Martial Arts Crossover: My Wife is the Top Scholar

Chapter 530 The Compassionate Sword? A New Era Begins: The Compassionate Quiet Abode?

My home is nestled in these mountains, hidden deep in the clouds.

The location of Cihang Jingzhai has always been a secret.

If the sect's location were made public, based solely on the title of the most beautiful woman in the world, countless libertines would cause a ruckus outside, needlessly disturbing the tranquility of the mountains.

The method of concealment is nothing particularly mysterious.

Using the clouds and mist of Zhongnan Mountain and the direction of the earth's veins to set up illusion arrays, the successors of Cihang Jingzhai are skilled and resourceful, and each generation will make friends with some all-rounders.

For example, Lu Miaozi from the Sui and Tang Dynasties!
The formation has been modified and improved over generations, and it is no less powerful than the "Sect Protection Formation" in cultivation novels, but it only has a hallucinatory effect and no actual killing power.

Cihang Jingzhai is not a Yin Gui sect.

The demoness of the Demonic Sect can slap someone to death if she doesn't like them, but the Fairy of the Quiet Studio must maintain her composure and speak softly even if a lecherous man blocks her door.

Cheng Huaixiu originally intended to be their tour guide, introducing the beautiful scenery of Zhongnan Mountain, taking them for a stroll around the mountain, and then having lunch at Cihang Jingzhai.

Perhaps because she had worked too hard last night, Cheng Huaixiu was a little dizzy and forgot that she was a disciple in name only. She had grown up in the Salt Gang since childhood and had only been here two or three times.

Cheng Huaixiu remembered the general path, but to get through the illusion array at the entrance, she could only rely on slowly feeling her way through. Li Shengnan found it amusing and mocked Cheng Huaixiu without restraint.

Serves you right for messing with me last night!

Li Shengnan jumped around mockingly.

"Others forget their mothers after marrying a wife, or forget their parents' home after getting married, but you little slut, after marrying your husband, you've even forgotten the way home!"

"What 'Jingzhai Fairy'? So ethereal and otherworldly!"

"I think you're a little slut!"

Li Zhaoting smoothed things over: "Alright, alright! The illusion array passed down for a thousand years by Cihang Jingzhai has been modified by array masters of all generations, and even Xu Xiaoyi would find it difficult to pass."

"Does my husband know how to get in?"

Li Shengnan secretly urged, "Husband! Why don't you shout loudly and make Yan Jing'an come out!"

Li Zhaoting flicked her forehead: "Then the whole Zhongnan Mountain will know the location of Cihang Jingzhai. You little vixen, you're always up to no good!"

Li Shengnan puffed out her chest: "If a vixen isn't bad, then I've become a fairy! What demonic sect has fairies? This isn't my fault! It's all your grandfather's responsibility!"

He is your master!

"Do you mean to call me aunt?"

Li Shengnan raised her eyebrows, thinking to herself that she didn't feel anything when she was called this name elsewhere, but why did it feel so exciting to be called this name in Zhongnan Mountain?

Li Zhaoting chuckled, thinking that Cheng Huaixiu was clearly the more suitable actress to play the role of the aunt in Zhongnan Mountain.

There's a handsome man wielding a sword—a divine weapon left behind by Dugu Qiubai; a white-clad fairy with ethereal beauty and unparalleled grace; and a rare golden eagle.

—And there's also a ruthless vixen!

—Perfect for playing the role of the Red Serpent Fairy!

You can't say that.

Li Zhaoting was worried about a war between immortals and demons breaking out.

Li Zhaoting whistled towards the sky, and the candied hawthorn stalks swooped down from mid-air. Li Zhaoting then gestured twice, and the candied hawthorn stalks flew back into the air, serving as a navigation radar.

Cheng Huaixiu was completely dumbfounded.

The illusion array of Cihang Jingzhai, which has been passed down for thousands of years and modified and perfected by generations of array masters, is a large-scale illusion array that has been hidden in the sect for thousands of years, but it was actually broken by a bird.

Li Zhaoting explained, "As the saying goes, the higher you stand, the farther you can see. A candied hawthorn flying in mid-air overlooks an entire mountain. No matter how thick the clouds and mist are, or how ingenious the illusion array is, can it fool a bird?"

Has no one thought of doing this before?

Li Shengnan found the point of contention in a second.

Li Zhaoting held up three fingers.

