Guarding One's Purity Like Jade

Accompanied by two guardians of grass with ulterior motives, Xiao Ran finally returned to Sword-Wielding Mountain after three days away.

Having crossed over to the True Spirit Continent three years ago, Xiao Ran had wandered destitute across the western regions of the continent, drifting from place to place with no fixed home, all in pursuit of the path of cultivation.

Now that he had entered the prestigious Zongzhi Mountain, Sword-Wielding Mountain was his only home, and every building and field on the mountain was built by his own hands.

After three days away, he naturally felt a bit homesick.

As he neared Sword-Wielding Mountain, he could see from afar stretches of wilderness and seas of flowers.

On the gently undulating southern slopes, verdant Spirit Grain covered the land, alongside golden wheat fields, bright yellow rapeseed, and crimson flower seas...

A gust of wind swept through, carrying the fragrance of blossoms and grain, stirring up colorful waves of vegetation—as dazzling as an oil painting, as melodious as a violin piece.

To the west, the Vegetable Garden was lush and thriving, heavy with fruit.

The Orchard had fully grown in and entered its flowering season, with dancing bees and butterflies flitting among the trees.

Clusters of pear blossoms were white as snow, trees of Peach Petals blazed like morning clouds, and branches of crabapple bent under the weight of pears—a riot of purple and red, like spring itself.

Among them, strawberries and grapes had already ripened early.

Strawberries the size of a child's fist, and grapes the size of strawberries, clung tightly to the vines.

Besides, most of the vegetables in Xiao Ran's garden hadn't even reached the first rank yet, and storing them in the Space Ring would waste too much Spiritual Power.

Xiao Ran pointed at the Orange Cat.

"What's its name?"

Chuyan said crossly:

"It didn't have a name before. I was waiting for you to name it."

You're pretty thoughtful! Xiao Ran said, "Then let's call it Orange—"

Chuyan cut him off: "You already named her. It's Comrade Fanghua."

Fanghua, huh! Xiao Ran asked again, "Male or female?"

"Female, of course."

"Why 'of course'?"

"A female cat saves you the trouble of neutering."

"..."

Xiao Ran felt a chill below the belt and was left speechless. After a long moment, he said, "You should learn from Comrade Fanghua—a woman needs to eat hearty to have strength for work."

Chuyan:

"..."

Before long.

Lingzhou Yue returned carrying a bamboo jug of wine, a faint, barely perceptible smile on her strikingly beautiful face, her figure both dashing and graceful like a sword.

The green-clad girl couldn't tear her eyes away, her pale little face radiant under the glow of a Goddess Light.

Free of debt and light as air, Lingzhou Yue lazily stretched her body, revealing her tall and slender silhouette, and yawned drowsily, "Though the scenery on Sword-Wielding Mountain is beautiful, we can't indulge in pleasure and let others think our Sword-Wielding Mountain is full of good-for-nothings. Starting today—you're going to learn swordsmanship."

Good-for-nothings... you sure know yourself! Finally, you old-timer remember what Sword-Wielding Mountain is for! Considering the Art of Resonance he'd obtained last time, Xiao Ran was actually looking forward to it.

Chuyan immediately ran to the Sword Plaza and sat down obediently, with the Rush Mat already laid out.

Lingzhou Yue was taken aback.

"What are you doing?"

Chuyan:

"Learning swordsmanship."

The thought of teaching two people made Lingzhou Yue's head spin. She quickly explained:

"People's constitutions aren't all the same. Wait for your Master to teach you; I'll teach your Master first."

Xiao Ran thought to himself, How could I possibly teach Chuyan? In a group of three, there's always a teacher for her. So he said, "Let's do it together."

Lingzhou Yue sighed gloomily, reeking of wine.

"Fine, but I'm only teaching it once. After all, when I learned swordsmanship back then, I only heard it once."

"Alright."

Seeing Chunwa and Qiuchan hanging from the pine branches, watching them curiously, Xiao Ran asked:

"You two still hanging around? Want to learn swordsmanship too?"

Chunwa and Qiuchan perked up.

"Is there a sword technique for one-stroke weeding?"

One-stroke weeding—that's in Happy Farm.

Xiao Ran thought to himself.

Lingzhou Yue said to them with unexpected seriousness:

"You'd have to reach the realm of Man-Sword Unity for that."

Man-Sword Unity?

The two girls heard that, turned around and left, tossing back:

"We're not human."

After stepping on their swords and flying off in tandem, they glanced back and saw the three weren't watching them, so they looped around and dove straight into the Orchard to the west.

The autumn sun was bright, the breeze gentle. On the Sword Plaza, Lingzhou Yue recalled how her teachers at the academy used to pace back and forth, and followed suit, saying, "Man-Sword Unity lies in the heart. Only when your nature, constitution, swordsmanship, and sword are all in the same rhythm is your sword at its strongest."

With that, Lingzhou Yue went to sit cross-legged on a pine branch.

Xiao Ran thought she was striking a pose, brewing some earth-shattering speech.

But after waiting a long time, her eyes were already closed, and she hadn't said anything else.

So he prompted her, "And then?"

"And then what?"

"Teach the sword technique!"

Lingzhou Yue was taken aback.

"Back at the Academy, the teacher only taught me this much... learning the sword? If you've got hands, that's all you need. What other teaching method could there be?"

Chuyan:

"..."

Xiao Ran:

"..."

With a teaching method like that, you're worried about the trouble of teaching one more person? 'If you've got hands, that's all you need'... Could she mean 'flying' instead of 'learning'?

Of course, Xiao Ran had the system, so he didn't care about her teaching him.

But Chuyan sat obediently, looking especially expectant.

"Grandmaster, could you tell me about your Tidal Force Sword Art? I want to learn it."

Lingzhou Yue sat cross-legged with her eyes closed, took a sip of clear wine, and said faintly, "Didn't I already say it? Everyone's constitution is different. The Tidal Force Sword Art requires drawing on the Spiritual Power of the moon, which will severely disrupt your blood circulation. If you can't control it when you strike with the sword, you might even die from dehydration—that's why I always carry several thousand flasks of wine with me."

As a woman who understood everything, Chuyan grasped Lingzhou Yue's meaning and immediately fell silent in fear. Her body was small and couldn't withstand such strain.

Xiao Ran thought to himself, I'm a man, and I don't get my period, so what's there to fear? "Disciple thinks he could give the Tidal Force Sword Art a try."

Lingzhou Yue suddenly opened her eyes and stared at him intently, saying:

"To pursue absolute control over your blood and bodily fluids, the Tidal Force Sword Art requires the practitioner to remain chaste forever. Can you do that?"

"I think the Resonance Sword Art suits me better."