Chapter 23

Translator: Cenniwdyl  Editor: Caron_

Chen Youli came back into the room and said to Ye Jingwen, “Junior Martial Brother Ye, the person you’re asking about – is he a cultivator from Ye Clan of Mount Qingmeng?”

Ye Jingwen nodded. “That’s him. Senior Martial Brother Chen, have you managed to get news about him?”

Chen Youli smiled. “I did. Not too long ago, he came to our shop to buy a few things.”

“Oh?” Ye Jingwen was surprised. He asked, “When did that happen? Where did he go from here?”

Chen Youli said, “This person and his friend came to our shop about a month ago. Based on their conversation, one was a cultivator from Ye Clan of Mount Qingmeng while the other, surnamed Lu, was also someone from a cultivation clan. The two of them seemed to be close friends. The cultivator surnamed Lu came to see Ye Jiang off. As for where he went, we have no idea.”

Only after pondering for a moment did Ye Jingwen realize what happened.

After Martial Uncle Shoujing ordered some disciples to obtain some news, they heard that a few years after Ye Hai disappeared on the Demonic Mountain, the other cultivation clans in Mount Qingmeng used this opportunity to bully the Ye Clan in an attempt to drive them away from Mount Qingmeng’s spirit veins.

There was only one cultivator left in Ye Clan – Ye Hai’s brother, Ye Jiang. Ye Jiang’s talents were inferior to Ye Hai’s, so he could only, after much difficulty, reach the Foundation Building realm. How could a Foundation Building cultivator fight against cultivation clans which had Core Formation cultivators among them?

Ye Jiang couldn’t do anything and had to send all the mortals in the clan to the secular world, commanding them to distance themselves from the cultivation world henceforth. He told them to live their lives filled with glory and wealth in the secular world while he became an individual cultivator. He was old, thus he no longer cared about improving his cultivation level and chose to travel around. The last place people caught sight of him was in the vicinity of Mount Qingmeng.

Seeing Ye Jingwen thinking, Chen Youli conveyed his thoughts: “Junior Martial Brother Ye, the two of them seemed to be really close. According to my knowledge, there is also a cultivation clan bearing the surname Lu in Mount Qingmeng – this cultivator surnamed Lu might be from this clan. Why don’t you go pay a visit to the Lu Clan and ask about him?”

Since Ye Jingwen had no other ideas and thought this was feasible, he said, “Thank you for the advice, Senior Martial Brother Chen. Could you please tell me where the Lu Clan lives? Also, how does that cultivator surnamed Lu look like? What realm is he in?”

Chen Youli spoke while stroking his beard: “Lu Clan is on the west side of Mount Qingmeng; Junior Martial Brother only has to look for a palm-shaped peak. According to the disciple who served them, this cultivator Lu was similar to Ye Jiang – both were Foundation Building cultivators who seemed to be similar in age. It also seemed like his life was about to be exhausted.”

Ye Jingwen nodded and stood up. He said, “Thank you, Senior Martial Brother Chen. I will take my leave first.”

“No need to be polite.” Chen Youli shook his head. “We’re from the same school, so this is something I ought to do. Junior Martial Brother, take care.”

Ye Jingwen cupped his hands as a farewell. He led Mo Tiange out of the market square and once again, got on the flying sword to proceed with their journey.

“Big Brother Ye, are we going to Mount Qingmeng?”

“Correct. We’re going to find someone and ask about your uncle. We should be able to find your uncle soon.”

After thinking for a moment, Mo Tiange finally asked, “Big Brother Ye, why did my uncle have to leave Mount Qingmeng? Was it because he couldn’t beat the others?”

Instead of directly giving an answer, Ye Jingwen hesitated for a while. In the end, he decided to tell her the truth. “You have to bear in mind that in the cultivation world, strength rules. Spirit veins, cultivation techniques, precious plants, and stones – everything is taken by the strong. Mount Qingmeng’s spirit veins are quite good and thereupon are divided between several cultivation clans. If a clan doesn’t have the strength to defend itself, it can’t enjoy these spirit veins.”

“Just like that Li Yushan,” Mo Tiange mumbled. “Because he was stronger than me, I could only follow his orders. If I was stronger than him, I could’ve forced him to listen to me. I might’ve even been able to kill him!”

