Chapter 144 – A Strange Black-Market Underworld, Uniting the Power of Three Counties - Part 3

Li Yuan had indeed brought the topic of deepening the alliance between the three counties up upon his arrival. That was part of the reason he had revealed himself as the Blood Blade Patriarch. Simply put, he needed influence and manpower.

Back when he displayed his talents as an eighth rank prodigy, he had expanded the Ginger Tavern, securing steady revenue and intelligence. Now that he had revealed his true identity, his sights were set higher. He didn’t just want a tavern or even merely the old Blood Blade Sect; what he really wanted was the three-county alliance. That was one purpose of this visit.

He announced, “Gemhill, Southsky, and Flowerpath are bound together by shared borders. Really, we’ve always been one.

“North of us, we’re all blocked by Antelope Pass. South of us lies only barren wilderness. And on both east and west, we’re hemmed in by mountains. Truly, these three counties should stand as one.

“The Central Plains are in turmoil, and peril seems to grow by the day. There’s no better time for our three forces to strengthen ties.”

“Li Yuan, my brother,” Liu Changchong asked, “how exactly do you propose this alliance?”

“By unifying the three counties,” Li Yuan answered. “We identify promising disciples, then teach them the martial arts best suited to each of them, without limiting them to the skills of their home sects.”

At this, Liu Changchong and everyone else present froze in astonishment.

Li Yuan went on, “I understand that abruptly merging the three might only cause more chaos. So I suggest running a small pilot program first.”

“How would we do that?” the older man asked, still looking uncertain.

“I want each of your sects to select a group of disciples for me to teach. Those suited to the blade will learn my blade skills; those suited to the sword will learn my sword skills; those suited to exotic weapons or poisons, I’ll instruct accordingly. And if someone is apt for my personal cultivation technique—” he paused, “I’ll teach them that as well.”

The last part triggered a wave of shock. Li Yuan added, “Yes, even up to the sixth rank.”

His own cultivation technique was still incomplete; he hoped to have more people exploring, testing, and refining it with him, even if it took decades, centuries, or longer.

The words

sixth rank

swept the hall into dead silence. The power to reach sixth rank was beyond extraordinary. Who wouldn’t leap at the chance for a longer life by another hundred years?

Liu Changchong was the first to speak. “Good! If that’s your plan, the Orange Blossom Sect has no objection.” Then he glanced at the sect master beside him. “What do you say?”

The sect master smiled broadly. “I can only wish for such good fortune. How could I refuse? If one day our three counties truly unite under His Eminence, it’ll be a blessing. After all, no one escapes when the heavens come crashing down. We’re each just a lonely pillar; we should join together and share the burden.”

At that, Liu Changchong motioned for someone else in the crowd. A handsome young man with sharp brows and bright eyes stepped forward.

“This is Yang Teng,” Liu Changchong said. “Greet him as you would my blood brother.”

Yet again, Li Yuan interjected with a wry smile, “Er... it’s fine. Just call me Uncle.”

“Uncle Li,” the youth said with a polite bow.

Liu Changchong grinned at Li Yuan. “Since you want to run a pilot program, we’ll place our two young eighth rank talents in your care.”

Off to the side, Tang Nian regarded the two new arrivals calmly.

Eighth rank? Talents?

she mused. If that was

genius

, then what was she, having reached eighth rank at 11 years old? After all, it was notoriously difficult for children to achieve eighth rank. Youthful bodies lacked sufficient blood energy to sustain the shadow blood process.

From that perspective, both Tang Nian and Zhou Jia were true prodigies.

Li Yuan remained at the Orange Blossom Sect for a few more days, studying the replicas of the life chronicle. Meanwhile, the heads of three smaller sects affiliated with the Orange Blossom Sect also came to pay respects. He discovered all three sect masters were themselves seventh rank, so he decided to invite them into the pilot program as well, granting each sect a disciple slot. Overjoyed, they departed in high spirits.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Deep into winter, pale fog swirled among the mountains of Southsky, drifting in the wind like a white shroud. A young man sat with one of the sect’s copies of a life chronicle, propping his chin on his hand, lost in thought.

He realized these diagrams weren’t all just bare lines. For instance, the Orange Blossom Sect had two incomplete versions of the same technique, yet they looked completely different. One was the kind of diagram Li Yuan was used to, all lines and arcs. The other was more of a painting.

In that painting, a chilly mountain valley lay swathed in mist. Poisonous snakes slithered everywhere—some hidden in marshy forests, some just emerging from their dens, others lurking in tall grass, flicking forked tongues out into the gloom. Each serpent had its own distinct menace...

