BB | Chapter 1

Shen Canglan Makes a Decision

The scorching sun hung high in the sky, casting shadows of swaying bamboo. Shen Canglan made a decision. He was going to descend the mountain. At seventeen, he was a cultivator. What is a cultivator? It is someone who absorbs the essence of heaven and earth, condensing energy into their body to nourish themselves. As cultivation progresses steadily, a cultivator can not only avoid fatigue, hunger, and exhaustion but can even ascend to immortality. Shen Canglan aspired to be the strongest, someone who could ascend.

Scholars travel to learn, officials travel for their duties. He couldn’t just sit idly on this rock every day; he needed to go out and gain experience to strengthen his Dao heart.

…Alright. The main reason was that Shen Canglan felt something was amiss with his sect.

Two senior sisters quarreled, and when Shen Canglan tried to intervene, one of them pushed him aside and continued arguing. Suddenly, in the midst of their quarrel, they ended up kissing each other.

A senior brother, who loved fish, often went to the riverbank to admire them, drooling all over. Shen Canglan, feeling sorry for him, spent half a day catching fish for him to cook. The senior brother cried bitterly, claiming that the fish was his wife, who had just laid tens of thousands of eggs for him the day before. Fortunately, the senior brother later realized he had mistaken the fish.

His master, Ye Xuezhu, always dressed in white, was often secretly called “the aloof master” by disciples. Every year, on average, three disciples would suddenly fall ill and fiercely attempt to buy chains to imprison him.

And then there was his sword, which one day disappeared, only to be found later having eloped with another cultivator’s sword.

Such cases were countless. Shen Canglan couldn’t understand why these things happened.

Moreover, what kind of legitimate sect would name itself the Lovers’ Sect?

Names determine feng shui. Perhaps the feng shui of the Lovers’ Sect was already ruined.

Considering all this, combined with vague memories and experiences from a past life, Shen Canglan decided to descend the mountain.

He first went to his master to inform him of this decision. After all, descending the mountain required food, lodging, and a suitable weapon. His sword had eloped, and he didn’t have a single coin on him.

He climbed to his master’s cave dwelling and explained his intentions.

His master, Ye Xuezhu, was the Great Elder of the Lovers’ Sect, dressed today as always in his signature white robes. He stroked his chin in thought, the white of his wrist still bearing the marks of chains left by a previously deranged disciple.

After a long pause, Ye Xuezhu asked, “You want to descend the mountain? Did I hear you right?”

Shen Canglan nodded.

He had prepared several reasons to persuade Ye Xuezhu, but unexpectedly, Ye Xuezhu said, “Alright. With you around, every time those chains are broken, it’s hard for me to have a proper relationship.”

Shen Canglan: “…”

Master, you…

So, Master, you actually wanted to be bound and imprisoned each time?

Wasn’t he making a fool of himself every time he dug a tunnel to rescue someone?

Ye Xuezhu, unaware of Shen Canglan’s struggles and frustrations, gave him a bag of money, a slender sword, and a token symbolizing the sect, which could also be used to transmit messages, as provisions for his journey.

Shen Canglan didn’t have many friends in the sect. Everyone had their Dao companions to be affectionate with. Besides Ye Xuezhu, Shen Canglan had two people he could talk to: his cousin, Shen Guanqi, and his roommate, Qin Chun.

Shen Guanqi had joined the sect two years earlier than him and, due to his knowledge of treating animals and spiritual pets, had been given a separate cave dwelling, though it was somewhat remote.

The area in front of Shen Guanqi’s dwelling was always lively. Foxes, kittens, puppies, and a senior brother holding a slimy… eel?

Shen Canglan asked, “Should I get a fish tank and put it in water?”

It wasn’t that he was particularly kind. He was mainly worried that the eel might die from lack of water at Shen Guanqi’s place, and if any medical disputes arose, neither Shen Guanqi’s family nor his own could afford the compensation.

The senior brother glanced at him and waved his hand, “No need. It’s a snake, just has a cold, with a bit too much mucus.”

Shen Canglan: “…”

He took a step back, pinched his nose, and walked inside.

Both Shen Guanqi and Shen Canglan were tall and fair-skinned. However, their appearances differed; Shen Guanqi’s eyes were long and narrow like a fox’s, while Shen Canglan’s were rounder and darker.

Shen Guanqi was busy examining a turtle. The turtle could speak and said in a muffled voice, “Apologies, young friend. I’ve soiled the bed again.”

Shen Guanqi: “…”

Shen Canglan heard Shen Guanqi sigh.

He called out, “Brother.”

Shen Guanqi looked up, his expression relaxing, “Why are you here?”

Shen Canglan didn’t answer immediately, taking a moment to observe the room.

Shen Guanqi had a fondness for animals, especially insects. Crickets, cicadas, ants… he liked to collect them and display them in the room.

Shen Canglan used to think it was a peculiar habit, but now, as if his meridians were suddenly unblocked, he had a moment of enlightenment.

He walked to the window and bent down to look at the earthworm in the grass cage.

Could his future sister-in-law be like this?

The earthworm lazily turned over in the soil.

Shen Guanqi looked at him puzzled, “What’s wrong?”

