Chapter 654 (1): The Young Zhu Lian

Under a lonesome peach tree on a small and desolate mountain outside Light Breeze City, two people stood still and stared at each other.

Liu Chicheng angrily glowered at the Nascent Tier vagrant cultivator, but this didn't stop him from reaching up to wipe the blood off his face.

The pink Daoist robe worn by Liu Chicheng could rival the beauty of the peach blossoms.

The Nascent Tier vagrant cultivator, who was captured and marched to this place, revealed his true appearance. He was surprisingly a short "youth," but his hair was completely white, and his appearance was aged.

What was more surprising was the long string of ancient jade pendants and small containers hanging from his white jade belt with patterns of hornless dragons.

He wobbled back and forth, yet he still drew on all his power to remain standing, afraid that he would be smacked to death by the Daoist priest in pink robes if he stumbled.

He felt absolutely terrible right now. It was as if he had just been about to dig into a table of delicious food, yet someone had suddenly walked over and flipped it upside down. Not only had he failed to enjoy a single bite, but the table had even smacked him square in the head.

Even now, he still didn't understand how he had suffered a drop in cultivation base! He had fallen from the peak stage of the Nascent Tier to the early stage of the Golden Core Tier, a truly miserable fate.

He was even more puzzled about why the Daoist priest in pink Daoist robes had seemingly suffered severe wounds as well despite being so profoundly powerful. Most importantly, the vagrant cultivator knew that he hadn't launched an attack at all!

He had once been a powerful figure ruling over a region, treated as an emperor behind the scenes in several small nations. He also liked to conceal his identity and search for treasures around the world.

In fact, he was quite renowned in the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, having fought with Wind Lightning Field's Li Tuanjing before and luckily managing to survive after facing several sword strikes. Similarly, he had also managed to survive after being hunted by an old immortal from the Divine Edict Sect for several thousand kilometers.

Many years ago, he had been part friends and part enemies with Bamboo Scroll Lake's Liu Laocheng. One time, he had been beaten half-dead by Liu Laocheng, who was at the same cultivation base at the time, due to unequal distribution of treasures following their exploration of a secret immortal ruin in the territory of the ancient Shu Nation.

Afterward, he had still killed several direct disciples of Palace Willow Island, who were training in the outside world, even though Liu Laocheng had already experienced a meteoric rise. Liu Laocheng had failed to find his hiding spot, so the leader of Palace Willow Island could only let this matter slide.

His life was nothing short of spectacular, what with all his strange and wonderful experiences and encounters. Even so, he had never been as confused as he was right now. Who was this Daoist priest in pink? How had the Daoist priest launched such a powerful attack and caused him to suffer a drop in cultivation base? Why had the Daoist priest come here? Was he going to die here today...?

Liu Chicheng flicked the blood off his hand and said with a faint smile, "I need to thank you, huh?"

Seeing that this senior was a Daoist immortal, the "young" vagrant cultivator catered to his tastes and bowed according to the etiquette of the Daoist sect. He then said in a quiet voice, "This junior is called Chai Bofu, and my Dao title is Dragon Uncle. Perhaps Senior has heard of me before."

Mountains and rivers shrunk into several steps; calm breathing forms colossal clouds in the sky.

This was an apt description for the well-renowned Vagrant Cultivator Dragon Uncle. He was extremely skilled at assassinations and fleeing, and he was also masterful at water element offensive techniques. It was rumored that a slight conflict of the Great Dao existed between Chai Bofu and Bamboo Scroll Lake's Liu Zhimao, and they had even fought over a secret immortal text before, one that could lead to the heavens. They had allegedly attacked each other viciously without holding back, almost crushing each other's heads.

Liu Chicheng gritted his teeth and spat, "Heard of you before? Well then, I'm Liu Chicheng from the White Mountain Nation, so have you ever heard of me before?"

Chai Bofu mustered his courage and replied, "My knowledge is limited, so I've never actually heard of your esteemed name before, Senior."

Liu Chicheng collapsed to the ground and leaned against a tree, saying with a dejected expression, "Like picking chicken poo from cracks in the tile, and like digging dog shit from mud beside the road, I finally accumulated some cultivation after so much difficulty. Yet, all it took was a single smack. I don't want to live anymore. Just kill me already."

