Qingxu

Once Li Ximing finished speaking, Xia Shouyu nodded repeatedly and scurried straight into the temple in one breath. Li Ximing rose upon the wind, concealed his figure, and circled the island once. There was nothing remarkable about this island. While its spiritual energy might count as superb in the Cape, compared to Jiangnan it was only comparable to his ancestral Mount Lijing. The earth vein was fairly solid, but it was barren of mineral ores, and it had neither fire nor water veins. "No wonder Xia Shouyu's cultivation is already remarkable for this place, yet her clothes are pieced together from odds and ends..." Right in the middle stood a spiritless, desolate mountain, similar to Mount Xiping on the lake. One could not even find a footing for it in the Great Void; it was purely a mound of dirt and stone hogging the land. Two small caves had been hollowed out of it, suggesting the cultivators of Qingxu Temple intended to move mountains and fill seas across generations to clear it away. There was nothing extraordinary within the temple either. Formations were pitifully few, impoverished to an appalling degree. Only when he flew to the highest hall did he find a Daoist sculpted from the Precious Earth spiritual item Miaosheng Stone. Judging by the aura, it was indeed the same Xuxiang as the one in Xuanmiao Temple, though sculpted even more crudely than the one there. Only this time he was standing, rather than riding a donkey. Having taken a full look, Li Ximing understood: "True Sovereign Xuxiang was a True Sovereign of the Tongxuan lineage. If Xuanmiao Temple was established after receiving an inheritance of Xuxiang, then this Qingxu Temple is at most a lineage founded by some peripheral disciple who barely grazed the edge of it. It is far too crude." Treading upon light, he returned above the temple and heard a frantic tolling of bells resounding across the entire island. A crowd of temple monks in yellow robes, their feet clad in white foot-wraps and black shoes, came racing along the mountain path, as if a yellow cloud had blanketed the surroundings. Lining up along both sides of the temple mountain path, people gradually filled the path on their knees. Yellow-robed monks jostled one another; a few frail ones tumbled off the mountainside, battering their heads until blood flowed, yet those behind still shoved their way onto the road to kneel. Several Qi Refinement cultivators flew back and forth higher up, shouting harsh reprimands. Li Ximing swept a brief glance over them. Below, the ranks had already been arranged—a low, dense sprawl of yellow robes and heads of varying sizes. Xia Shouyu emerged supporting an old man in coarse hemp robes, followed by two middle-aged men. The crowd fell to their knees before the temple, crying out in reverent tones: "We respectfully welcome the Master's immortal presence! Our humble Cape temple is terrified beyond measure, and grateful to the utmost..." The coarse-robed old man's voice drifted in the air. The display was overly grand, making Li Ximing frown. He immediately transformed into light and descended, manifesting before the four. When the Master in white-gold robes appeared out of thin air, the old man shuddered in fright, pressing his knees firmly to the ground. Even at this point, he still found it hard to believe: 'Could such a mighty master of great divine abilities really descend upon the Cape? Could it be some Foundation Establishment cultivator in disguise...?' Yet whether Foundation Establishment or Violet Palace, Qingxu Temple could afford to offend neither. The old man kept his head lowered. Li Ximing had no intention of making things difficult for a mere Qi Refinement cultivator and simply said: "Why make such a huge fuss? Disperse them all. Just lead me inside." Xia Shouyu led the way at once. Inside the temple, the paths were narrow, with numerous wooden beams anchored to the rock walls. Shrouded from the sky and sun, only magic lamps illuminated the interior, keeping it from being pitch black. The old temple master hurried after them, his voice still trembling: "Reporting to the Master..." Li Ximing merely waved his hand and asked: "Which branch of inheritance do you follow? Tracing back to where?" The old man exchanged a look with Xia Shouyu. Relying on what little he recalled from ancient texts, he hurried to say: "Reporting to the Master! This humble cultivator is Xia Sui, unworthy master of Qingxu Temple. Our lineage originally hailed from the land of Shu and was once subordinate to Xumi Palace. Later, an upheaval occurred within the