Simultaneous travel: I am rampant in the domestic area

"Chen Ping'an, you really are a jinx." Wang Zhu stood up and looked up at the sky.

In places unseen by mortals, countless cracks spread across the heavens and earth.

In the town, the protective objects set up by the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and military strategy, one after another manifested their true forms and then disappeared.

The sky hung low, like a giant gray inkstone about to shatter. Thick, dark clouds were stirred by an invisible force and slowly sank, with countless spiderweb-like cracks spreading across the sky.

"What's wrong?" Chen Ping'an asked.

“It’s the three religions working together to take away the cursed object,” Ning Yao replied, frowning.

Upon hearing this, Chen Shu couldn't help but look worried.

She wasn't a cultivator, but she knew a little about the consequences of the town's collapse.

Under the backlash of Heaven's will, all living beings in the town will have no chance of a next life.

Fortunately, although the Chen family was not large, they were able to shelter two or three relatives and friends, preventing them from dying when the town collapsed.

"You guys eat first, I'm going out for a walk." After a moment of silence, Wang Zhu put down her chopsticks, stood up, and walked towards the door.

"Now?" Ning Yao asked curiously.

"Now." After saying that, Wang Zhu did not hesitate any longer. He left the courtyard and walked straight towards the old locust tree in the center of the town.

As the sky seemed to tilt, the massive canopy of the Ancestral Locust Tree swayed violently in the gale, emitting a mournful rustling sound.

A person was already standing under the tree.

A scholar in a blue robe, tall and straight, stood alone facing the impending collapse of heaven and earth.

He looked up at the constantly breaking sky, his eyes calm and profound, having already made his choice.

Noticing Wang Zhu's arrival, Qi Jingchun slowly withdrew her gaze, looked at her, and said gently, "Why are you here?"

Wang Zhu walked to the locust tree, crossed his arms, and pouted, still with that arrogant look: "Can't I just take a walk and see how the sky fell down?"

Qi Jingchun looked at her, smiled, and didn't delve into her purpose for coming. Instead, she spoke as if instructing a junior:

"This place will soon cease to exist. Once you leave, the world will be vast, but it will not be entirely smooth sailing. You must take good care of yourself and be careful with your words and actions. Do not act recklessly just because you have Russell backing you up. Remember that there are always people more capable than you, and there is always something beyond your understanding."

Wang Zhu pressed his forehead and waved his hands repeatedly: "Stop, stop, stop! Great Sage Qi, you're almost dead, why do you still like to lecturing others so incessantly? Aren't you tired?"

Qi Jingchun smiled gently, a hint of weariness in her smile, yet also an air of complete composure: "Tired, of course I'm tired."

He paused, then looked up at the old locust tree that was struggling to stand tall in the wind: "But if being a little more tired can make this world a little better, and give some innocent lives that should have been annihilated a chance to survive... then I, Qi Jingchun, am willing to be a little more tired."

Wang Zhu crossed his arms and chuckled, muttering under his breath, "a pedantic scholar," his tone laced with sarcasm.

"You saved them like this, risking your life, how many people do you think will know? How many will remember you? How many will be grateful for your kindness? They might just forget about it and go on with their lives, or even curse you, Qi Jingchun, for being incompetent and unable to save this town!"

She grew angrier as she spoke, seemingly extremely dissatisfied with Qi Jingchun's "foolish" choice. She kicked the thick trunk of the ancestral locust tree hard, shaking off many leaves.

"They don't need to know, nor do they need to owe me any favors. When I, Qi Jingchun, do things, I don't seek others' remembrance, nor do I seek blessings in the next life. I only seek to have a clear conscience and peace of mind."

Wang Zhu was utterly speechless.

A saint is a saint; such selflessness and altruism are a level of thought that she could never reach.

"Russell sent me to tell you that Lu Chen, that stinky Taoist priest, did him a great favor. This time it's a battle of the Great Dao between you and Kou Ming, so he can't interfere."

"That's to be expected; this matter has nothing to do with him." Qi Jingchun nodded, her expression calm.

"But you don't need to be too sad. On the day the town collapses, I will personally take your life and settle this three-thousand-year-old karma."

Upon hearing this, Qi Jingchun finally frowned slightly, her tone becoming more serious: "Nonsense! This matter is of utmost importance and is absolutely not something you can get involved in. Leave as soon as possible and don't get involved."

Wang Zhu seemed not to hear his advice at all, or rather, he didn't care. He gave Qi Jingchun a deep look, and his figure quickly disappeared into the howling wind and the dust.

Under the ancestral locust tree, only Qi Jingchun remained once again.

The wind whipped up his blue robe, making it flutter loudly.

He gazed in the direction where Wang Zhu had disappeared and sighed softly.

It can be roughly guessed that Wang Zhu has Russell's plan, but he doesn't know what it is.

If possible, he did not want Wang Zhu to be in danger.

……

A few days later, one morning, the sky was clear and cloudless.

The terrifying scene of dark clouds looming over the city and the sky collapsing a few days ago seemed like just a dream. Sunlight streamed down without obstruction, bathing the town in a warm golden hue.

