The young Daoist boy stood on the steps. Old Man Yang from the apothecary often sat there, a long-stemmed pipe in hand, puffing out clouds of smoke.

Chen Pingan stood under the eaves, offering a proper Daoist salute, silent.

It wasn’t that Chen Pingan was deliberately being mysterious, but he truly didn’t know how to answer. His main concern was implicating Li Liu, so he could only stubbornly remain a mute.

The young Daoist boy flicked his sleeves, returning a well-mannered Confucian bow, smiling without a word.

The boy sat on the steps, extending a hand. “Sit wherever you like. We’re all just guests here, so don’t be too particular.”

*I am a traveler, and you are, for now. But perhaps not in the future.*

Chen Pingan moved to sit on the long bench, separated from the boy by the open courtyard, facing each other.

The identity of the young Daoist boy before him was self-evident.

He once rode an ox through customs, freely wandering the wilderness. With a casual gesture, he sent the ancient demon of the old throne back to the bottom of the ancient well, leaving an indelible Daoist mark on it that would last for millennia.

He even caused the Great Ancestor to ascend and flee far beyond the heavens, afraid to show his face.

Even Grandmaster Sun of the Great Mystery Capital Temple, a highly respected figure who “inquired about the existence of true invincibility” every so often, was rumored to proudly mention the Dao Ancestor who founded the White Jade City whenever he traveled the Vast Expanse with Bai Ye and the others, confidently assuring everyone that the most powerful being under Heaven was still the one from their Azure Billow World.

In the face of the Dao Ancestor, pretending to understand when you do is pointless, and pretending to understand when you don’t is even more laughable.

The Dao Ancestor glanced at Chen Pingan’s Fourteenth Realm aura, and chuckled: “The word ‘propriety’ is difficult because it requires both feeling and reason, without being rigid. The Little Master is quite formidable.”

Then, the Dao Ancestor revealed a heavenly secret: “You are able to accommodate Lu Chen’s realm with minimal dissipation, not only due to the Sage of Rites and Lu Chen, but also greatly related to your own mastery of the ’empty vessel’. *Only the Dao gathers in emptiness, and emptiness is the abode of the mind; one who empties himself finds the world vast.* To put it simply, among the people you know, Zhou Mi, Cui Chan, Qi Jingchun, Zheng Juzhong, and Wu Shuangjiang are all similar scholars. In layman’s terms, only an empty stomach can eat more. Why are cultivators different from ordinary people? What does it mean to enter the mountains and cultivate immortality? It’s simply excavating mountains for dwellings, moving the seven emotions and six desires, worldly thoughts, and turbid energies of ordinary mortals out, and moving in the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth, the opportunities of Daoist techniques, and the merits and blessings.”

He sat upright in a green robe, like a fledgling student who had just learned to read.

Now, the mountain-top cultivators of the several worlds, whether Ascendants or Fourteenth Realm beings, dared not call Zhou Mi by his given name, for fear of revealing human secrets to the heavens.

The Dao Ancestor smiled. This fellow seemed to still be in the dark, which was normal. How could the various schools of the Three Teachings allow that *One*, who had received the Sword Holder’s recognition at a young age? Moreover, with two elder brothers watching over him, Chen Pingan would naturally never have dreamed that all these years on his travels, he was not only holding a candle for a night journey but also carrying a lantern in broad daylight.

However, the Dao Ancestor wasn’t in a hurry to reveal this, and asked, “You’ve been close to Buddhism since childhood, and you have a deep understanding of affirmation and negation, so you must know the Three Statements of Meaning?”

Chen Pingan nodded. “The Buddha said the world, it is neither world, therefore it is called world.”

The Dao Ancestor smiled. “Excellent saying. Let’s expand upon it. You can offer an example. The principle is the vast emptiness of Heaven and Earth, and the example is a post station or a ferry, so that the listener has a foothold. Otherwise, a lofty person preaching reason is like riding a crane to Yangzhou.”

Chen Pingan said, “Su Shi has a poem: ‘The clouds of Danzhou and the tide of the Qianjiang River; those who haven’t been there regret it a hundredfold; having arrived, one finds it is nothing special, the clouds of Danzhou and the tide of the Qianjiang River.'”

The Dao Ancestor said, “Another saying.”

Chen Pingan replied, “The Dao that can be spoken is not the Constant Dao.”

The Dao Ancestor laughed. “No wonder Su Shi was more generous with his calligraphy than Liu Yong. It’s also no wonder Grandmaster Sun favored you so much. After returning home, he told everyone that the Vast Expanse World had a little Daoist friend who was a wonderful person.”

