Chapter 48: Xiao Yongling

The middle-aged manager's mind went blank. He raised his head in a daze, only to see two men dressed simply, wearing ordinary fur cloaks, sitting in the shop drinking together. His own arrogant and overbearing clan brother was standing respectfully to one side.

"The Daoist has keen eyes!"

Wan Yankai glanced at him, offered a word of praise, and smiled. "Why not sit down and share a few cups?"

"That is precisely my intention!"

The youth in fine clothing sat down on the broken wooden stool without a second thought. The wooden chair immediately let out a series of creaks and groans, looking as if it might fall apart at any moment, leaving the middle-aged manager in a state of shock.

"I am Xiao Yongling of the Xiao family from Lixia County, under the jurisdiction of Qingchi. Greetings to you both, Daoists."

Xiao Yongling smiled quite politely. He accepted the wine bowl handed to him by Li Tongya with a word of thanks before speaking. "May I ask who you two are?"

"Under the jurisdiction of Qingchi, the Wan family of Huaqian, Wan Yankai."

"Under the jurisdiction of Qingchi, the Li family of Lijing, Li Tongya."

Seeing his humility, the two men immediately formed a good impression and responded politely.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yongling's smile remained unchanged when he heard of the Wan family of Huaqian, but he was visibly startled when he heard of the Li family of Lijing. He asked repeatedly, "Could it be the Li family of Lijing by the shores of Moon-Watching Lake?!"

"Indeed. I did not expect that our Li family, having only recently ascended the Immortal Path and possessing such meager assets, would have reached the ears of such a great and established clan as yours."

Li Tongya was also inwardly startled, secretly thinking of Xiao Yuansi. Wan Yankai, meanwhile, felt extremely awkward, thinking to himself: *It is perfectly normal for a great clan like the Xiao family to look down upon my Wan family, but this Li family has only ascended for a few years—how has their name already reached the eyes of the Xiao family!*

"Hahaha."

Xiao Yongling laughed a few times and explained politely, "Your clan uncle is indeed Xiao Yuansi of Qing穗 (Green Ear) Peak. Since both our families are under Qing穗 Peak, it is only natural that we have heard of you."

"So that is how it is!"

Wan Yankai's heart skipped a beat. He had just remembered that the Li family had a disciple apprenticed under the Qingchi Sect. His heart was filled with complex emotions. He looked at Xiao Yongling and said, "To have attained the Yujing realm at such a young age... your cultivation is truly impressive."

Xiao Yongling froze for a moment and replied awkwardly, "Yongling has only attained the Minglun realm. It is only because I am of the direct lineage of the Xiao clan's great sect that the clan elders bestowed a treasure upon me. It can identify those with cultivation, which is how I recognized you two. It was not Yujing-level spiritual sense."

"I was being rash!"

Wan Yankai was also embarrassed and repeatedly cupped his hands in apology.

Xiao Yongling brushed it off, waving his hand with a look of pride. "You gentlemen are here to deliver the tributes, I presume?"

"That is correct."

Li Tongya and Wan Yankai exchanged a glance. Seeing Xiao Yongling's gossipy expression, they felt amused and adopted an attitude of eager listening.

"The area from Moon-Watching Lake to Lixia County is all under the management of Moon Lake Peak. Currently, there are only four disciples left on Moon Lake Peak. Do you two know which envoy is coming?"

"We do not know..."

"It is the Fairy of Autumn Lake, Ning Wan!"

Xiao Yongling spoke with a smug expression. Seeing the confusion on their faces, he paused to explain, "Ning Wan refined the Pine Forest North Wind into Qi-refining essence, and she is particularly skilled in formations. She broke through to the eighth level of Qi-refining just recently at the age of twenty-four. I hear she is a top-tier beauty. She usually doesn't handle matters below her, but if it weren't for the fact that the disciples of Moon Lake Peak are all tied up, she wouldn't have taken this task of collecting tributes."

