Chapter 423: Knowing Too Much

The young Daoist said slowly, “As for the various principles of this path to immortality, you must come to understand them on your own. Even if I were to explain them to you, you wouldn’t understand what you’re not yet ready to understand. When the time comes, you’ll understand naturally. For now, there is an important matter I must discuss with you at length.”

“Please speak, Senior.”

That was what he said, but Wei Yuan couldn’t shake off the feeling that, if a fish had bitten the hook, the young Daoist would not only have explained the principles of this path to immortality but also gone into great detail.

But why hadn’t the fish bitten the hook? Wei Yuan pondered this carefully, but could find no answer.

The young Daoist said, “Liuli has been in secluded cultivation this whole time, attempting to advance to the Avatar stage, but she has consistently fallen just short, unable to take that final step. As her founder, I can’t just stand by and watch. I must devise a plan for her.”

Based on Wei Yuan’s understanding of Ji Liuli, there was absolutely no reason she couldn’t attain an Avatar. The reason she couldn’t take that final step was likely due to some flaw, resulting in an imperfect Avatar.

For example, Wei yuan himself had rejected the True Dragon Avatar three times before finally attaining the Fire of Humanity.

Wei Yuan asked, “Is it a problem with her state of mind?”

Given Ji Liuli’s innate foundation, she could have recovered even from injuries that would have been fatal from Zhang Sheng. Therefore, Wei Yuan did not think it was a problem with her Dao Foundation. It was most likely a problem with her state of mind.

The young Daoist smiled faintly and said, “You really do know her quite well. In that case, this matter will fall on you to solve.”

“What should this disciple do?”

“Let nature take its course. Visit her often once she has emerged from seclusion, and lend a hand if there’s anything you can do to help—that’s all. Additionally, there’s one more matter: the Heavenly Mysteries Hall also has five thousand Dao Soldiers. They’ve already been withdrawn and will be sent to your location for training. Once their Dao Foundations are established, you may donate forty percent to the Skyblue Hall—consider it your reward for helping Liuli.

Wei Yuan hurriedly replied, “Helping Big Senior Sister is my natural duty; I dare not accept any reward for this.

However, the young Daoist glared at Wei Yuan and said, “Just take it already. There are many matters I won’t be able to intervene with if you don’t.”

Wei Yuan was taken aback; he hadn’t expected True Lord Yan Shi to speak so bluntly, leaving him with absolutely no room to refuse. On the other hand, this matter benefited the Palace of Absolute Beginning, the Skyblue Hall, and Ji Liuli alike—it would only cost him a small price. How could he possibly refuse?

Wei Yuan agreed after convincing himself.

Seeing that Wei Yuan had agreed, the young Daoist was delighted and said, “The flying vessel and Dao Soldiers are all ready. Once you’ve packed your things, return to Qingming. I have a few minor matters to attend to here, so I won’t keep you any longer.”

After Wei Yuan left, the young Daoist’s expression suddenly darkened, and he said coldly, “Men!”

A few Daoists appeared and approached him. He then ordered, “Prepare the fish crates and fish baskets—make sure to prepare plenty of them!”

Suddenly, an immortal sword appeared in the young Daoist’s hand, its blade wrapped in lightning. Its thunderous power was so intense it seemed capable of shattering Heaven and Earth! The young Daoist raised his hand, about to plunge the immortal sword into the small lake.

Shocked, the Daoists hurriedly rushed forward and stopped him. They exclaimed, “True Lord, you must not! If you cast this thunder sword into the lake, every living being within it will die! You must not lightly taint yourself with the karmic debt of extinction!”

The Daoists risked their lives to block him. Try as he might, the young Daoist could not cast his thunder sword into the lake.

Suddenly, he pointed a finger toward the heavens. Several clumps of different powders appeared in the air and blended themselves. Once complete, they transformed into a massive cylindrical barrel and descended toward the lake’s surface.

Once again, the startled Daoists cast their spells to stop the barrel from descending any further. Then, they cried out, “True Lord, you must not! If this barrel of Chaos Sky Thunder hits the lake, not even one-tenth of the lake’s creatures will survive! In the end, you’ll still be tainting yourself with the karmic debt of extinction!”

