Chapter 184: Martial Dao Legend: The Chixiao Sword Sings

When she noticed Li Guanyi's gaze falling upon her, the hooded girl naturally retracted her hand.

Then she lightly jumped back two steps, creating distance.

Her palms overlapped before her chest, the hood obscuring her face, only the side locks slightly stirring.

It was Yao Guang.

Her voice remained as tranquil as ever: "You've come."

"I've been waiting for you a long time."

Li Guanyi was first delighted, but upon hearing the girl's second remark, he wondered if she was teasing him slightly for arriving late—yet as he looked, the silver-haired girl's face still showed no emotion.

Li Guanyi shook his gourd, smiling, and said: "I was just thinking when I'd meet you, and now here you are—good, you're both safe." He had brewed millet wine and hung the gourd at his waist; the girl followed him as they found a tea house.

They secured the ox cart outside and went upstairs.

Li Guanyi ordered a pot of tea and several snacks. As he ascended, he naturally glanced around and saw the tea house already had guests: a young man in his early twenties, dressed in brocade robes, flanked by two beautiful women—one holding a sword, the other a qin.

He seemed to dislike the other patrons, sitting alone by the window.

The two beautiful maids spread silk cloth over the table, arranging tableware and teaware themselves.

They claimed only this one window seat for viewing the scenery.

Seeing Li Guanyi's faded, washed-out Daoist robe and the girl's simple traveler's attire, they gave them no further notice, contentedly sipping tea and admiring the view.

Li Guanyi paused his step.

He felt the newly formed Eternal Ancient Moon Imperishable Body Jin Dan in his abdomen tremble.

The brocade-robed young man also subtly stirred, lifting his gaze toward him.

Li Guanyi's expression remained calm and unflinching.

He controlled the Jin Dan within him.

This sensation—the brocade-robed young man also possessed this cultivation art? No, it didn't seem like…

It was a Wu Gong of the same origin.

Was it Hou Zhongyu's mad ancestral master—or the legendary Qingpao Guest of the Martial Dao?

Li Guanyi's spirit stirred slightly, yet his expression stayed calm. He sat with Yao Guang; when the snacks arrived, the young Daoist pushed them toward the girl: "How have you been these past days?"

"Where is Auntie?"

Yao Guang glanced at the snacks, then did not touch them, her voice serene as she replied:

"After leaving the city, we traveled, wandering mountains and enjoying waters."

Li Guanyi grinned.

Though he himself had been one of the whirlpools in this period's Jianghu and imperial court.

His journey had been one of constant fighting.

Yao Guang and Auntie, however, had been at ease.

The white-haired girl said: "As for Auntie…"

The girl cupped a snack in both hands, slowly bit into it, chewing.

She swallowed.

Then she spoke slowly: "I hid her. Without me to guide them, no one can find her—so she is safe; then I came to find you."

Li Guanyi did not ask how Yao Guang had found him.

He knew she would speak of fate's decree or some such thing; now that he had reunited with her and knew Auntie was safe, the taut string in his heart finally loosened slightly. He pushed more snacks toward Yao Guang, chatting idly.

Next, he would meet Auntie. According to Yao Guang, it was only a few days' journey—not long—but given her pace, perhaps she had left the place immediately after settling Auntie down.

The closer they drew to Beicheng, the more numerous and varied the Jianghu factions became.

The girl's journey here must not have been easy.

Yet Yao Guang had barely eaten a few bites when Li Guanyi heard noisy commotion outside.

The brocade-robed young man also frowned slightly.

Heavy, hurried footsteps rushed up the stairs—a group of large men stormed in, their eyes sweeping over and locking onto Li Guanyi's table, striding forward. Li Guanyi sipped tea, thinking Jianghu affairs were indeed troublesome; these men were staring at the long-haired lynx beside him, gorging on snacks.

"My brocade-furred rat—upon seeing this cat, it froze stiff. Must be an exotic breed."

"That Daoist! This cat belongs to our Divine Beast Manor—it escaped, and now you've stolen it! Hand it over, kneel and bang your head three times, and I'll spare you. Otherwise, you'll regret it!"

Li Guanyi looked at the Fire Qilin and thought: "Can't you tone it down?"

The Fire Qilin ate the snack.

It replied: "Aowu aowu aowu—would a tiger restrain itself for a lamb?"

A wild, instinctive answer.

"Aowu—this thing is excellent."

The long-haired cat didn't even lift its head. The silver-haired girl's eyes, curious, studied the exotic beast; she extended a finger, lightly touching the Fire Qilin—first cautiously, then withdrawing, before finally relaxing and gently stroking it.

