Chapter 899: Neighbors
The group disembarked at a ferry crossing of immortals called Mo Line Ferry. The ferry buildings were clustered together, though most were newly constructed after the war, giving it the appearance of a small town. A small river ran through the town, its waters tranquil and undisturbed. Along both banks of the river, shops stood in rows, but business was sluggish. The ferry had gotten its name from a peculiar aquatic creature that once inhabited these waters: neither fish nor snake, extremely difficult to catch, and doomed the moment it left the water. They had slender bodies with backs marked like an ink line, swimming in schools through the river, each line winding like a mountain range. But after the great war, not a single one of these creatures remained in the river, so the name Mo Line Ferry had become a misnomer.
Huang Yiyun led her disciple Xue Huai, along with two guests from Pu Mountain, to attend the sect-founding ceremony at Xian Du Mountain.
The old woman and young girl beside Ye Yunyun were none other than the proprietresses of the tea shed that also ran a betrothal shop by the Chilin River.
The old woman went by the alias Qiu Du. Her true form was an ancient jiaolong, with nearly five thousand years of Dao age. She had once served as a governess and instructor in the Old Great River Dragon Palace, a role akin to a "close minister of the emperor"—low in rank but substantial in authority, comparable to half a head law-enforcement patriarch among mountain immortals.
The young girl was named Hu Chuling, taking her surname from both her parents, with the nickname Cu Cu.
Unlike the old woman, she was not a mountain or marsh spirit creature but a native of the Chilin River region. Her ancestors had been stone quarriers with a deep understanding of water. The girl possessed first-rate immortal aptitude. Through a twist of fate, the old woman had tested her aptitude, temperament, and conduct, eventually taking her as a formal disciple. In truth, the two were more like family, bound by a bond that skipped a generation.
Out of caution, Qiu Du did not immediately leave the Chilin River area after the departure of the old True Man from Dragon Tiger Mountain and the green-robed sword immortal. Instead, she took the initiative to visit Pu Mountain's Cloud Grass Hall. On one hand, she went to thank Huang Yiyun, bearing gifts and presenting several thousand catties of fine Chilin River stones. On the other hand, in the present Tongye Continent, both local and out-of-province cultivators were quite unfriendly toward demons and monsters. There were qi refiners from other continents who formed groups, scouring mountains and overturning waters to capture and kill any remaining Wild Clan demons on the loose, earning money and gaining extra merit records from the academies.
Cloud Grass Hall accepted the gifts and understood the implication, reciprocating the favor. Ye Yunyun personally wrote a letter to Headmaster Cheng of the Great Fu Academy, effectively vouching for the old jiaolong. This was no small token of goodwill; if Qiu Du committed any misdeeds during her travels, Pu Mountain and Ye Yunyun would bear responsibility before the Academy.
Later, Cloud Grass Hall received a flying sword message. The sender claimed to be Cui Dongshan from Xian Du Mountain, a proud disciple of Chen Ping'an, inviting the master and disciple pair to visit as guests. At the end of the letter, besides a personal seal, there was also a private signature: a three-mountain pattern.
Ye Yunyun relayed this to the old woman, who happened to be visiting the mountain at the time. Xian Du Mountain was about to establish a sect, and the first sect master earnestly invited the master and disciple to visit.
The intent to recruit was quite obvious.
After learning this, Qiu Du deliberated and decided it was best to take Cu Cu to Xian Du Mountain for a look before making any decision. A tree moved would die, a person moved would live. Besides, the old woman had been confined to the Chilin River area for thousands of years, practically imprisoned. Now she wanted to go out and relax, take a breather. If she could secure a solid mountain identity for Cu Cu, that would also be a good thing. But becoming a registered immortal in the ancestral hall's golden jade register came with many rules and restrictions. So being a guest elder was best—a protective talisman with fewer constraints.
Ye Yunyun had not yet told Qiu Du about Chen Ping'an's various identities: the sect master of Fallen Mountain in Bottle Gourd Continent, the closed-door disciple of Wen Sheng, the last hidden official of the Sword Qi Great Wall, and of course, Ning Yao's Dao partner.
Anyway, once they visited Xian Du Mountain together, everything would soon come to light.
When Ye Yunyun appeared at the ferry, some roadside stall owners who had been listlessly waiting for business suddenly raised their voices in greeting.
Shop assistants also stepped out from behind counters and came to the door, whistling.
But when someone recognized the woman and shouted, "Huang Yiyun of Pu Mountain," they all fell silent like cicadas in winter and scattered like birds and beasts.
Offending a female Martial Stopping Realm warrior meant she could probably smash Mo Line Ferry with just a few punches.
Ye Yunyun glanced at the river, which no longer showed any ink-line phenomena, and asked casually, "Aunty Qiu, those creatures bred and thrived here for many years. Now we can't see a single one. Were they all taken by the Wild Clan demons?"
The old woman glanced not far away at a young shopkeeper sitting at his own store's entrance, sunbathing. After exchanging a look, the old woman did not speak with sound transmission but said aloud with a smile, "They've all gone into hiding. Their true name is Fushan Fish, one of the descendants of the Ink Dragon. They're not recorded in any books, so their fame has faded. They were long removed from the Old Great River's aquatic register. Secular rulers could not grant them investiture, so even if they succeeded in walking the river, they could never transform into dragons. Their Great Dao was cut off, leaving them only to linger on."
"Long ago, there was a Fushan Fish on the verge of shedding its mortal shell to become a dragon. It had a bitter feud with a branch dragon palace of a terrestrial lake along the Great River. At wit's end, it took the risk of choosing a thunderstorm day during the yellow plum season. Without reporting to the Great River Dragon Palace, it attempted to walk the river on its own, hoping to form a golden core. Somehow, the news leaked, and someone intervened, accidentally causing a flood that submerged over a thousand li of land on both banks, with thousands of corpses floating in the water. The crime was severe. Someone reported it, and the Great River Dragon King was furious. An aquatic creature under his jurisdiction dared to violate heavenly laws and bring disaster to the region. He ordered its arrest and execution. The Fushan Fish had no choice but to flee all the way here, seeking refuge with a mountain cultivator who bore fortune, hiding its aura to avoid calamity. As repayment, it had to help that sect quietly gather ferry water fortune. Only after the dragon-slaying campaign ended did it dare to show its face."
The young man sent a sound transmission to question her: "You old hag, that's hardly fair. Since we're both aquatic descendants of the Great River, we can be considered half Dao friends in the mountains. Even if you won't support me, why make things difficult? What, now that you've latched onto a big thigh, you plan to take me to Huang Yiyun and the Great Fu Academy to claim credit? Is this visit to Mo Line Ferry targeted at me?"
The old woman replied with a smile via sound transmission: "A mere little Fushan Fish, not even walking the river to transform into an Ink Dragon, lucky to have formed a golden core here, stuck at the Nascent Soul stage for so many years? If you knew who I was, you wouldn't be making such wild claims. Let's not dig up old history. Since you yourself said we're both remnants of the Great River and can be considered half fellow travelers, and considering you didn't go astray and join the Wild Clan back then, I'll give you some good advice: make your report to the Great Fu Academy early. If an Academy noble comes looking for you, it'll be too late. Of course, if you're willing to transfer to Pu Mountain, I can introduce you now."
Back then, this Fushan Fish had managed to escape the Great River Dragon Palace's wrath largely thanks to a plea from an Ink Dragon, with the old woman mediating on its behalf to the Dragon Princess. Otherwise, could a small mountain peak with only a single Earth Immortal really have sheltered it?
The young man sneered, "A real man does not become a skirt-chasing vassal."
Ye Yunyun also sensed something was up. "Aunty Qiu, what were you talking about with him?"
The old woman smiled. "Just a little Fushan Fish with ambitions higher than the sky. Unwilling to depend on others."
Ye Yunyun laughed. "After finally regaining freedom, and being a Nascent Soul cultivator, as long as his background is clean, once verified by the Academy, he could occupy a mountain or water area and found his own sect. If he can be his own backing, there's really no need to rely on anyone."
The old woman beside her was an exception, having grown accustomed to being a dragon palace official.
