In the end, Long Ruzhen couldn't bear to leave the adopted son she had raised for eighteen years, the one into whom she had poured so much of her heart.
So, she and Du Youqian came to an agreement. She would first accompany Liao Leizhong as he ventured into the Jianghu, while Du Youqian would go to Soul-shaking Mountain to seek out Immortals and the Dao.
Once Du Youqian found an Immortal Master, was accepted as a disciple, and had settled in, he would then go looking for her.
If Du Youqian didn't come for her within two years, she would come to meet him at Soul-shaking Mountain.
He thought back to how she had once insisted on being with him, no matter what, even willing to give up everything to roam the world by his side...
Du Youqian could only smile bitterly.
'So, for a woman, once a son comes along, her husband's status permanently drops by one.'
~~~~~~~~~~~
The spring air was still sharp with a lingering chill.
On Soul-shaking Mountain, a few slender branches had already sprouted new buds.
Most of the vegetation, however, remained withered and yellow.
Yet within lay an infinite Life Force, waiting to burst forth.
Cui Wei had been vague, likely because he didn't know the Immortal Master's exact location on the mountain either.
He had only said it was somewhere above the mid-mountain, but not at the very peak.
Du Youqian had no choice but to resort to a brute-force method: a systematic, grid-like search.
However, Soul-shaking Mountain was vast.
Even for an expert like Du Youqian, who had already reached the Innate realm, it was difficult to cover every inch of the mountain in just a few months.
By the height of summer, Du Youqian had explored nearly the entirety of Soul-shaking Mountain above the halfway mark.
Yet the token had shown no reaction the entire time.
Along the way, he encountered many who had fled to the mountains to escape taxes, as well as hunters, woodcutters, and medicine gatherers who made a living there.
No matter whom he met, Du Youqian would politely approach them and inquire if they knew of any unusual places on the mountain.
Most simply shook their heads, knowing nothing.
Occasionally, someone would mention a strange location.
But whenever Du Youqian went to investigate, filled with hope, he would invariably return disappointed.
An ordinary person would have likely lost heart by now.
In this life, however, Du Youqian had already spent more than a decade searching for the Immortal Dao, followed by another eighteen years raising a child.
He had patience in abundance.
Although he was now in his fifties, he was once again beginning to feel the distinct signs of aging and decline.
As an Innate Grandmaster, even he couldn't completely halt the decay of his vitality; his Martial Arts were in an inexorable decline.
However, the decline was certainly far slower than that of a Postnatal Master.
His state of mind, however, was not significantly affected by this.
'It's best to remain calm. Even if I don't find anything in a year, or even ten years... it doesn't matter.'
'Worst case, after this life ends, I'll just reincarnate, awaken my memories, and come back to continue the search.'
But Du Youqian never expected that just as he had mentally prepared himself for the long haul, a turning point would arrive so quietly.
「One day.」
A torrential downpour.
Du Youqian sat in a cave. The bonfire he had lit the previous night was now extinguished, leaving only smoldering embers.
In this dreadful weather, burning firewood would only cause the smoke to billow back into the cave.
Du Youqian was an Innate Grandmaster, it was true, but he was still a Mortal. He couldn't wear his underwear on the outside like some hero, and he certainly didn't have lungs with a built-in super-filtration system.
In the silence of the cave.
The only sound was the incessant drumming of the rain.
At first, it sounded monotonous, even jarring.
Gradually, however, it seemed to fall into a certain rhythm.
It calmed Du Youqian's mind, which had grown slightly agitated from days of fruitless searching.
He sat quietly, hugging his knees, his thoughts drifting away like the wisp of smoke rising from the embers.
JINGLE, JINGLE.
Suddenly, the sound of a bell cut through the howl of the wind and rain.
Du Youqian was instantly on alert.
The mountain had no proper paths, and the heavy rain had made the terrain even more muddy and treacherous.
Although Du Youqian's Martial Arts were peerless in the Mortal World, making him impervious to heat, cold, wind, and rain, even he was unwilling to venture out in such foul weather.
An ordinary person, even a seasoned hunter or medicine gatherer, would risk slipping and falling to their death if they dared to climb the mountain in this weather.
'Where on earth is that bell coming from?'
'And in a storm this heavy, the sound of a normal bell shouldn't carry very far.'
Yet to his ears, the jingle of the bell seemed to be ringing from a great distance.
He listened intently as the sound of the bell drew nearer.
He grew more certain that whoever it was, they were heading for his cave.
Although Du Youqian was confident in his unparalleled Martial Arts in the Human World, he was not one to be careless.
He shifted from a sitting position to a crouch, his vitality circulating faster, ready to strike at a moment's notice.
The jingling of the bell stopped abruptly at the mouth of the cave.
"Young friend, the wind and rain are fierce. May I come in and take shelter?"
An aged yet resonant voice drifted in.
Du Youqian laughed and called out, "This cave belongs to no one. Please come in, Daoist."
"In that case, I will intrude."
The bell jingled once more, and soon, a man and a monkey appeared before Du Youqian.
The monkey was far larger than a typical mountain macaque, nearly the size of a chimpanzee.
It held a giant banana leaf over its head to block the rain, its fur almost completely dry. The bell was tied around its neck.
Noticing Du Youqian studying it, the monkey made a face at him before quietly sitting down.
