As the commotion caused by a few uncles and aunts spread, the entire town buzzed with excitement.
Camphor Fragrance Town was renowned far and wide as a prosperous town, nestled close to a treasured temple.
However, it had been many years since a cultivator had emerged from here, leaving the townsfolk feeling somewhat inferior.
Fortunately, last year, the young master of the Cheng family was accepted into an immortal mountain, bringing pride to the town.
As for the Cheng family not being locals, having moved here twenty years ago, no one dared to bring it up.
Camphor Fragrance Town was a melting pot of surnames anyway—what difference did one more surname make?
Old Master Cheng was a learned man with a reputation for teaching, Madam Cheng was known for her virtue and kindness, and Young Master Cheng was now a disciple of the immortals.
These facts were even recorded in the Camphor Fragrance Town Chronicles by the town chief himself! Who would dare gossip?
Now that an immortal had returned home, it was only natural to celebrate in grand fashion.
Yun Qi couldn’t stop them, nor could he explain that he was merely a low-level cultivator who hadn’t even opened his dantian yet.
The aunts who first entered Yun Qi’s courtyard were sharp-eyed and immediately noticed that the house was spotless.
But how could it have been cleaned so quickly from the moment Yun Qi opened the door to their arrival?
It must be that the dwelling of an immortal naturally repels filth.
As this miracle spread quietly, the feast grew larger and larger.
The townsfolk insisted that Yun Qi stay longer, not rushing back to the mountain, so that the town could bask in his immortal aura.
Yun Qi was both amused and exasperated but agreed to stay a few more days.
The continuous rain couldn’t dampen the neighbors’ enthusiasm.
They set up tents, gathered firewood, slaughtered chickens and sheep, and brought out wine.
The town was alive with excitement!
That night, Yun Qi got thoroughly drunk.
The next day.
The mortal world is the gentlest of traps, eroding one’s will.
For the first time in years, Yun Qi slept in late, resting peacefully in his own bed.
When he got up and went to the courtyard, the rain had stopped, and a rainbow arched across the sky—a perfect day.
Yun Qi followed his usual routine, performing his exercises and then meditating.
After gathering his spirits, he slung a large bamboo basket on his back, took some paper offerings and candles, and headed into the mountains.
When he reached his ancestors’ graves, he found them well-tended, with no weeds or stones in sight.
It seemed the neighbors had taken good care of them, and they would likely continue to do so.
Yun Qi wiped the gravestones, added a handful of fresh soil, placed the offerings, and spoke for a while.
Then he ventured deeper into the mountains, leaping a few times before disappearing from sight.
By the time he returned to town in the afternoon, his basket was full.
He set up a large pot in the courtyard and, declining the aunts’ offers to help, began brewing medicinal herbs.
When the neighbors heard that Yun Qi was preparing medicine for the townsfolk, they were beside themselves with excitement.
A few composed individuals quietly spread the news to the heads of each household.
In no time, the entire town fell silent.
Even a dog barking in front of someone’s house earned it a whack.
Those without outsiders at home gleefully rubbed their hands in anticipation.
Those with guests tried to remain calm, though their hearts raced, and they unconsciously lowered their voices.
The town chief had made it clear: if anyone leaked this news to outsiders, their family would no longer be welcome in the town.
Neighbors had their own circles.
For example, the dozen or so households in Green Tile Lane had plaques carved by immortals, ensuring peace and safety.
Though these were made before the immortals ascended, they still carried spiritual energy, and others envied them greatly.
But today was different.
Young Master Cheng had said that every household would receive pills—this was a tremendous blessing, and the news must not leak.
Camphor Fragrance Town was more of a village than a town.
It had prospered due to its proximity to the Rain Shower Temple and the reputation of the Three Pure Immortal Mountains, along with its ancestral incense-making craft.
They had built brick houses and paved stone roads, upgrading the village to a town.
But in reality, it was still the same group of people, and sticking together against outsiders was second nature to them.
The townsfolk waited until the next day, when the guests were all sent away under various pretexts.
