At the edge of a desolate wilderness, a flying sword hovered obediently in the air, like a well-bred young lady of a noble family. Upon seeing an elder who had established the family rules, it could only lower its “gaze,” standing meekly at attention.

Beside the flying sword stood a middle-aged scholar, travel-worn and covered in dust, with frost at his temples even more pronounced than before. If Zhao Yao and Song Jixin, those two promising students, were present, they would have noticed that the academy teacher’s white hair had increased significantly in just ten days.

The sword’s tip pointed towards a silent, mountain-moving ape from the Righteous Sun Mountain, whose entire being faintly radiated a volatile aura, as if it were ready to fight to the death at any moment.

The mountain-moving ape finally couldn’t resist asking in a deep voice, “Why could the people from True Martial Mountain go, but I couldn’t? Mr. Qi, aren’t you being a bit too opportunistic?”

Such a direct question could be considered extremely impolite, but the mountain-moving ape didn’t feel there was anything wrong with it. Although True Martial Mountain was a sacred military ground in the Eastern Treasure Bottle Continent, it had always been disorganized. The cultivators and martial artists with great mystical powers were more like having their names listed with True Martial Mountain. Its rules were famously broad and vague, lacking any real binding force, so where could they find any cohesion?

Qi Jingchun, his face weary, first spoke to the flying sword, “Go, your master is safe.”

The flying sword seemed to be granted a great pardon. Its blade gave a cheerful jump, turned its tip, and darted away.

The mountain-moving ape assumed it had guessed the reason for everything, and its anger intensified. “So, that young girl was indeed a junior you, Mr. Qi, had chosen! If you were interested in the Liu Clan’s Sword Scripture, you could have told me! As long as it didn’t fall into the hands of Thunderclap Garden, it could be taken by your unofficial disciple. But you had to hide it so secretively. What, are you trying to be a whore while also erecting a chastity arch? You, Qi Jingchun, secretly reap the benefits, but Righteous Sun Mountain has to bear the infamy?!”

If the previous accusations and questions were the result of anger causing him to speak without thinking, then the mountain-moving ape’s extremely insulting words now undoubtedly signified a complete tearing of face.

Qi Jingchun’s expression remained calm as he slowly said, “I, Qi Jingchun, as a Confucian disciple responsible for overseeing the feng shui and fortune of this place for sixty years, should explain a few things to you. First, I have no connection or relationship with that young girl. I simply saw that she had excellent talent. The plaque with the four characters ‘Qi Chong Dou Niu’ contained a portion of the Treasure Bottle Continent’s sword essence. When the young girl stood under the plaque, the four characters actively resonated with her. Unfortunately, the material of the sword she carried at the time was insufficient to support the four characters’ fortune, so I conveniently took two of the characters and placed them in her sword. My relationship with this young girl ends there. It’s not as you speculate, that she is an unofficial disciple I chose.”

Qi Jingchun mocked himself with a laugh, “If I were truly willing to abandon my reputation and steal something under my watch, as the head of a family, how could outsiders notice even the slightest thing when I pulled things into my own bosom? A Dream-Killing Sword Scripture is all it is. Did I, Qi Jingchun, need to plan for nearly sixty years to steal it?”

As a top figure of the Righteous Sun Mountain, the mountain-moving ape had witnessed too many schemes with thousands of miles of hidden threads and had learned the powerful methods of many seemingly virtuous immortals and eminent figures. How could it easily believe the scholar’s previous explanation? However, compared to its previous intense remarks, it became much calmer, simply sneering, “Oh? So, I was judging a gentleman’s heart with the mind of a petty man?”

Qi Jingchun glanced at the mountain-moving ape, “The reason I came here to stop you, but allowed the people from True Martial Mountain to pass, is actually very simple.

Many people jokingly say that True Martial Mountain has ‘two truths,’ true gentlemen and true villains. Therefore, whatever that military strategist sword cultivator tells me, I can believe him. But you are different. You severely injured Liu Xianyang, ruining his prospects for the Great Path, but deliberately spared his life to prevent me from expelling you too early. You people…”

Saying this, Qi Jingchun smiled, “Oh, I almost forgot, you aren’t human.”

The mountain-moving ape narrowed its eyes, its fists clenched tightly, joints creaking.

