The Sword God of Shangli

Ultimately, being cultivators, Bai Qiuran and the other two preferred a quieter place. Although Clear Water Village was already quite secluded compared to the City outside, Bai Qiuran still chose the outermost edge of Clear Water Village as their location.

There is a road here that leads in the opposite direction from Screen Province City, passing right in front of Bai Qiuran's courtyard.

As the year drew to a close, Bai Qiuran and Li Jinyao had just stepped out of their house when they saw a ragged, one-armed old man carrying a large bundle of bamboo, swaying as he walked along the dirt road.

Having lived in this village for almost a year, Bai Qiuran would occasionally leave this world to return to the Ten Lands of Jiuzhou to check on Jiang Lan's health, who was pregnant. However, he spent most of his time here with Li Jinyao and Tang Ruowei.

However, he never saw this old man in Clear Water Village.

Silent and taciturn, with the marks of time etched on his face, this old man should be a man of few words and acrimony, but within him, a surge of turbulent inner energy was boiling.

Bai Qiuran recognized his cultivation level: the ninth level of Qi Refining Stage. Even in Clear Water Village, where everyone now worships the Foundation Establishment Heavenly Venerable, there are few people in the village who can match this old man's cultivation.

Judging from his appearance, he should be from the village of Book of Questions Clear Water Village, but Bai Qiuran had never heard of such a person in the village.

Although martial artists at the Real Person Realm possessed formidable physical strength, the old man, despite having abundant true True Qi, did not utilize it. Furthermore, being one-armed, carrying a massive bundle of bamboo taller than himself was somewhat strenuous, and his forehead was already glistening with sweat as he walked.

As he passed Bai Qiuran and Li Jinyao, he noticed they were looking at him and asked, "Do you want to buy bamboo?"

Li Jinyao shook her head.

"I won't buy it."

Then the old man remained silent, carrying the bamboo on his back, and continued walking silently toward the village.

After all, they were just passing through, and Bai Qiuran and Li Jinyao didn't take the old man seriously at first.

The two of them went to the village together to give their routine lessons in the Foundation Establishment Youth Class and the Foundation Establishment Middle-Aged and Elderly Supplementary Class.

As mentioned before, the middle-aged and elderly tutoring class led by Bai Qiuran consisted of mature adults, so he could handle things quite well. After easily giving some pointers on cultivation issues to the village elders, Bai Qiuran strolled into the village.

Just then, the storyteller returned from his adventures, so Bai Qiuran pulled Bai Li along, and the three of them chatted in the open space in the center of the village, Storyteller boast about his adventures in the Jianghu.

As the three of them squatted there, the old man who sold bamboo happened to be there as well. He seemed to have sold out of bamboo and exchanged it for some firewood, rice, oil, salt, and other things, which he put into a basket on his back.

He probably had some spare money left, which he exchanged for some tobacco. Now the old man was resting under the shade of a few trees in the middle of the dam, puffing away on a rather old-looking pipe.

Bai Qiuran and the others didn't pay him much attention. They took two jugs of wine and went to the shade of a tree. Storyteller started bragging, the three of them quickly steered the conversation back to the Sword Discussion Assembly.

"The origin of this Sword Discussion Assembly is actually quite interesting."

The Storyteller, holding his wine cup, began to recount. "According to our lineage's records, going back two dynasties, there were very few Martial World sects in the Jianghu. At that time, Martial Artist were basically divided into families. Then, a master swordsman with unparalleled skill emerged. He founded a sect, taught apprentices, and invited scions of powerful families from all over the land to his sect to compete in martial arts and swordsmanship, selecting the strongest masters in each field. This tradition of Sword Discussion Assembly has been preserved ever since, held every ten years. This master swordsman, because of his exceptional swordsmanship, was later known as the Sword God. Even today, although no one says it openly, the title of 'Number One Swordsman in the World' best among the winners of the Sword Discussion Assembly is the most prestigious and bestowed with the title of 'Sword God.'"

People always like to bestow such an awesome title upon themselves.

Bai Li glanced at Bai Qiuran.

"But those who have truly slain gods with their swords never paid attention to such empty fame; instead, they diligently devoted their energy to improving their own cultivation level..."

Bai Qiuran initially thought the kid was flattering her, but upon closer listening, she sensed something was off.

He slapped Bai Li's head hard with a shaving motion.

"You little brat, who are you implying?"

"Master, spare my life!"

Bai Qiuran gave Bai Li a good lesson on the importance of respecting teachers and elders before sitting back down and asking, "The Sword God of all time weren't all from the Great Xia Kingdom, were they?"

"Of course. Although Fusang is small and Shangli is weak, geniuses can still emerge from small places, and strong individuals can still arise from weak places."

The Storyteller shook his head and replied, "In fact, due to the chaos of war, the title of Sword God in the first three generations of Sword Discussion Assembly was taken by a swordsman from the Upper Beauty Kingdom."

"Upper Beauty Kingdom?"

Bai Li frowned upon hearing this, somewhat displeased.

"Why did it have to be someone from the Upper Beauty Kingdom who stole the title of Sword God?"

"How?"

Bai Qiuran asked, "You've only been in this world for a little over a decade, and you've already made enemies with a country?"

"That shouldn't be the reason. I can understand Huai Li's thoughts."

The Storyteller chuckled, "Upper Beauty Kingdom is indeed disliked. The people there always think that the whole Heaven and Earth belongs to them; they're arrogant and love to boast. Moreover, they're extremely shameless in competitions, using all sorts of underhanded Moves. The Sword Discussion Assembly once banned their people from participating in the competition, and because of this, Martial Artist from the Evil Horse Kingdom and Great Xia Kingdom went to the Upper Beauty Kingdom to cause them trouble... However, this Sword God of Shangli, according to the information I learned from the Records left by my master, isn't so annoying."

"Shangli People you don't dislike?"

Bai Li asked.

"Although it's rare, it definitely exists. Every country has people who are disliked and people who aren't."

The Storyteller nodded and said, "Judging from the description in my master's Records, he was devoted to the sword throughout his life. After winning the championship, the Shangli Imperial Family tried to curry favor with him, but he refused them all. He stayed at home and focused on honing his swordsmanship. Then, during the Sword Discussion Assembly, he participated in the highest level of Sword Discussion Assembly exchange in the world to prove his skills. Compared to the Shangli People who love to boast, care about their reputation, and like to use underhanded methods, the Sword God of Shangli is simply not like a Shangli People."

"Oh, if that's really the case, then he's still a respectable guy."

Bai Li nodded.

"Really."

Bai Qiuran wholeheartedly agreed.

"Ability is secondary; the key is this attitude, which is truly commendable."

But just then, the one-armed old man who had been silently smoking on the sidelines suddenly spoke up, interrupting their reminiscence.

"Fart!"

He shouted, "Upper Beauty Sword God is a complete idiot!"