Within the capital of Liang, the winter sun shone brightly upon a newly constructed Taoist temple, built under imperial decree. A wandering traveler might easily mistake it for a venerable sanctuary of a thousand years, for the imperial treasury had poured nearly a million taels of true silver into crafting its antique charm.

Sunlight gilded the green glazed tiles of a palace rooftop, illuminating a row of lifelike ridge beasts along the hip roof. Among them, a Suanni, resembling a lion, seemed to nod its head.

An inch away, day and night diverged.

While daylight bathed the rooftop, a perpetual twilight clung beneath the eaves. In the dimness, a woman carried a palace lantern, her slender, moonlit hands moving slowly along the corridor.

She patrolled the hallway, passing by two vermillion gates with each circuit, each door concealing a different world.

Inside, a white-robed youth with a crimson mark between his brows seemed suspended in the vast emptiness, gazing at an old Taoist, none other than Liang Shuang, the current Grand Celestial Master of Dragon Tiger Mountain, though not of the direct lineage.

Yet, at the very moment, at the mountain shrine near the border of Liang, the Protector-General was still conversing amiably with Chen Ping An, the two finding much in common. Beside the steps, a white-clad youth also sat, but he was accompanied by the boy, Xiao Mo, in his yellow hat and green shoes.

In truth, the venerable Taoist before them was the true form of Liang Shuang, the Celestial Master of Dragon Tiger Mountain.

Cui Dongshan sighed inwardly. After such a battle, it seemed everyone suffered, save perhaps Zheng Juyong of White Emperor City.

Take the old Taoist before him, for instance. He displayed a withering, a decline that even a common scholar could discern. His hair was sparse, barely held in place by a gold coronet. His frame was so emaciated that his already ample purple Taoist robes seemed to hang loosely upon him.

Liang Shuang sat with his hands clasped over his abdomen, thumbs touching, breathing rhythmically to steady his mind and nourish his decaying flesh.

Behind the old Taoist hovered a nebulous golden Dharmakaya, like a painting swaying in the wind.

The three figures were disparate in size. Cui Dongshan was as small as a mustard seed, the true form as large as a mountain, and the Dharmakaya as imposing as a star.

This was, in fact, Cui Dongshan’s first time seeing the old Taoist in person.

Though seemingly in a meditative slumber, with each breath, pure energy flowed from the seven orifices of the old Taoist’s face like cascading waterfalls, like white serpents clinging to a wall. Occasionally, Taoist energy would dissipate, transforming into a purple character, as if transcribing a scripture. Each phrase, once completed, would return to his orifices, like rivers drawn back from the sea by an immortal’s hand. These strings of purple words, though fleeting, left indelible traces of precious inscriptions in the vast emptiness before the old Taoist, their light dim, their script obscure. Cui Dongshan, gazing from afar, felt as if he were reading a book beneath the moonlight.

*An immortal’s meditation births Taoist energy, a brush in an empty room conjures the spring breeze.*

Had his injuries not been so severe, this Grand Celestial Master of a different lineage would not need to seclude himself here, a prisoner of his own making, able to travel only in spirit.

Even the usually carefree Cui Dongshan felt a pang of sorrow at the sight.

The true form of Liang Shuang bore the Taoist name Taiyi.

He recalled a time when the man was full of vigor, a dashing and elegant figure.

He was renowned on the mountain for his handsomeness.

But this Liang Shuang, who had replaced the Fire Dragon True Man of Crawling Earth Peak as Celestial Master, shared a love for secluded mountain living, much like that most successful person in the world. And in terms of seniority, Liang Shuang was even older and more experienced.

The old Taoist had spent thousands of years in seclusion after reaching the Ascended Realm, so much so that the Realm of the Vast Sky had largely forgotten about this mountain peak figure.

When Cui Chan was young, he traveled with the Old Scholar and visited Liang Shuang, only to be turned away without so much as a glimpse. The Old Scholar still held a grudge, not only had he failed to meet the man, but he hadn’t even managed to get a drink. Scandalous, outrageous!

The old Taoist remained in meditative slumber, yet he sensed the fluctuations in Cui Dongshan’s mind and said calmly, “Each has their own destiny. The ebb and flow of life are inevitable, why be sorrowful?”

Then the old Taoist smiled. “I had some doubts before, but now it seems you are indeed not the scholar Cui Chan of old.”

Cui Dongshan sat cross-legged in the old Taoist’s inner world and asked, “Is there any small matter in which this junior can be of assistance?”

As for Liang Shuang mending the Great Dao, he would refrain. Cui Dongshan did not believe he possessed such heaven-defying abilities.

