Chapter 119: 119. Chapter 119

119. Chapter 119

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For a Sword Cultivator, the sword one wields dictates the Sword Technique one uses. Ten Thousand Calamities is a sword of brilliance, so Bai Tian's Sword Technique is also as aggressive as a raging fire. Before this, she had never crossed blades with a Dharma Cultivator; whether the opponent was forming hand seals or refining instruments, it was all a first for her. During the confrontation, she relied primarily on combat instinct to respond, and she actually managed to hold her own.

Since she was young, she had a talent for beating people up that far exceeded others; otherwise, she wouldn't have swept through Guangkai Town and earned the reputation of "The Great Demon King of the World." The opposing Fangxian Dao disciples only held a slight advantage at the very beginning. Once she grew accustomed to their combat rhythm, she fought more and more smoothly, becoming increasingly agile. The tide of the battle reversed in an instant, and she soon kicked the first enemy flying.

This unlucky Fangxian Dao disciple traced a graceful parabola in the air, crashing into the fellow disciples who had rushed over, causing the ones behind to fall into a state of disarray.

With a stomp of her feet, Atian leaped up. The Ten Thousand Calamities in her hand aimed at the crowd, and fire lotuses cascaded down, drawing out all sorts of precious light from the opposite side. From afar, it looked quite beautiful, like rows of opened oil-paper umbrellas.

However, that was as far as it went.

A metallic Token, wrapped in surging power, descended from the sky. Just as it was about to reach before Bai Tian's eyes, it split into six, circling around her. Under the mutual pull of the six tokens, Atian felt the flames flowing through her meridians stagnate, and her limbs became unbearably heavy. She had to drop to one knee to barely support her body. What she could not see was that after suppressing her, the six tokens merged back into one and struck down directly at the young girl's head!

"Clang!"

The sound of metal clashing came from above. Atian struggled to lift her head, only to see Senior Brother Mu blocking in front of her, using his sword to hold off the menacing Token.

"Zhang, old fellow," Mu Yi smiled in a devil-may-care manner, "I only have this one Junior Sister, don't you go bullying her."

"Mu Yi!"

The Fangxian Dao disciples scattered, clearing a path for the newcomer. A thin young man with loose hair walked to the very front of the line. He wore the same pale purple Daoist robe, only his hem was embroidered with a circle of dark red patterns. Judging by the respectful attitude of the surrounding disciples, he clearly held a high status within Fangxian Dao.

His eye sockets were deeply sunken, and his skin was the pale color of someone who rarely sees the sun. His brows were knitted so tightly they could almost be tied into a knot. "What are you from the Beihai Sword Sect doing at our Luofu Mountain?"

"Looking for a fight," Senior Brother Mu replied readily. "Zhang Zeyan, you can't interfere in this matter. You'd better go back to your alchemy room!"

"Looking for a fight?" The impatience on the face of the young Daoist named "Zhang Zeyan" deepened. "What nonsense are you spouting? When have we ever had a feud?"

"It seems you really don't know anything," Senior Brother Mu shrugged. "Then again, your direct lineage spends all day locked in the alchemy room. I reckon even if the world turned upside down outside, you lot could still happily keep guarding your alchemy furnaces. Sometimes I truly envy that mindset of yours."

"Mu Yi!" Zhang Zeyan's face darkened. "If you are here to attend the Qingtan Assembly, then speak properly. If not, get out!"

"Attend, of course we are attending." It was not Senior Brother Mu who answered him, but Duan Xuan, who was walking up step by step, followed by Li Ke and Bai Xinli.

The appearance of Duan Xuan gave Zhang Zeyan a jolt of terror. While others might not recognize this number one Sword Cultivator of the Yuanguang Continent, he, as the direct disciple of the Fangxian Dao Grandmaster Wei Sheren, had privately seen this Sect Master countless times. When Mu Yi said earlier that he "couldn't interfere," he had been dismissive, but now Zhang Zeyan understood: the man surnamed Mu really hadn't been lying this time.

"Such a grand event as the Qingtan Assembly, how could we not attend? Without my Beihai Sword Sect, could this still be called the greatest event in the cultivation world?" Duan Xuan changed the subject here. "But one thing is one thing; attending the assembly is one thing, but this feud, well, it still needs to be settled."

"Liu Yan, blast this bunch of brats back for me!"

Before the words had even faded, Liu Yan, who had been quietly climbing the mountain path, drew her sword at the sound. Her sword was as clear and translucent as ice crystals; the moment it left its sheath, it brought with it the scent of the ocean tide.

She took a step forward, held her long sword before her chest, and swung it with force—in an instant, everyone felt as if they were on the surging Beihai Sea, and before them was a heaven-toppling giant wave. This giant wave, wrapped in the force of a landslide and a tsunami, surged forward, swallowing all the Fangxian Dao disciples in front and slapping them fiercely back!

Duan Xuan watched calmly as the Fangxian Dao crowd was slapped back to the mountaintop and said to the struggling Zhang Zeyan, "Junior Nephew Zhang, go back and tell your master that I, Duan Xuan, have come to pay a visit. Whoever tries to stop me, I will beat them one by one."

