Chapter 527 (2): Calm and Free of Depraved Thoughts

On the bank of the large river, the fervently delighted water god was just about to kowtow and thank the old immortal. However, Spiritual Master Fire Dragon shot a glance at him, gesturing that he shouldn't act foolishly.

The water god hurriedly composed himself.

Zhang Shanfeng smiled widely as he accepted the two bottles of water elixir from Spiritual Master Fire Dragon and placed them inside his sleeve.

He could finally do something for Chen Ping'an, right? He had enjoyed free food and free drinks back then, and he also owed a huge debt to Chen Ping'an. He had received the Divine Dewbearing Armor at the Colorful Garment Nation's ghost residence, and he had received a sword at the Water Combing Nation's ferry station. Afterward, hadn't Chen Ping'an been the one to save them after he and Xu Yuanxia became trapped in a deadly battle at the Azure Phoenix Nation?

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon shot a glance at the water god, and the old man in golden robes immediately understood his intention. He gritted his teeth and retrieved the final bottle of water elixir, gifting it to the young Daoist priest.

This young Daoist priest was only a Lower Five Tier cultivator?

Was he truly a prized disciple from Spiritual Master Fire Dragon's Ground Lying Peak? Even though Spiritual Master Fire Dragon had a strange temperament and never cared about aptitude when taking disciples, how could this disciple possibly be ordinary seeing that Spiritual Master Fire Dragon was willing to personally travel around the Middle Earth Divine Continent with him?

Zhang Shanfeng felt slightly embarrassed, wanting to accept the bottle of water elixir but feeling like this would be too shameless. Thus, he politely turned down the offer.

However, the water god boldly claimed that water elixir was the most worthless thing here, and since he was older and this was their first time meeting each other, it was only right that he should offer a greeting gift.

He didn't dare to refer to himself as a senior. Otherwise, if he were the young Daoist priest's senior, then wouldn't that put him on the same standing as Spiritual Master Fire Dragon?

In reality, Zhang Shanfeng had already decided that he wouldn't accept the water elixir. However, Spiritual Master Fire Dragon persuaded him to accept it, saying that he could return the favor if he had the opportunity to visit the Middle Earth Divine Continent by himself in the future.

The water god was terrified at the mention of returning the favor, with a strong sense of apprehension gripping his mind.

He had guessed the relationship between Spiritual Master Fire Dragon and Mount Longhu, and this was because in the one thousand years following Spiritual Master Fire Dragon's feat of boiling the large lake, many esteemed Daoist priests from the Heavenly Master Residence had especially traveled to Mirage Lake to pay homage when they left the mountains to train.

Only after hearing his master's words did Zhang Shanfeng accept the third bottle of water elixir and bow to express his gratitude.

The water god didn't dare to stick around for too long, immediately bidding farewell and taking his leave.

He needed to make haste and use the fire flood dragon that the old spiritual master had gifted him to temper his godly body. Before this, he naturally needed to issue a command, telling all of the spirits and demons in Mirage Lake to hurry up and piss off back to their own homes. If any of them failed to control their legs, then he would have them fail to keep their heads.

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon and Zhang Shanfeng continued to travel around the Middle Earth Divine Continent on foot.

There were some important matters that Spiritual Master Fire Dragon didn't reveal to Zhang Shanfeng.

Chen Ping'an had extremely strong ties to the karmic fate of the Northern Complete Reed Continent, ties that could very easily drag Zhang Shanfeng into the complicated situations.

With Chen Ping'an's disposition, however, he wouldn't voluntarily drag Zhang Shanfeng into the mess even if he were facing a perilous situation. But worldly matters were complicated, and even if Chen Ping'an refrained from dragging Zhang Shanfeng into the mess, the latter would still definitely charge forward without hesitation.

At that time, what should Spiritual Master Fire Dragon do? Should he act like back then and allow those sword immortals from the Northern Complete Reed Continent to travel over the sea together, blocking the Daoist priests from Mount Longhu's Heavenly Master Residence? Or should he break the rules and leave the mountains, providing help to his disciple and that young man?

It had to be said that many of the fundamental Dao principles promoted by Lu Chen appeared foolish and unpleasant at first sight, yet after testing them for hundreds upon thousands of years, they revealed themselves as paramount principles.

