Who taught him to practice swordsmanship like this?

Chapter 157 Proper Settlement

A carriage carried Su Baichen and his brother and sister toward Changchun Palace.

Along the way, Su Baichen finally found out why Gouwa and Erya had ended up in Su Family Village.

It turns out that this all started with the plague a year ago.

The plague left many people in the Gyeonggi region living in fear, and many chose to flee the affected area with their families. The parents of the two siblings made the same choice.

However, their parents died of the plague on the way, and Gouwa, who was not yet six years old at the time, wandered south with his younger sister in a daze, eventually running into his second uncle who was out on business.

The second uncle took pity on them and brought them back to Sujia Village.

It's hard to imagine that a six-year-old child could walk such a long distance alone while carrying his two- or three-year-old sister.

"As expected of you—"

Su Baichen looked at Gouwa with gentle eyes, as if he were looking at some rare treasure.

At this moment, Xiangxiang poked her head out from the basket he had placed beside him.

Its two transparent blue paws rested on the edge of the basket, its head perched on its paws, and it stared at the two children with its big, adorable eyes—then it cheerfully made sounds like a baby babbling.

Er Ya giggled, and Gouwa also showed a relaxed smile.

The carriage slowly came to a stop in front of Changchun Palace.

As Su Baichen stepped off the carriage, he saw Xuan Yin Zhenren standing at the palace gate, staring at the carriage with great curiosity.

"Master, what are you doing outside?"

He seemed a little embarrassed.

Master Xuan Yin chuckled and said, "How could I have seen your true level of illusion magic if I hadn't been waiting outside?"

As he spoke, he patted the rim of the carriage.

Su Baichen quickly responded with a dry laugh, "I was quite envious of Master's ability to transform tree branches into a carriage, so I tried it out."

Master Xuanyin said, "Illusion magic is good, but what are you using to pull the cart?"

He looked at the horse pulling the cart with a strange expression.

Su Baichen chuckled dryly again, and the horse pulling the carriage twisted and turned, returning to its original form—the Spirit Sword Love Engraving!

Good heavens, he actually transformed Luan Ke into a Malay cart.

More importantly, when Luan Ke was pulling the carriage, he was essentially controlling its movement by using sword control techniques—in other words, he was using sword control to pull the carriage!

Master Xuan Yin covered his face, then sighed and said, "Bai Chen, you must never use this trick in front of those people from the Sword Sect again—they won't be able to handle it."

Su Baichen nodded repeatedly.

Then the carriage door was pushed open again, and Gouwa cautiously peeked out—

Master Xuan Yin then put on a gentle and friendly smile: "Oh, there's a little guest here too."

Su Baichen said, "Master, I want to guide them into the sect."

Master Xuan Yin said irritably, "The next round of disciple recruitment for Changchun Palace will be in five years."

Su Baichen said, "They don't necessarily have to become disciples. They can start as servants."

Master Xuan Yin chuckled: "I can't make the decision about Changchun Palace recruiting disciples, but isn't it just a matter of a word from me for Yin Sect to recruit disciples?"

"Let's go back to our sect. These two kids will be outer disciples of my Yin Sect for now."

"After observing for a while, if his character is up to par, we will ask if any elders in the sect are willing to accept him as a disciple."

As the saying goes, "When one attains enlightenment, even his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven," so out of respect for Su Baichen, True Person Xuanyin was still willing to open the door to convenience.

Gouwa seemed to realize something and quickly thanked him, "Thank you, big brother, thank you, grandpa."

Er Ya, who was behind him, followed suit and shouted "Thank you" along with him.

Master Xuanyin chuckled and stroked his beard, then said, "Let's go, things here are almost done."

With that, he waved his hand, and the elusive, illusory dragon steed slipped into the reins of the carriage.

With a roar, it pulled the carriage forward two steps.

Master Xuanyin said, "Get in the car."

Su Baichen then gestured for the brother and sister to hurry back to the car.

He was surprised to find that the carriage had been enlarged considerably when he got on.

But even though it was his illusion that he cast, he has already lost control of it.

Or rather, his master's illusions had unknowingly completely overridden his own illusions.

The moment this ability was displayed, Su Baichen was greatly shocked.

He was initially quite pleased with his second-grade illusion technique, but his master's display of skill made him realize that his illusion technique was actually far from good enough!

Seeing that he had put aside his arrogance, Master Xuanyin secretly nodded and started the carriage.

The next moment, the carriage flew into the sky.

The sight of it speeding through the clouds startled the two children in the car, who screamed in amazement.

Su Baichen felt as if he were seeing himself going to the Yin Sect back then.

A moment later, they arrived at their destination.

They stood once again before the majestic Yinfeng Pass.

Just like Su Baichen back then, the brother and sister also had to face the "ladder to heaven" that was hundreds of meters high and climb down the cliff.

As Gouwa resolutely carried his younger sister Er Ya on his back and began to walk down the road, Xuan Yin Zhenren had already discerned something and said, "This child is very resilient. Even if her talent for Qi cultivation is somewhat lacking, she is still a promising talent."

Su Baichen asked happily, "Master, are you considering taking on another disciple?"

Master Xuanyin glanced at him sideways and said, "I do have that idea, but you have to tell me first what your relationship is with these two children?"

Su Baichen didn't hide it. He said, "The boy is the reincarnation of my mother, but the girl has nothing to do with me."

Xuan Yin Zhenren asked in astonishment, "Are you sure?"

He never expected that the cause and effect would be like this.

Su Baichen said, "Yes, my mother was originally reincarnated into another family in Su Family Village, and she had an excellent destiny."

"But unexpectedly, that destiny was taken by the One Without Form, who forcibly took away the identity that my mother was originally meant to be reincarnated into—"

"Without a choice, the mother could only reincarnate into a child who was supposed to die young, and under some unseen guidance, she returned to Su Family Village."

"Perhaps my father was right; my mother always wanted to stay in Sujia Village and wait for us to come back."

Xuan Yin Zhenren pondered for a moment. He and Su Baichen floated together in the darkness in the middle of the stairwell of the "Stairway to Heaven," watching the two children climb down continuously.

When the older brother got tired carrying his younger sister, she got down on her own and insisted on walking a while on her own.

Unfortunately, they were all suffering from long-term malnutrition, and their physical strength was quickly depleted. By the time they had climbed halfway up, they were already panting and covered in sweat.

Master Xuanyin said, "The boy is resolute and tenacious, making him a suitable disciple for me. The girl is also gentle yet strong, and will not give up easily."

"I want this little girl, senior brother, don't try to take her from me!"

Suddenly, Mizukage's somewhat assertive voice came from the side.

Su Baichen was surprised and quickly greeted her, "Greetings, Martial Uncle."

Shuiyin Ji nodded affectionately in response, then looked at Xuan Yin Zhenren fiercely and said, "Senior brother, you wouldn't want to steal my disciples, would you? You already have five disciples, but I don't have a single one yet."

Master Xuan Yin chuckled: "How could that be? I'm overjoyed that my junior sister is willing to take me as a disciple."

Su Baichen was relieved; his mother's reincarnation had finally been properly settled.

Meanwhile, Su Yang, weary from his journey, returned to Su Family Village once again.

He stood at the village entrance, muttering to himself, "Where are you? You should have returned to this village by now, so why can't I find you?!"