Su Baiyi scratched his head. “Senior sister, why is your conversation so mysterious…” The lady in red smiled and turned her head to look at the people from the Clear Sky Courtyard. "Has Bai Jile arrived?" No one answered. "Has Helian Xiyue arrived?" Still, no one answered. "Since they haven't come, then get lost," the woman in red said dismissively. "In the entire Shanglin Heavenly Palace, only those two are worthy of my blade." Crouching Tiger let out a long sigh, steadying his breath. "Jimo Sword City, do you intend to oppose the Shanglin Heavenly Palace?" The lady in red suddenly turned around, and the Liangren Sword that had been hovering beside her abruptly flew forward. Everyone turned in alarm to see a masked man with an umbrella standing behind them, his arrival unnoticed. As the long sword shot toward him, the man quickly unfurled his dark green umbrella, yet the Liangren Sword came to an abrupt stop, one foot away from its target. The lady in red slightly lowered her head. “You’re not bad.” The man chuckled softly, "To earn a 'not bad' from the esteemed City Lord of Jimo is praise enough to boast about in the Shanglin Heavenly Palace for years to come.Today’s matter is an internal affair of Shanglin Heavenly Palace and has nothing to do with Jimo City; I kindly ask the lord not to intervene." "You are not without skill," the lady in red said slowly, "but you are not worthy of my blade. Nor are you in a position to bargain with me." …
“Many years ago, I too had the fortune to witness the essence of the Everlasting Flowing Sword.” Crouching Tiger looked at the white jade longsword in Nangong Xi’er’s hands, his expression carrying a trace of nostalgia, “To see it again today is indeed a great fortune.” Nangong Xier raised her sword, her expression unchanged, and did not reply. But Su Baiyi knew that her strength was far from recovered; she was merely sustaining herself on a single breath of true qi, and could collapse at any moment. Crouching Tiger also readied his cleaver, not daring to make a move against Nangong Xi’er. The Everlasting Flowing Sword technique he had once witnessed was the most terrifying swordsmanship he had ever seen in this world, without equal. Even at his peak, he would not dare to fight it lightly, let alone now when he too had sustained considerable injuries. “She is seriously injured.” The masked man said suddenly. Crouching Tiger frowned slightly. "Oh?" “Our Courtyard of Thousand Inventions possesses a martial skill that allows one to observe qi and discern realms. That disciple of Xie Kanhua, at first glance, appeared to be at the Ascending realm, but after that one sword strike, his realm plummeted. Now, he hasn’t even reached the Autumn Water realm. As for this woman…” the man in the mask spoke solemnly, “Her entire being is like a room with shattered doors and windows, her qi chaotically rushing about everywhere. It’s clear she has suffered severe internal injuries. Vice-chair, they are not to be feared.” As soon as the…
Though the sword has not yet left its sheath, the intent of the blade already surges forth mightily from within. Mu Nianhua swiftly moved to the side of Nangong Xi’er and said softly, “It seems I’ve heard the rumbling of thunder.” “The softest whispers of thunder.” “Emanating from the space within the sheath.” The Crouching Tiger narrowed his eyes slightly; in the world, there exists a sword technique, singular in its form, known as the Sword Drawing Technique. It is said that swordsmen who practice this art do so beneath cliffside waterfalls, tirelessly honing this technique for decades. Only when the day comes that their sword can cleave the cascading waters, is it time for them to descend the mountain and wander the earth. “Your sword-drawing technique…” As the Crouching Tiger’s cleaver fell, shattering Mu Nianhua’s previous strike, a moment’s breath was typically needed before he could deliver an even finer blow. Yet, intuition screamed within him, he must not allow Su Baiyi to unsheathe his sword. “Is it merely sword-drawing technique?” Su Baiyi leapt up, dodging the blade from the Crouching Tiger, his sword drawn halfway, “Think bolder!” “Be bolder!” “For instance, like Seeing Flowers in the Mist.” “What a joke,” scoffed the Crouching Tiger with a cold laugh, as he swung his cleaver eleven times in succession at Su Baiyi, who was in mid-air. The blade energy was so vast that it caused the river water around the Golden Wind to surge and swell. Huge waves rose up, one after another. A cold light flashed. The Junyu sword…
