Martial Cultivator

White Deer Prefecture was one of the nine provinces in the Great Liang Dynasty, known for its scholarly atmosphere. Not only did it boast the White Deer's Xie Clan, a family of scholars with a lineage spanning hundreds of years, but also because for over two hundred years since the founding of the Great Liang, almost every imperial examination held annually by the imperial court had shadows of scholars from White Deer. The accumulation of scholars year after year for two hundred years has led to the saying that half of the scholars in the world came from White Deer. However, even in this province teeming with scholars, the world was still not peaceful. Almost one-fifth of the scholars who tried to travel to the Divine Capital for the imperial examination every year end up losing their lives in the wilderness, becoming food for those demons.

Clearwater Commandery City was located in the northeast of White Deer Prefecture and was relatively peaceful. This was mainly because not far from this city lies a foreign cultivator sect known as Clearwater Mountain as well. Although Clearwater Mountain was said to belong to the Daoist lineage, it had no affiliation with either the Infatuation Daoist Temple or the Myriad Heaven Palace. It was considered a place where random cultivators gathered, and most of the cultivators on the mountain did not practice orthodox Daoist techniques. It could even be regarded as a gathering place for those itinerant cultivators of the wild. There were even rumors that the mountain lord of Clearwater Mountain, Daoist Sage Tianyi, cultivated heretic techniques, but these were unsubstantiated rumors, and no one had ever confirmed them. Moreover, the cultivators of Clearwater Mountain had always avoided provoking cultivators from major sects, so they coexisted peacefully, and no one paid attention to them.

At dusk, a middle-aged man slowly walked past the city gate, carrying a young girl in his arms. But the guards at the city gates turned a blind eye to it. Although they received a salary from the imperial court, they were also very clear that in this city, it was the mountain lord of Clearwater Mountain who held sway, not the magistrate or the warden. As for the so-called laws of the Great Liang, what use were they here? Though the middle-aged man looked unfamiliar, he was immediately recognizable by his azure robe adorned with the embroidered characters "Clearwater" in golden thread at the hem, so the guards would not inquire further. As for how the little girl was being carried by him, and what he intended to do with her, it was none of their concern.

The middle-aged man entered the city and headed straight for a shop.

With Clearwater Mountain nearby, and the business it brought in over the years, Clearwater Commandery had seen an increase in shops run by itinerant cultivators from various surrounding sects. Many items required for cultivation could be purchased here.

Arriving in front of the shop, the middle-aged man got straight to the point, tossing a bag of skygold currency onto the counter. "I want a top-quality medicine cauldron."

The shopkeeper was a thin middle-aged man with a goatee, who deftly caught the bag of coins and glanced at the unconscious little girl in the man's arms before smiling and saying, "Fellow Daoist Ge, have you found another top-quality medicinal fruit?"

The middle-aged cultivator chuckled lightly. "I was pretty lucky. I haven't traveled far from the mountain when I stumbled upon it."

As the shopkeeper instructed his assistants to fetch the medicine cauldron, he smiled fawningly. "First Firmament Ge, you have earned the favor of Daoist Sage Tianyi. I believe after eating this medicinal fruit, your cultivation will make significant progress."

The middle-aged cultivator did not speak. But after he took the medicine cauldron, he tucked it into his bosom, and headed straight for the center of the city. There stood the Clearwater Pavilion, built by cultivators from Clearwater Mountain. It served as a resting place for those going up and down the mountain. With his cultivation realm already showing signs of loosening, this trip down the mountain was meant to seek opportunities. He had not expected to be so lucky, coming across a high-grade medicinal fruit before he had even ventured far.

Arriving at the majestic Clearwater Pavilion, the cultivator at the gate quickly recognized him. "Senior Brother Ge, you just left a few days ago. Why are you back so soon?"

The middle-aged cultivator did not speak and just shook the little girl in his hand.

The cultivator was taken aback. After glancing at the little girl, he exclaimed with envy, "Senior Brother Ge, you're really lucky. This medicinal fruit is really good."

The middle-aged cultivator smiled, feeling quite pleased with himself too.

"With this spiritual fruit, Senior Brother Ge's cultivation is bound to take a huge step forward. I'm afraid Senior Brother Ge will take the lead in the upcoming sect competition in autumn."

The cultivator smiled as he spoke. Flattery that did not cost money would naturally spew out readily.

Waving his hand dismissively, the middle-aged cultivator chuckled, "Focus on your cultivation, you have a bright future too."

