The absence of the Master naturally creates a considerable impact. This influence is multifaceted. Internally, it concerns Lu Yuan’s state of mind. Fortunately, Lu Yuan is someone who adjusts quickly; his core disposition soon settled. He remained the cheerful, easy-going, carefree Lu Yuan—still the one who practiced his swordplay, drank, slept in late, and watched the sky. His essence remained, as did the man, the sword, and the wine.

The external influence is two-fold. One aspect involves the Master’s subordinates, who are now essentially Lu Yuan’s subordinates. These people would not openly rebel; such an act would be foolish. How could they openly betray him? After all, the Huashan Immortal Sect stands behind him; his Master’s former retainers cannot openly revolt. However, while they publicly acknowledge Lu Yuan as their master, in reality, they pursue their own interests. Resources meant for the higher-ups are seldom handed over. Should inquiries arise, excuses can always be found. For instance: "A major loss was incurred this year fighting over a mine." Or, "The mine itself wasn't very productive this year." In short, various reasons surface. If Lu Yuan tries to investigate, they can easily fabricate false accounts. This world is inherently diverse, encompassing countless facets. Just because one excels at swordsmanship doesn't mean one is adept at management. To deceive a young man like Lu Yuan in these matters, those seasoned veterans find it exceedingly simple. Lu Yuan cannot discern any flaws in their deceit.

Li Yuanbai’s subordinates naturally include the truly loyal and those with scant loyalty. Those lacking much devotion began playing petty games in the years leading up to Li Yuanbai’s death, but these were minor tricks then. Now that Li Yuanbai has ascended to immortality, their maneuvers are grander; practically no resources reach the Everspring Residence.

Lu Yuan is neither angry nor upset about this; nor does he concern himself with auditing the accounts. He possesses talent only in swordsmanship, not in bookkeeping or auditing. Moreover, anger now is futile; those old foxes below have too many tricks, and battling them is a sheer waste of time and energy.

His best course now is to ignore them and focus on his own cultivation. As his strength grows, those beneath him will naturally become obedient. The Master maintained control because his power was formidable, making his subordinates hesitant to act out. Lu Yuan’s current strength is not yet sufficient. This is a simple truth.

The world offers countless fields of study—management, forgery, and so on—but when genuine martial force stands at the gate, everything else must bow to it. This is the function of military might. If it were otherwise, the Five Great Immortal Sects would not dominate the Great Jin Kingdom while all other industries merely serve as accompaniment.

Lu Yuan will provisionally note the names of those engaging in deception below. When his strength is adequate, he will settle the final tally with them. Among the Master’s subordinates, the Four Sword Sages were the strongest. These four were mostly at the peak of the Body Tempering stage: Green Swordsman Shangguan Qing, White Swordsman Nangong Bai, Red Swordsman Situ Hong, and the Dark Sword Mu Rong An. Mu Rong An has since been expelled. Among the three remaining representative figures, Green Swordsman Shangguan Qing and White Swordsman Nangong Bai have delivered minimal spirit stones. Only the contributions from Red Swordsman Situ Hong remain largely unchanged. Good. He notes the names of Shangguan Qing and Nangong Bai.

In truth, Lu Yuan’s nature is not one that demands vengeance for every slight. As long as a bottom line isn't crossed, Lu Yuan usually lets go of minor grievances and grudges, never dwelling on them. But once a boundary is breached, well, then things are truly unpredictable. Those assets originally belonged to the Master. These people, thinking him young and weak, seek to seize them by stealth. A death wish!

Lu Yuan sometimes wonders: being good-tempered does not equate to being easy to bully, yet why is his gentle nature interpreted as weakness? Ah, people.

The second external influence stems from Sima Changbai’s side. The pressure Sima Changbai previously exerted was handled entirely by the Master. Now, Lu Yuan must bear Sima Changbai’s pressure alone, which is no easy feat. Sima Changbai is, after all, a Ninth-Generation Sword Immortal. A Ninth-Generation Sword Immortal like Li Yuanbai could, even on the verge of death, scheme the death of Elder Hu, one of the Ten Great Demon Elders. This speaks volumes of their extraordinary nature. Sima Changbai’s prestige is no less than the Master’s, and he is difficult to handle. For a mere Tenth-Generation Direct Disciple to withstand the pressure from Sima Changbai—how achievable is that? Although Venerable Yuanyuan offers support, the pressure remains heavy.

However, a fortunate event recently occurred. This matter traces back quite a distance. There is talk of three titans in the Underworld: the Demon Saint Emperor Dongfang Yao (also called the Second Dongfang Yao of Great Jin—his original title was First, but he fell to Yan Cangtian’s sword). The second is the Bright Demon Emperor Fang Xie, whose birthday celebrations incite countless bloodsheds, illustrating his terrifying nature. The third is the Dark Demon Emperor Jing Maizhen, famous for achieving the Dao through spousal murder—a path truly leading to the deepest recesses of the demonic way.

