Su Qingjiu stood suspended in mid-air, her beautiful eyes wide open. She instinctively stepped onto her flying sword, Qingyu, transforming into a streak of light and shooting out of the small world of Manyuan. In the blink of an eye, she flew dozens of miles eastward.
As she broke through the void on her sword, she gently raised her hand to touch the peach blossom hairpin behind her head. She found that the two lines of text on the hairpin, the line "Peace," had vanished into thin air, along with the faint Confucian meaning it contained. For a moment, her lips parted slightly, and she was on the verge of tears, "Brother Lin Zhao..."
She knew that it was Lin Zhao who had helped her resolve this calamity.
Behind her, thunder boomed.
Flames soared into the sky. Manyuan, clad in a tattered, blood-colored cape and wielding his Sun-Moon Water-Fire Staff, rode a sea of fire, pursuing her along the river. His eyes blazed with killing intent. "Su Qingjiu, you think you can escape? You killed so many of my demon race's cultivators and you wish to simply leave? Do you think such a good thing exists in this world?"
"..."
Su Qingjiu did not look back. She poured all her remaining spiritual energy into the flying sword Qingyu. Although her body swayed, her speed on the sword was extremely fast. In a flash, she broke through the barrier between realms and entered the human realm. Ahead, the river flowed into the domain of the Xi Jian River. Just as Su Qingjiu looked up, a colossal figure rose from the Xi Jian River. Clad in golden armor and a long golden cape, wielding a golden longsword, she stirred up a vast wave behind her.
The Goddess of the Xi Jian River, Lin Xingchu.
"Little Jiu'er."
Lin Xingchu glanced at her and said, "Move aside!"
"Alright!"
Su Qingjiu twisted her body and maneuvered Qingyu to the side. The next moment, Lin Xingchu drew her sword and unleashed a colossal wave that surged forward along the Xi Jian River. The wave was filled with the killing aura of the river's destiny, as if golden cavalry were charging within it. This killing aura even pierced the barrier between the two realms and rushed directly into the Ku Song River!
"Hmm!?"
Manyuan's gaze turned cold, his eyes filled with intense killing intent. "Lin Xingchu, you dare to oppose the demon race!?"
As he spoke, he slammed his feet onto the river's surface and thrust his Sun-Moon Water-Fire Staff forward. The tip of the staff erupted with a golden, semicircular, intense demonic aura. With a "thump," it collided with Lin Xingchu's peak river water sword energy. For a moment, Manyuan's tiger mouth split open, bleeding. The staff was even bent under the pressure, and he was pushed back on the river surface. He was already heavily injured, and after taking Lin Xingchu's sword, he clearly could not withstand it.
"Lin Xingchu!"
Manyuan's body suddenly swelled, transforming into a colossal dharma image hundreds of feet tall. He continued to brace himself with the Sun-Moon Water-Fire Staff, his feet sinking into the riverbed as he was continuously pushed back by Lin Xingchu's peak sword strike. His face grew increasingly ferocious, and he roared, "I will remember this debt! We'll see! After this matter, the first one I deal with will be you!"
This sword strike pushed Manyuan back a hundred miles!
Lin Xingchu, presiding over the Xi Jian River, was a true fourteen-realm cultivator. Furthermore, Lin Xingchu was exceptionally like a sword cultivator. Although she lacked the Sword Cultivation Lake and flying swords, her swordsmanship and sword intent were extraordinarily elegant. Among the deities of the human realm, Lin Xingchu's combat power was second to none. Manyuan even felt that this River God was slightly more troublesome than the Mohist Grandmaster of the fourteen-realm.
After all, he had not suffered such a miserable defeat when fighting the Grandmaster.
Finally, the colossal wave stirred by Lin Xingchu's sword vanished into the Ku Song River, her energy completely depleted. Manyuan stood in the river, holding his Sun-Moon Water-Fire Staff, his gaze chilling as he looked eastward.
For the arrogant Manyuan, this sword strike was a true humiliation! He, who could nearly kill a thirteen-realm military sage with a single staff strike, had suffered such a great loss at Lin Xingchu's hands. This was something Manyuan could not accept.
...
At the summit villa, Tian Ran Ju.
Deep in the night, Lin Zhao, who was fishing, suddenly trembled all over. Immediately, he spat out a mouthful of blood into the lotus pond. His shoulders shook, and his sword eyebrows furrowed. In his second Sword Cultivation Lake, his flying sword, Hao Ran, had a crack on the tip of the Han Niu Sword that had widened again, almost splitting the entire tip in two. The damage was exceptionally severe.
Faint golden streams of light, almost imperceptible, came from the west and entered the sword tip.
Beside him, an old scholar from the Confucian literary world watched clearly and understood everything. The cause Lin Zhao had planted had yielded its fruit. After helping Su Qingjiu escape a calamity, the backlash of the Great Dao naturally fell upon Lin Zhao himself. As a mere Golden Core sword cultivator, he could not withstand such heavy pressure from the Heavenly Dao. Therefore, this pressure naturally fell upon the tip of the Han Niu Sword. Moreover, when he carved the peach blossom hairpin, he had used this sword tip.
"Swish!"
Lin Zhao wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and summoned his flying sword, Hao Ran. The sword tip hovered above his palm, almost splitting in two. For a moment, Lin Zhao felt heartbroken, his eyes welling with tears. He murmured, "Mr. Qin's sword tip... has it really become like this..."
"It's alright."
The old scholar said softly, "Little Zhao, Suihan nurtured the Han Niu Sword for many years just to do something for the human world with this sword. And you, after obtaining the sword tip, by chance, planted a karma with the tip of the Han Niu Sword. Although the sword tip is severely damaged, do you know that because of this, Su Qingjiu could return alive to the human world?"
