Ziwei Immortal Path

Chapter 26 Looking for the Sword
"I dare not. When I was in Jiangzuo, I often knelt at the foot of the couch to listen to Master's teachings. I often heard Master mention "Kun Yu Qiu Shuang" when he was teaching swordsmanship, and he praised it highly!"

Chen Baochong said this without any boasting.

"You are a good talker, kid."

The palace said softly, with a hint of laughter in his voice, but also a hint of desolation, and asked again,
"I heard that you are a descendant of the Chen family of Wuyin, is that true or not?"

"Yes…"

When Chen Baochong heard her change the subject and mention her family, he was startled. Not knowing what she was talking about, he quickly added,
"My family is in Luwei Village, on the south bank of Xinyue Lake. I am a distant relative of the Chen family of Wuyin Town, but not a direct descendant."

"Oh, so you are the descendant of a minor clan. No wonder we only hear of your reputation and no one mentions your elders."

The voice in the hall seemed to be thinking about something. After a while, he said,
"You've been in Cangyu for ten years. I guess you haven't been home for a long time? Is anyone still home?"

Chen Baochong was puzzled by what he heard, and suddenly felt a faint sense of joy, but he didn't dare to show it. He quickly said, "Master, I still have elderly parents and two brothers at home. Since I arrived in Jiangzuo, I have been practicing diligently, day and night, and have not been able to return for ten years."

"Yes." A voice in the hall responded calmly, and then asked, "When will your turn as Jiang Zuo monk end?"

"Replying to the Master, on the day of Grain Rain."

"Okay, after your shift is over, you can go back. I'll give you three months to check on your family. I'll send someone to inform the duty hall. Even if we cultivators achieve immortality, we must not forget our ancestors."

Chen Baochong had never thought that this would be the case. He was overjoyed and quickly bowed and saluted, saying, "Thank you for your concern, Master!"

"But before you come back, you have to do something for me."

Another sentence suddenly came out of nowhere in the hall, and Chen Baochong's smile immediately froze, as if he had fallen into an icy cave. His heart was in turmoil again, but how could he refuse the words of this famous Huang Ting Yushi?

After a pause, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and say:

"As long as the abbot has the order, I will not refuse even if it means death."

"You don't have to worry. Firstly, this matter does not involve the Immortal Sect, and secondly, it does not involve the entire country. It is just a trivial matter."

Chen Baochong nodded: "Disciple understands."

"I want you to help me find someone."

The voice in the hall suddenly changed. It was lingering, like a sound from the sky, yet it seemed to be right next to my ears, resounding and speaking word by word.

"You met this man not long ago. His surname is Xu and he's from Yuchuan."

Faced with this magical power of transmitting sound into secrets, Chen Baochong finally understood why he could come here today and why he could suddenly return home?

All this is just for this person.

"Xu? Someone from Yuchuan?"

He had received at least a hundred monks in the past few days. Chen Baochong recalled for a while and then remembered that a monk from Jianyi Pavilion had also come to ask about it before.

This matter of looking for people is too common in Fangcunjian. There are always cultivators who carelessly order spiritual objects and pay spiritual stones, but forget to leave their address. The office often encounters such things, but no one pays attention to them.

"May I ask, Master, has Xu Boyang, a disciple of the Huaiyou Immortal Family, been to Fang Cun Jian before?"

Chen Baochong did not dare to be arrogant, and responded with his spiritual consciousness to confirm it again.

"Well, that's right. It's nothing to tell you about this. When I was young and building my foundation, I forged a sword named [Qing Yuan]. It is the most beloved thing in my life."

"Unfortunately, I was young and hot-headed at that time, and I got into a fight with a senior from the Immortal Sect, which resulted in me losing a piece of my sword. Later, I achieved the Huangting level and ventured into the Southern Wilderness. I encountered the black tiger, but I was no match for it and was slightly injured. I also accidentally lost my storage bag in the valley, and the Qingyuan Sword was lost along with it."

Chen Baochong was shocked when he heard her speak so lightly. There were hundreds of thousands of wild monsters in the southwest mountains. How could it be easy to venture there? The danger was probably a hundred times worse.

