Five Elders of Yiyuan

Five Elders of Yiyuan

The supreme treasure Jade Rhinoceros hacked viciously at the tree root, cleaving down a cluster of Purple Ganoderma as large as a human head. Li Feng grabbed the mushroom, rinsed it in the stream beside him, then gnawed on it in huge bites as if it were an apple. Since finding this pine forest yesterday evening, Li Feng had settled down here. The woods were full of lingzhi mushrooms, ginseng, poria cocos, Chinese yam, and other things. Food was there for the taking, which suited this lazy fellow perfectly.

In less than a day, Li Feng had devoured five aged lingzhi mushrooms, three mature ginseng roots, and two clusters of poria cocos with fully two thousand years of potency. His luck was especially good. Perhaps, just as Xiao Longzi had said, his fortune was not bad. He found a Vermilion Fruit tree growing in a remote rock crevice and forcibly snatched thirteen Vermilion Fruits from beneath a White Scaled Python's jaws, then divided the spoils with Little Cat, the fierce tiger, and swallowed them all.

That great python had truly suffered an undeserved calamity. It had painstakingly guarded that Vermilion Fruit tree for over five hundred years under the protection of the Yiyuan Sect, only to encounter Li Feng, this disaster star. If Li Feng had been alone, it would have been one thing—at the sight of a python as thick as a water bucket, he would certainly have fled like the wind. But Little Cat, the fierce tiger, had already begun to take on the bearing of an Immortal Beast. After two thunderous roars, the python fled without even looking back, leaving the Vermilion Fruits it had guarded so arduously to Li Feng for nothing.

Would Li Feng stand on ceremony? He split the thirteen Vermilion Fruits evenly with Little Cat, and man and tiger ate to their hearts' content. The golden light in Little Cat's eyes had originally extended only about a foot, but after the Vermilion Fruits entered his belly, he struck a pose and circulated his power for a while. When his eyes opened and closed, golden light half a zhang long shot forth. Little Cat was so delighted that his great tongue wildly licked Li Feng's face.

As for Li Feng, the benefits he received were pitifully few. So many spiritual medicines were raw herbs that had never been refined, and he had no idea how to circulate his power and absorb them. A small portion of their essence accumulated in his stomach, while the greater part rushed out of his body along with his excrement. Worse still, he knew nothing of the proper balance of sovereign, minister, chief, and assistant ingredients. He had wolfed down countless herbs in a chaotic mess—how could his body endure it? In just one day, he had suffered severe diarrhea seven or eight times.

Still, the spiritual effects of those herbs were extraordinarily powerful. The acquired impurities within Li Feng's body had all been purged clean, leaving only a tightly compacted mass of innate flesh and blood, pure beyond compare. An ordinary martial artist would need at least a hundred years of internal cultivation, carefully tempering his meridians and blood qi, before he could possibly possess such a firm and refined body. Li Feng himself could feel the benefits. The more herbs he ate and the worse his diarrhea became, the stronger his body grew. With a light push of his feet, he could travel five or six feet in a step. Compared to before, it was the difference between clouds and mud.

That stirred his enthusiasm. He simply moved into the pine forest where the herbs were most densely spread, lay on the ground, and ate and drank to his heart's content. Whenever his stomach hurt, he immediately relieved himself in a rock crevice. The heaven and earth essence those herbs had absorbed gradually accumulated within his body as well.

Li Feng lay beneath a tree and sighed from the bottom of his heart. "It really is an immortal's residence. Life here is so easy—every day, all I do is eat and drink, and I feel like I've become a martial arts master." Smacking his lips, he crossed one leg over the other and hummed while shaking his head. "Ah, this is comfortable. So comfortable. I used to steal lingzhi mushrooms and ginseng to eat too, but they tasted bitter enough to kill. Yet every one here is fresh and sweet. They truly are immortal treasures."

Little Cat lay beside Li Feng, constantly rubbing his swollen belly with his tail. This tiger was a spiritual beast the Yiyuan Sect used to guard the mountain, and these medicinal herbs were all accounted for. If he had not seen that Xiao Longzi had accepted Li Feng into the sect, then if Li Feng dared squander herbs like this, Little Cat would have pounced and killed him with one swipe long ago. But now that Li Feng was also a sect member, the matter was easier to discuss. Li Feng was stuffing himself, so Little Cat could take the chance to skim some benefits too, right? Did he really think an enlightened tiger was stupid?

