Chapter 14: Stepping Forward

Zhuo Bufan reached out to touch the strings, made a slight adjustment, and began to play. The music emerged gradually, clear and pure, like a mountain spring or a small river flowing murmurously. The crowd became immersed in the melody, and no other sound remained in the plaza.

Suddenly, the tempo quickened, as if river water were rushing through a bend. It reached a waterfall, plunging violently from a great height, before all rivers returned to the sea in a surging undercurrent.

The mental state of the crowd shifted with the changing melody, feeling like a boat upon a vast ocean—unable to control themselves, merely drifting with the waves, rising and falling. The spiritual energy within their bodies surged and flowed in tandem.

After playing in this manner for the duration of half an incense stick, the melody suddenly turned calm, like the vast sea finally settling into thousands of tiny streams. The minds of the crowd stabilized accordingly. Looking back on their past experiences, it felt as fleeting as drifting clouds or the shifting of eras, evoking a sense that the past was but smoke and the Great Dao was indifferent.

The music grew lower and lower until it was barely audible. As the piece concluded, most of the miscellaneous disciples in the field had not yet regained their senses. Some disciples at the peak of the second level of Qi Refinement even felt their long-standing bottlenecks showing signs of slight loosening; they all remained silent, silently sensing the subtleties of the Dao of the Zither.

Just as the crowd was immersed, a clear sword hum suddenly rang out from the high platform. Liang Yan looked up to see the long sword at Zhuo Bufan's waist unsheathed, hovering in mid-air and vibrating incessantly, as if it could no longer restrain its urge to slaughter enemies.

"It appeared! That is Senior Brother Zhuo's Dingguang Sword!"

"Senior Brother Zhuo is the only sword cultivator among the outer disciples; he is a genius who appears once in a hundred years."

"Indeed. Sword cultivation is the most difficult and arduous path. In this era, sword cultivators are extremely rare, but rumors say that once one achieves success, they become a mighty being capable of destroying heaven and earth."

"Of course. Sword cultivators are said to possess the supreme offensive power, but they are also exceptionally perilous. In the entire outer sect, only Senior Brother Zhuo is worthy of the title."

As soon as the Dingguang Sword appeared, the crowd below erupted into excitement. Hearing the others' discussion, Liang Yan could not help but narrow his eyes toward the precious sword on the stage. Listening to them talk about sword cultivation, a fire ignited in Liang Yan's heart; he felt an extreme yearning for the path of the sword.

Zhuo Bufan performed a sword seal on the high platform, and the Dingguang Sword shot forth, slashing through the high sky. Although it was merely a strike through the void, everyone still felt a piercing, cold killing intent rushing toward them, causing their hair to stand on end and their hearts to race.

However, in the next moment, Zhuo Bufan withdrew the seal. The Dingguang Sword spiraled back and merged into its sheath, and the overflowing killing intent returned to nothingness. Zhuo Bufan stood up, cupped his hands toward the crowd, then leaped into the air and landed on the mountain path, heading down the mountain.

The crowd knew that this preaching assembly had essentially concluded, and they began to descend the mountain in small groups. Some female disciples, in particular, gathered in clusters of three or five, chattering incessantly in their excitement.

Only Liang Yan sat quietly on his prayer mat. Zhuo Bufan's mid-air strike had profoundly moved him. He silently recalled the details of the sword strike, feeling that if that sword had been aimed at him, even if he exerted his full strength using the "Hunchun Technique," he would still have been unable to avoid it. After much agonizing thought, he could not find a single way to counter it, but it only deepened his longing for the way of the sword.

After sitting alone for a while, by the time he regained his composure, the surroundings were empty. Liang Yan sighed softly, stood up, and walked down the mountain path toward the foot of Xuanji Peak.

When he reached the mid-mountain, he suddenly heard a commotion of arguing coming from the bamboo forest beside the path. Amidst the noise was a familiar voice. Liang Yan frowned and followed the sound into the bamboo forest.

