Chapter 827: Night Journey through the Great Li Capital

Chapter 827: Night Journey through the Great Li Capital

As they approached the Great Li capital, Chen Ping'an pulled Ning Yao to stand together at the prow of the ferry boat, unable to hold back from asking: "Always following me back and forth like this, do you ever find it annoying?"

Ning Yao glanced at him but said nothing.

The matter itself wasn't annoying. Someone was the most annoying.

Jiang Shangzhen sat inside his own room, watching the mirror flower water moon of countless fairies. Chen Lingjun dragged Yu Yue along to broaden his horizons. Yu Yue could only feel that this Chief Zhou was truly wealthy—the spiritual tools and dharma treasures used to browse the mirror flower water moon piled up like a mountain on the table, with landscape paintings unfolding simultaneously. But beside Chief Zhou's hand was a stack of Minor Heat coins; he would chat a bit here, joke a bit there, tossing out coins without pause, completely unflustered. Anyone could see at a glance that he was a seasoned expert.

Cui Dongshan, meanwhile, stayed close to his master, discussing matters worth noting during their tour of the Great Li capital. It seemed this was the master's first time there, so Cui Dongshan described some of the local customs and traditions within the capital.

Inside the Great Li capital was a private residence, which housed the Parrot Building and the ruins of Old Cliff Academy. The master would definitely want to visit both places.

For this trip to Brightsun Mountain by Fallen Mountain to observe the ceremony, Wei Xian and Lu Baixiang had not shown themselves, as it was not yet suitable to reveal their identities. In earlier years, Wei Xian and Cao Jun had been the right and left arms of Liu Xunmei, that son of a military family. Wei Hailiang, who had a great appetite for officialdom, had not only relied on solid military merit to newly earn the martial honor of Upper Cavalry Commandant in recent years, but his current substantive post in the Great Li border army was also that of a genuine fourth-rank military official with real power, qualified to independently command a battalion of elite border cavalry. As for Lu Baixiang, he had struck up a relationship with a reserve mountain god of the Central Marchmount. The two parties got along very well, and perhaps one day Lu Baixiang would suddenly transform, becoming the chief supplicant of that great marchmount's reserve mountain seat.

Chen Ping'an chatted about the Tiefu River water god Yanghua, which naturally led to the all-too-familiar Dragon Beard River.

The Dragon Beard River Water God Temple, which had been elevated from a stream to a river, had broken precedent by not enshrining a gilt-bodied statue. So even now, the native folk of the town, apart from the prominent families of Fortune Street and Peach Leaf Lane, still did not know that the river goddess was Ma Lanhua. And this old woman Ma Lanhua had once been a figure of considerable renown in the town, for she was not only a swindling shamaness and a matchmaker who pulled strings, but also a midwife.

Cui Dongshan smiled and said: "Old Man Yang seemed to have promised that river matriarch back then that after thirty years passed, once the old folk in town who knew what she looked like in her youth had mostly passed away, she could then have a statue made and enjoy incense offerings."

When it came to the matter of life-bound porcelain, the relationships were complex. Besides the Ma family of Apricot Flower Lane, there were also the masters of the various dragon kilns in the town. Additionally, it involved Song Yuzhang, the former supervisor who had been "laterally transferred" from Fallen Mountain to Qidun Mountain to rebuild the mountain god temple.

The assistant official in the Kiln Affairs Supervision Office, Lin Shouyi's father—this man who had entered the capital's officialdom yet still never showed his hand—had once assisted several dragon kiln supervisors.

Then there was the Imperial Observatory of the Great Li capital, which included qi seers, earth masters, and a small group of "water masters" who had once been responsible for the secret firing of the town's life-bound porcelain.

Back then, the one who leaked the inside story of the life-bound porcelain was Ma Kuxuan's father. But the Ma family of Apricot Flower Lane was definitely not the true mastermind behind the scenes.

Compared to a sword inquiry at Brightsun Mountain, which was merely traveling upstream along a river—its context and route extremely simple, with no forks in the road to speak of—the matter of life-bound porcelain was a tangled mess of a thousand threads, like a dense network of rivers both large and small, streams, and lakes, crisscrossing in intricate complexity.

But complicated as the situation was, Chen Ping'an didn't find it particularly thorny.

Cui Dongshan asked: "Master, regarding Fallen Mountain, should we take the opportunity to open our gates and accept disciples? Or should we wait a while longer, maintaining the current state of being half-closed?"

Chen Ping'an had long since made up his mind on this matter, and answered without hesitation: "Choose the latter. For at least thirty years, unless one of you takes a liking to someone's aptitude and accepts them as a personal disciple, Fallen Mountain will not accept any cultivation seedling who comes knocking on our door of their own accord. Even the best aptitude, we still won't accept."

Cui Dongshan lay sprawled on the railing, his legs dangling in the air, and said: "After the stir we caused at Brightsun Mountain, people will surely come flocking like a river of carp, all trying their hardest to become personal disciples of Fallen Mountain. From the great sword immortal Mi on down, every single one is a top-tier teaching master on the mountain—all thick thighs, really. Grab hold of any one, and it's a huge immortal fortune that would make others die of envy."

In fact, any sect-level immortal establishment had never lacked cultivation seedlings who came knocking of their own accord, seeking immortals on the mountain.

Chen Ping'an said softly: "If they're willing to wait, let them wait within Dragon Province. That will let us see their true character. If they're not willing to wait, let them each return home. There's a whole continent of mountains and rivers to explore, all needing restoration—where can't they go? Why worry about not becoming registered immortals?"

Generally speaking, there were roughly a few paths for mountain establishments to accept disciples and register them on the rolls. The dynasty or nation where the sect was located would help select cultivation seedlings from within its borders and send them up the mountain for training. Alternatively, through karmic coincidence, someone might embark on the path of cultivation without any formal teaching, either by chance or stumbling into it, becoming either a bumbling wild cultivator of the mountains and marshes, or cautiously trying their luck at the great immortal establishments.

Within each sect, there would also be a group of registered cultivators skilled in examining bone structure and qi-watching arts. Every few decades, they would receive an assignment from the Patriarch Hall, ranging from a few years to a dozen or even several decades. They would spend the entire year traveling incognito down the mountain, responsible for seeking out fine materials and beautiful jade for their own sect.

