Starting Cultivation During a Trip

The tranquil moon sinks low, hazy light floats and gathers.

Within the quiet little courtyard, Eightfold Primordial Light soared upward, illuminating the vast heavens. The moonlight, frosty and bright, seemed pale by three parts in comparison.

"Great Master Eighth Layer!"

Zhang Fan let out a long breath, and raised his head three feet; the Eightfold Primordial Light condensed as one, his entire being radiating an ever more terrifying aura.

His Primordial Spirit was as clear as black and white, his presence akin to divinity side by side; just a trace of his aura escaping would be enough to strike fear into the heart.

Qiu Buyi’s Primordial Spirit was no ordinary thing; the Innate Skill was truly wondrous— to Zhang Fan, it was indeed a Great Medicine for cultivation.

"Divine and Demon spring from the Innate, yet falling into the Red Dust, they become human." Zhang Fan murmured softly, but in his eyes surged a sudden flash of understanding.

This was not merely an ascension in realm, but even more a perception in the principles of Dao.

"Ever on the Yangtze, new waves push the old ahead— there will always be the new to stand at the fore."

Suddenly, an aged voice floated gently over, echoing in the quiet courtyard.

Zhang Fan turned his gaze, and there beneath the moonlight, he saw a familiar figure slowly walk in, stepping into this desolate yard.

"Chairman Lou!?"

Zhang Fan’s eyes sharpened— he was rather surprised by Lou Hechuan’s appearance.

"Did you kill him?"

Lou Hechuan glanced lightly, his gaze falling upon Qiu Buyi, who had long since collapsed on the ground. His aura was weak, nearly severed, like a guttering candle before the wind, his life force withering by the moment.

The Primordial Spirit already lost, he was but a walking corpse— what remained was nothing more than an empty shell.

"Chairman Lou, he was already like this when I came in." Zhang Fan spread his hands, speaking.

"Then why are you here?" Lou Hechuan said blandly.

"I..." Zhang Fan was, for a moment, at a loss for words.

"When you came down from Zhenwu Mountain, at most you’d just awakened your Primordial Spirit."

At that moment, Lou Hechuan’s words took a turn— he suddenly spoke.

"In less than a year, you’ve gone from Primordial Spirit Awakening to cultivating to the Great Master Eighth Realm, your speed utterly astonishing. If not unprecedented, it is rarely matched— in today’s world, you are without peer."

At these words, Zhang Fan’s expression changed slightly. He looked up at Lou Hechuan, as if seeing him anew.

This man— in Zhang Fan’s memory, always a mediator, always taking the blame as President of the Jiangnan Province Daoist Alliance Headquarters— turned out to know everything after all.

"Divine Demon Holy Embryo— it truly is overbearing and peerless..."

"Even if the Zhang Family’s incense has faded, they still inspire awe." Lou Hechuan sighed deeply.

Zhang Fan’s gaze darkened, saying nothing.

At this point in the conversation, if Lou Hechuan still did not know his identity, that would be a joke indeed.

"Is Chairman Lou going to make a move?"

Zhang Fan’s voice was heavy, with a hint of wariness in his gaze. The last time in the Red Sun Building, Lou Hechuan had only made a slight show of force and Zhang Fan could already tell— the chief of the Jiangnan Province Daoist Alliance was an expert of the Sect Leader Realm, and had advanced far along that path.

"In youth, ambitions soar to the clouds. Now spring’s splendor wanes, the heart grows bleak..."

Lou Hechuan’s gaze swept past Zhang Fan; his expression was distant and vague. Wandering the quiet desolate courtyard, his words were laced with sorrowful reminiscence.

"In my youth, I, too, once came here..."

"Your old grandmaster treated me well, often kept me nearby..." Lou Hechuan sighed.

This was a story he had kept buried in his heart for decades, never spoken.

Ever since that day the South Zhang was destroyed, this past had become a complete taboo.

"Grandfather!?"

"Your grandfather gave me the kindness of being recognized." Lou Hechuan said solemnly.

Talent— everyone has it, but not everyone realizes it themselves.

Some hide brilliance within, sharp edges unseen— all they lack is a chance, a stroke of fate. Without such a chance, perhaps a whole life would be spent in obscurity.

As it is said, a man may harbor boundless ambition, but without fortune, he cannot rise. Even the great roc, soaring ten thousand miles, must first ride the shape of the wind.

To Lou Hechuan, all that he had achieved in this life owed itself to Zhang Tian Sheng of those times— his good fortune, his wind beneath the wings.

"So back then, Chairman Lou is the one who fished my father out of a pile of corpses?" Zhang Fan said in a low voice.

"Chairman Lou is truly a grateful man!"

Chen Dragon had once said that he and Zhang Lingzong had skirted death, barely a breath left— and someone had saved them from the mound of corpses. That man was Lou Hechuan.

Lou Hechuan’s old brows twitched slightly, but he only regarded Zhang Fan a long moment and spoke not a word.

"Your father is not ordinary. In his youth, calamities beset him. His Profound Skill reached Great Success, his fierce name was known far and wide— yet he feigned death under the calamity at the foot of Dragon Tiger Mountain ten years ago to escape disaster, hiding in Yujing City, right under my nose, and I never even realized it..."

Saying this, Lou Hechuan looked at Zhang Fan: "All he has left is a single son— you."

"Chairman Lou, what is it you wish to say?" Zhang Fan frowned slightly.

"What is here? Enough for Chen Dragon to risk fate to come— enough for you to hazard yourself?" Lou Hechuan’s tone abruptly shifted as he looked back at the little tower, suddenly asking.

"Chairman Lou, this was my Zhang Family’s place to begin with." Zhang Fan reminded him.

"You should go." Lou Hechuan shook his head, gazing in the direction of the old street, speaking softly, "Chen Dragon may not survive— and this place, you cannot lay claim to it. If you remain, even the final incense of the South Zhang might be extinguished..."

"Elder Lou, since you remember old friendship, then you should let me enter." Zhang Fan caught Lou Hechuan’s meaning and replied at once.

"Though your grandfather showed me the favor of recognition, President Jiang gave me the grace of support— I cannot betray him." Lou Hechuan shook his head.

The fact Lou Hechuan had risen this far— all because Jiang Wansui promoted him with his own hand.

At these words, Zhang Fan couldn’t help but laugh.

"Elder Lou, loyalty that isn’t absolute— is absolute betrayal..."

"You should know— since ancient times, those who try to please both sides rarely come to a good end."