Chapter 203: The Weather is Nice Today (II) [End of Book 2]

The following afternoon, Chu Liang convened the team members for the Mountain God Memorial Ceremony. The three juniors from Cloud Horizon Peak arrived first, with Lin Bei following shortly after.

"Big Bro! Have you called us here because you have some ideas?" Shang Ziliang asked excitedly.

"Actually, I thought of something earlier, but I was worried about you guys leaking the news, so I didn’t tell you," Chu Liang said with a smile. "With the deadline drawing closer, we should investigate together."

"

Ah?

So you knew about it a long time ago," Shang Ziliang said, his expression shifting. He seemed to be feeling a tinge of sadness, perhaps because Chu Liang hadn’t shown him full trust.

Then, he turned around and asked Lin Bei, "Did he tell you?"

Lin Bei shook his head and replied, "No."

A grin then reappeared on Shang Ziliang’s face.

Soon, Chu Liang brought them to the Red Cotton Peak.

In the hill area behind the desolate streets of the Red Cotton Market, there stood an abandoned altar.

In ancient times, this place was dedicated to worshiping the gods of Mount Shu. Over the years, it gradually fell into disrepair and was later chosen by the Mount Shu Sect as the mountain gate.

It's a dilapidated open-air altar made of white stones, occupying a vast area. Many pillars surround it, most of which have collapsed and are in ruins, leaving only a small portion intact.

Chu Liang led them to a more secluded spot and had a few of them sit in a circle.

"Why are we here?" asked Shang Ziliang.

"The clue we had before was actually just a simple riddle," Chu Liang explained.

"The Riddle?" someone asked.

Chu Liang started explaining, "Half of December is June.

"At the summit of valley mountain. The word valley is written as 谷 and the top of this 谷 is the character 八, which means eight.

"Right of Jinlin River. To understand this, all you have to do is replace the right half of the character Jin, which is written as 锦, with the character wood, which is written as 木. That would then create the character 棉, which means cotton.[1]"

"As for the Manifestation of the Mountain God..." Chu Liang continued, dissecting each segment of the riddle until he finally concluded, "Naturally, I considered the Mountain God's Altar at the highest point of Red Cotton Peak."

"Today is the eighth of June. Does this mean that there will be an anomaly tonight at this Mountain God's Altar?" Lin Bei exclaimed, "No wonder the timing and location seemed so unusual earlier, it all had profound meaning. You're truly remarkable!"

The riddle mentioned the half of December, in which the Mount Shu Summit would usually occur had already passed, and mentioned the Jinlin River that no one knew, had indeed stumped many disciples of the Mount Shu Sect. However, upon listening to Chu Liang’s explanation, they felt a moment of enlightenment.

"Compared to the straightforward hints we've had before, this one was just a little trickier, but not too hard," Chu Liang laughed. "I'm sure if everyone thinks about it carefully, they'll get it."

That was indeed a fact. Once one started connecting the dots in that direction, the riddle didn't seem all that difficult. The challenge lay in breaking away from the usual pattern of straightforward hints given in the past.

However, they didn't have much time to figure it out.

"

Heh

, who knows what clues might show up here today, but we'll definitely be the first ones to get our hands on them! Advantage is ours!" exclaimed Shang Ziliang excitedly.

I don't think I'm the only one who thought of this...

Chu Liang said inwardly.

...

As they were chatting, they heard gentle footsteps approaching from the distance.

As they glanced upward, a group of women approached them. All of them were female cultivators from the Azure Falling Peak and they were all at the Golden Core Realm. At the forefront strode a woman draped in a flowing white gown, exuding an ethereal and graceful air, akin to a cloud drifting from the peak of a mountain.

Of course it was Jiang Yuebai!

As they approached, Chu Liang and the others stood up and greeted them.

"Senior Sister Jiang." He nodded gently.

Jiang Yuebai smiled and nodded in return. She then asked, "What are you all doing here?"

"

Um...

Well, the weather is nice today, so a few of us friends came here for a picnic," Chu Liang immediately replied.

Without knowing the other party's intentions, he naturally couldn't reveal any information.

"

Heh.

" Jiang Yuebai blinked and said, "I see."

"Senior Sister Jiang, what about you?" Chu Liang asked in return.

"The weather is lovely today, so a few of my sisters and I came out for a stroll," Jiang Yuebai said calmly.

"Well, isn't that a coincidence," Chu Liang chuckled. "We won't disturb your outing then. Let's each go on our way."

"I think the scenery here is quite nice, and the ground is clean," Jiang Yuebai said with a gentle smile. "Why don't we have a picnic together?"

"Well..." Chu Liang hesitated.

"You wouldn't mind, would you?" Jiang Yuebai glanced at the others behind him.

Chu Liang glanced behind him and noticed that although his companions remained silent, their faces were all flushed.

Hopeless men...

Chu Liang thought to himself.

But who could resist the opportunity to picnic with Fairy Jiang?

As they sat in a circle, with five young men on one side and five young women on the other, the atmosphere suddenly became a bit awkward.

Jiang Yuebai smiled and broke the silence, saying, "Did you all come out for a picnic without bringing any food?"

Chu Liang chuckled awkwardly, realizing he only had some Golden Vein Berries with him. Just as he was about to retrieve them to alleviate the awkwardness, Lackey B spoke up.

Lackey B, who had been standing at the edge, suddenly interjected, "I brought food."