“I just feel that your relationship with them is a bit ambiguous,” Shen Canglan said. “Which one do you actually like?”

Shen Guanqi: “…”

“I feel like you’re thinking something very strange,” he said.

Shen Canglan’s gaze drifted away, “No.”

But then again, if Shen Guanqi really fell in love with an insect, would it be a private moral failing, damaging his medical ethics?

Shen Canglan put aside his wild thoughts and told Shen Guanqi about his plan to descend the mountain.

They say an elder brother is like a father. Shen Guanqi’s paternal love was immense.

He gave Shen Canglan two full bags of money and some medicine. These bottles, large and small, numbered over a dozen, each with different effects, from repelling insects to internal and external healing, all personally concocted by Shen Guanqi.

Shen Canglan was deeply moved, looking at his cousin with teary eyes, sincerely hoping he wouldn’t need to use these animal medicines.

Shen Guanqi was too busy, so Shen Canglan didn’t stay long and left after saying goodbye.

Qin Chun had been helping in the library these past few days, returning late every night. Shen Canglan practiced while waiting for him.

The continent he was on was called Lanchuan Continent. It was called a continent because cultivators believed there were countless worlds, so no matter how vast the land beneath their feet, it was just a fragment like duckweed.

This belief had been passed down since ancient times, though it had long been pointed out as unreliable—what three thousand worlds? The world is just the world, unique and singular.

But because no one had ascended in thousands of years, no one knew how many worlds there truly were.

But I digress.

Shen Canglan merely wanted to say that the spiritual energy on Lanchuan Continent was exceptionally abundant.

Rich spiritual energy flowed into his body, coursing through his meridians, limbs, and gathering in his dantian, nourishing his body and mind.

However, only a small amount of spiritual energy could be retained within, making his cultivation progress very slow.

Shen Canglan often felt a sense of helplessness, like trying to scoop water with a sieve. Initially, he thought he was using the wrong method, but after asking around and consulting ancient texts, he found that everyone cultivated this way, and his progress was considered fast.

But it was understandable.

Going against the natural order was inherently difficult.

Shen Canglan’s favorite place to cultivate was the bamboo forest in the back mountain.

Cultivating under the fluttering bamboo leaves made him look like a great hero, an unparalleled master.

Unfortunately, his fellow disciples thought the same. They regarded this place as a dating sanctuary, holding hands, sharing kisses, pairing up in twos and threes.

It was so out of line with modern values, so lacking in positive energy.

Shen Canglan sat on a high platform, watching as a senior sister stepped on a stone and fell into a senior brother’s arms with a high-difficulty move, their lips somehow meeting despite the significant height difference.

Shen Canglan: “…”

He was no longer surprised by such clichéd storylines and closed his eyes peacefully.

He had not yet reached the state of bigu, so shortly after nightfall, Shen Canglan felt hungry.

He didn’t know whether it was Ye Xuezhu or Shen Guanqi who spread the news of his descent. On the way to the cafeteria, many people came to talk to him.

“Little Junior Brother Shen, how long will you be gone? Can you come back tomorrow? If you do, could you bring me some roast goose from the foot of the mountain?”

Shen Canglan: “…”

He kept a straight face, seriously refusing and explaining, “I’m going down the mountain for training. I won’t be back for a few months. Senior Brother, you shouldn’t eat more; your belly is already round.”

The senior brother flicked his forehead, “Hey, you little rascal.”

Shen Guanqi was talkative and cheerful, while his friend Qin Chun was gentle and approachable. Shen Canglan, though younger, was more serious in temperament. Yet, for some reason, the senior brothers and sisters loved to tease him.

Someone even reached out to ruffle his hair, “Going down the mountain is good. Find a Dao companion. Do you like men or women, or cats or dogs or chickens, or like our sect leader, ducks? Oh, ducks have a spiral shape there, if you like it, you’ll have a lot of pain…”

Shen Canglan: “…”

Stop, stop!

Not to mention he had no interest in finding a Dao companion.

Why was he always the one being pressed down?

He was a man determined to ascend, so strong, so resilient.

Shen Canglan ignored them, squeezed through the crowd to get some food, and returned to his room after eating.

Qin Chun had already returned, busy with something with his back to Shen Canglan. Hearing the noise, he turned around.

Qin Chun was born with a kind appearance. A kind of good-looking kindness, not the kind that was so ugly it had no redeeming qualities.

He had a face that seemed ready to kiss a man at any moment, but in the year Shen Canglan knew him, Qin Chun had remained single. This made Shen Canglan very pleased.

Seeing Shen Canglan, Qin Chun handed him a cloth bundle, “Canglan, you’re going down the mountain? Some friends and I prepared some things for you.”

Shen Canglan took it, feeling its weight.

Qin Chun said, “It’s some money, clothes, and daily necessities.”

Shen Canglan’s money pouch had never been so full or so heavy in his seventeen years.

He had an idea.

He could pretend to go down the mountain, return three days later, and say he was going down again, thus collecting more money from everyone, then go back up and pretend to go down again, collecting more money…

Stop, stop, stop.

No wonder everyone says that men become bad when they have money. Shen Canglan was becoming so bad he scared even himself.

The next morning, before dawn, the bad man quietly shouldered his pack and descended the mountain.