After probing Bai Ye's and the Taihua Sect's attitudes, the Liu elder soon rose and took his leave.
Bai Ye and Xu Yi courteously escorted the Liu elder beyond the garden's moon gate. The elder cupped his fists in farewell and rode the wind away, while Bai Ye and Xu Yi exchanged a smile...
Xu Yi said, "City Lord Bai, that shameless old man thinks Immortal Venerable Yunxia is still alive! The Liu Clan was always the weakest of the Four Great Immortal Sects, yet they were the best at winning the Immortal Venerable's favor... Heh, I wonder how those three women they sent to receive the Immortal Venerable's teachings are doing now..."
Bai Ye smiled freely. "They still think a dead tiger can keep its imposing frame! The more they put on airs, the more they reveal the Liu Clan's lack of confidence..."
The two strolled side by side beside a lotus pond. Xu Yi nodded. "Your eyes burn bright, City Lord Bai... Still, the losses below the mountain really haven't struck the Liu Clan's muscles and bones. Their ancestral hall on Mount Zhilin is a hereditary temple... As long as they preserve the loyalty of their core clansmen and what they rely on, they needn't fear disaster looming overhead..."
Bai Ye shook his head. "Hard to say! Whenever an Immortal Venerable descended to this world, the Liu Clan managed to preserve their position through tactful flattery... They even set their sights on Great Jin's Capital City! Heh, how much could they possibly know of the foundations of the Sima imperial family's realm? Mount Zhilin, heh... Quite interesting."
"Oh? City Lord Bai... With your unwavering loyalty and extraordinary ability, how fortunate the Sima Clan is to have your assistance! Had you joined the Liu Clan back then and become the minor Sect Master of a subordinate sect, you would probably be suffering their abuse today..."
"Ah... That's ancient history. Why bring it up?"
Xu Yi smiled. "This great calamity has passed. Although the Southern Borderlands lie in ruins, it has also diminished many of our old frictions and entanglements. What do you think, City Lord Bai?"
Bai Ye laughed heartily. "Since you put it that way, Brother Xu, perhaps it's best to let the past drift away on the wind... Those destroyed little sects that swayed like grass atop a wall, the hereditary temples of certain powerful families, and the little peaks and cave dwellings of independent cultivators... We can properly redistribute them all..."
Xu Yi nodded with a smile. "How fortunate the Southern Borderlands are to have you, City Lord Bai. In that case... In a few days, I'll send some capable people to consult with the Guardian Office and the provincial and commandery offices, to see how our Taihua Sect should contribute people and effort to help stabilize the Southern Borderlands as soon as possible..."
Bai Ye waved a hand. "The provincial and commandery officials suffered especially grievous losses this time. Fewer than one in ten civil officials, such as commandery governors and county magistrates, survived... Just send your people directly to Ding'an Hall in the Guardian Office to discuss these matters, Brother Xu! As for the Liu Clan... I'll notify them as well, but their attention is entirely on the Jinhu Immortal Abode in the Capital City... They may find their strength unequal to their wishes when it comes to rebuilding and restoring the Southern Borderlands..."
Xu Yi's heart leaped with delight at those words. Then he probed further. "It is a pity about those court-appointed civil officials who died at their posts amid the chaos..."
Bai Ye looked back with a faint smile. "Indeed. That is why the court sent me an imperial decree yesterday by thousand-mile express... From today until the new lord of the Twelfth Guardian City arrives, the appointment and dismissal of civil officials, along with pacification and garrison duties below the mountains, in the Southern Borderlands' Two Continents and six commanderies and the Nine Commanderies of the Two Southeastern Provinces, will temporarily be entrusted to the Eleventh Guardian City... With full authority!"
"Oh... Congratulations, City Lord Bai. The people of the Southern Borderlands and the Southwestern Region are blessed!"
A flicker of surprise and delight flashed in Xu Yi's eyes... His overtures to Bai Ye of the Eleventh Guardian City might yield enormous returns!
