Chapter 21: 21. Chapter Twenty-One

21. Chapter Twenty-One

Atian had heard many people say before: the Fangxian Dao is the head of the four great immortal sects, dominating the entire southern part of the continent. But before seeing it with her own eyes, these were merely a few pale and powerless descriptions. As a girl from a small town, she could no more imagine how magnificent its mountain gate must be than she could imagine how opulent the imperial palace was.

And now, she had seen its appearance with her own eyes.

Visible to the naked eye, golden light shrouded the layers of overlapping peaks. Amidst the surging sea of clouds, one could vaguely see streaks of brilliant rosy clouds. White cranes with black tail feathers danced gracefully among the clouds, occasionally letting out one or two clear cries—truly a magnificent atmosphere of an immortal family.

Atian stood beside Liu Yan, curiously examining the scene before her, when she heard someone nearby clicking their tongue incessantly:

"Tsk tsk tsk, these are the people who really know how to spend money. Just looking at this flock of cranes makes my heart ache for them."

She turned her head and saw a Beihai Sword Sect disciple flying on his sword beside them. Taking a closer look, it was none other than Zhao Kuo's old acquaintance, Senior Brother Mu.

In all fairness, Bai Tian had never spoken a single word to Senior Brother Mu, but she couldn't help it—Zhao Kuo regarded this person as the number one archenemy within the "Worship the Senior Brother" cult, and he was constantly brooding over how this man had snatched away a chance to speak with the Senior Brother. He complained about it all day long, so she couldn't pretend not to hear even if she wanted to.

Perhaps her gaze was too obvious; Senior Brother Mu turned his head to look over, and upon discovering Atian, he was clearly startled. "... Bai, Junior Sister Bai!"

Strangely, after seeing Liu Yan beside Atian, he visibly breathed a sigh of relief, muttering things like "scared the hell out of me" and "can't believe I ran into the arsonist maniac."

Atian had to admit that Zhao Kuo's words were sometimes reasonable; this Senior Brother Mu was indeed very punchable.

As they drew closer to Luofu Mountain, the speed of the Beihai Sword Sect group gradually slowed. The team led by Duan Xuan stopped one after another at the mountain gate of the Immortal Dao. Atian jumped nimbly off Liu Yan's wooden sword; having flown in the air for so long, the feeling of having her feet on solid ground actually made her feel a bit unaccustomed.

The disciples dismounted their swords one by one and gathered behind Duan Xuan to reform their ranks. Bai Xinli stood beside Li Ke, while Atian, who should have been at the back of the line, was pulled by Liu Yan. Then, both of them simultaneously stretched out their feet and kicked the obstructive Senior Brother Mu to the end of the line.

Mu Yi, bullied by both his Senior Sister and Junior Sister, lay on the ground in despair, completely unable to understand why he was being treated this way.

Duan Xuan squatted down at the very front and tentatively reached his palm forward. As soon as it entered the range covered by the golden light, it sparked a flurry of fire and crackling sounds.

"The Immortal Dao's mountain-protecting formation, the Golden Light Soul-Refining Array," Li Ke said matter-of-factly. "It is said that this is a formation that attacks the soul. Although it is not as overbearing as the Nine-Bend Yellow River Array, it can still be considered rare in this world."

"As for its power, it's alright," Duan Xuan retracted his hand and shrugged. "It's still a bit inferior to our Zhou Tian Starry Sky Sword Array."

"How about it? Shall we break the formation and enter?" Li Ke asked calmly.

"No, no, no," Duan Xuan held up an index finger and shook it. "We are here to attend the Qingtan Assembly; we can't be that impolite. We must be very courteous."

After saying this, he, who had just claimed he would "be very courteous," raised his foot and kicked the Golden Light Soul-Refining Array hard. The vibration produced when the two collided made the entire mountain range shake.

"You surnamed Wei! Get out here, you bastard!" Duan Xuan shouted viciously, then kicked the array again. "If you don't come out, I'll tear down your Luofu Mountain!"

Li Ke sighed, unfazed, with an expression that said, "I knew it would be like this."

