Chapter Fifteen: The Stone

  (New book release, seeking collection and recommendation votes!)

  Ten days later, a wine sword fell into the purple bamboo forest, turning into a sky full of fine rain, sprinkling on the two people of Qi Tian.

  "It's Master's Imperial Sword Technique, summoning us to the back mountain."

  Ten days of being locked up, at this moment I see a Taoist priest summoning me, and Yun Fei's eyebrows suddenly open with a smile.

  Two people came to the back mountain, next to a hundred-meter-high fairy waterfall, and saw a Taoist priest snoring and sleeping on a large bluestone.

  The waterfall cascades down, like a true dragon descending from the sky, plunging into the deep pool, with a majestic and powerful roar, as if the heavenly drums are beating, shaking people's hearts.

  Qitian and Yunfei exchanged a glance, but neither of them knew how Mingjian had fallen asleep.

  Arriving beside the large green stone, Yun Fei's spirit energy surged as he loudly shouted: "Master!"

  He called out three times, and Mingjian saw that the Taoist priest slowly opened his eyes. He was disheveled, with black hair like ink, somewhat disheveled. As soon as he woke up, he poured a mouthful of purple bamboo wine into his mouth.

  The two of them couldn't help but fall silent for a moment. It turned out that he had been holding onto the wine gourd all along, and even when he fell asleep, he hadn't let go of it.

  Ming Jian Dao Ren glanced at the two of them, swung his sleeve, and in the deep pool, a transparent water curtain hundreds of feet high was suddenly raised. The crystal-clear water curtain separated the immortal waterfall from view, and the deafening roar that had been shaking the air instantly vanished.

  "Master, I——"

  Yun Fei was about to say something, but Ming Jian Dao Ren waved his hand and said, "Can't dissipate the sword energy, is that right?"

  Although it was an inquiry, Ming Xian Dao Ren did not show the slightest hint of questioning in his tone. Yun Fei nodded repeatedly and said: "Yes, I have been cultivating bitterly for ten days, but no matter what, I couldn't guide a wisp of sword energy into my body. When the sword energy enters my body, the Dao orifice feels like it's being torn apart, and my flesh is about to collapse, making it impossible to continue."

  Ming Jian Dao Ren looked at Qi Tian: "Do you know why?"

  He furrowed his brow and shook his head.

  Ming saw the Taoist person glance at him unintentionally and said, "En, I don't know what's good. The 72 earthly fiends, the 36 heavenly punishments, breaking the 72 heavy towers, must be cautious, a tree that can be hugged, grows from a tiny sprout; a nine-story pagoda, rises from a pile of earth; a thousand-mile journey, starts from under one's feet. Only when the foundation is solid can one climb to the top of a hundred-foot pole and advance further."

  Thirty-five pieces of low-grade Golden Spirit Stone, all absorbed, helped Qitian to open up thirty-five ways of the Daoist aperture. Adding the ten days of bitter cultivation after Yunfei returned, Qitian had already opened up a full fifty-six ways of the Daoist aperture.

  Yun Fei was somewhat puzzled by the Taoist's words, but Qi Tian was secretly shocked, as if the Taoist had seen through his cultivation with one glance.

  He turned around, swaying, and poured two or three mouthfuls of wine from the gourd into his mouth. Mingjian pointed to a giant stone in the deep pool that was as tall as a person, with a dark greenish-black color, and said: "You see this stone, can you tell what's special about it?"

  "Rock?"

  Yun Fei stared at the stone in a daze, the celestial waterfall cascaded down like a dragon, as if it had fallen from the ninth heaven, wave after wave crashing against the giant stone. The surface of the stone was already smooth as a mirror, revealing a layer of dark light that seemed to be only an inch thick. This giant stone also had its years, exuding a sense of vicissitudes of life, like an ancient god, sitting in the depths of the celestial waterfall.

  "This old stone is at least over a hundred years old."

  Boom!

  "Ah yo!"

  Yun Fei shouted in pain, but it was clear that Dao Ren had smashed down an old gourd. He glared and said: "How did I end up with you, this foolish goods? This stone is old, of course it's old! This stone was thrown down by your Xuan Jian ancestor 5,000 years ago! Alas, I'm as confused as you are!"

  Ming Jian saw that Dao Ren was about to fall, and Yun Fei saw that the situation was not good, so he quickly dodged his body and hid behind Qi Tian.

  "Master, it's not good to hit people on the head, you'll make them stupid. But then who will brew wine for you?"

  Yun Fei stretched out half of his head, shouting on top of Qi Tian's shoulder, making Ming Jian Dao Ren so angry that he blew his mustache and glared with his eyes wide open, the messy whiskers almost stood up straight.

  "You said!"

  Yun Fei's words made Ming Jian lose his temper. He let out a cold snort and headed towards Qi Tian Dao.

  After a moment of contemplation, Qitian spoke up: "Master, that rock, five thousand years ago, was probably a small mountain."

  He raised an eyebrow and saw Daoist look at him for a moment before saying, "Continue speaking."

