Great dedication to the country, the year name Tianyi, since the founding of the country 700 years ago, to the sword town of the country. Everyone in the world is proud of sword practice, and when the emperor of heaven even respected the sword cultivation to the extreme.

Tianyi City, as the capital of the country, is a city, with eight streets and nine mo. In the eyes of the people, there are three great anecdotes in Tianyi City.

First, at noon at the end of each month, the "Taibai List" in the center of the city will change. This Taibai list is the sword cultivation ranking built by the first emperor Li Chu in that year, and the names of millions of sword cultivators in the world are on this list.

Second, there are hundreds of sword cultivation sessions in Tianyi City every day. There are countless sword cultivators in front of the Taibai list in the imperial city, and the sword cultivators from all over the country are dedicated to the country, in order to make themselves on the list, they will naturally challenge those famous sword cultivators, and if they win, they will become famous all over the world, and if they lose, they will not matter.

Third, there are countless swordsmiths all over the world, but there is never a single swordsmith in the country.

There is a mansion in Qinglian Lane, located in the north of Tianyi City, although the black gate of the mansion looks a little old, but it is extremely clean, giving people the feeling that the owner of this mansion is a meticulous person.

The scorching July sun hung high in the sky, as if it were about to bake the earth through.

At this time, it was noon, and the door of the house was gently pushed open, and I saw a thin young man sneaking out of the courtyard.

After carefully closing the door, the young man was extremely cautious, looked left and right, and found that there was no one around, so he relaxed and walked towards the outside of Qinglian Alley.

The young man's name is Meng Bai, he was brought up by his grandfather with a hidden disease since he was a child, and he has never seen his biological father and mother in the thirteen years since he grew up under his grandfather's stick.

While his grandfather went to bed after dinner, he secretly left the house and prepared to go to the south of the city to find the young confidant who was two years older than him but shorter than him. The reason why he has to wait for his grandfather to go out secretly when he sleeps is because his grandfather is very strict on weekdays, and his daily study at home is extremely boring.

Tianyi City is huge, and it takes a day to walk from the north of the city to the south of the city without stopping with the foot power of an adult, and even if you run all the way without stopping at the speed of a teenager, you can't reach it in a day. Fortunately, there is a restaurant not far from Qinglian Lane, and the daily leftovers of the restaurant are pulled out of the city by an old man outside the south of the city with a donkey cart to deal with it, and it only takes half a day. After calculating the time, the young man quickly rushed towards the restaurant, and there was no stop at his feet, for fear that he would not be able to catch up.

"It's all this time, why hasn't Old Man Wang come yet. The young man was squatting under the eaves of the backyard of the restaurant at this time, muttering in his mouth.

It's not that the boy is in a hurry, it's just that the noon sun has made the boy sweat profusely, and his heart is restless.

After a stick of incense, a simple donkey cart drove out, and an old man with a sour smell got out of the wooden cart, put down the whip that drove the cattle in his hand, and walked towards the back door of the restaurant with two wooden barrels in his hand.

"White boy, come here so early. ”

The old man saw the young man squatting at the back door and teased.

When the young man Meng Bai saw that the person who came was the old man Wang who was pulling the swill, he immediately stood up and snatched a wooden bucket in his hand, "Old man Wang, why is it so late today." ”

An old man and a young man walked into the backyard of the restaurant and started to do things with ease.

"It's delayed on the way, what reason did you make up this time to persuade your father and mother to let you out. The old man put his thin hand into the bucket of swill.

"My dad and I were talking about the teacher's request to go to the north of the city to find a few herbs that we didn't know. Young Meng Bai casually found a reason to fool around.

The reason why he deceived the old man was because his grandfather had warned him since he was a child that he must hide his identity and background when he was outside, and not to tell everyone about everything. Therefore, the cautious young man told him that his surname was Bai when he met the old man Wang, and his family lived in Hongwa Street in the north of the city.

After a stick of incense, the old and the young after carrying the swill, took the donkey cart and headed north of the city.

Daxian has settled the country and lived in peace for seven hundred years, it stands to reason that there are very few people who pull swill, unless it is a remote place, why is there still someone in the imperial city to do this, the young Meng Bai has long had questions. Later, I couldn't help but ask Old Man Wang, only to learn that there were many outsiders who did the same thing as him in Tianyi City, not because they needed this swill for farming and raising livestock, but because the restaurants in the city were well paid, and they were needed to do these things.

