A cultivator surnamed Hua who cultivated 【Yimu Wood】 actually possessed the Dao title Zhuohua?
This was a high Foundation Establishment cultivator who had ordered the change of the generation names for the Hua family's direct line; he certainly must have possessed some understanding of the 【Name-Nature Method】, so how could he have committed such a taboo?
The man had died burned by Li Fire, which, upon careful thought, seemed somewhat akin to fulfilling the name with his life.
Now Hua Chunning had entered Mount Taixuan, and the bamboo slip recording the 【Name-Nature Method】 had coincidentally fallen into his hands.
Li Chengxuan's expression remained calm, yet his heart was tossing like stormy seas.
Hua Chunning cautiously looked at Li Chengxuan and asked in a low voice, "May I ask the Sect Master, is there any problem?"
"Heh... It is nothing."
Li Chengxuan suppressed the doubts in his mind, chuckled softly, and shook his head. "I was merely thinking that Supreme Venerable Zhuohua possessed brilliant means and deep intentions, holding particularly high expectations for the direct line like you."
Hua Chunning nodded silently upon hearing this. "Many in the direct line also wished to defect to the Qingyun Sect. It was only because Grandfather remembered the ancestral order and ruthlessly purged them that the clan was brought into order."
Li Chengxuan nodded slightly, deliberating in his heart whether he should also purge Mount Taixuan and clean out Hua Chunning and the Hua family.
Seeing Li Chengxuan's gentle demeanor, Hua Chunning summoned the courage to voice her thoughts: "This disciple is foolish. 【Yimu Wood】 is difficult to cultivate. If I willingly accept the pollution of the mortal realm within the grotto-heaven, I wonder if I can enter the Dao using 【Mortal Turbid Qi】?"
After all, the Sect Master himself had entered the Dao through 【Mortal Turbid Qi】.
If she switched her cultivation, she could not only draw closer to the Sect Master, but she also wouldn't have to worry about lacking guidance or having no path forward.
Li Chengxuan smiled upon hearing this and shook his head. "Switching your cultivation is hardly that simple."
"I dared to enter the Dao using 【Mortal Turbid Qi】 because my fate is unique and is 【Uncalculated Fate】, allowing me to avoid being defiled by the mortal realm."
"However, your aura is shallow, and your fate has yet to manifest."
"Mortal Turbid Qi would scatter your aura and wear away your nature."
"Over time, you would become foolish, greedy, and ignorant, and even your appearance would become hideous and unbearable."
"When that time comes, not only would your path of cultivation be severed, but I fear many unbearable tragedies would also occur."
Hua Chunning froze upon hearing this. What welled up in her heart was not fear, but despair. She could not help asking, "The path of 【Yimu Wood】 is severed, and other paths are difficult to tread. Is this disciple truly destined to have no relation to cultivation in this life?"
Li Chengxuan pondered for a moment before making up his mind, letting out a sigh. "That is not necessarily so."
Whether it was a coincidence or a scheme, he no longer cared.
The lineage of 【Yimu Wood】 was already severed, and even the Old Method was declining and dying out.
He possessed the supreme treasure, the 【Two-World Bead】—if he still acted timid and hesitant, how could he speak of a path to the Dao?!
Duanmu Ren's 【High Shaman】 heritage had been unobtainable for a long time.
Regardless of whether there were plots or schemes, he certainly could not let pass the 【Yimu Wood】 lineage delivered right to his doorstep.
A sliver of hope rose in Hua Chunning, and she hastily said, "I beg the Sect Master for guidance."
Li Chengxuan shook his head, putting aside all sorts of conjectures without mentioning them, and merely said, "Regarding your future path of cultivation, I have some ideas."
"Whether it will succeed or not, I cannot say for certain yet."
"However, I cannot reveal it to you for now."
"Otherwise, you will surely fall into the barrier of cognitive prejudice, which would only harm you."
...
...
Spring had come to an end, and the heat of summer was beginning to rise.
The buzz around Hua Chunning's videos had already faded away.
The sentient beings of the mortal world were once again chasing after new trending topics.
Although Duanmu Ren urged him several times, Li Chengxuan did not send Hua Chunning back. Instead, he confined her to the side hall of the Ancestral Hall and threw a stack of ancient texts on the 【Yimu Wood】 lineage for her to read.
At first, Hua Chunning was quite anxious, thinking she had violated some sect rules and was being confined and punished by the Sect Master.
Later, seeing Li Chengxuan come over at regular intervals to test her knowledge, she gradually put her mind at ease.
After studying hard for several months, she vaguely sensed that these Daoist classics had all been meticulously selected.