Below these three Underworld Titans are the Four-Colored Demon Kings, each possessing immensely formidable power. Undeniably the strongest among them is the first-ranked Yellow Dragon Demon King Xuanyuan Yi, rumored to possess ancient Dragon Clan blood, making him inherently powerful.

Not long ago, Sima Changbai encountered a female cultivator of infinite grace. Sima Changbai was never a solitary practitioner; he had cultivated dual-practice with several women. Upon meeting this enchanting cultivator, and finding her equally interested, an affair quickly ignited. The affair itself is inconsequential—what is one more woman for a Ninth-Generation Sword Immortal?

But this woman, unluckily, was the concubine of the Yellow Dragon Demon King Xuanyuan Yi. This landed Sima Changbai in deep trouble. The Yellow Dragon Demon King charged directly to the surface and gravely wounded Sima Changbai. Fortunately, Sima Changbai possessed considerable skill, and moreover, the surface world is the domain of cultivators. After a brief struggle, other Sword Immortals jointly forced the Yellow Dragon Demon King back into the Underworld. However, Sima Changbai was left severely injured.

After all this rambling, the point is to explain the cause and effect of Sima Changbai’s severe injury. The fact that Sima Changbai is now severely injured and requires a long recovery time brings joy to Lu Yuan. He has truly lucked out; with Sima Changbai incapacitated, the pressure weighing on him has lessened significantly.

This is the consequence of the Master's absence: the storms and trials must now be shouldered entirely by him. But it doesn't matter. People must grow up; they cannot always remain beneath a large tree. Lu Yuan has simply been forced out to face the storms and rain a little earlier because the tree has fallen. Furthermore, what is the wind? What is the rain? Whatever the weather, he remains himself—that will not change.

The crescent moon hung like a hook. The moonlight was cool, like water. Lu Yuan sat on the ground of the Everspring Residence. It was exceptionally cold and silent now. The Everspring Residence was not entirely empty; at least Uncle Song and others still resided there. Lu Yuan took a deep breath, clearing all extraneous thoughts, and began his practice. He had felt his own vital energy nearing a breakthrough earlier that day.

The reason for such rapid progress was the abundance of Cloud-element spirit beasts. He had already gathered many, and upon leaving, the Master had bequeathed all his remaining Cloud-element beasts to him: one large Cloud Tiger and four medium-sized Cloud Wolves. Although Li Yuanbai’s former Cloud-element beasts were all destroyed in the battle at Qili Valley, he had collected more over the following decades, all later transferred to Lu Yuan. This means Lu Yuan now possesses a total of: Two large Cloud-element spirit beasts (Cloud Tigers); Eight medium Cloud-element spirit beasts (Cloud Wolves and two Cloud Foxes); Five small Cloud-element spirit beasts (Cloud Dogs) and five (Cloud Cats) and five (Cloud Rabbits).

Having such a large number of Cloud-element spirit beasts now far exceeds what a normal cultivator at the Fourth Level of Body Tempering should possess. It would be good for them to have a third of Lu Yuan’s collection. Consequently, Lu Yuan's vital energy cultivation speed is several times that of normal cultivators. An endless stream of Cloud-element vital energy poured into his body, making it impossible not to advance quickly.

This was not some monumental breakthrough, merely a natural progression. Lu Yuan sat cross-legged, simultaneously piercing a few spirit stones. From the battle at the Seventh Sub-branch of the Underworld, he had earned thousands of spirit stones; thus, he was rich in the necessary currency and certainly not lacking.

With so many spirit stones and Cloud-element vital energy flooding his system, the remaining blood within his body was continually refined by the vital power. Time passed in this manner. Finally, Lu Yuan let out a long breath. All the blood in his body had been refined. Lu Yuan knew he had broken through the fourth stage of Body Tempering—Blood Refining—and reached the fifth stage: Natal Essence Blood, where vital energy transports through the blood to every corner of the body.

The most crucial element for forging a flying sword is the cultivator’s Natal Essence Blood. Of course, cultivators guard their Natal Essence Blood fiercely, rarely using it for forging. Generally, upon reaching the fifth stage, Natal Essence Blood, cultivators forge a suitable flying sword.

Lu Yuan, however, had no intention of forging his own sword, as his current Nourishing My Sword served him exceptionally well. Nourishing the vast, righteous energy of heaven and earth within myself. Moreover, this sword was the Master’s heartfelt gift to him. His own forging might not yield anything better; why not simply continue using the Nourishing My Sword, the blade gifted by his Master?

For more novels, visit storyread.net.