Chapter 105: 105. Chapter 105

105. Chapter 105

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He had almost been shot through; asking why the arrow appeared here was already meaningless. Clearly, the opponent's target was him.

However, this did not make sense.

The mountain gate of the Tianxing Sect was one hundred and eight thousand miles away from Guangkai Town. It was hard to imagine someone traveling such a long distance just to assassinate a Qi Refining disciple of the Beihai Sword Sect. Moreover, heaven is my witness, this was his first time leaving the island; what kind of enemies could he possibly have!

A thousand thoughts surged through his mind. Zhao Kuo might indeed lack experience, but no one who could enter the Beihai Sword Sect was a fool. The person who fired the cold arrow, regardless of whether they came from the Tianxing Sect, was clearly ill-intentioned. Furthermore, since the opponent could make him completely unaware of their presence, their cultivation was obviously above his. The most urgent task was to evade first.

Thus, while pinching a Sword Art, he reached out to pull Atian. Unexpectedly, this pull did not move her at all.

Zhao Kuo was anxious, "Miss Bai! You first come with me...!"

"He has left," Atian replied calmly. Her left hand gently brushed away the hand the youth had on her right arm, and with both hands, she gripped the still-crackling arrow, snapping it cleanly and throwing it to the ground.

Zhao Kuo looked at the signature Dharma treasure of the Tianxing Sect, which was as fragile as a withered branch in the young girl's hands, and felt as if he were dreaming.

"Immortal Elder, are you injured?" Completely unaware of the shocking thing she had just done, Atian turned her head to ask him.

"Oh... no, no, no," Zhao Kuo shook his head like a rattle-drum, "Are you sure he has already left?"

"He left," Atian nodded, "He ran away very fast."

To flee a thousand miles after a single failed strike; it was indeed the style of the Tianxing Sect.

Zhao Kuo felt a bit panicked. Disciples of the Beihai Sword Sect were required to descend the mountain for training once they reached a certain age. Considering his young age and low cultivation, this task, which had almost no difficulty, had been assigned to him. Who would have thought an assassin suspected to be from the Tianxing Sect would appear and disrupt his pace entirely? Moreover, this child-bride of his Senior Brother, who looked like an ordinary mortal without any cultivation no matter how one observed her, had not only caught the Soul-Chasing Arrow with her bare hands but could also determine the whereabouts of a cultivator, which truly shocked him.

But Zhao Kuo was a man after all, and he prided himself on being a Sword Cultivator; he could not show cowardice in front of a young mortal girl. He managed to grit his teeth and maintain a calm expression, though after the "beauty saving the hero" scene that had just occurred, his image as an otherworldly expert was likely unsalvageable.

He bent down to pick up the arrow that had been snapped in two, carefully examining the residual Dharma power fluctuations on it, and arrived at a rough estimate of the enemy's strength—late-stage Qi Refining. This judgment made him breathe a huge sigh of relief. Although the enemy was a level or two higher than him, Sword Cultivators were always known for their fierce attacks, which was enough to compensate for this gap in cultivation. If they were to face each other head-on, he might not end up in such a sorry state as he had this time.

It was just that he was not alone; he was accompanied by Bai Tian, and even if she had just performed an astonishing feat, it did not change the fact that she was a mortal.

Thinking of this, he stood up and looked at Atian, gritting his teeth, "Miss Bai, we must leave quickly before he returns. I will explain other matters to you on the way..."

"Immortal Elder Zhao," Atian interrupted him, patting the youth's shoulder in a soothing manner, "Do not be afraid."

Zhao Kuo looked at the large eyes of the other party, which were filled with the message, "You are so weak, life in the Beihai Sword Sect must be hard for you," and the true Qi circulating in his body almost went astray.

Yet, he had to admit that if he were in her place, he absolutely could not have pulled off the move Atian had just shown.

Was Senior Brother Bai Xinli really meeting this child-bride because he was afraid that "the cooked duck would fly away"? He suddenly began to doubt this.

However, even with so many questions in his heart, now was not a good time to investigate. Since they had encountered unexpected danger, Zhao Kuo could no longer care about the rule that "a Sword Cultivator's sword must not be touched by outsiders." He directly abandoned that ridiculous large basket, pulled Atian onto his heavy sword which was already hovering in the air, changed a Dharma seal with his hand, and the long sword rose from the ground, shooting straight into the clouds.

This was Atian's first time experiencing sword flight. Even though she was usually calm, she was frightened enough to grab the youth's shoulders in front of her. Watching the heavy sword beneath her feet move further and further from the ground, she actually felt dizzy. It was only at this moment that she had the real sensation that the person in front of her was truly an "Immortal Elder" possessing divine means.

Although this "Immortal Elder" was not very good at fighting.

"It is inevitable to feel some discomfort during your first sword flight. If you feel anything wrong, Miss, you must tell me in time." Even though he did not think that Atian, with her heaven-defying physique capable of snapping a Dharma treasure with her bare hands, would be unable to handle a mere sword flight, Zhao Kuo still reminded her dutifully.

Just kidding, if this girl couldn't cultivate, then he might as well go to the back mountain to grow vegetables.

Atian's body naturally felt no discomfort; her attention remained on the experience just now, "Was that the Immortal Elder's enemy?"

Hearing this, Zhao Kuo revealed a slightly bitter smile, "Perhaps, though I didn't know I had such an enemy before."

