Chapter 760: Wrong
With no more rain to disturb the peace, in the quiet small world, above the heads of Pei Min and Cui Dongshan, a speck of white light appeared first, like a sun hanging in the night sky. Then a snow-white sword light slashed down. Though the sword light was extremely fine, its momentum was like a spectacular waterfall cascading from the heavens to the mortal world.
Pei Min's Sword Qi Small World was shattered in an instant. The surrounding world barriers, like a piece of glazed mirror, were abruptly smashed to the ground, shattering and scattering in all directions. In a moment, the torrential rain poured down again. The rain curtain over the Celestial Temple Monastery still rumbled with spring thunder, lightning flashing, with awe-inspiring momentum.
Pei Min was dressed in black robes, while Cui Dongshan wore a white gown. Although no rain touched them, every time lightning and thunder intertwined, it clearly illuminated their figures outside the meditation hut.
Without seeing the Sword Immortal, the sword light arrived first.
A figure in a blue shirt drifted down gently, landing outside the mountain gate of the Celestial Temple Monastery. One hand held a sword, the other lightly pressed against the wound on his abdomen. His expression was calm, and he said, "Dongshan, retreat."
Cui Dongshan quickly sighed, hopped once, landed, and directly withdrew from the Celestial Temple Monastery, standing beside his master.
Earlier, he had deliberately revealed Pei Min's identity. His voice was not low, naturally hoping that his master would hear it on the way. For a sword challenge at the Celestial Temple Monastery on a rainy night, it would be best to show some restraint, merely determining victory or defeat in swordsmanship, not life and death. Even if he couldn't bear it and truly wanted to fight the old man to the death, there was no rush; he had to save his strength first. Unexpectedly, this old thief Pei had seen through his intentions, using sword qi to create a small world early on, cutting off Cui Dongshan's message transmission.
Fortunately, his master only broke Pei Min's sword small world with a single sword strike and didn't directly spar within the temple. So Cui Dongshan said no more. His master truly knew how to act with restraint.
Chen Ping'an lightly flicked his wrist, creating a sword flower. Strands of sword qi shimmered with flowing light, like someone holding a lantern while wandering an ancient temple at night. All the sword light brought by the sword qi was ultimately confined within the tip of the blade. Chen Ping'an raised one hand, extending his palm forward, then took a step back. His tiptoe and heel hovered in the void without touching the ground. "How about we ask each other's swords outside, so as not to disturb the Duke's scripture copying?"
Cui Dongshan couldn't help but remind him in a low voice, "Master, this old geezer is named Pei Min, the Pei Min from the Central Earth Divine Continent. He taught Bai Ye some swordsmanship for a few days. He's a tough nut to crack. Be extremely careful. Just now, I brought out two senior uncles in one breath—one is the Most Proud Under Heaven—and still couldn't scare him."
Cui Dongshan's words were still roguish, but rarely was his expression so grave.
If tonight was just about Pei Min and his master exchanging one sword strike each, a point of restraint, then Cui Dongshan wouldn't say much. But judging by his master's expression and Pei Min's aura, it didn't seem like a routine of announcing names and then going separate ways in the martial world.
On the old almanac of the Bright World that specially recorded the romance of Sword Immortals, Pei Min, who had once symbolized the pinnacle of mortal swordsmanship, was one of the main reasons Zuo You traveled overseas to seek immortals for over a hundred years. If he didn't truly fight Pei Min and determine a clear first and second place, anything like "Zuo You's swordsmanship is unmatched under heaven" was illusory, a complimentary exaggeration that didn't need to be taken seriously.
Through the dark rain curtain stretching for several miles, Chen Ping'an concentrated, gathered his many scattered thoughts, tried to unify them, and fixed his gaze on Pei Min, one of the Three Uniques of the Bright World. He had hidden himself so deeply. Back then, Chen Ping'an hadn't even thought in that direction or at a higher level, always just considering him a close bodyguard of the Duke of Shen. No wonder he could get mixed up with that Fei Ran—they were kindred spirits.
At this moment, Chen Ping'an dared not shift his gaze even a fraction. Still following the principle of hearing the fist before asking the fist, he carefully observed the old man's flow of qi, saying with a smile, "Whether or not he's a tough nut, Master knows very well."
If he weren't a tough nut, he wouldn't have first shattered the Caged Sparrow's small world with an umbrella sword and then pinned Chen Ping'an against the wall. If Chen Ping'an hadn't punched, that umbrella handle would have stabbed toward his heart.
Using an umbrella as a sword—this sword seemed like an immortal crossing mountains and rivers in one step, appearing without warning from the Celestial Temple Monastery outside the window of the Yellow Flower Temple's side room. Chen Ping'an was indeed caught off guard at that moment. In desperation, he had to pay the price of injury to save the Dragon Province Daoist, whom that umbrella-handle sword truly intended to kill. Chen Ping'an was very clear that it was his own Caged Sparrow that had attracted Pei Min's attention from afar.
The trouble with his life-bound flying sword, Caged Sparrow, was exactly this: when fighting in a small world, Chen Ping'an could fully utilize the advantages of time and place, combined with the sword that could transform into thousands, the Moon in the Well, to gain complete harmony.
But once Caged Sparrow appeared, for Upper Five Realm cultivators outside the battlefield, it was itself a great deterrent and reminder. It was truly like someone holding a candle while wandering at night—the brightness of the candlelight and the volume of the greeting depended entirely on the eyesight and hearing of the Upper Five Realm cultivators.
Therefore, in the Yellow Flower Temple, Chen Ping'an did not fully use Caged Sparrow's life-bound divine ability. Against a Temple Viewing Realm temple master who hadn't even reached Earth Immortal, it was a waste of talent.
Pei Min said nothing. He took a step, casually grabbed, and the rainwater mixed with his own sword qi condensed into a sheathless longsword, verdant green, gleaming like autumn water.
Chen Ping'an's right foot, which had been lifted without landing, now firmly stepped into the muddy road. Pei Min's figure appeared in the wilderness dozens of miles away, and Chen Ping'an followed like a shadow.
Before this, Chen Ping'an had communicated with Cui Dongshan through his heart, entrusting him with one matter.
For certain high-level Qi Practitioners in the Celestial Temple Monastery and the Mirage City, there were two brilliant sword lights tearing through the night sky for dozens of miles, like two dragons swimming at high altitude, ultimately flashing and disappearing, vanishing at two facing mountain peaks.
Before that, an even more imposing sword light had cut through the sky, like a knife cutting through tofu, easily slicing through the heaven's rain curtain.
The sword qi was extremely long, and the sword light was extremely close. Clearly, it originated from the Mirage City and landed in the direction of the Celestial Temple Monastery outside the capital. Both the sword qi displayed and the vast sword intent made the small group of Earth Immortals in the Mirage City who had luckily sensed this feel extremely terrified. Their minds wavered; some began to seal their energy and hide to protect themselves, others hurriedly summoned their direct disciples to their side, donned magic robes, formed talisman arrays, preparing for a great enemy. Those young registered immortal masters turned pale, mistakenly thinking another kingdom-destroying war incited by demons had begun.
