Chapter 160: Return to the Sword Sect
Winter passes and spring comes, and everything revives.
In the blink of an eye, another beautiful spring has arrived. The sun is shining brightly and the spring breeze is warm again under the Unzen Mountains. The peaches and plums are still blooming, and the swallows have returned as promised. The breath of spring is still so intoxicating.
A young man riding a strong horse breathed the spring breeze filled with the fragrance of flowers, and rode slowly on the road into the mountains while bathing in the rising warm sun. Yes, it was still bluestone. After a whole year, the bluestone finally came back, because , he felt that he had found the answer.
The road into the mountain for more than 20 miles was still lined with green trees, singing birds, fragrant flowers, and leisurely bluestones. It was noon when we arrived at the "Famous Mountain Immortal Sect" scenic spot in front of the mountain gate.
Qingshi got off the horse, collected its saddle, bridle and other items, and then let the horse go. This was a second-class spiritual horse from Aobei Kingdom. Qingshi bought it with a lot of money and rode it for less than half a year. Within the scope of the Immortal Sword Sect in the Jianshan area, neither transportation nor riding spiritual beasts is allowed, even members of the sect are no exception, so Qingshi released them back to Yunxian Mountain.
From a distance, Qingshi saw a man practicing his sword in the shade of the pine trees under the stone carving of 'Mingshan Immortal Sect'. He walked over and was about to ask. The man also saw Qingshi, put away his sword and said, "It's Brother Qingshi! I haven't seen you for a year." , are you okay?"
When Qingshi took a look, he saw a young man whom he didn't recognize, but he seemed a little familiar. The man said, "Jian Xiaokong, my younger brother, is ranked twenty-ninth. We met when Brother Qingshi went up the mountain last year."
After being reminded, Qingshi also remembered that when he and Jian San were competing against each other at Juhuading last year, Jian Erjiu was indeed watching the battle from the sidelines, but he only saw him once and never talked to him. At that moment, Qingshi cupped his hands and said, "It turns out to be brother Jian Erjiu. What, it's your turn to guard the mountain gate this year?"
Jian Erjiu said: "Actually, there is no guard at this mountain gate. It's just that the elders like to be quiet and don't like too many visitors, so they find something for the brothers to do and let us earn some pocket money." He laughed.
Qingshi smiled slightly and said: "In the place where Jianshan is a pure cultivation place, your sect doesn't like being harassed by outsiders. It is indeed a good way to collect money and compete with swords."
"Brother Qingshi is indeed very thoughtful." Jian Erjiu said with a smile, "Brother Qingshi is not an ordinary person, and there is no need to be like this, but since there are rules, I have to think about it. Hmm... On the swordsmanship, my third senior brother They are no match for you. Naturally, I am far behind, so let’s skip the sword fight. As for the spiritual stones, I originally received a hundred high-grade spiritual stones from each person, but that was to deal with ordinary people, and Brother Qingshi did not need to pay. "
"Thank you so much!" Qingshi said with a smile, "I still have to offer these hundred spirit stones. Your hard work is not in vain, brother." He took out a small bag of spirit stones and threw it over.
"Brother Qingshi is so polite." Jian Erjiu took the spirit stone and said with a smile, "Now please observe the stone carvings!"
Qingshi nodded slightly to thank him, and then walked to the "Famous Mountain Immortal Sect" to observe. The last time he passed by here, Qingshi had observed it and learned some sword-handling skills from it, but Jian Ruochen said that what Qingshi learned was only the most superficial. The most important inspiration for these stone carvings is the sword intention. Qingshi originally realized this, but it was easy to feel the sword intention, but it was difficult to understand the artistic conception of the senior masters from the sword intention to improve his swordsmanship. Disaster.
Observing again, Qingshi's perception of the sword intention contained in the stone carvings was completely different from the last time. The sword intention was no longer like a gurgling stream that could be heard but not clearly seen, touched but not grasped. He no longer tried to stretch out his conscious hand to grab it, but naturally put his consciousness into the flowing water of the sword's will, and then quickly integrated into it. Slowly, the meaning of the sword's way was like a stone carving. The strokes appear clearly before my eyes, and then are imprinted in my heart.
Qingshi quickly became immersed in it, feeling like he was in an ethereal valley, surrounded by green grass and bright flowers. He saw a swordsman in white dancing a sword on the grass. Every move was so graceful and natural. The sword light that was originally supposed to be cold and cold turned out to be extremely gentle, as gentle as the warm sunshine, making people unable to help but want to get close to it and bathe in it.
Suddenly, a hint of cold wind blew into the warm ethereal valley. Although it was a thin thread, it was incompatible with the surrounding environment, and Qingshi immediately noticed it.
Qingshi, who was immersed in the charm of kendo, came back to his senses in an instant. He turned to look at Jian Erjiu, his eyes flashed like meteors, but Jian Erjiu was sitting cross-legged and closed his eyes on Shiba a few feet away. There seems to be no threat to Qingshi in the southeast corner.
But Qingshi knew that he was right. It was murderous intent, and it was coming from Jian Erjiu. The sudden cold wind when he was in a fugue state was the subconscious manifestation of murderous intent.
As a person with great luck, Qingshi has always been very sensitive to crisis and murderous intent, but now his sensitivity is completely higher than before. In the past, his perception of murderous intent was often at the moment before the enemy made a move, but now, Jian Erjiu did not actually make a move, he just glanced at Qingshi, and in his heart he wanted to take Qingshi's life while he was in a fugue state. A thought was noticed by Qingshi.
