Cui Chan, who had been sitting on the ground in a daze, glanced askance at the little girl and the painting scroll, and said unhappily, “Even if the sky falls, this painting will not be damaged in the slightest. Do you know what it means for the sky to fall? In the Middle Earth Divine Continent, there once was an unknown person who pierced the Heavenly River with a single sword, directly drawing down the endless water flow of a Yellow River Cave Heaven. From a distance, it looked like a huge hole had been torn open in the firmament, with water gushing downwards. This created two of the ten wonders of the world, ‘The Yellow River’s water comes from the sky above’, and the White Emperor City located amidst the colorful clouds. The city lord of White Emperor City is no ordinary figure, a rare and bold hero who dares to proclaim himself a follower of the Demonic Sect’s Dao lineage, and is quite the romantic. I once had the honor of playing Go with him, right in the Colorful Cloud River outside White Emperor City, a match renowned as the ‘Ten Games of the Colorful Clouds’. I lost more than I won, but it was still an honor, after all, the banner inscribed with ‘I willingly concede the first move in chess to all under Heaven’ has been standing atop White Emperor City for over six hundred years. There are only a handful of chess players qualified to play against the city lord…”

The little girl didn’t like listening to all this irrelevant chatter, and said annoyedly, “Why are you showing off so much? I said the painting is damaged, and it is! If I win, will you let me stamp another seal on your forehead? Do you dare to bet?!”

Gamble?

Cui Chan immediately became interested, his dispirited look swept away, and he suddenly stood up, patted his bottom, and asked with a smile, “What if I win?”

Li Bao Ping said generously, “If Little Martial Uncle still insists on killing you after coming out of the painting, then I’ll help you collect your corpse! Tell me, where do you want to be buried? How about the Immortal Graveyard in our small town? I go there often, and I know the roads better, which will save me a lot of trouble…”

Cui Chan bared his teeth and waved his hand, “Stop, stop, if I win, you have to persuade Chen Ping An to not only spare me but also take me as a disciple.”

The moment he left the old well, he was struck heavily on the forehead by Qi Jing Chun’s “Stillness of Mind and Attainment”, completely shattering the last “bit of Righteous Qi” in this body, truly falling from a Fifth Realm cultivator to a mortal. Indeed, as Qi Jing Chun had said in the old Yuan residence in the small town, once he didn’t know how to repent, there would be ways to make Cui Chan suffer.

However, the general trend of the Eastern Treasure Bottle Continent was such, with the Great Li marching south, the arrow was on the string and had to be released. Moreover, the Great Dao that Cui Chan himself was walking on had no turning back, allowing no retreat. Therefore, even if he was certain that Qi Jing Chun had left behind a backup plan at the time, Cui Chan still did what he had to do, at most just being more careful in his actions and words.

But regardless, whether it was the young Cui Chan or the National Preceptor Cui Chan in the capital, no matter how treacherous, bloodthirsty, or scheming he was, he never lacked the magnanimity to accept defeat. This point, from the beginning of his apprenticeship and student life, to falling to the point of being a national preceptor of a small northern barbarian state in Treasure Bottle Continent, Cui Chan had never lost.

Li Bao Ping shook her head, “Even if I’m bound to win, I won’t agree to such a thing.”

Cui Chan blinked, “If you don’t do this kind of business, how will you become the Little Instructor, the female teacher, of Cliff Academy in the future?”

Li Bao Ping looked at this former “Senior Uncle” with disdain? Once she had spoken her mind, it was as if she had killed a tiger blocking her path, and she never cared about “collecting corpses”. With a bounce, she was gone, running to an unknown distance to find the next opponent. Even Master Qi Jing Chun was once helpless about this.

The little girl raised her arm and shook the white jade seal in her hand, “Are you afraid?”

Cui Chan chuckled, “You’re just a little girl who grew up in the mountains. I won’t lower myself to your level.”

Li Bao Ping slowly retracted her arm, gently exhaled a breath towards the seal’s inscriptions, showing signs of preparing to find a place to stamp.

Cui Chan swallowed his saliva, “Li Bao Ping, don’t be like this, let’s talk nicely. We are all Confucian disciples, gentlemen use words, not violence. We have the friendship of fellow disciples. Besides, aren’t you afraid that Little Martial Uncle will see you being so arrogant, without a bit of the virtuous and elegant demeanor of a proper lady, and won’t like you in the future?”

