Chapter 1110: Pure Sword Cultivators

Chapter 1110: Pure Sword Cultivators

It was very strange. Having spoken so brazenly, Chen Ping'an only proceeded to ask Daoist Ding some of the most basic, entry-level questions.

When did you, Daoist friend, begin your fast from grains? Before that, were your three daily meals regular? On your path of cultivation, when did you reach a certain realm? Do you still remember the exact year, month, and day? Regarding your breathing and circulation methods, and the details of your major and minor heavenly cycles at different realms...

Not only was Daoist Ding utterly bewildered, even Xie Gou couldn't be bothered to pretend to understand. She truly had no idea what the mountain master was thinking.

If he really wanted to transmit the Dao and save people, bestowing some so-called ascension method, even if Chen Ping'an took a completely different path, why did he have to be so... rustic?

The compiler-official, however, recorded everything meticulously. The white-haired child held the greatest respect for the Hidden Official ancestor, but still couldn't help grumbling inwardly. This chapter—she had chosen a good title, but the content? Wasn't it a bit too bland, like clear soup with sparse greens?

After asking a heap of incredibly mundane, trivial details, Chen Ping'an finally asked, "Daoist friend Ding, have you come to a decision?"

Daoist Ding, an honest man, asked in return, "With this ascension method, why doesn't Mr. Chen practice this path himself?"

The white-haired child, squatting nearby, nodded vigorously. A good question.

Chen Ping'an smiled slightly. "I need to observe the Dao from the sidelines and protect the Dao."

Xie Gou gave the mountain master a thumbs-up. "Unity of word and deed! Treating others with sincerity!"

Daoist Ding said, "I've decided. I'll take the gamble!"

Chen Ping'an narrowed his eyes and smiled. "First, stay here and cultivate as usual for a few days. Remember, don't be nervous. Just do everything as before, exactly as you normally would. After that, Daoist friend and I will be partners and run the operation."

Daoist Ding took a deep breath. Then he heard Xie Gou say, "Ah, little Daoist, what's wrong? You just said it and you've already forgotten. Your focus is off."

Chen Ping'an went to the Sword Worship Platform and personally carved a book-collecting seal for Bai Xuan, as a congratulations for successfully breaking through a realm.

The seal inscription read: "Floating clouds accompany mountains, roaming the azure sky." That kid's flying sword was called "Cloud Roam."

Chen Ping'an said, "Over at True Martial Mountain, I met a sword cultivator with a single-character flying sword."

Old Deafie smiled. "Rare, truly rare."

Bai Xuan asked curiously, "Master Cao, single-character flying sword? What does that mean?"

Old Deafie explained, "For example, feudal titles also have levels, mostly two-character titles. Like the King of Luo in the Great Li secondary capital, Song Mu, who in the romances is called a 'one-character co-king,' more valuable than a two-character king."

Bai Xuan was puzzled. "Doesn't Zong Yuan have a lifebound flying sword with four characters? Isn't he also incredibly strong for no reason?"

Old Deafie chuckled. "When talking about things, first discuss the general principle, then discuss the special case."

For instance, Old Deafie had once seen a single-character flying sword, "Rang."

Old Deafie hesitated, then asked, "Hidden Official, does the Summer Resort have statistics?"

Chen Ping'an nodded. "Only fourteen are recorded."

Old Deafie said, "A pity." Two meanings: one, a pity that the owners of these lifebound flying swords, the highest realm among them was only a Sword Immortal; none successfully reached the Ascension Realm. Two, certain lifebound flying swords with single-character sword potential, their owners died too early, fell too quickly—either they didn't have time to upgrade their quality, or they didn't have time to break certain restrictions, and couldn't achieve unimpeded divine abilities to successfully become single-character flying swords.

Old Deafie asked, "Could it be...?"

Chen Ping'an said, "Similar to the number of Fourteen Realm cultivators, the number of sword cultivators with single-character flying swords should increase."

Old Deafie frowned, sighing. "The sun and moon are passing; the years do not wait for me."

Chen Ping'an was silent.

From last year until now, Chen Ping'an had been worried about Fuyao Continent.

After returning to the Haoran world, among the group of foreign sword cultivators from the Summer Resort, he had only met Lin Junbi and Deng Liang.

First there was Xiao Mo around, and after he fully trusted Xiao Mo, Xie Gou came. After he trusted Xie Gou, Xiao Mo went to the Qingming world, and Chen Ping'an needed to go into seclusion, requiring Xie Gou to help guard the retreat. Xie Gou seemed to see the mountain master's worry and smiled. "Over at Fuyao Continent, I secretly went there once. No major issues. If you're really uneasy, have the Gan Tang offertory go keep an eye on things. He's idle anyway."

What? Old Deafie's heart tightened.

He had to work again?!

An old man's eyes that had seen the former rivers and mountains could not bear to look upon the shocking new landscapes, nor hear phrases like 'city walls overgrown with spring grass deep'—such things break the hearts of the old.

In the Haoran world, after a war was fought, the most bitterly contested continent was Fuyao, without exception.

Gourd Vase Continent was also very brutal, but the Great Li Song family at least managed to preserve half the continent's territory.

Tungye Continent? Besides a handful of mountain sects, were there any battles fought below the mountains?

Thus, across the map of Fuyao Continent, various regions were restoring their kingdoms, all using new reign titles.

The Jinpu Dynasty had only been restored for three years. In late winter of last year, at the Gold Dust Ferry built on Luan Family Shoal, within a celestial inn at the ferry at night, sword lights suddenly burst forth in all directions, all heading towards Quanjiao Mountain.

Each dazzling sword light tore through the night sky, dragging like fireflies, extremely eye-catching along the way.

Among those immediately recognized famous Sword Immortals were Xie Songhua from Aiai Continent, Song Pin from Golden Armor Continent, Yue Yue, Pu He, and Situ Jiyu from Liuxia Continent.

In addition, there were several renowned old Sword Immortals at the Nascent Soul realm. In the three northwestern continents of Haoran, where many Great Cultivators had fallen, these were now considered true heavyweights.

And beside these Sword Immortals were a group of young people adept at sword flight, strikingly young.

Apart from sword cultivators, there would never be another type of Qi refiner that could make the word "young" feel so weighty.

This gathering was not for making money, nor for wading into troubled waters, but only to prevent someone from destroying the mineral vein with a secret method, harming the entire Fuyao Continent's earth veins, and causing a dozen nearby nations to instantly... "sink"!

Situ Jiyu asked, "Could this mineral vein, whose material is temporarily unknown, possibly become a brand new type of divine transcendent currency?" Besides Snowflake, Lesser Heat, and Grain Rain coins—these three types of mountain divine currency—in history, there had been naturally occurring jade mines rich in spiritual energy. But ultimately, it was proven that because those jades were not pure enough and the spiritual energy distribution was not uniform enough, they didn't work. They couldn't reach the standard for casting a standard coin. After all, if each coin could not be of equivalent value, how could it circulate? Moreover, the final reserves of those jade types were also a big problem. Hence, those veins were at most occupied, mined, and refined by one or several sects jointly, becoming basic materials for refining magical instruments and treasures on the mountains, or made into certain expendable coins. Some sects established subordinate sects because of this, whose duty was "mountain guarding." In fact, Situ Jiyu, as a Jade Perfection realm sword cultivator, had never worried about food or clothing since childhood and wasn't particularly interested in making money. He just found the silent sword flight oppressive and boring, and casually threw out a topic for small talk.

The result was that no one responded. Situ Jiyu got the cold shoulder.

Elsewhere, if a Jade Perfection realm Sword Immortal started a conversation, a few flattering words would quickly follow—anything else would be unthinkable.

Situ Jiyu's biggest regret now was that he hadn't managed to take one or two children away from the Sword Qi Great Wall and accept them as disciples.

So when he looked at the younger ones in the group, he found everyone agreeable. When he looked at the older ones, he found everyone an eyesore.

When it came down to blaming someone, he had to blame that young Hidden Official for not treating him as the closest kind of friend. The drinks were all wasted.

Aiai Continent, female Sword Immortal Xie Songhua, had once cooperated with the young Hidden Official to kill a Jade Perfection realm demon, because that beast was a sword cultivator, so it was worth more, with extraordinary battle merits. On the Sword Qi Great Wall, she had only wielded her sword a few times, but her battle merits were immense. According to the rules of the Sword Qi Great Wall, it was equivalent to killing an Immortal level Great Demon.

Because she wasn't good at making money, and sword cultivators were the most money-consuming profession, as a lone figure, she always had ways to get rich, but since she had accepted two disciples, Xie Songhua became a practitioner of the Liu Clan of Aiai Continent.

Blame it on the fact that the Money God Liu gave too much money.