With that, he unfurled a red carpet in the center and began laying out an array of snacks, fruits, preserves, candies... roast chicken, roast duck, pork trotters, braised beef... osmanthus cake, water chestnut cake, crispy pastries, sweet date cakes... accompanied by osmanthus wine, plum wine, and red bean soup.

As he unpacked, everyone around was left speechless.

Everyone could infer the size of his storage tool. The sheer quantity of food it contained implied that there wouldn’t be enough space for anything else important.

This dude was basically a walking pantry.

Chu Liang silently gave him a thumbs up in his mind... This guy was truly something else!

Lackey B alone organized this "picnic." Everyone was about to dig in and commence the picnic when they heard footsteps approaching from the other side.

As they looked over, they saw Xu Ziyang leading five others from the Jade Sword Peak, walking over from a distance.

Seeing the lively scene here, Xu Ziyang was also somewhat surprised.

"You guys..." Xu Ziyang said as he glanced around at everyone.

Chu Liang grinned as usual as he explained, "The weather's great today, so we decided to have a picnic here."

Initially, Xu Ziyang thought Chu Liang was lying, but seeing all the food laid out, he began to doubt himself.

Maybe they really were here for a picnic...

Xu Ziyang mused.

Jiang Yuebai then asked, "What brings Senior Xu here?"

Xu Ziyang hesitated for a moment before replying, "Well, the weather is indeed nice today, so my junior brothers and I decided to take a stroll."

"In that case, we won't disturb you," Chu Liang raised his hand, indicating they were free to go about their business.

"

Hmm...

" Xu Ziyang pondered for a moment, then suggested, "Since we've run into each other, why don't we have this picnic together?"

Chu Liang had expected that Xu Ziyang wouldn't leave so easily, so he glanced at Jiang Yuebai and said with a smile, "Shall we?"

Jiang Yuebai nodded with a smile as she said, "Let's go together then."

And so, on the deserted altar on the Red Cotton Peak, a lively scene unfolded, unprecedented in the long years of its existence.

Fifteen young men and women sat together, enjoying each other's company.

...

In the midst of the group, Xu Ziqing fixed her gaze on Chu Liang, lost in contemplation.

Ever since she accidentally stumbled upon Chu Liang purchasing the technique for dual cultivation at the Hall of Conservation, a burning curiosity had ignited within her. Senior Brother Chu had already advanced to the stage of Dual Cultivation with someone... but who could that person be?

Her desire to explore wasn't fueled by jealousy, but by pure curiosity.

Because the Senior Brother at the Hall of Conservation had specifically mentioned the issue of Dual Cultivation between a Golden Core of Lesser Yin and Golden Core of Lesser Yang, she concluded that the woman involved must have already formed her core, and it was a Golden Core of Lesser Yin. Otherwise, Chu Liang wouldn't have asked any question about this.

And almost all the women on Mount Shu who had formed their cores were present here. Her eyes wandered among the senior sisters of the Azure Falling Peak, and among them, she noticed that two had formed Golden Cores of Lesser Yin.

Among the two, Chu Liang seemed to be a bit more attentive to one of them, occasionally offering food and drinks, displaying a level of thoughtfulness. To those unaware, it might appear merely polite, but to those reading into these actions with other thoughts, such behavior indicated an ambiguous relationship.

That senior sister was none other than Jiang Yuebai!

Little detective Xu Ziqing's eyes sparkled as if she had uncovered a massive secret, her excitement barely contained.

Goodness gracious...

Senior Brother Chu and Senior Sister Jiang...

No wonder Chu Liang had to do it secretly. With Senior Sister Jiang's popularity in the world of immortal cultivation, they had to be careful.

Xu Ziqing had always thought that Senior Sister Jiang and her brother were the perfect match, considering they were the two most outstanding geniuses of their generation on Mount Shu. They were the two unparalleled talents. If Senior Sister Jiang ended up with someone else, she would have felt heartbroken.

But now, the harmonious interaction between Chu Liang and Jiang Yuebai appeared rather natural.

After all, Senior Brother Chu was also an extraordinary cultivator who had formed an ultimate-tier Golden Core, a rare occurrence that would usually occur once in a hundred years. He was a rising star at the Mount Shu Sect. Coupled with his intelligence, good nature, and charismatic personality, Xu Ziqing silently stamped the words "perfect match" in her mind.

Although Chu Liang had treated her with aloofness, which had caused her some heartache, if he were to end up with Senior Sister Jiang, Xu Ziqing reckoned that her defeat wouldn't be unbearable.

She resolved to keep Senior Brother Chu and Senior Sister Jiang’s relationship a secret, promising inwardly that she would keep this secret safe for them.

Still, it was a pity her brother wouldn’t have a chance anymore. But compared to him, Chu Liang indeed had a better way with girls. She glanced at Xu Ziyang and noticed him also gazing at Chu Liang and Jiang Yuebai with a pensive expression.

Did her brother also noticed something fishy between them?

Xu Ziqing wondered.

Sigh.

Well, it seems he has a sensitive side too.

And at this moment...

Xu Ziyang's eyes darted between Chu Liang and Jiang Yuebai as his mind raced with thoughts...

These two couldn't have just randomly appeared here. They must have also solved the first riddle of the Mountain God Memorial Ceremony at the Red Cotton Peak. There's bound to be a fight!

I must defeat both of them!

The Jade Sword Peak will take the top spot at the Mountain God Memorial Ceremony!

1. There is only one place that has the character cotton in its name. ☜