Gurgling, Meng Qi drank the facial soup without hesitation and even gave the silver fragments to Old Man Xie. Then he turned around and said: "I don't know where the Zengxian Gate is? Please guide me."

  They all went to join in the excitement, watching the high-level competition. The young man with a heroic scarf on his head was a bit unhappy that Meng Qi was following him, but he restrained himself, so as not to lose face in front of his female companion: "At Chengshan Mountain outside the city."

  The two of them were quite kind-hearted. Seeing that Meng Qi had no horse and hadn't mounted one, they led two fine horses, walking slowly.

  "Hey, little brother, judging from your accent, you don't seem to be from our Three Mountains and Four Rivers?" After savoring the Heaven's Chosen List, the girl finally came to her senses. "Right, we are disciples of the Qi Water 'Broken Flow Sword Sect'. My name is Wu Qin Xin, and he is my senior brother, Shui Ji Chang Kong, Shang Guan Han."

  She has just entered the arena and hasn't had time to make a name for herself yet.

  Shangguan Han was secretly proud, but he considered his reputation and didn't want to be said to be arrogant and rude. He cupped his hands and said: "A nickname given by friends, please forgive me for the laughter, I don't know your surname and name, where are you from?"

  "My nickname is far stronger than yours...... Meng Qi silently felt a pang of sadness: "I am Meng Qi, a native of Zhongzhou, who has been away from home since childhood and has been traveling in Xiliang. Currently, I am wandering the Jianghu, and people have given me the nickname 'Carefree Sword'."

  His accent was influenced by the residual instincts of his body, and he had a strong northern accent, so he called himself a Zhongzhou person, but he had never been to Shendu and didn't know the situation there at all. He was afraid that if someone asked him, he would be exposed, so he made up an excuse that he had left home since childhood and lived in Xiliang - Xiliang is the state capital of Xizhou, Meng Qi passed through on his way to Xiyu and stayed for a few days, so he still understood it.

  As for the "Wandering Sword", it is naturally Meng Qi's own nickname, to show his inner longing and protest against "Lei Dao Kuang Seng" and "Mang Jingang".

  "Xiao Yao Sword... Pfft..." Shangguan Han chuckled and didn't say anything else, apparently thinking that this was Meng Qi's attempt to flatter himself.

  As for the surname Meng, he didn't think much of it. After all, there are countless people with the surname Meng in the world, and he wasn't a giant eight feet tall with an eight-foot waist like himself with the compound surname Shangguan, who would have thought that he was a descendant of the Northern Zhou aristocratic family, the Shangguan clan?

  Wu Qianxin had never heard of the name "Xiao Yao Sword", so she naturally shared the same thought as her senior brother. As they walked, the sedan chair carriers lifted and carried them, she smiled and said: "Young brother, your nickname is elegant and free-spirited. By the way, I've heard that among the many Western merchants in Xiliang, there are some with strange eye colors and hair colors, descendants of demons with open eyes at their eyebrows?"

  She mentioned a sentence and then turned to ask about the Western Liang, on this aspect, she was very curious, after all, since her birth, she had never left "three mountains and four waters", even when visiting relatives and recently traveling Jianghu outside, her activity range was limited to the vicinity of Qi Shui City.

  "West Liang is rare, but after passing through the Jade Gate Pass and arriving at Liu Sha Village, the descendants of gods and demons indeed have various strange shapes..." Meng Qi chatted endlessly, compared to this pair of master siblings, he also counts as having traveled tens of thousands of miles, seeing much and knowing widely.

  Regardless of whether they thought Meng Qi was a rogue, the narrow-minded Sangong Han and Wuyin Xin were both very interested in the distant Western Regions. They listened with great relish, and with Meng Qi's personal experiences and decent eloquence, it seemed as if a magnificent picture of vast deserts, bandits roaming freely, and exotic ethnic groups unfolded before their eyes.

  "One day, if I can open all nine orifices, I will go to the Western Regions to hunt down and kill the horse bandits." Shangguan Han's blood was boiling with excitement, but he was also intimidated by Meng Qi's description of the horse bandit's power, feeling that he must open all nine orifices in order to take action in the vast ocean.

  The Central Plains Sect, as long as the inheritance is good and there are other masters in the sect who can handle things well, disciples are generally allowed to formally venture out into the world only after they have opened their apertures. Large sects with a big reputation attract more challenges, so the rules are even stricter. For example, Shaolin: if one of the 72 ultimate skills has not been achieved, even if all six apertures have been opened, it's still uncertain whether one can pass through Tongren Alley. Take Ruxue Pavilion for instance, Jiang Yimiao only opened his sixth aperture and entered the sword path before he came down from the mountain.

