A Mortal’s Immortal Gourd
Chapter 25: Still Bluffing

Every time Ergouzi came to visit Li the Half-Immortal, he never failed to bring a slab of fatty pork as a tribute.

Even though he always hesitated a bit when buying the meat, feeling a sting of pain over the silver—it wasn’t like he could bear to eat fatty pork himself.

But his master was a reclusive expert, a god-like figure who had been an incredible mentor. He deserved the pork.

“Master, I can crush a stone now!”

Naturally, as soon as they met, Ergouzi had to share the joy of his breakthrough.

All his achievements were thanks to his master’s guidance.

“No way!”

Li the Half-Immortal instinctively blurted it out. A person crushing a stone with their fingers? Impossible.

He’d practiced these scrap-level cultivation methods himself—besides boosting his appetite and wasting a few extra bowls of rice, they did nothing.

As for his usual stone-to-powder performance trick, he had a pretty good sense of what it really was.

But he quickly realized he’d misspoken and added,

“How could it happen this fast?”

As he spoke, Li the Half-Immortal picked up a stone from the ground and set it on the table.

“Crush this stone and let me see for myself.”

Ergouzi picked up the stone and quietly circulated his true qi.

Bang!

Stone chips flew everywhere. A rock the size of an egg shattered into several pieces in his hand.

Li the Half-Immortal tugged nervously at his scraggly beard, unable to hide his excitement.

He had checked that stone before—it was real, not some prop.

Did his eyes fool him? Maybe he accidentally picked a fake rock?

Still not convinced, he picked up a shard Ergouzi had crushed and secretly tried to crush it in his sleeve.

Crush!

Crush harder!

Grit his teeth and crush!

His face turned beet red, and the stone still didn’t budge.

Once again, Li the Half-Immortal fell into deep self-doubt and inner conflict.

But his years of professional bluffing helped him stay calm and unfazed on the surface.

“Not bad, not bad!”

“Being able to crush a stone is a modest accomplishment.”

“But it’s still mostly brute force. You’re lacking in finesse.”

Li the Half-Immortal was finding it harder and harder to keep up the bluff. The pressure was mounting.

“Your teaching is absolutely right, Master. My meager skills before you are like... like... a firefly trying to outshine the sun and moon.”

Ergouzi’s cultivation had advanced quickly, but his only reading material had been a fragmentary cultivation manual.

Trying to act cultured and humble now made him stumble over his words.

“You’re doing quite well already, but keep working hard.”

Li the Half-Immortal, a veteran of the martial world, quickly shook off his inner turmoil and resumed his sage-like demeanor.

“How’s your practice of the basic sword forms?”

“I can now practice the forms using a hundred-jin sword.”

Ergouzi answered honestly.

These days he could easily lift a five-hundred-jin boulder with both arms.

But for single-handed sword practice to feel natural, sixty jin was still ideal.

Of course, if he directed his true qi into his sword arm, that was a different story.

“Hmm, not bad. Keep at it. When you can handle a one-hundred-jin sword properly, I’ll teach you a real sword technique.”

Li the Half-Immortal said a few more encouraging words and sent Ergouzi on his way.

After Ergouzi left, Li the Half-Immortal pulled out an old sword manual and started copying it at the table.

The original text stated that you only needed to wield a ten-jin sword to start learning the technique, but he had deliberately raised the bar to one hundred jin.

Now, as he transcribed the sword manual, he modified all the parameters by several times to slow Ergouzi’s progress.

He didn’t have many tricks left to bluff the kid. If Ergouzi mastered everything too quickly, there’d be nothing left to teach.

Back on the mountain, Ergouzi continued his grueling daily training. His true qi gradually filled his Ren and Du meridians, and his strength grew day by day.

Having tasted the benefits of the Peiyuan Gutben Pills, he made another trip to Hong’an Hall in the county.

But the pills were sold out. They were expensive and in high demand.

Without them, he could only train like an ox every day and continue eating ginseng-stewed pork.

Maybe it was the lack of proper medicinal balance, but too much ginseng was making him heaty—he even had nosebleeds.

Still, though his progress wasn’t explosive, it was steady and solid.

The weight of his practice sword kept increasing.

Sixty-five jin, seventy jin, eighty-five jin...

Another six months passed, and he had strapped all the iron plates he’d made onto the sword.

