Chen Ping’an twirled the green bamboo chopstick in his fingers, “How so?”

Lu Wei replied, “If you can live, then live.”

Living under someone else’s roof, one must bow one’s head. The situation was out of his control. Soft words were useless, and harsh words were meaningless.

Just as Lu Wei had said before, the mountains were high and the rivers were long. He hoped that this young Hidden Official, so arrogant in his actions, would take care of himself. The seasons of heaven and earth changed, and fortune turned in cycles. There would always be a chance to settle accounts.

Lu Wei seemed to have made a decision, and with a remaining hint of leisure, glanced at the remaining green bamboo chopstick.

Chen Ping’an had previously used a chopstick as a sword, directly splitting open a doppelganger’s Corpse Severing Talisman.

Such swordsmanship, such killing power, could only belong to a Celestial Realm sword cultivator, and nothing else.

The key was that this sword strike was too profound. The trajectory of the sword was like a short, absolutely straight line.

The sword was delivered, the sword light fell directly, ignoring the flow of the river of time, ignoring the gathering and scattering of spiritual energy. This was the legendary application of skill approaching the Dao.

And the most direct and unswerving divine ability in the world, “神通”, was the art of swordsmanship, which rained down upon the mortal realm even earlier than myriad techniques.

“I never expected Senior Lu to be so unyielding. The Lu family’s demeanor has finally made me look at them with new respect.”

Chen Ping’an asked, “If you can live, then live? Then can I interpret that as… death is also acceptable?”

Lu Wei sneered.

Wanting me to beg for mercy, dream on.

Regarding swordsmanship, Lu Wei truly knew a great deal.

The so-called “those who are not sword cultivators should not speak lightly of swordsmanship” was, of course, the young Hidden Official being sarcastic, deliberately belittling this Lu family ancestor.

In fact, regarding the origins of human swordplay and the world’s techniques, the Lu family of the Central Earth Continent dared not say that they had grasped eighty or ninety percent of the truth, but compared to the top sects on the mountain, they certainly knew many more secrets from the old almanac.

Don’t be fooled by Lu Wei’s calm appearance at the moment. In truth, the storm raging within his heart was only greater than that of Empress Dowager Nan Zan.

Could it be that the intelligence in the family’s secret letter was incorrect? Perhaps Chen Ping’an had not yet returned his cultivation, or perhaps he had secretly made a deal with the Lu Sect Master, retaining a portion of the White Jade Capital’s Dao techniques, to prepare for unforeseen circumstances, like dealing with today’s situation?

This old ancestor, alas, with his heaven-penetrating Dao arts, couldn’t he have foreseen this disaster today?

Severing ties with the mortal world and transcending the Three Realms, he was therefore extra stingy with ancestral blessings, unwilling to have any involvement or entanglement with the Lu family of the Central Earth Continent?

But if Lu Chen was not going to care for the Lu family’s descendants, then so be it. But why would he harm himself so much?

According to the Lu family’s genealogy, Lu Wei would have to call the Third Sect Leader of White Jade Capital “Grand Uncle.”

Lu Wei’s mind raced.

Or could it be that this “Sword Master” had already mastered several Great Daos of swordsmanship?

The problem was that the Lu family’s astrology platform had no records of anything like this.

In this matter, which was greater than the heavens, the Lu family head and those astrologers who observed the stars, as well as those Yue and Du scribes and Celestial Altar Sichen masters responsible for finding omissions, absolutely dared not and should not have any secrets from Lu Wei, the Lu family ancestor who had been away from home for many years and was about to return to the family.

Because as long as Chen Ping’an learned a single Dao of swordsmanship, a single sword technique, from that ancient being, the Great Dao would manifest and be born, triggering celestial phenomena.

It could be the fall of some ancient star, or the sudden drying up of some segment of the river of time!

When Chen Ping’an walked onto that small town’s covered bridge, the Lu family of the Central Earth Continent received the news and immediately took significant action. The family head personally led the charge, overseeing the astrology platform, sparing no effort to track this matter, day after day, year after year, daring not to slacken in the slightest.

The fact that those Lu family astrologers specifically responsible for examining the trends of swordsmanship had been in seclusion for so many years could be described without exaggeration as being “eyes glued to the sky.”

Why did Lu Tai, who came from the same clan branch as Lu Wei, travel alone to Treasure Bottle Continent back then, and why did he happen to meet Chen Ping’an on the ferry to Osmanthus Island?

It was because the Lu family couldn’t understand why the already acknowledged “Sword Master,” a new “Sword Bearer,” had not only not become a sword cultivator, but had not even learned any sword techniques.

That was why someone needed to come to Chen Ping’an’s side to observe this matter up close.

As for Lu Tai himself, he had been kept in the dark all along.

In the end, that clan member who was highly regarded by the family but chose to act ungratefully had given the family a heavy blow.

