Xia Yunzhao turned Shang Shuangze’s words over in his mind before finally realizing what he meant. “So… you opened your divine-sense imprint to me?”
Shang Shuangze gave a slight nod.
Xia Yunzhao tilted his head toward him. The evening breeze was a little cool as it swept along the long street, stirring his white robes and black hair until they tangled together in the wind. Xia Yunzhao cocked his head. “Hey, Shang Shuangze.”
Shang Shuangze looked over.
“See? I told you you’re easy to fool. How long have we even known each other? You’ve already handed me your whole fortune. Luckily…” He smiled. “I really haven’t lied to you. I’ll tell you a secret too.” He quietly leaned his head closer, signaling for Shang Shuangze to bend down and listen.
Shang Shuangze followed his movement, all ears.
Xia Yunzhao whispered, “I come from a place very, very far away—a place I can’t go back to and you can never reach. So actually, you’re also the best friend I’ve had since coming to this world.”
＊
When they passed the dye workshop, Xia Yunzhao took Shang Shuangze to visit the big white horse. The fellow was having quite the easy life at the workshop. It only worked once every three days; the rest of the time, all it did was eat and drink.
Xia Yunzhao was talking to the elderly woman at the entrance when a long horse face suddenly poked around the doorway. The instant it saw him, it zipped right back out of sight. Xia Yunzhao stared. “What the heck just stuck its head out?”
Once he stepped inside, he saw the big white horse’s four hooves going clop-clop-clop as it hurried back toward the stable. Xia Yunzhao shouted after it, “Get back here! What are you doing? How did you get out of the stable by yourself?”
The big white horse pretended not to hear and ran even faster.
Xia Yunzhao: …
The elderly woman spoke up for it from behind him. “Baiyun is normally very well behaved and works hard too. That stable is too small, and being shut inside all day makes him uncomfortable, so my old man and I take him for a walk every day. He got impatient waiting today, so he came out to look for us.”
Xia Yunzhao thought, That luxurious stable is small? It looks bigger than the place I lived in right after transmigrating. What, a horse can live there but I couldn’t?
The elderly woman now looked at Baiyun the way one might look at a beloved grandson. “Lord Xiao Xia, Baiyun really is very good.”
Xia Yunzhao wiped his face and exchanged a helpless look with Shang Shuangze. “Yes, yes, I know. You really shouldn’t spoil him so much, though. Give this guy an inch and he’ll take a mile.”
The elderly woman smiled, the wrinkles on her face smoothing out. “Yes, I understand.”
Xia Yunzhao could not see what exactly she had understood.
After visiting Baiyun, the two returned to the lakeside camp. Geng Jingwu and Chang Haiping happened to be there, so Xia Yunzhao told them about Liancui Mountain’s Mist-Barrier Period.
Both leaders’ expressions immediately tightened. Chang Haiping stood, hurried to Granny’s side, and gestured something to her. A moment later, she returned looking even more solemn.
Xia Yunzhao asked, “Well?”
Chang Haiping shook her head. “Granny says she really did hear the elders mention the Mist-Barrier Period before. She just never expected us to live long enough to encounter one. Supposedly, the dense fog lasts several months. The spiritual energy inside it becomes abundant, spirit plants grow faster, and slaughter beasts become stronger.” She sighed. “This time, we really can’t stay here anymore.”
Geng Jingwu said, “Little Brother Xia, we happened to have something to tell you too.”
He and Chang Haiping had already discussed the matter, so he went straight to the point. “The mountains are dangerous now. We plan to move.”
Xia Yunzhao had expected as much. “That’s what I was thinking too. Do you already have somewhere to go? Qingxi City?”
“Settling permanently in Qingxi City costs too much. With this many people, money would inevitably become tight. We intend to settle in Pinglan.”
Geng Jingwu drew a dot on the ground to represent Qingxi City, then drew a line eastward. “Pinglan is thirteen hundred li east of Qingxi City and quite far from the Liancui Mountain Range. The mountain goods we’ve accumulated should fetch a good price there.”
