Chapter 33: Mountain Lord’s Sword Qi Mountain Opening Token, The Young Man Receives the Broken Bamboo Sword
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Madam Hua thought of An Le, the young artist who had amazed the Lin Residence with his sketches. He didn’t seek wealth but cultivation. He had been gifted the Sword Waterfall Diagram by her.
The Sword Waterfall Diagram was rather precious. It was a top-notch Spirit Refinement technique. If not for the fact that she admired the youth’s tenacity, Madam Hua might not have given it to him. In her opinion, it was indeed a little late for the youth to cultivate at the age of 18.
The young man had entered Meditation in three-quarters of an hour and formed the Embryonic Breath in two days, so this Spirit Refinement talent made her eyes light up.
However, if a young man who had started late wanted to amaze the world in this Spring Quarter Examination, enter the ranks of the List A, and step into the noble Heavenly Profound Palace, he could only dream.
Hua Jiebing could only rely on herself to retrieve Storm Calming.
“The Matriarch is old and in her twilight years. Her cultivation lifespan is coming to an end. She is unwilling to cause trouble at this time. For the sake of the Lin Residence’s future, she has been tolerating everything.”
“But I, Hua Jiebing, cultivate an indomitable Heart Sword. If I feel resentful and can’t vent it, the heart sword will be covered in dust and there will be no hope for me to break through. It’s not my intention.”
“Therefore, if I can’t tolerate it, I won’t be able to.”
Madam Hua exhaled softly and came back to her senses. She smiled and continued to drink and taste the delicacies with Madam Ye.
The Ye family was also a martial arts aristocratic family. However, unlike the Lin Residence, the main pillar of the Ye family, the founding general, was still alive. Even though he was already in his prime, his aura was still very strong. He was a top-notch general in the world. He led an army outside the Blue Wave River and stopped the Yuan Meng Empire’s iron cavalry. He even repeatedly achieved victories. He was feared and even hated by the Yuan Meng Empire.
General Ye, who was as domineering as a tiger, often shouted these words: Cross the river!
It was said that this general who had risen to prominence had once followed an old general. The old general had fought against the enemy all his life. Before he died with hatred, he shouted three times in a row, “Cross the river! Cross the river! Cross the river!”
Cross the river to attack the Yuan Meng Empire and reclaim the lost land of the Central Plains!
This was the inheritance of will.
If it was said that Old General Lin’s decision to protect the rear and stop Yuan Meng’s army was the preservation of the dynasty, then General Ye’s determination to conquer the north was to reignite the dynasty’s revival!
Madam Hua admired General Ye. He was a hero of his generation. Unfortunately, the Imperial Court did not agree to his aspirations for the northern expedition. General Ye submitted the request for the northern expedition 24 times in a row, but they were all suppressed by His Majesty, who was sitting high in the Heavenly Profound Palace.
The intimidation brought by the number one expert in the world, Emperor Yuan Meng, was like a sharp blade hanging above the heads of all the ministers in the dynasty, including the emperor.
The nobles did not dare to gamble, and the emperor did not dare to gamble.
With the terrain of the Blue Wave River, they could block the Yuan Meng Empire’s army. However, once they were defeated and the gap was torn open, the prosperity and wealth of Great Zhao which had moved south for hundreds of years might face the charge and trample of Yuan Meng’s cavalry.
Therefore, General Ye did not have a good life at the border and was under immense pressure.
It was for this reason that Madam Hua felt rather touched that Madam Ye was willing to help.
…
…
In the distance, the cold mountain rocks slanted, and there was a family in the depths of the white clouds.
The Sixth Mountain.
There was a pavilion on the field.
The night was lonely, the night wind whistled, and the stars filled the sky.
The Confucian-robed old man and the man with the pine sword case were still playing chess. When the last chess piece was placed, the game was over.
“It’s time to prepare the Mountain Opening Token and enter Lin’an.”