Li Feng abruptly rose to his feet, his gaze blazing as he looked at Little Cat. He said in a low voice, "Little Cat, I know you've lived here for a long time. You must know where all the treasures are. How about this—you take me to where those old Daoists keep their pills. These unrefined herbs alone let me leap nearly a zhang in one step. If I ate refined pills, wouldn't I become an immortal outright? Be good, Little Cat. Take me to have a look at where they refine pills."

Li Feng wore a thieving grin. His palms were itching again. Having learned the benefits of medicinal herbs, he recalled the Azure Spirit Pill that the people at Brocade Manor had been fighting over. Instinctively, he felt that pills refined by immortals had to be good things.

Little Cat was full of helplessness. He stared blankly at Li Feng. If he could speak, he would already have refused again and again. The Yiyuan Sect was, after all, an orthodox sect of the Cultivation World. Its Daoist magic was profound and mysterious, and the crucial places where pills were refined had long been sealed tight behind layer upon layer of formations. Not to mention a mountain-guarding tiger like him—even highly cultivated practitioners from other sects could not simply sneak inside. As for those pills, did Little Cat not want to eat them too? He had wanted to long ago. The problem was that he could not get them.

Little Cat lowered his head and let out a long breath, almost as though he were sighing.

Li Feng understood. "Those old Daoists have locked the doors too tightly, so even you can't get in?"

Little Cat nodded repeatedly. His eyes rolled as he pondered inwardly. Those pills that make you an immortal after eating one are beyond the ability of the current Yiyuan Sect Daoists to refine. But they do have a few pills that can add more than a hundred years of painstaking cultivation. If you could sneak in and steal one, I, Little Cat, would have rushed in long ago and feasted... Forget refined pills—even the wild herbs outside, I wouldn't dare touch a single stalk if this prodigal hadn't come along.

If Li Feng had known what this beast thought of him, he would have split it with a sword long ago. But now, seeing Little Cat shake his head again and again, he felt disheartened for a moment. He gave up the notion of turning thief within the sect the moment he entered the Yiyuan Sect and patiently waited for the elders of his school to emerge from seclusion and formally accept him as a disciple.

Lying on his back beneath the pine tree, Li Feng lazily asked, "Little Cat, apart from me, the Yiyuan Sect has disciples of three generations. But I heard that old Daoist Xiao Longzi say that even the sect master is only from the second generation. Where have the most powerful ones gone?"

Little Cat opened his huge mouth and made several cries. He knew where those oldest Daoists had gone, but he could not speak. A soft chuckle suddenly sounded above Li Feng's head, followed by a crisp voice. "You mean those three old fellows, Cang Yue, Tou Xing, and Pian Tian? They have already transformed into myriad Spirit Transformations and are nearly at Void Transformation. The Heavenly Tribulation is about to descend upon them, so they went to the Lesser Arctic Nether Sea to cultivate bitterly below."

Li Feng was startled out of his wits. He snatched up Jade Rhinoceros, sprang to his feet, and shouted, "Who? Who? Who's talking there? Damn it, if you're a real man, come out and trade moves with me! Sneaking around like that, you're no man!"

A heavy kick sent Li Feng flying seven or eight steps away. A woman's voice said irritably, "I'm not a real man to begin with, so why should I come out and trade moves with you? Hmph, you think you're so formidable? Then I'll have to measure myself against you... Seven Stars Gather Spirit, heed my command—go!" A white column of water suddenly rose from the nearby stream and blasted viciously toward Li Feng's backside.

Li Feng screamed as the water drenched him from head to toe and sent him tumbling another five or six steps. He had barely climbed up before falling flat again. The fourth rule of a street thug's survival: when you meet someone you cannot afford to provoke, immediately kneel and play the grandson. Thus, Li Feng instantly dropped to his knees and shouted, "You're the hero, you're the hero! I'm the grandson! Damn it, I can't beat you... A bachelor only takes ninety-nine, not one more. If you strike again, that's a bit against the rules!"

After spouting that half-black, half-white nonsense, Li Feng secretly raised his head. Then his heart clenched several times, and he nearly fainted. Less than two feet before him crouched a young girl who looked only sixteen or seventeen. Her hair was tied in a Daoist topknot, she wore a coarse blue Daoist robe, and a short sword about a foot long hung at her waist. Though the little Daoist nun was young, her brows and eyes were like a painting, and she was extraordinarily beautiful. Coupled with the pure aura that pressed outward from her entire body, she gave Li Feng the feeling that he dared not profane her. At that moment, she tilted her head curiously at the bedraggled Li Feng sprawled on the ground. Her manner was like that of an innocent five- or six-year-old child, endearingly cute.

