Chapter 650: Where Is the Sword Cultivator's Homeland?
(The latest issue of the journal has been published.)
Ning Yao told Chen Ping'an to return to the city wall first and reminded him to be careful on the way.
Dong Huafu thought this remark was a bit unnecessary.
Speaking directly had always been Dong Huafu's style.
Chen Sanqiu smiled. "Between a man and a woman, if there aren't a few unnecessary words, that's when the trouble begins."
Dong Huafu nodded in agreement, then asked, "Do you even have the opportunity to say those unnecessary words?"
Chen Sanqiu learned from the Second Manager and replied with a smile.
Dong Huafu wasn't afraid of the Second Manager holding a grudge and settling accounts, but he really wasn't afraid of Chen Sanqiu, who dreamed of becoming his brother-in-law. So he added some fuel to the fire. "My sister becoming a sword cultivator of the Hidden Official lineage—that wasn't intentional to avoid you, was it? If that's really the case, that's going too far. I'll talk to her about it when I get the chance. I do have some sense of loyalty to friends."
Chen Sanqiu shook his head. "That's not it. Your sister is straightforward. If she likes something, she likes it; if she doesn't, she doesn't. She wouldn't be so deliberate."
When you like someone, everything about them is wonderful.
Besides, Chen Sanqiu had felt since he was in diapers that Sister Dong from next door wasn't good just because she caught his eye—she really was good.
It was like the first time Chen Sanqiu saw the phrase "childhood sweethearts" in a book; he thought it was the most touching saying under heaven. Things like "big lake flat as a mirror" or "autumn mountains red as fire" had to step aside.
If you asked whether Dong Bude was particularly beautiful, actually she wasn't.
But over so many years, the more Chen Sanqiu drank, the more he liked her.
Before Chen Ping'an came to the Sword Qi Great Wall, in several past battles below the city, whenever Chen Sanqiu sheathed his sword early on his side of the battlefield, he would run to where Dong Bude was to watch the battle from a distance. Once, when the situation was critical, Chen Sanqiu stepped in to help. Afterward, Dong Bude thanked him, but then followed it with a blunt and heart-piercing remark. It was the second time Dong Bude clearly told Chen Sanqiu that they were both sword cultivators, acquaintances, friends—helping on the battlefield was fine, but she advised Chen Sanqiu not to have any thoughts of being Dao companions on the mountain. The mere thought gave her goosebumps. That time, after Chen Sanqiu returned to the city and drank some wine on the way home, he went to push walls and bump into trees again.
Chen Ping'an was not lightly injured; it wasn't just flesh, skin, and bones—it was a terrible mess. The most troublesome part was the sword qi left behind by the flying swords of those sword cultivators and the wounds caused by many demonic cultivators attacking his true fate object.
However, his overall spirit and energy had not diminished; in fact, they had increased. Ning Yao hadn't seen Chen Ping'an's eyes so bright in a long time.
Currently, within his personal human-body microcosm, his qi flow was chaotic. This wasn't entirely bad—it had both disadvantages and advantages. Li Er once said that his junior brother Zheng Dafeng had gained some insights from looking at the plaque of that Crab Workshop in his early years and mentioned it to him after returning. The general idea was that the human body is a site of an ancient battlefield, so the phrase "do not seek outward" is not entirely about empty cultivation of the mind.
Thus, at present, Chen Ping'an's own body was like a training ground. Unraveling silk threads and using pure true qi to overcome the spiritual qi of cultivators—these were things Chen Ping'an happened to be quite good at.
He picked up a damaged long sword of unknown origin. The sword itself wasn't too mystical, but it was exceptionally heavy. The material used for forging was probably good, worth some immortal money.
In the martial world of vassal states in the Bottle Gourd Continent, this would be a genuine divine weapon, one that even the local mountain and river deities would have to be wary of.
Chen Ping'an was the first to fly north on his sword, choosing a thin spot in the demon army's battle formation, throwing a few punches along the way.
He didn't go directly to the city wall but flew to the highest "horizontal stroke" of the large character "Fierce" on the wall. He sat cross-legged, took out his Nourishing Sword Gourd, drank a few sips of osmanthus wine, and took a closer look at the battlefield's progression. While calmly adjusting his breath, he skillfully bandaged his wounds.
Every large character carved into the city wall, with all horizontal brushstrokes, was an excellent place for cultivation.