The white-robed man stood up. The huge pine sword case looked a little strange.
He walked out of the pavilion and looked at the pitch-black mountain under the night sky. His eyes were calm.
The old man in scholarly attire stood up. In his hand was the Water Ink Bamboo Stone Painting that An Le had drawn. He looked at the man and said with a smile, “Mountain Lord, are you really going to open the mountain and take this youth with you as the Mountain Guardian? If I remember correctly, this is Mountain Lord’s second Mountain Guardian, right?”
“The opening of the Sacred Mountain is a major event in the world. It will definitely cause a huge uproar. Countless geniuses want to be famous and enter the mountain gate. At that time, the Mountain Lord will only choose an ordinary youth who drew ink bamboo out of all the geniuses. You’re likely to attract criticism for no reason.”
The Confucian-robed elder smiled.
The man crossed his arms in front of his chest, his expression as calm as the deep night sky. “Do you think I’m afraid of criticism?”
“I admired the youth’s paintings and praised the gentlemanly pride contained in the youth’s paintings, so I chose him to be the Mountain Guardian. Who dares to criticize me?”
“If it weren’t for the rules of the Sacred Mountain, I would have brought this young man into our sect right now to see if his backbone is really as proud as the ink bamboo.”
When the Confucian-robed elder heard these domineering and arrogant words, he smiled. “As expected of the Sixth Mountain Lord of Sacred Mountain. Since that’s the case, I won’t dissuade you anymore.”
The man glanced at the old man from the corner of his eyes. “Dissuade? You, Wang Banshan, want to steal from me. You admire that young man with the bamboo painting, don’t you? You want to snatch him from me?”
“Your Literary Department has been getting more and more boring over the years. Scholars need to have righteousness. Tell me. How many people in your Literary Department have righteousness now?”
“The Martial Temple is much more pleasing to the eye than the Literary Department.”
After the man finished speaking, he did not say anything else. The pine sword case on his back smashed onto the ground with a bang. He placed his palm on it and opened the case an inch.
Endless sword qi spewed out from the cracks of the box.
The man clenched his five fingers and used his fingers as a brush. His sword qi was ink as he wrote in midair. After writing, the sword qi turned into a book and sent a stream of light flying towards Lin’an Prefecture.
This night, Lin’an had a sleepless night as sword qi tore through the sky like stars.
This was because the Sixth Mountain Lord of Sacred Mountain wrote the Mountain Opening Token:
Three days later, the Mountain Guardian will be chosen at the foot of the Sixth Mountain.
…
…
Ye Residence, Water Pavilion Garden.
Madam Hua and Madam Ye walked into the courtyard. The two of them were both Spirit Refinement experts. They sensed something and could not help but look up. They saw sword qi cutting through the clouds in the night sky.
“This is… the Sixth Mountain Lord’s Sword Qi Mountain Opening Token?!”
Madam Hua and Madam Ye were shocked one after another. The tips of their sword qi hung like silver waterfalls.
The two of them looked at each other. The Sixth Mountain wanted to choose a Mountain Guardian?
Why did it come so suddenly?
“Every Mountain Lord of the Sacred Mountain is an outstanding talent. The Sixth Mountain Lord is the sixth disciple of the Sacred Teacher. His sword qi is famous for being domineering. There’s only one Mountain Guardian on the Sixth Mountain, right? So, are they going to choose a second Mountain Guardian?”
Madam Ye covered her mouth and couldn’t help but be surprised. What was the source of such a huge matter that came out of nowhere?
“If I remember correctly, when the Mountain Guardian is chosen, they don’t value cultivation or talent. Instead, they rely more on fate… In three days, the usually quiet Sixth Mountain will probably be filled with people. I wonder who will be the lucky one chosen by Mountain Guardian.”
Madam Hua also chuckled. Although she had doubts, she did not think too much about it.
