The imperial swordsmanship is extremely refined and prepared, and the depth of martial arts skills is shown in the dance of swords, and everyone knows.

  After the banquet, Fang Xin received an invitation from Xiao Hongqin to meet at a small pavilion by an artificial lake in Nanjing Garden. The lake was about ten mu in size and circular in shape, with weeping willows planted around it and lotus flowers cultivated in the water. The corridors on both sides were also planted with various climbing plants.

  The pavilion has four pillars made of logs, the corridor is made of wood, and it corresponds to the emerald water, which is quite natural. In front of the pavilion, there is a horizontal inscribed board with the name "Nan Shan". At this time, the spring breeze in May blows gently, and the willow branches sway.

  Xiao Hongqin was just brewing tea with a small stove to entertain guests when Fang Xin came forward: "Auntie, what's the matter?"

  "Fang Xin, come, sit down. Can you tell Auntie about your experience in the position?" asked Xiao Hongqin gently.

  "Auntie wants to listen? I've already told Bingbing that I'm coming." Fang Xin asked with some surprise.

  "Come, have some tea and let's chat." Xiang Hongqin said, as a cup of green tea was poured out. Fang Xin took it and started drinking, savoring the aroma and the bright spring light, then said: "Alright, I'll tell Auntie about it later, anyway we're free this afternoon and the Swordsmanship Competition isn't until tomorrow!"

  Fang Xin began to recount, almost identical to what he had told Xiao Bing last time. He also elaborated on the second dimensional travel experience. When he mentioned the Hou Tu Temple, Xiao Hongqin laughed: "Fang Xin, do you believe in Goddess Hou Tu?"

  "I wouldn't say it's faith, but I have great respect for her grand wish, so I'm willing to spread some faith unconditionally." Fang Xin said calmly with a gentle smile. As soon as she spoke, the holy light of Hou Tu Niang Niang mixed with the sunlight, instantly filling Fang Xin's body and enveloping her: "I think faith must be believed out of love."

  "Not bad, except for this one. What else have you learned on your side?"

  "Confucianism, Auntie, I've already passed the Imperial Examination to become a Juren. If there's another chance next time, then I can take the exam to become a Jinshi."

  "Then go, Aunt has approved you to go. From now on, you can use the Shao family's spatial transfer device at will. Moreover, your swordsmanship is almost at the peak of the fourth stage, right? Although the Empire also has fifth-stage swordsmen, there are only a handful of people. It's not easy to find them to ask for guidance, but you can look for some suitable planes yourself. Who knows, you might encounter a fifth-stage master!" Shao Hongqin said with a smile.

  "Thank you, Auntie. I really want to go. After the Qingteng Cup swordsmanship competition ends, I'll continue my journey. I feel that I will gain a lot of benefits."

  "This is of course, I reached the fourth stage at the age of 19 and stayed in the fourth stage for 20 years. It wasn't until recently that I developed plane travel, and after participating, I had an accidental opportunity to enter the fifth stage. Entering the fifth stage means you can become a First Pioneer." Xiao Hongqin seemed to recall something, feeling emotional.

  "Who is the first settler?"

  "Yes, opening up a new plane is not easy. The first time you enter, there's usually a huge risk because the rules and situation are unclear. The first pioneer goes there to understand the situation, establish a foothold, and pave the way for those who come later. Mainly because five-stage cultivators not only have great strength but also can basically be considered a kind of sacred spirit. They have survival power in many worlds."

  Xiao Hongqin said calmly: "If you cultivate sword energy and become a five-stage cultivator, in the Imperial philosophy, you can be called a Sword Immortal. In the European system, it's a Sacred Realm or Half-God. The Empire will pay a huge price to hire you. I was lucky back then; my first time was with someone else, and during that trip, I advanced to five-stage. After that, I participated in three plane explorations and earned back a plane transfer device. However, I also got injured and damaged my Yang Spirit, so I've been recovering for the past few years."

  Although it was lightly mentioned, Fang Xin still took a deep breath, the great benefits and risks inside made Fang Xin have a clear understanding for the first time.

