Chapter 165: The Lone Brave

Beneath the drizzling rain, the chill in the night air grew even more intense.

Most of the taverns in Shengjing City had already closed, and countless scholars walked into the curtain of rain, some holding umbrellas, others shielding themselves with spiritual energy.

Soon, the rain grew denser, knocking the withered leaves from the mountains until the whole night was filled with a rustling sound, only subsiding slightly by the break of dawn.

Thus, at the first light of day, one could see nothing but the desolate scenery of empty mountains after fresh rain.

Ji You, having returned to the Inner Courtyard from Hongding Tower, did not sleep, for sleep was not a necessity for a cultivator.

He was currently in his meditation room in the Inner Courtyard, sitting cross-legged, attempting his fifteenth Dim Illumination, to the point where the spiritual energy in the night air whistled incessantly.

This was his daily required practice, though he did not succeed every time.

For instance, his fourteenth Dim Illumination had begun before the Autumn Tournament and only ended on the eve of the Battle of Night Chengshan; it was intermittent, costing him over half a month.

And now that this fifteenth attempt had just begun, he could already feel that it would take even longer...

At 3:45 AM, Ji You opened his eyes; the spiritual energy within his meridians was still surging endlessly, and his entire body felt extremely scorching.

"Even if a Merging with the Dao realm expert wanted to break my defense now, I reckon it would be quite difficult."

"This alone is enough to scare the little Master Jianzhu of Lingjian Mountain to death..."

Ji You clenched his fist, feeling that based on his physical strength alone, without relying on Daoist techniques, he could even develop some of the senior brothers in the Inner Courtyard into clients.

However, there were downsides as well.

According to the general consensus in the cultivation world, the purpose of ascending is to cast off the decaying physical body, forge an immortal body, and achieve eternal freedom.

In other words, the sturdier the physique, the harder it is to cast off in the end.

Ji You had no motivation to ascend to begin with, so he had thought it didn't matter, but his recent attempts at Dim Illumination had made him feel a certain limitation.

It was the limitation imposed on his spiritual sense by a body that was too sturdy...

He was still breaking through his spiritual sense by "seeking from a higher place," but every time a Dim Illumination succeeded, the process of flying into the sky felt extremely heavy.

This indicated that his physical body was too strong, to the point where his spiritual sense could not smoothly leave it.

"It seems the physical body is indeed a prison for the spiritual sense..."

"I'll mainly train my spiritual sense for the next few days..."

Ji You muttered to himself, thinking that his cultivation was just like making dumplings: if there was too much flour, he added water; if there was too much water, he added flour.

As for what he would eventually cultivate into, he wasn't sure, but in terms of combat power, the improvement was significant.

He had said when discussing the Dao with Xiang Kuangcheng earlier that the reason the top-tier cultivators of the world did not respect this world was because they felt they could ascend and longed for the Immortal Realm, which was why they had no sense of belonging to the Qingyun world.

This had even skewed the atmosphere for those below, forming a trend that hadn't changed for a thousand years.

Consequently, many cultivators, even in the Lower Three Realms, were afraid to actively refine their physical bodies, fearing they wouldn't be able to cast off their mortal shells when the time came to ascend.

But Ji You wasn't panicked at all; his philosophy was to live in the moment.

By now, the morning light was arriving, and the sun was spilling over the world, but the temperature hadn't risen much.

The red sun in the twilight hung in the sky like a salted egg yolk, glowing crimson.

Ji You rose from his meditation room, washed up, and went out, walking toward a pavilion with grey tiles and red walls halfway up the Inner Courtyard, traversing a path covered in light frost.

This was the Qingfeng Lecture Hall of the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan, where Inner Courtyard instructors would come to give lectures, imparting the laws of the Heavenly Dao they had realized.

And these instructors were mostly Elders belonging to the various major halls.

The instructor who came today was from the Buchan Hall, surnamed Ning, and he was teaching the method of celestial phenomena—that is, the so-called wind, rain, thunder, and lightning.

