Chapter 893: Playing Chess
In the capital of Liang Kingdom, under a high winter sun, a newly built Daoist temple commissioned by the emperor stood. If any visitor wandered inside, they would surely mistake it for a millennium-old temple. It was a deliberate ancient elegance, built with nearly a million taels of pure gold and silver from the national treasury.
Sunlight spilled onto the azure glazed tiles of a palace ridge, where a row of lifelike ridge beasts lined the upturned eaves. Among them, a suanni statue resembling a lion seemed to shake its head slightly.
A mere arm's length apart, day and night were distinct.
Above the roof was broad daylight, but beneath the eaves, it was pitch-black night. In the darkness, a woman carrying a palace lantern paced slowly along the corridor. Her delicate hands were as white as moonlight.
She roamed the corridor with her lantern, each time passing by two vermilion gates. Beyond one gate lay a different world.
Inside the room, a white-clad youth with a red mole between his brows seemed to float high in the void, gazing from afar at an old Daoist—none other than Liang Shuang, the current great celestial master of the Dragon Tiger Mountain's non-Li clan lineage.
At this moment, at the mountain god's shrine on the border of Liang Kingdom, that Guardian True Person was still amiably chatting with Chen Ping'an, finding much in common. Beside them on the steps sat another white-clad youth, but there, Xiao Mo in his yellow hat and blue shoes was also present.
In fact, the old true person before him was the true body of Liang Shuang.
Cui Dongshan sighed. After a battle, it seemed everyone had it hard except Zheng Juzhong of White Emperor City.
Take this old Daoist, for instance. He appeared so withered in spirit and form that even mortals could see it. His hair was sparse, barely tied into a topknot with a golden crown. The old man was so gaunt that his already loose purple Daoist robe hung even more slackly.
Liang Shuang had his hands stacked on his abdomen, thumbs pressed together, breathing deeply to stabilize his mind and nurture his decaying body.
Behind the old true person floated an ethereal golden-body dharma image, but it swayed like a hanging painting in the wind.
The three figures varied vastly in size: Cui Dongshan was as small as a mustard seed, the true person was as large as a mountain, and the dharma image loomed like a star.
This was actually the first time Cui Dongshan had seen the old true person in person.
Though the old true person seemed to be in a trance, with each breath, true qi cascaded from his seven apertures like waterfalls, like white snakes clinging to the walls. Occasionally, stray Dao energy would condense into purple characters, as if copying a scripture. Each time they formed sentences, they would return to the seven apertures, like rivers flowing into the sea, then being drawn back upstream by immortals. Though the strings of purple characters retreated as soon as they formed sentences, they left indelible Daoist talisman traces in the vast void before the old true person. The light was dim, the characters faint. Gazing from afar, Cui Dongshan felt like reading a book under moonlight.
A celestial immortal sits still, generating Dao qi; in the empty chamber, brushstrokes turn into spring breeze.
If not for his severe injuries, this non-Li great celestial master wouldn't need to be in seclusion here, confining himself, able only to send his yin spirit out for distant travels.
Even Cui Dongshan, usually so carefree, felt a twinge of sadness seeing this.
True Person Liang Shuang, with the Dao name Taiyi.
Thinking back to those days, how dashing and graceful he was!
He was a renowned handsome man in the cultivation world.
But this Liang Shuang, who had replaced the Fire Dragon True Person of Crawling Ground Peak as celestial master, was much like that "Most Proud Under Heaven"—he preferred living in seclusion among mountains. And in terms of seniority and Dao age, Liang Shuang was even higher and longer.
Just the time he spent closed up after reaching the Flying Ascension realm spanned thousands of years. Plus, Liang Shuang rarely intervened, so over time, the world of Haoran Plain completely forgot such a peak figure existed.
When Cui Chan was young, he had accompanied the old scholar on travels and once visited Liang Shuang, only to be flatly refused entry. The old scholar still harbors a grudge to this day. Not only didn't they meet, but they didn't even share a drink. Utterly unreasonable, too outrageous.
The old true person, still resting with eyes closed, sensed Cui Dongshan's emotional fluctuations and said calmly, "Everyone has their own fate; life has its ups and downs. Why be sentimental?"
Then the old true person smiled. "Previously, I had some doubts, but now I see you truly are no longer the Embroidery Tiger Cui Chan of old."
