Volume One: The Youngest Among Three Hundred Chapter 137: The Wanderer Li Bai

Chen Changan was completely dumbfounded, utterly unprepared for this series of bizarre twists and turns. After a full three or four seconds of stunned silence, he let out an "hey," followed the trajectory of the flying Nameless Blade, and stepped into Tianxiang Courtyard. There, he saw a handsome, white-robed middle-aged man sitting at a table, drinking wine while practicing sword forms, holding none other than Nameless.

Beside the middle-aged man stood a woman dressed in male civilian attire. Chen Changan recognized her instantly; it was Hua Mulan, from whom he had parted ways on the journey back from Shiqiao Town and had not seen since.

"Oh, Sister Mulan, why are you here? And who... who is he?!"

Hua Mulan did not seem surprised by Chen Changan's sudden appearance. After all, Nameless arriving first meant he must be nearby. She stood up and replied, "This is my master, Li Bai. I invited him here to Tianxiang Courtyard for a drink!"

Only then did Chen Changan remember Hua Mulan mentioning once that she wanted to seek out her master to ask about her younger sister.

"I just heard upon returning to Chang'an City that you single-handedly unearthed the entire Prince Jing'an faction and the Dragon Slaying Guild behind it. Not bad at all!" Hua Mulan poured a cup of wine, handed it to him with a corner of her mouth lifted in a rather masculine smile, and offered her praise.

Chen Changan scratched his head with an honest and modest expression, saying, "It's nothing much... really, it was just the result of everyone's hard work!"

He then skipped over to the white-robed middle-aged man—hailed as the First Swordsman of Chang'an, Li Bai—cupped his fists in a salute, and said, "Chen Changan pays his respects to Senior Li!"

His attitude was exceptionally sincere. After all, the Nameless blade suited him like an extension of his body; what if the man decided to take it back? Besides, the poem Li Bai had just recited was clearly "Bring in the Wine" by the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai. Yet, ever since transmigrating to the Great Min Dynasty, he had never once recited it to show off, meaning no one here should know its contents. It was deeply eerie!

Chen Changan had every reason to suspect that another time-traveling old fox was lurking in Great Min, or that Li Bai himself was one.

"Oh, good! Good!"

In response to his greeting, Li Bai waved the wine cup in his hand and blurted out, "You must be Chen Changan. Hey, how... how did this Nameless blade of mine end up in your hands?"

*Hiccup—* He let out a full burp.

Chen Changan's brow furrowed. "Sister Mulan gave it to me!"

Li Bai glared sideways at the woman. "Why did you give it to him?"

Hua Mulan was momentarily stunned, then retorted, "Master, wasn't it you who told me back then that the Nameless blade shouldn't be used casually, and that whoever could pull it out in the future should be given the sword?"

"Oh!"

Li Bai drained his fine wine in a single gulp, rubbed his belly with a look of contentment, and said, "I just said that off the cuff to cultivate an aura of profound mystery. You actually took it seriously and gave it away."

Hua Mulan: "..."

Chen Changan: "..."

Could this old fox actually be planning to take it back?

*Swish!*

As Chen Changan was deep in thought, Li Bai brought his blade down, embedding it half a foot deep into the tabletop. "However, this kid surnamed Chen isn't bad. I heard that in a little over two months—over sixty days—he went from an ordinary person to the Third Rank of Qi-Technique, and even awakened the sixth original technique, Counter-Momentum. Hmm, he's got about twenty or thirty percent of the talent I had back in my youth. If you want to use Nameless, go ahead and use it!"

Chen Changan was speechless, feeling that this guy loved showing off a bit too much. But a true hero knows when to yield and when to stand tall. To secure permanent ownership of the Nameless blade, he chuckled and said, "Of course! Senior Li is the First Swordsman of Chang'an. In front of Senior Li, who dares claim to be invincible, and who has the guts to speak of never tasting defeat?"

At the same time, he inched his hand toward the tabletop, pulled the Nameless blade out of the wood, and slid it smoothly back into its scabbard, immediately following up with a heavy dose of flattery: "Senior Li is so generously bestowing this blade—what towering righteousness!"

"Good... well said!"

Li Bai was overjoyed, laughing heartily. "Come, let's drink! The two of us will drink together—oh, wait, the three of us!"

"You got it!"

Chen Changan promptly took a seat, poured himself a full cup, and asked probing, "Senior Li, I just heard you recite a poem: *'Do you not see the waters of the Yellow River come from the sky...'* Who is the author of those lines?"

"Me, of course!"

Li Bai took a massive gulp of wine, patted his chest with bold magnanimity, and replied, "I wrote it when I was drunk seven or eight years ago."

