Chapter 17 : Immortal Realm, Poetic Lines
Chapter 17: Immortal Realm, Poetic Lines
After bidding farewell to the various inner sect disciples, Long Tao did not hurry to leave.
Of course he could not leave—otherwise, forget about the peeping task, he would not even be able to submit the check-in task outside the bathhouse.
“Junior Brother Long, you’re still not leaving?”
That familiar, warm-as-jade voice came from behind.
Turning around to look… it was precisely the refined and gentle, seemingly perfect Senior Brother Zhou.
Long Tao already had a rough impression of this man, so he had no intention of getting deeply involved and merely responded perfunctorily,
“It wasn’t easy to come all this way. I got dazzled by the immortal scenery of Moon-Washing Peak and wanted to look a bit longer, so I’ll shamelessly linger for a while. I’ll leave once they start driving people away.”
“Haha, only natural. When I first entered the inner sect back then, I was the same,” Senior Brother Zhou said with a genial smile, as if truly reminiscing.
But his tone soon shifted.
“However, the women on Moon-Washing Peak are not easy to deal with. The errand Senior Sister Zhu gave you just now will probably be quite exhausting.”
Long Tao promptly put on a suitably frightened and regretful expression.
“Sigh… I know it too. If I really have to record things in such detail every day, I definitely won’t be able to handle it. Today I was a bit too eager to show myself. When the time comes, I’ll surely have to rely on Senior Brother Zhou.”
Long Tao’s words and that humility bordering on sycophancy made Senior Brother Zhou nod in satisfaction.
He said nothing more, turned around, and headed toward the mountain gate.
……
Not long after Senior Brother Zhou left, another familiar figure appeared at the entrance.
“Senior Brother Long!” A voice filled with the unique liveliness of youth rang out.
Long Tao suddenly turned his head.
When he saw that familiar face at the doorway, the tightly drawn corners of his mouth finally relaxed into a relieved smile.
The key to breaking the deadlock had finally arrived!
“Junior Brother Nan!” He strode forward, his tone carrying just the right amount of delight.
“I finally waited for you!”
The Nan Yuchen before him was like a high school student from his previous life who had just rushed out after a long evening self-study session—obvious fatigue on his face, yet also a pure excitement of “class is finally over, time to let loose.”
“Senior Brother Long, you really came. It’s still light out right now—let me take you around.”
Seeing the boy’s happy expression, Long Tao instead raised his guard to the highest level.
This kid was the biggest—and only—breakthrough point for this System task.
From now on… every word and even every action with him could not afford the slightest mistake.
Not only did he need to adapt step by step, he also had to weigh every sentence he spoke.
Primary objective: mooch on Moon-Washing Peak overnight! Otherwise, forget about peeping— even going to check in at the bathhouse entrance would be nothing but a pipe dream.
“Sure. I’ve been busy all day anyway and couldn’t go out. I’ll shamelessly follow you around for a couple of rounds.”
With this personally transmitted disciple leading the way, Long Tao finally no longer had to be so cautious.
Passing through the Cloud Path, they quickly arrived at the middle section of Moon-Washing Peak.
When the scene before his eyes suddenly opened up, even though Long Tao was burdened with worries weighing a thousand jin on his heart, he could not help but have his breath catch.
How was this still the mortal world? This was clearly a heavenly palace smashed into existence by immortals using spirit stones.
Overhead was a blue-violet artificial firmament.
The real sun was completely blocked out, replaced by a round object suspended in midair, radiating a cool and gentle halo— a fake moon! That moon was forged from some unknown heavenly treasure.
Its entire body was warm and lustrous, pure and flawless, rounder, brighter, and closer than the real moon, as if one could touch it just by reaching out.
Beneath the radiance of the fake moon lay a vast, boundless calm lake.
The water was no ordinary water, but displayed a dreamlike, flowing emerald hue, shimmering as it reflected the fake moon and stars above.
Upon the lake’s surface, islands of all sizes were scattered like chess pieces casually strewn by a god.
On those islands stood jade towers and exquisite pavilions, with rare flowers and strange grasses visible everywhere.
Most astonishing of all, a stream flickering with emerald spiritual light actually flowed out of that high-hanging fake moon out of thin air! Like a glowing jade ribbon, it descended from the sky and poured into the vast emerald lake below!
The lighting of the entire space was a strange kind of “bright night.” The firmament was a blue-violet night sky, stars faintly visible, yet the enormous fake moon and the shimmering reflections from the emerald lake below illuminated the horizon of this world until sky and water blended together.
It was as clear as daytime, yet softer and more dreamlike than day.
“How is it! Senior Brother Long—this is the immortal scenery personally crafted by Master!”
Nan Yuchen’s smug, eager-to-show-off expression did not provoke any dislike, because it truly deserved such pride.
And at this moment, Long Tao could not help but recite a line of poetry…
“River and sky merge in a single hue, without a speck of dust;
Bright and pure, in the empty heavens hangs a solitary wheel of moon…”
…………
Just as Nan Yuchen led Long Tao away from the Spirit Spring Garden, the previously departed Senior Sister Zhu arrived at one of the islands on Moon-Washing Peak’s emerald great lake.
There was only a single small building on the island.
Its style was ancient and simple, its materials ordinary.
Compared to the immortal palaces and jade towers elsewhere on Moon-Washing Peak, it was so plain it looked like a mortal dwelling.
