... Unfortunately, for almost every single side character, that complete character arc ends in their tragic death~ Again, "bittersweet".

As wind and rains sweep across a gloomy sky, a small path winds through the midst of a dense thicket of waving trees, unable to see the end of at first glance.

This place has long been left untouched by the presence of humans, made all the more uncrossable by thick mires of mud caused by flooding from the violent rains.

A youth supports an elderly man, making slow progress. The clothes made from pine (raws 蓑衣) on their bodies can only be said as to be better than nothing, and after walking for a good part of the night, they were utterly drenched. The old man probably had some problems with his legs and feet. When he got cold, he often stopped and rubbed his sore knees.

He squinted his muddled old eyes, trying his best to peer into the distance, and couldn't help but release a sigh.

From the side, the youth grumbles, "What tr*sh deity (immortal being), always eating our offerings, yet if we want to even meet them once, we have to suffer through countless trials, what's the use of our fellow villagers saving money from their everyday necessities?"

The old man was startled, and he hurriedly said, "Don't dare to talk nonsense!"

The youth's eyes went round, resembling a little tiger, and he brusquely blurted, "Unless what I said was wrong? They protect us, but only in name only, have they ever blessed us with good weather? Even in the event of a severe drought and flood, they still expect us to pay the same tribute in offerings."

In the year when Anping Wang (some title dunno) led an armed rebellion, all three counties and fifteen cities suffered great disasters, thieves ran rampant everywhere, and the common people were forced to flee and wander about, did they ever show up? Well, even if these are human affairs, the immortals don't care. Then what about when malevolent ghosts terrorized the village, devouring people and spreading fear, they still pretend to know nothing about it, and they want us to hurry and ask?"

The old man's legs were so painful that he couldn't straighten his waist, as he reprimanded, "The immortals above do not care for the affairs of the world, if we have any requests, we would naturally come to report them ourselves, what words are you spouting!"

The youth replied, full of anger, "Exactly, this is the only road to bright valley and is filled with hardships and obstacles, and those without a sincere heart cannot reach it! When they send people to receive the offerings, why don't they reciprocate by also coming down step by step, it would be more sincere... "

"六郎 (Liu Lang; sixth son), shut your mouth!" the old man forcefully emphasizes, jabbing his cane into the ground, "If you continue to run your mouth like this, you can go back where you came from (he says "滚" which is like roll but in this context it's like "scram") ! Don't drag our fellow villagers from the fifteen cities down in front of the heavenly immortals."

When the boy saw that he really was angry, his face turned dark, and he didn't dare to speak. Only when his grandpa had turned away, did he smirk in disdain, and mutter, "aren't the immortal beings great?" (T/N: sarcasm)

Just then, an extremely violent thunderbolt suddenly fell from the sky. It had struck down almost a hair's breadth from him. The youth was taken by surprise, and his face turned white with fright on the spot. He immediately put aside his intolerance (text uses 小心眼) from the moment before and waited for the ear splitting roar to fade, and hurriedly asked, "Grandpa, why is this thunder being so unreasonable (he uses 邪门) today ?"

Before the old man had time to answer, thunder and lightning had hailed down from above one after the other like rain, lighting up the entire night sky into a shocking paleness. The old man was shocked, and scrambled to pull the youth to prostrate on the earth, kneeling under the might of heaven as he prayed and muttered incantations, not even daring to move an inch. All the birds and beasts in the forest were so scared that they didn't dare to show their heads, and even the trees and plants trembled along with them.

After who knows how long, did the sound thunder gradually subside, but there was still a lingering charge and rumble in the ground.

After the youth ascertained that he did not hear a peep, his heart was left full of shock, he didn't dare to speak out rashly again.

It was only when the thick clouds dispersed slightly, the first time they had done so since the storm had started, and dim and sparse trickles of moonlight streaked down from the sky, did the youth gingerly help the elder up with trepidation, and they continued on their way.

The youth, Liu Lang asked: "Grandpa, just then there were probably around a few dozens of strikes of thunder, then... this... this valley won't be blasted flat (炸平), right?"

"Talk less, " the old man chastised him in a low voice, legs sinking deep and shallow (? Phrase used is 深一脚浅一脚) trekking forward on the narrow path heaped with turbid muddy water, deliberately lowering his voice to say, "I fear that there is an immortal crossing over/undergoing a tribulation (word used is 渡劫)."

"Tribulations?"

"The path of cultivating to become an immortal is not an easy one. They must undergo thousands of calamities. I've heard that among all these tribulations, the heavenly calamities are the most dangerous, countless immortals have perished (text uses 陨落) due to this very trial, but those that endure it will see their cultivation increase in leaps and bounds, and become even closer to becoming true immortals." Speaking to this point, his face showed a trace of doubt, "I once heard my grandfather claim he had seen an immortal undergoing a tribulation himself, but at the time, it was only around nine strikes of divine lightning, however, why was this one so much worse... could it be that the immortal undergoing this tribulation is a great power similar to the owner of this valley (words used was 谷主) ?"

In the time it took for their conversation to conclude, the narrow twisting path suddenly took a turn, and the space ahead of them swiftly broadened, revealing the entirety of bright valley (明明谷) stretching before them.

The valley is clear and distant, rain-washed mountain flowers are blooming all over the wilderness, and the soft moonlight peeking through adorns the scene like silky smoke, appearing like the land of the immortals on earth.

