The vernal grasses whispered secrets to the lingering moon, as the murmuring streamlets conspired to offer a liquid embrace.

Chen Ping’an bade Zhao Shuxia bring forth bamboo chairs for their guest, then turned to preparing a humble midnight repast – nothing extravagant, just something to satisfy the hunger pangs.

Lu Chen swiftly interjected, “Shuxia, attend only to the hearth’s demands! This humble Daoist shall fetch the chairs myself. And fear not for victuals to accompany the wine, for I bear my own.”

Lest the venerable Lu, Celestial Master of the Jade Capital, find himself without a seat and forced to sup whilst squatting.

Lu Chen, familiar with every nook of Chen Ping’an’s abode, retrieved a small table and two stools from within, and after seating himself and the boy, meticulously wiped the table with his sleeve.

Chen Ping’an smiled gently, “Ning Ji, have you considered this deeply? Do you harbor no regrets?”

The boy’s eyes shone with unwavering resolve. “Master Chen, my decision is firm. I shall become your student. The grace of Celestial Master Lu I shall forever hold dear, and seek to repay when the stars align.”

Chen Ping’an glanced sidelong at Lu Chen, knowing as surely as the sun rises that this knave had led the boy through a tapestry woven with the threads of time itself.

Lu Chen, ever one to gild his own lily, waved a dismissive hand. “A mere trifle! No hardship, not the slightest.”

For to tread the Long River of Time is not a task lightly undertaken. Even mighty cultivators shy from its currents. Those of the Ascension Realm who venture within do so often in desperation, their mortal forms withered, seeking to slough off decay or perhaps stumble upon a lost paradise swallowed by the ages. The greatest peril lies in the unforeseen riptides and whirlpools that can drag even the most skilled into the fathomless depths, lost forever to history. Many a supposed recluse who failed to return from seclusion was in truth devoured by Time, their essence becoming fuel for those who followed, allowing later cultivators to pluck fragments of golden flesh from Time’s embrace. Even more perilous were the inverted flows and stagnant pools – anomalies of Time itself. Such was the manifestation that occurred when Chen Ping’an and the swordsman invited Bai Jing to share their table in Riding Dragon Lane.

Upon the mountaintops, only true masters, wielding artifacts of immense power, dare to offer such guidance and protection to their disciples. Such journeys temper the body and soul, nourishing the spirit. Yet the risks are dire. A single misstep can leave a promising initiate bereft of reason, their memories and senses adrift, their very minds lost to the currents of Time, irretrievable even by the most potent necromancy.

Chen Ping’an himself had walked such paths a handful of times, once in the company of Master Qi, and again within the Lotus Blossom Grotto, under the watchful eye of the old abbot, where he witnessed a panorama of centuries unfold.

Lu Chen cast a sidelong glance at the boy, who sat upright and attentive. “Ning Ji acquits himself admirably! I scarcely needed to lend a hand. He adapted swiftly to the passage through Time.”

Chen Ping’an nodded. “Impressive, indeed. My own first foray left me dizzy and near to vomiting.”

Lu Chen chuckled. “Such is the gulf between a passable talent and a prodigy ordained by Heaven itself.”

The sandal-wearing boy, with his cracked destiny, possessed a spirit that scraped the earth. Lu Chen’s assessment was, in its way, entirely objective.

Chen Ping’an, however, took no offense, but rather rejoiced. Who would fault a student for possessing exceptional gifts?

Ning Ji blushed, clasping his hands tightly in his lap, overcome with unease.

The boy, as yet, did not grasp the depth of praise bestowed upon him, nor the true perils of his journey through Time. He mistook the elders’ words for mere pleasantries, the kind exchanged about another’s child, tinged with a generous pinch of exaggeration.

“There is benefit in accepting a disciple, a great benefit, indeed. But the price… you, I suspect, are more keenly aware than I.”

Lu Chen shed his jesting demeanor, asking, “Chen Ping’an, have you truly resolved this matter in your heart?”

