Chapter 165: Priest Elder

Nan Luo stood atop a nameless little hill, gazing up at the towering Mount Buzhou that pierced the clouds. Compared to Mount Buzhou, both Nan Luo and the small hill beneath his feet were utterly insignificant.

Had he not laid eyes on these two once more, Nan Luo might have nearly forgotten them. Although he had been dispatched in former years to invite him to the Heavenly Court, as they met again after all this time, those past grievances had dissolved entirely within a single mutual glance.

"Very well," Nan Luo replied, consenting without even asking what manner of favor was required. The man in white smiled in return, not finding his assent overly rash. Turning his head to look at the woman beside him, the man still wore a smile, yet it lacked the carefree ease he had just displayed.

The woman, however, maintained her gentle smile, her gaze tender. She took a graceful step forward and spoke softly, "For us to slip away from the Heavenly Court is exceedingly difficult indeed, but with Bai Ze here, we have nothing to fear. It is only this child whom we can never set our minds at ease about..." At this, she lowered her head and gently stroked the tiny face of the slumbering infant. She continued in a hushed whisper, as if fearful of disturbing the baby's deep sleep: "Since you are returning to the human clan, might you help us care for the child?"

The moment Nan Luo heard her preceding words, he had already guessed what she was about to say. The instant her voice fell, he gave his quick consent. Though he offered no grand promises, his tone was resolute. They lingered no longer; the woman who had been the picture of tenderness moments before showed not the slightest hesitation as she placed the infant into Nan Luo's arms. Yet when she raised her head, Nan Luo could perceive the profound reluctance buried deep within her eyes.

Nan Luo's lips twitched slightly as he lowered his gaze to look at the infant still sleeping peacefully in his arms... When he looked back up at Bai Ze, he saw that the man's complexion was exceptionally grim. Noticing Nan Luo's gaze, Bai Ze gave a faint smile and said, "Ever since entering the Heavenly Court all these years, I have never raised my hand against anyone. In everything I did, I calculated three times over and yielded at every turn. From this day forth, I will make everyone remember that there remains a demon god named Bai Ze between heaven and earth."

A moment ago he had been a man of poised elegance; now he was brimming with heroic ambition. It was as if many repressed years had vanished in an instant of liberation. Nan Luo naturally knew that the reason for this was precisely the infant in his arms, which had caused him to avoid all conflict and perhaps compromise constantly throughout the years. Now, free from the need to protect and care for the child, it was as though shackles had been lifted from his heart.

Nan Luo smiled and asked, "What is this child's name?" Bai Ze replied that he had not yet named him, telling Nan Luo to pick any name he pleased upon his return, provided only that the surname be Bai... Nan Luo urged him to choose one here, but Bai Ze adamantly refused. Nan Luo pressed no further, understanding in his heart that Bai Ze feared lest some formidable enemy trace the name back to scheme against the child.

He then asked when Bai Ze would come to fetch the child back. Bai Ze gazed at the sleeping infant, then looked up at the sky, fell silent for a moment, and said in a somewhat ethereal voice, "When the sun and moon share the sky and the starlight contends in brilliance, that shall be the day I come to take him."

Nan Luo was slightly startled, casting a deep look at Bai Ze without asking when that day might arrive. He merely asked, "Have you nothing at all to say to this child? When he grows old enough to understand, I can pass your words on to him."

Bai Ze looked toward the skies, closing his eyes slightly as if calculating something. After a very long while, he opened them and said, "In the past, whenever I calculated his future, it was either hazy and obscure, or portended great misfortune... Just now, following your words, I calculated once more, and it has turned out to be an omen of supreme fortune and blessing." He spoke with delight, then, as if suddenly remembering something, looked up at the sky with a sudden realization: "Ah, of course. Today is a day of cosmic transformation and the extreme of the number nine; everything is changing. Heh... Yin and Yang, fortune and misfortune truly have no fixed destiny." With that, he looked at Nan Luo and added, "You are indeed a man of fortune. The flash of intuition I felt when I first laid eyes on you was not mistaken after all. This child, too, is blessed; I only hope his fortune may endure for a long time."

Bai Ze departed, leaving alongside his wife, flying toward the Heavenly Court atop the summit of Mount Buzhou. Amid drifting white clouds, the white-robed Bai Ze lightly brandished his white jade fan, his ethereal bearing masking a heavy, potent aura of slaughter... The woman standing by his side was as gentle, tranquil, virtuous, and radiant as when she had first arrived, save that now her arms were empty of the infant, and her gaze held a deeper measure of lingering attachment and reluctance.

Leaving Mount Buzhou, Nan Luo resumed his journey eastward across the land. Remembering his promise made years ago to take an unborn child as his disciple, he made a detour toward Peach Mountain. However, he found it deserted, the scene suggesting that its inhabitants had departed long ago.

Looking around, he saw no traces of any struggle. The area that had been nothing more than a hillside of tiny peach saplings when he last left was now filled with full-grown trees. Gazing upon the sea of brilliant peach blossoms, a sense of desolation inexplicably rose within his heart.

Nan Luo departed swiftly, taking a single step that caused him to vanish amidst the colorful peach blossoms.

If Nan Luo were to choose any place in the world for secluded cultivation, he would surely choose the Yangping Clan. To be more precise, it would be Yangping Mountain, situated behind the clan...

The Yangping Clan of the present day was no longer the Yangping Clan of old. Back then, nearly the entire clan had been slaughtered by that white wolf, yet a small number of people had managed to survive. Afterward, humans who had become separated amid the chaotic world continually joined the Yangping Clan. Through years of development, the clan had grown far more prosperous than it had been in the past.