The youth excitedly shouted, "Grandpa, look, we're he-"

Before the rest of the sentence could leave his mouth, he was shocked into stillness.

At the sight of large patch of flat ground next to the bright slope of flowers, in the four directions, a circle of charms ordinary people could not decipher were carved there, at this time, that large plot of flat land had already been scorched by the lightning into a burnt black, that charm circle sat in stark contrast to its surroundings- the outside is filled with hundreds of flowers blooming fragrantly, yet the in the inside not a blade of grass dared to grow (phrase used was 寸草不生).

Yet on the scorched earth, a person stood upright.

That person's long robe had become rags, and the entire sleeve was scorched into slag. From the back, the person was of a tall stature and appeared to be a man.

Even though they were separated by roughly a hundred zhang (each 丈 is around 10 feet), that man seemed to hear what Liu Lang had uttered, and shifted his head to glance at the grandfather and son pair (T/N: why doesn't English have a phrase such as "爷孙"? To clear possible confusions, this alludes to the grandfather and grandson), although this person was currently in torn rags, his appearance was clear and handsome, out of the ordinary, like a pale jade under the moon. Only, his eyes seemed to hold years upon years of hoarfrost. When Liu Lang's gaze connected with his, he inadvertently felt a chill so cold it ran down to his very bones, frozen to the spot.

In the next moment, Liu Lang felt himself being tugged to the ground by his grandfather, the two kneeling on the ground (T/N: oof they're doing an awful amount of kneeling aren't they?) and the old man started repeatedly kowtowing towards the figure, speaking, "paying respects to immortal, this humble one is from the fifteen cities outside the valley, coming here to beg something of respected immortal, and didn't intend to disturb, asking for respected immortal to not take offense."

The man froze, and then waved his hands in a casual manner. Liu Lang felt that a portion of that coldness, as if originating from the late autumn, was gradually seeping through his body and dispersing. It was cold, but not necessarily enough to freeze, then, immediately following, his entire body went light, and together with his grandpa, was tugged along by that coolness.

The immortal spoke with unexpected courtesy. Not only did he not make things difficult for them, but he also said quite politely, "It's alright, no need to do so- the matters outside the valley are not under my jurisdiction, wait for me to bring a person over."

With that, he raised a finger to shoot out a ray of bright light, that beam of light headed straight for the sky. A split second later, a small glowing light spot appeared in the distance. Only when it came within his sight, did Liu Lang realize that it was a Taoist child approaching on an imperial sword (T/N: royal sword?)

The Taoist child sheaved his sword as he landed, respectfully saluting the ragged man, "Elder Cheng, congratulations to elder for passing the heavenly calamity and cultivation rising to a higher level."

"It's nothing to be pleased with, was nearly burnt to a crisp, " the man replied lightly (lit. "not salty not light" 不咸不淡), then pointing back at the battered and exhausted pair behind him. "They're from the outside, probably for something, you can handle it."

After briefly explaining with these words, he then proceeded to nod in the direction of the pair, his figure flickered and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

This ability to fly to the heavens and evade the earth (raws 飞天遁地之) left Liu Lang staring in stunned shock, even until the Taoist child came up to invite them to enter the valley, his mind was still filled with images of the appearance of that man standing on the burnt earth, glancing nonchalantly back at them.

Liu Lang thought absent-mindedly, he didn't seem to be that much older than himself, yet is already the "elder" of this bright valley? He could not help but feel a little envious, but upon remembering the frosty eyes of the man, he quickly pushed that scrap of envy down, which soon gave birth to awe, and no longer dared to rashly criticize.

That Taoist child fished out a leaf from his possession, taking it by his lips, long and short notes disorderly stacked on top of each other, puffing out a segment of a small tune, only hearing the peals of an answering neigh resounding in the air. Then, a white horse pulling a carriage (word used here is 车, could be anything from car to a chariot) descended from the sky, snorting loudly with majesty, landing firmly and steadily on the ground.

That Taoist child said in an amiable manner, "If it weren't for you two, I might not have even been able to reach him, please [get on]."

The two mortals uneasily settled down into the flying horse's carriage, Liu Lang was young, bound to have loose lips, and said, "Immortal gege (T/N: Means elder brother, doesn't have to be related by blood, shame on you, shame on your cow if you didn't know that already) was that [one we just met] the elder of the valley?"

The old man was afraid that he would blab and speak wrongly, hurriedly pulled [on Liu Lang], and said, full of fear and trepidation, "immortal, please forgive, this child..."

"It's alright, sir (he uses 老丈), " The Taoist child hurries the flying horse along, and says, quite lively, "Our bright valley has an ice pond (or lake) in the center, extremely cold, and even I don't dare to go, I've heard that even the water suspending on the pond will freeze, but the spirit (sacred?) iced water in the pond still circulates ceaselessly. And no one knows when that person (referring to the "Cheng" elder probably) moved in there. A cave (dwelling) had opened up by the side of the pond, and the coldness of the entire pond was trapped in that cave. And by himself, he cultivated day after day in that extremely cold place.