This was the main focus of Buchan Hall: to realize the laws of celestial phenomena and continuously imbue oneself with all methods, achieving mystical protection.

However, the disciples of the Inner Courtyard all knew that while some celestial phenomenon techniques could be used to raise one's realm, they didn't improve one's actual combat power.

These laws were all called niche techniques, and many people were unwilling to delve into them.

Just like among the four phenomena of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, thunder and lightning were techniques commonly practiced by many.

Because thunder energy possessed strong offensive power; the 【Huntian Technique】 used by Chu He that day actually contained laws regarding the thunder Dao.

The inclusion of this law made Chu He's strikes powerful, comparable to half a strike of Little Chongshan...

And the reason for this phenomenon was that there was constant secret strife between families and between sects; in such struggles, combat power was always the key to victory or defeat.

Last year on the streets of Shengjing, Ji You, along with Ban Yangshu and Lu Qingqiu, had encountered an old man in black.

He had used thunder techniques, and the reason for this, ultimately, was that thunder techniques were too common and wouldn't reveal his identity.

Thinking of this, Ji You couldn't help but furrow his brows.

After the Qiling incident, all the disasters were attributed to the Zheng family, but the inexplicable evil seeds that appeared in Shengjing, as well as that Merging with the Dao realm expert, remained unidentified.

"Thunder is the power hidden within the spiritual energy of heaven and earth."

"Mobilized by the power of laws, it collides to form momentum, accumulating first and then releasing, until thunder energy takes form."

"Yang energy gathers in Yin; it must be forced, and when forced to the extreme, it advances."

"Softness pierces, while hardness must shatter."

The Third Elder of Buchan Hall chanted, his hair and beard flying, then he held his palm forward, chanting as he gathered thunder energy, causing purple electric light to flicker.

Ji You found a seat, leaned back against the wooden chair, and listened for a long time.

The laws imparted in the Qingfeng Lecture Hall were based on the human race's understanding of the Heavenly Dao; the existence of the instructor was to guide, but how to evolve and apply them specifically still required the disciple to have a sudden enlightenment.

Knowing the laws leads to Profound Understanding, and evolving them into techniques leads to Merging with the Dao.

The five major grand ceremonies of the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan each had different techniques, as well as exquisite cultivation methods, and some were only accessible to those who had become personal disciples.

An hour later, the lecture in the hall ended, and Ji You rose to leave.

It had to be said, it was a bit boring...

But cultivation was like this; as Wen Zhengxin put it, all the disciples in the Inner Courtyard would say when sitting in deep mountains that one must be able to endure to achieve anything.

It was too comfortable; Ji You scratched his palm, feeling his occupational disease acting up again.

He had robbed the Long Xiandi yesterday, and today he wanted to find a client again.

He walked to the vicinity of the Purple Bamboo Zen Forest and saw He Lingxiu leading a group of people toward it; she paused slightly when she saw him.

Among these people, Ji You recognized a few.

Shi Junhao, Fang Licheng, Leng Yingying, Chai Ze, and Xiao Hanyan were all candidates for personal discipleship from the Changsheng, Buchan, and Wuyu halls.

At this moment, He Lingxiu also saw him and walked gracefully toward him.

Ji You always paused to admire this senior sister whenever he saw her; he felt that she seemed to have had some enlightenment recently, as her aura was much stronger.

"Junior brother, I heard you've been back from Fengzhou for many days; I didn't expect this to be our first meeting."

"Thank you for your concern, senior sister; I've been diligently cultivating and rarely go out."

He Lingxiu couldn't help but raise her eyebrows upon hearing this: "But there was a rumor in the Outer Courtyard yesterday that a junior sister with a perky bottom had met you and said you were very enthusiastic."

Ji You's mouth twitched upon hearing this: "Is that so? That's truly great..."

Damn that Bai Rulong; he had been forced to bribe him with silver yesterday to keep him quiet, but he hadn't expected it to reach so many people's ears.

