Chapter 702: The Eleventh of the Young Ten Across the Worlds
The woman appeared amidst the vast snow and wind. Her figure was thin, and the white snow of the world made her slightly dark skin seem even darker. Her hair was tied up in a playful, cute bun, revealing a high forehead, without any hairpins or ornaments. The young woman, who did not look very old, stood still about ten zhang away from the group of startled hunters. She took out a map of northern Aiai Continent, which was from the Lion Peak treasury, and glanced at it. The closest mountain immortal sect to the ice field was a place called the Banner Banner Daoist Temple, located in the northern territory of Aiai Continent. It was not a sect-level immortal dwelling and was relatively detached from worldly affairs. The city at the foot of the mountain was called the Castle Touni, in the Lin Prefecture of the Yü Gong Kingdom. She put the map back into her sleeve, first clasped her hands in greeting, and then asked in standard Aiai Continent High Speech: "Excuse me, how far is it from here to Touni City?"
An old cultivator stood up cautiously and asked tentatively, "Senior, could you be Grandmaster Liu?"
This was the best-case scenario. The worst case was that the other party was actually a great demon in human form, deliberately toying with them as their certain prey. On the vast ice field, there were four great demons, each ruling one region. The southernmost one called itself Xiliu, occasionally riding a snow-white lion while patrolling its territory. Rumor had it that this demon enjoyed appearing in the guise of a handsome man. Over a decade ago, it had engaged in a life-or-death battle with Grandmaster Liu, who came to the ice field to "earn some rouge money and save up for a dowry." At the time, even as far away as Touni City in the Yü Gong Kingdom, people could feel the shocking battlefield manifestations of that fight. After that, although Grandmaster Liu was severely injured, she turned misfortune into fortune, using the strongest Distant Journey Realm to break through her bottleneck and successfully enter the Ninth Realm. The great demon Xiliu also seemed to be badly hurt and went into seclusion. In the years since, cultivators from Aiai Continent who came to hunt demons, taking advantage of the temporary loss of the southern ice field's demon overlord, formed groups and swarmed the area, hunting all sizes of demons in the southern ice field and plundering heavenly treasures and earthly rarities.
However, the great demon Xiliu had two capable generals helping guard its territory. One was a rogue cultivator of demonic arts who called himself Autumn Water Daoist. The other great demon, in the form of an old woman, carried a large hemp sack on her back. Whenever she saw cultivators, she would smile, and her catchphrase was, "Our young master Xiliu's appetizer is settled. Thanks to you all."
But neither side was commonly encountered. If one was unlucky enough to bump into them, the only thing to hope for was a better reincarnation in the next life.
In truth, the southern ice field had once had another ferocious great demon, but it had been skinned by the Grandmaster Liu mentioned by the old cultivator.
Pei Qian shook her head and said, "No."
The other party's respectful address made her uncomfortable. But being a stranger in a foreign land, meeting by chance, and unsure of others' intentions, Pei Qian did not reveal her name.
Pei Qian knew who the so-called Grandmaster Liu was. A Ninth Realm martial artist, a woman named Liu Suiyu, a nominal guest offering of the Liu family, the God of Wealth of Aiai Continent, and the strongest hope for Aiai Continent to produce a second Tenth Realm martial artist—a Mountain Peak Realm power. When she was practicing boxing at Lion Peak, Senior Li Er had roughly explained the martial arts situation and the names of masters on Aiai Continent during his spare time. The foremost martial artist of Aiai Continent was Pei Axiang, with a strange surname and an even stranger name. His nickname was "Thunder God," and his fist arts were fierce. His dwelling was an ordinary, unknown Thunder God Temple. Liu Suiyu was one of his three direct disciples. This old martial artist, who was top-notch at both practicing boxing and taking disciples, had fought countless battles on his path to the pinnacle of martial arts—even just over the name "Axiang." Among these battles was one with Wang Fusu, the oldest Tenth Realm martial artist on Northern Juzhou Continent. They had agreed to fight on the sea, the reason being that Wang Fusu liked to call him "Sister Axiang" and would tell everyone that Sister Axiang from Aiai Continent had very manly punches.
