Chapter 2620: Book Mountain, North Cliff
The Heavenly Court was definitely a place he had to go.
Whether the Kaiyuan Lu Ding was a divine artifact once belonging to the Zhang Clan or not, it had to be retrieved. However, Zhang Ruochen still had some mundane affairs to settle in the Kunlun Realm and could not set off immediately.
The old man refused to let Zhang Ruochen go, worried he might slip away again.
"I need to go to the Sword Pavilion first to return an item belonging to Granny Haitang. Want to come along?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
"No good. The deathly aura is surging up again; I have to use all my strength to suppress it."
The old man turned and dashed deep into the tomb forest, then looked back and said coldly, "Don't think about running. I can find you no matter where you go, even to the ends of the earth."
Zhang Ruochen gently shook his head, abandoning his plan to explore the tomb forest. He picked three Great Saint Dao Fruits, stored them in the Spring of Life, and then left Wangshan.
This old man had too many underhanded tricks. Zhang Ruochen dared not travel to the Heavenly Court with him.
Who knew what trouble he might cause?
...
Zhang Ruochen went to Hanshan Mountain of Qian Shui Commandery Prince to pay respects to the Commandery Prince and the various royal clan members.
These people had all died because of him back then, and Zhang Ruochen still felt guilty about it to this day.
A thousand years had passed. The Qian Shui Commandery Kingdom no longer existed, and the Commandery Prince's surname was no longer "Huang." Some of the graves even showed signs of being robbed.
He poured a jug of wine, lit a stick of incense, repaired the weed-covered graves, straightened the fallen tombstones, and finally carved Great Saint inscriptions to prevent the royal tombs from being robbed again.
...
Leaving Hanshan Mountain, Zhang Ruochen went to the Lei Saint Clan.
Every time he returned to the Kunlun Realm, Zhang Ruochen would definitely find Lei Jing to drink with.
Lei Jing was his first master and one of the cultivators who treated him best in the Kunlun Realm.
Lei Jing's talent was ultimately somewhat lacking; he had failed to break through to the Saint King realm. He was no longer as robust as before. Now, his teeth had all fallen out, his face was covered in age spots, and his hair was so sparse it could be counted.
The younger generations of the Lei Saint Clan, upon hearing that a Saint had come out of seclusion, all knelt outside the gate.
In the main hall, only Lei Jing and Zhang Ruochen were present.
Lei Jing said, "Over the years, it's all thanks to the life-extending precious medicines sent by Academy Head Luo Xu that I've been able to live to this age. Otherwise, you brat wouldn't even be seeing me!"
His speech was a bit slurred from missing teeth.
"At your age, you shouldn't be drinking anymore."
Zhang Ruochen moved the wine cup away from him, provoking Lei Jing to glare at him and roar, "Put the wine down for me! Try moving it again, and I'll—I haven't had a single drop in three hundred years. This is a rare occasion. I'm happy today!"
Zhang Ruochen drained the wine from the cup, then filled it with Spring of Life and handed it back to him. "What are you yelling about? You don't even have teeth anymore; I can't even hear what you're saying clearly. Drink this."
Zhang Ruochen had examined Lei Jing's body. His life fire was nearly extinguished, and his potential was completely exhausted. Helping him break into the Saint King realm was no longer possible.
"When I came in earlier, I noticed a younger generation in the Lei Saint Clan with decent talent, already at the Saint realm. Is he the successor you've been training?" Zhang Ruochen asked.
Lei Jing revealed a cunning, old-fox expression. "That kid is my grandson. As an elder, shouldn't you give him something?"
Zhang Ruochen took out a Great Saint Dao Fruit and handed it to him. "I originally planned to give this to you. But seeing that you old fellow can't use it now, it's up to you to decide what to do with it!"
Zhang Ruochen drank wine, while Lei Jing drank the spring. They talked about many things.
Occasionally, they would laugh and curse at each other.
It wasn't until the next day that Zhang Ruochen left the Lei Saint Clan. Before leaving, he had Shang Xia carve Great Saint inscriptions in the clan's ancestral hall, as a final act for his master.
...
Zhang Ruochen went to the Eastern Domain Sacred City.
