A max-level player in Jade Dynasty: Awakening the Innate Dao at the start.

The stick's shadow stopped.

The final move, "Wind Brushing Willow," sliced ​​through the air without even making a sound.

The fire poker spun three times in Zhang Xiaofan's hand before coming to a steady stop.

The stick was still black, with a dark red bead at the top gleaming with a restrained, eerie light, like the eye of a sleeping beast.

Wan Jianyi put down his rough pottery teacup at the stone table.

The tea had long since gone cold, leaving a half-circle of light brown watermark on the rim of the cup.

His one arm rested on his knee, the empty sleeve dangling down.

His gaze lingered on the boy for a long time.

"It's been two years," Wan Jian said, his voice carrying the lingering scent of sandalwood and old wood from the ancestral hall.

"You've emptied my coffers of all my treasures."

Zhang Xiaofan put the stick back in his pocket, walked to the well, and drew up half a bucket of water.

The well rope creaked softly against the pulley, and when the bucket was lifted out of the water, it created a shimmering wave.

He scooped up some water and washed his face; the cool well water washed away the fine sweat from his forehead.

"My senior brother taught well."

Don't give me that.

Wan Jianyi chuckled.

"It took me thirty years to learn these things back then."

"You've been here for two years... Zhang Xiaofan, tell your master the truth—"

He leaned forward, his cloudy eyes fixed on the boy:

"Are you even human?"

Zhang Xiaofan shook the water droplets off his hands, turned around, and asked seriously:

"Do I look like a monster to you, Master?"

Wan Jian was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.

The laughter echoed in the courtyard of the ancestral hall, startling several gray sparrows under the eaves into a fluttering flight.

"A shrewd one!" he laughed and scolded, "Even shrewder than your master!"

After laughing, his gaze fell on the fire poker in Zhang Xiaofan's arms, and he shook his head:

"But your weapon... using a stick as a sword just feels a bit off."

Back then, I carried the Dragon Slayer Sword, dressed in white; that was what it meant to be…”

"What's the use of being handsome?" Zhang Xiaofan interrupted, "True skill is what matters."

Wan Jianyi raised an eyebrow:

"Oh? Then let your senior uncle see just how much more capable you've become in the last two years."

He stood up.

He raised his one arm and clenched it towards the void.

A dragon's roar echoed from deep within the ancestral hall.

Clear and melodious, like an ancient beast awakened from its slumber.

A beam of emerald green light pierced through the shadows under the eaves of the outbuilding and shot towards them!

As the light faded, a long sword hovered in front of Wan Jianyi.

The sword was three feet and three inches long, its blade a vibrant green, like a pool of autumn water.

A dragon-shaped pattern meanders along the spine of the sword, with the dragon's mouth holding the hilt.

Even before the sword was drawn, its chilling aura already permeated the air.

The surrounding air temperature dropped sharply, and a fine layer of frost condensed on the surface of the stone table.

Dragon-Slaying Sword.

Wan Jianyi held the sword in his hand.

In that instant, the hunched old man seemed to have vanished.

Standing there was the Qingyun prodigy from three hundred years ago, dressed in white and wielding a sword, who dared to single-handedly storm the lair of the demonic sect.

His back was ramrod straight, and his eyes were as sharp as a newly drawn sword.

Although he only had one arm left and his face was weathered, his sword intent soared straight to the sky!

"Come," he said, "let my master see your 'Demon-Slaying Skill'."

Zhang Xiaofan took a deep breath.

The fire poker slid out of his bosom, flipped once in his palm, and the tip pointed to the sky.

He closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, blue and gold colors alternated deep within his pupils.

"The righteous spirit of heaven and earth will endure forever—"

The moment the incantation was uttered, the clouds above the shrine began to swirl.

It wasn't dark clouds, but some kind of deeper, jade-like vortex.

In the very center of the cloud vortex, the phantom of a blue dragon slowly coalesced, its whiskers fluttering and its scales gleaming with a metallic sheen.

