Martial Cultivator

She kept her eyes closed and waited for a moment but did not feel anything unusual.

Hence, Xie Nandu opened her eyes.

In the next instant, her eyes widened greatly because the young man before her had already pressed his lips against hers.

A faintly pungent scent of sweat rushed up, aggressively assaulting Xie Nandu’s nose.

Xie Nandu furrowed her brows slightly, but she showed no other reaction. There was no hint of disgust.

She did not know why either.

She clenched her teeth, refusing to let that soft thing go any deeper. But before long, she felt Chen Chao’s hands wrap around her waist.

Chen Chao’s heavy breathing kept transmitting into her ears.

Xie Nandu’s breathing also grew rapid.

She felt strange. She did not understand why this was happening, and this was clearly not even the first time!

Just as she became dazed, that soft thing had already pried open her pearly teeth, slipping into her mouth and meeting the other soft thing.

Damn it!

In just an instant, Xie Nandu felt a wave of weakness spread through her entire body.

That tingling numbness spread to every corner of her being in an instant.

She even felt her scalp tingle.

It was a special sensation.

Indescribable, yet it seemed so easy to get lost in.

Very soon, Xie Nandu noticed that Chen Chao’s hands were starting to misbehave, leaving her waist and slowly making their way toward her chest.

”Mhm?”

Xie Nandu let out a soft, indistinct moan.

Chen Chao also responded lightly, “Mhm?”

The same sound, yet with a different tone.

The meaning was different too.

The first was a question, the second an inquiry.

But since the one inquiring did not receive an answer, he decided to climb to greater heights.

Yet at that moment, Xie Nandu’s glabella shone brilliantly, and a flying sword shot out from her glabella. The dazzling sword light thrusting straight at Chen Chao before her. ŔαƝó฿Ëꞩ

It was that flying sword, White Deer.

The two were already practically face-to-face, and Chen Chao had no guard up at all. Naturally, the sword struck his glabella in an instant.

Their lips parted at once as Chen Chao’s head snapped backward, but he quickly caught the flying sword and tossed it far away.

But that was far from the end. A second flying sword shot out from Xie Nandu’s glabella.

Trailing a dazzling sword light.

Though there was no killing intent, the sheer killing prowess that a sword cultivator possessed was quite terrifying.

Besides, Xie Nandu’s cultivation realm was no longer low.

Chen Chao struck the sword’s blade with his palm, causing the flying sword to vibrate with a clear hum - strangely in tune with the sound of rain against the bamboo building.

In the end, the flying sword was knocked away once more by Chen Chao.

But then another flying sword shot out from Xie Nandu’s glabella.

Chen Chao dealt with it the same way, and after tossing aside several flying swords, he wrapped his arms around Xie Nandu’s waist again and pressed his lips against hers once more.

At this moment, those flying swords hovered motionlessly at Chen Chao’s side, no longer shooting toward Chen Chao.

It made for an odd sight - where in the world would one find a couple engaged in such an act, surrounded by flying swords?

Right now, Xie Nandu seemed to have lost track of time. It felt as if a long time had passed, yet also as if only a moment had gone by.

Either way, after an unknown amount of time, the two finally parted.

Xie Nandu opened her eyes and saw the young man before her, his eyes dazzling like the stars.

For a moment, Xie Nandu’s cheeks flushed slightly, and she felt a heat rising through her body.

Chen Chao turned his head to glance at the flying swords hovering around them, then put on an aggrieved expression and said, “You trying to kill me?”

“It’d be better if I did.”

Xie Nandu snorted.

Chen Chao laughed heartily. “You want to kill me? It won’t be so easy.”

Now that he had reached the Nepenthe Realm, the gap between their cultivation realms was still considerable.

Even Xie Nandu’s nine lifeblood flying swords would likely struggle to even get close to Chen Chao.

Xie Nandu said nothing and simply turned her head away.

Seeing this, Chen Chao teased, “What did that stinking brat Yu Qingfeng say earlier?”

Xie Nandu remained silent but turned to face him again, her brows furrowing slightly.

Chen Chao looked down regretfully.

Following his gaze, Xie Nandu glanced down as well. Then, her cheeks turned scorching hot once more.

Matters between men and women, the pleasures of the boudoir, she had never been interested in them before, but that did not mean she was ignorant of their true nature. Some things, as the ancients said, could only be understood through personal experience: ”What is gained from books always remains shallow; to truly grasp something, one must put it into practice.”

Chen Chao coughed dryly a few times, then sat back down and rubbed his own flushed cheeks.

“Speaking of which, something just came to mind. If I were to visit your Xie Family now, I suppose they’d open the main gate to welcome me, right?”

The Xie Family was now undoubtedly the foremost aristocratic family in Great Liang. Compared to before, their status had risen even further. However, Chen Chao had also become the highest-ranking military official in the Great Liang Dynasty. If he were to visit the Xie Family again, they certainly would not make him enter through a side gate as they had in the past.

The current Chen Chao, regardless of position, future prospects, or prestige in Great Liang, he would be worthy of the Xie Family opening their main gate for him.

Furthermore, they must open the main gate wide.

Xie Nandu said flatly, “During the reign of Emperor Taizong, there was a remarkable general who was granted an imperial marriage by His Majesty. He sternly refused, saying that as long as the demon race remained, he would never take a wife in this lifetime.”

“I hold the same belief.”

Chen Chao’s expression turned unnatural. He glanced at Xie Nandu and asked, “So you’re planning to wait until you become an old lady?”

Xie Nandu raised an eyebrow. “If you want to marry me, bring me the Demon Emperor’s head as a betrothal gift.”

