Chapter 69: The Plum Blossoms Perish, but the Fragrance Endures; the Swordsman Grows Old, but the Will Remains Everlasting! Li Tixian Gains a New Enlightenment in the Way of the Sword

It had been more than a dozen breaths since Li Zhixian left the arena.
Only then did the cheers from the audience erupt like a sudden crash of thunder.
Xue Qinghe’s lips curved slightly, a faint trace of a smile flashing across her eyes.
Her gaze drifted to the seat Li Zhixian had just occupied, only to see the cup of warm wine on the table still curling with wisps of rising heat.
……
A secluded courtyard.
Li Zhixian leaned lazily against a stone table.
The wine flagon was tilted, its nectar as yet untasted.
He let the gentle breeze tease a few stray locks of hair beside his temples.
With his eyes closed, his mind sank deep into the trajectory of the wind.
The wind.
Colorless and formless.
Elusive and hard to trace.
Truly difficult to comprehend.
He sat in motionless meditation from noon until dusk began to gather.
That fleeting spark of enlightenment in his mind ultimately grew dim.
A sense of restlessness, like creeping vines, quietly coiled around Li Zhixian’s heart.
Whoosh—
At that exact moment, the wind turned fierce.
The four-season plum tree in the courtyard tilted with the force, and a few remaining red petals were scattered in a rustling cascade.
One petal brushed against his lapel, one fell into the wine, and yet another, with uncanny precision, hovered and settled upon the Green Lotus Sword resting across his knees.
The plum petal trembled slightly, fluttering like a butterfly’s wings.
Li Zhixian snapped his eyes open.
He brought two fingers together and tapped lightly upon the sword body.
Clang—
The plum petal split into two halves at the sound, while the blade did not budge in the slightest.
He murmured in a low voice:
"To cut a person with the lower sword is like the wind sweeping away plum blossoms."
"Unbound by form, untrapped by momentum, borrowing a breath from heaven and earth..."
The night wind grew even fiercer.
It whipped up the fallen plum petals across the ground, sending them swirling like a misty, blood-colored haze.
A plum petal brushed past his face, leaving behind a sharp, ethereal fragrance and an icy touch—reminiscent of an unfulfilled debt of sentiment, an unfinished poem, a squandered half-life...
Abruptly, Li Zhixian raised the Green Lotus Sword.
The sword light flashed like lightning, sweeping backward to sever a strand of dark hair beside his temple.
The Green Lotus Sword emitted a faint hum, as if whispering an apology to Li Zhixian.
Lowering his eyelids, Li Zhixian watched that severed lock of hair fall alongside the plum petals, sinking silently into the dust.
"To cut oneself with the middle sword is to sever the entanglements within one's heart."
"Only when the wind urges the old plum to fall can there be hope for new blossoms."
"For the wind to scatter withered plum petals is the way of nature; for the sword to cut away delusions is the heart of man."
Late at night, the wind died down, and all the withered plum blossoms fell.
Only gnarled, bare branches remained, stubbornly thrusting toward the sky like swords pointing at the firmament.
Holding the sword in one hand and the wine flagon in the other, Li Zhixian walked beneath the plum tree.
He struck the trunk with his palm, causing the tree to shake violently, and the final three remaining red petals drifted lazily down.
Li Zhixian leapt upward, drawing his sword.
His first sword thrust challenged the wind, sending the plum petals surging backward against the current for nine feet.
His second sword churned the wind, causing cold stars to suddenly appear amidst the gaps in the clouds.
By the third sword...
Both Li Zhixian and his sword seemed to dissolve into the wind, leaving only a long chant echoing in the air:
"Open!"
The pitch-black firmament was actually carved open with a fissure by this biting fragrance of plum blossoms.
A thin line of blood-red dawn light spilled down, staining the residual red petals lingering at the tip of the sword.
Li Zhixian tilted his head back and took a hearty gulp of wine.
"To cut the night with the upper sword is not to sever the long night, but to slash away the darkness within the heart!"
"Though the plum tree dies, its fragrance endures; though the sword grows old, its intent remains ever green!"
……
From catching a mere glimpse of the wind's intent,
to being trapped by the formlessness and facelessness of the wind,
and finally catching the outline of the wind through the spectacle of the wind destroying and dropping the plum blossoms—
Li Zhixian had at last captured that ethereal wispy intent of the sword.
When he raised his head again, it was already the morning of the next day.
A blood-red morning sun was slowly rising at the edge of the sky.
The wind had long since ceased.
In the courtyard, the four-season plum tree, stripped of all its remaining blossoms, displayed bare branches that added a touch of desolation.
"I owe you thanks for being able to comprehend a sliver of wind-sword intent this time."
Li Zhixian flicked a drop of wine from the tip of his sword, splashing it toward the withered branches.
The liquid bloomed into a colorful mist of vapor.