However, perhaps Zhuifeng, Qingyin, and the young masters in the residence could give the Sixth Mountain a try. If they could enter the Sacred Mountain, even if they were only Mountain Guardians, they would be extremely noble.
It wasn’t just the Ye Residence. That night, the entire Lin’an Prefecture was shaken by the Mountain Opening Token.
Many nobles, Prime Minister Qin’s Residence, the Literary Department’s Martial Temple, and even the depths of Jing Street, which represented the most respected palace in Great Zhao, all had their gazes cast on the Sword Qi Mountain Opening Token in the starry night.
The thoughts of the various factions were stirred. Some were determined to obtain it, while others were quietly watching the show.
But what everyone was curious about was, what had caused the Sixth Mountain Lord to suddenly open the mountain?
…
…
The next morning.
It was drizzling.
The tremors at night had no effect on An Le. He did not know about the sixth Mountain Opening Token.
After visualizing the Sword Waterfall Diagram overnight, An Le felt that his mind had become much stronger. Perhaps it was because of the Innate Swordsman Dao Fruit that his comprehension of sword-type cultivation techniques had a special enhancement.
His mind, which had just entered the Embryonic Breath Realm, had long stabilized and was improving at a perceptible level.
The next realm after Embryonic Breath was Shedding Mortality. It was a very important leap in the Spirit Refinement system. According to the description in the cultivation technique, the most important characteristic of the Shedding Mortality realm was that one could release their mental power and leave their mortal body to walk the world!
At the Shedding Mortality Realm, a Spirit Refinement cultivator could kill alone and invisibly!
Although An Le had consolidated his Embryonic Breath Realm, he was still far from reaching Shedding Mortality. However, this did not stop him from looking forward to it.
His breath was like a sword, and the gloomy breath that had been hidden in his chest and abdomen for the entire night was spat out. His entire body seemed to have been washed, and his face was radiant.
An Le walked out of the room and into the courtyard.
When one first heard the sound of spring rain, the old dreams of the city were filled with emotions.
A night of spring rain came carelessly.
The air became colder. In the courtyard, Hu Jingang’s corpse still existed, but the pungent smell of blood lingering in the air was suppressed by the spring rain and slowed down a little.
Glancing at the headless corpse, An Le’s expression was calm. One night was enough for him to adjust his mentality.
He was dressed in white and bathed in the spring rain. Accompanied by the old pagoda tree in the courtyard, he began to practice the Five Animals.
His blood qi, which had risen to the perfected-stage, rolled like a carriage and rumbled like a bell.
Tiger Form, Bear Form, Deer Form, Ape Form, and Bird Form had all evolved. With the addition of 18 wisps of Age Qi, his proficiency increased and became more and more charming.
“Not bad. Although the Five Animals Body Tempering isn’t a top-notch Body Tempering technique, it’s not easy to cultivate it well. Young friend, you’ve already obtained the charm of the Five Animals at such a young age. Your future is promising.”
After An Le practiced for a while, when his Qi Blood calmed down, faint laughter came from outside the small courtyard.
A wide-sleeved old man in plain clothes entered the courtyard with an oil-paper umbrella, straw sandals, and a broken bamboo sword at his waist.
“Senior.” An Le was pleasantly surprised to see the old man.
The old man stroked his beard and smiled, nodding slightly.
“Young Friend An, it’s been a day since we last met. How have you been?”
An Le cupped his fists and bowed. “Yesterday, I got some old yellow wine. Senior didn’t come, so it all went into my stomach. Today, I’ll buy some more when I get off work.”
The old man waved his hand. “It’s fine. Didn’t I agree to give you a sword when I took your painting? Therefore, I rushed here early this morning to give you a sword.”
With that said, the old man held the umbrella and smiled as he took off the broken bamboo sword from his waist and handed it to An Le.
Under the lonely spring rain, An Le looked at the broken bamboo sword that was stained with a few drops of spring rain and fell silent.
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