Chen Pingan was a little embarrassed. He hadn’t even gone to the Azure Billow World yet, and his reputation was already widespread? Could this be considered good wine needing no bush?

The Dao Ancestor asked, “Have you ever wondered why your two elder brothers dared to attempt to catch a turtle in a jar? Ten thousand years ago, the three of us failed to completely resolve the lingering threat of the Old Heavenly Court ruins. Now that Zhou Mi has taken control of it, the difficulty will undoubtedly be even greater. But now that the three of us are about to scatter our Dao, and flood control has always been better through channeling than blocking, Cui Chan and Qi Jingchun are not short-sighted people, so how could they not understand this? Think again, why did Zhou Mi ascend with his followers? What exactly is he waiting for? Filling the vacant god positions is similar to the Astronomical Bureau of our secular dynasty, where there is always one peg for one hole.”

The Dao Ancestor smiled as he said this, “Zhou Mi can’t just be waiting for the three of us to block the door, can he?”

Chen Pingan shook his head. “This junior cannot understand.”

“Because there is one thing in the human world that Zhou Mi overlooked.”

The Dao Ancestor raised his arm and pointed at Chen Pingan. “It is you, the caged bird.”

Zhou Mi in Heaven and Chen Pingan in the human world were engaged in a tug-of-war of the mind, ultimately deciding who could become a brand-new, more powerful *One*.

The Fallen Phoenix Mountain? The soul returns to Heaven, and the body returns to Earth.

Of course, Zhou Mi would definitely have his own means, taking a different path, seeking a solution, and would never sit and wait for death.

The Dao Ancestor said, “So Azure Radiance Celestial Sovereign left you a letter, asking if you were full.”

Chen Pingan instantly tensed up, his fists clenching slightly on his knees. He took a deep breath and asked in a low voice, “Am I that… *One*?”

The Dao Ancestor smiled. “Qi Jingchun indeed placed a very heavy burden on your shoulders early on.”

Chen Pingan suddenly understood.

Why would a Zou Zi, who calculated everything, target an orphan from Mud Bottle Lane so early? Zou Zi’s existence should have already transcended life and death, and surpassed good and evil.

When he was young, he went up the mountain to gather herbs. That time, he was blocked by a mountain flood, and Old Man Yang later taught him a method of breathing and exhalation as an exchange for Chen Pingan making him a long-stemmed pipe.

After returning from the capital of the Great Sui Dynasty, he gifted a flying sword, which Chen Pingan named Fifteen. Old Man Yang’s reason was that everyone eats dumplings during the New Year.

Adding to the flying sword embryo originally named “Little Fengdu,” the name symbolized dodging the first day, but not the fifteenth.

But the one that was the hardest to dodge seemed to be Chen Pingan himself.

When he went on another long journey, to send a sword to Ning Yao at the Sword Qi Great Wall, true energy talismans were affixed to his legs.

Chen Pingan asked, “Was it me from the beginning?”
The Taoist Ancestor shook his head and said, “You underestimate the means of the Azure Lad Heavenly Sovereign too much. That ‘one’ was obtained through your own seeking.”

Chen Ping’an breathed a sigh of relief and asked directly, “May I ask the Taoist Ancestor, can this matter be resolved, and can I still be me?”

The Taoist Ancestor smiled amiably, “Seek your own good fortune.”

Chen Ping’an was speechless.

The Taoist Ancestor, likely worried that Chen Ping’an would misunderstand, as an originally good saying had become increasingly distorted in the world, added a word afterward, “Those who seek, obtain much good fortune.”

Chen Ping’an asked, “If Li Liu or Ma Ku Xuan saw those characters, whose handwriting would it be?”

All along, Chen Ping’an had mistakenly believed those characters to be the work of Li Liu or Ma Ku Xuan.

The Taoist Ancestor shook his head, “Not necessarily. What Li Liu sees might be Dong Shui Jing, who seems to be collecting debts for others, or Lin Shou Yi, who ‘guards the Dao with a singular mind.’ What Ma Ku Xuan sees might be the Fire God Ruan Xiu, or the Water God Li Liu. What Gu Can sees might be Song Ji Xin, or Zhao Yao, who can bring a dragon to life with a stroke of the eye. What Ruan Xiu sees might be the characters of Chen Ping’an from Mud Bottle Alley, or Liu Xian Yang. The only certainty is that no matter who sees it, it won’t be their own handwriting.”

The Taoist Ancestor smiled and said, “When you believe something in your heart, you will constantly seek reasons and arguments to support that belief. A kiln worker, a butcher, a coroner, a carpenter, a woodcutter gathering firewood, a fisherman seeking fish, each with their own skill, will have their own focus when viewing the same world.”