"Ah!?"
Lin Zhao was stunned and stammered, "Your teacher's teacher, you mean... Little Jiu is alright?"
"Yes."
The old scholar nodded with a smile. "She has passed through the danger. The karma of the Great Dao has backfired on the tip of the Han Niu Sword. So you don't need to blame yourself. If Suihan were still here, he would have done the same thing. We scholars are like this. What is the use of all the knowledge we learn? It is to uphold principles. If everyone in this world were reasonable, there would probably not be so many conflicts. Back then, Suihan nurtured this Han Niu Sword with his knowledge. From now on, you can also nourish this sword tip with your own principles to repair its damage."
Lin Zhao finally felt at ease and nodded with a smile. "Mm... Mm..."
...
A short while later, the old scholar stood up, brushed the dust off his pants, and said with a smile, "Little Zhao, I must leave now. I cannot linger too long. There are other very important matters waiting for me elsewhere."
"Oh..."
Lin Zhao was particularly understanding. "Your teacher's teacher, please don't rush to leave. I'll prepare some things for you to take with you."
The old scholar's eyes crinkled, and he stroked his beard, chuckling. This boy still had some conscience and hadn't forgotten those important matters.
Shortly after, Lin Zhao entered the pantry of Tian Ran Ju and placed five jars of peach blossom wine in front of the old scholar. He then prepared two dried and smoked deer legs, more than a dozen salted fish jerky caught from the lotus pond, and ten winter-preserved wild pheasants. He also prepared some fresh vegetables for the old scholar, along with bottles and jars of oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. When all this was ready, he took out a not-too-large pot and handed it to the old scholar.
"Take these with you."
He pursed his lips and said with a smile, "This way, your teacher's teacher can have a hot meal wherever he goes."
As he spoke, he quickly returned to the study, used silver parchment, and with his Qian Qi Juan Xue brush dipped in cinnabar, wrote down the methods for braised salted fish, braised wild pheasant, and various stews. He then excitedly handed them to the old scholar.
The old scholar's eyes were filled with smiles. He liked Suihan's disciple more and more. When the old scholar first took Qin Suihan as his disciple, it was at a humble beginning. That was truly a single basket of food, a single gourd of drink, in a dilapidated alley. At that time, Qin Suihan's mind was the sharpest, and he would come up with ingenious ways to make good food for his teacher every day. It could be said that the most comfortable days the old scholar had lived over the years were those times.
Now, seeing Lin Zhao before him, the old scholar seemed to see the young Qin Suihan again.
With a wave of his sleeve, the fine wine, ingredients, and other items were all absorbed into his sleeve. Then, he picked up his staff, gently patted Lin Zhao's shoulder, and said with a smile, "Your teacher's teacher is leaving. I will come to see you again when I have time."
"Mm."
Lin Zhao nodded. "I'll escort your teacher's teacher down the mountain."
"Alright."
They escorted him to the foot of the mountain. The old scholar waved his hand, signaling him not to accompany him further. Lin Zhao then performed a scholar's bow, and the old scholar straightened his robe and returned the bow.
...
Ku Song River.
By the river, Manyuan sat cross-legged, nurturing his demonic energy and treating his injuries. After several hours, his injuries had mostly healed. The physical strength of a peak thirteen-realm great demon was terrifying, and their vitality was exceptionally tenacious, far beyond that of human cultivators. Only thirteen-realm martial artists of the human race could possess such vitality, but these legendary thirteen-realm cultivators had not appeared for too long.
It was common knowledge that the upper limit of martial artists was low.
A short while later, Manyuan slowly stood up. It was time to proceed to the next step.
He frowned, carrying his Sun-Moon Water-Fire Staff as he roamed the Ku Song River. After patrolling for about half an hour, he finally confirmed the location. With a leap, he summoned his colossal dharma image, his feet straddling both banks of the Ku Song River. He raised his enlarged Sun-Moon Water-Fire Staff and, with a low roar, slammed it into the depths of the riverbed. Instantly, centered around the Sun-Moon Water-Fire Staff, immense waves surged in the river!
"Heh!"
Manyuan sneered and said, "You've been watching the show for so long, isn't it time to get up and lend a hand!"
"Buzz~~~"
Instantly, countless golden river destinies surrounded the Sun-Moon Water-Fire Staff. In the next second, a giant palm suddenly rose from a pitch-black area at the bottom of the river and, with a "snap," grasped the staff tip. Following this, as if a colossal creature were rising from the riverbed, it pushed the Sun-Moon Water-Fire Staff, forcibly pushing Manyuan, staff and all, away from the river surface.
The river water swelled, and a massive head emerged from the water. It was a bull-headed face covered in white fur, its appearance extremely ferocious. It braced itself against the Sun-Moon Water-Fire Staff with one hand and supported its body with the other as it rose from the riverbed. Its dharma image was no less imposing than Manyuan's. After shaking off the river water, the great demon, whose true form was a white ox, rapidly shrank and transformed into the appearance of a middle-aged man in a green robe. He laughed, "Manyuan, you've truly suffered a great loss at Lin Xingchu's sword!"
Manyuan's gaze was icy. "Together? We'll flatten the Xi Jian River and destroy Lin Xingchu?"
"Precisely."
The man in the green robe suddenly extended his hand, and countless green armors appeared in the river, adorning him one by one. Then, a green cape connected to the Ku Song River's destiny spread out behind him. In his hand, a Green Wave Mace appeared.
Liu Bai, a peak thirteen-realm demon king, whose Great Dao was close to water.