This Sword Cultivator is Somewhat Dependable

Chapter 655: Chapter 6: Pleasant Cooperation

The autumn wind was severe, the color of old Chinese parasol trees.

Under the parasol tree, there was a wine shop, not very large, but very clean.

The wine was sold by an old man, and it was not any fine wine, just some turbid wine brewed at home, but it prevailed because it was good and cheap, and usually, business was quite good.

But today, the old man had brought out some aged brew that even he hesitated to drink, to serve the guests.

Of course, although the old wine seller was generous, he was no fool, for the pair of young man and woman drinking there truly exuded an extraordinary demeanor, clearly from a family of great affluence and status.

One, he always felt that serving such distinguished guests with inferior wine left a sour taste, and two, he feared his wine might offend and cause unnecessary trouble.

Even so, the old man was still somewhat nervous.

After all, he knew best about his own affairs, and good turbid wine was still just turbid wine.

“Six years have not passed, and Tower Master Dantai has already become a True Venerable of Void Refining, congratulations indeed,” said Lu Qingshan, the son of the affluent family, as he placed down his wine bowl and smiled at the woman across from him.

The woman had a beautiful countenance, but there was absolutely no gentle spirit of a demure lady; instead, she was extraordinarily sharp. At this moment, she glanced briefly at Lu Qingshan with a clear gaze, “I gladly accept such words from others, but coming from you, Lu Qingshan, I take it as mockery.”

“Why would Tower Master Dantai say that?” Lu Qingshan feigned ignorance, “Pity my sincere heart, what an injustice!”

“At the end of the Chang’an era, I was at Golden Core, and you were at Qi Refinement. Now in the sixth year of Tianyuan, I am at Void Refining, and you are at Void Refining as well.

Moreover, though it seems like six years, I actually spent an additional sixty years in the Mystery Realm,” Dantai Qingrun said, feeling increasingly shocked by Lu Qingshan’s rapid progression, then added, “How can there be congratulations to speak of?”

The Mystery Realm, constructed by Ancestral Daoist Xia and named after his offspring, was a small world.

Its purpose was simple: to alter the flow of time, with a ratio of one to twenty.

This kind of small realm, however, due to the incompleteness of Heavenly Dao, has a fatal restriction—one can perform arts, but not cultivate laws.

It was essentially what one would call a “training field.”

Of course, this small realm didn’t mean much to Lu Qingshan.

For most of the time, his skill practice seldom involved “arduous cultivation.”…

In the outside world, only three years had passed, but Dantai Qingrun had practiced sword techniques for sixty years in the Mystery Realm.

Only in this way could she keep her combat power up with the rapid surge of her cultivation from Golden Core Perfection to Void Refining Cultivator in six years.

After all, there was only one Lu Qingshan.

Her Spirit Root seemed insignificant compared to Lu Qingshan’s combination of “Innate Swordseed” and “Deep Blue.”

“Tower Master Dantai, as long as you don’t compare yourself with me, then it’s indeed a congratulations,” Lu Qingshan assured her earnestly.

“You really have a way with words,” Dantai Qingrun scrutinized Lu Qingshan and calmly said, “Also, I am no longer the Tower Master, so there’s no need to mention that title.”

“With the sequence cultivation ending, what are your plans now?” Lu Qingshan changed the topic.

“Exterminate demons,” Dantai Qingrun stated firmly.

Lu Qingshan immediately laughed.

Seeing Lu Qingshan’s smiling face, Dantai Qingrun had a bad feeling.

Unsolicited favors, either villainy or theft.

Since Lu Qingshan had welcomed her back, she had this feeling.

“Which territory have you chosen?” Lu Qingshan asked further.

“Southern Territory,” Dantai Qingrun frowned slightly.

At that, Lu Qingshan was completely relieved.

Even before seeing Dantai Qingrun, he had guessed that she would likely choose the Southern Territory.

After all, if there were no alternatives, who would want to leave their homeland?

“Feeling a bit unsure where to start? Having practiced the sword for sixty years in the Mystery Realm, you must be itching to use it, right?” Lu Qingshan started to lead on gently, looking like a mischievous person coaxing a little girl out of her pocket money.