Li Bao Ping said happily, “Little Martial Uncle wouldn’t like me? I’m the person Little Martial Uncle likes the most in the world!”

Cui Chan sighed, “But one day, your Little Martial Uncle will have a girl he likes the most.”

The little girl said without hesitation, “Then he’ll just like me second best, it’s still something to be happy about.”

Cui Chan had a look on his face as if he was looking at gods and ghosts, “That’s okay too?”

The little girl suddenly showed the exact same expression, looking behind Cui Chan. Cui Chan turned his head, thinking that something unexpected had happened, as his current body couldn’t withstand the slightest torment. But in an instant, Cui Chan knew that something was wrong. There was nothing behind him, no anomalies.

A seal was stamped on his forehead with lightning speed, knocking Cui Chan backwards on the spot.

In the process of falling, the young Cui Chan was filled with grief and indignation, this was the third time!

Lying on the ground on his back, Cui Chan roared, “Li Bao Ping, if you dare to sneak attack me with the seal again, every time you do, you’ll drop from second favorite to third, and so on. You better think carefully! I, Cui Chan, was once a Confucian Sage, my words should still carry some weight, don’t say I didn’t warn you!” (“*Wu Wei Yan Zhi Bu Yu*” – Don’t say I didn’t warn you.)

These were of course empty threats, designed to intimidate. Confucian Sages did indeed possess the divine power of speaking with the authority of Heaven, but the requirements for the inherited literary tradition and the nurturing of their own Righteous Qi were extremely harsh.

Now, apart from the external possessions stored in that square-inch treasure, and a body of noble birth, Cui Chan was otherwise empty-handed. To add insult to injury, the square-inch object was like the smallest of blessed realms, even if the master’s divine sense connected to the object, there was still a requirement on the cultivator’s realm. Cui Chan’s own required a minimum of Fifth Realm cultivation. As for others forcefully breaking it open, it would require a strength of Tenth Realm, such as a Sword Cultivator of the Military School. For Eleventh Realm cultivators, opening it would be very easy.

The principle was simple: the square-inch object was your own home, but the door was locked. The Fifth Realm cultivation was like the key in the master’s hand, still needing to unlock the door to enter.

If bandits and thieves wanted to break in, it wasn’t impossible, but it was very difficult.

The current Cui Chan’s physique was extremely weak, both his soul and body, weaker than even an ordinary frail youth. If he was properly cared for in the future, it might be possible to restore his normal strength. As for the matter of cultivation, it would truly depend on fate, relying on great opportunities and great fortune. But Cui Chan felt that, given his experiences along the way, being able to live and become Chen Ping An’s disciple would already be very satisfying.
A Confucian Saint of the Twelfth Realm fell to a Tenth Realm cultivator, then to the Fifth Realm, and finally to a mortal who couldn’t fall any further.

Cui Chan felt that his life was truly a rollercoaster of ups and downs, mostly downs.

“You dare threaten me?”

This fellow doesn’t learn his lesson, he’s even worse than Li Huai.

Li Bao Ping, in a fit of pique, ran over, squatted down, and began rapidly stamping on the head of the young Cui Chan.

Swift and decisive, like a sudden storm.

It was all so unexpected.

Even a character with Cui Chan’s resilience felt like he wanted to die in that moment.

After all, his opponent was just a little girl, not Old Xiucai or Qi Jingchun.

Within the landscape painting, the young man who had swung his arm and slashed down with his sword lost consciousness upon landing. The tall woman, having reverted to her true form, held him in her arms, carefully helped Chen Ping An to sit down on the ground, and gently embraced the slender youth. Her dark hair, held back by a golden silk knot, fell in front of her chest, obscuring the young man’s face. She brushed it behind her ear, gazing down at Chen Ping An’s swarthy face.

Suddenly, she raised her head, a look of surprise on her face.

Within the painting, a restricted zone belonging to a Saint, a towering golden figure appeared, standing atop Mount Sui, as if conversing with Old Xiucai. Even a woman who had seen the vastness of the world couldn’t help but feel that this uninvited guest was not to be underestimated. Old Xiucai probably didn’t want the conversation to be revealed and blocked the sensation. She didn’t mind, she looked back down at the sleeping youth, and smiled: “If he becomes a Qi Refiner in the future and his skin turns white again, he’ll actually be a handsome young man. He might not be beautiful, but he definitely won’t escape being called ‘upright and intelligent’.”