You see, this valley is vibrant with life is all thanks to him for suppressing that ice lake. He doesn't usually show up, but we all secretly call him in private, Elder You Mo ('幽潭长老' lit. Secluded/serene pit/pond to give you all a sense)

Hearing this, Liu Lang was shocked into stillness, and couldn't help but ask, "How cold would that be? Wasn't he scared?"

The Taoist child laughs, "Those who cultivate ought to refine their spirit and endure, how else will they ascend to the Great Path ("大道"), if their will is not resolute?"

In the span of their conversation, the carriage had already risen as many times as it had fallen (phrase is "几起几落") arriving at the hinterland of the valley, landing unhurriedly.

Liu Lang got out of the carriage and was met with the sight of pavilions and kiosks, streams upon streams of clear water, untainted with any trace of humans, only a few cranes flying as they took off and landed. Entering in the midst of it all, Liu Lang only felt his whole body lighten, he looked down in shock, only to see that the muddy water that had stayed plastered on him in all nights and weathers had disappeared, leaving his whole body feeling warm and comfortable.

The Taoist child led them to a small pavilion, only when the Taoist child had poured the two a cup of hot tea amidst their fervored gratitudes did he proceed to ask them the reason behind their arrival.

The old man sighingly speaks, "This... ah, it's a long story, trivial matters of commoners, we originally didn't want to bother immortal lords, but only recently, we don't know what kind of evildoer arrived unknowingly from outside the valley. But as such is the misfortune in my hometown, it specifically selects babes to target, and in the short span of ten or so days, four or five boys have disappeared from the surrounding villages of Chengguo (really don't know how to translate this, original text: 周遭城郭村落), but in a few days, their corpses will be found in the wilderness, already pretty much eaten to the bone by scavengers and wild beasts. The matter was also reported to the officials. A few official coroners came, who proclaimed that those babes all had had their blood let dry before they breathed their last."

Upon hearing this, the Taoist child's playful countenance turned serious, "What? Drained of blood? What were the ages of these boys?"

The old man says in a low tone (The text literally says "作孽" here, which means to sin, but it's in quotation marks, so Idk), "They all had not yet reached the age of ten, when this happened, the most able bodied chaps banded together and spent several nights in the wilderness to keep watch, and then... and then that day, we all saw a flash of a white shadow, from the distance, it appeared to be a white chain (白练?) hanging in the wind, but in the blink of an eye, it had approached. At that time, no one had managed to react in time, but we heard a someone let out a blood curdling shriek, and in the next instant, someone's chest had pierced through with a gaping hole, in this time it took to blink an eye, that person's heart had been taken out by that thing. The government officials were also scared out of their wits, saying it was a malevolent ghost causing trouble, the government can't control it, and it is only then that this old one ("老朽") was sent to plead immortals to lend a hand."

The Taoist child listened and followed up by asking a few more detailed questions, and only then said, "I roughly have an idea now, senior has no need to worry about it, I will first take my younger disciple brothers to rest in the valley a night, allow me to report to the senior in the valley. Naturally I will give you a reply. "

That night, the old man and grandson Liu Lang settled down uneasily in bright valley. The wind in the valley was very clean and crisp, and there was a faint floral scent everywhere. It was a great place, but Liu Lang couldn't sleep no matter what, his mind was turning back and forth, thinking about the young elder who had experienced the thunderstorms, and spent a good portion of the night in this muddle stupor. In the latter half of the night, he suddenly heard someone talking outside, separated by a long distance, Liu Lang only listened vaguely and intermittently.

But could only catch a male voice saying, "yes, I've already heard about it on the way, however, it's not necessarily a tricky role to cause trouble in a mortal village... Well, why not ask Cheng Qian to go check it out along with them."

Another older male voice said, "Either way, his seven days of calamity have already ended, now that it could be considered that he has already passed the calamity, he originally should have left anyway."

Liu Lang already couldn't sleep at all. But after hearing this speech, for some reason, he suddenly felt a bout of sleepiness, in the blink of an eye, he lost consciousness, and soon couldn't hear anything.

Two people, one in front, one trailing behind walked past his window, headed towards the ice pond in the middle of the valley. The first old man sported white hair; a ruddy complexion, hale and hearty ("鹤发童颜"), was fat like a ball, when he smiled, you could see the teeth but not the eyes, dressed in a set of rich, and almost aggressively so, satin robes. On his belt, among those hanging in a pack of loose bits and bobs were an embroidered pouch, jade pendant, and so on all arranged in a row, so rich it would make people cry (富贵逼人), appearing like one of those the landlords of common people- this was exactly the lord of bright valley, Nian Mingming.

Following behind Nian Mingming was a scholarly dressed middle-aged man, but looking closely, this middle aged man's appearance and features were immensely mild and gentle, and upon closer inspection, he was dimly revealed to be precisely that of the primordial spirit Tan Zhen (I think that's his name) that had escaped from the soul devouring lamp that year.

Tang Zhen did not know what method was used upon him, he had a flesh body again, but it seemed that the physical body was not very good, vaguely carrying an aura of death and a sickly look about it. He also did not know whether it was obtained through possession or some dishonest (lit. Side door) magic.

