Life as a Rogue Cultivator

Chapter 315: Luofu Mountain Gate

Liu Xiaolou sat quietly in front of the mountain gate, his hopeful eyes scanning it over and over. His mind was racing with all sorts of thoughts. On one hand, he kept reviewing his own judgment, wondering if he was just imagining things. On the other hand, now that he realized this possibility existed, he couldn’t help but feel a spontaneous warmth toward Mount Luofu.He thought back to the scenes from the year he first climbed Fushan Mountain’s Jade Goose Peak. All of a sudden, everything up there on that peak felt close to his heart and familiar.

Why did it feel so familiar?

It'd the divine will left behind by his ancestors!

With that thought in mind, he looked again at the three ceremonial archways before the mountain gate and found them imposing and majestic. He looked at the lush greenery lining the mountain path and sensed a deep, ancient foundation. He watched the cultivators coming and going through the gate and found them dashing and spirited.

Mmm, that one has bright, star-like eyes. Pretty cool.

And that one, quick on his feet. Just as cool.

Oh, and this one with the thick brows and big eyes. Cool too.

Huh?

Wait... thick brows and big eyes? Why does he look kind of familiar?

Oh no. Wasn’t that Zhao Ruyu? Zhao Ruyu, the one who had forced him to refine formation disks back on Jade Goose Peak! He’d only managed to escape by taking advantage of a moment of carelessness. Please don’t let him notice me..

Panic surged through Liu Xiaolou. He turned at once, forcing himself to stay calm, and walked away step by step.

From behind him came Zhao Ruyu’s voice, questioning one of the disciples guarding the gate. “Who was that?”

“No idea. He’s been spacing out outside the gate for two hours, grinning like an idiot. Probably retarded.”

“Oh? So not from the South Sea Sword Sect? Haven’t they arrived yet?”

“We’ve been following your instructions, Senior Brother. We’re keeping a close watch. Don’t worry. The moment they show up, we’ll bring them straight through the gate to meet you. You can relax and sit in Red Flower Pavilion.”

“All right.”

The voices faded into the distance. Liu Xiaolou was already far away, slipping into the forest beyond the mountain. Once inside, he ran without looking back, sprinting six or seven li before finally finding a thick patch of bushes between two mountains and diving in to hide.

That wild sprint wiped out every last fantasy he’d been clinging to.

After all that longing, after the rush of excitement and boiling blood, he finally cooled off. Reality settled back in, and he forced down the urge to walk up to the gate, knock on the door, and claim his ancestral ties.

Claim his ancestry? The moment he showed his face, they'd just drag his ass straight up the mountain. Sure, he had reached Foundation Establishment, and he’d caused a bit of a stir at Hengshan... even managed to put on a faint air of a seasoned expert. But here, right in front of the Luofu Sect's gate? He wouldn't even qualify to make a goddamn peep.

Never mind the others. Just take this Zhao Ruyu guy. One quick glance at him, and you could tell he carried that solid Foundation Establishment aura. How the hell was Liu Xiaolou supposed to cause any trouble here?

Once he calmed down and thought it through, question after question surfaced.

If the Sanxuan Sect really did originate from the Luofu lineage, then why had the founding patriarch left Mount Luofu in the first place to establish a new sect? And if the Sanxuan Sect had declined to this extent, why was it that neither the patriarch nor his own master had ever shown the slightest intention of returning?

As a rogue cultivator who’d come out of Wulong Mountain, Liu Xiaolou’s first instinct was one word: infighting. Whether it had been brothers turning on each other, a falling-out over dividing the spoils, or some mess sparked by lust, he had no way of knowing.

But these were questions he had to get answers to.

The problem was, this all happened so long ago. Who could he possibly ask now?

Then he suddenly remembered Zhao Ruyu mentioning the South Sea Sword Sect. He slapped his forehead, cursing himself for being an idiot. After all that plotting and second-guessing, he’d completely forgotten about Su Jing.

His bargain-bin little brother-in-law, Su Jing, the Su family’s Thirteenth Young Master. Wasn’t he a disciple of the South Sea Sword Sect?

Zhao Ruyu had been waiting right at the mountain gate for people from the South Sea Sword Sect. That alone meant the sect had real pull here in Mount Luofu.