The Fire Qilin, who allowed no one but Li Guanyi to touch it, now showed no aversion to Yao Guang's contact.

The girl's eyes were filled with curiosity and focus.

Seeing Li Guanyi's silence, the Divine Beast Manor men grew furious and attacked.

These men differed from the petty thugs Li Guanyi had encountered before—they possessed real Wu Gong; their leader had reached the Second Heaven's peak. Their strike was heavy, yet Li Guanyi sat on his bench, wielding only the sheathed Songwen Ancient Sword in a single sweep—none could close in.

The big man lost his balance and tumbled toward the table, toward the snacks and the Fire Qilin cat.

If the Fire Qilin retaliated now, it would expose itself—and the snacks would surely be crushed.

Suddenly, a flash of light.

The men collided into each other, unleashing their full strength—and struck their own comrades, collapsing in an instant, all unconscious, none touching the table. The silver-haired girl continued to gently stroke the Fire Qilin cat.

She didn't look up.

The snacks remained untouched.

Li Guanyi was surprised, glancing over at Yao Guang; the girl broke off a piece of pastry and fed it to the Fire Qilin, whose feline form devoured it greedily, and for the first time, a faint softness appeared on the silver-haired girl's expressionless face.

Li Guanyi was curious—was this technique a formation?

Yao Guang's methods were almost entirely rooted in formations and arcane arts; she knew not a single Wu Gong.

He glanced at the warriors of the Divine Beasts Manor and frowned slightly.

"Again, the Divine Beasts Manor."

"It's for the Qilin Hunt Gathering… The Qilin Hunt Gathering draws all martial factions from the northern reaches of Chen State. With so many people, chaos follows—troubles multiply. I must hurry to reunite with my aunt."

Li Guanyi thought.

He felt a warm, soft hand reach out and tug at his.

Yao Guang carefully lifted the Fire Qilin and gathered up the pastries, placing them in a small box and stowing it inside her satchel, then said:

"Let's go."

Li Guanyi nodded. The commotion here had drawn attention—the brocade-robed Young Master across the way lifted his head in surprise, rose deliberately, and bowed with effortless grace: "Daoist Priest, your Wu Gong and formations are astonishing. I've never seen such things."

"I never imagined I'd witness the ability to summon formations midair."

"Could it be that you're a disciple of Kunlun Yujing Pavilion?"

"I only knew one of the Four Elders of Kunlun Sword Sect had come here for the Qilin Hunt Gathering—I never expected to have the fortune to meet you."

Li Guanyi said: "I am but a country Daoist Priest. I know nothing of Kunlun Yujing Pavilion."

The brocade-robed Young Master smiled: "I see. My apologies for my presumption—please forgive me." He bowed slightly, then suddenly moved—his hands fluttered like butterflies, yet radiated the force of a tidal storm.

Li Guanyi had been prepared.

As the man struck, he did not retreat; gripping his sword, he unleashed a fierce, unyielding qi blast. In an instant of collision, the entire building trembled. Li Guanyi felt this young man's internal qi rivaled Xiao Jian Sheng Xu Huiyang's, and his physique was extraordinary.

The brocade-robed Young Master had not used his full strength—he only smiled: "I see."

"I tested your technique—you're a pure martial cultivator, honing body and internal qi."

"Perhaps I misjudged—you're not from Kunlun Yujing Pavilion."

Li Guanyi lowered his gaze. He felt the 【Ten Thousand Ancients Azure Moon Immortal Elixir】 Jin Dan within him tremble slightly. The young man's gaze remained fixed on him—Li Guanyi knew the man had sensed him from the start; the earlier formation had merely been a probe.

The brocade-robed Young Master smiled: "May I ask your name, Daoist Priest?"

"We'll surely meet again at the Qilin Hunt Gathering."

Li Guanyi replied loudly:

"I take no new name, change no surname—I am a disciple of the True Immortal Hou Zhongyu."

"I am Chen Yuyun!"

The silver-haired girl watched the young Daoist Priest speak with solemn righteousness.

Her face remained expressionless as she slipped another piece of pastry into the Fire Qilin's mouth.

The brocade-robed Young Master nodded, praising: "Good. Chen Yuyun…"

"'Yu'—pure, unblemished; 'Yun'—radiant as the great sun. A fine name."

Li Guanyi and Yao Guang turned to leave, their hands still gripping their sword hilts. The brocade-robed Young Master made no further move, instead lifting his teacup and murmuring in puzzlement: "His martial skill is impressive—but strange… why does his cultivation base carry the scent of the 【Ten Thousand Ancients Azure Moon Divine Art】?"

