True Solution of the Sword Dao

The morning sun had just risen, the air was exceptionally clear, devoid of mist, which was undoubtedly extremely rare for Linglong Mountain. Vast expanses of green forests stretched across the mountainsides, with an occasional glimpse of a house or pavilion, adding a hint of human presence.

Following the winding trail into the mountains, halfway up one could find a small protruding platform, where an ancient temple sat imbued with an air of antiquity. The structure of the temple was no different from that of an ordinary one, but from a distance, one could see in the middle of the temple grounds a nearly dead gargantuan tree standing erect, like a giant umbrella, covering most of the area.

Outside the gray-white walls, the wooden and iron main gate stood open, with groups of tourists coming and going in twos and threes, while some took pictures together in the adjacent pavilion. The temple’s front red pillars were also covered with lines of inscriptions, mostly the nonsensical kind, declaring someone’s visit.

Among the entering and exiting tourists was a young man about seventeen or eighteen, followed by a stylishly dressed and attractive woman.

"You absolutely can’t miss Linglong Temple when you come here, the divination sticks inside the temple are said to be really effective," the pretty woman said with a laugh, following behind.

The young man nodded slightly, his gaze passing through the main gate and drawn towards the huge withered tree in the courtyard.

"Is this the place he mentioned?"

"He only mentioned nearby," the woman replied.

"Let’s have a look around first."

"Alright. But what exactly are you looking for, Lin She? You were so vague when you asked about it," the woman asked, puzzled.

"It’s nothing, I just suddenly felt like coming here," Lin Fei said with a smile on his face.

"You’re fooling no one!" the woman thought to herself, speechless.

Lin Fei first entered the courtyard and circled the big tree, seemingly finding nothing, then turned his attention to the incense burner placed to the side.

Wisps of smoke wafted from the incense burner, filling the surrounding air with a pleasant fragrance.

After aimlessly wandering around the yard for a while, Lin Fei finally entered the main hall.

Despite the prayer mats laid out on the floor displaying barcodes and production dates along their edges, these updates in no way diminished the solemnity and the antiquated atmosphere of the great hall.

Lin Fei took out a fifty-note and threw it into the donation box. The young monk standing nearby slightly bowed his head in thanks.

"Little master, may I ask you a few questions?" Lin Fei inquired with a smile.

"What would you like to ask?" the young monk replied calmly. "Whatever legend of this place you’re curious about, I can explain it to you." Clearly, this was not his first time dealing with such questions.

"Alright. I’d like to know about the tree in your courtyard, how old is it?" Lin Fei pointed at the withered tree in the courtyard.

"According to the abbot, the tree was already here when he arrived. As for how long, we don’t know," the monk replied with an earnest expression.

"I see," Lin Fei nodded, his gaze resting on the ancient tree.

The immense trunk took up more than half the space of the yard, and it looked like it would take more than a dozen people joined hands to encircle it. The yellow-black roots protruded from the ground, warping the stone slabs of the courtyard unevenly. Some branches of the tree clung to the temple walls, climbing upwards until they stretched out at the top of the wall.

Ever since entering the courtyard, Lin Fei had felt an odd emotion permeating the air, as if something heavy lingered here.

"Then, about this tree, are there any strange rumors associated with it?" he asked again.

"Strange rumors?"

The monk thought for a moment, "There’s nothing of that sort, but the tree has been in this half-dead state for over ten years."

"Over ten years?" Lin Fei’s eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze settling on the large tree, and not moving for a long while.

Seeing Lin Fei deep in thought, the young monk returned to the donation box to provide introductions to other tourists.

"What’s so odd about that? For such a big tree to have a bit more vitality isn’t that normal?" the girl named Xiao Ling said dismissively.

"Yeah, nothing strange at all," Lin Fei nodded in agreement. However, despite his words, he still felt that something was off.

At that moment, a gentle mother walked into the hall with a cute little girl. Amidst the swirling aroma of incense, the mother led the little girl to kneel on the prayer mat, closing their eyes in prayer, while the little girl, unable to sit still, turned her head curiously from side to side.

"Mommy, why is half of that big tree a bit greener?" the little girl’s tender voice struck Lin Fei’s heart like a bolt of lightning.

"Right, the upper left part of the big tree did appear greener, as though all its vitality came not from its roots but from the left trunk," Lin Fei suddenly realized why he felt that sense of discomfort upon entering the temple.

He smiled softly at the little girl, then headed straight out of the main hall without any concern for the baffled expressions of Xiao Ling and the mother and daughter.

After circling the big tree several times, Lin Fei’s eyes began to show faint traces of blue. His gaze moved from the bottom upwards, eventually stopping momentarily on a knotty growth on the left side of the tree, then quickly shifted away again. The blue in his eyes slowly faded, and he nonchalantly continued to circle the tree.

Xiao Ling came over and quietly asked, "Did you find anything?"

Lin Fei shook his head, "I thought I’d discovered something for a moment, but now I can’t feel it anymore. Let’s just call it a day and go back."

"So be it," Xiao Ling replied, taking out a wooden divination stick, "I drew a very auspicious one, you know."

"What did you pray for?" Lin Fei casually asked.

"For success in my career," Xiao Ling said with a joyful face.

"Why would a girl like you pray for a career?" Lin Fei said dismissively, "Let’s go." Shaking his head, he turned and walked towards the temple exit.

