Azure Heaven Saber
Chapter 237 - 237 13 Beginning to Tackle the Challenges

Chapter 237: Chapter 13: Beginning to Tackle the Challenges Chapter 237: Chapter 13: Beginning to Tackle the Challenges Zhuang Weiran, completely oblivious, cheerily turned around to fetch bathing water, clueless about how much his carefree remark had angered his wife.

Hu Lengyue gritted her teeth, twisted her waist, and followed him in.

From the cave soon came Zhuang Weiran’s stifled groan, pleading in a low voice, followed by hissing sounds of sucking in the cold air…

“…Spare…me some face…”

“You still have face left?! You dare to ask for face from me?”

About the duration of a cup of tea later,

Zhuang Weiran emerged, lugging two large jars. Just as Feng Yin was about to greet him, Zhuang Weiran whooshed and ran far away.

Nobody knows where he tossed those two large jars, but he came rushing back, entered the cave, heaved the third jar out and once again, disappeared in the blink of an eye.

After another little while, Hu Lengyue came out of the cave, all smiles: “It’s all good now.”

Feng Yin pretended as if he did not know what they were doing in the cave, or that Zhuang Weiran brought the jars away to get rid of the stench. He hurriedly said, “Alright, shall we set off then?”

“Yes, we shall set off, speed is of the essence,” Zhuang Weiran fervently echoed

Then, he earned a big rolling-eye from his wife.

As the python watched the three humans and a cat recede into the distance, it could not help but tear up.

Finally…they’re gone…

Oh my god…

They really did a number on this snake!

All I did was live a peaceful civillian snake life in the wilderness. Out of nowhere, these robbers arrived, took over my home, forcibly evicted me, and on top of that, subjected me to slavery, abuse, and left my home in disarray. I’m bleeding…

Finally, they’re gone!

May God never let them return!

Upon returning to its lair, the python was overjoyed to find the space was now much more expansive, with a more pleasant smell.

Not bad, not bad.

A sense of having moved into a new home flooded over it…

All previous grievances evaporated in an instant.

It was like renting out a room – the rental returns were significant, and came with complimentary renovations…

Not bad, not bad, totally worth it.

…

The three humans and the cat resumed their journey.

As they continued, Feng Yin would subtly touch a somewhat large tree every once in a while, performing a certain spiritual technique known as Spirit Gathering.

Zhuang Weiran and Hu Lengyue did not notice this at all.

But Feng Ying would sweep its tail against each large tree Feng Yin touched, leaving a secondary mark.

“Uncle Zhuang, at what stage of cultivation are you guys currently at? If you were to forcefully breakthrough, would you be confident?”

“Still not confident.”

“I’m at Middle Level of the Second Heavenly Rank, which basically puts me at about 90% of my power during my prime. Hm, at my peak, I was at the peak of the Second Heavenly Rank, half a step away from the Third Heavenly Rank; Aunt Zhuang is at the initial stages of the Second Earth Level, a bit similar to her status in the past.”

Zhuang Weiran said, “With the level of their shown power, we could kill them all in a surprise attack, but I don’t think that would be their true strength. After all, this is just the front line, far from the true battleground.”

“I see.”

Hu Lengyue sighed, “Feng Yin, never assume that martial artists would necessarily have high cultivation levels or that disciples of seclusive sects would be formidable. When compared to the might of a nation, the forces of a Jianghu or a sect…are negligible.”

“In the entire Anping Continent, apart from the two palaces that can compete with these nations, no other sect, including the top-ranked Heavenly Judge, stands a chance. The Heavenly Judge, after all, is too disparate.”

Zhuang Weiran said, “Your Aunt Zhuang is correct. Kid Feng somehow came to the conclusion that the Jianghu’s power, at least in terms of personal martial strength, surpasses a nation’s power… but that’s a major misconception.”

“The lure of wealth and status will always be more practical than being an unknown ascetic. A nation’s power is diverse and countless, with no shortage of extraordinary figures. In terms of both quantity and quality, they far surpass the so-called martial art experts and sects.”

“Etch this in your mind! No matter when, never forget this fact! It’s better to kill some young master or head of a Jianghu sect than randomly execute a country’s official. It’s the taboo of the Jianghu, got it?”

“Understood, will engrave this in my memory and will never forget.” Feng Yin nodded repeatedly.

This time, he truly took it as a lesson. The idea that ‘Jianghu is superior to the court, martial force surpasses everything’ Zhuang Weiran was referring to, actually came from pulp fiction novels from Feng Yin’s previous life.

In all the novels Feng Yin read in his previous life, as one becomes more powerful, they can basically do whatever they want.

Even if initially they can’t, with growing power, they can gradually manipulate their environment.

Even when confronted with a monarch, they can stand superior and dictate.

A minor disagreement could lead to an overthrow of the dynasty and regime change.

But as he got to understand this world more deeply, Feng Yin gradually realized that reality is not the same, not as ideal as depicted in the pulp fiction novels.