  Qitian nodded, pointing to the dark green giant stone that was barely floating on the surface of the water, and said: "Five thousand years ago, this giant stone was like a small mountain. Five thousand years later, it's only as tall as a person. This seems to be the erosion of the giant waterfall, but in fact, it is the polishing of endless years. Looking at the texture of the stone, the lines are almost connected as one body. For five thousand years, the essence of the sun and moon has been shining on it, and there is a black light born from it. Its quality is probably already enough to refine a Taoist instrument."

  "Not bad, this is a small mountain that has been compressed by the weight of 5,000 years, although it's only one person high, it weighs as much as 10,000 jun, can be used to refine three-grade earth-traversing artifacts, and can be suppressed by a Daoist in the realm of recognizing spirits, even a small mountain would collapse."

  "In the eyes of Qitian, there seemed to be a divine light flashing, and he said: 'Master wants us to look at this stone, in fact, it is to tell me and my senior brother that the way of the sword is like this material, which needs to go through thousands of hammering and hundreds of refining before it can be accomplished. Simply bitter practice is just ordinary grinding, cannot change its nature, and cannot mix and condense into one.'"

  Behind him, Yun Fei took two steps forward and patted his forehead twice, suddenly enlightened: "How did I not think of that."

  Ming Jian saw Dao Ren glance at him, but didn't respond, instead looking towards Qitian. After a long silence, he finally said: "Have you ever practiced swordsmanship?"

  Qitian shook his head and said: "I only remembered the true meaning, comprehended the sword techniques of various schools, but never practiced a single move or style."

  Ming Jian saw that the person's eyes were shining, and he nodded, saying: "You indeed have some accumulation, unlike Yun Fei. I didn't expect that an ordinary person could also have a understanding of the sword path. This person is a great talent."

  He paused for a moment, and Mingjian Dao Ren shook his head and said: "Unfortunately, the ancient times do not allow two Sword Sages to coexist. Otherwise, another astonishing Sword Sage would have emerged."

  As he spoke, Ming Jian let out a long sigh, the gourd rose again, and another mouthful of purple bamboo wine was poured down. The fragrant liquor splashed down, causing Yun Fei's eyes to light up, and she swallowed hard, her throat dry.

  "Hey kid, take a sip!"

  Ming saw Dao Ren throw a gourd, which fell into Qi Tian's arms. Qi Tian was slightly startled, then smiled and tilted his head to take a big sip. The pale purple, crystal-clear, sticky Zizhu wine flowed out of the corner of his mouth, and every drop made Yun Fei's heart ache and frown on one side.

  Ming saw the Taoist but didn't care about him, stretched out his hand and beckoned, the wine gourd flew back through the air. He pointed with one finger, and the purple gourd, which still had a crack of about an inch long, rotated, faintly emitting the sound of a sword being unsheathed. A layer of invisible sharp energy emerged, cutting through the air, and condensed into a tangible airflow around the gourd.

  "Daoqi!" Yunfei exclaimed in surprise.

  Ming Jian saw Dao Ren glance at him and snorted: "Who says that Sword Immortal has only sword, no other magic weapons?"

  "The Way of the Sword also has its own Daoist instruments!" Qi Tian's eyes lit up in front of him.

  "Not bad, this is a Taoist instrument that can only be refined by the people of my sword path. My Sword Immortal has one way to call it a sword instrument, and the Taoist instrument refined by the Sword Immortal's method," Mingjian Dao Ren said, "Still not coming up."

  A purple gourd appeared, large and small mountains rose, a warm purple light filled the air, gentle as jade. Two people leaped up to the sky, clearly seeing a Taoist sitting cross-legged, pointing with his sword, shouting lightly: "Rise!"

  The wine gourd swayed, and in an instant it cut through the air, shooting towards the distant mountains.

  As soon as the sword moved, it immediately attracted the attention of the entire Qingyun Xianmen. On the eight peaks, many Taoists looked up at the sky with strange expressions on their faces.

  "Master, where are you taking us?"

  The surrounding winds were all blocked by the sharp edges, and Yun Fei walked to Ming Jian's side and pouted: "Master, I still haven't figured out how to disperse the sword energy!"

  Ming saw Dao Ren ignore him, only looking at the sky in front of him. The protective mountain array almost passed through with a crash, and a piece of ancient mountains suddenly appeared.

  "Barbarous mountain range, Master, are you going to take us to see the wild beasts? Or catch some spiritual beast? My Sword Peak is indeed lacking a guardian spirit beast."

  The Taoist priest still ignored him, his eyes slightly narrowed, and a faint humming sound began to emerge.

  He rolled his eyes, and Yun Fei plopped down on a gourd, closing his eyes to take a nap.

  As he gazed around at the misty air drifting away and the clouds floating gently, he felt the ancient aura of this land. Qi Tian took a deep breath, and he sensed that the beauty of this immortal realm was slowly unfolding before him. (New book, please collect and recommend votes!)