Mu Nianhua’s expression was serious, without a trace of a smile. “Why did you come out? The things I promised you, I will naturally accomplish.” “Your name is Mu Nianhua, and you are the seventh son in your family?” Su Baiyi suddenly asked. Mu Nianhua was taken aback. "Why are you asking this all of a sudden?" “My name is Su Baiyi, my place in the family hierarchy is unknown, for I have no family left,” Su Baiyi moved to stand beside Mu Nianhua, shoulder to shoulder. “From this moment on, we are true friends.” “Really.” Mu Nianhua lowered his head and smiled. "If it's a business deal, then we can only talk about promises. But if we're friends, then we should talk about loyalty." Su Baiyi raised the sword in his hand. "How can I let my friend face danger alone?" “In business, there’s always room to back out, but once you’re friends, it’s a bond of life and death,” Mu Nianhua said with a laugh. “You, the scholar, are quite the scoundrel.” Elder Long looked at the sword in Su Baiyi's hand and narrowed his eyes. "Jun Yu." “It seems everyone recognizes this sword, but I wonder, do you still recognize its technique?” Su Baiyi smiled. "You've mastered it?" Mu Nianhua frowned slightly. “Of course.” Su Baiyi raised an eyebrow. “Have you said enough?” The Crouching Tiger stood with his hands resting on his large cleaver, his right fingers tapping lightly on the hilt. “Will you come at me together, or one by one? Choose as you please.…
“Young master, even if you want to show off your noble air, you have to consider us guards as well.” The golden-robed wealthy man blocked Mu Nianhua’s path. “If something happens to you, even if I, the Thousand-Faced Wealth God, have a thousand more faces, your father will skin me alive.” “I have caused you trouble,” Mu Nianhua sighed softly. “In our line of duty, there’s no such thing as causing trouble or not; all we can do is give it our all,” the wealthy man in the golden robe said gravely as he looked at the burly man. “Crouching Tiger, have you truly resolved to turn against the Mu family?” The burly man known as Crouching Tiger chuckled and said, “That’s right. What are you going to do about it?” The Thousand-Faced God of Wealth was indeed a formidable figure. When he was young, his family was once rich and powerful. Later, his family was persecuted and exterminated. He alone survived, thanks to his miraculous martial art of a Thousand Faces. This skill was peerless for escape, but for taking lives, in Crouching Tiger’s eyes, it was utterly worthless. “If you think that just changing your face will allow you to escape the pursuit of the Five Wheels of Reincarnation, then you underestimate me. You just said that I have a universe in my sleeve. What if I really do have a universe in my sleeve?” Thousand Faces Wealth God opened his sleeves and raised his head slightly. Crouching Tiger narrowed his eyes slightly and glanced at the mustached…
“Since the Mu family has already given their answer, there’s no need to wait any longer, right?” The burly man sitting on the tiger-skin lounge chair yawned and said lazily, “Wen Ze?” Wen Ze bowed his head slightly, and after a moment of hesitation, he sighed softly, “Don’t go too far.” “I know, I promise you, at the very least the boat won’t be smashed; we still have to make it ashore,” said the burly man as he rose from the lounge chair, grabbing the large cleaver with a golden hilt beside him, “Let’s go.” "Yes," the nineteen disciples of the Courtyard of Clear Sky responded in unison from behind him. The group marched out of the room with grandeur, the last two disciples carrying the tiger-skin lounge chair. Once outside the cabin, they set the chair down, and the burly man lay back on it, yawning, "Let the Mu family come out. Since they have admitted to this matter, they have to come out and bear the responsibility." “Mu has been waiting for quite some time,” a figure leapt down from the mast, having been seated atop it all this while, admiring the view. Mu Nianhua was dressed in white, with a golden belt around his waist and an elegant long sword in his hand. He looked at the Courtyard of Clear Sky assassins in front of him with an indifferent expression and an extraordinary demeanor. However, there was no one behind him. “You, alone?” The burly man propped his chin with his hand, eyeing Mu Nianhua with keen…
“This is celestial dew, it can heal internal injuries,” the scholar said, holding the reins in one hand and tossing a bottle of medicine into the carriage with the other. “Your wounds are not light; if you hasten to Yunmeng Prefecture like this, I fear you’re rushing towards your demise.” Xie Yuling took the vial of celestial dew, removed the cork to smell it, then asked in bewilderment, “This celestial dew ranks among the apothecary’s most expensive remedies. Just this small bottle costs hundreds of taels of silver. Why would you help us so generously?” “Consider it a travel expense,” the scholar said with a dismissive wave of his hand, appearing unconcerned. Though he now held the reins, driving the carriage so diligently, it should be Xie Yuling and his companion paying him, as if he were their coachman. “It’s just a few hundred taels of silver. You’re also a son of a noble family, so why are you so surprised?” Zuo Feng snatched the celestial dew from Xie Yuling’s grasp, tilted his head back, downed it in one swift motion, and after a satisfying smack of his lips, he declared, “Delicious, bring another bottle.” “I only have two bottles, and if you drink it all at once, there’ll be none left,” the scholar said as he pulled out another bottle and tossed it to Xie Yuling. “The owner of the Medicine Master's Workshop is a friend of mine; it’s just celestial dew, there’s no need for you to pay me back.” Feng Zuojun and Xie Yuling exchanged a glance.…
