Chapter 737
The Master of the Four Rivers had spent an entire era on this, yet all he managed to come up with was a method akin to "Li Dai Tao Jiang" (a metaphor meaning to replace the old with the new, but in a way that is ultimately futile)…
This was clearly not in line with the teachings of the "Huang Ting Jing" (Yellow Court Classic).
Even though Zheng Fa was confident in his research capabilities regarding the Nine Mountains Realm, perfecting the Tianhe Method in such a short time seemed like a dream.
If it took ten thousand years, the Nine Mountains Sect would likely face ruin.
Besides this, there was another reason buried deep in Zheng Fa's heart.
He wanted to know how he had crossed into the modern world, whether everything in the modern era was real or not. More importantly, he wondered if his fate had been predetermined—was he merely a pawn in someone else's game?
Compared to this, the Tianhe Method seemed trivial.
Zheng Fa gazed up at the vast sky.
Who exactly had the Tianhe Master aimed his sword at that day?
The best course of action now was to quietly obtain the Tianhe inheritance—at this moment, he found himself missing the days of being a mere pawn.
…
Shi Nandang was not having an easy time.
In a valley two thousand miles from the Hundred Immortals Alliance.
He stepped out of his courtyard and looked around.
The spiritual energy here was sparse. Although the collapsed rubble had been cleared, the surrounding mountains looked like they were suffering from bald patches, exposing large swathes of bare yellow mud.
Outside the courtyard, people came and went, most of them disciples of the Haori Mountain.
Yet no one dared to speak to him, a half-step true disciple of Haori, and even their glances were filled with caution.
Shi Nandang's expression remained unchanged, but he felt helpless inside.
The incident with the Xianjian (Trap Sword) had caused significant losses in the mountain.
Not only had twenty percent of the spiritual veins been destroyed, but more importantly, a perfectly good Xianjian had turned into a laughingstock of a sword, one that would be embarrassing to show off.
As the highest responsible person for the Heavenly Spirit and Earthly Fiend Great Formation, the blame naturally fell on him.
If it weren't for Master Luo rushing in to take the blame and getting killed by Zheng Fa's sword, he would have already faced an inquiry from the sect.
Now, with the resurrection of Master Luo and the affairs of the Tianhe Sect, the sect was in chaos, and no one came to check on him.
But these brothers and sisters were not fools; everyone could see that Shi Nandang would never make a name for himself in this lifetime, and he might even face disaster.
No one dared to get involved.
Their attitudes only made Shi Nandang more anxious.
Lost in thought, a sudden red talisman streaked across the sky and landed above his head.
The stern voice of Yun Zhenxian echoed:
“Disciple Shi Nandang of Haori, return to Haori Mountain immediately and accompany me to Tianhe.”
Shi Nandang took the talisman and looked around.
He noticed some disciples standing a little distance away, whispering to each other, their eyes filled with schadenfreude.
A chill ran through him; he knew that returning to Haori Mountain would not bode well for him.
Most importantly, with so many Haori disciples around, why was he the one being summoned back?
It was clear that Master Lu was indeed suspicious of him; he just hadn’t had the time before, and now he was thinking of bringing him back to his side.
Shi Nandang took a deep breath, ignoring the gazes of those around him, and faced Haori Mountain, cupping his hands: “I obey the Master’s command!”
With that, he soared into the air, flying towards Haori Mountain.
Halfway there, Shi Nandang extended his consciousness to scan the surroundings. Seeing no one around, he took out a communication talisman to report to Zheng Fa.
After a while, Zheng Fa replied: “The Nine Mountains Realm has reached the border of Haori. You should return first.”
“Return to the Nine Mountains?”
Shi Nandang felt a surge of joy. For him, a disciple of Haori Mountain, returning there was a hesitant affair, but heading back to the Nine Mountains was like flying with ease.
He used the Tiangang Disha transformation to take on the appearance of a middle-aged cultivator and hurriedly flew towards the Nine Mountains Realm.
In less than two hours, he arrived at the border of Haori Mountain.
As soon as he entered the Nine Mountains Realm, he noticed a change—the Nine Islands of the Heavenly Palace had transformed into hundreds of stars.
“Come to the Lingyao Workshop in Tian Shiyuan to see me.”
Zheng Fa's voice rang in his ears.
In the distance, an island glimmered slightly. Shi Nandang understood that was the Lingyao Workshop and hurriedly set off in that direction.
Though he felt a bit anxious, his eyes were irresistibly drawn to the prosperity of the Tian Shiyuan archipelago along the way.
The Tian Shiyuan archipelago included part of the original Le Tu Island where mortals lived. But more importantly, it was an expansion of the original Nine Mountains market.
According to different types of transactions, four major markets had now formed—
The Lingyao Market, the Fa Qi Market, the Xian Dan Market, and the Ling Fu Market.
