Watching the Mountain

Chapter 283: Chapter 174: Unafraid

After Li Daoyi finished speaking, he noticed the elder across from him seemed a bit off and asked with a curious look what had happened.

Xu Ran came to his senses and stared at Li Daoyi with a complex expression. Even he hadn’t imagined that the young man before him would share such a fateful connection with his own foolish apprentice.

It was hearing about his apprentice, Jiang Ling’Er, during a lecture at the Instructor Hall that had led Li Daoyi to choose his current path.

It was truly a surprise.

Seeing Li Daoyi’s concerned expression, he shook his head slightly. A gentle smile touched his lips as he replied:

”That foolish girl you heard about in the Instructor Hall is my apprentice.”

Li Daoyi stared at him, shocked. He then pressed impatiently, ”Where is that senior sister now? Why have I never seen her?”

After a long silence, Xu Ran replied in a complex tone, ”She got into a bit of trouble. The Sect was too weak, so it wasn’t safe for her to stay. She had to leave.”

He finished, then looked at Li Daoyi with a serious expression and said:

”You said your goal is to lead the Sect to the pinnacle of the world. I hope you can achieve it.”

”I couldn’t protect that foolish apprentice of mine. I hope you can make it so she can return. Can you do that?”

At Xu Ran’s words, Li Daoyi’s expression froze. A complex, unreadable emotion—like sadness, indignation, and regret—flashed in his eyes.

’I can’t believe such a tragedy happened in our Sect. And to my own elder, of all people.’

’If only I had been born earlier.’

He clenched his fists, his expression earnest and resolute as he replied:

”Elder, rest assured. With me here, the Sect will have no enemy to fear in the future.”

He gazed into the distance, issuing his own declaration. Now that he was here, the Sect would be able to protect every last one of its disciples.

Hearing his resolute declaration, Xu Ran smiled faintly, nodded at him, and said, ”Then I look forward to it.”

Li Daoyi nodded, saying nothing more.

Zhang Zhentian had once complained to Xu Ran that his own apprentice was always running over to his Senior Brother’s place, seeming closer to him than to his own master.

That would have been one thing, but his Senior Brother was just as bad. He doted on his apprentice more than he had ever doted on him, his own Junior Brother. His Senior Brother had never been so attentive, and he was supposed to be his *real* Junior Brother! He was just being too biased.

Hearing Zhang Zhentian’s sour-grape complaints, Xu Ran had chuckled and replied:

”Junior Brother, have you never heard of how affection can skip a generation? It’s like how a grandfather dotes on his grandchild more than his own child. Isn’t it perfectly normal for me to be more affectionate toward your apprentice than I am toward you?”

He didn’t tell Zhang Zhentian that, in truth, he and his martial nephew had made an agreement long ago.

It was for this very reason that Xu Ran had taught his own Swordsmanship to Li Daoyi without hesitation or reservation.

Teaching Chu Lingxiao and Luo Qianxue stemmed from a similar line of thinking. They were his martial nephew’s companions, exceptionally talented in their own right, and would be able to support Li Daoyi in the future.

’A group needs more than just common goals and ideals; it needs shared interests.’

’That was a point Li Daoyi and the other two youths didn’t understand yet. They were together now out of sheer passion and idealism.’

’Li Daoyi wouldn’t think of such things, nor would he even try—it wasn’t in his nature. But he, his elder, could think of them for him.’

’Teaching his Swordsmanship to Chu Lingxiao and Luo Qianxue, aside from genuinely admiring them, was also a small calculation on his part, meant to bind them with a shared interest.’

’This, he supposed, was his more pragmatic, adult side showing.’

’But Li Daoyi didn’t need to know any of this. He just needed to hold on to his passion and idealism.’

*

*

*

After demonstrating his own comprehension to Xu Ran, Li Daoyi brought up his two companions, Chu Lingxiao and Luo Qianxue.

”My Power of Space is nothing special, really. Fellow Daoist Qianxue and Fellow Daoist Chu are the truly incredible ones.”

Xu Ran glanced at him, surprised, then asked with curiosity:

”Oh? And what did they comprehend this time?”

Li Daoyi smiled faintly, his voice filled with genuine happiness for his companions.

”After Fellow Daoist Qianxue learned that you, Elder Hidden Mountain, had comprehended *Scorching Sun* from us, she was quite indignant.”

He chuckled and continued, ”She figured that if you, Elder, could achieve Enlightenment Dao by observing the lives of us young folk, then couldn’t she do the reverse—achieve Enlightenment Dao by observing the lives of the older generation?”

”So when she returned to her Sect, she started spending all her time with their Supreme Elders, just observing the daily routines of the older generation.”

”After a while, she had an epiphany and comprehended the ’Flowing Years’ Mental Realm.”

At this point, Li Daoyi paused for a moment, glanced at Xu Ran, and then continued:

”Unlike your Melancholy Realm, Elder Hidden Mountain, yours only touches upon the concept of time. It’s more like a key to unlock the path of time.”

”But Fellow Daoist Qianxue’s ’Flowing Years’ Mental Realm has truly reached the level of the years themselves. It can accelerate the flow of time for both herself and others.”

”It’s just that, like me, she is limited by her Cultivation Realm and cannot yet truly unleash the full power of the Flowing Years Mental Realm.”

Li Daoyi finished with a slight shake of his head, seemingly lamenting this limitation on his companion’s behalf.

Xu Ran’s expression froze for a second as he stared at Li Daoyi in shock.

’Good grief, are all the young people these days this heaven-defying?’

’One controls space, the other controls time. How is anyone else supposed to keep up?’

’Especially Luo Qianxue. That quirky, slightly black-bellied girl truly refuses to take a loss on anything, doesn’t she?’

’Just because he’d gained Enlightenment Dao from them, she felt she’d suffered a huge loss, so she went back to observe her Supreme Elders to even the score. And the crucial part is, she actually did it! She comprehended a time-based concept like the Flowing Years Mental Realm in one fell swoop.’

’Is she Heaven’s favorite daughter or something?’

It took Xu Ran a long moment to compose himself. He then turned to Li Daoyi and asked:

”Then what about Chu Lingxiao? What did he comprehend?”

Hearing Xu Ran’s question, Li Daoyi didn’t respond right away. After a moment of silence, he shook his head slightly and replied:

”What Fellow Daoist Chu comprehended is a bit complicated. Even he can’t describe it clearly. However...”

”...he sparred against Fellow Daoist Qianxue after she comprehended the Flowing Years Mental Realm. The result was that she lost.”

”This...” Xu Ran had lost count of how many times he had been shocked that day. It wasn’t that he was easily startled, but that these young people were simply too outrageously talented.

’Time, space, and now an unknown ability that could overwhelm the Flowing Years Mental Realm.’

At this thought, he stared intently at Li Daoyi, recalling what Luo Qianxue had shouted not long ago, pumping her fist in the air: ”The future belongs to us.”

At the time, he had dismissed it as youthful bravado.

Now, it seemed, she had been stating a fact.

’The future... it really does belong to them.’

Xu Ran tilted his head back slightly, looking at the blazing sun on the horizon as a sense of anticipation swelled in his heart.

’Perhaps, before long, this world would be welcoming a new era.’