Walking among the desolate hills and wild graves where foxes and rabbits roamed, the sword-bearing man abruptly halted before a tombstone. He approached an unassuming mound and knelt down, using his hand to clear away the clinging vines that obscured the stone’s surface, revealing its true form. The inscription was faded, and only fragments could be deciphered. The man sighed, “The divine path collapses, and the rituals flourish. The contention of the hundred schools is about to begin.”

After rising, the man noticed his disciple, who had yet to formally join the True Martial Mountain sect, facing the direction from which they had come. Blood streamed from the youth’s mouth, ears, and nose, making his dark face appear even more frightening. The young man raised his arm to haphazardly wipe it away, his gaze fixed in that direction.

The man spoke, “Ma Kuxuan, according to your explanation, you learned that the foreign girl, in the alley, used a flying sword technique, joining forces with the Great Sui prince and an eunuch, to kill your first master. Because of this, your mind is troubled, and you must take revenge before leaving this town. I found this reasoning acceptable, and did not stop you, allowing you to bear the consequences of your actions. After all, for those who cultivate, encountering such a great enemy is both a crisis and an opportunity.”

But the man’s tone intensified, showing no favoritism due to the disciple’s exceptional talent, and he said sternly, “However, why did you target a peer from Mud Bottle Alley? I have already told you, we True Martial Mountain soldiers, especially those who follow the path of the sword, must never kill indiscriminately!”

The young man answered evasively, “Are soldiers the most capable of disregarding karmic retribution, fate, and fortune?”

The man nodded, saying, “Throughout a thousand years of history, those who have single-handedly turned the tide of a desperate situation have mostly been our soldier saints. It is not just because I am a soldier that I deliberately praise our predecessors.”

The man stared at the youth, showing no intention of letting him off easily.

If Ma Kuxuan were to become bloodthirsty and bullying, what use would he be to True Martial Mountain?

Soldier cultivators in secular dynasties rely on battlefield carnage to elevate their realm, inherently close to the line between life and death. If they fail to guard their true nature, they are prone to fall into demonic paths. Imagine a cultivator wielding military power, how easily could they slaughter cities and destroy nations?

The soldier and Confucian schools are the two pillars that support the peace of dynasties below the mountain. If a respected soldier cultivator fails to uphold righteousness, then the higher their realm and the greater their position in the court, the greater the impact on the entire secular dynasty will be. History is filled with cautionary tales. How difficult it is to win the people’s hearts, and how easy it is to lose them. Although those words were spoken by a Confucian sage, many soldier cultivators, well-versed in Confucian classics, deeply agree.

The youth seemed to sense the gravity of the atmosphere, but did not rush to argue. He raised his hand, gently covering his ear, and winced, sucking in a cold breath as it touched the wound. After a moment, he withdrew his hand, looking at the bloodstains on his palm. “That fellow is called Chen Ping’an. His father died when he was very young. That man was a famous kiln worker in town, skilled and honest. Then, suddenly, he died unexpectedly, and his body was never found. Although my grandmother never wanted to admit it, I remember it clearly. It was a stormy night with thunder and lightning. I was awakened by the thunder and found that my grandmother wasn’t beside me. I pushed open the door and saw my father sneaking back, both surprised and frightened, acting strangely. My mother patted my father’s back, smiling from ear to ear, overjoyed.”

The young man frowned unconsciously, struggling to recall those bleak childhood scenes. “Only my grandmother remained silent, seeming displeased. Instead, she lashed out at my father. ‘Did you think that just because the child’s father is dead, you’d have a chance to marry her? Don’t you dare look in the mirror and see what you’re worth! The Chen family in Mud Bottle Alley has only had a single descendant for generations. Are you not afraid of harming one person, ultimately causing their entire family to perish? Then the Chen family line will be cut off, and you’ll suffer the retribution of their ancestral spirits! Even if that woman would remarry, are you sure of her personality? My father chuckled, probably thinking it was done, the reward would soon be his. He wouldn’t pretend to be remorseful in front of his family. My grandmother yelled at my mother, and they almost fought in the main hall. My father favored the new over the old, so of course he defended his wife, not his mother. In the end, my grandmother sat on the ground, beating her chest, crying and complaining to the ancestral tablet. She said that the Ma family had brought a jinx into their home, and they would never rest in peace.”

