Chapter 4 The Story of the World

After living with Qing Huai for some time, Li Fuyao quickly realized this decent-looking girl was well-mannered and she was not as scheming as he had thought, besides the fact that she indeed had a good cultivation base. After living with her for a few days, Li Fuyao felt that Qing Huai was not so different from the girls at her age after all. Li Fuyao could breathe a sigh of relief because if she had been like the merciless demon in those legends, his life would be on the line already.

He still went back and forth like usual between his house and the restaurant these few days. The autumn rain had yet to cease and Mr. Yan was still waiting for him at the restaurant every day. However, Li Fuyao did not engage in any conversation with him anymore and only gave him a nod as courtesy whenever they met. Li Fuyao had actually asked around secretly and found out that Mr. Yan was already staying in the hotel. He did not seem to be in a hurry to leave and Li Fuyao did not inquire any further. After every storytelling session ended, Li Fuyao would just go and buy some medicines before heading home. Initially, he was worried that the normal medicines would not have any effect on the injuries of a cultivator like Qing Huai but Qing Huai did not stop him so he just continued brewing those medicines at home daily.

The unique scent of the medicine wafted across the yard and Li Fuyao squatted in front of the clay pot which the medicine was brewing in as he slowly waved the cattail leaf fan in his hands. Meanwhile, Qing Huai was laying down on a bamboo chair at the side, closing her eyes meditatively.

“You’re a fool. Why didn’t you go with the scholar surnamed Yan, since he had offered? Is it because you don’t want to lose your dignity? If this is the case, I think it is completely unnecessary. People are losing their dignity almost every second in this world. I don’t see the benefit in what you’re doing but if you are willing to lose your dignity for it, I think it will be worth it regardless.”

Li Fuyao did not lift his head to look at Qing Huai. Come to think of it, she was actually younger than him by a year or two. He replied calmly, “There isn’t any benefit of going to the Confucian Temple, besides, Yanling Confucian Temple isn’t the only place for cultivation in this world. Since I have such a talent, it won’t be difficult for me to look for another place, right?”

Qing Huai cracked a faint smile but her eyes were still closed. She snickered, “It is still uncertain if you can even make it out of Yanling, so how are you going to make it to Liangxi?”

Li Fuyao glanced at her. “Aren’t you going to Liangxi to attend some Daoist Assembly?”

In this world, the Yanling Empire treated Confucianism with respect and most of the cultivators were Confucianism cultivators. However, Liangxi Empire, which was separated from Yanling by Dayu, was a place where Dao cultivators gathered. If their statuses were compared, Daoism had a slight edge.

Qing Huai opened her eyes and looked at Li Fuyao seriously as if he had just said something really amusing. “Li Fuyao, I am going to meet the gifted Dao cultivator. I didn't come to this country for some sightseeing, so how am I going to bring along a burden like you?”

Li Fuyao laughed in a self-mocking manner and did not pursue the matter any further after asking about the gifted Dao cultivator.

Qing Huai thought about it for a long time before saying out two words in a stern manner.

“Ye Shengge.”

Looking at Li Fuyao’s puzzled gaze, Qing Huai sat up and explained patiently, “She is a cultivating genius whose talent is something the Liangxi Dao Temple has not seen in a hundred years. She is also one of the young geniuses in this world. According to the rumors in the Demonic Land, this gifted Dao cultivator had stepped into the cultivation path when she was three years old and entered the Fundamental Stage when she was 15. She is only 18 years old now but she is just one step away from entering the Sanctification Stage. She might even have entered the Sanctification Stage already, just that I wasn’t aware of it.”

Li Fuyao had some knowledge about the nine different stages of a human cultivator and he knew that the Sanctification Stage was the fifth stage. In actual fact, there were many cultivators in this world and most cultivators would have to spend a few decades in the previous stages in order to be able to reach such a stage. However, Li Fuyao had never heard of any cultivator who could step into the fifth stage before 20 years old and it was obviously not an easy feat.

Qing Huai sighed. “This mad woman, Ye Shengge is a natural born cultivator. She did not face any serious obstacles during her journey all these while and my father told me if she hadn’t taken things slow, she might have reached the Dawning Stage already. In this world, all of you treat the three religious sects with respect but Daoism is still the superior one in terms of influence and power. Ye Shengge is a disciple at the Liangxi Dao Temple and nobody had revealed the identity of her master before. Her status in the temple is highly regarded and there were rumors that she was the successor of the temple owner but I don’t quite believe this sort of baseless gossip. Hence, I will seize this opportunity to sneak out during the Liangxi Daoist Assembly and test her to see if she is really so remarkable that she even leaves those young people in the Demonic Land in awe.”

Qing Huai suddenly remembered something and kindly reminded Li Fuyao, “Since the Yanling Confucian Temple wants you, the Liangxi Dao Temple will also think the same. The only difference between the two places is that Ye Shengge will be at Liangxi, so you should just worry about being in despair going on this path.”

Li Fuyao laughed forcefully and said, “It is quite depressing if there is always someone in front of you whom you just can’t catch up to.”

Qing Huai’s eyes suddenly lit up and suggested to him, “Why don’t you go to the Buddha Land and become a monk?”

There was a moment of silence between them.

Li Fuyao paused for quite a while before asking patiently, “Why?”

