The Sage, Confucius himself, stood at the balustrade, gazing into the boundless distance, a sigh escaping his lips.

“What defines a hero?” he murmured. “A deed, perhaps, that the world deems impossible, yet I accomplish it with ease.”

“And what of a sage?” he continued, his gaze shifting to the heavens. “An act that all the world *could* perform, yet *I* am forever forbidden.”

Chen Ping’an, humbled by these words, could only stammer, “I fall far short, Master.”

Lü Dongbin, the Pure Yang Immortal, chuckled, a glint in his eye. “The Sage wasn’t speaking of you, young one.”

Relief washed over Chen Ping’an, his discomfort fleeting. “Yet your words inspire me to strive higher.”

Lü Dongbin felt a sudden urge to share a cup with the Literary Sage, a man whose renown echoed across the realms, yet whose face remained unseen. *What manner of scholar is this, to nurture such diverse and formidable students as Cui Chan, Zuo You, Liu Sixteen, and Qi Jingchun – and even this Chen Ping’an?*

Qing Tong, rarely witnessing the discomfiture of the young Hidden Official, momentarily smirked, only to quickly suppress it. After all, they were now allies, sharing a precarious raft upon the sea of fate.

*Even the position of a nominal guest elder at Immortal Capital Mountain seems attainable now.* It was like discovering a way to build a bookshop for a pittance of Valley Rain coins and reap a fortune in merit – a notion that would have eluded him entirely before.

But one thing Qing Tong could now be certain of: Chen Ping’an was *not* Zheng Juzhong. He had surreptitiously inquired of the Sage himself, using the whispers of the heart.

Confucius’s reply had been tinged with a rare exasperation. “Qing Tong, my friend, your imagination knows no bounds! Even if Zheng Juzhong possessed immeasurable audacity, and Cui Chan a mind of endless invention, would they dare trifle with the sacred rules of the Literary Temple and the very lineage of the written word? One, perhaps, *unintentionally* found himself outside the Fourteen Realms, while the other is but a treacherous Tiger of Embroidered Silk.”

They deviated slightly from their path, arriving at a towering structure Qing Tong had named the “Sword-Stilling Pavilion.” Within lay a vast armory, spilling across the mountainside. No matter the quality, rank, or material, only Qing Tong’s discerning eye determined a weapon’s worth.

Confucius remained at the entrance, surveying the hoard. Turning to Chen Ping’an, he said, “Ah, Xiao Mo here conceived a path for a pure sword cultivator to ascend to the Fourteenth Realm. Alas, another has already seized upon it, forcing me to intervene, lest a challenge echoing through the ages be unleashed.”

Chen Ping’an turned to Xiao Mo, a blush creeping across the jade-like swordsman’s face. *Could it be that he and Sun Daochang have independently arrived at the same conclusion?*

Xiao Mo’s eyes were sincere. “Being by your side, Young Master, has filled my mind with your wisdom. I can only lament my wasted millennia!” He lamented that if he had known Chen Pingan a hundred years ago, he and Master Sun would have been in conflict.

Confucius praised, “A generous spirit, Xiao Mo!”

Xiao Mo demurred. “The Young Master’s brilliance precedes mine. I am unworthy.”

Lü Dongbin could barely contain his amusement. It seemed that, in addition to the Literary Sage, a pilgrimage to Immortal Capital Mountain and the Fallen Peak was also in order. He had no doubt that his “other self” had already visited those sites.

But the Pure Yang Immortal found that foreknowledge was a lagging indicator.

Confucius turned his gaze to the moon hanging like a silver sickle in the branches of the phoenix tree. “To yearn for you is like the crescent moon, waxing fuller with each passing night,” he mused.

The phrase had originated on a Hundred-Sword Immortal’s seal, he recalled, and later inscribed on a charm by a swordswoman of the Sword Qi Great Wall, given to the young Hidden Official.

*A beautiful maiden for a noble gentleman; the reverse is also true.* Such yearnings are simply human nature.

