Chapter 125: A Matter of Time

The clouds above dispersed, and sunlight once again spilled into the courtyard, vibrant with life like the willow trees of spring.

The terrifying sensation of suffocation that had echoed in everyone’s hearts lingered for less than a single breath before vanishing entirely, as if they had been pulled back from the underworld into the world of the living. They stared at the Sword Immortal woman, who had inexplicably collapsed to the ground, their minds blank.

Su Mo returned his ancient sword to its cloth sheath and stepped forward. A young girl carrying a massive longsword blocked his path.

Su Mo stopped.

The girl, who looked delicate and adorable, glanced at her master, then turned back to him with a pitiful expression. "I apologize on behalf of my master. Please, can you not kill her? I’m willing to take another sword strike for her... er... half a strike? Would half a strike be okay?"

Su Mo looked at her and smiled. "What is your name?"

The girl blinked and answered honestly, "Little Cabbage."

Su Mo gazed into her eyes for a long moment before nodding in appraisal. "Bright as the stars, gifted with extraordinary talent. Your eyes are more beautiful than anyone else’s."

The girl, dressed in a dark green gown, felt her face flush for some unknown reason. She widened her eyes, appearing somewhat flustered.

Su Mo walked past them and reached Yang Pan'er’s side. "I heard Yang Liu mention she had a younger sister who loved practicing the sword."

Yang Pan'er stared at the man before her, who radiated a strange sense of familiarity, and was momentarily stunned.

Su Mo mused for a moment, then said, "Although my Dao Sect originated from the Taoist tradition, we have produced several Sword Immortals. In a few days, the Dao Sect will be in Yunmeng City, East Ancestral Prefecture, to take on disciples. You could go and try your luck."

The man smiled, leaned over, and whispered, "Just tell them Shen Yu’s name."

Yang Pan'er’s eyes lit up, as if she had finally snapped out of her daze, and she nodded vigorously like a chick pecking at grain.

A moment later, her expression turned panicked. "Immortal, Shen Yu was sent flying by that old woman!"

Su Mo nodded and said with a smile, "It’s fine, I’m going to find him now."

The gentle man from the Dao Sect had traveled thousands of miles to strike a single blow, exchanged a few words with Yang Pan'er, and then turned away with effortless grace, vanishing from everyone’s sight. From start to finish, he had not cast a single glance at anyone else in the small courtyard—not even the fox demon.

...

It was nearly dusk.

When the Sword Immortal woman opened her eyes, she could dimly see the sunset through the high window. Beside her came the rhythmic rattling of carriage wheels. She slowly straightened her back, realizing she was inside a carriage traveling along a wide imperial road.

Dried blood had stained her white robes, and the heavy scent of iron filled the air, leaving her looking utterly disheveled. Li Moxuan’s expression was indifferent, yet a bitter smile tugged at the corner of her lips.

She was not dead. Or rather, Su Mo had spared her life.

The young girl pulled back a corner of the carriage curtain and exclaimed with delight, "Master, you're awake!"

Li Moxuan looked at the distant sunset and was silent for a long time before asking, "What did you... see in him?"

There are many heaven-favored children in this world endowed with special abilities—what the world calls Sword Bodies, Dao Bodies, or Spirit Bodies. Such people have another name: Children of Destiny.

Little Cabbage was pretty and adorable, but she was precisely an inheritor of such a gift. Her eyes. Eyes that could see through all the phenomena of the world.

She had seen scholars who appeared full of wisdom but were secretly rotten to the core; she had seen rugged heroes who were, in their hearts, delicate women hiding behind floral ornaments. She had even once seen a human infant hidden within a willow tree that had lived for nearly a thousand years.

The world is filled with strange and bizarre phenomena.

The girl hesitated for a moment, her expression turning odd, before she said doubtfully, "It must be because my cultivation is too low. I didn't see anything. It’s as if there was nothing at all about him."

The Sword Immortal closed her eyes, her lids trembling slightly; her heart was far from calm. After a while, she asked, "Then what kind of person do you think he is?"

The girl thought for a moment and said happily, "He praised my eyes for being beautiful. He’s a... warm man."

