Chapter 1070: Reading Books Makes the Night Feel Short
The celestial curtain gates guarded by the sage-consorts accompanying the Confucian Temple are not connected to one another. Thus, Chen Ping'an and his companions had to go beyond the heavens once more, re-entering the Righteous Qi world through the gate above Mirror Bottle Continent.
Since they were already above Mirror Bottle Continent, there was no need to rush their journey. They descended toward Great Li's Chu Province as if walking down a flight of stairs.
Overlooking the mountains, rivers, and lands of an entire continent: clouds in the azure sky, water in a vase.
The bouncing, skipping Xie Gou turned her head to look at Xiao Mo, sighing as she said, "Xiao Mo, in terms of style, this outfit of yours really ought to look rustic. But worn on you, it's completely different—strikingly handsome, truly so. It calls to mind a line of poetry: 'Before my eyes, there is a scene that defies description!'"
Xiao Mo remained silent.
Xie Gou swaggered along, imitating a little water monster patrolling its mountain, her shoulders swaying, "Yellow hat, blue shoes, green bamboo staff, the sword immortal treads upon the clouds of the ridge top."
Having spent so long at Fallen Mountain, she had adapted to local customs, learning many habits and social nuances.
Xiao Mo endured, and endured.
Xie Gou seemed to be overflowing with literary inspiration, impossible to hold back. "For three thousand years, I have sought a sword disciple. The withered tree meets spring again. Since first seeing that plum blossom, even until now, I have not doubted."
Chen Ping'an asked with a smile, "Why not start the opening line with 'For ten thousand years'?"
Xie Gou snorted dismissively, "Could it possibly be better than 'three thousand years'?"
Chen Ping'an nodded. "That's true, I suppose. It seems that when it comes to composing poetry and matching couplets, Lady Xie has truly entered the hall of mastery."
Xie Gou clasped her hands behind her back, speaking slowly, "The affairs of the world are as short as a spring dream. Put aside my hairpin, descend the mountain pavilion, pick up a hairpin by the water's edge. In the midst of it all, one must pay close attention, gentlemen, look clearly, carefully recognize your own true self."
Chen Ping'an was silent for a moment, genuinely somewhat unable to bear it, then said, "Xiao Mo, from now on, just be yourself."
Xiao Mo hesitated for a moment, then said, "Bai Jing's doggerel verse is a bit better than this doggerel."
Chen Ping'an, walking between them, raised both hands and gave them each a thumbs-up. "You two, a match made in heaven."
Xie Gou suddenly said, "It seems that Li Xisheng is on his way here."
Chen Ping'an nodded. "You two go back to Fallen Mountain first. After I finish talking with him, I'll head straight to the village school."
Actually, before being called away by Chen Ping'an, Xie Gou had secretly left a 'gift of meeting' at the Lu family's Observatory and the Iris Division. It was only after they left, a full half-incense stick's worth of time later, that the entire Lu family experienced an upheaval like an earth-turning ox or a giant turtle arching its back. Now, the Lu family was likely scrambling to clean up the mess. Just the cost of repairs alone was a huge sum of Grain Rain coins.
Not long after Xiao Mo and Xie Gou had flown toward Fallen Mountain, Li Xisheng appeared near Chen Ping'an, a smile on his face. He got straight to the point: "Chen Ping'an, Master Three Mountains and Nine Marquises asked me to deliver a message to you. He said don't bother guessing. When he was wandering through Bead Grotto Heaven back then, he did indeed live in Clay Vase Alley for a time. It wasn't long, just a few years. As for all the things that happened later, that senior still says don't overthink it. You 'brought it upon yourself.'"
Speaking here, Li Xisheng smiled. "Don't worry. That senior's use of 'brought it upon yourself' is a compliment."
Chen Ping'an breathed a sigh of relief.
Li Xisheng chuckled. "From a geographical standpoint, you could consider yourselves neighbors. But it was so many years ago, there's really no lineage connection to speak of. You can feel completely unburdened."
Chen Ping'an finally had one of his conjectures verified by Li Xisheng.
Li Xisheng spoke with his mind-voice. "Chen Ping'an, let me just tell you one of my guesses. You can listen and forget it. Did you know that Master Three Mountains and Nine Marquises once cooperated with Saint Li to attempt establishing a New Rite for the Righteous Qi world?"
Chen Ping'an nodded. "I've heard about this from my teacher. I know some of the inside story."
The human world had once hoped for the appearance of a 'Lord of the Human Way.'
Li Xisheng glanced at Chen Ping'an and nodded. Since he had already learned the truth, there was no need to say more. He changed the subject. "Have you heard about the hardships of Hard Work of Intercalated Moon Peak?"
Chen Ping'an laughed. "Architect Lu has mentioned this person many times, full of envy."
"Hard Work, the martial artist of Azure Mirror world, exists just like the Scorching Sun Hour of the Barren Wastes."
Li Xisheng said, "Every world has such an existence. And that person from our Righteous Qi world does not agree with Saint Li's methods, which is why the New Rite could not be promoted."
Chen Ping'an made no comment on this. He really didn't dare to jump to conclusions.
Hesitating for a moment, Chen Ping'an carefully asked, "Zhong Kui?"
If Chen Ping'an, as the last Hidden Guardian of the Sword Qi Great Wall, was a variable of that place,
Then Bitten Leaf Continent had two variables, one hidden, one visible: the menial disciple of the Planchette Sect, and the noble man of Great Fu Academy, Zhong Kui.
Chen Ping'an wanted to know if Zhong Kui was one of the Dao-arts successors of Master Three Mountains and Nine Marquises.
Li Xisheng smiled. "Since we're just guessing, why not be a bit bolder?"
Chen Ping'an was shocked. "Zhong Kui is one of Master Three Mountains and Nine Marquises's avatars?!"
Originally, he had at most guessed that Zhong Kui was the forced-reincarnation of some direct disciple of this senior.
As Lu Chen had said, if Master Three Mountains and Nine Marquises didn't show himself so rarely, those ghost immortals who had violated the 'Former Heavenly Dynasty's laws' would be beheaded one by one the moment they appeared.
This Master Three Mountains and Nine Marquises, who never revealed his true face, was extremely secretive in everything from his own cultivation path to his lineage transmission and the acceptance of disciples.
Because Aunt Feng, who was temporarily staying in the Fire God Temple of the capital, had previously leaked some heavenly secrets to Chen Ping'an, he learned of one direct disciple and two relatively younger unattached disciples.
That 'documentable' direct disciple was Azure Lord, whose administrative seat was at Pillar Mountain. The status of the ancient Three Mountains was even higher than the current Five Sacred Mountains of the Righteous Qi's Central Earth.
The other two unattached disciples were the Daoist Wang Min, a Qi refiner from the same era as Bai Ye, who, by imperial decree, went overseas to seek immortals.
The other was the sword cultivator Lu Yue, whose ascension and fall in the Righteous Qi world were extremely swift.
The old coachman from the Thunder Department of the ancient Heavenly Court had mentioned Master Three Mountains and Nine Marquises to Chen Ping'an in the capital, also telling some old stories. He said that Master Three Mountains and Nine Marquises had once stayed in Bead Grotto Heaven, though the duration was unknown. But one thing was certain: Bead Grotto Heaven's Prosperity Street and Peach Leaf Lane were, in the final analysis, all because of him.
Prosperity Street was naturally Talisman Street. The peach blossoms of Peach Leaf Lane were also planted casually by Master Three Mountains and Nine Marquises.