Situ Jiyu held back for a long time, then finally couldn't help saying, "Xie Songhua, how could you be willing to become a practitioner? If you have to learn from someone, why learn from Yue Yue?"

That Yue Yue held a pile of practitioner and guest elder titles, earning money lying down every year. With such neglect of his proper work, no wonder his swordsmanship was lacking.

Xie Songhua said irritably, "I didn't even ask Money God Liu if he'd be willing to take a concubine—that's already enough backbone."

Yue Yue said helplessly, "Why drag me into this?"

Situ Jiyu sneered, "Based on battle merits, you'd have to sword fly under my feet."

Yue Yue chuckled.

Pu He spat, "Two chicks pecking at each other."

Xie Songhua laughed heartily, "Three chicks in one cage."

Pu He mumbled, not daring to speak up. He and Situ Jiyu had strikingly similar experiences—brothers in misfortune. One was a registered cultivator more rogue than a rogue cultivator, the other was once the senior disciplinary patriarch of a Grand Sect in the Central Earth Divine Continent. Due to a disaster, he lost his registered status and became a rogue cultivator. Both felt they had to experience the swordsmanship level of the Sword Qi Great Wall, and both ended up staying on the Sword Qi Great Wall "by their own skills." Both killed demons in foreign lands and merited achievements, and both were "connected" to the Summer Resort, having helped and contributed to the Hidden Official lineage of sword cultivators. Now back in the Haoran world, they both endlessly mocked and ridiculed Yue Yue, feeling that Yue Yue was unworthy of being a nominal practitioner of Fallen Mountain...

The taciturn Song Pin flew her sword among the clouds, the heavenly wind brushing her temples and blue hair, truly like a divine maiden.

Golden Armor Continent's female Sword Immortal Song Pin, and Liuxia Continent's Pu He, these two "neighbor" Sword Immortals had both appeared at Inverted Mountain's Spring Banners Studio before.

Before that, they had no connection with the young Hidden Official.

And the foreign female sword cultivators who appeared on the Sword Qi Great Wall had almost a uniform style of wielding the sword—Xie Songhua, Song Pin, and Li Cai—all extremely decisive and ruthless on the battlefield. Before going to the Sword Qi Great Wall, Situ Jiyu, who had roamed as a rogue cultivator between Golden Armor and Liuxia Continents, was actually the only one among the several Haoran Sword Immortals back then who was a regular at a certain wine shop on the Sword Qi Great Wall, liking to squat by the roadside drinking and eating a bowl of plain noodles. If we're talking about accumulated battle merits, Situ Jiyu was only slightly inferior to Song Pin, and not at all inferior to Pu He. But he lost out because Pu He had once dropped a realm, so when Old Pu scolded him for "slacking off," Situ Jiyu didn't even know how to retort. Hell, if only the Hidden Official were present! Given his personal friendship with the young Hidden Official, Chen Ping'an had no reason not to favor him. Although they were all drinking buddies, didn't drinking buddies have their own hierarchy?

Situ Jiyu and that Central Earth sect Dragon Great Pool's Dragon Beard Celestial Immortal, Situ Mengjing, who went to Tungye Continent's Little Dragon Great Pool to be some mountain master, were distant relatives at best.

Not long ago, he received a secret letter. Situ Mengjing roughly described the changes at Little Dragon Great Pool on the letter. Speaking of that young Hidden Official, Situ Mengjing gave a high evaluation: "His reputation is not undeserved." This vein, which was touted as possibly becoming the fourth type of divine transcendent currency on the mountains and thus attracting covetousness from various powers, was located deep underground, like a labyrinth. At the entrance was once the Daoist temple of a small mountain sect. This small sect had long perished in the war. A few registered cultivators claiming to be orthodox descendants of its founder had been appealing to the Jinpu Dynasty for two years, but the Ministry of Justice, in conjunction with the academy, investigated and found them to be frauds, so they were sent directly to prison. The earliest discovery of this vein was due to a series of temporal anomalies in the Haoran world. A cultivator somewhat versed in Qi observation happened to pass by this originally obscure Quanjiao Mountain. Seeing a purple-green glow lingering and coiling at the cave entrance, condensed like a giant ganoderma, he thought a priceless treasure might be about to appear. He plucked up his courage and entered the cave to explore. The deeper he went, the more he saw. At the end of the path, what he saw left this Sea Observation realm Qi refiner dumbfounded. In an enormous, empty cavern that stretched beyond sight, there lay a pitch-black earth vein of unknown material, like jade and stone, prostrate like a black dragon upon the earth. Its "body" was connected to the cavern walls, as if imprisoned by the mountain, so one couldn't even imagine how long this mountain range truly was.

The old cultivator used all methods he knew, but couldn't chip, break, or carve even the tiniest piece from that "black dragon's body." He wasted a lot of spiritual energy and talismans, jumping in frustration. Was this really a case of sitting on a treasure mountain but returning empty-handed? He thought hard, not daring—and even less willing—to leak the information, so he had to retreat and find a few trustworthy mountain friends to come treasure hunting together. Unexpectedly, that Dragon Gate realm sword cultivator even used his flying sword with all his might, and only managed to shave off a piece of "black jade" the size of a palm. It wasn't even enough to refine and repair his lifebound flying sword. The few allies who had come with high spirits were all helpless, staring wide-eyed, none willing to give up, but none able to think of a perfect solution.

In the end, they came up with a plan that wasn't really a plan. Instead of forming an alliance, they would directly establish a sect here and guard this inexhaustible treasure! This, they said, would be the foundation of a future sect—and think even bigger! How did the Liu Clan of Aiai Continent rise to prominence? Wasn't it because of that Snowflake coin vein?!

Unfortunately, no wall is impermeable.

Soon, a celestial ferry was built outside the entrance of Quanjiao Mountain. Shops lined up, bustling. In the market, anything could be bought—wine shops, brothels, even. As for all kinds of miraculous elixirs, dharma robes, weapons, and rare antiques, they were countless. There were even shops for happy occasions and shops selling coffins for white affairs. People came to scout for information for their backers, seek wealth, or purely to travel and sightsee, as well as those looking to fish in troubled waters, hoping for a lucky strike.

The Jinpu Dynasty, which had just restored its nation a few years prior, temporarily opened a relatively stable underground passage, allowing two ferry boats to travel back and forth simultaneously. It was winding and over a hundred li long, consuming a great deal of manpower and resources, emptying half the national treasury. But the Ministry of Revenue was pleasantly surprised to find that with just one ferry, they could quickly recoup their investment. Now, inside and out, people from all walks of life mixed in a chaotic brew. Multiple conflicts had already openly and covertly erupted, with seven or eight resulting in deaths, not to mention those where bodies were secretly disposed of. The newly restored Jinpu Dynasty simply couldn't manage it all. In the beginning, they tried to establish authority by making an example of someone, but ended up losing several royal practitioners, who died without even being found. As for duels and covert killings among Qi refiners, it was easy to call friends and allies from the local snakes of the continent, or dragons from other continents, making the waters murkier and murkier.

Just among local cultivators of Fuyao Continent, there were as many as seven or eight different alliance factions "stationed" on various territories within the cave, each as large as a town.

Who knew what behind-the-scenes support these temporary gangs had from sects of other continents?

Only the wealthy Liu Clan of Aiai Continent, the Qinggong Mountain of Liuxia Continent—which had barely suffered losses—and that Tianyu Cave Heaven—could they really not be involved? Were they just watching from afar? The problem was that the Central Earth Confucian Temple's stance on this matter was subtle. Although the Confucian Temple had always adhered to the principle of not competing with cultivators for profit, if the Confucian Temple were to send an academy mountain master to simply state that the entire vein belonged to the Confucian Temple, it would save trouble—everyone would give up hope. Such an action would surely invite complaints, but at most it would be a case of having anger but not daring to speak. First, because of the war with the Barbarian world, the Confucian Temple was definitely short on money—taking from the world for use by the world was justifiable. Second, the Confucian Temple now acted with swift and decisive force, very different from before. They had established rules: anyone who violated them would be sent to the local continent's academy to read the sages' books. As Wen Yu, now the vice-mountain master of Heavenly Eye Academy in Tungye Continent, said: "Make up for the principles—it's never too late to study." For cultivators who committed more serious offenses, they could go directly to the Virtue Forest, and with some luck, they might even see Liu Cha from the Barbarian world. Since the Central Earth Confucian Temple didn't express a stance, and the Jinpu Dynasty couldn't control the situation, the top sects from other continents with Ascension realm cultivators sitting in their mountains were all hiding and staying low, none daring to be the first to show their heads. This made the situation appear increasingly clouded with strange winds and surging undercurrents.

Xie Songhua was dressed neatly, carrying a bamboo box on her back.

Her two disciples, Juxing and Zhaomu, were now teenagers—formerly children. One carried a bamboo box, the other a traveler's staff.

