Ch. 341An unexpected visitor
Key plot points and events
- Bai Ziyao discovers that Dragon Tiger Mountain has little money available for new projects. Li Qingfeng jokes that the treasury is empty and daily expenses come from Li Yingxue’s personal funds.
- Bai Ziyao promptly kneels outside Li Yingxue’s courtyard and loudly tells her that Qingfeng sent him to request funding for an academy. Despite Qingfeng’s dismay at being exposed, Li Yingxue approves the full budget, assigns Li Family guards, and gives Bai Ziyao healing pills.
- Six months later, Dragon Tiger Academy opens near the town at the mountain’s foot. Bai Ziyao leads it, with Dugu Xin and his wife as teachers, and he has recruited talented, principled children from across the continent.
- The Goddess of Life visits Zhang Qingxuan at the Star Gazing Platform. She says preparations for a previously discussed undertaking are complete, including the necessary materials, personnel, and divine artifacts. She and Zhang agree to wait a few days before leaving, and she asks permission to explore the mountain.
- During her tour, the Goddess of Life is impressed by the mountain’s rapidly advancing Soul Beasts and gifted, virtuous disciples. She privately worries that recruiting promising candidates for the Divine Realm will be difficult.
- The disciples notice the visitor and speculate about who she is. Li Qingfeng considers using divination, but Zhang Qingyang stops him, warning that it would be dangerous; he then reluctantly reveals what he knows.
- Separately, the Lunar Goddess identifies the visitor as the Goddess of Life. She tells Li Yingxue, the Snow Empress, and Xiao Bai not to fear her, explaining that Gu Shuang’er and Gu Fei’er—usually seen relaxing on the mountain—are God Kings, as is the Lunar Goddess herself. This means the mountain has four God King-level figures.
Character developments and interactions
- Bai Ziyao shows initiative and comic bluntness: he secures the academy’s funding by publicly naming Qingfeng as the requester, then proves capable by building the school and recruiting its staff and students.
- Li Qingfeng tries to appear helpless about money but is caught off guard by Bai’s direct approach to Li Yingxue.
- Li Yingxue supports the academy generously, demonstrating her willingness to invest in the mountain’s future.
- The Goddess of Life arrives prepared and confident, but her tour reveals that Dragon Tiger Mountain’s resources and talent may frustrate her hopes of recruiting protégés.
- The disciples respond with curiosity and gossip, while Zhang Qingyang acts cautiously to prevent Li Qingfeng from provoking a powerful divine visitor.
- The Lunar Goddess uses her knowledge to reassure the other women and reveals the extraordinary strength of Gu Shuang’er and Gu Fei’er.
Significant themes
- Building for the future: The academy represents an effort to cultivate principled talent beyond the mountain itself.
- Abundance and unequal resources: The Goddess of Life’s efficient preparations contrast with Zhang Qingxuan’s earlier struggles to gather everything himself.
- Hidden power: Familiar, seemingly relaxed figures on the mountain are revealed to be formidable God Kings.
- Comic camaraderie and caution: Teasing, gossip, and impulsive schemes coexist with respect for the dangers posed by powerful visitors.