It was because Lu Tai revealed the secrets of heaven in the Tongye Continent on his own initiative that he almost dragged the entire Lu family of the Central Earth Continent, including the main branch and all the side branches, into a bottomless abyss.

Lu Wei learned afterward that a bottomless ancient well had appeared in the family’s astrology platform, enveloping all the astrologers in darkness, without a trace of sunlight.

Fortunately, this unprecedented, earth-shattering celestial phenomenon was only fleeting, as if it had never appeared at all, but the more it was like this, the clearer the Yin-Yang family of Lu were about the gravity of the matter.

A single misstep could lead to the destruction of the entire nest.

Zou Zi was hateful! Zou Zi was terrifying!

Chen Ping’an said, “A friend of a friend is not necessarily a friend, but an enemy of an enemy may become a friend. Zou Zi has schemed against me, and he has also schemed against you, so we have a chance to reach a consensus on this matter.”

Lu Wei remained impassive, but his heart was filled with horror.

Chen Ping’an looked relaxed, holding a bamboo chopstick, gently tapping the overturned tabletop.

As expected of immortal material, the underside of the table, which had not seen the light of day for many years, still showed no signs of wear.

“Senior Lu, please don’t overthink things. The clumsy sword move I used just now to test Senior’s Dao arts was a sword technique I created myself, far from perfection.”

Chen Ping’an smiled and said, “Your Lu family of the Central Earth Continent failed to follow the celestial omens and find any clues about me. That’s definitely not a dereliction of duty, nor is it something that I can conceal at my young age, deceiving heaven and earth. Blame the results of the examination at the Dragon Kiln in the small town back then for misleading Senior Lu. Perhaps I’m not a naturally born Earth Immortal aptitude, but something even higher. You and the Great Li geomancers were all mistaken. It’s a simple principle: once the starting point is wrong, how can there be a hundred, a thousand, or ten thousand correct results? Everything is just a ‘what if,’ isn’t it, Senior Lu? As a master of geomancy, what do you think?”

Besides that, Chen Ping’an also had a sword technique named “Crescent Moon.”

One was extremely simple, and the other was extremely complex, just the two extremes.

Chen Ping’an raised the green bamboo chopstick and asked with a smile, “I hope you don’t mind if I use Senior Lu as practice? Anyway, it’s just the loss of a True Body Talisman, not the real body.”
The pitiable Nan Zan, as the host of today’s banquet and the esteemed Empress Dowager of Great Li, found herself unable to interject a single word from beginning to end, nor dared to open her mouth casually.

Beside Chen Ping’an stood Xiao Mo, capable of manipulating the heartstrings, but Lu Wei was, after all, a peak Immortal Realm Yin-Yang grand cultivator. Thus, Xiao Mo could only provide his young master with a few keywords regarding Lu Wei’s inner thoughts, along with fragmented “inner voices,” such as “Lu Clan’s observer of the heavens,” “stars falling, rivers drying up,” “Lu Clan’s officials of mountains and rivers,” “master of celestial timing at the heavenly altar,” and “Master Zou…”

Lu Wei chuckled, “Mountain Lord Chen is naturally worthy of the title ‘exceptionally gifted.'”

Not a natural-born sword embryo, yet able to nurture two natal flying swords of extremely high quality in the acquired realm, eventually becoming a veritable sword cultivator.

Although Lu Wei didn’t know why that existence had not imparted any swordsmanship to Chen Ping’an, the “Sword Master,” he absolutely refused to believe that the Great Li Dynasty had misjudged him. The matter of crafting the Natal Porcelain was a secret method passed down by Mister Three Mountains Nine Marquis, a sure way to verify aptitude, leaving no room for error.

Chen Ping’an raised his head to glance at the sky, then turned slightly to look at the talisman prepared for the Great Li Empress Dowager on the ground. This talisman would fare much better than that stick of Cloud Rosy Incense. Although it had fallen to the ground and was stained with some wine, it was still slowly burning. In today’s banquet, it seemed like Nan Zan’s life-saving charm, and also Lu Jiang’s death warrant.

Following Chen Ping’an’s gaze, Nan Zan glanced at the talisman on the ground, her heart filled with anxiety, as tumultuous as the sea.

Chen Ping’an tossed the chopstick onto the table, placing it horizontally between the two people sitting opposite each other, dividing the table into two halves.

Nan Zan understood the profound meaning behind Chen Ping’an’s action – its malicious intent was extreme!

He was asking her if she feared the Great Li Dynasty being divided into two, falling into a divided North-South situation.

It wasn’t that Chen Ping’an could single-handedly make decisions for the upper pillar state surnames, including Cao Ping, and for those “chess pieces.” Rather, it was that Chen Ping’an was currently in the Great Li capital. Once he made a clear-cut decision, those numerous and entangled chess pieces on the board would weigh the pros and cons, assess the situation, and seek benefits, ultimately “converging” and attaching themselves to Chen Ping’an’s decision.