"I didn't expect junior brother to like this type; no wonder Lu Qingqiu and Zhao Yunyue couldn't catch your eye."

"Actually, theirs are quite good too..."

Ji You had just eaten their food yesterday and couldn't help but defend them; their bottoms were also excellent.

He Lingxiu then chuckled twice, stating frankly that she was going to realize the Dao, and left.

One had to know that after the Autumn Tournament, this senior sister with a broad chest had always wanted to hook him into the Inner Courtyard, even promising him the treatment of a personal disciple, but their meeting now consisted of only a few joking words, and she hadn't mentioned a word about entering the hall.

It was as if this matter had never happened, and what was even more unusual was that Ji You didn't feel surprised.

"So Ji You probably won't be able to enter the Inner Courtyard's immortal halls."

"What?"

In the Dao realization field, Fang Jincheng had been meditating for several hours; now that he was resting, he saw Ji You drifting past Bishui Lake and spoke lightly, causing countless people to turn their heads.

Lu Hanyan also turned her eyes at this moment: "Can't enter the immortal halls?"

Fang Jincheng raised the corners of his mouth: "Although I don't need him to guide me in sensing the Heavenly Book, if he had been honest with us about the sensing method last night, I might have let him enter the Changsheng Hall as a personal disciple or something, but unfortunately, he doesn't know what's good for him."

It was no secret that Fang Jincheng had someone in the Fang family serving as an Elder in the Changsheng Hall, but his claim that he could make Ji You a personal disciple was pure, unadulterated boasting.

However, hearing him mention asking Ji You about sensing the Heavenly Book last night, Lu Hanyan pursed her red lips, remembering that final sentence.

Don't know, can't teach, because it wasn't him sensing the Heavenly Book; it was the Heavenly Book sensing him.

Thus, she raised her head and looked at her elder sister.

Lu Qingqiu was accompanying her sister to realize the Dao here today and also remembered what happened last night.

For thousands of years in the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan, it had always been the students sensing the Heavenly Book; there had never been a case of the Heavenly Book sensing a student. She hadn't sensed it herself back then and didn't know what this meant.

But what concerned her was why Fang Jincheng would say Ji You couldn't enter the immortal halls.

And someone else who cared about this matter was Cao Jingsong.

"Why haven't you entered a hall yet?"

In the Outer Courtyard, in the pavilion of the Wang Jiaoxi Building, Cao Jingsong looked at Ji You, who was swaying over from the Inner Courtyard, his brows deeply furrowed.

Since returning from Fengzhou, he had been busy encouraging disciples like Xiang Fu and hadn't met Ji You many times.

Now that they finally met, he couldn't help but voice his question.

"This matter of entering a hall, I'm afraid it won't happen."

"?"

Ji You picked up his teacup, his gaze looking calmly toward the mountains: "That Night Chengshan incident has caused all the family factions in the Inner Courtyard to be extremely repulsed by me now. Although they don't say it out loud, I actually know."

Cao Jingsong's brows furrowed deeply: "Just because of this?"

"Pretty much. In short, these past few days since I returned, no hall seems to welcome me. I wandered over to Buchan Hall earlier and was even chased away by the disciples there."

"These families are truly petty. Those sent to Fengzhou were disciples the families didn't value, but now they care."

"People aren't important; what's important is that the act of hanging heads for public display made them lose face. It's said that even several Hall Masters feel I'm too prone to causing trouble."

When Ji You was in the Outer Courtyard, he had been targeted by the Management Hall for blocking Chu He's path, and coupled with his identity as a private cultivator from the countryside, he was out of place with those around him and had indeed been ostracized.

But in truth, some people in the Inner Courtyard still had a good impression of him.

After all, in the Qingyun world for so many years, there hadn't been many who could truly be called talented, and taking one under their wing was also very prestigious.

Especially when Ji You had broken through the Sword Forest during his questioning of the Dao at Lingjian Mountain, even the Inner Courtyard Elders had envied Cao Jingsong's luck.

