Before Ning Yao could finish speaking, Chen Ping'an hurriedly told her to hang on for a moment. He then turned around and grabbed his wine gourd, drinking a quick sip of wine.5

Ning Yao was rather baffled.0

Perhaps Chen Ping'an had done something bad behind her back? For example, maybe he had accumulated a massive debt while traveling from Jewel Small World to Stalactite Mountain, and he had recorded all of this debt under her name?2

Or maybe after throwing a few thousand punches, he had felt like fist techniques were pointless, so he had abandoned the Mountain Shaking Guide long ago? And it was because of this that he was carrying a sword case now? Yet, after starting to practice the sword, he had found that both his fist technique and sword skills were unimpressive?1

Or maybe Chen Ping'an was a lucky idiot, and he had gathered himself a big group of lovers and soulmates while traveling through the cultivation world? And perhaps these lovers and soulmates were waiting for him in an inn right now?7

Ning Yao's mind wandered all over the place.0

However, she never considered the possibility that Chen Ping'an might have lost the sword forged by Ruan Qiong.3

After all, how was this possible? Regardless of how distant the journey was, and no matter what the season was, Chen Ping'an would definitely deliver the sword to her.0

After drinking a sip of wine, Chen Ping'an suddenly stood up and walked down the steps. He turned around to face Ning Yao as she stood in front of the Sword Reverence Pagoda, a pagoda which seemed to house the tens of thousands of years of spirit and vigor of the Sword Qi Great Wall. Moreover, the swords Dogwood Cherry and Restful Bamboo Grove were also displayed inside the pagoda.0

While squatting in the corner of that display room just then, Chen Ping'an had thought about all kinds of random things. For example, some beautiful lines of poetry. These lines included "missing is one as each adorns their hair with dogwood[1]," "sitting alone in the bamboo groves," and so on. He also thought about A'Liang and the character "Badass," and he thought about the characters "Thunder Pool Restricted Land" that were even more ancient and historical. 1

In fact, Chen Ping'an had even daydreamed about what their reunion would be like. Indeed, it definitely wouldn't be like this, where he was stupidly sitting on a set of steps on Stalactite Mountain and she suddenly appeared in front of him.0

Ning Yao slowly sat down on the stairs, then leaned back and lazily rested her elbows against the taller steps behind her. She squinted her eyes, making her slender eyebrows appear even more beaut...0