Yan Chun Jun's return to court only stirred attention among the wandering knights of Yan, after all—the recent big news had been the thefts at Yan Chun Jun's mansion, and now that the main figure was back, everyone was just waiting to watch the drama unfold.
But the appearance of Yan Lu, the second-in-command of the Confucian Little Sage Manor, in Jiyang City was baffling. Similarly, the arrival of Qin's Luo Wang's Six Sword Slaves in Jiyang City drew the attention of knights from across the world. Yan Lu clashed with the Six Sword Slaves outside Jiyang City, ending in a draw, but it also brought this low-key second-in-command of the Confucians into the spotlight.
Yan Lu had obtained one of the three Kong Zhou swords, Han Guang, and with it, he repelled the Luo Wang's Six Sword Slaves in a single strike. Likewise, Yan Lu personally announced that among the three Kong Zhou swords, Cheng Ying and Xiao Lian had also appeared in Jiyang City.
The Confucians always acted openly and honorably, so Yan Lu directly spread the news of Cheng Ying and Xiao Lian's emergence throughout the jianghu, declaring that the Little Sage Manor was determined to obtain them.
But the fame of Cheng Ying was too great—every swordsmanship expert in the jianghu dreamed of possessing it, and even offending the Confucians or being hunted by Qin's Luo Wang wasn't enough to deter them.
Because everyone knew the three Kong Zhou swords were brother swords, three as one. Though Han Guang had gone to Yan Lu, Cheng Ying and Xiao Lian remained. Obtaining Cheng Ying was equivalent to getting both it and Xiao Lian—the Confucians acknowledged the swords' unity. Thus, sword masters from across the world flocked to Jiyang City. The matter of the thefts at Yan Chun Jun's mansion was overshadowed and ignored.
"Cheng Ying has appeared in Jiyang City, Yan Lu and the Confucian experts have come, along with Luo Wang's Six Sword Slaves—who knows how many hidden swordsmanship masters are lurking," Six-Fingered Black Hero said, somewhat surprised. The Confucians rarely took interest in other affairs, yet these three Kong Zhou swords had prompted the second-in-command, Yan Lu, to come personally. But on second thought, it made sense—Yan Lu held Han Guang, so he must have a way to sense Cheng Ying's location. To receive from heaven and not take it invites misfortune instead.
"Who else among the experts has arrived?" Six-Fingered Black Hero asked. The Mohists and Yin-Yang school were in an awkward position now, lacking top experts—they couldn't compete even if they wanted to. After gravely wounding Xing Hun, Six-Fingered Black Hero himself was injured; forcing action might give the Yin-Yang school a chance to kill him, which they wouldn't pass up. The Yin-Yang school was in no shape either—besides Yue Shen and Dong Jun, their high-end forces were essentially gone, and compared to long-established jianghu sword masters, Yue Shen and Dong Jun fell short.
So, the newly returned Yan Chun Jun stayed quiet. The entire Jiyang City was like the calm before a storm—no one dared shatter the stillness. If Yan Chun Jun jumped out now, he'd face the swords of thousands of sword masters. These people wouldn't care if he was Yan's prime minister. At worst, they'd kill him and leave Yan—many weren't from Yan to begin with.
"The Legalist Gongsun Sheng has come, and Chu's Chun Shen Jun has sent retainers Guan and Zhou quietly. The novelist Han Shuo, the Farmer school's Shen Nong Hall and Kui Wei Hall masters have all arrived. Korea's chancellor Zhang Liang from the Zhang family, Wei's Iron Armor Gate's Dian Qing, Zhao's great sword master Qin Wuyang, Qi's Ji Xia Academy's chief scholar, and the demon sword Wei Zhuang..." Master Ban listed them one by one, all renowned experts from their regions.
"Probably the Daoist leaders have come too," Six-Fingered Black Hero said.
"But hasn't the Daoist sect sealed its mountain? How could they appear?" Master Ban asked in surprise.
"The three Kong Zhou swords aren't just three swords—they're also called the Three Swords of Seeking the Dao, representing the three realms of Daoist inquiry: Cheng Ying for the first realm of seeing mountains as mountains, Xiao Lian for the second realm of seeing mountains not as mountains, and Han Guang for the highest realm of seeing mountains as mountains once more. The Confucians and Daoists share the same view on these three realms of inquiry, so with the Confucians here, how could the Daoists be far behind?" Six-Fingered Black Hero explained.
This time, the world's sword masters might end up paving the way for the Daoists and Confucians. As for a clash between Daoists and Confucians—unlikely. The most probable outcome: if the Confucians got the swords, the Daoists would withdraw but request to borrow them for observing the realms, then escort the Confucians back to the Little Sage Manor. Likewise, if the Daoists obtained them, the Confucians might offer Confucius's Ten Wings in exchange. Everyone knew the Daoist Renzong leader Wuchen Zi cultivated the Daoist Scripture and lacked Confucius's Ten Wings as a reference. A true Confucian-Daoist conflict was improbable.
"I never expected to meet Uncle Master Wuchen Zi and Uncle Master Xiao Meng here," Yan Lu said with a wry smile outside Jiyang City. He knew the Daoists would come, but not that it would be the two leaders of the Tian and Ren sects.
"We just happened upon it. Since the Daoist sect sealed the mountain, we've been down here wandering the world, strolling and pausing to savor the myriad facets of life, emulating heaven, earth, and nature. This truly is a coincidence," Li Haimo explained.
Yan Lu nodded—the Daoists had no need to lie about this—then said, "I came not just for the Confucians, but for personal reasons as well."
