Chapter 741: That Fellow Chen of Mine
At that time, when Lu Chen was a guest at Furong Mountain during the snowy night, he sat on a bamboo chair outside the door, quietly enjoying the snow. Beneath the eaves of the thatched cottage, an old dog lay prostrate. The prone "Lu Chen" occasionally looked up to glance at the seated Lu Chen.
Lu Chen glanced at the old dog and teased, "Could it be that Zouzi is watching me again?"
The guest overwhelming the host meant that it was Lu Tai, the actual owner, who had gone to the observation platform at the mountain peak. From his inch-where object, he took out a white jade couch bed. In one hand, he held a celestial wine cup called White Conch, as famous as the Wine Spring Cup; in the other, he held a fly whisk with a golden handle and a pure white horsetail tail. While drinking, he gently brushed away the snow with the whisk.
Reclining sideways on the white jade couch, elbow resting on a white porcelain pillow, the banished immortal was here, yet no one accompanied me with the White Conch cup.
Lu Tai, with drunken, hazy eyes, used the whisk to scatter countless goose-feather snowflakes. Raising his cup, he declared loudly, "One as great as Dadian, with high talent can move people."
His voice became soft. Lu Tai put down the whisk and cup, sat cross-legged, and tucked both hands into his sleeves. He murmured to himself, "No one accompanies me."
The three formally appointed disciples who were already hosting distinguished guests at Furong Mountain, plus a final disciple who was still journeying far in the martial world. The boy had been named by Lu Tai on the landscape register as "Jinzhi," having a name but no surname.
Lu Tai had given the child a bamboo sword. On it, Lu Tai had carved two tiny regular script characters: "Xia Dui."
When the child first grasped the sword, Lu Tai laughed heartily and told the disciple, "You must become a sword immortal, a great sword immortal."
Aside from teaching this final disciple a Daoist mental technique and a few boxing stances, Lu Tai taught him nothing else. He simply threw a full thirty-two sword manuals at the child.
In truth, Lu Tai had been in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land for so many years that his temperament remained quite idle. Being a demon cult leader or seeking the title of the number one under heaven was all just play. That was why his current realm was only the Nascent Soul stage—he had ascended from the blessed land to the Azure Sky World, where he drew upon heaven and earth's energy and broke through the realm accordingly. According to Lu Tai's own wishes, since Yu Zhenyi was no longer around, he could have remained a Golden Core land immortal for many more years.
There were only two matters he took seriously: assisting Master Zhongqiu in teaching Cao Qinglang's studies, and carefully selecting and accepting a final disciple to teach sword practice.
When Lu Tai had nothing to do, he would spread his palm and observe the mountains and rivers within it, watching Yu Zhenyi's situation. Taking in the scenery of Furong Mountain, wherever Lu Tai's thoughts reached, the mountains and rivers would manifest in his view. If Lu Tai focused even slightly, even the traces of snow on a certain railing of the plank road would appear in minute detail. Down in the mortal world, commoners live no more than a hundred years—who wouldn't envy the immortals above the clouds?
An ordinary Nascent Soul cultivator, when using this divine power, would expend considerable spiritual energy and mental focus. Moreover, it could easily invite trouble—if the person being spied upon was of a high realm, the observer could be traced back. However, Lu Tai came from the Yin-Yang family of the Central Plains, with broad knowledge and familiarity with many heterodox arts and divine powers. He simply had never been willing to actively learn them. When a person's knowledge is too high, laziness often arises, unlike those who only half-understand and remain ignorant yet strive diligently.
Martial arts, study, cultivation—Yu Zhenyi had been smooth-sailing his whole life. He had probably never been so embarrassed before.
That Third Leader of the White Jade Capital seemed to have dug a pit without covering it, leaving Yu Zhenyi to be dealt with by three lower-realm juniors.
Thus, before that snowy night, on the plank road, Yu Zhenyi, whose Qi cultivator realm had been suppressed to the Cave Mansion stage, had to face three enemies with ulterior motives. Especially that Huan Yin, who had a youthful face and revealed nothing, was the one Yu Zhenyi feared most.
The pure martial artist Tao Xieyang had just broken into the Far Roaming martial realm. The Southern Garden Kingdom's Guardian National True Man Huang Shang, who could summon wind and rain, was a Golden Core cultivator.
Huan Yin, from the Flying Eagle Fort in the Tongye Prefecture, had a Golden Body realm martial artist's physique and a Dragon Gate realm Qi cultivator's cultivation, and he was also a sword cultivator who concealed his strength deeply.
Looking at Yu Zhenyi in contrast, as the former number one under heaven in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land after Ding Ying, now an Upper Five Realm cultivator, his only reliance was a Far Roaming realm martial artist's physique. But having switched to cultivation for nearly thirty years, he had grown accustomed to using mountain techniques to suppress and kill martial artists below, making his fist and foot techniques somewhat rusty.
Yu Zhenyi was absolutely unwilling to fight those three under such circumstances, with zero chance of victory. The key was that the Third Leader, who seemed to have a thousand faces, would not care about his life or death. As for that fellow Lu Tai, he would certainly be even less opposed to adding another corpse to Furong Mountain that didn't need burying.
To escape the calamity, Yu Zhenyi racked his brains. Leaning on the railing, calm and composed, he first reminisced with Huang Shang, pointing out flaws in the other's Daoist practice.
Though Yu Zhenyi's Jade Pure realm cultivation was gone, his insight remained. From a position of superiority, he saw clearly the gains and losses on Huang Shang's path of cultivation.
He then inquired about the current state of the Blessed Land's Lake Mountain Sect. Huang Shang, who served as the Guardian National True Man of the Southern Garden Kingdom, was clearly the most respectful of Lu Tai's three formally appointed disciples toward Yu Zhenyi. He answered every question, seemingly buying time.
But the truth was that Huang Shang quietly informed Tao Xieyang and Huan Yin through mental voice: "Yu Zhenyi can be killed."
Tao Xieyang gathered his voice into a line and said to his two fellow disciples with a smile, "Martial destiny belongs to me, so Yu Zhenyi must die by my hand. Apart from that, any immortal opportunities are as worthless as chicken ribs to me. You two can figure out your own accounts. But let me make it clear beforehand: if anyone spoils my plans, after we leave the teacher's domain, I will have a private sparring session with... Junior Brother Huan."
Huan Yin remained calm and asked with a smile through mental voice, "Why not trouble Senior Brother Huang instead?"
