I Have A Sword

Ye Guan returned to the tiny pagoda, where Sang Mei was wandering around aimlessly.

With the wager over, the tiny pagoda had been unsealed. And like everyone who had entered before, Sang Mei couldn't hide her fascination with it. Occasionally, she'd even engage in idle conversation with the tiny pagoda.

When she saw Ye Guan arrive, she smiled brightly. "Ye Guan, the little swordsman, this pagoda of yours is truly something else. I've never seen anything like it."

Ye Guan chuckled. "You can just call me Ye Guan, Lady Sang Mei."

She nodded. "Alright then, Ye Guan, the little swordsman."

Sang Mei looked around, eyes sparkling. "This place contains a brand-new form of time! Until now, time was considered an eternal constant. But I can see that constant has long been shattered."

"Eternal constant?" Ye Guan asked, curious.

Sang Mei smiled and explained gently. "It means something that exists unchanging and everlasting. Time is one example. In its presence, all living things are variables, shifting, impermanent. They are born, they die, and sometimes, they are born again. But time itself... remains untouched.

"That is what we call a constant Law. But now, a brand-new form of time has appeared before me. And that changes everything. It means someone powerful enough has redefined what time is. And if time can be redefined, then this so-called eternal constant... was never truly eternal to begin with."

Ye Guan murmured, "I see..."

"Redefining time isn't the scary part. What's terrifying... is allowing two versions of time to exist simultaneously. Normally, the eternal time constant would reject such an anomaly. But here, it hasn't done that. That means... whoever created this new time... has overpowered the eternal constant." Sang Mei turned to look at him, eyes glinting. "Do you know what that means?"

Ye Guan shook his head. "No idea. But it sounds powerful."

Sang Mei stifled a giggle with her hand. "It is. It's like those legends in the mortal world where the dead are brought back to life."

Ye Guan's expression grew solemn. "So it's Rrevolutionary."

"Exactly!" Her eyes lit up. "It's revolutionary. And not just time, mind you."

"Not just time?"

"Space as well," she said, nodding. Then, she drew a circle with her hands. "She used this space as a prison, to imprison the flow of time itself. Which means she leveraged a higher-order spacetime to bind the very time she created.

"Little swordsman, Ye Guan, do you know? Your aunt's little act has overturned the origin of the Great Dao of the vast expanse and its natural constants."

Ye Guan fell silent.

"Amazing, really. Even more amazing than me."

Ye Guan's eye twitched. "So you're pretty amazing, too?"

Sang Mei smiled playfully. "Oh, I'm decent. I haven't died in a fight yet. Furthermore, Little Pagoda just told me that your aunt did this on a whim. So what is revolutionary to us... is just something casual to her..."

"Lady Sang Mei, where exactly are you from?"

He had always been curious about her origins.

"I told you that I'm from a Divine Residence on the Divine Continent. It's very far away. With your current strength, you could get there, but I don't recommend going there."

"Is it too dangerous?"

Sang Mei nodded. "It's dangerous. Especially now that you're with me."

"You..."

Sang Mei smiled. "You guessed right. I escaped from there."

Ye Guan leaned in slightly, curious. "What did you do there?"

Sang Mei blinked. "Can I choose not to answer?"

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to lie to you. I also don't want to tell you," she replied, seriously.

Ye Guan was left speechless.

Sang Mei laughed. "Don't worry. I'm not going to freeload. I know a lot of things; I can help you. As for my past... I personally feel that you don't have to worry too much. Both your uncle and aunt are so powerful.

"Even if people from my hometown try to harm you, just call your family for help..."

Ye Guan's expression turned serious. "I don't want to depend on them. I want to rely on myself!"

"Oh... I see, I see..."

Both Ye Guan and the tiny pagoda were at a loss for words.

Ye Guan opened his palm and revealed the Divine Seal.

He looked at Sang Mei. "Did you give this to Senior Gu Daotian?"

Sang Mei nodded. "I did. He's dead, isn't he?"

Ye Guan nodded.

Sang Mei sighed. "I warned him. I told him that the spirit inside that seal is far beyond him. I told him not to strike a deal with a force that could destroy him... Clearly, he didn't listen."

She was talking about Zong Xin.

"Does the seal belong to you?"

"Not really. I just stole—no, I mean, I found it. Picked it up fair and square." Sang Mei then grinned. "It's a fun seal. Do you know how to play with it?"

Ye Guan shook his head.

Suddenly, she took the Divine Seal and whisked Ye Guan off to the depths of space. There, she tapped the Divine Seal. In an instant, countless golden lights burst from it, soaring into the void like fireworks.

Sang Mei looked up at the "fireworks," smiling in wonder. "Isn't it fun?"

