This isn’t a major chapter; those will be delayed a few days. Writing about the characters who ventured out requires more space to explain things clearly. This current chapter, however, is about drawing in a large net.

After the New Year, several significant events unfolded in the Jade Bottle Continent.

First, the Divine Edict Sect’s young but highly respected Daoist, with the vigorous recommendation of his Sect Leader and “Celestial Sovereign” Qi Zhen, was invited to the Divine Edict Sect’s superior sect, a major Daoist institution located in the Central Earth Continent. He became the new Scribe-Recluse, in charge of the exceptionally precious Daoist tome, the *Cave Mystery Scripture*, hailed as the “Canon of Daoist Practices.”

This news was no less significant than the Divine Edict Sect’s celebration of Qi Zhen’s investiture as a Celestial Sovereign.

Second, True Martial Mountain, one of the ancestral homes of the strategists, had a disciple accepted last year who broke through three realms in a single year. This caused True Martial Mountain, which had been slightly less prestigious than Wind and Snow Temple, to suddenly gain immense momentum, vaguely overshadowing even Wind and Snow Temple. Keep in mind, this was despite Wei Jin of Wind and Snow Temple ascending as a Land Sword Immortal, underscoring the young man’s immense talent.

Third, a rumor circulated that the barbaric Great Li Dynasty to the north, had gone mad and wanted to elevate a certain peak in the southern part of its territory to become the Northern Mountain of the nation, causing widespread discussion and mockery. It was said that the bumpkin Song Clan was not only shallow in learning but also couldn’t distinguish between east, south, west, and north. Only Lakeside Academy strictly prohibited its students from discussing the matter, which was noteworthy.

The other incidents were not as astonishing as the first three and were mostly rumors that were exaggerated and of uncertain veracity. For example, in the southernmost Old Dragon City, the young city lord Fu Nanhua was said to be marrying a daughter of a prominent family from the Southern Stream Kingdom, one of the leading clans in Jade Bottle Continent. However, rumor had it that the woman was incredibly ugly, an old maid of thirty.

Another example was the precarious situation of the Great Sui in the north. Powerful cultivators were quietly leaving the country, choosing to “travel” south, allegedly to avoid the sharp edge of Great Li’s illusory White Jade Capital Flying Sword Tower.

As for Cliffside Academy, which had been stripped of its title as one of the seventy-two academies, it was not significant news that it had taken root in the Great Sui capital last year.

Furthermore, the Great Sui outwardly proclaimed the emergence of a tenth-realm martial artist who shook the world, but the southern part of Jade Bottle Continent considered it a clumsy smokescreen by the Great Sui’s Gao Clan.

The Lantern Festival had only passed a few days ago, and so many major events had already occurred. The eastern Jade Bottle Continent had seemingly never been so lively.

As Wei Bo began visiting Fallen Phoenix Mountain daily for leisure, the mountain became more vibrant. The immortals from the three surrounding mountains, who had previously treated Fallen Phoenix Mountain’s reluctance to build a manor as a joke, now frequently visited it, either to encounter the Northern Mountain Great God or to offer incense at the mountain peak’s Mountain God Temple.

This action was not simple. There were significant rules and implications for immortals entering temples to burn incense. Immortals usually did not set foot in temples, let alone burn incense casually, unless it was a “head incense” akin to forming an alliance. For example, if I were to build a manor on a mountain with a court-ordained shrine, I would burn a stick of incense, not three, as a greeting. If the incense burned completely, it meant that the mountain’s spirits acknowledged the presence; if the incense could not be inserted into the incense burner, it meant that the “timing was not right.” As for whether the immortals would break off relations or further cultivate them, it depended on their respective strengths or the size of the dynasty’s fist.

However, the small Jade Bottle Continent was not like the Central Earth Continent, where hundreds of flowers bloomed. Legend had it that there was a powerful dynasty that had stood for thousands of years, and whenever its power waned, it would produce enlightened rulers and resourceful ministers and generals. That dynasty vigorously promoted pure martial artists and once performed an unprecedented feat. A benighted monarch, who nearly brought the dynasty to its end, was enraged for the sake of a beautiful woman and used the entire nation’s power to besiege a great mountain. In addition to the artifacts of Qi Refiners and the flying swords of Sword Cultivators, there were countless powerful crossbows of pure martial artists, six thousand catapults engraved with Daoist cloud seals, and nearly ten thousand massive ballistae specially crafted by Moist artisans, using all of the dynasty’s reserves. Each ballista bolt was as thick as a temple’s main pillar… In the end, they forcibly shot the great mountain into a porcupine.

