Sword drawn from the constellations, poison as its edge.

Chapter 1 The little man lived on the outskirts of Suzhou.
The source of the Yellow River, Zaling Lake.

Jiang Mingzhe paddled helplessly, feeling only a bone-chilling cold.

The vast lake surface was as smooth as a mirror, without a trace of human presence.

Where's the boat? Where's the dock?

What about me, Ms. Dong, who is so old?
Jiang Mingzhe was on the verge of tears.

He went to great lengths to infiltrate the inspection team organized by Ms. Dong, a renowned businesswoman, and won her favor through persuasive words. Finally, he encountered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change his fate.

At that time, Ms. Dong was holding something and went to the stern of the boat alone. It was unclear whether she was going to feed the fish or what. Anyway, with a splash, the pearl fell into the water.

If someone were to copy this, they would have secured a golden opportunity for the rest of their life!
Jiang Mingzhe was the first to jump into the water, but his calves were too weak, and he got a cramp after swimming only a few meters.

When he finally managed to pry his tendons apart, struggled to take off his incredibly heavy wet clothes, and resurfaced, this was the scene before him.

Jiang Mingzhe was filled with questions. Fortunately, he wasn't too far from the shore. He used all his strength to struggle and finally managed to climb ashore, his hands and feet trembling.

The ox, panting for a while, had just gotten up when a scream rang out.

"Hey! This person isn't even wearing clothes, how shameless!"

You're the one not wearing clothes! I'm clearly wearing underwear!

Jiang Mingzhe looked up angrily and saw two figures standing side by side on the grassy slope, one tall and one short.

The shorter one was a girl of about thirteen or fourteen, wearing an antique-style purple shirt that made her skin look as white as snow.

A pair of small hands tightly covered her face, her fingers spread wide apart, and her dark, bright eyes darted around, making her look quite cunning.

Gao was an extraordinary old man with a long beard and hair as white as silver, but his face was rosy and smooth, like that of a baby.

He was strong and tall, wearing a crane cloak, waving a feather fan, and his expression was full of arrogance and disdain.

The two were dressed in a style reminiscent of ancient times, but with the current revival of Chinese fashion, Jiang Mingzhe didn't think much of it.

He forced a smile and was about to ask what was going on when the girl jumped up and down happily: "Master, Master, this shameless person dared to trespass on my Xingxiu Sect, let's poison him to death!"

Her voice was soft and pleasant, and her tone was cheerful and carefree.

It's like a child catching a butterfly, laughing as they tear off its wings—there's a kind of innocent cruelty about it.

The old man chuckled evilly, "Hehe, little Azi is right, then let's use him to test my newly refined Soul-Burning Flame!"

With a flick of his feather fan, a ghostly, emerald-green flame appeared out of thin air and floated on the old man's chest.

The old man pursed his lips and blew, and the emerald green flame flickered and floated gently towards Jiang Mingzhe.

Wherever it passed, the air distorted into eerie ripples, and the waist-high weeds on the ground withered rapidly.

What is this? A fireball spell?

wrong!

What did he just call that girl? Did he say I trespassed?
It was as if a thunderbolt had exploded in Jiang Mingzhe's mind!
Little Azi!
Constellation School!
I... I've arrived in the world of Tianlong?
By the way, could the source of the Yellow River be the headquarters of Ding Chunqiu, the Old Monster of the Starry Sky, the Starry Sea?

So this white-haired, youthful-looking old man is none other than the ruthless Ding Laoguai?
In the blink of an eye, the green flames were already two meters in front of him.

In order to please a big client who was passionate about martial arts, Jiang Mingzhe had read through all of Jin Yong's works, and was particularly impressed by the various poisonous skills of the Xingxiu Sect.

If you get touched by this green flame, it will not only be death, but an excruciatingly painful death!
Jiang Mingzhe's heart pounded like a drum, and every hair on his body stood on end. He wanted to beg for mercy, but then he thought of Ding Chunqiu's cruelty and wickedness. Begging would probably be a waste of energy, and besides, this man was ambitious and eager for glory...

Ambitious and eager for quick success!

