Jiang Ni seemed to have become obsessed with personally watching the vegetables and fruits grow little by little. Whenever she had free time, she’d squat by the vegetable plot and stare intently. Pitiably, the Divine Talisman dagger had to serve as both hoe and chopping knife.

One day when the moon was bright and stars sparse, Xu Fengnian kindheartedly went to fertilize the vegetable plot, only to be caught by the sleepless Jiang Ni. Crazed, she gripped the Divine Talisman and chased him across half the mountain.

For the next several days, Xu Fengnian didn’t dare return to the thatched cottage, making do with catching wild game and roasting it for each meal.

At first, Hong Xixiang didn’t dare partake in the meat feasts, but later he couldn’t withstand his belly’s gluttonous cravings. Once he started, there was no stopping it. Whenever they met, he’d throw flirtatious glances at the Crown Prince, grinning and asking what he’d caught that day. This greatly violated the mountain’s strict rules and precepts.

Xu Fengnian deeply admired his own ability to tolerate this ox-rider’s daily chatter in his ear, like a horsefly on that green ox’s rump.

Having moved hundreds of books up the mountain, Xu Fengnian naturally wasn’t trying to become a two-legged bookshelf. When he reached confusing passages, he’d drag Hong Xixiang over for explanations.

The most interesting aspect was that many seemingly unsolvable superior techniques often had breaking methods in another manual. This kind of contradiction that required patient searching benefited Xu Fengnian most. Now the Crown Prince’s blade technique prowess was hard to evaluate, but his vision had certainly risen several floors.

During this period, Xu Fengnian pulled out a Great Bear Combat Techniques manual that had long been lost to the martial world to use as a body-training text. The moves were simple but each one fierce and domineering, seeking to kill with a single strike. He also requested from Wudang an unnamed boxing technique that leaned toward the soft and yielding. Originally Xu Fengnian didn’t like it, but Hong Xixiang shamelessly and vigorously recommended it, praising it to the heavens, stopping just short of calling it the world’s best.

At first Xu Fengnian still refused. The patriarch uncle, parched from talking, had no choice but to desperately display his ultimate trick, and even Xu Fengnian had to admit he was truly shocked solid by this fellow: the ox-rider plucked off a handful of bamboo leaves and casually scattered them in a strong wind, then his body followed the bamboo leaves, extending a palm. Xu Fengnian only saw him swaying there like a drunkard, “randomly hopping about,” yet managing to stick all the bamboo leaves back onto his palm.

Gnawing on a wild pheasant leg, having obtained the boxing manual but never grasping its essence, Xu Fengnian had to ask, “The more I practice this boxing technique, the more it seems like something women play with. You’re not deliberately setting me up, are you?”

The patriarch uncle, softened by eating someone’s food, wiped the grease from his mouth and solemnly declared, “How would this humble Daoist dare deceive the Crown Prince!”

Xu Fengnian said suspiciously, “Who created this boxing technique?”

The patriarch uncle’s eyes darted around. He swallowed a large mouthful of wild pheasant meat and laughed dryly. “Crown Prince, I won’t delay your blade practice—I need to herd the ox.”

Xu Fengnian pressed the blade sheath on Hong Xixiang’s shoulder and sneered, “If you don’t talk, I’ll beat everything you’ve eaten back out.”

The patriarch uncle said mysteriously, “This humble Daoist inadvertently found it on the top floor of Dark Harmony Palace. It’s ancient beyond verification, presumably some predecessor true immortal’s life’s work.”

Xu Fengnian withdrew his blade, settled his qi in his dantian, and according to that boxing technique drew six circles in succession in the air, one circle within another, appearing quite proper. Yet he always felt it was several mountains’ distance from the ox-rider’s ​noodles​bamboo grove wrist technique that day. Forget spiritual resemblance—even the physical resemblance was barely adequate.

