Chapter 60: Sword Beneath the Peach Blossoms

The moon hung high in the sky.

Jiang Jian sat by the bed, quietly cultivating.

Outside the window, the mansion’s lights burned brightly.

The pale moonlight streamed through the lattice windows, spilling downward.

Illuminating the boy’s pale face.

“Daily cultivation is the best way to hone patience.”

Around Jiang Jian, spiritual energy was extremely scarce.

Almost imperceptible.

Yet in his heart, not a trace of irritation stirred.

Instead, he morbidly polished his patience, savoring this desolation and solitude.

“Without noticing.”

“Since healing her illness.”

“It has been ten years.”

Suddenly.

Jiang Jian’s dark eyelashes trembled; he opened his eyes and gazed at the bright moon outside.

Silver moonlight spread across the mortal world, cold and noble.

Unchanging since ancient times, silent as death.

…

…

…

Guangling City, Shadow District.

Public Care Center.

“Brother… brother…”

The girl’s expression was blank; her lips moved faintly.

Jiang Jian looked at her, silent.

Since childhood, Jiang Jian had known.

She was foolish.

Jiang Jian held a bowl of soup, scooped a spoonful with a wooden spoon, and brought it to the girl’s lips.

“Tasty…”

The girl grinned; leftover broth dripped from her soft lips.

Suddenly.

Jiang Jian set down the bowl and stepped out of the room.

The courtyard was littered with blood, drawing swarms of flies.

They buzzed around the stinking corpses, feasting greedily.

“You came, as I knew you would.”

Jiang Jian stood at the door, holding a wooden sword.

A few meters away.

The man looked at the boy, as if smiling: “You’re only seven, yet you actually killed them all.”

The boy, with red lips and white teeth, smiled innocently: “They wanted to send me to die, so I made them die first.”

The man continued laughing until he coughed, even spitting crimson streaks of blood that stained his pure white handkerchief.

The boy’s smile vanished; he asked: “Is the method to cure her real?”

“Of course it’s real.”

The man stepped forward, extending a slender white finger toward the boy’s black hair.

The boy’s face was expressionless.

He tilted his head slightly, avoiding the finger.

“Don’t move.”

The man coughed.

This time.

The boy fell silent for a moment, then did not evade.

“What’s her name?”

The man touched Jiang Jian’s hair and suddenly asked.

The boy said: “She has no name.”

The man said: “She needs a name to be cured.”

The boy looked up.

The star-strewn night sky was impossibly distant.

Only the pale, cold moon illuminated heaven and earth.

“From today on.”

“Her name shall be.”

The boy spoke softly.

“Jiang Zhao.”

…

…

…

The sun rose, the moon set.

In the blink of an eye, dawn broke.

Jiang Jian opened his eyes and ended his cultivation.

He checked the time.

7:30 a.m.

“There’s still time.”

Jiang Jian rose, opened the door, and headed for the bathroom: “Pan-seared hot dog, fresh milk.”

The mechanical butler stepped out of the machine room with a smile: “Alright.”

Twenty minutes later.

Jiang Jian had bathed, eaten, and changed into his academy uniform.

He fastened the Hanguang, took the elevator down from the mansion.

“Jiang Jian.”

At the air-sled, Shan Ye smirked: “Your romantic luck is truly impressive.”

Jiang Jian boarded the air-sled and asked: “What do you mean?”

Shan Ye sighed: “A friend asked me for your identity device info—she’s very fond of you.”

Here, the girl blinked: “She’s incredibly beautiful; there’s no girl in our academy more beautiful than her.”

Jiang Jian sat down and said: “Did you give it to her?”

Shan Ye nodded lightly, studying Jiang Jian; her smile grew increasingly suggestive: “I wouldn’t give it to just anyone—but she’s truly beautiful, and she suits you perfectly.”

Jiang Jian fell silent, opened his identity device, and indeed saw several new messages.

On the adjacent seat.

Liu Tiezhu looked awkward: “Shan Ye’s just like this—I’m used to it.”

