Cultivation Retirement Plan (BL)

When Ye Xinglin first founded Star Pavilion Sect 100 years ago, he was universally recognized as one of the top sword cultivators in the Middle Realms. By then he already had two disciples under his wing and attracted a small group of loyal followers who wished to learn from his methods and Dao. In the beginning, there were no peak lords or elders, but once Fei Chenling and Ouyang Che matured enough to teach students of their own, Ye Xinglin had them each take a mountain for themselves. Three other cultivators who respected Ye Xinglin’s teachings were made peak lords as well. 

Fei Chenling later found Jun Zhen and presented him to Ye Xinglin, while Ouyang Che brought back Mu Yelian due to her superb understanding of healing. Ye Xinglin himself took in Mo Yixuan from the streets. Years passed and the sect’s numbers swelled, especially as its founder and his disciples made a name for themselves at the inter-sect competitions held every 10 years. 

Of the three elders who were first made peak lords, two of them retired to permanent seclusion within the sect, never bothering with worldly affairs. They were thus named sect elders. The last also withdrew from his title of peak lord when Mo Yixuan and Mu Yelian matured enough to assume peak lord titles of their own, but kept an eye on happenings within Star Pavilion. 

That man was the Elder Han currently standing beside Peak Lord Ji. As the only elder of Star Pavilion Sect who publicly showed his face, he was a bridge connecting the past and present. He had seen each of Ye Xinglin’s disciples grow to adulthood and witnessed the addition of four other peak lords to the sect who had never learned under Ye Xinglin but respected his strength and principles. In terms of seniority, even Sect Leader Fei Chenling had to give him face. 

Elder Han had always kept to himself, but that changed with Ye Xinglin’s abrupt death almost a year ago. He began to get closer with the other four peak lords who joined the sect later—what Ouyang Che casually referred to as the Four Peaks Alliance—who had ambitions and goals of their own. They wanted to help Star Pavilion Sect grow in strength and prosperity, raising its name and influence in the cultivation world; they even wanted the sect to involve itself in politics between nations and dynasties of the Lower Realm where non-cultivators lived. Fei Chenling was more inclined to follow the wishes of his late master, who simply wanted all disciples to reach the utmost perfect of Celestial Sublime Sword Style in their lifetimes. The contrasting goals of material gain versus pure cultivation advancement maintained a tenuous balance while Ye Xinglin was still alive but began to fray at the edges after his passing.

Mo Yixuan had a basic understanding of these sect politics, but he was more interested in the main attraction in the crowd: Peak Lord Ji. If he remembered correctly, this was the same man who’d lost a rare pill formula to him and Nan Wuyue—one of the two people Ouyang Che had warned him to stay away from in the sect.

Who knew that Peak Lord Ji would come to his doorstep instead?

Elder Han was next to act, greeting the newest addition to their crowd with hands folded inside his sleeves. In the sea of white he stood out in stark contrast with his deep blue outer robes accented by a single jade medallion hanging from his waist. To Mo Yixuan’s eyes he fit the classical mold of a Daoist with long beard and hair in a topknot; even his face looked kindly and clean, not over a man of 40 years. The only thing missing to complete the look was a whisk in his arms. 

“Peak Lord Ouyang,” Elder Han defended,“This is only a small matter between peak lords, nothing worthy of consideration.”

“If it’s a matter between peak lords, then it naturally involves me as one of their peers,” Ouyang Che smiled back thinly. He was as polished and unrestrained as ever, but there was a frazzled edge in his voice. “Has Peak Lord Ji confused his directions on the way to Mt. Yongning? You’re rather far from your own mountain.”

Peak Lord Ji laughed lightly. He looked more worldly than Elder Han, with sharp eyes and traces of gray in his hair. However, there were no wrinkles on his face and his carriage suggested that of a proud noble. If this was the Lower Realm, then he would fit in perfectly as the patriarch of some old and established family. 