Tao Xieyang sneered coldly, "If I trouble him, you, kid, would seize the opportunity to pick up the scraps. You might even kill both of us. Since the teacher has taken on a final disciple, he no longer cares about our lives. I'll focus on killing you, and our National Preceptor Huang certainly won't interfere—he'll just stand by and continue being the Guardian National True Man, worrying about the kingdom and its people."
Huan Yin retorted, "Senior Brother is mistaken. The teacher never cared about our lives from beginning to end. Our existence is merely his means of observing the Dao."
Huang Shang was slightly displeased. "Huan Yin, that speech is rebellious. I will report it truthfully to the teacher."
Huan Yin sneered, "True Man Huang, if you want to be scolded, go ahead. When the teacher treats you like a fool, don't say I didn't warn you, junior brother."
In fact, the three fellow disciples, aside from their "frank" exchanges, each had their own private conversations.
What a bunch of scheming minds.
Fortunately, Yu Zhenyi was originally a pure martial artist at heart. Before he ventured into cultivation, he had walked ahead of Zhongqiu on the martial path. It wasn't that Zhongqiu's talent was inferior to Yu Zhenyi's; rather, Zhongqiu was too distracted by being the National Preceptor of the Southern Garden Kingdom, greedy for more. The world's so-called "civil sage and martial master" actually hindered Zhongqiu's path to the pinnacle of martial arts. Otherwise, in that competition of ten people, when Yu Zhenyi descended as an immortal, Zhongqiu should have also broken through that intangible heavenly bottleneck, reaching the Golden Body realm.
Although Yu Zhenyi didn't know what the three were discussing, he was well aware that a fierce battle today was unavoidable. The three before him were not like his old friend Zhongqiu.
While Yu Zhenyi asked Huang Shang about the situation of Lake Mountain Sect and the Song Kingdom's imperial court, as well as how their junior brother's sword challenge to Lake Mountain Sect had gone, he simultaneously slipped the lotus crown, one of the tokens of the White Jade Capital leader, from his bosom into a square-inch storage item in his sleeve. Then he took out a different crown, similar in shape but made of silver lotus petals, and casually placed it on his head.
This movement was extremely fast. At the same time, the long sword on his back let out a faint chime, as if sensing the killing intent in the hearts of the other three. This anomaly made Tao Xieyang, who had already been about to draw his blade, change his mind slightly—he wasn't in a rush to cut off that fine head. Huang Shang, who had already hidden his hands in his sleeves and pinched two golden talismans, also didn't hurry to use the teacher's exclusive secret technique to "brighten the eyes of the talisman core and cause thunder."
One was a Rain Dragon Talisman, depicting a flood dragon with scales and whiskers fully visible, the dragon king stretching its beard.
The other was an Eyebrow-Raising Talisman, depicting a flying sword imbued with potent sword intent. Its offensive power was equivalent to a Golden Core sword cultivator's single flying sword attack.
To kill Yu Zhenyi, Huang Shang certainly wouldn't be stingy with his resources—he'd get it all back anyway.
Tao Xieyang was somewhat covetous of the long sword on Yu Zhenyi's back. Although it was a mountain immortal artifact, as a martial arts grandmaster, who would complain about having another handy divine weapon?
But the provisional division of spoils was: Tao Xieyang does the killing, taking Yu Zhenyi's head; Huan Yin gets the sword; Huang Shang takes the crown.
The long sword Yu Zhenyi was currently carrying was one he and Zhongqiu had captured from killing a banished immortal in their early years—a relic of the fallen immortal. The sword body bore seven characters in ancient seal script on each side: "Autumn Water, Southern China Grand Master" and "Mountain Wood, Deliberate Wandering Journey." The sword was of dharma artifact rank, inferior to the silver crown.
Huang Shang glanced at the crown on Yu Zhenyi's head, coveting it for a long time. He had thought he would never see the crown again in his life, let alone hope to claim it. He never expected the fate of karma to be so wonderfully unpredictable. Not only could he see the crown again with his own eyes, but he also had a chance to place it on his own head. At that thought, Huang Shang immediately reined in his mind. Even if he succeeded, he should hand it over to the teacher. Perhaps the teacher, pleased, would casually reward it to him. If the teacher was unwilling, Huang Shang dared not think further. Among the three disciples, Huang Shang was indeed the most honest and not particularly sinister. But having been a national preceptor for years, he had naturally become more decisive in killing.
This silver lotus crown was extremely famous in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land. As the greatest immortal opportunity treasure of the blessed land, its earliest owner was the martial madman Zhu Lian, who killed nine men single-handedly. As a youth, Zhu Lian was hailed as a banished immortal and a noble son. The crown added much to his brilliance. Then, on the eve of Zhu Lian's death in the Southern Garden Kingdom capital, he casually threw it to a young man hiding on the battlefield periphery, trying to pick up scraps. That man was called Ding Ying.
Uniting the demon cult, becoming invincible under heaven, then abdicating to become the supreme leader of the demon cult. At that time, Ding Ying, relying on his skill, courage, and fortune, picked up two huge prizes: one was Zhu Lian's fine head, the other was that silver lotus crown. He gained both martial destiny and immortal fortune. After Ding Ying died, the crown eventually passed to Yu Zhenyi. Thus, this lotus crown almost became the symbol of the blessed land's number one person.
What Huan Yin was thinking was how to use the teacher's ghostly secret arts to refine Yu Zhenyi's soul into a yin spirit puppet. That way, he would have an earth immortal servant by his side. Huan Yin still preferred that feeling of controlling others, with everything connected like puppets on strings. He had little interest in actual killing and fighting. Of course, if it came to action and seizing benefits, Huan Yin wouldn't hesitate—like today's ambush on Yu Zhenyi.
Yu Zhenyi moved suddenly. In one step, he vaulted off the plank road. The sword on his back unsheathed itself. At lightning speed, he rode the sword and fled far away.
"Yu Zhenyi, fleeing without a fight? No one would believe it," Tao Xieyang laughed heartily. He took out a stack of the teacher's bestowed Mountain-and-River Earth-Shortening Talismans and headed in the opposite direction from Yu Zhenyi.
Huang Shang offered a leaf-shaped talisman boat. Huan Yin made sword gestures, condensing mountain mist into a long sword. A sword cultivator riding his sword was natural. Together with Senior Brother Huang Shang, he chased after Yu Zhenyi.
The three fellow disciples had already agreed: at every battlefield today, at least two of them would jointly kill Yu Zhenyi, while the third would stand guard from afar, never allowing Yu Zhenyi to pick them off one by one.
