Gu Can and the old Golden Core cultivator serving as the state preceptor got along quite well. He was unpretentious, understood the situation, and they found common ground. They sat together on the palace steps, with no sign of animosity or tension. As expected, palace maids brought food prepared by the imperial kitchen. They dared only glance from afar at the Confucian scholar youth of unknown origins. Then, with light steps and utter silence, like cats on a nocturnal prowl, they lowered their heads and approached the palace entrance. Huang Lie accepted the two food boxes. Gu Can smiled and thanked them. The old man said they needn’t worry about the food box left there; he would take care of it himself. The maids quietly retreated. The old man only ate a piece of pastry before stopping, claiming it was too sweet and sticky. Gu Can devoured the palace delicacies. The old man plucked a flea from his body, pinched it lightly between his fingers, and with a “snap,” it was gone. It seemed that with each flea he removed, he uttered a silent complaint. Huang Lie, who had been the state preceptor of Jade Promulgation Kingdom for decades, remarked to himself that picking lice in front of officials was a rather amusing affair. Gu Can nodded in agreement, saying it was quite elegant. The old man then asked if Gu Can was Liu, the sect leader of Dragon Spring Sword Sect. Gu Can smiled and shook his head, saying that Liu Sect Leader wasn’t as easy to talk to as he was. Liu Xianyang always acted impulsively, without considering the consequences. If it were him, this palace would have been in utter chaos long ago; for instance, Liu Xianyang would have directly blocked your and Xue Pang’s entrances. Huang Lie was even more unsure of the youth’s identity. To speak of Sect Leader Liu so casually? Could it be that cultivator from Cloud-Draped Mountain? Impossible. Could it be the Grand Sword Immortal Mi, the Hidden Official jade purity sword cultivator of Summer Resort Mountain? Rumor has it that he had already reached the Immortal Realm after coming to the vast world. Does this mean that our vast world’s environment is not too inferior to Sword Qi Great Wall? Gu Can seemed to discern the old man’s thoughts but didn’t rush to reveal his identity.

The Jade Promulgation Kingdom was a small country of middling status in Treasure Bottle Continent. Because it was a vassal state of the Great Li Dynasty, it lived under the shadow of others. Huang Lie’s title as state preceptor was merely a facade. Being called the state preceptor, second only to the ruler and above all others, was simply Xue’s spending money to hire a “Golden Core” cultivator to put on a show. This was vastly different from Cui Chan’s role for the Song family of the Great Li Dynasty. Not only was there a great disparity in their cultivation realms, but also because State Preceptor Cui Chan went out of his way to create trouble, whereas Huang Lie avoided trouble. Of course, Huang Lie sincerely admired that cunning tiger. The reason was simple: in the old man’s view, without the Great Li’s iron cavalry and State Preceptor Cui Chan, the Treasure Bottle Continent, with its hundred kingdoms, would have been a land where countries were not countries, and people were less than ghosts. After all, a watchdog in a prosperous age lives more like a human than a person in a chaotic era.

Perhaps feeling that sitting idly together like this wasn’t right, Huang Lie seized on a clumsy topic and tentatively asked, “How did Fellow Daoist come to know Mountain Master Chen?”

Gu Can replied tangentially, “I once, in my youthful ignorance, heard someone say a seemingly grand and empty principle. They said that being an accountant who deals with numbers all day long might not be very interesting, but one could at least find joy in hardship. From calculating the daily expenses of a small household to studying the financial records of a mountain sect or even a country, one could discover many hidden lessons that are easily overlooked. As long as someone delves deep enough and thoroughly, they can gradually see through the clouds the spirit of a country, the trajectory of its rise and fall, and the predictable nature of its policies, like a genuine ledger on the table, stripped of all embellishments and falsehoods. Each line in the ledger is a clear track, a wheel’s mark. When we are willing to be patient and listen carefully, we can clearly hear the thunder of how history arrives and where it is headed.”

