Ch. 781Ancient Profound Mountain's Keeper of the Tradition
Chapter Summary: “Ancient Profound Mountain’s Preacher”
Key Plot Points and Events
- Filthy Beggar asks to cooperate more deeply with the Night Guard, implying that he wants Lord Ye’s assistance beyond their usual arrangements. Li Qingxian cautiously agrees only to fulfill the Night Guard’s official responsibilities.
- Filthy Beggar reveals that he is a preacher of Ancient Profound Mountain, once considered the foremost martial sect. He gives Li Qingxian an ash-gray inheritance sack and asks him to deliver it to the sect if Li survives Eerie Town. In return, Ancient Profound Mountain will grant Li any reasonable request.
- Li learns that Ancient Profound Mountain has been declining for over a century. Internal struggles among its peaks weakened the sect, many members departed, and the survivors focused more on purchasing and protecting Fate resources than on martial cultivation or training new disciples.
- Filthy Beggar explains that he entered Eerie Town because Ancient Profound Mountain’s inheritance was nearing extinction. He now views the sect’s collapse as part of the natural replacement of old powers by new ones.
- Li reveals that he wants the Heroes’ Token, which is probably still held by Ancient Profound Mountain. Filthy Beggar says the weakened sect is now willing to exchange it for sufficient power, influence, wealth, or treasures.
- The discussion turns to how Eerie Town might be resolved. Filthy Beggar recalls various unconventional theories, including destroying the Ginseng Fruit Tree, using the well as a possible escape route, or resolving the eerie gradually through countless small, manageable steps.
Character Developments
- Li Qingxian demonstrates increasing determination and strategic ambition. He is not seeking change out of arrogance or idealism, but from a strong instinct for self-preservation. He believes relying on past methods is dangerous because the world is constantly changing.
- Li also reveals a willingness to take risks and pursue the Heroes’ Token, showing that he is planning beyond immediate survival in Eerie Town.
- Filthy Beggar is revealed to be connected to a major martial sect despite his impoverished appearance and public defiance. His position as Ancient Profound Mountain’s preacher explains both his knowledge and his vulnerability.
- Filthy Beggar has accepted that Ancient Profound Mountain may be doomed, but he does not want to passively die. Like Li, he wants to alter either the way he lives or the way he dies.
- Their conversation transforms their relationship from cautious cooperation into a more genuine alliance based on shared motives and mutual understanding.
Significant Themes
- Change versus tradition: The decline of Ancient Profound Mountain illustrates how institutions that fail to adapt are eventually replaced. The sect’s downfall is presented not simply as tragedy, but as part of the broader evolution of the Human Race.
- Self-preservation and resistance: Li argues that repeating old methods will produce the same deaths and failures. Survival requires deliberate action and experimentation, even when the new approach is uncertain.
- The limits of past experience: Both men recognize that past successes cannot reliably predict the future in a rapidly changing world.
- Gradual problem-solving: The scholar Zhao Yishan’s theory suggests that seemingly impossible crises can be divided into smaller tasks and resolved piece by piece. The idea contrasts with the characters’ lack of practical methods but offers a possible framework for confronting the eerie.
- Decline and renewal: Ancient Profound Mountain’s collapse reflects the inevitable rise and fall of powers. The destruction of the old may create space for stronger and more adaptable forces.
Character Interactions
- Li questions Filthy Beggar about Ancient Profound Mountain, its decline, and the Heroes’ Token, while Filthy Beggar provides unusually candid information.
- Their exchange is initially transactional: Filthy Beggar offers the inheritance sack in return for Li’s help. It gradually becomes philosophical as they compare their reasons for rejecting established methods.
- Li challenges Filthy Beggar’s apparent acceptance of old solutions, while Filthy Beggar comes to understand that Li’s search for a new approach is motivated by survival rather than ambition.
- By the end, both acknowledge that they share the same desire: if death cannot be avoided, they would rather face it through a new path than repeat the failures of those who came before.