Rumor had it that after Wang Fusu returned to Northern Juzhou Continent from the sea, though covered in wounds, he was in high spirits. When a friend from the mountains asked about the outcome, Wang Fusu sneered and only said, "How much weight can a fluff-punching girl from Aiai Continent have?" The outcome of that conflict between Tenth Realm martial artists was obvious. Indeed, after that, Pei Axiang closed his doors at the Thunder God Temple and has lived in seclusion for decades. Later, Gu Hu went to Monkey Cry Mountain to box with Sword Immortal Ji Yue, and both died, causing Northern Juzhou Continent to lose a Tenth Realm martial artist. The mountain-and-water gazettes of Aiai Continent had more coverage of this than Northern Juzhou Continent, with most of it being gloating.
The group of cultivators were all uneasy, and for a moment, none dared approach the young woman of unknown allegiance. The great demons of the ice field were almost all more eccentric than the last. Take this woman before them: was she really passing by and had just saved them? Was it not a vicious trick like a cat playing with a mouse? Hunting monsters on the Aiai Continent ice field was a moneymaking business that required tying one's head to their belt—and an unreliable belt at that. So one had to rely on numbers. Every hunter heading to the ice field had to sign a life-or-death contract with the Northern Mountain Alliance before departing, and also had to clarify the compensation for survivors' families. Of course, if they returned empty-handed or were wiped out, then everything was over. Generally, a minimum of three people would team up: one formation master responsible for setting traps—this person was the most critical—one pure martial artist or military cultivator, who preferably carried both a defensive heavy artifact and an offensive heavy treasure to lure the monster into the forbidden formation area. Because compared to other cultivators, this person had the toughest physique, able to protect themselves and hold off the thick-skinned monsters without being routed at first contact. Additionally, there had to be a Qi refiner proficient in water methods, who could take advantage of weather and terrain to coordinate with the former to kill the monster with spells.
If the leader could gather a group of five, they would often add another Qi refiner with great offensive power, capable of delivering a fatal blow to the monster during the encirclement with a "one-trick specialty." Then they might also add a medicinal cultivator to help sustain the team during prolonged combat. In this way, the hunting team could both advance and retreat, attack and defend. Even if the ice field trip yielded nothing, they could at least preserve their lives and safely return to Touni City or that Banner Banner Daoist Temple to plan anew. But even traveling together, there were still many accidents. Today, they had set out without checking the almanac and had run into a Golden Core great demon.
Pei Qian understood these people's worries and didn't want to explain too much. She just needed to head straight south to Touni City for a temporary rest, and their doubts in their hearts would naturally vanish like smoke. Whether traveling with Li Huai through Northern Juzhou Continent or now venturing alone in Aiai Continent, Pei Qian's mind was only on practicing boxing. She did not expect to be able to make friends and confidantes along the way like her master, to drink together without even knowing each other's names if they hit it off. Pei Qian knew she couldn't learn that, couldn't do it. Just as Cui Dongshan privately thought: as long as his teacher, her master, Chen Ping'an, was not by Pei Qian's side, then the Haoran World outside the Lotus Flower Blessed Land of yesteryear was still the streets and alleys of the Southern Yuan Kingdom's capital. All people were still those of the Southern Yuan Kingdom's capital. For Pei Qian, aside from her master and the Fallen Mountain, the martial world beneath her feet had always been the same. It would be difficult to change this in the past, present, or future.
Pei Qian suddenly stopped, thrusting her mountain walking stick deeply into the snow. She said to them, "You go first. Hurry to Touni City. Be careful on the road—danger still lingers." Then Pei Qian frowned and glanced into the distance behind the group of Qi refiners. It was already a bit late. Behind her, an old woman who appeared to be stumbling but was actually gliding rapidly, carrying a large hemp sack swaying on her shoulders, arrived gracefully. The snow and wind parted way for her as she passed. She stopped about a hundred paces from Pei Qian, coughing incessantly, squinting, and rasped with a smile, "What a sharp-fisted little girl! Coming all the way south, unwilling to part with even a single demon core, making us look far and wide. A pure martial artist like you, boxing only for practice and not for profit, is even more hateful than that crazy woman surnamed Liu." Besides this old woman, on the southward path of the northern hunting group, a barefoot Daoist, draped in a crane-feather cloak and wading through the snow, loudly recited the Daoist scripture *Autumn Floods Chapter of Zhuangzi*. The Daoist held several plum branches full of blossoms in his hand, pausing occasionally in his recitation to pluck a few plum blossoms and stuff them into his mouth to chew, then scoop up some snow to swallow along with the blossoms. Every time he chewed the plum blossoms and snow, a flowing radiance seeped from his meridians and bones, presenting a divine immortal aura of a successful cultivator with golden branches and jade bones. One in the north, one in the south, blocking the way.
