Chapter 655 (1): No One at the Pinnacle

Pei Qian opened the courtyard door, only to see Zhou Mili standing there with a hiking pole in one hand and a carrying pole on one shoulder. A sack of roasted seeds hung from each end of the carrying pole, and the young girl was busy chatting with the stone lion at the entrance. One was chirping away, while the other remained silent. They clearly got along very well with each other.

Zhou Mili hurriedly turned to look at Pei Qian when she heard the door creak open, and she was about to ask a question when she saw Pei Qian gesture for her to stay quiet for the moment. Pei Qian then looked at a roof ridge in the distance.

A martial arts grandmaster in his prime stood on the main ridge of an extravagant hip-and-gable roof, and he planned to leave since his presence had already been discovered. He would return to the palace and report the situation here to the young emperor. In reality, the martial arts grandmaster didn't know much either, but the young emperor was apprehensive of the young woman who had soared into the sky and shattered the sea of clouds with a single punch. Thus, he had frantically issued an edict and commanded the martial arts grandmaster to investigate the situation.

However, the martial arts grandmaster had arrived too late, and he had only been in time to see the young woman plummet down like a fearsome arrow. Compared to the huge commotion before, where the capital had tremored and the dragon veins had quaked, however, the landing of the young woman was the complete opposite. She was as light as a feather and as quiet as a shadow as she landed on the ground. This terrified the martial arts grandmaster. The incredible display by the young woman exhibited the power of the Wing Formation Tier.[1]

Following the death of Old Demon Ding, Yu Zhenyi, who had switched to the path of immortal techniques, had also vanished without a trace, with rumors saying that he had already ascended beyond the heavens.

Afterward, the Spring Tide Palace's Zhou Fei and Imperial Preceptor Zhong Qiu had also embarked on distant journeys. Along with them, many top-notch elites such as Bird's Eye View Peak's Lu Fang — and especially Lu Tai, who had appeared from nowhere and united the demonic forces within ten years before challenging Yu Zhenyi to a battle — also faded from view.

And thus, the martial world had already been without paramount elites for many years.

Perhaps the so-called young woman in front of him was a fabled cultivator who had attained Dao and was able to regain her youthful appearance?

Perhaps she was an otherworldly immortal who had descended from the heavens and come here to travel?

The martial world was stifled right now, but the immortal qi in the mountains was becoming increasingly rich, with a myriad of strange and wonderful matters appearing.

Unexpectedly, however, the young woman only needed a few strides to jump over the walls and bound along the roof ridges, arriving on the ridge opposite the middle-aged martial arts grandmaster in an instant.

The two of them sized each other up, and standing at a slightly lower elevation, Pei Qian retracted her fist stance and cupped her fists in greeting, saying fluently in the official dialect of the Southern Garden Nation, "I'm Pei Qian, a citizen of the Southern Garden Nation and a disciple of Downtrodden Mountain. What guidance do you have for me, Senior?"

The middle-aged martial artist, who had a saber hanging by his waist, retracted his awkward expression and cupped his fists in response, replying, "I'm Dong Zhongxia, a guest elder of the Wei Clan and the saber instructor for the imperial guard."

He smiled and continued, "I don't dare to provide any guidance, and I simply received orders to investigate this area. Since Miss Pei is cultivating here, I can rest assured and report back to the emperor."

The emperor had issued a secret edict before, instructing the officials of the Southern Garden Nation to treat cultivators from Downtrodden Mountain with respect, regardless of where they encountered them.

Wei Liang, the former emperor of the nation, had unexpectedly abdicated the throne to his eldest son despite being in his prime. Following his ascension to the throne, Wei Yan had heavily promoted imperial examinations and pardoned several families across the various provinces, removing their status as inferior citizens and allowing their descendants to participate in the imperial examinations.

The young emperor also re-established martial examinations, with descendants of border soldiers and military personnel being able to attend. Those in the martial world were also allowed to participate, as long as there were no criminal records attached to their ancestors for three generations. The imperial edict clearly stated the purpose of the martial examination, saying that its goal was to promote loyal and capable generals for the nation.

The third matter pertained to the construction of temples and shrines, and Emperor Wei Yan instructed the Ministry of Rites to peruse the local county chronicles of the various provinces, from which they could select deceased officials who had displayed loyalty and virtue in their lifetimes to build gold statues for. That way, they could hopefully return as heroic spirits and continue to guard the land.

Apart from this, the emperor also started to secretly fund and recruit cultivators, having them help with the suppression of ghosts and spirits that had grown explosively in numbers throughout the nation, preventing these entities from wreaking havoc across the lands. Otherwise, even if the martial artists in the martial world possessed lofty fist and leg skills, they would still be powerless and at a disadvantage against these strange entities, with which they had never interacted before.

