Refine the sword, nurture the sword.

  At the beginning of Chen Jing's sword training, he could only calm his mind and communicate with the sword after sitting quietly for a long time in a peaceful environment. Later, after the sword became spiritualized, he no longer needed to sit quietly; all it took was a deep breath to calm his mind, and he could communicate with the sword through his spirit. Now, as he walked through the mountains and forests, his magical power gathered in the palm of his hand, one hand grasping the hilt of the sword, the other stroking its body.

  Because attention is on the sword, and the mountain road is not flat, it often results in tripping or bumping into trees. If attention is focused on walking, however, mental energy cannot be connected with the sword.

  If one day, whether sitting or walking, the mind moves and the sword moves, the sword and the heart are always connected at all times, then it is the realm of a clear and transparent sword heart. Some people can reach this realm quickly, while others cannot achieve it in their lifetime. The "Floating Sword Classic" does not have any special methods to help people reach this realm, but only writes: "Nurture the sword day and night, calm your mind, calm your spirit, keep only one sword in your heart, without any other distracting thoughts, you can attain a clear and transparent sword heart in ten years. If there are those whose hearts are pure and quiet, or who love swords extremely, it is a different story."

  Chen Jing himself didn't dare say he was a person with a pure and clean mind, untainted by worldly desires. Yet, he could be considered someone who loved swords extremely. If not for this, he wouldn't have neglected to learn so many spells and instead focused on learning swordsmanship.

  He walked through the mountains and forests, one hand grasping the hilt of his sword, the other palm holding a spiritual energy that he continuously wiped onto the blade. However, in his heart, he remembered when he was very young, after repeatedly asking the old swordsman to teach him, the old swordsman finally agreed, looking down at him and saying: "All skills in the world are just superficial appearances, just like people's words and smiles, swordsmanship is no exception, do you still want to learn?"

  That year, Chen Jing was seven years old, with a round face and eyes that blinked black and white, looking at the sword in Lao Jianke's hand with confusion and asking: "Skills are skills, real things, how can they be appearances?"

  "Hehe, because skill is just a manifestation, like a reflection in water, and you want to learn, it's no different from scooping the moon out of the water."

  No matter whether it was Chen Jing at that time or now, he couldn't understand this sentence. At that time, he just looked up and couldn't say a word. Fortunately, the old swordsman laughed and said: "If you really like it, then answer me a few questions. If you answer well, I'll teach you something that's not the real thing."

  "What is the real fundamental thing?"

  "I've told you something you won't understand, there's only one chance, will you learn or not?"

  Learn.

  "Alright then, I'll ask you, if one day you learned the most powerful magic in this world, what would you do?"

  Seven-year-old Chen Jing tilted his head and thought for a moment, saying: "I want to fly up to the ninth heaven to see if there really is a heavenly palace, I want to see what the gods and goddesses look like."

  "Uh-huh, and then?"

  "I also want to go to hell to see if it's true that there is a punishment for the evil deeds of the world." After finishing, Chen Jing looked at the old swordsman, and the old swordsman looked back at him. At that time, Chen Jing couldn't see any joy or sorrow in the old swordsman's eyes, which seemed to be able to see through everything in the world. Now, thinking back, he felt that the old swordsman had a moment of distraction.

  "What about after watching?"

  Chen Jing thought to himself, muttering: "After seeing it, after seeing it, I don't know what to do either."

  However, from that day on, he had a sword with him for over ten years, no matter where or when. But he only learned one set of complex swordsmanship. Apart from this, the memory of himself was always following behind the old swordsman, traveling everywhere, with pictures in his mind but without any sound.

  Until then, he didn't know whether his answer had satisfied the old swordsman or not. His intuition told him that in those scenes where he couldn't remember any words, the old swordsman must have been saying something to him.

  Chen Jing was being hunted down here, while the outside world was in turmoil. The Thousand Luo Sect, which had been famous for thousands of miles, was reduced to ruins overnight. Only the sect leader, Jiang Liuyun, and one of his female disciples managed to escape. The elders who were outside heard about this and rushed to find Jiang Liuyun, but what shocked everyone was that Jiang Liuyun directly killed an elder who came looking for him. At that time, rumors spread that Jiang Liuyun had gone mad, and some people saw from afar that he had white hair and a white beard, which was completely different from his previous immortal demeanor. Whether or not they believed it, at least everyone knew that the current Jiang Liuyun was no longer the same.

  At some point, another rumor emerged, saying that Jiang Liuyun had obtained a spiritual treasure from the ancient times, and this treasure held the secrets of why cultivators over the past few thousand years were unable to achieve immortality, attracting the attention of divine beings.

  Within a thousand miles, wind rises and clouds gather; beyond a thousand miles, there are also people coming.

  All of this has nothing to do with Chen Jing, who is now circling around in the Thousand Luo Mountain, constantly changing direction and laying down various escape methods, but can't get rid of them. Fortunately, the distance hasn't been shortened again, even if he is now walking in the mountain forest at a speed that allows him to keep a two-hour distance from the people behind him while practicing his sword with spiritual energy.

  In this mountain for three months, Chen Jing's feeling between his heart and sword broke through some kind of stagnation.

