The First Sword of the Universe

Chapter 452 Langhuan Jade Cave
Xu Xingchen left the battlefield and walked along the reeds for more than ten miles, arriving near a small island.

His figure swept across the wide lake like the wind, his feet landing on the stone steps covered with green moss. He climbed dozens of steps and arrived at the gate of a manor. The plaque above the gate read four large characters: Mantuo Manor!

Previously, when Xu Xingchen was traveling and fighting with Murong Fu and Kumārajīva, they passed by the vicinity. Xu Xingchen saw that the island was full of camellias and knew where this place was.

He grabbed the brass ring on the courtyard gate, knocked it three times, then took two steps back and waited quietly.

A moment later, the courtyard gate creaked open from the inside.

Granny Wu poked her head out from inside, and upon seeing Xu Xingchen, she frowned and asked in a cold voice, "Who are you?"

Apart from a few men, the vast majority of people at Mantuo Manor were women. This was all due to the mistress, Madam Wang's, aversion to men.

Therefore, Wu Mama's expression turned sour when she saw a strange man come to her door.

Xu Xingchen didn't take it seriously, and said with a smile and clasped his hands, "I am Xu Xingchen, the master of Dayu Manor. I have come to pay my respects to the master of Gui Manor. Please announce my arrival!"

Granny Wu's furrowed brows relaxed, and the displeasure on her face disappeared. She said with surprise and caution, "So it's Master Xu. Madam had instructed that when Master Xu arrives, this old servant should take him in directly. Please come with me, Master Xu."

After saying that, he opened the courtyard gate, and after Xu Xingchen said, "Thank you for your trouble!" and stepped inside, he turned around and closed the gate, then led the way.

After passing through the courtyard filled with colorful camellias, they arrived at the front hall. After inviting Xu Xingchen to sit down, they turned to report the situation to their master.

A moment later, a maid in her twenties came in with a tea tray, placed a cup of tea on the table next to Xu Xingchen, and then turned and left.

After a while, footsteps approached from afar and came to the lobby entrance.

Xu Xingchen turned her head and saw that it was Madam Wang, who was plump and had a beautiful face. So she stood up, smiled and clasped her hands in greeting, saying, "Madam Wang, I'm sorry to bother you!"

After returning the greeting, Madam Wang smiled gently and said, "Master Xu, you are too kind."

After exchanging pleasantries, Madam Wang brought up the purpose of Xu Xingchen's visit, saying, "I'll take Master Xu to his lodgings first, and then I'll take him to the Langhuan Jade Cave. Is that alright?"

Xu Xingchen said, "I will follow Madam's arrangements!"

To show her respect for Xu Xingchen, Madam Wang did not have a maid lead Xu Xingchen to her residence, but instead personally led the way.

Along the way, we passed through courtyards and small gardens, and finally arrived at a secluded courtyard.

Winter is approaching, but the camellias here are still in full bloom, which, while related to the geographical location of Suzhou, also demonstrates their strong vitality.

"Master Xu, the servants have cleaned this place up. Please stay here for now!" Madam Wang led Xu Xingchen around the side courtyard, briefly explained the situation, and then said, "I'll take Master Xu to Langhuan Jade Cave to familiarize himself with the way."

After saying that, he led Xu Xingchen out of the side courtyard and came to a low hill nearby that was only a dozen meters high.

In a place where the rocks are rugged and strangely shaped, a cave has been carved out. Two exquisitely carved wooden doors have been installed at the entrance of the cave. Above the door, the four slightly pretentious characters "Langhuan Jade Cave" are deeply engraved in the stone wall.

From a small hut near the entrance, an elderly woman with white hair, leaning on a steel cane, came out and greeted Madam Wang, saying, "This old servant greets Madam!"

"Granny Liu, thank you for your hard work!" Madam Wang nodded, then said to Xu Xingchen, "This is Granny Liu, who looks after the Langhuan Jade Cave."

He then said to Granny Liu, "This is Master Xu of Dayu Manor. He will be staying at Mantuo Manor for the next few days to visit the Langhuan Jade Cave and view the books inside. Granny Liu, please remember to treat him with courtesy and not be negligent!"

Granny Liu looked up and carefully examined Xu Xingchen a few times. Although she was a little puzzled as to why her mistress, who usually hated men so much, was looking at this person differently today, she didn't dare to ask. She bowed and said, "Yes, Madam!"

The wooden door to the Langhuan Jade Cave was unlocked; it opened with a gentle push.

"Master Xu, please follow me," said Madam Wang, leading the way into the cave.

Xu Xingchen followed behind and entered, only to feel a moment of darkness before her eyes gradually brightened.

Upon closer inspection, it became clear that the cave contained a completely different world.

The cave was of unknown size, but there were rows of wooden bookshelves, neatly arranged, with one or more thread-bound books in each compartment, each with a label indicating the sect and martial arts manual.

There are holes in the stone walls above and on all sides that connect to the outside, and through some ingenious design, they magically bring in sunlight from the outside world.

