Starting Cultivation During a Trip

"When I first took a life, you were still pissing and playing in the mud."

The night was silent, and for a moment, neither spoke. Wispy threads of steam curled up, forming a barrier that seemed to separate the two of them.

"Two eggs. Extra scallions and chilis."

Lou Hechuan was the one to finally break the silence.

"Elder Lou, at your age, still eating so heavy this late at night?"

As he spoke, Feng Ping’an nevertheless grabbed the spatula and started making a pancake. In that moment, the two of them fell into the roles of street vendor and customer.

"Tsk tsk, your skill with fire does come in handy for pancakes, it seems." Lou Hechuan sneered, his tone tinged with mockery.

Who would have thought, that the former Jiangnan Province Daoist Alliance Headquarters Vice President, Scorched Earth Flame Monarch, would fall so far as to run a pancake stall.

"You followed the Great Spirit Sect King, yet ended up among the commoners. Don’t you find it a pity?" Lou Hechuan said coldly.

"Feng, you should’ve had a promising future ahead. My seat was always bound to be yours one day."

"He who wants to rise high must first stoop low. To be in a lofty position, then let go of it all and return to dust, that’s also a kind of cultivation." Feng Ping’an’s hands didn’t so much as pause as he spoke. He flipped the pancake over; eggs had already been cooked onto both sides.

"Elder Lou, you’ve sat in that chair for too long, you’ve forgotten the original heart of cultivation."

As he spoke, Feng Ping’an set down the spatula and raised his head to ask, "Sweet sauce or spicy?"

"Spicy. Extra..." Lou Hechuan started, then added, "and throw in a pork strip and some sausage."

"Eight fifty." Feng Ping’an said with his head lowered.

"That expensive?" Lou Hechuan raised an eyebrow. Even at the Daoist Alliance entrance, a pancake set only ran five yuan.

"This is King of Kings sausage. The pork strip is one point five apiece. Do your own math on the cost." Feng Ping’an replied blandly.

Lou Hechuan said nothing, just pulled out his phone and scanned the QR code.

"You have received 8.5 yuan on SuperChat..."

As the chime sounded, the hot pancake was already done.

"Elder Lou, you didn’t come all the way out here in the middle of the night just for a pancake, did you?" Feng Ping’an finally couldn’t help but ask.

Lou Hechuan took the pancake, biting into it while it was still hot. Sauce ran out from under the thin wrapper, and you could see the pork and sausage inside—real ingredients, as promised.

"Who else from the Zhang Family is in Yujing City!?"

Buzz...

As soon as the words fell, the fire in the stove flared up, and the leaping flames cast Lou Hechuan’s face in an even more mysterious, unfathomable light.

"Let me be absolutely clear..."

"Other than Zhang Fan, who else from South Zhang is in Yujing City?"

Listening, Feng Ping’an’s eyes flickered with changing light. He looked at Lou Hechuan as if seeing him anew.

"Feng, did you really think that all I do in this seat is shuffle mud and wait for retirement?"

"You knew? You always knew?" Feng Ping’an said darkly.

"His surname is Zhang, that’s always been sensitive. I’m old, and caution comes with age. All those messes in Yujing City tie back to him." Lou Hechuan replied flatly.

"Back at the old house, you slipped up and showed your face, and he just happened to be present. Even if I had to guess, I would’ve guessed it—he’s the Great Spirit Sect King’s son."

"Only, that brat also carries the status of Zhenwu Mountain disciple, so I hesitated."

"It wasn’t until Huo Dharma King came on behalf of White Crane Temple to Yujing City, the Divine Demon Holy Embryo got exposed, that was when I knew—the Great Spirit Sect King’s son is Zhang Fan, no doubt about it." Lou Hechuan said with utter conviction.

At this, Lou Hechuan looked at Feng Ping’an, a heavy light rising in his eyes.

"There’s never so many coincidences in this world."

"Since you know, why not report it to White Crane Temple?" Feng Ping’an shot back coldly.

He knew full well that back in his youth, Lou Hechuan had once followed Jiang Wansui. On the back of that—and his pedigree—he’d ascended to Jiangnan Province Daoist Alliance Headquarters President.

"Sit where I do, and you’d understand—there’s so much to weigh, endlessly thinking. That too, is cultivation."

