Chapter Five: The Manifestation of the Daoist

  Mingfa Hall

  Ming Fa Lao Dao let out a sigh and sat back down in front of the Taoist statue, no longer making a sound.

  "Junior Brother Qi, you——"

  Yun Fei couldn't suppress the excitement in his heart and took two steps forward, grabbing Qi Tian's shoulders.

  After counting his breaths, he said in a low voice: "Younger brother, you don't have to worry about me. Your pure golden body, enter my sword peak, I'm afraid..."

  Qitian smiled calmly and said: "Elder brother, rest assured, younger brother is willing."

  Yun Fei just patted him on the shoulder, no longer speaking, only saying that he was repaying the kindness of saving his life before, giving up the great immortal path, which really moved him in his heart.

  In front of Mingfa Hall, it seemed that he had finished drinking the last mouthful of wine from the gourd. The middle-aged Taoist staggered and turned to leave.

  "Master, wait for us!"

  Yun Fei shouted and pulled Qi Tian to chase after them outside.

  The middle-aged Taoist's footsteps seemed slow, but were incredibly fast, and the two of them had to use all their strength to catch up.

  "Master!"

  Yun Fei let out a loud whoop and the middle-aged Taoist priest finally turned around with some slight intoxication, his body swaying slightly.

  "Are you calling me?"

  Yun Fei couldn't help but roll her eyes and said, "Master, I've found you another disciple, aren't you happy?"

  The middle-aged Taoist gave Qitian a glance.

  "Come with me to pay respects to our ancestors."

  At once, the middle-aged Taoist picked up the gourd, shook it, and said in doubt: "No more wine."

  "I have it here."

  Yun Fei hastily handed over a jade-colored wine gourd.

  The Taoist opened the gourd and hastily poured a mouthful. In an instant, a formless aura of sharpness rose up.

  "Draw your sword!"

  The Taoist's right hand formed a sword, and with a slight movement in the air, three streams of wine suddenly shot out from the wine gourd, condensing into three transparent water swords that floated three feet above the ground.

  The Taoist took a light step forward and stood calmly on top of a sword made of water.

  "It's Master Shifu's sword technique, Brother, let's go up, don't be afraid."

  Qitian looked at everything in front of him, feeling as if he was in a dream. This was indeed the method of the immortal family, riding on a sword and moving forward, not those illusory and mysterious legends of gods and ghosts.

  Watching Yun Fei jump onto the first Water Sword, Qi Tian no longer hesitated and jumped onto the third Water Sword.

  "Get up!"

  The Taoist pointed his sword and drew a stroke, three mouths of water swords suddenly rose into the air and shot towards a mountain like a sword.

  A fierce gust of wind whizzed past his ear, and on the surface of the Water Sword, there was an invisible sharp edge that kept everything at bay. The clouds and mist on both sides dispersed, and from time to time, a few immortal cranes and spirit birds could be seen flitting by. Underfoot, the spiritual veins of the sacred mountain surged, and purple energy rose up to the sky. Qi Tian only felt a refreshing air rising in his chest, and he couldn't help but let out a long sigh of admiration.

  The howling continued unabated for a dozen breaths before finally ceasing.

  Qitian's face turned slightly red: "I was rude, and made a fool of myself in front of Shixiong and Shifu."

  Yun Fei burst out laughing and said: "Younger brother is really sentimental, when Master took me on my first sword flight, I was shouting for an even longer time than you."

  The middle-aged Taoist took a sip of wine and glanced at him, saying: "Not bad, you've been crying for almost half an hour."

  "Master, you——"

  Yun Fei stumbled and almost fell into the water sword, his face flushing bright red.

  Qitian smiled slightly at the corners of his mouth as he gazed at everything in front of him. Although this master and apprentice didn't speak much, they were more like family than anyone else.

  Jianfeng is one of the nine sacred mountains of Qingyun Sect, with a height of over 1,000 zhang, piercing into the sky, its entire body resembling a heavenly sword that connects to the nine heavens.

  On the top of the sword peak, grass and trees are lush, spiritual springs gurgle, hundreds of flowers bloom, on the top of the peak there is a purple air as a canopy, auspicious energy rises, immortal mist surrounds, like thousands of silk ribbons hanging down.

  Three people rode on swords and fell down halfway up the mountain of Sword Peak.

  On the waist of the mountain, apart from a few celestial pavilions, there is only a patch of purple bamboo forest. The purple bamboo is like jade, crystal clear and translucent, with a layer of pale purple light all over it, emitting a faint fragrance. Each stem of purple bamboo seems to have a floating water light, rippling and sparkling.

  Yun Fei smiled and said: "From now on, Purple Bamboo Forest will no longer be just mine alone."

  Qitian was somewhat surprised and asked: "Isn't there anyone else at Jianfeng?"

