Not long after, the old man returned, leading in a man with a long face and beard.
Mo Tiange was curious and looked up. She saw that this man appeared to be in his fifties, and the aura emanating from him was as powerful as Ye Jingwen's—he was a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
As soon as this man entered, Ye Jingwen stood up. Seeing this, Mo Tiange also slipped down from her chair. The man swept his gaze over them, his eyes lingering on Ye Jingwen. Seeing the Taiji symbol embroidered on the right chest of his robe and the auspicious clouds painted on the cuffs, he knew this was an elite disciple of the Xuanqing Sect. He immediately dared not be negligent and cupped his hands in greeting. "I am Lu Xishan. How may I address you, Fellow Daoist?"
Ye Jingwen returned the courtesy. "I am Ye Jingwen of the Xuanqing Sect. I apologize for this presumptuous visit, but I have a matter on which I seek your advice, Fellow Daoist Lu."
Polite people are always welcome, especially when they are disciples of a renowned sect. Lu Xishan felt quite favorable towards him and smiled. "So it's Fellow Daoist Ye. Please, have a seat."
Ye Jingwen sat back down in the guest seat. The old man who had greeted them had someone bring fresh tea and then withdrew.
Lu Xishan took a sip of tea, his gaze falling on Mo Tiange, who was sitting obediently to the side. Stroking his beard, he said, "Is this young fellow daoist your junior, Fellow Daoist Ye? To have reached the second level of Qi Refining at such a tender age shows promising talent."
Ye Jingwen merely smiled. "You flatter her, Fellow Daoist Lu." In the mortal world, reaching the second level at ten years old was rare talent. Even among cultivation families, she could be considered promising. But in a major sect like theirs, it was merely passable.
One had to understand that within their sect, with so many high-level cultivators, their descendants naturally included those with outstanding natural gifts. With guidance from famous masters from childhood and no lack of medicinal pills, those slightly worse off could reach the third or fourth level at this age, while the diligent ones could reach the fifth or sixth level without much difficulty. Such disciples could generally achieve Foundation Establishment around thirty. For example, he himself had decent talent and worked very hard, achieving Foundation Establishment at twenty-four. Perfected Lord Shoujing had done so even earlier, at twenty. And the earliest to achieve Foundation Establishment in the Xuanqing Sect wasn't even Perfected Lord Shoujing, but rather Uncle-Master Lingxi of Ganlu Peak, who succeeded at just seventeen.
Lu Xishan wasn't actually envious. Although cultivation families couldn't compare to sects, they weren't so narrow-minded as to be jealous over such things. He was merely offering polite praise.
"Fellow Daoist Lu," Ye Jingwen began, getting straight to the point after drinking his tea. "The reason for my presumptuous visit is to inquire about the whereabouts of a fellow daoist."
"Oh?" Lu Xishan had already heard the report from the old greeter and had a good idea, but he still feigned surprise on his face. After all, he didn't know the other party's purpose in seeking this information.
"A month ago, did Fellow Daoist Lu visit the Xuanqing Sect shop at the mountain's foot together with another Foundation Establishment fellow daoist?"
Lu Xishan nodded. "That's correct. Is it my friend you're looking for, Fellow Daoist Ye?"
"Precisely," Ye Jingwen said. "Is that friend of yours named Ye Jiang, originally a cultivator of the Ye Family here on Qingmeng Mountain?"
Lu Xishan felt suspicious but nodded on the surface. "What Fellow Daoist Ye says is correct." Suddenly realizing this person also shared the surname Ye, he hesitated. "Could it be that you are..."
Ye Jingwen was clever enough to immediately grasp what Lu Xishan was thinking. "I have never met this Fellow Daoist Ye Jiang. However, my uncle-master is a close friend of Fellow Daoist Ye Jiang's elder brother."
Hearing this, Lu Xishan relaxed. Although he himself was a good friend of Ye Jiang's, the Ye Family had been forced to leave Qingmeng Mountain through the joint efforts of many cultivation families on the mountain, including their own Lu Family. Of course, such matters were decided by the Core Formation ancestors above; it wasn't his place to speak. Therefore, his friendship with Ye Jiang remained. If relatives of the Ye Family were now seeking him out, he was somewhat concerned. After all, the Xuanqing Sect was the foremost major sect in West Kunwu, and cultivation families like theirs couldn't afford to offend them.
"I see. In the past, Senior Ye Hai was truly a genius of heaven-defying talent. With such a cultivator emerging from the Ye Family, they managed to persist for another two hundred years. If not for that..." The words that followed were not appropriate to say in front of outsiders, so he changed the subject. "Fellow Daoist Ye, may I ask which uncle-master you refer to? And what instructions does he have?"
