This is the true immortal of the Taoist sect.

As the two figures, one large and one small, slowly sank into the river, the people in the cabin looked on with pity and couldn't help but feel sorry.

Just then, someone suddenly exclaimed:

"Look, someone is flying!"

The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and saw a person on the opposite bank of the river suddenly rise into the air and land on the river surface.

Then, he quickly approached the water, scooped up the child who was about to sink, leaped a few steps to lift the middle-aged man, and with a light touch of the water, flew to the shore like a large bird.

"Oh my, that's an immortal...it's an immortal..."

In the eyes of mortals, what else could a person be but an immortal who could walk on water without sinking and leap across rivers tens of feet high?

On the other side of the river, Li Daoxuan landed steadily with the two of them. He then waved his hand to dispel the moisture from their bodies and expel the river water that had entered their lungs, and the two of them finally came back to life.

The middle-aged man was filled with shame when he saw that the person who had saved him and his son was the same person he had just scolded for meddling. He also remembered that he had deliberately spread rumors to prevent the man from boarding the ship.

He knelt down with his son, his voice trembling with tears, and said:

"Thank you, immortal. I...I...I really..."

Li Daoxuan smiled and reached out to help him up, saying gently:

"If you want to thank me, then treat your father well from now on."

The man was filled with shame and lowered his head, not daring to reply.

Li Daoxuan glanced at the child who had stopped crying and smiled:

"You should understand that when you were a child, your father loved you as much as you love your son."

"If that's the case, why can't you repay your father properly?"

Having said that, Li Daoxuan did not linger any longer and turned to leave.

Watching Li Daoxuan's departing figure and recalling his words, she suddenly felt a lump in her throat and tears welled up in her eyes.

He then knelt down again, kowtowed deeply, and choked out:

"Thank you for your guidance, Immortal..."

As the ferry docked, the women and elderly people on board jumped off and hugged the father and son, bursting into tears.

The middle-aged man broke free from his wife's embrace, stepped forward, and knelt down in front of the old man with a thud.

"Father, your son is unfilial..."

The old man was taken aback at first, then his eyes involuntarily reddened, and with trembling hands he helped the man up, smiling as he said:

"It's alright, it's alright..."

Watching this scene from afar, Li Daoxuan smiled knowingly, waved his long sleeves, and gracefully departed.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Baijian City is the headquarters of the southwestern branch of the Qingyun Sword Sect.

He controls a territory spanning over a thousand miles in the southeastern region of the Qingyun Sword Sect.

Within this vast area, the Southwest branch is the Heavenly King Laozi.

Baijian City naturally became the most prosperous and powerful city in this vast area.

After a ten-day journey, Li Daoxuan stood before the city gate, looking refreshed.

Just as he was about to go in, he was stopped by two guards with swords.

"Halt! Do you have a pass to enter the city?"

Upon hearing this, Li Daoxuan looked around and saw a passerby take out a wooden road sign. It was engraved with a circle of intricate patterns and some basic information about the passerby, and there was a sword pattern on the back.

Seeing this, Li Daoxuan nodded and said:

"some..."

He then reached into his pocket and put it there. When he took it out again, he had a wooden plaque in his hand.

The gatekeeper frowned, glanced at it, and said indifferently:

"Two taels for the toll fee to enter the city."

Li Daoxuan nodded and handed over two taels of silver.

After receiving the money, the gatekeeper finally let us through.

The scene in the town was actually quite similar, with vendors and people coming and going, much like in Anyi County.

However, this is, after all, the Xuanhuang Great World, which possesses extraordinary power, and the buildings in Baijian City are significantly taller and more magnificent.

Every now and then you can see cultivators riding strange beasts passing by.

This scene reminded Li Daoxuan of some fantasy online games he had played in his previous life, and the feeling was quite novel.

"Come and see, the top-grade ordinary weapon, the Azure Edge Sword, only three thousand taels..."

"A century-old blood fungus, sold for only seven hundred taels..."

"Selling off low-grade spirit weapons at a painful cost, only twenty spirit crystals..."

The bustling scene on the street made Li Daoxuan feel as if he were in a unique marketplace.

Spirit weapons, spirit crystals, and spirit medicines.

These previously unheard-of terms entered my mind one after another.

Li Daoxuan walked curiously to a stall and secretly examined the spiritual weapon the stall owner was talking about.

Seeing a customer arrive, the stall owner smiled and said:

"This is a low-grade spiritual weapon, personally crafted by a master craftsman at the Upper Three Heavens Realm. I wouldn't be willing to sell it if I weren't short of money."

Li Daoxuan looked at the so-called spiritual weapon, which was shaped like a long sword, and seemed to have a faint spiritual energy pulsating on its surface.

But upon closer inspection, Li Daoxuan couldn't help but frown.

This thing looks nice on the outside, but it's actually quite ordinary on the inside.

No one knows what methods the stall owner used, but this sword seemed to be able to draw upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, yet it was actually just an ordinary weapon.

Li Daoxuan recalled that he also had a remarkable longsword in his storage space, which was left behind by the young men who came from the Qingyun Sword Sect.

That was clearly a spiritual weapon, but it was suppressed in the Jingming Cave Heaven and could not unleash its true power.

Li Daoxuan wasn't interested in the so-called spiritual weapon; he was more curious about what the stall owner meant by spirit crystal coins.

"Boss, what are these spirit crystal coins you're talking about? I only have gold and silver on me, not spirit crystal coins."

Upon hearing this, the stall owner's smile vanished instantly, replaced by an impatient expression.

"Where did this country bumpkin come from? He doesn't even know what spirit crystals are? Get lost..."

Li Daoxuan smiled upon hearing this, asked no further questions, and turned to leave.

Walking along the street, I noticed that although many vendors were talking about spirit crystals, I didn't see anyone actually putting them out to trade.

Clearly, this is not something that is common, or perhaps people are unwilling to expose it easily.

After wandering around for a while, Li Daoxuan arrived at the gate of a palace that resembled an imperial palace.

Looking up, one could see four large characters written on the top of the gate: Qingyun Sword Sect.

In the lower right corner of the four large characters, there are a few smaller characters: Southwest Branch.

Looking inside from the main gate, one sees a cluster of magnificent palaces, resplendent in gold and jade.

It doesn't resemble a martial arts sect at all; it's clearly the inner palace of imperial power.

Li Daoxuan stood with his hands behind his back in front of the gate, a smile on his face, and muttered to himself:

"How do we get in? Should we storm in openly? Or should we sneak in by some trick?"

After a moment, Li Daoxuan smiled and murmured:

"Alright, let's try diplomacy first, then resort to force. Let's reason things out first..."

With a flick of his wrist, the token he had obtained after killing Ye Tingzhou appeared in his hand.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Thank you all for your positive feedback. I'll be adding three extra chapters today, and will continue tomorrow.