The return of Liu Liying, Dong Cang, and Lin Zhujie was like three joyous occasions arriving at once.
Lin Zhao decided to host a celebratory banquet at Tianran Ju at noon.
Early in the morning, he took Lin Zhujie on a sword flight to Baidi City. Jizhou had not been affected by the great war, and apart from providing ample supplies to the northern front, it had enjoyed peaceful weather. Thus, the sprawling Baidi City had no shortage of food or clothing. Lin Zhao and Lin Zhujie made extensive purchases at the market outside the city, buying a large quantity of fresh fruits, vegetables, game, and other wild meats.
By the time Lin Zhao and Lin Zhujie returned to Tianran Ju with their storage bags bulging, Yu Wanning had also returned. She carried a small deer freshly hunted from the forest over her shoulder and a bundle of vines in her hand, which were tied to a wild boar weighing at least five hundred jin. This bounty alone would be enough to feed the group at Shandi Bien Yuan for a long time.
Everyone began to busy themselves. Fu Zhi and Yu Wanning cleaned the wild boar and the deer on the stone bridge of Baiyuxi, obtaining a large amount of meat, ribs, and other cuts, all of which were taken back to Shandi Bien Yuan. Meanwhile, Dong Cang and Liu Liying started boiling water, stewing meat, and washing vegetables. Shi Hanyin, once the most beautiful woman in Shang, had never done much housework before. Now was a good opportunity for her to learn.
She had practiced dance and music under her master in Yunxiang Tower since childhood. She had no other special skills, but she could endure hardship. Moreover, her current life at Shandi Bien Yuan did not feel like hardship to her.
At noon, a banquet was laid out in the living room of Tianran Ju, with a table full of delicious dishes. Lin Zhao invited Gu Lingyu from the town below. The group from Shandi Bien Yuan gathered once more to celebrate the return of Dong Cang and Lin Zhujie, as well as the rebirth of Liu Liying and Shi Hanyin. The future of Shandi Bien Yuan was bound to see a new dawn.
After three rounds of drinks, Lin Zhao felt the effects of the alcohol.
He slowly stood up, filled Lin Zhujie’s cup with Tingting Purple Bamboo Wine, and said, “Lin Zhujie, I was suppressed under Mount Wuwang for a long time, so I didn’t get to see all the details of the Battle of Baicheng. Some things you might understand better, so I wanted to ask you about them.”
“Mountain Lord!”
Lin Zhujie was somewhat overwhelmed and said, “Please ask, Mountain Lord. I will tell you everything I know.”
“Mm.”
Lin Zhao nodded, his brow furrowed. “After my little Jiu’er and Tang Guangjun sacrificed themselves, what became of their swords? Where did Xiao Jiu’s Xunlu Sword and Tang Guangjun’s Dengtian Sword end up?”
“Oh, I know about that,”
Lin Zhujie said solemnly. “Immortal Sword Su was killed by Long Zheng of the Thirteenth Realm. Therefore, that Xunlu Sword was bestowed upon Long Zheng by the Demon Ancestor. With this Xunlu Sword, Long Zheng killed many cultivators of the Upper Fifth Realm in the Battle of Shanhai Pass. Although she was later demoted to the Twelfth Realm, Long Zheng, along with Xunlu Sword, remains extremely formidable.”
“What about Tang Guangjun’s Dengtian?”
“It is in the Ancestral Mountain.”
Lin Zhujie replied, “Mountain Lord, there is a place on the Ancestral Mountain where the spirit tablets of the demon race’s ancestors are enshrined. The Dengtian Sword, as the sword of the Thirteenth Realm Great Sword Immortal Tang Guangjun, is enshrined there. Even the names of Tang Guangjun, Su Qingjiu, and others are carved on the stone walls of the Ancestral Mountain to showcase the merits of those of the demon race’s Upper Fifth Realm.”
“I understand.”
