“Ah?” Song Shuhang was dumbfounded. The number of flying swords allowed to fly today was limited? What was the deal with that? Flying swords weren’t cars, and didn’t have license plates, so how could they limit their circulation in the sky?

　　Fairy Lychee was likewise confused, and asked in puzzlement, “The number of flying swords allowed to fly inside the city is limited? Why is that?”

　　“It’s like this: the grand ceremony that we scholars hold once every three years will take place around two weeks from now. However, it just happens that our White Cloud Academy will be the one holding the grand ceremony this time. Therefore, large numbers of scholarly disciples from all over the world have converged in our White Cloud City. In addition, unrelated fellow daoists came over from various places to watch the grand ceremony. As a consequence, our White Cloud City is currently overcrowded. Since there is a defensive formation set up in the airspace of the White Cloud City, the ‘sky’ isn’t too high. Therefore, we decided to limit the number of flying swords allowed to fly during the next few days so as to avoid creating a traffic jam in case too many fellow daoists were to ride their flying sword at the same time,” the middle-aged scholar explained, somewhat embarrassed.

　　“But how are you going to limit the number of flying swords allowed to circulate? Unlike cars, flying swords don’t have license plates, right?” Song Shuhang asked.

　　“Fellow Daoist, you don’t need to worry about this. If a fellow daoist whose strength is at the Fourth Stage Realm or above enters the White Cloud City, they will obtain a ‘flying sword code’. The restriction of flight will be applied in accordance with the code,” the middle-aged scholar patiently explained things to Song Shuhang and the others.

　　Song Shuhang asked again, “But how are you exactly going to limit the circulation of the flying swords?”

　　“We borrowed the same method that ordinary people use to limit the circulation of their vehicles, and simplified it a bit. We used the sentence [Govern the Country , Manage the Family , and Bring Peace to the World ] as a base, and banned from flying the flying swords whose code starts with the word ‘Govern’ on Monday, the one whose code starts with ‘Country’ on Tuesday, and so on for the other days of the week. In addition, we suggest to get as many people as possible on a flying sword whenever you go for a ride,” the middle-aged scholar said.

　　“…” Song Shuhang.

　　He didn’t know from where to start to ridicule this damnable world of cultivators; hearing this stuff had completely shattered his view of the world!

　　But right at this time, Venerable White said, “Alright. In that case, you can give a ‘flying sword code’ to Fellow Daoist Lychee and me.”

　　After seeing that Venerable White was so open to persuasion, the middle-aged scholar heaved a sigh of relief. He could tell how strong ‘Venerable White’ was, and if the opposite party were to get angry due to this restriction applied on the number of flying swords allowed to circulate in the city, it would be rather troublesome.

　　“In that case, I ask you, two Fellow Daoists, to give me your flying swords for a moment. I’ll print the ‘flying sword code’ above them,” the middle-aged scholar said.

　　Venerable White and Fairy Lychee handed over their flying swords.

　　Soon after, the middle-aged scholar carried over a computer and something that resembled a printer. Then, he placed the flying swords inside the printer, and typed something on the computer.

　　Immediately after, something that resembled a mark was engraved on the flying swords.

　　“Fellow Daoists, this mark will automatically disappear once you leave the White Cloud City. Therefore, you don’t need to worry about it,” the middle-aged scholar explained again.

　　The code engraved on Venerable White’s sword was [Peace888]. After seeing Venerable White’s code, the scholar gasped with admiration. “That’s a really good number.”

　　The flying swords that had the word ‘Peace’ engraved on them were banned from circulating on Saturday. It was Monday today. Therefore, there was a lot of time left before the ban.

　　“Thank you, “Venerable White replied.

　　As for the code engraved on Fairy Lychee’s flying sword, it was [Bring2333] ¹ . Fairy Lychee felt this code was there to make fun of people.

　　Venerable White asked, “Such being the case, can we go inside?”

　　“The formalities have been already taken care of. Therefore, you can enter without problems. Right… Fellow Daoists, I almost forgot. The speed limit inside the White Cloud City is 100 km/h. Therefore, I ask you not to ride at high speed inside the city,” the middle-aged scholar reminded.

