There was still quite a while to go before the New Year.
But tonight, Chang-le Village was livelier than it would be during the New Year.
It was already past eight at night, yet torches and oil lamps had lit the threshing ground as bright as day.
Dozens of banquet tables had been set up on the threshing ground, and everyone in the village, young and old, men and women, had gathered there.
Everyone sat at tables according to age and gender. The dishes were no different from those served at New Year and other festivals, but in the middle of each table sat an extra basin of meat.
The villagers had already thrown the Six-Winged White Tiger's meat into the pot while it was still fresh.
The village chief had arranged for Chen Xian to sit at the head table, where all the village's most respected elders were seated.
Half of the enormous tiger's head sat in the middle of the table, drawing the eye.
Shangguan Hongyue sat on Chen Xian's left.
Seeing so many people sizing her up, she lowered her head, a little embarrassed.
The Sword Master who could command a flying sword to slay a tiger now seemed as bashful as a young girl.
Without thinking, she shifted her chair a little closer to Chen Xian.
At this moment, she truly regarded the old man beside her as an elder.
The little gesture didn't escape the notice of Wang Tie Zhu and the other elders. They smiled without saying a word, only thinking that Chen Xian was one lucky old man.
He was eighty, and yet he had a cultivator companion who looked about eighteen.
They wondered whether Old Chen could still keep up physically.
At first, everyone had worried that these cultivators, who could fly through the sky and burrow into the earth, might have strange habits or temperaments.
But now it seemed they weren't all that different from ordinary people after all!
"Come on, come on! You're a guest as soon as you arrive. Drink up and eat!"
Noticing the atmosphere had grown a little awkward, the old village chief at the head of the table immediately tried to liven things up.
He had arranged all of this, after all, so it was only right that he play the gracious host.
He already knew that Chen Xian would leave Chang-le Village tomorrow with the "beloved" who had waited for him for sixty years.
They had spent decades together. It would be a lie to say they felt nothing for each other.
Chang-le Village was small, and everyone helped one another in their daily lives. They were more like a lineage, one big family.
"I may be the village chief, but I'm just a rough old fellow. First, I'll drink to the heroine!"
The old village chief cupped his hands, then drained his cup.
Though Shangguan Hongyue had grown up in the cultivation world, she still knew basic etiquette.
She hurried to rise and return the village chief's toast.
The ordinary wine went down her throat, and surprise crossed her face. It was a little sharp, but had a hint of grape flavor. It wasn't bad.
"Heroine, you've got a good capacity for drink!"
"Please look after Old Chen for us from now on."
"Ah! Old Chen, once you leave, what's my eldest grandson going to do when he wants your candied hawthorns?"
"Come on! Fill it up! I want to see just how much you can drink!"
"..."
Everyone chimed in, and the atmosphere gradually grew livelier.
Chen Xian downed cup after cup. Seeing how openly everyone cared for him, his eyes couldn't help but redden.
He had spent his whole life in Chang-le Village. It would have been a lie to say he felt nothing for these old friends.
Though he had come from another world, he was still a native son of Chang-le Village now.
"Eat up! Have some tiger meat! This stuff's good for you!"
Chen Xian turned away to hide a few tears. When he turned back, his smile had bloomed again like a chrysanthemum.
Watching it all unfold, Shangguan Hongyue couldn't help but think that the senior was a true soul.
Seeing him get along so well with the ordinary people before them gave her a deeper understanding of the mortal world.
She had never understood why the sect spent so many resources every year protecting the scattered mortal settlements in the Xiongguan Mountain Range.
Now, she thought she understood.
Cultivators were people, and mortals were people too. Cultivators were merely mortals with cultivation. They all had flesh and blood, and feelings.
She remembered the sect master's speech at the initiation ceremony when she had first joined the Xuanyun Sword Sect—
"On the Boundless Continent, countless races stand side by side. Why does humanity reign supreme?
"Because Great Sage Human Ancestor put people first and used the strong to protect the weak!
"Only in this way could our human race pass the torch from generation to generation and produce one genius after another.
"Those who look down on mortals—compared with a Saint, are they really any different from mortals themselves?"
All were of the human race. The strong ought to protect the weak, and mortals had the right to live on this continent too.
She cultivated the Sword Path of Protection. These truths were all the more important for her to keep in mind.
As these thoughts passed through her mind, Shangguan Hongyue felt a stir within her. Her first-layer Sword Master realm had actually begun to loosen!
