Volume 1 Chapter 15

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Volume 1 Chapter 15: Moving

Soon, it was the seventh day after Lu Huayan’s passing. Yue Qingru’s body also quickly improved since it was not seriously injured. However, his expression remained somewhat gloomy, clearly saddened by Nangong Qingshan’s actions that day.

After the seventh day, Xu Qingfan and Yue Qingru buried Lu Huayan in the ancestral grave on Jiuhua Mountain, in the early morning. According to the legends of the Shenzhou Continent, the first ray of sunlight in the morning can purify the soul of the deceased and wash away their sins from life. The newly rising sun represents the rebirth of the one who has passed.

The morning at Jiuhua Mountain was filled with a light mist, with few people around, creating an ethereal atmosphere. Unfortunately, Xu Qingfan had no mood to appreciate it. He felt the mist added a cold, sad feeling to Lu Huayan’s funeral.

The only ones who attended Lu Huayan’s funeral with his senior brothers were his senior brother Xiao Huazhe and a disciple of sect leader Zhang Hualing, who came to represent Zhanghua Tomb. After Lu Huayan was buried, he hurriedly left. Perhaps it was because Lu Huayan was always solitary in life that none of the other elders came. Lu Huayan left in a very lonely manner.

Two cups of light wine were poured in front of Lu Huayan’s grave, as Xu Qingfan’s tribute to him.

According to martial uncle Xiao Huazhe, when Lu Huayan was young, he loved to drink a little wine whenever he had the chance, despite his master’s wife’s repeated advice against it. This matter almost led to fights several times between the couple, who had already reached the Condensed Core Stage at that time. However, after his wife passed away two hundred years ago, the master never drank again, as if he finally listened to her advice. Unfortunately, by then, his wife was no longer there.

"Will my master’s wife in heaven blame me for being an unworthy descendant when she sees me pouring wine on my master’s grave?" As Xu Qingfan looked at the drops of clear wine soaking into the ground at Lu Huayan’s grave, this silly thought suddenly popped into his mind. "She probably won’t. After all, she and my master finally got to be together again, so she should be busy with that, right? Besides, my master hasn’t had wine in two hundred years. That’s quite sad."

"Thank you, martial uncle, for coming today to send my master on his last journey, so he wouldn’t leave in too much silence."

Just as Xu Qingfan was lost in thought at Lu Huayan’s grave, Yue Qingru’s sad voice suddenly broke his reverie. When he looked up, he saw that Xiao Huazhe was getting ready to leave, so Xu Qingfan hurriedly bowed to Xiao Huazhe with Yue Qingru and sincerely said, "On behalf of my master, I thank you for seeing him off, martial uncle."

"Ah, I have been with your master for at least seven hundred years, how could I not see him off?" Xiao Huazhe sighed, glancing at Yue Qingru and Xu Qingfan before nodding and saying, "You two are good, worthy disciples of Huayan. I’m sure Huayan will be very pleased to see your filial piety from above."

"I do not deserve such praise," Yue Qingru quickly replied.

"As a child of a person, this is just my duty," Xu Qingfan said as well.

"Haha, such modesty! Such duty! Huayan has taken in two good disciples!" Xiao Huazhe suddenly seemed to think of something and said with a self-mocking smile. "I wonder if I will have disciples like you to see me off when I die?"

"Martial uncle, you possess great skills; you are surely destined to live a long life, oh, I mean longer than the southern mountains," Xu Qingfan said, trying to comfort Xiao Huazhe, but he quickly changed his words halfway.

For these great masters at the Condensed Core Stage, who could maintain their youth for hundreds of years, wishing for a long life was no different from a curse.

"Hehe, a long life like the Southern Mountain? It’s not that easy. Huayan had such great talent… sigh…" Xiao Huazhe said sadly, but he was not angry at Xu Qingfan’s "curse." "Alright, it’s getting late. I also need to go back and meditate. Huayan’s death affects me greatly. After all, I am more than twenty years older than him. Who knows when I might also be unable to escape fate? A long life like the Southern Mountain? Hehe, it’s not that easy."

Hearing Xiao Huazhe say this, Yue Qingru and Xu Qingfan did not know how to respond, so they both bowed and said together, "Disciple respectfully sees off martial uncle, wishing martial uncle great progress in power soon."

As Yue Qingru and Xu Qingfan saw him off, a dazzling and colorful rainbow bridge appeared under Xiao Huazhe’s feet, carrying him away quickly. As Xiao Huazhe vanished, a deep and gentle voice echoed through the heavens and earth.

"Qingfan, I have taken over the promise your master made to you. If you later find that you cannot take revenge with your own strength, come find me, and I will personally help you eliminate that evil being."

…

According to sect leader Zhang Hualing’s wishes, after Lu Huayan’s burial, the entire Changchun Residence would belong to the Xu family. On the afternoon of Lu Huayan’s burial, Elder Xu sent a disciple to eagerly "discuss" the timing of taking over Changchun Residence with Xu Qingfan.

The disciple named Liu Qingguan spoke with a proud expression and a self-important tone, making the usually calm and gentle Xu Qingfan feel an urge to kick him out.

After assuring that they would move out of Changchun Residence that day, Xu Qingfan and Yue Qingru quickly saw off this annoying guy, then exchanged helpless smiles.