Tian Wan of Brightsun Mountain often did such things.

Another path was when immortal masters, while traveling and undergoing trials down the mountain, would follow karmic fate as it came, doing things as they arose. This emphasized the master choosing the disciple and the disciple also choosing the master. Such master-disciple relationships on the mountain were often the most reliable and lasted the longest.

Cui Dongshan smiled and said: "Over at the Lotus Root Blessed Land, Master has Long Life keeping an eye on things, so no major problems will arise. Master need not worry too much about this matter."

This was precisely the benefit of possessing a blessed land—those nearest the water got the moon first. Cultivators who came up the mountain on their own, pure martial artists who rose to prominence through the jianghu or on the battlefield, and ghostly heroes and valiant spirits who might establish illicit shrines, all awaiting the court's orthodox enfeoffment so they could ascend to become mountain and river spirits and legitimately protect their domains—these would gradually produce registered immortal masters, wild cultivators of the mountains and marshes, ghosts and spirits, various city god temples, great marchmount mountain gods, great river water lords, river gods and river matriarchs, earth gods and earth goddesses...

As long as the world's spiritual energy grew increasingly abundant, and the various mountain and river spirits each performed their duties to stabilize qi fortune, then the great cycle of the Way within a blessed land would be increasingly free of gaps.

The master of a blessed land could throw as many immortal coins, dharma treasures, and spiritual tools into it as they wanted, and the fat would still not flow into outsiders' fields.

Chen Ping'an said softly: "Although it's our own blessed land, we must not regard it as a vegetable plot that must be sown in spring and harvested in autumn, cutting one crop this year and waiting for the next next year."

Cui Dongshan nodded: "Cultivate with care, harvest with caution. Give everyone a choice."

This was, in fact, the most fundamental ethos of Fallen Mountain. This unwritten rule, never needing to be set down on paper, would instead become the greatest ancestral precedent of Fallen Mountain in the future.

The first ones to follow the master into the mountain, Chen Lingjun and Chen Nuanshu, then the four from the painting, then Shi Rou, Cui Wei, Mi Yu, Hongxia and Peixiang... every single one was like this.

It wasn't because Zhu Lian, Master Zhong, and the others, along with Pei Qian and Cao Qinglang, had all come from a blessed land, so their feelings had to be considered. Rather, Fallen Mountain was Fallen Mountain precisely because of these great and small matters where "this is how it's always been, yet we refuse to be so." Within a blessed land, if all sentient beings on the map of mountains and rivers had a choice, that actually meant, to a great extent, that Fallen Mountain had relinquished its identity as the master of fate.

Cui Dongshan said: "Master, but this carries enormous risk. The great bloody upheaval in Jiang Shangzhen's Cloud Cave Blessed Land in the early years, with corpses strewn across both mountain and lowlands—that is a lesson from the past. We need to take it as a warning."

Chen Ping'an nodded: "Of course I will. There has never been any principle in this world that, when taken to extremes, can bring about good results. That's why I have Master Zhong return to the blessed land from time to time to keep an eye on the lowlands, and have Hongxia and Peixiang, both outsiders to the blessed land, help watch the trends on the mountain. Finally, after I finish dealing with the matter of the lower sect, I will select a place within the blessed land as a site for cultivation. Every hundred years, I will spend a few years traveling through it. In short, I will never allow the Lotus Root Blessed Land to repeat the tragedy of the Cloud Cave Blessed Land."

Cui Dongshan nodded: "Since Master has such plans, I am relieved."

Jiang Shangzhen had once intended to let things take their own course, thinking that with his Cloud Cave Blessed Land having been managed by him for many years, with centuries of peace and tranquility, rules and frameworks already in place, the blessed land was like a youth with robust bones. He had planned to leave it alone for a century or so, to see if any cultivation genius would "ascend" by their own ability.

Then Jiang Shangzhen had gone traveling to North Boccaccio Continent.

The result was that within the Cloud Cave Blessed Land, a meticulously interlinked conspiracy had emerged. With the behind-the-scenes schemer's direction, funding, and support, it encompassed most of the blessed land's native immortal sects, plus the dynasty and its vassal states. Thousands of qi cultivators on the mountain, the clatter of horse hooves and clang of iron armor below, the mountains and rivers changing color. In just three days, over a hundred members of the Jiang clan alone had been killed in the Cloud Cave Blessed Land.

It eventually escalated to where anyone surnamed Jiang would be killed—better to kill the wrong person than let the right one escape.

The jianghu friends Jiang Shangzhen had made in his youth, the friends on the mountain, whether ones he had personally sent to the blessed land to retire or immortal masters who had helped manage and repair the blessed land's ferry crossing—they had almost all died, fewer than one in a hundred surviving.

If this had happened at Fallen Mountain, it would have been like having a Master Zhong, a Little Nuanshu, a Xu Yuanxia, and others within the blessed land, only for them to all become stories of the past, mere memories, because of a single careless mistake by the young mountain master.

So Jiang Shangzhen, who for his entire life had never shown even a hint of ferocity on his face, no matter what danger he faced or what life-and-death enemy he fought, had only that one time grinned savagely as he led his people to open the blessed land's gates.

After that catastrophe, which was a calamity for both the Jiang clan and the Cloud Cave Blessed Land, Jiang Shangzhen essentially lost all chance of competing for the next sect master position of the Jade Gui Sect.

It was because the sword cultivator Wei Ying had been arranged by Xun Yuan to go to Nine Chess Peak right around that time. Before that, even Wei Ying himself, who had very high aspirations, had not thought himself capable of contending with senior Jiang Shangzhen for anything. Once there was a struggle for the Way with Jiang Shangzhen, Wei Ying felt he had no chance of winning whatsoever. Once Jiang Shangzhen set his sights on someone, there was only one outcome: either death, or a fate worse than death.

The Jade Gui Sect was, after all, one of the most prominent orthodox sects on the continent. Jiang Shangzhen's methods of pacifying the blessed land had been too brutal and cruel. Xun Yuan, in private, called Jiang Shangzhen outside the Patriarch Hall and asked him three consecutive questions: Did he regret it? Did he want to stop? Did he want to die inside the Patriarch Hall?

