Li Hengsheng’s words made Li Jinsong frown slightly, reminding him of Li Changqing.

“Someone trespassed into Dao Mountain Ancient Land overnight. They were discovered by several Peak Masters of our Dao Mountain Ancient Land. They caused a bit of a commotion, but didn’t cause much damage. The person left afterwards without hurting anyone.” Li Jinsong didn’t elaborate, merely glossing over the incident.

“This person is too audacious.” Li Hengsheng exclaimed, “Even daring to intrude into Dao Mountain Ancient Land. Do you know who it was?”

“I don’t know yet.”

“This person is extremely powerful and has endless tricks up his sleeve. Even I couldn’t capture him and he managed to escape.” Li Jinsong said in a low voice, “Don’t ask anymore. Hmph, he’s definitely not a good person.”

Previously, Xu Muhai had specifically instructed him not to mention Li Changqing to Li Hengsheng.

Li Jinsong didn’t feel like talking about Li Changqing either.

What was there to say about being bested by Li Changqing? Besides, even though Li Jinsong didn’t ask why, he knew that Li Changqing was so powerful yet didn’t tell his own son. There must be a reason, probably to protect Li Hengsheng. If it could put Li Hengsheng in danger, he definitely wouldn’t say anything.

Seeing Li Jinsong looking rather upset, Li Hengsheng felt indignant on his behalf and said, “Pavilion Master is right. Anyone who dares to intrude into our Dao Mountain Ancient Land late at night can’t be a good person. Pavilion Master, you just didn’t stoop to his level. If you were serious, dealing with such a scoundrel would be a piece of cake, right?”

“Exactly, I just didn’t stoop to his level. You’re quite insightful, kid. Come, let’s have some tea.” Li Jinsong said cheerfully.

Perhaps if someone else had flattered him like this, Li Jinsong wouldn’t have felt anything.

But hearing Li Changqing’s son flatter him by saying he was stronger than his father, that made Li Jinsong feel quite pleased.

Even the tea in his cup seemed sweeter.

Seeing Li Jinsong’s mood improve, Li Hengsheng took the opportunity to add, “That’s right, such a villain will definitely meet a bad end. His future son probably won’t even have an anus.”

“Pfft!”

Li Jinsong couldn’t help but spit out his tea, spraying it all over Li Hengsheng’s face.

With his face covered in tea, Li Hengsheng looked dumbfounded.

What? Did he go too far with the flattery?

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Li Jinsong quickly handed Li Hengsheng a towel to wipe his face, then hurriedly said, “As long as the intruder is a bad person, there’s no need to involve his son. His son might be a good kid.”

“Pavilion Master, you’re too kind. Like father, like son. The son of a rat will make holes. If he’s not a good person, his son probably isn’t either.” Li Hengsheng shook his head, disagreeing with Li Jinsong’s words.

Well, well.

Like father, like son. The son was just as ruthless, not even sparing himself. Truly, the son of a rat will make holes.

“By the way.” Li Jinsong suddenly asked, “Where is your hometown?”

“Minghong Prefecture, Changting Town.” Li Hengsheng replied.

“Is your father also from Changting Town?”

“I… don’t think so. I remember we moved to Changting Town when I was young. I can’t remember where we lived before that. I’ve asked my father, but he wouldn’t tell me.” Li Hengsheng shook his head, his memories of the past were quite vague. “Pavilion Master, why are you asking about this?”

“Oh, nothing. Just making conversation, just making conversation.” Li Jinsong muttered to himself.

That Li Changqing also had the cultivation of a Painting Sage.

And that silhouette on the tree that day… it really looked too much like Jun Yuehan.

Considering Li Hengsheng’s age, it was indeed around the time when Jun Yuehan had his accident.

Could he really be Jun Yuehan?

Unfortunately, he didn’t get a good look at his face that day.

If it was true, why would Jun Yuehan appear in Minghong Prefecture? What had he been through that he didn’t even recognize himself?

Why did he offend the Master of Cangyuan Realm back then?

So many mysteries, Li Jinsong really wanted to know.

If it had been him back then, he would have definitely gone to Tianhai City to seek justice for his brother. He would have definitely investigated the matter thoroughly.

Not just for Jun Yuehan, even for her, he would have done the same.

But ever since he nearly died on the Void Dragon Island, suffered severe injuries, his Divine Soul was damaged, irreversibly falling from the Painting Sage realm, Li Jinsong had wasted ten years of his life.

During these ten years, he didn’t want to interact with anyone, distancing himself from his family and friends.

