Chapter 110: Chapter 92: The North-South Land of Four Waters, Three Ridges; The Yin Puppet’s Earth-Wood Might Whips a Mountain

Jiang Yi had asked similar questions about his own progress many times before, and the replies always came quickly.

With a low hum, ripples spread across its surface.

[Twenty-Two Years]

’Even with the Cat Master’s astonishing Dao Inheritance, it’s still going to take that long.’

Jiang Yi raised an eyebrow. The Dharma Gate of “Mixed Refining Origin, Commander of Ten Thousand Truths” could devour an amount of Spiritual Energy that nearly encompassed an entire cosmic cycle.

Theoretically, if he had been born into an Ancestral Sect Dharma Lineage, recognized as a Dao Material, ranked among the True Disciples, and had the ample support of a Spirit Cave Mansion, he could have laid a foundation of unprecedented strength and even reached the peak at a record-breaking speed.

But now, the Celestial Book’s answer was “twenty-two years” just to have a hope of reaching the Twelfth Layer.

Even so, this speed was already enough to make the Direct Lineages of the Dao Race on Beimang Ridge burn with envy.

After all, many Cultivators could go their entire lives without even glimpsing the Qi Cultivation Twelfth Layer.

’This probably has little to do with my own aptitude. I must be getting held back by my Dharma Lineage.’

’The twenty-two-year limit is based on having mastered an astonishing Dao Inheritance, but without taking the Celestial Book into account.’

Jiang Yi brushed aside these stray thoughts, showing little sign of discouragement.

Twenty-two years wasn’t set in stone. If he cultivated diligently and without pause, or if he encountered a few more Opportunities, he should be able to shorten that time.

He gently kneaded True Master Xuanmiao’s snow-white belly, and his mind began to quiet. He deliberately changed the subject to distract himself.

“Cat Master, I heard Elder Xu from the Skill Transmission Institute lecture once. He said that in the one-hundred-thousand-li region extending from Beimang Ridge, there are what’s known as the ’Four Rivers and Three Peaks,’ all under the rule of the Innate Sect.”

“Among these Four Rivers and Three Peaks, I wonder which place has the most abundant Spiritual Energy and is best for cultivation?”

True Master Xuanmiao, who was gradually growing accustomed to being petted by Jiang Yi, shifted into a more comfortable position on his back in Jiang Yi’s arms and replied lazily,

“They’re all just backwater territories. You probably couldn’t find more than a handful of Jia-Class Spirit Caves if you scoured all of them.”

The Cat Master truly lived up to his True Master Level status. The moment he spoke, it was with the grand bearing of someone from an Ancestral Sect Dharma Lineage.

Jiang Yi said with a smile,

“Jia-Class Spirit Caves are exclusive to the Ancestral Sect to begin with. Legend says they were transported here from beyond the cosmos by True Monarchs, not things that formed naturally.”

“Across the entire Nanzhan Continent, there are probably fewer than you can count on both hands.”

True Master Xuanmiao scratched his whiskers, looking a little drowsy.

“The so-called Four Rivers and Three Peaks refer to the three earth-veins: Beimang, Dangyin, and Zhongxiao.”

“And the Four Rivers are the four great rivers: Hong, Dian, Zong, and Huai.”

“One day, when you achieve Flying Foundation Establishment, break through the astral winds, and gaze down from above the clouds, you’ll see the mountains and rivers crisscrossing the North and South Land. The entire landscape is orderly and quite magnificent.”

Jiang Yi nodded in understanding, feeling that his knowledge had expanded once more.

He recalled Han Li mentioning that the Library Attic of the Skill Transmission Institute housed numerous miscellaneous books on local customs and continental geography that could broaden one’s horizons.

Once he secured a position on an Inner Peak, he would go and borrow them for a thorough read.

“Xiao Jiang, if you’re interested in this sort of thing, you should keep an eye out for a great tome called *All Worlds*.”

“It was written by the Wandering Daoist Monarch, one of the Eight Great Wanderers. He’s one of the few True Monarch Level figures in the entire Yanfu Vast Land to have traversed all four continents, with his travels spanning the whole world.”

“Even the True Disciples of the Ancestral Sect Dharma Lineages seek this book out and pay high prices for it just to increase their knowledge and broaden their perspectives.”

Jiang Yi silently committed the title to memory. As the saying goes, an elder in the house is a treasure to be cherished.

Although the Cat Master usually did nothing but eat and sleep, growing plump and round, his breadth of knowledge was truly top-tier.