Lü Dongbin stroked his beard and chuckled. “A divine verse!”

The world was awash in odes to the moon, almost nothing fresh remained to be said, and yet, Chen Ping’an offered something new.

Confucius turned, his eyes sharp. “From what forgotten tome did you pilfer that?”

Chen Ping’an shook his head. “It is not stolen; it is my own.”

Lü Dongbin chuckled. “Beautiful, yes, but scholarship differs from poetry. A torrent of inspired words pales beside a single wise saying. It must be neither overly ethereal, nor overly sentimental, nor yet boastful. Were Bai Ye, Su Shi, Liu Yong, or even that Shandong veteran here, they would all agree.”

Confucius said, “It is fine. Sincerity is the mark of a true man.”

The conversation turned to matters of learning, and Confucius asked, “When you met your elder brother Zuo You on the Sword Qi Great Wall, did he impart all his swordsmanship to you?”

“Elder Brother Zuo taught swordsmanship, but he was more focused on matters of scholarship, though it was about half and half.”

Chen Ping’an nodded, a touch of exasperation in his voice. “Ultimately… he was dissatisfied with both my swordsmanship and my studies.” It was not Zuo You’s intention, either. He just did not particularly care for Chen Pingan.

Only when around Pei Qian and Cao Qinglang did Zuo You’s face light up.

Confucius nodded. “Zuo You has a gentle spirit.” Tiger of Embroidered Silk Cui Chan aside, Qi Jingchun when he was young was no better. And as for Liu Sixteen, had he been easygoing, would he have drawn the ire of the Buddha himself?

Chen Ping’an merely sighed. The sword training at the top of the city was never easy. Every time Ning Yao saw him returning from training in a miserable state, she would frown.

Although Elder Brother Zuo did not use the same direct, cutting language as Cui Chan had on the second floor of the bamboo building, the effect was the same.

Confucius said, “Your brother Zuo is no unworldly bookworm. Consider his request that you study the ‘One Hundred and Seventy-Three Questions by the Riverbank.’ When you reunite with that old scholar by Lake Shujian in the white jade counterfeit, you will understand Zuo You’s good intentions.”

Chen Ping’an nodded. The Literary Sage’s lineage, though small in number, treasured the cultivation of self more than anything else. Even the second disciple, Zuo You, though he had switched to swordsmanship, was hailed as “First in Sword Technique Under Heaven” as he challenged more and more people.

Such titles are often exaggerated, but anything to do with swordsmanship is serious business. Even Master Pei, one of the Three Unrivaled of vastness and age, refused to face Zuo You in a duel.

Zuo You spent the most time trying to guide the undisciplined Chen Ping’an toward scholarly pursuits. In the depths of his heart, Chen Ping’an carried a regret over Cui Chan’s claim that he would never “establish a school of thought.” That was why he had so much hope for Cao Qinglang and Pei Qian.

“Ha, I’m not just good at copying books, but I’m also a scholar who went to school, sigh, more than my teacher, alas, if Teacher comes home, he has to hit me with a chestnut.” Pei Qian complained to Nuan Shu and Xiao Mi Li.

“Then do you want to go to school with me?” Pei Qian asked Xiao Mi Li.

“No, no, the Left Protector and I can just squat at the entrance of the school and listen to you read.”

Confucius chuckled. “Pure Yang Immortal, haven’t you thought of demonstrating your swordsmanship, now that you’ve been called ‘Ancestor Lü’ a few times? You must know that this young man’s elder brother is a master swordsman.”

Lü Dongbin sighed. “This one has no doubts about that.” If he had known that Confucius would bring up the experience, he wouldn’t have mentioned it.

Xiao Mo immediately said, “My Young Master is sincere and never says anything polite to the seniors, but as a sword cultivator, I can’t say I don’t think it matters, but I can’t help but suspect a little.”

Chen Ping’an folded his hands in his sleeves and focused on the ground. To be honest, Chen Ping’an couldn’t have been more curious about the Taoism and swordsmanship of this Pure Yang Immortal.

