Stranger Danger

Chapter 588: Peach Blossom Celestial On Peach Blossom Mountain

Xie Qingxi, the “Peach Blossom Celestial” was an independent warrior with no patron just like many others in the jianghu. However, he was ranked fifteen on the Earth Champions Ranking. They called him the Peach Blossom Celestial.

All Earth Champions Ranking warriors were Grandmasters, and they were not your ordinary Grandmasters either. There was no denying how powerful he was.

Not only that, Xie Qingxi had never experienced defeat since entering the jianghu, and he was only in his sixties. He was expected to become a Sage in the future, and everyone had high hopes for him. They all praised him as a once-in-a-century genius.

If there was one flaw to Xie Qingxi’s character, it was the fact that his desire for martial improvement seemed lacking. A lover of beautiful views and gorgeous landscapes, there was nothing he loved more than peach blossom. He called himself the Peach Blossom Celestial and lived at Peach Origin Temple of Peach Origin Mountain.

It was said that a human could not live alone, and they were right. It was just that peach blossom was all the companionship Xie Qingxi needed. He spent most of his time drinking wine with flowers and generally doing whatever he wanted.

“There exists a Peach Origin Temple at Peach Origin Mountain, and a Peach Blossom Celestial in Peach Origin Temple. The Peach Blossom Celestial plants peach blossoms for his own entertainment and to trade for wine.” That was how the people described him.

It was also said that Xie Qingxi spent twice as much time managing his peach blossoms, drinking and creating poems than cultivating. There was even a quote in “Martial Review” that went like this: “Xie Qingxi’s martial talent is something that appears only once in a century, but his addiction to the pleasures is also once-in-a-century. If he can devote even one-third of the time and effort he spends on his entertainment on martial arts, then he already would be a Sage.”

From this, one could tell just how talented Xie Qingxi was.

Xie Taohua was Xie Qingxi’s disciple, so of course he was an extraordinary warrior in his own right. He was ranked ninth on the Human Champions Ranking despite his young age, and his talent, while not as clear cut as his master’s, was also one of a kind. He was guaranteed to become a Grandmaster unless he met an early death or something. When the time came, his success would add yet another stroke to the legend that was peach blossoms.

On a related note, the reason Xie Taohua claimed that he and Pei Qiansui shared the same origin could be traced back to yet another legend in the jianghu.

A long time ago, Xie Qingxi was just a helpless, powerless son of a rich family. He was exploring a forest and enjoying the beautiful nature when he was nearly eaten by a tiger. Luckily for him, a Sacred Son of the Demonic Mountain—also known as the Demonic Mountain Sacred Sovereign today—Xu Yunxiao happened to be passing through the area and saved him.

When Xu Yunxiao realized that Xie Qingxi wasn’t feigning his powerlessness, and yet he was somehow audacious enough to explore the world alone, he could not help but ask, “You cannot even fight a chicken, and you would dare to explore the world? Aren’t you afraid of death?”

Xie Qingxi thanked Xu Yunxiao first before replying in a carefree tone, “For these beautiful mountains and waters, sun and moon? A million deaths.”

Xu Yunxiao pressed, “Beautiful the bodies of nature may be, they are ultimately not you. How can they compare to your own life?”

Xie Qingxi countered, “The mountains and waters are endless, just like the sun and the moon are eternal. On the other hand, a human’s life is but a flash in the endless stream that is time. There is no comparison.”

Xu Yunxiao guffawed. “No comparison? It is true that the mountains, waters, sun and moon are eternal, but I too am eternal. And if I am eternal, then how can there be no comparison?”

“I can see that your eyes are wholly enraptured by the bodies of nature, but what of your heart? I do not see a blade of grass, a drop of water, not even a ray of light in there. After all, as you currently are, your life is but a flash in the rivers of time. You may witness all that exists in a corner of the world, but you will not live long enough to experience all the world has to offer, know the vastness of the universe, and understand the everchanging tides of time. What difference is there between you and an ant?”

“How lamentable and pitiable you are!”

With that said, Xu Yunxiao shook his head, jumped into the sky and soared away, leaving a dumbfounded but thoughtful-looking Xie Qingxi behind. Not long after that, Xie Qingxi began his martial journey. He took a year to temper his body, two years to invoke his qi, three years to augment his vessels, four years to refine his astral qi, five years to purify his spirit, six years to master it, and seven years to become a Grandmaster. What most people viewed as an insurmountable wall or impossible bottleneck was nothing to Xie Qingxi: he blasted through the cultivation levels as easily as one might poke a hole in a paper.

In just the span of ten or so years, Xie Qingxi had transformed from a helpless, frail scholar into a famous warrior on the Earth Champions Ranking.

When asked why he embarked on his martial journey in the first place, Xie Qingxi answered, “I wish to see the beauty of mountains and rivers; to feel the warmth of suns and moons; to learn the vastness of heaven and earth; and to know the everchanging tides of time. To that end, I will become eternal.”

