You call this the way of the sword?

The National Academy has many branches, recruiting new members based on the Daoist principles. Among them, there is a special branch that is well-known to the world, but it remains hidden from view and its reputation is not widely known.

Upon entering the Sky Branch, you are greeted by a massive, near-sky-high building.

Outside the building, colorful clouds gather like a sea, with auspicious light and mist. Cranes and phoenixes soar among them, while a hundred-foot dragon plays with a pearl in its beak, endlessly repeating the cycle, all reflected in the sky.

Looking down from the light source, one can see Qingyang Avenue leading to the Near Heaven Tower. On both sides of the road are vast green fields, with broken stone tablets standing in the fields. These are all Dao Inquiry Tablets collected by the Azure Sky Branch.

The Daowen Stele is not something that exists in the present world, but rather a relic from ancient times.

The inscriptions on the steles, whether in form or in characters, record ancient information, occasionally including secret methods and techniques, and even secrets of heaven and earth. However, they are incomplete, difficult to distinguish between true and false, and cannot be practiced without relying on one's own understanding.

Who are you?

Liu Changge had only taken two steps when a beautiful figure appeared beside him.

Jiang Yuan frowned, sizing up the disheveled, plain-looking fellow before her. "Please state your name and explain the matter, senior."

"Liu Changge, go find Li Qingxuan."

"What do you need Senior Sister Li for?"

Jiang Yuan didn't recognize Liu Changge, but Liu Changge recognized her at a glance and said with a smile, "Jiang Yuan hates meddling in other people's business. Your personality is quite different from his."

"As far as I know, the Azure Sky Branch has not yet welcomed new students, and you are not a member of the branch. Why are you stopping me?"

Hearing the other person address her by her grandfather's name, Jiang Yuan's heart skipped a beat. She thought to herself that she must have been blinded by greed and had offended some important person. However, she also had a strong heart and managed to remain calm as she said:

"I was granted special permission by the dean to study here on my own. Although I am not a member of the academy, I am already here, so naturally I should do my part to guard the academy."

Jiang Yuan said one thing, but Liu Changge heard something else entirely.

He pinched his chin, pondering, "That old bastard really didn't let you into the branch hospital... nor did he let you go to the battlefield. What was he up to?"

Jiang Yuan was a little slow to react, and it took her a while to realize that she had been tricked into saying something. Just as she was feeling a little annoyed, she heard Liu Changge continue, "It seems that your grandfather is still very influential and knows a lot of inside information. He even knows our plan."

What is that?

What does that mean?

Jiang Yuan was completely stunned.

Little did she know that her unintentional remark would betray her grandfather.

Of course, it wasn't her fault. It's just that Liu Changge is the kind of person who likes to overthink things. He usually makes decisions first if he can figure things out, and then talks about it if he's wrong.

The effect was quite noticeable; at least Jiang Yuan was now pursing her lips, but dared not utter another word.

Liu Changge looked at her with amusement, thinking to himself that she was still far inferior to Yang Qingfeng.

"Did you learn anything from this?"

Jiang Yuan shook her head nervously, feeling as if she had caused a disaster.

"Then why aren't you leaving?"

Liu Changge's words startled Jiang Yuan, causing her eyes to widen and her heart to pound.

Her grandfather was a Grand Secretary, a figure of immense influence, which allowed her to meet many high-ranking officials of the empire from a young age, and even the emperor treated her with great affection.

At this moment, however, Liu Changge gave her a very bad feeling, a very bad feeling.

"I…"

Jiang Yuan desperately wanted to contact her grandfather immediately to ask what to do, but in front of Liu Changge, she didn't dare to make a move and could only ask, "Where should I go?"

Liu Changge nodded in satisfaction, "That's more like it."

He pinched his chin and thought for a moment. "I heard your grandfather dotes on you. He probably sent you here just to let you lay low for a while. But that's not good. The military hates leaks of war information the most."

"If you want to help Grandpa get away... go play on the battlefield."

At this point, Liu Changge suddenly curled his lips into a mischievous smile: "How about I give you another tip?"

Jiang Yuan thought to herself, "Since we've come this far, what harm is there in listening to one more word?"

She sincerely said, "Please give me your guidance, senior."

"Go find Yang Qingfeng. Anyway, you two have a connection with Chang Maofu, so following him will guarantee you good results."