  Yun Fei heard this and couldn't help but smile wryly, shaking his head: "If there were other people, I wouldn't have to come down the mountain every day. It's just that I want to see if I can run into one or two ordinary people with a predestined connection to immortality, so I can guide them to my Sword Peak. Unfortunately, except for a few at the beginning, they all ended up joining other sects."

  "Could it be that the way of the sword has truly declined?"

  "Not bad," Yun Fei nodded reluctantly, "Throughout the entire Eastern Divine State, it's all like this. The Sword Path hasn't declined, it's not our fault as cultivators. It's said that during the ancient and modern transition, the Sword Path received heavenly punishment. After that, my Sword Path's spiritual vein, even if we cultivate to the same level as the Law Path's spiritual vein, can no longer surpass them. Moreover, for the Sword Path to achieve greatness is more difficult than the Law Path. That's why until now, throughout the entire Eastern Divine State, the Sword Path has withered away, and my Sword Peak's lineage only managed to barely survive until today because 5,000 years ago, we once produced a half-immortal who could compare to the Dragon Gate realm."

  At this point, Yun Fei couldn't help but take a cautious glance at the Taoist priest, and seeing that he hadn't gotten angry, he let out a sigh of relief in his heart.

  "Follow me."

  The Taoist walked towards a mountain of immortals, the gourd still pouring without stopping. The many wines and waters entered his belly, seemingly not even creating a ripple.

  Xian Que was famous for its Jian Ge, which was built with bluestone and had many sword marks on it. These sword marks seemed to be in disarray, but to Qi Tian, they appeared to contain some profound sword principles. However, due to his limited realm, he couldn't see through them clearly and could only slowly comprehend them later.

  Rumble...

  The gate of Jianmen opened, and it was dusty. The Taoist priest swept his sleeves, and the countless dust particles instantly gathered in mid-air, forming a mud ball that was swept out of the door.

  Qitian was stunned: "This Sword Pavilion——"

  Yun Fei looked a bit embarrassed and said, "Yes, this Sword Pavilion was last opened two years ago when the last disciple of Jian Feng went up the mountain. Since then, no more disciples have come to Jian Feng, so there's been no one to take care of it."

  Entering the Sword Pavilion is like entering a temple in the mortal world, where tablets are enshrined to worship the ancestors of the Sword Peak's generations. Behind many tablets, there is also a Daoist statue several meters high.

  He looked like a young Daoist, his face stern and majestic, standing with his hands behind his back, his sleeves fluttering in the wind. Although he was just standing there, it seemed as if an unmatched sharp aura was bursting forth from him, and the entire Sword Pavilion seemed to be trapped within his sharp aura.

  Qitian was shocked in his heart, a mere Daoist statue, actually had such sharp edges, Qitian couldn't imagine that if the other party were alive, their swordsmanship would have reached what kind of heaven-shattering and earth-splitting level.

  "This is Jianfeng's founding ancestor, Xuanjian Shangren, and also the only sword immortal in Jianfeng's history who cultivated the Sword Immortal Way to the realm of Sword Spirit. Once you pay respects to the ancestor, you are considered a disciple of Jianfeng."

  The Taoist's voice was weak and powerless, completely lacking the demeanor of a superior being. Qi Tian didn't think much of it, and immediately knelt down on the prayer mat in front of the statue, respectfully kowtowing three times.

  "Alright, from today on, you will be the 16th generation disciple of Jian Feng. The 15th generation is the Ming character generation, my master's name is Ming Jian, and the 16th generation is the Wu character generation. You can choose your own Daoist name. For cultivation, let Yun Xiaozi teach you first, if you don't understand, go to the back mountain to find me. I'm tired, I'll take a nap first."

  Ming Jian Dao Ren said, opening his mouth to yawn twice, then turned around and walked out of the Sword Pavilion. His steps were not big, but his speed was incredibly fast. Every step he took had a distance of several zhang, and in an instant, he disappeared outside the Sword Pavilion.

  "Master he——"

  "He's always been like that, every day is either drinking or sleeping in the back mountain. At first, I also brought a sword book to ponder and find him to point out the time, it's not as convenient as going to the Cangjing Pavilion to look at some of the predecessors' gains." Yunfei patted Qitian on the shoulder and pulled him away, "To say, in my Sword Peak, there are also better places than other eight peaks. At least, in Sword Peak, there is no forbidden land, we can come and go freely, like the other eight peaks, the Cangjing Pavilion is heavily guarded, Brother Master, I can drink wine inside without anyone caring."

  Being pulled by Yun Fei, Qi Tian couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time, not knowing whether joining this Sword Peak would bring good fortune or disaster. (Rushing to the new book chart, brothers and sisters, please cast your recommendation votes for "Ten Steps", those who haven't collected it yet, also click to add to your bookshelf, Ten Steps thanks you!)