Chapter 444 (3): All Worldly Matters Are Insignificant

In the darkness of night, the silhouette of Palace Willow Island was still vaguely visible. However, in stark contrast to the other islands that were covered in snow, Palace Willow Island was flourishing with greenery with almost no snow to be seen.

In fact, this wasn't as strange as it appeared, especially after one realized that one of Liu Laocheng's bonded treasures was the Gold-Gilded Fire Spirit Divine Seal, a seal that repelled both fire and water. It was probably the case that Liu Laocheng didn't enjoy the snowy scenery very much, so he had used an immortal technique to clear away the snow and thus make Palace Willow Island stand out among the other islands.

However, it was inconceivable to outsiders that Liu Laocheng was the only person on the huge Palace Willow Island.

A boat that appeared as small as a speck of sand drew closer and closer to the jurisdiction of Palace Willow Island.

When the boat was three kilometers from the island, the boatman pulled his bamboo pole from the lake and said in a hoarse voice, "Chen Ping'an pays his respects to Island Master Liu."

Even though Liu Laocheng didn't offer a reply, Chen Ping'an discovered his boat automatically sailing forward a short moment later, eventually slowing down and stopping at the dock of Palace Willow Island.

Chen Ping'an moored the boat and stepped onto the island. It was midwinter, the coldest time of the year, yet the island was still decorated with gently swaying willows. There was lush greenery everywhere, and the island was so full of vitality that it seemed like it was still summer.

The large majority of the buildings on Palace Willow Island were already derelict and rundown beyond repair. In fact, it was only because Palace Willow Island was used as the location for electing the new ruler of Bamboo Scroll Lake that Cyan Gorge Island had spent some money to repair a few of Palace Willow Island's main buildings.

Yet in the end, Liu Laocheng suddenly charged onto Cyan Gorge Island for some reason, causing Cyan Gorge Island's so-called goodwill to become the butt of jokes for many vagrant cultivators in Bamboo Scroll Lake — Liu Zhimao was truly enjoying good fortune thanks to his good deeds, what with Liu Laocheng immediately visiting Cyan Gorge Island after returning to Bamboo Scroll Lake. This was as expected of someone who had become the River Severing Heavenly Lord, the ruler of Bamboo Scroll Lake. He was truly given a huge honor.

Just as Chen Ping'an was speculating about where Liu Laocheng was right now, the Unpolished Jade Tier vagrant cultivator had already appeared in his view. He appeared to be walking slowly, yet he arrived in front of Chen Ping'an in an instant. Liu Laocheng walked along an uneven path that wound around Palace Willow Island like a belt, and Chen Ping'an made his way over to walk behind him.

"Seeing that you were strong enough to stop me from killing someone on Cyan Gorge Island, I'll give you an opportunity to say three sentences," Liu Laocheng said. "If I'm unsatisfied, I'll see you off the island straight away."

"Two sentences is enough," Chen Ping'an replied slowly.

Liu Laocheng clasped his hands behind his back, not turning around as he chuckled, "That's exactly what I want to hear."

"Regarding Hong Su who's staying at the Vermilion Chord Residence, I've already convinced Liu Zhimao to remove his special restriction," Chen Ping'an said. "Whether Hong Su is relocated to Palace Willow Island by Island Master in the future, or lives a peaceful life on Cyan Gorge Island, everything is up to Island Master Liu to decide."

Chen Ping'an paused for a moment before briskly walking forward and continuing side-by-side with Liu Laocheng. He retrieved the jade tablet with the characters "nourishing the noble spirit" and showed it to Liu Laocheng, saying, "I don't dare to give this item to Island Master Liu, and it wouldn't be appropriate for this item to become Island Master Liu's personal belonging either. So, I want to lend it to Island Master Liu, and you can return it to me whenever you advance to the Immortal Tier."

Liu Laocheng glanced at the jade tablet in Chen Ping'an's hand, continuing to walk forward as he asked, "That's all?"

Chen Ping'an nodded in response, not saying anything else.

Only then did Liu Laocheng turn around to glance at Chen Ping'an, saying, "You have quite a bit of smarts."

He then smiled and said, "Go on, say what you want. The two sentences just then weren't enough to persuade me, but they were enough to let you finish walking this path with me."

Hearing this, Chen Ping'an finally said, "If one's trying to stay alive, then putting up a fight is the most important. If one wants to enjoy a good life afterward, then being smart is a necessary foundation."

