Chapter 74 Peach Blossom

“Why are you happy?” Although it was a lame dialogue, Ye Shengge wanted to know why. Hence, she asked the question.

 

Maybe the man was really happy so he answered the question patiently. “I can kill the first gifted Dao cultivator who is likely to become a sage in the future, giving a heavy blow to Chenxie Mountain that is always lofty and even making the temple owner who is coldly looking on what happens down the mountain regret or even fly into a rage. Of course, most importantly, after you, the gifted Dao cultivator, die, the future of Chenxie Mountain won’t be as certain as before. When the temple owner takes that step, will Liangxi really be in the charge of Chenxie Mountain? So why am I not happy?”

 

Ye Shengge asked, “On what ground?”

 

The man was a bit astounded. “What do you mean?”

 

Ye Shengge said calmly, “Since you are only in the Sanctification Stage, why do you think that you can kill me? On what ground are you sure that you can kill me?”

 

The man was dazed for a moment and then came to his senses, saying with a grin, “Just because I’m at the Sanctification Stage!”

 

Ye Shengge lowered her head and muttered, “Sanctification Stage? Who isn’t at this stage?”

 

She didn’t mutter loudly enough so the man failed to hear her. However, after saying that, Ye Shengge only walked a few steps around the bank of the river. It seemed that she wanted to stay away from her things so that she wouldn’t smash her things in the middle of fighting. The man holding an umbrella didn’t rush to take action. Instead, he was only staring at Ye Shengge carefully. Before coming here, he had released a secret magic tool of his sect in a 100-mile radius around here, which was enough to cut off the connection from everything outside. Even if the gifted Dao cultivator carried some magic tools with her to connect with Chenxie Mountain, supposedly, nothing would work within the coverage of the man’s secret magic tool. The Taoist temple behind the cultivator who attacked Ye Shengge at the border of Liangxi had been razed to the ground. The Taoist went down the mountain not simply to appreciate the scenery of the human world. Those who dared to assassinate the gifted Dao cultivator of Chenxie Mountain should be aware of the consequence when they were found out. Since Chenxie Mountain could declare that the 3,000 books about Daoism in Sky Building were not as important as Ye Shengge, it should be known what consequence would follow if anyone was found out to dare to hurt Ye Shengge and Chenxie Mountain. That the Taoist temple was smashed by the Taoist of Chenxie Mountain was an example of punishment, but those who really harbored ill intentions would only be more cautious. The sect behind him was a good instance. They took out a valuable magic tool to cut off all the investigation methods of Chenxie Mountain so as to eliminate possible worries.

 

Now he only needed to do one thing—to kill Ye Shengge.

 

That was all.

 

But was it that simple to kill the gifted Dao cultivator that represented the future of Chenxie Mountain, protected by the whole mountain?

 

The man’s hand holding the umbrella was slightly trembling.

 

He was half excited and half thrilled about thinking of the rewards he would gain from the sect after he managed to assassinate Ye Shengge.

 

Where there was a high reward, there was a brave man!

 

And he was the brave man.

 

He composed himself and started to look the woman in a white dress up and down. He had known that the one sent to assassinate her was killed by her magic tool without even seeing her launch any attack. As a cultivator at the Sanctification Stage, he was undoubtedly superior to those at the Fundamental Stage, but he must act discreetly in the face of such a gifted Dao cultivator.

 

He could fall into an abyss if he acted carelessly.

 

It was snowing but Ye Shengge turned a blind eye to it. After walking for several steps, she said, “Come on.”

 

Holding the umbrella, the man grinned and slid by, raising heavy wind and snow. Behind his back, the common snow became like a violent storm. On the contrary, the wind and snow before and behind Ye Shengge remained the same, which were not affected at all.

 

With an extremely calm look, Ye Shengge just gazed at the man holding an umbrella who didn’t want to stride forward after sliding for tens of meters away.

 

During a fight, a cultivator wouldn’t let his enemy stay too close to him. It was the same even though both parties were cultivators.

 

Therefore, after a while, the man holding the umbrella flicked his sleeves. Instantly numerous beams of Qi came with the blizzard as if the Milky Way was pouring down.

 

This unknown Dao cultivator, standing in the distance, raised his hands slightly, who appeared overwhelmingly daunting.

 

Actually, as long as the cultivators were not deliberately suppressed, they would foster their own demeanor as they progressed on the stage and grew older. And a small number of them would show a natural momentum because they were outstanding in the competition of stage.

