Ling Yu felt a touch against his chest, but he said nothing, quietly lying there while Mu Qingxue bandaged him.
Once she finished wrapping the bandages quickly, Mu Qingxue decisively turned around and said, "I'm going to make dinner!"
She had to leave right then, or Ling Yu would surely see her blushing cheeks.
Although she had existed in this world for more than twenty years, she had never seen any human other than her father, let alone experienced such physical contact.
Ling Yu slowly rolled over and lay flat. The moment Mu Qingxue touched him, his heart had given a fierce leap.
In front of the stove, Mu Qingxue fiercely pinched her own cheek and muttered under her breath, "Mu Qingxue, oh Mu Qingxue, you are a Dharma Demon, how can you blush and let your heart flutter just from touching a mortal!"
She took a few deep breaths, bent down to place firewood into the stove, and then glanced back at Ling Yu to see him with his eyes closed in meditation.
Extending a slender fingertip, a wisp of cyan flame burst from it onto the pile of firewood, instantly setting it ablaze.
Inside his Spiritual Realm, Ling Yu was sensing the spiritual energy he had absorbed earlier. Although he could not practice techniques or make breakthroughs, he could still absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to strengthen his body.
Whenever a cultivator meditated, they would enter the Spiritual Realm, and the spiritual energy absorbed would arrive here first before slowly drifting toward the Dantian.
Just as he was carefully feeling the spiritual energy, an aged yet forceful voice came from out of nowhere, ringing within his Spiritual Realm.
"Hahaha! As expected of the eldest son of the Ling Family, even with all your meridians severed, you still do not forget to cultivate!"
Ling Yu instantly grew vigilant. Anyone capable of communicating within another person's Spiritual Realm had to be at least a Sword Saint.
"Who is it?"
"Little friend, do not be nervous!"
Before the voice faded, a wisp of white mist appeared before Ling Yu, slowly taking the shape of a figure.
This surprised him even more. To manifest a form inside someone else's Spiritual Realm—this must be a Sword Sovereign!
That was a person comparable to the leader of an entire tribe!
Currently, the ruler of the Tianri Empire was merely a Level 6 Stage 1 Wind Mage.
As the figure fully materialized, the white mist dissipated. An elderly man in a gray Daoist robe came into view, his hair bound with a Divine Dragon hairpin, his face marked with a few wrinkles.
The old man looked at Ling Yu and noticed he had a sword at his waist. The sword was about three feet long, entirely milk-white in color, with a dragon and a phoenix engraved on the hilt, both of their heads facing the blade. The scabbard was a brilliant white, entwined with gold thread at both ends.
The old man looked Ling Yu up and down, occasionally smiling, occasionally frowning, looking rather bizarre.
Being stared at like this made Ling Yu somewhat uneasy. He took a great leap backward, crossed his arms over his chest, and glared cautiously at the old man who was up to no good.
"What are you doing? Let me tell you, I'm completely straight, straighter than your sword! Don't think I'll be afraid of you just because you're a Sword Sovereign. I'd rather die than yield!"
Hearing this, the old man looked slightly awkward. With a slight movement of his body, he appeared right in front of Ling Yu.
"Ling Yu, male, sixteen years old, son of Ling Family head Ling Tian, cultivation at Level 2 Swordsman."
He then sighed and added, "It's just a pity most of your meridians are damaged. You won't be able to cultivate in the future!"
"Old man, what do you mean I can't cultivate? Once I recover, you'll be the very first person I hunt down!" Ling Yu pointed at the old man and said.
At this, the old man grew interested. Ever since he became a Sword Immortal, no one had ever dared to point at his nose and threaten him like this.
"Oh? And what will you do when you find me?"
"Take you down!"
"Do you not recognize your own condition, or do you intend to challenge this old man with your Level 2 Swordsman cultivation and a broken body?"
Ling Yu turned his head away. "A mere Sword Sovereign! I didn't say I'd do it now. One day I will definitely become a Sword Sovereign-class expert, and by then we'll both be at the Sword Sovereign realm. Do you think I'll be afraid of you?"
Hearing this, the old man first frowned slightly, then burst into hearty laughter. "Hahaha! Good, what a fine 'mere Sword Sovereign'! What a fine 'do you think I'll be afraid of you'!"
Seeing the old man laugh instead of getting angry, Ling Yu was extremely puzzled.
When he spoke those words, he had already prepared himself to die. Who would have expected this old man to play completely outside the rules?
Ling Yu turned his head back and asked, "What are you laughing at? Is what I said so funny?"