In fact, even the three types of gold-essence copper coins minted by the Great Li dynasty were the master molds given by Master Three Mountains and Nine Marquises.
And the sword cultivator Lu Yue was a member of the Prosperity Street Lu clan. The Prosperity Street Lu clan, which had a thousand connections with the Lu dynasty, was not implicated after the Lu dynasty's fall. Chen Ping'an guessed this was greatly related to this. He guessed that the sword cultivator Lu Yue, although seemingly appearing like a flash in the pan, leaving few mountain-top deeds, was extremely likely to be still alive in the world. At most, he had undergone a tribulation of forced reincarnation but could retain his previous life's memories through some secret arts. This was why the Great Li court was so wary and didn't completely eradicate the Prosperity Street Lu clan.
Li Xisheng said helplessly, "Daring to go to the Central Earth Lu family and make a scene, and the Mountain Lord Chen has only this much courage?"
Chen Ping'an was stunned for a moment, then looked at Li Xisheng. Li Xisheng nodded slightly. Not mistaken, that was it.
Of course, not entirely.
Li Xisheng asked, "Do you remember how you met Liu Xianyang?"
Chen Ping'an nodded. Liu Xianyang had been chased into Clay Vase Alley by a group of peers. Those youths from wealthy families feared nothing and struck viciously, almost beating Liu Xianyang to death.
The leader was a scion of the Prosperity Street Lu clan. That person is still seeking a future of wealth and rank over in Clear Wind City.
Li Xisheng smiled. "If my deductions are not wrong, Lu Yue's reincarnation is that Bai Chang."
The number one sword cultivator of North Ju Luzhou, Bai Chang?!
If so, then Xu Xuan would be Master Three Mountains and Nine Marquises's disciple-of-disciple. No wonder that Xu Xuan was so unconstrained and arrogant, daring to run rampant in North Ju Luzhou.
Chen Ping'an took a piece of paper from his sleeve and handed it to Li Xisheng.
Li Xisheng took it, smiling. "It's undoubtedly an original. Treasure it well."
The Prosperity Street Lu clan had once given Nan Zan, then the Great Li Empress, several pages of ancient books, all ancestral heirlooms.
One of the pages seemed to record the simplest 'wall-piercing technique' of the mountain-top arts.
"Heaven and earth are connected, mountain walls are linked, soft as apricot blossoms, thin as paper pages. My finger is a sword, open the door swiftly, by the command of Master Three Mountains and Nine Marquises."
At that time, Nan Zan—or Lu Jiang on the genealogy of the Central Earth Yin-Yang family Lu clan—because she hadn't yet used that string of spirit-linking beads, and because the Great Li former emperor had actually placed considerable restrictions on her, didn't understand the preciousness of this page.
The two chatted while 'descending the mountain'. When they neared the earth, the territory of Great Li's Chu Province was fully visible, except for the sky above their hometown town, which was still shrouded in mist and clouds, unclear and unknowable.
Last time, they had reunited with Zhi Gui in the ruins of an old Great River Dragon Palace on Bitten Leaf Continent.
He had once asked her a question: did she know Master Three Mountains and Nine Marquises? Although Zhi Gui hadn't given a definite answer, it was obvious that she not only knew him but also both hated and feared him.
A Locked Well, coincidentally the place where the 'barely surviving' true dragon king Zhu's life force resided, allowed her to connect with the outside world.
That True Pearl Mountain, located at the junction of the town and the western great mountain range, was the location of the 'Bead' held by the true dragon. A Dragon-Whisker Stream and the town's main street were two dragon whiskers, one hidden, one visible. Prosperity Street and Peach Leaf Lane were respectively the dragon's neck and a section of the dragon's spine. Each mansion on the street was a talisman; the sizes of those buildings were all specific. Every peach tree in Peach Leaf Lane, its roots plunging deep into the earth, was a dragon-imprisoning nail. Prosperity Street was used to suppress the energy palace at the true dragon's neck, preventing it from 'lifting its head'; the latter bound the sinews and bones at the dragon's spine, making its body unable to move an inch.
Those dozens of dragon-shaped kilns for firing porcelain, said to have kept their flames burning for a millennium without ceasing, were for King Zhu a veritable great fire of refinement, as if placed in a cauldron of oil. Hence, every time the town's kiln workers opened the kilns to fire porcelain, it was like pouring boiling hot water and soup into that oil cauldron. This 'karmic fire' continuously scorched King Zhu's soul.
One must know that this talisman method didn't just suppress a single true dragon; it was suppressing the fortune of flood dragons throughout the entire human world.
One misstep, and the backlash against the 'originator' of the suppression would be fierce. The consequences were predictable. That a cultivator's greatest fear is becoming entangled with the cause and effect of the red dust world was never an empty saying.
Li Xisheng explained, "For King Zhu, it was both a long, cruel torture and an unavoidable tempering and bitter cultivation. Only by enduring it could she shed her mortal bones and exchange them for immortal ones, finally seeing the light of day and regaining her freedom."
"The town wasn't always the four surnames and ten clans it is now. The earliest Qi refiners who settled and put down roots in this ancient battlefield branched out over time. Their respective powers waxed and waned. For instance, when a certain clan's fortunes declined, they had to sell off ancestral property and relocate to places like Second Son Lane or Apricot Flower Lane. When land deeds were transferred and the old mansion's walls were demolished by new owners, each boundary change was equivalent to a loosening of one of those talismans. This was King Zhu's hope and anticipation. Over the long stretch of three thousand years, she relied on this to endure one torment after another."
"Master Qi back then took pity on her, which is why he often sheltered her."
"However, King Zhu at that time hadn't fully awakened yet. She was ignorant and didn't appreciate it."
"So Master Qi, and of course, you, her neighbor, hold a very special place in King Zhu's heart."
Speaking here, Li Xisheng suddenly reached out his hand. "Got any wine?"
Chen Ping'an smiled and took out two flasks of wine. He simply sat down cross-legged, lightly clinking his flask against Li Xisheng's, and they each drank.
Every foreign grand cultivator passing through the old Dragon Province, as long as their realm was high enough and their eyesight sharp enough, could see some clues of varying depth.
Like Xiao Mo: in his eyes, the site of Bead Grotto Heaven, now broken and degraded into a blessed land, gave him an illusion. Being in its midst felt like facing a Fourteen-Stage Pure Sword Immortal, and it was at close quarters.
That was why, when his master first mentioned the concept of two flying swords, Xiao Mo had given a suggestion: he could carefully ponder the landscape pattern of the town. It would be equivalent to seeking the Dao and its methods from Master Three Mountains and Nine Marquises. Because the town was full of hidden mechanisms, all of which were knowledge, somewhat similar to the Military Strategist Ancestor's Eleventh Stage single punch. The fist manual was embedded within Chen Ping'an's personal heaven and earth.
At that time, Chen Ping'an had wisely retreated in the face of difficulty, saying two things: "For now, I can't even make a single flower bloom within my little heaven and earth. Trying to replicate this grand formation now is aiming too high."
"But this is the direction the Great Dao points to. There's definitely no problem with that. At worst, I'll just spend more time, using the painstaking effort of dripping water wearing through stone, slowly dismantling it bit by bit."
In fact, the formation master Liu Jinglong had long discovered that the existence of the town itself was a treasure mountain, a wordless Dao book.
After all, Master Three Mountains and Nine Marquises is revered as the founding ancestor of the world's talisman lineage. At least half of the paths of the so-called seventy-two schools of talisman magic were forged by this senior.