Tang Zhen held a white lantern in his hand, who knew what kind of magic weapon it was, there was no candlestick inside the lantern, but a luminous halo emanated from the inside the paper paste, he said, "Originally I thought these matters to be of my wildest dreams, virtually unheard of, even I didn't expect him to succeed. "

Nian Mingming laughingly says, "The premature death of his corporeal body was due to a human calamity, and at death's door, he suddenly had an awakening, allowing his soul to enter the spirit condensing jade, however it just so happened that the spirit condensing jade had an innate spirit, able to gather the essence of the mountains and rivers, originally its soul cannot be fooled and rashly entered, but this youngster still not even up in years, was able to maintain the three immortal souls and seven mortal forms without dispersing, consciousness not exterminated."

After suffering in that spirit condensing jade for 49 years (text uses 七七四十九年, lit. 7 7 49 years), without even a physical body to support him, he unexpectedly sharpened that jade into a primordial spirit compulsorily, and this counted as passing his earthly calamity. 49 years ago, you sent that spirit condensing jade containing his spirit to my bright valley, with the spirit condensing jade as a foundation, and even after 49 years of forging in the ice pool, he bore the extreme cold without a word, and even passed in Seven Heavenly Calamities in quick succession- ai, he couldn't have been over a mere hundred years, yet he has already experienced three calamities of the heavens and earth, this son [youngster] has a firm and unyielding will, this one (when he says this one, or I, he is using "老朽") has lived for so long, yet has never before encountered someone of the likes of him." (T/N: Phew that was hard, I'm having suspicions on who the spirit in the jade is...)

As he spoke, Nian Mingming patted his belly, expression complex, "If I was even half of him, I would probably be an old man with a waist by now."

Tang Zhen, "..... "

This elderly one of such rank with all his might, had long since started fasting to cope with a ravenous appetite (嘴馋), but consequentially this body of streaky pork lard (五花膘 lol) could be said to have a long history (源远流长, lit. source is distant and the flow is long) and then some (text uses "经年日久" another way to say long history).

Tang Zhen hesitated for a split second, then with a serious face, "I haven't yet thanked valley lord for lending the use of the ice pool."

Nian Mingming waved his hand and said, "What are you talking about, he suppressed the ice pool, it can be said that my group of unwieldly disciples had the good fortune to be protected from the cold. What's more, when it comes to these sorts of figures (人物), residing here in my insignificant bright valley hanging the title of "elder" on me, we don't even have the ability to accept (he actually says "我们沾光还来不及呢", 沾光 is like benefiting off the association of someone, lit. dabbling in light and he's saying even hosting someone like Cheng Qian is enough, not to mention, benefiting off the prestige of being called elder by him)

"This small brother has grace (恩) towards me, in those years, fellow cultivator Wen had come to find me, bearing this very jade, I knew no matter what it took, I had to find a way to help him anyway, " Tan Yan says, "it's just that although he happened to achieve the formation of a primordial spirit in the spirit condensing jade, there has been no precedent for forging the jade into flesh. I did not know if it was possible, I fear that because the process had been too prolonged, his heart might have formed lingering connections becoming excessively impetuous, causing him to drag out memories from the past. Now that he has passed the Seven Heavenly Calamities, and now that he has successfully refined a body in the spirit condensing jade, I should also return it to its rightful owner."

As they spoke, the two arrived at the ice pool, as soon as he got closer, Tan Zhen couldn't bear the cold, quickly forming a hand seal, the aura of death on him becoming even thicker.

Walking further along, they could only hear the sound of the rushing water, the owner of the place had just finished bathing, and was coming out of the pool whose waters were dripping into ice, right at that moment. Nian Mingming clearly intoned, "Young friend Cheng Qian, have we intruded upon your peace?"

This wasn't the first or even the second time the fat man (T/N: 胖子) had disturbed other people's peace, no one knows what kind of tradition the people of bright valley had, but from top to bottom there would be people gossiping to death, so Cheng Qian was already used to the ruckus (this was a weird sentence).

He was not uncomfortable in the slightest, a layer of white mist emerged from the ice pool, as he picked up a set of clothes by the pool, that had been frozen stiff, draping them across his body. In the time it took for him to walk two or three steps, that head of hair which had been glazed with ice was now completely dry, as the long robe also relaxed and draped down flowingly, this body which had cultivated through the vicissitudes of life had transformed into something sleek and tranquil (T/N: the text uses: 润物无声which literally translates to silent lubricant. I know what you're thinking, get your mind out of the gutter, it's from a poem)

Cheng Qian nodded in their direction, and spoke, "valley lord- Tang xiong (T/N: 兄, like saying bro) I was just going to find you, would you like come in a sit? It's just that my place is a little cold here."

It just so happened to be midsummer, however there was not a trace of arid air in the cave, at first glance when walking inside, it seemed to be an icy field of barren ice and snow, even the chairs on the ground were frozen in place, a layer of frost had collected on them. Chen Qing lightly snapped his fingers, and a ball of warm and rosy fire materialized at his fingertips, falling below one of the chairs, and instantaneously melted and dried the icy frost on it, but the chair was not damaged in the slightest.

Cheng Qian said, "Tang xiong's health is not well, find a warm place to sit."

As for valley lord Nian Mingming, he didn't care, that old fat man had thick skin anyway, could bear a freezing.

The water in the teapot sitting on the table had long been frozen into a pile of hard ice, Cheng Qian holds it in his hand, waving it in a circle a few times, only then did the big ice cubes, under his urging (words used are 真元催动) begin to melt, and in no time, they released threads of hot steam. He served the two each a cup of hot water.