’Four Rivers and Three Peaks, the North and South Land… I wonder when I’ll finally be able to freely admire such a magnificent landscape.’

The thought was fleeting. Jiang Yi quickly focused his mind and began silently studying the *Cloud Soaring and Flame Riding Skill* he had just obtained, referencing the concise analysis provided by the Celestial Book.

…

…

「Atop Observing Fate Peak, outside Elder Sui’s mansion.」

“I want to see Senior Brother Xu! I did everything for him, with all my heart… He can’t just abandon me! I’m begging Senior Brother Xu, please have mercy and see me, just once!”

The hoarse, desperate cries pierced the clouds, echoing far and wide through the mountains.

Zhou Can’s hair was a mess, and his eyes were crimson and shot with blood, as if he hadn’t slept in days.

He stood hunched at the bottom of the steps, forcing a stiff smile onto his face as if clinging to one last shred of hope.

“I scraped together seven hundred and ninety thousand talisman coins for Senior Brother Xu. I had to borrow from several Servants in the Outer Sect, and I even mortgaged all of my shops…”

The doorman at the mansion waved his hand impatiently, as if shooing away a fly.

“What’s the use of telling me all that? Are you blind? This is Elder Sui’s mansion! If you’re looking for Senior Brother Xu Yan, go to Guanlan Peak!”

Zhou Can hunched over even further, saying in a fawning tone,

“I’ve been waiting at Guanlan Peak for days, but everyone says they haven’t seen Senior Brother Xu! He must have come to Observing Fate Peak to pay his respects to Elder Sui! Please, just announce me! Tell them Zhou Can wishes to see him!”

The doorman’s eyebrows shot up, his eyes wide as he bellowed,

“I already told you, Senior Brother Xu Yan isn’t here! If you keep making a racket and disturb Elder Sui’s peaceful cultivation, I’ll have your hide! Now, get lost!”

Zhou Can was driven out like a dog with a broken back. He staggered away, stumbling down the mountain path.

He didn’t dare cause a scene in front of Elder Sui’s mansion. He just wandered off as if his soul had left his body, muttering to himself like a man possessed.

“Go back home… establish a clan, have children and grandchildren, fill the halls with my descendants…”

Scenes flashed before Zhou Can’s eyes: his youth as a Tenant Farmer; the neighbor’s girl with her braided pigtails, bringing him water in an earthenware jug, her eyes crinkling as she called out in her bright, clear voice, “Brother Can”;

then his time as a hired hand, when the young lady of the local gentry, dressed in a fine silk skirt, happened to pass by and offer him a faint smile.

But then the images shattered. The girl with the pigtails ended up married off as a concubine to a young master of the gentry, suffering endless abuse;

The young lady in the silk skirt was taken as a plaything by a disciple from an Inner Sect Dharma Lineage…

“I can’t go back home like this! I…”

Zhou Can stopped, motionless, staring down the empty mountain path. The cold wind slapped against his face like a knife, but he felt nothing at all.

「A short while later.」

A muffled thud, like a sack of grain hitting the ground, rose from the base of Observing Fate Peak.

…

…

When Jiang Yi arrived back at Guanlan Peak, he saw Han Li and a few others watching a commotion, whispering amongst themselves.

“A lot of people showed up outside the main gate today.”

“Who is it?”

“Elders from two Dharma Lineages, supposedly. The Joyful Union Sect and the Yin Puppet Sect.”

Jiang Yi, holding the Cat Master, stood before a wide clearing and gazed into the distance. Several figures stood poised in mid-air, riding the wind as they seemed to discuss something.

After a moment, a black-robed elder produced a long whip and cracked it through the air toward Sewing Peak, which had been moved just outside the sect’s main gate.

The earth-vein and the mountain’s very roots rumbled and trembled as they were forcibly torn from the ground.

Immediately after, another figure flicked a wide sleeve, scattering over a hundred glittering golden beans.

The beans swelled in the wind, transforming into Golden Armored Warriors dozens of zhang tall. Each one was imposing and mighty as they shouldered Sewing Peak and began to walk away with it at a slow, deliberate pace.

’The Yin Puppet Sect mostly cultivates Ji Earth and Yi Wood, which is considered rare even in the region of the Four Rivers and Three Peaks.’

’You’d have to hire them for a job like moving a peak and transplanting its roots.’

Jiang Yi mused to himself. So these were Earth and Wood Demon Cultivators.

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