The Immortal’s Poison

Wen Leyang hesitated for a while before he answered the razor-sharp old man, “I dedicate my presence today under the lives of my respected teachers, for I have come to Mount Emei to manage some affairs.”

The old one scrutinized the few people in Wen Leyang’s party from head to toe. He made a disdainful ‘humph’ sound and said, “An ordinary mortal such as you, are you even worthy to travel in the same space as me?” This old man’s prestige was considerably higher than the other peculiar people in the crowd. Earlier, when he first arrived, everyone had given way to him and once he started giving instructions, someone would always be there to fulfill them. From the crowd, a few short-tempered persons had already started walking towards them while rolling up their sleeves as if intending to take care of the disturbance to the venerable old man.

An old lady with a powdery white face and painted rouge started walking towards them. She wore a huge, red, Chinese-style jacket and the amount of white powder caked on her face looked almost like it had been glued on. She saw that the situation was about to turn ugly and barred the way of the strange people who were going to confront Wen Leyang and said, “Let me ask a few questions before you do anything else!” She smiled cheerfully at Wen Leyang and asked, “Son, who’s your Master?”

There was a clattering sound as a small object was tossed out from behind Wen Leyang’s back. Wen Xiaoyi shyly poked her head out from behind his back and looked at the old woman with pitiful eyes.

The old woman caught the object and took a look. A beaming smile immediately spread from the corners of her eyes to her entire face as she passed the object in her hands to the razor-sharp old man, “They are Ji Fei’s apprentice. Haha! That old mongrel has a rather good eye for things, these three little darlings all look decently capable. But it would seem that they each have their own unique talents, one has even brought along a reanimated toddler’s corpse. I heard that there are people who are still refining corpses in the Shanxi province, Xiangxi province, and the Southern Chuan region…”

The object that Wen Xiaoyi had tossed over was the piece of fake jade that had been given by the old monk Ji Fei earlier.

“However there is no harm in this as well, for these are all playthings that are still practiced by the mortals. It’s only natural when a mortal human encounters people like us who are rogue cultivators akin to immortals, to hastily acknowledge us as their Master…” The old woman seemed to enjoy the sound of her own voice, no one had asked her opinion on anything yet she humored herself by chattering continuously.

Wen Leyang gave a forced smile and kept quiet as he did not know how to respond to this. He was unsure of the background and true intentions of these people and ever since that stormy night, he had continuously encountered people who had referred to themselves as cultivators. By now he was no longer amused by the novelty and only felt puzzled at the sudden emergence of so many ‘cultivators’ like toads after a rain when in the past such encounters were extremely rare.

In the name of the seven Gods in heaven, is the art of cultivation no longer worth anything now?

The razor-sharp old man’s expression calmed down upon seeing the piece of counterfeit jade and it seemed like he was on friendly terms with the old monk Ji Fei as he brushed them off with a phrase, “That Ox’s Nose is a conman, he made this object here to trick these kids!” He turned around walked away for a few steps before adding, “The other monk is a questionable character too!”

Everybody laughed for they all knew of the old monk Ji Fei’s tricks. They no longer threatened Wen Leyang’s group and allowed them to join the crowd of people as they rushed along towards Zhanyan Peak at a steady speed.

In a manner similar to the priests from the Sun Dynasty Palace, this group of so-called rogue cultivators also owned excellent magic weapons. However, their physiques were not much stronger than the Wen family who is proficient in martial arts and enhanced by soaking in medicinal potion from young. The same goes for the Luo as well and Wen Leyang’s group was able to keep pace with the rest of the cultivators.

The old woman also seemed to have quite a respectable level of prestige in her group. Moreover, she seemed to really adore the three new additions of Wen Leyang, Wen Xiaoyi, and Mumu. She did not leave even after returning the fake jade piece to Xiaoyi and continued to chat endlessly with them. She first pointed to the razor-sharp old man and introduced him to them, “This is Lord Gongye from Mount Pan in the Tianjin Municipality…”

Wen Xiaoyi was feeling more at ease now and added, “The Gongye family at Mount Pan were expert sword makers. However, there hasn’t been any news of the family which seemed to have vanished a few hundred years ago.”

The old man Gongye had walked far ahead but he unexpectedly could still overhear what the little girl had said. He turned around and showed her a smile as he said, “This little girl is quite knowledgeable!”

The old woman too, gazed at Wen Xiaoyi in astonishment, “My darling little girl, your knowledge is not too shabby! Three hundred years ago, the forefathers of the Gongye family discovered a wonderful thing in their sword-casting machine and ever since then they could understand and learn all the nature’s secrets and mysteries. They stopped making swords for the mortal world which was why there were no more records about the family for the past few hundred years.” After saying that she turned her attention to the other two and commented, “The little boy has an exceptional physique and bone structure, he is by far the best material for cultivation. The red-clothed little girl too has a basic practitioner’s foundation, and even this little girl here who looks to be so weak that she is unable to withstand a gust of wind has a vast knowledge of many things. Hey, the old monk Ji Fei has finally hit the jackpot, I wonder where he found these three precious darlings.”