Although her homeland was Aiai Continent, she had a very poor impression of it, and her view of Money God Liu, the world's best moneymaker, had been mediocre early on. She drifted without a fixed abode, living a life of clouds and waters. After forming her core, she traveled mostly between Golden Armor and Liuxia Continents. In her early days, she had even fought with Situ Jiyu—a small misunderstanding—but at that time, both of them were "rogue cultivators," hiding their identities and suppressing their realms, so neither went for the kill. Later, on the Sword Qi Great Wall, when they happened to drink at the same table and chatted about old times, they realized who the other was.

And there was now a rumor that Xie Songhua might very well break through to the Immortal realm within just a few decades.

So her unexpected agreement to become a practitioner of the Liu Clan of Aiai Continent had caused quite a stir.

Because an elder of the Liu Clan ancestral hall, with a high seniority, had repeatedly invited Xie Songhua to be a guest elder, even a nominal one would do.

But an impatient Xie Songhua had directly replied with a very "Xie Songhua" remark: "Old thing, tired of living? Are you asking for a sword?" Yet in the end, Xie Songhua directly became a nominal practitioner, not even a guest elder. Now, for her two orthodox disciples, Juxing and Zhaomu, all expenses—from the heavenly materials and earthly treasures needed for sword refining, to additional lifebound objects, to food, clothing, and lodging—were covered by the Liu Clan of Aiai Continent until they reached the upper five realms.

When the outside world heard of this, they couldn't help sighing: having some money on the mountains doesn't mean much, but being as rich as the Liu Clan of Aiai Continent—well, anything they say goes.

In a huge underground cave temporarily named "Wind Water Grotto," a private residence at the highest point was carved into the rock, with pavilions and towers hanging in the air.

Along the underground river, mansions stretched on both banks, lit up like daylight with singing and dancing, bustling with noise day and night, like a fire dragon.

Inside that high-hanging residence, in a simply decorated reception hall, three young sword cultivators had been waiting for a long time, chatting while they waited.

They were three young Core Formation sword cultivators, all around twenty years old—not even thirty yet.

The three were Song Gaoyuan, Xuan Shen, and Cao Gun.

They were all first-class cultivation prodigies, truly outstanding talents on the mountains. Their realms, appearances, bearing, intelligence, and family backgrounds were all top-notch.

Especially Cao Gun, who was particularly striking. He wore a purple-gold crown, a cyan dharma robe, and had a white jade flute tucked in his belt—a truly elegant gentleman.

They hadn't rushed to greet them at the door early; they simply stood up and cupped their fists, without any red tape.

Even when they saw the senior sword cultivators now, they didn't say any polite words like "meeting such-and-such Sword Immortal."

This sight made a few old-timers who had never been to the Sword Qi Great Wall deeply sigh and lament inwardly. No wonder these were young people who had been to the Sword Qi Great Wall.

But even Pu He and Situ Jiyu, notoriously bad-tempered Sword Immortals, found nothing wrong.

Back at the Gold Dust Ferry inn, this group of familiar Sword Immortals had been cursing and digging at each other. Now, they were all as proper as if attending a Founder's Hall meeting.

Especially Old Pu, who was notoriously known on the mountains as "If any little brat doesn't follow the rules and lacks etiquette before me, I'll teach them on behalf of their parents and masters."

Now, he wasn't his usual sloppy self. Instead, his expression was solemn. Before even crossing the threshold, seeing the few junior sword cultivators in the Core Formation realm inside, the old man took the initiative to cup his fists.

Song Gaoyuan was from the Deerhorn Palace of Fuyao Continent. As long as he broke into the upper five realms in the future, he was the undisputed choice to become the palace master.

First, Song Gaoyuan was a "celestial talent" from the mountains, born to a Daoist couple who were both orthodox disciples of the current Deerhorn Palace master. Second, the highly respected Founder Rongguan had always favored Song Gaoyuan the most.

Xuan Shen came from the Ethereal Sect of Golden Armor Continent, with his ancestral mountain being Flower Summit. After rain, the place was known for the beautiful scene of "divine dragons emerging from caves, yellow clouds and purple skies." His grand-teacher was Yuan Qingyao, an Immortal realm cultivator with a cyan-purple book artifact of Immortal rank called "Collected Spirits of Rivers and Mountains."

The grand-teacher died in battle—the first local Immortal of Fuyao Continent to fall.

Under Moon Worship Mountain was Seal Moon Creek; on Sun Smelting Peak was the Sweeping Flower Hall. These two adjacent mountains were once the sacred heartland for cultivators born of beasts and spirits on the continent.

It was the sect in the Haoran world, except for Iron Tree Mountain in the Central Earth, with the most beast- and spirit-born registered cultivators enshrined in its founder's hall as retainers.

In that devastating war that swept the continent, these Fuyao local beast- and spirit-born registered cultivators followed Yuan Qingyao to the battlefield, and most died in battle.

These two top-tier sects were both destroyed in the war and were now being rebuilt.

Cao Gun came from the Square Inch Sect of Liuxia Continent, famous for refining dimension objects, but with very strict disciple recruitment, and extremely few registered cultivators.

On the mountain peak stood a withered rock, towering above the other peaks. On the rock face was inscribed two large characters said to be written by Bai Ye himself: "Mend the Heavens."

The founding founder had built a study here, the Longevity Studio, which became the personal Dao field of successive sect masters, passed down through generations.

The previous sect master was the number two figure on the mountains of Liuxia Continent, second only to the Grand Guardian of Qinggong, Jing Hao—his rank even higher than the master of Tianyu Cave Heaven.

The reason he was "previous" was that this old sect master was one of the very few Great Cultivators who actively went to the Golden Armor Continent battlefield. Shortly after returning to his sect, he announced seclusion but actually passed away through weapon liberation.

Now, the Square Inch Sect was establishing a subordinate sect in Fuyao Continent. It was said that Cao Gun, though only at Core Formation, might, by virtue of battle merits accumulated in foreign lands, obtain permission from the Central Earth Confucian Temple to be exceptionally appointed as the subordinate sect's master.

But these reasons didn't really matter. The real reason was only one: these three young men, having returned to their home continent, were all from the Hidden Official lineage of the Sword Qi Great Wall's Summer Resort.

And they had gone to the battlefield as sword cultivators of the Hidden Official lineage.

Among this group of sword cultivators, apart from the disciples who were still children, there was actually a hierarchy. For instance, Xie Songhua, recognized for having the highest battle merits and having personally killed a Jade Perfection realm demon sword cultivator, might not respect Song Pin, whose accumulated merits were fewer. Song Pin certainly looked down on Pu He, who had dropped a realm on the Sword Qi Great Wall. Pu He, who had dropped a realm, looked down on Situ Jiyu, who hadn't dropped a realm and just "slacked off." Situ Jiyu looked down on Yue Yue, who had only gone to the Sword Qi Great Wall briefly in his youth and done nothing. Yue Yue looked down on those who had never been to the Sword Qi Great Wall. Among the old sword cultivators who had never been, those who hadn't been to Inverted Mountain looked down on those who had been to Inverted Mountain but not the nearby Sword Qi Great Wall...

Reason? The reason lay on the battlefield of the Sword Qi Great Wall.

In the hall, two rows of seats were arranged. Sword cultivators from the Sword Qi Great Wall sat on one side; those who had never been sat on the other.

Perhaps to accommodate the feelings of the latter, or to avoid an imbalanced number, or to facilitate face-to-face discussion, Cao Gun and the other two sat opposite Xie Songhua and company, before the seven Earth Immortal sword cultivators.

Some drinks and snacks had been prepared, placed on the flower stands between the two rows: lotus root starch, iced plum wine, mung bean soup...

Sun Zao, Jin Luan, and Xue Zhou, the young girls, had already set their sights on the food near them, waiting only for the masters to nod before they could start.

As for the agenda for tonight's meeting, they knew their place: they were only to listen, not speak. Even the proud Ye Du felt the same.

Obviously, the children who had left the Sword Qi Great Wall back then—whether in terms of sword training aptitude, lifebound flying sword quality, or even taste—were all well known to the Summer Resort.

Xie Songhua clicked her tongue in wonder. When it came to raising children, sure enough, the Hidden Official was better. Just a bit thin-skinned; couldn't take a joke.

Two Fuyao Continent local sword cultivators, both at Nascent Soul realm—one a registered cultivator, one a mountain swamp rogue. Also, one male and one female old sword cultivator at Nascent Soul from the northwestern Liuxia and Golden Armor Continents—both had been in seclusion for years, one trying to break through a realm, the other nursing injuries for years—were temporarily summoned to Fuyao for numbers. Song Pin and Pu He had each just sent a letter. Neither said why or what they planned to do; they only gave a meeting location. Without replying to ask the reason, they immediately rushed to the address given.

