239: Chapter 237 Sword Practice, The Arrival of the Expert Team, and the Joint Fleet's Encirclement of the Fallen Spirits

On his way back to NH, Zhang Mu intentionally slowed his pace.

By the time he reached the high altitude above the sea not far from the beach, the tip of the sun happened to be peeking out from behind the mountains.

Opening a light gate to enter the 'World', he first went to the Hogwarts area to inform the five freshmen and Rowling that a 'calamity' had appeared in the world, and new classes would need to be postponed because of it.

He also stated that if they were worried about their families, they could take an early holiday and return to Blue Star.

Except for Wino, the others immediately got up and went to their rooms to pack their luggage.

It wasn't that they were afraid Hogwarts couldn't withstand the 'calamity', but rather to prevent the cities from falling into chaos and their relatives from being caught in the crossfire.

Zhang Mu didn't say much. He stopped the few people rushing toward the office door and handed them the train tickets he had prepared.

Then, leaving behind the words, "A-Hai is already waiting for you," his figure vanished instantly.

...

Mountain Gate, Yuzhang Mountain.

Dawn was breaking.

The few who had formed a habit were all awake by now, wandering around the small courtyard with bleary eyes.

They only prepared to go back inside for a nap after the Kunpeng burst out from the clouds in the sky and disappeared into the sea of clouds halfway up the mountain.

But just as they lifted their feet, Immortal Xu appeared at the courtyard gate and spoke succinctly: "Follow me."

Luo Xiling and the four examinees hurriedly jogged to catch up with Immortal Xu as he turned and walked out the door.

“If you are interested, you may observe from the side.” After crossing the threshold, he turned his head and smiled at Ye Ming and the others.

The group had no reason to refuse and followed along cheerfully.

All the way to the top of the back mountain, Luo Xiling and the other four lined up in a row opposite Immortal Xu.

Scanning the crowd from left to right, he said, “When the Mountain Gate accepts disciples, the focus is on cultivating the heart.”

With a light wave of his hand, four sheathed longswords abruptly appeared, suspended vertically in front of the four of them.

“From today onwards, practice the sword.”

“Yes!”

After responding loudly, Luo Xiling asked in confusion, “Master, what does practicing the sword have to do with cultivating the heart?”

“You will know in the future.”

“Oh.” She nodded ignorantly, then hurriedly asked, “Master, where is my sword?”

Immortal Xu had borrowed the moon bright sword on the day of the 'calamity' attack and hadn't returned it since. Now he wasn't giving her a 'novice longsword' either, so what was she supposed to practice with?

Immortal Xu didn't speak. He pressed his right index and middle fingers together into a sword gesture, and a faint light lit up at his fingertips.

The next moment, the sound of breaking air rang out overhead, and a cyan sword glow plummeted down, floating slowly around him.

The light dissipated, revealing the moon bright sword within.

With a slight movement of his sword fingers, the moon bright sword suddenly shot to Luo Xiling's hand, and she gripped it tightly.

Then he tossed out a book with a grey, wordless cover, which the young girl scrambled to catch.

“Do not be slack.” As his voice fell, his figure faded away.

“Xiao Luo, let's see.” Zhao Qi rushed forward in two steps.

“Don't worry, don't worry.” Luo Xiling tucked the moon bright sword under her arm and hurriedly flipped the book open.

Everyone crowded over, forming a circle.

“Is there no written explanation?”

“Look, there's one sentence here: Only by resonating with the sword can one command it.”

“What does that mean?”

Walking over slowly without squeezing in, Ye Ming said, “Understanding it literally, you need to first establish a spiritual connection with the sword, and then you can use it.”

“I can use it now.” The only girl among the four gripped the hilt, drew it, and swung the sharp blade around haphazardly.

“Hmm...” Ye Ming frowned in thought for a moment, suddenly recalling the scene where Immortal Xu summoned the moon bright sword with a sword gesture. “This 'command'... might refer to Sword Kinesis.”

