Wei Jin smiled, “Are you from the Mo family?”

The young swordsman’s expression was somewhat unpleasant, thinking to himself, “Senior A Liang, couldn’t you have said his name?”

He said to Wei Jin, “Please wait a moment.”

The young swordsman turned to the female ghost attached to the plaque, frowning, “Madam Chu, things have come to this, can you show some sincerity?”

The female ghost, whose soul was hidden in the golden plaque, nodded. Then, the sky gradually disappeared, a sign that the landscape domain was dissipating, similar to a commoner opening their door to welcome guests.

Even if she was isolated and ill-informed, she had still heard of this man’s legendary deeds. He came from the wandering swordsmen lineage of the Mo family. After joining the Da Li Song clan with a prominent sect leader, he was immediately treated as an honored guest by the Da Li emperor. Now, he was one of the gatekeepers of the Da Li capital, a key figure in Da Li’s deterrence against mountain forces. It was said that whenever he had free time, he would travel alone, transforming every unique landscape he encountered into his sword intent.

As a result, the Ministry of Rites official and the Embroidery River Water God appeared on the street, bowing to the young swordsman with clasped hands. The latter merely nodded in acknowledgment, which was enough to show his extraordinary status in Da Li.

The Yin God also stood beside Chen Ping An, his aura surging with killing intent. Just now, he was almost willing to sacrifice his cultivation to sever the mountain’s root, determined to fight to the death with the vengeful female ghost. Once the mountain’s root was broken, the female ghost’s protective talisman would disappear, and she would completely lose her ability to contend with those in the tenth realm.

A hand like mutton-fat jade stretched out from the plaque. The wedding dress on the ground swayed and floated toward the plaque. When the female ghost emerged from the plaque, she put on the wedding dress again. Even when her body had been cleaved into four pieces by Wei Jin’s two swords, and she was in a life-threatening situation, she still remembered to maintain the integrity of the wedding dress, which showed how much she cherished it, almost obsessively.

After the female ghost landed, she inadvertently glanced at the book boxes behind the children. Her eyes instantly changed, and her resentment surged. Although she tried her best to suppress it, the female ghost’s abnormality was fully revealed.

The young swordsman sighed and looked at the straw-sandal-wearing youth he had met on the Embroidery River ferry. He sincerely pleaded, “Could you please put away the three book boxes first? Madam Chu’s resentment towards scholars is the crux of her decision to abandon being a Mountain and Water deity back then. The reasons are difficult to explain in a few words. Chen Ping An, I only hope you can show some leniency. Considering that no major mistake has been made, let’s end this matter here, how about it?”

The young swordsman thought for a moment and smiled, “If possible, just agree to let me cast a simple illusion.”

Chen Ping An nodded, “Okay.”

Soon, the three emerald green book boxes disappeared from everyone’s sight. Of course, if a Qi Refiner focused their gaze, they would reveal their true form.

The young swordsman finally looked at Wei Jin again, the youngest Upper Fifth Realm cultivator in the Eastern Treasure Bottle Continent, and a sword cultivator whose combat power could be elevated by a realm.

Reaching the Upper Fifth Realm before the age of forty was shocking, no matter which continent it was, even in the vast Central Earth Divine Continent.

Wei Jin of Wind and Snow Temple and Song Changjing of Da Li were the undisputed twin gems of the “younger” generation of mountain cultivators. Now, one had broken through the tenth realm and entered the eleventh realm of sword cultivation, and the other had reached the legendary tenth realm of martial arts. Neither of them had disappointed.

The two, “one scholarly and one martial,” had limitless potential for future achievements.

The young swordsman asked with a smile, “I wonder if Sword Immortal Wei’s trip to Da Li is only to resolve today’s situation, or do you have other intentions?”

The white-clad sword immortal, who had always walked the world as a chivalrous figure, asked with a smile, “If I have no other intentions, what would happen? If I do, what would happen?”

The young swordsman said bluntly, “If you are only here to admire the scenery, apart from a few forbidden areas in Da Li, all other places welcome Sword Immortal Wei’s visit. If you don’t mind, I am willing to accompany you. If you are taking advantage of the turbulent situation in Da Li to plot something, then I will stand here and personally test how fast Sword Immortal Wei’s flying sword really is.”

Wei Jin put away the famous sword called Gao Zhu he was holding and hung it at his waist. “Within the Wind and Snow Temple, I have always respected Master Ruan the most. However, due to various reasons, I have never met him. Therefore, after receiving a message from Master Ruan from Li Zhu Grotto-Heaven, I took on a mission to escort these children to Yefu Pass on the border of Da Li. However, I met a senior sword cultivator named A Liang on the way, who gave me some pointers on swordsmanship. That’s why I had the opportunity to break through after this closed-door cultivation. So, you don’t need to worry about anything regarding my trip north.”