Among them, several Earth Immortals who saw the danger, relying on the passes and tokens issued by the Ministry of Rites of the Great Spring Dynasty, hurriedly rode the wind and left the capital of the Great Spring Dynasty, fleeing in the opposite direction of those two mountain peaks in the suburbs. They feared that the two unknown Sword Immortals would exert their full strength with their swords, and a single careless strike would implicate the entire Mirage City. Then, whether they were small fry or coiled dragons, their sword qi would soar to the sky. Once it landed in the Mirage City, not to mention splitting the city like paper, causing mortal bodies and souls to shatter, the abundant sword qi would mix with the city's spiritual energy, creating a situation like an oil cauldron cooking countless Qi Practitioners. In that oil cauldron, fish and dragons alike wouldn't have a good outcome.
A Caged Sparrow, a small world, enveloped the two mountain peaks a few miles apart where the confrontation was taking place.
Pei Min became a bird in a cage, facing a "Heavenly Lord" who was in charge. The other party was also a Sword Immortal. The old man still seemed unconcerned, instead showing some interest. He looked again at the longsword in the young sword cultivator's hand. It was familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar—it was undoubtedly an incomplete immortal sword, Tai Bai. While remaining silent, Pei Min had been carefully sensing the flow of sword qi in the surrounding world.
The world was orderly, stars scattered like chess pieces, all things strict and imposing. What a fine Sword Qi Small World—it already possessed the embryonic form of a leak-free Dao.
The old man nodded lightly, not hiding his appreciative expression. Finally, he spoke his first words, "A good companion sword, a good flying sword—they must be treasured."
The reason he chose this spot to strike was that the two mountains faced each other, neither too far nor too close. Pei Min intended to test how much of the real world this young sword cultivator's small world could cover. On the Yellow Flower Temple side in the capital, using a flying sword's life-bound divine ability to cover a small side room of a Daoist temple was clearly Chen Ping'an holding back. Perhaps even the earlier injury from being stabbed in the abdomen and pinned into the wall was a form of weakness.
The other party no longer spoke; their sword challenge was purely in swordsmanship.
Pei Min no longer held back.
At the high altitude of the two facing mountains, two sword lights clashed in the sky, forming a slightly tilted "one" character.
It seemed each had struck out one sword. Chen Ping'an first struck out to ask the sword, and Pei Min leisurely received the sword with his own. Ultimately, the two sword lights, with tacit understanding, landed on the same spot. In fact, Pei Min and Chen Ping'an had each struck out twelve sword strikes in an instant, each faster and heavier than the last, but the trajectory of the sword light had no deviation from the first strike's path. Pei Min followed suit, doing the same.
The sword light dissipated, but the lingering charm of both sword intents remained extremely thick, filling all directions. The other party did not strike again, and even his figure was not visible. Pei Min remained motionless, slightly surprised. This swordsmanship was quite extraordinary, with a very novel aura—it could continuously stack sword intent? But only twelve strikes—wasn't that a bit too few? If he could accumulate twenty strikes, perhaps he would need to take a step.
The sword light came like thunder and lightning and left just as fast. But the "one" character jointly written by the two swords was enough to slay several Nascent Soul Earth Immortals who were suppressed by the world.
Pei Min twisted his wrist. A sword light flashed, and he casually struck to the side, where a sharp sword light cut across the sky, dispersing a silent and stealthy sword qi.
The previous strike was dazzling, but Pei Min's sword was extremely precise; the sword qi just neutralized each other, leaving only sword intent. However, this strike came quietly and, after being blocked by Pei Min's sword, its momentum was immense. The sword qi shattered and splattered like a heavy rain. On the earth below, the mountains and forests were covered with tens of thousands of fine ravines, sword marks scattered all over the mountainsides and valleys. A mountain stream seemed to be cut into hundreds of irregular, variously sized water fields by the crisscrossing, stray sword qi from both sides.
Pei Min looked at the longsword condensed from rainwater. The blade had broken into two pieces. After all, it was just an ordinary object, far inferior to that strange longsword with the tip of Tai Bai for sharpness.
But the two broken pieces were drawn together by sword qi, mending themselves back into a pristine, gleaming longsword. If it weren't to show his identity as a sword cultivator, at Pei Min's realm, broken swords were meaningless.
Pei Min wondered what object in the world could be refined into the scabbard for the tip of Tai Bai. A large piece of Dragon-Slaying Platform might barely work, but it would be too cumbersome and its rank not high enough. Moreover, the tip of Tai Bai didn't need a Dragon-Slaying Platform to sharpen it—like a Flying Ascension Realm great cultivator needing a few Snow Flower coins to replenish the spiritual energy lakes in his personal human small world.
Pei Min said, "I'll let you strike one more time. After three strikes, you'll receive my three strikes. If you can withstand them, you won't die."
Pei Min suddenly smiled. This young man was being somewhat dishonest.
Because inside the small world, it was like someone scattering yellow paper money at a tomb during Qingming Festival.
Approximately eighteen hundred yellow paper talismans, relying on the "favorable timing," Chen Ping'an used sword qi to dot their eyes and fill their essence in an instant, all gleaming with spiritual light.
The sky was like hanging a Milky Way, then suddenly sinking. The sword talismans, interlinked, formed a dense celestial star chart like that of the Imperial Observatory.
Chen Ping'an concealed his form in one place, using his will to drive that sword formation, smashing it heavily towards the old man holding a sword on the mountain peak.
But Chen Ping'an was actually standing at the foot of the mountain where Pei Min was located. However, with a difference in the world, a step away could feel like the ends of the earth. Inside the Caged Sparrow, distance could not be measured by ordinary logic. If Chen Ping'an were bold enough, he could stand right next to the old man on the peak, side by side with Pei Min, yet in reality they would be separated by thousands of miles. But Chen Ping'an still worried that an old Sword Immortal who had reached the pinnacle of swordsmanship in the mortal world for a thousand years had not yet summoned his life-bound flying sword. This made him extremely tense.
If Pei Min detected the slightest trace and ignored the sword formation, inexplicably finding his hiding place, choosing a sword to break all methods, open the world, ignore the River of Time, instantly suppress the Caged Sparrow—then even this distance between mountain peak and foot would give Chen Ping'an room to dodge that strike. At the same time, Chen Ping'an had been acting unusually, reserving several thoughts in other places, like ethereal, wandering Yin Gods, "concentrating" behind the scenes to observe Pei Min's sword strikes, determining that Pei Min could rely on these faint "thought ripples" but then his next strike would miss.
If it weren't for being fed many punches by masters and seeing many Sword Immortals on the Sword Qi Great Wall,
Otherwise, any ordinary sword cultivator, just facing the name and title of "Swordsmanship Pei Min," would have their Dao Heart shaken a few points before Pei Min even truly struck.