Truth be told, Ning Ji’s swift appearance had caught Lu Chen by surprise.

It was like catching an immortal fish at midday.

Lu Chen had resigned himself to wandering the lands of Haoran for years, if not a decade, seeking to settle certain lingering matters of karma. The ancient turtle in Hundred Flower Lake’s Dragon King Temple, the seed of Dao planted within Stone Soft of Riding Dragon Lane, and Zhu Lu, who should have become a protector, all required his attention. Then there was Gu Qingsong, whose path – either to die and join the Namhua City rolls or to journey to the Jade Capital – remained unclear. And finally, he had a debt to the deity Feng Yi for the sake of a true dragon of three thousand years past.

Chen Ping’an nodded. “If Ning Ji’s heart is set, then I have no reservations.”

Lu Chen spoke, “For this, I am in your debt.”

To seek a flower and find it not, but instead to find a willow where none was sought.

Whatever the reason for his finding Ning Ji, regardless of the ease or difficulty of the journey, the Temple of Literature would mark it as a deed of great merit in Lu Chen’s name. The higher one’s station, the greater the understanding of how precious such marks were, especially during these times, when the Sages were nearing the end of their paths. It was as simple as this: A wealthy family might leave fortunes or libraries to their descendants, but the blessings of virtue and ancestral karma were what truly ensured their legacy.

Chen Ping’an said, “Nonsense. Your guiding Ning Ji through Time is payment enough.”

Lu Chen hesitated, then placed a jar of wine upon the table. “We shall only sup lightly tonight, lest we succumb to intoxication and make a spectacle of ourselves before our junior.”

Chen Ping’an eyed the “Slumber of Spring” wine from Cultivation Cloud Peak. “Celestial Master Lu, are you become so familiar with Lord Huang?”

Lu Chen declared with brazen confidence, “As close as brothers! We are of one mind, one spirit!”

Huang Zhonghou of Cultivation Cloud Peak, the new master of Cloudglow Mountain, had stirred much speculation in the Bottle Continent. A Golden Core Earthly Immortal of limited experience taking command of a sect that possessed the potential to become a great power? Even Cai Jinjian of Green Cypress Peak was of a similar age, yet she, a Nascent Soul cultivator, had been overlooked.

Many ancient sects and immortal domains faced similar crises. The loss of power by Golden Immortal Convent was related to the ascendancy of Azure Peak.

The Bamboo Branch School and Jade Carving Mountain was in a similar situation. Its current leader Guo Huifeng was not related to its founder so there were some complaints about its leadership.

Perhaps in the future, a Mountain Lord of Falling Star Mountain might not be a direct descendant of Pei Qian or Guo Zhujiu. It might come from the lineages of the affiliated mountains. It was an offshoot of the bloodline, but to the disciples of Falling Star Mountain their ancestor was Chen Ping’an.

Lu Chen chuckled suddenly. “Chen Ping’an, should such a day ever come to Falling Star Mountain, would it trouble you, the founding Mountain Lord?”

Chen Ping’an merely smiled in response.

Lu Chen called toward the kitchen, “Shuxia! Remember to add cilantro to my noodles, if you have it. If not, no matter. But do not skimp on the chopped chili and garlic!”

Ning Ji rose to help bring forth steaming bowls of noodles, richly garnished with pickled bamboo shoots and bean curd from the school’s stores.

Zhao Shuxia felt an instant kinship with this newfound junior.

The boy, quick of wit and sensitive of heart, perceived Zhao Shuxia’s kindness and felt a measure of solace.

Lu Chen, chopsticks in hand, was about to partake of the meal when he noted that Ning Ji and Zhao Shuxia waited for Chen Ping’an to eat the first bite before bowing their heads to their own bowls.

The Master of Jade Capital, chopsticks frozen in midair, realized he was the last to eat. Was he to understand that, at this midnight feast, he was the only outsider?

