Cao Jun gazed upon the chaotic array of trinkets, arrayed like a heavily armored infantry phalanx on a battlefield, forming an impenetrable barrier around the strategist, Li Xisheng.

He discerned a subtle pattern and admired, “Your skill at chess must be formidable, and you must possess profound knowledge of the Yin-Yang school’s divination techniques.”

For a Qi cultivator of the Sixth Realm, only a celestial being of the Three Teachings’ ancestral caliber could simultaneously control so many objects. However, the scholar before him was clearly resorting to trickery. With each defense against the White Fish flying sword’s piercing attacks, he roughly calculated the trajectory and weak points, so aside from maintaining the Spring Leaf, Autumn Wind, and other items, the area where the scholar truly needed to channel spiritual energy wasn’t that large.

It was like a city siege. Cao Jun’s side possessed superior strength but lacked sufficient troops, allowing him to only focus on one section of the wall. The scholar seemed to have fortified all four walls with soldiers, but in reality, three sides were mere facades. He only needed to predict Cao Jun’s attack direction each time to defend with ease.

A thought flickered through Cao Jun’s mind. The snow-white flying sword withdrew from the battlefield, returning to its master. He glanced at it, noticing slight wear and tear on the tip and blade, more than expected. Fortunately, the sword intent within the White Fish short sword had improved after hundreds of grindings. In the end, it was still a profitable endeavor.

Cao Jun was internally conflicted. The Emperor of Great Li dared not confront the forces behind the Three Teachings for the sake of Qi Jingchun, but he might be willing to sever ties with the Cao family, who had already established themselves in another continent, for a Qi cultivator of his own with the potential to reach the Upper Five Realms.

For once, Cao Jun hesitated. He sheathed the White Fish sword and gripped the hilt of another sword, named Ink Dragon.

He deliberately feigned annoyance, saying, “If you have the guts, don’t be a shrinking turtle!”

Li Xisheng countered with a smile, “Do you have the guts to be a shrinking turtle?”

Cao Jun was speechless. He was once a sword cultivator prodigy hailed by the immortals of one continent, pursuing unparalleled sharpness and lethality. Of course, he had neither the ability nor the inclination to be like the scholar before him, never retaliating, relying solely on a pile of strange, broken objects to defend the city walls, refusing to take the initiative.

Some described sword cultivators as light cavalry, swift and nimble, while flying swords were like crossbows. In close-quarters combat, enemies often died in an instant. As for the flying sword of a land-based sword immortal of the Upper Five Realms, its destructive power on the battlefield was like a ballista. Even if it was simply placed on the city wall, it exerted tremendous pressure on the enemy.

Martial cultivators were heavy cavalry. Once they maximized their momentum and spirit, they were like charging heavy cavalry, capable of both offense and defense, unstoppable in breaking formations.

As for pure martial artists, considered hopeless by those on the mountains, they were merely clumsy, weak heavy infantry. Even a Grandmaster of the Eighth Realm, capable of riding the wind, couldn’t match a Qi cultivator in a prolonged battle if they failed to kill the enemy in a short burst of speed, as the Qi cultivator could maintain a distance.

Seeing Cao Jun remain silent, Li Xisheng gently adjusted some of the small Lightning and Autumn Wind objects in front of him, clearing his view. He proactively spoke, “The principle behind your sword isn’t fully realized.”

In other words, he was willing to hear the principle behind the Ink Dragon.

Cao Jun gently rubbed his cheeks. “You’re not one for pleasantries, but I’ll concede you’ve earned the right. I have a suggestion you might consider: let’s have a life-or-death battle, all consequences be our own, unrelated to family or nation. How about it? Dare to take a gamble?”

Li Xisheng shook his head. “You’ve already seen through me. I’m simply not good at offensive combat. You are, in fact, invulnerable from start to finish.”

He didn’t mind revealing his weaknesses.

Cao Jun said helplessly, “Are you being honest or just lacking in common sense?”

Cao Jun looked at the young scholar, and for some reason, recalled the most remarkable scholar of the Southern Treasury Continent, the current head of the pure Confucian Chen family.

Rumor had it that the learned Chen family elder carried a clear breeze in his sleeves, the bright moon on one shoulder, and the red sun on the other.

Cao Jun collected his thoughts and turned to see a small fox, entirely crimson, standing on its hind legs on the roof of an old house in Mud Bottle Lane, telling him, “The Ancestor wants me to tell you to know when to stop. If you get killed by Ruan Qiong, he’ll just find a place here to bury you, at least so you’ll be returning to your roots.”

