Chapter 22: Asking Around for News

Translator: Cenniwdyl  Editor: Caron_A green ray swept across the sky above a village at the foot of a mountain in western Kunwu. A young man and a little girl fell from the sky.The two of them were Ye Jingwen and Mo Tiange.Two days ago, they returned to the Mo Family’s Village. When Ye Jingwen said he was going to take Mo Tiange away, no one in the family dared to voice any objections. Thus, Mo Tiange packed all her things and bid farewell to Tianqiao.When Tianqiao found out about the truth, she felt both envious and unwilling to part with Tiange. Unfortunately, Ye Jingwen said Tianqiao didn’t possess spiritual roots and wouldn’t be able to cultivate. Therefore, the two children had to tearfully part from each other.In the past two days, Mo Tiange learned about many things from Ye Jingwen.The reason her father left ten years ago was because he wanted to go to a secret land to look for a fated chance. In the eastern part of the Celestial Pole, there was a mountain range which was also the domain of the Devils. It was said that a hundred thousand years ago when the Devils and the Righteous waged war against each other, Devil Path ¹ lost, hence the Devils had to leave Kunwu mountain range. Now, the domain of the Devils and the Righteous were separated only by a mountain. While Devil Path spread all over the northeastern part of this mountain, the southeastern area was occupied by the leader of Righteous Path ² , the Tiandao Sect. As for the mountain itself, it was named the Demonic Mountain.According to legends, Demonic Mountain was the battlefield on which the ancient war between the Immortals and the Devils took place. Extremely powerful things like restrictions and formations were left behind. For ordinary cultivators, going there would be tantamount to death. However, there were also a lot of treasures among the things left behind. Consequently, many people still went there, trying to find their fated chance.Ten years ago, the restrictions on a certain region of the Demonic Mountain disappeared. Both cultivators of Devil Path and Righteous Path rushed to this area and forced their way in. But before long, those cultivators suddenly fled the place. The numbers of cultivators who managed to escape were, unfortunately, less than half the number of people who originally entered. It was said that everyone else perished inside.At that time, Mo Tiange’s father, Ye Hai, also left the Mo family and came to this place. It was at that time that Master Daoist Shoujing from Xuanqing School met Ye Hai for the first time. The two of them both went missing on that mountain.At first, many people thought Master Daoist Shoujing had unfortunately fallen. To their surprise, he actually managed to return alive not too long ago. However, all other cultivators who had gone missing on the mountain with him died, while he himself was only able to escape after he used a secret method which nearly exhausted all his power. By the time he returned to Xuanqing School, Master Daoist Shoujing’s cultivation was severely damaged and he had to immediately start Closed Door Meditation. It was said that he was only able to escape due to Ye Hai’s help, and because of that, he sent Ye Jingwen to come and fulfill Ye Hai’s death wish.From Ye Jingwen, Mo Tiange also learned that her father still had living relatives.Ye Clan was originally a cultivation clan from Mount Qingmeng in western Kunwu. However, the remaining members of the clan weren’t numerous and in the end, there were only two brothers among them who became cultivators. In the days when Ye Hai was alive, his outstanding strength was so well-known that no one dared to bully Ye Clan. But ten years ago, news of his disappearance on the Demonic Mountain spread and Ye Clan lost its only Core Formation cultivator as well as its footing in Mount Qingmeng. Finally, the other cultivator was forced to move the clan into the secular world while he himself became an individual cultivator. This cultivator was Ye Hai’s younger brother, Mo Tiange’s uncle.“After you find your uncle, the two of you can follow me back to Mount Taikang and join Xuanqing School. Maybe you’ll be able to reestablish your clan.”Ye Jingwen told her that Xuanqing School was one of the seven most powerful cultivation groups in the Celestial Pole. With the support of Xuanqing School, they wouldn’t need to be afraid of bullies. There were seven powerful schools and sects in the Celestial Pole. Among the seven, Tiandao Sect was the most powerful while Xuanqing School was right behind it. Tiandao Sect could be considered the first great sect in western Kunwu.Mo Tiange didn’t have any objections. She had been wishing for a family reunion for a long time, only to find out that her father already passed away. Nowadays, as long as she could leave the Mo family, she really didn’t care where she went. If there was anything she looked forward to, it would be meeting her uncle.It had been two days since they left the Mo family’s village. Now, they finally arrived at their destination. According to Ye Jingwen, there were cultivators in this place.Mo Tiange looked around curiously only to find that it was nothing but an ordinary small village.Ye Jingwen smiled when he saw the disappointment on her face. “They’re just mortals. How can we let mortals see the Immortals’ dwelling place?” Right after he finished speaking, he led her into a small dilapidated temple.Mo Tiange really couldn’t tell what was special about this small temple. Ye Jingwen suddenly took out a jade pendant from inside his collar and passed it to her. He said, “My