Chapter 265 Observing the Sword
When Ouyang Rong climbed out of the well, he found that it was almost dawn.
The moon sets and stars appear to be out of sight; the east is already white.
He leaned against the well, rested his elbows on his knees, and took a deep breath.
His slightly startled eyes reflected the small orange-red dots on the eastern horizon.
I still remember the first time I climbed out of the well, it was also at this dawn.
However, my current mindset is completely different from my mindset back then.
There was also less of the monks, like ants on a hot plate, eagerly crowding around.
The only thing they had in common was their unwavering belief, their solitude, and their climbing out of the well.
"What a coincidence, is it going to start all over again... No, this time, I'm not all alone."
Ouyang Rong admired the sunrise over the Yangtze River in the distance for a while.
As the warm morning sun comforted his body, he got up and left the Beitian Salary, where monks and guests were gradually starting to rise early.
The first place Ouyang Rong went to was Sanhui Temple.
This was also the Zen temple where he had recuperated from his previous two injuries, so he was quite familiar with the place.
Midway, he deliberately took a detour, passing by the courtyard where he had once carried the bowl out and smashed Wei Shaoxuan's clothes, only to find that there was no trace of it, and the monks and guests in the vicinity were living as before.
To be fair, after Bu Jian killed Wei Shaoxuan and Liu Fu, he and Li Guo'er did indeed clean up the mess quite thoroughly, destroying all traces of their bodies.
Even if later people guessed that a fierce battle had taken place here, they would probably find it difficult to determine the specific victims based on the clues.
Ouyang Rong also had a clever idea and kept a backup plan. He deliberately let go of a Persian merchant he was not very familiar with, thus letting out a slightly misleading statement.
It remains to be seen whether his subtle maneuvers have had any effect, or whether they have impacted the Wei clan's power in Jiangnan Province...
Ouyang Rong walked past the courtyard without making a sound.
A short while later, he returned to Sanhui Courtyard, pushed open the door, and went inside.
His gaze quickly swept over the tables, chairs, beds, and other furniture.
Someone lived there.
Ouyang Rong slowly withdrew his hand from the messy, wrinkled sheets on the bed in the inner room.
After checking everything again, he slowly walked out of the inner room, which was filled with the aroma of medicine.
He let out a long breath.
"It seems that I should have been recuperating here a few days ago, but... why is there no one to take care of me? After I recovered, I sleepwalked and wandered around at night, and no one cared?"
"Where are the junior sisters?"
Ouyang Rong frowned slightly.
It wasn't that he was domineering or narcissistic; it was mainly because he was subconsciously worried about whether his junior sisters had encountered any mishaps, which was why he hadn't had time to pay attention to him.
"I hope it's not some fictional story where the protagonist recovers from an illness and wakes up to find everything changed and people are no longer the same..."
Ouyang Rong shook his head, but after glancing at the summer morning outside the window, he wasn't too worried.
He was in a coma for quite a long time, but it was during the summer season, before the season changed.
"This is?"
Ouyang Rong's peripheral vision was suddenly drawn to a food box. He walked over, opened the lid, and took a look.
The food containers and plates were washed very clean.
"It looks familiar. The food box should be from Meiluyuan... Is it three-tiered? There are quite a few plates, enough for at least two people."
He looked around the room and muttered his analysis:
"There should have been at least one person who took care of me in this house for a long time. Is it Wei Lai who has returned? Or is Junior Sister taking over?"
"But... why is there a wine pot in the food box? Does someone drink? Wei Lai shouldn't drink, but Junior Sister might. I heard Lady Li casually mention that she secretly drank wine on the roof of Yi Lan Xuan."
Ouyang Rong, being extremely meticulous, stepped forward and examined the paper, ink, brush, and inkstone on the table, becoming even more certain that his junior sister was a regular resident of this room.
Paper, ink, brush, and inkstone are things that people often use; it's probably only the junior sister who has this interest. As for the white-haired maid, making her read and practice calligraphy is worse than killing her...
