It is very clear who is right and who is wrong.
Lu Zhengâs eyes gleamed, and with a flash, the Golden Palace Heart Sword struck forward, entering the sea of consciousness of the man in black, slicing his divine soul into two halves. Then, with a twist of sword qi, his soul was crushed.
The man in black instantly perished, his energy and blood dissipating, his hands went limp, and the silver flying sword was about to pierce his throat.
"Ding!"
A light sound was heard as the Red Jade Sword deflected the silver flying sword.
"Donât draw blood, itâs difficult to clean up."
Xu Yihong glared with wide eyes, then felt his vision darken and collapsed.
...
The next day.
Xu Yihong sensed the dappled sunlight on his eyes and slowly opened them, only to find himself lying on a bed.
Blue bricks, white walls, a wooden bed frame, silk bedding, and the rising sandalwood incense.
Sitting up abruptly, he instinctively circulated the True Qi within his body, finding that although it was a bit weak, it flowed smoothly. The poisonous smoke had been completely dispelled, leaving no hidden injuries or aftereffects.
Then, the scenes before he lost consciousness last night instantly flashed in his mind.
"That scholar is a master!" Xu Yihongâs eyes flickered, "And heâs also a sword cultivator?"
"Awake?"
A faint voice sounded next to Xu Yihongâs ear, "If youâre awake, come out and wash up, then we can have breakfast together."
"Thank you for saving my life, brother." Xu Yihong cupped his hands, then lifted the quilt, reaching for the clothes not far away.
Moments later, Xu Yihong, fully dressed, pushed the door open and walked out, seeing Lu Zheng leisurely drinking tea under the persimmon tree in the backyard, while Uncle Li had already prepared a basin and towel.
After washing up, Xu Yihong formally saluted Lu Zheng, "Xu Yihong from Gu Yan Peak on Huilong Mountain greets this Daoist friend."
Lu Zheng stood up and bowed in return, "Lu Zheng, Layman of the Outer Sect at White Cloud Temple, greets Daoist Xu."
"White Cloud Temple?"
Xu Yihong blinked, a bit puzzled as he thought Lu Zheng was a disciple of some sword sect.
He invited Xu Yihong to sit, and Uncle Li brought over steamed buns and side dishes, then bowed and withdrew.
"Please!"
Lu Zheng made a gesture of invitation, "Iâve already had breakfast, Daoist Xu, please help yourself."
Xu Yihong was indeed hungry, so he didnât stand on ceremony, grabbing a steamed bun and eating, speaking as he did so, "I didnât expect Brother Lu to be a cultivator too, and with such profound Dao practice, discovering us early on. It was clumsy of me."
"Not at all, Brother Xu, you are righteous and pursue evildoers, it just so happened that you ran into us this time. If it were ordinary people, wouldnât they have been harmed by that villain?"
Lu Zheng said with a smile, then turned to ask, "Do you know anything about that villainâs background?"
After dealing with the man in black yesterday and searching him, besides some treasure notes and recreational drugs, there were only some poisonous sand and antidote drugs; nothing else of value.
Xu Yihong shook his head, "I donât know. I discovered him in Yuhe County, fought him twice, but he escaped. I chased him all the way past Dingshan County, arriving in Tonglin County. This person knows disguise techniques, but cannot control that bit of flesh below, committing crimes every time he enters a city, which is why I didnât lose him. This time I saw Brother Luâs female companion was beautiful, and this person was loitering in the county often after disguising, so I figured he would definitely notice the lady, thatâs why I followed ahead of time, but then..."
Lu Zheng nodded, "So it was destined for him to die."
"Indeed." Xu Yihong replied, "I must thank Brother Lu for the rescue, otherwise I fear I would have perished with him this time."
Lu Zheng smiled, "With your strength, you could have retreated and escaped, removing the poison to wait for another opportunity."
Xu Yihongâs expression turned earnest, "But there would have been one more innocent death."
Lu Zhengâs eyes flickered, nodding slowly.
After chatting with Xu Yihong for a bit, Lu Zheng learned that Huilong Mountain was a famous mountain in Chuandong Daoâs Junzhou. Several sword cultivation sects occupied a few peaks, but they werenât large, with at most a few dozen people per sect. Usually, they inherited their teachings, exchanged with each other, and got along well. Xu Yihong was a disciple under Gu Yan Peak.
At the beginning of this year, Xu Yihongâs cultivation was sufficient, so he decided to descend the mountain, seeking refined gold materials to craft a suitable flying sword for himself.
While searching for materials, he could travel the world, uphold justice, temper his heart, and advance his cultivation and Dao practice.
"Refine a flying sword?"
Lu Zheng couldnât help but ask, "Donât you already have a flying sword?"
"This one?" Xu Yihong raised his hand, and a silver flying sword, about a foot long, emerged from his sleeve, landing in his hand. His True Qi vibrated, and the sword grew in length with the wind, becoming a two-foot-three, silver flying sword with only a blade edge in a blink of an eye.
"Thatâs right?"
"This sword was given by my master, mostly made of mundane iron with only a small amount of spiritual materials. So, the sword qi is not well-conducted, the power is not great, and it is hard to reduce in size. It can only shrink to just over a foot, making it difficult to carry." Xu Yihong explained.
Lu Zheng nodded as if he understood somewhat; he did not really understand these things, as they werenât explained in the Feiyu Riding the Dawn Sword Scripture!
"Doesnât Brother Lu also have a flying sword? I also thought Brother Lu was a sword cultivator." Seeing Lu Zhengâs confusion, Xu Yihong also curiously asked.
"I got the Sword Scripture by chance, just minorly practicing it, honestly, I donât understand much." Lu Zheng explained.
Then he briefly recounted how he had accidentally obtained the Sword Control Scripture.
"So Iâve only acquired one cultivation technique on sword cultivation and a sword control method; other sword cultivation knowledge I really donât know."
While Lu Zheng spoke, he was secretly lamenting that Yan Hongxia hadnât been generous enough to explain much back then.
Actually, he misunderstood Yan Hongxia. Everyoneâs cultivation was not high enough back then, and it was clear Lu Zheng regarded the Sword Control as a secondary practice, having the Red Jade Sword was enough, what else was there to explain?
"I see." Xu Yihong understood.
"Each sword sect, due to differences in their cultivation techniques, has distinct methods for refining flying swords." Xu Yihong said, "After all, to make a flying sword fit oneself, it must be refined with the methods of oneâs sect to maximize the power and technique of the sectâs sword techniques."
Lu Zheng nodded.
"Since Brother Lu has learned the Sword Control Scripture from Feiyu Mountain of Guanglin Dao, you might as well take some time to visit Feiyu Mountain, both to return the scripture and to seek further knowledge." Xu Yihong suggested.
Lu Zheng nodded again.
Actually, a trip to Feiyu Mountain was planned back then, but later he joined the Jinhua Sect, his means of handling enemies increasing, and with Feiyu Mountain being quite far, it got postponed.
If he hadnât met Xu Yihong again, Lu Zheng might have almost forgotten about it.
Besides, the Red Jade Sword is, after all, just a nail of a hundred-year Fierce Ghost, its power is greatly limited. It has limited augmentation of sword qi, not only is it weak in attacking through defenses, but in one-on-six, it often canât compete with othersâ weapons, indeed, it needs replacing.
But wanting to refine a flying sword that suits oneself requires first going to Feiyu Mountain, learning the Sword Refining Technique, and then finding suitable materials before it can be completed.
Why does this seem just like playing a game?