When Ning Yao returned, Fatty Yan and the others had just opened their umbrellas at the courtyard door and were about to leave. After entering the courtyard with Chen Ping'an, Ning Yao looked at him and asked, "What's going on?"

Chen Ping'an roughly explained the situation, following which Ning Yao also walked over to the wing room where the seals were placed. She sat down and picked up a seal, asking, "This is what you've been busy with the past few days? It wasn't just for the sake of making more money?"

Chen Ping'an nodded and replied, "Yes, it wasn't just for the sake of making money."

"Grandma Bai told me just then that the natural treasures needed to assist the refinement of your fourth bonded item have mostly been gathered in secret already," Ning Yao said. "Rest assured, Grandpa Nalan will personally examine the items originating from outside the Ning Residence's storage, and they definitely won't be tampered with by other people."

Chen Ping'an nodded and said, "I do need to put in some more effort. I'm always standing amidst large groups of Golden Core Tier seniors, and I can't help but shake in fear and speak softly when I speak with them."

Chen Ping'an had broken through the barrier of the Willow Tendon Tier and advanced to the Bone Qi Tier at the Northern Complete Reed Continent's Lion Peak, reaching the fourth tier of Qi refinement. Confucian cultivators had a unique advantage at this tier, with their ability to nurture Qi becoming the most outstanding. As for the Furnace Molding Tier, the fifth tier of Qi refinement, this was a tier where, in the small world of the body, one's physique was like a furnace. Buddhist and Daoist cultivators would enjoy a greater advantage at this tier.

The advantage of these two cultivation bases was a significant and abundantly clear reason why the Three Teachings were transcendent above the Hundred Schools of Thought. Even though the Lower Five Tiers only pertained to the lower cultivation bases as its title suggested, it was also widely regarded as the Mountain Ascending Five Tiers. This was because these five cultivation bases formed the foundation of a cultivator's Great Dao.

Afterward, whether or not one could advance to the Abode Tier, the first tier of the Middle Five Tiers, was just as critically important as whether or not a pure martial artist could advance past the third tier.

Ning Yao rested her arms and head on the table and looked through the seals, one by one. "The abode of the acupoint opens, allowing Qi to enter and accumulate; the small world of the body houses rivers and seas of Qi — this is the Abode Tier. From this moment onward, cultivators can truly start to refine the spiritual energy of heaven and earth in an orderly fashion. There are three hundred and fifty-six acupoints in the body, each of which is like a naturally arising blessed land waiting for cultivators to enter and cultivate in.

"At the Sword Qi Great Wall, the ability to become an innate sword talent is what separates prodigies from ordinary people. Similarly, in the Savage World, the ability for demons to adopt human form early on in their life and refine Qi in this form is also very critical. After reaching the Abode Tier, male cultivators can advance further to the Sea Observation Tier after they unlock nine acupoints.

"It's slightly more difficult for female cultivators, and they need to unlock fifteen acupoints. As a result, there are far more female cultivators than male cultivators at the Abode Tier. However, female cultivators at the Sea Observation Tier often possess far greater combat power than male cultivators at the same tier.

"You're a special case, and you already have three bonded acupoints as well as three additional acupoints that have been washed by sword qi for many years. Add to that the circulation of the Eighteen Stops Technique and the existence of First and Fifteenth in two acupoints, and it can be said that you already have five and a half unlocked acupoints.

"Once you refine your two remaining bonded items and accumulate bonded items of all Five Elements, you would have unlocked seven and a half acupoints. That being the case, you might very quickly advance to the Sea Observation Tier after breaking through to the Abode Tier.

"The Abode Tier is a tier where one's abode doors are wide open, accepting guests from all directions. This is a tormenting tier for ordinary cultivators because many can't withstand the prolonged pain of the surging spiritual energy, something akin to a tsunami. If their souls or physiques waver, they'll very likely face the risk of taking two steps forward and three steps back in their cultivation. It will be extremely difficult for them to make any progress.

