Back at Lingshan, it was almost curfew.
Xing Shuishui confirmed no one was around, then channeled spirit power into her celestial bell to locate the scattered spiritual traces. It was hard to tell which belonged to the real person. He was quite bold to have so many puppets right here in Lingshan. The mountain truly wasn’t what it used to be.
Xing Shuishui took out the talisman Li Guanyu gave her. With this, she could catch any puppet and smoke him out.
She silently memorized these locations and withdrew her spirit power.
It was getting late. Glancing at the persimmon on the table, she squeezed it – not quite ripe yet, not sweet enough. She’d wait a bit longer before making dried persimmons.
The next day was the Dao Discussion Conference.
He Liansheng dragged Xing Shuishui out of bed while she was sleeping soundly, making her want to die. She hugged her blanket with messy bed hair, eyes still closed. “I want to sleep… don’t bother me…”
He Liansheng stood by coldly: “Should I carry you out wrapped in your blanket?”
She jolted awake and climbed out of bed, patting down her messy hair. “Fine, fine, just let me tie up my hair.”
“Won’t there be a lot of people at the conference? I’m kind of shy around strangers.”
He Liansheng didn’t believe her: “You? Shy?”
Xing Shuishui: “Of course! Will your master be there?”
He Liansheng: “Yes.”
Xing Shuishui: “What about your family members?”
He Liansheng: “They’ll be there too.”
Xing Shuishui tied up her hair, checked herself in the mirror, and said tearfully: “Can I not go…”
“No.” The young man’s words crushed her hopes. He Liansheng suddenly thought of something and stared at her reflection, his eyes unreadable: “Later outside, don’t mention that you once pulled off my headband.”
Xing Shuishui hadn’t realized how serious this was and asked curiously: “What happens if I do?”
The young man looked down at her, his tone threatening: “You’ll be thrown in a cauldron and boiled into soup.”
Xing Shuishui heard this and said: “Well I’m not that stupid!”
Regarding his headband incident, Xing Shuishui had her suspicions before. He Liansheng’s huge outburst that day must have had a reason, though she couldn’t guess what exactly. She decided to just let it go.
Never mind, she’d explore Lingshan with He Liansheng first, get familiar with places beyond Fanxin Cliff. That couldn’t hurt.
At noon, clouds and mist wreathed the mountain as the sun climbed over its ridge, light filtering through the fog.
Instead of cultivating, everyone was heading down to the conference grounds. Xing Shuishui appearing together with He Liansheng naturally drew attention.
Ignoring others’ stares, she tugged He Liansheng’s clothes and pointed at a distant valley: “He Liansheng, what’s that place? It looks dark and strange, different from the peak we’re on now.”
Indeed, while Lingshan’s peaks were all spiritually blessed and bathed in rosy light, only this peak was dark, seemingly shrouded in dark clouds, giving off an oppressive feeling.
He Liansheng glanced over: “The Forbidden Mountain.”
It was also one of the locations the celestial bell had indicated yesterday. The only quiet place with few people around wouldn’t affect her performance, after all this wasn’t Qingzhou but Lingshan. One small mistake could expose her identity.
Xing Shuishui pondered this thoughtfully.
He Liansheng said coldly: “Don’t go to the Forbidden Mountain, it’s dangerous. One of Guan Mulan’s disciples died there after wandering in by mistake.”
Xing Shuishui took a long time to look away before responding with a sound of agreement.
The Dao Discussion Conference started quickly. He Liansheng went up to draw lots, leaving Xing Shuishui with Li Guanxing. Xing Shuishui leaned on the high platform and turned her head: “Why aren’t you going up to discuss dao?”
Li Guanxing suspected she was doing this on purpose and said irritably: “Isn’t that obvious? Who can beat him? Don’t know what he’s thinking, he wasn’t going to participate originally…”
He glanced at Xing Shuishui: “Weren’t you looking for your grandfather? Did you find him?”
Xing Shuishui paused for a moment: “Lingshan is so big, I don’t dare wander around. I’ll wait until after the conference.”