The old Taoist seemed to have finished “transcribing” a scripture, his Taoist heart growing even more serene. He opened his eyes and said, “No.”

While the two spoke, idle chatter also filled the mountain shrine, where the Taoist in purple robes discussed the assassination attempt of years past with Chen Ping An, showing no trace of heroic spirit, but instead regarding it as a disgrace.

Compared to his true form here, the Protector-General Liang Shuang at the shrine seemed to embody all of his true form’s emotions, both joy and sorrow, love and anger. Thus, his joy was immense, his sorrow profound, and his anger earth-shattering.

Cui Dongshan smiled. “A cultivator, at most half a step into the Fourteenth Realm, managed to not only wound a peak Fourteenth Realm Grand Cultivator in the wilderness of Tongye Continent, but also escape his grasp. If that isn’t a heroic feat, what is? So, I am curious, how did you accomplish it, senior?”

Liang Shuang said calmly, “To do one’s best and accept fate, nothing more.”

Before reaching the sky, Wen Hai, known as the Tongtian Old Fox of the Barren Lands, already deserved to be called the first person outside of the Three Sages.

This Wen Hai, also had a significant contribution to the creation of words in a foreign world.

It was as if Li Zhen had once asked Zhou Mi to his face, how many great demons he had “merged” with over the centuries.

It seemed that Zhou Mi’s method of merging was to eat, eat continuously, and never be satisfied. Just among the fourteen ancient demon monarchs of the Barren Lands…

There was the Lotus Convent Master slain by Dong Sangeng in Sword Qi Great Wall, the Yellow Oriole who was beaten back into the Nascent Soul realm by A’Liang and Yao Chongdao, the Obsidian Armor slain by Bai Ye near the Hanging Mountain ruins, and the Phonetic Rhythm in Tongye Continent… Beyond that, Zhou Mi had long since separated a Yang Spirit, a body outside of the body, and gradually rose to become the great demon Bai Ying, who sat high upon the Throne of Dry Bones.

Moreover, before that, Zhou Mi had already used the mountain-peak method of the Barren Lands to kill and devour Lu Fayan, the master of Phonetic Rhythm and Feiran, who was also in the Fourteenth Realm, eventually merging his Yin Spirit with him. As for Wan Yan Laojing, the traitorous Ascended Realm Grand Cultivator of Golden Armor Continent, he could probably only be considered a small appetizer.

Beyond that, who knows how many great demons outside the ancient monarchs Zhou Mi had secretly “merged” with?
With a flick of his sleeves, Cui Dongshan pinched his fingers together and gently swayed them, revealing a seal.

Liang Shuang glanced at it. “Quite the ‘starving old bookworm’.”

*Three million books piled high,
In winter’s chill, I find my delight.
May I feast on celestial words someday,
A bookworm’s life, lived just right.*

It was a personal collection seal of ordinary material. It was said that the scholar Jia Sheng of Vastness, on his journey to Upside-Down Mountain, picked up a piece of mountain jade by the roadside in his hometown and carved it into a seal for his books, carrying it with him for many years.

Liang Shuang sighed, “The vast world, myriad phenomena. Encompassing all differences, condensed into one form.”

How powerful Zhou Mi was, outsiders would find it difficult to imagine even a fraction of it without personally fighting him.

Especially don’t forget one thing: when Zhou Mi was still a Vastness scholar in the Literary Sea, he ascended to the Jade Purity realm in a single step from the Willow Tendon realm.

And the reason why this gentle scholar cultivated in the past was simply to be able to read more books “in this lifetime” in order to realize his ambitions.

Now, Zhou Mi’s close disciple left in the human world, Jia Shen’s wooden clogs, the later Zhou Qinggao, took the same shortcut.

Liang Shuang was actually curious, “Before I descended the mountain, I heard some things about you from Tian Lai, such as one thing: Cui Chan, who became the national preceptor of Great Li, was expelled from the literary lineage as the chief disciple, and the Literary Temple of the Central Earth forbade the learning of the Sage of Literature. You were implicated a lot, so you ‘naturally’ fell from the realm of immortals. Was the fall from the realm a smokescreen?”

You could tell whether the seniority was high or the age was great simply by Liang Shuang calling the contemporary Grand Celestial Master of Dragon-Tiger Mountain “Tian Lai.”

What seemed natural to ordinary people was mysterious to the old Immortal and Zhao Tianlai.

The reason was simple: from the summit of Vastness Mountain, looking far and wide, they dared not underestimate the mind of Embroidered Tiger.

