The black-clad young man who hurried over was none other than Qiu Yuan.

Seeing Shi Zhu being chased by Xiao Chan on the mountain, Shi Feiyang had sent Qiu Yuan to rescue him.

After landing, Qiu Yuan formed hand seals and cast a spell with just a casual wave, and the myriad water droplets and spheres, no longer under Xiao Chan's control, all fell into the river. Then, a surge of water brought Shi Zhu to the surface, tossing him straight onto the shore.

Xiao Chan couldn't believe her eyes, gritted her teeth, furrowed her brows, stamped her foot, and cast a spell once more, drawing the water back to her.

She and Qiu Yuan were both using the Water Escape Technique and followed the legitimate teachings of the Mysterious Sect.

However, she had spent eight years learning offbeat practices and only mastered this single Mysterious Technique, understanding the "what" but not the "why", just barely managing to imitate and forcibly apply it.

Qiu Yuan, on the other hand, had been personally instructed by Shi Feiyang. In the same span of eight years, he started with the genuine core mental method of the Mysterious Sect, following a step-by-step path, he had thoroughly mastered the Five Elements Escape Technique.

Even if their mana were equal, she stood no chance against Qiu Yuan, let alone the fact that her mana was far from comparable to his.

She struggled mightily but no matter how hard she tried the river flowed on, not a single water droplet was controlled to fly.

At this point, Shi Zhu was kneeling on the ground, coughing loudly—he didn't see Qiu Yuan's Sword Control flight. "Aren't you the big brother who took me to see the large bird the other day? You should leave quickly, this woman knows Sorcery! Go quickly…"

Seeing that he was still so concerned for his safety even now, Qiu Yuan walked over with a smile, "Don't worry, her Sorcery doesn't work anymore!"

Xiao Chan couldn't comprehend how the other had rendered her spells ineffective.

In anger, she took out the gourd again, formed hand seals, chanted incantations, and released the Enchanting Poison Smoke. It swept toward Qiu Yuan, following the direction of her fingers.

"That smoke has poison! Big brother, you need to run!" Shi Zhu, having interacted with the children in the county town, discovered he wasn't affected by any deadly poison, but others were.

The same Poisonous Snake that could fatally poison other children would only require him to sleep off a bite.

He urged Qiu Yuan to leave, but Qiu Yuan wasn't the least bit afraid of that; with a simple point of his finger, the Poison Smoke from the gourd rolled back and enveloped Xiao Chan instead.

Xiao Chan was terrified, trying to retrieve the smoke back into the gourd to no avail, the Poison Smoke was out of control, seeping into her body through her eyes, nose, and mouth, and in a brief moment, her eyes rolled back as she fainted and collapsed to the ground.

Shi Zhu looked between Qiu Yuan and Xiao Chan, not understanding what had happened.

He cautiously approached Xiao Chan, finding she wasn't dead, only passed out.

At this time, Qiu Yuan walked up, picked up the gourd, "I need to take this with me to destroy. Do you want to come with me?"

"Wait, just stay here and wait for me for a moment, don't leave. I have something I want to give you." Shi Zhu turned and leapt into the river, swimming back to shore after a while with the Xuanyuan Sword in hand, "This sword is for you."

Qiu Yuan was stunned, "Why would you want to give it to me?"

"Because you saved me. If it wasn't for you, I would have drowned in the river at the hands of that demoness."

Qiu Yuan paused, then gave a wry smile as if resigning to the child's graciousness, "Do you know that the sword you're holding is the Xuanyuan Nine Palace Sword that every person pursuing Immortal Cultivation in the world dreams of obtaining?"

Shi Zhu shook his head, thought very earnestly, not quite understanding what Qiu Yuan meant, but he still insisted on giving the sword to Qiu Yuan.

Qiu Yuan chuckled bitterly, "That sword was the one I buried there in the first place, why are you giving it to me?"

Shi Zhu's eyes widened, "How is it that you buried it in that riverbed?"

Qiu Yuan nodded, "There are eight more just like this one; I've hidden them well, waiting for you to find them."

Shi Zhu asked in confusion, "Why is that? The sword is yours, why would you give it to me?"

"It's not me giving it to you; it's our master," Qiu Yuan said. "He had me hide the sword and had me make it difficult for you to find, not wanting you to find it so easily."

Shi Zhu pursed his lips and squinted, staring at the treasure sword in hand, "You say 'our master'? Is he my master as well?"

"Our common master."

"I actually have a master?" Shi Zhu felt both shock and delight, "What's he like?"

Qiu Yuan provided a brief description before Shi Zhu requested that Qiu Yuan take him to meet the master.

Qiu Yuan declined, "Master said it's not time yet. He says you have a lot of unfinished lessons from your past life that you need to make up for in this life. He instructed me to hide the swords in nine places, and only after you've found them all and killed the invading Demon Humans, am I to take you to see him."

"Finding all the swords, I get it, but what do you mean by killing the invading Demon Humans? Where are these Demon Humans coming from?"

Qiu Yuan thought for a moment, then pointing at the little Chan on the ground, he said, "This might be the 'Demon Human' Master talked about. There must be more than just her."

"You killed this person, wait, he's not dead yet," Shi Zhu ran over to check little Chan's breath, "I don't know any spells, so if other Demon Humans come, I can't fight them either. You'll have to take action, so this clearly means you have to kill all the Demon Humans, and then you can take me to see Master, right?"

Qiu Yuan was confused by his logic and then hit him on the head, "Why do we, as brothers, have to be so clear about this? Master said it, and this matter is not only yours to deal with. We have to do it together."

