The betrothal banquet for Ye Wen and Ning Ruxue proceeded without incident, a calm so profound it unsettled Ye Wen slightly.

Everything was too smooth, especially the fact that Ran Huayi, who had shamelessly clung to Mount Shu, hadn't caused any trouble, which greatly astonished Ye Wen.

"Did the sun rise in the west today?"

Though perplexed internally, this situation was ultimately better. If Huayi stayed for a few days and then departed, that would be ideal; at least Ye Wen wouldn't have to guard against her like a thief every day.

As for letting her remain on the mountain, it was because Huayi had declared, "It makes no difference if I go back; staying here for a few months sounds fine. I can even wait until September to attend that Martial Arts Grand Assembly with Sect Master Ye!"

Hearing her say this, Ye Wen simply placed her where she could be seen, at least so he could keep an eye on her.

The betrothal banquet with Ning Ruxue was set for the fifteenth. He didn't know the exact reason, but many customs in this world were strikingly similar to those of his original home. Not only were the language and clothing nearly identical, but even these festivals were largely the same.

After the New Year came the Lantern Festival, and holding the betrothal on such a day was meant to soak up more of the celebratory atmosphere.

Countless lanterns were hung throughout the Shu Mountain Sect. After the banquet concluded, guests who lived closer departed in succession, while representatives from slightly farther factions, like the Mu Gang and the Hu Shan Sect, were shown to rest areas.

Li Sen was tasked with seeing to the people sent by the Mu Gang. Once this immediate business passed, the matter of the Shu Mountain Sect opening a branch in Linshan County would require the diligent support of the local power, the Mu Gang. In truth, there were many points for the two sides to discuss; essentially, the Mu Gang would secure a share of the profits in exchange for providing the Shu Mountain Sect with every convenience, including connections and prime locations.

As for the Hu Shan Sect, their representative this time was Zhao Heng, the youngest disciple of Liu Qingfeng. Zhao Heng, who had matured considerably, offered Ye Wen his first words upon meeting him: "Master feels too ashamed to face Sect Master Ye directly, so he sent this junior!" As he spoke, his expression was quite awkward, bordering on flustered helplessness.

Fortunately, Ye Wen didn't take it too seriously and made no mention of Liu Qingfeng or the Hu Shan Sect's affairs, instead warmly greeting Zhao Heng—this prevented the Hu Shan Sect's representative from becoming overly embarrassed. In reality, Liu Qingfeng had not wanted his disciple to come at all, even telling his senior martial brother, "Send whoever you think is appropriate to attend!"

Ultimately, out of consideration for the sect leader's reputation, he allowed his youngest disciple to make this trip. As for himself, he refused outright to come and suffer humiliation. In his own words: "If one cannot speak of 'righteousness' while navigating the martial world, what face does one have left to wander it? From now on, this old daoist will cease to be considered part of the Jianghu and will focus solely on studying the Dao here on the mountain!"

Because of this, his senior martial brother spent considerable time reasoning with him, but Liu Qingfeng simply wouldn't listen. Sending his own disciple was already a massive concession; pressing further might mean Zhao Heng wouldn't even be able to come.

Ye Wen remained unaware that his presence had stirred internal conflict within the Hu Shan Sect. Though Liu Qingfeng understood his senior brother's predicament, he felt he had betrayed his true conscience. Therefore, he chose to seclude himself, spending his days engrossed in studying Daoist canons within his room, barely even practicing martial arts anymore.

When his senior brother attempted to persuade him, he nearly enraged Liu Qingfeng. Had it not been for his senior brother's swift movements and superior cultivation, Liu Qingfeng might have crippled his own martial arts on the spot.

"Sigh! Go as you will!"

Since Zhao Heng managed to arrive at Shu Mountain, Liu Qingfeng had, in a way, achieved his goal. However, how the Hu Shan Sect and the Shu Mountain Sect would interact in the future presented him with a difficult dilemma. The Shu Mountain Sect was currently displaying too much dominance and was too sharp-edged; he already felt a prickle of unease.

But even Zhao Heng was mostly going through the motions during this visit. The instructions from his sect leader to foster conversation with Sect Master Ye were completely discarded. As soon as the betrothal feast concluded, Zhao Heng hastily bade farewell to Ye Wen and left without daring to look back, heading straight back to Hu Shan.

"Master... it seems our alliance with the Hu Shan Sect is effectively over!" Xu Ping remarked casually when he returned to report to Ye Wen after seeing Zhao Heng off.