It was like a Qi Practitioner going to Dragon Tiger Mountain to spar in thunder magic with the Great Heavenly Master—inevitably feeling somewhat insecure, unless it were Fu Lu Xuan He or Huo Long Zhen Ren.
Pei Min held one hand behind his back. With his sword hand, he lightly shattered the rainwater longsword in his hand. With a flick of his sleeve, the rainwater sword qi scattered, spreading out from the peak where Pei Min stood as the center, horizontally isolating that young man's small world.
The sword qi spread like ripples on a lake, eventually forming a huge mirror placed across the mortal world.
The old man casually split the Caged Sparrow small world in two, top and bottom, severing the connection between heaven and earth.
Although he had already found the young man's true hiding place—the lad was standing by the stream at the foot of the mountain—since he had said earlier he would take three strikes first, Pei Min wouldn't go back on his word. He intentionally pretended not to notice, watching the sword talisman array and the sword qi mirror exchange another strike. Another relatively novel swordsmanship.
Just too flashy. The talisman paper foundation was too poor, making the talismans' rank not very high. And a dozen or so of those talismans were quite unfamiliar—even Pei Min couldn't guess their general source. But this sword talisman great formation, overall, looked good but didn't mean much.
This wasn't a battlefield. In one-on-one combat between sword cultivators, blindly seeking size and completeness—what was that young man after? Was he not cherishing his last chance to strike? Or was he too young, his swordsmanship limited to this?
The Milky Way fell to the ground. The lake surface rose. They collided.
On the Sword Qi Great Wall, the sword cultivator Qi Shou had a life-bound flying sword called "Bouncing Beads," which had the potential to become an immortal weapon. If Qi Shou's sword intent and spiritual energy could support three thousand six hundred "Bouncing Beads" in one breath, he could verify the auspicious prophecy of that Daoist Sage from the Jade Capital: "Sitting upon the Milky Way, rain falls upon the mortal world." Back then on the city wall, Chen Ping'an had used talismans
to voluntarily enhance the offensive power of Qi Shou's flying sword, forming an array with sword and talisman, spending money as if to grant the flying sword an additional life-bound divine ability for free.
During his many long journeys on ferry boats, besides carefully refining the tip of Tai Bai into a sword and refining that clump of gray cotton cloth into a scabbard, meticulously crafting a companion sword.
He never slackened in drawing talismans or practicing boxing. Because bearing the true names of great demons, Chen Ping'an had always been suppressed by the Dao of the Bright World. So practicing boxing was like waking and sleeping practice—he couldn't slack off for a moment. Therefore, drawing talismans became a top priority second only to refining the sword.
Originally, this talisman sword formation of Chen Ping'an's was meant as a meeting gift for the Zhengyang Mountain or the Qingfeng City in the future.
A thought left on the mountain peak, the flying sword Chuyi suddenly appeared, rushing swiftly. A sword light flashed, pointing straight at Pei Min on the opposite peak.
Another thought, like a Yin God departing the body, held a flying sword crackling with lightning, but it flew long in the northeast direction of Pei Min, as if the sword challenge had run in the wrong direction.
A third thought's hiding spot produced a flying sword like a pine needle, cutting through the sky, rushing to the peak from behind Pei Min, aiming at the back of the old man's head.
Not only that, the Milky Way sword formation and a sword lake had only shattered half. The world turned upside down. A landscape painting seemed to be casually folded and twisted. Half the Milky Way sword formation appeared from the far end of the world, seemingly extremely distant. Then, with a nimble leap, it shrank the distance, covering the entire mountaintop and the old man within it, just like the umbrella handle.
Pei Min still kept one hand behind his back. Facing half a Milky Way sword formation and three "life-bound" flying swords, the old man only made a hand seal with his fingers.
Without striking a single sword, Pei Min simply no longer deliberately restrained his vast sword qi. On the mountaintop, the abundance of sword qi was like a great sun suddenly leaping out of the Eastern Sea into the high places of the mortal world. The sword light was dazzling, expanding with a roar.
The Milky Way sword formation was shattered by the charge. Indeed, the crackling lightning-wreathed flying sword that had seemed to run in the wrong direction had truly run wrong—it didn't approach. Of the two flying swords whose tips pointed at Pei Min's heart and the back of his head, the one with the snow-white sword light was a decoy, flashing away to somewhere else. Only the flying sword like a fine pine needle truly, not knowing death, approached the peak, not changing its trajectory. Then it charged headlong into that bright sword energy, like a nail embedding into a wall.
Pei Min used his sword qi, his two fingers together, to stabilize that flying sword in place. He shook his head helplessly. It was indeed an imitation of a Sword Immortal flying sword from the Hatred Sword Mountain in Northern Juzhou.
Pei Min was no longer puzzled, because the true form of that Sword Immortal's life-bound flying sword named "Ancient Emerald," which this flying sword imitated, had been shattered by his own hand back then. So seeing this flying sword today, Pei Min felt somewhat peculiar.
The flying sword, a pine needle, quivered slightly. Pei Min smiled, slightly increasing the pressure of his fingers to shatter it. "Flying Sword Ancient Emerald, if it's gone, it's gone. It shouldn't become a laughingstock for future generations because of an imitation."
Then he recondensed the shattered sword intent and sword qi, as if the Sword Immortal's flying sword "Ancient Emerald" had been reborn. Pei Min said, "First sword, receive it well."
The mountain peak where Pei Min stood had already been completely cleared, smashed apart by the Milky Way sword formation.
The old man hovered in the air, condensing the last bit of residual spiritual energy in the world into a longsword again. The first sword was merely imitating the Sword Immortals' favorite trick—taking heads with a flying sword. It was relatively restrained. But when he struck the second sword, the force would be a bit stronger.
This small world, imprisoned by the divine ability of a flying sword, was gradually becoming a lawless land most targeted at Qi Practitioners.
Earlier, that young man's first sword—stacking twelve strikes into one—was not because he didn't know the height of the heavens and wanted to scare Pei Min, who had once dominated the swordsmanship of the Bright World. Nor was it a junior sword cultivator showing off his swordsmanship. It was to drain the small world's spiritual energy as quickly as possible. As for why he didn't rely on his status as the "Heavenly Lord" to devour spiritual energy in a single gulp with his flying sword, it was still caution. In Pei Min's view, this was a wise choice. Otherwise, Chen Ping'an would have taken Pei Min's sword first. Pei Min wouldn't mind a refined sword intent wandering within that young man's personal small world, following the meridian routes, sightseeing, knocking on doors, wading through water, and instantly traveling hundreds or thousands of miles.
As the foremost among the four most troublesome types of mountain cultivators—sword cultivators—no matter how troublesome they were, they looked down on all others. They believed that Qi Practitioners in the world were only two kinds: sword cultivators and all other Qi Practitioners.
But it had to be admitted that sword cultivators were still Qi Practitioners. They still needed spiritual energy from heaven and earth. When fighting, they would first try to use the existing spiritual energy of the external world.
