Watching the Mountain

Chapter 125: Chapter 110: No Retreat

Xu Ran stared blankly at Teacher Qing Xuan’s bright eyes.

Then his gaze fell upon the other’s aged face. At this moment, all the discordant feelings he’d had since Teacher Qing Xuan’s breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage became perfectly clear.

He fell silent for a moment, then raised his hands to form a sealing technique and congratulated Teacher Qing Xuan, ”Congratulations, Teacher, on comprehending the True Essence of the Great Dao. May your path to immortality be smooth from this day forward.”

Qing Xuan True Monarch was in high spirits and accepted his congratulations with a broad smile.

”Teacher,” Xu Ran called out softly.

”Hm?” Qing Xuan True Monarch looked at him, puzzled.

Xu Ran said with an exceptionally serious expression, ”Can you be a little more open with your disciple in the future? This is the second time already.”

The last time, his teacher had hidden his failed seclusion from him, and this time was no different. He had only found out by chance. If he hadn’t, he might never have known that his teacher’s condition had deteriorated to such an extent.

No wonder that when he had seen his teacher before, the man’s appearance hadn’t changed, yet he had given off a sense of old age.

If his teacher hadn’t coincidentally gained some insight from the matter with Wang Xiaohu and Chen Minghe, perhaps... He didn’t dare to think about that possibility.

Qing Xuan True Monarch just watched him in silence, not saying a word.

After a long while, he gave Xu Ran a slight nod and said with a gentle, smiling tone, ”This Monarch assures you, it won’t happen again.”

After speaking, he chuckled. ”After all, you are the contemporary Shennong. This Monarch still has to give you that much face, right?”

Xu Ran’s expression stiffened. ”No matter what my identity is, I will always be your student.”

Qing Xuan True Monarch just smiled and continued, ”This Monarch is going into seclusion for a while. When This Monarch emerges, you will see me in perfect health, no illusions needed.”

Xu Ran smiled slightly at his words. He knew that when his teacher promised it wouldn’t happen again, their relationship had grown one step closer.

Now, the bond between them was like that of a teacher and student, a master and disciple, and even half-family.

*

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*

The Profound Pure Sect’s recent standing in the Cultivation Realm was somewhat delicate, a fact the entire Sect could feel.

Logically speaking, after Sword Dao Ye Shan burned away his own life to slay every member of the Evil Demon Race and Phoenix Race in the Cultivation Realm with a single strike, resolving the hidden crisis, everyone in the Cultivation Realm should have been grateful to them.

After Ye Shan swung his sword, the Cultivation Realm was indeed filled with voices of gratitude, but after that, there was nothing.

There were almost no further gestures, just a few empty words.

Many disciples of the Profound Pure Sect couldn’t stand this disparity.

They couldn’t understand why it was like this. Senior Brother Ye Shan had clearly burned away everything to resolve a great crisis hidden within the Cultivation Realm, so why didn’t they feel any of that respect?

Xu Ran, however, had thought of a few reasons.

It was true that the Evil Demon Race and Phoenix Race had been lurking in the Cultivation Realm for countless ages, but all this time, they had never really done anything—or if they had, it was never discovered. Therefore, people didn’t feel any tangible harm or sense of crisis.

More importantly, over countless ages, they had completely integrated into the Cultivation Realm. They had deep ties with the people of the Immortal Ancient Cultivation Realm, possibly as family, friends, teachers, or companions. The relationships were intricate and complex.

Everyone understood the danger of the demons. If demons lurking elsewhere were killed, people would be happy and shout that they deserved to die.

But if someone close to them was a demon and was killed, they might think, ’He was a demon, yes, but he never did anything wrong. He never hurt anyone. Couldn’t you have just exposed him? Why did you have to kill him?’

It was just like if someone told Xu Ran that Little Xiyue, Teacher Qing Xuan, or Shen Wuchen was a demon and had to be executed, Xu Ran would absolutely never agree.

There were quite a few people who thought this way. At the very least, Xu Ran himself had seen such scenes within the Sect recently.

Among those Ye Shan killed were members of the Profound Pure Sect—hundreds of them, in fact. Afterward, some disciples had said things like, ”Why kill him? He never hurt anyone...”

To sum it up, Ye Shan had acted too soon. He had eliminated the lurking demons before they had a chance to make a move.

This led to the current situation where, on the surface, the Profound Pure Sect was respected by all, but in the shadows, many people gritted their teeth in hatred toward them.

Because people close to them had died under Ye Shan’s sword.

This resulted in their current delicate position in the Cultivation Realm.

More importantly, Ye Shan’s display of power had been too shocking and world-shattering, striking fear into the hearts of many sects.

Now that the crisis in the Cultivation Realm was resolved and there would be no more wars for ten thousand years, many people’s minds began to stir. If nothing else, there was one absolute consensus: there must never be another Ye Shan.

It was precisely because of this that Zhang Zhentian had been fighting continuously in the New Domain for several years. Every time a battle ended, he would only rest and recover briefly before continuing to fight, never stopping, never retreating.

At first, the disciples of the Sect were shocked and cheered by his actions, believing he was truly worthy of being Ye Shan’s successor.

Many even shouted for him to keep pushing forward, to show the people of the Cultivation Realm his magnificent style.

But as time went on, the voices within the Sect began to change. Some started to harbor faint worries. The Evergreen Sword Saint had been fighting for so long; at this rate, wouldn’t something go wrong?

Later, some could no longer bear it and began shouting for the Evergreen Sword Saint to step down and rest.

Gradually, such cries filled the Sect every day: ”Evergreen Sword Saint, step down! Stop fighting!”

Even though they knew perfectly well that the Evergreen Sword Saint, far away in the New Domain, couldn’t possibly hear them shouting within the Sect, many people still couldn’t help but yell with red-rimmed eyes.

Now, several years had passed. Every day at dawn, the disciples’ conversations in the Sect were all the same:

”The Evergreen Sword Saint is still fighting.”

”He just killed a group that was surrounding him. He’s covered in blood, but he’s still standing ramrod straight, looking down on all his foes.”

”Another group has come to surround him, but he still hasn’t retreated a single step.”

Many disciples had red-rimmed eyes. They couldn’t understand why. He was so badly injured, yet the Evergreen Sword Saint was still unwilling to retreat even a single step.

When Xu Ran heard these discussions, he gazed into the distance, recalling the troublemaker from his class back then. To compete with him, that boy had forced himself to be a model student for a whole year.

From this, one could see just how obstinate and stubborn Zhang Zhentian’s personality was.

Whatever he set his mind to, he would absolutely see it through.

Xu Ran knew that no matter how fervent the cries in the Sect became, even if Zhang Zhentian heard them, he would never step down.

Because he didn’t want to retreat.

Not even Xu Ran could have imagined that the troublemaker from the past, after several transformations, would actually become so strong and resilient.

So strong it was heartbreaking.

Just then, Xu Ran heard a disciple cry out from a distance, their voice trembling:

”The Evergreen Sword Saint coughed up blood again! There isn’t a single uninjured spot on his body now, it’s all wounds!”

”He’s just standing there, staring straight ahead, waiting for the next wave of enemies.”

”Not one step back.”