Chapter 466: The Martial World Again

Chapter 466: The Jianghu Anew

These past few days, it was not just Zhao Changhe who felt completely useless; Yue Hongling also felt she was losing face.

Zhao Changhe was slightly better off than her; though he claimed he could not help, he actually assisted in organizing the martial artists, serving to conscript and build up the ranks for the newly founded Spirit Race, which perfectly aligned with his duties as Si Laoye, the martial guardian.

He also knew how to dispatch people to search for Shi Wuding, organize men to maintain public order, and arrange city defense patrols; he even proposed zoning plans for the brand-new town settlement and put forward a drainage blueprint, contributing significantly to the founding of Taoyuan Town.

After all, he was a chieftain who had managed a mountain fortress before, so he possessed some semblance of order when it came to actual work. Moreover, even if he had never eaten pork, he had seen pigs run; whether in Xiangyang or Kuaiji, he had witnessed plenty of such construction and administrative endeavors, and Tang Wanzhuang had even tried to teach him...

Regrettably, he had not learned much of it, with the knowledge retained from his modern life playing a greater role instead... yet surprisingly, he had already become the most capable person in the Spirit Race besides Sisi.

The former fortress master's wife was the one who discovered she knew nothing at all; her greatest contributions were acting as an instructor and personally leading crowds to maintain public order. If Zhao Changhe handled organization and managerial delegation, she was the constable, the literal executor.

Initially somewhat defiant and full of vigor, believing she could do more, Yue Hongling lost even the desire to try and participate once she compared her lot to Sisi's endless, head-numbing web of countless tasks, and she contentedly went off to keep the peace.

It really didn't show; Sisi looked like she only knew how to act coquettishly flirtatious, yet she was actually quite capable... after all, she was the Holy Daughter who had led her clan out of the secret realm to take root in the outside world. Though she had not brought many people, the initial establishment of this faction seemed almost like a rehearsal, allowing her to accumulate a fair share of experience.

The vast majority of the world's people talked big, but if asked to manage even ten individuals, they would fail... this was precisely why the great aristocratic clans held such weight in the world; the talents produced from within their lineages were irreplaceable in an ancient society.

Fortunately, setting out this time to investigate Shi Wuding's situation allowed Yue Hongling to find the meaning of her own existence, and even her complexion improved considerably.

To each their own strengths!

"Honestly, seeing how you handle things during this meeting has touched me deeply." On the way to the snow-capped mountains, Yue Hongling sighed to Zhao Changhe, "I feel as though my horizons have broadened... perhaps it will benefit my way of the sword."

"Seeing you hold it in these past few days... looking a bit dazed, I was worried you might have doubted or wavered in your sword dao, but you don't look like it?"

"Pfft, how could one sway from their own path so easily?" Yue Hongling tossed her ponytail, bursting with vigor. "How foolish would one have to be to waver over something like this? We are all performing deeds of chivalry; just because one way is better, does it mean the other no longer requires anyone to do it? What kind of logic is that? Even in a mere small town, there must be a division of labor."

"Ha... as long as you're fine." Zhao Changhe laughed. "Then what was with that defiant little look on your face earlier?"

"If she can do it, I felt I should be able to do it too. Once I realized I couldn't, I let it go. Besides, she can't do what I am doing now either. If she has the skill, let her face Shi Wuding directly? With her measly tricks, wouldn't she be flattened by a single slap..."

Zhao Changhe couldn't help but laugh out loud. "There are plenty of things you can do that she can't. For instance, last night's posture."

"Bah." Yue Hongling's face flushed slightly red.

Having spent so much time together lately, living a routine life in the town, the air of an old married couple grew thicker, and once certain floodgates were opened, they could no longer be shut. Since trying out a new position last time, she had been coaxed into developing even more during bedtime recently; the heroine's supple waist and stance allowed for many intricate maneuvers, which brought this fellow immense pleasure.

Sometimes Yue Hongling forgot what she used to be like... she constantly felt that the way Sisi looked at her now was not much different from the way she looked at Sisi, both being glances reserved for wanton harlots.

Yue Hongling chose to ignore his teasing; her mind dwelt more on when she should flee again. This kind of life, rising and turning in together, working and sleeping by his side, genuinely frightened her a little.

Frightened that once it became a habit, she would never want to leave.

Zhao Changhe was just saying, "It's truly strange, what are you constantly competing with Sisi for day in and day out?"

"Who is competing with her? Who would compete with her in shamelessness? Even while sitting there eating, she can secretly stretch her bare foot out in front of you, her toes curling and beckoning. Is she the only one with flexible and cute toes? Who is she flirting with? Regardless of whether we are wed or not, in front of her, I am your wife. Do you really think I have no dignity to uphold?"

