Plundering the Dao of the Immortal Journey

The fire within this old Daoist’s heart seemed to reach its limit. Hearing these words, he swung his hand and slapped Zhou An right across the face with all his strength. Zhou An’s seemed to see stars as he spun once while he tried to regain his balance. At that time, a second slap landed on his other cheek, causing him to fall to the ground.

Zhou An paused in shock before he regained his senses and realized what had happened. His face turned red and swollen. he was about to speak once again when the old Daoist berated him, "I am an Elder. If you have any more opinions, I shall waste you and ensure you will never be able to cultivate again. Scram now!"

Zhou An looked deeply into the old Daoist’s eyes and detected killing intent, this truly frightened him. Without daring to speak, he turned around and fled. The minute he walked out the door, he turned around to look with furious anger as he scoffed off with intense hatred.

Seeing that Zhou An had left, the old Daoist took out an enchanted talisman and touched it, causing a bright beam of light to emanate from it. Some time later, the shadow of the Sect Leader could be seen. Although this was a communication talisman, there was a ma.s.s of dark smoke covering the Sect Leader’s face, making it hard to see his expression.

Looking at the Sect Leader, he old Daoist reported very calmly, "Sect Leader, although we’ve already made plans, there’s been some changes. We cannot act now."

"Ai, continue and tell me more." The Sect Leader didn’t move as he spoke, the black smoke was hovering around him.

"Firstly, the state of Free Cloud Sect’s Paradise is not how we expected to it to be. Their Paradise was not completely destroyed, and their True Sovereign is still around."

"We know that Paradise is where spiritual energy acc.u.mulates and congeals."

"A person who understands things would grasp the heavens, while a person who doesn"t would only think of simple pleasures."

"To a normal person, a place where spiritual energy acc.u.mulates might just mean enhanced fortunes and a place where they would be able to prosper. They would earn a great deal of gold and silver from all the positive energy. They would become n.o.ble men, and establish an entire dynasty by themselves."

"But to a Daoist, it’s way more than that. It’s the basis for living. Without Paradise and a place where spiritual energy is stored, we would be nothing more than mere rogue cultivators."

"Free Cloud Sect’s Paradise hasn’t been destroyed, and the white smokey energy lingering above their monastery is solidifying instead of scattering. There’s a red aura in the midst of all that white energy. That means that their True Sovereign hasn’t fallen. In order to break them, we have to learn from Dark Altar Sect. But we don’t have an Earth Immortal, like them. We also don’t have the blessings of King Lu. Hence, we have absolutely no way of winning."

"Maybe we can first convince the Imperial Court to issue a decree which would allow us to attack Free Cloud Sect. Once that’s approved, we can then dispatch our men to attack. As for changing their fortunes, we have zero capabilities to influence that."

"Of course, the most easy way would be to destroy their sect domains. That would sever all the incense offerings they would receive and disrupt their flow. But such a move would only sever up to 70% of their total offerings, which would leave them with 30%."

"Although they lost many men during the battle, they still have Pei Zi Yun. His sword techniques are extremely fearsome. According to the reports, Pei Zi Yun took the Sect Leader position and implemented many moves. He started distributing compensation money to appease the ma.s.ses, rebuilt the monastery, killed the wheat storage family who betrayed him and even managed to convince the magistrate to send patrol officers."

"I even suspect he formed an alliance with True Element Sect."

"With all these moves, he stabilized his own position, making it difficult to attack him."

"If we were to attack him right now, we would lose many men. From what I see, there are no advantages to making a move now. I sincerely ask Sect Leader to reconsider."

The Sect Leader didn’t speak for some time. The thick smoke started to disperse, exposing his frowning face. Several moments later, the Sect Leader finally spoke out, "Since we’re at this point, and after everything you said, maybe we should give up our initial plan!"

Hearing the Sect Leader saying ‘after everything you said’, the old Daoist’s eyelids twitched and he replied, "Yes!"

Just as he finished speaking about this topic, the old Daoist started to take an angry tone, "Senior Brother, your good disciple has been spying on my disciple, but I shall let that slide. Earlier today, he wanted us to carry on with our plans for his own personal gain, but failed to consider the consequences of making a premature move. Does he wish for our sect to die out? Tell me, should I have killed him then?"