But during the phase of the battle where demons climbed the walls like ants, these natural sword cultivator dojos often became places of certain death.
Thus, the old sword cultivators who could cultivate here for hundreds of years must have immense killing power and be exceptionally good at preserving their lives.
Not far from Chen Ping'an sat an elderly sword cultivator with his eyes closed, recuperating. The old man didn't get up to greet him, so Chen Ping'an didn't disturb his cultivation.
Judging by the old man's appearance, he should be the Nascent Soul sword cultivator Yin Chen, listed on page six of the Grade C book. He was advanced in age, but his bottleneck was hard to break, and he had stagnated at the Nascent Soul stage. He had a fierce temperament and was a loner with no family or friends. Almost all sword cultivators on the Sword Qi Great Wall had close friends—either still alive or already dead in battle—but Yin Chen had none. Whenever he threw himself into battle, his killing intent was immense, and once he drew his sword, he liked to indiscriminately attack both enemy and ally. He had killed many demons, but his accumulated battle merits were not high—less than many young Golden Core sword cultivators—because many merits had been deducted. Old sword cultivator Yin Chen's reputation was even worse; after all, no one wanted to get close to a monster who would even kill his own side's sword cultivators.
On every page of the Grade A and Grade C books listing local sword cultivators, there were different annotations by the Hidden Official lineage's sword cultivators. If the sword cultivators of the Summer Retreat Palace had too many opinions, extra sheets of paper were inserted.
Regarding Yin Chen, who was ranked very high in the Grade C roster, there were surprisingly few opinions. Only Chou Miao and Lin Junbi had written a few lines, and those opinions were completely different from the general view on the Sword Qi Great Wall.
If it were accidental injury in battle, almost every sword immortal had done that. Hurting the innocent like that didn't exactly incur infamy. But Yin Chen was different. Many times, the old man's fierce sword strikes were calculated to kill a few sword cultivators.
According to the division of duties in the Hidden Official lineage, old sword cultivator Yin Chen only needed to guard his position and didn't have to go out of the city to fight.
After bandaging all his wounds, Chen Ping'an activated a Purify Talisman to quickly clean off the blood. After all, he was a guest; even if the host didn't give a smile, that was no reason for the guest to be impolite.
The old man opened his eyes and said hoarsely, "You kid are really amusing. I've seen some pure martial artists on the Sword Qi Great Wall. Others throw punches, and they're suppressed by flying swords and magic treasures, but you? You suppress yourself."
Chen Ping'an turned his head and smiled. "Senior Yin has good eyesight."
The old man asked, "I didn't call you 'Hidden Official,' you don't have any hard feelings?"
Chen Ping'an said, "No."
Yin Chen looked toward the front line. North of the Golden River, there was Ning Yao helping; to the south, there were sword cultivators opening the formation as part of their duty. Yin Chen sneered, "Every time I see these so-called young geniuses, it's hard not to feel a bit dejected. Comparing people to people—how can you compare?"
Chen Ping'an smiled. "More sword cultivators feel the same way when they see Senior Yin."
In fact, Yin Chen had also been a young genius once, and extremely outstanding. In his glory days on the Sword Qi Great Wall, he was roughly equivalent to today's Gao Yehu and Situ Weiran.
His sword cultivation had been very smooth, breaking through realms with unstoppable momentum, until he stopped at the Nascent Soul stage. Who would have thought that this stop would mean wasting centuries of time?
Yin Chen sneered, "What else can a waste do besides look up at people and secretly drool? Take me, for example—sitting here idle year after year, I've gone from a young waste to an old waste."
A person who even insults himself when angry is basically undefeated in verbal fights.
Chen Ping'an asked, "That man holding the sword earlier—Senior Yin, did you see through his origin?"
Yin Chen snorted, "The Hidden Officials are getting worse with each generation. You, little outsider kid, are already low in realm, relying on some flimsy connections to usurp the position. You got Senior Xiao Xun's Summer Retreat Palace, with countless archives and secrets, yet you can't even figure out this bit of information? Even if you don't know him, can't you guess?"
Chen Ping'an didn't mind the words. You curse yours, I ask mine. He continued probing, "Is he one of the top hundred sword immortals from Tuoyue Mountain? Comparable to Zhu Qie and Li Zhen in ranking?"