"But for some reason, after more than a hundred years, this sword saw the light of day again and fell into the hands of this young cultivator Yuchuan."

"When you go to find him this time, don't take anything by force. This is not the style of our Immortal Sect. Give him whatever he wants. Just bring the sword back. He's just a minor cultivator and doesn't have much experience. He shouldn't ask for anything excessive. If you need anything, just ask Fuyao Pavilion."

"If he really doesn't want to, you can give him this token. Consider it a favor I owe him. Just take the sword back. Of course, stop at a certain point and don't hurt him."

"Also, don't forget, this matter must not be told to outsiders."

After he finished speaking, a bronze token flew out from the hall. It was shaped like the sky and the earth, emitting a bright light, and landed in front of Chen Baochong.

Chen Baochong felt relieved and quickly took it. This was indeed a very small matter. A foundation-building magic tool would only cost a few more spirit stones.

Being just a minor cultivator of the Ningyuan realm, he did not dare to go against the intention of the Huangting Feathered Master. Moreover, this sword originally belonged to the abbot and was simply being returned to its original owner.

That person doesn't seem like the type to cause trouble, so I'll just try to persuade him with kind words when the time comes.

So he said respectfully: "Disciple obeys the order and will definitely live up to the trust of the abbot."

After Chen Baochong excitedly left, the hall fell silent. After a long while, only a faint sigh could be heard.

Beneath the white gauze curtain, a silver light flashed, and a woman in a white and gold Taoist robe appeared in front of the hall. She looked to be no more than thirty years old, with beautiful eyebrows and a delicate head, skin as white as snow, a cloud pattern engraved between her eyebrows, and her eyes looked around like gold and stone.

She stood in the hall with her hands behind her back and her sleeves folded, frowning in thought, thinking to herself:

"The Way of Heaven is no longer as it was before, and the four factions are alienated. The land to the right of the Huai River is dominated by the Ling and Xun families. Where is the Xu family left?"

"Thinking back to the time when the Fulong Xu family was so famous in the East China Sea, they looked down upon the world with such a powerful aura. Now they have been harmed by others, and their entire family has withered away, like fallen flowers and flowing water."

"Only 'Autumn Water and Long Sky' remains trapped in the East China Sea, his life or death uncertain. The Xu family has long since ceased to exist in name only. All of this is just hearsay, a fleeting recollection of past events."

"This kid's surname is also Xu. I'm afraid he's a disciple of a small sect in Xunlong Town at the foot of Fulong Mountain."

"It's a pity that the siege of Sishui has just been completed. This is an opportunity that I, Qingshen, have not seen in a hundred years. The four sects of immortals have all joined the game and are waiting to close the net. If I hadn't stayed in this small place, I am afraid that the people in the south would have been devastated long ago."

"Well, let this kid named Chen go to Yuchuan for me. I don't know if he can find this person and help me get the sword back."

…………

South bank of Xinyue Lake.

Xu Boyang suddenly opened his eyes and felt a slight ripple in the east of Xinyue Lake. Under the night sky, stars twinkled and the reeds by the lake began to sway their tails.

"got windy!"

The first gust of spring breeze came again and again, and soon, the strong wind carrying the scent of the lake finally began to blow violently.

At the beginning of spring, the [Spring Breeze Yishui] is like the Eastern God of Spring, arriving as promised with light and brisk steps!

Xu Boyang was delighted. He took out the small Qi-gathering bottle, held it in his palm, and silently recited the formula taught by Ding Tianshi. In just a moment, the mouth of the bottle lit up with a faint green light. From a distance, it looked like a firefly in the night sky, greedily and wantonly absorbing the extremely refreshing spiritual energy.

Xu Boyang quietly felt this light and ethereal spiritual energy of heaven and earth, which was very different from the [Shanyin Night Snow]. These spiritual energies were like naughty children, circling around his body, poking and playing, as if trying to enter his Huangting.