Bright beams of light pierced through and illuminated the Langhuan Jade Cave.

Xu Xingchen didn't know if rainwater would leak into those holes when it was windy and rainy, but she figured it wouldn't.

This place is where books and secret manuals are kept, so the most important thing is to keep them dry and protected from the elements. If wind and rain were to leak in, what would happen?!

In the cave walls, far from the bookshelves, were carved recesses and sunken pits, each containing a lit, burnt candle, with unopened candles piled nearby. At the very back of the pits stood rows of bronze mirrors.
As night falls and the sunlight disappears, candles are lit inside the cave in the stone wall. The candlelight, reflected in the bronze mirror, illuminates the entire Langhuan Jade Cave with a dim, yellowish glow.

Besides the ingenious lighting design, there are other devices, which will not be listed one by one.

Madam Wang turned around and said, "In my Langhuan Jade Cave, apart from a few unique skills, all the martial arts manuals of various schools and sects in the world are here; Master Xu, you can come and read them on your own in the future."

Xu Xingchen said, "I thank Madam Wang!"

Madam Wang shook her head and said, "With Master Xu's martial arts skills, the martial arts manuals here are of little use except to broaden your horizons; they are not as good as the Beiming Divine Skill and Lingbo Steps that you taught Yu Yan, nor as good as the guidance you gave me, Master Xu."

"Not at all! Not at all!" Xu Xingchen said modestly.

After giving a few more instructions, Madam Wang prepared to leave.

At this moment, Xu Xingchen asked curiously, "Madam Wang, why haven't we seen Miss Wang along the way?"

Lady Wang stopped in her tracks and turned back to answer, "This morning, two maids from her cousin's house sent her a message saying that her cousin would be returning today; so she took a boat to her cousin's house around noon."

"I see!" Watching Madam Wang's figure disappear through the stone gate of Langhuan Jade Cave, Xu Xingchen thought to himself, "When I fought with Murong Fu at Canhe Manor, I didn't see Wang Yuyan. She must not have arrived there yet."

"Now that she's gone there and seen Murong Fu, whom I defeated, she can comfort him properly. I wonder if this will help to bring the two of them closer."

"If Murong Fu could abandon his plans to restore his kingdom, Wang Yuyan would also get what she wanted. Wouldn't that be a win-win situation?!"

"In this way, the world where only Duan Yu is injured will be achieved."

"It's a mess! A mess! A mess! Let's sort it out slowly!"

Xu Xingchen's thoughts wandered for a moment before she composed herself and stepped into the bookshelf.

Ignoring the labels on the border, I picked up a book from the first square of the first row and started reading it in the sunlight streaming in through the holes.

Not long after, a maid came in carrying a food basket and bowed to Xu Xingchen, saying, "Master Xu, Madam instructed me to bring you some food for you to eat."

After saying that, he turned around and walked to a wooden table in the corner, opened the food basket, and took out two dishes, one meat and one vegetable, plus a small bowl of rice and a soup.

Judging from the maid's skillful movements, it was clear that people who used to read in this Langhuan Jade Cave often lost track of time, which is why servants would bring them meals.

The maid who brought the food had accompanied her mistress and young lady to Dayu Manor for a period of time and knew Xu Xingchen's temperament. After putting down the food, she didn't say much and quickly turned and left.

Xu Xingchen touched her stomach and realized that she hadn't eaten a single bite of food or drunk a drop of water since she left Dayu Manor that morning.

First, I put the books back on the bookshelf, then sat down at the wooden table in the corner and picked up my chopsticks to eat and drink.

After finishing eating and drinking, he piled the bowls and chopsticks together, got up, returned to the bookshelf, took out a book, and continued reading.

While he was reading, the same maid came in again and quietly took away the bowls, chopsticks, and dishes from the wooden table.

Xu Xingchen reads very quickly, sometimes skimming through ten lines at a glance and finishing the martial arts manual in a few seconds; sometimes he reads more slowly, occasionally pondering for a moment before speeding up, but still finishing quickly.

All of this was because the martial arts techniques recorded in those manuals were too simple, consisting of things he was already familiar with, without any reference material.

The fact that he can occasionally stop and ponder his martial arts skills for a moment is already quite remarkable.

He spent the afternoon flipping through dozens of martial arts manuals, but not a single one could make him slow down and study it carefully.

This is normal, though. In each world, Xu Xingchen obtains the most profound divine skills and martial arts techniques in the world. The principles of martial arts within them are all-encompassing and cover almost all the principles of martial arts in the world.

This glimpse reveals just how vast his knowledge of martial arts has become.

He came to Langhuan Jade Cave with the intention of filling in any gaps in his knowledge; he did not expect to gain much.

Once the sunlight from the light-guiding hole disappeared and the Langhuan Jade Cave became completely dark, Xu Xingchen put the books back on the bookshelf and went outside.

He had no intention of reading by candlelight at night, believing that it would be a complete waste of his time.

You can read during the day, but when you go back at night, you need to focus your mind on researching and improving your own martial arts.

(End of this chapter)