Chapter 213 (2): Longing
The person who had broken Li Tuanjing's record to become the youngest 10th tier swordsman in the history of the continent was none other than Wei Jin, and at this point, he was already an immortal of the Upper Five Tiers.
Huang He slowly returned to the pavilion with his sword casket on his back, while the Sun Scorch Mountain cultivators hurriedly sent out people to retrieve Su Jia.
This entire time, Li Tuanjing merely stood with a smile on his face and his hands clasped behind his back.
Even if I'm on the cusp of drawing my final breath, I'm going to exert my dominance over your Sun Scorch Mountain to the very end. Even if your remains are taken back to Sun Scorch Mountain, they still won't feel any sense of accomplishment over the deed. You broke my heart 300 years ago, and in return, I've dominated your entire Sun Scorch Mountain for 300 whole years.
Those juniors of yours who were fortunate enough to have become Sword Immortals are too embarrassed to even hold celebratory ceremonies, and they can only cower on the mountaintop, lamenting their own incompetence. So what if I'm going to die today? Are you happy now?
Li Tuanjing cast aside his train of thought as he made his way downstairs, gently patting the bannister as he did so.
Arriving on the lower floor, he made his way over to a young man's side.
The young man was none other than Liu Baqiao, and his lips were quivering as he stared into space.
"It must be a very bad feeling seeing the woman you love being humiliated and having her Dao Heart crumble, only to be unable to jump in and save her because you're from opposing camps," Li Tuanjing said with a smile.
Liu Baqiao immediately snapped back to his senses, and he was just about to jump down from the railing, but Li Tuanjing laid a hand onto his shoulder to stop him. "There's no need to stand up, just remain seated."
A guilty look appeared on Liu Baqiao's face. "Field Master..."
Li Tuanjing smiled as he said, "It's alright. So what if you've fallen in love with a woman that you shouldn't? It's not like the sky is going to fall. There's no need to feel guilty over something like this."
Liu Baqiao didn't know how to respond. He was unable to shake off the guilt that he felt toward Li Tuanjing, nor was he willing to lie.
"After suffering such a crushing mental and physical blow, Su Jia will most likely fall into obscurity and even have her Sword Nurturing Gourd taken away by Sun Scorch Mountain. With her Dao Heart destroyed, she'll be knocked down from her pedestal, and she'll only be a shell of the celestial maiden that all of you formerly revered and admired.
“Perhaps she won't even be able to compare with the average female cultivator of Sun Scorch Mountain. All I want to know is would you still love her if all of that came to transpire?"
"I'll still be in love with her until the day I die," Liu Baqiao sobbed. "I'm really pathetic, aren't I, Field Master?"
"This is a good thing, you foolish boy," Li Tuanjing sighed. "In that case, continue to love her, but don't let that get in the way of your cultivation. You're someone that I've always had very high hopes for, and I don't think you're inferior to Huang He in the slightest. I didn't tell you this before as there was no point, and I'm saying this to you now as I won't get a chance to do it beyond this point."
Liu Baqiao turned to Li Tuanjing upon hearing this. "What do you mean, Field Master?"
Li Tuanjing didn't respond to the question. Instead, he said, "Keep working hard in your swordsmanship, and strive to bury my remains together with those remains. Let me ask you another question: if the fortunes of our two sects are reversed, and Sun Scorch Mountain rises up to dominate our Wind Lightning Field, what would you do?"
Liu Baqiao immediately jumped down from the railing, standing in the corridor with a serious look as he replied, "We are swordsmen, so we naturally let our swords do the talking."
"You are the spitting image of my younger self!" Li Tuanjing chuckled.
He then cast his gaze into the distance with a smile on his face as he continued, "Unfortunately, when it comes to love, that kind of mindset simply won't do. Just because you're an exceptional swordsman doesn't mean your sword can sort out all of your problems. When speaking to the woman of your heart, you have to be more gentle and say some romantic things."
At this moment, Huang He slowly emerged from the stairwell, and Li Tuanjing turned to face the two young men with a carefree smile on his face.
"After I die, the Wind Lightning Field will fall upon the shoulders of you two."
"I can shoulder that responsibility on my own, Master," Huang He said with a cold expression.
"That would be great! I wouldn't have to do any work then," Liu Baqiao said with a mischievous grin.
Li Tuanjing burst into laughter, and he pointed at Huang He as he declared, "You will have the swordsman's boundless power and resounding reputation."
He then pointed his finger at Liu Baqiao as he continued, "Whereas you will have the swordsman's grace and affinity for fine wine and women."
In the end, he concluded with a pleased expression, "Our Wind Lightning Field will have it all."
————
On the Kun ship that was bound for Southern Stream Nation, the burly man beside the woman jeered, "That swordsman in black at the end was decent, but overall, those three battles were completely mediocre. If this were on our Complete Reed Continent, there's no way any two sects would've been shameless enough to make such a big fuss, only to put on such a mediocre display."