After all, he was a chief disciple of the Sage of Literature who could, if he wished, take the vice leader of the Literary Temple as his possession.

In the end, no one expected that such a scholar who could have gone down in history would be reduced to a stray dog, a rat crossing the street.

The former meant losing the status of the literary lineage orthodoxy, and the latter referred to Embroidered Tiger’s situation back then: betraying the master, deviating from the classics, and in the Central Earth Divine Continent, everyone could step on him. He had few friends; it seemed that only Liu Jubao of White Mound Continent, Yu Panshui of the Profound Secret Dynasty, and the Mountain and Sea Sect had some sympathy for Embroidered Tiger.

“Yes and no.”

Cui Dongshan smiled, “Falling from the realm is real, but the greater goal is self-deception, to deceive the heavens. I only gradually understood this matter much later, having been kept in the dark by Cui Chan for many years, because this old bastard, in order to deceive the heavens and earth, first deceived another version of himself, which is Cui Dongshan.”

Speaking of this, Cui Dongshan began to curse. Thinking of how he had stupidly gone to the Lihua Grotto-Heaven back then, fighting wits and strength with Qi Jingchun, makes the current Cui Dongshan wish he could dig a hole and bury himself. At that time, did Qi Jingchun look at that ambitious, self-assured self as if he was watching a great joke? And he even had to hold back his laughter with great effort?

Liang Shuang raised a hand, performing mental calculations, supplemented by hand seals, and finally sighed, “Embroidered Tiger is ruthless enough.”

Cui Chan was like this to himself, and to that later junior brother.

Such protection, unparalleled.

Cui Chan was like… as long as Chen Ping’an fell into the hands of me, this eldest brother, he could still maintain his Daoist heart with difficulty, without completely collapsing or going insane, then no outsider in the world would be able to plot against Chen Ping’an’s Daoist heart.

Cui Chan’s fall from the realm back then was real, but it was deliberate. The most brilliant smokescreen on the mountain peak is to cover the truth with the truth, rather than concealing it.

As the first Daoist book in the human world, revered by later generations as the head of all scriptures, this book had already revealed the secrets of heaven: the Great Dao is fifty, the Heavenly Evolution is forty-nine, and man escapes one.

Embroidered Tiger Cui Chan peeled off his divine soul, dividing it into two, causing Cui Dongshan to appear out of thin air in the human world. To be precise, it was the veritable “young Cui Chan.”

The key is that Embroidered Tiger did not maximize his own achievements and learning in this matter, nor did he pursue the result of “two Cui Chans ascending together.” Instead, he intentionally or unintentionally deliberately limited Cui Dongshan’s “chess skill.” Therefore, in addition to incomplete memories, the latter’s temperament and mind were not as good as Cui Chan himself. It was like dividing the two into distinct primary and secondary roles.

Liang Shuang asked, “To accomplish this, did Cui Chan consult with Mr. Three Mountains and Nine Marquis about the method of sealing the mountain?”

Cui Dongshan smiled, “It was both consultation and discussion.”

This is because I have been influenced by my teacher’s respect for the predecessors. If it were a certain old bastard, wouldn’t he just leave a sentence: “It’s not much of a consultation, just mutual encouragement?”

If he still wasn’t satisfied, he would add, “Why must people today be inferior to the ancients?”

The old Immortal said, “Wait a moment.”

Cui Dongshan nodded, “This junior will wait.”

The old Immortal used his Daoist heart to drive his entire body of Daoist intent, then used his Daoist intent to lead Daoist Qi, and finally used Daoist Qi to drive the surging spiritual energy that was as vast as great rivers, circulating a great cycle within the small world of the human body. After Liang Shuang exited that Mind Imagery world, the two were in a simple and elegant room, with only two meditation cushions and a small table, on which was placed a Boshan incense burner, with purple smoke lingering, and the room was filled with fragrance.

A rare smile appeared on the old Immortal’s face, “Your teacher is cautious enough, as if he has already begun to suspect whether he is in a dream.”

Previously, the words of his Yin God were actually no different from a sword questioning with Chen Ping’an. The real body of Liang Shuang here took the opportunity to look at people’s hearts with his heavenly mind.

Like few old friends in the human world.

Zou Zi was one of them.

Cui Dongshan raised a palm, fanned it three times, and pulled a little of the purple-gold smoke, which was more precious than the incense of ancestral temples, towards his side.

No more, no less, exactly three times.

Not too little, dare not refuse what the elder bestows; too much would be inappropriate.

Cui Dongshan smiled, “To endure heavenly tribulations is a hero, the hardest thing is to remain eternally innocent.”

