Food Fairy Lord

Chapter 743 Finding Opportunities in Both Sides
“Okay.” Li He nodded, then added, “Actually, you don’t have to talk about those poems.”

“I was trying to appeal to your interests.” Pei Ye paused for a moment, then said earnestly, “But senior, I really love the way of poetry…”

"Alright, that's enough," Li He interrupted, putting away the bowls in the basin. "Let me teach you a trick."

Something has probably changed. When we first met, the swordsman said, "I might not be able to give you any guidance," but now he readily agreed.

Pei Ye's eyes lit up: "I'm so sorry."

Li He pretended not to hear and asked, "Are you at the Pulse Realm? Do you know any true qi techniques?"

Pei Ye thought for a moment: "I know a move called Sword Washing Water."

Li He sat on a stool and looked at him, gesturing for him to take a look.

Pei Ye drew his jade tiger sword and frowned at the dishwater. He turned around, scooped up a handful of water from the bucket, and splashed it onto his sword. Instantly, wherever the water touched, sharp sword intent burst forth, like seeds being watered.

Li He reached out and touched it; a neat, deep, and sharp cut appeared on his fingertip.

"What kind of sword is this?"

“The ‘Sword Washing Water’ from ‘First Moon and North Rain’,” Pei Ye said, “the swordsmanship of Xiao Ma Jian.”

Li He nodded, the crack on his finger healing completely: "Very good, your control over true energy is already quite exquisite. Now, follow my guidance and channel your true energy into this sword."

Li He pinched—with only two fingers—his wrist and placed his hand on the hilt of the sword.

Pei Ye glanced at the man to confirm, then began channeling his inner energy into the sword. He had done this basic action thousands of times before, so naturally it was as natural as taking a step with his left foot.

After the Four Life Forms, true energy can be poured into any object it comes into contact with, and Pei Ye's first choice was the sword in his hand.

But now he paused slightly. The true energy he had channeled had been filtered by Li He and stretched into countless thin threads of varying thickness, spreading towards the Jade Tiger Sword.

This was the first time he had touched his weapon in this way, and he looked up at the man with curiosity.

“Every sword has its own ‘breath’,” Li He said. “To understand this feeling, the first step is to take the pulse of your sword.”

Pei Ye was stunned. The cold, hard feel of the jade tiger was still in his palm, but the true qi channels selected by Li He began to pulsate on the sword.

The man watched him quietly, and gradually Pei Ye sensed the countless tiny patterns within the sword.

Those are all traces formed during the forging of the sword. A sword uses many kinds of materials and goes through many processes. Now they come together to become a balanced and perfect sword, but the traces of each forging have always remained inside.

Those are the meridians of the sword.

Li He remained silent, guiding his true energy like fine threads into the sword, filling all the complex meridians. Then, for the first time, Pei Ye felt that he had truly penetrated every minute detail of the sword, and everything about the sword was revealed to him.

“The ‘Sword-Cutting Breath’ of the East Sea Sword Furnace is a secret technique through which master craftsmen sense everything about a sword,” Li He said. “Now we’ve completed the second step: use your true energy to cover the meridians of this sword that you’ve sensed.”

Pei Ye nodded slowly: "And then?"

This is a completely new field.

"Then you will discover that the meridians in this sword are also a separate circuit."

Pei Ye was taken aback; he had indeed sensed it.

Just like the human body, the meridians of a sword are also a complex and complete system, with true energy flowing through it, and after a full cycle, it returns to Pei Ye's hand.

He didn't control this process at all; he simply let the true energy flow out, and after a moment it had traveled around the entire area and flowed back in.

But he truly felt that the sword had become one with him.

"Alright, now let go of his hand and slowly stop actively channeling your inner energy into the sword, but don't block the flow of inner energy." Li He released his wrist and slowly took the sword from his hand.

Then Pei Ye was astonished to find that the sword had completely left him, and he no longer tried to control it, but the flowing true energy still existed between them.

The sword became part of his internal energy circulation.

Then Li He, holding his sword, looked at him and said, "Stand up."

Pei Ye stood up from the stool.

"Turn around."

Pei Ye turned around.

Li He sheathed the sword, placed it behind him, found the right angle, and released his grip. The sword then hung silently behind the boy's waist without any wind.

Then Li He withdrew his hand and nodded in satisfaction.

Pei Ye stood there for a moment, then turned her head blankly: "And then?"

That's all.

"What's better?"

