“Hmph, Shake Mountains?”

The black-clothed girl furrowed her brow, reaching out to take the ancient book.

Unexpectedly, Chen Ping’an moved it away.

At that moment, the black-clothed girl’s body stiffened, and she felt consumed by a burning rage, as if she had never been so humiliated in her life.

She was none other than Ning Yao! Her parents were both Great Sword Immortals above the Twelfth Floor, and she herself had been hailed since birth as the most promising sword immortal prodigy. Even after running away from home for so many years, she had only ever lost in sword duels or contests of spells. Never had anyone dared to insult her character in such a way. A tattered old book? Did they think she, Ning Yao, would stoop to underhanded tactics to read, peek at, or possess it?

Ning Yao tightened her grip on her saber hilt, narrowing her strikingly long and slender eyebrows.

Narrow eyes and vermillion lips.

That was probably the best description for this girl.

Upon closer inspection, Ning Yao possessed a striking beauty, but her aura of unyielding valor completely overshadowed any hint of girlish charm.

However, the straw sandal-clad boy’s next sentence possessed a magical ability to transform the rotten into the wondrous, almost causing the girl to suffer internal injuries from holding back her retort.

“Miss Ning, this book was taken from Gu Can’s house. Although I don’t think it counts as stealing, it still needs to be returned to Gu Can later. But we are friends now, so no matter what is written in this book, I hope Miss Ning will keep it to herself after reading it.”

The girl took a deep breath, slammed her hand on the table, and glared, “Read what? Go read it yourself! I don’t care!”

Chen Ping’an’s next sentence made the girl feel as though she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, “Miss Ning, I can’t read. Can you teach me?”

The black-clothed girl’s mind raced, and she scoffed, “Aren’t you afraid I’ll take advantage of you? Think about it. Gu Can is obviously someone who benefits from a massive ancestral legacy, even more so than the natural sword genius Liu Xianyang. In the past thousand years, there haven’t been many people in this small town who could compare. So, how bad could the heirloom he treasures so carefully be? Aren’t you afraid I’ll have thoughts of greed? Taking sole possession of this priceless secret manual?”

In the dim, yellow light of a flickering oil lamp, the straw sandal-clad boy smiled faintly, offering no explanation.

The girl snorted coldly, shifting her position, gesturing for the straw sandal-clad boy to sit next to her. But Chen Ping’an didn’t budge for a long time. The girl laughed in exasperation, “I, Ning Yao, can beat a hundred of you with one hand…”

As she said that, the girl chuckled to herself, “Could it be that you’re afraid I’ll take advantage of you?”

Chen Ping’an sat down next to the girl, feeling a little apprehensive and nervous.

Girl Ning Yao was still immersed in the implication of her previous statement, sinking deeper and deeper, muttering to herself, “Beat a hundred Chen Ping’ans with one hand, hmm, that statement has a wide range of applications. When I meet so-and-so, and I defeat them in a spar, I can just say, ‘You only have the strength of three thousand Chen Ping’ans, how dare you fight me?’ Feels good. If I encounter a prehistoric beast or a great swamp dragon, I’ll tell myself, ‘That beast is equivalent to thirty thousand Chen Ping’ans, run!’ Haha, not bad, not bad…”

Chen Ping’an only felt inexplicably confused as the black-clothed girl sitting shoulder to shoulder with him suddenly giggled foolishly.

The girl’s laughter made the impoverished boy living in a dilapidated home suddenly feel like a wealthy man.

And neither the boy nor the girl realized at this moment the weight and power that the joke, “beat a hundred Chen Ping’ans with one hand,” would come to wield in the long years to come.

Especially when the straw sandal-clad boy was no longer a boy.

(End of this chapter, please turn the page)

The more time passed, the more this would be true.

Ning Yao finally snapped out of it, cleared her throat, straightened her back, picked up the ancient book, flipped through a few pages quickly, then closed the book, tapped her finger on the cover twice, and turned to Chen Ping’an, saying calmly, “This is a boxing manual. The boxing technique is called ‘Shake Mountains’. According to Jianghu customs, you can call it the *Shake Mountains Manual*.”

Chen Ping’an looked expectant, “And then?”

The black-clothed girl forcibly suppressed the urge to roll her eyes, trying her best to open a page solemnly, her delicate finger, as tender as a green onion, pointing to the preface, sliding down as she recited, “In my hometown, there is a small insect called an ant. Throughout its life, it differs from its kind elsewhere, as they all move stones into the water.”

“My fist technique distinguishes life and death, not victory or defeat. It values the spirit, not the forms. When you have cultivated these six styles of fist to the point of perfection, its killing power is tremendous, readily injuring people’s lungs to a deep extent…”

“Although the *Shake Mountains Manual* has never joined the ranks of the esteemed and high-quality boxing manuals of the present day, I firmly believe that after observing all the martial arts under heaven, this boxing technique will surely have a place. I hope that someone with destiny will carry it forward and glorify it…”

Ning Yao patiently read the preface to Chen Ping’an, sentence by sentence.

The thin booklet had only six forms for the entire boxing manual. The preface, on the other hand, was quite lengthy.

After Ning Yao finished reading the preface, she pushed the boxing manual toward Chen Ping’an and patted him on the shoulder, saying perfunctorily, “Keep it safe. Don’t get robbed.”