A pang of regret shot through Lu Chen’s heart. Had he but steeled himself and accepted Ning Ji as his own, he would now stand as master to master, two against two, with no disadvantage in numbers.

Chen Ping’an seemed to sense Lu Chen’s discomfiture, and teased, “There is still time to change your mind, Celestial Master Lu. You could knock Ning Ji senseless, bundle him in a sack, and make your escape.”

Lu Chen, affecting the manner of the old scholar, sighed dramatically. “Hold your tongue! Such unseemly words wound the heart! I am a man of honor, and would never stoop to such conduct.”

To take Ning Ji as his disciple meant Chen Ping’an would be responsible for imparting the Dao to the boy. Falling Star Mountain would have a new talent with potential like Chai Wu and the chance to reach ascension.

However, Ning Ji’s destiny would be a struggle. It would not be easy. Chen Ping’an was already responsible for Pei Qian so he would be busy for the next several decades.

Lu Chen heartily inhaled a mouthful of noodles, his cheeks bulging.

While he ate, Lu Chen suggested, “We should make a stone pot meal as a night snack. Especially in winter when it is cold outside and you can feel the heat of the pot in front of you.”

Chen Ping’an smiled. “Difficult.”

Lu Chen would not be able to enjoy it.

Lu Chen sighed. “Chen Ping’an, when did you first drink wine?”

Chen Ping’an thought. “It was when I was learning the fist. I borrowed wine from Wei Bo and that started it.”

Lu Chen asked, “Do you truly like drinking wine?”

Chen Ping’an smiled. “Someone who would ask that must not like drinking.”

Lu Chen pulled out salted duck eggs from his sleeves. “They are a specialty from Gaoyou.”

Chen Ping’an and the others took the eggs.

Lu Chen said, “Grandmasters walking everywhere and Immortals flying in the sky. The future will be amazing.”

Chen Ping’an nodded.

Lu Chen said, “Gu Can has returned to Scholar’s Lake.”

Chen Ping’an nodded again.

Lu Chen continued, “There was a battle in the Barren World.” Because of the Green Secret Daoist, the two sides clashed. In the Barren World, the Heavenly Stems people held the advantage. The two people that contributed the most were Cao Ci and Gu Can. Pure Green and Xu Bai must feel complicated emotions toward Gu Can.

“Gu Can used an old willow leaf to help the others. He also took a female cultivator, Zi Wu Meng, with him.”

“His teacher would steal a city and the student would steal a person.”

Chen Ping’an frowned. “Why did he go to Scholar’s Lake?”

Lu Chen laughed. “He did not go to Liu Zhimao or Zheng Ye. He met Tian Hujun, Zhong Su, and a poor scholar. Gu Can helped the scholar start a business.”

Chen Ping’an laughed.

Lu Chen waved his sleeves. “Gu Can fought Cao Ci and was injured.”

Chen Ping’an said, “Rude!”

Lu Chen said, “He should not have messed with Cao Ci.”

Zhao Shuxia ate silently.

Ning Ji had never heard of Gu Can or Cao Ci. Lu Chen laughed and said, “Cao Ci is strong. He is your teacher’s rival. They have a wager that people are betting on.”

Chen Ping’an said, “I have never won against Cao Ci. But Cao Ci’s character is flawless. I would consider him a friend.”

Ning Ji nodded. “Master is focused on the Three Perishable. Fighting is not his job.”

Chen Ping’an nodded.

Zhao Shuxia laughed.

Even though he respected Chen Ping’an, Zhao Shuxia knew that Cao Ci was stronger.

Zhu Lian once said that Cao Ci would be known as second in the world.

Zhao Shuxia thought, where does that leave Chen Ping’an?

Zhu Lian then said that Cao Ci felt someone was equal to him.

Zhao Shuxia knew that Chen Ping’an could compete with Cao Ci.

Zhu Lian said, maybe Zhao Shuxia would be the one to compete with him.

Lu Chen was impressed with Ning Ji.

