Chapter 65: The Autumn Wind Rose

　　Shen Lian spent three days at the tavern and loitered around town. He finally clarified a few matters.

　　The residents of the town were mostly descendants of Qing Xuan disciples. Either that, or they had stumbled across the town by accident and decided to live here.

　　These people had an advantage when it comes to joining Qing Xuan sect. In fact, there were some who managed to join Qing Xuan. However, they did not manage to learn the essence of Qing Xuan techniques due to their lack of potential or mentality.

　　The young people sent by well-known families in Jianghu or sects hidden from the world were mostly descendants of these normal Qing Xuan disciples.

　　After they failed to pursue Dao, they returned to the mortal world. Some of them got married and built a family of their own; some indulged in worldly leisure and passed on their legacy.

　　As they did not get to learn the essence of Qing Xuan techniques, they only knew a few Qigong practices.

　　Of course, they could enjoy themselves in the mortal realm. However, when the time comes, they were nothing but a pile of bones.

　　There were some who claimed to be celestials after learning a few Dao techniques, such as those form the Flying Celestials Island.

　　In fact, most of these techniques were not any better than the Deity Vanquishing Sword.

　　That was because the true celestial schools did not bother themselves with such petty techniques.

　　The lady in purple that Shen Lian met the other day was the real deal.

　　Ever since Shen Lian time-travelled, he met plenty of powerful individuals. However, the only one who gave him such an impactful encounter with Celestialism was the mysterious lady in purple. Shen Lian wondered what kind of position she held in Qing Xuan.

　　The owner of the tavern never showed his face. However, the bartender from that day was very helpful and informative. Shen Lian got most of his information from the bartender.

　　Shen Lian looked right at the end of the long street where it was surrounded by clouds. It felt so close yet so far. Apparently, it was known as the Forbidden Technique of the Clouds, a technique used to segregate the mortal realm from the celestials.

　　Those who were from Qing Xuan could come and go as they please, but outsiders were not allowed to enter unless special circumstances warrant it.

　　Besides the strategic advantage enjoyed by the residents of the town, Qing Xuan would only admit ten disciples every fifty years. Yet, it could turn out that not even a single one of them had a chance to attain immortality.

　　The difficulties within Celestialism were not something that could be easily detailed in words.

　　However, no one would give up on such a precious opportunity.

　　As days passed, more and more people came to town. Shen Lian stuck to his original plan and worked on his inner Qi.

　　Everyone knew that Qing Xuan would only take in ten new disciples. Rumour had it that if the person was one of the ten, the person was meant to be part of Qing Xuan. Wenxin Road served to filter out those who were not meant to be part of the ten.

　　If one could kill off the rest of his competitors before the mountain gate was opened, then he would be within the ten and would have a higher chance of joining Qing Xuan.

　　Despite not knowing the legitimacy of the rumor, a lot of people still tried.

　　This was why the bartender said that they were all going to be dead soon.

　　Of course, Shen Lian did not believe in the rumor. There were plenty of people who believed in it, though.

　　The tactic of killing with a borrowed sword would always work. All it took was just one selfish and greedy person.

　　Solo travelers like Shen Lian would be their first choice, as they were seen as easy targets.

　　However, those who came in a group might not share the same idea after all. With such a huge group, it was obvious that ten slots were not going to be enough for everyone.

　　Those who managed to get there were not idiots. Given their intellect, none of them was willing to lose out on the benefits.

　　Those who acted first were never wise. They were mere brave foot soldiers without much in their head.

　　The autumn wind rose and the world fell into a murderous silence.

　　Shen Lian was in his room at the tavern when he felt a sharp murderous intent directed at him.

　　He had always expected someone to be onto him. If the person waited till now to strike, it would mean that the person was not just any ordinary person.

　　Ever since he came, there were a lot of strangers who came to the town every day. However, the number of outsiders never increased.

　　This was so as those who came were never more than those who got killed.

　　Shen Lian had unblocked his Governor Vessel and Conception Vessel. His confidence in his every movement looked intimidating to onlookers and a lot of people feared him.

　　He was one of the few well-recognized highly skilled experts in the tavern. There were even a few people who knew his background.

　　Shen Lian was not bothered by the fact that he was surrounded by packs of wolves. He saw it as an opportunity to train and grow.