Lin Zhao’s expression turned cold, and he slowly sat down. “This debt will be settled with the demon race sooner or later. The swords of my little Jiu’er and Tang Guangjun cannot remain in the hands of the demon race forever.”
Yu Wanning frowned. “Currently, the demon forces on Ancestral Mountain and Mount Wuwang are still quite strong, not to mention the addition of Jian Chen, a Fourteenth Realm cultivator, and the very troublesome Jiujing of the Twelfth Realm. With these two, along with Nan Qingfeng, Chen Feng, Liu Bai, and Long Zheng, our current strength is no match for them.”
“No hurry.”
Lin Zhao waved his hand and looked at Fu Zhi. “Once Fu Zhi returns to the Thirteenth Realm and Old Huang comes back, we will have two more Thirteenth Realm sword cultivators. Then, we will have the standing to contend with the demon race again. And by then, the demon race will not have as many Fourteenth Realm cultivators to counter our might.”
“Mm!”
Fu Zhi and Yu Wanning nodded with smiles.
Fu Zhi’s sword dao foundation was deep. What she lacked was merely the state of mind and her flying swords. Now that Lin Zhao had returned, her state of mind had been restored. If she could refine ten Demon Soul Swords and three natal flying swords, there was a high probability she would return to the Thirteenth Realm.
…
Moonlit night.
Tianran Ju was silent. In the kitchen, Dong Cang and Shi Hanyin were making smoked meat. The two of them got along well, and occasionally, the sound of silver bells like light laughter could be heard. In less than a few days, Shi Hanyin had integrated into Shandi Bien Yuan and was no longer as reserved as before.
By the lotus pond, Liu Liying held a folding fan, her red dress fluttering. Wisps of radiant light swirled around her as she drew a dense stream of spiritual energy from the back of the mountain towards Tianran Ju. In an instant, the lotus pond became rich in water energy, and the fish at the bottom of the pond also became lively, swimming back and forth with their tails wagging.
It was believed that before long, many delicious white fish,翘嘴, and gobies would be nurtured once more.
Lin Zhao walked by the lotus pond and soon stopped, gazing intently at the white fish wagging their tails in the pond. For a moment, he deeply missed his little Jiu’er. Little Jiu’er had always loved the white fish soup he made since she was young. Yet now, she had met such a tragic end, separated by death. There was no news from the Upper Realm either. Lin Wanhua and Han Xin had left after the Battle of Yunzhou without leaving a single word.
He slowly sat on a rock by the lake, gazing silently at the sky. His nose stung, and he thought, how good it would be if little Jiu’er were not dead.
…
Upper Realm, Shenjian Mountain.
On the edge of the cliff, Su Qingjiu, who had grown into a girl of seventeen or eighteen, in a red skirt and white shirt, held a celestial sword gifted by her master, Lin Qing’er. She looked down at the Lower Realm and saw Lin Zhao at the front of Tianran Ju, looking lost. She knew he was thinking of her. For a moment, Su Qingjiu’s eyes misted over, and she sat quietly on the edge of the cliff, shedding tears.
“Little Jiu’er.”
Lin Qing’er descended gracefully beside her and said, “Don’t rush. There is still some time before you can reunite. Wait a little longer. You have only just returned to the Twelfth Realm, and there is still a long way to go to reach the peak of the Thirteenth Realm. Focusing on cultivation is the right path now.”
“Then what about Brother Lin Zhao?”
Little Jiu’er wiped her tears and said, “Brother Lin Zhao still doesn’t know I’m in the Upper Realm. Master, is there any way to inform him, to let Brother Lin Zhao not be so sad and heartbroken?”
“Alas…”
Lin Qing’er lifted her sleeve and revealed a dense patch of fiery red brand marks on her arm, all the work of fear demons. Even a Great Sword Immortal like Lin Qing’er could not resolve them in a short time. After all, those fear demons came from the deepest fears in the hearts of cultivators of the Upper Fifth Realm across the three realms. Their concentrated power was truly terrifying, and only cultivators of the level of Ding Muchan, Lie Yun, and Wei Huarou could contend with them.