The winds of Fallen Star Mountain were weird.

They all belonged to the same family.

Chen Ping’an asked, “Will the canal in Tongye succeed?”

Lu Chen said, “When the time comes, the world will help.”

Chen Ping’an raised his bowl to Lu Chen.

Lu Chen clinked his bowl. “For brotherhood.”

Chen Ping’an was spending more time on teaching than on returning to the Upper Five.

Lu Chen asked via mental voice, “Do you know the demon that is blocking your advancement?”

Chen Ping’an nodded.

The night wind was cool. Lu Chen looked at the wind chimes.

He looked at Zhao Shuxia.

Lu Chen had come to talk to Zhao Shuxia.

He was too similar to Chen Ping’an but inferior.

Lu Chen was worried about Zhao Shuxia more than Pei Qian.

Zhao Shuxia was not as talented as Pei Qian. After all, Pei Qian was at the peak of martial arts while Zhao Shuxia was a mere fifth realm cultivator.

Lu Chen’s intuition was a Dao.

After they ate, Zhao Shuxia and Ning Ji cleaned up.

Chen Ping’an and Lu Chen continued to drink.

Another guest came. It was the river god Gao Niang.

The old scholar carried an empty bottle. He had found it drifting and no one was able to move it. It was not until Gao Niang came that he was able to take it but then was unable to throw it away.

Chen Ping’an smiled and said, “Gao, come sit.”

Gao Niang picked up his pace.

Chen Ping’an introduced, “This is Celestial Master Lu, a Daoist.”

Lu Chen wiped his mouth and said, “Nice to meet you. I am a friend of Chen.”

Gao Niang said, “I am Gao Niang, the river god. Honored to meet Celestial Master Lu.”

Chen Ping’an’s friends could not be bad.

Zhao Shuxia brought a chair and said, “Gao, please sit.”

Ning Ji sat next to Zhao Shuxia.

Lu Chen said, “Did you come to deliver wine?”

Gao Niang looked embarrassed.

Chen Ping’an helped and said, “It is fate if someone is able to claim it.”

Gao Niang was happy. He pulled a green rope from his sleeves and tied the jar to his waist.

Lu Chen said, “It is good to have good neighbors.”

Gao Niang said, “It is my blessing to have Chen as a neighbor.”

Zhao Shuxia brought Gao Niang a bowl.

Ning Ji wondered about Chen Ping’an’s title.

Chen Ping’an smiled. “Good connections are all reciprocal.”

Gao Niang drank two bowls and toasted Chen Ping’an and Celestial Master Lu.

He did not speak much but made sure that his heart was in the wine.

It was stronger than he thought and wondered where it came from.

Chen Ping’an raised a bowl and Lu Chen just sipped. “Gao reminds me of an old friend, Gao Gu.”

Gao Niang said, “I would never dare to reach your friend.”

Lu Chen’s friend was a Daoist immortal that Gao Niang would never reach.

On a small table, they drank and chewed on dried potatoes.

Gao Niang soon realized Lu Chen’s ability to talk. All he did was listen to Lu Chen.

“The world is so big and there are so many people. It is fate that you and I drink together! We cannot waste it!”

“We look only at the wine quality. You have a good nature and you will become a god after death.”

Gao Niang joined the conversation and felt happy but also that he found a rival.

Had this Lu Celestial Master worked in the government before? Why was he so good at talking?

At first, when the Daoist brought up Gao Niang, the river god would hurry and drink some wine, but no matter how good his capacity, he could not keep up with the way Lu Daoist went on and on. This kind of century-meeting, thousand-year-meeting wine bureau, he, Gao Niang, always wanted to put aside his identity and really drink, so it would make sense. Besides, Hidden Official Chen had already started helping himself block the wine, the reason was lame, saying that the earthly wine they said they were drinking was not much left, so they had to save some for the students when they prepared lessons.

Gao Niang’s face changed, and he hurriedly apologized, his footsteps unsteady, staggering to vomit in the distance.