"Firstly, those qualified to subdue spirit birds are all outstanding figures of their time. Cihang Jingzhai will do its best to befriend them. Such people are honored guests and can come at any time."

Secondly, those who enter Cihang Jingzhai by brute force are mostly unwelcome guests. Some need to be fought back, but if they are too strong to fight back, some appeasement is needed.

Thirdly, those who stumble into Cihang Jingzhai are either exceptionally talented individuals with deep-rooted good fortune or inexplicably lucky ones. The former are worth investing in, while the latter are simply given away. Afterwards, they can simply say that they encountered a fairy in Zhongnan Mountain. Who can tell the truth from falsehood?
Entering Cihang Jingzhai by luck is a one-time event; luck will only work once, and there will be no second chance.

If such a great fortune were to exist, one would be a high-ranking official in the court, or a soaring dragon in the sky when out of office.

Luck is a form of ability.

Never underestimate 'luck'.

Also, this is not mercenary.

This is the foundation upon which the sect has been passed down for thousands of years.

"For Huai Xiu's sake, if Master Yan doesn't object, I can help reinforce the formation."

Cheng Huaixiu laughed and said, "Master is overjoyed that you're helping to reinforce the outer formation, so why would you object? Do you have a hidden trick up your sleeve?"

Li Zhaoting flicked his fingers: "I recently obtained a rare treasure that can adjust the frequency. With it, I can sense the frequency of earthquakes and use special fluctuations to attract the primordial energy of heaven and earth, condensing thousands of sword energies."

To put it simply, it can turn the Ten Thousand Swords Return to One formation into an array. As long as an outsider approaches, it will automatically condense sword energy and blast the outsider into dust.

It is quite lethal.

It is not suitable as a sect formation.

Suitable as... as...

Li Shengnan asked, "As what?"

Li Zhaoting frowned, his brows furrowing into a "囧" shape: "It serves as a protective formation for the tomb, to defend against tomb raiders!"

Cheng Huaixiu's forehead creased into a deep frown as she repeatedly told herself: Don't be angry! I'm not angry! This is my man! It was an unintentional slip! An occasional slip of the tongue!

Li Shengnan almost fell off a cliff laughing. She looked at Li Zhaoting with embarrassment and anger. Li Zhaoting looked completely innocent and said, "I just said it casually. I really didn't mean it!"

With the candied hawthorns acting as an eagle eye guide in mid-air, Cihang Jingzhai was not hard to find. The three of them joked and laughed as they walked along the winding mountain road leading to Dita Peak. After passing a plaque inscribed with "My home is in this mountain, where the clouds are deep and I know not where it is," the spire of the "Zangdian Pagoda," the tallest building in Cihang Jingzhai, suddenly appeared in the forest at the end of the mountain.

From the foot of the mountain to the top, Cihang Jingzhai requires passing through seven gates, and the steps are covered with moss.

These steps were all built by the disciples of Cihang Jingzhai, and are a lesson in cultivating the mind for the outer disciples.

Although Cihang Jingzhai and Jingnian Chan Temple are often referred to as brother and sister sects, and their founders, Tianseng and Dini, were indeed from the same sect, their paths were completely different.

Jingnian Temple follows the path of worldly life and inherits the lineage of Manjushri. The original Jingnian Temple was dedicated to Manjushri Bodhisattva and was extremely magnificent and luxurious.

Cihang Jingzhai follows a path of both worldly and otherworldly existence. Each generation of disciples must undergo three years of training in the mortal world before returning to the sect to devote themselves to arduous cultivation until their passing away.

Both temples reached their zenith during the Sui and Tang dynasties, but declined during the Wu Zhou dynasty. Cihang Jingzhai barely managed to preserve its lineage, while Jingnian Chan Temple was infiltrated by the Yin Gui sect from top to bottom and ultimately failed to even preserve its temple.

From then on, he became increasingly low-key. Comparing Cihang Jingzhai and Jingnian Chan Temple in "Twin Dragons of the Tang Dynasty" and "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" reveals that they are completely different people.

Most of the negative feelings towards Cihang Jingzhai and Jingnian Chan Temple come from "Twin Dragons of the Tang Dynasty," or more precisely, from Shi Feixuan. Qin Mengyao and the shadow eunuch in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" risked their lives to fight. Qin Mengyao survived by the skin of her teeth, while the shadow eunuch castrated himself. In order to protect Zhu Yuanzhang, most of them were killed or wounded, resulting in heavy losses.

