Birthday One-Upmanship

Zhang Jian swiftly left Iron Immortal Abbey with the Heavenly Void Daoist. By the time Qi Yi arrived, all that remained of Iron Immortal Abbey was devastation.

Blood ran like a river. Every disciple of Iron Immortal Abbey had fallen in battle, while its abbey master, the Heavenly Void Daoist, had vanished without a trace.

This upheaval left Qi Yi speechless for a long while.

Only grief showed on his face.

Zhang Jian brought the Heavenly Void Daoist to a temporary little courtyard before Dragon-Locking Dam.

Not long afterward, the two strode out of the courtyard. The Heavenly Void Daoist concealed his tracks and left the commandery city directly. This attack on Iron Immortal Abbey had buried many of its disciples at the hands of three demons. In the end, the Heavenly Void Daoist could not swallow his indignation, especially after learning from the black tiger demon that the three demons' approach to Iron Immortal Abbey might have been connected to certain figures within the city.

The Heavenly Void Daoist could not let this go and intended to investigate in secret.

Zhang Jian had also obtained some of the information he wanted from the Heavenly Void Daoist. What he truly wanted was to exchange insights with cultivators like the Heavenly Void Daoist.

He harbored many doubts about cultivation, and that was no good thing. They had been festering in his heart, and until he voiced them, he could find no peace.

For instance, what was a Life Palace? How could one survey and map one's Life Palace?

The next step after the Spirit-Nourishing stage was to survey the Life Palace, establish the foundation of one's destiny pillar, and thereby forge a supreme Dao foundation. Yet Zhang Jian still had no clue where to begin.

It was merely a pity that Iron Immortal Abbey's inheritance was not complete either, so Zhang Jian had gained little.

The old Heavenly Void Daoist had struggled at the Spirit-Nourishing stage for decades. Now, he could only rely on the slow grind of time, continuously tempering his spiritual power in hopes of finding an opportunity to glimpse his own Life Palace and seize that sliver of heavenly fortune to forge his Dao foundation.

Beyond that, Zhang Jian had made an additional gain. After he expressed considerable interest in Iron Immortal Abbey's Flying Sword Art, the Heavenly Void Daoist readily gave him the technique as repayment for saving his life.

At that moment, Zhang Jian held a short sword in his hand. The Heavenly Void Daoist had comprehended the Flying Sword Art from this very blade.

This item was also an important inherited treasure of Iron Immortal Abbey.

The short sword was covered in densely packed scriptures. They were Ancient Golden Script, and Zhang Jian happened to recognize them.

"It's not fake!"

After studying it carefully for a while, Zhang Jian knew that this was no counterfeit.

Yet after examining it further, Zhang Jian immediately frowned. The requirements for the Flying Sword Art were high. First, one needed a certain foundation in swordsmanship before one could ultimately wield the Flying Sword Art.

At present, he had no foundation in swordsmanship. That meant he would have to start from scratch.

But as he read further, Zhang Jian's eyes lit up. He still saw a glimmer of hope.

Like the Minor Wind-Thunder Technique, the Flying Sword Art could also be divided into two paths. One was the Lung-Metal Sword Talisman; the other was the Sun-Moon Sword Art.

One lay within: condensing Lung-Metal qi internally to nurture a sword talisman. Once this sword talisman had been successfully cultivated, it could erupt with sword qi, cleaving gold and severing iron with unparalleled sharpness.

The other lay without: gathering the essence of sun and moon to cultivate the Sun-Moon Sword Art externally. When used in tandem, this sword art was peerless in close combat.

Only by uniting inner and outer could one eventually nurture a sword embryo and master the Flying Sword Art.

Setting the Sun-Moon Sword Art aside for now, he could try cultivating the Lung-Metal Sword Talisman.

If this technique succeeded, thousands upon thousands of talismans could fly forth, transforming into thousands upon thousands of sword qi that rained down. That would be incredibly fierce as well.

Zhang Jian was very interested. He even believed it could effectively make up for his shortcomings in close combat.

Zhang Jian had previously wanted to cultivate the Myriad Wood Formula from the Nine Chapters of Paulownia Mountain Purity, but his progress had been rather ordinary. Now, the Flying Sword Art was a major supplement to his lack of defensive techniques.

After all, as long as one's offensive power was strong enough, it could to some extent make up for the openings caused by a lack of defensive techniques.

"Besides, I can't neglect the Thunder-Walking Formula either. The Flying Sword Art can complement lightning techniques, avoiding to some extent the flaw of having a single attack method that can easily be countered!"

Zhang Jian secretly rejoiced.

