Chapter 190 – Cultivators Shouldn't Be Bound by the Past

“Sister Qing, what did the Immortal Sects say?”

“Don’t worry, Young Sect Master. We naturally handle matters you entrust to us properly. The sect has received the message and will ensure a Nascent Soul Stage Elder comes during the college entrance exams.”

“However, I must say this – even if the Black Lotus Sect truly intends to attack your friend during the exams, our primary mission remains ensuring your safety.”

“Therefore, we will only deal with those ‘potentially’ coming Black Lotus Sect remnants when you’re not in danger.”

Jiang Qing particularly emphasized the word “potentially.”

So far, Mu Xiaoye hadn’t provided any evidence that the Black Lotus Sect would definitely appear during Qingzhou’s college entrance exams.

It was only because of Mu Xiaoye’s special status.

Otherwise, for just a mere “possibility,” the Myriad Enterprises Immortal Sect wouldn’t have mobilized their Nascent Soul Stage Elder with such fanfare.

After all, the Immortal Alliance was vast, and there were simply too many potential scenarios.

If every “possibility” had to be treated as a certainty,

then the cultivators within the Immortal Alliance wouldn’t have time for cultivation – they’d be spending all their time traveling.

Facing Jiang Qing’s somewhat resentful tone, Mu Xiaoye knew she was somewhat “abusing her power” this time.

She immediately went forward to hold Jiang Qing’s arm, flattering: “Ah, I knew you’d be the best, Sister Qing!”

“Don’t worry, when I become Sect Master in the future, you’ll be the Deputy Sect Master!”

Looking at Mu Xiaoye’s playful antics, Jiang Qing smiled helplessly.

After all, although Jiang Qing appeared to be only in her early thirties, she was actually over a hundred years old.

She belonged to the same generation of cultivators as Yu Tianqi and the others.

That she could cultivate to the Nascent Soul Stage at this age wasn’t just due to her outstanding talent,

but also because she came from a famous cultivation family in Li Province.

Otherwise, did people really think just anyone could be assigned as Mu Xiaoye’s guardian?

“Alright, enough of this. You’ve gained enough experience during this period, it’s time to properly consolidate your cultivation. Let me take you back to Luocheng.”

“Okay.”

Meanwhile, in an arena in a city in Qingzhou.

“Huff… Senior Jiang, are you sure Classmate Lu’s current strength has reached such a terrifying realm?”

Bian Shouyi lay on the ground, recalling his recent sparring session with Jiang Dongliu. Only two words could describe it: despair, complete and utter despair.

Just moments ago, although Jiang Dongliu hadn’t used his Protective Qi,

he had relied on his Golden Core cultivation to manifest a special small Domain.

Within that small Domain, Bian Shouyi’s proud No Retreat Sword Intent had no room for expression whatsoever.

If he couldn’t even make a move, how could he fight?

That’s why he found it hard to believe that Lu Chen, who was only at the Foundation Establishment Stage, could truly reach this level.

After all, during this period he had slain numerous demons and monsters comparable to Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators.

But none of them had reached the heights that Jiang Dongliu had simulated earlier.

Facing Bian Shouyi’s question, Jiang Dongliu thought for a moment before saying: “He’ll only be stronger than what I demonstrated, not weaker.”

“Is that so…”

After receiving this confirmation, Bian Shouyi struggled to lift his weakened body from the arena floor and stood up.Under Jiang Dongliu’s astonished gaze, Bian Shouyi showed no intention of resting at all and immediately resumed cultivating his Sword Intent.

He stood in an empty area of the Arena, swinging his Sword over and over again.

There wasn’t the slightest hint of frustration in his eyes—instead, they burned with fighting spirit.

It was as if their earlier spar had left no impact on Bian Shouyi whatsoever.

Witnessing this, Jiang Dongliu had to admit that Bian Shouyi possessed one of the firmest Dao Hearts among the cultivators of his generation he had ever encountered.

The last person he’d seen with such unwavering determination was Wei Heshan from the Profound Water Academy.

He was also one of the few Geniuses Jiang Dongliu truly acknowledged.

