Chapter 9: Hundred-Step Flying Sword

Crackling sounds,

Wood chips exploded outward.

Gong Gong Caiyu opened her eyes; the firelight warmed her soaked body slightly.

A youth in blue robes sat cross-legged beside the fire, a longsword slung at his waist, a wooden stick skewering a fish held over the flames, turning it occasionally; fat dripped to the ground, golden fish flesh sizzled, scent spreading everywhere.

Gulp…

Gong Gong Caiyu blushed, about to say something, when the grilled fish was placed before her.

"No salt, no seasoning—this is all I could manage. Taste should still be passable," Jiang Ding said coolly; he had some confidence in his cooking.

Gong Gong Caiyu hesitated: "Young Master, please wait."

She rose and walked toward the river, keeping a distance of at least a thousand meters.

The Song Clan's Hundred-Step Flying Sword, Blood-Refined Hundred-Step Flying Sword, Cang Xu Minor Realm Soul-Infused Hundred-Step Flying Sword, Fire-Refined Hundred-Step Flying Sword…

This % novel {first; release, > Please! Go: to {read!

Probably useless.

Drew his sword; cold light flashed in the kitchen, then took a cloth, wetted it, and meticulously cleaned the blade.

Do you have that much internal energy to spare?

"Alright."

"Hmph."

When he was young, Lin Lin Yuanwang, relying on his height and strength, bullied him often; crucially, this kid had excellent martial talent—he reached Primordial by the end of Gao San, and Jiang Ding truly couldn't beat him.

"A thousand years ago, when our Founder was alive, we were once the Diyida Sect of Yue Kingdom."

Ding—a square box popped up.

Jiang Ding switched away from the drone's view.

"That Miss is kind-hearted."

"Young Master need not worry," Gong Gong Caiyu smoothed the sorrow from her face, smiling calmly: "Wei Tu Nan is old; I will eventually destroy his sect and slaughter his clan."

Even my sister never disliked me this much! Gong Gong Caiyu bit into the fish meat—it was golden and crisp, leaving fragrance on her lips and teeth; perhaps because she was so hungry, it tasted even better than the signature dish at Manxiang Tower in Fucheng.

Jiang Ding understood.

"Impossible! This is mine!" Jiang Yuan shouted: "If you don't give it to me, when Uncle and Auntie come, I'll tell Uncle you're bullying me!"

"No," Jiang Ding coldly refused.

"For example, the Dongling Fucheng we're in is guarded by the Tang family, the Marquis Who Guards the East."

"According to historical records in our sect's library, bloodline clans that reject outsiders, after centuries of wealth eroding them, likely retain little strength—but one can never predict when a genius might suddenly emerge."

"Golden Knife Gate?"

Jiang Yuan jumped up on the spot, eagerly agreeing.

"Thank you, Young Master."

In the Immortal Sect, all knowledge is shared; only one's own talent and aptitude are insufficient—there is never a divine art or supreme technique beyond reach.

Went to the kitchen, fetched a pair of chopsticks, flipped through the book page by page, dropping two mouse pellets onto each page; after over half an hour, Jiang Ding finally confirmed the book had no issues.

"Lord Dingding, chop me some potato threads and carrot cubes, and throw in some scallion too," Lin Lin Wanqiu said as Jiang Ding entered.

Undressed, washed up.

"Ah, my dear brother!"

So much want.

Actually, Jiang Ding didn't want to do this—he confirmed his sword was clean; any blood or sweat that occasionally touched it was shaken off, utterly unnecessary to clean it again.

Roughly carved a wooden box, used the sword to lift the ancient book inside, then sealed it.

"Ah! Brother! Did you buy this for me?"

"It's yours, but you're responsible for feeding it."

Jiang Yuan was, as usual, watching cartoons; unexpectedly, their mother Lin Lin Wanqiu was also busy in the kitchen.

Sprinkled some mouse pellets, Jiang Ding dropped the two hamsters inside.

"The martial artist's Hundred-Step Flying Sword cultivation is dangerous."

…

According to her lifelong experience, Jiang Ding had never shown interest in goldfish or turtles or any such animals—except for sword-cultivation tutoring.

Opened it; inside was naturally the ancient book Gong Gong Caiyu had given him—its material was unusual, said to be a thousand years old, yet showing no sign of decay, still perfectly readable.