The young Daoist recalled the barrel and said impatiently, “Not this, not that! What do you suggest I do then?!”

The Daoists hurriedly offered a suggestion.”There is a kind of net that can skim along the lake bottom. As long as the mesh is fine enough, it can capture every living creature in the lake in a single sweep, ensuring not a single one escapes. Then, we’ll capture just the ringleader and release the rest. That way, the matter is settled without incurring karmic retribution—wouldn’t that be the best of both worlds?”

The young Daoist’s expression softened slightly, and he nodded, saying, “That is an excellent plan.”

The Daoists went to fetch the net. Later, they cast what appeared to be a giant net into the lake. Moments later, the net floated to the surface with countless fish—big or small—and various aquatic spirits and creatures within it. All of them were trembling in fear.

Among the fish, one particularly large specimen with a patch of golden scales on its head was pushed to the forefront by the others and placed in the most prominent position.

The young Daoist suddenly reached out and grasped at the air, causing the giant net to rise three chi above the water. Then, his thunder sword plunged straight into the lake!

Instantly, the entire surface of the small lake was filled with leaping bolts of thunder and fire, like a thunderous purgatory. In the blink of an eye, several yin souls emerged from the water and dissipated into Heaven and Earth.

The young Daoist let out a cold laugh and said, “As I thought, some slipped through the net after all! Did you really think you could hide from this Daoist’s perception?”

The other Daoists dared not speak. They simply reached out and pulled out a few dead old fish from the lake bottom and tossed them onto the shore.

The young Daoist cast a glance at the fish in the net and ordered, “Pick out all those with golden scales on their heads and release the rest.”

The Daoists breathed a sigh of relief. Moments later, they pulled out three large fish—one old and two young—including the plump fish that had just acquired a single golden scale. The three fish begged for mercy terrified out of their wits.

The young Daoist’s face grew grim as he coldly declared, “You lot dared to disrupt my plans and bring shame upon me just because you thought you’d gained a little footing and grasped the superficialities of cultivation, didn’t you? The ancients once said that the people may be led, but they must not be made to understand. That saying is spot on—you lot have indeed learned too much!”

The two young fish’s cultivation were still shallow. They could not speak human language and could only frantically blow bubbles in supplication.

Desperate, the old fish said in human language, “This fish has accompanied the immortal during his midnight solo drinking sessions and has heard him speak to the heavens! I’ve stood guard for the immortal and kept watched for him through the night! If you offend me, when the immortal returns, I’ll certainly have a few words with him, and he certainly won’t let this slide!”

The young Daoist scoffed, “Do you seriously think you share some past ties with the Immortal Lord?”

The old fish steeled itself and replied, “This fish lives to be two hundred years old—what else could it be?”

The young Daoist coldly laughed. “There’s really only one reason you lived this long: the Immortal Lord doesn’t eat fish!”

......

Two days later, after learning that Zhang Sheng had entered seclusion to process the medicine’s potency and that the Palace of Absolute Beginning’s large flying vessel was ready, Wei Yuan—with the five thousand Dao Soldiers withdrawn from the front lines also abroad—set off with the vessel back to the Realm of Qingming.

In addition to the Dao Soldiers, the vessel also carried ten sensible disciples from the Mastercraft Hall, ten disciples from Mother Nature Monastery, and Xu Henshui.

Xu Henshui’s presence on the flying vessel truly took Wei Yuan by surprise. According to the beautiful man, he wished to lead these disciples to establish a branch monastery within the Realm of Qingming, where they would cultivate medicinal herbs and refine pills on-site. He would return only once everything was running smoothly.

Thanks to the previous training sessions, Wei Yuan had contributed over a thousand Dao Foundation cultivators to the Palace of Absolute Beginning and greatly reduced the defensive pressure the northern mountain gate was facing. Thus, even a newly promoted Avatar like Xu Henshui could be reassigned to other duties.

Ancestral land of the Bao Clan, State of Wu.

Bao Yun stepped out of her meditation chamber and gazed at a flowering tree in the courtyard with white-gold branches and pale-red blossoms. Suddenly, several petals drifted from the tree, landing on the fine white sand below, and vanished.

