spatial item and put them on, shouldered his bamboo box, held his walking staff, and tottered on the waves to find that drenched man. Looking around, he saw the man's upper body lying on the overturned small boat, shouting, "What a big wave! What's going on?!"
Seeing that the man was unharmed, Chen Lingjun sighed in relief. Then, with mixed feelings of sadness and joy, he couldn't help but burst into loud wails.
I'm never doing river-running again in this life, no matter who says so. Even if the master gives orders, no!
But after a few howls, Chen Lingjun sat on the water's surface and started laughing again. He stumbled and staggered, but the river-running was finally a success. Too bad Jia Daoren, Bai Mang, and those good brothers weren't around. Otherwise, Chen Lingjun would have dragged them to finish a whole river's worth of wine.
Chen Lingjun immediately wiped his face. Seeing that the qi refiner, who seemed only at the Cavern Dwelling realm, had finally managed to flip the boat back. He was squatting there, using his hands to scoop water back into the sea, probably having exhausted his spiritual energy trying to resist the giant waves with his clumsy spells.
Chen Lingjun did feel a bit guilty. The man was just enjoying the view and then became a drowned rat.
Above the clouds, Li Yuan held his forehead. "My brother Lingjun, when you run a river, do you also get water in your brain? How can you run a river like that?"
A successful river-run, and all it achieved was a Golden Core flood dragon with just a newborn Nascent Soul, rather than the Nascent Soul bottleneck that Li Yuan and Shen Lin had originally expected.
A newborn Nascent Soul and a perfected Nascent Soul are, for cultivators, even within the same realm, a world of difference. For flood dragons, who face even more difficulty in climbing realms, the gap is even wider. And can river-running be done again and again? If you miss the chance, it's gone for life. According to the deductions of this Dragon Pavilion Marquis and Lingyuan Duke, if Chen Lingjun succeeded in river-running, the worst outcome would be Nascent Soul perfected peak. With better luck, breaking through the Nascent Soul bottleneck to the Upper Five Realms was not impossible.
And Chen Lingjun had managed to splash around and end up with this bleak result.
Li Yuan was already starting to worry about his own future. Would Chen Ping'an later blame him for failing to protect?
The Southern Magnolia Hall Water God, now the Ji River Lingyuan Duke, Shen Lin, stood side by side with Dragon Pavilion Marquis Li Yuan. She smiled and said, "I think this is actually not bad. I'm starting to understand why Chen Ping'an is willing to take such care of Chen Lingjun."
Li Yuan still felt sorry for his good brother's Dao loss. "Being a good person is really expensive."
Li Yuan frowned and asked, "That qi refiner, who always gives me a strange feeling, happened to appear here at just the right time to cause Chen Lingjun to drop half a realm. Is he really only at the Earth Immortal realm?"
Shen Lin also had some concerns. "Besides the cultivators from the Spring Dew Garden on the shore, both your water officials and mine were patrolling the sea together. Logically, no one should have appeared here."
A bit farther away, a thousand miles out, there was actually a fish-catcher immortal from the Green Water Pit. Because according to their mutual plan, after Chen Lingjun rushed into the sea with the great river's water force, he would rest at a temporary water mansion built there to consolidate his foundation.
A plump woman in a green robe emerged out of thin air beside the two river lords. She said, "My master sends word: don't investigate that man's origins. Let him be."
"Not only that, if anyone tries to dig into his background, like the Dayuan Chongxuan Office or the Water Dragon Sect, if they come to probe you, try to persuade them and stop them. If you can't, let me know."
The woman smiled and said, "Drowning the Infant Mountain and attacking the Thunder God's residence? Dragon Pavilion Marquis, you have quite the boldness."
Li Yuan grinned. "Madam Dan Dan flatters this little brother."
This Flying Ascension great demon from the Green Water Pit, whose Dao name was Qing Zhong, styled herself "Madam Dan Dan."
She also liked to claim kinship with the most proud under heaven. It was rumored that outside the Green Water Pit gate, there hung a golden couplet: "Strike the bell in the vast green sky, step on the waves of the green water."
