The next day, they were greeted with a bountiful breakfast spread as well. The fact they had two consecutive feasts made them feel as if they had overloaded themselves too much with the good food.
“Let’s go on a field trip!” Li Nianfan said excitedly.
“For an adventure?” Dragin and Nanan asked, immediately snapping out of their food coma. In their impressions, a field trip was equated to going on an adventure.
Li Nianfan shook his head and smiled. “We’re only going for a walk and to enjoy the scenery.”
It was natural for the group to follow along with the plan since it was the expert’s decision. In actual fact, they had been bored out of their minds ever since they had returned from the honeymoon trip. All they ever did was stay in and practice their respective craft — Qin Manyun on her zither and Shi Tuqin on her calligraphy.
“Yay, we’re going out to play!” Yelled Dragin and Nanan excitedly.
Li Nianfan smiled resignedly. “Quiet down and get ready. Bring the outdoor grill so we can have BBQ for lunch.”
It did not take them long to get ready and walked out of the door.
The day was still early by then and the air was cleansed by last night’s spring rain. There was a slight glow to the scene before them and the dew on the green leaves made as if the woods were alive. The dirt smell in the air mixed with the fragrant of the flowers caused them to feel energized.
They did not plan to go far and kept themselves within the mountain range for its natural environment made it the perfect place for a field trip.
‘It’s as if I’m living in a natural tourist attraction,’ thought Li Nianfan to himself.
Walking in the forest, stepping on the soft soil, with the sound of insects and birds, one could not help but feel calmer as if they were one with nature.
Suddenly, Li Nianfan’s gaze fixed on a spot not far ahead. On a particular tree, a bird stared at a bug before proceeding to swallow it whole.
“This bird is the epitome of the saying — the early bird gets the worm,” said Shi Tuqin.
“Is that right?” Li Nianfan’s eyes flashed slightly and smiled at other people. “What do you all think?”
“I think Sister Shi Tuqin said it very well.”
“Those in the forefront has a responsibility to lead those at the back. The same is true for the path of cultivation,” spoke Nanan and Dragin without hesitation.
The others thought about it and agreed wholeheartedly with what had been said.
“And what do you think, master?” Daji asked curiously.
“All of you only saw one side of things, but have you ever wondered what this means for the worm?” Li Nianfan’s words are intriguing. “You should note that the early worms get eaten by the birds. To put it another way, if we were to capture this bird to have for lunch, wouldn’t it wish it hadn’t come out so early?”
“This…”
Everyone was taken aback for a moment and immediately felt enlightened.
Due to their position, they instinctively thought from the bird’s perspective and ignored the perspective of the weak worm.
The wheels in Qin Manyun’s brain began to turn. ‘The expert is telling us that there are always two sides to everything. Good and bad are relative,’ she thought to herself.
Shi Tu Qin’s brain went slightly blank. ‘That’s why he’s the expert! Not everybody can provoke such deep contemplation with only a few words. I can feel the profound meaning in this. Although I can’t fully understand it, I already feel that I have benefited a lot.’
Daji and Fire Phoenix glanced at each other, their eyes thoughtful.
“Obviously it is the same encounter, but the exchange of the identities of the prey and the hunter has completely different meanings. Are you using this as a metaphor to talk to us about the Eldritch?”
“Humans are like this worm, and the Eldritch are like this bird.” This was just a random thought. Li Nianfan did not even take it to heart, but this lesson had been deeply imprinted in the hearts of everyone. It was worthy of their repeated scrutiny. The more they scrutinized it, the more profound it felt.
You’ve gotta hand it to the expert!
In this mountain forest, there were countless beasts, snakes, insects, rats and ants but they did not bother the current Li Nianfan. It all felt like a stroll in the zoo for him.
After wandering around for a while, they settled down by a small stream, set up the grill, and sat on the rocks to enjoy their open-air barbecue.
All the food they wanted to eat was within an arm’s reach — lion meat, tiger meat, and other game meat were turned into skewers and grilled into delicious stick kebabs.
Li Nianfan was a little tired of eating meat so he chose to become a vegetarian for this meal. With a bunch of cauliflower in his left, a bunch of leeks seasoned with cumin on his right hand and with the scenery before him, he felt as if he was in heaven.