Not to mention Jin Bingyun, whose fate was tragic!
We can only say that we should learn from the past to guide the future.

Having experienced the collapse of the Sui and Tang dynasties and the near extermination of their families, they learned what they could and could not do, and what the bottom line of the court's tolerance was.

After passing through seven gates, looking up, one sees the gate of Cihang Jingzhai. Yan Jing'an stands at the entrance, with a stunningly beautiful woman standing behind her.

Yan Jing'an.

The most outstanding vegetarian master in the history of Cihang Jingzhai.

Qin Mengyao.

The most outstanding successor in the history of Cihang Jingzhai.

What is Cheng Huaixiu's title?
Cheng Huaixiu doesn't need a title!
The three characters "Cheng Huaixiu" are the title itself!

As the Holy Maiden of the Demonic Sect, Li Shengnan couldn't help but feel nervous upon seeing Yan Jing'an. She swallowed hard and couldn't help but hug Li Zhaoting's right arm. Cheng Huaixiu was also a little nervous and subconsciously hugged Li Zhaoting's left arm. Li Zhaoting was inexplicably restrained by both arms, as if he were tied up.

Li Zhaoting smiled bitterly: "Master Yan, is the next step to use the smashing of the cup as a signal to tie me up with ropes?"

Yan Jing'an smiled and said, "Young Master Li, it's your good fortune that your wife relies on you so much!"

Li Zhaoting:o(╯□╰)o
This is a blessing for you, do you want it?

Li Shengnan and Cheng Huaixiu stomped their feet in embarrassment.

Cheng Huaixiu bowed respectfully: "Master! I don't know if I have fulfilled your instructions. There are some things I don't know if they are right or wrong, but I just carried them out firmly!"

Li Shengnan raised her hand in a salute: "Master Yan, my husband often praises you, saying that you are the most perfect and outstanding master in the history of Cihang Jingzhai. Whether it is your conduct or your martial arts ideas, you are top-notch. As a junior, Li Shengnan, the Holy Maiden of the Demonic Sect, I dare to ask you for some guidance."

Qin Mengyao stepped forward: "Sister Li, my master has not used a sword for a long time. If you want to fight, Mengyao is willing to spar with you. Please teach me three sword techniques."

Li Shengnan curled her lip: "Swordsmanship? I haven't used a sword in ages since I met this monster!"

Qin Mengyao paused upon hearing this. She had expected Li Shengnan to make a provocative remark and had considered various possible conversations. However, she did not expect Li Shengnan to be so straightforward in stating that she did not use a sword and that Li Shengnan did not use swordsmanship. So why was there a sword hanging at her waist?

Yan Jing'an chuckled, "Young Master Li, I know why you're here. There are some things I can't answer right now; these are difficult questions." "How difficult?"

“Young Master Li, I suspect you’ve consulted your father, the Empress Dowager, even Master Zhang, or your master about this issue, but none of them will say anything!”

“My father refused to answer decisively, the Empress Dowager’s answer was vague, and my master… he only taught me the Flying Immortal Sword Qi, and when I asked him again, he started to pretend to be crazy.”

"Your father possessed the wisdom of Zhuge Liang and was a master strategist. Your Empress Dowager held immense power and was wealthy beyond measure. Your master was the most outstanding swordsman of our time, yet he is not on the list because almost everyone believed that your master had passed away."

"What does Master Yan want to say?"

"Young Master Li, your father's wisdom, the Empress Dowager's power, Master Zhang's courage, and Yi Jifeng's swordsmanship have all failed to provide a direct answer to the question. Don't you have any doubts?"

Are you telling a myth?

"Some things are myths in themselves."

"What mythology?"

"A legend in the martial arts world!"

"Hehe! What did you just say?" Li Zhaoting couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Martial arts legend? Let me tell you responsibly, I am the martial arts legend!"

Yan Jing'an gestured "please": "Please come to the inner hall for a chat, Young Master Li. Mengyao, take your senior sister and Miss Li to the back mountain for a stroll. Whether it's discussing Taoism or martial arts, you'll surely have common topics to discuss."

Li Shengnan glanced at Cheng Huaixiu: "Are you helping your family or your sister?"

Cheng Huaixiu asked, "Sisters?"

Li Shengnan sneered: "My elder sister said that everyone who enters the door is a sister! Do you dare to disobey my elder sister? I will tell her to sell you off to Guangnan East Road to sell skewers. I heard that people there like spicy food!"