He had only heard a few words about it from Cui Dongshan, but a senior whom even Cui Dongshan praised was definitely worth learning from.

So the only thing Chen Ping’an was curious about was how mysterious Lü Dongbin’s Taoism was and how advanced his swordsmanship was.

Lü Dongbin smiled, put his two fingers together, and the long sword behind him clanged out of its sheath, instantly sweeping to the central area of the square outside the building.

The tip of the sword pointed to the sky, and the hilt rested on the ground.

Qing Tong just stared blankly at the sword tip, but Chen Ping’an and Xiao Mo almost simultaneously stared at the sword hilt that was stuck on the ground.

This was the “difference between heaven and earth” between sword cultivators and not.

In an instant, a unsheathed long sword stood still, but hundreds, thousands, and tens of thousands of long swords began to appear.

Chen Ping’an saw some clues. There were less than 10,000 long swords, just one short of the number, obviously intentionally taking the word “Nine” of Pure Yang.

Xiao Mo squinted and silently recited a sentence in his heart. The four directions of heaven and earth are called the universe, and the past and present are called the universe.

It turned out that on the square, it seemed that the hilt of the sword was the center, and a dense sphere of long swords appeared clustered together.

But the mystery was not limited to the number of swords at “present”. That would underestimate this sword formation created by Ancestor Lü.

Because those long swords were overlapping, but not limited to overlapping, as if Lü Dongbin had drawn and borrowed the long river of time?

Therefore, it seemed that there were only 9,999 long swords, but in fact they were “one of” nearly 10,000 sword formations?

Therefore, the long swords were intertwined with each other, and the light was distorted. The postures presented by many long swords and sword lights were like dragons and snakes swimming, not straight lines.

This was still because Lü Dongbin deliberately removed the cover-up in order to perform swordsmanship, so that Xiao Mo could see some clues at a glance. Otherwise, if they met on a narrow road and the sword cultivators asked each other for swords, the Pure Yang Immortal would sacrifice this sword, and the sword light would flash and the sword would be drawn instantly. Even Xiao Mo, who was at the peak of the Ascension Realm, admitted that he would be caught off guard.

Xiao Mo reminded him in his heart: “The Pure Yang Daoist is deliberately opening up the sword energy circulation route in the small world of his body.”

This was actually a top-notch sword technique.

If the posture presented by the long sword on the square was swordsmanship, then Lü Dongbin’s Sword Dao could be divided into two types: one was the Tao of Taoism, which was the great manifestation of Lü Dongbin’s exquisite swordsmanship, which was the atmosphere and the law; and the other was the Tao of the road, that is, the complex routes of sword energy in the small world of the human body as people walked. Generally speaking, this kind of “road” that looked like a sword manual pattern was an unpassed secret, and it would only be taught orally on the mountain.

Chen Ping’an said, “I can only see seven or eight tenths clearly.”

Xiao Mo said, “I’ll help the Young Master record it later.”

The Sage smiled and explained, “This sword technique involves both the ‘Yin and Yang’ of Taoism and the ‘Immeasurable’ of Buddhism. Finally, there is the detention of sections of the long river of time, so this sword comes from the sword of the past flowing upstream from the lower reaches of the long river of time, and also from the sword of the future in the upper reaches of the long river of time. As for how long the Pure Yang Taoist can support this sword technique, I can’t tell.”

A sword was delivered, and there was no way to avoid it.

Therefore, the person being asked to use the sword had to accept the sword.

Because there were sword cultivators in the world who were unreasonable and could break all laws with one sword, not only the Qi refiners of later generations, but also the Taoists of the human world thousands of years ago came up with countermeasures, such as talisman seals. After all, they were a small way, and the real masterpiece was the formation. Even the sword cultivators themselves were walking on this road. Everything overcame each other, and the cycle repeated.

Lü Dongbin turned to look at Chen Ping’an.

Chen Ping’an nodded lightly.

