Mo Caihuan spent three days to serve the first dish.
Moon Worshipper only said, "Our enthusiasm for wine is still running high, make seven more dishes."
Mo Caihuan naturally had no objections.
This banquet lasted for ten days before Sword Old Ghost leisurely said, "Not bad, this girl possesses first-rate natural talent, she is indeed suited to enter the Dao of the sword."
"And this is still just entering?" Moon Worshipper said with dissatisfaction.
"Manipulating spiritual power is one thing, but comprehending the sword dao is another matter." Sword Old Ghost said, "You definitely came for my Ten Thousand Swords Art, and even if I give you face and am willing to teach her, she won't be able to learn it if she doesn't understand the sword. I still need to test her."
"Test away."
The two Nascent Souls put down their wine cups and had Mo Caihuan stand before them.
Sword Old Ghost said kindly, "Do you know the largest sect in Sword Pool City, the Forgetting Sword Sect?"
"I do not."
"This Forgetting Sword Sect advocates not being shackled to the sword, pursuing the highest realm as 'forgetting the sword'. This is completely different from our Ten Thousand Swords Gate's philosophy. The Ten Thousand Swords Gate believes that a sword is a sword, and one should be dedicated to the sword, loyal to the sword, and pursue the manipulation of more swords. Which kind of philosophy do you think is right?" He wanted to test Mo Caihuan's understanding of the sword.
Mo Caihuan thought to herself that both made sense, and didn't this depend on the person cultivating? Therefore, she replied, "The sword is not important, the person holding the sword is what matters. Regardless of whether it's ten thousand swords or forgetting the sword, cultivation ultimately lies with the individual. If one says ten thousand swords are stronger than forgetting the sword, the Forgetting Sword Sect wouldn't have risen. If one says forgetting the sword is stronger than ten thousand swords, the Ten Thousand Swords Gate was also brilliant in the past. So it still depends on the person."
"Are you saying the people of the Ten Thousand Swords Gate are no good?" Sword Old Ghost's face fell.
Moon Worshipper couldn't help saying, "She spoke the truth. Don't you also frequently say you can't find outstanding disciples? Isn't that because the people are no good? Acknowledge your shortcomings and don't get angry."
Sword Old Ghost glanced sideways at Moon Worshipper and said, "Shut your mouth." He looked back at Mo Caihuan and asked, "How does a person manipulate a sword?"
"A person is the scabbard; draw the sword when it should be drawn, and sheathe it when it should be sheathed."
Moon Worshipper chuckled and said, "Well said. What about it, Old Ghost?"
Sword Old Ghost nodded and said, "She still has some talent. So be it, the Ten Thousand Swords Art always needs a successor, so I will teach it to her."
Moon Worshipper signaled Mo Caihuan to quickly pay respects.
"Thank you, Senior, for bestowing the mental cultivation method." Mo Caihuan understood the hint.
Sword Old Ghost took out a jade token containing the Ten Thousand Swords Art within and said, "This sword art changes unpredictably, and even I have only grasped a fraction of it. If one can achieve Great Ascension in it, splitting space and crossing realms is not entirely out of the question."
Mo Caihuan thought to herself that even without learning the Ten Thousand Swords Art, reaching the Great Ascension stage in cultivation could accomplish the same, but aloud she said, "This junior will definitely practice with single-minded devotion."
Moon Worshipper said, "Old Ghost, you are so straightforward that you've left me with a belly full of persuasive arguments with nowhere to use them." He had originally intended to use his silver tongue to persuade the other party, but he hadn't expected the other party to agree so easily.
Sword Old Ghost closed his eyes and said leisurely, "I should also consider matters after I'm gone."
Moon Worshipper was stunned. He hadn't expected the old ghost to say such a thing, realizing the other party was running out of time. He searched his mind frantically for words of comfort, and finally said, "Let's drink three more cups."
Mo Caihuan received the jade token and carefully placed it into a black storage bag, a gift given to her by Moon Worshipper.
They drank until they were fully satisfied before Moon Worshipper finally brought Mo Caihuan away, this time finally returning to the Mo Kingdom.
On the way, she eagerly checked the Ten Thousand Swords Art inside the jade token. Not only did it contain the complete nine layers of the sword art, but also Sword Old Ghost's cultivation insights. Mo Caihuan felt a surge of gratitude, thinking that since she wasn't a disciple of the Ten Thousand Swords Gate, the Senior was so magnanimous; she would definitely take the opportunity to promote the Ten Thousand Swords Gate in the future.
The core of the Ten Thousand Swords Art was the coordination between flying swords and flying swords. When cultivated to the ninth layer, one could control 108 flying swords to form a sword formation and mobilize the spiritual qi of heaven and earth.
However, this required a colossal amount of magic power, something ordinary people simply could not achieve. One had to start by controlling three flying swords.
Inside there were also schemes for forging swords, nourishing swords, and sacrificing swords. According to flying swords of different attributes, the methods of nourishing swords also varied.
With a single mental cultivation method, a thousand people cultivating it would yield a thousand different results.
