Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 315 Martial Arts, Immortal Path, Sword Path
If a sword doesn't consider itself a sword, what else can it consider itself?
Li Zhi had no idea before, but at this moment, surprise and doubt appeared on his face.

This sword does indeed possess emotions, but these emotions differ from those of other swords that possess some spirituality. It neither considers itself a sword nor any other existence; rather, it is a very calm... void.

This sounds a bit strange. It's clearly conscious, yet it's "empty." Isn't that a contradiction?
In fact, if Li Zhi hadn't been born with a sword-wielding body and could indeed sense that the sword possessed an "emotion," probably no one would have thought that the sword had developed a spirit, because it was so devoid of presence and showed no fluctuations, lying quietly in its scabbard like a rock.

The reason Li Zhi was able to sense its presence was because it had "looked" at him.

This feeling was very peculiar, as if when he was trying to communicate with it, it only glanced at Li Zhi indifferently, but did not respond at all.

The feeling of being watched was beyond what a sword could express, which was why Li Zhi was surprised and puzzled.

She's a bit aloof.

Li Zhi stepped back a few paces and glanced at Yan Wuqi, who also seemed to have no emotional fluctuations. He felt that this strange sword had truly found the right master!

Amidst the expectant gazes of the crowd, Li Zhi scratched his head awkwardly and asked, "Uh, Senior Sister Yan, has this sword never seen blood before?"

"I bought this casually at the Sword Forging Manor, and I haven't actually used it yet..."

At this point, Yan Wuqi hesitated, glanced at the unremarkable iron sword, and added, "It hasn't even been drawn yet; this is the first time I've taken it out..."

Although Yan Wuqi was skilled with a sword, after Chang Ping'an accidentally broke the Silver Dragon Sword, she lost confidence in her swordsmanship and stopped making moves easily.

When they returned to the Jade Void Sect to practice, they always used the wooden sword for practice, so there was no need to use this iron sword.

Therefore, under Yan Wuqi's seemingly intentional or unintentional neglect, the sword was only drawn for the first time just now, amidst the commotion of the crowd.

Before this, even when buying this sword, Yan Wuqi had only casually picked up an ordinary iron sword, intending to use it in case of emergency, without examining it carefully.

"Hmm... so probably because Senior Sister Yan has never used this sword before, so..." Li Zhi tried hard to find a word in his mind to describe it, "so it's very 'calm,' just..."

When he racked his brains but still couldn't find a way to describe it, he could only roughly summarize: "There was no special emotion involved!"

After saying that, Li Zhi scratched his head again, somewhat embarrassed.

He wanted to say more, but the sword was too "calm" and showed no emotion, so he couldn't say anything meaningful.

Yan Wuqi didn't take it to heart, assuming that Li Zhi was just being embarrassed to admit that his sword couldn't sense emotions and was deliberately lying to him to save face. So he didn't expose him and just smiled reassuringly: "Then thank you, Junior Brother Li!"

Li Zhi didn't think much of it and assumed that Yan Wuqi was genuinely thanking him, so he quickly waved his hand and said, "Oh, you're welcome, you're welcome!"

So the group quickly moved on from that topic and started discussing the other swords.

As darkness fell, Yan Wuqi, having recovered from his initial excitement, yawned and took his leave. Only then did the Taiyue Sword Sect disciples mysteriously give Li Zhi a thumbs-up.

"Junior brother is amazing! Now he knows how to take care of girls!"

"Yes, junior brother, you usually seem so silly, but I didn't expect you to be so clever today!"

Li Zhi looked at his fellow students with a bewildered expression: "Huh? What are you talking about?"

Fang Tang teased with a grin, "Still pretending! Oh dear, even if you like her, it's still uncertain. Senior Sister Yan is almost ten years older than you! She'll definitely think you're still too young to be a girl! It's not suitable, really not suitable!"

Hearing Fang Tang's teasing, Li Zhi finally understood what everyone meant. He blushed and hurriedly defended himself, "Senior Sister! What nonsense are you talking about! Her iron sword really is like that!"

Another senior brother chimed in with a teasing remark, "Well done, junior brother, you've finally figured out that to fool others, you have to fool yourself first! Impressive!"

……

Yan Wuqi stayed at the Taiyue Sword Sect for three months, and finally achieved Foundation Establishment as the weather warmed up.

This speed is actually quite fast. At least in the Taiyue Sword Sect, apart from Li Zhi, who was born with a sword physique, there has not been a single Foundation Establishment cultivator to date.

Yan Wuqi was the first one besides Li Zhi, even though she was not a disciple of the Taiyue Sword Sect.

