Chapter 129: Allies are Watching (1)
The monotony of the morning was broken by the sound of horse hooves. Xu Wenwu was up early. As soon as dawn had broken, the young man had gotten up and gone out to exercise his horse. Seeing that Xu Wenwu had begun his routine, Wei Yuan infused his horse with a wisp of fortune.
By now, Qingming’s domain had grown past the ten li mark, and more and more space was open for riding. Xu Wenwu felt quite at ease as his horse cantered along at a leisurely pace. If it wasn’t for the situation, he could almost fool himself into thinking that this was a vacation. He wasn’t entirely clueless; he had noticed the changes in the horse he was riding and guessed that they were likely connected to him. Otherwise, Wei Yuan wouldn’t have asked him to take it out for a ride every day.
Xu Wenwu couldn’t see Wei Yuan’s fortune, of course. From his perspective, the horse was visibly transforming solely because he was riding it every day. Thus, he believed that his body was hiding some sort of great secret. It just hadn’t been activated yet. It was a shame he didn’t know what the activation condition was and so could not work toward it specifically.
As Xu Wenwu traversed hills and crossed rivers on horseback, it suddenly occurred to him that it was only a matter of time before the horse underwent a stunning transformation. He wondered if it would transform into a dragon one day. The only unfortunate thing about this was that the horse wasn’t a female. Otherwise, he could have looked forward to the day it took on a human form.
Suddenly, Xu Wenwu slapped his head and exclaimed in realization, “Wait a second. I’m a Protector of the Horses[1], aren’t I?”
He recalled that there were still a couple of staffs among the pile of mystic artifact forgings and seriously considered asking Wei Yuan for one of them. Sure, he wasn’t strong enough to lift either one right now, but what if his bloodline were to awaken one day[2]?
While idly stroking his horse’s mane, Xu Wenwu allowed his imagination to run wild. If such a day should come, then this horse would be the White Dragon Horse, wouldn’t it? As for Wei Yuan, considering their friendship and his handsome appearance, he was definitely qualified to be Tang Sanzang.
Unfortunately, his poor friend had to fend off the two succubuses, Yun Feifei and Xu Wan’er, from time to time. Their crimes were unforgivable, so they must be de—no, subjugated. He would then persuade them to see the light.
Of course, one subjugation would not be enough to purify them of their sins. In the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang had captured Meng Huo seven times in total. He was a prime ministerial talent himself. Naturally, he could not allow a country bumpkin like Zhuge Liang to steal all the glory. He too would capture and release these two succubuses seven times to attain the perfect conclusion. When this story was passed down to the future generations, it would most likely become a delightful legend that could inspire a few excellent novels.
Inside Qingming’s domain, Wei Yuan suddenly sensed something, or rather, someone. Just as well, he grabbed a mystic sword forging and swiped his hand along the blade. Flames burst into existence as he empowered it with Immortal Sword Fake Sun.
Right on time, a scoff rang from behind his back. “You call that an immortal sword?”
Wei Yuan turned around. Xiao Yu was standing behind him. The swordsman was staring at his blazing sword with an obvious look of scorn.
It had been many years since they had last seen each other, and Xiao Yu had long since grown into a dashing young gentleman. Not only that, his countenance remained more refined than most so-called beauties. Wearing a set of white robes with blue patterns adorning the lapel and cuffs and holding an immortal sword between his arms, no one looked as good as him right now.
Xiao Yu wasn’t holding his own Dao Foundation, of course. It was a true mystic sword used to bear the Immortal Sword The Sun. Looking at the ancient scabbard alone, it was clear that the mystic sword it was carrying was anything but ordinary.
Xiao Yu was the most outstanding genius of the younger generation of the Xiao Clan. Naturally, the sword he wielded could only be of the highest quality and rarity, if not one-of-a-kind. To say that Wei Yuan’s coarse sword forging could not hold a candle to it would be an understatement. Forget the mystic sword, a single stone from the scabbard could purchase ten Swelling Water God Palace hidden storerooms without trouble.
Wei Yuan paid no attention to Xiao Yu’s taunt, however. He simply put down the blazing sword and picked up a second sword forging. When he swiped his fingers across the blade, it burst into flames just like the first one. He repeated this for the third sword forging, the fourth....
When he had ignited his twentieth mystic sword, Xiao Yu finally lost his cool and yelled, “Enough!”
Hands clasped behind his back, the flaming immortal swords floated around Wei Yuan and formed a lotus picture. It looked very imposing.
Wei Yuan asked lightly, “This is but a corner of my Dao Foundation. What do you think?”
Xiao Yu grunted. “Twenty pieces of trash aren’t going to change anything.”
“What about a hundred then?” Wei Yuan waved his hand, and a big, big pile of stone swords clattered against the ground.