  If we say that the sword is wrapped around the sword with divine thoughts, then every time before the sword is quiet communication, it is the process of wrapping the divine thoughts on the sword. And now he is able to wrap his divine thoughts continuously and unbrokenly.

  His speed suddenly accelerated a lot. And that Li Muxian seemed to have disappeared suddenly. Chen Jing still didn't stop for a moment, traversing the mountains and finally arriving at the edge of the mountain range, where a mighty river surged forward, cutting off the continuous mountainous terrain.

  At this time, Chen Jing's clothes were already torn to shreds by the thorns of the trees in the mountains, with not a single intact piece left, barely covering his body. Looking around, the Thousand Luo Gate had long been hidden behind the rolling green hills.

  "Haha, you've finally come out." A thick voice suddenly floated down from the sky above.

  Chen Jing suddenly raised his head, his heart tightened, and before the other party spoke, he had no idea that there was someone above his head.

  Above the void, a young man in black robes floated and fluttered, step by step, treading on air as he came. Chen Jing did not flee, but instead carefully looked at the youth's appearance: thick eyebrows, broad forehead, white cloth binding his hair, and black boots with golden threads wrapped around them.

  In the blink of an eye, he had arrived in the sky above the mountain where Chen Jing was. Before Chen Jing could speak, he said: "I've been in this sky for over a month, and I finally waited for you to come out." After saying that, he looked at the unsheathed long sword in Chen Jing's hand again and said: "You're coming out now, are you confident in your swordsmanship?"

  Chen Jing didn't think that he had been hiding in the sky for more than a month, and during this time, he had looked up at the sky many times, but never saw anything, which shows that he must have practiced the art of concealment.

  "Whose family are you from?"

  Chen Jing didn't pick up his words, but asked directly instead.

  Li Muxian smiled and said, "I am Li Mu Xian of the Li family in Ba Ling City. If you are lucky enough to reach Yan Luo Temple, then you can tell Yan Luo Wang that you died at the hands of someone named Li Mu Xian."

  Chen Jing listened to him say this, but did not get angry as Li Muxian had expected. Instead, he asked: "Since it's the Li family, you should know why I killed your fourth young master."

  Li Muxian said with a hint of a smile: "I know, but I don't want to hear you say it again."

  "If you knew, why did you come looking for me? That means you agree with what they've done." Chen Jing asked.

  "I don't agree with you, I came to find you because you killed people from my Li family." Li Muxian said seriously.

  Chen Jing stopped speaking, raised the sword in his hand and pointed at Li Muxian in mid-air. Li Muxian's words made him realize that there was no room for turning back. He did not realize that this was actually a battle between two ideologies that could never be eliminated.

  Li Muxian felt a slight sense of surprise in her heart, not expecting that Chen Jing, who had just spoken without any particular tone, suddenly seemed like a different person. With an odd expression, she looked at Chen Jing and said: "In this world where ghosts are called gods, demons run amok, and the Tao is unreliable, all order has ceased to exist. Ethics and morality are nothing but false appearances, so fake that with just a wave of your hand, you can tear them apart. Behind the facade lies **ferocious private interests**." Li Muxian said firmly.

  Chen Jing's mouth was tightly pursed, as if in thought, yet seemingly oblivious to everything. After a while, he suddenly said: "When a person always acts with selfish intentions, everything that appears before his eyes is also selfish and ugly."

  This was the first time he had said such a thing to someone else, and as soon as the words were out, he felt a fleeting sense of clarity in his own heart. Li Muxian didn't respond, but the smile in her eyes grew thicker, her mouth curved up again, and a hint of amusement appeared, as if she was mocking Chen Jing's naive theoretical thinking.

  If someone were to gaze down from the heavens above, and their gaze happened to focus on the Qiānlúo Mountains in Jiǔhuá Province, they would see a lush expanse of green, with misty clouds swirling between the mountains, and an aura of spiritual energy. A great river bisects this vast mountain range, its waters rushing and churning, with hidden currents surging beneath.

  On the top of a high mountain at the edge of a great river, there was a man standing still with a sword in hand. He wore a green robe which had already been torn and tattered, his black hair disheveled, looking rather disheveled. Nevertheless, it was difficult to conceal the clear and elegant spirit on him. However, at this moment, his eyes were exceptionally sharp, with a hint of murderous intent.

  He held the hilt of his sword lightly in his hand, and the blade seemed to have a clear spring flowing through it, with a subtle charm contained within.

  And he pointed his sword at a person who was stepping on empty air, wearing a black robe that fluttered in the wind, with a smile at the corner of his mouth and a relaxed expression.

  Compared to the heavens, great mountains and rivers, these two people were just two specks of dust, no different from the bustling crowds in the big cities outside the mountains. However, for them, they and the city dwellers were in two separate worlds.

  A spring breeze blew in, bringing with it waves of fragrance, and the two people's collars fluttered.

  Chen Jing's sword suddenly broke through the air and stabbed out, a sharp whistling sound rang out, the sword body conjured up a faint white light, pulling out a white light trail, straight towards Li Muxian.

  In the faint interval, the fine tips in the air seemed to have been pierced and shattered by the sword tip.

  Many times, everyone knows that the clash of arms is the most dangerous, and lives can be lost at any time. It's the most unacceptable way to resolve conflicts, but it often has to end in this most primitive and pure method.