My Sword Has a Way

Bluebirds are singing and the sun is setting.

Xiao County is a water city. It is late autumn at this time of year, and the sun is setting in the west.

There were a few wild geese perched on the old locust trees on both sides of the street. After the autumn wind blew, endless fallen leaves fluttered down, and the entire Yishui City seemed to be covered with a layer of golden armor.

At this time, pedestrians on the street were hurrying, busying themselves for the day's livelihood. Even the storyteller at the street tea stall seemed to be running out of strength, and his voice became hoarse and lower.

"It is said that at that time, at the White Tiger Peak of the Purple Yuan Mountain, the sky was filled with rosy clouds, and immortal music was lingering. Between the white clouds and the dark sky, the immortal gate opened wide. After climbing the 7749 steps of the immortal ladder, Wutong ascended to the immortal world and entered the Jade Emperor's Court." At this point, the storyteller took a sip of tea, paused for a moment, and continued:

"Speaking of this, we have to mention the two disciples under the Immortal. The eldest disciple is called Li Qingping. He was successful at a young age and passed the imperial examination. After awakening his spiritual roots, he resigned from his post and became a disciple of the Immortal of Wutong Pavilion. He practiced immortal arts and obtained the Immortal's lower level 72 sword techniques. After practicing for 37 years, he entered the Golden Elixir stage. He can be said to be a natural talent of the highest rank!

The second disciple was named Changsun Jueming. He was weak when he was young, so his father Changsun Hongye sent him to Wutong Pavilion to practice immortal arts in order to strengthen his body. Changsun Jueming entered Taoism at the age of nine, and after seventeen years of practice, he reached the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage, and was just one step away from forming a golden elixir. His talent was top-notch. After the Immortal ascended to heaven, he inherited the Immortal's mantle and practiced the Thirty-Six Sword Decisions of the Supreme Level. "At this point, seeing the fascination on everyone's faces, he suddenly sighed.

At this time, a young peddler was listening intently. Suddenly, there was a thunderous sound. Looking up, he saw the storyteller banging the wooden block on the table and saying:

"What can we do? This Li Qingping, who has passed the imperial examination, is actually a person who seeks fame and reputation and deceives the world. In order to break through the shackles of the realm, he did not care about the means. After the immortal ascended, he used the cultivation resources for him, killed innocent people, and destroyed the sect. Later, there was even worse. In order to obtain the superior skills, he killed the wife and daughter of his fellow junior brother. He fought with Changsun Jueming on the bank of the Lingjiang River. The two of them drew their swords 108 times, and the two peaks on the river bank were 100 feet lower. It was really terrifying."

At this point, the middle-aged storyteller stood up, bowed, and said, "Everyone, this is the end of the story today. To know what happens next, please listen to the details tomorrow." After that, all the guests left and the middle-aged man packed up his things.

Not far away, behind an old locust tree, a slovenly old man carrying a bundle of cattails laughed at himself after listening to the story. He turned his head to look at the young peddler, raised the corners of his mouth slightly, turned around and walked towards the west city.

Seeing that everyone had left, the young vendor returned to his stall, tidying up the stall while calculating today's income. Looking at the remaining two pairs of straw sandals on the stall, the young man smiled bitterly and stuffed them into the package.

The young man was about fourteen or fifteen years old, about seven feet tall, with an ordinary appearance but an extremely sharp look in his eyes.

The boy's name is Ning Tianhe. He is the son of Ning Fengyang, the former head of the Ning family in Yishui City, and his mother is Yue Rushang.

The Ning family was originally a cultivator family. Although it was not as powerful as some of the great sects, it still had many cultivators at its peak. It was only because eleven years ago, the Ning family offended the Wu Palace and was attacked and killed by Chu Zhenqing, the chief priest of the Wu Palace.

Ning Fengyang fought against Chu Zhenqing, who was at the Yuanling stage, with his peak cultivation of the Hualing stage. Unfortunately, he was killed by Chu Zhenqing, and his mother Yue Rushuang was also seriously injured. In order to protect his young grandson Ning Tianhe, Ning Kaishan, the old patriarch of the Ning family, held back the chief priest of the Prince Wu's Mansion alone, which allowed the mother and son to escape.

Later, in order to avoid being hunted down by the Prince of Wu's Palace, the mother and son changed their identities and lived a pastoral life.

Afterwards, Ning Kaishan was seriously injured and died. Ning Tianhe's third uncle Ning Yuanbo paid compensation of 100,000 taels of gold, countless precious medicinal materials and a natural warm jade, which saved the family and prevented the family from being destroyed.

Later, in order to prevent the Wu Palace from causing trouble for the Ning family again, the Ning family stripped Ning Fengyang of his position as the head of the family and expelled him from the family tree forever. Ning Yuanbo then took over the position of the head of the family. Since then, the Ning family in Yishui City has gradually declined and has now become a small, second-rate family.

After the young man packed up his stall, he looked at the silver in his hand and thought, "I only have 40 cents today. I'll use 30 cents to buy medicine for my mother, and the remaining 10 cents can be used to buy some food..."

However, at this moment, an arrogant and harsh voice on the street interrupted the boy's thoughts.

