Volcanic Age

Liu Zhengmu set off for the regular gathering.

“I’ll be back in about four days,” he said to Zhou Xuchan.

“Have a good gathering, Master.” Zhou Xuchuan saw him out and bowed politely.

Good, today’s the day, Zhou Xuchan thought. Four days was enough. Not to mention the location of the underwater cave, he also knew where the water spiritual tree was.

Although it would be a little tiring, he could make it back to the sect in just three days instead of four if he pushed himself.

Exactly four hours after Liu Zhengmu descended the mountain, Zhou Xuchuan left Mount Hua.

It’s not that difficult to leave the sect thanks to the disciples from the mundane world, especially those brats.

The disciples from the mundane world were normally the children of wealthy merchants or of noble families.

Among them, some of the less patient ones often felt stifled by the community lifestyle in the sect, and often thought about leaving the sect in secret.

The most common way to do that was a hole under an old wall in a rather barren place on the outer perimeter of the sect. They would use that hole to leave the sect and drink wine, play with women, and do other deviant things before returning to the sect.

Although this secret passage was known to the core members of the sect, they just turned a blind eye to it.

The disciples from the mundane world would leave the sect after a year, or at most three years of training. Since they were going to leave anyway, it was better to let them be because it would be more problematic later if they were to resent the sect after they left.

This was especially true for those who were children of high-ranking officials or paid a large amount of money. The sect couldn’t treat them badly.

That was why they decided to let the passage be and had an expert watch over it in secret in case someone decided to infiltrate from the outside.

In other words, it was pretty much a public secret that only those who used it thought that no one knew.

The core disciples of the sect also used this passage from time to time, but not many of them did. This was because, unlike the disciples from the mundane world, the core disciples had their masters to look out for.

Because of that, Zhou Xuchuan didn’t have many opportunities to use this place until today. An event like this usually only happened once a year.

Although there were five years left, he didn’t have much free time.

He had to go while he still had the chance.

As for missing the morning routine—training in Wild Goose Hell—he didn’t need to worry about it.

Although the instructors were vigilant over the disciples in the early stages where training was crucial, they didn’t care as much once the children got used to going up and down the mountain. There was also a large number of disciples going up and down Wild Goose Hell every day, which made it impossible to take note of every single one of them. They could only look out for the disciples in the very early stages of training, when said disciples could hardly make it up the mountain.

***

Zhou Xuchuan descended the mountain alongside some other disciples who were from the mundane world, so that he didn’t stand out.

Not to mention Liu Zhengmu, many of the core members of the sect were participating in the gathering, so a number of the disciples seized the chance to leave in secret.

Thanks to that, he wasn’t blocked by any of the experts he presumed were hiding nearby.

His luggage included a few grain pills, some living necessities, as well as some pocket money he had saved up since he was young.

“Phew! How many years has it been!” Zhou Xuchuan exclaimed, laughing and taking a deep breath as soon as he descended the mountain. It had truly been a long time since he had a taste of the air outside Mount Hua.

Before his regression, he could hardly leave his post as a high elder because of work.

After his regression, he was pretty much forced to be within the sect walls, so he had never been anywhere close to the front gates.

“It’s cold.” He observed, exhaling visibly in the chilly air. When he looked behind him, he saw the winter plum flowers.

“Ugh, I can’t believe I have to swim in this weather.” Zhou Xuchuan shuddered, dreading the thought.

It just had to be winter when he could leave. The timing was terrible.

Zhou Xuchuan adjusted the sleeves of his cold-resistant clothing and double-checked his items and money.

Then, he proceeded toward Huayin using his lightness art.

Scattering Plum Steps!

Zhou Xuchuan trained in other martial techniques aside from the Plum Blossom Fist and the Plum Blossom Cultivation art.

One of them was the Scattering Plum Steps, a signature lightness art of Mount Hua.

Normally, only disciples around thirteen or fourteen would be able to start learning it, but that kind of age restriction was currently meaningless for Zhou Xuchuan. He even knew the Violet Haze Divine Art, which was only passed down to the successive masters of the sect.

***

It took a whole day to reach Huayin.

“Huff, huff, crap.” He panted.

It was good that he had trained in lightness art, but unfortunately, the internal qi consumption of lightness arts was higher than that of sword techniques or footwork arts.

Zhou Xuchuan had the largest amount of internal qi among his peers, but that didn’t mean that he could use a lightness art throughout the day.

It was exhausting, but as he had a limited amount of time, he did not stop walking. Thanks to that, he managed to arrive at his destination not too long after he expected he would arrive.

“At least I didn’t run into any bandits, which is fortunate.”

As the Shaanxi Province was where Mount Hua and the Zhongnan Sect were located, security was on the better side.

Of course, it was only relatively better compared to other places, and it was not perfectly safe. Bandits and thieves did exist in this area.

That was why Zhou Xuchuan had disguised himself to look like he had nothing valuable on him.

He might be able to take on five bandits at once, but any more than that would be taxing on his stamina or qi, so he had to be careful.

That was why this matter was a slight gamble on Zhou Xuchuan’s part.

In any case, as soon as he arrived in Huayin, he rested briefly before buying some food from the local market and leaving the town immediately.

