Martial Cultivator

“Didn’t realize guest know some craft. Hahaha, seems I underestimated you,” the man said frankly. He did not mind whether the young man before him would get angry over these words and cause the deal to fall through.

The young man in black robes did not care either. After choosing some seashells on his own, he began bargaining over the price.

The man was somewhat troubled. At first he held firmly to his price, but as the black-robed man continued to insist, he ultimately had no choice but to lower it again and again.

In the end, the man sold some seashells at a price he himself had never expected. Fortunately, there was still profit to be made, so he was not too upset. Instead, he gave a thumbs-up and laughed, saying, “Looks like my eyes weren’t sharp enough. Leaving other things aside, just this silver tongue of yours already makes you someone ordinary people can’t compare with.”

The black-robed young man smiled and said, “Brother, that doesn’t sound like praise.”

The man burst out laughing, found something to pack up the seashells the young man had chosen, and only then smiled and said, “It is praise. How could it not be praise? Being able to speak well, being able to speak at all, is no easy thing. I think guest must be a scholar, and one who has read quite a lot, very learned.”

At this point, before the young man could say anything, the man slapped his forehead and said, “That makes sense then. Since sir is a scholar, having students is no problem at all.”

The young man was taken aback. In the end, he still did not refute it. He simply raised a hand, gave a thumbs-up, then picked up the seashells and left the stall.

After stowing away the seashells, the young Lord Warden Commander who had come from afar traveled north along the ferry crossing, intending to go take a look at the distant coast.

Ying Prefecture was not merely passed by in haste, but traversed slowly. Yet the place he was ultimately heading for was still the most crowded place on all of Ying Prefecture.

Immortal Seeking Harbor.

At some point unknown, Ying Prefecture had come to be rumored as a place where immortals dwelt, and the stories never ceased. Many times, people would swear they had seen traces of immortals. As a result, these past years...actually, not only these past years, there were always people coming to Ying Prefecture to behold the so-called bearing of immortals.

Among these people were ordinary literati and refined guests, and there were also cultivators.

That was why there was that line from a famous poet of the previous dynasty, “Sea travelers speak of Ying Prefecture; amid mist and waves, its truth is hard to find.”

However, although many people traveled to Ying Prefecture, there was not a single local sect there. This was probably a consensus reached among the foreign cultivators: no sects were to be established here, otherwise it would likely trigger a bloody storm belonging to the foreign lands.

In fact, Chen Chao had vaguely heard some of the inside story. It was that Infatuation Daoist Temple knew that Ying Prefecture truly was a geomantically blessed land, not just some particular spot, but an entire prefecture like this.

But the location of the Infatuation Daoist Temple had been fixed for thousands of years and absolutely could not be moved lightly. The implication was obvious: if there was a heaven-sent fortune that Infatuation Daoist Temple itself could not enjoy, then what Infatuation Daoist Temple could not eat, the rest of you should not eat either.

Thus, later on, Infatuation Daoist Temple took the lead in establishing an agreement with the other sects of the world: in Ying Prefecture, cultivators could look, but could not touch.

This clause, in particular, had to be observed by the qi refiners’ lineage.

After all, this lineage of cultivators was the most fond of talking about fortune and fate.

But by now, this Ying Prefecture that everyone had their eyes on had instead become a good thing in Chen Chao’s hands, because in the present outside world, any sect that wanted to relocate or establish itself anew, no matter what, had to notify Great Liang and obtain Great Liang’s approval.

This was written into that agreement many years ago. In the past years, no one took it seriously. But now, no one dared not take it seriously.

Thus, Ying Prefecture became a valuable asset in Chen Chao’s hands. Whichever sect he was willing to let come here could come here.

But coming to Ying Prefecture to establish a sect would naturally require a price, which went without saying.

It was not possible to casually come to this geomantically blessed land and found a sect.

Back then, after flattening the Three Streams Manor, Chen Chao hurried to the South Heaven Sect and made a transaction, neither large nor small, with them. In the end, Chen Chao intentionally or unintentionally mentioned that if possible, the South Heaven Sect could relocate to Ying Prefecture.

At the time, the eyes of the South Heaven Sect’s sect master went wide. Once a sect’s location was fixed, it could not be changed at will, but there were exceptions to everything.

After all, Ying Prefecture was a geomantically blessed land.

But Chen Chao had merely shown them the good thing in his hands, letting them take a look. He never said he would really give it to them. When it came to doing business and playing mind games, this young Lord Warden Commander was far too skilled.

What was somewhat regrettable was that in recent years, the number of newly established sects in the foreign lands had been extremely small, and figures of truly profound realms were even rarer.

In fact, the reason was simple. Even if one day a cultivator in a sect felt that their Dao did not align with the sect’s Dao, it was still very difficult to leave the sect. After all, your techniques and cultivation all came from that sect. If you wanted to leave, it was not impossible, but first you had to return your cultivation and techniques.

There was also another possibility: if you could not part with your original sect on good terms, then afterward you would be hunted down in the world, until either you died and your Dao dissipated, or the entire sect was wiped out.

In short, establishing a new sect was never easy. Usually it began with itinerant cultivators, but even then, the scale was not necessarily very large.

Chen Chao’s actions in the northern lands earlier could be considered as gathering together the itinerant cultivators there, but even those few sects combined were not particularly large.

But this time, his trip to Ying Prefecture truly involved a deal to be discussed. However, Chen Chao was not in any hurry. The other party had long since arrived at the agreed location, yet Chen Chao continued forward at an unhurried pace, letting that person wait.

In the present world, there were very few figures left who could make Chen Chao treat them with utmost seriousness, figures he dared not slight.

