Chapter 175: Mortal World Heart Tempering (End)

Another three years passed.

The old physician had been dead for two years now, buried on the mountain behind Haoyang Alley. People went up to pay their respects every year. There were always a few half-burnt sticks of incense and a pot of coarse tea left before his grave, as if a visitor had only just departed.

Twelve years had gone by. Li Daniu had not returned, and neither had Elder Yang. The cup of tea beneath the Azure Jade Pavilion's counter grew hot then cold, and cold then hot again, as if someone else still lived in the shop. Jiuyou would occasionally take out that wooden box of wild tea, wipe it clean, and put it back. It was as if he feared he would forget it if he just left it sitting there, or perhaps he opened it just to check that he hadn't.

Xiao Ling'er visited the shop less frequently now. She was the little immortal doctor of Haoyang Alley, carrying her medicine box through the streets and alleys every day, so busy she was practically run off her feet. Occasionally, when passing by the Azure Jade Pavilion, she only had time to call out, "Big Brother Qing," before hurrying off.

But her eyes were still as bright as ever, like a sliver of light left behind in Haoyang Alley. It shone on the unsold jade pendants resting on the old wooden shelves, so bright and clear it warmed the heart of anyone who saw it.

Two years ago, immortal masters had come to the city to test for spiritual roots. Among their ranks was a young cultivator in his early twenties named Hu Lei. He was at the Middle Stage of Qi Refining, had clean-cut features, and spoke with the honest sincerity of someone who had grown up in the alleys himself.

Unlike other cultivators, he didn't put on airs; when he encountered children, he would crouch down to speak to them at eye level. Word had it that his mother had fallen gravely ill when he was young and the old physician had saved her—a debt of gratitude he had kept in his heart ever since.

After meeting Xiao Ling'er, he visited Haoyang Alley frequently. Sometimes he brought a few pastries, other times a bundle of medicinal herbs he had gathered on the mountain. These small tokens weren't worth much, but he had spent a long time saving up for them. Xiao Ling'er was reserved at first, but she gradually came to accept him.

Jiuyou secretly observed this man for a year. His character was upright and proper, and his feelings for Xiao Ling'er were genuine and sincere.

That autumn, wedding invitations were delivered to every household's door, and Jiuyou received one as well. The red paper wasn't cut very large, but the handwriting was neat, as if someone had written out each stroke with utmost care.

The area in front of the old clinic was already packed with people. The courtyard had been newly renovated, the walls rebuilt, and the ground paved with fresh bricks. Even those few small huts that had been on the verge of collapsing were cleaned up by the combined efforts of the neighbors; they had been painted, fitted with new roof tiles, and turned into a bridal chamber.

Jiuyou walked in carrying a wedding gift. He placed it on a table in the corner of the courtyard, then stepped aside and sat down.

The newlyweds stepped over the threshold, one after the other. A red veil covered Xiao Ling'er's face, hiding her expression. After a bout of firecrackers went off, children gathered around the tables to snatch up candies while the neighbors raised their glasses and offered auspicious blessings. A warm, lively atmosphere of everyday life filled the courtyard.

Sitting in the corner, Jiuyou held a cup of wine and slowly finished it.

When the banquet dispersed in the afternoon, he set down his wine cup, got up, and walked out of the courtyard. The wooden shutters of the Azure Jade Pavilion had already been closed. He packed the unsold jade pendants into a cloth sack and pressed them into the bottom of a chest. The wooden box of wild tea was packed away with them. He didn't open it, nor did he leave a single word behind.

He left.

Just as he had arrived, he departed without causing a stir or disturbing anyone.

The parasol trees in the alley remained the same, swaying gently in the wind, dropping a few leaves, and sprouting new buds. No one knew where the shopkeeper of the Azure Jade Pavilion had gone, just as no one had ever known why he came.

Only later did many people in Haoyang Alley find a jade pendant from the Azure Jade Pavilion resting on their windowsills, inside their cabinets, or beside their pillows. Every single piece was polished to a warm smoothness, as if someone had carved it with earnest dedication. They depicted all sorts of things—flowers and birds, wild beasts, or the two characters for "peace"—yet none of them bore a signature.

...

