The Silver Screen Spirit Cloud dragged Chen Jingzhai out of the Cloud Palace. He was full of worries as he stood above the clouds, overlooking the entire Luanyun Mountain Range. It was as if he finally saw everything clearly, albeit through a layer of mist.
Not returning to Daoxuan Peak, the Silver Screen Spirit Cloud quietly turned a corner and sneaked into Hongluan Peak, which Pearl immediately sensed. She smiled sweetly and disappeared presently.
Xuanming Cave.
On the stone bed, Chen Jingzhai hugged Su Qinghuang from behind. His powerful aura was like hot flames, engulfing Su Qinghuang with unexpected suddenness. Her cheeks flushed as she fell into a state of intoxication.
She had long gotten used to Chen Jingzhai’s scent because there was absolutely nothing that had been hidden between the two of them. All the acupoints were opened, and Chen Jingzhai’s body carried a fragrance all of its own. It was light like the fragrance of lotus flowers or as mellow as the fragrance of osmanthus.
Xuanming Cave was guarded by Pearl, and only Chen Jingzhai could sneak in through the layers of restrictions. Therefore, Su Qinghuang closed her eyes with peace of mind, pretending that she had not seen anything whatsoever.
She allowed Chen Jingzhai to gently remove the robe from her body. Like a pear, revealing the soft whiteness and its delicacy underneath, with an unspoiled sweetness and freshness that was just for him to taste.
After half an hour, the two were still hugging each other tightly, and neither of them said a word. Chen Jingzhai waved away the scent in the air and sat up while still holding on to her thighs.
“Something on your mind?” Su Qinghuang asked while listening to his strong heartbeats.
“You knew about the Luo Tian Immortal Faction and the Immortal Alliance?” Chen Jingzhai asked instead of answering.
“Uh-huh,” Su Qinghuang said while putting her arms around his waist. “Basically, Golden Core disciples all knew about it. Once they have gone to the Woods Ocean Ancient Path, they will be told. I told you back when we were in the Eastern Ocean that I can’t say anything.”
Chen Jingzhai nodded slightly. He was not blaming her but wanted to know if Su Qinghuang could tell him anything now. However, the fact proved that Su Qinghuang still couldn’t say anything about the Luo Tian Immortal Faction.
Actually, all the information regarding the outside world was protected by restriction. Not only was Su Qinghuang bound by it, but any sages who had not reached the Golden Core Plane could not say anything about it either; this was mainly to protect the hidden branch.
Chen Jingzhai was not affected. No restriction had been imposed on him when he was in the presence of senior brother Fuyunzi, so he could still say whatever he wanted. It was unclear if this was because of the techniques or because of the senior brother.
“Over there at senior brother Mobei’s, there will be a number of spiritual stones to be collected every year, half for you and half for senior sister Mei.” Chen Jingzhai pressed his chin to her forehead, “Remember to tell Pearl to pick them up when the time comes, don’t give it up for nothing.”
“I got it,” Su Qinghuang replied obediently.
Since their time in the Eastern Ocean, she had been incredibly obedient in front of her junior brother. No matter what the arrangements were, as long as Chen Jingzhai told her, she would do exactly as he prescribed, whatever he said was the standard she followed.
“Next, I will give the swords a try,” Chen Jingzhai said. “Whether successful or not, I will go straight down the mountain. When we meet again, I hope that you can successfully create a method.”
Su Qinghuang’s body stiffened slightly, as she immediately realized that this was their last goodbye. Her eyes became misty and gradually overflowed with tears. Then, she hugged Chen Jingzhai and refused to let him go, as she lowered her head to kiss his entire body.
Chen Jingzhai, who had wanted to leave then, sighed softly in his heart, and laid back down, letting her do what she wanted. This little bit of time was not much in the grand scheme of things, so why not create a beautiful memory before he left?
Three days later, Chen Jingzhai returned to Daoxuan Peak.
At Tianyahai Pavilion, he met with Mrs. Yang and explained all that happened at the Puppet Hall.
Then he handed her a bottle of Dustfall Elixir.
Dustfall Elixir was an elixir that could help cultivators increase the probability of reaching the Core Plane, and was more precious than Foundation Establishment Elixir.
Chen Jingzhai’s ability to produce Grade 3 Dustfall Elixir was enough to suggest that he was now a Grade 3 alchemist.
He gave this bottle of elixir not for showing off.
All he wanted to do was to make senior sister Mei’s life a little easier.
After the fall of Hongluan Peak, senior sister Mei had no more support.
Before, there was no choice. But now that Chen Jingzhai was here, there had to be some changes.
In addition to the Dustfall Elixir, there were also some inferior Grade 3 magic treasures for which he had no use.
This time although he gave a bit more, Chen Jingzhai did not ask for any merits.
Mrs. Yang could not refuse him, so finally, she accepted them without a word.
Next, Chen Jingzhai went to the Archive Pavilion to read about formation techniques, day after day, and night after night.