“Peak Lord Ouyang jests,” he replied simply, “I expressed my intentions to call upon Peak Lord Mo in the past three days. As he never replied to my messages, I grew concerned and came to visit in person.”

“Perhaps Peak Lord Ji has been missing my messages as well?” Ouyang Che raised his voice. “After all, I never received any replies from you, either.”

“Then that is certainly unfortunate,” Peak Lord Ji tutted softly. “To have our paper retainers act up at a time like this quite the dangerous nuisance.”

The two of them smiled daggers with neither willing to budge an inch.

“That’s enough,” Elder Han broke in kindly. “Peak Lord Ouyang, how is the sect leader doing?” 

“His condition is stable,” Ouyang Che replied before brushing the matter aside. “Rather, martial uncle, I’m afraid we’re making a pointless racket here. You know how much Peak Lord Mo prefers peace and quiet. If Peak Lord Ji wishes to express his care, then please return after my junior brother is well again.”

Although Ouyang Che had been Ye Xinglin’s student long before Elder Han joined the sect, by order of rank and age the latter was still considered his martial uncle within Star Pavilion.

“Foolishness,” Elder Han scolded. “If Yixuan is really unwell, he should be moved to Mt. Luojia for care under your junior sister! Mt. Jingting is cold and isolated, hardly a place for someone ailing from qi deviation.”

“Peak Lord Ouyang is quite concerned with Peak Lord Mo these days,” Peak Lord Ji added. “Knowing your usual differences, I worry that his case may be more serious than it appears.”

After all, everyone knew Ouyang Che and Mo Yixuan didn’t get along.

“Peak Lord Ji needn’t sow discord in front of our disciples,” Ouyang Che shot back. “What are minor disagreements in the face of the common good? Junior brother and I have always co-existed peacefully under the banner of Star Pavilion Sect.”

“Then you should know that it’s best for him to move him for treatment under Peak Lord Mu,” Elder Han coaxed again. “Don’t support his insistence on staying here alone! With his core disciple imprisoned, he has no one—”

“Elder Han.” Ouyang Che interrupted sharply.

Elder Han paused, looked around at the curious eyes and ears of the younger disciples, and coughed. “I’ve said too much, my apologies.”

Ouyang Che only sneered internally. If you meant it, would you have rambled so long in the first place?

—

This is like watching a soap opera. Mo Yixuan’s brows creased as the group of men continued to bicker below him. So far he had deduced three things:

1. They explained his absence away as recuperating from
   qi deviation.
2. Nan Wuyue was still in the sect, only locked up.
3. Something had happened to Fei Chenling.

That made sense. With the overprotective sect leader around, Mo Yixuan could hardly imagine these people barreling to his door for no reason. Then again, what could have affected the man, if anything, after he was gone? From what Shi Feng described, the seals on Fei Chenling’s inner chambers hadn’t budged while he was wrecking havoc outside.

“Sects are such troublesome things,” Shi Feng sighed beside him. He was playing with his brush again, drawing small flowers in the air that scattered their familiar jasmine scent. “Junior Mo, we can still go back and never return.”

Mo Yixuan had already considered it, but the idea didn’t rest well with him. For one thing, Shi Feng was a stranger despite all his kindness. He couldn’t very well let the man take care of him for the rest of his life—and if a day came that they grew sick of each other, what then? For another, Jadecloud Peak was too small to stay at indefinitely. Finally, there were still things he’d left undone. Even if he abandoned his martial siblings and disciple, they would only come looking for him and raise a row. He was still man enough to end things cleanly before moving on to something else.

When Shi Feng saw Mo Yixuan firmly shake his head to refuse the offer, he only smiled and continued to paint—although this time he’d switched to skeleton flowers.

On the other hand, Mo Yixuan was still puzzled over one thing: why didn’t Ouyang Che just come out and say that Shi Feng had taken him away? Wouldn’t that be much easier than hiding his disappearance from the sect? What other factors were at play?