"If our meeting is fate, then parting should also be left to fate." Xie Yuling couldn't figure out what this scholar was up to. If he were from the Shanglin Heavenly Palace, he wouldn't have saved them last night. But if he was just a passerby, why was he acting so strangely? With a hint of caution in his voice, he asked, "Shall we then part ways and each go our own way?" The scholar said with a smile, “I have traveled on foot, enjoying the scenery along the way, but I have grown weary. Since you two have a carriage, could I perhaps join you in your carriage?” "I'm afraid we're not going the same way," Xie Yuling frowned slightly. “Where are you going?” the scholar asked politely. “We’re heading to Yunmeng Prefecture,” Feng Zuojun declared, cutting in before Xie Yuling had a chance to respond. “Then I’ll go to Yunmeng Prefecture too.” The scholar nodded slightly. Xie Yuling was taken aback. He turned slightly to the side and placed his left hand on the hilt of his sword. "This young master seems determined to accompany us." "I set out on this journey to see the sights of the world, and I am content to go wherever the wind takes me. If a carriage heads to Jimo, then to Jimo I shall go. If a boat sails to the south of the Yangtze, then aboard I shall be. Hence, if you journey to Yunmeng Prefecture, I too shall make for Yunmeng Prefecture. Yunmeng Prefecture is a destination one must…
“Luckily, I have a cool head and a warm heart, not moved by lust or beauty. Senior sister, oh senior sister, you always slumber so peacefully in front of me, you trust me so much.” Su Baiyi laid Nangong Xi’er on the bed, stood up, and whispered, “Feng Zuojun was right… senior sister is really beautiful, and she has it all…” Nangong Xi’er’s legs suddenly twitched. “Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk.” Su Baiyi immediately shook his head, “I am a scholar, how could I think of such filthy things! What does it matter to me what senior sister looks like! Is she not my senior sister if she is not beautiful!” Nangong Xi’er’s eyelashes fluttered slightly. Su Baiyi turned around and walked to the side of the long bench; after hesitating for a moment, he made up his mind and moved a small stool to the bedside. Then he sat down with a thud and muttered to himself, “There’s no harm in taking a peek…” And then Nangong Xi’er turned over. Su Baiyi snapped out of it, sighed lightly, and stood up. He draped the quilt over Nangong Xi’er, then returned to the side of the long bench. After blowing out the candle, he sat cross-legged on the bench and began to circulate his qi and meditate. He had developed this strange problem after practicing the Book of Immortals given by Xie Kanhua for half a year: as soon as he fell asleep, he would lose his consciousness, but gain far more strength than usual. He had almost smashed the…
“What an extraordinary man my master is.” Su Baiyi pondered for a while, and eventually opened the conversation with this remark. Nangong Xi’er ate her rice in small bites, her expression indifferent. “Mhm.” “He opened a school in Apricot Blossom Village to support the two of us, but the money was only enough for us to eat steamed buns, not enough for drinking, so he sold his calligraphy, which was very good, but he was too lazy to write himself, so he taught me how to write. Every New Year, when I wrote for those rich families in the city, we would earn enough for half a year’s expenses in just that half a month. He promised to give me whatever was left, but he never kept his word. He always spent it all, leaving nothing behind.” Su Baiyi watched Nangong Xi’er’s expression carefully as he spoke tentatively at first, but seeing that she remained indifferent, he became more talkative. “Later I learned to be smart, and I would secretly keep some for myself, but then the money was not enough. Master taught me how to listen to the dice, and then he let me go to the casino to make some money back, but I had to lose some on purpose, afraid of attracting attention.” “Listen to the dice?” Nangong Xi’er took a sip of soup. “Yes, I have excellent hearing now. I can close my eyes and hear how many petals fall when Master swings his sword at the apricot tree.” Su Baiyi said proudly. “No wonder, this…