Important chess pieces occupying key positions in the court and mountains would either continue to stand by and watch, secretly fuel the flames, or simply step onto the gambling table themselves…

Nan Zan only relied on that string of Telepathy Beads to recall previous lifetimes’ memories, which were incomplete. She only recovered a portion of her memories, which was naturally because Lu Wei had tampered with this supreme mountain treasure. He did this to prevent Lu Jiang from becoming the Great Li Empress Dowager Nan Zan in this life, being short-sighted and self-righteous, and recklessly deciding to sever ties with the family. The Lu Clan of Central Earth naturally had means to make Nan Zan change her mind, but doing so would waste resources and would not be beneficial to the Lu Clan of Central Earth or the Great Li Dynasty. Both the emperor Song He and the Prince Song Mu were likely to become hostile to the Lu Clan of Central Earth as a result.

Lu Wei said, “Since Mountain Lord Chen has not abused swordsmanship, it means there is still room for negotiation.”

Xiao Mo, who had returned to stand behind his young master, couldn’t help but rub his ears upon hearing these words.

Xiao Mo felt that his eyes had been opened, good heavens, finding a way to court death in so many different ways.

Were the Immortal Realm cultivators of the Vast World so audacious? Admirable, admirable. If he had possessed such courage back then, he would have gone to fight the three ancestral teachers of Daoism, Buddhism and Confucianism long ago.

Chen Ping’an nodded and said, “Very well, then I can conveniently find out whether the life-extending lamps in the Lu Clan’s ancestral hall are more exquisite than those in ordinary ancestral halls, and whether they can prevent an immortal from falling from grace, merely making this lifetime hopeless for ascension.”

He raised his right hand, and from the mountain and river patterns in Chen Ping’an’s palm, a fully inscribed Sixfold Seal materialized out of thin air.

Chen Ping’an held aloft an ancient Five Thunders Dharma Seal, “Then please go and keep company with a certain out-of-town friend. As it happens, both of you were once immortals.”

In the battle of Mount Supporting Moon, all thirty-six “closed-eye” deities on the four sides of the seal had been “awakened” by Chen Ping’an, who possessed the Fourteenth Realm Daoist arts.

With the dharma seal invoked, the Thunder Lord, Lightning Mother, Rain Master, and Wind God, among the thirty-six deities, opened their eyes simultaneously, each performing their duties, highlighting Chen Ping’an like an ancient enlightened being who held the creation of yin and yang in his hands, forming a world within his palm, with the Heavenly Dao in circulation.

Lu Wei’s expression changed drastically, no longer able to feign composure.

Lighting a life-extending lamp allowed one to completely shed their mortal coil and change their appearance. Besides the fall in realm, the greatest fear was the cultivator’s soul being scattered, yet “dying uncleanly.” Their soul might be captured by outsiders, unable to escape. Or they might end up in an awkward situation similar to being “separated from their flesh and blood, scattered to the four winds.” For cultivators who were rebuilding their bodies and souls, once they resumed their path of cultivation, but still had mundane entanglements from their “past life and former body,” it would be akin to adding frost to snow.

But Chen Ping’an was just a sword cultivator, at most with the identity of a pure martial artist. How could he be proficient in thunder magic and talismans, and even learn an extremely superior art of capturing and seizing souls?

The purgatory forged by the thunder formation was truly feared by the Yin-Yang families who knew the inside story, while ordinary Qi refiners, unaware of its true power, were fearless. The thunder formation was also known as the “Heavenly Prison”!

What made Lu Wei feel even more grief, which then turned into a desolate mood, was the Sky character model of the dharma seal. It was inscribed with the four characters “Order, Decree, Submerge, Lu” in an extremely rare inverted manner!

Only a master of talismans would dare to act in such a subversive manner, so it must be the handiwork of his ancestor, Lu Chen!

Lu Wei still couldn’t believe that Chen Ping’an, a man who had only cultivated for half a Jiazi (30 years), could invert the runes based on his own talisman skills!

Moreover, the grade of this dharma seal was so high, and its existence was so long.

If he wasn’t certain of the identity of the green-clad man before him, Lu Wei would have mistaken him for some noble Yellow or Purple-robed figure from the Dragon Tiger Mountain Heavenly Master’s Mansion.

Chen Ping’an called out, “Xiao Mo.”

Nan Zan quickly turned her head and reached out to block the scattered talisman light from the shattered talismans.

Fortunately, it was another Soul-severing talisman used to substitute for death.

It was just that Lu Wei’s true body was still firmly held down by Xiao Mo’s hand.

Xiao Mo closed his two fingers together and gently patted Lu Wei’s shoulder, shattering “Lu Wei” into powder once again.

All three Soul-severing talismans had been used up.

Nan Zan was dumbfounded.