The young swordsman on the opposite side, whose mountain-moving sword technique was extremely amazing, treated him with sincerity. Wei Jin was already an open-minded and generous person. He did not regard his slightly stiff attitude as a provocation, but instead confided in him, “If you want to spar in swordsmanship, I am very willing. Before, I thought there was no need to continue traveling around my hometown, the Treasure Bottle Continent. After hearing many of A Liang’s descriptions of the outside world, I really want to go to Upside Down Mountain to take a look, to the place where A Liang trained, and truly hone my sword path.”

It was precisely because he had been to many places and met many people that Wei Jin understood the preciousness of “persistence” even more.

The blind old Daoist couldn’t get a word in at all, and didn’t have the courage to speak.

The name of Wei Jin of the Wind and Snow Temple alone was enough to suffocate this unorthodox old Daoist.

Upper Fifth Realm cultivators were such rare existences in the Eastern Treasure Bottle Continent. It should be known that tenth realm cultivators were already the pillars of a country, all treated as enshrined protectors of the nation’s destiny by emperors and monarchs. Upper Fifth Realm Qi Refiners, which one of them was not a divine dragon that was rarely seen? They were beings who could establish sects and clans. In a Treasure Bottle Continent with numerous dynasties, how many immortal abodes with the suffix “Sect” were there? They could be counted on one’s fingers!

Wei Jin clasped his hands and said to the young swordsman, “We’ll meet again someday.”

The young swordsman also clasped his hands in return, “I hope to hear news of you from Upside Down Mountain in the future on the Treasure Bottle Continent.”

The two sword cultivators smiled at each other.

Like meeting for the first time despite being old acquaintances, or like hitting it off right away, this was the principle.

Chen Ping An said softly, “Let’s go.”

Li Baoping, Li Huai, and Lin Shouyi nodded.

The blind old Daoist gritted his teeth and mustered his courage to ask cautiously, “Immortal Master, this humble Daoist has two disciples who were… invited to be guests at Madam Chu’s mansion. Can this humble Daoist take them away? This humble Daoist is just afraid that the disciples are crude and unruly and will accidentally break Madam Chu’s rules…”
The young swordsman turned to the ghost bride in a gentle voice, “Madam Chu, may we pass?”

The ghost bride nodded, “Since esteemed sir speaks, how could this humble one dare to disobey?”

She knew full well the weight of this seemingly unassuming gatekeeper of the capital, capable of blocking Wei Jin’s third sword with barely an inch of his blade drawn. It was certainly not something she could withstand, not even in her prime, with the blessings of the local mountains and rivers.

Besides, she wasn’t a true tenth-realm cultivator. And who knew if this eccentric swordsman from the House of Mo was like Wei Jin, already an eleventh-realm Sword Immortal on land?

She was irritated, narrowing her eyes at those young men and women. If it weren’t for one of them causing her to fail at lighting the lantern, and if they hadn’t looked so loathsome with their traveling books, she wouldn’t have been reduced to this miserable state. Not to mention taking two sword strikes from the Sword Immortal Wei Jin, almost damaging the very source of her mountain and water power.

Wei Jin led the white donkey over and smiled at Chen Ping’an and his companions, “Shall we be on our way?”

Chen Ping’an naturally had no objections.

And so, a traveling group with a Land Sword Immortal joined them, slowly departing.

Li Bao Ping came to Chen Ping’an’s side, “Little Martial Uncle.”

Chen Ping’an softly asked, “What is it?”

Li Bao Ping grinned, “Nothing!”

Chen Ping’an ruffled her hair.

The little girl in the red padded jacket walked beside Chen Ping’an, missing her older brother a little.

The ghost bride waved her hand, casually dragging the lame boy and round-faced girl from the garden and tossing them beside the blind old Daoist.

After that, she glanced in one direction, just as the straw-sandal-wearing boy turned to look back.

Their eyes met.

The boy’s gaze was cold and detached.

For a moment, the ghost bride felt a strange chill.

But she quickly dismissed it as absurd, turning her gaze away, no longer wasting time on an ordinary boy. The ghost bride couldn’t understand why she was being so paranoid.

Later, when she looked again as if compelled by some unseen force, the straw-sandal-wearing boy was already walking away from her, naturally falling to the back of the group.

The power struggles over the thirty-plus dragon kiln openings among the four great families and ten major clans of Peach Leaf Lane in Fulu Street had always been filled with intrigue and bloodshed for centuries. But now that it had become Dragon Spring County, they had to band together to gather strength, though privately, who wasn’t secretly in contact with the Great Li Dynasty and the immortal powers that had bought the mountain peaks?