Jiang Mingzhe's eyes lit up as if he had grasped a lifeline. Without thinking any further, he immediately forced a look of ecstatic joy and shock.

"Wow, it really is a deity! I've finally found a deity!"

The green fire slowed down.

There is a way!
Jiang Mingzhe was overjoyed.

As the youngest sales director in the industry, Jiang Mingzhe knows that sales is a game of human nature, and only by understanding human nature can one control performance.

Jiang Mingzhe blinked, his eyes filled with a mixture of surprise and awe.

"This humble one pays respects to the Immortal Venerable!"

Jiang Mingzhe shouted, knelt down on both knees, clasped his hands together, and gushing out a torrent of flattering words.

"May you enjoy eternal bliss and longevity, my Immortal Lord! Immortal Lord, I have been seeking immortality for many years, and finally, I have finally found you!"

Jiang Mingzhe's face was full of joy and praise, but his heart was filled with humiliation and anger.

He works in sales, so smiling and saying nice things is second nature to him. But if anyone dares to make him kneel, he'll definitely slap that person's face with the sole of his shoe.

But right now, we can only say that circumstances are beyond our control.

Signing one less contract might mean earning less money, but if he can't handle Ding Chunqiu, he'll be addicted to opium and alcohol, and his life will be over in no time.

That's enough! If we're going to act, we might as well go all the way.

Jiang Mingzhe kept comforting himself: Even if I were in ancient times, or even in modern times, ordinary people would have to kneel and kowtow when they went to a temple to burn incense.
Moreover, his kneeling wasn't entirely for the purpose of pleasing or currying favor. After kneeling, his body became shorter, naturally increasing the distance between him and the green flames. If Ding Chunqiu refused to stop, Jiang Mingzhe could simply roll backward and escape into the lake.

"Hehehehe."

Ding Chunqiu was pleased with the title "Immortal Venerable," thinking to himself that this title was indeed fitting for his status. Why hadn't he thought of it before?

He found the boy's voice incredibly pleasant to hear, and with a soft laugh, the ball of green flame stopped moving and hovered a foot in front of Jiang Mingzhe.

"Seeking immortality?" Ding Chunqiu lightly fanned himself with his goose feather fan, a smug look on his face. "How could a mortal like me possibly see... that I am an immortal?"

He felt that the title "Immortal Venerable" was very impressive, so he immediately began to call himself "Immortal Venerable" without hesitation.

Jiang Mingzhe raised his head, his eyes growing increasingly devout and resolute: "Reporting to the Immortal Venerable, I originally lived on the outskirts of Suzhou, with a house and fields, and a life of boundless joy..."

"Huh?" Ding Chunqiu's eyes lit up, and he asked in surprise, "Are you from Suzhou?"

Jiang Mingzhe shook his head: "To be precise, my ancestral home is Qufu, Shandong. It was only in my grandfather's generation that we moved to Suzhou."

He tried his best to use precise language and make his speech sound more like that of the ancients, and he even used Shandong dialect for this sentence.

Jiang Mingzhe's clients are all over the world, and he had put in a lot of effort to learn the local dialects, which came in very handy at this moment.

Because he vaguely remembered that Ding Chunqiu seemed to be from Qufu.

Ding Chunqiu's adopted daughter, who is also Wang Yuyan's mother, lived in Mantuo Villa, located in Suzhou and Taihu Lake.

"Originally from Shandong, but moved to Suzhou?"

Ding Chunqiu indeed showed interest, and his expression softened: "So, it seems you and I are somewhat destined to meet..."

In ancient times, transportation was inconvenient, and the feelings of home were particularly strong. Especially since Xingxiuhai was located in the remote Qinghai, if Ding Chunqiu had not gone to the Central Plains, he probably would not have heard his hometown accent for decades.

Ding Chunqiu's murderous intent diminished greatly. With a wave of his hand, the ball of green fire flew back at a speed too fast to see clearly.

With a flick of the feather fan, all the light and flames vanished, and no one knew where he had taken them.

Jiang Mingzhe immediately opened his eyes wide and muttered to himself, "Celestial magic! It really is celestial magic!"

