"This... is what you call an immortal? Is this really how you are handing my only son over to her?"
Leng Qianxuan, Pavilion Master of Qianxuan Pavilion, stood behind Mo Qianchen, looking coldly down at Chen Liushang, who was slumped drunkenly in the corner of the pavilion, her lips stained with alcohol, as he voiced his icy question.
The man speaking was none other than Leng Qianxuan, the master of another domain within the Xiuxian Continent.
Though in middle age, he managed all affairs of Qianxuan Pavilion and could be considered the supreme ruler of another realm within the Xiuxian Continent.
His words were resonant and powerful. Despite having entered middle age, he carried the natural dashing arrogance of a Martial Emperor, exuding an overwhelming, domineering aura.
With handsome facial features, eyebrows as sharp as knives and swords, and a robust physique, he kept a sword at his side year-round and often led his subordinates in sword practice. He was a man who believed in ruling the world through martial might.
He furrowed his brow deeply as he gazed at the drunken Chen Liushang, his piercing gaze cold and fierce, flashing with a murderous glint.
He could not understand why the Great Elder and the Pavilion Master of Míng Pavilion would trust such a drunken madwoman.
True, her aura was indeed astonishingly unusual.
Yet he had no inkling of her true background or the depth of her power.
At that moment, Chen Liushang was still lost in a pleasant dream, muttering softly in her sleep, a silly grin plastered across her flushed, glazed face.
"Good wine... good wine."
"Spirit Lord... Spirit Lord."
The Great Elder gently shook Chen Liushang’s slumped body. He dared not use too much force, terrified of offending or waking the slumbering Spirit Ancestor, Chen Liushang. Stammering, he said to Leng Qianxuan behind him:
"Pavilion Master Leng, this... the immortal is not usually like this."
Mo Qianchen wore an expression of utter embarrassment. Forced to lie to appease Leng Qianxuan, the master of the Xiuxian Continent's Qianxuan Lake, he feigned an explanation:
"Pavilion Master Leng..."
Leng Qianxuan still wore a look of intense dissatisfaction, his cold eyes fixed unwaveringly on Chen Liushang as he coldly observed the esteemed personage they had spoken of.
"Good wine, good wine."
"Cheers."
Muttering a few more dream-talks, she suddenly rolled over. Her immortal robes slipped, and both the Great Elder and Leng Qianxuan were startled by Chen Liushang's sudden movement.
Half-drunk, she tumbled headfirst and flashingly straight into the lake, sending ripples spreading softly across the water's surface.
A massive, net-like barrier instantly materialized, appearing plain as day before the eyes of the Great Elder and Leng Qianxuan.
She drifted there, sleeping drunkenly atop the net-like barrier floating on the lake's surface, still murmuring in her sleep.
"This... this..."
Leng Qianxuan stared in utter shock at the vast, net-like Liúlí Light barrier in the lake. His tightly furrowed brow relaxed slightly, and a trace of trust crept into his heart as he stammered to the Great Elder:
"Did a drunken immortal set this up?"
He could not help thinking that it must have taken countless years of cultivation at a most profound level to achieve such a realm.
"Immortal, I have been impolite."
Cupping his fists, he bowed halfway, wearing an expression of deep apology as he said weakly:
Chen Liushang slumbered on, half-asleep, and waved a hand at random. A glazed magic mirror materialized in mid-air, while she thought to herself:
"In consideration of your meticulous care for my Xiuxian Continent over the years, I shall let you take a look."
"Are... are those Jing'er and Xuan'er?"
Within the magic mirror, a large cavern appeared. Ming Xuan and Xuanjing were locked in a grueling battle against a flying sword.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
The two had been fighting for over half an hour. The flying sword operated without any human wielder, attacking step by step as if guiding them to learn certain sword forms, steps, and footwork.
The attacks seemed random, but each step carried the distinct feel of deliberate guidance.
"Junior Brother, step back two paces now!"
"Understood."
Ming Xuan's brow was deeply furrowed. A large patch of his black sleeve had already been torn away by the sword qi.
Meanwhile, Xuan'er's arm had been grazed by a blade, leaving a glaring, crimson gash across his snow-white immortal robes.
"Now, leap upward!"
The masterless sword suddenly changed its attack vector toward their shins, forcing both of them to leap rapidly into mid-air.
"Xuan'er, fall back quickly!"
Xuanjing grabbed Ming Xuan's right hand and paced backward rapidly, the two of them repeating their evasion under the relentless onslaught of the flying sword.