Having a high enough cultivation realm alone wasn't enough to found a sect; this was a generally accepted truth in the mountains.
Many newly rising sects started off with a bustle and noise, quite a spectacle, only to be a flash in the pan.
Take her own Cloud Grass Hall. Head Law-Enforcer Tan Rong, even after breaking into the Upper Five Realms and leaving Pu Mountain, still couldn't found a sect. The old Nascent Soul wouldn't even think about it.
In history, those founding generals and ministers who aided dragons and left their names in history were the same: they couldn't, wouldn't, and were unable to.
The young man seemed to change his mind and suddenly sent a sound transmission to the old woman: "You loud-mouthed old woman, you can tell Huang Yiyun that if she's willing to become my Dao partner, I might agree to marry into Pu Mountain."
The old woman couldn't help but laugh.
But she didn't relay that to Ye Yunyun. Instead, she phrased it differently, implying that this Fellow Daoist Fushan had long admired the mountain master.
Ye Yunyun just smiled and let it go.
They strolled through the various shops at the deserted ferry. With the lesson of the painting scroll fresh in mind, Ye Yunyun decided to look but not buy. Eventually, they found a quiet spot. She took out a folded paper boat from her sleeve—a colorful pheasant boat—and tossed it into the river. It was like a colorful bird plunging into the sea; the river water gently rippled and then suddenly revealed a high-grade talisman boat shaped like a multi-story vessel, two decks high, capable of carrying over thirty people. Compared to the costly and rare Radiant Sunset Boats, the Colorful Pheasant Ferry was the top choice for female cultivators on Tongye Continent, provided they could afford the Guyu Coins. But it wasn't suitable for long voyages, as it consumed too many immortal coins.
Next, this private ferry would cross the southern territory of an old dynasty's mountains and rivers. The straight-line distance to Xian Du Mountain was still about two thousand li. By ordinary carriage or boat, the journey would at least double.
The ferry rose into the air, making the earth's mountains and rivers look like miniature gardens.
Dressed in yellow, Ye Yunyun stood at the bow, her sleeves fluttering, a celestial presence.
Xue Huai looked at his master with only one thought: finding a future master's husband was going to be too difficult.
Pu Mountain's affairs were busy, so Head Law-Enforcer Tan Rong would arrive a bit later.
When the old Nascent Soul learned that the "Immortal Master Cao" who had previously browsed his Thousand Gold Ten Thousand Stone Studio was actually the true owner of both the Hundred Sword Immortal Seal Record and the Two Hundred Sword Immortal Seal Record, his eyes almost popped out. When Tan Rong came to his senses, he sprayed saliva everywhere, complaining that the mountain master should have told him earlier. Otherwise, wouldn't he have prepared writing materials and a pile of blank seal stones long ago, and sat the young hidden official down in a chair, not letting him go?
Ye Yunyun couldn't very well explain that she herself had only learned of Immortal Master Cao's true identity a few days before him.
The old law-enforcer was like a woman who had been jilted, his eyes full of reproach, nagging incessantly at Ye Yunyun.
Mountain master, you've ruined me!
If he had known the other party's identity earlier, the young hidden official wouldn't have left without leaving a few vibrant calligraphy works and spending the whole night carving over a dozen seal stones full of vigor. Chen Ping'an wouldn't have left the studio and Pu Mountain.
Now it was too late. He had let a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip through his fingers. How could he make up for it? When Tan Rong arrived at Xian Du Mountain, he would be an outsider and a guest. How could he have the face to ask?
Mountain master was muddled.
Mountain master, don't leave. You must compensate me for this loss. As for how to get calligraphy and seal stones from the young hidden official, that was the mountain master's business. He only cared about receiving the gifts. If the mountain master returned from the ceremony empty-handed, well, this thankless position of law-enforcer... Tan had long been troubled by it.
Ye Yunyun wasn't afraid of Tan Rong's threats, but she really couldn't understand why someone like Tan Rong, an old cultivator, would be fixated on the seal records and not on the young sword immortal's past troop deployments at the Summer Palace.
Ye Yunyun found it a bit of a headache. She gathered her voice into a thread and discussed with her disciple Xue Huai: "Do I really have to go to Xian Du Mountain and ask Chen Ping'an for seals or something? I can't bring myself to do it. How about you go?"
Xue Huai smiled. "Master, it's not hard for me to bring it up. But the issue is, the bar was set too high. The hidden official initiated the visit to Pu Mountain, which inadvertently inflated Elder Tan's expectations. In my opinion, it's just a matter of a few words..."
Noticing his master's changing expression and knowing her temper, Xue Huai immediately changed his tune: "If Master finds it truly embarrassing, I'll start the conversation at Xian Du Mountain and steer the topic. Then Master can chime in a few words. I believe with Sect Master Chen's character, he won't put Master in a difficult position with Elder Tan."
Then Xue Huai smoothed things over for Tan Rong: "Elder Tan has been obsessed with calligraphy and seal carving his whole life. He might even care about those more than cultivation. It's like a young poet meeting the most celebrated poet of the age, or a ci poet encountering Su Shi or Liu Yong. Master should understand a bit. As for Elder Tan's angry threats, don't take them seriously. He's just asking for an exorbitant price."
At this point, Xue Huai laughed. "Master, how about a bet? I bet Sect Master Chen is already prepared on this matter. He might even be waiting for Master or Elder Tan to bring it up."
Ye Yunyun didn't respond, but asked curiously, "Xue Huai, do you have a good impression of Chen Ping'an?"
Xue Huai smiled. "We're both scholars."
"I've been fortunate to follow Master in cultivation at Pu Mountain and have attended various ceremonies. I've seen quite a few reclusive masters, but a cultivator like Sect Master Chen is truly a first. It's refreshing."
"If I had to describe Sect Master Chen in one sentence..."
He paused briefly, then nodded to himself with a smile: "Solemn yet approachable; respectful yet at ease."
Ye Yunyun said, "That's high praise indeed."
It was around the year's end, still about half a month before the sect ceremony.
There was a private reason why Ye Yunyun was heading to Xian Du Mountain early.
She wanted to have an open fistfight with Chen Ping'an.
Among Martial Stopping Realm warriors, Ye Yunyun was extremely young. Back home, there were Martial Saint Wu Shu, Zhang Tiaoxia from the Central Continent, the old brute Wang Fushu from the North Jizhou Continent, Pei Axiang from the Thunder God Temple in the Beyond White Ice Continent—all of them were older.
Ye Yunyun really wanted to know, from a pure martial artist who could exchange blows with Cao Ci and was his same age, just how heavy his fists were, how deep his fist principles ran, and how high his fist techniques reached!
The colorful boat sailed into the sea of clouds, surrounded by mist that lifted the spirits.
The old woman was white-haired and stooped.
In the old days, she too had held a golden writ rain-walking talisman, revealed her true form, and ridden clouds and mist to dispense rain over mountains and rivers, sending down timely sweet rains.
Beside her, the young girl carried a hand warmer in both hands. Because of its small size, it was also called a sleeve warmer, used to warm hands and ward off cold. It was made of purple copper, with charcoal inside and woven bamboo strips on the outside.
The group looked down at the land. In places untouched by human presence, green mountains and clear waters still maintained their colors. But along the major rivers, the great cities and towns that had once been built by the water were now mostly ruins, scarred and devastated, a grievous sight.
Ye Yunyun couldn't help asking, "The Yuan clan of the Great Abyss hasn't been restored yet?"
Otherwise, with the foundation of the old Great Yuan Dynasty, after so many years of recovery, it shouldn't be in such a state of desolation and lifelessness.
She increasingly felt that Cloud Grass Hall not only needed to lift the ban on landscape gazettes but also set up a bureau to collect gazettes from various mountains.