Was this considered a failed negotiation?

She hadn’t even opened her mouth to speak yet.

Since Chen Ping’an was going to tear down his relationship with the entire Lu Clan of Central Earth, what did one Lu Jiang matter?
Lu Wei seemed resigned to his fate, his tone flat, “Chen Ping’an, do not push your bullying too far. If you wish to kill me, then kill me. Why humiliate me so?”

That Xiaomo deliberately refrained from harming his true body.

And that youth, so calculating, seemed determined to watch from the sidelines as he used the remaining two Truth Charms, treating it all as a mere spectacle?

Xiaomo sighed, “The world’s learning is full of contradictions. Some teach us to leave a path for others, to be merciful when we can, while others teach us to eradicate our enemies, lest we suffer the consequences.”

The scene that followed shook Lu Wei’s very Dao heart.

The azure-clad guest conjured a thunder formation in his palm!

The thunderous power was vast, the Dao intent pure.

Lu Wei was increasingly aghast, instinctively leaning back, only for the elusive Xiaomo to reappear behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder with a smile, “Since your mind is made up, facing the blade is the same as shrinking away from it. Why dodge, it seems so unheroic.”

Chen Ping’an abruptly spoke words that left Nan Zan in a daze, “Back in the Li Zhu Grotto-Heaven, Qi先生 was able to make Lu Wei crave death but be unable to obtain it. I am, of course, far inferior. I can only make seeking death easy for you, and seeking life a little more difficult.”

“Lu Wei, after you set up your ancestral shrine and continue your life with lamps, remember this one thing. Whenever and wherever you see me, obediently take a detour. Otherwise, even a glance in my direction will be equivalent to a challenge.”

Lu Wei no longer possessed the detached air of a transcendent being, hastily saying, “Chen Ping’an, let’s talk this over! Regarding the matter of the Natal Porcelain, truthfully, I cannot decide on my own. However, I can immediately send a flying sword transmission to the Lu Clan in the Central Continent, imploring the Clan Head to personally reply and give you a definite answer!”

Lu Wei was, of course, unwilling to become a tethered puppet, with his soul separated from his body.

The young man simply folded his hands in his sleeves, squinted his eyes with a smile, pondered for a moment, then shifted his gaze, “Xiaomo, we were chatting so pleasantly. I didn’t ask you to act. Why are you quarreling with Senior Lu?”

Xiaomo immediately nodded, “Xiaomo was impulsive.”

Then, Xiaomo patted Lu Wei on the shoulder, as if brushing away dust, “Senior Lu, please don’t take it to heart. If you really do, Xiaomo cannot stop you. Just remember to hide your thoughts well. I am a narrow-minded person, far less magnanimous than 公子. So, as long as I detect a wrong look in your eyes, or a trace of murderous intent on your face, I will beat you to death.”

Lu Wei’s body was tense, unable to utter a single word.

Nan Zan, on the other hand, wished she could claw the smiling face across from her into a blooming mess.

Chen Ping’an leaned forward, taking back the chopstick, and pointed it at Lu Wei, who was still restrained in place by Xiaomo, “I only need to do one small thing? Your and the Central Continent Lu Clan’s appetites are far greater than Nan Zan’s.”

Each gentle sway of the chopstick made Nan Zan’s Dao heart tremble.

As for Lu Wei, being pointed at, his thoughts were unknown, but surely unpleasant.

Lu Wei asked with a puzzled expression, “Mountain Lord Chen, what are you implying? Is there some misunderstanding? I haven’t even mentioned that small matter.”

Chen Ping’an stared at Lu Wei, then sighed, his expression somewhat dazed, and muttered to himself, “So, they still see me as a weed by the field’s edge.”

Wild millet in the countryside, an annual herb, grows near water, along ditches in rice paddies. Because it thrives near water, farmers will look for wild millet and distinguish it from rice seedlings, pulling it out whenever they see it.

Chen Ping’an looked at Lu Wei and shook his head, “But I have now read many books. I am no longer that kiln worker apprentice who wouldn’t even look at a boxing manual.”

Chen Ping’an, holding the chopstick, stood up and slowly strolled around the table, glancing at the surface. It was both his own chessboard and a subtle means by which the Lu Clan sought to use celestial phenomena and geography as an even larger chessboard.

Perhaps Zheng Juzhong’s previous advice that he not choose a site in Tongye Continent, besides making him feel powerless, also held some deeper meaning?

Perhaps it was even a hint that required him to get to the bottom of things? The location of the riddle’s solution was related to the Yin Yang School’s Lu Clan?

For example, the two guests today, Nan Zan and Lu Wei, a man and a woman, involved the confrontation of the Yin and Yang trigrams. By the same logic, the Upper Sect of Baoping Continent, the Fallen Mountain, and the future Lower Sect of Tongye Continent naturally possessed a similar mountain force traction. In Chen Ping’an’s view, wasn’t the so-called greatest pattern of interconnected mountains and rivers precisely the Nine Continents and the Four Seas?