“Sword Kinesis? Like in the movies, controlling a sword to fly around in the air?”

“It should be as Brother Ye said.” Luo Xiling flipped to the next page and found that the white pages were filled with various strange hand gestures drawn in black lines.

The first one was the sword gesture Immortal Xu had made earlier, named—Sword Summoning.

They basically understood what sword skills they were supposed to practice, but the starting point left them with no way to begin.

Closing the book, Luo Xiling made a face: “It doesn't say how to resonate with the sword?”

“This is likely what Immortal Xu meant by—cultivating the heart.”

“Where do we start cultivating?”

Ye Ming chuckled and said, “You're the ones practicing the sword, not me. Figure it out yourselves.”

“Brother Ye, are you just going to abandon me like this?” Luo Xiling jumped and shouted.

Ye Ming, walking down the mountain with Lin Miao, only gave her a silent view of his back.

“Brother Zhao, Sister Yue.” She looked at the two of them pitifully.

“Uh, we don't understand either.” Yue Ruo tugged at Zhao Qi's sleeve, signaling him to say something.

“How about you guys just try first?” Zhao Qi seemed to state the obvious.

Luo Xiling covered her forehead in agony: “I just want to know what method I should use to try.”

“Just try whatever, like dripping blood or something.”

Hearing this, all five of them rolled their eyes.

He took TV shows too seriously.

In the end, having no other choice, they all sat cross-legged with their longswords across their thighs, propping up their chins in deep thought.

Fortunately, there was no sun at the Mountain Gate, so the five wouldn't be tortured by scorching heat. They didn't need to worry about hunger either, as Kunpeng would deliver feathers on time.

Zhao Qi watched for a while and found it truly boring. It was too different from the immortal cultivation he had imagined. Dragging Yue Ruo along, he also returned to the small courtyard.

Leaving only the five on the mountaintop, unable to find a solution.

Because they didn't have watches or phones, they didn't know how much time had passed.

It wasn't until the surroundings grew dim that they realized it was almost dark.

“Should we go back to the courtyard?” the girl asked.

“Master didn't say. Well... anyway, we have Senior Uncle delivering feathers, so we won't go hungry. Let's keep pondering.”

“Miss Luo has a point. We don't even know the deadline for the assessment. It's better to master the sword as soon as possible.”

“That's the only way...”

“Howl——”

The five looked strangely at the Kunpeng spreading its wings in the sky, thinking to themselves that it doesn't come out at night, so what was going on?

The confusion was soon resolved.

A light gate opened in front of the Kunpeng, and it dove straight in.

After about ten minutes, the giant fish emerged from the gate.

The group stood up and curiously ran to the edge of the clearing. The sky-blotting giant fish flicked its tail and rapidly approached them.

“Eh, isn't that the Director?”

Luo Xiling, with her hand held horizontally over her forehead, saw the Director standing at the edge of the fish's back, waving his hand.

Soon the giant fish lowered its altitude, its back level with the mountaintop.

Standing on the high ground and looking down, the group now saw that besides the Director, there were more than a dozen people, old and young, standing on the giant fish's back, along with a transport plane.

As the giant fish brushed past Yuzhang Mountain, the group of people and the plane floated up and landed on the clearing in front of the main hall's gates.

“So many people coming at once, did something happen?”

Ye Ming hadn't told them about China's intended trade with the Mountain Gate, so they naturally felt puzzled by the arriving 'tourist group'.

“We can just ask.”

Luo Xiling turned around, preparing to go down the mountain.

“Do not be slack.”

The low-pitched tone echoed in the surrounding air. The expressions of the five changed abruptly. Regardless of whether there were sharp stones on the ground poking their butts, they sat directly down on the ground, closed their eyes, and pondered deeply.

...

“Ye Ming, why aren't Xiao Luo and the others coming down?”

The Director led the group to the small courtyard and asked Ye Ming, who was standing at the door to welcome them.