Li Feng roared inwardly, I'm finished, I'm finished. This time I'm dead, I'm dead... Damn it, even the most beautiful courtesan at Chunyi Tower isn't worth one finger compared to her. I'm finished, finished. What did A Long's peeping at that girl bathing last time amount to? Didn't he know A Zhu and I were peeping through another window too? But if this girl took off her clothes, she'd look better than the girls of Chunyi Tower... no, better than all the girls in the entire Suzhou Prefecture put together without clothes.

The little Daoist nun nodded lightly. "You must have just come up the mountain. I've never seen you here before. Hmm, Father said that anyone older than me should be called Senior Brother, but you're clearly younger than me, so I should call you Junior Brother, right?... What's your name? Where are you from? And who brought you to Qingyun Flat?"

Li Feng saw Little Cat come over like a gambler who had spotted his creditor, rubbing his big head against the little Daoist nun's calf with extreme intimacy. Understanding immediately dawned on him. This little Daoist nun was certainly one of the Yiyuan Sect's elders, and who knew how old she really was? Xie Yuezi claimed to be over two hundred years old, yet he looked barely over twenty. So Li Feng honestly stood up and bowed respectfully. "Greetings, Senior Sister. I, Li Feng, salute you... Well, my name is Li Feng. I'm from Suzhou. It was... it was that old Daoist Xiao Longzi who brought me up the mountain."

The little Daoist nun suddenly laughed. "Is that so? My name is Zhao Yue'er. Sect Master True Person Qingbo is my father, and True Person Lingwei is my mother. But because I am Father's daughter, I have not formally entered the sect. Since Senior Brother Xiao Longzi brought you up the mountain, you are my martial nephew. You can't call me Senior Sister."

Li Feng froze, then cursed madly inwardly. Damn it, what are you ox-nosed Daoists of the Yiyuan Sect doing? You're obviously Daoists, yet you actually get married and have children! If you wanted children, you should have had them earlier. Now you have a daughter only seventeen or eighteen, and by seniority I have to call her Mother. I... I... How can I, Li Feng, be this unlucky?

Yet on the surface, he hastily bowed again with great courtesy. "Martial Uncle, I salute you. I did not know of your honored arrival earlier and offended you in the moment. Please forgive me, please forgive me."

Zhao Yue'er was easygoing. She shook her head lightly and said with a smile, "You didn't offend me in any way. What is there to forgive? If Senior Brother Xiao Longzi brought you up the mountain, then you haven't met my father yet, have you? It just so happens that Father and the others emerged from seclusion early. I'll take you to see them now... Little Cat, Senior Brother Xiao Longzi told you to accompany Li Feng, didn't he? I was wondering why I couldn't find you anywhere when I came out."

As she spoke, a layer of faint light emerged over the mountain peak floating at the center. Forty-nine crisp chimes of jade bells rang in succession, making Li Feng's entire body tremble. A stone gate halfway up the mountain boomed open, and a streak of golden light swept out. Just as Li Feng found the glare painful, the golden light faded, revealing five Daoists in purple robes in the sky.

Four old Daoists and one Daoist nun floated in the air for quite some time. After a while, the old Daoist at the far left, whose solemn face resembled an ancient pine that had weathered countless years, began cursing in fury. "These disciples nowadays are becoming more and more outrageous. We finally emerged from seclusion, and there isn't even a shadow of a person in sight... Too, too outrageous. Last time I went to the sheer cliff of Emei Golden Summit to attend a ceremony, when the Emei True Person emerged from seclusion, more than a thousand disciples from seven generations above and below all offered their congratulations. Our Yiyuan Sect has older roots than the Emei Sect—so why is it that when the masters emerge from seclusion, not a disciple can be seen?"

The old Daoist standing in the center sighed repeatedly. "Songzi, haven't I told you all? In ordinary times, accept more disciples, accept more disciples. It would be fine even to take in some who dislike practicing and meditating, just to fill out the façade. Yet over the past several hundred years, which of you listened? Now our entire Yiyuan Sect is so thinly populated. It would be too disgraceful if word got out."

