Green mists parted around wild bamboo; a flying spring hung from the emerald peak.
The Southern Border was steep and rugged. Ancient books spoke of a hundred thousand strange mountains and precipitous peaks, and among the ranges rising and falling in endless succession, Departure Peak of the Innate Sacred Sect stood out as one of the most perilous and magnificent in the Ten Thousand Mountains of the Southern Border.
It was the height of summer.
The weather had been exceptionally clear these past few days. Looking around, not a wisp of cloud could be seen; the sky was blue as indigo.
Beneath that dazzling Sky Light rose the towering slopes of Departure Peak. The mountain's vegetation was so lush that layers of luxuriant, deep-green foliage piled together with almost excessive opulence. At first glance, the whole peak seemed to have been set off in shadowy black.
The black mountain changed halfway up, where it met the horizon. Thick mists steamed up from its slopes and soon gathered into white clouds.
These clouds were not a thin veil, nor did they drift and dissolve into the clear sky around them. Instead, layer upon layer clung to the mountain's magnificent contours, piling into rolling cloud-peaks in midair until they seemed to usher the upper reaches of Departure Peak into the heavens.
It was as though someone had taken a brush heavy with ink and painted a striking landscape of stark black and white, half yin and half yang, upon a sheet of blue-black paper.
At that moment, at the foot of Departure Peak,
beside a narrow flagstone path, beneath an ancient tree whose age was beyond counting,
Liu Dongqing, clad in a pale-blue Daoist robe and looking painfully thin, had no leisure to admire Departure Peak's timeless beauty. With a troubled expression, he faced Manager Hou, a middle-aged, portly man from the Outer Sect.
At the same time, Manager Hou's small eyes fixed intently on Liu Dongqing's expression, studying it at length. The young man's embarrassment and indecision seemed to delight him even more than the black-and-white landscape behind him.
After more than ten breaths of silent staring, Manager Hou finally spoke, leisurely and self-assured, drawing out his words in a pompous tone.
"Little Liu—"
No matter how plainly his distress showed on his face, Liu Dongqing could only cup his hands and reply.
"This disciple is here."
Manager Hou asked, "For a moment, this old man can't recall—how many years have you been cultivating in the Outer Sect since joining our Innate Sacred Sect's Departure Peak Lineage?"
Liu Dongqing kept his hands cupped. "To answer you, Manager, it's been exactly three years. I'm now in my fourth."
Manager Hou nodded nonchalantly. "Hmm, three years, and you're still at the Third Layer of Qi Refining?"
At that, even with Manager Hou standing right in front of him, Liu Dongqing nearly rolled his eyes.
Why the hell am I still at the Third Layer of Qi Refining? Shouldn't you, Manager Hou, know better than anyone?
Though he was seething inside, Liu Dongqing had no choice but to speak, playing along with Manager Hou's circling talk.
"Yes, this disciple is indeed at the Third Layer of Qi Refining, but... I've reached the peak of the third layer and touched the threshold of the fourth. I haven't sensed any bottleneck at all. If I cultivate diligently for a while, I'm sure to break through to the fourth layer."
Manager Hou glanced lightly at Liu Dongqing. "You'd be satisfied with the fourth layer? You think the fourth layer is enough?
"Our Holy Cult's rules are strict. If you've been in the Outer Sect for five years and haven't reached Late Qi Refining, you'll be demoted to the ranks of menial disciples.
"Though they're still called disciples, they're little different from Dao Slaves. They'll never rise again, spending the rest of their lives laboring day and night.
"You're already in your fourth year. Don't you have anything to say?"
Liu Dongqing raised his cupped hands a little higher.
"I..."
But before he could say anything more, Manager Hou lifted a hand with casual ease, choking off every word in Liu Dongqing's throat.
"But I think you're a capable lad, so when a good opportunity came up, I thought of you first!
"Here's the situation—
"Junior Sister Zhang of the Inner Sect at Rising Mist Dao Academy has recently revised an old Pill Formula she uses in her daily cultivation. She says it can double the medicinal potency, but after her revisions, the formula calls for more than three times the original amount of Jade Cloud Fruit.
"Junior Sister Zhang is in a hurry to get Jade Cloud Fruit and start refining pills, so the order came down to me.