Li Moxuan revealed a hint of complex emotion and countered, "Warm?"

The girl, not understanding her master’s intent, said uncertainly, "Then... cold?"

The tall woman did not speak.

The girl poked her head in from the side of the carriage and asked curiously, "Do you know, Master?"

The sunset faded completely, and the night truly descended. Li Moxuan watched a thin black line on the horizon slowly swallow the distant landscape. A trace of fear suddenly flickered in her eyes, and she shook her head. "It is better not to know."

...

In a small village deep in the mountains, the tavern remained open in the dead of night—an unprecedented occurrence. The middle-aged man sat on a long bench by the entrance, his right foot propped up on the other end of the bench, holding a wine gourd and drinking sip by sip.

The villagers went to sleep early; as soon as night fell, the small path at the entrance of the village was plunged into darkness. Looking up, the stars twinkled across the sky.

Shen Yu appeared at the tavern entrance, holding a jar of wine.

The middle-aged man rolled his eyes. "Look who it is, the weasel coming to wish the chickens a happy New Year."

Shen Yu’s expression remained unchanged. "I’m here to treat you to a drink."

The middle-aged man looked at Shen Yu suspiciously. "The favor has already been done. My last bit of connection with the Dao Sect is officially over. Don't think you can squeeze any more benefits out of me."

Shen Yu poured the wine into a bowl and suddenly asked, "Your Dantian spirit sea has long since withered, and your time is running out, yet you continue to frantically accumulate spiritual energy in your body. Beyond seeking death, what is the point of all this?"

He had pierced through the truth with a single sentence.

The middle-aged man’s brow twitched. He did not answer, instead teasing, "Aren't you the same? Full of sword energy—are you using it as food?"

Shen Yu remained expressionless and let out a cold laugh. The middle-aged man burst into laughter.

Shen Yu shook his head. "You still haven't answered my question."

The middle-aged man rolled his eyes, bored. "Cultivators accumulate spiritual energy, of course, to kill people."

"Who?" Shen Yu asked.

The middle-aged man grinned. "I’m not telling you."

Shen Yu replied with an "oh."

The night deepened, and the twilight grew thicker. In the dead of night, only the sound of the two men drinking remained. The middle-aged man, unable to keep his thoughts to himself, spoke up again: "What exactly are you trying to do, kid?"

Shen Yu got straight to the point. "Teach me spearplay."

"Pfft!" The middle-aged man, who had been drinking, sprayed a mouthful of wine. "What did you say?"

"Teach me spearplay."

The middle-aged man looked at Shen Yu, his expression shifting abruptly. In his view, since Shen Yu had emerged from the Dao Sect, the techniques he had taught at Qingshan were enough to earn even his admiration. The "spearplay" Shen Yu spoke of was clearly not the ordinary kind.

The middle-aged man suddenly understood something and said in surprise, "You crafty brat! You’ve already mastered Dao techniques and swordsmanship, and yet you want to learn my spearplay? There are three thousand Great Daos in this world—aren’t you afraid that being too greedy will lead to your downfall, or that you’ll end up achieving nothing at all?"

Shen Yu didn't speak; he just drank his wine in silence. He had walked very far along the path of cultivation. Whether it was Taoist techniques or sword manuals, they were all paths of transcendence. But in this lifetime, he sought the path of worldly immersion, and what the man possessed was exactly what he currently pursued.

But these things could not be said aloud.

Shen Yu said, "What do you think of the Dao techniques of the True Person Taixuan from three thousand years ago?"

The middle-aged man pondered for a moment, then answered with rare seriousness, "Stunning and peerless. Even now, I doubt anyone could defeat him. His path had already reached the realm of 'forgetting emotions for the sake of the Supreme.'"

Shen Yu nodded. "Correct."

The middle-aged man leaned back on the bench, lazy and relaxed. "Not interested. I won’t teach you."

Shen Yu said, "Understood."

The middle-aged man crossed his legs, surprised. "You’re not going to beg me?"

Shen Yu shook his head. "For me, it is merely a matter of time."