Volume 1, Chapter 37 – A Knot Hard to Untie

Liu Mengqing left.

She led the people of Chengfeng Sword Dao away from the foot of the steps.

The price was Bai Shengju agreeing to her challenge; they set the ‘Sword Dao Martial Meet’ for seven days later, to be notarized by the local Sword Dao Association of the Chilong Circuit.

If Bai Shengju won, he would receive the Demon Pool Visualization Chart, ‘Crying Infant,’ along with the half-set Forge-the-Sword method contained within.

But if Chengfeng Sword Dao prevailed, not only would the Bai family lose the land beneath their feet, even Bai Shengju’s life might not be spared.

“A Sword Dao Martial Meet, huh~”

At the table, Bai Shengju—rarely—sat and ate with everyone, sipping from a small cup and cheerfully reminiscing.

“Both sides set a big stake, then go up and fight like your life’s on the line—this kind of match isn’t much encouraged nowadays.”

“Unless there’s truly irreconcilable hatred, even the Sword Dao Association doesn’t like to approve these; they always advise we use the standard formats.”

“But some people don’t get it.”

“If you’re always stuck on a little ring where the moves can’t decide life or death, how are you supposed to spark true insight? How are you supposed to uplift the spirit and complete a transformation!”

“Grandpa…” Bai Zhuqing sighed. “Forget the talk about transformation… how about we talk about that cough of yours?”

“Cough? What cough?” Bai Shengju, face flushed, glared over and tapped the girl’s forehead with a finger.

“Kids shouldn’t talk nonsense. Your grandpa’s fit as a fiddle—can eat two bowls of rice in one sitting!”

“Back then Liu Jingfeng wasn’t my match, and even grown up his daughter still can’t beat me! Uh—cough, cough, cough…!”

Talk big as he might, everyone could see the old man was actually drunk.

That was absolutely not a good sign.

To get drunk on so little wine meant Bai Shengju’s visceral digestion had seriously declined—an indirect measure of how far his strength had fallen.

After the meal, Bai Lianzhou helped the old man back to his room to rest, leaving a few juniors to clean up the mess.

They split the chores: Xu Shu washed dishes; Bai Leying mopped; Bai Zhuqing wiped the table and moved stools; Bai Xiang bagged the scraps and carried them to the designated drop-off.

“Sigh…!”

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On the way back, Bai Xiang ran into Bai Zhuqing and heard her let out a heavy sigh.

“Grandpa feels he wronged Aunt Nianchan,” she said softly. “He’s surely thinking that if the Bai family had had enough, and suitable, Forge-the-Sword methods and visualization charts back then, Aunt Nianchan wouldn’t have had to push so hard—even after Yuming Sword Dao took notice of her, she wouldn’t have needed to grind herself down.”

“If she hadn’t gone to Nanshan to meditate, she wouldn’t have run into the Heir of Nanling’s party, and that… wouldn’t have happened.”

“He must feel all of it is on him.”

“It’s a knot in his heart. I don’t think Second Uncle will be able to talk him down…”

Yes.

Bai Lianzhou hadn’t told anyone what he planned, but somehow everyone guessed he’d taken the old man in to press him to pass on the Dao Lord’s seat.

That way, the one to fight in seven days would be him, not Bai Shengju.

He probably thought it the best option.

“My parents and Second Aunt are all out of town,” Bai Zhuqing shook her head. “We called them, told them to work their contacts as much as they can… huh?”

Suddenly, she looked at Bai Xiang.

How did I overlook it just now—who in the Bai family can match Sister Xiang’s connections these days?

She saved the state governor’s daughter—she can even speak before the state governor!

“I doubt Liu Mengqing missed that in her calculations,” Bai Xiang poured a bucket of cold water on it.

“The demon chaos at Chilong No. 1 High School did win me friends, but it also offended Qingya Sword Dao.”

“Think about it—how did Chengfeng Sword Dao get their hands on something as valuable as a visualization chart and Forge-the-Sword method?”

“You mean… Liu Mengqing has Qingya Sword Dao behind her?”

This time, Bai Zhuqing’s face truly changed.

“That’s trouble.”

The girl pinched a lock of hair, pacing back and forth in front of Bai Xiang.

Qingya Sword Dao is the strongest force in Chilong—beyond its main and branch dojos, it has a fleet of corporations and foundations. A colossus, no two ways about it.

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Only the Watchman and the like can check them—and even then, that check just forbids direct retaliation. Support a ‘proxy’ like this, follow the procedures, get the Sword Dao Association to approve and stamp it, and the Watchman can’t intervene.

