Data-Driven Daoist

Fang Zhao didn’t know the exact distance between their location and the Viridian Glade Gateway Village.

But it was far.

At least a hundred kilometres.

He walked down the mountain at a brisk pace.

The peak was covered by the remnant light from the heavenly thunder. It formed a hazy sphere, as if it was a ball of mist hiding its contents.

The mist spread downwards. Slowly. Consuming the inner peak one blade of grass at a time.

Could it be that this cat is even more ancient than she let on? He wouldn’t ask out loud of course. He would rather bite his tongue than deign her with a curious question. She did sometimes share though, like her indignation at being betrayed by her most trusted person.

But for now, since they were stuck together, it wouldn’t hurt to… investigate.

Yes, the cat did indirectly cause all his woes. Yes, he hated the heaven-cursed calico ring. But after spending the last couple of weeks with her, he felt it would be even more pathetic to pout at her.

So he would dig into her past. That was a good compromise.

She was an oddity.

Sometimes she would appear emotionally incompetent, like a real cat. Other times, her eyes would dim with the heavy light of wisdom. As if she had seen things, and lived far too long.

He’d seen the same gaze in the August Light Celestial Sword sect’s sect master.

It pissed Fang Zhao off. In fact, it felt patronising. But it wasn’t like he could tell her to not have lived so long.

She really was knowledgeable. He’d use her until he couldn’t, like she was using him to recover. Till that time came, it didn’t harm to at least tolerate her pranks.

…the pitfall in front of his hut was too much though. And his desire to investigate her definitely did not stem from an existential want to one-up her at her own game.

“Hide,” the cat warned.

Fang Zhao rushed up a tree and took position behind a thicker part of the canopy.

Underneath them, a sounder of hogs rushed up the mountain. The earth rumbled, and trees toppled. He had to jump from branch to branch to avoid the stampede.

“Are these monsters?” Fang Zhao asked. The cat had an uncanny ability to tell apart primals from monsters. He had heard only at the core formation realm could one do that, and she was supposed to be a level 2 like him.

“These are monsters,” the cat replied. “They want to be real. So they rush towards the place where a real object spawned from unreal energy.” She scratched the underside of her chin with a paw, hanging from a branch three feet to the left of him by grappling it with her two tails. “This is basic monster theory information in relation to genesis qi. Why doesn’t your sect teach it?”

“Can you teach me?” Fang Zhao asked.

“Join my sect first,” she replied.

“We’ll see.” Fang Zhao held in the urge to growl. She was a furry goldmine of knowledge. But it was all hidden behind a vow to her sect.

The same sect that apparently did not save her in her moment of plight.

They made their way down again. He didn’t like hiding from various monster groups. His guts told him to fight it out or die trying. Something deep in his blood, as if an asura watched his moves and scoffed at the cowardice.

But at level 2, he couldn’t fight a group of late body tempering beasts. He wished he could, but only his cultivation had been crippled, not his brain.

At the foot of the mountain, Fang Zhao hid between bushes. He looked left, then he looked right. He scanned the sky above, and finally, his gaze turned to the river, the shore a few metres inclined till it reached the waters below.

They were in a mountain within a mountain. Fang Zhao didn’t know how else to describe it.

The inner peak was surrounded by the crust of another much taller hollow mountain, like a ridged-wall, at about a kilometre’s radius away. The rim between the outer and inner mountain held a complete, lush ecosystem. The shorter inner peak rose from a verdant basin, its slopes cloaked in primordial forests that flowed down to meet a clear, circular river that acted as a moat. The air, thick with the scent of citrus and damp earth, still shimmered with light leaking from the now-fogged inner peak. Bird calls and beastly howls all travelled upwards, accompanied by the chirps of insects and rustle of leaves.

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The world was huge.

Fang Zhao hadn’t even seen a millionth of Great Xia Dynasty, let alone the Celestial Horizon Continent. He knew there were other continents out there too. But even to his little-travelled eyes, this scenery was marvellous. He could only imagine how long it had been since a human last stepped foot in this hidden corner of the hidden realm.

Fang Zhao himself would not have been able to come here without Mistress Miao navigating them around the areas where higher level beasts at the qi gathering and foundation building realms lurked.

Even with that, an entrance to this inner mountain hadn’t been easy to find. There was no crack in the outer crust that wasn’t frequented by higher level beasts. Some even seemed to linger around like guards.

As for climbing the outer peak? The gigantic avians and insects would have made a fine meal out of him.