“Speak plainly,” Dantai Qingrun said helplessly.

What was the meaning of this attitude and tone, treating her like they were coaxing a little girl?

“You should know about the incident where I was ambushed by a Sixth Realm cultivator from the Netherworld in Zhenjiang,” Lu Qingshan said calmly.

“I’ve heard. The Tower also has rankings information updated each period. Isn’t your title of the strongest Fourth Realm due to this incident, Lu Qingshan…,” Dantai Qingrun said, her expression somewhat complex as she recalled the shock she felt when she first saw the news.

“We sword cultivators don’t have a declaration of just getting face-to-face kills, right?” Lu Qingshan said with a smile.

“What do you mean?” Dantai Qingrun was startled, seemingly catching on.

“Cooperation,” Lu Qingshan said, gazing directly into her eyes, pausing between each word, “The same type of cooperation as before, only this time, it won’t just target a particular mansion or city’s Netherworld, but a widespread strike!”

The previous cooperation involved him providing intelligence, with Dantai Qingrun trusting him unconditionally and not questioning the source of the information.

The conditions were extremely stringent, but since the city of Yuanshan, such a foundation for cooperation had been there, making it almost solely based on his intelligence that Dantai Qingrun, entering Xiuchun, had the ability and trust to reach this kind of cooperation with him.

As for the source of the intelligence…

Lu Qingshan didn’t possess the ability to peer into the mysteries of Heaven, but he had memories of his previous life.

In the period of the Nine Heavens, as Lu Qingshan who hustled in the Southern Territory and experienced the “Netherworld Demon Shadow” version, he truly knew a lot about the Netherworld information in the Southern Territory.

However, these unexplained messages would be extremely difficult to reveal before gaining a significant position of his own.

Fortunately, he had nearly single-handedly elevated a top member of the Mystery Realm Tower, that was Dantai Qingrun of Xiuchun!

He had one concern before this.

If he started attacking the Netherworld too early, would the desperate Netherworld pull some dangerous stunt out of desperation?

Would that mean good intentions gone bad?

The current situation conveyed a cruel truth to Lu Qingshan.

That was that the Netherworld of this lifetime had already deviated from the path of his previous lifecycle.

After all, such a large organization’s basic trait is being able to adapt to changes.

And as time passed, information known from his previous life would increasingly deviate.

Therefore, he must act quickly now while the Netherworld has not completely deviated from the set course, to allow the intelligence deep in his memory to exert its greatest effect.

Moreover, from the Corpse Puppet Chaos at the end of Chang’an era to the current undercurrents and the restless stirring of the Demon Race on the battlefield realms, these were scenes never seen in the twenty thousand years since Chang’an.

The wolfish ambition of the Demon Race was clear.

All of this was likely the Demon Race’s probing before initiating the ultimate decisive battle.

The Ancestral Taoist had not appeared for twenty thousand years.

Indeed, if the condition of the Ancestral Taoist were truly well, the likelihood would have been leading the Human Race to counterattack the Demon Race, rather than stopping as in the past and then coexisting peacefully with the Demon Race with Heavenly River as the boundary.

Those who knew the underlying story were faintly guessing, whether from the Demon Race or the Human Race side, there was great uncertainty about the future of the Human Race.

The Demon Race had endured for twenty thousand years, and now seemed to have discerned some patterns, or perhaps gained some confidence to oppose the Ancestral Taoist and thus the momentum had resurged.

No matter what, in their various actions, there was the purpose of probing the foundation of the Human Race.

And facing this kind of probing, the Human Race must respond with the strongest measures to express their stance.

No matter whether genuinely potent or outwardly strong but inwardly weak, that should be the approach.

In the struggle between races, showing any softness would only invite further aggression!

“Let the counterattack of the Human Race begin with this first sword by me,” Lu Qingshan declared coldly, his tone undisguised with murderous intent.

Dantai Qingrun was silent for a moment and then, she lifted the porcelain bowl filled with cloudy wine in her hand, facing Lu Qingshan from a distance.

Clang!

The bowls collided, producing a solid sound.

“Pleasure to cooperate.”

“Pleasure to cooperate!”

….