palace, splitting into Qingxu heading east, Qingkong heading south, and Qingzhen heading north. The three temples fled into exile and eventually reached the Ju Sea. "Later, changes overtook heaven and earth, and the custom of dragons pasturing the seas changed. The Ju Sea was seized by Master Caichi and renamed the Peacock Sea. As the oppression grew increasingly severe, we drifted all the way here to the Cape." The dragons pasturing the seas mentioned by the two was indeed a matter of ancient history. Long ago, the four seas were the domain of the dragon kind. Aside from great seas like Hetian and Zhulu, there were also smaller and larger peripheral seas. Various dragons received fiefs in the oceans and took turns governing each sea, which was called pasturing the seas. Although the dragon kind now held only the East Sea and dragons had grown much fewer, waters beyond the East Sea such as the Mu Sea and the Reef Sea were still occupied by dragons, all titled Dragon Kings. However, their fiefs had become fixed across generations, and few people spoke of pasturing the seas anymore. "Quite an ancient origin... not an easy journey indeed... Qingkong Temple..." Li Ximing understood well. The name Qingkong Temple sounded rather familiar; it had once been a minor sect in the State of Wu, where the White Ape had also pounded medicinal herbs. He did not know if it was the same branch, but it had been wiped out when the demonic calamity ran rampant. He said softly: "Qingkong Temple was exterminated several decades ago, and the north is the domain of Shakya cultivators. Most likely, only your lineage remains of Xumi Palace. Treasure it well." Seeing him like this, Old Temple Master Xia actually believed a great deal of it in his heart. Yet the figure before him was an old fiend of great divine abilities, and the words of such people could generally not be trusted, so he could only nod and agree meekly. Li Ximing smiled and said: "Come... show me around." The two hurried forward to lead, yet Li Ximing walked even faster, as if he were more familiar with the place than they were. He went straight to a small pavilion. The two middle-aged men lowered their heads and exchanged looks, while Xia Shouyu, scared out of her wits, scrambled to keep up and rushed ahead to open the door for him. Once the door opened, the scrolls and scriptures kept within were exposed to view. Li Ximing did not step inside, but said with a smile: "I hear the Cape possesses many strange alchemical arts, mostly following ancient ways, though most are no longer usable today. I happen to be an alchemist—might I examine them for reference?" Hearing this, Xia Shouyu felt panic in her heart: 'Do you even need to say it...? I knew long ago you were an alchemist... With a single breath, that Great King was refined into a pill by you...' She hurriedly brought out those few scrolls of alchemy books, holding them together in her arms, and said respectfully: "The Cape is remote, and the alchemical path does not flourish here. Our lineage possesses no usable pill formulas... These are all relics of antiquity; our cultivation is base and lowly, and we have long been unable to use them." 'Truly impoverished,' Li Ximing thought. Only now did he realize that Qingxu Temple did not possess a single pill formula that could actually be concocted. The thick stack held in Xia Shouyu's arms consisted entirely of ancient recipes meant to make up the numbers; taking them and flipping through a few pages, he found they were entirely fabricated nonsense written by later generations. "..." He fell silent for a moment, then said in a low voice: "Your Qingxu Temple shall collect ancient recipes from the surrounding areas for me. As long as a formula seems suspicious or unusual, gather them all." "This..." Xia Shouyu gave repeated affirmations, but Old Temple Master Xia, having never witnessed the scene in the cavern, hesitated when it came down to spending real gold and silver. Li Ximing strode onward, and as Xia Shouyu followed closely behind, she suddenly felt her sleeve sink, as if several jade bottles had been slipped inside. "Consume these resources and polish your cultivation to completion as soon as possible, so you may take the Suiyuan Pill." Delight surged through Xia Shouyu's heart. Seeing that the old temple master and the two men beside them seemed entirely oblivious, she nodded silently. Returning before the courtyard gate, the group stood still, reverently accompanying him. The Master turned back, heavenly light flickering at the center of his brow, and smiled: "You surely