Old Man by the Stream

"Greetings, Master."

Liu Zhijian had returned from his trials feeling as though he had shed his mortal body and been reborn.

He was no longer the weary fisherman with a world-worn face. At a glance, he looked full of vigor and vitality.

"Mm."

Li Chengxuan nodded slightly. Naturally, what concerned him most was his progress in Meridian Opening. "How has your practice of the Meridian Opening Method gone?!"

Liu Zhijian was in high spirits. "I've finally lived up to your expectations, Master. I've successfully achieved Meridian Opening and returned to the innate state."

Though Li Chengxuan was surprised, he also felt it was only to be expected.

The Dripping Water Pierces Stone Meridian-Opening Method was incomparably slow to cultivate.

But Liu Zhijian had a strong Kan Water Manifestation, and had even caused the Heavenly Dao Consciousness to manifest.

A mere Meridian Opening would naturally not stand in his way.

Li Chengxuan set his mind at ease and asked what he had seen and heard on his trip down the mountain.

Liu Zhijian gathered his thoughts briefly, then recounted everything one by one.

The most exciting part was naturally his trip to the flood dragon's abandoned abode.

Everyone had used ingenious tricks, and the tables had turned again and again.

Li Chengxuan smiled when he heard this. "I've heard of that wicked flood dragon. It once terrorized the region, but was later slain by the last Foundation Establishment High Person of our Supreme Mystery Mountain."

Liu Zhijian suddenly understood. He was not surprised; on the contrary, he felt that was how it ought to have been.

Sure enough, his sect punished evil and upheld good. It was no demonic sect!

Liu Zhijian continued his account.

After leaving the Flood Dragon cave abode, Deng Gang had used its precious blood to enter the Dao through Qi Ingestion, becoming a Qi Refining cultivator.

With nowhere to go for the time being, the two had joined forces to slay the vicious bandits of Wild Goose Pond Mountain. They had made themselves kings of the mountain and raised their banner to gather the displaced people.

It had to be said that Liu Zhijian might have been unremarkable on Earth, but in the world of immortal cultivation, he was the moral ceiling.

Li Chengxuan offered no judgment. He asked, "Which lineage enters the Dao by ingesting a flood dragon's Blood Qi?!"

Liu Zhijian had concealed his own origins in Supreme Mystery Mountain, so naturally he would not pry into another's cultivation secrets. He shook his head. "I don't know, Master. It looked like a body cultivation path."

"Body cultivation..."

Li Chengxuan frowned slightly and lowered his head in thought. "Blood Qi? Body Kui? Unfortunately, his entering the Dao through Qi Ingestion means there's one less share of Merit to accumulate."

Liu Zhijian added, "There's also a hunchbacked old man on the mountain, surnamed Luo. He used to be a guard for the leader of the Wave-Subduing Gang. His bloodline seems somewhat unusual. He can transform into a half-demon and is a formidable fighter."

Li Chengxuan paid it little mind and explained, "A thousand years ago, the Southern Edge Continent was Demon Race territory. It was simply taken over by us Old Method cultivators."

"That's why, even today, Demon Race bloodlines have been passed down among many ordinary people. Most are very dilute, though, and at most give them some unusual features."

After Liu Zhijian finished recounting his trials, Li Chengxuan gave him a general account of what had happened on Earth.

He spoke in particular of Duanmu Ren's refusal to cultivate.

Liu Zhijian listened calmly and said with a smile, "What he said was quite right, and he did nothing wrong."

"Things really weren't going well for me over there."

"Now that I have a chance to start from nothing under a whole new set of rules, of course I'm willing."

Li Chengxuan nodded and asked, "Now that you've successfully achieved Meridian Opening, you've already got one foot on the path of cultivation. Would you like to go back for a look?"

Liu Zhijian shook his head without hesitation. "There's no need."

"I have no family or friends left there. What would I even do if I went back?!"

After a pause, he smiled and added, "Besides, I've only successfully achieved Meridian Opening and entered the Embryonic Breathing realm. I still have to perform Qi Gathering and ingest Qi."

"If I rushed home in glory without having accomplished anything, I would look down on myself, no matter what anyone else thought."