**************

Atop Linglong Mountain, a brown-haired foreigner with a large travel backpack sat on a boulder facing the sun.

"Ah! What a huge egg yolk!!" he exclaimed loudly at the sunrise.

"Kori, you’re using the wrong adjective," the black-haired man beside him said with an expression of sheer frustration.

The brown-haired foreigner pointed at the sun, puzzled, "Doesn’t that look like an egg yolk?"

"It kinda does, but..." the words of the black-haired man were cut off mid-sentence.

"Then that settles it," the foreigner said, turning his head away, looking enraptured.

"I!!" The black-haired man wanted to explode in anger, but just couldn’t find the right expression.

"Kori," he took a deep breath, "you do realize we didn’t trek all the way here just to look at your damn egg yolk!!"

"Of course, I know that," Kori responded without turning his head.

"Do you know what? Let’s hear it."

"I like Hua Nation. Yesterday’s braised fish was just so delicious~~~~" Kori turned his head back, visibly irritated, "Keru, you sure talk a lot, can you keep it down!"

"Keep it down your old mother!!" The black-haired man finally lost it and smacked him.

Two minutes later....

A black-haired man was dragging a foreigner with a face full of sorrow and indignation down the mountain top.

"Keru... Andrew... Lulu..."

"Stop calling random names! Teaming up with you is literally the biggest disgrace of my life!!" the black-haired man said without looking back.

"Would you have found this place without my tracking skills?" Kori said with a huff, "I’m telling you, Keru! This is a classic case of out with the old, in with the new! Heartbreaker!! Chen Shimei!! I’ll hold a grudge!! I really will!!"

"I!!!" Keru almost cried without tears, seeing the ambiguous expressions of the tourists around him; he almost really started to cry.

"Big brother!! Sir!! If you’re not good with Chinese, could you please stop using idioms incorrectly? I’m begging you~~~~"

"As an overseas Huanese, I seriously doubt how you managed all these years, you can’t even use your own mother tongue as well as I do... Oh, right, we’re here, we’re here! It seems!" Kori suddenly stopped in his tracks. His gaze shifted to a temple halfway up the mountain opposite them. "It’s over there. The aura of vengeance from the Fire Snake card is right over there."

"Seems like we’ve finally reached our destination." Keru also finally breathed a sigh of relief. Not having to endure Kori’s torment any longer was a definite reprieve for him. "Let’s now go about our planned task. Though anyone who kills the cardholder will be tainted by the force stored in the card at the moment of death. But to be able to find our opponent so easily really is a relief. Kori, make sure you hide well later on." He spoke this last sentence in French.

"No problem," Kori replied in French as well.

***********

Lin Fei stood outside the temple walls, walking alone along the edge, and the closer he got to the branches on the left side of the big tree, the more pronounced that strange emotion became. The Sword Bag that held the Longsword Ring was hanging on his back.

The sunlight was fragmented by the dense branches into patches. The burl on the branch looked like a huge bubble, as if puncturing it would reveal the incredibly heavy ’things’ inside. Lin Fei could feel the True Force Core he had fashioned into a pendant on his chest becoming fiercely hot, as if the True Force inside was undergoing some unknown change.

All was quiet around him, this was already the side of the temple, hardly any tourists came around this part. Lin Fei slowly drew his Longsword, the blade’s razor-sharp edge shimmering like a pool of water under the sunlight, rippling with a cold luster.

"Tss!" With a slight sound, the burl above Lin Fei’s head instantly split open, and a small green object fell straight out. Lin Fei caught it decisively, but an intense burning sensation transmitted into his palm immediately, as if he had caught a ball of high-temperature flame.

Almost by reflex, Lin Fei threw away the object in his hand. But then, a sharp pain in his neck followed as the pendant with the True Force Core was yanked out, snapping the connecting chain. A green shadow collided directly with a sparkling crystal diamond.

"Hiss..." A sphere of transparent light instantly expanded. Lin Fei couldn’t help but step back a few paces. A faint dark red light emerged from his body, silently dissipating into the air. He didn’t notice, still staring intently at the transparent sphere.

At the center of the sphere, a green seed and the True Force Core stuck tightly together, both seemed to be slowly infiltrating each other. They appeared to be rapidly merging into one.

Fortunately, the sound of the sphere was not loud, and it didn’t attract other tourists.

Lin Fei watched nervously the sphere hanging in mid-air. He hadn’t fully absorbed the True Force Core yet; any mishap now would disrupt the True Force circulation, affecting his future Cultivation. No wonder he was tense. Luckily, the seed and core were merging quickly. It looked like it would only take a few minutes to complete.

*********

At the temple gate, a brown-haired foreigner and a black-haired man stood side by side at the entrance.

"Is it here?" the black-haired man asked.

"No, wait, why did it suddenly disappear? The aura of the force seems to have vanished all of a sudden," Kori said, perplexed. "It was just here."

"So it’s somewhere within this broad area?" Keru asked.

"Yeah, right here."

"Then it’s simple, we’ll just go in and look for it. You hide outside the temple, I’ll go in," Keru said.

"No problem, I’ll remember his aura if I spot the target," Kori gave a thumbs up, flashing a white smile. "Trust me!"

"Trust you my ass!" Keru said exasperatedly, and walked straight into the temple.