Chapter 123

123. Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Three

Guan San is currently caressing the server, please subscribe to defeat him! For the first time in her life, Atian felt such an overwhelming sense of crisis. Compared to Bai Xinli, the power she had relied on in the past was so fragile it crumbled at a single touch. She could trade blows with Song Zhicheng, and she could easily snap the magical artifact that had left Zhao Kuo helpless, but she could not withstand a single glance from Bai Xinli.

What is the difference?

This is the difference.

Along the way, she had not failed to experience powerful Sword Intent, nor had she failed to see formidable cultivators. The former was like the Ancestor's Broken Sword, the latter included the eccentric Tan Tianming and the ever-smiling Guo Huai. However, the Ancestor's Broken Sword was after all an ownerless object, and Tan Tianming and Guo Huai were after all uncle-generation figures, their cultivation long since perfected at will—why would they deliberately release it to intimidate a little girl?

But Bai Xinli was different.

At the age of twenty, in the prime of his ambitious years, he had no need to bide his time or deliberately hide his shortcomings. His youthful brilliance could not be concealed, could not be hidden.

Her body and spirit were both stretched to the limit, yet deep within her heart a stubborn streak supported her in holding on.

Cannot kneel, cannot kneel.

Once she knelt, she would truly be broken.

Scattered flames flickered out from between her fingers, but the moment they appeared they were covered by a thin layer of frost, stirring not the slightest ripple.

She did not know how long had passed. The terrifying Sword Intent receded like water, and the girl, having lost the pressure, gave a single shudder and collapsed to the ground. She could not move even a single finger, and could only pant heavily with vacant eyes.

"My nephew Xin Li is different from the others. He has lived year-round in the Stone Chamber of the Martial Arts Arena."

"My nephew Xin Li's situation is also a matter of necessity. You'll understand once you see him."

It was not merely understanding—it was seeing right through.

With Sword Intent and pressure of this magnitude, if he stayed in the residential quarters, probably no one would be able to sleep at night.

Her clothes had long been soaked through, sticking to her body in extreme discomfort, yet Atian's spirit was inexplicably exhilarated, an impulse to laugh out loud lingering in her heart.

What is the Sword!

This is the Sword.

What is the Dao!

This is the Dao.

How interesting, truly too interesting!

She too wanted a Sword like this.

She too wanted a Dao like this.

She wanted it until her very bones ached.

"Can you still stand?"

A cold male voice sounded from above her head. The voice was not particularly deep, yet it was sufficiently magnetic, carrying a metallic chill.

Atian licked her lips and smiled. "You're a monster."

The other party was silent for a moment before giving a reply. "Thank you for the compliment."

After lounging on the cold ground for a while, Atian finally directed her hands and feet, which had recovered a bit of strength, to climb up trembling. Bai Xinli was standing five steps in front of her, elegant as an orchid or jade tree, in the prime of his youthful brilliance.

Supporting herself on her knees and panting for a few breaths, she finally had the mind to carefully observe the appearance of this nominal "fiancé."

Bai Xinli had been very good-looking since childhood, delicate and pretty like a girl. Though grown up he no longer possessed that childhood androgyny, he could still make people cover their chests and exclaim "what a handsome gentleman," especially those eyes—the pupils so black and round, so deep as if one could not see the bottom.

Atian felt she ought to whistle right now out of respect, but as a proper young lady from a good family, she held back.

Fifteen years without meeting, and then whistling like a lecher the moment they met—even she couldn't bring herself to do that!

Perhaps the other party had deliberately suppressed his Sword Intent, for she no longer felt that prickling sensation on her back, and had the leisure to let her thoughts wander.

Although there was the title of "child bride" binding them together, Atian and Bai Xinli had never before had any interaction beyond "that one glance." Being politely distant as Senior Brother and Junior Sister was a little strange, but if they were to chat familiarly... the two of them truly were not familiar!

"I'm sorry," in the end it was Bai Xinli who broke the awkward silence. "It was I who had Zhao Kuo bring you here."

Atian was taken aback upon hearing this. She had imagined he would ask about Master Bai, would ask about Lady Bai, but she had not expected that his first words upon opening his mouth would be an apology.

The strange actions of Beihai Sword Sect having Bai Xinli's instruction behind them had actually not surprised her. The "pinched-finger divination, fated with my immortal sect" from Zhao Kuo's mouth was entirely a lie to fool the Bai couple. If fate could truly be divined, how would Atian have been picked up by Master Bai in Shengxian Town? How would she have quietly lived in Guangkai Town for so many years?

She did not consider herself clever, but she was no fool either. The moment Zhao Kuo departed and returned, she had already grown suspicious of this Senior Brother of Beihai Sword Sect.

The Bai's connection to Beihai Sword Sect was only Bai Xinli, and the only one who could make Zhao Kuo, representing Beihai Sword Sect, depart and return was also Bai Xinli.

Why she was so certain Bai Xinli had such influence still required discussing Beihai Sword Sect's regular visits.

Once a year, rain or shine—not a mere glance before departing, but a solid, proper house call. These cultivators, who in rumor were proud and aloof, were actually willing to bow with clasped hands to mortal parents like Father Bai and Mother Bai. This was a treatment even the county magistrate could not enjoy. At that time she had guessed that this fiancé, unseen for fifteen years, must hold no ordinary position within Beihai Sword Sect.