After that, a series of fierce battles ensued. Even without his Jade Pure realm, Yu Zhenyi was constantly on the verge of death, yet he always used an endless stream of cultivator techniques and astonishing methods to break through and win himself a chance at survival. Purely relying on his Far Roaming realm martial arts, plus a sword and a crown, Yu Zhenyi managed to escape the encirclement more than a dozen times. Fleeing far, being chased, hiding his aura in secluded landscapes of Furong Mountain, then being found by Huan Yin's clues, cooperating with Huang Shang's Mountain-Opening River-Crossing technique to forcibly break through the illusions—he would flee again, fighting while retreating. Yu Zhenyi didn't say a word the whole time. Tao Xieyang, on the other hand, fought with ferocious abandon, thoroughly enjoying himself. Whenever he found an opportunity, he would exchange a blow without hesitation—a sword for a blade.
That night, snow fell on Furong Mountain.
Yu Zhenyi had been fighting for a long time. Whether spiritual energy, physique, or mind, he was already at the end of his strength. He had no choice but to unleash his last resort, causing Tao Xieyang and the other two to suddenly find themselves in a small lotus pond heaven without warning.
Blood-stained, Yu Zhenyi rode his sword unsteadily and fell onto the cliff top, nearly fainting directly in the snow. The crown was askew. Without support, the small heaven dissolved, its restrictions self-opening to reveal the three formally appointed disciples of Lu Tai, who had chased him here, whether martial artists "Covering Earth" Far Roaming or cultivators riding the wind.
Lu Tai narrowed his peach-blossom eyes. He waved his fly whisk, signaling Huan Yin and the others not to press Yu Zhenyi further and to stop there.
Lu Tai glanced at Yu Zhenyi, who looked like a beaten dog, then turned to his three disciples and said with a smile, "Not bad, not bad. You deserve rewards. Go back to your homes and wait."
The three returned the salute respectfully and each left Furong Mountain.
Wearing a snow-white robe, Lu Tai reclined sideways on the jade couch he had named "White Jade Capital." With his chin propped up, he saw for a thousand miles.
Yu Zhenyi seemed to have no complaints about this unprovoked disaster. The old immortal, with a childlike face, calmly sat up, first placed his sword across his knees, then straightened his crown, and began to breathe and heal himself.
Suddenly, Lu Tai couldn't help but laugh as he looked at the absent-minded Yu Zhenyi. "In this midst of true meaning, Yu Bian has forgotten words. It turns out to be like a wooden chicken."
Lu Chen slowly climbed the mountain, holding a green bamboo walking staff he had made. Upon reaching the peak, he said with a smile, "You found that out?"
Praise on the surface, but actually a veiled insult.
Lu Tai's mood instantly turned terrible. He had always wanted to meet Patriarch Lu Chen. And now? He had already met him, but they didn't recognize each other.
And this scholar Zheng Huan before him was also one of Lu Chen's Great Dao manifestations.
Lu Tai asked, "Five dreams, seven mind-phases. Among them, the Azure Sky World has that Daoist White Bone True Man. That's easy to guess. What about Yuanchu? Which one is it? Was he brought by you to the Azure Sky World, or has he stayed in the Haoran World all along, in that Tongye Prefecture where I once traveled?"
Yuanchu emerges from the southern sea and flies to the northern sea, resting only on wutong trees, eating only bamboo fruits, drinking only sweet springs. Ancient sages commented: This creature is also of the phoenix kind.
And Tongye Prefecture, logically, would be the best place for Lu Chen to arrange this Great Dao manifestation.
Li. In the past, Chen Ping'an wore the dharma robe Gold Li.
And that Gold Li was obtained by Chen Ping'an from Dragon Gate, which was obtained by that Nascent Soul flood dragon from a sea cave, rumored to be a relic of a Yellow-Purple noble from the Celestial Master Mansion of Longhu Mountain.
A Celestial Master Mansion immortal—why did he break with his family and die by dissolution on the sea, unwilling to return to Longhu Mountain?
Annoying, isn't it? Once these threads are contemplated, Lu Tai becomes extremely irritated. It might not be Lu Chen's thousand-li thread, but who isn't afraid of the one-in-a-million chance? In the past, Chen Ping'an was afraid; Lu Tai wasn't afraid at all. But after Lu Tai met Lu Chen, he couldn't help but start to be afraid.
"Green robe, handsome youth; yellow tassel, little immortal. Peach blossoms like horses; elm pods smaller than coins. Look at you, listen to you—the conjuring platform's Elm Money, the little immortal sent the youth to take office. Isn't this just the Hidden Official of Sword Qi Great Wall?"
Lu Chen answered evasively, talking to himself. He casually swung the green bamboo staff, stirring up the surrounding wind and snow. "Youth's sword aura close, heroic knight vanquishing thousands. Glaring eyes, one shout—ten thousand riders all retreat."
The Way does not prevail; I board a raft and drift on the sea.
In his early years, in his hometown of Haoran World, Lu Chen had an unregistered disciple, a boatman, help punt. Together, they sailed out to sea as far travelers. Of course, Lu Chen had disembarked and traveled through that Dao View Temple.
As for the Bottle Gourd Continent, Lu Chen naturally had been there. The ancient Shu flood dragon, the Divine Water Kingdom, the female ghost Shi Rou's lineage, and Wei Bo's treasured Purple Gold Lotus seed—all were given freely by Lu Chen, allowing them to develop on their own. In fact, Lu Chen had roamed all nine continents of Haoran World, but he only played among humanity, drifting on an empty boat, leaving no traces on the mountains or spreading any immortal deeds.
Just like in the early years, on Riding Dragon Lane, there was a small shop owner named Shi Chunjia, with coiled horns. Even as a young girl, she was skilled in business. Standing on a stool behind the counter, she would click her small abacus—crackling and dazzling. And she carried a tiny, exquisite gold abacus as a portable item, obtained at her one-year-old grasp. In fact, that little abacus had been secretly given to the Shi family by Lu Chen.
But such casual acts were not unique to Lu Chen. For example, after Xiao Xun broke into the Fourteen Realm, she threw the dharma robe that Zho Mi had refined from the residual Haoran Qi of three continents into the deep sea, waiting for a destined person to find it—who knows how many millennia would pass before it appears again. And Fei Ran at Peach Leaf Ferry, after weighing pros and cons, similarly did not take the book collection seal Zho Mi had given him but threw it into the waters of Peach Leaf Ferry in the Great Spring Kingdom. However, the difference between Lu Chen and them is that Lu Chen can take back what he puts out.
