"When the sword first becomes spiritual, it needs quiet nourishment and should not be used for fighting."

  This is clearly written in the Floating Sword Scripture. The reason why it's not suitable for a duel is that the sword of law is too easily polluted, and once it's polluted during the fight, a barrier will form between the sword master and the sword, making the sword as heavy as Mount Tai, difficult to wield.

  The struggle of cultivators is inevitable, and even if they try to avoid it, disasters will still befall them. Therefore, the "Floating Sword Classic" records a series of medicinal materials that can assist the sword master in quickly expelling evil spirits from his body, with bear gall being one of them.

  Chen Jing sat cross-legged in the bear cave, motionless, with both hands supporting the sword body.

  He communicated with the sword body through divine thoughts, expelling the evil spirits that had been stained on the sword after killing the evil spirits. If we say that controlling the sword is to control the sword and human struggle with a thin thread of divine thought, then what is stained on the sword is to separate the sword from the divine thought, adding a layer of obstruction.

  It can also be said that if a sword is an extension of its master's hand, then the substance that stains the blade is the wound, it is the thing that numbs the hands and feet.

  The sun sets in the sky, and it's getting darker in the forest.

  Chen Jing's hands, which had been holding the sword, suddenly changed their movement. One hand grasped the hilt, while the other stroked the blade repeatedly. The black bile on the blade fell off in flakes as his hand passed over it, turning into a black powder that dropped to the ground.

  In the dimly lit bear cave, his hand was shrouded in a faint, soft light. The light wrapped around his hand like clear water, and as he stroked the sword repeatedly, it seemed as if he was washing the blade with clear water.

  This is tempering the sword body with spiritual energy.

  Every time Chen Jing stroked the sword, it seemed to shine brighter, and in his heart, the connection with the sword became clearer. The feeling of a mirror covered in dust, unable to see clearly, with an inexplicable layer of isolation, was gradually disappearing.

  When his hands stopped moving, a half-moon had already appeared in the sky, and moonlight spilled over the mountains and forests, like ripples on water, only lacking the radiant glow of real waves, but with an added sense of mystery.

  Chen Jing came out of the cave and looked around in all directions.

  This place is right in the valley, with denser trees, and there's only a clearing in front of the bear cave. After standing still for a moment, he suddenly took out a green jade from his bosom and threw it beside the bear corpse on the ground. The green jade was about the size of a palm, shaped like a water droplet. Upon closer inspection, the surface of the jade depicted a continuous mountain range, with the words "Thousand Nets" engraved in the center.

  Just as he was about to turn around and leave, he turned back, pulled out a volume of silk books and threw them on the ground, then turned around and disappeared into the dense forest.

  When Chen Jing left, there were two "people" walking in the dense forest outside the valley. The faces of the two "people" had a green gas, their hair was messy, and they didn't look like living people at all. Walking in the mountain forest, it was as if two solid shadows, some fluttering, some gloomy.

  They are not humans, but evil spirits and ghosts that haunt Chen Jing, and they are not lonely souls or wild ghosts. Of course, in this world, there are very few lonely souls or wild ghosts, unless they have the power to cross the thunderbolt tribulation, otherwise, they will be taken in by the land god or the city god, becoming ghostly servants or ghostly slaves.

  They walked while sniffing the remaining aura of Chen Jing in the air, moving very quickly, flashing through the forest one step at a time. If it weren't for the fact that they were restricted during the daytime and Chen Jing's aura had dissipated greatly by then, they would have caught up to him already.

  Suddenly, a mountain weasel ran into two ghosts head-on. After a brief moment of stunned silence, it let out a startled cry and turned to flee, leaping up onto the trees with incredible speed. The two ghosts almost simultaneously opened their mouths and sucked in air, causing the mountain weasel that was about to escape to suddenly fall down, its body emitting a layer of gray mist that quickly flowed towards the two ghosts and finally split into two halves entering each ghost's mouth. The essence of life is beneficial to them, but they dare not touch humans in the mortal world. In densely populated cities, there must be gods, and even in small villages, there will be spirits protecting them, so they do not dare to touch them. Even if they leave their own god's domain and enter another god's domain, they will still face life-threatening danger.

  This time, the siege of Qianluomen, they all had divine talismans on their bodies. The divine talismans could prevent them from being melted by the yang energy in the ground, and if they really encountered other gods, they would not be taken away. The reason for chasing Chen Jing relentlessly was that Chen Jing's body had a tempting fragrance, which was the fragrance emitted by his soul. Any cultivator was extremely tempted by it, but also extremely dangerous.

  They soon arrived in the valley, emerging from the dense forest, and saw that the bear's corpse still lay far away. However, when they saw the green jade and silk book in front of the bear's corpse, their faces revealed a look of surprise and delight.

  For them, jade can protect the soul and is a rare treasure. The Taoist practice of spiritual refinement is something they have longed for in their dreams. They immediately rushed over, one picking up the green jade and the other picking up the silk book.

  "This is really good stuff, I didn't expect us to have such great luck, haha..."

  "Really, really..."

  A sword seemed to have a life of its own, piercing through the dense forest with incredible agility, not touching a single tree. The sword was shrouded in a faint white glow, leaving a trail of white light in the dark mountain forest.

  However, just as the two ghosts were getting excited, they seemed to hear a sound in their ears, like a sharp whine and also like the hum of flies flapping their wings.