Dragon Spring Town was still bustling, but the mountains to the west had been unusually quiet and peaceful for the past two days. Not to mention the foreign immortals who had settled here, even the unruly demons and monsters didn’t dare to breathe loudly, because the Great Li’s Imperial Preceptor Cui Chan had begun his mountain patrol.

It was said that this was the Confucian-robed old man’s first time setting foot in Dragon Spring County. The old man was stern and only brought two attendants, walking from north to south, starting from the county governor’s mansion in the north.

Because the old man had no intention of making a low-key private visit, he had already informed his prized student, Wu Yuan, who served as the county governor. Therefore, the major mountain peaks had received notifications from the government offices, requiring them to be prepared to welcome the Imperial Preceptor at any time.

It wasn’t about making demands, like serving dragon liver and phoenix marrow or some elaborate street sweeping. But appearances had to be maintained; the person in charge should stay on the mountain and not wander around. Otherwise, when the Imperial Preceptor came, he might ask about everything and get “I don’t know” as an answer, which would be inappropriate.

Among them, Spiritual Show Mountain under Ruan Qiong’s name and Horned Cow Mountain where Pouch Shop was located were of utmost importance. Wu Yuan had to let the two elder sons of the Yuan and Cao families, who served as county magistrate and kiln supervisor, respectively, reside there first, lest they fail to provide adequate hospitality and something went wrong.

As for Cloud Cape Mountain, needless to say, His Majesty the Emperor would soon arrive in person. Sure enough, Imperial Preceptor Cui Chan stayed at Cloud Cape Mountain for a short period of two days, inspecting the Northern Mountain Temple and the new academy’s site. During this time, the appearance of a certain face, accompanying the Imperial Preceptor throughout the entire time, caused a great uproar. It was none other than the former minister of the Huang Ting Kingdom, “Cheng Shuidong.” This led to much speculation; had the Hong Clan of Huang Ting Kingdom, a vassal state of Great Sui, betrayed its alliance?

Finally, Cui Chan went to the southernmost Fallen Phoenix Mountain, ascended the Mountain God Temple, and Song Yuzhang manifested his golden body. When Song Yuzhang was studying in his youth, he greatly admired this Imperial Preceptor. Now, not only could he see him up close, but he could also discuss morality and scholarship with him, which filled the already Mountain God with excitement.
Leaving the Mountain God Temple, Cui Chan sent Song Yuzhang to Mount Pi Yun to discuss the matter of demonic entities entering the mountain with Wei Bo. He instructed his two retainers, Xu Ruo and Liu Yu, to return to the small town and continue monitoring Xie Shi and Cao Xi. As dusk fell, the Grand Tutor of the Great Li Dynasty slowly descended the mountain alone, walking along a secluded path, eventually arriving at a bamboo dwelling. A young boy in green robes and a girl in a pink skirt were cultivating by the cliffside and munching on melon seeds and pastries under the eaves, respectively. Upon seeing the old man, the girl blinked her eyes. “The Master is passed out in the medicine barrel again,” she thought. She dared not arbitrarily close the door to refuse a guest, nor did she dare allow a strange old man to barge into the bamboo house.

The young boy in green had been diligently cultivating recently, meditating assiduously, day and night, never leaving the cliffside except when carrying Chen Pingan down from the second floor. He was oblivious to worldly affairs. But when he opened his eyes, he saw a scholarly old man with unfathomable cultivation, and one who seemed to be short-tempered at that. The young boy felt like jumping off the cliff to his death. If he encountered someone on the streets of the small town or in Mud Bottle Alley who could kill him with a single punch, so be it. But to encounter another one on the way back to the desolate wilderness of Fallen Phoenix Mountain? He would just have to endure it. What was this? He was just quietly cultivating at his own doorstep, yet someone was coming to kill him with a single punch right at his front door?

