"Yuan Qing, Xuanya—you two are ranked second and sixth among this generation's disciples. Why must you both go gathering herbs? Liu Yan'er of Dulinn Peak, Wang Qi of Xiaoling Peak, fine talents in the top twenty—why all dash off to the Myriad-Miasma Treasure Forest? Has our sect grown so stingy with its young disciples? The northern lands hold no mercy. The last two times, no one set foot there... Oh?"
In a corner of Baifan Hall, the female immortal reeking of wine tilted her head, fixed Li Changshou standing behind four dazzling young disciples, then lowered her eyes to the bamboo slip in her hand, looked up at him—and so repeated the motion twice, her face darkening. "Li Changshou of Xiaoqiong Peak. What's your cultivation? Barely the ninth level of Nascent Soul, and you want to risk the Myriad-Miasma Treasure Forest? Go on, go on! Go to the East Sea and fight shrimp demons!"
She spoke bluntly, with no regard for appearances, yet what she said made perfect sense—clearly she thought of Li Changshou's safety. Two wine flasks, one large and one small, hung from her waist; her dress was simple—long trousers, short jacket, short brown hair—a rare oddity among the long-maned female qi-refiners. She could have passed for a menial disciple ground down by long labor, had the pressure that seeped from her not made plain that she was an immortal of no small strength.
Her dao name was Jiu Jiu, of Potian Peak. She looked barely twenty, yet was eight or nine hundred years old, an immortal of six hundred years standing, a stand-out of her generation who had long held her own. She was the only guardian assigned to the northern Myriad-Miasma Treasure Forest this expedition—enough to show her strength was out of the ordinary.
Li Changshou wore a grave countenance, cupped his hands to the famed Wine Immortal, and said: "Wine Aunt, this disciple needs several medicinal herbs, and one of them grows only in the northern lands. I'll have to trouble you." "What herbs?" She curled her lip, contempt upon her comely face. "I've some feeling for your master, after all. Take this—bring it to Elder Qiling of the Dao Treasury Pavilion." She fished a jade slip from her wine-stained jacket and tossed it to him. "Charge it to my monthly allowance and fetch the herbs you need! Is the northern land a place for a ninth-level Nascent Soul like you? If you die out there, I'll be docked ten years' wine money, and your sniveling master will come crying to me... Argh, the very thought drives me mad!"
The four beside him stared at the jade slip—a sect elder's identity token, given to a ninth-level Nascent Soul of another peak? "Aunt," Li Changshou said with a wry smile, offering the slip back, "if I had any choice, this disciple wouldn't court danger in the north. But there's no help for it. And by the sect's rules, an aunt may not refuse a disciple's request to train abroad—so please, do me this favor." Jiu Jiu knitted her brows, gave a snort, and snatched it back. "Fine, fine! You two—Yuan Qing, Xuanya." The crimson-robed girl and the courteous young cultivator cupped their hands together: "Your disciple!" "If you two have spare strength, keep an eye on him." "Your disciple accepts." Youqin Xuanya replied, expressionless. "Rest easy, aunt." Yuan Qing smiled warmly at Li Changshou. "I'll look after Junior Brother Changshou well." Jiu Jiu covered her forehead. "He entered the sect before either of you. Really, Li Changshou, how did you manage—a hundred-odd years and still no Return-to-Void? Ah, never mind. Given your Xiaoqiong Peak's conditions, keeping pace with most disciples isn't bad at all." "Ah—" Yuan Qing looked embarrassed, then bowed. "My apologies, Senior Brother Changshou." Li Changshou smiled and shook his head, inwardly sighing. A deadpan girl and a big warm-hearted man made a passable match... though it had nothing to do with him.
He felt two gazes of little goodwill alight on him, paid them no mind, calmly thanked Jiu Jiu, bowed to Youqin Xuanya and Yuan Qing, and withdrew behind the four. The pair of gazes came from the other two—Liu Yan'er in light yellow gauze and Wang Qi in green robe, both fine hands in the Return-to-Void realm, choice sprouts of immortal talent. Their looks held little goodwill but no great malice, at most disdain.