"Senior Sister Yan truly lives up to her reputation as a renowned heroine in the martial world. She has already reached the Foundation Establishment stage in just three months. I've even heard that some of the fellow cultivators from the White Stone Immortal Sect still have disciples who haven't reached the Foundation Establishment stage yet!"

In front of a disciple's room in the backyard of the Taiyue Sword Sect, several disciples were packing their things and chatting.

"Yes, yes, that's really amazing!"

However, after only mentioning it briefly, the two started discussing other things: "Hey, didn't you say you'd only stay for a day and come back? Why did you bring so much stuff?"

"That's hard to say, what if we stay a few more days?"

"Impossible! I heard that the Tianji Sect is a newly established sect with few buildings. Even if we go to attend the ceremony, there will probably be more than ten people crammed into one room!"

What the two were talking about was the founding of the Tianji Sect on Tianhe Mountain, not far away, a few days ago, and the sect's grand ceremony to be held the next day.

The Tianji Sect is said to be a sect that follows the path of immortality. It is said that it was founded by Zhang, the sect leader of the Baishi Immortal Sect, a disciple of the Tang Clan in Sichuan. He brought some Tang Clan disciples to settle in Tianhe Mountain and established the sect.

Although the Tianji Sect follows the path of array cultivation, it is a sect under the immortal cultivation system, just like the Taiyue Sword Sect. Therefore, the Taiyue Sword Sect was invited to the official sect ceremony.

Of course, in addition to Taiyue Sword Sect, Tianji Sect also invited Baishi Immortal Sect. With Zhang Chengdao, the sect leader of Tianji Sect, as their master, Baishi Immortal Sect would definitely send someone to congratulate them. Although Taiyue Sword Sect had not had a deep relationship with Tang Sect in the past and had never dealt with Tianji Sect before, they also planned to go there.

Qu Zhiweng even specifically summoned all the disciples in the sect who had free time—

This is the grand ceremony of a Taoist sect, so the banquet will definitely include spiritual food. Not to mention, this is the first grand ceremony of a Taoist sect in the world, so it is even more important not to miss it.

Thus, nearly twenty members of the Taiyue Sword Sect, along with Yan Wuqi who was also "seeing the world," set off in a grand procession. Of course, they did not trek through mountains and rivers, but instead went straight to Xihe City (formerly Xihe County), the closest city to the Taiyue Sword Sect, and from there used a teleportation array to go directly to the Baishi Immortal Sect.

Although teleportation arrays are quite expensive, since the Taiyue Sword Sect began shifting from martial arts to immortality, they have gained a new way to generate income by guiding wandering martial artists in their cultivation. Moreover, because the famous "White Stone Immortal's" eldest disciple, Chang Xiaoxian, once provided guidance there for a period of time, nearby sects and forces flocked to them, sending so many gifts that they filled several rooms. This greatly enriched the Taiyue Sword Sect, which had been poor for a long time. As a result, Qu Zhiweng has recently become less stingy with his money, even generously covering the teleportation array usage fee for Yan Wuqi, which can be described as a great relief.

Yan Wuqi didn't stand on ceremony with Qu Zhiweng.

In fact, she had no idea that the Taiyue Sword Sect had lived in poverty in the past.

Normally, family members wouldn't talk about such things outside the sect, and those who know are all quite close to the Taiyue Sword Sect, so they certainly wouldn't spread it around. And no one would believe that a sect with such a prestigious lineage like the Taiyue Sword Sect would be so poor that it couldn't even afford to repair its leaky roof—relying on the sect's guest elders and other members to subsidize the sect with their own money just to barely maintain appearances!

However, Zhuang Wansong did not attend the Tianji Sect's grand ceremony this time.

As the sect's former mainstay of martial prowess, Elder Zhuang had been in seclusion for several months after Li Zhi revealed his 'innate sword body' talent and reached the Foundation Establishment stage.

He went into seclusion, not to break through any martial arts path, nor to switch from martial arts to immortal cultivation, but to ponder where he should go from here.

Compared to the Taiyue Sword Sect disciples who were all seventh-rank, eighth-rank, or even lower, even the sect leader Qu Zhiweng was only a fifth-rank disciple. Zhuang Wansong, on the other hand, was a genuine third-rank innate Venerable, a renowned sword genius in the martial arts world. In his youth, he was even hailed as "the number one swordsman after the Sword Saint."

In fact, Zhuang Wansong, as a big fan of the Sword Saint, was overjoyed by this praise and was even very confident that he could break through to the Grandmaster realm in his lifetime. He even believed that becoming a Great Grandmaster was not impossible!
But then, the Immortal Path appeared.

With the rise of the Immortal Path, the Martial Path declined. Within a year, Foundation Establishment cultivators were everywhere. The most ordinary cultivation level in the Immortal Path could easily rival a Grandmaster in the Martial Path.