Since there was hardly anyone else around—only Yue Hang, the chief guard of the Yue Shan Escort Agency, remained on the mountain after the banquet, and the well-wishers sent by the Xu family had long departed—the only outsiders left were Huang Rongrong, that constantly flitting madcap girl, and Huayi, the Tianle Gang elder who dutifully kept herself confined to her room.

After demonstrating a few more movements to Guo Jing, having him execute them with the heavy sword, Ye Wen casually remarked, "It matters not! Our Shu Mountain Sect no longer needs the reputation of the Hu Shan Sect to establish ourselves in Pingzhou! Even if the Tianle Gang truly attacks now, I have no fear!"

His confidence stemmed not only from his own gradually refining power but also from the fact that Xu Xian’s Supreme Yang Primal Art was approaching its final stages. Once this last part was mastered, his divine skill would be complete, allowing him to break through the Ren and Du Meridians and step into the Xiantian realm.

These past few days, Xu Xian had been in secluded cultivation in Jue Valley day and night, only emerging briefly at dusk for dinner and to report that he was safe, before immediately returning to the valley to train. If nothing unexpected happened, he should break through the shackles and master his divine skill before the end of this month.

As for Ning Ruxue, she was currently studying the manual for the Innate Body-Breaking Formless Sword Qi. Fearing an accident might occur, Ye Wen insisted on being present to guard her while she practiced; otherwise, if something truly went wrong, even saving her would be difficult.

She hadn't begun practicing the technique immediately after receiving the manual because the betrothal banquet was ongoing. Now that all formalities were settled, marriage remained a distant prospect as Ye Wen's Innate Purple Qi was not yet fully accomplished. Thus, she would likely begin cultivating this set of skills soon.

"What would this technique look like if practiced to its highest level?"

In her free moments, Ning Ruxue often wondered about the ultimate extent of this technique. After all, no martial artist lacked expectation for their own abilities.

Ye Wen paused, thinking, and recalled some exaggerated scenes from the comic book versions. He wondered if Ning Ruxue could train her skill to that extent? But then he reconsidered; that seemed too absurd. If she truly reached that level, wouldn't Ning Ruxue become invincible under heaven? Could this ring already yield such a tyrannical technique?

So, his final deduction was more conservative: "It allows you to mobilize the energy throughout your body to form sword qi... and this sword qi is completely subject to your will—you can release it whenever, and from wherever you wish. At that time, when Junior Sister engages an opponent, she might not even need to move her body; the enemy would already be subdued..."

Thinking of this, Ye Wen suddenly realized a terrifying possibility: if Ning Ruxue accidentally unleashed an attack during their intimacy, wouldn't that be the end of him? A cold sweat broke out on his back, and he even felt a hint of regret for giving his junior sister this technique.

However, a manual given away is like water spilled—it was too late to take it back now. One day, under Ye Wen's protection, Ning Ruxue began to practice the Innate Body-Breaking Formless Sword Qi, initially converting some internal energy into sword qi stored within her body.

Ye Wen's greatest concern was that Ning Ruxue hadn't even opened her Ren and Du Meridians, hadn't touched the threshold of the Xiantian realm, and was now cultivating this technique. Could her meridians withstand the tyrannical pressure of this sword qi? Although Ning Ruxue had consumed the Snake King Gallbladder, he wasn't entirely certain. But after observing for a full day, he could finally confirm that the tenacity of Ning Ruxue's meridians far exceeded imagination, and the dominance of the sword qi also surpassed his expectations.

"This technique is probably only suitable for Junior Sister, who consumed the Snake King Gallbladder! If I wish to cultivate it, I must at least break through several more vital passages and temper my meridians to be much tougher. Otherwise, forcing myself to cultivate it risks destroying my meridians!"

From this, Ye Wen also surmised the extent to which the Crimson Sun Divine Lord's words held true: if one could obtain the Snake King Gallbladder, one could master the Crimson Sun Divine Fire Art. What kind of realm would that reach?

With the Snake King Gallbladder having such a potent effect, the Crimson Sun Divine Lord would no longer fear meridian damage. With no lingering worries, he could continuously elevate the Crimson Sun Fire Force to its extreme, breaking through one vital passage after another, finally reaching a terrifying level.

"Perhaps he could directly become one of the world's foremost peak masters?"