Below the platform, the lot drawing results were out. The person who drew He Liansheng turned pale immediately. He barely managed to get on stage with his sword, but before he could make a move, He Liansheng had already broken his sword. The young man hadn’t even raised his hand, yet his swordsmanship had reached a transcendent level.
The next few matches were similar – he was invincible on stage. The cheering from below was tremendous, especially from the He family members.
“Senior Brother He is amazing! He’s completely dominating them. Your Guan family members aren’t up to par! None of them can fight!”
“The Sect Leader’s disciple! Obviously!”
“Who says our Guan family members aren’t good? Our Senior Brother Guan is very skilled.”
Xing Shuishui looked down as a large man walked up – probably the “Senior Brother Guan” they mentioned. She didn’t know his name, but his look toward He Liansheng wasn’t right. After listening for a while, she understood – apparently before this, this Senior Brother Guan had always been the most talented one at Lingshan. Until He Liansheng came along – by the time Senior Brother Guan was desperately trying to become a Mystic Master, He Liansheng was already a Celestial Master.
Oh, jealousy.
Senior Brother Guan cupped his fists in greeting, but his moves were all killing blows. He looked determined to win. His palm strikes were fast, forcing He Liansheng to take several steps back. But He Liansheng was only appearing to retreat – he parried with his sword effortlessly, the young man’s eyes mocking, as if watching a useless person.
This clearly angered Senior Brother Guan.
The palm techniques changed repeatedly, using strange arts. Li Guanxing said puzzled: “I’ve never seen these techniques before, but they’re powerful.”
Xing Shuishui quickly saw what was happening – this person’s cultivation wasn’t pure, he had practiced evil arts.
She looked toward where the Sect Leader sat, hidden behind a huge curtain. Though she couldn’t see inside, she couldn’t believe Lingshan’s elders didn’t notice this, yet none called for it to stop.
So that’s how it is.
He Liansheng grew tired of these boring techniques and raised his sword to strike at his neck. The sword moved so fast and the blade was so sharp that the audience was dumbfounded.
Senior Brother Guan couldn’t dodge in time and fell to his knees, looking at He Liansheng in terror. Only now did he realize the brilliant young man before him had been holding back all along.
The Peach Source Sword stopped at his neck as the young man stepped on his palm, expression mocking: “Evil arts work well? Go take your punishment yourself.”
He smiled contemptuously: “I gave you so many advantages and you’re still useless.”
This ignited the atmosphere.
“Can’t even win using evil arts, has your Guan family fallen this far? Senior Brother He was going easy on him too, haha!”
“Senior Brother He must be first! He’s our cultivation role model! The He family truly produced a genius!”
“I’d long heard of He Liansheng’s fame. Seeing him today proves he’s truly Lingshan’s most outstanding Celestial Master! So young yet so accomplished.”
While everyone was cheering, at his most glorious moment the young man turned to look at her on the platform. Holding his sword reversed, he smiled and mouthed: Wait for me to get first place.
Others thought at his peak moment he wanted first place.
But at his peak moment, He Liansheng only wanted to hold her hand.
Xing Shuishui had been distracted since earlier. She looked up right into the young man’s gaze. Li Guanxing bumped her arm: “He’s talking to you.”
Xing Shuishui was stunned for a long time: “I saw.”
But she suddenly asked: “How long until the next match?”
Li Guanxing frowned: “Three incense sticks’ time. He’ll fight his uncle, whoever wins gets first place.”
Xing Shuishui said: “I need to leave for a bit.”
Li Guanxing grabbed her: “Hey, why are you suddenly leaving? Are you coming back?”
“I’ll be back soon,” Xing Shuishui made up an excuse, “Someone gave me a note this morning saying they had something for me, I’ll be right back.”
Li Guanxing thought this sounded strange and wanted to hold her back to ask more, but Xing Shuishui had already disappeared.
Looking toward the Sect Leader’s direction earlier, Xing Shuishui realized that because today was the Dao Discussion Conference, most of Lingshan’s cultivators and elders were gathered here – the perfect opportunity for her to act.
Success or failure would depend on this attempt. She went to the Forbidden Forest and used the celestial bell. The other’s aura grew clearer – just a puppet, should be quick to deal with.