When it came to cultivation in the mountains, everyone cultivated themselves and pursued an ethereal state, either succeeding and ascending or failing and entering reincarnation. If everyone adhered to this practice, then the mountains would naturally be tranquil, and the world would naturally be peaceful.

Once cultivators in the mountains used their own likes and dislikes to decide the fate of those outside the mountains, however, with the Hundred Schools of Thought also pulling people in all directions, then things would naturally become increasingly chaotic.

Everyone speaking reason, or everyone ignoring reason...

In the past, Spiritual Master Fire Dragon had once had the opportunity to travel to the Heavenly World.

He had witnessed the benefits and drawbacks of the Daoist Sect's lack of hesitation in the Heavenly World, and he had also observed the benefits and drawbacks of the Confucian Sect's human relationships in the Majestic World.

Sure enough, there was a very good reason for the Heavenly World to be using the White Jade Capital to resist the elusive heavenly demons, and for the Majestic World to be using Stalactite Mountain and the Sword Qi Great Wall to resist the Savage World.

Zhang Shanfeng suddenly smiled and said, "Master, after traveling around the Middle Earth Divine Continent, I'm also someone who's traveled around three continents like Chen Ping'an."

"You're both very impressive," Spiritual Master Fire Dragon nodded and said with a smile.

"Are the young Qi refiners in the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent slightly inferior to the young Qi refiners in our continent?" Zhang Shanfeng asked.

"The bumper periods of the two continents are only sixty years apart," Spiritual Master Fire Dragon explained. "Not long afterward, people might discover that the young cultivators from the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent are more and more eye-catching. Of course, the fortune of a continent is predestined, but the concentration of spiritual energy in a continent isn't. Whichever continent is large, and whatever region experiences a bumper crop of young prodigies, these are the regions that will enjoy a huge amount of spiritual energy.

"In other words, the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent still needs some luck if it's to become the envy of the eight other continents. Judging from the current situation, your master's old friend — who goes by the name Li Liu now — will definitely be an outstanding prodigy. No one will be able to stop her. Ma Kuxuan is also a uniquely blessed individual, and all he needs is some more time. Of course, the young lady whom he's assisting is no exception. Comparatively speaking, these three individuals are the least likely to face any unexpected circumstances, and it's because of this that I'm speaking individually to each of them. However, being least likely to face unexpected circumstances doesn't mean facing no unexpected circumstances at all."

Zhang Shanfeng smiled and asked, "Chen Ping'an will definitely stand out as well, right?"

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon nodded and replied, "He can be counted as one as well, but it's difficult to say anything about his eventual achievements at the current moment. There are far too many variables."

"Master, my judgement is quite good, isn't it? The first friend that I made at the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent was none other than Chen Ping'an," Zhang Shanfeng said.

𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"I feel like Chen Ping'an's judgment is also quite good," Spiritual Master Fire Dragon replied.

Zhang Shanfeng thought for a moment before saying, "Chen Ping'an does indeed have fairly good judgement when it comes to making friends, but when it comes to Master accepting disciples, your judgement can probably be regarded as neither good nor bad. After all, some senior brothers and senior sisters from Ground Lying Peak are still very impressive."

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon fell silent for a moment before saying with a faint smile, "There's one thing you need to keep in mind, Shanfeng."

"Please go ahead, Master."

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon sighed with emotion and said, "You'll also take disciples and teach them Dao in the future, so remember not to favor a certain group of disciples simply because you feel like they can definitely reach the peak of the mountain in the future. Rather, you should focus on the many... strengths of your disciples, some of which may be even better than your master's. It's these strengths that will give them a greater opportunity to ascend the mountains, and it's these strengths that should be your reason to like them more. Don't muddle up the sequential order regarding these matters.

"Talent and aptitude are never absolute, and the various forms of the myriad matters are never singular. Many old ancestors of sect-level immortal forces are so focused on cultivation that they've cultivated themselves silly, failing to understand even these simple matters. It's because of this that their immortal forces lack a human feel."

The old spiritual master turned around, and upon seeing his disciple holding back a smile, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Zhang Shanfeng smiled and replied, "Master, how can I possibly take disciples with my current cultivation base? Wouldn't I be wasting people's time?"

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon smiled and said, "There's no hurry. You can take things slowly."

So-called Dao inheritances and lineages might not be very major matters.

It was simply the case that one person had lit a small light in the very beginning, with the light able to cut through the pitch-dark night and illuminate the path even though it was only dim. This then allowed those further behind to also see the speck of light.