“Exactly,” Chang Haiping added. “And Pinglan is only a small town, so settling there costs less than Qingxi City. Another eight hundred li or so east of Pinglan is the medium-sized city of Yunjiangguan. The leader and I have discussed it. We plan to form a merchant caravan running between Qingxi City and Yunjiangguan.”
Xia Yunzhao nodded repeatedly as he listened, then asked curiously, “So from now on, you’ll only be merchants?”
Chang Haiping laughed heartily. “How could that be? This big family of ours has East Mountain people, Linmu people, and plenty of strong men and women. We’re all good at making a living from the mountains. Besides running the caravan, we’ll naturally keep gathering in the mountains too. It just gives us another road to take.”
Xia Yunzhao nodded slightly.
Chang Haiping handled matters very differently from Geng Jingwu. She had more drive, and she looked much farther ahead. Xia Yunzhao believed the clan would change again under her leadership. In any case, things would only get better.
Once both leaders decided to move, everyone naturally sprang into action. Before long, every shelter except Xia Yunzhao’s little grass hut had been dismantled.
Two more days passed. Every large and small trap outside was retrieved, and even the sheep pen was taken apart.
Several sheep-type slaughter beasts had already grown half-sized, while a few had only recently been captured and were still little lambs. Chang Haiping hesitated over what to do with them. Selling them on the spot would bring in some spirit pearls for travel expenses, but they had already spent quite a bit raising them. This was the camp’s first attempt at keeping slaughter beasts, and they still wanted to see whether they could raise them to adulthood. Yet if they truly brought the beasts along, whether tied up or confined, there was always the risk that they would struggle free and hurt someone on the road.
After Xia Yunzhao heard about it, he casually refined a Spirit-Binding Rope and used it to tie up the sheep-type slaughter beasts. A Level-One magical artifact naturally had no problem restraining several lowest-grade slaughter beasts. Xia Yunzhao also taught them how to undo the rope.
Mortals could not use a Level-One magical artifact, but Xia Yunzhao had refined this Spirit-Binding Rope himself, so deliberately leaving a loophole was easy enough. They still could not activate it themselves, but they could at least release it.
After checking everything once more and confirming there was no problem, Xia Yunzhao said, “All right. Once you’ve settled down and built a proper sheep pen, just untie them.”
Chang Haiping said, “Once we’re settled and start running caravans through Qingxi City, we’ll bring this immortal rope back.”
“No need. I can refine this thing whenever I want.” Xiao Xia smiled. “Consider it a gift. Sell it, give it away, or keep it yourselves—whatever you like. Keeping it might be best, though. Maybe when these little ones grow up, some of them will be able to cultivate.”
Chang Haiping laughed too. “All right. May your auspicious words come true!”
Outside, three hastily built flatbed carts were piled high with belongings. Everyone in camp was packed and dressed for the road, waiting to set off.
When Xia Yunzhao came outside, Granny was speaking with Geng Jingwu. The moment she saw him, she walked over, took his hand, and said the one sentence she had only just taught him.
This time, he understood. Granny said, “Once the little eagle grows its wings, let it fly.”
＊
The lakeside camp was gone. Only Xia Yunzhao’s little grass shelter remained, and it took him several days to get used to the emptiness. More than once, he woke in the middle of the night imagining he had heard the birdcalls of the hidden sentries outside.
Fortunately, Shang Shuangze had stayed. A sword cultivator with such profound cultivation squeezed onto the narrow bed made of joined wooden planks with him every night without a single complaint.
One morning, Xia Yunzhao climbed out of bed and heard the plank bed creak miserably beneath them. He suddenly burst out laughing.
Shang Shuangze was feeding Xiao Qing spirit herbs. Hearing the laughter, he looked up with faint puzzlement.
Xia Yunzhao laughed even harder. “I was just thinking—there’s no reason we absolutely have to live beside the lake. Why are we squeezing ourselves into this little grass hut? We could copy Fellow Daoist Xu and find a cave to live in instead. Wouldn’t that be much roomier?”
Shang Shuangze had no choice but to nod. Xia Yunzhao was right.
