The snow fell, a relentless shroud upon the world, and in my hand, I bore a sword, a farewell to hearth and home.

My duty was simple, the guardian of this lone boundary stone, a tranquil post indeed. For now, the Fivefold Realm lay awash in harmony, and who would dare provoke the celestial might of Ascendant City? Even the shadows seemed to shrink away.

Yet, here came a handful of youths, their years matching their faces, drawn to this place for a trial of the spirit, each wrestling with their own stifled potential.

To ascend but a single step higher would unleash a spring wind within their very souls.

It was a common saying in the Sword-Walled Citadel, that babes barely weaned often possessed the greatest daring. Such were these whelps, “born within the Citadel, raised within Ascendant City,” who flocked here in ever-growing numbers, these callow sword-wielders seeking amusement. A dozen strong, they perched and paced about the foot of the towering stone, their voices low, a murmured chorus. They had long since recognized Chen Ping’an and Qi Tingji, and soon their jests turned towards the Hidden Envoy, he of a thousand titles and tales.

“Second Proprietor, when shall we raise a cup to your union with Ning Yao? I swear I’ll be there, though I may have to beg for a delay on the bridal coin!”

“Hidden Envoy, have you yet reclaimed your honor from Cao Ci? I have a stratagem for you, though it may lack grace. If your fists fail, prick him with your flying sword! Victory is all that matters. I hear there’s an unjudged wager in the Vast Lands. Can I still bet? I’d lay my coin on Cao Ci to remain undefeated!”

“Second Proprietor, I come to you with a complaint! The dogs of Ascendant City run wild! We are forbidden to chide or strike them, for our elders warn us against harming Ah Liang or yourself!”

“My master claims you once acted as a shill for the wine shop, even conspired in the gaming house! You owe him a share from the Lesser Heat Festival, a debt long overdue. Is it true?”

“Hidden Envoy, surely you have attained the Realm of Ascension! When shall you merge with the Dao? The master of that recent sword flash, was it…?”

“Hidden Envoy, my uncle says you are possessed of great talent, a silver-tongued charmer. Is it true that wit alone has earned you a comfortable living?”

Chen Ping’an smiled, inviting them closer. He knew, by the very cut of their jibs, whose offspring they were. One glance at the swirling energies of their swords revealed the lineage of a certain blackguard, a connoisseur of ill-reputed wines.

For now, Ascendant City possessed few sword cultivators of the Upper Five Realms.

Besides Chen Hui, called Yan Quan, bound to Chen Ji as a silent blade, there was the Warden Qi Shou, ever burdened with duties, his reputation growing brighter with each passing day. Lord Gao Ye of Fountain Prefecture remained secluded, his days spent in endless calculation, his face said to grow ever more sour. And Deng Liang, the chief offering, frequently abused his position to visit the Summer Palace. He could jest with these few when in company, but none possessed the weight of the Second Proprietor. His mere presence demanded a barrage of teasing, lest one be accused of drinking watered wine and losing coin.

Five new cultivators had recently reached the Nascent Soul realm, two of them native sons, the other three guests abiding in Ascendant City, former Golden Core travelers from the Vast Lands who had broken through in this place.

Chen Ji and Qi Tingji were well aware of Chen Ping’an’s history with wine shops and games of chance, but they had not realized that, after all these years, he remained so… adored. And that, despite his role as Hidden Envoy, most young swordsmen had never even set foot in that humble establishment. Was this what they called ancestral legacy, the secret lore passed down through generations?

Chen Ji and Qi Tingji, now changed in station, found themselves at a crossroads, their reunion laced with separation. They spoke of matters that would never have passed their lips in the homeland. Once, within the Sword-Walled Citadel, the three surviving sword-smiths – they, along with Dong San’geng – held the Grand Sword Immortal in awe, yet each harbored his own grievances. Even Chen Xi, despite being of the Chen Clan, bore a certain resentment towards his ancestor, Chen Qingdu. One thing alone was enough: any other sword cultivator who slew enough demons beyond the city walls could journey to Upside-Down Mountain and sever ties with the Sword-Walled Citadel, as if their names were stricken from the register of a Vast Lands sect, freeing them to live as they chose. But why was any son of the Chen Clan, any descendant of the Chen Clan of Tai Xiang Street, forever forbidden?