Cui Dongshan, seated cross-legged in the old true person's mind-realm small world, asked, "Is there any small matter I, a junior, can help with?"
As for Liang Shuang's current mending of the Great Way, that was out of the question. Cui Dongshan admitted he didn't have that kind of heaven-defying ability.
The old true person seemed to have finished "copying" a scripture, his Dao heart becoming increasingly tranquil as a still well. He opened his eyes and said, "None."
While this conversation was happening, another chat was taking place at the mountain god's shrine. The purple-robed Daoist had mentioned the assassination attempt from years past to Chen Ping'an, not with any pride but as a disgrace.
Compared to this true body, the Guardian True Person Liang Shuang at the shrine seemed to embody all the emotions, joys, angers, sadness, and happiness of the true body. Thus, joy was great joy, sorrow great sorrow, and anger was explosive anger.
Cui Dongshan chuckled. "A cultivator who barely steps halfway into the fourteen-realm great world, yet not only injured a peak fourteen-realm great cultivator in Tongye Continent—which is already barbarian territory—but also escaped from his grasp. If that's not a feat, then what is? So, senior, I'm very curious: how exactly did you do it?"
Liang Shuang said calmly, "Do your utmost and listen to Heaven's will. That's all."
Before ascending to Heaven, Wenhai Zhou Mi was already unquestionably the first person outside the Three Teachings' founders.
This being, called the Heaven-Connecting Old Fox of the barbarians, in a foreign world still possessed a non-negligible merit in creating characters.
It was like when Li Zhen once asked Zhou Mi directly how many great demons he had "unified with the Dao" over thousands of years.
It seemed Zhou Mi's method of unification was to eat—keep eating, and never be full. Just among the fourteen old throne great demons of the barbarian world, at the Sword Qi Great Wall, Lotus Temple Master killed by Dong Sangang; Huang Luan, beaten down to Nascent Soul by A Liang and Yao Chongdao; at the site of Daoxuan Mountain, Yao Jia killed by Bai Ye; in Tongye Continent, Qie Yun... Besides that, Zhou Mi had long since peeled off a yang spirit avatar, step by step rising to become the great demon Bai Ying, who sat on the withered bone throne.
Moreover, before all this, Zhou Mi had already killed and eaten Lu Fayan—also the master of Qie Yun and Fei Ran—who was at fourteen realms, using the barbarian world's typical mountaintop method, and finally fused his yin spirit with it. As for the renegade Flying Ascension realm great cultivator Wan Yan Laojing of Gold Armor Continent, he was probably just a small appetizer.
Besides, who knows how many great demons outside the old throne positions Zhou Mi secretly "unified with the Dao"?
Cui Dongshan shook his sleeves, brought two fingers together, and gently swirled, manifesting a seal.
Liang Shuang glanced at it. "Well, well. 'A hungry old bookworm that can't fill its stomach.'"
"Holding three million scrolls in hand, I entertain myself in the cold. In years to come, I'll feast on immortal words, and not have lived in vain as a bookworm."
It was an ordinary private book seal, said to be made from a piece of mountain jade picked up casually by Haoran Jia Sheng on the roadside in his hometown during his travels to Daoxuan Mountain, carved into a seal, carried with him for many years.
Liang Shuang sighed. "The great world is vast, with myriad appearances. It encompasses all differences, reduced to one form."
The strength of Zhou Mi was something outsiders could hardly imagine even a fraction of without personally fighting him.
And don't forget one thing: when Wenhai Zhou Mi was still a Haoran scholar, he ascended directly from the Liu Jin realm to the Jade Pu realm.
This frail scholar's reason for cultivating the Dao back then was simply to be able to "in this life" read more books, so he could realize his ambitions.
Now, the disciple Zhou Mi left in the mortal world, the clogs of the Jiashen Account, later Zhou Qinggao, followed the same shortcut.
Liang Shuang also had some curiosity. "Back when I hadn't come down from the mountain yet, I heard some things about you from Tian Lai. For instance, one matter: when Cui Chan, the State Teacher of Great Li, betrayed the literary lineage as the chief disciple, the Central Earth Confucian Temple banned the teachings of the Sage of Literature, and you were heavily implicated, so you 'naturally' fell from the Immortal realm. Was that falling a ruse?"
