362: What's wrong? Do you regret practicing swordsmanship?

This peerlessly handsome, aloof youth was none other than Shen Nian at thirteen years old, having just arrived in the Lower Realm via an ancient spatial teleportation Formation.

Seeing how stubborn this youth was, Luo Li smiled, as if she were seeing a reflection of her own past self.

"That stubbornness is actually not bad~"

"But if you keep practicing blindly like this, how will you ever succeed? Your natural talent is already poor to begin with. If no one teaches you, who knows how long it will take?"

"How about you take me as your Revered Master? I'll teach you."

Luo Li looked at him smilingly, her eyes curving like crescent moons.

Opposite her, the silent Lin Yuan's eyelids twitched slightly; he seemed to have discerned the other party's identity. He had made extensive preparations before coming to the Lower Realm.

But inside, he was incomparably shocked!

He truly did not expect that a mere Ninth Mountain Sect Master of the Heavenly Sword Sect would possess the strength of the Void Return First Layer!

As expected, intelligence reports can be wrong. The Ninth Mountain Sect Master is definitely not at the Soul Transformation Realm...

However, Lin Yuan did not know that the only reason her Realm had risen to the Void Return First Layer was simply to execute a single sword strike...

The youth Shen Nian stopped drinking his tea, raised his eyebrows slightly, looked up, and said: "Just you?"

The next second!

A sword suddenly appeared in Luo Li's arms, and a terrifying Sword Qi surged into the sky. With one slash, she tore through the clouds, parting the sky down the middle—a shocking sight.

The movement was seamless, and the entire process took only the blink of an eye.

The entire teahouse fell silent instantly, and everyone stared at Luo Li in dumbstruck amazement.

"Not bad!"

"You are barely qualified to be my Revered Master!"

The youth Shen Nian stood up, nodded with a look of approval, and clasped his hands behind his back. Although he was incomparably excited inside, he did not show it. The innate feeling of a superior being made him sound somewhat commanding even when taking someone as his Revered Master.

Inside the teahouse, everyone looked at him in disbelief.

Youth!

You are truly bold!

How can you manage to be so arrogant at all times!

Don't you know this is a living, breathing female Sword Immortal!

However, when the crowd heard what came next, they were even more bewildered.

"I can teach you, but there is one condition!" Luo Li said with a chuckle after taking a sip of wine.

"What condition?" The youth asked, looking up with a frown, displeasure in his eyes. This was the first time anyone had dared to negotiate terms with him.

"Let me pinch your cheeks every day. You're so tsundere, it must feel very comfortable to pinch them!"

Luo Li had originally wanted to tell him to protect her in the future, but then she thought that it was hard to say whether this youth could even live to twenty, so what was the point of protection?

Fate is hard to defy...

Just seeing the youth looking so impossibly arrogant all the time, this thought suddenly popped into her mind, and she felt it was quite fun.

"..." The aloof youth fell silent instantly.

Lin Yuan opened his mouth and transmitted his voice: "Young Clan Leader, your status is noble, you must not!!"

"If you have to think about it, forget it, forget it..."

Luo Li seemed to have lost interest, drank her wine silently, and then slowly turned around.

However, the next second.

"I agree!"

"I agree, but only once a day!"

The youth Shen Nian finally gritted his teeth and agreed to this request, which was extremely excessive to him. He truly had no direction in the Lower Realm. Lin Yuan did not know the Dao of the Sword; although he had reached the Void Return Realm and could execute rough sword techniques at will, Shen Nian did not want to learn those.

"But let me say this first: if I don't learn the sword techniques I want, you will die very..." The aloof youth's cold words were cut short, and he froze. Her peerlessly beautiful figure slowly bent down; half of her cheek was hidden by falling black hair, revealing only half a face of peerless delicacy. Her face revealed a jade-like luster, tinged with a slight blush, and her neck was as flawless as white jade.