Mount Dayue Summit.

The golden divine being, originally a thousand *zhang* tall Dharma idol, shrank to a ten *zhang* tall burly man after landing on the summit. He wore a majestic and solemn golden armor, the surface of which was engraved with countless talismans. Some of the ancient runes, long lost, exuded a simple and desolate aura, having been passed down for thousands or tens of thousands of years. Others, though thousands of years old, were still as new as yesterday, emitting a sacred light. Each talisman was embedded in the armor, the spaces between the characters like rivers of gold, and the characters themselves like golden mountains.

Old Xiucai felt somewhat guilty and shrank his neck, deliberately looking around.

The man, his face covered by the armor, said in a muffled voice: “I have been serving as the Righteous God of Mount Sui for exactly six thousand years. This is the first time someone has dared to challenge Mount Sui with a sword. Xiucai, don’t you have anything to explain?!”

Old Xiucai looked blank. “Say what?”

Knowing Old Xiucai’s temperament well, the golden-armored man was too lazy to say more. He turned his head and looked toward Chen Ping An, frowning slightly. “The aura on her is very profound. What kind of Sacred is she? Did she personally strike down on Mount Sui?”

Old Xiucai whispered: “I advise you not to provoke her. This old girl has a bad temper.”

The golden-armored man said indifferently: “Is my temper good?”

Old Xiucai rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, yes, your tempers are all bad, only mine is good, okay? You all just like to be unreasonable with people who try to reason with you. You’re going to be the death of me!”

The golden-armored deity seemed to remember something, and the atmosphere, which had been tense, dissipated.

Old Xiucai sighed. “I won’t go into the details of this matter. Anyway, it’s related to Little Qi. Can’t you give him a break?”

The man remained silent.

Old Xiucai laughed. “I’ll take that as a yes. Sigh, you’re good at everything, but your face is a little thin, and you like to put on airs. What kind of relationship do we have? Back then, we went to peek at the true face of that Mountain Goddess together. I didn’t expect she was bathing and changing clothes at the time. If I hadn’t been righteous and taken on the Goddess’s immense rage alone, and explained the principles of the Sage to her for three days and three nights, finally convincing her with reason, and barely managed to get her to let bygones be bygones, where would you have put your old face…”

The man said in a muffled voice: “Shut up!”

Old Xiucai knew he had succeeded and didn’t press his luck. The rules of the Sui Mountain God were as strict as laws. Being able to get this blockhead to turn a blind eye made Old Xiucai feel very capable, and he became a little smug, pointing into the distance. “By the way, did you see that? That young man is the closed-door disciple Little Qi helped me take in. What do you think? Isn’t he great? Haha, I like him anyway. His personality is just like mine back then, he likes to reason with people, and if he can’t reason with them, he’ll take action. And his style when he takes action is like Little Qi’s back then. Tsk tsk, do you have any wine on you?”

The golden-armored man’s scrutinizing gaze swept over the young man. “Either Qi Jingchun is crazy, or you’re blind.”

Old Xiucai wasn’t angry, and said cheerfully, “You muscleheads wouldn’t understand the affairs of us scholars.”

The golden-armored man should be considered the highest-ranking and most powerful of the Five Sacred Mountains deities in this Vast World. However, the stronger the power, the more it doesn’t mean one can do as one pleases. Because these kinds of deities with outstanding battle prowess and transcendent status, especially those who are unaffected by incense offerings, are often subject to even greater rules and restrictions in the Vast World. Old Xiucai had once been in charge of watching the five large mountains within Mount Sui before the divine statues were placed in the Confucian Temple. This could be said to be a cold bench in a powerless department, but sometimes it could also be said to be an amazing feat.

For example, one of Old Xiucai’s most famous three acts was using his Natal Word to suppress an entire Central Earth Five Sacred Mountain so that most of it sank underground.

The Righteous God of that Five Sacred Mountain, who had a huge backing, was shattered on the spot. The Second Disciple of the Dao Ancestor was furious about this, and almost broke through the sky to force his way into the Vast World from beyond the heavens.

