At the summit of Changbai Mountain, the Temple of Martial Arts stands at its peak.
Sixteen basalt-colored peaks gather like giants seated in a circle; at the mont the first ray of sun pierces the clouds, sixteen mountain peaks are instantaneously edged in gold, while the heart of the lake remains subrged in indigo shadows.
In the Heavenly Pool, water sprays and churns, a young man suddenly erges from the surface, raising a hand to wipe away droplets from his face.
Determining his direction, he swims toward the shore, bare-chested.
Not far away, a middle-aged man holding a steaming bowl of noodles squats outside a grass hut on the shore, asking, "Biaozi, how long have you been down there this ti?"
Wu Hongbiao laughed and replied, "Uncle Changsheng, I went down yesterday around 9 to 11 PM and just ca up."
Uncle Changsheng clicked his tongue in surprise, "You've really beco a turtle, how can you stay underwater for so long... Did you figure out the sword intent at the bottom of the pool?"
Wu Hongbiao chuckled, "The Lord of War's sword intent is too fierce; I couldn't get close... However, it didn't actively harm ."
Uncle Changsheng took a slurp of noodles, muttering, "Strange, the sword intent at the bottom of the pool strikes at but not you; maybe I'm too handso, and the Lord of War is jealous?"
Auntie walked out from the hut and twisted his ear, dragging him back inside, "Stop embarrassing yourself."
Grimacing, Uncle Changsheng returned to the hut, while Wu Hongbiao glanced at the few, quiet grass huts by the Heavenly Pool and walked towards one of his own.
As he passed a hut, its door opened from within, and Zhu Yunxi ca out carrying a long knife, greeting him, "Just ca out?"
Wu Hongbiao smiled, "Going to practice with the knife?"
The two exchanged greetings and passed by each other, not saying another word.
At that mont, a middle-aged man in plain clothes ca from the north slope; Wu Hongbiao and Zhu Yunxi simultaneously stopped and bowed, "Mr. Wu."
Mr. Wu responded with a nod.
Wu Hongbiao curiously looked at Mr. Wu, "Where is Mr. Wu's Jishan Blade?"
Mr. Wu said casually, "A certain Princess Liyang ca to North Mountain Gate, I let her see the sword to wake her up."
Zhu Yunxi paused, "Is it the Princess Liyang who went to the Ning Dynasty?"
Mr. Wu nodded, "Yes, she is. I don't know what route she took, but she returned from Korea. No need to pay attention; the Temple of Martial Arts Mountain Gate is never short of ambitious people. She thinks that by sheer willpower she can move the Temple, but what the Temple lacks least is willpower and perseverance."
As he spoke, the door of the hut Zhu Yunxi had just co from opened again, and Mr. Wu imdiately greeted respectfully, "Mr. Yao."
Old Yao walked out from the hut with his hands behind his back, instructing, "Let her up the mountain, I have questions for her."
Mr. Wu was montarily stunned but promptly agreed, "Alright, I'll go now."
...
...
Princess Liyang stood beside the mountain gate stone stele, quietly observing the sword in front of her.
Jiang Pan explained from behind her, "This is Wu Kezhi's 'Jishan', usually, when the Mountain Master is not at the Temple of Martial Arts, Wu Kezhi is in charge. He reached Innate at eleven, went to the Seeking Dao Realm at fourteen and went down the mountain to Korea, where he defeated all the officials there."
"At that ti Korea produced a genius of the Heartless Sword Dao nad Cao Xizong, who at sixteen realized the 'Unmoving Heart Sword Way' under the sea. Afterwards, the Heartless Sword Dao sought a mountain, established a mountain gate, renad the mountain Martial Extre Mountain, and legend says that Cao Xizong lives in Asking Sword Hall, vowing to challenge the Temple of Martial Arts for the plaque of the Dominator of the World soday..."