The Great Yu Sword Dao Association! Another lofty power people often overlook!

Day to day it notarizes matches, certifies dojos, hands out rewards and penalties.

And most important: it runs the Big Exam—the national martial meet! Like the Inspectorate, it connects directly to the will of the imperial house!

“That should be it,” Bai Zhuqing analyzed. “Plenty have eyed our dojo’s land over the years, but Grandpa and Second Aunt repelled them by every means.”

“Chengfeng Sword Dao—our deepest grudge and biggest threat—chose now of all times to make trouble. They must’ve heard from the Qingya camp about Aunt’s meritorious deed… they’re cornered and about to jump the wall!”

Isn’t that so?

Putting herself in their shoes, Bai Zhuqing could guess Chengfeng Sword Dao’s thinking.

Liu Mengqing stayed away because she was waiting for the Bai family’s network to run dry.

In the third generation, the Bai family was in a lull—couldn’t produce even one who entered the Dao before adulthood—which gave her hope.

But if she suddenly learned what Bai Xiang did at Chilong No. 1 High School?

The Bais might climb straight into the state governor’s orbit because of it—and Fang Xiaochun might already be in Chilong by now!

Wait? How could she still wait?

Wait for Fang Xiaochun to make a grand visit to the Shenming Dojo and gild it with that gesture?

That explains why Liu Mengqing is acting so crazed.

That madwoman even proposed a Sword Dao Martial Meet—she’s clearly all-in, past caring about the cost for revenge!

“The best move is definitely to stall.”

Bai Xiang nodded.

“But Grandpa won’t.”

“That’s a problem.”

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Hearing that, Bai Zhuqing grew even more anxious and frustrated.

Should they gamble that Liu Mengqing’s application hasn’t been stamped yet and sneak into the Sword Dao Association tonight to steal it back?

Bai Xiang silently studied her and confirmed she truly cared.

She wasn’t even sneaking glances at me—what more proof did I need?

There was one thing Bai Xiang hadn’t said: Bai Shengju’s stubbornness this time might have to do with her own rise.

If she hadn’t entered the Dao or met Tao Shuohua and Fang Wenya, Bai Shengju would have found ways to avoid the match.

Even if she had entered the Dao, if she were still immature in dealing with people instead of how she was now, he might not have been able to rest easy.

But she had both.

That might be the real reason Bai Shengju chose to face the knot in his heart.

“I might have a way.”

After a pause, Bai Xiang spoke frankly.

No hiding it.

Because she would need Bai Zhuqing’s help for it.

“What way?” Bai Zhuqing brightened.

“That book, The Scripture of Returning to Origin and Transforming Qi.”

Bai Xiang said.

From the title—and from Master Hua’an’s attitude—it should be a scripture on five-viscera training methods.

Earlier today, she’d been assailed by the red-dressed woman’s demon sword; the other hadn’t expected her to release her spirit-soul and blast apart the demonic aura, lost her focus—and was ‘insta-killed.’

From that, Bai Xiang inferred: if her spirit-soul could really interfere with external things, perhaps it could also see another’s inner landscape.

The biggest difference between the old methods and modern methods is that one book holds training, combat, and health-preserving methods all together.

If The Scripture of Returning to Origin and Transforming Qi is the same, then maybe she could try to tune Bai Shengju’s five organs back into order.

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“Ah…”

Bai Zhuqing deflated a little; she didn’t believe a mere scripture could help.

Even Sister Xiang might not be compatible with it, and she was thinking of cultivating it to save Grandpa?

Still, it was a path. With a “try anything, however hopeless” mindset, Bai Zhuqing agreed to stay up late and study it with Bai Xiang.

She truly was worried about Bai Shengju.

On any other day, with a chance like this, she’d have been restless—stealing glances at Bai Xiang every few seconds or finding pretexts to talk.

But that night the two read until dawn. Bai Zhuqing kept copying by hand and writing out her translations, not casting even a single glance Bai Xiang’s way.

Bai Xiang was very satisfied with her state.

Good.

If only she could keep it up.

“Auntie, I’m not optimistic.”

Finishing another passage, Bai Zhuqing shook her head and sighed.

“How so.”

Concerned with the text, Bai Xiang leaned in at once.

“Look here.”

Bai Zhuqing pointed at the section she’d translated.

“Our current Nurture-the-Spirit methods go skin first, then flesh, then the five viscera, and finally bone—marrow-washing and blood-change.”

“That’s already really, really hard. Plenty of disciples in major Sword Daos can’t even change their blood; once they finish nurturing the bones, they go straight to Forge the Sword.”

“But look at this damn book.”

“It actually says training separately is heretical?”