The only difference was that the water level in the town had dropped significantly.

Chen Ping'an, who came to the covered bridge to comprehend swordsmanship as usual, felt this deeply.

These days, more and more unfamiliar faces from other places are coming to the town, and the business of inns and restaurants is booming as a result.

Meanwhile, in Fulu Street and Taoye Lane, many young members of prominent families began to quietly leave the town.

Facing the mysterious old sword bar deep inside the bridge pier, Chen Ping'an skillfully sat down cross-legged.

He placed the sword immortal statue in front of him.

Yesterday, his sword intent had reached the brink of perfection; today, he will try to embark on a completely different path.

The ruthless sword intent emphasizes the supreme detachment from emotions, which can perfectly balance the surge of desires and turbulent emotions that might arise after the perfecting of the emotional sword intent.

He slowly closed his eyes, his breathing became long and even, and his mind gradually sank into that mysterious realm that only he could perceive.

In his mental space, there were not many complicated scenes, only a vast, boundless, and calm lake. His mental image sat cross-legged on the lake's surface, while beneath the surface, another version of himself sat cross-legged.

An invisible and intangible sword light lay across his knee.

Master Russell once said that when this wisp of sword light condenses into the true outline of a sword, his natal flying sword will be considered truly forged.

After seven years of dedicated effort, this sword light has grown from its initial length of a finger joint to its current size of nearly three feet.

Chen Pingan could sense that that day was not far off.

laugh--!
Just then, a fist-sized stone, carrying considerable force, shot out from the dense reeds in the distance, its target aimed directly at him sitting quietly under the covered bridge.

He made no move, and the stone shattered on its own when it flew within a foot of him.

A moment later, Chen Ping'an slowly opened his eyes, turned to the direction from which the pebble had come, and said helplessly, "Ma Kuxuan, do you want to be beaten again?"

The reeds swayed, and a short boy dressed in coarse cloth emerged, his eyes filled with undisguised ferocity.

The Ma family and the Chen family are sworn enemies.

Ma Kuxuan's parents had a blood feud with Chen Ping'an, who killed his father.

Chen Ping'an has never forgotten this blood feud and has long vowed to settle it with his own hands.

But he also knew that every wrong has its perpetrator and every debt its debtor, and that this matter had nothing to do with Ma Kuxuan, and he would never implicate innocent people.

Similarly, Ma Kuxuan also knew about the grudge between his parents and Chen Ping'an.

Therefore, he chose to take full responsibility for his parents' fate. In the past, he was too weak and could only cause Chen Ping'an minor troubles.

Although he was always reprimanded by Chen Ping'an, he persisted.

But now he is different; he has joined Zhenwu Mountain and has achieved the second realm of cultivation.

So, feeling confident he was ready again, he went to find Chen Ping'an under the covered bridge and tried to kill him.

Even if I get killed instead, it doesn't matter.

“You’re still far from being a grassroots newcomer.” Chen Ping’an put away the wooden sword immortal carving, slowly stood up, and walked to Ma Kuxuan: “I’ve said it many times, my affairs are none of your business.”

"Bullshit." Ma Kuxuan cursed, then bent down abruptly, picked up an even bigger rock, and hurled it at him.

The stone still turned to dust a foot away from Chen Ping'an.

Chen Ping'an sighed softly, his figure swayed slightly, and in the next instant he appeared in front of Ma Kuxuan.

Ma Kuxuan didn't even see how he got there. He only felt a sudden pain in his abdomen, and his whole body bent over like a shrimp, vomiting a mouthful of sour water.

Immediately afterwards, Chen Ping'an placed his palm on his shoulder, and a gentle yet irresistible force came through. Ma Kuxuan felt dizzy and was thrown into the cool stream next to him with a splash.

Chen Ping'an stood on the shore, watching Ma Kuxuan struggling in the water, and said calmly, "When you can withstand three of my punches, then come and talk to me about who you're going to fight."

After saying that, he ignored Ma Kuxuan, who was coughing and choking on water, turned around and walked back to the covered bridge. He brushed off the corner of his clothes, bowed to the old swordsman under the bridge, and left.

Only then did the military cultivator carrying a long sword step forward. Looking at Chen Ping'an's back, he said to Ma Kuxuan, "He has at least reached the Dragon Gate Realm. The next step will be the Golden Core Realm. You will not be his match."

"Hmph." Ma Kuxuan curled his lips in disdain: "No matter how powerful Chen Ping'an is, no matter how high his achievements are now, he will only be a stepping stone for me in the future."

The military strategist shook his head: "If it were anyone else, perhaps there would be no problem with what you said, but this young man is definitely not like that."

"Why?" Ma Kuxuan asked, puzzled. "It's just that he was chosen by the mountain people a few years earlier than me. With my talent, how could I be inferior to him?"

"Because his master was named Russell," the military strategist said.

Others can be reckless when they enter the town, but they can't.

Before entering the town, they had already obtained most of the town's information.