Chen Ping’an nodded, carefully reaching out his hands to support the ancient boxing manual.

The sight made Ning Yao constantly want to laugh. Could a book like this grow legs and run away on its own while placed on the table? Or was Chen Ping’an afraid it would fall?

Chen Ping’an rubbed his right hand vigorously on his lapel before opening the pages, reading the preface word by word. After that, there were illustrations and text, but the straw sandal-clad boy saw it as a hazy fog.

Ning Yao sat sideways, her elbow resting on the table, watching the boy’s profile and teasing, “Do you think you’ve struck it rich? Will you use a golden axe to chop wood and eat with a golden bowl from now on?”

The boy did not look up, carefully pondering the illustrations and the heavenly book-like text, saying bluntly, “Actually, when I saw your eyes just now, I knew this boxing manual couldn’t be too good. But it doesn’t matter, it’s good enough for me.”

Ning Yao raised an eyebrow and also spoke frankly, “The things I’ve seen or heard of are indeed good things. But outside of that, I can only distinguish between good and bad things. As for how good good things are, and how bad bad things are, it’s hard to say.”

Chen Ping’an looked up, “So this *Shake Mountains Manual* belongs to the category of ‘good, but not too good’?”

Ning Yao said unhappily, “I don’t know how to describe how terrible this broken boxing manual is!”

The straw sandal-clad boy blinked, a smile playing on his lips.

Clearly, he had known this for a long time, only teasing the girl.

Ning Yao reached out and pulled her saber out of its scabbard an inch, threatening, “Do you want to be chopped?”

Chen Ping’an looked at the green-sheathed saber hanging at her waist and praised sincerely, “It’s very beautiful.”

Ning Yao accepted it readily, “The swords I, Ning Yao, personally select are naturally not bad!”

Chen Ping’an looked at her, admiring and envying her confidence. Even though she was the same age as him, and was in a foreign land, she always felt…

(End of this chapter, please turn the page)

No matter what, no matter the situation, she was like a rising sun, unstoppable. Chen Ping’an could sense this from the careful and cautious way that Daoist Lu interacted with her.

Chen Ping’an couldn’t help but say, “If sunlight could be exchanged for copper coins, that would be great!”

Ning Yao was confused and surprised, “Chen Ping’an, are you obsessed with money?”

Chen Ping’an quickly changed the subject, turning to the first illustration of the boxing manual, “Miss Ning, could you please read the text for this illustration for me?”

Ning Yao thought for a moment and did not refuse, only asking, “Do you know why I determined that this boxing manual wasn’t very good at first glance?”

Chen Ping’an shook his head, “I was also very curious.”

The girl smiled, simply turning to face the boy on the long bench, sitting cross-legged, pointing to the open boxing manual, and explaining patiently, “Martial arts secrets for martial artists and cultivation methods for cultivators generally have three ways of recording them. The first is like this *Shake Mountains Manual*, using ordinary paper pages. How many years it can be preserved depends on luck. Not to mention wars and disasters, the humidity, pests, and so on over the long years will gradually damage and destroy it, right?”

Chen Ping’an nodded in understanding.

The girl continued, “So, in this way of carrying words with physical objects, there’s an unwritten rule: pay attention to the rarity of the material, so that the value of the thing carrying the words matches the value of the words themselves. It’s like you wouldn’t use a box made of elm to hold a state-treasure seal.”

Chen Ping’an was thoughtful.

Ning Yao hesitated slightly, but still opened the window to speak frankly with the boy, “The next method is to not establish words, emphasizing verbal instruction and personal demonstration. These are mostly the secret skills of sects and gangs, often kept hidden, or with cumbersome rules such as only passing it on to sons, not daughters. Even many so-called direct disciples or inner-chamber disciples may not be able to obtain the complete truth. ‘True Transmission, True Transmission’ lies in this.”

Ning Yao sighed, “As for the last method, it can only be comprehended, not expressed, and cannot be spoken or described. For example, the two forces that came to town this time, Yunxia Mountain’s Cai Jinjian, her Yunxia Mountain has ‘Viewing the Sea of Clouds,’ the sea of clouds is vast, and the clouds and mist are especially unique, containing spiritual energy, regarded by you, cultivators of the Eastern Treasure Bottle Continent, as ‘celestial treasures’. Some can transform into past patriarchs, and those with opportunities can meet and communicate with them. And the dense sword qi on the peak of Zhengyang Mountain, it is said that by some twist of fate, it can also produce the sword spirits of the old ancestors of each peak of Zhengyang, evolving the sword dao. As for whether you can see it, it only depends on the size of your fortune, not your status, high or low, or your cultivation level.”

Ning Yao finally said, “Of course, there is no absolute distinction between the three methods. The first method, if the words are engraved on jade tablets, or on the special ‘spirit-washing bamboo’ produced in the Bamboo Sea Paradise, one of the seventy-two paradises, is another matter. In addition, there are countless strange objects. As long as you go far enough, you’ll always encounter surprises. The vast world is full of wonders. In the future, you’d better go out and walk around, not to mention hoping to leave the Eastern Treasure Bottle Continent, to leave this world, at least try to reach the border of the Dali Dynasty.”

Chen Ping’an hummed his agreement, clearly with his mind still focused on the boxing manual. He pointed to a word, “Miss Ning, what does this say?”

The girl felt anger welling up inside, “Get lost!”

(End of chapter)