Clang!
The sound of a long sword unsheathing echoed abruptly.
The table and chairs in front of Sword Young Master instantly split in two. However, Sword Young Master had anticipated what would happen. The piercingly sharp sword qi, just as it reached him, was dissolved into nothingness by the sword qi surrounding his body.
"I am your uncle, after all!"
Sword Young Master jumped to the side, eyes wide, looking toward the one who had drawn the sword.
It was a girl in the prime of her youth, clad in a light purple dress, picturesque, with eyes clear as crystal. Although her face was expressionless, her beauty was in no way diminished.
At this moment, a sheathed long sword stood by the girl's side, and four to five centimeters of the blade was already exposed.
The sword qi that had split the table and chairs a moment ago had been slashed from that very tip of the blade.
This was a sentient magic artifact.
A prime sword among magic artifacts, it was also a flying sword that many sword cultivators dreamed of possessing.
After all, the only thing higher in level was a treasure of sentience.
"And yet you lump me together with this demon?" the girl retorted sharply, glaring at Sword Young Master. As a child, she didn't understand why the position of Family Head of the Heavenly Sword Mansion's Dong family had gone to her own father-in-law rather than her uncle, but now she quite understood her grandparents' decision.
This guy really couldn't be relied on.
"So, do you want to read this letter or not?" Sword Young Master raised his eyebrows suggestively.
"Yes, but..."
The girl spoke hesitantly because, for some reason, she suddenly felt a bit guilty.
Maybe she hadn't woken up fully yet today...
"Then beg me?" Sword Young Master chuckled, then snatched the letter back.
"Uncle, can you please not live up to your reputation like this?" The girl's face remained expressionless as she gave Sword Young Master a sidelong glance. Though her expression didn't change, her meaning was clear—could you please not act so shamelessly?
"What's wrong with my reputation?" Sword Young Master remained unperturbed, his public persona being one of a man who loathed wickedness.
"Then I won't read it." The girl stated blankly.
"Then I insist you read it!" Upon hearing this, Sword Young Master immediately raised his eyebrows, then opened the letter and tossed it in front of the girl.
The girl's face remained wooden, but the corners of her mouth slightly lifted.
Before long, after reading the letter, the girl fought the urge to twitch the corners of her mouth. She looked at Sword Young Master and asked, "Uncle, isn't he afraid of getting killed asking for money like this?"
Although she was born into the Dong family of the Heavenly Sword Mansion, accustomed to spending hundreds of Upper Xuan seal coins daily, she was not ignorant of the value of a single Upper Xuan seal coin.
In gold, one can refine a material called "Taiyi Fine Gold," albeit extremely difficult to obtain. For every ten kilograms of gold, one could obtain less than one ounce of Taiyi Fine Gold.
Yet, with such precious Taiyi Fine Gold, one could exchange just ten Upper Xuan seal coins for an ounce from the imperial court.
It was precisely because of this exchange mechanism that the Upper Xuan seal coins became recognized as a currency for cultivators across the twenty-five states of the Jiawu Realm.
The Ning family, who monopolized Xizhou City, collected ten thousand Upper Xuan seal coins every year. It wasn't because Xizhou City was poor, but rather because the Ning family was excessively ruthless in their collection.
To say they "dug three feet into the ground" would be an understatement; in Xizhou's territory, gods only count when you raise your head nine feet off the ground.
"Did he look like he was afraid of getting killed when he went to the Jianxia Sect?" Sword Young Master, mentioning this, couldn't help twitching his mouth.
Because that "Tan Shuchang's Cultivation Diary" was indeed something he had helped to print.
And he had not only read it, but was still keeping it.
Upon hearing this, the girl fell silent.
Because indeed, he didn't seem afraid of getting killed at all…
However, as soon as the matter was brought up, the young girl's delicate eyebrows involuntarily furrowed slightly, "He killed the Heartless Old Man. Was that Heartless Old Man a part of the righteous plan at Mount Tu Jian? In fact, in order to avoid losing track of the Heartless Old Man, numerous disciples from Mount Tu Jian were stationed in Qinghe City."
After saying this, the young girl realized that her unreliable uncle was looking at her with an intriguing gaze.
"Hehe, still saying he's not your little lover? You've become concerned so quickly!"
With an expressionless face, the girl didn't hesitate and drew her sword again.
Clang!
"Why so fierce when you're a lady of the household?" Sword Young Master swiftly dodged, after all, as an elder, it was embarrassing for him to strike a junior.
Of course, striking wasn't a problem either; the fear was not being able to win...
"All Demon Cultivators are this fierce!" the girl said expressionlessly.
"But you're a Sword Cultivator, don't give up on yourself!"
Then the girl slashed even more fiercely.
...
"Why hasn't the Ning family's money arrived?" In Qinghe City, Tan Shuchang was somewhat bewildered. Luo State was not far from Yuezhou; logically, it should have been the quickest to arrive.
However, now, of the three letters he had written, the other two had already returned with fifty Upper Xuan stamps each.
Only the letter sent to the Ning family in Western Luo State City hadn't brought back any Upper Xuan stamps yet.
"Lord Ning has become a high official, and indeed that's different..." Tan Shuchang thought, then without hesitation, he took out the letter he had prepared in advance and arrived at a household.
This household was inconspicuous in Qinghe City.
However, many people knew this place, as it was where Zi Xuan Dynasty had left its people.
Since Qinghe City did not have a county office, cultivators who wanted to contact the imperial court would go through here.
Tan Shuchang knocked on the door, which was quickly opened.
The person inside, also a cultivator, had sensed him coming and came out to greet him immediately. Naturally, those stationed here were astute and skilled in dealing with people.
"Master Tan?" The door opened, and the person recognized Tan Shuchang.
Just like the renowned Qiu Junlin, Tan Shuchang's name was also quite famous in this imperial court system.
The Zi Xuan Dynasty governed seventeen states, and the Tan family once dominated thirteen of them.
"My lord is being too courteous. Please don't mention the 'Master'; today Tan Someone is merely a cultivator. If you think highly of me, we can address each other as Dao Friends," Tan Shuchang said.
"Fellow Tan, my surname is Xu, name Zhanghe."
"Fellow Xu!"
"Please come inside!"
"That won't be necessary. I'm here for a minor matter. I ask you, Fellow Xu, to pass this letter on to His Majesty," Tan Shuchang said, taking out the letter.
Not giving money, he truly dared.
"To His Majesty?" Xu Zhanghe was startled, but then, an idea struck him, and he quickly secured the letter.
Letters from other cultivators to the emperor usually went unread unless written by someone very famous.
But if it were Tan Shuchang...it was hard to say.
Tan Shuchang then left, while Xu Zhanghe first had someone carefully check the letter to ensure there were no poisons or curses, then applied a sealing technique and immediately had someone send it to Jingzhou overnight through "Water Spirit."
The next day, in Jingzhou, within the palace, the emperor, who was in his prime, had already read the letter but said nothing. He simply called the Crown Prince to ask him how to handle the matter.