"It seems of the same origin, yet diverged—like something else has been blended in."

"Is this the work of a sorcerer?"

"And that formation…"

"That technique—only a direct disciple of Yujing Pavilion could wield it…"

………………

Li Guanyi boarded the ox cart.

The sturdy ox, wise as a human, began pulling slowly.

Li Guanyi glanced at the brocade-robed Young Master by the window and frowned. Yao Guang sat beside him—and as she settled, the entire ox cart vanished from the weave of qi and fate, dissolving into clouds and rosy mist.

The girl held the Fire Qilin.

Slowly, the aura that once stirred and terrified other beasts was neutralized by starlight.

It now looked like an ordinary long-haired cat.

The Fire Qilin, mid-licking its paw, froze, then lifted its head in shock.

For a divine beast, having its aura concealed was like a tiger's territorial mark being erased. The Fire Qilin turned to the silver-haired girl, who wore a hood, revealing only her silver temple hairs.

In the direction Li Guanyi could not see:

The hooded girl sat with her hands folded before her knees, silver strands falling from her temples.

A calm voice echoed in the Fire Qilin's mind:

"Hello. I am Yao Guang."

"We'll be traveling together from now on."

The long-haired lion-cat's eyes widened. For the first time, someone spoke directly into its mind—more direct than even Tai Ping Gong or Li Guanyi, those bound by the Fire Qilin's manifestation.

The girl across from it seemed to smile slightly.

It vanished in an instant.

She raised a finger to her lips.

The voice rose again in the Fire Qilin's mind: "I've concealed your aura."

She reached out and rubbed its head.

"Don't cause him trouble."

Li Guanyi relaxed from his vigilance toward the brocade-robed youth and said:

"Yao Guang, do you know who he is?"

Yao Guang's eyes remained still, her voice calm: "He is Nan Qingping, seventh on the Martial Hero Rankings, at the peak of the Third Tower."

Li Guanyi said: "How do you know?"

Yao Guang looked at him, blinked, and said:

"Elder Murong took the Famous Heroes List home and studied it many times."

"She saw your name on it."

The girl's face showed no expression, she simply said:

"Mm. For example, the Great Chen Gold Guard."

The young Daoist's lips twitched.

"Did Auntie find out?"

Yao Guang nodded lightly: "Mm."

Then Li Guanyi felt utterly defeated.

He thought his title as Great Chen Gold Guard would be mocked by Auntie for a long time, and he grew frustrated, muttering like Old Master Chen Chengbi: What kind of names is the Number One Tower even coming up with?

Do you pick names with your heel?

He lay there with his arms propped behind his head.

This Nan Qingping's Wu Gong is not weak—stronger than Yuwen Hua and Xu Huiyang.

She's only in her twenties.

The Jianghu world is full of hidden tigers and dragons.

Yao Guang rummaged through her large bundle for a while and pulled out a scroll of the Famous Heroes List.

Then she shoved it over.

The young Daoist looked at the Famous Heroes List Yao Guang handed him, read the man's biography; besides his martial cultivation and sword art, there was an additional note: Li Guanyi lowered his eyes slightly and said: "Suspected to be connected to one of the Wu Dao legends, the Green Robe Guest 【Changsheng】."

"Indeed."

Li Guanyi sensed his internal 【Wangu Cangyue Bu mie Ti】 Jin Dan slowly rotating.

The origin of this cultivation method was when Hou Zhongyu's ancestral master went mad after a midnight conversation with the Green Robe Guest; Hou Zhongyu's teacher stole the method, spent sixty springs and autumns dispersing its malevolence, blending in alchemist insights on immortality pills, and refined it anew.

But its core still came from the Green Robe Guest.

That's why Li Guanyi felt a resonance when near Nan Qingping.

It was like sensing a fellow disciple from the same sect.

A Wu Dao legend?

"That Wu Dao legend is called Changsheng?"

Li Guanyi rested his hands behind his head, thinking of that distant title; after ten days in the Jianghu, amid countless meaningless conflicts, he had finally encountered something unusual.

At this moment, his 【Eternal Indestructible Body of the Myriad Ancient Blue Moon】 Golden Core could coordinate with the Qingluan Bird's spiritual form to protect his heart from 【Flying Snow】 corruption—but only enough to save his life.

When Feixue flared up, it still caused excruciating pain.

