107: Chapter 107 Sword Cultivator

Chapter 108 Sword Cultivator (An extra chapter for Jiang She!)

Luoxi Mouth was much livelier than Qinggeng Slope.

Although Qinggeng Slope had recently opened spirit fields and was inhabited by the lineage of Ji Hanzhou, with the Chen and Yao families visiting, it had been established for too short a time, and the fields and houses all carried a sense of haste.

Luoxi Mouth was different; Jiang Chengning had begun focusing on developing resources here quite early. The paddy fields were vast, with Formation Flags hidden beneath the ridges, and the area along the stream had slowly been built up from a small mountain village into courtyards and granaries.

Spring rain fell in a drizzle, the stream had risen slightly, and people wearing straw rain capes were walking back and forth between the field ridges.

Thin wisps of cooking smoke rose from several newly built courtyards, mingling with the rainy air, presenting a scene of stability and prosperity.

Sun Jingan pushed open the courtyard gate, followed by several servants.

He was wearing a newly made blue short cloak, and his shoe soles were stained with mud, evidently having just walked back through the water along the field edges.

The servants behind him carried conical hats and sword racks, and one held a small yellow puppy in their arms that had been soaked by the rain.

The puppy was shivering, but Sun Jingan didn't even glance at it, walking straight into the house.

Inside the room, Sun Jingcheng was leaning on a chair, eating fruit.

A servant was kneeling at his feet, wiping the mud off his boots.

When Sun Jingcheng saw Sun Jingan enter, he casually tossed the fruit core to the side. The servant failed to catch it, and the core rolled onto the ground. Sun Jingcheng frowned and kicked him.

"Clumsy."

The servant quickly lowered his head to pick it up.

Sun Jingan paid no attention to this, his gaze immediately falling upon the young man to Sun Jingcheng's left.

The young man looked to be in his early twenties, dressed in a grey-white short robe, his hem dampened by the rain, sitting in a very relaxed posture.

Leaning behind him was a long, cloth-wrapped object, bundled tightly, shaped like a sword.

The young man's cultivation was roughly at the second layer of Qi Condensation, but there was an indescribable arrogance in his brows and eyes; he did not rush to curry favor like ordinary Loose Cultivators did when they saw Cultivators from the Sun Family.

As soon as Sun Jingan saw the cloth bundle, his eyes lit up.

"Brother!" He hurried over, crouching directly next to the young man, "Is that a sword behind you?"

The young man smiled.

"You could say that."

"A Sword Cultivator?"

"I have studied it for a few days."

Sun Jingan became even more excited.

"Then teach me how to practice the sword! Sword Cultivators are so cool!"

Sun Jingcheng let out a snort of laughter.

"Yesterday you said you wanted to cultivate Thunder magic, the day before you said you wanted to raise a Spirit Beast, and the day before that you were pestering Master Wen about Formations—and today you want to practice the sword?"

Sun Jingan did not blush in the slightest.

"That's because I've finally met a real Sword Cultivator." As he spoke, he turned back and scolded the servants, "What are you standing there for? Serve my brother some tea!"

The servants responded in succession and hurried off.

The small yellow puppy in the servant's arms let out a whimper. Only then did Sun Jingan remember it, waving his hand in disgust.

"Take it away and wipe it clean, don't dirty the room."

The servant hurriedly carried the puppy away.

Both of them were recently admitted Cultivators of the Sun Family, having reached the Rain Water stage, so the clan inevitably spoiled them a bit.

Sun Changshui often scolded and beat them, but the clan elders could not bear to be too strict.

The servants and maids bought from the nearby mortal villages were mostly arranged to serve the two of them in their studies and cultivation.

Sun Jingan had thus developed a personality where he wanted everything he saw, and if he wanted it, he would reach out and take it.

Sun Jingcheng was slightly better than him, knowing whose food the Sun Family was currently relying on.

But he had also been coddled by the clan elders since childhood, so his temper was not good either; scolding servants and putting on airs were common occurrences.

The tea was soon brought up.

Sun Jingan personally pushed the teacup toward the young man, smiling obsequiously.

"Brother, have some tea."

The young man picked up the teacup, lowered his head to sniff it, appearing not in a hurry to drink.

His gaze swept across the people in the room, then landed on the short sword at Sun Jingan's waist, which was more decorative than practical.

"Do you really want to learn the sword?"

"Of course!" Sun Jingan nodded immediately.

Sun Jingcheng also became interested and put down his fruit.

"If you can really teach, I'll learn a few Moves too."

The corners of the young man's mouth seemed to hold a hint of a smile.

"The sword is not easy to learn."

Sun Jingan did not care at all.

"Can it be harder than cultivation? I only just entered the Dao this year, and the Clan Chief said that as long as I don't slack off, I have a chance to reach the second layer of Qi Condensation within three years."

Sun Jingcheng undermined him from the side: "The Clan Chief said that only if you cause less trouble within three years will you have a chance to reach the second layer of Qi Condensation."

Sun Jingan rolled his eyes.

The young man watched the two bicker, the smile in his eyes deepening, not rushing to reply.

He was waiting for something.

Sure enough, before long, a servant brought in hot tea again and said in a low voice: "Young Masters, word has come from the riverside that the Shoushan lord from the main family has arrived."

Sun Jingcheng was stunned.

"Jiang Shoushan?"

The servant nodded.

"They say he came this morning and is currently sitting by the stream meditating. I don't know why he isn't staying at Baili Mountain."

Sun Jingan immediately lost interest.

"What is he here for? That man is always straight-faced, looking terrifying."

Although Sun Jingcheng did not like Jiang Shoushan either, he thought a bit more than Sun Jingan and asked: "Does the Clan Chief know?"

"Someone has already gone to report it."

After the servant answered, he lowered his head and retreated.

