The Defense of the Mountains of Danfeng.

Qin Ran found that Li Shiyin had been a bit strange these past few days, somewhat...too diligent.

It wasn't that the previous Li Shiyin was lazy, but rather that the Li Shiyin of the past few days was too diligent. In her cultivation, there was a hint of desperateness.

In the morning after getting up, she would practice her swordplay and train for the entire morning. At noon she would meditate. In the afternoon she would battle with Chasing the Wind, and the two of them would often fight for a whole afternoon. At night, she would enter the Star Refining Chamber to cultivate.

At night when Qin Ran was doing research in the study, looking out the window, he could see the unending starlight over Li Shiyin's Star Refining Chamber.

Then when he got up in the morning, he didn't know when Li Shiyin had already started practicing her swordplay again.

"What's going on with Shiyin?" Qin Ran asked Long Qiqi, who was planting medicine behind him. "Did someone offend her? Or is she going to fulfill the Three Year Agreement? Or is she going to explore some secret realm?"

Long Qiqi looked up into the sky, where the sounds of dragons and tigers mingled with flying swords, shadows flickered to and fro, and the constant sounds of battle rang out.

She shook her head: "That's your disciple. If even you don't know what she's doing, how would I know?"

"You're both girls! Your relationship should be closer." Qin Ran said.

"Hiss..." Long Qiqi gritted her teeth and made a hissing sound like a snake spitting air. "I'm a snake!"

"But you're still female." Qin Ran said. "I feel like the gap between males and females is greater than between humans and snakes."

"I don't know, go ask her yourself, or ask that silly tiger. He should know." Long Qiqi turned her attention back to the medicinal seeds she was planting. She muttered bitterly to herself:

"They're geniuses and I'm just average. I'm not from the same world as them. We can't even find a common topic to talk about. When they're thinking about how to form a core, I'm thinking about how to breathe qi. When they're thinking about challenging higher levels, I'm thinking about how to stay alive."

"By the time they're tearing Immortals apart with their bare hands, there will be grass three feet tall on my grave."

Qin Ran looked at Long Qiqi and he truly felt a little sorry for her. He asked, "Have you still not comprehended qi?"

"Whether you can do something like this or not is determined at birth. I've given up hope." Long Qiqi said as she used a small shovel to cover the seeds with soil. She had the sense of digging her own grave.

"You have a very good grasp on theory. It's not so bad that you can't comprehend..." Qin Ran thought for a moment and said to Long Qiqi:

"Fundamentally, I think you're just overthinking things. Cultivation requires keeping an empty and clear mind free of stray thoughts. You may need this line: 'The Bodhi has no tree, the clear mirror also has no stand. Originally there is not a single thing, where can dust be attracted?'"

"What is Bodhi? What stand?"

"The Bodhi is a kind of tree..." Qin Ran explained. "That is to say, originally within a person's Sea of Consciousness, there should not be all those weird stray thoughts. Those all come from external things. It is because you think too much that dust is stirred up. As long as you keep your original mind clear, your thinking will remain lucid. This is Buddhist theory..."

"What is Buddha?" Long Qiqi rolled her eyes at Qin Ran. This guy is an idiot, spewing nonsense again. She was too lazy to bother with him and continued digging another hole to plant herbs.

"Alas!" Qin Ran shook his head and also stopped talking. He continued drawing patterns on the branches of the Devouring Demon Willow.

As the saying goes, casually sticking willow branches leads to ample shade. The willow branches truly were easy to grow. Even though this Devouring Demon Willow was a 9th grade demonic beast, Qin Ran had still managed to grow its branches alive through cuttings.

Of course there was a reason for this. First, its location was precisely the Formation Eye of the Guardian Mountain Formation, so all the spiritual qi leaking from the spiritual spring beneath the lake gathered towards it. Second, Qin Ran had fed it quite a bit of the Breath of Life.

Having been nourished by spiritual qi for a long time, it came back to life and sent out roots underground.

"I hope it won't turn into that Devouring Demon Willow, it's too dangerous..." As Qin Ran drew patterns, he muttered to himself: "But if it really did, a 9th grade greater demon wouldn't be too bad either..."