Huang Lie pondered for a moment, finding it a novel concept he had never heard before. The old man turned to look at the layers of palaces and sighed, “The idea is certainly good, but it’s easier said than done. It requires great perseverance, determination, and skill to accomplish such a feat. The threshold is too high. How many people in a country can access these confidential files and freely browse the account books of a country’s Ministry of Revenue?”

Gu Can remained noncommittal, responding with a smile.

Mud Bottle Lane in Small Town, Fallen Phoenix Mountain to the west, Azure Gorge Island on Book Brief Lake, the small wine shop and Summer Resort Mountain of Sword Qi Great Wall, and now the Azure Ripple Sword Sect of Green Leaf Continent.

Huang Lie glanced at Gu Can’s Confucian scholar attire and asked with a smile, “Does Fellow Daoist disagree?”

Gu Can smiled and said, “The Sage Confucius said, ‘A scholar’s ambition lies in the Way.’ Later sages added some more practical principles. But Senior is attempting a reverse deduction of the outcome. This naturally makes the matter seem incredibly difficult, easily leading one to view it as a daunting task, causing timidity. This makes it even more difficult.”

Huang Lie nodded, “Fellow Daoist speaks truly. I am enlightened.”

Gu Can said, “Allow me to say something presumptuous, Senior. It seems that you are not fulfilling your duties as state preceptor.”

Huang Lie laughed heartily, “What presumptuous words are those? Even saying that I am being negligent and squatting in the outhouse without relieving myself would be a compliment.”

Gu Can said, “Ultimately, it is because the Xue family of Jade Promulgation Kingdom cannot truly make the best use of talent and does not know how to employ people.”

Huang Lie smiled slightly, “One can’t speak such words, you know.”

Gu Can said, “It’s alright, I’ll take the blame.”

Huang Lie sighed, “As the saying goes, ‘Deaf and dumb, a family head is made.'”

Gu Can nodded, “Every family has its own troubles.”

Huang Lie sighed without reason, “Daoism has its methods, Buddhism has its practices, Confucianism has its way of life. You Confucians must make the framework of the real world crystal clear, so that people can use it even without learning. Literary lineage, passed down from generation to generation, each generation has its own scholarship and problems, each generation has its entrusted civilization. Therefore, scholars both inside and outside the court are willing to consider themselves people who are entrusted with a mission. I presume Fellow Daoist is the same?”

Gu Can smiled, “Senior is mistaken. I am not a proper scholar. Observing etiquette and following rules are purely a matter of necessity for me.”

Huang Lie asked, “Have you suffered losses?”

Gu Can nodded, “I have stumbled and suffered in this matter, and I have learned a little. Someone once said that the most foolish person in the world is one who suffers in vain.”
Huang Lie smiled without a word. Having lived for so many years, he understood the implied meaning. The “someone” Gu Can mentioned earlier and the current “someone” were definitely referring to that Mountain Master Chen.

Immediately afterward, Gu Can said something that baffled the old man: “The decisive battle between two nations is not limited to the battlefield, and the confrontation between two armies is not limited to martial men.”

Gu Can explained, “You can replace the two nations with good and evil, and the two armies with oneself and others.”

Huang Lie smacked his lips and rested his palm against his chin. “There’s something to chew on.”

Huang Lie smiled and asked, “Fellow Daoist, we’ve had a good chat, haven’t we? Can’t you reveal a little, tell me what your background is?”

Gu Can closed the food container, clapped his hands, and smiled. “My name is Gu Can, and I’m from the same hometown as Chen Ping’an. We both live in Ni Ping Lane.”

Huang Lie was stunned into silence, as if struck by a dull blow. His heart trembled. Wasn’t that Gu Can, the direct disciple of Zheng Juzhong of Bai Di City, the madman, busy establishing his career in another continent?

Moreover, according to the rumors circulating on the mountains of Bao Ping Continent, weren’t Chen Ping’an and Gu Can already completely at odds? It seemed they had parted on bad terms at Shujian Lake, ending in a bitter and tragic separation?

