The sun dipped below the horizon.
To the west of the apricot grove, a mountain path had been constructed, paved with wide stone steps. On either side, pavilions and halls had begun to take shape. The craftsmen had already descended the mountain to rest for the day. On the steps of the villa on the mountaintop, Lin Zhao, Xue Zhi, and Tong Yu sat side-by-side. Xue Zhi hugged her knees, and Tong Yu, also hugging her knees, sat nearby.
When Tong Yu first arrived at Sky Pool Mountain, her gaze towards Lin Zhao was filled with deep wariness. From that moment, Xue Zhi had taken a disliking to the young girl, thinking she must have squeezed her head through a door. However, Xue Zhi treated everyone from the Sky Pool Mountain equally, so Tong Yu felt Sister Xue Zhi was a good person and grew closer to her. Seeing Xue Zhi in her current state now made Tong Yu’s heart ache.
“Adult,” Xue Zhi said softly, “You really don’t need to accompany me. I’ll be fine if I’m just alone for a while.”
“It’s alright,” Lin Zhao turned his face to look at the sunset and smiled, “I don’t have anything else to do anyway.”
In reality, he had too many things to do: he needed to level up, aim for level 100, draw talismans, and so on. But Xue Zhi was the foremost person under Lin Zhao’s command. Now that Xue Zhi's sword heart was shattered, Lin Zhao could not simply abandon her.
“Tell me about it,” Lin Zhao said.
“…” Xue Zhi pursed her red lips and said, “There’s only the Star River Realm left, and it’s early Star River Realm at that. A paper-thin Star River Realm. My sword intent has been reduced by at least ninety percent. Three of the ten demon soul swords are damaged and will require slow refinement and repair later. Overall, I’m definitely no match for Chu Yu now, and it would take just a few punches from Mu Zha.”
“It’s alright.” Lin Zhao turned to look at her pretty face and said, “To me, Xue Zhi is an Eleventh Realm Sword Immortal. I’ll use you as an Eleventh Realm Sword Immortal. If not, I’ll still use you as the Xue Zhi from the mountaintop villa back then. Even if you’ve fallen back to the lower five realms, you can still pour tea for me, right? I just want you by my side.”
Xue Zhi’s pretty face blushed slightly. “Pouring tea and washing and folding clothes, things like that, will be handled by Dong Cang when you live in the mountaintop villa in the future. It won’t be my turn.”
“It’s fine.” Lin Zhao smiled. “The mountaintop villa will be very large in the future. Dong Cang can’t possibly manage it all alone, right?”
Not far away, a figure hiding behind a tree emerged. Dong Cang’s face turned red. “Adult, when did you notice me?”
Lin Zhao chuckled, “An apricot blossom floating under the banyan tree, how utterly strange…”
Xue Zhi and Tong Yu both snickered.
Dong Cang walked over, hugged her knees, and sat with Lin Zhao and Xue Zhi.
“I don’t know what to do in the future…” Xue Zhi pursed her lips and said, “I was too impulsive. I shouldn’t have been so arrogant and gone alone to the Clear Cool Sect to challenge them. I underestimated the Clear Cool Sect. Originally, I thought Zhao Jingyu was still a Twelfth Realm cultivator. I never expected…”
“It’s alright, realms can be cultivated back slowly,” Lin Zhao smiled slightly. “Back then, Lu Xun arrived at Sky Pool Mountain with a donkey. How desolate was that? It felt like Lu Xun was just a cultivator of the lower five realms. Later, after staying at Sky Pool Mountain for a while, he went traveling. Even later, his state of mind opened up, and he became an invincible Thirteenth Realm Sword Immortal, and one of my best brothers at Sky Pool Mountain, though he’s a bit ugly.”
He looked up at the sky. “Isn’t that right, Lu Xun?!”
“Not at all!” A voice echoed from the sky.
“???” Lin Zhao, Xue Zhi, Dong Cang, and Tong Yu were all dumbfounded.
“Whoosh!”
