It was already late autumn, and the large mountain forest in front of the sword cliff was dyed red by the sunset on the horizon, and the young man in Mai, who was carrying two bundles of fine firewood on his shoulder, walked down the mountain along the rugged path between the forests.

The mountain road is difficult to walk, especially for a teenager who can be fifteen years old.

The two loads of fine firewood on his shoulders, which were a full circle wider than the young man's thin body, swayed gently with the young man's familiar steps, and the shoes under his feet stepped on the gravel and fallen leaves, and the mountain road behind him disappeared into the twilight with the remnants of the sun on the horizon.

In front of the dirt road more than three feet wide, only a majestic bluestone city stands proudly, and on the city wall more than six feet high, someone carved two words with a sword qi.

Frost.

Although Frost City is located on the edge of the Great Xia North Ridge, because Frost City is the first city behind it before the green mountain, which is one of the eight sects in the world, even if it is evening, there is still a bustling crowd on the one-zhang wide stone road in the city, hoping that the sword immortal sitting high above the clouds in the green mountain behind him will leave a little favor.

Fang Chen, who was carrying two loads of fine firewood, did not have the luxury of the sword immortal, the old people in the dilapidated alleys of Frost City often said that they were poor and rich in martial arts, and martial arts was the life plan that only those children in the city would have, no matter how bad it was, it had to be the only son of the shopkeeper Zhang of the restaurant who bought firewood, and the dream of a businessman like Zhang Ziping.

For Fang Chen, who chops and sells firewood in exchange for a mouthful of food, he only has one dream that he should have, to be full and clothed.

"Fang Chen, it's a little late today. ”

Along the stone road of Frost City, all the way south, in front of the gate of the three-story restaurant on the side of the stone road, Zhang Ziping, who was holding a wooden sword in his hand, saw Fang Chen who was carrying fine firewood on his shoulder, hurriedly put down the wooden sword in his hand, ran to the inn and took out a few copper plates, beckoned to Fang Chen and smiled.

"Brother Ping, the dry firewood on the periphery of the mountain range has been picked up by others, and I deliberately walked deeper today, so I cut two large loads of firewood. ”

Unloading the two loads of fine firewood on his shoulders, Fang Chen raised his sleeves and wiped his face, and immediately took the four copper plates handed by Zhang Ziping, and smiled contentedly.

Fang Chen is not the only one who makes a living by selling firewood in Frost City, fortunately, the young man has made a living by doing some hard work since he was a child, and some of them have the strength to endure hardships and stand hard work, and he can often walk more than other woodcutters in the small mountain behind him, and find a lot of firewood in the depths of the mountain range.

"Hehe, Fang Chen, I have good news for you. ”

The Mai boy's words fell, but Zhang Ziping jumped forward, stretched out his hand on Fang Chen's shoulder, and pointed to the mountain peak in the extreme north that could still be seen even in the depths of Frost City with the wooden sword in his left hand.

Castle peak.

"Today's Mid-Autumn Festival, August 18 after the Mid-Autumn Festival is the selection of Qingshan's disciples, Dad has been worried about whether I can pass the test of the nine stacks of sword qi at the foot of Qingshan, but what kind of person is this son, how could Zhang Ziping fall at the foot of Qingshan on the first day of Qingyun Lane in Frost City.

No, there were a few Qingshan disciples with swords on their backs in the restaurant today, saying that the sword dancing posture of this son was quite a bit of immortal aura, and he also gave me a sword qi spirit rune, and after the selection of Qingshan disciples three days later, I Zhang Ziping is also a sword immortal of the sword. ”

Sandwiching the wooden sword under his armpit, Zhang Ziping took out a palm-sized cyan jade talisman from his arms and handed it to Fang Chen, looking complacent.

Still holding the four copper plates tightly in his hand, Fang Chen was a little surprised when he heard this, but after looking at the cyan jade talisman a few times, he gave Zhang Ziping a big thumbs up with his left hand.

As one of the eight great sects in the world, Qingshan's disciple selection on August 18 every year attracts the attention of a large number of people in Great Xia.

Unlike ordinary sects that pay attention to the origin of identity when selecting disciples, the selection of Qingshan disciples only looks at the root and bone heart, and there is a large array at the foot of Qingshan to protect the mountain, and the large array is based on sword qi and has nine stacks.

And Qingshan's disciple assessment is to pull out a small wisp of the first stack of sword qi in these nine stacks of sword qi to test the disciple's root bone and heart, and those who can get out of this wisp of sword qi will enter Qingshan.