  Shangguan Han and Wuqin Xi also opened their eyes wide with wonder.

  Meng Qi showed off a bit, and was very satisfied with the envious glances from Shangguan Han and Wuqin Xinyue. However, he didn't dare to say more, lest he reveal his identity, so he asked instead: "I'm new to 'Three Mountains and Four Waters', and I don't know much about Zengxian Gate and Qinshan Sword Sect. Please introduce me a bit, so I won't lose face at the banquet."

  "Our San Shan Si Shui, although the terrain is treacherous and the land is scarce, but the deep mountains have good medicine, hidden minerals, and many big sects are willing to win us over. The Gen Men backs the Zhen Yi Men, the Qin Shan Jian Pai surrendered to the Zhang family of Longnan's side branch, all of which are top-notch local sects... Now it's my turn to show off my knowledge, not to mention the 'Duan Liu Jian Pai' secret, Wu Qin Xin spoke endlessly, very excited."

  Zhen Yi Men is quite famous, it was created by a secular disciple of the Zhen Wu Sect's master level after obtaining a rare encounter. After several generations, it has also become a flourishing sect with many branches and leaves, and with the support of the Zhen Wu Sect, it can be considered an ordinary large sect. The Zhang family of Longnan is one of the top aristocratic families in Da Jin. "Yu Wai Yan Yang Pian" and "Da Ri Fen Tian Zhang" are both divine skills at the level of Dharma body. However, the Qin Shan Jian Pai cannot even serve the main house of the Zhang family of Longnan, after all, there is a big gap between their own strength and status, so they can only try to please the side branches of the Zhang family.

  Meng Qi curled his lip in disdain. This was truly a subordinate family of the Zhangs from Longnan, and it sounded so lowly...

  He was born into the Shaolin Temple, one of the top few martial arts schools in the world. The people around him were mostly from this level, such as the Zhenwu Sect of the Taoist Three Schools, the Xixingge and Huanhua Sword Sects of the Six Sword Schools, and even Cui's young master who was intimidated by him was not ordinary, with the Pingjin Cui family and Longnan Zhang family being among the top families. After becoming a Buddha, he surpassed them by a head. His "arch-nemesis" Gu Xiaosang was the Holy Maiden of the Luo Sect, one of the Nine Evil Paths, and even if the old man's lineage was slightly lower, it was still a powerful evil force that shook the Western Regions. Therefore, when he heard about the Zhenyi Gate, an affiliate of the Zhenwu Sect, and the Qinzhou Sword Sect, a branch of the Longnan Zhang family, he couldn't help but feel this way.

  But he immediately self-deprecatingly said that having been expelled from Shaolin, he was even inferior to these sects with backers.

  He doesn't mind this at all. The sky is high and the earth is wide, with no one to control him, no burden, how free! Besides, he himself has no sect, but his little friends do!

  "I wonder which major sect your esteemed school is close to?" Meng Qi asked casually.

  Shangguan Han said with a hint of arrogance: "Our humble school and 'Luoxia Shenjianmen' are from the same origin."

  Meng Qi didn't know that he added another sentence: "The Luoxia Shenjianmen is one of the seven major side branches of the Huahua Sword Sect."

  I knew the name Luoxia sounded familiar... Meng Qi thought to himself, feeling a bit closer to the Duanliu Sword Sect. After all, Qi Shixiong was also one of the external affairs masters of the Huanhua Sword Sect, although his strength lay in the Hun Tianbao Jian rather than the swordsmanship of the Huanhua Sword Sect.

  After praising a few sentences, Meng Qi continued to ask about Zeng Xianmen and Qinshan Jianpai.

  Wu Qianxin heard his sincere attitude towards the sect and said, "Six years ago, a strange stone fell from the sky and landed on the edge of Qin Mountain. The master of Huaxia Sect, Hua Tian Ge, and the leader of Qinshan Jianpai, Ning Ji Dao, arrived at the same time, both being top-notch masters with nine apertures open. They couldn't decide who should take the stone, so they agreed to send their best disciples for a trial by combat, limited to three people per side, allowing consecutive battles. The winner would get to keep the stone for three years."

  "At first, the Qinshan Sword Sect won, and they gained a lot from observing the strange rock. However, due to the short time, their gains had not yet been converted into strength when they faced a new trial. Huatian Ge made an excuse that his son Huafen, although he was a disciple of the Zhenyi Sect, was also considered half a member of the Xiangxian Sect because of his father's relationship with him, so he sent him to fight. At that time, Huafen used his two-aperture realm and exquisite swordsmanship to defeat three four-aperture disciples of the Qinshan Sword Sect in a row, making Ning Jidao lose a lot of hair overnight."

