BOOK 2: CHAPTER 410: FIRST ENTRY INTO HAORI, WILLING TO BELIEVE

Vol 2 Chapter 410 First Entry into Haori, Willing to Believe

“Do I have to tell everything?”

Shi Nandang’s gaze was fixed rigidly on the ground tiles, not daring to look up, his voice hesitant.

The Heavenly Emperor Body stood before him, Elder Zhang to the left, Master Xie on the right, all watching him.

“Everything.”

The Heavenly Emperor Body’s reply made Shi Nandang’s face flicker repeatedly.

The impersonation of Shi Nandang was naturally because this identity was the most suitable:

He was the Nascent Soul Master. In a sect like Haori Mountain, that meant he was definitely a mid-to-high-level figure with the status and ability to access some of Haori Mountain’s secrets.

If he used Li Hao’s identity again—not only was Li Hao an outsider with no connections in Haori Mountain, but more importantly, Li Hao was only at Nascent Soul stage before, too low to participate in major matters.

Of course, Zheng Fa could “advance” Li Hao to Nascent Soul again.

But the problem was it was too fast, outrageously fast, raising suspicion.

Therefore, Zheng Fa needed the identity of Shi Nandang.

To play Shi Nandang well, naturally he had to understand Shi Nandang’s past thoroughly, and compared to playing Li Hao, impersonating Shi Nandang was more difficult:

Li Hao was silent and taciturn, with little contact inside the sect, and simple interpersonal relationships.

Shi Nandang had been highly valued by the Lu Clan before, practically a social butterfly to join the core Lu clan.

So preparing to play Shi Nandang required much more groundwork than before.

“Sect Leader, isn’t… isn’t it possible to communicate through Spirit Messages in real time?”

Shi Nandang stammered.

Indeed it was.

Previously in Zhongxuan Sect, Elder Bi Xia had discovered flaws in him.

Once bitten, twice shy. For the journey to Haori Mountain, Zheng Fa had prepared a combat team to use Tongjian for real-time consultation.

Shi Nandang was naturally included.

“Sometimes Spirit Message communication might be interrupted,” Senior Sister Zhang explained, “just in case.”

Shi Nandang fell silent.

The Heavenly Emperor Body saw his awkward expression and spoke to soothe him:

“Rest assured, there is no one else here, just the three of us. Whatever you say will not be leaked.”

Shi Nandang immediately said, “I have nothing I cannot tell others!”

“Ming Bai, Ming Bai!”

“…Really won’t speak?”

“Not only won’t we speak, we absolutely only have ears, no mouths. We listen, no judgment.”

Shi Nandang hesitated a little, then saw Elder Zhang’s cold gaze and Xie Qingxue’s smiling face, though her hand rested on her sword…

“I, I’ll say…”

“I obtained my Immortal Fate at thirteen and entered Haori Mountain…”

“After thirty-two years of cultivation, I only became a disciple of the Lu Clan…”

“When I was at the Golden Core stage, I…”

The Nascent Soul Master already had an excellent memory;

Shi Nandang got smoother as he spoke, blurting out an old story:

“In the early Golden Core stage, I fell in love with a direct line female cultivator from the sect’s Yun Clan. Her family found out…”

Halfway through, he suddenly stopped and looked at the Heavenly Emperor Body.

The Heavenly Emperor Body pursed his lips, raised his hand, and patted his shoulder silently, as if comforting him.

To summarize Shi Nandang’s story just told:

Never underestimate the poor Golden Core!

Never underestimate the poor Nascent Soul!

Never underestimate the Nascent Soul Master… Your great-granddaughter really looks like you.

Shi Nandang blankly looked at the Heavenly Emperor Body’s sympathetic face, then at Elder Zhang, who was staring at the ceiling with a cold expression, and then at Xie Qingxue, who was counting her sword tassels as if she didn’t even know how to count.

“Sect Leader! Let me return to Haori Mountain!” Shi Nandang shouted with eyes closed, “I am willing to die for the Jiushan Sect!”

…

“This is…” Shi Nandang stared at the illusion before him, shocked, and said, “You created a Haori Mountain?”

“It’s an illusion.”

For this operation, Jiushan Sect had gone all out, using the land and heaven methods of their base to create a virtual Haori Mountain.

“Point out who you need to befriend and who has grievances with you.”

Shi Nandang looked at the Heavenly Emperor Body for a long time and sighed, “I… was not wronged.”