Li Changshou listened to the endless cutting of the air outside as batch after batch of disciples rose skyward under escort. He also sent a wisp of spiritual sense through his storage treasures. This was no tidy habit—their contents were all identical, every set evenly split into three. The bracelet on his left wrist was the main storage treasure; the pendant at his neck the spare; the pouch bound to his thigh the spare-on-top-of-spare... Going out to train, it never hurt to be prepared, especially for the northern lands. He had brought most of his savings; the lesser half he left his junior sister.
Half a day later, an enormous gourd rose slowly before the hall. The Immortal Jiu Jiu stood with arms folded at its mouth, in no small bearing; the young disciples stood firm at various points. Once the gourd passed the great formation, she pressed a hand-seal, and the wine gourd shed wisps of pale green light, netting a thin film against the wind. Then she pointed northwest, and the gourd gathered speed.
"Loosen up—no need to be so wound tight. Outside the mountain gates there aren't so many rules." She yawned, sat at the gourd's mouth, legs dangling, and reached for her flask with a contented smile. She sipped, a flush rising, a soft moan melting into the wind, then turned to size up the five behind. Farthest sat Li Changshou at the tail, keeping a gap from the others, body taut, no meditation—two yellow talismans pressed under his fingers. Liu Yan'er and Wang Qi, halfway along, regulated their breath. Closest was Youqin Xuanya, meditating a foot behind, that great sword across her lap. Behind her, the graceful Yuan Qing said warmly: "Junior sister, this time I'll surely help you find the Yanhuo Mingxin Grass." Youqin Xuanya knit her brows. "Senior Brother Yuan Qing needn't trouble himself. This is a matter of my own cultivation." Yuan Qing smiled gently: "One more person means one more chance." She said no more and closed her eyes again, fire-like breath wreathing her, beautiful from every angle. "Pfft." Jiu Jiu found it amusing and winked at him; he made a helpless face and settled to meditate three feet behind, his smile fading. 'Tsk. Another show of falling leaves before a running stream.'
She sipped her immortal brew, savoring it, then hung the flask back with reluctance. Leaning against the gourd's rim, she watched the clouds roll under the blue sky, lost in thought. After a while she reached for the flask again, hesitated, and stopped. "It's two days and three nights to the northern lands. Are you lot just going to sit in meditation? That Wang Qi—sing your uncle a ditty." "Wine Aunt..." Wang Qi hurried, "I don't know any songs!" Her face turned contemptuous. "Then who knows one? Changshou?" Li Changshou shook his head gravely, but transmitted a warning: "Aunt, there seems to be a figure in the clouds behind and above us." "Oh?" She glanced up, and without changing expression sent back: "Across the Five Divisions of the Primordial there's no counting cultivators who fly through sky and earth. Don't make a fuss; we're not far from the sect." Even so, she spread her immortal sense, and before long the gourd's speed eased steadily, until it floated still. Jiu Jiu sat slack and called out clearly: "This Daoist friend has followed us on the clouds a while—what business have you?" At once the four meditating opened their eyes, while Li Changshou, who had watched behind all along, drew his right hand back and closed it over his storage treasure.
From the rear clouds a stalwart figure flew out—linking-armor, rough features, heavy aura, an enormous battle-axe across his back. 'An immortal?' On closer reading he seemed newly ascendant and gave little pressure. A hundred zhang away, he cupped his hands toward Jiu Jiu. "I am a palace gate-keeping commander of the Honglin Kingdom in the Eastern Divine Province, here to protect His Highness the Sixth Princess. If I offend, I beg the immortal's pardon!" "The Sixth Princess?" Jiu Jiu cocked her head at the two female disciples. Li Changshou's gaze fell on round-faced Liu Yan'er, but she looked instead at the other young woman— And Youqin Xuanya spoke in an icy tone: "Go back. There's no need to fret over me."
A princess? A palace gate-keeping commander, appearing just as they were bound for the northern lands? Li Changshou gave a light twitch of his nose, catching... the scent of some plot.