Martial Cultivator

On the second day after the young temple master returned to the mountain, the disciples on the mountain were surprised to find that they could no longer see the temple master’s figure. But soon, when they realized they could not even see Senior Sister Ye’s figure, they belatedly understood something: their temple master’s visit this time, which was said to be for accompanying Senior Sister Ye, was not simply about keeping her company.

“Could it be that the temple master who’s so young is already thinking about leaving descendants?”

Someone quickly spoke up - it was a young disciple who had a good relationship with Yun Jianyue. Because of their closeness, he dared to speak casually; it was meant as a joke.

“No way, right? The temple master is still so young. And now he’s thinking about leaving descendants?”

Some disciples were puzzled. Everyone knew that among cultivators, leaving descendants was never something done in youth. Most cultivators would only consider it after their vitality had waned and they knew their remaining years were few.

It was clear that Yun Jianyue was still very young. He had not even reached the prime of life. Choosing to leave descendants at this stage was extremely rare.

“The temple master and Senior Sister Ye are both extraordinary talents. If they truly had descendants, who knows what kind of geniuses they would be?!”

A disciple spoke, his words filled with unrestrained shock and expectation. These two had long been regarded as the greatest talents of their generation in Daoism. One was now a Nepenthe, the other at the end of Nepenthe. Their children would very likely surpass their parents in talent.

“If that were really the case, it would be a good thing. With the temple master’s descendants growing up, the Infatuation Daoist Temple would have many more years of prosperity ahead.”

For a sect, longevity depended not only on current strength but also on the future. With such a genius among them, it would be very difficult for the Infatuation Daoist Temple to face any real problems.

“Still, it makes one feel sorry for the later generations. Our generation could never catch up with the temple master’s pace, and the generations after us will probably live their entire lives in the shadow of the temple master’s descendants.”

“Even so, I want to see what a genius greater than the temple master would be like. Perhaps they will surpass Nepenthe and truly attain longevity.”

The conversations in the mountain continued. The young disciples all looked forward to this with great anticipation. But the older daoist seniors felt that something was off, though they could not pinpoint exactly what. Since they did not know, they remained silent.

After all, Yun Jianyue was now the temple master and also a genuine great daoist sage. No one could say anything or do anything.

Seniority was something very worthless at this point.

......

......

Ying Prefecture, out at sea.

These days, quite a few people had gone to sea, still hoping to seek immortals, but it was destined to be a journey of no return. So when a ragged middle-aged daoist returned from the sea, the owner of a teahouse warmly offered him a pot of hot tea.

Perhaps because he had recently benefited from a young daoist, the teahouse owner felt a certain inexplicable closeness toward daoists.

Yet when he looked at this ragged middle-aged daoist, he found it strange that there was not the slightest trace of despair on his face. After all, those who went to sea in search of immortals, even if they were lucky enough not to be swallowed by the waves and managed to return, were rarely joyful. Most came back looking despondent, filled with regret at not having glimpsed the so-called immortal realm.

But this middle-aged daoist before him was calm, as if failing to reach that so-called immortal realm made no difference to him whatsoever.

After bringing the hot tea, the teahouse owner thought for a moment and then brought out some of his own spare clothes. “Daoist, if you don’t mind, these clothes can at least cover your body.”

The middle-aged daoist glanced at him, smiled faintly, and accepted the clothes. Without offering thanks, he instead asked, “Have you perhaps seen a young daoist?”

The teahouse owner furrowed his brows and gave a wry smile. “Daoist, you must be joking. Plenty of daoists come and go here every day, how could I know which one you mean?” 𝐑ＡＮo͍𐌱ĘⱾ

“The most special one. If you had seen him, you would certainly remember, and you would know exactly who I mean.”

The middle-aged daoist put on the teahouse owner’s clothes, then stood there smiling at him.

The teahouse owner thought carefully, then suddenly said, “Daoist, are you the elder that young daoist once mentioned?”

In that moment, the teahouse owner suddenly remembered that when the young daoist had come here, he had spoken in almost the same way.

The middle-aged daoist gave a slight nod.

The teahouse owner sighed with emotion and smiled. “At that time, when that young daoist was looking for you, I even said perhaps you had already met misfortune. I never expected you to be so fortunate as to still be alive in this world.”

The middle-aged daoist smiled. “There are some things that, if left undone, then even if one wished to die, Heaven would not take them.”

“Daoist, that sounds rather profound, I don’t quite understand. But since you’re still alive, you should hurry back to find that young daoist. I think he will be very happy to see you alive.”

The teahouse owner nodded, still feeling that today’s events were strange. But he thought to himself that these daoists were not ordinary men. Whatever happened with them could always be explained.

“I have some questions to ask you.”

The middle-aged daoist looked at the teahouse owner. Though he phrased it as a question, he extended a finger and brushed it over the teacup on the table. A drop of tea hovered at his fingertip. Before the teahouse owner could react with shock, that drop of tea fell onto his brow.