The patriarch uncle, busy going to lead the green ox, glanced at Xu Fengnian’s stance, nodded slightly, and smiled brilliantly:

“This boxing technique deduces backward from Eight Trigrams to Four Symbols, Three Powers straight to Two Principles, only it’s still far from Supreme Ultimate and Infinite Ultimate. The Crown Prince’s hand techniques are already quite nimble, fluid, and circular, opening and closing in order—extremely difficult. Much faster than I was originally. Only there are still some small flaws that need correction. If Great Bear Combat Techniques is a method of ten thousand pounds crushing a thousand pounds, this boxing technique is the trick of four taels deflecting a thousand pounds. When the Crown Prince practices, remember one thing: boxing strikes within an ox’s resting space—seek small not large, seek stillness not movement. Only then can you attain the marvel of one giving birth to ten thousand things. Reaching the pinnacle means a feather cannot be added, a fly or insect cannot land—one leaf knows autumn, a sprout’s emergence knows spring.”

Xu Fengnian pondered and chewed this over, then sneered. “Only ‘boxing strikes within an ox’s resting space’ has some use. The rest is all nonsense.”

Hong Xixiang chuckled and didn’t refute.

Xu Fengnian smiled with narrowed eyes. “Ox-rider, you love eating meat so much. There are tons of yellow cranes on this mountain—why don’t you trick one down?”

Hong Xixiang laughed dryly. “Absolutely not, absolutely not. Wudang’s immortal cranes are spiritually aware, and they’re all my childhood playmates. Killing them would hurt more than killing me.”

Xu Fengnian joked, “Could you ride on a crane’s back for fun? When Daoist immortals ascend, isn’t there a type that rides cranes?”

Hong Xixiang shook his head. “I’ve never thought about stolen content that. I’ve been afraid of heights since childhood.”

Xu Fengnian said disdainfully, “Afraid of descending the mountain, afraid of heights, afraid of women—is there anything you’re not afraid of?”

Hong Xixiang sighed heavily, looking worried and distressed.

The ox-rider suddenly pricked up his ears and said carefully, “Crown Prince, I’ll go lead the ox first. You’d better go check on the thatched cottage.”

Xu Fengnian gripped Embroidered Winter tightly and rushed back. Who on this mountain would have the audacity to cause him trouble? If by any chance someone did, they certainly wouldn’t be ordinary.

Seeing the thatched cottage, Xu Fengnian’s figure stopped abruptly. He passed through the bamboo grove and advanced slowly.

Outside the cottage were three uninvited guests with unfamiliar faces, not wearing Wudang hemp cloth or silk Daoist robes. The one in the center was a delicately built young gentleman in rich and magnificent clothing.

Xu Fengnian was all too familiar with the manner of wealthy households. At a glance he could gauge family wealth and depth. This youngster’s Shu embroidery needlework was supremely skillful and ingenious—a rare treasure with value but no market. More than that, he was playing with two luminous pearls in his hands, of absolutely superb quality, known as Dragon Pearl and Phoenix Eye. Each was a first-rate treasure; obtaining a matched pair was even more difficult. Imperial tribute was nothing more than this.

Beside the arrogant-looking young gentleman stood two middle-aged men. One had a waist ten spans around with an imposing physique—standard swallow jaw and tiger whiskers, leopard head and round eyes. In [noodles]Xu Fengnian’s assessment, this fellow’s appearance could镇 ghosts and expel evil. Ancient and simple dual blades hung at the large man’s waist, one long and one short. He stood slightly farther away.

The other, a gloomy man with a pale face and no beard, stood closer to the young gentleman, slightly bent at the waist with hands behind his back, wearing spotless white robes. He gave the overall impression of a cold silver-ringed snake.

Jiang Ni stood in the vegetable plot, eyes red, staring fixedly at these three people. Her lips had been bitten bloody by herself. On her delicate face remained a five-fingered palm print, swollen and red.

Her carefully cultivated vegetable plot had been utterly destroyed—wooden frames collapsed, young shoots broken, nearly turned completely upside down.

The Crown Prince had only kindheartedly watered and fertilized, yet Jiang Ni had chased and hunted him. With the vegetable plot destroyed to this extent, she’d certainly fought desperately. Only the opponents were numerous and powerful, and none were merciful types. She’d suffered in silence.

Perhaps in Jiang Ni’s view, the Prince of Beiliang’s Palace was a magnificent yet desolate birdcage, but aside from the Crown Prince who kept the bird, who dared point fingers at her? Much less slap her face.

Xu Fengnian, hands wrapped in cloth gripping his blade, had a face heavy as water. He walked barefoot straight toward the three.

