Watching the Mountain

Chapter 289: Chapter 177: Fortune

After hearing Xu Ran’s words, Zhang Zhentian stared at him in astonishment, then chuckled and said:

”I was wondering why you would suddenly bring up our childhood tonight, Senior Brother. It seems you were worried I’m getting old.”

He shook his head and spoke softly, as if speaking to Xu Ran, but also to himself.

”Don’t worry, Senior Brother. I’m not one to admit defeat so easily, much less admit to being old.”

”I feel emotional because of Daoyi and the others, and it’s a way of telling myself that I can no longer be like I was before, concerned only with my own path forward.”

”Now, I bear an additional responsibility that is mine alone. I must watch over the younger disciples as they progress, but I will not stop moving forward myself.”

Xu Ran gazed at Zhang Zhentian, his thoughts churning. He had thought Zhang Zhentian had been overly sentimental lately and worried that his sword might have grown dull.

Now, it seemed he had been overthinking things.

The Evergreen Sword Saint’s sword had never dulled. His heart had merely become more ”gentle.”

Thinking of this, Xu Ran said nothing more, merely tilting his head back to gaze at the night sky.

The night grew deeper, and the starlight shone brighter.

He could almost see a great, ceaselessly flowing river where old waves steadily lifted the new. Both old and new, caught in this eternal current, surged ever forward, converging into an even vaster ocean.

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The emergence of Li Daoyi seemed to draw a line, separating one era from the next for the Sect, and perhaps for the world.

On one side of this line were the figures of the previous generation—Yue Qingyu, Zhang Zhentian, Chen Chang’an, and Shen Wuchen. On the other side were Li Daoyi and his peers, along with the many others of the new era, some who had already appeared and some who had not.

Some time ago, Xu Ran heard from Senior Sister Yue that she was also preparing to take on an apprentice, though she had yet to find anyone who met her expectations.

It wasn’t just Senior Sister Yue. Even Chen Chang’an said he was going to start preparing to take on an apprentice.

His decision wasn’t exactly voluntary, however. It was a demand from the Sect’s older generation of Supreme Elders.

The other day, Chen Chang’an had come to Xu Ran’s place with a jug of Spirit Wine to complain about his recent predicament.

He said that for decades, people from the Sect had been bringing up the matter of him taking an apprentice almost every year, constantly nagging him.

They would say things like, ”The most important thing for a sect is its legacy. The older generation cultivated you, and now you are a Nascent Soul True Monarch and a Supreme Elder of the Sect. Naturally, you should take the responsibility from their hands and cultivate the next generation of disciples.”

At first it was fine; they’d only suggest it every few years. But as time went on, these suggestions became more frequent.

Especially after Zhang Zhentian and Shen Wuchen took on apprentices, those suggestions became daily nagging and pressure.

The Sect’s older generation would often use Shen Wuchen as an example, saying, ”Look at Wuchen True Monarch. He’s so young, and his combat strength is the weakest among the Nascent Soul cultivators, yet even he has already taken an apprentice.”

”You, the Deceitful Blade, are Wuchen True Monarch’s senior! You can’t fall behind a junior in a matter like this, can you?”

Seeing Deceitful Blade Chen Chang’an—a man who faced even the strongest enemies without a change in expression—now chugging Spirit Wine and complaining bitterly, Xu Ran couldn’t help but wear a strange look on his face.

’To force the renowned Deceitful Blade Chen Chang’an of the Cultivation Realm into such a state,’ he thought, ’the Sect’s older generation must possess some true skill when it comes to pressuring their juniors.’

It was just a matter of taking an apprentice, but Xu Ran felt that Chen Chang’an was acting like someone being pressured by their family to get married—furious but unable to voice his anger, left with no choice but to drink his sorrows away.

Chen Chang’an said it wasn’t that he didn’t want an apprentice, but that he just hadn’t found a suitable one who appealed to him. After all, when it came to taking an apprentice, things like innate talent and aptitude were secondary. The most important factor was personal affinity—finding someone he simply liked.

After finishing the dozens of jugs of Spirit Wine he had brought with him, he slowly rose to his feet. With his back to Xu Ran, he waved his hand and said:

”Junior Brother, I’m planning to leave the Sect and travel for a while to see if I can find a disciple to my liking. You focus on your cultivation. I hope that by the time I return, you’ll be qualified to witness that one Sword Technique of mine.”

After speaking, he left Xu Ran with only the sight of his dashing figure as he walked further and further away, eventually disappearing from view.

Even Xu Ran hadn’t expected Chen Chang’an to leave the Sect in such a manner. It truly made one feel a mix of emotions.

But that was just how it was sometimes with taking an apprentice and passing on a legacy. If you didn’t find someone agreeable, you wouldn’t want to pass on your most prized techniques, even if they were exceptionally talented.

Especially for someone with a personality like Chen Chang’an’s. If he couldn’t find someone he truly liked, he would probably rather let his lifetime of skills scatter to the winds than compromise.

Besides Chen Chang’an, a few days ago when Xu Ran was passing by the Instructor Hall on Spirit Stream Peak, he discovered that there was a new lecturer.

His own student, Li Tianhe, had stepped down from his lecturing position at the Instructor Hall. He was replaced by a middle-aged female cultivator who always wore a kind, benevolent smile and was an exceedingly patient teacher.

Xu Ran had gone to visit Li Tianhe at his Cave Mansion.

When Xu Ran arrived at Li Tianhe’s Cave Mansion, he found the man bent over, planting Spirit Medicine in a half-mu Spirit Field he had cultivated in his courtyard.

He was thin now, with a full head of white hair, but his demeanor was peaceful. He looked just like an old farmer.

Xu Ran was momentarily stunned at the sight of him.