Jiang Shangzhen said he didn't regret it, that there was no one left to kill in the Cloud Cave Blessed Land, so he could certainly stop. As for those old bastards in the Patriarch Hall he couldn't defeat yet, he would take the long view and deal with them later—consider it as cultivating his mind and nurturing his nature.

Cui Dongshan had once chatted with Jiang Shangzhen about this old story, grinning as he asked Chief Zhou what his thoughts were looking back.

At the time, Jiang Shangzhen was drinking wine, and he just laughed and said one thing: "I was stupid myself, so I can't blame anyone else. And those stupid enough to become my enemies, who didn't have my knack for escaping with their lives, well, they can't blame me if they died either."

Cui Dongshan had finally laughed and asked: "Chief Zhou, you're being so diligent in helping our Lotus Root Blessed Land—could it be that you're storing up a bellyful of bad intentions, just waiting to watch a good show?"

Jiang Shangzhen had cursed up a storm.

In the end, the two extremely clever men had just silently drunk their wine. People like them, they didn't really need appetizers with their wine.

For instance, those old bastards in the Jade Gui Sect's Patriarch Hall—they had all died during that great battle anyway. So Jiang Shangzhen didn't even need to settle accounts after the autumn harvest or take any revenge.

Whether on the mountain or below, good people or bad, with kindness or evil in their hearts, once men and women grew up, who didn't have several jars of heartbreak wine buried deep in their hearts? It's just that some forgot where they put them, and some didn't dare open them. On life's journey, every time you dared to be angry but didn't dare speak, and had to bow your head and force a smile at others, it might have been a jug of bitter wine. Perhaps if there were too many bitter wines, in the end, they could only teach a person to remain silent. String them together, and it was a sea of bitterness.

Cui Dongshan gazed into the distance, his features soft. "Master wants Fallen Mountain to always be the Fallen Mountain of today. I want Master to always be the Master of tomorrow."

Chen Ping'an smiled: "Why not the Master of today?"

Cui Dongshan lay on the railing, squinting as he murmured: "This disciple believes that every tomorrow's Master will surely be better than every today's."

Chen Ping'an reached out and pressed down on the white-robed youth's head, then raised his hand, bent two fingers, and rapped him hard on the cranium. "And you still say you didn't lead Fallen Mountain's atmosphere astray?!"

In the distance, Little Rice Grain tugged at Pei Qian's sleeve, cupped a hand beside her mouth, and whispered with a chuckle: "Pei Qian, Pei Qian, take a look—that White Goose has definitely said something wrong again."

Pei Qian laughed: "Don't call him White Goose. Little Senior Brother loves keeping accounts the most."

Little Rice Grain laughed heartily: "I'll call him that, I'll call him that! When there's business, I call him Little Senior Brother. When there's nothing, I call him White Goose."

Pei Qian blinked. "What kind of talk is that? Who taught you that? No one taught you, right? You must have figured it out yourself, am I right?"

Little Rice Grain was taken aback. "Huh?"

She signaled to Pei Qian with her eyes, asking for a hint so she could answer this tricky question.

Pei Qian raised her arm, curved her fingers in a knuckle-rapping gesture, twisted her wrist lightly, and blew on it.

Little Rice Grain understood. She immediately shouted: "I figured it out myself! Self-taught! No one taught me!"

Cui Dongshan turned his head and smiled amiably.

Little Rice Grain coughed, turned around, and frantically signaled White Goose with her eyes, slanting a glance at Pei Qian.

Cui Dongshan yelled: "Senior Sister! The Right Guardian seems to be hinting something to me."

Little Rice Grain quickly positioned herself between Pei Qian and White Goose, hopping up and down and waving her hands frantically to block Pei Qian's line of sight, shouting: "Pei Qian, Pei Qian, it's nothing, it's nothing! White Goose is trying to sow discord!"

In the end, Cui Dongshan got a knuckle-rap from Chen Ping'an, and Little Rice Grain got one from Pei Qian. Neither side gained nor lost.

Cui Dongshan held his head with both hands, turned around, and smiled: "Master, the ferry boat has to travel slowly to save money. Master has things to attend to, so it might be faster to fly by wind to the capital."

Chen Ping'an nodded, thinking it feasible. Fallen Mountain had always adhered to the tradition of frugal household management; they couldn't start being wasteful just because they had a little property now.

So he and Ning Yao left the dragon boat ferry, joining hands to fly by wind on a distant journey.

Little Rice Grain hugged the railing, rubbing her cheek against her arm. Good Mountain Master was busy again.

Cui Dongshan sat on the railing, inching his way along. "Little Rice Grain, let's have a chat, shall we?"

Little Rice Grain was busy thinking and also complaining about White Goose's lack of camaraderie, deliberately not looking at Cui Dongshan. She just chuckled: "Who are you? The White Goose I know is very generous, and Little Senior Brother is very formidable. Someone like you doesn't resemble him in the slightest—not even as much as a melon seed does."

Cui Dongshan leaned back, his form flipping upside down, landing on the ground. He then came over and hugged the railing alongside Little Rice Grain.

Pei Qian hesitated for a moment, then asked about that Great Li Empress Dowager. She had heard something about her back then on the battlefields of the Associate Capital.

Cui Dongshan smiled and said there was nothing to talk about—just a woman who stubbornly guarded her own little patch of land and lashed out at anyone who came near.

Little Rice Grain wasn't interested in any of this; even if she heard it, she wouldn't remember it.

Back when Pei Qian was only a little taller than herself, patrolling the mountain together every day had been wonderfully fun and interesting.

They would go ask Old Cook for a few pieces of cloth, dress up like the female heroes in the tales, have Nuanshu Sister help cut them into capes. One held a green bamboo staff, the other a golden carrying pole, whooping through the forests and mountains, cutting down everything in their path. As long as they ran fast enough, their capes would fly behind them.

Whenever heavy snow fell on Fallen Mountain, Pei Qian would tell her to stand still and become a big snowman. Nuanshu Sister would either be waiting under the eaves with a charcoal brazier or have a stove already lit inside the house. Haha, she was a big water monster after all.

