East of Great River Country, mountains stretched endlessly, and emerald waters flowed east.
Cloud Stream Sect, built atop the peaks of ten thousand mountains, was lined with lofty pavilions. Green orioles flitted across the sky, and its grandeur was boundless.
Behind the vast sect square lay a small slope. Upon it stood an ancient pavilion, yet unlike the sect's bustling prosperity, it was as quiet as the night.
This pavilion was called Dao Seeking Pavilion. Any sect disciple with doubts in cultivation could ascend the pavilion and seek the Dao. The pavilion keepers of every generation had all been Top-tier Elders most versed in every kind of classic within the sect. A single true explanation from them was worth more than ten years of bitter cultivation.
It was just noon. A Personal Disciple stood reverently in the pavilion, listening to the aged, unhurried voice expounding the Dao from behind a bamboo curtain. "You have failed to comprehend the Severing Sword Art after three years because your direction is utterly mistaken. Severing Sword does not mean severing an enemy's sword; it is an art for nurturing sword intent. Its eight-character essence is: Macro Meridian, Expand Qi, Relax Weapon, Measure Opportunity. You must ponder them carefully."
The disciple was slightly startled. "Third Elder, the Severing Sword Art this disciple recorded only has the six-character essence of Macro Meridian, Expand Qi, and Relax Weapon. There are no words 'Measure Opportunity.' Why is that?"
"Nonsense!" the elder rebuked. "The Severing Sword Art has an eight-character essence. The first six characters lay the groundwork; the final two point the way. So-called 'Measure Opportunity' means merging the qi mechanism of your entire body with the sword in your hand..."
After that explanation, the confusion in the disciple's eyes turned to delight.
The pavilion bell rang softly, signaling the end of the discourse. The disciple bowed deeply toward the bamboo curtain, took out a bundle and gently placed it on the table, then backed out of Dao Seeking Pavilion. At the door, he bowed once more, stepped into the air, and departed in satisfaction.
The moment he vanished, the bamboo curtain was lightly lifted, revealing the face of a young man.
He was around seventeen or eighteen, refined and handsome, with exceptionally lively eyes. After cautiously scanning his surroundings, he snatched up the bundle on the table and slipped out through the back.
Behind it was a small courtyard. In the courtyard was a little girl of about twelve or thirteen. Though she had not yet fully grown, her brows and eyes looked as though they had been painted. Whenever she smiled, even her nose wrinkled, making her seem like a little princess from a fairy tale.
The little girl ran over. "Brother, no one noticed, right?"
"How could they? Your brother's acting has already reached the pinnacle of perfection." The young man scraped her little nose and took out the bundle.
The contents rolled out. There was a gleaming, weighty silver ingot, and besides that, a wild chicken.
The moment the girl saw the silver, her eyes practically glowed green. She hugged it at once. "Wow, five taels!"
"Go put it away!"
The little miser picked up the silver and ran to her room. She dragged a clay jar out from beneath the bed. Clink, clank—the newly acquired five taels of silver entered their little treasury.
The girl ran back out excitedly. "Brother, it's already almost half a jar! I never thought that only ten days after Master left, Brother would have swindled this much."
"What do you mean, swindled?" The young man glared at her. "I've corrected you several times already. This is called guidance from a renowned master... reasonably priced!"
"Mhm, mhm, Brother's swindling is so reasonable..." The girl nodded like a chicken pecking at grain. "Brother, what are you going to do with all that money?"
"What am I going to do with it? That really is a good question!" The young man gazed toward the horizon at a forty-five-degree angle. "Usually, when men save money, it's nothing more than buying a carriage, buying a house, and gathering a bride price. But in this damned place, everything's turned upside down. I just want to scrape together some travel money and go down the mountain to take a look."
The girl was startled. "The elder forbade you from going down the mountain. He specifically instructed it."
"I know, but... what else can I do if I don't go down?" The young man sighed. "This is a Cultivation Sect. Everyone is cultivating and seeking the Dao, scrambling upward with all their might. I'm someone with no Dao root at all—what am I staying here for? If I tough it out for a few years, I probably won't even be able to beat the rabbits in the sect..."
The girl raised her head and said earnestly, "Brother, don't say that. In Xiao Yao's eyes, you're especially, especially amazing. Look at that disciple who came today. He wore purple robes—he was a Personal Disciple! Didn't he still bow deeply to you?"
The little girl had grown up. She knew how to comfort people now...
The young man smiled faintly and gently rubbed her little head.
The girl narrowed her eyes in enjoyment, until they curved into crescent moons.
Suddenly, the young man's hand stopped moving. He raised his gaze, lost in thought...
Something the girl had said had stirred him.
The disciple who came today was a Personal Disciple. What was a Personal Disciple? Only the direct disciples of the Sect Master or Top-tier Elders could be called Personal Disciples. Such disciples stood at the very top among disciples, so how could he make such a low-level mistake?
He had actually omitted the two most important characters from the eight-character essence of the Severing Sword Art!
That was not normal!
Where was the problem?
His consciousness sank into his mind.
There was something extraordinary within his mind. There was actually a withered tree there, splitting into three branches.
The withered branch on the far left faintly showed a hint of green, bearing dozens of leaves. One leaf enlarged in his mind, and it was astonishingly the sect's secret manual, the Severing Sword Art. With his consciousness as his eyes, the young man clearly saw the record upon it: "Macro Meridian, Expand Qi, Relax Weapon, Measure Opportunity"...
This was his secret.
A secret no one else knew.
His name was Lin Su, and he was a transmigrator!