"Oh? What reason prompted Master Yan Lu to come personally?" Li Haimo asked. He knew Yan Lu's master was the previous generation's sword saint, who had passed Han Guang to him, but he was still curious—likely tied to the previous sword saint's death.
"The three Kong Zhou swords are my family's heirloom swords," Yan Lu revealed.
Li Haimo was stunned; he'd assumed it was because of Yan Lu's master, the previous sword saint.
"After Zhou divided into the Seven Heroes, four nations and seven bronze boxes held a secret about the human king," Yan Lu said instead.
"The Cang Long Seven Mansions?" Li Haimo asked. As the main storyline of Qin Moon, the seven bronze boxes had caught their attention, yet they didn't know the details. And now Yan Lu did.
"Jin was the only state besides the Zhou Son of Heaven that knew this secret," Yan Lu continued.
"You're a descendant of Jin?" Li Haimo inquired.
"Yes and no—we're the inheritors of the three Kong Zhou swords, and also guardians of three bronze boxes. Three swords, three boxes—in the end, besides Wei's box which is in my hands, the other two are held by the royal families of Korea and Zhao. So, after Zhao, Wei, and Han, our family was hunted by the three states, and the three Kong Zhou swords were lost as a result." As Yan Lu spoke, he handed a bronze box to Li Haimo to examine.
"I've been fleeing since I was very young. Then my master found me, taught me swordsmanship, passed Han Guang to me, and after sending me to the Confucian Little Sage Manor, told me not to seek revenge—the world would unify eventually—so he had my teacher Xun Zi teach me the Sitting in Oblivion heart method," Yan Lu said.
"Master said the seven bronze boxes concern the human king: if the world unifies without relying on the boxes, deliver them to the unifying emperor; if someone tries to use the boxes' power to subvert unification, toss them into the sea." Yan Lu smiled bitterly.
"This box of mine was stolen by Master from the Daliang palace, drawing pursuit from Wei's Iron Armor Gate. Thus, Han Guang was exposed, leading to Luo Wang's hunt. In the end, after delivering me to the Little Sage Manor, Master went alone to Qin, slaying Luo Wang's leader Yan Ri, but dying under the Jing Ni sword." Yan Lu spoke calmly.
"You mean Yan Ri is dead?" Li Haimo asked in shock. Yan Lu's master was that formidable—killing Yan Ri under Qin's vast net?
"The previous Yan Ri died, and the Yan Ri sword broke as well," Yan Lu confirmed.
Li Haimo was dazed. If the Yan Ri sword broke, what about the later Yan Ri sword? This Qin era was getting mysterious. Or had Qin reforged Yan Ri?
"I know the Daoists have been secretly aiding Qin in unification, so I'm entrusting this box to you for safekeeping," Yan Lu said, handing over the bronze box. At least the Daoists seemed more suited to guard it.
"I came not just to collect the three Kong Zhou swords for the Confucians, but also to deliver the box to you this way—since the Daoists sealed the mountain. This avoids drawing targeting to the Confucians over the box," Yan Lu explained.
Li Haimo stored the bronze box and nodded. "Actually, we'll be heading to the Little Sage Manor in a while anyway."
"Oh?" Yan Lu was surprised, then guessed, "For Confucius's Ten Wings?"
"Mainly for you!" Li Haimo said.
"Me?" Yan Lu was taken aback, unsure what about him warranted Daoist attention.
"You're the only one in the world cultivating the Sitting in Oblivion heart method, and since I've run into issues with cultivating the Daoist Scripture, you might be the only one who can help resolve them," Li Haimo explained.
"What issue?" Yan Lu asked, puzzled—how could he solve something the Daoists couldn't?
"I've cultivated the Daoist Scripture for the first ten years with no results, only gaining something four years ago—but my cultivation has always been absent," Li Haimo said.
"What? You have no cultivation?" Yan Lu was stunned. That couldn't be—during the Tian Ren Dao decree, Wuchen Zi had used Thousand-Li Voice Transmission, witnessed by all of Taiyi Mountain, and later cleaved Cai Wei with one sword—his cultivation was top-tier in the world. How could it be absent?
"Senior Brother's cultivation comes and goes; lately, it's gotten worse, completely unusable," Xiao Meng chimed in at the right moment.
"Allow me to examine, Uncle Master," Yan Lu said.
Li Haimo nodded. Yan Lu formed a sword finger and directed it straight at Li Haimo's forehead, channeling vast cultivation energy into his body to probe—yet found nothing.
After half a ke, Yan Lu withdrew his sword finger. A rough check revealed no trace of cultivation in Li Haimo, but a finer sense detected a lingering aura, akin to Han Guang—invisible to the eye, yet sometimes truly present. No wonder the Daoists saw him as key to unlocking this.
"There's a force in Uncle Master's body similar to the Sitting in Oblivion heart method, like Han Guang—invisible to sight," Yan Lu said.
"You can sense Senior Brother's cultivation?" Xiao Meng asked in surprise. Even their master Beiming Zi couldn't see it, yet Yan Lu could feel it.
"You can't sense it?" Yan Lu asked curiously.
"The entire Daoist sect has checked, including myself—I can't sense it," Li Haimo said with a bitter smile, then described the quirky aspects of his cultivation.
Yan Lu was left between tears and laughter at the various flamboyant ways Li Haimo had wielded the Daoist Scripture. I've received proper Confucian etiquette training—I absolutely cannot laugh, unless I can't hold it back.
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