"When I was young, I took a hermit as my master; I've had no contact with the outside world for years. Miss Gong, would you be willing to tell me something about it, so I won't unknowingly offend someone and die in the Jianghu?"

Something occurred to Jiang Ding—he turned on the computer in his room, logged into the Immortal Sect Library, and searched for "Hundred-Step Flying Sword martial artist."

Jiang Ding felt slightly relieved; he even saw one hamster lick the book cover—nothing happened.

Put down his backpack, pulled out a rough wooden box from under his bed; a faint scent of raw wood spread.

"This."

His empty stomach finally felt full.

In the Immortal Sect, he was still an underage child about to enter university.

Sighed, Jiang Ding returned the ancient book to the drawer, picked up the hamster cage and mouse pellets, and stepped out of the room, handing them to Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Ding fell silent; judging by his age, he was only seventeen or eighteen, yet had already endured his father's murder, his mother's abduction, and the annihilation of his entire sect.

!.

Jiang Ding ignored her, turned to help in the kitchen.

"Your life-saving grace cannot be repaid. This ancestral scripture, the Divine Thunder Hundred-Step Flying Sword, though unmastered since our Founder a thousand years ago, may still offer some insight."

"How strong is the imperial court?" Jiang Ding pondered a moment, then asked. Jiang Ding thought to himself.

Jiang Ding let out a breath of relief, opened the express delivery of the transparent gloves he had ordered yesterday, and put them on his hands.

"It's nothing more than the ranking of martial artists under twenty-five issued by the Tianji Tower." Gong Gong Caiyu gave a sorrowful smile. "A bit of empty fame—even number one on the Dragon-Phoenix Ranking cannot stand against an old-school Innate expert."

"Squeak squeak!"

The two hamsters scurried about in panic, but were blocked by the little wall formed by several stacks of books. After a while, they finally began eating the hamster food.

"Rest assured, Young Master," her face showed a resolute expression. "Even if I'm captured helplessly, I'll end my own life at the first moment—I will never let the Golden Saber Sect implicate you!"

This was something he had thought of yesterday: in another world one inevitably comes into contact with foreign objects, so a pair of thin, breathable transparent gloves that are hard to detect with the naked eye would be perfect.

"It'd be great if Brother Lin Yuanwang came too." Jiang Yuan said discontentedly, "When the time comes, I'll have Brother Lin Yuanwang beat you up."

Rows of information with lower confidentiality levels, available for online viewing, popped up.

Just as Jiang Ding had thought, the Immortal Sect's library encompassed everything; even knowledge of mortals wielding flying swords, which sounded wondrous and extremely obscure, was still collected in great quantities.

When he saw her again, she was clearly a young girl with snow-white skin, a white dress fluttering like a fairy, hair black and lustrous, falling to her waist; though the white dress had some damaged spots, it was pure as snow, with not a speck of dirt to be seen.

Gong Gong Caiyu carefully took the wooden handle that Jiang Ding had not touched, then used internal force to cut off every part Jiang Ding had touched, even scraping off a thin layer of the fish meat, and placed it back by the fire to roast it briefly.

"I need to learn the writing of that world first, but I can't casually learn any Gong Fa that hasn't been verified by the Immortal Sect's library—it's very dangerous."

However…

"I see. I've heard before that Miss seems to be ninety-eighth on the Dragon-Phoenix Ranking, titled Flying Snow Fairy?"

After school, Jiang Ding picked up the express delivery and headed home carrying the small cage with two hamsters and a small packet of hamster food.

Jiang Yuan happened to glance over, and excitedly bounced over.

"Now, I dare not disturb you any longer, Young Master. I'll take my leave at once."

The drone monitored the surroundings; after Gong Gong Caiyu left, everything calmed down, and no black-clad men returned. Jiang Ding continued his great enterprise of digging up specimens.

Unfortunately, Lin Lin Wanqiu and Jiang Yuan didn't think so.

Jiang Ding suddenly understood why Lin Lin Wanqiu had gotten off work early and was busy in the kitchen.

"That also requires Uncle to believe it."

Jiang Ding was not resigned. He closed the box, tapped on "Cangxu Small World Spirit-Nurturing Hundred-Step Flying Sword," and with a click the box popped out, the information inside exactly the same.