“Not exactly.”

“Hm?”

“To deal with you, we didn’t exert such great effort.”

…

“Lady Nishang, do you know what kind of person Yun Zhenxian is?”

The Heavenly Emperor Body was torturing Shi Nandang, but Zheng Fa was already rushing toward Haori Mountain.

He and the Heavenly Emperor Body were almost one entity;

no matter how far the Heavenly Emperor Body saw or heard, Zheng Fa could sense it.

While rushing, Zheng Fa was also sending messages to Lady Nishang, hoping to gather more intelligence.

The information from Shi Nandang helped him impersonate Shi Nandang better.

But there was a big problem: Shi Nandang was now a criminal, carrying a heavy burden—though Zheng Fa felt it was well deserved.

Resolving this matter from Shi Nandang’s level was difficult.

But from Lady Nishang’s level, it was simpler:

Currently, among Haori Mountain’s three Dao Fruits, only Yun Zhenxian remained;

whether Zheng Fa was guilty or not was decided solely by him.

The key lay with this person.

But Yun Zhenxian’s character and thoughts were very hard for Shi Nandang, a Nascent Soul, to understand.

Even within Haori Mountain, not many knew;

probably only the core circle of the Yun clan understood well.

But for Lady Nishang, this was no secret.

Sure enough, Lady Nishang soon replied.

“Yun Zhenxian? Why do you care about him, Sect Leader?”

“Better safe than sorry.”

Lady Nishang seemed to understand and didn’t ask more, only introduced: “He is gentle in personality but has long since attained the Dao and has been the actual controller of Haori Mountain.”

“I’ve heard that in this era, more has come out of that Luo Sanxian.”

Zheng Fa’s heart stirred;

he asked a few more questions before changing the topic:

“How is the revival of Luo Sanxian proceeding?”

“This matter is strange. Yun Zhenxian doesn’t seem very enthusiastic and has been slow, but it does require some time.”

Zheng Fa nodded silently.

Among the Four Sects, other sects might not know, but Haori Mountain’s situation was quite awkward—they had too few Dao Fruits.

Until Luo Sanxian revived, Yun Zhenxian was Haori Mountain’s only pillar, so he had to handle both ends.

Fortunately, the Tianhe Sect’s matter still had decades;

by then, Luo Sanxian should have revived.

Zheng Fa asked some more details, and seeing Haori Mountain approaching in the distance, he ended the Spirit Message.

…

This was Zheng Fa’s first time at Haori Mountain.

He descended his teleportation light and looked forward.

Although called a mountain, Haori Mountain was a vast city that stretched beyond sight. Just the southern city wall where Zheng Fa stood had nine gates, each with long queues.

Cultivators, spirit beasts, magical tools, and pills entered and exited in separate sections.

Looking up into the distance, a continuous mountain range stood north of the city.

The highest peak in the center was snow-capped, reflecting sunlight from dawn to dusk, illuminating the city at the foot of the mountain.

Hence, the mountain was called Haori Mountain.

Shi Nandang had proudly said that whether one was a Haori Mountain disciple or not, regardless of cultivation level, to go to Haori Mountain, one must first pass through this huge city like a mortal, step by step ascending Haori Mountain.

Zheng Fa had asked Lady Nishang about this, and she said she had never heard of it.

Zheng Fa entered the city gate, and a Golden Core disciple, seeing his robe, seemed to recognize him as a Nascent Soul and hurried over, respectfully cupping his hands: “May I ask your name, sir? Why have you returned to the mountain?”

“Shi Nandang, summoned by Yun Patriarch.”

“Shi… Master Shi?”

The Golden Core disciple was shocked and spoke louder.

About ten Haori disciples at the gate all turned to look at Zheng Fa.

Zheng Fa looked back, seeing each one turn their heads away, avoiding eye contact.

The gate guard, a Golden Core disciple, took two hurried steps back as if he had seen a plague god.

It seemed Shi Nandang had become known among Haori Mountain disciples as a notorious unlucky figure.

Being summoned by Yun Zhenxian surely was not good news.

Ignoring their looks, Zheng Fa passed through the gate and went into the city.

Interestingly, the city was a series of concentric circles—big city surrounding smaller cities, which surrounded even smaller cities, like nesting dolls.

Zheng Fa had heard the reason from Shi Nandang.

Haori Mountain had stood for several eras, its city protected by it. Despite some chaos, it had mostly remained stable.