　　After hearing these words, Venerable White furrowed his brows. Wasn’t the best thing about a flying sword its high speed? How could one have fun if they couldn’t ride their flying sword at high speed?

　　However, he ultimately sighed. This place was True Monarch Eternal Fire’s territory, and he had no choice but to give his old friend some face.

　　“Shuhang, Fellow Daoist Sixteen, let’s get ready to set out,” Venerable White said. Then, he turned around and saw that Song Shuhang was holding his mobile phone up, seemingly scanning a public announcement affixed to the entrance.

　　“Shuhang, what are you doing?” Senior White asked.

　　Song Shuhang raised his head with a smile, and said, “I read something interesting in this public announcement. They advertised a mobile app. It might come in handy later, so I decided to scan the QR code and download it.”

　　Venerable White and Su Clan’s Sixteen leaned their heads over to take a look.

　　White Cloud’s Flying Sword Training Course App.

　　Advertisement: Do you wish to have to incredible flying sword controlling skills? Do you wish to ride the wind with your flying sword and freely soar high in the sky? The ‘White Cloud Flying Sword Training Course’ is the best course where you can learn how to ride a flying sword!

　　“…” Venerable White.

　　“…” Su Clan’s Sixteen.

　　“Little friend Shuhang, aren’t you a saber user? As such, you should learn how to ride a flying saber instead! Right, I also remember Senior Seventh Cultivator of True Virtue mentioning that you once obtained a pretty good saber riding technique called ❮Blade Dragging Technique❯. Its flying speed was twice as fast as that of an ordinary saber riding technique. Therefore, are you really sure that you don’t want to study how to ride a saber?” Fairy Lychee said out of curiosity.

　　As soon as the ❮Blade Dragging Technique❯ was mentioned, Song Shuhang recalled that scene where the saber was flying in the front, and the rider was in the rear, getting dragged alongside it. That posture was simply too horrible to look at.

　　“Mama Lychee, as long as you don’t mention the ❮Blade Dragging Technique❯, we can still be friends.” Song Shuhang put special emphasis on the word ‘mama’.

　　In the next moment, Song Shuhang got to experience what Immortal Master ‘Windmill’ Copper Trigram felt yesterday. Fairy Lychee used a single arm to grab Shuhang’s huge body and swung him around like a windmill.

　　He was swinging around so quickly that he had a dizzy spell.

　　After swinging him around for about a hundred times, Fairy Lychee put him down, and said, “As long as you don’t mention the word ‘mama’, we can still be friends.”

　　Song Shuhang felt that his two legs had become soft, and his head was spinning.

　　In the rear, that middle-aged scholar also felt that his legs had become somewhat soft…

　　“Alright, stop arguing. Let’s enter the White Cloud City,” Venerable White said with a smile.

　　True Monarch Eternal Fire said that the White Cloud City was very lively and entertaining at this time. Therefore, Venerable White was looking forward to seeing it.

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　Venerable White and Fairy Lychee rode their flying swords; they carried Song Shuhang and Su Clan’s Sixteen along with them, getting inside the White Cloud City.

　　After getting past the defensive barrier of the White Cloud City, a buzzing sound reverberated in Song Shuhang’s ears. His ears had captured countless noises in just a few instants.

　　It seemed that the word ‘lively’ alone wasn’t enough to describe the White Cloud City!

　　Soon after, Song Shuhang took a broad view around.

　　The whole airspace of the White Cloud City was filled with cultivators riding flying swords. There were scholars, daoists, and buddhists.

　　As for the ground of the White Cloud City, it was also overcrowded with people.

　　“No wonder they decided to limit the number of flying swords allowed to fly,” Song Shuhang muttered to himself. Then, he glanced at a distant place. This place was the center of the White Cloud City.

　　There were thirteen big statues there. All the thirteen statues were wearing scholarly clothes, and their traits were completely different.

　　Some looked elegant, other genteel, some in high spirits, other full of vigor…

　　The materials used to sculpt each statue were also very different. Some were made of jade, others of ordinary limestone. Then, some were completely red, or spotlessly white.