"..."

Yue Hongling stubbornly added, "Furthermore, when a true swordsman faces such a stirring of the mind, it is to see whether it can aid the breakthrough of their sword intent. Who knows, I might just use this to break through into the Second Secret Realm. This is an enlightenment on my own path; what does it have to do with Xiang Simeng?"

Zhao Changhe did not expose her, as she likely did have a genuine realization. "What kind of enlightenment? Teach me a bit."

"I have one. My sword intent will become vaster, and more attuned to the mortal world."

"I understand 'vaster'—broadening from a narrow perspective. But how do you explain 'the mortal world'?"

Yue Hongling brandished her riding crop, pointing toward the morning glow on the horizon. "Once, my intent lay in the jianghu. Setting suns and rushing rivers, yellow sands and endless steppes. Now, I have come to appreciate further the expanse of the common people, the hearth fire of ten thousand homes. If that is not transitioning from the jianghu into the mortal world, what is it?"

She turned her head to look at Zhao Changhe, who was riding beside her, and smiled. "The intent has arrived... the techniques of the Sword Emperor you taught me are also highly beneficial for reference. Once the hard strength of my physical cultivation catches up, it will be the moment Yue Hongling enters the Second Secret Realm. Little brother, you are still behind, so take your time catching up..."

"Jia!" The heroine whipped her horse and surged forward, riding directly toward the distant snow-capped mountains.

Zhao Changhe followed closely behind; looking at the fluttering ponytail ahead, his heart softened.

Whether he could catch up to her strength did not seem to matter all that much.

As they rode shoulder to shoulder through this jianghu, they were always chasing that original aspiration, and that crimson robe remained forever unchanged.

...

Yue Hongling felt herself touching the threshold of the Second Secret Realm, whereas Zhao Changhe still felt quite far off; yet compared to his previous aimless confusion where he couldn't even grasp the edges, he could now more or less discern the direction of the door.

Yue Hongling's way of the sword had made a monumental leap forward, and so had Zhao Changhe's.

While masquerading as Wang Daozhong and Si Laoye, the sword styles he employed were entirely different, and the scenarios he faced varied as well; he had never played things with such intricate variety even when wielding a saber. Coupled with his daily dual cultivation and sword studies with Yue Hongling, sparring whenever they were free during the day, his understanding and comprehension of the sword grew exponentially.

The current Zhao Changhe felt that his mastery of the sword had practically reached full comprehension; even if he walked into the Central Plains and claimed to be a swordsman, no one would be able to refute it.

Learning the sword was meant to break through the bottleneck of his saber techniques. Just as Yue Hongling felt the threshold of the Second Secret Realm after her sword intent broadened, Zhao Changhe also felt that if he broke through his saber technique's bottleneck, the comprehension required for the Second Secret Realm would be right before his eyes.

With his martial understanding and insights in place, what remained to be supplemented was the cultivation of his physical body: resolving the rubbish meridians that had always dragged him down, and using the Sharp Blade Grass and Juntian Blood Jade to temper his Blood Asura Body. Once all of these were accomplished, it should be the time of the Second Secret Realm.

The feeling of having a clear path was wonderful—being able to forge ahead toward a goal, even if it lay far away, it mattered not.

This time, the two did not disguise themselves, returning to their true identities as Zhao Changhe and Yue Hongling, with Zhao Changhe carrying the joyfully vibrating Longque on his back.

Seeking trouble with the Sword Hut had nothing to do with the Spirit Race to begin with; it was a contest among Central Plains martial artists.

He wondered what kind of battles awaited on this journey... He hoped the Bashan Sword Hut would validate the gains he had acquired in his sword dao over these days, tempering them into his saber techniques and letting Longque soar into the high heavens.

In the distance, the silhouette of a mountain range could faintly be seen, winding like a dragon, its main peak solitary and steep, sharp as a sword.

Looking up, the mountain summit was shrouded in mist and clouds, obscured from clear view.

Though it was clearly the height of summer, the closer they drew to the mountains, the more pronounced the chill became.

He knew not whether a snow mountain in summer still held snow... in any case, Zhao Changhe could already perceive the sword qi swirling among the peaks, colder than any snow.

"Woah!" The two pulled their reins in unison, hiding their horses in a dense forest on the other side not far from the mountain. Rounding the clear lake at the foot of the peak, they bounded forward in perfect synchronization, vanishing into the mountains together.

If the past few days meant transitioning from the jianghu into the mortal world, then at this very moment, they re-entered the jianghu.