Suddenly, Li Nianfan became momentarily stunned, and his gaze fell on a figure at the bottom of the mountain.
“Oh, there’s a pretty boy chopping trees down there,” he cried out in surprise.
“Ah, it’s him.” Dragin looked up and said, “Yesterday saved him from being chased and killed so he decided to follow us here. I never expected him to still be here.”
“It seems like he doesn’t have any family left. Maybe he’s venting out his anger on the tree?” Nanan said.
“Oh, is that so?” Li Nianfan said while looking at the young man. “Let’s go down and have a look when we’ve finished eating.”
Although this is a public space, Li Nianfan took it upon himself to have a finger on everything else happening around there.
After a while, they had finally finished their meal and proceeded to go down the mountain after packing up.
Chop! Chop! Chop!
The crisp sound of chopping wood surrounded the forest. The outline of the figure became clearer and clearer and the way he was chopping did make him look like a robot. Li Nianfan could not help but shake his head at the scene before him — already judging him as a rookie.
Obviously, this person had been trying to cut down that tree for a long time, but had only managed to damage an area not bigger than a palm size, and the shape was extremely irregular. There were wood chips on the ground all around him. As far as the tree was concerned, it was akin to breaking some skin.
With each chop, only the tiniest of scratch could be seen. He was weak, too weak! His stance was incorrect, not to mention the way he was holding the sword, making the force uneven. It would take many more years for him to cut down the tree.
Jiang Liu heard the sound of footsteps and stopped what he was doing. He turned his head and his mind became blank when faced with the large group. His heart started to beat wildly.
He knew Dragin and Nanan from the previous encounter. As for the others, he could tell just by one look, how powerful they were.
Among the group, stood a young man in the middle leading the group! Even if he was not an expert, he must have something to do with him!
He quickly put down his sword, rushed over, was just about to kneel down, but at the thought of what the Food God had said last night, stopped abruptly, and instead reverently gave a big salute. “My name is Jiang Liu. Greetings to you all!”
Li Nianfan sized him up with his eyes — his clothes were torn, his face was pale, and he looked weak.
He nodded at his greeting, and asked, “Hello, my name is Li Nianfan. May I ask why you’re here trying to cut this tree down?”
Jiang Liu gritted his teeth and got straight to the point. “I wish to become a follower of the expert but did not know how to find him. So I’ve decided to build a wooden cabin here in hopes of coming across him.”
There was a trace of clarity in Li Nianfan’s eyes. He could tell by the way Jiang Liu was cutting down the tree that his combat power was low and had discovered the existence of an Immortal here after being reduced by Nanan and Dragin. No wonder he wanted to become his follower so badly he was prepared to live at the foot of the mountain for as long as it would take.
“How long have you been cutting here?” Li Nianfan asked curiously.
“Since yesterday afternoon,” Jiang Liu answered.
“And how many trees have been cut down?”
Jiang Liu pointed to the tree, and whispered in shame, “This is the first one.”
It turned out that he was not just a rookie but the king of the rookies!
Li Nianfan was rendered speechless. It was a talent in itself to only deal such little damage after cutting for so long!
‘He must be injured and thus weak. But his sincerity and determination is really commendable.’ He thought to himself.
He then shook his head and doled out some advice. “Leave. Stop wasting your time here. No one would accept you as their follower here.”
It was true what he said for there were many powerful people there but no followers.
Jiang Liu’s body trembled slightly and he bit his lips to keep the tears from flowing out.
He had no care for anything else and prostrated himself to the expert. “My entire family was killed by outsiders. I know I should be grateful I’m alive and not wish for anything more. But there’s nothing more in the world I want to do than to avenge my family and protect this universe!”
Li Nianfan looked at him, frowning slightly. “This person is a rookie which means his enemies are not really that strong. Maybe I should let Little Daji train him a little as an act of grace.”
Suddenly, a brilliant thought occurred to him — he should give him the black longsword brought back by the Food God. The heritage contained in the sword was close to worthless anyways making it perfect for this rookie here!
A smile suddenly appeared at the corner of his mouth and he patted himself on his back for coming up with this brilliant plan. He had unknowingly reached the state where he could casually pass on grace to other people. He had always admired those who could do that in the TV series he watched and finally got to experience what it felt like.
He felt truly satisfied.
