Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Wei Han grimaced and drummed his fingers against the table, “Shopkeeper Liu, it’s not that I’m not giving you face, but didn’t you hear this brat say that she wants me to kowtow to her? This is not something that a month or two of alcohol fees can solve. You’d better just stand at the side and observe.

“Don’t worry, no matter how big this matter becomes today, I, Wei Han, will take responsibility for all of it. I will not implicate the Ask Immortal Building. I am being very sincere right now. If you still regard me as a friend, then you should just sit down.”

“Sword Immortal Wei, you’re awesome!”

“He even refused a whole month of alcohol charges, I am seriously impressed.”

“Tsk, tsk. It seems like there will be something big happening here today; quickly ask everyone to come over and watch the show!”

Wei Han scolded loudly, “Scram, all of you! I’m not here to put on a show for you.” At this moment, his face changed slightly. He put down his wine cup, got up, and cupped his hands, “Uncle, why are you here?”

The old daoist walked over calmly with a sword on his back. When everyone heard what Wei Han said, the commotion slowly died down.

“Wei Han, if you still remember to call me ‘uncle’, you will stop blowing this matter out of proportion now.”

Wei Han laughed bitterly.

The old daoist widened his eyes, “What? Are you going to debate this matter with me? Do you want me to sell the sword on my back and help you pay your alcohol bills?”

Having heard this, Shopkeeper Liu immediately stood up and cupped his hands, “Daoist Priest Chen, your words are too harsh! As long as Sword Immortal Wei is willing to let this matter rest, what I said before still stands.”

The old daoist smiled and nodded his head, “Shopkeeper Liu, you are indeed sensible. This old man thanks you for the generous offer!” He glared at Wei Han, “Aren’t you going to get down? Are you waiting for this old man to kneel down and beg you?”

Wei Han’s face became even uglier, “Uncle, I do not dare to disobey you, but you need to give me a reason why I can’t do this.”

The old daoist’s gaze landed on White Iris.

Wei Han also looked at her for a while before he sighed and nodded, “Never mind, since that’s the case, Uncle, you should ask this lady to take back what she said just now. If you can do that, I will stop right away.”

The old daoist humphed, “You are tactful, after all.”

A quick look at bit.ly/3iBfjkV will leave you more fulfilled.

Within the Ask Immortal Building, everyone was scolding internally in their hearts, ‘Where did this old daoist come from? He is spoiling everyone’s fun and he should be cut to pieces’. Of course, none of them dared to say it out loud, they merely thought it in their hearts.

The old daoist seemed to have realized this. He smiled and cupped his hands, “Infinite Monastery’s Priest Chen hereby apologizes for ruining everyone’s fun today. So sorry, so sorry!”

The moment he said the words ‘Infinite Monastery’, people’s faces started to change one by one. They did not dare to hold any opinions against him anymore. They merely forced a smile and praised Bodhisattva, none of them daring to show any disrespect.

This caused the smile on the old daoist’s face to become even brighter, but when he looked at White Iris again, his heart started to skip a beat. This lady’s expression remained unchanged even after learning that he was from Infinite Monastery. Are you telling me that you are not aware of our Infinite Monastery’s reputation and status?

After bidding farewell to White Iris at the Jade Gate, the old daoist felt restless. Even after he returned to his residence, he felt uneasy. He sighed continuously for half a day and even drank some alcohol to drown his sorrows. Now that he had met her again, he felt both shocked and delighted. He immediately intervened and even revealed his identity to everyone to pressure Wei Han into lowering his head. 

Initially, he thought that the young lady had changed her mind. However, it seemed that this was not the case at all. But since it had gotten to this stage already, of course he had to try again. The old daoist braced himself and put on a calm facade before walking to the table where Rourou, Qin Yu and White Iris were. He said, “Take back what you said earlier, and that will be the end of this matter. In the future, you should be more careful with your words when walking this world to prevent causing any trouble.”

He turned his head, looked at White Iris, and smiled, “Lady, have you thought about it yet? The big gates of our Infinite Monastery are always open for you.”

Hua –

Everyone was instantly taken aback. So this old daoist was here just to recruit a disciple. No wonder he intervened just now.

