Martial Cultivator

Daoist Zhanyuan gave a bitter smile. Although this was something he had expected, Chen Chao bringing it up so bluntly at this moment still caught him somewhat off guard.

“Among the people of Great Liang, there is the saying that once a woman marries, she follows her husband. Although Fellow Daoist Wu comes from the Mountains and Rivers Sect and is a foreign cultivator, since she is to become the Crown Princess, this matter ought to be handled this way.”

Chen Chao looked at Daoist Zhanyuan and said calmly, “Let this official make this clear first. I have already said these words to Fellow Daoist Wu as well. As long as she wholeheartedly regards herself as the Crown Princess, and as the future Empress of Great Liang, then Great Liang will naturally, to the greatest extent possible, take care of the Mountains and Rivers Sect.”

Daoist Zhanyuan smiled bitterly and said, “The Mountains and Rivers Sect had only just begun to feel that there was someone backing us below the mountain, that we could do whatever we want without any worries. And now, all at once, that person below the mountain belongs to another household. This really is...”

Chen Chao said indifferently, “That is how cultivators of the Mountains and Rivers Sect might think, but outsiders will not see it that way. In that sense, there is still someone below the mountain.”

Daoist Zhanyuan nodded and sighed. “The Lord Warden Commander’s shrewdness... your state of mind truly is broad.”

Chen Chao did not take it to heart, merely smiling as he asked, “Then what about those gifts the Mountains and Rivers Sect accepted earlier?”

Daoist Zhanyuan rubbed his hands, somewhat embarrassed. “Gifts that have already been accepted, sending them back now would really be the end of one’s dignity.”

Those ordinary gifts would have been one thing, but that Qi Gathering Talisman was of great use to him. He fully believed that with that talisman, he could step into the Great Beyond Realm.

That was why he had no choice but to plan ahead. After all, if the Mountains and Rivers Sect were to become the numberone sect of an entire prefecture, yet its mountain lord were still only at the Bitter Sea Realm, would that not invite ridicule?

Chen Chao smiled and said, “Let this be the last time. As for this batch of requests raised by the various sects afterward, the Divine Capital will do its utmost to satisfy them.”

Daoist Zhanyuan sighed with emotion. “The Lord Warden Commander has truly handled matters with utmost benevolence and righteousness.”

Chen Chao rubbed his cheek. This visit had really just been about putting everything that needed to be said out in the open first, so that if things truly happened later, the other side would not feel wronged.

Of course, it was not as if speaking now would prevent them from feeling wronged later. But when that day truly came, wronged or not, what had to be done would still be done.

That was called having a clear conscience.

After some thought, Daoist Zhanyuan said softly, “Great Liang’s betrothal gift was quite unexpected, and I am very satisfied. Returning a courtesy for a courtesy, the dowry that the Mountains and Rivers Sect prepares for that girl Xinyue cannot be ordinary either!”

Chen Chao turned his head to look at Daoist Zhanyuan, wearing a thoroughly surprised expression. “So the Mountains and Rivers Sect even has a dowry.”

Half of that surprise was genuine; the other half was teasing.

Daoist Zhanyuan’s old face flushed red. After coughing twice, he finally said in a serious tone, “Let me test the Lord Warden Commander on something. When a cultivation sect chooses its site, what is the most important consideration?”

“Those who are pragmatic place priority on areas where spiritual qi gathers, because such places, aside from being suitable for cultivation, are also usually suitable for the growth of spiritual herbs. Most people, however, place greater emphasis on so-called geomancy, in places with clear mountains and beautiful waters, believing that sects established in such places can endure for tens of thousands of years.”

Chen Chao smiled and said, “But even with the latter, there are still considerable requirements when it comes to spiritual qi.”

“Lord Warden Commander truly knows the craft. It seems you have studied the path of cultivation quite a bit in your daily life, and no wonder Lord Warden Commander has achieved what he has today.”

Although Daoist Zhanyuan’s cultivation was not high, he had always believed that those who became great figures in this world were never people who only buried their heads in bitter cultivation. They ought to be those who walked and paused along the way, taking note of the scenery on the road.

“When the founding ancestor chose this place for the Mountains and Rivers Sect to establish itself, it could be said that both aspects were obtained. The ancestor originally belonged to the qi refiner lineage, so he discerned that the mountain beneath our feet is in the form of a fire python swallowing a pearl. Speaking of which, I would like to test the Lord Warden Commander again. In your view, where on this fire python swallowing a pearl does our mountain lie?”

Chen Chao narrowed his eyes, patiently thought it over for a moment, and then said calmly, “If my judgment is correct, the Mountains and Rivers Sect should be located at the python’s tail.”

Daoist Zhanyuan said in surprise, “How does Lord Warden Commander know this? By ordinary reasoning, one would surely think that the place where the pearl lies in the fire python swallowing a pearl would be the most suitable spot to establish a sect.”

Chen Chao nodded and said, “That is naturally the case. The place where the pearl lies should have denser spiritual qi, and would be of great benefit to the cultivation of the disciples in the mountain. But before coming, this official looked through the historical records of the Mountains and Rivers Sect. This official discovered that throughout its history, quite a few Nepenthe cultivators have emerged, but those at the end of Nepenthe are not many. On one hand, this is because there truly has not been a so-called genuine genius among the disciples. On the other hand, it is also because the chosen site was not where that pearl lies, correct?”

“That is precisely so. If the founding ancestor had chosen to establish the sect at the pearl’s location back then, then relying on that uniquely favorable environment, it would certainly have given rise to someone at the end of Nepenthe.”

Daoist Zhanyuan sighed, somewhat regretful.

Chen Chao smiled and said, “One cultivator at the end of Nepenthe might raise the Mountains and Rivers Sect by a level, but if it cannot last, then it would do more harm than good. I imagine the ancestor considered this point as well, which is why he ultimately chose the python’s tail. Slow and steady wins the race.”

“At the time, the ancestor actually left behind a prophetic saying, roughly meaning that where the python and pearl are located, there will be no peace. And just as the ancestor said, that place has seen many sects come and go over the years, none of which lasted a hundred years.”

Chen Chao smiled and said, “Since that ancestor had such extraordinary vision, I imagine that aside from choosing to establish the Mountains and Rivers Sect at the python’s tail, he must also have made other arrangements elsewhere.”

Daoist Zhanyuan nodded and said, “That is exactly so. After surveying the terrain, the ancestor finalized the establishment of the sect at the python’s tail, but he also observed that this fire python showed signs of transforming into a dragon. If it were to transform into a dragon, claws would be born. After careful selection, he purchased a mountain at one of the claw positions.”

Chen Chao nodded. In the early years, before Great Liang became the ruling dynasty of this world, those secular dynasties often half-sold and half-gifted mountains and rivers within their territories to certain sects. At that time, the Mountains and Rivers Sect obtained a mountain at extremely low price.

Daoist Zhanyuan explained patiently, “That mountain was initially nothing remarkable, entirely ordinary. After the ancestor purchased it, he named it Genglou and patiently waited for a full sixty-year cycle, having the disciples mine it. Beneath the mountain, a fire spirit vein was indeed born, and under the influence of that spirit vein, a type of ore emerged naturally in the surrounding area.”

“Dragonblood Stone?”

Chen Chao raised his brows. This kind of ore was mostly produced within volcanoes. It was extremely hard and the finest material for forging armor. Back then, a certain dynasty had, by chance, discovered a volcano. After mining the Dragonblood Stone within it, they forged a batch of armor and established a Dragon Armor Army of around fifty thousand soldiers.

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