Chen Ping'an thought for a moment, then from his heart-lake he pulled out a piece of paper. It was a scroll painting with a mix of color and line drawing, somewhat like a painting of time passing by.
The colored portions depicted scenes deeply imprinted in Chen Ping'an's memory; the line-drawn and rough portions represented people and events he remembered only vaguely.
Li Xisheng took the paper, glanced at it, and asked, "The Ghost Realm Valley of North Ju Luzhou?"
Chen Ping'an nodded. During his first journey to the Ghost Realm Valley in Skeleton Beach, he had encountered Yang Ningzhen, who was still a Golden Body Realm martial artist at Treasure Mirror Mountain. She was searching for the so-called Three Mountains and Nine Marquises Mirror. After obtaining it, however, Yang Ningzhen gave it to her brother Yang Ningxing, who was hailed as 'Little Heavenly Lord,' and who has now entered the Jade Capital Monastery to cultivate.
On the Night Boat, Wu Shuangjiang had also mentioned a secret matter to Chen Ping'an. In the early years, Wei She of White Cliff Continent, a grand cultivator who had crushed all his contemporaries, had tried to merge with the Dao to reach the Fourteen-Stage a hundred years after reaching the Flying Ascension Stage. After his first failure, Master Three Mountains and Nine Marquises personally visited White Cliff Continent. According to Wu Shuangjiang, the senior had actively stepped aside, leaving a half-open door for Wei She. Unfortunately, Wei She still couldn't seize the opportunity. After two failed attempts, he seemed to have lost his spirit for a third try.
Li Xisheng returned the page to Chen Ping'an, unable to suppress a laugh. "Now I understand why Master Three Mountains and Nine Marquises told me before departing, 'No need to be constrained, feel free to act as you will.' It was a comment on you, causing me to deduce wildly all the way here, all in a tangled mess."
Chen Ping'an said self-deprecatingly, "Regarding that senior, the clues I've managed to get hold of are far too few. If I were to use Tian Wan of Cornus Peak as the anchor point of a river of time and expand from there, I suspect it would be a wrong path that starts wrong. Thinking it over, I want to find a Qi refiner who has both an intersection with the town and sufficient weight to use as a coordinate. Only then can I avoid being scattered by the waves of that senior's personal Dao method."
Even with Li Xisheng beside him, Chen Ping'an still dared not directly utter the words 'Mr. Zou.'
Earlier, beyond the heavens, Chen Ping'an had several times been on the verge of speaking but dared not voice this matter, fearing he would get a negative answer from Master Three Mountains and Nine Marquises.
That would mean Chen Ping'an would have to start over from scratch and find another candidate. Lu Chen? His realm was certainly sufficient, but he wouldn't work.
It seemed that every cultivator who mentioned Master Three Mountains and Nine Marquises, more or less, did so with an air of spontaneous respect.
Even someone as incorrigible as Lu Chen, when he first became Dao Ancestor's youngest disciple, would say a 'big talk' to his companion Lü Yan who was visiting the Jade Capital Monastery: the world's Dao methods naturally began with Master Dao Ancestor, then were passed down as a burning torch to the senior disciple, thriving greatly under Lu Chen, and in the future, Lu Chen would return this magnificent spectacle to the world. Yet when Lu Chen mentioned Master Three Mountains and Nine Marquises, he was equally lacking in disrespect.
Well, there was one exception.
It was the first gatekeeper of Fallen Mountain, Zheng Dafeng.
When Mr. Zou was wandering in Bead Grotto Heaven, he had set up a candied hawthorn stall in Apricot Flower Lane. And his junior sister, Tian Wan, the peak master of Sun Crescent Mountain's Cornus Peak, had also secretly entered the town, finding the old man who ran the wedding shop, whose real name was Cai Daohuang, Hu Feng's grandfather. He was the master of all the old betrothal shops that ever were. The half of the marriage fate book in his hands had somehow fallen into Liu Qi's hands and was then taken by the latter to the Azure Mirror world. But Tian Wan still obtained a batch of 'Old Man Under the Moon's' red threads, which she used to manipulate people's hearts. By meddling with the fate threads of Li Tuanjing, Wei Jin, Liu Xianyang, and others, she controlled the flow of sword fortune in Mirror Bottle Continent as a means to sharpen her own Great Dao.
That Bai Chang, formerly Lu Yue, was a native of Bead Grotto Heaven in Mirror Bottle Continent. That made even more sense.
One hidden, one visible: the two sword masters of two continents?
And the red thread is something that cannot be refined or replicated. At the time, Zheng Dafeng had made a comment that was both praise and criticism: "Even Master Three Mountains and Nine Marquises, his Dao arts are sufficient to reach the heavens, yet even he has no way to refine it."
And when he said this, Zheng Dafeng seemed to have a playful expression, as if recalling some old events.
Chen Ping'an asked curiously, "Mr. Liu Qi's travels through the Azure Mirror world: was he hoping to gather a complete volume of the marriage fate book as an opportunity for merging with the Dao?"
Li Xisheng nodded. "Because the second half of the book is in the hands of Zhaoge, whose Dao name is Fukan. She is the reincarnation of the ancient god of marriage."
Li Xisheng added an aside, laughing. "The Qi River crucian carp is very delicious, absolutely not inferior to the Apricot Flower Perch of the Wave-Jumping River. You must try it if you get a chance."
Chen Ping'an nodded.
Li Xisheng took a sip of wine and asked, "You went beyond the heavens. After this battle, what are your thoughts?"
Chen Ping'an thought of the characters carved on the Sword Qi Great Wall's battlements—a single horizontal stroke, like a mountain plank path. He pondered for a moment, then said, "It seems there are fishing nets existing in heaven and earth, widely spaced. Ordinary people are like small fish, approaching the nets, darting through the mesh, as if free to come and go. They can even use the ropes as a place to rest. But Qi refiners are like big fish. The higher their realm, the larger their size, and instead, they cannot swim through the nets. They can only break free by force, such as by becoming a Land Immortal or merging with the Dao at the Fourteen-Stage."
"Great minds think alike."
Li Xisheng smiled knowingly. He put down his wine flask, took out a rope ring of common material, tied many knots in it, and chuckled. "Before the Jade Capital's Green Emerald City scattered its Dao, I thought this was the world we inhabited."
"But later, I felt that the entire human world was a book. However, the original text was never in our hands."
"It's as if someone can casually pull out a single page, and from it, extend a series of brand new stories. Reading a book is like growing a tree; flipping through the pages is like enjoying the shade."
Hearing this, Chen Ping'an couldn't help but ask, "And now?"
Li Xisheng smiled and shook his head. "No leads."
Chen Ping'an shook his wine flask. Unbeknownst to him, he had already finished one flask. He took out another, but Li Xisheng waved his hand. "You drink. I'm not a big drinker. I rarely drink."
If human feelings are like water, and worldly affairs like rugged paths... then drink. Only in the drunken realm can one find solace.
Li Xisheng watched Chen Ping'an, who kept drinking, and found it hard to imagine that the Clay Vase Alley youth of yesteryear would become such a heavy drinker. He asked with a smile, "Have you figured out how to forge your two flying swords?"
Chen Ping'an wiped the corner of his mouth. "Besides continuously feeding them gold-essence copper coins, I also need to keep adding bricks and mortar."
"The Buddhists say a single speck of dust contains countless worlds. The Daoists say the One and the myriad things. Different paths, but they lead to the same goal."
