Chapter 868: Brawl
(A long-awaited short chapter...)
In the Barren Wasteland of March, the Jade Hook had already fallen to the mortal world.
The former master of Toad Palace, She Yue, was far away in Haoran, leaving this bright moon as a masterless land.
And that "Haocai" moon that once hung in the center had an ancient immortal palace ruin, dead and silent, as if it had once experienced a great battle of earth-shattering sorcery. The vast estate, once with hundreds of continuous buildings stretching for ages, seemed to have been leveled to the ground in one go, leaving only foundations.
Even when several sword cultivators including Qi Tingji exerted themselves to drag the moon, the ruins showed no abnormality at all. It wasn't until Bai Ze appeared in Yeluohé that earth-shattering turmoil erupted.
An enormous spider occupying nearly one-third of the moon's territory burst out from the ground, instantly transforming into a hunched old man. Opening his mouth to inhale, he seemed to suck all the moonlight into his belly. When he exhaled, it became a long sword.
It was this ancient yao sword cultivator who, earlier, with an abrupt sword strike, had knocked Ning Yao, who was clearing the way, down to the mortal world.
After that, Ning Yao returned to the battlefield with her sword and struck him back into the deep lair within the moon.
He lifted his head and glanced at that ferocious little woman. Activating a natal divine power to probe her true strength, he found it hard to believe—a human sword cultivator under a hundred years old?
This ancient great yao couldn't help cursing in archaic language, bitterly denouncing Bai Ze for his underhanded methods.
His heart trembled. Could it be that sword cultivators ten thousand years later were all this terrifying in cultivation aptitude and sword dao realm?
If so, what use was his awakening? He simply wouldn't be able to handle it, right?
He quickly spread his divine sense to inspect the other sword cultivators. Fortunately, although they were all high in realm, compared to that murderous girl, their ages were considerable.
Was he about to be ganged up on? Without a second word, he executed a natal earth-escaping technique, tunneling straight through the entire moon from his lair. Then he looked up and scanned the distance. Greatly startled, he exclaimed, "Eh? How is the Barren Wasteland missing a moon?"
Then he chose Toad Palace.
A beam of white light instantly connected Haocai and Toad Palace.
But that woman refused to let him go. Her sword light scattered and coalesced several times as she directly flew around half the moon on her sword. The speed of her sword light was utterly unreasonable.
She blocked his path and asked, "Where are you going?"
Since both were sword cultivators, a single question naturally wasn't enough.
The short old man squinted and smiled. "Little girl, with such a hot temper, you'd better be careful not to scare off your dao partner."
His speech differed considerably from the current Barren Wasteland's Dà Yá Yán. Ning Yao barely grasped the general meaning.
Ning Yao couldn't be bothered with nonsense. Just as she was about to strike with her sword, her gaze suddenly shifted, looking into the distance far behind the old man.
It was someone traveling by wind.
Ning Yao let out a sigh of relief.
It was Chen Ping'an, who hadn't returned directly to the Sword Qi Great Wall. Instead, holding a Moon-Chasing Talisman, he first went to the relatively stable Toad Palace moon. Then, following a spider thread that seemed to bridge the two moons, he activated another Moon-Chasing Talisman and finally arrived here.
Chen Ping'an's face was deathly pale. His hands were tucked into his sleeves, making him look like a convalescent who hadn't fully recovered from a serious illness. Standing on that spider thread, his body swayed slightly as he smiled. "Right here. No need to look."
He looked toward that ancient great yao at the peak of the Flying Ascension realm, who had made a lair deep within a moon to rest and heal.
Chen Ping'an smiled at Ning Yao and transmitted his thoughts. "Don't worry about me. Just keep dragging the moon."
Ning Yao nodded without hesitation and immediately returned to her previous position, continuing to unleash sword strikes to stabilize that heaven-opening path.
Earlier, she couldn't help turning back for a glance.
She found Chen Ping'an looking at her.
Perhaps it was telepathy. Perhaps he had been watching her all along.
