Green Mountain

In a cave in Changbai Mountain, Chen Ji quietly looked at the roof of the cave.

Old Ears poked his head into his line of sight, his wrinkled face staring at him, "What are you thinking about, lying there with your eyes open and not speaking? Did you get possessed or something?"

Chen Ji remained silent.

Old Ears waved his hand in front of Chen Ji’s face, but Chen Ji’s eyelids didn’t even twitch.

At this moment, Wu Yun suddenly perked up his ears. Moments later, footsteps, the sound of armor clattering, and the angry shouts of the Korean Zhongwu Guards came from outside the cave: "Donggur Anei!"

Old Ears frowned, "The Zhongwu Guards caught up so quickly. Could it be that the woman has already been cut down by Wu Kezhi? We must go quickly, or it’ll be too late."

Chen Ji still did not speak. He felt the Molten Flow within him, like the Yellow River cascading down, billions of river waters surging into the Dragon Trench of ten li.

He had not yet stepped into the Seeking Dao Realm, and the accumulated Molten Flow had become too much.

Seven hundred and twenty stove fires couldn’t contain this Molten Flow, forcing it to surge out through the acupoints, traversing his limbs, bones, and all his meridians.

Chen Ji was startled, realizing that not only were the stove fires burning, but even the blood and meridians in his body were also igniting. Each meridian turned into a line as bright as daylight, connecting the stove fires together, and even the meridians became part of the stove fires.

The Molten Flow passed through the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, spleen, then extended to both arms, only disappearing after igniting the meridians of his entire upper body.

Half of Chen Ji’s body had been penetrated by the Molten Flow, like the dense constellations in the night sky, each star connected to another.

He had never seen such a sight; the transformation of a Mountain Lord failing to enter the Seeking Dao Realm was unprecedented.

By now, the Zhongwu Guards had already reached the front of the cave, blocking out the light, and the cave suddenly darkened.

Wu Yun was about to make a move, but saw Chen Ji lying on the bed board and casually waving his hand, sending a silvery sword seed whistling out from his sleeve, flying past Old Ears and Wu Yun.

Old Ears watched the sword seed move, seeing it dart like a shuttle past a Zhongwu Guard’s neck.

At the cave entrance, the Zhongwu Guard was just drawing his bow and nocking an arrow. Before the bowstring could be pulled back, a splash of blood stained the snow. The guard dropped his bow and arrow, clutching his neck as he slowly knelt down.

Old Ears said in confusion, "Huh? Why is it only silver... this is not right! You take five swords, causing five sounds of Martial Arts Roar, how can it be silver? Who taught you the sword seed, did you cultivate it wrong?"

But before he could think further, another sword seed flew from Chen Ji’s sleeve, joining the previous one as anguished cries of the Zhongwu Guards echoed outside the cave.

Old Ears widened his eyes, "Two sword seeds?! How can there be two sword seeds..."

Before the words were fully out, a third sword seed shot out from Chen Ji’s sleeve.

Old Ears tugged at his hair, throwing all caution to the wind, "Three sword seeds? This is damn well more wrong! How can you cultivate three sword seeds? Did I cultivate wrong?!"

He dismissed the Zhongwu Guards outside the cave from his mind and abruptly turned to look at Chen Ji, "Kid, why can you cultivate three sword seeds and from where did you learn the Sword Seed Path?"

Amidst the wailing, Chen Ji sat up, his whole body crackling.

Old Ears quickly asked, "Since you have cultivated the sword seed, why does it seem like you’ve also cultivated another Path? How can you cultivate two Paths simultaneously?"

Old Ears’ mind was spinning out of control.

But Chen Ji still did not answer. He sat up from the broken bed board, casually surveying the surroundings, as if the sword seeds fighting the enemy outside the cave weren’t his.

Outside the cave, the sword seeds passed through the accumulated snow silently. A Zhongwu Guard was half-kneeling in the snow, gripping his horn bow, with an arrow already nocked and aimed at the cave entrance.