Chen Chao followed the coastline and arrived near Immortal Seeking Harbor. He did not head toward the area where travelers gathered in greater numbers. Instead, he stopped along a reef-strewn stretch of shore. There were few people here, but a sea vessel was preparing to set out. Chen Chao glanced at it a few times and noticed a group of Dan people aboard.

The term Dan people originally referred to fishermen who lived their lives at sea, but as times changed, it came to refer specifically to these pearl divers who ventured out to sea.

Among this group, the older ones were already white-haired, while the younger ones were actually not much younger than Chen Chao had been when he first left Wei Prefecture.

There was a young girl among them, her skin darkened by the sun and her frame thin and frail. Even so, a small bamboo basket still hung at her waist, and she held a small curved knife in her hand.

Chen Chao could not help but look toward an old fisherman on the shore, a man clearly weathered by years of hardship, and asked, “Elder Brother, even children this young have to go out to sea? If they go, can they still come back alive?”

The old fisherman was mending a fishing net. Hearing Chen Chao speak, he finally lifted his head and gave him a look. At a glance, he could tell this young man was not only from elsewhere, but also a complete outsider. He smiled and said, “You mean Cui girl? Don’t be fooled by how skinny she looks. She’s a top-notch pearl diver. That skill was probably passed down from her parents. Her father and mother were both remarkable pearl divers too. Hard to compare with them.”

Chen Chao frowned and asked, “Then where are this Cui girl’s parents now?”

Even as the question left his mouth, Chen Chao already roughly knew the answer, but when the old fisherman spoke, he still could not help feeling a twinge of sadness.

“Cui girl’s parents were both pearl divers with their craft fully honed. But going out to sea for pearls has never been an easy affair. Naturally, it’s not something where you can expect to return every time. Three years ago, her father died at sea. Two years ago, her mother followed. Now there’s only her left, raising her younger brother, who’s not even half her age.”

At this point, the old fisherman shook his head and let out a sigh, saying she was truly someone with a bitter fate.

Chen Chao did not speak.

After a moment of silence, Chen Chao suddenly asked, “Are the imperial court’s taxes heavy these days?”

The old fisherman heard this, raised his head, and cast a glance at Chen Chao with his clouded eyes. He smiled and said, “The imperial court’s taxes? They’re not light.”

Chen Chao gave a low acknowledgment. Before he could say anything else, the old fisherman continued on his own, “But that’s fine. The north has to guard against those damn demon mongrels. Every year, the court sends half the taxes north. It’s not like some high officials are stuffing it all into their own bellies.”

Chen Chao said, “Ying Prefecture is still some distance from the Northern Frontier. War won’t reach this place. Even if... even if the Northern Frontier Great Wall were breached, the flames of war wouldn’t spread here anytime soon.”

Hearing this, the old fisherman directly tossed aside the fish shuttle in his hand and said in astonishment, “What kind of nonsense are you talking about? There aren’t any demons here. If that Great Wall falls and the fighting can’t reach us right away, does that mean we should just stand by and watch coldly?” ”What rubbish. Over in Xinliu Prefecture, young people have been throwing away their lives one by one on the walls of that Great Wall. We’re behind them. If we have to grit our teeth, then we grit our teeth. As long as we can survive, that’s enough.”

”If I really have a wish, it’s just that I hope our IMPERIAL COURT can get rid of the damn demon race sooner, so life will be a little easier later, and the young ones won’t have to die.”

Once the old fisherman started talking, it seemed he couldn’t stop, rambling on a lot, not caring whether Chen Chao was listening or not.

The old fisherman said that he had a younger sister, who had actually married off to Xinliu Prefecture and then had a son, his nephew, but that nephew had already died in the Northern Frontier a few years ago.

When talking about this, the old fisherman couldn’t stop crying, saying how pitiful his sister was. Their parents had died years ago, and he had raised her himself, but back then he was still young and couldn’t give her enough to eat or wear. Only after growing up a bit did his sister marry a man she liked. Even though it was a distant marriage, he didn’t stop it, because he knew he had treated her poorly. So even though he was reluctant, he didn’t say anything.

But they had thought that after marrying, his sister would finally have a good life. Who knew that after giving birth to a son, the result was still white-haired sending off the black-haired - losing a child too soon.

Even now he still remembered how happy he was when his sister first sent a letter saying she was pregnant, and how happy he was again when the letter said it was a son. But later, when he received a letter saying that nephew had died on the Great Wall, how devastated he felt.

So those demons deserved to die, all of them. It wasn’t just to avenge his nephew, but because as long as they were alive, mothers would keep losing sons, wives would keep losing husbands.

Chen Chao quietly listened to the old fisherman’s rambling, saying nothing. The voices of these commoners living at the bottom can only truly be understood by walking among them.

Since ancient times, the collapse of a dynasty has often been due to one main reason: the emperor and his high ministers stand too high, refusing to lower themselves to see how the people live.

Chen Chao thought of his younger brother in the Divine Capital. Every time he left the Divine Capital and looked at the world, he would have a heap of things he wanted to tell him.

But now, with their current positions, it was no longer possible to sit down and calmly discuss these matters.

If that day ever came, the now-not-so-young crown prince would probably think in his heart: how should I be taught?

And his cousin, Chen Chao, in fact had no ambition for the throne, no desire to overshadow the ruler, no thought of using his slightly older age to dictate how he should act or what he should do.

Yet the result might not turn out that way.

Chen Chao rubbed his head. His uncle had indeed planned ahead, not passing the throne directly; otherwise, maintaining this delicate balance between them brothers would have been very difficult.