They were also secretly glad that they did not do anything bad earlier. If they had ruined the old daoist’s chance to recruit this disciple, it would be equivalent to destroying his Great Dao inheritance, and this was a huge sin in the world of cultivation.

A disciple of Infinite Monastery!

All eyes were on White Iris now, and they were filled with envy and jealousy. Some of them were even in disbelief as they thought, ‘This cannot be. The cultivator that Infinite Monastery had its eyes on was actually a female servant?’

White Iris shook her head.

It was straightforward, without any hesitation.

Instantly, everyone’s envy was replaced with their chins dropping to the ground.

The old daoist could feel how determined White Iris was, so he was very upset. He suddenly felt that he truly could not recruit this disciple for his teacher. The more he thought about it, the more upset and heartbroken he was, and his face even turned pale.

His lips trembled and his voice was quivering as he said, “Are you really not going to consider my offer again? It’s like what I said before, I can wait a few more days for your reply…if you think a few days is too short, I can also wait for a few years. As long as you’re willing to reconsider, I will stay at Ask Immortal Building and wait for you to return.”

This scene made everyone look at each other in disbelief. They wondered when Infinite Monastery became so desperate to recruit new disciples. Furthermore, it seemed like this female servant had already rejected the old daoist twice. She truly did not know what was good for her!

Old daoist, take a look at us. If it’s too troublesome to recruit her, then look at me. I have the good qualifications to be your disciple. As long as you are willing to even look at me, I will immediately kneel to the ground and call you my master.

No, I’d be willing to even call you my ancestor!

Wei Han could not help but frown as he looked at Rourou, Qin Yu and White Iris. The drunkenness in his eyes was replaced with a cold gaze.

White Iris hesitated for a while before saying slowly, “You don’t have to say any more. In this life, I will only follow at My Lady’s side. I will not join anyone else.”

The old daoist shivered and took a deep breath, “If that’s the case…I guess everyone in this world has their own path. Since you have chosen to go down your path, as long as nothing goes wrong, you might one day be able to walk on a Heaving Crossing Great Dao path. Choosing not to join our Infinite Monastery might not be the wrong decision…in the future, if you reach a bottleneck, or if you have anything you do not understand, or if you need some help in breaking through, you can come and find me. Infinite Monastery will definitely help you.”

White Iris pursed her lips and nodded her head.

She truly felt that this old daoist was a good man. Furthermore, she had a good impression of his Sword Dao which made him even more endearing to her. 

However, compared to her lady, this was all not worth it and meant nothing. Therefore, what White Iris said just now came from the bottom of her heart. 

The old daoist smiled and nodded, “That’s good, that’s good.”

He was about to turn to leave when Rourou suddenly spoke, “What you said just now was true. There are an infinite number of paths laid out for us, and whichever path we chose to walk on does not make much of a difference…after all, ascending to the heavens is extremely difficult. There are billions of beings in this world, but how many can achieve that? In the end, most people reach a dead end, so there is no speaking of wrong decisions, whichever path they choose to walk on.”

The old daoist frowned, feeling that these remarks were not in line with the kind of Daoism that he practiced, but after glancing at White Iris again, he merely nodded.

Rourou glanced sideways at Qin Yu, causing him to cough lightly. He stood up and cupped his hands, “Old daoist, please do not lower yourself for us juniors. To be able to hear your wise sayings today is an honor for us. We plucked this wine fruit from an unnamed tree, and we want to give this to you. Please take it.”

Old daoist looked at Wei Han before looking at the wine fruit in Qin Yu’s hand again. After thinking for a while, he nodded his head and said, “Then I will not stand on occasion!”

Qin Yu smiled and handed the wine fruit over with two hands.

Rourou had already gotten up and the three of them headed out. Wei Han wanted to say something but was stopped by the old daoist’s glare. He lowered his head but there was still a dignified expression in his eyes.

Rourou, Qin Yu and White Iris went downstairs, exited the building, and walked far into the distance.

Wei Han coughed lightly, “Uncle, even though they gave you that, it was me who lost face…cough, I deserve some of that too.”