The river god didn’t dare to use his magic to dispel the wine, but did not forget to reach out and wave his sleeves to disperse the smell.

Chen Ping’an also drank until his face was flushed, and said with a laugh, “Daoist Lu really wants to add water transport to Fine Eyebrow River, it’s better to change the method.”

Lu Chen said with a smile, “If Gao Niang knew the truth, he would be able to finish drinking all the wine here, finish drinking and then vomit, vomit out his heart and liver willingly.”

It turned out that for every two liangs of wine Gao Niang drank at the wine table, one Fine Eyebrow River could increase by several catties of water transport.

Lu Chen put his hands behind his head, leaned against the bamboo chair, hiccupped with alcohol, and looked up at the sky, murmuring: “Gao Niang and their wine table, is probably our human world ten thousand years ago, right?”

After Gao Niang vomited, he felt refreshed and returned to the wine table, taking the initiative to ask for wine to drink. Roughly including Chen Hidden Official and Lu Daoist, the three of them drank a full three or maybe four pots of immortal brew. As for where the wine came from, the river god, who was extremely able to observe, could not remember, anyway, he only remembered that he was completely drunk. He rolled up his sleeves and started to play finger-guessing games with Daoist Lu, and finally Gao Niang heavily bumped his head on the table and fell asleep like that, snoring like thunder.

Zhao Shuxia and Ning Ji didn’t drink alcohol, and couldn’t sleep anyway, so they had already gone for a walk somewhere.

Lu Chen looked at Chen Ping’an, whose eyes were shining, and scolded with a smile: “Your alcohol capacity is really too deceiving, and it has nothing to do with your character as an alcoholic.”

Chen Ping’an said with a smile: “Did I urge you to drink? No matter how bad your drinking is, it can’t be worse than you.”

Chen Ping’an, who became more and more sober as he drank, had only been drunk a few times in his life. It seemed that he had only been drunk once in Yellow Millet Blessed Land when he was young, and later when he went to find Xu Yuanxia, he was also drunk that time.

Lu Chen was just about to speak, raised his hand, covered his mouth and ran away, and after a while he swaggered back to the wine table, slumped in the bamboo chair, “It’s been a long time since I drank like this.”

He remembered the last time, a long time ago, at the wine table of the small restaurant in the slum, there was Yao Keji, the new city lord who returned from Jade Capital to his hometown of Divine Firmament City, with the Daoist name “Quaint Antiquity”, apart from Lu Chen, there was also Sun Huaizhong of Xuan Du Taoist Temple, and Gao Gu of Huayang Palace. That meal was also so drunken that it was dark and dizzy, and afterwards Yao Keji said that it was Guan Sun who helped Lu Chen leave the wine table, but Gao Gu said that it was Yao Keji who carried Lu Chen away, and Sun Guanzhu said that it was he who personally dragged one leg of Lu Palmgist out of the alley, so the alley full of chicken droppings and dog manure that night was particularly clean.

Lu Chen took out a porcelain bottle, poured out a few fragrant pills, patted them into his mouth, chewed them with big mouthfuls, and then handed the porcelain bottle over to Chen Ping’an, smiling and saying: “It can sober you up, you can immediately not feel dizzy.”

Chen Ping’an, who was still able to bear it with a stiff head, for some reason, when he heard about sobering up and dizziness or something, started to have stomach upset, cursed and ran to the edge of that threshing ground, squatted on the ground and vomited towards the creek for a long time. Returning to his seat, he also leaned against the back of the chair, reaching out and gently rubbing his stomach. Gao Niang was still snoring, Lu Chen picked up the chopsticks again, picked up the last few appetizers in the plate, and said with a smile: “It is rare for a cultivator to get drunk a few times.”

“The way you see Ning Ji this year, is the way we saw Chen Ping’an back then.”

Lu Chen said: “If I had told you back when I was setting up stalls in town that there would be a scene like today, would you have dared to believe it?”

