I Am Your Natural Enemy

Wen Yan turned back to look at the entrance of the Domain. An open Domain he could enter anytime, stuffed full of course blind boxes; in the days to come, the disciples of Fuyu Mountain were going to be very busy.

Who could dig out a treasure from inside would depend purely on luck.

Wen Yan knew very well that besides some practical little skills, there were definitely some truly powerful things in there.

Dynasty after dynasty, the number of people who died in battle at the foot of this Black Mountain was beyond counting; there were bound to have been some real experts among them.

There must also have been people who possessed something special, yet never managed to pass it on.

As for letting himself go feel around in blind boxes, Wen Yan gave up on that idea; he’d just look through the catalog when the time came.

He turned around and started walking up the mountain again, still moving as if on level ground; his speed uphill and downhill was basically no different.

The Flying Sword circled around his body, flying along with him. It would shoot out a little way, then slightly slow down, keeping just enough ahead to barely outpace Wen Yan.

Wen Yan chuckled. The Third Great-uncle Master’s Flying Sword was probably lonely out of its mind; it likely hadn’t been this happy in a long time. No one blind enough had come provoking Fuyu Mountain for ages, and the Flying Sword probably hadn’t seen blood in just as long.

Wen Yan thought for a moment and didn’t hurry back. Since he was fast anyway, he circled the mountain, running one loop around the nearby peaks together with the Flying Sword.

He used the Heavenly Gang Eight Trigrams Steps, stacked on Shrinking Ground, plus the 300% Blessing under mountainous terrain, turning into a humanoid Flying Sword, and together with the Third Great-uncle Master’s Flying Sword, they flew one full circuit.

It only took a few minutes in total before he was back at the plaza.

Wen Yan came to an instant stop, glanced back, and waved his hand.

”Brother Jian, I’ll come play with you next time.”

The Flying Sword circled Wen Yan twice with clear reluctance, then vanished with a whoosh.

Wen Yan returned to the plaza and, seeing the crowd that still didn’t quite understand what had just happened, gave them a brief explanation.

Once the Grand Uncle Master understood, a smile immediately broke across his face.

”This is good, this is good.”

The Grand Uncle Master had never really been worried about whether the disciples of Fuyu Mountain were strong enough; strength only ever applied to the handful at the very top.

Fuyu Mountain’s recruitment strategy had always been to take in mostly orphans; among them, the majority had no talent for Cultivation or Martial Training.

What the Grand Uncle Master worried about was only their livelihood after they went down the mountain.

The old generation’s thinking was that as long as you had one solid skill, your livelihood had a safety net, and your risk resistance would be much higher.

Of the three Skills Wen Yan mentioned—Horse Stance, handling intestines, and making traps—the one the Grand Uncle Master valued most was actually that intestines-handling, large-intestine-cooking skill.

Some disciples didn’t have great physical conditions, suffered losses in childhood, and later it was very hard to fully make up for it; they might not be able to handle overly strenuous work. But if they could learn to make a dish, learn braised foods, set up a stall every night and sell out before going home, at least their livelihood would be secured.

Fuyu Mountain didn’t forbid marriage, nor did it force disciples to stay or go, but most disciples would still choose to go down the mountain to make their way.

Generation after generation of young people had all lived like this.

In the past there were already plenty of youngsters who couldn’t stand loneliness; now, with information spreading so fast and so easily, there were even more young people who couldn’t bear the quiet.

Those currently on the mountain who were a bit older had basically all gone through that.

The Mountain Sect also strongly supported disciples going down the mountain to broaden their horizons and gain their own understanding. There were many things reading could never teach; you had to experience them yourself.

In the Taoist Sect, this was called entering the mortal world—a necessary process of tempering. Many seniors had walked that path.

Of course, for most of Fuyu Mountain’s disciples, it was simply about making a living.

After the Grand Uncle Master announced the matter of the Domain, everyone was delighted. Even though he told them that most Skills might not make them much stronger, nor make them fabulously rich, they were just as happy.

Wen Yan watched from the side. He really liked the atmosphere of Fuyu Mountain, and he liked the mindset of these disciples as well.

Almost all of them had been taken in and raised by Fuyu Mountain since childhood, and had been very well taught. At least up to now, Wen Yan hadn’t seen a single disciple of Fuyu Mountain who was wildly arrogant, nor anyone who wallowed in self-pity. They were all very normal.

Only after seeing too many abnormal people, too many who had gone off the deep end, did Wen Yan realize how rare it was for an entire Mountain Sect to be full of normal people.

Even the Celestial Master Mansion, with the Old Celestial Master personally sitting in town, had produced someone like Zhang Qihui, who liked to play with dolls...

Taiyi Observatory was even worse—a bunch of lunatics and neurotics from top to bottom.

Mount Laojun had always been sparsely populated, constantly on the verge of a generational gap. Wen Yan felt they were probably just plain lazy, only taking in a disciple to go through the motions when they were really forced into a corner.

By comparison, although the overall strength of Fuyu Mountain was basically at the bottom, when set against the other Mountain Sects, their disciples were almost too normal, to the point that they sometimes seemed a little out of place.

Once the Grand Uncle Master finished the announcement, the younger disciples couldn’t hold themselves back anymore; they all wanted to rush over to take a look.

Their own Mountain Sect had gained a Domain you could enter anytime, where you could learn things through special methods—there was no way they wouldn’t be curious.

But no matter how curious they were, those young disciples still came to thank Wen Yan first. Only after asking permission from their elders and receiving approval did they cheer and dash down the mountain.

Watching those teenagers, a thought in Wen Yan’s heart began to sprout.