Chapter 236: In the Mountains

Qiankun turns, without beginning or end;
All things rise and fall, yet I alone endure! Qiankun Shift was in fact the highest mental method within the Qiankun Art. Those words were the final passage of that highest method, and also the closing words of the entire Qiankun Art. They could be called the core principle of the whole art.

At first, Niu Youdao had not understood what the words meant. As his cultivation of the method advanced step by step, he had finally begun to comprehend them.

Roughly speaking, the meaning was this: no matter how Heaven and Earth turned, only one who could truly stand at the center would remain undisturbed by beginning or end. No matter how powerful or weak everything around him became, he remained where he was.

Once Niu Youdao understood, he found it quite interesting. The core of the Qiankun Art was actually the principle of balance. Its highest method was not attack, but defense!

In any case, Niu Youdao understood that he was still very far from the realm of "Qiankun turns, without beginning or end; all things rise and fall, yet I alone endure."

Seeing Black Peony's suspicious expression, Niu Youdao smiled and waved a hand. "All right. Go take care of your own business. I want some quiet by myself."

"Yes!" Black Peony obeyed and left, looking back every few steps.

Niu Youdao sat cross-legged where he was and quietly contemplated the exchange they had just gone through.

While he was still absorbed in the insight, Yuan Fang floated over and called, "Master Dao!"

Niu Youdao returned to himself and glanced sideways. He knew Yuan Fang would not disturb him without reason, so he waited for the rest.

Yuan Fang did not waste words. "News from Beizhou." He sat down beside him and handed over a decoded secret message.

Niu Youdao accepted it, read through it, and frowned slightly. "Lu Shengzhong was captured?"

Yuan Fang's voice was full of indignation. "And he defected! I always knew that fellow was unreliable."

Niu Youdao shook his head. "You demon, be a little more broad-minded. There's nothing here worth quibbling over. I'm not surprised in the slightest that he defected. He never received much benefit from me, so he had no reason to die for me. Even ants cling to life. It's understandable that he would try to save himself. What I find strange is precisely that he values his life, which means he should have been careful about protecting himself. How did he get caught so carelessly? He had already taken Shao Liuer and Tan Yaoxian away, yet somehow not only did those two ordinary mortals escape him, he himself was easily captured afterward. Something must have happened that he never anticipated."

Yuan Fang said, "Luckily Wei Duo learned what happened in time and cut off the trail. Otherwise Wei Duo would have been in trouble too."

Niu Youdao, however, muttered to himself, "This whole affair began because of Tang Yi. After this much trouble, I wonder whether Dachan Mountain will still allow the Shangqing Sect to remain in Beizhou..."

Yuan Fang's eyes rolled. With a sly, ingratiating look, he tentatively asked, "I heard Shao Pingbo is pursuing... you know who. Master Dao, did you deliberately want Dachan Mountain to drive the Shangqing Sect out of Beizhou?"

Niu Youdao turned and gave him a cold sidelong look. "Slap yourself."

Smack!

Yuan Fang immediately gave himself a light slap across the face and grinned shamelessly. "Nonsense from me. Just nonsense."

"Always scheming and peeking around like a thief. If you have that much energy, put more of it into cultivation and raise your realm. You have conditions this good for cultivation now, the sort other people couldn't obtain even if they begged for them. What are you busy doing all day?"

"I know, I know. I've been cultivating diligently. My cultivation has improved quite a bit lately. I reckon I'm not far from breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm."

Niu Youdao knew Yuan Fang's cultivation had been advancing quickly lately, and even he found it somewhat unexpected. The cultivation method this demon had comprehended on his own in the wilderness after years of listening to Buddhist teachings at Nanshan Temple turned out to be anything but ordinary. Before, Yuan Fang had never had cultivation resources to work with, so its merits had not been obvious. Now that resources were available, his progress was truly advancing by leaps and bounds.

Niu Youdao had asked him about it before, but the demon himself could not explain it clearly. After thinking and thinking, Yuan Fang had eventually produced one explanation that he believed with absolute conviction: the Buddha was protecting him! Niu Youdao had been left speechless.

This demon's life had been saved by Buddhist disciples, and he had entered the path of cultivation through listening to Buddhist teachings. Who could say the Buddha was not protecting him?

Even so, Niu Youdao was afraid he would become arrogant and still had to knock him down a little. "Spare me that. You think I don't know? You spend more time chanting sutras and reciting the Buddha's name with those monks than you do cultivating."

Yuan Fang lowered his head and nudged a little stone on the ground. "Cultivation goes faster after chanting sutras and reciting the Buddha's name..."

There was little Niu Youdao could say about his faith. The matter was impossible to argue through, so he changed the subject. "Notify the people from the three sects. Tell the men sent to the State of Song to receive Lu Shengzhong to come back."

Before Lu Shengzhong had acted in Beizhou, he had sent word in advance asking this side to receive him. Niu Youdao's side had immediately had the three sects dispatch people there.

Now there was obviously no longer any need for them to receive anyone. They could only be recalled while they were still on the road.

"Oh!" Yuan Fang rose and hurried away.

Niu Youdao also left the valley. Passing along a mountainside, he stopped and looked down. On a flat stretch of ground below, more than two hundred youths stood in neat ranks beneath the blazing sun. All wore the same gray cloth clothes, their backs ramrod straight as they endured the heat.

Yuan Gang stood with his hands clasped behind him in front of the formation, watching. Yuan Feng, Niu Lin, Yuan Huo, and Niu Shan moved among the youths, helping correct their posture.

Spotting Niu Youdao halfway up the mountain, Yuan Feng ran over to Yuan Gang, pointed behind him, and said something. Yuan Gang turned his head. Seeing Niu Youdao, he immediately left the formation and headed up the slope.