Without any warning, Xiaomo used two fingers to sever Lu Wei’s head, while simultaneously using countless sword energies, which were lurking within the latter’s body, to suppress him, preventing him from using any of his natal treasures.

At the same time, Chen Ping’an, who had just been leisurely strolling around the table, flipped his wrist and wielded the thunder formation, imprisoning Lu Wei’s soul within it.

Nan Zan swallowed hard.

Chen Ping’an, holding the thunder formation, continued to stroll, his gaze fixed on the tabletop.

Xiaomo gently placed the severed head back on the neck, slightly bent his knees, looked around, and slightly shifted the head’s position. It had been a little crooked earlier.

He wouldn’t die for the time being; he was still a celestial.

Nan Zan’s face was pale, as if mourning her parents.

Madmen. They were all madmen.

Nan Zan knew that the true madmen were not those with burning eyes and ferocious faces, but the two before her, with calm expressions and tranquil minds.

Few words, but many deeds.

Chen Ping’an withdrew his gaze, lowered his head to examine the immortal soul in the thunder formation in his palm, and smiled, “Forgive me, Senior, for killing an immortal in this manner. I have indeed won in an unchivalrous way. Please wait a moment while I sort out my thoughts before pulling on a thread.”

Thanks to the merit forest in the Literary Temple, the Yun Yi Yun Yi Building, and the Great Li’s Imperial Observatory’s collections, as well as Chen Ping’an’s long-standing “admiration” for the Central Continent Lu Clan, regarding the Thirteen’s contention at the Sword Qi Great Wall, and Lu Tai and “Liu Cai,” who were used by Zou Zi against him, Chen Ping’an’s covert inquiries into the Yin Yang School and the Central Continent Lu Clan over the years could be described as tireless.

The Central Continent Lu Clan’s family teachings were almost equivalent to Yin Yang studies. The Lu Clan could be regarded as the largest Imperial Observatory in the vast world, embracing all rivers and possessing an extremely rich collection of books.

Just like the Yunlin Jiang Clan of Baoping Continent, before their migration from the Central Continent, their ancestors were Great Ritualists in ancient times, assisting the Literary Saint in matters of ritual. The Great Ritualist was responsible for sacrifices and prayers, wearing azure robes and vermillion skirts, a crown without tassels, residing in the ancestral hall, specializing in ghosts and deities, and overseeing the world’s prayers, seeking blessings of auspiciousness and eternal constancy, harmony between Heaven and man, and frequent bountiful years.
The ancestor of the Lu family in the Central Earth was once the Grand Diviner, one of the six officials of the Confucian Temple, in the vast history of the Great Landscape. The alternate names of the six ministries in the dynasties below the mountains today largely originate from these ancient six officials of the Confucian Temple. One of the Grand Diviner’s duties was to oversee a highly esteemed scripture, the foremost of all classics, delved into by the three religions and hundreds of schools of thought in later generations. Its circulation in the Great Landscape was unrestricted; scholars could purchase a copy for a mere dozen or so coins. However, two other major scriptures were kept strictly under lock and key, as they involved too many specific and detailed methods of cultivation. The former was like ancestral mountains and great peaks, while the latter was like two mountains for the crown prince. These two auxiliary scriptures, one was placed in the Qilin Terrace of the Merit Forest in the Confucian Temple, and the original manuscript of the other seemed to be hidden in a secret realm called the Zhilan Hall within the Lu family’s Divination Platform.

Unlike the general Yin-Yang school’s theory of the five elements’ mutual restraint, it was rumored that this book began with the Gen trigram, its knowledge of fate and destiny as continuous as the mountains. Previously, Lu Wei himself said that the Lu family possessed a chapter on earth mirrors, which was probably derived from this branch of the great scripture. In short, this so-called minor matter of Lu Wei’s was destined to be intertwined with the fate of both himself and Falling Star Mountain. Even the Lu family had long been planning in the northern region of Tongye Continent, such as arranging a place that seemed to be a sign from the heavens, yet was a coordinate of mountains and rivers used by the Lu family of the Central Earth to survey the Three Eras and Nine Cycles, and the Six Jia Value Talisman.

“My life trajectory flows like a long river, while my mountain stronghold remains unmoved, the upper and lower sects facing each other from afar, together forming lines of longitude and latitude? It’s just that this observation of the Way by you Lu family of the Central Earth requires a starting point for the thread, which is the minor matter you hope I will agree to? The matter is definitely not big, I believe, but this minor matter will certainly involve the largest number of foreshadowings and threads in the years to come.”

“What, are you repeating your old tricks? Are you Lu family treating me as that former emperor of Great Li?”

“Lu Wei, tell me yourself, should you die or not?”