Core Formation? Not enough to look at. Not qualified to be privately invited by those Sword Immortals to participate. But one person called another, and so three young Core Formation sword cultivators ended up joining. All three were orthodox disciples from their respective mountain founders' halls. Without exception, their mountains had founders who were Sword Immortals and had all been to the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Thus, the sword cultivators who had never been to the Sword Qi Great Wall totaled seven: four Nascent Soul realm, three Core Formation realm.

Xie Songhua's disciples: Zhaomu, Juxing. Song Pin's disciples: Sun Zao, Jin Luan. Pu He had brought Ye Du and Xue Zhou from the Sword Qi Great Wall.

And Yue Yue, that most shameless old thing, had actually poached two personal disciples from Fallen Mountain: Yu Qingzhang and He Xiangting.

Juxing sat down still carrying his bamboo box, sitting upright. Zhaomu placed her green bamboo staff horizontally across her knees.

Ye Du sat cross-legged, arms folded, and began to close his eyes and meditate.

Xie Songhua had taken her two orthodox disciples to the northern ice fields and Thunder God Temple of Aiai Continent to train swords for several years, with remarkable results.

The young Juxing had only one lifebound flying sword, "Thunder Pool," which was rated "B Middle" in quality by the Summer Resort—quite high.

The girl Zhaomu had two flying swords, "Torrential Rain" and "Rainbow," rated "B Lower" and "C Upper" respectively.

The three grades A, B, and C each had upper, middle, and lower ranks, totaling nine grades. In fact, to even be rated, even if ranked B or C, was considered a good lifebound flying sword.

And this rating from the Summer Resort took into account battlefield combat, not suitable for one-on-one sword challenges.

Back then, on the Sword Qi Great Wall, the old Summer Resort's Hidden Official lineage had a total of sixteen sword cultivators, six of whom were from foreign lands.

Besides Chen Ping'an, the last Hidden Official, there were Lin Junbi, Deng Liang, Cao Gun, Xuan Shen, and Song Gaoyuan.

At that time, Lin Junbi was the first among the foreign sword cultivators to leave the Summer Resort. He returned to the Shaoyuan Dynasty in the Central Earth Divine Continent, and soon became the national preceptor of that dynasty, the youngest in the top ten dynasties of Haoran.

Deng Liang of the Nine Capitals Mountain in Aiai Continent, in the twenty-seventh year of Jia Chun in the Colorful World, went to Ascension City. When he left Inverted Mountain, he was still at Nascent Soul, and finally broke through to the upper five realms in the foreign land.

Cao Gun, Xuan Shen, and Song Gaoyuan each returned to their sects. The three young sword cultivators had new encounters. As neighbors in the three western continents of Haoran, it was clear that Cao Gun and Xuan Shen were closer.

Although the new generation of Hidden Official lineage sword cultivators in Ascension City retained a considerable number of "old-timers," compared to the "previous generation," they seemed overall slightly inferior.

After all, the "big boss," Great Sword Immortal Mi, was no longer at the new Summer Resort.

Cao Gun had once said sincerely, "If I ever walk out of the Summer Resort alive, I never want to read another book for the rest of my life."

And after they left the Sword Qi Great Wall, from their own silence to their respective sects' silence, it seemed they were all deliberately downplaying their trip to the Sword Qi Great Wall.

The Summer Resort had nearly fallen into internal strife, almost resulting in a sword challenge among themselves. If they had actually started fighting, the local and foreign sword cultivators would have likely split completely.

For example, Xu Ning had cursed out eighteen generations of Xuan Shen's ancestors.

A war of words involved almost everyone—everyone cursed others, and everyone was cursed.

Only three people didn't speak: the young Hidden Official sat steady as a rock, the Sword Immortal Chou Miao remained calm, and Guo Zhujiu silently recorded every curse word. Learn something new...

In fact, Lin Junbi was the most pitiful. He wanted to be the peacemaker but was caught by Dong Bude, who took the opportunity to curse Lin Junbi out thoroughly.

In the end, it was only the joint effort of Chen Ping'an and Chou Miao that prevented the situation from worsening.

In the old Summer Resort's Hidden Official lineage, all sword cultivators had been to the battlefield many times. Everyone had been wounded, but only one died in battle.

Sword Immortal Chou Miao.

This local sword cultivator was high in realm, good in aptitude, had a sense of the big picture, was steady in temperament, meticulous in thought, and almost never got angry... Chou Miao's strengths were simply too many.

Even the proud Lin Junbi willingly admitted that Sword Immortal Chou Miao was the best choice to succeed the Hidden Official, and that he himself was indeed inferior to Chou Miao.

Today, Cao Gun's first words were very shocking: "We must assume that a Ascension realm Great Demon is hiding here."

Xuan Shen added, "With the strength of an old Barbarian Throne Great Demon."

Cao Gun and the others now had the handsome, jade-like appearance of young men, but Cao Gun had a special trait: he spoke with a thick local accent, soft and gentle, often throwing in dialect phrases like "chew chew it up," "aiyoyo," "so naughty de"... This was always a topic in the old Summer Resort. Dong Bude and Guo Zhujiu especially loved imitating Cao Gun's speech. Cao Gun had fair skin and a delicate face, often blushing bright red from their teasing.

No wonder the Hidden Official had suggested, when they went out of the city to fight, that for caution's sake, it might be better for the women to dress as men, and by the same logic, for the men too. At the time, the Hidden Official's gaze mainly roamed between Lin Junbi and Cao Gun.

Hearing that they might face a Great Demon equivalent to an old Throne's killing power, Song Pin and the others were naturally unfazed. But the few young Core Formation sword cultivators behind Cao Gun couldn't help changing color slightly, though they quickly recovered, their eyes growing sharper. One female cultivator's eyes even showed a hint of intensity—she was clearly someone who didn't fear trouble but rather liked to court it. Her sect's elders had probably worried about her a lot.

Song Gaoyuan said, "It's likely not the case. If there really were an Ascension realm demon, the Confucian Temple wouldn't sit idly by. More likely, it's an Immortal realm demon skilled in disguise and concealing its Qi, proficient in formations. It's been suppressing its presence, waiting to stir up trouble and plot something big here. Let me give an example: setting a formation and activating it—at some stage, certain unknown necessary conditions must be met."

Cao Gun smiled. "For instance, this vein is the fishing rod, and we are the bait and hook. That big fish, temporarily hidden somewhere, might choose not to bite the hook at all and just eat the bait. So I hope everyone present is prepared for the worst."

Xuan Shen stood up, pulled out three scrolls from his sleeve, and tossed them into the air. In the hall, three maps hung side by side, each densely marked with notes and labels. "Before you arrived, the three of us did a rough reconnaissance of Quanjiao Mountain inside and out. We've made a preliminary survey of the external dragon vein geomancy, the internal structure, and the distribution of various forces. It's hasty, so it is indeed rough. Regarding the hidden backers of the surface forces, the extended network of relationships, and whether they could be connected, they are clearly recorded on the maps for reference. At the same time, I hope you won't be misled by us. However, all content written in red text requires special attention—it is definitely correct."

"The best outcome is that there is no Barbarian demon plot here, and our trip to Quanjiao Mountain is just a journey. But that's unlikely."

"A compromise: the demon exists, but it lacks the courage and strength to fight to the death, only the means to stir the pot from the shadows."

"Then our task is even simpler: cast the net. No one should be idle from now on. Go out and walk around. Try to conceal your identities as much as possible, but don't worry about scaring the prey. The more elaborate the formation, the more it relies on interlocking components. Like fish hitting the net, if we tug enough, we might find clues. If the Confucian Temple also has people watching here, their numbers won't be large, and more might not be useful. They act with convenience, but still within rules—not rogue enough. So we need to help find gaps. If I were the planner of this First Sixty arrangement, I'd leave one or more sufficiently clever Qi refiners here. Generally, they would be given amulets. If I were a dead soldier left by the Barbarian world, I'd be especially cautious of Confucian Temple sages and gentlemen, deliberately avoiding them at the slightest suspicion."

"The three of us each used a secret replace-body talisman from Yuhua Mountain. Our true bodies are not here; we've changed identities and are hidden somewhere outside. Our realms are low, so we can only compensate with diligence."

As he said this, Cao Gun looked at Situ Jiyu. The lifebound flying swords and divine abilities of foreign upper five realm cultivators who had been to the Sword Qi Great Wall were all secretly recorded by the Summer Resort.

Situ Jiyu sent a voice transmission: "Song Pin, Pu He, and I have each quietly released one of our lifebound flying swords, coordinating with each other. Up to this moment, we can determine that there are a total of six Qi refiners probing this place with divine sense or using methods to survey mountains and rivers. We can immediately catch four blind ones. The other two are hidden deeper, but the range is small and easy to find. If they are Barbarian beasts, we'll have to try to know if we can kill them instantly."