In fact, in Crimson Pearl Grotto Heaven, many of the younger generation had been on that gambling table early on, and there were even a few geniuses who had lost all their bets until the last moment.

Chen Ping’an said: “To be able to have today’s achievements, and to have walked here step by step, good luck accounts for a large part.”

Lu Chen smiled slightly: “Nowadays, in several heavens, maybe out of a hundred people, ninety-nine people will think so, and the remaining one will either be an old acquaintance like me, or someone close to Falling Star Mountain. After all, as the saying goes, the amount of rice is only eight litres in life, and you can’t fill one bushel even if you travel the world.”

Chen Ping’an nodded.

Lu Chen picked up his chopsticks, glanced at Gao Niang, and said with a smile: “In the future, you have to remind him, he has to change the bad habit of picking up a chopstick of food out of the plate and shaking it three times in the air, the others at the table feel so disgusted when they look at it.”

Chen Ping’an said with a smile: “He’s just drunk.”

Lu Chen put down the last chopstick, carefully chewing on the appetizer in his mouth, “Life is like a tree that puts out thousands of flowers at the same time, but they fall with the wind, and they all have their own landing places, some fall on the ground and are crushed into dust under the tree, like people who die in their hometowns, and some drift with the water and go far away, like wanderers who do not return to their hometowns, there are still those that flutter on the curtains over the doors and windows and fall on the bed, and some fall into the walls of the fence and fall into the stinking juice, each has its distance, its nobility, and its baseness. Your Confucian sages say this is not cause and effect, but in my opinion, what is it not a nest, the ancient transformers, still cannot escape.”

Gao Niang suddenly woke up as if he had been shocked, and shouted in a loud voice: “If fate comes, welcome it and resist it!”

After saying that, he fell asleep again, the river god did not forget to reach out and touch the wine pot on his waist, and muttered with a smile, he had made a fortune, he had made a fortune.

Chen Ping’an was startled, was he really drunk or pretending to be drunk? Was he really sleeping or pretending to be sleeping?

Lu Chen couldn’t help laughing, and said with a smile: “I said, Old Brother Gao is a truly talented person. In a daze, telling the truth after being drunk, is just like this.”

A “water comes out of the stone” Falling Star Mountain, two gatekeepers, Zheng Dafeng, the Taoist Immortal Commander.

Xiao Mo, the Barren World White Scene who changed his name to Xie Gou, these two Ascension Realm swordsmen, one at its peak and one at perfection.

There was also the white-haired boy, the new recorder Konghou, a flying extraterrestrial demon.

Plus the young people and children who successively entered Falling Star Mountain, all like grass and trees meeting spring, thriving, and benefiting everything.

Lu Chen said: “Earlier at the peak of Spilled Ink Peak, Cao Rong asked me a question, saying that the three-four dispute inside the Temple of Literature was more biased towards the Literary Saint.”

Chen Ping’an asked with a smile: “What’s the fact?”

Lu Chen said to himself: “It is said that in ancient times, there was no day or night in the eyes of the gods.”

“In the later generations of ten thousand years, nowadays on the mountain, they only know that it was the little husband of making characters, and the Ritual Saint of casting tripods, who separated heaven and earth, before heaven and earth were cut off.”

“In fact, the action of the Ritual Saint completely cut off the possibility of people becoming Taoists and joining the sixteenth realm.”

“The three founders of the three religions all knew this, especially my master, ten thousand years ago, before that riverside meeting, he deduced this result.”

“When the human world and human hearts each had good and evil, there really was a difference between heaven and earth.”

“So the Literary Saint’s view that human nature is inherently evil seems to be in opposition to the view that human nature is inherently good, but in fact, he joins forces with the Sub Saint to open up the world again.”

Hearing this, Chen Ping’an hesitated for a moment, but still did not take out the wine.

In the academy here, he had set a rule for himself, not to use magic.

Lu Chen smiled slightly: “Do you know why the Literary Saint is most partial to you, the closed-door disciple?”

