Chapter 21: Ye Chen, Thirty Years East of the River, Thirty Years West of the River! Do Not Bully a Poor Youth!
As expected, three days later, Ji Yingying and four other fellow disciples stepped out from the entrance of Myriad Beast Valley.
The hems of their clothes all bore signs of damage, yet the patch of lustrous white around Ji Yingying’s wrist stood out especially.
It was a small snake, its entire body like jade, quietly coiled.
Gu Yan’s gaze swept over the group, then glanced deeper into the valley entrance. Daoist Xuanchen, the Sect Master, had not accompanied them.
From then on, the days returned to calm.
Another year passed in the blink of an eye.
With the three-year guarding period complete, Gu Yan and Ji Yingying returned together to the sect’s Mission Hall.
The journey was silent, with only the peaks rising and falling within the sea of clouds.
Ji Yingying suddenly spoke, breaking the silence: “Junior Brother Gu, earlier… thank you.”
Gu Yan was slightly startled and turned to look at her: “Senior Sister, what do you mean by that?”
Ji Yingying gently stroked the white snake on her wrist. The little snake flicked its tongue, appearing docile.
“That day, when the Sect Master invited you into the inner valley, had you gone, the ownership of this little fellow might not have fallen into my hands.”
She knew clearly that Gu Yan could easily subdue an exotic white tiger; his strength was unfathomable.
Thus, his absence had invisibly removed a formidable competitor for her. She remembered this favor.
Hearing this, Gu Yan smiled inwardly.
This Senior Sister Ji had quite a straightforward personality, even solemnly thanking him for something that hardly counted as assistance.
Still, this frankness did improve his impression of her somewhat.
He shook his head and simply said, “Senior Sister overstates it. Opportunities are governed by fate.”
......
Inside the Mission Hall, after handing over the token, he received three Taiyi Currency notes, each worth ten thousand.
Gu Yan was just planning to return to his small courtyard on the eastern side of Pill Glow Peak when he suddenly paused.
Having not returned for three years, the monthly rent of five hundred contribution points must have long been overdue. The courtyard had probably already been reclaimed by the sect, right?
He turned and headed to the Affairs Hall to check.
The disciple in charge flipped through the records and looked up: “Senior Brother Gu, the fees for Courtyard C-17 on Pill Glow Peak have already been paid, and ten years were prepaid.”
“Ten years?” Gu Yan’s heart skipped a beat.
Five hundred contributions per month meant six thousand a year—ten years amounted to sixty thousand!
That was by no means a small sum.
Seeing his confusion, the disciple added, “It was paid on your behalf by Senior Sister Lin Wei of Pill Glow Peak.”
“As expected.” Gu Yan sighed inwardly.
When he had taken on the long-term mission, he had indeed considered temporarily leaving the sect to give both sides some space.
Unexpectedly, upon his return, he owed an even greater favor.
As for abandoning the courtyard and finding another place?
Gu Yan could not bring himself to do such a thing.
He was not oblivious to emotions; he understood her feelings clearly. It was just that the path of immortality was long, and mortal ties had to be handled with caution.
But now, he could only take things one step at a time.
After thanking the affairs disciple, Gu Yan returned to the courtyard with complicated emotions.
Pushing open the gate, the expected dust did not appear.
The stone table in the courtyard was spotless, and even the corners were free of cobwebs. It was obvious someone had been carefully maintaining it.
There was no need to guess who.
He could not accept such kindness without reciprocation.
Thus, Gu Yan turned and left again, heading straight to Evergreen Market.
Spending quite a bit of contribution points, he purchased a batch of high-quality herbs.
Returning to the courtyard, he took out the small alchemy furnace he had not used for a long time.
......
Three days later, Lin Wei came to the courtyard as usual, only to see Gu Yan sitting cross-legged beneath the old tree in the yard.
She was startled at first, then joy bloomed in her eyes: “Junior Brother Gu? You… you’re back?”
She had long learned that Gu Yan had taken a long-term mission and left the sect, and she understood that it might have been partly to avoid her.
Thus, she had not pestered him nor followed, but still came occasionally to clean the place.
Hearing her voice, Gu Yan opened his eyes. Seeing the slender figure at the entrance, a rare smile appeared on his face: “Senior Sister Lin, I’m back.”
This smile was different from his usual polite indifference. Lin Wei keenly noticed the change.
She thought to herself: As expected, good soup must be simmered slowly, and… ahem, a good junior brother’s affection must also flow like a gentle stream.
The two sat by the stone table, chatting about some trivial recent happenings in the sect.
At the end, Gu Yan took out a jade bottle and pushed it toward Lin Wei.
“During this trip, I gained a little and casually refined some pills.
These might be helpful for Senior Sister’s martial inner force cultivation. Please accept them.”
Lin Wei accepted it. Though she did not know the name of the pills, she had no doubts and only felt delighted at receiving a gift: “Thank you, Junior Brother.”
What she did not know was that for martial artists, the trace of Spiritual Energy contained within these pills was enough to cleanse the meridians.
Their effect far surpassed ordinary martial pills.
Lin Wei did not stay long. After chatting briefly, she got up to leave, her steps noticeably lighter as she departed.
After tidying up a bit, Gu Yan also left the inner sect and went to the outer sect area to visit Old Chen.
The old man appeared vigorous, his vitality abundant—he had already reached the mid-stage of Martial Dao Second Revolution.
Grabbing Gu Yan’s hand, he sighed: “Thanks to the pills you left last time, this old body of mine could make such progress.”
Gu Yan smiled and took out several more bottles of pills—the same kind he had given Lin Wei: “Old Chen, keep these.”