And Pei Min was after all not the Most Proud Under Heaven who had taught him a few swordsmanship moves. The old man could neither merge with the Fourteen Realm nor learn from Bai Ye, whose endless poems would ensure an endless supply of spiritual energy. Pei Min had always regretted that Bai Ye was not a true sword cultivator, just wielding Tai Bai without nurturing a life-bound flying sword. Otherwise, Pei Min didn't think that the ambitious Wen Hai Zhou Mi could have succeeded in his schemes.
At the foot of the mountain, Chen Ping'an vanished in a flash. It seemed like the sound of pine waves. A vast sword qi, as if gathering all the ancient meaning of the world's pines, appeared where Chen Ping'an had been. Then it followed Chen Ping'an as he freely crossed mountains and rivers. The blue-shirted figure without a hairpin became, for a time, the flying sword "Ancient Emerald" that Pei Min had created. Like turning against its master, according to the old man's will, it appeared and disappeared, striking suddenly and unpredictably, always following Chen Ping'an's shrinking of the distance. A few times, it even seemed to foresee his arrival, arriving before his landing spot. If not for Chen Ping'an also foreseeing, he would have voluntarily collided with that flying sword, seeking death.
Ultimately, the flying sword that had gone from a pine needle to Ancient Emerald collided with the flying sword Chuyi. The latter's blade was extremely tough, only the tip was worn. But the sword Pei Min had casually created had already shattered.
But this was the first time since following Chen Ping'an on his distant travels that Chuyi had been damaged so severely, the tip nearly broken.
Oh?
The young man had seen through the truth so quickly? Knew why he had been chased for millions of miles by a flying sword called Ancient Emerald?
Pei Min was slightly surprised.
The old man suddenly turned and casually struck the second sword.
Chen Ping'an actually abandoned using that longsword, using only the scabbard as a sword, slashing down from afar.
Pei Min had to narrow his eyes slightly. They exchanged one sword strike—each other's swordsmanship, the great Dao simplified. One held a vertical sword, sword light plunging straight down. One held a horizontal sword, sword light like a mountain range lying across.
The sword in Pei Min's hand shattered, but his figure did not move at all.
This strike was not weak in strength. It didn't seem like a Jade Rainbow Realm sword cultivator's power. Was it enough to move a small nation's mountain, connected to the landscape's destiny?
Pei Min couldn't be bothered to condense sword qi into a sword again. He made a sword gesture with two fingers together and lightly poked in one direction.
The old man was indeed a bit annoyed.
The young man had too many tricks and too fine a mind, making this sword challenge seem less straightforward.
Strike three times, receive three times, then fall to the ground. Life and death left to fate—wouldn't that be the end?
On the mountain behind Pei Min, a blue-shirted figure that had nowhere to hide was forced to reveal itself. His right hand clenched the scabbard, his left hand's two fingers pressed against one end of the scabbard. Hit by the sword light, the man and scabbard slid backward.
The sword light was too swift and heavy, like a hammer striking a paper drum. Eventually, Chen Ping'an's two arms bent inward, pressing together at his chest. A series of crisp cracking sounds came from his wrists, elbows, and shoulders. The scabbard slammed heavily into Chen Ping'an's chest. The blue-shirted figure flew backward. Still, he reached out, grabbing the longsword refined from the tip of Tai Bai on the mountaintop. Sword returned to its scabbard, thereby canceling the residual force of that sword light. The sword light exploded. The blue-shirted robe was torn and tattered. The young man's face, especially his hands, were covered with countless fine blood streaks.
Chen Ping'an finally stopped his backward retreat. His left hand held the scabbard, his thumb pressed against the sword guard. His body was hunched. His right hand, which should have been gripping the sword, still pressed against the abdominal wound that had already stopped bleeding. Blood seeped through his fingers.
Sword heart like still water, fist intent towering.
It was also a strange pattern of landscape depending on each other.
A sword cultivator who could merge the grand fist intent of a Stopping Realm martial artist into swordsmanship was indeed uncommon.
Pei Min had no intention of pressing the advantage. It was completely unnecessary.
At least give this young man a chance to breathe.
Sure enough, he was a Stopping Realm martial artist with an excellent foundation, exceptionally resilient. Paired with being a sword cultivator who could naturally nourish his physique, fond of wearing more than one magic robe, skilled in talismans, proficient in a bunch of flashy spells that weren't entirely useless, and a young man who didn't like to seek his own death... No wonder he could become one of the Ten Young Masters of several worlds. An outsider, yet he could serve as the Hidden Officer of that Sword Qi Great Wall.
When an ordinary person encountered him, it would be hard to kill, and it was easy to capsize in a ditch.
The key was that this lad learned from his mistakes once he suffered a loss.
He had already understood why Pei Min found his trace so easily.
It was the longsword refined from the tip of Tai Bai that had revealed Chen Ping'an's flaw.
On one hand, this sword had too heavy a sword intent. Pei Min, as an old sword cultivator who had reached the pinnacle of sword Dao in the Bright World, and on the other hand, Pei Min was not unfamiliar with Bai Ye's swordsmanship and the companion sword Tai Bai. That white-robed youth outside the Celestial Temple Monastery's meditation hut earlier must have mentioned his identity to Chen Ping'an.
To not take advantage, when Pei Min summoned the flying sword "Ancient Emerald," he intentionally suppressed his realm to the Immortal Realm.
The young man went with the mistake, deliberately separating the longsword and scabbard, choosing to wield only the scabbard. He struck with a close-range sword, slashing straight down, ultimately turning the crisis into an opportunity, though not a chance.
Pei Min met the young man's gaze.
The latter kicked off the ground, smashing most of the mountain peak, flattening it with one step.
His right hand gripped the sword but did not draw it from the scabbard. He actively approached to receive Pei Min's third sword.
So far, Pei Min had not truly struck.
Pei Min was not the Most Proud Under Heaven. Although not a Fourteen Realm great cultivator, the old man was a true sword cultivator. Naturally, he would have a life-bound flying sword.
A Flying Ascension Realm sword cultivator, who astonishingly possessed four life-bound flying swords!
Pei Min shook his head and smiled. "You can't keep being so brazen, assuming I won't kill you. This habit of liking to be beaten—change it."
The cautious young man still chose to separate himself from his sword. The longsword and Chen Ping'an with his scabbard vanished together again.
But Chen Ping'an did not choose to strike a similar sword as before. Instead, he scattered his thoughts in all directions, raising countless swords between heaven and earth, driving eight sword rivers, surging toward Pei Min.
Pei Min nodded. Having many swords was indeed impressive.
The young man's second life-bound flying sword, combined with the life-bound divine ability of the first flying sword, indeed seemed seamless. But in Pei Min's view, it was only just that.
Pei Min thought for a moment and finally summoned a certain life-bound flying sword.
The entire small world turned into a pool of white lightning. Tens of thousands of lightning snakes, like flying swords, bloomed wantonly. Still one against one, flying sword against flying sword.
This life-bound flying sword was named "Divine Firmament."