"That's when I thought of you. Among all the Outer Sect disciples at Sunward Dao Academy, the Jade Cloud Fruit you tend is the most potent. Yours even has more flavor than everyone else's. Plenty of senior and junior brothers and sisters at Rising Mist Dao Academy have praised it.
"So this time, I'll have to ask you to..."
Manager Hou hadn't finished when Liu Dongqing hurriedly cut in, not even bothering to let him finish his pompous little speech.
"Manager! Manager Hou! Please, just let this disciple off this once!
"This disciple cultivates the Bright Candle Sun-Scene Lesser Azure Light Incantation. I carry a bright candle within me, yet what I truly do is reflect the Sky Light. And the fire in the heavens is the lingering radiance of the Great Sun True Yang. That is the key to cultivating the Bing Fire Path.
"But tending plants and coaxing Jade Cloud Fruit to grow requires the Mirror-Illuminating Cloud-Birthing Purple Rain Art. Though the Purple Cloud Azure Rain is summoned only within a few inches of the plants, its rainwater draws upon the spiritual power of clouds in the heavens—
"Water from the heavens poured over fire from the heavens. Every batch of Jade Cloud Fruit I grow sets my cultivation back by a little!
"All the cultivators of Departure Peak focus on fire arts. They follow either the Bing Fire Path or Ding Fire. Everyone avoids the Mirror-Illuminating Cloud-Birthing Purple Rain Art, yet all the labor falls on me alone. If not for that, why would I still be at the Third Layer of Qi Refining?
"I—"
Liu Dongqing hadn't finished speaking either when Manager Hou suddenly flung his sleeve. A gust of wind swept through the air, cracking with a shrill boom.
"Utter nonsense! Are you saying I'm the one who ruined your prospects?
"You short-sighted fool!
"Today, this old man will teach you something. Water vapor can extinguish the false flames, and nothing more. You think I've held back your future, yet your foundation at the Third Layer of Qi Refining is the sturdiest in all of Sunward Dao Academy!
"Besides, let me tell you what a real future looks like!
"If this Jade Cloud Fruit matter hadn't come up, and you were the only one cultivating the Little Azure Light Incantation, would you dare guarantee you'd reach Late Qi Refining in five years? What about if you had another year?
"Junior Sister Zhang is at a crucial point in competing for the True Disciple position in the Inner Sect. This matter will take, at most, half a year. You've already spent three years on it—what's another half?
"Once Junior Sister Zhang becomes True Disciple Zhang, the tiniest scrap that slips through her fingers will be a fortune you couldn't earn in ten or twenty years!
"But if you insist on refusing...
"Fine. If Junior Sister Zhang loses the contest, remember that she's a Zhang of the Zhang Family, one of the eight Aristocratic Clans of the Bing Fire Path at Departure Peak!
"When the blame for an aristocratic young lady's failed bid falls on you—even if it's only the faintest echo of that blame...
"Forget being demoted to a menial disciple. If you're still alive to become a Dao Slave, I'll count it as a tremendous stroke of fortune!"
By then, Manager Hou's face had twisted into an openly ferocious grin.
"Not just you—even I'll be in trouble!
"So that settles it! Jade Cloud Fruit ripens every two months. I'll come back to see you in two months.
"Don't think of slacking off!"
Manager Hou ground out the last words through clenched teeth.
Along with them came the undisguised pressure of his Late Qi Refining cultivation.
Liu Dongqing could only remain silent where he stood.
A superior rank lent every word and every syllable the weight of a boulder.
Then, with the crushing disparity in their cultivation realms, it was like Mount Tai bearing down on him, leaving him no room to refuse.
Seeing Liu Dongqing fall silent, Manager Hou nodded in satisfaction and turned unhurriedly, heading toward the deep forests and heavy clouds higher up Departure Peak.
Only after a while did Liu Dongqing turn and walk in the other direction, toward the foot of the mountain.
He did not stop until he reached the familiar little courtyard where he lived at Sunward Dao Academy.
Then, as his pent-up fury burst forth and could no longer be suppressed, azure light flickered like flames between Liu Dongqing's brows.
Damn Manager Hou!
Damn Zhang Family!
Damn Innate Sacred Sect!
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