As he spoke, Situ Jiyu pointed at one of the maps, circling six locations.

Xie Songhua chuckled. As long as she could find their exact whereabouts, killing an Immortal wasn't easy, but it wasn't that hard either. And if she wounded one with a full-force sword strike, escaping under the hands of Song Pin and the others wouldn't be simple.

Cao Gun said calmly, "At least seven locations."

Song Gaoyuan rubbed his brow. It seemed the coordination of the three Sword Immortals' flying swords had lower than expected results. Situ Jiyu's lifebound flying sword, "Water Vein," could, when in its insubstantial form, silently follow the hidden flow of spiritual energy in heaven and earth. The denser the spiritual energy, the more solid the flying sword became. A certain Jade Perfection realm cultivator in Liuxia Continent's history had died inexplicably during his breathing and circulation, and the sect had never found out who dealt the killing blow to their founder, only concluding it as "careless cultivation, death by tribulation." And one of Song Pin's two lifebound flying swords, "Gate God," could attach itself to Situ Jiyu's Water Vein, like a water god patrolling the four directions, inspecting the domain, and dispatching various road gods to sit in various places. Additionally, one of Pu He's lifebound flying swords, "Couplet," used refined words as refined swords, also known as "Ink Mandarin Ducks." One of its divine abilities was to enhance the compatibility of the first two flying swords. Unfortunately, Pu He only had two flying swords, so this "Ink Mandarin Ducks" was somewhat redundant. If he could have a third flying sword, Pu He felt he would have become an Immortal long ago. Back on the Sword Qi Great Wall, not to mention the "bottom of upper five realms" Mi Lanyao, even against Sword Immortals Mi Hu, Yue Qing, he would have had a fighting chance. Could he definitely win? Damn it, don't talk about sure victory.

Situ Jiyu instantly understood and found himself speechless.

The seven Earth Immortal sword cultivators who had never been to the Sword Qi Great Wall finally caught on. Clearly, Cao Gun and the others' true bodies were using some secret technique to probe the area right now.

Xuan Shen smiled slightly. "Take it slow. It's not necessarily that we can't find them. They might just be cautious enough not to act."

Song Pin said, "Use the dumbest method of elimination. These six—don't keep them."

Her face was extremely cold and beautiful, her makeup also very captivating. She had many hair ornaments—quite different from Xie Songhua, who went bare-faced. An ordinary woman, even with a beauty that could topple cities, if weighed down with gold and silver, would only look excessive. But Song Pin piled them on and still looked good.

Pu He chuckled. "Good, good method. I'll do it. I've got a bad reputation already; a few more mountain grudges won't matter." The old sword cultivator's personal disciple, the boy Ye Du, transmitted his voice: "Old Pu, I've heard the Confucian Temple is strict now. If you go on a killing spree here, your registered status won't be protected. If we go down the mountain now, are we not going back? Have you thought of a place to go? Don't act without looking back. I have an idea—if one place won't have us, there will be another. Why don't we three, master and disciples, just go to Fallen Mountain to seek refuge with the Hidden Official?" The girl Xue Zhou nodded in agreement. "Good, good. But it's best if you, Master, take full responsibility. Ye Du and I can keep our sect's registry. Two preparations. Otherwise, if the sect won't keep us and the Hidden Official won't accept us, we'll really have to beg on the streets."

Xuan Shen had to add an extra explanation: "Pu He, when Song Pin said 'don't keep them,' she didn't mean 'send them off to death.'"

Song Gaoyuan said, "Don't rush to drive them out yet. Let's observe for a few more days."

Xuan Shen nodded. "They are already in the star positions."

Xuan Shen's lifebound flying sword was called "Three Altars." According to the Summer Resort's classification, it was truly "A Middle." This flying sword could both attack and defend, and had great room for growth—the most crucial quality for a sword cultivator. Following the Daoist ritual altar methods, there are nine altar forms, divided into three grades each. Before going to the Sword Qi Great Wall, Xuan Shen had methodically shaped the "Lower Three Altars," from low to high: the Disaster-Repelling Altar with eighty-one star positions, the Blessing-Gathering Altar with one hundred and twenty star positions, and the Life-Extending Altar with two hundred and forty star positions. After returning home and obtaining his founder's legacy, "Collected Spirits of Rivers and Mountains," Xuan Shen went into seclusion and emerged with his lifebound flying sword even more magnificent, raising the "Middle Three Altars," from high to low: the Yellow Ma Life-Prolonging Altar, the Zhenqing Altar, and the Demon-Expelling Altar.

So back in the Summer Resort, Xuan Shen earned many "praises" from his colleagues: "natural formation master," "walking Dao field on two legs," "the more lifebound objects refined, the better," "small invincible among peers in the same realm," "destined for ascension"...

Even Wang Xinshui said a fair word: "Xuan Shen, you're under the Hidden Official's protection now. Later, when the Hidden Official goes to your homeland and is unfamiliar with the place, you have to protect him."

The young Hidden Official immediately nodded in agreement. "Must be this reasoning."

Xuan Shen was so embarrassed.

Pu He, the old sword cultivator who spoke like a rogue cultivator, was tall and thin, with a gloomy expression—always giving the impression of a sinister and hard-to-get-along-with person. No doubt—that was the face revealing the heart. Pu He was notorious in his homeland for his eccentric personality and sly behavior, yet he was a true registered master, a very high-seniority old founder of the sect. There was no way around it: Pu He had too good an aptitude in his youth, and being a sword cultivator, he was taken as a closed-door disciple by the highest-seniority old cultivator in the Fenpei Sect at the time. The old cultivator soon passed away through weapon liberation, and before he died, he asked the female sect master to take care of Pu He. And Pu He almost never handled proper business in his home sect; he only caused trouble. One after another, the sect had to clean up after him. The accumulated good relations of the founders were almost all squandered by Pu He alone. After that female sect master died, no one could control Pu He anymore. And later, the junior brother who became the sect's disciplinarian had been bullied by Pu He since childhood—not exaggerating, he trembled at the sight of Pu He. In fact, the current sect master, his senior brother, had a similar situation when they were young.

Often, people framed Pu He—who was best at framing others—for crimes.

And Pu He would almost always take the blame, openly saying, "Yes, I did it."

The Founder's Hall couldn't stop him. They could only clean up after him over and over, using the sect's landscape gazette to earnestly swear to the heavens that "this was definitely not Pu He's doing."

He was responsible for half the continent's bad deeds.

No wonder that back when Jiang Shangzhen was making a name for himself in Northern Juzhou, he was called "Pu He the Second."

Thus, the Qi refiners in charge of the Fenpei Sect's landscape gazette had salaries far exceeding those of similar sects.

Back on the Sword Qi Great Wall, Xie Zhi, a rogue cultivator from Fuyao Continent, and Pu He, a registered cultivator from Liuxia Continent, would have swapped identities.

Back then, after Pu He lost a sword challenge to Mi Yu, he lived in the Sword Immortal's private residence "Emerald Green Pavilion" outside the city, while Xie Zhi's private residence was nearby, called "Brow Meaning," a bit overly feminine.

Xie Zhi was a rogue cultivator, not very talented in sword practice. He was known for breaking into the upper five realms with great perseverance, stumbling all the way. The old sword cultivator was a lifelong bachelor and didn't even take any disciples on Fuyao Continent.

By the time Xie Zhi finally changed his mind and wanted to take one or two orthodox disciples on the Sword Qi Great Wall, it was too late.

The old man didn't manage to take disciples, nor did he return home.

On his last trip to the battlefield, Xie Zhi fought alongside a fellow foreign Nascent Soul sword cultivator, Liu Xu, and used his last sword strike to open a path for the younger generation to escape and return home alive.

In the Summer Resort, among the foreign sword cultivators of the same young age, Song Gaoyuan and Deng Liang actually had closer relations with the local sword cultivators like Chou Miao. As for the Hidden Official Chen Ping'an and the small circle around him, they couldn't be called outright incompatible, but they were not as harmonious. If the mountain master of that small "circle" was the Hidden Official, then the vice-mountain master was Guo Zhujiu, who had the lowest realm at the time. Under them were four loyal lackeys: Xuan Shen, Cao Gun, Wang Xinshui, and Gu Jianlong!

But Song Gaoyuan and the others, especially Lin Junbi, all knew that Luo Zhenyi had a bit of a thing for the Hidden Official, but they all chose to see but not break.

He remembered the day he left the Summer Resort. Chou Miao, on behalf of the busy Hidden Official, saw Song Gaoyuan off, handing him a package as a farewell gift from the Hidden Official.

On the ferry, Song Gaoyuan opened it and found the relics of fellow countryman Sword Immortal Xie, along with a file record about Xie Zhi's situation in his homeland.

