All gatherings must eventually disperse; life is but a series of willow branch partings.

In the long river of time, there seem to exist ferry crossings adorned with swaying willows, where, within each journey, some disembark while others board, only for new encounters and farewells to occur at the next haven.

Like that diligent youth from Mud Bottle Lane, he has already departed from everyone at the previous crossing.

At daybreak, the Li family of three had already prepared their luggage, bidding farewell to a group of people at the foot of Eastern Flower Mountain. Unlike the first separation from relatives in their hometown, Li Huai was no longer carefree, merely relieved of constraints and able to indulge in candied hawthorns and chicken legs all day. Instead, a hint of melancholy had emerged; the child had finally grown up.

Li Bao Ping, Lin Shouyi, Yu Lu, Xie Xie, and even the elegant young man Cui Dongshan, all came to see them off.

The woman’s eyes were red as she was unwilling to release Li Huai’s hand, incessantly repeating mundane words of wearing more clothes when it’s cold and eating enough to be full. Li Huai listened quietly. Li Er stood beside them with his usual naive smile. Li Liu straightened Li Huai’s clothes, which were already quite new and neat, and then turned to look at the plaque of the Cliffside Academy. She remained indifferent to the scrutinizing gazes of Xie Xie and Yu Lu, who were of similar age.

Finally, the woman was willing to leave, hardening her heart and refusing to turn back. Li Er patted Li Huai’s head, smiling as he followed his wife’s footsteps. Li Liu patted her younger brother’s shoulder, then gave everyone a Wanfu curtsy before gracefully departing.

Li Huai lightly nudged Lin Shouyi, whose palm was sweating as he clutched a letter tightly. The stern youth shook his head, gazing at the departing silhouette of the maiden, murmuring, “Perhaps next time.”

Li Huai didn’t want to reveal his sorrow in front of them, so he suppressed his worries, found an amusing topic, and chuckled, “Cui Dongshan, if you’re Chen Ping An’s student, and we’re all disciples of Mister Qi, and Bao Ping calls Chen Ping An ‘Little Martial Uncle’, how exactly do we calculate our seniority with you?”

Cui Dongshan stood with his hands behind his back, like jade tree facing the wind, smugly declaring, “I am my teacher’s first disciple, the founder of his lineage, my seniority is incredibly high, higher than this Eastern Flower Mountain by hundreds of thousands of miles.”

Li Huai was taken aback. “Does that mean we have to call you ‘Eldest Martial Brother’?”

“Eldest Martial Brother?”

Cui Dongshan suddenly became agitated. “Your whole family are Eldest Martial Brothers! I don’t want to be an Eldest Martial Brother, call me whatever else you want.”

Li Huai was somewhat confused. “Then Little Martial Brother? That sounds a bit awkward.”

Cui Dongshan’s eyes lit up. “Little Martial Brother is good. It shows respect for an elder and also conveys a sense of closeness. From now on, you can all call me Little Martial Brother. Yu Lu, Xie Xie, from today onwards, you’re no exception. No need to call me ‘Young Master’, it’s too formal. Just follow Bao Ping and the others and call me Little Martial Brother.”

Li Bao Ping snorted. “I didn’t agree to that!”

The little girl in the red-padded jacket rushed out from under the memorial archway. Li Huai shouted, “Li Bao Ping, we still have class later!”

“The penalty of copying passages? I already wrote them all last night under lamplight, what’s there to fear! I want to explore this place alone first, so I can take Little Martial Uncle sightseeing in the future.” Li Bao Ping raised her head high, dashing away, chasing after a flock of pigeons soaring in the azure sky. The sound of pigeon whistles rose and fell, resonating with melodious clarity throughout the capital city of the Great Sui Dynasty.

Li Huai strained his voice, shouting, “Then take me with you!”

Li Bao Ping turned a deaf ear. Compared to her slender figure moving away from the academy’s memorial archway, the little girl’s longing had already traveled a thousand miles away.

Already arrived at a mountain ridge on the border of the Yellow Court Kingdom, Chen Ping An was washing his face by a mountain stream.

Unlike the pink-skirted girl carrying only a personal bookshelf, the green-robed boy carried a dimensional artifact, always filled with strange and exotic gadgets. Initially, he didn’t intend to flaunt anything in front of his master. However, he became obsessed with the serpent gallstones, thinking about them every day, and began taking them out, asking Chen Ping An to trade treasures for the serpent gallstones.