"Mhm, that's quite similar to my view in the past," Liu Laocheng said with a nod.

After saying this, he asked, "If you return without succeeding, but I'm still willing to answer a question of yours, what would you ask? Why did I try to kill Gu Can? No, you probably won't ask this. You aren't so stupid as to ask this question. Why am I giving no face to Millet Grain Island's Tan Yuanyi and the heavy cavalry of the Great Li Empire in the north? This is a more valuable question that you can indeed ask. Go on, ask away. After we're done, don't come here to try your luck again. I won't be so good-tempered next time."

"Will Island Master Liu personally kill Hong Su?" Chen Ping'an asked.

Liu Laocheng stopped in his tracks.

Chen Ping'an stopped at almost exactly the same time.

Liu Laocheng pointed at the Sword Nurturing Gourd hanging by Chen Ping'an's waist and asked, "Don't you need to drink some wine to muster your courage before asking such a death-seeking question?"

Sure enough, Chen Ping'an grabbed his Sword Nurturing Gourd and replied, "I'll make up for it straight away."

Liu Zhimao shook his head and continued to stroll forward, saying, "Alright, I was the one who made the promise, so it won't hurt for me to tell you this. In any case, this is an obstacle that I've already overcome. It's nothing out of the ordinary for vagrant cultivators to be severely wounded, and I can't count on my fingers the number of times I've been beaten half-dead, so ripping open this scar is nothing at all.

"Hong Su's original name was Huang Han, and she was a direct disciple of mine before eventually becoming my Dao partner. Hong Su was her nickname, and with Liu Zhimao's habit of acting clever, he left her with this name that isn't really a name. Huang Han's aptitude wasn't especially good, and it was actually the worst out of my several disciples at the time.

"Afterward, it was thanks to me expending a huge amount of immortal coins that she was eventually pushed to the Golden Core Tier, becoming an earth immortal. As for her temperament, it was quite similar to her original name.[1] She didn't act very feminine, and she was very direct in her manner and speech. She was completely different to all of the other cultivators in Bamboo Scroll Lake, yet to a vagrant cultivator like me who doesn't blink when he's killing people, her charming naivety was truly irresistible..."

After saying this, Liu Laocheng surprisingly snapped off a willow branch and started to leisurely weave a wicker. "My aptitude was good, and my fortune was even better. I also faced a bumpy path and encountered many difficulties, but whenever I was faced with a critical moment, I always managed to navigate it smoothly without a hitch. Thanks to this, I was able to become a Nascent Tier cultivator very early on.

"However, I should have never developed feelings for her. Even worse, she saw through my feelings. I left Bamboo Scroll Lake to avoid her in the beginning, yet after a few dozen years, I discovered that all of the willow branches in Palace Willow Island had already been snapped off by her.[2] I became soft-hearted, and I thought that I might as well follow my heart and stop being as cold-hearted as before. Perhaps it was because of this that I couldn't advance to the Upper Five Tiers, so if I changed, that might instead give me an opportunity to break through.

"After making up my mind, I became Dao partners with her, and my cultivation barrier did indeed start to loosen. Afterward, Huang Han wanted to accompany me for longer, so she yearned to increase her lifespan but was unwilling to ask me for help, afraid that I would look down on her. She found an incomplete secret scripture from some unknown place, but the cultivation method was too sinister and almost caused her to fall to demonic ways. I spent a huge sum of grain rain coins to help her, clearing out almost half of Palace Willow Island's wealth at the time.

"Fortunately, she managed to stumble her way to the Golden Core Tier. However, I quickly discovered that her existence was like a nightmare to me. Even so, I was unwilling to kill her to mend the flaws in my mental state and advance to the Upper Five Tiers, so I helped her become the ruler of Bamboo Scroll Lake before leaving for some other place.

"However, I was wrong again, as wrong as wrong could be. As time went on, Huang Han who I left at Palace Willow Island started to change due to her fear of death. After all, her golden core was half real and half fake and filled with many flaws, and her cultivation of the heretical techniques before also caused her mental state to become extremely poor. My departure added fuel to the fire, causing her to become increasingly confused and abnormal.

"In the end, she finally left Bamboo Scroll Lake, madly looking for me everywhere, visiting all the places that I had gone to or potentially stayed at before. She no longer enjoyed the title of ruler after leaving Bamboo Scroll Lake, so with her kind of temperament, she naturally suffered all kinds of hardships during her travels. In fact, she might have died if it weren't for the two immortal treasures that I left her... However, that might have been the best outcome for both of us."

