Free Web NovelChapter 504: Chapter 3: To Crown You and Bestow a Title
As he walked, the coughing became a continuous, rattling sound. It left Zhou Xiaotong and the others terrified, certain the old man was on the verge of dropping dead at any moment.
After a moment,
Lu Xuan stopped walking and glanced to the side.
"You said a moment ago that the Taishan Holy Land is controlled by the Zhuge Family. Was it also someone from their family who claimed that a Demon Ancestor resides in the Southern Demon Country?"
"That’s right." Zhou Xiaotong nodded decisively.
Lu Xuan suppressed the urgency welling in his chest. After a moment of silence, he let out a long sigh.
"By the way, before the Kongtong Holy Land went into seclusion, was there a person named Yan Jiangxue?"
The moment he said this, Lin Yiyi and Chen Lide had little reaction, but Zhou Xiaotong’s heart pounded.
Her expression grew heavy as she asked,
"Who exactly are you? How do you know of Auntie Yan?"
’Auntie Yan?’
Lin Yiyi froze, recalling something Zhou Xiaotong had said before. She asked instinctively,
"Aunt Zhou, are you talking about the mother of the leader of the Kongtong Holy Land?"
Zhou Xiaotong didn’t answer. She just stared intently at the withered old man.
Lu Xuan, too, was stunned.
After a long moment, the corners of his mouth turned up in a faint, gentle smile.
"A mother... So, the leader of the Kongtong Holy Land, what’s his name? How old is he now?"
This time, Zhou Xiaotong remained silent. But after a long pause, a weary male voice suddenly spoke up.
"The leader of the Holy Land is Lu Nian. He was born three years ago. At the moment of his birth, dragons and phoenixes sang in unison, celestial flowers rained from the sky, and Golden Lotuses sprouted from the earth. He was born Immortal, in an event that shook heaven and earth."
Zhou Xiaotong and the other two started in shock.
"Brother Shan Hu!"
"Uncle Chong!"
Chong Shanhu had woken up at some point. Supported by Zhou Xiaotong, he was barely on his feet, staring intently at the withered old man with a look of confusion.
The withered old man, meanwhile, muttered to himself, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"Born only three years ago? So the little guy became the leader of some Holy Land the moment he was born?"
As he spoke, the smile on his face grew even brighter.
Lu Nian... Nian...
Lu Xuan murmured the name, and his nose suddenly stung with the urge to cry.
His journey had lasted nearly twenty thousand years in ancient times, which translated to twelve years in the Current World...
Twelve years versus twenty thousand. It seemed so insignificant, so trivial.
But...
Lu Xuan looked at the white strands in Zhou Xiaotong’s hair and the youthful vigor that had long since vanished from Chong Shanhu.
Counting from his birth, he had only spent about seventeen or eighteen years in the Current World.
’If I only count my time in the Current World, that means I’m only... twenty-nine now?’
"So, Lu Nian is already three..."
Lu Xuan sighed softly. Then he raised his gaze to Chong Shanhu.
"Were you injured by a Celestial Venerable?"
Chong Shanhu frowned. He felt a sense of familiarity from this decrepit, withered old man, but he couldn’t place it. He replied,
"To answer Senior’s question, I was injured by the Crimson Ridge Celestial Venerable... May I ask who you are, Senior? You seem to be quite familiar with the Kongtong Holy Land. Have we... met before?"
Lu Xuan was taken aback. He turned, picked up the Cyan Lamp, and in the flickering candlelight, he carefully examined Chong Shanhu’s Cause and Effect.
’In twelve years, he has endured 3,800 calamities, both great and small.’
’Over a hundred of those were battles to the death.’
He nodded slightly. As he gazed at his student’s Dao Foundation, which had likewise been nearly destroyed, a cold light glinted in his eyes.
’The Taishang Lineage does not shield its disciples.’
’But...’
’I’m not in a very good mood today. And my nose... it’s starting to itch.’
Lu Xuan asked calmly,
"The Crimson Ridge Celestial Venerable? What faction of Immortals does he belong to?"
Chong Shanhu’s brow furrowed even tighter. He didn’t speak, merely studying Lu Xuan’s face, a crosshatch of wrinkles that spoke of immense hardship.