If Bian Shouyi could maintain this level of dedication in his cultivation and avoid an untimely demise, his future achievements would undoubtedly be remarkable.

At this thought, Jiang Dongliu suddenly found himself looking forward to next year’s Dao Academy tournament.

Because next year’s tournament would coincide with the enrollment of students like Lu Chen, Mu Xiaoye, and Bian Shouyi.

Although the Dao Academy tournament was typically reserved for second-year students and above—and many students never even made it onto the roster during their entire academy career—exceptions did exist.

If Bian Shouyi could reach the Foundation Establishment Stage, given his level of Sword Intent, he should have no trouble securing a spot on Clear River Dao Academy’s tournament roster.

As for Lu Chen and Mu Xiaoye, they went without saying.

These two couldn’t simply be called Geniuses—they were prodigies.

With them at Lihuo Dao Academy, next year’s tournament might just break the curse of the top four.

The more Jiang Dongliu thought about it, the more eagerly he anticipated the Dao Academy tournament a year from now.

He had a premonition that this tournament… would be anything but ordinary.

Watching Bian Shouyi still practicing his Sword forms, Jiang Dongliu said on a whim, “Alright, junior, stop training for now. Come with me to Luocheng High School.”

Hearing this, Bian Shouyi glanced at Jiang Dongliu in confusion, seemingly unsure why they needed to go to Luocheng High School at that moment.

“Aren’t you curious about Junior Lu’s current strength? I happen to want to spar with him too. You can watch from the sidelines and see for yourself the gap between you and a top-tier Sword Cultivator among your peers.”

At these words, Bian Shouyi’s eyes instantly lit up. He hurriedly sheathed his Sword and stepped beside Jiang Dongliu.

Though he didn’t say a word, Jiang Dongliu could see the intense excitement written all over his face.

This made Jiang Dongliu couldn’t help but tease, “Seriously, Xiao Bian, your reaction is kind of worrying. You show no interest in drinking with girls, but the moment there’s a chance to watch other Sword Cultivators spar, you get all fired up. Don’t tell me you plan to spend your whole life with just your Sword?”

Bian Shouyi looked at Jiang Dongliu with genuine puzzlement and replied bluntly, “What’s wrong with a Sword Cultivator dedicating their life to practicing the Sword?”

“…”

Jiang Dongliu covered his forehead, looking utterly defeated.

No wonder people said sincerity was the deadliest weapon.

If anyone else had said that, Jiang Dongliu might have thought they were being pretentious.

But coming from Bian Shouyi, it was undeniably genuine—as real as it gets.

And the thing was, there was nothing wrong with what he said.

A Sword Cultivator dedicating their life to the Sword was indeed a good thing!

It’s just that Jiang Dongliu had no desire to live such a life himself.

What was the point of living if you couldn’t experience all that life had to offer?A sword cultivator’s life shouldn’t only consist of the sword; it should also include romance and leisure!

In terms of personality, Jiang Dongliu and Bian Shouyi were polar opposites.

One was carefree and undisciplined, while the other was steadfast and resilient.

Yet strangely enough, these two individuals with completely different, even opposing, temperaments got along remarkably well.

At the very least, Jiang Dongliu had taken quite a liking to this junior schoolmate Bian Shouyi.

Otherwise, why would a distinguished young master from the prestigious Jiang clan bother acting as a guardian for a mere junior?

No particular reason—he simply found him agreeable!

Adjusting his small sunglasses, Jiang Dongliu slung an arm around Bian Shouyi’s shoulders and said, “Yes, yes, you’re absolutely right, junior.”

“But I hope you’ll say the same when you meet a girl you like someday, instead of spouting nonsense about sword cultivators being married to their swords! Hahaha!”

Though Bian Shouyi wasn’t particularly socially adept, he could tell Jiang Dongliu was teasing him.

However, he didn’t take offense.

Because he could sense that Jiang Dongliu meant no harm.

But not being angry didn’t mean Bian Shouyi wouldn’t retaliate.

“Senior, if you keep indulging like this, you might not even be able to hold your sword steady someday.”

The smile on Jiang Dongliu’s face instantly froze before slowly fading away.

But according to the law of conservation of smiles, smiles don’t disappear—they merely transfer from one person’s face to another’s.