Initially, Nan Luo had only intended to quietly seclude himself within Yangping Mountain, but he still found himself unable to resist walking before the gates of the Yangping Clan's stronghold. Gazing upon the sights, now restored to a prosperity surpassing even its prime, he felt a nameless surge of emotion—part solace, part nostalgia.

Inside the stronghold, people came and went, all busy with labor. Children played in the open spaces, while some were pulled aside by adults to help with chores, though their gazes constantly drifted toward their playing peers, drawing endless scoldings from their parents... Witnessing this, Nan Luo's thoughts drifted back to his own childhood; had he not been just like them back then?

Nan Luo stood at the gate of the stronghold, watching quietly with an infant cradled in his arms, yet not a single person noticed him.

Suddenly, the cry of an infant rang out. Those busy at work immediately turned their gazes toward the gate, only to see a tall, elegant figure in a flowing azure robe, with a long sword hanging at his waist, standing with his head bowed to look at the child in his arms.

In recent years, wanderers like Nan Luo traversing the four quarters had gradually grown more common, so the townspeople were not overly startled upon seeing him. They merely found it rather bizarre that he was cradling a baby, and for a moment no one stepped forward to speak. They simply watched as Nan Luo attempted to soothe the infant in his arms, yet the child only cried louder, showing no intention of stopping whatsoever...

After a round of futile efforts, Nan Luo was finally reduced to helplessness. Ever since the infant had been placed in his hands, it had been sleeping soundly without waking once, neither eating nor drinking. Had Nan Luo not possessed immense confidence in his own magic, he would have suspected that Bai Ze had cast some spell upon the child.

Yet, contrary to all expectations, the baby had woken at this exact moment, and upon waking, burst into unending tears. Those dark, lively eyes seemed to recognize that he was not being held by his parents. Unable to quiet him, Nan Luo had no choice but to let him cry to his heart's content in his arms.

Someone had already gone to summon the clan chieftain and the shaman. After a short while, several figures arrived. With a single glance, Nan Luo could tell that the highest cultivation level among them was merely at the Spirit Transformation realm. Among them was an elderly man whom he guessed to be the current chieftain, while the one with the highest cultivation was undoubtedly the reigning shaman.

Generally, when strange cultivators passed through a tribe, it was the clan shaman who came forth to meet and converse with them. By coincidence, both the chieftain and the shaman were present this time... Moreover, the messenger who had gone to report had claimed that this visitor was different from all the rest. When asked wherein the difference lay, the person had pondered without being able to put it into words, finally concluding only that the newcomer was holding a small child, wore an exceptionally fine azure-sheathed sword at his waist, and possessed robes that seemed to glow.

When they finally laid eyes on Nan Luo, however, they all froze in their tracks, standing stock-still dozens of feet away. The other accompanying members could not understand why their chieftain and shaman had suddenly halted without warning. Amidst their puzzled glances, they saw the chieftain—a man they held in high esteem, one who had never shown the slightest trace of cowardice even when facing the fierce demons of the mountains—trembling at the lips, the corners of his eyes faintly moist.

Under the bewildered gazes of the tribespeople, their chieftain suddenly cried out in a voice tinged with tears, "Shaman Elder, you have returned!"

Nan Luo had merely glanced up briefly before lowering his head once more to coax the still-wailing infant in his arms... Hearing this sudden cry, he froze instantly. That shout of "Shaman Elder" burst within his mind like a clap of thunder.

How many years had it been since anyone had addressed him thus? "Shaman Elder" was a title from so long ago, one that had nearly been forgotten in the endless passage of time.

Nan Luo raised his head abruptly, gazing at the white-haired old man standing dozens of feet away, searching his mind in vain for any recollection of what this person's appearance and voice had been like back then.

"Elder, it is Iron Ox," the old man said earnestly, seeming to discern the confusion in Nan Luo's eyes.

Upon hearing the name uttered by the old man, Nan Luo instantly recalled the group of children who used to sit before him when he was still within the clan. One among them had been remarkably cloddish yet exceptionally sturdy in build. In the blink of an eye, that child's hair had turned gray.

The cloddish, sturdy child from the depths of his memory slowly merged with this white-haired elder. His heart, hardened by countless brushes with life and death, suddenly ached with a bitter soreness. The corners of his mouth parted into a smile as he said, "Iron Ox... Good... Good... To think I would live to see you again."

Hearing Nan Luo's words, Iron Ox smiled back, retaining the very same artless air of his youth.

For Nan Luo, seeing a clansman from the old days was something he had long considered an extravagant luxury in the depths of his heart. Returning once more to the Yangping Clan, he had been unable to suppress that deep-seated yearning, yet he never imagined he would truly find them.

The young shaman still stood stupidly in place. If there was any among the younger generation who had listened to stories of Nan Luo more than anyone else, it was surely he. Yet all along, he had regarded those tales merely as stories woven by the chieftain and the old shaman. How could a human possibly go to the Heavenly Court to serve as a star lord—and the foremost star lord at that? And how could a mere mortal be so formidable that slaying the monsters of the mountains was as effortless as the blink of an eye?

Yet now, he was beholding a living person, almost identical to the portraits he had looked at since childhood, completely unchanged. In terms of appearance, even *Sui Sui*, the youth most adored by the maidens of the clan, could not compare. Just as his mind was swirling with these chaotic thoughts, the chieftain's hearty voice rang in his ears: "Let the entire clan celebrate for three days! Invite the chieftains of the Gong clan, the Fire clan, the Cold Water clan, the Biting Wind clan... summon them all... Tell them that Iron Ox's Shaman Elder has returned!"