If a mortal enemy from Thunderclap Garden or a cultivator who disliked the Righteous Sun Mountain were to mock and ridicule it, taking advantage verbally with the saying “not human,” the thousand-year-old mountain-moving ape wouldn’t care at all. But when this middle-aged scholar spoke it with a calm, gentle tone, the mountain-moving ape inexplicably felt immense humiliation.

Qi Jingchun seemed oblivious to the mountain-moving ape’s rage and continued, “Stopping you is for the sake of Righteous Sun Mountain. Earlier, that young girl almost unleashed her natal object. You come from Righteous Sun Mountain and have dealt with sword energy and sword intent for a thousand years. Can’t you feel that pressure?”

“That little girl was just struggling in her dying breath. Mr. Qi dares to use that little bit of Daoist magic to scare people?”

The old ape laughed heartily, feigning sudden realization. “Someone said before that your teacher, Qi Jingchun, had his reputation ruined in his later years. His statue’s position repeatedly decreased until it was moved out of the Temple of Literature and smashed to pieces. I didn’t believe it at the time, thinking that a dignified fourth sage of the Confucian Temple would be able to exchange a few words with the legendary Dao Ancestor Buddha, even if he had the chance to see them. But now, it seems that from your teacher to you, Qi Jingchun, this lineage of Confucianism will be cut off after only two generations! ‘The blessings of a gentleman will be cut off after five generations,’ who said that? Why is it that your lineage is so ineffective? Could it be that your teacher was indeed a great deceiver of a thousand years, as some academies claim, instead of a Confucian sage who continued the past and opened up the future?”

Although Qi Jingchun frowned slightly, he remained silent, listening to the mountain-moving ape’s words from beginning to end, without saying a word.

The old ape laughed unrestrainedly, took a step forward, extended a finger, pointed at the scholar who was being beaten like a dog in the water, and grinned maliciously, “Qi Jingchun, aren’t you Confucians the most strict about etiquette? I’m standing within these rules, what can you do to me?!”

Qi Jingchun turned his head to look towards the small town, sighed softly, and looked back at the mountain-moving ape, asking, “Are you finished?”

The mountain-moving ape was stunned. It looked the middle-aged scholar up and down, retracted its finger, and grinned, “No fun. Even a clay figure has a temper. I didn’t expect a scholar to have an even better temper, not even arguing back when scolded. I wonder if you don’t hit back when hit?”

Qi Jingchun smiled, “You can try.”

The mountain-moving ape seemed tempted but didn’t make a move.

The mountain-moving ape asked, “Qi Jingchun, are you determined to stop me from going in?”

Qi Jingchun replied, “The consequences are too severe for Righteous Sun Mountain to bear.”

The mountain-moving ape asked in a deep voice, “Really?”

Qi Jingchun didn’t make a mystery or give way out of anger. He patiently nodded and said, “Really.”

The mountain-moving ape rubbed its chin and finally glanced at the distance behind Qi Jingchun, snorting coldly, “Consider those two little ones lucky. Tell them, don’t let me run into them in the future!”

The mountain-moving ape turned and strode away, its back facing Qi Jingchun. The old ape suddenly raised an arm high and stuck up a thumb.

But the thumb slowly reversed direction, pointing downwards.

Qi Jingchun looked up at the gray sky. Rain was about to fall.

A voice suddenly rang out from the small town, the request of that military strategist cultivator from True Martial Mountain, hoping that he could make an exception and allow him to invite down one of the deities enshrined in True Martial Mountain. Qi Jingchun nodded and said softly, “Permitted.”

As Qi Jingchun spoke this word, at the same time, if someone happened to look up, they could see a speck of light suddenly appearing at the top of the sky, and then an extremely thin golden thread descended from the sky, instantly landing in the small town.

“Mr. Qi?”

A young voice sounded behind Qi Jingchun.

Qi Jingchun turned around and saw a pair of young men and women running quickly towards him.

Seeing the foreign girl in dark green, he sighed with emotion. When the promising student Zhao Yao first fell in love with her, he had pointed out a saying, describing the girl as an unsheathed sword, most hurtful to others. The young Zhao Yao didn’t know what love was and didn’t understand the deep meaning of this sentence, still deeply immersed in it. Qi Jingchun couldn’t directly reveal the secret, not wanting to say that the girl had a Dao-seeking heart, the most ruthless.