The beautiful Daoist nun beside him viciously pinched the central old Daoist and reproached him in a low voice. "You have the nerve to say that? When has our Yiyuan Sect ever been thriving with people? Even in the Patriarch's time, the whole sect never had more than twenty-three people... If you want to strengthen the sect, then go down the mountain and travel yourself. Otherwise, Qingyun Flat lies deep within Mount Hua. Where would disciples come from on their own?"

The red-faced old Daoist beside Old Daoist Songzi sighed. "Enough. Sigh, we're scolding the disciples now, but think of ourselves. When the three masters and martial uncles emerged from seclusion in the past, which of you was waiting outside? Weren't you all busy entering seclusion to cultivate yourselves?... Hmph, this is the cycle of Heaven; retribution never misses. I've decided. From now on, I'll send disciples down the mountain to take in more martial granddisciples, preferably a few dull-witted ones, so they can wander around the mountain all day. At least Qingyun Flat will have a few living people in sight."

The Daoist nun nodded again and again. "Junior Brother Huoyun is right. Other sects all have at least a hundred young attendants guarding their gates. Our Yiyuan Sect should accept at least eighty. This task will be given to Junior Brother Huoyun." Old Daoist Huoyun's face immediately darkened like a storm cloud, and he looked thoroughly unwilling.

The gaunt old Daoist beside the Daoist nun, who spoke as if he had no strength at all, sighed repeatedly. "When all is said and done, we should blame our three masters. Once they cultivated to profound realms, they stopped caring about us, leaving us to spend every day in seclusion and diligent advancement. Otherwise, how could we deepen our Dao cultivation? This left us with no time to travel down the mountain. If the three masters were willing to stay at Qingyun Flat more often and give us more guidance, we would not need to cultivate bitterly year after year."

Li Feng's expression was extremely ugly—exceptionally ugly. He understood that these five Daoists floating in the sky were the five greatest figures in the Yiyuan Sect today. But did every one of them have something wrong with their heads? In the gangs of Suzhou City, which gang did not desperately recruit men and horses? More men meant greater strength; greater strength meant more territory; broader territory meant more sources of wealth; sufficient wealth meant still more men and horses. Yet these people seemed to be missing a screw in their heads. Why were they so unwilling to accept more disciples?

Lazy. They must be lazy... Damn it, I, Li Feng, have been wise and brilliant all my life, yet I entered such a sect. If even my master is too lazy to guide me, then what year or month will I ever rise to prominence? Li Feng let out a long, mournful sigh.

The five old Daoists in the sky had ears sharper than anyone's. Hearing an unfamiliar voice sighing, they immediately rode a streak of golden light to Li Feng's side. The one in the center, the Yiyuan Sect's master, True Person Qingbo—also known as True Man Qingquan—carefully examined Li Feng from head to toe, then glanced at the Jade Rhinoceros sword in Li Feng's hand. He immediately burst into laughter. "Congratulations, Junior Brother Songzi, congratulations! This must be the disciple Martial Nephew Xiao Longzi found, yes? What excellent aptitude! All his hundred meridians are unblocked, his Innate Primordial Qi is abundant, and he has no acquired impurities at all. What excellent aptitude!"

It was truly a joke. Li Feng's innate aptitude was merely above average, but after swallowing so many spiritual medicines over the past two days, if he still did not have abundant spiritual qi, then he might as well jump off a cliff and die.

Chen Songzi nodded repeatedly as well, stroking the three-inch beard on his face and constantly praising him. "Xiao Longzi is usually lazy and scattered, but he does strive to improve in his cultivation. This time, when we sent him to bring several disciples up the mountain, he truly found a fine piece of jade. Senior Brother, what do you think?"

True Person Qingbo nodded. "Good. Very good."

True Person Lingwei said softly, "Apart from his Sha Qi being a little too heavy, he has no other shortcomings."

The withered and thin Miao Miao Old Daoist shook his head repeatedly. "Heavy Sha Qi is good. With heavy Sha Qi, he won't have the mind to cultivate the Dao. Once he completes his initial training, we can send him down the mountain to take in—" Miao Miao abruptly shut his mouth and began to chuckle foolishly.

Li Feng smiled broadly, lowering his head respectfully without a word, looking like an honest and dependable fellow. But inwardly, he was already cursing wildly. Damn it, you old hag, how have I offended you? I didn't smash your head open with a brick. Where did I get Sha Qi from?... You stinking monkey spirit, damn it, you want to use this young master as a slave? You'll drive me down the mountain once I finish my initial training? Bah! You old monkey, just wait. I'll cling to this mountain until I die and refuse to leave. What can you do, bite me?

