Nightfall

A middle-aged Taoist reached out his hands to close the Classics and walked out of the hut slowly with his hands held behind him. He looked at his companion at the stone steps and said, “I didn’t expect there to be so many people of thisgeneration to be on the “Ri” book.”

The Taoist at the stone steps asked confusedly, “Who is on the book today?”

“Ning Que.”

“It sounds a little familiar… is it the Academy scholar who beat Longqing?”

“Yes. Although this lad has not yet entered Seethrough, he has already received Tao enlightenment. So he’s eligible for entrance on the book.”

The Taoist at the stone steps was slightly startled but immediately praised, “Headmaster of Academy is really awesome.”

“Yeah.” The other Taoist shook his head and said with complicated emotions, “Although Headmaster of Academy was not in Chang’an when this little lad called Ning Que entered the Second floor of the Academy, this lad is still his student after all. This lad is so young but has started to learn Talisman Taoism. I believe that the name will appear in the first few pages of the “Ri” book in a little more than a decade.”

They finished talking about this thing before discussing something lighter. The Taoist said goodbye to his companion and walked forward along the edge of a quiet lake in front of the hut. Accompanied by lakes, mountains and forest winds, he walked out the Taoist temple after a short time.

As the breeze blowing from the cliff landed on his face, he squinted at the misty mountain at a distance and the majestic Taoist temples towering over the mountain. He smiled peacefully.

It was quiet outside the simple Taoist temple’s walls, which seemed to quietly watch the bustle, majesty and nobleness in the world over there. Inside the Taoist temple, there was an old board with an inscription of “Zhi Shou”, which held traces of being ravaged by the wind and rain.

…

…

The storm sea was hundreds of kilometers away from the east. A horrifying four-season hurricane landed on the shore before passing hilly mountains and rivers to become a touch of breeze with plenty of moisture and coolness here. However, it did not have any destructive ability. So unlike Chang’an City, it was not stuffy in summer.

This country was not large. It was not prosperous, for its commerce was underdeveloped. Except for devout believers kowtowing around the mountains to worship the God, there were not so many other people. However, the sinister hurricane came here to become the breeze and drizzle. Therefore, there were beautiful but not dangerous mountains, quiet but not fast rivers, rich plains, and quiet forests with crying deers. It was really a land favored by Haotian. Because of the beautiful hills in the west, this country was named “West-Hill”.

In Zhishou Abbey deep inside the mountain, one could see a mountain from afar. It was the Peach Mountain. Although the peaches in the mountain had been cut by someone holding some wine and a sword many years ago, it has long since recovered thanks to the spring rain and fertile lands favored by Haotian. Among the mountain, the peaches of a different strain have been in full bloom from early spring to late summer, whose lush growth was rather attractive.

Above the Peach Mountain, there were several neat and smooth cliff squares, as if Firmament had released the power of God and abruptly split them open with an enormous ax. There were innumerable different Taoist temples built on the cliff squares, which together became a brilliant solemn temple complex. It was the West-Hill Divine Palace.

Divine Hall was built along the Peach Mountain and had three layers. On the upper cliff square closest to the sky, there were four most spectacular Taoist temples. The Taoist temple that was close to the cliffside was built wtih huge black stones and had a square shape rather than that of normal Taoist architecture. It watched the believers who bowed down on the Mountain Path indifferently through the times.

This black Taoist Temple’s hall was extremely spacious. Hundreds of meters deep in the hall, there was a curtain woven by beads. Behind the curtain was a divine seat carved by a whole South Sea ink jade. Great Divine Priest of Judgement one of the three Divine Priests ruling the Haotian divine church, would sit on this divine seat weekdays listening to subordinate divine priests’ reports and dealing with Taoist affairs.

Great Divine Priest of Judgement wore a red gown. But today he did not order his subordinate to uncover the beard curtain. Instead, he looked blankly at the curtain and seemed to want to turn all the pearls and jadeites above it into powders.

As one of the three Divine Priests of West-Hill Divine Palace, Great Divine Priest of Judgement was in charge of adjudication and ruled the most terrifying violence agency of Haotian Taoism. He had the most powerful cultivators of Haotian Taoism, with the strongest ability as well as the most terrifying honor in the world. For countless years, no one knew how many heresies have been secretly arrested because of his words or how much many survivors of Devil’s Doctrine have become ghosts in the fire because he lightly raised his little finger.

In the eyes of hundreds of millions of people in the world, even the Lord of West-Hill Divine Palace, Haotian hierarch, might not be so terrifying as this Great Divine Priest of Judge in a red gown. There has been even arumor that Great Divine Priest of Judgement’s divine gown was bright red rather than black like Judicial Department’s, for it was dyed with all his enemies’ blood.

Such a Great Divine Priest was at the top of the world and had the supreme and fear-invoking authority. When he did not show the slightest facial expression, and look upon you with indifferent eyes, not only would the bead curtain in front of him would turn to powder in fear, but the Great Sword Masters travelled the world with just a sword and had no fear of royal authority might be so scared their hearts would burst.

However, the bead curtain before Grand Judge did not break today.

The person on the other side of the bead curtain was kneeling in fear, but still stood calmly.

The beard curtain covered the person’s body and face outside, only revealing a pair of shoes. This pair of shoes was as red as blood, embroidered with a few fish patterns. There was also an extremely fluffy red skirt hanging down to the knee. This person was obviously female.

The Divine Priest of Judge looked away from the corner of the red skirt, and looked up slowly. He then asked emotionlessly, “Why hasn’t Longqing come back?”

The female outside the curtain replied, “Why hasn’t Longqing, that coward, returned? How would I know? I have never been in charge of human affairs since I started ruling the Judicial Department. Why are you asking me, Uncle?”