martial uncle wanted to give this to you. In the future, this thing mustn’t leave your body. As long as you wear it, even a Nascent Soul senior can’t see through your constitution.”The jade pendant was round and soft-colored. It was fastened onto a red rope and had a cloud pattern engraved on its surface. Once she turned the pendant over, she found that its other surface was engraved with a very tiny ‘Qin’ word.Ye Jingwen said, “My martial uncle’s surname is Qin. His name is Qin Shoujing.” Right after he said that he waved his hand and the scene in front of them instantly changed. The statue of a deity in the temple disappeared and a narrow market street stood in its place. Ye Jingwen pulled her hand and said, “Let’s go.”This street looked just like an ordinary village street, not at all like a place where Immortals lived.When Mo Tiange remarked on the ordinariness of the place, Ye Jingwen smiled and said, “What we and the mortals have been calling Immortals are actually just humans who are still cultivating to become true Immortals. This kind of secular market square is a place for individual cultivators to gather. However, since they aren’t influential at all, the squares naturally don’t look very imposing.”Their entrance instantly attracted everyone’s attention. It was because of Ye Jingwen’s momentum as well as the clothes he was wearing. A Foundation Building expert who was wearing Xuanqing School’s Daoist robes was indeed someone to be admired.Along the way, Mo Tiange finally discovered the difference between this place and the secular world. For instance, the people who were opening stalls in the street displayed unique and weird items in their stalls. Some of them hung signs that listed the things they were selling in their stalls. There were also a few people who were leading beasts never seen before in the secular world.Ye Jingwen was completely focused on leading her along the streets and into an alley. It was only after he arrived at a certain shop that he stopped and went inside.The shop was enormous. Mo Tiange didn’t know what this shop was selling; she only saw a very tall counter but didn’t see any things being displayed. However, when she walked through the door, she noticed the clothes of the clerk who was minding the counter. Although they weren’t as refined as Ye Jingwen’s robes, they were very similar – he also wore a blue robe with a white coat. Mo Tiange also could sense his cultivation level – it wasn’t much higher than hers.Right after they entered and the clerk noticed them, he came out straightaway from behind the counter. He greeted and addressed Ye Jingwen as his martial uncle.Ye Jingwen nodded before asking, “Where’s the shopkeeper?”This clerk was obviously also a disciple of Xuanqing School. He hastily invited them to come inside and said, “Martial Uncle, please come in. Martial Uncle Chen is upstairs.”After they went upstairs, Mo Tiange saw that this floor was the same as the floor below. There was also a counter here, but there were also a lot of seats, just like a place to receive customers.The clerk led them to a corner where he respectfully reported to a man around fifty or sixty years old. “Martial Uncle Chen, a martial uncle from the school is here.”The old man seemed to be dozing off. When he opened his eyes and saw Ye Jingwen, he instantly snapped to attention and told the clerk, “Go and bring us tea.”“Yes.” The clerk complied and retreated.Seeing as Ye Jingwen was young and was wearing the clothes of a high-ranking disciple, the old man didn’t dare to be disrespectful. He stood up and cupped his hands as a greeting. “Junior Martial Brother, I am Chen Youli, the shopkeeper here. May I ask who your master is and why you came here?”Ye Jingwen returned his greeting and said, “I am Ye Jingwen of Clear Spring Peak. I received a command from Martial Uncle Shoujing to come and inquire about someone.”“Oh?” Hearing “Clear Spring Peak,” the old man became even more respectful. Clear Spring Peak was Grandmaster Jinghe’s cultivating place. This grandmaster always had a nasty temperament and rarely admitted his mistakes. Thus, the shopkeeper said, “Junior Martial Brother Ye, did you bring your identity tablet?”Ye Jingwen nodded. He took out a palm-sized jade tablet and passed it to the old man. After inspecting and verifying the information on the identity tablet, the old man returned it to Ye Jingwen and invited the two of them into a restriction-covered private room.“Junior Martial Brother Ye, please speak.”Ye Jingwen admired his cautious behavior, hence his tone became a lot friendlier: “Senior Martial Brother Chen, we’re looking for someone – a Foundation Building individual cultivator named Ye Jiang. He’s considerably old and should be looking like a man in his fifties. I heard someone has seen him passing through this place.”Chen Youli stroked his beard and pondered for a while then said, “Junior Martial Brother, please wait here for a moment. I’ll send a disciple to ask around.”Ye Jingwen nodded. “Please.”Chen Youli withdrew. Soon after, someone came to bring them tea.Mo Tiange was amazed to see that this tea actually contained spiritual aura.Ye Jingwen told her, “This tea came from tea trees grown in a place full of spiritual aura. There isn’t anything special about it. ”Mo Tiange answered with an ‘Oh’ before asking him, “Big Brother Ye, this shop is run by your school?”Ye Jingwen answered, “Correct, we have a shop in almost every market square. If any of our disciples outside need assistance, they can look for the shopkeepers.”“Oh…”After they waited for a while, Chen Youli finally returned.