This ruthlessness was by no means derogatory but the greatest of compliments.

Love in the world, the love between men and women, was ultimately just one type.

In the secular marketplace at the foot of the mountain, perhaps this love could move people’s hearts and allow infatuated men and women to risk their lives for each other. But cultivating on the mountain was much more complicated.

Seeing the straw-sandaled boy, Qi Jingchun’s smile became much more natural. He teased in a gentle voice, “Several consecutive fights, fought to an earth-shattering, ghost-crying level.”

Chen Ping’an was a little embarrassed.

Qi Jingchun cut to the chase, “I have two things to tell you. One is that the mountain-moving ape of the Righteous Sun Mountain has retreated and will soon leave the small town.”

Chen Ping’an didn’t hesitate and asked directly, “Does the old ape leave from the east gate of the small town?”

Qi Jingchun stretched out his palm and pressed down lightly twice, smiling, “Let me finish first. Liu Xianyang survived.”

The boy’s body tensed, and he asked cautiously, “Mr. Qi, Liu Xianyang won’t die, will he?”

Qi Jingchun nodded, “Someone lent a hand. Liu Xianyang’s life is safe, no doubt. But the bad news is that his body suffered severe damage, and he may not be able to move as freely as before.”

Chen Ping’an grinned.

These days, the boy’s mind had been like a bowstring constantly stretched to a full moon state, never relaxed for a moment. Hearing that Liu Xianyang had survived, he loosened up so much that he fell backward and completely fainted.

Ning Yao quickly caught the boy.

Qi Jingchun explained, “Chen Ping’an had his mind forcefully shattered by Cai Jinjian of the Cloud Radiance Mountain, opening a doorway against his will. In fact, his essence, qi, and spirit have been constantly leaking outwards. As a result, Liu Xianyang had an accident at this time, so he had to desperately stimulate his potential. This is the so-called ‘breaking the pot when it’s already broken.’ Originally, he could have had half a year of life left, but now it’s estimated to be at most ten days.”

This meant that from Mud Bottle Alley to the roof of the small town, to the mountain stream, and finally to this desolate wilderness, every run was significantly shortening his lifespan. The boy was well aware of this.

Ning Yao asked, “Mr. Qi, you just need to tell me how to save Chen Ping’an!”

Qi Jingchun sighed in his heart.

This was precisely the mystery of the Dao heart.

The girl wasn’t without emotion for Chen Ping’an; otherwise, she wouldn’t have fought alongside him to this point.

When normal people heard the bad news, they would inevitably have a process of panic, sadness, and sympathy, varying in speed, length, depth, and intensity.

But Ning Yao didn’t have any of that.

She immediately jumped to the “result” she wanted most: How should I save him?

Cultivation in the world, cultivating power was visible, step by step, only needing to go upwards, the difference being only the size of each step.

Cultivating the heart was ethereal, in all directions, everywhere was a road, as if every road could prove the Great Dao, but also as if every road was a crooked path, with no one able to give guidance. In cultivating the heart, those with a Dao heart were said to ascend to the heavens in one step.

So, the girl could generously and clearly look at the straw-sandaled boy with clear eyes and ask him directly if he liked her.

Qi Jingchun thought of the young Daoist with the lotus crown on his head, and his mood became even heavier.

Ning Yao squatted down and gently carried Chen Ping’an on her back, asking, “Mr. Qi, please tell me. But let me say first, I don’t think the old shopkeeper of Yang’s shop is very good at healing the wounded. However, Chen Ping’an knows an old man in a shop who’s pretty good.”

Qi Jingchun looked at the girl with a serious face and asked a strange question, “What in the world is the most against the heavens, going against the current?”

Ning Yao didn’t even think and said loudly, “One person and one sword slaughtering all the demon race!”

Qi Jingchun didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, a little helpless, “It’s cultivation.”

Ning Yao thought carefully, “Actually, it’s the same.”