Shi Xuan sat beside him, cradling Zhuyue Dao, saying nothing.

Clang.

The cabin door sealed shut.

Bathed in golden sunlight, the air-sled slowly ascended, leaving behind the Three-Reaches Jiangcheng.

In just over ten minutes.

The air-sled merged into the Tianzhu Mountain Corridor, heading toward the First-Reaches Jiangcheng.

Outside the window, brilliant light streams flashed past rapidly.

Dense and countless—nearly ten thousand in number.

Each streak of light was a commercial air-sled, circling the Five-Reaches Jiangcheng and the Tianzhu Mountain Corridor.

From afar, they looked like a magnificent rain of luminous light.

“Shi Xuan, why have you been so quiet lately?”

Shan Ye turned her head, breaking the cabin’s silence.

Shi Xuan blinked, then smiled: “Nothing.”

As he spoke, the jade bracelet on his wrist emitted tiny glimmers of light.

Jiang Jian glanced at Shi Xuan, saying nothing.

For some reason, over these past few days, Shi Xuan’s Shenque spiritual essence had noticeably increased.

Liu Tiezhu sat calmly, eyes closed, cultivating his spirit.

Outside the window, light and shadow alternated.

Amidst the dappled play of light and dark, darkness gradually swallowed all.

“Arrived at mission location.”

“Please disembark.”

A cold mechanical voice echoed.

The sky-skiff slowed to a stop, its hatch opening.

Liu Tiezhu suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing in them, leaping down the gangway first.

Jiang Jian followed behind him, stepping down from the sky-skiff.

Liu Tiezhu lifted his head, gazing at the towering structure nearby, and said gravely: “Demon energy surges skyward, nearly boiling over—we must be cautious.”

Jiang Jian’s gaze sharpened as he looked ahead.

The building before them was also an ancient pavilion from centuries past.

It could even be called a “palace.”

Dozens of magnificent palaces, carved beams and painted rafters, glowed with bright lantern light.

In stark contrast to the silent darkness surrounding them on all sides.

Shan Ye walked over and said: “The mission details state that some of these buildings have mutated into demons. We must supervise their repairs.”

Liu Tiezhu nodded: “To repair the buildings, we need their bodies. Now that they’ve become demons, gained sentience, and developed self-preservation instincts, they naturally resist.”

Shi Xuan said coldly: “I hope they pretend to obey while secretly resisting—that gives us reason to strike, execute them, and claim more refined iron.”

With those words spoken.

Shi Xuan gripped his Moon-Seeking Blade and walked straight toward the palace gates.

Shan Ye’s fingers twitched, forming a spell incantation.

The surrounding spiritual energy surged, accelerating its circulation dramatically.

Jiang Jian and Liu Tiezhu followed closely behind, entering the palace gate—yet sensing no anomaly.

Crack.

Shi Xuan turned and stepped on a broken stone slab.

All around, silence fell instantly.

Liu Tiezhu sensed something, and suddenly shouted: “Get out of the way!”

Before the words were fully out.

The towering palace gate behind them twisted and contorted, rising to its feet, two massive fists slamming down toward Shi Xuan!

Shi Xuan’s expression didn’t change; his surrounding martial aura blazed fiercely, and in a flash, he shifted several meters away, evading the strike!

Boom!

The ground cracked beneath the impact, shards of stone flying everywhere!

Shi Xuan channeled spiritual energy into his martial aura, intensifying the blade’s glow; with his Moon-Seeking Blade, he spun and slashed at the demon gate’s waist!

Crack!

With martial aura enhanced, the blade's light blazed brilliantly, shattering countless fragments of buildings and carving a massive gash across the demon's waist!

“You dare ambush me?”

Shi Xuan spoke coldly, leaping into the air, driving his spiritual energy into the blade’s aura, slashing again with another devastating cut!

Boom!

Stones exploded outward in all directions!

The ten-meter-tall palace gate demon was cleanly severed at the waist!

