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"Mountains and rivers stretch far and wide; in the world of n, leisure is scarce."
’Swish.’
A middle-aged man with a graceful appearance, much like a fine gentleman from the muddied world, opened his folding fan with a flick, fanning himself gently as he walked atop a towering mountain peak, shaking his head and humming a soft lant.
Following behind him was an old man with a pained expression and sickly yellow complexion.
The two stood on the peak, overlooking the thousands of miles of mountains and rivers below.
There was no place to climb around the mountain peak; so places were even nearly vertical.
Yet no one knew how the two had ascended.
Seeing the middle-aged man embrace the scenery with sentint, the old man felt a bit indignant:
"Ji Lan, the forr Sect Master, right now several martial nephews in the sect are vying for the position of Sect Master, fighting ceaselessly. I, an old bag of bones, truly cannot dissuade them. You should step forward and say sothing; don’t let them completely ruin our East Saint Sect’s centuries of foundation!"
The middle-aged man, however, laughed heartily:
"Junior Brother Gao, don’t talk nonsense. What forr Sect Master? I, Ji Lan, am not even four hundred years old, and according to my lifespan, to mortals, I am just a man in his twenties, with much potential, much to do!"
The old man surnad Gao hurriedly explained upon hearing this:
"Yes, Sect Master, you know that’s not what I an."
Ji Lan’s smile faded, and he gently raised his folding fan, holding it in front of himself:
"No, this identity of Sect Master, that’s already a matter from a hundred years ago."
The wax-faced old man surnad Gao stopped mid-sentence and then sighed deeply:
"Senior Brother, I still rember when I first t you. At that ti, you had not yet distinguished yourself in the inner sect, and you struggled greatly for a bottle of Foundation Establishnt Pill. Who could have guessed back then that one day you would reach the Nascent Soul Realm..."
Hearing the old man’s words, Ji Lan’s eyes also flashed with a hint of reminiscence.
Recalling the many trials and opponents he had experienced in his youth, now all turned to dust and earth, he beca montarily lost in his thoughts.
After a long while, he ca back to his senses, shaking his head and saying:
"Ti flies like a shuttle; in the blink of an eye, so many years have passed. Who could have predicted the future back then?"
"Indeed, who could have predicted it."
The wax-faced old man sighed again, and then abruptly changed the subject:
"However, Senior Brother, please say sothing. In our East Saint Sect now, since Senior Brother Hui and Senior Sister Yuan sat in ditation and passed away, the older generation has only left. The younger disciples still considered my face earlier, but now as my ditation and passing are imminent, they are fighting over the position of Sect Master so fiercely... Sigh!"
Listening to this, Ji Lan fell into a slight silence.
His gaze scanned the wax-faced old man, his head full of white hair and body enveloped by Death Qi. He sighed quietly:
"Junior Brother Gao, you are still too obsessed... What does it matter, the foundation of several hundred years?"
"For this foundation of several hundred years, I was just like you, toiling in solitude and struggling to maintain it, feeling that the affairs of the sect were the most important thing in the world. But after entering the Nascent Soul Realm with the help of the Lord, and looking back suddenly, I found that this so-called centuries-old foundation was rely a burden that tied down our hands and feet."
He looked proud:
"As a Nascent Soul Cultivator with a lifespan of fifteen hundred years, I can build such a foundation twice or thrice... But what then?"
He stared at the wax-faced old man, questioning:
"For the sake of this foundation, should I give my all?"
"Is that what I seek?"
"Isn’t that like building a cage for myself and trapping myself within?"
"Isn’t that laughable?"
Hearing Ji Lan’s words, the old man was taken aback and didn’t know how to respond.
After a mont of silence, he finally spoke:
"Whether it’s laughable or not, Junior Brother doesn’t know. But if there is no such cage... what aning would there be for Senior Brother in this world?"
"To simply be a detached spectator untouched by dust?"
"Like this stubborn stone under our feet, standing here for countless eons, watching the world’s prosperity and loneliness, yet remaining uninvolved?"
Ji Lan was slightly taken aback.
It seed that he didn’t expect the Junior Brother in front of him, who usually revered him imnsely, to have the courage to express his thoughts today to him, who is now a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.
But looking at the other person’s extrely aged appearance, the argunt in his heart dissipated and he shook his head:
"Never mind, you are currently caught up in the situation, I won’t argue with you. When you reach the sa realm as , you will understand."
The wax-faced man couldn’t help but show a bitter smile:
"Senior Brother, will I get that chance?"
"I understand that people’s hearts change with ti, and that rise and fall are part of the Heavenly Dao, and I also understand that everyone has their own aspirations... but East Saint Sect, after all, is the place that nurtured you to grow up, surely it’s not as simple as just being a cage, right?"
Ji Lan was silent.
But the wax-faced man continued:
"Even if Senior Brother sees the East Saint Sect as a burden, it’s not your fault, but the fault of the East Saint Sect, and indeed you need not mind... But could you, for the years we have been in the sa Sect, make a move? Not for the East Saint Sect, but for , your Junior Brother."
For the first ti, hesitation appeared on Ji Lan’s face.
"Everyone has their own aspirations... what you say, it also makes so sense..."
The wax-faced man was overjoyed:
"Senior Brother you..."
However, before he finished speaking, Ji Lan suddenly raised his hand, his expression instantly becoming severe.
At the sa ti, he spoke in a hurried, low voice:
"Be silent!"
The wax-faced man was sowhat astonished.
But he saw Ji Lan looking up at the sky with utmost concentration, as if he had sensed sothing terrifying.
The wax-faced man also quickly looked up.
However, aside from the rolling clouds in the distance, the sky was azure and clear.
The wax-faced man’s heart was filled with doubt and confusion.
Yet at that mont, a voice with a very different accent, sowhat surprised, suddenly ca from the sky:
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