"However, you don't need to be afraid of this, and the subsequent Sea Observation Tier won't be a big barrier for you either. You're also a pure martial artist at the same time, a Vajra Body Tier martial artist at that, and you're able to channel your True Qi in a rapid and ferocious manner.

"Qi refiners generally need to accumulate spiritual energy slowly to open up and expand the relevant paths, but this won't be a problem for you either. In fact, you'll only face some challenges after advancing to the Dragon Gate Tier."

Chen Ping'an smiled and said, "Thank you for going through all the trouble to gather this information."

She had definitely asked Nalan Yexing for all of this information.

This was because Ning Yao didn't need to understand these matters at all when it came to her own cultivation.

Ning Yao picked up a seal and held it in her hand, shaking it around as she said in a casual voice, "You probably know more about these matters than I do. If that's the case, then just pretend I didn't say anything."

Chen Ping'an placed his hands inside his opposite sleeves and placed them on the table, resting his chin on his arms as he gazed at the seals.

Rain continued to pitter-patter down outside the wing room. It had rained most days in the past month.

Relentless rain concealed the passing of spring.[1]

Chen Ping'an turned his head and looked outside the window. Back in his hometown, his opening disciple, Pei Qian, had once looked at the shimmering light and shadows created by the wind blowing past the pine trees and cypress trees.

The two of them had been sitting on the steps of the mountain at the time, and Pei Qian had secretly told her master that as long as she looked carefully, everything in the world would become incredibly slow, whether it was flowing water or living beings. They would become so slow that she would even feel worried for them.

Pei Qian would often lean against the railings on the second floor of the bamboo building with Nuanshu and Mili, gazing at the rain or the snow, sometimes even the icicles hanging from the eaves. If it were the latter, she would wield her hiking pole and smash them into smithereens, asking her friends to rate her swordsmanship.

When Pei Qian picked on Zhou Mili too much, the small water monster would also sulk at her, shouting at the top of her lungs that she wouldn't play with Pei Qian anymore in the future. Perhaps even Zheng Dafeng, who guarded the entrance at the foot of the mountain, would be able to hear her voice. Chen Nuanshu would play the role of peacemaker, following which Pei Qian would quickly make up with Zhou Mili, with chatter and laughter soon returning to the bamboo building.

However, if Chen Ping'an were at Downtrodden Mountain, Pei Qian definitely wouldn't dare to use her blanket as a cape and run around everywhere with Zhou Mili.

If one looked around carefully at the Sword Qi Great Wall, one would still be able to find some lively and adorable things.

For example, Chen Ping'an would sometimes purposely navigate his talismanic boat slightly further away when he went to practice sword techniques at the city wall, allowing him to see the row of children standing on the city wall, their bodies leaning forward and their bums poking up as they pointed at the Savage World and exchanged all kinds of colorful stories.

Sometimes, they would busily rank the sword immortals of the Sword Qi Great Wall, arguing passionately about who was more powerful between Dong Sangeng, Chen Xi, and Qi Tingji, the three elderly sword immortals. Their arguments would only become more intense if they decided to include all of the historical sword immortals of the Sword Qi Great Wall.

He had heard that Guo Zhujiu also practiced fist techniques very often at home, exhaling into her hands before manipulating spiritual energy and shouting at her imaginary opponents to watch out for her flaming palm. She would grunt and shout, making her way from the entrance of the clan residence all the way to the backyard as she practiced the fist technique.

After arriving there, she would then bring her hands down to compose herself, standing straight on a single leg before unleashing her tornado kick, rapidly spinning around eighteen times in quick succession, no more and no less. Her fists and legs didn't discriminate, much to the misfortune of the rare and valuable flowers meticulously raised by Sword Immortal Guo Jia.

Many flowers fell victim to Guo Zhujiu, and in the end, the entire Guo Residence became slightly on edge, worried about whether the young girl had fallen to demonic ways. Perhaps Sword Immortal Guo Jia was already regretting his decision to ground his darling daughter.