Only then did Lü Dongbin put his sword back into its scabbard and smile at Xiao Mo, “This poor Taoist is far inferior to Bai Ye in terms of the world’s spiritual energy.”

If it were in the Barbarian Wilderness, Xiao Mo wouldn’t think much about it when he heard these words. He would know the truth by fighting a battle.

But since he was in Vastness Heaven, Xiao Mo didn’t need to ask for a sword to know roughly in his heart. Lü Dongbin was willing to bring up that most proud person in the human world, not others, which meant that the gap wasn’t big.

“Did you just show off this one move?”

The Sage said in surprise, “Is the Pure Yang Taoist at the end of his rope, or is he not generous enough? If it’s the former, it’s okay to say, but if it’s the latter, then it’s not enough to be a real man. We Vastness Heaven have always had the saying that good things come in pairs. Since the Pure Yang Taoist is a Taoist, it’s better to put together the three talents of heaven, earth, and man. The two instruments and four elephants are not too many…”

Lü Dongbin shook his head and smiled, “Please allow this poor Taoist to hide some of his clumsiness.”

The Sage laughed and said, “You’re just hiding your secrets. You’re talking so beautifully.”

With the Sage and a peak Ascension Realm sword cultivator watching here, Lü Dongbin couldn’t show them ordinary sword techniques. Those that he thought were good had high thresholds for learning, especially those that emphasized the method of gold core circulation. Unless Lü Dongbin first taught Chen Ping’an the Tao, the latter could truly practice the sword. Otherwise, Chen Ping’an would just be drawing a tiger with a gourd, and the more he got the shape, the farther he would get from the spirit.

The Sage said in his heart, “Pure Yang Daoist, with Chen Ping’an’s character, if he learns the sword technique of the Pure Yang lineage, wouldn’t he impart it to your disciples in the future as a return for your kindness?”

Lü Dongbin said helplessly, “Has the Sage forgotten that this poor Taoist has no disciples yet?”

The Sage asked suspiciously, “You’ve been traveling around the Azure Underworld for many years, and you’ve been to the Jade Capital City three times. If you don’t have any inner disciples with Taoist heart transmission, don’t you even have a nominal disciple?”

Lü Dongbin shook his head. “I haven’t had one.”

The Sage said angrily, “You’re not looking for a Taoist companion. Why are you being so picky?”

Lü Dongbin smiled and said, “The fate has not arrived, so we can’t force it. This poor Taoist can learn more from the Literary Sage in the matter of accepting disciples.”

Lü Dongbin suddenly said in his heart, “Sage, weren’t you also a swordsman in your early years?”

The Sage sighed, “Just talking about the height of the Sword Dao, in the past ten thousand years, the position has been raised, extremely limited, but the sword techniques, sword skills, and sword moves have indeed become higher and higher in the past ten thousand years, visible to the naked eye. If I show off my sword skills and get an evaluation of ‘just so-so’ in Chen Ping’an’s eyes, who has become accustomed to the world’s first-class sword skills, and it’s similar to his brother Zuo You, wouldn’t I be in a terrible mess? In the future, whenever Chen Ping’an passes by the Literary Temple in various places, won’t this kid laugh every time he sees the portrait hanging in the middle?”

Lü Dongbin smiled and said, “Is that really the case?”

The Sage smiled and didn’t answer.

Then the Sage led his party to the tallest building, hanging a board with the words “Demon Suppression Building”, which was written by the Sage of Rites himself.

This was also the only reason why Zhou Mi, Wen Hai, came here and gave up occupying this place even though he could break the restrictions of the Demon Suppression Building.

The Sage asked, “Chen Ping’an, if you were to replace Fei Ran as the Lord of the Barbarian Wilderness, would you have any plans to severely damage the foundation of the Sage of Rites’ Great Dao to the greatest extent?”

Chen Ping’an was stunned.

What kind of question was this?

In Chen Ping’an’s mind, the Vastness Heaven Sage of Rites was invincible.