The hand of the young man holding the teacup paused slightly, then quickly returned to normal.

He looked up toward the window; the spring rain was dense, and water trails flowed down the stone steps in the courtyard.

"Someone is meditating by the stream?"

Sun Jingan waved his hand.

"Forget about him. It's not the first day or two that people from the Jiang Family have come to Luoxi Mouth."

The young man smiled and said: "Sword practice is most afraid of being crowded and having many eyes. If there is someone on the main road by the stream, why don't we go to the southern embankment? It's near the boundary, the place is wide, and it's quiet."

Once Sun Jingan heard he could go out, he immediately became spirited.

"Alright!"

Sun Jingcheng hesitated for a moment.

"The southern embankment? That's far from the patrol Formation, the Clan Chief will scold us if he finds out."

Sun Jingan was impatient.

"What are you afraid of? We are two Cultivators who have entered the Dao, can we really get lost? Besides, it's just practicing the sword, not going to the east of the river."

Sun Jingcheng was still not very reassured, his gaze sweeping over the cloth bundle behind the young man.

The young man seemed to see his hesitation, stood up, and picked up the cloth bundle.

"If you two feel it's inconvenient, then forget it."

Sun Jingan could not stand others pushing things away like this.

He immediately said: "Let's go!"

After speaking, he looked back at the servants in the room with a fierce expression.

"Today we are going out through the back door, you are not allowed to talk nonsense. Whoever dares to run their mouth to the Clan Chief, I will pull out their tongue."

The servants turned pale and hurriedly agreed.

Sun Jingcheng frowned, thought for a moment, and added: "And don't scare them. If the Clan Chief asks, just say we went to the east paddy fields to check the Formation Flags."

Sun Jingan muttered: "You are just troublesome."

Sun Jingcheng glared at him.

"You are the one who will be beaten to death by the Clan Chief sooner or later."

The two of them bickered while following the young man out through the back door.

The spring rain fell on the tiles, dense and silent.

The young man walked in front, his grey-white short robe dampened by the rain, the cloth bundle behind him motionless.

By the stream at Luoxi Mouth.

Jiang Shoushan sat cross-legged on a cold, damp blue stone.

Spring rain fell on the surface of the stream, creating ripples.

In the distance, someone was carrying water in straw capes, and someone was leading an ox across the bridge; when the sounds reached within ten zhang of Jiang Shoushan, they seemed to be dampened and lowered.

The rain fell slowly, and the stream flowed slowly.

Jiang Shoushan closed his eyes, his palms resting lightly on his knees.

A wisp of Winter Solstice spiritual energy dissipated from around his body.

The method of the Winter Solstice—cold is only the appearance.

What the Winter Solstice takes is the moment when the Yang Qi of a year is hidden, all things return to their roots, and vitality sinks deep into the ground.

Grain Rain makes vitality sprout, Spring Equinox makes Yin and Yang balanced.

And Winter Solstice is to let all restless Qi slowly return to silence.

Jiang Shoushan had been pondering this point these days.

His saber technique was already quiet by nature.

Now that he had obtained the Qi of the Winter Solstice, his Saber Intent was even more like an undercurrent beneath a frozen river in deep winter.

Once it entered the body, it could make the enemy's Qi gradually lag and solidify in their Meridians.

Jiang Shoushan raised his hand.

A newly fallen tender leaf by the stream was blown by the wind; before it could fall into the water, it paused slightly in mid-air.

Its green color slightly converged, the leaf body drooped, and it fell lightly onto the stone, devoid of any hint of spring.

Jiang Shoushan opened his eyes.

He looked at that leaf, his brows slightly furrowed.

It was not enough.

If the Winter Solstice is only used to slow down Qi, it is ultimately not a true technique.

If he could take it a step further and force the enemy's momentary surge of vitality into a state of 'hiding', then when fighting, a single slash would be able to cut off their Qi.

A few figures flashed across the southern embankment.

The two juniors of the Sun Family were following a young man in a grey-white short robe toward the south.

The grey-robed young man's peripheral vision was constantly fixed on the riverside.

He saw that the rain by the stream was very strange.

Within ten zhang, the spring rain seemed to be suppressed by some invisible force, falling sluggishly, and even the stream water was not as lively as elsewhere.

The information given by the Han Family was not wrong; Jiang Shoushan had indeed become a force to be reckoned with.

If this person stayed at Luoxi Mouth, he could only first think of a way to make him leave, or make him unable to make a Move in time.

The young man withdrew his gaze, a smile hanging on his face again.

Sun Jingan was already impatient.

"Brother, hurry up, teach me that Move that breaks ten thousand laws with one sword."

The young man smiled and said: "Where is there any technique that can break ten thousand laws right from the start?"

He walked to the edge of the embankment and untied the cloth bundle behind him.

The layers of cloth unfurled, revealing a long sword without a scabbard inside.

The sword body was grey-white, with no brilliant light.

Sun Jingan stared, his eyes fixed.

Sun Jingcheng also could not help but lean closer.

The young man held the sword with one hand, pointing it forward casually, the tip of the sword stopping in the rain.

The fine rain fell onto it, actually splitting apart along the two sides of the sword body.

He smiled.

"First, learn to hold the sword."

Sun Jingan was startled.

"Just this?"

The young man said: "If you can't even hold the sword steadily, what is there to talk about being a Sword Cultivator."

Sun Jingan still wanted to complain, but Sun Jingcheng had already reached out to take a wooden sword, standing still and imitating the young man's posture.

Seeing him practicing first, Sun Jingan did not want to fall behind and snatched another wooden sword.

The young man stood in the rain, patiently guiding the two, occasionally correcting them with his voice.

But the corner of his eye, through the rain curtain, always fell vaguely upon the silent figure by the stream.