Chapter 80

In Zhang Shijie’s small courtyard.

“A small reward?” Sun Daoyu looked at Zhang Shijie and murmured the words “small reward”: “Your Fu Dao Foundation Establishment method is famed as the fastest in the Hundred Immortal Alliance—this is just a small reward?”

Zhang Shijie glanced at him and said: “That Ancestor is capricious and of peculiar status—even Nascent Soul True Persons must coddle him. If he’s displeased, you won’t even see the true treasure of the Ninth Mountain. What’s one Foundation Establishment method?”

“What about Zheng Shi-di…”

“I don’t think he’s a good person.”

“Hmm?”

“The Ninth Mountain Ancestor loves people like him.”

“…”

…

“Too simple?” When the Ninth Mountain Ancestor heard Zheng Fa say this, his eyes turned defiant.

Zheng Fa had never imagined such a look—almost as if she were stomping her foot—could appear on Zhang Shijie’s face.

“Do you know this took me a thousand years of painstaking effort to devise!” he snapped: “You call it too simple?”

He spoke as if Zheng Fa had insulted him.

“I’m not saying the plank path lacks creativity—just that there’s room for improvement,” Zheng Fa said calmly.

“...Tell me?” The Ninth Mountain Ancestor eyed Zheng Fa skeptically, clearly doubting he had any good suggestions.

“Ancestor, may I ask what small reward the original disciple received?”

Zheng Fa decided to check the price of his conscience.

“She? She had some ambition—asked for a Fu Dao Foundation Establishment method.” Thinking of Zhang Shijie, the Ninth Mountain Ancestor couldn’t help a flicker of admiration: “That method was originally created by me in my youth, but it was incomplete.”

Zheng Fa trusted Zhang Shijie’s taste—any Foundation Establishment method she chose couldn’t be ordinary.

Zheng Fa immediately sold out his conscience: “I think the plank path is still too stable!”

“Stable?” The Ninth Mountain Ancestor glanced at the plank path behind Zheng Fa, which still swayed in the mountain wind.

“What I mean is—why can’t it move?”

“Move?”

“Move on its own—sometimes shaking up and down, swaying left and right. Better yet, add a countdown to remind disciples how long until the plank path vanishes.”

Who doesn’t know how to mess with minds?

“Hmm, that makes sense. Anything else?” The Ninth Mountain Ancestor began to think.

“I think the mountain wind is too monotonous. Some rain, some thunder, some snow or hail—even a landslide or earthquake—wouldn’t that better reflect natural law?”

“...” The Ninth Mountain Ancestor glanced at him, said nothing, and merely asked: “Anything else?”

Seeing his cold expression, Zheng Fa gritted his teeth and sincerely apologized to future disciples: “I think the plank path’s biggest flaw is that it’s not realistic enough!”

“Realistic?”

“Where do Immortal Sect disciples face their greatest danger?”

“What?”

“People!” Zheng Fa pointed at the plank path behind him: “Why separate the paths? Merge several together.”

“Make them fight over it?”

The Ninth Mountain Ancestor’s eyes lit up and he urged: “Explain further. Expand on it.”

Zheng Fa stayed silent, lips tightly pressed, as if he’d had a spasm.

The Ninth Mountain Ancestor was clearly a considerate man—he pulled out a jade tube and placed it before Zheng Fa: “Fu Dao Foundation Establishment method!”

Zheng Fa’s mouth instantly unclenched: “For example, make two disciples search for the same Fu diagram, but give them only one plank path.”

“Go on, go on!”

“Set a defined area—draw a circle. If they don’t reach it within the time limit, all are eliminated.”

“Brilliant! Brilliant! They won’t dare not fight—fall behind and you’re out!” The Ninth Mountain Ancestor clapped his hands, clearly delighted by this scheme: “You’re truly wicked—I like you!”

“...” It sounded weird.

The Ninth Mountain Ancestor, still smiling, suddenly transformed into Zheng Fa’s appearance.

“?”

“That female disciple told me the plank path should be transparent—I thought she was a genius!” the Ninth Mountain Ancestor praised: “So I took her form, so future disciples would know it was her ingenuity that perfected the path. But now I think this legacy should be yours!”

Wait, you’re stealing her likeness—does Zhang Shijie know?

Legacy for eternity?

Let future generations know these cruel ideas came from him?

More like infamy for ten thousand ages!

Zheng Fa quickly waved his hands: “I only offered a few minor suggestions—I dare not claim credit! I dare not claim credit!”

The Ninth Mountain Ancestor studied him deeply, then suddenly said: “Your temperament suits me—you’re truly one of the Ninth Mountain Sect!”

“?” Zheng Fa felt uneasy: “Are there many like me in the Ninth Mountain Sect?”

Could he even stay in this sect?

“Not many—most get killed,” the Ninth Mountain Ancestor said cheerfully: “Come, come, I’ll show you something wonderful.”

Zheng Fa followed the Ninth Mountain Ancestor up the mountain, curious where they were going—but they didn’t go far, stopping on the slope facing away from the others, on the back of the Ninth Peak.

“Look up.”

Seeing Zheng Fa’s confusion, the Ninth Mountain Ancestor pointed to the mountaintop.

The peak was covered in snow, glittering golden in the sunlight.

Huh? Golden light?

Zheng Fa looked closely and saw four symbols—neither quite characters nor quite diagrams.

“This is...”

“This is my original body!” the Ninth Mountain Ancestor said: “The Mountain-River True Form Fu!”

“Can a fu text become a Dao?”

This exceeded Zheng Fa’s understanding entirely.

“Do you know the origin of the Ninth Mountain Sect?” The Ninth Mountain Ancestor suddenly changed topic.

“Nine Mountains... are nine mountains?”

“Yes and no. I was originally a spiritual vein, but by natural creation, the flow of spiritual energy within me formed an unfathomable fu—this Mountain-River True Form Fu.”

“Over time, I gained some awareness from this fu, then further cultivated the Mountain-River True Form, transforming into nine spiritual mountains—so the Nine Mountains of the Ninth Mountain Sect are both the nine mountains and me.”

“Even I don’t know what I originally was—was I the spiritual vein? The fu? Or the nine mountains?” The Ninth Mountain Ancestor shook his head: “All I know is this fu hides the ultimate truth of heaven and earth—otherwise, I’d have remained just an ordinary spiritual vein my whole life.”

Zheng Fa stared at the four mysterious symbols above, deeply awed.

He had long sensed the strangeness of the Xuanwei Realm, but that a single fu could grant a spiritual vein awareness—and allow it to found a Nascent Soul sect—was beyond his imagination.

“All my life, I only used the Mountain-River True Form Fu by instinct—it was like my innate magic treasure. Even at my death, I never unraveled even one percent of its secrets.”

“Then who are you?”

“Me? I said—I am the Nine Mountains, the spiritual vein—but no longer this Mountain-River True Form Fu.” The Ninth Mountain Ancestor spoke a phrase Zheng Fa didn’t understand, then added: “That old man... went mad.”

“Hmm?”

The Ninth Mountain Ancestor waved his hand toward the Mountain-River True Form Fu: “His end was near. Unwilling to perish, he split himself in two—one small part became me—the Nine Mountains and the spiritual vein. The other, larger half sleeps within this Mountain-River True Form Fu, absorbing the future disciples’ insights into the True Form, merging completely with it—he believes the Nine Mountains and the spiritual vein are burdens. He discarded me, seeking only to reshape his foundation through this Mountain-River True Form Fu and be reborn.”

“This...”

“Inside this True Form Fu lies that old man’s treasures, his divine arts—even himself. If you gain insight, you’ll obtain them.”