The woman nodded with a smile as she mused, "That Sword Nurturing Gourd is quite exceptional. I wonder if we'll have a chance to purchase it."
The old woman standing next to her smiled as she said, "As long as you make your intentions known, I'm sure they'll be willing to hand over the Sword Nurturing Gourd to you, Mistress."
The old man wearing the mink fur hat was becoming increasingly more disgruntled by the constant chatter that he was hearing. From the very beginning of the first battle, the people around him had been commentating non-stop, going on and on about how terrible the quality of the battles had been, and it seemed that they would never stop talking.
The old man turned to the side before spitting disdainfully onto the ground. "Their swordsmanship is indeed lacking compared with the sword immortals of our Complete Reed Continent, but those three battles had still been quite riveting to watch, nonetheless. What else do you want to see out of this?"
"It sounds like you have a death wish," the tall and imposing man said in a cold voice.
"So what if I do?" the old man retorted with a cold voice. "How about we have a battle ourselves? If the battles between Wind Lightning Field and Sun Scorch Mountain were so mediocre in your eyes, then let's show everyone what a good battle looks like! If I lose, you can do whatever you want to me, but if I win, I get to bang your wife for three days and three nights, what do you think?"
The timid man beside the woman immediately stepped in to act as mediator, interjecting in a meek voice, "There's no need to turn to violence, let's all be civilized and talk things out. We're all from Complete Reed Continent, so let's all get along..."
Not only was the tall and thin woman not infuriated to hear this, she turned to size up the old man with an amused smile as she chuckled, "You're a little too old for me. That waist of yours would probably snap after going only a few rounds with me. Fighting in bed and fighting out of bed are two entirely different matters, wouldn't you agree, you old fart?"
"Ptui!"
The old man spat onto the ground once again. "You sure talk big for someone who's as thin as a bamboo stick! I'll take you and your man and fuck both of you up!"
Chen Ping'an was listening to the verbal altercation with a flabbergasted expression, feeling as if he had returned to Clay Vase Alley or Apricot Blossom Alley.
The young swordsman seated to the far right was growing rather disgruntled, and he complained, "If you're gonna fight, then hurry up and fight! Quit dirtying our ears with your trash talk!"
This was another short-tempered individual, and not only was he not mediating, he was fanning the flames even further.
Chen Ping'an was feeling a little concerned that a battle was actually about to break out.
Meanwhile, the swordswoman whose hair was arranged into a bun that was held together by a small sword paid no heed to the commotion around her, merely staring at the scroll with a contemplative expression, as if she were reminiscing about the battles that she had just watched.
Thankfully, the ship owner intervened in a timely fashion, approaching everyone with a smile before sweeping his gaze across all of the people involved in the altercation. At the same time, he cupped his fist in a salute, calling out the individuals one by one as his gaze settled upon them. "Mr. Sword Urn, Mistress Azure Bone, Young Master Hulü, would it be possible for you to set your differences aside for now? If so, that would be much appreciated."
The three individuals involved could easily ignore the ship owner, and they could even completely disregard Ceremony Mountain without any consequences. However, after their names were called out by the ship owner, things became very simple.
The old man with the nickname of Sword Urn was an extremely strange swordsman in the southern region of Complete Reed Continent. He was only at the Golden Core Tier and didn't belong to any sect, but he excelled in nurturing swords in antiquated urns, and he would often nurture the flying swords of swordsmen of the Middle Five Tiers free of charge. As a result, he had friends all over the entire continent.
Mistress Azure Bone wasn't a swordswoman, but she had a godfather who was a 10th tier swordsman and was extremely protective of his juniors. Furthermore, he possessed an extremely formidable Divine Weapon, and in addition to that, Mistress Azure Bone herself was also a seventh tier martial artist whose forte was close-quarters combat, and she had earned quite a fearsome reputation for herself.
As for the young swordsman's Hulü surname, that was an extremely renowned surname all over Complete Reed Continent.
Presiding over their clan was an Unpolished Jade Tier sword immortal, and he was one of the sword immortals who had led the charge to Stalactite Mountain. He had a very honest and frank personality, and he was a good friend of the Dao Master of Complete Reed Continent, Xie Shi. The current clan leader of the Hulü Clan was the chief military governor of the large empire situated in the eastern region of Complete Reed Continent.
He wasn't endowed with the natural gifts required for cultivation, and he was just a frail scholar with no cultivation base at all, yet he controlled an almighty army of 300,000 troops. Furthermore, there were over 1,000 swordsmen under his command, earning him the revered title of "Thousand Swordsman Scholarly General".
Ceremony Mountain wasn't exactly afraid of these three parties, but that wasn't because it possessed sufficient power to contend against the likes of the Hulü Clan. Instead, it was because Ceremony Mountain was simply too far away for the Hulü Clan to be able to do anything to it.