　　Song Shuhang’s vision ultimately fell on a transparent statue that emitted a lustrous shine.

　　He slightly furrowed his brows, and asked, “Senior White, what are these statues?”

　　“Are you asking about those thirteen statues? Those are the statues of the renowned thirteen Tribulation Transcenders disciples of the Sage. According to the rumors, back in those days, the cultivation level of the Scholarly Sage was extremely high, and he had found his own path to immortality. But, this wasn’t all, for even the strength of the disciples he had trained was incredible. There was a total of thirteen Ninth Stage Tribulation Transcenders under his command. Back in those days, the momentum of the scholarly faction was unrivaled,” Venerable White explained.

　　“The thirteen Tribulation Transcenders disciples of the Sage…” Song Shuhang muttered to himself. Then, he gazed once again at that statue that seemed to be made of lustrous glass.

　　Although its facial features were completely different, Song Shuhang immediately associated this lustrous statue with the lustrous scholar that had forcefully borrowed his ghost spirit back then. There was no mistaking it… the person that had borrowed his ghost spirit, the lustrous scholar, was one of the thirteen Tribulation Transcenders disciples of the Sage.

　　Such being the case, was the message that the lustrous scholar left behind, ‘Overturn the Mountain of Myriad Books, the Still Pond of Wisdom…’, referring precisely to that ‘Mountain of Myriad Books’ outside the White Cloud Academy?

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　Just as Song Shuhang was in deep thoughts, that lustrous piece of crystal in his size-reducing purse slightly shook.

　　That fragment was the apology that the lustrous scholar had sent him for not being able to return his ghost spirit safely.

　　Back then, the lustrous scholar used the fragment of his life-bound magical treasure to pass onto Song Shuhang the scholarly footwork, ❮Celestial Sprint❯, as compensation for not keeping his promise.

　　Later, Song Shuhang kept the fragment of the magical treasure in his purse.

　　But, now—just as Venerable White brought Song Shuhang to the White Cloud City and approached the thirteen statues—the fragment of the magical treasure that Song Shuhang had with him resonated with the statues.

　　Soon after, the statues of the thirteen Tribulation Transcenders disciples of the Sage seemingly ‘activated’. A gentle radiance was intermittently issued from their bodies alongside the thunderous voice of the Sage.

　　When the gentle radiance and the thunderous voice of the Sage were emitted from the statues, the scholarly disciples stopped in their tracks and quietly listened to the voice of the Sage.

　　The voice of the Sage was like a strengthened version of the enlightenment stone. When the thunderous voice spread in the surrounding area, each scholarly disciple obtained large benefits.

　　The scholarly disciples there couldn’t help but be happy. It was like suddenly receiving a blessing.

　　The thunderous of the Sage disappeared as fast as it came. After around five breaths, it was already gone.

　　The radiance emitting from the statues of the thirteen Tribulation Transcenders also slowly disappeared.

　　However, the gentle radiance emitting from the statue in the lead didn’t disappear. Instead, it got stronger and stronger.

　　This statue had a solemn expression, but there was also a hint of gentleness on its face. It was the statue of the head disciple of the Sage; his name was ‘Daozi’.

　　The light emitting from Daozi’s statue got brighter and brighter. In the end, it condensed and turned into a golden text that floated in the airspace of the White Cloud City.

　　The characters used to write down the golden text seemed to be the characters used in the ancient era. Each stroke and drawing was imbued with a profound and mysterious power.

　　Venerable White looked at the dazzling golden text hovering in the sky, and said, “Is that… the ❮Self-Cultivating Prose Poetry of the Sage❯?”

　　“The ❮Self-Cultivating Prose Poetry of the Sage❯? Is that a cultivation technique?” Song Shuhang asked.

　　“It’s not a cultivation technique. It’s a scholarly text to cultivate one’s moral character. Whenever scholars feel that their heart and mind are not calm, they would write down from memory this ❮Self-Cultivating Prose Poetry of the Sage❯. According to the rumors, its effects are truly excellent,” Venerable White explained.