As the thin mist gradually dispersed, three miraculous new plum blossoms bloomed upon the withered branches, blazing with brilliance and looking exceptionally enchanting.
Li Zhixian nodded repeatedly.
"Exquisite!"
"Only when the plum blossoms wither does one's true backbone show; only when the sword grows old does pristine innocence emerge!"
"It's just a pity..."
He sighed with lingering regret, picked up his spring-water wine flagon, and turned to step back into the room.
This wispy sword intent obtained from the wind was still insufficient to nurture a brand-new sword technique.
Returning inside, Li Zhixian intended to sleep for a while.
Within his mind,
a group of black-silk-blindfolded swordsmen in cyan robes suddenly emerged.
"Ye Lengleng once said..."
"Wind Sword Sect Master Feng Bailong binds his eyes with black silk simply to listen to the singing of swords."
"Senior Dujian also advised me to travel among the Four Lower Sects and Three Upper Sects."
"Perhaps..."
"The key to completing the third movement of my Green Lotus Sword Song..."
"lies within the Wind Sword Sect."
……
This sleep
lasted all the way until the shadows of the sun stretched westward.
Knock, knock, knock—
Li Zhixian was awakened by the persistent rapping at the courtyard gate.
He stretched lazily, slipped his feet into his shoes, and strolled leisurely to the courtyard to open the door.
The doors swung wide open.
The bustling crowd outside dazzled his vision for a moment, leaving him in a daze.
Li Zhixian even suspected he hadn't fully woken up yet.
Outside the courtyard gate,
aside from the seven members of the Royal Heaven Dou Team,
the Elephant Armor, Blazing Flame, and Divine Wind academies' teams had also gathered here.
Nearly thirty people crowded together, blocking the entrance to the small courtyard so tightly not even a drop of water could leak through.
"So many people?"
"Come on in..."
A trace of surprise surfaced in Li Zhixian’s eyes, which quickly returned to calm as he turned to lead everyone into the courtyard.
In barely the span of a single day,
petals had once again adorned the branches of the four-season plum tree.
Lazily sinking into a sandalwood armchair, Li Zhixian raised his eyelids slightly, sweeping his gaze over the crowd filing in one by one. His voice still carried the hoarseness of someone who had just woken up:
"What brings you all looking for me?"
"Let's get this straight first—I'm exhausted today and have no mood to fight."
Everyone cast complex gazes toward the young man lounging in the chair.
He certainly looked like someone who had just woken up.
His side hair was slightly messy, draped casually over his shoulders, and his white silk sleep shirt was half-open at the chest, exuding a natural, effortless casualness.
Such casualness,
however, appeared remarkably harmonious and fitting upon him.
It was a sight that put people at ease.
At that moment,
Yu Feng dashed forward in a single bound, pointing at the members of the three teams and lodging a grievance with indignant frustration:
"Idol!"
"It's them who kept pestering and forcing me to come find you!"
"When I refused, they even wanted to beat me up!"
Dugu Yan and Ye Lengleng exchanged glances, helplessness blooming across their pretty faces.
The two of them had also been worn to their wits' end by the stubbornness of these people.
Yet looking at their expressions,
they didn't seem to have come to pick a fight.
And most importantly...
Even if they wanted to pick a fight, they couldn't beat Li Zhixian anyway.
So they simply led them here.
Feng Xiaotian leaned forward, resting both hands on the sandalwood wine table. His handsome, sunny face was written with absolute earnestness as he stared straight at Li Zhixian:
"Sword-Wine..."
"We can't beat you in a fight."
"But we heard you are obsessed with wine as if your life depended on it. Today, our three teams have joined forces, and we are determined to drink you under the table!"
Thump—
Thump—
Thump—
Huo Wu, Huo Wushuang, and Huyuan Li leaned down simultaneously, resting their hands on the table, their torch-like gazes locking onto Li Zhixian in unison.
"Do you dare accept the challenge?!"
"Today, we will definitely get you drunk!"
Li Zhixian laughed.
At the pinnacle of the Dao of the Sword, he might still need time to climb.
But when it came to things in a cup...
His Li Zhixian had never yielded to anyone!
"Let's go, let's go, let's go!"
"To the Fragrant Banquet House!"
"If I, Li Zhixian, don't leave you guys lying flat on the floor today,
consider your trip to Heaven Dou City a waste!"
After a brief wash and change of clothes,
Li Zhixian led a group of nearly thirty people,
arms draped over each other's shoulders, heading toward the Fragrant Banquet House.
Led by a waiter into a private dining room, Li Zhixian grabbed Dugu Yan and Ye Lengleng and asked:
"Where is Qinghe?"
"Didn't she come with you guys?"
Dugu Yan crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at Li Zhixian.
"Missing your good brother again?"
"Xue Qinghe is the Crown Prince; he isn't as leisurely as the rest of us."
"He probably isn't coming today."
Li Zhixian nodded with a hint of regret.
"Alright then."