Cao Jun looked disgusted. “What? Say that again!”

The fox coughed and, from a refined, elegant demeanor, instantly became fierce and menacing, placing its paws on its hips and cursing, “That old bastard Cao Xi told you, you grandson of a tortoise, to stop right now! If you anger that ironsmith surnamed Ruan and get beaten into a pulp, he won’t avenge you. He has hundreds of direct descendants, he can’t help everyone. He also said it’s a pity your wife hasn’t married into the family yet, or he wouldn’t have let me persuade you to stop. It’s best if you get beaten to death, so he can seize the opportunity.”

Cao Jun remained calm and nodded. “That’s right. That’s the old bastard’s tone.”

Li Xisheng ignored them. “If you’re not going to fight, please move aside.”

“I’m not fighting, I’m not fighting. I can’t kill you, you can’t kill me, what’s the fun in that?”

Cao Jun laughed. “I’ll go take a look at the smithy and pay my respects to the Sage.”

Cao Jun’s figure rose from the ground, soaring into the sky, then plummeting towards the smithy.

As for the Dragon Spring County’s idiotic rule against flying without permission, Cao Jun truly didn’t care.

The result was a deafening crash.

Cao Jun was instantly sent flying backward like a shooting star. When he finally managed to stop, he was hundreds of miles away, having rolled countless times in the clouds. Sitting cross-legged in the air, vomiting blood incessantly, Cao Jun’s face was as pale as paper. He wasn’t angry or frustrated, but instead wore his habitual smile. “Those guys from Wind and Snow Temple, their tempers are all terrible. I wonder if the Immortal Platform’s Wei Jin will surprise me?”

The fox with the crimson fur circled around Cao Jun, gloating, “Tasted some pain, huh?”

Cao Jun laughed. “I’m not dead yet.”

The fox clicked its tongue. “Your skill at bullying the weak and fearing the strong is just like Cao Xi.”

Cao Jun said, “If I don’t bully the weak and fear the strong, do you want me to bully the strong and fear the weak? Are you out of your mind?”
The fox didn’t seem to mind, raising a paw to scratch its chin, it stood on tiptoe, peering towards the town, “What about that bizarre sword embryo we failed to snatch?”

Cao Jun’s face darkened, “You have the nerve to mention it? If you hadn’t been egging me on to kill and steal, I would have at most conducted a fair trade with that youth.”

The fiery red fox straightened its face and lectured, “One must adhere to their true nature. However you behave on the outside, you should maintain that in this small Dragon Spring County. So what if there’s an eleventh-realm strategist sage? You’ve got an eleventh-realm sword cultivator patriarch backing you up! One has the advantage of location and timing, the other has a handy divine weapon. Both are unreasonable sorts amongst cultivators, evenly matched. They fight, you watch. Maybe you’ll even gain some enlightenment. What’s not to like?”

Cao Jun sneered, “With Cao Xi’s temper, if I calculate an inch from him, he’ll take a foot back.”

The fiery red fox, ever eager to stir the pot, repeated an old jibe, “Big deal if he sleeps with your wife a few times in the future! What are you afraid of?!”

Cao Jun remained silent, maintaining a smile, gazing at the fox. The young swordsman’s smile didn’t waver in the slightest.

The fox feigned surprise, “Wow, you’re actually angry? Cao Jun, who’s been carefree for a hundred years, actually has a serious side?”

Cao Jun smiled slightly, “Idly swatting mosquitoes, a sudden desire to kill them all arises.”

White Fish emerged from its scabbard, a rainbow of light erupting.

The fiery red fox’s head flew high into the air, but not a drop of blood splattered.

The severed head continued to speak, “Ouch, this sword speed is as slow as a turtle moving house. And they call you a genius sword cultivator? Truly shameful.”

The headless body strutted along, wiggling its hips, completely ignoring White Fish’s repeated penetrations. The head in the air continued to taunt, “Is that embroidery needle tickling me?”

The air was filled with the explosion of sword light, white rainbows crisscrossing.

Even the body, sliced into seventeen or eighteen pieces, and the head, split into eight fragments, would instantly recover their complete forms whenever White Fish’s movements faltered even slightly.

This cycle repeated endlessly.

Finally, Cao Jun sighed and sheathed his sword.

