Chapter 60

Heavenly stars are sometimes very near; they seem to hang just above one's head, embedded in the profoundly dark firmament. When standing on a mountain, it feels as though you can reach out and touch them.

But in reality, the stars we see are possibly just the light and shadow they cast tens of thousands of years ago.

Chen Ji doesn't know how long Xuanyuan's lifespan is, to the extent that the other party could casually describe spending 434 years, and it was just a paving for cultivation.

He looked towards Crow: "Uncle Crow, do you know Lù Yáng, the mountain chief of Jīng Cháo Martial Temple?"

Chen Ji asked again: "Then do you know how old he is?"

Before his words fell, and before Crow could respond, he saw Old Man Yáo walk out with his hands behind his back: "You're not sleeping early in the morning, what are you asking about Lù Yáng for?"

"Um." Chen Ji thought for a moment and replied: "Didn't Liáng Gōu'ér say I was suitable for learning the sword seed? I heard that the mountain chief inside Jīng Cháo Martial Temple, Lù Yáng, cultivates exactly the sword seed, so I'm asking about it."

Old Man Yáo laughed: "You think you can learn it if you want to? Will someone teach you? Didn't you already get over the fever? Why are you still talking nonsense!"

Chen Ji: "First tell me how old Lù Yáng is!"

Old Man Yáo casually said: "According to rumors, he should be one hundred and thirty years old. His cultivation level is high, so naturally he lives longer."

"How old was he when he became famous?"

Old Man Yáo glanced at him and said indifferently: "Why should I tell you these things? Go ask someone else."

Chen Ji thought for a moment, then helped Old Man Yáo move the bamboo lounge chair out of the room and set it down.

While giving Old Man Yáo a leg massage, he sincerely said: "Master, I can actually go ask others, but others are not as profound as you! The saying goes, 'Having an elder at home is like having a treasure.' I am guarding your treasure mountain, why do I need to go find others? Can they compare with you, Master? They cannot compare!"

Old Man Yáo looked at him, remained silent for a long time, then slowly opened his mouth: "What did you just ask?"

"How old was Lù Yáng when he became famous?"

"How old when he became famous?" Old Man Yáo fell into thought, his eyes full of memories: "This is a legendary figure. A rare living legend in the *Jiānghú*."

"Lù Yáng was born into a meritorious noble family in Jīng Cháo. His father, Lù Xiāo, was the Jīng Cháo Champion Marquis. He was disabled in the battle at Chóng Lí Guān, so he transmitted the Lù family's world-renowned sword seed method to Lù Yáng early on. Legend says Lù Yáng entered the Xiāntiān realm at twelve years old, the Xúndào realm at sixteen, the Shéndào realm at twenty-one, and entered the main Martial Temple at twenty-two, becoming the youngest mountain chief in Jīng Cháo!"

"After Lù Yáng entered the main Martial Temple, he crossed south to Níng Cháo twice. The first time he crossed south, he ascended Jīnghǎi Mountain Línghuá Temple, smashed the copper bell in the courtyard of Línghuá Temple, and crippled the cultivation of the Línghuá Temple host."

"The second time he crossed south, Lù Yáng killed his way up Língxū Mountain Yùqīng View, killed the Yùqīng View Daoist leader, split the plaque in front of Yùqīng Hall, and amidst the surrounding attack of several hundred Sānqīng View disciples, he leisurely drank wine in front of the Yùqīng Hall plaque. Before leaving, he left one sentence - 'Only so!'"

Chen Ji was shocked. This Shéndào realm expert could actually do as he pleased?

"Why did he want to kill his way up these two mountain gates?"

Old Man Yáo smiled: "Because Lù Yáng is a martial arts fanatic. After entering the Shéndào realm, he always wanted to find an opponent for himself in Jīng Cháo, but he just couldn't find one, so he came to Níng Cháo. Both the Línghuá Temple host and the Yùqīng View Daoist leader claimed to be the Shéndào realm experts with the most hope of crossing the Tiānrén threshold in Níng Cháo."

"Two Shéndào realm experts were very easily defeated?" Chen Ji didn't understand: "Aren't they all in the Shéndào realm? What made Lù Yáng just a bit fiercer?"

"Nonsense Shéndào realm, do you really think the Shéndào realm is like big white cabbage, everywhere?" Old Man Yáo shook his head: "The customs were different back then, many people would falsely report their realm to recruit disciples. There were many people who falsely reported their strength realm back then. In the *Jiānghú*, you could casually pull out a stable hand and they would be in the Xúndào realm, there was a lot of water content. Actually, those two from Línghuá Temple and Yùqīng View were also only in the Xúndào realm."