However, only the peak’s core disciples knew that this seemingly humble place was precisely the meditation residence of Peak Master True Person Mingzhu.
“Master! I’m back!” Zhu Huaisu pushed open the wooden door and ran in like a swallow returning to its nest.
What greeted her, however, were two jade-like fingers that precisely pinched her ears.
“Zhu Huaisu! You have a junior brother now—stop acting like a clueless child!”
“Ah! It hurts, it hurts… Third Senior Sister! Why are you here too?”
Zhu Huaisu bared her teeth, finally seeing clearly who was pinching her.
It was a beauty dressed in a green gauze skirt, with a sharp and commanding aura—her Third Senior Sister, Chen Qianyun.
“I heard that little Yuchen obtained a top-grade Nine-Leaf Ganoderma. I was curious and came back to take a look, and ended up seeing you like this! Sigh… it’s also our fault for spoiling you for so many years. You’re already grown, yet you still come to Master’s place as if it were your own boudoir!”
Zhu Huaisu rubbed her slightly reddened ears, chuckled, and shamelessly threw herself into Chen Qianyun’s arms.
Like a spoiled cat, she rubbed against her, instantly leaving the other woman with no temper left.
At this moment, the inner door opened, and a tall woman with a calm and composed aura slowly walked out.
She wore her jet-black, glossy hair in a long braided plait that fell to her waist, dressed in simple apricot-colored cloth robes, yet naturally exuded a steady, grounded presence from within.
“Wasn’t the one who spoiled her the most you, Third Sister? And you still have the nerve to say that.”
“Eldest Senior Sister!” The two quickly separated and bowed properly.
People said the eldest sister was like a mother.
Compared to Master, this Eldest Senior Sister, Su Muzhi, actually made the younger sisters more afraid.
She gave a slight nod and led the two into the inner room.
The furnishings inside were equally plain, save for a water-blue curtain with cloud patterns hanging at the center, emitting a gentle and tranquil spiritual glow.
Behind the curtain sat the owner of Moon-Washing Peak—True Person Mingzhu.
“Master!” The three women called out together, their tone affectionate.
“Hm? Huaisu seems particularly happy today.” A voice came from behind the curtain—silvery and clear like that of a young girl, carrying an innate sweetness, yet calm and elegant, imbued with the depth of time.
Before her disciples, it sounded as casual as a neighborly elder sister.
“Didn’t you complain just yesterday that the expansion of the Spirit Spring Garden was dragging on, so angry that you wanted to recruit more people?”
It was hard to imagine that this slightly playful voice came from the mouth of a Golden Core True Person who had lived over seven hundred years.
“It’s a big deal, Master! Junior Brother… he… made a friend outside!”
“Pfft! How is that a big deal? Even if little Yuchen is a bit silly, it’s not like he’s incapable of making friends,” Third Senior Sister Chen Qianyun retorted casually.
The Eldest Senior Sister, meanwhile, only smiled gently and waited for what came next.
“This time it’s different. That person is just a Qi-Refining Fifth Layer outer sect disciple. He only wanted to visit Moon-Washing Peak, yet little Yuchen opened a back door for him, sent him to work as a helper in the Spirit Spring Garden, and he’s actually done pretty well.”
“Oh?” The voice behind the curtain carried a clear trace of surprise and interest.
Chen Qianyun and Su Muzhi also instantly shed their relaxed expressions, replacing them with thoughtful looks.
“That is indeed quite unusual. He’s usually surrounded by inner sect and personally transmitted disciples. How did he end up knowing a Qi-Refining Fifth Layer outer sect disciple—and being so close to him?”
Eldest Senior Sister Su Muzhi’s expression was somewhat heavy.
To her, Nan Yuchen was not merely a junior brother, but more like a child she had raised for two years.
For him to suddenly do something beyond her control and expectations naturally made her worry like a mother.
“I found it strange too. That’s why I just placed a listening insect on that person. Junior Brother should have just finished class by now. I’m guessing he’ll most likely go look for that person. Let’s listen in on what they talk about, so we can learn that person’s background.”
Hearing this, the other three hesitated for a moment.
Not to mention True Person Mingzhu, even Su Muzhi herself was a Golden Core cultivator.
Two Golden Core cultivators and two personally transmitted Foundation Establishment disciples gathering together to eavesdrop on two male disciples— even if word never got out, they all felt embarrassed just thinking about it.
Zhu Huaisu quickly persuaded them,
“Don’t fuss over minor proprieties when great righteousness is at stake! Junior Brother is pure-minded; we have to help him check things out, right? What if that person has ulterior motives? I’m going to see what kind of person he is anyway. If you don’t want to listen, you can just cover your ears.”
After saying that, without waiting for the others’ reactions, she took out another listening insect.
Muttering a few words, she sent the little bug flying to the center between them.
A familiar youthful voice soon came out of the insect’s body.
“How is it! Senior Brother Long—this is the immortal scenery personally crafted by Master!”
The four women naturally all recognized Nan Yuchen’s voice.
It sounded like he was currently showing that mysterious new friend around the great lake within the peak.
And when the next male voice sounded, time inside the room seemed to freeze all at once.
“River and sky merge in a single hue, without a speck of dust;
Bright and pure, in the empty heavens hangs a solitary wheel of moon…”