Xue Huai sighed and explained the reasons to his master. It turned out that the old Great Abyss Yuan Dynasty had long fallen apart. Its territory had been split into three, with three collateral imperial descendants from vassal backgrounds each being supported as emperors, establishing separate states. The Great Abyss Yuan Dynasty had been one of the few on Tongye Continent that dared to act as a "mantis trying to stop a chariot" against the mountain dynasties. They had gathered large armies at the border and in the capital to resist the tidal wave of Wild Clan armies that swept across the land. The result was that merely seven places, including the capital, were besieged and massacred. The people were left in misery, the vitality was severely damaged. Now, compared to the Yu Dynasty, which had shared a similar national power in the past, it could no longer be compared.
The old capital ruins, among others, had become literal ghost cities, with malevolent yin energy soaring into the sky. Apart from ghost cultivators, qi refiners below the Earth Immortal realm generally detoured to avoid "courting trouble."
"Besides a few teams led by Academy nobles and worthies, along with registered cultivators from various peaks, who entered the ghost cities to search for hidden demons, the three separatist regimes also spared no effort in sending their own offerings to lead groups of qi refiners and escort soldiers into the cities to collect corpses. They spent a huge amount of talismans and immortal coins and held several water-and-land Dharma assemblies to guide the souls of the dead, but with little effect."
Otherwise, only wild cultivators would go to "search the mountains" under that pretense to pick up leftovers. Some old mansions of noble families, though dilapidated, might still yield unexpected finds. They strictly followed the rule of entering at sunrise and leaving at sunset, otherwise they risked getting lost in the dense mists and never returning, trapped in a ghostly labyrinth and becoming new ghosts themselves.
Ordinary martial artists with abundant yang qi absolutely dared not enter without permission. At most, they assisted the rogue cultivators, doing some path-clearing work in the cities and sharing in the profits afterward.
And most activities happened in the height of summer, on days when heavenly yang qi was at its peak. In this cold late winter period, one had to stay at least a hundred li away from the ghost cities.
Ye Yunyun asked, "Has no Pu Mountain disciple ever come here?"
Although most of their disciples were coordinating with the two academies and the Jade Gui Sect to search the mountains in southern Tongye Continent, seeing the chain of ghost cities in the old Yu Dynasty's territory still made her heart ache.
Xue Huai shook his head slightly and told the truth: "Not yet."
Tongye Continent was simply too vast, almost equivalent to the territory of two Bottle Gourd Continents. Moreover, there was no Great Li Dynasty here, no Embroidered Tiger Cui Chan, no invincible iron cavalry, and no mountain immortals bowing their heads to human dynasties. There was no such feat as erecting the laws of a nation on the peaks of mountains...
Ye Yunyun said, "After attending the Xian Du Mountain ceremony, let's travel through these ghost cities and see if any ferocious ghost generals or commanders have formed, trying to gather ghost soldiers to disturb the living world."
Once that happened, the ghost cities within the old Great Abyss Territory would form a small world similar to an ancient battlefield. Living beings trapped inside would be gradually affected by the murderous aura. Especially if the ghost cities formed a connected pattern, it would be even more troublesome. Ye Yunyun wouldn't blame the academies for inaction. In the years after the great war, the three newly established academies, including the Great Fu Academy—from headmasters and vice-headmasters to nobles and worthies, even Confucian scholars—had hardly any time for scholarly pursuits. They were busy all year round, running around and struggling to cope. Besides searching the mountains, mending the old land was also a tangled mess, with hidden dangers everywhere that needed the academies' attention. Over the years, many academy students had been injured or killed.
Xue Huai hesitated, then said, "The ghostly beings in the cities, even if fierce, were all pitiable and admirable in their past lives."
Ye Yunyun sighed. "I know that, of course. But what can we do now? We can't just leave the souls in the cities to be soaked in murderous aura year after year. The longer we delay, even if the overwhelmed academies can free up their hands, they will have no choice but to cleanse the ghost cities, which would be tantamount to a new massacre."
Xue Huai said worriedly, "Resettling those ghostly beings is very troublesome."
Not only on Tongye Continent, but except for the Central Continent, there were no ghost Dao sects with "zong" in their names. At most, some large sects with many branches and ample territory could set aside a few peaks for ghostly beings to cultivate. So the only way to make a decisive move now would be for a powerful Flying Ascension Realm cultivator skilled in the ghost Dao to expend his own Dao foundation and use heaven-reaching techniques to transform the aura of heaven and earth from turbid to clear.
Unfortunately, there were currently no Flying Ascension cultivators on Tongye Continent, let alone a mountaintop cultivator proficient in ghost Dao.
But it was said that in the past, an unidentified cultivator had suddenly appeared on the battlefield of Tongye Continent, leading an army of heroic spirits to block an army of bones under the command of the old Wild Clan King Bai Ying.
However, looking at the dilapidated old cities, even under the sunlight of broad daylight, they still gave off an eerie, ghostly feeling. One thing struck Ye Yunyun as strange: the murderous aura inside the cities was extremely heavy, but the sense of filth was not.
The old woman said to the young girl via sound transmission: "Cu Cu, let me tell you in advance: when we arrive at Xian Du Mountain, no matter how much you like it there or how good the conditions they offer, at most we'll become titular guest elders, not offering cultivators."
The young girl asked curiously, "Why is that?"
The old woman didn't explain much, just stroked the girl's head.
Actually, the best option would be for them to simply join Pu Mountain's Cloud Grass Hall.
Huang Yiyun was trustworthy, and Pu Mountain had an excellent reputation among both the mountains and the mortal world, especially for Ye Yunyun's Dao heart, which was like a clear spring, transparent to the bottom, worthy of entrusting one's life.
Unfortunately, neither she nor Pu Mountain had ever taken the initiative. Qiu Du couldn't very well force herself and Cu Cu upon them.
On the other hand, the young green-robed sword immortal, though he had seemed gentle and polite when they met at the river by the tea shed...
But the old woman couldn't see through his character at all.
Moreover, that Xian Du Mountain had turned a blind eye to these ghost cities filled with murderous aura, letting them be.
For mountain cultivators, a few thousand li was just a few steps apart, like neighbors visiting each other's houses.
But Xian Du Mountain, about to establish a sect, presumably had decent resources. This was like each sweeping the snow in front of their own door, not minding the frost on others' tiles.
One couldn't say Xian Du Mountain was wrong. The world of mortals rolled on, full of karma and obstacles. What fault was there in a cultivator keeping himself pure?
But the old woman couldn't help worrying. Cu Cu's talent was too good. If Xian Du Mountain had an improper door style and wanted to "make full use" of her, what would she do?
Joining a mountain sect was always easy to board but hard to disembark.
In her early years at the Great River Dragon Palace, holding an important post, she had seen enough of the treacherous scheming among colleagues, sects, and immortals.
Among mountain cultivators, those with bad reputations weren't necessarily full of malice.
And those with good reputations might be sanctimonious types, skilled in calculation.
With Cu Cu's cultivation aptitude, she would never end up like a pig's head with no temple to offer it to.
Even if it weren't for Huang Yiyun's Pu Mountain, maybe even Jade Gui Sect could take her in as a registered disciple of the ancestral hall. If not for Cu Cu not being a sword cultivator—a big disadvantage—she could have entered Divine Seal Peak and become a direct disciple of Sect Master Wei Ying.
So the old woman absolutely would not allow herself to push Cu Cu into a fire pit.
If it came to it, she would lower her own status, throw pride aside, and even have Cu Cu change her Dao lineage and master, just to secure a direct disciple identity in Pu Mountain's ancestral hall.
After all, she could no longer teach Cu Cu any advanced Dao techniques. Besides, a jiaolong and a human, master and disciple, had completely different Dao roots. Many life-bound secret techniques that only dragon kin could master would be twice the work with half the result for Cu Cu, wasting time. Human cultivators, unlike demons, placed great importance on a smooth start in climbing the mountain. It didn't matter if they didn't have the nominal bond of master and disciple.
The old woman reached out her withered hand and gently lifted the girl's sleeve, her eyes kind. "People say that choosing a master is like being reborn, and a woman going up the mountain to cultivate is like getting married. Your master is old, hard to realize the Great Dao. I must help Cu Cu find a good family before I can rest easy."
Beyond this, there was a secret matter the old woman hadn't told Cu Cu. Ordinary dragon palaces, so-called ruins, were simply sunken underwater.
