#336 - The story of Lao Zhang

Sixty years ago, Wei Changtian hadn't even been born, let alone transmigrated. In fact, his parents probably weren't even born yet.

At that time, neither Li Qi nor Ning Yongnian had ascended the throne, and the commander of the Hanging Mirror Division was still Wei Zhaohai.

At that time, Qin Zhengqiu was only a Rank 4 official, far from being the number one on the Great Ning Black List.

At that time, at the end of this Western Desert Gobi, there was no inn called "Dragon Gate."

However, sixty years ago, Old Zhang Tou was already seventy years old.

At that time, his surname wasn't Zhang, but Zhou. He came from the White Hall in the far north, hundreds of thousands of miles away from Great Feng.

So in the story, we'll tentatively call him Old Zhou Tou.

White Hall was a major sword sect, and all its disciples used swords. The sect's ultimate technique, "Falling Sky Sword," was divided into thirty-six forms, and the more forms one could learn, the more talent they had in the way of the sword.

Old Zhou Tou learned ten forms at the age of five, twenty-two forms at the age of ten, thirty forms at the age of twenty, and thirty-five forms at the age of forty, becoming the fastest of the younger generation in White Hall to achieve such a feat, second only to the Holy Son.

At the age of fifty, Old Zhou Tou left the far north to travel the world, determined to visit all the sword masters in the world to prove his own sword heart.

He traveled all the way from north to south, undefeated for the first ten years.

But when he was sixty years old, he passed by a spiritual mountain and met an old Daoist on the mountain.

The old Daoist used a willow branch as a sword and defeated Old Zhou Tou in three moves, leaving behind a sword manual and a sentence before leaving.

This sword manual was the Crescent Moon Sword.

And that sentence was:

"This sword technique can slay all demons in the world, but it cannot slay the demons of the heart. Take care of yourself."

At that time, Old Zhou Tou didn't understand the meaning of these words, but he did understand the extraordinary nature of the Crescent Moon Sword.

In the following years, he continued to travel south, seeking people to compete with swords, while diligently practicing the Crescent Moon Sword technique. Two years later, he finally cultivated the Crescent Moon Sword to Lesser Perfection.

Because of this, Old Zhou Tou felt the first hint of an opportunity to break through to Rank 1, as if he could break through to the unprecedented Rank 1 realm as long as he cultivated the Crescent Moon Sword to Greater Perfection.

However, unlike the smooth sailing he had experienced before, the difficulty of cultivating the Crescent Moon Sword increased sharply from Lesser Perfection to Greater Perfection, and every step in between was extremely difficult.

Moreover, every time Old Zhou Tou used the Crescent Moon Sword in actual combat, he felt that it was increasingly difficult to "control" this sword technique.

It sounds unbelievable that a person cannot control a sword technique, but that was indeed the case.

However, the temptation to break through to Rank 1 was too great, and Old Zhou Tou could not and would not stop.

And so, stopping and going, another eight years passed.

At the age of seventy, Old Zhou Tou arrived in Great Feng and happened to encounter an unclaimed Gu Diao causing chaos in Huailing Prefecture.

Out of pity for the innocent people, he killed the Gu Diao with one sword, causing it to fall back into the cycle of reincarnation for a period of sixty years.

After that, Old Zhou Tou refused the reward from the then Emperor of Great Feng, and after defeating ten sword masters, he continued east, crossed the Western Desert Gobi, and arrived in Great Ning.

Here, he met the most memorable opponent in the twenty years since he had left the mountain to train.

Star River Sword, Zhang Benchu.

Zhang Benchu was a complete sword fanatic who never learned other people's sword techniques, but instead created his own set of sword moves called "Falling Moon Star River."

Old Zhou Tou had seen too many sword masters of all kinds along the way, and there were quite a few who could create their own sword techniques.

But Zhang Benchu, who slept with his sword in his arms, was the most special one.

