Chapter 567: Cultivating the Flying Sword

Cleaning the room was, of course, no difficult task, but since Zhang Xiaohua had no intention of living there, why bother doing useless work?

So Zhang Xiaohua smiled and said, “Since that’s the case, I’ll just have to leave the cleaning to you. Senior Brother Bai, you can clean it yourself. In any case, I’m not going to live in that little room.”

Bai Huan had not heard Zhang Xiaohua clearly and immediately replied, “Alright, I knew Junior Brother Ren’s hands are meant for gambling matches. Leave the cleaning work to—eh? What? Junior Brother Ren isn’t staying in the little room? Then where are you living?”

Then he asked, “Could it be that Junior Brother finds it inconvenient to stay with me? How about I speak with Boss Chen and move back to my original place?”

Zhang Xiaohua secretly laughed. Sending you here was specifically so you could keep an eye on me. If you leave, how would Boss Chen accomplish that?

So he said, “No need, Senior Brother Bai. It’s just that I’m not used to living with other people. Look, there’s a cave on that cliff. I’ve already checked it out, and it’s quite suitable. It’s just large enough for one person, so I’ll stay there.”

“Ah? How can that do? Junior Brother Ren, if you do that, aren’t you just looking down on me? …”

Seeing Bai Huan about to launch into another performance, Zhang Xiaohua waved his hand and said, “Do you think that if you told Boss Chen, he’d let you go back? I’m afraid he’d have you…”

As he spoke, he pointed toward the distant cliff.

“This?” Bai Huan hesitated. Needless to say, as long as Zhang Xiaohua said he did not want to live with Bai Huan, Chen Fengxiao would certainly not allow Bai Huan to leave the mountain. The fate of living in a cave would be impossible to escape.

Cold sweat immediately poured down Bai Huan’s face. Although the disciples of Tianmu Peak were not exactly pampered and spoiled, living in a cave? Just thinking about it felt unbelievable. Then the way he looked at Zhang Xiaohua changed somewhat. What exactly was this fellow trying to do? He refused to live in a perfectly good house and insisted on staying in that secluded bamboo grove courtyard. Thinking of the shadows beneath the bamboo, Bai Huan shuddered. And now, on this mountain peak, he was again refusing a perfectly good room and insisting on living in some cave. How had he been so unlucky? Why hadn’t he slacked off that day? Why had he run into someone like this?

Zhang Xiaohua’s words were completely correct. Before coming here, Qiu Weicheng had already made things very clear to him, telling him to keep an eye on Zhang Xiaohua. As for why he should watch him or how he should do it, not a word was explained. Qiu Weicheng had merely patted him on the shoulder and said: “The Herb Division trusts you!”

Of course, Bai Huan had to report Zhang Xiaohua’s decision to live in a cave to Chen Fengxiao, but it definitely did not need to be now. Waiting a couple of days until it was time to report on the situation would not be too late. Hehe, by then Zhang Xiaohua would already have moved into the cave. Could Boss Chen really drag him out of it? Besides, it seemed this Zhang Xiaohua was not particularly obedient to Boss Chen’s orders!

Having thought it through, Bai Huan politely said: “Even if someone is going to live in a cave, it should be me. How could I let Junior Brother Ren stay there?”

Zhang Xiaohua knew he was merely being courteous and smiled. “Enough, Senior Brother Bai. Boss Chen isn’t even here, so saying these things won’t earn you any gratitude from me. If you’re willing, go ahead and live there yourself. I won’t stop you.”

Bai Huan chuckled. “Junior Brother Ren truly is a straightforward person. I’ll go fetch your bedding right away.”

After saying this, he immediately fled as if escaping, rushing toward the small house in a puff of dust and never mentioning the matter of cleaning it again.

After accompanying Zhang Xiaohua to the somewhat secluded cave in the southeastern corner, Bai Huan could not help but say in surprise; “Junior Brother Ren, I’ve come to the summit of Tianmu Peak many times, yet I’ve never seen this cave before. Still, isn’t it a little too close to the cliff? If you sleepwalk at night, wouldn’t it be easy to fall and get… injured?”