Chen Ping’an frowned, probing, “Are those characters similar to Red Candle Town? Like a confluence point in the long river of time? So anyone can be, and simultaneously no one is the one who inscribed the words?”

The Taoist Ancestor answered irrelevantly, “The Azure Lad Heavenly Sovereign set up this restriction so that you young people wouldn’t have to overthink on your future cultivation path. Of course, he was even more worried that after the Shattered Pearl Paradise shattered and took root, losing a barrier that isolates celestial secrets, the younger generation, upon venturing out, would prematurely reveal clues about that ‘one.'”

The direction of the flow of the long river of time is a significant taboo. Those who cultivate the Dao must explore and investigate it themselves.

The Taoist Ancestor smiled, “Now can you answer the previous question?”

Chen Ping’an subconsciously turned his head and looked in the direction of Mud Bottle Alley.

Walking from the alley to the medicine shop, if one had money to buy medicine, the snowy weather and muddy road would be met with light steps. If one had no money in their pocket, the same journey, even if it was spring and flowers bloomed, would make one stagger and feel exhausted.

Why is this so? It is the state of mind. Dharma does not arise in isolation; it arises depending on the environment. To cross mountains and rivers, yet not be bogged down, is what Buddhism calls removing the mind, not the matter. Moreover, his teacher had specifically annotated the saying, “The human heart is perilous, the Dao heart is subtle.”

When he was young, firing porcelain, the greatest lesson was simply four words: ‘skilled at heart’. Where the heart is directed, the hand transforms.

Chen Ping’an said, “I don’t need to wander the streets alone, just to find a copper coin on the ground, nor do I need to wait for someone else’s door to open. I don’t think either is hardship.”

The Taoist Ancestor asked with a smile, “You’ve picked up money before?”

Chen Ping’an blushed and said, “I have indeed picked up a few.”

In the dark of night, helping people抢水 (difficult to translate, likely related to irrigation or water rights), a child lay on the ridge of a field, legs crossed, chewing on a blade of grass, with a brilliant starry sky above him, the child raising high a copper coin he had found on the ground during the day.

The Taoist Ancestor raised his hand, pointed to his head, and then to his heart, “A person’s rationality is the summation of accumulated knowledge, the paths we ourselves have opened. Our sensibility is innate, arising from the heart. The heart is the ruler of the body, from which spirit emerges. Unfortunately, humans are burdened by material possessions, and the heart is enslaved by the body. Therefore, cultivation, no matter how you describe it, ultimately cannot bypass the heart.”

“Chen Ping’an, tell me, what is the aim of all ‘techniques’ in the world?”

Chen Ping’an thought for a moment and replied, “They can be proven false, they can be corrected.”

The Taoist Ancestor then asked, “Where does the Dao reside?”

Chen Ping’an replied, “It can make people’s hearts yearn for it, unite with heaven and earth and all things, and stay far from inverted dreams.”

The Taoist Ancestor nodded, seeming satisfied with Chen Ping’an’s answer, with a hint of emotion, “A hundred flowers bloom, a thousand boats compete. In those early, indescribably arduous years, those human forerunners who changed the world, whether they were climbing the path of cultivation or pursuing knowledge, it was a beautiful era.”

The Taoist Ancestor stood up, “Come with me for a walk in Mud Bottle Alley.”

Chen Ping’an followed and stood up, and walked with the Taoist Ancestor out of the back yard. Su Dian and Shi Lingshan in the front yard of the medicine shop were completely unaware.

Stepping over the threshold, the Taoist Ancestor looked at the street and said with a smile, “Before Qi Jingchun traveled to the Small Lotus Paradise and plucked that lotus flower, he said something to me. The purpose of cultivation is to know, the joy of seeking the Dao is in the unknown. Goodness, he was teaching me how to cultivate the Dao.”

Chen Ping’an smiled knowingly.

The Taoist Ancestor suddenly joked, “You, as his junior, are not bad either. Before you even practiced boxing or learned the sword, you dared to ask me to give way.”

Chen Ping’an laughed, “I was young and ignorant, and said something offensive. I hope the Taoist Ancestor will forgive me.”

“Was it not what you truly felt?”

The Lord of Fallen Mountain treats people with sincerity, and a straight body fears no crooked shadow, “It was what I truly felt.”

“Then it doesn’t matter. Question your conscience at night, and expose your heart to the sun. A person walking cannot be frightened by their own shadow.”

Walking together on the street, the Taoist Ancestor casually asked, “What knowledge have you been studying recently?”

For the Taoist Ancestor, it seems he can know anything he wants, and if he doesn’t want to know, he doesn’t have to. That’s probably a kind of freedom.