Still, in Zhang Jian's cultivation plans, the Minor Wind-Thunder Technique remained his top priority, followed by the Lung-Metal Sword Talisman, the Sun-Moon Sword Art, and the Soul-Cleansing Spell.

Of course, his own spiritual power was the foundation of everything, and Zhang Jian could not neglect it.

His time was packed tight.

Zhang Jian could not help sighing.

Cultivators were the true masters of time management. To complete so many projects one by one—and all of them long-term endeavors—truly required a great deal of time.

That was with his talent being far beyond the ordinary. If an ordinary mortal stepped through the gates of the Great Dao in his place, he would likely find himself stretched thin and eventually vanish into the masses.

Three days later, carriages crowded the gates of the Qi residence.

The sixtieth birthday of Qi Yi, a third-rank Mighty Distance General, had finally arrived. The eyes of all Fengyang Commandery turned toward this area in the east of the city.

Inside the residence, however, birthday one-upmanship was already in full swing. The many children, nephews, sons-in-law, relatives, and friends of the Qi residence had gathered together, and the birthday congratulations had begun.

Great Qian placed great importance on birthday ceremonies. Since ancient times, there had been the Five Blessings: first, longevity; second, prosperity; third, health and peace; fourth, love of virtue; fifth, a natural end to one's days. Longevity stood first among the Five Blessings and had been highly valued throughout the ages.

The most important part was the birthday homage. During this process, children and younger generations had to present lavish gifts, while relatives and friends also had to offer tributes.

At that moment, in the center of the Qi residence's main hall, Qi Yi and the old madam were both dressed in red and adorned in festive finery, their faces beaming with joy.

A graceful, elegant noblewoman had already begun her performance. She wore a broad smile, while several handsome young boys beside her each held up a gift box.

Beside her stood a tall young gentleman with a smiling face. He wore brocade silk softened from silkworm thread and carried himself with refined grace.

This eldest uncle by marriage came from an aristocratic household in Haojing.

"Father, for your birthday, your daughter hurried here and only had time to prepare a few modest gifts. This is the birthday gift Zhi Yun prepared for Father: a white jade ruyi scepter. Ruyi signifies good fortune. Your daughter and her husband wish Father and Mother auspiciousness, blessings, and long life, and wish the Qi family prosperity and flourishing through every generation."

After a slight pause, a faint smile appeared on the face of the Qi family's eldest daughter. She looked toward the old madam and said with a smile:

"Besides that, Zhi Yun knows that Mother loves snacks, so he specially had people prepare fresh dates from Shanyang Commandery, fresh tea from Dongling Commandery, golden carp from Jixian Commandery, roasted beef from Nine-Bend Commandery, and jǔ sauce from Shu Commandery..."

The many relatives and friends in the hall all turned their gazes toward the couple.

Though none of the gifts they named were priceless treasures, they were all rare things. Rarer still was the thoughtfulness behind them.

Zhang Jian stood amid the crowd. He could sense that as this eldest aunt spoke with gentle elegance, the way everyone looked at her became markedly different. He noticed that the faces of quite a few uncles had fallen.

Qi Yi and the old madam, Qi Qianshi, looked at this eldest aunt with boundless satisfaction in their eyes.

Next, a tall noblewoman stepped forward. She was the second aunt of the Qi residence, and she was clearly an impatient sort.

She had also come alone, though she had brought a young girl with her.

That was his cousin from the Wu family, Wu Qing'an.

"Father, Mother, I know that ever since Father retired from the army, he has enjoyed flowers and plants. I specially had my husband personally ask his friends to help gather some exotic flowers and rare herbs, in hopes that Father will like them. There are imperial peonies from Chang Commandery, millennium emperor chrysanthemums from the northern wastelands, and all kinds of exotic flowers and rare herbs from deep within the barbaric wilderness. Most special of all are two evergreen pines.

"My husband and I personally sought them out in famous scenic lands and ancient sites.

"These two evergreen pines stand a full eighteen feet tall. We only wish Father and Mother a life as enduring as the ageless pine on green mountains, and blessings as everlasting as the flowing waters of the Eastern Sea!"

At once, sturdy servants outside carried in two enormous pine trees. The exotic flowers and rare herbs filled the courtyard outside, though they looked somewhat wilted beneath the sunlight.

As Zhang Jian watched the scene, especially the two towering pine trees, he actually sensed faint ripples of spiritual energy from them.

His eyes flickered. After glancing over everyone else's expressions, he secretly shook his head. This is fucking cutthroat.

How were the other aunts supposed to save face now? He could see that the expressions of quite a few aunts and uncles by marriage had already turned foul.

The third to step forward was Zhang Qi, who ranked third.

She was his mother.