Following the youth’s train of thought, the man asked, “Are you trying to take the nebulous karmic retribution, the sins committed by the previous generation, all upon yourself, hoping for a peaceful end for your grandmother and parents?”

Ma Kuxuan grinned. “I don’t have much affection for my parents. Only my grandmother worries me. She refuses to go to True Martial Mountain with me, saying she wants to be buried next to my grandfather. If she went to some place tens of thousands of miles away, it would inconvenience me, her grandson, to bring her ashes home. Besides, she heard that the path to the afterlife before burial is extremely difficult. She says she suffered enough while alive and doesn’t want to suffer after death.”

The man said, “Understandable, but unjustifiable. This is a one-time exception.”

Ma Kuxuan curled his lips, his expression cold. He neither shook his head nor refuted, neither nodded nor agreed.

The man smiled, rubbing salt into the youth’s wounds, “How does it feel to be beaten to the ground by someone your own age?”

Ma Kuxuan retorted angrily, “If that woman hadn’t secretly given him a knife, would I have lost to Chen Ping’an?! I only used seven-tenths of my strength! I was just playing cat and mouse…”

The man mocked gently, “Playing cat and mouse? More like wanting to kill Chen Ping’an with seventy percent strength while putting the girl off guard. Thinking of killing two birds with one stone, how lovely.”

The youth’s face flushed slightly. He said, “Are you a Master?”

The man laughed heartily.

The two resumed their journey towards the town. The youth asked, “Is True Martial Mountain higher or lower than that Orthodox Sun Mountain?”

The man smiled and asked, “Do you want the truth or a lie?”

The youth’s eyes darted around. “What’s the lie?”

The man answered, “About the same height.”

The youth sighed mournfully, feeling he had chosen poorly. He had recognized two masters, one who died mysteriously in the Riding Dragon Alley, and one who wasn’t very capable but had too many rules.

The man laughed, “Although Orthodox Sun Mountain is outwardly the root of swordsmanship, in the eyes of the Eastern Treasure Bottle Continent cultivators, its status is far inferior to its nemesis, the Wind and Thunder Garden. Therefore, Orthodox Sun Mountain is not considered a first-class sect. Of course, this is just a facade. In fact, Orthodox Sun Mountain has extremely deep foundations. It is just that after that old grievance, a certain individual from Wind and Thunder Garden had sword arts that surpassed his peers, so exceptionally talented that Orthodox Sun Mountain had to endure humiliation for centuries…”

Ma Kuxuan said testily, “No matter how much you praise Orthodox Sun Mountain, it doesn’t change the fact that True Martial Mountain is inferior to it.”

The man laughed, “Ma Kuxuan, you misunderstand. The difference between Orthodox Sun Mountain and True Martial Mountain is probably the distance of another Orthodox Sun Mountain.”

The youth paused, understanding the man’s implication. He immediately smiled, “That’s more like it!”

The man reminded him, “The sect is the sect, you are you.”

The diminutive youth grinned, “You misunderstand too! I mean, since True Martial Mountain is so high, it will save me time and effort when I want to find someone to spar with. I won’t be surrounded by a bunch of silk-embroidered pillows and wine bags!”

The man smiled but didn’t respond. “Wouldn’t it be more convincing if this bold statement came from a youth from Mud Bottle Alley?”

The youth flared up, “Are you even a proper Master?! Be careful you’ll be beaten to death, and I won’t avenge you!”

The man reached behind him, patting the sword scabbard. He smiled gently, “Apart from this sword, your master has nothing else. Death means the end of my path. What use is your revenge?”

The youth asked suspiciously, “Isn’t there True Martial Mountain, the sect of Master?”

The man kept him in suspense, “True Martial Mountain is different from other sects in the Eastern Treasure Bottle Continent. You will understand when you get there.”

The tiger tally at the man’s waist lightly jumped. The man pressed the tiger tally for a moment, then said in a low voice, “We must return to town immediately! As a soldier, it is our instinct to seek good fortune and avoid calamity, to foresee the future.”

The youth rolled his eyes. “Even if the town is turned upside down, even if the foreigners and the townspeople slaughter each other, it’s none of my business. We agreed that I wouldn’t casually take lives, but I definitely won’t do anything heroic or help those in distress.”

The man’s face was grave. He grabbed the youth’s shoulder and commanded, “Do not speak, hold your breath!”