The young boy’s expression was numb. “Not fearing death is the mark of great courage,” he thought, as he said to the old man, “My Master is not receiving guests these days. If you are unhappy, you might as well kill me with a single punch. You’ll have to step over my dead body first anyway.”

The old man nodded, his face indifferent. “You want to die, is that it?”

The young boy was about to speak when the girl in pink, with her childish voice, asked, “Old sir, who are you looking for?”

Cui Chan turned his head and smiled. “My name is Cui Chan, and I am the Grand Tutor of the Great Li Dynasty. I am not looking for your Master, but for the person on the second floor.”

The young boy in green felt like he had been struck by lightning, then his eyes rolled back instantly. He pressed a hand to his head and waved wildly with the other, as if grasping at air. “What did I just say? I can’t remember anything. Why is this happening…”

An old man stood by the railing on the second floor and said to the girl in pink, “Let him come up. Take the little water snake and go play somewhere else. Don’t worry, this has nothing to do with your Master, Chen Ping’an.”

Grand Tutor Cui Chan carried two chairs up to the second floor and gently placed them on the corridor, one for each of them.

The old man asked, “What is the meaning of this?”

Cui Chan said calmly, “For the sake of my own Great Dao, I found an ancient vestige, a celestial husk, and divided half of my soul to place within it, splitting myself into two. In that youthful guise, I walked the Li Zhu Grotto-Heaven. I schemed against Qi Jingchun but was instead harmed by him, causing my realm to plummet and my soul to become unstable. Afterwards, I made a deal with a remnant prisoner of extreme antiquity in this area, learning a secret art, which allowed me to barely stabilize my mind. Then, Old Xiucai came here and chose the youthful husk of me, abandoning me in the Great Li capital, severing the connection between our souls, completely splitting us into two. Thus, there are now two Cui Chans in the world…”

The old man’s expression was equally cold. He clenched his fists and placed them on his knees, gazing into the distance. “You are wrong, it is Cui Chanchan.”

Cui Chan did not comment on this. “I am Cui Chan, and have been so from the moment I left my hometown. As for the youth who received half of my soul, he has now chosen a new name related to the mountains, Cui Dongshan. I think Cui Chan is more fitting. Cui Chan, Cui Chanchan, mountains and waters are inseparable, mountains and waters will meet again, and it makes for an auspicious omen.”

The old man turned his head. “How did you become so old?”

Cui Chan chuckled self-deprecatingly. “I left home at twenty, went to the Central Earth Divine Continent at twenty-four, and then spent over a hundred years in ups and downs, betraying my master and then wandering the world for thirty more years. After returning to the Precious Bottle Continent, I have been in this Great Li Dynasty for so many years. I am two hundred years old, no longer young.”

The old man shook his head. “This is not the Chanchan I remember.”

Cui Chan smiled, as if a light breeze. “Grandpa, do you know that you have always been like this, always thinking that everything revolves around you? Perhaps only after you went mad did you stop thinking like that. Although I am not clear about the reasons and changes that led to this, and why the Cui clan did not imprison you, I don’t think your visit here has any meaning for you or me.”

The old man still shook his head. “I am here to find your teacher.”

Cui Chan sneered. “Old Xiucai? He has already left the Precious Bottle Continent and went to the Poso Continent, causing a great commotion. He even stole a sun from the shoulder of the Yingyin Chen clan’s ancestor, causing the whole world to be in an uproar. But Old Xiucai can’t be controlled by anyone now, he is very carefree.”

The old man said with a smile, “The Chanchan of my childhood would not say such words. He would say bad things about someone, but every time at the end, he would add, ‘But that person is good to his family,’ ‘But that person’s poetry is really good,’ ‘But…'”

Cui Chan snorted coldly. “Enough! Raking over old coals only stirs up dust.”

The old man laughed heartily. “No wonder you became the Grand Tutor of the Great Li Dynasty, a major figure who controls the trends of half a continent.”

Cui Chan sighed.

The old man mocked himself. “No wonder I didn’t recognize you at the time, the Chanchan I remember is too different from you now.”

Cui Chan stood up, holding the railing with one hand, and said, “People’s hearts are like water, if they don’t move, they become stagnant.”

