The Jade Balance Peak tilted, and the Three Mountains city domain trembled. Not far from Jade Balance Peak, Dou Yuemei, clad in military attire, spun about and hastily flew back into the city lord’s mansion.

Alighting, she shed her armor, a relaxed expression settling on her face.

“Go bring Smiling Face back. He doesn’t need to run that far.”

She gave the instruction, her footsteps light as she happily walked into the study.

The city guard army commander, usually stoic within the city lord’s mansion, watched as his shock turned to joy, finally culminating in tears that streamed down his face.

“Subordinate will go immediately!”

City Lord Dou, she… had originally prepared to face Jade Balance Peak alone today.

After a long period of reclusion, she had finally made this decision.

Having successively sent off her daughter and son, she wiped away her rouge and donned her military attire.

Alone, resolutely challenging that mountain peak once more.

The mountain she chose was not the one outside the city, but the one within her heart.

But whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, she no longer needed to go.

From this day forward, Upright Pen Peak is clear, Jade Balance Peak has fallen. Within the Three Mountains city domain, only one source of fierce beasts remains: Flying Come Peak.

With only one-third the quantity of fierce beasts remaining, for the entire Three Mountains city, the pressure is no longer unbearable.

…

…

On the way back to Maple Forest City.

“Alright then!” White Lotus, hands behind her back, hopped like a little girl. “As for what I am, just think whatever you like!”

“I’d rather not think,” Jiang Wang cupped his hands. “I shall take my leave first.”

“Ah.” White Lotus spread her arms, blocking his path. “Are you angry?”

“No.”

“Then smile.”

“…”

“See, you are angry!”

Jiang Wang had no desire to get entangled, and said helplessly, “I am hurrying back to take care of my younger sister.”

“You only know how to take care of your younger sister, aren’t you going to manage your older sister?”

“…Miss White Lotus, is there anything else?”

White Lotus looked at him, seemingly enjoying his helpless expression, her eyes brimming with a smile.

“Older sister…” The direction of her words suddenly shifted. “Never mind, you go on.”

Jiang Wang felt inexplicable, but his heart was in chaos at this time, so being free to leave was naturally a good thing. Thus, he leapt up and departed without the slightest hesitation.

“Truly a heartless man, isn’t he?” White Lotus watched his receding figure, a light smile gracing her lips.

At this moment, her voice was still soft and charming.

But with just a turn of her body, her temperament suddenly changed.

Her entire being rose from the ground, and white flames ignited around her. The fire burned, yet it gave off a chilling sensation.

It was only then, from the direction of Jade Balance Peak, that a booming black light swept over.

White Lotus’s body, like a white flame meteor, collided with it decisively!

The black light dispersed, revealing an old man clad in a white robe. His face was wrinkled, seemingly no different from other old men, but his long hair was black, not a single white strand visible.

He stopped in the high sky, extending a hand. Almost endless black light surged from his hand, condensing into a giant hand, which pressed down with a single palm.

But before colliding, White Lotus had already folded and turned. She transformed into a stream of pure white flowing light, passing through the gaps in his fingers, heading straight for the east.

“Hmph.”

The black-haired old man merely let out a soft hum. Without any visible movement, his body was already in front of the flowing light.

The pure white flowing light also seemed to have prepared for this, folding and turning once more.

The black-haired old man clearly had no patience for this cat-and-mouse game. He took another step, appearing before the pure white flowing light, and his single hand closed into a grip.

Black light shot out like a band of light, instantly binding the mass of white light.

The white light thus escaped, manifesting into the figure of a graceful woman.

But the black-haired old man, instead, wrinkled his brow. He lifted his foot and stepped into the void, heading far away.

The woman also simultaneously scattered like smoke; she was not a real person.

…

Almost at the same moment the white flames around White Lotus’s body rose into the air, a white lotus seed fell to the ground.

As the pure white flowing light fled, the seed instantly sprouted, blooming into a rapidly enlarging lotus flower.

White Lotus emerged from that lotus flower, casually smoothed the scene, and stuck close to the ground as she sped away.

Not long after she left, the black-haired old man landed at this spot. He lifted his eyes and looked around, but where could he still see a person’s shadow?

He had a subordinate who was an expert in tracking. At Jade Balance Peak, he had caught a wisp of aura and pointed him in this direction. Thus, he had set off to pursue, but that cunning woman had slightly delayed him with a false body, and he had already lost the trail.

