Ye Qingyun smiled slightly, picked up the wine pot and drank, his eyes seemingly containing a hint of heroic spirit. Then he placed the wine pot on the stone table and said softly, "Many years ago, my master asked me a question: Do I want to be a hero or a saint?"
Liu Jiantang pondered for a moment, then thought of his senior brother's warm and honest nature, coupled with his unrestrained and heroic spirit, and said with a soft laugh, "I think senior brother is a hero. Among the immortal sects of this world, only the Heavenly Sword Sect is supreme, and senior brother is the leader of the righteous path. He truly deserves the title of hero."
Hearing this, Ye Qingyun shook his head with a wry smile and then said, "If you had said these words a few decades earlier, I would have been very happy. But what I want to say now is what Master told me later."
"Oh? Please speak, senior brother!"
“My master once said that a hero spends his life subduing others, while a sage spends his life subduing himself. In fact, after so many years, I think I have gradually come to understand this principle.”
Liu Jiantang seemed to be deep in thought, and then he also picked up the pot and took a sip of wine. At this moment, a gentle breeze swept through the pavilion, and the world seemed to quiet down a little.
"Senior brother, I think I understand what you're trying to say. My path is different from yours. My path is the way of the sword. An ordinary person's sword, when used, will splatter blood three feet deep, for the sake of fighting; a lord's sword, when used, will cause rivers of blood to flow, for the sake of slaughter; a king's sword, when used, will shatter mountains and rivers, for the sake of ambition. But the word 'sword' itself is born for conquest. Perhaps those who have mastered the way of the sword know how to use the sword to restrain themselves. Is this what you mean by a sage who spends his life subduing himself? But... what difference does it make whether such a sword exists or not?"
Ye Qingyun stared directly at Liu Jiantang, his expression turning solemn. "The sword is in your hand. What you seek, where you go, is all up to your heart!"
Liu Jiantang laughed loudly and downed the whole pot of wine in one go. "Isn't what you call the realm of cultivation the Dao? As heaven moves with strength, a gentleman should constantly strive for self-improvement; as earth is receptive, a gentleman should cultivate virtue and bear all things with magnanimity. These are all ways of cultivating the mind."
"It is true that a virtuous person strives for self-improvement and possesses great virtue, encompassing both heaven and earth, as well as all living beings. To see oneself, heaven and earth, and all living beings is the true path! Why is my junior brother unwilling to see things more clearly?"
Hearing this, Liu Jiantang stood up and walked outside the pavilion. He drew his Dragon-Slaying Sword and gently stroked its blade before retorting, "Senior brother, please don't say any more. I am just a sword, the strongest sword in our Heavenly Sword Sect. I have no desires in this life, nor do I wish to see any great Dao. My only wish is to fight. This is also my original intention in learning swordsmanship. If one day the demon race wreaks havoc on the world, I will definitely be the first to rush forward with my sword. Therefore, senior brother, I do not have your compassionate heart. To me, a demon is a demon. Those who are not of my kind will surely have different hearts. It is better to kill them!"
Hearing this, Ye Qingyun shook his head helplessly, unable to say anything more.
At this moment, Liu Jiantang continued, "As for Bai Yao, I am willing to pretend I didn't see it. I can't control what Junior Brother Xiao thinks, but he did me a favor when he was in the Southern Frontier, and I must repay that favor. However, if Bai Yao causes trouble in the future, I will definitely kill him!"
"Alright, alright, at least you're not as stubborn as Junior Brother Shen."
Upon hearing Shen Huairu mentioned, Liu Jiantang seemed to remember something, put away his Dragon-Slaying Sword and prepared to sit back down. Just then, Xiao Yuhan arrived, and the three brothers sat around the stone table.
"Junior Brother Xiao, is Junior Nephew Bai Yao alright?"
Xiao Yuhan shook his head, picked up a pot of wine and gulped down two mouthfuls. At this moment, Liu Jiantang seemed to sense something was wrong and asked, "Junior Brother, your breathing is disordered. What happened?"
"It's nothing! I was just tired from running too fast!" Xiao Yuhan didn't tell the truth. He himself didn't understand what had just happened, so he simply didn't bring it up again.
As cultivators at the Void Returning Realm, the two senior brothers naturally didn't believe that running a few steps could cause one's breathing to become disordered. However, since Xiao Yuhan was unwilling to say, they didn't ask any further.
At this moment, Liu Jiantang suddenly changed the subject and asked, "Senior Brother Sect Leader, you just mentioned Junior Sister Shen. I just remembered that she seems to have been down the mountain for several days, right? Is it because of Li Wenruo who suddenly came back to life?"
Ye Qingyun thought for a moment and said, "I mentioned this to Junior Brother Xiao. You still remember Li Wenruo, right? I just can't understand how he came back to life and appeared in Lingsu City."
At this moment, Xiao Yuhan interrupted, "With Senior Sister Shen's cultivation level, is it really necessary for you to be so worried?"
The two senior brothers thought so too and smiled at each other.
Xiao Yuhan then remembered the name he had asked about from the system. Thinking that his senior brother, the sect leader, was knowledgeable and experienced, he pondered for a moment and then asked, "By the way, senior brother, have you ever heard of someone named Su Li?"
Ye Qingyun seemed to be deep in thought, as if he was recalling something carefully. Liu Jiantang, who was standing next to him, spoke up: "The surname Su is very common in Lingsu City. There are probably a lot of people named Su Li. Why are you asking this, Junior Brother?"
Xiao Yuhan thought for a moment and said, "I mean, is there any famous person named Su Li?"
Ye Qingyun shook his head, "Junior brother, you've asked about too many names. I don't know how to answer. I know and can remember at least five people named Su Li."
Xiao Yuhan sighed, thinking to himself that he had been tricked by the system again. How could a name determine an accurate identity?
After thinking for a moment, since it was related to Bai Yao's past life, he immediately asked, "Is there any ancient myth or historical figure named Su Li? And a woman at that!"
Liu Jiantang shook his head and immediately asked, "Junior brother, why are you asking this? What is your relationship with Su Li?"
Xiao Yuhan was unwilling to recount the whole story, so she could only shake her head and say, "It's nothing, I just saw it in an ancient book and was a little curious. We were just chatting!"
At this moment, Ye Qingyun's expression became somewhat solemn, and then he said softly, "There seems to be something wrong with the name Su Li, Junior Brother. Throughout history, there have been quite a few women named Su Li. Going back further, the Empress of Murong Longcheng, the founding emperor of the Great Yan Dynasty, was named Su Li. This is what Master told me. Moreover... there was a woman who almost became our Master's wife back then, and she was also named Su Li!"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yuhan was stunned, thinking that this was becoming increasingly perplexing. How could he investigate?
A name alone doesn't necessarily prove anything, but since that's the case, he was also puzzled by his senior brother's reaction. Why was he so concerned about the name Su Li? "Senior brother, you said that Master once had a lover named Su Li?"
Ye Qingyun used his only hand to slap Xiao Yuhan on the head, "You brat! Can you call that a lover? That's Master's sweetheart!"
Xiao Yuhan smiled slightly, "So, why didn't Master marry this person? There's no rule in our immortal sect that forbids marriage, is there?"
"How would I know? I only heard my master mention it once. I saw it once by chance before. At night, my master stared blankly at a portrait and sighed softly."
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