He also enjoyed reading some of the books in the collection; they would become the resources for his future creation.
It went on like this for a while. When he finished what he wanted to read, it was already autumn.
On this day, Chen Jingzhai took the eight maids with him and closed up Tianyahai Pavilion.
Then, Chen Jingzhai came, by himself, to the mountain where the Golden Jade Sword Branch was located.
The silver-white cloud lowered, and Chen Jingzhai saw Qiao Haisheng, who was guarding the door.
“Little Master-Uncle!” Qiao Haisheng called out in salute.
“You did not go to the mortal world to fight for the dragon, is it because you are going to the Woods Ocean Ancient Path?” Chen Jingzhai asked.
“Master-Uncle is most wise!” Qiao Haisheng said with a laugh, “The Woods Ocean Ancient Path takes place every three to five years. Junior Brother Zeng Wangbei from Daoxuan Peak got a bargain. This time, it’s our turn.”
“It seems that we will go together,” Chen Jingzhai nodded, not surprised by his choice.
“It’s not just me,” Qiao Haisheng smiled and stepped aside, “Master-Uncle, please!”
“What’s the trick for besting the Test of Swords?” Chen Jingzhai asked.
“There is no trick,” Qiao Haisheng shook his head, “Everyone faces different challenges.”
“Is that so?” Chen Jingzhai appeared thoughtful.
He was a formation master himself, and this Test of the Swords was nothing more than just a sword formation.
The Test of Swords was to break through the formation, which was what he thought before he came.
Now it seemed that it was not as easy as he thought, and obviously, it should not have been so easy either.
Climbing up the stairs, the Test of Swords was right in front of him.
It did not seem to be anything extraordinary. At the bluestone portal, the word “Swords” was written on the archway.
Chen Jingzhai looked at the word that was written, which did not appear to be anything other than rather quaint.
There seemed to be no hidden opportunities there.
“There is someone else in the Test of Swords?” Chen Jingzhai asked in surprise, looking inside the portal.
Inside the portal, there was a figure standing there, who looked a little familiar.
“There is a disciple named Jin Zetian, who is a casual disciple of the Golden Jade Sword Branch.”
“He possessed celestial bones and was sent down by his master for trial. It will probably take him two more years before he can leave.”
“Master-Uncle should know of him- he was one of the aspirant cultivators who started with you,” Qiao Haisheng said with a smile.
“So it was him,” Chen Jingzhai understood everything. “To be valued this much, the Golden Jade Sword Branch has gained a genius! It’s just a pity that I won’t be able to see his glory and his sword in the future.”
“His genius is not more than the Master-Uncle’s,” Qiao Haisheng said sternly. “The celestial bone is a good thing as well as a bad thing for the Golden Jade Sword Branch. More importantly, it was his temperament. Jin Zetian is not the Master-Uncle, but he is not bad.”
“Very well!” Chen Jingzhai nodded, “What should I do? Should I go in directly?”
“Yes!” Qiao Haisheng said, “It’s best not to use the robe for resistance. There are various sword’s wills in the Test of Swords, some of them will destroy the robe that you wear, so we beg your pardon in advance.”
“Understood!” Chen Jingzhai laughed, and with a turn of his thought, the robe disappeared instantly.
He walked in wearing a set of ordinary spiritual item undergarments and socks.
After Chen Jingzhai entered the Test of Swords, he caught the attention of all the branches.
Sage Lu quietly appeared next to Qiao Haisheng.
“Master-Uncle!” Qiao Haisheng saluted.
“As you were,” Sage Lu said indifferently, “Do you think he will succeed?”
“Success is certain, but I just don’t know how much the Little Master-Uncle will reap,” Qiao Haisheng said with some hesitation. “The Little Master-Uncle’s aura was completely self-contained; I was unable to gauge his strength.”
“Being able to kill lords proved that he is no ordinary genius,” Sage Lu said lightly. “If there is any mistake in stepping into the Woods Ocean Ancient Path this time, remember to listen to the Little Master-Uncle.”
“Yes!” Qiao Haisheng answered. His master had mentioned this as well, so he was not surprised.
Ever since the news came out that Chen Jingzhai had annihilated the lords, everyone in the clan had reached the same conclusion.
On this trip to the Woods Ocean Ancient Path, all the disciples had obeyed Chen Jingzhai’s command.
The same was true of Golden Core Sages, which was a reasonable test.
After all, Chen Jingzhai was the Little Master-Uncle, and his seniority and strength were higher than theirs.
Inside the Test of Swords, Chen Jingzhai continued forward. A warm and tingling feeling fell upon his skin and quickly crawled about. He had only taken three steps before he decided to stand still.
In his eyes, a set of swordsmanship was fast developing. If this type of swordsmanship was dropped down in a place like Pulao Kingdom, even rogue cultivators in the Foundation Plane would fight over it. However, in here, it was nothing special.
The figure inside the Test of Swords also disappeared. At this moment, there were nothing but swords in his eyes.