The affairs of men were a fleeting dance of coming and going, and dust flew endlessly on the roads of the world.

Chen Ji spoke with his heart: “Did you tell Chen Ping’an about those secret sword veins that originated in the Sword-Walled Citadel and now lie hidden in the Vast Lands?”

For it was true that sword cultivators had quietly left Upside-Down Mountain for the Vast Lands. These swordsmen, deadly by nature, were forbidden to establish sects or reveal their Citadel origins. Beyond that, they were free. By changing their names, they could found schools, take disciples, and establish a line of sword arts, branching out from there.

In a way, these handfuls of swordsmen were another type of “private sword.”

However, the backgrounds of these cultivators were never officially recorded within the Summer Palace. Their names were struck from the records, leaving no written trace.

Only elders like Chen Xi and Qi Tingji, their Dao years long past counting, could recall such things, piecing together fragments of information from rumors and government gazettes to discern the truth. But with the passage of time, the lines of descent leading back to the Citadel faded. Several generations down the line, the arts were no longer pure sword arts, or the secrets were carried to the grave by the founding masters, secrets never shared with even spouses or direct disciples. The battlefield beneath the triple moons, the heights of the city reaching past the clouds, would fade into memory. The world was a wine table, abandoned, the cups empty.

Beneath the quest for immortality, was there any grass that did not wither?

Qi Tingji smiled. “Not yet.”

Chen Ji frowned. “Are you so selfish?”

Qi Tingji retorted, “Are *you* not selfish? Why else did Chen Ji not become City Lord?”

Chen Ji was silenced.

Chen Ping’an, wishing to allow them to speak further, squatted down among the young swordsmen and traded idle words.

One of the older sword-wielders nudged the Second Proprietor with his elbow, asking in his heart, “Why is Qi Tingji here? What mischief is he brewing? We mustn’t let the wolf into the pen…”

Chen Ping’an cut him off, chuckling in his heart, “The Old Sword Immortal will soon be the City Lord of Ascendant City. Zhang Gong, watch your tongue. Hold it in check.”

The young sword-wielder was one of the overseers of this northern boundary stone, a second-in-command, recently arrived at the Golden Core realm. Rejected by the Summer Palace, he had thrown himself into the Warden’s ranks, publicly declaring his unwavering loyalty as a shill for the Second Proprietor.

Zhang Gong looked puzzled. “Not you?”

Chen Ping’an scoffed. “Get out of here.”

Zhang Gong looked disappointed. It did not matter so much who held the title, but Qi Tingji would do. He was an Ascended Realm veteran, at least.

The swordsman habitually scratched his crotch. “Second Proprietor, do you know of any suitable ladies? Pretty ones? Could you say a word on my behalf, play matchmaker? The next time the gates open, I’ll go and marry her. Actually, she doesn’t have to be *too* pretty. I’m afraid of wearing the green hat, know what I mean? Just decent looks, a good build. It doesn’t matter if she’s a sword cultivator, or if her talent’s not so great. I wouldn’t want her to reach the Grotto Heaven realm so young, then stay youthful forever. People would say I was robbing the cradle. Preferably, she’d be a little older, with the looks and figure of a thirty-year-old woman. Back in the wine shop, you said…”

Chen Ping’an glared. “Those were words from Situ Jiyu, not me!”

Zhang Gong said sheepishly, “Why so agitated? I’m known for keeping my mouth shut. It won’t go any further.”

Chen Ping’an tsked. “It’s so shut, you may as well have the words ‘Hidden Envoy Sword Cultivator’ carved on your forehead.”