But after the Night Chengshan incident, Ji You had made countless enemies in the Inner Courtyard.

Behind the immortal manors were families, and behind the families were sects; they were either connected by blood or had been paying tribute for years, having relationships that were tangled and messy.

Just like Luo Pingshan of the Po Yue Mountain Villa, and that Elder Luo who had great prestige in the Zizai Hall.

According to them, killing a few was fine, but there was no need to kill them all, and what they couldn't accept even more was cutting off their heads for public display.

In their eyes, this behavior broke the rules.

What are the rules?

The rules are that no matter how many undercurrents are surging in the dark, one must ensure at least superficial friendliness on the surface.

Just like how the Chen family and the Shanhai Pavilion didn't end up fighting, and the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan only went to Lingjian Mountain to question the Dao.

Everyone took care of each other's face; after all, one never knew who was closely related to whom.

Only Ji You, this private cultivator from the countryside, had no ties to any major families or immortal manors, so he dared to kill and hang heads, thus breaking the rules.

But for Ji You, the act of beheading was something that had to be done.

Fengzhou needed to rest with the people and needed time to recover, so he could only go to the extreme to make those immortal manors afraid to cause trouble in the short term.

Cultivators are high and mighty, calling themselves immortals, and distinguish themselves clearly from the common people.

But in the end, they are just like mortals; they are all afraid of death.

And the chain reaction was that after this incident, some people grew to detest Ji You's unscrupulous style.

And some who had nothing to do with the Fengzhou immortal manors were suddenly awakened by the Night Chengshan incident, realizing that Ji You, this private cultivator from the countryside, had always stood on a different side from them.

"Those who are not of our race must have a different heart"—this sentence could now be applied to Ji You.

A private cultivator from the countryside, to the children of the families, was indeed not the same species.

"I, on the other hand, have absolutely no experience in this regard..."

Cao Jingsong wanted to give Ji You some advice, but he was willing yet unable.

There were already few students from Fengzhou; sometimes there was one or two a year, sometimes none, and he had never had the experience of a disciple entering the Inner Courtyard.

Actually, thinking about it, a private cultivator from the countryside entering the Inner Courtyard was rare in the world.

"Is it going to be like this from now on?"

"I don't know. Maybe I'll be the only disciple in the history of the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan who entered the Inner Courtyard but wasn't accepted by the five major immortal halls. That's also pretty cool to say."

Cao Jingsong's mouth trembled: "It must be said, you are truly optimistic..."

Ji You placed his teacup on the table, his gaze looking deeply toward the sky: "I have always believed that in this world, everything except life and death is a small matter."

"What about money?"

Cao Jingsong thought to himself, if everything except life and death is a small matter, does money count as a big matter?

Ji the Bandit's eyes lit up: "How did the instructor know my intention? It seems you're already prepared. Shall I proceed directly with the process?"

"Get out, you rebellious disciple!"

"Has the instructor ever thought that I wanted to find some silver to grease the wheels in the Inner Courtyard?"

Cao Jingsong couldn't help but be amused: "I'd rather believe you'd use silver to build yourself a nest than believe you'd be willing to give away even half a tael."

Ji You suppressed his smile, said it was truly boring, and turned to leave.

And just after he left, someone stepped in from outside the door; it was Liu Jian'an, the son of Inspector Liu of Fengzhou, who had found a jar of fine wine in Shengjing City and brought it to Cao Jiaoxi.

Sensing the Heavenly Book didn't depend on cultivation base; he was bringing wine now actually to ask for guidance on the method of sensing the Heavenly Book.

Cao Jingsong stroked his long beard, his eyelids drooping slightly as he looked at the table, signaling him to put the wine down.

Liu Jian'an immediately understood, put down the spirit wine in his hand, and took out half a roasted pigeon from his bosom.

Cao Jiaoxi looked at the direction Ji You had left; look, look, this is true respect for the teacher!

There are countless disciples in the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan; how can there be one who robs the instructor's silver every day!

That was only because that kid Ji You left early; if he had left a step later, he would have had to show him what a role model is.