Not only because of his obsession with the way of the sword, but also because he was the only swordsman besides that old Daoist whose swordsmanship was not inferior to Old Zhou Tou.

The two of them competed with swords on Tianshan Mountain in Liang Prefecture for an entire night.

Rather than a sword competition, it was more like a discussion on swordsmanship.

On one side was "Falling Sky," which no one had ever been able to learn all thirty-six forms of, and on the other side was "Falling Moon Star River," which exhausted Zhang Benchu's life's learning.

In one night, although the two of them had not said a word, they seemed to have become close friends.

In the second half of the night, Old Zhou Tou suddenly had an epiphany and changed his sword moves, switching to the Crescent Moon.

And Zhang Benchu seemed to understand something as well, and continued to feed him moves, one sword at a time.

The previously stagnant Crescent Moon Sword became smooth again at this moment, and Old Zhou Tou could even clearly feel that he was only one step away from Greater Perfection.

The unprecedented Rank 1 realm was close at hand, and no martial artist could remain calm at this time.

In fact, Old Zhou Tou wanted to stop the move at the end.

But he couldn't stop.

It wasn't because the desire for Rank 1 made him unwilling to stop, but in the literal sense of the word—he couldn't stop.

That sword was no longer under his control.

It was also that sword that made Old Zhou Tou truly understand the horror of the Crescent Moon Sword.

The sword can pick the moon, and one can enter Rank 1.

This may be true, or it may not be true.

Because Old Zhou Tou didn't know if the "person" who entered the Rank 1 realm was still himself.

Looking at Zhang Benchu's slowly falling corpse, Old Zhou Tou, in the last moment when his mind was still clear, and also the last moment when the Crescent Moon Sword was about to enter Greater Perfection and he was about to enter the Rank 1 realm, struggled to raise his sword and stab it into his dantian.

Rank 3, no.

Rank 4, no.

Rank 5, no...

From Rank 2 to Rank 9, from the peak to the bottom.

It wasn't until his realm fell back to Rank 9 that the restless Crescent Moon Sword intent returned to calm.

He finally saved "himself" in this way, but Zhang Benchu could not be brought back to life because of this.

He collected the latter's body and left Liang Prefecture.

Old Zhou Tou no longer had the heart or the ability to continue traveling, so he settled down in Great Ning.

He traveled almost all over the thirty-six states of Great Ning, and also changed his surname.

From the age of seventy, he was no longer surnamed Zhou, but Zhang.

Zhang of Zhang Benchu.

The story ends here.

In the room, Wei Changtian and Li Wutong looked at each other, speechless for a long time.

At this moment, it was early night outside the window, a crescent moon hung in the east, but a red glow still remained in the west.

A new moon rises beyond flying birds, and the setting sun lingers in the west.

People all like the brilliance of a full moon, perfect and flawless.

But that crescent moon, with its long-lasting emptiness, reminds people that there are always more regrets in this world.

"That, that, Senior..."

Suddenly, Li Wutong asked somewhat nervously in a low voice, "How should we address you in the future?"

"..."

Surname Zhou, or surname Zhang.

This question seems simple, but it is actually very difficult.

Old Zhang Tou was stunned for a moment, not knowing how to answer.

But Wei Changtian did not hesitate and immediately made the decision for him.

"In my opinion, we should just continue calling you Old Zhang Tou."

"But, but Senior was originally surnamed Zhou."

Li Wutong argued in a low voice, "Sixty years have passed now, and you should always be yourself again, shouldn't you?"

"..."

Looking at Old Zhang Tou's slightly trembling hands, Wei Changtian paused for a moment, then waved his hand nonchalantly.

"I'm used to calling you that, and I'm too lazy to change. Do you have any objections?"

"You!"

Li Wutong was immediately choked and couldn't speak, her face flushed red.

However, Old Zhang Tou next to him breathed a sigh of relief at this time, and the wrinkled palms slowly stopped trembling.

"Don't change, don't change."

"Just Zhang."