The teahouse owner froze, his entire person becoming somewhat blank.

The middle-aged daoist looked at him, and all the information he wanted to know became clear.

The Great Liang Emperor and the Demon Emperor fought a great battle and went missing, most likely already dead. After the former Temple Master of the Infatuation Daoist Temple died, the temple’s Chief Enforcer became the new Temple Master, but was soon killed by the young genius of the temple, Yun Jianyue. Now, Yun Jianyue was the new Temple Master of the Infatuation Daoist Temple.

Seeing this, the middle-aged daoist smiled. He had already deduced much of Yin Li’s schemes while on the island, so naturally he knew what he would do. He even understood that, although many in the temple would suspect this matter, they likewise would not raise any objections.

Those old fellows, as long as they could quietly cultivate, would ignore everything else.

And in the end, if there was still one person in the temple who would act, it would certainly be A’Yue.

But A’Yue was only at Nepenthe back then, so it would have been difficult for him to accomplish such a thing.

He really did accomplish it.

Although the middle-aged daoist knew there must have been something behind it, he still felt gratified. Just like everyone else in the temple, he had sincerely regarded Yun Jianyue as his own disciple.

Seeing him amount to something, he naturally felt pleased.

After finishing reading this, the middle-aged daoist turned to something else. This time, he looked at Chen Chao.

After the Great Liang Emperor left, the Great Liang should have withdrawn and gone into seclusion, even kept a much lower profile than before. After all, without that peerless martial artist, they no longer had that kind of confidence.

But what he had not expected was that, from what the teahouse owner knew, after coming out of seclusion, the very first thing Chen Chao did upon stepping into Nepenthe was to kill cultivators of the Infatuation Daoist Temple without the slightest scruple.

After that, he annihilated the Glaze Temple.

The middle-aged daoist knew that the Glaze Temple was a power supported by Yin Li in his early years. That Glaze Temple Master had already stepped into the end of Nepenthe.

Although he had taken a heretical path, he was still not someone an ordinary Nepenthe cultivator could provoke.

But even so, he was dead.

He had died at the hands of that young man.

After that, the young martial artist became the Great Liang Dynasty’s Lord Warden Commander, the one who held the most authority. After another seclusion, he had actually reached the end of Nepenthe.

Seeing this, the middle-aged daoist raised his brows.

When A’Yue reached the end of Nepenthe, he had been glad. But at the same time he felt concern, realizing that young martial artist was not simple either, and would likely also reach the end of Nepenthe in an extremely short time.

“Well-deserving of being Chen Che’s nephew, remarkable.”

The middle-aged daoist gave a word of praise, and then saw the matter of Chen Chao destroying the Three Streams Manor.

Many sects in the foreign lands had already been cowed by that young martial artist?

“Even what Chen Che never accomplished, you want to accomplish?”

The middle-aged daoist narrowed his eyes slightly, a trace of killing intent in them.

Since ancient times, it had always been cultivators who stood above secular imperial power. Even someone as extraordinary as Chen Che had merely raised imperial authority somewhat; saying it was not afraid of the beyond-world sects was already the utmost. To want to stand above cultivators, that was utterly impossible. But how was it that this young martial artist was about to achieve it?

The middle-aged daoist had grown up in the Infatuation Daoist Temple, and after being temple master for so many years, he had long treated it as his own home. There was no way he could just watch the Infatuation Daoist Temple be forced into submission under others.

“Given some more time, you might truly achieve something great. But I will not give you that chance.”

Seeing this, the middle-aged daoist reached out and drew back that drop of tea, then lifted the cup and drank a sip.

“Daoist, what happened to me?”

The tea shed owner slowly came back to himself, his eyes a little dazed. It was as if he had fallen asleep and dreamed, and in that dream he had watched all the past play out.

“Perhaps you’re just a little weary?”

The middle-aged daoist smiled, drank that cup of tea, and said with a smile, “The money for the tea and clothes, I’ll owe it for now?”

The teahouse owner waved his hand and laughed. “No need. That young daoist gave me quite a lot back then. Forget a cup of tea, even if it was for this teahouse itself, it would have been enough.”

The middle-aged daoist nodded. He had only spoken casually and had never meant it seriously.

After finishing his tea, the middle-aged daoist rose. The tea shed owner suddenly said, “Daoist, you must be some remarkable person, right?”

The middle-aged daoist turned his head, looked at the tea shed owner before him, and asked with a smile, “Why do you say that?”

“Since you’re that young daoist’s elder, you must be remarkable. You know, back then, that daoist actually drank tea here together with our Great Liang’s Lord Warden Commander. The two of them were friends!”

These past days, the tea shed owner had told this story to many people, but no one had believed him. That left him rather dejected.

It was clearly true.

The middle-aged daoist frowned slightly as he listened, but he gave no reply.