Free Web NovelChapter 343: Chapter 72: The Gathering Begins
October 20th.
Today was the day of the gathering arranged by Guangxuan. Yesterday, Guangxuan had specifically sent Lin Chen to inform Wang Ping that the gathering would proceed as scheduled.
The morning was cold. The chill was mainly from the first frost, accompanied by a light, drizzling rain. As usual, Wang Ping woke up before the locust tree. The integration progress of the Heaven-Reaching Talisman hadn’t changed.
He gazed at the still-dark sky and summoned the Pocket World Mirror. Using its reflective surface, he teleported instantly to just below the clouds. He looked out over the mountains of Qianmu Temple, at the layers of fog and spiritual energy, and his silent, heavy mood immediately began to lift.
"You’ve grown accustomed to the changes in your state of mind brought on by the Heaven-Reaching Talisman."
Yu Lian, who had been in Shen Xiaozhu’s Dao Field, sensed Wang Ping’s aura. She transformed into a stream of light and appeared before him, looking him up and down before speaking.
Wang Ping’s cold gaze shifted slightly. He inhaled a breath of icy fog and said in an equally cold voice, "Heaven and Earth are emotionless. That’s not something I can adapt to, unless I were to cultivate the Emotionless Dao."
"That’s true. Do you want to try the Emotionless Dao?"
"No need!"
The Emotionless Dao sounded simple, but it was incredibly difficult to master. Furthermore, a single moment of emotional attachment could shatter one’s cultivation, making it an extremely arduous path.
Wang Ping entered a meditative state in mid-air, using the inner voices of Qianmu Temple’s thousands of disciples to wash over his mind. Within Half an Hour, his full sense of humanity had returned.
Only then did a faint glimmer of light appear on the horizon.
Wang Ping descended into the Garden Dojo and looked at a nearby branch of a Spirit Wood Tree. He couldn’t help but reach out and gently brush the layer of morning frost covering it.
It was cold, a natural iciness. This fleeting cool sensation reminded him of his early days as a disciple, when he would wake up in the morning to make breakfast.
But when he reached out to touch it again, the sensation had faded significantly.
"Beautiful memories are always fleeting, aren’t they?" Yu Lian said, coiled around a branch of the locust tree. After counseling Wang Ping, she looked toward the garden’s main gate. "When will breakfast be ready?"
"Soon, I imagine."
"I’ll go see."
Watching Yu Lian leave in a flurry, Wang Ping returned to the courtyard with an amused smile and sat down.
Thinking of the day’s gathering, he cast a divination. Unsurprisingly, the result was a Holy Trigram. As he casually gathered up the divination blocks, Yu Lian descended from the air and landed on his shoulder.
"It’s almost ready."
Yu Lian’s cheeks were puffed out. She had clearly snatched a bite of something.
Breakfast was lamb buns and porridge with dried vegetables, which Wang Ping enjoyed. Yu Lian had two steamed fish.
After a leisurely breakfast, Wang Ping took Yu Lian and descended into Yu Cheng Taoist’s Dao Field in the rear courtyard. Yu Cheng Taoist was also still eating breakfast—steamed buns and white rice porridge.
"I won’t be attending the gatherings anymore."
Yu Cheng set down his porcelain bowl of porridge and said this as soon as Wang Ping landed. Then he looked at Yu Lian. "It will be enough for you to go with Yu Lian."
Yu Lian lifted her head haughtily. She remembered quite well that she wasn’t allowed at the previous gatherings.
Seeing Yu Lian’s expression, a slight smile appeared on Yu Cheng Taoist’s face. When he saw Wang Ping was about to speak, he cut in, "My work is done. The only thing I can do now is help you watch over Qianmu Temple. If I go, you’ll all look to me before making any decisions, and I no longer have any ideas to offer."
Wang Ping frowned slightly and, without a word, discreetly sent a tendril of Wood Spirit Qi into Yu Cheng Taoist’s body.
"Alright, go on. You have a long road ahead of you. No need to worry about me." Yu Cheng Taoist picked up his porridge bowl and waved his hand dismissively.
Wang Ping bowed silently and, obediently, rose into the air with Yu Lian.