The old man slowly stood up. “I can see that, besides the swordsman by your side, there are also two powerful figures in the small town. What, are they targeting you? Do you need me to do anything?”

Cui Chan hesitated for a moment, and then asked, half-jokingly, “That depends on whether you dare to kill a Heavenly Sovereign of the Daoist religion from Jilu Continent.”

The old man chuckled twice.

Cui Chan turned his head to look at the old man. He was exactly the same, but the memories of his youth were drastically different. The Cui clan’s ancestor at that time leaned on a cane, looked old and frail, and possessed an aura of refined scholarship.

The old man closed his eyes.

He began to search for the aura of someone in the small town.

In Peach Leaf Lane of the small town, at the old residence of the Xie family.

Cao Xi paid a visit.

Xie Shi was too lazy to introduce his identity, and Cao Xi was unwilling to brag about himself, so no one in the Xie family knew that this wealthy man was actually a Land Sword Immortal from the Poso Continent.

Xie Shi was waiting for definitive news from the Great Li Emperor, how many of the three, He Xiaoliang of the Divine Decree Sect, Ma Kuxuan of True Martial Mountain, and Li Xisheng of the small town, would ultimately be handed over.

Although they weren’t clear on Cao Xi’s details, since he was “a friend” of Xie Shi, the family dared not neglect him in the slightest.
In the hall, Cao Xi sipped his tea, casting a sidelong glance at a pair of exquisite and adorable incense doll spirits, hiding within the plaque, craning their necks to peer at him.

Xie Shi, growing impatient with Cao Xi’s pretense, was just about to shoo him away when both of them simultaneously turned their gaze towards the southwest.

Cao Xi narrowed his eyes, a hint of schadenfreude in his expression.

Xie Shi maintained a calm demeanor, yet a tremor of shock ran through his heart.

A martial artist of the ninth realm peak.

From somewhere deep within the mountains to the southwest, someone was “inspecting” the entire town in an unrestrained manner.

Finally, their gaze locked onto Xie Shi.

Facing him, seated across the table, was the Sword Immortal Cao Xi, a river stream bound to his wrist, serving as his natal flying sword.

And a “young” swordsman, who had appeared silently in Peach Leaf Lane, was none other than the Mohist Hero Xu Ruo, his sword held horizontally behind him, strolling leisurely.

His fame might not be prominent in Treasure Bottle洲, but in the Central Earth Divine Continent, he was a figure of great renown. Yet, even in the Central Earth Divine Continent, most people only knew that the Mohist Hero Xu Ruo’s sword emphasized defense over offense, with ancient, profound, and weighty sword techniques, renowned for its defensive capabilities. Few understood that Xu Ruo’s mystical swordsmanship was, after all, meant for killing enemies. How could it simply be for “holding a sword and being invincible”?

The Mohist Wanderer, roaming the world, while dedicated to helping the weak and eliminating the strong, possessed formidable killing power, whether in the martial world or on the battlefield. Therefore, aside from the military strategists, the Mohists were one of the most valued and relied upon hundred-school cultivators by generals.

Now, a pure martial artist, at least at the ninth realm peak, had suddenly emerged, stirring with ill intentions towards Xie Shi.

Coupled with Saint Ruan Qiong, whose stance was yet unclear.

Xie Shi took a sip of tea, surveying his surroundings.

Just as Xie Shi was about to place the teacup back on the table,

A little yellow sparrow shot down from the courtyard sky, ripples forming in the air above the courtyard before swiftly returning to calm.

The small and lovely sparrow perched on Xie Shi’s shoulder, gently pecking at the man’s clothing.

Chen Pingan had seen this sparrow, Qi Jingchun had seen it, and in fact, many of the town’s people had seen it.

Cao Xi’s face displayed confusion, followed by a sudden change in complexion. Finally, sweat beaded on his forehead, his smiling face turning pale, displaying both awe and a hint of relief.

Xu Ruo sighed, releasing his grip on the sword hilt, realizing that whether he drew his sword or not, the result would be the same, he was still too slow.

Ruan Qiong only paused his hammering for a moment, before immediately returning to his task of forging swords.

Only at the Bamboo Lodge on Fallen Phoenix Mountain, the old man burst into laughter, his fighting spirit soaring.