Chapter 107: Chapter 107: Immortal and Mortal

He turned around...

It was indeed Su Dun. Seeing him, Wang Ping remembered that Su Dun had been promoted to Governor General and that his entire family had moved to the Prefecture City.

"Senior Brother, it really is you! I didn’t believe it at first when Xiaoqi told me." Su Dun was standing near the left stone lion at the bottom of the Daoist Scripture Hall’s steps. Beside him, many others were also waiting for people, just as he was.

Wang Ping sized up Su Dun as he approached. He was a little fatter than the last time Wang Ping had seen him, and the wrinkles on his face were more pronounced. Most of the hair peeking out from under his official’s cap was white, and he had to catch his breath when he spoke too quickly.

Seeing his former fellow disciple, Wang Ping’s memory blurred for a moment. He simply couldn’t reconcile the man before him with the lively Su Dun he once knew.

"You need to start taking care of your health..." Wang Ping could see Su Dun’s problems at a glance. "Your spleen, kidneys, qi, and blood are all so depleted they can barely support your body."

Su Dun said nonchalantly, "I’m sixty years old! I have a flock of children and grandchildren, and even my great-grandson knows how to talk. I should have been in the ground meeting my parents long ago. Right now, I just plan on doing everything I never got to do in this life, and then I’ll just wait to kick the bucket."

Wang Ping was surprised by Su Dun’s open-mindedness, but then he thought of the hardships of the mortal world and nodded in understanding. The mortal realm could also be a place to cultivate one’s heart; it would make you constantly experience the pain of life, death, and parting, until you became numb to it all. However, he didn’t believe Su Dun could truly achieve that kind of cultivation.

"If you were to pick up what Master taught you back then, you could still extend your life by several decades," Wang Ping reminded him.

"We can talk about that later. Come on, let’s go to my residence. After all these years, you’ve never even come to my home for a drink." As Su Dun spoke, he gestured to his attendants behind him, and a young, sword-bearing guard immediately stepped forward.

Wang Ping found the guard somewhat familiar. He was likely a fourth or fifth-generation disciple of Qianmu Temple.

"This is the Xiaoqi I was just talking about. He’s a fifth-generation disciple from Zhao Qing’s lineage. He hasn’t made much progress in either martial arts or Qi Cultivation, but he’s very sharp and knows how to read people. So I had him come to the Prefecture City to act as a scout. He saw you while on patrol and went to the mansion to inform me."

Laughing and talking, the two walked toward a carriage parked by the side of the road in the distance. It was a large carriage, pulled by four horses, and flanked by a small squad of armored guards.

"Isn’t this a bit of a violation of regulations?" Wang Ping asked, sitting in the spacious carriage and looking at Su Dun, who was leaning back comfortably against a soft cushion.

Su Dun said dismissively, "Everyone does it. The Governor’s carriage is even more luxurious than the one the Emperor uses when he leaves the city for celestial sacrifices... You have to understand, this is Jinhuai, one of the wealthiest cities in Zhongzhou. If I were too low-key, people would think I was being aloof and self-righteous. *That* would be the real violation."

"Junior Brother Zhao said you had a chance to enter the Six Ministries. I take it you don’t have that in mind anymore?" Wang Ping asked curiously.

Su Dun said smugly, "That would actually be very simple for me. At the beginning of the year, our Second Senior Brother was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Rites. He spends a great deal of time with the Emperor every day, so even those old masters in the Ministry of Personnel have to listen to him. Getting transferred to a ministry would take just a single letter."

In the Xia Dynasty, the Ministry of Rites was considered the head of the Six Ministries because it was in charge of sacrificial rites. The Imperial Family held daily ancestral hall rites and suburban rites once every half-month, all of which were organized by the Ministry of Rites.

It wasn’t just the Court; local governments also focused heavily on sacrificial rites. Even Qianmu Temple held various ceremonies, large and small, every year, though these were mainly concentrated in the outer sect to attract more worshippers and incense offerings.