At this moment, Elder Han’s voice rose again.

“If he isn’t as serious as you say, then we’ll hear from him directly,” Elder Han concluded as he took a step forward. Ouyang Che went to block him, but was blocked in turn by Peak Lord Ji and his disciples. Mo Yixuan stood up abruptly when he saw the elder pushing open his courtyard door. He felt more than saw a hand snake around his waist before their surroundings bled into a blur.

When Elder Han pushed open the door, he nearly walked into Mo Yixuan standing on the other side. 

“Y-Yixuan?” Elder Han stammered.

Mo Yixuan nodded, then stepped past him with an amused Shi Feng following behind. While still concealing their qi signatures, the half-immortal had landed them here in record time.

Outside, he saw Ouyang Che exchanging moves with Peak Lord Ji and cleared his throat. Both of them looked up in surprise while a murmuring rose up in the disciples. Vaguely, Mo Yixuan thought he saw a few familiar faces among them.

“Master!”

“Master, you’re okay now?”

“Congratulations on your recovery, master!”

Right, now he remembered. There was the trio who beat up Nan Wuyue and dragged him over on the first day he transmigrated. He guessed they counted as his students too, even if he’d hardly paid them any attention. If they’re excited just to see me, then how much does Mo Yixuan usually neglect his disciples?

Mo Yixuan cupped his hands and greeted each of the senior trio. “Junior Yixuan greets Elder Han, Peak Lord Ji, and senior brother. I’ve been recovering these few days and didn’t expect the sudden visit, my apologies for the neglect.”

“Junior brother!” Ouyang Che was the first to recover, boldly striding his way over to clap both hands on his shoulders. “No need for apologies, we’re in the wrong for disturbing your rest.”

Mo Yixuan coughed. “I’m sure it wasn’t intentional. Both you and Elder Han know how much I prefer peace and quiet after all.”

A drawn-out silence followed his words. Ouyang Che’s eyes brightened with mirth while Elder Han and Peak Lord Ji grew gloomy. Obviously, Mo Yixuan was referencing their earlier chat, but they hadn’t sensed him at all during their conversation. With Mo Yixuan’s current level of cultivation, especially after experiencing an episode of qi deviation, that shouldn’t be possible at all!

“Well now, all’s well that ends well.” Shi Feng chose to speak up next, startling the two older men again. They hadn’t noticed him either! What’s more, the man was standing right next to Mo Yixuan this entire time, but gave off no sense of presence at all. Despite his outstanding looks and impressive height, he blended in effortlessly with the rocks and plants in the background. 

While Elder Han was fretting over the discrepancies, Ouyang Che had taken the lead again.

“Many thanks to Senior Shi Feng for accompanying junior brother these past few days!” He hadn’t been sure if Shi Feng would dump Mo Yixuan back when he was done with him or keep him away for months, but the half-immortal had shown up standing by Mo Yixuan’s side at the best possible moment. Of course Ouyang Che would seize the chance to brush some familiarity with such an exalted figure.

It was a little sly, but Shi Feng shrugged it off good-naturedly and even strode over to pat Mo Yixuan on the head. “Junior Ouyang praises overmuch. Spending time together with Ah-Xuan was enlightening for us both.”

Ah-Xuan? Mo Yixuan’s brows creased in thought. Since when did Shi Feng decide on a new nickname?

Ouyang Che was slightly taken aback while Elder Han and Peak Lord Ji exchanged flabbergasted, furious looks.

Shi Feng of Jadecloud Peak! Even Ye Xinglin had only glimpsed the man once in his lifetime when he was still traveling alone, to say nothing of his sect members and disciples. Since when had Mo Yixuan gotten to know him?

Shi Feng seemed unaffected by the stares and whispers aimed towards him. “Is there anything else?” he asked casually, and a sudden, terrifying wave of power surged over the crowd as he briefly released a fraction of his aura. A few of the disciples visibly staggered while many more were rendered utterly pale. Even the likes of Ouyang Che and the rest felt sweat break out on their faces.