"Balance? Elder Lou, so you’ve had dealings with the Wuwei Sect people too, huh." Feng Ping’an said with deeper meaning.

"Just the Great Spirit Sect King’s son alone, that’s nothing yet." Lou Hechuan shook his head, steering the topic back.

"I need to know, besides him, who else from South Zhang is in Yujing City."

"I don’t understand what you mean." Feng Ping’an shook his head.

"Just now, someone in Yujing City revealed themselves. They cultivate the Three Corpses Illuminating Fate!"

At that, a shadow flickered across Feng Ping’an’s face.

"Three Corpses Illuminating Fate, Divine Splitting Technique—fused yet divided... In other words, he’s almost mastered it." Lou Hechuan gritted his teeth and added.

"You know what this means..."

"Three Corpses..."

Lou Hechuan paused for a bit, unable to stop himself from reciting that name, his gaze growing even darker.

"This is an earth-shattering matter. I need to know who else from the Zhang Family is in Yujing City." Lou Hechuan pressed again, his tone undeniable in its authority.

"How do you know that person is from the Zhang Family?"

"His Daoist Skill and Divine Oracle are exactly the same." Lou Hechuan said in a low voice.

Divine Oracle Zhang Tian Sheng—that name, to him, was a towering mountain, heavy as a thousand tons.

"The old man’s been dead for years." Feng Ping’an replied solemnly.

"Then it must be his descendant. No one else could inherit the true transmission." Lou Hechuan said with conviction.

He’d thought that, in Yujing City, there was no one left of South Zhang besides Zhang Fan.

So he’d kept his patience, letting Zhang Fan be, planning to use that piece in the most critical moment for maximum value.

But now it looked like there were others beyond Zhang Fan among South Zhang.

Of course, could a man cultivate two major Inner Core Techniques at once?

Forget Lou Hechuan—even anyone with a bit of sense wouldn’t have thought that possible.

"Feng, while I still have say in Jiangnan Province, you’d best tell me. If you wait until White Crane Temple sends people, you’ll be on the back foot."

There was a warning in Lou Hechuan’s words.

Just that man uttering the Three Corpses name, just him mastering Three Corpses Illuminating Fate—even White Crane Temple in far-off Shangjing wouldn’t sit still.

For now, the matter was suppressed, but if word got out, the whole world would quake.

None of the Daoist Sects, nor the Wuwei Sect, would be able to sit tight.

The Daoist sects of the world would never permit another Three Corpses Daoist to appear.

And for the Wuwei Sect, that name meant the Sect Leader’s seat. The consequences—unthinkable.

"I’ll ask you one more time: who’s still alive from South Zhang?" Lou Hechuan demanded sternly.

"Everyone from South Zhang is already dead. You ought to know that." Feng Ping’an replied, icy cold.

He looked at Lou Hechuan, and there seemed a flame dancing deep in his eyes.

"Elder Lou, when you were young, the Zhang Family showed you kindness. You haven’t forgotten, have you?"

At that, Lou Hechuan fell silent. Only after a long pause did he give a small nod.

"When I was young, just a nobody among White Crane, posted out to Maoshan, that’s when I met Divine Oracle Zhang Tian Sheng. He guided and elevated me. Without him, I’d have nothing that I have today..." Lou Hechuan’s eyes flashed with a touch of wistfulness.

"But that night, when South Zhang was destroyed—you were there too." Feng Ping’an said coldly.

"Back then, I was just a bit player."

Lou Hechuan shook his head. "You should know, an event that big—no one could have changed it by their will."

"That was the tide of fate..."

"It was destiny!"

"Destiny?!" Feng Ping’an sneered.

Lou Hechuan lifted his eyes slightly, stuffed the remaining pancake into a bag, and tucked it away.

"If you can’t say anyone else, then that brat’s identity won’t stay hidden much longer."

With that, Lou Hechuan turned, ready to leave.

"Wait."

Feng Ping’an furrowed his brow, calling Lou Hechuan to a halt.

"So, you know—someone from South Zhang is still alive? Someone in Yujing City?" Lou Hechuan pressed.

"Who’s in Yujing City— I don’t know."

Feng Ping’an shook his head. "But..."

"The Third Old Master might still be alive."

"The Third Old Master!?" Lou Hechuan’s face suddenly twitched, his eyes lighting with shock, though the name slipped from his mouth aloud.

"Zhang Tianyang!?"