The Liu Clan of Mount Zhlin, still putting on airs, continued to look down somewhat on Bai Ye, who had refused their recruitment all those years ago. They probably never dreamed that Bai Ye, once isolated and powerless, would become the greatest beneficiary of this upheaval!
The northern Earth Immortal Sects and frontier military officers had grabbed their spoils and left, taking plenty of infamy with them!
His own Taihua Sect and Mount Zhilin had suffered devastating losses, especially the various minor sects, independent cultivators, and powerful families affiliated with them... Many had been burned, slaughtered, and plundered into oblivion! Even the lord of the Twelfth Guardian City had lost his life...
In the blink of an eye, Bai Ye had become the only person Great Jin's Sima Clan could use to counterbalance their two great Immortal Sects and the mountain powers!
The Taihua Sect, the Guardian City, and the Liu Clan of Mount Zhlin... Only a tripod of three powers would stand firm! The Sima Clan knew full well that this would make Bai Ye's power surge... Yet they had no choice!
Select and dispatch a new lord of the Twelfth Guardian City to check Bai Ye? There was no time! His Taihua Sect and Mount Zhilin would devour the resources and territory that ought to belong to the court as quickly as possible...
His expression composed, Xu Yi continued his private discussion with Bai Ye for a while, then cupped his hands in farewell and floated away.
A youth in white approached, bowed his head, and followed behind Bai Ye, speaking softly. "Master, Deputy Sect Master Xu will probably swallow up vast portions of the interests that originally belonged to Mount Zhilin, won't he?"
Bai Ye smiled faintly. "Silly boy... Let me tell you, the first thing Xu Yi will do after leaving the city lord's residence is seek out that Elder Liu of Mount Zhilin to discuss joining forces against me..."
The youth in white pondered this, then said, "I understand. He was merely playing along with you, Master... In his heart, he still counts the Taihua Sect among the mountain Immortal Sects!"
Bai Ye smiled. "Who don't they merely play along with? And what about us? Hehehe... Aren't people like us also scheming against one another, using one another, and fighting one another? Still... Those people, and we ourselves, all have a line..."
Bai Ye extended a finger... And gently pointed toward the far bank of the pond.
An exceedingly fine strand of Sword Qi instantly traced a ripple across the still pond... The Sword Qi remained condensed without dispersing, like a strip of crystal dividing the pond!
Bai Ye said softly, "They all have a line like this in their hearts! Those who stand above others, and those who dwell upon the mountains... All live freely along this line! Some enjoy wealth and glory generation after generation, some stand high above others with long lifespans... And some climb toward immortality and seek the Dao, hoping to hold life and death in their own hands!"
Bai Ye stared coldly at the line... "They bite at one another and scheme against one another, stopping at nothing! But... The moment anyone tries to cross this line or tear it apart, they will rise together against him and leave him dead without a place to be buried!"
Before Bai Ye had finished speaking, a brilliantly patterned koi leisurely swam up to the surface and approached the fine line of Sword Qi...
Without a sound, the koi struck the line of Sword Qi and split in two... A cloud of foul blood spread. The two halves of the dead fish twitched a few more times before sinking to the bottom.
"This tedious mortal world... How dull..."
Bai Ye waved a hand and walked alone back to the residence's rear courtyard.
At the foot of the snowy mountain behind Two Realms Village, Lü Bufan carefully wrapped his crude animal-hide clothing tighter around himself and slowly climbed toward a cave halfway up the Snow Ridge.
Old Skeleton's voice suddenly rang out in Lü Bufan's heart. "Boy! Although Big Black greatly widened your meridians and dantian, they were left in tatters because they couldn't withstand that power... That's why you still haven't reached the bottleneck of the first realm of Qi Refiners! The Nameless Ice Cave up there is an excellent place to repair your meridians, provided you can endure the hardship! After three months, you'll be able to use the cave's cold to stabilize your meridians and dantian, barely qualifying as a cultivator of ordinary aptitude."