"Everyone, be honest with me! If anyone doesn't pay the protection fee today, I, Xiong Sanjiang, will give him a leg!!"

"Oh yes, I am Xiong Sihai too!"

The two men who were talking had faces as black as ink, were eight feet tall, and had broad backs and strong arms. Behind them were a dozen minions. They were members of the Black Bear Gang.

Suddenly, everyone in front of the stall was in a panic, and a dozen minions were ready to come forward and demand money.

Seeing this, the young man stepped back, slightly avoiding the sight of the group of people. He turned around and was about to escape, but was spotted by a thug who looked up and immediately shouted, "Damn it! Stop right there!"

Suddenly, everyone's eyes were fixed on the young man. The big man named Xiong Sanjiang smiled sinisterly, and four or five people ran out from behind him and stopped the young man in the middle.

The young man immediately danced and shouted: "Aba Aba, Aba Aba Aba..."

The middle-aged man walked forward, lowered his head and looked at the boy and said, "Mute, right? Today, I, Xiong Sihai, am kind-hearted. As long as you hand over all the money you have, I will not make things difficult for you! But if you dare to run away again next time, I will really take your legs!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard people talking and pointing in front of the nearby stalls.

The big man named Xiong Sanjiang was furious and said, "Shut up, everyone! I'm going to collect money now. If anyone dares to play tricks again, I'll kill him!!"

At this time, a vendor said, "Fourth Master, can you order less? Today...ah!"

Before the man could finish his words, he was knocked to the ground by a lackey. A man named Xiong Sihai stepped forward, stepped on the fallen vendor and said, "Don't play a pity show for me. If you don't hand it over today, I'll leave you a leg! Do you want money? Or do you want a leg? Huh!?"

The peddler looked at the ferocious-looking man in front of him and cried out, "I'll pay! ... Fourth Master, I'll pay! ... Stop hitting me... Stop hitting me!"

Xiong Sanjiang next to him waved his finger, and the minions stopped. The vendor tremblingly took out a purse from his waist, which looked like it had about 60 or 70 coins. Xiong Sihai grabbed the purse and handed it to Xiong Sanjiang.

Looking at the purse in his hand, Xiong Sanjiang sneered: "You are such a jerk. Why didn't you take it out earlier? You are such a jerk!"

Seeing this situation, everyone dared not have any other thoughts and took out money to eliminate the disaster.

Then Xiong Sanjiang suddenly remembered something, turned his head and looked at the boy again and said angrily: "I think I recognize you! You are the boy who tested the spiritual roots with my young master in the City Lord's Mansion some time ago!!"

The middle-aged man walked closer, looked at the young man for a few times, and said sarcastically: "Boy, you are just a mud-legged peasant, and you still want to become a high-ranking monk. You really overestimate your own abilities. You even tried to deceive me just now! Do you really think I'm easy to fool?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the boy was kicked to the ground. Then several people found ten cents on his body. They looked at the boy with contempt and walked away stepping on the packages scattered on the ground.

The crowd watching nearby were all talking about the young man. Someone said, "I heard that becoming a cultivator is very demanding. You have to have some spiritual roots. It seems that except for the cultivators in East City, there are not many in West City, right?"

The old man next to him continued, "Who says it's not true? I heard that our West City also had several cultivators some time ago. They were personally identified by the outer sect elders of the Red Fire Sect. It caused a sensation at the time."

The man next to him said, "I've heard about this, too. It seems that the young leader of the Black Bear Gang is among them. He's really lucky. Unlike some people, who are poor peasants and have no idea that they are born to work hard, but they dream of becoming monks that others laugh at. Alas! How pitiful."

Ning Tianhe listened to the harsh discussions around him with an expressionless face, picked up the scattered packages that were stepped on and soiled, patted the dust off them with his hands, stood up, looked at the people from the Black Bear Gang, clenched his fists, and felt full of humiliation!

Xiong Sanjiang saw the boy looking at him and taunted him, "Tsk tsk, I like this kind of look the most. Come and hit me if you dare!"

Ning Tianhe didn't say anything, turned around and walked back to the stall. Seeing that the young man ignored him, Xiong Sanjiang said again: "What a coward! If you dare to make fun of me again next time, I will really make you a mute!" After that, he left with everyone.

Ning Tianhe found the remaining thirty cents on the stone slab behind the stall. Looking at the backs of the Black Bear Gang members as they walked away, the young man lowered his head.

He clearly remembered that at the spiritual root testing ceremony held in the City Lord's Mansion a month ago, an old tester named Zhang Hai looked at him and said calmly: "Your spiritual roots are not obvious, your talent is mediocre, this boy is not suitable for cultivation!"

These words seemed to send the young man falling from heaven to hell. The young man suspected that the old man had seen it wrong, and asked the old man to check again, but was ruthlessly rejected by the old man. Finally, the young man seemed to remember something, glanced at his dantian, and silently walked out of the City Lord's Mansion.

The young man came back to his senses, looked at the silver in his hand and said, "I wish I were a monk too!"

After saying that, he dusted himself off and walked slowly towards the direction of West City.