By contrast, Mo Yixuan looked unaffected. This came from the origins of his All-Nothingness Dao, which gently nullified Shi Feng’s pressure, but to outsider eyes it only seemed the half-immortal had somehow shielded him personally from any ill effects.

Peak Lord Ji was going to speak, but Elder Han immediately cut him off. “Nothing else, Senior Shi! We must have disturbed you today so we’ll be taking our leaving now.” He gave a long look at Mo Yixuan’s stand-in, pale-hued robes and added kindly, “Don’t forget to change back when you’re feeling better, Yixuan. The mourning period is still in effect after all.”

“Peak Lord Mo, you—” Peak Lord Ji tried again, but Elder Han was already taking his arm and dragging him off with genial smiles. It wasn’t until they were out of earshot that the peak lord glared at him and whispered, “What’s the meaning of this?!”

Elder Han only shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“Isn’t the Lord of the Clouds a famed recluse? What sort of deity called him down today?”

“Perhaps the former sect master had closer ties to him than we thought,” Elder Han guessed helplessly. “Mo Yixuan was always Ye Xinglin’s favorite disciple, after all.”

“Ridiculous!” Peak Lord Ji sneered. “The brat was spoiled by his master and continues to be indulged even now? Who gave him such Heaven-defying luck?”

“We were hasty this time,” Elder Han muttered back. “Ouyang Che only came alone, which was suspicious enough—we should have guessed this was his way to sound us out.”

Peak Lord Ji’s temper evaporated as he lowered his voice. “So what if he does? The Four Peaks Alliance now hold a clear majority in Star Pavilion Sect. With Jun Zhen insane, Fei Chenling unstable, and now Mo Yixuan showing abnormalities of his own, I don’t believe a single Ouyang Che and Mu Yelian are enough to stop us even if Shi Feng joins their side!”

“In any case, there’s no point in acting until after the inter-sect competitions,” Elder Han soothed back. “Until then, let’s focus on building up our disciples and their cultivation.” He glanced back to the small crowd of white-robed figures following at a respective distance and whispering excitedly amongst themselves. “Today’s incident should inspire their training for a spell, at least.”

—

On the other end of Mt. Jingting, Shi Feng was calmly explaining himself to Mo Yixuan after Ouyang Che had dismissed all the other disciples to go back to training.

“Everyone in you and your master’s generation are my juniors,” the half-immortal reasoned brightly. “I can’t make any distinctions unless I use a different nickname, Ah-Xuan.”

“My thanks to Senior Shi for your assistance, but those two are gone now,” Mo Yixuan replied stiffly. “You can go back to using ‘Junior Mo’ like before.”

“But Ah-Xuan is much less of a mouthful,” Shi Feng mused. “How about this? You can call me Ah-Feng in exchange to balance things out.”

What “Ah-Feng?!” The worst part was that Mo Yixuan could feel that Shi Feng meant it sincerely so he couldn’t even call him out for trying to take advantage of things.

“I’m afraid that’ll incite more misunderstandings,” Mo Yixuan rested a hand on his forehead. He had a feeling that Elder Han had thought too much when staring at him in Shi Feng’s robes, but his own clothing had truly been too bloody to wear back.

“A clear conscience fears no accusation,” Shi Feng declared pure and simple.

“Then should I join in?” Ouyang Che piped up next. “Junior brother, try calling me Ah-Che.”

“Enough with the nicknames!” Mo Yixuan snapped. “What exactly happened while I was gone? Is Fei Chenling not well?”

—

{extra}

Some Time Later...

Shi Feng: Ah-Xuan!
Mo Yixuan: Mm, Ah-Feng.
Nan Wuyue: S-shizun?!
Ouyang Che: See what happens when you make mischief and get grounded?
Nan Wuyue: ……….
Ouyang Che: You snooze, you lose.
Nan Wuyue: ….!!