Not far in, he saw two groups of people standing opposite each other. One group consisted of only two people: Sun Qianli and Li Dali. It was Li Dali's voice that had drawn Liang Yan there. The other group had three people, who, judging by their clothing, were miscellaneous disciples of the Pill Vein. Liang Yan's eyes swept over them and he discovered that, aside from the dark-faced youth in the center who was at the third level of Qi Refinement, the other two were at the second level.

At that moment, the dark-faced youth spoke: "Li Dali, haven't I made myself clear enough? I told you to take a look in the mirror; how do you have the confidence to demand a woman from my cousin?"

With bloodshot eyes, Li Dali shouted, "I told you to tell me, where exactly did you take Yang Wei?"

The dark-faced youth chuckled. "Where? Naturally, to a place of pleasure and joy."

Sun Qianli was also filled with indignation, saying, "Miss Yang and Li Dali are childhood sweethearts, betrothed since infancy, and are deeply in love. We are all fellow disciples; why must you forcibly snatch her away?"

"Bah! Who says we are fellow disciples?" The dark-faced youth pointed at Li Dali's nose and cursed, "You two useless wastes who are stuck at the first level of Qi Refinement forever, and that Yang Wei—are you sure you are in love? Then why did she run into my cousin's bed last night?"

"Impossible!" Li Dali roared like a madman and charged at the dark-faced youth.

"Oh? The bull has found some courage, has he?" The dark-faced youth showed no panic; instead, he began to sneer. A fellow disciple beside him raised a hand and unleashed a spiritual tool, striking Li Dali heavily. Li Dali's steps faltered, he spat out a mouthful of blood, and immediately collapsed to his knees, gasping for breath with his hands pressed against the ground.

"Haha, a waste is a waste. Completely useless," the dark-faced youth laughed loudly, and the two Pill Vein disciples beside him joined in the laughter.

Sun Qianli clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms, but he did not dare to step in and help.

The dark-faced youth gave Sun Qianli a disdainful glance and said triumphantly, "I'll be blunt with you. You two, and that Yang Wei, are all wastes who will never progress past the first level of Qi Refinement in this life. My cousin is a chosen one; he is already at the fifth level of Qi Refinement at only twenty-three. He doesn't consider you worthy of his notice at all!"

"As for that Yang Wei, hmph, my cousin just thought she had some looks and brought her along for fun. It's laughable that she actually thinks my cousin would marry her formally and make her a Dao companion. Haha! To a waste who can never step past the first level, my cousin only uses her as a cultivation cauldron!"

"You beast!" Li Dali's eyes nearly split with rage. Gritting his teeth, he stood up and swung a punch at the dark-faced youth. However, being heavily injured, the punch lacked any real power. The dark-faced youth did not dodge, taking the hit head-on without even taking a step back, and then burst into laughter.

Seeing the punch was ineffective, Li Dali spat a mouthful of thick phlegm. This caught the dark-faced youth off guard; because they were so close, he managed to dodge, but some of it still stuck to his sleeve.

"You're seeking death!" The dark-faced youth flew into a rage. He clenched his right fist and aimed directly for the crown of Li Dali's head. He was a practitioner of body tempering; with his third-level Qi Refinement cultivation, if this punch landed solidly, even nine lives would not be enough for Li Dali to survive.

At this critical moment, a hand suddenly reached out from the side, pulling Li Dali back with lightning speed. The dark-faced youth's expression changed as he looked aside. Standing before Li Dali was a gray-robed youth, appearing to be in his early teens, tall and thin, with a formation plate pattern embroidered on his clothes.

The dark-faced youth frowned, wondering when the Array Vein had gained another miscellaneous disciple.

"I am Yuan Shan. Who are you, to step in for this Li Dali?"

Li Yan replied coldly, "Since we are fellow disciples, why must you drive him to his death?"

Unable to discern his background, Yuan Shan probed further, "May I ask which of your kin holds a position in our sect?"

Li Yan sneered, "There is no need to investigate. I am a rogue cultivator who entered the sect as a miscellaneous disciple of the Array Vein. I am only intervening because I cannot stand your behavior."

