Land of Iron

It stands to reason that this Steel Fortress is the very reason the samurai of the Land of Iron have been able to maintain their neutrality so securely.

After all, while there are many neutral nations in the Ninja World, this Land of Iron is the only one that has managed to endure for hundreds of years.

It makes sense; with the protection of this fortress, even ninjas would have to expend a significant amount of strength to take down these samurai.

Relying on the fortress, although the samurai lack the capability to launch an offensive, they have more than enough to defend themselves.

Just as Bai Sui was sizing up the fortress, the samurai on the walls spotted him. Without any aggressive movements, a patrol squad approached him.

The men were not overbearing; they simply stepped forward to ask Bai Sui his intentions. Upon learning that he was a traveling doctor, they merely informed him of the rules of the Land of Iron and let him pass.

I have to say, just looking at these samurai, this Land of Iron is truly impressive. Although Bai Sui had not yet officially entered the country, he already felt a sense of goodwill toward it.

He continued on foot, the fortress looming ever closer and appearing increasingly imposing; after all, a height of twenty or thirty meters is no small feat.

Of course, having seen buildings over a hundred meters tall in his past life, he was not as shocked as the commoners here, but such a massive wall stretching for miles was truly spectacular.

Had he not wanted to avoid unnecessary trouble, Bai Sui would have liked to fly straight up and admire it from high above; after all, he had never seen such architecture in his previous life.

Following the route the samurai had described, Bai Sui passed through the fortress gate and headed toward the interior.

The location of the high wall was the border of the Land of Iron. While there were buildings constructed for the samurai, there were no villages in the immediate vicinity; as this was a military facility, outsiders were naturally not permitted to linger.

Bai Sui followed the regulations and did not stay long, instead heading toward the nearest city.

Along the way, Bai Sui felt the difference between the Land of Iron and the outside world.

It was not that life here was particularly wealthy, but rather that the people lived in peace.

The people here did not live in fear of the next day, nor were they lost in confusion about the future. Even if their lives were not affluent and they were quite busy, Bai Sui felt a long-lost sense of his past life here.

It was not that the environment was similar, but the atmosphere; most people did not have to worry about life and death, but were simply working hard to achieve a better life.

He did not remain idle on his journey; after leaving the village, he decided to stop hiding himself.

He officially began to use his Qi, traveling across the land of the Land of Iron under the identity of a Needle Doctor.

Stopping and going along the way, his reputation had reached the ears of the high-ranking officials of the Land of Iron before he even arrived in the city.

Moreover, unlike other places, there were no ninjas here. Although many samurai practiced chakra, they lacked a systematic method of chakra-based healing.

Thus, a figure like Bai Sui immediately drew the attention of the higher-ups.

They immediately sent people to investigate Bai Sui's background, yet in this era of war, how much information could truly be found?

Coupled with the fact that Bai Sui had almost never appeared before the public, they discovered nothing, as if he had simply popped out of a rock.

Such a mysterious identity only made the high-ranking officials more curious, and they all awaited his arrival.

Bai Sui did not know that people in the city were waiting for him; he continued to walk at his own pace, pointing out his path as he went.

Of course, Bai Sui was not providing free medical care along the way; he charged based on the patient's daily meal budget—less for the poor, more for the wealthy.

By the end of the journey, he had to buy a carriage—not for transport, but to store the money.

Bai Sui had already decided that as he traveled through the Ninja World in the future, he would drive this carriage, filled with consultation fees and the grain he had traded for them.

The people of the Land of Iron still had their livelihoods secured, but the people living in war zones did not.

If he encountered those in dire need in the future, he would provide them with a meal. He did not expect to save anyone—after all, one person could not truly save them all—but being able to help them was always a good thing.

In truth, the reason Bai Sui was willing to spend his time traveling the Ninja World was that his current cultivation was at the stage of "Golden Elixir Returning to the Void." Daily meditation no longer provided significant help; the next step relied primarily on the passage of time.

This was a slow, grinding process that could only be achieved through the accumulation of time.

So, Bai Sui used this time to broaden his horizons. After all, he had already read ten thousand books in his past life, though at the time, it was purely for the sake of reading.

Now that he had an opportunity he lacked in his past life, he naturally had to arrange to "travel ten thousand miles" as well.

If nothing else, when traveling in his past life, Bai Sui had mostly relied on transportation; he had never truly measured the earth with his own two feet.

Although he was not walking on the soil of his past life, it was still a rare and valuable experience.

Therefore, Bai Sui did not deliberately adjust his pace, letting his body lead the way and wandering as he pleased.

Along the way, Bai Sui stayed in inns when he found villages and rested in forests when he entered the mountains. He did not care whether he was near a village or not; he simply followed his heart, sitting down to meditate on any rock he found when he wanted to rest.

Moreover, Bai Sui was not without gains on this journey.

Not long ago, he encountered a samurai over seventy years old. Though his frame was withered, his spirit was vigorous.

After Bai Sui finished his examination, he found no illness, only the normal aging of bodily functions.

After conversing with him, he discovered that the man had actually achieved the Dao through the sword.

"This old man began practicing the sword at the age of six. Afterward, I practiced with my teacher, gradually digesting the sword in my hand until it became a part of me.

After that, I began to travel, using the sword in my hand to slay injustice and rectify the thoughts in my heart.

I do not know when it began, but I could no longer feel the existence of the sword path. By then, I was no longer seeking the sword; or rather, to me, anything could be a sword. If I wanted to kill someone, I could do it just by willing it.

But I always remembered my teacher's teachings, practicing the sword path whenever I had time. Suddenly, one day, I felt something different.

It was as if, just as I held my sword with my hand, I 'held' myself, swinging myself out as the 'sword.'

At that moment, I realized that I was like an outsider, watching my body move on its own. I was just there, watching. I didn't need to do anything; as long as I willed it, my body would do it to the best of its ability."