When he had transmigrated here, the first thing he encountered was this tree inside his mind.
He did not know whether this "withered tree" was a benefit for transmigrators or an ability this body had possessed all along. But he knew this ability was heaven-defying. Whenever he touched a book, the withered tree in his mind would grow a leaf, and that single leaf would perfectly copy the book. With this ability, he had almost swept clean all the cultivation manuals below the second floor of the sect's Library Pavilion. Combined with his way of thinking and knowledge far beyond this era, he could interpret them perfectly and master them in a short time.
It was precisely because of this super cheat that, while his master was away from Dao Seeking Pavilion, he could moonlight as a "pavilion keeper," guide disciples through their confusion, and incidentally change the bad custom of free service to earn himself a little travel money.
He had swindled food, swindled drink, swindled money, swindled... but not women yet. Things had originally been sailing along with the wind at his back, but today an unexpected change had appeared—the classic a Personal Disciple had comprehended differed from the one he had copied.
This was no small problem!
It was a major problem concerning his livelihood!
If his knowledge system was not authentic, he would not even have the confidence to deceive people...
Lin Su raised his head. "Xiao Yao, I'm heading out for a bit. Pluck that wild chicken, and when I get back, I'll make braised wild chicken for you..."
A glistening thread of drool suddenly ran from the girl's mouth. Carrying the wild chicken, she wiped her drool with one hand and plucked feathers with the other. The facts proved that winning over a little girl was easy. If one silver ingot did not do the trick, adding a roast chicken certainly would.
Lin Su left Dao Seeking Pavilion and arrived at the Library Pavilion. Flashing his Registered Disciple token, he went up to the second floor.
He found the Severing Sword Art and opened it to the second page. Beneath the general outline...
Lin Su was dumbfounded!
The Severing Sword Art recorded there really had only six characters!
Yet after being copied through his mind, it had somehow gained two more characters. And not merely those two—the entire sword art clearly contained more than a third more content!
He had seen copies that were exactly identical, but who had ever seen a copy more detailed than the original?
He could not determine whether this was the same copy he had first encountered. He needed to find another one and conduct an experiment on the spot!
Lin Su had basically finished copying the classics on the second floor. His status did not permit him to enter the third floor, so he could only search for omissions. The classics he had missed on the second floor were mostly Incomplete Arts. Before long, he found one: the Incomplete Art Scattered Steps.
The instant he touched it, a leaf formed in his mind. A complete Scattered Steps appeared clearly, containing ten times more than the Incomplete Art in his hand. The incomplete art was no longer incomplete...
A collective cry suddenly sounded beside him. "Greetings, Saintess!"
Lin Su pulled his thoughts back from their chaos. He looked in the direction where the disciples beside him were bowing, and with only one glance, his heart gave a slight leap. A poem sprang into his mind: Clouds would think of her robes, flowers would think of her face; spring breeze brushed the railing, and dew made her splendor rich. If not seen atop Mount Kunlun, then she would be met beneath the moon at Jade Terrace!
This poem had been written by Old Li shamelessly flattering women, but at this moment, Lin Su felt he could forgive him.
If not beneath the moon at Jade Terrace, where could there be such an immortal among humans?
Her features were exquisite, as though carved by a master craftsman. When her gaze turned, she seemed like an immortal maiden looking down upon all living things. Her skin was white as jade, and her temperament was incomparably elegant. If she appeared on a street in Modern Society, the odds were high that passing drivers would overturn their vehicles...
Yet she was very aloof. She drifted past, did not even nod at the crowd's bows, lifted one step off the ground, and went straight up to the third floor.
She left behind a wisp of faint fragrance.
Someone beside him said, "The Saintess seems to be in poor spirits. Could it be that this southward journey did not go smoothly?"
Another said, "It truly did not go too smoothly. She encountered a big fish..."
Having said that much, he seemed to have touched upon some taboo. He quickly fell silent and left the Library Pavilion.
Lin Su lightly scratched his head, filled with suspicion. Encountered a big fish? What did "big fish" mean? Why was it not one fish, but one person?
Forget it. Cultivators were mostly illiterate or half-illiterate anyway. What did they know about measure words?
Never mind. He would go back and braise wild chicken for Xiao Yao. Tomorrow, he would continue deceiving people, gather enough travel money sooner, and leave this damned place sooner. He did not have the constitution for cultivation and could not enter the path of cultivation, but he refused to believe cultivation was the only road in this world.
A modern person transmigrating into ancient times—why would I stubbornly fight you to the death in the fields you excel at? Wouldn't that be madness?
When he returned to the small courtyard, Xiao Yao had already plucked the wild chicken... completely bare. Lin Su picked up the kitchen knife and chopped away with a clack-clack-clack. Soon, with a sizzle, steam rose from the iron pot, and the fragrance of meat filled the entire courtyard.
She ate the first piece of meat, gnawing until her mouth was slick with oil.
She ate the last piece of meat too, her face brimming with happiness.
She called him Brother again and again, but he was not actually her brother.
She was an orphan in the sect. Her parents had died long ago. The first time Lin Su met her was over a month earlier, when she had just finished fighting a wild dog. Holding a meat bone snatched from the dog's mouth, she was full of the joy of victory. Lin Su patted her shoulder and told her, "Girl, I just braised a fish. Come on!"
And so, from then on, this girl's sphere of activity never left the area within ten zhang of this small courtyard.
From then on, she called him Brother.
He greatly enjoyed having someone call him Brother in this unfamiliar world. He also loved watching her gnaw on a chicken leg, half-closing her eyes with that blissful expression.