The two figures flashed away, appearing tens of feet away in an instant. They repeated this, like a series of stones skipping across the water, thrown by the youth Ma Kuxuan.

—

Chen Ping’an’s injuries weren’t too severe, aside from the wound on his back from the rock thrown by Ma Kuxuan. However, that didn’t mean Chen Ping’an was comfortable. The biggest problem was his left palm. Splashing in the water to catch fish prolonged the recovery. This fight with Ma Kuxuan made things worse. When he peeled off the old cotton strip, Chen Ping’an could only open his bag, take out a porcelain bottle, and drink the thick medicinal soup inside. It was the prescription from Yang’s shop back then. It didn’t do much else, but it could relieve the pain.

After Ning Yao took back the quaint paperweight knife, she tore off a large section of the inner shirt’s sleeve, shredded it into strips, and helped the sweating Chen Ping’an to bandage his hand. “Is Yang’s shop’s crude formula really effective?”

Chen Ping’an gently moved his left hand and managed a smile. “Very effective. It really hurt. I’ve only felt that pain twice before.”

Ning Yao scolded, “You can see the white bone in your palm! How could it not hurt? Do you really think you’ve cultivated an indestructible arhat body, or an immaculate Daoist True Lord? Stop being stubborn! Fight that Ma Kuxuan to the death. Didn’t he say it was a one-on-one fight? Fine, he can fight both of us! Even I, Ning Yao, am not ashamed. Why are you so addicted to acting like a hero? Or should I cheer when you fight the Orthodox Sun Mountain ape later?”

Chen Ping’an was about to argue.

The girl glared suddenly, and the boy immediately nodded. “Ning girl is correct.”

Ning Yao slanted her eyes. “You say so, but you don’t mean it. Do you think I don’t know?”

Chen Ping’an grinned, his eyes constantly glancing at the paperweight knife in her hand, seemingly simple and cute at first glance, but sharp and cold upon closer inspection.

The boy thought this paperweight knife was the opposite of its master.

Ning Yao had Chen Ping’an raise his right arm and gently placed the paperweight knife back into the scabbard tied to his arm, warning, “Don’t push your luck. Don’t have any improper thoughts about this knife!”

Chen Ping’an said helplessly, “Ning girl, you are overthinking.”

Ning Yao suddenly pointed to the earliest broken-arm spirit official statue. “Do you know what kind of stone that black stone base is made of?”

Chen Ping’an nodded, “Yes, Ning girl. You’ve asked the right person. We just need to follow the stream and go into the mountains. It will be a long way, but I estimate we can see a black stone cliff in at least half a day. All the stones are like that, very hard. You can’t even break off a little pebble with a hammer, let alone with a wood axe. There are several long, sunken grooves there that are a little sloped and uneven. Grandpa Yao always tells me to sharpen my wood axe there. It really makes the blade brighter than before.”

Ning Yao rubbed her forehead, half-laughing and half-crying. “A wood axe used for chopping trees…”

Chen Ping’an’s eyes lit up. “Is it valuable?!”

Ning Yao said, “Even if it’s valuable, can you get even a little bit of that stone cliff? I’m telling you, ordinary immortals can’t do it! Unless it’s a powerful sword immortal who is willing to sacrifice a divine weapon to split off two three-foot long stone slabs. Sword cultivators call them ‘Dragon Slaughtering Platforms,’ and each one is priceless.”

Chen Ping’an fell into thought.

Ning Yao suddenly had an idea. “Isn’t there a ready-made sword sharpening stone under the spirit official statue? It’s so big, we can just split it into two Dragon Slaughtering Platforms.”

Chen Ping’an jumped up in alarm. “Ning girl, we can’t take it home! That spirit official is upset enough already. If we take his footing…”

Ning Yao stood up abruptly, scoffing, “Take?! Am I that kind of person?”

Then Chen Ping’an followed the girl to the spirit official statue. Standing before the painted clay statue, Ning Yao stepped forward and placed her hands on the sword scabbard. Boldly and heroically, she looked up and shouted, “I am Ning Yao! If you gift me this three-foot-long footing, then when I, Ning Yao, reach the Sword Immortal realm, I will repay you a hundredfold, a thousandfold!”

Chen Ping’an opened his mouth wide, thinking, “Is that allowed?”

As expected, the clay statue didn’t respond.