Chen Changan's brows knitted together. Finding it hard to believe, he looked toward Hua Mulan. The latter nodded in confirmation, saying, "It's a poem Master inscribed on the wall of the South Courtyard eight years ago, titled *Bring in the Wine*."

"Holy shit!" Even the title was identical. Chen Changan leaped to his feet on the spot.

Hua Mulan's pretty eyes widened. "What... what's wrong?"

Chen Changan forced himself to calm down and waved his hand nonchalantly. "N-nothing! Just... feels like it's written really well!"

"Of course it is!"

Hua Mulan, who rarely showed much personal emotion, lifted her chin with a rare trace of pride and said, "Master has written far more than just *Bring in the Wine* here in Chang'an City! There's also *'Flying down three thousand feet, it must be the Milky Way plunging from the ninth heaven'* from *Viewing the Waterfall at Mount Lu*, *'The gibbons on both banks keep wailing endlessly, while the light boat has already sailed past ten thousand mountains'* from *Early Departure from Baidi City*, and *'Letting the white deer rest among the green cliffs, riding out whenever I please to visit famous mountains'* from *Dreaming of Tianmu Mountain Visited in a Farewell Poem*—so many others!"

With every line she recited, Chen Changan's expression crumbled further into utter shock. By the time she finished, he wore the unmistakable look of someone who had just swallowed a piece of excrement. Stammering, he asked, "Are... are you kidding me? Is this real?!"

"Of course it's real!" Hua Mulan understood things very simply and literally, so her answer was equally simple and literal.

Yet Chen Changan acted as if he hadn't heard her at all. Staring wide-eyed at the still-drinking Li Bai, he roared, "The value of pi is 3.14159265358979323846..."

Until he was practically out of breath, Li Bai continued drinking without the slightest reaction.

*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!*

Chen Changan inexplicably felt a cold breeze blow over his head, leaving him deeply embarrassed. Everything Hua Mulan had just recited were unquestionably masterpieces handed down through the ages by the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai. If this Li Bai wasn't a transmigrated plagiarist, how could he have written them word for word?

And yet, if he *was* one, why did he show zero reaction upon hearing "pi," a term oozing with twenty-first-century flavor? He could at least have frowned or twitched a facial muscle! Failing to give even a single micro-expression made no sense whatsoever.

Could it be that, as Einstein suggested, parallel universes truly existed? Even so, shouldn't he still be named Li Bai rather than Li Bai? The identities and names of figures across parallel universes shouldn't change.

Reluctant to give up, Chen Changan shouted in rapid succession:
"Odd changes, even unchanged, signs depend on the quadrant!"
"Light brings blindness! Holy sword, do you see that enemy?"
"I walk alone down the long, long, solitary rainy alley, hoping to meet a girl like a clove, bearing sorrow and resentment!"
"Wife, ah-ha, yours is smaller than mine!"
"Thunderous roar, this heaven-defying cultivation shatters the earth into a purple-golden hammer; purple lightning, mysterious flames of the nine heavens, a shocking transformation of the divine sword amidst dark clouds, galloping across the battlefield with howling rain and mist, romantic since ancient times with eternal regrets, wielding a crescent blade!"

By the end, Chen Changan had resorted to full-blown live-stream MC chanting!

Hua Mulan's expression shifted drastically, as if she were looking at an absolute madman.

Li Bai lifted his alcohol-reddened eyes, bobbed his head unsteadily, and mumbled with slurred speech, "Kid... what are you doing?"

"Oh, n-nothing... nothing at all!" Chen Changan awkwardly picked up a bowl of wine from the table, drank it in silence, and stopped making a single sound. Quieter than a corpse, he thoroughly abandoned any further attempts at testing the man. He chose to accept the reality that those poems had been written by a native-born Li Bai of the Great Min Dynasty. After all, if the man had truly transmigrated like him, he couldn't possibly have remained completely unfazed upon hearing things like the "Thunderous roar" meme.

Awesome. The bastard really wrote them well!

"I wonder what brings Senior Li to Chang'an City this time?" Chen Changan took the initiative to change the subject.

Warmed to the bone by the alcohol, Li Bai pulled open his collar to let off steam and fanned himself. "Well, Mulan found some clues regarding her younger sister, so I came to help out. Besides, the Tiantai Ceremony is about to begin, so I thought I'd come and join in the lively atmosphere."

"The Tiantai Ceremony?" Chen Changan showed a strong interest in the unfamiliar term.

"Mmhmm!"

