Gou Zai Xi You Dao Chang Sheng

Li Yan remained silent.

He looked at Zhou Ming.

The eyes are fully open.

The mirror of the heart hangs high.

Reflecting the vast universe.

Zhou Ming's aura was clear, peaceful, and serene.

The Dao's fluctuations are like a deep, still pool, without waves or ripples.

Inside the Niwan Palace, the Dao Tree remains unchanged, with a faint blue light flowing among its branches and leaves.

But at the top of the Dao Tree, where the flower of the primordial spirit should have bloomed, there was no sign of life.

There are no flowers.

No result.

It seemed as if there was no trace of the primordial spirit that had ever been conceived.

It was as if that battle where an arm was severed, that nascent Green Wood Sword Intent, and those days and nights spent on Fangcun Mountain...

It never existed.

"Sir?"

Seeing that he didn't answer, Zhou Ming asked again.

Li Yan then spoke:

"Shopkeeper, how much for that wooden sword on the wall?"

Zhou Ming smiled and said, "Sir, you have excellent taste."

Although these wooden swords are made of ordinary wood, they are all made of century-old oak wood that the craftsmen collected in the mountains. The wood has a fine texture and excellent toughness.

A three-foot-long sword, two taels of silver.

A four-foot-long sword, weighing three and a half ounces.

As he spoke, he observed Li Yan's overall demeanor and added:

"If you are a cultivator and wish to find a suitable magical artifact, I do have some materials here."

However, my skills are crude and I fear they will not meet the standards of a master.

Li Yan shook his head: "No need for magic weapons. I just want that three-foot-long sword."

He took out two taels of silver from his sleeve and placed them on the counter.

Zhou Ming took the money, removed the wooden sword, and presented it with both hands.

Li Yan touched the hilt of the sword.

The mirror of the heart reflects.

Although the sword was made of ordinary wood, it contained a faint trace of Daoist charm.

That wisp of Taoist charm.

It's Aoki.

It is sword intent.

It was a certain dusk, before the whetstone, where a young man wielded his sword three thousand times, his sweat and the light of the sword falling together in a stubborn display.

Seeing Li Yan holding his sword, seemingly lost in thought, Zhou Ming didn't urge him but waited quietly.

After a moment, Li Yan put the wooden sword into his sleeve and asked casually:

"Shopkeeper, I just passed by the statue of the Sword God in the mansion and saw that it was quite popular with worshippers."

May I ask, what is the origin of this True Yang Sword God?

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ming's expression shifted slightly.

He gazed in the direction of the stone statue, his eyes gentle:

"The True Yang Sword God is the benefactor who saved our entire family eight years ago."

"That year, I was not yet in the household, I was... I was..."

He frowned, as if trying to recall something, but his mind was completely blank.

"I can't remember clearly. I only remember that year, I walked outside the city, covered in blood."

"The people saved me, and after I recovered, I stayed."

"They say that eight years ago, there was a cultivator named Zhao Yuanqing who stood guard at the city gate with his sword, fighting demons alone."

"The demons have retreated, and so has he."

"The people, grateful for the kindness, pooled their money to erect this statue."

"We must offer sacrifices on this day every year."

"I don't have any special skills, so all I can do is carve a wooden sword every year around this time and place it in front of the statue."

Li Yan looked at him.

Zhou Ming looked back.

His gaze was calm, devoid of sorrow or joy.

He had completely forgotten.

They forgot that they were once the true disciples of Fangcun Mountain.

They've forgotten that battle that resulted in the loss of an arm.

They forgot their founder, fellow disciples, swordsmanship, and the pursuit of immortality.

He thought he was just an ordinary carpenter who had been rescued by luck.

Every year, he carves a wooden sword to repay the life-saving grace of his deceased benefactor.

Li Yan suddenly remembered those days.

Upon returning from Shattered Star Valley, Zhou Ming blocked the mountain path, the white cloth covering his severed arm stained with blood, his eyes red-rimmed.

"Senior Brother Li! Senior Brother Sun! Where have you been this past year? Something terrible has happened at Fangcun Mountain!"

That was the last time he grieved for the fall of his fellow disciples as a true disciple.

later.

He regenerated his severed arm and rebuilt his cultivation after a period of decline.

He abandoned alchemy and began to specialize in the Green Wood Sword Dao, practicing his swordsmanship three thousand times a day in front of the sword-sharpening stone.

The intent of the sword gradually arises, its sharpness concealed.

He thought he would become the second Zhao Yuanqing.

Holding the green wooden sword, he protects those who deserve his protection.

He thought he had found his way.

then.