Ning Yao was responsible for cleaving a path with her sword, using her sword qi and sword intent to forcibly maintain the gate connecting the Barren Wasteland and Azure Underheaven.
This was similar to the old Great Sword Immortal's feat of lifting an entire city to ascend.
Qi Tingji manifested his dharma body, enveloping a thousand-mile radius of the moon with his sword qi, like a rope pulling the moon forward.
The Executioner Hao Su, positioned within a moon, summoned his natal flying sword "Chan Juan," covering ten thousand miles with silver frost that merged with the moonlight. He struck with his sword simultaneously, attacking and defending, together blocking the Haocai moon's dao connection to the Barren Wasteland.
Lu Zhi was at the very rear, summoning her natal flying sword "Bao Pu," along with the eight swords in a wooden box given freely by the Lu Sect Leader. She simply swung her sword to chop the moon, pushing it forward.
The four sword cultivators from the Sword Qi Great Wall, in the matter of dragging the moon, had a clear division of labor, each performing their own duties.
Hao Su was relatively closest to Qi Tingji, and they could barely communicate through thoughts. "Should we take the opportunity to kill this ancient great yao?"
Qi Tingji shook his head and smiled. "Since the Hidden Official hasn't spoken, let's not create extra trouble."
The great yao twisted his wrist, then brought his hand behind his back as if carrying a sword, chuckling. "If it really comes to a fight, you have the advantage in numbers, so your odds are better. But you'd better be careful not to let your plans fail."
He had no opinion on the several sword cultivators' joint effort to move the moon. If Bai Ze didn't care, why should he?
Fuck, after sleeping for ten thousand years, I wake up only to be scared half to death by some little girl, and then forced to watch some silent lovey-dovey display?
Back at Mount Tuoyue, the Third Overseer of the White Jade Capital was still nervous, but now he transmitted his thoughts again: "Bluff him! Let's see who's better at posturing!"
Just then.
Lu Chen suddenly turned serious. "We need to be careful of Bai Ze!"
He shouldn't have come here to join the fun.
But Lu Chen quickly smiled again. "Seems like there's no need to be careful."
Good thing he came to watch the excitement. This poor Daoist has quite the foresight.
---
Atop the city wall, Wei Jin was refining those few strands of ancient sword intent.
Cao Jun claimed he was protecting the Dao, but in truth, he had no mind for cultivation.
Because this great sword immortal of the Wind and Snow Temple's Immortal Platform had unexpectedly entered a certain realm.
As a result, near the two sword cultivators alone, an inexplicable heavy snow began to fall.
With nothing else to do, Cao Jun crouched on the city wall and built a tall snowman, extremely handsome in appearance. Then he made several palm-sized snow sculptures of old throne great yaos. Taking out two pairs of green bamboo chopsticks from his storage treasure, he helped the handsome sword cultivator, who would certainly achieve extraordinary sword mastery within a century, hang a sword at each hip. Then the snowman held both swords, pressing one against each throne yao's head, as if asking them if they were scared.
Cao Jun turned his head to glance at Wei Jin, who sat like an old monk in meditation.
A forty-year-old Jade Purity realm sword immortal.
Later, he honed his sword dao by killing yaos at the Sword Qi Great Wall. After returning home, at sixty years of age, he reached the Immortal realm.
He had heard that A Liang once helped him break through the Nascent Soul bottleneck. Zuo You had instructed him in sword techniques here. The old Great Sword Immortal had gifted him a sword manual. Ultimately, when he returned to the Sword Qi Great Wall, he obtained several strands of pure sword intent from Zong Yuan.
Envious or not?
He didn't even know A Liang. Zuo You once shattered his dao heart with a few sword strikes. The old Great Sword Immortal praised the younger generation as formidable. Zong Yuan's pure sword intent had no interest in him.
Frustrating or not?
Wei Jin suddenly opened his eyes, lifting his head to gaze at the sky.
Cao Jun followed Wei Jin's gaze, looking up into the distance, and rubbed his eyes.
