Chapter 26: That Young Girl

After Guo Xi completely ruined their relationship, none of the four spoke again during this entire night. In the early morning, the few people walked out of the main hall and left this rundown mountain god temple. Chen Chao who had been hiding on the beam this whole time silently watched the few people's departing figures. But he did not immediately jump down from the beam. Instead, he held his breath and converged his breathing again, looking down.

Sure enough, just a moment later, that qi refiner Guo Xi who did not balk at losing all decorum with the other three people yesterday night, instantly dashed into the main hall. He surveyed the surroundings, seemingly looking for something.

This young man with fluttering white clothes muttered, "There's really no one?"

After saying this, Guo Xi cursed under his breath, "Your Father was overthinking it!"

He walked out of the main hall again.

Chen Chao narrowed his eyes. He just reached his hand out and gripped the saber hilt without any other action.

Sure enough, in the blink of an eye, Guo Xi returned after leaving. But this time, he merely took a look at the entrance of the main hall before leaving.

Another half an hour passed before Chen Chao slowly descended from the beam. Arriving at the entrance of the main hall, he looked in the direction that the few people departed in, absorbed in thought.

The direction that they went was none other than precisely in the direction of Tianqing County's county town.

Retracting his gaze, Chen Chao walked out of the mountain god temple and continued up the mountain. He was right, that Guo Xi who looked like he had brain problems was actually completely fine. Not only was he fine, but he was also even an extremely cunning person.

Previously, when Guo Xi was arguing with the other three, Chen Chao just treated him as a mad dog. If he did not suddenly startle awake after that, there was a good chance that he would have fallen for the other party's trap.

At present, the situation was still unclear. So Chen Chao was not willing to be discovered by them. At least, it could not be inside this mountain god temple.

It was hard to distinguish friend from foe.

Chen Chao shook his head and reined in his thoughts for the time being. When he climbed to the top of the mountain, he surveyed the surroundings and did not find anything unusual. Then, he sped down the mountain from the mountain path on the other side. Hence, he only used less than half a day to reach the foot of the mountain before he started climbing another mountain.

This was even under the circumstances where he did not employ qi activity. If he was hellbent on pushing on with his journey, he could probably appear at the foot of the mountain in less than 15 minutes.

But, many years of hunting demons in the mountains made Chen Chao clear about one thing, which was that not a strand of qi in his entire body should be wasted.

Using it to hurry on with his journey? Too extravagant.

When he started climbing the second mountain, Chen Chao hasten his pace. Without spending much time, he climbed to the top before lunchtime. After slightly catching his breath, he continued on his journey. When he went down the mountain this time, what he saw was a scenery that he did not see before.

Previously, when the mine was still being mined, it would roughly be equivalent to a forbidden land starting from the top of this mountain. Other than those civilian miners who had access, even if it was Tianqing County's magistrate, Mi Ke, other people had to apply in advance if they wanted to make a trip over here. Even if Chen Chao was the local warden, it was likewise impossible to appear here.

If one barged in rashly, they could be killed without questioning according to Great Liang's law.

Chen Chao was famous for being cautious. Hence, even when hunting demons before and they escaped here, he did not break the rules by chasing after them too.

Now, the mine had already been abandoned. Those stationed cultivators had all left too. But when Chen Chao descended the mountain, he was still very careful and did not rush much.

Hence, the time it took to descend the mountain this time was not short.

After arriving at the foot of the mountain, what entered his sight was an official path that was as wide as two horse carriages side-by-side leading into a valley. There were carriage marks of varying depths on the wide road that led even further without any breaks.

Presumably, this was the path to transport the Xuanming Stones out of the mountain.

Chen Chao followed the path and continued moving forward. After passing through the valley, the mining site ahead could be seen in the distance.

That was an extremely wide circular put that was hundreds of feet deep. The circumference was likely over a thousand feet too. It looked extremely huge, giving a deep sense of terror.