So what if you're a Flying Ascension? So what if Bai Ye wrote a poem for the Green Water Pit? Look at you, so smug, floating without bounds. If you really have the skill, go show off to my good brother, Fire Dragon True Man.
The woman smiled and left, but couldn't help glancing at the young qi refiner on the sea.
Although she appeared outwardly calm, she was actually still shaken inside. It wasn't any better than meeting Fire Dragon True Man.
A dragon-slayer. Wouldn't killing a water spirit be even easier?
Chen Lingjun was sharp. He quickly found an excuse, joining that guy in cursing the strange water force here. Soon, they were calling each other brothers. Unexpectedly, that guy's surname was also Chen, named Chen Zhuoliu. The name was a match for his good brother Bai Mang's. And he clearly looked like a failed scholar. Chen Lingjun laughed heartily. "You're Chen, I'm Chen. Then we must be brothers from five hundred years ago!"
Chen Zhuoliu smiled faintly.
Earlier, he had found a broken secret realm, picked up an immortal's discarded body, and returned the previous skin to that young carriage driver from the Northern Jambu Continent.
The carriage driver "Bai Mang" got a bag of immortal coins. Chen Lingjun exchanged it for a successful river-run, instead of ending up with nothing for his efforts.
If the river-run had gone smoothly, allowing the storm and rain to ravage the banks, Chen Lingjun could have easily reached the Jade Pupa realm, instead of the current Nascent Soul dragon body with a rudimentary true dragon form. But "Chen Zhuoliu" might not have been able to resist returning the money first, then cutting off his good brother's head with a single sword.
And if Chen Lingjun, for higher Dao achievement, had chosen to crash into that small boat and kill the blocker, "Chen Zhuoliu" would have saved even more effort.
Chen Lingjun felt he wasn't the type to recklessly call people brothers or slash chicken heads and burn yellow paper. He said goodbye to Chen Zhuoliu, mainly because he needed to thank Li Yuan and Lingyuan Duke first, then find Bai Mang, and then head home.
But as Chen Lingjun made his way back, visiting his good brother Li Yuan at the Dragon Palace Small Paradise to thank him, and wandering around Spring Dew Garden, he never managed to wait for Bai Mang. Instead, he ran into that clansman brother again, squatting at the Spring Dew Garden ferry, eating turtle jelly. Such a coincidence—it would be a shame not to make friends. They hit it off even better. That Chen Zhuoliu took out an old money pouch, pretending to be rich enough to treat, which made Chen Lingjun's heart ache. Hearing that Chen Zhuoliu was going to the Ghost Prison Valley to try his luck, since the Capital of Skulls no longer had that Upper Five Realm spirit, and opportunities were everywhere now, Chen Lingjun found it was on the way. But Chen Lingjun still planned to inquire more about Bai Mang. Unexpectedly, Chen Zhuoliu was also a generous person. He accompanied him wandering around for a full ten days, until the money pouch was more than half empty, leaving only the ferry fare. Then Chen Zhuoliu said he had business to attend to. Chen Lingjun searched in vain for Bai Mang, so he had to ask Spring Dew Garden to keep an eye out, then took the ferry with Chen Zhuoliu to Skeleton Beach.
Li Yuan stood by the great river, looking at the ferry, and suddenly shuddered.
He saw that scholar in green by the railing squinting and smiling at him. Shen Lin immediately curtsied. Only then did Chen Zhuoliu turn and leave.
First, they wandered around Skeleton Beach together. After much persuasion, Chen Lingjun finally convinced Chen Zhuoliu not to go to the Ghost Prison Valley to become a wild cultivator in the mountains and marshes. Instead, he should follow him to Precious Vase Continent for a good life!
But when the Hemp Cloak Sect ferry crossed the sea southward and reached the Changchun Palace ferry, Chen Zhuoliu suddenly said he would go to the Niujiao Mountain ferry later. Chen Lingjun made an appointment to meet at Fallen Mountain and left south alone.
As soon as he set foot on the Niujiao Mountain ferry, Chen Lingjun couldn't help wiping away a bunch of bitter tears.
He hung up his sword talisman, flew to his mountain gate, saw Cao Qinglang, and burst into loud laughter. He strode toward Cao Qinglang, "Qinglang, a few years no see, and your realm is still crawling like an ant. That won't do."
