My disciples are all villains.

Yu Shangrong raised his hand. He dislodged a piece of rotten wood from the railing and placed it in his palm. He said, "Train with this piece of wood. Stab, hack, slash, tap, thrust, intercept, slice, and cut. Repeat these eight basic moves 10,000 times. Use Primal Qi no greater than the Mystic Enlightening realm. If the rotten wood remains intact, you'll have passed."

"Uh…" Ji Fengxing was taken aback.

"You're not willing to learn this?"

"I… I am! However, I've never seen anyone else training with the sword like this. Is it… reliable?" Ji Fengxing was skeptical.

Yu Shangrong flashed a faint smile. "That's how my master taught me."

When Ji Fengxing heard this, he said excitedly, "If I train in this manner, how long will it take for me to be as powerful as you, senior?"

"With your talents, I'm afraid that it's difficult for you to reach my stage even if you work at it for your entire life," Yu Shangrong said bluntly. However, when he saw that Ji Fengxing seemed to be affected by his words, he added, "Although you won't be able to attain the highest levels of the sword path, you'd still be considered an elite."

"An elite?" Ji Fengxing gulped.

"Under the heavens, I'm afraid that nobody can ever reach my master's heights. Even I am still meditating on the kings' sword, let alone the highest state of the sword path. Hence, there's no need to feel discouraged," Yu Shangrong said.

"I understand. Thank you for enlightening me, senior," Ji Fengxing said before he left to train with the rotten wood.

Yu Shangrong looked at Ji Fengxing for a few moments before he flew up to a tree branch. Although he had been here for some time now, this place still felt like a dreamland. He wondered how he was going to return to Great Yan?

…

Time continued to pass. In just a blink of an eye, a month had passed.

"Senior, you're really far-sighted. The people of the Sky Martial Court have gone to Black Water Mystic Cave and sent five cultivators in there. I heard they're much more confident this trip around. I think they're guided by some life stone," Ji Fengxing said.

"The Sky Martial Court?" Yu Shangrong was puzzled.

"It's one of the academies affiliated with the Great Tang Dynasty. Their research focuses on energy, red lotus, heaven and earth shackle, and alternate worlds."

Yu Shangrong frowned and said, "Heaven and earth shackle? Alternate worlds?"

"Senior, you must've heard of them before, right? Sky Martial Court has been studying the heaven and earth shackle for a long time now. The red lotus' limit is currently the Ten-leaf stage. The people of Sky Martial Court think it's caused by the heaven and earth shackle."

Yu Shangrong did not know about the red lotus. When he remembered that he had severed his lotus, he said, "Are there no restrictions on the red lotus?"

"What kind of restrictions?"

The two of them were never on the same page to begin with.

Yu Shangrong asked no further. He was almost certain the red lotus did not have the 1,000-year limit.

"So, the great limit is the Ten-leaf stage?"

"You can say that… 300 years ago, there was a lunatic called Luo Xuan from the Sky Martial Court. That person told a great lie. She claimed that by building a transporter with runes, we can avoid the beasts and find alternate worlds. She successfully crossed the Boundless Ocean with her transporter and came back. However, that lie was too crude. The Sky Martial Court exposed her. The believers of the supreme red lotus even wanted to burn her alive. Then, she went missing… Don't you think it's funny? The people of the Sky Martial Court are trying to enter Black Water Mystic Cave with the red coffin now. On one hand, they called another person a nutjob for doing something they're doing now," Ji Fengxing said.

Upon hearing this, Yu Shangrong frowned. From what he knew, there was no such person in Great Yan. 300 years ago? Who was Luo Xuan?

"Do you know what the cultivation bases of Sky Martial Court's explorers are?" Yu Shangrong asked.

"I'm not sure…"

If what Luo Xuan said was true, these people might actually enter the golden lotus domain. The golden lotus domain was guarded by a Nine-leaf cultivator. There would not be much danger so long as the visitors were not Nine or Ten-leaf cultivators.

Yu Shangrong was deep in his thoughts when Ji Fengxing asked curiously, "Senior, how many leaves do you have? Can you show me?"