Another time, Pei Qian pulled her along to hide around a corner, having agreed beforehand to let Old Cook experience what the world's most formidable hidden weapon was all about. In the end, she stood firm and nodded. Pei Qian reached out with both hands, grabbed her face with a smack, then staggered, spun and spun, spinning to the middle of the path, then tossed her out. Old Cook did have some real skill, barely managing to catch her and set her down, but he was still badly shaken. He kept stepping back, throwing wild punches, and finally, when he could see clearly, his old face flushed red. He grumbled that in all his travels through the jianghu and all the books he'd read, he'd never heard of such a jianghu hidden weapon. It caught him completely off guard, indeed completely off guard.

Whenever there was thunder and rain, they would stand side by side on the second floor of the bamboo building. For some reason, Pei Qian was incredibly talented. Every time she held her mountain-traveling staff and simply tapped the curtain of rain, there would be lightning and thunder. Every time she asked Pei Qian how she did it, Pei Qian would say: "Little Rice Grain, this is something you could never learn. Back then, Master took one look and recognized my martial arts talent."

After Pei Qian grew up, they didn't fool around like that so much anymore.

Pei Qian also said that Chen Lingjun, after advancing to the Nascent Soul realm, had been deliberately suppressing his form from changing. Otherwise, he could at least have the appearance of a young cultivator, and if he wanted, he could even take on the form of a mortal youth around twenty. Little Rice Grain asked why—it didn't cost anything to grow taller, so wasn't it good? Pei Qian laughed and said he was waiting for Nuanshu Sister. Little Rice Grain immediately understood—so Jingqing liked Nuanshu Sister! Pei Qian warned her, saying she could know this, but not to ask Nuanshu Sister about it, and not to ask Chen Lingjun either. She made a gesture with her fingers together across her lips—understood!

Pei Qian also said: "When you go on patrol alone in the future, if you encounter Cen Yuanji doing her boxing drills on the steps, you don't need to stop, but don't forget to greet her. Whether she responds or not, treat it as a task. If you forget one time, it doesn't matter; just make up for it next time." Little Rice Grain thought this wasn't difficult, but asked Pei Qian why. Pei Qian smiled and said: "In Master's eyes, Sister Cen is a true pure martial artist." Hearing this, Little Rice Grain nodded while feeling sad—Pei Qian didn't even use that nickname anymore. Fortunately, Pei Qian quickly added: "In the future, call her Sister Cen to her face, but behind her back, let's keep calling her Cen the Dunce."

Pei Qian saw Little Rice Grain spacing out and couldn't help asking: "What are you thinking about? Got something on your mind?"

Little Rice Grain let go of her hands, landed on the ground, nodded vigorously, stretched out her palm, then clenched it into a fist. "A worry this big!"

Then she opened her hand again and chuckled: "Whoosh—and it's all gone!"

Within the layered sea of clouds, two figures flashed past and disappeared. If one looked down upon the mountains and rivers, they were like threads winding sinuously.

In Ning Yao's field of vision, Chen Ping'an seemed to be practicing a superior escape technique. His form would burst apart into over a dozen streams of sword light, scattering thunderously. But every time he was forced to re-form his figure, he would end up crooked and lopsided, tracing an arc back to Ning Yao's side again. Over and over, tirelessly.

Ning Yao only then remembered that Chen Ping'an, who liked to learn everything, seemed to have rarely studied survival escape techniques. This was actually uncommon among registered immortal masters.

Ning Yao had nothing to do anyway, so she paid a bit of attention. After watching him perform a few times, she made a mental decision. Her form silently scattered into eighteen streams of sword light, eventually re-forming above the clouds dozens of miles away. Ning Yao stood on a cloud, hovering patiently, waiting for that fellow behind her.

Chen Ping'an caught up with Ning Yao, and after that, he stopped practicing that escape technique. Soon, the two flew by wind past an immortal sect. Verdant peaks towered, ancient pavilions with flared eaves perched on cliffs. Halls and mansions had been constructed in dangerous places, rising along the mountain. There was a waterfall within the mountain, and red lacquer inscriptions on the cliff. A group of colorful-robed fairies, carrying flower baskets, seemed to be heading somewhere to pick flowers for making incense. Chirping and chattering like orioles and swallows, they noticed the two figures flying by wind like startled swans and immediately stopped their chatter, casting curious glances at the strange man and woman. Could they be a pair of mountain Dao companions out traveling?

Ning Yao asked Chen Ping'an if he knew what sect it was. Chen Ping'an then recounted the historical background of this small sect in detail. Ning Yao lifted her chin and asked if he knew anyone there, if he needed to greet them. Chen Ping'an smiled and said no need, no need—he had only heard of it, not at all familiar.

When they recognized the distant man's features more clearly, one woman suddenly cried out in surprise, jumping for joy. She quickly told her fellow disciples that he was the azure-robed sword immortal, the one from Fallen Mountain!

It turned out that during the previous sword inquiry at Brightsun Mountain, the cultivators of this immortal sect had also watched half the excitement through mirror flower water moon.

Chen Ping'an didn't recognize them, but they recognized Chen Ping'an.

Earlier on the mountain, gathered around the mirror flower water moon, they had been chattering and arguing in a very feminine way. Some thought that Liu Xianyang, the personal disciple of the Dragon Spring Sword Sect, might have slightly superior sword techniques, but when it came to appearance and bearing, he ultimately couldn't match Chen Ping'an, the Fallen Mountain master. Later, upon learning that Fallen Mountain was near Piyun Mountain, they had already made arrangements with their fellow disciples—next time they went north to Great Li for training, they definitely had to go take a look, and try to catch a few more glimpses of that Fallen Mountain sword immortal up close.

They never expected that just going out today, they would see that young sword immortal flying by wind.

What a pity that the Fallen Mountain master was accompanied by a woman who looked just passable.

Maybe she was this sword immortal's disciple.

Cultivators flying by wind had vastly different speeds. They had already left those women far behind. Looking at Chen Ping'an's helpless expression, Ning Yao couldn't help laughing: "You don't have to deliberately put on that act. I really don't mind at all."