Tang Zhen received it, warming his hands, and only then did he place that lantern in front of Cheng Qian, saying, "This object is thus returned to you, young friend, your path has been full of narrow escapes (九死一生, lit. Nine deaths one life) and will only become more difficult, so from here on out you must take extra care of yourself.

Cheng Qian was not surprised in the least, he apparently knew of how Tang Zhen had taken away his past memories, and nodded, and with a wave of his hand, that small group of lights within the lantern was tucked away into his sleeve, as he resolutely responded, "Regarding Tang xiong's favor of life and death (生死肉骨之恩), in the future, if you have any need of me, I, Cheng Qian will certainly risk life and limb to help."

Early in the morning, a commercial road in the south of the Yangtze River (江南) was fogged by the scorching heat, and a caravan on the way was intercepted by officials.

"Halt! What do you sell? Come down for an inspection."

The officials that had stopped them appeared all worn out, evidently, they had been staying on this road for a long time. But strangely enough, following behind this group of officials were two middle-aged men in taoist robes. The two did not mingle with other people, they only meditated far behind, sitting there, impervious to the affairs of the world.

The head of the caravan promptly dismounted his horse, bowing and scraping on the ground, "head official, we hale from north of the yangtze river to buy skins and furs to resell, our business is a proper one, please can you (respectful 您) do us a favor..."

With this, he skillfully takes out an embroidered pouch from his sleeve, intending to bribe his way through.

The face of that official flickered with a flash of greed, he was just about to reach out, but seeming to remember something, hesitated for a split second. He turned surreptitiously to glance at those two taoists who weren't far off. Gritting his teeth, he pushed that purse back, at the same time, raising his eyebrows, "What are you doing? You bunch of dishonest businessmen, not doing honest business under the light of day, where did you learn these methods of bribery, scram!"

After saying so, he reached out and directed with his hand, "Go search!"

The head of the caravan could only look on with a bitter face behind the official's back, "Ai, head official, slow down... it would be hard to sell if you tear it..."

A long line of carts trailed behind the caravan. And it was exactly as they had said, the officials could not search out anything but leather, and through it all, the head official's face became more and more stinky. He turned his gaze and pointed to the last ostentatiously huge carriage of the caravan, "What's inside that carriage?"

The head of the caravan responded, "replying to head official, that's the carriage of our young master..."

"Young master?" He sneered coldly, "What kind of young master rides in such a big carriage alone? Even when the grandsons of the dragon emperors (龙子皇孙 nobility?) go out, they wouldn't arrange such a big show of extravagance, get out of my way!"

The head of the caravan couldn't hold him back, a group of officials had already surrounded that ridiculously large carriage.

But only to see the head of the caravan pull out a wooden sword about the length of a palm from his person, making movements in all directions in a manner like the wind, mumbling words like some kind of great deity- after all, ordinary people are unlike cultivators, if one wanted to procure a spell themselves, they had to completely utter the runes (符咒) of the spell. Some spells are carved out, and as they are not intended for mortals, there won't be any runes left behind, thus could only be circulated among cultivators.

Only after a good period of time did he finally get a response from the runes on the sword, and onlookers only saw a green light flashing on the tip of the sword, headed straight for the carriage.

The head official immediately became excited and shouted, "Surely there is a contraband! Open the door!"

These so-called "forbidden goods" were magic charms sold on the private black market without permission.

This dynasty stipulated that all magic charms that the common people came into possession of must first be reviewed and stamped by the Tianyan Office. Otherwise, wouldn't it be a disaster if there were people harboring unfathomable intentions and bought charms for killing and arson?

Of course, the regulations are implemented for a reason, but because of this, when things entered the Tianyan Office, not only was there unspoken bribery running rampant, but things could drag on upward to a year, and even then, the result was that most were not allowed to pass. Only a few of them were able to leak out, but they were basically divided up almost exclusively by those noble officials and relatives of the imperial family and relatives, so a genuine artifact could be sold at a price equivalent to heaven.

For those that illicitly sell contraband, the court cannot control every little up and down (高来高去) from cultivators, but they could control the common people, and set a death penalty. If so much as one person dared to resell or buy these illicit goods or spiritual devices in private, then it would be considered the same as open rebellion, and they will be treated as such, with the death of the entire family until the third generation, and slaughtering of the descendants of anyone involved (so basically a severe penalty, words used were "满门抄斩" and "株连九族").

But even so, on the black market, there will never be an end to those that will take the risk to buy and sell spiritual devices, crazy people who throw away their lives in order to gain profit. Especially in recent years a figure has emerged by the name of, "Laoqian gongzi (fishing for money master) " he has a reputation of "no money no life" (lit. want money, don't want life) and is a mysterious and elusive (lit. Gods appear, and ghosts vanish) boss of the business of reselling contraband goods on the black market (tried my best T~T raws: "黑市禁品倒卖").

Some claim that this person has the background of an official, and is in collusion with officials and bandits, while others say that he's simply a cultivator.

In the recent years and years following, things have been tough. The rebels had brought quite a few black-market contrabands, making the job of the court officials very hard. Nowadays, their hatred of these desperate people who die for money has only increased, along with the stringency of the inspections. Pretty much on every road of commerce, there will be people intercepting from time to time, while dispatching a group of masters from the Tianyan Office to set traps (撒网) everywhere.

