Martial Cultivator

This time, Chen Chao had come to the Infatuation Daoist Temple thoroughly prepared. But for a young Lord Warden Commander whose cunning and scheming ranked among the best in the world, his first choice was naturally to avoid sacrificing his own face, and certainly not to part with anything of real monetary value.

After all, under the current circumstances, the Great Liang Dynasty was like a housewife carefully counting how many bushels of rice and how many strings of coins were left to keep the household running. Whatever could be saved had to be saved, because no one knew when her husband would next bring money home.

Yun Jianyue smiled. "Since I've become Temple Master, I ought to seek some benefits for the daoists of this temple. Otherwise, they'll be cursing me behind my back."

Chen Chao looked at Yun Jianyue and uttered two words. "Cloud Ridge."

Yun Jianyue was taken aback. Clearly, he had not expected Chen Chao to mention those two words. He looked at Chen Chao in disbelief, then with deep suspicion, before finally murmuring, "That can't be right. Chen Chao, you've never been the sort to leave empty-handed. Getting something out of your hands is harder than ascending to the heavens."

The words "Cloud Ridge" would leave not only Yun Jianyue momentarily stunned, but in fact every daoist in all of daoism upon hearing them.

It was a solitary mountain situated on the border of Qingshan Prefecture. Originally, there had been nothing remarkable about it, but during the reign of Emperor Taizong, after the climate changed, the mountain began producing a medicinal herb known as the Cloud Spirit Herb.

Although the Cloud Spirit Herb was only an ordinary medicinal herb and had little use on its own, many Daoist pills required it, especially the Tranquility Pills used by powerful cultivators during secluded cultivation. The herb was needed to bring out the pills' medicinal effects. As such, the Cloud Spirit Herb had always been quite valuable. Wherever it was produced within Great Liang, it was sold to Daoism, with every major sect competing to purchase it.

Cloud Ridge alone accounted for half of Great Liang's annual production of Cloud Spirit Herb.

If Great Liang were willing to hand Cloud Ridge over to the Infatuation Daoist Temple, the temple would never again have to worry about its supply of Cloud Spirit Herb. They would even be able to produce surplus medicinal pills to exchange with other daoist sects for cultivation resources.

In fact, as early as Emperor Taizong's reign, after learning that Cloud Ridge produced vast quantities of Cloud Spirit Herb, the Infatuation Daoist Temple had been trying to acquire it. But the Great Liang naturally understood Cloud Ridge's value just as well, and had guarded it carefully all these years. Although the Infatuation Daoist Temple was the number one sect of the foreign lands, other daoist sects had also set their sights on Cloud Ridge, making it difficult for the temple to seize it by force. Thus, a delicate balance had been maintained.

After the Great Liang Emperor ascended the throne, Cloud Ridge came under even stricter protection, leaving the Infatuation Daoist Temple with even less hope. Then, after Chen Chao became Great Liang's Lord Warden Commander, the foreign lands no longer dared entertain thoughts of Cloud Ridge. They were fortunate enough if Chen Chao did not set his sights on them instead.

Thus, it could now be said that so long as Chen Chao remained alive, no sect would ever be able to covet Cloud Ridge.

Chen Chao glanced at Yun Jianyue, his face full of pained reluctance. "This carries quite a bit of weight, doesn't it?"

Yun Jianyue nodded. If Cloud Ridge were given away, Great Liang's annual revenue would decrease substantially. It represented an enormous sum of skygold coins.

"What do you want?"

Yun Jianyue was no fool. He naturally knew that Chen Chao would never give him something for nothing.

Chen Chao looked somewhat surprised. "No, Great Daoist Sage Yun, Great Temple Master Yun, don't tell me you actually thought I was going to give Cloud Ridge to the Infatuation Daoist Temple?"

Yun Jianyue froze before finally realizing his misunderstanding. He rubbed his face awkwardly, his cheeks turning slightly red.

Anyone could understand how precious a place like Cloud Ridge was. If Chen Chao actually gave it away, he would be nailed to the pillar of shame.

He was hardly a fool. Naturally, he would never do such a thing.

"A ten-year term. Cloud Ridge will be leased to the Infatuation Daoist Temple for ten years. During those ten years, the temple only needs to pay one hundred thousand skygold coins each year."

Chen Chao paused before smiling, "After those ten years, whether the lease is renewed will be decided by Great Liang."

One hundred thousand skygold coins a year was practically the same as giving it away for free. By offering Cloud Ridge under such terms, Chen Chao was clearly giving face to the Infatuation Daoist Temple. Or more precisely, giving face to Yun Jianyue as its temple master.

To repair the relationship between the Infatuation Daoist Temple and the imperial court, and in doing so, give the daoists of the Infatuation Daoist Temple a reason to head to the north.