Li Zhaoting almost burst out laughing.

As a true Sichuan girl, Cheng Huaixiu is a spice lover and the one in her family who is best at eating spicy food.

To cater to everyone's tastes, several Sichuan dishes were prepared separately for Cheng Huaixiu, or chili sauce and chili powder were prepared so that Cheng Huaixiu could dip them in the food.

What is Guangnan East Road?
Even Master Kong braised beef noodles are too spicy!

The amount of chili peppers Cheng Huaixiu ate in a month was enough to feed a prominent family on Guangnan East Road for two years.

Qin Mengyao had been to Qinghai and spent three years as an exchange student at Jingnian Temple, but she really didn't know much about Sichuan and Lingnan, so she didn't understand what was so funny.

As the saying goes, one should be knowledgeable about astronomy and geography.

Geography is a subject with a very high barrier to entry.

Are the Four Great Classical Novels amazing?

There are countless geographical errors.

For Qin Mengyao, who had only ever left home once in her life and had been a homebody for eighteen years, this kind of joke, so characteristic of the region, could only elicit a couple of dry laughs.

It's as awkward as Nicolas Cage's situation.

Yan Jing'an had traveled extensively throughout the country in his youth and guessed what this meant, but he didn't say much. He led Li Zhaoting to the inner hall, where the Cihang Sword Manual, which was known as one of the four great books in Huang Yi's martial arts world, along with the Dao Heart Demon Seed Technique, the Longevity Manual, and the War God Record, was casually placed on the table.

All visitors are free to browse.

If visitors are too lazy to flip through the books, the successors of Cihang Jingzhai can offer to help them.

Yan Jing'an chuckled and said, "Young Master Li, would you like to take a look at the Cihang Sword Manual? It is said in the martial arts world that only women can cultivate the Cihang Sword Manual. You are the Supreme Heavenly Sword, capable of making ten thousand swords bow down. I wonder if you can break through the restrictions?"

Li Zhaoting looked at Yan Jing'an with pity. "If I wanted to understand the wonders of the Cihang Sword Manual, why would I need to consult the manual? I've read it hundreds of times!"

Li Zhaoting formed a sword with his fingers, circulated his true energy, and condensed a pure and refined sword light at his fingertips. The true energy was the true energy of longevity, and the sword technique was the return of ten thousand swords to their origin. However, the true meaning contained in the sword energy was clearly the clarity of the sword heart.

The sword energy was crystal clear, like a gemstone. Sunlight refracted through the sword energy, creating a rainbow of colors that illuminated the room beautifully, like the Dragon Palace of the East Sea.

"Young Master's sword heart is clear but not pure enough!"

Yan Jing'an's martial arts cultivation had been stuck at the level of "telepathic connection" and had not broken through to "sword heart enlightenment," but he found another way and comprehended the "releasing technique."

In terms of martial arts realm alone, Yan Jing'an is slightly better than Qin Mengyao. However, if it comes to a direct sword fight, Qin Mengyao is by no means inferior. Each level of the Cihang Jingzhai Heart Sutra is a vast gap. Even if she consumes a ten-thousand-year-old ginseng and a ten-thousand-year-old lingzhi, she cannot possibly defeat the Sword Heart Enlightenment realm based solely on the realm of telepathy.

The Cihang Sword Manual does not allow for "fighting monsters above your level" or "accumulating seniority." It all depends on one's own comprehension. If you understand it, you can ascend to the top in one step; if you don't understand it, you will be stuck for life.

To put it bluntly, given the natural talent of the successors of Cihang Jingzhai, they would be better off practicing the orthodox Qi cultivation methods of the Xuanmen sect, at least they could advance their ranks by accumulating seniority.

It is a waste that a "passerby" like Master Damu could become a grandmaster by accumulating years of service, while the successors of Cihang Jingzhai were all exceptional geniuses who were ultimately held back by the mental cultivation methods and could hardly make any progress in their lives.

Later generations have come up with various creative ideas about this.

Bypassing the Sword Heart Clarity, one goes directly to the ultimate.

Yan Jing'an is the only achievement.

Yan Jing'an lacked the purity of a swordsman's heart, but possessed a great love for the common people, willing to sacrifice himself at any time, and had grasped the "method of letting go".

As for seclusion, that's a dead end.

Success means death, failure also means death!

A single-minded approach can lead to a double bind.

They left no way out for future generations.

Even the Demonic Sect thought it was too extreme.