But the Great River Dragon Palace where she had served was different from those dragon palaces of terrestrial rivers and lakes. It held a higher status. Opening its ruins was much more difficult and extremely hard to find.
Consider Dan Dan Furen's Lu Shui Keng—once sealed, even Fiery Dragon True Man couldn't forcibly open the restrictions.
As a governess of the Great River Dragon Palace, similar to a Hanlin Academy scholar teaching imperial princes, unlike that Fushan Fish from the golden jade collateral branch, the old woman was of orthodox origin. In short, Qiu Du was the key to unlocking the dragon palace secret realm.
Ye Yunyun never mentioned it, and the old woman trusted her own judgment and the other's character. Pu Mountain wasn't casting a long line to catch a big fish.
But Xian Du Mountain had sent an invitation hot on the heels of Sword Immortal Chen's departure.
How could the old woman not weigh the pros and cons? She made up her mind: before that true dragon from Bottle Gourd Continent announced to the world that she would gather all abandoned dragon palaces, she must make a trip to her "home country."
The old woman naturally wouldn't dare to enter and claim everything as her own. That would be too greedy. She would only pick one or two-tenths of the easily portable old treasures from the dragon palace as Cu Cu's dowry.
Above the old Yu Dynasty's territory, a colorful boat passed over a ghost city.
Inside a dilapidated, abandoned mansion, there were two people who had just entered the city not long ago... a pair of "gentlemen on the beam."
On the beam between them were two jugs of wine, a plate of salted peanuts, and a plate of dry-fried soybeans.
A shabby scholar picked up a peanut, tossed it high, caught it in his mouth, then glanced at the fat man beside him and advised, "You'd better get down. You might collapse the beam."
The fat man pouted and said stubbornly, "No way! I sit on a dragon throne, so why can't I sit on a little beam? This family's ancestors must have smoke rising from their graves for my gold-plated rear end to rest here."
These were none other than Zhong Kui and Master Gu Su.
They had visited the Earth God temple earlier and then wandered here.
Within the ghost city, there was a trace of grand hao ran qi.
It was this that kept the spirits of the many yin beings in the city from turning into fierce ghosts, maintaining a bit of clarity.
It must have been the work of that white-clothed young immortal.
The fat man grabbed a handful of soybeans, stuffed them into his mouth, and chewed noisily. Then he took a swig of wine, tilted his head back, and gulped it down like gargling water. "Zhong Kui, why don't you just tell Brother Chen straight out? Just ask him for help."
Zhong Kui took out the wooden box from his sleeve, placed it on his knee, and gently pushed open the lid. Inside was a set of Heavenly Master ghost-subduing coins. "How can I ask for a favor the first time we meet? I'd feel bad about it."
Zhong Kui picked up one of the coins, breathed on it, and wiped it with his sleeve. "Besides, establishing a sub-sect is a great celebration. If you heard what I want to do, wouldn't you find it inauspicious?"
The fat man chuckled. "Afraid of being turned down? Worried about losing face?"
Seeing Zhong Kui's gaze, the fat man quickly backpedaled. "Aren't you being too formal? Who are we to each other? Even someone who cares about face as much as I do bared his heart there."
Zhong Kui said, "It's precisely because I know he would agree, and without hesitation, that I'm troubled. I can't decide whether to bring it up, and when."
The fat man sighed. "I understand. It's like when I saw Brother Chen, I didn't ask him for a position as a guest offering either. The two of us have thin faces, and when we're out and about, that puts us at a big disadvantage."
Zhong Kui frowned slightly. "These people dare to stay overnight in the city? They're risking their lives for money, aren't they?"
The fat man laughed. "They don't know the inside story. Because of that entity, they think this place is safe. Little do they know they're already on the road to the Yellow Springs."
Inside this ghost city, due to the heavy resentment, a ghost that eats ghosts had accidentally been bred. It was far more ferocious than ordinary house-haunting fierce ghosts or ruin ghost kings. The biggest problem was that this ghost was like an exceptionally talented cultivation seedling. In less than ten years, by devouring its peers, it had already quietly formed a golden core. And it acted extremely cautiously, never discovered by cultivators. If it now devoured a large group of living people, especially the soul-nourishing qi refiners and the vigorous blood qi of pure martial artists, and obtained a few ghost Dao manuals, in less than three to five decades, it would become a real menace. If it refined the entire ghost city into its own small world, could walk under the sun without hindrance, and casually don an ordinary mortal's skin, trying to find it again would be like looking for a needle in the sea.
Otherwise, Zhong Kui wouldn't have brought Master Gu Su here to stop.
Slaying demons and vanquishing evil was a responsibility he could not shirk.
Zhong Kui finished a jug of wine, told the fat man to put away the dishes, lightly leaped down, and flew like a kite out of the main hall. He touched down briefly on the rooftops like a dragonfly skimming the water, then abruptly descended and settled on a railing outside a woman's boudoir. From afar, he watched a group of scavengers in the courtyard of a library building on this estate. There were over a dozen people in total, about half digging frantically on the spot, while the rest searched for cellars, dry wells, and hidden chambers throughout the mansion. Everyone was bustling. Among them were half-baked qi refiners and martial artists, most of whom were wearing armor scavenged nearby, carrying bows or crossbows on their arms, or hanging a copper coin sword at their waist. One man carried a bag of glutinous rice and a pouch of black dog blood. Another qi refiner had bells at his waist and held a demon-reflecting mirror, clearly well-prepared.
Outside the mansion gate, several wheelbarrows were parked. Donkeys and horses, no matter how much they were whipped, refused to enter the city.
They dug up seven or eight jars of silver, and cheers erupted like thunder.
One gaunt, sallow young man suddenly said, "Try digging another yard or two deeper."
Sure enough, a yard down, they unearthed more jars with even more jars inside. When opened, they contained even more valuable jewelry and valuables.
The fat man chuckled. "Judging by the mansion's layout, before retiring, this must have been a third-rank capital official. And after all that, he only saved this much? A truly incorruptible official. If he were lucky enough to be one of my beloved ministers, I'd posthumously award him a fine posthumous title starting with 'literary.'"
In the courtyard, a beautiful woman about thirty years old, slightly short but stunningly attractive, with fair skin, was dressed in a tight waist coat and night-walking clothes, accentuating her curves. Her skin was as white as snow. Her eyes sparkled, and her voice was sweet and cloying. "Gu Qiu, you really are something. For today's haul, you can take an extra ten percent."
The young man bowed to thank her.
The fat man lay on the railing, craning his neck, eyes gleaming. He muttered, "This elder sister truly carries herself like a being from beyond the mundane world. Seeing her makes me forget all vulgarity."
Others in the mansion also gathered in the courtyard. One person held a large fire-painted gourd, complete with a stem, in excellent condition. He asked the woman, "Madam, is this one of you immortals' magic tools?"
The woman glanced at it dismissively. There weren't that many mountain magic tools in the world. "Only those well-fed, idle rich households would treasure such a thing. It's worth a bit of money, but you'd have to ask Gu Qiu—he's the expert."
The young man said, "If you find a cultured connoisseur, it might fetch three or four hundred taels of silver. But at an immortal ferry, it won't sell well."
The man looked at the woman, spread one hand, and grinned as he stroked the gourd before tossing it carelessly against the wall, shattering it.
The woman shot him a flirtatious look. "What a sight you are."
The young man lamented inwardly but dared not say a word.
The woman was quite pleased with herself. She had picked up a treasure for nothing. The young man, a scion of a family from the former Imperial Weaving Bureau, had an excellent eye. Otherwise, they would have been wandering blindly in the city and likely halved their earnings.
Another person dragged a large hempen bag to the foot of the steps and rummaged through it, letting Gu Qiu appraise the prices one by one. Valuable items were kept; worthless ones were smashed. The man pulled out a wide-mouthed, wide-rimmed celadon vessel with a polychrome enamel lotus and egret pattern. He didn't know its use, but it looked valuable. He asked the young man, "Is this a vase?"
"Spittoon."
"A what?"
"Worthless."
