Chapter 77

(There is only one chapter today.)

Those who take revenge lightly are ungrateful, those who take righteousness lightly are unfeeling, and those who take filial piety lightly are the most heartless. What kind of person is His Highness the Prince? Countless courtesans of the Northern Liang said he was sentimental, acknowledging his outward charm, while scholars and literati unanimously said he was unrighteous, concluding that he was hollow inside. Xu Fengnian long ago stopped paying attention to these idle remarks. At this moment, he was simply accompanying Zhao Yutai, who was no longer in armor, into the Guanyin Pavilion to sit down. For some reason, she, now a female Taoist priestess of Qingcheng Mountain, had a more robust figure than Xu Fengnian. The two of them sitting shoulder to shoulder looked somewhat comical, as if the Prince were being gentle and affectionate. Xu Fengnian could not hide his full heart of joy as he looked at Aunt Zhao.

Zhao Yutai, the armored female attendant, was the sword attendant of the previous young sword champion of the Wu family's sword tomb. A sword attendant is a person of a different surname chosen from a young age to grow up with the master, carefully cultivated, and responsible for feeding and maintaining the master's sword throughout their life until the final burial of the sword. Each sword attendant was outstanding in swordsmanship from a young age, and there were even some who were stronger than their masters in swordsmanship before the age of twenty. After the master comes of age, the sword attendant is only responsible for honing the master's sword heart and swordsmanship and does not need to die for the master. This is strictly forbidden by the Wu family's sword tomb to prevent Wu family swordsmen from becoming fearless and thus detrimental to their cultivation of high-level swordsmanship.

Wu Liuding, dressed in a green robe, wielded his sword and headed south, with a shadow sword attendant secretly following him.

Every young withered sword of the Wu family who left the sword tomb to practice swordsmanship was an outstanding genius. Once they left the sword tomb, there were only two possibilities: they either became the top swordsmen and returned to the sword tomb in glory, or they died on the path of cultivation and were not allowed to be buried in the sword tomb, not even allowed to take their swords back to the family. Wherever they died, they were buried, and the sword attendant would guard the tomb and the sword for life.

Xu Fengnian softly asked, "Aunt, why are you on Qingcheng Mountain?"

Zhao Yutai, who had been carefully examining Xu Fengnian's face, did not hide anything and gently said, "After removing the face mask, I helped Wu Lingsu become a puppet. The Great General needed this Qingcheng Mountain to become a dead mountain and an empty city, secretly garrisoning no less than six thousand armored soldiers to prepare for future troubles. The early plan was that if the Northern Liang iron cavalry were defeated by the Northern Wei, the Yongzhou region would not fall without a fight. Otherwise, if the natural defenses were not held, it would be extremely difficult to reclaim them. There was also the concern that during the fierce battles on the border, Gu Jian Tang might stab from behind. However, in recent years, the Great General's iron cavalry has been independently resisting the Northern Wei, not falling behind at all, and with the strategic planning from a thousand miles away, he has not been overwhelmed by the fear of overshadowing the emperor. He has firmly established himself in the Northern Liang. The matter of secretly garrisoning troops on Qingcheng Mountain has thus slowed down. Dispatching and adjusting troops under the watchful eyes of Yongzhou and the imperial court is not a small or easy task. I have been speculating that if the Great General has made arrangements in the eastern sword gate, it would be the worst-case scenario. No matter how the Northern Liang's thirty thousand iron cavalry collapse, these six thousand troops can ensure that His Highness the Prince can pass through the sword gate into the Western Regions, where the dynasty can no longer control the Prince. At the very least, the Xu family will not end up in complete desolation."

Xu Fengnian sighed, "Xu Xiao has a grand plan. This time I entered Qingcheng Mountain and made detailed geographical maps, thinking that this place is the strategic center of Yongzhou, and it's a pity that there are no troops to hold the strategic points. Hearing Aunt's explanation, with Xu Xiao's character, it's highly likely that the eastern sword gate has already been bought and planted with loyalists. However, I suspect that the imperial court might also have countless hidden pawns. It's a matter of who acts first and who has more ingenious and covert moves. In recent years, Li Yishan has been serving as Xu Xiao's strategist, replacing Uncle Zhao Changling. It seems there are ten chess games, and I wonder how many have been played. Xu Xiao's problem is that he is too conspicuous. He doesn't want to rebel, but there are people who dream of him rebelling. The battle at Xiliu Wall destroyed the Western Chu. I've heard that many old generals privately advised Xu Xiao to take advantage of the situation and seize the entire empire. It makes sense; who leading an army wouldn't want to be a founding hero of a new dynasty? Who among the strategists wouldn't want to be the imperial teacher? However, the wars of the Spring and Autumn period were all unjust, and the great aristocratic families gradually declined. Xu Xiao is the main culprit. Without the support of the people and the literati, even if he advances north and can sweep through the enemy, he cannot sit firmly on the imperial throne."

