Immortal Travel of Longevity

Steam curled faintly from the tea. On the stage, Mister Yun was telling a story. His material fell into a completely different category than Cao Fa's; despite their relationship as master and apprentice, their storytelling styles could not have been more different.

Cao Fa specialized in tales of spirits and the bizarre. Mister Yun, on the other hand, excelled at adapting historical anecdotes or true events, bringing them to life through storytelling.

Generally speaking, such stories were far more immersive.

Master and apprentice each had their own strengths.

"Picking up where we left off, we speak of that Vice Minister who alone led his fierce generals, marching to his death in the Northern Border..."

Listening to this familiar tale, Chen Changsheng felt a sudden stir in his heart.

Mister Yun let out a long sigh. "The Vice Minister possessed peerless talent. Whether in the Literary Dao or the martial dao, he was a rarity in his era. It is merely a pity that the heavens did not favor him. Truly a cause for sorrow."

Mister Yun only dared to refer to the man as the Vice Minister. He did not dare speak his true name, likely because the events were still too recent and certain words remained taboo.

Listening to the story, Master Jin San remarked, "I've heard people speak of this Vice Minister before. Back when I was in the Southern Domain, I heard that he was originally a cultivator. After leaving his mountain, he studied for just one year and earned the rank of Bangyan. He then went to the Hanlin Academy in Shangjing. After leaving there, he worked in the Ministry of Punishments before finally being promoted to Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review."

Master Jin San paused and asked, "You know of him, Mister?"

"I met him in my early years," Chen Changsheng said frankly.

Master Jin San stared blankly for a moment. "Then... doesn't that mean, as far back as the Jing dynasty..."

Chen Changsheng nodded. "It isn't a secret. You are a well-traveled man with broad experience; you have likely guessed much of it already."

Master Jin San's lips parted slightly.

Though he had anticipated it, having it confirmed still left him somewhat astonished.

Lost in thought, Master Jin San asked, "Then you must have known this Vice Minister personally, Mister?"

Chen Changsheng nodded.

Master Jin San continued, "Years ago, when I was heading south, I passed through Qiuyue Fang. There, I met an elderly man sweeping a mountain gate. I heard a few stories from him, stories connected to a Daoist temple named Liuyun Temple."

Chen Changsheng looked at him and said, "Liuyun Temple. In its early years, the master of the temple was Hong Sancai. He had three disciples under him: Xuan Tian, Xuan Di, and Xuanhuang. After the old temple master passed away, his first two disciples left the mountain, leaving Xuanhuang behind all alone. The following year brought a terrible blizzard, and Priest Xuanhuang took in five disciples."

"He named them after medicinal herbs: Changshan, Shang Lu, Xuan Shen, Zisu, and Nanxing."

"Unfortunately, Nanxing lost too much body heat in that heavy snow. The cold was simply too much, and he died prematurely."

Master Jin San listened in a daze.

Then he suddenly snapped to his senses. "Mister, may I write this down?"

"Then This Chen will tell you slowly," Chen Changsheng said. "There is no need to rush."

Overjoyed, Master Jin San immediately ordered his men to prepare the Four Treasures of the Study.

Right there in the noisy tea house, he took up his brush, recording everything the Mister said, detail by detail.

Everything had to start from the very beginning.

"Priest Xuanhuang was a rather wooden man..."

Chen Changsheng spoke of Priest Xuanhuang, the man who loved to eat peaches. In Chen Changsheng's heart, he was also the only cultivator to have truly attained the Dao.

Others might not have seen it that way, but to Chen Changsheng, it was an absolute certainty.

Master Jin San's brush never once stopped moving.

As he listened to the Mister speak, his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

'This is what a true cultivator is...'

Through the Mister's words, Master Jin San was finally hearing about the kind of cultivator he had always envisioned in his heart.

In his mind, this was exactly how the cultivators of the world were meant to be.

It was not about endless killing, nor was it about bitter asceticism. They should be just like Priest Xuanhuang—possessing their own distinct quirks, living as real, flesh-and-blood people.

After finishing with Xuanhuang, Chen Changsheng moved on to the disciples.

"In his early years, Changshan cultivated on the mountain. His comprehension was exceptional, as was his temperament. Priest Xuanhuang saw that his disciples all possessed their own unique talents and did not want to hold them back. So, one day, he chased them all down the mountain..."

"You already know a little of what happened next."

"Changshan eventually became Chang Shaoqing and led an army to his death in the Northern Border. As for Zisu and Shang Lu, they followed a merchant caravan and ended up in the Northern Desert."

"What happened to Zisu and Shang Lu after that?" Master Jin San asked.

Chen Changsheng paused before answering. "For that, you might have to check the historical records of West Xiao; you may be able to find a few mentions of Shang Lu there. As for Zisu, she was taken in as a disciple by a Supreme Immortal while in the Northern Desert, departing the Mortal World long ago."

"As for Xuan Shen..."

Chen Changsheng paused again, shaking his head. "After they left the mountain, This Chen never saw him again. Years ago, I heard that he had joined the army in the Northwest, but I do not know where he went after that."

Master Jin San asked, "Mister, according to the historical records of Xiang, when Chang Shaoqing marched to his death in the Northern Border, he didn't actually die. He was captured and locked up in a grand prison. Years ago, I heard the Netherworld Day Patroller of Shangjing City mention this. He said that those men were supposed to be beheaded, but chaos broke out that day. It was said that an immortal descended from the heavens and rescued Chang Shaoqing, and that the Peach Blossom High Immortal also arrived and rescued someone else."

"Could it be that the one who rescued Chang Shaoqing was Zisu?"

Chen Changsheng nodded. "That is correct."

Master Jin San nodded in sudden realization, then quickly asked, "Then what of the Peach Blossom High Immortal?"

"The Peach Blossom High Immortal..."

Chen Changsheng thought for a moment before asking, "Do you remember the peach tree I mentioned to you earlier?"

Master Jin San paused. "The peach tree you planted in Liuyun Temple, Mister?"

"To tell you the truth, Mister, I visited the temple years ago to take a look. There was indeed a peach tree there, but it had already withered and died."

"That very peach tree was the so-called Peach Blossom High Immortal," Chen Changsheng said. "And it was on that exact day that the tree in the temple finally withered."

Chen Changsheng then went on to speak of Tong Zhihuan.

He suddenly felt a profound sense of wonder.

It felt as if his experiences were truly unfolding like the pages of a book.

One by one, he recounted the stories of his past.

"Turned into a demon?"

Master Jin San stared in blank shock before murmuring, "So that is what happened... So that is how it is..."

He hurriedly put his brush to paper, summarizing the tale into short sentences, terrified of missing even a single detail.

An inexplicable surge of excitement gripped him.

Objectively speaking, it did not make for an exceptionally dramatic tale, but it was the real, unfiltered truth of a Supreme Immortal and mortals.

It was something that truly existed in this world, untainted by the ambiguity of rumors and legends.

Though Master Jin San had met countless people and heard countless tales in his travels, he had never once recorded a story told directly by a true 'immortal.'

The further the story went, the brighter the light in Master Jin San's eyes grew.

Chen Changsheng took a sip of his tea and asked, "Is there anything else you wish to hear?"

Looking a little embarrassed, Master Jin San asked, "May I still ask?"

"Of course. It is no bother at all."

"Then, Mister, could you tell me about the two priests, Xuan Tian and Xuan Di?"

"Those two..."

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