The First Lesson

Fukang Ward, Linmen Street.

Zhu Nanyin's small tavern had once again sold out its stock early and closed for the day.

"Young Miss's appeal is truly too strong. People are coming from several wards away just to buy our wine," Da Hu said. "If this keeps up, we can support the brothers on the mountain by selling wine."

"That would be wonderful, it saves everyone from having to fight and kill," Zhu Nanyin smiled sweetly.

Er Hu asked naively, "Young Miss, you don't like fighting, so why did you travel all this way to become a disciple?"

Zhu Nanyin replied, "Not liking to fight doesn't mean I don't need to cultivate. On the contrary, the stronger I cultivate, the more likely I am to avoid fighting."

"Ah?" This was clearly a bit confusing for Er Hu, and he froze for a moment.

"It's a simple principle. It's like asking you to go find any Imperial Capital Guard on the street right now and beat them up. Do you dare?" Da Hu asked.

"Of course I dare!" Er Hu puffed out his chest, although he didn't know why he had to beat up an Imperial Capital Guard.

"Then, do you dare to punch me right now?" Da Hu asked again.

"This..." Er Hu's chest immediately deflated, and he said with less confidence, "Currently, I don't really dare."

Da Hu then said, "What Young Miss means is, because I am stronger than you and my fist is bigger than yours, you have to think twice before hitting me. This way, I can avoid many fights."

"Oh..." Er Hu nodded repeatedly. "Now I understand."

"But what I don't quite understand is, the Great Boss is already the number one person below the Immortal Realm, why do you need to come out and seek a master?" Da Hu asked, puzzled.

"He is number one on the Reaching Heaven Ranking, but that doesn't mean he will be the best master," Zhu Nanyin said. "This master was recommended to me by Third Uncle. He said that his self-created method of Sword Heart Merging with the Dao is incredibly brilliant and is the most suitable martial arts technique for me."

Da Hu nodded and said, "What Third Boss says should be correct."

Er Hu folded his arms and frowned, saying, "But I always feel like that Daoist isn't very reliable. Is he really a sword master, or is he just pretending?"

"Can't you feel that he's very strong?" Da Hu snorted and said, "Actually, it's the same as looking at the Great Boss. At the Sixth Realm cultivation, you can't feel their strength; at the Seventh Realm cultivation, you can feel a slight pressure. It's only when you reach the Grandmaster Realm that you can truly feel how terrifying these people are."

Er Hu listened, stunned. "Is the gap that big?"

"Three Immortal Realm experts suppress the masses. Many people are far ahead in the Grandmaster Realm but still cannot advance. When the Grandmaster Realm reaches its peak, it can be called Great Grandmaster. The difference in combat power between two Great Grandmasters might be even greater than the difference between a Great Grandmaster and a mortal. It's normal for us to look at them like ants looking at a high mountain, not knowing their appearance," Da Hu said solemnly.

"That's exactly the point," Zhu Nanyin also said. "Third Uncle said that there are currently four great sword cultivators in the human world, all from the Sword Control Branch of the Mystic Sect. The current head of the Sword Control Branch, Deng Yunzi, is naturally one, Third Uncle himself is one, and Sword King Sun, one of the Four Prodigies and Three Oddities, is one. And the fourth is this Shouyi Zhenren. And in terms of combat power, he is definitely not the weakest; in terms of talent, he is very likely the strongest."

"If that's the case, then Young Miss's master is not bad either," Da Hu said.

"It's not decided yet," Zhu Nanyin smiled. "He also has a selection process. The day before yesterday, I tested the Dianjin Orchid and only got three and a half vines. If I encounter a genius with four vines, I can only be a registered disciple."

"He is not well-known, and he comes from the Mystic Sect. The people around him are all Qi Refiners. How easy is it to find a martial arts genius?" Da Hu said. "Young Miss, don't worry, your direct disciple position is set in stone."

At this moment, inside Yunzhi Temple.