Chen Ping’an replied, “I’ve been reading some Taoist talismans and diagrams. Before coming here, I originally planned to go to the Imperial Astronomical Observatory to borrow some books.”

The Sage of Rites had reminded him in the capital that the opportunity to prove the Dao lies in characters.

“So you’re already planning for traveling to the Azure Sky World?”

“A person without distant worries will have immediate troubles.”

Chen Ping’an was worried that he might be slapped to death by the Second Teacher of White Jade Capital as soon as he showed his face in the Azure Sky World.

But in front of the Taoist Ancestor, he couldn’t speak ill of his direct disciple.

“Any insights from reading?”

“The *True Traces of the Scarlet Book* says that talismans are characters evolved from Taoist Qi, so I plan to pick out some with Kui Dragon patterns, Taotie patterns, and Cloud Seal Script to look at.”

The Taoist Ancestor hummed in agreement, “Reading them makes one’s spirit soar.”

Chen Ping’an was puzzled, “Read”? Instead of “look”? How does one “read” talisman patterns?
The Dao Ancestor turned his head and chuckled, “Just now, in the apothecary, you realized you were that ‘One.’ To not be fearful in that moment, one could explain it as your own Dao Heart being steadfast, coupled with the bestowal of Lu Chen’s Daoist arts. But why is there not a shred of apprehension afterward? Are you not worried it is merely pure divinity at play? And don’t forget, the path of martial arts is originally the old road of the Divine Path.”

Chen Ping’an’s eyes were bright, looking toward the distant street. The thoughts within the heart of a Fourteenth Realm great cultivator directly manifested as the Great Dao. Rain began to fall upon the street. Walking within it, he replied, “Then I shall tread the earth and venture forth to test it.”

The Dao Ancestor smiled.

He was quite similar to that stubborn old Chen Qingdu. No wonder they were kindred spirits despite their generational distance.

So very much the swordsman.

Chen Ping’an turned his head for a final glance at the apothecary.

Afterward, the two walked together toward Mud Bottle Alley. The Dao Ancestor recounted old, forgotten tales not even recorded in the White Jade Capital.

“Some once sought their original countenance, tracing the river of time upstream to its source, but to no avail.”

“Some tirelessly attempted to find two completely identical flowers in all the world. For half a day, the river of time in an entire world stood still. Finally, their Daoist arts could no longer sustain it, and they dispersed into the heavens and earth. This person ultimately laughed and said, ‘If I hear the Dao in the morning, I can die content that evening.'”

“And some, wielding their swords, traveled far and wide, cleaving the heavens and earth, seeking an answer: beyond people, what lies there? Beyond the heavens, what heaven is there? Can you guess how they ‘cleaved the heavens and earth’?”

Chen Ping’an immediately recalled his encounter with Senior Apprentice Brother Cui Chan at the Sword Qi Great Wall. He slapped his arm and replied, “Using the art of ‘inverting mustard seed and Mount Sumeru,’ venturing into the miniature world within the human body, seeking self-validation internally?”

The Dao Ancestor did not give an answer, already changing the subject, “A separate transmission outside the teachings, not establishing written words. But are not words also writing? Therefore, some scattered their Daoist essence, attempting to break free from the shackles of language, setting a millennium as the deadline, a state of utter chaos, a vast and indistinct sea of consciousness.”

“Some insist on investigating one thing: before the ancient deities, what existed that gave rise to the deities?”

“And so, some became puzzled. Is the river of time a straight line with no beginning and no end, a ceaseless cycle, or composed of countless indivisible points? Could it be that the ancient deities once created sentient beings, who would then be entrusted to the human race to create the deities in the future?”

Chen Ping’an remained silent, but could not help but wonder if this Dao Ancestor had ever successfully reached the boundary and what he had seen. What exactly was this so-called Dao?

The Dao Ancestor chuckled, “You were almost adopted as a disciple on my behalf by Lu Chen, becoming my closed-door student. Lu Chen clearly went further than you thought. He went to the White Jade Capital. A caged bird. Once the doors are closed, it becomes all the more fitting.”

Chen Ping’an was stunned.

“However, it seems my words still carry more weight over there at the White Jade Capital. Even in the presence of the Most Sage Teacher, I still must say, if you had become my closed-door disciple, where would the need for such toil and effort be? You could have simply sat in solitary contemplation at the Mind Fasting Hall of the White Jade Capital, cultivating the Great Dao, becoming the Fourth Head Teacher, worry-free for at least ten thousand years… Listen, your Most Sage Teacher is as unsurprising as ever, spouting another three-character classic.”

Chen Ping’an pretended not to hear the three words.