"I don't seek to slay immortals, but merely to vanquish demons and gods!"

As the last four words fell, the Azure Dragon looked up to the sky and let out a long roar!

The whistling sound was invisible, yet it made the tiles on the eaves of the ancestral hall rattle and crash.

The Azure Dragon swooped down and plunged headfirst into the fire poker.

The staff trembled violently, and a layer of pale blue dragon patterns appeared on its dark surface.

The patterns seemed to come alive, moving across the stick.

At the same time, Wan Jianyi drew his sword.

The roar of a dragon as the Dragon-Slaying Sword was drawn drowned out all other sounds.

A burst of emerald light erupted, and another azure dragon rose from the sword.

It was even more solid than Zhang Xiaofan's dragon, with eyes like lightning and claws that seemed capable of tearing the sky apart!

"cut!"

The two of them took action at the same time.

This isn't a friendly exchange; it's a real, hard-fought battle.

The fire stick and the dragon-slaying sword collided violently in mid-air, and the two azure dragons instantly intertwined!

The blue and green light suddenly exploded, and the shockwaves surged outwards from the point of impact!

The stone table cracked with a "crack," the ceramic teapot and teacups shattered into powder, and dust fell from the courtyard wall.

The standoff lasted for three seconds.

Zhang Xiaofan's hand split open, and blood flowed down his wrist.

The drops fell onto the bluestone slab, making a "drip, drip" sound.

He let out a muffled groan and was thrown backward.

He did three somersaults in the air, and staggered back more than ten steps before finally managing to stand up.

The fire poker was still in his hand, but the dragon pattern on it had faded.

Wan Jianyi remained standing in the same spot, the Dragon-Slaying Sword sheathed.

The azure light faded, and the azure dragon vanished.

He put his one arm behind his back, the empty sleeve fluttering slightly in the remaining airflow.

"I lost." Zhang Xiaofan wiped away a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth.

Wan Jianyi remained silent.

He stared at Zhang Xiaofan with the look in his eyes as if he were looking at someone he was meeting for the first time.

He felt it clearly at the moment of impact—

The sheer depth of that true essence, the precision with which it controlled the spiritual energy of heaven and earth…

"Shangqing Realm," Wan Jianyi slowly uttered the three words.

It's not a question, it's a confirmation.

Zhang Xiaofan nodded: "I broke through half a month ago."

"Five years..." Wan Jianyi murmured.

"From beginner to advanced level, five years."

Throughout the history of the Qingyun Sect, apart from the founder, Qingyunzi, only the revitalized Qingye Zhenren has achieved this speed.

It took Master Qingye four years, and you took five...

Zhang Xiaofan, you have surpassed everyone in the history of the Qingyun Sect, except for the founder.

including me.

He didn't say those words aloud, but his eyes said it all.

Three hundred years ago, he was the most dazzling genius of the Qingyun Sect.

It took him sixty years to go from Shangqing Realm to Taiqing Realm—a speed that was astonishing.

But now, this young man before me has walked a path that took him sixty years in just five years.

"Uncle-Master," Zhang Xiaofan put away the fire poker, walked up to him, and said, "I'm leaving."

Wan Jianyi's body stiffened slightly.

He remained silent for a long time, so long that a gray sparrow landed on the eaves and chirped twice.

Then he raised his hand, and his withered palm pressed down on Zhang Xiaofan's shoulder.

The force was very light, but my hand was trembling slightly.

"It's time to go."

Wan Jianyi's voice lowered.

"Eagles whose wings have grown strong must eventually leave the nest."

He withdrew his hand, turned around, and looked at the shadow deep within the ancestral hall:

"How's your learning going after two years?"

"Kendo has been thoroughly learned."

Zhang Xiaofan said, "But I haven't learned how to woo girls, Uncle-Master."

Wan Jianyi turned his head and glared at him: "How can you blame me? You're not as handsome as I was back then!"

"But I'm thick-skinned."

The two looked at each other and burst into laughter at the same time.

Laughter eased the heaviness of parting, and the courtyard seemed to come alive again.