In his field of vision, a large moon gradually revealed its massive outline, "slowly" moving.
The entire southern Barren Wasteland would probably once again be gazing at the same moon.
The five sword cultivators of Tongye Sect—Yu Xin, Wang Shizi, Li Wanyong, Du Yan, and Qin Shuihu—had left the Sword Qi Great Wall ruins earlier and traveled together directly to Sunfall to visit Song Changjing of Great Li and Wei Ying of Yugui Sect.
Thus, they missed the chance to witness the old Great Sword Immortal's sword strike up close.
They only stopped halfway, looking back at the brilliant sword qi like a rainbow over the northern city walls.
Qin Shuihu cursed with a laugh, "Who was the one pushing to hurry earlier? Step forward."
Even from a distance, the group of sword cultivators could still feel the vast sword qi surging to the heavens.
Li Wanyong was dazzled and captivated. He let out a long breath, vigorously rubbing his face. "Only such a sword deserves to be called 'truly pure.'"
Du Yan's gaze was dazed as he murmured, "In this lifetime, we practice swords for a hundred or a thousand years. Could we ever deliver such a sword strike in the end?"
Even if it were only one sword in a lifetime, that would be enough.
Wang Shizi said, "In truth, Zuo You's sword technique is the closest to the old Great Sword Immortal's."
At the mention of Zuo You, the few big men instinctively looked toward the only woman among them.
Yu Xin ignored them completely.
Actually, it was good that she hadn't seen Zuo You at the Sword Qi Great Wall.
Yu Xin couldn't bear to put Zuo You in a dilemma.
Then she laughed at herself. How could Zuo You ever be troubled by the unrequited feelings of a single woman?
Zuo You would only cause trouble for both the Haoran and Barren Wasteland heavens together, wouldn't he?
Chen Sanqiu and Diezhang, along with Shao Yunyan, the Drunk-Faced Lady, and the eighteen sword sons of the Dragon Elephant Sword Sect, flew their swords southward to the ferry.
When the old Great Sword Immortal traveled from the Sword Qi Great Wall to the Barren Wasteland, he deliberately slowed his figure, looked down, and nodded to Chen Sanqiu and Diezhang.
The two young juniors were forced to look up. They caught only a fleeting glimpse and then saw no trace of the old Great Sword Immortal.
Ma Kuxuan finished beating someone up, clapped his hands, and felt refreshed.
The most amusing thing was that the bitter and indignant old Nascent Soul cultivator looked up at the sky and shouted, "Master He, are you just going to let this ruffian hurt people as he pleases?"
The sage of the Confucian Temple seated in the sky didn't bother with thought transmission. He spoke directly, "I'm not here."
Ma Kuxuan laughed heartily. He didn't expect this Master He, who had the privilege of eating cold pork head meat, to have such a sense of humor.
No longer paying attention to that pitiful group of registered immortals, Ma Kuxuan went to sit beside Yu Shiwu.
Gao Ming asked, "Old Ma, can I talk to you about something?"
Ma Kuxuan grinned. "Spit it out if you've got something to say."
Gao Ming asked, "Can I switch to the Falling Mountain and become Chen Ping'an's disciple? I feel that going with the Hidden Official might lead to greater prospects."
The maidservant Shu Dian, along with the boy's senior brother, exchanged bewildered glances.
They all knew that this boy either kept his mouth shut or, when he did speak, was completely off the wall. They just didn't expect him to be this audacious, daring to say anything.
Gao Ming lowered his head, stroking his beloved firewood knife, and muttered to himself, "At least I'd have some face when going out. Unlike following you, Old Ma, wandering around. Whenever I encounter mountain immortals, male or female, they look at me strangely. Master Yu's grand-uncle, what's that saying?"
Yu Shiwu smiled. "If the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam is askew."
Gao Ming nodded vigorously. "Right!"
"You can't choose where you're born, and taking a master is about the same. Just accept your fate."