As the selection of disciples of the upper sect, the cultivators are not allowed to use any foreign objects brought by themselves in the assessment of the nine stacks of sword qi, and those who enter the formation need to use their own will as a sword, get out of the sword qi, and enter the green mountain.

Of course, there are no absolutes in everything, and although Qingshan Sword Qi is strict with its will, it also has good requirements for the physique and bones of the warrior.

Therefore, every year on the eve of the selection of Qingshan disciples, a group of Qingshan sword patrols will travel all over the world to give a sword qi spirit rune to those young people who have not yet officially stepped into the path of martial arts cultivation and are still weak in physique but have excellent natural temperament, and this sword qi spirit rune is the only external force that can be relied on in the Qingshan assessment.

Obviously, the little master of the Qingyun Lane Tavern in front of Fang Chen was the destined person who could hold the spirit talisman in the mouth of the Qingshan Sword Patrolman.

"Well, my father said that it was a great joy for my old Zhang family to win the favor of Qingshan Sword Immortal, so all the helpers in the restaurant today have two copper plates. ”

Putting away the sword qi spirit talisman, Zhang Ziping smiled heartily at Fang Chen, and with a slight shake of his right hand on his shoulder, he took out two copper plates and handed them to Fang Chen as if he were juggling.

"Hehe, thank you Brother Ping. ”

Stretched out his hand to take the copper plate, Fang Chen's still a little green face couldn't help but be filled with a little smile, the Zhangjia Restaurant in Qingyun Lane is quite popular in Frost City, and it is not unrelated to the atmosphere of the Zhang family's father and son in the store during the New Year's Festival.

"Thank you, if it weren't for you back then, my son might have drowned in the star-descending river outside the city, how could he have the opportunity to worship the green mountains now. ”

Seeing that Fang Chen took the copper plate, Zhang Ziping pretended to be annoyed and patted the linen clothes, and then said angrily.

"Okay, it's not early, today's Mid-Autumn Festival, you better go back early to accompany Uncle Chen." ”

"Well, thank you to Uncle Zhang for me. ”

Sticking the wooden sword at his waist, Zhang Ziping lifted the two bundles of firewood on the ground, smiled at Fang Chen again, and turned around and walked towards the restaurant.

In front of the restaurant, Fang Chen pinched six copper plates that were still a little warm, but in his heart, he secretly said that he would definitely send more firewood to the restaurant in the future.

......

Winter is approaching, and nights always come exceptionally fast. After spending two copper plates in the hands of the vendors in Frost City and buying some food for the festival, Fang Chen took a step and walked towards the alley on the northern edge of the city.

As the first city at the foot of the green mountain, there are more than 100 alleys in the frost city, and among these 100 or so alleys, the dilapidated alley is also famous, because this alley has always been a poor "mess".

With a firewood knife pinned to his waist and a few packets of broken food in both hands, Fang Chen glanced helplessly at the dusky lanes that were still full of dilapidated and decadent even though it was the Mid-Autumn Festival, and after a light sigh, his feet left a series of footprints on the streets that were still a little muddy after the autumn rain.

"Tuqiu'er, I know you're here to beg for food again, oh, I'll give you half a piece of moon cake today. ”

In the depths of the dilapidated alley, Fang Chen, who was dressed in sackcloth, slowly stopped in front of the low earthen wall, smiled bitterly and patted the forehead of a big yellow dog flattering with its tail flatteringly, and immediately took out half a five-kernel mooncake from the paper bag in his hand and threw it deeper into the alley.

Half of the moon cake pulled out an arc in the air, and before the moon cake landed, the earth ball that was still sticking out its tongue in front of Fang Chen just now had already rushed out with an arrow, and opened its mouth quite skillfully to take it.

Before the low earth wall, Fang Chen couldn't help but shake his head when he saw this, he didn't know how many times the earth ball had been sold in Frost Cold City, it was obvious that the old nest was in the Broken Alley, but the bloated body revealed a wealth that did not match the Broken Alley in the slightest.

"Hey, could it be that someone has been here today?"

Following the footsteps of this earth ball, as far as Fang Chen could see, on the muddy floor of the broken alley, in addition to a series of plum blossom footprints, there were actually many shoe prints leading to the small courtyard beside him.

"Chen'er, are you back?"

Before Fang Chen could continue to think, a slightly hoarse inquiry voice came from within the low earthen wall.