Then he forgot.

While pondering, Li Yan withdrew his gaze.

He and Sun Wukong turned around and stepped out of the sword workshop.

Zhou Ming's voice came from behind:

"Please wait, gentlemen. If you find the sword comfortable, please come again."

Li Yan did not turn around.

He gripped the wooden sword hidden in his sleeve.

The faint, ethereal sword intent emanating from the wooden sword trembled slightly.

Then silence fell, like a sword being sheathed.

Outside the city, at Sanlipo.

The terrain here is slightly elevated, offering a panoramic view of the entire city.

On the slope stands a century-old locust tree, its branches and leaves flourishing, its shade like a canopy.

Li Yan and Sun Wukong stood under the tree.

The grey sable crouched among the branches, its amber eyes fixed on the stone statue in the mansion.

The jade rat poked its head out of Li Yan's arms, its small eyes unusually quiet.

"Senior brother."

Sun Wukong scratched his head, a complex look in his golden eyes.

"Junior Brother Zhou...does he really not remember us?"

Li Yan closed his eyes and concentrated, his mind mirror reflecting all the changes in qi he had just recorded in the sword workshop.

After a moment, he slowly spoke:

"His Dao tree is still there, and his cultivation has not dissipated."

However, the space for the primordial spirit flower in the Niwan Palace was empty.

There are two possibilities.

"Firstly, he dispersed his three flowers and sealed his primordial spirit, along with all his memories."

Secondly…

Li Yan paused for a moment:

"The patriarch has made his move."

Sun Wukong scratched his ear: "Master? Why?"

Li Yan looked at the statue of the Sword God.

The blue stone swordsman remained calm, his sword flashing three-tenths of an inch.

"After Junior Brother Zhou lost his arm, he was deeply obsessed with Senior Brother Zhao's death."

"He revived the Green Wood Sword Dao, wielding his sword three thousand times a day, perhaps so that one day he could take on the role of Senior Brother Zhao, slaying demons and monsters, and completing the Dao he had not yet finished."

"If this obsession is allowed to develop, it will either become the driving force for him to break through his bottleneck, or..."

"Become his inner demon."

"Black Wind Demon is a Three-Flower cultivator. If Junior Brother Zhou seeks revenge with the Dao Tree realm, he will surely die."

"Grandmaster..."

Li Yan paused:

"Perhaps the patriarch gave him a choice."

"Forget the past, forget the hatred, forget that you are a true disciple of Fangcun Mountain."

"To live peacefully in this city that Senior Brother Zhao protected with his life, with only a mortal body."

"In this way, it can also be considered another form of enlightenment."

Sun Wukong remained silent.

He gazed at the statue of the sword god, then looked at the small sword workshop.

After a long while, the monkey let out a rare sigh:

"My master... has a soft heart."

Li Yan remained silent.

There was a third thought in his mind, which he didn't voice.

The patriarch left Zhou Ming here, probably not to hide him, nor to cut off his path to enlightenment.

You must know that Senior Brother Zhao's path is not about how many people he kills with a single sword.

It wasn't just a sword that protected so many people.

The city still exists, the statue still stands, and every year people still remember to offer a wooden sword in front of the statue.

This is worth more than killing the Black Wind Demon a hundred times over.

Therefore, some swords are not in a hurry to be drawn at this moment.

While pondering, Li Yan withdrew his gaze:

"The most urgent task is to prepare a great gift for that Black Wind Demon."

As he spoke, he first took out a talisman and used his own magical power as ink.

The ink from the French dyed paper gave it a faint golden-red sheen.

Li Yan focused his mind and made a few strokes with his fingers.

The ink flowed, outlining mysterious patterns on the talisman paper.

First, the heavens and earth are positioned in the south and the earth in the north.

Next is the east and west, where water and fire do not clash.

Then come Dui, Zhen, Gen, and Xun, completing the four corners.

With the eight trigrams' positions determined, he then used the twenty-eight constellations as the warp and weft to weave a celestial map in the center of the talisman.

As the final stroke was made, the Bagua and star chart on the talisman paper simultaneously lit up with a faint glow.

【Geological Vein Dragon Finding and Burial Site Location Talisman】

[Effect: Determines the direction of the earth's veins within a radius of one hundred li, and marks the location of auspicious burial sites, with an error margin of no more than three zhang.]

Li Yan blew a light breath.

The talisman spontaneously combusted, transforming into a streak of earthy yellow light that disappeared into the earth.

He closed his eyes, and his divine sense followed the stream of light into the earth's veins.

In an instant, a panoramic view of the surrounding landscape unfolded in my mind.