Sometimes the pain was so severe he pounded the ground with his fists; when he calmed down, his whole body was drenched in sweat, yet he had punched out pits of all sizes—under this state, his explosive strength was three-tenths greater than usual.

But it tortured him.

Could the Green Robe Guest's Wu Dao legend cultivation method expel the 【Feixue】 poison?

As he wandered in thought, Li Guanyi picked up his gourd and took a sip; the girl beside him grew curious, so Li Guanyi fetched a small cup, poured her a portion, and she gently sniffed it, then licked it, before slowly sipping it.

"Tastes good, right?"

Li Guanyi smiled, sitting on the ox cart; Yao Guang knelt beside him and nodded.

The ox cart trudged forward slowly.

Leaving the town, they passed through a rural path; the afternoon sun was too harsh, but it grew milder later, the sky dimming gradually—when Yao Guang paused slightly, Li Guanyi, lost in thought about what came next, felt the girl tugging at his sleeve.

Li Guanyi gripped his sword and turned his head toward Yao Guang.

The silver-haired girl said: "Someone is following us."

Li Guanyi asked: "Hostile?"

Yao Guang replied: "No."

"But he noticed me."

The fact that he noticed Yao Guang's array meant there was some possibility; Li Guanyi drew his sword, Yao Guang thought for a moment, pulled Li Guanyi closer, then leaned in suddenly.

The girl's breath brushed his ear; her hair swept across his chest.

Yao Guang whispered something in the softest voice.

Then she said: "Just shout it out loud."

Li Guanyi gripped his sword and nodded, calling out loudly:

"Yuan zhi Yuan yi, yuan zhi hui shi er, yuan zhi yun san bai liu shi, yuan zhi shi si qian san bai er shi, yuan zhi yuan, yi chun xing chun zhi shi ye. Yuan zhi hui, yi chun xing xia zhi shi ye. Yuan zhi yun, yi chun xing qiu zhi shi ye. Yuan zhi shi, yi chun xing dong zhi shi ye."

Yao Guang spoke again, and Li Guanyi followed her words and shouted them out.

They shifted positions several times; finally Li Guanyi said:

"The direction is east, beneath the trees, half spring, half autumn."

"Come out."

As Li Guanyi's voice faded, a figure emerged from the spot—not another, but the Daoist they had seen earlier, his face ancient and weathered; the Daoist Sect leader glanced at the girl beside Li Guanyi.

He had come using the rhythm of the 【Huangji Jing Shi Shu】, hoping to forge a karmic connection.

This boy didn't seem to have the aptitude for divination and calculation—he hadn't noticed anything, and he was about to leave, when unexpectedly, though he didn't understand the mysteries of arrays, the girl beside him had.

But whether or not Li Guanyi had noticed—

He stepped forward, and that alone meant karmic connection.

The Daoist said: "The road is long—may I ride with you?"

Li Guanyi smiled: "We meet by chance, all strangers in a foreign land—please join us."

The Daoist with a weathered face climbed onto the cart, his gaze sweeping over the long-haired cat, the silver-haired girl, and finally settling on Li Guanyi. He lowered his eyes, extended his hand, and placed down the copper coin Li Guanyi had given him that very day. His tone remained flat: "You said it would cover seven or eight days' meals."

"Then consider it payment for seven or eight days' meals."

Li Guanyi grinned, finding this Daoist—whose origin he didn't know—troublesome and sharp-tongued. He laughed heartily, unconcerned; his nature was bold, and with Yao Guang's judgment in mind, he declared cheerfully:

"Fine! Getting this money back is a good thing!"

The weathered Daoist said nothing in response.

Li Guanyi drove the ox cart leisurely along.

Before nightfall, they needed to find a place to rest. At a fork in the road, Li Guanyi's indecisiveness struck him. As he hesitated, Yao Guang extended her hand, her palm shimmering with shifting starlight, then looked at Li Guanyi and said:

"Please give me your hand."

Li Guanyi offered his hand. The girl cupped it, recited an incantation, and observed the stars to divine fate.

Then her eyes opened, her voice calm.

"The left path holds some risk, but also some opportunities."

"The risk is likely armed conflict—but if you remain calm and cautious, you won't be hurt."

"The right path is ordinary, unremarkable."

"You may choose one."

Li Guanyi laughed. "You know this too, Yao Guang? Hmm, the Shiwaisan Sect does know such things. Still, better safe than sorry—let's take the left…"

Li Guanyi turned his gaze toward the left path.

In that instant, within Li Guanyi's body, the shadow of Chixiao Sword suddenly howled.

Extremely violently.