Wen Leyang had tempered the poison into his body. A normal cultivator would essentially be unable to tell that he had developed a new style of practice with unsurpassed power and would think that he was an ordinary person with exceptional natural talents.

Mumu’s looked around and asked, “How may we address you, grandmother?”

The old woman appeared slightly displeased as she frowned, the white powdery substance between her eyebrows started to fall in drifts, “So Ji Fei and Shui Jing never mentioned about me to any of you?”

A troubled expression appeared on Mumu’s face as she said, “We had only encountered them yesterday and we were given no chance to speak before they pressed the piece of jade on us. After that, they had some matters of their own to take care of so they asked us to head to Zhanyan Peak first and we will meet up there. They said that if anything were to happen we can just declare the names of Ji Fei and Shui Jing.”

Mumu had a light Southern Chuan accent, while Wen Leyang and Wen Xiaoyi spoke with a mouthful of Northern Chuan dialect. Luckily, this group of peculiar people were from all corners of the world and did not pick up on the slight difference between the accents. They thought that they all originated from the same location.

The old woman harrumphed once, “They asked you to declare their names as if Ji Fei and Shui Jing are extraordinary people.” However, her expression was no longer displeased and she even tried to console them, “These two people usually act like lunatics most of the time, constantly running off after saying two sentences. Their behavior and abilities are not too bad, but the fact that all of you had formally acknowledged them as your Masters is indeed an enormous cosmic event.”

The big fat man who had struck the reporter earlier chimed in with a laugh, “Red Grandaunt, those two funny clowns have yet to understand their lives and you are already doing the bragging for them. Be careful or you might mislead these three little darlings.”

Red Grandaunt widened her mouth and chuckled once as the white powder continued to fall from her face. It had been falling for so long yet there was still a plentiful amount left, this can truly be considered as a miraculous matter. She commented, “f the old mongrel and the bald donkey can’t properly guide their apprentices, I, the old woman, will teach them on their behalf!” She looked at Wen Leyang and pointed to the big fat man’s chest which erupted with a handful of black hair and said, “His name is Giant Bull and he is a cultivator from the Fallen Horse Channel in Huainan.”

Wen Leyang interrupted her and asked, “Are you from the Mountain Sect or the World Sect?” He had learned of these two different types of cultivators from the priests of the Sun Dynasty Palace. The cultivators who practiced in seclusion in the mountains are regarded as part of the Mountain Sect while those who practiced in secret amongst the ordinary people of society are regarded to be part of the World Sect.

Giant Bull chuckled once, “We are from the Forefather Sect!”

Red Grandaunt spat into his face and laughed out loud as she warned, “Don’t be impolite to your elders, please be more courteous when speaking in front of the little darlings!” The old woman really adored these children and is extremely protective towards Wen Leyang and the rest of his party.

If one were to use the words of the monk, Shui Jing it would be: It is fated!

“We are scattered all over the world. On regular days, we engage in our own method of rogue cultivation. We do not pay particular attention to whether we are of the Mountain Sect or the World Sect. There is no clear-cut difference between the two for us – we enter the mountain when we feel like it and we enter into society when we want to do so. Those who define themselves as belonging to either the Mountain Sect or the World Sect are usually from official associations of cultivators, such as those at the Kunlun Mountains or Mount Shu’s great cultivator factions. These official parties have forcibly occupied the divine mountains since ancient times and their practice foundation is so rooted that they refused to go into society. So they proclaimed themselves as belonging to the Mountain Sect but to be frank, in recent years many of their disciples have since entered into society. On the other hand, there are those who had led wicked practices and have lowered themselves to the extent that they could no longer raise their heads up. With their practice foundations destroyed, they had no alternative but to sneak into society and hide. They can only practice in secret and so the highborn big parties considered them as the World Sect.” Red Grandaunt’s speech as indistinct at times due to air leaking from the corners of her mouth. It was extremely strenuous for her to speak for long and even though she is a person who is engaged in cultivation, she still carries in her bones that outstanding cultural tradition of China’s rural women, which is the ability to talk endlessly.

Only now did Wen Leyang comprehend that the Mountain Sect and the World Sect were all divided by the established institutions of cultivators. Those of the Mountain Sect tended to have immortal-like behavior while those of the World Sect were made up of those who harbored evil practices.

Giant Bull said in a low, muffled voice, “We are all rogue cultivators and we belong to no party. We enjoy our freedom and leisure, even if one were to f*cking let me be the head priest of Mount Shu’s faction…” Before he could finish his sentence, Red Grandaunt suddenly shouted angrily, “Shut your mouth, you ought to take a look at where you are now!”

Giant Bull pursed his lips, “There are so many of us, why should we be afraid of them! Even if it was only me alone, damn it, I will never fear them!” Though his way of speaking sounded tough, he no longer continued talking about this topic.

Wen Xiaoyi was only an ordinary person and her footsteps were slow so she jumped onto Wen Leyang’s back. Even so, she still managed to draw profuse praise from Red Grandaunt, who felt that a respectful older brother should dote on his younger sister in this manner. Red Grandaunt then went into small matters when Wen Xiaoyi suddenly chimed in and asked, “Grandaunt, why are we all going to Zhanyan Peak?”