As though finally recovering from the sadness of parting, Xia Yunzhao immediately dragged Shang Shuangze around the area. In the end, they found an exceptionally comfortable cave not far from the lake.
The cave was neither too deep nor too shallow, and it was even larger than Xu Ziyu’s. Xiao Xia estimated it at around two hundred square meters—more than enough to divide into three bedrooms and two living rooms.
Even better, the cliff where the cave was located formed a small valley, with protruding rock on both sides and a recessed center. The area was not small. With that valley entrance, defending against slaughter beasts would be much easier. A few traps at the entrance alone would give the place the imposing air of one man holding a pass against ten thousand.
And never mind the rest of the valley—right outside the cave was a sizable stretch of perfectly flat ground. The instant Xia Yunzhao saw it, the Chinese blood in him awakened! Leaving such flat land unplanted seemed downright wasteful.
Shang Shuangze watched Xia Yunzhao stand in contemplation outside the cave for a while before turning to ask him, “I heard the great sects have spirit fields where they grow their own spirit rice and spirit plants. Is that true?”
Shang Shuangze nodded slightly. “It is. My sect has an entire peak devoted to cultivating spirit plants. Ordinary spirit rice and spirit plants are largely self-sufficient. The pill cultivators and plant cultivators in the sect also have spirit fields of their own.”
“There are even plant cultivators?” Xia Yunzhao was astonished. “There really are three thousand Great Daos—every path can lead to ascension…” Then he said, “When we go out from now on, let’s collect spirit-plant seeds too and try planting some. It’s all soil from Liancui Mountain. There’s no reason plants can grow everywhere else but refuse to grow outside our own front door, right?”
Shang Shuangze was very supportive and nodded. “Quite so.”
Now that they had found their new home, the two made another trip and moved everything over.
There was still a small pile of things left behind at the old camp, all gifts everyone had prepared for Xia Yunzhao.
Xia Yunzhao had been too listless to go through them over the past few days. Now that he finally did, he was touched to discover that everyone had left him genuinely useful things.
“Granny’s pickled wild vegetables!” Xiao Xia happily held up a porcelain jar. “These wild greens are a little spicy to begin with, and after Granny pickles them they turn sour and spicy. They’re amazing with rice! Let’s cook porridge tonight. Pickles with porridge are so good!”
Shang Shuangze helped him hold the jar and said quietly, “All right.”
Xiao Xia continued rummaging. “Cured pork from Fourth Aunt, flatbreads from Sister Wu, bamboo baskets woven by Brother Wan… Huh? Where did they find bamboo? Oh, never mind, it isn’t Thousand-Jointed Bamboo… Whoa, they even left two Pine-Tailed Chickens? Xiao Qi definitely caught these. I recognize his knots! Tonight—mm, tomorrow. Tomorrow at noon we’ll make chicken soup and soak the flatbread in it!”
Elio’s Notes: Earlier chapters use 松羽鸡, “Pine-Feather Chicken,” while the raw here uses 松尾鸡, “Pine-Tailed Chicken.” We’ve preserved the wording used in this chapter rather than silently normalizing the two.
At the very bottom, he found a fishing rod, a fishing net, and a small jar of bait.
“Oh, come on. Why did Sister Chang leave these too? Are these for me to go fishing? There’s no way I’d starve in the mountains! They’re the ones who might want to catch fish on the road, and now they’ll have to make everything again.” Xiao Xia felt touched and amused at the same time.
Shang Shuangze said, “The fishing rod and net are both newly made. They were probably prepared specifically as gifts for you.”
Xia Yunzhao looked them over. That seemed true. The fishing rod still carried the fresh scent of bamboo, while the net looked newly woven and had never touched water. Finally reassured, he said, “Let’s go fishing when we have time! We can go to that spirit pool from before. I wonder whether there are spirit fish inside.”
“All right.”
The two carried all their odds and ends into the cave, dismantled the narrow plank bed, and used its structure as a model to cut wood and build two wider beds of their own.