He never imagined the erudite Most Sage Teacher would be such a man of temperament…

The Dao Ancestor seemed to be conversing with the Most Sage Teacher, chuckling, “Who is the Old Master showing his sleeves to? If I remember correctly, that treasured sword of his was taken to the Wilderness by one of his favorite students.”

Chen Ping’an’s heart stirred slightly.

Among the earliest seventy-two sages of the Confucian Temple, two piqued Chen Ping’an’s curiosity the most. It was not unusual for those who accompanied the Sage and Worthies to be highly learned, as they were direct disciples of the Most Sage Teacher. However, one was known for his ability to make money, and the other was exceptionally skilled in combat. Yet, both seemed to have retired early from the history of the Confucian Temple, their whereabouts unknown. They neither founded a lineage of Confucianism in the Grand Brightness World nor followed the Sage of Rites to the heavens. Although very curious, Chen Ping’an had not inquired about the inside story with his teacher.

The Dao Ancestor smiled and explained to Chen Ping’an, “When many evils arise together, there must be suppression. The Confucian Temple still has some hidden cards.”

The Dao Ancestor suddenly asked, “Would you like to meet them?”

Chen Ping’an was about to politely decline, but in an instant, it was as if he had seen a distant landscape painting.

In a remote corner of the Wilderness, where spiritual energy was almost nonexistent, there were two thatched huts adjacent to each other. A tall, burly man with a thick beard and a right-fastened robe, exuding a strong aura of the mountains, was chopping firewood with a cleaver.

A slender, tall young man, filled with scholarly air, stood with his hands behind his back, watching a cat named Lil Slave on the roof of the thatched hut. It had just leapt down from a tree, carrying a cicada in its mouth. However, this cat was left behind by an old friend, and he was only helping to take care of it.

The firewood-chopping man asked, “What do you say?”

The young man nodded, “The old poetry drafts are almost sorted out. Besides, I’ve prepared three thousand *Broken Formation Tunes*. We can set off.”

The man chuckled, “Three thousand songs? That’s a lot! The quality must be uneven. Fortunately, we’re in the land of barbarians, where few appreciate the art. Otherwise, you wouldn’t even have the face to report your name, would you? Bringing shame to the Wilderness, you’re one of a kind.”

The young man smiled, “One of a kind? With A Liang to cover for me, what am I afraid of?”

The burly man smiled wryly. He put down the cleaver, clapped his hands, went to a tomb with clothes and a hat behind the thatched hut, and found a broken iron sword, a tall hat, a broken cord, and a Confucian robe.

The man reached out to dust off the ancient hat, placed it on his head, and did not forget to retie the tassels.

Wearing the Confucian robe and a long sword at his waist, the man still had a large beard, but his aura was completely different.

There was an ancient saying in the Grand Brightness World: A gentleman dies, but his hat must not be removed.

The young man walked into the thatched hut and took down a long sword from the wall. There was an oil lamp on the table. There were those in the Grand Brightness World who used to look at their swords by the lamp in their drunken state.

When this young scholar held the long sword, it was as if all the world’s sharpness had gathered within three feet.

Back in town, as the two passed the old locust tree ruins, the Dao Ancestor slowly said, “Guess, has the Old Sword Immortal returned that locust wood sword box to you?”

Chen Ping’an shook his head, “I can’t guess.”

The Dao Ancestor smiled without comment, “You will know in the future when the opportunity arises.”

Chen Ping’an asked, “Is the Old Temple Master nearby?”
The Taoist Ancestor nodded, “I was just having tea and cracking melon seeds at the foot of your mountain. Before going to Fallen Mountain, Daoist Jing Qing slapped my bull horns in the town, and even said that the grass on your mountain is lush and abundant, so feel free to eat as much as you want.”

Chen Ping’an rubbed his brow with a finger, “What an old codger!”

Reaching the entrance of the alley, the Taoist Ancestor stopped and looked at the narrow passage, smiling. “My first disciple, the only one I personally took in, once told a parable about the man who worried about the sky falling. Lu Chen, however, believed that such worry was a sign of great wisdom. Thus, Lu Chen always feared a certain saying: ‘Eternal eons are but a dream, dreamt by those who awaken within it, and in that moment, heaven and earth become one.’ At White Jade Capital, there’s a cultivator with an interesting idea. He fears his grandmaster like a buzzing mosquito. Even if the mosquito escapes the bounds of the Heavenly Dao, it would still be swatted with a single slap once discovered. Yet, another at White Jade Capital thinks the opposite. He believes that the so-called transcendents of countless ‘heavens and earths’ are merely red spots on our arms, easily burst with a flick of the finger. Your senior brother, Cui Chan, had already considered this. Roughly speaking, Lu Chen’s idea is the most intractable. If you ever visit White Jade Capital, you can discuss it with him in detail.”