Zhang Gong grinned. “That’s the art of war: always changing, feigning strength, feigning weakness. Ten men drink, nine shills. Those were your own words, Second Proprietor, weren’t they?”

Chen Ping’an folded his arms. “Are you stuck out here on the ice because Qi Shou doesn’t like you?”

Zhang Gong shook his head. “Qi Shou’s not that petty. I asked to come here. I wanted to see what ‘heaven’s height, earth’s breadth’ was really like.”

Chen Ping’an nodded. “True. In the old Sword-Walled Citadel, there were too many swordsmen, too high a wall, too little space.”

Zhang Gong was silent for a moment. “There’s another reason. Ascendant City has too many rules now, too many seats, too many titles. In the old days, the Summer Palace was simple. Chen Ping’an was the Hidden Envoy, and the rest were simply sword cultivators from his lineage. No one was better or worse. Now, it’s different. Realm, salary, rank, territory, duty – endless complicated distinctions.”

Chen Ping’an hesitated. “It can’t be helped. You can’t blame Qi Shou for it.”

Zhang Gong nodded. “If you say it can’t be helped, then it can’t be helped.”

When Qi Tingji and Chen Ji had finished talking, Chen Ping’an stood and bid farewell to his would-be wine-shills, promising to visit their elders and masters in Ascendant City. The young swordsmen were stunned. The Second Proprietor turned his back with unsettling speed. One youth, who had dared to joke coarsely with Chen Ping’an, froze mid-sentence.

Together, they descended the mountain. As they parted ways, Chen Ji said with a smile, “When I finish my travels, Chen Hui wants to establish a sect in the Vast Lands. I’d be grateful if you could help him find a suitable location.”

Chen Ping’an nodded.

Chen Ji said, “The Old Sword Immortal is good at hiding his abilities, and good at being selfish. Don’t be fooled. He’ll try to trick you.”

Chen Ping’an glanced at Qi Tingji, who laughed. “It’s about those private sword arts and sects in Central Earth Continent and Flowing Glow Continent. I was planning on giving you an unexpected surprise when we arrived at the Long Elephant Sword Sect. Chen Ji is simply meddling, jealous of our blossoming friendship. I bet it’s because he didn’t become City Lord.”

Chen Ji smirked.

Chen Ping’an said, “Let’s consider them affiliated sects for now. If any Lower Sects emerge later, Fallen Mountain will be the ancestral home, Green Plume Sword Sect will be the Upper Sect, and Long Elephant Sword Sect will be the Orthodox Sect.”

Hearing that Old Deaf had been chased from the Temple of Sacrifice and taken in as an offering on Fallen Mountain, Chen Ji chuckled. “Is Gan Tang, that inept peacemaker, still fretting over his two life-bound flying swords?”

Chen Ping’an nodded. “Bai Jing taught him some sword arts, but it’s a temporary fix.”

Chen Ji said no more on the subject. Free of office, he would begin his travels, heading north first, then east, then south, all on foot.

The young man took up his walking stick, donned straw sandals, and carried a book box upon his back, accompanied only by his sword-servant, Chen Hui.

Qi Tingji quipped, “He’s mimicking Mountain Lord Chen, is he?”

Chen Ping’an sighed. “Now you’re stirring the pot yourself.”

They ascended into the sky together, bound for Ascendant City at the center of the world, leaving the snowy north behind as the land turned green, then gold.

Across the Vast Lands, after the Grain Rain, came the Fifth Day of the Fifth Moon, when Liu Xianyang would celebrate his wedding.

Chen Ping’an and Gu Can would, of course, be groomsmen. And Ning Yao and Xie Gou would be bridesmaids for Yu Qianyue.

Last time at the Foothills of Rising Mist private residence, Liu Xianyang suggested that Xiao Mo, if he arrived in time, should also be a groomsman. After all, his Fourteenth Realm was more impressive than the two of you young sect leaders combined! Xie Gou happily clapped her hands. Chen Ping’an asked when she and Xiao Mo would be wed. Perhaps this year, during the Mid-Autumn Festival? The girl in the sable hat pretended to blush, muttering that it was too soon. But her eyes glittered, and she surreptitiously licked her lips. Xiao Mo, haha, where would he run?