Xing Shuishui took up her knife and stepped over fallen branches and leaves. The Forbidden Mountain was very dark, the path barely visible until she lit Spirit Fire to see.
Hiding in this place… really.
Following the aura indicated by the bell, she saw the only person in the Forbidden Mountain – probably originally a mountain guard, but controlled by another at some point, reduced to a puppet.
The man heard someone coming and turned to look at her: “Little sister, today is the Dao Discussion Conference. Are you lost? This is the Forbidden Mountain.”
Xing Shuishui stepped forward quickly, raising her knife to the man’s neck. The man barely dodged, his shoulder getting cut. His voice was hoarse, seeming amused. No longer pretending, he said: “I hadn’t even moved against you and you came right to me. You even came to Lingshan, Xue Jiuling. When did you figure out this was my puppet?”
Xing Shuishui didn’t answer, striking back with another knife blow. Spirit Fire clung to the blade, sparks flying.
The man was caught off guard as his chest was cut. His voice turned cold: “You have this kind of magical tool? Did He Liansheng give it to you? Does he know you’re a spirit?”
Xing Shuishui smiled faintly: “Whether he knows or not, you still have to die.”
Another strike from Qitong, and the man was stunned as the knife pierced his heart. He laughed darkly: “Xue Jiuling, you made me lose two puppets. How should I make you suffer worse than death?”
No point talking more. Xing Shuishui raised her knife to blind his eyes, preventing him from discovering she’d used the Li family’s talisman arts. She took out Li Guanyu’s talisman from her sleeve and stuck it on him, sending her divine sense in at the same time. The man remained oblivious.
“Do you know why the Forbidden Mountain is called forbidden? So reckless. I planned to save you for a slow death later, but since your luck is so bad, you can die today.”
The man laughed: “Let me tell you why it’s called the Forbidden Mountain. Because – this mountain is alive! Formed from the soul of the Ban Demon Hag, you – go die!”
His golden core suddenly exploded. The Xian Cloud on Xing Shuishui’s wrist burst with light, blocking most of the damage. She quickly withdrew her divine sense from the talisman and smiled.
Found him.
She suddenly wanted to cry. Sister, I finally found him.
But at that moment the ground beneath her shook violently. A huge crack opened in the earth and swallowed her. She raised her knife trying to find purchase, but everything around was flowing soil. Only then did Xing Shuishui remember he said the Forbidden Mountain was formed from the Ban Demon Hag’s soul. She had underestimated it.
The crack closed, swallowing her into the mountain’s belly. Spirit Fire could burn away souls but couldn’t overcome the endless soil-like souls. She knelt on one knee, clearly struggling. Gripping her knife tightly, she had to get out.
The Forbidden Mountain’s huge disturbance changed the weather. The previously clear sky turned black like a beast’s eyes. The Sect Leader suddenly stood up, looking at the sky.
People at the conference grounds looked up, discussing in confusion.
“What’s happening? Why did the weather suddenly change?”
The elder in charge of the conference maintained his composure, walking to He Liansheng: “Your uncle is waiting for you up there. It’s your turn. This is the final match.”
His voice was nearly drowned out by screams.
“It’s the Forbidden Mountain! Someone entered the Forbidden Mountain!”
The young man suddenly looked up and didn’t see Xing Shuishui. He narrowed his eyes sensing the Xian Cloud’s location, his knuckles white gripping the Peach Source Sword.
Xing Shuishui…
“He Liansheng, hurry up. The Sect Leader will handle this, you just focus on the conference.” The elder’s robes fluttered. He Liansheng still didn’t move.
“What’s wrong? What’s happening with Senior Brother He? This is the final match! Win and you’ll be first!”
“Could it be because his opponent is his uncle?”
The He family head looked at him: “Get up here now.”
He had grown up fast. Once just a young boy, now already an outstanding Celestial Master – so outstanding that even those who watched him grow up might not be able to beat him.
Fine, first place was already his.
He would continue to shine, be celebrated by all, surrounded by distinguished guests, truly become Lingshan’s recorded prodigy.
Such supreme glory.
Yet the young man stopped one step away and said three words: “I forfeit.”
Everyone thought he had gone mad.
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