As he flew out of Shang’an Prefecture, Yu Lian asked, "Is something wrong with Master?"
Wang Ping landed on a mountain peak overlooking the sprawling waterways of Sanhe Prefecture. "It’s nothing major," he said. "It’s just that he needs to advance to the Third Realm within fifty years, or he’ll never have another chance."
"So, does Master have a chance?"
But Wang Ping didn’t answer. He seemed to be lost in thought, gazing at the network of waterways near Sanhe Temple, which were shrouded in the morning mist.
Yu Lian didn’t press the matter.
The Third Realm was incredibly difficult to reach. In fifty years, even Wang Ping, with the help of his translucent status panel, couldn’t fulfill the most basic requirements for advancing to the Third Realm.
「Several minutes later.」
The sun finally peeked through the clouds, dispelling some of the fog. The land was cast in an amber glow, and the light reflecting off the flowing river created a mesmerizing halo.
"Let’s go!"
Wang Ping called to Yu Lian, then dove into the flowing Wood Spirit Qi. He descended over a river channel and concealed himself within the Water Spirit Qi, flying toward a rocky cave at the end of the waterway.
The moment he entered the cave, Wang Ping once again felt an uncomfortable suppression that prevented his Primordial Spirit Consciousness from perceiving details more than a hundred zhang away. But he was no longer the man he used to be. Before, he hadn’t known what was suppressing him; now, he could clearly sense a faint, intermittent Wood Spirit Seal.
It was a powerful seal, yet one that was designed to be imperceptible to the Primordial Spirit!
"This must be the Ancestral Master’s handiwork, right?" Yu Lian asked.
"Most likely!"
Wang Ping recalled that the original founder of this gathering was none other than Qianmu Temple’s founding Ancestral Master, Yuxiao Taoist.
"If you didn’t know the way, you’d most likely get lost in here. With the Ancestral Master’s other arrangements, it’s possible that even a Third Realm Cultivator could be killed!" Yu Lian remarked.
Wang Ping then recalled Zi Luan asking him to place a communication device here. ’Zi Luan must have known about the mystical nature of these underground caves long ago,’ he thought.
「A quarter of an hour later.」
Wang Ping saw a brightly lit exit.
Beyond the exit was the familiar small plaza. Light streamed in from ancient, mottled cave openings in the surrounding walls, illuminating the entire plaza.
"Fellow Daoist, you’re always so punctual!"
Guangxuan greeted him with a cupped-fist salute, then glanced behind Wang Ping. "Is Elder Yu Cheng not coming this time?"
Wang Ping nodded but didn’t say much.
Guangxuan seemed to understand. He changed the subject. "Elder Yuan Zheng mentioned he would be bringing a newcomer this time, jointly recommended by him and Elder Le Yuan. The person has already passed three trials and will be formally introduced to us today. He said that you know him, Fellow Daoist."
"I know him?"
A look of confusion crossed Wang Ping’s face. Then, a person came to mind: Sun Shulin, whom he had met back in Hu Mountain Country while vying for the Holy Heart Grass. Yuan Zheng Taoist had joked back then about introducing him to the gathering.
Yu Lian craned her neck, looking around with great curiosity at everything.
Just then, a familiar figure darted out of a cave exit. It was Elder Wu. He landed beside Wang Ping, and instead of acting like a self-important senior as he had in the past, he offered a polite cupped-fist salute. "I hear that you brought great honor to us Southern Cultivators in Shangjing City, Fellow Daoist."
Wang Ping returned the salute. "You flatter me, Fellow Daoist..."
"This is no flattery!"
Another person flew out of the exit. It was Yue Ziyu, who had surprisingly come as well, likely because of Wang Ping. He landed beside Wang Ping and smiled. "Fellow Daoist, you killed two Third Realm Cultivators in a matter of moments! And that Magical Artifact in your possession, the one that makes Fire Cultivators tremble, has become the stuff of legends!"
He was clearly joking.
"Mr. Yue!" Guangxuan and Elder Wu bowed in greeting at the same time.
"I’d almost forgotten about that. Perhaps I shouldn’t have let Cang’an’s Primordial Spirit go!" Wang Ping said, knowing that Yue Ziyu was using a joke to remind him of the matter.