Princess Liyang interrupted, "I know what happened after that, Wu Kezhi went to test his blade at the gate and after one strike, Cao Xizong closed himself off for twenty-seven years, never leaving Martial Extre Mountain since."
Jiang Pan whispered, "It's no longer called Martial Extre Mountain; now it's called Child Mountain, it was renad by Wu Kezhi."
Princess Liyang murmured, "The first task after the Temple disciples descend the mountain is to test their blades and swords on Korea Officials, a tradition, but such sharp weapons cannot be used by —what a pity."
Wu Kezhi's voice resonated through the clouds, "It's not that the Temple of Martial Arts can't be used by others, but there's yet to be anyone in the world worthy of wielding this sword."
Princess Liyang briskly raised her head, watching Wu Kezhi's figure slowly erge from the mist, and the Jishan in front of her humd and trembled, clanging as it flew from the stone steps to hover beside Wu Kezhi.
Princess Liyang took a deep breath, bowing in salute, "Mr. Wu."
Wu Kezhi turned and headed up the mountain, "Follow , Mr. Yao wants to see you."
Princess Liyang exchanged a glance with Jiang Pan instinctively—Mr. Yao?
They knew of the Temple of Martial Arts Mountain Gate having Mountain Masters, Mr. Wu, and Uncle Changsheng, but when was there a Mr. Yao?
Princess Liyang stopped pondering and stepped onto the stone steps, walking into the mist. As she reached the summit, the scene unfolded before her; she gazed distantly at the mirrored Heavenly Pool surrounded by sixteen peaks, becoming montarily enchanted.
An elderly voice interrupted her thoughts, "Young lady, co."
Princess Liyang regained her composure, seeing Old Yao seated on a stump in front of a grass hut in the distance, beckoning her. Behind Old Yao stood Liang Gou'er, Liang Mao'er, and Zhu Yunxi.
She understood the situation and stepped forward to bow again, "Mr. Yao."
Old Yao waved his hand at Wu Kezhi, "Go get busy."
Wu Kezhi bowed and took his leave.
Princess Liyang's eyes flashed with a strange light: "I hadn't heard of Mr. Yao's na in the past, my apologies, young lady..."
Old Yao leisurely interrupted, "Those who lack strength bla others, those with insufficient authority are often angry, those with insufficient knowledge worry too much, those lacking in Dao rely too much on so-called magic... Girl, don't waste your ti on , being honest is better than anything else."
Princess Liyang nodded slightly: "Yes."
Old Yao stared into Princess Liyang's eyes: "In the battle of Chongli Pass, soone used a sword seed, do you know who this person is? Think carefully before answering, if you can tell , I can help you, if not, I can kill you."
As the words fell, Zhu Yunxi gripped the handle of the Hidden Dragon Blade and stepped forward.
Princess Liyang's heart sank, so the Temple of Martial Arts allowed her to ascend the mountain, still wanting to ask about the Sword Seed Path?
She stood silently for a long ti, then gritted her teeth and said, "In reply to Mr. Yao, I really don't know who used the sword seed... I know the Temple of Martial Arts has been searching for this person for hundreds of years, but I am just a weak woman, escorted to Chongli Pass by the Marquis of Wuxiang from the Ning Dynasty on that day, and did not see the battlefield."
The area around the cottage fell silent.
Princess Liyang was filled with unease, her fingers clenched tightly around her sleeves.
In the next mont, Old Yao relaxed his frown: "Let ask you, did you encounter any danger along the way?"
Princess Liyang slightly frowned, not knowing why the other party asked this question.
She thought for a mont and recounted everything she had experienced after leaving Shangjing, deliberately avoiding the incidents involving Chen Ji and Zhang Xia to avoid revealing too much.
Old Yao shook his head after hearing this: "Why did you not ntion the Marquis of Wuxiang?"
Princess Liyang's heart struck like a copper bell, why did Mr. Yao specifically ntion Chen Ji? Has the Temple of Martial Arts already beco suspicious, or was it just a casual ntion?
