Qin Ran rode forward on his white horse, facing over a thousand ferocious Xuan Qin cavalrymen, and asked the Xuan Qin general: "What did you say?"
"The an...antidote." Qin Ran's expression was very calm, his tone was also very flat, but the Xuan Qin general felt an invisible pressure, and was unable to speak.
"There is no antidote. Go back and tell them, just say I won't give it." Qin Ran said.
"You..." The Xuan Qin general was angry. He suddenly raised his hand, and the thousand Xuan Qin cavalrymen behind him drew their bows and arrows, aiming at this side.
Li Shiwen's Tian Ce cavalrymen reacted swiftly, and they hastily readied their arrows as well.
This was the so-called drawn swords and bent bows. At this moment, one careless move could start a war between the two countries.
Qin Ran looked back and forth. He spread his hands out in front, and a small bubble floated up from his palm. Then the bubble swelled as it met the wind. In the blink of an eye, it was over a hundred and thirty yards wide, becoming a huge transparent film over the heads of the Xuan Qin cavalrymen.
"General, think thrice before you act." Qin Ran persuaded.
The Xuan Qin general looked up at the transparent film over his head with changing expressions. But eventually he steeled his resolve and left with his Xuan Qin cavalrymen.
After all, he was just an ordinary mortal general. How could he deal with cultivators? The matters between cultivators should be handled by the cultivators themselves!"Very impressive..." Li Shiwen said with a smile. He turned his horse around and asked Qin Ran, "What did you guys do to get chased here by cavalry?"
"It's not what we did, it's what they did." Qin Ran corrected. "The eldest daughter of the Zhao family in Xuan Qin, who is also a cultivator, wanted to steal Shiyin's lifebound sword, but failed and was inflicted with a severe poison instead. They probably chased us to get the antidote."
"That Zhao eldest daughter is called Zhao Yaqing. Shiyin said she is the daughter of Xuan Qin's Grand Tutor and went to the Xuan Qin Cloud Heaven Sect to cultivate."
"Steal swords? There's even this kind of thing? Is your cultivator world really so chaotic?" Li Shiwen asked. At the same time, he gestured for the army to regroup and return to camp. "So you guys succeeded at forging the sword?"
"We succeeded." Qin Ran followed Li Shiwen and asked, "How did you know to wait for us here?"
"When the opposing army has pulled its forces to the national border, how could I not know about it?" Li Shiwen laughed. "Should I have waited until they invaded before finding out?"
"You have a point..." Qin Ran nodded.
Li Shiwen was stationed here to guard the national border after all. So of course he would know about any movements from the enemy camp.
Otherwise, he might have woken up one day with the enemy at his camp gates.
As they headed towards the camp with his master and disciple, Li Shiwen noticed something seemed to be wrong with his sister. Not only was she not giggling foolishly or running around happily, she just kept her head lowered and walked beside him, with a long face and a gloomy aura around her.
Didn't they go to forge a sword? She had gotten a lifebound sword, gained a new treasure, she should be happy instead. So why was she like this?
"What's wrong?" He asked Li Shiyin gently.
Li Shiyin did not answer. She just lifted her head to glance at Qin Ran.
So he looked towards Qin Ran as well.
"It's complicated, hard to explain clearly in a few words." Qin Ran said.
"It's fine, I have plenty of time. Take it slow." His sister's affairs were important. Li Shiwen was very patient about this.
"To put it simply, I made her kill someone." Qin Ran said.
"No..." Li Shiwen shook his head. Li Shiyin had been on the battlefield before. She would not be like this just because of killing someone. Enemies die when you kill them, what's there to be depressed about?
Qin Ran thought for a moment, then said, "The rules in the cultivator world are different from the mortal realm. I let her experience some of it, she probably just can't adapt yet."
What kind of obscure explanation was this? Who could understand it? Li Shiwen's expression turned unpleasant then. "Can you speak properly?"
"Master tricked me!" Li Shiyin suddenly said.
"What?" Both Qin Ran and Li Shiwen did not understand what she meant.
"We could have just left directly without killing anyone, but you insisted that I kill..." Li Shiyin said.
On the way back to camp, the master and disciple took turns speaking incoherently, messily explaining what happened to Li Shiwen... No one cared if Li Shiwen actually understood most of it. But at least the master and disciple had talked it out.
After the atmosphere lightened up, Li Shiwen said to Li Shiyin: "Let me take a look at that lifebound sword of yours. It's a treasure of the immortals, I want to broaden my horizons too."
Li Shiyin took Muran out from her interspatial pouch and passed it to Li Shiwen to look at.
"It looks this beautiful?" Li Shiwen received the sword and praised it.
But when he examined the sword further, he discovered that while it was beautiful, the entire sword emanated a muddy feeling and barely had any sharp edge to it. It was as if it had not been unsealed.
"What's going on?" He looked to Qin Ran for an explanation.
He knew better than to ask Li Shiyin for answers.