He hid in Dao Mountain Ancient Land, painting some pictures for the ancient land, then hid in the Floating Image Pavilion drinking wine.

That period was truly the darkest time in his life. By the time he finally managed to soothe the pain in his heart, it was already too late to pursue anything.

Jun Yuehan had already been suppressed by the Master of Cangyuan Realm.

What could he, a senior painter, do?

After chatting for a while longer, Li Hengsheng took his leave.

After Li Hengsheng left.

Li Jinsong sat in silence for a long time, the image of Li Changqing lingering in his mind.

In the end, Li Jinsong went deep into the Floating Image Pavilion, took out an old wooden box from a hidden compartment. The box was very old, covered in a thick layer of dust.

He opened the box, inside was a letter.The envelope had turned yellow, indicating it had been stored here for a long time.

This letter had been written many years ago.

But it had never been sent.

The recipient.

Yue Qingwu.

“Qingwu…” Li Jinsong reached out and gently stroked the three characters ‘Yue Qingwu’ on the envelope, a tender look in his eyes.

Yue Qingwu was the sister of Yue Hanjun, and once the woman Li Jinsong loved the most.

He could still remember Yue Qingwu’s every frown and smile, the way her lips curled up was the moment that moved Li Jinsong the most.

He and Yue Hanjun used to be arch-rivals, neither willing to concede to the other. They were the two youngest Painting Sages, competing for the title of the number one genius.

And then he met her during one of his competitions with Yue Hanjun.

That smile made Li Jinsong fall for her instantly.

Every time he and Yue Hanjun were painting outside, Yue Qingwu would quietly watch from the side, preparing tea and snacks for them.

“Li Jinsong, your painting is not as good as my brother’s.”

“My brother’s painting is the best in the world.”

“Don’t agree? What can you do about it? Hold it in, are you going to rebel against me?”

Under the starry sky, on the quiet grassland, the two lay there looking at the twinkling sky. The wind blew, but it was so quiet.

Only the babbling of a distant stream could be heard.

The young man’s fingers walked on the grass, wanting to reach the girl’s palm.

Just a few inches away, but it felt like a world apart.

He was extremely nervous.

“Li Jinsong, I heard there are dragons in this world, they can cross the sun and the moon, they can overturn the sea of clouds, is it true?” The girl asked curiously.

“Dragons?” The young man was surprised: “Of course there are, it’s recorded in the books, and they have hurt countless people, causing havoc in the world, and were later repelled by the Lord of the Cangyuan Realm.”

“Are dragons beautiful?” The girl turned her face to look at the young man.

Her side profile stunned the young man. Her eyes were brighter than the stars in the galaxy, her long eyelashes, and delicate face made everything else in the world seem dull.

“Beautiful…” He said, fascinated.

“Have you seen one?”

“Well, I haven’t.”

“If you haven’t seen one, how do you know it’s beautiful?”

“I just know, it’s just a dragon. Qingwu, if you want to see, I’ll draw one for you someday.”

“Really? You can draw a dragon? How can you draw a dragon if you haven’t seen one?”

“You don’t need to worry about that, I can draw it for you.” The young man was full of confidence: “When the time comes, I will bring the dragon painting to propose to you at the Yue family!”

“Alright, I’ll be waiting for you.”

His thoughts drifted back, Li Jinsong touched the letter, his eyes becoming distant.

More than a decade had passed.

I wonder how she is now?

Does she know about Yue Hanjun?

Li Hengsheng went to Yingxin Lake and challenged the scholar of the Nine-Tier Battle Pavilion again.

The result was still a crushing defeat.

Although his cultivation had advanced from the seventh level of the Transcendence Realm to the ninth level, the outcome remained the same, even the process was exactly the same as last time, without any change.

The scholar’s sword.

Too fast!

So fast that Li Hengsheng had no chance to block it, and his head was directly severed.

Moreover, his attack was full of flaws in the eyes of the scholar, and he couldn’t hurt the scholar at all.

He originally wanted to have a cup of tea with Zhou Jun, and then ask Zhou Jun about the realm of ‘the sword follows the heart’ that he mentioned last time.

But Zhou Jun was not in the Dao Mountain Ancient Land because he was performing the task of being a direct disciple.

Li Hengsheng could only return to Mu Haifeng to ask Xu Muhai.

“The sword follows the heart?”

Upon hearing Li Hengsheng’s question, Xu Muhai smiled and said, “To reach this realm, one generally needs to have the cultivation of the Postnatal Realm. You are still far from this realm.”

