The drizzling mountain rain soaked the small Daoist temple.
Li Ping'an took off his Daoist robe, wearing only a loose inner garment. He moved a bamboo stool beneath the eaves, sat quietly before the curtain of rain, and gazed into the distance. Before long, he closed his eyes and emptied his mind.
The spiritual energy washed by the rain carried a touch more coolness.
This was already the fourth day since Elder Yan Sheng had left, yet Li Ping'an still could not be certain whether it would be safe for him to return to the Myriad Cloud Sect now.
Yesterday, Wei Yanzi had received a Message Transmission Jade Talisman. The sect had been asking whether Wei Yanzi was safe.
Clearly, the situation in the East Sea remained extremely tense. Some of the sect's immortals seemed to have temporarily lost contact with the sect.
It has nothing to do with me anyway.
The minor Light Condensation Realm cultivator, Li Ping'an, thought this to himself.
He was not one to enjoy joining in the excitement. Moreover, in his view, external things such as magical treasures and spiritual medicines were far less important than one's own understanding of the Great Dao.
Even if he were now an Origin Immortal or a True Immortal, unless his master gave an order, he most likely would not join in such a commotion.
"Ping'an! Hurry and try this wild game I just prepared!"
Chen Gongmin carried a roasted rabbit through the rain-shrouded forest, rushed into the Daoist temple, and shouted repeatedly.
Li Ping'an smiled at the sight.
Daoist Priest Chen usually liked to prepare wild game infused with spiritual energy as drinking snacks. That much had never changed.
Li Ping'an moved over a small table and brought out two jars of fine wine he had swiped from his old father. Daoist Priest Chen then ran behind the temple to fetch some wild vegetables and dug out some sweet sauce Li Ping'an had "invented" years ago.
Chen Gongmin asked in puzzlement, "Where did Steward Wei Yanzi go?"
"He said he went to cultivate in the Back Mountain." Li Ping'an shrugged. "His aura is less than ten li from here. Who knows what he is tinkering with."
"When the Steward returns, I'll get one for him too. Let's eat while it's hot."
Chen Gongmin tore off a rabbit leg and stuffed it into Li Ping'an's hand.
Li Ping'an had not eaten directly in more than a year. Yet the glossy, richly colored roasted rabbit leg stirred his appetite. He lowered his head and took a bite, chewing carefully. His taste buds seemed to awaken once more, and a hint of satisfaction rose in his heart.
The Dao of desire lay not in form, but in the heart.
He stored away that small insight, slowly chewed the rabbit meat, and sighed softly.
"Do you have some worry?"
Leaning back in his bamboo chair, Chen Gongmin took a sip straight from the wine jar and revealed an intoxicated expression.
"Fine wine! This is genuine immortal brew! It's different—wine brewed by immortals really is different from what we brew!"
Li Ping'an smiled. "The only difference is whether drinking too much gives you a headache or makes you dizzy."
"I heard you sigh just now... Were you wronged in the sect?"
A smile appeared on Chen Gongmin's fair, beardless face, while his eyes were filled with concern.
"These past few days, I heard Steward Wei Yanzi speak of many matters concerning you and your father. I never expected your father to possess such formidable fortune and talent.
"As the garrison of Wan'an City, I truly failed to recognize greatness.
"You need not worry about this matter. The sect has strict orders forbidding it from being spread outside. I will naturally keep the secret as well."
"It was only because you did not have much contact with my father to begin with."
Li Ping'an poured himself a cup of wine. Looking at the faintly trembling liquid, he said quietly,
"Even finding a True Immortal Master to take me as a disciple is difficult now. But whatever a master could give me, my father can give me as well, so it is not necessarily a bad thing.
"It is only that without a master to guide my cultivation, I do not know whether I might take a wrong path in the future."
"Your worries truly make others envious."
Chen Gongmin smiled.
"The acting Sect Master belongs to Ancestor Kongming's grand-disciple generation. Within the sect, both nominal seniority and actual seniority are valued.
"Nominal seniority depends on cultivation and rank. Once one reaches the Heavenly Immortal Realm, one may address other Heavenly Immortals as Daoist friends. Actual seniority is one's true generation, passed down according to master-disciple relationships.
"When immortals accept disciples, they still consider actual seniority. It truly is not easy for you to take a master.
"Still, your cultivation speed is genuinely astonishing. How did you do it? To reach the Light Condensation Realm in merely three years?"
Li Ping'an shrugged. "It must be one part luck, three parts opportunity, and six parts hard work and sweat."
Chen Gongmin's gaze was filled with suspicion.
Li Ping'an could only add, "And ninety parts of my father's full support."
"Hahaha!"
Chen Gongmin threw back his head and laughed. Li Ping'an shook his head and continued gnawing on the rabbit leg.
After a while, Li Ping'an slowly added, "My father should be undergoing Ascension."
Chen Gongmin stopped laughing at once. He looked at Li Ping'an with a complicated expression, then lowered his head and gnawed on the rabbit leg.
