Xuanqing Guard

Chapter 300: Chapter 300: Insight

There was a mountain of affairs to handle, and in a blink, it was already December 14th.

The year had entered its final month once again, and it was also the day Shen Hao had previously agreed to meet Nie Yun.

Early in the morning, Shen Hao was already waiting outside the Teleportation Array in Fengri City. Just after early morning, he saw Nie Yun walk out of the array with a bright smile, glancing around before spotting Shen Hao. He raised his hand in greeting and hurried over.

"You’ve been waiting here this early?"

"Didn’t you arrive early too, Nie? Have you eaten breakfast? There’s a stall over there selling oil tea, pretty good—wanna join me?"

"Oil tea? Tsk tsk, I’d nearly forgotten the taste if you hadn’t mentioned it. Come on, let’s go, haven’t had it in years."

It wasn’t far, just past the Teleportation Array, at the corner to the left, was the oil tea stall Shen Hao mentioned. The two each ordered a bowl, and got two meat pies as well, then sat down at a small table in front of the stall, eating and chatting at the same time.

"You’re still carrying the Silver Gourd I gave you last time, right?"

"I have it with me."

"Once we arrive at Chang Baifeng, you should hang it so everyone can see it. That way, they’ll recognize your identity at a glance. Otherwise, with your unfamiliar face, people will keep coming up to interrogate you. It’ll be a pain."

"Isn’t it a celebration? Why so strict?" Shen Hao swallowed a mouthful of pie, genuinely curious.

"Of course. While Chang Baifeng doesn’t count as a first-tier sect, it’s still top-notch among the second and third-tiers. Plus, their ancestors once went to the Mountain of Ten Thousand Books as Named Disciples, so their status is different from the usual second or third-tier sects. Naturally, their centennial celebration is tightly guarded. Anyone causing trouble at the celebration will be dealt with on the spot."

Shen Hao nodded repeatedly. He was just here to join in the excitement, so of course he would obediently follow their rules.

After the two finished eating, they returned to the Teleportation Array and were sent more than a thousand miles away, to Lianfeng City, in the east of Jingxi territory.

It was also Shen Hao’s first time here. Still, since it belonged to Jingxi and was likewise a major hub, the cityscape here wasn’t much different from Fengri City.

The two didn’t linger in Lianfeng City either. Shen Hao used his Waist Token to access the special passage for the Teleportation Array, then transferred from Lianfeng City to a subordinate city called "Chengkou."

Chengkou was the nearest town to Chang Baifeng.

"We’re walking from here?"

Shen Hao followed behind and saw Nie Yun head straight for the city gates. According to what he knew, Chang Baifeng was still more than fifty li away. Walking there... it would take most of the day!

"Of course! What, you think you’re flying there?" Nie Yun looked at Shen Hao like this was obvious.

Shen Hao was speechless. "Nie, there’s still dozens of li, walking will be tiring and slow. Wouldn’t it be easier and faster to ride a horse or take a carriage? Look, there’s a Carriage and Horse Shop right there, let’s—"

"Don’t! You ride a horse, I’m fast enough on foot to keep up." Nie Yun cut him off immediately, looking slightly disgusted.

What’s up with that?

Of course Shen Hao wouldn’t really just walk alongside Nie Yun. He turned away to rent a swift horse from the Carriage and Horse Shop. He made sure several times that Nie Yun didn’t need one, then led the horse out of the city, still puzzled.

Nie Yun, who was perfectly fine just now, suddenly opened up a gap between himself and Shen Hao, walking a good ten zhang ahead.

Shen Hao asked, and Nie Yun simply said beasts like cattle and horses had a stench he couldn’t stand.

Shen Hao didn’t press the issue. Once outside the city, he mounted up, planning to just follow Nie Yun. But as soon as they left the city, Nie Yun in the lead deployed his Body Technique, moving so fast that Shen Hao’s horse had to go all out just to barely keep up.

The most astonishing part was that Nie Yun covered those fifty-plus li without stopping for a moment, while Shen Hao’s horse was foaming at the mouth by the end. Nie Yun, meanwhile, even had the leisure to take a swig of liquor from his flask while running...

"We’re here!"

After a mad dash, they finally arrived just as Shen Hao’s horse was about to collapse.

Compared to the only sect Shen Hao had ever visited, Gui Mountain Cultivation Institute, Chang Baifeng gave him just one impression: aloof. No peak in the area was higher or steeper, and the northern face of the mountain was almost perfectly vertical, as if sliced by a blade, covered mostly in pale rock except for a few tenacious clumps of mountain flora.

Directly ahead stood a Stone Gate at the trail entrance, with the words "Chang Bai" inscribed above. Even this gave Shen Hao a searing, razor-sharp feeling, daring him not to look too long. It seemed the masters in these sects loved adding hidden tricks to their gate inscriptions—who knew what secrets were concealed within?

"Nie, why can’t I look at those characters for long? They feel stabbing, like being pricked by needles. The ones at your Gui Mountain Cultivation Institute’s gate are the same way. Why is that?"

Nie Yun smirked and lowered his voice, "Just some nonsense the old geezers come up with to keep busy. They say it’s to intimidate petty crooks, but who would run all the way to a sect’s gates to cause trouble? And if they did, they wouldn’t be petty crooks. Relying on a few big words to scare enemies off—that’s a joke. As for why you can’t look too long, it’s because the writing is imbued with the calligrapher’s ’Intent’—sharp, scorching, icy, all sorts. You’ve spent all your time in the mundane world, so it’s normal you haven’t heard of it."

Shen Hao was confused—this was indeed the first he’d heard of something like "Intent."

"Nie, what exactly is ’Intent’?"

"It’s what you get when someone’s willpower condenses into substance. How should I put it... You can think of it as a kind of power distinct from both matter and energy—a formless force, but a powerful one."

"Take the two characters on Chang Baifeng’s gate, for example. The sharp aura they emit is actually hidden Sword Intent, the kind of ’Intent’ unique to High-tier Sword Cultivators."

"With your low Cultivation, all you feel is that they’re dazzling. But for me, at the Primordial Pill Realm Perfection, looking at them makes my eyes ache. Of course, if you reach the Profound Sea level, the Sword Intent in these characters wouldn’t be worth worrying about."

"So what if an ordinary person looked at the characters?"

"You only feel their sting. People without Cultivation would just see the characters as normal carvings."

Shen Hao nodded—he’d learned something new. "’Intent,’ huh? Sounds impressive."

They chatted a bit more as they neared the sect gates.

The official celebration was still a day away, but most people chose to arrive early, so now, quite a crowd had already gathered in front of Chang Baifeng’s gate.

Shen Hao took out his Silver Gourd and tied it at his waist—he was now a Named Disciple of Old Tree Peak at Gui Mountain Cultivation Institute.

"Deacon Nie, I haven’t seen you in years—your style outshines the past!"

"Haha, Deacon Nie, you’re here this early too?"

"Greetings, Deacon Nie, my master..."

Shen Hao followed behind and finally witnessed Nie Yun’s prominence within the sects. Most of the cultivators wearing a Sect Emblem were from second and third-tier sects, and when they met Nie Yun, the scene was much like when Shen Hao inspected the various Hundred Households Stations—everyone with a polite mask, full of flattery. They weren’t necessarily faking friendliness, but the atmosphere was certainly contrived. Who Nie Yun was genuinely close to—only he would know.