A pillar of sword light descended from the sky, falling in front of Lin Zhao, Xue Zhi, and the others. As the brilliance dissipated, a young sword cultivator in a light green short shirt appeared, a sword on his back and a wine gourd hanging from his waist. It was Lu Xun!
“Damn…” Lin Zhao immediately stood up. “How did you get here so quickly?”
Lu Xun laughed heartily and spread his arms. “Lin Zhao!”
“Hahaha~~~” Lin Zhao was overjoyed and went forward to embrace Lu Xun like brothers, patting him vigorously on the back. “You’re too easy to talk about. We just mentioned you, and you’re here?”
“Cough cough…” Lu Xun hastily broke free from the brat’s demonic grasp, which was so forceful it almost dislodged his chronic bronchitis. Looking at Lin Zhao’s current appearance, Lu Xun was quite satisfied and said with a smile, “I just descended not long ago. See… as I was flying past the Heavenly Curtain, I heard you call my name. I had to spare a few minutes from my busy schedule to catch up.”
Saying this, Lu Xun cupped his fists and smiled at Xue Zhi, Dong Cang, and Tong Yu. Then he leaned close to Lin Zhao’s ear and whispered loudly, “Good eye, all beauties. Want to introduce one to me? Any one will do! Your brother is still single, and the immortal ladies in the upper realm are all Thirteenth Realm and terrifyingly powerful, they don’t fancy me…”
Lin Zhao was speechless. He introduced them one by one: “Xue Zhi, the foremost of the ten people at the mountaintop villa, my right-hand man. Dong Cang, who was my maid at the mountaintop villa before, now an apricot maiden. And Tong Yu, from the Eastern Wu Kingdom, a sword immortal embryo.”
Lu Xun cupped his fists to each of them. “Lu Xun, Thirteenth Realm! As long as that person doesn’t descend, I am the number one sword immortal in the mortal world!”
Xue Zhi and Tong Yu snickered.
Lu Xun then looked at Xue Zhi and smiled with a serene expression. “Your realm has fallen? It’s alright, cultivate it back slowly. When you return to the Eleventh Realm, you’ll find your foundation even more solid, and all past inner demons will be like passing clouds.”
Xue Zhi nodded. “Thank you, Sword Immortal, for your guidance.”
“Lu Xun,” Lin Zhao said, “Are you here for something this time?”
“Mm.” Lu Xun replied, “Descending once has too high a price. All my savings for several years are gone in an instant. If it weren’t for something important, I wouldn’t have come. This time I came down… to run an errand for the Mo family’s ancestral court.”
He narrowed his eyes and smiled. “The Clear Cool Sect… do you want me to help you out and chop off that old bastard Zhao Jingyu’s head?”
“No need.” Lin Zhao shook his head. “I’m afraid doing so would incur a price for you as well.”
Lu Xun laughed. “Mm, entanglement with karma is inevitable. But if you agree, I’ll do it. Who asked us to be brothers?”
“Really, no need.” Lin Zhao smiled and shook his head. “I’ll handle it myself. I don’t want to delay your important business.”
“Very well.” Lu Xun cupped his fists to the group. “In that case, I must be going. The matter is indeed rather urgent.”
“Mm!” Lin Zhao, Xue Zhi, Dong Cang, and Tong Yu all stood up and watched Lu Xun transform into a streak of sword light and depart. That sword light streaked across the sky, accompanied by faint thunderous rumblings. A peak Thirteenth Realm Sword Immortal, he was indeed perhaps the only one in the mortal world now.
…
Outside the layered clouds of Clear Cool Mountain.
Lu Xun had originally intended to go directly to the Mo family’s ancestral court. However, the figures of Lin Zhao and Xue Zhi still echoed in his mind. For a moment, Lu Xun was furious. You, the Clear Cool Sect, relying on your deep foundation, bully a weak woman? Moreover, that weak woman only has one arm? Furthermore, seeing how virtuous and beautiful that woman is, perhaps she’s my future sister-in-law?