As for Mistress Azure Bone and Mr. Sword Urn, Ceremony Mountain naturally wasn't afraid of them, either, but seeing as they were esteemed guests, there was obviously no reason to make enemies out of them.
Mr. Sword Urn was quite taken aback to hear this, and he leaned forward slightly as he turned to the young swordsmans, then asked in a loud voice, "How are you related to Hulü Yinzi?"
"He's my uncle, but he's been in seclusion for many years. You know him?" the young swordsman replied in a hostile voice.
Mr. Sword Urn slapped himself on the leg as he burst into laughter. "Back in the day, Hulü Yinzi was the most boring young man you could ever imagine! I was the one who took him to a brothel for the first time! After that, he would always follow me around. Prior to that, I had only ever heard of people freeloading off others for food and shelter, but your uncle is the only one I've ever met who freeloaded off someone else for prostitution!"
The young swordsman's face instantly became flushed with embarrassment upon hearing this, and he hurriedly took a careful glance at the swordswoman beside him. Only after verifying that she was displaying no reaction to this did he heave an internal sigh of relief before turning back to the old man as he declared in a righteous voice, "My uncle isn't that type of person!"
The old man rolled his eyes in response. "Your uncle and I are so close that we've seen each other's dicks before! A kid like you doesn't know shit!"
The young swordsman was stunned into complete silence upon hearing this.
The swordswoman was unable to maintain her silence any longer, and she snapped in a furious voice, "Shut your mouth!"
"Oh, what a feisty little lass," the old man chuckled. "You're gonna have your hands full dealing with her, kid!"
The young swordsman knew that something bad was about to happen, but there was no time for him to issue a verbal warning.
A frosty look had appeared on the swordswoman's face, and she said in a cold voice, "You need to have teeth smashed in so you know not to speak in such a foul manner!"
The tiny flying sword being used to hold her hair in place immediately flew out of her hair and flashed through the air, leaving a trail of bright white light behind it.
Flying swords were renowned for their extraordinary speed and how difficult they were to defend against, and this tiny flying sword was even faster than the average flying sword, reaching a phenomenal speed that astonished all of the onlookers, including Chen Ping'an.
"Ow! That hurts like a bitch!" the old man yelled in a muffled voice as he clapped his hands over his own mouth, out of which blood was flowing incessantly.
As it turned out, the flying sword had pierced through his lips and smashed one of his front teeth.
However, instead of being terrified or infuriated, the old man burst into laughter, seemingly extremely excited by what he had seen. He slapped his own legs vigorously, and even as blood and spittle were flying out of his mouth, he yelled, "As expected of one of the fastest flying swords of our Complete Reed Continent! Your Lightning truly lives up to its resounding reputation!"
Even Mistress Azure Bone couldn't help but feel a little intimidated upon seeing this.
That swordswoman was another descendant of a clan with a sword immortal clan head.
Furthermore, in contrast with the Hulü Clan, which was an extremely large and formidable clan, the previous owner of Lightning was all on his own, but that certainly didn't mean he was lacking in power.
He had once traveled the perilous Middle Earth Divine Continent on his own, armed with nothing more than his two swords, "Fearsome Rhino" and "Lightning".
Chen Ping'an was naturally oblivious to all of these secrets concerning these formidable figures of Complete Reed Continent, and they were all conversing in the official dialect of Complete Reed Continent, so he had no idea what they were saying, but it was clear to him that a storm was brewing.
Hence, he was seated in his chair in an alert fashion, getting ready to run away at the first sign of trouble.
Thankfully, through the conversations that he had had with Chun Shui and Qiu Shi these past few days, he had learned that it wasn't a strange occurrence to be encountering immortals from all walks of life on the Kun ship crossing through three continent, so he knew not to be overtly alarmed.
As for below the Kun ship, there weren't actually that many formidable figures. Not only was this the case on the tiny Eastern Treasured Vial Continent, the same applied to Complete Reed Continent as well, despite its vast size and huge population of swordsmen.
After recovering her flying sword, the swordswoman turned to the ship owner with an apologetic smile, much to the latter's relief.
In the wake of her aggressive intervention, things had become even simpler, and the matter was going to be quickly settled.
Sure enough, all three sides quickly lost interest in the confrontation, and the tense atmosphere had completely faded away.
Back in the small town or on Downtrodden Mountain, Chen Ping'an had never felt like the world was an evil or dangerous place, and he certainly wasn't anywhere near as numb and cynical as the little boy in azure had been.
However, after witnessing those three battles and seeing a fight almost break out between these powerful cultivators right before his eyes, he told himself, Don't just focus on drinking, Chen Ping'an. You have to work harder in your fist technique practice so you can begin your sword training earlier.
With that in mind, Chen Ping'an cast his gaze toward the sky outside the Kun ship, and he was suddenly filled with a sense of longing for the ability to someday soar through the heavens atop a flying sword alongside the birds in the sky.
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