Arriving before the huge pit, Chen Chao looked down and he could see that there were dozens of mining holes of different sizes all around the bottom of the pit. They lined along the side of the pit, leading into the mountain. This was the Xuanming Stone Mine's mining pit.

Chen Chao tapped his feet and fell rapidly to the ground surface of the deep pit. Only after standing firm, did he look at all the mining holes around with a grave expression.

Earlier, when Chen Chao specifically asked Xie Nandu about the mining process, there was a problem that gave him a huge headache too, which was a mine collapse. It often collapsed deep in the mountain, but nothing unusual could be seen from outside. Presently, these dozens of mining holes were virtually identical on the outside. How could he find the collapsed mining hole?

The current Chen Chao was standing in front of these mining holes, somewhat like a headless fly; seeming a little constrained.

What troubled him even more was that he was actually a little afraid to walk into one of the mines.

Not that he was scared of the dark.

It was just that he was afraid that if a cave-in occurred after he walked into some mining hole, he would not be able to get out.

If he was a different cultivator, he would probably have other means. Unfortunately, he was just a martial artist, just a martial artist who had no other means and was only good at fighting.

Carefully walking around these mining holes, Chen Chao squatted in front of a mining hole and began to determine the mining time based on how dry the soil was.

According to the dossier of the county government, that mining hole collapsed in Tianjian Year 11. Chen Chao came here this time to investigate which mining hole was it, while the other that only collapsed recently were those few mining holes.

But after circling one round, Chen Chao only roughly eliminated some mining holes that obviously did not meet his requirements. But the remaining range was still huge.

In the end, he chose one out of the remaining mining holes that he found the most pleasing to the eyes and walked in.

Less than an hour later, he walked out of the mining hole, looking unnatural.

This mining hole was very normal and not the one that he was looking for.

After placing a secret mark that was neither too big nor small on that mining hole, he entered another mining hole and continued exploring.

......

......

After that horse carriage left Tianqing County, it headed all the way north without any delays on the road. Therefore, it soon left Tianqing County's area and approached Wei Prefecture's capital. But it did not plan on wasting time there either. After stopping for a bit, they continued northward.

The horse carriage galloped on the official road without any bumpy feeling.

As for demons, they actually encountered more than one. It was just that Lin Yuan already killed them before they got close to the horse carriage.

As a true-blue Bitter Sea cultivator, Lin Yuan virtually would not encounter any troublesome matter within the borders of the Great Liang Dynasty.

These demons were not his match at all.

Except, everything had an except. When the horse carriage rode out of Wei Prefecture's borders and reached Liu Prefecture, the horse carriage suffered a demon attack.

The horse carriage was parked overnight in the fields at that time. There was clear weather with a bright moon. It was rare to see such weather before entering early spring.

Hence, Lin Yuan who was in the mood borrowed the moonlight and started teaching on a large rock that was by the side. However, this place was not the Divine Capital's Xie Clan's private school. There were not that many Xie Clan descendants respectfully listening to him teach here. There was just one Xie Boyue who was tired until he could not open his eyes. Both hands supported his head which was still swaying.

Lin Yuan was in the mood to enjoy himself at that time, so he did not care about whether or not this disciple of his was paying attention to the lesson. He just casually talked about some principles in the sages' books.

But halfway through, Lin Yuan suddenly remembered a certain fellow back then. On the first day he entered the academy, he questioned that academy dean whose status was god knows how high at the top of his voice: can one really do something for the common people under the heavens after reading finish these sages' books?

At that time, all of the students thought that the guy had lost his mind. He might even have been directly expelled from the academy because of this rash action. But in the end, the dean just glanced at him and did not say anything. That question was naturally unanswered as well.

Just as Lin Yuan who thought of this was about to sigh with vicissitudes of emotion, a gust of demonic wind suddenly howled between heaven and earth!

Lin Yuan suddenly stood up. His blue long robes were already fluttering heavily in the wind at this moment.