Both were utterly exhausted. They had remained inside the cavern for half an hour now, and this was already the second day of the Trial Ground.
The corners of both their eyes were bloodshot, and they breathed heavily. Seizing a brief lull in the flying sword's attack, Xuanjing dropped into a half-crouch and sucked in several deep breaths of air.
"Senior Brother, are you alright?"
Ming Xuan, having frequently trained his physical endurance at home, still retained half his stamina.
He supported the crouching Xuan'er, his brow furrowed as his eyes fixed on the flying sword hanging in mid-air, already anticipating its next strike.
Suddenly, a flash of determination crossed his eyes, followed by a gaze as cold as distant stars. An aura of biting frost erupted from his body as he tightly grabbed the right hand of his exhausted senior brother and leaped several paces to the left.
"This woman is formidable indeed. I underestimated her."
A growing sense of respect for Chen Liushang began to take root in Ming Xuan's heart. His brow still furrowed, he pulled Xuan'er along while calculating their next evasion maneuver.
"Crouch down!"
Both dropped into a simultaneous crouch, narrowly dodging the flying sword's strike. Crouched low, they drew in ragged breaths. The Liúlí Light sword qi unleashed by the flying sword's attacks carved deep, jagged scars directly into the stone walls of the cavern.
Seeing the deep gasars gouged into the cave walls, Leng Qianxuan began to suspect that Chen Liushang was not some invited immortal at all, but a malevolent sorceress intent on harming his Jing'er. Enraged, he turned to the Great Elder and snapped:
"My Jing'er! How can you let her toy with my son like this?"
Standing in the pavilion, fury radiating from every pore, Leng Qianxuan clenched his fists so hard they shook, his eyes glued to the glazed mirror before him. Every single step made his heart leap into his throat; every move was a dance with mortal peril, as the sword strikes showed no mercy whatsoever. Grabbing Mo Qianchen by the collar, he berated him loudly:
"Pavilion Master Leng, stop at once!"
"The immortal would never harm us."
The Great Elder's hands trembled slightly. Unable to fathom Chen Liushang's true intentions either, he could only offer vague evasions.
"He is my only son!"
"If any harm comes to him, I'll make all of you pay with your lives!"
He roared in fury. With that, he drew his sword and lunged toward the sleeping Chen Liushang, desperate to force her to release Xuanjing from the trial barrier at once.
Meanwhile, Ming Xuan and Xuanjing were fumbling their way toward mastering nearly half of this unique sword technique custom-crafted by Chen Liushang.
They awaited only the breakthrough to study the next set of sword forms.
"Stop at once!"
The Great Elder shouted at the top of his lungs.
A flash of sword light burst outward from the lake's barrier. With a blink, Chen Liushang vanished, reappearing as a streak of glazed light before ascending to hover gracefully atop the pavilion roof.
Her gaze was frosty, her immortal robes fluttered in the wind, and she stood in transcendent isolation. Taking a sip of wine, she projected her voice outward using her internal breath:
"Without falling into the mud to wither, how can a flower bloom?"
In an instant, Chen Liushang's ethereal, soul-stirring voice permeated the entire lake, striking deep into the heart. Countless blossoms withered and fell. Watching this touching, protective farce unfold, she could not help but feel an even deeper sense of pity for the decadent ruin awaiting the Xiuxian Continent a century from now.
Sipping her wine, a trace of sorrow surfaced in her eyes.
Looking out over the bright moon hanging high above the tranquil continent, she could only swallow her grief in silence. Back in her day, wasn't she the exact same? Though blessed with the innate talent of the Glazed Bone, she had neglected her cultivation; possessing innate talent yet lacking actual strength meant it was all nothing more than an empty dream.
With a casual flick of her wrist, countless sword phantoms shot forth from the lakeside. Staring at this breathtaking display, Leng Qianxuan found himself paralyzed, unable to strike.
Appalled, he stood frozen in place, utterly unable to move.
"If I had wanted him dead, your son would have died a hundred times over by now," Chen Liushang said indifferently, her eyes half-closed in sleep.
In a flash, all the falling petals returned to where they had been, as if the entire spectacle had never occurred.
"This is sword qi... I never thought I would witness such bizarre and formidable sword qi in this lifetime. It seems this woman is extraordinary indeed."
Terror flashed across Leng Qianxuan's face. He gazed at the scattered petals around him—her sword qi had scarred everything within a radius of a hundred miles. Fear gripped his heart, and at last, he had a measure of her true depth.