When Chen Ping'an went to the alley corner near the wine shop, Zhang Jiazhen would occasionally visit to learn characters from him. The little boy holding the ceramic money pot was the first to shuffle over to Chen Ping'an's small stool, and this allowed him to hear many more fantastical stories compared to the other children.

Relying on these unique stories, he had apparently developed a close relationship with a beautiful little girl from a neighboring alley. When playing house one time, he finally didn't need to play the role of a servant or sedan chair bearer anymore, instead playing the role of the little girl's husband. Afterward, he had chuckled giddily to himself while squatting on the ground and snacking on roasted seeds with Chen Ping'an.

It was silent in the room, with this silence speaking louder than words.

Chen Ping'an visited the city wall again, but he was still unable to push through the thirty paces mark of sword qi. As such, he was still the junior brother, while Zuo You was still the senior brother.

After the sword training session, Zuo You asked the pitiful young man who was retrieving many bottles and jars and applying ointment to his wounds whether he had sent any messages to their master.

Zuo You had been quite measured during the past two training sessions.

"How is that possible?!" Chen Ping'an asked in a righteous voice.

"How is business at the wine shop?" Zuo You asked.

"Very good," Chen Ping'an replied.

Zuo You turned around.

Chen Ping'an hurriedly tried to mend the situation, adding, "But I still need to trouble you, Senior Brother, with adding the icing to the cake."

Zuo You relented after hearing this, and he changed the topic, asking, "Have you read the Heavenly Questions and the Heavenly Response that I mentioned to you before?"

"I've read both of them already," Chen Ping'an replied with a nod.

"Then you can offer the heavenly response and answer the one hundred and seventy-three questions," Zuo You said.

Chen Ping'an was slightly taken aback, and Zuo You continued in a calm voice, "You can start now. You can skip over the answers that you don't know."

Hearing this, Chen Ping'an could only muster his courage and answer the heavenly questions, just barely answering half of them correctly.

"Your answers aren't important," Zuo You explained. "Before Master became a sage, his most famous debate only involved arguments over two matters. The first matter pertained to none other than the notion of how to perform scholarly research. Should one focus on one matter at a time, slowly accumulating more knowledge and gradually achieving success? Or should one focus on a grand ambition first, preventing oneself from blindly becoming lost in tangential matters?

"Looking back at this, was the outcome of the debate important? The two sages were unable to reach a consensus, but if there were truly just one correct answer, then how did the two of them both become sages? Back then, Master told us that pursuing sophistication and pursuing simplicity were both legitimate methods to seek knowledge, with youth seeking knowledge and elders researching knowledge being two completely different stages.

"Young scholars should think more and seek sophistication, while elderly scholars should pursue a return to natural simplicity. As for whether one needs to establish a grand ambition first, this isn't very important. One might not be able to follow through if one establishes such a grand ambition too early on. Of course, having such a grand ambition is better than not having one, but a scholar doesn't need to worry either if they don't have one. They can gradually accumulate knowledge and experience as they study.

"Knowledge isn't necessarily worth anything. It's like countless gardens planted and maintained in the many wealthy residences, yet there isn't anyone guarding them, and the gates are wide open for anyone to pluck the brilliant flowers."

Chen Ping'an nodded and praised, "Master is extremely knowledgeable, and you have a very good memory."

Zuo You couldn't help but turn around and ask, "You've never stayed with Master for a long time, so where have you learned all of these flattering remarks?"

Chen Ping'an felt slightly aggrieved as he replied, "From the books, of course, especially Master's works. I've already memorized all of them."

"Very good," Zuo You said with a stern expression.

————

At the training ground in the Minute Small World, Chen Ping'an was currently learning sword techniques from Nalan Yexing.

Chen Ping'an called this learning sword techniques, but he was actually tempering his physique. He had come up with this idea himself, and he had initially wanted Senior Brother Zuo You to unleash sword strikes at him. For some unknown reason, however, his senior brother had replied that Nalan Yexing would be sufficient for these small matters. However, even a sword immortal like Nalan Yexing couldn't help but hesitate, finally understanding why Great Sword Immortal Zuo You was unwilling to entertain Chen Ping'an.