Ye Jingwen was silent for a long time. He was remembering the time he entered school as a child. Because he didn’t have any patrons, he was always bullied by high-ranking disciples. Later, he cultivated diligently every day and eventually shone brighter than older disciples, enabling him to become Master Daoist Qingyuan’s disciple. From then on, he towered above others. Those bullies came, one after the other, to send him gifts and apologize without any of their past arrogance.

He then thought about what this little girl had gone through. In the secular world, no one in that family loved her. Furthermore, she had a body with a Pure Yin Constitution. It could already be ascertained that if other people found out about this, she wouldn’t have any peace in her life.

Ye Jingwen sighed. “You’re right. You can master your own fate only if you’re strong enough. Otherwise, other people can determine your fate.”

Mo Tiange calmly nodded. “I understand.”

At this moment, a mountain appeared below their feet. It was about thousands of feet tall with several high peaks. It was completely green and covered with an infinite sea of clouds and full of spiritual aura. Apparently, it indeed deserved to be called the mountain of Immortals.

Ye Jingwen maneuvered his flying sword around the mountain. Sure enough, on the west side, they saw a peak that resembled a gigantic palm. Its rugged top looked just like five fingers while downwards, at an area that could be considered the middle of a palm, there were pavilions and pagodas.

Once he saw them, Ye Jingwen flew directly towards that place.

An Aura Refining cultivator came towards them right after they landed and greeted them: “Greetings to Senior.”

Ye Jingwen answered with an “En” before asking, “Are you a member of Lu Clan?”

This person’s cultivation level was only in the second layer of the Aura Refining realm. His age seemed to be about fifty years old. It seemed his aptitude was inferior and he had no hope of improving his cultivation, hence he was placed here to welcome visitors. Although his cultivation level was low, he had good eyes. Once he saw the taijitu-shaped 1  cloud embroidery on Ye Jingwen’s clothes, he instantly recognized him as a disciple of Xuanqing School. Furthermore, he saw that Ye Jingwen was already a Foundation Building cultivator despite his young age and concluded that he must be an elite disciple. As a result, he was exceptionally courteous. “I am. May I know Senior’s name? To what does our Lu Clan owe the honor of your visit?”

Ye Jingwen said, “I’m a disciple of Xuanqing School, Ye Jingwen. I came to this place to find someone.”

“Oh?” The old man enthusiastically asked, “May I know who Senior is looking for? As long as this old man knows, this old man will honestly tell Senior.”

Ye Jingwen was also straightforward: “The person I’m looking for should be a Foundation Building cultivator from your clan. Both his age and appearance are about the same as yours.”

“Do you know his name?”

“I don’t.”

“This…” The old man looked embarrassed. He said, “I’m going to be honest with Senior. Although Lu Clan isn’t a huge clan, we still have about ten Foundation Building cultivators. As for those who match the age description, there are probably six or seven individuals… Senior, may I know why you’re looking for him?”

Since he didn’t know his name and had only a rough estimate of his age, they obviously weren’t friends. The old man started to look at Ye Jingwen with a bit of cautiousness, afraid that Ye Jingwen came looking for revenge.

Ye Jingwen was naturally aware of his thoughts. He took out a jade bottle and said, “I’m looking for this person in order to ask some information about another person. I have ten Aura-Nourishing Pills here. If you can find that person, I’ll give them to you as a reward.”

The old man couldn’t help but feel a longing as he stared at that jade bottle. Although Aura-Nourishing Pills were the most common medicinal pills used to reinforce vital essence and strengthen primordial aura among Aura Refining cultivators, they were difficult to obtain for an insignificant cultivator like him. Forget about ten pills, even obtaining a few of them was already difficult. From the Lu Clan rations, he only got one pill a month.

Thus, he promptly smiled and said, “Senior, please come inside and take a seat.”

Ye Jingwen showed a slight smile. Together with Mo Tiange, he followed that old man into a guest hall where spiritual tea was immediately served to them.

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“Could Senior tell me where you heard about this man? Maybe we can think and come up with something.”

Ye Jingwen said, “About a month ago, this person and his friend came to a market square down the mountain and visited our Xuanqing School’s shop.”

“Oh?” the old man pondered for a moment before saying, “Our Lu Clan’s Foundation Building senior who is neither in Closed Door Meditation nor in the house… this old man seems to know who he is…”

Seeing the old man’s gaze, Ye Jingwen tossed the jade bottle in his hand to him. “In that case, I have to trouble you to introduce us.”

The old man was overjoyed to receive the bottle and said, “Senior, please wait here for a moment. This old man will go and immediately come back.”