Yin Chen, in turn, continued his own tirade, "Now I figure that on the entire Sword Qi Great Wall, all kinds of nasty things are being said about Senior Xiao Xun, right? What a bunch of bastards with no one to teach them proper manners. If I were Senior Xiao Xun, after breaking through the Sword Qi Great Wall, I'd find every sword cultivator who cursed me, one by one. If they dared to curse me to my face, they'd live; if they didn't dare, they'd die. That would be satisfying. Oh, and earlier, when the great demon Yang Zhi tortured that traveling sword immortal to death on the battlefield, you also took a lot of flak for the sake of the big picture, didn't you? How did that feel? If you had to do it again, would you let those courting death sword cultivators die and be done with it?"
Chen Ping'an said, "Ah Liang once told me that if a person can avoid dying, they absolutely should not die. If taking a few curses can save many people, is there a better deal than that? I think there are very few."
Yin Chen immediately shut his mouth.
It wasn't that the young man's reasoning was particularly correct—not at all.
This young Hidden Official was a closed-door disciple of the Literary Sage lineage, Left's junior brother, and even had a good relationship with the Old Sword Immortal. Yin Chen didn't care about any of that. But the moment Ah Liang was brought into it, Yin Chen's head felt as big as a winnowing basket.
In the past hundred-plus years, Yin Chen had been thoroughly screwed over by that damned bastard. He had truly grabbed a fat sheep and sheared it to the bone. After shearing the fat sheep, he moved on to a thin sheep; when the thin sheep was gone, the fat sheep had probably recovered some wealth, so fine, he'd shear it again. If Ah Liang had only used such methods, Yin Chen could have simply ignored him. But that guy would actually squat beside him, talking to himself for several hours, just to say, "If I can exchange a word with Old Immortal Yin, my trip to the Sword Qi Great Wall won't be in vain." At the time, Yin Chen couldn't help but curse "Get lost!" and the other party immediately turned hostile, pressed him to the ground, gave him a thorough beating with fists.
When Ah Liang left, he was so refreshed. He did his signature move—running his hands through his hair—and said, "Satisfied, satisfied! Big and small fights, over eight hundred of them, and I'm still undefeated!"
Yin Chen lay on the ground at the time, stunned for half a day.
After that, Ah Liang frequently came to visit Old Immortal Yin, euphemistically calling it chatting and heart-to-heart talks, while conveniently adding one or two wins to his record.
Thinking back to that Ah Liang, Yin Chen wasn't entirely resentful. After all, the two had never actually sparred or exchanged sword strikes. Most of the time, that man was just bragging about how much he was liked by good girls in the Haoran Heaven, but from beginning to end, he couldn't name a single woman. Still, the occasional serious words Ah Liang let slip were always aimed at Yin Chen's Nascent Soul bottleneck.
No matter how bad-tempered Yin Chen was, he still had to acknowledge that kindness.
Yin Chen might not know how to behave, but he could clearly tell good people from bad.
Sometimes, precisely because he saw things too clearly, he couldn't be bothered to behave.
The two didn't know each other, and their temperaments were too different, so there wasn't much to talk about. Besides, Yin Chen didn't like drinking, or else Chen Ping'an could have gifted him a flask of Bamboo Sea Cave Heaven wine.
Suddenly, Yin Chen asked, "Are all pure martial artists in Haoran Heaven like this when they practice boxing?"
Chen Ping'an shook his head. "Boxing methods are mostly the same—it boils down to 'learn to box by first learning to be hit.' The difference is just the force."
Yin Chen asked again, "In front of Little Ning, you picked up all that junk. Have you no shame?"
Now this was something to talk about.
Chen Ping'an smiled. "I have a lot of bad habits, but fortunately, Ning Yao doesn't mind."
Yin Chen asked, "You don't look that good-looking—just passable. How did you manage to hook her? I only heard that Little Ning traveled to Haoran Heaven once, and then she fell victim. In my opinion, you're far inferior to Cao Ci. I went to the city wall specifically to take a look at that kid. Whether it's his looks or his boxing, you can't compare."
Now this was a real conversation. The old senior was praising him!
Chen Ping'an quickly stood up, moved closer to Old Immortal Yin, sat down, took a sip of wine, and said cheerfully, "I admit I can't compare in boxing, but when it comes to looks, the gap isn't big. Not big at all."