Waiting for that tracking expert to come over again would be too late.

He wasn’t annoyed, though. He only let out a long, long sigh.

…

Jiang Wang returned home with complex emotions. He did nothing else, and directly lay on his bed.

His time was always meticulously scheduled. Besides accompanying Jiang Anan, he rarely had any free moments.

Regardless of the Control Origin Decision, Four Spirits Refining Body, or Purple Qi Comes from East Sword, all required a large amount of time for cultivation. Nurturing his Dao Yuan was even more a matter of accumulating day by day, month by month.

But now, he didn’t want to do anything.

His mind was filled with Zhuang Country. Because of Zuo Guanglie’s death, the Zhuang Country envoy had recently suffered humiliation in Chu. The Dao Institute’s resource support for disciples, the heartfelt advice from Institute Head Dong A to cultivate well and serve the country in the future…

For a while, it was also Zhuang Country. It was the atmosphere of fireworks he had heard and seen traversing the big and small streets, it was those diligent farmers, those hunters and medicine gatherers who risked their lives, it was countless people who were unable to protect themselves in front of fierce beasts.

Even now, he still didn’t know if his choice at Jade Balance Peak was right or wrong.

Jiang Wang had been a person with his own ideas since he was young. When he said he would take the Dao Institute exam, he did not fear hardships and left home at a young age. When he wanted to experience the scenery of flying and escaping, he walked this path all the way to now.

He always had firm goals and steps. It was only at this moment that he felt lost.

Zhuang Country was the homeland that gave him birth and raised him. Of course, he loved this country.

But the choice he made, for this country, was it love?

He had no answer.

…

Just at this moment, he heard the cry of a crane, and thus looked out the window.

He saw a mass of white clouds float down, condensing into a small crane. It circled the courtyard several times, appearing to hold no aggression.

Jiang Wang, somewhat doubtfully, pushed open the door. The small cloud crane then flapped its wings and flew before him, transforming into an envelope that floated down.

He opened the soft, fine envelope. Inside was a beautifully designed invitation, and a piece of paper of the same material.

Written upon it were these words:

Dao Friend Jiang:

Since our parting at Jade Balance, nearly a month has passed.

I have waited long for Dao Friend to arrive, supposing Qing Yu to be insincere.

On the sixteenth day of the twelfth month, the Cloud River Commerce Gathering. I request a meeting with gentleman, to repay this great kindness.

If you see the cloud crane, please send back a sound.

Signature: Qing Yu of Cloud Upper.

Jiang Wang finished reading. A wisp of cloud qi was born from the letter paper, winding into the shape of a brush, suspended before him. As if urging Jiang Wang’s answer. And the words on the cloud paper had already disappeared.

He thought that a proud daughter of heaven like Ye Qingyu would never owe a human favor. The Cloud Middle Order she initially sent out was precisely in the hope of settling this matter as much as possible. Changed to someone who knew the name of Lingxiao Pavilion, they would only fear they had already planned how to utilize this order, whether for world-class technique or cultivation treasure. Bias Jiang Wang simply didn’t pay attention to this matter, even that Cloud Middle Order, because of its beautiful appearance, he also gave it to Jiang Anan. With her various received gifts, they were locked together in her small box.

Jiang Wang did not know what scale of grand gathering the Cloud River Commerce Gathering was, but he could guess it would surely be a gathering of rare and strange things. Ye Qingyu’s intention was likely to help Jiang Wang select some treasure at the Cloud River Commerce Gathering, thus being able to rest at ease.

But Jiang Wang truly did not feel he had done Ye Qingyu such great kindness. He later heard about Ye Qingyu’s methods and treasures and thought that even if he hadn’t intervened at that time, that person would have been able to retreat unharmed.

Not to mention anything else, would the Lingxiao Pavilion master not equip his only daughter with life-saving means?

Jiang Wang himself was even more unwilling to do things that leveraged kindness to seek repayment.

So he immediately picked up the cloud brush and wrote:

Raising a hand is a labor, what is there to fuss over? My younger sister is at home, inconvenient to travel far. Mountains are high and waters are long, we shall meet again in the rivers and lakes.

Originally, it ended here, and the cloud crane would naturally fly back to its intended place.

But as if possessed by a ghost, Jiang Wang picked up the brush again and added a sentence.

This sentence was much simpler and more casual:

I have one doubt. For the sake of a righteous cause, while doing wrong things. Is this right?