FFSC_08

Chapter 8: The Visitor from Tianshu — Early Nascent Soul Stage

In the end, Chen Moqing did not take that little fluffy ball along to bathe.

He happened to catch a glimpse of the night sky outside the window—less than an hour remained before dawn—so he decided not to waste time. He recited a body-cleansing incantation, and with a brief flash of soft light, both he and Cang Shun were clean.

He then took out the concealment talisman he had refined earlier, altered his appearance and figure, returned to the bedside, and resumed his cultivation.

Cang Shun, left behind on the table: "……"

The snow-white little beast began scratching at the table again.

Chen Moqing rose and went over, scooped up the Demon Emperor, and returned to the bedside. This time, he did not toss the esteemed Demon Emperor onto the cold pillow, but instead settled him in the space between his own knees.

The round, plump little snow-white beast lay still atop his legs, tucking both tiny paws beneath its chest.

A little drowsy.

The energy expended today had yet to recover.

The little fluffy ball squirmed sluggishly in Chen Moqing's lap for a short while, until a hand with well-defined knuckles came to rest gently upon its head.

The beautiful fingers curved ever so slightly, applying just the right amount of pressure, stroking it again and again.

"Fellow Daoist Jiang, all went smoothly last night. Congratulations."

At the hour of chen*, Bai Yue arrived with Ning Lili to pay a visit. Upon sensing the aura about Chen Moqing, she felt a wave of quiet admiration.

*t/n; around 7 AM – 9 AM.

Such a remarkably solid early Foundation Building stage—it would not be long before a breakthrough to the mid-stage.

"All of Qingzhu City now knows that we have gained a talisman prodigy capable of resonating with ancient runes. Word has it that this prodigy is of Golden Core cultivation."

Chen Moqing met her gaze and offered a faint smile, everything left unspoken between them.

Cang Shun looked up: "?"

He pressed a paw onto Chen Moqing's sleeve, not at all pleased, as he listened to that human speak in a pleasant voice: "Manager Bai, I would like to propose a transaction with your pavilion."

Bai Yue swiftly cast a glance at the demon beast, then composed herself and said: "Please speak, Fellow Daoist!"

Chen Moqing's knuckles tapped lightly on the table. Several translucent talismans floated into the air—not fully formed, merely rough outlines, with text drifting through them, all of them talisman formulae.

These were formulae he had acquired during his travels in years past. They were common throughout middle and upper prefectures, untraceable to their source, and the Tianshu Sect had no knowledge that he possessed them.

"I am willing to exchange auxiliary talisman formulae with your pavilion. These formulae are oriented toward offense and assault. Manager, you may review them first before deciding whether to proceed with the exchange."

Bai Yue: "Wait."

She straightened up and smoothed her robes, "Please, continue."

Ning Lili's eyes went wide.

Third-grade talisman formulae! In Dongzhou Prefecture, it was exceedingly rare for anyone to produce so many third-grade formulae all at once!

She poked her own master: look at him!

Bai Yue: "……" Truly a thankless thing, taking in such an unruly disciple.

Chen Moqing continued in an unhurried tone: "Second, I am willing to refine talismans for your pavilion, with the proceeds split evenly between us."

Bai Yue raised a finger and gave it a small shake, "Fifty-fifty? That won't do."

"Our Qianxuan Pavilion already has registered talisman refiners, and the standard split is fifty-fifty. But for Fellow Daoist Jiang, we would offer sixty percent to you, with Qianxuan Pavilion taking only forty."

Yielding sixty percent did not pain Bai Yue in the least. She knew that talismans refined by this Fellow Daoist Jiang would, in all likelihood, be of superior quality, commanding considerably higher prices—and should he produce another ninety-nine percent quality piece, it would be fiercely contested at auction.

To partner with a talisman cultivator of such boundless talent, taking forty percent was no loss to Qianxuan Pavilion— if anything, a modest gain.

Moreover, she had a certain intuition: perhaps one day, their Qianxuan Pavilion might, with this Fellow Daoist Jiang as their cornerstone, make a resounding name for themselves across all the lower prefectures and even into middle prefectures.

The terms of the partnership were settled swiftly. Chen Moqing added one final condition: "As for today's matters, I would prefer that no fifth person come to know of them."

Ning Lili: "Haha, that sounds just like something those demonic cultivators in story books always say— the ones who kill and do evil and then go into hiding under false names."

Chen Moqing said nothing. Bai Yue said nothing either.

Ning Lili: "…Haha."

She drew a finger across her lips and made a gesture that said— I won't say a word. I'll take it to my grave.

The guests departed. Cang Shun leapt onto Chen Moqing's shoulder and studied the side of his face.