Ma Kuxuan wasn't angry; instead, he laughed heartily, seeming genuine. He rubbed the boy's head. "Besides, your master hasn't treated you too badly. I said I'd take you up the mountain to cultivate as an immortal and let you eat well and live well—both promises kept."
Gao Ming thought for a moment and nodded. "That's true."
Back then, at the town tavern, before the boy fled, he hadn't forgotten to wipe the blood off his firewood knife onto the corpse.
Actually, the group of fellow villagers hadn't driven him away or blamed him for indiscriminately chopping people and causing big trouble.
Probably because this reckless kid who grew up with them hit hardest in fights and always charged to the front.
But when the boy saw the guilt, fear, and timidity in their eyes, he felt it was pretty boring.
If Ma Kuxuan and his group hadn't appeared, he would have continued hanging out with his fellow villagers. After all, he had nowhere else to go.
But since Ma Kuxuan had said he could go up the mountain to become an immortal, the firewood knife boy wanted to know what an immortal was.
Gao Ming asked curiously, "Old Ma, aren't you and Chen Ping'an from the same hometown? Why do you always butt heads with him? You could pick a fight with anyone, but you had to provoke him?"
Ma Kuxuan raised his hands, clasped them behind his head, and squinted with a smile. "Among our peers, I'm the only one who's beaten him twice?"
The boy looked up in admiration. "Then you're pretty impressive, Old Ma. At least you've had your time of glory."
Ma Kuxuan pointed at Yu Shiwu. "But the one who really makes Chen Ping'an wary now is your Grand-Uncle Master Yu."
Alone, with three parts martial luck.
True divine protection in the realest sense.
Yu Shiwu looked at the few juniors, shook his head, and smiled. "You actually believe that?"
The maidservant Shu Dian and the disciple Wang Zu were skeptical.
Only the firewood knife boy nodded. "Believe it. Why wouldn't I?"
Yu Shiwu laughed it off and turned his gaze southward.
In his eyes, all living beings with spirit in the world were as insignificant as ants in life and death, yet beautiful as gods.
In the Central Earth Confucian Temple, within a scenic secret realm of the Merit Forest, the sword cultivator Liu Cha had transformed from a bearded rogue hero who roamed the Barren Wasteland into a fisherman obsessed with angling.
Fishing was indeed addictive.
Liu Cha's requirements for fishing grew more and more elaborate. Forget the fishing rod and creel; now, choosing a fishing spot, the hook and line, bottom fishing or float fishing, bait and chumming—they all had their knowledge. Liu Cha's "dao technique" had advanced tremendously, and he knew it all inside out.
Of course, the premise was that Liu Cha deliberately suppressed his cultivation, fishing here with the eyesight and strength of a mortal. Without that, there would be no pleasure in fishing at all.
Today's catch was quite good. Liu Cha cooked himself a pot of fish soup. Earlier, he had asked the Confucian Temple for some firewood, rice, oil, and salt. He planned to buy some fish fry to release into the lake. If the Confucian Temple was stingy about this, then Liu Cha would pay for it himself—the cost of the fry and the transportation fee together.
The old throne great yao Yang Zhi was imprisoned in a sparsely populated volcanic range, rumored to have once been the Tao Ancestor's alchemy furnace.
A woman in plain clothes and wooden hairpins, mediocre in appearance, had opened a tavern in a secluded place near water and mountains. Usually, not even a single ghost customer came, and she didn't care.
The Ritual Sage had only made one agreement with her: besides not crossing boundaries, she must not harm anyone. Within a thousand miles, she was free to come and go.
Today, for the first time, a group gathered to drink at this tavern. There was a pretentious mountain god, a river matron in the guise of a young girl, and two mountain goblins who had achieved form through cultivation.
However, these four drinkers had no idea about Yang Zhi's true identity. They simply took the tavern owner as a water spirit who had achieved minor cultivation.
Today, Yang Zhi sat alone at a table, casually flipping through a copy of the "New Book," long banned in Haoran. It contained a parable about a man who killed a two-headed snake. Yang Zhi sighed deeply as she read it.