Xia Yunzhao certainly did not have Xu Ziyu’s wealth to pave the floor with spirit jade, but ordinary mountain stone was everywhere. Mingyun cut stone as easily as tofu, and before long it had sliced enough slabs to pave the entire cave floor smooth and level.
They also killed two white bovine slaughter beasts on the spot, skinned them, and turned the hides into door curtains. Their little cave home quickly began to look quite respectable.
That night, Xia Yunzhao drank warm spirit-rice porridge, ate sour-spicy pickled vegetables, and watched fatty beef roast and sizzle beside the bonfire. He sighed happily. “Now this is living!”
Across the fire, Shang Shuangze watched his smiling face while gently stroking Mingyun across his knees. Back on the mountain, this sword had possessed quite a temper—even Shang Shuangze’s master had not been allowed to pet it. Yet in Xia Yunzhao’s hands, it behaved perfectly. If told to cut stone, it cut stone. If told to chop wood, it chopped wood.
Beside them, Xiao Qing had managed to secure an enormous beef rib. Oil coated the rim of its lid as it ate. The little slob did not mind in the slightest and leaned against Xia Yunzhao’s leg beside the fire while digesting its meal.
The whole little family spent a warm, cozy evening together.
The next day, Xia Yunzhao stopped running around and began cultivating seriously.
With money in hand, the heart did not panic. His storage pouch currently held nearly ninety thousand spirit pearls alone, so he poured out almost half in one go.
More than forty thousand spirit pearls formed a little semicircular embankment around him, glowing softly and beautifully.
Xiao Xia calmed his mind, sat cross-legged, and rested his hands in a semicircle over his knees before slowly circulating his cultivation method.
Once the cultivation method settled into its proper rhythm, he activated the Spirit-Transmutation Art.
Spiritual energy roared toward him. His meridians became like enormous abyssal mouths, greedily swallowing spiritual energy by the mouthful. Even with every breath, great quantities of spiritual energy surged in and out, forming tiny whirlpools of spiritual energy around him.
Outside the cave, Shang Shuangze, who had been meditating, opened his eyes and abruptly felt sorry for Xia Yunzhao.
With talent like his, had he been born into one of the great families, his cultivation would not be any lower than Shang Shuangze’s now. He certainly would not need to worry over a few spirit pearls.
Of course, even as he was now, his Fellow Daoist Xia was no worse than the proud geniuses of the great families.
The sun rose and set. Several more days passed.
Xia Yunzhao never stopped running the Spirit-Transmutation Art. He replenished the spirit pearls several times along the way, and by now only a little over ten thousand remained in his pouch.
Suddenly, it was as though some invisible string gave a faint tremor and jolted him out of meditation.
His gaze passed over Shang Shuangze, who had been standing guard for him all this time, and fell upon the cave entrance. There, he witnessed a strange sight: dense white mist appeared at the far-left edge of the opening as if in an animation, then moved steadily toward the right until it filled the entire frame. Afterward, it was as if a layer of white gauze had been draped across the cave entrance, completely obscuring the scenery outside.
The Mist-Barrier Period had arrived.
Across the entire Liancui Mountain Range, every cultivator sensed something and turned their gaze in its direction. The more impatient among them were already unable to restrain themselves and rose to hurry over.
Shang Shuangze withdrew his gaze and looked at Xia Yunzhao, who had already stood. “How is it?”
Xia Yunzhao smiled. “Seventh layer of Qi Refining.”
Perhaps Qi Refining was simply the easiest stage to cultivate, because Xia Yunzhao had encountered almost no bottlenecks. With the Spirit-Transmutation Art supporting him, he had charged straight from the fifth layer of Qi Refining to the seventh. His spiritual power was now abundant, and he was ready to face the challenge of the Mist-Barrier Period.
Shang Shuangze stood as well and said quietly, “They are already here.”
He did not need to point it out. Xia Yunzhao had heard the thunder of large animals charging toward them. The corner of his mouth lifted, and his body drifted lightly out of the cave, leaving only one sentence behind. “You and Mingyun stay out of it for now. Let me test my cultivation first.”
Mingyun shook unhappily in Shang Shuangze’s hand. It wanted to fight beside Xia Yunzhao too!