The secret record of the passage: 《》

Zhao Yutai, who referred to herself as a servant, always held Xu Fengnian's hand and smiled kindly, "Your Highness is very much like Miss, in appearance and in actions."

Xu Fengnian shook his head.

Zhao Yutai asked, "Why didn't Your Highness use the Northern Liang light cavalry to break through the Divine Dawn Sword Formation? If you had given the order, these fierce soldiers would have truly shown some loyalty to you."

Xu Fengnian took out the special imperial paper he had obtained from the spear falcon and handed it to Zhao Yutai, saying softly, "Seeing this, I didn't dare to act rashly. Before leaving Northern Liang, Li Yishan said he would give me three secret plans. This is the first one. I wanted to ask for all of them at once, but Li Yishan refused, knowing my character of wanting to open them all at once."

Zhao Yutai saw the words: "Stop when you meet a king, and if you can avoid killing, do not kill."

Understanding, she smiled and returned it to Xu Fengnian, who tore it up and let it scatter in the wind.

Xu Fengnian curiously asked, "Aunt, is Wu Liuding the current sword champion of the sword tomb?"

Zhao Yutai nodded calmly, showing no surprise.

Xu Fengnian subconsciously tightened his grip on Zhao Yutai's hand and said with a dark smile, "Then I must find an opportunity to meet the Wu family's sword champion and see if his swordsmanship lives up to the title of sword champion!"

Zhao Yutai smiled, "Among your entourage, the old man with the severed arm is the most profound. Which old sword master is he?"

Xu Fengnian said softly, "Li Chunjian, who was suppressed under the Tingchao Pavilion by Xu Xiao for many years. He is an old sword god. His wooden horse was broken, and I know he lost to Wang Xianzhi, but I don't know why he also lost an arm."

Zhao Yutai smiled slightly, "So it's the old sword god Li. No wonder. The old ancestor who taught Miss and me swordsmanship was once defeated by Li Chunjian, not only breaking his sword but also destroying his sword heart, making it impossible for him to reach the realm of a terrestrial sword immortal. In the past hundred years, Li Chunjian defeated a sword champion and took the wooden horse. Later, Deng Tai'a also defeated him but did not bother to pick a sword on the sword mountain. The Wu family's sword tomb lost all its face. Wu Liuding will eventually have to face the current sword god Deng Tai'a. According to several secret letters, Wu Liuding is currently at the initial stage of the Finger Profound realm, still far from the Celestial Phenomenon realm. However, the most outstanding swordsmen of each generation of the Wu family do not advance step by step. They stop for a thousand days and then advance a thousand miles in a day. No swordsmen in the world have such solid foundations as the Wu family. Miss was like that, holding a sword, she was only a secular first-rate before leaving the tomb, but in a life-or-death battle with the previous sword champion, she skipped the Vajra and Finger Profound realms and directly reached the Celestial Phenomenon realm!"

Xu Fengnian looked at the cliff and the valley, muttering, "Aunt, I am much more foolish."

Zhao Yutai gently shook her head, "Generally speaking, if one does not reach the Vajra realm by the age of thirty, they will never reach the Finger Profound realm. But when Sword Nine Yellow was thirty, he was just a blacksmith. Who would dare say he wasn't a master? Your Highness, you have countless secret manuals to read. I have a suggestion: consider becoming the unparalleled master who exhausts all the ingenious moves in the first fifty moves. There's no need to learn to defeat enemies with a single finger like some high masters, nor do you need to be like Cao Guanzi, who becomes better at the end of the battle. Your Highness has an unmatched memory, and reading extensively is not difficult. Just select the most essential one or two moves from each of the hundreds of secret manuals, gradually integrating them into your own cultivation, like the Great Yellow Court cultivation. By blending the essence of the ancients into your own body, you can then face your enemies with fifty moves, each move as subtle as a hanging antelope horn, leaving no trace. This will surely surprise and be unpredictable."

Xu Fengnian was taken aback, muttering, "It seems feasible."

Zhao Yutai smiled but said nothing.

Xu Fengnian instantly became spirited, the purple aura between his brows faint.

The two, reunited, sat in silence.

After a long time, Xu Fengnian slowly said, "I wonder how Xu Xiao's journey to the capital is going."

Zhao Yutai said solemnly, "A dozing tiger does not open its eyes, but when it does, it kills."

{Piaotian Literature}