know that pill was of great use to me. You contributed greatly from start to finish and suffered no light injuries. Allow me to repay you somewhat." Xia Shouyu and the old temple master were overjoyed to hear this, but the woman fell to her knees with a thud and said respectfully: "To assist the Master in emerging from seclusion and bring about the manifestation of the immortal pill was this humble one's fortune! How would I dare seek a reward!" Li Ximing ignored her. With a gentle flick of his gold-and-white sleeve, he said: "Instruct the temple: order everyone to stay indoors within the temple grounds. For seven shichen, burn incense in sacrifice, chant scriptures, and recite texts. No one is permitted to leave the temple. There shall be no cooking or lighting fires, no riding the wind or tolling bells, no gathering or absorbing qi, and no handling of gold or silver utensils." Though Xia Shouyu did not understand, she still sent the middle-aged men down to give the orders. The two men were clearly unaccustomed to taking orders from her, looking somewhat resentful but not daring to speak up. Taking this in, Li Ximing pointed at her and said softly: "You, along with the old temple master—the two of you shall remain alone in this room. You are not to step outside." Xia Shouyu and Old Temple Master Xia looked at each other and both complied. The Master in white-gold robes had already vanished from before their eyes. Apprehension gradually crept over them, and sitting settled in the courtyard room, they stared at each other in silence. After a shichen passed, gusts of chill wind blew all around, whistling through the gaps in the courtyard door. The two felt a bone-piercing chill. After another while, the ground beneath their feet shook violently, as if fiendish qi were gushing forth. Xia Shouyu's vision turned dark and gray by turns, while powder rustled down from the ceiling. "Aiya!" The old temple master, having barely reached Qi Refinement, could not even keep his balance. Rolling across the floor, he wailed: "It's over! Fiends are creatures that eat people to begin with—how could we listen to him? He was injured and inconvenienced, and now he's going to swallow down the entire temple... We've walked right into our doom! "I heard folks from the neighboring island say that when great masters cultivate their divine abilities, there's a whole world inside their bellies... Tossing and shaking like this... if he's not moving us into his belly, what else could it be? Aiya... we'll be living pitch-black lives inside his belly from now on!" Though Xia Shouyu was equally terrified, she still remembered the scene on the island where he refrained from eating mortals. Holding onto a shred of confidence, she forced a smile and said: "Granduncle, what are you saying? The Master rides heavenly light; surely the inside of his belly is bright and luminous as well. That will save us the oil for lamps..." After a while, shadowy figures flickered outside, accompanied by nonstop shrieks of agony. Terrified, the two hugged each other and wept, yet still did not dare leave the room. Only when dawn gradually broke did they hear loud shouts from outside: "Temple Master! Milady! Come out quickly!" The voice sounded full of joy; surely the environment inside the belly was not half bad either. The two could only open the courtyard door. Outside, the sky was bright and clear. Two yellow-robed monks knelt before them, their garments covered in dust, their expressions a mix of shock and delight as they cried: "Milady! The mountain is gone!" "What?" Xia Shouyu and the old temple master were both stunned. Raising their brows to exchange glances, they rose on the wind. Sure enough, they saw the barren mountain and spiritless land completely leveled. The towering mountain that had once obstructed their sight had long vanished; as far as the eye could see lay a flat, open expanse shrouded in morning mist, spanning thousands of qing of land. Clear spring water gushed up from the ground. The old temple master's legs went soft, and he plopped down onto the earth with a thud. Moments later, he sprang up again, ran over to the edge of the field, pinched the soil, and wept: "Good... wonderful... we won't have to dig through the mountain anymore..." Wiping away her tears, Xia Shouyu vaguely remembered the shrieks she had heard earlier and asked the two monks beside her: "Why did we hear screams earlier this morning?" The monk hurried to answer: "In the middle of the night, fiendish qi filled the skies. A few brazen disciples went out halfway to look around. Some