　　His spirit did not get stronger because of this. However, it was less impulsive and had gotten more stable. During the past month, his inner Qi got purer too.

　　In the eyes of others, Shen Lian was a proud loner.

　　The leaves were falling in the courtyard. Beyond the sound of the falling leaves, it was a heavy set of footsteps.

　　The person could have walked without a sound, but he did not. Clearly, he wanted to create psychological pressure for Shen Lian.

　　There was not just one set of footsteps, there were three.

　　Apparently, after one had attained Tongxuan in martial arts, one could tell a person’s martial arts background and his attainment through the sound of his footsteps.

　　Shen Lian was not well-versed in terms of martial arts. Despite having incredibly sharp senses, he could not accurately tell a person’s martial art background.

　　However, he knew who the visitors were this time around. They were either part of the Xiao family, related to the Flying Celestials Island, or the Guiyun Peak.

　　Their internal force was similar to that of Xiao Zhu’s.

　　The thought of Xiao Zhu reminded Shen Lian of Ye Liuyun, but it was not him.

　　He had a feeling that Ye Liuyun will not come to Qing Xuan.

　　Looking at the prospective Qing Xuan disciples, despite the few people who were as good as Ye Liuyun and himself in terms of martial art skills, none of them could compare to Ye Liuyun’s mentality.

　　Shen Lian thought that if he had lost his legs since young, there was no way that he could surpass Ye Liuyun.

　　Behind greatness, there were hardships.

　　People often marvel at the flower of success. However, the tears of hard work that soaked its buds and the rain of blood and sacrifice were often overlooked. Shen Lian read about these lines from one of Bing Xin’s work back in his past life. Though, it was Ye Liuyun who showed him the significance behind those lines.

　　The door swung open without any wind.

　　Shen Lian stood right at the entrance. He sized up the three people without giving much emphasis to their looks.

　　“Shen Lian, time to pay back for killing my cousin sister.” The person who spoke shared some facial resemblance to Xiao Zhu.

　　Two flashes of light followed. His two companions attacked Shen Lian when he was speaking.

　　One of them used a scimitar, and the other used a Tang knife that was slightly curved.

　　The scimitar dealt tricky moves that were hard to defend against.

　　However, the curved Tang knife was more dangerous, and the killer was strong and fast.

　　The blade cut against the air. The frosty atmosphere almost kept one from opening one’s eyes.

　　The gleam on their knives showed how skillful they were.

　　They were in their twenties. They did not attain such skills because they were geniuses. It was because of the best cultivation guidance that they received, and the medication that they took to secure vitality. This was why they had such a good foundation.

　　However, these people had never gone through the trial of blood and fire.

　　Shen Lian reached out with his arm, as though he was going to fight against the blade with his empty hands.

　　The one who spoke had not attack yet. He was waiting for his chance to strike. He planned to strike when his two companions overpowered Shen Lian so that he could deal the final, decisive blow.

　　That was a sound plan, but in reality, things usually do not go according to plan.

　　Out of a sudden, there were exchanges of white flash. No one knew what happened.

　　The knife did not hit Shen Lian, but it was pitted right against the other knife.

　　They were equally sharp and equally unstoppable.

　　That could only give rise to one result – both of the knives were broken into half.

　　Shen Lian had caught their weaknesses.

　　Everything in this world has a weakness. This applies to even Dao techniques and celestial arts.

　　However, identifying the weakness and utilizing it were two different things altogether.

　　Shen Lian’s observation and actual skills were both impressive.

　　The reason why he did not kill the three of them was not because of weakness or mercy. It was not even about him being guilty of accidentally killing Xiao Zhu.

　　It was because the three of them received their punishment.

　　To cultivators like them, there was no punishment crueler than having their arm muscles disabled and their cinnabar fields destroyed.

　　It was not easy for a person to be born into this world, which was why Shen Lian would not kill someone so easily.

　　However, he was not about to pretend that he was easy-going and let the three of them go. After all, if one were to respond to vengeance with grace, what would grace be responded with then? This was why he decided to deal with the vengeance in a direct manner.

　　Since then, no one gave Shen Lian any trouble until the Double Ninth Festival.

　　

1. 通玄－ A level of abstruse, and profound understanding.

　　

2. The pen name of a famous writer from China, Xie Wanying.