Chapter 682: Parting
“Could he actually be stronger than Young Miss?” The old woman said: “Even if he was stronger, he can’t compare to you. No one can in the current younger generation.”
“Not necessarily.” The girl answered: “At least, until now, I still don’t know the limit of his power, so I can’t make any conclusions. In my eyes, Li Qiye himself is shrouded in a mist and is completely unfathomable. Not even I can see through him.”
“How does he compare to Ye Qingcheng of the Stony Edge Kingdom?” The old woman had to ask.
“Compared to Ye Qingcheng?” The girl in the carriage paused for a bit before answering: “I can’t say in detail since I have no way of knowing just how strong Li Qiye is. However, my intuition is telling me that Li Qiye can only be stronger than Ye Qingcheng.”
“That can’t be.” The old woman’s expression visibly changed as she said: “The Stony Edge Kingdom spared nothing when it came to Ye Qingcheng. He is a supreme celestial being who is adored by the heavens. In the Stone Medicine World, outside of Young Miss, only the girl from the Jian Clan can compete with him. How could this n.o.body Li Qiye compare to Ye Qingcheng?”
Ye Qingcheng was quite renowned in the Stone Medicine World and was considered the number one man, at least among the younger generation. Countless geniuses in this world would dim before his presence; others simply did not dare to compare themselves to him, and many of them were willing to work under his banner.
“I’m afraid so.” The girl in the carriage continued: “Ye Qingcheng’s power can be estimated and measured, thus it is possible to compare. However, this Li Qiye is unfathomable; I simply can’t gauge just how strong he is. Despite not being able to calculate his true strength, my intuition is telling me that he can only be stronger than Ye Qingcheng.”
The old woman couldn’t help but contemplate in silence for a moment after hearing the girl’s answer. She knew her Young Miss’s abilities very well and had full confidence in her.
The girl in the carriage said: “Let us go, he found us.”
“Even if he makes it here, we aren’t afraid of him.” The old woman’s momentum peaked. At this moment, she no longer resembled an old carriage driver on the verge of death. The aura her body emitted was extremely frightening.
“No, Grandma. We don’t need to fight him.” The girl in the carriage said: “Even though we are not afraid of anyone, we stand to gain nothing from fighting with Li Qiye. Before he makes it here, we should leave first.” [1. Grandma here is more of a wet nurse/way to call an older servant respectfully in this usage.]
The old woman didn’t say anything else as she sat up straight and controlled the carriage to leave. With the sound of the wheels turning, the carriage traveled very far before disappearing over the horizon without leaving any traces behind.
Li Qiye ran back to the Celestial Peak River and found that there were no cultivators here. Only Yuan Caihe was there, waiting.
She saw him getting down from the carriage and was a little surprised. However, she didn’t ask any questions and only revealed a calm smile, saying: “Did Brother Li get any immortal sulfur?”
“What about you?” Li Qiye didn’t answer and only smiled back.
Yuan Caihe nodded her head and replied: “I obtained two pieces of very old immortal sulfur. This will be enough to use for one batch.”
“Nothing can be better. Let us go.” Li Qiye smiled and gently nodded.
Yuan Caihe couldn’t help but take a look around before saying: “I don’t know where Tie Yi had run off to. Are we not waiting for him?”
“He doesn’t need us waiting for him.” Li Qiye shook his head and said: “If he really wants to leave with us, then he would have shown himself already. I’m afraid he does not wish to go with us, he must have gone ahead already.”
Yuan Caihe was a clever person, so she thought about it for a second before revealing a faint and natural smile. She didn’t say anything else and sat inside Li Qiye’s carriage.
With a creaking sound, the Imperial Draco-Bull pulled the carriage far away — not too fast, not too slow. Li Qiye sat inside with his eyes closed; he didn’t make any conversation.
Yuan Caihe seemed to be enjoying this silence as well since she didn’t say anything either.
Although the bull was going neither fast nor slow, they quickly left the Celestial Peak Mountain. The moment they left the area, Li Qiye immediately opened his eyes and asked with a light smile while looking at Yuan Caihe: “Do you have to go back to the Serene Garden?”
She gently nodded her head and said: “Yes, I plan to go into isolated cultivation after I return since I need to refine a batch of medicines that will take some time. Where does Brother Li want to go? Maybe if you have time, you can come visit my Serene Garden?”
There was an indescribable sense of closeness that she felt towards Li Qiye. Although they only became acquainted recently, in her heart, it felt like they had known each other for a very long time, like old friends.
“I’m afraid I can’t go to your Serene Garden right now since I have to take a trip to the Allpine Mountain.” Li Qiye smiled and said: “After the Allpine Mountain, I have to go to the alchemy conference at the Alchemy Kingdom as well.”
