Lin Zhao’s words were direct and honest, making He Shufan a little embarrassed.
“Mountain Lord Lin.”
He Shufan said, “Actually, it’s not about the Xunlu Sword…”
“Enough, enough.”
Huang Tingyu squinted his eyes and looked at He Wei, the chief enshrine, smiling, “Daoist He Wei, haven’t we seen each other in over a hundred years? I never expected that the wild cultivator I once beat into a pulp would now be the chief retainer of the He family in Shuzhou. You’ve grown, congratulations, congratulations, no more fighting with stray dogs for scraps.”
“…”
He Wei’s expression was awkward, but he dared not overstep. He cupped his fist and smiled, “Immortal Sword Huang, long time no see. The Summit Villa truly is full of talents. These two should be Sword Immortals Su Qingjiu and Wu Zhi, right?”
Su Qingjiu and Wu Zhi nodded and smiled.
Lin Zhao frowned and said, “If there’s nothing else, we will continue our journey.”
“Wait.”
He Shufan took out a jade token from his embrace. The token was exquisitely carved, with the four characters “遇事而至” (Yu Shi Er Zhi - Arrive When Needed) inscribed in small seal script in the center. It exuded a strong spiritual aura, undoubtedly a treasure from the mountains. He Shufan said gravely, “This is a unique ‘Arrival Token’ of our Shuzhou He family. If you encounter a critical situation, Mountain Lord, you can crush this token, and anyone holding a nearby Arrival Token will know.”
“Alright, thank you.”
Lin Zhao accepted the Arrival Token, bowed to the group from the Shuzhou He family, and smiled, “In that case, we bid farewell.”
“Good, we bid farewell.”
…
Lin Zhao led everyone away slowly, passing through a dense forest. Lin Zhao frowned and asked, “The Shuzhou He family, what do you think?”
“A bunch of petty thieves and swindlers.”
Huang Tingyu scoffed, “Empress Dowager He sits in Baidi City, supporting the young Emperor Zhao Jingheng’s ascension with Zhao Shutong and Zhao Qiyang. But Empress Dowager He is, after all, a member of the He family. Her support for Zhao Jingheng as emperor is for her own future and for the He family. To balance the power in Baidi City, she even cooperated with Zhao Qiyang to suppress her own daughter, Zhao Shutong. Otherwise, with Zhao Shutong’s prestige and influence in the army, she would have long been the true power holder of Baidi City.”
Wu Zhi said, “In the Western Shu province, the He family and the Li family have been fighting for many years, creating a stalemate in Shuzhou. Now that the Xunlu Sword has appeared, the He family will definitely want to keep it. If Gu Yanshu, holding the Xunlu Sword, becomes a guest of the He family, the He family will not only rise in Shuzhou but perhaps throughout the entire world.”
Su Qingjiu said softly, “Brother Lin Zhao, He Shufan himself is an eleventh-realm sword cultivator, his strength is decent, and he brought five hundred He family cultivators, plus He Wei, a twelfth-realm cultivator. Their intentions are quite clear: to enter Shuzhou and seize the Xunlu Sword. As for the demons’ schemes, the He family probably hasn’t even considered them.”
“No matter that.”
Lin Zhao frowned, “Let’s continue exploring the Qinling Mountains and try to find Gu Yanshu first, and control him.”
“Yes!”
…
On the other side, He Shufan and He Wei flew side by side, followed by a group of enshrined cultivators.
“Young Master.”
He Wei frowned and said, “Just now… we shouldn’t have been so rude to Lin Zhao. Summit Villa is not an ordinary sect in the world. Although Summit Villa is not on the official roster of the Great Shang Dynasty’s mountain sects, Lin Baiyi is still Lin Baiyi. His prestige both on and off the mountains is considerable. Coupled with the fact that the three people he brought are all formidable individuals – Su Qingjiu, universally recognized as the strongest twelfth-realm cultivator, and Huang Tingyu and Wu Zhi, both peak twelfth-realm sword immortals – Lin Zhao’s group is of paramount importance in the Shuzhou situation. If you can avoid offending them, do not offend them.”
“I know.”
He Shufan said, “Actually, I didn’t intend to offend Lin Zhao. He is Lin Baiyi, I respect him too much to offend him. It was just a slip of the tongue, and I accidentally spoke my mind. That’s precisely why I sent out an Arrival Token to remedy the situation. I just don’t know what Lin Zhao, Su Qingjiu, and the others are thinking about this remedy…”
“Sigh.”
He Wei sighed. What kind of remedy was this? It was clearly adding insult to injury. Those three peak twelfth-realm sword immortals, even if they encountered a crisis, if they themselves couldn’t resolve it, this small group from the Shuzhou He family would probably be of no help.
He glanced at He Shufan. Although the young master was a natural sword immortal, the most outstanding among the younger generation in Shuzhou in sword cultivation, he lacked much experience in the martial world and needed more tempering. He didn’t think much before acting. For the family head to let the young master take charge so early might not be a good thing. It would have been better for him to wander the martial world for a few more years.
Thinking of this, He Wei frowned. This trip was clearly a difficult task for him. He just hoped they wouldn’t encounter any fifth-realm demons, or it would be truly troublesome. However, he remembered the family head’s words before they left: “When in doubt, prioritize self-preservation.” This was quite heartwarming and moved He Wei.
He looked at He Shufan. He would protect him if he could, but if he couldn’t, then he could only apologize to the young master.
