Chapter 2671 - 2663: Shanhai

Chapter 2671: Chapter 2663: Shanhai

The True Immortals of the Ji Family arrived at White Pebble Beach and unexpectedly discovered that not only was Xuanyuan Buqi absent, that True Lord named Qian Zhong was also not there.

Then they noticed Feng Jun was gone as well, and even Yi Jue wasn’t around. Guarding White Pebble Beach now was the Wei Family’s True Sage, Wei Sancai.

A True Sage has a True Sage’s dignity. Even facing people of the Ji Family, Wei Sancai still acted half-hearted and indifferent. Anyway, Feng Jun wasn’t here, and as for where he’d gone—who do you think you are, to ask me?

The Ji Family couldn’t help mocking the Gongyang Family all over again: he turned you down without even giving a reason, and then just left outright. That’s really not giving you any face at all, clearly doesn’t put the Gongyang Family in his eyes.

The Gongyang Family actually wanted to curse the Ji Family in return, and they knew the Ji Family was deliberately fanning the flames, so they simply stated directly, "Our Gongyang Family is just a bit weaker, we can’t afford to offend him. Why don’t we just head back?"

That left the Ji Family’s people hanging there. It’s not that they absolutely had to cut the line by force; delaying a bit wouldn’t be a big deal. But what exactly did Mountain Master Feng mean by this, what’s his pattern? That they had to figure out.

Since the Gongyang Family wouldn’t make a move, the Ji Family pulled some strings to inquire around, and what do you know, they actually did manage to get some news: turns out the Green Lotus Sect’s True Immortal Ji Niang was advancing to Nascent Soul High Stage and had invited Feng Jun to attend the ceremony.

"It’s just Nascent Soul Seventh Layer," the Ji Family’s True Immortal, himself at Nascent Soul Eighth Layer, had quite a few complaints about that. "Mountain Master Feng’s posture is a bit too soft, isn’t it? Or is it that... his relationship with the Sect Practitioners is really that good?"

The disciples of the Gongyang Family had been following everything at White Pebble Beach the whole time, so they knew a bit more. "That True Immortal Ji Niang of the Green Lotus Sect came to White Pebble Beach three months ago. Back then she was Nascent Soul Sixth Layer; now she’s already at Nascent Soul Seventh Layer."

"That was Feng Jun’s doing too?" When the Ji Family’s True Immortal heard this, he instantly sucked in a cold breath. He himself had come up from Nascent Soul Seventh Layer, so of course he knew just how tormenting it was to go from Sixth to Seventh. A closed-door cultivation of two or three years is considered very fast.

Nascent Soul Sixth Layer was still moving around outside three months ago, and now three months later she’s already at Nascent Soul Seventh Layer. This kind of situation isn’t unheard of, but it’s extremely rare.

One possibility is a heaven-defying genius, but Ji Niang clearly doesn’t fall into that category, otherwise the Ji Family’s True Immortal would’ve at least heard of her.

The second possibility is that she obtained some tremendous fortune, but that doesn’t quite fit either—her greatest stroke of fortune was probably managing to invite Feng Jun to do a deduction for her.

So although he didn’t want to admit it, the Ji Family’s True Immortal still had to sigh. "This guy’s deduction really has some skill... what a pity, in the end he’s still going to be a sect’s lapdog."

His thinking here was actually somewhat off. When Feng Jun received the invitation, he also didn’t want to go watch the ceremony. He’s always refused that kind of event. He hadn’t even gone to Xia Nichang’s Nascent Soul-congealing celebration—not only because he truly was very busy, but also because he found sect rules too fussy and bothersome.

The Green Lotus Sect’s rules for visiting would definitely be stricter than the Crimson Pheonix Sect’s. Would he be stupid enough to go?

The Green Lotus Sect disciple delivering the invitation told him this wasn’t an official ceremony, just a private little celebration. True Immortal Ji Niang’s formal ceremony was supposed to be held a year later—that long delay was mainly to give her friends time to prepare.

In fact, even for the formal ceremony, Ji Niang hadn’t planned to make a big event out of it, and this private gathering was being held far outside the Green Lotus Sect’s territory.