The moment Xia Yunzhao floated out of the cave, he found the world engulfed in thick fog. The mist was practically tangible; his gaze could not penetrate it at all. After thinking for a moment, he brushed his fingers across his eyelids and covered his eyes with spiritual energy. Sure enough, his vision cleared somewhat. Even so, he could see only three or four meters away. Anything farther was still invisible.
He guessed the range probably depended on cultivation. Shang Shuangze ought to be able to see farther.
Come to think of it, what exactly was Shang Shuangze’s cultivation again?
Three or four meters away, several enormous black shadows flashed past. Huge bodies pounded against the ground with heavy boom! boom! noises. Wherever they went, broad swaths of grass and shrubs were plowed apart, and a strong earthy smell drifted over…
Xia Yunzhao flipped out of the way of a clod of dirt that came flying toward him and narrowed his eyes, straining to see. “What the heck is that?”
Only when the shadows came within three or four meters did he finally recognize them.
Stone-Nosed Wild Boars!
Except the Stone-Nosed Wild Boars appearing now were a full size larger than they had been before the Mist-Barrier Period!
Stone-Nosed Wild Boars resembled ordinary wild boars, but their noses were hard as rock and they possessed two retractable tusks. Their most common method of attack was to ram an enemy with that hard nose, then rapidly extend their tusks and drive them into the target to complete the kill.
It was not as though Xiao Xia had never encountered Stone-Nosed Wild Boars before. He had killed several! By the fifth layer of Qi Refining, killing one had already become easy.
But now that his own cultivation had risen, the Stone-Nosed Wild Boars had grown stronger too.
Xiao Xia raised an eyebrow. Fine. Then they could see who had improved faster!
Stone-Nosed Wild Boars were irritable by nature, and when three or five gathered together, their tempers became even worse. Five of them were here now. The beasts seemed afraid of absolutely nothing as they charged straight at Xia Yunzhao! Humans wanted the materials on their bodies, while they wanted human flesh and blood.
Xia Yunzhao did not dodge using the Lightness Technique. Instead, his feet shifted—Flowing Cloud Leg Art! Boom! His foot slammed into the leading boar. The beast weighed several hundred jin, yet Xia Yunzhao sent it flying with a single kick. It smashed through several large trees and thrashed on the ground, unable to rise again.
The second boar was already upon him. Xiao Xia flipped his palm and chopped downward with a burst of palm wind, neatly slicing into the groove behind the boar’s neck.
A thick shell of rock covered a Stone-Nosed Wild Boar’s back. The narrow gap behind the neck was its only weakness.
The meridians in the boar’s neck were severed, and it collapsed without so much as a squeal.
Xia Yunzhao shook the blood from his hand, avoided the third boar’s charge, and struck out with both palms. Fire flared. Two clusters of flame met the fourth and fifth boars head-on and burned away their vitality in one breath.
After only a single exchange, of the five Stone-Nosed Wild Boars that had come charging over, only one remained standing.
Xiao Xia saw no point frightening it any longer. He stepped forward and sent it off to join its brothers.
After putting all five carcasses into his storage pouch, he looked at the blood on his hands and disgustedly rinsed them with the Water-Purifying Gourd. “Should I get myself a weapon? Having to wash my hands every time is such a pain. What kind of weapon do you think would suit me?”
Sure enough, Shang Shuangze had already come over behind him. He stepped forward to pour water over Xia Yunzhao’s hands and said, “Fellow Daoist’s wrists are flexible and your palm techniques agile. A lighter weapon would suit you better—a dagger, sleeve sword, thrusting blade, or small halberd.”
Xia Yunzhao considered it. “Then a dagger. I’ve used one before, and it felt pretty comfortable.”
Come to think of it, he still had the artifact blueprint for the Seven-Star Ring. It simply required so many materials that he had yet to gather everything. Perhaps he could finally complete the set during the Mist-Barrier Period?
Once his hands were clean, Xia Yunzhao looked eagerly into the white fog beyond the valley. The mist was full of treasure. “Come on. Let’s go treasure hunting!”