Hearing the old Daoist rage out, the Sect Leader spoke out, "I ordered him to come so that he could a.s.sist you, my junior brother. How would he dare to act to show insubordination? Maybe there’s a misunderstanding."

When the old Daoist heard this, he grinned, "Senior Brother Sect Leader. You are clearly defending your beloved disciple. If he was sent to a.s.sist me, I can just send him back to the sect mountain, and let him learn there, wouldn’t that be better?"

The Sect Leader paused for a long time before speaking out, "Please don’t be upset, Junior Brother. Zhou An might not be the most aware of his circ.u.mstances. I shall scold him on your behalf, then you will see that I’m not defending him."

"Hm, that would be for the best. Senior Brother, although I am very old, I cannot be easily bullied by the disciples from the younger generation." The old man said before disconnecting his communication talisman.

"Master." Ji Ai Guo had been listening by the side. At this point she revealed a look of fear as she tugged on his sleeves, as if she had just been frightened.

The old Daoist stretched out a hand to pat Ji Ai Guo on her head, "Don’t worry. I’m already old, and all these days of glory are past me. Let’s not bother about these affairs, my main duty will only be to protect you."

"But you are no longer young, and there are things which I have to tell you." The old Daoist thought about the things which he needed to say and sighed, "Little Guo’er, this sect practice dual cultivation, where men and women would cultivate together. However, only a small number of extremely talented women can become a Core Disciple and eventually become a True Yin Master."

"In fact, the issues of marriage don’t have any implications on your cultivation. All those rumors you hear about how only virgins can truly ascend the Dao is pure rubbish. In fact, the ancient practices always encouraged marriage. However, if you were to be used as a man’s cultivation catalyst to boost his own cultivation level, that wouldn’t be good for you. He would essentially deplete your cultivation efforts. Then, it would be difficult for you to seek revenge in the future since your strength would be usurped by him."

"Little Guo’er, if any senior brother tries to do anything funny to you, or tries to bully you, you have the right to kill him on the spot. I shall answer to the consequences on your behalf."

"I got it, Master." Ji Ai Guo replied obediently. She then saw the old Daoist smile, revealing a loving and tender expression. "Whatever you don’t know or understand, I will teach you."

Ji Ai Guo wanted to know more details about the plans avenging her father, but she didn’t dare to ask further at this point. She leaned towards the old Daoist, feeling much safer.

Governor’s Mansion

At this point an ox-cart halted and Pei Zi Yun alighted from it and walked across.

"Stop moving." A guard from behind the mansion came out, fully armored and armed with a lance. He stopped Pei Zi Yun and asked, "Who are you?"

Hearing the armed guard’s words, Pei Zi Yun didn’t seem to mind. Since he wasn’t dressed in his official robes, and walked around the mansion, the guard had to do his job and stop him. Pei Zi Yun then handed over a note, "This humble subject’s name is Pei Zi Yun. I came to pay a visit to his excellency, the Governor. Please hand this note over."

The guard scrutinized Pei Zi Yun before replying, "Please wait here, young master."

The guard then received the note and pa.s.sed it to another person, who walked into the mansion.

It was early autumn, and the sun was strong and fierce. A gust of gently wind blew across, making everyone feel cool and refreshed. There were many tall and thick trees surrounding the interior of the mansion, blocking the sun off and providing shades.

There was a pond within the backyard, which spanned four to five mu of land. It was facing the direction of the wind, and was near a lake as well. Being around here would mean that n.o.body would feel the heat of the sun.

The Governor was dressed in his casual attire and was currently feeding the goldfishes in his pond. Many goldfishes were swimming around in circles, waiting to be fed, and trying to steal food from the other fishes. There were red, blue, yellow, white and black kois too, which made for a lovely scene.

At this point a butler walked in, holding onto a silver note with many patterns around it. He then whispered to the Governor, "Governor, your excellency, Top Scorer Pei is here to see you."

