Chapter 307: The Seven-Star Peachwood Sword! Three Hundred Thousand Merit! Wallbreak! Godspeed! Illusory Form! The Woman and the Scholar!

In the third wooden box lay a peachwood sword. Unlike ordinary peachwood swords, which were carefully and finely carved, this one looked somewhat crude in workmanship, as if it had been roughly hacked into shape.

Yet the moment Li Yanchu’s finger brushed against it, he immediately sensed the surging, pure spirit qi within the blade. It was turbulent and overflowing, and by no means was it weaker than the twice-enhanced Jiaoslayer! In fact, it was even stronger.

Upon the sword’s body were engraved the stars of the Big Dipper: Tianshu, Tianxuan, Tianji, Tianquan, Yuheng, Kaiyang, and Yaoguang. It carried within it a mysterious restriction.

Although Li Yanchu usually used a saber, this peachwood sword was undoubtedly an extraordinary magic artifact. And judging by its rough, unrefined appearance, its origin must surely be remarkable.

As expected of Jinguang Temple, their generosity is unmatched

, he thought to himself.

Immediately after, he set out and left Jinguang Temple, putting distance between himself and this place of strife.

***

Ding Rou and Duanmu Xuan hadn’t even figured out what had happened, and had no chance to see him off. By the time they reacted, Li Yanchu had already gone down the mountain.

Jinguang Temple was rife with schemes, and he didn’t want to stay there even one more day.

No matter how lofty one’s Daoist arts, and no matter how ruthless one’s methods, they were still hard to guard against when old schemers plotted against you again and again. It was better to return to Wei City as soon as possible. Thus, on the winding mountain path, there appeared a young Daoist riding a donkey.

Li Yanchu’s merit had now soared dramatically; slaying a third realm demon in one stroke had granted him forty thousand merit points.

From this journey, his accumulated merit points now totaled three hundred and twelve thousand, five hundred. He had three hundred thousand merit points, and that was Li Yanchu’s greatest advantage[1].

***

At this time, sunlight flowed gently. Since leaving Jinguang Temple, half a month had passed in the blink of an eye.

With the aid of the Blood-Replenishing Pills and Qi-Booster Pills, Li Yanchu had quickly cultivated the

Primordial Chaos Technique

,

Divine Astral Hands

, and

Six Yang Saber Art

to their perfected realms.

His mastery of martial arts had reached a realm of divine skill and was now unfathomably deep. He also spent one thousand merit points to enhance the Body-Tempering Pill to its limit.

Since he was taking it daily, his physique was constantly growing stronger. In just half a month, his body had doubled in strength.

Whether skin and flesh, muscles, tendons and bones, qi and blood, or even his internal organs, all had undergone tremendous transformation. By now, even he himself did not know where the upper limit of his strength lay.

Though progress in Daoist cultivation was not as rapid as in martial training, it too advanced at an astonishing pace.

Especially after spending three thousand merit points to enhance a superior Bodhi Pill, Li Yanchu’s spirit qi became increasingly profound and dense.

The spirit qi within his body continued to expand, and the circulation of his cultivation arts grew faster and faster.

He successfully broke through to the advanced second realm. From here, he could begin cultivating even more profound techniques.

His Qi Sight, Immobilization Spell, Flame-Sitting Art, Sun Veil, Art of Pursuit, and other divine abilities all made great strides forward. In addition, Li Yanchu cultivated three more Daoist powers recorded in the “Methods Section” within the

Yellow Court Classic.

One of them was Wallbreak. With just a point of the finger, mountains could split and walls could be breached. Some also called it the “Wall-Passing Technique,” but in truth, the Wallbreak was more practical.

For example, when Li Yanchu had previously entered the great tomb to slay demons, he had nearly been trapped within the mountain. Had he mastered Wallbreak then, he could have simply walked out, never once facing danger.

Next was Godspeed. This power, in Li Yanchu’s view, resembled teleportation. When casting Godspeed, if attacked, he could effortlessly evade and reappear in another spot with astonishing speed. It could also be used for traveling.

After mastering it, Li Yanchu tested it and found the results excellent, perfectly matching his idea of what an immortal’s art should be. It resembled the Buddhist Divine Foot Arts, or the Daoist great power of Teleportation Art.

The last ability was called Illusory Form.

This Daoist art was not a shape-shifting technique, like Sun Wukong’s Seventy-Two Transformations, but centered instead on illusions. With but a thought, he would be perceived by others as one of their own kind.

When seen by demons, he would appear as a demon. When seen by ghosts, he would appear as a ghost!

These three divine arts ranked among the higher-tier techniques in the

Methods Section

within the

Yellow Court Classic

, and placed strict demands on the cultivator’s realm. Only now that Li Yanchu had reached the second realm, with spiritual power within his body abundant and profound, could he cultivate them.

Especially Godspeed, when combined with Li Yanchu’s peak movement techniques, it brought his speed to a terrifying level.