Seeing that the old woman and the barefoot Daoist had no intention of making a move for now, Pei Qian stepped forward in an instant, appearing beside the old cultivator. She took off her bamboo box, and warned the group of cultivators who were gathering around, "Just form your formation to protect yourselves. If possible, and if your lives are not at risk, please look after my book box. If the situation becomes critical, each of you flee for your lives. I will try to protect you." Pei Qian paused for a moment, then added, "I will do my best."
Since the old woman and the barefoot Daoist were targeting her, Pei Qian would have to throw more punches. It was only right to do so for others and for herself. When walking the martial world, one must uphold righteousness. Earlier, she had casually killed that demon and saved those cultivators—she really had just done it on a whim. Since she had the spare strength and the ability, she should throw her punches, not expecting anything in return. As for the goodwill or malice of the people in this world, what did it have to do with Pei Qian's boxing or punching? Nothing. What Pei Qian cared about were only two things: her master's teachings and Grandpa Cui's instruction in boxing.
The old woman glanced again at the green bamboo cane left behind by the young woman. Earlier, when she had focused her gaze on it, she could not fully see through the concealment technique; she could only vaguely sense wisps of chilling cold emanating from the cane. This was also an important reason why the old woman had not rushed to act. This old woman, a great demon who had attained the Dao by cultivating on the ice field, was most afraid of provoking the children of the Liu family of Aiai Continent, and also feared the direct disciples and grand-disciples of Pei Axiang's lineage from the Thunder God Temple. Apart from these, everything else was fine. Whether they were eaten alive or braised, it didn't matter for those unlucky cultivators. Other than these two types, occasionally some sect-level factions would come here for training, but they usually had Nascent Soul Earth Immortals protecting them. The old woman had enough discernment to let them be—they could kill some demons if they wished. And those tender-skinned young registered masters usually didn't go too far, and couldn't even if they tried.
Pei Qian turned to the old woman, whose expression was shifting between uncertainty, and said, "I'm just passing through. I didn't provoke you. But if my skill is inferior and I end up as a demon's meal, I'll accept it. If my fist technique is passable, and a demon wants to eat people and gets killed instead, don't blame me for punching hard."
The old woman chuckled and asked, "Judging by the traces of your punches and your path, it seems you landed in the north and then came straight south? Could it be that you're from another continent, little girl? Northern Juzhou Continent, or Ripple Cloud Continent? And your elders at home are actually comfortable letting you cross the entire ice field from north to south all alone?"
The greatest doubt in the old woman's mind was how the great demon in the far north, which was a sworn enemy of their own young master Xiliu, had allowed a little girl to swagger past under its nose and head south. If she wasn't worried about Pei Qian drawing trouble to her, the old woman would have struck long ago. The several fights along the way had all been Sixth Realm punches. Even if she was holding back, deliberately hiding her strength, she was at most a Golden Body Realm little girl—she would surely die.
Pei Qian said, "You don't need to probe my background with your words. If you ask for a box, I'll take it. If you ask for a sword, I'll take it too."
An old cultivator urged in desperation, using mind-to-mind speech: "Senior, no matter your true identity, you should scare them by pretending to be a member of the Liu family. Otherwise, in this encirclement—though you have both fists, you can't beat four hands, and there are definitely many more demons being commanded by this old hag. In our Aiai Continent, being a member of the Liu family is the greatest protective charm. Patriarch Pei and Senior Liu, master and disciple, are both guest offerings of the Liu family. Senior, since you practice martial arts and boxing, you could easily pass yourself off as a grand-disciple of the Thunder God Temple lineage..."
Pei Qian focused her voice into a line and replied, "I have my own master. I dare not lie carelessly."