"This is a lifebound sword. It needs to be nurtured in the dantian Qi sea before it can be used." Qin Ran explained. "Right now, it's not even as good as the military saber in your hands."
"Place it into the Qi sea?" Li Shiwen knew what the Qi sea was. So he did not understand. "This sword is so huge. How are you going to fit it into the Qi sea?"
"There are profound mysteries to it..." Qin Ran said. "Firstly the Formations of Qian Kun, secondly the nurturing method. The Formations of Qian Kun can freely change its size. After nurturing it, it fuses together with its master. In the future when Shiyin refines it, it will essentially become a part of Shiyin's body. Finally it will be nurtured in the dantian Qi sea, above the vortex of Qi, growing along with the increase of Shiyin's cultivation level."
These were concrete theories of cultivation. Even Li Shiyin could not understand it, let alone Li Shiwen. He only vaguely grasped, "So this sword needs to be refined before it becomes powerful?"
As he examined the sword closely, he suddenly noticed two words on the sword hilt - "Muran". His expression changed as he asked, "What's the name of this sword?"
Qin Ran avoided the question and kept his mouth shut.
Upon hearing this, Li Shiyin hurriedly stretched out her hand to smack away his hand and snatched the sword back, huffing angrily, "None of your business!"
Seeing Li Shiyin's shy reaction, Li Shiwen felt his heart sinking little by little. Oh no! His sister had grown up, he could not control her anymore. She already belonged to someone else!
As night fell, the master and disciple were in no hurry to return to the Dao Sword Sect. They accompanied Li Shiwen to his military camp instead.
Li Shiwen's camp was situated next to the Hengduan Mountains. It was a very huge encampment, housing tens of thousands of officers and soldiers. In a few more years, this place might transform into a settlement.
After eating some army rations, Qin Ran returned to his room to rest and contemplate life. Suddenly, there was a knock on his door, and Li Shiwen's voice floated in. "Brother Qin, would you be interested in having a drink?"
Brother Qin? Qin Ran mulled over Li Shiwen's form of address as he got up to put on his clothes and opened the door. He saw Li Shiwen dressed in casual garb, holding a jug of wine in one hand and a paper bag in the other.
"Not going on patrol tonight?" He asked.
"My subordinates have gone..." Li Shiwen said. "It's not necessary for me to be there every time."
The two of them found a quiet spot and sat down on the grass.
Li Shiwen opened the paper bag. Inside was a roasted chicken. He asked Qin Ran, "Speaking of which, we've known each other for so long, yet I still don't know clearly - how old are you Brother Qin, where are you from, are you married...I'm still ignorant about all these things."
"Twenty-five..." Qin Ran roughly knew what Li Shiwen was here for tonight. He smiled and answered, "I'm from Qingyuan. I entered the mountains to cultivate since I was young and have no marriage partner yet."
"That works out perfectly then..." Li Shiwen also smiled. With no prior marriage commitments and not some monster who was several hundred years old, and his age was even close to Shiyin's - this was simply the best possible outcome. As he popped open the wine jug, he said, "Qingyuan is not far from here. I go there quite often."
He took a swig from the wine jug and joked, "Can't tell Brother Qin is only twenty-five with how mature and steady you are. A young man with the heart of an elder!"
"I'm just more of an introvert." Qin Ran replied.
Li Shiwen tore off a chicken leg and threw it to Qin Ran, while he bit into one himself. "I'm a straight-talking man. I don't like beating around the bush. I'll tell you directly what I intend to say, so you have to answer me frankly too.
I know you like my sister, and she seems somewhat interested in you too. So, what do you plan to do about it in the future?"
"As cultivators, we let matters take their own course, following the Way like water...taking no unnatural action." Qin Ran said.
"I told you to speak straight!" Li Shiwen scolded. "Can you talk normally?"
It looked like while Shiyin understood musical rhythm, her brother Shiwen didn't necessarily understand literary compositions.
"I am a cultivator who has been prepared to pursue the Great Dao alone from the very beginning. Having a companion is fine, and having no companion is also fine. I actually do not care too much," Qin Ran explained in detail. "For me and Shi Yin, it all depends on what Shi Yin likes. If Shi Yin is interested, I can accompany her for a lifetime. If Shi Yin has no interest, then I will just be her master."
"A cultivator..." Li Shiwen shook his head and smiled.
"Oh, let me remind you that the young man engaged to Shi Yin has also recently joined a sect to cultivate. That sect is called something Heaven something Cloud Sect..." he said. "I heard he has great natural talents, so take note."
"Mm," Qin Ran nodded and took a mouthful from the wine jar. His complexion was somewhat strange. Cultivation? Cloud What Sect? Could it really be some Xiao Yan, some Nalan Yanran? So who is he? Is he the Medicine Patriarch or Yun Yun?
Night, starry sky, grassland, gentle breeze, strong liquor, two men drinking and chatting, their words inevitably wandering towards women, and then became indescribable.
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