Before the meeting ended, the seven Earth Immortal sword cultivators each received an assignment and used their divine abilities, each with their own methods.

One of them had a flying sword like an ancient mirror. He stepped into the mirror's surface and came out from the back as a completely different person, as if his very soul had changed. Another's dharma robe rippled with ripples, and in an instant, he turned into a "walking corpse" weak in body but strong in spirit, then turned into a wisp of black smoke and dissipated. Another took out a phoenix hairpin, shook it gently—golden light rippled like water, and in an instant, he vanished. Another produced a lifebound object from ancient times, a white jade rope-woven knot of unity, which could borrow spells from another cultivator for a period. Another shook out from his sleeve the true corpse of an ancient woman in a colorful skirt. He shrank himself to the size of a speck of dust and entered her brow cave to squat. The heavily made-up woman in colorful skirt took one step, shrinking the land, and reappeared in a quiet corner of a high building. Another released his lifebound flying sword, "Bell Sound Beyond the Clouds"—a clear chime echoed in a certain alley, and his true body appeared there without a trace, while the subtle sounds in the hall still lingered, seeming to coil around the rafters for three days.

The two female Sword Immortals stood by the railing, gazing into the distance.

Compared to when she had just left Inverted Mountain, full of killing intent, Song Pin's aura had softened considerably.

Even after returning to her sect, Song Pin had carried a heavy murderous aura for a long time. She really hadn't recovered for a long time.

Xie Songhua asked with a smile, "Who will break through to the Immortal realm faster?"

Song Pin smiled slightly. "Even if I win by luck, it would be an unworthy victory."

Xie Songhua clicked her tongue. "If you're beautiful, you can dream beautifully, huh."

"Since you can't envy it, why envy it at all?"

"It's not without reason that you don't have a Dao partner."

The famous sword "Fuyao" that Song Pin carried on her back contained a significant portion of Fuyao Continent's sword Dao fortune.

Unfortunately, in her early years on Golden Armor Continent, Song Pin was unwilling to take that huge advantage. She had set a rule for herself: never touch the fortune of that "Fuyao" sword.

But when she went to the Sword Qi Great Wall and participated in only one city defense battle, she immediately regretted it. Since she was a sword cultivator, she couldn't be too womanish. What was face? Face was nothing.

On that city wall, Song Pin only regretted that her realm was too low and her sword too slow.

So after returning home, in recent years, Song Pin left her two direct disciples at the sect, letting the sect master teach them swordsmanship and Dharma on her behalf.

She went alone, secretly, to Fuyao Continent. Taking advantage of the right time, place, and people, she tried to refine and absorb that vast, unmatched sword Dao fortune.

Refining fortune itself was like challenging a Sword Immortal to a duel—not easy.

Song Pin was indeed different from the other female Sword Immortals, Xie Songhua and Li Cai, not in their sword style, but in other aspects.

Back when she returned to her sect on Golden Armor Continent, Song Pin held a disciple acceptance ceremony without inviting any outsiders. Even within the sect, only a few same-generation cultivators from the Founder's Hall attended.

She also reserved two peaks with abundant spiritual energy for Sun Zao and Jin Luan, planning to hold peak-opening ceremonies once they reached Core Formation. The Founder's Hall agreed without hesitation. But later, a great war broke out, and the Founder's Hall's spirit tablets, along with portraits of past founders, had to be moved to Liuxia Continent. When the war ended, the sect's old site was already in ruins. The carefully chosen peaks for the two disciples were no longer suitable for cultivation. Song Pin felt very guilty about this.

Xie Songhua teased, "You're not like me. You've been bothered a lot these years, haven't you?"

Song Pin shook her head. "Not too bad. I just hide from people, so it's pretty quiet."

After these Sword Immortals returned home, they never spoke of the Sword Qi Great Wall. But there were always old friends in their homeland who often asked questions, and those were precisely the questions they didn't want to answer.

For example: How was the swordsmanship of that old Great Sword Immortal, who had only drawn his sword a few times from beginning to end?

If A Liang, the direct disciple of the Second Sage, and Zuo You, the direct disciple of the Sage of Literature, fought unrestrained, who would be stronger?

Among the three old Sword Immortals who carved characters, now the only one left in the Haoran world was Qi Tingji. Compared to Dong San'geng and Chen Xi, was his swordsmanship higher or lower?

Why did the previous Hidden Official Xiao Qu betray the Sword Qi Great Wall with two fellow sword immortals? Had she truly become a Fourteen Realm sword cultivator aligned with the Barbarian world?

What kind of person was that young man named Chen Ping'an? How did he become the last Hidden Official of the Summer Resort? And how could he become Ning Yao's Dao partner?

Xie Songhua asked with a smile, "Don't you really want to find a Dao partner?"

Song Pin said, "The other person would have to be a sword cultivator, and higher in realm than me." Xie Songhua shook her head. "Hard, too hard. Once you refine the Fuyao sword fortune and break through to the Immortal realm, higher than you? Would have to be a Ascension realm sword cultivator. How many are there in the whole Haoran world now? You can count them on one hand—all old men with one foot in the grave. Who can you find? If you find them, it's 'a single branch of pear blossom weighs down the crabapple.'"

Song Pin smiled. "Then I won't find one."

Xie Songhua chuckled. "You could wait. Wait a hundred or a thousand years. An old cow eating tender grass—there's a special flavor to it."

Song Pin raised an eyebrow. "I'll wait and see."

Xie Songhua lowered her voice. "I actually have a perfect candidate. Want to think it over?"

Then the two female Sword Immortals switched to voice transmission. This kind of conversation was definitely more exciting than drinking.

Not far away, on adjacent rooftops and viewing platforms, the scene was just like the ferry leaving Inverted Mountain back then.

Xuan Shen leaned on the railing, withdrew his gaze, and turned to greet the two girls who had come out of the house.

Sun Zao and Jin Luan. Back then, on the ferry from Inverted Mountain's Deer Cliff, they were little girls leaving home for thousands of miles. Now, they were elegant young ladies.

But at that time, the two children had naively thought they were just leaving home for a short while. When the war ended, they could return to the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Maybe a few years, ten years, at most a bit longer. They never imagined their entire homeland would be reduced to a city wall broken in two.

Only one sword cultivator remained there for many years. Until the Haoran world won that war.

But their homeland became their past homeland.

She remembered when they followed their master on the ferry to travel far. The master didn't buy them boarding jade tokens. In simple terms, they wanted to board without paying.

In their eyes, their master was always gentle, with curved brows and eyes, speaking softly—such a good temper, off the charts.

But at the ferry, Song Pin said an extremely domineering yet matter-of-fact sentence: "If I give you face, you'd better take it."

In the end, the ferry manager rushed over like his tail was on fire, personally clearing the way and arranging the best accommodations. He bowed and scraped all the way, apologizing profusely, afraid of insufficient hospitality.

It was at that moment that the two little girls began to understand the weight of a Haoran world Jade Perfection realm sword cultivator's tone and style of doing things.

Jin Luan smiled and addressed him, "Brother Xuan Shen."

They had left Inverted Mountain together back then and shared a cross-continent ferry, living next door. They often chatted.

Xuan Shen smiled and nodded. "Oh, you've grown up. Any man you've taken a liking to? If so, I'll have to help screen him. The registered cultivators of the Haoran world have too many schemes—all those sanctimonious and romantic ways. Rather than wait until you get your heart broken and I go kill them half to death, it's better to keep an eye on them now. Of course, if it's a perfect match made in heaven, that's the best."

Seeming like a joke, but Xuan Shen wasn't entirely joking.

After all, they were the direct disciples of Sword Immortal Song Pin, and not in the ordinary sense of being close disciples. That meant that any man who became their Dao partner almost simultaneously gained the protection of Song Pin and her sect.

Although Xuan Shen was young, he was no stranger to the calculation methods of Haoran sect immortal mansions and registered cultivators.

Sun Zao said shyly, "Not yet. We're still young, it's too early. Jin Luan and I agreed to think about these things only after forming our cores."

Xuan Shen was skilled in Go, and coincidentally, their master also liked to play Go. On the ferry, they had some games, each winning and losing. It wasn't the kind of "courtesy game" one might think.

At that time, Song Pin asked who played the best Go in the Summer Resort—was it Xuan Shen, or Lin Junbi of the Central Earth Shaoyuan Dynasty?

Xuan Shen said he and Lin Junbi were evenly matched; the best was their Hidden Official—he had never lost.

Song Pin was a bit surprised and said she would like to compete with the Hidden Official someday. She wasn't too surprised—Chen Ping'an was, after all, Cui Chan's junior disciple.

Xuan Shen wasn't happy about that and smiled, saying their Hidden Official didn't easily play Go with others. If Sword Immortal Song wanted to play with the Hidden Official, she would have to get past him first.