Liang Shuang was noncommittal and asked, “I was forced to do it, what about you?”

The matter of the Yin God leaving the body for a long journey cannot be sustained for long, but nothing is absolute in the world. There are also many unorthodox methods on the mountain, such as the Daoist method of beheading the three corpses, and the already subdued mind-ape and intention-horse.

Cui Dongshan did not hide anything, “I separated a part of my mind and attached it to a porcelain doll, sneaking into the Five-Colored World. Originally, I planned to spend sixty years there to help Fallen Mountain establish a lower sect.”
“Scheming and manipulative behavior clouds the heavens’ will.”

Liang Shuang frowned, “All this bustling and widespread networking, are you not planning on recruiting that Ascendant Realm cultivator?”

Cui Dongshan replied, “Except for my teacher, who is an exception, Fallen Mountain doesn’t lack anyone’s cultivation realm. But we lack territory, manpower, and, most importantly, funds.”

Currently, Fallen Mountain already has two Ascendant Realm cultivators, Little Mo and Wu Shuangjiang’s demonic dao companion.

Liang Shuang nodded, “A truly grand sect.”

Cui Dongshan smiled brilliantly, raised his hand in a cupped-fist salute, and shook it vigorously, “Surely that’s a prophesying auspicious blessing.”

Liang Shuang smiled faintly, “Your teacher, after plummeting from Jade Purity all the way to Golden Core, is now in a situation of being a skilled craftsman without materials. He possesses a diverse, albeit exceptional, array of Daoist arts, yet he’s been restricted by the matter of spiritual energy accumulation. No wonder he and ‘I’ became friends through conflict; they’re kindred spirits in misfortune.”

Cui Dongshan looked worried.

Chen Ping’an first practiced martial arts, becoming a pure martial artist. After becoming a Qi Refiner, he had the ever-unrefined Initial One and Fifteenth swords, plus his talisman techniques. When facing enemies, he could cope with ease. Later, at the Sword Qi Great Wall, he became a genuine sword cultivator, possessing two “unreasonable” natal flying swords, so he wasn’t too constrained by the amount of spiritual energy. He then combined with half of the Sword Qi Great Wall and temporarily borrowed Lu Chen’s fourteenth realm Daoist arts.

So, along Chen Ping’an’s journey, he surprisingly never experienced that kind of “spiritual energy depletion” in battles.

Otherwise, in mountain duels or secluded cultivation, to “renovate” the mountains and rivers, cultivators’ spiritual energy being passively or actively depleted to the bottom was a common occurrence.

There was a metaphor on the mountains: the amount of spiritual energy, or the “family fortune,” of cultivators below the Fifth Realm was the difference between one or a few snowflake coins.

Advancing into the Middle Five Realms, especially forming a Golden Core, was equivalent to possessing a Little Summer coin.

By breaking through the Nascent Soul bottleneck and entering the Upper Five Realms, a cultivator’s spiritual energy “family fortune” could be measured in Valley Rain coins.

Liang Shuang asked, “Are you planning to start from scratch simultaneously in Tongye Continent and Five Colors World?”

Cui Dongshan said with a cheerful smile, “Hopefully.”

“I’m a bit curious, how did you muster your spirit?”

For those who cultivate the Dao, nourishing the spirit is easy, but raising it is difficult; the Dao heart is easily broken but hard to mend; and the morale is easily fallen but hard to lift.

Cui Dongshan said somewhat embarrassedly, “I was angered by that Zheng fellow near my home.”

Liang Shuang nodded, “Zheng Juzhong’s chess skills are too high, inevitably leading to an aloofness, only admiring the Embroidered Tiger.”

Cui Dongshan laughed, “Zheng Juzhong also holds that Grand Master of White Jade Capital in high regard.”

Since the conversation had turned to Zheng Juzhong, the old immortal adept in the art of Go, he asked with a smile, “Shall we play a game?”

The white-clad youth rubbed his hands, “Senior, do you want to lose or win?”

Liang Shuang shook his head, “You’re not as eloquent as your teacher.”

Afterward, the old immortal waved his sleeve, and the mountains and rivers of Tongye Continent materialized in the room. The old immortal’s gaze roamed, selecting the new and old Five Peaks and the Crown Prince Mountain, condensing them into one hundred and sixty verdant chess pieces. Cui Dongshan followed suit, manifesting a continent’s rivers as snowflakes of pure white chess pieces, though there were only fifty of them. The number of pieces was clearly far less than the old immortal’s. Gathering them at his feet, the white-clad youth clenched a handful of snow-white chess pieces, then raised his fist, “Who goes first?”