Hua Mulan explained, "Yes. Leaders from Confucianism, Taoism, and several other major sects will arrive in Chang'an City to receive an imperial edict of conferment. Their status as sect masters is about to be officially recognized by the imperial court."

"I see!"

Chen Changan nodded. After a moment of thought, he looked at Hua Mulan and said, "Sister Mulan, those two individuals we encountered at the entrance of Shiqiao Town last time belong to the demon race. They probably won't be easy to deal with. If there's ever anything you need me for in the future, just say the word. I am more than willing to do my utmost."

With that, he raised his wine cup in a toast to both Li Bai and Hua Mulan, and said in a clear voice, "I still have some matters to attend to at home. I'll treat Senior Li to a drink another day—I must take my leave now!"

"Go... go ahead..." Li Bai waved his hand drunkenly.

Hua Mulan smiled and nodded. "Alright, off you go!"

...

Leaving Tianxiang Courtyard, Chen Changan followed the directions given by the eunuch and headed straight for the estate bestowed upon him by Empress Bai Wan. Its coordinates were not far from the former Su family residence; both were located in Yong'an Ward. He paced around the perimeter to measure it out, estimating it to be around five or six hundred square meters.

"Holy shit, Bai Wan is truly generous. Then again, who else could claim such massive contributions?"

Chen Changan's mood instantly lifted. He straightened his clothes and grooming, smoothed his hair down neatly with his hands, placed his hands behind his back, and strode proudly into the estate. The moment he crossed the threshold, he saw Su Wanqing reciting the "Su Family Estate Employee Code" to nearly eighty servants.

"Good grief! The previous standard was only allowing a dozen or so servants and maids, and now there are this many all at once!"

Chen Changan muttered to himself in amazement and called out, "Second Sister!"

Su Wanqing, who had been earnestly instilling ideological discipline into the servants with the air of a high-ranking executive, immediately looked up and shrieked with excitement, "Ah, Third Brother-in-law, you're finally back!"

"Greetings, Third Master!" All the servants bowed ninety degrees in unison.

"Changan? Where is he, where is he?!" Qin Furuo, who was busy rushing through breakfast in the kitchen, burst out excitedly holding a kitchen knife in her left hand and a live fish in her right, her face still smudged with soot.

Su Qingtang hurried over from the main hall, grabbed him by both hands, and pulled him forward with a beaming smile. As they walked, he chimed in, "Ah, Changan, you've truly worked hard! Come, come! You and I, father and son-in-law, can have a good chat. Let the women busy themselves with whatever they're doing—pay them no mind, we can just eat later."

"My good son-in-law, truly a fine son-in-law!"

"Oh, let me through!"

Qin Furuo brazenly wiggled her rounded hips to shove her husband aside, snatched Chen Changan away, and grabbed hold of him. Radiant with joy, she cooed, "Changan, you're finally back! Come, let me show you around our new home. Oh, it's so big and lovely to live in!"

"Right! Right!"

Chen Changan skillfully avoided the murderous glare directed at him by his father-in-law, Su Qingtang, and allowed himself to be dragged by Qin Furuo toward the back garden of the new estate.

"I was actually planning to come back and explain why I caused them to be thrown into prison, but these folks are acting completely as if they have no memory of it at all. Looks like I was worrying over nothing!" Chen Changan muttered to himself as he trailed behind, fixing his gaze on his mother-in-law's waistline.

...

At the intersection of Xianyu and Jiahui Wards, right in front of Wuwei Alley, the distinctive clacking of wooden geta striking the pavement sounded in a steady rhythm. Though slow, it drew closer and closer. Before long, Nagato Takuya's figure appeared at the mouth of the alley, entering the line of sight of the lookout guards.

"Hey, who goes there? Halt and come no further!" they shouted loudly to stop him.

*Whoosh!*

Without answering, Nagato Takuya's figure flickered and vanished from the alley entrance like a television image suddenly cutting out. Almost simultaneously, he seamlessly reappeared in the open martial practice ground in front of the Armory Tower.

Crossing his hands in a refined gesture over his abdomen, with deep and lingering eyes fixed firmly on the three characters on the plaque—"Armory Tower"—as scenes from the past flipped frame by frame through his mind, he raised his head and spoke in a ringing voice:

"Three years ago, this humble servant entered the Nine Provinces to spar with the martial artists of Great Min. I emerged undefeated, yet ultimately lost by half a move to Your Excellency. You and I once made a pact to fight again. Today, this servant has come specially to fulfill it."

"Nagato Takuya pays his respects to Commander Wang. Come forth from the tower and fight me!"

The soundwaves rolled forth majestically, shaking the heavens and the earth.