At the top of the steps, a burly man in armor sat on a rosewood armchair, both hands resting on his sword. His face was crisscrossed with scars, making him look quite ferocious. He was stepping on a piece of nanmu couplet that had fallen from its pair. Earlier, Gu Qiu had said it was quite valuable, the work of a literary master from a former dynasty of the Yu Dynasty. If the pair were intact, it could sell for five or six hundred taels of silver. The man couldn't stand his woman exchanging flirtatious glances with this pretty boy, so he had crushed it with his foot.
The man glanced at the sky and said solemnly, "Time to head back."
This group had arrived at the old prefectural seat in early summer this year, looking for leftovers from the registered immortals. Unexpectedly, they had struck it lucky and been very successful. Compared to counterparts in other ghost cities who had encountered many mishaps and lost lives, they had suffered no major losses so far. The city only had a few wandering solitary spirits and wild ghosts at night. They had chosen a prefectural City God temple as their resting place, and the ghosts dared not approach even at night.
In half a year, totaling it up, converted into immortal coins, they had earned nearly one whole Guyu Coin.
Zhong Kui glanced at a small house in the city. A young girl was leaning sideways against a peach tree, her face like a peach blossom.
In this late winter season, peach blossoms blooming fully on the branches was, of course, unnatural. The girl seemed to notice Zhong Kui's gaze, shyly turned away, and walked off slowly. When she lifted the curtain and looked back, she broke into a smile.
Zhong Kui sighed, stood up, clapped his hands, and called out to the people in the courtyard, "Hey, everyone, since you're heading back, make it quick. You've earned plenty already. Just leave the city and go home."
The dozen or so people in the courtyard tensed up, weapons at the ready. They all looked up at the nearby tower, seeing only a frail scholar accompanied by a fat, big-headed man.
The burly man sitting in the chair turned to look at Zhong Kui and sneered, "Man or ghost?"
One of the qi refiners vigorously shook his bell, then raised his bronze mirror high, using the sunset light to shine on the two uninvited guests.
The mirror's light flickered across Zhong Kui's face. He turned his head slightly and waved his hand, smiling. "Alright, alright. I'm just kindly warning you that there's a ghost in the city that's been eyeing you, biding its time."
The fat man rolled his eyes.
The qi refiner said softly, "They're not demons or spirits."
The woman looked at the refined, green-robed man with a scholarly air. She bit her lip. Oh, another poor scholar.
The man who had tossed the fire-painted gourd stared at the fat man lounging on the railing and laughed loudly. "It's year-end, and you still dare to run out of the pigsty? Are you worried that we brothers don't have enough to eat in the city?"
"Young man, no need to be so harsh. That was unpleasant to hear."
Yu Jin stood up, withdrawing his gaze from the woman. "Within the four seas, all men are brothers. Meeting each other out on the road is fate. No need for hurtful words."
Zhong Kui glanced at the fat man. Why was he so good-tempered all of a sudden?
In the past, when encountering similar situations, with himself around, the fat man wouldn't dare to hurt anyone, but he would definitely have a sharp tongue.
Seems like he had learned his lesson at Xian Du Mountain.
Zhong Kui's gaze finally settled on the young man "Gu Qiu," who appeared no different from a normal person. He spoke via sound transmission: "Stop now."
The young girl leaning against the peach tree in that small courtyard was actually a Golden Core stage zombie ghoist. And this young man was the true master of this ghost city.
The young man looked up at Zhong Kui and replied via sound transmission: "These people all deserve to die. I've heard that in your mountains, there's a saying: 'Even immortals find it hard to judge the dead.'"
Zhong Kui shook his head. "Judging life and death is not that simple. You can't even 'steady' the City God temple yet, nor can you turn the records of merits. Don't be too overconfident."
The young man was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Then I'll just take them out of the city."
Zhong Kui asked with a smile, "Aren't you going to ask about my identity first, or probe my realm?"
The young man shook his head. "No need. Sir is an upright man. I dare not offend."
The fat man exclaimed in wonder, "What a smooth talker. What a waste to be a ghost."
Then the fat man jumped as if his backside was on fire. "Oh my, how did Sect Master Chen get here? I'm sorry I didn't welcome you from afar! No wonder this eerie ghost city suddenly feels so clear and celestial. It must be Sect Master Chen's esteemed presence..."
As he spoke, he flicked his toe, his two hundred-odd jin of flesh lifting lightly off the ground. He balanced one hand on the railing, nimbly leaping out of the woman's boudoir, and landed silently at the foot of the courtyard steps.
A figure in a green long gown stood behind the chair of the sword-wielding man, looking down at the crushed nanmu couplet, then scanning the broken porcelain fragments at the foot of the steps. He looked regretful.
Do you call yourselves itinerant merchants?
How much effort would it take to bring a few more wheelbarrows?
Chen Ping'an looked up and smiled at Zhong Kui, explaining, "I was passing by and saw you here, so I came to have a look."
Zhong Kui complained, "Is this how you seclude yourself to heal your injuries?"
The fat man immediately scowled and turned to Zhong Kui, glaring. "How dare you! How do you speak to my brother Chen?!"
Zhong Kui laughed in exasperation. "What a royal pain you are."
The fat man said with a sense of righteousness, "I'm standing by my own brother. Should I be siding with an outsider like you?"
Chen Ping'an patted the fat man's shoulder and reminded him, "Don't overdo it. Watch the heat of the fire."
The fat man humbly said, "Sect Master Chen is truly a veteran of the martial world. Every casual word is an invaluable piece of experience."
The people in the courtyard were utterly bewildered.
Especially the armored warrior sitting majestically in the chair. He remained motionless, exuding the demeanor of a master like a mountain or deep pool.
Because the green-robed man who had appeared out of nowhere behind him lightly touched the back of the chair with one hand, this Sixth Realm martial artist not only couldn't move—he had tried—but was completely unable to budge an inch.
Chen Ping'an looked at that "Gu Qiu." Earlier, while overlooking the ghost city from the sea of clouds, he had sensed something off about this young man. But with Zhong Kui around, there was no need to worry.
He looked up at Zhong Kui and laughed. "And you still have the nerve to call Yu Jin a royal pain? Do you expect me to beg you or ask you for help?"
Zhong Kui rubbed his chin and said, "No hurry. After the Beginning of Spring, I'll pick a day."
Chen Ping'an said, "Then I'll be on my way."
Zhong Kui waved his hand.
The green-robed figure vanished on the spot.
Inside the colorful boat, it descended and landed in the river, simultaneously shrinking to the size of a small covered boat. They had arrived at a strategic location. Two mountains squeezed the river together, the cliffs steep as if sliced by a knife, with faint chisel marks visible. As they sailed downstream into the gorge, the light suddenly dimmed, as if entering the gates of hell. A large black rock rose abruptly in the middle of the river, like an ancient mountain spirit in black armor wading through the water, pausing here to rest, its massive body forcibly splitting the river in two. Local boatmen regarded this place as a peril.
Xue Huai smiled and explained, "During the low-water autumn and winter, it's somewhat better, but in the summer when the water is high, the currents are treacherous. Boats shoot like arrows off a string, easily crashing into the rock, destroying both boat and crew. Or they collide head-on with boats going upstream. Especially during floods, the surging water rushes straight for this central rock, creating a rainbow effect. Even the most experienced boatmen dare not navigate then."
Xue Huai enjoyed traveling to famous mountains and great rivers. He had been here before, specifically choosing a moonlit night during a flood. The old scholar had stood on a single small raft, and the locals mistook him for an immortal.
Ye Yunyun asked, "With this giant rock standing in the river, obstructing water transport, didn't the local court enshrine a water god or river earl and build a shrine nearby to suppress the water fortune and calm the water veins?"
Xue Huai shook his head. "Not only has there never been a court-invested water god shrine from ancient times, even the local natives dare not build any unauthorized shrines that don't conform to rites. They say it's a fight between the mountain god and the water god. Building a shrine—whether one or two—would be improper, regardless of whether they sacrificed to the mountain god or the water god. However, local county prefects, upon taking office, had to come here and throw official documents into the water along with cattle and horses as a 'water sacrifice' to seek protection."
