Remould the Glory of Sword Art

After leaving Yuzhu Town, it was quite peaceful, just that they continuously encountered snowy and rainy weather, worsening the road conditions.

For the majority of the time, Deng Baiyi secluded herself in the carriage for cultivation. Her talent for cultivation was not bad; in less than a day, she sensed the existence of "Primordial Energy." Although she couldn't compare with the top geniuses in the large sects, her capabilities were above average wherever she went.

These days, she was learning how to craft talismans, trapping the Primordial Energy she felt within the talisman paper.

Being able to craft talismans proficiently by oneself was the mark of a qualified Qi Refining Master.

Jiang Huang spent most of the time sleeping.

The Deng Family did not dare to ask too many questions about this cheap girl Xie Xuanyi had brought back from his trip outside, and, of course, did not consider the possibility of her being a demon. After all, the girl was extremely cute, looked like a porcelain doll, and when she occasionally woke up, she looked innocently pitiful.

Both Deng Baiyi and the others simply thought of the child as being naturally unfortunate, suffering from a rare disease, and everyone took turns to look after her when they had the time.

Jiang Huang was no ordinary Demon Cultivator.

She was a descendant of the pure Phoenix Blood lineage, and the difficulty of her transformation to human form was dozens to hundreds of times harder than for other demon spirits!

Once she successfully transformed, she would look no different from normal humans.

If not for encountering a Great Practitioner with fiery-golden eyes and special Divine Skills who took a closer look, her true nature would basically go unexposed.

Over the past few days, Xie Xuanyi gradually adapted to his own body

He was sure.

This body was indeed his own.

There was an evil technique within the cultivation world that allowed for the exchange of physical bodies, as long as the caster retained a fragment of Divine Thought, they could constantly switch vessel bodies... Initially, Xie Xuanyi was very worried that after sinking into the North Sea, he had encountered an Evil Cultivator and had his body switched, which would definitely not be a good thing if he "awoke" in such a manner.

But now, it seemed his "resurrection from death" was a pure miracle!

After sinking into the North Sea, this body did not decay or age; instead, it returned to its peak youthful condition, and his muscles became fuller.

All the injuries Xie Xuanyi had sustained during his battles and sword-testing journeys across the four regions had completely healed and disappeared.

The deep scars left behind from those years had faded to mere pale dots.

"Qi Refinement, Divine Sense, Qi Control, Grotto Heaven..."

Xie Xuanyi murmured softly.

He had been cultivating during these days, too. His new body was very strong, but the re-cultivation did not proceed as rapidly as Xie Xuanyi had imagined.

In the past, he had only taken half a day to advance from Qi Refinement to the realm of Divine Sense!

But three days had passed.

Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi still remained outside of his body, and no matter how resolute Xie Xuanyi's will was, the Primordial Qi stubbornly refused to enter his skin, as if there was an insurmountable gulf between them, utterly incompatible like water and fire!

Being revived to live once more, cultivating had inexplicably become much more difficult.

"Is there something wrong with my cultivation method?"

The caravan stopped under a shady grove, and Xie Xuanyi leaned against a banyan tree, silently pondering.

After leaving Yuzhu Town.

Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi progressively became abundant.

Even a beginning Qi Refining Master like Deng Baiyi was able to manipulate the Primordial Energy, gradually merging it into her body...

But why couldn't he merge with these energies?

Xie Xuanyi stretched out his palm.

In the center of his palm, snow-white streams of energy intertwined and gathered, nearly a hundred strands of Primordial Energy condensed under the powerful maneuvering of Xie Xuanyi's Divine Thought.

This was a force not to be underestimated.

The condensation of these energies meant that Xie Xuanyi's Divine Thought realm had not regressed; he still could manipulate the free-floating Primordial Energy between heaven and earth, still the dominant young Sword Immortal!

Only now, his situation was rather awkward...

His body was like a scabbard.

Inside the scabbard, it was empty.

To return to his previous realm, he needed to bit by bit solidify this Primordial Energy, turning it into a sword blade.

"The aptitude of this body should be higher than mine from the past."

Xie Xuanyi was somewhat perplexed and rubbed his forehead in frustration.

Just then, cries for help and screaming sounded from the depths of the dense forest.

"Help—"

"Help!"

The voices grew from afar to near.

For a moment, the resting caravan all turned their ears to listen attentively; on the other side of the dense forest, sounds of fire blazing and trees collapsing thunderously indicated that many people were converging and approaching.

Deng Baiyi, who was meditating quietly in the carriage, was disturbed by this noise and stepped out, lifting the curtain.

She looked in the direction of the sounds and asked coldly, "What's going on here?"

The coachman looked troubled, "Miss, it seems there are people fighting ahead."

"Fighting?"

Deng Baiyi furrowed her brow, "After leaving Northern County, there shouldn't be any demon troubles..."

"Maybe bandits?"

Deng Chicheng sighed deeply.

These past few days, he had been praying daily, hoping the Bodhisattva would bless them with a safe journey through Qing State.

"It's bandits."

Xie Xuanyi stood up.

He raised his palm.

A strand of Primordial Energy brought back the scene from a hundred yards away.