“Although you are now at the ninth level of the Transcendence Realm, your physical body is strong and still has room for improvement. You haven’t reached the time for a breakthrough. When you reach the Postnatal Realm, it’s not too late to comprehend this realm.”

Xu Muhai felt that Li Hengsheng was somewhat overambitious.

“But if you want to know, come with me.”

Xu Muhai still took Li Hengsheng outside, found a tree in the mountain at random, and then Xu Muhai said, “The so-called ‘the sword follows the heart’, you use a spear, but the overall concept is the same, it’s just a name. The real key is to move with the heart.”

“But this so-called ‘heart’ is not the ‘heart’ you understand.” Xu Muhai said with a smile.

Li Hengsheng didn’t quite understand, if it wasn’t the ‘heart’ he understood, then what ‘heart’ could it be? Could a person have two hearts?

“Use your spear to pierce these leaves and see how many you can pierce.” Xu Muhai said to Li Hengsheng, then pointed to the tree next to him.

After saying that, Xu Muhai casually slapped the tree.

It seemed like a casual slap, but the palm strength was extremely vast. The ancient tree trembled, and then countless leaves fell from the tree.

Seeing this, Li Hengsheng’s eyes narrowed, and he immediately thrust out his Chasing Immortal Spear.

Li Hengsheng’s physical body was strong, so his spear thrust was very fast, especially after Li Hengsheng practiced the “Nine True Spear Diagram”, his wrist shook, and all he could see were spear shadows.

Countless leaves were pierced by Li Hengsheng.

Until all the leaves fell to the ground, Xu Muhai looked at Li Hengsheng in surprise, because he didn’t expect Li Hengsheng to have actually practiced other spear techniques.When did he comprehend another one?

His comprehension is truly abnormal.

With a wave of Xu Muhai’s hand, the leaves fluttered up and were directly frozen in mid-air. This move greatly surprised Li Hengsheng. This must be the Five Absolute Seals.

Among the hundreds of leaves, at least seventy or eighty leaves had been pierced through by Li Hengsheng.

This was already Li Hengsheng’s limit.

“Not bad, your spear technique is indeed good.” Xu Muhai also praised.

“Master is too kind.”

Li Hengsheng politely responded.

“Give it to me.” Xu Muhai reached out his hand, and Li Hengsheng handed over the Chasing Immortal Spear.

With a swing of Xu Muhai’s arm, another ancient tree rumbled, and a large number of leaves fell down.

At this moment, Xu Muhai’s lazy demeanor instantly changed, becoming as sharp as a knife!

Before Li Hengsheng could react, he saw Xu Muhai thrusting the spear!

His movements were extremely fast, and he didn’t even look carefully, as if he was stabbing out randomly.

The speed of his thrust created a dense array of spear lights.

In less than a breath’s time, Li Hengsheng couldn’t see clearly how many times Xu Muhai had thrust the spear.

In Li Hengsheng’s view, this speed of thrusting was even faster than the swordsman from the second level of the Ninefold Battle Pavilion.

“Here you go.” Xu Muhai tossed the Chasing Immortal Spear back to Li Hengsheng.

“Master’s spear technique is also so powerful?” This was beyond Li Hengsheng’s expectations.

However, Xu Muhai shook his head: “I have never practiced spear techniques, but all paths lead to the same destination. The same principle applies. At my level, these things are not important. Just like our Vice Sect Leader Xue Qianbai, although his strongest skill is swordsmanship, if you give him a knife, he is still a top-notch expert.”

Hearing Xu Muhai’s words, Li Hengsheng understood.

Then he looked at the leaves on the ground, he squatted down and casually picked up a few, finding that each one had a hole.

Li Hengsheng randomly grabbed a handful, and they all had holes, all pierced by the Chasing Immortal Spear.

Not a single one was missed.

More importantly, the position of each hole was fixed, unlike his own, which were not uniform at all.

Seeing this, Li Hengsheng was greatly shocked.

“When you see the leaves falling with your eyes, your eyes transmit the information to your consciousness, your consciousness then gives orders to your limbs, and then you thrust the spear.”

“It’s already too late. That’s why you can’t block the swordsman’s sword every time, because you’re much slower than him.”

Looking at the shocked Li Hengsheng, Xu Muhai said, “The so-called ‘move with the heart’ is not about using your eyes to see, but using your Divine Soul. When you get used to the combination of the Divine Soul and the body, you will be able to step into the realm of ‘the spear moves with the heart’.”

(End of Chapter)