"Master Dao," Yuan Gang greeted him when he drew near.

Niu Youdao said, "I heard you've been back for a while."

"I heard you were cultivating, so I didn't go disturb you."

Niu Youdao raised his chin toward the youths below. "These are the people you recruited?"

Yuan Gang nodded. "I originally wanted to assign a hundred men to each of Big Stick and the others, but after traveling around and looking, suitable prospects were hard to find. Probably because poor nutrition has stunted too many of them. Better to go without than take inferior recruits. In the end, I could only give each of the four a little over seventy."

Niu Youdao chuckled. "Yuan Fang has plenty of complaints about you. He's grumbled to me several times already that you're teaching these boys how to cook."

"With high-intensity training, they can't afford poor nutrition. The monks under him are brewing liquor, chanting sutras, and running around serving Master Dao. If they also had to provide meals for this many people, they simply couldn't keep up. There's nothing wrong with making the boys support themselves. Later I'll have them reclaim wasteland downstream for farming, and we'll set up a pig enclosure or something similar. Don't waste the dregs from brewing. Give them all to me. They're perfect for feeding pigs. I believe it won't be long before these boys can become self-sufficient."

The corner of Niu Youdao's mouth twitched. He chuckled. "No matter where you go, you never forget about growing vegetables. I also hear you give them lessons often?"

Yuan Gang knew what he was worried about. "Don't worry. For now, I won't teach them anything too far beyond this world's level and bring trouble down on us. But they're all children from poor families who've never studied. They still need basic knowledge. If they're too ignorant, they can't be led properly. At the very least, they need to read. How are they supposed to go out into the world if they can't even recognize written characters?"

Niu Youdao said, "I know you like this sort of thing, but don't focus only on these boys. Keep an eye on what matters outside too, so you'll know how to respond if something happens. And I've put you in charge of collecting and organizing intelligence from Wuliang Mountain."

Yuan Gang nodded. "Don't worry. I haven't neglected it."

"Ah. Use your own judgment about how far to take this. Come with me. Let's go have a look at Wuliang Mountain." Niu Youdao patted him on the shoulder and turned away.

There was little he could do about Yuan Gang either. In a world where cultivators stood above everyone else, what was the point of all this miscellaneous work? The man really did have nowhere else to put his energy.

Yuan Gang gave a hand signal toward the youths below, telling them to continue training on their own, then turned and followed Niu Youdao.

Many caves had been hewn into one mountainside. This was Wuliang Mountain's current base. From time to time, Goldenwings could be seen flying in and out.

Sect Leader Gongsun Bu came out to receive them. Niu Youdao wanted to look around, so Gongsun Bu personally led him inside.

Niu Youdao had little interest in the sect's own cultivation and living quarters. What he mainly wanted to inspect was the intelligence operation.

Inside several stone chambers where Goldenwings were kept, he examined the large number of Goldenwings purchased at enormous expense. From time to time, Wuliang Mountain disciples entered to send messages.

Incoming messages were quickly carried into another stone chamber, where they were copied into proper documents. Those documents were then sent to yet another chamber to be sorted by category and stored for convenient future consultation.

Yuan Gang had his own workspace here. The entire procedure for handling intelligence had been designed by him from beginning to end. He knew exactly what Niu Youdao wanted.

After Niu Youdao and Gongsun Bu walked out of the caves and stopped outside, Niu Youdao suddenly said, "Lu Shengzhong was captured by Shao Pingbo in Beizhou. He's already betrayed our side..." He gave a rough account, omitting some details that this side did not need to know.

Gongsun Bu's face turned completely black as he listened. To have a disciple of his sect betray people again and again like this left him mortified.

"I'll send people to clean house!" Gongsun Bu said bitterly.

Niu Youdao waved a hand. "There's no need. Let's watch the situation first. Besides, Dachan Mountain is in Beizhou. Wuliang Mountain can't do anything to them. Sending people there would only invite humiliation. I'm telling you so you'll know what happened. Don't let anyone else know for now. I want to see how things develop."

"Master Dao, a family has family law, and a sect has sect rules!" Gongsun Bu reminded him.

Everyone here now addressed Niu Youdao as Master Dao. Wuliang Mountain had attached itself to him, and using some other form of address seemed inappropriate, so Gongsun Bu had changed as well. Still, at his age, calling someone so young "Master Dao" always felt a little strange on his tongue.

"Sect rules exist for the good of the sect. If something benefits Wuliang Mountain, why shouldn't we do it?" Niu Youdao asked in return.

Gongsun Bu fell silent.

Just then, Black Peony came flying over and quickly stepped forward to report, "Master Dao, His Highness and the others have arrived. They want to see you."

Niu Youdao immediately excused himself and left quickly. It would not do to keep Shang Chaozong waiting. Shang Chaozong and the others had stopped near the training ground where Yuan Gang's youths were drilling.

A group of boys were running an obstacle course. They vaulted over tall wooden walls, jumped into deep pits and climbed back out, charged across balance logs, then crawled on their bellies beneath low netting. Meng Shanming had come as well. Sitting in his wheelchair, he watched the training ground, his expression gradually becoming solemn. Shang Chaozong's gaze also showed intense interest. Both men had backgrounds commanding troops, and each seemed to have noticed something unusual.

Lan Ruoting and Shang Shuqing were less affected. In fact, one of the reasons Meng Shanming had made the trip in his wheelchair was that Shang Shuqing had told him Yuan Gang had gathered a group of youths and appeared to be training troops of his own. Yet he neither drilled them with sabers and spears nor practiced battle formations. His way of training soldiers seemed rather strange.

How strange?

Meng Shanming had come specifically to see for himself.

[End of Chapter 236]