After finishing drawing the patterns, he cast a mystical art and the patterns disappeared.

He looked up at Li Shiyin and Chasing the Wind battling intensely. After analyzing briefly, he figured Li Shiyin still probably couldn't beat Chasing the Wind.

He didn't bother getting involved and turned to tell Long Qiqi: "After you finish planting the Profound Snow Grass, go research making a medicinal bath at the research tower for yourself to use."

"Oh..." Long Qiqi acknowledged him absently.

Qin Ran came to the Spiritual Pagoda Tree and took out the Spirit Calming Wood, which was also covered in magical patterns. He apologized to the Spiritual Pagoda Tree and then dug a hole in the trunk to place the Spirit Calming Wood inside.

After covering up the hole in the trunk, he went to the waterfall at the back of the mountain and hid the Clear Source Stone beneath the waterfall.

The Formation Base, the patterns, and Formation Eye were all laid out. For this Guardian Mountain Formation, Qin Ran had been planning for over half a year. Today it was finally completely prepared.

After concealing the Formation Base, he returned to the Formation Eye where Long Qiqi had already finished planting the Profound Snow Grass and gone back to the research tower. The battle between Chasing the Wind and Li Shiyin in the sky was also nearing its end. Eventually, Li Shiyin lost due to running out of magic power.

"She still hasn't learned her lesson!" He shook his head and commented: "Such a silly fool..."

Chasing the Wind carried the exhausted Li Shiyin down in his mouth and tossed her limp body onto the grass beside the lake. He lay at the side himself, panting with his tongue out to cool down.

Qin Ran walked over and looked at the girl sprawled on the grass. He asked her: "Do you know why you can't beat Chasing the Wind?" Hearing Qin Ran's voice, Li Shiyin struggled to turn over and squinted at Qin Ran powerlessly. "Because... Chasing the Wind is stronger than me."

The flushed, sweat-drenched young girl lying weakly on the grass was really quite tempting. Qin Ran couldn't bear to scold her. He just repeated what he said earlier:

"Combat is two characters—horizontal and vertical. Those still standing win, those lying down lose. So-called combat is simply beating down the enemy. And in order to beat down the enemy, you have to find the enemy's weakness."

"No one is perfect..." As he said this, he suddenly remembered Su Changqing. This guy didn't seem to have any weaknesses. "People always have weaknesses. As long as you find a weakness, no matter how powerful the enemy, there is a chance to win."

"You're not that far apart from Chasing the Wind. You are entirely capable of beating Chasing the Wind. But you haven't won even once!"

"Why can't you win? How do you win when the weak defeat the strong?"

As Qin Ran spoke, Li Shiyin's wandering attention was suddenly arrested... Hadn't she beaten Song Ze by using the weak defeating the strong? Was master going to teach her how the weak can defeat the strong?

"Concentrate your efforts. Use your strong points to attack your opponent's weaknesses. What are sword cultivators best at? It is extreme offensive power. You've already brought your attack power to its limits. Now why not advance further? Find your enemy's weak point and concentrate all your effort into one sword strike to subdue them!"

Qin Ran taught her, "The reason people like sword cultivators is highly related to their ability to always win when the weak defeat the strong. No matter what situation, no matter how big the disparity, sword cultivators will always have the chance to strike the fatal blow against their enemy. Sword cultivators always have the chance for victory."

"Use my strengths to attack his weaknesses?" Li Shiyin opened her eyes and watched her master's back as he left after finishing his lecture. She knew she truly did have a chance to defeat Song Ze. "No matter how strong a Middle Stage Golden Core Realm expert, can they block my full powered strike?"

In her eyes, an indomitable sword will.

Qin Ran returned to the Formation Eye area and flew up into the air from the Devouring Demon Willow. Flashing imprints with his hands to cast mystical arts, he connected the magic patterns he had left all over Dan Peak. Then he loudly shouted:

"Open!"

Slowly, mist and smoke started rising from the surface of the lake, and eventually concealed the entire peak of Dan Peak in fog.