As for Pei Min himself, he slowly drifted down to the stream. Along the way, the Moon in the Well's flying swords were all knocked away by Pei Min's sword qi. Pei Min crouched by the water, scooped up a handful of water, and weighed it.
A Caged Sparrow small world—not just the entire stream's water, but all the mist was imprisoned in his hand. This was the talent divine ability of Pei Min's other life-bound flying sword.
The flying sword was named "Water Immortal."
It allowed Pei Min to be like a water ghost in the River of Time, freely roaming without restraint at the docks Pei Min had intentionally set up.
Aside from a natural limitation, which greatly consumed Pei Min's spiritual energy and mind, it was also most afraid of a small world like Caged Sparrow. But the young man's realm was insufficient, his world not solid enough. Seemingly leak-proof, it was ultimately not truly flawless; there were still gaps to exploit.
When Pei Min took a step, his true body remained in place. His Yin God, having departed, "swam" to a certain time dock. With two fingers as a sword, he lightly poked toward the back of a blue-shirted figure at the foot of the mountain.
In the real world, Chen Ping'an's figure tilted as if sensing something, then stumbled. A hole inexplicably appeared in his back. There was neither sword qi nor sword intent. If not for a flash of insight, Chen Ping'an would have been pierced through the heart by that finger sword. He wouldn't die, but he'd lose half his life. His martial artist physique would have a huge sequela. Whether his Qi Practitioner realm would drop depended on the luck of that half-life.
Then a sword qi pillar appeared in the sky, enveloping him.
Holding the sword with both hands, man and sword crashed onto the flattened mountaintop. The mountain shattered, the earth cracked, creating a huge crater.
It was Pei Min's third life-bound flying sword, "One Line Sky."
But Chen Ping'an's trace had disappeared from the crater.
Then, streaks of straight, one-lined sword light appeared across the sky, seemingly chaotic, crisscrossing, each passing. Every time a sword light appeared, at its end was a blue-shirted figure wielding a sword with his left hand, striking continuously.
The Yin God of Pei Min at the dock couldn't help sighing. It seemed the lad was accustomed to walking along the River of Time; otherwise, he wouldn't have dodged this strike. The first strike was like those twelve swords overlapping?
Pei Min's Yin God, at three pre-set docks along the River of Time, struck out twelve finger swords. The young sword cultivator dared to show off his technique of dividing his mind before Pei Min, so Pei Min did the same, returning the courtesy. The young man's life-bound acupoints, where he stored his five-element life-bound objects, plus the air mansion of the Crown Prince's Mountain, just allowed Pei Min to knock on the door easily once.
The old man had been suppressing his realm at Immortal.
It was already enough to bully a junior.
This young man, relying on his flying sword small world, his Stopping Realm martial artist's physique, and his familiarity with the River of Time, plus holding a sufficiently sharp immortal sword in his left hand, had essentially saved himself three times.
When Pei Min was about to retract his three life-bound flying swords—Divine Firmament, Water Immortal, and One Line Sky—
Without any warning, a sword struck, arriving somewhat unreasonably.
It was a sword tip refined from Tai Bai, with no one holding it. Different from Chen Ping'an's earlier scabbard slash, its swordsmanship and sword intent were different, even its sword Dao were different.
The longsword came straight, heading directly for Pei Min's true body beside the dry riverbed. It slashed itself free from the Caged Sparrow small world, so it pressed forward inexorably, breaking through obstacles like splitting bamboo.
Pei Min's Yin God exited the River of Time and returned to his true body. He thought for a moment, choosing not to avoid the edge but instead extending a finger to press against the tip of that longsword.
A ball of sword light burst open.
The entire small world turned a blinding white.
A blue-shirted figure threw a punch from behind Pei Min.
But he ran headlong into Pei Min's three not-yet-retracted flying swords.
Dodging Divine Firmament, his neck was cut by Water Immortal, and a One Line Sky pierced through his fist, through his entire arm, and out through his shoulder.
As a Stopping Realm martial artist, Chen Ping'an's punch ultimately halted, suspended, just one foot behind Pei Min.
Because Pei Min's fourth life-bound flying sword hovered just an inch from Chen Ping'an's brow.
The flying sword was still. But where the tip pointed, Chen Ping'an's originally blood-streaked face seemed to be washed clean by a basin of sword qi water, leaving no blood. But a tiny hole appeared in his brow.
Pei Min slowly turned and smiled. "Thinking it's not worth trading injuries for death?"
Chen Ping'an withdrew his fist, raised his hand, and pressed it against his brow.
With a slight thought, the longsword and scabbard simultaneously drew an arc, bypassing Pei Min, and flew toward Chen Ping'an. Eventually, the sword returned to the scabbard, and Chen Ping'an gripped it with his right hand.
Meanwhile, the Moon in the Well, which had turned into countless swords, finally gathered into one sword, flashed, and returned to that life-bound acupoint. But Caged Sparrow had not yet been withdrawn.
Pei Min asked, "Do you know why I am here, why I struck, and why I held back?"
Chen Ping'an nodded.
Pei Min finally somewhat understood the agreement he had made with Zou Zi back then. The person Lu Tai would need to kill later had never been far away; it had been right in front of him twice. Lu Tai possessed those two flying swords that could seize the first move and the advantageous position, but they were still not enough. He also needed Pei Min to teach him swordsmanship.
And this young man before him, during tonight's sword challenge—except for that puzzling strike, probably meant as a return gift—had possibly also had the idea of a pre-arranged practice.
Since Pei Min didn't mind either, he went along with it, generally revealing the swordsmanship of three of his life-bound flying swords. How much he could learn was up to Chen Ping'an.
If his ability was insufficient and he died or was severely wounded and dropped in realm, he couldn't blame others.
If Pei Min truly wanted to kill him, that Immortal Realm white-robed youth at the Celestial Temple Monastery could try to stop him, but he would surely fail.
Earlier, Pei Min had told Duke of Shen Gao Shizhen that someone from a thousand miles away would not be able to save him in time. And that "someone" was naturally Chen Ping'an's senior brother, Zuo You.
Chen Ping'an lowered his left hand that had been pressing his brow and suddenly made a strange gesture, combined with a finger sword technique, imitating Pei Min's flow of sword qi, with two fingers together, lightly poking.
Pei Min shook his head. "Just a slight resemblance. Even the later sword cultivator Lu Fang couldn't learn it well, let alone other martial artists."
That infatuated one with passable swordsmanship could barely be counted as an unregistered disciple of Pei Min. Pei Min wasn't willing to teach him more swordsmanship. Lu Fang had once made a special trip to the Lotus Flower Blessed Land just for this finger sword technique.
Chen Ping'an understood in his heart.
At the Mirror Heart Studio in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land, that finger sword technique was renowned throughout the world. It seemed the ancestor of this technique was Pei Min. Of course, the power difference was like heaven and earth. The martial artists of the blessed land had only learned some superficial (pí máo).
