Complete Sword Art, Pawn the Family Estate!

The hour of the Dog.

Qingyun Dao Sect.

As the last trace of the setting sun vanished, Ye Ping slowly exhaled.

"Senior Disciple Brother, it's finished."

Ye Ping spoke, then revealed a faint smile.

He had considerable confidence in his Art of Painting and Calligraphy, and since joining the immortal sect, Ye Ping felt as though he had been elevated in every aspect, so he was quite satisfied with this painting.

Upon hearing Ye Ping's words, Su Changyu stirred and turned his gaze to the xuan paper before Ye Ping.

This was premium xuan paper, which could be split into three sheets without compromising its quality. If properly preserved, such paper could last for thousands of years.

A single sheet of this paper was valued by the chi—one chi for one tael of gold.

And this portrait, because it needed to depict both a person and a landscape, was four and a half chi long and two and a half chi wide.

In other words, this sheet of xuan paper was worth eight taels of gold.

But Su Changyu didn't understand that.

He looked at the scroll.

Within the scroll.

The sunset glow blanketed the sky, and the Qingyun Mountain Range resembled a mortal paradise. Flowers, grass, and trees were lifelike, especially in certain details, which appeared even more realistic.

Yet what caught the eye most was the man in the painting.

The man's face wasn't fully drawn—only a profile—but Ye Ping had captured that aloof, indifferent aura of a sword immortal.

That man was, of course, Su Changyu.

In the painting, he stood atop a cliff, gazing at the sunset glow, exuding an indescribable artistic conception that struck one as utterly beautiful.

"This painting is not bad."

Though Su Changyu wasn't particularly cultured, he at least hadn't betrayed his conscience.

Ye Ping's painting was indeed good. The only flaw was that it hadn't captured his own handsomeness—merely a ten-thousandth of it. But that wasn't due to Ye Ping's lack of skill; it was because Su Changyu was simply too handsome, so he didn't mind.

Thinking that he could surpass Ye Ping in handsomeness, Su Changyu inexplicably felt his mood lift.

"As long as Senior Disciple Brother is satisfied."

Ye Ping smiled faintly, then took out a square seal and stamped it on the upper right corner of the scroll.

This was his seal.

On it were clearly written the four characters: 'Qinglian Hermit.'

"Senior Disciple Brother, take it."

Ye Ping rolled up the painting and handed it to Su Changyu.

"I've troubled you, Junior Brother."

Su Changyu nodded, but before Ye Ping could speak, a voice rang out.

"Changyu, come quickly."

The voice belonged to Grand Hua Daoist.

"Little Junior Brother, continue your enlightenment of the sword mark. I'll take my leave first."

Su Changyu left a word, then quickly departed, heading toward Grand Hua Daoist.

Soon, Su Changyu arrived before Grand Hua Daoist.

"Master, what's wrong? Did you borrow the silver?"

Su Changyu was curious, wondering why Grand Hua Daoist had suddenly called for him.

Could it be that he had managed to borrow the silver?

"Didn't borrow it, but I've thought of a good idea."

Grand Hua Daoist's face was full of delight.

"Thought of it? What idea?"

Su Changyu was somewhat surprised. He found it hard to imagine that with his master's wisdom, he could come up with a good idea beyond just borrowing money.

"Changyu, on this trip down the mountain, although I didn't borrow any silver, I passed by a pawnshop. Our sect has left behind quite a few things from generation to generation, hasn't it? Why not pawn them all off?"

"Even if a hundred taels of gold is hard to sell off, it can at least fetch some silver. With start-up funds, we can think of other ways later. In two months, anything is possible."

Grand Hua Daoist said with a beaming smile.

"Pawn?"

Su Changyu looked somewhat helpless.

He had thought his master had come up with some brilliant plan, but it turned out to be such a lousy idea.

More importantly, what valuable things did Qingyun Dao Sect even have left?

"Sect Leader, will this work?"

Su Changyu remained skeptical.

"It has to work. If there's truly no other way, your master will have to seek out my distant cousin. Her family is quite wealthy—a hundred taels of gold likely means little to her."

Grand Hua Daoist spoke seriously.

"You have a distant cousin? Why didn't you say so earlier? Then why are we pawning things? Let's go find her now."

Su Changyu hadn't expected his master to have a distant cousin.

"You don't understand. This cousin of mine has a peculiar hobby."

Mentioning his cousin, Grand Hua Daoist looked a bit embarrassed.

"A peculiar hobby? That's normal. What wealthy landlord doesn't have some odd quirk?"

Su Changyu dismissed it.

"No, her peculiarity is very strange. She's fond of handsome men."

Grand Hua Daoist's expression turned serious.

"Fond of handsome men?" Su Changyu frowned slightly. Wasn't that perfectly normal?

"Sigh, it's not the kind of 'fond of handsome men' you're thinking of. In short, unless absolutely necessary, your master will never seek her out. Enough, no more nonsense. Come down the mountain with me. Let's go, let's go—don't waste time."

Grand Hua Daoist didn't elaborate.

He simply dragged Su Changyu down the mountain, ignoring everything else.

Meanwhile, on the cliff.

Ye Ping was completely unaware of all this.

After Su Changyu left, Ye Ping continued his epiphany.

He wanted to comprehend Sword Momentum as soon as possible. But after mastering the complete sword technique, Ye Ping vaguely felt it wouldn't take much longer—perhaps he could grasp Sword Momentum soon.

With that thought, Ye Ping turned his gaze to the sword marks on the ground and once again entered a state of epiphany.

Perhaps because he had mastered the complete Sword Dao.

When Ye Ping looked at the sword marks again, they had undergone a different change.

In his mind, four figures continuously evolved the Four Thunder Sword Technique.

A trace of Sword Momentum suddenly spread around Ye Ping.

Withered grass and leaves rose, swirling around him.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Muffled thunder echoed from the cliff, and Ye Ping's epiphany speed was several times faster than before.

It continued until dawn.

Ye Ping opened his eyes.

He raised a hand, and in an instant, a terrifying Sword Momentum burst forth from him.

Whoosh!

An invisible Sword Qi appeared, sweeping up the withered grass and fallen leaves on the ground, then striking a piece of gravel, leaving a faint sword mark behind.

If Su Changyu were here, he would likely have abandoned his sword outright, because Ye Ping had condensed Sword Momentum overnight—though only at a preliminary stage, it was still heaven-defying.

And at the same time.

Within Qingzhou.

The Taiyue Sword Sect.

Qingzhou had three major sects standing as rivals, and the Taiyue Sword Sect was one of them, a first-rank immortal sect.

It had three thousand elite disciples under its command, earning it a considerable reputation.

And at this very moment.

At the Taiyue Sword Sect's Sword Comprehension Cliff.

Several young talents sat cross-legged beneath the cliff, comprehending sword moves.

On the Sword Comprehension Cliff, there was a single, razor-sharp sword mark.

This sword mark had been left by Qingzhou's foremost Sword Dao expert, Daoist Siji.

That's right, Daoist Siji.

In years past, Daoist Siji owed the Taiyue Sword Sect a favor. Now, the Taiyue Sect Leader had invited Daoist Siji to leave a sword mark, hoping that the younger generation of sword prodigies could thoroughly comprehend it.

And this sword mark remained on the Sword Comprehension Cliff.

This sword mark was terrifying.

There was even the sound of thunder.

This was the true mark of sword intent.

Compared to Su Changyu's, that was practically an insult to Daoist Siji.

And just at this moment.

Abruptly, a faint rumble of thunder sounded.