One can tell his seniority and age from the fact that Liang Shuang called the current great celestial master of Dragon Tiger Mountain "Tian Lai".
What seemed natural to most people was baffling to the old true person and Zhao Tian Lai.
The reason was simple: standing high on the peak of Haoran, looking far, they dared not underestimate the Embroidery Tiger's intellect.
After all, he was a chief disciple of the Sage of Literature who could have taken the position of Vice-Leader of the Confucian Temple if he wished.
But no one expected that such a scholar, who could have been immortalized in history, would become a stray dog, a rat crossing the street.
The former referred to losing his literary lineage status, the latter to the Embroidery Tiger's situation back then: betraying his master and abandoning his teachings, deviating from the path. In Central Earth Divine Continent, anyone could kick him. He had few friends; it seemed only Liu Jubao of Ai Ai Continent, Yu Panshui of Xuanmi Dynasty, and the Shan Hai Sect had any sympathy for the Embroidery Tiger.
"It is and isn't."
Cui Dongshan smiled. "The fall in realm was real, but the greater aim was self-deception, to fool Heaven and cross the sea. I only gradually understood this much later, kept in the dark by Cui Chan for years. Because this old bastard, to deceive Heaven and earth, the first person he lied to was his other self—me, Cui Dongshan."
At this point, Cui Dongshan started cursing. Thinking back to when he foolishly went to Lizhu Cave Heaven and engaged in a battle of wits with Qi Jingchun, he now wished he could dig a hole and bury himself. At that time, Qi Jingchun must have looked at that ambitious, self-assured version of himself as if watching a huge joke, probably struggling to hold back laughter, right?
Liang Shuang raised a hand, performed mental calculations, and supplemented with hand seals, finally exclaiming, "The Embroidery Tiger was ruthless enough."
Cui Chan was like that to himself, and also to that later junior disciple.
Such a way of protecting someone's Dao path was unique.
Cui Chan was like... As long as Chen Ping'an fell into this senior brother's hands, he could barely maintain his Dao heart without completely collapsing or going mad, then no outsider in the world could scheme against Chen Ping'an's Dao heart.
Cui Chan's fall in realm back then was real, but deliberately done. The most brilliant camouflage technique on the peak was to cover truth with truth, not conceal it.
As the first Daoist book in the world, revered as the chief of all scriptures, it had already leaked the Heavenly secret: the Great Way has fifty numbers, Heaven's evolution uses forty-nine, and man escapes with one.
The Embroidery Tiger Cui Chan split his soul into two, creating an extra Cui Dongshan out of thin air—to be precise, he was literally "young Cui Chan".
The key was that Embroidery Tiger, in this matter, did not push his own merit and learning to the extreme. He didn't pursue the outcome of "two Cui Chans, two ascensions". Instead, intentionally or not, he deliberately limited Cui Dongshan's "chess skill". Hence, the latter, besides having incomplete memories, was inferior in both temperament and intellect to Cui Chan himself, like a clear distinction between primary and secondary.
Liang Shuang asked, "To accomplish this, did Cui Chan consult Mr. Sanshan Jiuhou about the mountain-sealing method?"
Cui Dongshan chuckled. "Both consultation and sparring."
This was him being influenced by the master's respect for elders. If it were that old bastard, he'd probably just say, "Not really consultation, just mutual improvement."
And if not satisfied, add, "Why must the present be inferior to the past?"
The old true person said, "Wait a moment."
Cui Dongshan nodded. "I'll wait, senior."
The old true person used his Dao heart to control his Dao intent, then used Dao intent to guide Dao qi, and finally used Dao qi to control the surging spiritual energy, majestic like great rivers, circulating a great cycle within his human-body small universe. Liang Shuang exited that mind-realm, and the two found themselves in a plain room with only two meditation mats, a small table with a Boshan incense burner, purple smoke swirling, filling the room with fragrance.
A rare smile appeared on the old true person's face. "Your master is quite cautious. He's already starting to suspect whether he's in a dream."
Earlier, the words of his yin spirit were essentially a sword inquiry with Chen Ping'an. Meanwhile, the true body here took the opportunity to use Heavenly heart to observe human heart.
As if there were few old acquaintances in the mortal world.
Zouzi was one of them.