"Ai, who did you say it was?" The Governor asked curiously. Seeing the Governor’s reaction, the butler raised his voice and repeated himself, "Your excellency, Pei Zi Yun, Top Scorer Pei wishes to see you. He was the author of - Let’s Drink Up - and the - The Water Melody -. Haven’t your excellency been reading his poems?"

The Governor then listened attentively this time.

When he was sure of what he heard, he immediately stopped feeding the fishes before sinking deep into thought. The fishes within the pond seemed to be confused, as though they were thinking, "Eh, why isn’t there any more food?"

"Let me see the note." The Governor hurriedly instructed. When he took it to read it, he sighed before placing it aside. "His words are getting nicer to read. It’s just that I wonder if his purpose for visiting is good or bad."

He then raised his head to look up at the butler and instructed, "What’s the situation now? Go and gather the information. Pei Zi Yun has arrived here and you haven’t even given me an a.s.sessment of the situation. Hurry, go and find out more."

"Yes, your excellency!" The butler bowed once before turning to leave. However, the governor held a hand high up, motioning for him to wait. He then spoke, "Tell Pei Zi Yun that I’m not feeling well right now, and that the doctor instructed me to rest and recuperate. Ask him to come back and see me in a few days. This should give us enough time to find out."

"Yes, your excellency." The butler spoke before leaving.

Pei Zi Yun waited until the butler returned. He smiled nervously and spoke out, "Top Scorer Pei, my master wishes for me to tell you that he’s not feeling well today and needs to rest on the doctors orders. Please come back in several days."

Hearing these words, Pei Zi Yun nodded his head, "Then I shall return in a couple of days."

The ox-cart cruised down the Governor’s residences, along the long line of white washed walls. A gust of wind blew across, causing Pei Zi Yun to feel comfortable. Glancing at the walls, Yu Yun Jun couldn’t help but exclaim, "This Governor’s residences looks no different from a palace!"

"This residence belonged to Baron Yu from the previous dynasty. Baron Yu a.s.sisted the previous Emperor in claiming territories and won many battles for him. After their successful campaign, the Emperor rewarded him with his status and wealth. However, he died at a young age. This property was then pa.s.sed on to his offsprings for eleven consecutive generations until the expiration of the previous dynasty."

"With the establishment of this dynasty, the Imperial Court decided that this should be the residence for the Governor. Although this isn’t an actual palace for Princes or Princesses, it’s similar in stature."

At this point, the ox-cart turned to the main road. Stalls and merchants lined the streets, plying their wares. Yu Yun Jun then asked, "All those years ago, the Governor was unable to handle the problem of the pirates and even came under a.s.sa.s.sination attempts. It was you that saved him, and elevated to the success which he holds today. And yet he acted just like the magistrate and refused to see you, feigning sickness. Aren’t you angry at him?"

"Time changes a man. Besides, after my policy was handed over to him, he requested for the True Sovereign t.i.tle to be bestowed upon our sect, and probably felt like he doesn"t owe me anymore."

Seeing that Yu Yun Jun was extremely unhappy, Pei Zi Yun laughed. "Even if he’s supposed to owe me a favor, he probably doesn’t think so anymore. Since that’s the case, it’s very normal for him to ask me to wait for a few days and check up on the current climate before meeting me."

"Why didn’t you use the Crown Prince’s tile then?" Yu Yun Jun asked.

Pei Zi Yun chuckled, "The magistrate was only of the seventh rank. Using the tile would scare him into agreeing to meet. The Governor is of the third rank. When you compare the Governor to the Crown Prince, their differences in rank aren’t very far. In the past, before the Crown Prince had an heir, the authority he wielded might even be less than the Governor. Now that the Crown Prince has an heir, he’s starting to regain more influence and power, but it might not be necessarily more than the Governor’s authority still. This mere tile wouldn’t intimidate the Governor at all. Besides, the Governor is a high ranking official. If he were to take sides even before the Crown was being pa.s.sed would be considered a crime. Being charged of such a crime would make him a b.u.t.t of jokes."

"Hence, you didn’t take out the tile, and decided to return?"

"That’s right. Let’s return to Fu Mansion and wait it out. We shall see if the Governor wishes to see me." Pei Zi Yun smiled coldly as he spoke.