Ye Wen vaguely remembered that the Crimson Sun Divine Lord had mentioned the Ice Soul Profound Skill of the Tian Shan Sect. Currently, the highest cultivator of this technique was Li Xuan, the Tian Shan Sect Master, a figure powerful enough to lead the Tian Shan Sect in pursuit of the martial world's two great sects. The fact that Pei Gonglie dared compare his sect's ultimate technique to it proved that Pei Gonglie's mastery of that divine skill meant his strength, even if slightly less than Li Xuan's, was close.

"If I infer this way, then Junior Sister's meridians can definitely withstand the Innate Body-Breaking Formless Sword Qi... Simultaneously, Junior Sister's meridians can handle a massive influx of power without issue..." He stroked his chin. Transferring power seemed to be something no one ever discussed. Did such a 'bug' in the world not exist?

He thought again: that made more sense. If power could truly be transferred freely, then masters, before death, would pass their entire cultivation to their disciples, and those disciples, before dying, would pass it on to their own. Even with some dissipation, it would lead to a terrifying progression where each generation surpassed the last.

Having confirmed his junior sister's safety, Ye Wen's mind began to wander to miscellaneous thoughts. However, a few days later, Ning Ruxue achieved initial success in cultivating the Innate Body-Breaking Formless Sword Qi. After she demonstrated it on the spot, Ye Wen felt dejected.

"The phrase 'Innate Body-Breaking Formless Sword Qi' actually has meaning in each word. The 'Formless' part means this sword qi should be something intangible that others cannot see!" Ye Wen watched as Ning Ruxue flicked her jade finger, and a slender thread of azure sword qi shot out, causing him a wave of frustration.

When the Six Meridian Divine Swords transformed from formless sword qi to visible sword qi previously, he hadn't paid much mind. After all, the effects of these techniques often differed from the original versions, and given the special circumstances of this world, some variation was expected.

But this Innate Body-Breaking Formless Sword Qi had 'Formless' right in the name, yet now it was clearly visible. It felt rather undeserved. Although the qi was slender, it was quite conspicuous, and its azure color was hardly easy to ignore—it was comparable to the purple expanse of his own Purple Heaven Dragon Qi Sword.

After studying it repeatedly, and investigating the route of the sword qi within his junior sister's body, Ye Wen was astonished to discover that the change in the sword qi wasn't without reason; the root lay in Ning Ruxue's original cultivation of the Minor Formless Technique.

Ye Wen stroked his chin, pondering for a long time, before finally asking, "Junior Sister, can you control this sword qi freely?"

Ning Ruxue did not answer but extended her index finger. A thread of azure sword qi shot out from her fingertip, but instead of dissipating after darting two or three Zhang away as before, it hovered in front of her fingertip like a nimble little snake, tracing circle after circle of blue light, before vanishing when it reached half a Zhang away.

"Senior Brother, this sword qi is so interesting! Whatever I want it to do, it does!" Ning Ruxue experimented a few times and found that the sword qi was surprisingly obedient. If she willed it fast, it was fast; if she willed it slow, it was slow. Moreover, it could turn and curve as she wished, as if it were a part of her own body.

"Uh... it seems Junior Sister is also a person of great fortune!" Ye Wen observed for a while longer before drawing his final conclusion: "Junior Sister's Innate Body-Breaking Sword Qi has merged with the Minor Formless Technique you originally practiced!"

"Hm?" Ning Ruxue looked slightly surprised but reasoned that since her Minor Formless Technique was only shallowly cultivated, it wasn't strange for it to merge with the later sword qi technique. Furthermore, she didn't care much about the specifics; this sword qi technique, being so obedient to her will, made her quite happy.

With this thought, Ning Ruxue even channeled all her power, intending to condense all her sword qi into her hands. After a moment, an azure long sword materialized in the palms of her hands. Except for being entirely blue, its shape was almost identical to the weapon Ning Ruxue usually carried.

Ning Ruxue gazed at it for a moment, and then the shape of the long sword shifted, taking on the style of the long sword Ye Wen frequently used. It then changed again to resemble Xu Xian's sword. Ning Ruxue played happily, her face full of joy. She applied more strength, and the long sword shifted constantly, vaguely threatening to transform into the shape of the heavy sword Ye Wen gave Guo Jing.

However, after changing for a while, Ning Ruxue’s body suddenly went limp, and she slumped backward. The sword qi in her hands instantly vanished. Clearly, her power was insufficient. Fortunately, Ye Wen was right beside her and caught her, pulling her into his embrace.

"Junior Sister, your cultivation isn't deep enough; don't be so reckless..."

