250: Chapter 30 Plum and Bamboo Twin Swords, Langhuan Blessed Land

Two months later, Meng Li left Lingjiu Palace.

When he arrived, he was alone, but when he left, he had two young girls accompanying him—Mei Jian and Zhu Jian.

This pair of twin sisters was another gift from the Old Woman of Tian Shan, intended to serve as his attendants and to facilitate communication with Lingjiu Palace.

After some thought, Meng Li did not refuse.

He did indeed need someone to handle matters concerning Lingjiu Palace.

Besides, he already had quite a few people around him; two more would not hurt.

After spending some time together, he became familiar with the twin sisters: Mei Jian was the older sister, with red accents on her collar and hair ribbon, and her personality was relatively quiet. Zhu Jian was the younger sister, with green accents on her collar and hair ribbon, and her nature was more lively.

After leaving Lingjiu Palace, Meng Li did not immediately return to Suzhou; instead, he headed toward Wuliang Mountain in Dali.

He planned to visit the Langhuan Blessed Land, where Li Qiu Shui and Wu Ya Zi had once lived in seclusion, to retrieve the Beiming Divine Skill and Swift Steps Secret Manual that Li Qiu Shui had hidden there. He also intended to dispose of the jade statue of Li Qiu Shui's younger sister that Wu Ya Zi had carved, to prevent Duan Yu from becoming obsessed with it as he did in the original story and playing out the "substitute" trope.

That's right; in Meng Li's view, Duan Yu's obsession with Wang Yuyan was a case of "substitute literature."

The reason was simple: he had seen the jade statue first and was so struck by its beauty that he immediately called it "Fairy Sister."

When he saw Wang Yuyan, he immediately projected the title of "Fairy Sister" onto her.

This was clearly a filter, looking at someone else through her.

Later, although Duan Yu changed his address for Wang Yuyan to "Miss Wang," it was merely a superficial change. In his heart, he still regarded Wang Yuyan as the "Fairy Sister," and the substitution complex had not fundamentally changed.

In one version of the original Tianlong ending, Wang Yuyan leaves Duan Yu and returns to Murong Fu.

This ending better fits the original theme of "seeking but never obtaining."

As for the reason, Meng Li felt that besides Wang Yuyan not being able to forget Murong Fu, it was also possible that she had realized Duan Yu was treating her as a substitute.

Regardless, Meng Li had already pledged his life to Wang Yuyan and naturally did not want to see Duan Yu pestering her as he did in the original story. However, since this event would only happen after the original plot officially began—and there was no sign of it yet—he could not just kill off Duan Yu for this, so he could only start with the Langhuan Blessed Land.

As for whether Duan Yu might accidentally die because he missed the fortuitous encounter at the Langhuan Blessed Land, that was not within the scope of Meng Li's considerations.

Throughout this journey, Meng Li gained a preliminary understanding of how vast the external forces of Lingjiu Palace were.

Starting from Tian Shan and ending at Wuliang Mountain in Dali, almost everywhere they went, Mei Jian and Zhu Jian were able to find a subordinate faction through various means and then bring Meng Li to receive the highest level of hospitality from them as special envoys of Lingjiu Palace.

This situation fully illustrated a famous saying Meng Li had heard in his first life: "To survive in the Jianghu, one must rely on power."

Upon arriving at Wuliang Mountain in Dali, Meng Li didn't even need to search himself.

Mei Jian and Zhu Jian found the two largest nearby Schools, the Wuliang Sword School and the Shennong Gang, and with a single command, both obediently sent people to search for the Langhuan Blessed Land.

In just half a day, the search yielded results.

The Langhuan Blessed Land was in a cave near the foot of the Wuliang Mountain waterfall.

When Meng Li arrived at the location, he had Mei Jian and Zhu Jian guard the cave entrance while he went in alone.

After turning several corners, he reached the bottom of the cave, saw two stone doors, and pushed them open without hesitation.

Behind the stone doors was another cave, inside which were many daily items: tables, stools, a stone bed, bookshelves, a dressing table...