Chen Songzi lightly patted Li Feng's shoulder and said with a smile, "What is your name? Xiao Longzi will be your master from now on, and I will be your Martial Grandfather. These are, respectively, Martial Great-Uncle Qingbo, Martial Great-Aunt Lingwei, Martial Great-Uncle Huoyun, and Martial Great-Uncle Miaomiao... Oh, and this is your Martial Uncle Zhao Yue'er. Remember them all."

Qingbo coughed and said solemnly, "Our Yiyuan Sect is a famed orthodox sect of the Cultivation World. Our Daoist magic follows nature, profound and mysterious. As long as you cultivate diligently, one day you will ascend to the Heavenly Realm and attain the true fruition of a Golden Immortal. Our Yiyuan Sect has few strict rules. Everything models nature. As long as you possess a natural heart, a clear and inactive heart, free of desire and seeking, then external evils will not invade and inner fire will not rise... Oh, right. What did your Martial Grandfather ask your name was?"

Li Feng answered somewhat listlessly, "Reporting to Martial Great-Uncle, my name is Li Feng."

Qingbo nodded repeatedly. "Li Feng? A good name. Then your Daoist name from now on shall be Li Fengzi. When your Daoist magic deepens, fellow Daoists outside will call you True Person Fengzi. Do you understand?"

Li Feng's eyes nearly bulged from their sockets. Damn it, so this is how you give Daoist names? You just add zi after your own name? Damn it, I... I... I'll be True Person Fengzi? True Person Madman? I'd have to be truly mad to accept that name! Damn it, I have to resist early, or else this name—Heavens... The moment Li Feng imagined countless Daoists in the future saluting him and saying, "True Person Madman," he felt the urge to go mad himself.

Before Li Feng could go mad, Qingbo continued, "From today onward, you are formally entered into the Yiyuan Sect. Our Yiyuan Sect has few rules. So long as you do not set fire to the mountain or commit deeds that outrage Heaven and anger man, we elders will not interfere with you. If you have questions in the future, you may ask any elder you encounter for guidance... However, as a new disciple of the Yiyuan Sect, you must still perform some menial tasks to temper your body and restrain the fire in your heart. Therefore, for these next three years, your primary duties will be nurturing qi, chopping wood, carrying water, and tending the pill furnace."

True Man Huoyun encouraged him, "Don't worry, Li Fengzi. Yiyuan Sect disciples rarely enter seclusion all at once as we did today. Usually, you will always be able to find an elder to ask about difficult matters. In other words, although you are nominally Xiao Longzi's disciple, you are truly a disciple of the entire Yiyuan Sect. So long as you find an elder who is not in seclusion, he will guide you."

True Person Lingwei nodded repeatedly. "That's right. So, Li Fengzi, you must work hard... Yue'er, return to the cave dwelling with me. Let's see what you have comprehended in the past half year." With that, she grabbed Zhao Yue'er and turned into a clear breeze as they departed.

True Person Qingbo looked at the sky, then suddenly cried, "Ah! Before entering seclusion, I started a furnace of Nine Revolutions Blazing Fire Pills. Judging by the time, it should be about ready. I must go look after it. Li Fengzi, you must work hard." With that, he vanished in a streak of golden light.

True Man Huoyun also suddenly slapped his forehead and shouted, "Ah! My three Purple Ganoderma plants in White Cloud Hollow! Everyone, I'll take my leave first." A sheet of red light rose up, and a great mass of crimson radiance the size of a wicker basket whistled away toward the south.

True Man Miaomiao was even more direct. "My wine. I'm leaving first." With that, he disappeared from where he stood without even a flash or shadow.

Chen Songzi, Li Feng's direct Martial Grandfather, looked at the dazed Li Feng, blinked, and said, "Fengzi, go find your master later and have him arrange your daily schedule and studies. Your Martial Grandfather has just refined several Fetus Gathering Pills, and now should be the crucial moment. I must go check their heat." The instant he finished speaking, a thunderclap rose from the ground, and in a flash, he was gone who knew where.

Li Feng stood stunned for a long while. Then he suddenly raised his sword and cursed furiously, "Damn it, you bunch of shameless old ox-nosed Daoists! After all that, I'm still the only one wandering around this mountain by myself... Heavens, open your eyes! There's no future in a sect like this. My future has no light at all..."