Fang Zhao dove into the river after the cat. He had a lung full of air, and would last a few good minutes. They reached the tunnel at the bottom fast enough. This time, no monstrous fish with a sword-like snout accosted them. He kicked off the river floor, lunging into the tunnel. He ran, rather than swam. After about two minutes and perhaps a few hundred metres, he exited through the other end. He didn’t break the water surface then and there, and swam some more towards the west until the prismatic light of the strange hidden realm sky waning into the river was blocked by a patch of water-hyacinths. Only then did he rise among the leaves.

“Any snakes?” Fang Zhao asked. He didn’t want to get bit again. Even if his bloodline seemed to be able to process the poison of lower level beasts, he didn’t think he was immune. Only resistant.

It gave him diarrhoea.

Mistress Miao dove again. Then came back with a snake in her mouth.

“Food. Cook for me later?”

“Fine.”

They made their way ashore and looked back. From the outside it just looked like a gargantuan mountain, not out of place from the rest of the hidden realm. It was surrounded by a river valley, which separated it from the nearby peaks. The river water here didn’t fully drain despite the hidden realm’s strange cycle. It merely went from a river to a marsh.

No one knew that it hid a heavenly opportunity. But Fang Zhao did. He would be back next time with friends.

The cat did try to bait him to take the opportunity alone. It seemed to severely underestimate both his intelligence and loyalty, and had no problem playing deceptive tricks to rile him up.

Case in point, she first claimed not to know anything about Jade Sanguine Asuras, but then she casually spilled that she knew about their cousins.

When he called her out, she mewed, then pawed her face as if she just realised her mistake.

Whatever, he couldn’t fault her. Technically, she didn’t know about any ‘Jade’ variant.

They trekked for half a day. After passing through three more mountains, they reached a river valley far wider than the usual ones. North to south, Fang Zhao could not see the end. And he knew the river ran east to west.

He waved his hand, and a boat appeared. Mistress Miao jumped in and ran to the edge of the boat’s prow. Her two tails curled over the side and dipped into the water, causing a ripple that spread out far quicker and further than it should have.

“Fish!”

As she spoke, a big-head carp jumped into the boat.

Fang Zhao had borrowed this from the Night Alchemists’ Yard and stored it in his stone ring. They once used boats to ferry waste, though that had fallen out of favour in recent generations.

He settled into the stern and took out a long, bamboo oar with unpractised motion. Pushing off with a rough scull, he guided the boat away from the shore. They would travel upstream, hence on this journey back, it would take far more than three days. He would carefully navigate between the territories of beasts that could swallow them whole, boat included. This river valley, big as it was, did drain fully. It had fish with legs that prowled the muddy valley, breathing in air with lungs like it was a land animal.

No one would appreciate being trapped with them.

Fang Zhao wanted to reach the gateway village before that happened. They would have to sneak their way in, avoiding Zhang Jiyou’s underlings. They would rue the day when Fang Zhao was strong enough to hang them feet up from trees!

***

“To break one’s commitment is not something Honoured Grandfather would approve of,” Dong Tianlan said.

“Sorry, but this is how it is.” Li Yao could only apologise. They said they would let her know in a week. But Fang Zhao wasn’t back yet.

This wasn’t a decision they would make without him.

It still sucked, not being able to keep his word. Li Yao gave Dong Tianlan an gourd of aged wine. This had cost 12 mortal-grade spirit stones. For a mundane drink, the price was hefty, though it did do justice to the taste.

Dong Tianlan hid a small smile behind the back of her palm as she took the offering.

“You are forgiven,” she said. “How long will your fellows make me wait?”

“Can’t say. I’ll let you know.” Li Yao scrutinized the petite girl. “How old are you, by the way?” He had found out she liked wine. But was she even old enough?

“Fifteen. Why?” Dong Tianlan looked defensive, hiding the gourd behind her back.

Li Yao’s eyes shot wide. “Give that back.”

“No!” Dong Tianlan dodged with her ridiculous dexterity and fled into the scripture hall. Li Yao would chase her, but didn’t want to get banned by the scary librarian.

“…did I mess up? I gave a kid booze.” He had thought she was closer to his age, just underfed. She had the mannerisms of an old woman.

To be fair, fifteen was already considered marriageable age, so she wasn’t a kid as he would like to think. She was only two years younger than him.

But then again, anyone younger than him was a kid in his eyes.

Li Yao made his way to the marketplace. There were more people today, with more wares and goods. Stall vendors hankered for customers, even the bigger shops owned by pavilions joined in.

He remembered wading through crowds of people with his sister and pa. Dear heavens, more than ten years had already passed! How time flies, he hadn’t expected to live this long. His gaze wandered, taking the sounds, sights, and smells in. He could even taste the joy on his tongue.