Green Mountain
Chapter 178 - 133, chop him

Chapter 178: 133, chop him

The smell of cow dung mingled with grass was pervasive on the dirt road, and woodcutters carrying dry firewood into the city were a continuous sight, as were the ceaselessly moving ox carts carrying charcoal.

Mr. Wang said to Chen Ji and others, "Everyone, get on the carts. Chen Ji, you did work for others while distributing porridge earlier, which can be considered an indirect punishment, so you don’t need to walk anymore."

Chen Ji didn’t ask further; he simply thanked him and found a spot to sit on the flatbed cart.

Zhang Xia mounted the horse and rode Zaozao beside the ox cart, curiously asking, "Master, my father often says you defy conventions, why is that?"

Seated on the cart, Mr. Wang casually asked, "The ’Analects’ mention that a gentleman is not a vessel, how would you interpret this?"

Chen Wenzong pondered for a moment, "Zhu Zi commented: A vessel has its specific use and cannot be interchanged. A virtuous person is versatile and thus can handle all matters comprehensively, not just excelling in one skill or art. Zhu Zi said that the eminent sage believed that those who govern need not specialize in a single skill but must be all-rounded."

Mr. Wang indifferently said, "But I think Zhu Zi is wrong. The eminent sage once described Guan Zhong as ’of small capacity’, referring to his narrow-mindedness and lack of generosity. Therefore, I believe what the eminent sage meant by ’a gentleman is not a vessel’ is that a gentleman should embrace the world and be open to all rivers."

Chen Wenzong opened his mouth, pondering how to counter-argue.

Riding on the horse, Zhang Xia said, "Both explanations seem reasonable, but I prefer your interpretation, Master. I think a gentleman need not know everything from astronomy to geography, but must possess magnanimity!"

Mr. Wang smiled and said, "The so-called defiance of the classics is merely my different understanding from the wise predecessors. What I intend to teach you is not to entirely accept my views but to observe the world yourselves and form your own opinions."

Prince Jing, seated at the front of the ox cart, laughed loudly without turning back, "This is precisely why one should travel far and wide. The civil servants of our Ning Dynasty nowadays like to debate behind closed doors, endlessly discussing, merely to find evidence in the words of the wise to support their views."

Chen Wenzong solemnly said, "Prince, please be careful with your words."

Prince Jing laughed heartily, "You really do resemble your father!"

At that moment, Zhang Xia suddenly changed the topic, "Chen Ji, what do you think about ’a gentleman is not a vessel’... Chen Ji?!"

She waited but received no reply from Chen Ji. Turning around, she saw that Chen Ji had bowed his head and had fallen asleep in the ox cart.

Zhang Xia raised her eyebrows, "Chen Ji, the master is giving a lecture, why are you sleeping?"

Bai Li quickly intervened, "Why are you shouting, he must have been up all night and is exhausted, let him sleep a bit more!"

Zhang Xia pursed her lips and silently mocked, "Let~him~sleep~a~bit~more~"

Bai Li rolled her eyes, "I won’t stoop to your level!"

Beside them, Chen Wenzong saluted Mr. Wang, "Please forgive him, Master. My younger brother is still young and has never attended school, so he doesn’t know the rules. I’ll wake him up now."

Yet Mr. Wang raised a hand to stop him, "No need, let him sleep for a while. I had no intention of giving a lecture; it was just that Zhang Xia asked, so I spoke casually."

The Princely Heir twisted his face, "Master, you weren’t like this with me!"

Prince Jing laughed heartily, "That was a special request I made to Mr. Wang. I can’t control others, but you must be strictly disciplined to prevent some people from thinking they can do whatever they want after becoming adults!"

Bai Li agreed, "Exactly!"

The Princely Heir was speechless.

Chen Wenzong stared at Prince Jing, Bai Li, and the Princely Heir in the cart, realizing that a father need not always wear a stern face in front of his children, and children need not always be utterly respectful in front of their father.