Dong Zhongxia was a leader among the current group of top-notch martial arts grandmasters in the martial world. He was in his forties, and he had broken through another martial arts barrier a few years ago, allowing him to defeat several notorious demons and fiends when embarking on a distant journey. This had catapulted him to fame, and it was thanks to this that Emperor Wei Yan had noticed him and appointed him as a martial guest elder of the Southern Garden Nation.

Now, however, Dong Zhongxia was aware that the emperor was a genuine martial arts grandmaster with profound skill.

"Senior Dong, you aren't a citizen of the Southern Garden Nation?" Pei Qian asked with a smile.

Otherwise, he should have recognized the lofty fist stance that she had purposely displayed just then, one originating from Mr. Zhong, the former imperial preceptor of the Southern Garden Nation.

From this, it could also be seen that Dong Zhongxia wasn't necessarily the most trusted subordinate of Emperor Wei Yan.

Dong Zhongxia nodded and replied, "I'm originally from the Pine Song Nation, and I've only been at the Southern Garden Nation for a short time."

Pei Qian turned around and looked elsewhere, furrowing her brow as she did so. Was there any point in remaining hidden? She had indeed caused slightly more commotion when unleashing her fists just then, and the elites of the nation were only fulfilling their duty to the imperial court by coming here to investigate the situation. Thus, Pei Qian would treat them with respect.

Apart from Dong Zhongxia, however, there was another person hiding behind Pei Qian and under the mistaken belief that she hadn't noticed them. Not only did they not stop their actions, but they even pushed their luck and stealthily channeled a mystical ability, summoning several minuscule beads of water around Pei Qian and Dong Zhongxia and seemingly using them to eavesdrop.

Pei Qian bid farewell to Dong Zhongxia.

The middle-aged martial artist was slightly surprised. By the looks of it, she genuinely wasn't an otherworldly immortal from the larger world beyond the heavens.

The roof tiles around Pei Qian remained almost completely still, but the thin layer of dust accumulated on top of them was blown away by a gust of wind. In the next moment, Dong Zhongxia could no longer see Pei Qian's figure.

Pei Qian was already squatting beside some curved eaves in the distance, staring at a young man sitting cross-legged and forming hand seals. He was wearing a Dao robe, which was still relatively rare in the Lotus Root Blessed Land, and there was a green jade hat on his head as well as a short jade sword at his waist.

The young man smiled and stood up, saying in greeting, "Guest Elder Wang Guangjing of the prince's residence pays his respects to Miss Pei."

"Immortal Wang from the prince's residence? Weren't you instructed to leave the capital with two other eminent scholars, so that you could reopen that old pit at the dragon pool?" Pei Qian asked.

The capital of the Southern Garden Nation was brimming with people from all walks of life right now, with a large number of immortals and Daoist priests fishing for fame. However, there were also those who were cultivating in earnest, rushing to occupy the prime locations to grab onto the great trend and establish their own forces. Similarly, there were also those who joined the imperial forces of the three nations, easily earning immortal coins which people were only seeing for the first time.

These matters were recorded in detail by Downtrodden Mountain, and Chen Nuanshu would occasionally make copies of these records to file away in the ancestral hall on Sky Blue Peak. Meanwhile, the original copy would stay with the old cook.

Downtrodden Mountain had secretly created two avenues of gathering information in the Lotus Root Blessed Land, with one created by Mr. Zhong. Former Emperor Wei Liang and Emperor Wei Yan were both keenly aware of this avenue, given that it was a clause in the contract signed between Downtrodden Mountain and the Southern Garden Nation. The other avenue was in the distant Pine Song Nation, and this avenue was personally managed by Zhu Lian.

Pei Qian didn't fully understand the matters of the imperial court, but she was aware that the relationship between the former emperor and his son wasn't as amicable as it appeared on the surface. Otherwise, the former emperor wouldn't have such a close relationship with Wei Yun, his second son. At the same time, Emperor Wei Yan wouldn't have appointed his younger brother to the position of prefect of the capital, also appointing an influential official supporting his younger brother to the position of Minister of Finance.

If not for the head minister of the Ministry of Rites, who would oversee the deities in the future and was a trusted subordinate of the young emperor, Pei Qian would have been inclined to believe the former emperor was still running the show in the Southern Garden Nation.

Wang Guangjing was slightly astonished, and he put on an expression of guilt as he replied, "I was in a rush to advance my cultivation base before setting off, and this unfortunately resulted in a small mishap with my cultivation. I had no choice but to stay behind and recuperate in the capital."

Dong Zhongxia glanced over from a distance, his heart heavy as he took his leave.

