I've never felt happy to become an immortal.

Chapter 15: I am old but my sword is still sharp, see me wandering freely

Jiangnan is a land of fish and rice, with abundant water resources and well-built water conservancy facilities.

The two masters at the grandmaster level chose the battlefield on the river outside Su County.

Neither side was well prepared for this sudden battle, so there was naturally no home advantage to speak of.

Jiang Baichuan will not get a buff next to the river just because his last name is Jiang. Rather, he is actually at a disadvantage mentally.

Because Jiang Baichuan was just delaying time.

He hid for fifteen years.

From that forbidden city to today's Su County, the situation has not changed much.

The reason he hid for so many years was because he was harboring huge secrets and treasures.

Having been a shopkeeper for more than ten years, his mentality has long been different from that of the underworld people who live on the edge of a knife.

Although he would occasionally think of the past martial arts world in his dreams, the number of times he had held this sword over the years could only be counted on one hand.

In the pouring rain, Huangfu Qinhu's body retreated all the way and hit a basalt rock on the river bank that was used to measure the water depth. With a loud bang, the heavy rock immediately shattered into countless pieces in the violent vibration.

Huangfu Qinhu pulled his arms out of the gravel gully, stretched his neck, and looked at the old man standing in the mud and gasping for breath, with an unstoppable trace of disappointment in his eyes.

"Fifteen years ago, your sword could shake a mountain; but now, it can't even split a rock."

Jiang Baichuan exhaled a puff of white mist, raised his face, and said lightly: "People will always grow old."

"You've aged far too quickly. Your realm has declined instead of improved... What have you been doing these past fifteen years?" Huangfu Qinhu frowned. "You've already obtained that item. I thought you were already halfway to the Heavenly Realm."

Jiang Baichuan said in a low voice, "Sword Immortal's remains? It is indeed useful, but not as useful as you think."

"What do you mean?"

"It's just a stepping stone. What truly determines the level of achievement is the person, not a dead object." Jiang Baichuan slowly shook his head: "Unfortunately, by the time I understood this truth, it was already too late."

Huangfu Qinhu narrowed his eyes. "So that's how it is. You failed to break through. Even after achieving the fourth level of Riding Wind, you still couldn't reach the Ninth Heaven."

A master who failed to break through the bottleneck had his foundation damaged and there was no possibility of recovery in this lifetime.

This could explain why Jiang Baichuan chose to disappear for the past fifteen years.

Thinking of this, Huangfu Qinhu suddenly lost interest in continuing the fight... He was very interested in challenging the strong, but had little interest in bullying the weak.

Jiang Baichuan now doesn't even have the qualifications to deserve his full effort. It's clear that he is dying.

However, he had been looking for the other person for fifteen years, so it was impossible for him to let him go.

"Just because you can't do it doesn't mean I can't do it." Huangfu Qinhu raised his hand: "Hand over the Sword Immortal's remains, and I can give you a quick death. And your disciple is very good, why don't you leave another message and let him inherit my mantle?"

"Haha..." Jiang Baichuan laughed lowly in the heavy rain. A sick tiger is still a tiger, and his eyes are as sharp as ever. "You want too much."

"I think it's a good offer," Huangfu Qinhu grinned. "After all, we were once fellow disciples. I want to give you some respect. Or do you think... you, who put down that sword and sold wine for more than ten years, can win against me, who has never slacked off in sword training?"

Jiang Baichuan also grinned. "It's been fifteen years. I've indeed transformed from a swordsman into a restaurant owner. In recent years, I've been lying in a chair all day, too lazy to move. Even now... I'm thinking about how much money I'll lose every day if this restaurant closes. What will happen if I can't sell my good apricot blossom wine?"

"If you're selling wine, just sell it honestly. Now throw away that sword and hand over the things, and you can continue selling wine here until you die." Huangfu Qinhu took another step back: "I keep my word."

If a swordsman has his sword confiscated, it is tantamount to taking away his swordsmanship and martial arts.

He gave up his swordsman's reserve, abandoned his past life, and returned to an ordinary life, retiring from the world.

This is the only way to survive.

But Jiang Baichuan was reluctant to put down the sword after all. It was both his bones and his soul, a part of his life that he could not give up unless he died.

"Being a restaurant owner or a swordsman is just a status. If one could reach unprecedented heights simply by practicing swordsmanship, then why would we have to risk our lives in the Forbidden City for even a tiny chance?"