Unexpectedly, Yin Chen suddenly turned hostile. "I need to cultivate my sword. Please remove yourself, Hidden Official, and stop cluttering the place. You're not welcome."
Chen Ping'an got up awkwardly and flew away on his sword.
Yin Chen clenched his fists on his knees and smiled. Those scholars from Haoran Heaven were all the same damned irritating type.
Chen Ping'an went to the thatched hut on the city wall and first greeted the Great Sword Immortal Wei Jin, who held up half the sky of the tavern.
Wei Jin smiled. "A fine flurry of wild punches. They certainly looked impressive, with the style of the Invincible Fist Sect's old chief. Just a bit slow in breaking the formation."
With his bare fists, he had beaten to death a Far Roaming martial artist from the Barren Wilderness—a pretty good achievement compared to a sword immortal's strike, but rather rare.
It would make a tasty dish to go with wine.
Chen Ping'an chuckled. "Next time I go to your shop, I'll give you an extra bowl of noodles to sober up, so you'll talk less nonsense."
Wei Jin pointed behind him at the thatched hut. "The Old Sword Immortal is in a bad mood. If you can talk, say more."
Chen Ping'an parted ways with Wei Jin and had just landed on the city wall when the Old Sword Immortal came out of the hut, habitually clasping his hands behind his back. "Oh, Martial God Chen has arrived! My humble abode is honored."
Chen Ping'an found it strange. The Old Sword Immortal hadn't been this "polite" before. In his memory, the Old Sword Immortal was dignified and spoke sparingly.
Chen Qingdu glanced at Chen Ping'an. His injuries were manageable, and the gains were not small. He spoke via telepathy, "I owed you two secrets earlier. Now I can tell you."
Chen Ping'an composed himself.
As it turned out, the Old Sword Immortal's two so-called "small secrets" were each bigger than the sky.
The first was about the homeland of all exiled sword cultivators on the Sword Qi Great Wall.
The earliest group of ancient exiles—half of them came from the Barren Wilderness Heaven, and half from what was now the Fifth Heaven.
Chen Ping'an was stunned.
That meant half of the exiles and their descendants had actually been in their homeland from the start?
Born on the Sword Qi Great Wall, died on the Sword Qi Great Wall—all in their homeland?
Then, if the descendants of the other half wanted to return to their roots, it would be connected to the Fifth Heaven. As long as they survived, at least they had a chance to go back?
The second secret was even bigger.
The Old Sword Immortal's statement was shocking: the path of a pure martial artist ascending to the heavens was actually a path to becoming a god, and it would involve military scholars.
Although Chen Ping'an had some guesses before, once the Old Sword Immortal said it out loud, many threads became clear. For example, he no longer wondered why on the path of martial arts there was a Golden Body Realm. And all the mountain and river deities in the world took creating a golden body as the foundation of their path. Ignoring ghosts and spirits becoming gods, the experience of a living person becoming a god, like Iron Talisman River God Yang Hua's "wasting away," was a necessary process. This was indeed similar to a martial artist tempering their body and forging their bones and tendons.
Chen Qingdu didn't explain everything. Since this kid liked to think, he would have plenty of time to ponder the first pages of that old almanac.
He walked slowly with Chen Ping'an. Since they were already taking a stroll, it wouldn't do to turn back after just a few steps, so the old man said a bit more. "Since ancient times, immortals and gods have been different. First gods, then immortals. Why? According to today's beliefs, when a person's soul doesn't dissipate after death, that becomes a god. They enjoy the incense and offerings of the human world and don't need to cultivate to stabilize their golden body.
"Not dying and becoming an immortal—that's what today's cultivators are, the ones who nest in the mountains. When scholars write history, they always delete and excise. Over time, the truth gets farther and farther away. If you have the chance in the future, you can visit the three great academies. As the closed-door disciple of that old scholar, turning over a few worthless old books is no problem at all."
Chen Ping'an just listened and remembered these things. For now, they were of little significance; if he was being pragmatic, they were completely meaningless.
But the next statement made Chen Ping'an prick up his ears, afraid of missing a single word.
"First Far Roaming, then Mountain Summit, then the tenth martial realm, which is divided into three layers: Qi Abundant, Return to Truth, and Spirit Arrival. What is Spirit Arrival? I remember there's a saying from your hometown. What was it?"