 

The Confucian cultivators among the three religious sects, probably besides the stage and magic tools, their knowledge and comprehension of the sages’ opinions could be the key of gaining victory. As to the Dao cultivators in Liangxi, it was much simpler to confront the opponent. Apart from the stage, the magic tool was the only thing that mattered.

 

The man holding an umbrella thought that he was sure to prevail Ye Shengge in terms of stage, but he still didn’t dare to take it lightly. After flicking his sleeves, he immediately took out a talisman from his arms and threw it away. As the golden talisman flowed in the air, the words written in red quickly fell off and linked with each other in a chain. Then a red ribbon seemed to appear around the man but the ribbon was made up of the words. It was not clearly seen but the power was overwhelming without doubt.

 

In the blizzard, the red ribbon was rather eye-catching.

 

Ye Shengge said calmly, “This is Sage Chen’s Ghostly Talisman, which is clearly recorded in the 3,000 books about Daoism in the Sky Building. There are only five of these on Chenxie Mountain. And you have one, which is not high-class. Yet, only three Taoist temples within Liangxi have this kind of thing. Putting Chenxie Mountain aside, there are only two temples left. Songyun Temple is on good terms with Chenxie Mountain and its owner is only at the Revelation Stage. They can never think of competing against Chenxie Mountain. Then Yuwu Mountain will be the only option. Oh I almost forget that Sage Chen was from Yuwu Mountain.”

 

The six sages of Daoism holding different magic tools, were notoriously formidable in the human world. Among them, Sage Chen, the third one to become a sage, had the Ghostly Talisman that shocked almost everyone. At that time, before the war ended, Sage Chen, who hadn’t become a sage, made the cultivators of the demonic land suffer a lot with his Ghostly Talismans. He was almost invincible. If the cultivators hadn’t stolen his thunder, Sage Chen should have been well known throughout the human world after that war.

 

However, this Dao cultivator didn’t breathe a word about it at all. After the war, he was dedicated to cultivating himself in Yuwu Mountain.

 

Centuries later, Sage Chen turned into a sage quietly.

 

And the Ghostly Talisman left before he turned into a sage became the treasure which the Dao cultivators fought for. Chenxie Mountain gained five Ghostly Talismans as the leader among the Daoist schools and kept them carefully while Songyun Temple acquired one by accident and immediately kept it as the top-one treasure of the temple. It remained unknown how many talismans were on Yuwu Mountain, where Sage Chen used to cultivate himself. After all, it was a place where a sage used to cultivate himself. Other people didn’t dare to trespass at will. Neither did Chenxie Mountain.

 

The temple owner of Chenxie Mountain was only half a step away from the stage of sage, but in fact, the half a step made a big difference in the face of a real sage.

 

When a sage struck an attack, it would remove mountains, drain seas and astonish the human world. How could a sage be treated with common sense?

 

Otherwise, after the human world was broken by more than ten sages, why would almost no sages launch any attack by now?

 

The man holding an umbrella said with a calm smile, “If you die, the secret won’t be a secret then. If I die, Yuwu Mountain must have a way to face Chenxie Mountain’s scolding. What do I worry about? Moreover, today, you are doomed.”

 

Ye Shengge said peacefully, “If Sage Chen finds out the disciple of his sect acts like this, I’m afraid that he won’t feel happy.”

 

The man grinned. “As a sage, why would Sage Chen care about this kind of trivial thing? Maybe if he learns that Yuwu Mountain kills a gifted Dao cultivator before she turns into a sage, she will be happier. There are up to six statues of sages in that hall. Perhaps not only Saint Chen but also the other sages won’t be delighted to see another statue placed next to them. As to the temple owner of Chenxie Mountain, he is half a step away from being a sage. Why hasn’t he directly made it? Is it because he fears that the Dao fruit may be ruined by several sages while he is breaking through the stage? The sages don’t care about all the cultivators in the human world, but do they really not mind those who are possible to gain an equal footing? Then why did Sage Chen have to turn into a sage privately instead of doing it openly? You are regarded as the treasure of Chenxie Mountain, but has it come to your mind that they may replace their smiling faces with the looks that you haven’t seen after they turn around?”

 

“You’ve blathered so much only to wreck my heart for Daoism and gain victory without fighting?” Looking at the man, Ye Shengge voiced out his intention.