Xiao Yu’s chest suddenly felt a little tight. In fact, even the lousiest immortal sword posed a significant threat when there were a hundred of them, not to mention that Wei Yuan’s immortal sword was, albeit barely, Human-tier. It went without saying that a hundred Human-tier Dao Foundation combined amounted to a significant amount of power. Ultimately, Xiao Yu wasn’t a liar. That was why he didn’t want to give Wei Yuan an answer if at all possible.
The swordsman changed the subject. “What is the name of your words?”
“Immortal Sword—Fake Sun.”
This time, Xiao Yu’s chest was fully clogged. He could neither swallow the air nor expel it from his chest. He instinctively unsheathed a part of his mystic sword, and a cold gleam instantly filled the room. But in the end, he forced down his anger and growled through gritted teeth, “If the enemy isn’t near, and internal strife is ill-advised, there is no way you are leaving this room without enjoying a taste of a real immortal sword today!”
Wei Yuan knew that he had gotten to Xiao Yu. Normally, his sect fellow cherished his silence like gold. However, he also hadn’t forgotten how the swordsman had loitered in front of him every day after forging his Dao Foundation. Thus, he wasn’t going to let him off easy. Wei Yuan had long prepared a big gift for the Shamans. It wasn’t intended for Xiao Yu, but he saw no reason to withhold it from him. It was hardly his fault that Xiao Yu had shown up at just the right time, was it?
Wei Yuan said coldly, “You and I are adults now. Whatever grievances may exist between us, we may settle it using the foreigners. If the Shamans attack us later, then let us face them in battle and let our achievements speak for themselves! What do you say?”
“Sounds perfect. The only other way we may decide who is superior is through merits, and we both know that there is simply no comparison,” Xiao Yu replied just as coldly.
“Merits? Heh.” Wei Yuan let out a chuckle that did not reach his eyes. Xiao Yu most likely did not know that he had recently slain two Avatars and obtained a handful of Heaven Merits. Otherwise, he would never have said such a thing. Wei Yuan wasn’t planning to reveal the truth right away, however. He was content to let Xiao Yu boast to his heart’s content until the merits ranking was refreshed. The more he boasted, the deeper he would dig himself into a hole later.
Although Immortal Lord Tinghai did most of the heavy lifting, his senior was hardly going to vie with Wei Yuan for this bit of credit. He had even prepared a speech for the occasion. Now, he was just waiting for the merits ranking to be updated.
When it came to talking, all disciples of the Skyblue Hall possessed a natural edge that the other Halls could not hope to match.
The standoff lasted less than fifteen minutes before both men suddenly turned their heads and looked into the distance. Tens of li away, a Shaman force had appeared on a mountain ridge and begun constructing camps. It numbered two-thousand strong and looked pretty formidable. However, it didn’t look like they were planning to attack immediately.
Wei Yuan and Xiao Yu exchanged glances with each other. It did not take a genius to know that they weren’t friendly.
When Xiao Yu entered the domain, he had seen a large number of Shaman corpses on various clearings. That was how he knew that a great battle had been recently fought, and the Shamans were probably the ones who suffered a crushing defeat. Despite this, this particular force had shown up brazenly and without attempting to conceal their movements whatsoever. This could only mean that they were emboldened by something.
Moreover, the Shaman force had set up camp tens of li away from Qingming’s borders, rendering its strategic advantage useless.
Wei Yuan said seriously, “It seems that a trap is waiting for us. Do you want to bide our time for a few days? Qingming’s domain should spread over that area in three days.”
Surprise flashed across Xiao Yu’s face. “Three days? It truly is an immortal object!”
“That it is. So? Do we fight, or do we bide our time?” Wei Yuan asked.
Xiao Yu slowly drew his sword and declared, “I think I would like to test my sword!”
“So do I!” Wei Yuan waved his hand, and the one hundred Fake Suns on the ground disappeared just like that. He had stored them all in the thread in his left hand.
For some reason, the sight of Wei Yuan packing up the one hundred Fake Suns for the expedition and declaring that he wanted to test his sword as well annoyed Xiao Yu.
An immortal sword did not just represent the pinnacle of killing, it was naturally favored by heaven and earth and possessed the ability to nurture all sorts of wondrous landscapes within itself. Thus, an immortal sword had always been a sacred existence in Xiao Yu’s heart. Yet, Wei Yuan was carrying them around in bundles like he was some old lady buying vegetables.
That said, Xiao Yu wasn’t a boy now. No matter how angry he was, he would not fly off his handle and yell, “Eat sword, barbarian!” any longer[3]. Instead, he would show through his actions exactly what was a sword!
1. A fictional job in Journey to the West, "Protector of the Horses" is a fancy term the Heavens coined for a stable boy, the lowest job in heaven. ☜
2. For those who don’t understand, he’s fancying himself as a future Sun Wukong. ☜
3. Refer to chapter 20. ☜
