Chapter 57: Four Waters

Whoosh whoosh!

In an instant, several streams of light streaked across the sky above Three Waters Hollow.

“It’s immortals!”

The big-eyed girl said.

Recently, they had often seen streaks of light flash across the horizon, sometimes accompanied by raging wind and torrential rain, thunder and flames.

These children had already grown used to it.

“They’re immortals fighting… what a pity. Why don’t a few of them die? It’d be nice if they fell nearby so I could pick up a corpse…”

The half-grown boy said regretfully, only to be smacked on the forehead the next moment.

Smack!

“Pick up corpses? Those dying immortals could blow you away with a single breath!”

A scolding voice sounded. Both the boy and the girl cried out in delight, “Brother Jingchun?”

“Mm, got lucky and caught a field mouse…”

At the entrance of the Ancestral Hall appeared a young man in coarse hemp clothing, holding a not-very-fat field mouse in his hand.

The moment they saw it, both the girl and the boy swallowed hard.

Fang Jingchun looked about seventeen or eighteen. His frame was thin, and the burdens he had borne too early in life had even bent his back slightly.

The few little ones happily skinned the field mouse and gutted it, preparing to cook a pot of meat soup.

Although roasted field mouse tasted good, it did not have much meat—how could they waste it like that?

“Eh? Who are you?”

The half-grown boy was about to gather some firewood when he discovered that inside the dilapidated Ancestral Hall stood a young man in blue robes.

Just by looking at his smooth skin and vigorous spirit, one could tell he had been raised in comfort as a pampered young master. The boy could not help but grow wary.

“Me?”

Fang Qing smiled and did not answer. Instead, he looked thoughtfully at the broken walls and ruined surroundings before him. “Where are the offering table and spirit tablets?”

“They were all chopped up for firewood… Brother Jingchun said that if people were starving to death, there was no need to care about such things. The ancestors below wouldn’t mind.”

Under the influence of “Silver Tongue,” the half-grown boy did not hesitate at all and blurted it out.

“Haha, quite flexible.”

Fang Qing laughed, when suddenly cries of alarm came from outside. Fang Jingchun rushed in holding a rusty firewood knife, shielding the half-grown boy behind him, his gaze wary. “Who are you?”

“You’re called Fang Jingchun?”

Fang Qing thought for a moment.

In his memory, there seemed to be such a person, though they were not very close—barely a clansman within five degrees of kinship.

Back then, he had only been a little brat with a runny nose, running around naked all day.

In the blink of an eye, he had grown this big?

“Yes, I am Fang Jingchun!”

Fang Jingchun answered instinctively, then his expression changed. “An immortal art? You are an immortal?”

With his vigilant nature, he would never have answered so directly unless… he had been affected by a spell!

At that thought, Fang Jingchun immediately threw down the firewood knife and pulled the boy behind him to kneel on the ground. “We pay our respects to Immortal. May we know Immortal’s honored name? Are you from the Luo Family of Tianshui?”

“Not bad in your response. For the Fang Family to have fallen to this state and still produce someone like you—quite good.”

Fang Qing smiled.

“Our Fang Family? Could Immortal be an ancestor of our Fang Family?”

Fang Jingchun looked at Fang Qing’s face. It seemed faintly familiar, yet he could not place it.

“You could say so…”

Fang Qing sighed and took out a handwritten book from his robe. “This is the Divine Martial Secret Tome. In the mortal world, it counts as a decent martial art. There are also a few bottles of pills to increase cultivation power and heal injuries… I’ll give them all to you.”

Fang Jingchun took the items, his expression dazed. The vigilance in his heart unknowingly dissipated considerably.

“Tianshui has already become a land of trouble. It’s not suitable to stay long… I’ll take you somewhere else. Just live your lives well.”

Fang Qing added.

“Immortal Ancestor, I… can I cultivate immortality?”

At this moment, the half-grown boy could no longer suppress the heat in his heart and spoke out.

Fang Jingchun was too late to stop him and could only signal with his eyes.

But the boy remained firm, staring straight at Fang Qing.

“Cultivate immortality? Probably… The Fang Family has the Ji Water destiny. Cultivating the Water Path to Entering the Dao is not difficult… but you still lack True Qi.”

Fang Qing considered that the Fang Family’s destiny was not bad; there were likely quite a few with the aptitude to cultivate.

But while he could leave behind Qi Ingestion cultivation methods, what about those strands of True Qi? Was he supposed to find them one by one for these people?

If they were close blood relatives, that would be one thing. But since they were only distant kin, he could not be bothered to do so much.

Ensuring that a trace of the Fang Family bloodline would not be extinguished was already enough.

“Then, Immortal Ancestor, can you take me to cultivate?”

The half-grown boy immediately pressed further.

“No.”

Fang Qing shook his head with a smile and looked toward Fang Jingchun. “You, on the other hand, know when to advance and retreat. The Fang Family will depend on you from now on… Cultivating immortality is not easy. I myself am only struggling onward and cannot help you much. Compared to being a Loose Cultivator in the cultivation world, becoming a martial magnate in the mortal world is not bad either.”

“Jingchun understands. It is only a pity that my strength is meager and I cannot assist Immortal.” Fang Jingchun kowtowed repeatedly. “But our family inheritance has been severed. I ask Immortal to leave a token, so that our descendants will not forget their roots…”

Fang Qing sighed. “I carry no long possessions, so I will grant you ten generational characters—‘Supreme One Boundless Dao, Profound Subtle Ultimate Immortal.’ After ten generations, there will truly be no connection with me whatsoever.”