Upon the orders of the head official, the two Taoists behind him exchanged a glance, walked up- only to see that the carriage really was unreasonably (uses 邪门) big, taking up almost half of the official road. The head of the caravan could not obstruct them in time. The head official had already lifted up the edge of the curtain with a lift of his hand, and the person inside just so happened to glance up.

The person inside looked to be a young man roughly in his twenties, lazily leaning in the car, clothed luxuriously, holding a book in his hands, his pair of eyes peering out in a half-lidded gaze, looking like the fox fairy of legends (T/N: a type of demon known to be seductively attractive), the head official could only gape on dumbly.

This carriage was even more extravagant on the inside, the summer sun was at the height of its zenith, yet there was ice inside, cooling a sparkling and translucent, pure and limpid pot of plum wine.

When the attractive (T/N: the author likens him to a fox fairy again) young man noticed this head official, his brow immediately wrinkled into a frown, and abruptly used the book to cover his face, angrily shouting, "Where did this thing come from, kick it out, it's so ugly I could die!"

This line snapped the head official, still holding onto the curtain, back to his senses, as he struggled to gathering up his faltering confidence, "The, the audacity of you! You are carrying contraband, this is a matter of rebellion, still not promptly surrendering ('速速束手就擒") ?"

"Contraband?" the young man raised a brow, "You're talking about this?"

Only to see between his slender fingers was a peculiar ring. The ring face was carved to resemble the shape of a copper coin. Before the head official could clearly deduce the material of which it was made, a white shadow had suddenly emerged from the square hole in the center of the coin and became the bust of a teenager in the air. This kind of thing was unheard of, the head official was so shocked that his mouth was left hanging wide open...

The boy then raised his hand expressionlessly and gave him a slap, and only after this did it dissipate in the air with satisfaction.

The young man looked down loftily, saying without much sincerity, "Yo (哟, kind of like saying tch), head official, I'm sorry (对不住) you (您) were standing too close, this is not some sort of contraband, it's a handmade plaything. Without you saying, I just so happened to be in a dilemma; I don't know what I did, (? Raws: 不知怎么添上几刀好) but I wanted to at least have this treasure talk to me- but now whenever he comes out, he'll slap people (T/N: that was so tough, I probably got some nuances wrong)

The two Taoists who had been trailing behind the official finally spoke up, looking coldly at the young man, "You are also a cultivator?"

It seemed as if the young man in the carriage had not heard them at all, with a proud look, he leaned on the soft couch (榻) and didn't even bother to sit up straight.

The official who had been slapped covered his face jumped up and down (一蹦三尺高), "Immortal cultivators (addressing the Taoists), this person seems very suspicious, no doubt he's that... that whatever they call it "Laoqian gongzi"!"

The Taoists from Tianyan Office asked, "If we may inquire of this fellow cultivator, for what reason do you not dismiss the toils of the earth, and take part in colluding with the lot of mortals?"

The young man said in a very self-confident manner, "I want to, and to show off (he says 呗 at the end here which is like 'duh')."

The Taoist choked, and had to take a deep breath before he could continue, "Then if we may ask this fellow cultivator of your origins and whom your teacher (he asks for 师承何处 which is like teacher I guess) is?"

The young man laughed, "why would I tell you- are you done inspecting? Make way!"

Just as these two words fell from his lips, he suddenly patted the small table, in the center of his brows flashed a small sword (T/N: idk I'm translating this literally), and immediately there was a sword with an indomitable spirit rushing up to greet the two Taoists.

The person in question seemed so lazy it was like he didn't even have bones, but who knew that he was a hidden talent (term used 深藏不露), and seemed to have at least reached the point of a primordial spirit (Yuan Shen 元神) with the sword, at a level where he could freely sheathe and draw it.

The two people acting as road blockers were not prepared in the slightest, and scrambled to rush out of the way, not daring to meet its sharp edge, and that talkative head official had long since fainted, eyes rolling back.

Although the two Taoists had cultivated for a few centuries, even they did not dare be so ill fortuned as to brush against the embellished sword of this cultivator (idk: 不敢触这剑修的霉头) the two exchanged a look, and retreated, "Offended senior, please."

To be able to refine a sword to this degree, even the top powers would yield to him somewhat, and it is essential for that person to have a resolution as firm and unyielding as steel and stone. Take them to any sect, and they would surely become an elder respected and worshipped by the tens of thousands, how could anyone like this do something so shameless as to buy and sell on the black market?

The immortal lords (Taoists) had spoken, so even if they were unwilling, the lower-ranked still had to obey, and in no time, the official investigation had completely withdrawn, they even neatly and efficiently packed the assorted skins, furs, and cloths back where they belonged, and sent them on their way.

Only after creating some distance between them, did the head of the caravan release a sigh, carefully sidling up before the carriage window, and said, somewhat flatteringly, "I was told that there would be less investigations on this road, didn't think our luck would be so bad... thankfully we had young master (公子) today to personally deliver us to safety."

A sentence drifted out from the carriage, "Mister (老板) Li, no need for thanks, it was on the way for me (racked my brains for this one, 顺路), I really appreciate it, in the future, just grant me some discounts (he literally says be considerate of the prices for me)."

Mister Li hurriedly said, "I don't dare to, it is our honor to be looked after by young master."