Chen Ping'an smiled slightly: "I know."

But in truth, what would happen if he didn't put on this act?

Whether Ning Yao minded was one thing. Whether he himself minded was an entirely different matter. The reason she didn't mind wasn't precisely because he minded every single time?

Matters had their order of precedence. Chen Ping'an was putting his master's theory of sequence into practice.

Liu Xianyang, after leaving First Peak, gathered with Dong Gu and several fellow disciples at a mountain god temple in the outskirts of a small northern country. Xie Ling smiled and said: "I just received a flying sword message from Master, telling us to hurry back. Master is waiting for us at Divine Show Mountain."

Liu Xianyang was somewhat surprised. Ruan the Blacksmith hadn't returned to Divine Show Mountain in many years. What, had that taciturn fellow secretly watched the mirror flower water moon, felt that as a master his sword techniques were inferior to his disciple's, lost face, gotten angry about this sword inquiry, and was going to enact familial discipline?

After the Great Li Song clan allocated the vast territory of the old Central Marchmount to the Dragon Spring Sword Sect, they had gradually moved their establishment north. First were Xu Xiaoqiao and Xie Ling, who were responsible for constructing mansions and renovating Dao grounds there. With the help of Great Li artisans, large-scale construction was underway. They also needed to work with a reserve mountain god of the Northern Marchmount to stabilize the mountain roots and water currents. Later, Ruan Qiong also set up his forge there for casting swords. Dong Gu, the senior disciple who originally had his opening peak mansion on Horizontal Halberd Peak, led a dozen or so personal disciples of the sword sect, leaving the western mountains within Dragon Province's jurisdiction, and together went to the sword sect's new site for cultivation and sword practice. In the end, only Liu Xianyang was left behind, guarding the blacksmith shop by the Dragon Beard River all alone.

Currently, among the four senior personal disciples of the Dragon Spring Sword Sect, aside from Liu Xianyang who had already reached the Jade Purity realm of sword cultivation, Senior Brother Dong Gu was a Nascent Soul qi cultivator, Xu Xiaoqiao was a Golden Core sword cultivator, and Xie Ling's learning was eclectic—he was both a Nascent Soul sword cultivator and a hidden formation master, and was skilled in alchemy. No wonder Ruan Qiong showed no urgency whatsoever about taking on personal disciples or second-generation disciples. He was even willing to be a wedding garment for others, sending cultivation seedlings like Yu Lin and Liu Yu, who were fully qualified to open their own peaks as sword immortals, down the mountain—essentially giving away several Golden Core earthly immortals to others for free. Ruan Qiong had always been like this in accepting disciples.

If before, some people still thought that the two major sword-based sects, with Brightsun Mountain holding the upper hand over the Dragon Spring Sword Sect, after Liu Xianyang's sword inquiry, probably no one would think the Dragon Spring Sword Sect was an empty shell propped up only by Xie Ling anymore.

A Jade Purity sword cultivator under fifty years of age—not just in Vase Bottle Continent, but anywhere in the Bright World—was a rare existence.

Miss She Yue was also present. She just stood there, and even without speaking, she was a delight to the eyes—flowers beautiful, the moon full and round.

The local mountain god stood far away at the temple gate. Spotting the arrival of the honored Sword Immortal Liu, he bowed and scraped with a brilliant smile, but didn't take the initiative to greet him, not daring to disturb that young sword immortal who had clashed so fiercely with Brightsun Mountain.

Liu Xianyang raised his fists high: "Sorry to disturb the Mountain God Lord's cultivation."

The mountain god hurriedly returned the salute: "Where immortals visit, there is numinosity. This minor god is honored."

Liu Xianyang went over to massage Senior Brother Dong Gu's shoulders, laughing: "Senior Brother Dong, and Senior Sister Xu, when you see Master, you must speak up for me! This trip as a guest at Brightsun Mountain, I fought my way through every challenge, faced danger at every turn, and was not lightly injured. I risked everything to make our Dragon Spring Sword Sect known. If Master still wants to scold me after all that, he's too heartless, lacking in teaching virtue! If I get so frustrated that I damage the foundation of my Great Way, Master will have to cry about it later."

Dong Gu smiled and nodded: "No problem. Actually, Master's dislike for Brightsun Mountain hasn't been just a year or two."

Xu Xiaoqiao, however, was someone of a straightforward nature with little sense of worldly affairs: "I can say a few words of persuasion, but in the end, Master makes his own decision."

Liu Xianyang turned his head and laughed: "Miss She Yue, this sword inquiry of mine, was it at least passable?"

She Yue nodded: "Very passable."

Liu Xianyang was speechless.

Xie Ling couldn't help but laugh. Everything had its counterbalance. Remembering something, Xie Ling suddenly said: "I recall Master once said personally that whoever reached the Jade Purity realm of sword cultivation would be qualified to serve as the next sect master."

Liu Xianyang frowned: "How come I don't know about that?"

Dong Gu nodded: "Master did say that indeed. But that was around the time Junior Brother Liu was studying abroad in South Boccaccio Continent."

Liu Xianyang asked suspiciously: "Xie Ling, have you secretly reached the Jade Purity sword immortal realm?"

Xie Ling shook his head: "Not yet. The Nascent Soul bottleneck is hard to break; it will take at least another ten years of painstaking effort."

Liu Xianyang rubbed his chin: "So it still has to depend on me after all. How many sticks of high-grade incense did Ruan the Blacksmith have to burn to get a proud disciple like me who brings glory to the sect?"

Liu Xianyang was silent for a moment, then said to himself: "If Master has returned to Divine Show Mountain this time to discuss this matter with us, then I'll have to shoulder the burden."

That kid Chen Ping'an was already a sect master; he himself had no reason not to be.

She Yue asked: "At Sword Summit, how much wine did you drink?"

Liu Xianyang rolled his eyes: "Just some loose talk."

