Watching the Mountain

Chapter 55: Chapter 49: Bright Heart Realm

"Master, this is about you, isn’t it?"

Little Xiyue silently turned her head, asking him with a wide grin.

Her fair little face was slightly flushed, and she looked rather happy.

Xu Ran nodded slightly.

Noticing his downcast mood, Little Xiyue asked in confusion, "Master, aren’t you happy? The villagers set up this statue and monument for you on their own. This is something that will allow your name to be remembered for generations."

Xu Ran was silent for a long moment before shaking his head and saying, "This is wrong."

"What’s wrong about it?" Little Xiyue was completely confused.

Xu Ran turned his head slightly to look at her. "You should know why I studied and researched Spiritual Plants."

Little Xiyue paused for a second, then nodded. "It was for Senior Sister Yue?"

Xu Ran gave a slight nod and continued, "That’s right. Whether it was my initial research into pest control, or the later Spirit Fruits, Spirit Medicines, and Spirit Rice—all of it was simply to repay Senior Sister Yue’s kindness."

"After I developed those things, I handed them over to Senior Sister Yue and didn’t involve myself any further."

"In the end, it was Senior Sister Yue and the Sect who promoted these achievements in the Mortal World. That’s why this is wrong. They’re thanking the wrong person."

Little Xiyue was getting a bit dizzy from his reasoning. After a moment, she shook her head. "No, no, Master, you have the order backward. First, you had to create those things for the Sect to be able to promote them. If you hadn’t created them, how could the Sect have promoted anything?"

"So, they haven’t thanked the wrong person."

Hearing her reply, Xu Ran sighed helplessly. "It seems you still don’t understand."

Little Xiyue’s expression turned serious, and she said to him sternly:

"You’re the one who doesn’t understand, Master. When did you become so melodramatic? You weren’t like this at all when you used to sneak me into classes."

Xu Ran opened his mouth, about to say something more, but Little Xiyue didn’t give him the chance.

She turned and walked quickly toward the nearby farmland, calling out to the nearest old man:

"Excuse me, old sir. I’d like to ask, why doesn’t this statue have any facial features? Could you tell me the story behind it?"

The old man seemed to care a great deal about the statue. As soon as he heard her question, his interest was piqued. He stopped his work, walked over to the statue, and began to explain:

"Decades ago, the Profound Pure Sect, an Immortal Sect, sent people over to teach us how to manage locust plagues... A little over ten years ago, they sent people again, this time with the seeds for this Spirit Rice..."

He recounted the story to Little Xiyue at length. "You have no idea how terrifying the insect plagues were back then. A swarm would cover the sky and land, devouring all the crops in an instant. Even the Immortals were helpless when they came."

"Don’t Immortals know Immortal Techniques? How could they be helpless against ordinary insects?"

The old man glanced at her. "I can tell you’ve never farmed before, little girl. Those locusts breed directly in our fields. You can’t even notice them at first. By the time they appear, they’re already a massive swarm, devouring the crops."

"It’s true that Immortals have their techniques, but unless they were willing to destroy the crops along with the pests, they couldn’t do anything about them."

"Besides, Immortals have their own cultivation to worry about. They can’t just spend every day watching over the crops for us mortals. There are so many mortals in the world; how could the Immortals possibly manage us all? The fact that they ensure our general peace and safety is already very responsible of them."

Little Xiyue looked at the old man with some surprise. "You have a very broad perspective, old sir."

The old man’s expression grew proud. "Of course. After all, our Wang Family Village was once a family of Immortals. It was a long time ago, but we still have some family records. This old man knows a bit more about the affairs of Immortals than the average person."

Little Xiyue nodded thoughtfully. Then, pointing at the faceless statue behind her, she asked, "Then what do you think of the Immortal who researched the pest control methods and the Spirit Rice you’re planting in your fields?"

"What else is there to think? He’s a great benefactor, of course," the old man replied without hesitation.

He then shook his head, his expression turning a little sad. "It’s a shame he was never willing to reveal his name. We don’t even know who our benefactor is."

Little Xiyue nodded and continued to ask, "But wasn’t it the Profound Pure Sect that gave you the pest control methods? Why don’t you erect a statue and monument for the Immortal Sect?"

Hearing this, the old man’s eyes widened, and he said with some exasperation, "You really don’t get it at all, do you, young lady? We naturally remember the kindness of the Immortal Sect, but which Immortal was it who researched the pest control methods and the Spirit Rice? If he hadn’t developed them, what would the Immortal Sect have had to teach us?"

"But what if he only researched those things to complete a sect mission or for some other reason? What if he never even thought about you?"

"That’s not our concern. All we need to know is that he’s the one who developed these things, and he’s the one who gave us a more stable life."

The old man shook his head after speaking, then looked at Little Xiyue and said:

"Besides, young lady, you really don’t understand. Think about it. Immortals have been around for so long, so why is it that only when *that* specific Immortal appeared were these things finally developed?"