However, everything was covered in a thick layer of dust; clearly, someone had lived there but had long since left.

Meng Li took a quick look around, saw nothing special, and walked further inside. Upon reaching the end, he saw another stone door, pulled it open, entered, and after taking a few steps, finally saw a jade statue.

The jade statue held a long sword, with ribbons wrapped around its shoulders, presenting the bearing of an Immortal.

Meng Li examined it carefully and discovered that its features were indeed similar to Wang Yuyan's.

One had to admit, Wu Ya Zi's carving skills were excellent.

After finishing his appreciation, Meng Li walked up to the jade statue, channeled his True Qi, and struck the statue with his palm.

Instantly, the True Qi erupted, and cracks quickly appeared all over the jade statue. Then, with a muffled thud, it shattered into pieces on the ground.

This palm strike should be enough to shatter Duan Yu's "Fairy Sister" dream.

After disposing of the jade statue, Meng Li turned to look at the prayer mat not far away, walked over, picked it up, and tore it open, obtaining a scroll wrapped in a silk scarf from inside.

Both the silk scarf and the scroll had writing on them.

The former contained a message from Li Qiu Shui, instructing the fated person to kill all the Disciples of the Xiaoyao Sect.

The latter was the Beiming Divine Skill and Swift Steps Secret Manual.

After confirming everything was correct, Meng Li tucked them into his robe. He then scanned the surroundings, but found nothing else worth noting except for an article written by Wu Ya Zi to Li Qiu Shui's younger sister on the wall, so he turned and left.

With the matter resolved, Meng Li returned to the Wuliang Sword School base, took out two porcelain bottles he had prepared in advance, and tossed them to Zuo Zimu of the Wuliang Sword School and Si Kongxuan of the Shennong Gang respectively.

Then, he said, "Lingjiu Palace rewards merit and punishes wrongdoing."

"Since you have helped me accomplish this task, you deserve a reward."

"This porcelain bottle contains the Hundred Herb Medicinal Pill, which has miraculous effects for detoxifying. If you are poisoned by common toxins, taking it will neutralize them immediately. Even for some strange poisons, it can provide some relief."

"Since you performed your duties well this time, I am rewarding it to you."

Hearing this, Zuo Zimu and Si Kongxuan were overjoyed and quickly cupped their hands in thanks: "Thank you, Young Master."

They might not have a use for this Medicinal Pill right now, but that didn't mean they wouldn't need it in the future. There were quite a few people and factions in the Jianghu that used poison; to say nothing else, the Shennong Gang was one of them. Setting people aside, there were also many venomous snakes and insects in the vicinity of Wuliang Mountain.

With this Hundred Herb Medicinal Pill, they undoubtedly had an extra layer of insurance, which might save their lives at a critical moment.

Originally, they had submitted to Lingjiu Palace because of its great power and because they were intimidated by the reputation of the Old Woman of Tian Shan.

But now, they felt a bit more pleased, feeling it was worth it.

After all, most people like a superior who rewards merit.

This was exactly what Meng Li wanted to see.

It was true that Lingjiu Palace controlled many factions, but their methods were too crude and simple, causing these factions to fear their power without respecting their virtue, and it relied almost entirely on the Old Woman of Tian Shan alone to suppress them. Once something happened to the Old Woman of Tian Shan, or if the fear and resentment within these factions crossed a critical threshold, problems would easily arise.

The original story where Wu Laoda and others attacked Lingjiu Palace was the best example.

Since Meng Li had become the Young Master of Lingjiu Palace, he naturally had to eliminate this hidden danger.

Throughout this journey, he had found excuses to bestow favors upon those factions that had received the three of them, depending on the situation.

As for Zuo Zimu and Si Kongxuan, it was just something he did in passing.

With the matter of the Langhuan Blessed Land concluded, Meng Li, Mei Jian, and Zhu Jian stayed at the Wuliang Sword School for a short while before setting off toward Tianlong Temple in Dali.

Since he had already arrived in the territory of Dali, there was no reason not to go and see the Six Veins Divine Sword.