Chapter 31: Son of the Heavenly Mandate descends the mountain, the master of the demon sect successfully intrudes.
Indeed, the events of these days made him constantly feel as though they were unreal.
He had lived in a fishing village, reliant on his aunt and a barely sustainable flatbread shop for survival. After paying a sizable tax to the local lords and officials, their modest income was just enough to scrape by.
However, one day, a group of people arrived, claiming he was the blood descendant of the Dragon Crown Prince, who had failed to secure the dragon throne from Emperor Yi!
Following that, this group took him to Mount Tu.
Then, Elder Chen, who was in charge of discipline at Mount Tu, took him as his disciple and arranged for him to begin his training. Elder Chen truly treated him well, bestowing upon him various treasures inherited from earlier generations.
This allowed Long Zhangyuan, after just three months of training, to possess the cultivation effort of twenty years!
And this was still without him fully assimilating the inherited treasures.
"My father is the Dragon Crown Prince..."
"So am I truly the True Dragon Emperor?"
Suddenly, such a thought emerged in Long Zhangyuan’s mind.
At that moment, the sound of footsteps approached. Long Zhangyuan instinctively looked towards the sound and then couldn’t help but smile. The visitor was a quirky young girl, seen hopping and jumping along the way. However, upon spotting Long Zhangyuan, she immediately halted, then walked over slowly, scratching her head, and said, "Uncle Chen is looking for you."
"Qingqing, why are you here?" Long Zhangyuan asked happily.
This young girl was named Yi Qingqing, a disciple of Nangong Yishuang, the partner of Dan Sword Guest Zhao Chenyang. The couple had a good relationship with Mount Tu, hence the disciples of Mount Tu and the couple referred to each other as brothers and sisters.
Having met Yi Qingqing once two months ago, Long Zhangyuan had grown quite fond of this quirky young girl.
After all, who wouldn’t like someone attractive and lively?
"My master brought me here." Yi Qingqing actually didn’t want to engage much with Long Zhangyuan, as they had only met twice, and this guy acted too familiar with her, making her feel somewhat uncomfortable.
"Uncle Zhao is also here? Oh, since Master is looking for me, I need to hurry over." Saying this, Long Zhangyuan took hold of Yi Qingqing’s little hand.
Yi Qingqing’s face flashed with panic, trying to pull away in discomfort, but by that time, Long Zhangyuan had already started walking, and she had no choice but to follow.
After all, they were on the territory of Mount Tu, and she had heard that Long Zhangyuan was highly regarded there; even her master’s husband, Nangong Yishuang, treated Long Zhangyuan with great respect.
Thus, he was not someone she could afford to offend.
However, as soon as this thought came to mind, Yi Qingqing couldn’t help but remember someone who had once bought her ten alchemy furnaces, telling her that at her age, she need not bow to social niceties.
"By the way, Qingqing, I’ve learned to ride a flying sword!" Long Zhangyuan then said excitedly, and without asking Yi Qingqing if she wanted to ride on his flying sword, he summoned a brilliantly translucent long sword with a wave of his hand and a humming sound.
"Let’s go, we’ll ride the sword over, it’s faster!" Long Zhangyuan added, lifting his foot to step on the sword.
Yi Qingqing glanced at the flying sword, unlike Long Zhangyuan, who was oblivious to its value. Having read widely from a young age, she recognized it instantly: this was crafted using sunflower essence mixed with Taiyi fine gold.
The magic artifact made from such high-quality materials was undoubtedly of the Spiritual Artifact level.
That is to say, this was a top-tier flying sword.
To know, even Zhao Chenyang, the husband of her master Nangong Yishuang, despite being called Dan Sword Guest, didn’t possess a flying sword of this level.
Thus, she had to follow along.
The speed of the supreme flying sword was undoubtedly very fast. It wasn’t long before Long Zhangyuan brought Yi Qingqing to the vicinity of Elder Chen’s cave dwelling and descended.
At that time, outside the cave dwelling, Elder Chen was laughing and talking with a scholarly dressed middle-aged man.
This scholarly dressed middle-aged man was none other than Zhao Chenyang.
When Zhao Chenyang saw Long Zhangyuan and Yi Qingqing, especially when he saw Long Zhangyuan holding Yi Qingqing’s hand, the smile on Zhao Chenyang’s face became even more brilliant. "Qingqing and Master Nephew Long are here," he said.
"Greetings, Master! Greetings, Uncle Master Zhao," Long Zhangyuan stepped forward to greet.
"Elder Chen, Uncle Master," Yi Qingqing followed and called out.
"Zhang Yuan, since you have come, there is just something I’d like you to do. Previously, when Niece Qingqing passed through Qinghe City, she competed in alchemy with several disciples from Caiyun Valley. Those disciples cheated by using their elders’ pills to win and thus deceitfully took Niece Qingqing’s Magic Artifact. You shall go on behalf of me!" Elder Chen said.
Actually, this was just a pretext, a pretext that had been arranged long ago, and so were the deeds of those disciples of Caiyun Valley. To that end, Caiyun Valley had deliberately recruited several disciples of poor moral character several years ago.
The purpose was to give the Son of the Heavenly Mandate a reputable first descent from the mountains!
"What? Niece Qingqing’s Magic Artifact?" As soon as Long Zhangyuan heard it involved Yi Qingqing, he immediately became anxious and angry, only to say, "Master, Uncle Master Zhao, rest assured, I will definitely retrieve her Magic Artifact for Niece Qingqing!"
Upon hearing this, Elder Chen could not help but reveal a smile. Finally, the great plan of their righteous Mount Sword Path could begin.
At that moment, he remembered an old friend of his.
This old friend was someone he had met outside the Zi Xuan Dynasty, at the "Corner of Heaven," and although they seldom met, upon reflection, this friend was probably also on the hundred-year cultivation path.
And this old friend, somehow learning about their great righteous plan, wanted to earn some merit.
So, Elder Chen said, "Before you go to Caiyun Valley, you might first visit a fellow Daoist in Suishi Mountain. If this Daoist accompanies you, your journey will be much smoother."
This Suishi Mountain was just the temporary cultivation site found by that old friend after coming from the "Corner of Heaven."
A hundred years of cultivation, no matter how one puts it, is still quite useful. Although their Mount Sword Path was not short of hands, having one more to deal with the variables was harmless.
...
Tan Shuchang slowly walked on the road.
Although he traveled dozens of meters with each step, at his current pace, reaching Luo State would take one or two months, unthinkable otherwise.
After all, having already known that he would face many troublesome matters ahead, why would he rush to Luo State?
And by dragging out the time like this, Tan Shuchang intended to complete one or two fierce ghost raisings on the way.
"Speaking of which, Caiyun Valley is far in Luo State, and Luo State itself has the ten great sacred mountains, abundant with heaven and earth treasures. Why did the Caiyun Valley disciples who appeared in Qinghe City go there to buy anything? And why would they be interested in competing in alchemy with others?" he pondered while walking.
Walking along, Tan Shuchang, deeply contemplating the forces of Luo State, suddenly had such a doubt. The land of the Jianguang Sect in Yuezhou has many heavenly and earthly treasures, but Luo State is famously a treasure land, with cultivators who are proficient in alchemy or wish to learn alchemy primarily based there.
To know, in the Jiawu Realm, magic pills have always been in greater demand than supply.
And for Caiyun Valley, the alchemy sanctuary of Jiawu Realm, disciples, if they need any medicinal ingredient, need only speak up, and people will voluntarily deliver it to them, not asking for payment but only seeking a kind deed. Why would they need to go out and purchase themselves?