Starting Cultivation During a Trip

Two days later, Chang’an International Hotel.

Early morning. Steam drifted up from the rice porridge station in the restaurant.

In the corner, Zhang Fan tore open a youtiao, dipped it into the white porridge, let it soak up the broth, then took a big bite—flavor bursting in his mouth.

”You don’t want a bite?” Zhang Fan looked up at Li Yishan, who was sitting across from him.

”You know I don’t have the habit of eating breakfast.” Li Yishan glanced at his phone, answering indifferently.

”Only you are like that. Normal people who skip breakfast will get stomach problems sooner or later.” Zhang Fan said casually.

”So what if I get stomach problems? I’m not even afraid of death.” Li Yishan replied nonchalantly.

”...”

”Let me show you something.”

As he spoke, Li Yishan turned his phone screen towards Zhang Fan. Zhang Fan looked up—and saw that it was a SuperChat conversation, the contact note reading [Senior Sister Jiang Tianxin 176, Leo].

”Jiang Tianxin, that name sounds so familiar.” Zhang Fan mused.

”You forgot? Media department, two years ahead of us,” Li Yishan reminded.

”Oh, oh, right, I remember now. How come you’re still in touch with her?” Zhang Fan exclaimed in realization.

This senior sister was quite the campus celebrity back in school—her admirers could line up from the north gate all the way to the south gate.

”Look...” Li Yishan shook his phone and raised his brows in inquiry.

Zhang Fan peered at the screen. This early in the morning, the senior sister had already sent Li Yishan two messages.

”Are you free for dinner tonight?”

”I can drink something cold (shy face)...”

”What do you think she means?” Li Yishan asked.

”...”

Zhang Fan squinted and fixed his gaze on Li Yishan.

”You gotta be shitting me. Are you really pretending you don’t know what she means?”

”What I mean is, why is she suddenly asking me out? You probably don’t know, she got married at the end of last year.” Li Yishan said in a low voice.

”Damn, that’s messed up!” Zhang Fan shook his head and kept on sipping his porridge.

”So how did you get tangled up with her?”

”It was last time... probably after a fight with her husband. I saw she posted a selfie on Moments, all aggrieved, with a caption...” Li Yishan recalled.

”’If you don’t like me, just say you don’t. Am I forcing you to?’”

”So I just commented, ’I like you!’” Li Yishan said blandly.

”Hmm!?”

”Then she DM’ed me, like, ’Wow, didn’t expect you to be that kind of person.’

”...”

”After that, we started chatting more and more.” Li Yishan couldn’t help but wonder aloud, ”What kind of person am I?”

”A beast, obviously.” Zhang Fan shook his head and set down his spoon.

”So she’s asking you out—are you going?”

”Of course not, I’m in Chang’an right now, how could I go? Never mind her bragging about drinking cold drinks, even if she could drink liquid nitrogen I wouldn’t make it.” Li Yishan shook his head.

Saying this, he put down his phone. To him, it was just a brief interlude.

”Did Brother Sheng leave?” Li Yishan abruptly changed the subject, asking suddenly.

”Yeah.” Zhang Fan nodded, ”He left last night.”

After leaving Luoying Mountain that night, he actually doubled back first to the Wang Family Mansion to meet up with Meng Qiwu and left together. Only then did he go to find Zhang Sheng and Li Yishan.

”Did you meet my brother before?” Zhang Fan asked.

”Just once or twice.” Li Yishan answered seriously.

”You know, I practice [Jia Sheng Gui Si]. Some days I’m lucid, some days I’m not—totally muddled. Your brother came to check up on me.”

Come to think of it, Li Yishan and Zhang Sheng practiced this same technique—it was a bond of fate and life.

”What did your brother say to you?” Li Yishan asked back.

”Not much, just the typical brother stuff.” Zhang Fan shrugged.

Before Zhang Sheng left, he just reminded him not to mess around too much. He was still weak, so he should keep a low profile, lay low, keep himself alive above all else.

Besides that, they also chatted about Zhang Lingzong, who was now hiding in Ailao Mountain—safe for the time being.

Also, Zhang Sheng kept urging him not to go north lightly. The family’s main enemy was up north.

”Main enemy? The Northern Zhang Lineage!?” Li Yishan blurted out instinctively.

”I think so.” Zhang Fan said, voice dropping.

”Your brother’s right. You’re probably the only one in your family who’s safe right now. At least, your identity is still clean for now.” Li Yishan said gravely.

As a Human Xiao, he knew all too well how tricky it was to clear a name and disappear.

Especially in today’s world—tug a single thread and everything unravels. Erasing someone’s traces, making new ones without getting noticed, was insanely difficult.

Zhang Lingzong spent ten years hiding, clearing Zhang Fan’s identity. If nothing else, just that background as a Zhenwu Mountain disciple was worth its weight in gold.

”Safe?” Zhang Fan’s eyes grew contemplative.

Ever since he left Zhenwu Mountain, he’d gone through too much, met too many people—there was no way his tracks were totally covered. He couldn’t believe he was totally, one hundred percent safe.

”At least everything’s calm for now. As long as your strength is great enough, any problem ceases to be a problem.” Li Yishan said gravely.

”You’re right.” Zhang Fan nodded.

Venerable are the powerful. If his skills were strong enough, even if everyone in the world knew he was the last descendant of the South Zhang line, it wouldn’t matter.

No one on earth could threaten him—or those close to him.

”So what’s up with your family? How did your clan in Yujing get wiped out? Who did it?” Zhang Fan asked.

”Ming Shenshou.” Li Yishan replied, grave as a judge.

”Lord of the Red Palace!” Zhang Fan’s brows shot up. ”But aren’t you both from Wuwei Sect? Why are you fighting each other?”

”The whole of human history is a saga of infighting. Nothing strange about it.” Li Yishan shook his head.

”Back when the Daoist Sect was around, Wuwei Sect’s inner circle was at least fairly united.”

After Jiazi Demon-Vanquishing, Wuwei Sect kept a low profile for sixty years—only in recent years have there been signs of resurgence. The real heavyweights have hidden themselves away; though undercurrents exist, open conflict has been rare.