This was because, according to Chen Ping'an's own explanation, there would still be some risks even if his training partner were a sword immortal, and even if he were a Vajra Body Tier martial artist.

One little slip-up, and Chen Ping'an would need to lie on a sick bed for an entire month, something even more pitiful than applying ointment to treat his bone-deep wounds.

Chen Ping'an hoped that Nalan Yexing could unleash his sword strikes from the top to the bottom, adhering to the twenty-four solar terms and helping him temper his spine, which contained several acupoints of the human body.

Starting from the cervical vertebrae and moving down to the great vertebra, kiln way, body pillar, mind valley, spirit stage, reaching yang, center pivot, hung pivot, life door, lumbar yang pass, and so on, these were all critical acupoints that needed to face sword strikes, allowing this path and its barriers to be tempered by sword qi and sword intent.[2]

Chen Ping'an needed to integrate his breath of True Qi — the fiery dragon swimming through his acupoints — as well, so he couldn't just stand there without moving. That would be a stale and ineffective way to train. Considering the different concentrations of remnant spiritual energy in his various acupoints as well, this training was a huge test for the precision of Nalan Yexing's sword strikes.

Ning Yao was sitting in the pavilion atop Dragon Slaying Cliff, and both Dong Bude and Dong Huafu had come to visit the Ning Residence today, with the former saying that she wanted to ask Chen Ping'an for a seal. Fatty Yan's silk shop was far too greedy and unscrupulous — it was better off buying the seals directly from Chen Ping'an.

Chen Ping'an and Nalan Yexing didn't deliberately hide anything from Dong Bude as they practiced sword techniques.

Following Chen Ping'an's four victories in a row on the street last year, the Dong Clan and the other large clans were all roughly aware of Chen Ping'an's capabilities.

Dong Bude was lazily leaning against the railing of the pavilion as she asked, "Ning Yao, does your heart not ache when you watch him practicing sword techniques like this?"

Ning Yao didn't offer a response.

Nalan Yexing was extremely careful during this training session, so Chen Ping'an was only able to reap limited benefits.

Chen Ping'an hadn't wanted to obtain any immediate benefits to begin with, and he climbed up Dragon Slaying Cliff by himself after leaving the training ground with Nalan Yexing.

Dong Bude said that she and a few of her good friends all wanted a personal seal. They weren't sure about the inscribed characters, so they would leave this up to Chen Ping'an to decide. Dong Bude had even brought with her three pieces of fine jade suitable for carving seals, saying she would pay one lesser heat coin for each seal. Any leftover material would also serve as payment for Chen Ping'an's labor.

Chen Ping'an wasn't stupid. Would it be this easy to make money? Thus, he immediately looked toward Ning Yao, who nodded in response. Only after seeing this did Chen Ping'an agree to the request. Dong Bude felt extremely jealous and clicked her tongue loudly, saying nothing else.

During her visit, Dong Bude also talked about an interesting matter that had the smallest of links with the Ning Residence, saying that a group of cultivators from some empire in the Middle Earth Divine Continent had recently arrived at Stalactite Mountain under the guardianship of a sword immortal who had come here to slay demons before.

A Nascent Tier Qi refiner was responsible for their trip, and the group consisted of seven or eight young prodigies from different immortal forces. They were making their way to the Sword Qi Great Wall to train their sword skills, and they would stay here for approximately three to five years. It was said that the youngest prodigy was only twelve, while the oldest was only just over thirty.

After arriving at Stalactite Mountain, this group of cultivators had directly settled down at Plum Blossom Garden, one of the four private residences that enjoyed an equal standing with the Ape Rub Residence. This was a clear reflection of their impressive background.

Among the younger generation at the Sword Qi Great Wall, there were only three powerful groups of note. There was the group consisting of Ning Yao, Dong Huafu, and the others, and this group naturally had the new addition of Chen Ping'an as well.