At that time, the not-so-old Xiucai not only did not hide back in the Confucian Academy, but instead went straight to the sky alone, confronting the aggressive Second Disciple of the Dao Ancestor at the border. The scholar stretched his neck and pointed at it, saying, “Come on, come on, chop here.”

During that trip to the heavens, the scholar was reckless.

Could this be considered good-tempered?

If he was really a good-tempered teacher, could he have taught disciples and students like Qi Jingchun, the one surnamed Zuo, and Cui Chan? One was likely to establish a sect and become an ancestor, one was unconventional and rebellious, and one was treacherous and killed his teacher.

The golden-armored deity suddenly asked, “For the sake of a doomed Qi Jingchun, you violated your oath and left the Merit Forest, abandoning even the foundation of your Great Dao. What for?”
A sage who violates the rules, a virtuous man who goes against reason, each faces their own bleak end. Within the orthodox Confucian tradition, there will naturally be a Saintly Master Confucius to teach them a lesson according to the rules.

However, a Saint who acts against their own heart suffers the most tragic fate.

The old scholar, for the sake of a Qi Jingchun who was certain to die, truly risked his old life.

Almost no one could understand it.

Knowing that the overall situation was already set, to engage in a battle of wills was meaningless.

Therefore, even this golden-armored deity, who had witnessed countless changes in the landscape, still found it incredible.

The old scholar touched his head, smoothed his hair, and smiled, “I once had a question for Qi Jingchun to answer. Since Qi Jingchun has given his answer, I, as his teacher, certainly cannot be inferior to my disciple.”

The Great God of Sui Mountain sneered, “Don’t give me that veiled nonsense. ‘A student surpassing the teacher,’ wasn’t that your saying? Since the disciple need not be inferior to the teacher, your argument doesn’t hold water.”

The old scholar pointed at the golden-armored deity, “You, ah, you read books to death. Believing everything in books is worse than having no books at all, understand?”

The golden-armored deity scoffed, “I’m too lazy to waste words with you. I’m leaving, take care of yourself.”

He hesitated for a moment, “If it really doesn’t work out, come to Sui Mountain.”

The old scholar waved his hand, “Sui Mountain is a place where even taking a dump feels like sacrilege to the Sages, I won’t go. Besides, although I have indeed lost my chance to attain enlightenment and no longer have my previous abilities, if anyone wants to deal with me, hehe, let them come. It’s a pity, if I had this kind of encounter back then, when I met that Daoist Old Two, I would have grabbed his thigh and made him chop off my head. If he didn’t, I wouldn’t have let him leave, and I wouldn’t have been so scared that my legs were shaking afterward.”

The golden-armored deity shook his head, truly losing the desire to speak. He was unwilling to chatter about old matters with this scholar. Anyway, ever since he met the old scholar, he felt that every encounter with this guy was bound to be disappointing, but after each disappointment, he couldn’t help but look forward to the next meeting.

Strange indeed.

The old scholar suddenly shouted, “Don’t go yet, don’t go yet, I have something to ask of you. Just a trivial matter, don’t be afraid.”

Without a word, the golden-armored deity rose into the air with a golden beam, ready to leave this place.

But the next moment, he revealed his true form, hovering in the air.

It turned out that the old scholar, shamelessly, had reached out and grabbed his ankle, hanging in the air with him.

He had no choice but to land again, looking at the old scholar who was standing aside, clapping and smiling, and said angrily, “A disgrace to scholarship! Spit it out!”

The old scholar rubbed his hands, “I just took in a closed-door disciple, and his first impression of me probably wasn’t very good. I wanted to make up for it, give him a little something as a first meeting gift. After all, we’ll be parting ways soon, and I really won’t have the opportunity to teach him how to read. I feel guilty.”

The golden-armored deity sneered, “Help you prepare a meeting gift? Sure, that’s easy. My Sui Mountain has the Zhenyue Sword, whose sword spirit has been lost. Do you want to give it to your disciple? Is that enough weight?”

The old scholar put on a face of feigned shyness, “How can that be? The gift is too heavy, I’d be too embarrassed to accept it… Of course, having said that, it’s still a gesture of goodwill from you, the elder. If you insist on forcing it on me, I can let Chen Ping An come and get it in a hundred years. Maybe he’ll be able to lift it by then…”

The golden-armored deity took a deep breath. Those familiar with him knew that this was a sign that he was about to attack.