Knowing there was no turning back, Zhang Zeyan sighed, gave up resistance, and let the giant wave roll him up to the mountaintop as well.

"Junior Sister Bai, are you alright?" Mu Yi turned around and reached out a hand to Atian with a grin. "Do you feel any numbness in your limbs?"

Atian felt alright. Having experienced the sword pressure from Bai Xinli that was enough to crush an opponent, the might of the Token just now wasn't that terrifying. It was just that her blood and Qi were a bit obstructed throughout her body. She thought for a moment, then grabbed his arm and stood up.

Mu Yi scratched his head, feeling relieved inside. The Grandmaster had placed him behind Junior Sister Bai specifically to look after this little Junior Sister, but he hadn't expected her to be stronger than anticipated. If Zhang Zeyan hadn't intervened, she might have actually been able to charge to the mountaintop. But then again, if she weren't this strong, Zhang Zeyan probably wouldn't have intervened either.

Forget it, as long as she was fine.

"Who was that?" Atian patted the dust off her skirt.

"Who? Oh!" Mu Yi slapped his forehead. "You mean Zhang Zeyan. That gloomy ghost is one of the personal disciples of the Fangxian Dao direct lineage, a student of Grandmaster Wei Sheren. Don't let his bad temper and foul mouth fool you; he's actually a good person."

Atian looked in the direction where "Good Person Zhang Zeyan" had been slapped away and accurately grasped the key point in Mu Yi's words. "Direct lineage?"

"Did you see the Daoist robe he was wearing? Fangxian Dao has too many branches. To make them easy to distinguish, they mark their clothes," Mu Yi gestured at his own clothes. "Those with dark red patterns are the direct lineage, symbolizing a burning alchemy furnace. Those with green patterns are Spirit Cultivators, symbolizing herbs and mountains. And so on... The ones with yellow patterns are Instrument Cultivators, though they are a bit different. The types of Instrument Cultivators are varied and diverse; they like to embroider the instruments their lineage uses onto their clothes. Speaking of which, I have to mention the most shameless lineage among them: they actually embroidered swords on their hems! Isn't that clearly copying us?"

Atian looked down at the small blue sword on her skirt and nodded in deep agreement.

"To prevent you from getting confused, Junior Sister, I must remind you: those guys who embroider swords are not from our Sword Cultivator lineage, just a bunch of annoying ghosts who like to pose with swords," a look of annoyance appeared on Mu Yi's face. "They could just walk their own path, but they insist on imitating others... Anyway, you'll understand when you see them."

"Alright, alright," waving his hand as if shooing away something annoying, Mu Yi said to Bai Tian, "Although this trip is fraught with danger, Junior Sister Bai, don't be afraid. Senior Brother will protect you."

Atian was deeply moved. The last person to say this was the youngest son of the wealthy Wang family next door, who used to hang on the wall and swear eternal love to her every day. Unfortunately, he disappeared after seeing her kick a strong man's ribs into pieces.

She hadn't expected that, through twists and turns, she would encounter such a kind person even after she started cultivating immortality.

Just as Atian was about to nod, a voice cut in, "Protect? What protect? Do you know how many demons and monsters are on this Luofu Mountain? You can barely look after yourself, yet you're still playing the hero in front of your Junior Sister."

"Sect... Sect Master," Mu Yi, having been scolded, wore a bitter face. "I'm not that bad, am I..."

"Go, go, go," Duan Xuan waved his hand dismissively, his attitude doing a 180-degree turn when he looked at Bai Tian. "Atian, come here to me."

Between the Sect Master and a Senior Brother, the Sect Master was naturally more important. So, Atian abandoned the aggrieved-looking Mu Yi without hesitation and, following Duan Xuan's request, walked behind him and stood beside Bai Xinli.

"Haha, I've wanted to do this for a long time," Duan Xuan said with immense pride, hands on his hips. "Bringing a Golden Boy and Jade Girl along really gives one the demeanor of an immortal!"

"Then, Grandmaster Senior Brother, are you the God of Wealth or the Child-Sending Guanyin?" Li Ke moved away a few steps silently, a look of disdain appearing on his face.

"Me?" Duan Xuan laughed heartily upon hearing this and flicked his sleeves. "I am neither the God of Wealth nor the Child-Sending Guanyin; I am Duan Xuan of the Beihai Sword Sect!"

"Let's go, let's go meet some old friends!"

Whether it was because Liu Yan was too effective or Zhang Zeyan had delivered the message, Atian followed Duan Xuan all the way to the mountaintop without obstruction. Stepping over the final staircase, a fairyland beyond the world crashed into her view.

Surging clouds and mist swirled among the mountain forests. Willow trees swaying in the wind converged into waves, and a winding stream came from the mountains, threading through the woods, carrying brown wooden tea trays down the river. The tea cups and spoons floating in the stream made crisp clinking sounds.

Atian could imagine how the cultivators attending the Qingtan Assembly would lie or sit by the river, taking tea from the wooden trays floating in the water, engaging in high-minded discussions with their companions. This was a scene that only appeared in stories.

However, these "high-minded people" who should have been carefree were now standing in battle formation, all because of this group of uninvited guests from the Beihai Sword Sect.