The girl didn’t give up. She continued, “You don’t want to give it? Then can I, Ning Yao, borrow it? With the intention to repay.”

Ning Yao turned her head and winked at Chen Ping’an. “I’m borrowing, not taking, understand?”

Chen Ping’an shook his head earnestly. “No understand!”

Ning Yao was about to explain the distinct difference between “taking” and “borrowing” to the wooden-headed Chen Ping’an when Chen Ping’an suddenly shouted, “Careful!”

As he spoke, Chen Ping’an moved, pulling Ning Yao behind him.

It turned out that the spirit official statue, after enduring thousands of years of wind and sun, finally collapsed on this day, falling forward and breaking into pieces. It didn’t leave behind remnants like a leg here or an arm there. Even the once-vivid head was shattered.

From earth to earth.

As if it had truly completed its journey in the world.

Moreover, the marvel of this whole thing was the height of the statue. There was more space between the heads of the two youths and the seat, but even if Chen Ping’an and Ning Yao hadn’t been completely crushed down, they would have at least been hit. But it turned out that when the statue crumbled, most of the dust landed at their feet.

Having seen a lot in her life, Ning Yao gulped, a little guilty, looking down at the flying dust, she murmured, “You’re really stingy. You won’t even let me borrow, so you’ll just destroy yourself with me?”

Chen Ping’an suddenly shook his head. “It’s Bodhisattva nodding. It’s agreeing to you.”

Ning Yao stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the youth, looked at the dust, then further off to the bare black Dragon Slaughter Platform. Finally, she turned her head to Chen Ping’an, “You sure?”

Chen Ping’an smiled, “I’m sure!”

Ning Yao believed him, without hesitation.

Even she didn’t know why.

Finally, with Chen Ping’an’s lead, Ning Yao helped to move the mud and debris into a pit next door and covered it with soil.

Chen Ping’an said, “Whether people or gods, they go into the earth in peace.”

Ning Yao also said, “Go into the earth in peace.”

After all that, Ning Yao was curious, “Chen Ping’an, is that a town custom? Or is it a rule passed down from your ancestors?”

Chen Ping’an shook his head, “No, it’s just what I think.”

Ning Yao raised an eyebrow.

Chen Ping’an laughed, “Ning girl, don’t you feel good after all that?”

Ning Yao shook her head too, “No.”

Chen Ping’an scratched his head and looked at the black rock seat, “It’s called Dragon Slaughter Platform?”

Ning Yao hummed, “Martial artists would call it a sharpening stone, or grinding stone. Sword cultivators in the mountains would call it Dragon Slaughter Platform.”

Ning Yao looked to the southwest, staring off, muttering, “Where I’m from, they call it a sharpening stone too. Everyone has one, no matter how big. Some declining, poor swordsmen only have a stone the size of their thumb, but hold it more dearly than their lives. Not that there isn’t… My home has one, it’s huge…”

Chen Ping’an quietly asked, “How big?”

The girl whispered, “Bigger than your Mud Bottle Alley house.”

The boy looked shocked, then very envious, “Your family must be rich! If it’s that big, you won’t have to worry about someone stealing it. Unlike me, I finally saved up some coins, but I don’t feel safe no matter where I put them.”

The sadness disappeared from the homesick girl’s face, she smiled, “Half of the stone is yours!”

The boy waved, “What would I do with it? Sure, I have an axe, but I don’t need such a fine sharpening stone. Every time I sharpen the axe, my heart will hurt. So just take it, Ning girl. Weren’t you planning to ask Master Ruan to forge a sword? You can use the other half as money to pay…”

Ning Yao sighed, “Chen Ping’an, are you a fool or what?”

Chen Ping’an thought for a moment and smiled, “Ning girl, just think of me as a pushover.”

Ning Yao suddenly pointed at the boy, her eyes narrowed and smiling. “Chen Ping’an, come clean. You’re plotting something, thinking of turning ‘Ning girl’ into your wife, and then everything will be yours! You’re so clever!”

The boy wanted to cry, recalling something that Song Jixin said. What was it? “Want to condemn somebody? You can always trump up a charge.”

Ning Yao laughed, “I’m kidding. Look how scared you are.”

Chen Ping’an sighed, feeling a bit tired.

Ning Yao suddenly said seriously, “Careful! My flying sword is on its way back!”

Chen Ping’an looked alarmed.