had their eyes scorched by the fiendish qi, some had their legs crushed by falling rocks, and another privately lit a fire to smoke herb leaves, only to have a hand blown off by flints..." "Haha." Xia Shouyu let out a cold laugh and cursed: "Wretches deserving a gruesome death! A bunch of idle loafers from the same rotten vine! Fortunately they didn't ruin the affair, or beating them to death would have been too good for them!" The old temple master was still kneeling on the ground, enraptured. Xia Shouyu had no choice but to shake his shoulder with effort, saying: "Granduncle... ancient pill formulas! Ancient pill formulas! Send people out quickly... this cannot be delayed!" Only then was the old temple master jolted awake. Nodding frantically, he shouted in trepidation: "Come here! Everyone, come here!" Once the crowd had gathered, Old Temple Master Xia issued instructions to them all. Standing at a loss in the hall, he muttered to Xia Shouyu: "I heard that Foundation Establishment lineages have methods for moving mountains, but even then, they require laying formations and rituals, taking months of effort. How could a great mountain be leveled in just seven shichen? He is undoubtedly a master of great divine abilities—a figure from Mount Jiuqiu! If we serve him well, we will gain what countless others could never dream of!" Xia Shouyu had known this old fiend was formidable, but had not realized he was powerful to such an extent. She raised her chin with a touch of pride, yet she still kept Li Ximing's promise of the path to Foundation Establishment close to her chest. Being guarded, she kept it buried in her heart without uttering a word. 'He even promised a Foundation Establishment pill... But that old man must not know. There are so many favored boys below; this auntie has worked day and night running affairs for you all. Taking little scraps here and there usually is fine, but this opportunity cannot be stolen away.' ... Li Ximing took a tour around the surrounding waters. Treading upon light, he found that the seabed was not deep. Sunlight streamed down, bathing the sea in an azure glow that revealed a translucent color of harmonious water. After shuttling around for a time, he found that this place was indeed impoverished, having nothing but coral and white sand. With great difficulty, he finally found a subterranean cavern with a bit of spiritual energy; having no humans to consume, the monster within possessed rather pure and clear qi. Li Ximing casually chased it away. Relying on his current cultivation and the Mountain-Driving Sea-Crossing Tiger, his mountain-moving might not rival Changxi's Gen Earth divine abilities, but it was certainly not poor. Moreover, that desolate mountain was devoid of spirit, unconnected to any water or spiritual veins, and only tied to the earth vein—it could practically be regarded as a pile of dirt and rock dumped on the ground, making moving it even simpler. "In the entire Qingxu Temple... the talent is mostly mediocre. Only Xia Shouyu can be considered outstanding and usable... Her background is completely clean, utterly penniless, and she knows how to read the room..." For Xia Shouyu to earn a remark of "outstanding" from Li Ximing meant her talent was naturally superb. In a wretched place like the Cape, resources were pitifully scarce. Even though she was among the higher-ups of Qingxu Temple, her resources could not compare to those within the inner seas at all. To forcefully cultivate her way to the late stage of Qi Refinement was truly no easy feat. And since he had promised Xia Shouyu a path to Foundation Establishment, once she succeeded, she would have the capability to traverse the seas to reach Hetian, Zhulu, and the like; she would never remain in the Cape... How could he let a Suiyuan Pill go to waste? Naturally, he would bring her back to the lake to be put to use! Having already arranged Xia Shouyu's future place, he took out a formation plate and casually laid down a formation within the cavern. Drawing a Xuanque Essence-Accumulating Pill from his robes, he pondered: "While waiting for them to collect pill formulas, I can suppress the flames, repair my dharma body, and find ways to gather information... There is no rush to return. The Cape is far safer than Jiangnan..." Li Ximing suddenly understood why Xiao Chuting had run off to the North Sea day after day. On one hand, that Master had been scheming for his own Dao path; on the other, it was a way to evade countless overt and covert probings. Dismissing further thoughts, Li Ximing entered seclusion.