Ding Chunqiu smiled smugly, waving his fan as he asked, "The Master did not speak of strange phenomena, physical prowess, disorder, or spirits. As a scion of the land of sages, you should be studying diligently. How come you have such thoughts of seeking immortality and enlightenment?"

"Reporting to the Immortal Venerable," Jiang Mingzhe's expression remained respectful, but a trace of sorrow was revealed in his eyes.

"Alas, as the saying goes, 'One wishes to care for one's parents, but they are no longer there.' I have not yet fulfilled my filial duty when my parents passed away due to the epidemic. In my grief, I had a thought: I must learn the magic of immortals, descend to the underworld, and ask King Yama to arrange for my parents to be reborn into a wealthy family, so that their efforts in raising me would not have been in vain. Therefore, I vowed to travel to famous mountains and rivers to seek the true immortals and ask about the Dao."

Jiang Mingzhe's words were not made up.

In his view, Ding Chunqiu's later "imperial tour of the Central Plains" and his taking in so many useless clowns as apprentices may not only be due to his love of grandstanding and ostentation, but also to his fondness for lively and bustling environments.

After all, this old monster is also getting on in years. No matter how wild and wicked he was when he was young, as he gets older, he will inevitably have the thought of having a house full of children and grandchildren.

Unfortunately, he had no son, so he had to take in a bunch of apprentices to make it seem like he had a group of filial sons and grandsons to serve him.

Therefore, Jiang Mingzhe's motivation for seeking immortality was definitely not to prove immortality or attain freedom, but must be based on his simple and filial piety.

Ding Chunqiu sighed softly after hearing this, as if he were feeling a pang of regret: "Filial piety is the most important virtue. To have such a mindset, you truly deserve to be a young man from the land of sages. Your parents in the afterlife can rest in peace."

After saying this, he looked up at the sky and sighed repeatedly, seemingly quite envious of others who had such a filial son.

Ah Zi, watching from the side, was secretly amazed.

She was born beautiful and lovely, and with her intelligence, she was always deeply loved by Ding Chunqiu and was often by his side. However, she had never seen Ding Chunqiu treat anyone with such kindness and gentleness.

I'm a little jealous!

Azi glared at Jiang Mingzhe angrily.

Unexpectedly, Jiang Mingzhe, with his keen eyesight, immediately noticed Azi's mischief, winked at her, and smiled gently.

The Xingxiu Sect has many male disciples, both old and young. They laugh occasionally, but it's mostly wild laughter, sinister laughter, lewd laughter, evil laughter, malicious laughter, fake laughter...

Azi had never seen Jiang Mingzhe's bright and sunny smile before.

Although Azi was somewhat eccentric, she was still just a young girl in her prime. Overwhelmed by her beauty, her heart raced and blood rushed to her cheeks.

This experience was extremely novel to Azi. She was completely ignorant about matters between men and women, and immediately became annoyed: her heart was pounding and her face was blushing. If someone found out, wouldn't they think she was weak and easy to bully!

In the Starry Sky Sect, weakness is the greatest sin.

Azi felt she had lost face, so she quickly put on what she thought was a fierce expression, wrinkled her nose, and showed off her little white teeth, like an angry little dog.

Jiang Mingzhe didn't dare to provoke her any further, and quickly showed a hint of fear, looking away.

Ah Zi finally breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a little calmer.

He thought to himself, "My senior brothers say that only good people can laugh so heartily without a care in the world. Could this person actually be a good person? Hmm, if that's the case, if Master accepts this person as a disciple, wouldn't he be free to bully me? Good people are meant to be bullied!"

At this moment, Ding Chunqiu seemed to have come to his senses and stared intently at Jiang Mingzhe: "If you want to seek immortality, you should go to Mount Tai, Mount Mao, Mount Lao, or Mount Longhu. Why did you come all the way here?"

When Ding Chunqiu asked this question, he smiled faintly, as if it were just a casual question.

But Jiang Mingzhe was very good at reading people and immediately noticed the cold glint hidden in his eyes!
(End of this chapter)