He silently looked at Chen Ji and thought that perhaps this was why Chen Ji was adamant about not wanting to return to Chen Mansion.

...

...

In a dream.

The black sea of clouds was calm and undisturbed.

Chen Ji drifted down from the long-missed black clouds, enveloped in dark vapors, landing on the mountain peak.

Outside Qingshan, the white sea of clouds was dense.

It wrapped around the mountainside like a huge blanket, churning intensely.

Xuanyuan, dressed in a black King Robe, was seated on a massive rock. He silently watched the sea of clouds, engrossed as though not actually looking at them, lost in thought.

Chen Ji coughed to get his attention; Xuanyuan then slowly stood up, leaning on the Royal Banner, and looked down at Chen Ji, "You have been neglecting."

Chen Ji shook his head, "Not at all."

Xuanyuan scoffed, "You have been visiting here less and less; don’t you want to take away the ’Whale’ anymore?"

As he spoke, the long knife appeared in the air in front of Chen Ji.

The long blade resembled a slender crescent moon, cold yet domineering.

Chen Ji grasped the handle with his right hand, holding it in front of him, and gently slid his left hand over the blade, "Of course, I want to take it with me, it’s just that recently one thing after another has come up, and there’s barely been a chance to sleep. But there should be more time coming up."

Xuanyuan waved towards the distance, "Feng Huai, cut him down!"

"Wait," Chen Ji, unable to help laughing, said, "I came today because I have many things to ask you."

Xuanyuan tilted his chin slightly, "What do you want to ask?"

Chen Ji curiously said, "I recently acquired a Cultivation Path. By repeatedly reciting texts, a strand of purple Sword Qi can be born in my meridians, but each time before the purple Sword Qi can gather, it is cut down by the sword seed. Why is that?"

Xuanyuan, seated arrogantly on the giant rock, said, "If you have learned my sword seed, why still practice another Sword Dao? It’s redundant."

Chen Ji hurriedly explained, "I just happened to come across this Cultivation Path; I was idle anyway."

Xuanyuan asked, "If you have learned someone else’s Sword Dao, why come to ask me?"

Chen Ji paused then said, "You are supposed to be the most formidable person in Sword Dao in the world. Naturally, I should ask you about matters concerning Sword Dao."

Xuanyuan, speechless for a while, "How can you speak such words so casually and naturally today?"

Chen Ji earnestly said, "Speaking truthfully."

Xuanyuan was silent for a few seconds, "What did you just ask?"

Chen Ji said, "Why are other Sword Qi cut down by the sword seed?"

Xuanyuan sneered, "The sword is the king of all weapons, have you ever seen a country with two kings? When two kings meet, naturally one emerges victorious and the other is defeated, the strong remains while the weak disperses. Did you previously ask if the formless sword seed is fragile, and how to make the sword seed tangible?"

"Yes," Chen Ji had intended to ask this question before, which had led to him being beaten brutally by the Giant Spearman and Feng Huai, up until now Xuanyuan had not yet answered this question.

Xuanyuan calmly said, "Sword stealing."

"Sword stealing?"

Xuanyuan said, "The Sword Seed Path, by nature, needs to ascend by trampling other Sword Dao. To make the sword seed tangible, one must repeatedly steal the opponent’s sword, nourishing one’s own sword."

"How so?"

"Try stealing once and you’ll know."

Hearing these words, Chen Ji immediately lost interest in cultivating Shrouding Cloud, as the sword seed and Shrouding Cloud could not coexist.

However, considering that Shrouding Cloud was a cultivation path from the Forty-nine Heavens, it felt like a waste to discard it.

At this moment, Xuanyuan glanced at him skewedly, "The path of cultivation necessitates undivided focus and brave progression, only the weak need to learn those flashy techniques. Feng Huai, chop him, to give him a lesson."