The old daoist scoffed, and then he turned away and left.

Wei Han could only laugh bitterly.

In Ask Immortal Building, boos suddenly sounded, causing Sword Immortal Wei to jokingly chide everyone while they continued to scream vulgarities. Then, Wei Han left the building as well.

Shopkeeper Liu looked like he was pondering about something as he watched the old daoist leave. Then, with a smile, he apologized to everyone and turned to leave together with them.

After a few moments, outside the old daoist’s room, Wei Han frowned and looked at Shopkeeper Liu who was beside him, smiling. He had an unhappy expression on his face as he said, “Shopkeeper Liu, why did you follow me here?”

Shopkeeper Liu’s smile did not waver as he replied, “Sword Immortal Wei, what are you talking about? This is the inn behind my Ask Immortal Building. As the shopkeeper, why can’t I be here? Furthermore, Priest Chen is an honored guest of Ask Immortal Building. After going through so many disturbances today, personally coming to his room to apologize is the right etiquette to have.”

Wei Han merely scoffed.

At this moment, the courtyard door opened from the inside. The old daoist was expressionless as he remarked, “If I do not open the door, will the both of you be quarreling here until the sun comes up?”

Wei Han hurriedly shook his head.

Shopkeeper Liu continued to smile but did not say anything.

They had different demeanors now, but they both wanted the same thing.

The old daoist was having a massive headache. He huffed and waved his sleeves before walking away. Wei Han quickly followed behind him and Shopkeeper Liu also caught up at the back. Without any urgency, he closed the doors behind him.

In the room, the old daoist turned around and sat down. In front of him on the table was the wine fruit that was given to him by Qin Yu. The moment it touched his hands, he could tell that it was extraordinary. He took it back to his room, examined it carefully, and discovered something.

He allowed Wei Han to come because he indeed was involved in this matter. It was only because of Wei Han that he managed to get this wine fruit.

As for Ask Immortal Building’s Shopkeeper Liu, it was no exaggeration to say that the ‘wine demon’ had manifested. His sense of smell was better than anyone else’s. It was difficult to keep this wine fruit all to himself in Shopkeeper Liu’s territory. Since the shopkeeper already had his eye on the wine fruit, and previously, had also treated the old daoist many jars of Immortal Brew, the old daoist decided to close an eye.

Of course, with such fine quality of this wine fruit, there were more reasons than these for the old daoist to let Shopkeeper Liu walk into his house to enjoy it with him.

Wei Han spoke, “Uncle, this fruit looks very ordinary. There could be something else inside it though; why don’t you open it and take a look?”

Shopkeeper Liu turned his hand over and a jade knife appeared. “This jade knife is used by a chef in our Ask Immortal Building to cut open immortal fruits. It is extremely sharp, and because of its characteristics, it will not be contaminated, so it will not damage the effectiveness of the wine fruit.”

The old daoist waved his hand.

Shopkeeper Liu smiled victoriously and turned around to hand the jade knife over. Of course he was not going to cut open the fruit himself. He was sensible enough to know how to act appropriately.

Wei Han took the jade knife and delicately sliced the wine fruit with it.

Pa-da –

The jade knife directly fell to the ground. Sadly, this precious item was very fragile and instantly shattered into pieces.

But Shopkeeper Liu did not have the capacity to think about how his chef would feel after his beloved item was destroyed. His face slightly reddened and was full of bewilderment, “Immortal Brew, this is the true Immortal Brew…”

The old daoist picked up the pieces of wine fruit and lowered his head to examine them. Then, there was shock and realization on his face. This is really the true Immortal Brew.

After a few moments, Wei Han and Shopkeeper Liu took their leave silently. Before they left, Shopkeeper Liu said, “I will definitely not tell anyone about this.”

The corners of Wei Han’s lips twitched and he asked, “What about my alcohol bills?”

Shopkeeper Liu, “I’ll waive them all.”

Wei Han cupped his hands and quickly left.

Shopkeeper Liu took a long sigh. In his hands was a tightly-clutched piece of wine fruit. What does an alcoholic’s debt matter? Getting my hands on this piece of wine fruit is ten times, no, a hundred times more valuable!