Ye Yunyun said doubtfully, "Doesn't this look a bit like the historical Yan Yu Dui?"
Xue Huai praised, "Master's knowledge is truly vast. If you hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have thought of Yan Yu Dui."
There were four famous 'midstream pillars' in the Haoran World. Yan Yu Dui was one. The White Emperor City in the Central Continent also had one, with the character for 'dragon gate' inscribed in red lacquer.
Ye Yunyun said, "If this were in Pu Mountain territory, we could carve a small foothold on the north side of the rock for warriors to stand and deliver punches during floods, to train their bones and muscles."
Xue Huai tentatively asked, "Should I go talk to the local court?"
Buy it.
His master, always dressed in yellow with no makeup, never liked ornate clothing. Spending money was quite different from ordinary women.
Ye Yunyun turned to the old woman. "Aunty Qiu, is there anything strange in the water?"
The old woman smiled and shook her head. "Actually, there's no aquatic being causing mischief. It's just a meteorite that happened to fall into the river and take root. But it seems at the base of the rock in the riverbed, some expert has driven iron chains to pin it down, probably because he couldn't take it himself and didn't want other immortals to benefit. This rock isn't of high grade, can't be refined into anything good. Its material is very heavy, hard to quarry with ordinary techniques and weapons; blades would dull easily. And the weapons forged from it aren't worth much."
In the history of the old Yu Dynasty, the Imperial Observatory had indeed sent geomancers to inspect here, and their conclusion was similar to Aunty Qiu's.
The divine weapons and famous blades with great reputations in the martial world were often forged from such meteorites, with differences in the degree of refinement, like a hundred or a thousand temperings.
The national-hero saber of the Great Spring Dynasty was an example, but its material itself was far superior.
"So its only use is to be uprooted and moved away, to be used as a whole feng shui stone. But even for an Earth Immortal level qi refiner, without the help of mountain-moving spirits or talisman armored warriors, moving this small mountain is very difficult. I've heard that the successive emperors of the Yu Dynasty were frugal and unwilling to mobilize a large workforce to move it to the capital."
Meanwhile, a slender figure landed on a mountain cliff. When the young woman spotted Huang Yiyun's group, she was slightly surprised. She immediately rode the wind down to the bank and lightly stepped forward, staying abreast of the colorful boat.
Pei Qian calculated the time; Ye Yunyun should have reached Mo Line Ferry by now. Before going out to sea, Junior Brother Cui Dongshan had asked her to wait for the guests here. If she didn't find them, it was fine. He had taken a fancy to a certain river rock and said that Senior Sister Pei could move it to Xian Du Mountain if she didn't mind. He had already negotiated the price with the person in charge of this area.
At the ferry, Pei Qian hadn't seen Huang Yiyun. She hadn't expected to encounter her here.
Pei Qian cupped her fists in greeting and asked, "Has Sect Master Ye taken a fancy to this river rock? Planning to move it to Pu Mountain?"
Ye Yunyun laughed. "So Xian Du Mountain also has its eye on it?"
Pei Qian smiled sheepishly.
"It's too far from Pu Mountain. No such intention."
Ye Yunyun said, "How are you going to move it away?"
This place was still a long way from Xian Du Mountain. Moving mountains and peaks had high requirements. Unless you could mobilize mountain-moving spirits like those that move mountains or push peaks, the cultivator's realm had to be high. You first needed to cut off the mountain's root, and also be proficient in talismans and formation Dao. Over such a long distance, moving a mountain was a heavy burden, prone to accidents.
If it were just moving the rock in the water, the Qiu Du on the boat had some methods. But once on land, it would be very tricky. Even if she revealed her true jiaolong form, it wouldn't be easy.
Pei Qian's answer was concise and to the point: "Carry it."
Ye Yunyun nodded with a smile. "You go ahead. We'll wander a bit more and then head to Xian Du Mountain."
Pei Qian stopped on the bank.
The colorful boat shot downstream like an arrow.
But the group turned to look back.
Pei Qian jumped into the river. In the blink of an eye, the river churned, and from the depths came a sound like muffled thunder.
In a moment, she snapped several iron chains with her bare hands, then dug a large hole in the riverbed. She lifted her hands, supporting the entire river rock, and hurled the small mountain into the air. She followed with a punch that sent the falling rock soaring another hundred zhang higher. Her figure, as small as a mustard seed, appeared beside the small mountain, stopping midair. She drew back her arm and punched, sending the rock tumbling another hundred zhang through the sea mist. Her speed was like a thunderbolt as she rushed through the void, tilted her head, and with her shoulder lifted the mountain another ten-plus zhang. Then she positioned herself behind it and thrust out a palm...
And so, rock and person together headed toward Xian Du Mountain.
The old woman swallowed hard. A young girl like that, where did she get such strength?
Could she be a Peak Mountain Realm martial artist?
Wasn't that talent a bit too exaggerated?
Ye Yunxu asked with a smile, "Xue Huai, still want to trade punches with her?"
Among pure martial artists, those of the same realm were considered peers.
So Xue Huai and Pei Qian, as direct disciples of Ye Yunyun and Chen Ping'an respectively, could very well have a sparring match before their masters did. That would be normal.
Besides, Xue Huai's main purpose for this trip was to exchange punches with Pei Qian and see if he could withstand twenty of her blows.
Xue Huai gave a wry smile. "It seems like asking for trouble no matter how I look at it."
To an outsider, it was just a show. But a connoisseur understood the technique. For Pei Qian to "move mountains" like this, besides having powerful fist strength, her fist technique had to contain subtle force. Otherwise, a punch that was only heavy and not clever would easily shatter the rock into countless pieces.
Ye Yunyun stifled a laugh. "Endure twenty punches?"
Xue Huai took a deep breath. "I'll aim for at least ten!"
During Pei Qian's mountain-moving journey, a green-robed figure emerged in the sea mist. Pei Qian turned her head to speak.
Chen Ping'an put on a stern face and said, "Don't let that pure true qi drop."
Pei Qian grinned and nodded, continuing to punch. Of course, she wouldn't.
Chen Ping'an only said that on the surface. What he really wanted to say in his heart was that Pei Qian could afford to slack off a bit, take a few extra breaths of pure true qi. It wouldn't hurt.
Strict teacher. Loving father.
Like two identities fighting within him.
He both felt that Pei Qian, by forging ahead with one breath, finishing what she started, was good.
And yet, deep inside, he hoped that his already-grown disciple would occasionally act like the little charcoal in the old days, "slacking off." What did it matter?
Wasn't all the hardship in childhood meant to make it easier in adulthood?
The complexity of this feeling could not be explained to outsiders.
Accompanying Pei Qian for over a hundred li of sea mist, Chen Ping'an finally stopped and said, "Master still has some things to do. Take care on the road."
Pei Qian blurted out, "Don't worry, Master. I won't offend any mountain or water spirits along the way. If I encounter any high mountains with City God temples at their feet, I'll make a detour."
Chen Ping'an was at a loss for words.
Had he been too strict with her before?
Probably.
Pei Qian moved farther away. After throwing another punch, she looked back. Master was still standing there. Seeing her turn around, he smiled and waved from afar.
Mo Line Ferry.
Rain poured down like a dragon lord spilling ink.
Like the little charcoal girl back then, holding a brush to trace characters, until there were no characters left, only ink blots.
A figure in a green robe, wearing a conical hat and straw rain cloak, hurried along. He stopped outside a shop and took off his hat.
The young shopkeeper inside was stroking a white jade handpiece carved with a fish transforming into a dragon. The customer shook his hat at the door and asked with a smile, "Could I borrow this place to shelter from the rain?"
The young man nodded. "As you wish."
He glanced at the cloaked man a few times. The other pretended to size up the various cleverly made, clearly priced curios in the shop. After enduring it for a moment, the young man couldn't be bothered with the roundabout talk. "So, because I refused your toast, you've come to force me to drink the penalty wine?"
From this, it seemed that Pu Mountain's Cloud Grass Hall was merely a bunch of fame-seekers. Sure enough, there were hardly any good birds among these mountain cultivators.