Yet before he could release it, a sword seed drilled into the right side of his neck and out the left. He saw the bowstring slacken in his hands, the arrow flying who knew where. He wanted to breathe, but discovered his throat was leaking air.

A sword seed slashed past another Zhongwu Guard’s waist, the Korean’s bean tin scale armor slicing open like paper. The guard looked down, seeing blood oozing from his abdomen, then his belly split open, spilling his intestines onto the snow, dyeing it crimson.

Old Ears hastened to the cave entrance, clutching the rock wall, squinting as he surveyed those three sword seeds.

The first sword seed was on the left path, its gleam marking each slash, causing a Zhongwu Guard to clutch his throat and collapse, sealing throats with a single sword and diverting all attention.

The second sword seed was on the right, more sinister than the first. It hid in the snow like a venomous snake, cutting across the ankles of each Zhongwu Guard. At first, they froze, then one by one they fell into the snow.

Only then did the third sword seed suddenly emerge. It flew past the fallen guards, cutting them down one by one, like mowing grass.

Old Ears gasped, "How viciously those sword seeds handle in your hands... with so many sword seeds, if you reach the Divine Dao Realm, wouldn’t even the Central Forbidden Army’s encirclement be no threat?"

In just a moment, thirty-seven Zhongwu Guards lay dead, leaving only a slightly plump translator.

Chen Ji walked across the blood-soaked snow, stopping before the translator, "I ask, you answer."

The translator knelt, trembling, "Spare me, sir, I’m with the Ning Dynasty, one of you."

Chen Ji asked calmly, "The woman you were pursuing earlier, what happened to her?"

The translator, fearing Chen Ji might vent his anger on him, quickly replied, "She’s still alive, she disappeared, then we came to find you. Don’t kill me, she’s unharmed."

Chen Ji slowly exhaled a breath.

In the next moment, a sword seed flashed across the translator’s neck, then circled in the air with three other sword seeds, shaking off all traces of blood before flying back into Chen Ji’s sleeve.

...

...

The snow-covered ground returned to silence, with only the mountain wind whipping the downy snow into one’s face.

Old Ears leaned closer and asked, "Kid, why did you trigger the Five Sounds of Martial Arts Roar, and what’s the matter with your sword seeds?"

Chen Ji gathered Wu Yun, who was lying on the snow, into his arms and softly said thank you.

Old Ears was worried, scratching his ears: "Why do you have three sword seeds, wait, Five Sounds of Martial Arts Roar, could it be five sword seeds? No, no, there should have been one before taking the sword, so it’s six?"

Old Ears calculated back and forth, nearly confusing himself.

Seeing Chen Ji still not answering, he lamented with heartache, "Oh my dear mother, kid, at least give me an answer, it’s making me anxious!"

Chen Ji turned and glanced at him: "You said you would take me to Martial Extreme Mountain, why did you lead me to the Martial Temple Mountain Gate, why betray me?"

Old Ears’s face froze, and he turned around silently returning to the cave. He bent down to pick up the package that previously held ginseng, folding it neatly: "You’re talking about this? This old man just took a wrong turn."

Chen Ji sneered, following him into the cave: "When people are embarrassed, they always pretend to be busy, you’re just folding that rag a hundred times, but it doesn’t change the issue."

Old Ears angrily threw the neatly folded package to the ground, stubbornly: "Kid, don’t play innocent, without this old man leading you to avoid the Martial Temple Mountain Protection Array, you wouldn’t even be able to reach the mountain gate, where would you go to find those five swords? Just tell me, did you take those five swords or not?"

Chen Ji remained calm: "So, are there five swords in Heartless Sword Dao’s mountain lake?"

Old Ears stuck his neck out: "No."

Chen Ji sighed: "So, from the beginning, you planned to trick me... who are you really?"