  As they chatted, the three of them had already left Qinshan City and were heading in the direction of Zengxian Mountain. Along the way, many heroes from the jianghu gathered, making a lively scene, it was clear that most of the martial artists from the Three Mountains and Four Waters had come to join in the excitement.

  Many of them greeted Shang Guan Han with familiarity, but he maintained a polite smile, neither cold nor warm.

  Meng Qi saw nothing strange and asked about what he cared about: "Will Hua Cun be able to participate in the battle this time? You seem to favor Qin Shan Jian Pai more."

  Compared to Longnan Zhang's family, the collateral branch of Zhenwu Sect, Zhenyimen, made Meng Qi feel more intimate.

  Wu Qincheng's eyes sparkled, and he said in a slightly dazed tone: "Because Qin Shan Jianpai has Huang Yun, three years ago he had not yet opened his ears, was not sent to the scene, but now he is already a six- aperture high-handed person, swordsmanship also has a strange encounter, all of which are the essence of Qin Shan Jianfa. In one-on-one combat, he defeated several seven-aperture old men from San Shan Si Shui, and was given the nickname 'Fei Yun Jian'. It is said that Zhang Shi's collateral branch in Longnan thinks highly of him, believing that he will have a chance to enter the human rankings in the future. On the other hand, Hua Yun has been traveling outside, but has not gained much, currently only four apertures, just in terms of realm alone, it is already one level worse, let alone swordsmanship."

  "No wonder." Meng Qi listened with a thrill, he had always been a person who loved excitement and competition. If not for the current situation where one thing was better than none, he really wanted to try out the "Fei Yun Sword" that was expected to enter the human rankings. "I wonder what kind of divine power that heavenly strange stone has?"

  Shangguan Han said with a hint of longing, "The collateral branch of the Zhang family from Longnan and the elder of the true first door personally inspected it, saying that the stone contains the blood of an ancient god, which has evolved into a mysterious and incomplete divine martial art. If one observes it, different people will have different understandings. In these six years, the Qin Mountain Sword Sect and the Zengxian Gate have both gained several extremely powerful sword techniques. Otherwise, what would Huang Yun use to challenge the ranks?"

  "Shenmo Martial Arts... The side branch of Zhang's family in Longnan and the True First Gate actually didn't make a move?" Meng Qi said with some doubt.

  "There must be some movement in the heart, but after all, it's incomplete and difficult to distinguish, not much use. The Zhang family's collateral branch and the true first door also have to take care of their face, at most they will send elders or disciples to observe, or secretly instruct the disciples of both factions to win the struggle, such as Huang Yun, who has heard that the elder of the Zhang family's collateral branch personally instructed him." Shangguan Han had some jealousy towards Huang Yun.

  Wu Chen Xing glanced at Shixiong: "Even if there is a high-ranking person guiding us, we must be talented ourselves. I heard that the Zhang family of Longnan and the Zhenyi Sect are not very interested in observing this strange stone. They mainly want to study this stone to divine where it comes from, and then fly out of Qingming to find the remains of that ancient god. This is a great benefit."

  Meng Qi nodded slightly and continued chatting with the two of them. Before long, they climbed to the top of the mountain and arrived at Zengxian Gate.

  Inside the gate, there were over a hundred tables of wine and food laid out, for all the heroes from the rivers and lakes to help themselves. The atmosphere was lively and bustling with people's voices ringing out.

  Shangguan Han was quite famous in the Three Mountains and Four Waters, and as he walked around, there were constantly people coming over to chat with him. Wuqin Xin, being the daughter of the leader of the Duanliu Jianpai, also had her fair share of admirers. As for Meng Qi, he was completely treated like a follower.

  After much difficulty, they finally found a round table with seats available. Before they could even sit down, the other martial artists at the table greeted Huang Xuan and Wu Qin Xin with smiles, while also politely asking Meng Qi a question.

  "He is Meng Qi, the 'Wandering Sword', from Xiliang." Shangguan Han introduced casually.

  Those martial artists hummed in unison and after a brief moment of admiration, they began to chat idly with Shangguan Han and Wuchin.

  Meng Qi didn't bother to reason with them, and instead enjoyed his food with gusto. As for the information Wu Qin had introduced about himself, Meng Qi only remembered the general abilities of these few martial artists: some who had opened four apertures, two apertures, or those who had cultivated their internal energy to a great extent - this was an instinctive reaction after going through life and death.

  Before long, the master of the Hua Tian Men, Hua Tian Ge, walked out with his disciples. He was only fifty years old but looked like a sixty-year-old man, with almost all white hair.

  "Huh? He's got a worried look on his face... it can't be that serious, right?" Meng Qi took a glance and had a sudden thought.