An inexplicable sense of disappointment struck her, and she furrowed her brow slightly. So, she cast a divination right there on the spot. The result she got was: water within, mountain without, befuddlement throughout. Upon seeing this, Bao Yun suddenly felt a pang of sadness, for the mountain remained even though the water had passed.

There was another interpretation to this divination outcome: the karma you share is not enough.

Just then, there was a knock at the courtyard gate, and Zhao Fusheng’s voice rang out from outside. “Zhao Fusheng of Qiongshan requests an audience.”

Bao Yun went to open the door, ushered him to the parlor, and invited him to sit down. Then, she said calmly, “It’s been many days since we last met. Have you come to get physical again, Young Island Lord?”

Zhao Fusheng looked somewhat embarrassed as he waved his hand. “Let’s not bring that up again! I admit I was overconfident that day, thinking that my sincerity was enough and believing that one Mahayamuri Buddha Mother is nothing but an obstacle to me, underestimating the world. Little did I know that so many unexpected things would take place within the secret realm! I lost, so I will naturally honor my promise. Until the one-year deadline has passed, I will absolutely not cross any boundaries!”

“I trust that you will keep your word, Young Island Lord.”

Zhao Fusheng continued, “After my defeat in the secret realm, I returned to my island and focused on my cultivation for half a year, reflecting on the reason I started in the first place. During that time, I made an unexpected discovery.”

“What was it?”

Zhao Fusheng sat up straight, took a deep breath—like a great whale drawing in water—then gazed into the empty space ahead and said, word by word, “I... like... you.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a burst of dragonfire suddenly erupted from atop Zhao Fusheng’s head with a thunderous roar, charring a patch of the parlor’s ceiling.

Blood rushed to Zhao Fusheng’s face instantly. As blazing fire continued to spew from his crown, he sat motionless as a statue, not daring to move a muscle.

Bao Yun couldn’t help but cover mouth and chuckle softly at the sight. It seemed that getting the Young Island Lord to say these words was harder than having him endure a heavenly tribulation.

At Bao Yun’s chuckle, the flames above Zhao Fusheng’s head flared up even more fiercely, looking as if they were about to burn right through the roof.

Bao Yun quickly suppressed her chuckle and turned serious. Only then did the draconic flames above Zhao Fusheng’s head gradually subside.

“I’m sure you have more to say, Young Island Lord.”

Moving past the topic, Zhao Fusheng finally seemed a bit more normal and began, “A few days ago, a senior divined the heavenly mysteries for me, and part of the reading involved you. It indicated that you might miss out on an important opportunity in the near future, but it can still be remedied. That’s why I came specifically to discuss this with you—I thought I might be able to lend a hand.”

Bao Yun looked at Zhao Fusheng’s earnest expression and, recalling the divination she had just performed, couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. If this fellow knew what the opportunity actually was, she wondered if he would still be so eager to offer his help.

Bao Yun composed herself and said, “I appreciate your kindness, Young Island Lord, but the price to be paid to make up for this missed opportunity would likely be enormous. I cannot accept a favor without offering something in return.”

Zhao Fusheng replied, “Material possessions are just that. If I have to use them, so be it. I’ll simply earn more in the future!”

It must be said that Zhao Fusheng carried himself and spoke with considerable composure and grace—as long as he wasn’t confessing his feelings.

Bao Yun smiled faintly and said, “I’ve certainly witnessed your grace, Young Island Lord—more than once, in fact. There is no need to go out of your way to show it.”

Zhao Fusheng’s face flushed instantly again. “A-about that incident last time, I admit that it was wholly my fault! Oh, how should I put it? I shouldn’t have underestimated your worth....”

Bao Yun replied, “I’m not referring to that time—that’s already water under the bridge. I happened to come across a certain object that allowed me to witness your grace anew. Here you go.”

Seeing Bao Yun handing him a stone, Zhao Fusheng suddenly had a deep sense of foreboding. His hand actually trembled a little as he took the stone and activated it with his Dao energy. Then, a projection appeared before him.

It was a distant side view. High above a 10,000-zhang abyss, Zhao Fusheng was flying through the air while holding a certain peacock monk in his arms.