Cao Qinglang stood still, nodded gently, smiled without speaking.
Chen Lingjun laughed and asked, "In the years I've been away from Fallen Mountain, has anyone bullied you? Tell me. Now it's just a slap for Brother Chen."
Cao Qinglang shook his head. "Never."
Chen Lingjun was a bit disappointed, but soon started striding up the mountain. He didn't see Cen Yunaiji. Not very diligent in the post stance.
But Chen Lingjun soon saw a little girl in black patrolling the mountain. He put on a stern face, suppressing a smile, and stood still, leaning on his walking staff.
He used melon seeds as hidden weapons, hopping, twisting his waist, spinning, and shouting "Go you!" as he threw a hidden weapon.
All the way up the mountain, "Go you! Go you!" The flowers, grass, and trees had no way to fight back; they all looked dumbfounded.
Pei Qian was away on a long journey, so the Right Protector was truly invincible on Fallen Mountain.
Chen Lingjun coughed. "Mi Li."
Zhou Mili was stunned for a moment, then hugged her golden carrying pole and walking staff, sprinting to Chen Lingjun's side, shouting, "Jingqing! Jingqing! Jingqing!"
Hearing this name, which could only be heard on Fallen Mountain, Chen Lingjun's eyes suddenly reddened. Zhou Mili said timidly, "Did you get bullied? Who was it? If I can beat them, I'll go fight. I'm not afraid of long journeys."
Chen Lingjun laughed, rubbed Zhou Mili's little head, bent down and asked, "Has the master not come home yet?"
Zhou Mili nodded. "The road is so long. The good mountain master will definitely walk slowly."
Chen Lingjun hummed in acknowledgment.
Chen Lingjun asked Zhou Mili to lead the way to find Chen Nuanshu, that silly girl. He would first go to the Jise Peak Ancestral Hall to burn incense.
Along the way, Zhou Mili told him some stories from home. Finally, she whispered, "Good mountain master's senior brother, the great sword immortal Zhuo'er, misunderstood you at first. He was worried you would bully Nuanshu Sister..."
The little girl hadn't noticed that the spirited Brother Chen was now chattering his teeth, asking in a trembling voice, "Zuo... Zuo...?"
Zhou Mili nodded lightly, taking credit. "Don't worry, I cleared it up for you. The great sword immortal Zhuo'er even laughed."
Chen Lingjun felt like he had been struck by lightning.
It was said that the great sword immortal Zuo You never laughed. So that laugh must have been deeply meaningful. Even if he didn't like me, he should at least look at me, right? So what if he's a great sword immortal? Shouldn't he be reasonable?
Chen Lingjun was suddenly overwhelmed with grief, beating his chest and stamping his feet in sorrow. "I finally managed to become a river-running flood dragon, and now it's just a matter of one punch turned into one sword?!"
After reuniting with Chen Nuanshu, Chen Lingjun was listless. But upon arriving at Jise Peak Ancestral Hall, Chen Lingjun took a deep breath, placed his bamboo box and walking staff outside the door, and crossed the threshold.
After that, Chen Lingjun quickly regained some of his vigor. He went to Huimeng Mountain to find Yunzi, his little brother, or to Huanghu Mountain to find Hongxia.
The three flood dragons, by coincidence, had all succeeded in their water-running.
Fallen Mountain did seem to have a bit of a Dao of water affinity.
Actually, Hongxia had a good impression of Chen Lingjun, but also had a selfish motive: she always felt that if the sky fell, Chen Lingjun would be there to take the first punch...
However, Hongxia had a cold temperament and wasn't good at expressing emotions. On Huanghu Mountain, she was too cautious, which made her seem distant and polite to Chen Lingjun.
When it came to timidity, Hongxia, who was quietly building a water mansion on Huanghu Mountain, far surpassed Chen Lingjun of Fallen Mountain. It wasn't that Hongxia was truly weak. For a giant python from Huanghu Mountain that could compete with the "Little Mud Loach" for the Li Zhu Paradise's Dao opportunity, and an innate flood dragon