E Xu?

"This is truly fine wine... Haha..."

"Little Lü, I absolutely love you! You have no idea how happy I am to meet someone so much to my taste-"

At midnight, in an unseen stretch of wilderness outside the camp.

Liu Ji spoke, not forgetting to burst into laughter every now and then.

"And I never expected you to be a fellow lover of wine-"

"Don't deny it. Otherwise, why would that lord's favor include wine this fine, a rarity in the mortal world, along with the grain he gave you to help the refugees?"

"Of course, even if the lord prepared it for you, I won't stand on ceremony."

He freely slung an arm around Lü Yuan's neck, while Lü Yuan looked utterly helpless.

He drank the fine loose-sold mortal wine that Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan had filched from Punk Lü Yuan, at one spirit coin—that is, one tenth of a Spirit Stone Voucher-per jin.

He looked just like a man who had found his kindred spirit amid low mountains and foul waters.

What could Lü Yuan say to that?

He could only sigh helplessly. "Whatever you say, True Lord..."

"What's this 'True Lord'?" Liu Ji patted him on the back in displeasure. "How many times have I told you? Call me big brother."

"Why bother with useless things like rank and hierarchy?"

"Besides, I'm currently in a fallen-position state. Though whether or not I remain in it is a matter of a single thought, calling me True Lord isn't quite proper."

Is it really all right to tell me this when we've only known each other for an afternoon?

Lü Yuan covered his forehead with one hand, unsure what he had been worried about before.

In some ways, this man really was like the Liu Bang he had pictured-

As though he had been carved from the very same mold.

Still, even if that were true, surely this was no way for a higher cultivator to carry himself?

A Golden Core True Lord drinking in a wasteland with his arm around the neck of someone at the Embryonic Breathing Fifth Layer, even asking that Embryonic Breathing cultivator to call him big brother...

How could I have a dream like this?

In the novels he had read in his previous life, weren't True Lords seated upon the Gold Position supposed to be lofty figures, looking down upon the mortal world?

How was it that the first True Lord he had met in this life seemed no different from an ordinary person?

You're dragging down the prestige of all the True Lords who hold the world in their hands!

Lü Yuan very much wanted to say that, but in the end, he merely sighed helplessly again.

After saying "I'm not afraid if I'm not afraid," he had been pulled away by Liu Ji, who laughed cheerfully.

Having spent the afternoon eating, drinking, and wandering about with him, Lü Yuan had gained a rough understanding of this man's easygoing nature.

At last, still puzzled, he asked the question that perplexed him most:

"True... Ahem, big... Big brother, you already know roughly what I've been through."

"But can you tell me why you came here?"

Liu Ji had long expected the question, so he answered with scarcely any hesitation.

"You should have asked that long ago. All afternoon, you just answered whatever I asked-"

"It made me feel a little embarrassed, as if I were bullying a child..."

"Back to the point. As for that question, my answer is-"

Liu Ji took a swig of wine and said casually, "I don't know, but it was probably 'Southern Dipper'-the lord who saved you."

"And who knows why he led me to you?"

"Maybe he couldn't be in two places at once, so he wanted me to help you, the one he chose, save these refugees..."

"That's probably it. After all, in the world today, he's the only one who would do something like this."

That lord...

Is Southern Dipper the First Manifest Under Heaven?

Lü Yuan fell silent. From bits and pieces of what this big brother had said earlier, he had learned about "Southern Dipper," the First Manifest Under Heaven.

And Liu Ji believed that "Southern Dipper" was the lord who had shown him favor.

Lü Yuan could not be certain, so he had taken off his mask and shown Liu Ji the true face of the "immortal" he had transformed into.

Liu Ji's answer was that they were different.

But he still believed that the one Lü Yuan had met was "Southern Dipper," who had simply not shown him his true face.

After all, the point remained.

Who else in the world could have bestowed a favor that allowed Lü Yuan, a mere Embryonic Breathing cultivator, to hold his own against Liu Ji?

And who else could have stirred a premonition in him, guiding him here?

Lü Yuan, however, thought differently. He always felt that the immortal would not have hidden his true face from him-

Still, he did not deny Liu Ji's view. In the end, he was the inexperienced one.

"Why have you gone quiet again? Didn't you say you were still young?" Liu Ji smiled and patted Lü Yuan on the shoulder again.

"When you're young, you should talk more. Otherwise, when you get older, you might turn out like those old fellows on the mountain."

"All day long, they do nothing but act unfathomable or say things too obscure to understand."

"As if making a sentence a little longer and easier to understand would cost them their lives."

After saying that, he added in a low voice, "I'll let you in on a secret."

"That 'Southern Dipper' is actually just like that. Lords like him, who came from [Purple T176] back then, are all the same."