If someone picked a fight with him, then he would exhaust unnecessary stamina.

Children going around by themselves were easy targets for robbers, so he didn’t spend any money eating at an inn.

There were many things that dragged him back because he was young, and he wished that he could grow up quickly.

“For now, I’ll warm up a bit.”

He reached his destination without much difficulty. The path leading to the underwater cave was in a pretty memorable place despite being deserted and the roads around here weren’t complicated, so he didn’t get lost.

“Haa, I really don’t want to go inside…”

No water-based techniques were required to get to the underwater cave, and he could just dive into the water and swim there.

An ordinary person might risk running out of breath halfway through, but that didn’t apply to martial artists who had lung capacities much larger than normal people. Even someone as young as Zhou Xuchuan could get there.

The reason this place wasn’t discovered until now was that this place was pretty remote and there was nothing around here.

In the first place, a cultivator would rarely come to a remote place like this on purpose and take a dive.

The wanderer that would discover this place twenty years later only did so because he fell into a river and woke up inside the cave due to sheer luck.

“One, two, one, two.”

Zhou Xuchuan warmed up his muscles through some exercise and took out his belongings before hiding them nearby.

Although this place was remote and hardly anyone would come here, there was the risk of wild animals taking his belongings, so he dug a hole in the ground and covered them with some dirt.

“I hope I don’t freeze to death!”

Splash-!

Zhou Xuchuan jumped into the river, causing water to ripple around him.

Dammit!

He couldn’t help but swear inwardly as soon as he dove in. A cold sensation seeped through to his bones from his toes to his head. The water wasn’t just cold but downright frosty.

It was like taking an ice-cold bath in the winter and then sticking ice against the skin.

Zhou Xuchuan regretted deeply not long after he dove into the water.

I should’ve mentally prepared myself more before jumping in!

He wanted to go back immediately but held that urge in. If he returned now, he would only suffer the same pain twice, and nothing else would change.

Above all, he couldn’t dive in again and again. There was a limit to his stamina, and he had consumed a considerable amount in that jump just now due to the cold. If he were to try again, he could very well have an even harder time.

Get a hold of yourself, you fool!

He had obtained another opportunity at life, but maybe his nature had hardly changed.

Even before his regression, he had been no one great. He wasn’t good at everything that he tried, and he was quick to give up and make excuses if things didn’t go well.

If I can save my master by enduring this pain, I’ll do it as many times as I like! I’ll save him even if it means falling into the depths of hell!

He opened his eyes wide and clenched his teeth.

This matter concerned the only person whom he had considered family throughout his whole life—his master, who had saved him, an orphan, and taught him cultivation.

He was a precious person who loved his foolish disciple from beginning to end and smiled until his very last moment.

Zhou Xuchuan thought about Liu Zhengmu’s smile and kicked off in the water with great force.

***

Drip, drip-

Water droplets fell on the water.

Bubble, bubble-

The calm surface of the water suddenly started bubbling up, and a dark figure rapidly rose up to the surface.

“Puha!”

Zhou Xuchuan let out a deep breath as soon as he poked his head out of the water. Then he breathed deeply.

Clack, clack, clack-!

Zhou Xuchuan’s teeth were chattering, and he was shuddering due to the cold. His complexion was as pale as a corpse’s.

“Th-th-that almost k-killed me…”

Zhou Xuchuan was stuttering, unable to speak properly.

He had already left the water and was lying by the waterside, gasping for breath.

Thankfully, he had managed to get to the underwater cave in one attempt. He hadn’t run out of breath either. It was actually rather doable.

Thanks to his qi, his breathing ability was higher than that of an average adult.

The problem was the water, which was colder than he had expected. It was cold beyond his imagination, and he had suffered quite a lot.

Zhou Xuchuan pinched his cheek to stay awake and massaged his numb limbs.

Then he sat up and circulated his qi to drive out the cold and heat his body up.

His efforts seemed to be effective as his complexion slowly returned to normal.

“Haa…”

Zhou Xuchuan relaxed and opened his eyes.

I can’t believe I’m so weak!

He had overestimated his young body and lacking cultivation. It was much harder to endure than he had originally anticipated. He thought he took it too lightly because he didn’t have as hard of a time when he came here in his previous life.

I don’t have much time. I need to grab the Water Spiritual Fruit as soon as possible and return.

He still felt extremely cold, but it was not as bad as before.

Zhou Xuchuan stood up and walked along the cave.

Tap, tap-

His footsteps echoed in the silent cave.

Hm, I was worried that the darkness would be a hindrance, but it’s fortunate that there’s moss here.

Although it wasn’t that bright, there was luminescent moss growing on the rocks, lighting up the path.

Without that moss, Zhou Xuchuan would have had to walk against the wall with caution.

He would be able to see in front of him if he improved his eyesight with internal qi, but he had to leave some qi to return to land.

Around fifteen minutes later, the cave, which was wide enough for two people to walk side by side, started becoming wider. Eventually, it opened up into a clearing that was large enough to hold a hundred people.

“I found…hup!” Zhou Xuchuan gasped in shock.

Then he immediately got on the ground and covered his mouth.

What is that!

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