I couldn't help but think to myself:

"Yes, according to the Tianhao Daoqi Changshuo Jingzhu and Ding Tianshi, before building the foundation, one should absorb a stream of spiritual energy from heaven and earth, refine spiritual consciousness, break through the three barriers of divine essence, and ultimately guide the divine essence to build the foundation of immortality. But I wonder what effect it would have if a second stream of spiritual energy entered the body?"

Xu Boyang wanted to do it, but he didn't dare to try it easily. He already had the [Shanyin Night Snow] in his body. If he introduced the [Spring Breeze Yishui] into it, he really didn't know what would happen. If he went astray, he would become possessed and would be courting death.

He resisted the urge to absorb spiritual energy and silently mobilized his own spiritual energy to drive the lingering [Spring Breeze and Yishui] around him, so that it could go into the small bottle as much as possible.

After a night like this, the wind gradually died down. Xu Boyang finished his practice and stood up, exhausted both physically and mentally. He looked inside the vial, but couldn't tell how much he had taken in. He thought it was probably because he had no spiritual awareness, and thought to himself:

"It seems that although this Qi-gathering mission doesn't involve any fighting, it's still very tiring. It's really not easy to earn these fifty spirit stones!"

As soon as I thought of this, I suddenly saw Old Man Chen coming out of the boat early in the morning, swaying from side to side with a fish basket on his back.

After the meal that night, the two men had already become familiar with each other and greeted each other with a smile. Old man Chen did not dare to disturb Xu Boyang's practice. He waved from a distance and went to row the boat.

Xu Boyang watched him rowing the boat out slowly, the water rippling. At this time of year, the spring breeze was blowing from the east, and it was difficult to sail north from the south bank. He probably knew that the wind was getting weaker at this time, so he took the opportunity to get out of the boat.

"This old man always has a smile on his face. He seems to be a smart guy."

Xu Boyang smiled knowingly. As he looked, his expression suddenly changed. He stared at the water on the shore, then suddenly jumped. In just three or two steps, he walked to the ancient ferry crossing, squatted down, frowned, and observed carefully.

The water of Xinyue Lake rippled slightly, hitting the wooden plank road at the ferry. The wooden piles, which were almost whitened by the sun, retained traces of being washed by the lake water.

"Why did the lake water suddenly rise?"

Xu Boyang muttered to himself, feeling a little surprised, and touched his chin unconsciously. Although it was the beginning of spring, it had not rained during this period. Logically speaking, the lake water should not have risen.

But then he thought again, this Xinyue Lake is so huge, and the spring rain might come earlier on the east bank or somewhere else. He felt that he was being too suspicious, so he smiled and ignored it.

After a few days, the water level of Xinyue Lake was still rising slightly. Xu Boyang felt something was wrong and took out the Qingyuan Sword to carve a mark on the wooden stake to see the effect.

Ten days passed in a flash, and with the coming of spring thunder, it finally began to rain. Xu Boyang had learned the "Dust Cleansing Technique" and was not afraid of wind and rain. He sat firmly on the boulder and continued to absorb energy, even though there were lightning and thunder.

The spring rain was like butter and it fell for several times in a row. When the clouds dispersed and the rain stopped, the water level of Xinyue Lake had risen a lot. Xu Boyang felt something was wrong.

After the rain that day, the sky cleared up and saw Old Man Chen coming to fish again. He immediately called him over and asked him to come over to see what was going on.

Old Man Chen lowered his head and glanced at it, then smiled and said, "It's nothing, Immortal. I've been working in this lake all my life. The rain over the past seven or eight days has only raised the water level by a palm. It's nothing, nothing."

Xu Boyang was speechless for a moment after hearing this, thinking:

"This old man is really ignorant. How much can this tiny spring rain really mean? How can a lake this big rise to the height of a palm of water and not cause any trouble? Well, I don't bother to talk to him."

After thinking about it, he felt bored, shook his head and smiled, not wanting to say anything more.

Unexpectedly, Old Man Chen observed his expression and said with a smile, "Don't worry, Immortal. The south bank of Xinyue Lake is very peaceful. As for the refugees you mentioned, I've asked the village manager about it. They all fled south from Jinguang Town on the east coast. Our area is to the southwest and is guarded by the immortals from Wuyin Town. I think I mentioned this to the immortal last time, but I can't quite remember."

