Watching the Mountain

Chapter 321: Chapter 187: Chen Qing’s Prowess

Xu Ran looked at the sorrow and dejection on Lu Mingchen’s face, and the bewildered confusion in his eyes—as if he were getting bogged down in some trivial point—and couldn’t help but sigh to himself.

Li Daoyi, Chu Lingxiao, and Luo Qianxue were all prodigies of their generation, and they had always possessed clear plans for their futures.

They were also resolute and could decisively pursue their established goals when faced with a choice.

That was why, after they were forced to part ways, they were able to accept it and adapt with swift decisiveness.

It wasn’t that they didn’t cherish their friendship. Rather, they understood that some things couldn’t be forced. The freedom to live as one pleased, for everything to go one’s way—that was something they could only pursue after they had become powerful enough, or had achieved their goals.

Forcing things now would be pointless.

Given that, they might as well cultivate diligently and achieve the Dao as soon as possible. When that time came, they would find a world with no injustices, where everything would be just as they wished.

But Lu Mingchen was different. He was just an ordinary, somewhat insecure person who hadn’t experienced much in life.

Being with people like Chu Lingxiao and Luo Qianxue made him happy, so he wanted that to last forever.

It was such a simple thought.

And yet, it was also the most impossible of wishes.

Looking at the despondent Lu Mingchen, Xu Ran had originally intended to offer some guidance, perhaps set a goal for him.

But after a moment’s thought, he abandoned the idea.

Some lessons can only be truly understood through sufficient experience.

Compared to Li Daoyi and the other two, his own grand-disciple was far too lacking in every respect. If he continued to live a sheltered life, he might truly lose all hope of ever catching up to them.

So, it was best to let him figure it out for himself. Only then could he truly grow.

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One day, as Xu Ran was passing the Instructor Hall on Qing Xuan Peak, he saw a stern, traditional-looking, white-haired old man walking out from within.

The old man’s gaze was so fierce that it made people want to look away, not daring to meet his eyes.

The old man’s face was set in a stern expression. He already looked rather intimidating, and now he appeared even more frightening.

Xu Ran recognized the man. His surname was Xu, a Golden Core Master of over nine hundred years. He had been in charge of the lectures at the Instructor Hall ever since Qing Xuan Peak’s founding.

Xu Ran’s own disciple, Jiang Ling’er, had been his student. It was also after seeing him muttering about a ”stupid lass” in the Instructor Hall that Li Daoyi had found his own path.

Seeing the elder’s expression, he couldn’t help but approach to greet him. ”Elder Xu,” he asked, ”has something happened?”

Upon hearing him, Elder Xu raised a hand slightly, forming a Dao Seal in greeting. ”Ah, Hidden Mountain Elder.”

He then glanced back at the Instructor Hall behind him, sighed, and said, ”It’s nothing much. There are just too few people. It feels a bit pointless lecturing up there, so I came out for some fresh air.”

Xu Ran was taken aback. His gaze shifted to the Instructor Hall, and upon seeing the ten or so lonely figures in the vast, empty space, he fell silent.

Ten years had passed since Luo Qianxue had come to say her farewells, and this year, the Sect had held its decennial recruitment ceremony.

The period after the recruitment ceremony was usually the liveliest time for the Sect, but this year was different. It felt exceptionally desolate. ℯℯ𝑙.

The reason for this, of course, was related to the as-yet-unresolved affliction plaguing the world.

The recent feat of the Evergreen Sword Saint, Zhang Zhentian, slaying five Nascent Soul True Monarchs single-handedly had served as a powerful deterrent to those who bore a grudge against Ye Shan and the Profound Pure Sect, granting the sect a period of peace.

But this tranquility was only temporary. A little over three months later, another group arrived outside the Profound Pure Sect.

It was the Sect’s most dangerous moment.

In addition to people from the Eastern Domain Cultivation Realm, cultivators from the other Four Domains had also arrived—a total of fifteen Nascent Soul True Monarchs, backed by a force of over one hundred Core Formation and Golden Core masters.

When so many powerful cultivators unleashed their auras outside the Profound Pure Sect’s gates, the faces of many disciples throughout the sect turned pale.

While it was true that the Profound Pure Sect had over twenty Nascent Soul experts, half of them were of the Flying Immortal Stream. And when a Flying Immortal Nascent Soul faced an ordinary one, they were almost certain to be utterly crushed.

Worse still, their ranks included three Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivators. With the former Sect Leader, Taihua True Monarch, in death seclusion, the entire Sect had only Supreme Elder Zi Yun and one other Supreme Elder at the Nascent Soul Late Stage.

Handling the extra Nascent Soul Late Stage expert would require nearly all of the Sect’s remaining Supreme Elders to act in concert. And the other twelve Nascent Soul cultivators? Who could possibly stand against them?

Seeing this, many disciples of the Profound Pure Sect cried out in anguish:

”Why has it come to this? Our Senior Ye Shan was the one who saved the Cultivation Realm! It’s one thing for them to be ungrateful, but to blame us for the world’s current problems? How is that fair?”

Despair filled many hearts. It wasn’t just a question of whether the Sect could survive this crisis. Even if they did, as long as people continued to blame them for the world’s affliction, the Sect would never know a day of peace.

As a sect with an ancient lineage, the Profound Pure Sect had always raised its disciples to follow the Righteous Dao. Thus, many of them couldn’t fathom how the hearts of men could be so wicked, nor could they understand the Sect’s current plight.

Because of this injustice, many disciples were already resolved to die. They decided they would use their lives to make their voices heard, to let the Cultivation Realm know they were not culprits, but heroes.

Faced with such a hopeless lineup of enemies, this seemed to many to be the best option. They would not retreat; they would live or die with the Sect.

However, events did not unfold as they had imagined.

They never got the chance to make a move.

The one who changed this state of affairs was one person—or to be precise, two.

The Evergreen Sword Saint, Zhang Zhentian, and Wuchen True Monarch, Shen Wuchen.

Zhang Zhentian proposed that of the three enemy Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivators, Supreme Elder Zi Yun and the Sect’s other Nascent Soul Late Stage Supreme Elder would each take on one.

The remaining Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivator would be handled by all the Sect’s other Nascent Soul True Monarchs combined. As for Sect Leader Yue Qingyu, she was not to engage, but to remain in the Sect and coordinate the battle.

He, meanwhile, would be responsible for the remaining twelve Nascent Soul True Monarchs.

This proposal was naturally met with opposition, but Zhang Zhentian was exceptionally insistent, stating that he was confident he could handle it all.

Then, he and Shen Wuchen slowly walked out of the sect gates.

Two figures: one clad in ink-black, the other in robes whiter than snow; one steady and composed, the other proud and aloof.

They walked out of the sect gates and, facing the encirclement of twelve Nascent Soul True Monarchs, appeared perfectly calm and composed.

The outcome of the battle left the entire Cultivation Realm speechless.

The Chen Qing Team had, in that moment, revealed its might.