Along the way, the young Meng Bai ignored the stench of the swill under the scorching sun, and leaned peacefully on the wooden barrel and snored.

Outside the north gate of Tianyi City.

"White boy, hurry up and get out of the car, it's here. The young Meng Bai was slapped by the old man and woke up, and it was already dusk when he woke up.

The young man Meng Bai got out of the car and rubbed his eyes and said goodbye to Old Man Wang. After the old man drove away with the donkey cart, Meng Bai turned around and returned to the city.

With the route in his memory, the boy came to the gate of a mansion.

"I'm looking for Chu Xiao. Knocking on the door hard, after the doorkeeper opened, Meng Bai said to him.

Suddenly, a short boy in brocade clothes walked out of the main gate quickly, the boy was handsome, if it wasn't for the fact that he was a little short, I am afraid that the matchmaker would have already stepped through the threshold of the house. However, the second son of General Chu, who is dignified and powerful, does not need a private matchmaker to match, of course, those private matchmakers do not dare.

"Meng Bai, if you come later, that sword cultivator will be in retreat. The young man in brocade blamed his friend for not coming.

When the young man Meng Bai heard this, he hurriedly pulled the young man in brocade and walked towards the general's mansion.

The two teenagers are quite fated, they met outside the imperial city a few years ago, and Meng Bai, who sneaked out of the house for the first time, wanted to see the demeanor of sword cultivation in the world, but on the way he saw a short teenager being surrounded by several peers, and he wanted to pass by, but unfortunately he was stopped by one of the teenagers.

"Boy, do you want to secretly call an adult?" a young man taller than Meng Bai said fiercely to him.

Meng Bai encountered such a thing when he went out to Qinglian Lane for the first time, and he was at a loss. looked at the brocade-clothed young man next to him, who was shorter than himself, and stared at the young man in front of him with a look of anger.

"Again, leave your sword behind and go. One of the teenagers spoke.

Meng Bai only found out at this moment that the brocade-clothed young man beside him had an extremely beautifully carved short sword straddling his waist.

It turned out to be a robbery.

After understanding the reason, the thin Meng Bai didn't say a word, and raised his fist to hit a few teenagers who were blocking the way. Although his grandfather often warned him not to meddle in his affairs outside, he should not let others deceive him. The brocade-clothed young man, who was already on fire, saw his peers around him come to the rescue, and took off the short sword at his waist to participate in it. In the end, Meng Bai and the young man in brocade were outnumbered and subdued to the ground, but fortunately, they were seen by a passing woman and helped to repel a few teenagers who blocked the way.

The young man Meng Bai stood up, straightened his clothes, did not speak, and walked out of the alley.

"What's your name, thank you for your help. The young man in brocade, who was also injured, hurriedly got up and chased after him.

Meng Bai said expressionlessly: "I didn't help you, I just freed myself." ”

The young man in brocade stretched out his hand and grabbed Meng Bai and said: "No matter what, it was you who saved me, my mother often told me to know how to repay my kindness, and said what you want." ”

"I want your sword, can you give it to me?"

Without the slightest hesitation, the brocade-clothed young man handed the short sword in his hand to Meng Bai.

Meng Bai took the short sword he handed over in his hand, his expression was a little excited, and then he drew his sword and swung it indiscriminately.

"I'd better give it back to you, my grandfather doesn't approve of me playing with the sword. ”

Seeing this, the young man in brocade was a little surprised, this short sword was the first saber given to him by his father, not to mention the high value, it was even more significant to him.

"My name is Chu Xiao, what's your name?" Seeing that he didn't mean to tease him, the brocade-clothed young man withdrew his short sword.

"My name is Meng Bai. ”

After talking, he learned that Meng Bai also went to watch the sword cultivation competition outside the palace, and the two walked all the way.

The identities and status of the two teenagers are very different, one is the second son of General Chu, who holds the most powerful power in the army, and the other is a folk boy who grew up in Qinglian Lane since he was a child. But the two have one thing in common, that is, they have no companions, and they have become friends and confidants of each other. In the past two years, Meng Bai has left Qinglian Lane many times just to go to Chu Xiao to play. In a conversation, Chu Xiao learned that Meng Bai's family lived in the north of the city, and he had to walk for a day and a night to get to his house every time, so he couldn't bear it, and proposed to tell the coachman to pick him up, but Meng Bai politely refused. So to this day, Chu Xiao doesn't know where Meng Bai's family lives in the north of the city.