Cui Dongshan raised a palm, fanned it three times, and drew a bit of that golden-purple smoke—more precious than temple incense—toward himself.
Exactly three times, no more, no less. One must not refuse a gift from an elder; too much would be improper.
Cui Dongshan smiled. "To endure Heaven's grind is to be a hero; the hardest thing is to remain innocent forever."
Liang Shuang neither agreed nor disagreed. "I do this out of necessity. What about you?"
Sending the yin spirit on distant travels couldn't last long, but nothing in the world is absolute. There were many unorthodox methods in the cultivation world, like the Daoist beheading of the Three Corpses, or the subdued heart-ape and mind-horse.
Cui Dongshan concealed nothing. "I split off part of my mind, attached it to a porcelain figure, and sneaked into Five-Colored Heaven. I originally planned to spend sixty years there, helping to establish a subordinate sect for Fallen Mountain."
"Many schemes and heavy resourcefulness lead to shallow Heavenly opportunities."
Liang Shuang frowned. "Such chaos, casting nets everywhere—aren't you forgoing that Flying Ascension realm?"
Cui Dongshan said, "Except for my master, Fallen Mountain doesn't lack any realm. But we lack territory, manpower, and money."
Currently, Fallen Mountain had two Flying Ascension realm cultivators: Xiao Mo and Wu Shuangjiang's demon-hearted Dao companion.
Liang Shuang nodded. "A magnificent grand sect."
Cui Dongshan beamed, raised his fist in salute, and shook it vigorously. "That must be a prophetic auspicious saying."
Liang Shuang smiled slightly. "Your master has fallen from Jade Pu all the way to Golden Core. Now it's like a clever woman can't cook without rice. He has a mixed but still decent batch of Dao techniques, but is constrained by the accumulation of spiritual energy. No wonder he and 'I' became friends through a fight—they share the same affliction."
Cui Dongshan was deeply worried.
Chen Ping'an first practiced fist techniques, becoming a pure martial artist. After becoming a Qi refiner, he had Chuyi and Shiwu, which he could never fully refine, plus talisman methods, making him resourceful in combat. Later, at the Sword Qi Great Wall, he became a genuine sword cultivator with two "extremely unreasonable" natal flying swords, so he wasn't too constrained by the amount of spiritual energy. He also unified with half of the Sword Qi Great Wall and temporarily borrowed Lu Chen's fourteen-realm Dao techniques.
Thus, Chen Ping'an had never experienced a mountain battle where his spiritual energy was "exhausted".
Otherwise, in mountain duels or closed-door cultivation, when "renovating" the landscape, it was common for a cultivator's spiritual energy to be passively or actively depleted.
There's a metaphor in the cultivation world: the amount of spiritual energy and resources of a cultivator in the lower five realms was like the difference between one or a few snowflake coins.
Entering the middle five realms, especially forming a Golden Core, meant having a minor heat money.
When breaking through the Nascent Soul bottleneck and entering the upper five realms, a cultivator's spiritual resource base could be measured in Grain Rain coins.
Liang Shuang asked, "Are you planning to start from scratch in both Tongye Continent and Five-Colored Heaven at the same time?"
Cui Dongshan chuckled. "Hopefully."
"I'm curious: how did you muster that ambition?"
For cultivators, nurturing the spirit is easy, but lifting the spirit is hard. The Dao heart is easily broken and hard to mend; ambition easily falls and hard to rise.
Cui Dongshan looked a bit dejected. "At my doorstep, that fellow surnamed Zheng pissed me off."
Liang Shuang nodded. "Zheng Juzhong's chess skill is too high; inevitably, high art finds few admirers. He only has a special regard for the Embroidery Tiger."
Cui Dongshan smiled. "Zheng Juzhong also thinks highly of that Great Archivist of the Jade Capital."
Since they had talked about Zheng Juzhong, the old true person, who was proficient in Go, asked with a smile, "Care for a game?"
The white-clad youth rubbed his hands. "Does senior want to lose or win?"
Liang Shuang shook his head. "Not as good with words as your master."
Then the old true person waved his sleeve, and the mountains and rivers of Tongye Continent manifested in the room. His gaze wandered, selecting the old and new Five Sacred Mountains and the vassal mountain peaks, condensing them into one hundred sixty emerald green chess pieces. Cui Dongshan followed suit, manifesting the continent's rivers into fifty snow-white pieces, clearly far fewer than the old true person. He gathered them at his feet, grabbed a handful of white pieces, raised his fist, "Guess the first move?"