Ye Jingwen smiled. "The uncle-master I speak of is Perfected Lord Shoujing. Instructions are too strong a word. He was merely entrusted by an old friend to settle the descendants of the Ye Family."
"Perfected Lord Shoujing?" Lu Xishan was greatly startled. The look of solemn respect that appeared on his face was so obvious even Mo Tiange noticed it. She was puzzled. What was so special about Perfected Lord Shoujing?
How could she know that Perfected Lord Shoujing was a name of great renown in West Kunwu? This Lu Xishan was already over two hundred years old, a figure of the same generation as her father, Ye Hai. Yet Ye Hai had advanced to the Core Formation Stage in his early hundreds, in no way inferior to the elite disciples of major sects, while his peers on Qingmeng Mountain had remained stuck at the Foundation Establishment Stage, lacking the opportunity to advance.
But compared to Perfected Lord Shoujing, none of that mattered. Perfected Lord Shoujing was a descendant of a Nascent Soul ancestor of the Xuanqing Sect. He was brought to Mount Taikang as a child, achieved Foundation Establishment at twenty, and had already formed his Core by seventy-eight.
It was said that Perfected Lord Shoujing wasn't a genius with a single or mutated Spirit Root; he merely had a dual Spirit Root. Many of the cultivators still struggling at Foundation Establishment also had dual Spirit Roots. Yet in terms of cultivation, Perfected Lord Shoujing was worlds apart from them. Achieving Core Formation at seventy-eight—in the entire Tianji Region, only two or three had accomplished such a feat in the past thousand years. Such an opportunity truly wasn't something one could obtain just by having a Nascent Soul ancestor's assistance.
In terms of age, Lu Xishan was already over two hundred. He himself had achieved Foundation Establishment at forty. He was already a Foundation Establishment cultivator when Perfected Lord Shoujing had just begun cultivating. Now, he was still a Foundation Establishment cultivator, while Perfected Lord Shoujing was already a Core Formation senior. Currently, Perfected Lord Shoujing was only around one hundred and thirty years old. Given his cultivation speed, it was highly possible he would achieve Nascent Soul within the next century. Lu Xishan himself was also a dual Spirit Root cultivator, but his opportunities were never sufficient. Whenever he thought of Perfected Lord Shoujing, who shared his Spirit Root type, or even Ye Hai who also shared it, he could only sigh helplessly.
"So it's Perfected Lord Shoujing," Lu Xishan said, his face showing reverence. "Please speak, Fellow Daoist Ye. If I know anything, I will certainly tell you everything."
Seeing that his uncle-master's name was indeed so effective, Ye Jingwen didn't stand on ceremony and asked directly, "Do you know where that Fellow Daoist Ye Jiang went, or what his plans are? Did he mention anything to you, Fellow Daoist Lu?"
Lu Xishan replied, "Ye Jiang had already relocated all the other members of the Ye Family to the mortal world on this trip. He returned only to retrieve the Ye Family's final collection of texts. He said that opportunities for advancement were hard to come by, so he planned to travel freely and spend his remaining years in ease. After we parted, he intended to head east."
Ye Jingwen nodded. "Thank you, Fellow Daoist Lu. Do you have a more specific destination?"
"This... he's probably in the Dongmeng Mountain area by now."
To the left and right of Qingmeng Mountain lay Dongmeng and Ximeng Mountains, with inferior spiritual veins. There were no cultivation sects there, but cultivation families had developed the area, selling or renting land to loose cultivators. Over time, it had formed an extremely lively market where many cultivators went to buy, sell, and exchange goods. Occasionally, even Core Formation loose cultivators could be found there.
Lu Xishan took something from his robe and handed it to Ye Jingwen. "Before Ye Jiang and I parted, he gave me this voice transmission jade talisman. If we are not too far apart, this item can send a message to him."
Ye Jingwen accepted it, his face showing delight. "Thank you. You've been a great help, Fellow Daoist Lu. How can I thank you properly?" With this item, finding the person would be much simpler than searching through crowds. It contained a wisp of Ye Jiang's spiritual sense and could directly sense his location.
Lu Xishan smiled. "No thanks are necessary. Let's consider it making a friend, Fellow Daoist Ye."
Hearing this, Ye Jingwen's estimation of Lu Xishan rose a notch. Indeed, accepting a token of gratitude today was not as good as making a friend. A Xuanqing Sect disciple might be of help to him in the future.
"In that case, I shall take my leave first. Fellow Daoist Lu, may we meet again if fate allows."