It was impossible for a thousand people to all use the same flying sword, possess the same spiritual roots, and have similar comprehensions...
They were all different, so in the end, the magnitude of power when cultivating the Ten Thousand Swords Art also varied from person to person.
She thought of Han Li's Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword, which was refined by collecting all kinds of top-tier materials and tempered with various kinds of lightning, ultimately becoming a top-tier magic treasure. If she were to forge a treasured sword herself, she feared she wouldn't be able to find so many top-tier materials.
Han Li had cheat codes, but she certainly didn't.
Top-tier materials were exceedingly rare, and some had even gone extinct.
It was impossible to find formidable flying swords in a short period of time, so she gathered her focus and studied the sword art first.
Two months later, the old man and the youth arrived at Jinling.
The Teleportation Gate was still the same as before, secretly controlled by the Wine Butterfly Fairy and the White Dew Academy, and the ancient battlefield on the other side was similarly desolate and quiet.
This secret was certainly impossible to keep hidden forever and would be exposed sooner or later. But before the exposure, they were still going to make a profit from the price difference.
Twenty years had passed, and Mo Caihuan returned home with a heart as eager as an arrow in flight. Upon returning to the Mo Residence, her four mothers had already passed away, and everyone along with her second older sister had grown elderly and retired, enjoying their remaining years in peace.
Upon seeing their third sister return, they wept for joy, tears streaming down their aged faces as they pulled their third sister along to talk about household trivialities.
From their words, Mo Caihuan also learned of the current situation in the Mo Kingdom.
Overall, things were relatively stable, though an incident had occurred during this time: a mortal named Zhuo Er killed a Qi Condensation disciple of the Qin Family, sparking a crisis.
The Qi Condensation disciple had forcibly seized someone else's love, snatched the mortal's lover, and also killed Zhuo Er's parents. Enduring hardships and working in stealth, Zhuo Er learned techniques, purchased anti-cultivator weapons, and completed his revenge.
The Qin Family was furious and wanted to kill Zhuo Er, but he was a person of the Imperial Court; the Mo Kingdom's Imperial Court demanded that the Qin Family hand the person over to the Imperial Court to be dealt with according to the law.
This matter was argued fiercely. Through newspapers and broadcasts, it was widely publicized, sparking discussions among the masses. Everyone wanted to know whether, on the land of Heavenly South, one should listen to the cultivators or the Imperial Court?
Cultivators and the Imperial Court represented two sets of rules-who had the final say? Furthermore, whose life was worth more, a cultivator's or a mortal's? Were cultivators worth more, or were mortals worth more?
In the past, people would not discuss this question because mortals were not qualified to compare with cultivators. Along with development, mortals who were fed and clothed began to seek respect.
Mortals hoped to raise prices, elevating the value of a mortal's life to the same height as a cultivator's.
Mo Caihuan listened intently, thinking to herself that it was a good thing she wasn't around, otherwise this trouble would have fallen squarely on her head.
It wasn't just mortals who supported this; quite a few cultivators also agreed that a mortal's life was still a life. Many young cultivators, sect disciples, and collateral descendants of clans all displayed sympathy toward mortals.
At this time, someone proposed the "Immortal Cultivation Management Law". Cultivators could not solely look at spiritual roots, nor could they solely look at cultivation level; they had to look at "Ordination Certificates". The person who proposed the bill believed that the Imperial Court could issue Ordination Certificates to cultivators, and those holding an Ordination Certificate were legitimate cultivators, while those without one were illegal cultivators.
The "Immortal Cultivation Management Law" was not yet implemented on a large scale; it was merely being practiced in certain departments of the Imperial Court.
After all, Nascent Soul ancestors and Golden Core elders did not care for the Imperial Court's recognition. Could it be that if the Imperial Court didn't recognize them, they wouldn't cultivate? That was simply preposterous.
Institutions and culture complemented one another. Aside from the institution of the "Immortal Cultivation Management Law", a culture of "Sustainable Immortal Cultivation" was also proposed.
The goal of the institution was to achieve sustainable immortal cultivation.
Humble families, rogue cultivators, and cultivators without talent all hoped that the strong would be bound by restraints. They did not want the strong to monopolize cultivation resources, and they hoped someone could supervise the strong.
They were not afraid of death and were willing to go head-to-head with experts.
If they didn't promote the "Immortal Cultivation Management Law" and "Sustainable Immortal Cultivation", they would remain obscure, and experts wouldn't even know who they were. But if they promoted it, and even provoked experts into killing them, then they would become famous.
If one does not die in silence, one erupts in silence. Some chose death, while others chose eruption.
This matter was the topic of the widest discussion, and there was still no result yet. As for industrial development, the policy of connecting every village to roads had reached forty percent completion and still needed to be developed further.
The problem of food and clothing for the common people nationwide was basically resolved, but many problems were still waiting to be solved, and they could only be tackled bit by bit.
The Cabinet performed quite well. Mo Caihuan did not return to serve as Empress; she stayed at home to help her two older sisters convert the Mo Residence into an orphanage, taking in children who were left with no one to rely on.