"Could it be possible that Master wants to use this to train you as well? Perhaps mainly to train you, with me just tagging along for the sword. Once I've taken the sword and helped you slay the attacking Demon Humans, we'd go see Master together."

This child was unlike Qiu Yuan; he grew up in the bustling market, having experienced much of the ways of the world.

Born into a wealthy family, Qiu Yuan was adored by his parents from a young age, and after he started his cultivation, he lived in the wilderness, never experiencing the need to divide responsibilities so clearly. For a moment, he couldn't understand and could only say, "Maybe that's true, that this is something you are helping me with, not me helping you. Ah, I can't believe you're drawing such clear lines."

Shi Zhu asked him where the remaining Eight Swords were hidden, "Let's go take them out now, and then take them to see Master together."

He was very curious about this legendary Master and looked forward to meeting him soon.

"I can tell you where they are, but I can't help you take them." Qiu Yuan led him to a cliff, "The sword is hidden inside that mountain crevice; you need to dangle down from above with a rope tied around your waist."

Shi Zhu carefully examined the terrain of the cliff and chose to climb up with his bare hands.

Over the years, Qiu Yuan often saw him moving around, but not like Shi Feiyang, who could watch from afar with his abilities. He had to rely on his naked eyes, and with his own abundant tasks of sword refining and cultivation method practice, he wasn't completely familiar with Shi Zhu.

He originally intended for Shi Zhu to spot the reflection and then climb to the top of the cliff, using a rope to lower himself down. He never expected Shi Zhu would directly scale the cliff from the bottom, his movements agile as a Spirit Monkey, quickly reaching the crevice and pulled out one of the Xuanyuan Swords he had hidden there.

"Little brother, you are really amazing!" Qiu Yuan gave a thumbs-up, "Before I began cultivating the Immortal Law, I was nothing compared to you."

He then pointed out the locations of the remaining seven swords one by one, and Shi Zhu retrieved each without any effort.

In total, there were nine swords laid out side by side, radiating golden light.

Crouching down, Shi Zhu looked over the swords, then raised his head to Qiu Yuan, "You mean to say all these were given to me by Master? Why would he do that? Why would he give me so many Ancient Swords?"

"I'm not sure of the details. Anyway, Master seems to like you a lot. He said you were born to face a tribulation and that it is imperative for you to have these nine swords in hand. In time, you'll be able to do many things for him."

Qiu Yuan crouched on the ground scratching his head as he faced one question after another from Shi Zhu, unable to provide many answers.

"Alright, now that you have the swords, let me teach you the Sword Refining Technique. You'll be able to manipulate these swords at will and even perform Sword Control to fly through the sky and escape through the earth, ascend mountains and enter rivers. Do you want to learn?"

Shi Zhu nodded, "I want to learn."

Qiu Yuan began to instruct him in the arts of Qi Cultivation and Sword Control.

Shi Zhu's Primordial Spirit was stable, and his Essence Energy was off the charts. He grasped the basics of this entry-level skill upon learning it, and in just half a day, he could make the Xuanyuan Sword floating in front of him levitate through the air.

Qiu Yuan watched in awe, "Little brother, you are a once-in-a-millennium talent in Immortal Cultivation. If I were to tell others about you, I can't imagine how many would be green with envy."

Shi Zhu nodded, "Since I was a child, I've been different from others; I've never been scared of getting poisoned."

Qiu Yuan expected him to be modest, but instead, Shi Zhu admitted it, prompting Qiu Yuan to purse his lips, "Although you are talented, you can't become complacent. You must study diligently, as humility leads to progress."

Shi Zhu nodded in agreement. He wasn't being arrogant or self-satisfied; he was just acknowledging a fact.

Concerned he might become too arrogant, Qiu Yuan decided to teach him tougher skills. At the ten-day mark, he began teaching him Talisman drawing and even Escape Technique.

But no matter what he taught, Shi Zhu learned everything quickly and perfectly, with the Five Elements Escape Technique being no exception. The first time he used it, he could manipulate a flame and a large mass of river water.

Qiu Yuan was astonished, "You… what kind of monster are you? Have you learned these things before, or don't you know them? Or did you already know them and pretend for me to teach you?"

"I didn't know them," Shi Zhu said earnestly, "They are really simple, not difficult at all. Maybe you should teach me something harder. I probably won't know that."

With gritted teeth, Qiu Yuan started to teach him the Circulation technique, but even then, Shi Zhu still quickly memorized it and was able to apply it after a few practices.

The most damning evidence was when the brothers used Divination together. They would produce the same Gua Xiang, but the interpretations they unfolded were different, ultimately proving that Shi Zhu was correct!

With a disheartened face, Qiu Yuan said, "How is that possible! Master said that this thing depends on talent, and your talent really seems to be that strong?"

"It's not that strong; it just naturally turned out this way," Shi Zhu said somewhat bashfully as he looked at the Gua arrangement on the ground, gesturing with his hands, "It should be interpreted like this."

Qiu Yuan sighed, "Once, Master mentioned that he hadn't planned to take you as a disciple; when he took me, he said I would be his last student. But when he saw you, he mentioned that he can't close the door on you, and that you would have to be the one to close it. I didn't understand what he meant at the time, but now I finally get it. I really can't close it."

Shi Zhu was amused by his words, his eyes turning into crescents, "Maybe in the future someone even more powerful than me will come along, and I won't be able to close the door on them either. They can close it then."

Qiu Yuan shook his head, "Impossible, unless the Master reincarnates himself and takes himself as a student. Other than that, there won't be anyone more suitable for Immortal Cultivation than you in this world!"

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