As aforementioned, Cai Jinjian was walking backward, and in the instant that she stepped on the pile of dog shit, she could already feel that there was something strange underfoot.

What was more embarrassing than stepping in dog shit was to be seen by others while doing so, and what was even more humiliating than that was being told by an observer that you really had trodden on dog shit.

Cai Jinjian wasn't someone who was easily riled up, and she certainly wasn't a pampered little girl who couldn't withstand any adversity. The fact that she was able to stand out and be selected out of all of the many descendants of the master of Dawn Cloud Mountain was a clear testament to her character. Dawn Cloud Mountain encompassed a total of 18 peaks of different sizes, all of which were enveloped in clouds and mist all year round. 

The Cloud Root Stone produced on the mountain was an important material in alchemy for those following the alchemy branch of Daoism. It was renowned for its pristine purity, and it was unrivaled in that regard. Hence, ensuring cleanliness was an important priority for the people on Dawn Cloud Mountain, and most of them had misophobia, including Cai Jinjian. If it weren't for how important this town was, she would've never set foot in this place, let alone stepped onto Clay Vase Alley, which was laden with mud and fecal matter from all types of different animals. 

What was most frustrating to her was that they were supposed to be high and mighty immortals, yet upon arriving in this town, they were like helpless fish that had been tossed onto the shore, losing everything that they had previously taken for granted in the blink of an eye. Their almighty clans that resided in blessed paradise, their mystical powers that allowed them to move mountains and rivers, their powerful treasures that were capable of taming demons and slaying gods, all of that had been instantly taken away from them.

And now, she had trodden on dog shit.

Fu Nanhua was rather amused by this turn of events. Who could've ever imagined that the pristine and pure Celestial Maiden Cai of Dawn Cloud Mountain would ever have a pile of sticky and stinky dog shit clinging to her boot?

However, in the next instant, the amusement on his face immediately faded, and he yelled, "Stop!"

Standing on the earthen wall, Song Jixin's pupils abruptly contracted, and he reflexively tightened his grip around the jade pendant in his hand.

As it turned out, Cai Jinjian had lunged over to Chen Ping'an in what seemed like just a single stride, and her fair and slender hand was hurtling rapidly toward the top of Chen Ping'an's head. In the instant that Fu Nanhua yelled out to stop her, her hand drew to an abrupt halt, and after a brief pause, she gently raised it before patting Chen Ping'an's head in what appeared to be an affectionate, doting gesture. 

She bent over slightly to look straight into Chen Ping'an's eyes, which resembled puddles of water so clear that one could see straight to the bottom. Cai Jinjian could almost see her own reflection in those eyes, but she was in no mood to be appreciating such trivial things. A fake smile appeared on her face as she said, "I know what you did there. You intentionally delayed your warning, didn't you?"

Fu Nanhua heaved a faint sigh of relief upon seeing this. If Cai Jinjian had killed someone in broad daylight here, there was a very good chance that they would've been evicted from the town, and the entire Dawn Cloud Mountain would've been made into a massive laughingstock over her actions.

A stern look appeared on his face as he said in an authentic official dialect, "Please think before you act, Cai Jinjian. If you continue to be so reckless, I will be inclined to terminate our collaboration. I don't want to have my plans foiled by your reckless actions."

Cai Jinjian had her back facing Fu Nanhua, and she rapidly chanted a calming mantra to distract herself from her anger.

She then quickly turned around and flashed Fu Nanhua an apologetic smile as she said, "My apologies for losing my cool. I promise you that nothing like this will happen again during our time here."

"Are you sure?" Fu Nanhua asked with a cold smile.

Cai Jinjian merely smiled and offered no response to Fu Nanhua. Instead, she turned to face Chen Ping'an again, then murmured to herself in her official dialect, "Our Dawn Cloud Mountain derives its roots from one of the five branches of Buddhism, and one of the most important things that we're taught is to rein in worldly desires and avoid worldly distractions. 

“Prior to coming here, I had no idea what such things even were, and my seniors didn't want to offer the answer up to me on a silver platter, so they told me to figure it out for myself. Never would I have imagined that I would develop an idea of what those concepts are after stepping on a pile of dog excrement on your Clay Vase Alley..."

"It's already been quite some time since you stepped on the dog shit, why have you still not scraped it off yet?" Chen Ping'an asked with a perplexed expression.

Cai Jinjian had just found some semblance of inner peace through the chanting of her mantra, but after hearing what Chen Ping'an had to say, she instantly found herself once again unable to suppress her worldly emotions. A furious look appeared on her face, but Fu Nanhua's warning was still fresh in her mind, so she could only prod Chen Ping'an's forehead firmly with her finger to vent her fury, glowering angrily at him as she said, "Have you not been taught those who are insolent will meet an early demise, and those who are vitriolic will lose all their good fortune?"