Liang Shuang directly picked up an emerald green piece, leaned forward slightly, and bypassed the guessing step, placing the first piece in the air.
It was as if he told the white-clad youth: I, Liang Shuang, started cultivating earlier and now am at a higher realm. Guessing the first move is a foregone conclusion, so why bother?
The only issue now was that there was no actual chessboard between them.
This was again Liang Shuang's "senior demeanor": he took the advantage in guessing the first move but didn't take any advantage on the board. Meanwhile, the size of the board in this game could exceed the standard nineteen-by-nineteen lines. Moreover, the spacing between the lines would be determined by the placement of pieces. So this game, from pieces to guess of first move to the board, exuded an air of mystery. Old rules, new rules, would all appear: joseki from each player's first move, celestial moves, and unreasonable moves would emerge in turn. Pieces on the board were like mountains rising from the earth; many principles of Go flowed through them like rivers, seeming to be more "long-lived and undying" than immortals, like the mortal mountains and rivers, constantly being born and dying on the chessboard.
Both sides placed pieces rapidly.
After fifty moves each, Cui Dongshan, now out of white pieces, looked around. Finally, he condensed his own sect's Xian Du Mountain into an emerald green piece, gently picked it up, and tapped it onto the board.
Liang Shuang stared at the board, pondered for a long time, sighed, grabbed a handful of emerald green pieces, and spilled them onto the board, conceding.
Cui Dongshan smiled. "Senior, your magnanimity is high."
Liang Shuang asked, "The subordinate sect's name?"
Cui Dongshan said, "Located at Xian Du Mountain in Tongye Continent, named the Green Ping Sword Sect."
Liang Shuang nodded. "Taiyi near Heaven capital, mountains connect to the sea's edge. White clouds merge as I look back, green mist fades into nothing. Xian Du is where white clouds are born, but the green robe is outside the mountains; yet people don't mind being there still."
Cui Dongshan nodded with a smile.
A senior who didn't curse randomly was a good senior.
Liang Shuang said, "Then that mountain ganoderma and the coiled small qiu, you can handle them as you wish."
Cui Dongshan stood up to take his leave.
Liang Shuang stood up, walked him to the door, and stopped. He glanced at the lively capital of Liang Kingdom and the more distant landscape.
After crossing the threshold, Cui Dongshan turned his head and casually said, "Next year, the mulberry and hemp stretch endlessly, I know at last I'm a man of peace."
Liang Shuang still didn't withdraw his gaze, finally uttering a very profound prophecy.
Cui Dongshan smiled and dismissed it, hearing it as just words. His form transformed into a white rainbow, hurrying to the mountain god's shrine on the Liang Kingdom border.
The old true person turned back to the unremoved chessboard, fingered his beard for a moment, then nodded. "If I had placed a piece here, I would definitely have won."
The woman who had been patrolling the corridor with a lantern came to the door, bewildered, glanced at the strange chessboard and pieces, and asked softly, "Master, did you lose the game to that youth?"
The old true person stroked his beard and smiled. "How could that be possible?"
The woman glanced at the game again, then at her master.
The old true person had to explain, "I lost the game but won in bearing."
---
On the steps of the mountain god's shrine, Chen Ping'an clasped his fists to bid farewell to the old true person.
The group returned to their original resting mountain. That mansion lord lady was still left waiting here.
Cui Dongshan briefly explained the situation via mind voice. Chen Ping'an nodded. His judgment had been good; indeed, this was a transcendent master with an inscrutable Heavenly heart.
At the mountain top, Ji Mountain Lord Jiang Ying, also called Lady Yun He by some familiar mountain cultivators, was a figure of great elegance. Her divine attendants were named Odes Collector Official, Ink Washer Official, and so on.
A close maid responsible for Jiang Ying's grooming asked softly, "My lady, these outsiders don't seem like ordinary Qi refiners."
Standing beside the mansion lord lady, she was two heads shorter.
Jiang Ying chuckled. "You noticed that?"
Earlier, that group's movement technique was profound, traveling hundreds of miles in an instant without any spiritual energy ripples, the phenomenon impressive.
