Stealing Immortal

Chapter 142: Chapter 141: Liu Garden

Though he’d been delayed, there were still things to be done.

Cyan Bamboo Peak was a massive mountain range composed of several interconnected peaks. It spanned roughly a hundred miles from east to west, creating a wide variety of landscapes.

Peach Blossom Valley, for instance, was situated in a low basin where two peaks met, a river flowing between them. It was only after a Peach Demon planted trees there that it became a place of peach blossoms stretching for miles, vibrant in the spring breeze.

Chen Qingyang had heard that Master Liu’s Dao Field was called "Liu Garden." It wasn’t located on the mountain itself, but rather in a valley.

The sun began to dip, but its golden light remained brilliant.

Chen Qingyang flew through the air using Wind Control. When he saw a network of paths and interconnected houses below, he canceled the technique and descended.

The paths, he now saw, wound between Spirit Fields where people were busy planting Immortal Grass. Some were using the Immortal Technique to Call the Clouds and Summon the Rain, others were Gathering Spirit, mending the Earth Veins, or harvesting Spirit Plants. There were about a dozen people in total, each engrossed in their own work.

The Alchemy Dao was intrinsically linked to Spirit Plants. Sometimes, to obtain a single ingredient for an elixir, an alchemist had no choice but to cultivate the Spirit Plant themselves.

He walked past them and saw an archway up ahead with two words carved into it: Liu Institute. Behind it were houses with white walls, black-tiled roofs, and high, horse-head gables. They lacked any imposing or majestic air, but possessed an elegance that perfectly suited the Master’s temperament.

Chen Qingyang continued on, but he didn’t know where Kong Yuan lived. He wanted to ask for directions but couldn’t find a soul. After pacing back and forth twice, he suddenly spotted a sturdy, powerful figure appear up ahead.

He took a closer look—who else could it be but Kong Yuan?

A Half-Step Foundation Establishment cultivator’s Divine Soul was powerful; he had likely sensed a stranger pacing back and forth in the alley.

Chen Qingyang called out, "Senior Brother Kong! It’s been a while. I came to pay you a visit!"

Kong Yuan, however, stretched lazily, looking as though he’d just woken up. "Ah, if you hadn’t said it’s been a while, I’d have thought we just saw each other yesterday. Time has no meaning in cultivation; a hundred years can pass by in a dream... Quick, come on in!"

He looked as if he had just emerged from secluded cultivation. While Kong Yuan was still sighing with emotion, he pulled Chen Qingyang into a nearby courtyard.

It was a two-courtyard residence, attended by four or five Miscellaneous Task disciples. The environment was quiet and secluded; it seemed this Senior Brother Kong lived quite a comfortable life.

Kong Yuan led him to the reception hall to sit. After hot tea was served, Chen Qingyang took out the elixir and handed it over.

"During the last Separation Dragon Assembly, it was all thanks to you that I arrived safely, Senior Brother Kong. I don’t have anything of great value, but this elixir was originally created by Master Liu. I’ve now managed to refine it to Tier Three, so please, accept it as a gift."

Kong Yuan’s eyes widened when he heard this, the elixir resting in his hand. "Incredible! You’ve only had this pill formula for less than two years, haven’t you? To think, it took me a full twenty years to reach Tier Three, and to this day I still don’t dare attempt Tier Four."

Chen Qingyang could only reply, "It’s rather embarrassing to admit, but it was all just luck."

Kong Yuan didn’t believe a word of it. "There you go again with the false modesty. I saw your performance at the Separation Dragon Assembly with my own eyes. As for you, Junior Brother, my expectations for your future are growing by the day. Who knows, maybe you’ll actually manage to refine an Immortal Grade version!"

As he spoke, he placed the elixir into a Jade Box and carefully put it away.

"The quality is even better than mine. I’ll have to study it carefully."

So Chen Qingyang shared his insights on the Great Soul Scripture without reservation. Upon hearing them, Kong Yuan felt as if a veil had been lifted from his mind. The two of them ended up discussing the Alchemy Dao at great length.

Noticing the sun had dipped further toward the west, Chen Qingyang tactfully interrupted, "Senior Brother Kong, do you know where Master Liu is? I was hoping to pay him a visit as well."

"Right, right. You came all this way; how could you not pay respects to our Master?"

Kong Yuan then led him to a small courtyard in the southeast corner. ’I assumed that as their Master, Liu Pei’s residence would be the grandest one here,’ Chen Qingyang thought. To his surprise, it was perfectly ordinary, no different from Kong Yuan’s, and its furnishings were even simpler.

Kong Yuan led him only to the gate before disappearing. Just as Chen Qingyang was about to knock, the door opened from within. A young girl dressed as a Child stood there, holding a duster. She had a Qi Refining Realm cultivation.

"Senior Brother Chen, Master is waiting for you inside."

Chen Qingyang wasn’t surprised. He saluted her with clasped hands. "Thank you."

The girl returned the gesture with a slight bow.

In the inner courtyard of the residence, Chen Qingyang finally met Liu Pei. The Master was, as always, dressed in cyan robes.

"Disciple greets Master Liu!" Chen Qingyang said, offering a deep, formal bow with clasped hands.

Liu Pei sat down on a meditation cushion. "No need for such ceremony. Take out the elixir and let me have a look."

Chen Qingyang was puzzled. ’Did Kong Yuan secretly inform him using some Secret Technique, or did Master Liu eavesdrop on our conversation?’

Then again, considering the Master’s character, eavesdropping seemed unlikely.