Apart from that, there were no other unusual traces inside the house.
In addition, the bronze mask, the Mo family sword box, the moonlight longsword, and other items are not inside the house.
Was it hidden and kept by the junior sisters?
"Junior Sister is indeed cautious in her actions."
A series of thoughts flashed through his mind, but Ouyang Rong shook his head and didn't think about it anymore.
We'll find out the details when we meet the junior sisters later.
Right now, the person taking care of him is probably preparing breakfast.
Ouyang Rong turned his head, first remade the bed, and then closed the window.
Empty room
He closed his eyes, breathed deeply, and slowly felt the state of his dantian.
"Is it filled with spiritual energy...?"
During these days of unconsciousness, the originally depleted ninth-grade dantian has slowly recovered and become full again.
After being replenished by one-third of the medicinal effects of the Six-Winged Summer Cicada, Ouyang Rong's newly developed ninth-grade dantian may not have been particularly outstanding in terms of capacity and recovery speed.
But it is a real existence, something that truly belongs to him.
It is the solid foundation of its own strength.
Especially now that the merit-gathering purple mist inside the merit tower has been completely used up.
These spiritual energies in his dantian, combined with the swordsman's severed meridians and a hidden cauldron sword, are his greatest source of confidence in protecting himself.
The swordsman was as fragile as glass, yet possessed astonishing killing power.
He had personally tested it when he killed Liu Fu before.
When taking Qi-tonifying pills.
Using the ultimate technique 'Return to Where You Belong', he laid out his sword for fifteen breaths.
It can kill an ordinary seventh-grade Qi cultivator who has fallen into the trap.
Although Liu Fu was injured and had a broken arm, judging from his helpless appearance, even without the injury, he could probably have been killed. It would have just taken some effort to let him live a few more breaths.
However, this brings us to a new lesson learned by the swordsman, a lesson Ouyang Rong summarized when he cleverly killed Liu Fu:
Next time, the swordsman should stay further away from the prey and not get too close.
If he hadn't used the Mirage Beast mask to impersonate Wei Shaoxuan, Liu Fu would have been completely unprepared. When his aura was locked on, he was so frightened that his first instinct was to run away.
Otherwise, given the distance between him and the sword before he was torn apart in mid-air, it wouldn't be impossible for Liu Fu to use that distance to get close to Ouyang Rong and snap his neck.
It was this lingering fear from the third time he drew his sword to kill that made Ouyang Rong stand far away when he drew his sword for the fourth time, not giving the latter a chance to get close.
He surviving until the very end, he managed to finish his sword-wielding technique, which ultimately proved to be a terrible mistake for this martial arts practitioner who had escaped death countless times on the battlefield.
"This Qi-replenishing pill is quite useful, helping to replenish the enormous energy consumed by the 'Return to the Homeland' sword technique. Unfortunately, it was used up when I killed Qiu Shenji, and I don't know where I can find it again. Perhaps there are some in Gezao Mountain..."
Ouyang Rong paced back and forth in the room, muttering to himself:
"If there are no Qi-replenishing pills, and one cannot unleash the sword for fifteen breaths, wouldn't one be unable to kill a seventh-grade Qi cultivator?"
"However, using only the spiritual energy reserves in my dantian, I should be invincible against ordinary people below the seventh rank. As long as I keep a low profile and don't let the other party discover me first, I can take their heads off first."
"As for ordinary seventh-rank enemies, if there are no Qi-replenishing pills, 'Craftsmanship' can also draw on my 'unyielding Qi' as fuel to forcibly kill beings like Liu Fu."
"As for seventh-grade Qi cultivators who are stronger than Liu Fu, such as Junior Sister, who are cultivation seeds from prestigious and orthodox lineages."
"Or a seventh-grade Qi cultivator who practices strange and special Qi cultivation techniques, I wonder how many breaths he needs to unleash his sword, more than fifteen breaths. I wonder if my 'unyielding spirit' is enough. I hope it won't be like this time, where he looks cool but then falls asleep immediately."