So he had never thought about this question, because Chen Ping’an subconsciously felt that the Sage of Rites would definitely continue to be invincible, especially when the three Taoist ancestors scattered their Tao and the Grand Master of the White Jade Capital had not yet merged the foundations of the three schools of learning and proved the Tao and integrated the Tao with this. Yu Dou, the second child of Tao, was still a well-deserved second child of Tao. If the two sides each left their own world and chose to fight in the outer world, Chen Ping’an believed that the Sage of Rites would definitely have a better chance of winning.

The Sage put his hands behind his back, looked up at the plaque, and slowly said, “Think carefully, this is no small matter. As a direct disciple of the Literary Sage’s lineage, don’t forget that your brother Mao Xiaodong is now the Secretary of the Book of Rites Academy.”

“Sage, is there any hint?”

“Yes, I’ve already said it.”

Chen Ping’an pondered for a moment and said softly, “Two ships colliding.”

Lü Dongbin nodded slightly.

Xiao Mo squinted at Qing Tong. Fortunately, this guy didn’t understand either.

Chen Ping’an’s face was solemn, and he said in a deep voice, “If we regard each world as a ferry boat traveling in the void.”

“Then once these two ferry boats collide, the Vastness Heaven and Barbarian Wilderness will no longer be just chaotic in their timing, but also intertwined in their geography.”

The Barbarian Wilderness was not without losses, and there would actually be great after-effects. Just the fact that once the two worlds were connected, the current situation was reversed, and the entire Vastness Heaven was like a weapon shop that had begun to operate at high speed. Whether it was manpower, financial resources, material resources, or the hearts of the people below the mountains and the Taoist hearts above the mountains, they were all twisted into one rope. The huge foundation of Vastness Heaven was constantly transforming into two words, “war”. This meant that for the defensive Barbarian Wilderness, the extra passage meant losing a territory, which might be equivalent to Vastness Heaven directly losing a continent similar to Tongye Island in its early years, which was of course adding insult to injury.

But for Zhou Mi, Wen Hai, as long as he could suppress the Sage of Rites after the three Taoist ancestors scattered their Tao, Zhou Mi would have an extra chance of winning. Once he could completely refine the ruins of the Ancient Heavenly Court in the future and do the “world” thing, the resistance he would encounter would be reduced.

At the same time, because Bai Ze’s way of integration was too bizarre, if the two worlds were connected together, the war would only become more tragic. At that time, Bai Ze’s realm cultivation, especially his killing power, would be “forced” to increase accordingly.

Regardless of the sentient beings in the Barbarian Wilderness, weakening the Sage of Rites and strengthening Bai Ze, Zhou Mi used this to delay time.

“If I were to choose the bow of the ship, or the spearhead pointing directly at the Vastness Heaven and the Sage of Rites, the first choice… would be the former Tottering Moon Mountain.”

No wonder Fei Ran would “hollow out” Tottering Moon Mountain so early, leaving only the founding disciple of the Tottering Moon Mountain Grand Ancestor, Yuan Xiong, to guard the mountain alone.

“Secondly, it’s Immortal Hairpin City.”

No wonder that “fake Taoist” Xian Wei would “meet” him in the Dali Capital City in the dark. Although Immortal Hairpin City was split into two by Chen Ping’an, wasn’t this a mistake that indirectly protected the ten thousand years of incense of the “Taoist Hairpin lineage”?

“After that, it’s the five mountains of the Barbarian Wilderness, such as that Green Mountain.”

The Sage nodded, “Then do you think Fei Ran will do it?”

Chen Ping’an replied, “He may not be willing to do it, but he doesn’t dare not do it, he has to do it.”

Fei Ran admired the Vastness Heaven Sage of Rites very much. But in his position, he had to plan for his own affairs. As the newest Barbarian Wilderness Lord, Fei Ran had not yet been able to escape the shadow of Zhou Mi, Wen Hai.

Once the two ships collided, then this matter would be the beginning of the conspiracy against the Sage of Rites. This was just the beginning.

