The Second Day of the Coronation Ceremony.
Within the city of Tai’an, which embraced all rivers like the sea, the sight of a young Taoist priest carrying a peachwood sword did not attract much attention from the guards at the city gate. Taoist priests from Longhu Mountain often came to the capital to draw talismans and perform rituals, and the citizens were familiar with many high-ranking Taoist priests from the Celestial Master Mansion who shared the same surname as the emperor. The only thing that caught the guards’ attention was that this simple Taoist was not from the ancestral temple of Taoism, Longhu Mountain, nor was he a disciple of any ordinary sacred site. He hailed from Wudang Mountain, whose reputation had been obscure for centuries. The entire Taoist population across the land was governed by the Feathered Minister Zhao Danxia, who presided over all Taoist affairs, except for Wudang Mountain, which remained an exception. This made the guards at the city gate glance at him a few times after allowing him through, but they found nothing extraordinary about him. They assumed he was just an ordinary Taoist who could no longer endure the austere discipline of Wudang and had come to the capital seeking a shortcut to success.
After entering the city, the Taoist asked for directions to the Mawei Posthouse and walked there. Unfortunately, he took a detour and walked for nearly an hour before finally spotting the dragon-clawed Sophora tree outside the posthouse. He announced his identity to the gatekeeper: Li Yufu of Wudang Mountain, requesting an audience with Xufeng Nian, the heir of Beiliang. The gatekeeper hurried off to report, puzzled. Li Yufu, who had walked all the way from Wudang to the capital without showing any signs of a Taoist’s grace, sat on the steps outside the posthouse to rest. He practiced quiet breathing according to the techniques of Yuzhu Peak. The old Confucian scholar Liu Wenbao glanced at him once and then ignored him.
Xu Fengnian was in the back courtyard with Miss Lizizi building their eighth snowman when Tong Ziliang reported the arrival. Frowning, Xu Fengnian walked to the gate. Li Yufu rose and bowed respectfully, appearing somewhat awkward. Xu Fengnian’s frown eased, and he smiled: “Master Li, you really don’t need to treat me with such courtesy.”
Li Yufu of Wudang Mountain, following the great cultivators Wang Chonglou and Hong Xixiang, who had achieved the Great Huang Ting, was now the new Abbot of Wudang.
However, Li Yufu seemed even more nervous than Xu Fengnian, unable to utter even a few polite greetings. He looked embarrassed and blushed, unlike a revered Taoist priest expected by all of Wudang, but more like a young girl meeting a handsome man. This left Xu Fengnian utterly perplexed. He had visited the mountain several times, meeting only the young cow-riding master and some mischievous little Taoist apprentices, as well as the kind Wang Chonglou and the sword-wielding Wang Xiaoping, but had never met Li Yufu. There was no history of conflict or resentment between them. It was said that Hong Xixiang had high hopes for this man, so why was he so shy and reserved? Suppressing his curiosity, Xu Fengnian led Li Yufu to the back courtyard. His initial hesitation stemmed from fear of the worst-case scenario—that Li Yufu symbolized Wudang’s submission to the imperial court, joining the ranks of those who had already undermined Beiliang’s position. Moreover, Wudang held a special emotional significance for Xu Fengnian. His elder sister, Xu Zhihu, had met the timid cow-riding boy there, and he himself had trained with the saber there, receiving a great favor from Master Wang. There was also a vegetable garden whose condition he did not know, and a long-vanished challenge notice for the Dangui Horn.
If Wudang betrayed Beiliang, even if Beiliang could endure it, Xu Fengnian personally could not.
Entering the courtyard, Xu Fengnian smiled at the little girl who was using charcoal to draw the eyes on the snowman: “Lizi, bring a stool for the new Abbot of Wudang.”
The girl hurriedly wiped the charcoal off the snowman and fetched a stool from inside. Li Yufu, still reserved and shy, said: “Your Highness, I can stand.”
Xu Fengnian examined him carefully and then sat on the rattan chair already placed under the eaves outside the house, teasing: “How come you’re nothing like Hong Xixiang? That fellow’s face was thicker than yours by hundreds of layers of clouds.”
Li Yufu hesitated but eventually summoned the courage to sit on the stool, sitting upright with his gaze fixed straight ahead. Two rattan chairs and one stool, Xu Fengnian in the center, Xuan Yuan Qingfeng lying on the chair to his left, motionless as a living corpse.
Xu Fengnian did not rush to inquire about the hidden matters, lying back and softly smiling: “I have a long-standing relationship with your young master uncle. One was willing to hit and the other willing to be hit. He still owes me many forbidden books he hasn’t returned, always tricking me by saying your senior uncle Chen You had confiscated them all, like a cow sinking into the sea. I don’t hold it against him, but I don’t know why I always get angry every time I see him, and my hands and feet can’t help themselves. He also likes to shout about hitting people without hitting their faces or kicking without kicking their groins, and I don’t know where he heard those common sayings from the martial world.”