Li Xisheng nodded. "A caged bird encompasses the heaven and earth of all ten directions. The moon in the well achieves the river of time, gathering a thousand small thousand worlds."
For example, Chen Ping'an planned to buy those extremely rare sycamore leaves from Fellow Daoist Qingtong, who was a guest elder of Green Duckweed Sword Sect.
But he wasn't very confident. He guessed Qingtong wouldn't agree to sell, at most only willing to give, and would only give a few sycamore leaves, a total of no more than ten, just to send him off.
Chen Ping'an's baseline expectation was at least three leaves, though the more, the better.
As for how to repay Qingtong, it wasn't difficult. After all, they would be neighbors from now on. There would be plenty of opportunities to interact.
Chen Ping'an could see that Qingtong clearly wanted to establish his own sect, but he was too timid to take the initiative to mention it to the Confucian Temple.
Earlier, at the Seven Mile Rapids on the old Qiantang River where Cao Yong was, with the consent of this Grand River's Bountiful Earl, Chen Ping'an had peeled away the poetic content recorded in local gazetteers, totaling several hundred thousand characters, from the books, transforming it into a golden river that surged into his sleeve.
Additionally, Chen Ping'an had once obtained a book from a fairy mansion ruin in North Ju Luzhou, one that no one had paid attention to at the time. It was written with many joys and sorrows, partings and reunions, different life stories.
Since time immemorial, reading books makes the night feel short.
Chen Ping'an, while being a village school teacher, wrote a series of landscape stories about a young wandering swordsman and the Water Monster of Mute Lake every night.
He believed it would surely surprise Little Mi Li. It would be almost as good as watching a vivid Mirror Flower, Water Moon spectacle—mountains and rivers, gods, ghosts, and immortals, all passing before one's eyes as if real.
A young, talented swordsman, incredibly skilled, fights alongside the mute lake water monster, who serves as his strategist and advisor, pitting their wits and courage against all kinds of monsters and demons...
But this long story could only be enjoyed with Little Mi Li on that small hilltop of the bamboo pavilion lineage. No one else could have a part.
Unlike that uneducated Silver Deer, who thought writing a book was too difficult, Chen Ping'an felt that having the patience to read a book for a long time was the harder part.
Li Xisheng said, "Chen Ping'an, to be precise, we both share the same surname."
Indeed, both were surnamed Chen, but as the saying goes, 'same surname, not the same hometown.'
Chen Ping'an was, of course, a native of Bead Grotto Heaven in Mirror Bottle Continent. Li Xisheng's ancestral hometown was in North Ju Luzhou.
Chen Ping'an nodded. He had known this for a long time.
Three siblings: Li Baoping, Li Baozhen, and their eldest brother, named Li Xisheng.
Li Xisheng stood up, a fresh breeze brushing his face. He smiled. "An ancient poem says, 'Why need to hide one's name after achieving merit? I am no thief, why walk at night?'"
Chen Ping'an said, "I'll have to write that down."
In their leisure, the two walked shoulder to shoulder through the void. The celestial wind was cool and refreshing, and both their minds were serene and peaceful.
Li Xisheng, gradually recovering his previous life's memories, was missing his two junior brothers back at the Jade Capital.
Chen Ping'an, on the other hand, was worrying about A Liang and his senior brother Zuo You's situation.
He wasn't filled with anxiety, because his intuition told him that the outcome, while not the best, was also certainly not the worst.
But for some reason, Feiran and Chusheng had already appeared in the Barren Wastes, yet there was still no news of those two.
Before leaving, Zheng Juzhong had given him an odd statement: 'one a long time ago, the other a long time from now.'
Leaving aside their first very brief meeting, it was really only during those years on the Sword Qi Great Wall that Chen Ping'an and his senior brother Zuo You could barely be considered as fellow disciples.
Although Zuo You also taught this junior brother swordsmanship, Chen Ping'an could clearly sense in his words that his senior brother didn't really value his identity as a sword cultivator.
Senior brother Zuo You was more like a devoted and virtuous Confucian scholar, dedicated to pursuing the 'three immortalities' of the scholar-official: establishing virtue, establishing merit, and establishing words.
Actually, Chen Ping'an had been curious about this from the very beginning, but was too intimidated by his senior brother's temper to ask.
Later on, Chen Ping'an couldn't help himself and asked what his senior brother's true-life flying sword was called.
Sure enough, Zuo You's face immediately turned ugly, and he shut Chen Ping'an up with just one sentence.
'Why didn't you ask when the Master was present?'
Chen Ping'an certainly didn't dare to press further. If he asked again, he would surely have to bear the consequences himself.
Suddenly, Chen Ping'an's heart trembled, but then he felt relieved, because Li Xisheng had already taken his leave and headed off to Bitten Leaf Continent.
Xiao Mo's figure landed in the town. The Xie Gou following behind asked with confusion, "Aren't we going straight back to Fallen Mountain?"
Xiao Mo said, "Find a roadside stall. Let's eat a midnight snack before returning."
Xie Gou frowned, a bit uncomfortable with this.
He picked a night market stall on the town's main street. Xiao Mo sat down and ordered two bowls of wontons filled with pork and shepherd's purse from the stall owner. He took a pair of chopsticks from the bamboo tube on the table and handed them to Xie Gou, asking softly, "When are you returning to the Barren Wastes?"
Xie Gou was silent, wiping the bamboo chopsticks with her sleeve, as if she were sulking.
Only after the stall owner brought two steaming bowls of wontons did Xiao Mo take a pair of chopsticks for himself. "Don't just stand there. Eat them while they're hot."
Xie Gou grabbed a chopstick in each hand, stabbed a wonton each, and popped them into her mouth, her cheeks bulging. This tastes so bad, I'm not paying.
Xiao Mu chewed and swallowed slowly before speaking, "I know you didn't peel away your soul. You've always been you. You've always been Bai Jing."
In short, the so-called 'Xie Gou' was just a clumsy disguise.
Xie Gou grunted an 'oh' with a straight face.
Xiao Mo continued, "If it's a kind of accommodation, I don't think it's necessary. If it's a posture of frolicking through the human world, you can keep it up."
Xie Gou asked, "So which one do you find easier on the eyes?"
"To be honest, neither is easy on the eyes."
Xiao Mo was always sincere with people. After a pause, he smiled. "But I greatly admire that Bai Jing who seems forever to be running forward. It was like this ten thousand years ago, and it's still the same now."
He recalled the very first time he had seen Bai Jing. It was from a distance, watching a sword cultivator surrounded, her sword strikes fierce and sharp. In the end, it was she who stood atop the corpse of a deity she had slain herself. She was a tall woman with long hair tied into a ponytail looped around her neck. She lifted her head high, muttered something he couldn't make out, and then her form flickered and vanished, her sword-light like a rainbow, tracing an incredibly long arc across the sky. The earth below rumbled with thunder.
Xie Gou's expression was complex. The first half didn't surprise her, but Xiao Mo's second half actually made her a bit uncomfortable, so she picked up the bowl and took a sip of the clear broth.
The wontons weren't good, but the soup was okay.
When it was time to settle the bill, she'd give a few extra copper coins.
Xie Gou said sullenly, "I don't know how to love a person."
This kind of shitty, troublesome thing was so much harder than practicing the sword.
It wasn't easy for Xie Gou to admit she wasn't good at something.
Xiao Mo said, "Don't feel wronged. Try putting yourself in my shoes for a moment?"
Xie Gou grinned. In the end, Xiao Mo paid the bill, and she didn't fight him for it.