Lu Wei’s “corpse” sat there motionlessly, his entire soul within the thunder formation, as if immersed in a boiling oil pot, constantly enduring the torment of the thunder pool tribulation, suffering unspeakably.

It wasn’t Chen Ping An’s words that struck the mind of this Lu family ancestor, but a few simple sentences that seemed to “help” Lu Wei reveal the heavenly secret.

A pawn.

It turned out that he was no better than Nan Zan, both were dispensable pawns in the eyes of the family head Lu Sheng.

Chen Ping An glanced at Lu Wei’s soul in the palm of his hand and tutted, “To think you were just a pitiful worm kept in the dark, a bit disappointing.”

He closed his palm.

Five thunders converged.

As heaven and earth closed in,

The silent wail from Lu Wei’s soul seemed to pierce her eardrums, causing Nan Zan to clutch her head. She realized the source of her pain was the tremor in her own Dao heart and the turmoil in her heart lake.

Chen Ping An raised his head and looked at Nan Zan.

Nan Zan’s face was filled with pain as she said with difficulty, “I’ve already had someone secretly return the fragments of that natal porcelain to the Li Zhu Grotto-Heaven. You can find it yourself there, it’s somewhere in your hometown… even the old ancestor Lu Wei doesn’t know about this. Of course, I have to leave myself a way out. But as for exactly where it’s hidden, you can just take this string of Linked Heart Beads from my hand and find out…”

According to Nan Zan’s little calculation, if this mud-legged man reached an agreement with the Lu family ancestor, she could at most have someone retrieve the natal porcelain from the small town. If they couldn’t reach an agreement, and the Lu family ancestor was prepared to abandon her, then she couldn’t be blamed for making a deal with Chen Ping An alone. Did the Lu family really think that the Great Li Dynasty was an easy target? She was Nan Zan, the Empress Dowager of Great Li from Yuzhang County, not some Lu Jiang.

Chen Ping An looked at Nan Zan with a pitying gaze, “Playing tricks, do you think you can outsmart Lu Wei? What are you thinking? That string of Linked Heart Beads is already completely useless. While Lu Wei isn’t here, if you don’t believe it, you can try.”

Nan Zan was struck by lightning. She immediately lowered her head and began to twirl the Linked Heart Beads one by one. The beads, which were originally full of spiritual brilliance, seemed to have lost a layer of mountain and water restriction, becoming dull and lifeless, showing a kind of withering.

Xiao Mo quietly put away the sword intent that had peeled off the Linked Heart Beads, and asked in confusion, “Young Master, don’t you want to ask where it’s hidden?”

Chen Ping An smiled in his heart, “I already know where it’s hidden. I’ll go get it myself later.”

Anyway, it was only a few steps away from his ancestral home.

Nan Zan raised her head, looked at Chen Ping An, then turned her head and looked at the Lu family ancestor whose body was separated from his head.

The hatred in her eyes was already half and half.

But the Empress Dowager of Great Li felt both hatred and fear towards the former.

“Since this answer is satisfactory, I’ll give you a suggestion.”

Chen Ping An reminded, “I don’t know who Lu Jiang is, but I’ve seen the Empress Dowager of Great Li, Nan Zan of Yuzhang County, long ago. In the future, when doing things, you must plan before you act. The Great Li Song family cannot be without a ruler for a day, but the Empress Dowager can cultivate in the Changchun Palace for a long, long time, praying for the country.”

“Do you understand?”

Nan Zan looked blank and nodded slightly.

Chen Ping An asked again, “I don’t trust your brain, so I have to ask one more question, ‘cannot be without a ruler for a day’, do you really understand?”

Nan Zan still nodded.

One sentence had two meanings. The Great Li Song family’s Emperor Song He must be in power, otherwise the country would be in turmoil without a leader.

And if Emperor Song He were to have an accident, the imperial court would have to change someone, someone would have to succeed him immediately, such as changing an emperor on the same day. It was still the same, “cannot be without a ruler for a day.”

As for a mustard seed of Lu Wei’s mind, it was like being forcibly stuffed into an ethereal skin, witnessing scene after scene of time.

In a illusory battlefield, the Great Ancestor of Mount Tuoyue, along with fourteen peak great demons of the old thrones, stood in a line, as if Lu Wei was facing them alone.

Making Lu Wei’s Dao heart totter.

On the earth, the old throne great demon Fei Fei was dragging a suspended great river.

On the summit of a great mountain, there was the peak great demon named Yuanxiong, standing beside the River Chariot Maiden, with a sword light coming straight towards Lu Wei.

Just as Lu Wei’s Dao heart was about to shatter.

Finally, he arrived at the Apricot Blossom Lane that Lu Wei was all too familiar with, where a middle-aged man had set up a stall selling candied haws.

That man, with a smile that was not a smile, with words that were not words, spoke to the Lu family ancestor of the Yin-Yang School, “Long time no see, you useless Lu Wei.”