Liang Shuang directly pinched a verdant chess piece, his body leaning slightly forward, as if skipping the step of determining the first move and directly placing a piece, hovering in the air.

It was as if he was saying to the white-clad youth opposite him, I, Liang Shuang, am a senior who ascended the mountain to cultivate earlier, and now I have a higher realm than you. Since the matter of determining the first move is without suspense, why bother with the formality.

The only problem now was that there was no chessboard between them.

This was another instance of Liang Shuang’s “senior demeanor.” Although he had an advantage in determining the first move, he wouldn’t take advantage of Cui Dongshan on the chessboard. At the same time, the size of the chessboard for this game was beyond the standard nineteen vertical and horizontal lines. Furthermore, the spacing between the lines of the chessboard needed to be determined by both sides through their moves. Therefore, this game, from the chess pieces to determining the first move, and then to the chessboard, was shrouded in mystery. Old rules and new rules would exist, and each side’s initial moves, divine moves, and unreasonable moves would emerge in sequence. The chess pieces on the board would stand like mountains on the earth, and the principles of Go would stretch like rivers flowing among them, seemingly more “long-lived and immortal” than even immortals, like the mountains and rivers of the human world, constantly experiencing birth and destruction on the chessboard.

Both sides made their moves like flying.

After each making fifty moves, Cui Dongshan, having run out of snow-white chess pieces, suddenly looked around. Eventually, he condensed his own sect’s Immortal Capital Mountain into a verdant chess piece, gently pinched it, and tapped it on the chessboard.

Liang Shuang stared at the chessboard, pondered for a long time, sighed, and grabbed a handful of verdant chess pieces, pouring them onto the chessboard. The old immortal had conceded defeat.

Cui Dongshan said with a smile, “Senior’s character is lofty and noble.”

Liang Shuang asked, “What’s the name of your lower sect?”

Cui Dongshan replied, “Located on Immortal Capital Mountain in Tongye Continent, named Green Duckweed Sword Sect.”

Liang Shuang nodded, “Taiyi approaches the Heavenly Capital, connecting mountains to the sea’s edge. White clouds turn to look back, azure mists enter to see nothing. Immortal Capital is born of white clouds, while the green shirt is outside the mountains, but people are unaware it still exists.”

Cui Dongshan nodded with a smile.

A senior who doesn’t curse randomly is a good senior.

Liang Shuang said, “The spiritual mushroom and the coiled dragonet in the mountain are now yours to deal with.”

Cui Dongshan rose to take his leave.

Liang Shuang stood up and stopped at the door, looking at the bustling Liang Kingdom capital and the more distant scenery of mountains and rivers.

After Cui Dongshan crossed the threshold, he turned his head and said casually with a smile, “Next year’s hemp and mulberry seem endless, only then does one realize one is a person living in peace.”

Liang Shuang still didn’t retract his gaze, and finally said a profound prophecy.

Cui Dongshan smiled it off, treating it as something to be heard and forgotten. His figure transformed into a streak of white light, rushing to the mountain god shrine on the border of the Liang Kingdom.

The old immortal turned to face the still-unremoved chessboard, stroked his beard for a moment, and nodded, “If I had placed my piece here, I definitely could have won.”

The woman who was patrolling the corridor with a lantern came to the door in confusion, looking at the strange chessboard and chess pieces in the room. She whispered, “Master, did you lose the chess game to that young man?”

The old immortal stroked his beard and smiled, “How could that be?”

The woman glanced at the chessboard, then looked at her master.

The old immortal had to explain, “I lost the game, but won in magnanimity.”

On the steps of the mountain god shrine, Chen Ping’an cupped his fists to bid farewell to the old immortal.
The group returned to the mountain where they had first stopped, where the Lady Mountain God was still waiting.

Cui Dongshan used his mind to give a general account of what had happened, and Chen Pingan nodded, pleased with his own judgment. She was indeed an unfathomable, otherworldly expert.

At the mountain peak, Ji Shan’s Mountain God, Jiang Ying, also known as the Cloud Valley Mistress by some familiar mountain cultivators, was known for her refined taste. The goddesses and maids in her manor were named Verse-Gathering Official and Ink-Washing Official, among others.

A personal maid, responsible for doing Jiang Ying’s hair and makeup, whispered, “My Lady, these outsiders don’t seem like ordinary Qi cultivators.”

She stood beside the Lady Mountain God, a good two heads shorter.

Jiang Ying smiled, teasing, “You can see that, can you?”