Zhao Jingyu, have you eaten bear hearts and leopard gallbladders? You dare to lay a hand on Lu Xun’s sister-in-law? And you were so ruthless, directly shattering her sword heart. What kind of grudge is this?
If Zhao Jingyu dares to do this today, won’t he come to the upper realm tomorrow and directly slap Lu Xun in the face?!
Thinking of this, Lu Xun touched his cheek, feeling a slight burning sensation.
Damn it, rather than be controlled by a reaction, it’s better to strike first!
“Whoosh!” He descended straight from the sky, transforming into a streak of sword light that pierced into the Clear Cool Sect’s protective mountain formation. The moment he entered the formation, a sword dao world was erected. Instantly, the entire Clear Cool Sect seemed to disappear, leaving only the ancestor Zhao Jingyu slumbering in a towering pavilion.
“Still sleeping?” Lu Xun descended from the sky, grabbed Zhao Jingyu by the collar, and lifted him up. Then, with his right hand, he slapped Zhao Jingyu repeatedly, throwing him onto the bed before rising into the air and transforming into a sword light that vanished into the distance, already a thousand miles away in the blink of an eye!
“Who?!” Zhao Jingyu, woken from his dream, sat up abruptly, his face burning as if he had been hit. It was definitely not an ordinary person. Someone who could make a Thirteenth Realm cry out in pain must be at least a Thirteenth Realm! He covered his face and roared, “Who is it? Who exactly is it?!”
…
Sky Pool Mountain.
As night fell, Sky Pool Mountain appeared exceptionally tranquil. Everyone had gone to sleep. In the night sky, a figure landed on a peak in the back mountain. It was an old man in a grey robe, Zhao Chuqin, who had recently arrived at Sky Pool Mountain disguised as a shepherd. Now, by order of the ancestor, Zhao Chuqin had returned to Sky Pool Mountain. His purpose was none other than to investigate the situation at Sky Pool Mountain. After all, the strongest Eleventh Realm Sword Immortal in the mortal world had had most of his cultivation crippled by the ancestor. The Clear Cool Sect needed to know Sky Pool Mountain’s reaction.
The ancestor had reservations. In fact, he could have killed Xue Zhi. Why didn’t he? Because Xue Zhi was connected to too many people. Lin Xingchu of Xi Jian Jiang, Lin Wanhua of Fusu Great Wall, had fought against the Thirteenth Realm demon race alongside Xue Zhi. Furthermore, Xue Zhi’s master was that person’s junior brother. If the ancestor had truly killed Xue Zhi, it would have been difficult to handle the aftermath.
Now, Zhao Chuqin had come to Sky Pool Mountain to see what reaction Sky Pool Mountain would have, and whether they would challenge the Clear Cool Sect again.
However, as soon as Zhao Chuqin landed and crouched on a dwarf pine tree by the cliff, looking down towards Sky Pool Mountain, he felt a chill from above. He looked up and saw, on a pine tree several meters above, a disheveled man also lying there, looking in the direction of Sky Pool Mountain.
“You…” Zhao Chuqin’s expression turned to horror. “You… what are you doing here?”
“Me?” The disheveled man grinned. “Guarding Sky Pool Mountain. What about you?”
“I…” Zhao Chuqin gritted his teeth, unable to speak. The disheveled man stepped forward, grabbed his collar, and slapped him repeatedly until Zhao Chuqin’s face was swollen like a pig’s head. Then, he let go. “Get back to the Clear Cool Sect immediately! If you dare set foot in Sky Pool Mountain again, I’ll chop you!”
A chill coursed through Zhao Chuqin’s heart, and he hastily took flight and fled. It’s over, it’s over. Since when did Sky Pool Mountain have such a terrifying figure?
…
Deep night.
Xue Zhi, Mu Zha, Chu Yu, and the others were all asleep. Lin Zhao, carrying the Dragon Slaying Sword and the Thunderclap Sword on his back, rode his horse down the mountain, heading south. There was only one purpose for this long journey. Even if he couldn’t defeat Zhao Jingyu, he would at least curse his ancestors for eighteen generations!