They did not include the medical, alchemical, or poison texts that the Hua family relied on to survive to this day, nor did they contain the ancestor Zhuohua's Dao of 【Wither and Bloom】; they seemed to relate solely to 【Germination】.
Hua Chunning was ultimately an intelligent person; she secretly swore not to disappoint the Sect Master's painstaking efforts.
Later, upon hearing that the Sect Master's eldest disciple, Liu Zhijian, had also engaged in secluded study here and finally gained insights before being sent down the mountain to search for an opportunity to enter the Dao, she felt even more greatly encouraged.
"I wonder if this eldest senior brother, whom I have never met, has found an opportunity to enter the Dao and cultivate..."
...
...
Beneath Mount Yandang, beside the White Dragon River.
Liu Zhijian held a fishing rod in one hand and a fish basket in the other, walking slowly forward.
Along the way, everyone stepped aside and bowed respectfully, addressing him as Second Chief.
Liu Zhijian merely smiled lightly and nodded in acknowledgment.
Finally, he arrived in front of a thatched cottage on the mountainside.
A young girl wearing greyish-white cloth clothes with pigtails ran out and blocked his path, gripping the fish basket with both hands and almost poking her head inside. "Let me see, let me see!"
Liu Zhijian felt helpless and could only stop in his tracks.
The little girl was quirky and clever; she curled her lips and said, "Why are there only a few small fish? It's not even enough for me to eat!"
Liu Zhijian's expression froze, and he stubbornly argued, "What do you know! The season isn't right now; it's normal for the fish not to be biting!"
Having heard similar excuses many times, the little girl did not believe him at all, making a grimace to mock him.
On a stone bench in front of the thatched cottage, a hunchbacked old man was smoking dry tobacco, his gaze profound as if lost in thought.
"Senior Luo."
Liu Zhijian smiled lightly and nodded in greeting.
"Just a dying old man, how could I dare be called senior?"
Elder Luo shook his head and coughed suppressively a few times.
The little girl hurriedly went over to pound his back, threw the tobacco pipe into a water tank to extinguish it, and loudly scolded her grandfather.
Only then did a smile appear on Elder Luo's wooden face, all his wrinkles smoothing out. Without saying a word, he just beamed at the tiny child speaking like an adult in all seriousness.
Liu Zhijian did not interrupt the tender moment between grandfather and granddaughter either; carrying the fishing rod and fish basket, he entered another thatched cottage.
It was another all-fish feast.
Liu Zhijian hastily filled his stomach, let out a long sigh, and continued practicing the 【Dripping Water Pierces Stone Meridian-Opening Method】.
Although he had already opened his meridians, expanding his meridians further certainly had no downside.
The sky grew late.
A tall and spirited man pushed open the door and stepped inside; it was none other than Deng Gang, the First Chief of Mount Yandang.
Deng Gang didn't beat around the bush and got straight to the point, asking, "How was it today?"
Liu Zhijian naturally understood that he was not asking about the fish catch, so he shook his head and said, "Gathering qi is difficult; I still have no clue."
Deng Gang was even more anxious than Liu Zhijian, pacing back and forth in the thatched cottage while slamming his fist into his palm. "Curse my cultivation technique for focusing on body refinement! I am not good at spiritual sense perception or searching for spiritual items, so I really can't help you."
Saying so, he brought up the old matter again, wanting the two of them to team up and visit the Qingyun Sect to exchange back the 【Kan Water Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth】 from that flood dragon cavern back then.
Liu Zhijian naturally refused to agree.
Liu Zhijian was well aware of the grievances and entanglements between Mount Taixuan and the Qingyun Sect.
If they encountered each other outside, the Qingyun Sect would mostly yield three points to avoid stirring up conflicts.
However, if he took the initiative to go to the Qingyun Sect and demand precious spiritual items, that would be a completely different story.
Deng Gang frowned, dropped the words "I'll think of another way," and turned to leave.
Knowing Deng Gang had an unyielding temperament and being unable to stop him in time, Liu Zhijian let him go.
The night grew deep, with bright moonlight and sparse stars.
Liu Zhijian calculated the date and suddenly realized, "Today is the Beginning of Summer."
Li means to begin.
Xia originally means grand or big.
Put together, it signifies that the days of spring sprouting and growing have passed, and all things have begun to grow large.
"Raising my head, I gaze at the bright moon; lowering my head, I think of home..."
"Sigh..."
"I am all alone; where do I even have a home to think of?"
Having rushed about for months with no results in gathering qi, and with the lone moon shining down on him now, Liu Zhijian could not help feeling a wave of loneliness. He subconsciously reached out to hold the fishing rod and smiled. "Fortunately, I have you to accompany me."
Saying so, he picked up the fishing rod and walked toward the foot of the mountain.
Rate on N.U.