The latter is a martial arts genius who needs to diligently cultivate for decades before he might have a chance to break through!
This made martial arts, and Zhuang Wansong who practiced martial arts, almost a joke.

There was no jealousy involved. Zhuang Wansong knew, of course, that this was the general trend of the world, something that no human power could resist.

But I was in great pain inside.

Confusion, disappointment, and helplessness overwhelmed Zhuang Wansong, making it impossible for him to concentrate on practicing swordsmanship.

So Zhuang Wansong gave up the most comfortable little courtyard in the Taiyue Sword Sect, and after telling Qu Zhiweng, he found a secluded place to meditate in the mountains and forests.

He lived a life of hardship in the mountains, hunting when hungry and drinking from mountain springs when thirsty. He had been in the remote mountains for several months, but he still could not make sense of it.

Martial arts...

What should we do?
Or what should I do next?

The moon rose and set, and the trees in the mountains, which had been dry and cracked, became lush and green. After an unknown amount of time, Zhuang Wansong used his priceless sword to carve out a very ordinary wooden sword and stared at it in deep thought.

This wooden sword is quite ordinary; in fact, because it was carved by Zhuang Wansong himself, the edges are rough and somewhat ugly.

I heard that the Sword Saint initially used a wooden sword.

Sword Saint, also known as Tang Xingjian, hailed from the Tang Clan of Sichuan. He loved swords from a young age, carving wooden swords and wielding them daily. Yearning to learn swordsmanship in his youth, he traveled north to the Taiyue Sword Sect to study, using an iron sword. In his prime, he gained fame and commissioned a precious sword from the Sword Forging Manor—the Taiyue Sword—becoming renowned for his undefeated record while wielding it.

In his later years, the "Taiyue Sword" was shelved again, and the Sword Saint returned to using a "wooden sword." However, the sword he used was not a wooden sword carved from wood, but an ordinary wooden branch that he broke off at random, which, in a sense, was also a "wooden sword."

From then until Tang Xingjian's death, he always used a piece of wood that he broke off at random. Even at his burial, the Taiyue Sword Sect, in accordance with his will, only buried him with a piece of wood that he had broken off at random in the mountains.

The story of the Sword Saint begins with the wooden sword and ends with the wooden sword.

Zhuang Wansong looked at the wooden sword in front of him, trying hard to think.

If it's the Sword Saint.

If it is Tang Xingjian.

He is in a time when martial arts are on the verge of extinction and immortality is just beginning to rise. What choice will he make?
Would you give up martial arts and cultivate immortality instead?
Or should we persist in martial arts until it completely disappears?
Zhuang Wansong's brows furrowed more and more as he thought about it, until suddenly something occurred to him—

Tang Xingjian had not actually practiced martial arts!

Legend has it that he never even opened his true qi meridians, let alone cultivated true qi. Although there are rumors that he accidentally ate a "fairy fruit" due to a great opportunity and thus possessed true qi in his body, he always used his own sword techniques and moves, whether he was traveling the martial world or competing with others, and never relied on true qi to win!

From the moment he joined the Taiyue Sword Sect, his studies were all about swordsmanship!

Or rather, what he sought throughout his life was not martial arts at all, but the sword! The way of the sword!
Having figured this out, Zhuang Wansong suddenly had a moment of clarity.

What I pursue is not martial arts, but the way of the sword!

Thinking of this, he suddenly stood up, casually broke off a branch from a nearby tree, and then, inspired by the moment, began to wave it through the forest.

Each move was merely a sword technique, devoid of any true energy, yet it stirred up gusts of wind and flying sand and stones in the mountains. In no time, the sword winds generated by the wooden branches swept up mountain wind blades that cleaved the trees and rocks near Zhuang Wansong into pieces, leaving a scene of utter devastation.

Unbeknownst to him, Zhuang Wansong became increasingly absorbed in his own world. As the sun began to set and the moon rose, a strange aura he had never felt before suddenly surged from his abdomen, rolling and pouring into his entire body. Meanwhile, the true qi meridians within his body were unusually hot, and he even felt as if they were about to "break"!

Zhuang Wansong didn't even hesitate about whether to stop; only one word remained in his mind: sword.

Again and again, at first he was still practicing the sword techniques and moves passed down from the Sword Saint of the Taiyue Sword Sect, but soon his moves became chaotic and disorganized—

Or rather, he became more unrestrained, as if that thin wooden branch had become part of his body, leaping through the mountains and forests along with his flesh.

No, Zhuang Wansong felt as if he were a sword, wielding it in the mountains.

(End of this chapter)