After several mouthfuls of immortal brew, Daoist Priest Chen could not help but complain.
"The gap in talent between Qi cultivators is simply too great!
"Those with excellent talent are born in harmony with the Dao. Cultivation breakthroughs come as easily as drinking cold water. But what about Qi cultivators like us, with mediocre talent and only barely able to cultivate?
"The sect does not value us. Our cultivation progresses slowly, and if we want cultivation resources, we have to fight and struggle for them ourselves.
"With this body entangled in karma, how can this heart remain forever as still as an ancient well?
"Alas!
"The Great Sect Master of Golden Ao Island of the East Sea said that cultivation was the fairest thing for all living beings. But in my view, where is there any fairness among living beings?"
Li Ping'an smiled. "Being able to cultivate already puts us ahead of more than ninety percent of living beings, does it not?"
"Indeed." Chen Gongmin smiled. "Hearing you put it that way, my Dao heart feels much better."
Li Ping'an raised the wine jar and took a sip, turning slightly to look at the drizzling curtain of rain.
He murmured, "The differences between individuals in this world are too great. To speak of fairness is no different from the dream of a fool."
"Differences between individuals?"
Chen Gongmin smiled.
"That is a novel way of putting it, but it is indeed so."
"This has little to do with either of us."
Li Ping'an smiled.
"We are merely minor cultivators. Let us first strive to become immortals and seek the Dao before worrying about anything else. An Origin Immortal can only barely gain a foothold in this world. Taking care of ourselves is enough."
Chen Gongmin nodded with a smile, then asked, "Ping'an, when do you plan to leave?"
"Within the next day or two."
Li Ping'an said,
"If fighting is still going on in the East Sea, I will try to detour westward. With Steward Wei Yanzi taking me, we can return to the sect within a day."
"Do you need me to prepare a reply for you?"
Daoist Priest Chen smiled.
"I'll write that I have received the sect's letter, and that this disciple is exceptionally outstanding and may enter the Outer Sect to cultivate. Hahaha! The Outer Sect elders will probably fly over here and beat me up!"
Unexpectedly, Li Ping'an said seriously, "You really should give me a letter. Just write it as you said, except there is no need to include that this disciple is exceptionally outstanding."
Daoist Priest Chen froze. "That was only a joke."
Li Ping'an said solemnly, "We must make every matter thorough and leave no room for others to find fault."
Daoist Priest Chen was utterly puzzled. "Your father has already become the disciple of a sect Grandmaster. Why be so cautious?"
"It is always better to be rigorous."
Li Ping'an said softly,
"My father is only about to undergo Ascension, not yet in the Heavenly Immortal Realm. All the blessings my father and I enjoy in the sect come from Grandmaster's rewards. In the end, that is water without a source and cannot last long.
"In other words, my father gained influence through his master. If he loses that influence someday, those who resent us will naturally move to settle accounts with my father and me.
"Therefore, only by leaving no handle for others to seize in any matter can we reduce future troubles.
"If my father rises to great heights someday, breaks through to True Immortal, and reaches Heavenly Immortal, then my father and I can be considered securely established in the sect.
"The reason I have always wanted to find a Heavenly Immortal or True Immortal in the sect to take as my master is partly because of this consideration."
Chen Gongmin pondered briefly, then slowly nodded. "Your considerations are correct. The foundation you father and son have is too shallow. If some words displease Grandmaster, your circumstances could reverse in an instant... Come back and eat later! I'll write you a reply immediately!"
"Thank you, Daoist Priest."
"Ah, we are fellow disciples now. If you call me Senior Brother in the future, it would puff up my face beyond measure!"
Chen Gongmin waved his sleeve and hurried into the house.
Li Ping'an returned to his bamboo chair, tore off a piece of rabbit meat, took a sip of immortal wine, and continued staring blankly at the curtain of rain.
Before long, Daoist Priest Chen tossed a Message Transmission Jade Talisman to Li Ping'an.
Li Ping'an was just about to thank him when an inexplicable tremor rose in his Dao heart.
It was the tremor of sudden danger.
Buzz, buzzbuzz!
Li Ping'an immediately reached into his robes and pulled out from beneath his Inner Armor the Storage Pouch where he had separately stored the Myriad Cloud Return Sect Token.
The pouch was shaking violently, golden patterns flashing across its surface. They were restrictions inscribed upon the artifact.
Those restrictions seemed to be melting rapidly!
Li Ping'an directly threw the pouch into the air. Several protective spiritual lights lit up around him. He casually shielded Chen Gongmin behind him and swiftly retreated.
Crack!
The pouch artifact shattered instantly. The Dao coin-shaped Jade Talisman floated in midair, and the light it emitted shot straight into the heavens!
Spiritual energy suddenly gathered. A vortex formed around the pillar of light, while bolts of lightning flashed and intertwined.
Li Ping'an and Chen Gongmin had already retreated from the Daoist temple.
