Chapter 113: Momentum Like a Rainbow
When the Great Li Emperor stepped onto the highest staircase and crossed onto the platform, his figure vanished instantly.
The stone flatland, originally no larger than a farmer's grain-drying ground, appeared empty and devoid of anything when viewed from afar by Song Changjing and the two Grand Eunuchs of the Directorate of Ceremonial. Yet to the man in the ceremonial robe standing within it, what met his eyes was a sudden towering building over ten zhang tall. It was not a wooden structure commonly seen in the Great Li capital, but one painstakingly built from countless pieces of white jade. At its base hung a plaque inscribed with three golden characters: "White Jade Capital."
The tall building's doors slowly opened on their own, and the Great Li Emperor stepped inside. There, a massive sword wrapped in a frantic white electric glow hovered in midair. The entire floor was filled with threads of wandering electric light. The Emperor ignored the electric light, which carried a sharp sword intent, and strode forward toward the stairs. The electric light parted before him like court officials yielding to a Chief Councilor.
The second floor presented a similar scene, with a single flying sword suspended at the center. However, unlike the broad blade of the first floor, this sword was a translucent, crystalline green, its blade slender like an early spring willow leaf. Within the floor, a gentle green current flowed like a mountain stream, rippling softly.
The Great Li Emperor continued ascending. At first glance, the third floor seemed unremarkable compared to the stunning sights below—no imposing flying sword hovered, nor any bizarre sword-nurturing environment. But the man in the ceremonial robe, who had not paused before, stopped here. He narrowed his eyes and carefully scanned the surroundings, then whispered with a laugh, "Found you." He walked to a nearby wall, leaned forward slightly, and in his line of sight appeared a miniature flying sword no larger than an embroidery needle. Astonishingly, this tiny sword even had a grayish-white scabbard engraved with the characters "Pillar."
This inconspicuous little thing bore a rather grand and exaggerated name.
The fourth floor held an ancient long sword covered in talismanic inscriptions and seal script. The fifth floor contained a sword so absurdly large it matched the height of a man from Great Li, inscribed with the characters "Suppress Mountain."
The Great Li Emperor ascended floor by floor, finally stopping only at the tenth floor. Inside stood an old man and two youngsters. The old man had a dark, wrinkled face, a tall stature, wore white robes and a tall crown, and within his deep eyes, a visible purple qi rapidly swirled.
Beside the old man were a young boy and girl—the master and servant from Clay Vase Alley in the town of Li Zhu Cave Heaven: Song Jixin and his maid Zhigui. The boy, adorned in brocade and a jade belt, was already one of the most refined young gentlemen of Great Li. The only flaw was a dull yellow four-legged lizard lying on his shoulder, somewhat disrupting the aesthetic, though upon closer inspection, its forehead bulged slightly, hinting at nascent horns.
The maid Zhigui seemed to have grown a few inches taller than in Clay Vase Alley, her beauty even more radiant, her entire person shining with a mystical aura, as if experiencing a long-awaited rain after a drought.
The old man stood by the tenth-floor window, pointing toward a certain place in the Great Li capital, instructing the boy. When he noticed the Great Li Emperor's arrival, he merely nodded in greeting. The Emperor took no offense, walking over to Song Jixin's side and reaching out to pat the boy's head. But the boy subtly turned aside, dodging the hand. The Emperor's expression remained unchanged; he withdrew his hand and asked with a smile, "Song Mu, you've been studying the art of observing qi with Master Lu for some time now. Have you discovered the location of the mountain and river great formation's eye in our Great Li capital?"
The boy's face was cold, and his tone carried a sense of estrangement: "Not yet."
The old man in the tall crown laughed and said, "Geomantic arts are not so easily mastered. However, Song Mu is already outstanding, no less than the young talents of other continents. The key is that Song Mu has great stamina, and since he excels at calculations and deductions, he learns everything with half the effort. Upstairs, Master Luan, with his broad vision, did not hesitate to praise Song Mu, calling him 'a vessel of great worth.'"
The Great Li Emperor roared with laughter, "He's my son after all."
The maid Zhigui quietly stepped back a few paces, wrinkled her nose, and sniffed.
The Great Li Emperor turned his head and scolded with a smile, "You little thief, you're quite bold."
The girl looked completely bewildered and innocent. The man pointed at her and teased, "It's easier to borrow if you return, so don't just take without giving. Be careful, or I'll send you back to that Dragon-Trapping Well. Besides, the nearest immortal sect to the capital, the Spring Longevity Palace, has a well too. I'll have you move in there for a while."