After saying that, without waiting for the cultivator to speak, the middle-aged cultivator had already stepped into the Clearwater Pavilion, heading towards the second floor. He casually pushed open the door of a room and entered, finally releasing the little girl he had been carrying.

The room's layout was quite peculiar, there was actually a water pool in the center of the room. Two long stones crisscrossed in the pool and a large cauldron lay in the middle where the long stone pieces crisscrossed.

The middle-aged cultivator put away the large cauldron, placing the medicine cauldron he had previously purchased on top. He then took out many spiritual medicines and threw them into the cauldron. After that, he threw in several green-colored talismans into the water. Then, something strange happened - the water in the pool began to boil inexplicably. The middle-aged cultivator then lifted the little girl again, walked along the long stones to the cauldron, and ran his finger across the girl's wrist, causing a bloody wound to appear.

The little girl groaned in pain, slowly regaining consciousness. However, she could not move her body at all. Opening her mouth, she tried to speak, but no words came out.

The middle-aged cultivator glanced at her, then directly tossed her into the medicine cauldron before saying to himself, "Meeting me is your good fortune. Don't think too much, just accept it."

After throwing the little girl into the cauldron, the middle-aged cultivator sat down cross-legged beside it, closing his eyes to rest.

……

……

Chen Chao had been pursuing that cultivator for several days, entering and leaving the mountain forests multiple times. Finally, he accurately learned that the cultivator was likely to be in the Clearwater Commandery City. He rushed to the city without stopping, and by the time he reached the city gate, it was already dusk. However, the guards showed no intention of closing the city gate, despite the curfew imposed by the Great Liang Dynasty's law. For some reason, the city seemed exempt from this rule. As the guards saw Chen Chao approaching the city gate, they paid him no mind, merely gazing lazily at the myriad household lights within the city.

After entering the city without any obstructions, Chen Chao released his qi to sense around. But to his surprise, there were not just a few auras of varying degrees of strength in this city. This indicated that there were more than a few cultivators in the city. This surprised Chen Chao greatly because it was highly abnormal for a small city to have so many cultivators.

He was on his way to Yellow Dragon Prefecture to go to Sword Qi Mountain to recast his saber, so he understood Yellow Dragon Prefecture's situation in advance. However, he knew little about this adjacent White Deer Prefecture. After some hesitation, Chen Chao did not go to the Warden's Office, but instead slowly walked into a bookshop.

The bookshop was not large; only able to accommodate a few bookshelves. As Chen Chao stepped inside, the shopkeeper behind a desk smiled and stood up. Looking at this young man in black clothes with a saber, he asked with a smile, "What books does Customer want to buy?"

Chen Chao did not browse the books on the shelves but casually asked, "Are these books mostly about the writings of sages and wise men, or are there some other kinds?"

The shopkeeper replied, "Not only that, there's also some information from the cultivation world and some strange stories."

Chen Chao nodded and suddenly smiled, "This is my first time setting foot in White Deer Prefecture, and I don't know much about the local area. Do you have books similar to introductions like these?"

After the shopkeeper nodded, he went to a bookshelf and pulled out a thin book, handing it to Chen Chao. When Chen Chao looked down, he saw the words "White Deer Knowledge" on the cover.

After asking about the price, Chen Chao promptly paid for the book. After receiving the White Deer Knowledge, he then asked, "Are there many cultivators in the city?"

The shopkeeper had just made a sale, so he was naturally in a good mood. Facing this customer who was obviously an outsider, he said a few more words, "There's Clearwater Mountain outside the city, and the Mountain Lord, Daoist Sage Tianyi, is the strongest within a radius of hundreds of miles. As for this commandery city, it's their Clearwater Mountain's private property. There are many disciples of Clearwater Mountain in the city, as well as some cultivators from other sects and some wandering cultivators who have opened shops here. Naturally, there are quite a few cultivators around. However, as an outsider, you should be careful in the city. Don't provoke the cultivators of Clearwater Mountain, or you might get into trouble."

Chen Chao nodded, but then asked, "Clearwater Mountain sounds like a sect outside of Buddhism and Daoism?"

The shopkeeper laughed heartily, "You're mistaken, sir. Clearwater Mountain belongs to the Daoism lineage. It's just that there's a mix of all kinds of people there. If we really talk about the connection with Daoism, there isn't much of one. It's more like a mishmash of various things stacked together. Their cultivation methods can't be considered orthodox Daoist techniques... If the folks at the Infatuation Daoist Temple knew that Clearwater Mountain claims to be part of Daoism, they might even furrow their brows."

The shopkeeper spoke for a while but seemed to remember something and shut his mouth abruptly.