  "So I have high hopes for you, whatever you want to do, go ahead and do it, Auntie supports you. Although Bingbing is smart, but still lacks a bit of understanding of the meaning inside. As for the swordsmanship competition, I think you don't need to participate anymore, now it has no significance for you, neither can increase your experience nor enhance your reputation."

  Xiao Hongqin finished her tea and continued: "I have personally declined some plans regarding you, as for money, even if this competition gets first place in the final round, the prize is only 60 million, if you want it, Auntie will immediately give you 100 million to spend, how about that? Men always need some autonomy, Bingbing still has some confusion, I understand."

  "In that case, since Auntie wants to give it to me, I'll accept it without hesitation. But is there such a great risk in the first battle of the dimensional descent?"

  "Of course, the first time breaking through the interface barrier will produce many problems. The biggest problem is that it will be discovered by the strong of that world. Auntie's third participation in the first navigation interface encountered a siege. As a result, four fifth-level and twenty-one fourth-level, only two fifth-level survived, and all the others died in battle, without even their souls returning."

  "Especially due to the surface repulsion, our strength is basically compressed to about one-third, otherwise it wouldn't be so miserable. The stronger and broader the surface, the stronger this rule and repulsion are. Originally, you shouldn't know these things, but I see that you're only one step away, so I'm telling you." Xiao Hongqin casually took out a card and connected it with Fang Xin's card, and then a voice spoke up.

  "Mr. Fang Xin, 100 million yuan has been transferred to your account, please check."

  "Thank you, Auntie, I understand. Then, will our world be invaded by outsiders?" Fang Xin bluntly took back his card. A fifth-level sword master would not participate in this kind of competition, so Fang Xin had a great chance of getting first place and winning the entire thing. The prize for first place was 60 million, but with the bonus for consecutive wins, it could exceed 100 million, making it an amount that should be taken."

  For the imperial aristocratic family, Fang Xin's show-off is not a good thing. Now it's no longer the era of nobility, people are wise and the prime minister is elected by the people to control the government. Many things have to be considered. Therefore, this is actually a reasonable exchange, and not taking it would be out of line.

  After taking it, Fang Xin asked this question.

  Upon hearing this question, Xiao Hongqin revealed a hint of a smile: "It's basically impossible. Our world is very special."

  Nothing more to say.

  "Bingbing isn't also at the fourth stage, perhaps he can enter the fifth stage soon?"

  "You're wrong, the transition from fourth to fifth stage is a checkpoint. Bing'er's cultivation is rushed and her foundation is unstable, her inner energy is not pure. If she can enter the fifth stage within fifty years, I'll be satisfied." Xiao Hong's eyes flashed with a hint of regret as she said: "But you're different. The last time I saw you, I didn't have any feeling, but this time...I feel that your entering the fifth stage is only a matter of time, and it won't take long."

  "Alright, Auntie, I won't go then. I want to train my body well and cultivate my inner energy, and then I'll go back to that realm again. I think there will still be some gains." Fang Xin felt a bit regretful. If he had known the significance of being at the fourth stage peak, returning to the Fang family wouldn't have been just about being a mere fighter, they might have even nurtured him with all their might. But now, it didn't make much sense anymore.

  After finishing her tea, Xiao Hongqin bid farewell.

  Fang Xin left the pavilion and walked along the winding path, carefully touring the Nanning Garden. He spent about an hour doing so, merely getting a glimpse of everything. In his heart, he couldn't help but sigh: "This is what it's like now, if only I could have seen it 500 years ago... The power of the aristocratic families was truly magnificent! Five hundred years ago, there were twenty years of war in Europe and Asia, three hundred years ago, the empire was divided into feudal states, with aristocratic armies and peasant uprisings. How did they manage to bring balance to this world and establish a constitutional monarchy?"

  When he turned a corner, he saw a pavilion where some people were sitting on stone benches, drinking tea and chatting. After exchanging smiles and greetings, Fang Xin didn't linger to listen and instead walked towards Xiao Bing, who was standing in front of a small house.

  Fang Xing walked slowly and found that the small house was made entirely of bamboo, seemingly for some time, delicate and natural, making people feel full of elegance.