Lu Chen stood by the cliff, discarded the green bamboo staff. It landed and turned into a green dragon vein, the mountain ridge reclining diagonally at the edge of Furong Mountain, as if it had existed for ten thousand years. Lu Chen turned to Lu Tai and said with a smile, "Don't underestimate your patriarch. I don't deliberately target anyone. My only exception was for my senior brother—I had to go to Li Por Cave Heaven and play the villain. Besides that, blessing and calamity have no gate; they are summoned by man alone. That's all. When I set up the fortune-telling stall in that town, I let a piece of small fortune go through a guest, turning my palm over. So I had revealed my mind to Qi Jingchun. Qi Jingchun naturally saw it and understood."
Lu Tai said in a deep voice, "But when you want to scheme, you can scheme against many people at once."
"I'm not a Confucian disciple who likes to bind his own hands. On the contrary, I came to this world to stretch my legs freely on that night boat."
Lu Chen shook his head at Lu Tai with a pitying look and chuckled, "You don't even understand that. How can you discuss the Dao? Look at you—a naturally pure Dao body, how rare. And yet you're just making a Dao arena within a snail's shell, playing the little immortal. Is that truly carefree? As for your yin spirit, I think it's better than your true body. If I had known, I'd have gone to that person, not you."
Lu Tai had long since sent his yin spirit on a distant journey, leaving his true body, and remained in the Azure Sky World. Moreover, it was like a broken lotus root still connected by threads, allowing Lu Tai to know both the Lotus Flower Blessed Land of the Fifth World and the affairs of the Azure Sky World.
Lu Tai, now merely at the Nascent Soul stage, could avoid the restrictions of two worlds due to his Dao-yin-yang-fish physique. This was as mysterious as the Dao Ancestor's saying "without going out the door, you know the world." It was similar to the two great realm immortal masters at the Age-Suppressing Palace: Zhang Yuanbo the Dragon in the Cave and Yu Chou the Lord on the Mountain. However, because their yin spirits had traveled far to Inverted Hanging Mountain, staying at the Stork and Sparrow Inn with the vigil keeper and plotting a major event, they couldn't achieve this. Their yin spirits and true bodies, separated by an entire world, had no connection—almost like two different people. Only when the yin spirit returned to the true body did they become one mind.
Lu Chen continued, "As for 'without looking out the window, you see the Heavenly Dao'—your talent is good, but you're still far off. Just 'not approaching evil does not know good' isn't enough. What to do?"
Lu Tai sneered, "Don't bother about you. For now, take care of Yu the Wooden Chicken's Dao heart."
Lu Chen turned to look at Yu Zhenyi, who had circled around in the blessed land for thousands of years relying on a bit of Dao-nature spiritual radiance. He smiled reassuringly, "You are still you; I am still I. From now on, we part ways as heaven and man. Not only you, but also the scholar Zheng Huan. Besides the five dreams, all other mind-phases are like this."
Yu Zhenyi's face was pale.
"When that smelly Daoist decided to name your life's you as 'Yu Zhenyi,' it proved that our old temple master had already seen through the truth. Otherwise, he wouldn't have deliberately sent that sword, an ancient relic from the Lacquer Garden, to you. The old temple master always liked to stare at the lotus small cave heaven above the blessed land, competing with my teacher. I was always watching him from the mortal world."
Lu Chen snapped his fingers and dispelled the illusion of the leader's token lotus crown in Yu Zhenyi's inch-where item. "You think you can't wear it? Maybe you're wrong?"
Yu Zhenyi was speechless, sweating profusely. A suffocating feeling of the world's illusion, like heavy snow, filled the lake of his heart.
Lu Chen reached out a finger and pointed at Yu Zhenyi's brow. "Sleep. When you wake up, Yu Zhenyi will still be Yu Zhenyi. After this, he will truly be only Yu Zhenyi. Blessings, calamities, loss, gain—all unnoticed."
Lu Tai's spirit sank lower and lower.
All of Lu Chen's words, seemingly irrelevant nonsense, made Lu Tai feel deeply weary.
In the Azure Sky World, there was a young female Daoist, originally unknown. After meeting, she fell in love at first sight with Lu Tai's yin spirit on its distant journey.
Of course, it was unrequited.
If they traced their master-student origins, there was indeed some winding, faint relationship. She was the sole formally appointed disciple collected together by Liu Qi and Cao Zu in the Azure Sky World. So she came from that Ci-Pai Blessed Land.
When they met, she was less than twenty years old and had been cultivating only a few years. She had been stuck at the Willow Tendon realm for many years, but then stepped into the Jade Pure realm in one go.
This made her one of the young top ten across several worlds.
A disciple learns from the teacher. The Haoran poet Liu Qilang was the great cultivator who changed the third realm of Qi cultivators, the Willow Tendon realm, into a "detaining people realm."
The Haoran Jia Sheng, although the first Qi cultivator to achieve such a feat in the world, was later thoroughly analyzed by Liu Qi. This made it truly feasible for later cultivators to leap directly into the Jade Pure realm.
And one of Lu Tai's two teachers, besides Zouzi, was a close friend who had traveled among humans with Liu Qi and Cao Zu.
Lu Tai, following his teacher Zouzi's instructions, needed to have a yin spirit distant journey when he left the blessed land in the future. Where to go, whom to see—the teacher didn't say. It didn't matter. Everything follows fate. In the teacher's words: "Life is made by heaven; fortune is sought by oneself."
Lu Tai traveled to that Ci-Pai Blessed Land because of a peak-level secret in the Haoran World: it was rumored that the ancient Old Man of the Moon held a book of marriage registries.
And that book of marriage registries—at least half of it—was likely in Liu Qi's hands. That was also the root cause of Liu Qi quietly leaving the Haoran World.
Lu Tai's out-of-body yin spirit is now in the Azure Sky World, together with that maiden (name unspecified in the original—but likely referring to the female Daoist), running a tavern in a market town near the water in a commandery. It's about two li from the fish market. Every morning, Lu Tai personally selects fresh river produce and even enjoys cooking himself. As for the girl, since cultivation doesn't require effort, she's happy to earn money with Lu Tai. They're not Dao companions, but better than Dao companions.
The Azure Sky World has completely different customs from the Haoran World. There are countless earthly Dao officials, all within the court and government, mingling with common folk. So immortal masters are easy to find, but the rare mountain delicacies and river delicacies, often banned by the court, are truly hard to come by.
Additionally, at the commandery ferry, there is a celestial ferry recognized by the dynasty. If beautiful matrons or young maidens in colorful, fine clothing pass this place, wind and rain will surely come, wearing away their makeup with gusts and sand.