“Ah, are you going there to celebrate Allpine Treefather’s birthday?” Yuan Caihe asked.
“Yes, I have made plans to meet with someone at the Allpine Mountain. If it wasn’t for this previous arranged, I would have really liked to come take a look at your Serene Garden since it is famed for its unrivaled plant and medicine cultivation.” Li Qiye answered.
His words were not flattery since this was indeed the truth. Many spirit medicines grew inside the Serene Garden that would cause people to salivate. Countless great characters had wanted to take a look but couldn’t.
“It still wouldn’t be too late to visit later.” Yuan Caihe revealed a calming smile and said: “The Allpine Mountain is definitely worth a trip. It is protected by the Allpine Treefather and also contains great spirit medicines everywhere. It is quite famous for having a lot of great plants.”
Li Qiye couldn’t help but smile while looking at Yuan Caihe. He gently brushed the hair on her shoulders back. It seemed that they had an indescribable harmony.
“We’ll meet again later.” Eventually, he smiled and bid his farewell. Yuan Caihe left the carriage and waved at him as they went their separate ways.
Afterward, Li Qiye sat in the carriage once again with his eyes closed. He commanded the bull: “To the Allpine Mountain!”
There was no need for Li Qiye to drive since the bull could pull the carriage towards the Allpine Mountain.
The Allpine Mountain was a very general indicator. Some said that the mountain was the location where the Allpine Forefather was born and grew up. Some said that the Allpine Mountain was referring to the Allpine Mountain’s vein.
In fact, the truth was not far off from this. The mountain range and the entire vein were all territories that belonged to the treefather. Although the treefather didn’t establish a sect at this location, his followers and disciples were just as strong as any great power.
The Allpine Mountain was also called the Allpine Grand Vein, one of the eight great veins in the Stone Medicine World; it was on the same level as the Elegant Azure Grand Vein. It stretched far across the Alchemy Realm like a sleeping dragon.
It was grand and magnificent with incredible peaks and mountains everywhere. There were many spirit deers walking around, golden birds flying above, and flood dragons below the marshes…
Meanwhile, spirit medicines were in abundance here. As one of the eight grand veins, plenty of spirit energy had acc.u.mulated from millions of miles. The energy was as vast as an ocean.
Moreover, under the protection of the Allpine Treefather, the plants here were able to thrive and flourish, thus this land was famous for having a lot of plants.
Of course, one had to talk about the treefather when the topic of the Allpine Mountain was ever brought up in this world. The Giant Bamboo Tree and the Allpine Treefather were referred to as the two great Demon Forefathers. Although the Allpine Treefather was much younger than the ancient Giant Bamboo tree, his fame was much more widespread.
In fact, this was quite understandable because, for millions of years now, the Giant Bamboo tree had never taken shape. It had always silently stood there, so the world had forgotten about its existence or had just gotten used to it.
The Allpine Treefather was completely different. He had gained intelligence from the dao and also pa.s.sed down his dao heritage. This caused his reputation to spread along with countless students. For several hundred thousand years now, living beings that were born at this location had heard the treefather preach the dao many times. Some of them were Demon Monarchs. Of course, the beasts and vegetation that had yet to reach the dao listened as well.
During this period, many golems traveled for countless miles just to beseech the treefather for a chance to listen to him preach the dao. Because of this, although the treefather had not left the Allpine Mountain’s territory for a very long time now, he had students everywhere in the world, across the three grand realms. Moreover, some of his students even became Virtuous Paragons.
Thus, it was easy to imagine the treefather’s great influence. As for his cultivation, no outsiders were privy to this. Some said that the treefather could be bestowed the G.o.dking t.i.tle. Some also said that outside of Immortal Emperors, no one else could compete with the treefather.
Regardless of how great his cultivation was, as a Demon Forefather that had lived for 500,000 years, this was more than enough to earn everyone’s respect. Therefore, in the entire Stone Medicine World, numerous great powers and imperial lineages and even a monster like the Alchemy Kingdom were very respectful to the Allpine Treefather.
His 500,000th birthday was a huge event for the entire Stone Medicine World. All the great powers and imperial lineages, as well as renowned cultivators from all over the place, quickly traveled great lengths to give him their best wishes.
Even those from far away places like the Beast Realm and the Stone Realm began their departure early in order to make it on time for the celebration. Some had even left as early as one year ago.
His great birthday celebration caused the entire territory that spanned for millions of miles to become rowdy since many lineages were on their way.
In just a moment, the normally quiet Allpine Mountain became very busy and was overcrowded with newly arriving guests. The usually deserted valleys now contained many guests from far away.