Around noon, the summer sun shone brightly after the rain, and the heat intensified.
Just as everyone was growing anxious, the gate to the Cheng family courtyard opened.
Yun Qi emerged, carrying a cloth bag, which he handed to Uncle Wang, who was waiting outside.
“These aren’t miraculous pills, just some medicinal pellets to boost energy and ward off illness. If someone is seriously injured or ill and the doctor can’t help, they can try taking one. Please distribute them, Uncle Wang. If there are extras, you can either keep them collectively or give more to the elderly and weak. I’ll leave it to you.”
Uncle Wang’s hands trembled as he took the bag.
Before Yun Qi could react, he dropped to his knees and kowtowed.
Yun Qi quickly pulled him up, insisting it wasn’t necessary.
As Uncle Wang left, profusely thanking him, Yun Qi felt a bit embarrassed.
The pellets in the bag were a dull gray-white.
If he tried to sell them at a mountain alchemy shop, he’d probably be beaten up.
But given his current alchemy skills, being able to brew pills in a large pot was already an achievement.
What more could he ask for?
Now that the master had returned, no one dared to enter the courtyard casually, so no one noticed that the large bundle in Yun Qi’s house had shrunk by half.
The third day.
Yun Qi rose early, while the sky was still dim, and under the fading starlight, he leisurely made his way toward the Rain Shower Temple.
Meanwhile, at the temple:
“Abbot, are we practicing the sword today?”
A young acolyte carrying a sword arrived at Abbot Zhenwei’s door.
The acolyte was puzzled.
In his short memory, the abbot had never practiced the sword, only meditation and fist techniques.
Why had he suddenly taken an interest in swordsmanship?
It all started the day after parting with that handsome young man.
The abbot had asked for a sword and began practicing early the next morning in the temple square, drawing excited gasps from the worshippers.
Under the crowd’s watchful eyes, the old abbot practiced for over an hour.
The acolyte had no idea the abbot was so spry, and the worshippers hailed him as an immortal.
“Practice!”
The old abbot pushed open the door and strode toward the front courtyard, his steps as swift as a shooting star, not at all like a centenarian.
The temple was unusually crowded today.
First, the continuous rain had finally stopped, and people were eager to go out.
Second, news of the abbot’s sword practice had spread, and everyone wanted to see it.
As Abbot Zhenwei emerged from the back courtyard and saw the throngs of people, his expression stiffened.
He stopped, peeked out the back window, and, not seeing the person he was looking for, whispered to the acolyte, “We’ll practice in the back courtyard today. You stay in the front courtyard. If anyone asks for me, say I’m not here. But if someone named Cheng Yunqi comes, bring him to me.”
“Is it that handsome brother you sent off the other day?”
The acolyte looked up and asked.
“You’re a clever one.”
The old abbot patted the acolyte’s head and smiled.
The acolyte studied the abbot, agreeing outwardly but inwardly wondering if the abbot had taken up the sword because of that handsome brother.
Fortunately, Yun Qi didn’t keep the acolyte waiting long.
As the sun rose over the temple, Yun Qi arrived, marveling at the bustling crowd and the temple’s enduring popularity.
As soon as he entered, a delicate-looking acolyte ran up to him.
Yun Qi looked at him, puzzled.
The acolyte beckoned, signaling Yun Qi to lean down.
Curious, Yun Qi bent over to listen.
“Are you here to see the abbot?”
Yun Qi nodded.
“Then follow me.”
The acolyte tugged at Yun Qi’s robe, leading him through the dense crowd to the back courtyard.
The back courtyard was the living quarters for the temple’s monks, off-limits to worshippers.
During the day, with the temple so busy, the monks were all in the front courtyard, leaving the back courtyard quiet and empty.
“Whoosh! Whoosh!”
The sound of something slicing through the air caught Yun Qi’s attention.
The acolyte led him over.
Behind a peculiar rock, Abbot Zhenwei was practicing his sword.
The abbot’s wide sleeves and flowing beard made him look like a dragon or crane as he moved.