Prince Wei Yun definitely wasn't a pushover, and he had managed to recruit a sizable group of cultivators over the past few years thanks to support from the former emperor.

If the prince's residence managed to forge a relationship with Miss Pei and recruit the female martial artist as a guest elder, wouldn't that cause the dark undercurrents to flow even more vigorously in the capital of the Southern Garden Nation?

Dong Zhongxia hurriedly made his way back to a hidden residence near the palace, the place where Imperial Preceptor Zhong Qiu had cultivated in the past. He was given a start when he saw the disguised visitor, and he hastily fell to his knees and cupped his fists in respect, saying in a quiet voice, "Your Majesty."

Emperor Wei Yan carefully listened to Dong Zhongxia's recount before smiling faintly and saying, "Measly rats and snakes in the wilderness dare to wantonly recruit talent in front of a flood dragon?"

Could the small pond in Prince Wei Yun's residence withstand a dragon taking a few sips of water? Especially if the dragon were accustomed to drinking from lakes and rivers? That being the case, how could the prince's residence possibly host its guest in a satisfactory manner?

There was also a lithe and graceful young woman standing beside Wei Yan. She was his younger sister, Wei Zhen.

"Since that young woman is from Downtrodden Mountain, what's her relationship with Sword Immortal Chen? Why don't we ask her, Older Brother?" Wei Zhen suggested in a quiet voice.

"This is a major matter pertaining to the security of the nation, so you're not allowed to mess around and act carelessly," Wei Yan said in warning.

Wei Zhen was slightly disappointed.

She was also half a cultivator now, and she felt a strong sense of longing for the world that Downtrodden Mountain was located in. Sorting through the secret documents in the palace over the past few years, this sense of longing only grew stronger and stronger.

Elsewhere, Pei Qian's expression remained normal as she listened to Wang Guangjing's cunning words, but she was actually secretly amused and holding back a laugh.

Even though Pei Qian had purposely suppressed her own mind and body before, remaining a short, tanned little girl for a very long time, she had always been mature beyond her years. Even when she had just left the Lotus Flower Blessed Land and entered the Majestic World, she genuinely couldn't be regarded as a simple child.

Otherwise, the two experienced guards in the small border town of the Great Quan Empire wouldn't have been so thoroughly tricked by her nonsense, even going so far as to respectfully accompany her back to Jiu Niang's inn. And even now, Li Huai and his two friends in the academy still believed that Pei Qian was a so-called princess who had fallen on hard times and been forced into the mortal world.

Pei Qian politely declined the invitation of Wang Guangjing. She wanted to return to the residence to meet up with Little Mili.

Wang Guangjing was surprisingly stubborn, however, and he continued to try his luck, even praising Prince Wei Yun as a most virtuous person, especially in his generosity toward martial artists. It didn't matter if Pei Qian wasn't willing to take a few extra steps to visit the prince's residence, and the prince could personally pay her a visit in the future. The prince would definitely make time in his busy schedule if Pei Qian agreed to this proposal.

Pei Qian's head started to hurt as she listened to Wang Guangjing's bullshit. How had Wei Yun found himself such a stupid guest elder? He was either scaring others with his backers or nagging in an annoying way. Was he trying to recruit people for the prince's residence, or scare people off?

A few thoughts crossed her mind. Even though Wang Guangjing was spewing absolute lies — he hadn't suffered a small mishap while cultivating in seclusion, and he had instead advanced to the Abode Tier — he was indeed half an immortal, given that he belonged to the very first group of Middle Five Tier Qi refiners in the Lotus Root Blessed Land.

Spiritual energy in the blessed land was becoming increasingly abundant, and more and more people were entering the mountains to cultivate. However, only a small number of cultivators could advance to the Middle Five Tiers, and each of them was extremely valuable. Most importantly, they could maintain the advantage of this head start, and the most talented Qi refiners would reach their next major barrier when the Lotus Root Blessed Land was on the cusp of becoming a medium-grade blessed land.

As for when the Lotus Root Blessed Land could transform into a high-grade blessed land? The old cook had said before that they wouldn't be in a hurry even if they were able to muster together enough grain rain coins. In any case, Downtrodden Mountain genuinely didn't have enough money.

Sitting in the small courtyard at the time, everyone's gazes had immediately turned to Great Mountain God Wei Bo. Back then, Chen Lingjun had yet to embark on his distant journey to the Northern Complete Reed Continent, and Zheng Dafeng had still been the gatekeeper of Downtrodden Mountain.

"We can speak and plan slowly, but we need to earn money quickly," Zheng Dafeng had said in an amused voice.

Wei Bo had smiled faintly and said, "I'm going to flip the Go board if you keep pushing me like this."

1. The Wing Formation Tier is usually referred to as the Far Roaming Tier. ☜