Across the entire continent's immortal mansions, only Peace Mountain cultivators, with just one word, could persuade him to go there. He'd take any position, any title, no questions asked.
Otherwise, if Jade Gui Sect's ancestral hall sent an Upper Five Realm patriarch personally to Mo Line Ferry to invite him out of retirement, he would reluctantly agree to be a guest elder or something.
Other than that, he had no interest in the immortal mansions and sects of Tongye Continent. What mountainside monarch's golden peak, or mountain prime minister's white dragon cave—none of them caught his eye.
The customer laughed and asked, "Why do you say that, shopkeeper?"
The young man sneered. "Since you immortal masters of Pu Mountain like to beat around the bush so much, why not just take a few more turns around Mo Line Ferry? Why must you take shelter in my little shop?"
The customer laughed again. "You've misunderstood. I'm not from Pu Mountain."
The young man looked puzzled. "Just here to buy something from my little shop?"
Chen Ping'an smiled. "Not entirely."
He wanted to see this Nascent Soul cultivator in person, and if feasible, try to invite him to be a protective offering at Peace Mountain.
Earlier, at the mountain gate of Peace Mountain, a Confucian scholar named Yang Pu had mentioned something. There was a young-looking cultivator who claimed to be from Mo Line Ferry, named Yu Fushan, with the same Dao name, Fushan.
This out-of-town cultivator had only offered three sticks of incense at the mountain gate, chatted briefly with Yang Pu, and then left. But he told Yang Pu that if anything came up, he could send a flying sword message to Mo Line Ferry, and he would do what he could.
Earlier at Dense Snow Peak, Chen Ping'an had reviewed an intelligence report. Cui Dongshan had personally done the legwork, investigated all the mountain spirits and water monsters around Xian Du Mountain, and recorded everything. Besides Mo Line Ferry, he had also visited all the ghost cities within the old Yu Dynasty.
Furthermore, according to Cui Dongshan's plan, Junior Brother Cao Qinglang would likely change his identity and take the imperial exams again. In the soon-to-be-unified new Yu Dynasty, he would first earn the title of achieving three consecutive first places in the examinations. Then he would serve as an official, climbing the ranks step by step. In Cui Dongshan's words, it would "at least make the master's master happy."
Yu Fushan said lazily, "Speak your mind. Spit it out fast. As soon as the rain stops, I'll be kicking you out."
Chen Ping'an got straight to the point. "Daoist friend, would you be willing to go to Peace Mountain to cultivate?"
"Who do you think you are?"
Yu Fushan couldn't help laughing. He pointed his thumb at himself. "I speak bluntly. If you don't like it, don't listen."
A mere Dragon Gate realm cultivator dared to talk about the path of cultivation for him, a Nascent Soul?
Besides, did you have even half a copper coin's worth of connection to Peace Mountain? What right did you have to say anything?
Chen Ping'an smiled. "I imagine you've already heard that Huang Ting has returned to Tongye Continent from the Five Colors World and is currently visiting Little Dragon Pool. I believe she will soon go to Peace Mountain to rebuild the sect."
Yu Fushan frowned. "Is that so?"
Another one who doesn't read landscape gazettes.
Chen Ping'an nodded. "It is indeed so."
Yu Fushan asked, "Making a bridal dress for others to wear? What's in it for you?"
Chen Ping'an smiled. "A close neighbor is better than a distant relative."
Yu Fushan thought for a moment, his eyes strange. He asked, "Are you two Dao partners?"
Chen Ping'an shook his head. "Just friends."
Yu Fushan said, "Oh," as if suddenly enlightened. "Then a future Dao partner?"
This old Nascent Soul water creature, who had preserved his youthful appearance, chuckled. "Isn't this like taking advantage of a fire, or exploiting someone's weakness?"
Then the shopkeeper added an even harsher remark. "If I'm not mistaken, you're a half-baked scholar who didn't get into the academy?"
Chen Ping'an smiled and said nothing. The more he explained, the more misunderstandings there would be.
Daoist friend, you're such a good talker. No wonder you can't break through to the Jade Pu Realm.
It took a full three thousand years to go from Dragon Gate to Nascent Soul.
Earlier, it was fortunate that Huang Yiyun had magnanimity and didn't take that joke seriously.
Otherwise, based solely on his Nascent Soul cultivation and having never walked the river to transform into a dragon, his physical toughness was limited by the innate threshold of his Dao roots. It was really quite average, very average. If Ye Yunyun had had a worse temper, this Fushan Fish might have drowned in the river.
Yu Fushan asked, "You really are friends with Huang Ting?"
Right, how could a Dragon Gate cultivator be worthy of my Huang Ting?
Chen Ping'an nodded. "I had the fortune to meet the old Heavenly Lord of Peace Mountain while traveling through Tongye Continent in my early years."
Yu Fushan was silent for a long time, deep in thought. Finally, he said, "If you can have Huang Ting come here to find me, I'll believe you. Then we'll talk about what to do after I've discussed it with her."
Chen Ping'an smiled. "Friend Yu Fushan is prudent. That's only proper."
Yu Fushan was about to ask the other's name and sect when he saw the man pick up an inkstone made from an ancient brick dating from the founding era of the Yu Dynasty. He turned and asked with a smile, "Can I get a fifty percent discount?"
Yu Fushan laughed and retorted, "What do you think?"
Fifty percent? Why don't you just rob me?
But then the man in the rain cloak started taking out money.
Meanwhile, the colorful boat was approaching its destination. Ye Yunyun could clearly see Xian Du Mountain, which had originated from an old mountain range.
She suddenly rubbed her forehead. Besides the matter of Tan Rong, there was an even more difficult task. Before setting out, she had made another visit to the water mansion of that Eastern Sea woman. That visit had caused no small trouble. That water goddess, who had suddenly become love-struck, started throwing a tantrum, insisting that Ye Yunyun bring along a set of treasured woodblock print colored poetry and painting compilations. The figures were divine, the water and trees serene, the colors complex, the printing extremely beautiful—truly exquisite. She said that when she met the hidden official, she absolutely had to have him help her ask Wei Jin, the great sword immortal of Wind Snow Temple, for an autograph. There was no rush; even if it took ten years or a sixty-year cycle, that was fine. The extra prints were her thanks to the hidden official.
The old woman asked via sound transmission, "Sect Master Ye, isn't the choice of site for Sword Immortal Chen's sect... a bit careless?"
No matter how the old woman looked at it, it was a barren land not suitable for establishing a sect.
It wasn't exactly a place of outstanding natural beauty.
The mountain fortune was mediocre, the water fortune thin, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was only slightly better than a so-called 'lawless land.'
Ye Yunyun smiled. "Back then, our Pu Mountain, though not exactly a barren land of poverty, was much the same as this. It was all built up bit by bit."
Seeing that Huang Yiyun didn't want to say more, the old woman didn't press further.
Some sects' Golden Core opening peaks might not even match this place's aura.
Unless... the other party had already moved mountains, diverted rivers, brought things out of nothing, and was now employing some kind of illusion?
The ones receiving guests at Xian Du Mountain were Pei Qian and that scholar named Cao Qinglang. They had already met at the tea shed in her hometown.
The old woman had a favorable impression of this Cao Qinglang.
But she didn't get to see Sword Immortal Chen or that Immortal Master Cui.
Inside Dense Snow Peak, the hospitality was simple, but Ye Yunyun and her party didn't mind at all.
On the way up the mountain, Xue Huai tentatively asked Pei Qian if they could find a chance to exchange fists.
Pei Qian smiled and said she would have to ask her master. If he agreed, it would be no problem.
After settling Cu Cu in her quarters, the old woman went to find Ye Yunyun and said she wanted to travel around the area.
Ye Yunyun naturally had no objection.
Leaving Dense Snow Peak, the old woman concealed her form, using her life-bound water technique to travel stealthily far away.
She arrived at a boundary between sea and land. Who would have thought that this place, though near the sea, was perpetually arid—exactly where the Great River Dragon Palace was hidden.
