Li Hanguang smiled in satisfaction.

The cultivation matter had been settled; now it was time to properly show off!

He took out cups, gave them a quick rinse, and poured each of them a cup of rice wine.

Li Hanguang smiled and said, “This was brewed from rice I planted with my own hands. It can’t compare to any jade nectar or ambrosia, but it has its own flavor. Try it!”

Chu Xiaolian lifted the rice wine and drained it in one go.

He opened his mouth, “Senior Brother, I went into closed-door cultivation for a month, my cultivation…”

Li Hanguang smiled and said, “Junior Brother’s cultivation has improved a great deal, I’m very pleased, come, I toast you.”

‘Someone like Senior Brother had already stepped onto the path of living as a mortal. This little breakthrough of mine, to him, was like a small ant becoming a slightly bigger ant. Not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning at all!’

Chu Xiaolian laughed at himself, suddenly wanting to drown his sorrows in wine.

What he didn’t know was that Li Hanguang hadn’t noticed he’d already broken through to Qi Refining seventh level.

After all, Li Hanguang was only Qi Refining third level, if Omniscient Insight didn’t show it, he couldn’t see through Chu Xiaolian’s cultivation at all.

If he could see through…

The one feeling awful might be Li Hanguang!

The stove fire flared, the fragrance of wine spread, the three young people each had their own thoughts.

After a long while, Li Hanguang smiled and said, “Junior Brother Chu, what’s your dream?”

‘Dream?’

Chu Xiaolian asked, “What is a dream?”

Li Hanguang explained, “A dream is something you want to accomplish even in your dreams. Or rather, this is your Dao! Seeking immortality and obtaining the Dao, if you want to obtain the Dao, you must first understand the Dao, understand your own Dao. Why are you willing to endure humiliation, loneliness, and pain, yet still step onto this path of cultivation?”

‘Why cultivate?’

In Chu Xiaolian’s mind, the image of a domineering young woman appeared.

He gritted his teeth and said, “To become stronger, to wash away humiliation, to one day ascend Yaochi and behead Yuehua!”

Li Hanguang smiled faintly.

“...Small. Your frame of mind is too small. Living freely with grudges and revenge makes you a man, but it doesn’t make you a great hero. Have you ever thought that if you make defeating Mu Yuehua your Dao, then what happens after you defeat Mu Yuehua! At that time, where will your Dao be? When you set your Dao on defeating someone, you’ve already fallen into the inferior path. A narrow measure is not a gentleman, and without restraint one is not a true man. You can go to Yaochi and behead Yuehua, but a mere woman isn’t worth you being so obsessed. She is only your whetstone, not your Dao.”

‘…Only a whetstone, not Dao.’

Chu Xiaolian’s eyes burned brightly, as if a door had been shoved open.

The state of mind that had been suppressed and anxious all this time instantly became far clearer.

‘Right! A mere Mu Yuehua, and she deserves to be my Dao?’

Chu Xiaolian abruptly stood and respectfully cupped his hands toward Li Hanguang.

“Please, Senior Brother, point out the Dao for me!”

Li Hanguang shook his head with a smile.

“The Dao cannot be pointed out. Everyone has their own Dao, you need to listen to the voice in your heart.”

Chu Xiaolian looked confused.

“The voice in my heart?”

Li Hanguang nodded.

“Ask yourself, what kind of person do you admire most, a sword hero who saves the world, an overlord of an immortal dynasty, or a carefree wandering immortal?”

‘What kind of person do I admire most?’

Chu Xiaolian thought for a moment, then asked curiously, “Senior Brother, if I may ask. What kind of person do you admire?”

‘…What kind of person do I admire?’

Li Hanguang’s lips curved slightly.

Finally, we’re here.

He drank a cup of warm wine.

“In this world, the people Li respects and admires, there are only two and a half.”

‘Two and a half people?’

Chu Xiaolian froze slightly.

“Is Vast Sea Sword Venerable among them?”

Li Hanguang smiled.

“He doesn’t deserve it.”

“…”

Ye Chengying helplessly pressed a hand to her forehead.

Li Hanguang said, “I respect him, but I don’t admire him. Give me enough time, and I can surpass him myself.”

Chu Xiaolian laughed and said, “Even Vast Sea Sword Venerable can’t earn Senior Brother’s admiration, could it be that the one you admire is the Taicang Holy Lord?”

Before Li Hanguang could answer, a snort sounded in Chu Xiaolian’s mind.

“Hmph, Jiang Xuanyu, that despicable wretch is worth this kid admiring? Ridiculous!”

The one speaking was Old Yan.

His impression of the Taicang Holy Lord seemed… not great.

On the other side, Li Hanguang was nodding.

“Taicang Holy Lord Jiang Xuanyu, standing strong at Heavenly Pass, guarding the southern frontier for seven hundred years, a million demon clans not daring to cross the line even half a step. He can barely count as half a hero.”

‘Jiang Xuanyu, the supreme existence of Taicang Prefecture! A giant like that could only barely count as half a person Senior Brother admired? Then the other two, what kind of figures would they be!’

Chu Xiaolian grew even more curious.

As for Old Yan, he kept muttering nonstop, “This kid’s eyes are bad! He actually admires Jiang Xuanyu, he must be blind! I bet the remaining two people he admires won’t be anything good either.”

Chu Xiaolian asked, “The Taicang Holy Lord counts as half, who are the other two?”

Li Hanguang drank another cup of rice wine, then sighed.

“This second one is the strongest sword cultivator Taicang Prefecture had seven hundred years ago. Maybe you’ve never heard his name, but Li once saw it in ancient records. This person’s name was Yan Chixiao, his title: Hao Ran Sword Saint!”