It was like the Azure Underworld, which had long been resentful and accumulated over Yu Dou’s methods of governing the world every time he sat in the White Jade Capital for a hundred years.

Then the Vastness Heaven might not be really convinced by some of the Sage of Rites’ rules. Just the fact that the old ancestors of the Hundred Schools of Thought were not allowed to enter the Fourteenth Realm and had to consume part of their Taoism in the outer world, although it was to resist the continuous attacks of the Outer Gods and protect the Vastness Heaven, how could there not be a trace of resentment? Even if those old ancestors understood the difficulties and hardships of the Sage of Rites, what about the many Qi refiners of the Hundred Schools of Thought? Their cultivation was like that of a pure martial artist, as if it was a dead end. How could they be willing?

“Isn’t this a move by you, Sage of Rites, to ‘banish the Hundred Schools of Thought and allow one person to attain the Tao’?”

The Sage said to himself, “I don’t know how many people would have this idea.”

Xiao Mo’s face was gloomy, “If anyone dares to think this, if I were a Confucian scholar in the Literary Temple and I knew about it, I would kill them all.”

The Sage laughed loudly, “That’s why you sword cultivators are born for the battlefield, but you’re not suitable for managing people and affairs.”

If the Literary Temple was regarded as the head of the Vastness Heaven family, then family matters, trivial matters, and favoritism were all difficult and embarrassing.

Why were the “scholars” of ten thousand years ago so ambitious, and why were the scholars of ten thousand years later mostly sour and corrupt and few pure? Even the erudite and knowledgeable scholars seemed to lack some heroic spirit. There were more Taoist scholars than sages.

Chen Ping’an looked calm, but the Sage patted the young Hidden Official on the shoulder, “Our little husband has long been accustomed to it. One day, if you can have a heart-to-heart talk with him and hear him complain, that will be your ability. Try it, you must try it. After all, I haven’t heard him complain in ten thousand years.”

Lü Dongbin asked with a smile, “Chen Ping’an, you wouldn’t really trace the debt back to the Sage and the Asia Sage, would you?”

Chen Ping’an said helplessly, “Of course not, I’m not crazy. I believe in the original intention of the Asia Sage.”

“The future is unknowable. Even the three Taoist ancestors don’t dare to say what the future will be like. They can only try their best to push the world in a good direction. This is the first point.”

Lü Dongbin took off the gourd ladle hanging from his waist and took a sip of wine, “If we don’t make a necessary break and cut, then the world will be all wrong, as if there is no wrong person or wrong thing in the world. This is the second point.”

Lü Dongbin looked at Xiao Mo and Qing Tong and asked with a smile, “If it were many other people, they would get into a dead end and argue that the mistake was with the Sage and the Asia Sage, or that they would have to count them as part of the fault?”

Xiao Mo hesitated for a moment and said, “There must be some.”

Qing Tong said, “Many.”

Lü Dongbin nodded and said, “The world is not that good.”

Chen Ping’an said, “The world is not that bad either.”

Lü Dongbin stroked his beard and smiled, “So we must cultivate the Tao.”

The “cultivation of the Tao” that the Pure Yang Daoist was talking about at this time did not simply refer to the cultivation of Qi refiners.

But it referred to something else, the world formed by the gathering of people’s hearts, and some people were willing to pave roads and build bridges and repair roads.

The Sage smiled, “Chen Ping’an, now that you’ve realized it, you don’t need to ask me that question, do you?”

As the executor or a key “chess piece”, Chen Ping’an gave up the choice of besieging and killing Lu Chen, so would Cui Chan, the planner, be disappointed?

Chen Ping’an nodded silently.

Although he already had an answer in his heart, since the Sage was by his side, it was just a matter of one sentence to verify what he thought in his heart.

According to the Sage’s reminder, as the youngest brother, Chen Ping’an had invisibly helped the Sage of Rites and the entire Vastness Heaven to eliminate part of the “natural disaster”.