Dust billowed; the demon’s eyes lost their luster, collapsing like a mountain falling, crumbling entirely.

The demon was slain.

Yet neither Liu Tiezhu nor Shan Ye showed any sign of triumph.

Jiang Jian’s expression grew grim.

All around.

Dozens of palace buildings had come alive.

One by one, they rose to their feet, cold eyes gazing down upon them.

Dozens of building demons—some towering nearly ten meters!

The overwhelming pressure nearly suffocated them!

Clang.

A sudden sound shattered the silence.

A stone-like object fell to the ground.

Jiang Jian knew—it was refined iron.

But now,

no one dared to pick it up.

“Each of them individually is merely ordinary.”

“It’s just that there are too many.”

Liu Tiezhu said gravely: “They seem afraid of casualties—unwilling to fight us head-on.”

Jiang Jian whispered: “That demon just now—it sacrificed itself deliberately, to test our strength.”

With those words spoken.

Liu Tiezhu and Jiang Jian exchanged a glance, both vaguely understanding the demons’ intent.

They wanted to survive.

Open rebellion meant breaking the law—no matter what, death was certain.

So they sent only a few demons to probe.

If they judged that killing Jiang Jian and his group would cost too many lives, they’d change their plan.

Indeed.

In the distance,

a pillar demon approached and spoke: “That one just now lost control—did he hurt you?”

Shi Xuan snorted, about to reply, but Liu Tiezhu stopped him.

Liu Tiezhu stepped forward and shook his head: “No harm done. We’re only here to supervise repairs—no other intentions.”

The pillar demon, its top crowned with a pavilion, smiled without warmth: “Which buildings need repair?”

Shan Ye activated her identity device, opening the mission details.

Before them appeared a lifelike holographic projection of the palace.

Shan Ye checked it and said: “Fuyun Pavilion must be restored to 100%.”

“Piaoyu Pavilion must be restored to 100%.”

“Most importantly, Feiluan Palace must be restored to at least 60%.”

As she spoke,

the pillar demon grew visibly tense.

When Shan Ye fell silent,

the pillar demon exhaled as if relieved: “Ah, just those three pavilions. Rest assured—we’ll begin repairs immediately.”

It turned and walked back into the crowd of demons.

A few minutes later,

over a dozen towering pillar demons stepped forward, moving to the original location of “Fuyun Pavilion.”

Their expressions twisted in agony, spiritual energy surging wildly as they tore off massive chunks of their own bodies to fill in Fuyun Pavilion.

Each fragment was part of their demonic bodies.

Some even tied to their spiritual essence.

Losing their spiritual essence could mean severe injury and near-death—or complete bodily collapse and instant death.

Jiang Jian and the others stood silently, watching the demons repair the building, saying nothing.

A few meters away,

the refined iron lay on the ground, reflecting flickering light.

Half an hour later,

the golden and splendid Fuyun Pavilion rose anew.

The dozen demons staggered back, exhausted.

Several, having lost too much essence, collapsed outright, dust rising as they slipped into unconsciousness.

The next instant,

more demons stepped forward, taking position at “Piaoyu Pavilion,” beginning repairs.

Piaoyu Pavilion gradually regained its full form.

Shi Xuan lowered his voice: “We can’t let them complete the repairs.”

Jiang Jian’s expression remained calm; he whispered: “Don’t rush.”

With those words spoken.

Jiang Jian turned his head and looked at Liu Tiezhu.

Liu Tiezhu gave a slight nod and said, “Leave it to me.”

Before these few, Liu Tiezhu had never revealed his talent.

But Jiang Jian had long suspected something.

Liu Tiezhu’s divine gift was likely related to detection, sensing, thought, or consciousness.

A few minutes passed.

Liu Tiezhu looked at Shan Ye: “Are you ready?”

Shan Ye nodded: “Recording has started.”

At this moment.

Many demons had already repaired the “Fuyun Pavilion” and the “Piaoyu Pavilion.”

The remaining demons had nearly all gathered before the “Feiluan Palace.”

(End of Chapter)