Inside the thick fog, a great escape was underway.
Two people were fleeing at the front. One was as tall and broad as an iron tower. The other was not even five chi tall, yet moved with remarkable agility, bouncing lightly along like a child.
The iron-tower-like man was Wei Tu. The young woman beside him, agile as a monkey, was his younger sister Wei Ling.
Wei Tu’s footsteps boomed as he ran, making almost as much noise as the Stone-Nosed Wild Boars. He rumbled, “Are those people behind us from the Fang family of Qingxi City? How did you offend them?”
“How should I know?” Wei Ling looked thoroughly aggrieved. Her hands were even smaller than those of an ordinary young woman, yet those two small, fair hands wrapped around a large tree beside her. She effortlessly uprooted it and threw it backward, knocking down a huge swath of pursuers.
Wei Ling kept running. “All I did was see them killing somebody. I couldn’t even tell whether that person was a man or a woman. Then they spotted me, started saying things about leaving no survivors, and came chasing after us.”
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. “Are they insane?! If they want to kill somebody, then kill them. It’s not like I said I was going to interfere!”
Wei Tu thought about it, then continued rumbling, “Once we get away, let’s stay farther from them. Who knows whether that illness is contagious.”
Wei Ling nodded seriously.
They had barely finished speaking when their vision blurred. Two figures—whether human or ghost, they could not tell—suddenly appeared running beside them.
Wei Ling jumped in fright and nearly blurted out, “Begone, evil spirit!”
Then a laughing voice said, “Fellow Daoist Wei? What happened to you?”
Wei Tu lowered his hand. “So it is Fellow Daoist Xia. I haven’t seen you in several days. Fellow Daoist’s cultivation has risen very quickly.”
Xia Yunzhao had only just left home when he happened to run into an acquaintance, so he had come over to see what was happening. “Fellow Daoist Wei, I just killed another five Stone-Nosed Wild Boars. Do you want them?”
“Yes.” Wei Tu nodded honestly. “But I’m currently running for my life. If I survive, I’ll do business with Fellow Daoist.”
Xia Yunzhao thought, That serious? “Who’s chasing you?”
Wei Ling had a quick tongue and immediately rattled off the whole story.
Xia Yunzhao’s gaze shifted. The Fang family was killing someone? Had they been killing a human, or one of those monsters that merely looked human?
Taking advantage of a turn, he looked back. He could not see clearly through the fog, but the vague shapes were enough to shock him. “Why are there so many?! More than twenty Qi Refining cultivators? Did the Fang family empty the whole nest?!”
Wei Ling looked miserable. “Fellow Daoist, do you have any ideas? If you help us this time, from now on, I’ll have my brother buy every resource you have at a high price!”
Wei Tu opened his mouth, then shut it again. His younger sister was smarter than him. His parents had told him that when they went out, he should listen to her more.
Xia Yunzhao’s eyes immediately lit up. “Really? How high is ‘high’?”
Wei Ling answered decisively, “Three times market price! As long as it’s something body cultivators need, we’ll buy it!”
Body cultivators trained through body-tempering methods. The sheer variety of resources they needed was enormous!
Now that was a business deal!
Xia Yunzhao immediately shouted, “Shang Shuangze! Mingyun!”
Shang Shuangze stopped and steadied his figure. Xia Yunzhao leapt through the air, and by the time he landed, a bark mask covered his face. A chunk was still missing from the chin.
Xiao Xia reached up and pressed it into place. Bark really could not withstand much abuse. Once he had the chance, he needed to get a proper mask-type magical artifact.
Shang Shuangze raised a hand and pointed. Mingyun had already left its sheath and plunged straight into the pursuers, splitting them neatly into two groups. Shang Shuangze leapt after it.
Xia Yunzhao pointed toward the fewer than ten people remaining. “Come on. We’ll handle these.”
He finished speaking, only to notice neither sibling move. Puzzled, he looked back.
Wei Ling was pointing ahead, stumbling over her words. “S-Sword… sword control at your side… Is this Se-Senior at the Gold… Golden Core stage?”