Regarding Liu Xianyang's voluntary proposal to succeed as sect master, Dong Gu felt relieved, Xu Xiaoqiao was completely convinced, and Xie Ling couldn't care less—he only thought it was a good thing. Aside from Liu Xianyang, Xie Ling truly didn't think any senior brother or sister was capable of serving as the second sect master of the Dragon Spring Sword Sect. Whoever took on the role would have difficulty winning everyone's submission, which would bring great hidden dangers. But if the patient Senior Brother Dong Gu managed the treasury, and the straightforward Senior Sister Xu Xiaoqiao served as the sect's law enforcer, those would be excellent choices. Master could then focus on sword casting with peace of mind. As for himself, he could more devotedly cultivate, advance step by step, prove the Way for eternal imperishability, and ultimately...

Thinking of this, Xie Ling raised his head and looked at the sky.

Ascend. Climb to heaven.

If one spoke only of physical appearance and immortal bearing, within the Dragon Spring Sword Sect, it still had to be this "hidden orchid and courtyard flower" of the Xie clan of Peach Leaf Lane.

She Yue's heart-voice asked: "Why are you willing to be sect master?"

In her view, Liu Xianyang was actually...

Liu Xianyang smiled: "Master Ruan is a good person, and Chen Ping'an is also a good person."

She Yue was completely baffled. She didn't understand what his master and friend being good people had to do with Liu Xianyang reluctantly accepting the sect master position.

Liu Xianyang said: "If I really become sect master, it's actually just a transition. Master Ruan has no ambition in this area, and my heart isn't in it either. So the one who truly leads the Dragon Spring Sword Sect to greater heights will be the future third sect master. Who that will be, it's still too early to say. We'll wait."

The group hurried on their way back to Great Li's Dragon Province.

At Divine Show Mountain, Ruan Qiong stood alone on a cliff edge, silently gazing at the mountain scenery.

These western mountains of the former Lizhu Cave Heaven, including the Northern Marchmount Piyun Mountain, totaled sixty-two. Their ranks varied greatly: the large peaks could rival the mountains of small nations; the small ones, even if used as a secluded dwelling for a Golden Core earthly immortal to cultivate, would appear somewhat shabby and lacking in spiritual energy, requiring immortal coins to be spent so as not to hinder cultivation. In a mountain-and-water scenic location suitable for cultivation, the abundance of heaven-and-earth spiritual energy and the depth of Dao atmosphere ultimately came down to how many Grain Rain coins' worth of Dao resonance and foundation it possessed.

Of the two major sects, Fallen Mountain already had the most affiliated peaks: Gray Mist Mountain, Sword Worship Platform, Oxhorn Mountain, Turtle Back Ridge, Weixia Peak, Zhaodu Ridge... In less than thirty years, the young mountain master had gradually acquired nearly twenty peaks. If one set aside quantity and spoke only of geographical scope, and set aside the great marchmount Piyun Mountain, since Fallen Mountain, Gray Mist Mountain, and Yellow Lake Mountain were all peaks occupying vast territory, Fallen Mountain had already encompassed half of the western mountain range.

As for Sage Ruan Qiong's Dragon Spring Sword Sect, aside from the earliest ancestral mountain, Divine Show Mountain, which formed a mutually supporting triangular formation with Lantern Mountain and Horizontal Halberd Peak, along with Colorful Cloud Peak, Immortal Herb Mountain, and Treasure Record Mountain leased from Fallen Mountain, they formed a contiguous core area. Later, another batch of peaks was added to form an outer ring of the sword sect's influence. But compared to Fallen Mountain, where people continuously moved into various peaks, the Dragon Spring Sword Sect always had few members, so it seemed Fallen Mountain had overtaken them from behind. Coupled with the sword sect opening new territories and the personal disciples moving north, the ultimate result was a situation where Fallen Mountain dominated alone in this region.

Ruan Qiong had actually once wanted to single-mindedly put down roots here, take on personal disciples, have those disciples take on second-generation disciples, and those in turn take on their own personal disciples, thus branching out and ultimately building the sect into a flourishing institution under his own hand. As for the northern territory gifted by the Great Li court, Ruan Qiong's original intention was to use it as the site for the Dragon Spring Sword Sect's lower sect. But as things went back and forth, it ended up becoming an irregular "big vassal, small ancestral mountain."

On the mountain-and-water border of Dragon Province, a streak of sword light flashed, galloping like wind and lightning around the peaks, following a predetermined trajectory. It eventually flew to Divine Show Mountain. Ruan Qiong raised his hand and caught a transmission talisman sword that Xie Ling had sent back. Several personal disciples were about to enter the borders of Yellow Court Nation. The message said Miss She Yue would also be joining them for a meal—the tone was unmistakably Liu Xianyang's. Ruan Qiong put away the talisman sword and began cooking, personally preparing a full table of dishes. Then he sat in the host's seat in the main hall, patiently waiting for his several personal disciples and one guest to come to this ancestral mountain for a meal.

She Yue wanted to return to the blacksmith shop by herself, but Liu Xianyang wouldn't allow it, saying he had mentioned in the letter to Master that she would be coming. If she backed out now, it would mean not giving Ruan the Blacksmith face. In this Dragon Province region, Ruan the Blacksmith and Mountain Lord Wei were the bosses. Most of the time, they were easy to deal with, but occasionally they could be petty.

When they arrived at the house, Ruan Qiong, who usually didn't smile with anyone, did show some smile for She Yue. He called her Miss She Yue and even made a rare joke, saying she wasn't an outsider and shouldn't stand on ceremony. If the food wasn't to her taste, she should just say so.

This made Liu Xianyang extremely happy. Old Ruan knew how to handle things. He pulled She Yue to sit on a long bench across from them. Dong Gu and Xu Xiaoqiao sat on the opposite side, both sitting upright and proper. Xie Ling was more casual, sitting on a bench with his back to the door.

Liu Xianyang served rice to everyone one by one. After She Yue sat down, she looked at the table full of dishes. There were both meat and vegetable dishes, all richly colored and aromatic. The only pity was the absence of a large pot of bamboo shoot and dried duck stew.

Ruan Qiong took the bowl of rice from Liu Xianyang's hand but didn't pick up his chopsticks. Liu Xianyang had already started wolfing down his food, but received an elbow from She Yue. His cheeks bulging, Liu Xianyang looked up and saw that no one else had touched their chopsticks. Ruan Qiong said: "It's fine, just eat."