Looking at the cave entrance, which was several zhang away from the cliff, Zhang Xiaohua did not know what to say. Leaving aside the fact that he cultivated the Carefree Heart Sutra at night and would not come wandering out of the cave, even if he did come out, he was hardly likely to turn a corner and walk straight toward the cliff.

“Eh? This cave is actually very dry. Hehe, I was worried that Junior Brother Ren would wake up with aching joints from sleeping here.” Bai Huan muttered as he placed the bedding inside.

After looking around, he added, “This cave actually resembles the pill-refining rooms of the Pill Division on the western side, though it’s much smaller.”

Zhang Xiaohua was startled and asked, “Senior Brother Bai has been to the Pill Division’s pill-refining rooms? Wasn’t it said that outsiders aren’t allowed there?”

“Hehe,” Bai Huan laughed. “Occasionally getting lost and wandering over there—what can anyone really say about that? Besides, when delivering medicinal herbs, it’s only natural that they let me take a look inside.”

Zhang Xiaohua had wanted to ask whether disciples of the Herb Division had ever used the Pill Division’s pill-refining rooms before, but a disciple like Bai Huan might not know. Besides, Chen Fengxiao was probably even more anxious about the matter than he was. Perhaps in a few days there would be some news. But when the time came, what pill should he refine? Ah, forget it. He would think about it when the time arrived.

After coming out of the cave, Bai Huan went to tidy up his own room, while Zhang Xiaohua walked to the barren medicinal field. Squatting down, he casually grabbed a handful of soil. The earth was extremely loose and soft. With the eye of someone raised in a farming family, Zhang Xiaohua could tell immediately that it was excellent soil. If grain were planted here, it would certainly flourish.

The situation was no different from the medicinal fields at Huanxi Villa back then. If his guess was correct, the reason was the lack of Yuan Qi of Heaven and Earth. However, judging from the Yuan Qi of Heaven and Earth that had gathered when he drew down lightning in the past, the concentration then had seemed much denser than it was now. No wonder these medicinal herbs would not sprout.

Thinking of this, Zhang Xiaohua became somewhat puzzled again. The Incense-Spreading Sect was a great sect that had inherited the Immortal Dao. Even the entrances and exits of their mountain gates required the use of magical artifacts. How could they not know about Yuan Qi? Since they knew that the Yuan Qi of Heaven and Earth was scarce, why were they still wasting their efforts here?

“That’s right. The medicinal herbs at Huanxi Villa did sprout back then, but what happened afterward? The Yuan Qi between Heaven and Earth was probably still insufficient to support their growth. They would likely have had to be transplanted to Spring Rebirth Valley, or perhaps only within the Incense-Spreading Sect could they continue growing.”

Of course, when Zhang Xiaohua had infiltrated the Heaven’s Way Alliance, he had passed by Huanxi Villa on his way out. However, it had been nighttime, and heavy snow covered everything. He had paid no attention to the medicinal fields. Thinking back now, he had no impression of them at all.

“I really do seem to have a strange affinity with medicinal herbs that refuse to sprout!”

Zhang Xiaohua laughed inwardly. “Still, if these were the medicinal herbs from Huanxi Villa, I would definitely think of a solution. Since even the well water in Guo Village contained Yuan Qi, water soaked with Yuan Stones should certainly contain Yuan Qi as well. If the herbs were watered with that, perhaps they would sprout. But whether the Incense-Spreading Sect’s medicinal herbs sprout or not, what does that have to do with me? Not even half a copper coin’s worth. Yuan Stones are the foundation of cultivating immortality. Every bit used is one bit less. They absolutely cannot be wasted.”

However, as for whether water soaked with Yuan Stones could truly cause medicinal herbs to sprout, Zhang Xiaohua was still willing to give it a try. Naturally, it would only be an experiment; he had no intention of promoting it on a large scale.

The medicinal field had only been handed over to him from another disciple that very day. Although those people had been somewhat negligent, they had still kept the place extremely clean. There was nothing that needed to be done today. Thus, after taking a general look around, Zhang Xiaohua slowly walked back to the cave.