She calmly replied, "That Marquis of Wuxiang is greedy and lecherous, only willing to escort to the Southern Dynasty Capital in exchange for all my money, and even wanted to offer myself as a token of affection... Such a despicable man, there's no need to ntion him."
At this point, Zhu Yunxi suddenly spoke: "Nonsense, Chen Ji is not that kind of person!"
Princess Liyang was stunned.
She looked at Zhu Yunxi, then at Old Yao, feeling she had discovered sothing significant.
Finally, Old Yao couldn't help but mock Zhu Yunxi: "While others have minds like the ocean, your mind is so shallow you couldn't even raise a turtle. Didn't you see I was trying to get information out of her? Get out of the way, truly like master, like disciple, both lacking in wit."
Liang Gou'er wasn't happy: "Old man, it's fine to scold him, but why scold ?"
Old Yao angrily shouted: "You go too, and Mao'er, go away, just seeing you two makes angry."
Princess Liyang hesitated: "You all..."
Once the others had left, Old Yao turned back to her: "Tell everything you know related to Chen Ji."
Princess Liyang paused for a mont, then smiled and said: "All right."
She then carefully recounted how she t Chen Ji and how she was held captive by him, even ntioning how her thigh was wounded by a feathered arrow from Chen Ji.
Seeing that Old Yao was listening intently, she went on to recount how Zhang Xia broke into the White Tiger Festival Hall for Chen Ji, and how after leaving Baidadan City, Chen Ji went to Tiger's Back to rescue comrades, only to be carried back by Zhang Xia who risked his own life.
Old Yao stroked his beard, sighing: "A dood relationship."
Princess Liyang was puzzled: "Why does Mr. Yao call it a dood relationship?"
Old Yao sneered: "What is a dood relationship? Two stubborn people tying their lives together, one enduring, one fervent, intertwined and inseparable, not coming together, yet not breaking apart, that's a dood relationship."
Princess Liyang shook her head: "Mr. Yao, I disagree. I feel like they are perfectly suited for each other. With Chen Ji's temperant, he needs soone who won't be pushed away, who can't be fought off, to be at his side."
Old Yao looked at Princess Liyang with interest: "You... you seem to understand Chen Ji quite well."
Princess Liyang smiled: "Mr. Yao, he and I have shared life-and-death experiences, after all."
Old Yao laughed dismissively: "That's a relationship where he saved your life, keep talking, tell more of the story."
Princess Liyang found a patch of grass opposite Old Yao to sit down, slowly recalling: "When we returned to Changping, Honglu Temple made things difficult for him, not wanting to let him take the coffin through Guangning Gate and Anding Gate into the Imperial Capital, but he didn't want to swallow this grievance... No, if it was his personal matter, he might have endured it, but not letting his deceased comrades enter through Anding Gate, he didn't want to endure it any longer..."
One person spoke, another listened, talking from morning until noon, Princess Liyang recounted everything she saw with her own eyes, and even shared what she had heard.
By the ti she was parched, Old Yao slowly stood up, looking down at Princess Liyang: "Breaking into the mountain gate was to seek help?"
Princess Liyang stood up, dusting off the grass on her clothes: "Correct."
Old Yao turned and walked towards the cottage: "I will bring those three fools along with you."
After saying so, he gestured to the three people in the distance: "Let's go down the mountain, get to proper work."
Princess Liyang suddenly asked behind Old Yao: "Are you Chen Ji's closest kin? Earlier on you sent the three away because you didn't want them to guess that Chen Ji had cultivated the Sword Seed Path. Old man, I once told Chen Ji he would beco my biggest support in the future, didn't expect those words to beco a prophecy."
Old Yao turned to look at her: "You'd better keep this matter to yourself. The reason you're still alive now is because you didn't reveal this matter."
Princess Liyang smiled and gave a courtesy bow: "As you command."
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