Day Two.

At the same time, in the same place.

After Xu Taiping finished practicing his sword flying technique and descended the mountain, the old man who rode the flying sword appeared once again in front of the cliff where the Moon Scooping Lake waterfall was located.

“Three thousand three hundred swords? Merely three hundred more than before, nothing impressive.”

After counting the sword marks on the cliff, the elder said just that and once again proudly flew away on his sword.

…

Day Three.

Unlike before, today Xu Taiping came down the mountain an hour earlier.

This made the elder, who also arrived an hour early but still missed Xu Taiping, somewhat displeased.

“Descending the mountain so early, you’ve learned to slack off before mastering the sword. I want to see how many you’ve stabbed today. If it’s less than yesterday, you might as well not come tomorrow.”

The elder elegantly flew on his sword to the waterfall cliff.

After counting today’s sword marks on the cliff, the elder frowned and said reluctantly, “Only three thousand six hundred swords, I thought there would be many more.”

After speaking, his flying sword sharply changed direction and soared into the night sky, disappearing from sight.

…

Day Four.

This day, Xu Taiping came down the mountain another hour earlier than the previous day.

This caused the elder, who also came an hour earlier than the day before, to miss him once again.

“What’s with this boy, getting earlier by the day? Is he still practicing the sword or not?”

The elder looked at Xu Taiping hopping down the mountain and grumbled under his breath.

Then he flew on his sword to the cliff and carefully counted the sword marks. When he discovered that Xu Taiping had stabbed four thousand one hundred swords today, the dissatisfaction on his face gradually faded.

“Young man, you still can’t keep your patience. You could have reached five thousand swords if you persisted, but you gave up for the sake of two hours of pleasure, nothing more.”

After speaking, he once again flew away on his sword.

For the next five days, the number of swords Xu Taiping stabbed began to increase by six hundred each day.

By the ninth day, the sword marks on the wall had become six thousand seven hundred and one.

The time Xu Taiping came down the mountain was also advancing day by day.

However, the advancement of time was not as fixed as the increasing number of swords; sometimes it was a tea time earlier, sometimes a stick of incense, and sometimes one or two hours.

Because of this, Elder Sansan never managed to meet Xu Taiping at Moon Scooping Lake.

“Enough, considering your diligence, I will come directly at the hour of Yin tomorrow.”

Looking at the dense sword marks on the cliff, the elder said somewhat helplessly.

Thinking to himself, surely this time he would meet the boy, right?

…

Day Ten.

As dawn was just breaking, the elder arrived at Moon Scooping Lake.

“This boy hasn’t arrived yet today? Hmph, that diligence was all for show.”

Elder Sansan glanced around Moon Scooping Lake and, not seeing Xu Taiping, snorted coldly.

But soon, the corners of his mouth lifted:

“Being late is good; I can use this opportunity to properly discipline the boy, to make him more honest during his sword practice.”

The more the elder thought about it, the more amusing he found it.

He sat cross-legged on the large rock in the center of Moon Scooping Lake, where Xu Taiping often sat, smiling as he pondered how to punish Xu Taiping.

“Perhaps double the number of appearances from yesterday?”

“No, that punishment is too simple.”

“Have him move rocks with his flying sword?”

“Forget it, we are cultivators, not laborers.”

“Have him start practicing sword flying underwater?”

“No, with his talent, it would probably take a year or two to achieve that.”

As the elder was deep in thought, a red sun quietly peeked out from the sea of clouds.

A ray of sunlight shone right on the elder’s face.

“Why hasn’t the boy arrived yet when it’s already bright?”

The elder, blinded by the sunlight, suddenly woke up and stood up abruptly.

The flying sword that had been swimming beside him like a fish “buzzed” and flew back in front of him.

And at this moment, just like the first day when Xu Taiping waited all morning, the elder’s gaze fell on a wooden board on the cliff.

“This board, it doesn’t seem to be one I hung up.”

He noticed the newest board right away.

“Could it be that the boy left it?”

The elder thought to himself as he flew on his sword and in the blink of an eye stood in front of the wooden board.

He looked closely at the board and saw a line of text carved with a sword.

The text was square and upright, as if it had been printed.

The elder nodded, seeming to like the writing, but when he finished reading the text on the board, his face suddenly fell.

The board read:

“Elder Sansan, I am Xu Taiping, a disciple of the Seventh Peak. Before dawn today, I received an urgent letter from the Peak Master, ordering me to rush to the Hundred Grass Hall on the main peak early this morning. Therefore, I am unable to practice swordsmanship today. I leave this note in hopes of your understanding.”

The elder stared at the words on the wooden board, speechless for a long time.

Until a cool breeze blew by, he then abruptly flung his sleeve and exclaimed:

“Zhao Qian! Are you itching for a beating again?!”

…

Time rewinds by an hour.

At dawn.

“Sigh…”

In the secret chamber of Fan Tower, Xu Taiping, who had soaked in the energy core opening soup for a good two hours, finally completed five grand cycles of the Danxia Technique and fully activated the medicinal power of the double dose of Dragon Gall Wine.

He felt refreshed and clear-headed.

“Judging by the situation in my energy core, I should be able to make some progress in the Gazing Abyss Realm in a month or two.”

Xu Taiping stood up from the bathtub, his body bare.

“Ouch…”

However, as he lifted his leg to step out of the tub, a piercing pain came from several energy points on his thigh.

Despite not being his first time soaking in the energy core opening soup, the pain from the energy points was still sharp enough to make him grimace.

Pain aside, the soup’s effect on accelerating his cultivation was significant.

Now, Xu Taiping’s rate of cultivation improvement was almost comparable to that of someone with Black Spirit Bones.

“Chirp chirp!”

Just then, the voice of the little monkey Ping’an suddenly sounded outside Fan Tower.

“What’s wrong, Ping’an?”

Xu Taiping began to dress as he called out to the outside.

“Letter, a letter, urgent letter!”

Ping’an’s voice sounded somewhat urgent from outside.

“Bring it in for me.”

Xu Taiping pressed his hand on the copper mirror on the table, and the stone door of Fan Tower slowly opened.

At this moment, he really didn’t feel like moving too much because of the pain.

“Chirp chirp.”

As the door of Fan Tower opened, the little monkey Ping’an and Baiyu rushed in one after the other.