But, perhaps smitten by conscience, Mountain Lord Chen allowed Xie Gou to consult Xiao Mo himself and pick an auspicious date.

Near a vassal city north of Ascendant City, Xiao Mo and Xie Gou arrived to meet them. Seeing the two sword lights, Chen Ping’an landed upon a secluded mountain ridge.

Unable to use the Three Mountains Talisman, the road-weary girl in the sable hat shook out a pile of heads from her sleeve, which landed upon the ground. Among them were the heads of Jade Purity Realm emperors and a host of celestial lords.

Xie Gou grinned. “Mountain Lord, two hundred and twenty heads. No one died unjustly. Many deserved to die two or three times over.”

Xiao Mo nodded. “They either enjoyed killing personally, or indulged their direct disciples in wanton violence. Then there was a group of qi refiners who practiced the Way of Ghosts, deliberately refining living men into ghost soldiers, a most insidious method. And other, unheard of cruelties. It had corrupted the entire dynasty. Had we arrived a few years later, the foul air and resentment would have coalesced into a monstrous entity.”

Xiao Mo did not wish to speak of such things to his lord or Qi Tingji, for they consisted of ways to exploit and torture mortals. For example, there was a cultivator who enjoyed chopping off feet, even collecting the embroidered shoes from the feet of women. Or another cultivator who led an army, trapping a mansion and depriving it of water and food. He then demanded money from its hundred occupants. If the inhabitants wished to leave unharmed, they had to pay a sum for each eye, ear, limb, or even a woman’s breast. Those who could not pay were left to rot, resorting to suicide or cannibalism, while the cultivator and his soldiers built a high platform outside, where they merrily watched the spectacle.

He and Xie Gou had traveled in silence for a long time, until Xie Gou finally broke the silence. “Things weren’t like this ten thousand years ago.” It only deepened Xiao Mo’s gloom.

Xie Gou did not even wish to record such things in her travelogue.

First, Xie Gou had taken Xiao Mo to that dynasty and carefully examined the inner hearts of the cultivators, gathering and cross-referencing information. Wielding their swords was the easy part. A flash of sword light marked a line across the land, and two hundred heads tumbled. It took more time for her to pick out the heads from the palaces, mansions, and dojos.

Chen Ping’an asked, “You killed them, so why did you bring all the heads here?”

Xie Gou looked surprised. “Don’t books say generals often fabricate merits and kill innocent people for rewards?”

Qi Tingji asked, “Why didn’t you send the other eighty-odd cultivators on their way too?”

“I don’t believe anyone can be truly innocent while aiding evildoers. I don’t expect them to rise up or seek justice for anyone. But can’t they at least turn away?”

“What are you going to do with them?”

Hearing this, Xie Gou scratched her sable hat, explaining roughly, “Half of them are plotting rebellion. The other half have only fought on the battlefield. They’re afraid of death, too cowardly to even fart. They don’t dare to prey on small towns in other nations, afraid of becoming too entangled in worldly affairs and accumulating too much sin, which would hinder their progress in the Dao. Some wanted to leave, as the Old Sword Immortal said, but the emperor sent men to intercept and kill them. It’s easy to get on the thief’s ship, but leaving requires a life for passage.”

Then, Xie Gou kicked the crowned head. “This one’s got some power. On the surface, he was a proper Daoist who practiced the law of thunder, but secretly he’s a master of the Way of Ghosts and possesses skills in the art of war. He grows his Dao through killing. The battlefield is his Dao ground. How convenient! The more people die, the more ghost soldiers he commands. After only ten years in the Fivefold Realm, he’s about to reach the Immortal Realm! With the aid of all that resentment, he’s aiming for Ascension!”