Liu Laocheng held one hand behind his back and gently twirled the willow ring with his other hand, continuing, "Her soul was already shattered when I found her, shattered so badly that it was like hundreds upon thousands of shards. Even until today, I still don't understand what it was that allowed her to keep things together and stay alive until the day I appeared. Even a Nascent Tier cultivator might have failed to stay alive.

"She was already delirious at that time, and she could only tell that I was different from the other people. She stood still and looked at me, and her expression at the time... Do you know what it appeared like? You won't be able to understand. She was trying her best to remember me, and it was as if she were fighting with the heavens."

Liu Laocheng gently tossed the willow ring into Bamboo Scroll Lake.

Ripples spread through the lake, and a large formation had already been secretly activated.

Liu Laocheng's voice gradually became cold as he continued, "I was a Nascent Tier cultivator who was only a step away from advancing to the Upper Five Tiers at the time, yet my Dao Heart almost crumbled on the spot, much like her soul. Only at that time did I finally realize that she was indeed my Dao attainment catalyst. I wasn't wrong to follow my heart and become Dao partners with her. Thus, I severed my mental demons and killed her with my own hands."

Liu Laocheng smiled coldly and said, "I was already cold-hearted enough at the time, yet it was still not enough to fully resonate with my Great Dao. That's why Hong Su still exists. Her soul should have been comprehensively destroyed, not even having the opportunity to enter reincarnation. She definitely shouldn't have appeared at Cyan Gorge Island's Vermilion Chord Residence as Hong Su or whatever, even being used as a bargaining chip by that utterly foolish Liu Zhimao. I've already killed her once, so what does it matter for me to kill her again?"

Liu Laocheng's expression became solemn as he explained, "My wisp of mercy at that time caused me to almost become food for the heavenly demons when I was breaking through to the Nascent Tier. That was the most vicious battle in my life. The heavenly demons used Huang Han's appearance... No, the heavenly demon was Huang Han, and Huang Han was the heavenly demon. However tall the Golden Dao Manifestation in my mind's lake measured was however tall she was. However strong my cultivation was, she matched me without fail. My mind and soul could be wounded, but the same wouldn't happen to her. After being smashed apart by me, she would immediately appear again.

"She fought me again and again, with seemingly no end in sight. In the end, she finally opened her mouth to speak, loudly accusing me of being a heartless person and scolding me for killing her again and again for the sake of attaining Dao."

Liu Laocheng smiled in self-ridicule, saying, "That was the first time she ever scolded me. Also, I said that I killed her once before, but that wasn't entirely accurate. I actually killed her hundreds of times.

"Was it dangerous?"

Liu Laocheng answered his own question, saying, "Compared to what happened afterward, we were like children fighting with each other and bawling when we suffered a scratch.

"After being killed countless times by me, she dazedly stood on the spot and stared at me in a trance like she had all those years ago. She was trying her best to remember me, and as if receiving a stroke of inspiration, she actually managed to recover a wisp of consciousness. Blood started to flow from her eyes, staining her cheeks as she used her mind's voice to tell me to hurry up and kill her. She warned me against hesitating, saying that I only needed to kill her one more time. She didn't regret liking me, and she only regretted the fact that she couldn't accompany me until the end...

"My mental state became chaotic again, and I almost developed thoughts of killing myself as well. Was this truly worth it for the sake of the so-called Upper Five Tiers and obtaining a position at the peak of the mountains? Would I truly become a carefree immortal without her by my side?

"She stumbled toward me step by step, with her limbs rigid as she used all of her energy to repeat the same three words using her mind's voice: 'I'm begging you.' In the end, she said, 'Just treat this as staying alive for my sake.'

"Upon hearing this, I went crazy and shattered her body, following which heaven and earth fell silent.

"I collapsed to the ground, unable to stand up anymore.

"When I opened my eyes again, I saw Huang Han soaring through the sky like an immortal, her figure lithe and the colorful ribbons billowing gracefully. She didn't say a single word, but the look in her eyes told me everything. All the struggles before, all the deep feelings before... She was merely toying around with me."

Liu Laocheng stopped speaking, not revealing the final outcome of his encounter with Huang Han, or more accurately, that heavenly demon. He turned around to look at Chen Ping'an.

