Who is spreading rumors that my filial piety towards them has changed?

Zuo Qiuchi remained silent for a long time. She had seen all sorts of things in her long life. She had read many sword manuals, but this was the first time she had ever seen one where one had to bargain over whether or not they could learn it.

And looking at her, she wasn't willing to teach everything at once, only giving three moves... and she had quite an arrogant temper.

"What are the conditions? But let me make this clear first, I only want to learn the greatsword. I'm not interested in anything else. Anything else is as light as playing with a pickaxe."

【My swordsmanship is based on intent, which has nothing to do with the weapon you use. Even if you were a pagoda-bearer, a cauldron-carrying beast, or a zither-playing master, you could still learn the intent of my swordsmanship.】

Can you even call this swordsmanship...? Zuo Qiuchi's inner thoughts never stopped complaining.

【My condition is simple. Since you call that scoundrel a 'traitor,' you must dislike him a lot. Teach him a lesson for me, and I'll give you the sword technique directly.】

"make a deal!"

Zuo Qiuchi agreed readily, saying he would do anything, not just teach him a lesson, but even break his hand on something.

But she couldn't resist her burning curiosity and pressed on:

"What has my rebellious, troublesome disciple done?"

The Mysterious Woman Classic remained silent for a long time this time, whether because she did not want to answer or because she felt that answering would be a loss of face.

In short, they offended me.

"Alright, then I won't ask any further." Zuo Qiuchi said but didn't mean it. Now that his curiosity had been piqued, how could he give up so easily? He had to find out the truth no matter what.

Having had this interaction with the "Mysterious Woman Scripture," would you say I've completed my initial comprehension?

Zuo Qiuchi put away the "Mysterious Woman Scripture" with a clear conscience and picked up the storybook with the sword scripture cover again, occasionally taking a sip of the fragrant strong tea.

Not far away, Chu Mingkong was still seeking guidance from Yuehe.

"No matter what level you reach, supernatural powers, spells, weapons, and magical treasures are always the constant manifestations of combat power. As for abilities like the Annihilation Intent, which are similar to a domain, they are rare and hard to come by, but they are also very difficult to improve."

"Is that so? Does that mean the Realm of Annihilation is going to be phased out..." Chu Mingkong sighed, a touch of sorrow creeping into his heart.

He quite liked the ability of the Annihilation Domain. The "time stop" effect had been a great help to him in the palace, and it was also quite fun.

Now that he's preparing to retire, Chu Mingkong feels a little sad.

His ability, derived from the "Hehuan Sutra," seems to be somewhat weaker than the orthodox Buddhist concept of Nirvana, which holds a very high position within Buddhism.

But Chu Mingkong couldn't possibly learn the original version; he'd easily get himself into trouble.

"Didn't you learn the Black Tide power from Empress Yueqi? That's also a domain, so why don't you use it?"

Chu Mingkong scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed to reveal the truth: "I have used it before, but... it can only be used with the help of the Lunar Eclipse Heavy Sword. I've always kept this sword as a talisman for the cat."

The real reason was that Chu Mingkong didn't find any interesting uses for the Black Tide Bright Moon domain; he still found the Annihilation domain more effective.

“Why would a cat need a talisman? If something happens to her in this courtyard, even a sword can't protect her. If all else fails, she can exile herself back into the cracks of time.”

"You mean, the cat can freely turn back into a young woman right now?"

Chu Mingkong asked in surprise, then gently cupped the cat's little face and licked half of her face with his tongue. The little girl pouted unwillingly, looking so disgusted that she was about to cry.

Curious, Chu Mingkong acted swiftly, quickly taking out some small snacks that the baby could eat and putting them in her mouth. The cat immediately stopped crying.

Yuehe looked at the father and daughter helplessly: "Okay, but we don't know when we'll be able to appear again. Taking the initiative to exile yourself is extremely taxing."

"Okay, then the cat should stop messing around and stay home obediently."

After some discussion, Chu Mingkong now roughly understood the direction for further improvement. Mindlessly increasing his spiritual cultivation was not wrong. The rest was nothing more than supernatural powers, spells, divine weapons, and spiritual treasures.

Fortunately, his mastery of weaponry is not easily diminished. As long as his basic cultivation level is not too far off, the weapon in his hand will not disappoint him in any battle.

Then he began to ponder the treasure trove of combat skills left to him by his goddess wife.

Last time, Chu Mingkong clashed with Chamento, and before Chamento used his Dharma Realm, he was not afraid of dealing with him. Now, he was worrying too much and scaring himself.

Seeing him deep in thought, Yuehe took her youngest daughter's hand and said:

"Actually, you don't need to worry too much. With me here, they can do whatever they want."

Chu Mingkong was quite confident in Yuehe's strength. When the bald men from the Blood Blade Bright King Palace arrived with their helpers, Chu Mingkong wanted to shout at them in front of so many people again, and then immediately call Yuehe out to put order.

It looks like he's begging for help because he's a freeloader, but if his teammates are strong, doesn't that mean he's strong too?

"But we still need to be careful. Last time, we directly killed Chamento in their Dharma realm. They will definitely deal with you in this situation. Even if they don't have the means to deal with you, they will definitely come up with a way to defend themselves."

Yuehe did not underestimate his opponent, and nodded slightly:

"Yes, I will. After some time, when your godfather secretly comes back, I won't take the initiative to help. You can use it to practice first."

Don't do what you did last time in Chamento, using all your strength and energy to cry for help.

Chu Mingkong chuckled lightly, feeling not too embarrassed, after all, he had a thick skin.

What Yuehe said makes sense. Regardless of how the bald men who came with him might fuss, he really had to deal with his adoptive father, the old King Chu, personally. Otherwise, it would become a flaw, a regret, or even a demon in his heart.