Pei Min raised one hand. In his palm, a handful of stream water the size of a fist was poured back into the riverbed. Then he asked a question: "Chen Ping'an, are you mute?"
Aside from the greeting at the Celestial Temple Monastery's gate, after an entire fight, the young man hadn't said a single word from beginning to end.
Chen Ping'an shook his head.
Pei Min smiled slightly.
Chen Ping'an immediately hung his sword at his waist, cupped his fists and said, "Swordsman Chen Ping'an pays respects to Pei Min of the Bright World."
First calling himself a swordsman. He also uttered the other's name, but it was still a respectful address of considerable weight.
Pei Min held his hands behind his back, walking slowly along the stream. Chen Ping'an silently followed, half a step behind, breathing heavily, his steps unsteady. His injuries were simply too many and certainly not light.
If he had suffered the same degree of injuries, Pei Min might not have been able to walk like him.
Pei Min suddenly said, "Deliberately stalling for time? Trying to pry clues from Gao Shizhen through your student?"
Chen Ping'an countered, "Why would senior be mixed up with the foremost of the Hundred Sword Immortals of Tuoyue Mountain?"
Pei Min countered back, "Shouldn't you be curious why Fei Ran had me strike only after you finished reading the secret letter? Since everything has been laid bare, whether Dragon Province Daoist lives or dies, is there still a difference? As for why Fei Ran did this, I'm genuinely curious. What exactly is your relationship?"
Chen Ping'an breathed a sigh of relief. "No relationship. Just crossed paths twice, inside and outside the battlefield."
Pei Min nodded. "So it was to confirm the specific content of the pact between me and Fei Ran. What, worried I'm a spy from the Desolate Wilderness?"
Chen Ping'an said, "Daring to ask the sword was to confirm this matter."
Pei Min was surprised. "You had confidence you could escape from under my sword?"
Chen Ping'an didn't answer.
To say he was young and ignorant would lack sincerity. To joke about bragging being legal might earn him another sword strike.
So he simply said nothing. Moreover, at this moment, saying anything would cause pain all over. This was even though Pei Min had intentionally not left too much sword qi in Chen Ping'an's small world. So Chen Ping'an could still endure the pain, gradually extracting those scattered sword qi and storing them in his sleeve universe.
Earlier, outside the temple gate, the thing he had entrusted to Cui Dongshan was to be mindful of a white jade hairpin after he withdrew the Caged Sparrow small world, and to quickly retrieve it.
If Caged Sparrow shattered, and the white jade hairpin did not streak across the sky, then Cui Dongshan should forget everything else and just flee, heading south as fast as possible to rendezvous with Jiang Shangzhen.
Thus, when the world was cut off, Cui Dongshan immediately used a flying sword to send a message to Jiang Shangzhen. The secret letter's content was probably minimal, just something like "Hurry here, ask Pei Min's sword."
Then, if Chen Ping'an still had the strength to fight, he could emerge from the white jade hairpin temporarily held by Cui Dongshan, and together with Cui Dongshan and Jiang Shangzhen, they could fight. Even if already severely injured, Chen Ping'an had left himself a glimmer of hope.
In truth, this battle, considering only the perilous process of the sword challenge, was not yet true danger. Chen Ping'an only feared that if Pei Min was truly a piece left by Wen Hai Zhou Mi on Tongye Continent, or a kindred spirit with the Immortal Han Yushu, and Pei Min, regardless of consequences, directly used his Flying Ascension realm sword cultivation to strike with all his might to kill him.
Pei Min had been willing to first use an umbrella handle to ask the sword at the Yellow Flower Temple. It didn't seem to have a heavy killing intent. But in Chen Ping'an's earlier view, it was thanks to his student Cui Dongshan's appearance, which made Pei Min wary. And Cui Dongshan had also bluntly revealed the other's identity, successively bringing up Zuo You, Liu Shiliu, and Bai Ye, putting on a posture of seeking death—that was a masterstroke. Cui Dongshan was clearly telling Pei Min that they, master and student, had come prepared tonight.
Thus, when it came to playing chess, whether it was placing his own piece outside the Celestial Temple Monastery or calculating people's minds in the face of Pei Min, this student was the master of his master in the art of chess.
Pei Min sighed. "I know you're still half-doubting. That's normal. I am rather afraid of trouble. Not that I'm worried about you complaining at the Confucian Temple, but I haven't finished my pact yet, so I can't just leave here easily. Let me tell you something: I can barely be considered Lu Tai's master, one of them. That child is a sword cultivator but suffers from acrophobia. It's not an act. It's because when he was young, in the Lu family's library secret realm, he obtained a sword manual I wrote. The 'sword manual' actually contained the refined sword intent of four life-bound flying swords. That foolish child asked the sword in a daze. Besides dropping in realm, his Dao Heart was damaged. Otherwise, for an ordinary sword cultivator with his aptitude and the Lu family's resources, he would have long been a Nascent Soul Sword Immortal."
Chen Ping'an said, "Understood. Senior's whereabouts will not be spread."
For a young junior to be so sensible actually made Pei Min feel a bit sorry.
But Chen Ping'an said, "I know Lu Tai, that sword cultivator Liu Cai, also one of the Ten Young Masters. Someone wants to target me, and their methods are extremely clever. They won't let me suffer too much. So it's fine. I can wait. Not for Liu Cai, but for the person behind the scenes."
The finger sword technique of the Mirror Heart Studio in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land.
A small matter, but small matters added together, especially with the phrase "one of Lu Tai's masters," gradually clarified the clues, finally allowing Chen Ping'an to trace a complete thread.
The Great Spring Dynasty, the Woman of Huansha, the naturally bewitching Empress Yao Jinzhi. In the Central Earth Divine Continent of the Bright World, in the same dynasty where Master Bai Ye and Swordsman Pei Min resided, there was also a Celestial Temple Monastery. There was also an allusion of an empress praying for rain there. And Pei Min, at that temple, had also left behind an allusion.
Back in his hometown of the small town, because of a locust leaf drifting down, Chen Ping'an had chosen to stop at Yao. Before entering the Lotus Flower Blessed Land in Tongye Continent, he first wandered through a strange secret realm like a white paper blessed land. And even earlier, at the Flying Eagle Fort, that man who had used a decoy had indeed shown his face. He had brushed past Chen Ping'an as he went out. At the time, Chen Ping'an thought it was odd but didn't dwell on it. Even if he had, back then, he couldn't have thought that far.
It seemed that, like Pei Min, the very existence of the Celestial Temple Monastery was a kind of "greeting," a reminder that wasn't a reminder. As if that man who had given him candied hawthorns when he was young had planted foreshadowing everywhere, just waiting to see if Chen Ping'an was willing, if he could think a few steps ahead, whether he had learned his lesson, and was convinced that those unbelievable "what ifs" were truly every "what if."
Back then, when traveling with Lu Tai, Lu Tai had joked. Because he looked down on Chen Ping'an's Sword-Nurturing Gourd, Lu Tai had personally claimed he had an ancestor of that gourd. So later, when he heard of the Ten Young Masters, Chen Ping'an connected him with the sword cultivator "Liu Cai."