However, what he saw was the young man's scrunched-up expression. The corners of Chen Ping'an's mouth quivered slightly as he gazed toward the distance.

Liu Laocheng smiled and shook his head, remarking, "By the looks of it, you also have a girl whom you like. After putting yourself into my shoes, you were unable to withstand the pain after empathizing with my experience."

The two of them continued forward, and Liu Laocheng sighed with emotion and said, "I recounted these matters to you because I've naturally let go of them already. Also, your ability to figure out Hong Su's history and the true reason for your trip to Palace Willow Island is something that no one else in Bamboo Scroll Lake would be able to guess. You're actually here for an abandoned pawn that's completely insignificant in the scheme of things.

"As for the question you asked me earlier, I can tell you that she must die regardless of whether she's Hong Su or Huang Han. Otherwise, I'll face another huge tribulation when I advance to the Immortal Tier. I'll personally kill her even if this is only a small possibility. When walking the path of the Great Dao, so-called small possibilities often become certainties.

"Of course, you can try to stop me again at that time. As for what will happen after I kill you and whether or not I'll become as pitiful as Du Mao... Heh, I'm a vagrant cultivator, and which of us hasn't scrapped for food like wild dogs at the feet of official immortals? Which of us hasn't feasted on the leftovers of other people, being beaten half-dead as we eat? I was able to do this back then, so would I not dare to do it again after sacrificing so much to reach the Upper Five Tiers? If that were the case, would I still have the right to be viewed as a genuinely wild dog in the eyes of those official immortals?"

Chen Ping'an offered no response.

The old cultivator who didn't act anything like expected of "Island Master Liu of Bamboo Scroll Lake" from the beginning to the end started to put pressure on Chen Ping'an, saying, "If you dare to say that you insist on trying, then I'll kill you right here right now.

"If you want to use Hong Su as a means to negotiate with me and make schemes pertaining to the great cause together, taking advantage of this opportunity to achieve your secret goals, yet you immediately choose to give up after being forced into a dead end by me, do you truly take me for a fool like Liu Zhimao? I won't directly kill you, but I'll cripple you such that you can't leave your sickbed for four or five years. That way, all of your plans and hard work will be for naught.

"Perhaps you might change your mind and adapt to the current situation, choosing to let go now that you know you can't possibly save Hong Su. However, you'll also want to make things difficult for me, and you're willing to pay a huge price for a woman who you've only known for a short time. That's also fine. However, this is Bamboo Scroll Lake, so if you want to be a good person and play hero under my nose, then be prepared to face my wrath in the future. Rest assured, it will be even more painful than being bedridden for several years. You won't be severely wounded and you won't be bedridden either, but you'll essentially become nothing more than a useless person. I have all the time in the world to play this game with you.

"Chen Ping'an, now it's your turn to answer my question. Which option will you choose?"

Chen Ping'an lightly exhaled and replied, "I'll choose the third option.

"I can't stop you from killing Hong Su, but I can use this jade tablet to absorb half of Bamboo Scroll Lake's spiritual energy. Afterward, I'll 'lend' both the jade tablet and the spiritual energy to a certain person in the Great Li Empire."

Chen Ping'an looked Liu Laocheng in the eyes and continued, "Even though I don't know why you're even disregarding the heavy cavalry of the Great Li Empire, what this does tell me is that you view Bamboo Scroll Lake as incredibly important. This doesn't relate to any kind of transaction because Bamboo Scroll Lake is where the foundation of your Great Dao is located. In fact, you won't abandon this place even after you advance to the Immortal Tier. Moreover, you'll most likely be able to persuade the Great Li Empire to allow you to set up your own territory here. The more this is the case, the more you'll suffer if I choose the third option."

Chen Ping'an spread his hands apart and said, "The jade tablet is right here, so why don't you try to snatch it away? Otherwise, why don't you try to kill me right now or shatter my last remaining bonded acupoint? However, I'm sorry, but the jade tablet has already started to absorb the spiritual energy and water fortune of the entire Bamboo Scroll Lake."

The characters "nourishing the noble spirit" on the exquisite jade tablet started to glow with brilliance.

With Palace Willow Island as the center, spiritual energy and water fortune from around Bamboo Scroll Lake surprisingly condensed into numerous trails that rushed toward the characters on the jade tablet.

Liu Laocheng's expression immediately became dark.

1. Han (撼) means to shake. ☜

2. In ancient times, snapping off willow branches represented a longing for someone. ☜