Ouyang Rong sighed, rubbed his face hard, and muttered to himself:
"This time, killing Qiu Shenji was indeed too risky. Fortunately, we had the Merit Purple Mist and a special 'craftsmanship' to make it possible to kill a seriously injured sixth-grade Qi cultivator in such an exaggerated way."
"At the time, I was only focused on killing Qiu Shenji, and I had an insatiable need for this 'craftsmanship' that connected my mind and soul. I took whatever I wanted, and I felt like all my energy was being drained away. At that moment, I just wanted to lie back and sleep forever, and never wake up again. It was a bit scary..."
He frowned: "By the way, how did you recover from this severe depletion of energy? I'll have to ask Master Shandao and Junior Sister later. Is it just a matter of sleeping and resting?"
Ouyang Rong looked down at his palm, a feeling of unease creeping into his heart.
He always felt that excessively exhausting one's "resentment" could have serious consequences, and it was best not to try it lightly unless absolutely necessary...
But regardless of the circumstances or the price paid,
The feeling of successfully killing Qiu Shenji in his fiery and passionate state that day was incredibly exhilarating for Ouyang Rong, and he still savored it vividly.
What a master swordsman who has severed his meridians!
It is extremely extreme, but as long as one possesses a cauldron sword and has enough spiritual energy and sources of spiritual energy substitutes, then one's potential in the path of killing is almost limitless.
Its potential lies in the daring and resourceful mind of the swordsman who sets up the scheme, and in his rich imagination.
Ouyang Rong chuckled lightly, turned his head and read aloud:
"Craftsmanship".
Along with this whisper came an "arc".
His words followed the law, just like those of a Confucian sage.
It suddenly appeared in the center of the inner room.
The curve is so perfect.
The clear blue light subtly illuminated the calm face of the short-haired youth in front of him, and his bright eyes flashed with admiration.
The vertical blue "arc" fell into his eyes, making the swordsman's dark eyes appear as vertical pupils.
A dreamlike, mythical scene unfolded inside the house.
Suddenly, a surge of emotion welled up in his heart, and Ouyang Rong reached out and touched the "craftsmanship".
The "arc" suspended in front of him gradually intensified with a clear blue halo after being touched by his fingers, as if it had solidified.
As if struck by a sudden inspiration, Ouyang Rong lightly pinched two fingers together, the movement resembling drawing silk.
The sword, which was originally on the boundary between illusion and reality, was now as if he had grabbed its tail and pulled it back to reality.
Under the pale blue spiritual energy deliberately infused by Ouyang Rong, this "arc" slowly detached itself from the illusion and moved towards reality.
Ouyang Rong stared intently, then murmured, "So beautiful."
Only now did he finally see the appearance of the cauldron sword clearly...
At this moment, Ouyang Rong, who was observing the cauldron and sword inside the house, did not realize that if someone were to look at him from a distance, it would appear to outsiders that when he infused the 'craftsmanship' with spiritual energy, there was almost no fluctuation of spiritual energy emanating from his body.
Just like an ordinary mortal.
Inside the house, the scene of a man and a sword resembled a rustic farmer standing before a bright moon, as if an ordinary person were encountering a dazzling myth.
The sword energy that was originally unleashed freely, like a mythical moon, suddenly subsided and disappeared the moment it was touched by the fingers of this "mountain farmer".
Like a peacock displaying its plumage, it completely folded its wings.
Ouyang Rong's body was like a black hole, gathering and storing energy, and anything that came into contact with it would also suppress its spiritual energy fluctuations.
Like an unyielding, hard rock atop Dagushan Mountain, standing unchanging amidst fierce winds, it is utterly ordinary.
Inside the room, someone was silently observing the swordplay.
...
Beitian Salon.
An old Taoist priest in a crane-feather cloak and a pretty young girl carrying a sword walked out silently.