Lu Tai—Lu Tai's swordsmanship under Pei Min, the Tongye Continent's Great Spring Dynasty not far from the entrance to the Taoist Temple—Yao Jinzhi had also smoothly ascended the throne after praying for rain at the Celestial Temple Monastery.
All were scattered, fragmentary clues.
Like on a study tour back then, in a martial arts novel, Li Huai was only interested in the thrilling fight scenes of the heroes, while Little Vase was more interested in the minor characters who didn't even get a line in the book, and in the landscapes that called out like birds urging travelers. Both were fine, but one could flip through books at will. On the journey beyond the book, especially on the path of mountain cultivation, Chen Ping'an had to widen his eyes, afraid of missing a single word.
Pei Min asked out of nowhere, "How much of your senior brother Zuo You's swordsmanship have you mastered?"
Chen Ping'an answered honestly, "Less than ten percent."
---
After Pei Min's Sword Qi Small World was casually shattered by his master's sword, and his master followed Pei Min elsewhere, Cui Dongshan first sent a flying sword message to Spirit Inscription Peak. Then he climbed back over the wall into the meditation hut's courtyard, strode forward, and walked toward the old man standing at the door—the old Duke of the Great Spring Dynasty.
He seemed to have been quite frightened by that sword light, standing stiffly at the door like a wooden chicken, not daring to move.
The white-robed youth put his hands on his hips. Still a dozen paces from the meditation hut door, he roared, "What are you looking at?! A son looking at his father with two streams of tears? Then why aren't you crying for me?!"
Gao Shizhen smiled. With Old Pei no longer guarding the house, the wind and rain were fierce. The old man already felt a chill.
The white-robed youth twisted his waist, hopped, and landed only five or six steps from the meditation hut. He turned his back to Gao Shizhen, pointed at where he had been standing before, raised his sleeve, and cursed to himself, "I'm looking at you, so what?! A father looking at his son is only natural!"
Then when the white-robed youth turned around, Gao Shizhen saw that face. His expression faltered, and his figure swayed. The old man had to reach out and hold the door.
Cui Dongshan snapped his fingers, dispelling the decoy that had created Gao Shuyi's face. He grinned. "Old Gao, you don't know, but I have a very special fate with anyone named Gao."
Gao Shizhen said in a deep voice, "How could he have a student like you? Some jokes cannot be made."
Cui Dongshan nodded vigorously. "Surprising, isn't it? Old Gao, are you angry?"
As he spoke, his face transformed into Gao Shuyi's face again.
Gao Shizhen squinted. One hand braced against the door, the other clenched into a fist behind his back. "If you find it amusing, go ahead and continue."
That "Gao Shuyi" beat his chest and stomped. "Causing Old Gao, at such an advanced age, to have to see a younger generation off—Shuyi is truly unfilial, and deserves to die."
Gao Shizhen said coldly, "Is this fun?"
Cui Dongshan grinned, stepped sideways, and walked out a white-robed youth. But a "Gao Shuyi" remained in place.
The rain poured down, falling on the young man. Soon he was soaked, a drowned rat. The young man was silent, his expression sorrowful. He stared blankly at Gao Shizhen. In that young man's eyes were guilt, resentment, remembrance, reluctance, pleading...
And the white-robed youth continued to step sideways, swaying, moving further and further away from that young man.
His heart wrenched, Gao Shizhen lowered his head and murmured, "I beg the immortal master to cease this magic."
He slowly raised his head, turned sideways. This elderly Duke stooped even more, his expression somber. "Immortal master, please come inside and sit."
But Cui Dongshan laughed and asked, "Don't you want to watch a bit more? A rare opportunity. This chance won't come again."
Gao Shizhen shook his head. He turned first and walked into the room, sitting down.
Cui Dongshan then made that "Gao Shuyi" move to stand by the window.
Entering the room, Cui Dongshan sat in the chair where Pei Min had been sitting earlier. He craned his neck to look at the big character "Illness" on the paper. He nodded. "Old Gao, you truly need to come to this temple to cure your heart disease."
Cui Dongshan placed his hands on the armrests and began to rock the chair, "walking" step by step.
It was said that Pei Min's swordsmanship was such that he could throw his sword into the clouds, the sword light piercing the sky, and the sword falling to another continent, competing with the sun and moon—a truly captivating image.
Gao Shizhen said, "This is a Buddhist pure land."
Cui Dongshan smiled. "When the mind is settled, anywhere is a Buddhist pure land. An unsettled mind is still manageable—entering a temple to burn incense, copying scriptures in a meditation room, all work. But if a person's heart is tainted, no matter how much you kowtow at the feet of the Bodhisattva, the Holy Mountain will remain far away and unattainable. Worse still if a person has a tainted heart but doesn't realize it. Praying for blessings and averting disasters doesn't work, and they blame the Bodhisattvas for not helping. Who should they blame for it to be fair?"
Gao Shizhen said, "Immortal master, what do you want to ask? What do you truly want? Just say it."
Cui Dongshan stopped the chair, crossed his arms over his chest, letting his two large white sleeves hang down. He changed his posture, leaning his body sideways, his elbow resting on the armrest, then propping his chin with one hand. "Just say it? Is it that until your old butler returns, it's your turn to 'just say it'? The Duke of the Great Spring's Shen State Mansion—each generation is worse than the last. The one outside the window is inferior to the one inside the room, and the one inside the room is inferior to those lying in the graves."
Gao Shizhen closed his eyes and fell silent.
Cui Dongshan burst into laughter. "Old Brother Gao, are you really angry? No need."
Outside the window, that young man began to tap on the window, like knocking on a heart's door, repeating a heart's whisper through the rain: "Don't die."
Gao Shizhen couldn't help the tears streaming down his face. He raised his head, staring dazedly at the window.
Cui Dongshan raised an eyebrow. Interesting. This Old Gao's acting wasn't bad. But Cui Dongshan was still worried about his master's battle, so he wasn't in the mood to compete with Gao Shizhen in acting. He sighed. "Alright, alright. Both inside and outside, stop pretending to be sad. Back then, Gao Shuyi's corpse was brought back to the Mirage City. So the Shen State Mansion secretly casting a golden body for Gao Shuyi is an established fact. You can't hide it. After dealing with me more, you'll know that fooling me is actually harder than fooling ghosts."
Gao Shizhen's eyes instantly turned cold. He turned his head and stared fixedly at that "blathering" white-robed youth.
When the white-robed youth was no longer cynical—perhaps because of his fair skin and pure white clothes—his eyes would appear especially deep. "But I'm curious about one thing: with the Shen State Mansion's resources, why haven't you had Gao Shuyi reappear as a mountain-water spirit? Why haven't you included him in the nation's mountain-water registry? Back when Gao Shuyi's corpse was transported from the border to the capital, even though immortal masters along the way helped gather his soul, some fragmentation was inevitable. So his divine rank wouldn't be high—a second-rank river god, or a mountain god's mansion in the Crown Prince's Mountain would have been fine choices."
