A man in the Qin Dynasty changed the world by collecting entries.

But that's all.

Leaving aside the topic of Feng Hu Zi's sword manual, Bai Yuan told the two about the benefits they would receive each month for being among the top ten in the Three Talents Sword Manual.

Both of them were surprised when they heard this.

At first, they thought it was just a simple ranking, but they didn't expect that the ranking would come with rewards.

"What kind of reward will this be?"

Both of them asked Bai Yuan with great curiosity.

Bai Yuan glanced at the system panel and then saw what the so-called gift from Heaven was.

A baptism of kendo allows one to experience the power of "Tao" up close.

If someone appears in the top ten of multiple lists simultaneously, the baptism effect will be doubled.

However, a baptism doesn't actually bring much practical benefit, nor can it suddenly make someone stronger. It can only subtly enhance their understanding of the way of the sword.

It remains to be seen how effective it will be.

Bai Yuan immediately realized that this kind of baptism might be most effective for those who were stuck in the realm of subtlety, and might even allow them to break through their shackles and enter the realm of oneness with heaven and man.

However, for others, it is unlikely that the effects will be significant in the short term.

This stingy gift was completely unexpected for Bai Yuan.

He thought he'd at least get some rare and precious herbs, but he was completely wrong!

While this reward might be quite generous to others, Bai Yuan was too embarrassed to even mention it.

With the dictionary system at his fingertips, would he lack such an opportunity for enlightenment?

With a hint of disappointment, Bai Yuan told Ningyan and Jimo Huaxue about this so-called gift from Heaven.

Unlike Bai Yuan's reaction, they were indeed very satisfied with this reward, making it seem as if Bai Yuan was somewhat greedy.

Bai Yuan could only say that he was still too inexperienced!

Unlike Bai Yuan and others who knew that being among the top ten in the sword manual would bring rewards, the others who were on the sword manual were unaware of such rewards.

This sword manual is only available to those who have made the list; others cannot see its contents.

Therefore, the commotion caused by the Three Talents Sword Manual was not that great.

The sword masters who can be listed in the sword manual are not fools. Before they understand what is going on, most of them choose to hide their identities and never mention their listing in the sword manual, as if it never happened.

However, some people did not hide their identities.

For example, big shots like Guiguzi weren't worried about any trouble coming up on the sword manual ranking list. They were more concerned about the sword manual itself than whether they would become famous.

The appearance of this unusual and even somewhat subversive thing aroused their curiosity.

Moreover, this thing seems to involve the so-called "Tao".

This was an extraordinary event for Guiguzi and his followers.

The "Tao" is not something pursued only by Taoist disciples; all the schools of thought in ancient China pursued the "Tao," only their pursuit of the "Tao" differed from that of Taoism.

However, they all agree on one thing: the Tao generally does not reveal itself to people and is rarely seen.

But now the "Dao" is actually interfering with the ranking of the sword manual, and this abnormal phenomenon has forced these seekers of the Dao to take it seriously.

There might have been some misunderstandings regarding the introduction of the Heavenly Dao. Here, the Heavenly Dao is simply a metaphor for the rules of heaven and earth; it has no consciousness and doesn't govern the protagonist. It's like a program without emotions. The World Entries can be understood as modifications to its code, or even updates and upgrades to its program—nothing more.

Chapter 165 Living off the water

Just as those who had made it onto the sword manual were still exploring what exactly the Three Talents Sword Manual was all about, Heaven had already quietly bestowed its first gift.

This surprised Bai Yuan and the other members of the top ten on the three lists.

Bai Yuan himself never expected that just moments ago he was complaining to Ningyan and the others about how stingy the reward was, and then they inexplicably received this so-called sword dao baptism.

His spirit was connected with the Peach Blossom Sword, and he appeared in a void space. There were many other beings like him around him, more than twenty in total.

The faces of these people looked somewhat blurry and indistinct.

Before he could even think about what had happened, he saw a blurry sword shadow appear in front of him.

It was still unclear, but with just one glance, Bai Yuan couldn't look away and became deeply captivated.

This sword shadow is a manifestation of the "Way" of the sword; its ineffable and profound meaning can only be understood intuitively and cannot be explained in words.

If we compare this sword shadow to one, from one comes two, two comes three, and three comes all things, then the swordsmanship of Bai Yuan and others can all be derived from it.

With the help of this blurry sword shadow, Bai Yuan and the others may be able to improve their swordsmanship to a higher level, and their sword skills will naturally rise accordingly.

Bai Yuan didn't know how much time had passed in that glance; he felt that time had lost its meaning at that moment.

When he finally came to his senses, he found that the scene he had just witnessed had disappeared, and he was still in the room of that inn.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw the two people in black and white looking at him, Ningyan, and Jimo Huaxue with some concern.

At this moment, Ningyan and Jimo Huaxue also awoke from their state of enlightenment.

They exchanged a glance with Bai Yuan, clearly aware of what had just happened.

That must be what is known as the baptism of the sword.

