The middle-aged steward’s mind went blank as he raised his head, dazed, only to see two modestly dressed n, clad in very common fur cloaks, sitting across from each other in the shop, drinking. His arrogant cousin stood respectfully to the side.
"Taoist Fellow has good eyesight!"
Wan Yuankai gave him a look and praised, smiling as he said,
"Why not sit down and join us for a few drinks?"
"That’s exactly what I had in mind!"
The splendidly dressed young man sat down on the rickety wooden stool without a care, and the stool imdiately creaked and groaned as if about to fall apart, leaving the middle-aged steward astonished.
"’I am Xiao Yongling from the Xiao Family of Li Xia County under Green Pond’s jurisdiction, and it’s a pleasure to et both Taoist Fellows."
Xiao Yongling politely smiled and thanked Li Tongya as he accepted the cup of wine passed to him, then spoke,
"May I ask who you two are?"
"Under Green Pond’s jurisdiction, Wan Yuankai from the Wan Family of Huaqian."
"Under Green Pond’s jurisdiction, Li Tongya from the Li Family of Lijing."
Both were pleased by his humility and responded in kind, very politely.
The mont Xiao Yongling heard "Wan Family of Huaqian," his smile remained unchanged, but upon hearing "Li Family of Lijing," he was visibly astonished, exclaiming continuously,
"Could it be the Li Family from the banks of Wangyue Lake?!"
"Exactly, it is unexpected that my Li Family, only recently embarked on the path to immortality with ager foundations, could be heard of by such noble and esteed families."
Li Tongya was also taken aback, silently recalling Xiao Yuansi, and Wan Yuankai beca exceedingly embarrassed, thinking to himself,
"This Xiao Family, being a major family, having heard of my Wan Family, is quite normal. But this Li Family, having ascended to immortality only a few years ago, how did they co to the attention of the Xiao Family so soon!"
"Hahaha."
Xiao Yongling laughed a few tis, then explained very politely,
"My uncle is Xiao Yuansi of Qing Sui Peak, and since both our families are under Qing Sui Peak, it’s natural to have heard of each other."
"So that’s how it is!"
Wan Yuankai’s heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly rembered that the Li Family had a disciple under the Green Pond Sect. With mixed feelings, he turned to Xiao Yongling and said,
"Taoist Fellow is so young yet has achieved the Yujing; you indeed possess excellent cultivation."
Xiao Yongling stiffened for a mont and awkwardly replied,
"Yongling has only reached the Chengming Wheel in cultivation. It’s only because I am from the direct lineage of the great Xiao Family that my elders bestowed upon a treasure which can identify those with cultivation, hence recognizing you. It is not the Yujing Wheel’s Spiritual Sense."
"My apologies for the hasty assumption!"
Wan Yuankai, too, felt a mont of awkwardness and apologized repeatedly with joined hands.
Xiao Yongling dismissed it casually, waving his hand and proudly said,
"You must be here to hand over the tributes, right?"
"Indeed."
Li Tongya and the other looked at each other, amused by Xiao Yongling’s gossiping deanor, and eagerly listened.
"The territory from Wangyue Lake to Li Xia County is all under the jurisdiction of Moon Lake Peak. Currently, Moon Lake Peak has only four disciples left. Do you know which emissary has co?"
"We do not know..."
"It is Fairy Ning Wan from Qiu Hu!"
Xiao Yongling’s face glowed with pride. Upon seeing their puzzled expressions, he paused, then explained,
"This Ning Wan refined the frosty winds of the pine forest into her Qi and is particularly skilled in formations. Just turned twenty-four and has already broken through to the Eighth Layer of Qi Cultivation. I’ve heard she’s an exceptionally beautiful woman who rarely gets involved in these matters. If it weren’t for the fact that the other disciples of Moon Lake Peak were too busy, she wouldn’t have accepted this task of collecting tributes."