This one of the four great sword cultivators in the human world was giving Liang Yue his first lesson.

"Kid, do you know what is most important for a martial artist to deal with Qi Refiners and Secret Technique Masters?" Wang Rulin asked calmly.

"Close combat?" Liang Yue answered tentatively.

He himself didn't have much combat experience, and even less experience facing Qi Refiners and Secret Technique Masters. Strictly speaking, it should only be the battle where he killed the Demon Tamer the day before yesterday.

The reason he was able to defeat a stronger opponent with only Second Realm cultivation at that time was by getting close while the opponent's spirit was possessing a demon beast.

"Good!" Wang Rulin was very satisfied with his answer and continued to ask, "Then do you know what is most important for getting close?"

Liang Yue answered without thinking, "Movement technique?"

In his opinion, relying on speed from movement technique to force his way in was naturally the first choice.

"No." Wang Rulin shook his head this time.

That's not right.

Liang Yue pondered for a moment and then said, "Defense?"

Relying on the toughness of one's physical body to withstand attacks while getting close was also a common method, but this would ultimately mean taking hits.

"No." Wang Rulin shook his head again.

"Please enlighten me, Senior," Liang Yue said seriously.

Wang Rulin smiled slightly and uttered two words: "Relationship."

Pfft.

Liang Yue almost couldn't hold back.

For a moment, he felt it was a bit absurd, but there was also a hint of logic within the absurdity.

Wang Rulin spoke eloquently, "If you openly confront someone, everyone will be on guard. It will be extremely difficult to get within ten zhang of an enemy. But if you are friends and you invite them for a meal, the situation becomes much simpler."

Wen Yifan took a deep breath, stood up, walked to the main hall door, and breathed in the fresh air in the courtyard.

"Hoo..."

As a Supreme Immortal Body, she should have been emotionless and devoid of any feelings. But after hearing Wang Rulin speak just now, she felt her blood rush up, inexplicably gathering in her head.

Could this unfamiliar emotion be the legendary... anger?

Inside the hall, Wang Rulin was still enthusiastically lecturing, "You have an advantage in this regard because you are upright and presentable, naturally making it easy to gain people's favor. As for how to build relationships with people, there are many intricacies involved. It's about wine, women, wealth, and temper..."

Liang Yue was greatly taken aback.

So the first lesson after joining the Mystic Sect is learning these things?

He looked back at Miss Wen. Wen Yifan seemed to sense his thoughts and silently shook her head, her expression seeming to say, That's not it.

Seeing Wang Rulin speaking with such enthusiasm, as if he was about to continue, Wen Yifan couldn't help but say, "Uncle-Master, the Dianjin Orchid should have grown well by now, right?"

"Oh?" Wang Rulin stood up upon hearing this and walked into the courtyard.

Suddenly.

His body trembled, and he was somewhat stunned on the spot.

"What's wrong?" Liang Yue's heart skipped a beat. Could the result be bad? He also quickly walked over to check.

However, when he saw it himself, he was also momentarily stunned, "Senior, this is..."

Seeing that both of their expressions were a bit strange, Wen Yifan walked forward to take a look herself, and her pupils also suddenly constricted.

Inside the flowerpot, the petals of the Dianjin Orchid were tightly closed, already coated with a faint golden layer. Around it, several thin vines with patterns of the Great Dao had sprouted at some point. The vines bore delicate leaves, each one possessing a unique Dao charm.

As mentioned before, one vine signifies talent, two vines signify earthly talent, three vines signify heavenly talent, and four vines signify a prodigy!

But now, the vines surrounding the Dianjin Orchid numbered one, two, three, four... five.

A full five immortal vines were intertwined. Wang Rulin's gaze swept over them again and again, and no matter how many times he looked, the result was the same.

"This is..."

"A Dianjin Orchid with five immortal vines!"

Good morning.

Thank you to "Cosmic Level Retreat Drummer" for becoming the 13th Alliance Leader of this book. Thank you, good brother!