For some reason, from the moment he entered the inner hall, Li Zhaoting's mind was filled with a jumble of thoughts, which he could not suppress even when he activated the sword intent he had learned from Cheng Huaixiu.

Yan Jing'an gently picked up the Cihang Sword Manual and flipped through it in front of Li Zhaoting. Li Zhaoting looked at the text and his face was full of black lines. This was obviously a handwritten copy.

Yan Jing'an explained, "Young Master Li, it's not that I don't want to show you the original manual, but it's a thousand-year-old tradition. The characters, writing habits, and word choices of the Eastern Han Dynasty are completely different from those of today. To be honest, the original Cihang Sword Manual only has symbolic significance and is used for ancestral worship!"

Li Zhaoting gave a thumbs up: "That makes sense! Many people think that the older the cultivation method, the stronger it is, but they don't know that even if there really is an ancient and supreme secret manual, they probably wouldn't recognize a single word due to their limited literacy level."

Li Zhaoting recalled the secret he had recently learned: the Primal Heavenly Demon could be traced back to the "Battle of Muye".

The writing at that time consisted of oracle bone script, inscriptions, and pictographs. Even if the primordial demon left behind a secret manual, it was nothing more than scribbles that the Hanlin Academy could not understand.

Martial arts manuals, especially those of the demonic sects, can be worlds apart by a single word, potentially leading to death.

wrong!

It is not "possible" to cause death.

It "definitely" will lead to death.

Eh?
Taking advantage of his free-flowing thoughts and bursts of inspiration, Li Zhaoting thought of something: the Longevity Formula is also a kind of scribbled scripture. Could the two be related?
His mind was in turmoil, but his eyes were fixed on Yan Jing'an flipping through the Cihang Sword Manual. This Cihang Sword Manual had been revised and improved by successive generations of inheritors. It was copied in regular script and punctuated according to the writing habits of the current era. Anyone with basic literacy skills could understand the mental techniques and incantations.

The Cihang Sword Manual is divided into thirteen chapters.

Ordinary people can only master up to twelve chapters, which is called Sword Heart Clarity. The last chapter is a formula that Di Ni deduced with his unparalleled wisdom based on the records about breaking the void in "Records of Demonic Path". It is not perfect.

Similar to the last few lines of the Qiankun Great Shift, the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill has thirteen levels. Theoretically, if one masters it, one can be invincible. The problem is that no one can master it.

The closed-door cultivation of the Cihang Sword Manual is even more extreme than the Dao Heart Demon Seed Technique; it is an active pursuit of death.

Li Zhaoting disliked this theory, but the annotations between the lines were the culmination of martial arts traditions passed down through generations of Cihang Jingzhai, and many of his ideas were quite creative.

Some even fantasize about transforming from a Buddha into a demon, reversing the Cihang Sword Manual's core principles, and comprehending the "World-Destroying Demon Sword."

This lineage eventually left Cihang Jingzhai.

Li Zhaoting asked curiously, "Master Yan, will this line of disciples join the Ancient Tomb Sect, the Flower Shifting Palace, or perhaps the Yao Guang Hall, the Tianyou Gang, or the Divine Water Palace...?"

Yan Jing'an smiled and shook her head.

"They joined the Tianshan Sect."

“I remember that the Tianshan Sect is a legitimate sect of Xuanmen.”

"The Tianshan Mountains are so vast that the Tianshan Sect and Lingjiu Palace can only occupy one of the peaks. They have bewitched the Tianshan disciples to form the new Cihang Jingzhai."

What swordsmanship are you good at?

"I don't know, I haven't tried it!"

"Heavenly Sword, Immortal Sword, Demonic Sword, Master Yan, which type of swordsmanship do you think the Cihang Sword Manual belongs to?"

"It is neither swordsmanship nor Cihang Jingzhai. It is not a swordsmanship at all, but a mental cultivation method. It just happens to use a sword as a weapon. In my opinion, as long as one breaks through in one's mind, one can use any sword, spear, or halberd."

"I think a sword is more suitable."

"why?"

"Wearing white robes and carrying a sword alone, she is more in line with the temperament of a fairy. If she were to wield a golden hammer, no matter how perfect her features are, it would diminish her charm."

Li Zhaoting shook his fist and gestured a couple of times.

Yan Jing'an shuddered involuntarily at the thought of Qin Mengyao fighting with the golden hammer.

(End of this chapter)