Xiao Yongling spoke incessantly, then suddenly stopped, looking at Wan Yuankai with confusion and asked,
"Speaking of formations, does your Wan Family have any legacy? This na Huaqian Wan Family does sound sowhat familiar."
"Of course, we do."
Wan Yuankai, having held back for a long ti, imdiately brightened up upon hearing this and explained with so pride,
"Two hundred years ago, my Wan Family produced a master of formations nad Wan Huaqian, and Huaqian Mountain is nad after him."
"I see..."
Xiao Yongling nodded and agreed,
"I’ve read the historical records of my family clan, which ntioned this Wan Huaqian. My family conjectures that he acquired the legacy of a cultivator who perished in that great battle."
Fearing that the man would switch the topic back to Ning Wan’s beauty, Li Tongya quickly asked,
"May I know about that great battle..."
Xiao Yongling shook his head, pondered for a mont, and then spoke softly,
"The accounts of that battle in my family are rather vague, but I heard that soone, under the banner of the Yujing Moonlight Origin Mansion of the Upper Sect, demanded that all Three Sects and Ten Schools follow his commands; in the end, they were attacked in a joint uprising by the Three Sects and perished above Wangyue Lake."
"So arrogant."
Wan Yuankai gasped, a sliver of awe rising within him for that person.
"That battle was so fierce that rivers stopped flowing, and the spirit chanisms of the earth veins were completely severed. The Three Sects lost fifteen Foundation Establishnt cultivators, dozens of Qi Cultivators, and even two high and mighty Zifu Monks perished; of the Ten Schools, only seven remained."
Li Tongya also sighed incessantly, as if he could visualize the mountains broken and rivers flowing backward from three hundred years ago.
"You talk about Zifu who live for five hundred years, they go through so much hardship to achieve Zifu status; instead of enjoying their lives peacefully, so choose to fight recklessly with others."
Wan Yuankai sighed, lanting sowhat regretfully.
"Hahaha, we minor cultivators only strive for Qi Cultivation in this lifeti, naturally, we can’t understand the minds of these high-above Great Cultivators."
Xiao Yongling burst into laughter, took a sip of the snowflake wine, looked around at the dishes on the table with his chopsticks, then awkwardly put them down and pondered to himself,
"The only thing worth having here is the drink."
"Brother Xiao, do you know what the Pine Forest Cold Breeze is?"
Being aware of his family’s ager resources, Li Tongya did not miss any opportunity to gather information, and followed up on Xiao Yongling’s conversation to ask.
"To advance from Fetal Breathing to Qi Cultivation, one must gather a breath of nature’s spiritual energy, and the Pine Forest Cold Breeze is one of them. One needs to find a pine and cypress forest in the cold snowlands, wait for the cold breeze to blow, and collect it with a unique secret thod; you may get a strand in June, and it takes five years on a snowy peak to collect, but if you wait each year for the snow, it may take more than ten."
Xiao Yongling smiled slightly as he explained.
"So that’s how it is!"
After a few more exchanges, Xiao Yongling waved his hand and smilingly said,
"It’s getting late, and I should not delay you both from heading to Guanyun Peak. Let’s part here, and should you visit Li Xia County in the future, be sure to seek out Yongling. Then we can share a drink and rrint again!"
"Certainly!"
Xiao Yongling said his goodbyes to the two with a smile and left the inn with his entourage, heading east.
Having only walked a short distance, Xiao Yongling appeared thoughtful, and the middle-aged manager did not dare disturb him, rely following reverentially behind, bowing cautiously with every step.
As the middle-aged manager watched Xiao Yongling for cues, he heard soone quietly ask from behind,
"Isn’t this Lord known for his arrogance and overbearing manner? How co, today, his approach was asured, and he behaved humbly and courteously? Not to ntion those two, even we were taken aback."
"Idiot!"
The middle-aged manager stepped back and fiercely slapped the back of the head of the one who had spoken, then quietly whispered into his ear,
"Do you think you mortals even count as people in his eyes? Who would talk nicely to dogs!"
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