"That's good." Li He raised his hand and lightly flicked the scabbard, causing the sword to wobble twice like a roly-poly toy. "This is the little trick I taught you, the True Qi Technique [Sword Tassel], which is like a ribbon tied around you. It allows you to keep the sword by your side without requiring any mental focus or control from you."

Pei Ye looked at the man in silence: "What is the purpose of this...?"

“It can have a stylistic effect,” Li He said earnestly. “It will make you look very elegant.”

Pei Ye remained silent for a long time: "What I want is not this kind of flashy but impractical thing."

"Really? I thought you would like it."

"do not like."

Li He thought for a moment: "Actually, it's not entirely useless. In essence, you and your sword are more connected. You are always one with each other, and no one can do anything to your sword... Moreover, you can draw your sword faster. With just a thought, your sword can be drawn."

"Is the sword breath technique of the East Sea Sword Furnace just for showing off?"

"No, that's not it. Understanding sword energy is an important foundation, and all subsequent techniques such as 'Sword Control Technique' and 'Sword Release Technique' develop from it."

"Then I want to learn 'Sword Control Technique' and 'Sword Disarming Technique'."

"Don't teach."

"..."

Li He stood up and fetched water to water the flowers again: "This is a secret technique of the sword furnace, and it cannot be passed on too often. Since you have already learned the 'sword tassel' and have high talent, you can figure out the rest on your own."

Pei Ye asked curiously, "Then how did you learn it, senior?"

"I acquired a famous sword and was invited by the East Sea Sword Forge. They wanted to see the famous sword, so they gave me this secret technique as a thank you."

Pei Ye noticed something was amiss and whispered, “Senior, I’ll stop learning for now. I have a question for you.”

"What?" "Can I see your famous sword?"

Li He turned around by the flower bed, and the boy stared straight at him.

Li He turned around and sighed softly, "You've gone a bit too far with your parting gifts."

Pei Ye paused for a moment, then said, "After a long and pleasant conversation, we were both delighted by the poetry and the sword, and we truly regretted not meeting sooner. It was inevitable that we would exchange swords..."

"Alright." Li He raised his hand lightly, and a sword shadow flew out of the house and landed in front of Pei Ye. "Take a look if you want."

Pei Ye lowered his two bright eyes and carefully examined the divine sword.

This was the first time he had been so close to it, and at that moment he could roughly make out what those two colors, bright and dim, constantly waxing and waning, were.

The sword itself was dark, with a beam of light, shaped like a spindle, growing from the hilt and swaying gently, as if being stirred by an invisible wind.

Wherever it touches, the darkness recedes, yielding its territory; and where it departs, the darkness rises again. Thus, these two colors intertwine, growing on this sword, creating a sword that is forever in motion.

Pei Ye stared at the image for a while, then suddenly realized what it resembled—a candle flame.

A bright, flickering candle flame is situated in the darkness, the sword seemingly encompassing only this flame and some of the surrounding obscurity, while in some unknown vastness, boundless darkness and mist are churning endlessly.

Pei Ye paused for a moment, then tentatively reached out and stroked its cold blade.

At that moment, he realized its temperament was completely different from that of the Heart-Slaying Glass. It was not as spiritual as glass; if the Heart-Slaying Glass was a lively little deer, it was like a tortoise and snake that rarely moved.

I remember the first time I touched the glass, it dartd away, while this sword showed no reaction to the contact at all.

"Don't let it cut you," Li He said as he walked over after watering the flowers. "It will take away your lifespan."

Pei Ye was taken aback: "Even without your command, it will take away the lifespan of anything it touches?"

“Yes. That wasn’t something I controlled.” Li He sat down on the ground beside him, took the famous sword and placed it on his lap, lowering his eyes. “It was too thirsty; that was its instinct.”

"..."

Are you curious about the famous sword?

"I'm just curious."

Li He sighed softly: "[Flying Light], the sword that cuts off lifespan. Without it, I would have been a withered skeleton in a tomb long ago."

Pei Ye was stunned: "What do you mean?"

Li He turned his head and looked at him with eyes as deep as an ancient pool: "[Flying Light] can cut off a person's lifespan, but it can also be used to repay the sword master."

Pei Ye stared blankly into those eyes, a chill slowly creeping down his spine.

“People only know the former, and not much about the latter,” Li He said calmly. “I should have died at the age of twenty-six, but I am thirty-five this year. Every day I have lived for the past nine years has come from the [Flying Light].

"..."