This was no mere performance.
Even Yun Qi, a novice, could see that the abbot’s sword was as swift as the wind and as powerful as thunder, the sound of the blade ringing in his ears.
“Impressive swordsmanship!”
Yun Qi praised.
“The abbot is practicing for…”
“The guest has arrived. Acolyte, you may leave!”
The old abbot suddenly stopped, cutting off the acolyte before he could finish.
The acolyte let out a soft hum and ran off to play.
“Yun Qi, you’re here.”
The old abbot smiled at Yun Qi.
Yun Qi bowed. “I didn’t know the abbot still practiced the sword.”
The abbot coughed lightly.
Beating around the bush wasn’t his strong suit, so he got straight to the point. “Yesterday, you mentioned you also enjoy swordsmanship but had to put it aside because it’s time-consuming and resource-intensive. Is that right?”
Yun Qi nodded.
It was true.
His elder brother Bingkun had even teased him before leaving the sect, saying he aspired to be a swordsman but didn’t even own a sword.
“Do you understand swordsmanship?”
“Only a little. In the sect, the Sword Casting Mountain focuses on flying swords and spell swords, while the Mirror Stone Forest emphasizes physical swordsmanship, paired with footwork techniques.”
The old abbot nodded. “Which style do you prefer?”
Yun Qi smiled. “They say practicing the sword is expensive, and among the three, flying swords and spell swords are the most costly. So I’ve had little exposure to them. Physical swordsmanship is more affordable, but even the cheapest hundred-fold refined iron sword isn’t cheap. I don’t have one. I’ve only carved bamboo into swords and practiced some physical sword techniques. I’m not proficient in any of them, so if the abbot asks which I prefer, I really can’t say.”
When the abbot heard Yun Qi say that physical swordsmanship was as costly as flying and spell swords, he shook his head almost imperceptibly.
But he smiled at the rest.
“I’ve been obsessed with the sword all my life. Though I’ve never achieved anything remarkable, I’ve spent decades in the sect, stubbornly clinging to it. Would you like to hear my thoughts?”
Yun Qi was more than willing.
The abbot’s words were genuine.
After all, he had cultivated in the mountains for decades and valued swordsmanship even more than qi cultivation.
His guidance would be invaluable—an opportunity Yun Qi hadn’t had in the sect, where everyone was too busy.
“Flying swords, spell swords, and physical swords each have their merits. I was first registered at Sword Casting Mountain, but I later became more interested in physical swordsmanship.”
The abbot began by sharing his own preference.
“Flying swords have gained the most fame in recent years, largely due to the influence of a few schools in Western Shu.”
Abbot Zhenwei mentioned Western Shu, a place Yun Qi had heard much about since entering the mountains.
“The Emei, Qingcheng, Qingyang, and Heming schools in Western Shu are all major sects specializing in flying swords. They focus on flying swords, paired with spirit cultivation. With a single thought, their swords can fly through the air, taking heads from a thousand miles away.
Truly formidable.
“Flying swords are weapons of slaughter, their essence lying in ‘speed’ and ‘sharpness.’ To achieve speed, one needs powerful mental strength.
For sharpness, the sword’s quality must be top-notch, constantly tempered and honed.
How to hone it? Two methods: one relies on external objects like sword-nurturing gourds, whetstones, and wind caves—all expensive.
The other relies on the cultivator, nurturing the sword in the lung acupoint or the Purple Palace, tempering it with lung essence or mental strength.
“This highlights a difference. At Sword Casting Mountain, we emphasize external nurturing with internal nurturing as a supplement. The core principle is that qi cultivation is fundamental, and the inner elixir is the true path.
How can one sacrifice the body to nurture an object? Even with internal nurturing, there are rules. For example, one cannot open only the metal acupoint to nurture a flying sword.
A fire or earth acupoint must also be opened to balance the metal’s nature before nurturing the sword. Using mental strength to hone the sword is only allowed in the second realm. “The Shu Mountain sword sects take the opposite approach.
