People in the Qin Dynasty sought good fortune and avoided misfortune.

Chapter 128, The Eight Swords of Noble Void, Nian Duan's Gift

As dusk fell, Six-Fingered Black Knight led the Mo family members away from Xu Qing's residence.

After seeing everyone off, Xu Qing returned to the house and took the Lingxu Sword out of its case.

Looking at the long and handsome Lingxu Sword in his hand, Xu Qing reached out and stroked the eighteen Beihai Azure Blood Hearts embedded in it, his eyes revealing an undisguised fondness.

Suddenly, Xu Qing's eyes narrowed, and he gripped the hilt of his sword with his right hand, drawing the Lingxu Sword from its sheath. A bright sword light, accompanied by a melodious sound of it being drawn, illuminated half the room.

The long, beautiful sword blade was dazzling and eye-catching, making people afraid to look directly at it. As a weapon of death, Ling Xu's ability to rank tenth in Feng Hu Zi's sword manual naturally meant that he had been stained with blood.

Despite this, the Lingxu sword does not show any bloodshed or ferocity, but only gives people a sense of ethereal elegance, which is obviously due to its unique sword body.

"To carry one's will with a sword, to illuminate one's heart with a sword—is it to illuminate the emptiness and soaring spirit, the heart that transcends the world and roams freely? Feng Hu Zi's assessment was indeed correct," Xu Qing exclaimed.

With a few casual swings, the sound of a sharp blade cutting through the air rang out, demonstrating its razor-sharpness.

Xu Qing was increasingly delighted with the Lingxu Sword in his hand. After carefully examining it for a while, he sheathed it and put it back into the sword box.

"Today I have successfully attained enlightenment and have gained a certain understanding of the doctrine of Noble Emptiness. Many of the drawbacks of the cultivation method should have been resolved."

Xu Qing took off his shirt, looked solemnly at his Shenque acupoint, and reached out his finger to press it.

But the thought of that excruciating pain from last time made Xu Qing feel a wave of fear.

"What the hell are you afraid of? If you want to learn martial arts but don't want to suffer, what are you daydreaming about!"

Xu Qing gritted his teeth and pressed his hand on his Shenque acupoint. Just as he was preparing to feel the sharp pain, he found that nothing happened.

Xu Qing's face lit up with joy, and he pressed the Shenque acupoint several more times, but still nothing happened.

"Haha, the teacher was right. Taoist martial arts do indeed require profound theoretical support."

After laughing excitedly twice, Xu Qing quickly lifted the third floor tile under the bed and took out the Guixu Eight Swords hidden inside.

"I have mastered the third level of the Evergreen Technique in the past month, and the next step is the fourth level. But there's no rush. Let's learn the Eight Swords of Noble Void first."

Xu Qing was planning his next move in his mind. Although his strength had not improved over the past month.

However, by cultivating the Autumn Waters of Ten Thousand Rivers and the Still Water of the Heart, he refined all the internal energy he had gained through medicine, laying a very solid foundation. Now he is a genuine second-rate master.

Xu Qing placed the bamboo slips under the candlelight, adjusted his posture, and began to learn the sword techniques written on the bamboo slips.

Next door, at the Feng residence, Jingni stood on the rooftop, staring at Xu Qing's house, whose doors and windows were covered by black cloth.

She has been monitoring Xu Qing for a month now. Every day after Xu Qing comes home, he covers the doors and windows with a black cloth.

She once secretly went to spy on him, only to find Xu Qing either calculating the bribes he had received or reading a book.

The former was indeed something that couldn't be shown to others, but as for the latter, since nothing unusual was found during the investigation, it was assumed to be Xu Qing's personal preference, so no further investigation was conducted.

A Luo Wang assassin approached Jing Ni, clasped his hands in greeting, and said...

"Commander, the Six-Fingered Black Knight, the Grand Master of the Mohist School, has left Xinzheng with his men, heading straight towards the Yan Kingdom. However, the Mohist disciples and the Divine Slayer Swordsmen in the city have not left, clearly intending to remain to protect their target."

