From the dense mist, a graceful silhouette slowly emerged.

"How could someone whom even my disciple praises so highly be lacking!" Following a cool voice, a stunningly cold face was fully revealed.

While this face should have been flawless, the first thing anyone noticed upon seeing her was the long scar tracing across her left cheek. Starting from the outer corner of her eye and extending straight to her throat.

This was an old wound, yet it remained startling, testament to how perilous the circumstances had been.

Strangely, however, even such a conspicuous blemish did not diminish her beauty;

it merely lent her an aura of cold, severe, heartbreaking elegance. She was Xiao Zhuyuan, mistress of the Water Moon Pavilion of the Longhu Mountain Military School.

Her tone was chilling, but a shadow of gloom flitted across her eyes. "It's just that..."

"Just what?" Ye Tiansheng was too absorbed in his delight to notice Xiao Zhuyuan's deepening melancholy. But then again, she hadn't smiled in hundreds of years anyway, so a lack of expression was her default. "His response... it was too much like that person's!"

Xiao Zhuyuan sighed softly. "Your disciple is destined to be a dragon among men, but like that person, he suppresses things we cannot know. I worry..." "Zhuyuan!" Ye Tiansheng's tone now carried a hint of reprimand. "Senior Brother is gone. No matter the grievances of the past, they should end here..."

Xiao Zhuyuan's expression shifted instantly, her gaze turning as cold as ice on the severest winter day. Without waiting for him to finish, she turned and walked away without a word.

Only when her figure had completely vanished into the thick mountain fog did a streak of light suddenly fly from the direction she had departed. Ye Tiansheng reached out and caught it.

"This is for your disciple!" Xiao Zhuyuan's voice remained cold and sharp. Ye Tiansheng shook his head helplessly.

The entanglement between his junior sister and Martial Brother Lu, a feud that lasted until death, would likely never be resolved. He examined the object he held and was suddenly startled. "Junior Sister, why must you? You can bear to part with this item?"

Feng Zikang returned to the thatched cottage in the bamboo grove, drenched in sweat. Although the ceremony of Inquiry into the Way had been brief, it had seemed to drain all his energy.

Yet, this exhaustion felt strangely comforting, a clean exhilaration, much like the satisfaction after narrowly winning a grueling competition where one has given their absolute all. "What a Stairway to Inquiry! What a Platform for Questioning the Heart!" Feng Zikang couldn't help but marvel. Although he still considered the path of the Soldier to be a minor discipline, inferior to the grand scope of the Demonic Way, after long tempering and practice, the competitive spirit of the military path in his breast had become increasingly pure. Every word on the Platform for Questioning the Heart held no falsehood; he could even feel the resonance of the Dao. This understanding was like fine wine to him, flowing through his body, leaving him utterly refreshed. Not long after, Ye Tiansheng returned from Sunset Peak and handed him a military tally cast from iron, engraved with the character 'Good' (). From this moment on, Feng Zikang could use the tally to claim missions from the Hall of Merit and begin accumulating points.

"The cultivation method and the divine skills complement each other.

To learn divine skills, you must exchange them for Merit Points at the Hall of Merit. Even I cannot impart them privately. However, if you encounter anything unclear during your study, you may certainly ask me.

" A master could only transmit the cultivation method, not the divine skills. This was done out of prudence in the transmission of the Way, to prevent masters from doting on disciples and carelessly passing on divine arts that might lead to uncontrollable wrongdoing later. Feng Zikang naturally understood the significance of the Hall of Merit and nodded in agreement.

"Next, I will transmit the core method of the Little Bamboo Grove lineage to you. This method originates from Grand Duke Taigong and was later passed to Marquis Liu. Our lineage is the direct and legitimate successor to the 'Strategic Calculation and Thousand-Mile Victory Method of Weaving Strategy'." He took out a white jade tally and placed it in Feng Zikang's hand. This secret method of the Military School differed greatly from ordinary Qi-guiding techniques and naturally required careful safeguarding. "The key to our lineage's method lies in calculation. 'He whose plans triumph before the battle is one whose calculations are abundant; he whose plans fail before the battle is one whose calculations are sparse. Abundant calculation defeats sparse calculation, let alone no calculation at all.' Do you grasp the meaning, disciple?" Before any engagement, calculating everything precisely naturally increased the odds of victory; calculating poorly made success uncertain; and to not calculate at all was simply gambling. "The Method of Marvelous Calculation is a discipline centered on arithmetic." This arithmetic was not mere mathematics. Although it involved significant mathematical computation, the more crucial element was the judgment of the situation—the weighting and consideration of Heaven's timing, Earth's advantage, humanity's support, and various other factors that ultimately determined the outcome. This was not divination, but rather deriving the most probable outcome through logical deduction, and then influencing the final result by altering certain variables. The incantations were profoundly esoteric, yet fortunately, the introductory sections were relatively accessible. Feng Zikang contemplated them carefully, sensing endless subtleties within. "Also..."

A hint of hesitation crossed Ye Tiansheng's face. He gently stroked the magical weapon left by Xiao Zhuyuan within his sleeve, his heart filled with complex emotions. "I mentioned earlier I would give you a magical weapon. While your Soul Bone Sword is powerful, it doesn't suit your temperament. This item, however, aligns well with your disposition."

He took out the magical weapon and placed it solemnly on the table. Feng Zikang rarely saw his master in such a state and his curiosity was piqued. He looked towards the tabletop.

An iron sword. A rusty, broken blade. The iron sword lay quietly on the table.

Its edge was laced with hairline cracks, like a spider's web, and its entire body was an unappealing, dull black, unremarkable at a glance. "Disciple, you must never underestimate this..."

Ye Tiansheng stroked the blade, sighing deeply. "Before its core was lost and its edge shattered, this was a legendary divine weapon... Though when we obtained it, the sword heart was already broken, barely maintaining its form.

It can probably only be counted as a Yellow-rank, fifth-grade magical weapon now."

"Sword heart? Broken?" Swords had hearts? Feng Zikang was somewhat taken aback. "Later... other things happened. This sword could not bear to witness the suffering in the world, and it cried out in grief before breaking itself, resulting in its current state." A sword that... broke itself? What use was such a sword?

"I don't know what karmic ties led you to obtain this sword, but since she..." Ye Tiansheng vaguely omitted Xiao Zhuyuan's name, "...wants you to have it, it means she hopes you can become as remarkable a figure as the last person who wielded it—not useless like your master..."

Ye Tiansheng let out a self-deprecating laugh. "This sword is nameless. It was the sword worn by your Martial Uncle Lu in his youth!"