The old cultivator sighed mournfully but dared not persuade further. At a moment of life and death, who cares about such rigid, pedantic details? As it stood, no one doubted the senior's identity anymore. There was indeed no need. Just the Autumn Water Daoist alone was enough to crush all the hunting cultivators except her. The cultivators of Aiai Continent, whether registered masters or rogue wild cultivators, mostly knew that the number of Upper Five Realm immortals, though high above, was actually no fewer than those on Northern Juzhou Continent, and naturally more than northwestern Ripple Cloud Continent. But as for Eighth and Ninth Realm martial arts grandmasters, they were truly few and far between—far fewer than Northern Juzhou Continent, and even less than Ripple Cloud Continent. Aiai Continent's martial fortune was notoriously meager throughout the entire Haoran World. The legendary Tenth Realm martial artist was only one: Pei Axiang of the Thunder God Temple. In earlier years, he had lost to Wang Fusu, who later went mad and was detained by sword immortals. Northern Juzhou Continent, which had sword cultivators who could cross seas to challenge entire continents, still had one more Zhi Realm martial artist than Aiai Continent even after Gu Hu's death. This made the mountain cultivators of Aiai Continent feel humiliated. To make matters worse, the Liu family God of Wealth, Aiai Continent's number one cultivator, had publicly admitted several times that his Dao techniques could at best count as half of Vulcan Mountain's Fire Dragon True Person. This made Aiai Continent cultivators feel as if, apart from money, they were inferior in every way to that Juzhou Continent, which had stolen the "Northern" character.
Pei Qian turned to look at the barefoot Daoist in the crane-feather cloak. She had seen records of him in the *Book of Immortals* from Hanging Mountain, which her junior brother had purchased. History indeed recorded a Mountain Daoist who liked to recite the *Autumn Floods Chapter of Zhuangzi*, walking barefoot through the world. Rumor had it that he wore an iron crown, aimed to cleanse his innards with plum blossoms and snow, carve withered white bones into a Daoist temple, and return his entire Dao Dharma to heaven and earth after manifesting it. He was always homeless, wandering far with a staff. When he threw his iron staff, it would fall to the ground and transform into a green dragon. That elusive Mountain Daoist was a true accomplished Daoist immortal—certainly not this pretentious roadblocker before her.
Even before opening her boxing stance, Pei Qian had already emptied her mind of all distractions. The moment she held her breath, focused her spirit, and began to pour out her boxing intent, strange visions appeared before her eyes. In an instant, everything fell silent. It was as if Pei Qian alone in heaven and earth was an unbound living being, able to move unimpeded. But Pei Qian knew in her heart that what her vision encompassed was not the literal stopping of the River of Time; rather, its flow seemed to become extremely slow. The closer she came, the more the flow of time in all directions tended toward stillness. After she had begun practicing boxing alone, ultimately, there was only one thing for her to do: try to make the River of Time seem to stop completely, her body and mind free to throw punches in the world. No matter which martial artist in the world asked for a boxing match before her, you would be countless times slower than my punches! Of course, her master was the exception. Pei Qian only practiced boxing to chase after her master; she never dreamed of equaling his fistwork. During her travels on the Sword Qi Great Wall years ago, her master had once said a very strange thing to her: that he should learn this divine ability well from his senior disciple. He was funny when he told jokes. Why should a master learn from a disciple? But this joke, which had once made Pei Qian secretly happy and unable to keep from grinning whenever she thought of it, was becoming less and less funny. Day after day, year after year, her master did not return home, and Pei Qian felt that this joke, which had once warmed her heart, was increasingly like a cage that saddened her, making her almost unable to breathe, wanting to punch it to pieces. Earlier, when she had traveled across continents, forgoing flying to instead tread on the waves over the sea, the target of each of her perfectly intentful punches had been that invisible River of Time.