Jiang Ni—this Crown Prince can bully you, but you lot cannot!

No matter who your fathers and mothers are or what divine beings!

The refined and graceful young gentleman turned his head slightly. There were fine freckles on his nose tip. He glanced at the approaching Xu Fengnian, face showing contempt. When his gaze shifted to Embroidered Winter in Xu Fengnian’s left hand, he slowly spoke: “Oh, that blade looks nice. I like it very much. Go break both his hands. The blade is mine.”

Hearing this, the man looked at Xu Fengnian with a trace of pity in his eyes.

From beginning to end, Xu Fengnian didn’t say a single word.

Ten steps from the burly man, he suddenly charged forward. Embroidered Winter left its sheath. At three steps he cleaved out an extremely crisp and decisive blade strike, howling into wind.

The man who originally hadn’t planned to draw his blade—his bell-like eyes burst with a sharp gleam. Without seeing how he drew, he’d already used the short blade at his left waist to block Xu Fengnian’s fierce strike.

The short blade’s hilt was wound with gold and silver thread, finely crafted—a good blade specialized for foot combat.

When one blade’s edge was blocked, Xu Fengnian didn’t blindly compete in strength. Borrowing momentum he rebounded and traced a stunning large arc. His body turned accordingly—this was the second blade sweeping out horizontally.

The imposing large man showed a trace of surprise and quickly restrained his underestimating thoughts. His right foot retreated half a step. His left arm swung in a great wheel, chopping down from above. No longer defensive, he wanted to use [noodles]his natural divine strength to destroy and sweep away the blade-using youngster before him so he could never lift a blade again.

Having long been taught by white-haired Old Kui when to store force and when to withdraw force, Xu Fengnian avoided the blade edge and suddenly deployed an additional three parts of concealed force at nearly the dual-blade man’s blade-drawing speed. In a flash of lightning and flint, he forcibly dodged the large man’s brutal swinging chop.

Xu Fengnian intentionally or unintentionally integrated the ox-rider’s boxing technique into his blade work. His body like a spinning top—one circle followed tightly by another, speed not decreasing but increasing. Combined with his self-comprehended Rolling Blade technique, it was simply seamless. In the instant crisis he burst into a realm previously impossible to reach, truly achieving one continuous breath, qi surging without cease. Xu Fengnian’s exhaled breath was centered and comfortable, such that the second Embroidered Winter horizontal sweep far exceeded the first in momentum.

The man whose strike had missed glared with fury. This youngster didn’t know advance or retreat, life or death. His single blade was bizarre, angles cunning—among peers this was extraordinarily difficult. What a waste of this talent.

Finally annoyed, though he still hadn’t drawn his right-hand long blade, his left-hand short blade began holding nothing back. His wrist crackled without warning and abruptly appeared slanting upward like hooking out a great whale from the Eastern Sea, fiercely striking Embroidered Winter’s abnormally clear blade edge.

For no reason the phrase “a feather cannot be added, fly or insect cannot land” jumped into Xu Fengnian’s mind. Subconsciously he used all his strength to slash backward, his feet treading out a string of chaotic small arcs, finally managing to stabilize his form.

He swallowed back a mouthful of fresh blood. Embroidered Winter in his hand didn’t tremble in the slightest.

The dual-blade burly man didn’t rush to pursue, standing firm and unmoving.

The young gentleman who’d noodles threatened to break Xu Fengnian’s hands whispered with the beardless man beside him.

Xu Fengnian tore off the cloth strip on his right hand. Embroidered Winter switched from left to right. He simply stared at the short blade of the large man before him who probably weighed as much as three Jiang Nis, clicking his tongue. “Good blade. I thought when the Eastern Yue kingdom fell, all the Judang blades exclusively worn by Eastern Yue imperial nobility had been confiscated into the national treasury. The larger ones called Judang Barbarian Blades, the smaller ones called Judang Brocade Blades. I never expected to see the true face of this lovely pair here.”

The burly man with the Barbarian and Brocade paired blades at his waist showed a strange expression, pulled the corner of his mouth, and said, “Good eye.”

Xu Fengnian feigned innocence. “Then aren’t you from the fallen Eastern Yue royal family? A perfectly good stray dog—why did you come to Wudang Mountain to bite people?”