Especially later at the mountain god's shrine, the landscape was hazy, like looking at flowers through fog. This meant at least one or two Nascent Soul cultivators among these temporarily unidentified "river-crossing dragons", and possibly even an upper-five-realm deity. And even though she had become a country's Five Sacred Mountains lord, without five or six hundred years of flourishing incense, her golden body couldn't hope to reach the Nascent Soul rank.
This Ji Mountain lord lady tapped the rolled-up "Twenty-Four Flower-Bearing Wind Marks" manual against her palm.
The safest approach was to immediately return to her carriage and head back, pretending nothing had happened.
Nowadays in Tongye Continent, too many "river-crossing dragons" from other continents were present.
Just at the southernmost Qushan Ferry, there was a "Sword Immortal Xu Jun" from another continent, responsible for guiding two cross-continental ferryboats from Ai Ai Continent's Liu Clan...
Especially the neighboring cultivators from Vase Bottle Continent to the north, who once had to crane their necks to look up to Tongye Continent. Now the tables had turned, and Tongye Continent cultivators had to lower their heads and bow in realm.
Many foreign cultivators, behind the scenes, whether through money or other means, had become puppet masters in some small countries that had just been re-established a few years ago, controlling the government, making decisions decisively, raking in money ruthlessly, and plundering various landscape resources. For example, the Old Dragon City Hou Clan that had formed an alliance with the Yu Dynasty... But it was undeniable that a huge number of residual demon cultivators who hadn't managed to flee back to the barbarian world remained. Without these foreign cultivators who had crossed the sea, the already dilapidated Tongye Continent would be even more devastated. Relying solely on local cultivators, they might not be able to clean up the old country for another sixty years.
Just take Little Dragon Waterfall, a candidate sect: they were very serious about searching the mountains, even building a "Wild Garden" as a scenic spot, where they had imprisoned a large group of barbarian demons that hadn't yet formed successfully, along with some lower-five-realm demon cultivators.
The ancestral master of Little Dragon Waterfall had been in secluded healing for many years, allowing that Nascent Soul realm in charge of money to surpass him in both cultivation and sect status. In just a few years, the Little Dragon Waterfall mountain lord's lineage had lost power. Probably this was what they called "every family has a hard scripture to chant".
When the group returned to the mountain top, the mansion lord goddess put the mark manual into her sleeve and smiled. "Immortal master, you may call me by my name. I am Jiang Ying, from Ji Mountain."
The green-robed visitor smiled warmly. "Greetings, Lord Jiang. I am Cao Mo, from Vase Bottle Continent."
Jiang Ying breathed a sigh of relief, figuring she had at least made a familiar face. As for the immortal opportunity on that side, Ji Mountain wouldn't covet it. She was just about to take her leave when the man continued, "That Old True Person of Liang Kingdom asked me to inquire one thing: if you, Lord Jiang, had arrived first and obtained this opportunity, how would Ji Mountain handle the ganoderma and the small qiu?"
Jiang Ying smiled. "If I were lucky enough to get them, I would naturally cherish this fate. Ji Mountain would treat them with courtesy."
Chen Ping'an said, "That lightning-struck tree is dead but deeply connected to the mountain root. Transplanting the tree and the ganoderma—I might be able to help."
Jiang Ying said, "It's best to wait until the ganoderma truly opens its spiritual aperture and can briefly leave its cultivation spot before an outsider does this. Otherwise, it would more or less damage the ganoderma's fundamental vitality."
Pei Qian inwardly nodded at this.
This mansion lord lady, with just that one sentence, had already passed the test. This opportunity would become a good karmic link.
Only then would her master truly feel at ease.
Chen Ping'an smiled. "I was negligent. Lord Jiang's approach is more prudent."
Jiang Ying asked doubtfully, "Does that True Person Liang mean he is truly willing to let Ji Mountain pay a price to buy it?"
Just the small qiu, if willing to become a guest elder or offering of Ji Mountain, would be a great boon.
Among the dragon-kind in the world, those considered orthodox descendants, according to the "Aquatic Release Fish Chapter", were few: horned ones called qiu, hornless ones called chi. The small qiu that guarded the ganoderma was currently at the Cave Dwelling realm. Compared to common mountain and marsh spirits, it was harder for it to form, but once formed, and if successful in its waterwalk, the chance of becoming a flood dragon was very high. Whether the thousand-year ganoderma that could help increase the vitality of vegetation, or the small qiu with high origin and good cultivation aptitude, for both public and private reasons, her Ji Mountain mansion would certainly spare no effort to nurture and support them.