Just like now, the green-robed boy took out a pile of small bottles of various styles and shapes, squatted beside Chen Ping An, and explained the fun of these bottles to his master. He pulled out the stopper of one of the pink-green porcelain bottles and poured it into the stream. Soon, a large expanse of soft moonlight flowed out of the porcelain bottle, scattering on the stream, like a dream.

The green-robed boy giggled, “Master, beautiful, isn’t it? This is a Moon Essence Bottle, quite popular among cultivators. Besides this, there are Cloud Glow Bottles, Sunlight Bottles, and many more. They are specially used to collect cloud waves, colorful glows, sun and moon light from the great mountains of the Five Peaks. The spiritual energy contained within is not much, and naturally cannot compare to the rich and abundant, continuous flow of blessed lands, but it can’t compete with the beautiful scenery these bottles pour out. What do you think, Master?”

Chen Ping An was indeed somewhat shocked. The dense mountain forest was still slightly shady even during the day. Seeing the moonlight slowly flowing on the stream at this moment, he truly felt that there was indeed nothing strange in this world.

The green-robed boy patiently persuaded, “It’s definitely not fair to exchange a small bottle for Master’s serpent gallstone. I also have three bottles here, collectively known as Resonating Bottles, named after the phrase ‘The sound lingers around the beams, lasting for three days’. They are all filled with the most beautiful sounds of nature in the world. For example, this bottle is filled with the croaking of frogs, this one with the sound of the great tide, and this one with the sound of the pine trees in the high mountains. Master, think about it, when you go to sleep, you can open one of these bottles, and the sound of the tide will be right next to your pillow, how pleasant is that? Aren’t you tempted? I’m only exchanging one serpent gallstone for so many precious bottles! Only one! Master, just nod your head, and all these seven or eight bottles will be yours immediately. If you don’t do this kind of business, you’ll be struck by lightning…”

Chen Ping An silently calculated the family fortune back in the small town, there were still quite a few serpent gallstones of excellent quality, and nodded with a smile: “Alright.”

The pink-skirted girl waved her hands desperately beside him, winking at her master, trying to persuade Chen Ping An not to agree to this deal.

The green-robed boy pushed the bottles to Chen Ping An in one go, jumping up and down with joy, and extended two fingers towards the pink-skirted girl, high-spiritedly: “One more than you, now higher than you by one realm. When we get to Master’s hometown, after eating the stone, I will be two realms higher than you silly girl. When the time comes, be sensible and don’t stay by Master’s side and embarrass him. It’s enough for Master to have me, a little page, why would he need some silly maidservant…”

The pink-skirted girl pouted, her pink face wrinkled, like a storm was brewing.

Chen Ping An said helplessly, “If you bully her again, I’ll go back on my word.”
The lad in azure robes immediately coughed, speaking earnestly to her, “From now on, you must put your heart into caring for the Master’s needs – food, clothing, shelter, and travel, understand? For example, after consuming that serpent’s gallstone, quickly transform into the figure and appearance of a blooming maiden. When the Master, in his prime, feels the long nights stretching out, you should take the initiative to warm his bed…”

Chen Pingan carefully stowed away the various rare and precious vials, then flicked the azure-robed lad on the head. “Stop spouting nonsense.”

The lad in azure robes feigned a bow. “Master is right to scold.”

Chen Pingan returned to squatting by the creek, pulling out a dry biscuit to chew on. He casually asked, “Do you two know what a Dragon King’s Basket is?”

Both youngsters paled simultaneously. The azure-robed lad even stiffened, unable to utter a jest, barely able to stand.

The girl in the pink skirt spoke with utmost caution, “I’ve seen records in ancient books. As long as a Qi Refiner casts it into a mighty river or lake, it can capture Flood Dragons. The most terrifying aspect is that Flood Dragons, naturally dominant in water, should be able to withstand even Qi Refiners one or two realms higher. But if the opponent possesses a Dragon King’s Basket, even if they’re a realm or two below us, they can still subdue us.”

