Martial Cultivator

Afterwards, Chen Chao suddenly decided to make a trip to Blue Moon Mountain. In reality, the succession ceremony for Blue Moon Mountain’s new mountain lord had long been announced to Divine Capital. At the time, the message had been conveyed very cautiously, asking whether the Lord Warden Commander had any interest in attending the ceremony personally. If not, could someone else be sent in his place?

At that time, Chen Chao was not in the Divine Capital but had just dealt with Daoist Wuyang. Upon receiving the message from the Divine Capital, Chen Chao only replied with one sentence: it was undecided. The ceremony could proceed as planned, and if he had time, he would attend.

However, although he said that, what followed was overwhelming. After resolving Daoist Wuyang, Chen Chao immediately went to Southridge to recruit Jiang Wanfu, then rushed to Ying Prefecture to meet with Feng Liu. Afterwards, upon returning to Divine Capital, he still had to deal with the placement of many martial artists and the marriage affairs of the Crown Prince.

At that time, Chen Chao had essentially put the matter out of his mind. Who would have known that after all these things were settled, the succession ceremony of Blue Moon Mountain’s new mountain lord had still not taken place?

It seemed that, in order to give the Lord Warden Commander time to attend personally, he had been the first to be notified before the ceremony was held.

Now, realizing this belatedly and being in Xinliu Prefecture at the time, Chen Chao found it difficult not to go personally. After some thought, he decided to travel to Blue Moon Mountain together with the young martial artist.

The young martial artist naturally accepted happily. Traveling alone was dull; now, having someone with shared interests, in his eyes, was a great pleasure.

“Fellow Daoist Chen Ling, just now I noticed you lingered for quite a while in front of the portrait of Fellow Daoist Gan. Why? Are you also quite interested in this older woman?”

The young martial artist glanced at Chen Chao and winked at him.

Chen Chao was about to explain when the young martial artist nodded and laughed, “I didn’t expect you to be someone who understands these things. Among the women in this world, those in their prime are like wildflowers along the roadside; look at one or two and you tire of them. It has to be an older woman, whose charm persists with age; the more you look, the more intriguing. Although Fellow Daoist Gan Caocao may seem insignificant to many fellow daoists, I happen to share your view.”

Chen Chao opened his mouth but could only helplessly say, “Fellow Daoist Xu, you’ve misunderstood.”

This time, using the alias Chen Ling, Chen Chao looked at Xu Yin beside him, completely helpless. He had only glanced a few times at Gan Caocao because he knew her personally. How had Xu Yin concluded that he was someone who favored women like that?

Xu Yin lowered his voice, “I know, Fellow Daoist, you feel awkward because the disciple is beside you. I understand. I understand completely.”

Chen Chao listened, even more helpless, and could only glance at He Liang.

He Liang kept his head lowered, not knowing whether this young boy had heard any of this.

Xu Yin lowered his voice and said, “Speaking of it, Fellow Daoist Gan Caocao has had good luck. Previously in Blue Moon Mountain, although she had some authority, she still wasn’t someone whose words carried final say. Who would have thought that back at the Straw Sandal Market, she encountered that Lord Warden Commander, and that Lord Warden Commander even personally helped her take revenge. Although he didn’t deliberately say anything afterward, Blue Moon Mountain understood the meaning from the hint, so Gan Caocao’s status naturally rose. Later, she became the second-in-command of Blue Moon Mountain.” ”Now the old mountain lord has stepped down and the new mountain lord is taking over. At first, everyone guessed that Gan Caocao would take the position of mountain lord, but for some reason, the final news said it wasn’t her, but a younger woman. Right, right, turn one more page in your booklet, that is Fairy Litang.”

Chen Chao looked at the woman in the booklet wearing a bright red long dress. She indeed looked like a blooming begonia flower.

“In my view, it’s not a bad thing that Gan Caocao didn’t become mountain lord. Without that title, she doesn’t need to work so hard. For women, less toil means aging more slowly. Sigh, there are two things I can’t stand the most - beauty fading before the mirror, flowers falling from the tree.”

Xu Yin nudged Chen Chao with his elbow and asked curiously, “Fellow Daoist Chen, do you have a dao companion?”

Chen Chao shook his head. “Not for now.”

Xu Yin smiled and said, “Then that’s perfect. This time, if there’s a chance, what if some female cultivator from Blue Moon Mountain takes a liking to you? But Fellow Daoist Chen, don’t aim too high and expect to become dao companions with Gan Caocao.”

Chen Chao did not say much.

The two then headed toward Blue Moon Mountain. As before, Xu Yin did most of the talking, while Chen Chao mostly responded, rarely bringing up anything himself.

However, Xu Yin was someone who talked a lot to begin with, and he preferred having someone listen to his rambling without arguing, so the journey was quite pleasant.

Soon, they were about to arrive at the foot of Blue Moon Mountain.

There was a small county town, less than twenty miles from Blue Moon Mountain.

Blue Moon Mountain itself was not large. In earlier years, among the itinerant sects in the northern lands, its strength was not great, otherwise it would not have been bullied at the Straw Sandal Market before. Now, although it had become the number one sect, it had not expanded, so a single Blue Moon Mountain could not accommodate so many itinerant cultivators coming to attend the ceremony.

Large numbers of itinerant cultivators had no choice but to stay in this small town and wait until the day of the ceremony to go up the mountain.

Chen Chao and Xu Yin arrived a bit late, but fortunately they still managed to get a lower-grade guest room at an ordinary inn. Xu Yin did not mind. According to him, this was just a place to sleep. Drink more cheap wine, come back and sleep, close your eyes and open them and a day has passed, having a bed was enough.

Chen Chao had no objections. While traveling, he had even stayed in wilderness areas before, so this lower-grade guest room was not a problem.

As for He Liang, he came from a poor background. Although he had lived some good days in the Divine Capital, he had never forgotten his roots.

After settling in, Xu Yin led Chen Chao out, saying he would introduce him to a few good friends, all brothers among the itinerant cultivators in the northern lands who could trust each other with their lives. But just before leaving, Xu Yin winked at Chen Chao, saying it would be best not to bring your disciple along.

Chen Chao did not understand.

Xu Yin laughed and said, “Good brothers aren’t only brothers.”

Chen Chao understood, then turned to look at He Liang and said calmly, “Little He, stay here and cultivate diligently. Your master will go handle some small matters.”

He Liang gave an “oh” and did not ask further. His master naturally had his own plans.

But after Chen Chao walked out of the room, he thought for a moment, then turned back and called He Liang along.

He really was not at ease leaving this boy alone. If later he encountered Xie Nandu and mentioned this matter, given Xie Nandu’s intelligence, she would naturally be able to deduce the answer from a few words.

Since that was the case, it was better to bring him along, lest he be unable to explain clearly later and cause trouble instead.

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