Tianyi City, General's Mansion.

Chu Xiao took the young Meng Bai in the general's mansion for half a stick of incense and came to a door.

"Wu Jianshi. Chu Xiao shouted loudly into the house.

The door of the house was pushed open, and a middle-aged man walked out from the inside, the man was dressed in black, his posture was erect, and his hair was full of shawl, and his momentum was extraordinary.

"It turned out to be the second son, I don't know what to find me?"

Wu Huai, who has been practicing swords for more than 20 years, ranks one hundred and forty on the Taibai list, and is "Huaicai" with a sword. It is a famous sword cultivator in the Great Xianguo, and in his early years, he followed the Xianguo general Chu Lisi to fight on the battlefield and killed countless enemies. After leaving the army, he stayed in the general's mansion as a guest, and a few days ago, he received a holy decree to enter the palace to face the saint.

"Sword Master Wu, this is my friend Meng Bai, he also wants to become a sword cultivator, please give him advice. Chu Xiao explained the reason.

When Wu Huai heard this, he smiled and walked towards the two teenagers.

Meng Bai was a little excited in his heart at this time, this person in front of him was a real "Taibai List" top 100 sword cultivators.

I saw Wu Huai walk in front of Meng Bai, and raised Meng Bai's hands with his big hand and groped it back. His eyes were like torches, and he stared at Meng Bai with a frown: "Kid, you are not suitable for sword practice." ”

"You're not fit to practice swords. This sentence was like a thunderbolt from the sky, making Meng Bai at a loss, let me ask, who is not envious of the sword cultivation who fights the sword one by one? In the heart of every young man in the "Great Offering", he imagined the moment when he drew his sword against the enemy.

"I mean, you can't enter the Dacheng realm by practicing swords, and you won't be able to rank one thousand on the Taibai list in this life. ”

After all, as a great sword cultivator ranked one hundred and forty on the Taibai list, Wu Huai has practiced swords for more than 20 years and rarely touches the sword for others, so this opening requirement is a bit high.

"My generation of sword cultivation, what I look at is talent, the higher the talent, the farther the kendo can go, Fang Cai, I touched your hands and found that there were many cracks in your hand bones.

The first step in sword practice is to hold the sword, and you can't hold the sword for a long time with your bones, let alone the second step. ”

Meng Bai was shocked when he heard that there was a crack in his hand bones, and suddenly remembered that his grandfather would beat him with a wooden stick in his hand every day from childhood to adulthood. It turned out that my grandfather had been prepared for a long time in order to prevent me from practicing swords.

"Thank you, Master Wu, for your advice. Meng Bai bowed to Wu Huai.

Wu Huai nodded and comforted: "Xiaoyou, although the sword cultivation line has no fate for you, but you and I are fateful, I will teach you a style of sword holding skills, which can make your mind as calm as water when you practice swords." ”

I saw Wu Huai holding his breath and concentrating, his left hand raised slightly, and suddenly a long sword flew out of the room and fell into his hand. The long sword is three feet one, the scabbard is brown, and the hilt is inlaid with a piece of white jade.

"This is my sword, 'Huaicai', you can use it to learn this style of sword-gripping. Wu Huai handed the sword full of spiritual power to the young Meng Bai.

Chu Xiao and Meng Bai on the side had already been stunned by the air-calling sword. Although he had seen some sword cultivators use this trick outside the palace, he had never felt it so closely. When the 'Huaicai' sword flew out of the house, a powerful sword aura struck the two of them.

Meng Bai swallowed his saliva, relieved himself, and reached out to take the Huaicai sword, only to feel cold in his hand, and his whole body was extremely comfortable, as if a burst of cool air emanated from the scabbard and burrowed into Meng Bai's body.

"Raise your arms, keep a distance of two inches from your armpits, hold the sword with your palms facing up, feel the sword itself, and have no distracting thoughts in your heart, so that you can merge with it......"

In less than ten breaths, the young Meng Bai couldn't hold on, and the Huaicai sword fell to the ground.

Wu Huai smiled: "In the future, you can practice swordsmanship like this." ”

"Thank you, Sword Master Wu. ”

Chu Xiao and Meng Bai bowed their heads to this great sword cultivator at the same time.