This is also why Lu Tai chose to settle here.
Lu Tai doesn't like women who are too beautiful.
Lu Chen came to sit on the white jade couch. Lu Tai had already stood up and moved away.
Lu Chen muttered to himself, "Southern yuanchu, northern abyss fish. If I wanted, I could shatter Chen Ping'an's Dao heart, piece by piece, wounding it deeply for a thousand years. But what's the point? It's just overpowering someone with realm. Even a young girl can say, 'The Great Dao should not be so small,' let alone me. To be honest, I have many things to do. I'm very busy. Someone like you, born into a noble clan with extraordinary talent, rising early in youth and becoming famous early—that's fine. But those who achieve greatness later in life are even more remarkable. I've never believed in the so-called 'immortal seed.' As long as the mind is cultivated enough, that is a true person."
Lu Tai slowly said, "The great beauty of the human world, the subtleties of heaven and earth, the enlightenment of all things. The Dao has a hundred transformations; the supreme person does nothing, can observe heaven."
Lu Chen stood up and laughed heartily, "Finally, you've spoken words worthy of a Lu clan descendant. This journey hasn't been in vain."
Lu Tai seemed to have a sudden realization, a flash of insight. He laughed equally loudly. "Bluffing! You've been playing tricks all along. If you couldn't bear to part with the seven objects of your mind-phase, it would violate your Dao heart. You might even fall in realm! This further proves that you haven't fully seen through all five dreams. You clearly need those seven mind-phase objects to help you break through the dreams one by one! Especially the butterfly dream. My teacher said that dream troubles you the most because you yourself are unwilling to wake from it... That's why Qi Jingchun never worried about these foreshadowing tactics of yours, these seemingly mysterious methods!"
Lu Tai shook his head. "I truly don't think you can shatter his state of mind."
"A descendant of my Lu clan has finally become someone who slightly takes after the patriarch."
Lu Chen clapped lightly, narrowed his eyes, and nodded with a smile. "Think of the methods of Zheng Juzhong of White Emperor City. Think of the sentient beings in the blessed lands. Think of the White Paper Blessed Land. Finally, have you ever considered that you and I can both dream—dream of ourselves, dream of others, dream of all things. What if, at this very moment, you and I are both in someone's dream?"
Lu Tai shook his head and said nothing.
Lu Chen withdrew his hand and smiled, "Remember, from now on, always speak properly. Especially when talking to scholars, be polite. Learn more from that Chen Ping'an you think about so much. Look at his compatibility with elders—it's much better than yours. I had high hopes for him back then. I even taught him calligraphy. He doesn't recognize me as his teacher, but I still acknowledge him as my student. When he comes to the Azure Sky World later, it will definitely be very interesting, extremely amusing."
Lu Chen suddenly struck a ridiculous golden-cockerel-standing-on-one-leg pose, pointed a finger at the sky, and shouted, "A dream of a thousand autumns, sword flying ten thousand miles. The weather is dry, be careful with candles!"
Lu Tai frowned. "Are you making mischief?"
Lu Chen put down his hand, imitating a street martial artist, and struck a posture of sinking his Qi into his dantian. "A long-awaited snowy night makes one feel refreshed."
Lu Tai had fully recovered his state of mind and asked with a grin, "Patriarch, why don't you take Yu Zhenyi and scram? Maybe take 'Lu Chen' along as a token of respect from your unworthy descendant?"
Lu Chen's smile was sardonic. "Green robe and yellow tassel actually suit each other quite well."
Lu Tai's face darkened.
Lu Chen sighed. "That's why I say you need to read more books in the future. Chen Ping'an is much better at talking now. Back on the expert list of Li Por Cave Heaven, he could have bumped down Apricot Blossom Alley's Ma Lanhua, Mud Vase Alley's widow, and Li Huai's mother by one spot each. The town had a simple folk tradition, and it lived up to its reputation. I experienced it firsthand back then."
An old man with a bamboo staff and straw sandals walked, accompanied by a book boy carrying a box on his back and a maid with a backpack. As she walked, there was the sound of bottles and jars knocking together.
The trio arrived at the Great Xuan Capital Temple. The old man glanced at the eager book boy and maid, sighed helplessly, and nodded slightly. The maid took out a visiting card prepared earlier from her sleeve and handed it to the gatekeeper of the Dao temple. The card was made of ordinary green bamboo, written with ordinary ink, but without a name—only a line written in thick, heavy brush: "I write with intent, originally without method."
The female Daoist with a sword on her back took the card. Calligraphy was not her forte, but she noticed the strokes were forceful, using straight frontal strokes, the ink flowing freely. She turned it over and looked twice but couldn't discern any trick. In the end, she determined it wasn't from any acquaintance of her temple. She had to politely say to the old man, "The temple is currently closed to visitors. Sorry."
Looking at the travel-worn old man, the female Daoist felt a bit sympathetic. "If you know the temple master, even have seen him from afar, I would announce you. Otherwise, there's really no way to enter."
The female Daoist, Chun Hui, was originally named Han Zhanran. She was a solid Jade Pure realm cultivator, the one Lu Chen had encouraged to become the foster mother of Jiang Yunsheng at Green Emerald City.
According to their temple master patriarch's words, the gatekeeper of the Great Xuan Capital Temple couldn't be just anyone—they had to be a beautiful woman to keep guests, and also strong enough to stop people.
Judging by the old man's aura, he was a Dragon Gate realm cultivator. As for the book boy and maid, they weren't even cultivators.
Of course, the old man could be a deeply unfathomable hermit. But in the Azure Sky World, not even the Third Leader of the White Jade Capital would dare break into the Great Xuan Capital Temple. So realm meant little here.
The boy was overjoyed. He coughed and took a miniature scroll from his sleeve, unrolling it slightly, revealing the title "West Garden Gathering" at the beginning. He whispered to the female Daoist, "One of the three great contemporary gatherings is depicted in this painting. Fairy sister must know that. The one in the center is my master."
The maid muttered, "The master accidentally upstaged the host, and you're showing off."
The two had bet on whether the Great Xuan Capital Temple had heard of their master's name. One bet on the visiting card's calligraphy, the other on the gathering scroll.
An old Daoist strode across the threshold, laughing heartily. He didn't perform the Daoist greeting but instead, with a martial artist's air, vigorously cupped his hands. "Sorry for not welcoming you! Sorry for not welcoming you! My humble temple is honored! My humble temple is honored!"
Female Daoist Chun Hui was puzzled.
Who in the world could make the temple master patriarch come out in person to greet?