Back then, Chen Yuhua had passed the Xinhuo Token to him, making Zhang Ruochen the Lord of the Eastern Domain, able to command all the sects there.
Zhang Ruochen had little interest in the position of Eastern Domain Lord, so he entrusted the Xinhuo Token to Jiang Yunchong and Yan Ruo for safekeeping, asking them to use its power to protect the Eastern Domain.
This time, returning to the Eastern Domain Sacred City, Zhang Ruochen did not see Jiang Yunchong. Upon inquiring, he learned that Jiang Yunchong spent most of his time in the Heavenly Court.
And the Xinhuo Token had long been passed down to Chen Yuhua's descendant, "Chen Wutian."
This outcome pleased Zhang Ruochen. After going full circle, the Xinhuo Token had returned to the hands of the Chen family.
"East Wutian, West Wufa. South Xinshu, North Yutian. Central Domain Nine Prefectures, Trillions upon trillions. Ten years, a small era. A hundred years, a great era. A hundred years in Kunlun, who rises and falls? The 'Heroes Ode' unfolds the world."
"Talented woman, oh talented woman. A hundred years is considered a great era, but what era is a thousand years? A thousand years have passed. In this 'Heroes Ode,' who has become a hero, and who has become a lonely soul?"
Zhang Ruochen recited the "Heroes Ode" as he walked out of the Eastern Domain Sacred Academy.
Many disciples of the academy passed by, but none knew what he was reciting. A thousand years was too long; many generations of young heroes had come and gone.
He had come to the Eastern Domain Sacred Academy to find Xuanji Sword Saint and Luo Xu.
Unfortunately, they were not there, but were cultivating in the Heavenly Court, only occasionally returning to the Eastern Domain Sacred City.
Zhang Ruochen walked along the bustling, traffic-filled long street. Ahead, a troop of cavalry riding Silver-Horn Rhinos marched past in orderly formation, holding a banner embroidered with the characters "Yin Kong." The sound of iron hooves faded into the distance.
The banner felt somewhat familiar to Zhang Ruochen, but he quickly dismissed it and used the Space Teleportation Array in the Sacred City to head to the Liangyi Sect.
...
The current Sect Leader of the Liangyi Sect was Gai Tianjiao, one of the former Nine Realm Sons.
Zhang Ruochen did not see this senior sister. Instead, he went unnoticed to the Sword Pavilion and returned the "Wordless Sword Manual" to Granny Haitang.
As he was leaving, Zhang Ruochen casually said, "In the ancestral land deep within the Ming Sect, a reawakened one has appeared. His personality is very strange, and he calls himself some kind of Venerable. Granny, do you know of such a figure from the Middle Ages?"
"What does he look like?" Granny Haitang asked coldly.
Zhang Ruochen shook his head. "That old man appears and disappears mysteriously, seeming afraid to see people. I didn't get a clear look at his face. However, Wangshan is my Zhang Clan's ancestral land. Suddenly having such a strange person appear, and with my cultivation, I can't even handle him. If Granny has the time, why not go to the Ming Sect and help Ruochen deal with him?"
"Let's set off now. I want to see if that old undying has crawled out of his grave!" Granny Haitang said through gritted teeth, looking quite furious.
Jie Zunzhe's cultivation was unfathomably deep. Zhang Ruochen couldn't contend with him and didn't want to get involved, lest he suffer a great loss.
So he said, "No can do. Ruochen still has other important matters to attend to and won't be able to return for two days. How about this: Granny goes to the Ming Sect first, and I'll send a message ahead to inform the Ming Sect Leader."
"That works too."
Granny Haitang took this matter very seriously. Not long after Zhang Ruochen left the Liangyi Sect, she immediately set off for the Ming Sect.
Standing atop a snow-covered peak in the Yunshen Mountain Range, Zhang Ruochen watched Granny Haitang fly eastward as a colorful cloud, a knowing smile spreading across his face.
That old man was running wild and lawless in the Ming Sect. Someone needed to rein him in.
...
The Book Sect.
One of the four Confucian sects, founded by the Third Confucian Ancestor from ancient times. Built by the shore of the Learning Sea and nestled against Book Mountain, it was a place of pilgrimage for Confucian disciples under heaven.