Earlier, the group had used a profound escape technique, instantly traveling hundreds of miles without a ripple of spiritual energy, a truly astonishing sight.

Especially the scene near the Mountain God temple, where the mountains and rivers were hazy, like viewing flowers through the mist. This implied that these temporarily unidentified visitors were at least Nascent Soul cultivators, perhaps even Immortals above the Fifth Realm. Even as one of the Five Sacred Mountain Gods of a kingdom, she would need five or six hundred years of thriving incense offerings to raise her golden body to the Nascent Soul level.

The Lady Mountain God of Ji Shan tapped her palm lightly with the rolled-up almanac of the Twenty-Four Flower Messengers.

The safest course of action would be to immediately return to her carriage and retreat, as if nothing had happened.

There were simply too many outsiders from other continents in the Tongye Continent these days.

Take the most southern Qu Mountain Ferry, for example. There was a “Sword Immortal Xu Jun” from another continent, responsible for receiving the… two transcontinental ferries from the Liu clan of the Aiai Continent.

Especially the cultivator from their neighbor, the Northern Precious Bottle Continent, who they once looked down upon in the past. Now, the tables had turned, and Tongye Continent cultivators were meeting their counterparts with deference and a lower cultivation realm.

Many foreign cultivators were operating from behind the scenes, using money or other means to become the de facto emperors of some newly restored small kingdoms. They secretly supported puppets, acting decisively, greedy for wealth, and plundering various mountain and river resources. One example was the Marquis of the Old Dragon City, who had forged an alliance with the Yu Dynasty. However, it was undeniable that there were a great number of remaining demon cultivators who had failed to escape back to the Savage Lands. Without these transoceanic cultivators, the already devastated Tongye Continent would suffer even more. The native cultivators alone would probably not be able to restore the old order even after sixty years.

Take the Small Dragon Pool, a candidate for a sect. They were extremely enthusiastic about the search, even building a “Wild Garden” as a scenic tourist attraction, where they had imprisoned a large number of Savage Land demons who had not yet transformed, as well as some Lower Five Realm demon cultivators.

The founding patriarch of Small Dragon Pool had been in seclusion for many years, allowing the Nascent Soul cultivator in charge of finances to surpass him in both cultivation and status within the sect. In just a few years, the Small Dragon Pool patriarch’s lineage had lost power. Such was the case that every family had its own difficulties.

When the group returned to the mountain top, the Lady Mountain God tucked the almanac into her sleeve and smiled. “Esteemed Immortal, you can call me by my name, Jiang Ying, from Ji Shan.”

The man in the blue shirt smiled gently and said, “Greetings, Mountain God Jiang. My name is Cao Mo, from the Precious Bottle Continent.”

Jiang Ying breathed a sigh of relief, considering it a simple meeting. As for the Immortal opportunity, Ji Shan would not hold any extravagant hopes. Just as she was about to bid farewell, she heard the man continue, “The Old Immortal of Liang Kingdom asked me to inquire about something. If Ji Shan was fortunate enough to obtain this opportunity, how would you treat the spirit ginseng and the little hornless dragon?”

Jiang Ying smiled, “If I am fortunate enough to obtain it, I will cherish this affinity. Ji Shan will definitely treat them with respect.”

Chen Pingan said, “Although the lightning-struck tree is dead, it is deeply connected to the mountain’s roots. I might be able to help with transplanting the lightning-struck tree and the spirit ginseng.”

Jiang Ying said, “It’s best to wait until the spirit ginseng has truly gained sentience and can briefly leave its cultivation grounds before anyone else takes action. Otherwise, it will more or less harm the spirit ginseng’s vital essence.”

Pei Qian nodded inwardly upon hearing this.

This Lady Mountain God had, in fact, already passed the test with just this one sentence. This opportunity would be a karmic blessing.

Only then could the master truly rest assured.

Chen Pingan smiled slightly, “I was negligent. Lady Jiang’s actions are more prudent.”

Jiang Ying asked in surprise, “Is that what the Liang Immortal meant? Is he truly willing to let my Ji Shan Prefecture buy it?”

It would be a great boon if the little hornless dragon were willing to serve as a guest or offering to Ji Shan.

According to the “Book of Watery Creatures and Fish”, there were not many truly pure-blooded dragons in the world. For example, those with horns were called Hornless Dragons, and those without horns were called Dragon-Like Beasts. The little hornless dragon protecting the spirit ginseng in the mountain was only at the Cave Realm, making it more difficult to transform than ordinary mountain spirits. However, once it succeeded in transforming and then successfully “walked the water,” it would have a high chance of transforming into a flood dragon. Both the thousand-year-old spirit ginseng, which could help increase the vitality of plants, and the little hornless dragon, with its noble origins and remarkable cultivation aptitude, would be supported by Ji Shan to the best of its ability, both publicly and privately.