The old scholar immediately said in a serious tone, “How can we force growth? You really are something. It’s enough to have the thought, don’t you understand the principle of ‘more haste, less speed?’ My little disciple is going to travel with a sword, so just give him a piece of unowned Jian Tai (sword blank) is fine. The only requirement is that it can be used right away, not something that only a tenth realm cultivator is qualified to touch, how about it? How about you, the elder, show a little something?”

The golden-armored deity mocked, “If I don’t give it, you won’t let me leave, will you?”

The old scholar silently moved his feet, approached the golden-armored deity, grasped his arm, and said with righteous indignation, “How could that be? Am I that kind of person?”

The Great God of Sui Mountain shook his head helplessly, “For the sake of these disciples, you’re really willing to throw away your life, and your face. Fine, fine, I’ll give it, I’ll give it!”

With a flick of his wrist, a fist-sized, silver ingot-like object floated in front of the two of them.

The old scholar’s expression became solemn. He didn’t rush to take it, and asked, “Did you have some kind of plot in mind when you came here? Otherwise, how could you just happen to be carrying this thing with you? Although it’s not some exaggerated treasure, it’s of great significance to you. If you don’t explain it clearly, I won’t accept it.”

The golden-armored deity crossed his arms and looked south, “How do you think I followed the clues and chased you down?”

The old scholar frowned, “Isn’t it because your Daoism is high, and you’re connected to the Sui Mountain Qi Luck? My movements here were a little too big, revealing flaws, giving you an opportunity?”

The golden-armored deity turned his head and asked, “Are you really unaware, or are you playing dumb?”

The old scholar asked suspiciously, “When did you, you big oaf, start learning how to create suspense? Although my False Image Sui Mountain was split open by a sword, it wouldn’t have any substantial impact on your side.”

The golden-armored deity, who was of fierce temperament, finally couldn’t help but burst out cursing, “Damn it! That sword directly struck my Sui Mountain! And you’re pretending that nothing happened?! Although, to outsiders, that sword was already at the end of its power when it appeared, how formidable is my Sui Mountain’s guardian formation? How many people in the world can break into the formation with just one sword? Now the entire Middle Earth Divine Continent is abuzz with discussion, guessing whether it’s your so-called Daoist Old Two hinting at something, or if some old immortals from the Sword Qi Great Wall have come to seek justice.”

The old scholar was dumbfounded, “That powerful?”

This sentence added salt to the golden-armored deity’s wounds.

“Get lost!” He swept the old scholar’s “body” away for hundreds of miles in a fit of anger, causing him to fall heavily into the river in the back mountain of Sui Mountain.

He snorted coldly, struck the inconspicuous silver ingot with a palm, and掠向 (lve xiang, a Xianxia term for swiftly flying towards) the place where the old scholar fell into the water.

After that, a golden beam as thick as a mountain peak burst open the sky of the landscape painting and returned to Sui Mountain in the Middle Earth Divine Continent.

In the river in the back mountain of Sui Mountain, the old scholar leisurely paddled back to shore, shrugged his shoulders, and his soaked Confucian robe instantly became dry and refreshing. He spread out his palm, looked at the silver ingot, and said with a worried expression, “Hot potato ah.”
The matter of fortuitous encounters, whether given by a teacher to a student or a master to a disciple, emphasizes a gradual progression. It’s never about giving the greatest boon possible, but rather one that is just right, allowing the recipient to grasp it firmly, bear its weight, and digest it fully.

Otherwise, those millennia-old aristocratic clans among the immortal mountains, having accumulated such vast and formidable fortunes, passing them down through generations, branching out and scattering leaves, if today this son has just become a Qi Refiner, they immediately bestow upon him a peerlessly sharp divine weapon, and tomorrow that grandson has excellent innate talent, so they send him a magical artifact that can shatter mountains and massacre cities at the drop of a hat. In such a case, they would have long since rebelled with a vengeance. Why should this vast and righteous world listen to the rules maintained by your academies and institutes?

Furthermore, karmic entanglement is the most troublesome thing.

Very troublesome.