In an instant, the figure of the young female martial artist disappeared from the old woman's vision. So it was the expected Golden Body Realm after all! Whether cultivators or pure martial artists, their realm and cultivation might be concealable, but as for age—unless the realm gap was too vast—one could roughly tell a person's years by observing their bones. The woman was clearly no more than thirty. Could she really be a newly accepted grand-disciple of Pei Axiang's lineage from the Thunder God Temple? Otherwise, there was no such figure among the young genius martial artists of Aiai Continent! On Aiai Continent, every Golden Body Realm martial artist under forty had a reputation as big as the sky. The God of Wealth Liu had a widely circulated saying: "What a pity I can't use immortal money to smash out a martial fortune." In her panic, the old woman turned around, and the large hemp sack on her back suddenly billowed open, protecting her form. A loud bang! She was struck in the back, sheltered by the sack, as if by a heavy hammer. The punch hit the center of her back, shattering the wind and snow within dozens of zhang. The old woman, facing away from the punching woman, was utterly defenseless. Her feet left the ground, and she shot forward in a straight line, with no chance to change her trajectory—a testament to the weight of that punch. At the same time, the old woman vaguely sensed a gust of fierce wind passing beside her. A blurred figure leaped past her, heading forward. Then, a dozen or so zhang ahead, the figure slid to a stop, twisted suddenly, and delivered a punch to her face. Terrified, the old woman no longer cared about anything. She used her Golden Core as the hub of her human body's microcosm, spinning it within her natal qi mansion, stirring up countless golden rays. These rays connected with her three souls and seven spirits, straining to stabilize her trembling soul. She then sent her yin spirit on a distant journey, retreating and drifting away from her body, carrying two offensive natal objects. She was about to use her spells and divine powers to prevent that vicious little girl's punches from being too arrogant. The other natal object left in her body, commanded by the Golden Core, immediately emitted radiance. A mysterious mountain-and-water formation appeared around the old woman—a pavilion built from countless silver threads, crystal clear, like a glass wonderland. Atop the ridge of this miniature immortal mansion sat the old woman's Nascent Soul, thumb-sized, forming hand seals, constantly drawing on the great water fortune of the snow in heaven and earth to stabilize the formation. But the old woman, fully on guard, did not receive the anticipated second punch. A martial artist, actually forming a talisman and using Earth Shrinking Steps to vanish without a trace!
The barefoot Daoist in the crane-feather cloak, holding plum branches, had originally been intending to take a Qi refiner to relieve his boredom during the fight on the other side. He plucked a plum blossom with two fingers and was about to gently toss it toward one. As for that young woman of unknown origin, he could roughly see her depth: a Golden Body Realm with a very respectable physical foundation. Rare, but still far inferior to Liu Suiyu back in her Distant Journey Realm days. But just as he felt at ease, the barefoot Daoist sensed great danger. His heartstrings tensed, and the crane-feather cloak on him burst into white light. He was about to use an escape technique to leave the spot. But for some reason, an inexplicable stagnation occurred. The cloak, which had already begun to radiate light, was forcibly reverted to its original form, like scattered snowflakes being squeezed into a snowball. This self-proclaimed Autumn Water Daoist, a rogue cultivator of demonic arts, inexplicably reappeared, standing there dumbfounded like a goose, and took the woman's punch directly to the face. Pei Qian withdrew her fist after this one punch as well. The Autumn Water Daoist fell into a deep pit in the snow, sitting on the ground, opening his mouth to inhale all the plum blossoms he was chewing. The bloody, miserable sight of his seven orifices bleeding disappeared in an instant. He stood up, shook the snow off his crane-feather cloak, walked out of the pit barefoot, and made a Daoist hand gesture toward the distance, calling out "Master."
Pei Qian reached out, grabbed her mountain walking stick from afar, and brought it to her hand. Facing the old woman and the barefoot Daoist, Pei Qian did not use the Divine Drumming Style. Because the real enemy was not these two. If she exerted her full strength and killed one of them, it would do no good; instead, it would put her in true danger. She had actually noticed that figure even earlier than the old woman and the Autumn Water Daoist. In the distance, a young nobleman stood atop a snow-white lion, watching the battlefield with a smile. The ruler of the southern region on the Aiai Continent ice field. A jade Pu Realm demon race. Xiliu. Pei Qian didn't consider a Jade Pu Realm to be a great demon. Because she had been to the Sword Qi Great Wall.