Thinking of this, Cao Jingsong was startled.

No, forget it.

If he had left a step later, neither the spirit wine nor the roasted pigeon would have remained, and he might even have had his wine cup and chopsticks swiped...

In the following days, Ji You indeed didn't enter a hall; he didn't care himself, because before entering the Merging with the Dao realm, he wasn't that urgent about entering a hall for deep cultivation. However, contrary to this, the rumors in the outside world gradually increased.

Outer Courtyard instructors, as well as some Outer Courtyard disciples who had always paid close attention to Ji You, were discussing it among themselves.

"It seems this Ji You really can't enter an immortal hall."

"Entered the Inner Courtyard but can't enter an immortal hall; I've never heard of such a thing..."

"Those who entered the Inner Courtyard in the past were all children of families; he was an accident to begin with. Actually, before the Night Chengshan incident, I heard several Inner Courtyard Elders still appreciated him quite a bit."

"Does this count as showing off one's courage for a moment, only to ruin one's immortal path? I wonder if he regrets it."

Lu Qingqiu hadn't been able to enter the Inner Courtyard as she wished and had now shifted the focus of her cultivation to socializing everywhere.

Like her, Lou Siyi, Sun Qiaozhi, and other Outer Courtyard disciples in the Condensation and Transformation realm all began to change their mindset, no longer cultivating bitterly day and night, but looking toward the future of their families.

Thus, many Inner Courtyard disciples received invitations from Outer Courtyard disciples; banquets were frequent, and the exchange of information was considered rapid.

And the claim that the five major immortal halls didn't quite accept Ji You was thus confirmed.

Hearing this, everyone's reactions varied, but they all felt that seeing the Inner Courtyard's reaction now, regret was inevitable.

The great ones among immortals live for life and for the people.

After the Great Ancient War, it wasn't as if the human race hadn't had such idealists.

But in the end, they were still constrained by all sorts of things in the world.

Without offerings, one cannot cultivate with peace of mind; without strengthening the group, one will be swallowed and perish...

And it was precisely because of the turmoil caused by Ji You's delay in entering a hall that the news began to spread that Lu Hanyan and a group of students had asked Ji You how to sense the Heavenly Book, only to be fobbed off by him, lying that he didn't know.

Many who heard this felt it was unreasonable, even carrying sarcasm in their words.

Some said Ji You came from the countryside, his vision had been narrow since childhood, and he only understood the petty gains before his eyes, not knowing how to plan for the future.

Thus, in Shengjing, in teahouses and taverns, whenever cultivators gathered for a banquet, one could hear such remarks.

"If I were that Ji You, I would have agreed to give up twenty percent of the offerings to those immortal manors that day, then joined forces with those immortal manors to strengthen my own power, growing endlessly until the family was prosperous."

"Not bad. If I were Ji You, I would have taught the Heavenly Book sensing method that very night to befriend the Lu and Fang families. The Lu family has countless spirit stones, and the Fang family is a great family with relatives serving as Elders in the Inner Courtyard; wouldn't becoming a personal disciple of an Elder be a matter of course?"

"This Ji You, in the end, still has innate deficiencies, which are now fully exposed."

"Innate deficiencies? How so?"

"Those from the countryside are all narrow-minded, focusing only on the petty gains before their eyes and not knowing how to plan for the future. This is a habit they formed in the countryside; I don't blame him for not having this scheming mind."

"Actually, my view is somewhat different."

"Brother Wang, how do you see him?"

"I think Ji You has been high-spirited all along, to the point where his mindset has become a bit floaty. I'm afraid deep down he feels he doesn't need to socialize and can support a family in this Qingyun world all by himself."

"But I heard that Ji You isn't unwilling to teach the method of sensing the Heavenly Book."

"Then why?"

"He said he didn't know how to sense the Heavenly Book because it was the Heavenly Book that sensed him."

"This person... hahahaha, he really loves to brag in front of his junior brothers and sisters."