Most residents were relatives of Haori Mountain disciples, and as generations grew, the city expanded.

When the original city became overcrowded, lower-status people built outer cities.

When those outer cities became crowded, more outer cities were built, and the former outer cities became inner cities.

This cycle repeated, expanding the city and its walls ring after ring.

There were now about eleven rings.

At first, Zheng Fa didn’t quite understand why Haori Mountain needed city walls—after all, for cultivators, no matter how high the wall, it only tested morality.

Here, he finally understood:

Passing through one more city wall meant being a level above others.

The ten-odd zhang high city walls didn’t separate enemies, but… lower-class people.

The inner three rings naturally belonged respectively to the Lu, Yun, and Luo clans.

It was said the Yun and Luo clans had some disputes.

Family and status distinctions were everywhere in Haori Mountain, beyond Zheng Fa’s imagination.

Who here wouldn’t envy the three clans?

No wonder Shi Nandang had desperately wanted a Lu surname identity.

Unfortunately, judging from Zheng Fa’s experience, hopes were slim:

He passed through gate after gate, and each time the scene at the gate was almost exactly repeated.

No matter how crowded the gate was, once Zheng Fa gave Shi Nandang’s name, everyone “respectfully” cleared a path.

It was clear Shi Nandang carried a dark cloud.

Although Zheng Fa was not Shi Nandang, everyone treated him as such, and the psychological pressure was considerable.

…

Passing through the last city gate,

Haori Mountain stood majestic before Zheng Fa.

He observed carefully, memorizing details and comparing with Shi Nandang’s previous explanations to avoid mistakes.

Looking up, his first thought was—rich!

A wide golden jade staircase stretched from the mountain foot to the mid-mountain.

Shi Nandang said it had 9,999 steps, wide enough for twenty-four people side by side.

Most absurdly, the material wasn’t ordinary jade but a rather expensive spirit material—not the priciest, but such a massive project surely cost many spirit stones.

Walking the steps, Zheng Fa felt Haori Mountain was not merely flashy.

The stairs surely had formations.

He couldn’t discern specifics, but through some talismanic diagrams, the stairs at least had illusions to confuse the eye and obscure directions.

Flashy but practical.

After the stairs, Zheng Fa arrived at Haori Mountain’s largest building: the Three Palaces.

The Three Palaces naturally represented the three founding ancestors: Lu, Yun, and Luo.

The palace walls were all white;

the main hall had a golden roof, the left hall purple, and the right hall red.

Only the left hall’s door was open.

Zheng Fa took a deep breath, stepped to the left hall entrance, cupped his hands and loudly said:

“Disciple Shi Nandang, reporting!”

Everyone inside turned their heads with varying expressions.

“Enter.”

Sitting high was Yun Zhenxian, expression unchanged and eyes devoid of warmth.

Zheng Fa stepped over the knee-high threshold and entered.

About a hundred people stood inside, more than half with cultivation above Nascent Soul.

They were divided into three groups, all wearing Haori Mountain’s white robes, differing only by color embroidery on sleeves and hems.

The Lu clan favored gold, so golden spirit silk embroidered edges.

The Yun clan favored purple, and the Luo clan revered red.

Those with red embroidery looked most hostile at Zheng Fa, eyes burning with anger.

Yun clan members were cold and indifferent.

Those with gold embroidery—the Lu clan—looked even more disdainful than the Yun clan.

Shi Nandang’s master also stood among them, head lowered, not looking at Zheng Fa.

No one spoke, but the anger, hatred, and coldness in their eyes could crush anyone.

Not to mention Yun Zhenxian sitting high above—his gaze at Zheng Fa was like a cold gale.

“Shi Nandang? Do you know your crimes?”

Zheng Fa lowered his head and cupped his hands: “Disciple knows his crimes!”

An elder of the Luo clan shouted: “Yun Patriarch, this Shi Nandang failed at sword forging, destroying two-tenths of our Haori Mountain’s spirit veins, even causing the death of the Holy Patriarch. His crime is enormous!”

“Please have the Patriarch strip his cultivation and imprison him beneath the Fiery Peak, to suffer the Fiery Torture!”

Zheng Fa knew this was one of Haori Mountain’s severest punishments, generally only for disciples who murdered their masters or betrayed the sect.

Given the losses from the Trapping Immortal Sword incident—the sword, Luo Sanxian, and so many spirit veins—Haori Mountain probably wished Shi Nandang had truly killed his master.