If the little hornless dragon truly went to Ji Shan’s territory, when it was elevated to one of the Five Sacred Mountains, Ji Shan’s territory would more than double. She would definitely manage the “walking the water” matter well, which would not be considered a self-serving act in the mountain and river bureaucracy. With luck, Ji Shan could have another Earth Immortal Water Dragon in three hundred years. It would be fortunate for both parties.

Furthermore, in the Precious Bottle Continent, the first true dragon had appeared after the Dragon Slaying War. It was like a spring breeze entering the night, lifting the ban on mountains and rivers, and countless aquatic creatures were competing to cross the river.

It was said that near White Emperor City in the Central Earth Continent, at the Yellow River Small Grotto Heaven’s Dragon Gate, a large number of enlightened aquatic creatures had gathered in recent years, as numerous as carps crossing the river, all wanting to leap over the Dragon Gate.

Chen Pingan shook his head. “There’s no talk of money. Immortal Liang only left one sentence, letting Lady Jiang freely take the opportunity.”

Chen Pingan was too lazy to make any excuses. He estimated that even if this Lady Mountain God thought too much about it, she would still accept this opportunity in the end.

Jiang Ying was stunned. The Guardian Immortal of the Great Liang Kingdom was actually willing to give up this opportunity for free? Was it a trap? Or did he simply want to form an alliance with Ji Shan Prefecture to help him find mountain elixir or the like?
Chen Ping’an bid farewell and was about to leave when a maiden at the rear of the carriage procession, face flushed red, mustered her courage and timidly called out, “Mountain Master Chen?”

The young girl’s voice was soft, almost inaudible. A woman in palatial attire frowned slightly.

The Lady of the Prefecture was discussing important matters with a distinguished guest, how could an outsider be so presumptuous? This silly girl, so inconsiderate! All she does all day is read those nonsensical fantasy novels and mountain-water gazettes, never saving a penny. Does she even want to marry a good man in the future? Or does she just expect a generous dowry bestowed by the Lady of the Prefecture?

Chen Ping’an turned his head and smiled, asking, “Is there something you need?”

The girl’s ears instantly turned crimson, and she mumbled, “Is it really Mountain Master Chen?”

Jiang Ying asked mentally, “Hu Ou, what’s going on?”

The girl replied in a trembling voice, “Reporting to the Lady of the Prefecture, this Immortal Master Cao is actually the Sword Immortal Chen of Fallen Mountain in Treasure Bottle Continent, and now he’s also a sect leader! He once famously turned the tables, dismantling the Ancestral Hall of Proper Sun Mountain, beheading the Mountain Guardian, wielding his sword in azure robes, his sword light like a rainbow. In short, in the neighboring Treasure Bottle Continent, this Sword Immortal’s fame is now greater than the heavens…”

The girl’s words came faster and faster, like beans pouring from a bamboo tube, no need for any preparation. Many stories, along with numerous rumors, were already ingrained in her mind, recited backwards and forwards.

Jiang Ying was stunned.

Daoist said, “My lord, I just realized, this little girl seems to be a descendant of a Moon Household Artisan.”

Chen Ping’an had only heard of Moon Palace Seeds. He hadn’t seen any records of Moon Household Artisans, even in the archives of the Summer Palace.

Xiao Mo then began to explain to her young master a not-so-important historical matter. In ancient times, these artisans were mostly family members of Earth Immortals, a sort of hereditary privilege. They possessed cultivation aptitude, but it was usually mediocre, so they were assigned to various traveling palaces and mansions. In addition, some deities would specifically search for suitable candidates on the earth. As for how they were selected and recruited, it involved a kind of divine secret art similar to “Heaven’s Choice.”

This was inside information Xiao Mo had gleaned while brewing wine with the Azure Firmament Cave Master.

Generally speaking, when these descendants of the Moon Palace reincarnated in the mortal realm, if they were demons, they would benefit greatly from the worship of the moon and transformation of their forms.

In Xiao Mo’s opinion, there was nothing else special about them.

After all, there were quite a few of these “artisans” back then. Just considering the Savage Desolate World, there were three bright moons including the Radiant Moon, and palaces were everywhere. Even the Water God, one of the Five Supreme Beings, had more than ten Summer Palaces. However, Xiao Mo couldn’t recognize the little girl’s identity if she had descended from a different moon. This girl named Hu Ou happened to be a descendant of the Radiant Moon Household, but after ten thousand years, her bloodline was extremely thin.