That’s why, later, when the group from Luo Po Mountain attended the ceremony at Zheng Yang Mountain, there was Sword Immortal Liu Xianyang, but no sign of Gu Can. Indeed, that’s how it should be. One is a closed-door disciple of the Confucian Sage lineage, while the other is a direct descendant of a demonic giant of the Great Dao. They wouldn’t see eye-to-eye. Different paths cannot be pursued together. Once the goodwill accumulated in their youth is exhausted, the two sides will definitely drift further and further apart, eventually becoming strangers. According to common sense, when these two figures meet on the path of cultivation in the future, it would be considered showing respect if they didn’t treat each other as enemies, right?

Gu Can folded his hands in his sleeves, squinted, and asked with a smile, “Hearing it’s me, Senior is greatly surprised?”

The old man also imitated the action of folding his hands in his sleeves, but quickly took them out, embarrassedly saying, “The same gesture of folding hands in sleeves, when you do it, it has the bearing of nobility, but when I do it, I just look like a country bumpkin farmer.”

Gu Can burst into laughter.

Gu Can said, “Huang Lie, let’s discuss something?”

Huang Lie shuddered and immediately said decisively, “It’s a great taboo for cultivators to kill emperors! The rules of the Confucian Temple are strict now, and you’ll be caught and imprisoned in the academy! No, absolutely not! Besides, the Xue clan emperor is my employer, after all. I can’t do such an ungrateful thing! Gu Can, if you’re determined to wreak havoc here, I certainly can’t change the outcome. To lose this old life for it, to be honest, I’m reluctant. I’ll just have to brace myself and stop you. You can beat me until I vomit blood and faint, but please don’t hit too hard or too light, so that I can have a slightly passable explanation for my role as National Preceptor and for my conscience!”

Gu Can couldn’t help but chuckle. “Senior is indeed straightforward.”

Huang Lie asked in confusion, “Isn’t it about that?”

Gu Can said, “I’m not a fool. With my current realm, I’m far from being able to wrestle with the rules of the Confucian Temple. What I want to discuss with you is that I think… we’ve had a good chat, and we hit it off right away. National Preceptor Huang Lie, instead of receiving a meager salary from the Xue clan of Yu Xuan Kingdom every year, why not free up the space, change to a new mountain, get a brand-new identity, and earn immortal money and cultivate for breakthrough, without delaying either?”

Huang Lie frowned. “What mountain, what identity?”

It couldn’t be that he, a registrar cultivator with a clean background, would be asked to go to Bai Di City in the Central Earth to find a job, could it? Changing his sect’s registrar, Huang Lie didn’t think his face was thick enough to do that.

Moreover, the outside world says that there are countless strange and talented people in Bai Di City. If he, a Golden Core cultivator, entered Bai Di City, even with Gu Can’s guidance and paving the way, would he really be able to live a life of luxury and enjoy himself without doing anything? In this capital of Yu Xuan Kingdom, at least he, Huang Lie, can sleep peacefully every day, right?

Gu Can stood up slowly and said, “I’m inviting you to a new sect without red tape, to serve as a registered honorary elder. Don’t worry, it’s the kind of elder with real power who has a seat in the Ancestral Hall. I can guarantee that if you don’t want to work, you can be very idle; if you want to work, you will be very busy. It all depends on your own wishes, Huang Lie. In addition, as a meeting gift from the Sect Master, there will be two or three Taoist books and secrets that will help Huang Lie become a Nascent Soul cultivator, and a path to potentially reach the Upper Five Realms in the future. As for whether you can eventually break through, or even go further, cultivation is ultimately your own business. It’s not a child’s game, and no one can guarantee that you can cross one or two major thresholds.”

Huang Lie subconsciously stood up. “I have to ask, Fellow Daoist, why are you so sincere? What do you see in me?”

Gu Can smiled. “On the one hand, we hit it off and I find you pleasing to the eye. On the other hand, I think your Golden Core bottleneck is not unbreakable, but simply lacks opportunity and resources. A Nascent Soul cultivator is still quite valuable, no matter where they are. For example, my first master, the Intercepting River True Lord Liu Z茂, he was a Nascent Soul Earth Immortal for many years. Back then, in Shujian Lake, he was a powerful figure who could get whatever he wanted, like a local emperor.”