After laughing, Zhang Xiaofan bowed deeply, bending all the way to the ground.

"Disciple bids farewell to Master Uncle."

Wan Jianyi didn't turn around, he just waved his one-armed arm.

Zhang Xiaofan turned around and walked towards the courtyard gate.

My footsteps were steady on the bluestone slabs.

One step, two steps, three steps—

"then!"

A whooshing sound came from behind.

Zhang Xiaofan didn't even turn his head, and scooped it up with his backhand.

It felt cool and heavy to the touch, and the texture on the scabbard rubbed against my palm. It was the Dragon Slayer Sword.

He turned around.

Wan Jianyi had already turned around, his cloudy eyes staring at him with a frighteningly serious expression:

"I've been eyeing your fire poker for two years."

The Bloodthirsty Beads suck people's life essence, and the Soul-Stealing Staff steals people's souls; both are extremely evil items.

Prolonged use can lead to the invasion of pathogenic factors into the body, causing minor changes such as drastic personality shifts.

Bloodlust, especially in severe cases... can lead to the soul being corrupted and turned into a puppet that only knows how to kill.

He paused, then said, word by word:

"Change your sword. The Dragon Slayer Sword is full of righteousness and can protect your Dao heart."

Zhang Xiaofan looked down at the Dragon-Slaying Sword in his hand.

The scabbard is emerald green, with dragon patterns coiled around it.

It is indeed a fine sword, a top-notch divine weapon.

If it were someone else, they would probably be overjoyed to receive such a gift.

But he shook his head.

"Thank you for your kindness, Senior Uncle."

He handed the sword back, "but I'm more comfortable with this stick."

"You—" Wan Jianyi frowned.

"When evil influences invade the body, it is a form of tempering."

Zhang Xiaofan interrupted him.

"If your will is not firm, even if you have a divine weapon, it will be just a piece of scrap metal."

If one's will is strong enough, even an evil soldier can walk the righteous path.

He put away the fire poker and continued:

As for the solution...

I've heard that there's a treasure in the Southern Frontier called the "Mysterious Fire Mirror," which is extremely powerful and yang, capable of neutralizing all evil spirits in the world.

If I have the chance in the future, I'll go and get it.

Wan Jianyi's pupils contracted: "The Mystic Fire Mirror? That's..."

"Besides," Zhang Xiaofan said, raising his head and looking towards the horizon.

"If I could break through the Taiqing Realm, and even discover the secret of immortality, I would become an immortal."

By then, what will a little bit of evil energy amount to?

Fairy.

The moment the word was uttered, Wan Jianyi's body trembled violently.

He stared at Zhang Xiaofan as if he were looking at some unfamiliar being, someone beyond his comprehension.

In his three hundred years of cultivation, he had seen countless geniuses and heard countless grand pronouncements.

But "immortal"... that's a realm even the Qingye Ancestor couldn't reach.

And this young man spoke so calmly, so matter-of-factly.

It was as if that wasn't a distant dream, but a path he was destined to take.

After a long while, Wan Jianyi slowly nodded.

He didn't take the sword, but turned around and walked deeper into the ancestral hall.

His back was hunched, and his empty sleeves drooped, but his steps were as steady as a mountain.

"Go."

The sound came from the shadows, mingled with the scent of aged sandalwood:

"Let the whole world see what kind of disciple I, Wan Jianyi, have trained."

Zhang Xiaofan gripped the Dragon-Slaying Sword tightly, then glanced at the fire poker in his arms.

Finally, he gently placed the Dragon-Slaying Sword on the stone table.

He turned around and stepped out of the courtyard gate.

The setting sun cast his long shadow on the bluestone path, like a sword just drawn from its sheath.

Deep within the ancestral hall, Wan Jianyi stood at the boundary between shadow and light.

He watched the boy's departing figure, raised his one arm, clenched it into a fist, and then slowly relaxed it.

"Immortal..."

He murmured, his eyes clouded as if burned through by some scorching light.