Sitting inside Tianji Palace, Su Tianji's had a weird feeling ever since she came out of seclusion cultivation.
This feeling came from the discussions that had happened in Tianxu Palace!
Let's trace back to the three-day-long discussions about Heavenly Dao first.
After Su Tianji came out of seclusion, countless Dajin cultivators came to congratulate her. The Liuyun Daoist Palace took this opportunity to hold a grand discussion inside Tianxu Palace!
This was the biggest Daoist event that Liuyun Daoist Palace had held in decades!
On the first day of the event, various cultivators expressed their views based on their own cultivations, and everyone benefitted from each other; the event was extremely successful.
However, things began to show slight changes when Ye Songtao, the faction master of Cloud Ocean Faction, came to congratulate Su Tianji and join in the discussion on the next day.
-Two days ago, inside Tianxu Palace-
"There are two kinds of qi in this world, pure and turbid. During my seclusion cultivation, I've been enlightened in this area, and therefore I hoped to discuss it with everyone here. Please correct me if I'm wrong." This event was organized for Su Tianji, so she was the host. "It floats like nothingness and returns to its Daoist path…"
"Yes! Your enlightenment is truly wonderful!"
"I have an understanding of qi, but my understanding is not as deep nor as profound as yours. Therefore, I'm not going to show my slight understanding before a master," the others exclaimed in awe as well.
Just then, she saw that Ye Songtao wanted to say something, so she asked, "Faction Master Ye, do you have any objections?"
Ye Songtao glanced around the room and asked, "Have you heard of the Legend of the Sword and Fairy?"
"Huh?" The crowd looked at each other in confusion and thought, We are talking about Daoism, why did you go off topic and bring up the Legend of the Sword and Fairy?
Upon looking at everyone's confused expressions, Ye Songtao said with a stern expression, "I don't think qi is so mysterious. It's as gentle as water, benefits all things but does not compete. If one's heart is as calm as water, their qi will be stable. If the qi is stable, one can use it to control things in nature!"
Then, he asked, "Have any of you heard of the sword control technique?"
"Sword control technique?" The crowd was more confused than ever.
"Using qi to control things, with which one can fly on swords!" Ye Songtao said copiously, "The sword control technique emphasizes the use of qi; let me show you!"
Then, Ye Songtao gestured using his finger, and a sword jumped out of its scabbard as if it were alive. Then, it circled him like a silver snake!
"When mastered, one can fly on the sword for thousands of kilometers. Spiritual artifacts are not needed. With this technique, the sword could fly away for thousands of kilometers and remove the head of the enemy like a piece of cake! This is the meaning behind the phrase, 'With a celestial sword, I can go to the heavens and enter the netherworld!'"
Upon seeing Ye Songtao's sword control technique, the crowd lit up; they could tell that he was just using an ordinary sword, but it seemed alive and extremely agile under his control!
"This sword… is controlled by qi?" a cultivator asked curiously.
Normally, the spiritual artifacts used by cultivators had to be made from precious materials and be refined multiple times. Then, the cultivators must use their own spiritual energy and qi to further cultivate them before the artifacts can be used so freely.
To most cultivators, qi was invisible, but artifacts were visible. Therefore, if a person really wanted to use objects to their liking, only the spiritual artifacts could do that!
However, the sword control technique was capable of completely controlling an ordinary object!
"As gentle as water benefits all things but does not compete!" An ordinary technique couldn't awe the masses. However, what Ye Songtao said stunned the cultivators here.
After some pondering, the cultivators realized that this phrase seemed simple but was deep and profound. Moreover, it contained the ultimate truth.
"I've never heard a state of mind and principle so ingenious!"
"Faction Master Ye, did you come to the realization yourself?"
"I read it from a text called 'Dao De Jing', 1 " Ye Songtao said as he shook his head. He saw Fang Qi's character flip through this book in the game, and he picked up a few key phrases from it.