Li Chengxuan smiled and nodded.

It was rather amusing.

Of the two people he had chosen, Liu Zhijian had come and refused to return, while Duanmu Ren had refused to come at all.

The human heart was indeed the hardest thing to fathom.

After their chat, Li Chengxuan put away his smile and began discussing Liu Zhijian's next steps in cultivation. "Giving up the Kan Water Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi in the Flood Dragon cave abode will cost you years of hard work for nothing. Do you really not regret it?!"

"If you do, I can go and ask. Perhaps I can trade for it."

"There's no need."

Liu Zhijian shook his head. "There are plenty of cheap fish in the market, but I don't like them. I'd still rather catch them with my own hands."

Seeing how resolute he was, Li Chengxuan said no more on the matter and continued, "Kan Water occupies the orthodox position of Water Virtue. It is found in rivers and streams, water that flows without cease."

"Since High Antiquity, it has been an openly practiced lineage."

"It only began to decline and fade from the world after the great war a thousand years ago, when the Old Method was driven back to the Southern Edge Continent."

"The Southern Edge Continent is surrounded by the sea on all sides, and thus by Confluence Water. As a result, Kan Water imagery is especially lacking here. Only the White Dragon River is worth mentioning."

"If you wish to gather Qi, naturally your only choice is to gather that Clear Qi Above the River from the White Dragon River."

"The sect's records have much to say about this Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi. You can consult them as you cultivate in the future."

At this, he paused, then said, "Come to think of it, your not taking that Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi from the Flood Dragon cave abode may not have been a bad thing."

"Otherwise, you would have had to find your own way in cultivation."

Since it concerned his own Dao Path, Liu Zhijian had naturally given it plenty of thought. He sighed in relief. "When I chose the flood dragon's precious blood, besides honoring my friendship with Deng Gang, I was also thinking that you had already laid out a cultivation path for me, Master."

"My understanding of the Dao is shallow, and I've read little Daoist theory. If I'd acted on my own, I might have stepped into a pit and suffered terribly for it later."

"It was better to play it safe."

"Since there's a broad road to follow, there's no need to be clever and take a shortcut."

Li Chengxuan nodded again. "I could see what sort of person you were from your choice of Meridian Opening Method."

"Kan Water has many images associated with it, and there are many Immortal Foundations one can cultivate."

"Since you're gathering Clear Qi Above the River, Old Man by the Stream will be just right for you to cultivate later."

This was the advantage of joining a sect.

There was a path to follow through Meridian Opening, Qi Gathering, and Foundation Establishment.

Rogue Cultivators were different. They practiced whatever Meridian Opening Method they could find, and skipped it if they found none.

If they were lucky enough to find Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, they could hardly care whether it was orthodox. Having any at all was good enough, so they muddled their way into the Dao through Qi Ingestion.

But there was an advantage to that, too.

Rogue Cultivators generally had no chance at Foundation Establishment, which spared them a great many worries.

They did not have to be like Liu Zhijian, planning which Immortal Foundation to cultivate when he had only just achieved Meridian Opening.

Liu Zhijian committed this to memory, then asked carefully, "I like fishing, Master, so naturally I have no objection to this Old Man by the Stream."

"But with the Purple Mansion Golden Core, isn't it important for the imagery to match?!"

"I'm gathering Clear Qi Above the River, which seems a little at odds with Old Man by the Stream."

Li Chengxuan was somewhat surprised. He had not expected Liu Zhijian to have given the matter thought of his own, and patiently explained, "There's a reason for that."

"As I said before, Kan Water has always been an openly practiced lineage."

"In ancient times, there was a Kan Water cultivator who attained Fruition and became a True Lord. Later, he reached the level of an immortal, and also brought the Manifestations of five Immortal Foundations to an extremely high level."

"At the time, this Immortal Foundation was called Immortal by the River."

"Later cultivators naturally lacked an immortal's wisdom in the Dao and could not cultivate such an overbearing Immortal Foundation, so they had to settle for the next best thing and cultivate Old Man by the Stream."

"If you succeed in your cultivation someday and raise this Immortal Foundation to an extremely high level, it may not be impossible to bring back Kan Water's golden age."