Volume 5 Chapter 75
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Volume 5 Chapter 75: Joining (Part 1)
Because Xu Qingfan promised Hu Guangshan and the others that he would reach "Ronghua Mountain" within seven days, he did not delay at all along the way, pushing his speed to the limit as he rushed toward General Bai’s Mansion. Although General Bai’s Mansion was not far from "Ronghua Mountain," the round trip was still very tight on time. Any slight delay would cause him to exceed the seven days.
However, things were not destined to go the way Xu Qingfan hoped. When Xu Qingfan arrived at Fencheng City, where General Bai’s Mansion was located, he learned that Bai Lianye had gone to the capital. Since the chaos in the Shenzhou Continent had gradually settled, Bai Lianye returned his military power to the royal family and had become a leisurely prince, though he was constantly watched by the royal family, making his life quite uncomfortable.
However, in Fencheng City, Xu Qingfan and the others also received some bad news: Zhang Ningmei’s grandfather, Zhang Long, had passed away three years ago, reaching the age of one hundred. As a mortal, his death could be considered complete.
Originally, after learning that the chaos of the Shenzhou Continent had not affected the Bai family and Zhang family, Xu Qingfan was ready to take Ting’er, Zhang Ningmei, and Bai Yu to "Ronghua Mountain." But now with Zhang Long’s death, even though Zhang Ningmei did not say anything, Xu Qingfan could not bear to let Zhang Ningmei miss paying homage to her only family member. So despite the time pressure and Zhang Ningmei’s understanding advice, he still flew toward the royal capital, also letting Bai Yu see his father.
Xu Qingfan himself had suffered enough from the pain of having no family and being unable to see his loved ones off. He could not bear to make Zhang Ningmei endure that pain once more.
After flying to the royal capital, they quickly found the Bai Mansion, also known as the Martial King’s Mansion. Not wanting to waste time, Xu Qingfan and the others descending from the sky caused a chaos in the royal capital, with countless people worshipping and calling them immortals. Of course, there were also those who fled; the remnants of battles between "immortals" over the years had caused the mortals to suffer greatly.
The imperial city is far away from "Ronghua Mountain," thousands of miles away. At "Ronghua Mountain," with the entire Righteous Alliance gathered, the so-called traces of "immortals" did not seem to be any less than those of ordinary animals.
After entering the "Wang Mansion," there was no need to mention the scene of Bai Yu Bai Lianye meeting his father and son; many similar moments exist in the world. Following Bai Lianye’s guidance, Xu Qingfan took three disciples to pay their respects at Zhang Long’s grave.
"Zhang Long, we have a connection. Your granddaughter is also a good match for me, and her character and understanding are excellent. I will take good care of her."
In front of Zhang Long’s grave, Xu Qingfan closed his eyes and quietly said that after a person dies, their spirit lingers in the world but will disappear after seven days. It is unknown whether the soul is scattered or if there really is a Netherworld. Zhang Long had been gone for over seven days, yet Xu Qingfan chose to believe in the existence of the Netherworld and silently prayed to its elders.
Zhang Ningmei, looking sorrowful, bowed down. Bai Yu followed, worried, but what surprised Xu Qingfan was that Ting’er also knelt down three times before Zhang Long’s grave. It seemed that after all these years, Ting’er had completely accepted Zhang Ningmei.
Because she accepted Zhang Ningmei, Ting’er felt Zhang Ningmei’s sadness as her own and regarded Zhang Ningmei’s elders as her own. That is how Ting’er is.
After the memorial, it was Zhang Ningmei who suggested leaving first. Though Xu Qingfan agreed, he felt guilty that he had given Zhang Ningmei too little time.
Despite this, Xu Qingfan said nothing more. After rejecting Bai Lianye’s offer to stay, he quickly took his three disciples towards "Ronghua Mountain."
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Xu Qingfan played with a wooden plaque in his hands, and a thoughtful look appeared in his eyes.
The wooden plaque seemed to be made of an unknown type of wood, shining with a metallic gloss. At the top of the plaque was the head of "Qiongqi," looking very lifelike, especially the eyes, which glowed strangely. When looking at the plaque, it felt like the "Qiongqi" on it was also watching him closely.
This wooden plaque was a treasured item of the Bai family, but for generations, the Bai family had no idea what it was used for and just treated it as a piece of heritage. The last time Xu Qingfan left with Bai Yu, Bai Lianye forgot about this plaque due to his many worries.