That’s why the Old Scholar secretly took away that jade hairpin back then.

In fact, A Liang simply didn’t discern its true secrets. The Old Scholar entrusting it to Qi Jingchun naturally held deep significance, intended to cope with the worst-case scenario. If Qi Jingchun truly faced enemies on all sides one day, he would at least have a place to settle down and be safe.

It’s just a pity that Qi Jingchun ultimately chose not to use it. Besides not wanting to involve his benefactor and teacher from the Hall of Meritorious Deeds, the Old Scholar, it was likely also a safeguard for Chen Ping’an.

Forcing the Old Scholar to personally make a trip to the Treasure Bottle Continent, to meet the junior brother that his Qi Jingchun had helped his teacher to take in.

And at that time, his Qi Jingchun was already dead. Even if his teacher came from thousands of miles away, dissatisfied with this closed-door disciple, for the sake of his Qi Jingchun, given the Old Scholar’s nature, he would most likely grit his teeth and accept him. In the future, if Chen Ping’an truly encountered an insurmountable obstacle, even if the Old Scholar confined himself in the Hall of Meritorious Deeds, a few words from him could still help.

However, Qi Jingchun miscalculated one thing: he didn’t anticipate his teacher leaving the Hall of Meritorious Deeds so quickly.

It was precisely for him.

Just as he was for Chen Ping’an.

Perhaps this is the true meaning of like-minded companions and a common lineage.

The Old Scholar took a step and arrived at the mountain peak, sighing, “Little Qi, you are far better than your teacher when it comes to protecting your own. Hmm, I am very satisfied with this closed-door disciple, Chen Ping’an. After much thought, I only understood one thing in the Hall of Meritorious Deeds: I am precisely lacking such a student.”

The Old Scholar suddenly widened his eyes, “Where is he?”

The Old Scholar stomped his feet in a flurry, then suddenly quieted down, with a mischievous smile on his face, “Oh dear, really, my disciple is still young, oh, it seems he is already fourteen or fifteen years old, not young at all, in many places outside, they are already married and have children…”

Somewhere in the sky, a woman smiled faintly, “Twice.”

The Old Scholar pretended to turn his head to the side and prick up his ears, “What, what did you say? I can’t hear clearly, I am not only hard of hearing, but also have unclear speech, what I say is always misunderstood…”

No wonder he was able to teach such a great disciple like Cui Chan.

But after the voice disappeared, the old man turned to look at a certain boulder, with the words “Directly Reaching the Heavenly Court” carved on it.

The old man withdrew his gaze and looked down the mountain, “I still want to carefully watch this great and beautiful land, a thousand years is too short, ten thousand years is not long.”

When Chen Ping’an woke up, he found himself sitting on the railing of that golden arch bridge again. The arch bridge was still as long as last time, with no end in sight, surrounded by surging seas of clouds, leaving one at a loss.

It was impossible to imagine what the consequences would be if he accidentally fell. Would he be smashed to pieces? Would he keep falling into an endless abyss? Would the journey to the ground be so far that, if he didn’t starve to death, would the fourteen-year-old boy be fifteen years old when he finally died?

Chen Ping’an had always thought about some strange things.

It was just that because he hadn’t studied, he seemed very unsophisticated.

The woman in white sat side by side with Chen Ping’an, softly saying, “This used to be a battlefield. When the great battle ended, only this arch bridge remained. Look over there, there used to be an Eastern Heavenly Gate standing there, quite large. The guy who was in charge of guarding the gate there at the time was a lecherous man, wearing a silver armor called ‘Great Frost.’ He wasn’t a bad person, just a bit foul-mouthed. My first master fought with his superior and won. At the time, the latter had a few helpers watching the battle from afar, but everyone was so afraid that no one dared to show their face to help.”

Chen Ping’an followed her finger and saw an empty space, with occasional flashes of radiant light.

She softly said, “Now there’s nothing left.”

Chen Ping’an felt a sense of longing and sighed, “So that’s how it is.”

She gently swung her feet, resting her hands on the railing, and smiled, “Cultivating the Dao, cultivating longevity, painstakingly building the Bridge of Longevity, is all for the sake of cultivating a ‘stay,’ not becoming a speck of dust in the long river of time. So everyone likes to call themselves ‘swimming against the current.'”

