Watching the Mountain

It is often said that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone.

This was exactly how Li Tianhe felt right now.

He bowed deeply to Xu Ran. "All of us disciples from that year are now grateful for your teachings, Master Xu."

Watching Li Tianhe bow to him, Xu Ran was overcome with a wave of emotion he couldn’t quite name.

Seeing the very person who had once led the opposition against him now offering thanks, he remembered how he had poured his heart and soul into preparing his lectures, desperate not to lead his students astray. All that effort had not been in vain after all. It had finally been acknowledged.

When you invest so much of yourself into something, you can’t help but care about the response.

In response to Li Tianhe’s words, Xu Ran simply gave a slight nod. "I only did what I was supposed to do."

"That may be so, but how many teachers in this world are truly as dedicated as you, Master Xu?"

"Being in charge of the Instructor Hall was just an assignment the Sect gave you. Whether you put your heart into it or not was entirely up to you. You did, and so we naturally ought to be grateful and remember it."

Hearing this, Xu Ran silently observed Li Tianhe. He compared the man before him to the arrogant, aggressive youth he remembered. There was no trace of that boy left. The old Li Tianhe could never have said such things.

As Xu Ran was lost in this reflection, Li Tianhe looked at him and asked hesitantly, "By the way, Master Xu, will you be taking charge of the Instructor Hall again in the future?"

Xu Ran gave him a puzzled look.

Li Tianhe took the initiative to explain. "My child was born a few years ago. I had someone test his talent, and it’s not bad. He should be able to join our Sect. I was thinking it would be wonderful if you could be his teacher after he enrolls."

"You have a child already?" Xu Ran looked at him, surprised.

The man wasn’t even fifty yet, and his Cultivation was at the Qi Cultivation Ninth Layer. This age was a critical time for attempting to break through to the Foundation Establishment Stage. Generally, very few people would choose to marry and have children at this point.

Li Tianhe saw his confusion and explained with a wry smile:

"Master Xu, you should know that our batch of disciples was recruited during a special period for the Sect. Under normal circumstances, with our talent and aptitude, we would never have been able to join a Major Sect like ours."

Back when they first joined a Major Sect like the Profound Pure Sect, every one of them thought they were a chosen prodigy. That was why, after the inter-sect grand competition, they felt Xu Ran had held them back.

Now that they had come to their senses, they realized their awkward position. The disciples before them were more outstanding, and the new disciples after them were more talented. They had become the worst batch.

Xu Ran fell silent at these words. He understood what the other man meant. This was a choice made after accepting his own mediocrity.

He sighed inwardly. ’It seems he’s really been through a lot over the years. No wonder he’s changed so much.’

After a moment of contemplation, he asked, "You should be close to the Foundation Establishment Stage by now, right? Are you just giving up?"

Hearing this, Li Tianhe gave another wry smile and shook his head. "Master Xu, you know as well as I do how many people are trapped before the gates of Foundation Establishment for their entire lives, never able to enter."

"I may seem close to Foundation Establishment, but I still haven’t been able to achieve Bright Heart Illuminating Self. In a few more years, my Essence, Qi, and Spirit will begin to decline, and I’ll hardly have another chance to attempt the breakthrough. I’ve accepted my ordinary fate. Now, I just want to watch my child grow up and then live out the rest of my days in peace."

Just as Xu Ran was about to sigh at how times had changed, and how the once aggressive and arrogant youth had his rough edges smoothed away, he suddenly noticed something strange about Li Tianhe’s state.

He stared intently at Li Tianhe for a moment, observing the faint, almost imperceptible aura around him, and fell into deep thought.

A moment later, a faint sense of melancholy emanated from Xu Ran, enveloping Li Tianhe.

Once he felt his own emotions influencing the other man, he channeled a Daoist tone and spoke softly into Li Tianhe’s ear:

"It seems you have indeed experienced much over the years. But... have you truly not seen your own path?"

Immersed in the Melancholy Realm, Li Tianhe started at these words. He then raised his head, a look of confusion on his face, and asked, "Master Xu, what do you mean by that?"

Xu Ran spoke calmly, "Accepting the ordinary, embracing the ordinary, and finally, protecting the ordinary... How is that not a path in itself?"

Li Tianhe froze, Xu Ran’s words echoing in his mind.

After a long while, he came back to his senses. A profound aura now emanated from his entire being. He bowed deeply to Xu Ran. "Thank you for your enlightenment, Master Xu."

Xu Ran smiled and nodded. In truth, Li Tianhe had already achieved Bright Heart, he just hadn’t realized it. Xu Ran had merely awakened him to the fact.

*

*

*

As Li Tianhe was leaving, Xu Ran asked him how he knew so much about the current Instructor Hall.

Hearing the question, the man lowered his head slightly and replied, a bit sheepishly, "Well... we’re all just carrying on the tradition you left behind, Master Xu."

It took Xu Ran a moment to process this before the realization hit him.

’My god, so they’re still challenging new disciples who have just started their Cultivation? Are they hoping another Evergreen Sword Saint will appear among them one day, so they, too, will be remembered by the world?’

Xu Ran was mortified. He really wanted to say that defeating Zhang Zhentian back then, when they were at the same Realm, had been a complete accident.

Unfortunately, after the things he had said during the inter-sect grand competition, no one would likely believe him even if he tried to explain now.

He then watched Li Tianhe’s departing figure, lost in thought. He considered how Li Tianhe had achieved Bright Heart without realizing it, and then he thought of himself.

’If that’s the case, could it be that I, too, have long been ready to congeal my Dao Seed, but I’ve been unable to succeed because I’m too close to the situation to see it clearly?’

It wasn’t just that. After seeing how much Li Tianhe had changed in just twenty or thirty short years, a strange, inexplicable emotion welled up inside him. He couldn’t quite grasp it at the moment, but he could feel that his understanding of the Melancholy Realm he had comprehended before had deepened.

He had a faint feeling that if he continued to delve into it, this Melancholy Realm might even surpass the Death Realm he had previously comprehended and become incredibly powerful.

With this thought in mind, Xu Ran temporarily set aside his efforts to congeal his Dao Seed, intending to deepen his understanding of the Melancholy Realm instead.

However, he tried for a year without making any progress. Instead, during this time, he heard news that Li Tianhe had broken through to the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Then, not long after Li Tianhe’s breakthrough, news arrived that Shen Wuchen had broken through to the Purple Mansion Stage.

The two of them broke through one after the other, less than a month apart. In the wake of this, discussions about him suddenly began to circulate within the Sect.