The old man raised a hand to stroke his white eyebrows. "It is quite funny, but how are you so certain my realm is that of a Sword Sovereign?"
Ling Yu crossed his arms, his chin raised almost to the sky, and replied with absolute confidence:
"According to the records in my Ling Family's Scripture Pavilion, anyone who can transmit sound into another person's Spiritual Realm is at least a Sword Saint-class expert."
"And anyone capable of manifesting a physical form inside another person's Spiritual Realm must be a Sword Sovereign-class expert!"
The old man smiled. "Little friend, you are correct, but do you know that above the Sword Sovereign, there is yet another major realm?"
Ling Yu retorted, "Old man, stop messing around. Sword Immortals are so rare over the centuries that you can count them on one hand—aren't they all kings of powerful nations?"
"Besides, even if you are a Sword Immortal, why would you come looking for a cripple like me? After money? I don't have any. After my body? I'm sorry, I'd rather die than yield!"
Upon hearing this, the old man stated his identity. "I am Dao Zhangming, Peak Master of Tianling Peak."
Ling Yu was stunned. "Dao Zhangming? How could you be so brilliant? And Peak Master of Tianling Peak—that's the Mingyun Sword Immortal, who achieved the Sword Sovereign realm at the age of eighty! He stepped into the Sword Immortal realm long ago, has existed in this world for a hundred years, and no longer interferes with mortal affairs. You..."
Before Ling Yu could finish, Dao Zhangming interrupted, "Mingyun Sword Immortal is precisely the title the people of this world use for this old man."
Hearing this, Ling Yu remained somewhat skeptical. He rested a finger against his chin, deep in thought.
Seeing that Ling Yu still didn't believe him, Dao Zhangming unceremoniously drew the sword at his waist. The very instant the blade left the scabbard, sounds of roaring dragons and crying phoenixes blended together, while the blade itself radiated a silvery light without any other embellishments.
Hearing the sound, Ling Yu raised his head. When he caught sight of this sword, he froze, his eyes glowing, every single cell in his body screaming with shock!
This sword before him was one he had seen in ancient books—it was none other than the signature weapon of Mingyun Sword Immortal, the Peak Master of Tianling Peak.
Forged with Dragon Meteor Ore, the hardest material in the world, as its blade, supplemented by the vital blood of dragons and phoenixes, a hilt of Tianling Wood, and tempered in heavenly lightning, its might could reduce all things to nothingness!
The moment Ling Yu saw the sword, he believed the old man's identity, yet he still looked at him and said, "So what if you're the Mingyun Sword Immortal? Going to kill me? Come on then, a mere life—I'll give it to you!"
Not a trace of fear could be heard in his words. Looking at him, Dao Zhangming was reminded of his own youth, when he feared nothing in heaven or earth.
He smiled and said, "I have no such intention. You really are exactly like I was in my youth!"
Ling Yu posed his question once again. "Is there a reason the Mingyun Sword Immortal has come looking for a good-for-nothing like me?"
Dao Zhangming answered, "Your great-grandfather did a great kindness for Tianling Peak, and now is the time to repay it."
"Oh? How so?" Ling Yu asked, puzzled.
"The spiritual energy at Tianling Peak is immense, and top-tier medicinal herbs are inexhaustible. It's just that this region is too remote, located at the southernmost tip of our Tianri Empire, merely a hundred miles or so from the Forest of Ten Thousand Demons."
"Because of this, sixty years ago, countless nations attempted to seize Tianling Peak and make it their own. I fought to the death to repel them, but back then I was still at the Sword Saint realm and no match for the leaders of the other nations. Just as I had resigned myself to death, your great-grandfather happened to be wandering at the foot of the mountain. Noticing the fluctuations of spiritual energy, he hurried over."
At the mention of Ling Yu's great-grandfather, a hint of moisture flashed in Dao Zhangming's eyes—why that was, no one could say...
Dao Zhangming sighed and continued, "When he arrived and saw that the people of neighboring countries intended to violate our land and make it their own, how could he stand by and let such lawlessness pass? He immediately drew his sword and charged into the crowd, single-handedly driving back several enemy leaders. But due to the total exhaustion of his spiritual energy, he himself was pushed to the brink of death."
Hearing this, Ling Yu was deeply shocked. He had never heard his father speak of these things at home, let alone known that the Ling Family had such a brave and formidable warrior in its past, which filled him with immense admiration.
"What realm was my great-grandfather at back then?" Ling Yu asked.