“Fine.” Li Nianfan said and let out a long sigh. “It is fate that brought us together. Although no one here would accept you as their follower, I can, however, give you this sword.”
With that, he took out the black longsword and presented it to Jiang Liu.
Jiang Liu was momentarily shocked. He could feel the majestic, holy, and invincible aura exuding out from the sword. All the hairs on his body stood up and he could not help but feel deep irreverence towards it.
‘Wisdom! The sword contained great Wisdom! This is the heritage of the Elite Being.’ He thought. His scalp tingled with numbness and it felt like the blood in his body was frozen. He completely lost the ability to think and was struck dumb.
He was born from an extraordinary background, and his worldview was naturally very broad. At a glance, he could see the extraordinariness of this longsword, and its aura was far above his grandfather!
‘I just want to be the expert’s follower and yet I was given the heritage of the Elite Being. Am I dreaming? Is this really happening? Grandfather, please don’t blame me for the instability in my heart.’ Then, he asked out loud in a shaky voice, “Are you really giving this to me?”
“Don’t overthink it. This is a mere toy, no need to make a big fuss out of it,” answered Li Nianfan with an amused smile. He was certain the longsword brought back by Blackie and Food God were nothing of great power.
“Thank…thank you!” Jiang Liu had been rendered speechless so many times that he did not know what to say. He kept on muttering his thanks while tears gushed out from his eyes. He was happy and shocked at the same time.
He found it terrifying how a heritage from an Elite Being could be deemed a mere toy. Even his grandfather would have died from the shock, if he was here. Jiang Liu would never have believed all that had occurred if he did not get to experience it for himself.
He finally understood why Old Dragon had wanted to get on the good side of the expert so badly for he was truly extraordinary. He received the longsword with his trembling hands, fearing he would involuntarily scream out if he did not control himself.
“Practice hard. Let me write you a poem,” Li Nianfan said, staying true to his way of doing things. He should act all high and mighty till the end. “Little Daji, prepare the ink.”
“Yes, master,” Daji replied docilely.
A piece of paper and a calligraphy brush were placed in front of him. He took some time to think about what he should write before finally putting down the brush to paper.
“You are forced to come and not be free.
Three thousand visitors are full of flowers,
Fourteen states froze over,
With one strike of the sword. ”
Boom!
The whole world seemed to have come crashing down at that very moment. The space became illusory, the aura was mighty, and the ten thousand living creatures kneeled!
Everyone held their breath at the same time, staring wide-eyed, breaking out in goosebumps. The words were like swords, cutting through all their fears, as if they were nothing!
Jiang Liu became stunned from the moment Li Nianfan put down his brush. He seemed to see a sword before his eyes and was dazzled by its aura even before it was unsheathed! Then, the sword rushed up towards the clouds and its Wisdom blanketed the world.
The black longsword started to hum with resonance with the poem as soon as it was finished. It was excited too!
He never expected he would encounter something more valuable than the black longsword but he was obviously proven wrong! This poem about sword was too majestic! So majestic it should belong to the ranks of the heritage of an Elite Being! The fact that the expert came up with it so easily blew his mind.
Looking at the poem, Shi Tuqin became agitated and clenched her fists tightly. The expert had imbued every stroke with Wisdom with each stroke possessing the power to turn the world upside down. She could not imagine what power the completed poem possessed!
In contrast, her handwriting was more like a dog having crawled over the paper. How could she have been so satisfied with that? She would need to work harder!
She closed her eyes and deeply burned the expert’s writing into her mind while at the same time feeling the essence of it.
Jiang Liu knelt on the ground again, knocked his head to the ground forcefully, and wished he could knock himself dead on the spot.
“Thank you so much! I know I can never repay you for all that you have done for me but I’m willing to be your slave if you’ll have me!” He shouted. The expert had given him much, too much! So much that he wanted to give him his life as a show of gratitude.
“Get up. There’s no need for this,” the expert said quickly. He guessed that Jiang Liu must be a very sensitive person to behave as such.
He then turned his gaze towards the tree Jiang Liu was chopping down just a moment ago. Suddenly, a grin broke out of his face. “How about this, you can bring me firewood when you’ve managed to chop down the tree?”
“Deal and don’t worry, I’ll train hard for that day to come earlier!” Jiang Liu said, excited and determined at the same time.