"It's just that the current one has a rather gentle temperament by comparison. I hear the 'Northern Dipper' who fell two thousand years ago was the real heavyweight when he was alive."

Lü Yuan listened with a vague understanding and a feeling of helplessness. "Is it really all right to tell me these things...? I don't even know what the immortal cultivation world is generally like..."

"And as you said-"

"The lord who favored me is most likely the First Manifest Under Heaven today. Won't he mind us talking about him behind his back like this?"

Liu Ji waved a large hand dismissively. "What's the harm? Who knows whether Lord Southern Dipper can even hear us?"

"And even if he does, what of it? Surely the lord won't make us slit our own throats and return to heaven?"

Lü Yuan had lost count of how many times he had sighed. "This man in front of me feels so unreliable. Will he really help me save them?"

Lü Yuan poured another jin for Liu Ji, who had finished the first, and began to contemplate life-

He had chosen to come clean at the start because he wanted to speak frankly with the man before him.

To avoid pointless suspicion and internal conflict.

And now, looking at the result, if it couldn't be called a crushing defeat, it could at least be called a resounding victory.

He could say he had chosen the best possible option.

Everything was moving toward a happy ending, yet Lü Yuan kept feeling that it was all going too smoothly-

It wasn't that he had masochistic tendencies; he simply wasn't used to this kind of wish-fulfillment story development.

He wasn't suffering at all.

Was this really how a normal story unfolded?

"Do you feel like everything's gone too smoothly for you?" Liu Ji's voice suddenly sounded beside Lü Yuan's ear.

Lü Yuan turned to find him watching with a teasing look.

"Hehe, smooth is how it should be. You need to get used to it." Liu Ji seemed to share the feeling, as though that was how he could see it at a glance.

He said softly, "Little Lü, if someone like you, who has won the lord's favor, can't have a smooth journey, is there anyone in the world who can?"

"Don't feel embarrassed, or think you don't deserve it."

"Because... Forget it. It's too early to tell you this now. You'll understand later."

Those words made sense. Indeed, from the very beginning, Lü Yuan had received a book from the immortal and a prophecy that he was certain to form a Dao Embryo.

What reason did he have not to have a smooth journey?

A scene like the one before him was only to be expected.

Lü Yuan did not know what to say, so he merely nodded in response. Only after a long while did he speak softly again.

"So... in the future, if I meet someone as good as you, big brother, like I have now, would that be as it should be too?"

"Of course-"

Liu Ji seemed lost in recollection for a moment, then suddenly smiled and changed his tune. "Impossible."

He rubbed Lü Yuan's head without restraint. "Even if you search the whole world in the future, I'm afraid you won't find anyone better than me."

"So after I save you and those people, don't cry and follow me when it's time to part."

Indeed, even Lü Yuan had to admit that the man beside him, whose cultivation and status were both unspeakably exalted-

Why was he, how could he be, so good?

His only flaw was that he was too unserious-

But that was also a benefit, because Lü Yuan could learn what this world was like from him without paying a price.

After pondering for a long time,

Lü Yuan decided to speak, feeling that if he asked now, he probably would not be refused.

He intended to ask about the state of the immortal cultivation world.

With the knowledge of the man before him, perhaps he could gain a general understanding of the immortal cultivation world right at the start.

Lü Yuan raised his eyes. "Um, big brother... I have a question I'd like to ask you. Can you answer it for me?"

"Of course-" Liu Ji took a sip of wine. "Not."

But before Lü Yuan could even feel astonished at those words, Liu Ji had already spoken again.

Liu Ji chuckled and looked up at the night sky. "After all, it wouldn't be fair if you were the only one making requests of me. So next, how about I make a request of you first?"

Lü Yuan was puzzled. "What could I possibly have that you'd want to ask for?"

Liu Ji looked at him, somewhat helpless himself. "Have you forgotten that you've been hiding your true face all this time? Hurry up and undo that illusion, and let me see."

"Come to think of it, it's uncanny. What protective treasure did that lord give you? I can't even see through a first-grade Illusory Form Technique."

The map had unfurled to reveal the dagger, but the lion had opened his mouth only a little.

Lü Yuan didn't know what to say. He had been nervous for nothing, thinking Liu Ji wanted to see the Immortal Book.

"That's all?"

As he asked, he casually dispelled the illusion, revealing his true appearance as an eight-year-old.

He had used it because of the disaster victims in the first place. What need was there to hide his appearance before a Golden Core True Lord?

Lü Yuan thought his age would surprise or amuse Liu Ji somewhat.

And that did seem to be the case, for Liu Ji did indeed freeze for a moment-

But before Lü Yuan could work out whether he was surprised or amused, he heard Liu Ji murmur instinctively.

He said:

"E Xu?"