And then he thought back to the technique Su Jing had cultivated back then. At first, Su Jing had cultivated his family’s inherited method. After joining the South Sea Sword Sect, he switched to the Tidewatching Sword Formula. And the first seven meridians of that Tidewatching Sword Formula were exactly the same as his own!

Even if the order was different, the meridians cultivated up through the mid stage of Qi Refinement were exactly the same. With that level of similarity, the conclusion was hard to ignore. The Southern Sea Sword Sect might very well be a branch of Mount Luofu in the first place.

If he had no connections at Mount Luofu, couldn’t he just go find Su Jing?

Liu Xiaolou rubbed his hands together, worked up his nerve, and headed back to the gates of Mount Luofu. Of course, in front of a major sect like Luofu, he did not dare actually “sneak in.” He merely stayed a bit farther from the gate, sat down quietly, and waited.

When they saw him leave and then return again, the outer-sect steward on duty at the mountain gate finally lost his patience and stepped forward to question him. “Hey, kid. Where are you from? What are you doing hanging around the gates of Luofu Mountain…”

He trailed off mid-sentence, because Liu Xiaolou wasn't making noise or causing trouble. He was just sitting there peacefully. The steward suddenly found himself at a loss for words.

"...Uh, spying!" The steward finally latched onto that one.

That word gave Liu Xiaolou a real scare. The charge was a serious one, and it was not a label he could afford to have pinned on him.

Liu Xiaolou hurriedly stood up and bowed. “Luofu is a great sect. How would I dare spy on it? I’m only resting here for the moment. If you don’t mind, may I ask something. When did people from the Southern Sea Sword Sect enter the mountain?”

He knew bringing up the Southern Sea Sword Sect out of the blue was pretty rash. Afraid the man might grow suspicious, he quickly added an explanation. “I’m a relative of Su Thirteen, an inner disciple of the Southern Sea Sword Sect. I was passing through your esteemed mountain and happened to hear that the Southern Sea Sword Sect came to pay a formal visit. I was wondering if Thirteen has arrived.”

The outer-sect steward’s expression eased. “I saw you hanging around here earlier and thought you were some kind of thief. If you were here to visit family, why didn’t you say so sooner? Wait here...”

The steward turned back and exchanged a few words with another Luofu cultivator, a young man. The young man then walked over and asked, “You said Su Thirteen just now?”

“Thirteen. Su Jing.”

“Oh… so that means you’re from Shenwu Mountain. What should I call you?”

Liu Xiaolou mumbled something vague and avoided giving his own name. “...I’m Su Jing’s brother-in-law. Well, former brother-in-law.”

The young man froze for a moment. “Former brother-in-law?”

Liu Xiaolou nodded. “I was married to Su Jing’s Fifth Sister. We divorced.”

The young man blinked. “Oh…”

Liu Xiaolou pressed on. “May I ask if anyone from the Southern Sea Sword Sect has arrived?”

The young man studied him for a moment, then said, “Wait here. I’ll go report it.”

The young man was Lin Zisheng, an outer disciple of Luofu’s Southern Branch, the Fushan Faction.

He'd been born into a wealthy family at the foot of Xiqiao Mountain. As a child, he showed remarkable talent for cultivation and was originally meant to join the Southern Sea Sword Sect, which was based on Xiqiao Mountain. However, an Elder Lu happened to be visiting at the time, took a liking to him, and brought him back to Luofu instead. He started cultivating as an outer disciple, and by now nine years had passed.

Not yet eighteen, he had already reached the eighth layer of Qi Refinement. Even among the many outer disciples of Luofu’s Southern Branch, he stood out as one of the better ones. If nothing unexpected happened, he would most likely be accepted into the inner sect in the future. From there, it would be Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, and onward step by step. His path in cultivation looked bright.

That day, Elder Lu of Shangjie Peak was hosting visitors from the Southern Sea Sword Sect. Because Lin Zisheng was originally from Xiqiao Mountain, he was also assigned to assist and follow orders. Officially, he was there to help out before and after, but in truth there was very little for him to do. He had been idle for quite a while, so when something finally came up, he hurried to take it on.