The burly man whose soft spot had been poked didn’t get angry. His calm cultivation skill was as outstanding as his blade work. He only said expressionlessly and plainly, “I gave you ten parts rest time. Is that enough?”

Xu Fengnian gripped Embroidered Winter in his right hand and said nothing.

The young gentleman with freckles piled on his nose tip said impatiently, “Why chatter with him? I only want the blade. After breaking this person’s hands, whether he lives or dies—let fate decide!”

Xu Fengnian, his left hand covered in fresh blood, unexpectedly picked up the blade sheath. Was he afraid his opponent had dual blades and fighting with a single blade was disadvantageous?

The Eastern Yue fallen kingdom person seeing this situation showed a cold smile.

Xu Fengnian again charged recklessly. Rolling Blade like a snowball—half a year’s blade practice achievement displayed thoroughly and vividly. That lonely ghost left behind from Eastern Yue lightly and easily broke each of Xu Fengnian’s patternless moves one by one, deliberately waiting for the instant when Xu Fengnian’s qi had to transform to strike a killing blow. This torment was like a blade at the neck, yet not permitting the person under the blade to exhale.

At the instant his dantian was depleted, Xu Fengnian forcibly withstood his opponent’s powerful diagonal slash, simultaneously hurling the blade sheath in his left hand out in an unbridled manner like a heavenly steed soaring across the sky, shooting like an arrow shaft straight for that young gentleman’s chest. The Eastern Yue blade expert’s eyelid jumped. Violating a great taboo of combat formations, he turned his head to confirm whether this damned throw would produce consequences he couldn’t bear.

This should have been Xu Fengnian’s best opportunity to wound the enemy, but when the corner of his eye glimpsed the large man’s right hand moving slightly, Xu Fengnian knew things were bad. He forcibly suppressed the impulse to strike opportunistically and retreated again and again. Sure enough, as the Eastern Yue lonely ghost turned his head, the Judang Barbarian Blade had already left its sheath. A crack two feet deep was carved into the mud before Xu Fengnian.

Shocking to behold.

While adjusting his qi, Xu Fengnian also looked toward that Embroidered Winter sheath.

He saw the clean white-robed man extend his arm horizontally and lightly pinch the blade sheath that Xu Fengnian had been determined to land.

The young gentleman either completely failed to perceive the crisis or possessed natural general’s bearing. He laughed heartily. “You embroidered pillow—petty tricks trying to kill me? Aren’t you afraid of making a laughingstock? Do you know who these two before you are?!”

Seeing the Eastern Yue blade expert had no intention of moving his blade, Xu Fengnian finally had an opportunity to carefully Read on Jormuntl examine the young gentleman whom the Crown Prince had only noted had freckles. His heart suddenly understood. He smiled. “Little lady, why don’t you tell me and see if you can scare me.”

The young gentleman’s face turned completely red. He lifted his leg and kicked the clean middle-aged man beside him, shrieking, “Kill him!”

The man finally opened his golden mouth, voice sharp and piercing, neither yin nor yang. “Seeking death.”

Without seeing his movement, the Embroidered Winter sheath shot like thunder toward Xu Fengnian’s neck.

The Eastern Yue blade expert blocking Xu Fengnian’s front tapped his toes and yielded position.

If he didn’t dodge, he’d first be pierced through with a large hole.

Xu Fengnian closed his eyes—not accepting fate, but gambling with his life.

Wind suddenly rose. Before the Crown Prince, thousands of upright bamboo stalks in the bamboo grove all bent simultaneously toward the crowd, forming an attitude of worship, just like the eighty-one peaks facing the great summit, as if even heavenly mechanism had been drawn in.

An old Daoist floated out, an indescribably immortal bearing.

He casually “scooped up” the blade sheath. After standing firm he released it slightly, perfectly sheathing Embroidered Winter in Xu Fengnian’s hand.

The old Daoist stood freely and calmly beside Xu Fengnian.

That fellow dressed as a young gentleman whose female identity had been exposed by Xu Fengnian kicked the sheath-throwing man again and cursed, “Useless thing! Kill them—kill them all for this palace!”

The young patriarch uncle hiding in the bamboo grove sighed. “Truly this mountain cannot be descended. Women down the mountain are all tigresses.”