Ning Ruxue nodded. She had been engrossed in the fun and had neglected the fact that the sword qi within her body wasn't very substantial. Condensing and sustaining the sword qi in her palms was an extremely draining maneuver. If her sword qi couldn't be used as flexibly as it was, she wouldn't have been able to accomplish it at all.

What she didn't know was that Ye Wen was even more astonished internally. He spoke aloud, "The Innate Body-Breaking Formless Sword Qi has merged with the Minor Formless Technique, so the word 'Formless' is no longer appropriate. But since your sword qi can change freely and be wielded with precise control over speed, roundness, and flexibility without a fixed pattern, the word 'Formless' is actually quite fitting!"

Gently stroking her back and sending some internal energy to help her regulate and recover, he summarized, "Junior Sister, this technique will likely need to be renamed the Innate Body-Breaking Formless Sword Qi..."

Ning Ruxue had recovered by then. Though her meridians felt slightly empty, she could speak without issue. Hearing this, she pouted, "That name is so long!"

"The original name was long too... I just changed one character!" Ye Wen wanted to rename the technique but couldn't think of a pleasant alternative immediately.

Seeing the sword qi was initially blue, and recalling his Purple Heaven Dragon Qi Sword, juxtaposing the two... "Purple Azure Twin Swords? Now they're more or less complete. It really wasn't a waste to rename the sect to the Shu Mountain Sect..."

However, in the original story it was Qing Suo and Zi Bang; his names were much longer, and these were sword qi, not flying swords.

"It doesn't matter; they are both things that fly out to kill people..."

While muttering to himself, he helped his junior sister cultivate. The speed at which the Innate Body-Breaking Formless Sword Qi developed far exceeded Ye Wen's expectations. The most troublesome part of cultivating this technique was the meridians being unable to adapt to the sword qi; practitioners had to nurture them for a long time after producing a bit of qi, waiting for adaptation.

But Ning Ruxue had no such problem; the biggest obstacle simply didn't exist for her. She only needed to focus on deep cultivation. Coupled with the nature of the sword qi, she managed to cross that threshold in just half a month.

Ning Ruxue’s base cultivation wasn't enough to break through the Ren and Du Meridians, but the sharpness of the sword qi was precisely what she specialized in—forcing open barriers and vital passages. In other words, if Ye Wen needed to accumulate ten parts of true energy to open the two meridians, a sword qi cultivator might only need to accumulate six or seven parts, or even five parts, of sword qi to forcibly blast open the Ren and Du.

Watching his junior sister surpass Xu Xian in reaching this threshold using the marvel of this technique, Ye Wen could only marvel at the strangeness of fate.

Only then was Ning Ruxue’s Innate Body-Breaking Formless Sword Qi truly mastered, and the word 'Innate' in the name became well-deserved. However, her current situation wasn't true entry into the Xiantian realm; although the Ren and Du Meridians were broken, her cultivation level wasn't profound enough yet. She still needed time to consolidate her practice before truly entering the Xiantian realm.

But once the Ren and Du Meridians were open, the cultivation speed would be immensely faster. What she needed to do now was simply fill a pre-built pool, not, as before, build the pool while pouring water in. Simple filling would certainly be easier than the latter situation, and although it required some time, it wouldn't be as lengthy as before.

The days passed peacefully. As February arrived, Xu Xian finally emerged from seclusion. Although Ye Wen was slightly concerned about Huayi still lingering in his sect, having two more masters join the Shu Mountain Sect significantly boosted his confidence. With the current strength of the Shu Mountain Sect, they were undoubtedly a top force in Pingzhou.

But precisely at this moment, someone came knocking to cause trouble.

Walking down the mountain with Zhou Ding, Ye Wen inquired, "Who exactly are these people? Have you found out?"

Zhou Ding nodded. "The one leading the group calls himself Lei Ying, the Young Sect Master of the Thunder Sword Sect from Dongzhou. As soon as Lei Ying arrived at the foot of the mountain, he was shouting loudly, demanding we hand someone over immediately, or he wouldn't be polite! Moreover, he showed great disrespect to our sect and Martial Uncle Xu. A few junior disciples went up to reprimand him, but he injured them with his long sword. If they hadn't dodged quickly, I fear..."

Ye Wen's face darkened upon hearing this, and the faces of those following him also looked grim. Only Huayi, who somehow heard the news and followed out, looked thoroughly interested, clearly adopting a posture ready to watch a good show.