The fox twisted its neck and sat down next to Cao Jun, “Young man, don’t boast more than your ability allows.”

Cao Jun nodded, “Makes sense. I’ll listen to you.”

“In that case, once you marry your wife, can I borrow her for a few sleeps? She’s female, I’m female, who’s taking advantage of whom is hard to say.”

The fox began to stir up trouble again, mocking, “Wow, the number one sword immortal seedling of Southern Jambudvipa a hundred years ago, now a ninth-realm grand sword cultivator, is suddenly so obedient today?”

“Young” Cao Jun, was actually a hundred years old. At this moment, he looked into the distance, his lips pursed, ignoring the fox’s taunts in his ear.

Chen Pingan hurried to Li Xisheng’s side, worried, “Are you alright?”

Li Xisheng smiled, “First time fighting, and I ran into a sword cultivator. I was actually quite panicked, but the result wasn’t bad.”

Chen Pingan was relieved.

The silver ingot sword embryo in his sleeve had returned to silence, no longer hot and trembling after Cao Jun left.

Suddenly, the green-robed boy lunged forward, hugging Chen Pingan’s waist, “Too scary, too scary! I knew it! You can get killed just walking down the street. This town is uninhabitable! Master, please have mercy and let me go to the Fallen Mountain to cultivate! I promise, I swear from today onwards, I will cultivate diligently, day and night without rest! Don’t even mention eating morning dew, I’ll eat grass roots and chew mud on Fallen Mountain if I have to!”

Li Xisheng couldn’t help but chuckle and quickly comforted him, “The likes of Cao Jun are ultimately rare. Although I’ve never left the town, I can say for sure that characters like Cao Jun, with high cultivation and strange tempers, are few and far between. You don’t need to be so nervous.”

The green-robed boy ignored Li Xisheng, only pleading with Chen Pingan. After Chen Pingan pushed his head away, he switched to clinging to his arm, leaning back, determined not to let Chen Pingan continue forward, “Master, have a heart, I’m begging you! I’ll even return a common snake gallstone, okay?! Master, you know I’ve always been timid. I tremble when walking at night, and how long have we been in this town? We just went out, and sword energy was flying everywhere! I’m really scared…”

Chen Pingan had no choice but to stop, helplessly saying, “Do you know the way to Fallen Mountain?”

The green-robed boy, with snot and tears streaming down his face, was uncharacteristically submissive, “Master, at this point, even if I don’t know, I’ll pretend I do!”

The pink-skirted girl said softly, “Master, I know the way.”

Chen Pingan thought for a moment, “Then you two can go to Fallen Mountain. Stay at the bamboo house for now, but you must promise me not to cause trouble. I’ll finish up here as soon as possible and come to see you, and try to make a trip to Fallen Mountain before the New Year.”

The green-robed boy bowed deeply, “Master is wise and mighty!”

The pink-skirted girl said softly, “Master, I’ll send him there and come back.”

Chen Pingan smiled, “No need, the bamboo house is suitable for cultivation, you stay on the mountain with him. Don’t be afraid of him. If he dares to go back on his word and secretly bully you, I’ll deal with him.”

The green-robed boy jumped up and down, “Master, silly girl, can’t either of you think of me a little bit? Am I the kind of person who goes back on his word? Everyone in the Yellow Court Kingdom knows that the Sword-Wielding Water God has a brother who always keeps his promises! He says he’ll cut the weeds and eliminate the roots without missing a single one, he says he’ll screw his ancestors but never kill his grandsons…”

Chen Pingan chuckled, “So impressive.”

The green-robed boy immediately turned his head away, a look of coy shyness on his face, and waved his hand gently, “Master, I was just bragging to boost my courage, don’t take it seriously.”

Chen Pingan pressed down on his head with one hand and extended the other, “Give it here.”

The green-robed boy was somewhat confused, lifting his head, “What?”

The pink-skirted girl whispered a reminder, “You promised Master earlier that if he let you return to Fallen Mountain, you’d hand over a common snake gallstone.”

The green-robed boy squeezed out a smile, “Master, you’re rich and powerful, don’t be like this.”

Chen Pingan didn’t retract his hand.

The green-robed boy had no choice but to obediently take out the smallest snake gallstone and place it in Chen Pingan’s palm.

Chen Pingan handed the snake gallstone to the pink-skirted girl, smiling, “Once you’re on the mountain, if he doesn’t bully you, you can give it to him as a reward.”
The girl in the pink dress carefully stowed away the serpent’s gallstone.