"In the past, when Immortals were around, our lives were decent, but we often couldn’t get enough to eat due to natural and man-made disasters. People often starved to death."

At this point, his expression suddenly shifted as if he had just remembered something. He continued:

"Right, speaking of which, it reminds me. It must have been thirty or forty years ago. I had a younger cousin. That year, a locust plague hit the village, and everything edible was devoured. My cousin’s parents and our grandfather all starved to death."

"He was only ten at the time and managed to survive by a stroke of luck. The very next year, the Immortal Sect sent people to give us the method for controlling the pests."

"After my cousin heard that a Spirit Plant Master from the Immortals had such skills, he defied our ancestral teachings. He insisted on joining an Immortal Sect to become a Spirit Plant Master, saying he would use his own abilities to ensure that no one in the world would ever starve to death again."

He let out a sigh. "Unfortunately, our Wang Family Village has an ancestral rule that forbids cultivation. Because of that, he was removed from the family registry and has never returned. I wonder how he’s doing now."

"What’s your cousin’s name?"

"His name is Wang Xingye."

*

*

*

Wang Xingye, a Second Grade Spirit Plant Master. He possessed an extraordinary dedication and a certain aptitude for being a Spirit Plant Master, and was considered a promising talent the Sect was actively cultivating.

Recalling Wang Xingye’s file, Xu Ran’s mind drifted.

Just then, Little Xiyue stared intently at him and said, "Master, do you understand now? Regardless of your motives, you are the one who created these things that have benefited the entire world."

She then spoke to Xu Ran with great solemnity, "Anyway, no matter what anyone else thinks, in my heart, you have always been a master I can be proud of. I’m so glad my mother entrusted me to you and that I became your apprentice."

Xu Ran was taken aback. He never expected to hear such words from Little Xiyue.

Her eyes sparkling, Little Xiyue looked at him and continued, "Back when my mother said she was going to entrust me to you, she told me not to worry at all. She said that as long as she asked, you would definitely agree and would take very, very good care of me."

"Master, do you know what my mother said about you?"

Xu Ran paused, then asked curiously, "What did she say?"

A slight smile touched the corners of Little Xiyue’s lips as she replied cheerfully, "She said you were ’unmoved by honor or disgrace, loyal and full of heart.’"

Xu Ran’s expression was one of astonishment.

Little Xiyue placed her hands behind her back, tilting her delicate little face up slightly as she continued:

"She told me that by following you, I might not learn any great skills in cultivation, but I absolutely had to learn your way of dealing with people and the world. That way, when I grew up, I would never be at a disadvantage."

Then she shook her head. "I don’t think my mother was right. I know the reason your cultivation has stalled is that you neglected it to repay your debt to Senior Sister Yue by researching Spirit Rice. That just proves even more how loyal and true you are, and how you always repay your debts."

"And Master, you shouldn’t sell yourself short. To be able to ignore the judgment of others, to be unmoved by honor or disgrace, and to advance steadily toward your goal without rush or delay—that alone is a quality very few people possess."

"If you weren’t a person with such deep loyalties, and instead cared only about what others thought, you never would have neglected your own cultivation to repay Senior Sister Yue’s kindness."

"This fact truly makes me, your apprentice, so proud. There are very few people in this world who would neglect their own cultivation just to repay a debt of kindness, as you have, Master."

Xu Ran stood there, stunned. A strange emotion stirred within him. ’Loyal and full of heart?’

He had never thought of himself as that kind of person. He believed that as someone who possessed the Longevity Dao Fruit and an endless lifespan, he was destined to walk the path of Supreme Forgetting Emotions. This was precisely why he had always been unwilling to form deep connections with too many of his fellow sect members.

But now, hearing these words from Little Xiyue, he was suddenly struck by a realization.

’Why must longevity mean emotionlessness?’

’In an endless life, unless I hide away in the deep mountains and ancient forests forever, I will inevitably have to interact with people.’

’And as long as I interact with people, there will be connections, kindnesses, grudges, and all sorts of other inexplicable relationships.’

’Just like with Wang Xingye and Hao Daniu before, even if I didn’t interact with them, they took the initiative to show me kindness. How could I have avoided that?’

’As long as I exist in this world, I cannot avoid contact with others. So how can I possibly forget my emotions?’

’It turns out my path was wrong from the very beginning.’

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Xu Ran slowly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his gaze was clear and bright. Then, an indescribable aura began to emanate from within him.

Sensing this aura, Little Xiyue, who was standing beside him, felt her eyes light up as she stared fixedly at him.

As a Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivator, Little Xiyue knew exactly what this state her master was in was called: the Bright Heart Realm.

It was a state that every Cultivator must experience in order to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage, and it was also the most difficult hurdle to overcome.