“Little Jiu’er.”
Lin Qing’er said gently, “Do you know the great price of descending to the Lower Realm even once? Even transmitting a single sentence would consume unimaginable resources, and what’s more, Master is severely injured.”
“Then forget it.”
Su Qingjiu pursed her red lips, stepped forward, and held her master’s arm. She said softly, “Little Jiu’er does not want to make Brother Lin Zhao sad, nor does she want to trouble Master. This matter…”
“Don’t worry.”
Lin Qing’er smiled. “Wait a bit longer. Once the Upper Realm has made its arrangements, someone will definitely go to the Lower Realm. Next time someone goes, I will shamelessly ask them to relay a message to Lin Zhao, to tell him that little Jiu’er is fine, that she was saved by the Old Gentleman Fuxian, and is now cultivating with me in the Upper Realm, so he need not worry.”
“Mm!”
Su Qingjiu nodded with a smile.
Lin Qing’er looked at her dotingly, just as she had when she took the little girl from Xueyu Tianchi. She stroked Su Qingjiu’s hair and said with a smile, “Alright, cultivate well and return to the Thirteenth Realm as soon as possible. You are only at the early stage of the Twelfth Realm now, and may not be able to perfectly wield that Xunlu Sword. We will talk about future matters later. If I am not mistaken, by the time you can descend, Lin Zhao should have already helped you retrieve the Xunlu Sword. That boy is an expert at scheming, and a fool like Long Zheng will not escape his calculations.”
“Okay!”
Su Qingjiu nodded repeatedly. “Master, would you like some big-eared rabbit from the mountain for dinner tonight? If you do, Little Jiu’er will go catch two for you, one braised and one spicy.”
The smile on Lin Qing’er’s face deepened. “No need for braised. Both of them spicy. Master was born in western Sichuan and cannot enjoy food without spice.”
“Okay, Master!”
The young girl flew away on her sword, as swift as the wind.
Lin Qing’er watched with a smile.
…
Late at night.
The residents of Shandi Bien Yuan retreated to their respective quarters. Liu Liying returned to the peach tree to nurture her divine spirit. Fu Zhi and Dong Cang squeezed together and stayed on the second floor of Tianran Ju. Lin Zhujie sat cross-legged in the living room. Yu Wanning practiced her boxing in the bamboo forest all night. Lin Zhao, in his study, diligently wrote, drawing many military talismans. After exhausting his strength, he sat cross-legged to cultivate the Eternal Sword Scripture until he was completely drowsy before lying down on the bed in the study to rest.
Just in time, dinner was served in reality.
After a meal, he quickly logged in, to keep abreast of the unfolding events at Shandi Bien Yuan, as this was a very unstable period. A group of powerful demons occupied Mount Wuwang, and in the distance, eighty thousand elite troops of the demon and devil races were in a standoff with the human race. Anything could happen in the coming days.
Early morning.
Lin Zhao logged back in. His character was slowly waking up from his slumber. As he awakened, he felt as if something was stirring within him. Lin Zhao was greatly delighted. After reaching level 200+, the spiritual vortex within him roared, and another huge abyss-like spiritual energy storm began to rotate, carving out a space.
The fourth Sword Cultivation Lake had been successfully created!
With this, Lin Zhao naturally became an Eleventh Realm sword cultivator possessing four Sword Cultivation Lakes. Such an opportunity was something ordinary cultivators of the Upper Fifth Realm would not even dare to dream of. After all, those cultivators who had the chance to refine four natal flying swords generally started at the Thirteenth Realm.
“Hoo!”
He took a deep breath, preparing to refine his fourth flying sword—Life and Death!
Once the refinement was complete, he might have a high chance of breaking through to the Twelfth Realm!
A Twelfth Realm sword cultivator among players, the thought alone made his heart race!