Even if there was a day when the two ships collided in the future, because there was no Tottering Moon Mountain and Immortal Hairpin City, this would make Deng Tian Zhou Mi have to take a slight detour. One or two steps of deviation in the route might mean a reduction of tens of millions of casualties for Vastness Heaven.

This meant that the Vastness Heaven and the Central Earth Literary Temple had to accept this favor.

At the same time, Cui Chan seemed to be telling the Taoist ancestor a principle.

Taoist ancestor, before you scatter your Tao, don’t do anything unnecessary.

Do your three things in heaven and earth well, and as for what happens after the world, wait and see.

Chen Ping’an, a young sword cultivator in his forties, still had this courage and wanted to ask for a sword in the White Jade Capital as a pure sword cultivator.

Let those juniors in your eyes, Taoist ancestor, take the sword fairly. Both sides would rely on their own abilities and be responsible for their own lives and deaths.

Weakening Zhou Mi’s possible future “world” actions, preserving more of the foundation of the Literary Temple, and sharing the pressure on the Sage of Rites, and reminding the Taoist ancestor not to protect the White Jade Capital too much, let alone deliberately target the last Hidden Official of the Sword Qi Great Wall.

It was a triple win.

The Sage smiled, “What kind of person is Cui Chan? He must have known what choice you would make, although this move may not conform to his Embroidered Tiger’s learning.”

“But you are not Cui Chan’s student, but his youngest brother.”

“So, can this be considered a joint attack between the Literary Sage’s first disciple and his youngest brother… asking for a sword?”

He had joined forces with Qi Jingchun to fight against the Barbarian Wilderness and Zhou Mi, Wen Hai, and now he was starting to join forces with you, Chen Ping’an, to first plot against Lu Chen and then target the White Jade Capital?

The Sage continued, “Don’t forget that even if we put aside the final result, and not to mention what would happen if Zheng Juzhong and Wu Shuangjiang joined forces, once you sword cultivators choose to draw your swords, do you think it matters whether the siege and killing were successful at that time? Even if the siege and killing of Lu Chen failed, it would also be a far-reaching result, because the most critical thing is that once you sword cultivators from the Sword Qi Great Wall make enemies with others, you will have a particularly good memory.”

Qi Tingji was a sword immortal who carved characters on the city walls, Ning Yao was the Lord of the Five-Colored World, Lu Zhi also had a promising Great Dao, and Xing Guan Hao Su would definitely not go to the Azure Underworld.

This meant that for the future Azure Underworld, there would be internal troubles and external threats.

If there was this battle, Lu Zhi, who had always had a poor impression of Vastness Heaven, would definitely choose to go to the Ascension City and refine his natal sword “Big Dipper” there when the Five-Colored World opened again in the future, and Xing Guan Hao Su would most likely choose to go with him. After avenging his great revenge on the Central Earth Ascension Realm cultivator, Hao Su, who had always felt guilty about his identity as “Xing Guan”, had always repaid kindness for kindness and revenge for revenge. Furthermore, for sword cultivators like Hao Su, asking for a sword in the White Jade Capital was a great temptation in itself.

The sword cultivators of the Northern Ju Lu Continent had once made the bold move of traveling across continents to the Silver Continent.

Then the sword cultivators of the Five-Colored World could also travel across the world to the Azure Underworld.

Before that, what would be the fate of those White Jade Capital Taoist officials who had already moved to the Five-Colored World?

And the layout of the White Jade Capital in the Five-Colored World was almost one of Yu Dou’s Great Daos.

This was not only Cui Chan’s plot against the Azure Underworld, but even the future trend of the Five-Colored World was included by the Embroidered Tiger.

Therefore, it should have been a quadruple win.

But since Chen Ping’an chose to give up besieging and killing Lu Chen.

Was it only a triple win?

Not necessarily.

The Sage smiled, “Even if you don’t act according to the plan, at the same time, Cui Chan will make Chen Ping’an of Mud Bottle Alley, who took the initiative to give up this choice, even more difficult to let go. In this life of cultivation, before avenging his revenge, how could he dare to slack off for a moment?”