Using a secret treasure, she opened the restrictions and toured the ruins of the Great River Dragon Palace. The old woman was moved by the relics. Beautiful buildings everywhere, but utterly lifeless. Especially the princess's residence. How lively it had been in the old days, filled with guests, clinking cups, countless water immortals and mountain lords as distinguished guests. The old woman stood at the door, unable to help but feel dejected, secretly weeping.
In ancient times, the Four Seas Dragon Lords governed all water transportation in the world. Sea dragons, holding secret pure vases from the dragon palace, would go to the land to dispense rain and clouds. One drop of water from the sky, one foot of rain on the ground.
They would rest on those dragon-rest stones.
Those days were gone.
Qiu Du didn't immediately start gathering rare treasures and searching the many objects to take. Instead, she wiped her tears and went to the main hall of the Great River Dragon Lord.
Outside the threshold, the old woman let out a quiet sigh. She suddenly looked up sharply. On the steps below the dragon throne, a young woman in a snow-white long robe was sitting.
The old woman thought her eyes were playing tricks, or it was some mirage. But the next moment, she confirmed it was a real person. The old woman's voice turned sharp. "Who dares trespass in the dragon palace's forbidden ground?!"
Then, instantly, her heart filled with sorrow.
The young woman tugged at the corner of her mouth. "Isn't that my line to ask you?"
She looked down from on high, her expression arrogant. Her pale, snow-colored eyes were full of disdain, with faint streaks of gold swirling within, like countless golden dragons swimming at the bottom of two ancient wells.
A Nascent Soul old jiaolong, and quite loud, full of energy. It reminded her inexplicably of the gossiping women by the well in her old hometown.
The old woman frowned. "This old body was a retainer of this Great River Dragon Palace. Who are you, miss?"
In ancient times, the dragon palaces of the world were led by the Four Seas Dragon Palaces, followed by eighteen Great River Dragon Palaces. Many terrestrial rivers and lakes were suffixed with "long," such as Qiantang Long, West Lake Long, etc.
The hierarchy was strict, with no room for transgression. There were clear ranks and grades. For example, dragon pillars were elaborately carved with five claws, four claws, or three claws. Their colors also followed strict ritual systems, divided by proximity and favor into gold-yellow orthodox, crimson-purple, turquoise-green, ink-black, etc. The coiled dragons on the pillars of this main hall were four-clawed and turquoise-colored, meaning the master of this dragon palace, though in a high position, was not of orthodox descent from the lineage of the ancient Four Seas Dragon Lords.
The young woman yawned and teased, "You said yourself you're an old retainer. So why are you here now? To steal something?"
Qiu Du's old face flushed with embarrassment, a little guilty.
The mysterious woman who could enter the Great River Dragon Palace had neither attacked nor tried to claim all the old treasures for herself. She didn't seem interested in chatting with the old woman either.
Although she had not become the supreme ruler of terrestrial water transport, she was only one of the Four Seas Water Lords, the Central Confucian Temple had promised her something: all dragon palace sites and ruins that had already been excavated and occupied by various immortal forces could not be reclaimed or demanded back.
At the same time, all dragon palaces that were still sealed, regardless of size or scale.
They all belonged to her.
For example, this place.
In fact, she had visited before but hadn't moved anything.
She just used it as a dragon-rest stone to cool off in the summer.
Escorting Haoran forces to the Wild Clan world, the water god's convoy was not easy. This time, she was taking a breather between duties.
The young woman suddenly sniffed the air, then looked at the old woman a few times. Finally, she propped her chin on her hand, smiled, and softened a little. "Did you suffer a big loss at the hands of some so-called extraordinary person? Tell me, what taboo did you break back then?"
The old woman remained silent.
She didn't want to reveal her own shortcomings, and she dared not speak ill of the Dragon Tiger Mountain Heavenly Master.
The woman clicked her tongue. "Just a talisman from a Dragon Tiger Mountain Daoist, and it broke the backbone of a five-thousand-year-old jiaolong? Bones that soft, no wonder you ran back to your master's house to steal. Planning to give the dragon palace treasures to some mountain immortal? Tell me about it. Or should I guess?"
She raised an eyebrow, suddenly interested. "Is it Sword Immortal Wei of the southern Jade Gui Sect? Or True Man Du of the northern Golden Peak Temple?"
The old woman, seeing the other's audacious tone, felt even more daunted and wanted to find an excuse to retreat from the dragon palace ruins and plan long-term.
The woman narrowed her eyes. "Do you like playing deaf and dumb so much?"
Her jade-like hand lightly slapped the steps. Ripples spread, and circles of pure, essence turquoise water fortune rippled through the hall.
But the old woman felt as if struck by a heavenly thunder, hitting her Dao heart directly. Suddenly, blood flowed from her seven orifices. She covered her ears, her throat moving, but only making vague sounds.
The fierce woman smiled and said, "Now you've got what you wanted, haven't you?"
She withdrew her hand, shook her sleeves, and lightly patted her knee, sneering. "The descendants of dragons throughout the world, struggling through three thousand years of cold and heat, finally seeing the light after bitterness, vying at the dragon gate, hoping for the fish-dragon transformation? I'd like to ask each of you at the peak of the dragon gate: how exactly was it so bitter? How was it so hard? I look at Headmaster Cheng of the Great Fu Academy and that old dragon at Wind Water Cave—they seem to be enjoying life quite well. How is that 'bitter'? What bitterness?"
Seeing the old woman prostrate on the ground, wailing and sobbing.
The woman was furious. "Shut up!"
The old woman was forced to reveal her true form, coiled on the main hall, breathing her last. Seven hundred zhang of jiaolong, as if carrying the weight of the Five Sacred Mountains.
The woman stood up, walked down the steps, raised her foot, and stepped on the forehead of the massive jiaolong head. Her expression was playful. "Still going to steal things?"
The old jiaolong finally realized, her eyes shining with an unusual light. "Is it you?!"
The young woman sneered. "Dim-eyed creature, you finally recognize me?"
The old jiaolong was extremely excited, enduring severe pain. Tears glistened in its lantern-sized eyes. In the ancient dragon language, it said hoarsely and tremblingly, "Your old servant has lived on in disgrace. To be fortunate enough to see the true dragon, fortunately, I will die without regret..."
But Zhi Gui was unmoved. She pressed down with more force on her foot. "Then die."
The old jiaolong under her foot actually felt no regret, no begging for mercy, and no reluctance in its eyes. Instead, the vast head of the old jiaolong squeezed out a hint of a smile.
Zhi Gui narrowed her eyes. "No sooner had the restrictions been lifted than you hurried over to steal, didn't you? Tell me, which mountain immortal were you planning to curry favor with, wagging your tail and begging, in exchange for a future?"
The old jiaolong answered truthfully, not daring to hide anything.
Zhi Gui asked, "Cui Dongshan? Xian Du Mountain? How far is it from here?"
At the threshold of the main hall, someone answered for her. "Not far."
Zhi Gui looked up at the person at the door.
She remained composed, but inside, she was slightly shaken. How could he be so close and she not sense his presence at all?
Ah, right. It was that effeminate fellow from her hometown who liked rouge and powder!
That was why this guy was so attuned to water Dao.
Hah, his ghost really was lingering. Now they were practically neighbors again.
The man stood outside the door all along and said, "That's about enough."
Zhi Gui hesitated for a moment, then retracted the foot that was pressing on the jiaolong's head. She said with a grin, "I should have known it was you, with such high official airs."
The old jiaolong, freed from the overwhelming Dao suppression like a heavenly might, immediately resumed human form, staggered to her feet, and turned to look at the figure outside the door. It was Sword Immortal Chen?
The following conversation left the old woman both terrified and confused.
"So eager to meddle?"
"There has to be something worth meddling in."
"You weren't like this before."
"You haven't changed at all."
Then, inside and outside the door, the former neighbors fell into a mutual silence.
But in that instant, the old woman sensed a thick, watery killing intent so strong that even she, a Nascent Soul old jiaolong, felt suffocated.
A Flying Ascension true dragon of the human world?
And a Flying Ascension sword cultivator?
What exactly was the relationship between these two? Why did they suddenly turn hostile?