Druid Fairy

Chapter 174 Sword Cultivator
The demise of the ruthless patriarch did not cause much of a stir in Yunshui County.

Under Li Pingcan's instructions, Sun Zheng and the others kept silent about the battle, only saying that it was the Li family ancestor who had manifested his power and sent down divine punishment, blasting the offending demon beast to smithereens.

The villagers firmly believed this; if it weren't for the protection of their ancestors, where would the immortals of the Li clan come from?

Therefore, their reverence for their ancestors deepened, and the daily incense offerings became several times more abundant.

Li Pingcan then went into seclusion again.

The ruthless patriarch's generous "delivery" was a timely boon.

He took out all the spirit stones he had looted, set up a small spirit-gathering array around himself, and fed the pills into his mouth like candy.

Inside the study, the spiritual energy was so dense that it almost solidified into droplets, completely engulfing Li Pingcan's figure.

His internal magical power circulated like a raging river, washing over his meridians again and again, and impacting the invisible barrier of the eighth level of Qi Refining.

"It's still not enough..."

Li Pingcan frowned. The foundation of cultivating both immortality and martial arts was too solid. Every breakthrough was like rowing against the current, requiring far more accumulation than ordinary people.

He affixed the second-tier talisman he had obtained from the Black Heart Ancestor—the [Gengjin Divine Thunder Talisman]—to his chest.

Use the violent Geng metal energy within this second-tier talisman to temper your body!

"Come!"

With a low shout, and guided by his divine sense, the talisman was activated with a roar!
"Fuck!"

Thin, yet destructive golden arcs of electricity instantly pierced into his body. The domineering and unparalleled Geng metal energy raged wildly within his meridians, as if it wanted to tear him to shreds from the inside out.

Unprecedented excruciating pain!
Even with Li Pingcan's resolute character, his face was deathly pale, his veins bulged, and he was drenched in sweat.

He desperately held onto the last shred of clarity in his mind, frantically circulating the "Heaven and Earth Furnace Body Forging Technique," guiding this external destructive force, along with the self-inflicted shattering force within his body, towards that indestructible bottleneck!

The clash of the two forces triggered a terrifying energy storm within his body!

His physical body oscillated between breaking down and rebuilding.

After an unknown amount of time, just as the inhuman pain reached its peak, a crisp cracking sound, seemingly from the depths of the soul, suddenly rang out!

"Crack——!"

The bottleneck that had plagued him for years was finally shattered by this violent force that attacked from both inside and outside!
Qi Refining Level 8, Success!

Li Pingcan exhaled a long breath of turbid air tinged with a faint golden light and slowly opened his eyes.

At that moment, he felt that the whole world had become different.

If the world before was a high-definition painting in his eyes, then now, that painting has transformed into a reality that he can touch at will.

His divine sense spread out, and he could clearly "hear" the rustling of leaves in the wind a hundred miles away, and "see" the breathing of a pangolin sleeping soundly deep underground.

[Heart of the Earth] has an unprecedentedly close connection with nature; he can even feel the "joy" and "closeness" of the land beneath his feet.

He slowly raised his hand and clenched his fist.

Without using any magic, but only his physical strength, he squeezed the air so hard that it made a crackling sound as if it couldn't bear the weight.

He had a strong sense of confidence that, even without using any magic, he could easily tear apart the Black Heart Ancestor with just his physical body!

Power, that's power!

It is the true power to firmly grasp one's own destiny!
…………

Back mountain.

Holding the "Shadow Fang," Li Mengjin focused intently as he practiced the "Divine Split Sword" over and over again.

The sword light split, creating multiple afterimages, already showing considerable skill.

"father."

Upon seeing Li Pingcan approach, Li Mengjin sheathed his sword and stood there, his eyes filled with admiration and respect.

Although he did not personally participate in the thrilling battle a few days ago, he watched it from afar.

His father's invincible figure, like a god descending to earth, suppressing an old demon at the ninth level of Qi Refining with a single punch, was already deeply imprinted in his mind.

"Come on, spar with me for a few moves," Li Pingcan said with a smile.

"Yes!"

Li Mengjin's spirits lifted; he knew that his father was testing his progress.

He took a deep breath and pushed all the sword energy in his body to its limit.

"Dad, be careful!"

"Divine Sword Split, Three Thousand in a Single Thought!"

Li Mengjin let out a low shout and unleashed his strongest attack to date.

Three identical sword energy clones instantly materialized and attacked Li Pingcan simultaneously from three tricky angles.