The boy in azure robes grabbed her arm, urgently saying, “Let’s hurry to Fallen Peak Mountain. This place isn’t safe!”

The two youngsters had barely turned out of Mud Bottle Lane when the boy suddenly stopped. Before he could speak, the girl swiftly tossed the serpent’s gallstone back to him.

The boy caught the recovered treasure and nodded, smiling. “Silly girl, are you tired? Let me carry your book satchel.”

The girl shook her head vigorously.

The boy sighed dramatically. “You’re just destined to work hard, but luckily, fools often have a fool’s fortune.”

The girl grinned.

The boy puffed out his chest. “Alright, lead the way! Back to our humble abode!”

Back in Mud Bottle Lane, since there was no need to visit Liu Xianyang’s house, Chen Ping’an saw Li Xisheng to the entrance of the lane.

Li Xisheng paused, hesitated for a moment, then said, “What I’m about to say might be premature, but just like the notes I wrote in those books for you – you only need to read them once. So, just listen to these words.”

Chen Ping’an nodded. “Big Brother Li, please speak.”

Li Xisheng slowly said, “Have you ever heard of the paradox of ‘a white horse is not a horse’?”

Chen Ping’an scratched his head. “On the path of learning, Bao Ping and Li Huai argued about it. The more I listened, the more confused I became.”

Li Xisheng smiled, pondered, and then said, “Then let’s not delve too deeply for now. Let me put it another way: if you add one grain of sand to another grain of sand, how many grains are there?”

Chen Ping’an was puzzled. “Isn’t it two grains?”

Li Xisheng chuckled. “Of course. Then, if you add one pile of sand to another pile of sand, how many piles are there?”

Chen Ping’an tentatively said, “Still one pile, right?”

Li Xisheng patted Chen Ping’an’s shoulder. “Legend has it that when the ancient sages invented writing, the ghosts and gods of the world were terrified and wept. This is certainly a great virtue. But you must understand one principle: sometimes, writing can be a formless obstacle to our understanding of the world. So, when you read in the future, don’t always get caught up in the literal meaning of the words. If you encounter a bottleneck, you might as well take a step back, then climb several steps higher, and try to go as high as possible. Without climbing the peak, the plain will not be apparent.”

Chen Ping’an felt like he was lost in a fog, his head throbbing. It was similar to when he read the book “Elementary Learning,” a feeling of being lost and without a way forward, with no room to retreat.

Li Xisheng comforted him. “Take your time, don’t rush.”

Chen Ping’an gave a sound of agreement. “Understood.”

Li Xisheng, missing a sleeve, walked back to his grand estate on Fortune and Prosperity Street alone. The servants and maids were puzzled by the young master’s disheveled appearance. The young master had rarely left the house since he was a child, except to accompany his elders to ancestral graves. How could he have such a rough time just taking a stroll? Could he have gotten into a fight?

Li Xisheng returned to his courtyard, first checked on the well-being of his crabs and the Chinese mud carp, then changed his clothes. After that, he spent some time reading in his “Hut” study. Finally, he went to a room that was always locked, opened it, and as its master Li Xisheng looked around, his vision was filled with rows upon rows of tall display cabinets standing against the walls. And on top of the cabinets, there were no antique treasures or the exquisite porcelain produced in Dragon Spring County, but rather squares of varying heights, sizes, and materials: seals.

Besides the display cabinets filled with seals, there was only a table and a chair. On the table were three unfinished seals, made of wood, yellow jade, and bronze, respectively. There was also a large box of finely crafted carving knives and several ancient books of precious materials.

Li Xisheng gently closed the door, sat in the chair behind the table. The three seals on the table each lacked a single character. The bronze seal was engraved with “Subduing Exter,” missing the character “nal.” The yellow jade seal was engraved with “Supreme Heaven Lord,” missing the character “Law.” The wooden seal was engraved with “Qi Transforms Life,” missing the character “Azure.”

Engraving seals is like drawing talismans, requiring a seamless execution.

Li Xisheng was clearly not like that.

Instead of picking up a knife to carve, he closed his eyes and began to sleep, his breathing long and continuous, like a flowing stream.

The small room held a different dimension.

Chen Ping’an returned to his ancestral home and noticed that the locust wood sword placed on the table had a subtle, almost imperceptible tilt.

Although inwardly shaken, Chen Ping’an remained calm and sat down at the table.