Just then!
A bolt of azure lightning struck down from the center of the vortex, connecting with the Myriad Cloud Return Sect Token suspended in the air. A slender figure plunged straight down from behind the lightning!
The strange phenomena in every direction rapidly dissipated.
Li Ping'an and Chen Gongmin exchanged a glance. Chen Gongmin immediately prepared to rush forward and save her, but Li Ping'an reached out and stopped him.
"Ping'an! She's an immortal of our Myriad Cloud Sect! She has a Sect Return Token in her hand too!"
"Don't go over. The immortal power in her body could lose control at any moment... Steward Wei Yanzi! Stop reading!"
Li Ping'an turned his head and shouted,
"Come save her!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming! What happened here?"
Wei Yanzi flew rapidly from the Back Mountain, hurriedly putting away the picture book in his hands. The redness on his face quickly returned to normal.
A moment later.
Inside Daoist Priest Chen's Daoist temple.
Li Ping'an stood beside the bed with a frown, bottles and jars placed beside his hand.
Wei Yanzi was setting up an array outside, while Chen Gongmin stood behind him, watching anxiously.
A woman lay on the bed.
She looked fairly young. Her cultivation realm seemed to be that of a True Immortal, yet also seemed higher than a True Immortal... For Li Ping'an at his current level, it was truly too high for him to determine precisely.
Perhaps she was a half-step Heavenly Immortal?
The female immortal's face was deathly pale. Her long hair, originally arranged in a Spirit Snake Bun, had scattered loose. Several terrifying wounds marked her slender frame.
Fortunately, Li Ping'an carried many Immortal Pills with him. A few of them could even be used by Heavenly Immortals to heal injuries, and he had already fed them to this female immortal.
Using the spiritual sense of the Light Condensation Realm to examine a True Immortal's immortal body would be nothing less than asking for trouble.
Li Ping'an did not dare try carelessly. After feeding her the pills, he merely observed her expression and sensed the changes in the aura around her.
The female immortal's brows faintly furrowed, and her cracked lips moved slightly.
Li Ping'an immediately said, "I am Li Ping'an, a disciple of the Myriad Cloud Sect. I am friends with Mu Ningning, disciple of Qing Xu. Please rest and recuperate in peace, Senior. You used the Myriad Cloud Return Sect Token and were transported to the location of the Myriad Cloud Return Sect Token in my possession."
The female immortal's furrowed brows gradually relaxed. She must have heard familiar names.
Chen Gongmin asked, "Ping'an? You know her?"
Li Ping'an said, "She should be a True Immortal of Colorful Cloud Peak, with the Daoist name Qing Su."
In truth, Li Ping'an had only heard Junior Sister Mu mention that her Martial Uncle Qing Su was obsessed with the Dao and cultivated the Pure Heart Dao. She had a lotus-shaped forehead ornament, was known as the greatest immortal of Colorful Cloud Peak in a thousand years, and had cultivated for just over three hundred years before gaining hope of challenging the Heavenly Immortal Realm.
This female immortal held a Myriad Cloud Return Sect Token and had to be someone valued by the sect. Her cultivation matched, and her Dao charm contained not the slightest impurity, which also fit the characteristics of the Pure Heart Dao...
His guess should be close enough.
Wei Yanzi hurried over after setting up the array. "Ping'an! I checked everything! There is nothing unusual within several hundred li for now! How is she?"
Li Ping'an said, "Steward, take a look at this immortal's injuries."
"I'll try!"
Wei Yanzi stepped closer and pointed from afar at the female immortal. Then he sharply drew in a breath.
"Her primordial spirit is nearly collapsing, and her immortal body has dozens of injuries. These wounds are truly fatal...
"But she seems to have used some secret technique, or perhaps some rare treasure. There is a strange immortal power within her primordial spirit, barely keeping it from collapsing at the edge of dissolution.
"The injuries to her immortal body can be treated with pills. The main issue now lies with her primordial spirit. If her will is not strong enough, something could easily go wrong."
Chen Gongmin asked, "I'll report this to the sect!"
"You must not, Daoist Priest."
Li Ping'an frowned slightly.
"There is something strange about this. The Myriad Cloud Return Sect Token should send its user back to the sect. Why did it find its way to me?"
Wei Yanzi said, "Now that you mention it, that is true. Unless someone used a spell to block the route back to the sect."
"There... is... an array... blocking it..."
The female immortal slightly opened her mouth and spoke in an extremely weak voice.
"Do... not... worry... about me... Just... leave..."
The three exchanged glances.
Chen Gongmin said quietly, "If we see a fellow disciple in danger and do not save her, how can our Dao hearts be at peace?"
Wei Yanzi's eyes shone. "If we can escort her back to the sect, it will naturally be a great merit."
Li Ping'an had already taken out the map he had bought in the sect. He spread it open and studied it carefully, intending to work out several escape routes for emergencies.
Before you continue