Such was his answer that his story became an inspiring legend in the jianghu, the wulin, and the world. Xu Yunxiao also came to be known as the “Enlightening Master” for what he did for Xie Qingxi.

Because Xu Yunxiao had saved his life and enlightened him, Xie Qingxi always treated the man like his master. Xu Yunxiao himself had never refuted it, and so the connection stayed to this day.

Xie Taohua was Xie Qingxi’s disciple, and Xie Qingxi addressed Xu Yunxiao as his master. Since Pei Qiansui was a disciple of Demonic Mountain and technically counted as the Sacred Sovereign’s junior, Xie Taohua wasn’t wrong to say that they shared the same origin.

This did not matter, of course. What mattered was the fact that a glimmer had appeared in Chu Wangsun’s eyes after Xie Taohua admitted his identity. “Good.”

Chu Wangsun jabbed a finger at Xie Taohua then. To an outsider, the gesture looked perfectly ordinary. Someone even thought that Chu Wangsun wanted to say something to Xie Taohua. But from Xie Taohua’s perspective?

He felt a tyrannical, indomitable power pressing in from every direction. The gesture looked so harmless, and yet he felt as if every wisp of energy within hundreds of hundreds of kilometers of him were flooding toward him. There was nowhere to run; nowhere to hide. The origin energy in the air was locked so firmly that he would be dead long before he managed to shatter its constraints. He was as trapped as a bird in a cage; a fish in a net.

Xie Taohua paled a little, but he did not falter. If he could not escape or hide, then he would fight.

Xie Taohua pulled out the peach blossom branch on his head and spun it between his fingers. A spring wind blew, and peach blossom branches began growing out of the floor, the walls, the roof and more[1]. Green shoots sprouted out of the branches before transforming into gorgeous peach blossoms.

In just the blink of an eye, Number One had transformed into a peach blossom paradise.

“The spring wind blows, the peach blossom blooms. The peach blossom (Taohua) blooms where the spring wind blows. Xie Taohua definitely deserves his fame!”

On the second floor, Ye Qing snapped a peach blossom flower from a branch next to him and complimented the warrior. The peach blossoms were, in fact, not an illusion. They were real peach blossoms overflowing with fragrance and life.

It was said that the spring wind blew, and peach blossoms bloomed whenever Xie Taohua sparred or fought against someone. It was how he earned the moniker, the “Walking Wind of Spring”.

A person could be born with the wrong name, but never a nickname. After the peach blossoms bloomed, Xie Taohua twirled his branch again and caused the flowers to fall off the branches of their own accord. They converged into a river of peach blossoms and clashed against Chu Wangsun’s force.

There was a moment where the river of peach blossoms simply stayed there as if frozen in time and space itself. It was followed by a soundless shockwave that was somehow more impactful otherwise. Everyone in Number One suddenly blanked out and turned pale as if they were struck by lightning.

Xie Taohua’s rosy complexion suddenly turned as pale as a sheet, and the ground beneath his feet shattered without a sound. The next moment, the river of peach blossoms abruptly exploded like a bomb.

If no one did anything about the explosion, then it would certainly bring down the entire building. Most of its guests would be killed as well.

Right when it looked like the restaurant would meet its end, Chu Wangsun abruptly flung his sleeve like he was trying to sweep the sun and moon into his arm. The chaotic blast of energies disappeared into his sleeves, and peace and quiet returned to Number One just like that.

Asif on cue, the guests jolted back to reality and stared at Chu Wangsun with both lingering fear and abject astonishment. No one could believe what just happened and what almost happened a moment ago.

Now they understood why the saying, “When gods fight, the mortals suffer,” existed. If before they were all hoping to watch a good fight, now it was the complete opposite. If they stayed here any longer, they might just lose their lives.

Is this the strength of a Human Champions Ranking warrior? How terrifying!

“Ahem...”

Xie Taohua coughed, and the peach blossom branches spread across Number One abruptly withered. His pale complexion returned to normal as well. He ignored the odd looks the guests were shooting at him and the schadenfreude look from Pei Qiansui before saluting Chu Wangsun. “You are strong, Brother Chu. This one is most impressed!”

He was speaking from the bottom of his heart. He was ranked nine on the Human Champions Ranking, and Chu Wangsun third. Since they were both Half-Step Grandmasters, and their rankings were fairly close to each other, he thought for sure that they were more or less on the same level. But after he fought Chu Wangsun, he realized that he couldn’t be any more wrong.

1. I swear, anyone who opens a restaurant in a cultivation world is fucking insane. It’s bad enough you get property damage everyday, it’s completely up to the people who damaged your property in the first place whether they feel like compensating you or not. If they happen to be in a bad mood, you might even lose your life for your troubles. Jesus. ☜