Unlike a typical monkey, it wasn't scratching and fidgeting restlessly. It seemed exceptionally docile and tame.
The Daoist, however, set off alarm bells in Du Youqian's mind.
He was a middle-aged Daoist with simple, classical features and fair skin. His hair and beard were streaked with gray, yet he somehow looked younger than Du Youqian, who had grown haggard from months of exposure to the elements.
His smile was gentle, and his gaze, full of wisdom yet detached, could easily inspire goodwill.
The Daoist wore a well-worn but immaculately clean Daoist Robe. A simple brown Wooden Hairpin held his Daoist Bun in place.
But despite having walked through the storm, his robes were not spattered with a single speck of mud, nor did they bear any trace of dampness. This left Du Youqian utterly astonished.
'I, at least, know I'm incapable of such a feat.'
'Could it be...?' A realization flashed through Du Youqian's mind.
'Could this be the Cultivator I've been searching for all this time?'
The Daoist walked over, casually sat down on a rock opposite Du Youqian, and smiled. "Young friend, you have been searching this mountain for me for several months. For what reason, I wonder?"
All of Du Youqian's hesitation and speculation vanished. He immediately prostrated himself. "Daoist Master, I have revered the Immortal Dao since I was a child. I left home at eighteen to wander in search of it, but alas, I could never find the path. After wasting half my life, I have finally found you. I beg you, Daoist Master, take pity on me! Please accept me as your disciple and teach me the Immortal Techniques!"
The Daoist seemed quite taken aback by this display. After a moment, he stroked his beard and chuckled. "I sensed the token on your person the moment you arrived on Soul-shaking Mountain. Do you know why I have avoided meeting you until now?"
'Avoiding me? Damn it! No wonder I couldn't find you. You're a tricky old man, you are.'
Of course, Du Youqian didn't dare voice his true thoughts. He simply shook his head. "I would not dare to presume your intentions, Daoist Master."
The old Daoist smiled faintly. "Why not venture a guess, young friend?"
The monkey sat to the side, as quiet and obedient as a Daoist Child. It would occasionally steal a glance at Du Youqian, its intelligent eyes filled not with malice, but with curiosity.
Du Youqian's heart settled slightly.
'This monkey is clearly intelligent and seems to understand people. Since it's always by the Daoist Master's side, it should have a good sense of his moods and intentions.'
'If the Daoist Master disliked me, this monkey surely wouldn't be looking at me so favorably.'
Coupled with the Daoist Master's kind face, which suggested no intent to make things difficult, he looked up and replied, "I suppose, Daoist Master, that you were observing my aptitude and character in secret."
The old Daoist let out a hearty laugh. His voice boomed like a great bell, shaking loose bits of dirt and stone from the cave walls.
"You are a sharp one. Alas!"
Du Youqian ventured to ask, "Why do you sigh, Daoist Master?"
The old Daoist shook his head. "You do possess a Spirit Root. I cannot tell its quality, but at the very least, you are capable of Cultivation. As for your character and disposition, I have gotten a fair measure of them over these past few months. A pity. If you had met me thirty years ago, I would have gladly accepted you as my disciple."
Du Youqian's heart sank. He asked hastily, "Does this mean that at my age, I can no longer pursue Cultivation?"
"That... is not necessarily the case," the Daoist said slowly, glancing at him. "A Martial Artist's vitality is far more abundant than an ordinary person's. Moreover, you are what Mortals call an 'Innate Grandmaster.' Your Innate True Qi is incredibly potent and can preserve your vitality. It will only begin to decline rapidly after you pass the age of sixty. So, if we're only talking about beginning Cultivation, your age is not an issue."
"However, at your age, even if you can begin Cultivation, your path forward will be cut short, unless you possess peerless talent. But..."
"I can sense that your Spirit Root is, I'm afraid, quite mediocre."
The old Daoist shook his head. "With your Martial Arts, you could dominate a region in the secular world, achieve great fame and fortune, enjoy endless riches, and surround yourself with beautiful women."
"But if you follow me, Cultivation is an austere and lonely path. In a decade, or two or three at most, your vitality will fail, your progress in Cultivation will stall, and you will only be able to watch helplessly as you march step by step toward old age and death, growing ever more distant from the Great Dao. By then, it will be too late for regret!"
"Therefore," the old Daoist's eyes suddenly flashed with a divine light, "it is better for you to return!"
Slowly, Du Youqian straightened his back. Slowly, he raised his head, meeting the old Daoist's gaze without giving an inch.
Under the pressure of the old Daoist's gaze, he smiled calmly. "Daoist Master, the morning mushroom knows nothing of the month's passing, and the summer cicada knows nothing of the year's seasons. The Great Dao is boundless, but our lives are limited. Thus, if I can hear the Dao in the morning, I can die that evening without regret!"
The old Daoist was stunned.
For a moment, those detached, serene eyes were suddenly filled with a flood of emotions.
Du Youqian said no more.
'If those words couldn't convince him, saying more would only be tiresome.'
'Worst comes to worst, I'll just try again in my next life!'
After a long moment, the Daoist slowly rose and brushed the non-existent dust from his Daoist Robe.
He took two steps toward the cave entrance, then suddenly stopped. "Why aren't you following?"