He used a flying artifact to carry the few little ones and delivered them to the outskirts of a city where the livelihood appeared decent, settling them down.

Before departing, he also left behind a bundle of gold and silver.

“Ancestor…”

At this point, the half-grown boy and the big-eyed girl had grown timid and did not dare say much more.

After experiencing flight, they finally understood that immortals and mortals were entirely different kinds of beings from two separate worlds.

Instead, Fang Jingchun gazed at Fang Qing’s face, as if finally recognizing him, yet finding it hard to believe.

“I’m leaving… After today’s parting, we likely will not meet again.”

Fang Qing waved his hand.

Looking at Fang Jingchun, his heart stirred slightly, and he transmitted his voice with Divine Sense: “Your younger brother and sister’s temperaments are not yet settled. If I were to pass on immortal arts, it would only invite disaster… You, however, seem somewhat promising. Beneath the banyan tree in the small courtyard, I’ve buried a Ji Water cultivation method, along with Qi-Gathering Essentials and a record of the grievances between our Fang Family and the Luo Family of Tianshui and the Black Moth Sect. Handle it as you see fit…”

Although in Fang Qing’s view, given the absurdly difficult entry requirements of the Qi Ingestion Path in this world, Fang Jingchun’s chances of Entering the Dao were extremely slim—what if?

The Fang Family had sought the Dao for many years. There should be some conclusion at last. They could not be deceived again.

“Many thanks, Immortal.”

Fang Jingchun repeatedly expressed his gratitude, only to see a flash of blue light before him.

A clear breeze brushed past, and the figure had already vanished. A faint sense of loss arose in his heart…

…

Half a month later.

“Fellow Daoist, as for Ji Water Dao Foundation cultivation methods, this bookstore truly does not have them…”

Three Mountains Market, inside a book pavilion.

Fang Qing looked at the shopkeeper, whose face was plastered with smiles, and shook his head. “Forget it… I’ll take those few pill scriptures, Dao books, and hexagram manuals instead… But as for the pill scriptures, are there really none above Dao Foundation?”

“Truly none!”

Cold sweat covered the shopkeeper’s forehead. He thought to himself that this lunatic from who knew where was either asking for Dao Foundation cultivation methods or pill scriptures.

If his shop possessed such inheritances, it would already be a Dao Foundation great clan, honored in one region. How could it have fallen to this state?

Fang Qing paid for the books, somewhat disappointed.

After settling the Fang Family descendants, he had wandered through markets everywhere, exchanging spiritual resources, conducting cross-world trade, and occasionally searching for Dao books and cultivation methods…

With Plum Blossom Divination to seek fortune and avoid misfortune, he had not encountered any bandit cultivators or deception…

Yet only when he truly began collecting did he realize how rare knowledge above Dao Foundation was!

“Forging a Dao Foundation grants a lifespan of two hundred years. Wherever one goes, such a person is honored… truly not simple.”

After leaving the bookstore, Fang Qing patted the Storage Pouch at his waist and sighed quietly.

“Fortunately, the art of hexagram divination is somewhat useless… yet there are indeed some True Disciple transmissions hidden within, though scattered and needing to be organized one by one.”

By comparison, his cross-world trade was bringing in daily profits by the bucketful.

Unfortunately, he likewise could not find a Dao Foundation-level Ji Water spiritual item. Such treasures were most likely held by Dao Foundation families and Purple Palace sects, treasured in their secret vaults and rarely put up for sale.

‘The inheritances, cultivation methods, and treasures circulating on the market… the vast majority are only at the Qi Ingestion level… Should I join a sect?’

Fang Qing merely considered it before quickly abandoning the idea.

The waters of the Land of Ancient Shu ran too deep. Who knew what orthodoxy stood above a given sect?

He had too many secrets. He also could not abandon his identity as a True Disciple of the Azure Sea Sect. If both sides became busy at once, it would be easy to reveal flaws. Better to forget it.

Moreover, if he were to randomly choose some Dao Foundation or Purple Palace immortal sect… he might as well directly defect to the Secret Treasury Domain!

With his identity as the “Lord of Little Snow Mountain,” he might truly enjoy boundless pleasure and obtain limitless methods.

Of course, if discovered, he would also receive boundless beatings!

Fang Qing left the marketplace and wandered casually until he arrived at a place with clear spring water flowing, brown rock as companion, and layers of forests dyed in color not far away.

After resolving the karmic ties of his physical body, he felt his Ji Water True Power circulate ever more smoothly, with a sense of accumulated strength ready to burst forth, as natural as water flowing to completion.

He knew at this moment that the opportunity for his breakthrough had arrived. He immediately sat cross-legged upon a rock and swallowed a packet of Qi Refining Powder.

Whoosh whoosh!

A gentle breeze blew—this wind was Xun.

“Ji Water favors wind. Water returns to the southeast as Zhen Water, then cycles upward to the heavens, borne by wind across the nine provinces, falling as rain, like newborn water—this is Ginseng Water. Rain transforms and enters the earth, nourishing wood—this is Bi Water. Bi Water excels at nurturing, thus possessing the virtue of Heaven-One Generating Water…”

Fang Qing opened his eyes and smiled faintly. “Qi Ingestion Eighth Layer… Of course, breaking through a minor realm is nothing. Rather, earlier hearing that Lou Metal is the proper position of Metal gave me some insight… Within Water Virtue, there is likely also a proper position of Water. Perhaps between Zhen and Bi?”