“I wasn’t lying to you at the beginning. I really didn’t learn much about swordsmanship. It was only after I acquired this sword that I truly began to learn, and it’s only been ten years since then. Even now, when I fight, I rely half on the power of Fei Guang.” Li He said, “I found it in the old papers deep within the palace, and an old senior gave it to me. I composed a poem for it, which is called ‘The Song of the Spring Palace Corrector Sword’.”

Li He looked at the young man: "Since I was twenty-three, my body has been withered and my life has been exhausted. I am in a daze between life and death in the blink of an eye, and I dream of Yama every night. From the moment I got this sword, it became my second life. Every bit of it is borrowed from it."

Li He lowered his head and gently stroked the sword. Under his touch, the famous sword, which had just stood still, trembled and murmured softly, as if in response.

"So I think every famous sword is tied to the fate of its master," he said. "Therefore, a famous sword never changes masters, and only partes with them in death."

"You inquired about famous swords, probably because you're curious about this. But I can't answer you. The quality of a sword's talent, its status, and even its cultivation level are not necessarily the reasons for choosing a famous sword. Since you are a Celestial Hunter, you probably know a little about this." Li He glanced at the beautiful black cat on Pei Ye's shoulder. "I can't tell you how to find it, but if you are destined to have a sword, then it is waiting for you somewhere on earth."

Pei Ye was stunned for a moment, then slowly nodded.

After a moment of silence in the courtyard, Pei Ye said, "Senior, I think you and I are quite alike."

"..." Li He looked at him silently, interrupting him in advance, "I haven't written poetry in a long time."

“No,” Pei Ye said seriously, “I haven’t really learned much about swordsmanship either.”

“…” Li He chuckled.

"Now that we have finished talking, if there is nothing else, let's take our leave," he said.

Pei Ye rose and bowed. This trip had been worthwhile; he had met [Flying Light], learned [Sword Tassel], and heard the Sword Master's heartfelt words.

The only mishap occurred during the poetry discussion. Pei Ye was determined to make amends. After thinking for a moment, he said earnestly, "Senior, although I have only just begun to show my talent in the art of poetry, I will persevere and remain steadfast over time. These past few days, whether in poetry or swordsmanship, the person I have longed to see the most is you. Today, my wish has been fulfilled, and I can die without regret."

Li He paused for a moment: "Just speak normally, don't always use idioms."

He sighed softly, "Thank you for your respect. I didn't expect you to not make an appointment with the Xianghuang Sword Master, who is so skilled in swordsmanship, but instead wanted to see me. We are destined to meet. Let's leave it at that for today."

But at this moment he paused slightly and looked towards the doorway.

Pei Ye was about to clasp his hands in greeting when the black cat gently poked his neck.

He suddenly realized something and turned around. There stood a woman in a bamboo hat and veil, dressed in a spring robe, her face obscured. Only a sword was hidden in her wide sleeves, its surface speckled like the tears of an immortal.

“You said you were either at the Sword Cultivation Academy or the Tianshan Villa these past few days, but unfortunately you weren’t there. I asked around and found out you came to the Literature Cultivation Hall,” Li Tishui said. “The other day you said you admired Yingzi and wanted to learn swordsmanship. Was there something you wanted to ask—oh, Sword Master Li, what a coincidence.”

"..."

"..."

In the small courtyard stood three silent figures: Li Tishui, the master of the Xianghuang Sword, standing at the entrance; Li He, the master of the Feiguang Sword, standing below the steps; and Pei Ye in the middle.

"Greetings, Sword Master Li," Li He said.

"Hello, Sword Master Li." Li Tishui said.

Pei Ye slowly raised his hand and clasped his hands in a fist salute, revealing a smile: "Haha, so both of you seniors share the surname Li. Since we are so destined, why don't the three of us drink together and discuss the art of swordsmanship!"

The black cat buried its face in his neck in shame.

No one spoke in the courtyard. After a moment, Li He said, "Let's stop here for today, Young Hero Pei Ye. Farewell."

Pei Ye breathed a sigh of relief, cupped his hands in a respectful gesture, and said earnestly, "Hearing your words is like reading ten thousand books. I must take my leave now, for I am reluctant to part with you. I will present another chapter to your esteemed residence next time, so that I may hear your wise words again."

Li He sighed and waved his hand, "Let's go quickly."

Pei Ye bowed and withdrew until she caught a glimpse of the hem of a skirt at the edge of her vision.

Li Tishui looked down at him, while Pei Ye kept his head down and didn't speak. He gently closed the courtyard door for Li He and then turned around.

"Senior Li, I've heard so much about you!" he said.

(End of this chapter)