It was now noon. Sunlight shone down from the southern sky, filling the cave entrance with brilliant light.

Zhang Xiaohua took the meditation cushion from his money pouch and sat cross-legged beneath the sunlight. Then he pulled out the sword manual he had found a few days earlier hidden within the scabbard of the Bishui Sword.

That night, time had been limited, so he had not examined it carefully. He had only skimmed through the eighty-one sword moves and had merely felt that something about them was strange. Today, with nothing to do, was the perfect opportunity to study it thoroughly.

Since Zhang Xiaohua had previously only encountered fist manuals and was unfamiliar with sword manuals, he first memorized the diagram of the opening move and the circulation path of the internal energy. Then he drew the Bishui Sword from his robes and rose to his feet. Following his understanding, he executed the sword move according to the manual.

The internal energy flowed as directed, and the sword move could indeed be performed, yet it always felt somewhat awkward and uncoordinated.

Shaking his head, Zhang Xiaohua sheathed the sword and sat back down. Opening the manual once more, he continued reading. Move after move, he committed them to memory while simultaneously simulating them within his mind.

At this moment, Zhang Xiaohua seemed to have returned to the days when he had first learned the Arhat Fist at Huanxi Villa. Within his mind, a tiny figure holding a long sword was practicing the sword forms one sequence after another exactly as recorded in the manual.

As the sun gradually drifted westward, Zhang Xiaohua had already memorized most of the sword art.

Suddenly, Zhang Xiaohua, whose expression had remained calm all along, furrowed his brow. Immediately afterward, a trace of delight appeared in his eyes. His hands naturally lifted the sword manual resting upon his knees, bringing it close as he carefully examined it.

After staring at it for quite a while, a faint smile appeared at the corner of Zhang Xiaohua’s mouth. He muttered softly to himself: “So that’s it. No wonder this sword manual feels somewhat awkward. Every move seems slightly improper, as if the transitions between moves are not smooth and are riddled with openings. It turns out this sword art is not an ordinary martial sword technique at all, but a modified version of Immortal Dao sword-control techniques! If moves forty-one through forty-six had not been extremely similar to the sword techniques Elder Yu taught me, I would never have noticed. If that’s the case, then this sword manual cannot be studied so simply. The circulation of internal energy and the use of a sword held in the hand were probably modifications made later by martial predecessors. Hmm, I should carefully examine the angles of each set of nine moves, as well as the trajectories that were not drawn.”

Having said this, he committed the remaining sword moves firmly to memory. Then he closed his eyes and pondered, dividing the eighty-one sword moves he had seen into nine groups of nine, carefully comprehending the trajectories and connections within them.

After a long time, Zhang Xiaohua still did not open his eyes. Instead, he reached into his robes and drew out Chasing Dream.

His Divine Sense spread outward.

Chasing Dream traced a beautiful arc before his eyes, then somewhat awkwardly followed an entirely new trajectory, stabbing diagonally forward. Afterward, it performed a strange turn and shifted toward another direction…

A long while later, Chasing Dream finally wobbled its way back into Zhang Xiaohua’s hand.

Opening his eyes, Zhang Xiaohua nodded lightly.

Although he was still unfamiliar with this flying sword technique, after all it was his first attempt at practicing it, and although there were still many flaws within it, he had confirmed that this was indeed a sword art for an Immortal Dao flying sword, not an ordinary martial sword technique. Perhaps the modified sword art possessed tremendous power, but Zhang Xiaohua still preferred to employ it through Chasing Dream as a flying sword. That was the proper method of an Immortal Dao Qi Refiner.

However, the sword manual did not mention the name of this sword art, nor did it reveal its origin, leaving Zhang Xiaohua somewhat troubled.

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Xiaohua stood up once more and carefully stored away the sword manual. With his hands clasped behind his back, he stood at the cave entrance and gazed at the boundless sea of clouds.

He thought to himself: “This sword art was comprehended atop Tianmu Peak. If I name it after this place, it would certainly sound impressive.”