Chen Ping’an remained silent.

Lu Chen slowly said: “Cui Chan is too smart, so he has no patience with stupid people in the world, plus he looks very far ahead, so he is full of anxiety about the whole world. He once wanted to settle with the world, but in the end he shook hands with this world that disappointed him, and said goodbye to all the people he cared about in his heart.”

“Cui Chan should go to study Buddhism wholeheartedly, treat all living beings with equal minds, then pass the barrier of words, and completely transcend the boundaries of heaven and earth, which is easy for him.”

“Zuo You has always been tolerant of ordinary people, otherwise he would not have gone to sea alone to visit immortals, just because he was worried that his sword energy would affect the mountains and rivers of various places. But he has always had a bad temper with the cultivators on the mountain, because in the depths of his heart, he always felt that the people who practice Taoism should have a Taoist heart that matches them, in short, it is that a person’s actions should be equivalent to his learning. So Zuo You, after practicing swords, the higher his swordsmanship, the more entangled he lived, because he felt that, it seemed that no matter how high his swordsmanship was, it was useless.”

“Zuo You should have gone to the mountains to learn Taoism, abandoning benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and faith, and only seeking Tao and virtue.”

“Liu Sixteen, because of his origin and age, did not have a distinction between good and evil when he looked at the human world at first. Even when he worshiped the Old Scholar as his teacher, he only recognized the Old Scholar as a person, nothing more than that.”

“So your Senior Brother Jun Qian can actually become a god, at least to the height of the ancient twelve high gods.”

“Qi Jingchun, it’s the most regrettable.”

“As for you.”

Speaking of this, Lu Chen picked up an empty wine pot on the table, raised his head, shook it hard, smacked his lips, and said with a smile: “Chen Ping’an, you are too pitiful.”

Chen Ping’an said with a smile: “Lu Chen, we have been friends for many years, don’t mess with my Taoist heart.”

“In my youth, I had little in common with worldly people, and I loved hills and mountains by nature. In middle age, I became quite fond of Tao, and in old age, I lived in the south of the mountains. In old age, I often forget things, but I only forget not my thoughts of each other.”

Lu Chen picked up the bamboo chopsticks, tapped on the wine bowl, and sang leisurely: “Those who abandon me, the sun of yesterday cannot be left, those who disturb my heart, the sorrows of today are many.”

“Touching Fish’s Head, the spring breeze rolls up the embroidered curtain, it’s another year for the fragrant rue, listening to the mountain ghost’s ballads, the years are coming to an end, staying with people beside the wine, and leaving the human world drunk with you, to another plum blossom.”

Beside the wine table, except for Lu Chen’s voice, Chen Ping’an had not spoken, only Gao Niang’s thunderous snores rose and fell.

Not far away, Zhao Shuxia and Ning Ji were already walking on the way back to the academy, on the bank there was an ancient tree, with luxuriant branches and leaves, old and verdant to drip.

On this road, the two, who had almost confirmed their identities as fellow disciples, although they did not talk much to each other, chatted very congenially, probably because their origins were slightly different but their experiences were similar.

In short, they had both suffered hardships in their youth, and they had suffered hard, just like eating several big dry cakes without drinking water and swallowing them.

They stopped here, there was a small turquoise pond over there in the creek, Ning Ji had personally seen many times in that scroll of the long river of time that there were rustic young men with good strength, going into the water, holding iron hammers woven with bamboo strips as handles, raising their arms high, and then hammering hard on the big and small stones, and the stream fish hidden underneath would faint, presumably with the outcome of being struck by lightning, almost floating on the surface of the water, to be picked up and thrown into the fish basket.

There were even people who first selected the place where the fish gathered, and first piled stones on the upstream, as if building a dam, and finally circled the entire shallow pond.

Ning Ji said with a smile: “Daoist Lu said that scholars should understand how to drain the pond to get the fish when doing scholarship, and catching fish in the water is actually the same principle.”