Inner demons are such foolish things that they make him seem ridiculously foolish.

Yuehe had answered his questions, or rather, had boosted his confidence enough, so she stopped paying attention to him.

She gazed at her daughter, who was growing smaller and smaller. Her fair and rosy, smooth little face was indeed tempting. Just like Chu Mingkong had licked her daughter, Yuehe also gave the cat's face a little lick.

Of course, her demeanor was much more elegant than Chu Mingkong's just now.

The kitten, feeling like her mother was playing with her, kept giggling as her mother licked her.

Chu Mingkong felt a little melancholy: "Why did you cry when I licked you just now? I should have brought Jiao'er over to kiss you too. See how upset you are, you little jealous thing."

Cat is such a fearless little girl. She's incredibly spoiled without any competitive pressure. Once Aunt Gu's baby is born, Chu Mingkong will definitely hold the baby and the little one and shower them with kisses in front of Cat, just to see how the little thing reacts.

However, by then, the cat will probably have been "replaced" several times, and I wonder what she will look like then.

"Yuehe, don't always stay in the yard. Walk around more and liven things up. Don't be like a wooden figure, always staying in one place," Chu Mingkong said gently.

Even Jin Yu, who is always visiting different places, has hardly ever been here.

"I'll try," Yuehe said calmly, without any resistance or aversion, but also without any proactive enthusiasm.

Faced with such a perfunctory response, Chu Mingkong was at a loss.

Although Yuehe's eyes reflected her daughter, Little Cat, her thoughts drifted far away. She sighed inwardly:

If we get to know each other now, how painful it will be to part ways later...

He had finished his conversation, and Zuo Qiuchi had just finished reading the storybook. She called out to the rebellious disciple:

"I've grasped something, but I'm having some difficulties. Mingkong, how did your discussion go?"

The unspoken message is, "I'm about to beat you up, are you ready?"

Chu Mingkong certainly didn't understand this meaning. He nodded in response to his beloved master and prepared to take the cat away, but he quickly dismissed the idea.

—We need to let Yuehe move around more.

"Yuehe, why don't you play with Maomao first? Maomao still loves to kiss you. When it's about time, take her to Aunt Gu's place and let Aunt Gu feed her."

"Mm." Yuehe nodded.

As Chu Mingkong prepared to leave, he said to the kitten, "Kitty, if you get hungry, remember to ask your mother to take you to Aunt Gu's, okay?"

The kitten responded with a babbling sound, seemingly agreeing.

Chapter 215 Seeking the True Essence

Chu Mingkong never expected that his master could actually comprehend the sword manual from it, but why did she still say that it was "a bit difficult"?

If you've grasped it, you've grasped it; if you haven't, you haven't. How could there be any difficulties? Is it some kind of flirtatious sword technique that requires dual cultivation between a man and a woman to achieve...?

That's wonderful!

He walked into Zuo Qiuchi's courtyard with great anticipation, but was stopped before entering.

Zuo Qiuchi placed her fair, delicate hand on his chest and said very seriously:

"You stand here for now, I need to negotiate."

What kind of negotiation, and with whom?

Chu Mingkong was completely baffled, but since they were already at the entrance of the courtyard, he didn't care and would just wait and see.

"Okay, don't take it so long."

"I'll try my best."

Zuo Qiuchi walked into her room. Her sudden behavior naturally indicated that she wanted to... bargain.

Don't be fooled by how readily she agreed to the "Mysterious Woman Scripture" just now. This sword scripture has countless moves, but the "Mysterious Woman Scripture" only provides three moves, which isn't even enough to show off a sword flourish.

Who are you trying to fool?

Now that the victim, Chu, has been brought outside, Zuo Qiuchi wants to take advantage of the fact that the "Mysterious Woman Scripture" is eager to beat him up, in order to increase his own bargaining power.

It doesn't matter if the "Mysterious Woman Scripture" doesn't give you the sword manual, since you don't lack those three moves anyway. If you were given the complete set, Zuo Qiuchi would be quite tempted.

Give it or don't, it's up to you.

After closing the door, Zuo Qiuchi took out the original scripture, calmed his mind again, and entered a state of deducing sword techniques, attempting to actively communicate with it:

"Hey, my traitorous disciple is already waiting outside to get a beating. These three moves are a bit too few. How about a few more?"

Are you going back on your word?

The tone of the "Mysterious Woman Classic" was not good. It was something that had already been agreed upon, but now it was trying to bargain.

Her apprentice was first offensive, and without saying a word, she was forced to sit down and have sex with him. Now, she, as his master, is starting to try to raise prices on the spot.

Zuo Qiuchi, unperturbed, found a chair, sat down, crossed his legs comfortably, and began to discuss the *Xuan Nu Jing* (Classic of the Mysterious Woman):

"This isn't about raising prices arbitrarily; it's more like after some thought, I realized I've been somewhat cheated."

There are countless sword manuals in the world, all kinds of them, dazzling and confusing. Some sword manuals contain more than a hundred moves in one sword technique. I was just ignorant and was stunned by the scripture you just mentioned.

If your sword manual has hundreds or thousands of moves, and all you give me in the end is a simple sword flourish as an opening move, who am I supposed to complain to? My rebellious disciple even got a beating for nothing!

Besides, I'm worried you might possess a primitive scripture that possesses sentience.

The Mysterious Woman Scripture sneered in Zuo Qiuchi's mind:

[You're so young, yet you've already cultivated sword heart and sword intent. Why would you worry about being possessed? It's not like you can just easily take it back if you want to.]

"How can I not be afraid? Don't say that just because no one will die, it means there is no risk. Aren't I tired from going through all the trouble of taking back my own body?"