"Hold on, hold on," Chen Ji, caught between laughter and tears, raised his hand to Feng Huai, stopping his advance, "Let’s not rush to violence, I have many doubts... By the way, have you really never heard of the Forty-nine Heavens?"

Xuanyuan looked indifferent, "Would I lie to you?"

Chen Ji was puzzled, "But I’ve confirmed the existence of the Forty-nine Heavens. They say many gods reside there, and some people even reincarnate to descend to the mortal world... How do you not know?"

Xuanyuan became interested, "Many gods reside there? Who?"

Chen Ji recalled the gods he had learned about from the Princely Heir, "The twenty-eight constellations, Emperor Wenchang, Five-star Lord, Southern Dipper Six Star Lords, Dipamkara Buddha..."

Xuanyuan hesitated, "Who are those?"

Chen Ji hesitated as well, "You haven’t heard of any of them?"

Xuanyuan frowned, "No."

Chen Ji asked again, "What about Taiji Mountain, Wuji Mountain, Yujing Mountain, Mount Sumeru, Jushina City—have you heard of them?"

Xuanyuan shook his head, "Never heard of them."

"What places were in the world you once lived in?"

"Qingqiu, Guixu, Qiwu Mountain, Wangqiu Mountain, Yuyuan, Deer Platform, Kunlun Mountain..."

This really confused Chen Ji. What kind of existence was the Forty-nine Heavens then, that even a grand figure like Xuanyuan had never heard of?

Knowing that Xuanyuan was a character from 16,000 years ago in Ancient Times, even if his cultivation level was not higher than the gods of the Forty-nine Heavens, it shouldn’t be lower than those gods.

Were places even a grand figure had never heard of truly real?

Chen Ji gazed into the Qingshan Dream Realm...

Wait.

Could it be that the Forty-nine Heavens appeared only after Xuanyuan was sealed in this world? That’s why Xuanyuan had not heard of them.

At that moment, Chen Ji even felt that the creation of the Forty-nine Heavens was related to Xuanyuan being sealed.

He looked up at Xuanyuan, "Why were you trapped here?"

Xuanyuan looked down at him, his gaze deep, "Feng Huai, chop him."

This time Feng Huai did not hesitate and swung his blade.

"Not willing to talk, so why chop me?!" Chen Ji raised his Whale Blade to block, sparks flying, as if fireworks at midnight, brilliant and splendid.

Feng Huai’s blade was tremendously heavy, but he could not find any opening in Chen Ji’s defense after several hundred exchanges. Chen Ji, wanting to suffer fewer deaths, had perfected his defense to the extreme.

Xuanyuan, seeing this, mocked, "Only know how to defend? You can’t retrieve your own sword just by defending."

Chen Ji did not respond.

Then they heard Xuanyuan’s booming call, "Feng Lie, you come chop him too."

Chen Ji startled, turned his head, and saw from the army formation at the mountain’s base a towering giant axe warrior stepping forward, who said in a muffled voice, "As commanded."

Having said that, Feng Lie with a giant axe strode towards Qingshan, and as he ran furiously, the ground thundered like a drum.

Chen Ji urgently said, "Two against one is not honorable in a fight, I suspect you’re taking personal revenge!"

Xuanyuan sneered, "This time you’re allowed to run."

Chen Ji turned and ran towards the rugged mountain path, to avoid being surrounded and killed by Feng Huai and Feng Lie at the mountain peak.

However, just before running down the mountain, he suddenly turned around, his sword moving with his body, forcing Feng Huai back.

Taking that moment, he looked towards Xuanyuan and asked loudly, "If all the fireplaces on my body are lit, burning white, what would happen?"

Xuanyuan’s fingers tightened suddenly around the Royal Banner, but he did not answer.

Seeing Feng Lie approaching and Feng Huai attacking again with his blade, Chen Ji urgently asked, "What would actually happen?"

Xuanyuan said meaningfully, "Immortality."

Getting his answer, Chen Ji again blocked Feng Huai’s long knife and turned to escape down the rugged mountain path.