Old Chen hurriedly refused: “How can I accept this! Your cultivation is not easy, these pills…”
“Please take them. My martial cultivation has already reached the early stage of Third Revolution. These pills are no longer of much help to me.”
Hearing that Gu Yan had reached Third Revolution, Old Chen was stunned for a moment, then his wrinkles relaxed as he burst into hearty laughter, repeatedly praising him.
Only then did he stop refusing and accept the pills.
After chatting for a while longer, Gu Yan finally took his leave.
On his way back to the inner sect, as he passed the outer sect training ground, he suddenly heard a commotion.
Several outer sect disciples surrounded one person, their words filled with mockery.
“Ye Chen, didn’t you boast that in the next outer sect competition you’d amaze everyone and step on us?
Why are you still at the early stage of First Revolution now, unable even to refine inner force?”
“Haha, with his talent? Dream on!”
“Ye Chen, if you kneel down and kowtow today, call us ‘good senior brothers,’ we won’t make things difficult for you. How about it?”
Someone else chimed in: “Senior Brother, stop wasting words.
He used to rely on Senior Sister Liu’s slight care. Now that she’s about to become Dao companions with that inner sect Senior Brother at the late stage of Second Revolution, who would still care about him?
Perfect time to teach him a lesson—maybe Senior Sister Liu will even feel refreshed!”
The young man surrounded in the middle, Ye Chen, pressed his lips tightly, his face flushed red with anger.
Gu Yan, watching from afar, shook his head slightly.
The Taiyi Dao Sect was founded upon the Dao, and its ethos had always been upright.
Such marketplace-style bullying showed that the quality of this batch of outer sect disciples was indeed lacking.
But he did not stop.
The world’s karmic entanglements were complex; intervening without cause often only brought trouble.
Just as Gu Yan was about to walk away, Ye Chen’s suppressed roar came from behind:
“You… don’t go too far!
Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river—do not bully a poor youth!
I, Ye Chen, will remember today’s humiliation!”
The group of disciples burst into louder laughter, hurled a few more insults, but ultimately did not dare to act openly within the sect and dispersed resentfully.
Gu Yan had already walked far away, yet the phrase “do not bully a poor youth” drifted into his ears, causing his brows to rise slightly.
This Ye Chen… why did he feel like a protagonist?
He merely had the thought in passing and did not dwell on it.
Little did he know that Ye Chen indeed carried a great secret—once a Martial Venerable at the peak of Martial Dao Ninth Revolution.
Due to an error in cultivation, he had used a secret method to disperse his memories, reverting to youth and cultivating anew.
Having entered the Taiyi Dao Sect for three years, he had only recently awakened part of his memories along with a Ninth Revolution cultivation technique.
......
In the blink of an eye, another year passed.
Gu Yan was now twenty-nine years old, at the seventh layer of Foundation Establishment.
On this day, it coincided with the monthly public lecture at the Teaching Hall of the inner sect. Gu Yan went together with Lin Wei.
Halfway there, they saw a somewhat familiar figure speaking with a pretty female disciple.
It was Ye Chen.
His hands were clenched tightly within his sleeves, as if he were struggling to suppress surging emotions.
The woman, however, appeared calm, even carrying a hint of faint detachment.
After a few brief words, she turned and left, not sparing Ye Chen another glance.
Ye Chen stood frozen in place, his shoulders trembling more and more visibly.
As Gu Yan and Lin Wei passed by, they roughly guessed what kind of scene it was.
He was about to walk past when Ye Chen suddenly spoke:
“Up ahead… is that Senior Brother Gu Yan? Please wait.”
Gu Yan stopped, somewhat surprised, and turned back: “You know me?”
Ye Chen cupped his fists: “Senior Brother Gu, I am Ye Chen, a true disciple of Sword-Resting Peak. I often hear Senior Brother Xu Gang mention you, saying that among those he has seen in the inner sect, you are the most steady in temperament and the most diligent in cultivation.”
He paused, seeming a bit embarrassed, but continued, “Today I take the liberty to ask Senior Brother for guidance on a matter.”
Gu Yan felt slightly surprised.
Ye Chen had not only entered the inner sect but had become a true disciple of an elder? This rate of advancement was no simple matter.
More importantly, Xu Gang—he still remembered him. Years ago, when he was in seclusion, the sect had sent Xu Gang to check whether something had gone wrong with his cultivation.
But they had no close relationship. Yet Xu Gang had such a high evaluation of him?
“What does Junior Brother Ye wish to ask?”
Ye Chen took a deep breath. His gaze swept over the gentle and beautiful Lin Wei beside Gu Yan, a trace of complexity flashing in his eyes as he said in a low voice:
“I heard… that Senior Brother is quite admired by many senior and junior sisters.
Senior Sister Xu Yue also speaks highly of you.
I, Ye Chen, am dull and wish to ask… how… how can one gain the favor of the person they admire?”
Gu Yan: “……”
For a moment, he was at a loss for words.
The shift in topic was far too abrupt.
Beside him, Lin Wei covered her mouth with her sleeve, letting out a very soft laugh.
Composing himself, Gu Yan said thoughtfully: “Junior Brother Ye, matters of the heart depend on fate and sincerity.
Forcing things deliberately often creates obstacles.
It is better to let things take their course and focus on your own cultivation.
When your Martial Dao achieves success, your brilliance will naturally shine. What is meant to come may come.”
Gu Yan’s tone was calm and sincere, and he spoke the truth.
Of course, there was one crucial factor he did not say aloud.
If one were as handsome and refined as himself, many troubles might naturally be avoided.
Unfortunately, judging by Ye Chen’s appearance, though decent, he was merely average.
Gu Yan said no more. He gave Ye Chen a slight nod and continued toward the Teaching Hall with Lin Wei.