The middle-aged steward's mind went blank, and he lifted his head in a daze to see two men in plain furs sitting opposite each other at a table within the tavern, drinking, while his own insolent and overbearing clansman stood respectfully to one side.
"My friend has a keen eye!"
Wan Yuankai glanced at him, offered this praise, and said with a laugh:
"Will you not sit down and share a cup or two?"
"Just so!"
The richly gowned young man seated himself without ceremony on the broken wooden stool, which at once set up a creaking and groaning, as if it were about to fall apart on the spot — a sight that left the middle-aged steward staring in dismay.
"Your junior is Xiao Yongling, of the Xiao family in Xia Prefecture, under the Qingchi Sect's governance. I greet you both, fellow Daoists."
Xiao Yongling smiled with considerable courtesy, took the wine bowl Li Tongya passed him, offered his thanks, and only then spoke:
"Might I know your names and houses?"
"Wan Yuankai of the Wan family of Huagan Mountain, under the Qingchi Sect."
"Li Tongya of the Li family of Lijing, under the Qingchi Sect."
The two men, seeing him so modest, conceived a good opinion of him on the spot and answered civilly in turn.
At the name of the Wan family of Huagan Mountain, Xiao Yongling's face held its smile unchanged; but when he heard "Li family of Lijing," he started in surprise and said hastily:
"Surely not the Li family of Lijing, by the shores of Moonview Lake?!"
"The very same. I had not thought that our Li household, so young upon the immortal path and so small in means, would have reached the ears of a great and ancient clan like yours."
Li Tongya was himself inwardly startled, and thought of Xiao Yuansi unbidden; Wan Yuankai, for his part, was sorely embarrassed and mused to himself:
"This Xiao family is a great and ancient house; it is only natural that they think nothing of my Wan family. But this Li family — they have only been treading the immortal path for a few years — how is it that their name has already reached the ears of the Xiao household!"
"Ha ha ha."
Xiao Yongling laughed a few times and explained with every courtesy:
"My clan uncle is none other than Xiao Yuansi of Azure Ear Peak. Since both our families are beneath that same peak, it is natural I should have heard."
"Of course!"
Wan Yuankai's heart gave a lurch, and only then did he remember that the Li family had a disciple who had studied under the Qingchi Sect. A welter of emotions churned within him, and turning to Xiao Yongling, he said:
"Young as you are, my friend, you have cultivated the Jade Capital Wheel — a fine accomplishment indeed."
Xiao Yongling checked at once and answered, somewhat embarrassed:
"Yongling has only the Luminous Understanding Wheel. It is simply that, as a true-born descendant of the Xiao main house, my elders bestowed upon me a treasure that can discern those who bear cultivation. Thus was I able to recognize you both — it is no Jade Capital Wheel's spiritual perception."
"I spoke too hastily!"
Wan Yuankai was likewise embarrassed, and repeatedly clasped his hands in apology.
Xiao Yongling waved it aside, and with a look of pride, said:
"You have come to render your tribute, I take it?"
"Just so."
Li Tongya and Wan Yuankai exchanged a glance, found the fellow's gossipy eagerness rather amusing, and put on an attentive air.
"All the region from Moonview Lake to Lixia Prefecture falls under the governance of Moon Lake Peak. There are but four disciples remaining on that peak at present. Do you know which of them has been sent as the sect's envoy?"
"We do not..."
"It is the Autumn Lake Immortal, Ning Wan!"
Xiao Yongling's face was full of pride; but seeing the two men's look of puzzlement, he faltered, and then explained:
"This Ning Wan refined the Pine-Grove North Wind into a Qi Refining, and has a particular mastery of formation arts. She has already broken through to the eighth layer of Qi Refining at only twenty-four years of age. They say she is a great beauty — the first of her kind. She has never troubled herself with mundane affairs, and if not for the fact that the other disciples of Moon Lake Peak have no time to spare, she would never have taken on this task of collecting tribute."