Li Yufu secretly wiped some sweat. In the middle of winter, the young Taoist priest was surrounded by a misty vapor, creating a mystical scene like a fairy mountain overseas, which left the experienced Miss Lizi astonished, unable to help but look a few times.
Xu Fengnian rocked the rattan chair, closed his eyes, and said, “The old Abbot was truly a good man. In my life, I have met many aged Taoists, but truly like immortals, there was only Master Wang.”
The warm and affectionate atmosphere was unfortunately shattered by a cold snort from Xuan Yuan Qingfeng. Li Yufu, already on edge, was even more frightened and swallowed the saliva under his tongue. Cultivating the Dao is like entering a mountain of gold, and how much gold one can recover depends on one’s talent, innate disposition, and opportunities. Li Yufu’s talent was noticed by his master Yu Xingrui, who took him from the East Sea to Wudang Mountain, where his innate disposition and character were praised by all his uncles and elders. As for his opportunities, even people like Chen You and Song Zhiming dared not speculate, except for one person who left an eight-character prophecy: “Wudang shall rise, and it shall rise with Yufu.”
Li Yufu was actually quite brave, but the person he admired and respected most in his life was his young master uncle, who had once ridden a crane and cut through fate with his sword. He deeply admired him, and after ascending the mountain, everyone, old and young, spoke of how the Abbot’s uncle and the heir of Beiliang were fated to clash. Several uncles had said that his young master uncle had indeed been beaten in the capital and was afraid of the heir of Beiliang without bounds. Despite his cultivation reaching the ninth heaven, this made Li Yufu, who had spent his life chasing after his young master uncle, how could he not feel apprehensive?
Xu Fengnian turned his head and glared at Xuan Yuan Qingfeng, who had been disturbed while absorbing the aura of fate and was now angry. Li Yufu dared not turn his head to look at the woman in purple, only sighing in his heart. Women outside the mountain were indeed tigers, just as his young master uncle had said.
Xu Fengnian smiled and asked, “I heard that the Sword Qi of Beiman went to Wudang Mountain to challenge the sword techniques of Master Lü, asking Wudang Mountain to answer on behalf of Master Lü, and one sword killed him to the top of the Great Lotus Peak, and then you drove him all the way back to the foot of the mountain.”
Li Yufu said softly, “I was angry and acted impulsively. In truth, my sword skills are still no match for that Sword Qi.”
Xu Fengnian smiled, “I guess your sword skills are indeed no match for Huang Qing, but the level of sword Dao is related to sword skills, but not absolutely. Huang Qing asked about sword Dao, and it’s not strange that he lost. It’s like a woman having a pretty face, which can add some beauty, but how beautiful she really is depends on her most important demeanor.”
After pondering for a while, Li Yufu sincerely said, “Your Highness’s words are very true, and I have learned much.”
Xu Fengnian joked, “You really think I’m some kind of enlightened sage? You’re so clever that even if I just idly let out a fart, you could figure out one, two, or three things. Li Yufu, don’t be so suspicious. The reason I dared to hit Hong Xixiang back then wasn’t because I was really more skilled or had deeper cultivation than him. It was just because he was timid and broad-minded.”
Li Yufu said solemnly, “Your Highness has great cultivation.”
Xu Fengnian laughed heartily, “You, you, when you flatter, you’re just like the cow-riding one, both abnormally sincere. No wonder you’re from the same lineage.”
Li Yufu’s face turned slightly red.
Xu Fengnian asked, “Did you really walk all the way to the capital on foot?”
Li Yufu nodded, “On the way, I went to Difei Mountain once.”
Xu Fengnian said playfully, “My second sister once took a few bags of dragon sand from Difei Mountain, which is considered the first blessed land of Taoism. She said an evil dragon emerged there. Did you go there to slay the evil dragon?”
Li Yufu smiled slightly, neither denying nor confirming it.
Xu Fengnian nodded, slowly saying, “For the grand ceremony of yesterday, Tai’an City specially enshrined the Great God Zhenwu behind the three main halls on the central axis, sculpting a colossal statue as large as a hill. No other deity in the capital could rival it. The emperor himself inscribed the plaque with the words ‘Commanding the Central Hub,’ aiming to elevate Wudang Mountain’s status in Taoism. This matter, you and I both understand clearly.”
Li Yufu took a deep breath and honestly said, “The imperial court erecting a statue of the Great God Zhenwu in Tai’an City posed no objection from Wudang Mountain. However, according to the teachings of Master Lü, all Taoist priests on the mountain were forbidden from entering the capital to seek power and favor. Yet, for some unknown reason, after the statue of the Great God Zhenwu was completed, it began to sway without wind. Thus, I was sent by my master to investigate. While traveling east, I sensed a connection with Difei Mountain and went there first. Indeed, I discovered the lurking evil dragon and thus drew my sword to slay it.”
At this point, Li Yufu stood up and said solemnly, “In my lifetime of cultivation, my wish is simply to draw my sword for the common people and eliminate injustice.”
Xu Fengnian smiled, looking up at the sky.
Such a young immortal.
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