"Has Xianyang responded?" Jingni asked in a deep voice.

As an organization under the Qin state responsible for infiltrating and assassinating the six states, high efficiency was a fundamental requirement for Luo Wang (the Net of Qin).

However, since she sent someone to report on Xu Qing and Xin Zheng's situation a month ago, Luo Wang has been slow to respond, completely lacking its usual efficiency.

Jing Ni also had some guesses about this, after all, the struggle between Marquis Changxin, Lao Ai, and Marquis Wenxin, Lü Buwei, for control of the Luo Wang was already out in the open.

As a top-tier assassin, she was a pillar of the Luo Wang organization and naturally a target for Lao Ai's recruitment.

"We've already given a reply. Marquis Wenxin has ordered us to monitor and get close to Xu Qing, and try to win him over. If that fails, we'll eliminate him," said the assassin from Luo Wang.

Jing Ni nodded slightly, looked at Xu Qing's room, and said coldly.

"Then let's create some trouble to distract the Mohist disciples and the Divine Slayer Swordsmen, so that they can't pay attention to Xu Qing for the time being."

"promise."

"What's the situation in Wei?" Jing Ni asked.

She was supposed to go to the State of Wei to assassinate Lord Xinling, Wei Wuji, but Lao Ai's orders forced her to come to the State of Han to monitor Xu Qing.

Although Jing Ni harbored no resentment, as an assassin, she maintained an exceptionally high assassination rate and mission completion rate.

Even though her mission was changed, the task of assassinating Lord Xinling had still been passed through her hands, and in her mind it was still her mission. Therefore, she did not want the mission to fail, thus affecting her assassination success rate.

Assassination success rate is the foundation of Luo Wang's ranking of assassins. Since she was old enough to understand, she has received various trainings within Luo Wang. Executing missions and killing mission targets is the purpose of her life.

The assassination rate became her proof that she was alive.

"The mission to assassinate Lord Xinling was carried out by Commander Hei Bai Xuan Jian, but Commander Hei Bai did not directly assassinate Lord Xinling. Instead, he first launched assassination attempts against several high-ranking officials in the Wei court."

"Now the people of Daliang are in a state of panic, and the officials of Wei are so frightened that they dare not go out."

The assassin from Luo Wang told Jing Ni everything he knew.

Jing Ni nodded slightly and stopped asking questions. Hei Bai Xuan Jian's strength was above hers. Although he had some physical problems, assassinating Wei Wuji was still no problem for him.

After taking a deep look at her reflection on the black cloth, Jingni turned around, climbed off the roof, and landed on the ground.

Once she regained her footing, Jingni seemed like a completely different person in the blink of an eye. The coldness and arrogance between her brows disappeared, replaced by a delicate beauty tinged with a hint of aloofness.

Her stunningly beautiful face carried a faint trace of sadness, her fair, snow-white skin glowing with a delicate rosy hue, seemingly fragile enough to break at a touch. The subtle sorrow and weariness in her beautiful eyes evoked a feeling of pity in the heart.

This transformation turned Jingni from a weapon devoid of any emotion into a delicate and aloof rose.

Disguise and acting are essential skills for an assassin. As one of the most successful assassins in the Luo Wang organization, she may not have many emotions or feelings, but her acting skills are enough to make up for this shortcoming.

After transforming back into Luo Jing, a delicate and aloof concubine in the Feng family, Jing Ni strode into her room with her long, beautiful legs.

The next day at dawn, Xu Qing went to the Imperial Physician's office for his usual roll call, and then went to examine the pulses of Consort Hu and the Chao Nv Yao as usual. After noon, he left the palace for Zhang Kaidi's residence.

Although Zhang Kaidi's condition has improved, he has not yet fully recovered. He is responsible for peace talks with the Qin state, so King An of Han has Xu Qing come daily to examine Zhang Kaidi, ensuring his well-being.

Xu Qing was happy to accept this arrangement, since Nian Duan was at Zhang Kaidi's residence, and he could use this opportunity to openly seek Nian Duan's guidance.