 

The man sighed sincerely, “What a marvelous gifted Dao cultivator!”

 

Ye Shengge took one step forward. “I’m flattered.”

 

After that, the blizzard around her turned into a snowman as tall as her. The snowman walked to the man slowly and struck a punch, which happened to hit the red ribbon.

 

The harsh sound sounded like thunder.

 

Soon, an arm of the snowman broke and turned into snowstorm.

 

The red ribbon remained still. Ye Shengge retreated for several steps with a serious look. At the moment, the gifted Dao cultivator finally felt that the situation was not simple today.

 

During her cultivation on the mountain, she progressed really fast but it was not the fastest speed. Instead, she deliberately slowed down a lot so that every stage of her could be perfect enough before reaching the next stage.

 

Despite that, without life-and-death combats, her stage wouldn’t be truly perfect. Maybe the temple owner let her go down the mountain only hoping that she could train herself up well.

 

Regardless, as a cultivator at the Sanctification Stage, Ye Shengge would never feel afraid in the face of a cultivator at the same stage.

 

Therefore, after the snowman faded away, Ye Shengge took out several bright yellow talismans and threw them into the river. She didn’t carry the Ghostly Talismans drawn by Sage Chen, but Chenxie Mountain had abundant assets. There were plenty of ordinary talismans.

 

For example, the Water Harnessing Talisman she threw out was one of them.

 

After Ye Shengge threw out several Water Harnessing Talismans, waves from the Cangyun River suddenly beat the shore in an imposing manner. The rolling water started to stand upside down, giving the villagers near the river bank a misconception that an immortal had arrived. So they knelt down and kowtowed, wishing in cries that the god of the river would grant them good weather for the crops next year.

 

The man holding an umbrella waved his hand. Then the red ribbon got away from him and landed on the river, which brought peace to the river again.

 

Ye Shengge shook her head.

 

The Water Harnessing Talisman was meant for nothing but to make the Ghostly Talisman leave the man holding an umbrella so that he wouldn’t be protected anymore. Otherwise, it would take most of her treasures to break through the non-attacking talisman.

 

Now she got her way.

 

The Ghostly Talisman was sent to suppress the roiling water caused by Water Harnessing Talisman.

 

In this case, Ye Shengge could do her best to launch her attack now.

 

After a while, Ye Shengge rushed forward with a wooden sword in her hand.

 

This was a talisman sword she saw at the corner of the treasury on the mountain when she was young. It was said that a senior of Daoism used to study the swordsman’s killing momentum and exert it with the Taoist magic, which turned out to be rather beneficial. Among the Taoists at the same stage, he could exceed quite some experienced seniors. Chenxie Mountain regarded it as a manner to confront the swordsmen at the same stage and didn’t stop this disciple from further studying it. However, as this method was not based on pure sword intent, this Taoist senior stopped working on it after learning swordsmanship for tens of years, which kind of marked the complete failure of the Taoist study on the swordsmen.

 

Yet, the sword was left and then got taken out by Ye Shengge, who could enter and exit the treasury of Chenxie Mountain at will since she was a child.

 

However, this sword among Ye Shengge’s assets was always not taken out by her to confront the opponents. If she hadn’t met Chen Sheng’s sword, she might have not remembered this talisman sword.

 

The talisman sword was called as Peach Blossom, made of peach wood.

 

Ye Shengge who charged forward with the sword grinned. No wonder she felt a breath of fresh air. Now she suddenly felt like going to Sword Mountain again.

 

Was the mountain full of peach blossoms too?

 

She swept across with the sword.

 

The man holding an umbrella instantly pressed his hand. The oil-paper umbrella was instantly withdrawn and hit Ye Shengge’s talisman sword.

 

Neither dodging it nor parrying it, he smiled coldly. “Even if you really reach the Sanctification Stage, so what? You will still be dead today.”

 

Ye Shengge hadn’t learnt swordsmanship before. She was only slashing around simply. After her sword was hit by the oil-paper umbrella, she felt numbness in her arm and trembled slightly. Then she withdrew the sword and retreated.

 

The whole body of her formed a weird pose and went around. After turning around, she stabbed through the man’s chest with the talisman sword.

 

The man slightly flicked his sleeve, which shook away the slash. Unfortunately, his sleeve was slit by the talisman sword.

 

He stretched out his umbrella in the distance.

 

A beam of Qi was quickly cast out.

 

Ye Shengge put the sword before her chest.