Huang Lie asked cautiously, “Fellow Daoist, are you planning to establish a sect?”

Gu Can nodded and said in a hushed tone, “My Senior Brother Fu Jin and I are doing our own thing, each taking a group of people away from Bai Di City. Bai Di City will soon become an empty city. We are going to build a lower sect for the ancestral court.”

Huang Lie said, “What if I reject Fellow Daoist’s invitation?”

Gu Can said, “Don’t worry, there won’t be any consequences. Forced melons are not sweet. To put it bluntly, it would be beneath me to bother with a Golden Core cultivator now. If we part ways today, we’ll just go our separate ways. It’s just that if you want to join later, when that sect has taken off, it will be difficult. Huang Lie can of course stay here and live a life of ease and comfort, leaving his breakthrough to fate. He can live a comfortable and peaceful leisurely life, just like a wealthy man finding a place to retire. Of course, he can also bet on the table. Fortune favors the bold. While he still has the ambition and hasn’t been worn down by the world, he can take advantage of a newly rising sect, take a gamble, pursue the true Great Dao, and see if he can add another Upper Five Realms cultivator to Bao Ping Continent in the future.”

Huang Lie’s eyes sparkled. He slapped his palm with his fist and stared at Gu Can’s face. The old man smiled. “Could it be that I’ve encountered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? Since they say a tree dies when it’s moved, but a person lives, then let’s ask for it!”
Gu Can suddenly asked, his eyes playful, “Aren’t you afraid I’m deceiving you?”

Huang Lie was first stunned, then laughed: “Since Sect Leader Gu and Chen Yin Guan are still friends, which deviates greatly from the rumors, I assume you have a bottom line in your actions.”

Gu Can kept a straight face and muttered, cursing under his breath in his hometown dialect.

Seeing this, Huang Lie, who had been a bit apprehensive, felt inexplicably relieved. The old man felt in the depths of his being that this gamble was the right one!

Huang Lie used the title “Sect Leader Gu” again, curiously asking: “May I be so bold as to ask, why did you not go to Fallen Mountain, but instead to White Emperor City?”

Gu Can retorted, “Is there a difference?”

Huang Lie didn’t know how to respond for a moment.

Gu Can smiled faintly: “The book says, ‘With good neighbors, one sees gentlemen daily.'”

The female cultivator from the Wild Lands, whose Daoist name was Chunxiao and who went by the alias Gu Lingyan, was still playing the charlatan in the Qintian Jian, enjoying it immensely.

However, she also knew her own limitations. She was only able to fool the three chief astrologers because of her high cultivation level, not necessarily because they weren’t smart enough.

Since becoming Gu Can’s personal maidservant, she should have been relaxed and carefree, enjoying a rare outing and a moment of freedom. But instead, she constantly wondered if there was a fight going on in the palace, if there was any excitement to watch. This made Gu Lingyan laugh at herself inwardly, “Ha, a cat and its food bowl, a dog and its master.”