Otherwise, the world would remain pitch-dark forever.

From the Great Dao comes one.

From one there comes two, from two there comes three, and from three there come all things."[1]

"Shanfeng, do you want to travel on the Jade Forest Sect's intercontinental ship? The scenery is quite good as the intercontinental ship travels south to the Southern Whirl Continent."

"Master, perhaps we should stop trying to act rich if we can't afford it?"

"But a good friend of mine has invited me over, and it's hard to turn down their warm invitation."

"Then I feel like Master's friend most likely has a very ordinary relationship with Master. Otherwise, how can they not know about Master's tough financial situation?"

"Shanfeng, I'll have no option but to make you suffer a little if there's no other option. Your master is indeed a bit lacking when it comes to slaying demons and vanquishing fiends, but my land-shortening technique is quite okay. You've also experienced it before."

"Then maybe we should stick with the intercontinental ship. Money is an external matter, after all. I'll make sure to prepare enough dry rations and pickles before we board the ship."

"How did I manage to score such a clever and understanding disciple?"

"Because Master has good judgement?"

"That makes sense."

"Master, we need to prepare a present if we're visiting your friend, right? Traveling outside is ultimately different from cultivating at home, so we need to adhere to some necessary etiquette."

"This friend is a scholar, so we only need to buy a few books from some street-side stalls. This is very easy to deal with."

"Another scholar? Hopefully we don't get turned away again."

"Shanfeng, Master has no option but to reveal some truths to you. In reality, your master's Dao power and Dao title both command a slight amount of respect outside our own sect."

"Then why was the senior just then unwilling to invite us to his residence? Why didn't the senior treat us to any tea? I feel like that senior was already very polite, abiding by etiquette even though he was unwilling to see the two of us. I'm no stranger to these kinds of situations, having faced many of them when I left Ground Lying Peak to train in the outside world before. There were many wealthy clans with murderous auras lingering around their residences, yet when I knocked on their doors and explained the situation, wanting to help, they didn't necessarily shoo me away, but they dismissed me by tossing me some copper coins and a few pieces of loose silver. I fully understood their meaning."

"So that's how it is."

"Master, you shouldn't sleep at Ground Lying Peak all the time in the future, and you should head outside the mountains and walk around more. I also managed to learn these shallow principles of life when I was training outside the mountains before."

"Shanfeng, did you come across an old man when you were leaving the mountains this time? I heard that the two of you enjoyed a hearty conversation."

"Mhm, the old senior said he was an old acquaintance of Master, and he was visiting the mountain to ask about Dao. I pointed the old senior in the right direction and chatted with him for a short while, and the old senior looked quite happy after we finished our conversation."

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon nodded in response and didn't say anything else.

A twelfth tier sword immortal had left Ground Lying Peak and started to spread news like a gossiping woman in the mortal world, so how could he not feel happy?

Whenever that person returned to the Northern Complete Reed Continent, Spiritual Master Fire Dragon would personally visit his sect and make him very happy. He would let him enjoy all the happiness in one go.

However, Spiritual Master Fire Dragon felt slightly downcast at this moment. No matter how lofty one's cultivation, one still couldn't escape the feeling of sorrow from farewells and partings.

Some partings were eternal.

Their shattered swords could return, but the owners might not.

At the Sword Qi Great Wall located beyond Stalactite Mountain...

Sword qi soared into the heavens.

In the Majestic World, there were the calls of roosters and the barks of dogs, there was rising chimney smoke, and countless lights illuminating the myriad of residences.

There were three continents that could potentially lose all of this in an instant.

In the end, Zhang Shanfeng randomly remarked, "Master, your Dao power might not be lofty, but I feel like you're the best master in the world."

Spiritual Master Fire Dragon smiled and replied, "That sounds about right. Both my judgment in taking disciples and your judgment in accepting masters is quite good."

"Master, will I achieve initial success in cultivation when I reach the same level of Dao power as you currently have one day?" Zhang Shanfeng asked in a casual manner.

"Yes, you will," the old spiritual master replied with a hearty laugh.

All of the Dao power in the world originating from one person?

After falling silent for a moment, the old spiritual master smiled and recited softly, "Protection of the Myriad Heavenly Venerates."

1. This is a line from Laozi's

Dao De Jing

, the foundational work of Daoism. ☜