"Ah? They dared to falsely report this?"

Old Man Yáo lay on the bamboo chair and talked about the interesting stories from that year. "When Lù Yáng first entered the Shéndào realm, he was young and vigorous. He heard that someone from the Mó Zōng was about to touch the Tiānrén threshold and wanted to go challenge them. The Martial Temple elders advised him not to go, in case he couldn't defeat them, it would damage Jīng Cháo's vitality. But Lù Yáng only left one sentence - 'Invaders can go, I can also go.'"

Then he went down the mountain and killed the entire Jīng Cháo Mó Zōng for sixty years.

"Did he find that Mó Zōng expert?"

"He found him!"

"Was the other party in the Shéndào realm?"

Old Man Yáo laughed out loud: "When Lù Yáng returned to the Martial Temple after sixty years of demon-slaying, someone inside the Martial Temple also asked him this way, and he replied: 'The invader lied!'"

Chen Ji: "...If he hadn't acted tough this one time, he wouldn't have attracted the disaster of being killed."

Yet he heard Old Man Yáo continue: "Those years, he not only killed the Mó Zōng, but also conveniently challenged all the experts who claimed to have the hope of advancing to the Shéndào realm and the hope of crossing the Tiānrén threshold. To the extent that within these past thirty years, basically no one dares to falsely report their strength realm anymore. These two words, Lù Yáng, are like a big mountain, pressing down on the heads of the world's experts, unable to be moved or shifted."

Chen Ji was filled with solemn respect, wasn't this a professional fake fighter?

He doubted: "Couldn't anyone in Níng Cháo contend with him?"

"Rumor has it that the Apostle Zǐ from Huáng Shān could. The two of them fought for a month outside Chóng Lí Guān thirty years ago. After Apostle Zǐ went back to recuperate, he never descended from Huáng Shān again, and Lù Yáng then went into seclusion for thirty years, never leaving the Martial Temple again."

"Did Lù Yáng lose?"

"He didn't lose, but he didn't win either!"

Old Man Yáo sighed: "I heard that Apostle Zǐ descended the mountain a few days ago, I think there will be another battle between the two of them."

"Master, you don't know Lù Yáng, do you? How do you know so clearly?" Chen Ji was doubtful.

Old Man Yáo didn't answer, instead asking again: "You want to learn the sword seed? I advise you to give up. There is no precedent for the Lù family's sword seed to be transmitted externally. With Lù Yáng's Shéndào realm cultivation, he can live at least another hundred years. This kind of person who has hope of touching the Tiānrén threshold will not accept disciples!"

"He cultivated to the Shéndào realm at just twenty-one, why hasn't he crossed the next threshold after being over a hundred years old? Is it because there are other people cultivating the sword seed?" Chen Ji asked.

"Correct." Old Man Yáo answered clearly: "Lù Yáng once said that there should still be one person in this world who cultivates the sword seed the same way he does, so he has always been unable to cross the last threshold."

"In the past several decades, the entire Jīng Cháo has been helping him search for the other person cultivating the sword seed, but they have never found them, and they don't know where they are hiding!"

Chen Ji secretly thought, if Lù Yáng entered the Xiāntiān realm at twelve, then how old was he when he started cultivating the sword seed?

Just calculating with Barnard's Star, the nearest star to here, it would take at least four more years for his divine sense to reach it.

How did Lù Yáng cultivate his sword?

Chen Ji looked at Old Man Yáo and simply asked: "Do you know what Lù Yáng used to cultivate his sword?"

Old Man Yáo was surprised: "You even know about cultivating a sword, did that boy from the cloth shop tell you?"

"...Mm..." Old Man Yáo thought for a bit: "This isn't a secret. There is the North Sea to the north of Jīng Cháo, vast and boundless. Lù Yáng used the vast North Sea to cultivate a sword, which should be the first in the world!"

Chen Ji: Ah?

Using the vast North Sea to cultivate a sword, not using stars? This is quite different from how he cultivates the sword seed. Did Xuanyuan say something less?

Beside the apricot tree!

Old Man Yáo wore a loose cloth gown, stepped into black cloth shoes, stroked his beard, and slanted a glance at Chen Ji: "Don't aim too high. The Mountain Lord's method is not inferior to cultivating the sword seed, it's just difficult to cultivate. You'll understand later!"

Chen Ji understood. If he wanted to cultivate the Mountain Lord's method to the Shéndào realm, he was afraid that half of the officials in Níng Cháo would have to die.

The difficulty is indeed quite significant!!

But whether he can cultivate the sword seed, he has to try to find out.