If the small qiu really went to her Ji Mountain territory, and after Ji Mountain was promoted to one of the Five Sacred Mountains, its landscape jurisdiction would more than double. She would definitely manage the "waterwalk" matter well; in the landscape officialdom, that wasn't considered embezzlement. With luck, within three hundred years, Ji Mountain could gain a land-immortal water flood dragon. It would be fortunate for both sides.
Moreover, there was the mysterious event in Vase Bottle Continent after the dragon-slaying battle—the birth of the first true dragon. Like a spring breeze sneaking in, sealing the mountains was lifted, and thousands of water tribes competed to cross.
It was said that near White Emperor City in Central Earth Divine Continent, the Dragon Gate by the Yellow River Lesser Heaven had gathered countless enlightened water tribes over the years, like crucian carp crossing the river, all wanting to leap over the Dragon Gate.
Chen Ping'an shook his head. "No talk of money. True Person Liang left only one final instruction: Lord Jiang should simply take the opportunity herself."
Chen Ping'an couldn't be bothered to find excuses. He figured this Ji Mountain lord lady, even if she thought more about it, would end up accepting this opportunity.
Jiang Ying stood frozen. That Guardian True Person of Great Liang was actually willing to give away this opportunity for free? Was it a trap? Or simply wanting to form an alliance with Ji Mountain, to help him find some mountain immortal herbs?
Chen Ping'an took his leave. Just as he was about to move, a girl at the back of the carriage procession, face flushed red, gathered courage and called out timidly, "Sect Leader Chen?"
Her voice was soft, barely a mosquito's hum. A palace-robed woman frowned slightly.
How could an outsider be so presumptuous when the mansion lord lady was discussing serious business with an honored guest? This silly girl, no sense of occasion! All day reading those messy mirrored flowers and water moons and landscape gazettes, not knowing to save money, and still wanting to marry into a good family? Or just hoping for a dowry grant from the mansion lord lady?
Chen Ping'an turned to look and asked with a smile, "You have something for me?"
The girl's ears instantly turned red. She said dazedly, "It really is Sect Leader Chen?"
Jiang Ying asked via mind voice, puzzled, "Hu Ou, what's going on?"
The girl stammered, "Reporting to my lady, this Immortal Master Cao is actually the Sword Immortal Chen of Fallen Mountain in Vase Bottle Continent, now also the sect leader! Back then, in full view of everyone, he turned the tables, dismantled the ancestral hall of Zhengyang Mountain, beheaded their mountain-protecting offering's head, green-robed with a sword, the sword light like a rainbow. In neighboring Vase Bottle Continent, this Sword Immortal's fame now rivals heaven..."
The girl spoke faster and faster, like pouring beans from a bamboo tube, without needing a draft. Many deeds, plus various rumors, she had long memorized, able to recite backward.
Jiang Ying was momentarily stunned by the girl's rambling.
Xiao Mo said via mind voice, "Young master, I just discovered that this little girl seems to be a descendant of a moon-house celestial artisan."
Chen Ping'an had only heard of moon palace seeds. As for moon-house celestial artisans, he hadn't seen any records even in the summer palace archives.
Xiao Mo began to explain a less important page of ancient history. In ancient times, such artisans were mostly family members of land immortals, similar to hereditary ennoblement. They had cultivation aptitude, but very ordinary, so they would be assigned to various temporary palaces and resort palaces. Additionally, some deities would go to the earth to find suitable candidates. As for how they were selected to fill vacancies, it involved a divine method similar to "Heaven's choice".
This was something Xiao Mo had overheard when he was brewing wine with that Cavern Lord Bixiao back then.
Generally, such moon house descendants, upon reincarnation in the mortal world, if they were demons, worshiping the moon for form transformation would give them a unique advantage.
As for the rest, in Xiao Mo's view, there wasn't much to it.
After all, in the past, these "artisans" were numerous. Just in the barbarian world, there were three bright moons including Haocai, with resort palaces everywhere. For example, one of the five supreme water gods had more than ten summer palaces? But if it were a different moon, Xiao Mo wouldn't have recognized the girl's identity. This girl named Hu Ou happened to be a descendant of that Haocai moon's household, but after ten thousand years, the bloodline was extremely thin.
