Are There Only Demonesses Left in the Cultivation Realm?

People bustled back and forth by the lakeside, already beginning to hang lanterns and decorations. Auspicious red lanterns adorned the willow trees, their reflections shimmering on the water’s surface like scattered starlight.

Lu Changyuan found a small, single-entry courtyard house. Actually, it wasn’t so much that he found it. The moment he reached the lakeside, a wealthy merchant had cheerfully walked up and rented the small courtyard to him.

The merchant had apparently bought up numerous properties in advance, just waiting for some Cultivator suckers to come rent them.

According to him, he had already rented out over a dozen courtyards in the past few days. These Cultivator suckers were generous with their money, and as long as they weren’t one of the rare few who were difficult to deal with, he could make a huge profit.

These merchants would do business with anyone, so long as there was a profit to be made.

Within the courtyard stood a solitary Arhat Pine. A breeze swept through, and its needles fell, yet they never touched the ground. Instead, they were swept back up by the wind from a sword.

Xia Lianxue watched this scene in a daze.

She couldn’t even pierce a leaf anymore.

Lu Changyuan brought out a rocking chair, lay down on it, and yawned. "You’re just like your senior sister. If you’re injured, you should rest properly. Missing one day of sword practice won’t kill you."

"One day without practice..."

"...you’ll know it yourself. Seven days without practice, and your sect will know it. Right? So boring."

Lu Changyuan lazily got up. "I have a Swordsmanship technique. Want to learn it?"

Xia Lianxue was still staring dazedly at her hands. After a long moment, she said sorrowfully, "I’ve lost all my Magical Power. How can I possibly cultivate a Dharma?"

"Why couldn’t you? Even a spear without a head can still kill a man."

Lu Changyuan couldn’t help but think, ’That woman, Qiu Yuehan, could still crack a joke at death’s door. Xia Lianxue is certainly more serious than her.’

"Give me the sword."

Xia Lianxue did as he asked and gave Lu Changyuan the sword, but she still said, "The technique I cultivate is Miao Yu’s Thirteen Swords."

Lu Changyuan said, "I know, I know. Miao Yu’s Thirteen Swords, right? It used to be called the Feather Moon Sword Technique."

Miao Yu’s Thirteen Swords emphasizes building momentum, with each strike stronger than the last. Ultimately, they stack together, flowing continuously and becoming as omnipresent as moonlight. When supplemented by the palace’s Moonlight Method, the combination is utterly terrifying.

"I’ll teach you a different style of Swordsmanship," Lu Changyuan said with a smile. "Now that you’ve lost all your Cultivation, you can’t practice a conventional Cultivation Technique. The Swordsmanship I’m going to teach you is... unorthodox."

Xia Lianxue sized up Lu Changyuan for a moment, then asked, "Is it that Demon Technique?"

"What are you thinking? It’s not that easy to cultivate."

’Harder to cultivate than a Demon Technique?!’

Lu Changyuan suddenly asked, "Your name has ’Xia’ in it, and right now it happens to be the height of summer. What do you think summer is like?"

The question stumped Xia Lianxue.

Immortals are oblivious to the passing of spring and summer.

"Oh, Xia Lianxue, Xia Lianxue. You have such a beautiful name. Scorching summer and frigid winter... combine the two and you get the balance of Yin and Yang. Why can’t you see it yourself?"

Many mortals, suffering in the sweltering heat, have wondered: if only you could give some of winter’s chill to the summer, wouldn’t that be just right?

And that, in itself, is a form of natural Daoist Technique.

For the first time, Xia Lianxue felt dense and slow-witted, unable to understand.

But in truth, all the True Masters of Miao Yu Palace considered her a fast learner in Sword Cultivation, only a fraction slower than Qiu Yuehan.

How had she become such a dim-witted goose in his presence?

"The momentum of summer is like a sudden clap of thunder on a clear day. It arrives in an instant and vanishes even faster."

As his words fell, he raised his sword, and a violent wind suddenly whipped through the courtyard.

It was momentum from a standstill, with no need for combos. A single move was a thunderclap.

In broad daylight, it was as if a muffled thunderclap had exploded! Then, harnessing the wind and air, all the dust in the world seemed to condense, finally transforming into a single sword strike.

This was...

The Vermilion Sword.

He clearly hadn’t used an ounce of Magical Power, yet he had forcefully carved out a wave of pure force.

Xia Lianxue asked in disbelief, "How did you do that?"