【Since when did you have those talisman formulae?】

Chen Moqing: "Any talisman formula I have laid eyes on, I can reproduce from memory."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than that low, unhurried male voice sounded again at his ear: 【Refine a dao talisman for me, and I will act on your behalf three times.】

Chen Moqing: "What manner of talisman?"

【I won't say just yet.】

Cang Shun idly batted at a few strands of dark hair hanging before his eyes, his tone leisurely and drawn out.

【I'll tell you once you've reached that level.】

Chen Moqing: "In that case, ten times."

Cang Shun: "?"

"Seven times."

"Meow!"

"Six times."

"Meow!"

"Five times."

"…Meow!"

"Four times," Chen Moqing said with perfect composure, "after all that negotiation, surely the great and valiant Demon Emperor can concede one more to me?"

Cang Shun: 【……】

That did seem reasonable.

It was only one more, after all.

And so, the great and valiant Demon Emperor let out a soft huff and silently acquiesced.

Chen Moqing raised his open palm: "To this partnership, may it be most fortunate."

Cang Shun thought quietly to himself: quite the pretty words.

He raised his paw and lightly patted it against his hand—a clap to seal the pact.

Chen Moqing clasped that small fluffy paw and gave it a gentle little shake, then summoned the talisman formulae Bai Yue had left behind and began reviewing them with care.

Given his current circumstances, breaking through to Golden Core would be extraordinarily difficult. To be safe, he would need to refine a fifth-grade Spirit-Guiding Talisman.

Such mid-to-high grade talismans had all but vanished from the lower prefectures—one would have to venture to middle prefectures to have any hope of obtaining them. Even the formulae alone commanded exceptionally steep prices, no less than several hundred thousand spirit stones.

—For some time after, Chen Moqing remained in Qingzhu City, frequenting Qianxuan Pavilion, collecting more talisman formulae, and refining a number of talismans for the pavilion.

In the span of a mere half month, tens of thousands of spirit stones had flowed into his account.

He was now at the mid-stage of Foundation Building, and concealing his cultivation had become far more effortless, even Bai Yue could no longer detect his true strength from the talismans he refined.

Inside a sealed room, Cang Shun idly batted at an exceptionally lustrous and luminous spirit stone, casting a casual glance sideways.

Beside him, a talisman was taking shape. The hand drawing it was steady and sure, the knuckles tracing beautiful, fluid curves.

【How much longer do we have to stay here?】

Chen Moqing said nothing.

Cang Shun rolled over, his tail hanging lazily, swaying above the hem of Chen Moqing's robe.

【It's dull here. I don't like it.】

In his view, this lower prefecture held neither fortune nor secret realm—remaining here was nothing but a waste of time.

Chen Moqing still said nothing. He simply laid down the final stroke, and a third-grade talisman was complete.

Ninety-nine percent quality.

"I hear a new restaurant has opened in the city. Their steamed sophora fish is said to be exceptional. Shall we go?"

Cang Shun flipped upright at once and leapt onto his lap.

【Yes!】

Chen Moqing tucked the little snow-white beast into his arms and strolled out of Qianxuan Pavilion's sealed chamber at an unhurried pace.

The following day, Bai Yue brought with her an amusing piece of news.

"Yesterday, the Liu family held a grand family banquet to welcome back Liu Yu, the eldest young master of the Liu family."

"That young master Liu was raised away from home from birth, accompanying his mother during her illness. He was only brought back after his mother passed—but on the way, they were set upon by bandits. His elder sister, Liu Piao, lost her life, while the culprits remain at large to this day."

A father and son reunited after a long separation, it ought to have been a deeply moving scene. Yet Liu Jue, the Liu family's second young master, chose that very moment to cause a scene, publicly accusing the Liu Yu present at the banquet of being an impostor—none other than his sister Liu Piao in disguise—while the real Liu Yu, he claimed, was the hapless soul who had actually fallen to the bandits.

The guests erupted in an uproar. At the banquet, Liu Yu argued his case forcefully, even stripping off his outer garment on the spot to reveal a man's body. But Liu Jue insisted it was talisman-art concealment, and directly called upon their father to produce a treasure capable of verifying the true form of any cultivator below Golden Core—and their father, Liu Ao, agreed.

Before the eyes of all present, Liu Yu was compelled to undergo verification by the treasure— and then nothing happened.

He was indeed Liu Ao's eldest son. He was indeed male. There was no disguise whatsoever.

By all accounts, Liu Yu tore open his inner garment at that moment, eyes brimming with tears as he looked at his own father, and said plainly—would they have to dig up his sister's bones and bring her back from the dead before he could be proven innocent.