Her crisp sound went through the bead curtain and became even more exquisite. She should be young and was still a girl.

Great Divine Priest of Judgement lowered his eyelids slightly and said, “The name of Ning Que appeared on the “Ri” book.”

A few silent moments later, the girl satirized. “Ning Que is a rival of Long Qing. If he could not get rid of such a small crawler in No Doubts State, would he still expect me to help? I’ll regard it as an insult.”

A sudden surge of light appeared and then quickly disappeared in the Great Divine Priest of Judgement’s eyes. He said with no emotion, “Longqing was defeated by this person. Of course, he has to win in person to recover his Taoist Heart. But I must remind you. Though this person is still only in No Doubts State, and is a humble little reptile in your eyes, this person has already entered the Second floor of the Academy to become Headmaster of Academy’s student. Even if you take notice of him in advance, it wouldn’t be considered as an insult.”

“Even if he studied under Uncle Yan Se to learn Talisman Taoism, he might not necessarily be able to become the second Uncle Yan Se. I think he doesn’t have any qualification worthy of my attention for now.”Outside the curtain, the girl in red proudly said, “Uncle, you should know that my goal has always been Jun Mo. No one else is qualified to distract me.”

“Jun Mo, the second disciple in the Academy… “Grand Judge softly lamented, with a trace of irony floating on his old face. No one knew whether he was ridiculing the girl outside the curtain or other ignorant people.

“A few years ago, you were led by hierarch Lord to come back for an Etiquette rite and had a chance to read the “Ri” book. You would not calm down after seeing Jun Mo’s name because you could not imagine why there existed a cultivation genius in the world who was far better than you. So you always want to be better than this enemy you’ve never met before.”

Grand Judge looked at the girl in red outside the curtain and said indifferently, “You say that the others are not qualified to distract you. But you have not thought of one thing. For Jun Mo who could compete with me and your brother, what qualification do you have to become his opponent? How can you enter the eyes of extremely proud Second Brother in the Academy?”

When he finished the words, a gust of wind blew from somewhere in the Peach Mountain, going through the spacious majestic temple and blowing the bead curtain gently. It wavered gently and gave off a burst of crisp sound. Outside the shaky bead curtain, one could vaguely see that the lace on the girl’s red skirt rose up against the wind.

Great Divine Priest of Judgement seemed to not notice that the most powerful priest under his command had became outraged for being despised and continued to say without any emotions. “Recently, the situation in the Wilderness seemed to be a little unstable. Desolate Men continue to move to the south. I don’t know where they’ll eventually stop their steps. The hierarch Lord was worried that the survivors of Devil’s Doctrine would take advantage of the chance to rise again, echoing the omen in the Divine Book. So he is about to issue the Divine Church’s order. Of course, my Judicial Department should move first. So you should immediately set off to the north.”

The girl in red outside the curtain was slightly surprised and said after a moment of silence, “After all, they’re just some small affairs. I’m anxious to cultivate in the mountain so as to break my current state. I wish Uncle could choose someone else.”

The Great Divine Priest of Judgement watched the girl’s figure outside the curtain and said, “Divine Hall recognizes your talent and perseverance in cultivation. That was why hierarch Lord and I saved you at all costs when you deliberately angered Chen Pipi, resulting in his leaving the West-Hill and when your elder brother wanted to cut you with a sword. But you need to be clear that talent and persistence does not grant you pride.”

“Your elder brother is proud and calm. Jun Mo is proud and dull. Because they have already been standing on the pinnacle of the young generation in the world, they have the ability to be proud. Whether you or Longqing, although good enough, you two are not that absolutely powerful. As long as anyone is capable of defeating you, you are not qualified to be proud. Because such a pride without absolute assurance of power will be a great obstacle to your Taoist Heart cultivation.”

“As long as one absolutely believes what he believe as right, his faith can be firm. As long as one absolutely believes that no one can beat himselves, his pride can be firm. Your elder brother and Jun Mo have believed this many years ago. How about you? In the legend of the world, the two priests of my Judicial Department are both great figures. In fact, what great abilities do you have? Longqing went to the Academy in Chang’an this time, only to be defeated by a lad in No Doubts State. I believe he will have some enlightment for it. It is a pity that you have never had a chance to be defeated under the protection of the hierarch and I.”

After a long time of silence, the girl outside the curtain asked, “Uncle, master and you decided to let me go to the Wilderness. Did you send me deliberately so that I’ll experience defeat?”

Great Divine Priest of Judgement said indifferently, ” Headmaster of Academy once said ‘begging for benevolence’. As for failure, only begging for failure can ensure you are undefeated. So we want you defeated in a hope that you can really be undefeated in the future.”

With her red skirt moving slightly, the girl outside the curtain bowed and then turned away.

A Divine Priest of Judicial Department came from the side door of the main hall. He looked at the girl stepping on the bright gold beads towards the outside of the temple and the swaggering red skirt in the wind. He could not help but shake his head. He walked behind the bead curtain and greeted the respectfully greeted the Great Divine Priest of Judgement with a bow and bit his tongue.

Everyone in West-Hill Divine Palace knew that the red girl’s elder brother must be the next Haotian Taoism hierarch, and she was most likely to be the next Great Divine Priest of Judgement. So the subordinate who was faithful to Great Divine Priest of Judgement felt that the Great Divine Priest’s reprimand earlier was too harsh.

Great Divine Priest of Judgement knew what his subordinate was thinking and said expressionlessly, “Hierarch and I are sending her to the Wilderness to give her a chance to see how big the world is. Everyone had praised her as the Tao Addict and she does indeed have an addiction. I think she would not mind if it’s good for her Tao cultivation.”