Chai Bofu didn't move a muscle. Things hadn't reached the stage where he would purposely act flustered, nor would he speak sincerely from the bottom of his heart. When interacting with these cultivators who possessed lofty cultivation bases, yet were free-spirited and largely unknown, it was of utmost importance not to act smart and gild the lily.

Liu Chicheng closed his eyes and rested his mind, lightly banging his head against the peach tree again and again as he mumbled, "I'll snap the peach tree and ruin his scenery."

He then furiously slapped himself across the face, seemingly smacking some sense into himself. A smile gradually spread across his face, and he continued, "No, I should be feeling happy. Who else in the world can survive such a huge calamity? And those who survive a calamity are bound to have good fortune later! They're bound to have abundant fortune!"

Liu Chicheng stood up, instantly going from a state of listlessness to a state of high spirits as he straightened his back and shook his sleeves. He retrieved three sticks of incense before looking at the vagrant cultivator who was stupidly standing still, and the two of them started to stare at each other again.

"Are you not going to piss off? Are you trying to stop me from offering incense to the deities?" Liu Chicheng asked.

However, he suddenly took a deep breath and said, "No, I can't be like this. I need to treat others with kindness and virtue. I need to speak reason like those scholars."

Chai Bofu slowly shuffled away, only daring to stand still after moving fifteen kilometers.

He didn't feel stifled at all. After all, vagrant cultivators who were able to reach positions as lofty as Chai Bofu's were naturally very astute and calculating.

Wind Lightning Field's Li Tuanjing had once smiled and remarked that it wasn't official immortals who cultivated their hearts the most, but rather, it was vagrant cultivators. It was a shame that they could only cultivate unorthodox techniques, however, or else they would definitely have the Great Dao within reach.

Liu Chicheng organized his thoughts, pushing aside the trivial thoughts as he started to recite something. He then pinched the tip of the incense sticks, slowly lighting them up. Afterward, Liu Chicheng seemingly bowed three times to heaven and earth.

In reality, the first bow was to the ancestral hall of White Emperor City, which had served as his Dao mentor.

The second bow was to the Confucian scholar in azure who had launched a sword strike at him in the ancient temple, with Liu Chicheng having never witnessed such lofty sword skills and pure righteous aura before.

Only the third bow was to the so-called middle-aged Daoist priest with formidable divine might.

Gu Can was extremely cautious as he flew through the sky, and he landed on a nearby peach tree when he saw Liu Chicheng, who hadn't concealed his aura. Only after Liu Chicheng finished bowing and offering his respects did Gu Can say, "What did I say before? But what if something goes wrong? Is this really worth it?"

Liu Chicheng remained silent, only reverting to his normal state after the three sticks of incense in his hand finished burning. He grinned and replied, "Okay, I get it. Stop rubbing salt into my wounds. I'm hurting a lot right now, okay?"

He didn't spare so much as a proper glance at the vagrant cultivator, but his second remark revealed his true character. "What's the point of leaving him alive?"

Liu Chicheng smiled and asked, "Gu Can, do you want to become my junior brother, or do you want to become my junior nephew?"

"I don't have a say in this matter, so what's the point of talking about it?" Gu Can replied.

If someone unfamiliar with Gu Can met him for the first time over the past few years, they would think that he was a polite young scholar with a good upbringing.

However, traveling north together and interacting with each other every single day, both Gu Can and Liu Chicheng were well aware of each other's true characters.

Gu Can's claim that he didn't hold grudges insulted Liu Chicheng's intelligence.

"You said yourself that Mr. Qi helped you greatly in the past, gifting you words of wisdom and guiding you through barriers, thus allowing you to smoothly advance to the Upper Five Tiers," Gu Can said directly. "You also made a promise to Mr. Qi, saying that your debt of gratitude to him would be transferred to Chen Ping'an when the latter visits White Emperor City in the future. As such, you'll definitely treat Chen Ping'an with kindness.

"So, why don't you carefully mull over the consequences of your actions today? Firstly, your actions are ungrateful, and secondly, you're making an enemy of me. Sure enough, you're a lofty individual from White Emperor City, Liu Chicheng, always acting wantonly as you please. I'm becoming increasingly eager to visit White Emperor City now. Perhaps this is the only positive outcome of your actions today."

Gu Can hadn't spoken secretly using his mind's lake.

Liu Chicheng shot a sideways glance at Vagrant Cultivator Chai Bofu, who was already developing thoughts of death. He retracted his gaze and asked in exasperation, "You're that insistent on having Brother Dragon Uncle killed?"