The sword light was sharp and difficult to discern as real or illusory, enough to make any cultivator of the same level flustered.

Li Pingcan simply stood there quietly, a smile playing on his lips.

Just as the three sword lights were about to reach his body, three incredibly tough vines suddenly sprang up from the ground beneath his feet without warning.

The vines, like serpents with eyes, precisely entangled the three sword lights, then with a gentle tremor.

"puff!"

The three sword energy clones shattered like bubbles.

First move, break.

Li Mengjin's pupils contracted; he hadn't seen how his father made his move at all.

He refused to believe it and charged forward again with his sword.

"The Returning Origin Sword Scripture, splits stone!"

He unleashed the most powerful move from the "Return to Origin Sword Scripture," his sword blade carrying an unstoppable, domineering momentum as it slashed straight at Li Pingcan's face.

Li Pingcan remained unmoved, but just as the sword was about to strike him, he extended two fingers.

With the index and middle fingers, they gently pinched each other, as if nothing had happened.

"Qiang!"

A soft sound.

Li Mengjin's unstoppable all-out attack was firmly clamped by those two seemingly slender fingers, unable to advance even an inch further.

The "Shadow Fang" sword, forged from Azure Spirit Iron, emitted a humming sound as if it could no longer bear the weight.

Cold sweat beaded on Li Mengjin's forehead.

He felt as if he were holding not a sword, but a mountain. No matter how much he activated his sword energy, he could not budge it in the slightest.

"Your sword is too 'solid'."

Li Pingcan loosened his fingers and spoke.

"Father?" Li Mengjin asked, puzzled.

Li Pingcan shook his head, slowly walked to a willow tree next to the training ground, and casually broke off a soft willow branch.

He looked at Li Mengjin and said gently, "Watch carefully before you attack again."

Despite his many doubts, Li Mengjin did as instructed. He gathered all his sword energy once more, and this time, instead of using any fancy moves, he used the most basic and purest technique from the Guiyuan Sword Scripture—a straight thrust.

This sword strike embodied all his energy and spirit.

Faced with this sword strike that returned to its original simplicity, the soft willow branch in Li Pingcan's hand seemed to come alive.

Instead of taking the hit head-on, at the very moment the sword was about to strike, it swayed gently like a fish in water, and at an incredible angle, lightly touched the blade of "Shadow Fang".

That point seemed to have no power at all.

But Li Mengjin only felt a supple yet irresistible force coming through the sword, instantly dissolving his sword momentum that had been condensed to the extreme.

He staggered and almost lost his grip on the sword.

The third move: collapse.

Li Mengjin looked at the willow branch swaying gently in the wind in her father's hand and sighed.

"I've never lasted more than three moves against my father..."

My father is like a mountain with an unfathomable peak; the harder I try to climb, the more I feel its unfathomable grandeur.

Li Pingcan casually tossed the willow branch aside, patted his son on the shoulder, and said earnestly:

“Meng Jin, you possess the ‘natural sword blade’ and have cultivated the ‘Return to Origin Sword Scripture,’ which is the orthodox Xuanmen path of sword cultivation. But remember, the sword is merely an extension of your arm. True power originates from your heart, from your understanding of this world.”

“Look at the wind, look at the water, look at the willow branches. They have form, yet they are formless. They are soft, yet they are extremely strong. When you can train your sword to be as formless as the wind, as unpredictable as the water, and as balanced as the willow branches, then you can be said to have truly entered the door of swordsmanship.”

After saying that, he turned and left, leaving Li Mengjin alone, standing there in a daze.

Wind, water, willow branches...

Li Mengjin pondered his father's words over and over again, his mind replaying the incredible third move he had just made.

That willow branch, though seemingly soft, contains an indomitable resilience.

It doesn't confront its own sword head-on, but rather follows its own force, cleverly deflecting and neutralizing it...

"It's better to guide than to block... to overcome the strong with the weak..."

"Return to the origin, return to the origin... return to the original source... isn't the original source of all things this natural way?"

A flash of inspiration, like lightning, suddenly pierced through the fog in his sea of ​​consciousness!
He has always regarded the sword as a weapon of slaughter, pursuing greater speed and strength.

But they forgot the true meaning of the Guiyuan Sword Scripture: to cultivate the sword, one must first cultivate the mind.

The heart unites with heaven and earth, the sword merges with nature.

"I understand……"

Li Mengjin suddenly raised his head, sat down cross-legged, placed the "Shadow Fang" in his hand across his knees, and entered a mysterious and serene state.