Seeing this scene, Xie Boyue who was no longer drowsy gave a look at Lin Yuan. Then, he looked over to the horse carriage with worry. Xie Nandu was still in the carriage.

"Get over there, don't let anything happen to Miss."

Lin Yuan's expression was solemn. Immediately after, he started laughing, "A fourth realm demon dares to show yourself so brazenly within the borders of the Great Liang Dynasty. Do you really want to die?"

A voice sounded out in the dark rather hoarsely, "Leave behind what's in the carriage and I'll let you go!"

Hearing this, Xie Boyue who had just arrived next to the carriage furrowed his brows. He already held immense hatred towards that demon who did not show its face. But he still quickly lowered his voice and said as calmly as possible, "Younger Sister Nandu, don't be scared."

There was just an 'mhm' that came from inside the carriage.

There was no panic.

Xie Boyue felt a little downcast for no reason.

But very soon, he could not care about this anymore. Because a moment later, he saw his teacher who was usually even-tempered leap up and hovered in the air, and said something extremely domineering.

"Trifling demon! Since you came, leave your head behind!"

Of course, what was even more domineering was that after that, Xie Boyue saw his teacher display his skills here. It was an extremely exciting battle.

After that, the dust settled. Although he failed to kill that demon, he successfully repelled it.

At that moment, Xie Boyue already held 120% admiration for his teacher.

He specially ran in front of his teacher and told him his feelings to his face.

In the end, Lin Yuan looked at him and exposed it without the slightest courtesy, "Are you this happy because you feel that I protected Miss?"

Xie Boyue who was still considered steadfast previously turned slightly red. He could only smile after his thoughts were exposed.

Lin Yuan let out a sigh. Some things actually did not need to be said, but everyone knew. Xie Boyue was just a concubine's descendant. Furthermore, he was a bastard with slightly above-average aptitude. Barring no accidents, it would be impossible for him to become a great cultivator in his lifetime. While that young girl in the carriage had long already proven that her future was bright.

Was there any possibility between the two?

None.

If love was an impossibility, it would be better to nip it in the bud.

But, Lin Yuan who had thought a lot just let out a sigh in the end. He patted his disciple's shoulder and did not lay it bare.

When he arrived at the carriage, Xie Nandu already lifted the curtains and walked out without waiting for Lin Yuan to speak.

Xie Nandu took the initiative to say, "It's a shame that I didn't get to see Mr. Lin's grandeur."

Lin Yuan was taken aback. Then he smiled slightly and shook his head, "There's no grandeur. I believe that in a few years' time, Miss' splendor would far surpass me."

Xie Nandu smiled slightly and did not harp on this. She just arrived at the large rock with Lin Yuan where Xie Boyue already started a fire.

After sitting down, Xie Nandu asked, "I heard that Mr. Lin was once an academy student too. Can you tell me about the academy?"

Lin Yuan glanced at Xie Boyue and heaved a sigh. Having a disciple who easily sold his teacher was not necessarily a good thing.

He nodded his head. After Xie Nandu went to the Divine Capital, she was destined to not remain in the Xie Clan to cultivate. It was very likely that she would be entering the academy to study. It was also reasonable that this young girl who was born in White Deer's Xie Clan wanted to take precautions.

It was just that when he really wanted to speak, Lin Yuan seemed to have discovered that he did not know where to start talking about that academy.

The holy land in the hearts of all intellectuals under the heavens?

Only after musing for a long time, did Lin Yuan slowly say, "A hundred-year dynasty, a thousand-year family. Also, the foreign cultivator sects and cultivators who had always been around. The great Liang Dynasty only established its kingdom for 200 over years, but cultivators who are headed by the three sects already existed generation after generation, year after year. As one of the three sects, confucianism is the only lineage of cultivators out of the three sects that peeled away and really landed in the secular world. And the academy was established by that sage at that time."