Liu Xianyang was about to nod when the top of his foot under the table got stepped on by She Yue again. He had to put down his chopsticks.

Ruan Qiong said: "I plan to have Liu Xianyang succeed me as sect master. Dong Gu, all of you, if anyone has objections, speak up."

The Dragon Spring Sword Sect had always been like this. They never held Patriarch Hall meetings for discussion. Important matters were discussed over the dinner table.

Dong Gu said: "Master, I have no objection. Xianyang becoming the next sect master couldn't be better."

Xu Xiaoqiao said: "Master, this disciple has no dissent."

Xie Ling smiled: "Junior Brother Liu succeeding as sect master is what everyone hopes for."

Liu Xianyang grumbled: "Still calling me Junior Brother Liu? You should call me Sect Master."

Ruan Qiong turned his head to look. Liu Xianyang quickly picked up a dish for his master: "Master's cooking skills here clearly employ the techniques of sword casting—they've reached the furnace's peak!"

She Yue began to understand why the rascal Liu Xianyang could have such good rapport with people. It was because this military sage Ruan was rather stodgy, the senior disciple Dong Gu followed suit and was too respectful toward his master, making him too constrained. Xu Xiaoqiao was introverted and didn't like talking. Xie Ling was too ethereal, too far from the mundane world, and especially disliked worldly affairs. Without Liu Xianyang, a meal would probably be spent in mute silence, everyone eating and then dispersing.

Ruan Qiong continued: "Dong Gu will manage the treasury's income and expenditure from now on. Xu Xiaoqiao will be responsible for the Patriarch Hall's statutes and regulations. Xie Ling should focus on his cultivation. If he's willing to divert some attention, he can take on a few more personal disciples. The second-generation disciples on the mountain are indeed too few. As for how to deal with the Great Li court and mountain cultivators in the future, you all discuss and decide among yourselves. It's not that once Liu Xianyang becomes sect master, he has to shoulder everything alone."

With just a few words, Ruan Qiong had finished discussing a series of major sect matters.

Ruan Qiong picked up his chopsticks: "Eat."

At the command, they ate.

There was still no conversation on the table, apart from Liu Xianyang's joking. She Yue could only admire Liu Xianyang for this: no matter what he said or did, he never felt awkward.

Ruan Qiong was the first to finish eating. He put down his chopsticks, and before rising, said: "Xianyang, from today you are the sect master. So you don't need to consult me about everything. From now on, I'll only be responsible for sword casting."

Then he glanced at the other three personal disciples and said blandly: "No matter what position you hold within the sect, fellow disciples must behave like fellow disciples. Don't bring those filthy habits from outside up the mountain."

Having said this, Ruan Qiong walked out of the house and flew away by wind.

Once Ruan Qiong was gone, Dong Gu and Xu Xiaoqiao began to chat a bit. It was Liu Xianyang's turn to eat slowly and chew carefully, no longer speaking.

After the meal, Xu Xiaoqiao was in charge of clearing the dishes. She Yue helped out. Xu Xiaoqiao had a very high opinion of this Miss She Yue.

Liu Xianyang lounged like a lord, legs crossed, toothpick in mouth. When the two women went to the kitchen, he tapped the table with his finger and said earnestly: "Old Dong, Little Xie, you're both not young anymore. You should start looking for wives. Otherwise, as sect master, seeing a bunch of bachelors every day makes me feel guilty, uneasy at heart."

Xie Ling laughed: "Senior Brother Dong, if I'd known that once someone became sect master he'd be like this bird, wouldn't you have fought for the position? Want me to go ask Master? I'll take care of convincing Senior Sister Xu, and you handle pestering Master to death. Then we'll change sect masters—it's just a meal's business anyway."

Dong Gu nodded: "I am feeling a bit uneasy at heart."

Liu Xianyang spat: "Do you two think you can stir up trouble at Master Ruan's place?"

Liu Xianyang spread one palm and smoothed his sideburn: "Besides, let me tell you a secret. Senior Sister Xu's eyes have been looking at me wrong for a while now."

In the kitchen, Xu Xiaoqiao suffered this unprovoked disaster for no reason. She said furiously: "Liu Xianyang, are you looking for death?! If your mouth has no gate and you like spouting nonsense, at least have some limits! Do you believe I'll tear your mouth apart?"

Liu Xianyang said with an innocent face: "I was saying that Senior Sister's eyes look at me, this junior brother, like a real elder sister looking at a little brother she was separated from and has been reunited with—so kind, so gentle. It makes my heart warm. Is that wrong too?"

She Yue tugged at Xu Xiaoqiao's sleeve and said softly: "Don't mind him. He's dreaming every day, his head isn't straight."

Xu Xiaoqiao said with a wry smile: "I won't lower myself to his level. Miss She Yue, in the future you need to keep a tighter rein on Liu Xianyang, so he won't be so unreliable every day, so shiftless and dissolute, so irresponsible."

She Yue felt a bit frustrated. This girl really didn't know how to speak. She wasn't a bad person, just a bit dim-witted.

Liu Xianyang stood up: "I need to go to Piyun Mountain to discuss some matters in my capacity as sect master. Each of you attend to your own business."

He patted Xie Ling's shoulder: "Little Xie, cultivate well. Don't be conceited or impatient."

Xie Ling smiled and clasped his fists: "As the sect master commands."

Liu Xianyang felt this wasn't enough, so he wanted to pat the senior disciple's shoulder and offer some instruction. Dong Gu waved his hand: "I don't need that."

Liu Xianyang grinned as he walked out of the house: "Miss She Yue, want to come down the mountain together?"

She Yue shook her head: "No, I have to get back to the shop."

Liu Xianyang then went alone to Piyun Mountain and told Wei Pi something.

Wei Pi was stunned. The matter was of great importance. He neither shook his head nor nodded, just asked: "Is this Sage Ruan's own intention?"

Liu Xianyang patted his chest and laughed loudly: "Mountain Lord Wei, don't worry about that. I, Liu Xianyang, call the shots in the Dragon Spring Sword Sect now."

Wei Pi asked doubtfully: "What do you mean?"

Liu Xianyang laughed heartily: "I'm already the new sect master. Of course I call the shots!"