His Dao heart shattered with a bang, like a glazed cup falling to the ground.
Lu Wei knew that this was clearly the work of that young Hidden Official, yet he still couldn’t contain the collapse of his mind.

His soul lost and wandering, a wisp of Lu Wei’s consciousness was then drawn to the entrance of a “residence.” The door was ajar, and inside sat a cultivator cross-legged, a desk before him, seemingly writing something with a brush.

Upon seeing Lu Wei, the man immediately looked up, his face filled with surprise and a hint of excitement. He quickly stood up and walked to the doorway, but didn’t dare step out, instead using the Great Elegant Speech of the Wild Desolate World to inquire solicitously, “Fellow Daoist, from which part of the Wild Desolate do you hail?”

Lu Wei was proficient in the Wild Desolate Elegant Speech. He hesitated for a moment before raspily replying, “From the Lu Clan of the Central Earth. And you are?”

The man burst into laughter, “Excellent, excellent! We are fellow sufferers in exile.”

Misery loves company, be you from my hometown or the Vastness.

Best if we could be neighbors, then we’d at least have someone to talk to.

The “person” before Lu Wei was none other than Yinlu, the deputy city lord of the Immortal Hairpin City that had been cleaved in two, whose soul and spirit had been captured by Chen Ping’an and placed here.

The Immortal Hairpin City was now blocked by two Mountain and Water talismans, and the Jade Radiance Blessed Land, which served as the Wild Desolate’s armory, was gone as well. Yinlu in this place was envious of the other Yinlu, who at least possessed freedom. What did it matter if he had fallen from the Immortal Realm to Jade Purity? He could still enjoy the pleasures of women, and now that his master Xuanpu was dead, that “self” might even have become the city lord.

But poor him, confined here, burying himself in writing a book.

Recording all his observations about the Wild Desolate World.

According to the young Hidden Official, he wouldn’t be allowed to see the light of day until he wrote a million words, and if the quality of the content was acceptable, he might be allowed to go out and take a look around.

Meanwhile, at the wine gathering outside the small world.

Xiao Mo suddenly whispered, “Young Master.”

Chen Ping’an was currently looking down at his fist, which contained a thunderous aura, his eyes unusually bright.

Hearing Xiao Mo’s call, Chen Ping’an acted as if he hadn’t heard.

Xiao Mo had no choice but to call out “Young Master” again.

Only then did Chen Ping’an look up and smile at Xiao Mo.

Nan Zan and Lu Wei had always believed that this unfamiliar “Mo Sheng” (Stranger), was a guardian from the Great Wall of Sword Qi.

But in reality, it was the opposite. Xiao Mo had accompanied Chen Ping’an to visit the imperial palace and his two old acquaintances precisely so that, at a certain moment, she could remind him to exercise restraint.

Chen Ping’an unclenched his fingers, and Lu Wei’s soul instantly returned to his body. He immediately pulled out a purple-green talisman from his sleeve and smeared it on his neck.

An Immortal who had already reached a bottleneck had actually fallen to the Jade Purity Realm without even making a move.

This was a humiliation of the highest order, unbearable for someone of his stature.

Chen Ping’an didn’t have many options for dealing with this Lu Clan Ancestor. Lu Wei wasn’t like Yinlu of the Immortal Hairpin City, and Chen Ping’an didn’t dare to separate his soul and spirit and keep them confined within the restrictions of his own miniature world. So, he could either refine all of Lu Wei’s souls, forcing him to rely on a life-extending lamp in the family shrine, like Huai Qian, and start his cultivation anew. Or, he could do what he had just done, causing him to fall in realm. The only surprise was that Lu Wei’s Dao Heart was far more fragile than Chen Ping’an had anticipated. It seemed that Qi Xian and that Zou Zi had left indelible marks on Lu Wei’s Dao Heart, and he must have suffered greatly.

Of course, now he could reluctantly add himself to that list.

For the past few years, Chen Ping’an had been treating the entire Lu Clan of the Central Earth as a hypothetical enemy, a Fourteenth Realm Great Cultivator.

Now it seemed that he hadn’t overestimated them at all.

Even if they didn’t have a Transcendence Realm cultivator, or even an Immortal Realm cultivator, Chen Ping’an’s fear of the Lu Clan of the Central Earth wouldn’t diminish in the slightest.

Today, Lu Wei had only been suppressed by Xiao Mo, and Chen Ping’an had merely taken advantage of the situation. It couldn’t be considered a true confrontation with the Lu Clan of the Central Earth.

Chen Ping’an picked up the chopstick from the table and looked at Lu Wei, who had suffered a great loss today. “May the mountains and rivers be long, take care of yourself.”

Lu Wei seemed like a different person as he nodded and said, “One should heed advice, I will remember it well.”