Xu Boyang smiled and said, "I did. I told you the last time you came."

Xu Boyang had actually always been confused about this matter. As for the fight between the two families, he had always heard rumors from others and could not tell whether it was true or not, but it was an indisputable fact that the Fei family in Dongke Town closed the mountain to avoid disaster.

Moreover, during the years when he was escorting the bodyguards, he had captured and interrogated several bandits. They all said that they were from Jianshui, which was the north bank of Xinyue Lake. But since the north bank was in chaos, why was the south bank peaceful?
Could it be that these refugees are all fleeing from the east coast and not going to the west coast?
It seems unreasonable. This is a time of war and chaos. Naturally, we should go to where there is peace. There is no reason to go to just one place.

But the reality is like this, which is really puzzling.

In the end, Xu Boyang could only come to an incredible conclusion.

The direction of these refugees was controlled and they were only going to one place.

Fortunately, these problems did not bother Xu Boyang for too long. After all, he only had a few things at the moment and did not need to worry about the overall situation of the world.

But strangely enough, since the sky cleared up that day, the spring rain stopped and the lake water stopped rising. Xu Boyang was puzzled. This was another thing he couldn't understand. In the end, he could only attribute it to the magic of creation.

The white horse passes through the gap.

On this day, Old Man Chen finally came to ask Xu Boyang to write a letter. Xu Boyang calculated that it seemed that tomorrow was Grain Rain. He couldn't help laughing and thought that this old man was really slow. He guessed that his brain was in a mess and he couldn't think of what to write.

Unexpectedly, when he arrived at his house, the old couple kept talking to each other. Xu Boyang wrote on several pages of rough paper, but later he couldn't stand it anymore and just forced a hasty end.

Looking at the ink-filled paper, Xu Boyang couldn't help but wipe his sweat secretly.

When they were about to leave, the old couple shed tears again, and kowtowed several times as they saw him off to the door.

That night, Xu Boyang stood up, holding the small gas-collecting bottle. He saw the shimmering green light at the bottle mouth, surrounded by the sound of whirring wind. He breathed a sigh of relief and thought, "What a close call! Tomorrow is Grain Rain. This is the last day. I've finally collected enough of this [Spring Breeze Yishui]."

Feeling excited, he immediately put away the small bottle. Seeing that the moon was almost at its zenith and it was still early for dawn, he took out the Qingyuan Sword and started practicing swordplay.

The sword's gleam was dazzling, like a dancing meteor in the dark night. For the past three months, Xu Boyang had set aside one or two hours every day to hone his swordsmanship.

It has been more than two years since Ding Tianshi gave him the sword technique. He has mastered all the sword moves and styles of the "Canglang Sword Technique" of the Condensation Period.

He used sword techniques one after another at will, graceful as the wind, smooth as rain, loud as thunder, and powerful as lightning.

Little did he know that from the moment he took out the Qingyuan Sword and waved it, a pair of eyes suddenly opened on an old cypress tree twisted in the water in the reeds a hundred feet away.

These eyes appeared light gray in the darkness, like a weaving spindle.

But it still does not prevent it from being particularly eye-catching in the night.

Of course, this isn't what's so eye-catching.

The only creepy thing about it.

It's vertical pupils!
At this moment, the entire south bank of Xinyue Lake was quiet at night. The reeds were thick with shadows and the breeze was blowing gently. Apart from the sound of swords being swung, only a few rustling sounds could be heard.

Xu Boyang was completely unaware that in the distance, there was a pair of strange and ferocious vertical pupils staring at him. He continued to do his own thing, and his sword came out like the wind.

The pair of vertical pupils in his eyes were like a sword smeared with poison, fixed on his moving figure, never moving away. After a long time, he suddenly closed his eyes.

When he opened his eyes again, he was already ten feet away from Xu Boyang!
The first few chapters were a bit flat, so I'll speed it up a bit. I hope everyone will vote for it. This book is very long, and Fengyu tried his best to tell this story well. Thank you!

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(End of this chapter)