Chen Ping'an was unfazed by Cai Jinjian's firm prod to the forehead, and he turned to look at Song Jixin in silence.

Song Jixin immediately flared with rage upon seeing this. "Why are you looking at me, Chen Ping'an? Are you trying to imply something?"

Only now did Fu Nanhua discover that he still hadn't set foot in Song Jixin's yard yet, and a displeased look appeared on his face as he turned to Cai Jinjian with undisguised vexation in his eyes. "To think that there would be someone in this world who would be delayed in their pursuit of the Great Dao all because they had trodden on some dog shit! Never have I seen anyone so foolish!"

In a remarkable display of restraint, Cai Jinjian remained calm and collected despite Fu Nanhua's insult, and she took one final glance at Chen Ping'an before turning to depart.

All of a sudden, Chen Ping'an remarked, "You have very long eyelashes, Big Sister."

How dare a lowly ant like him take liberties with me? 

Cai Jinjian was furious, and she immediately turned around, deciding there and then that she was going to teach this filthy mutt a lesson. In her eyes, Chen Ping'an appeared to be honest and innocent on the outside, but in reality, he was as sly and cunning as a fox!

Even though she was extremely restricted upon entering this place, temporarily unable to use any of her treasures and abilities, she had reaped the benefits of cultivating from a young age. Her physical constitution was constantly being enhanced through her cultivation, and the effects weren't very pronounced, far less so than the fruits one could expect to reap from specializing in martial arts training, but she was still more than sufficiently equipped to deal with a young boy who had grown up his entire life in this rural town. 

All she had to do was target some of the important acupoints on his body to strike him down with a series of ailments that would lead to an early demise, and it would've been an incredibly simple task, but as she peered into the dim alley, all she saw was a tanned face and a pair of bright eyes looking back at her.

Cai Jinjian's eyes immediately lit up upon seeing this, following which the sympathy innately present in women welled up in her heart. The sympathy in her eyes then gradually faded as a bright smile appeared on her face, and she was struck by a sense of enlightenment.

This was a perfect opportunity for her to overcome an internal demon.

Ever since Dawn Cloud Mountain was founded by Patriarch Dawn Cloud, an idea had always been championed, which was that the beginning and end of every fated meeting was a tribulation-transcending experience.

Of course, there was no set method for transcending these tribulations, and it was required for the transcender to work out solutions on their own.

Cai Jinjian was currently in one of these exact situations.

She felt like she had identified the worldly distraction that she had to suppress, and it was none other than the young boy before her.

Thus, she raised her palm once again before placing it over Chen Ping'an's chest, then gently pressed down on it. That sequence of movements was performed extremely quickly and smoothly, and even though Chen Ping'an had reacted by taking a half-step backward, he was still unable to avoid Cai Jinjian's palm.

Fu Nanhua was staring intently at Cai Jinjian's seductive figure, but not only did he not feel even the slightest hint of attraction or entrancement, his heart was filled with murderous rage. He forcibly suppressed his killing intent as he yelled in a furious voice, "That tap on the forehead alone was enough to constantly rack him with ailments for the rest of his life! Surely such a punishment was already sufficient! Why did you go even further? Have you lost your mind, Cai Jinjian? Are you really going to abandon your pursuit of the Great Dao just to exact vengeance on a filthy stray mutt?"

Cai Jinjian paid no heed to his accusations, and Fu Nanhua lowered his voice as he recovered his composure and sneered, "To think that the vastly renowned Cai Jinjian of Dawn Cloud Mountain would be so petty that she would willingly stoop to the same level as an uneducated youth. Are you not embarrassed by your actions?"

Cai Jinjian turned to him with a smile as she replied, "This alley is truly a blessed place for me, I didn't think that I would stumble upon a fated opportunity even during such a chance encounter. It's nowhere near enough to make a significant difference, but it's certainly a great omen. I have even more confidence in that boy by the name of Gu Can now."

Fu Nanhua was rather taken aback to hear this.

Did she really just attain some type of enlightenment just now? 

Cai Jinjian raised her foot to inspect the disgusting fecal matter clinging to her boot, and she chuckled, "Come to think of it, this was the thing that bestowed this fated opportunity upon me."

Song Jixin wore an uncertain expression, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

Meanwhile, Zhi Gui remained standing on the spot in silence, but all of a sudden, a pair of golden pupils appeared in each of her eyes, only to vanish just as abruptly as they had appeared.