The azure-robed lad instinctively moved a few steps away from Chen Pingan, crouching at a distance. “It’s not that simple. Being captured by a Dragon King’s Basket is far worse than a mortal being in a boiling oil cauldron. You suffer the agony of a thousand cuts, moment by moment. It’s the closely guarded secret of the ancient Shu Kingdom’s greatest sect. They specialize in weaving Dragon King’s Baskets to sell to those Qi Refiners who travel from afar, seeking to capture our kin.”

His voice trembled as he clenched his fist, shaking it. “A Dragon King’s Basket this size could capture me.”

Chen Pingan stretched out his hands, gesturing in front of himself. “What if it was this big?”

This time, not only the azure-robed lad, who knew the Dragon King’s Basket’s terror, but even the pink-skirted girl was too frightened to speak.

The azure-robed lad wore a crestfallen expression. “Master, never mind seeing one, I’ve never even heard of a Dragon King’s Basket that big! You wouldn’t happen to have one, would you?”

He suppressed the urge to ask for a second serpent’s gallstone, tentatively suggesting, “If there really was such an exaggerated Dragon King’s Basket, even an old Flood Dragon ancestor who had transformed for millennia would have to submit. Master, do you perhaps find those vials not so pleasing to the eye after all? Never mind, Master can keep them to play with. If you truly dislike them, you can return them to me when we reach Master’s hometown. As for the serpent’s gallstones, Master can give them or not, as you please…”

Chen Pingan couldn’t help but laugh. “I don’t have a Dragon King’s Basket. Even if I did, you two wouldn’t need to be afraid.”

No wonder the Great Sui Dynasty’s Prince Gao Xuan had felt indebted after buying the golden carp and Dragon King’s Basket back then. Besides giving a bag of gold essence coins, he wanted to express his gratitude again in the Great Sui capital.

When he had encountered that man selling fish with a fish basket in the small town, Chen Pingan had seen something extraordinary at a glance. How could the carp still be leaping about after being away from the water for so long? But first, he was simply too poor. Living hand-to-mouth, how could he dare spend money as he pleased? After becoming a kiln worker, he could save some copper coins, and Chen Pingan never had any extra expenses. Just dealing with firewood, rice, oil, and salt was already extremely difficult.

Second, Gao Xuan and the old man had intercepted him halfway.

Chen Pingan tossed a pebble into the stream. The young man was now somewhat melancholic, not because he regretted losing a great stroke of fortune, but because he felt like several mountains of gold and silver had brushed past him.

So in the end, it was still about the money.

In fact, Chen Pingan didn’t know that the man was none other than Li Huai’s father, Li Er, one of Old Man Yang’s disciples. At that time, Li Er was already a peak martial artist of the ninth realm. Unlike the gatekeeper responsible for receiving gold essence coins, Li Er had a good impression of Chen Pingan. As for why Li Er didn’t simply gift it to Chen Pingan back then, there was a grand reason. People on Master Yang’s path had always advocated for “fairness.” So Li Er had casually quoted a price in order to bargain with the mud-lane youth, making it seem more genuine.

Unfortunately, the Great Sui Prince had intervened, breaking the rules first. Li Er was immediately wary and dared not force this great fortune onto Chen Pingan. Afterward, Old Man Yang had also reprimanded Li Er, telling him a cruel truth: if Chen Pingan had truly accepted the fish basket and carp, whether he could have left the small town alive was another matter.

Chen Pingan still hasn’t learned all the undercurrents in the small town.

On the Great Dao, fortune and misfortune are forever intertwined. Whether an event is a friend adding frost to snow or an enemy sending charcoal in the snow, no one can say for sure in the short term, or even ever.

The three resumed their journey, spending the night on a mountain peak. Although Chen Pingan no longer needed to stand guard, he still had the habit of staying up late after his martial stances, guarding the campfire for a while before sleeping.

In the dead of night, the mountain top was silent.

Beside the campfire, the azure-robed lad added some firewood to the flames, beckoning to the pink-skirted girl. “Silly girl, come here.”

The girl was sitting far away, leaning against the book box left by Cui Dongshan, shaking her head vigorously. “I won’t.”

The azure-robed lad smiled slyly. “I won’t eat you.”

The girl refused to approach, no matter what.

The azure-robed lad raged, “If you don’t come, I’ll really eat you! What’s wrong with you? You won’t listen to good words, you only understand a beating?”