To master both civil and military arts, is to serve the kingdom. This phrase is not merely said for the sake of saying it.

Nevertheless, the idea that’s been deeply engraved by countless stories and novels may still unintentionally slip out.

As experienced warriors, Zhuang Weiran and Hu Lengyue have long been on guard against Feng Yin’s such thinking.

They didn’t express their thoughts out of embarrassment for having benefited from Feng Yin before, but now that they had grown more familiar with each other, there was no need for such reservations.

The reason the couple chose now to voice their thoughts was because they were not sure they could come out of this battle unscathed.

If they lost their lives here without having had a chance to enlighten Feng Yin, he might suffer a major setback in the future due to this mindset.

Such a setback could potentially deprive a person of a second chance to tackle life once they have experienced it once.

If that were to come to pass, the couple would die holding the grudge.

Therefore, they picked this inappropriate timing to bring this up in an extremely serious tone, with a heaviness in their voice that couldn’t be easily put into words.

Feng Yin was taken aback.

Zhuang Weiran’s admonition had utterly shattered his belief that ‘one person could rise above worldly authorities’.

As they walked and whispered, Zhuang Weiran and his wife poured out all of their lifelong experiences.

If they didn’t speak now, they might never get another chance to do so.

After walking for about twenty miles, the trio realized something was wrong with their current situation.

Invisible waves of spiritual senses kept sweeping the air back and forth.

In the distant forests, they could barely make out lightning-fast figures moving back and forth, appearing and disappearing, endlessly repeating the cycle.

The three of them became even more cautious.

Hu Lengyue and Zhuang Weiran kept whispering to each other, cautiously devising a way to avoid the enemies. They were not just looking three steps ahead per step they took, but ten.

Eventually, they crossed the middle section of the Cross Gorge and were about to reach its end.

Once they crossed it, they would reach the territory of Tiandang Mountain.

However, upon reaching here, they realized that even planning ten steps ahead was no longer enough. It was impossible to infiltrate as stealthily as before.

Briefly speaking, the area was covered by numerous spiritual senses forming a net, leaving no gap unstitched.

“We need to send a signal now.”

Zhuang Weiran spoke solemnly: “My wife, you go first. Try to eliminate a batch of enemies to break their encirclement and draw their attention.”

“Alright!”

Hu Lengyue was about to dash out. The couple had undergone numerous death-defying events in their time and were very familiar with handling situations where they were surrounded by enemies from all sides. Showing weakness to lure enemies and then reducing enemy forces was the best solution for the people who did not understand them.

“Hold on.”

Feng Yin interrupted seriously: “Uncle Zhuang, Aunt Zhuang, when it comes to combat experience, you’re my seniors, and I’ll say no more about that. But I want to provide you an extra safeguard. Remember, if there’s a need to flee, all the trees we’ve encountered… can be used to our advantage, or, can provide support.”

“Trees?” They were surprised and couldn’t understand what he meant.

“We can discuss the details later. For now, you only need to know that I have communicated with these trees in a unique way…They are on our side…They will do their utmost to help us, especially those that I touched every now and then when we travelled this way.”

Feng Yin spoke solemnly: “Remember, this matters to our lives.”

Seeing Feng Yin speaking so solemnly, although they still didn’t understand how trees could provide help, judging from the myriad of incomprehensible things they have witnessed from Feng Yin, they let it pass. They faithfully kept it in mind, thinking it’s always good to have a backup plan even if we end up not using it.

Without further delay, Hu Lengyue transformed into a grey silhouette, flying out skimming the grass.

Zhuang Weiran and Feng Yin lay tight to the ground, watching the front nervously while Zhuang Weiran’s hand tightly clung to Feng Yin’s waist.

Little Feng Ying also sensed the unprecedentedly heavy mood and had already crawled into Feng Yin’s pocket. With his little paws gripping the edge of the pocket, his ears standing upright, his wide eyes nervously observing each rustle and shake in the surroundings, his pupils were continuously rolling.

Sounds of movement from Hu Lengyue’s side were already audible.

“Who’s that? Stop!”

Somebody was shouting loudly.

Hu Lengyue moved like lightning, a flash and a scream followed by the stench of blood.

Then an arrow whistled into the air, exploded in mid-air.

A shrill voice cried out, “Intruder!”

As soon as the sound faded, figures sprang up from all around, killing towards this side.

Watching enemies attacking from all directions, Hu Lengyue was neither shocked nor afraid. With her swift actions, she had even recovered from all her losses. Even if she only put forth half of her might, she was already at her highest level. Even a tough and strong enemy couldn’t stand a chance against her.

However, in the vicinity of her body, cold electric current leaked out, the light flickered. A grey airflow, following her lightning-like body, was like a bamboo that was miserably broken by her.

However, there was no enemy in sight to go hand in hand with her.

…

[I learned a lesson this morning, I said, the dish you cooked today is delicious with just the right flavors. And then he shouted: The dishes I cook are for you to eat, not for you to criticize. Gosh, being a man is really hard.]