Wearing the seasoned expression of a veteran, he gripped his sword tightly, his brow furrowed in deep thought.
"If Jing'er stays with her, he will certainly make great progress. Since her mastery of swordsmanship is so profound and her internal qi so unfathomable, should anything actually happen, I still have my elite troops. She won't be able to escape the palm of my hand!"
His eyes darted as his mind raced. Realizing that Chen Liushang's cultivation was indeed unfathomable and bizarre, he knew that if Xuanjing could learn even a fraction of her skills, he would undoubtedly become a dragon among men, which would also make it easier for him to manage Qianchen Pavilion in the future.
"Then I must trouble the immortal. I have been rather abrupt, and I hope the immortal will forgive me."
Gazing up at Chen Liushang perched atop the pavilion, he cupped his fists, wearing an awkward expression. His fists trembled slightly as he spoke with a respectful, knowing compliance.
"This old fogey still wants to use his elite troops against me."
She poured another gulp of wine down her throat, looking lazy and content as she lounged across the pavilion roof, eavesdropping on Leng Qianxuan's ridiculous thoughts.
"Pfft. Hahahaha, now this is good wine! Good wine!"
Her bold declaration echoed in the air. A faint smile touched the corner of her mouth, her eyes cold and clear as she laughed inwardly.
The Great Elder asked in mild alarm: "What is wrong with the immortal?"
He wiped the sweat from his cheek with a trembling, aged hand, feeling quite flustered—terrified of offending Chen Liushang on one hand, yet too afraid to cross the high-ranking Leng Qianxuan on the other.
Leng Qianxuan thought to himself: *"Did she just agree? Is the immortal sparing me?"*
He waited stupidly in place, gripping his sword tightly. A wave of panic washed over him, and he dared not move a muscle, terrified that his earlier discourtesy might have offended this master of the sword and caused his son Xuanjing to miss out on such a peerless mentor.
Half an hour passed. She continued to sip her wine with a lazy expression.
Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the two hesitant men pacing below the pavilion. A twinge of reluctance stirred within her, and she muttered inwardly:
"Hmph, in consideration of how dearly you cherish your son, and how painstakingly you have tended to the living creatures of this continent, I will spare you this once."
"Return, Pavilion Master Leng. Your son Xuanjing is a prodigy. It is my nature to cherish talent, and I never miss an opportunity to play the mentor. I shall impart my life's ultimate arts to him without reservation. After all—" A flash of fierce Glazed Divine Light swept across her brow. "You are nothing more than a junior in my eyes!"
She spoke in a cool, detached tone.
Her voice carried a lingering, profound resonance, as if deliberately warning Leng Qianxuan not to try anything reckless again.
"Yes, yes!"
Hearing these words and seemingly catching a glimpse of Chen Liushang's extraordinary nature, Leng Qianxuan hurriedly acknowledged her command.
"Pavilion Master Leng, you can rest easy now. Let us leave quickly. Surely you have important matters to attend to on your end as well?" Mo Qianchen wore an innocent expression as he pulled on Leng Qianxuan's thick right arm, trying to drag him away from this dangerous place while offering earnest advice.
"I... I... The immortal hasn't said we can leave yet. How can we just go?"
Leng Qianxuan stammered in reply. He hesitated, acting very much like a subordinate respectfully awaiting instructions on whether to stay or go from an elder like the immortal Chen Liushang.
"Hmph!" She let out a cold snort internally. As the alcohol warmed her chest, a sudden, piercing chill gripped her heart. Glancing at the two dithering men, she said coldly:
"Do you two still have business here? If you wish to test my limits further, I, Chen Liushang, will accompany you to the end. Otherwise—piss off, and stop ruining my drinking!"
"Quick, quick, let's go, Pavilion Master Leng." A hint of helplessness colored Mo Qianchen's tone. Sensing that something was amiss with Chen Liushang, he yanked hard on Leng Qianxuan's right arm, eager to make a hasty retreat.
"Then we shall take our leave, Immortal." Realizing where he stood, Leng Qianxuan returned a polite bow and departed the Trial Ground alongside the Great Elder.
"Now, let me see how well your precious son is progressing with his training."
Watching their retreating figures, Chen Liushang's expression turned frigid. With a wave of her hand, she reopened the glazed magic mirror to closely observe Xuanjing and Ming Xuan's ongoing sword trial.