In Zhang's bedroom, Xu Qing was taking Zhang Kaidi's pulse.

"Prime Minister, your condition is no longer a problem. The next step is to take good care of yourself and make up for the previous losses," Xu Qing said with a nod.

"Thank you so much for the Imperial Physician's help in recuperating my health these past few days," Zhang Kaidi said.

"Your Excellency is too kind. I was merely assisting Mr. Nian Duan. I cannot accept your gratitude," Xu Qing declined.

He claimed to have cured Zhang Kaidi's illness, but in reality, it was Nian Duan who had been treating Zhang Kaidi. He only kept it a secret to avoid being misled.

"If it weren't for the imperial physician helping me suppress my cold, my body wouldn't have recovered so quickly," Zhang Kai said.

Xu Qing just smiled and didn't say anything.

Zhang Liang pushed open the door and walked in, saying to Zhang Kaidi and Xu Qing...
“Grandfather, the Imperial Physician, Mr. Nian Duan requests that the Imperial Physician come over.”

"Prime Minister, I will head over now. Please take good care of yourself during this time," Xu Qing said.

"Liang'er, deliver the imperial physician's order to me."

"it is good."

Xu Qing followed Zhang Liang out of the bedroom, and the two walked towards the side room where Nian Duan was.

Before long, the two arrived at the side room, where Nian Duan and Duanmu Rong had already put their bamboo baskets back on their backs, looking like they were about to leave.

"Mr. Nian Duan, are you leaving?" Zhang Liang asked in surprise.

"Zifang, it's just in time that you've arrived. Please convey my farewell to Prime Minister Zhang. His condition has improved; the rest can be left to the Imperial Physician."

"I have other things to take care of, so I won't stay any longer."

After Nian Duan finished speaking to Zhang Liang, he took out two bamboo scrolls from Duanmu Rong's bamboo basket and handed them to Xu Qing.

“These are the last two bamboo scrolls in the medical books of the medical school. Your talent is the greatest I have ever seen. I hope that you will continue to uphold your original intention of caring for all living beings and make the best use of our medical skills,” Nian Duan said to Xu Qing.

Seeing that Nian Duan looked like he wouldn't let them leave, Xu Qing and Zhang Liang swallowed back all the words they were about to say.

After receiving the two bamboo scrolls, Xu Qing solemnly performed the master-disciple kneeling ceremony before Nian Duan.

Although Nian Duan did not formally accept him as a disciple, the past month of instruction and guidance had been no different from that of a master and student. Under Nian Duan's tutelage, his medical skills improved rapidly.

The next step is to apply what he has learned in practice. After becoming proficient, although he may not reach the level of a famous doctor, he can still be considered a skilled physician.

"Thank you very much for your guidance during this time, sir. I am deeply grateful," Xu Qing said.

"Get up quickly. If you really want to thank me, remember what I said, stay true to yourself, and protect all living beings within your power." Nian Duan helped Xu Qing up.

"Yes."

Nian Duan looked at the reluctant Xu Qing and Zhang Liang, and said with a faint smile.

"Rong'er, let's go."

"Okay Master."

Duanmu Rong glanced at Xu Qing, then followed Nian Duan outside.

"Respectfully seeing off Mr. Nian Duan," Xu Qing and Zhang Liang said in unison.

Nian Duan and Duanmu Rong walked out of the side room and left through the back gate of the Zhang residence.

"Master, shall we go to the State of Zhao next?" Duanmu Rong asked.

“No, go to Wei,” Nian Duan said.

"Wei? Isn't our target Zhao this time?" Duanmu Rong asked doubtfully.

“Now we have another task to do. Human resources are ultimately limited. If we want to save the world, the two of us alone are not enough.”

“He cannot follow in the footsteps of the physician, but I can walk them in his place.”

Duanmu Rong glanced at her teacher with a puzzled look, then looked back at the Zhang residence. She knew that the man her teacher was referring to was Xu Qing.

"Can he really?"

"I believe he can do it."

(End of this chapter)