Wei Pi was silent for a moment. Liu Xianyang withdrew his smile and nodded. Wei Pi sighed, smiled slightly, and said: "Understood. I'll do it right away. I'll handle the explanations to the Great Li court."

Liu Xianyang said with emotion: "Friends like Mountain Lord Wei are hard to find even with a lantern."

That day, within the western mountain range, the Dragon Spring Sword Sect's peaks—all except the three peaks leased from Fallen Mountain, which remained in place—including Divine Show Mountain itself, were relocated by Northern Marchmount Mountain Lord Wei Pi, who summoned that reserve mountain god and jointly used their divine powers to clear them out and move them to the old Central Marchmount territory.

From then on, within the former Lizhu Cave Heaven domain, there would be no Dragon Spring Sword Sect. Only the sect-level Fallen Mountain would remain.

While Wei Pi was busy, Liu Xianyang crouched at the summit of Piyun Mountain, hands tucked into his sleeves, chewing on a blade of grass.

This was, in fact, Master Ruan Qiong's intention, only he couldn't bring himself to say it.

On the Sword Qi Great Wall, Zuo You sat cross-legged in his Confucian robe, a sword across his lap, gazing straight ahead.

Cao Jun, who had traveled across the sea to get here, was travel-worn. He sat down heavily not far away, panting heavily. After his breathing steadied, he smiled and turned to greet: "Mr. Zuo!"

Zuo You nodded lightly.

Cao Jun waited for a long time and found that Zuo You showed no sign of speaking. He could only steel himself and say: "Mr. Zuo?"

Zuo You asked doubtfully: "Something?"

This sword immortal seed from South Boccaccio Continent, after suffering damage to his sword heart, still dared to draw his sword on the battlefields of both Vase Bottle Continent and Parasol Leaf Continent, and had now come here voluntarily—it seemed he intended to draw his sword against the Barbaric World.

Zuo You's impression of this man had improved considerably.

Cao Jun's head was about to split in two. Hadn't Chen Ping'an said that you, as his senior brother, wanted me to come to the Sword Qi Great Wall to practice swordsmanship with you? Now you're going back on your word?

But reasoning with Zuo You wasn't an option.

Cao Jun carefully asked: "Mr. Zuo, have you perhaps forgotten something?"

Zuo You frowned: "As a sword cultivator, speak directly."

Cao Jun said with a mournful face: "Chen Ping'an suggested I come here to practice swordsmanship under Mr. Zuo."

He didn't dare tell the truth.

That bastard Chen Ping'an was Zuo You's junior brother. He himself was nothing.

Zuo You nodded: "That's acceptable."

Cao Jun breathed a sigh of relief. Frustrating as it was, at least he hadn't come all this way for nothing. But he couldn't help cursing inwardly: That damned former Hidden Officer.

"My junior brother didn't happen to tell you that coming here was my idea, did he?"

Zuo You smiled slightly, casually reached out one hand, and gently pressed down on his sword scabbard, waiting only for A Liang to stir up some commotion in the south before he could draw his sword.

As for teaching Cao Jun swordsmanship, there was no problem at all. Cao Jun's current temperament, aptitude, and conduct were all up to par, a completely different person from the young genius of South Boccaccio Continent in his early years.

Cao Jun glanced at Zuo You's hand pressing the scabbard and immediately shook his head vigorously, saying without hesitation: "Not at all!"

Zuo You turned his head, curious: "Really? Tell me the truth."

Cao Jun steeled himself and said: "Chen Ping'an did say it was Mr. Zuo who wanted me to come."

Zuo You gazed into the distance, seeming to be in a good mood. He smiled slightly: "Not treating his senior brother like an outsider."

Cao Jun was stunned for a long time. Zuo You was also a person capable of smiling?

At the northernmost edge of Brightsun Mountain, one night, a boundary marker silently rose: "Twenty thousand li north to Fallen Mountain."

A cross-continent ferry boat named Wind Kite, coming from the Central Earth Divine Continent, slowly hovered to a stop at Oxhorn Mountain Ferry.

And in the Great Li capital, where no night curfew was enforced, the lights were as bright as day. At the main gate, two people, without needing to submit any mountain-and-water border permits, smoothly entered. The city gate didn't even have a single questioning remark. Because this pair, who seemed to be a Dao couple from the mountains, each wore a Peace Supplicant Tablet issued by the Ministry of Justice.

In this magnificent, motley Great Li capital, two more Peace and Tranquility Tablets had appeared tonight, not particularly conspicuous.

Ning Yao gazed into the distance at the Great Li imperial palace. The layers of mountain-and-water restrictions were decent. She asked: "Where to next? If I need to make sword moves like at White Jade Capital, I'll block them. You just need to go reason with people in the palace."

Chen Ping'an smiled: "No rush. Let's find a place to have a midnight snack first."

Ning Yao nodded: "Whatever you say."

They found a night snack stall. Chen Ping'an sat down and ordered two bowls of wontons. He pulled out two pairs of bamboo chopsticks from the bamboo tube on the table and handed a pair to Ning Yao. Holding his own chopsticks, he gently blew on the steaming bowl of wontons, instinctively smiling as he reminded her to be careful not to burn herself. But he quickly laughed at himself and made a funny face at her. He dipped his chopsticks, lowered his head, and began to eat slowly, chewing carefully. Ning Yao turned her head to look at him, not withdrawing her gaze for a long time. When Chen Ping'an looked up to meet her eyes, all he saw was the slight flutter of her eyelashes.

When Ning Yao finished eating, she found Chen Ping'an already sitting with his hands tucked into his sleeves, grinning as he watched her.

Ning Yao thought about it and said: "Not very filling. Another bowl?"

Chen Ping'an waved his hand grandly: "Got money in my pocket. Eating an extra bowl of wontons is no big deal."

A nearby diner muttered inwardly: Look at this kid, acting all high and mighty. How destitute of a jianghu wanderer do you have to be to squeeze such arrogance out of a single bowl of wontons?

Then he looked at the woman with the squinting smile. Pity she was so beautiful. She must be a woman without much sense to shack up with such a pauper and wander the jianghu together.