Amidst lofty mountains, untouched by human presence, it was said that an ancient immortal had ordered the Five Ding to carve a path. In that treacherous land of winding mountains and sword-like peaks, they had carved out a straight road. Later, emperors planted ancient cypress trees along the road, their dense shade forming a verdant cloud corridor. For two thousand years, a narrow plank road clung to the perilous peaks, overlooking the rushing torrents. The ancients had drilled holes in the cliffs to support the wooden planks, creating a narrow path. A youth of ancient mien walked along it, holding a seven-holed bone flute made from the ulna of an old crane, a Gold Tablet of Atonement hanging from his waist. At the desolate ancient post station, formerly known as Chou Bi, the Daoist youth who had once had five deities clear the path paused. The changing dynasties beyond the mountains, the endless turmoil of the mortal world, had all grown tiresome to him. He had chosen to withdraw from the world. Since he could remember, he had been a person of great spiritual power. Of course, he knew this was abnormal, but for two thousand years, he could only gropingly search for clues in the human world, desperately seeking a certain truth, yet unable to unravel it. The youth sighed, stepping into the dilapidated ancient post station. As a master of geomancy, he had known in advance that this place held a subtle mystery, resembling another relay station with array formations set up by fellow Daoists. Having traveled alone for so long, he had long discovered that this world seemed to be filled with such ownerless structures. If the pavilions at the foot of the mountain were for the common people to rest, then these “mountain” relay stations seemed to be specifically used to help cultivators cross mountains and rivers. As expected, in the next moment, ripples appeared, and the scenery around him instantly changed. When the youth landed, this ancient immortal, who still did not know his own name, had arrived at another mountain thousands upon thousands of miles away. There, a Taoist temple stood, where five old men with different expressions were viewing an unfolded scroll of immense size. There were many blank spaces in the painting, with only the Yin-Yang fish depicted. Upon seeing the uninvited youth, the five old men wanted to engage him in a poetry contest. The youth smiled wryly, glancing at the Yin-Yang fish on the scroll. Too lazy to waste half a word with these affected mountain spirits, his form dissolved into a wisp of smoke, leaping into the painting. He then arrived at a bustling marketplace. The youth seemed to be in a water town prefecture, with houses in the shape of imperial seals lining both banks. According to local custom, when marrying off a daughter, one had to ride a brightly decorated boat, passing at least three bridges: the Bridge of Fortune, the Bridge of Eternal Peace, and the Bridge of Longevity. The youth passed a long-established sauce garden that sold its products for ten thousand miles. In the vast open-air drying field, huge sauce vats were arranged in rows and columns, at least two thousand in total, by rough estimate. The strong aroma of soy sauce wafted in the air. The youth casually looked around, his gaze piercing through walls and houses. He saw a well-matched couple, their marriage harmonious and loving. That day, the newlywed woman spread paper and ground ink, while the man was painting a small three-foot painting, the inscription containing over five or six hundred words. The neighbor’s mansion was filled with flowers, with a crape myrtle tree in the courtyard. The local villagers did not know its worth. In the eyes of the young immortal, it seemed to be on the verge of gaining sentience. Inside this old house, a large stack of promissory notes was piled on the desk in the study. An old man, whose days were numbered, was throwing the notes into a brazier. The unfilial descendants outside the door watched this scene with wide eyes, gritting their teeth, their eyes filled with red veins, filled with reluctance and resentment, yet not daring to express it. The young immortal sighed at this, walking into a small alley. There, a young and strong man was squatting by the roadside, hands in his sleeves, yawning, running a stall to swindle money.

The youth initially paid no attention. Having traveled through the mortal world and involved himself in worldly affairs time and time again in the past, he had long grown accustomed to such clumsy schemes. They were all based on incomplete chess puzzles, a sure-win business. But today, the youth’s expression became serious, only because this stall was displaying a Go game. The youth sat opposite the man, who greeted him with a cheerful smile. In the end, they played a game of Go that resulted in a triple ko, even rarer than a draw. The man smiled, saying it was a pity that they hadn’t reached a quadruple ko, which would require the Daoist friend to take one more step. The man raised a hand, pointing to the alleyway’s exit. The youth stopped at the alley’s mouth, turning back and asking, “What is my name?” The man seemed to be speaking in riddles, pointing to himself. Seeing the youth’s blank expression, the man had no choice but to smile and say, “I only know your surname is Yu.” The youth with the surname Yu walked out of the alleyway, instantly arriving in a small county town where the imperial examination was at its peak. There, an elderly man who specialized in collecting waste paper could be seen. In this culturally rich place, almost every household had a bamboo basket for storing paper. Whether it was for practicing calligraphy for pleasure or studying the Pavilion style of calligraphy for the imperial examination, any paper with writing on it would not be casually discarded. They would be gathered and placed in this small bamboo basket, covered with a circle of white paper, with a palm-wide strip of red paper pasted vertically, bearing four characters written in thick ink: “Revere and Cherish Writing.”
The wealthy families would respectfully place this bamboo basket next to the ancestral shrine’s altar, while even smaller households wouldn’t dare be negligent, usually placing it in a clean corner of the main room. Once the basket was full, a designated old man would come to collect the paper scraps. This old man would often carry a large bamboo crate on his back, going door-to-door, collecting the written-on paper. He would load it into the crate and carry it to a secluded little temple, where he was responsible for burning the paper. The temple didn’t house any clay deity statues. Besides the wisps of incense smoke rising during paper burning, it rarely saw any offerings throughout the year. Only on the north wall hung a vertical scroll with only words inscribed: “Spirit Tablet of Emperor Wenchang.”