Fu Nanhua seemed to have vaguely detected this, and he immediately turned around to inspect his surroundings, but was unable to find anything worthy of note. In the end, he briefly scrutinized Zhi Gui, but didn't discover anything amiss, either. Thus, he could only chalk that inexplicable sense of discomfort that he had just felt down to Cai Jinjian's reckless actions, which had to have drawn the scrutiny of the Sage in the town.

Cai Jinjian was in a much better mood than before, and as a result, she was able to comb through many of the trains of thought that had previously stagnated in her mind.

This was not just some insignificant opportunity.

There were a couple of reasons for her trip to this small town, the first of which was that Dawn Cloud Mountain required a sufficiently powerful immortal treasure to hold in the fortune of the sect, which had been constantly seeping out of late. Furthermore, she also needed to succeed on this trip in order to solidify her status as the heir to the position of mountain master. Otherwise, she would've immediately left this godforsaken place and returned to Dawn Cloud Mountain to go into seclusion for a decade or two.

Cai Jinjian began to make her way toward Zhi Gui, but right at this moment, Chen Ping'an suddenly asked, "Did you do something to me just now?"

"You're being too paranoid, kid," Cai Jinjian replied without even turning her head.

Chen Ping'an fell silent upon hearing this, but Cai Jinjian suddenly turned to him with a smile as she declared, "You only have half a year left to live at most."

Chen Ping'an was dumbfounded by this sudden revelation, and Cai Jinjian was very amused to see this. "I was just kidding! I didn't think you would actually believe me."

Chen Ping'an smiled in response.

In that instant, a hint of disdain welled up in the hearts of both Fu Nanhua and Cai Jinjian. In their eyes, Chen Ping'an was nothing more than an ignorant and powerless ant.

Song Jixin was watching the unfolding scene while squatting on top of the wall, and he was massaging his own temples with a serious look on his face, an expression that was quite rare for him.

Even though Cai Jinjian had already gone to find Gu Can with Zhi Gui, and Chen Ping'an had also returned to his own courtyard, the observant Song Jixin remained squatting on the wall in a daze.

He could see that there was a thin young boy standing on Clay Vase Alley, and he looked on at Cai Jinjian's parting figure for a while before quickly withdrawing his gaze. He then made his way to the gate of his own courtyard, but the gate refused to open even as he pushed on it insistently.

Song Jixin really detested this feeling. In his eyes, Chen Ping'an was completely unremarkable in every way, but sometimes, he was like a rock in a latrine. If it weren't moved, then it would get in the way, but moving it required one to get their hands dirty.

Song Jixin was so caught up in his own thoughts that he failed to hear what Fu Nanhua was saying behind him, and thus, Fu Nanhua was forced to repeat himself. "Song Jixin, did you know that there's a type of people in this world that are completely different from the likes of you and that boy?"

Song Jixin finally returned to his senses, and he remained squatting on top of the wall as he turned around to look down at Fu Nanhua, replying in an indifferent voice, "I do."

Fu Nanhua was expecting a negative response from Song Jixin, upon which he would offer an explanation, so this was quite an unexpected reply. However, he wasn't convinced that Song Jixin was telling the truth, and he smiled as he asked, "Do you really?"

A cold look appeared in Song Jixin's eyes as he sneered, "You want to tell me that there are people who can bring the dead back to life, who can live for all of eternity, and possess limitless power, right?"

Fu Nanhua nodded in response with a pleased expression. "It looks like, in some sense, you and I can be considered to be fellow Daoists."

Song Jixin took a glance at the gate of the neighboring courtyard out of the corner of his eyes, seemingly rather distracted.

Fu Nanhua declared in a candid manner, "Seeing as you're already knowledgeable about such matters, I won't waste any more of our time. Regardless of what you have, as long as you're willing to sell it, just state a price, and I'll buy it even if I have to sell everything that I own!"

Song Jixin was rather perplexed. "I can tell that you possess a loftier status in your clan than that woman does in hers, so why is it that she was treating that boy with such disdain just now, yet you're willing to..."

"Treat you as an equal?" Fu Nanhua asked, concluding Song Jixin's sentence for him.

Song Jixin nodded in response as he praised, "You're a pretty smart guy. It's always easier talking with smart people."

Even though Song Jixin was physically looking down at him and speaking to him in a rather condescending fashion, Fu Nanhua remained completely unbothered.

In stark contrast with Cai Jinjian, who had regarded Chen Ping'an as nothing more than a mere ant, not only did Fu Nanhua feel a sense of intimacy toward Song Jixin, he also felt an inexplicable sense of awe and veneration toward Clay Vase Alley as a whole.

Hence, Fu Nanhua was truly regarding Song Jixin as his equal.

On the path to pursuing the Great Dao, the further one advanced, the less significance there was in things like status, gender, age, and other factors.