"I didn’t expect that Xu Martial Uncle wanted to move in so eagerly," Yue Qingru said with a wry smile.

"Who made us less powerful? They say Elder Xu has many disciples and a small cave, but when the master was here, I never heard anyone say they wanted to change it. People come and go." Xu Qingfan said softly.

"Ah, I am such a useless elder brother. I couldn’t even keep our master’s old home safe."

"Don’t be upset, elder brother. The magical items left by the master have already been taken away, so there’s no point in staying in his old home. It would only make us sad." Xu Qingfan said comfortingly. After thinking for a few days, Xu Qingfan has come to terms with it.

"Younger brother, where do you think we should live after leaving Changchun Residence?" Yue Qingru silently nodded at Xu Qingfan’s words and then asked.

"Is there really no place to stay in Jiuhua Mountain, which is so big?" Xu Qingfan asked with a frown.

"There are some empty rooms, but those are either for guests visiting Jiuhua Mountain or for low-ranking disciples to stay in. It wouldn’t be suitable for us to live there," Yue Qingru explained.

After hearing Yue Qingru’s words, Xu Qingfan frowned and thought for a while before firmly saying, "Then we will go to the back mountain and create our own cave."

"The back mountain? It seems like there’s no one living there. And, is it alright for us to create a cave without permission from the sect?" Yue Qingru asked hesitantly after hearing Xu Qingfan’s words.

"Why wouldn’t it be suitable? The sect leader just kicked us out of Changchun Residence; they didn’t say where we must live. The back mountain indeed has no people, but that’s what makes it quiet. And there is a strong presence of Wood-type Qi there, perfect for us to stay."

It’s hard to say if it was because Zhang Hualing was careless, but after giving the Changchun Residence to Dharma Protector Xu, he did not specify where Xu Qingfan and the others should live, which unknowingly gave them the right to establish their own dwelling. It is important to note that at Jiuhua Gate, only skilled practitioners at the Lingji Stage can have the right to create their own dwelling.

In the end, Yue Qingru was persuaded by Xu Qingfan and decided that the two of them would go live on the back mountain together.

After making the decision, they began to pack their usual belongings, preparing to head straight to the back mountain to establish their dwelling. They both did not want to see Elder Xu’s annoying disciple come here again to urge them.

Xu Qingfan didn’t have much to prepare, just a few wide robes specially for disciples of Jiuhua Mountain, and the remnants of "The Formula of Wither and Flourish," a Wood Spirit Pill that Lu Huayan had given him, as well as the magical tool Ruler of Wither and Flourish that he always carried. However, Yue Qingru had many more things, most of which were writing materials and various books of poetry. Luckily, Yue Qingru could use the Taoist spell "Sleeve Space" to carry some of them, while Xu Qingfan, though not knowing this spell, was still light and agile from years of cultivation, and could manage to carry three or four big bags.

So, with big and small bags filled with Yue Qingru’s writing materials, the two left the Changchun Residence, where they had lived for a long time, and headed toward the back mountain.

Before leaving, Xu Qingfan took a last look at the familiar yet strange sight of Changchun Residence, secretly thinking, "The things lost today will one day be recovered by me, Xu Qingfan."

After that, Xu Qingfan strode toward the back mountain without looking back even once.

Once they reached the back mountain, Yue Qingru immediately fell in love with its tranquility and vitality, truly agreeing with Xu Qingfan’s idea of establishing a dwelling there.

In fact, the dwelling that cultivators talk about is simply finding a place to live and setting up a Spirit Gathering Formation and a defensive array on the outside. Although their powers could not stack the two arrays, just setting up a single Spirit Gathering Formation was enough for Yue Qingru at the late stage of the Inedia Stage, especially since they were inside Jiuhua Mountain, without fear of outside attacks. With Xu Qingfan helping him, after using up many of Yue Qingru’s accumulated spirit stones from decades of hard work, they successfully set up a simple Spirit Gathering Formation.

With Yue Qingru around, building two rooms became very easy. Using a low-level Taoist spell called "Gathering Spirit into Wood," a lot of Wood-type Qi appeared on the ground in front of Xu Qingfan, slowly turning into smooth pieces of wood. Then, by using another spell called "Controlling Wood to Take Shape," the pile of wood automatically came together and quickly built two wooden houses, each about three zhang long and wide.

All of this amazed Xu Qingfan, who watched in surprise. He had never thought that Taoist spells could be used like this. At that moment, Xu Qingfan felt a strong desire to learn Taoist spells.

With his own house, Xu Qingfan’s heart, which had felt lost and empty after being driven out of Changchun Residence, suddenly felt full and settled. This is how people are; as long as they have a place to call "home," they feel very safe, whether they are powerful cultivators or ordinary people.

When everything was done, the time had unknowingly turned to evening.

Looking at the clear and bright night sky over the back mountain, Xu Qingfan suddenly remembered his only friend at Jiuhua Mountain, Jin Qinghan. It had been almost four months since he had seen him. I wonder how he is doing now?

Thinking of this made Xu Qingfan very eager to meet Jin Qinghan. Without hesitation, he bid farewell to Yue Qingru, who was busy organizing his books and pens, and walked toward the place where he often met Jin Qinghan.

Friends are very important because they can share your joys, anger, worries, and sorrows.