Chen Qingyang handed over the elixir. Liu Pei first examined it closely, then unexpectedly swallowed it whole. After savoring it for a moment, he said, "Your approach has already diverged from mine. I even have a feeling that your way is the correct one. No wonder Kong Yuan said you were incredible."

’A grandmaster is truly a grandmaster,’ Chen Qingyang thought. He had perceived the subtle differences at once and could even extrapolate from them, identifying two completely different paths.

"It is a testament to your keen perception, Master. I did indeed incorporate many of my own ideas into the elixir. It may be different from the original now, but its foundation is still the one you provided."

Liu Pei, however, didn’t see it that way. "I only ever obtained a fragment of the pill formula for the Heaven Repairing Glaze Pill. This elixir was something I developed based on that. It’s not truly my own accomplishment, which is why it doesn’t even have a name."

With that, he reached into his sleeve and took out a golden object. It resembled paper, yet also looked like gold foil, its material impossible to identify. He handed it to Chen Qingyang.

Chen Qingyang opened it to see it was indeed a pill formula. Unfortunately, parts of it were covered in dark, ashen marks, leaving only about half of the contents visible.

"This... is the formula for the Heaven Repairing Glaze Pill?"

At one point, Chen Qingyang had thought that when his cultivation was high enough in the future, he would find a way to retrieve this very pill formula.

And now, though incomplete, it was real and resting in his own hands.

Liu Pei said, "Unfortunately, things don’t always go as one wishes. Only half of it remains. The other half is for you and me to comprehend."

He paused for a moment here. "You could call it a kind of fate, couldn’t you? It just so happened that I met you at that Alchemy Dao competition, it just so happened that you learned this pill formula, and it just so happened that your relationship with Li Qianxue is not a shallow one. So... it’s yours now."

Just like that, so casually, it was given to him. Chen Qingyang didn’t refuse. "Thank you, Master Liu," he said. "It seems you and Senior Sister Li are acquainted, then?"

In response to Chen Qingyang’s question, Liu Pei shook his head. "If you’re speaking of a deep connection, that would be my Senior Brother. I’ve told you before, when Li Qianxue came to harm, my Senior Brother was right there. It was only because of Li Qianxue’s last, desperate sword strike that he made it back alive."

It had been a long time since Chen Qingyang had heard any news about that incident.

Back on Four Golden Peaks, a different version of the story had circulated every day, the vast majority of them rumors. The only truth he had was what Liu Tao had told him: Li Qianxue’s Divine Soul was damaged, she couldn’t wake up, and her body was being preserved by Cold Jade.

Beyond that, he knew nothing.

"I heard she was ambushed by the Yu Xiao Demon Sect. Is that correct?"

Liu Pei nodded. "That’s correct."

"Then for what reason did several Foundation Establishment Masters need to travel together?"

To this, Liu Pei replied, "I can’t tell you what the matter was. You only need to know that it was on the Sect’s orders."

This raised another question for Chen Qingyang. "If it was a mission ordered by the Sect, then their movements should have been secret, right? At the very least, they wouldn’t have been advertising it. How was the ambush so precise?"

As his cultivation rose and his experience grew, Chen Qingyang was beginning to understand how many of the Tai Xu Sect’s affairs were run.

They all said that Li Qianxue had the potential to become the next Golden Core True Monarch. An ambush against her was directly related to the struggle for that position.

’For such an important figure, her movements should have been kept secret. How could they have been leaked, unless... there was a traitor?’

Liu Pei could naturally guess what Chen Qingyang was about to say. "This is not something you should concern yourself with. You only need to know that all six members of the party were investigated by the Law Enforcement Hall, my Senior Brother included. They were cleared of any wrongdoing."

Hearing this, Chen Qingyang didn’t press the matter. There was no point in asking more questions. These affairs were far removed from him; he could think about them again one day, after he reached Foundation Establishment.

"Understood. I will focus on my cultivation and my study of the Alchemy Dao."

Liu Pei nodded. "That is precisely what you should be doing."

After all this talk, Chen Qingyang finally got to the main reason for his visit. "Master Liu, my cultivation has hit a bottleneck, and I must go out for three months of training. In my absence, I’d like to ask you to please keep an eye on my courtyard."

"My three Miscellaneous Task disciples never start trouble, but I worry that others might try to provoke them, and they’ll have no one to watch over them."

Liu Pei didn’t hesitate. "Very well. I wonder what my Senior Brother is up to. He is so obstinate when it comes to you. You could say he dislikes you, but then he did indeed pass an Immortal Technique down to you."

"But if you were to say you’ve won his favor, he never meets with you and forbids anyone else from our lineage to have any contact with you. It’s hard to guess his intentions."

Chen Qingyang seized the opportunity to ask, "I wonder... what kind of person is my Master?"

He had met Liu Pei and Shen Chongzhou many times, but this was the first time Chen Qingyang had ever asked about his own Master.

"Heh!" Liu Pei chuckled. "What kind of person is he? That’s a good question. I think the phrase that best describes him is that he possesses a heart devoted to the Dao. It’s stronger than anyone else’s. It’s as if he was born for the Dao, and I’ve never seen him interested in anything else."

’A heart devoted to the Dao.’ That description felt so familiar. ’That’s right,’ he realized, ’plenty of people have described Master Yun Ci in the same way.’

"...As for your courtyard, I will entrust it to Kong Yuan. You can go with your mind at ease. Nothing will go wrong. Just remember, once you leave the Sect, you must be careful in all things. Don’t be reckless. Endure whatever happens, and wait until you’re back to resolve any issues."

Liu Pei’s words were all earnest teachings. Chen Qingyang listened, then rose and bowed again in salute. "I will remember your teachings, Master Liu!"

By the time he left, it was already evening.

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