This strike couldn’t even injure a Second Realm Cultivator right now, but it was still terrifying. It relied purely on an understanding of "summer," infused with momentum. If Xia Lianxue truly mastered it, as a Fourth Realm expert, she could use this sword as a life-or-death gambit to slay someone in the Fifth Realm.

Lu Changyuan tossed the sword back to Xia Lianxue. "Figure it out yourself. If you can’t, then just practice by copying my strike. Now that you’ve lost your Realm, it’s the perfect time to hone this kind of skill."

Mortals are more sensitive to the four seasons than Immortals.

When it’s cold, they add clothes; when it’s hot, they seek shade. From this perspective, it’s easier for mortals to comprehend nature.

With that single strike, Lu Changyuan had displayed the entire "intent" for Xia Lianxue to see.

"There was once a group of people who honed their skills to the absolute peak in mortal bodies. When they finally stepped onto the Immortal Path, they became one fearsome killer after another."

"Sir, then this... who created this Swordsmanship?"

Lu Changyuan, who had turned his back, suddenly froze. He said softly, "Do you know how old the Chang’an Daoist was when he started on the Immortal Ascension Path?"

"Fifty years old."

"This Vermilion Sword is the very sword that the Chang’an Daoist, before he ever started on the Immortal Path, came up with in a fit of rage because he couldn’t find any cooling tea to drink in the summer!"

Xia Lianxue repeated in confusion, "Cooling tea...?"

Soon, it dawned on her. "The Chang’an Daoist’s Swordsmanship? Wasn’t the Chang’an Daoist a Physician before he started on the Immortal Path?! A Physician achieving Sword Enlightenment? Where did you get this Swordsmanship?"

"Sometimes patients don’t listen, so you need Swordsmanship to assist with the treatment. It’s perfectly normal."

What kind of doctor doesn’t know Martial Arts?

How are you supposed to treat illnesses without Martial Arts?

"As for where the Swordsmanship came from, don’t worry about it. Just practice."

’Teach her the Summer Sword in summer, and I can teach her the Winter Sword in winter. Once all four seasons have passed, she’ll have learned the complete Four Seasons Sword. And once she’s learned that, who in this world won’t she be able to kill?’

Lu Changyuan yawned, glanced at the sky, muttered something to himself, and went back into his room.

He thought.

’I taught Qiu Yuehan the Heart Method and Xia Lianxue the Swordsmanship.’

’When the time comes and those two fight, who will win?’

’Who cares.’

’It’ll definitely be intense!’

The room, however, was not casually arranged. Tea-colored curtains divided it into inner and outer sections. The outer section held a long, carved mahogany table, with an Arhat bed beside it. Past the curtains, one was greeted by a screen painted with magpies welcoming the spring, and behind the screen lay the inner room’s bed.

Lu Changyuan took off his shoes and sat on the bed. His long, rhythmic breaths drew energy into his body and circulated it, but it simply couldn’t be retained, leaking straight back out.

Sighing, Lu Changyuan reversed the circulation he had just attempted, running it backwards along with his Heart Method.

’If going forward doesn’t work, I might as well try going in reverse.’

Using a Reversed Cultivation Method—another essential experience in the Cultivation Realm.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xia Lianxue leaned against the Arhat Pine, a complex emotion in her beautiful eyes. Her white dress fluttered in the wind, and soft strands of hair clung to her cheeks. She looked so fragile it seemed the wind might blow her away.

How many years had it been since she’d felt this powerlessness, this inability to even harm another?

Things she could once do were now completely out of reach. She was on the verge of losing the courage to even hold her sword.

Xia Lianxue understood with painful clarity that she was no longer the Fairy revered by thousands. Perhaps she should abandon her extravagant hopes, find someone to marry, bear children, and then grow old and die in some forgotten corner of the world.

The thought lasted only for an instant.

But in that one instant, her Dao Heart nearly shattered.

Her Cultivation... she had spent countless years persevering on the bluestone path in the bamboo forest to attain it, wearing down the very stones with her footsteps.

But now, like traces scattered by the wind, it was all gone.

And then she heard those words: "I have a Swordsmanship technique. Want to learn it?"

Her Dao Heart stopped cracking. For now.

That day when Lu Changyuan had confronted Hanyi Master for her sake, and when he had helped exorcise the Demon influence, she had been conscious the entire time, just unable to move.

So she knew Lu Changyuan was powerful. For someone like him to be willing to teach her personally was an opportunity she couldn’t have even dreamed of.

’So, what is the price?’

’She was an abandoned disciple. What did she have that he could possibly covet? Could it be her pretty face? Did he want to take her as his plaything?’