Qingshi was not wandering in a drunken dream, but was immersed in the charm of the sword. Therefore, his perception of murderous intent was not dull, but became more acute. Jian Erjiu had low cultivation level and little knowledge, so he didn't understand this truth. He accidentally revealed his murderous intention, which alerted the snake and made Qingshi take precautions.
Qingshi saw Jian Erjiu sitting in a far corner and knew that he only had the idea of killing people but not the courage to take action, so he stood quietly and calmly, only savoring the insights of observing the scenic spot.
There is no doubt that this time Qingshi has deeply understood the meaning of swordsmanship in the stone carvings. Being more sensitive to murderous intent is a reflection of improved sword intent. If there was no interruption from Jian Erjiu, the gains would be even greater.
It is strange to say that Qingshi has neither learned the inscrutable swordsmanship nor received careful guidance from the sword master in the past year. He has simply relearned the art of forging and forging swords, and then walked with the sword on his back and slept with the sword in his arms. But just such a seemingly simple and meaningless act has greatly improved Qingshi's kendo artistic conception.
After a long time, Qingshi gathered his thoughts and turned to face Jian Erjiu.
Jian Erjiu seemed calm, but there was an undercurrent surging in his heart. The moment he had murderous intent, he just stared at Qingshi's back and thought to himself, this was a good opportunity to assassinate Qingshi. As a result, Qingshi immediately looked back at him, seeming to sense something.
The flash of light in Qingshi's eyes was like the sharpest sword light cutting through the dark night. Jian Erjiu was so frightened that he immediately closed his eyes and pretended to be calm, and almost couldn't resist the urge to run away.
"Brother Jian Erjiu," Qingshi said lightly, "Thank you for letting me observe the stone carvings. I wonder if I can go into the mountain now?"
"Of course, Brother Qingshi, please help yourself!" Jian Erjiu's voice seemed to be very calm.
Qingshi turned around and crossed the small stone gate and began to climb the mountain. His feet were neither fast nor slow, and he kept thinking in his heart.
Qingshi originally just suspected that the last attack on him was related to the Immortal Sword Sect, because it was probably someone who revealed his whereabouts to Jiang Chenxiu, so that Jiang Chenxiu and others were fully prepared.
Now, Jian Erjiu actually had murderous intentions towards him, which proved that his guess was right: someone in the Immortal Sword Sect wanted to kill him! Naturally, this person cannot be a small character like Jian Erjiu, so who is it? Qingshi recalled his interactions with everyone and analyzed them one by one. He thought of several suspects and eliminated a few.
He knew that at least Jian Ruochen would never be the one to harm him. Jian Ruochen could not pretend to care for him. If he was going to be disadvantageous to him, he would not teach him how to understand the way of swordsmanship and let him know how to do it in just one year. There has been huge progress. Of course, if he wanted to kill himself, he would have easily done it.
Besides, Jian Ruochen is the head of the Immortal Sword Sect. If Ou Changzhi didn't trust him, how could he tell Qingshi to come to the Immortal Sword Sect to worship the mountain? If that's the case, what's there to fear? Qingshi made up his mind and started walking quickly on the rugged mountain road.
Not long after, Qingshi arrived at Yubei Peak. The man stationed here was Jianwu, a simple and honest man who looked like an uncle, and he knew Qingshi.
Jianwu admired Qingshi very much. Although he tried his best during the sword competition, he soon realized that his skills were not as good as others and gave up. Qingshi wanted to observe the 'fish back sword mark', but Jianwu agreed but was hesitant. He refused to give way, only pulled Qingshi to talk about irrelevant things, and finally said hesitantly that he gave Elder Ruoshui a generous gift in order to get this job.
Qingshi suddenly realized, he immediately took out 500 high-grade spiritual stones, filled a big bag full and handed it to Jian Wu. Jian Wu originally collected 200 spiritual stones, but when he saw Qingshi taking out so many, he couldn't help but feel happy, but he couldn't help but feel happy. He was a little embarrassed because he said: "Brother Qingshi, take your time and take your time. Don't be in a hurry. Even if someone comes again, I won't let him disturb you!" After saying that, he took the spirit stone and moved out of the way.
Qingshi smiled secretly in his heart, nodded and walked over. A green onion from a dry land flew onto the fish back stone.
Like the 'Famous Mountain Immortal Sect', Qingshi's gain from 'Fishback Sword Mark' is no longer specific things such as moves and sword-handling techniques, but the perception of the sword's intention and the improvement of his realm.
These things seem very abstract and illusory, but in fact, this is the most profound artistic conception of the sword. If you understand it, it is almost the Tao!
Qingshi quickly became fascinated when observing and comprehending the 'Fish Back Sword Mark'. It was not until he felt that it was difficult to gain new insights that he exited the immersive state of perception. Qingshi looked at the sun and realized that about an hour had passed. He jumped off the Fishback Stone and Jianwu who was waiting aside said, "Brother Qingshi, have you finished observing?"
"Not bad!" Qingshi said, "Thank you Brother Jian Wu, I'm going to Juhuading, so I'll say goodbye."
"Wait a minute," Jianwu said, "Today is almost over, I have to go back to Juhuading, so I'll go with Brother Qingshi."
So the two walked together and chatted all the way. Qingshi knew that he was the only one who could enter the mountain gate today; this year, Jian San was still guarding the Juhuading stone archway. His rules were very strict. So far this year, no one has been able to pass his rules. Jianyi passed the 'Jianfeng Immortal Trail' test again last year, but he still failed. He passed the test in the autumn, and went down the mountain after failing. At this time, he didn't know where he was traveling.