Jiang Baichuan stood straight, and the tip of Jiang Chengzi's sword sank into the flowing water. The sword energy overflowing from the sword cut a several-meter-long crack on the water surface.

"Besides, fifteen years have passed. I am old, but that doesn't mean I am too old to lift a sword."

"Qianhu, take a look..."

"Is my sword still sharp?"

The restaurant owner silently turned his wrist, and the famous sword Jiang Chengzi kept spinning in the water, stirring the water in the river. A vortex emerged silently, and the water surface collapsed.

Huangfu Qinhu's tiger eyes lit up with fighting spirit: "Okay, then let me see what you have learned in the past fifteen years!"

The heavy rain seemed to fade away during the confrontation between the two masters. Jiang Baichuan was getting old.

But at this moment, there was no trace of old age on his body.

As a swordsman, he put almost everything he had into this sword.

If you swing it out, you might die; but if you don’t swing it out, you will definitely die.

Jiang Baichuan struggled for a long time, but when the time came, he no longer had any distracting thoughts and focused all his attention on the sword.

Has the rain stopped?
Huangfu Qinhu raised his head, but the heavy rain did not stop falling, but was gathering in the same direction.

He could clearly sense that... the situation of heaven and earth was being disturbed.

The warriors who enter the country can communicate with heaven and earth and sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, but to go against the trend of heaven and earth with the power of one person is clearly not a method that an ordinary master can have. It is clearly a power that can only be achieved after reaching the heavenly realm.

In other words, from the opening move of this sword, one can get a glimpse of its grandeur, which almost touches the heavenly realm.

This old guy really figured out something from the Sword Immortal's remains!
Huangfu Qinhu did not dare to be careless. He concentrated his mind and suddenly raised the sword.

Zhenwu Dharma Image, martial arts and spiritual communication.

A dark and ferocious tiger suddenly jumped out from nothingness and disappeared into the Tiger Soul Sword in his hand.

Jiang Baichuan raised his sword with his backhand, and heavy rain formed a tornado above his head. Every drop of water was filled with a cold and bone-chilling sword intent. On the contrary, Jiang Chengzi could hardly see the sword body as the sword tip was pressed into the vortex of the river.

It seems as if the entire river is used as a scabbard to shape the sword's soaring momentum.

Amidst the wind and rain, Jiang Baichuan could only be heard slowly reciting three short words.

"——Xiaoyaoyou!"

……

On the official road between Yunzhou and Suxian.

In the Huoyun Horse's carriage, Ning Jianshuang suddenly covered his chest with his hands, feeling uneasy.

"Miss?" Luoluo hurriedly supported her.

"Hurry!" Ning Jianshuang raised his pale face: "Faster! Even if it means running the horse to death, I will not hesitate!"

……

Su County, in front of Jiangning Restaurant.

Chuan Lin Dao was kneeling on the ground with several swords piercing his chest. His death was very much like Emiya's.

The weapon in his hand slipped weakly and fell to the ground with a crisp sound.

The man was lifeless, but there was still a bitter smile on his face.

Right in front of him, a young man was sitting on the doorstep, his face pale, his breathing slightly rapid, his fingers gently kneading his temples on both sides to relieve the fatigue caused by excessive consumption of mental energy.

"It's really too much of a stretch to use the sword now. Without any cultivation, the loss is more than just mental energy."

Bai Xuan sighed.

The starting point is still too low.

Flying a sword is a superior sword technique. Insufficient cultivation will cause the whole body's energy to boil. Now that he has no cultivation, the price he pays is that his soul consciousness is churning, as if countless snowflakes are bravely traveling across the world in his mind.

The method of controlling the sword with pure mental power is very similar to telekinesis.

I have tried it before in the real world. Can you control objects with your mind by relying solely on mental power? The answer is yes, you are only halfway there. In the real world of cultivation, using mental power is much easier, but it is still linked to your cultivation level.

I guess it will take at least half a day to recover this time.

At this time, the sky changed strangely.

Bai Xuan looked up in the direction outside Su County.

The battle on the other side seemed to be about to decide the outcome.

At this time, he no longer cared about his fatigue. He supported himself on his knees and staggered to his feet from the door of the restaurant. He walked to the body of Chuanlin Dao, pulled out a sword as a crutch, and walked towards the source of the sound of the tide.

(End of this chapter)