“Immortal Xu probably won't allow it.” He looked up at the back mountain in the distance, then said, “They are busy. Let's handle our own business first.”

“True. Come, Xiao Ye, let me introduce you. These are all national treasure-level Academicians from the Imperial Capital...”

“Let's skip the formalities.” An old man interrupted him and stepped forward. “You're Ye Ming, right?”

“I'm a few years older, so I'll take the liberty of calling you Xiao Ye.”

“As you wish. Everyone, please come in and talk.”

He led everyone to sit around the stone table. Because there weren't enough seats, the assistants and students all stood nearby.

Ye Ming had intended to stand while talking, but the old men didn't want to waste time. They pulled him down onto a stone chair and urged him to recount the details of the matter.

After spending ten minutes recounting the specific events, he explained, “Trading with the Mountain Gate definitely requires the state's approval and the mobilization of resources, which is why the Director went back to report this.”

They clearly didn't care whether the process followed regulations and hurriedly asked, “You said Immortal Xu can enter space with his physical body?”

“That is what he told me.”

“Is it credible?”

“Uh, I believe Immortal Xu has no need to deceive us.”

After pondering for a bit, they felt it was indeed so, so they changed the subject: “The list Xiao Xu brought back didn't have prices marked on it.”

“Do you have any information on this?”

“I asked Senior Brother Zhou. He said he would give us a price list when the time comes.”

“Then let's go now!”

“Hey, everyone.” Ye Ming quickly stopped the group as they stood up. “Senior Brother Zhou hates it most when people disturb him after work. It's already dark.”

“Let's go tomorrow morning.”

They didn't object. After all, they were the ones asking for favors. Making someone unhappy would only be asking for trouble.

Besides, they had already arrived. No matter how urgent it was, one night wouldn't hurt.

After sitting in the small courtyard for a while longer, Fellow Daoist Liu arrived leisurely and led them to stay in the adjacent courtyard, which had the same layout.

Afterward, with Ye Ming leading the way, the group went to the eatery to fill their stomachs and then returned to their respective rooms to rest.

Nothing more was said that night.

The next day, just as dawn broke.

Ye Ming got up early and went to the neighboring courtyard, knocking on doors one by one to wake everyone up for the routine send-off of the Kunpeng.

Only then did they head out to Qingfeng Hall.

Considering that too many people would be useless and overly disruptive, in the end, only three Academicians and Ye Ming walked through the gates of Qingfeng Hall.

“Senior Brother Zhou, morning.” Ye Ming greeted the person sitting behind the long counter.

Rising to return the greeting, he sat back down and said, “And these are?”

“Experts from China, here specifically for the trade.” Ye Ming briefly introduced their identities and then said, “Senior Brother Zhou, could you give me a copy of the price list for the exchangeable items?”

“It's already prepared.” He smiled and pulled out a booklet from under the counter, handing it to Ye Ming.

With the main purpose of coming here accomplished, one of the old men was no longer in a hurry to go back and study it. He cupped his hands and asked, “May I ask your age, sir?”

“Hmm, according to the calculation of the mundane world, roughly eight hundred years.”

The old man was extremely excited. Wasn't this a living history book?

“Sir, did the appearance of Emperor Taizu of Ming match the portraits passed down to later generations?”

Senior Brother Zhou smiled and shook his head: “I don't know.”

“How could you not know?” The old man's face was full of shock.

“Why should I know?”

“You've lived for eight hundred years!”

“My young friend.” Facing the old man's slightly questioning tone, Senior Brother Zhou didn't turn cold. He was still smiling. “For those of the Mountain Gate, the world changes in the blink of an eye, and a single sleep spans across vast eras.”

“If it were you, my young friend, would you care about what a mundane dynastic ruler looked like?”

Not only was the old man silent, but Ye Ming and the other two old gentlemen also fell silent.

Indeed, why care about such things? Anyway, after sleeping for a few days, the world would become a completely different scene.

“Thank you for your generous teaching, sir.”

The three turned and returned to the small courtyard.