After that, Xuan Shen no longer hid his true Go skill. Song Pin lost seven or eight games in a single day, and she never wanted to play with Xuan Shen again.

Clearly, none of the young sword cultivators who came out of the Summer Resort were honest and straightforward.

Xuan Shen teased, "Sun Zao, do you still cry and say you miss home?"

Sun Zao glared at him. Bringing up old grievances.

Xuan Shen hesitated, then still said, "The Haoran world isn't the Sword Qi Great Wall. People's hearts are more complicated. Good and bad, right and wrong—they can easily blur. So you two must trust your instincts. The first impression often matters a lot. If you encounter something that feels wrong but you can't put your finger on it, go ask your master immediately. Don't drag it out, and don't worry about delaying your master's cultivation and sword practice. As the saying goes, 'human hearts are separated by belly skin.' Remember to observe more, listen more, do less, and speak less in daily life. While focusing on sword training, spend time together and review things. Try to understand why others act, speak, and think the way they do. Over time, you'll understand more and more what the true Haoran world is."

The two girls looked at each other and smiled.

Xuan Shen smiled knowingly. "That's exactly what your master said, isn't it?"

That was reassuring. Otherwise, if something happened to them on Golden Armor Continent that could have been avoided with a little more attention but was neglected because they thought they were too busy, the Hidden Official would certainly hold Song Pin accountable. Moreover, Cao Gun was in Liuxia, Song Gaoyuan in Fuyao, and only Xuan Shen, as their neighbor in Golden Armor, wouldn't be able to escape responsibility.

Since Yue Yue had been to Fallen Mountain, Cao Gun specially invited Yue Yue to his room for a drink, and the old sword cultivator brought along his closed-door disciple Ye Du.

Before entering the Summer Resort, Cao Gun was still a Dragon Gate realm sword cultivator. He only reached Core Formation after becoming a sword cultivator of the Hidden Official lineage.

"Senior, just one sentence from you would shut Pu He up."

Cao Gun teased: "'When I, Yue Yue, was at Core Formation, I already dared to go to the Sword Qi Great Wall to wield my sword against demons.'"

Yue Yue stroked his beard and smiled, gently shaking his head. "Cannot say that, cannot say that. Saying it would hurt too much."

Between people who had become the closest of friends, used to quarreling at every meeting, there were always some things that were never brought up.

Cao Gun turned to look at Ye Du and asked, "How are your injuries?"

Ye Du grinned. "Fully healed. Just wasted a lot of medicinal herbs and time, so my cultivation and realm advancement have slowed down a lot." Pu He nodded. "Being able to repair your lifebound flying sword is already a blessing in misfortune. Wasting a bit of divine money is nothing. As for realm advancement—with Ye Du's aptitude and my full transmission of swordsmanship secrets, there's no need to rush."

Ye Du said, "It's precisely because I recognized you, a Nascent Soul realm, as my master that I'm worried. Look at the others from the same hometown—isn't any of their masters a Jade Perfection realm?"

Stabbed in the heart, Pu He glared. "Your master was once a Jade Perfection realm. My swordsmanship attainment didn't drop with my realm. My vision is still there..."

Ye Du said, "You can shut up now. Save the wheel-repeating talk."

With an outsider present, Old Pu, losing face, got anxious. "Brat, how dare you talk to your master like that..."

Ye Du said, "Cao Gun, my master treats you as an outsider."

Cao Gun smiled faintly and nodded gently.

Pu He laughed heartily. "Cao Gun, my closed-door disciple—pretty sharp, isn't he? Tell me the truth—could today's Ye Du enter the old Summer Resort?"

Of course, the sharper one was Xue Zhou. In short, his two good disciples each inherited half of his true teachings.

Cao Gun smiled. "Not yet."

Ye Du wanted to speak but stopped. He didn't argue for once.

When they left the Sword Qi Great Wall, the boy sword cultivator was at Cave Abode realm. Only this summer did he break through to Sea Observation realm.

The same one-realm breakthrough—his senior sister Xue Zhou went from Sea Observation to Dragon Gate. This showed some gap in aptitude. But it was also related to Ye Du's severe injuries that had damaged his foundation. Pu He had passed by and found the boy, nearly dead, in a pile of corpses. If he had missed that glance, the boy would have died.

Pu He felt it was fate, so he took Ye Du, who didn't even have a surname, as his closed-door disciple.

On the Sword Qi Great Wall, whether one came from an eminent family was simple: it depended on whether a sword cultivator had a surname when young.

By custom, middle five realm sword cultivators, whether Nascent Soul or Cave Abode, had to leave the city wall at certain times and head to the battlefield outside the city.

Surviving to return to the city wall was skill; accumulating battle merits was even more skill. If lacking such skill, it was up to fate where one died—near or far from the city wall.

Anyway, the Sword Qi Great Wall had no customs of burial or entombment.

The city wall was the grave. The battlefield outside the city was the graveyard.

After Ye Du came to the Haoran world, he seemed to have only three things to do: eat, practice swords, and curse his master.

With his master Pu He, Ye Du always referred to himself as "your dad." And Pu He, strangely, doted most on this most disrespectful, unruly, and unmannerly closed-door disciple.

Before leaving home, in the Fenpei Sect, Pu He's lineage was not weak, occupying three peaks. Later, several direct disciples, though their master wasn't around to teach swords, still managed decently. Two second-generation disciples even held their own peak-opening ceremonies during Pu He's time on the Sword Qi Great Wall, when he was "glorifying the ancestors and wreaking havoc."

Unfortunately, those two second-generation disciples weren't sword cultivators. Occasionally, when Pu He was in a good mood, he would summon his direct and second-generation disciples for a drink. Old rule: if not Nascent Soul, stand and eat, stand and toast.

A peculiar school tradition. Only Pu He could do such a thing, and he could do it in a way that both sides felt it was natural.

But now, with two more direct disciples, Ye Du always sat and feasted heartily, while Xue Zhou followed the local custom and stood to eat and toast with the other senior brothers, sisters, and disciples. At Pu He's mountain drinking parties, Core Formation Earth Immortals weren't qualified to sit. Come or not, drink or not—they couldn't resist Pu He's good liquor and his protectiveness. He had the nickname "Timely Rain of Liuxia Continent." Whatever shady business—like wanting to take personal revenge but failing—once you got to know Pu He and got the old Sword Immortal happy, Pu He never boasted at the table or made promises to anyone, but after some time, the person would find they no longer needed revenge.

After all these years, Ye Du still didn't like the Haoran world even a bit. Among his fellow disciples or the sect cultivators who called him "Little Martial Uncle" or "Grand Martial Uncle," Ye Du never smiled. He didn't even bother to nod, unwilling to pretend to be friendly. Ye Du only had one thought: I will practice my sword, and within a hundred years, I must make a name for myself, so I can go to the Colorful World.

But Ye Du did respect Cao Gun and the other two a lot.

Sword cultivators who had been in the Summer Resort deserved respect. That Mi Xiuhua, who ate Jade Perfection realms like rice, was an exception.

Cao Gun asked with a smile, "I heard that Xue Zhou, because of average aptitude, doesn't please her master, and you always want to throw her to someone else?"

Ye Du rolled his eyes. That little girl—so sly! See, she's already tattled, making sure she doesn't suffer any loss.

Pu He, instead of being angry, laughed heartily. "Don't listen to her nonsense. That's all catching shadows and chasing wind. No, absolutely not!" To be fair, Pu He did admit he wasn't good at teaching swordsmanship and Dharma. So regarding Xue Zhou's arrangements, Pu He's earliest plan was to negotiate with this disciple—could she change her sect? He believed her future achievements would be higher. For example, Pu He would have a female founder of a Liuxia sect take her. Her realm wasn't high, just Jade Perfection, but she had money and would cultivate her well.

She was one of Pu He's female confidantes... among others. He had known her for many years. She now managed the sect's finances and treasury. This female cultivator had preserved her youthful appearance, still like a young girl. When she saw Pu He, she would still softly call him "Brother Pu," and his bones would melt. But Pu He, for all his faults, was very clear on one thing: if he couldn't take responsibility, he wouldn't roll into bed.

He had also thought of having his sect master senior brother take Xue Zhou as a direct disciple. But, after spending time with her, he became reluctant. Pu He pretended this idea had never existed.

For the past two years, his senior brother had kept pressing him, asking every few days, swearing that if Xue Zhou was willing to change masters, she would be his closed-door disciple, and it was possible for her to take over the sect in the future. "Our Fenpei Sect hasn't had a Sword Immortal sect master in a long time! You, Pu He, what kind of disciple do you teach? Always this free-range virtue. Being a master to her is 'casting pearls before swine' and 'misleading the young.' The few Earth Immortal disciples and second-generation disciples—that's entirely because you didn't teach them with your heart. If you had taught them with your heart, they wouldn't have succeeded..."