After Liu Changge finished speaking, he left, leaving Jiang Yuan scratching her head for a while.

Who is this?

How come you seem to know everything?

She activated the divine communication talisman, contacted her grandfather, and explained the situation.

To everyone's surprise, after listening to this, Grand Secretary Jiang remained silent for a long time, and then suddenly burst into a tirade of curses, all in his native dialect.

He cursed Liu Changge for being shameless, for biting the hand that feeds him, and for being an old geezer.

They also dragged Yang Qingfeng into it, calling him a toad trying to eat swan meat and such.

Jiang Yuan was no longer surprised or nervous. In her memory, almost no one could make her grandfather break down, which was enough to prove that the other party's status or even seniority was higher than her grandfather's.

Moreover, Grandpa's sudden use of the word "toad" revealed a lot of information.

Perhaps even their own marriage can be influenced by their partner.

Besides the ruler, does the empire also have such a being?

The question popped into Jiang Yuan's mind, but she didn't have time to think about it further.

Children from ordinary families might not understand, but she knew very well that the moment this question arose, it meant that all the rules she had previously known were merely superficial.

"grandfather."

Jiang Yuan's ears were sore from the noise that she decided to make her own decision: "I'm going to the battlefield."

Grand Secretary Jiang's cursing stopped abruptly, and after a while, a voice filled with great concern came through: "You are a child of the Jiang family. You don't need to suffer like that. Listen to your grandfather and stay in the capital."

Jiang Yuan killed the conversation with a single sentence: "Grandpa, does what you said still count?"

Seeing that the old man remained silent for a long time, Jiang Yuan knew what was going on. Instead of being worried, she said with delight, "Then you can't control me anymore. I'm going to the battlefield now, bye-bye!"

"kite…"

Without giving Grand Secretary Jiang a chance to speak, Jiang Yuan ended the communication and immediately contacted Yang Qingfeng.

On the other side, Yang Qingfeng was refining his plan. After much thought, he felt that having only swordsmen was rather inadequate.

Just then, Jiang Yuan sent him a message. He wanted to use Jiang Yuan to change his perspective, so he explained the situation. Unexpectedly, Jiang Yuan was quite excited after listening and immediately gave him an answer.

She moved Yang Qingfeng with just two words: "organization."

It's no exaggeration to say that upon hearing the word "organization," Yang Qingfeng felt an immense sense of freedom and wonder.

To truly frighten demons and ghosts, forcing them to mobilize a large army to suppress them, scattered swordsmen are not enough. You also need a well-organized, systematic, and terrifying organization that can strike fear into the hearts of demons and ghosts and directly disrupt the balance of the battlefield.

Then another problem arose.

What is an organization?

How to organize it?

Can a terrifying atmosphere be created solely through killing?

Are there any even more explosive ideas?

Yang Qingfeng and Jiang Yuan got very excited and chatted about these issues. Soon, the two arrived at the house, which was worth 400 million yuan, but they hadn't slept there all night.

Yang Qingfeng first released several sword spirits, dressed them in clothes and masks, and presented his original concept, while also revealing some of his straight male aesthetic.

Rather than dressing the sword spirit, it's more like wrapping it up completely.

Jiang Yuan looked distressed and finally shook her head, uttering four words, "No, too ugly."

Yang Qingfeng was stunned. "What does this have to do with beauty or ugliness?"

Jiang Yuan said quite seriously, "The spirit of chivalry is an ancient tradition of our Yu Xia. Its very existence can deter demons and ghosts. Because it is ancient, mysterious, and powerful, we must follow this direction if we want to build a chivalrous organization."

"Wrapping it up haphazardly like that..."

Jiang Yuan gestured with her hands, but couldn't find a suitable adjective for a long time, which made her feel uncomfortable and unable to give a proper evaluation.

Yang Qingfeng fell into deep thought. On the one hand, he felt that Jiang Yuan's words made sense, and on the other hand, he wondered if he had made an unnecessary fuss. He should have just wrapped his clothes up and gone straight for it.

He thought for a moment, then asked casually, "So... in your opinion, how should it be adjusted?"

"No room for adjustment, redo it!"

Jiang Yuan smiled and pulled out a large hammer. Realizing she had grabbed the wrong one, she switched it with a pair of large scissors and raised an eyebrow at Yang Qingfeng.

"Senior brother, take it off."