The snow-white lion appeared suddenly, landing beside the old woman. Xiliu did not hide his curiosity, sizing up the young woman who was most likely in the Distant Journey Realm. He smiled and said, "For one thing, we ice field demons who shun the light almost never actively go south to cause havoc. For another, you're a rare passerby who follows the rules. I won't make trouble for you. So there's no need for us to make things too stiff. As long as you're willing to leave and hand over this group to Brother Autumn Water for disposal, we'll call it even." Xiliu smiled again and added, "Of course, there's another option: all these immortal masters can leave, and you stay behind. They live, but you, young lady, will become my honored guest. Either you or these six must stay to enjoy the snow with me." Xiliu gave the Autumn Water Daoist a look, and the latter immediately cleared a path. The old woman said with a smile, "My master always keeps his word. You weigh it yourselves." Xiliu of the southern region, this great demon, indeed kept his promises. So the group of Qi refiners quickly communicated with each other through mind-to-mind speech, and almost simultaneously, they decisively retreated south. In the end, only the young female martial artist remained.
Xiliu smiled and said, "Throwing punches for these ungrateful scoundrels, carving out a path to life and getting yourself trapped in a dead end—was it worth it, young lady?"
Pei Qian walked over to her bamboo box and shook her head. "The punches were for myself." She placed her mountain walking stick on the bamboo box and slowly rolled up her sleeves. It seemed this fight would last a while. Good. She couldn't ask for more.
But Xiliu continued to smile and asked, "Not to mention the fights you had on your way south—those were clear matters. But today, you threw punches to kill a demon for these Qi refiners—was that right?"
Pei Qian shook her head again. "I didn't kill it. Believe it or not, it's up to Senior Xiliu." Since the other party was willing to reason, even if temporarily, Pei Qian was willing to say a few more words.
Xiliu was taken aback. He turned his head toward the old woman, who looked slightly embarrassed. "Reporting to my master, the little girl just punched Hua and chased it away." The Golden Core demon that had been chasing the Qi refiners earlier was named Hua. The female martial artist had only wounded it with a single punch, but it was thoroughly scared, mistaking her for a junior sister or direct disciple of the Ninth Realm martial artist Liu Suiyu. It had already fled several hundred li away. And the great demon Xiliu had been attracted by Pei Qian's boxing intent, which was why he mistook Hua as having been killed somewhere. Xiliu grew even more curious. "Little girl, who is your master? This is not the style of martial artists from the Thunder God Temple's Ah Xiang lineage." The respectful address "Senior Xiliu" from the other party made this Jade Pu Realm great demon, standing on the back of a snow-white lion, feel both ridiculous and surprised. Pei Qian hesitated for a moment, then still shook her head. Xiliu seemed to be caught in hesitation, then reached up to press his temple, feeling a headache coming on. What was going on today? First, there was a little girl who was quite reasonable but whose martial arts realm was very unreasonable—if it were just one of those traits, Xiliu wouldn't have hesitated at all. Then came a woman who sent a chill down Xiliu's spine, making him so wary that she could only be a sword immortal. Sword immortals from Northern Juzhou Continent were rarer than anything. And since the other party was also a woman, Xiliu roughly determined her identity: a sword immortal from Aiai Continent who didn't much like her own homeland, Xie Songhua. It was said that Xie Songhua's sword strikes were immensely lethal; in battle, she always determined life or death with a single sword stroke. Xiliu was wary, but not overly afraid. Being on the southern ice field, Xiliu had a great geographical advantage. He definitely couldn't beat her, but he could see the woman's sword immortal style before leaving.
The female sword immortal, carrying a bamboo box on her back, flew in on her sword. The sword intent behind her seemed to carve out a path free of wind and snow, with vast, blinding snow and wind on both sides. She hovered in the air, her expression cold as she looked down at the elusive Xiliu. Xie Songhua had left her two direct disciples, named Zhao Mu and Ju Xing, behind at Touni City. She too had sensed something unusual here earlier and had ridden her sword out of the city, planning to come and watch the excitement. Besides this Xie Songhua, who took disciples in a foreign land, there was Li Cai from the Floating Pond Sword Lake in Northern Juzhou Continent, who had also taken two sword immortal seeds away from the Sword Qi Great Wall: Chen Li and Gao Youqing. As for the female sword immortal Song Pin from Gold Armor Continent, she had also taken two children as direct disciples, both young girls: Sun Zao and Jin Luan. As for Pu He from Ripple Cloud Continent, who had been relegated to Nascent Soul on the Sword Qi Great Wall, he had taken a pair of young boy and girl from the Sword Qi Great Wall: the boy was Wild Ferry, and the girl was Snow Boat. After returning to the Haoran World, Xie Songhua had exchanged cross-continent flying sword letters with Li Cai, Song Pin, and Pu He, and they had made an agreement to meet once every sixty years. It wasn't about competing in sword techniques—that would be meaningless. Especially Li Cai and Pu He, who were severely injured, their sword foundations damaged. Moreover, after experiencing the continuous battles on the Sword Qi Great Wall, even Xie Songhua, who had made the greatest contributions, didn't think her sword technique, this mediocre realm of hers, was anything to boast about. Could she compare with those great sword immortals like Zuo You? Stepping back further, could they, these sword cultivators who had returned alive, compare with those who died in battle like Xie Zhi and Yuan Qingshu? No comparison. So what the four sword immortals would compete in was their ability to teach their direct disciples the art of the sword. They agreed to meet sixty years later, when Xie Songhua and the other three would each bring their disciples to see Li Cai in Northern Juzhou Continent.