The pink-skirted girl could only steel herself and sit opposite the campfire.

He asked, “You say the Master is a very ordinary and uninteresting person, how could he have such a ferocious and terrifying disciple?”

She thought for a moment. “Master is kind-hearted. Good people are rewarded.”

The azure-robed lad sneered. “Can being a good person fill your stomach?”

She shrunk her neck.

He mocked, “You’re a fifth-realm monster, and you even have some special abilities, can’t you have some backbone?”

This time, she actually showed some backbone, softly retorting, “When you were chased for two thousand li by the Lingyun Sect’s Grand Elder, where was your backbone?”

The azure-robed lad, uncharacteristically, didn’t get angry. He patiently explained, “It’s not that I was afraid of that old hag who’s got one foot in the grave. She’s truly shameless, so old, yet she still slathers on pounds of rouge! I, your grandpa, just know that a hero can’t fight two fists. If I ate that old hag, I’d enrage the entire Lingyun Sect, and then my Water God brother would suffer. I couldn’t live with myself.”

The pink-skirted girl quietly turned her head, secretly rolling her eyes.

That’s all she dared to do.
The boy in azure robes huffed, “Are you trying to rebel, you silly girl?! You need a beating every few days! Relying on our Master’s backing, you don’t even put this Grandfather in your eyes, do you?”

She was so frightened she was about to call out to Chen Ping’an.

The boy in azure quickly waved his hand, signaling her not to act rashly. He sighed and changed the subject, “Our Master is only a second-realm martial artist. Although he’s not bad compared to ordinary third-realm warriors, you and I know very well that he’s still weak. Besides, looking at his daily life, his words, and his actions, he doesn’t seem like a child from a great family. Is he really the master of five mountains back in his hometown? And where did he get so many serpent galls? Could it be that ruthless fellow is deliberately deceiving us, trying to take us to some remote mountain village?”

The girl in the pink dress curled up, looking at the flames she was naturally drawn to, feeling warm all over. She murmured, “I don’t care. The Cao family of Zhilan Prefecture for two generations have been treacherous and unworthy of their ancestors’ hard-earned scholarly reputation. I never liked them anyway. Going back to Master’s hometown is fine by me.”

The boy in azure’s face became solemn, no longer the usual carefree, mischievous expression. He sighed softly, “The Cao family did take a wrong path, but there’s no other way. Anyone else would do the same. Who would foolishly study and take exams to gain officialdom when they could become immortals? All that talk of self-cultivation and helping the world is just deception from Confucian sages. I’ve been in Yujiang for so many years and seen too many scholars’ misfortunes. Not to mention other things, just look at how every governor and prefect treats my Water God brother. They’re more servile than they are to officials from the capital. As long as a cultivator commits a crime, they immediately seek my brother’s help to mediate. If my brother is in a bad mood, he’ll even leave them waiting outside the temple for days, and those officials wouldn’t dare to fart. It’s so boring.”

The girl in the pink dress hesitated, but ultimately remained silent.

The boy in azure chuckled, “Master is already asleep, but Grandfather still has a long night ahead, unable to sleep. A moment of spring night is worth a thousand taels of gold… silly girl, why don’t you become my wife?”

The girl in the pink dress immediately turned red-eyed and cursed, “Shameless rogue!”

The boy in azure glared, “What? This is a great blessing! Your ancestors’ graves are smoking! Do you think I really like you? If I weren’t after that serpent gall you haven’t even gotten yet…”

She stood up, “I’m going to tell Master!”

He had no choice but to back down again, waving his hands frantically, “Don’t do that, don’t do that. How about we become sworn siblings? After swearing an oath of brotherhood, your things are mine, and my things are still mine…”

She simply ran away with her book box on her back.

The boy in azure stood up, laughing loudly with his hands on his hips. After suppressing his laughter, he curled his lip, feeling listless. He muttered, “What a silly girl.”

The boy in azure ran all the way to the cliffside, suddenly shouting loudly, “We live in this world as travelers! Grandfather is taking the silly girl home with Master!”

In the distance, Chen Ping’an, who should have been sound asleep, twitched the corner of his mouth. Only then did he stop circulating the Eighteen Stops Sword Qi and truly fall asleep.