In the entire Azure Sky World, at most ten people.
The old Daoist elder scolded Chun Hui, "My lady, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and accept the visiting card and scroll, prepare brush and ink, and get three knife-loads of the finest Celestial Staff Mountain proclamation paper. Also, take that Huixi inkstone I borrowed from the Age-Suppressing Palace—I accidentally lost it before. Today is an auspicious day. If we search again, maybe we'll find it. And that Flowering Brush from the Hundred Flowers Blessed Land, along with the Calligraphy Boat ink stick—bring them all. You'll personally grind the ink, adding fragrance at the sleeve. Don't feel wronged—this is a great honor, much better than going to the White Jade Capital to be Lu Chen's foster mother. Honestly, Zhanran, you have a good name. No wonder you have such fortune today. Forget it, you're not seeing it. I'll do it myself..."
Before female Daoist Chun Hui could act, the old Daoist, quick of hand and eye, already had two fingers pinching the visiting card. The maid was holding tightly to the other end of the green bamboo visiting card, unwilling to let go. It was just meant to be shown in the sun, not given away. The old Daoist's other hand had already grabbed the scroll. The book boy held one end of the scroll, leaning back, as if in a tug-of-war with the old Daoist. The book boy had traveled half of the Azure Sky World with his master but had never seen such a shameless Daoist.
The old man stood at the edge of the steps and smiled, "Just give those two items to Temple Master Sun."
The maid and book boy reluctantly let go and retreated to their master's side. The old Daoist laughed heartily as he pocketed them. This Master Su was too polite—bringing gifts when visiting.
The two children exchanged glances, then looked worriedly at their master, afraid he would indeed be tricked into writing three knife-loads of proclamation paper for the old Daoist.
But the Celestial Staff Mountain proclamation paper, the Age-Suppressing Palace Huixi inkstone, the Hundred Flowers Blessed Land Flowering Brush, and the long-lost Calligraphy Boat ink stick—these four items together were indeed rare.
Female Daoist Chun Hui was utterly bewildered. Could it be that famous far traveler from two worlds, the one who left a shortcut to the Detaining People realm in the Haoran World—Liu Qi? Not likely. The legend said Liu Qilang was romantic, handsome, and young, nothing like this old man's weathered appearance.
Could it be another high immortal searching for the tiger-hatted child? In just a few days, the Great Xuan Capital Temple had fought two group brawls—of course, it was one side fighting a crowd.
The key was that after the fights, the temple still didn't know why they had fought. They just swarmed in on the order of the temple's discipline patriarch. Upper five realms leading earthly immortals, earthly immortal cultivators calling lower five realm juniors to cheer. When they returned, the little Dao boys were all more excited than the other, saying that this great-uncle's punch had great Daoist meaning, that great-uncle's kick had profound spirit intent, but none was as good as the great-great-uncle's sword poking someone in the buttock—a heroic style... Chun Hui was used to it; after all, she had experienced the same. That tricky sword move was one of the Great Xuan Capital Temple's eighteen sword techniques. Long ago, when Chun Hui was a girl, she inadvertently created one of those techniques for her temple.
Elder Sun sighed with emotion, "Heart like ash of dead wood, body like an unmoored boat. Truly wonderful, exquisite. A Master Su who can write such words—no wonder his essays are unmatched in the world. Honestly, even our specialty—green words and green proclamations—couldn't be as well written as the scholars of Haoran World. It's all because the White Jade Capital isn't striving hard enough."
That "Master Su," who had traveled far to this place, smiled without answering.
Chun Hui was greatly surprised.
Master Su of the Haoran World?! When did this person travel to the Azure Sky World? And why had no word spread?
The Azure Sky World was quite unfamiliar with Haoran's various schools of thought, since Daoism dominated here, deposing all other teachings. For example, this Master Su—Chun Hui only knew he was learned and a lyric master of that world. He had some kind of Dao conflict with Bai Ye and Liu Qi, especially Bai Ye, who was also in the Haoran World. The conflict was more obvious. But as for what poems Master Su had written, Chun Hui was completely in the dark. They weren't circulated in the Azure Sky World, and she wasn't interested.
Elder Sun clapped his hands and laughed, "Meishan Master Su, Heavenly River Bai the Immortal. Both in a foreign land, mountains come to water, Master Su meets Bai the Immortal! This little temple of mine, truly honored and blessed."
Master Su said helplessly, "Elder Sun exaggerates."
Elder Sun pretended to be displeased. "Master Su is being reserved, acting like a stranger. Come, let us brothers arm in arm, drink and talk. Let's drag Bai Ye along too—that fellow's drinking capacity is astonishing now..."
Master Su was dragged by the arm by the old temple master toward the gate, as if afraid the three knife-loads of proclamation paper, the Huixi inkstone, and the Flowering Brush would go unused.
Elder Sun, the unshakeable fifth person of the Azure Sky World, the leader of the Daoist Sword Immortal lineage—the "Profound Daoism, stern aura" and "Reserved in speech, sparing with words" written in the mountain gazettes were completely different from the real person.
Elder Sun muttered, "Bai Ye has good drinking capacity, but he puts on airs. He says there's only one handful of people in the world who can persuade him to drink. He didn't say which five. If Master Su is among them, it's best we three brothers drink directly. If not, that's too much. We should drink even more..."
Master Su, of course, knew that Bai Ye would never say such things.
In later generations of Haoran World literati, the dispute over poetry at least half the time was about who was better, Bai the Immortal or Su the Immortal.
Not until Master Su personally wrote a copy of the "Bai the Immortal Poetry Post," which would be passed down for a thousand years, expressing his admiration for Bai Ye in straightforward terms, did the situation improve slightly. Unexpectedly, some admirers of Master Su, since Master Su himself had spoken, stopped arguing about who was the better poet. Instead, they turned to praising Master Su's calligraphy, saying that since Bai Ye had no authentic calligraphy models passed down, it must be because his handwriting was bad. Then those who admired Bai Ye couldn't find his calligraphy either, so they started saying that Master Su's calligraphy was like a stone crushing a toad—barely alive—or like a black bear blocking the road—terrifying. Bai Ye had few friends anyway, and he was in seclusion studying on an isolated island overseas, so he didn't mind. But Master Su, who had students everywhere, was troubled endlessly. According to mountain rumors, Master Su simply brought his two literary-aura-manifested attendants—the book boy "Zhuo Yulang" and the maid "Dian Su Niang"—on a long journey to hide in cave heavens and blessed lands.