Just then, a shrill whistle suddenly rended through the air, a sphere of fire landing on the roof of the carriage, and with a loud "bang", a girl burst forth from the flames.

She had light, sweeping brows, almonds eyes and a slight slender face (瓜子脸 lit. melon seed face), appearing extremely charming and intelligent. Only, her style of dress was a bit out of the ordinary, feathers of beautiful purples and brilliant reds (姹紫嫣红) were inserted behind her head, front view was that of a beauty, but from behind, it really looked like pheasant with a tail c*cked straight up!

She swept her gaze around the circle of dumbstruck mortals, clapped her hands as she flipped down from the roof, and without any warning, tumbled into the carriage, calling out, "Da shixiong, I'm here!"

That person in the car, who could split apart heaven and earth, unrivalled and peerless, consorted with mortals to do shady business with the buying and selling of goods, person who cultivated the sword, was precisely Yan Zhengming (T/N: things are heating up!!!).

In a flash, it had been a hundred years since he had taken a Shidi, a Shimei, and a Taoist youth to cross the East Sea, traversing thousands of miles before arriving at the Yan family home, only to witness a scene full of utter desolation- it had already been 8 years since the Yan family had been convicted of crimes and had all their possessions and properties forcefully confiscated. In their prime, they had been able to call the wind and summon the rain, rich and abundant with resources, but now could only discuss the length of the withered grass on the graves.

Without a better alternative, they could only roam about the four corners of world (四海为家) to begin the journey of bitterly cultivating, invading the cultivation caves of yao (妖, which could be monsters etc.), entered uninhabited secret territories, loitering through the black market of forbidden goods, left to claw their own way from the stifling abyss for a century.

It could be said, that it had only been a few years since Sect leader Yan had regained this feeling of having a place to be sheltered and cared for, as the period in his life when he was still a young master.

Right as Shui keng flipped into the car, before she got the chance to settle down, Yan Zhengming reached out a hand, scattered her hair through the air, causing her head of chicken feathers to all flutter down, flying everywhere. Shui Keng shrieked, "Ah! My feathers! I don't have the face to see anyone anymore!"

Yan Zhengming, "that person should be me- what did you come here for, to blind my eyes?"

Shui Keng aggrievedly retrieved her chicken feathers, blowing softly on them, recovering her precious treasures back in her arms, and said, "recently, there have been many rumors circulating in Shu Zhong, at first they were saying some demon lord had left behind some artifact, and just now I heard that some ghost cultivator had popped up there, and now because Er shixiong can't sit still and left first, he sent me on an errand to tell you."

When he heard this Yan Zhengming's brows wrinkled, they had continuously been looking for the Han Yuan that had plunged into the sea without a trace or further news that year, but any new information had eluded them. Every time they so much as caught a wisp of a rumor of demonic happenings, some of them would have to rush and take a look... even if they themselves felt that hope was very slim.

In his heart of hearts, Yang Zhengming knew that the trip would probably turn out to be futile, but still had no choice. He sighed, and downed the plum wine in the glass in one go, "Come on, let's bid farewell to mister Li."

In Shu (蜀 a region), bright valley.

Daybreak was on the horizon, only then did Cheng Qian use the excuse of Tan Zheng's being unwell to shoo away the Nian Mingming who had been discussing swordplay with him animatedly.

Nian Mingming did not wield a sword, generally, people like him who could not even see the tips of their toes upon looking down, tended towards devices of shorter lengths, because it was safer. So, it was unknown as to why he was so passionate on the path of the sword.

Cheng Qian felt valley lord Nian was probably a handsome youth with billowing white clothes at heart, which would explain why he always yearned for the things that could never seek to obtain like night and day.

Such as a sword... and a waist (T/N: Lol NMM wants a clearly defined waist).

He promised to talk a look around the village who had sent offerings on behalf of the valley lord, only after Cheng Qian sent Nian Mingming and Tang Zhen off did he return alone to the extremely cold place he had been in seclusion for fifty years, retrieving from his possession that small lump of memories that Tang Zhen had returned to him.

He knew that his physical body was already dead, he also knew that his soul had, miraculously, by some twist of fate entered the soul condensing jade and was thus trapped in the jade for many decades before being recovered by Taoist Wen Ya.

Tang Zhen conducted himself with honesty, that year, when he entered the spirit condensing jade in the form of a Yuan Shen (元神) he had took away his numerous decades of life and death memories right in front Cheng Qian, and now that he had broken through, he had been eager to recover those memories from his past life into his hands, but for a while he had been struck with apprehensive nostalgia.

And in the years that followed, some sporadic fragments would emerge from his brain, like inexplicably feeling how he should be wielding a sword that seemed as if made for him, how there should be a grove of bamboo by where he lives, or how his bedding should be imbued with the soothing fragrance of orchids and so on...

The light emanating from the small lump of returned memories was dim, but did not seem bleak, Cheng Qian fiddled with it, repeatedly tossing into the air only to catch it again, but no cracks were seen.

The faint white light looked chilly, but holding it in his hand, it felt very warm, made all the more obvious in this landscape of snow and frost.

Cheng Qian took a sharp and deep intake of air, blinked his eyes to flick off that frost that had condensed upon his lashes while he momentarily was lost in thought. Only then his fingers slightly loosen, and those lingering memories of the past returned like weary birds alighting home, more eager than their owner to immerse themselves into the center of his brows.

