The night was deep.
Under the moonlight, a figure could be faintly seen approaching from the south. It was a young man, cloaked and wearing a bamboo hat. Only his left arm was visible; the sleeve of his right arm was empty. A long sword was slung across his back, its sheath gleaming with an ancient charm in the moonlight. He held a blade of grass in his mouth, swaying as he sauntered to the town's entrance.
"Halt!"
Two Heavenly Pool Army soldiers raised their hands in unison, blocking him. "Who goes there?"
"Wen Liang."
He flicked his hair, revealing a smile he thought charming. "Wen Liang, of Wen, Liang, Gong, Jian, Rang."
"What brings you to town?"
"To fight."
Wen Liang narrowed his eyes and grinned. "Fighting the demon race!"
The two soldiers hurriedly checked the list of expected arrivals for the next few days.
They found the name on the first line and their expressions immediately turned respectful. One of them cupped his fist and said, "Ah, so it is Sword Immortal Wen. Please come in. We have already reserved a room for the Sword Immortal at the inn. Just give your name when you arrive at the town's inn."
"Hmph!"
Wen Liang bared his teeth. "Is meeting me not as good as hearing of me? Is my appearance really so incompatible with being handsome and dashing?"
The two soldiers' faces darkened, and they cupped their fists in unison. "Dashing, dashing, Sword Immortal is dashing, Sword Immortal is amorous, Sword Immortal is invincible..."
"That's more like it."
Wen Liang ambled into the town, looking around as if he were a thief, eyeing which vegetable garden had the best-growing cucumbers, and checking if any clothes had been taken in from the doorsteps of little widows. He seemed very concerned about the townspeople's customs and living conditions. It wasn't until he reached the back street that he spotted Gu Zixi drinking and eating hot pot on the second floor of the Hundred Flavors Pavilion.
"Hoo! Food!"
Wen Liang leaped forward, a wisp of sword energy appearing beneath his feet, carrying him upward and depositing him into the chair opposite Gu Zixi.
"Ah!?"
Gu Zixi had been imagining the appearance of his beloved sitting in the chair. But in a flash, a disheveled, one-armed, sword-carrying man appeared. Incensed, he raised his hand to strike!
"Wait, wait, wait!"
The other party shouted urgently, "It's your Senior Brother Wen Liang! It's your Senior Brother Wen Liang!"
"Huh?"
Gu Zixi took a closer look. Indeed, the man bore some resemblance to Senior Brother Wen Liang from back then. He furrowed his brow. "Wen Liang, didn't you leave the sect already? What kind of senior brother are you to me? And... what happened to your arm?"
"Alas, it's a long story!"
Wen Liang put on a mournful expression, raised his hand, and roared, "Waiter, bring wine and chopsticks! What are you so unobservant for!"
The owner, Jia Chong, meekly brought over chopsticks and wine. So many important figures had arrived in town these past few days, more than he had seen in his entire life. There were at least two dozen officials of the third rank or higher from the imperial court alone. Now, anyone who dared to enter the restaurant was no minor figure. Thus, Jia Chong became even more cautious, fearing he might offend some great power and lose his life with a flick of their fingers.
...
Wen Liang deftly picked up a piece of tripe that Gu Zixi had just dipped into the hot pot and said, "A few years ago, I was killing demons in the northern snowy regions and ran into a Great Demon of the thirteenth realm, the Ascended stage. It was so fierce! Its attacks even stirred the heavens and earth, its aura was magnificent! Fortunately, your Senior Brother Wen Liang was also a formidable man. When the Great Demon bit my arm, I directly summoned my flying sword and severed it for the beast. What's feeding it an arm? I, Wen Liang, am still Wen Liang!"
Gu Zixi narrowed his eyes. "Keep bragging. If you truly encountered a Great Demon of the thirteenth realm, would you have survived?"
"But I fed it an arm!"
Wen Liang used his chopsticks again to pick up a slice of lettuce that Gu Zixi had been simmering for a long time. He popped it into his mouth, and it melted instantly. He chuckled, "Perhaps that thirteenth-realm Great Demon thought Senior Brother tasted good and wished to become sworn brothers with me. But your Senior Brother Wen Liang sternly refused, cleaved its forehead with a sword, and then departed on my sword. Tell me, wasn't that magnificent? A twelfth-realm cultivator fighting a thirteenth-realm Great Demon and still managing to wound its forehead!"
"Just keep bragging..."
Gu Zixi chuckled. "Are you part of the five this time...?"
"Mhm."
Wen Liang smiled. "And you? Sent by the Academy?"
"Not exactly."
Gu Zixi took a sip of wine. "I fortunately won a martial competition among twelfth-realm disciples at the Academy."
Wen Liang frowned. "Isn't the Senior Disciple only one step away from the thirteenth realm? He couldn't defeat you? I think... it's just that those old scholars at the Academy cherish talent and don't want the Senior Disciple to go to his death. As for you, Gu Zixi, you'll never forget her. If you can't cut through your inner demons, you'll never reach the thirteenth realm. Plus, the Academy genuinely needs a twelfth-realm cultivator with some strength to be sent. If not you, then who?"
Gu Zixi scowled. "Are you drinking or not? If not, then scram!"
"Drinking, drinking."
Wen Liang drained his cup with a gulp and said, "Refreshing, refreshing!"
"And you?"
Gu Zixi asked, "After Senior Brother Wen Liang left the sect, he became a renowned Sword Immortal roaming the world. You don't even want to manage the affairs of the Academy, and you refuse the responsibilities Master gave you. With such a naturally lazy disposition, why are you here in the snowy domain of the Heavenly Pool? To seek death?"