Xiao Yongling explained incessantly before stopping abruptly. He looked at Wan Yankai with curiosity and asked, "Speaking of the Way of Formations, does your Wan family have an inheritance? The name 'Huaqian Wan Family' sounds somewhat familiar."

"We certainly do."

Wan Yankai had been holding it in for a long time. Hearing this, his eyes lit up, and he explained with a hint of pride, "Hundreds of years ago, my Wan family produced a grandmaster of formations named Wan Huaqian. This Huaqian Mountain was named after him."

"I see..."

Xiao Yongling nodded in agreement. "I have read the clan's recorded history, which mentions this Wan Huaqian. The family speculates that he obtained the inheritance of a cultivator who fell during that great war back then."

Hearing something of interest, and fearing that this man would shift the topic back to Ning Wan's beauty, Li Tongya quickly inquired, "May I ask about that great war..."

Xiao Yongling shook his head. After a few moments of thought, he said softly, "The clan is also vague about that war. We only heard that someone, acting under the banner of the Great Sect Moonlight Primordial Mansion, claimed that all three sects and ten gates must obey his commands. In the end, the three sects rose up in fury to attack him, and he died upon Moon-Watching Lake."

"How arrogant," Wan Yankai gasped, feeling a flicker of awe toward that person.

"That war was so fierce that rivers ceased to flow and the spiritual veins of the earth were severed. Fifteen Foundation Establishment cultivators died among the three sects, along with dozens of Qi-refining cultivators. Even two high and mighty Purple Mansion cultivators died, and the ten gates were reduced to only seven."

Li Tongya was also filled with sighs. Before his eyes, a vision of the mountains breaking and rivers reversing flow three hundred years ago seemed to manifest.

"They say a Purple Mansion cultivator has a lifespan of five hundred years. After all the hardship required to reach that realm, why not enjoy it? Why go and fight others to the death?" Wan Yankai sighed, lamenting with regret.

"Hahaha! We minor cultivators only seek to reach Qi-refining in this lifetime. Naturally, we cannot understand these high and mighty great cultivators."

Xiao Yongling laughed loudly, took a sip of Snowflake Wine, and picked up his chopsticks to scan the side dishes on the table. He then awkwardly put them down, thinking to himself: *This place is only good for the wine.*

"Does Brother Xiao know what the 'Pine Forest North Wind' is?"

Knowing his own family's limited resources, Li Tongya did not miss any opportunity to gather information and followed up on Xiao Yongling's topic.

"To advance from Fetal Breathing to Qi-refining, one must absorb a breath of Heaven and Earth spiritual energy. The Pine Forest North Wind is one such essence. One must seek a pine and cypress forest in the freezing snow, and when the north wind blows, collect it using a secret method. One wisp is obtained every six months; it takes five years on a snowy mountain peak to complete. If one waits for the snow year after year, it might take more than ten."

Xiao Yongling explained with a slight smile.

"So that is how it is!"

After chatting for a few more sentences, Xiao Yongling waved his hand and smiled. "It is getting late; I shall not delay your journey to Guanyun Peak. Let us part ways here. If you two ever travel to Lixia County for pleasure, you must come find Yongling. We shall drink and rejoice together then!"

"Of course!"

Xiao Yongling bid them farewell with a smile and left the shop heading east, surrounded by his entourage.

After walking only a few steps, Xiao Yongling fell into a contemplative mood. The middle-aged manager did not dare to disturb him and could only follow closely behind with a bowed back.

As the manager was watching Xiao Yongling's expression, he heard someone behind him whisper

"Isn't this master always famous for being arrogant and overbearing? Why is he so measured and polite today? He looks so humble. Not just those two, even we are staring in disbelief."

"You stupid donkey!"

The middle-aged manager took a step back and slapped the man hard on the back of the head. He then leaned in and whispered into his ear

"Do you think you mortals count as people in this master's eyes? Who would speak politely to a dog!"

(End of Chapter)