In each market, numerous cultivators moved back and forth, and at the docks beside the markets, divine warships descended like raindrops.
The more Shi Nandang looked, the more astonished he became.
Although he wasn’t skilled in business, he had seen many markets in Haori Mountain.
As the foremost place for refining tools, Haori Mountain's market was among the best.
In the past, he thought the Haori Mountain market was thriving, but today he truly felt enlightened:
Rare spiritual herbs from the Eastern Continent were being shipped in by the boatload, and the sporadic quotes coming in made Shi Nandang itch to buy some.
Those divine warships, having just unloaded the spiritual herbs, didn’t rest but turned around to head to the Xian Dan Market, loading up bottles of unique spiritual pills and flying directly out of the Nine Mountains Realm.
Looking further, the magical tools and talismans produced by the Nine Mountains Sect were also in high demand.
Shi Nandang began to understand:
To supply the Yaochi and the Hundred Immortals Alliance, at least one-third of the spiritual pills from the Taishang Dao were sent here.
And Yaochi also traded about thirty percent of its spiritual herbs here.
Today’s Tian Shiyuan could be said to be a joint trading market for the three major sects: Taishang Dao, Yaochi, and the Nine Mountains Sect.
One could only imagine how much revenue Yaochi and Taishang Dao were generating, relying on Tian Shiyuan.
Lost in thought, he had already landed in the Lingyao Market.
Zheng Fa was standing among the crowd, speaking with Senior Sister Zhang. Upon seeing him, he waved.
Shi Nandang hurried over.
He heard Zheng Fa say to Senior Sister Zhang:
“The pilots of the divine warships can be trained from among the cultivators of the Hundred Immortals Alliance.”
“Tell Taishang Dao that the prices of spiritual herbs cannot go down; our transportation also incurs costs.”
After hearing a few more sentences and comparing them with the prices of spiritual herbs he had heard before, Shi Nandang's gaze towards Zheng Fa changed—wasn’t the Nine Mountains Sect being a bit too greedy?
“Senior Sister, can you calculate how much merit we can earn this month?”
Shi Nandang thought: … The Sect Master is right; Taishang Dao can buy or not!
After Zheng Fa finished speaking, Senior Sister Zhang instructed a few disciples managing the Lingyao Market, and the two of them took Shi Nandang out of Tian Shiyuan, heading back to Ziwei Yuan.
“Master, about this talisman…” Shi Nandang hurriedly asked, “If I return to the sect, I’m afraid I won’t be able to withstand Yun Zhenxian’s methods.”
Zheng Fa and Senior Sister Zhang exchanged glances.
They understood Shi Nandang's unease.
After all, Shi Nandang was indeed not innocent. If Yun Zhenxian's suspicions flared and he used soul-searching techniques, it would be quite difficult for Shi Nandang to keep his secrets.
“What do you think?”
“I… I want to hide in the Nine Mountains Realm.”
Shi Nandang said softly, feeling a twinge of guilt, sensing that he had let down the Sect Master's expectations.
He understood that the Sect Master had placed him in Haori Mountain for a reason.
The problem was… he was truly afraid.
Unexpectedly, upon hearing Shi Nandang's words, Zheng Fa not only didn’t get angry but instead laughed.
“Master?”
“You will stay in the Nine Mountains Realm,” Zheng Fa said with a smile, “but Shi Nandang, you must return to Haori Mountain.”
Shi Nandang blinked, initially not understanding, but having suffered losses before, he quickly grasped Zheng Fa's intention.
“Master, you want to… disguise yourself as me?”
“Is that not possible?”
Shi Nandang scratched his head, pondering for a long time, and couldn’t help but break into a grin.
“What are you laughing at?”
“Master, one day, I won’t see Yun Zhenxian in the Nine Mountains Realm, will I?”
You really dare to think!
…
“You want to go to the Tianhe Sect?”
Zheng Fa's departure from the Nine Mountains Realm was a significant matter, so it couldn’t be known by everyone, but he would inform the higher-ups in the sect; otherwise, many things in the Nine Mountains Sect would be hard to arrange.
Xie Qingxue hurried over upon hearing the news.
“Yeah, but it’s not certain I’ll go,” Zheng Fa clarified. “I’ll test the waters first; if there’s no opportunity, I’ll come back.”
In short, it was still a matter of seizing the moment.
Xie Qingxue looked at him and suddenly said, “I’ll accompany you.”
Zheng Fa shook his head: “Xie Xianzi, I have the Jiu You Talisman; even Dao Guo cultivators can’t see through it.”
The Tiangang Disha transformation was not omnipotent; at least, it couldn’t conceal the soul.
It was precisely because of the Jiu You Talisman that he felt more secure.
“Why do you want to go?”
Zheng Fa was taken aback: “Of course, I want to see if I can perfect the Tianhe Method.”
Xie Qingxue stared at him intently, then suddenly shook her head: “You’re not the type to do this.”
“…”
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