"Daomen!" (To the door!)
Chen Ping'an blurted out, "If a person's skill is good enough, whether it's farming or making porcelain, others like to praise it as 'daomen le' (has arrived at the door)."
Chen Qingdu nodded. "Arrived at the door? Which door? How to walk the path? Who is guarding the door? The answers are all in your hometown's little town... How does it go again?"
Chen Ping'an said, "Yuzhe." (Remaining/Spare)
Chen Qingdu smiled and nodded, then detailed some of the subtleties of the tenth realm's three layers.
But the old man had a rare look of nostalgia.
Over in Bottle Gourd Continent, there was an old friend, also imprisoned in a small circle for ten thousand years.
So Chen Qingdu said an aside: "That Embroidered Tiger, Cui Chan, is truly formidable."
Chen Ping'an said, "During the first Mind Trial back then, because Master Qi was there, I passed it safely. When Master Qi was gone, I couldn't get through the second trial no matter what. And that was even without Cui Chan going all out."
Chen Qingdu said, "All the hardships that are hard to endure yet you endure—they pound a pit in your heart. The bigger the pit, the more it can hold later."
Chen Ping'an said, "Mm."
But it was also possible that a person would spend their whole life filling that pit. For example, the more the world owes a person in childhood, the more they will spend their adulthood patching and mending it.
Leaving the city wall, Chen Ping'an flew on his sword to his private residence in the Summer Retreat Palace and began to recuperate in peace.
Just two days later, Chen Ping'an made a trip to the Winter Retreat Palace, coming and going freely with his jade token in hand, not even needing to use one Teleportation Talisman.
He chose a quiet spot and watched Granny Bai teaching boxing to the children. She was explaining what it meant for "the whole body to be one fist," the intent behind it, how to learn it, and then how to practice it.
Among the children was one Chen Ping'an was familiar with—the tomboy named Yuan Zaohua. He had given her two folding fans, and she was the only one on the Sword Qi Great Wall who could use real skill to cheat the Second Manager out of his immortal money.
As for the other children, Chen Ping'an wasn't unfamiliar with any of them, because all of them had been carefully selected by him and the Hidden Official lineage as seeds for martial arts. One of them had already been taken by Yu Juanfu to the Central Earth Divine Continent. The rest, who were not too old to start learning boxing, were all here.
The Sword Qi Great Wall had many sword cultivators but very few pure martial artists.
If the Sword Qi Great Wall were breached and the world changed, turning into a piece of the Barren Wilderness Heaven, would all that martial arts fortune be left for the Barren Wilderness?
That wouldn't do.
But Chen Ping'an also knew that this was too little too late. Hoping that these children could compete for the title of "strongest" was slim. Moreover, the Sword Qi Great Wall had a natural suppression effect, severely conflicting with the Great Dao. He hadn't understood this before, but after the Old Sword Immortal revealed it on the city wall, he started to grasp it. The female martial god Pei Bei from the Central Earth Divine Continent was most likely well-prepared. As for Cao Ci, he practiced boxing purely and never sought martial fortune. Chen Ping'an admitted he was far inferior to Cao Ci in that regard. Now, as long as martial fortune was willing to come, Chen Ping'an wished it would bring along its "relatives" and "household"—open the door and welcome them all, the more the merrier.
But even if this batch of children hastily started boxing and couldn't earn martial fortune, it didn't matter much. As long as they had a skill and a solid foundation, wherever they went in the future, they could survive, or at least have a better chance of surviving. In chaotic times, if you want to settle down and find a foothold, your identity often doesn't help much.
On the training ground, Granny Bai threw a punch. The distance was very short—less than half an arm—but the boxing intent was heavy, returning to simplicity, natural and seamless.
At the seventh realm of martial arts and above, so-called techniques were actually a contest of the depth of boxing intent, akin to a simple manifestation of the Great Dao.
That punch, Granny Bai suddenly aimed at a sturdy boy beside her. He stood still, unmoving, with an expression that said, "Go ahead and kill me if you can."
This was Jiang Yun from a high-ranking family on Taixiang Street. He was one of the most talented.
After Granny Bai withdrew her punch, the child himself didn't notice, but even though he wasn't afraid at all, he was already drenched in sweat.
This was a rare potential talent.