Yu Shangrong turned and looked at him. He did not have the habit of showing his avatar to others. Moreover, his was a golden avatar. He asked a question in response, "Aren't there any elites in Thousand Willow Monastery?"

"I'm only an outer disciple… Those people are too proud. There's no way that I can see their avatar."

For a person with Ji Fengxing's realm, it was only natural for him to want to see an Eight or Nine-leaf avatar. To him, those were perfect works of art in the world.

Yu Shangrong shook his head, rejecting Ji Fengxing's request.

Ji Fengxing. "…"

At this moment, three cultivators appeared.

"Ji Fengxing, are you man enough to come out and fight?" one of the newcomers said.

Ji Fengxing hid behind Yu Shangrong and cowered in fear. "Senior, help me."

Yu Shangrong shook his head helplessly.

Ji Fengxing's action made the trio laugh.

"So, this is the Sword Devil of Thousand Willow Monastery… I'll hit him every time I see him."

"Hey, you, get out of the way."

Yu Shangrong looked at the person pointing at him and said with a faint smile, "Ji Fengxing is only a Brahman Sea Eight Meridians cultivator. You are all of the Divine Court realm. You won't be considered as powerful cultivators by bullying the weak."

"Does it have anything to do with you?"

"Naturally, it does."

"You'd better stay out of the Flying Star House's matter."

"Flying Star House?" Yu Shangrong remembered the Five-leaf elite he killed when he had just arrived in the red lotus domain. There was the Nine-leaf elite, Ye Zhen, who was the first person he met. At that time, Ye Zhen had led 1,000 red lotus cultivators to take down the luan. Clearly, the Flying Star House was powerful.

"You're right to feel afraid. Ji Fengxing, if your little sister joins the Flying Star House, we'll call it even," one of the cultivators hovering in the air said.

At this moment, Wuwu flew to Yu Shangrong's side. She pouted and said, "It's you guys again?!"

"Miss Wuwu, you have outstanding talents. Why must you make yourself suffer in the Thousand Willow Monastery? In the Flying Star House, you can even order the three of us to kowtow to you. The Thousand Willow Monastery is on the decline. You're skilled in healing, but who can teach you there?" the cultivator said.

Wuwu shook her head and said, "Never. I hate the Flying Star House."

Yu Shangrong understood the situation now. The Flying Star House was doing this to recruit new blood. He pushed away from the ground lightly and hovered in the air. "My apologies…"

The trio shifted their attention to Yu Shangrong. "You'd better stay out of this, sir."

"I think Wuwu and Ji Fengxing have made their intentions clear. Please leave," Yu Shangrong said indifferently.

"Since when did Thousand Willow Monastery gain another dumb disciple…"

The trio drew their swords. Alas, their swords barely saw the light of day

Yu Shangrong smiled faintly. The sword behind him flew out.

Swosh!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The three swords were broken.

Yu Shangrong's Longevity Sword returned to its scabbard on his back.

The three of them frowned. "An elite?"

Ji Fengxing laughed. "Are you afraid now? This is my master! My master is the true Sword Devil of the Thousand Willow Monastery!"

The trio behaved as if they were facing a great enemy. They did not underestimate Yu Shangrong anymore.

At this moment, a person came flying toward them. With three swift bursts, the person appeared above the trio.

The three of them were delighted by this person's arrival. They bowed and said, "Elder Lu."

Lu Song looked at Yu Shangrong, and Ji Fengxing and Wuwu who were standing behind Yu Shangrong.

"I asked the three of you to meet the master of the Thousand Willow Monastery with the gifts. What are you dallying here for?"

"Elder Lu, the monastery master isn't in. We ran into Miss Wuwu and made our intentions clear to her… However, this man wanted to hurt us." One of them pointed at Yu Shangrong.

Lu Song looked at Yu Shangrong.

Yu Shangrong remained calm and indifferent.

Lu Song could not determine how powerful this person was after observing him for a moment. He said, "You have a wonderful cultivation base, sir."

"It's nothing," Yu Shangrong said with a faint smile.

"The Flying Star House has always abided by the rules in whatever it does. It's unbecoming of you to bully the weak, sir. If you sincerely apologize to these disciples of mine, I'll let bygones be bygones. What do you say?"