When Li Yuan looked at the painting and the line diagram, he could see that they overlapped but only partially, roughly half at best.

The line version lacked any deeper

soul

, while the painting held some sense of that elusive essence but lost the clear, structural form.

“So that’s it,” he murmured, a flash of realization sparking within. “A life chronicle isn’t just a series of lines; it’s also an actual image. The Orange Blossom Sect leans heavily on poisons, so the artist behind this Thousand Serpents painting saw that particular vision.”

Around noon, Liu Changchong arrived with a cup of

insect tea

in hand, addressing Li Yuan with a familial warmth, eager to cultivate a closer bond.

Li Yuan pointed to the painting and asked directly, “Who drew this? I’d like to meet them.”

Smiling from ear to ear, Liu Changchong replied, “I did. To be honest, raising that seventh rank two-headed python was only possible because of what I learned from the life chronicle.”

Over the past few days, he had grown comfortable enough with Li Yuan’s temperament that, though still respectful, he was no longer overly formal.

Li Yuan said, “Tell me everything.”

The old man’s expression turned serious. “When I was young, the Orange Blossom Sect hadn’t yet severed all ties with a certain higher power, though I never even learned its name. Whenever we visited, we had to wear blindfolds. Only those who reached the sixth rank were allowed to truly join that upper faction, and only then could you walk around without a covering over your eyes.

“I once caught sight of black petals drifting down outside a window, but I never found out what they were. In any case, that grand faction wasn’t supporting

just

us; plenty of other small sects were under its umbrella too.

“I was fortunate enough to glimpse the life chronicle there twice.

“The first time, I could only see tangled lines, jumbled and incoherent. I had no idea what they were supposed to be. Afterward, I decided to try a different approach. I studied poetry and painting.”

“Poetry and painting?” Li Yuan asked, intrigued.

Liu Changchong nodded. “Yes. I thought that if these diagrams contained some elusive

soul

, it might be a matter of artistic conception. If I trained my sense of imagery through poetry and painting, I might learn to see something hidden in those lines.

“The second time I returned, I was already middle-aged, and it was also my final chance. That time, as I studied the lines again, I

did

see something more.

“I forced myself to commit every impression to memory, to really

feel

it. Then, once I got home, I poured all that into my brush and created this painting.

“As for the line diagram, that was done by my senior brother. The higher faction didn’t forbid taking notes on the spot, because if you couldn’t grasp the essence, you could copy it thousands of times without truly revealing anything. My senior brother has since passed away.”

Li Yuan nodded quietly. At last, he understood what he had been missing. It was the intangible realm of artistic conception, of imagery and spirit.

A life chronicle seemed to require two parts—first, the lines that exposed the flow of energy; second, a visualization aid to help the viewer actually

perceive

that flow.

Why then did these great sects only distribute the line diagrams, withholding the imagery? Likely to limit the number of people who could advance to the sixth rank, or to gauge a disciple’s talent. More than that, though, the visualization aids were probably their true core secrets—something one could only see after formally joining an elite power like the Sacred Fire Palace or Mystic Gold Monastery. And that imagery might well be key to achieving the fifth rank.

He worked through these ideas, then gazed thoughtfully at the white-haired elder in front of him.

Such genuine talent...what a pity.

Li Yuan spent another few days delving deeper into the Orange Blossom Sect’s life chronicle replicas, using what he learned to refine the direction of his own cultivation technique. Finally, he bid them farewell and set out by carriage for Flowerpath County, convinced that whatever the Frost Sword Sect and Floating Moon Abbey possessed could form the last piece of his puzzle, enabling him to fully clarify his future path.

His carriage rolled westward, just as a homing pigeon flew east—both traveling away from each other. The bird’s wings fluttered in a hurried escape toward Gemhill. Its leg bore a tiny scroll sealed with the Frost Sword Sect’s wax.

Inside the dark carriage, Tang Nian suddenly spoke: “Godfather, I really like the Orange Blossom Sect.”

Li Yuan smiled. “And why is that?”

The girl thought for a moment. “Their poison techniques go well with my puppet skills.”

“In that case, you can add a poison discipline,” he said simply.

After those few words, silence returned. The sunset was blood-red, the winding mountain trail full of twists and turns. Beyond the final bend lay Flowerpath County, Li Yuan’s last stop.

Author’s Note

Originally, this was meant to be a large storyline, interweaving the dream sequence with Bear to build out the deeper layers of this world. But I realized I can’t deliver it all at once. My apologies!