At the next table, that mountain god was still boasting about how the great yao Yang Zhi, that bitch, was now under his jurisdiction. He claimed that every day he made two rounds of a certain volcanic crater, and that old hag trembled with fear, not daring to look him in the eye.
The river matron girl cupped her cheeks with both hands, looking out at the yellow sand earth with mournful eyes, saying that a woman marrying was like a rapeseed falling to the ground—scattered wherever, bitter.
In Beiju Luzhou, a wandering swordsman who never left his name when doing good deeds bought a copy of the "Two Hundred Sword Immortals Seal Collection" at an immortal ferry. Originally, he thought it was cheap and could pass the time. Unexpectedly, there was a pleasant surprise. Flipping to one page, he saw the seal's base inscription: "Let Three Moves."
Du Yu's eyes lit up. This Hidden Official was quite an interesting character.
If the good man senior were to travel to the Sword Qi Great Wall, they would surely get along well.
At the capital's Fire God Temple, the old coachman found Feng Yi.
She was still drunk, sitting on the steps of the flower pavilion, hiccupping.
The old coachman asked gloomily, "What the hell is going on?"
Earlier, in the Great Li capital, an inexplicably huge commotion had occurred, starting at the Flying Ascension level. If they weren't careful, it could have been the legendary fourteenth realm.
Although that astonishing aura had been fleeting, to old antiques like them who had lived for ages, the more controlled and effortless it seemed, the more they respected it.
Feng Yi smiled. "Finally scared?"
The old coachman crossed his arms and snorted. "Of course I'm scared!"
Who wouldn't be scared of something like that? No point in being stubborn.
Besides, there were no outsiders here.
Feng Yi didn't hide her schadenfreude. Swinging her wine flask, she teased, "Outsiders can only see things through a fog. But we old-timers watched that young man from Lizhu Cave Heaven grow up step by step. How could we be so careless?"
"Then do me a favor and pass a message to that kid. Tell him I'm chicken. I guarantee I'll take a detour whenever I see him in the future."
"Why don't you go tell him yourself?"
"Just seeing that kid gets my blood boiling. Better to avoid it."
Mainly, that kid wasn't straightforward. He didn't give them a chance for a disagreement. The last time they met, just a glance and a look locked eyes, and they were already enemies.
The old coachman grew more frustrated as he spoke. He extended a hand. "Since I've got nothing better to do, give me a jug of Hundred Flowers Wine."
Somewhat surprisingly, Feng Yi actually handed him one. "You're generous today."
Feng Yi chuckled. "I'd rather be robbed openly than be schemed against in secret."
---
On the road between the Barren Wasteland and a certain bright moon, a point of light suddenly bloomed.
It was Bai Ze, treading on the river of time, traveling from Yeluohé. Finally, he made a move to stop the four sword cultivators from dragging the moon.
Bai Ze manifested a dharma body, white robes fluttering. Even just one giant hand of the dharma body was enough to grip a bright moon.
But in an instant, from the Sword Qi Great Wall, someone silently moved, taking a step to the heavens, manifesting a towering dharma body of equal height—a Confucian scholar's robe.
One hand pressed down on Bai Ze's dharma body's head, violently shoving it back down to the mortal world.
Bai Ze's dharma body exploded into nothingness, only to reappear at a higher point in the sky. He swung a fist at the Confucian dharma body's head—a heavy, brutal punch.
The Confucian dharma body exploded with a bang.
The next moment, it appeared behind Bai Ze's dharma body, twisting the latter's neck.
One Haoran heaven, one Barren Wasteland heaven.
Both trembled in time.
A seemingly ordinary, utterly "unsophisticated" duel, yet the lingering echoes of both sides' dao techniques had already surged fiercely into the Azure Underheaven.
The ancient great yao's heart trembled violently. Time to scram! Stay here and die?
He didn't even dare to go to that Toad Palace. Instead, he concealed his form and plummeted straight down to the mortal world in a vertical line.
Damn it! It's that little master with the worst temper and the best fight skills!