Gao Shizhen actually had something to say, but he absolutely couldn't.
Because during that rainy night on a small mountain, the young Sword Immortal had once said something that made Gao Shizhen extremely wary.
"A person like Gao Shuyi—I hope his next life's reincarnation won't run into me again. Otherwise, I'll kill him once more."
To be safe, Gao Shizhen simply didn't dare let Gao Shuyi's remaining soul be cast in a golden body, build a temple, and enjoy incense. But to let Gao Shuyi become a hidden illicit temple spirit, Gao Shizhen couldn't bear it, and he feared that Chen Ping'an would one day revisit the scene, follow the clues, and shatter Gao Shuyi's golden body. That would truly be equivalent to "next life's reincarnation, kill him once more."
Cui Dongshan lightly rubbed his fingers, looking pitifully at Gao Shizhen. The other's thoughts turned like flowing water, but a certain immortal was immersed in them as if boating, flipping through thoughts like turning pages. Gao Shizhen remained completely unaware.
But Cui Dongshan complained about his master. Such a grand feat, such bold words—he hadn't even told his student. What was the point of hiding?
In truth, even without using his divine powers, Cui Dongshan could guess many things. But oddly enough, when his master was around, the student didn't feel like thinking.
Cui Dongshan yawned, sat up, and stretched lazily. He said with a grin, "That oil lamp in the Shen State Mansion's secret room? When I return to Mirage City, I'll refill the oil for you, Old Brother Gao."
Gao Shizhen suddenly rose. "You dare?!"
Cui Dongshan raised his hands. "Alright, alright, I don't dare, I don't dare."
Gao Shizhen slumped back down.
Cui Dongshan then stood and walked to the door. Leaning against the doorframe, his back to Gao Shizhen, the white-robed youth put his hands inside his sleeves and said calmly, "If my master suffers a loss tonight and I manage to escape, I will definitely make sure you accompany Gao Shuyi every day, living in each other's company. Face to face, your souls intertwined, unable to tell who is the son and who is the father. That wouldn't be interesting enough. Occasionally, you'll mistake Gao Shuyi for a beloved concubine, and Gao Shuyi might mistake you for a maidservant or some fairy sister. That would be entertaining. After all, Tongye Continent is a cesspool; it wouldn't be missing one more dirty affair."
Gao Shizhen sat dumbly in his chair, drenched in sweat. He could only pray that his old butler, Pei Wen Month——Pei Min——would return alive to the Celestial Temple Monastery.
Cui Dongshan smiled. "He's back."
A Caged Sparrow slowly withdrew.
That was his master's unique thoughtfulness.
Soon, his master appeared side by side with Pei Min. But his master remained at the Celestial Temple Monastery's mountain gate, while Pei Min directly appeared in the courtyard outside the meditation hut.
Cui Dongshan turned his head, his smile radiant. "See you, Old Brother Gao."
Cui Dongshan walked out of the meditation hut and in one step arrived outside the temple gate.
Chen Ping'an's face was pale, but he smiled. "It's all right. The injuries are heavy, but they haven't affected my Dao foundation."
Cui Dongshan nodded. In his heart, he said, "Jiang Shangzhen is definitely on his way. If the three of us join forces, we can try."
Chen Ping'an shook his head. "No need. Let's return to the Yellow Flower Temple first. I'll tell you the details on the way. But when we enter Mirage City's mountain-water formation, you'll handle it."
Before leaving, Chen Ping'an faced the Celestial Temple Monastery, lowered his head, pressed his palms together, and bowed.
Cui Dongshan had no choice but to follow his master's example, paying respects to the Buddha outside the mountain gate.
The two traveled slowly on the wind. Chen Ping'an detailed the earlier sword challenge against Pei Min, who had suppressed his realm to Immortal.
Cui Dongshan listened attentively, committing it all to memory.
Seeing his master fall silent, Cui Dongshan asked softly, "Master, back then did you find this old butler standing beside Gao Shizhen suspicious?"
Chen Ping'an shook his head. "Couldn't gauge his depth. Didn't pay much attention."
Back then, Chen Ping'an was neither a sword cultivator nor had a high enough martial realm. He only remembered an umbrella-holding old man standing beside the Duke of Shen, with a calm demeanor. So he mistakenly thought he was a martial arts grandmaster who kept a low profile deep in the court.
Cui Dongshan sighed. "Master, you still like to treat others with such courtesy. If it were me—with my little hot temper, inherited from Senior Sister—I would have long ago thrown a lot of wild, disorderly punches at Old Pei. A young man beating an old master with random punches—he might not kill him, but he'd scare him to death."
Chen Ping'an couldn't help but say, "Even if you, me, and Jiang Shangzhen join forces now, our chances against Pei Min are still very slim. If we can escape without dying, that's already a win."
"There's a way to trade lives, and a way to flee."
Cui Dongshan nodded, then shook his head, crossing his arms over his chest and humming. "That's today. But at most a century from now, it'll just be the three of us again. We wouldn't even need all three. Any two of us, with one just guarding from afar, could beat Pei Min to the point where he'd have nowhere to run. He'd be on his knees, shouting, 'I'm not a sword cultivator, I'm not that damned Old Pei! I barely know him! You've definitely got the wrong person!'"
Chen Ping'an said helplessly, "Watch your words."
Cui Dongshan said, "Oh," then turned to clap his hands in admiration. "Regardless, for tonight's sword challenge, Pei Min was willing to reveal all his flying swords. That shows this old fellow's swordsmanship is high, and his discernment even higher. Especially that 'Water Immortal,' which is even trickier than a water ghost. Pei Min definitely doesn't use it lightly. Although his most lethal sword is the last one, 'Realm Breaker,' specifically for killing mountain sword cultivators, he still uses 'Water Immortal' the least. What a deep scheming old thief, Pei! He planned it well. If he had only used 'Divine Firmament' tonight, or added 'One Line Sky,' that would have been too stingy. Word would get out and sound bad. Later, when Master becomes unrivaled in the world, Pei Min wouldn't have the face to say he had a genuine sparring session with you. Now that he's used all four swords, when Pei Min brags to people later, he'll have plenty of ammunition. Directing swordsmanship—he can say he used four swords! That must have taken half his old life, exerting himself to the utmost for a full-force sword challenge with the great Sword Immortal Chen..."
Chen Ping'an, looking even more exhausted, said softly, "Your nonsense is making me sleepy."
Cui Dongshan immediately shut up, not wanting to disturb his master's rest.
At the meditation hut.
Gao Shizhen stumbled toward his old butler, grabbed Pei Min's arm, trembling, and said miserably, "Old Pei, I beg you, save Shuyi!"
Pei Min looked at this pitiful old man. The Shen State Mansion had long chosen a river and a mountain, both adjacent.
Pei Min didn't shake off Gao Shizhen's hand, just said with emotion, "Have