The Unruly Immortals

"Eat... eat... eat..."

Watching Gao Zhijian stutter for ages without being able to get the word out, Li Huowang gave a sigh of dejection.

He reached out and took the two books from the tall man in front of him. "That's enough, I don't need you anymore, you can go out."

After the wronged Gao Zhijian had left, Li Huowang lowered his head and looked again at the two books in his hands.

One of them was an ordinary paper book, while the other was completely wrapped in translucent wax.

The wax-wrapped book was the Fire Coat True Scripture Jiang Yingzi had given to him, with her translations written alongside.

The Fire Coat True Scripture was a treasure; no matter how excruciating the treatment process, it could save one's life from external injuries encountered on the road someday.

It would be a great pity not to learn to use such a wonderful thing.

Yet now, Li Huowang was almost completely illiterate. Forget the arcane text of the scripture; he couldn't even understand the translation she had written.

"This won't do, I can't be illiterate my whole life, I must relearn to recognize characters."

With a hint of helplessness, Li Huowang tucked the Fire Coat True Scripture into his breast.

That's true, but thinking of systematically learning an entire script from the beginning, that could take several years.

Even if he hired someone to follow him and translate character by character, it would probably take several months, and he simply didn't have that time now.

Asking the only idiot in the crowd who could read to teach him was even more futile; the man could stutter through a single sentence for ten minutes.

Li Huowang persisted and reopened the translation, "Wood... mouth... person..."

Looking at the full page of square characters, he could now only recognize the simplest few.

"Ha ha, this is really, in the truest sense, giving back everything the teacher taught," Li Huowang said with self-mockery.

He had thought that after Master Danyang's death, the knowledge he had lost would come back to him, but now it didn't seem to be the case at all.

"Knock knock~" The wooden door was suddenly rapped on. "Is Brother Li inside? I've found the Sword Manual you wanted."

Upon hearing this, Li Huowang's spirits lifted. He stood up, went over, and opened the door.

The matter of the Fire Coat True Scripture would have to wait; he had been in this place for a long time just for the swordsmanship.

Soon, the Sword Manual Zhao Qin was carrying came into Li Huowang's hands.

It bore four large characters, which Li Huowang could not recognize.

"Seeing that Brother Li's sword is a three-foot blade, I specifically selected this Duan Family Sword Technique, which is perfectly suited for you to use," Zhao Qin said.

"This swordsmanship was created by the genius Duan Si. It's also unlike other techniques, lacking any soft or cunning strength, but is absolutely forthright and expansive."

"Duan Family Sword Technique?" Li Huowang murmured, opening the cover. Upon seeing that most of the content consisted of diagrams with only sparse text, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"No problem, with Chief Escort Zhao teaching me, I can just memorize it all."

With this in mind, Li Huowang turned to look at Zhao Qin. "Chief Escort Zhao, I have never learned swordsmanship before, could you give me some guidance on where to start?"

"Huh? You don't use a sword? The kind with no foundation at all?" Zhao Qin was a bit perplexed, seeing Li Huowang with two swords on his back.

However, someone who had worked as a bodyguard was naturally quick-witted.

He immediately placed his right hand on Li Huowang's shoulder and began walking outside. "No trouble at all, swords and sabers have the same ancestry, Zhao Qin may not be very skilled, but I will act as Li Xiandi's entry-level master for a few days."

Just as they reached the training ground, Li Huowang saw Chun Xiaoman in the distance, practicing with swords along with the others. He called out to her, "Xiaoman, come join us too!"

Hearing this, Zhao Qin nodded approvingly and said, "That's right, Li Xiandi has thought this through very carefully. Practicing swordsmanship is best done with two people, otherwise, there won't be anyone to spar with in the future."

Chun Xiaoman, holding her longsword, was very excited—it was quite clear that she knew what Li Huowang was asking her to do.

In the days that followed, Li Huowang began his life of swordsmanship training at the Escort Agency.

Under the guidance of the experienced Chief Escort Zhao, one was dedicated to teaching and the two to learning; Li Huowang and Chun Xiaoman learned quickly.

"Clang!" Sparks scattered into the air as Li Huowang and Chun Xiaoman each retreated three steps.

Chun Xiaoman raised her sword-holding hand, stepped forward with her right foot, and charged again.

Li Huowang dodged to the side and, seeing the wooden sword miss, immediately counterattacked with a move from the Returning Wind Fallen Goose technique.

This series of movements threw off Chun Xiaoman's rhythm and as the saying goes, one misstep leads to another; soon after, her sword was sent flying, and she admitted defeat amidst the surrounding cheers.

Zhao Qin, standing nearby, approached Li Huowang with an astonished look on his face.

"Li Xiandi has such a good aptitude. In just fifteen days, you have changed from a complete novice to this level. You truly are a martial arts prodigy!"

This was not flattery. As the Chief Escort, he had seen many promising individuals, but there were very few like Li Huowang.

"You flatter me too much—I still have much to learn," Li Huowang said modestly.

Only he understood why he was learning the sword techniques so much faster than Chun Xiaoman.

The watchful eyes of Bahu did not only increase the sensation of pain; all other senses were heightened as well.

These enhanced senses allowed Li Huowang to make rapid progress. Let's not discuss whether there might be other negative effects in the future—at least regarding this matter, it was beneficial for Li Huowang.

Passing his bamboo sword to Sun Baolu, Li Huowang said to Zhao Qin, "Chief Escort Zhao, thank you for your efforts these past days. I cannot idle any longer; it's time for me to leave. We will meet again in the future."

As the saying goes, a master leads the student to the door, the student's progression lies in their own hands.

Now that Li Huowang had learned the basics, there was no need to waste any more time here, especially since Zhao Qin specialized in sabers and couldn't teach him much more.

"Alright! Li Xiandi, follow me. I'll get you what you need."

Inside Zhao Qin's study, brush, ink, paper, and inkstone were neatly arranged.

"Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh," Zhao Qin's brush danced on the paper. After finishing, he dried the written page, placed it inside an envelope, and handed it over.

"This is a letter of guarantee from me. In the convoy service, I do have some influence. In the future, wherever you go to any Escort Agency, you can present this letter to receive escort tasks."

Li Huowang took it with both hands and gave Zhao Qin a respectful bow. "Thank you, Chief Escort Zhao, for your guidance these days."

After much consideration, Li Huowang ultimately decided that working as a bodyguard was a good fit.

Dogwa was right; since he needed to travel anyway, why not kill two birds with one stone: travel and earn money at the same time.

"Li Xiandi is too kind. It's nothing. Being recognized by your close ones is an honor for me!"

"I won't ask where you are going or what you plan to do, but if you ever come back to this town in the future, you must come and visit!"