Apart from them, there was the group including Qi Shou and the others, and finally the group including Pang Yuanji, Gao Yehou, and the others. This latter group was relatively dispersed compared to the first two, with its members not as tightly-knit and committed. Most of these young sword cultivators hailed from ordinary backgrounds, but they were willing to gather together once there was a call to arms. Their strength in number and combat power couldn't be underestimated.

Young cultivators from the Majestic World all needed to pass three trials if they wanted to come here to train. This was an old and established rule, one that both Cao Ci and Chen Ping'an had been subject to.

However, there were also some unwritten rules regarding who would be responsible for conducting these three trials. For example, Qi Shou and his friends would be responsible for "welcoming" the prodigies from the Middle Earth Divine Continent.

Ning Yao's group wasn't too fond of this tradition, and only Chen Sanqiu would occasionally appear to spectate the thrilling exchanges. Even so, he had only become involved a measly two times over the past dozen or so years. Meanwhile, Ning Yao had never once participated in these small skirmishes.

Unfortunately, however, Qi Shou and the others had just been resoundingly defeated by Chen Ping'an and the others, with even Pang Yuanji failing to escape unharmed. Because of this, Ning Yao's group theoretically needed to send a few members over to conduct the three trials.

When it came to large groups of outsiders coming to the Sword Qi Great Wall to train, it was often the case that each side would send three members over to do battle. Of course, things would become very exciting if a single person from one side managed to defeat all three people from the other side.

Chen Ping'an found it quite interesting that he had gone from being an outsider being watched to being a member of the Sword Qi Great Wall watching someone else. Thus, he asked whether the battle could take place on the main street, where it would support his wine shop's business.

Dong Bude smiled and replied, "The location has always been casually decided, and there's no explicit rule stating where the trials should take place. This has generally been decided by the person conducting the final trial. If you're willing to take part in these trials, you can even hold them on the tables in Die Zhang's wine shop, to say nothing of the main street."

Chen Ping'an shook his head and said, "If I'm wounded in battle, then the money I've made from the wine shop won't even be enough to cover the money needed for my treatment. Our wine shop is famous for its low prices, and I'm struggling to make ends meet here."

An amused smile stretched across Dong Bude's face.

This person was truly as shameless as the rumors claimed.

"It seems like Fan Dache is prepared to fight the first battle, and I surmise that Sanqiu will accompany him and fight the second battle. The third person might be Gao Yehou or Situ Weiran. It's difficult to say right now," Dong Huafu said.

"What are the cultivation bases of the outsider sword prodigies?" Chen Ping'an asked.

Chen Ping'an knew that Situ Weiran was also a Golden Core Tier sword cultivator, but she was slightly weaker than Pang Yuanji and Gao Yehou. However, she had always been cultivating in seclusion for the past few years, and the interesting thing was that her two Dao mentors were both very impressive individuals.

One was Sword Immortal Zhu An, the inspector from the Hidden Official's lineage, while the other was even more impressive, being an old sword immortal responsible for guarding the dungeons. In fact, there were even rumors claiming that this seclusive old sword immortal was a demon. In any case, might the current Situ Weiran have overtaken Gao Yehou?

Dong Huafu faltered for a moment before replying, "Is there a need to know?"

"There isn't a need to know, right?" Dong Bude concurred.

Chen Ping'an glanced at Ning Yao, who seemingly had the same opinion as the two siblings.

"Just pretend I didn't ask," he said in helplessness.

————

The sword cultivators from the Middle Earth Divine Continent entered Stalactite Mountain and settled down at Sword Immortal Sun Juyuan's residence inside the city.

Sword Immortal Sun Juyuan's clan was similar to the Yan Clan, engaging in frequent business with the Majestic World and thus making many friends from all over the world.

However, Sun Juyuan was most likely suffering from a small headache right now, since his guests had made an announcement that they would send three people forward and pass the three trials immediately after arriving at the Sword Qi Great Wall. The three trials would correspond to the Sea Observation Tier, the Dragon Gate Tier, and the Golden Core Tier, and they would count it as their complete loss if they lost even a single battle.