However, after leaving that state, when they recalled the image of that sword shadow, it felt even more blurry, as if it were a dream, or a dream they couldn't quite remember.

Bai Yuan was better off than the others, after all, he had received a sword baptism with a 6x effect. Even if the baptism itself was weak, he still remembered the meaning contained in that sword shadow much more clearly than the others.

"You're all awake, that's great! When we arrived, we found you sitting there, not responding no matter how we called you. Now it seems you're alright."

"Of course it's nothing. To be precise, we weren't spacing out, but rather we entered a state of sudden enlightenment."

Bai Yuan smiled and explained to them.

The two women, one in black and one in white, were somewhat surprised upon hearing this. Enlightenment was a rare and precious thing, and the fact that all three of them had entered a state of enlightenment was something they had never heard of before.

After their initial surprise, the two congratulated Bai Yuan and the other two.

"I didn't expect you to have entered a state of enlightenment. That's truly something to celebrate!"

Bai Yuan and the other two waved their hands repeatedly after hearing this.

The effect of this sword baptism was indeed pitifully weak, and since its influence on them at this stage was also subtle, they did not feel any increase in strength in any area of ​​their bodies in a short period of time.

"Goo~"

Then, Bai Yuan heard a strange sound coming from the black body.

Everyone turned their attention to Hei, making her feel somewhat uncomfortable.

I'm sorry.

"Um...we haven't eaten since this morning, so..."

Hei lowered his head shyly; this kind of thing was still quite embarrassing.

Bai Yuan and the others looked at the sun outside and realized that it must have been past noon. They understood that the two men, Hei and Bai, must have been on guard since morning, which was why they hadn't eaten.

“Your body isn’t like ours anymore, it can’t withstand hunger. Hmm… how about this, you guys go downstairs and grab something to eat to fill your stomachs, I’ll cook something myself tonight.”

Upon hearing Bai Yuan's words, the two men, one in black and one in white, had their eyes light up and nodded hastily.

They ate food from the inn last night, but had no appetite at all.

Now that Bai Yuan has promised to cook for them himself tonight, Hei even feels that he can hold out a little longer and save room for dinner.

However, reason ultimately prevailed over desire. She was so hungry that she was almost too weak to eat anything, so she decided to eat something to fill her stomach first.

So the two of them, Hei Bai and Ning Yan, went downstairs together, while Bai Yuan still needed to wash up.

After the first gift from Heaven, the Three Talents Sword Manual had a slightly greater impact, but it was not very noticeable in the short term.

After all, not many people receive the gift, and many people deliberately hide their identities, so most people are not even aware of the Three Talents Sword Manual, let alone the gift from Heaven.

However, beneath this calm surface, an undercurrent was already quietly brewing.

Bai Yuan, Ning Yan, and the others acted as if nothing had happened, temporarily putting the matter of the sword manual out of their minds.

Bai Yuan washed up and then prepared to go out with them.

At this moment, the Black and White Sisters and Ningyan were waiting for Bai Yuan downstairs.

Hei has already eaten something to replenish his strength.

However, after last night's experience, no one else chose to eat breakfast at the shop. They preferred to wait a little longer until they had replenished the ingredients and then let Bai Yuan cook.

When they left, Bai Yuan learned from the waiter that Feng Cheng had left the inn early in the morning, probably because of the sword manual and had rushed back to the Feng family.

He had seen Feng Cheng's name on the sword manual before, and although the ranking was not high, it still surprised Bai Yuan.

Although his sword looked unremarkable, it was actually a famous sword.

However, considering that the Feng clan are all sword appraisers and are also proficient in sword forging, it is not surprising that they would have some famous swords.

Once on the main street, Bai Yuan and his companions saw many roadside stalls selling their wares. Although the town was small, it was rich in aquatic products due to its proximity to the Yellow River, and most of the locals made their living by fishing.

As Bai Yuan and his companions walked down the street, this group of five handsome men and beautiful women attracted the attention of many people.

This small town is located on the border, and these people usually don't see such a group.

Although Bai Yuan and his companions' clothing wasn't exactly luxurious, in the eyes of these unsophisticated commoners, the fabrics they wore were already quite valuable.

Therefore, they almost thought that some noble children had come to visit their town.

Seeing the townspeople's reaction, Bai Yuan and the others simply smiled slightly.

After walking around, Bai Yuan also found that the aquatic products and fish here were sold very cheaply.

So Bai Yuan and his group spent some money and bought a lot of aquatic products in one go.

Many of the ingredients were ones that Bai Yuan had never tried before.

To be honest, it's been a long time since he's tried any new recipes. Although the food he's eaten before was delicious, after so long, he's getting tired of the same dishes over and over again.

Therefore, he also plans to take this opportunity to expand his recipes and improve his culinary skills.

After a shopping spree, Bai Yuan and the others returned to the inn with a huge amount of various ingredients.

After paying the innkeeper, Bai Yuan successfully rented a kitchen. He planned to use the local ingredients to cook a whole fish feast.