The atmosphere in the cave suddenly grew tense.

Wu Yun held his breath, eyes wide open, staring at Old Ears.

Old Ears sat cross-legged next to the fire pit, the dancing firelight causing his gaze to waver, he suddenly let out a long sigh: "This old man is the Sword Seed Path inheritor that Mountain Master Lu Yang has been searching for."

"Hmm?" Chen Ji and Wu Yun were both taken aback.

Old Ears poked the firewood with a twig: "This old man hails from Shangjing of Jing Dynasty, the family has passed down the Sword Seed Path since I was a child. Father said it’s crucial to keep this secret, or it would bring disaster. Who would have thought that fifty-one years ago, at the Lantern Festival, I had a chance encounter with the Mountain Master. He and I locked eyes, our hearts pounding, and he immediately drew his sword to attack. At that time, this old man was still young, hastily unleashing the sword seed only to have it cleaved by the Mountain Master, thankfully my father intervened just in time to save me from certain death."

Old Ears gazed solemnly at the firelight: "Father stayed to face the Mountain Master, covering my escape. He was already in the Half-step Divine Dao Realm, yet still swiftly defeated by the Mountain Master and died under his sword. This old man was scared out of his wits, slipped into the crowd enjoying the lanterns, and fled in the chaos... In retrospect, the shame is mine for not having the courage to take a last look at my father, not even knowing where his body was buried."

Chen Ji saw Old Ears’s genuine emotion, lowered his head to meet Wu Yun’s gaze, momentarily unsure how to decide.

After contemplating a while, he asked, "What happened afterward?"

Old Ears murmured, "Later, this old man was quietly sent by my father’s close friend to survive secretly in the Ning Dynasty, having to constantly change identities to live, hiding and fleeing, ever fearful of being found by the Mountain Master. Do you think this old man has no home, drifting across the seas? We are merely similar in predicament, forced to leave our homeland, this old man’s greatest wish is to return home and have a look, yet the chance is forever lost."

Wu Yun meowed in sorrow, "So pitiful."

Chen Ji, however, remained unmoved: "Then why lead me to Martial Temple to take the swords, why don’t you take them yourself?"

Old Ears chuckled: "Since my sword seed was cleaved by the Mountain Master, it has become useless, lost during the Lantern Festival; never again could I practice. But this old man holds hatred, hatred for the Martial Temple, hatred for the Mountain Master, thus I had to lead you to take away the Weapon Master’s Holy Relic Divine Weapons that the Martial Temple treasures most, to sever their hopes! I cannot coexist with Lu Yang!"

With that, he unexpectedly stood up, flipped open his sleeves and clothes, shaking out all the peanuts from inside: "You see, this old man has no sword seeds on him."

Chen Ji approached him to search, finding indeed no sword seeds on Old Ears.

Old Ears added, "Kid, who do you think I am?"

Chen Ji replied expressionlessly: "Mountain Master Lu Yang."

Old Ears was momentarily stunned, then burst into laughter like hearing a joke: "If I were Lu Yang, why not kill you with one sword strike? If I were Lu Yang, why take you to steal my treasures? If I were Lu Yang, why would Wu Kezhi be hunting me?"

Wu Yun softly said, "Makes sense..."

Chen Ji bowed his head in thought, admittedly, Old Ears’s last statement was crucial, he couldn’t fathom why Lu Yang would act this way.

Seeing Chen Ji’s tense body gradually relax, Old Ears immediately stooped to pick up peanuts and stuffed them back into his sleeves: "Kid, why is the sword seed you cultivate different from mine, why can you cultivate so many sword seeds..."

Chen Ji cast him a glance: "Have you forgotten the rule?"

Old Ears asked in confusion: "What rule?"

Chen Ji calmly replied: "Ten secrets in exchange for one secret."

Old Ears’s expression changed: "Isn’t that my rule?"

Chen Ji casually said: "It’s mine now."