But no one expected Master Su to travel so far that he ascended to this Azure Sky World, eventually finding Liu Qi and Cao Zu in a blessed land not among the seventy-two blessed lands, called the Shi Yu Blessed Land, also known as the Ci-Pai Blessed Land.
Female Daoist Chun Hui made a Daoist salute to Master Su.
The old gentleman, almost dragged sideways across the threshold, could only smile and nod as a return salute.
Once through the gate, Elder Sun called Chun Hui to follow and directly used the Earth-Shortening Mountain-River divine power to bring everyone to a forbidden area of the temple.
A thatched cottage, surrounded by peach trees. In front of the door was a small pond, with green bricks laid as a walking path.
Elder Sun deliberately isolated the heaven and earth, taking advantage of the tiger-hatted child and two sword cultivators' insufficient realm. After all, in a hundred years, such a chance would be lost.
The boy book boy with a book box on his back, and the girl with a large backpack of pots and pans, saw a tiger-hatted child, two young people, a fat man, and a piece of charcoal. The maid's gaze lingered more on the cute child; the boy's on the two young people, both with swords on their backs. They were both literary manifestations of their master, born with earthly immortal divine powers, and could also cultivate. However, Master Su had used a concealment technique, and the trio intentionally suppressed their realms, traveling the world as ordinary people. In fact, the maid Dian Su was already at the Nascent Soul stage, a family cultivator, and the boy Zhuo Yu was also Nascent Soul, a sword cultivator. They were skilled at preserving their youth, and their actual ages were not small. But such goblins and spirits, especially the extremely rare literary manifestations, if they had little involvement in the world and less contamination by the mortal realm, their minds often opened slowly.
Zhuo Yu whispered to Dian Su through mental voice, "Which one is Mr. Bai? The chubby one? The dark one?"
Dian Su said casually, "Mr. Bai's poetry is unmatched; it has nothing to do with his appearance."
The tiger-hatted child had his hands behind his back, standing by the pond. The fat young man beside him was begging for a seal to be carved, saying he would show off to Chen Ping'an later.
Before this, the fat man, who was also cultivating at the Great Xuan Capital Temple, had bothered the tiger-hatted child no end: asking for a few moves of peerless sword techniques—no; coming with writing materials for a few pieces of calligraphy—no; now he was reduced to begging for just three characters, but still no.
Seeing the tiger-hatted child ignore him, the fat man said, "If Chen Ping'an really comes to ask Mr. Bai for verification, what if Mr. Bai doesn't nod or shake his head?"
The tiger-hatted child pulled the straps of his tiger hat and nodded, agreeing.
The dark-skinned young man laughed derisively.
The fat man immediately promised, "Dong, you piece of charcoal, from now on at the Great Xuan Capital Temple, I'll have your back. You'll have food and drink, won't have to spend money, and I won't let you break your fast just because you left Sword Qi Great Wall."
Dong Huafu crouched down, gently tossing pebbles into the pond.
The fat man sat on the ground, chewing on a blade of grass.
He accidentally brought up home, and then there was nothing left to say.
Now, Dong Huafu's identity was registered with the White Jade Capital, but not on the roster.
The Daoist sage who guarded the sky curtain of Sword Qi Great Wall was precisely the City Lord of one of White Jade Capital's Five Cities and Twelve Towers, the Shenxiao City.
So Dong Huafu didn't hesitate. After ascending to the White Jade Capital's domain from Inverted Hanging Mountain, he immediately chose to stay in Shenxiao City to practice swords.
Just for the old sage's final three words.
Dong Huafu had settled on Shenxiao City, to cultivate and refine his sword there. He didn't recognize the Azure Sky World, nor did he recognize the White Jade Capital.
Dong, the charcoal, had only come out this time to see a good friend. Because Yan the fat man had chosen to cultivate at the Great Xuan Capital Temple. The old temple master, Sun Huaizhong, after seeing that inch-where object and asking about "Fellow Daoist Chen's" deeds on Sword Qi Great Wall, was very delighted and felt even more favorable toward Yan Zhuo, the fat man. He boasted about his Daoist sword immortal lineage being invincible under heaven, using all kinds of carrots and sticks, and managed to keep Yan the fat man, who played along with exaggerated expressions, in his temple.
It was only at that moment that Yan Zhuo understood Chen Ping'an's painstaking intention.
This Great Xuan Capital Temple had a very high threshold.
It was also the place in the Azure Sky World that all sword cultivators longed for.
And the old temple master, Elder Sun, was famously eccentric. Whether he found someone favorable didn't depend on realm, background, or backing—only on first sight and whether there was chemistry.
Moreover, Elder Sun was the fifth man of a whole world.
Back then, the sixteen sword cultivators from Sword Qi Great Wall "ascended" to the Azure Sky World through Inverted Hanging Mountain, led by the old Nascent Soul Cheng Quan, who carried a cloth-wrapped sword box on his back.
Cheng Quan eventually chose the Age-Suppressing Palace, which was as famous as the Great Xuan Capital Temple, as his resting place, becoming a provider and entering the mountain landscape register. But like the other young sword cultivators, he hadn't yet joined the Daoist official register. Then Cheng Quan placed the sword box on a Xixie stone in the middle of a great water outside the Stork and Sparrow Tower.
Among them, a young sword cultivator who had picked up a fly whisk handle on the wall chose to stay in Shenxiao City with Dong Huafu. Nine in total stayed in the White Jade Capital to cultivate, scattering among the five cities and twelve towers.
The others, like Cheng Quan and Yan the fat man, chose their resting places according to their preferences.
The White Jade Capital made an exception and granted these sword cultivators from Sword Qi Great Wall a great deal of freedom.
When Cheng Quan arrived at the Age-Suppressing Palace, he learned that the Stork and Sparrow Inn on Inverted Hanging Mountain, which had been open for two or three hundred years, had such a connection with the Stork and Sparrow Tower of Age-Suppressing Palace. That "young innkeeper" was the vigil keeper second only to the Palace Lord Wu Shuangjiang. Unlike the other four, there was no news of him yet. Additionally, the inn's cook and three laborers all used the alias "Nian," and all had traveled to Haoran World's Inverted Hanging Mountain in yin spirit form. Among them, the "young girl" known by the alias "Nian Chuanghua" was actually the Palace Lord Wu Shuangjiang's legitimate daughter.
A small inn in a deep alley on Inverted Hanging Mountain—once ascension was made—had two immortals and two jade purples.
When Dong Huafu first followed Cheng Quan to Age-Suppressing Palace, Cheng Quan had to discuss serious matters, so he and the fat man Yan strolled around. After all, why not look at something for free?