"Uncle Chen, I'm back. ”

Hearing this, Fang Chen shook his head slightly, then put down his thoughts, pushed open the wooden door, and walked into the small courtyard.

Inside the low earthen walls are three small earthen houses that occupy a very small area.

In the earthen house in the middle of the small courtyard, a thin old man blindfolded with linen cloth seemed to hear Fang Chen's footsteps, and his weather-covered face couldn't help but pull out a little old smile.

"Uncle Chen, today's Mid-Autumn Festival, I specially bought some broken food, you can taste it. ”

Seeing that the blind old man on the wooden bed was about to get up to greet him, Fang Chen hurriedly ran to the side of the bed with a paper bag, and while helping the old man to sit down, he handed the remaining half of the moon cake to the old man in Mai.

"Today, Brother Ping was favored by Qingshan and got a sword qi spirit rune, so he rewarded all the helpers in the restaurant with two more copper plates, these are the remaining four copper plates, Uncle Chen will keep it for me. ”

Taking out a package from the edge of the wooden bed, Fang Chen slowly stuffed the four copper plates into it one by one, until he heard the four crisp collision sounds one by one, and then pulled out a little smile on his immature little face, and put the package back next to the wooden bed.

After putting away the package, the blind old man stretched out his withered hands to take the mooncake, carefully broke off the smaller half from the half, and slowly put it in his mouth to chew, as if he wanted to exhaust most of his strength to taste the taste of the mooncake.

"I'm old, I can't eat sweet, you should eat this moon cake yourself. ”

After about ten breaths, the blind old man finally swallowed the small piece of moon cake, and shook his head helplessly, but the blind old man handed back the remaining half of the moon cake to Fang Chen.

"Chen'er, do you remember this wooden box?"

Immediately afterwards, the blind man Chen Bo saw Fang Chen stretching out his hand to take the moon cake, but he smiled softly, and then pulled out a five-foot-long pitch-black wooden box under the wooden bed behind him.

"Naturally, I remember that it was this wooden box that caused me to fall seriously ill in the first place. ”

Swallowing half of the moon cake, Fang Chen glanced at the pitch-black wooden box with some resentment, and then answered vaguely.

For as long as Fang Chen can remember, this wooden box has been staying by Uncle Chen's bedside, and for fifteen years, the curious young man inevitably wanted to open the wooden box to find out, but it was only after the attempt three years ago that Fang Chen became seriously ill for half a month, and the young man let go of his curiosity about the wooden box.

"You kid, after today, you'll know what's inside this box.

Also, remember to keep the jade bead on your chest at all times, it is the only thing your parents have left. ”

The blind old man stretched out his right hand and patted Fang Chen's shoulder, first shook his head and chuckled twice, and then said in a deep voice.

"Uncle Chen, I know. ”

Hearing this, Fang Chen couldn't help but bow his head and pull out the snow-white bead hanging with a red rope from the collar on his chest, and replied in a low tone.

"Alas, Chen'er, after the accident fifteen years ago, I wanted to take you to live here in seclusion and live this life in peace, but even if the old man hid it so carefully, they finally found this place.

You take this rune paper, and I will send you to that piece of Chai Mountain later, and when you get to Chai Mountain, you must remember to run as hard as you can, and run towards that green mountain. ”

As if sensing the change in Fang Chen's mood, Chen Bo reached out and touched the young man's head, then turned his head to look out of the earthen wall, sighed lightly, and stuffed a piece of yellow paper containing a trace of halo into the young man's chest.

"Okay, Fang Chen, there is still a long way to go, but it's a pity that Uncle Chen can't go on with you anymore. ”

Stretching out his hand to take the talisman paper, Fang Chen's face was stunned, and he was about to open his mouth to ask something, when the blind old man's right hand pressed on his chest suddenly burst out with vigor, Fang Chen just opened his mouth, and his figure had already disappeared from the small courtyard of the earthen wall.

And the moment the young man's figure disappeared, the blind old man's back that had been stiffened for more than ten years suddenly straightened, and the pitch-black wooden box beside him continued to tremble until the box opened, and a snow-white long sword suddenly roared.

The sound of the sword roared, starting from the small courtyard of the earthen wall, and countless snow-white sword qi swept from Chen Bo's old body towards the already dim sky of Frost Cold City, but it was just three breaths, and a snow-white long sword covering the sky had already condensed above the head of Frost Cold City.

The sword came up from heaven and was about to fall to earth.