Pu He ignored it like wind passing his ears.

That this senior brother thought so highly of Xue Zhou, one had to admit, showed his unique insight. On one hand, Xue Zhou had excellent sword aptitude. Without saying she would definitely reach upper five realms, reaching Nascent Soul was nearly certain. More importantly, Xue Zhou and Ye Du were entirely different in character. She didn't talk much and looked delicate, but... she was sneaky. Pu He liked her a lot. If Ye Du was a pure sword cultivator, then Xue Zhou was a pure registered cultivator. In Pu He's view, if a registered cultivator's methods weren't even a little bit rogue, they weren't a true registered cultivator.

Now, in the entire sect, besides Pu He and the sect master, almost everyone thought she was a simple girl who could be easily deceived—slow of speech, not wary. But in Pu He's eyes, when he had earlier asked Cao Gun if Ye Du could enter the Summer Resort, it was more of a joke. But Xue Zhou—that girl—could really go to the Summer Resort!

Back when Pu He traveled to the Sword Qi Great Wall, many immortal mansions of Liuxia mountain peaks breathed a sigh of relief, almost setting up tables to celebrate.

In his homeland, Old Sword Immortal Pu had almost as many friends as enemies—not a joke.

No wonder Ye Du had asked back at Inverted Mountain, "Old Pu, you have so many enemies—will I be killed along with you?"

The truth was, this master's reputation at home was just too bad.

A gentle knock came from the corridor. Cao Gun smiled. "Come in."

Xue Zhou pushed the door open, then closed it. She looked apologetic and said guiltily, "Immortal Cao, my master is too embarrassed to say it himself, but he's a bit tight on funds right now. That divine money he borrowed from you at Lingzhi Studio back then—he needs a bit more time to repay."

At that time, Cao Gun was sitting on the steps outside Lingzhi Studio with Ye Du. Pu He had Xue Zhou borrow divine money twice. Combined, it was only a dozen Grain Rain coins.

As Master Pu He said, "That kid Cao Gun has money. Such small change—we, master and disciples, might as well not repay it."

Cao Gun smiled. "It's fine to repay late. Anyway, we'll calculate interest."

Pu He's expression stiffened. Ye Du gasped. Sure enough, these people from the Summer Resort were no easy money—not a single good bird among them!

Xue Zhou smiled slyly, slightly spreading her hands to her master. The disciple had done her best.

Although Pu He was a registered cultivator of the most orthodox kind, he was skilled in disguise and escape techniques. Besides swordsmanship, he knew more about heterodox or crooked methods than swordsmanship.

In the three northwestern continents of Haoran, Old Sword Immortal Pu had left a mark everywhere. Mountain swamp rogues and martial artists of the jianghu held the unorthodox Old Sword Immortal in the highest esteem.

That was why, when Jiang Shangzhen was earning his bad reputation in Northern Juzhou, he was called "Pu He the Second."

The main reason Pu He went to the Sword Qi Great Wall, besides wanting to make his mark there, was also partly due to his own sect's attitude: "If you don't go, we'll throw you out."

His senior brother had said to him bluntly, "Junior Brother Pu, if you don't change your ways, I have only two choices: either I stop being sect master and you take over—let our Fenpei Sect be destroyed at your hands—or I expel you from the sect, and you will no longer be a registered cultivator of our Fenpei Sect."

Pu He was deeply hurt by his heartless senior brother. After all, he had yielded the position of sect master to him back then.

In a fit of pique, Pu He went to the Sword Qi Great Wall, a place he had long wanted to visit. The result? He was tricked by some bastard. At the drinking table, they swore brotherhood, and that bastard insisted that Mi Yu was a Jade Perfection realm waste that the Sword Qi Great Wall had never seen before—such a soft persimmon not to squeeze would be an insult to Pu's unparalleled swordsmanship.

This kind of free reputation—just lying on the ground—if you didn't pick it up, heaven and earth would be offended.

"If I weren't two realms higher than Mi Yu, I'd challenge him to a duel every day—my win streak would climb and climb..."

Pu He did feel a little guilty toward his own sect. So he thought that if he won the duel, he would become the first person in Haoran history to defeat a Sword Qi Great Wall sword cultivator in a same-realm duel! He left the drinking table and went straight to challenge Mi Yu. Both were Jade Perfection realm. Pu He was known in his homeland among the upper five realms for his outstanding killing power and many sinister methods. How could it not be an easy task?

Mi Yu initially refused to accept the sword.

"Have I provoked you?"

"Aren't you ashamed to duel me? Why not pick someone else—Sun Juyuan or Gao Kui?"

"If you beat me, will you really have any face?"

The more Pu He heard, the more confident he became. He began using provocation—the same trump card that bastard had given him.

In fact, just one sentence.

"Mi Hu having a precious brother like you—he really accumulated blessings in his past life."

Sure enough, Mi Yu, who had been a bit nonchalant, immediately darkened his face and accepted the duel.

The result? If Mi Yu hadn't held back and sheathed his sword, Pu He would have been "cut in half"!

Didn't that bastard say Mi Yu was just a Jade Perfection pillow filled with embroidery—all his energy spent on women? When the losing Pu He went to settle accounts with that bastard, he was turned on: that bastard loudly scolded Pu He for losing face for all the Haoran Sword Immortals. "I, A Liang, don't have such a cowardly brother. From now on, if we walk the same road, the well water won't mix with the river water. We'll pretend not to know each other."

Seeing that Pu He was indeed quite miserable, the bastard did console him one line: "Losing a duel isn't such a big deal. It's just a hundred-year stay on the Sword Qi Great Wall as agreed. We two brothers will keep each other company—isn't that wonderful?"

That dog was really a dog.

The past is unbearable to recall, and every time he thinks of it, he sheds bitter tears.

But in the end, the other party said one thing: "You, Pu He, won't regret spending a hundred years here."

At that time, Pu He certainly didn't believe it.

Now, looking back, that bastard actually did say a human word.

In the later half of the night, Xue Zhou took the lead in connecting everyone. The eight sword cultivation prodigies from the Sword Qi Great Wall reunited in this foreign land.

They hadn't talked much at the inn last time. Today, they finally had the chance to leave their masters behind and chat together.

Similar ages, not too far apart. But the atmosphere wasn't particularly harmonious, far from the scene outsiders might imagine of "fellow villagers seeing each other, tears streaming down."

When he learned that Yu Qingzhang and the other had actually left the Sword Qi Great Wall with the young Hidden Official and even practiced on Fallen Mountain in Gourd Vase Continent for a time—

Jin Luan and Sun Zao exchanged glances. What were Yu Qingzhang and He Xiangting thinking? They chose Yue Yue as a master—wasn't he just a Jade Perfection realm?

They didn't look down on Old Mr. Yue. But no matter how you looked at it, coming to Fallen Mountain and then leaving—wasn't that a bad choice?

Ye Du spoke most bluntly, always with sharp words: "You two have something wrong with your heads? You had a great opportunity to stay at Fallen Mountain and even become the Hidden Official's personal disciples, but you chose to follow an old Jade Perfection realm sword cultivator wandering around? If it were me, I would never leave Fallen Mountain, even if the Hidden Official personally kicked me out. Isn't this behavior... Senior Sister Xue Zhou, you like reading, you tell us."

Xue Zhou tilted her head, smiling slyly. "Requiting kindness with enmity? That's a bit heavy. 'Ingratitude' might be more accurate."

Juxing was equally unimpressed with their choice, but the boy seemed born taciturn, and with Ye Du speaking, he was even less inclined.

He Xiangting's face was ashen, fists clenched—clearly furious.

Yu Qingzhang said calmly, "We can choose whoever we want as our master. None of your business. In another ten years, you'll probably still be at Sea Observation. Then we'll see if you have the nerve to speak like this."

Ye Du sneered. "I'm waiting."

It had started with Xie Songhua's suggestion: that they and their respective disciples should have a duel every sixty years, determine the winner, and rank them.

So among these sword cultivators, the real opponent, or the one they most needed to surpass, was the one nicknamed "Little Hidden Official," Chen Li.

Of course, there were also sword cultivators like Sun Zao who didn't mind being last. After all, losing this time, there was always next time.

Xue Zhou asked with a smile, "I heard you all met Pei Qian?"

Juxing only nodded.

Zhaomu, however, began to pour out details, talking about Sister Pei's invincible fist techniques. Back in Aiai Continent's Thunder God Temple, she could even exchange fists with Liu Suiyue, who was a realm higher, making it a back-and-forth fight!

Juxing and Zhaomu were only seven or eight years old when they left their homeland. Compared to the lively Zhaomu, Juxing was clearly more mature beyond his years. His words and actions, his state of mind—he was steady like an old man.

Zhaomu's house back