Qi Jingchun pointed to the place where the two had been before and then pointed to another place, “The sword furnace can nourish the body, and the millennium can strengthen the spirit. But for Chen Ping’an, it’s at most barely maintaining a balance of income and expenditure. If he’s lucky, he might even have a small surplus. So, when he wakes up, help me tell him that in the future, when practicing boxing, even if he doesn’t pursue anything else, but only for survival, he must put in hard work.”

Ning Yao breathed a sigh of relief. Actually, she wasn’t much better off than Chen Ping’an, but her foundation was much better, so she didn’t faint. “Mr. Qi, now should I take Chen Ping’an to Mud Bottle Alley to recuperate, or should I go to Liu Xianyang’s side to see how things are?”

Qi Jingchun smiled, “Now, either is fine.”

Ning Yao thought for a while, “The guy on my back definitely hopes that the first thing he sees when he opens his eyes is Liu Xianyang, so I’ll go to Master Ruan’s place.”

Qi Jingchun nodded, “I’ll accompany you for a while.”

The two walked side by side.

The spring breeze caressed their faces, the scholar with his hands behind his back, the girl carrying the boy.

As Ning Yao walked, she suddenly asked, “Mr. Qi, as the owner of this small blessed land, have you taken in a few talented disciples because of your proximity to the water?”

Qi Jingchun shook his head with a smile, “No, I only took in a bookboy who wasn’t considered a disciple. I used to do it to avoid suspicion, but looking back now, I did miss out on a few good seedlings.”

Ning Yao asked again, “Mr. Qi, are you here, do you know everything?”

Qi Jingchun smiled, “As long as it’s something I want to know, I can know it, but it may not all be the truth. After all, in some things, a slight difference can lead to a thousand miles of error.”

Qi Jingchun didn’t say a word: that from the moment he left the town, he had lost this ability of “mind mirror illuminating the world.”

Because someone had taken away the jade tablet, the token left in the town by one of the Confucian sages, and it was also one of the key points of the great formation.

Ning Yao hesitated for a moment but still couldn’t help asking, “Mr. Qi, what’s your current realm? Have you reached the upper five realms? Also, can you really be invincible in the world since you’re sitting in this world? Of course, if you feel uncomfortable, you don’t have to answer. I’m just asking casually.”

Qi Jingchun didn’t answer.

The girl rolled her eyes and stopped talking.

Qi Jingchun intentionally slowed down and turned to look.

The boy blinked.

The middle-aged man also blinked.

Qi Jingchun smiled knowingly and quietly sped up his pace without showing it.

A gentleman has the beauty of helping others succeed.

After walking together for a long time, Qi Jingchun stopped and smiled, “I won’t see you off any further.”

Standing in place, the middle-aged scholar with white at his temples watched the gradually receding figures in silence.

He took a step.

Qi Jingchun instantly arrived near the Dragon-Slaying Platform.

Confucian saints all have a destiny word that stands alone at the head.

In the world, no matter who you are, as long as you write, use, or mention this word, you can add a trace of Daoist practice to that Confucian saint, accumulating little by little, dripping water through stone.

Qi Jingchun was an exception.

It wasn’t that he didn’t have a word, but that he had two.

And the meaning of the words was extremely long and profound.

Quiet. Quiet mind, contented intention.

Spring. The world welcomes spring.

That was why he was banished to this small world, completely isolated from the outside world.

Although Qi Jingchun was just one of the academy heads of the seventy-two academies of the three Confucian schools, Qi Jingchun couldn’t be treated as ordinary.

This seemingly useless scholar, who showed no reaction to the repeated provocations and insults of the mountain-moving ape from the Righteous Sun Mountain, closed his eyes, thought of the third stroke of the word “quiet,” and then stretched out his joined fingers and gently drew them down in the air.

The indestructible Dragon-Slaying Platform was instantly split in half.

Qi Jingchun waved his sleeve, and the two neat boulders, one fell into Ruan Qiong’s blacksmith shop, and the other appeared in a small house in Mud Bottle Alley.

After Qi Jingchun finished all this, he fell into deep thought, like a Go master in deep contemplation. Afterwards, he stood in the fine rain, and when it was pouring rain and lightning and thunder, Qi Jingchun still hadn’t come back to his senses.

Qi Jingchun, who had always been called “teacher” by the people of the small town, was thinking about his own teacher.