Facts proved just as she had expected. The Senior Brother of Beihai Sword Sect, at the age of twenty acknowledged as the undisputed number one of the younger generation, even surpassing fellow disciples whose years of cultivation were several times his own—what difficulty was this!

Cultivation is not like Enlightenment for a child, where the earlier the better to seize the advantage. Cultivation is more like cultivating a karmic affinity, only it is the karmic affinity between oneself and the Heavenly Dao.

When the karmic affinity has not yet arrived, everything one does is in vain.

Bai Xinli entered the Floating Island at five. A five-year-old child, having just finished learning the Thousand Character Classic, his bones not yet fully grown, his Sword Bone only in its infancy—how could one speak of cultivation? How could one speak of comprehending the Dao?

This is what it means for the karmic affinity to have not yet arrived.

Like Zhao Kuo, he grew up on the Floating Island, yet it was only after reaching the age of a youth that he was permitted to follow his elders in learning the Sword, and to this day he has only just begun. Yet Bai Xinli is not much older than him. This age difference, in a cultivation world where people often live for hundreds or thousands of years, is nearly negligible, but Bai Xinli has become the Senior Brother of Beihai Sword Sect.

Atian had to admit that the youth before her was a true genius.

Perhaps using her earlier evaluation would also work—Bai Xinli was a "monster."

However, "monsters" all have to pay a price.

If it was so for her, there was no reason Bai Xinli could be spared.

"You..." she asked hesitantly, "... is there a problem with your cultivation?"

Bai Xinli heard this and gently shook his head. "When thoughts are clear and unobstructed, everything follows naturally."

Then what was the reason?

Atian furrowed her brow.

Surely it couldn't really be that he wanted to get married?

Seeing her confusion, Bai Xinli closed his eyes and gave the answer. "I am just... about to forget Bai Xinli."

Forget... Bai Xinli?

But Bai Xinli — wasn't that just himself?

Yet the daze lasted only a moment. Atian then caught the subtext of the latter, and almost instinctively looked at the sword at his waist.

It was a longsword as worthy of a whistle of respect as the man himself — pure white as jade throughout, with only a few striking veins of blood-red on the scabbard and hilt, winding around the white-jade blade and lending it a certain bewitching air.

Zhao Kuo was never one to keep his mouth shut, and during the sword flight he told her quite a bit of common knowledge about the world of Sword Cultivators, including Sword Bone and Sword Heart.

Sword Bone gives rise to the Life-bound Sword, and the Life-bound Sword determines a Sword Cultivator's Sword Heart. To possess such a beautiful longsword, to possess a Sword Intent that pierces through frost and bone — yet to say he was on the verge of forgetting himself… What, in the end, was Bai Xinli's Sword Heart?

At that moment, her curiosity about Bai Xinli reached its peak.

"I cannot forget Bai Xinli, but I cannot disturb Father and Mother either, so I can only see you."

The young man looked at Atian, his eyes bottomlessly deep.

"As a reward, I shall give you a Immortal Path."

Atian stood stunned for a moment. Just as she was about to reply, she noticed a banner hanging on the wall behind Bai Xinli, on which someone had scrawled in wild cursive: "Beihai Sword Sect — The Best Choice for Stepping onto the Immortal Path."

Bai Xinli also noticed that Atian had noticed the banner, and his gaze began to drift on its own.

"Senior Brother, you should put a bit more feeling into the reading next time," Atian offered sincerely.

Having been seen through by Atian as he recited the Beihai Sword Sect recruitment pitch, Bai Xinli slowly… blushed.

"Master said that phrase absolutely has to be used — only then does it have any appeal," he said softly, the corners of his mouth curving into the faint suggestion of a smile. "But I think you probably don't need it."

"Oh no! I've never flown this fast before! Stop, stop, stop!!"

Before the words were even out of his mouth, the heavy sword beneath his feet began to shudder from a botched art. Hearing this, Atian dropped flat without a moment's hesitation, her right hand gripping the hilt in a death grip, and she thrust out her left hand toward Zhao Kuo, who was still wrestling with the art, shouting: "Immortal Elder, grab my hand!"

But at that moment Zhao Kuo's entire being was devoted to controlling the flying sword. Unfortunately, the heavy sword "Broken Peak" beneath his feet was, true to form, a Life-bound Spirit Sword in perfect sync with his heart and mind — and at the critical moment, it dropped the chain in exactly the same way.

Seeing the young cultivator still sweating profusely as he shifted through arts, Atian pulled her hand back, and with a quick eye snatched the hairpin that had been blown off her head. Her carefully arranged hair bun had already come undone, and the violent gale from their rapid descent puffed out her long hair and robes, bringing with it a familiar yet strange briny, damp scent.

It was the breath of the sea.

Paying no mind to the weightless sensation of the fall, Atian clung to the hilt and looked around. She saw that the entire sky was dyed by a skyful of crimson evening clouds, spreading even to the shimmering sea below. And between heaven and sea stood a colossal Floating Island wreathed in clouds and mist; through a thin veil of fog, one could faintly make out pavilions and towers within. But what drew the eye most of all was a giant Broken Sword thrust diagonally into it, its glinting cold light and austere Sword Intent piercing through the dreamlike canvas of orange and red.