Yun Jianyue said, "Great Liang Dynasty's Lord Warden Commander has always carried himself with his head held high. If you're dissatisfied, you simply slap someone across the face. Yet now you're lowering your head before the Infatuation Daoist Temple?"

Chen Chao looked at Yun Jianyue and smiled. "It's only because you're the temple master. If Daoist Wuyang were still the temple master, then the moment I walked into this daoist temple, it'd be complete chaos."

Yun Jianyue nodded. "If anyone else said that, I wouldn't believe it. But since it's you, I'll reluctantly believe eighty percent of it."

Chen Chao clicked his tongue, glanced at the Scripture Library, then quickly withdrew his gaze before asking curiously, "Can you let me have a look at the back mountain?"

In the back mountain of the Infatuation Daoist Temple were many elderly daoists, some of whom had likely already broken through the Nepenthe Realm and reached the Fuyun Realm.

However, those people had never cared about what happened in the outside world, devoting themselves solely to cultivation.

Yun Jianyue shook his head. "The seniors won't do anything. Even if you went there to provoke them, you might not die, but then what would be the point of leasing Cloud Ridge to us?"

Chen Chao smiled. "I just wanted to take a look. See if any of the old daoist sages still genuinely care about the world enough to come with me and kill the Demon Emperor."

Yun Jianyue remained silent.

Many times, he had asked himself this very question. As cultivators, did pursuing longevity truly outweigh everything else?

Chen Chao quickly noticed something was off with Yun Jianyue. Patting the young daoist sage on the shoulder, he smiled and said, "I was just teasing you. Even if those old daoist sages were willing to come out, it still wouldn't make a damn bit of difference."

Yun Jianyue turned to look at him and rolled his eyes. "That wasn't very comforting."

Chen Chao changed the subject with a smile. "Let's talk about something you might actually be interested in. Find somewhere quiet, with no one else around."

......

......

The two left the Scripture Library and arrived at Yun Jianyue's cave dwelling. This great daoist sage, now the Temple Master of the Infatuation Daoist Temple, solemnly set up a formation to prevent outsiders from overhearing his conversation with Chen Chao.

Chen Chao's arrival at the Infatuation Daoist Temple had naturally drawn the attention of countless people.

Chen Chao waited quietly until Yun Jianyue had finished arranging everything and sat down opposite him. Only then did he slowly begin, "Have you ever considered that this world is a circle drawn by a single person? It begins with the first stroke, continues for thousands of years, and finally returns to where it started."

Chen Chao extended a finger and deliberately traced a circle on the ground, drawing it outward until it returned to its starting point.

Watching this, Yun Jianyue said softly, "From nothing it comes, and to nothing it returns."

Chen Chao glanced at him.

Yun Jianyue said, "That's one of Daoism's teachings."

"Then it seems your so-called... Dao Ancestor... has been trying to remind you of something all along."

Chen Chao keenly realized that the so-called Dao Ancestor of Daoism had almost certainly known the truth long ago. Thinking about it, that made sense. Someone qualified to found a religion and be revered as its ancestor could never have been merely an ordinary cultivator with limited vision.

Yun Jianyue said, "You're saying that after several thousand years, this entire world is simply wiped clean by someone, like sweeping all the pieces off a chessboard before starting a new game."

Chen Chao nodded. "Sage Yun is indeed perceptive."

After saying this, Chen Chao glanced at Yun Jianyue. Before the young daoist could speak, he continued first, "Some chess pieces aren't important, so with a casual wave of the hand, they're simply left where they are on the board."

Yun Jianyue said, "The Dao Ancestor may have been one of those people."

His reaction was swift.

But just as quickly, another question followed, "Evidence."

So Chen Chao began recounting everything he knew - the Rongshan Sect, the Divine Daughter, and the Fuyun Sect recorded on that sheet of paper.

After hearing everything, Yun Jianyue remained silent for a long time before finally murmuring uncertainly, "Deities?"

Chen Chao shook his head. "I think they're cultivators with even higher realms. They definitely have some connection to those cultivators overseas. The old daoists in your temple also know part of the truth."

Yun Jianyue looked at Chen Chao and was just about to speak when Chen Chao waved a hand, "That's something for later. If I can't stop the demon race now, then there's no point thinking about any of that."

"But you need to understand that if such a group of people is really hiding somewhere, and we don't even know what they're trying to do, that's a terrifying thing."

"I'm telling you all this because if that day truly comes, we have to stand together."

Chen Chao said calmly, "Even more so than we need to stand together now."

Yun Jianyue said softly, "To save the common people from suffering?"

Chen Chao smiled and shook his head, "I'm only Great Liang's Lord Warden Commander."