Outside the small town neighboring the Sword Water Villa, Chen Ping'an returned his sword to its scabbard atop a small and serene mountain. He then descended the mountain and slowly walked along the official road.0

He walked past the small town and arrived outside the entrance of the Sword Water Villa.0

Chen Ping'an took off his bamboo hat and smiled at an elderly steward of the villa, saying, "Can you please inform Sword Saint Song that Chen Ping'an is here to treat him to some hotpot?"0

The old steward hesitated for a moment and glanced at the young man. The visitor had a sword on his back and a wine gourd by his side, so he was most likely a member of the cultivation world as well. However, he looked unfamiliar, and he had never heard the name Chen Ping'an before either. In other words, he most likely wasn't an old acquaintance or friend of the villa. Moreover, it made even less sense for this person to visit the villa now. With this in mind, the old steward said in an apologetic voice, "Young Master, our villa isn't accepting any guests right now, so please make your way back."0

Chen Ping'an had no option but to explain to the old steward that he was genuinely friends with Senior Song. In fact, he had even stayed at the villa for a period of time back then and practiced fist techniques in the pavilion near the waterfall.0

The Sword Water Villa was very strict about rules, and the old steward didn't like to talk about other matters beyond guarding his own area. In addition, Song Yushao had designated the area near the Mountain and Water Pavilion as a restricted area back then, so the old steward genuinely hadn't heard about Chen Ping'an before. Most importantly, the old steward was proud of his good eyesight and decent memory even though he was getting old, and he was confident that he could remember all of his acquaintances from the cultivation world as long as he glanced at them a few times. However, he genuinely didn't recognize the young man in front of him. He had never...0