The joke from the man in the ceremonial robe made Zhigui's face turn pale. She quickly parted her lips slightly and spat out a wisp of golden qi. These ethereal threads, like tiny golden snakes, swiftly attached themselves to the dragon patterns on the man's robe, swimming joyfully among the silk threads of the magnificent imperial garment. The robe trembled slightly, shimmering with waves of light, and at the hem, where waves and cliffs were embroidered, tiny splashes of water actually appeared.
The Great Li Emperor laughed heartily, "With such a timid nature, how did you dare to vent your temper at Mr. Qi time and again back then?"
The girl's face darkened. She moved to another window and let her gaze travel south, leaving the tall building, leaving the palace, leaving the capital, trying to see the distant homeland in the south.
She didn't like this place, this Great Li capital named Ascending Dragon City.
The Great Li Emperor's smile faded, and he asked the old man, "Does Master Luan really have the confidence to build the White Jade Capital up to thirteen floors?"
The white-robed old man, exuding an immortal aura, said solemnly, "If not, why would Luan Changye come to Great Li?"
The man nodded, placed his hands on the windowsill, and looked out at the thriving and prosperous capital, self-deprecatingly saying, "That's good. Although I'm widely recognized as a frugal emperor both at court and among the people, and many monarchs and rulers on East Treasure Vase Continent privately mock me as a thrifty housewife, there are some places where I'm willing to spend everything, even if it means selling off the family's iron pots."
The old man smiled knowingly and sighed with emotion, "After hundreds of years of diligent effort, all the income the Great Li Song clan earned from managing Li Zhu Cave Heaven has now been poured into this White Jade Capital. If that's still considered stingy, then no other generous ruler can be found on East Treasure Vase Continent."
The Great Li Emperor asked, "Though it may seem ungraceful, I still want to confirm one last time with Master Lu: As long as it's within the area north of Guanhu Academy on East Treasure Vase Continent, against a tenth-floor cultivator who dares to oppose Great Li, this tower only needs to unleash ten swords. For an eleventh-floor cultivator, eleven swords. For a twelfth-floor cultivator, all twelve swords fly out of the tower and can instantly slay them from millions of miles away?!"
The old man surnamed Lu said with boundless boldness, "Just a mere East Treasure Vase Continent, there will be no exceptions!"
The old man added, "Observing the celestial signs and combining intelligence from various sources, that hatchet-wielding man in the bamboo hat is definitely an upper-five-floor qi practitioner. Most likely eleventh floor, but twelfth floor is not impossible. After all, the distance is too great, and that person deliberately conceals his aura. Whether through my astrological calculations or the remote viewing divine ability of the Palm River Mountain, there is still some fuzziness."
The old man waved his sleeve casually and laughed, "But let me be clear beforehand: the White Jade Capital currently has twelve floors in total, one flying sword per floor. Although they possess great divine powers and immense killing force, enough to intimidate qi practitioners across the continent, every time a sword leaves the tower, it consumes a tremendous amount. Even though Great Li has just annexed the wealthy northern Lu dynasty, if we were to deploy all twelve swords at once, we would be unable to do it again for twenty years, unless His Majesty is willing to bear the cost of all the flying swords being destroyed."
The man in the ceremonial robe nodded, understanding in his heart.
Song Jixin suddenly spoke up, "Currently, Master Luan hasn't yet built the thirteenth floor of the White Jade Capital. What if that uninvited guest challenging Great Li is a thirteenth-level cultivator?"
The man in the robe smiled but said nothing.
The old man surnamed Lu laughed heartily and explained softly, "A thirteenth-level qi practitioner? Even on the largest continent under heaven, my homeland, they are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. Moreover... the heavenly secret cannot be leaked. Enough, enough. You only need to know that even the eleventh-floor Ruan Qiong of the Wind and Snow Temple is already a great figure capable of founding a sect. The word 'sect' carries great weight; only when an upper-five-floor cultivator sits in charge can it be called a certain sect. Otherwise, it would be a breach of propriety, and those old Confucian scholars who are most particular about rules would be furious, blowing their beards and glaring."