Xiao Yongling spoke with a torrent of words, then stopped abruptly, and looking at Wan Yuankai with curiosity, inquired:
"Speaking of the art of formations — does your family have a tradition of it? The name 'Wan family of Huagan Mountain' sounds familiar to me."
"We do, indeed."
Wan Yuankai had been holding his tongue for a long while, and at these words his eyes lit up, and he explained with some pride:
"Two hundred years ago, my family produced a formation master named Wan Huakun, and Huagan Mountain was named after him."
"I see..."
Xiao Yongling nodded, and added:
"I have read the histories compiled by my clan, and there is mention of this Wan Huakun. The elders of the house speculate that he inherited the legacy of a cultivator who fell in that great battle long ago."
Hearing something that touched on matters of interest, Li Tongya, fearful that the young man would turn the conversation back to Ning Wan's beauty, hastily asked:
"Concerning that great battle..."
Xiao Yongling shook his head, pondered for a few breaths, and said in a low voice:
"The clan's records are likewise vague on the matter. I have only heard that a man who claimed the authority of the Moon Essence Primordial Palace — the superior sect — sought to command all three sects and ten schools to obey his orders. The three sects rose up in fury and attacked him, and he died above Moonview Lake."
"Audacious indeed."
Wan Yuankai drew in a sharp breath, and could not help but feel a measure of awe for that man.
"That battle was so fierce it dried up rivers and severed the veins of earthly spiritual energy. The three sects lost fifteen Foundation Establishment cultivators, and scores of Qi Refining cultivators. Even two Purple Mansion cultivators — who stand above all others — perished. Of the ten schools, only seven remain."
Li Tongya sighed deeply, and before his eyes seemed to rise the vision of mountains sundered and rivers flowing backward, three hundred years gone.
"Here now — a Purple Mansion cultivator lives five hundred years. Think of the hardship it takes to reach that realm. Why not simply enjoy it, instead of fighting to the death with others?"
Wan Yuankai sighed, and lamented with some regret.
"Ha ha ha ha! We lesser cultivators spend our whole lives seeking no more than a single Qi Refining; naturally we cannot understand those great cultivators who sit so high above us."
Xiao Yongling laughed heartily, took a sip of snowflake wine, raised his chopsticks to survey the modest dishes on the table, and set them down again with some embarrassment, thinking to himself:
"At least the wine is good, in this place."
"Do you know, Brother Xiao, what this Pine-Grove North Wind is?"
Li Tongya, well aware of his own family's shallow foundations, let no opportunity for gathering information pass, and followed Xiao Yongling's thread.
"To advance from Embryonic Breathing to Qi Refining, one must take in a mouthful of the world's spiritual energy. The Pine-Grove North Wind is one such method. You seek out pine and cypress groves in frozen, snowbound lands, and when the north wind blows, you collect it by a secret method. Six months yield but one strand; five years' work on a snowy peak and it is done. If you must wait for the snows each year, it may take more than ten."
Xiao Yongling smiled faintly, and explained.
"I see!"
After a few more exchanges, Xiao Yongling waved his hand and said with a laugh:
"It grows late, and I shall not keep you from your journey to Crown Cloud Peak. Let us part here. If ever you visit Lixia Prefecture for pleasure, be sure to seek out Yongling, and we shall drink and talk at our ease!"
"Of course!"
Xiao Yongling smiled his farewells to the two men, and left the tavern with his retinue, heading eastward.
He had gone but a few steps, his face lost in thought, and the middle-aged steward, not daring to disturb him, followed bent at the waist, step for step behind him.
The steward was watching Xiao Yongling's expression when he heard someone behind him ask in a small voice:
"This young master is famous for his arrogance and insolence. How is it that today he bore himself with such measure and courtesy — so much so that even we were amazed? Let alone those two!"
"Fool!"
The steward stepped back, fetched the man a sharp slap on the skull, and then whispered in his ear:
"Can you count these mortals as men in this young master's eyes? Who would trouble to speak pleasantly to a dog!"