 

It caused a shrill sound but the talisman sword was fine.

 

After all, anything that could be put into the treasury couldn’t be compared with ordinary magic tools.

 

The talisman sword was bent into an arc and then became straight in a flash.

 

With her face turning pale, Ye Shengge frowned.

 

This gifted Dao cultivator felt that she was kind of fed up with this man for the first time.

 

She was a woman. Since she was bullied, it was a matter of course for her to go mad.

 

Yet, more annoyingly, her several Water Harnessing Talismans had faded away and the red ribbon that suppressed the river had come at the back of her head.

 

She frowned. “How annoying!”

 

Then this gifted Dao cultivator took out a painting.

 

The red ribbon transformed by the Ghostly Talisman instantly became dull and dark.

 

Looking at the man holding an umbrella, Ye Shengge repeated what she said before, “I’m not happy today.”

 

After the Daoist assembly, almost all the people in Liangxi knew that the unbelievably competent temple owner was not in the fully closed-door training. He was only reading books in the Sky Building. When it was spread, the people on Chenxie Mountain didn’t dare to idle around as before. The temple owner was gentle but he was still the owner of the Taoist temple on the mountain. Since he didn’t leave the mountain or conduct a closed-door training, no one dared to act recklessly before the temple owner. After all, no matter who had a say on the mountain nominally, it was well known that the temple owner was the decision-maker.

 

Apart from that, Zhang Shouqing dressed in yellow and purple had gone into Sky Building occasionally since he entered Sky Building that day, which made the Taoists on the mountain speculate about whether the temple owner had any ulterior motive about Taoist Zhang who stood aloof from worldly success. Otherwise, how could he have the honor to enter Sky Building and reason with the temple owner on Daoism?

 

Therefore, these days, the Taoists on the mountain were much more enthusiastic about the Taoist in yellow and purple than before.

 

Today Zhang Shouqing ascended the Sky Building again but he was not dressed in the yellow and purple robe but grey clothes. The temple owner was reading an old book in the building. Upon seeing Zhang Shouqing arrive, he put down the book, turned around and looked at him.

 

Zhang Shouqing said with cupped hands before his chest, “Temple Owner, Shouqing went to check the Longevity Lantern of Shengge today and found that it was still bright as usual. Supposedly, Shengge is fine.”

 

The temple owner who was unbelievably young said laughingly with his hands placed on his back, “You check the lantern every day since Shengge went down the mountain. Do you really care so much about her safety?”

 

Zhang Shouqing said in a soft voice, “Shengge is a gifted Dao cultivator rarely seen over one hundred years, who is also the treasure of Chenxie Mountain. How can I not care about her? Just because you are above worldly considerations, you can be less concerned about Shengge. As for the Taoist temples on the other famous mountains, maybe they have to send quite some Taoists to travel with her or even let her bring some valuable treasures.”

 

The temple owner said with a grin. “Valuable treasure? These years I’ve allowed Shengge to go into the treasury at will. How can I know what she has taken away? Besides, there are not many valuable treasures on the mountain. I’m still loath to let Shengge bring them down the mountain, but you don’t know much about her character. I do. She has been doing things willfully since childhood. She just takes whatever she wants. Regardless of value, she always picks what she likes. She even likes my painting and just takes it away. Her resources can even be compared to those of a common famous mountain.”

 

Zhang Shouqing was speechless. The people on the mountain had been speculating about the relationship between Ye Shengge and the temple owner, but in fact, the temple owner didn’t declare anything. And the people on the mountain were only speculating. If it were other people who heard what the temple owner just said, they would be certain that the rumor was not a rumor anymore. However, Zhang Shouqing and the temple owner were more or less the same in terms of personality, so he didn’t say much about that. He only lowered his head in silence.

 

The temple owner took out a book from the bookshelf behind him and passed it to Zhang Shouqing, saying with a grin, “Shouqing, go to Yuwu Mountain and play chess with their mountain owner. Regardless of the result, you don’t rush to go down the mountain. If they drive you away, you just open this book and I will make an according arrangement. Since they dare to take action, I will see what Sage Chen left on Yuwu Mountain so that the mountain owner can be so ambitious.”

 

Zhang Shouqing left with the order. Only the temple owner was left in Sky Building.

 

The temple owner grinned and looked out of the window. “The competition of Daoism is not the contention in fragrance and fascination in spring. How can it be that easy, pal?”