This includes the life story of the boy named Chen Ping'an.

There was nothing about this boy that they should pay attention to; the broken porcelain of his birth year signified that his future was a dead end.

But there's one thing: his mentor was Bertrand Russell.

The vast world is too big, and ten years is too long. People who don't pay attention to sword cultivators or the Great Wall of Sword Qi may not know who the sword immortal who killed two thirteenth-realm demons in the Thirteenth Battle was.

However, seven years ago, no cultivator could ignore the sword mark that stretched across the sky.

The higher one's cultivation level, the greater the reaction to this sword mark.

At that time, Russell's name was truly remembered by all the sects in the vast world with the five realms above.

"Is Chen Ping'an's master very strong?"

On the other side of the covered bridge, Song Jixin looked at Bai Longyufu beside him. He had always thought that the guy named Russell was just an ordinary mountain man.

"Very strong." Song Changjing nodded solemnly.

He was confident that once he left this world, he could suppress the likes of Qi Jingchun and other deities of the three religions with a single hand, but in front of Russell, he was nothing more than a child.

Even now, recalling that sword mark still causes him a faint, stinging pain in his soul.

Chen Ping'an didn't care about any of that, whether it was Ma Kuxuan's parents, the Empress of the Dali Dynasty, or that Zou Zi.

Anyone who used underhanded tactics against his father will be held accountable once he reaches the fifth realm.

He walked onto the covered bridge and found a group of four or five people gathered in the distance, some standing and some standing, seemingly protecting one of the women. Chen Ping'an could only see the woman's side profile.

She sat on the railing of the covered bridge, her feet dangling naturally over the water, her eyes closed in meditation. The position of her fingers was strange, with them intertwined or bent.

Water View?

Chen Ping'an thought of the meditation technique his master had taught him.

This method originates from Buddhism and teaches to observe water with the mind and to observe the mind with water.

It shares a similar principle with his method of achieving a state of spiritual emptiness.

Ignoring these people, Chen Ping'an continued walking forward. Just as he stepped off the covered bridge, he heard exclamations and angry shouts coming from the other side.

Looking back, it was Ma Kuxuan who ruined the artistic conception of the woman watching the water.

According to his master, it truly is a demon pill.

Shaking his head, Chen Ping'an ignored these matters and continued on his way home.

With Ma Kuxuan here today, it's obviously impossible to comprehend swordsmanship again. Instead, I can go to the New Year's gift shop and buy some pastries to bring to Xiuxiu and Miss Ning.

"Fellow Daoist, is Ma Kuxuan ahead?"

A young Taoist nun wearing a fish-tail-shaped Taoist crown walked towards them from a distance. She rode a pure white deer with a faint smile on her face.

Beside her was a Taoist priest with a handsome face, whose steps were light and graceful, like flowing clouds and water. Two large fish with long whiskers, one red and one green, swam around him.

"Yes, but you need to hurry. A swordsman from the military school has already found him."

Without any hesitation, Chen Ping'an told them Ma Kuxuan's whereabouts.

Compared to military sword cultivators and Taoist celestial masters, Chen Ping'an still hoped that Ma Kuxuan would choose the latter.

If I cultivate my character a little, I can avoid causing him trouble.

After all, human patience always has its limits.

After the trouble Ma Kuxuan caused truly threatened his life, he couldn't guarantee that he would still harbor the intention to kill Ma Kuxuan.

"Thank you." He Xiaoliang quickly expressed his gratitude and hurried towards the other side of the covered bridge with his junior brother.

Chen Ping'an continued his journey without slowing down. He first went to a New Year's gift shop and bought two portions of pastries before heading to Master Ruan's sword forging workshop.

Unfortunately, Ruan Xiu wasn't there; she had gone off to enjoy the scenery somewhere else.

Coincidentally, both Ning Yao and Liu Xianyang were here.

The latter was a helper here, and could be considered half a disciple of Master Ruan, while the former had come to inquire about the progress of his sword.

"Oh, I just happened to need to talk to you."

Upon seeing Chen Ping'an approach, Liu Xianyang happily pulled him towards the stream, then lowered his voice and said:
"When you get back, do me a favor. Wait for a lady to come looking for you. She's the woman whose son is dressed in bright red. She's the mother and son we saw at the entrance of Mud Bottle Alley last time. When she comes to your door, don't say anything. Just hand her the big box containing the precious armor. She'll give you a bag of money. Remember to count it in front of her. It's twenty-five copper coins. Don't let a single one be missing!"

Chen Ping'an was somewhat puzzled: "Are you crazy? That armor is of pretty good quality, and it will be of great help to you in your future cultivation."

"You know nothing!" Liu Xianyang glared and scolded, "A bright future is laid out in front of me, why should I let it slip away? Now that there's a fair price, isn't that good? It can even make things more secure."

Chen Ping'an remained skeptical, feeling that this wasn't Liu Xianyang's true intention, and that someone must have threatened him.

Since Liu Xianyang wouldn't say, he planned to personally go to Madam Xu and demand an explanation. (End of Chapter)