So when the elder spoke, no one opposed;

some even nodded secretly. Even a few Lu clan members close to Shi Nandang didn’t speak.

Clearly, the burden was too heavy, and no one dared bear it.

Yun Zhenxian looked at Zheng Fa and asked:

“Do you have a defense?”

“Disciple dares not;

the Trapping Immortal Sword incident is my fault.”

Upon hearing this, the hall’s gaze at Zheng Fa was like looking at a corpse.

“If so, then explain.”

Yun Zhenxian took out the Trapping Immortal Sword made in Jiushan Realm and threw it before Zheng Fa coldly: “Explain how this sword became like this!”

“Explain how it destroyed our sect’s spirit veins!”

“What went wrong with the Heaven and Earth Divine Fiend Array?”

Though Yun Zhenxian was gentle in Lady Nishang’s words, his angry tone now was thunderous, shaking the palace roof.

“If not, you shall bear death a thousand times over!”

A pressure from a True Immortal filled the hall.

Everyone’s face was pale, trembling slightly.

“Disciple has nothing to say, only requests imprisonment in the Fiery Peak.”

“I want you to speak!”

Everyone stared at Zheng Fa in the storm.

“Disciple dares not speak!”

The hall fell into deep silence.

Even Yun Zhenxian was stunned for a moment, his gaze shifting slightly.

Let alone the others.

“Dare not?” Yun Zhenxian was silent a moment, then said: “What do you mean by ‘dare not’?”

“Disciple… is afraid of offending Patriarch Luo.”

An even deeper silence enveloped the hall.

“How dare you!”

The Luo clan elder pointed at Zheng Fa and shouted: “Are you blaming the Holy Patriarch?”

“Disciple dares not.”

Not saying no, only not daring.

Everyone knew he truly dared.

Even the Yun clan spectators were shocked and whispered despite Yun Zhenxian’s presence.

The Lu clan members, especially those once close to Shi Nandang, now looked at him as if seeing a self-destructing truck—terrified.

With Haori Mountain’s strict hierarchy,

Shi Nandang’s non-three-clan identity, and accusing a Luo clan core member, was bold beyond measure.

Moreover, Zheng Fa’s words directly implicated one of the three founding ancestors, Patriarch Luo!

Zheng Fa lowered his head, face anxious but mind calm.

This was the only hope Senior Sister Zhang predicted for Shi Nandang:

Rather than prove innocence, better to overturn the table.

After all, Shi Nandang was responsible for forging the Trapping Immortal Sword;

it was hard to shift blame—even if he was innocent, the enormous loss was a death sentence.

So no angle for a not-guilty defense.

“What do you want to say?”

“Disciple has thought long and hard,” Zheng Fa recited prepared lines, “The Heaven and Earth Divine Fiend Array could not have such a great problem caused by a Nascent Soul…”

He never mentioned Luo Sanxian but every word pointed to him.

What he said fit profound knowledge:

The array, the sword, even the spirit veins were beyond a Nascent Soul’s ability to alter or destroy.

Destruction is also a kind of ability.

“Disciple originally thought it was Jiushan Sect’s Zheng Fa acting behind the scenes,” Zheng Fa looked at the sword and sighed, “But the forging techniques are our Haori Mountain’s highest secrets;

without practicing our sect’s methods, such results are impossible.”

Yun Zhenxian silently watched Zheng Fa, then suddenly said, “You have great audacity.”

“Disciple is willing to accept death but only wishes to clarify, lest in the future…”

The Luo clan people could no longer restrain themselves and several Nascent Souls drew their life treasures to attack Zheng Fa.

Boom!

Zheng Fa remained unmoving;

the attackers were blown flying and collapsed on the ground.

Yun Zhenxian withdrew his hand.

“Yun Patriarch! He disrespects the Holy Patriarch!”

A Luo clan member shouted.

“Disrespect deserves punishment, but the Trapping Immortal Sword disaster must be investigated thoroughly,” Yun Zhenxian’s gaze landed on Zheng Fa, words deliberate, “The sword is a True Immortal artifact;

whoever it is, must not evade responsibility.”

“Yun Patriarch!”

The Luo clan members protested.

Zheng Fa looked directly at Yun Zhenxian and saw his cold gaze yet faint support in his words.

He understood that Yun Zhenxian might not fully believe his explanation but he…

was willing to believe.