Chen Ping'an was drinking at the wine shop today, and Ning Yao was still cultivating at the Ning Residence as always. Yan Zhuo and Chen Sanqiu were both at the wine shop, as was Fan Dache. Thus, the second shopkeeper had the rare opportunity to sit down at a table to drink.

Business was booming at the wine shop, and more than a dozen sword cultivators were squatting on the side of the street and drinking. All of them were cursing loudly, saying that these little brats from outside were far too arrogant and shameless.

Spittle flew everywhere as the alcoholics shouted in righteous indignation. However, for some unknown reason, they all looked at the second shopkeeper, who was dressed in azure and wearing a white jade hairpin, as they cursed.

Chen Ping'an smiled widely and suggested, "Shopkeeper, it's time for our shop to bump up the price of the Bamboo Sea Small World Wine."

The customers instantly fell silent, after which wailing echoed through the wine shop.

Communicating with the second shopkeeper with her eyes, Die Zhang shook her head and replied, "No, we won't bump up the price. Why should we do that? Is money very important?!"

"I'm going to order another pot of wine thanks to the Shopkeeper's righteous statement!" a customer directly shouted.

Several other customers also shouted that they wanted to order more wine.

"Grab the wine yourselves," Die Zhang said with a smile.

Yan Zhuo glanced at the person who had ordered another pot of wine first, then looked at Chen Ping'an and asked, using his mind's lake, "A paid actor?"

Chen Ping'an smiled faintly and nodded in response, replying, "Can I not keep this bunch of bastards under control? There are paid actors everywhere, too many to even defend against."

He then said to Fan Dache, "These outsider sword cultivators aren't arrogant, nor are they naive. Rather, they're plotting against you and the others. They're enjoying a huge advantage thanks to their announcement, and they've even gained some reputation and clout because of this. They would have faced certain defeat if all three trials were at the Golden Core Tier.

"So, the confidence of these sword cultivators from the Middle Earth Divine Continent stems from the fact that their Sea Observation Tier sword cultivator is definitely an outstanding prodigy, not only having a huge opportunity to win the first trial, but even possessing the ability to do so in a swift manner. They'll also have a good chance to win the second trial, and they won't look too bad even if they lose. Moreover, there won't be a need to participate in the third trial if they lose.

"How will you and the others feel? Vexed and stifled? They aren't planning to win at all, and taking several steps back, they won't try to win even if they can win. Of course, they genuinely can't win. Fan Dache, you're at the Dragon Gate Tier, so I suggest that you don't participate in the trial. However, you can feel free to participate if you don't mind losing."

"I do mind losing," Fan Dache replied in a resolute voice.

Chen Ping'an raised a thumb and said, "Impressive. As expected of Chen Sanqiu's friend."

"This has got nothing to do with me," Chen Sanqiu said in exasperation.

Afterward, several youths stepped onto the main street and made a beeline for the wine shop. There were young men and young women, and most of them were simply here to buy wine. However, a young man purchased a pot of Azure Divine Mountain Wine for five snowflake coins, cracking open the clay seal and giving it a sniff as he walked.

Using the official dialect of the Middle Earth Divine Continent, he then smiled and said, "By the looks of it, I need to visit the Bamboo Sea Small World after returning to the Majestic World. I need to tell them that someone is using the name of the mountain goddess to sell wine, selling it as far as the Sword Qi Great Wall. How truly impressive."

"Can you tolerate this?" Yan Zhuo looked at Chen Ping'an and asked.

Chen Ping'an nodded and smiled. "I can."

A tall and sturdy young man glanced at their table and remarked with a chuckle, "And what can the Scholarly Sage's lineage do even if they can't tolerate it?"

There was a blur, and the sturdy young man with a sword on his back was instantly lifted high into the air, with the second shopkeeper gripping his head with one hand and holding his other hand behind his back as he cocked his head and asked with a smile, "What did you say? Can you speak up?"

1. This is a line from the poem, Delight for Clear Weather (喜晴), composed by Fan Chengda, a Chinese geographer, poet, and politician from the Southern Song Dynasty. ☜

2. These are all acupoints described in traditional Chinese medicine. ☜