Lü Bufan touched the crude jade pendant Old Skeleton had given him. Tied together with the copper plate he had worn around his neck since childhood, the pendant looked utterly unremarkable, but it allowed him to hear Old Skeleton's voice near Two Realms Village.
Lü Bufan replied, "Does it have to be so urgent? My master and the others haven't returned to the village yet! I'm a little worried about them..."
"What do they need you worrying for? They're all perfectly fine. They won't die! Get moving. Your cultivation of the Daoist Scripture and your Wandering Swordsmanship have already begun to clash! If you don't stabilize your dantian and spiritual platform now, that pitiful Third Realm Martial Warrior body of yours will only lead you down a dead-end road..."
Lü Bufan rubbed his fingers, which had grown somewhat numb from the cold, and climbed over the freezing rocks.
He had already spent two days ascending the mountain. Passing through one gloomy primeval forest after another and eerie, shadowy valleys, Lü Bufan had made his way to the foot of this Snow Ridge before Two-World Mountain. Old Skeleton's voice had gradually weakened. Lü Bufan knew that once he climbed Two-World Mountain, he would have only himself to rely on.
After exchanging a few final words with Old Skeleton, Lü Bufan gathered his courage and slowly climbed toward the mountainside.
Had Lü Bufan not already possessed the physique of a Third Realm Martial Warrior, he would probably have frozen into an icicle long ago! Cold-cold that pierced his very bones! Lü Bufan desperately circulated his pitiful trace of a Martial Warrior's Acquired Gang Qi to nourish his flesh, trembling as he climbed step by step. Gradually, the ceaselessly regenerating Gang Qi within his muscles, meridians, and bones began to falter under the sustained overdraft...
Lü Bufan stumbled and dropped to his knees on a freezing boulder. His knees instantly turned dark purple.
Looking back down the mountain, Lü Bufan knew that if he descended, he would probably have to disperse the Ghost-Roaming Swordsmanship he had worked so hard to cultivate... Simply because his meridians could no longer withstand the tearing forces of a Martial Warrior's Gang Qi and innate true qi! Ghost-Roaming Swordsmanship was like a fruit borne upon the two vines of a Martial Warrior's Gang Qi and the Daoist Scripture's qi-refining method. If he abandoned it, he would probably have to choose between being a Martial Warrior and a Qi Refiner... Wouldn't that dash his master, Master Ming's, hopes for him?
Lü Bufan sat back on his heels, feeling as though even the air he breathed had become fine needles. The icy sting made his lungs ache faintly! What should I do... At this rate, I'll freeze to death on the mountain!
With difficulty, Lü Bufan sat cross-legged and formed an exceedingly ancient hand seal according to the Daoist Scripture's teachings. Then he steeled himself and dispersed the last trace of Acquired Gang Qi clinging to life inside his body... In an instant, an utterly freezing chill gripped the youth tight, like the claws of a fiend from an icy hell!
Within a few breaths, white frost began forming on Lü Bufan's eyebrows, eyelashes, and face. His entire sea of consciousness teetered on the brink of collapse. Cold! Far too cold... Gritting his teeth, Lü Bufan desperately drove his pitiful trace of innate true qi to guard his dantian and nourish his body. At the same time, he tried circulating the fist intent of the Martial Warrior boxing art Du Yuan had taught him through his meridians, to see whether he could nurture and accumulate another thread of Acquired Gang Qi...
Six hours passed, and Lü Bufan still held on through gritted teeth! Gradually, he seemed to grasp a little of the true meaning of cultivating this way! His innate true qi protected his dantian and sea of consciousness, while his Acquired Gang Qi struggled through his meridians, warming and nourishing his body. Although he still could not move and suffered beyond words, it seemed he could keep enduring here!
Whatever happens, I'll try climbing up first!