She leaned in close to him, her blue eyes carefully examining the youth Shen Nian, and her slender, jade-like hands pinched his cheeks from left and right.

"You look so cute~"

"So fun..."

Luo Li smiled with narrowed eyes, seemingly not having been this happy in a long time. The fragrance of wine drifted from her red lips and white teeth.

At this moment, the aloof Shen Nian instantly exploded, his face turning incredibly red. Just as he was about to slap Luo Li's hands away, he was deeply captivated by that pair of eyes that seemed to hide a sea of stars. This sense of familiarity—he seemed to have seen it when he was very, very young.

Beside them, Lin Yuan's eyes went wide. The Young Clan Leader, who was usually so unruly in the clan that even the Old Ancestor couldn't hold his gaze for three seconds, was actually letting the other party pinch him like this?

"Enough!"

"That's enough!"

The youth Shen Nian pretended to be calm and forcibly turned away, interrupting her actions. While pretending to be calm, his heart was actually in a panic, and an unprecedented emotion surged up.

He didn't expect that he would be teased the moment he entered the Lower Realm!

It was simply an insult to his status!

Seeing this, Luo Li straightened her back, picked up her wine gourd, and suddenly remembering something, she grabbed the youth Shen Nian.

"Let's go..."

"Revered Master is taking you back to the sect..."

On this day, the Ninth Mountain Sect Master of the Heavenly Sword Sect, Luo Li, took in a Disciple—her only Disciple. He had average talent but was good-looking. From this day on, the Ninth Mountain was no longer just the Sect Master; there was one more person—a youth who, regardless of the passing of spring or autumn, or the bitterness of winter and heat of summer, practiced the sword diligently in front of the wooden hut...

In the blink of an eye, five years passed.

On this day, the Ninth Mountain Competition was a grand event for the entire Heavenly Sword Sect, and even the Great Xia. However, this year, due to special circumstances, the Sect Master was in seclusion for a Breakthrough, so they did not invite people from the Three Sects and handed the leading authority to the First Mountain Sect Master.

Unexpectedly, today, the First Mountain's chief Disciple, Leng Lingshuang, not only brutally beat up the Second Mountain's Lin Qingyue but also took the opportunity to beat down the only Disciple of the Ninth Mountain, who had challenged her the first time he appeared...

"Junior Brother Shen, I admire you~"

"You're the only one who dares to curse Leng Lingshuang for cutting off the water and electricity, calling her an old woman. Seriously, why can't I come up with such witty remarks, Lin Qingyue? I have to write this down!"

"Damn, Junior Brother Shen, you seem to be badly injured. I have some top-tier healing medicine here; I'll carry you..."

After returning to the Ninth Mountain.

Shen Nian remained silent for a long time, just sitting under the tree, hugging the sword in his arms, dazed.

He had also become more handsome, now a head taller than Luo Li. However, his talent for the Dao of the Sword was still so... hard to evaluate.

"What's wrong, has your mentality collapsed?"

"Not going to be the strongest Sword Immortal under the starry sky anymore?"

Luo Li walked over carelessly, carrying an empty wine gourd. She was wearing a black robe with a front-opening design, carrying a slight scent of worldly life, as if she had just returned from Yunzhou City.

"I didn't have to lose..." Shen Nian looked up, not looking at Luo Li, but gazing into the distance, not knowing what he was thinking.

How could Luo Li not see what the other party was thinking? She had long ago figured out Shen Nian's identity: he was from the Shen Family of the Eastern Profound Domain in the Upper Realm. She had even investigated unknown secrets. Shen Nian possessed unparalleled talent in the Talisman Dao. If he focused on cultivating the Talisman Dao, he would have had a chance at Immortal Ascension. Leng Lingshuang wouldn't even be able to see the soles of his feet. How could the outcome have been like this?

Of course, the prerequisite was that Shen Nian could survive!

"What's wrong, regretting cultivating the Dao of the Sword?"