Granny Bai threw another punch, her fist almost touching the forehead of a little girl from Yuhu Street. The girl was slightly inferior to Jiang Yun; though she didn't step back, her body trembled slightly.
More than ten children stood in a row, and Granny Bai walked past them one by one. Some children stepped back, while others gritted their teeth and stood still.
But Granny Bai didn't throw a single punch.
Chen Ping'an could see, however, that when Granny Bai approached a few children, her boxing intent had already arrived even though the punch hadn't been thrown. Unfortunately, only one child—named Xu Gong from Mumeng Lane—had the right intuition. He had already stepped back early when Granny Bai's intent stirred. Although this was the complete opposite of Jiang Yun's choice, they were both good seedlings with hope of "embodying" the boxing intent earlier.
As for the tomboy Yuan Zaohua, she was on high alert, body tense. Granny Bai's boxing intent quietly radiated outward, but she still didn't notice.
Chen Ping'an thought this was all fine. Practicing martial arts did require talent and bone structure, and it was quite important, but not as strict as for qi cultivators, and certainly not as luck-driven as becoming a sword cultivator. Not everyone could become a sword cultivator through hard work, but as for boxing, as long as you had some aptitude, you could make steady progress, like a long, slow stream, gradually building skill. The third realm would be a big threshold, but for these children, passing the third realm wouldn't be hard—the only difference was whether it came sooner or later, easier or harder.
Chen Ping'an leaned against a pillar in the corridor, hands tucked into his sleeves, watching the children. Those who wanted to learn boxing seriously were mostly from poor backgrounds in Yanchi Lane and Mumeng Lane; those who were less willing were often from large clans like Jiang Yun.
The children started practicing standing postures again. Occasionally, Granny Bai would help adjust their bones and tendons, and then the child would start rolling on the ground, howling and crying.
Watching this, Chen Ping'an, who had been in a peaceful mood, directly turned into schadenfreude and found it quite amusing.
But when he saw the tomboy and a child from a poor lane lying on the ground in pain, he felt a bit sad.
Granny Bai glanced in her young mistress's husband's direction, a kind expression on her face, with a slightly questioning look.
Chen Ping'an quickly waved his hand, indicating that he had just come to watch.
But Granny Bai still smiled and said, "Hidden Official, someone here says they want to learn boxing from you. They think my boxing is too effeminate. How about you come and teach?"
Chen Ping'an was about to decline when Jiang Yun crossed his arms and shouted, "Where is the Hidden Official?!"
Damn little brat—who was the Hidden Official here?
Chen Ping'an looked at the tomboy sitting up, silently raising a trembling hand to wipe the dust and sweat from her face.
Granny Bai smiled.
Chen Ping'an had no choice but to quickly walk to the training ground.
He didn't do much—just briefly explained some insights about the six-step walking stance in boxing. It was concise, just a few sentences.
Jiang Yun thought it was just the beginning, but then the young Hidden Official stopped talking. The boy couldn't help but ask, "That's it?"
Chen Ping'an nodded. "Boxing principles are never too numerous. It's the same principle as how thinner books often contain greater knowledge."
He said only half.
The teachings of the Three Religions and various schools—the more core the doctrine, the more extensive the later commentaries and annotations became, eventually branching out to encompass everything.
But when dealing with children, the more detailed the explanation, the more confused they became, unsure of what to do.
Granny Bai smiled and said, "Hidden Official, if you're not in a hurry to return to the Summer Retreat Palace, since we've finished today's standing posture practice, you could teach them the walking stance of the Mountain-Shaking Fist."
With outsiders present, she naturally couldn't call him "young master's husband."
Chen Ping'an thought about it and figured staying for half an hour wouldn't be a problem, so he nodded and agreed, smiling. "This walking stance originates from the Mountain-Shaking Fist."
Jiang Yun interrupted again, "Hold on—that fist manual name isn't impressive. 'Mountain-Shaking'? On the Sword Qi Great Wall, which sword cultivator can't level a mountain with one sword strike?"
Chen Ping'an smiled. "Then why don't you teach me boxing?"
Jiang Yun frowned. "Let's talk nicely and be reasonable!"
Chen Ping'an gave a knowing smile and continued, "Maybe the name of the fist manual really isn't that great, so let me say a few more things."