The young man followed the old man with the bamboo crate to the small temple. The old man, squatting at the temple entrance burning paper, greeted him with a smile, “Fellow Daoist Yu, are you finding this current identity to your liking?”

Yu Shiwu liked to say he didn’t descend the mountain often. Surely this time would be more than enough?

Yu Shiwu asked directly, “How did you manage to erase my memories?”

The old man chuckled freely, “Since we can write words and draw pictures on paper, we can naturally erase the words and wipe away the pictures.”

Yu Shiwu asked in a deep voice, “What is it that you seek, with such meticulous planning and step-by-step schemes?”

Chen Ping’an smiled, “Old books reread yield added flavor, only through vigorous practice does one attain merit on the path.”

Outside the ancestral hall, seeing that Chen Ping’an was unwilling to fight as a sword cultivator, Ma Kuxuan seemed regretful, saying, “I did learn some worldly boxing techniques, but compared to you and Cao Ci, they’re insignificant, so I abandoned them.”

He reminisced about the battle at Immortal Graveyard in their hometown, where the two youths exchanged blows with fists and feet.

“Many times, I do envy sword cultivators like you. That’s why I’ve spent considerable effort these past years searching for a path to become a ‘proper’ sword cultivator. But alas, no matter how hard I search, I can’t find one. Even if I retreat to a secondary option, secretly rummaging through forbidden ancient texts and secret manuals, trying to find a shortcut to cultivation similar to an official’s hereditary privilege, it still doesn’t work. Asking me to buy a few imitation swords from Hate Sword Mountain in Beiju Luzhou and impersonate a sword cultivator? I can’t do it; I have no face for such dealings.”

After all, only Jade Purity Realm sword cultivators dared to say they could confidently fight a Celestial Realm cultivator without flinching.

The reason sword cultivators are considered the most troublesome of the four major nuisances on the mountains is that their combat strength develops the fastest during the Lower Five Realms, and they are the most unreasonable. Just a flying sword, like a heaven-sent innate ability, is enough to give Qi Refiners a headache. After all, Qi Refiners in the Lower Five Realms are physically weak, and their various techniques are not yet perfected. When sword cultivators fight them, once a deadly feud is formed, they’ll unleash their natal flying sword without hesitation. With a “whoosh,” superiority is instantly apparent, and life or death is decided. There’s no logic to it.

As fellow townsmen and contemporaries, Ma Kuxuan seemed to have this strange habit ever since they met: he became talkative when fighting. Like a drunkard’s drunken ramblings?

In the previous two encounters, Ma Kuxuan was confident of victory, so he was calm and composed. But what was this time? Last words, entrusting his affairs, unable to hold back?

Ma Kuxuan’s expression was complex, unsure whether it was self-deprecating or sarcastic, “A belly full of truth, hard to speak to ordinary people. I don’t know why, but every time I see you, I can’t help but ramble on and on.”

Seeing that Ma Kuxuan still didn’t stop his rambling, Chen Ping’an wasn’t in a hurry anyway, so he simply abandoned his fighting stance, strolling slowly, stretching his muscles.

“Chen Ping’an, whether you believe it or not, back in our hometown, when I was still in Apricot Blossom Lane and you were still in Mud Bottle Lane, I already regarded you as a fellow traveler. Hmm, fellow traveler, that’s a rather formal way of saying it. Simply put, we’re the same kind of people, very similar. We can endure hardship, we’re observant, and we keep things to ourselves. When looking at the world, we like to trace back to the source, and we both refuse to be manipulated by others, even if that ‘other’ is so-called Heaven. Don’t deny it. To a large extent, I understand you better than many people in Fallen Mountain. People taking shade under a tree can never see the whole picture. Our respective followers, regardless of their number, ultimately live in our shadows. How can they recognize our true faces?”