Some rumors, though seemingly plausible, were not taken seriously by the residents of the street and lane. For example, the Dragon-scaled Phoenix of the Li family, one of the four great families, seemed like a joke after the quiet downfall of Li Bao Ping’s teacher, the master of Cliffside Academy. In contrast, young scholars like Zhao Yao, those truly expected to become gods on the mountains, were the ones that the major families of the town dared not underestimate. However, Li Bao Ping’s uncle, the younger Li Bao Zheng, had reportedly encountered a benefactor in the capital and been exceptionally accepted as a student of the Imperial College, studying the *Great Rites* under the contemporary scholar Liu Wenhu, causing a small stir in the town.

As for Li Hong’s eldest son, the impression of all the elders on Fulu Street was that he was a bookworm who had become obsessed with reading, while his youngest daughter, Li Bao Ping, was a wild child who was never at home. Apart from that, there was nothing remarkable about them, except that Li Bao Zheng still had some hope of bringing glory to the family.

Inside the Li family’s study, a young man with a detached expression handed a letter from the Great Li capital to his father, Li Hong.

Li Hong smiled, “Bao Zheng, just like his sister, would rather send it to you, his older brother, than to his own parents.”

The young man gave a wry smile and softly said, “What’s written in the letter, Father, you should be prepared.”

Li Hong’s expression instantly turned serious. After skimming through the initial greetings, his eyes grew darker as he read further. He rose and lit an oil lamp, placing it in the brush-washing pot, and burned the family letter little by little. The ashes slowly fell into the delicate plum-green brush-washing pot. The man used two words to summarize his son’s actions: “Reckless.”

Li Hong asked, “What do you think of this matter? Should we follow your brother’s suggestion and remove the Zhu River and Zhu Deer father and daughter from their lowly status as serfs in our Li family through the county government, helping to elevate them to commoners?”

If the Zhu family father and daughter successfully changed their household registration, removing them from the Li family’s servant status on Fulu Street in Dragon Spring County and granting them commoner status, their descendants would no longer have to be slaves for generations. It would be like a carp leaping over the Dragon Gate. However, whether it was better or worse depended entirely on the abilities of those who escaped serfdom. Those who only knew how to flatter would naturally find it more secure to rely on a large tree, while those with true talent would naturally have a brighter future if they established their own households.

The young man smiled bitterly, “Father, you already have an idea.”

Li Hong leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples, “But I still want to hear your opinion. A family can’t have everyone thinking of seeking wealth and glory in danger.”

The young man sat quietly there, his eyes bright, “The truly difficult part is that no matter which side Father favors, it will create a rift between the family. So Bao Zheng was wrong this time. Bao Zheng acted unilaterally, leaving no way out for himself or the family, which is even more wrong. It’s not kind, it’s unfair to that boy from Mud Bottle Lane named Chen Ping’an, and that’s the most wrong thing.”

Li Hong looked at this eldest son with a complex expression, “What kind of person Bao Zheng is, how could you, as his older brother, not know? Knowing it would be such a difficult and awkward situation, why didn’t you go to the capital with him in the first place?”

The young man helplessly said, “Grandfather is in seclusion, Bao Ping has left home, and the situation in the town is changing drastically. It’s a critical period for deciding the future direction of each family. We can’t afford to be in the dark. I’m not comfortable leaving. Even if I have to leave, I have to wait until the situation here is clear. If it really doesn’t work out, I can even put aside the imperial examinations.”
Hearing the measured words of the elder, Li Hong nodded slightly. But when his eldest son reached the last sentence, Li Hong’s eyes widened with urgency. He straightened his back and declared loudly, “Absolutely not! The imperial examination system is of utmost importance, a cornerstone of the Great Li Dynasty, no less significant than the imperial court’s efforts to recruit mountain forces! Li Baozhen is more impulsive than you. Before leaving home, he swore to me and your grandfather that once he left the small town, he would abide by the rules, act with open strategies, and never rely on luck or reckless tactics. But what happened? He still resorted to acting first and reporting later! Therefore, we can only allow him to act recklessly. If you were to delay the imperial examinations, it would be tantamount to slowing down the family’s progress by at least three years!”

The young man swallowed the words that had reached his lips.

Speaking them would mean that his already strained relationship with his younger brother would instantly plummet, perhaps beyond repair.

Moreover, it would be pointless, because deep down, his father did not disapprove of his younger brother’s pursuit of riches through risky means.

To strive diligently for three years on the wrong path, versus patiently enduring three years of dormancy on the right path—the difference in impact on the family’s future thirty years, on two generations, was self-evident.

After leaving the study, the young man walked alone along the spacious, elegantly carved outer corridor. He suddenly heard the tinkling sound of wind chimes hanging from the eaves.

He put his hands in his sleeves, closed his eyes, and tilted his head slightly, listening to the ethereal sounds, murmuring, “Too many clever people are not a good thing either.”

The scholar in the blue robe was named Li Xisheng.

(End of this chapter)