The Great Li Emperor said slowly, "Although Ruan Qiong has a bad temper, acts decisively, and seems a bit cold and indifferent, he's already drawn much criticism from Great Li's native immortal clans, but his temperament suits Great Li's taste. I'm naturally willing to treat him with courtesy. For cultivators like him, Great Li welcomes all who come. As the ruler of Great Li, I'm even willing to sit on equal footing with them. Besides, the simple truth of 'buying a horse bone with a thousand gold' is understood by anyone sitting on the dragon throne."
Song Jixin was still not satisfied, stubbornly insisting, "What if it really is a thirteenth-level qi practitioner?"
The old man in the tall crown shook his head with a smile.
In the upper five realms, the two highest realms had long been lost, so the thirteenth level was the greatest and highest legend under heaven.
It was not found in any secular dynasty's records or secret archives, and even the mountain immortal sects of the 'sect' level were tight-lipped about it.
The old man surnamed Lu, because he came from one of the world's top thousand-year-old aristocratic families, was a noble disciple of a great continent, and once a promising young cultivator, he was able to piece together some inside information through fragmentary talk among his elders. It probably wasn't too far from the truth.
Among the upper five realms, the Ascension Realm was already the peak of 'the world,' just like the tenth realm of pure martial artists—the true ultimate realm, beyond which there was no traceable path to walk. Moreover, once one reached this realm, the ethereal Heavenly Dao would detect it, judging such a person as a great thief stealing the foundations of heaven and earth. It must be eliminated, for it could not be tolerated by the cosmos, leaving no foothold for cultivators of this realm. Therefore, qi practitioners in this realm were even more reclusive than the immortals and sages in the eyes of mortals, or those tenth-realm cultivators, lest they be forced to ascend.
As for where exactly they ascended to, and how their physical bodies and souls were disposed of, the old man surnamed Lu had no idea. He merely speculated privately that it might be connected to the already collapsed divine path.
The Great Li Emperor lowered his head slightly, looking at the still-youthful face, and asked in return, "What if?"
The boy nodded, "Yes!"
The Great Li Emperor withdrew his gaze and laughed, "If your crow's mouth really hits the mark, it's still no big deal."
The boy sneered without any disguise, not taking the man's words seriously at all. This man might be the supreme sovereign of vast Great Li, the ruler of the largest dynasty in northern East Treasure Vase Continent, and considered by many to be an ambitious schemer with designs on the south. But now that the boy had embarked on the path of cultivation, with two seniors by his side who were among the top qi practitioners in the world, and having smoothly obtained the great opportunity of the White Jade Capital, he understood all the more the immense deterrent power a thirteenth-level qi practitioner held over a nation or a sect.
The Great Li Emperor's gaze softened, still fixed on the boy, and he said gently, "In my Great Li dynasty, successive emperors have relied on this very 'what if' to rise step by step from a vassal state of the former Lu dynasty to where we are today. Not only have we annexed the Lu dynasty, but we are about to mobilize the entire nation to attack Great Sui, with overwhelming odds. Next, with no worries behind us, we will truly march south, and the early stages will certainly be a situation of unstoppable momentum. So I have never disliked the notion of 'what if.' I even keep telling myself that a truly magnificent emperor, worthy of being called a great strategist in future histories, is one who can break and crush those 'what ifs' that favor the enemy one by one. At the very least, one must be able to bear such a 'what if.'"
The man's expression was calm, "Song Mu, this is the temperament a true overlord and a ruler of a nation should have."
The man finally laughed, "Song Yuzhang should have taught you these principles earlier, but he didn't dare."
The boy's face darkened.
The man paid no attention to the boy's little resentment and looked up at the sky, "The White Jade Capital in heaven, twelve towers and five cities. I truly wonder how magnificent the real White Jade Capital above is."
The man bent his finger and lightly tapped the boy's head. The boy couldn't dodge in time, somewhat resentful. The man laughed heartily, not minding the presence of two outsiders, and said bluntly, "Your mother favors your younger brother, but I favor you more. Even a vicious tiger won't eat its own cubs. Truly, the most venomous is a woman's heart."
The man looked somewhat melancholic and muttered to himself, "Purple usurps vermilion."
Then he broke into a smile, "That Mr. Qi—I am in his debt. Great Li owes him. But that you are his disciple is a good thing."
The boy held back for a long time, then finally blurted out an irrelevant question, "As the Great Li Emperor, why don't you call yourself 'the solitary one'?"
The man gently placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, "Great Li has been regarded as barbarian lands for nearly a thousand years. I hope to remind myself through this not to forget this great shame!"
The boy was taken aback.