Zhao Shuxia did not know whether to laugh or cry, did that Palmgist Lu say the order was wrong?

It was just that Zhao Shuxia soon frowned.

Seeing that Zhao Shuxia had no intention of moving for the time being, Ning Ji picked up a stone at hand and threw it into the small pond at will.

Earlier, when Daoist Lu passed by here, he said with a smile, “In the late spring season, the flowers outside the mountain are withered, but this tree is uniquely prosperous, and it is a hedge against the gap by the stream.”

Zhao Shuxia heard those four words of draining the pond to get the fish, although he was just a pure martial artist, but for no reason he thought of a scene on the mountain.

If the stream fish is compared to the cultivators in the human world, and the flowing water that pours from the mountains and gathers here is regarded as the spiritual energy between heaven and earth?

Fish in the water is a matter of course, and they may not even know that water is water, so do the cultivators living in heaven and earth also regard cultivating and refining energy as a matter of course?

Zhao Shuxia’s sight moved up, from the creek to the mountain, the top of the mountain, and finally to the sky.

Ning Ji finally opened his mouth and asked: “Senior Brother Zhao, what are you thinking about?”

Zhao Shuxia came back to his senses, withdrew his gaze, and said with a smile to the young man: “It’s nothing.”

They returned to the academy together, and then held a very simple ceremony.

Chen Ping’an sat on a chair and drank a bowl of tea brought by Ning Ji.

In this ceremony of accepting a disciple, apart from the young man’s senior brother Zhao Shuxia, there was only one person who watched the ceremony with his hands in his sleeves, Lu Chen.

Ning Ji kowtowed, and Chen Ping’an helped the young man up.

At this moment, a poor old man with dust all over him quickly crossed the threshold and said with a smile: “It’s good, it’s good.”

Seeing that the situation was not good, Lu Chen was about to run away, but he was hugged by the Old Scholar who tiptoed up, reached out and hugged his neck, put his arm around him by force, sighed in a complaining tone, made a gesture of raising a cup and drinking with one hand, “Why are you leaving, it’s rare for us two brothers to meet, we have to, huh?”

Lu Chen reached out and patted the Old Scholar’s arm hard, and said firmly: “I’m really sorry, I’m busy with things, I have to go back!”

The Old Scholar nodded and saluted Chen Ping’an and the others, smiled brightly, and at the same time dragged Palmgist Lu to the wine table outside the door, saying: “It doesn’t matter if it’s a meal of wine, let’s chat a few more words, you have participated in the quarrel, and I have also participated in it, and we have both won, it’s just that it’s early and late, it’s a pity that we couldn’t meet, let’s make up for it today, let’s chat while drinking, as for winning or losing, what’s there to argue about, Palmgist Lu, just think it through.”

Lu Chen raised his hands: “This humble Taoist admits defeat!”

The Old Scholar stroked his beard and smiled, and nodded: “Palmgist Lu has such great courage, admitting defeat for half, it will surely be a good story if it spreads out in the future.”

Ning Ji looked blank.

Chen Ping’an said with a smile: “He is your teacher’s teacher.”

Ning Ji wanted to kowtow, but he was stopped by the Old Scholar who stepped forward and grabbed the young man’s arm: “Don’t, just make a bow, sincerity is enough.”

The young man turned his head and looked at his teacher, Chen Ping’an nodded with a smile, and the young man respectfully bowed and saluted the old scholar.

The old man hurriedly straightened his clothes and sleeves, straightened his back, and received the salute with a smile.

The teacher who taught the Tao, and the student who sought knowledge, must be calm, the teacher’s scholarship is rigorous, and his attitude is calm, the student’s knowledge is respectful, and he is courteous, and they all share the same composure.

The Old Scholar smiled so much that he could not close his mouth, this was very good.

The Old Scholar, who was happy at heart, turned his head and said to Lu Chen with a smile: “Don’t worry, tonight, things like admitting defeat for half will never be spread out!”