Walking together on the street, Xie Gou's tail was clearly starting to wag again. She chuckled, "Xiao Mo, it would be wonderful if we had a daughter. Yeah, one like Little Mi Li, silly and cute every day. We would protect her well, no rush, let her grow up slowly, day by day."
Xiao Mo was speechless. He struggled for a long time before managing to squeeze out a sentence he thought would sufficiently distance himself from the matter, "As long as you're happy."
The sable-hatted girl spread her hands, hopping on squared squares, hopping forward on her own, happy. "Happy, truly happy."
Xiao Mo remembered the first time he had ever seen Bai Jing.
But there was no way for Xiao Mo to know where or when Bai Jing had first seen him.
After all, the first time they formally met, Bai Jing had stated unequivocally that she wanted to cross swords with him, and if she won, they would become Dao companions. Seeing Xiao Mo's confusion, Bai Jing had supplemented her explanation at the time: whoever wins the duel, determines who sleeps with who!
---
Beyond the heavens, Architech Lu, having watched the excitement from afar, began to drift through the wind on his back, blowing on his back as if floating face-up in water, truly carefree and leisurely.
Then his face was about to be stepped on by an old Daoist's raised foot.
Lu Chen quickly pulled his head back, dodging the shoe sole that was about to press down on him. He turned over, steadied himself, and, grinning cheekily, made a Daoist bow of salute. "Greetings, Uncle Master Bixiao."
The Old Abbot stood in place, sneering, "What's there to see in the kind of excitement with an outcome you already know?"
With a 'Little Master' as well as the trajectory of that 'Azure Path,' it was clear from the start that the Barren Wastes world wasn't looking for a mutually destructive fight with the Righteous Qi world.
Otherwise, Bai Ze, upon returning to the Barren Wastes, wouldn't just sit idly by and watch those two 'ferries' become one.
It was obvious that this was Zhou Mi trying to disgust the Confucian Temple, and to prevent Saint Li from smoothly filling the void left by the First Teacher's dissolution of the Dao through the old path he had originally walked.
Architech Lu just stared dully, suffering in silence.
Uncle Master Bixiao was one to be strict with others but lenient with himself, huh.
The Old Abbot said, "I'm here to see an old friend. How is that the same for you?"
Lu Chen complained, "This Xiao Mo really doesn't know his place. He doesn't even take the initiative to visit Uncle Master. Just by virtue of our friendship, traveling across worlds is nothing. I would personally welcome him at the celestial gate. Who would dare to stop them?"
The Old Abbot said calmly, "Architech Lu, remember the words you said today."
Lu Chen said a little sheepishly, "If Xiao Mo comes to visit our side, we shouldn't make too big a deal of it. It would be best if he quietly visited Uncle Master Bixiao and then quietly left."
The Old Abbot said, "That Lü Yan's Dao attainment will be very high."
Lu Chen nodded vigorously. "It's an honor to have traveled through the Azure Mirror world with Fellow Daoist Pure Yang."
The Old Abbot chuckled, "As for Bai Jing, once she manages to step into the Fourteen-Stage, she will be equally formidable."
Lu Chen was nodding again like a chicken pecking rice.
All impressive, all impressive, each one incredibly powerful. Anyway, this poor Daoist is just small and weak. He's fine with whatever happens.
The Old Abbot said coldly, "Having seen Chen Ping'an's two flying swords with your own eyes, plus that final merging-with-the-Dao sword strike, Architech Lu, thinking about it now, doesn't it make your neck feel cold, your back shudder?"
Lu Chen rubbed his chin and began to spout nonsense with a straight face, "Not at all, not at all. Chen Ping'an and I are close friends. We only ever meet to drink, never to cross swords."
Earlier, Lu Chen had scampered back to the Azure Mirror world, alive and kicking, because Chen Ping'an had not contacted Zheng Juzhong and Wu Shuangjiang, who had already linked up. That counted as a lucky escape.
Even now, thinking back, Lu Chen still trembled with fear. It was no exaggeration. Once an encirclement was formed, it was no joke.
So this Third Architech of the Jade Capital had once had a review with his 'Uncle Master' Old Abbot. According to the Old Abbot, the key was how the other party had imprisoned Lu Chen's dreams and heart-mind aspects.
To deal with a Fourteen-Stage cultivator, there was ultimately no shortcut to take. It was like Zhou Mi's siege and killing of Bai Ye at Fuyao Continent: the only way was to simply and honestly exhaust the poems in Bai Ye's heart. Before that, with the immortal sword in hand, no matter how many throne-level great demons there were, Bai Ye was unassailable.
Lu Chen knew in his heart that the host directing this siege was Chen Ping'an on the surface, but the mastermind behind the scenes was that undying embroidered tiger, Cui Chan.
And it was no surprise that Cui Chan had learned several ancient 'mountain-sealing' methods from Master Three Mountains and Nine Marquises. Building on that foundation, with a mind like Cui Chan's, raising a peak on the plateau was perfectly natural. Just refer to that type of soul-stripping spell where 'Embroidered Tiger claiming second place, no one dares claim first.' Once Cui Chan and Zheng Juzhong had privately sparred over Dao techniques, and the latter had learned them, then with Chen Ping'an handling the opening move, that group of sword cultivators handling the middle game, and Zheng Juzhong and Wu Shuangjiang handling the endgame, completely trapping all of Lu Chen's mind-aspects was far from a baseless fantasy.
At the time, the Old Abbot had made a cynical remark: "Two from White Emperor City, Zheng Juzhong, one from Age Palace, Wu Shuangjiang. That's three Fourteen-Stage cultivators together. Adding Qi Tingji, Ning Yao, Hao Su, Lu Zhi, and Chen Ping'an. Such a lineup, such a grand spectacle, just to deal with a single Fourteen-Stage cultivator. You, Lu Chen, can be proud. You can secretly be pleased."
At the time, Lu Chen really had turned his back, squeezed out a smile, opened his mouth wide, and laughed. Ha. Ha. Ha. Three times in that manner.
The Old Abbot glanced at Lu Chen. Regardless of his verbal disdain for this Third Architech of the Jade Capital, even with his high standards, he had to admit that Lu Chen's qualifications for cultivation, especially his Dao-heart, were truly exceptional.
The one who truly dares to say 'my Dao-heart is the Heavenly-heart,' Lu Chen counts as one.
In the past ten thousand years, setting aside the hidden Fourteen-Stage cultivators of the Barren Wastes like Lu Fayan and the great demon Chusheng, and the female priestess Wuzhou who deliberately concealed her tracks, and Bai Ze being 'imprisoned' by the Confucian Temple within the Heroic Tower... this left four world-renowned 'most capable' grand cultivators. Bai Ye, even though not a pure sword cultivator, had the greatest killing power.
There was Bixiao Cave Lord of Fallen Treasure Shoal, later the Old Abbot of Guan Dao Monastery on the Eastern Sea. He had the highest Dao arts.
Then there was the Old Blind Man of the Great Thousand Mountains who drove golden-armored strongmen and seemed to be tinkering with something mysterious. His identity was the most enigmatic, and his cultivation base was unfathomably deep.
Additionally, the monk Shenqing, nicknamed 'Chicken Soup Monk,' had the strongest defense and was revered as the 'Indestructible Golden Body' number one.
He had also been solemnly and loudly proclaimed to the outside world by someone, who swore it was true, that any other Flying Ascension stage sword cultivator, even if they slashed at him for three days and three nights, it would just be tickling the old monk.