In a trance, Chen Ping’an seemed to have unlocked some restrictions and just remembered some past events.

At that time, they met again on the Sword Qi Great Wall.

The young Hidden Official, who looked neither human nor ghost, lay on the ground, looking at the snow falling from the sky in the night. It was rare for him to complain.

After chatting, Chen Ping’an only remembered that he had used a narrow knife to cut through the camp and that he had stood up. It turned out that it wasn’t. Was his memory altered by his brother? Or was he divided into two rivers of time and saw two Cui Chans? In the end, the picture of one tributary of the river of time was sealed up by his brother with some secret method?

Because at this moment, what Chen Ping’an remembered was that on the top of the city, his brother Cui Chan looked calm, bent down, and stretched out a hand to pull him up.

Finally, Cui Chan sat on the wall, his fists clenched loosely and placed on his knees, looking into the distance.

Chen Ping’an sat next to him, turning his head to look at the… gray-haired Confucian scholar.

“Let me remind you, don’t look at me with that kind of look.”

“Whatever I, Cui Chan, do, whether the people of the world understand it or not is your business, it has nothing to do with me.”

“The reason why you are an exception and I give you an extra reminder is because you are the closed-door disciple of the teacher, so you must understand it, even if you don’t understand it today, you must pretend to understand it.”

Chen Ping’an said bitterly, “I thought you would say ‘you must also understand it in the future’.”

Cui Chan smiled and said, “In the future? What kind of future? Is it ten thousand years, a thousand years, a hundred years, ten years? Or is it the day after tomorrow? Tomorrow?”

Chen Ping’an couldn’t give an answer. He didn’t guarantee things he couldn’t do, and he would definitely do things he had guaranteed.

So Chen Ping’an just explained, “I’m just curious, was Senior Brother Cui when he was young like Cui Dongshan?”

Cui Chan shook his head, squinted his eyes and smiled, and said softly, “When I was young, it was a long time ago. I thought less than him, and I wasn’t as… naughty as him.”

Chen Ping’an was silent for a long time and asked softly, “Aren’t you going to see the teacher?”

Cui Chan put his hands on his knees, did not speak, and had no answer.

It seemed that was the answer.

The teacher was wrong first, but the teacher was still the teacher. So just now Cui Chan called Chen Ping’an “You are the closed-door disciple of the teacher.”

It seemed that he was also answering another question from Chen Ping’an.

But if the teacher doesn’t come to see me, I won’t go to see the teacher.

The people of the world don’t understand me, it has nothing to do with me, Cui Chan, but if the teacher doesn’t understand me, the student has no complaints, but I have resentment in my heart.

The Confucian scholar at this moment seemed to be the young man of the past, so he was angry with the teacher.

That was all Chen Ping’an could remember.

There must have been some conversations, but he couldn’t remember them all.

“In this world, is there anything that can make people grit their teeth and move forward more than hatred and anger?”

The Sage pointed to the sky, “We of ten thousand years ago walked up step by step like this.”

Then, as Cui Chan, the first disciple of the Literary Sage in the past, he wanted Chen Ping’an of the Literary Sage’s lineage to not only stop at asking for a sword in the White Jade Capital, but also to walk the road to heaven again.

The new people walk the old road, which is to innovate.

With me, Cui Chan, protecting you, what can you do even if you know? Don’t stop me, otherwise, you will be responsible for the consequences.

The Sage smiled, “Pure Yang Daoist, are you willing to be protected like this?”

Lü Dongbin shook his head and smiled, “No, no, if I had encountered such a brother when I was young, my Taoist heart would have been shattered several times.”

The Sage asked, “No matter what, Cui Chan didn’t discuss it with you at all. Do you have resentment in your heart?”

“Of course I do, but meeting and parting were too hasty, and it seems that I forgot to say it. But…”

Chen Ping’an was stunned, paused for a moment, and said softly, “Being always given hope by others makes me feel not alone.”