…
In the mountains.
Liu Xingshu took out pieces of white cloth, mixed with soil, scraping off pieces of Xiao Cong’s flesh and collecting them all. This kept him busy for a long time, but Liu Xingshu didn’t feel tired. On the contrary, he only felt incompetent and ashamed of his junior brother. Seeing the bloody mess, Liu Xingshu couldn’t stop shedding tears.
It was all his fault, all his fault.
Liu Xingshu’s vision was blurred with tears. If he had the cultivation of his junior brother Gu Lingyu, if he were a twelfth-realm Confucian scholar, perhaps the outcome would have been different. No matter how strong Gu Yanshu was, he wouldn’t have been able to defeat him and Xiao Cong working together. But alas, he was just a useless scholar, only possessing a Nascent Soul realm cultivation.
The regret in his heart tormented him ceaselessly.
After a long while, Liu Xingshu dug a tomb at the foot of a green mountain and buried Xiao Cong within. He then used a rock as a tombstone and inscribed the words "Xiao Cong, disciple of the Confucian Academy." After finishing everything, Liu Xingshu slowly departed. He dared not fly, as flying in the Great Wilderness could lead to instant death. Thus, he had to carry his bamboo basket and walk alone through the mountains.
…
Qinling Mountains, deep within the mountains.
A young sword cultivator in a dark green vine-colored long robe wandered through the landscape. This was Lin Zhujie. Although Lin Zhujie had accepted the dispatch from the demon ancestral mountain, he was quite disdainful of what the ancestral mountain had done. The assassination of Ning Hao, the Lord of Dongyue Mountain, and the setting up of a Nine-Star Formation to induce the submersion of the eastern human lands – was this a righteous act? In Lin Zhujie’s opinion, it was extremely unrighteous, even unscrupulous and insane. Were the lives of demons the only lives that mattered, and not the lives of human beings?
Therefore, Lin Zhujie did not participate in the assassination of Ning Hao, nor did he participate in setting up the Nine-Star Formation. However, he couldn’t do nothing. So, he wandered through the depths of the Qinling Mountains, looking for anyone who deserved to be killed, to chop off their heads, and present them to the Demon Ancestor as an explanation.
In the afternoon, Lin Zhujie arrived at a place of green mountains and clear waters, with a blue lake ahead. The edges of the lake were lined with round stones. This place was named "Immortal Fishing" on the maps compiled by the demon landscape cultivators. It was said that this place held ancient charm, and if fate willed it, one could comprehend a trace of the artistic conception of an ancient sage, be it sword intent, fist intent, or spiritual charm.
Thus, Lin Zhujie set down his luggage, took out a green bamboo pole, and began to bait and fish by the lake. Lin Zhujie was quite skilled at fishing and had spent a lot of time fishing in the demon realm, which had angered many powerful water demons. Even Lu Hai had pointed at Lin Zhujie’s nose and cursed him. Fortunately, Lu Hai had just suffered a setback at that time and was not very strong. Lin Zhujie ended up beating him in the bamboo forest, causing him to lose face. After the fight, they agreed not to tell anyone to avoid shame.
Shortly after, a green carp took the bait.
Lin Zhujie threw a fish guard woven from bamboo into the water to keep it. He was already contemplating how to prepare dinner. For a green carp, braising and stewing were options, but sashimi was not. Lin Zhujie was a refined person, clean, and afraid of parasites in the fish. Braising might lose a lot of its freshness. As for stewing, the flesh of green carp was not that tender, far inferior to white fish, bass, or red snapper. For a moment, his mind was in turmoil, his dao heart almost disturbed by the thought of a meal.
Just as Lin Zhujie was in a state of confusion, a figure in the distance gracefully descended from the bamboo forest and landed by the lake. It was a young sword cultivator wearing a dark purple long robe, with two swords on his back. He sat down on the opposite bank from Lin Zhujie and also took out a green bamboo pole to fish.
“So, we have a fellow angler from the martial world.”
Lin Zhujie smiled and continued to fish.
The angler was none other than Gu Yanshu, who had recently killed the Confucian sword cultivator Xiao Cong. The two swords on his back were the Xunlu Sword and Xiao Cong’s sword, "Red Dust."
…
Gu Yanshu, in his dark purple long robe, was fishing by the lake. He couldn’t discern Lin Zhujie’s true nature at first, thinking he was merely a mid-fifth-realm human cultivator with average appearance and cultivation. Such a person was only fit to eke out a living in the Great Wilderness and was not worthy of drawing the Xunlu Sword. Furthermore, the Xunlu Sword would draw blood when unsheathed, and the blood would eventually nourish Gu Yanshu’s cultivation. Therefore, the person before him was even less qualified to challenge him to a duel.
However, not long after Gu Yanshu began fishing, he noticed something amiss. Around the fish hook of the young sword cultivator in the dark green vine-colored long robe, there were subtle traces of sword intent.
Something was wrong. That person was not an ordinary cultivator, but an upper-fifth-realm sword cultivator!
With a “splash,” Gu Yanshu slowly stood up, drew the Xunlu Sword, and rushed forward across the lake. With a single sword strike, he cut through the lake water and sneered, “Since you are an upper-fifth-realm sword cultivator, you are worthy of dying by my sword!”
…
“Crack!”
Lin Zhujie threw his fishing rod into the water and drew his sword, shouting, “I was just waiting for you, you son of a bitch, to make a move!”