After his moment of pride, Su Dun said slowly, "Right now, I just want to arrange my family’s affairs—secure a future for each of my children, provide for my wives and concubines, and divide the household for those who should be separate. Let me tell you, the sheer number of things to deal with is killing me."

Wang Ping remained silent.

"My eldest son is not from my primary wife, who has always wanted to drive him out. He himself also wants to leave home and make his own way. I came to terms with it last month and arranged for him to go to Junior Brother Wang’s side, hoping he can achieve something great. My legitimate son took the imperial examinations but failed. Then he was recommended for being filial and incorruptible, and now he’s barely managed to become a seventh-grade guard captain. I need to live a few more years to pave the road a little further for him..."

"Last month, my youngest daughter got married. She married a young man from your Wang Family. So I guess that makes us relatives now, hahaha."

Su Dun chattered on for the entire journey. When they arrived and stepped out of the carriage, Wang Ping saw a magnificent mansion. The central gates of the estate were wide open, and a young man in the uniform of a Seventh-Grade Military Officer was leading a large crowd of people at the entrance.

"See this? This is the fruit of my, Su Dun’s, decades of hard work..."

Su Dun pulled Wang Ping along, introducing his sons and grandsons—twenty-three of them in total. He had about the same number of daughters, granddaughters, and maternal grandchildren. As for his wives and concubines... Wang Ping only saw Su Dun’s first wife. She was also from Yongshan County, though he couldn’t possibly know her name. She was from a different branch of the Yongshan County Wang Family.

A lavish banquet was prepared. It was set up next to the fishpond in the mansion’s rear garden. It was just the two of them, fellow disciples, drinking and chatting while admiring the moon.

They talked late into the night. The southern weather, as fickle as ever, suddenly threw a fit, and a heavy rain began to fall. Wang Ping simply waved his hand, and the raindrops falling into the rear garden automatically parted to either side. This display filled Su Dun’s face with envy.

"If only I had stayed at Qianmu Temple back then..."

"You’re no fun. You’ve already enjoyed seven or eight-tenths of all the good things the mortal world has to offer, and you’re still not satisfied?" Yu Lian, who was eating a grilled shrimp, retorted in human speech.

She swallowed the grilled shrimp in her mouth, her vertical pupils fixed on Su Dun, and asked, "Are you willing to give all of this up right now? If you are, I guarantee you can live for another eighty to a hundred years, no problem!"

Su Dun fell silent. After a long pause, he chuckled, picked up the wine pot, and refilled Wang Ping’s cup. "Is Little Sea behaving himself by your side?" he asked.

"He’s very obedient. If you support him, he has a good chance of reaching Foundation Establishment."

"And Transcendence?"

"With Little Sea around, the matter of Transcendence can be taken slowly. His presence is enough of a guarantee for many things."

"Good. I understand!"

Just then, Yu Lian communicated with Wang Ping in his Spirit Sea. ’He’s full of ulterior motives. He’s looking for a promise from you. Worldly desires have already turned him into a completely different person.’

How could Wang Ping not see it? That was why he had remained silent the whole time, treating it as simply having a drink with his junior brother.

Late at Night, Su Dun was dead drunk and unconscious. Wang Ping had Su Dun’s eldest legitimate son help him back to bed. As for himself, he slipped away from the Su Mansion unnoticed, then silently crossed the city walls of Jinhua Prefecture City, heading toward Qianmu Temple under the cover of darkness.

A journey that would take an ordinary person ten days, Wang Ping completed in less than two, returning to Shang’an Prefecture. The moment he entered its borders, he surged his True Essence and rose into the sky, rushing back to the Mountain Peak Dojo on Qianmu Mountain at his fastest speed.

Afterward, as was customary, he went to Yu Cheng Taoist to give a detailed report.

「Ten days later, one morning.」

The Daoist Scripture Hall delivered a series of contracts into Wang Ping’s hands.

From that point on, Baisui Lake became his private property. It was also at this time that Wenyang Taoist arrived at Qianmu Mountain as promised, fulfilling the pledge he had made more than half a month ago to return the Demon Soldiers he had agreed to give Wang Ping.