This time, as Bai Yu was leaving again, Bai Lianye remembered he only had one son and needed to uphold the Bai family heritage. So before Bai Yu left with Xu Qingfan, he gave him the plaque and reminded him, "Even though you are already half a immortal, you are still a member of my Bai family. Always remember to keep the Bai family bloodline and quickly give me some grandchildren," making Bai Yu’s face turn red, while Zhang Ningmei giggled, easing some of the sorrow from Zhang Long’s passing.
After leaving the Bai family, Xu Qingfan felt something strange about the plaque, so he took it from Bai Yu to study it closely. Along the way, besides trying to travel at top speed, Xu Qingfan focused on studying the plaque.
However, the more Xu Qingfan studied the plaque, the stranger it seemed, yet he could not figure out its meaning.
When he saw "Ronghua Mountain" faintly appearing in the horizon, Xu Qingfan sighed in relief, knowing he had finally arrived within seven days. He had kept up an extreme pace throughout the journey, and it truly exhausted him.
As "Ronghua Mountain" grew larger and clearer in front of him, Xu Qingfan returned the plaque to Bai Yu and said, "This plaque is very strange. Make sure to treasure it; perhaps it hides some cultivation method or secret from your Bai family."
Bai Yu nodded in agreement, but his expression showed he did not care much for the plaque and quickly tucked it away in his sleeve. Perhaps it reminded him of Bai Lianye’s words about grandchildren and sons.
When the grand and majestic Ronghua Mountain fully came into view for Xu Qingfan and his three disciples, Xu Qingfan was just about to speak loud, but he paused for a moment and then showed a mysterious smile, as if he had discovered something.
Sure enough, not long after, three figures riding on clouds approached; it was Hu Guangshan, Li Liming, and Jiang Tao. Clearly, they had been waiting here for a long time, worried that Xu Qingfan and the others might really be infected by "Beast Madness" and spread it further.
"Daoist Friend Xu is truly not a person of empty words."
From a distance, Hu Guangshan cupped his hands and smiled.
Xu Qingfan laughed and said, "I was afraid that the three of you thought I had gone mad on the way here, so I hurried over."
As he spoke, Xu Qingfan turned to Li Liming and Jiang Tao and said, "My two Taoist friends, look carefully, seven days have just passed, and my three disciples have not turned into ‘Beast Madness’ cultivators."
Xu Qingfan was not usually someone who enjoyed teasing others, but in the past few days, he had been tortured enough to keep up with the seven-day deadline and was unhappy with their previous attitude, so he spoke like this.
Upon hearing Xu Qingfan’s words, Jiang Tao showed an awkward expression, while Li Liming snorted coldly, and just as he was about to say something, he exchanged glances with Jiang Tao and both bowed and apologized to Xu Qingfan under Hu Guangshan’s stern gaze.
Xu Qingfan bowed back to accept the apology, not wanting to push further, and engaged in a few friendly words. After all, it was very likely that they would become allies in the future, so it was better to keep things amicable.
After talking about the matters of "Ronghua Mountain" over the years, Hu Guangshan knew that Xu Qingfan still needed to represent Jiuhua to meet the many masters at "Ronghua Mountain," so it was inconvenient for him to stay with them. Thus, he politely took his leave and flew ahead towards the top of Ronghua Mountain.
After watching the three leave, Xu Qingfan flew to the foot of "Ronghua Mountain," gathering Spirit Qi within him, and called out to "Ronghua Mountain", "Xu Qingfan from Jiuhua seeks an audience with the respected elders."
His voice echoed loudly, spreading throughout the entire Jiuhua Mountain. The clouds at the mountainside shook in response to Xu Qingfan’s words.
After a moment, the protective formation outside "Ronghua Mountain" shook and opened, revealing dozens of Condensed Core Stage cultivators leading hundreds of ordinary cultivators, some riding clouds and others on flying objects, coming towards Xu Qingfan. Among them were several Sect Masters from various sects.
Xu Qingfan was representing one of the six Holy Lands, Jiuhua Mountain, so it was fitting for many sect leaders to come to greet him.
As the local leader, Qinglingzi of "Qingxu Gate" stood in the center and saw Xu Qingfan, a look of confusion crossed his face. He was puzzled for a few reasons: first, he had seen Xu Qingfan during the Newcomer Competition but did not expect him to have advanced so much. Second, he was curious why Jiuhua would send a disciple of the "Qing" generation to meet with the Righteous Alliance. Third, Qinglingzi felt that Xu Qingfan bore a slight resemblance to Xu Fan, a rogue cultivator from Southern Wasteland who once preached at Qingxu and helped the sect, but upon closer examination, Xu Qingfan was quite different in both cultivation level and appearance.