Seeing Atian show a curious expression, he braced himself and continued, "Since you have a connection with my Immortal Sect, and I don't know if there will be other dangers on this journey, I will tell you about it."

"The person who ambushed us just now should be a disciple of the Tianxing Sect. The arrow you caught is called the Soul-Chasing Arrow, which is their signature Dharma treasure. The Tianxing Sect's techniques are known for concealment and speed. It's just that we only saw one arrow, so it's unknown if someone else was impersonating them," Zhao Kuo said, "It's just that the Tianxing Sect and my Beihai Sword Sect have no past grievances or recent grudges; I really can't think of any reason for them to come and assassinate me."

"Perhaps they just don't like the look of you. The magistrate's daughter and Scholar Lü's daughter are the same; they are always fighting back and forth," said the female demon king who had run rampant in Guangkai Town for many years.

Zhao Kuo did not know the inside story, but his heart stirred upon hearing this. The Tianxing Sect was located at the southern end of the Yuanguang Continent, right in the territory of the Fangxian Dao, one of the Four Great Immortal Sects, and they always followed the lead of the Fangxian Dao. As for the relationships between the Four Great Immortal Sects, even Zhao Kuo, whose Sword Heart was about to be renamed "The Liar," could not bring himself to lie to Atian and tell her they were as close as family with the other three great sects.

The Yuanguang Continent was only so big, and there were only so many people who could cultivate. They bumped into each other every few days, so no matter how good their tempers were, friction was inevitable. Not to mention that the ability of Sword Cultivators to offend people was as outstanding as their attack power. Among the many fellow practitioners, the one the Beihai Sword Sect offended the most was the Fangxian Dao.

The reasons for the feud between the Beihai Sword Sect and the Fangxian Dao were complex. Aside from the sharp tongues of the Sword Cultivators, there was the inevitable competition between top forces and the long-standing conflict between Dharma Cultivators and Sword Cultivators that had persisted since ancient times. So many contradictions gathered together, creating a troublesome situation where one side thought the other was unreasonable and sharp-tongued, while the other side thought the other was hypocritical and dark.

However, compared to the Dharma Cultivators who could cast a wide net, the cultivation qualifications for Sword Cultivators were much harsher. This meant that the number of people in the Beihai Sword Sect was completely incomparable to the Fangxian Dao, which occupied the entire southern continent alone, and they were at a disadvantage in verbal arguments.

Fortunately, there was another sect in the north that was even more at odds with the Fangxian Dao, and that was the Taixuan Sect, which was also listed among the Four Great Immortal Sects.

If the Beihai Sword Sect and the Fangxian Dao were an external conflict, then the Taixuan Sect and the Fangxian Dao were an internal conflict, and an even more irreconcilable one at that.

Fundamentally, these two great immortal sects shared the same origin and were one family in ancient times, but they took vastly different paths in their subsequent development.

The Fangxian Dao practiced the art of the Danding Sect, specializing in refining medicinal pills, and even developed a method of using one's own body as a furnace to refine the Five Gods. As for the Taixuan Sect, they called themselves the Talisman Sect, famous for their talisman arts. Both sides viewed the other as demonic heretics who had defiled the Dao Lineage of their founding masters. If one were to count the grievances between the two sects, one could probably write an epic chronicle.

Against this backdrop, it was only natural for the Beihai Sword Sect and the Taixuan Sect to band together to resist the Fangxian Dao; after all, the enemy of an enemy is a friend.

Atian, who had grown up in Guangkai Town since she was a child, naturally did not understand what the conflict between Dharma Cultivators and Sword Cultivators was, nor could she understand the difference between the Danding Sect and the Talisman Sect, but she had her own way of understanding.

"I understand," she nodded seriously, "In other words, Miss Bei and Miss Fang both want to be the town beauty. Miss Fang is the magistrate's daughter and has power at home. Miss Bei is the scholar's daughter and reads a lot of books. However, reading a lot of books can't beat having power at home, so Miss Bei joined forces with Miss Xuan, the wealthy merchant's daughter, to jointly resist the overbearing Miss Fang."

After finishing, she sighed, "You guys don't have it easy either."

Zhao Kuo did not understand why the complex relationships of the cultivation world turned into a village palace drama in Atian's mouth, but upon closer thought, it seemed there was nothing wrong with it. He could only open his mouth, and after a long time, he squeezed out, "... What 'you guys,' we should say 'us'."

Atian thought about how she was just about to attend the Ascension Ceremony they were holding, and it would be very ungracious to distance herself, so she quickly nodded to show her remedy.

However, even if Atian understood why Zhao Kuo would suspect the Fangxian Dao, it did not mean the mystery was solved.

As a big shot, it was hard to imagine the Fangxian Dao ordering its underlings to assassinate a nobody like Zhao Kuo. Even if they really did that, they wouldn't just send someone with similar cultivation to test him and then call it a day.

But he could probably understand the opponent's feelings about turning around and running away; after all, seeing a mortal catch a Dharma treasure with bare hands, he was also quite scared.

Can't figure it out, can't figure it out, no matter how he thought about it, he couldn't figure it out.

Zhao Kuo frowned, feeling that his train of thought had hit a dead end. However, this appearance in the eyes of others was naturally because he was worried about being ambushed.