Just now, on the “road here,” a figure in green robes, with hands clasped in his sleeves, had walked alongside a wisp of Lu Wei’s consciousness, turned his head, and asked with a smile, “You and I are both mortals, fearing the consequence, but not the cause?”

The mortal world stretches ten thousand fathoms, a boundless sea of suffering. Mortals fear the consequence, while those on the mountain peaks fear the cause.

Lu Wei had been at a complete loss for words at the time.

Then the figure in green robes had laughed, patted his stomach, and said something strange, “My belly rumbles, I am starving. I ask you, Lord Lu, what should I do?”

Lu Wei had remained speechless.

Stopping beside the table, Chen Ping’an said, “Don’t bother Dali in the future. Whether you listen or not is up to you.”

Lu Wei glanced at Lu Jiang.

Finally, Chen Ping’an smiled and said, “This sword challenge from the Lu Clan of the Central Earth, Chen Ping’an and Falling Mountain will now formally accept the challenge.”

Lu Wei stood up, gave Chen Ping’an a Daoist greeting, and then his figure vanished.

Leaving behind only a bewildered and suspicious Nan Zan.

Why not simply kill that Lu Wei?! Letting the tiger return to the mountain?

Chen Ping’an casually tossed the chopstick back onto the table and said with a chuckle, “Are you trying to tell me how to do things?”

Nan Zan felt as if her throat had been seized.

Today was truly cursed. She couldn’t even speak her mind, couldn’t she even think her thoughts?

Chen Ping’an pointed to the chopstick. “I’m giving it to you. You can use it as a hairpin and wear it in your hair, reminding yourself every time you look in the mirror that you are no longer Lu Jiang’s Nan Zan, the hairpin that is hard to wear.”

Nan Zan hesitated for a moment, but still went to pick up the bamboo chopstick from the edge of the table.

Chen Ping’an was silent for a moment, not leaving immediately.

Nan Zan didn’t dare to say anything more, just standing there. However, her hand, holding the green bamboo chopstick behind her back, was bulging with veins.

In the end, he smiled and said, “Receiving a gift without saying thank you? Who spoiled you with such bad manners?”

Nan Zan had no choice but to perform a sickly Wanfu curtsy, forcing a smile, and thanking the man.

Chen Ping’an left with Xiao Mo.

Nan Zan was torn between different thoughts, but in the end, she asked the green-robed figure in her mind, “Can I truly sever ties with the Lu Clan of the Central Earth?”

Chen Ping’an didn’t even turn his head. “Heaven knows.”

Walking towards the palace gate together, flanked by tall walls on both sides.

Chen Ping’an said, “Meeting on the road, each forming their own fate. Living in the world, each repaying their own debts.”

Xiao Mo’s eyes lit up, “Hearing Young Master say that, I realize that I accidentally gave myself such a good name.”
Chen Ping’an smiled and nodded, saying, “The name ‘Mo Sheng’ is vast, the Daoist title ‘Xi Zhu’ (Wedding Candle) is auspicious, and the nickname ‘Xiao Mo’ is small.”

Xiao Mo remained silent for a moment, then tentatively asked, “Young Master, I have a few natal flying swords, how about you help me rename them all?”

“I am indeed skilled at naming things, but I don’t easily offer my services.”

Chu Yi (First), Shi Wu (Fifteenth).

Zhang Bu (Ledger), Kan Chai (Wood Chopping).

Of course, there are also Nuan Shu (Warming Tree) and Jing Qing (Clear Scenery).

My heart has been wounded.

However, this old debt has nothing to do with the little girl Nuan Shu; it must all be settled with Chen Lingjun.

Chen Ping’an turned his head and asked, “Exactly how many natal flying swords do you have?”

Xiao Mo smiled sheepishly, “Only four, and their quality is quite ordinary.”

Chen Ping’an patted Xiao Mo’s shoulder, “Xiao Mo, you can’t take compliments, can you? You’re so bad at speaking.”

Xiao Mo hesitated for a while, then still conveyed the thought through her heart: “Young Master, there’s something I don’t know if I should say or not?”

Chen Ping’an smiled, “Then don’t say it.”

Xiao Mo hummed and did not speak the thought aloud.

On that ancient land, when Xiao Mo had just mastered swordsmanship and began to roam the world with her sword, she was fortunate enough to witness a being, from the heavens, walking among mortals.

The young master beside her is very similar to that “person.”

As time flowed by, ten thousand years later, Xiao Mo could no longer remember all the details of the other party’s appearance or voice. For some reason, Xiao Mo also forgot what they had talked about after meeting, or if they had even spoken at all. In any case, only a vague impression remained, one that Xiao Mo had never been able to erase over ten thousand years. Even now, Xiao Mo only remembers that the other person seemed to have a very, very good temperament. That last remaining impression was quite unreasonable.

That person’s eyes were just as gentle when looking at the myriad things of heaven and earth, and sentient beings.