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At this moment, Tan Shuchang was visiting such a mansion, led by a maid who called herself "Xiangxiang." They passed through three gates before finally entering the guest hall.

The maid "Xiangxiang" brought over some tea and then left.

As a guest, Tan Shuchang was not there to cause trouble and hence conducted himself with proper decorum. Both his speech and behavior not only reflected the gentlemanly grace but also conformed to the etiquette he had learned in his early years at the Tan residence.

After all, such things were easy to learn as long as one didn’t worry about food and clothing and knew one’s social status; anyone could master them in a short time.

Tan Shuchang did not sense his surroundings, for it would have breached decorum, so he remained unaware that the maid "Xiangxiang," after stepping out slowly, immediately switched to hopping excitedly. Upon meeting her good sister, she burst out saying, "Guess who I saw? Tan Shuchang! Yes, the one who wrote that diary, Tan Shuchang. He seemed like a major clan’s young master!"

The good sister of the maid "Xiangxiang" was an expressionless young girl named "Alu." She was a distant relative of the line of Lady Li from ten years ago. After a scandal diminished that line, leaving only this girl, Lady Li had taken her under her wing. Being only a few years older than Li Luoxia and related as cousins, they became close companions.

Upon hearing this, "Alu" exhibited no change of expression but merely rolled her eyes at "Xiangxiang" and responded, "Tan Shuchang, from the Tan family of Jingzhou, a household that dominated thirteen states in its prime and served as imperial tutors across two dynasties. That Minister Tan is his father."

"The very same Tan family!" Maid "Xiangxiang" was utterly stunned. The Jiawu Realm was vast, and even the imperial court only governed seventeen states; yet, the Tan family once wielded influence over thirteen states!

She couldn’t help but remark, "No wonder the Tan family was destroyed. Those affiliated with them were killed by the hundreds of thousands. They truly deserved to die!"

If she had been the emperor, she too would have wanted to kill off the Tan family.

"Alu," hearing this, did not respond but merely looked at her expressionless.

"What’s the matter? Is there something dirty on my face?"

"No, not on your face, but behind you."

Upon hearing this, maid "Xiangxiang" turned around in terror and then saw to her horror that her young mistress had, at some point, come to stand right behind her.

"Miss!" Maid "Xiangxiang" was terrified, indeed there was something foul!

Li Luoxia gave her maid a stern look and then glared at the young girl as well, "I cannot defeat that Tan Shuchang. Don’t be fooled by his mild manner of speaking; he is the man who dared to, and successfully did, kill his teacher, the Heartless Old Man!"

Maid "Xiangxiang," chastised, immediately bowed her head, not daring to speak, for this was her mistress, not only her provider but also her biggest protector.

"Alu," also reprimanded, remained expressionless but a slight glimmer of interest flickered in her eyes.

Patricide...

And a successful one at that!

This was no common feat!

Li Luoxia, knowing well both her maid and her distant cousin, simply said this statement and sent them far away, opting to meet Tan Shuchang alone.

Hearing footsteps approaching from afar, Tan Shuchang stood up, and when he saw the figure of Li Luoxia in his vision, he performed a courtesy gesture first.

Though it was merely a simple clasp of the fists, it sufficed.

They were all cultivators, so there was no need for overly formal courtesies.

"Tan Shuchang, I have seen Sister Li." Because Black Heart Mountain was close to the Jianxia Sect and due to the fact that several of the Heartless Old Man’s previous disciples had joined the Jianxia Sect through marriage, disciples from both sects generally greeted each other as "brother" or "sister." This was also the origin of how Tan Shuchang addressed his female junior in his diary.

"Brother Tan, please have a seat. What brings Brother Tan here today?" Li Luoxia asked with a smile.

"Sister Li is in charge of all matters concerning Qinghe City for the Jianxia Sect. You must also be aware that someone copied my cultivation diary and distributed hundreds of copies, not only throughout Black Heart Mountain but also beyond it."

"Yes, but what Brother Tan may not know is that it wasn’t just hundreds of copies—it was at least thousands. I heard that copies of Brother Tan’s cultivation diary are even being sold in Qingzhou," Li Luoxia nodded, giving Tan Shuchang a piece of news that somewhat caught him off guard.

All this time, he had only been planning how to kill the Heartless Old Man. How had his casually written cultivation diary spread so quickly?

Qingzhou, he remembered, was in the extreme north of the Jiawu Realm, right?

The place he was in now, Yuezhou, was at the southern edge of the Jiawu Realm! Not to mention the several states between the two, even for a Sword Cultivator capable of Sword Flight, traveling day and night without a break, it would take at least ten days to a half month to reach there!

It should be noted that a Sword Cultivator could achieve a speed equivalent to traveling ten miles in a blink of an eye!

In the blink of an eye, they could be ten miles away.

Tan Shuchang collected his thoughts, then he asked, "Then do you know if that little junior sister of yours is still with the Jianxia Sect?"

"The little junior sister? Brother Tan may not know, but Junior Sister Dong descended the mountain a month ago because the Dong family arranged a marriage for her, so she had to return home," Li Luoxia explained, her gaze toward Tan Shuchang filled with a bit more curiosity for gossip.

Because what exactly the relationship was between Tan Shuchang and her junior sister, she was not sure. However, one thing was certain: her junior sister probably did not dislike this Tan Shuchang.

After all, with her little junior sister’s talent in the Sword Dao, if she truly wanted to cut down Tan Shuchang, he would have been dead long ago.

Although at that time Tan Shuchang’s master was the Heartless Old Man, their master was still the sect leader of the Jianxia Sect, known worldwide as the Fairy Poet!

"The Dong family? Could she be from the Tianjian Mansion of Chu State, belonging to the Dong family?" Upon hearing this, Tan Shuchang was somewhat surprised, but he also had a moment of realization; even though he had concealed most of his tactics back then, it wouldn’t have led to someone chasing him with a sword.

He had originally thought that the old woman from the Jianxia Sect had taken on an exceptionally talented disciple in the Sword Dao; little did he know she was actually from that renowned holy land of Sword Cultivators.

"Here, Brother Tan," at this moment, Li Luoxia handed him something.

Tan Shuchang looked and found that it was a scroll of a map, detailing the route from Yuezhou to Chu State.

He couldn’t help but look towards Li Luoxia.

Sure enough, the woman had the glint of burning curiosity in her eyes.

Tan Shuchang knew she had misunderstood, but he did not elaborate further because his previous visits to the Jianxia Sect were for the sake of catching a ghost creature.

Nevertheless, Tan Shuchang still accepted the scroll of the map.

Not only did it mark out some areas to be cautious of and avoid, but the final inscription on the scroll was unexpectedly from — Nan Jian, Su Huan’an.

That was the name of the sect leader of Mount Disciple Sword.

Mount Disciple Sword, Tianjian Mansion of Chu State, two great holy lands of Sword Cultivators in the Jiawu Realm.