“So, I even had a vision long ago. When I made my fortune, I would keep you by my side. I would sincerely give you the most benefits, the kind of wealth and glory that a Mud Bottle Lane boy wouldn’t even dare to dream of, real, tangible benefits, to slowly grind away your vengeful thoughts and become a true friend. Then, one day, when I founded a mountain sect, you would help me with the tasks, and I could leave everything to you, entrusting you to manage all the affairs of the sect. I believe you could do it very well, better than anyone else. That’s why I said earlier that the younger generation of our town only needed the two of us. A sect with two Fourteenth Realm cultivators guarding the mountain, wouldn’t that be enough? Or else, what do you think I was doing picking up snake gallstones by the creek back then? They were originally intended for you, to be used as your starting capital for cultivating on the mountain in the future. It’s just that I didn’t expect you to meet Ning Yao from the Sword Qi Great Wall and have so many entanglements with her. Under the instruction of Blacksmith Ruan, you even ran to the western mountains and bought a bunch of mountain peaks with those three bags of gold coins, becoming a local tyrant. From that moment on, I knew that an ending like today’s meeting was inevitable. The only difference was the time, sooner or later, and who would kill whom.”

Speaking of this, Ma Kuxuan paused slightly, tentatively asking, “You picked the time this time, so how about I pick the place?”

Chen Ping’an nodded, “Alright.”

Ma Kuxuan said, “Since you’re so good at arranging scenes and creating landscapes, then I won’t be polite. How about choosing the Sword Qi Great Wall as the battlefield? I haven’t been there before; it is indeed a regret, both big and small.”

In an instant, Ma Kuxuan truly got his wish. The location under their feet turned into a city wall. Ma Kuxuan looked up and saw the strange sight of three bright moons hanging in the sky. It was just a different season, as if after a heavy snowfall. On the ground, it was hard to tell whether it was moonlight or snow.
Ma Kuxuan shifted a few steps, his boots crunching in the thick snow. He casually scooped up a handful of snow from the battlements, chewed it thoughtfully, and nodded. “It really is quite convincing. How did you manage this? Illusions, to deceive the senses of those above the fifth realm, are already exceedingly difficult. But to fool touch and taste as well? How did you accomplish it? Sustaining such a realistic illusion must consume a considerable amount of spiritual energy, no? To deal with those incompetent Ma clan descendants, isn’t this a bit like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut?”

Chen Ping’an stood on the other side of the city wall, remaining silent.

His striking crimson Daoist robe was somewhat incongruous with the pure white world.

Ma Kuxuan sighed. “Yes, you’ve always been this way – cautious, prudent, mature, and steady, viewing even yourself as a potential adversary. That’s what I admire most about you. Unfazed by scolding, unafraid of beatings. Is this what books call ‘calmness in the face of great events’?”

Ma Kuxuan turned to look at the scene within the city, quickly locating the summer palace. “‘Debating strategy from afar, with words as cold as frost.'”

Chen Ping’an smiled. “An undeserved compliment.”

“I remember when I was young, Grandma always repeated a phrase: everyone has their own fate. Good or bad, it’s predetermined by Heaven. One’s past life decides this life’s destiny. What kind of womb you emerge from, what kind of person you become, what kind of words you speak – it’s all prearranged, almost entirely. Outsiders all say you’re lucky, extremely lucky. Otherwise, there’s simply no explanation for how a slum orphan could have such an opportunity.”

“After all, it’s not just a simple case of a poor scholar passing the imperial examination and becoming a top scholar. Or a penniless man suddenly becoming a wealthy magnate. Even Lin Shouyi and Dong Shuijing, outsiders can barely understand, but your case is often inexplicable. It seems the only explanation is divine favor. Chen Ping’an, what do you think?”

Chen Ping’an smiled faintly. “I follow the crowd.”