Watching the Mountain

Chapter 30: Chapter 25: Chang’an

In response to Xu Ran’s question, a flicker of hesitation crossed Ye Shan’s aged face. He opened his mouth, as if wanting to say something, but ultimately shrank back.

Then he grinned, waving his hand.

”Elder Xu, you mustn’t make fun of this old man. It’s true I’m a True Disciple, but you are an Honorary Elder of the Sect. According to Sect regulations, a True Disciple’s status is equivalent to that of an Elder, but in terms of seniority, we True Disciples must still bow when we meet an Elder. That is proper etiquette.”

”Etiquette? Since when did you, Ye Shan, care about etiquette?”

Xu Ran almost laughed in exasperation. ’This is the guy who mocked my Swordsmanship as soon as we met, saying I was unfit to practice the sword. He even said he’d never seen anyone with such abysmal talent and wanted to stick around just to see how a worthless hack with no aptitude cultivates.’

’And now the person who said all those soul-crushing things is lecturing me on etiquette? What a joke.’

”You jest, Elder Xu. As an esteemed True Disciple of the Sect, I am a role model for all other disciples. Naturally, I must be the first to understand etiquette.”

”Esteemed True Disciple?” Xu Ran clenched his fists, a vein throbbing on his forehead. He finally understood why Zhang Zhentian had been so furious more than a month ago.

The way Ye Shan was speaking now was truly infuriating. He didn’t know if the man was being intentionally provocative, but hearing such words from someone who was once a high-spirited, peerless prodigy made an uncontrollable anger rise within him.

”Every other word out of your mouth is ’True Disciple.’ Does that title mean so much to you?”

Hearing this, a proud smile spread across Ye Shan’s wrinkled face. He spoke with a hint of a boast in his voice.

”Isn’t it only natural? There are only three hundred and sixty-five True Disciples in the entire Sect. The fact that I’m one of them—isn’t that worth bragging about?”

As he spoke, he deliberately lifted his head and puffed out his chest, flaunting the True Disciple robe and revealing the insignia on its front.

The Sect provided uniforms for disciples of every rank, but wearing them wasn’t mandatory outside of major ceremonies. Most people preferred to dress however they pleased.

That included Xu Ran himself, who always wore a simple, plain green robe, his long hair half-tied back.

As for Ye Shan, Xu Ran had never seen him wear the True Disciple robes before. He had only started wearing them in recent years.

Looking at Ye Shan, Xu Ran unclenched his fist and let out a long breath. His expression grew calm.

His anger suddenly vanished, and his heart became as calm as still water.

After a long silence, he stared at Ye Shan and asked, ”So, Ye Zhenzhuan, what business brings you to me today?”

Ye Shan shook his head. ”Oh, it’s nothing important. I just happened to see you training Junior Brother Zhang the other day, Elder Xu, and I wanted to offer a suggestion.”

”What suggestion?”

”Stop training Junior Brother Zhang. You’re only hurting him.”

”Oh?” Xu Ran stared at Ye Shan in surprise. Hearing such a serious statement from him, Xu Ran straightened up and asked earnestly:

”And your reason is? Senior Brother Ye, did you notice something?”

He expected to hear some profound reason, like how this training was incompatible with Zhang Zhentian’s Dao or something of that nature.

But Ye Shan just shook his head and said with a straight face, ”Because now is not the time for a genius to appear in our Sect.”

”I’ve heard about Junior Brother Zhang. He is highly regarded by the Grand Elder of Celestial Sea Peak. His talent is astounding, and he’s seen as the next prodigy to follow Senior Sister Yue and me.”

”It would be one thing if he hid his talent and didn’t display it for outsiders, but if he reveals it, it will be a disaster for both him and the Sect.”

”That’s it?” Xu Ran stared at Ye Shan, his expression turning ugly. ’To think that’s his reason. The man who was once the most high-spirited person I knew is now saying things like this.’

’Perhaps Ye Shan said the same thing to Zhang Zhentian a few days ago, which would explain why he was so furious. Anyone else could say those words, but not Ye Shan. He, of all people, couldn’t.’