"How can we learn this technique?" The cultivators grew more curious about the sword control technique. "Can we learn it from Dao De Jing?"
"No." Ye Songtao shook his head again and said, "That's why you should go out and walk around. How can you be unaware of the sword control technique? I learned this technique from someone called the Liquor Sword Immortal. Aside from the sword control technique, there is also the Innumerable Sword Technique and Heavenly Sword Technique. When one reaches mastery, he or she can summon the Sword God to fight enemies," Liu Songtao explained.
The cultivators gasped, "One can summon the Sword God? This sounds like a powerful skill!"
"Really? You can summon the god within the sword?"
Su Tianji's beautiful face fell as she watched the cultivators walk up to Ye Songtao.
…
After Ye Songtao left, the discussion quickly ended. Su Tianji originally thought that this interruption was just an interlude and wouldn't affect anything. After all, Ye Songtao was a faction master and didn't have time to discuss Daoism every day.
However, she realized how naïve she was on the third day.
-The third day-
"An Huwei, the Castellan of Jiuhua City, Ouyang Zhen, the Master of the Ouyang Family, and Bu Lei, the Master of the Bu Family are here to congratulate Elder Su!"
"Not only did Faction Master Ye congratulate Elder Su himself, but City Master An, Master Ouyang, and Master Bu are here as well?" The others were shocked since people of their status usually would send envoys rather than appear in person.
Before the discussions began, Su Tianji asked the servants to bring desserts, wine, and various other snacks. However, An Huwei furrowed slightly and said, "This wine is drinkable, but it's nothing compared to Sprite…"
"You're right!" Ouyang Zhen shook his head and added, "The desserts aren't as good as Haagen-Dazs."
High-status envoys from the Wuwei Daoist Alliance were sitting beside them, and they asked curiously, "What kind of wine is Sprite? It's better than this Xianqiong Wine from Liuyun Daoist Palace?"
"What's Haagen-Dazs?"
An Huwei explained to them as he reminisced its taste, "Sprite is an absolute delicacy. It's made of mineral water from under the snowy mountains, which had been tempered by thousand-year volcanic rock. It circulated for hundreds of years and was eventually melted and filtered. It's cold spring water from volcanic rocks. In addition, it is blended with the honey that is created by bees that collected pollen from a Spiritual Flower called the 'Ice Heart Flower.'"
Upon hearing this, the other cultivators immediately crowded around them.
Su Tianji was at a loss for words at this familiar scene.
…
Su Tianji sat inside the Tianji Palace with a complicated expression on her face. "Have I been in seclusion for too long? How can so many things happen without me knowing?"
She felt like the entire world around her changed after coming out of seclusion!
"The Legend of the Sword and Fairy? Sprite? Haagen-Dazs? The Liquor Sword Immortal…" She leaned on a wide chair that was covered by snowy white fur and reminisced the poem that she heard, "The imperial sword arrives with the wind, eliminating evil from heaven and earth. I will be thrilled if I have liquor, but I'm still insane when I don't. I will drink the lakes and rivers and then swallow the sun and moon. I am the Liquor Sword Immortal, the only person who is left standing after a thousand drinks!"
"Who is capable of writing a poem like this?"
"Also, what is the sword control technique? Faction Master Ye, City Master An, and even that old master from Jiangnan study this technique…!" She glanced at her disciples and asked, "Do you know the Liquor Sword Immortal?"
Her disciples glanced at each other, not sure what she was talking about.
"People of your status won't be able to meet a master like him… Do any of you know a small shop called Origins?" Su Tianji batted her beautiful eyes as she thought in all seriousness, "Does the Liquor Sword Immortal live there?"
"I know! I know!" Suddenly, a figure ran into the hall.
Su Tianji glanced at Xiao Yulv, and her expression lit up. "Take me there!" [TL Note: The Tao Te Ching, also known by its pinyin romanization Dao De Jing, is a Chinese classic text traditionally credited to the 6th-century BC sage Laozi.]
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