Qi Tingji scoffed. “A good plan. So, it wasn’t just a rash act for merit?”

Xie Gou ventured, “Old Qi, how about we take Xiao Mo and have another look around?”

Qi Tingji considered it. “Sounds good. Consider it a vacation.”

They would scour the place again, more thoroughly this time.

Since they were determined to defy the law, Qi Tingji would set down the rules and teach them what was called the Law of Heaven, what was called the Forbidden Zone.

He would give them a fresh start for the new year.

Xiao Mo clearly wanted to go too, but asked, “My lord?”

Chen Ping’an smiled. “I’ll wait for you in Ascendant City. We’ll try to return to the Vast Lands before Grain in Ear.”

Qi Tingji asked with a laugh, “Does Mountain Lord Chen have any other instructions?”

Chen Ping’an smiled. “One Fourteenth Realm, two Ascended Realms, traveling together. What, do you want me to warn you to be careful and watch out for assassins?”

Xie Gou laughed heartily. The Old Sword Immortal’s jokes were not up to snuff.

She was about to turn the heads into ash with a flick of her sleeve.

Qi Tingji said, “They still have some use. Bring them back.”

Xie Gou obeyed.

They parted ways once more, with sword lights like rainbows and thunderclaps in their wake.

Xie Gou gave Qi Tingji a pile of counterfeit Three Mountains Talismans and began to teach him how to use them.

Otherwise, they would be exhausted to death crossing half the world by sword alone.

A moment later, a sharp sword light suddenly cut open the sea of clouds beside them, arcing over to join their sword flight.

Qi Tingji asked with a smile, “What’s this?”

Chen Ping’an said, “Count me in. I’ll lend a hand.”

Xie Gou asked curiously, “Mountain Lord, are you really not afraid we’ll go on a rampage?”

Chen Ping’an said, “I’m afraid you’ll kill too quickly, kill too few, and use too simple of methods. I’m afraid you’ll let too many slip through the net, fail to penetrate the human heart, and fail to bring about a new age.”

Qi Tingji said, “Chen Ping’an?”

Chen Ping’an asked, “What?”

Qi Tingji smiled. “To let those who seek death die, and those who wish to live, live. Is that your true heart?”

Chen Ping’an said, “Those who attain the Dao of immortality should use their Dao hearts to turn the axis of heaven and earth.”

Xiao Mo asked in his heart, “Gouzi, what does that mean?”

Xie Gou said earnestly, “The Mountain Lord is teaching the Old Sword Immortal the way to merge with the Dao.”

Qi Tingji glanced at Chen Ping’an, who returned the look. Whoever believed that was a fool.

After using up the Three Mountains Talismans, at the heart of that dynasty’s capital, where an evil aura coiled like a black serpent spitting venom, and where a torrential rain fell, Qi Tingji stood high above the sea of clouds. With a flick of his sword, he scattered the clouds, creating a gateway in the heavens. A pillar of golden light illuminated the capital, and the foul energy scattered like a million venomous snakes. In its place rose a snowy white serpent of Qi, weak and trembling. Xiao Mo scattered her sword light, slaying the billowing black air. In the palace hall, the one on the dragon throne, the protectors of the realm, the newly appointed royal offerings, the officials, civil and military, were mostly new faces.

The sky brightened, and the rain ceased.

They saw four figures appear at the palace gates. The oldest wore a green robe and a jade hairpin. The only woman was a girl with rouged cheeks in a sable hat. The other two were youths with handsome faces. One of them stepped over the palace threshold and introduced himself as Qi Tingji of Ascendant City, merely passing through.

The seemingly innocent girl shook out her sleeves, scattering heads across the palace floor. “We know our manners, so we brought gifts.”

Qi Tingji stepped over the threshold, kicking aside the heads in his path. He waved at the new emperor on the throne. “Don’t sit so high. Come down and talk. I don’t like talking to people I have to look up to.”

Outside, the sunlight shone, bright and endless.