In this shelter full of destitute people, the departure of these two disabled elderly people and children did not attract much attention.
"Don't worry, with your second senior sister's meticulous nature, she can erase all suspicious traces. You can leave with peace of mind. With her handling things, that brat will have a hard time finding anything even if he becomes suspicious later."
Zhao Qingxiu, who was standing beside him, kept looking back, but Old Man Sun didn't turn his head and said with a sneer.
The old man was talkative, while the young woman was quiet. This combination of a chatterbox and a mute was indeed strange, yet harmonious.
"I think I've figured it out. You and your senior sister, one still has worldly ties, the other is a troublemaker. You're both carefree. You leave all the cleanup and mess-up to that second lady, right?"
Old Man Sun asked with a chuckle.
Zhao Qingxiu looked down at her toes.
The old Taoist priest in the crane-cloak turned his head, glanced at the dazed girl, and then looked into the distance towards the Sanhui Temple.
A hint of envy and reminiscence flashed in his eyes, but then vanished without a trace.
Old Monster Sun's expression remained unchanged.
Just then, the two arrived at a deserted Buddhist temple and met a woman in a white fox fur coat who had been waiting for them.
"Finally done fooling around? Let's go, your second senior sister is waiting for us at the foot of the mountain."
"She has already spoken with everyone around Ouyang Lianghan about your matter. In her words, she has reasoned with you and persuaded you with both emotion and reason, and has cleaned up the mess completely."
"Don't worry about the rest."
Zhao Qingxiu nodded, seemingly grateful.
Xuezhongzhu turned around, and the three prepared to leave.
But at that moment, the Great Queen of Yunmeng suddenly changed her expression and rose up from the ground.
Three breaths later, Xue Zhongzhu's figure appeared in the sky above Dagushan.
She took out a red lotus sword seal from her sleeve, grabbed it with her large hand, and pulled out a wisp of clear blue sword energy from the bronze seal.
The sword energy hovered in front of Xue Zhongzhu. She lowered her head, furrowed her brows, and looked down at the entire Great Lonely Mountain.
However, the ball of sword energy in front of him remained motionless for a long time, showing no sign of heading anywhere.
Xuezhongzhu looked puzzled.
After hovering in the air for a while, she withdrew her seal and returned, landing in front of the Buddha Hall.
"Does the Great Lady also have acquaintances? Are you reluctant to go back?" Old Man Sun asked with a smile.
"Get out, shut up."
Noticing Zhao Qingxiu's concerned look, Xue Zhongzhu shook her head: "It's nothing."
My brows relaxed, but a sense of worry welled up in my heart.
What was that fleeting, familiar sword aura? Was it an illusion, or is the New Cauldron Sword still in Longcheng County?
After the vague clue pointed out by the Xie woman went cold, things were not as bad as she had imagined. The New Cauldron Sword was taken away by other major forces.
As the candle flickered in the snow, memories began to flood my mind.
Could it be that arrogant person the old swordsmith mentioned? Is he or she still lurking in Dragon City, perhaps unaware that they have obtained the Ding Sword?
This explanation seems to be the only reasonable one; otherwise, if he had a guilty conscience, why would he dare to linger under her nose?
Furthermore, how is this person so good at hiding? Could it be that she has some powerful backer? We mustn't let her catch us!
The candle in the snow squinted and remained silent.
Zhao Qingxiu seemed to understand the crisis facing her senior sister and the sect, and a look of worry appeared on her small face.
At the same time, the mute girl lowered her head in shame.
Her private affairs with Tanlang have delayed important matters of the sect! That is, what the senior sister mentioned before... responsibility.
At this moment, the three of them were passing by the entrance of a Buddhist temple that was gradually becoming more and more lively.
"Please wait, ladies."
Master Shandao's kind voice suddenly came from behind them.
Zhao Qingxiu turned her head to the side.
The candle in the snow was too lazy to turn around.
Old Monster Sun didn't turn around; the old bald monk hadn't called him...
(End of this chapter)
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