Chu Xiaolian asked curiously, “Hao Ran Sword Saint? Could he be a Saint?”

Li Hanguang nodded.

“It’s said that Hao Ran Sword Saint Yan Chixiao and the Taicang Holy Lord were senior and junior brothers. His talent, brilliance, cultivation, and looks were all above the Taicang Holy Lord’s, he was originally the most powerful contender for the position of Holy Lord. But he had no interest in the Holy Lord position at all, he never coveted fame or profit, he only wished to carry a sword and walk the path of chivalry.

The Sword Saint slew countless demons in his life and saved tens of millions of common people. Some tried to repay him by giving away all their wealth, but he refused, only taking a single pot of rough wine, then drinking and leaving. Because of this, some also jokingly called him the Wine Sword Saint, or the Wine Sword Immortal.”

As he spoke, Li Hanguang poured himself another cup of rice wine and drank it slowly.

“There is a poem as proof:

Riding a sword on the wind I come, slaying demons between heaven and earth.

With wine, I delight in carefree wandering, without wine, I’m still wild.

One drink drains rivers and seas, another drink swallows sun and moon.

A thousand cups and I won’t fall drunk, only I am the Wine Sword Immortal.

In Li’s eyes, a figure like this is more worthy of the name hero than even the Taicang Holy Lord. If I ever had the chance, I’d like to drink with him, let him taste the rice wine I brewed.”

…Taicang Holy Lord Jiang Xuanyu could only barely count as half a person Li Hanguang admired.

Hao Ran Sword Saint Yan Chixiao, though, was qualified to count as one full person.

In Chu Xiaolian’s mind, Old Yan, who had been muttering nonstop, suddenly fell silent.

After a long while, Old Yan’s voice sounded again.

“Riding a sword on the wind I come, slaying demons between heaven and earth, a thousand cups and I won’t fall drunk, only I am the Wine Sword Immortal! Good poem, good poem! Mm, it’s mine now.”

‘Could it be…’

Chu Xiaolian suddenly thought of something.

He tested the waters.

Old Yan snapped, “So what if I did, isn’t that allowed?”

Chu Xiaolian seemed to confirm something, and tested again.

Old Yan’s mouth twitched.

“What do you think?”

Chu Xiaolian tested a third time.

<Teacher, you just said Senior Brother’s remaining two people he admires definitely aren’t anything go—>

“Shut up,” Old Yan cut Chu Xiaolian off, “or I’ll castrate you!”

Mm, it seemed like he was getting embarrassed and angry.

In his heart, Chu Xiaolian basically confirmed his guess.

Old Yan sneered.

“You think I’m that kind of person? Just a brat’s admiration could make this old man show it on my face? Besides, Jiang Xuanyu never deserved to be mentioned in the same breath as this old man! Calling him half a hero is already flattering him! Hmph hmph… heh heh heh heh~”

…It really felt like if Senior Brother praised him a bit more, Teacher would be unable to resist showing himself and taking a disciple on the spot.

‘But seriously, who would’ve thought Teacher’s background was this huge! He was actually a Sword Saint! No wonder he dared to say I could defeat Zhu Yan Sword Venerable within twenty years!’

Chu Xiaolian grew even more curious.

“Then the third person Senior Brother admires, who is it?”

What kind of figure could stand shoulder to shoulder with a Sword Saint?

Li Hanguang sighed faintly.

“He doesn’t belong to this ancient history.”

‘Doesn’t belong to this ancient history? What did that mean!’

Chu Xiaolian looked intrigued, even Old Yan’s interest rose quite a bit.

Li Hanguang walked to the edge of the field and picked up an ear of rice.

He set it on the table and smiled.

“Take a look, what’s different about this rice?”

‘What’s different about the rice?’

Chu Xiaolian grew even more puzzled.

He examined the ear of rice carefully.

This ear grew fairly well, the golden grains weighed the stalk down.

And each grain was plump, looking far better than the shriveled rice most common folk planted.

“Is this spiritual rice?”

“No, the spiritual energy here is so thin it can’t possibly meet the growth requirements of spirit paddy. And there isn’t much spiritual energy contained in these grains either.”

“If it’s not spiritual rice, why is it so plump?”

…At first, Chu Xiaolian hadn’t paid attention to this paddy field.

He thought Li Hanguang’s reason for personally farming in the wilds was simply to live as a mortal.

Only now, after Li Hanguang’s reminder, did he truly discover what was extraordinary about this rice.

Living in poor mountains and wicked waters, yet it could grow like this!

It had to be said, this kind of rice was special.

But it was only special.

Chu Xiaolian didn’t think this rice had anything especially worth caring about.

After all, the spiritual energy it contained was far too little.

For cultivators, eating this sort of grain not only didn’t help cultivation, if you ate too much, you’d even need to fast from food and expel impurities.

You could say it was basically trash.

If Senior Brother hadn’t brewed it with his own hands, Chu Xiaolian wouldn’t even really want to drink this rice wine.

So Chu Xiaolian was even more puzzled!

Li Hanguang smiled.

“The highest goodness is like water, water benefits all things yet does not contend, it dwells where all men dislike, thus it is close to rice. The one Li admires most is a supreme existence from another ancient history. In his life, he did not contend for fame, did not chase profit, did not love bravado, did not fight viciously.”

Chu Xiaolian froze slightly.

“What use is cultivating high-yield rice?”

He couldn’t understand Senior Brother’s logic.

If he was a supreme existence, shouldn’t he dine on rosy clouds and drink dew, inhaling and exhaling spiritual energy?

Obsessed with farming, and even farming mortal grain, this thing had no meaning at all!