Ye Guan didn't know what to say.

Sang Mei patted his shoulder, smiling. "Ye Guan, we live long lives as cultivators, which is why we must find joy while we can. What's the point of being invincible if you're not happy?"

Ye Guan nodded. "You make a good point."

"I know tons of fun places. I'll take you there someday." Sang Mei said with a wink.

Ye Guan smiled wryly. "I've got a lot to do first."

"You want to build a new Order, right?"

Ye Guan nodded. "Yeah... Want to help? Establishing a new order can be fun too!"

Damn... this kid's cooking something.Zong Xin thought to himself.

Sang Mei blinked once more, and her smile revealed with a teasing edge, as if hinting that she knew something.

Ye Guan could tell that she saw through him. He shook his head and smiled.

"It's not out of the question," Sang Mei replied. "But I need to understand your Order first."

Ye Guan thought for a moment, then handed her the Guanxuan Law. She glanced at it and looked up at him. "So... you intend to rule the universe with the principles of law and logic?"

Ye Guan nodded.

"To pull that off... you'll need to take from the rich and give to the poor!" Sang Mei said with a smile.

Ye Guan's eyes narrowed slightly.

Sang Mei looked at the book in her hands. "This thick book of the Guanxuan Laws can be summarised into seven words."

Ye Guan asked, "Which is?"

"A way for the weak to survive."

Ye Guan clenched his fists.

Sang Mei smiled again."Little swordsman, Ye Guan, you still don't understand the Great Dao."

Ye Guan frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"

"You don't understand society, economy, institutions, or even culture. Your Guanxuan Law aims to save the vulnerable and to create equality, but have you ever considered that this defies the Dao?"

"It does?" Ye Guan echoed.

Sang Mei nodded. "In a world of martial artists, the pursuit is strength and immortality. To get there, we must fight for resources. And to fight, we must compete. When there's competition, there's inequality, differentiating the strong from the weak, the rich from the poor. That's the nature of the Dao.

"If there's no competition, what happens then?

Ye Guan replied calmly. "Civilization will stagnate."

"Exactly." Sang Mei nodded. "To gain resources, everyone will strive to grow stronger. They research, innovate, and seek change. In that process, civilization gradually advances. But if you control all the resources and distribute them as you see fit... what motivation would anyone else have left?"

Ye Guan fell silent again.

Sang Mei went on. "Competition is essential for the progress of civilization. Without it, society can't truly advance. But competition inevitably creates winners and losers, the rich and the poor. Have you ever truly thought about that?"

Ye Guan shook his head.

Sang Mei smiled. "Now let's talk about culture. You want to build a new Order, but what cultural foundation will that Order rest on? And will the people within it truly accept and follow that culture?

"If not, then it's no different from the old system, where power rules above all. When you're powerful, you can suppress them. But when you're not, what will you rely on to keep them in line?"

"When you say cultural foundation... what exactly do you mean?" Ye Guan asked in a low voice.

"Broadly, it means following Confucian and Daoist values like balance and harmony, which shape a civilization's culture," Sang Mei explained. "On a smaller scale, even habits like drinking and flattering others are cultural traits."

Ye Guan was speechless.

Sang Mei chuckled, adding, "Think those behaviors are trash? Sure. But in that system, if you don't play the game, you won't survive."

He had no counterargument.

Sang Mei continued. "Any Order must be backed by a matching cultural foundation. Right now, you rule through strength; that's a dominant cultural trait. And people will imitate it.

"The way you enforce your rules is how they'll enforce theirs on others. For example, if you're lustful, those beneath you will cater to it. Even if they aren't, they'll follow your lead, possibly taking it even further than you."

Sang Mei chuckled and continued, "Of course, these are all flawed cultural traits, but the truth is that they're part of the so-called society. If you understand them and know how to play the game, you'll go further and thrive.

"If you don't... Well, you'll end up as the honest guy who can't even find a wife."

Ye Guan had no words.

"The so-called 'way of saving the weak,' more often than not, just means going along with corruption and abandoning all principles. If you truly want to build a new Order and make the world better, you'll have to challenge all the rotten parts of culture. You must create new systems and new values to replace them."

"I know it's hard. But I believe... I can do it," Ye Guan said firmly.

Sang Mei smiled mischievously. "Really? Then, answer me. Polyamory is a toxic cultural tradition. Little swordsman, Ye Guan, I can see that you've long since lost your pure Yang energy. clearly, you're no longer a virgin. And with your status, it's obvious you've had more than one woman.

"Answer me, can you lead by example and let go of your other women to marry only one wife for the sake of breaking that toxic cultural tradition?"

Ye Guan, Little Pagoda, and Zong Xin were dumbfounded.