However, the Dao-merging methods of the Old Abbot and the Old Blind Man are still shrouded in mystery.
Because someone dubbed the former 'the killing power of half a Fourteen-Stage cultivator,' and the defense of 'one and a half Fourteen-Stage cultivators.'
Half plus one and a half, calculating it this way, doesn't that make two Fourteen-Stage cultivators?
So, in his view, among the few Fourteen-Stage cultivators, the 'Chicken Soup Monk' is the most powerful.
Once these words were spoken, the world was shaken. The old monk was practically chased and cut down every few days. This dragon-elephant of the Buddhist sect, originally known only to peak-level cultivators for his three acts of protecting the Dao, no matter how good his self-cultivation or temper, couldn't withstand this endless harassment. Later, the old monk finally found a chance to catch that guy, insisting he clarify things through the various landscape gazettes for the outsiders.
As expected, the negotiations failed.
That guy absolutely refused to change his words. He said, 'I always take responsibility for what I say. One spit, one nail. If I talk against my conscience, how can I continue in the martial world?'
The Chicken Soup Monk could only say a couple of things in 'praise' of the other.
A Liang, your arithmetic... is it that strong?
When you were studying in the village school back then, in the Yasheng Mansion, while others were studying, were you the only one eating the books?
That shameless guy, instead of getting angry, was delighted. He put his hands on his hips and said, 'A compliment as novel as this, I'm blushing, truly blushing.'
The Old Abbot asked, "Have you ever thought about what the world will be like ten thousand years from now?"
Lu Chen asked in return, "Is that the kind of thing that's helpful to think about?"
The Old Abbot said, "Then how about opening your eyes wide and looking at the things right in front of you?"
Lu Chen laughed bitterly. "That seems even more uninteresting."
If, at the time of the Three Religion Founders' dissolution of the Dao, new 'Ten Heroes of the Worlds' were to be elected immediately, there would likely be little suspense and almost no major disagreements.
They would just be chosen from among the Fourteen-Stage cultivators.
Saint Li, Dao Second Yu Dou, Lu Chen, Bai Ze who returned to the Barren Wastes world, and the Military Strategist Ancestor who ended that long 'sentence.'
Bixiao Cave Lord, Monk Shenqing, the Old Blind Man of the Great Thousand Mountains, Zheng Juzhong of White Emperor City, and the female priestess Wuzhou, whose Dao name is 'Great Yin.'
As for the alternate candidates, if one only selected four or five, and extended the timeline to sixty years or a hundred years, there might be more controversy. The key point is that the variables are not small.
Sun Huaizhong of Xuan Du Monastery and Wu Shuangjiang of Age Palace are both Fourteen-Stage cultivators with relatively shallow seniority. And they have clearly shown their intention to go against the Jade Capital.
The Daoist loose immortal, Pure Yang Lü Yan.
And the 'new' Bai Ye currently cultivating in Xuan Du Monastery, although he is only at the Jade Pu Stage now, will inevitably ascend to this rank and secure a seat.
Additionally, the three pure martial artists—the Crow Mountain's Lin Jiangxian, Cao Ci, and Hard Work of the Azure Mirror world—all have a good chance.
Ning Yao of the Five-Colored World. Feiran of the Barren Wastes world. Both are the rightful lords of their respective worlds.
There are also the Barren Wastes' No Name, Bai Jing, Executioner Hao Su, Lu Zhi, Zhang Fenghai, Xu Jun, and so on.
This is a great change not seen in ten thousand years. Chaos is rampant, and heroes are rising together.
Especially the younger generation from various worlds, who are very likely to strike afterwards and turn the tables. In short, the next hundred years are a major time frame for all cultivators in the world.
Standing in the boundless void, wearing a lotus crown on his head, his double sleeves hanging down, Lu Chen's expression was solemn. He suddenly blurted out, "What do you think would happen if I immediately stepped into the Fifteenth Pseudo-Stage?"
The Old Abbot laughed. "Indulging in wild fantasies is easy to say."
Lu Chen laughed abruptly. "Uncle Master, one should see clearly but not say everything. Otherwise, I would have no friends left."
The Old Abbot said, "I, who have cultivated for ten thousand years and still haven't managed to step into the Fifteenth Stage, can't afford to be friends with someone who can step into the Fifteenth Stage just by moving his lips."
Lu Chen immediately corrected, "Pseudo-Stage!"
The Old Abbot said calmly, "Oh, just covering one item and forgetting ten thousand others."
Lu Chen asked doubtfully, "Can this idiom be used that way?"
The Old Abbot couldn't be bothered to respond.
Lu Chen stretched lazily and headed back. He had plenty to do at the Jade Capital Monastery.
The Old Abbot asked, "When the Buddha pulled you into that mysterious great thousand world back then, what did you see and experience? According to your perception at that time, how many tens of thousands, hundreds of millions of years passed?"
A fleeting dazed look crossed Lu Chen's face, but he quickly returned to normal. He smiled slightly. "Indeed, I saw many worlds. One barrier after another, one ridge of a field after another. Whether it was good rice or bad weeds, in the end, they were all unable to cross the celestial moat. If you say the inductive method of a castle in the air is a minor path, then the seemingly step-by-step deductive method is just a minor technique... In retrospect, these so-called houses and ladders, anyway, Dao and path as we understand them, are completely unimportant. The only important thing was that it made me understand one truth: we all feel we are very small. We always feel there is a heaven beyond heaven. But perhaps, perhaps it is the exact opposite."
The Old Abbot said, "But you still need an eternal and unchanging coordinate to help you confirm this possibility. Otherwise, it will end up like carving a mark on a moving boat."
Lu Chen hummed in agreement. "Otherwise, it's just speaking of a dream within a dream."
"Often I ask myself, why think so much?"
Lu Chen answered his own question. "But if I don't think so much, what else can I do?"
The Old Abbot smiled. "I once heard an old friend propose a whimsical idea. He said that every madman in the human world is the true master, already walking alone on the path of ideas."
Lu Chen said regretfully, "If only he weren't an old friend of my Uncle Master. This poor Daoist would definitely want to meet him and have a good, heart-to-heart talk."
In Lu Chen's eyes, cultivation was both 'turning a guest into a host' and being a 'great thief' of the Heavenly Dao.
About three thousand years ago, a young Daoist who sailed out to sea inexplicably had tears streaming down his face.
Because he felt that cultivating the Dao to the very end, even if one's realm were as high as the Fifteenth Stage, one was still just guarding a boundless field, forever an unknowing tenant farmer. One was just renting a field from a landlord whom one never met face-to-face and would never meet, diligently working the crops year after year.
We can never know who we truly are.
Lu Chen let out a soft 'hey' into the boundless void, then asked in two words, "Are you there?" He stretched out a hand and cupped it behind his ear, pretending to listen intently, as if waiting for a response, an answer.
The Old Abbot looked at the Daoist who was once again crying but smiling, sighed, and slapped him on the shoulder. "Lu Chen, stop being foolish. Come drink with your Uncle Master."
Lu Chen snapped back to reality, but instead tugged on the Old Abbot's sleeve to wipe his own tears. "Uncle Master, you should have said so earlier."
A young Daoist smiled. "Together."
---
An old scholar who had rushed to the celestial river beyond the heavens in a great hurry met Yu Xuan. He grabbed the old true man's hands and shook them vigorously, looking left and right. "Where is Fellow Daoist Pure Yang?"
Yu Xuan laughed. "Unfortunately, you just missed him. Fellow Daoist Pure Yang left just moments before you arrived."