Feng Jun still didn’t want to go, but Cang Jing hinted to him through Yi Jue: you offended Jiu Ge Sage in the Tianqin Plane; even though that grudge has been settled on the surface, there might still be people in the Green Lotus Sect who keep picking at it.

Since True Immortal Ji Niang has True Sage Liu He behind her, if you go attend, you can just borrow True Sage Liu He’s name to erase potential hidden dangers.

Cang Jing’s suggestion did sway Feng Jun a bit. Among the True Sages he knew, Liu He was probably the one who’d formed the deepest enmity with Jiu Ge. Even though Feng Jun wasn’t worried that Jiu Ge could really do much to him, there are always some disciples down below who get hung up on grudges—that kind of thing is annoying.

Just like that incident not long ago in the White Qi Realm, where a Nascent Soul Initial Stage cultivator from the Wuji Sect, over a bit of personal resentment, almost dragged an entire secret-realm clan into trouble. Tell me that kind of hatred isn’t terrifying?

To be blunt, Feng Jun wasn’t afraid of Green Lotus Sect disciples making trouble, but why invite that kind of hassle? Besides, he isn’t afraid, but that doesn’t mean his disciples can handle it. Once something happens, it might not be possible to rush back and smooth things over in time.

So he was a bit hesitant—until he ran into the conflict between the Gongyang Family and the Taixu Sect.

He left to avoid trouble, but he also deliberately gave no reason when leaving—since you’re doing proxy purchasing without informing me, why should I inform you?

A little disrespectful to the Ji Family? Maybe. But the Ji Family messed with his business rules without telling him first—did they ever have him in their eyes?

Anyway, when he doesn’t want to intervene, he can always find a hundred reasons not to intervene; and once he decides to step in, he’ll also have no shortage of reasons.

Once he left, anyone connected to him naturally left as well. And coincidentally, Wei Sancai had come to receive his clan’s Magical Treasure. Feng Jun felt it wasn’t appropriate to leave Jing Ling unwatched, so he asked Wei Sancai to help keep an eye on it.

Sancai True Sage readily agreed to this small request. In truth, he’d already sensed that Jing Ling was extraordinary, something he needed to look up to. Acting as protector for such an existence while also owing Feng Jun a favor—why wouldn’t he be happy to do it?

The place Feng Jun went to this time was a plate called Mountain-Sea. The plate wasn’t very large, but it had a huge population and abundant Spiritual Energy. Agriculture, handicraft, and commerce were all highly developed, and there honestly weren’t many Demon Beasts around, so it counted as a rather livable plate.

Ji Niang was born on this plate. Later she joined the Green Lotus Sect. True Sage Liu He was very fond of her and spent a fortune here to build her a manor. The two of them would come to live here for a while whenever they had free time.

The Clan Ji Niang was born into wasn’t big, only four to five hundred clansmen. That was already the result of her Clan achieving Great Prosperity after she advanced to Nascent Soul—only then did it reach this scale—and she also became the Clan’s Yuan Ying Old Ancestor. However, Sect Practitioners must sever mortal ties; as an ancestor she was basically only a figurehead.

Strictly speaking, her mother’s Clan had quite a few people, more than thirty thousand, and also had a Yuan Ying Old Ancestor. It was just that back then her mother, as a daughter of a great Clan, married into a small Clan, so naturally she wasn’t taken very seriously.

After Ji Niang condensed her Nascent Soul, her mother’s Clan suddenly attached much more importance to her. But once many things have already happened, they can never be taken back, and if even her father’s Clan has to sever mortal ties, what about her mother’s Clan?

In short, her mother’s Clan treated her well afterward, but didn’t harbor too many unrealistic ideas. As a result, the relationship between the two sides actually got a bit closer. So after Ji Niang’s advancement, when she went home to throw a small gathering, the main purpose was to give both her parents’ Clans some face.

In fact, being able to cultivate to Nascent Soul High Stage on the Tianqin Plane was already quite rare. The Mountain-Sea Plate had over a hundred million cultivators, and not a few merchants coming and going in a hurry, but the Nascent Soul High Stage experts could be counted on one hand.