They view the body as a sword vessel and the spirit as the true essence.
They cultivate only the lung acupoint as a sword sheath, aiming from the start to ascend by controlling the sword with their spirit.” At this point, Abbot Zhenwei chuckled.
“I remember my teacher saying that the Shu Mountain people are, to put it nicely, fiery and righteous, but to put it bluntly, they’ve gone mad from practicing the sword.”
Yun Qi also laughed. “But they’ve made a name for themselves in the demon-infested west, so they must have some skill.
They use mental strength to control and hone the sword, but isn’t that also using the sword to hone their mental strength? By attaching their mental strength to the sword, over time, it takes on the sword’s sharpness.
They call this ‘sword intent.’
“When you travel and meet people from there, you’ll sense it. Without even drawing their swords, their mere presence exudes an aura that makes others feel as if a blade is at their back.”
Yun Qi nodded inwardly.
On his recent trip to the southern wilderness, he had been close to Western Shu.
“Spell swords are the oldest tradition, used by cultivators to cast spells. A spell sword is a medium connecting a cultivator’s mana with the world’s spiritual energy. It’s also called a talisman sword, so even the lowest-quality spell sword must be forged from five-element refined metal.
“The essence of spell swords, in my opinion, lies in ‘nurturing’ and ‘enhancement.’ Nurturing involves daily cleansing and infusion with mana.
Enhancement involves inscribing talismans on the sword.
Whenever the wielder gains insight, they inscribe it on the sword.
Spell swords remain dormant until activated, at which point mana surges like a tidal wave, commanding the world’s spiritual energy to perform miraculous feats.
“Flying swords are said to take heads from a thousand miles away, but spell swords are similar. A single swing releases mana like the radiance of the sun, cutting through clouds and mountains. They call this ‘sword qi.’
“Thus, spell swords require patience and the wielder’s insight, with their power becoming apparent only over time.
“The most famous spell sword is undoubtedly the Celestial Master’s Sword from the Dragon-Tiger Mountain Celestial Master’s Temple. An eight-thousand-year-old sword, enhanced by generations of celestial masters—I doubt even an immortal would dare challenge it.”
The Celestial Master’s Temple’s deep heritage left Yun Qi in awe.
The old abbot paused, then continued, “Physical swords are worn at the waist, external objects of pure sharpness. Some say they’re for ordinary people, but I disagree. “Physical swords are for combat, their essence lying in ‘courage’ and ‘adaptability.’
“What is courage? It’s charging forward without hesitation, finding life in the face of death. Practicing physical swordsmanship means life and death are separated by a hair’s breadth.
Every step you take, the world becomes your enemy. “What is adaptability? It’s the ability to change in an instant, striking like a gazelle’s horn—unpredictable and indefensible.
Whether it’s a flying sword descending from above or a spell sword swinging wide, they lack adaptability.
But with a physical sword in hand, the blade moves with your thoughts, and your enemy can never predict where the next strike will land.
“This is just the hand technique. Physical swordsmanship also emphasizes footwork, which is the key to its brilliance. “Physical swordsmanship is paired with the Seven-Star Step technique.
A single step can shift the stars, embodying adaptability.
A single thrust can chase the moon, embodying courage.
“When a sword has both courage and adaptability, it creates momentum. Once you gain momentum, your enemy can no longer defeat you. “The best practitioners of physical swordsmanship are universally acknowledged to be the Hengshan branch of the Sword Sect.
When they draw their swords, the stars appear.
Once, the Hengshan master ventured alone into the southern wilderness, cleansing countless demon lairs.
Some praised him: ‘With one step, he fought across three thousand miles; with one sword, he faced a million foes.’ How is such swordsmanship inferior to flying or spell swords? Who would dare call it a mortal’s sword?”
At this point, the old abbot, overcome with emotion, slapped the table and stood up.
Yun Qi, having heard the abbot’s discourse on the three sword styles, felt his mind swaying.
He asked himself honestly: which was truly superior?
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(End of Chapter)