He roughly described the situation of martial artists in Haoran Heaven, talking about lowly martial artists from the streets who weren't from prestigious families, with mixed techniques. As long as they could crack bricks with their fists and crush stones with their feet, they were considered good martial artists. So the name "Mountain-Shaking" carried a lot of weight. His words were interspersed with some of his own experiences. The children listened attentively and absorbed. Of course, being able to slack off a little—not standing in postures or boringly practicing walking stances—who wouldn't like that?
After his explanation, Chen Ping'an demonstrated the walking stance a few times, then helped the children correct some flaws in their movements. After about an incense stick's time, during a break, Chen Ping'an, who had previously talked about the street-level martial world, also described the peak scenery of the ninth and tenth realm martial artists. The children loved hearing that. The Winter Retreat Palace was like a cage—they couldn't escape. Jiang Yun had once tried to persuade the little girl from Yuhu Street to run away with him. In the middle of the night, they had barely climbed the wall when the fierce old granny dragged them back and made them stand in posture. The girl fainted from exhaustion, and Jiang Yun actually fell asleep standing.
At the time, not far from where the two were standing, there were two other children who had voluntarily stood in posture, but Granny Bai quickly sent them back to rest.
In boxing, you must avoid rigidity.
The poor study letters, the rich practice martial arts. To practice martial arts, you need a good teacher to guide you. Forging your body and bones is costly. If you take the wrong path, boxing will only harm your body and drain your vitality. If the boxing intent hasn't "embodied" but instead it feels like a ghost has possessed you, that is the greatest suffering for martial artists without a teacher.
Chen Ping'an timed himself and took his leave.
Granny Bai continued teaching the children boxing.
Jiang Yun muttered quietly, "Meeting him in person—what a disappointment."
Granny Bai smiled. "When you think you're qualified to spar with the Hidden Official, you'll know what true despair is."
Jiang Yun shook his head. "Forget it. The Second Manager is too cunning. When I reach a higher realm and catch up to him, I'll first sound him out. If he agrees to a spar, then I won't fight."
Granny Bai shook her head. The Jiang family had always been honest; how did they raise such a loose-lipped little bastard?
Jiang Yun glanced at the old woman. The child found it even stranger now—how did his grandfather ever like this old hag?
Chen Ping'an returned to the Summer Retreat Palace, then called Sword Immortal Chou Miao and went together to the Spring Banners Pavilion on the Hanging Mountain. Along the way, he also visited the Plum Garden. The booklet that Madam Tuoyan had sent to the Summer Retreat Palace was not thin, so for this trip to the Hanging Mountain, Chen Ping'an brought two extra Storage Artifacts, borrowed from Yan Ming and Nalan Caihuan. In the empty Plum Garden, Sword Immortal Chou Miao watched the Hidden Official's eyes light up as he moved things and couldn't help asking, "Is this how you behave in the Ning family's secret treasury too?"
Chen Ping'an couldn't be bothered to respond.
How was this the same?
At the Spring Banners Pavilion, he carefully went through the account books, with Wei Wenlong explaining some of the finer points in a low voice. Sword Immortal Mi Yu was getting drowsy.
The outcome that Chou Miao and Lin Junbi had most feared had yet to appear.
The ferries from the eight continents were still unobstructed, able to smoothly reach the Hanging Mountain.
On the way there, Chou Miao had suggested raising the offer appropriately. Chen Ping'an felt it was feasible, so he discussed the details with Yan Ming, Nalan Caihuan, and Shao Yunyan. Some important supplies kept their original prices; otherwise, the financial pressure on the Sword Qi Great Wall would be too great. Even with the added wealth from the two private residences of the Spring Banners Pavilion and the Plum Garden, it was still far from enough. But for certain secondary "surplus" supplies from each ferry on the eight continents, they could afford to offer more profit, step by step.
Back at the Sword Qi Great Wall, this was Chen Ping'an's first time approaching the mirage to the north of the city. He didn't enter but only observed from afar.
Sword Immortal Chou Miao looked up at the sky and said via telepathy, "Leaving aside the level of sword killing power, just looking at the essence of things—can you achieve what the Old Sword Immortal did?"
Chen Ping'an shook his head. "It would be very hard."
Over on the Sword Qi Great Wall, Ning Yao and her group of sword cultivators were the first to fly back to the city wall.
Everyone was injured, with Diezhang being the worst.