Song Jixin jumped down from the wall, then said in a low voice, "Let's talk inside."

Fu Nanhua nodded in response. "After you."

While stepping over the doorstep, Song Jixin asked in a casual manner, "By the way, what's your relationship with that woman from earlier?"

"We're temporarily working together, but we're not walking the same path," Fu Nanhua immediately replied without any hesitation.

Song Jixin nodded in response, then said some rather inexplicable things. "In that case, aren't you beating around the bush too much? I heard that the outside world is filled with demons, gods, immortals, and all manners of bizarre and spectacular things, but all those who pursue the path of cultivation are supposed to settle all differences right away in order to avoid trouble that could arise further down the line. Is that not the case?"

As the eldest young master of an immortal clan from Old Dragon City, Fu Nanhua was shrewd beyond his years, and he immediately understood what Song Jixin wanted, despite the cryptic content of his words.

Hence, he smiled as he asked, "Is there some bad blood between you two?"

Song Jixin's eyes widened as he put on a surprised facade. "What are you talking about?"

He then seemed to have realized that his act wasn't fooling Fu Nanhua at all, so he abandoned his exaggerated display of feigned surprise, and he sat down onto a chair in the room before extending a hand, inviting Fu Nanhua to also take a seat. After that, a serious look appeared on his face as he said, "The name of the boy from the neighboring house is Chen Ping'an, and he lost his parents at a very young age. Even though we've been neighbors for many years, we haven't had even a single argument. You may not believe me, but that's up to you."

Fu Nanhua was instantly able to read between the lines and understand what Song Jixin was insinuating.

He was informing Fu Nanhua that Chen Ping'an was just an orphan with no one to rely on and no ties to this world, so even if he were to die, no one would look into his death.

After arriving at that realization, Fu Nanhua was left feeling a little bemused. It had suddenly occurred to him that fate really did work in some rather absurd ways at times. 

It could be said that by intentionally withholding the address of Song Jixin and Zhi Gui from Fu Nanhua, Chen Ping'an had inadvertently brought disaster upon himself, and this was ultimately going to lead to his demise. 

Given Song Jixin's privileged background, someone like Chen Ping'an should've been far beneath him, yet here, he was essentially asking Fu Nanhua to have Chen Ping'an killed.

With that in mind, Fu Nanhua couldn't help but be reminded of a saying: "Even as infants, the offspring of tigers and leopards already possess the will to hunt cows."

————

Meanwhile, Gu Can had already been locked in his house, while his mother and the self-proclaimed "true lord" were sitting across from one another.

The old man was scrutinizing his own palm, which was riddled with lines, and shortly thereafter, he folded his palm away with a faint smile as he declared, "It is done."

A puzzled look appeared on the woman's face as she asked, "May I ask what you did to make Chen Ping'an..."

All of a sudden, a cold gleam flashed through the old man's eyes, and the woman was so frightened to see this that she immediately stopped talking.

The old man cast his gaze toward the gate of the courtyard, then gently swept a sleeve through the air, conjuring up a light breeze that swirled around the courtyard incessantly. He then explained, "I have only come here as I'm in a very troublesome predicament and had no choice but to journey to this place. I'm not in any direct danger for now, but the longer I stay here, the more... Just as that boy, Song Jixin, said, too much beating around the bush will only lead to a calamitous outcome. The good thing is that that man has invoked both the resentment of the heavens and the rage of the people. 

“Even though he has already made a huge concession, his ultimate demise will still be inevitable. What a pity! He could've ascended to extremely lofty heights, but instead, everything took a drastic turn for the worse for him, and his current situation is one that is truly tragic to behold. Only by taking advantage of this opportunity was I able to make some plans for your son. 

“Now, I must see if I can put an end to that boy's life while also avoiding future repercussions by ensuring that no sages or immortals will figure out what's been done here. Only then can I ensure that this new disciple of mine will be able to ascend like the wind on his cultivation journey and ultimately rise to become a dragon."

The woman was sweating profusely as she listened in silence.

The old man smiled as he mused, "You must think it strange that someone like me, who has dedicated himself to cultivation and the pursuit of the Great Dao, would end up being so petty and hostile. In fact, I daresay you're thinking that I'm no better than an uneducated village woman like yourself, isn't that right?"

The woman hurriedly lowered her head as she replied in a trembling voice, "I wouldn't dare to think such insolent things!"

The old man merely smiled and didn't say anything further, waiting in silence for Cai Jinjian's arrival.

On the path of cultivation, there was no limit to the power that one could obtain.

Cai Jinjian regarded the residents of the town as ants, but in the eyes of a true lord, she and Fu Nanhua were nothing more than mere ants themselves, and there was no need for him to reason with an ant that he could easily stomp into the dirt.