……

Sanchazi Town

“Master! I can now use a one-hundred-jin sword!”

Ergouzi marched up to his master, heavy sword slung on his back.

Li the Half-Immortal’s facial muscles twitched. He almost said “impossible” but forced it back down just in time.

He had seen Ergouzi crush a stone with his bare hands, after all.

“You really can use a one-hundred-jin sword?”

He still looked at the object on Ergouzi’s back with some doubt—it was shaped like a sword but covered in iron plates.

“Yeah, I’ve got it down.”

Ergouzi gave a firm nod, drew the sword from his back, and casually demonstrated a few basic thrusts, chops, and slashes.

His movements were effortless and natural. The sword might as well have weighed nothing.

Sometimes he even hooked it with just a few fingers.

“Let me have a look at that sword.”

Li the Half-Immortal, a lifelong trickster, instinctively suspected something was off.

“Sure!”

Ergouzi handed the sword over. Li the Half-Immortal reached out to grab it casually.

But the moment he touched it, the weight shocked him. He nearly dropped it.

He had to use both hands to hug it tight, face flushing with the strain.

Clang clang clunk...

In the end, he couldn’t hold on. The sword dropped to the ground, nearly breaking his foot and throwing out his back.

Clutching his waist, he took a deep breath, grateful that Ergouzi had turned away and hadn’t seen his embarrassing moment.

“This sword has a crisp sound and decent quality. Go ahead and pick it back up yourself.”

Li the Half-Immortal, ever the seasoned bluffer, quickly straightened his face, stroked his beard, and masked his shock.

Ergouzi obediently picked up the sword and held it casually again, making Li the Half-Immortal gasp silently.

This kid looked plain and honest but had incredible talent. He had clearly underestimated him.

If he’d known Ergouzi could build this kind of brute strength, he never would’ve dared to bluff him so easily.

If his lies were ever exposed and Ergouzi brought that hundred-jin sword down on him, his old bones wouldn’t survive it.

But now he had no way out. He had to keep playing along, adjusting as he went.

Ergouzi had no idea about all the complicated thoughts running through his master’s mind.

Since training under Li the Half-Immortal, his rapid progress and solid results had given him deep respect for his master’s mystical abilities.

“Master, is my thrust like this correct?”

Ergouzi jabbed forward with the heavy sword a few times, but something felt off. He handed the hundred-jin sword over.

“Could you show me how to do it properly?”

Li the Half-Immortal broke into cold sweat. That thing was a monster, and now he was being asked to demonstrate?

But he had just strained himself trying to lift it. No way he was touching it again.

He flicked his sleeve in a lofty gesture.

“No need for me to demonstrate. You’re doing just fine.”

What else could he say? If he said it was wrong, he’d have to show it himself.

Hearing his master’s praise, Ergouzi was overjoyed, but he still lacked confidence. He had always been a bit insecure.

“I’m really doing it right? Are you sure, Master? Maybe just one move, please?”

Li the Half-Immortal waved his hands repeatedly. Being asked to demonstrate felt like being put on the chopping block.

As a lifelong conman of the martial world, he knew—less is more. The fewer times he had to perform, the more mysterious and powerful he seemed.

Also, that big lump of iron? No way was he lifting it again.

“No need. I’ve already reached a higher realm. No sword is better than a sword. I can hurt people with flowers and leaves alone.”

“Taking someone’s head from ten zhang away is as easy as reaching into a sack.”

“These basic sword forms? Not worthy of my hands.”

He licked his lips and continued crafting his story.

“You’ve already mastered the basics. It’s time I passed on a sword technique to you.”

Ergouzi lit up. Li the Half-Immortal pulled a handwritten sword manual from his sleeve.

“This is my ancestral sword technique—profound and unfathomable. Study it carefully. Do not slack off.”

“Thank you, Master!”

Ergouzi accepted the manual with joy, bowing repeatedly. He felt his master treated him so well—passing down even his family’s legacy.

He always felt bad when he brought just a slab of fatty pork and a jar of wine. Now, remembering that, he felt almost ashamed.

With the sword manual tucked in his robe and a hint of guilt in his heart, Ergouzi finally left Sanchazi Town.

Li the Half-Immortal watched his disciple disappear into the distance and finally let out a deep breath.

That manual had been so heavily edited, it barely resembled the original. No way he’d be able to train with it properly.