“What the devil? Why didn’t I see it when I came back from outside?” Xu Taiping was startled and picked up Ping’an to ask.

“It had already left by the time you arrived.” Baiyu also fluttered his wings and flew onto Xu Taiping’s shoulder, “It was a ghoul standing nine feet tall, with fiery red hair, a pair of emerald green eyes, and carrying a long blade on its back.”

He described it in great detail.

“Tall stature, red hair, green eyes, and carrying a blade… Could it be the Red-Haired Demon Blade?!” Xu Taiping’s heart skipped a beat, then he grabbed Baiyu from his shoulder and asked:

“When did this ghoul leave?”

“As dusk approached, it was already standing on the rainbow bridge of Dusk Drum Mountain. As it got darker, it appeared at the entrance of the courtyard, and just stood there motionless, until about half an incense stick’s time ago, when a cultivator flew over us on his sword, and then it disappeared.”

Baiyu recalled.

“If you didn’t see it wrong, this ghoul is very likely the Red-Haired Demon Blade rumored in the Qingxuan Sect. My Senior Brother Four was injured by him just last night.”

Xu Taiping spoke with a somewhat solemn tone.

“Now that you mention it, I seem to remember something too. My father also told me about this Red-Haired Demon Blade.”

Hearing the name “Red-Haired Demon Blade,” Baiyu seemed to recall something as well.

“What did Uncle Baihong tell you back then?”

Xu Taiping asked curiously.

“Because I liked to run around everywhere, my father scared me with the Red-Haired Demon Blade, saying that there was a ghoul in Yunlu Mountain. This ghoul was once a cultivator of the Qingxuan Sect obsessed with swordsmanship, who defeated countless enemies with his blade but was defeated at the height of his fame by a young man who came to visit Yunlu Mountain. Obsessed with his defeat, he eventually fed his body to his blade, turning into an evil spirit wandering these mountains. Due to his heavy obsession, this spirit eventually became the ghoul known as the Red-Haired Demon Blade.”

“It is said that at first, this demon blade killed anyone it encountered, but for some reason, it later changed its ways from killing indiscriminately to targeting only those who wield blades.”

“That’s all I know about this demon blade.”

Baiyu wriggled free from Xu Taiping’s grasp, flew onto little monkey Ping’an’s head, and then lazily lay down.

“So this demon blade has such an origin.”

Although unsure if it was true or false, Baiyu’s narration still moved Xu Taiping somewhat.

“Regardless of whether the one standing at our door just now was that demon blade, for safety’s sake, don’t go out after dusk in the coming days, and I’ll try to return early after my sword practice.”

Xu Taiping cautioned them both.

“Don’t worry about us; if it really tries to break in, we’ll just dive into the gourd. You, however, should be more careful.”

As Baiyu spoke, he burrowed into the gourd at Xu Taiping’s waist.

“Squeak squeak!”

The startled little monkey also dived in.

“There’s no need to worry too much.”

Fairy Lingyue’s voice then echoed in Xu Taiping’s mind.

“Since it’s a ghost, it must be restrained by many laws of heaven and earth, and at least it definitely won’t dare to cause trouble during the day. I will also carve a Celestial Master’s Pure Yang Talisman on the plaque of Qi Yue Pavilion to protect you. Even if it’s a formidable ghost, it won’t be able to break in. Taiping, just reduce your outings at night for the time being.”

She reminded Xu Taiping with a calm tone.

“I will be more cautious during this period.”

Xu Taiping nodded.

Recently, Fairy Lingyue was preparing to enter the Earth Fruit, hence her voice was filled with fatigue.

“Fairy Lingyue, you focus on preparing for the Earth Fruit. I won’t have any problems here.”

While conversing with Fairy Lingyue in his mind, Xu Taiping walked straight towards Fan Tower in the backyard to begin his daily cultivation.

It was time for his daily practice of the Danxia Technique.

Even if that demon blade was standing at his doorstep, he would not delay for a moment.

As Xu Taiping walked towards Fan Tower, Fairy Lingyue’s spirit quietly floated out.

She drifted straight to the entrance of Qi Yue Pavilion and, using a carving knife, inscribed an extremely mysterious rune on the plaque, then turned her gaze towards the dark mountains at the entrance and said:

“If I’m not mistaken, this demon blade is not some evil ghoul but a strand of obsession from that sword cultivator. For cultivators, it can be a rare whetstone. It remains to be seen whether Taiping will have the fortuity to obtain it.”

…

To Xu Taiping’s surprise, the Red-Haired Demon Blade did not appear again for seven or eight days.

During these days, he continued his daily sword practice at Moon Scooping Lake.

After practicing his sword, he would return to Fan Tower to study spells, then start soaking in the invigorating concoction for opening acupoints and conducting his daily breathing exercises.

He was not affected by the rumors of the demon blade at all.

With the help of the concoction and his relentless daily practice, his Gazing Abyss Realm officially reached a minor accomplishment.

The sign of minor accomplishment in the Gazing Abyss Realm was the condensation of True Qi into clouds within the energy core.

As for the practice of sword flying.

Although he still hadn’t met Elder Sansan, the elder did not stop guiding him.

Every day, a wooden plank would still be left on the cliff, with Elder Sansan inscribing Xu Taiping’s shortcomings from the previous day’s practice, such as uneven depth, length, and width of the sword marks.

If it were any other disciple, they would probably be fed up by now.

But Xu Taiping was someone who took things very seriously.

You say my sword marks are uneven in depth, then I will control the force of my sword to make them consistent.

You say my sword marks are uneven in length, then I will control the timing of my strokes to make them consistent.

After several such “exchanges,” the “thorns” Elder Sansan could pick out became fewer and fewer, so he simply changed the way of sword practice.

In the past few days, Xu Taiping, who came to Moon Scooping Lake to practice his sword, went from simply carving three thousand sword marks on the cliff in one day to writing three thousand characters.

The so-called writing of three thousand characters meant controlling the rusty sword from a distance and inscribing poetry on the cliff wall of the waterfall at Moon Scooping Lake.

This was many times more difficult than before.

At the same time, Elder Sansan found more faults to pick out.

The wooden plank on the wall went from one a day to as many as ten a day at most.

However, even so, Xu Taiping had no complaints and still corrected the issues pointed out by Elder Sansan the next day.

Gradually, the targets hanging on the cliff began to decrease one by one.

And the originally bare cliff was gradually filled with poetry transcribed by Xu Taiping.

“This little guy is clearly not a person of extraordinary talent. To master sword flying to this extent in half a month, it can only be due to diligence and focus.”

In front of Moon Scooping Lake, looking at the dense inscriptions on the cliff, Elder Sansan, who was conducting his routine inspection, had one hand behind his back and the other stroking his beard, nodding in satisfaction.

However, when his gaze fell on a new wooden plank hung on the cliff, his smile once again faded, replaced by a displeased expression.

On the plank was carved in square characters—

“Elder Sansan, tomorrow is the first day of the Seven Peaks competition. The Peak Master has ordered that all disciples of the Seventh Peak must attend, so I must ask for a day off. Please forgive me, Elder Sansan.”

After a long silence, Elder Sansan frowned and said:

“Zhao Qian, why does your Seventh Peak always have so many troubles.”