Gu Can didn't offer a response.

Liu Chicheng remained patient as he explained, "Firstly, yesterday's matter belongs to yesterday, and tomorrow's matter belongs to tomorrow. For example, if Chen Ping'an wants to reason with me in the future, then I'll bring my senior brother into the equation. Chen Ping'an will die as a result, so I'll go with the flow and bring up the debt of gratitude that I owe to Mr. Qi, essentially saving Chen Ping'an's life. That way, I will have repaid the debt of gratitude, no?

"Secondly, disregarding the results today, my thoughts back then were very simple. Think about this yourself, Gu Can. How would you choose between making enemies with you or helping my senior brother reach the peak of yet another path of the Great Dao?

"And lastly, I both respect and fear my senior brother, but I'm also fond of White Emperor City and reminisce about it. I don't want it to become a stepping stone, whereby it's necessary for someone to appear to give my senior brother a reason to convince himself."

Gu Can understood everything apart from Liu Chicheng's last point.

Regardless of whether Gu Can viewed Liu Chicheng's principles and reasons as astray or not, they were ultimately things that Liu Chicheng sincerely believed in. Liu Chicheng was speaking to Gu Can from the bottom of his heart.

Gu Can was free to disagree with them, but he needed to give good "reasons" for his disagreement. These so-called reasons could be punches, immortal techniques, verbal tirades, or everything in between.

At the end of the day, Liu Chicheng was peering down at Gu Can the entire time, with his gaze and thoughts focused on the pinnacle of White Emperor City, his senior brother, as well as the others from the same force and same generation as him.

If Liu Chicheng wanted to take a disciple on behalf of his master, then the biggest obstacles in his way would actually be those under the same master as him.

A cold chill ran down Chai Bofu's back when he heard this. He had experienced many challenges on the path of cultivation, yet he had never felt as much despair as he did at this moment.

The mention of White Emperor City was like a colossal mountain that weighed on his heart, crushing down on him so much that he could barely breathe.

There were countless vagrant cultivators in the nine continents of the Majestic World, yet only a single place could be regarded as a holy land in their hearts, that being the Middle Earth Divine Continent's White Emperor City. The city lord was widely acknowledged as the paragon of demonic cultivators.

Right now, however, the Daoist priest in pink and the young man were casually talking about White Emperor City and their senior brothers and junior brothers.

Thus, when the two people fell silent again, Chai Bofu spoke up and asked, "What should I do to avoid death, Senior Liu and Gu Can?"

In reality, his question was mainly directed at the young man in azure who didn't possess a very high cultivation base.

Since Liu Chicheng had chosen to capture him and take him here, he at least wouldn't face any danger of being killed by the Daoist priest in pink. On the other hand, he had both new grudges and old grudges with Gu Can.

Chai Bofu had heard Gu Can's name before, largely due to his relationship with the River Severing True Lord Liu Zhimao. It was said that Gu Can had been a direct disciple of Liu Zhimao a few years ago, with the young boy being the owner of a Nascent Tier water flood dragon and going on a killing spree at Bamboo Scroll Lake. Things had suddenly fallen silent for some unknown reason afterward, with the flood dragon vanishing and Gu Can also going quiet.

Following this, the entire Bamboo Scroll Lake had been overtaken by outside cultivators, becoming a jurisdiction of the Jade Tablet Sect's lower sect. Those who obeyed their rule lived, and those who opposed their rule died. As for those who were unruly and rebellious, the True Realm Sect most likely fed them to the fish. As for those who recognized the great trend and went with the flow, they were seemingly able to take an immortal shower at Bamboo Scroll Lake, washing away their identities as vagrant cultivators and transforming into legitimate official immortals of a sect-level immortal force.

Chai Bofu felt like his luck over the recent period was truly as terrible as could be.

How had he come across this little devil? And how had Gu Can become acquainted with White Emperor City and Liu Chicheng, an extremely powerful cultivator?

Liu Chicheng pointed at Gu Can and replied, "You can ask my future junior brother about your life and death."

The greater Gu Can's achievements on the path of the Great Dao, the smoother Liu Chicheng's return journey to White Emperor City would be.

"There's no need to die if you're already dead," Gu Can said.

Liu Chicheng laughed in speechlessness.

This was a fairly interesting response.