The Taoist Ancestor said, “Let’s just stop here.”

Chen Ping’an cupped his fist in a salute.

The Taoist Ancestor returned the gesture with a Daoist bow, smiling.

In the next instant, Chen Ping’an was back in Great Li’s capital city. After a moment’s thought, he decided to head to the Directorate of Astronomy.

Inside a room within the Great Li Directorate of Astronomy, incense burned, and celestial mists curled.

A temporary resident of the Directorate, appearing youthful, surnamed Yuan, had provided much assistance to the Bureau of Historiography over the years. Skilled in celestial cartography, lunar phases, and with meticulous study of the precession of equinoxes and calculation of pi, he had refined the atmospheric refraction and apparent solar motion calculations for the Directorate.

This very man now sat before a small incense burner, holding incense sticks, burning fragrant agarwood.

However, the Director and Vice-Director of the Directorate of Astronomy were now looking at each other, bewildered. The two old cultivators had just been leisurely joking about how officials are always in debt to books and how they enjoy watching Su Shi’s poems while burning incense.

Chen Ping’an’s actions at the inn in the capital, followed by Ning Yao’s sword strike, had caused quite a stir, but neither could compare to the astonishing spectacle of that moment.

The Vice-Director whispered, “Director, could Hidden Officer Chen be a profoundly skilled Ascendant Realm swordsman in disguise?”

The Director opened his palm, looking at the cracked ancient tortoise shell, and sighed deeply. “Your guess seems to underestimate him.”

The Vice-Director slapped his knee in disbelief. “I refuse to believe it! It’s completely unreasonable!”

Even if Chen Ping’an was an Ascendant Realm swordsman, the Vice-Director wouldn’t believe it.

A Jade Purity Realm swordsman in his early forties was already shocking enough. As for that Ning Yao… what was there to even say about her?

The Director sighed. “Regardless of the truth, the situation is what it is. A dragon coiled in a small pond. Even a simple shake of its head or a wag of its tail would be an insurmountable tsunami for Great Li’s capital. Suppressing it with force is a fool’s dream. Reasoning with him? Heh, a direct descendant of the Literary Sage…”

The Vice-Director tentatively said, “Does that leave only appealing to his emotions?”

The Director was deeply shaken. Chen Ping’an had actually arrived!

However, the old cultivator remained composed, feigning sudden realization. “I must immediately report this matter to His Majesty. I’ll have to trouble you, Vice-Director, to entertain the guest. I just remembered that you, Vice-Director, spoke many sincere words for Mountain Cliff Academy in your early years, appealing to emotions is most appropriate. Besides, Chen Ping’an is a nostalgic person. You should appeal to his emotions; it’s the perfect remedy.”

The Director had unspoken troubles. He had been tricked quite badly by the Great Li Empress Dowager at the Changchun Palace. Before Chen Ping’an’s viewing ceremony at the Zheng Yang Mountain, while resting in a rattan chair at the Over the Clouds Inn, the Great Li Empress Dowager had insisted on taking out that piece of natal porcelain and ordering him to use his Palm-Viewing Mountains and Rivers divine power to remotely observe Chen Ping’an. As a result, if you used a saying from the martial world, the two parties could be considered to have formed a grudge.

Finally, the Director and Vice-Director both looked at the silent young cultivator, “Mr. Yuan?”

The young cultivator smiled. “Since he’s already here, and we can’t chase him away, let’s just observe and see what happens. The worst that could happen is that someone demolishes the Directorate of Astronomy. Anyway, Great Li has money now.”

For the current Chen Ping’an, the Directorate of Astronomy was like entering an unpopulated realm.

He glanced at the plaque: Observing Phenomena and Bestowing Time.

Heaven sends down phenomena to reveal good fortune and misfortune. Therefore, heaven sends down phenomena, and sages discern them. The Qi Refiners of the Directorate of Astronomy observe celestial phenomena, calculate solar terms, establish a new calendar, and compile almanacs, needing to inform the emperor of these omens of prosperity and decline.

Heaven and earth have already placed the “phenomena” there, like an open book that anyone can read, and cultivators read it even more diligently. All gains are perhaps one’s own Dao and realm.

The “phenomena” of heaven, the human-radical character “image.” Cultivating the Dao, proving the Dao, attaining the Dao is perhaps a person’s cultivation goal, ultimately resembling the immortality of heaven and earth.

Chen Ping’an casually stepped into a library filled with multiple mountain-and-water restrictions, sighing in his heart. As expected of the Third Patriarch of White Jade Capital, who “cannot beat anyone, but no one can beat him.” The principle was simple. Lu Chen was like a solitary individual, alone in a complete heaven and earth without any flaws in its Dao. The rest of the world, living together in another world, did not interfere with each other, with the well water not violating the river water. He just wondered if a 14th Realm swordsman, with all his might, could sever this great Dao barrier.