Even the one later hailed as the Kunlun Realm's number one powerhouse, Ten Calamities Wen Tianjun, had once sailed a boat across the Learning Sea, ascended Book Mountain, and paid homage to the Confucian Ancestor in his youth.
Unfortunately, three hundred thousand years ago, the Third Confucian Ancestor, as one of the Twenty Heavens, perished in an unknown land.
Today was the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the Lantern Festival. On the Learning Sea, a thousand sails passed by.
The boats were filled with young men and women in Confucian robes, all outstanding talents of the new generation of Confucianism.
On the boats, they engaged in poetry duels, played the zither, played chess, and competed in swordsmanship.
After disembarking, the group of Confucian disciples ascended the stone path of Book Mountain.
The cliffs were covered with stone-carved texts left by sages of the past.
Book Mountain was majestic and vast. Green pines hung from cliffs, emerald bamboos grew by streams, white mist floated in the valleys, and the clear sound of reading rose from the ground, reaching the clouds.
The thatched cottage where Nalan Danqing lived was located on the North Cliff of Book Mountain.
The North Cliff was covered in sacred bamboo, its leaves greener than emerald, and the bamboo shoots emitted a captivating fragrance. Legend had it that the first bamboo here was planted by the Confucian Ancestor himself, called "Sky-Piercing Bamboo," which could grow from the ground all the way beyond the heavens.
Unfortunately, the Sky-Piercing Bamboo had long been destroyed.
Nevertheless, the North Cliff still retained the Ancestral Texts left by the Confucian Ancestor, more powerful than divine inscriptions. Ordinary people who tried to force their way in risked falling.
Nalan Danqing, dressed in white, her figure like a crescent moon, stood on the North Cliff, gazing at the setting sun at the edge of the Learning Sea.
Under the afterglow of the setting sun, golden, scale-like spots of light formed on the water's surface, dazzling to the eye.
She recited:
"Setting sun melts gold, evening clouds merge like jade—where is he now? Willows dyed in mist thick, plum blossoms blown by a mournful flute—how much spring feeling is there? On this Lantern Festival, in this gentle weather, who knows if wind and rain won't follow?"
"In the prosperous days of the Central Prefecture, when I had much leisure at home, I remember we especially valued the fifteenth. With emerald headdresses and golden willow ornaments, we vied to see who was most splendidly adorned. Now, haggard, with wind-tossed hair and frosty temples, I dread going out at night."
Behind her came the sound of light footsteps.
Wan Canglan, clad in a suit of crimson armor, was led by a white-haired old woman to the North Cliff. Hearing Nalan Danqing's verses, she said, "Danqing, why are you so melancholy? You've clearly retired to seclusion, yet you're still longing for the past?"
Nalan Danqing revealed a faint smile. "On festive occasions, it's hard not to be sentimental. Sister is always busy with endless affairs. What brings you here specifically to see me this Lantern Festival?"
Wan Canglan had a fiery figure, and her form-fitting armor perfectly outlined her curves. Her long, straight legs had large patches of skin exposed, full of beauty and extremely alluring.
As fellow Nine Heavens Mysterious Maidens, Wan Canglan and Nalan Danqing were two extremes.
One was still as water, the other fierce as fire.
Wan Canglan said, "Do you know? That bookworm has been forced to break through to the Supreme Realm."
"Why is that? His accumulation of Sacred Dao Rules in the Ten Thousand Deaths One Life Realm should still be less than ten trillion, right? Once he breaks through, he'll have no chance of rising to the ranks of the world's top powerhouses." Although Nalan Danqing was in seclusion, she was not completely unaware of the outside world.
Wan Canglan said, "It's a scheme by the Blade God Realm. More precisely, it's being orchestrated by Shang Zihong and Michael of the Paradise Realm faction, all aimed at destroying his path."
"The Mortal World Conference hasn't even begun yet, but the suppression by the Heavenly Realm Faction is getting harsher and harsher. I know I shouldn't disturb your seclusion, but the situation is becoming increasingly severe. The time for the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maidens to unite once more has come."
Nalan Danqing said, "Shang Zihong and Michael disappeared for five hundred years and have finally emerged from seclusion. What realm are they in now?"