The only seasoned Nascent Soul in her mother’s Clan was merely at Nascent Soul Second Layer, mainly responsible for maintaining the Clan’s business. He was injured in a wagered duel and damaged his foundation; for the rest of his life he would never make the slightest further progress.

Interestingly, after hearing that Ji Niang had advanced to Nascent Soul Middle Phase, the Clan that had fought him in that duel decisively sold off their Clan industries for cheap, then vanished together with their core strength of several thousand. Only some side branches remained in Mountain-Sea, the kind with no money and no Combat Strength.

Did the other side really disappear completely? No. It’s fairly easy for one person to vanish; but for several thousand elite members to disappear—how is that possible? Even though Ji Niang was only at Nascent Soul Fourth Layer back then, if she had wanted to investigate, she would absolutely have found them.

But why investigate? This was simply how Tianqin’s rules worked: win a wagered duel and you naturally win the business. Once Ji Niang reached Nascent Soul Middle Phase, the other side giving up their business and running away only represented one stance—our Clan is scared now, let’s stop here.

Ji Niang could indeed have tracked them down to take revenge, but that retreat of theirs didn’t mean they had no ability to strike back. Besides, she was a Sect Practitioner, and having severed mortal ties, it wasn’t good for her to take action by force. So both sides each backed off one step, and with that the seas opened wide and the skies stretched high.

From this example you can see that Tianqin’s cultivators, when faced with trouble, don’t always have to fight to the bitter end... in the end, it’s all survival wisdom.

Ji Niang set out the wine in the palace of her own side manor. Outwardly it was called a palace, but in nature it was still more like a garden, and it wasn’t all that solemn and severe. There was no such thing as leaders giving speeches; from the very start it was solid goods—a Nascent Soul High Stage expert preaching the Dao.

The preaching didn’t last long, only half an hour, but it wasn’t lacking in substance. How much the listeners could comprehend was their own business.

After the discourse came musical performances and dance shows. Both guests and hosts acted quite freely, able to move about as they pleased in the garden. If someone wanted to stand up in a tree to watch the dancing, that was fine too—but no one actually shouted loudly.

From this you can clearly see the temperament of cultivators: in action they seek natural ease and freedom, while at the same time understanding self-restraint.

There were fairly long breaks between songs and dances. True Immortal Ji Niang would use the chance to offer toasts and say a few blessings, and some guests also used the opportunity to make acquaintances and chat.

However, True Sage Liu He never showed up. Even though every visitor knew he was Ji Niang’s partner, he simply did not appear on his own. This wasn’t really about arrogance; the main point was that today’s protagonist was Ji Niang, not him.

In fact, he didn’t even have the qualifications to be arrogant. Even though he was the only True Sage present today, there were... also two True Lords who had come.

Going by Qian Zhong’s temperament, she actually hadn’t wanted to come to the ceremony. It wasn’t just that her nature was calm and indifferent; more importantly, the Yao Family was a hidden Clan, and she normally wasn’t willing to show her face. So she hoped to wait for Feng Jun outside the palace.

But Xuanyuan Buqi liked lively occasions. He said, what if Feng Jun runs into some situation inside and there’s nobody to hold up the scene?

So the four of them all came in together. In any case, Feng Jun’s invitation was of a very high grade, so bringing a few people inside wasn’t a problem.

There was none of that pretentious face-slapping stuff at the venue. True Immortal Ji Niang, whether in the father’s Clan or the mother’s Clan, was a Yuan Ying Old Ancestor-level figure. Which junior at home would dare behave wildly?

And those guests whose status matched or even surpassed hers all knew her partner was a True Sage. Who would have the guts to cause trouble?

True Sage Liu He actually had a few out-of-body-stage friends, but this was only a small Nascent Soul High-Rank celebration. And right now Tianqin had quite a lot of matters going on, so just sending a few disciples over with some gifts was enough.

True Sage Liu He ultimately still couldn’t stay idle. After discovering that Qian Zhong and Xuanyuan Buqi had entered the venue, he altered his appearance and aura and went up to greet them. In other people’s eyes it was simply three Nascent Soul Middle Phase cultivators clustered together chatting.

Feng Jun and Yi Jue were together as well, and both had changed their looks. Yi Jue had even suppressed her Cultivation Level down to Nascent Soul Initial Stage.