Jiang Ying performed a curtsy. "Greetings, Sect Leader Chen. Earlier, I was blind and rude."
Chen Ping'an quickly returned the gesture with a cupped fist.
Finally, he declined her invitation, and the group did not detour to visit Ji Mountain mansion.
After Cui Dongshan's true body merged with his yin spirit, he didn't follow Chen Ping'an south but returned to Xian Du Mountain to continue his work, acting as both craftsman and overseer.
If he hadn't become sect leader, he would definitely have shamelessly stayed on. Not like now, rushing over in a flurry and rushing back in a hurry, not wasting a moment.
Before parting, Chen Ping'an casually asked about the outcome of the game in the Daoist temple. Cui Dongshan grinned. "Even with effort to throw the game, it's hard to lose."
The water and sky merged into one color; the river was wide, fish silent.
Chen Ping'an's group walked along the shore. This newly opened immortal ferry port affiliated with White Dragon Cave was called Wild Cloud Ferry, belonging to a sect called Lingbi Mountain. They took advantage of being near the water to claim the moon first, seizing this unowned Feng Shui treasure land, spending quite a bit of immortal money, patching and expanding, to reach the current ferry scale. But to be precise, Fallen Mountain's subordinate sect, Green Ping Sword Sect, was now the true owner of Wild Cloud Ferry.
However, Cui Dongshan acted discreetly, not letting any news leak. Even the "upper mountain" White Dragon Cave didn't yet know that Lingbi Mountain had made this deal with outsiders.
And the temporarily modest Wild Cloud Ferry, once Cui Dongshan had the time, would be expanded again. It would be one of the seventeen ferries on the Zephyrus Ferry route.
Cui Dongshan had given Lingbi Mountain a hundred Grain Rain coins: half as the ferry title deed money, half as a prepaid deposit. For the next three hundred years, Lingbi Mountain would receive a thirty percent cut of profits. The fifty Grain Rain coins would be deducted from that thirty percent share, but not deducted before paying dividends. Lingbi Mountain would still get a fifteen percent share annually.
So, besides the hundred Grain Rain coins already in hand, with that fifteen percent share, Lingbi Mountain could just lie on the account books collecting money for the next three hundred years.
Otherwise, relying solely on rents from sixty-some shops and a few toll fees from small ferries, when would they ever earn a hundred Grain Rain coins? That would be a pipe dream.
Thus, Lingbi Mountain was immensely grateful to that handsome youth with the red mole on his brow. As for his origins or background, they didn't inquire. As long as the money was real, that was enough.
With such a windfall of immortal money, Lingbi Mountain had many ways to make money, rolling it into more money.
For instance, now the southern Jade Gui Sect had founded the first mountain money bank in Tongye Continent's history. Not only could they store immortal money, but the gold, silver, and copper coins of various countries could be directly converted into immortal money, without accounting for the premium.
Since the current sect leader was no longer Jiang Shangzhen but the widely acclaimed great sword immortal Wei Ying, it was mostly trustworthy.
Although many immortal mansion sects were still hesitant, Lingbi Mountain had already sent people to Jade Gui Sect to discuss depositing money and sharing profits.
Chen Ping'an strolled around his own ferry port, finding everyone and everything dear, no matter how he looked.
Cao Qinglang suddenly said, "I heard from little senior brother that Fuyao Continent is restless. Some immortal masters were exploring deep underground and accidentally discovered a very rich ore vein. The material is unknown, but it naturally contains spiritual energy, which could be used as a new type of immortal money. Its quality is inferior to snowflake coins, but its quantity is enormous."
Pei Qian asked doubtfully, "Such a 'dragon vein' source of wealth—how did the barbarian demons fail to discover it back then?"
The account keeper Wei Wenlong had once used an analogy: the widely circulating silver in the mortal world was like hidden dragon veins.
Chen Ping'an said, "I'll have a chance to go see it."
On the journey north.
A white-clad figure amid white clouds.
Cui Dongshan looked back, but could no longer see his master's cloud-water silhouette.
He recalled Old True Person Liang Shuang's prophecy.
"The world has been waiting for you for a long time."