In Xu Ran’s mind, no matter how Ye Shan had acted recently, he was still the Ye Shan of old. There had to be a reason for all of his recent behavior.

Even when Ye Shan had called him Elder Xu, he’d felt it was a deliberate provocation, which was why he had retorted with ”Ye Zhenzhuan.”

From the moment they met today, he refused to believe that Ye Shan had truly changed.

So when he heard such defeatist words from him, he became truly angry, unable to accept the discrepancy. ”If you’re a genius, you should be brilliant and unstoppable, shouldn’t you? Just like you used to be.”

”And so I fell, and the Sect was dragged down with me,” Ye Shan replied calmly. His gaze fixed on Xu Ran as he continued in a low, haunting voice:

”Besides, if you truly believe that, Elder Xu, why haven’t you done the same?”

Xu Ran froze for a moment, then looked at Ye Shan in astonishment. ”I’m no prodigy. What does this have to do with me?”

Ye Shan grinned, revealing a set of yellowed teeth. ”You jest, Elder Xu. Perhaps in cultivation, you are indeed far behind. But on the path of a Spirit Plant Master, you are a true prodigy.”

”I’ve heard all about it. If not for the limits of your cultivation talent, you might have become the Shennong of our era, your name immortalized for millennia.”

He then spread his hands. ”You see? You yourself are hiding so deeply, Elder Xu. You haven’t revealed your skills to anyone. Everyone thinks you’re just an ordinary Outer Disciple. How can you have the nerve to tell others to be brilliant and flaunt their talents?”

Xu Ran was taken aback. It was true. In his years of researching Spirit Rice and the world’s other Spiritual Plants for Yue Qingyu’s Valley Qi Pills, he had indeed made many breakthroughs.

And just as Ye Shan said, though his cultivation was poor—whether due to innate talent or because he had been an agriculture student in his past life, he didn’t know—in the profession of a Spirit Plant Master, he had taken to it like a dragon to the sea. His progress was unstoppable, leaving many of the Sect’s other Spirit Plant Masters in constant amazement, claiming he was born for the role.

But very few people knew about this. At the very least, Ye Shan shouldn’t have known.

And yet, here he was, not only knowing but bringing it up like this.

’What is he trying to say?’

Just as he was pondering this, Ye Shan waved a hand at him and said loudly:

”Anyway, that’s my advice. The Sect cannot afford a third prodigy. It will only bring disaster.”

Without waiting for Xu Ran’s reaction, he turned and left.

This only deepened Xu Ran’s confusion. He felt something was very strange about Ye Shan, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was.

As he stood there perplexed, just after Ye Shan’s figure had vanished, the sound of footsteps approached from behind. Startled, Xu Ran turned to see a man in black robes emerging.

The man was utterly unremarkable. His features were plain, his height was average, and even his demeanor was ordinary. He was the kind of person who would simply vanish in a crowd.

When Xu Ran got a clear look at the man, his expression filled with astonishment, because he recognized him.

Chen Chang’an, a True Disciple of Celestial Sea Peak. Though he looked utterly plain and unremarkable, he was a true prodigy.

He was a True Disciple of the same generation as Ye Shan, second only to him among all their peers.

He had also participated in the battle of the Secret Realm and achieved a record of five wins and five losses in ten bouts against the prodigies of the Four Major Sects.

That record might not sound impressive, but it was actually spectacular. His opponents, after all, were prodigies from the Major Sects ranked among the top Ten Major Sects of the Eastern Domain; they were no simple foes.

Aside from Ye Shan, he was one of the few disciples in the Profound Pure Sect who had managed to claim victories against the prodigies of the Four Major Sects.

Someone like him was what a normal prodigy was supposed to be. Someone like Ye Shan—who could fight multiple opponents at once and achieve a crushing victory, even when those opponents were top-tier prodigies from the most renowned sects in the domain—was the abnormal one.

Otherwise, the Four Major Sects would not have been so terrified of him that they would break the unwritten rules of the Cultivation Realm just to ambush and kill him.

But what puzzled Xu Ran was why Chen Chang’an would appear here. If he had come looking for Ye Shan, he should have followed him when he left just now.