Jiang Ying performed a Wanfu bow, “Greetings, Sect Leader Chen. It was Jiang Ying’s blindness before; I was rude.”

Chen Ping’an quickly returned the salute with cupped hands.

In the end, he politely declined the invitation, and the group didn’t detour to Jishan Prefecture as guests.

After Cui Dongshan’s true form and Yin Spirit merged, he didn’t follow Chen Ping’an south. He continued to return to Immortal Capital Mountain to work, acting as both an artisan and supervisor.

If he hadn’t become a sect leader, he would have stubbornly refused to leave. How could he rush back and forth like he was now, without delaying for a moment?

Before parting, Chen Ping’an casually asked about the outcome of the Go match in the Taoist temple. Cui Dongshan chuckled, “I troubled the Chess Saint to make it hard to lose.”

The sky and water were one color, the river wide and the fish submerged.

Chen Ping’an’s group walked along the shore. This newly opened immortal ferry of the White Dragon Cave’s subordinate mountain was called Wild Cloud Ferry and belonged to an immortal sect called Spirit Wall Mountain. Due to its advantageous location near the water, it had seized this unowned geomantic treasure land first, investing a lot of immortal money to repair and expand it, resulting in the current scale of the ferry. However, to be precise, Qingping Sword Sect, the subordinate sect of Fallen Mountain, was now the true owner of this Wild Cloud Ferry.

It’s just that Cui Dongshan acted covertly, without letting out any information. Even the White Dragon Cave, as the “upper mountain,” still didn’t know that Spirit Wall Mountain had made this deal with outsiders.

The Wild Cloud Ferry, which was not large in scale, would be expanded again in the future when Cui Dongshan had time. It would be one of the seventeen ferry stops on the Wind Kite ferry route.

Cui Dongshan gave Spirit Wall Mountain one hundred Rain Grain Coins, half for the ferry land and half as a prepaid deposit. Because Spirit Wall Mountain could receive 30% of the profits in the next three hundred years, the fifty Rain Grain Coins would be deducted from that 30% share. However, the profits would not be distributed after the money was fully deducted. Spirit Wall Mountain could still receive 1.5% of the profits each year.

Therefore, in addition to the one hundred Rain Grain Coins that were already in hand, Spirit Wall Mountain could rely on that 1.5% profit to simply collect money from the account books for the next three hundred years.

Otherwise, relying only on the rent from sixty-odd shops and the small amount of toll money from the small ferries, when would they earn one hundred Rain Grain Coins? It would be like a fool’s dream.

So, Spirit Wall Mountain was extremely grateful to the handsome youth with the red mole between his eyebrows. As for his origin and background, they wouldn’t investigate. As long as the money was real, that was enough.

With such a large sum of immortal money that had fallen from the sky, Spirit Wall Mountain had many ways to earn money. They could let the money grow exponentially.

For example, the Jade Decree Sect in the south had established the first mountain money house in the history of Tongye Continent. Not only could they store immortal money, but the gold, silver, and copper coins of various countries could be directly converted into immortal money, and the premium of immortal money wasn’t calculated.

Since the sect leader was no longer Jiang Shangzhen, but the highly anticipated Great Sword Immortal Wei Ying, it was mostly trustworthy.

Although many immortal mansions and sects were still suspicious and watching, Spirit Wall Mountain had already sent people to the Jade Decree Sect to discuss the matter of depositing money and sharing profits.

Since Chen Ping’an was strolling around his own ferry, he found everyone and everything agreeable to his eyes.

Cao Qinglang suddenly said, “Listen, there’s unrest in Fuyou Continent. An immortal master, while exploring deep underground, accidentally discovered an extremely rich vein of ore, the material is unknown, but it naturally contains spiritual energy and can be used as a new type of immortal money. The quality is inferior to Snowflake Coins, but it has the advantage of being vast in quantity.”

Pei Qian asked doubtfully, “Didn’t the Savage Desolate Demon Race discover such a ‘dragon vein’ of wealth back then?”

Accountant Wei Wenlong had once made an analogy that the silver widely circulated in the mountains was an invisible dragon vein.
Chen Ping’an said, “If there is a chance, I’ll go and see.”

On the journey northward.

A figure in white, amidst the white clouds.

Cui Dongshan glanced back, the ethereal form of his teacher already lost to sight.

He recalled the venerable Liang Shuang’s prophetic words.

“The world has awaited you for far too long.”