The old men gathered their thoughts, opened the price list, and began to study it.

After browsing through it roughly, they found that the prices for various items were listed not only neatly but also exceptionally clearly.

But it wasn't of much help.

Because there were many things whose specific effects they didn't understand.

Something like 'floating stone' was slightly better; at least they could guess from the name and description that it was a 'stone that can provide buoyancy'.

Although they couldn't know the magnitude of the buoyancy to infer its actual use, they at least had some clue.

The troublesome ones were those things that only had a name and a place of origin.

For example, “Flame Chunk—a byproduct of stone.”

God knows what it's used for?

Taking off his glasses, the old man rubbed the bridge of his nose to relieve the soreness in his eyes: “I'm afraid we'll have to ask Mr. Zhou one by one. This is such a thick book; it's a massive project.”

“No matter how big it is, it must be done.”

Ye Ming stood up and said, “Brother Zhao, Sister Yue, and I will be responsible for it.”

“Then we'll leave it to you.”

“It is our duty.”

While there was still some time before dark, the three of them hurried to Qingfeng Hall side by side.

...

“Transfer the data into the puppet's Core. If I have to deal with them every day, I won't be able to do anything else.”

Zhang Mu, situated in the void, used his Mental Energy to stuff the detailed item data prepared by Sauron into the puppet, then opened a light gate to return to Blue Star.

It would take Luo Xiling and the other four a few days to practice the sword, and Ye Ming's side wouldn't be able to make any further progress in the short term either.

With nothing else to do, he planned to go find the Fallen Spirit.

He had chatted with the big guy yesterday, and Zhang Mu was exceptionally interested in the information it revealed.

According to the Fallen Spirit, before being summoned, it had been staying in a space that was "pitch black, with walls on all four sides blocking it."

What kind of place was that?

While feeling curious, Zhang Mu flew through the air toward the open sea.

A few hours later, he reached a certain part of the ocean.

Closing his eyes to sense, the Fallen Spirit was in the sea area beneath his feet.

Applying a Shadow Technique to it, he made its upper body emerge from the sea surface. Zhang Mu landed and sat on its shoulder, his gaze looking out over the deep ocean.

“Do you have a name?”

“No? I'll give you one. From now on, you'll be called... Stone.”

The faint blue flames in the Fallen Spirit's eye sockets swayed quickly a few times, fully expressing its resistance.

“You think it doesn't sound good? Let's change it. Call you Mountain Peak.”

“You like it? Then that's the one.”

After bonding, Zhang Mu asked about the matter he was concerned about: “Was the Fallen Spirit I summoned last time you?”

“It was?”

“What? When you came out last time, you felt someone was watching you? Are you sure?”

Some intense spiritual fluctuations rushed into his mind. After Zhang Mu received them, he quieted down, lost in thought.

There was that strange feeling of being watched on Saul Continent, but not on Blue Star...

A god? Or is someone playing tricks?

Unable to think of a reliable conclusion for a long time, he temporarily set the matter aside and prepared to ask something else.

“Eh? There really are those who aren't afraid of death?”

Suddenly, two heads, one large and one small, simultaneously turned toward the empty right side.

Before them was only surging seawater, but their Mental Energy detected a massive carrier fleet a hundred kilometers away, rushing toward them.

“Come to think of it, the scanning range of Mental Energy is also quite a bit larger while on Blue Star.”

Zhang Mu muttered as he stood up, instructing the Fallen Spirit to move left at full speed.

Twenty kilometers away, there was a small solitary island.

They soon reached the island. Zhang Mu figured the other party might not be looking for the Fallen Spirit, so he let the Fallen Spirit go play on its own. He sat on the beach with his eyes closed, his Mental Energy enveloping the fleet.

Two hours passed, and the fleet had been circling the nearby waters. It looked like they were indeed after the Fallen Spirit.

Opening his eyes, Zhang Mu prepared to undo the big guy's Shadow Technique, while cautioning: “Don't be too heavy-handed.”