Hearing this, Yuan Shan laughed. "So it's just a wandering ghost. Look at your own weight before you try to play the hero at the first level of Qi Refinement. Haha, I'm going to deal with you all today!"

Because Liang Yan possessed the Heavenly Secret Pearl, although he did not intentionally activate it, low-level Qi Refinement cultivators still could not see through his cultivation; they merely assumed he was a novice at the first level.

As soon as Yuan Shan finished speaking, he lunged forward, throwing a punch at Liang Yan. Liang Yan extended his right hand to take the blow head-on, stumbling back five steps. He couldn't help but feel secretly alarmed: having been taught by the old monk, his body's tempering far exceeded ordinary people, yet he could not withstand a single punch from this man.

What he did not know was that Yuan Shan was even more surprised. As a pure body-tempering cultivator who had spent years of resources solely on tempering his physical form, he was usually no match for any cultivator of the same level in close-quarters combat. Yet, the person before him had a lower cultivation realm and could still take his punch head-on.

"So you're at the peak of the second level of Qi Refinement. You certainly know how to hide your strength!" Yuan Shan shouted. Since Liang Yan was fighting someone with a higher realm than himself, he could clearly no longer hide his cultivation.

Before he could catch his breath, Yuan Shan had already closed the distance to attack him again. Simultaneously, the two Pill Vein disciples unleashed their spiritual tools, attacking Liang Yan from the left and right.

Liang Yan thought to himself that if he used the Hunchun Technique, he should be able to handle these three. However, there were too many eyes here; the Hunchun Technique was a secret passed down by the old monk and was not suitable to be exposed. Furthermore, he possessed a great treasure; if he provoked someone into investigating him, things would become even worse. Thus, he had no choice but to rely on his physical strength to contend with the three.

After a short exchange, Liang Yan found himself struggling, caught in a precarious position. As he grew more anxious in the fight, a sudden inspiration struck him, recalling the Three Talents Thick Earth Array he had learned in the Library Pavilion. This array had one array eye and three array flags; once formed, it utilized the conflict between the three flags to trigger the latent power of the Thick Earth to repel enemies.

A sudden thought occurred to Liang Yan: all things with spirit can serve as an array; why not use people to form an array? Once this idea took hold, he immediately used himself as the array eye, the three members of the Pill Vein as the array flags, and their spiritual energy as the source, drawing array patterns in the void.

Initially, Yuan Shan felt the fight was easy, but the more they fought, the more alarmed he became. With three people surrounding Liang Yan, it should have been an easy capture. The boy had struggled at first and clearly wouldn't last long, but after some time, Yuan Shan found that he was becoming increasingly composed. Conversely, the three on his side were, for some reason, coordinating worse and worse. Sometimes, the spiritual tool of the person on the left would block the attack direction of the person on the right, forcing the latter to stop and perform hand seals. Sometimes, when Yuan Shan threw a punch, it would inexplicably strike the spiritual tool of the person on his left, neutralizing the attack for Liang Yan. In short, the three were interfering with each other so much that they could not even exert fifty percent of their strength.

Yuan Shan did not realize they had already fallen deep into Liang Yan's Three Talents Thick Earth Array, and that he himself had become one of the three array flags. As the array eye, Liang Yan was like the general of the formation, the commander of the troops. Since Yuan Shan and the others were being drawn by his Dao patterns to conflict with one another, they naturally could not be a match for him.

The more Liang Yan fought, the more comfortable he felt, and his understanding of array application deepened. With a face turning ashen, Yuan Shan gritted his teeth and reached for a storage bag at his waist.

At that moment, a clear sword hum suddenly rang out. A streak of sword light tore through the air, splitting the crowd in two with a sharp sound. Then, a figure descended from the sky, landing in the middle of the group. The newcomer wore moon-white robes and a scholar's cap, a smile playing on his lips as his gaze drifted toward the storage bag at Yuan Shan's waist.

Startled, Yuan Shan immediately let go of the storage bag, cupped his hands in a salute, and said respectfully, "Greetings, Senior Brother Zhuo."