For instance, while Jiang Dongliu couldn’t smile now, Bian Shouyi was unusually grinning.

“How boring. What would a lone wolf like you understand? Go ahead and laugh—there’ll come a day when you won’t be able to.”

With that, Jiang Dongliu removed his arm from Bian Shouyi’s shoulder and strode directly out of the arena.

In the Heaven-Rank Cultivation Room at Luocheng High School…

Previously, Lu Chen hadn’t demonstrated any notable talent, which meant he wasn’t qualified to cultivate in Luocheng High’s Heaven-Rank Cultivation Room.

But after fully revealing his “talents” during this period, Luocheng High naturally granted him special privileges.

Whether it was access to the school’s Treasure Pavilion or other cultivation resources, basically whatever Lu Chen wanted was provided to him free of charge.

However, at Lu Chen’s current Realm, ordinary spells and Divine Abilities hardly caught his attention.

Only techniques with unique effects might pique his interest slightly.

But compared to spells and Divine Abilities, what Lu Chen cared about most was his own Sword Path.

Ever since the special instance—the Sword Formation Ruins—concluded, Lu Chen’s Sword Path progress had stagnated for quite some time.

His four Sword Intents—Azure Lotus Sword Intent, Blood Sea Sword Intent, True Dragon Sword Intent, and Law-Extinguishing Sword Intent—had all reached the Harmony Realm.

And for Lu Chen at this stage, the Harmony Realm seemed to be his current limit.

No matter what he tried, he couldn’t find a way to achieve a Breakthrough.

This rare frustration troubled Lu Chen.

Transformation Dao Realm, Transformation Dao Realm—what exactly did he need to do to reach the state of Embodying Dao?

Could it be that entering the Transformation Dao Realm required fulfilling some special condition?

So far, Lu Chen hadn’t found the answer to this question.

He had even asked Sect Leader Gu Liqing at the Azure Cloud Sect about how a cultivator could step into the Transformation Dao Realm.

But even Gu Liqing couldn’t provide a clear explanation.Since each Great Divine Power practitioner’s method of embodying the Dao differs according to their individual paths, there isn’t much reference value to be gained from others.

However, faced with Lu Chen’s question, Gu Liqing still shared his experience as someone who had walked this path before.

The method was quite simple: it involved having Lu Chen frequently utilize his own Harmony Realm Sword Intent.

As the saying goes, “Read a hundred times, and the meaning will reveal itself.”

The same principle applies to the Sword Path in this regard.

As long as one practices enough, there will eventually come a day when the method to break through the bottleneck is found.

In light of this, Lu Chen had no choice but to settle his mind and diligently study his current Sword Intent.

During this process, he actually gained many insights.

For example, when he previously deployed his Sword Domain, he would inevitably expand it without reservation.

But now he had learned to only partially unfold the Sword Domain.

The benefit of this approach was naturally that it allowed Lu Chen to reduce his consumption of Spiritual Power.

When he dealt with the Ghost Core stage female ghost on the Pedestrian Street, he had deployed a small domain.

He confined the domain’s range to within five meters of himself and the female ghost.

This was also why Shen Feiyang and the others hadn’t witnessed Lu Chen’s Sword Intent at that time.

They only saw the Ghost Core stage female ghost suddenly stand still, then be cleanly executed by Lu Chen’s sword without any struggle.

However, for Lu Chen who was accustomed to honing his swordsmanship through combat,

this isolated practice method indeed felt somewhat lacking.

After all, he still preferred to continuously refine his Sword Path through actual battles.

“If only I could spar with a top-tier Sword Cultivator, then I might find the method to step into Dao Embodiment more quickly.”

Lu Chen sighed, then directly ended his meditation state and stood up.

He picked up his phone, checked the time, and after confirming it was almost the time he had agreed to meet with Little Yezi, he left the Heaven-Rank Cultivation Room and headed toward Yu Tianqi’s Peace Noodle Shop.

Peace Noodle Shop.

“Uncle Tian, hello!”

“Haven’t seen you for half a month, have you missed me!”