The old scholar's movements became even more exaggerated. "Brother Yu, you've worked hard and achieved great merit! This long journey, although I didn't witness it with my own eyes, even just thinking about it with my knees, no need to guess at all, I know Brother Yu has accomplished another miraculous feat. But inevitably, it has again delayed your process of stepping into the Fourteen-Stage. If I were the head of the Confucian Temple in charge of affairs, I would absolutely be heartless enough to deploy Brother Yu like this!"
Yu Xuan smiled, absolutely refusing to bite. Old Scholar, you are a literary sage, famous for being a sticky old hide. You can freely slander Saint Li and Yasheng like this, but I am not wading into that murky water.
The old scholar said in a low voice, "I heard my last closed-door disciple mention a regret, a real regret. He said that Brother Yu once tried to draw a brand new Five Sacred Mountains Talisman—a truly magnificent talisman—but hit a wall when traveling around that big idiot Zhou You of Sui Mountain, and failed at the last step?"
Yu Xuan pulled his hands free from the old scholar's grip, flicking his sleeve. "Rumors are based on misunderstandings. It's not true. Fellow Daoist Chen has been misinformed."
If Chen Ping'an had brought this up with him, Yu Xuan would have told him truthfully, because this young Hidden Guardian's character was trustworthy.
During the previous meeting at the Confucian Temple, the three of them—Yu Xuan, Fire Dragon True Man, and Zhao Tianlai—were chatting. Fire Dragon True Man emphasized one point: doing business with Mountain Lord Chen is completely safe, a sure profit, just close your eyes and collect the money.
But since the old scholar had come to peddle his wares, doing favors with ulterior motives, he himself had to be cautious.
The old scholar said, "What kind of relationship do you and I have? Sworn brothers! We're not outsiders. Just tell me, how many catties of Sui Mountain soil do you need? Is five catties enough? If not, I'll get a bit more, say ten catties!"
Yu Xuan chuckled. "Master Wen Sheng, stop joking."
A scholar like you, who could go to Nine Yi Mountain and, right under the nose of a mountain lord, forge an imperial decree to try and move away a few pots of literary-fortune calamus—even if you could get it, would I dare to take it, dare to buy it?
The old scholar beat his chest loudly. "As long as Brother Yu is willing to open his mouth and give me a definite word, your younger brother will go through fire and water. What's a few catties of dirt compared to that? And I can guarantee that big idiot Zhou You won't cause any trouble for anyone."
Yu Xuan was skeptical. "Really possible?"
The old scholar laughed. "Just rest assured. With that big idiot, I won't even mention Brother Yu's name. I'll just make up some excuse, like I need it myself, and that's enough to fool him."
Yu Xuan stroked his beard and thought for a moment. "Wouldn't that reason be a bit too clumsy?"
He was hooked, just like that.
The old scholar nodded earnestly. "After all, I am a scholar. I'm indeed not very good at lying."
Yu Xuan suggested, "Why not say it's your last closed-door disciple who needs the Five-Colored Earth?"
That reason seemed more reasonable and plausible.
The old scholar hummed in agreement. "Seems doable."
Yu Xuan asked tentatively, "What's the price?"
The Five-Colored Earth of a Great Sacred Mountain naturally has no market price for reference.
The old scholar stamped his foot. "Brother Yu, how can you be cursing a person?! That's not a very nice thing to say!"
Yu Xuan's head immediately began to pound. To be honest, he would rather have a clean financial transaction with the old scholar. It's better not to owe any favors, and especially not to owe the old scholar a favor.
So, feeling he had already jumped into one big pit, Yu Xuan decided not to jump into a second one. "Money matters make a man clear-headed and upright. Even brothers should settle accounts clearly."
The old scholar said, "But the problem is, you and I aren't biological brothers!"
Yu Xuan's smile became awkward.
The old scholar quickly remedied the situation. "Aren't we closer than ordinary biological brothers?"
Yu Xuan's smile froze.
Brother Yu wasn't very tall either, so the old scholar didn't need to stand on tiptoe to pat his shoulder. "I heard my last closed-door disciple borrowed three hundred gold-essence copper coins from you, old brother?"
Yu Xuan's heart tightened. This was bad.
The old scholar sighed. "How many Grain Rain coins must that be!"
Yu Xuan kept his face straight, resolved not to give an inch. If he'd lent out gold-essence copper coins, Chen Ping'an and Fallen Mountain would have to repay in gold-essence copper coins.
Grain Rain coins? Would he, Yu Xuan, lack that kind of thing?
Seeing his first plan fail, the old scholar devised another. "Brother Yu, let's have a discussion. How about I, as the master, repay this debt myself?"
Yu Xuan gritted his teeth and held his ground. "That wouldn't be right, would it? There's a principle of the son paying the father's debts, but there's no saying that a teacher pays the debts of his student."
If you repay it, how? Still with credit? You can't repay three hundred, and the interest will compound year after year. By the time it's three thousand, you definitely won't have to repay it then.
Just as Yu Xuan was about to resign himself to his fate, the old scholar started chuckling to himself, delighted. He pulled a pouch from his sleeve and handed it to Yu Xuan. "Look at you, so scared. Just take it and rest easy. I clearly explained everything to Zhou You. These ten catties of Sui Mountain earth were personally approved by that big idiot himself. He also said that if the amount isn't enough, you, Yu Xuan, just need to send word to Sui Mountain. You don't even need to make the trip yourself."
"As for that loan of gold-essence copper coins, that child Ping'an has always been most perceptive. He will definitely repay you the principal and interest, not a single coin less, to you, this senior."
"I'm not just blindly praising him. In the matter of not owing favors, this last closed-door disciple of mine is better than me. In fact, he has the same personality as you."
"Of course, Brother Yu has never had to worry about money in his life. That's one place where the two of you differ."
Yu Xuan put away the pouch full of dirt and nodded. "Chen Ping'an is lucky to have you as his master. And the Literary Sage lineage having a Chen Ping'an is equally fortunate."
The old scholar beamed radiantly. "Good! These words are excellent!"
Yu Xuan asked, "How about you and I, as brothers, have a drink?"
"No rush. Good liquor doesn't have legs of its own. It won't run away."
The old scholar flicked his sleeves, straightened his lapels, and stretched out a hand to Yu Xuan. He smiled. "Fellow Daoist Yu Xuan, please, sit down."
"Once, in Mirror Bottle Continent, within that Jade Capital Imitation, I discussed the Dao with a senior. We talked of heaven and earth. I gained some minor insights."
"Tonight, the celestial river is clear. It is most suitable for discussing the Dao with a hero."
Yu Xuan stood speechless, his Dao-heart shaken. He took a deep breath, made a very solemn Daoist salute, and said in a deep, serious voice, "I humbly invite Master Wen Sheng to instruct me!"
---
Chen Ping'an returned to the village school in Yanzhou Prefecture. As for those talisman avatars scattered in different places, none dared to leave Mirror Bottle Continent, and they all 'woke up' one by one at this time.
Zhao Shuxia, who had been standing under the eaves the whole time, looked at his master, who had returned looking travel-worn.
Chen Ping'an smiled and explained, "I took a trip beyond the heavens, did a little something within my power. Mm, you could say I just barely helped out a bit."
His master went beyond the heavens to do what? Help whom?
Though extremely curious in his heart, Zhao Shuxia still didn't ask further.
Chen Ping'an said, "Don't worry about me. Early to bed, early to rise."
