"That should be Seven Emotions Valley ahead. Let's pull over here first. The two of us can go in and find someone to examine Old Meng's condition."
Lu Yang was worried that if they drove any further, all sorts of accidents might crop up to halt their progress. After the rolling mudslide, he had no desire to experience eating dirt with Heaven-Swallowing Earth-Devouring a second time.
Meng Jingzhou knew Lu Yang was talking sense. Sulking, he could only let the two of them step down from the carriage while he remained behind to keep the old horse company.
The two young men and one corpse walked two or three li before arriving at a canyon that appeared as though it had been cleaved open by a single strike of a heavenly sword. Both sides of the canyon were sheer and glass-smooth, devoid of even the slightest bump or hollow. If one were to call this the exquisite craftsmanship of nature, nature's axe would have had to be miraculous indeed.
Seeing Lu Yang take note of the canyon's peculiarities, Zhao Po explained, "Seven Emotions Valley wasn't originally called Seven Emotions Valley; it was the Seven Emotions Sect. One of their former sect masters felt that sects named 'this faction' or 'that sect' were utterly ubiquitous across the Central Continent, making the Seven Emotions Sect blend into the background. So the Seven Emotions Sect hired an expert of the sword dao and had them slash a single sword strike into the plains, cleaving the land in two and turning the flat ground into a canyon. The Seven Emotions Sect seized the opportunity to change its name to Seven Emotions Valley, and they even went to the imperial court to register the sect's name change."
"So that's an option too? You really learn something new every day. And they were pretty formal about it, knowing enough to register the name change with the court..."
Halfway through his sentence, Lu Yang suddenly caught himself. "Wait a minute. Doesn't the court have a rule that whenever cultivators make a move, they have to restore the area to its original state afterward? Wouldn't Seven Emotions Valley need official approval for something like this?"
"They would. That's why, to this day, Seven Emotions Valley is an illegal structure."
*Damn,* Lu Yang thought. *This is the first time I've ever heard of a whole canyon counting as an unauthorized construction. That's cultivation society for you.*
The Immortal Fairy grumbled within his spiritual space, "Your Great Xia is far too strict with these things. Back in our ancient era, people were completely free. There weren't all these bothersome rules; anyone who wanted to reshape the terrain just reshaped it however they liked."
"I remember back then, there was a household that had lived deep in the mountains for generations. Getting around was terribly inconvenient. Two massive mountains blocked their way out, forcing them to take an enormous detour just to reach the outside world."
"That family had a young lad. Seeing how troublesome travel was, he resolved to move the two mountains away from his doorstep. Some mocked him, saying he was young and frail, unable to lift even a boulder, so how could he possibly move two enormous mountains?"
"The lad replied that even if he couldn't do it now, there was always the future. He could cultivate to the Qi Refinement stage; if Qi Refinement wasn't enough, then Foundation Establishment; if Foundation Establishment wasn't enough, then Golden Core; if Golden Core wasn't enough, then Nascent Soul. The realms of cultivation were boundless, and one day he would reach a realm capable of moving mountains."
"The lad left home to seek a master and learn the arts. By the time his training was complete and he returned, he was already an old man, and those who knew him called him Yugong. Having attained earth-shattering cultivation, Yugong returned to his ancestral home, cast the Law Phenomenon of Heaven and Earth, lifted the two massive mountains before his door—Mount Taihang and Mount Wangwu—and hurled them into the sea."
"From then on, Yugong helped other families living in the mountains, carrying away the mountains at their doorsteps and tossing them into the sea as well."
"Because he was so eager to help others and frequently assisted with moving mountains, the vast ocean was eventually filled up with peaks."
"The tale of how Yugong moved mountains and filled the sea to reclaim land was turned into an idiom—'Yugong Fills the Sea'—used to describe how overcoming hardship requires relentless cultivation."
Lu Yang rubbed his temples in agony, feeling as though his memories were descending into total chaos.
Her story wasn't over yet. The Immortal Fairy continued, "As you know, seawater doesn't simply vanish; it only shifts elsewhere. When Yugong filled the ocean, the seawater spilled over from the sea, triggering a colossal deluge."
"Fortunately, Immortal Jiuchong had long since created the Soil of Breathing Earth, which expands upon touching water. He brought forth the Soil of Breathing Earth to stem the flood and prevent disaster. That incident was hailed by the world as the 'Immortal Controls the Waters.'"
Lu Yang's consciousness snapped back to reality. Only then did he notice the sheer number of people queuing at Seven Emotions Valley. If they had to wait their turn, how long would it take?
"What's going on here? Did this many people fall victim to the curse of Seven Emotions Valley?"
Did the valley's curses spread through the air or something? How could there be so many victims?
"Hardly," Zhao Po said. "More than half the people in line were cursed by outsiders and came to Seven Emotions Valley seeking help. To hone their disciples' ability to break curses, Seven Emotions Valley arranges for disciples to sit for consultations at the canyon entrance and unravel curses on the spot."
"It looks crowded, but most are minor curses—things like toothaches or gout."
"Even so, queuing won't do us any good. The disciples on duty can barely dispel Foundation Establishment-grade curses. To lift Senior Brother Meng's curse, we'll likely need the Valley Master to intervene personally."
Suddenly, someone from the queue sent a voice transmission to Lu Yang and Zhao Po: *"Little brothers, are you here to have a curse removed? I can give up my spot to you—just tell them you're my relatives! Only five hundred spirit stones! What do you say?"*
Lu Yang followed the sound, and when his eyes landed on the person offering them the shortcut, the corner of his eye twitched.
It was the man in the white paper hat who had posed as the proprietor of Qingming Inn!
To dare show his face so brazenly at Seven Emotions Valley meant he possessed absolute confidence that even if exposed, he could still get away.
Lu Yang walked straight up to him, a faint smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Still remember me?"
Seeing Lu Yang's expression, the man in the white paper hat scrutinized his face for a moment before dawning recognition struck. "Ah, I remember! You were a guest at my inn!"
*That inn was clearly abandoned by someone else,* Lu Yang thought. *How did it suddenly become yours?*
The man in the white paper hat looked around, somewhat puzzled. "Where is that brother who was with you earlier? And that old horse?"
Lu Yang's heart gave a slight jolt. The man in the white paper hat had specifically brought up the old horse—could he have seen through its extraordinary nature?
*Fairy, what cultivation level is this man in the white paper hat?*
*Hard to say. This is merely an avatar, so his exact cultivation can't be discerned. He likely cultivates a technique akin to Ten Thousand Incarnations, dividing himself into myriads of fragments to temper his spiritual force.*
"Just my rotten luck. I'm off."
The man in the white paper hat vanished on the spot. Anyone who kept a dragon horse as a mount might not possess high cultivation, but their foundation had to be terrifyingly solid, pointing unmistakably to a complicated background. As for the other person, though he had never met him, the living corpse following behind was refined using the methods of the Corpse Driving Sect, marking him as one of their disciples. Between Lu Yang with his unknown backing and the Corpse Driving Sect disciple Zhao Po, both were bound to bring him trouble. Better to slip away first.
The man in the white paper hat had executed an escape art right before Lu Yang's eyes, yet Lu Yang still couldn't fathom how he had vanished.
"Was that the man in the white paper hat from the wanted notice?" Zhao Po recognized him as well.
"You've heard of him too?"
"I have. When roaming the jianghu, our trio of brothers... brother and sisters wanted to capture him for the bounty, but we never managed to find him."
Zhao Po had originally intended to make a move to capture the man, but seeing Lu Yang's grave expression, he realized the figure was far from as simple as he had imagined, which checked his impulse to act.
Chapter 412