This strand of Primordial Energy spread out like smoke, unfurling in front of everyone like a bronze mirror—

In the midst of the dense forest, there was a caravan, about the same size as the Deng Family's, being chased by bandits, the cries and chopping sounds all stemming from this.

Within the caravan, many members were women.

In the most protected central part of the caravan, one could faintly see a very young woman in a red robe, holding a tabby cat in her arms, her face wet with tears, looking especially pitiful.

"Bandits?"

Seeing this scene, Deng Baiyi's eyes lit up.

In her hand, she held a stack of talisman paper, the ink on which had yet to dry; these were the Qi Talismans she had engraved overnight. Xie Xuanyi had only taught her two basic types of talismans so far: a "Silence Talisman," essential for traveling, and an "Explosion Talisman," which could be used for attacks.

Xie Xuanyi glanced at Deng Baiyi and said, "What, you want to make a move?"

Deng Baiyi coughed awkwardly.

Having just learned Qi Refinement and talisman drawing, indeed, her hands were itching to try.

Seeing the victims so pitiable, she instinctively wanted to help... It was a good opportunity to test her skills against these bandits, especially with Xie Xuanyi there to back her up.

"If you want to help, I won't stop you."

"But let me make one thing clear beforehand: any trouble you cause, you handle it yourself. If you can't manage the aftermath, don't blame me for standing by."

Xie Xuanyi waved his hand to disperse a stream of Primordial Energy, stood up, climbed onto the carriage, closed the curtains, and rested with his eyes closed.

The cries from within the dense forest grew louder!

Clearly, the convoy being chased by bandits was "coincidentally" moving in this direction!

To save or not to save?

Deng Baiyi instantly calmed down.

She quickly made a decision and, instead of rushing forward with the talismans to "draw her sword and help," she gestured for everyone to quickly get on the carriage.

"Withdraw!"

The convoy swiftly started, entered the official road, and the cries from the shady woods were immediately left behind.

Further and further away.

Along the way, Deng Baiyi continuously lifted the curtains, looking back to ensure no one was following them, before she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After a long while,

she steadied her breath and hesitantly asked, "Was there something wrong with that group just now?"

Xie Xuanyi slowly opened his eyes: "You have some brains."

"..."

Deng Baiyi fell silent, then reluctantly asked, "How could you tell?"

Xie Xuanyi, expressionless, countered, "The official road from Northern County to Qing State spans seven hundred li. How many days have we traveled?"

Deng Baiyi paused for a moment, then subconsciously answered, "Three days."

Xie Xuanyi asked again, "In three days, how many people have we encountered?"

Deng Baiyi suddenly realized.

The journey had been smooth, almost devoid of any travelers.

The main reason was that years ago, the Dachu Royal Family had abandoned the Jiayong Pass area, turning Northern County into a barren frontier.

With winter approaching, this region had almost become uninhabited.

If there really were bandits, why would they choose to camp here? If they did camp here, who could they rob?

After thinking for a moment, Deng Baiyi said, "I saw a girl in the previous convoy, beautiful, wearing pearl ornaments, and her attire was of fine silk... What if she is the daughter of a wealthy family, just happened to pass by here, and encountered evildoers?"

"Heh."

Xie Xuanyi, hands cushioned behind his head, said irritably, "You might as well take a look in the mirror."

Deng Baiyi didn't catch the sarcastic undertone.

Obediently, she picked up a copper mirror and scrutinized herself carefully, then puzzledly said, "And then?"

This girl could be clever at times, and at other times quite foolish.

Xie Xuanyi retorted sarcastically, "After looking in the mirror, did you realize that you're actually quite attractive yourself?"

"You..."

Deng Baiyi blushed.

She had never been complimented by Xie Xuanyi, and she was not quite used to it at that moment.

But the next moment, she raised her lovely eyebrows, understanding the true meaning of his words.

"Daughter of a wealthy family, young lady, aren't you one yourself?"

Xie Xuanyi spoke solemnly, "If you were traveling alone, would you bring so many female relatives? Either travel alone for convenience, keeping a low profile to avoid attracting trouble, or hire top darts masters to make a grand procession through the territory. You wouldn't choose to rest in a secluded forest path."

Indeed!

At first, Deng Baiyi also felt something was off.

But having never truly left Northern County nor having any experience traversing the martial world, she failed to see the problem initially.

Now everything was clear.

Deng Baiyi straightened a few stray hairs at her temple, distressedly asked, "So... were they actually setting up a trap, putting on a show? They hoped for a good-hearted person to come to their rescue? What were they after?"

"Not sure."

Xie Xuanyi was not particularly interested in this question.

He thought of some past incidents.

He shook his head.

Xie Xuanyi softly said, "You just need to remember one thing: In Dachu, demons are indeed frightening, but those who scheme and commit evil are much scarier."

Deng Baiyi silently engraved his words in her heart.

She couldn't help but take a few more glances at Xie Xuanyi.

About this mysterious young man in white, who he was, where he came from, and where he was going, remained a mystery.

All along the way,

Deng Baiyi had asked Xie Xuanyi countless questions.

But about his background, his past... she had not mentioned a word.

She could see that these were topics Xie Xuanyi did not want to discuss.

Since he didn't mention them, she naturally wouldn't ask.