The sword energy within his body no longer violently assaulted his meridians, but flowed gently like a docile stream, following a completely new rhythm.

"Buzz!"

The air around him began to vibrate slightly, and strands of pure spiritual energy from heaven and earth actively converged into his body.

The barrier that had troubled him for so long melted away naturally at this moment.

At this moment, he officially stepped into the third level of Qi Refining!
…………

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, the Great Yu Dynasty has reached its 695th year.

Fourteen-year-old Li Mengjin has grown into a tall, handsome young man with striking eyebrows and bright eyes.

The Shadowfang sword in his hand traced sharp yet elusive trajectories in the sunlight.

"Divine Sword Split!"

With a low shout, three sword aura clones identical to him appeared out of thin air, practicing swordsmanship with him. The sword light clashed, making it difficult to distinguish between reality and illusion, dazzling the Peach Blossom Guards watching from the side, who cheered continuously.

Now, Li Mengjin has already mastered the "Divine Divide Sword" and the "Return to Origin Sword Scripture," greatly increasing his strength. He took the initiative to take on the important task of training the "Peach Blossom Guards," and with his fierce swordsmanship and calm personality, he became the undisputed "head instructor" of the Peach Blossom Guards.

"See it clearly! This move is all about using feints to lure out the enemy's strength, and feinting to the east while attacking in the west! It achieves a similar effect through the coordination of formations!"

He sheathed his sword and began to patiently and meticulously explain the changes in the combined sword formation to his team members.

Just then, a member of the Li family who was responsible for patrolling the mountain ran over in a panic.

"Young Master Jin! Something terrible has happened! The Zhang family from the neighboring county has stormed up the mountain with dozens of men! They claim that our Li family has occupied their auspicious feng shui land and demand an explanation!"

This so-called Zhang family is a small, arrogant cultivation family from a neighboring county that boasts of producing two martial arts graduates and two immortals. They are known for their domineering and tyrannical behavior. A few days ago, they sent people to Peach Blossom Mountain to forcibly acquire the Li family's property at a low price, but Li Pingfu politely but firmly refused. Unexpectedly, they dared to bring people to cause trouble at their doorstep today.

"Hmph, looking for death."

A cold glint flashed in Li Mengjin's eyes. He glanced at the equally indignant Peach Blossom Guard members around him, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"Perfect, let's use them to test the results of your recent training."

He carried his sword and slowly walked down from the training ground. His voice was not loud, but it clearly carried throughout the entire arena.

"Peach Blossom Guards, follow me to meet the enemy!"

Outside the mountain gate, a fat man with a face full of scars, a junior member of the Zhang family, was riding a tall horse and cursing at the Li family mansion.

"Are all the members of the Li family dead? Get out here now! If you don't come out, I'll burn this wretched mountain to the ground!"

He was not afraid of the Li family at all. It was true that the Li family had an alchemist, but the emperor was far away and could not reach them. On the other hand, the Zhang family had two immortals.

Before he could finish speaking, there was a clear "clang" of swords being drawn in unison.

Li Mengjin, dressed in black and wielding a long sword, was followed by Peach Blossom Guards in heavy armor, each carrying a long saber. He appeared silently before them like a god of death emerging from hell.

That concentrated, unwavering, and menacing aura silenced the Zhang family's rabble instantly, and even the horses beneath them began to paw restlessly.

"Noisy."

Li Mengjin looked at the fat man and uttered only two words.

"Who are you?" The Zhang family members felt a chill run down their spines from his icy gaze.

"The one who will kill you."

Li Mengjin was too lazy to waste words with him and simply waved his hand.

"kill."

"Yes!"

The Peach Blossom Guards roared in unison, forming the "Seven Star Guard Blade Formation," which, like a sophisticated war machine, roared into action and crushed towards the Zhang family!

The battle was decided in an instant.

Those servants and guards who usually bullied the villagers were as vulnerable as fallen leaves in the autumn wind in front of the well-equipped and well-trained Peach Blossom Guards.

A flash of light, men and horses fell, and screams filled the air.

In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, dozens of members of the Zhang family were all knocked to the ground. The fat man even had his hat shaved off by Li Mengjin's sword, which scared him so much that he wet his pants and knelt on the ground kowtowing repeatedly.

Li Mengjin sheathed his sword, not even glancing at the limp, fat man.

"Break one of his legs and throw him down the mountain."

"Tell them that if this happens again, it won't be as simple as just breaking a leg."

After saying that, he turned and left, leaving behind a cold and arrogant figure.

(End of this chapter)