Chen Ping’an hummed in agreement, he could understand this sentence. Live well, who wouldn’t like that?

She turned her head and asked with a smile, “After walking such a long way, are you tired?”

Chen Ping’an thought seriously, “Tired, not really. Compared to going into the mountains to gather herbs and burn charcoal when I was a kid, it’s actually easier. It’s just that meeting too many strange people and things always makes it hard to sleep soundly.”

Chen Ping’an turned his head and said happily, “But I slept very soundly just now. Although we were poor in the small town before, I could fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow every day. Now that I’m traveling far with Bao Ping and the others, I can’t do that, I’m just afraid something will happen.”

She continued to ask, “Do you have any complaints?”

Chen Ping’an thought for a while, imitated the immortal sister beside him, resting his hands on the railing, swinging his feet, and looking into the distance, softly saying, “Yes, for example, a girl named Zhu Lu, how could she be so unkind. A female ghost wearing a wedding dress, just because she felt that the man she loved didn’t love her anymore, killed many passing scholars. If Bao Ping and the others weren’t by my side at the time, I would have used a wisp of sword qi to kill her long ago.”
“Other things, it’s not really right to call them complaints, not exactly, but I still get a little bothered. Like how Li Huai never studies hard, no matter how much I tell him, he just won’t listen. I really don’t know how Mr. Qi managed to not beat him back then. Also, once these guys have tasted delicious delicacies, they all lose interest in my cooking. I actually feel quite down about it; oil and salt are expensive, you know? And when I go fishing by the river, I can’t pick the time, so I often don’t catch much. Every time I come back and see their disappointed faces, I feel particularly wronged. If it weren’t for not wanting to delay your journey of wandering and learning, give me a day or two to prepare a fish attractant nest, stay up all night fishing, and I could catch fish of all sizes.”

“Most recently, there was that time Lin Shouyi got angry. Actually, I felt guilty. Although it was mainly to help him cultivate properly, I had ulterior motives. It’s because someone told me that my Changsheng Bridge (Bridge of Longevity) is broken, and I might not be able to cultivate in this lifetime. But I’m not willing to give up just like that. Firstly, I promised Divine Immortal Sister that I would become a flying immortal someday. Secondly, I’m also very envious of Ah Liang and the others, like Li Huai said, stepping on a sword and *swoosh swoosh swoosh*, flying around, going wherever you want, how cool and impressive! Of course, I want that too.”

The tall woman listened quietly to the boy’s worries, teasing, “Oh, you think about things for yourself too, huh?”

The boy squinted his eyes, trying to look into the distance, and smiled, “Of course. After my parents passed away, I’ve always been thinking for myself; it’s hard to think for others. Actually, I became like this after meeting you. Fighting with people, buying mountain plots and shops, studying and learning to read, making small book boxes, practicing stance training, spending money on books, choosing routes, sharpening knives and feeding horses, I’m busy every day, but I don’t regret it. I’m very happy!”

Chen Ping’an murmured, “I just miss them a little, wondering if they’re doing well.”

She also sighed, echoing the boy’s words, “Is that so.”

Chen Ping’an suddenly turned his head and said in a low voice, “Divine Immortal Sister, I have money now, a lot of money!”

She burst into laughter.

But remembering the boy’s years of growth, she soon understood.

Even something as small as insisting on posting Spring Festival couplets on New Year’s Eve could make the boy ramble on for so many years, so of course, having money is a very happy thing.

The boy suddenly said with a firm look, “Divine Immortal Sister, don’t worry, I will definitely try my best to do what I promised you.”

She turned to the side, reached out and placed her hand on the boy’s head, and said gently, “I’m already very happy to have met you.”

She seemed to feel it wasn’t enough, so she simply bent down and leaned forward, pressing her forehead against the boy’s forehead.

The innocent boy was just naturally shy, wanting to scratch his head but not daring to.

She smiled and straightened up.

Finally, the sword spirit and the boy, one barefoot, one in straw sandals, just looked at the distance together, swinging their legs.

Time passed, completely unnoticed.

If today were taken as a ferry crossing in the long river of time, and traced back twenty thousand years, regarding the sword spirit’s power to kill, the intensity of her killing intent, she alone would be supreme, standing far above the heavens!

(End of this chapter)
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