"Senior, please rest assured. Our Baixuan City Cave Dwelling Bureau has always done business fairly. This mountain peak is in a secluded location, yet it is rich in spiritual energy. You definitely won't lose out on this deal."

The one speaking was a young cultivator at the Peak Foundation Establishment Stage. Jiuyou recognized him; he was the disciple who had followed behind that Golden Core elder back when Jiuyou had just emerged from seclusion after dispersing his cultivation to rebuild it.

The young man looked left and right, stepped half a pace closer, and lowered his voice. "To tell you the truth, this Spirit Pavilion Peak has quite the history. About fourteen or fifteen years ago, a mighty Nascent Soul figure cultivated in seclusion here. After that senior emerged from seclusion, he never returned, and no one knows where he went. The city lord sealed off this mountain for over a decade. Seeing that the senior never came back, he only reopened it half a year ago. You're quite lucky to have caught it just in time."

Jiuyou gazed toward the familiar mountain peak below. He didn't say much, simply handing over a bag of spirit stones. After receiving the Token, he strode into the mountain.

Just as he had done over a decade ago, he laid down layers of array formations, tightly securing the entirety of Spirit Pavilion Peak before stepping deep into the cave dwelling. The furnishings he had left behind back then were still there. A layer of dust coated the stone table, stone platform, and shelves. He casually swept them clean and settled in.

Sitting cross-legged on the stone bed, Jiuyou closed his eyes and regulated his breathing. "Mortal World Heart Tempering does not lie in distant mountains or scriptures, but in the cooking smoke of narrow alleys, the exchange of human emotions, the gains and losses, the gatherings and partings, and the joys and sorrows of life. It is not about avoiding everything, but about witnessing all of it and still being able to guard one's own path. The so-called tempering of the heart is to see all living beings, to see oneself, and then to carry what must be carried, and lay down what must be laid down."

"Only then can one achieve perfection."

The cave dwelling fell silent. The only sound left was the slow flow of spiritual power through his meridians, like a river gradually building up the strength to burst its banks.

Eighty years later.

On this day, a sudden disturbance erupted in the skies above Hundred Declarations City.

The spiritual energy within the city grew restless without warning. At first, it was just a faint tremor, but then, as if pulled by an invisible hand, it began surging in a single direction. It was like a whale swallowing the ocean, drawing the spiritual energy from a hundred miles around into a single vortex. Winds howled through the city towers, whipping the robes of pedestrians. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up toward that direction.

"Look! What's that?"

"A sea... a golden sea!?"

Cries of alarm echoed one after another.

Above an unnamed mountain peak in the distance, a vast expanse of golden light was slowly unfurling. It washed over the mountain ridges like a golden tide, spilling outward in all directions. The light wasn't blinding, but it possessed a dense, substantial weight that made it impossible to look away, as if something was slowly taking shape out of the void.

The golden light gathered and thickened, gradually condensing into the silhouettes of nine towering palaces. They were neatly arranged in a row, suspended in the sky above the mountain peak. Spiritual light swirled around them, projecting an aura of solemn majesty.

Immediately after, a tenth palace began to condense. Boundless spiritual energy surged toward the unformed palace like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, as if drawn in from all directions by some invisible force.

That tenth palace emerged from the golden light inch by inch. Its outline grew increasingly distinct—eave corners, colonnades, steps, flying eaves... It was as if an unseen hand were sketching it out piece by piece. The moment the final corner of the flying eaves joined together, an invisible wave of air blasted outward from the peak.

The entirety of Hundred Declarations City seemed to be gently tipped by that shockwave. Street stalls rattled, and cultivators with shallow cultivation bases were forced back several steps before they could find their footing. Their eyes were filled with disbelief, their gazes locked onto that golden sky as if they couldn't trust what they were seeing.

Someone muttered in a low voice, "Even when the City Lord broke through to the Middle Nascent Soul Stage last time, it didn't cause such a massive disturbance."

No one answered.

Everyone just stared at the mountain peak, watching as the golden palaces slowly faded into the sky, as if something had finally completed the ritual it was meant to finish.

Finally, someone seemed to recognize what this signified, their voice cracking as they cried out.

"This is... the Nascent Soul Late Stage!"