The man withdrew his hand and couldn't help laughing, "Just kidding. I only think the term 'solitary one' is unlucky."
The old man in the tall crown suddenly called out, "He's coming!"
The man asked, "Instead of fleeing from the encirclement, he's charging straight at us?"
The old man's mind trembled violently. He stared wide-eyed out the window to the south, his voice trembling, "Tenth level, eleventh level, twelfth level! He's already at the peak of the twelfth level!"
The man's expression remained calm, and he instructed the boy, "Song Mu, it's your turn."
Song Jixin took a deep breath, turned to face south, made a hand seal, and gritted his teeth, saying, "I, Song Mu! By the decree of the Great Li Emperor, I command you, the twelve righteous gods guarding the mountain and river qi, to receive the swords!"
The Great Li capital surged with wind and clouds, and in an instant, sword aura shot up from the tall building.
The sword on the first floor was the first to break through the air, a flash of lightning rising. Within the Great Li capital, countless people looked up in shock at the streak of lightning hanging above their heads.
Moments later, the flying sword from the second floor followed.
The third sword from the third floor.
And so on until the twelfth sword.
Half of these flying swords did not fly straight south to confront the enemy but instead detoured in the other three directions.
Moreover, when the flying swords left the tower, they had already become enormous. After leaving the capital, they grew even larger. Even the tiny sword, as small as a willow leaf inside the tower, transformed into a massive sword over ten zhang long after leaving the Great Li capital a hundred li away.
With this twelve-story tower, a replica of the heavenly White Jade Capital, as the starting point, righteous gods responded to the decree in all directions, revealing their majestic divine forms. At the summit of the Great Li Southern Mountain, a golden god over a hundred zhang tall stood on the peak, raising his arm high and shouting loudly, "The Southern Mountain accepts the decree to receive the sword!"
Across the Great Li territory, the other eleven mountain and river righteous gods, revealing their colossal divine forms, each caught the flying sword that left the tower, then strode through the void, covering tens of li in a single step.
Without exception, their spearheads pointed directly at the rainbow-like streak flying from south to north.
The golden divine form of the Southern Mountain righteous god was the first to meet the enemy.
A thunderous crash.
The divine form and the flying sword shattered together.
From the top floor of the White Jade Capital in the capital came a sigh of astonishment, filled with confusion and helplessness.
The old man in the tall crown murmured, "Impossible, impossible..."
On the tenth floor, blood seeped from the corners of Song Jixin's mouth.
The Great Li Emperor's brow was tightly furrowed.
Only the maid Zhigui leaned on the windowsill, looking around carefreely.
The second golden deity exploded in the same manner with a thunderous crash.
At intervals, a thunderclap echoed across the Great Li domain.
The boy was now a tragic sight, blood flowing from his seven orifices, his face twisted, yet he still forced himself to hold his mind steady.
When the sixth sound rang out in the distance.
The old man on the top floor smiled bitterly, "I'm afraid of you. I'll make way for you, alright?"
The remaining six golden divine forms, originally lined up from north to south, began to shift left and right, clearing the path in the middle.
As if feeling that there was still some unfinished business, the streak of white light paused slightly, but quickly dismissed the idea of troubling those deities and continued straight ahead.
Finally, this figure crashed into the Great Li capital and landed below the platform that concealed the White Jade Capital.
The Great Li prince, Song Changjing, had sweat beading on his forehead, but he still stood before the man who descended from the sky, blocking his path.
Song Changjing soon broke into a smile, feeling that if he could have a fierce battle with this man, he would die without regret, and his life would not be in vain!
On the square stood a plain-looking man. Comically, he had leg wrappings tied to his calves, suitable for walking mountain paths, and held a broken green bamboo knife in his hand. The man turned his head to look at the capital's city wall, let out a puzzled "eh," then turned back to look at the tenth-realm martial prince. He glanced at Song Changjing, nodded slightly, expressing a hint of approval, then raised his gaze to the top of the platform that concealed the mysteries.
He discarded the bamboo knife, lightly stamped his foot, and the White Jade Capital tower was forced to reveal its true form.
He drew the narrow knife Xiangfu from his waist, casually raised the arm and pointed the tip at the tower, and said in a loud voice, "You five inside, which one is the Great Li Emperor? I'm in a hurry, so come out quickly and kowtow in apology! I'll count to ten. Ten!"
"One!"
The man, who jumped straight from ten to one, suddenly slashed down at the platform and tower with his knife.
(This chapter ends)