Gong Gong Caiyu's little face went pale.

"The knowledge you are accessing is dangerous. Minors are not permitted to access it. If you need to access it again, please have your guardian authorize it."

Jiang Ding: "?"

Jiang Ding felt a twinge of jealousy and walked toward his own room.

He clicked open "Song Clan Hundred-Step Flying Sword" with the mouse.

Jiang Ding handed over a bamboo tube of water with a charred outer skin. After she scraped off the contacted parts, drank it, and carefully washed her mouth corner and hands by the river, and freshened up slightly, he said:

Jiang Ding gently stroked the sword hilt. Innate actually corresponds to the Qi Refining realm of cultivators. In theory, an Innate martial artist could exchange blows with a cultivator of the same Qi Refining stage several times; as long as the distance wasn't pulled apart, they could actually accomplish something.

Uncle Lin Yong was a teacher at Rongcheng No. 7 Primary School. His income couldn't compare to Lin Lin Wanqiu's, but he was relatively more free and easy. Cousin Lin Lin Yuanwang was even a prominent figure in the family.

Although she felt even weaker now, he could probably take her out in an instant.

Jiang Ding gently stroked the six unrecognizable block characters on the cover, his heart stirring slightly, and pressed down again.

"It's fine—at least it's not an acute toxin."

Trying again, he found that all the "Hundred-Step Flying Sword" works had this restriction; not one of the hundreds or thousands of Gong Fa was an exception.

Internal force? There's still this much left?

The ancient book's texture was thick and solid, seemingly made from some kind of beast hide, carrying a faint scent of books.

Apart from the danger, the power was just so-so. It looked wondrous, but a One Heavy Weapon machine gun could casually smash it apart from a thousand steps away. For Immortal Sect people, it really wasn't worth the cost.

"The final Eight Heroes are heroes from among the many wandering cultivators and small sects. In terms of strength, they actually aren't inferior to the sect masters of the Six Great Sects—it's just that they can't manage to have successors generation after generation."

She rose, her white dress sweeping from the ground to full spread, and tossed a thread-bound ancient book backward.

Clang clang…

Her melancholy voice drifted from afar.

There wasn't much force, and no foreign object flew out—the other party probably meant well.

Gong Gong Caiyu said word by word, with hatred: "The Golden Saber Sect's master, Golden Saber Ancestor Wei Tunan, achieved Innate decades ago, famous throughout the jianghu."

"I don't know. The Tianji Tower actively conceals information on experts of the current dynasty, but they shouldn't be weak, I suppose." Gong Gong Caiyu said: "Hundreds of years ago, the founder of Yue Country and his Twelve Generals of Tianyun swept through the jianghu and destroyed the previous dynasty's royal house. His twelve beloved generals became the Twelve Noble Families, holding down the various regions."

Jiang Ding gently drew his sword and used the flat of the blade to catch the ancient book flying toward him.

He had gotten into the Dao Cultivation Department of Qianling University last year!

However…

The children of the jianghu didn't have so many niceties. Watching her take small bites, in just a little while an entire fish was reduced to nothing but bones.

"In the jianghu of Yue Country, there is the name Sanzongliu Sect and Eight Heroes." Gong Gong Caiyu explained: "For hundreds of years, the three sects—Green Ox Palace, Langshen Sect, and Prajna Temple—each have their own supreme arts, sitting at the pinnacle of the jianghu. Every generation has had Innate Grandmasters anchoring their foundations. Below them are the Six Great Sects, which also produce Innate experts every generation without ever breaking the chain. The Golden Saber Sect is one such."

This was no mere rumor or miscellaneous learning. Since it had been included in the Immortal Sect's library, it meant these Gong Fa were theoretically all cultivatable, capable of reaching the envisioned goal.

"'Divine Thunder Hundred-Step Flying Sword'—can martial artists also wield flying swords?"

Spreading Sword Form! Arm Sword Form! Point Sword Form! …

Sword light flashed; carrots and white radishes flew up, then chunks of white radish fell, shredded potato piled in layers, flecks of chopped scallion dropped, stacking into a little mound the size of a fist.

"You this…"

Lin Lin Wanqiu stopped, looked at her kitchen full of flashing sword light, and was utterly helpless.

(End of chapter)