The “Others Say So” Building had few cultivation secrets and was mostly filled with the classic works of the Three Teachings and the Hundred Schools of Thought. Therefore, Chen Ping’an wanted to come here to read.

Because his realm was high, he could flip through books extremely quickly. With a slight movement of his divine sense, he could finish a book in an instant. Chen Ping’an took down any ancient books that stirred his thoughts from the shelves and silently memorized the key phrases.

“Linked mountains resemble mountains exhaling inner Qi, linking heaven and earth.” Is it related to the Three Mountains Talisman?

“Dragons transform into snakes and hide in puddles.” Could the Desolate World have such a fierce creature hiding with this secret technique?

“All heavenly demons, sweep the floor and burn incense?” Is it related to ancient sacrifices?

In the end, Chen Ping’an took several books, walked through the walls, and stood by the railing with the books tucked under his arm, clad in a blue robe.

In the plaza, a group of Directorate of Astronomy cultivators had gathered, mostly young, with boys with braided hair and wearing simple blue clothes. There were also Yue and Du priests and Time Masters with different clothing styles, both boys and girls.
A group of people stood or sat on the steps, each with proper posture, yet none appeared idle. The Directorate of Astronomy was, after all, a place of strict rules.

The most discussed topic was undoubtedly the martial arts contest between Yu Hong and Zhou Haijing.

Then there were accounts of travels to distant lands. Astrologers of the Directorate rarely ventured out, so each journey was extensive, often covering half of Treasure Bottle洲, always shrouded in secrecy. Each voyage was discreetly guarded by two groups: enshrined cultivators from the Dali Ministry of Justice and local military cultivators, ensuring no mishaps. The Directorate’s art of observing qi was as precious as sword cultivation.

Chen Pingan hesitated whether to return to the town and check on the letter at the Yang family’s store, return to the inn to find Pei Qian and Cao Qinglang, or see his two junior disciples at the ferry. Or perhaps he should head straight to the imperial palace?

Looking at the generally carefree young men and women, Chen Pingan couldn’t help but sigh, “Oh, youthful days, the most delightful of times.”

The Directorate of Astronomy was divided into departments of Astronomy, Geography, Water Clocks, Calendrics, Five Elements, and Sacrifices.

Then there were the Bureaus of Historiography, Calculation, Construction, and recently established Bureaus of Demarcation, Mountains and Rivers, and Dialects. In addition, there were some sinecure offices like the Bell and Drum Courtyard and the Seal and Calendar Office.

Among them, the Calendrics department was also known as the “Lin Terrace.” The newly established Bureau of Demarcation was responsible for managing the imperial family’s yellow-scaled maps of past dynasties.

The Dialect Bureau was tasked with collecting the dialects of a continent, under the specific charge of Vice Minister Zhao Yao of the Ministry of Rites, and ultimately storing them within the Directorate.

This was a massive expenditure involving immortal money, and the Ministry of Revenue grumbled endlessly. Because Zhao Yao had spent a few days in the Ministry of Revenue, they derided the newly promoted Vice Minister of Rites as a spendthrift who “sold his grandfather’s fields.” They dared not provoke the roughnecks of the Ministry of War, but Zhao Yao, an official of the Ministry of Rites, could argue all he wanted; fighting would be unbecoming.

Within the Directorate, there was an implicit hierarchy. Those who studied the heavens looked down on those who surveyed the land, who in turn looked down on those who simply followed old rituals in their sacrifices. The sacrificers looked down on those who tended the water clocks. The Calendrics department, originating from the Lin Terrace and responsible for examining and determining the calendar, held the most esteemed position, looking down on everyone else.

Chen Pingan looked around.

“One, a caged bird.”

Chen Pingan quietly raised his right hand and touched his left wrist.

“Travel far and wide, years fly by like an arrow; spring departs and autumn arrives, ponder and ponder, time passes swiftly, a fleeting glance.”

What truly made Chen Pingan hesitate was the matter of another version of himself traveling far away.

Should he rush to that battlefield, or… damn it, head straight to Mount Tuoyue?!

Chen Pingan turned his head. Because he hadn’t deliberately concealed his presence, they had found him.

It was the Vice Director Ma and a man named Yuan Tianfeng, an outsider to the Directorate.

Seeing the young Hidden Official up close, Yuan Tianfeng was deeply moved. “Merit fulfilled, harmony between man and heaven!”

“Is he truly a legendary Fourteenth Realm Grand Cultivator?”