At this time, autumn was deepening, and Ji You was cultivating in his meditation room in the Inner Courtyard.

Following the principle of adding flour when there's too much water and adding water when there's too much flour, he was constantly pushing the limits of his spiritual sense and refining his physical body.

And besides this, he also went to the Qingfeng Lecture Hall every day to listen to the imparting of Heavenly Dao laws, then went to the Purple Bamboo Zen Forest to observe the Heavenly Dao.

During this period, Wen Zhengxin and Ban Yangshu had both visited.

Pei Ruyi was now staying in Fengzhou and often corresponded with Wen Zhengxin, and Pei Ruyi usually wrote about the situation at Ji Village and the progress of Qiu Ru's Spirit Awakening in the same letter.

According to Ding Shijie Pei, Qiu Ru's talent was not bad, just too gluttonous, so there was nothing major.

And when Ban Yangshu came, he told Ji You that he now had a brand-new title in the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan: the Lone Brave.

It meant that first, he didn't choose a Dao companion to reproduce endlessly; second, he killed without mercy in Fengzhou; and third, he refused to teach Outer Courtyard disciples how to sense the Heavenly Book, seemingly delusional about supporting a family all by himself, being very brave and reckless.

Ji You didn't care much after hearing this, only saying that handsome men are easily misunderstood, and then headed to the Purple Bamboo Zen Forest.

There were many disciples in the Zen Forest, and they all cast sidelong glances when they saw him walking over.

"Did you hear? This Ji You told the new junior brothers and sisters yesterday that it wasn't him sensing the Heavenly Book, but the Heavenly Book sensing him."

"Students and the Heavenly Book are supposed to sense each other; we know this ourselves, and saying it like that isn't wrong, but... using it to deceive those junior brothers and sisters who don't know the truth is truly going too far."

"He has always loved to show off like this—what 'seven swords by one person,' what 'let the human Dao be under the blue sky'—now he's twisting black and white; I'm not surprised at all."

"Actually, him being able to sense the Heavenly Book was just luck."

"Why?"

"I once heard the Hall Master say that the night Ji You realized the Heavenly Book, it just happened to coincide with the Abbot summoning the Heavenly Book, so he found the opportunity."

"Is that so?"

By now, Ji You had already walked into the bamboo forest, found his own meditation cushion, and sat down cross-legged.

He had always disdained the mockery of others, silently thinking about turning them into clients.

It was just that the version about the Abbot summoning the Heavenly Book was something he had never heard before.

Ji You muttered to himself, and then saw spiritual light erupting above the layered clouds, changing infinitely, whistling constantly, and quickly submerging into his crown.

In an instant, his spiritual sense passed through the void, dancing in the emptiness, and finally submerged into the Void Mountain.

The mountain was empty, with no one there, only the chaotic Heavenly Dao constantly evolving.

Ji You sat cross-legged at the foot of the mountain, began to observe the heavens with his spiritual sense, then his eyes gradually closed, and he began to meditate, attempting sudden enlightenment.

At this moment, a hazy sound of wind arose in the emptiness, from far to near, and in no time, an immortal fairy in a red dress with bare feet drifted down onto the black cliff.

The hem of her red dress was extremely short, revealing long, slender legs that were smooth as jade and white as snow.

The fairy's features were extremely exquisite, her eyelashes long and curled, her eyes lively and deep, her red lips vermilion without needing rouge.

It was just that the fairy seemed very irritable; her beautiful eyebrows were slightly raised, her pink, moist toes tapped lightly, and she drifted from the cliff to Ji You's front, then raised her foot to measure, seemingly wanting to step on him.

But that snowy foot only swayed in front of him for a moment before being lightly retracted.

【Don't disturb my cultivation; I won't come out of seclusion halfway again.】

Yan Shuyi walked to the black rock beside him at this moment, sat down obediently, then rested her chin on her hand and stared at the meditating Ji You, her eyes blinking lightly, and before she knew it, pink mist began to rise slowly around her.

(End of chapter)