Qing Huai just chuckled and answered, “Although Buddhism rarely interferes with the affairs of this world, there are still a few young, outstanding monks and these groups of bald monks are very well tempered. If you become a monk, surely nobody will bully you.”

Just as Qing Huai expected, Li Fuyao quickly turned down her suggestion and his reason for it was simple. Nobody wanted to become a monk especially in Yanling where monasteries were rare.

The two of them then looked at each other awkwardly.

Finally, Li Fuyao stood up and poured the medicinal soup out before giving it to Qing Huai. He then said, “If I remember correctly, there should be another type of cultivator in this world other than the three religious sects.”

Qing Huai was holding the medicinal soup in her hands and her hands suddenly kept still.

Li Fuyao went straight to the point and asked, “Where is the Sword Mountain?”

Qing Huai’s face turned cold and she asked stiffly, “You want to learn sword fighting?”

Li Fuyao noticed Qing Huai’s change in expression and asked her in an uncertain tone, “Do demons from the Demonic Land like you have a grudge against swordsmen?”

Qing Huai just kept quiet for some time.

Then, she answered softly, “6000 years ago, the Demonic Land had a war with your world and although both races reconciled and their grudges slowly faded, there is still an exception.”

Qing Huai threw a glance at Li Fuyao and continued, “Except for the swordsmen, no other cultivators have the courage to step into the Demonic Land to kill the demon race.”

Li Fuyao did not know much about this so he did not contribute much to the conversation.

“Actually, I don’t quite get it myself. Why do the swordsmen who are already sparsely scattered in the world still have the courage to do such things? Come to think about it, those arrogant and foolish swordsmen are just like you.”

　　……

Meanwhile, Yan Yu was in the room at the restaurant where Li Fuyao often did his storytelling, looking at the autumn rain outside the window. Gu Yuan was a young lady who just could not sit back, as her fingers ran across her chest she suddenly asked, “Mister, why do Confucianism cultivators like us only have to go through the Awakening Stage before the Fundamental Stage. The pedants in the Confucian Temple said that the fourth stage is the Fundamental Stage so where did the first, second and third stage go?”

Yan Yu was stunned before answering with a sigh, “For the cultivators of the three religious sects, the first three stages are actually the three stages of the respective three religious sects. The Awakening Stage is from our Confucianism, the Triplex Unity Stage is from Daoism while the Bodhi Stage is from the Buddhist cultivators in the far west. The three religious sects have their respective stages and combining them makes up the first three stages.”

Gu Yuan nodded and asked again curiously, “So cultivators who do not belong to any of these three religious sects should have to cultivate the Bodhi Stage, the Triplex Unity Stage and the Awakening Stage?”

“Is there any cultivator in this land who doesn’t belong to any of these three religious sects?”

Yan Yu just smiled faintly while looking at this student of his.

“Didn’t the pedants in the temple mention these before, how is it that you don’t know about these?”

Gu Yuan hung her head but she swiftly lifted her head again with curiosity and asked, “I thought there are still swordsmen? The pedants in the temple didn’t mention they were cultivators of the three religious sects.”

Yan Yu was at a loss for words. He did not know what more to explain about these swordsmen who were already scattered to such an extent. Their orthodox was almost gone and there was no place in this world for them.

Gu Yuan seemed like she knew what the young man was thinking about and she rested her chin on her hands. She whispered with a smile on her face, “The pedants said that there is still one Sword Immortal left in this country.”

Sword Immortal?

Yan Yu recalled the Sword Immortal's name.

Anyway, he should be the last proof that swordsmen had existed in this world, right?

If it wasn’t for him, the swordsmen would not be regarded as scattered, but rather as extinct.

Yan Yu shook his head as he quickly discarded those thoughts and just cracked a smile.

However, Gu Yuan continued asking, “Mister, where is the Sword Mountain?”

The young lady did not know that a teenager at the yard was asking the same question at that moment.

Of course, Yan Yu had no clue about it either.

He just sank into silence as he took the tea cup over and placed it properly on the table.

There were three teacups.

Yan Yu pointed to the teacup in the middle and said, “The Sword Mountain is at the common border of Yanling and Dayu.”

Gu Yuan stared at the two teacups and looked eagerly toward Yan Yu. “Mister, when can I go and see it?”

Yan Yu did not answer her question directly and instead, he just replied smilingly, “If the day comes when your cultivation stage has caught up to Ye Shengge’s, then you are free to leave the Confucian Temple and explore by yourself.”

Gu Yuan tugged at his sleeves and she had a pitiful look on her face. “The pedants said that Sister Ye has been a Sanctification Stage cultivator for a long time, how am I supposed to catch up to her?”

“If you work hard in cultivating, you are bound to succeed. She is a gifted Dao cultivator, and so are you. You are born only a few years later than her so why can't you catch up to her? You must understand that there are still many days ahead of you and if you are faster than her by one step today, and another tomorrow, you will catch up to her sooner or later.”

Gu Yuan hung her head and just let out an unenthusiastic ‘Oh’. It was obvious that she was not quite convinced by what the man had just said.

Yan Yu did not say anything else and just stroked her head habitually. As he thought about the gifted Dao cultivator and the rumors that revolved around her, he just smiled calmly.

After all, she was a gifted Dao cultivator so rare that one would only witness once in a hundred years.

After some time, he turned his head and glanced outside the window. He suddenly remembered something.

His face suddenly turned ghastly.