In his battle against the flood dragon, he had fully realized the benefits of agility. Otherwise, if one always relied on brute force to withstand blows, no matter how formidable, sooner or later one’s defenses would be broken.

***

The moonless night was dark and windy. The pitch-black shadows looked like ghosts clapping their hands beckoning to the living, luring out their souls.

A litter was making its way through the mountain path. The four litter bearers had pale faces, looking weak and feeble. Yet the litter itself remained steady as ever. Even on the rugged mountain road, it moved as smoothly as if treading on flat ground.

At this time, two thirteen-year-old maidservants walked beside the chair; their rosy cheeks glowed with vitality and charm.

The litter was decorated in unusually festive fashion. Were it not for the absence of bright red "double happiness” characters, one could easily mistake it for a bridal litter[2].

Not far behind the chair about thirty to forty meters away followed a scholar with a burning hot gaze. At a glance, it was the look of someone utterly bewitched.

His name was Cao Xing[3]. He hailed from Yongquan County, under the jurisdiction of Xuzhou in Feiyun Prefecture.

𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

In Donglin Prefecture, the heretical sects had run rampant; Feiyun Prefecture, too, seethed with hidden currents.

The Grand Marshal’s daughter, Lu Li, had led soldiers to annihilate the dens of the demon cultists.

There was a bloodbath, and for a time, the people were plunged into fear and unrest.

Cao Xing had originally been studying in Xuzhou, and so he planned to return first to Yongquan County, to temporarily avoid the chaos of war and preserve his own safety. Who would have thought, on the road, he would encounter a young married woman returning to her family?

She sat within a litter; as the wind lifted the curtain, it revealed a delicate, alluring face. It was a young lady with a full and voluptuous figure, and her skin was fair and glowing with vitality. Like earth often nourished by the gentle rains of spring, she was fertile, thriving and brimming with life.

With just one glance, Cao Xing felt his mouth go dry and his throat grow parched. As the litter swayed with its bearers’ steps, his heart rippled with waves of desire.

Unconsciously, he began to follow behind the litter, and his chest burned with heat. Gradually, he trailed them beyond the city gates, onto the official road. The farther they went, the sparser the traces of human presence.

Soon, they entered the mountain paths. They walked for an entire day from dawn until late into the night. Yet the four litter bearers and the two maidservants showed not the slightest sign of fatigue.

And strangely, Cao Xing, a frail scholar who couldn’t even truss a chicken, also felt no exhaustion at all. All it had taken was that single glimpse, and he had followed for dozens of li without the faintest sense of anything being amiss.

Clearly, Cao Xing had fallen under an enchantment!

And yet, he seemed utterly unaware. Instead, that earlier sight of the young lady’s heavy, intoxicating charm left his body bent with restless desire and his face flushed red.

Up ahead appeared a grand estate, the kind belonging to a family of wealth and power. At its gate stood two stone lions, which looked majestic and imposing. On the plaque above the gate were written two large words: Qin Residence. On either side hung great red lanterns, giving the place an air of festivity.

The litter came to a stop before the old residence. Cao Xing, however, did not halt his steps, but walked straight up behind the litter. Though footsteps sounded behind, the two maidservants and the litter bearers did not so much as turn their heads. They simply stood there, stiff and motionless.

“Young master, you’ve been so thoughtful, following me all this way. Why not come inside and have a cup of hot tea, to warm yourself?” From within the litter came a soft, sweet, and tender woman’s voice.

At first, Cao Xing’s heart burned with heat; then he felt a slight shiver run through him.

In weather like this, he ought to be shivering in the cold wind by nightfall after walking dozens of li.

1. Author actually wrote "依仗" (yīzhàng) here, which means “reliance” or “what one depends on.” I’ve tweaked it to ‘advantage’ instead because it sounds more natural in English while keeping the sense of something he relies on. ☜

2. 大红喜字 (dà hóng xǐ zì) literally means “big red character for happiness”. It’s a single Chinese character “囍”, called “double happiness”. The character is actually a ligature of two 喜 (“happiness”) characters placed side by side. It symbolizes joy, good fortune, and especially marital happiness. Traditionally, it is printed in bright red because red is considered an auspicious, celebratory color in Chinese culture.

In traditional Chinese weddings, the bride is carried from her home to the groom’s house in a bridal litter, which is a covered sedan chair. The litter is decorated with red fabrics, flowers, and the 大红喜字 to announce a wedding and bring good luck. Because the red character is so iconic, seeing a red “囍” on a litter immediately signals that it carries a bride, even from a distance. ☜

3. The surname 曹 (Cáo) is the 30th-most-common surname in mainland China as of 2019 and the 58th-most-common surname on Taiwan. The given name 兴 (Xīng) means “to rise,” “to flourish,” or “to prosper,” conveying ambition, vitality, and growth. To me, the name suggests who is destined to prosper or achieve success. ☜