Chen Pingan clasped his hands in a fist and palm salute, smiling, “Chen Pingan of Fallen Phoenix Mountain greets Vice Director Ma and Mr. Yuan.”

Calling him “Vice Supervisor” wouldn’t be appropriate.

However, Chen Pingan was more focused on the “refreshed” young cultivator.

Regarding the Directorate of Astronomy in the capital, Cui Dongshan had specifically mentioned this Mr. Yuan, who was relatively unknown in the Dali court, giving him a high evaluation: “Refreshed in spirit, soaring in ambition, stirring the air with his presence, strikingly brilliant.”

In the words of Pei Qian when she was little, it was like “asking a big white goose to praise someone; it’s like Sister Warm Tree sleeping in, the sun rising from the west, a dog spitting out ivory.”

Vice Director Ma returned the greeting, “Greetings, Mr. Chen.”

It was perhaps a subtle hint that Chen Pingan was no longer the Hidden Official but had returned home and was now a scholar of the Literary Sage lineage.

Yuan Tianfeng addressed Chen Pingan as Mountain Lord Chen.

Vice Director Ma glanced at the books under Chen Pingan’s arm but said nothing.

“How rude, taking without asking, obtaining without reporting, leaving without saying goodbye.”

Fortunately, those books were not too precious. Moreover, the Directorate’s collection of rare and unique books had two book spirits formed from literary fortune, specifically responsible for helping with inheritance.

Besides, the truly secret and restricted books of the Directorate were not kept in the library. Even he, the Vice Director, needed the approval of the other two before he could access them. Which book was read would be recorded.

With Chen Pingan’s current seemingly “heaven-sent” realm and magic, it wouldn’t be difficult to find traces of formations, and even if he took the books and returned them, no one would know.

Yuan Tianfeng asked with a smile, “Mountain Lord Chen, do you believe in fate?”

Chen Pingan nodded without hesitation, smiling, “Of course, I do.”

Yuan Tianfeng suddenly made a gesture of holding a horsetail whisk and drawing a circle, then using the whisk to split it in the middle, “Like this?”

Chen Pingan shook his head, raised one hand, joined two fingers, and similarly drew a circle, but it was not fully connected. Then he slightly shifted the trajectory, but the line did not extend from there.

Yuan Tianfeng nodded.

The Vice Director stroked his beard and smiled. As for whether I understood or not, let the two of you guess.

Chen Pingan asked in a mental voice, “Mr. Yuan is diligently researching how to deal with extraterrestrial demons?”

Yuan Tianfeng did not deny it, saying with a hint of helplessness, “Measuring the sea with a bushel, as difficult as ascending to heaven.”

Yuan Tianfeng seemed to realize something belatedly and asked, “Has Mountain Lord Chen heard of me?”

Chen Pingan nodded, “My senior brother values Mr. Yuan highly.”

Yuan Tianfeng didn’t seem to care too much, asking instead, “Is Mountain Lord Chen proficient in the art of calculation?”

Chen Pingan smiled, “The more I look at it, the more it gives me a headache, but it’s not bad for passing the time.”

Yuan Tianfeng said regretfully, “In fact, the path of calculation should be incorporated into the Dali imperial examinations, and the proportion should not be small. I heard that National Preceptor Cui once had this intention, but unfortunately, it was not implemented.”

Chen Pingan hesitated.

Yuan Tianfeng asked in confusion, “Does Mountain Lord Chen have any objections? Or do you agree with my view?”

Chen Pingan quickly waved his hand and smiled, “Although I can’t decide the imperial examinations, I certainly wouldn’t dare agree with that.”

Pulling out a book and gently tapping his head, Chen Pingan said, “If it were really incorporated into the imperial examinations, it wouldn’t just be me who would have a headache. I can even imagine the scholars of the world scratching their heads and cursing while looking at these books of calculation.”

Yuan Tianfeng laughed.

This closed-door disciple of the Literary Sage lineage was indeed witty.

Vice Director Ma sighed. It was good to be an outsider, able to talk and laugh here.
Chen Ping’an bid farewell and departed, his figure flashing and disappearing.

Yuan Tianfeng chuckled, “Not going to ask when he’ll return the book?”

Deputy Warden Ma smiled without a word, return it? Ha!

Chen Ping’an reappeared on the other side of the alley, discovering Liu Jia was absent. He chatted with Zhao Duanming for a few words, only to learn that Old Immortal Master Liu had previously intercepted another old scholar.

At the Dragon Kiln of the small town, the middle-aged monk silently chanted a phrase, like severing the spring breeze.

In the desolate wilderness, a few sword cultivators journeying together, the one wearing a lotus crown in the middle, spoke, “Let us go to Mount Tuoyue!”