In an instant, that young man's years (光阴) flooded into him at long last, surmounting a century long struggle that had resisted death itself, it was as if he had been violently shaken awake from a deep dream. Every inch of his heart, thoughts, and mind, every blankness that had been forgotten without a trace, seemed to have been slathered with vibrant and heavy colors, present without a slightest difference. Just like yesterday.

Getting onto the roc (扶摇), jumping from the azure dragon, grasping the frost blade (霜刃), the downward arc of the silver knife, epiphany on the barren island, the orchids on shixiong's collar, and the suffering in the spirit condensing jade...

All kinds of ordeals, not of the past.

When Cheng Qian opened his eyes once more, the sky was already bright. His eyes were extremely sore; the ice pool had firmly honed his heart that was as calm as standing water. But it could not dam the centuries of longings and yearning attachments that had now coalesced into a desire to return home with haste.

No wonder Tang Zhen and Nian Mingming determined that once he broke through and retrieved his memories, would promptly depart.

Cheng Qian stood up and walk to the edge of the ice pool, grabbing in one fell swoop, the originally polished surface of the pool suddenly surged. An ice sword condensed in the air, falling into his hands. The ice that made up the foundation of the cave had been frozen for no less than thousands of years, impossibly hard, but could not withstand the peerless sharpness of this icy sword.

Cheng Qian smoothly drew an extremely complicated charm circle by the ice pool. When the charms were completed, the ice sword finally couldn't withstand it any longer, it was stirred up by his true Yuan (真元 true spirit?), shattering into numerous fragments, which were scattered to one side, beginning to slowly melt- and the chill of the ice pool was sealed.

In order to prevent the ice pool left unguarded after he left, this spell of Cheng Qian could seal the chill air of the pool for around a decade or two. And by the time it was up, if that old fatty still could not attempt to copy the spell ("依样画葫芦" lit. draw a gourd from the model), he could always come back in person.

After all, he was unwilling to forsake anyone who treated him with kindness and grace.

When Cheng Qian headed to the valley lord's pavilion to bid his farewells, that grandfather and grandson pair who had come the other day asking for help had already been seen off to ahead of time. There was only a Nian Mingming who was looking at him, all sorts of feelings welling up in his heart, with a complicated expression, like that of marrying off one's daughter, in his eyes. Lifting up the corners of his sleeves, he dabbled at his eye corners, hummingly said, "with this parting, who knows when we'll be able to meet again."

Looking on, Cheng Qian's eyes hurt, he thought it would be better if they didn't have the fortune of meeting again.

Nian Mingming continued, "In the future, if you ever find things unsatisfactory outside the valley, even if you come back, you don't have to live in the ice pool anymore, I'll let someone tidy up a cave for you."

Cheng Qian's heart unexpectedly softened, but before it could soften to the core, the old fatty added, "I already told the disciples in the valley, if they're ever bullied while traveling in the future, they need only to mention your name. Young friend, the responsibilities are all yours!"

Cheng Qian, "..."

He swiftly turned heel to leave, intending to resolve all ties to this place straightaway. Nian Mingming hurriedly cried out for him to halt, "Wait a moment, young friend, I have also prepared a fitted (趁手) sword for you!"

Cheng Qian glanced back, and only felt that he was dangerously close to being blinded on the spot- lying in valley lord Nian Mingming's hands was a pearly sword that emitted an ostentatious aura. The scabbard was densely covered by jades inlaid with gold, and had that been the end of the story, he could just never mind it. But to top it all off, even that gold inlaid jade was inlaid with depictions of four noblemen of plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo, and chrysanthemum (梅兰竹菊四君子), whose appearances only became increasingly rich and imposing as one looked on. And when they were crudely and simply stacked together, it really was the splitting image of the four rich men who bestowed prosperity and wealth.

The corners of Cheng Qian's mouth twitched, feigning courtesy, "valley lord should keep it for himself."

Nian Mingming sighed, shaking his head, "Ai, that's right, young friend has already experienced seven heavenly calamities and made up his mind to leave the valley, and it was only a matter of time before you would inevitably rise up with might, we are but a small sect, and really don't have anything presentable to give..."

Before he even finished his words, his hands suddenly emptied, in the next moment, that rich man's sword had already been taken away by Cheng Qian, who uttered a "many thanks", and left wielding that sword, his whole body revolving. Upon leaving, he left a cluster of dazzling golden-brightness in his wake, the afterglow illuminated the sun resplendent bright valley (T/N: Wow what a scene)

The small taoist child peeped out from the doorway, and said to the Nian Mingming who was currently grinning from ear to ear, "valley lord, elder You tan left?"

"He already left, " said cheerfully, then suddenly said with heartfelt sorrow, "Ai, those capable bodied people can go out and call the wind and summon rain, while us people, born with good lives yet no abilities, can only stay back and benefit, living in ease and comfort- Tong-er, do you have anything to report?"

"Oh", the taoist child flatly said, "I'm just here to tell you, little Shishu ran off again!"

Nian Mingming, "..."

thousand year long

In a way, it actually made me remember Mao Ni and Er Gen.....

only to get a wooden sword infused with his bf's soul as his personal weapon in the end lmao