Xie Songhua noticed the young woman with a bamboo box and a mountain walking stick at her feet. Xie Songhua opened her mouth as if to speak, then stopped. Back on the Sword Qi Great Wall, she had heard that the students of the young Hidden Official had that kind of look about them. But the woman before her was certainly not Guo Zhujiu from the Sword Qi Great Wall. She remembered there was a little girl from another region named Pei, and though years had passed, she didn't quite match the young woman standing in the snow now. It wasn't that coincidental—to run into someone related to that young Hidden Official in this godforsaken northern ice field of Aiai Continent. Then the young woman looked up, focused her voice into a line, and asked in the dialect of the Sword Qi Great Wall, "Is it Sword Immortal Xie?"
Xie Songhua immediately landed her sword, and the long sword sheathed itself back into the bamboo box. She smiled and asked, "It's really you! The one named Pei... what was it?"
Pei Qian clasped her fists, beaming brightly. "Your junior, Pei Qian!"
Xie Songhua's expression softened a bit as she carefully examined Pei Qian. She said softly, "Very good. Truly worthy of being our Hidden Official's senior disciple. Not bad, not bad." Xie Songhua lifted her chin, pointing at Xiliu. "What's the matter? Bullied? Easy. After one sword stroke, we'll go to Touni City together."
Pei Qian scratched her head and said, "I was just reasoning with Senior Xiliu, like my master would."
Xiliu shrugged helplessly. "Indeed, that's so."
Xie Songhua said, "In that case, I'll take a detour around the southern region from here on and not bother you."
Then Xie Songhua ignored Xiliu and helped Pei Qian pick up the mountain walking stick and bamboo box. Pei Qian took the stick and put the book box back on her back. Xie Songhua spoke telepathically, "Have you heard a huge piece of news? It's somewhat related to your master. It just got around not long ago."
Pei Qian's eyes widened. "What news?!"
Xiliu watched the two figures heading straight into the distance—one tall, one small—and shook his head. What was this whole affair all about?
Xie Songhua said, "I don't know who first put forth this idea, but they selected the 'Young Ten' across multiple worlds."
Pei Qian's spirit soared. "What rank is my master?"
Xie Songhua shook her head, holding back a smile. "It was clearly stated: the ten have no order. They include the Flying Rise City sword cultivator, Ning Yao; the warrior Cao Ci from the Great Duan Dynasty in the Central Earth Divine Continent; the Daoist Shan Qing from the White Jade Capital; and Fei Ran, the foremost of the Hundred Sword Immortals on Tuoyue Mountain. Your master is not among the ten."
Pei Qian was confused. How could this be related to her master?
Xie Songhua rubbed Pei Qian's head and said, "They explicitly said it was the 'Young Ten,' with no ranking—which was already strange enough—yet they listed eleven people. They placed 'Hidden Official' in the eleventh position. Your master is also the only one not named specifically. They only said that he is a Mountain Summit Realm martial artist and also a sword cultivator. So now, the mountain cultivators of the Haoran World are all guessing who this Hidden Official is. Those of us who know your master's identity aren't very willing to discuss it with others, so let them guess."
Pei Qian lifted the bamboo box, adjusted it, and tightened her grip on the mountain walking stick. She looked around at the snow and wind all around, but she said loudly, "He is my master!"