Yu Tianqi, who was kneading dough, looked up and immediately spotted the mischievous Mu Xiaoye outside the noodle shop.

Seeing her, Yu Tianqi smiled and said: “Little Yezi, shouldn’t you be saying that to Little Lu instead of me?”

“Ah!”

Teased like this by Yu Tianqi, Mu Xiaoye immediately rolled her eyes at him.

Then she entered the noodle shop together with Jiang Qing.

As soon as they entered, Jiang Qing looked up and down at the now aged Yu Tianqi and couldn’t help saying: “Tianqi, why haven’t you broken through to the Nascent Soul stage yet?”

Hearing this, Yu Tianqi said indifferently: “No helping it, Sister Qing. I’m rather dull-witted and have never been able to cross that threshold. I’ve disappointed you.”

After a moment of silence at this response, Jiang Qing said: “Are you still unable to let go of what happened back then?”

“You are you, your Senior Brother is your Senior Brother. You don’t need to remain trapped in place because of his matters.”

Yu Tianqi didn’t directly respond to this, instead silently continuing to knead the dough in his hands.

His demeanor clearly indicated he was avoiding Jiang Qing’s words.

If it were anyone else, Jiang Qing might not have said anything.

But the Yu Tianqi before her was a cultivator from the same generation as her.

Although they couldn’t be said to be particularly close, they still understood quite a bit about each other’s circumstances.

Seeing Yu Tianqi like this, she couldn’t help but feel somewhat affected.After all, during Jiang Qing’s era, Yu Tianqi and his Senior Brother Luo Changming were the two most dazzling existences in the Supreme Purity Dao Palace.

Yet who could have imagined that one of them would betray their sect, willingly degenerate by joining the Black Lotus Sect, and become its current Deputy Leader.

The other, due to this matter, developed an obsession, unable to cross the barrier in his heart, stagnating at the Golden Core Stage.

Perhaps unwilling to watch the former Genius fall into such depravity, Jiang Qing directly walked over, snatched the dough he was still kneading, and placed it aside.

Although judging by appearance, Yu Tianqi could easily be Jiang Qing’s father or grandfather.

Yet Yu Tianqi dared not reprimand Jiang Qing even half a word.

Whether in age or cultivation, Jiang Qing was actually above him.

Jiang Qing looked at Yu Tianqi and unusually spoke in a stern tone: “What happened with your Senior Brother Luo Changming is indeed regrettable, but you don’t need to shoulder the mistakes he made.”

“I know all these years you’ve been investigating the Black Lotus Sect because you want to persuade your Senior Brother Luo Changming to return.”

“But everyone must take responsibility for their own decisions. The moment Luo Changming decided to join the Black Lotus Sect, he was destined to stand against the Immortal Alliance.”

“Not to mention how you, merely at the Golden Core Stage, could persuade Luo Changming who has stepped into the Transformation Dao Realm and become a Great Divine Power practitioner.”

“Even if you could persuade him, do you think the Immortal Alliance would forgive what Luo Changming has done all these years?”

“Although I don’t know much about the Black Lotus Sect, I’ve heard about the evil deeds they’ve committed several times within the Immortal Alliance.”

“Any single one of their actions alone would warrant executing the entire Black Lotus Sect ten times over.”

“Yu Tianqi, wake up. A Cultivator shouldn’t be bound by their past, nor should they forcibly take on others’ mistakes as their own.”

Hearing Jiang Qing’s words, Yu Tianqi remained silent for a moment before replying: “Sister Qing, it’s not that I can’t move on from the past. I just want an answer.”

“I just want to ask Senior Brother why he didn’t return when our master asked him to come back.”

“I also want to ask him what could make him abandon the years of camaraderie with his fellow disciples, disregard everyone’s opposition, and join the Black Lotus Sect.”

“I don’t believe Senior Brother is someone who can’t see reason. He must have his own difficulties.”

“I just want to know what those difficulties are. That’s all I want to know.”

“For this, I would spare no cost.”

After speaking, Yu Tianqi raised his head to look at Jiang Qing, his eyes firm as he said: “An answer. After all these years, I… just want one answer. I want Senior Brother to tell me why with his own mouth.”

(End of Chapter)