When she returned to the sect this time, she should be able to break through to the second layer of Sword Master before long!
After several rounds of food and drink, the moon was nearly at its zenith.
By now, nearly all the old men, with the village chief at their head, had been drunk under the table by Chen Xian.
"I give in! I really do!"
Even Wang Tie Zhu, who could usually hold his liquor, had raised the white flag. Chen Xian merely felt a little pressure on his bladder. Looking at the old men sprawled across the table or blinking blearily, he took a small sip with a smile.
"Senior, let me toast you too."
A pale hand reached over with a cup. Chen Xian turned to Shangguan Hongyue, and their cups clinked lightly.
After they drank, they each picked up some food and continued eating.
Chen Xian brought a chopstickful of greens to his mouth and savored them. Now that he had a moment to himself, he finally had time to check the system.
After binding cultivation-related traits, the system seemed to have changed a little.
[Name: Chen Xian] [Realm: First Layer of Dao Disciple] (Realm divisions: Though the Great Dao differs, the realms are shared: Dao Disciple, Dao Master, Dao Sect, Dao Venerable, Truth-Breaking, Dao Integration, Tribulation Transcendence, Saint Entry, Saint, Great Saint) [Lifespan: Less than one year] [Skills: Candied Hawthorn Making (Mastered), Clothing Mending (Proficient), Crop Planting (Proficient)] [Mystic Jade Sword Bone (Mysterious Grade) > View trait details]
Seeing the new option to expand the trait's details, Chen Xian's heart leapt with joy.
Before this, although the system could show him copied traits, he could only guess their effects from their names. Sometimes he even had to test them himself.
For example, he had once copied a trait called [Widow's Friend]. The hands-on experiment had truly brought him misery. He'd been swindled out of hundreds of millions!
Now that he could view the detailed properties, things were much more convenient.
With a thought, he expanded the trait's details.
[Mystic Jade Sword Bone (Mysterious Grade)] [Passive: Increases suppression against innate Sword Qi/Sword Intent of Sword Bone/Sword Heart quality below Mysterious Grade by 50%; increases comprehension speed when cultivating sword techniques by 100%...] [Active: Current innate Sword Qi attack strength is at the peak of the Ninth Layer of Dao Disciple. Can be fully charged once every twelve shichen.]
The Mystic Jade Sword Bone was seriously powerful.
Its passive effect was strong, and its active effect gave him some ability to defend himself too.
His gaze landed on his cultivation, and he was startled to see that he had gone from a mortal to some sort of first-layer Dao Disciple.
He hadn't even started cultivating yet, and he already had a realm?
It must be the effect of this Sword Bone.
But seeing that his lifespan was still less than a year made his heart tighten again.
It seemed having cultivation didn't necessarily mean he would live longer. He probably had to break through to a certain realm before his lifespan limit would increase!
At the thought, he glanced at Shangguan Hongyue, who was gnawing on a pork knuckle, and felt another surge of urgency.
If he didn't start cultivating soon, he'd die of old age! What kind of nonsense was that?
He wanted to fly straight to the Xuanyun Sword Sect and find a chance to begin cultivating.
Shangguan Hongyue noticed the senior's gaze and smiled faintly, a smear of grease at the corner of her mouth. She looked a little goofy.
Let's see what her details look like! Chen Xian thought.
[Name: Shangguan Hongyue] [Cultivation: First Layer of Dao Master (Sword Master)] [Traits: Innate Sword Bone (Yellow Grade), Flash of Inspiration (White Grade), Pure Heart (White Grade), Sleeping Like a Pig (Mortal Grade)...]
Chen Xian glanced at Shangguan Hongyue again. He couldn't speak to her sleeping posture, but it certainly matched her way of eating perfectly.
Since each person's trait could only be copied once, Chen Xian closed the panel.
Besides, he had now set foot on the path of cultivation.
Until he found another way to gain points, he'd have to be sparing with his Copy Points and Refinement Points.
So far, copying a Mortal Grade trait cost 1 point, White Grade cost 5, Yellow Grade cost 10, and Mysterious Grade was probably somewhere between 15 and 20. He hadn't seen an Earth Grade trait yet, so he didn't know how much one would cost.
And above those were Heaven Grade traits. If he ever ran into an absurdly powerful talent trait and didn't have enough Copy Points, he'd be in a world of trouble.
He looked up at the bright moon in the sky. For the first time in sixty years, he felt a yearning for tomorrow.
As he gazed up at the night sky, a shooting star streaked from the southeast toward the north...