  Two ghosts suddenly woke up, one of them turned around abruptly, and what entered their eyes was a cold light. A sharp whistle echoed in their ears, and before they could figure out what it was, they had already been avoided by the sword, turning into a cloud of mist that floated away. The sword moved through the air without any hindrance, and with a smooth turn, it had already cut the other ghost in half at the waist. The sword didn't stop, flying back in the direction it came from, but its momentum was clearly much heavier now, losing the lightness and swiftness of when it first shot out from within the dense forest.

  Chen Jing emerged from the dense forest, catching the incoming sword in his hand. His left hand covered with a clear light quickly wiped the sword twice, and upon closer inspection, the sword had already been stained with a faint blue aura. If he didn't use spiritual energy to cleanse it in time, it would form a blue mark.

  He quickly picked up the green jade and silk book that symbolized the thousand Luo brothers, and just as he was about to put it in his pocket, his movements suddenly stopped and he turned back abruptly. On the mountain top opposite him, a person was standing quietly, because this place was a small clearing, not only could he see Chen Jing clearly, but Chen Jing could also see him clearly.

  The man was wearing a black brocade robe, looking to be around 27 or 28 years old. His eyes had a hint of a faint smile, but this smile did not give people a sense of peace, instead it had an air of arrogance within. It seemed as if he was looking down on others, yet at the same time, it seemed like he was saying that he saw through all your tricks.

  Although there are many ways to sense the aura during cultivation, it's hard to discern a cultivator's true abilities because each one will conceal their aura. However, when facing each other in that moment, those with keen intuition can sense the opponent's strength, and that profound and mysterious feeling is difficult to put into words, and not everyone possesses it.

  At this moment, Chen Jing felt that his opponent's power was above his own, so he turned around and escaped into the mountain forest.

  He plunged into the mountain forest, and didn't see that this man wearing a black brocade robe not only had a faint smile in his eyes, but also had a smile at the corner of his mouth. He watched Chen Jing plunge into the forest without rushing to chase him, but instead muttered to himself: "I didn't expect that there would still be people practicing swordsmanship in this era, thinking of breaking all laws with one sword? Unfortunately, you won't have the chance to realize your dream."

  He lightly laughed, and with a burst of speed, he soared into the air like a bird gliding, landing lightly on the empty ground. Looking at the dense thicket, he slightly furrowed his brow, but still followed the trail into the woods.

  His other name is Li Muxian, the third child of the Li family in Balin. He has a lot of natural talent and his progress in learning the Qigong method far surpasses that of his peers. When his younger and older brothers had not yet mastered the magic, he was already able to cast spells.

  However, the Li family's rule is that the eldest son inherits the position of head of the household. He wants to be the head of the household and must accumulate fame. So he actively becomes the god servant of the city wall, and when he learns that Chen Jing is at Qianluomen, he pays attention every moment. Seeing Chen Jing turn over the courtyard and escape into the deep mountains, he immediately knows that the opportunity has come. Catching this Chen Jing back will definitely make his fame take a big step forward.

  It is unknown since when, the cultivators in the world can no longer achieve immortality. At first, there were still people who could live for thousands of years, but later it gradually decreased, and even the longest-lived ones only lived for two or three hundred years. After reaching a certain level of cultivation, it became difficult to continue growing, so those who cultivated for immortality were mostly the mysterious door disciples in the deep mountains and vast waters. The cultivators in the mortal world mostly regarded their methods as just a means to an end. Therefore, all struggles rely on techniques, and the clever use of techniques relies on concentration. Long-term cultivation does not necessarily mean being highly skilled.

  Li Muxian's pursuit of the enemy relied on his intuition and judgment, as he didn't move particularly fast. The person he was tracking also tried to conceal their presence, but like the wind leaving a trail or geese leaving behind sounds, there were always some clues for him to follow.

  Here is the valley, in front of the dense forest, beasts can't pass through, and it doesn't seem like anyone has passed by. However, on both sides, there are faint traces leading to other mountains. Li Muxian smiled and thought: "It's actually a maze."

  He thought for a moment and then headed in the direction to the left, which was eastward, leading out of the mountain. Although Chen Jing's direction had been changing all along, the overall direction had always been eastward, so Li Muxian just thought about it and headed east.

  He didn't go far before he turned back. Without hesitation, he headed in the opposite direction, but again, not long after, he turned back. Standing once more at the mountain pass, he pondered for a moment before smiling and heading back. He walked until he reached the entrance of the valley ahead, where he finally stopped. Still facing east, he followed the extremely faint trail as he proceeded. Not long after, he saw a large snake lying dead on the ground, its blood flowing everywhere, with its gallbladder already removed. He squatted down and touched the snake's blood, which had already cooled, but the snake's corpse hadn't been eaten by other wild beasts yet, clearly indicating that it hadn't been dead for long, at most only half a day. He thought to himself: "I wasted so much time, but you didn't go far, what were you doing?"

  He didn't know why Chen Jing wanted to kill the snake, although he couldn't understand it, but he didn't think much about it and continued to chase after the faint trail left in the mountains.

  Chen Jing walked south, passing through the forest and entering the valley, crossing mountains and ridges. Although someone was chasing him from behind, he didn't delay his sword practice for a moment. Using his spiritual energy to nourish his sword, he was now trying to maintain communication between his spiritual energy and his sword while moving.