In the end, Liu Ao helped his eldest son to his feet with a face full of guilt, and promised to hand over half a street's worth of the Liu family's holdings to him.

The farce drew to a close. Liu Jue was punished with a fortnight of house confinement, while Liu Yu took possession of the assets that had previously been registered under Liu Jue's name.

Bai Yue finished recounting it as an amusing anecdote, only to hear Fellow Daoist Jiang—who was feeding the little demon beast in his arms one strip of dried fish after another—say: "Whether it is Liu Piao or Liu Yu, what difference does it make."

"Mm. To Liu Ao, one is a jade vessel to be groomed as the family heir, and the other—nothing more than willow catkins drifting in the wind."

That afternoon, a visitor came calling— none other than the Liu family's eldest young master, who had lately become the talk of the town: Liu Yu.

The moment he stepped inside, Liu Yu bent into a deep bow.

"My deepest thanks, Brother Jiang! Had you not sent that third-grade concealment talisman yesterday, I would have been in dire straits!"

Chen Moqing's fingers tapped lightly on the table. Several talismanic characters lit up, sealing the inn room off entirely, "Sit and speak."

Cang Shun studied his calm, composed eyes—the look of someone who had foreseen this long ago—and raised a brow ever so slightly.

Liu Yu lifted his face, revealing a bright, radiant smile, "When did Brother Jiang know?"

Chen Moqing: "From the very first glance."

Liu Piao lowered her head and looked herself over, then shook her head with a rueful laugh, "The disguise I used before drew on a peak second-grade treasure my mother left behind. Add to that the fact that my brother and I share the same bloodline and similar features, even Father could not see through it at a glance, only suspect."

"Brother Jiang has saved my life a second time. I will carry this debt in my heart."

That third-grade concealment talisman was of peak ninety-nine percent quality, capable of completely altering one's appearance and figure. Nothing short of a fourth-grade detection treasure could pierce such a disguise.

Dongzhou Prefecture was no more than a remote lower prefecture—it had no Nascent Soul cultivators, let alone fourth-grade treasures. The Liu family did possess a clan heirloom, publicly claimed to be a fourth-grade offensive treasure bestowed by an immortal of the upper prefectures, said to be capable of slaying Nascent Soul cultivators— though of course, in all these years, no one had ever actually laid eyes on the thing.

"It was nothing so grave as saving your life," Chen Moqing said, lightly pinching the paw Cang Shun was using to tug at his sleeve, "You are Liu family blood, after all."

Liu Piao's smile grew faint, "Liu Ao has seven daughters, the youngest no more than fourteen, already married off by him to an outer-sect steward of the Tingyu Sect. If he were to learn that the one who survived is Liu Piao, what difference would there be between my present self and death."

"Brother Jiang, do you know that several decades ago, the Liu family was not yet in Qingzhu City?"

Chen Moqing reached out to pour her a cup of tea. Cang Shun nudged aside the small cloth pouch beside him and fished out a strip of dried fish.

Liu Piao lifted the teacup, "Today, Qingzhu City knows only the Liu family, yet none remember the Lin family. In those days, the Lin family was Qingzhu City's foremost talisman-cultivator clan. My mother was the Lin family's only daughter. She fell in love with the most neglected second son of the Liu family and married down to be with him. She helped him rise to the position of family head, and had the Lin family pour countless rare and precious resources into him— within mere decades, Liu Ao, who had long been stalled at Foundation Building, was forcibly pushed all the way up to mid-Golden Core stage."

"Yet as fate would have it, the Lin family later gave unintentional offence to a Nascent Soul cultivator and was wiped out to the last— only my mother was spared. Not only did Liu Ao offer no aid, he seized the opportunity to devour the Lin family's remaining resources, vaulting the Liu family to prominence and allowing them to move into Qingzhu City. It was only then that my mother discovered he had kept several outside mistresses all along, one of whom, like my mother, had already borne him a child."

"Devastated, my mother fell gravely ill and was sent away to some distant place— ostensibly to recuperate, yet in truth he never once came to lay eyes on us. Only after my mother passed did he remember he had a son, and sent word that he wished to bring the boy home."

"Unfortunately, my brother's luck ran out. We were set upon by assassins. The carriage plunged off a cliff. He died. I climbed out."

The bottom of the teacup met the table with a clear, ringing note. Liu Piao rose to her feet and bowed deeply.

"I know this is a presumptuous request, but I ask that Brother Jiang help me seize the position of Liu family head! Should this succeed, I will repay you a thousandfold, a hundredfold more!"

She knew it was a desperate gamble. But in this vast Qingzhu City, there was only one person who could help her.

Chen Moqing lifted his own teacup, the pale green tea swirling gently within, "You are not afraid I might be scheming against you?"