"Not necessarily."
Wen Liang wiped his greasy mouth and smiled. "After I left the sect, although I was a Sword Immortal on the mountain, cutting down countless villains with my sword, I always felt... an emptiness in my heart. The laughter of my fellow disciples was gone, and the nagging of Master was gone. I felt like a wandering ghost. So, after the Great Shang Dynasty issued the mountain proclamation, I volunteered. Marquis Wen was indeed a discerning judge, immediately recognizing me, Sword Immortal Wen Liang, and chose my name."
"That's still seeking death!" Gu Zixi declared.
Wen Liang slammed the table. "Don't talk nonsense! What do you mean seeking death? If I, Wen Liang, win, I'll be Sword Immortal Wen Liang, who slayed demons for the world. If I lose, I'll be Sword Immortal Wen Liang, who died for the world!"
"Hmph!"
Gu Zixi smirked. "Not even a thirteenth realm, and you dare to add 'Great' before Sword Immortal?"
Wen Liang chuckled. "None of your business, you impudent brat!"
"..."
Wen Liang always referred to himself as a senior brother, so Gu Zixi understood. Perhaps after years of wandering, this one-armed Sword Immortal was truly weary. Gu Zixi then said softly, "Senior Brother, if both you and I survive this battle, return to the Academy with me. Kneel and apologize before Master. He surely won't blame you. After all, for so many years... whenever Master mentioned you, he'd say that among all his disciples, Wen Liang had the most talent in the Way of the Sword, and was the fiercest fighter among his peers. For so many years, without you charging at the front in sect battles, everyone feels unaccustomed."
Wen Liang wiped his mouth and smiled. "We'll see. If we both survive, I'll return and kowtow to Master. If I die, you bring my corpse back to apologize to Master. If there's no body left, you bring my sword hilt back to apologize to Master. Master will recognize my Qinglu."
"That's not guaranteed either."
Gu Zixi smiled. "If Senior Brother is not dead, but I, Gu Zixi, fall in battle, please, Senior Brother, bring my remains back and bury them in the bamboo forest behind the Academy. There is the gentle breeze, and the sound of reading. I wish to stand there forever, watching everyone."
"Pah, you jinx!"
Wen Liang chuckled. "What if we both die in battle?"
"Hahahaha~~~"
The two raised their cups together, clinking them gently above the hot pot, and said in unison, "Damn it, then we'll just have to trouble Old Master to collect both our corpses!"
...
Several days later.
In the early morning, a man entered the town. He was a young man around twenty-five years old, dressed in white, appearing remarkably young and elegant. Although he was a sword cultivator, he did not fly into the snowy domain of the Heavenly Pool on his sword. Instead, he ascended the mountain step by step from the south. He bowed to the passing soldiers along the way and, halfway up the mountain, bowed respectfully to Lord Su in the Mountain Lord's Shrine.
"Oh my..."
Lord Su couldn't sit still. "He's a Sword Immortal nearing the thirteenth realm, and he's still so polite!"
He hurried out of the shrine in his Dharma body and bowed from afar to the young Sword Immortal.
...
After entering the town, the young Sword Immortal remained harmless, drawing the attention of a group of young women in the town. They smiled and commented that it had been a long time since they had seen such a handsome young man in town. The young Sword Immortal blushed and nearly collided with a farmer carrying manure to water the fields as he fled with his sword. He repeatedly apologized to the farmer.
"Alas..."
A pair of senior and junior brothers sitting on a tree branch watched silently. Wen Liang held a blade of grass in his mouth and chuckled down at them. "Yan Beichen, you are the youngest Sword Immortal in the world, with unparalleled talent in the Way of the Sword. You alone possess half of the southern sword cultivation fortune. Your divine abilities with your flying sword are potent, your sword heart is stable, you're good at everything, yet you're excessively polite. It makes us all seem like uncouth brutes. What are you trying to do? Isn't it enough that half the girls in the world like you? Do you want all of them?"
Yan Beichen turned and couldn't help but smile. He immediately bowed towards the tree. "It's Gu Zixi and Wen Liang! Yan Beichen offers his respects!"
"Respect my foot!"
Wen Liang grinned. "If you were truly respectful, you'd invite us for a drink!"
Yan Beichen blinked. "Drinking this early in the morning? I still need to go to the military camp to see Sirs Chen Wanli, Chu Huaixi, Shao Shiyu, Lü Fengxian, and others. Can we talk after that?"
"Talk my ass!"
Wen Liang said, "If your Brother Wen Liang asks for a drink and you refuse, where will my face go? Is that what you call being respectful?"
"That does make some sense..."
Yan Beichen cupped his hands again. "Let's go, I'll treat you two to drinks. Enough to get you drunk!"
...
In the distance, at the Grand Marshal's mansion of the Heavenly Pool Army, atop a large banyan tree.
Chu Huaixi and Huang Tingyu were stationed at the Heavenly Pool, watching the three men walking together for drinks. Chu Huaixi smiled faintly. "Yan Beichen, Wen Liang, Gu Zixi, all are outstanding figures of the human world!"
"Indeed!"
Huang Tingyu said, "They are only twelve realm cultivators at such a young age, especially Wen Liang and Yan Beichen. Twelve realm sword cultivators are incredibly difficult to train. These two fellows... they're truly excellent. It would be a pity if they died."
Chu Huaixi frowned. "Five duels. I hope we win all of them. Otherwise, it would be a great shame for anyone to die."