Martial Cultivator

Chen Chao stayed on Mount Xi for three days. Aside from the first day, when he had to spend considerable effort explaining things clearly to Zhu Xia, the rest of their time was fairly relaxed. Zhu Xia simply dragged him around the mountain to wander aimlessly. Although this Mount Xi, where the Myriad Heaven Palace was located, appeared ordinary on the surface, it actually contained many hidden wonders. One of the peaks, in particular, had over twenty immortal springs. The water flowing from each spring was incomparably sweet and brimming with immortal qi. Such spring water was a gift of nature. Regular use by cultivators could cleanse impurities from their bodies, enhance cultivation, and calm the mind and spirit.

When used in alchemy, it could further stimulate the medicinal effects of pills.

Back then, the Divine Water Villa had only a single immortal spring, and it already drew countless people vying for it. The Myriad Heaven Palace, with its far greater number of springs, remained untouched; no one dared to covet them.

Chen Chao sometimes found himself marveling. For ordinary sects, even acquiring a single bottle of such water, let alone an entire spring, would demand incalculable effort. But for a place like the Myriad Heaven Palace, it was almost inexhaustible. Even if their disciples lacked talent, they could make up for it with such resources.

This was why major sects could endure for generations without decline, because their foundations were deep. As long as they did not bring ruin upon themselves, there was basically no problem for a sect to maintain basic operations.

For an ordinary sect to rise, aside from requiring several generations of careful management, they also had to hope that one or two peerlessly gifted disciples would emerge, followed by a batch of first-rate talents, before they could even begin to climb upward.

Take Chen Chao himself, before going to the Divine Capital, he had to risk his life slaying demons just to acquire medicinal herbs to temper his body.

But after going to the Divine Capital, the recruitment by the two princes and the promises made by the Warden’s Office immediately freed him from having to worry about such expenses.

One had to understand, raising a martial artist to the Nepenthe Realm consumed a vast amount of medicinal herbs. When converted into gold, the cost was staggering.

If not for having such a good master, his two disciples would likely have ended up in the same situation, where even a hero finds it hard to act without money.

If not for those two foolish disciples of his, and a few other reasons, Chen Chao would not have chosen to partner with Lu Xin in business to begin with.

Speaking of Lu Xin, after that business prodigy of the Lu Family returned to the Divine Capital, he had already begun preparations to start his venture. He had previously sent a letter to Xie Nandu, who then passed it on to Chen Chao. By rights, the business should already be up and running by now. As for the details, Chen Chao had not looked into them closely, but according to what was said, barring any mishaps, the first dividends would arrive in the spring of next year.

Chen Chao was not particularly concerned about it. He trusted that Lu Xin was not the type to skim off his share. Xie Nandu also included a few words in the letter and surprisingly offered a few rare words of praise for Lu Xin. She even mentioned that she intended to invest in the venture herself and would oversee it alongside Lu Xin.

At that point, Chen Chao understood this business venture had no chance of failing. One was a commercial genius, and the other was one of the sharpest minds in the Great Liang, if those two still managed to lose money, then there really was no rhyme or reason left in this world.

With that matter almost requiring no worry, a disciple of the Myriad Heaven Palace came by earlier to tell Chen Chao something very interesting.

It concerned the family who had come to offer incense at the Myriad Heaven Palace earlier. After the little girl in the group woke up and did not see Chen Chao, she threw a fit and refused to go down the mountain. She clung tightly to a pillar outside the great hall, insisting on meeting Chen Chao again no matter what. The disciples guarding the front hall did not know what to do. After all, they could not just go fetch Chen Chao at the time. In the end, it took all of the woman’s effort to drag the girl away. But even now, the pillar still bore the marks of the girl’s teeth.

Chen Chao had gone to look later, and sure enough, there was a row of tiny bite marks.

Clearly, the little girl had gone all out to stay.

Although this was a minor episode, it reminded Chen Chao of what Li Yu had said back then.

Perhaps they were really fated.

Still, the little girl had already gone down the mountain, and Chen Chao had matters to tend to, there was little he could do.

Recollecting his thoughts, he saw a disciple from the Myriad Heaven Palace approaching, saying that the Saintess had invited him to visit the Three Thousand Storeys in the rear mountain.[1. This is a wordplay, the word ’storey’ can also mean building or tower. Based on the context, I decided to call it storeys to keep it fun.]

Legends state that the Dao Ancestor once left behind three thousand daoist scrolls, the origin of Daoism, but that was only a legend. No one had actually seen the Dao Ancestor write the three thousand daoist scrolls. The Myriad Heaven Palace’s scripture library was just named in honor of that origin, nothing more.

Still, since this Three Thousand Storeys housed the sect’s scriptures, it was not a place outsiders could just enter freely.

Chen Chao gave it some thought and asked, “What about the Palace Lord?”

The Myriad Heaven Palace disciple understood his meaning and replied softly, “Before Lord Warden Commander came up the mountain, the Palace Lord had already given clear instructions. All areas within the mountain, aside from Heavenly Rain Peak in the rear mountain where the elders cultivate in seclusion, are open to Lord Warden Commander.”

Chen Chao was taken aback. With this, he truly could not figure out what kind of attitude Myriad Heaven Palace had toward him.

In theory, even ordinary outsiders would not be granted access to these places. Was it because they assumed he was a martial artist and did not know daoist techniques, so they were not worried he might memorize and disseminate them?

Unable to make sense of it, Chen Chao did not dwell on it further. Since they had said as much, he might as well make the trip.

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