Liu Piao smiled, her expression serene, "Even if it is a scheme, Brother Jiang has truly helped me. Unlike those who call themselves my kin, yet have been driving knives into my back without my knowing."

"And besides—" She paused, then said earnestly, "I have not spent much time with Brother Jiang, but I can see that he is a man of integrity and open character."

Chen Moqing glanced casually aside—his sleeve had already been kneaded into a crumpled mess by a certain Demon Emperor—and so he set his teacup atop the little snow-white beast's fluffy head.

Cang Shun: "?"

"You have misjudged me. I am no gentleman," Chen Moqing said placidly, "And I have no need of a thousandfold repayment."

"—I only wish to borrow one thing from the Liu family."

……

The cup of tea was drained to the last drop, and the visitor had departed.

Chen Moqing put away the teacup, and noticing that the snow-white little beast on the table had not moved, he gave it a poke.

Cang Shun pressed down on his finger but did not look at him, only staring fixedly at that pale fingertip.

Why does he never tell me anything?

The thought flickered past. Cang Shun pinned that slender finger beneath his paw and suddenly realized—since coming here, whatever this human cultivator intended to do, whatever his purposes were, he had never once mentioned them.

…He and this person had no real connection to begin with. Not telling him was perfectly reasonable.

—Though that was what he told himself, the Demon Emperor still felt faintly sullen.

He wouldn't let him help. Wouldn't sell his fur even when short on spirit stones. And told him nothing at all.

Even though they were always together.

The room was unusually quiet. Chen Moqing looked down, and there on the table sat a little fluffy ball nursing a silent sulk.

The sulking had made it rounder than usual.

It pressed down on his finger in a brooding sort of way, paw not releasing—whether it had simply forgotten, he couldn't say.

He slipped his finger free.

The space beneath the paw went suddenly empty. Cang Shun instinctively clenched—and caught nothing.

"……"

The snow-white beast's perked ears drooped ever so slightly.

In the next instant, the little sulking ball of fluff was gently lifted by a pair of hands. A faint, clean fragrance drifted around him, and he found himself tucked against a lean chest, a few strands of dark hair brushing down across white fur.

"What's the matter," came a clear and pleasant voice from above his head, "are you unwell somewhere?"

Cang Shun raised his crimson demon eyes and met that pair of beautiful dark eyes, filled with quiet concern.

"……"

A moment later, the little fluffy ball settled itself back into Chen Moqing's arms with an air of perfect nonchalance and total self-righteousness, and said nothing more.

Chen Moqing: Could it be he's keeping a tally again?

Better strike first.

He raised a hand, pressed his fingertip against the tuft of fur at the top of the snow-white beast's head, and ruffled it—backwards.

Cang Shun: "?"

A little clump of fur suddenly appeared atop his head. The snow-white beast's round demon eyes went wide all at once, an expression of sheer disbelief.

So that's why his fur had been sticking up every morning when he woke up lately! He had thought something had gone wrong with his cultivation!

Chen Moqing held the esteemed Demon Emperor's gaze for a composed two seconds, then composedly looked away, tucked him into his arms, and walked off.

Cang Shun: "……"

This was beyond enduring—the Demon Emperor let out a sharp cry of "aowu," and a fluffy paw came swatting down on the human cultivator's sleeve.

In Qingzhu City, a cold overnight rain had swept away the last traces of summer heat. The blue stone bricks, still damp with rain, reflected the shifting shadows of passers-by.

Chen Moqing strolled along the long street, then came to an abrupt halt and raised his eyes.

Cang Shun glanced up at the sky.

In the next instant, golden radiance suddenly blazed across the heavens. Immortal cranes paved the way, and a resplendent golden path split open the sky above the city. A staggering aura descended from on high, pressing down so heavily that every cultivator in Qingzhu City was unable to lift their head.

Some among them went pale with shock; some even fell to their knees, trembling uncontrollably.

—That was the aura of early Nascent Soul stage!

Dongzhou Prefecture had never once had a Nascent Soul cultivator!

Cang Shun withdrew his gaze without much interest—and caught sight of the faint curve at the corner of Chen Moqing's lips, his eyes deep and still as an ancient well, untouched by the light above.

Over the deathly silent sky of Qingzhu City, that Nascent Soul cultivator came bearing a longsword on his back, riding an immortal crane.

He was a sword cultivator in white robes, young and strikingly handsome in appearance. His wide pale-blue sect robes swept through the air, and amid their cloud-like folds drifted flowing patterns encircled by seven stars.

In all the vast expanse of the Nine Thousand Prefectures, those markings belonged to only one sect—

The Tianshu Sect.

Previous | TOC | Next