  Xiao Bing was talking to a woman, whose hair was also styled in a high bun, with a hairpin embedded with bright pearls that shone brightly. She looked around 27 or 28 years old, with an exceptionally good figure and prominent breasts that made her even more feminine.

  "Ah Xin, are you done talking to mom?" Xiao Bing saw him and said with a smile, "This is my cousin Xiao Jing, you two haven't spoken yet!"

  Fang Xin only vaguely remembered that she was also at the banquet, but didn't make a deep impression. Now it could be considered their first real meeting, so he walked up and said: "Hello, Jing Jie."

  Just sat down and chatted, then heard Xiao Jing talking about her travel experiences.

  "Islers (note: England), we first arrived at the landing point and went to see where the Tang Taizong's fleet landed in his later years. Actually, there was nothing special to see, just a beach. After gathering, we went to see Bournemouth, which is said to be the first stronghold of the Chinese people and also their first city. The scenery was quite good, with lakes and mountains amidst which we strolled leisurely. However, no matter how I looked at that Duke of Marlborough, I couldn't feel any Han Chinese blood in him?"

  "Sister, after all, it's been 1,600 years. Back then, the fleet that crossed the ocean, endured diseases and battles, and was stranded in Southeast Asia, had only about 9,000 people left when they reached Isrls. Plus, there were few women, so those who got married were either local natives or women abducted from Europe. Over the years, it's natural that they would be assimilated."

  "Yes, even Hou Tu Niang Niang has become the goddess of earth and underworld Medirix, Tai Zu has become the sun god Rexinig, but the basic rituals have been preserved, now in the Kingdom of Isrls, the faith still occupies 60%, which is already not bad."

  "After a ten-year religious war, we were fortunate enough. But it's pointless to talk about this. We also visited the Royal Arcaded Gallery of Art, and stayed overnight at the Charni Hotel that night. The next day, we paid homage to the Holy Sword Mausoleum."

  Fang Xin smiled and listened to them chatting casually, and when they finished speaking, he said to Xiao Bing: "Ah Bing, according to your mother's intention, I won't participate in the swordsmanship competition. Why don't we go on a trip instead?"

  "This idea is not bad, go with me to the Kingdom of Tarcenso (Portugal), which is also one of the Han Chinese settlements, unfortunately, it was completely destroyed, leaving only some traces."

  "It's too far away, why don't we just travel domestically instead?" Xiao Bing seemed to be very tempted.

  "It's too close domestically, why don't we go to Japan instead? I'd like to see what this vassal state of a thousand years is really like!" Fang Xin said with a hint of cold smile.

  In this world, Japan was severely affected during the time of Tang Taizu and even surrendered and paid tribute. It is said that when Taizu built his ocean-going fleet, one quarter of the original wood came from Japan.

  In terms of culture and religion, the Shintoism in mainland Japan was heavily influenced, although it still maintained its nature worship, the creation myth, as well as the deified legends including Taizu, all clearly showed this conscious powerful influence from Tang Dynasty.

  Although later, after the fall of the Tang Dynasty, during Japan's second shogunate era, a "purification movement" was carried out to create its own writing system and compile its own history and mythology, while also vigorously promoting the "Sun Goddess Amaterasu", which diluted the influence of mainland Chinese deities, remnants of this silent transformation can still be seen everywhere.

  However, even so, the Tang Taizu still exists as "Tianzhu Yumian Shen" to this day, and its followers and influence are still great, only often representing a sense of reverence, and in Japanese mythology is often seen as a rather frightening god.

  As for the Emperor, this title has long been gone. The recognized title in the world is King of Japan, abbreviated as "King of Japan".

  Even if it has changed from the beginning, this island nation still has many aspects that are similar to Japan on earth, especially in polytheistic beliefs, where gods are not limited to true gods, and all those who are not ordinary are called gods, not only great, excellent, kind, and meritorious, but even the most ferocious and terrifying ones are also called gods.

  As long as a person does something extraordinary that others cannot do, whether good or evil, they can become a god.

  This phenomenon should not be accidental, Fang Xin wants to take a look.