After Inverted Hanging Mountain relocated to the Azure Sky World, someone at Age-Suppressing Palace paid a large sum to purchase all buildings within a few li around the Stork and Sparrow Inn. The immortal known as the Dragon in the Cave, Zhang Yuanbo, used mountain-moving techniques to transport everything near the Stork and Sparrow Tower.
They encountered a "young girl" with a bad temper. On the surface, she exchanged polite pleasantries with the fat man Yan, but there was a hidden edge. She looked at them with a disdainful expression. Yan Zhuo laughed it off, pretending not to care. But Dong Huafu had a temper, and the Dong family sword cultivators had their pride. He thought this woman was too small-minded for her age, so he shot back, "What's so great about your Stork and Sparrow Inn? If you're so capable, open one in Chen Ping'an's hometown. Either you can't beat him, or you can't beat him."
She was baffled.
The worst thing in an argument was this: the other party said something clearly offensive, but you didn't even know what they were talking about.
Of course she knew Chen Ping'an. He was a regular at the Stork and Sparrow Inn and later became the youngest Hidden Official in the history of Sword Qi Great Wall.
Yu Chou, the Lord on the Mountain's Dao partner, the woman known by the alias "Nian Chuntiao," had especially liked the back-sword boy's eyes back then. She said they were so clean that she couldn't bear to knock on his door at midnight and ask if the guest needed an extra quilt. Later, when they heard that Chen Ping'an had somehow become the Hidden Official, she was so regretful—if only she had known, she would have lied about the inn being haunted, scared to death, and let the sister hide in the room.
In the end, the three of them only bickered and used minor magic, never actually fighting. But they agreed to a match, to be settled later.
Dong Huafu had essentially made that appointment for Chen Ping'an, and that Age-Suppressing Palace girl agreed readily.
Now, they were at the Great Xuan Capital Temple. Dong Huafu and Yan Zhuo intentionally avoided talking about home, at most talking about Ning Yao and Chen Ping'an, Chen Sanqiu and Diezhang.
The two of them, plus Ning Yao, Chen Sanqiu, Diezhang, Dong Bude, Guo Zhujiu, and Fan Dache.
All had traveled afar, scattered in all directions.
But except for Chen Ping'an, everyone else at least had friends beside them.
Bai Ye was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "What words do you want carved? Have you decided?"
Yan Zhuo, apparently never expecting that Mr. Bai would agree, looked up, momentarily at a loss.
Dong Huafu reminded, "A seal can only be so big. You could get more on a fan inscription. The peach wood at the Great Xuan Capital Temple is very valuable. Since you're cultivating here, making a fan should be easy. Besides, you already have a pile of peach wood 'twigs' hidden under your bed, right?"
Yan Zhuo was furious and cursed, "I was dragging you to pick up branches from the ground, at most breaking off a few inconspicuous thin twigs so we could be partners and split the profit fifty-fifty. I didn't ask you to chop down such a big peach tree! Now I've had to cart the whole thing, roots and all, back to hide. I've been sleeping on pins and needles. If that tree weren't close to Mr. Bai's residence and hadn't been noticed yet, we'd already be hanging from a tree in the northwest wind under that smiling tiger, the old temple master! You don't know Sun's character—he's absolutely cut from the same cloth as Chen Ping'an..."
Dong Huafu crossed his arms. "I think Elder Sun is quite generous. He was enthusiastic when greeting us. As soon as he saw me, he asked if Sister Zhanran was pretty. I just followed the local custom and told the truth. After that, every time Sister Zhanran saw me, she smiled more."
Yan Zhuo held his head in his hands. Yes, yes, Sister Chunhui, whom you described as "round hiney, easy to bear children," can't exactly take a sword to her guest. But what about me? I'm now a proper registered immortal master of the Great Xuan Capital Temple! What am I going to do?
Dong Huafu punched Yan Zhuo's arm. "Mr. Bai is waiting for your answer."
Yan Zhuo thought for a moment, scratched his head, and looked up at Bai Ye. "Why doesn't Mr. Bai just write something casually? I'll go back and immediately make a good peach wood fan and bring it over."
The tiger-hatted child said, "Seal engraving words."
Yan Zhuo was about to speak when a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder. A voice with a smile sounded behind him, "Yan Zhuo, carrying such a big peach tree around must not be light. Even though our Great Xuan Capital Temple's peach trees don't look very tall or big, with all those branches in the way, they must weigh at least a few thousand pounds. How about I give you a shoulder rub? And you want to make a few hundred fans to sell? Don't tire yourself out, that would hinder Yan's cultivation. I'd hate to see that. Don't do such things late at night anymore. Walking in the dark, you might accidentally bump into branches and think you've been hit with a club."
Yan Zhuo's body tensed, a grimace on his face.
Listen to this. Is that something a person should say? Is that something a venerable old temple master patriarch should say?
Bai Ye turned around and made a cupped-fist salute to Master Su. Master Su did the same.
They smiled at each other, saying nothing.
Just as Bai Ye had never been to the Central Plains Sui Mountain, he had never met this Master Su from nearby Meishan.
As for the "Bai the Immortal Poetry Post," Bai Ye had certainly heard of it—from the old scholar. What truly earned Bai Ye's appreciation was not the compliments from Master Su's calligraphy, but Master Su's character as a scholar. Even without Bai Ye, if someone else had been lucky enough to be born a few hundred years before Master Su and had walked the path ahead of him, Master Su would still have written a post for that person with frank sincerity and belittled himself a bit.
Master Su was heroic and unrestrained, hence his poetry, calligraphy, painting, and essays all shared the same romantic charm.
For a thousand years, the literary style, emotion, spirit, and vitality have remained awe-inspiring.
On the other side, Yan Zhuo sank his body slightly, tilted his shoulder, turned around, and stood up. With quick feet, he circled behind Elder Sun, kneaded his shoulders in a fluid motion, and asked ingratiatingly, "Old Temple Master, this is the technique Chen Ping'an taught me. Is the pressure right?"
Elder Sun sneered, "Nonsense! My Fellow Daoist Chen is iron-boned and sincere. He says what he means. Not like you, a fence-sitter."
Yan Zhuo grumbled and started to withdraw his hands.
But Elder Sun roared, "You have strength to chop peach trees but not to rub shoulders? Act like a woman—no straightforwardness!"
Dong Huafu said out of the blue, "Chopping the tree had nothing to do with me. I didn't go out that night."
Elder Sun smiled and nodded, praising, "Now that's very much like Fellow Daoist Chen."