Chen Chao covered his face, feeling somewhat relieved. “Good thing you didn’t say I have to exterminate the entire demon race before I can marry you.”

But the moment he finished speaking, he suddenly realized something. “Wait a minute, wiping out the demon race is something you plan to do yourself!”

Xie Nandu looked at him smugly. “Of course. You don’t study military strategy, nor do you understand leading armies in battle. Talking about exterminating the demon race, aren’t you just talking nonsense?”

”Wait for me to cultivate well, reach an unprecedented height, and then personally slaughter the entire demon race myself.”

Chen Chao raised an eyebrow.

Xie Nandu clicked her tongue and said, ”You’re already starting to talk nonsense?”

Chen Chao sighed. In the end, he admitted defeat. In this lifetime, trying to win an argument against the Xie Nandu before him was almost an impossible task.

Xie Nandu glanced at Chen Chao before finally speaking, ”I just received news from the Northern Frontier. His Majesty and the Demon Emperor fought a great battle, and thirty thousand miles of the desolate north have completely become a forbidden zone. The battle should be over by now, but ordinary people still cannot enter the desolate north. Looking at it this way, this must have been His Majesty’s intention, to construct a barrier for Great Liang, preventing the demon race from advancing south. He is buying time for you.”

Xie Nandu’s vision was extremely sharp. Just from a few clues, she had already deduced the Great Liang Emperor’s intentions.

Chen Chao nodded. That was indeed the Great Liang Emperor’s plan. He had eradicated all the spies within Great Liang and, through that battle, had nearly resolved the troubles caused by the Infatuation Daoist Temple. He had even brought the Sword Sect to Great Liang’s side.

Looking at the current situation, aside from Dearcry Monastery, which had always been on friendly terms with Great Liang, Sword Qi Mountain could now also be considered half a friend. Adding in the Sword Sect and Myriad Sword Sect, the present Great Liang no longer seemed as isolated and helpless as before.

But it was still not enough.

Chen Chao understood that if they ever wanted to launch a northern expedition, the foreign lands behind them had to be completely stabilized.

In fact, they would all need to take part in this war.

Doing all this was extremely troublesome.

But there was not much time left.

Chen Chao said, “From what I know, Yun Jianyue doesn’t believe that the death of that Daoist Sage Wuyang was that simple. Many within the Infatuation Daoist Temple also refuse to accept Yinli taking the position of temple master. Right now, the entire temple is full of undercurrents. Yun Jianyue is currently in seclusion. After he breaks through, he will likely come to the Divine Capital to find me.”

Xie Nandu raised an eyebrow. “Do you have the truth in your hands?”

Chen Chao smiled. “How do you know?”

Xie Nandu did not ask further and instead changed the topic. “Senior Brother Zhou is currently missing. When I see him, there are many things I want to say to him.”

As fellow disciples, the two of them naturally needed to decide the future path of the academy.

Chen Chao said, “Scholars have studied for so many years, would they change so easily?”

Xie Nandu looked at Chen Chao. “Don’t you have faith in me?”

Chen Chao shook his head.

He took a roasted sweet potato from the stove, peeled off the skin, and handed it to Xie Nandu. Xie Nandu took it and took a small bite.

Chen Chao said, “Let the Xie Family know, I’ll be paying a visit in a few days.”

Xie Nandu raised an eyebrow. “Going there to show off?”

Chen Chao laughed it off.

……

……

After finishing the sweet potato, Xie Nandu left the bamboo building and returned to the academy. Chen Chao watched the oiled-paper umbrella disappear into the distance before stepping back inside. Sitting by the window, he gazed at the curtain of rain for a moment before taking out a sheet of paper that shimmered with golden light.

Chen Chao had obtained this page from the hands of the Mountain Lord of the Sublime Bright Sect, and it had saved his life many times. However, Chen Chao still knew little about the secrets it contained.

Previously, after much effort, he had only managed to discern a single word on it - ”I.”

He had once thought about showing the Great Liang Emperor this item for him to study, but was refused by him.

Now that he had stepped into the Nepenthe Realm, Chen Chao knew he could continue studying its contents.

Placing the page on the table, Chen Chao took a deep breath. He slowly guided the white mist within his body to spread throughout, enveloping his vital acupoints and internal organs before finally directing his gaze toward the page.

His qi seeped out, slowly settling onto the sheet. of paper

A golden light began to radiate from it. The initial glow was dazzling, like countless tiny golden snakes slithering across the surface, eventually converging into a single character.

”I”

That was the content that Chen Chao had previously discerned.

Chen Chao did not spend much time on that character but instead focused all his attention on what lay beyond.

Streams of dazzling golden light erupted, like countless sharp swords shooting toward his pupils!

A terrifying aura rushed at Chen Chao, instantly severing the cord that tied his hair. Chen Chao’s long hair fell loose, and an immense pressure bore down on him, attempting to push him backward.

Chen Chao stood firm, unmoving.

His two eyes throbbed with pain, but he still strove hard to see past the word ”I.”

His vision burned, but he vaguely made out the character ”am.”

Was this some kind of self-introduction?

As this thought crossed his mind, he continued trying to read further.

But just as he attempted to see the third character, a violent tremor shook his mind. The golden light intensified severalfold, its difficulty instantly surpassing everything before.

It was utterly terrifying.

A trickle of blood seeped from the corner of Chen Chao’s mouth, and blood flowed from the edges of his eyes.

Though he had long known the terror of this page. After all, even that great demon of the demon race could not claim victory before it, and Chief Enforcer had even used it to defeat Infatuation Daoist Temple’s former Chief Enforcer. But even so, Chen Chao was still utterly shocked.

Yet Chen Chao refused to give up. He pressed on, determined to uncover more of its secrets.