It was Lin Yiyi who mustered the courage to speak.
"The Crimson Ridge Celestial Venerable is a Great Immortal from the Immortal Court."
"The Immortal Court, is it?"
Lu Xuan nodded, then suddenly pointed a finger.
"That fellow?"
The others stared, confused. And then—
A rumbling sound echoed from the horizon, accompanied by the overlapping strains of Immortal Music and hymns, vast and imposing!
The expressions of Chong Shanhu and the other three changed drastically.
Zhou Xiaotong pulled out the Shadow Concealing Jade and activated it with all her might. The piece of Cold Jade began to glow, shielding them from any probing Divine Thought and masking their auras.
"Don’t anyone make a sound!"
Zhou Xiaotong urged frantically.
Immediately, everyone, including Chong Shanhu, held their breath. Beads of sweat the size of soybeans rolled down the foreheads of Lin Yiyi and Chen Lide, their faces filled with terror.
As the light on the horizon grew and the Immortal Music drew nearer, the two youths began to tremble, the sweat pouring down their faces even more heavily.
’If we’re found, then today...’
While the four of them were gripped by grim resolve or sheer terror,
The Immortal Music was now directly overhead.
"Is this the mountain?"
A majestic voice reverberated through the air. Zhou Xiaotong’s face instantly went pale. She gritted her teeth and whispered,
"There’s no escape. Yiyi, Lide, in a moment I’ll charge out first. I’ll head north. You two take your Uncle Chong and run south! Don’t hesitate, and don’t be indecisive!"
Chong Shanhu waved her off, his voice heavy.
"Your Dao Foundation has been completely severed, and your Cultivation has dropped to the Celestial Human level. But if I burn everything I have, I can briefly return to my peak. I’ll hold him off!"
His tone left no room for argument. Then, it softened slightly as he added,
"Don’t argue with me. My lineage meets calamity head-on and never shies away from disaster."
"You!"
Zhou Xiaotong gritted her teeth.
"Still spouting that nonsense? It’s been so many years, and this master you said would take you as a disciple has never shown up! You never even told me who he is, just keep chanting about your so-called sect rules!"
She took a deep breath.
"Brother Shan Hu, you’ve looked after me all this time. It’s my turn to look after you!"
Chong Shanhu’s eyes widened. He grabbed Zhou Xiaotong to hold her in place and whispered,
"It’s as I said. My lineage does not avoid disaster. There’s no principle that allows me to let you go first."
As they spoke, the Immortal Music from the sky became deafening. They could hear the sound of entire swathes of forest being snapped and crushed. The descending Celestial Venerable had already begun his search!
Zhou Xiaotong was so frantic she was on the verge of tears.
"Your lineage this, your lineage that! Your master hasn’t even formally accepted you! For all we know, he might have died long ago! Stop thinking about those stupid rules..."
"Ahem."
A faint cough sounded. The four of them instinctively turned to look at the withered old man.
The old man, his back hunched, walked over slowly, step by step, letting out a violent cough or two. He spoke wearily.
"Young lady, speaking ill of people behind their back isn’t a very good habit..."
He looked at Chong Shanhu and smiled faintly.
"Today, I shall grant you your cap and title. Hmm, the ceremony for entering my tutelage can’t be a small affair. I think the Immortal Court’s territory to the east looks like a fine place for your induction."
All four of them, Chong Shanhu included, froze, unable to process what was happening.
Then, Chong Shanhu’s expression shifted. Staring at the decrepit old man before him, he suddenly began to stammer,
"You... you’re..."
Just then, the sound of snapping trees grew close, and a booming laugh echoed from the sky.
"A Daoist Temple? And it seems there are still a few wisps of life inside? Let me guess, are those the..."
The voice cut off abruptly.
Before the bewildered eyes of Zhou Xiaotong and Lin Yiyi,
The withered old man laboriously lifted his arm, reached out from the small hut, and stretched his hand into the sky. He grabbed the majestic Celestial Venerable, yanked him down, and slammed him into the courtyard!
"Be quiet, little one."
The old man retracted his hand, flicked off the Celestial Venerable Blood that now stained it, and spoke to the figure in the courtyard.