Zhao Shuxia nodded and went back to the kitchen to prepare his bedroll on the floor.
In the night, a slender silhouette flying swiftly through the wind made a turn and landed gracefully.
Chen Ping'an was lying in a rattan chair with his eyes closed, resting, a palm-leaf fan resting on his belly.
The woman had only gotten a glimpse of him during her flight. When she got a close look at his face and confirmed his identity, she was greatly shocked.
This young Hidden Guardian, how had he come here?
There were two main cultivators currently responsible for watching over that Dragon Palace ruin. She was one of them, not because her Dao arts were so remarkable, but because this Dragon Palace had an extremely strong immortal affinity with her. She had contributed significantly to opening the gate. The real manager was another hidden Great Li royal priest, an old Nascent Soul cultivator. He was steady and well-versed in the arts of geomancy.
She was Yu Huiting, a female cultivator of Snow Wind Temple. However, she had been serving as a military-attached cultivator for the Great Li for many years.
Wei Jin belonged to the Immortal Terrace lineage. According to the Patriarch Hall's registry, she could address Wei Jin as Uncle Master without any issue.
In fact, Yu Huiting had an immense admiration for this Uncle Master Wei. Of course, the entire Snow Wind Temple had plenty of female cultivators who admired Wei Jin.
Tonight, Yu Huiting still had a saber at her waist, wearing a narrow-sleeved brocade robe and black gauze pants.
According to Sword Immortal Mi Yu, in the old days, the tips of the embroidered shoes on her feet used to be adorned with two 'dragon-eye' pearls.
But she had used them both as 'door-knockers' to open the Dragon Palace's prohibitions.
Seeing that the young Hidden Guardian showed no reaction, only emitting a faint snore,
Yu Huiting hesitated for a moment, thinking he had silently issued an order for her to leave.
She decided to float in and then 'quietly' leave, being sensible.
The reason she had come here was based on intelligence reports that the newly appointed Gaoniang of Thin Eyebrow River had recently visited this remote village at the foot of the mountain. Having nothing better to do, she wanted to come and take a look.
But Yu Huiting's heart was truly concerned about Uncle Master Wei, so she didn't just fly away. She steeled herself, gently coughed, and spoke softly, "Mountain Lord Chen, I apologize for the presumptuous visit. This time, I didn't come specifically to find you. I was just passing through by chance, purely accidental."
Chen Ping'an opened his eyes and immediately sat up, smiling. "Sorry, sorry. I was just thinking about something."
Yu Huiting naturally didn't believe him. A great sword immortal and a mortal realm supremacist martial artist—how could he not detect her faint movements?
Chen Ping'an used his palm-leaf fan to point at the bamboo chair under the eaves and smiled. "It's quite simple. If Lady Yu doesn't mind, you're welcome to sit."
Just as Yu Huiting sat down, Gaoniang, who had been authorized by Mountain Lord Chen earlier, came rushing over to report to the young Hidden Guardian after receiving a decree from the Great Li Ministry of Rites addressed to various mountain and river spirits. He ran straight into Yu Huiting. Gaoniang looked embarrassed. It seemed his previous visit was handled poorly.
Chen Ping'an smilingly asked the two to wait a moment. He went to the kitchen, brought out a short table, and placed it under the eaves. They sat around the table on three bamboo chairs. On the short table, he placed three white bowls and a few plates of snacks and appetizers to go with the wine.
Watching the young Hidden Guardian set up this 'wine table,' Yu Huiting couldn't help but laugh. Why was she inexplicably drinking here?
Would this count as an interesting piece of mountain-wild anecdote?
Chen Ping'an had already clinked bowls with Gaoniang and drunk.
He didn't really have any airs. In this regard, Chen Ping'an seemed to be cut from the same cloth as Uncle Master Wei.
Yu Huiting was not the type of woman to be coy. She picked up her wine bowl, took a big gulp, and asked directly, "When Uncle Master Wei was at the Sword Qi Great Wall back then, besides practicing his sword, what else did he do?"
Gaoniang lowered his head to drink, a smile playing on his lips.
It's said that heroes are troubled by beauties, but aren't beauties the same? /
There are many passes and barriers in the world, but the pass of love is the highest.
It's hard to cross the mountain. Going up the mountain is easy, but coming down is hard. It's not that the mountain path is hard to walk; it's just that one is unwilling to leave this mountain.
Gaoniang picked up a saltwater peanut, tossed it into his mouth, and chewed slowly.
Men, isn't that how they all pass through it? Who hasn't had some secret romance under the moonlight?
Chen Ping'an smiled. "Sword Immortal Wei had quite a reputation over there. Although he was usually rather stern and serious, he was actually quite popular. He was one of the very few sword cultivators who could have a chat with Old Sword Immortal."
"Sword Immortal Wei was also a major customer of our tavern, our only one. The tavern's most expensive—and naturally the best—wine was all bought up by him. He bought wine generously and drank it with even more bravery."
"I believe that when Sword Immortal Wei returns to Mirror Bottle Continent, his sword arts will have advanced by another huge margin. To be honest with you, something most wouldn't dare believe: Snow Wind Temple's Wei Jin's sword arts are now approaching the Dao."
Upon hearing this, Yu Huiting's face immediately bloomed into a smile.
Even if Mountain Lord Chen's words were diluted, like wine cut with water, the fact that Uncle Master Wei could chat with Old Sword Immortal couldn't be fake, right? That judgment of his sword arts approaching the Dao couldn't be made up on a whim, could it?
"Fellow townsman. This is an extremely precious bond of fellow townsmen."
Gaoniang immediately nodded in agreement. "If I remember correctly, among the cultivators from our Mirror Bottle Continent who went and stayed long-term at the Sword Qi Great Wall, there were only Mountain Lord Chen and Great Sword Immortal Wei. They must have undoubtedly been true heroes admiring each other. A beautiful tale, indeed. It's a pity that Mountain Lord Chen and Great Sword Immortal Wei aren't the type to boast about themselves, nor do they even like being praised by others. Otherwise, their fame would be at least several times greater."
Yu Huiting was momentarily speechless but decided not to contradict him.
Chen Ping'an held back his laughter and called out toward the kitchen, "Shuxia, make us some midnight snacks, then come over here and join us for a drink."
Chen Ping'an then asked the other two with a smile, "You two, any food restrictions?"
Yu Huiting wanted to hear more stories about Uncle Master Wei, so she didn't stand on ceremony. She said she had no restrictions.
Gaoniang, at this point, couldn't be chased away even if he wanted. He was more than willing to stay a little longer and just said, 'Anything is fine.'
Although Yu Huiting wasn't fond of the officialdom way, she wasn't the type of cultivator ignorant of worldly affairs. At the table, she picked up her bowl and proactively toasted Gaoniang twice.
After a while, Zhao Shuxia joined them.
Chen Ping'an made no attempt to hide his affection for Zhao Shuxia. He smiled and introduced him. "Brother Gao, Lady Yu, this is my direct disciple. His surname is Zhao, given name Shuxia. He is currently learning fist techniques and sword arts from me. He is a prized disciple I found by luck."
Hearing his master say this, Zhao Shuxia's face was full of embarrassment.
Yu Huiting didn't take it too seriously. Gaoniang seemed to take it too seriously. Even Zhao Shuxia himself didn't dare to believe it.
Chen Ping'an didn't mind either way. He was just telling the truth anyway.
After that, the table was full of lively conversation and a harmonious atmosphere. Everyone drank as they pleased, no urging needed, and it was already like a spring breeze.