Chen Qingdu walked out of the thatched hut.
Chen Sanqiu called out "Old Ancestor," and Chen Qingdu replied, "Mm."
That was all.
If an outsider met Chen Sanqiu while he was drinking, it would be hard to imagine that this dashing, young drunkard could trace his ancestry back to Chen Qingdu.
Old Sword Immortal Chen Xi, who had carved the character "Chen" on the city wall, had once privately asked the Old Ancestor if Chen Sanqiu could leave and go to Haoran Heaven to study under a Confucian sage.
Chen Qingdu asked only one question.
In the future, would Chen Sanqiu still bear the surname Chen?
In the end, Chen Xi left the city wall dejectedly.
Chen Sanqiu respectfully bid farewell and then flew away on his sword first.
The Chen family descendants had always been like this.
Having an ancestor with truly transcendent swordsmanship was the same as having none—or perhaps even worse than having none.
Dong Huafu, Yan Zhuo, and the others also left, returning to the city to recuperate for a few days. Diezhang needed a longer time to recover.
Only Ning Yao remained.
Chen Ping'an flew on his sword to the city wall.
He sat beside Ning Yao on the wall, his feet gently swinging.
Ning Yao asked, "For more than a year, you've been staying in the Summer Retreat Palace. Were you hiding something from me and didn't dare to see me?"
Chen Ping'an started to speak but stopped.
Ning Yao said, "As long as you haven't fallen for someone else, there's nothing you can't say."
Chen Ping'an gave a helpless smile. After a moment of silence, he said, "I wasn't planning to say anything, but suddenly I realized that what I thought was best might actually lead to the worst outcome. After all, when two people who like each other are together, it really isn't just one person's business. So I'll tell you. After you've heard it, you can hit me, but don't be angry."
Ning Yao listened and then nodded.
Chen Ping'an told her about that matter—it was an agreement with the Old Sword Immortal.
Ning Yao didn't speak.
Chen Ping'an asked softly, "Not angry?"
Ning Yao countered, "Would being angry help?"
Chen Ping'an thought about it. It seemed not.
But he didn't dare say that.
Ning Yao raised an eyebrow.
That settled it.
She didn't say it either.
Chen Ping'an lightly tapped his heels against the city wall.
Being with Ning Yao, and before that—from meeting her, liking her, to walking by her side—he had crossed mountains and rivers, traveled far, practiced boxing. It was a bit tiring, but never exhausting at heart.
Ning Yao asked, "If you have such big worries in the future, just say it outright. Even if I'm angry, I'll let you know."
Chen Ping'an gently took her hand. Then the two of them quietly looked into the distance.
Chen Qingdu was taking a walk, never going far, moving slowly and then turning back.
He glanced at the silhouettes of the young man and woman in the distance.
Chen Qingdu smiled, remembering a very interesting little incident.
The reason he had a good impression of Chen Ping'an at their first meeting back then had nothing to do with anything else.
It had nothing to do with Chen Ping'an sparring with Cao Ci three times in a row, daring to throw punches and able to admit defeat.
It had nothing to do with the young man traveling alone across the world to the Sword Qi Great Wall to deliver a sword for the girl he loved.
Nor did it have to do with Chen Ping'an's connection to that certain senior.
Back then, when Chen Qingdu looked at that young man who had originally possessed the talent of a land immortal but had his Bridge of Longevity broken, especially when he looked into his eyes and the vitality radiating from him, Chen Qingdu found it... amusing and frustrating.
Unlike how many old martial artists and mountain seniors viewed Chen Ping'an, Chen Qingdu was perhaps the only one who saw not a trace of decrepitude but a surging vitality.
Back then, the still-young Chen Ping'an seemed as if his entire being was silently asking, with a spirited inquiry to heaven and earth:
"Can I really become a great sword immortal? Can I make the girl I like like me back and keep liking me? Can I protect the girl I like in the future? Will I definitely not disappoint certain people? I will be able to achieve these things, right?!"
Chen Qingdu thought that was very good.
No wonder that old scholar, before leaving, had pestered him and kept asking, "Isn't my closed-door disciple good? Aren't you jealous? He's really good, right? You're really jealous, aren't you? Alas, it's a pity you can't be envious. If I were you, Old Brother Chen, I would have already punched me in the face! Otherwise, I couldn't stand the jealousy!"