Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 52 Immortal Traces
When Xu Wen set foot in Baozhou, the northern region had already begun to warm up.

The light spring rain brought patches of green, but people still couldn't take off their fur coats.

The bitter cold of the north was a bone-chilling cold for the people of Chu; even the gentler spring winds felt like knives on their faces.

Along the way, Xu Wen encountered many martial artists who were also coming to participate in the martial arts tournament. Some traveled in groups under the name of their sects, while others traveled alone, seeking an opportunity.

Master Xu had hired the head constable, Master Bai, at great expense, but he had already returned home when he was about to leave the Chu Kingdom. After entering the Xiao Kingdom, the court suddenly relaxed its supervision of people in the martial arts world. There was no need to check identities when staying at inns or entering and leaving the city, which made Xu Wen feel quite uncomfortable for a while.

After entering Baozhou, the group hurried along for a whole day and finally arrived at the foot of Baishi Mountain before sunset.

Baishishan, also known as Wenshishan, is located in the eastern part of the Daxingshan mountain range and is the most famous mountain in the northern region.

Its terrain is steep and the peaks are stacked one after another. Because it has a lot of white marble, it is named Baishi Mountain (White Stone Mountain).

But what truly made Baishi Mountain a famous mountain in the north was the Sword Casting Manor located there.

The Sword-Forging Manor's annual sword-tasting competition is one of the biggest events in the martial arts world.

At that time, many martial artists would come to appraise swords, including many Venerables, and even once, a Grandmaster came!
Of course, the Sword Appraisal Tournament is not just about appraising swords; it's more like a grand "auction," except the object of the auction isn't the swords themselves, but rather the craftsmanship of the swordsmiths. Many martial artists in the martial world come to the Sword Forging Manor specifically to have swordsmiths forge their own natal swords or other divine weapons. With a natal weapon, martial arts cultivation becomes twice as effective, and the power of various techniques and martial arts skills increases significantly.

As everyone knows, if a martial artist in the world wants to truly improve their martial arts, the first thing they must do is to obtain a natal divine weapon.

While one can still cultivate without a natal artifact, the efficiency will be low, and in actual combat, one will naturally be at a disadvantage.

However, although one can only nurture one natal artifact, it is not fixed. In some special circumstances, it can be replaced, and the earlier it is replaced, the easier it is. Therefore, many martial artists, after realizing that their cultivation has stagnated and they cannot make any progress, will try to come to the Sword Forging Manor and ask those famous sword forgers to reforge their natal artifact.

Influenced by the sword saint of the previous dynasty, many martial artists choose the sword.

As a natal artifact, a sword is an excellent choice. It has sufficient destructive power and also serves as a ritual object, facilitating visualization during breakthroughs.

What's even better is that, because the Sword Saint of the previous dynasty had a wide circle of friends, he spread a great many low-level sword techniques and martial arts skills throughout the martial arts world, which allowed most martial artists to learn the basics quickly and efficiently, and even reach a decent rank.

Therefore, most martial artists in the martial arts world choose swords as their natal weapon, which is one of the reasons why the Sword Forging Manor, famous for its sword-making skills, has such a great reputation in the martial arts world.

However, as the old master of the Sword Forging Manor has grown older and less involved in affairs over the past decade or so, the frequency of the Sword Appraisal Conference has also decreased.

If you think about it, the last Sword Appraisal Conference was five years ago. So when the various sects received the invitation from the Sword Forging Manor, they thought that the Sword Appraisal Conference had finally been held again. But they didn't expect that it was because the old manor master had broken through to the Grandmaster realm and was holding a martial arts conference!

Because Li Qi had some reputation in the martial arts world and had visited the Sword Forging Manor in his earlier years, he did not, like those idle martial artists who could only stay in Feihu County and Guangchang County near Baishi Mountain before the official opening of the Martial Arts Tournament, visit the Sword Forging Manor directly.

As soon as the group arrived at the gate of the Sword Casting Manor, they encountered an elderly man with a white beard speaking to a carriage, seemingly greeting the guests.

When the old man saw that Li Qi, Xu Wen and others had brought so many people, he quickly cupped his hands to the people in the carriage and then hurried towards Li Qi.

Upon reaching them, the old man first exchanged greetings with everyone before carefully observing them.

He initially had no recollection of them, but as he looked at one of the two leaders, he found him increasingly familiar. It wasn't until he saw the dark, barrel-shaped concealed weapon hanging from Li Qi's waist that he suddenly remembered and exclaimed, "You could be... Li Qi, the Mother-Child Soul-Chasing Hand!?"

Li Qi dismounted, smiled politely, and greeted, "It's been many years, Second Master, you're still as dashing as ever!" Wan Qizhongqiu chuckled and cupped his hands in greeting, "I'm fine, I'm fine. I wonder how Old Master Xu's health is?"

"Master Lao is concerned; he's still in relatively good health..."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, everyone followed Wanqi Zhongqiu to the guest courtyard in the manor.

There were more than two hundred people, and one courtyard was not enough to accommodate them all. However, most of the guest courtyards in the Sword Forging Manor were useful, so they had to be reserved for those sects with great reputations and high status. Therefore, Wanqi Zhongqiu led Li Qi and others to Kuai Xue Shi Qing Manor.

The master of Kuai Xue Shi Qing Manor is Wan Qi Shu Yi, who is also the third master of Zhu Jian Manor.

Wanqi Shuyi himself was mediocre in martial arts, but he was extremely fond of calligraphy and painting. His flying white brush technique was famous throughout the world. Even his natal weapon was not the most common sword, but a judge's pen made of cold iron.

Wanqi Zhongqiu chose to settle them here because Li Qi's power came from the Xu family of Jiangnan, not from the martial arts world.

The next morning, Xu Wen took a thorough bath and burned incense before going up Baishi Mountain with Li Qi.

However, since neither of them was familiar with the area and they had forgotten to ask for a guide, they entered the mountain from a rather remote location. After walking for a short while, they came across a mulberry grove.

Although the snow on Baishi Mountain has melted, apart from pine needles, there is still no greenery to be seen. Only this mulberry grove is lush and verdant, looking completely unlike any ordinary forest.

"A miracle! This must be a miracle!"

Xu Wen stared wide-eyed, his voice trembling with excitement. He then rushed over and gently stroked a mulberry tree as if it were some rare treasure.

Unexpectedly, after touching it a few times, the mulberry tree suddenly shook, and with a thud, a golden, yellowish object fell from the tree and landed at Xu Wen's feet.

Although Xu Wen was startled, he still squatted down and curiously picked up the translucent object.

A sweet and refreshing fragrance then spread.

"This is... a beehive?"

Xu Wen was quite knowledgeable. He examined the object in his hand repeatedly and thought it looked like a honeycomb. Because of the cold weather, the honey on it was in a semi-solid state.

This honeycomb is just too clean and the color is too rich. Even the bees that the Xu family carefully raises on the farm cannot produce honeycombs of this quality.

Moreover, there wasn't a single bee on the entire honeycomb. If it weren't for the incredibly sweet smell, Xu Wen would have thought it was a fake honeycomb!
Li Qi was completely clueless about these things. Based on his subconscious experience, he asked, "Would bees build nests in such a cold season?"

Xu Wen didn't seem to mind, replying, "There shouldn't be any mulberry groves in this cold weather!"

As the two were talking, they suddenly heard an angry shout—

"You two little thieves! How dare you trespass into my White Stone Immortal Sect! Surrender at once!"

(End of this chapter)