Chen Ji quietly sized up Old Man Yáo, thinking of secretly cultivating from his master? It didn't seem necessary to hide. If the other party wanted to harm him, he would have died ten or eight times already.

He probed: "Master, if there's an opportunity, I mean if, if I can cultivate the sword seed method, will you be angry?"

Old Man Yáo scoffed: "If, I mean if, if you can cultivate the sword seed, then cultivate it. It's exactly the sword seed that chops officials and princes. The Mountain Lord's method cultivates faster."

The next moment, regardless of the strange gazes of Old Man Yáo and Crow, Chen Ji used the method taught by Xuanyuan, lightly cutting open the center of his brow with a short knife.

A drop of fresh blood seeped out from the center of his brow, slowly sliding down.

Chen Ji used his right thumb to wipe the drop of blood upwards.

This wipe left a deep red mark on his brow, looking like a third eye had opened.

Chen Ji sat cross-legged under the apricot tree, pinching the root of his left ring finger with his blood-stained right thumb and index finger, and then pinching the tip of his middle finger with his left thumb.

Old Man Yáo suddenly stood up from the bamboo chair and said in puzzlement: "Isn't this the Daoist Zǐ Wǔ Jué? The root of the ring finger is 'Zǐ', the tip of the middle finger is 'Wǔ', and both hands overlap in front of the body. This is indeed the Daoist method of cupped hands and the Zǐ Wǔ Jué, exactly the same. Strange, where did this boy Chen Ji learn it from?"

However, Chen Ji didn't pay attention to Old Man Yáo's surprise.

When the Zǐ Wǔ Jué formed, he felt as if he was seeing the 'world' through the wound in the center of his brow.

But this world was different from the normal world; there was only a vast sea of stars, boundless.

Tiānláng, Tiānshū, Yùhéng, Shénxiù, Hunter, Běiluò Shímén, the stars were brilliant.

But Chen Ji didn't look at them, instead his gaze was tightly locked on the nearest sun.

The next moment, he lightly floated up, seeming to fly towards the sky like a spirit wandering.

Looking down, Chen Ji saw that in the small courtyard of Tàipíng Medical Hall, 'he himself' was sitting cross-legged under the apricot tree in the middle of the courtyard. Uncle Crow was tilting his head, curiously sizing him up.

He jumped back and forth on the branches, constantly changing angles to observe.

Old Man Yáo was walking back and forth beside him, his eyes wide like copper bells.

In front of the breakfast shop opposite the medical hall, a cart was just unloading the door panels.

On the green stone road of Ānxī Street, an old man carrying dry firewood was hurrying along, his shoulder pole rhythmically swaying up and down on his shoulder.

Looking further, Chen Ji even saw Wǔyún squatting on the roof of the cloth shop, and opposite him a racoon flower cat was squatting. They didn't know what they were saying, but they seemed to be scolding each other fiercely.

The racoon flower cat pounced towards Wǔyún, while Wǔyún pinned the racoon flower cat to the ground, curled up its claws, and violently struck the racoon flower cat's head!

Chen Ji had never had this kind of experience. It seemed as if he no longer belonged to this world, and yet it also seemed as if the world already belonged to him.

He didn't know why, but the depression that had accumulated because of Yúnyáng, Jiāotù, Jīn Zhū, Sìcǎo, and the long-standing grievances, was actually swept away.

Chen Ji involuntarily wanted to shout freely, but no sound came out.

He wanted to fly to other places, but he couldn't control it at all, he was only being pulled by the sun.

Chen Ji suddenly turned around and, with extremely fast speed, flew towards that slowly rising sunrise.

It seemed to take a very long time, but it also seemed not long. He passed through a vast distance and came beside that blazing sun.

There was no burning feeling. The raging flames in front had no slightest influence on his 'divine sense'. He did not feel a change in temperature.

Chen Ji lightly stretched out a finger and touched the tumbling magma of the sun. Instantly, he began to fall rapidly downwards. The fingertip that had touched the sun connected to a strip of red fiery silk ribbon, which returned to his body from the center of his brow.

Everything returned to normal. Chen Ji could feel the wind and hear sounds again!

He felt that he had established a wonderful connection with the sun. There was a continuous source of heat, which gathered into his body from the pulled-back silk ribbon.

Inside his body, the sixteen lamps were blazing, seemingly resonating with the warm current that Chen Ji had led from the sun.

An invisible yet sharp energy wandered through his meridians and blood, like a small sword.

So this is the sword seed.

So this is the sword qi that can chop away injustice in one's heart.

Chen Ji opened his eyes and lifted his hand to wipe away the wound in the center of his brow. The wound healed instantly, leaving no trace.

Old Man Yáo exclaimed one after another beside him: "You? You? You?..."