With Duan Xuan causing such a scene, Wei Sheren did not appear, but it did alarm the disciples guarding the mountain. Two young boys in gray Daoist robes came running down the endless staircase in a panic. Upon seeing the Beihai Sword Sect group, they sternly scolded: "Audacious! This is the important mountain gate of the Immortal Dao; how dare you act so wantonly!"

However, they received no response. When these two boys ran down to the mountain gate, the mountain-protecting formation naturally opened a gap. Although it was fleeting, Duan Xuan seized the opportunity. He flicked his sleeve, and a sharp Sword Qi enveloped everyone, charging fiercely toward the Immortal Dao's mountain gate and rushing inside the formation before the gap closed.

The two boys were blown off balance by the gale. By the time they climbed back up, they saw a group of uninvited guests standing swaggeringly on their own steps, looking around as casually and loosely as tourists sightseeing.

"Y-you!" The boys' faces flushed red with anger, their little fingers trembling as they pointed at them.

"Are these the Crane Boys? It's my first time seeing them," Mu Yi said, squatting down in front of the two little beans and pressing them down hard with one hand each. "Shall we catch a few to take back? That way, we'll be people who have cranes too!"

This remark made the other Beihai Sword Sect disciples' hearts flutter, but Duan Xuan glanced at him and scoffed, "No ambition. Why would you need to snatch such a thing? We must make the Immortal Dao cry and give them to us!"

If the two Crane Boys couldn't tell by now that this group of fierce-looking guys were here to cause trouble, they would have to be brain-dead. Their little faces turned deathly pale, yet they were pinned down by Mu Yi and couldn't run away.

"According to my deduction, judging by the ostentatious nature of these bastards from the Immortal Dao, the scale of the Qingtan Assembly definitely won't be small. This suits my wishes perfectly; it will be easier to find them," Duan Xuan stroked his smooth chin and pointed his other finger at the end of the steps. "Disciples of the Beihai Sword Sect, listen to my order: fight your way up from here. It is time to let those guys who drink tea and chat see the style of us Sword Cultivators."

Having said this, he added: "Of course, at the end of the day, we are still guests, so we must be very, very, very courteous."

"However, I will climb up step by step right here. If I catch up to you, I cannot guarantee what kind of treatment you will receive after returning to the sect."

This sentence immediately made many people's scalps tighten.

"Don't listen to the Grandmaster scaring you," Li Ke said with a grin, taking out his usual small notebook from his robes. "At most, I'll leave a heavy, colorful stroke in my records. Don't be afraid, perform as usual!"

Upon hearing this, Mu Yi's legs went weak, and he almost couldn't suppress the two cranes. Many disciples also turned pale, looking at the notebook in Li Ke's hand as if they were seeing a flood or a wild beast.

"Junior Uncle Li, stop messing around."

A hand pressed down on the hand Li Ke was holding the notebook with. Bai Xinli's voice was like a calming pill, causing the disciples, who had been badly frightened by the two elders, to calm down in an instant. He walked to the front of the team, stood on the stairs, scanned downward, and said to Mu Yi: "Junior Brother Mu, let them go."

As a senior member of the "Worship the Senior Brother" cult, Mu Yi naturally followed the Senior Brother's every word. His body acted before his brain could react. The two Crane Boys, having regained their freedom, were stunned for a moment, then turned back into their original forms in the next instant and flew away, screaming.

Following their escape, the cranes' panicked warning cries soon resounded over Luofu Mountain. It was foreseeable that someone would soon come to intercept them.

Bai Xinli looked up at the mountaintop and called out: "Junior Sister Bai, you take the lead."

Everyone's eyes fell squarely on the named Atian. The latter, upon hearing this, was neither panicked nor nervous, but gave a shy smile and said, "Okay."

She lifted her skirt and nimbly passed by the other Senior Brothers, arriving in front of Bai Xinli, and unfastened Wanjie from her back, holding it in her hand.

At this moment, faint footsteps and shouts were already coming from the end of the stairs, and the cranes in the air circled round and round, crying out.

Holding the blade in her left hand and the hilt in her right, Atian slowly drew Wanjie from its scabbard. Tiny specks of flame spilled out from the scabbard with her movement. Flowers of fire with black edges gathered around her body, and the temperature gradually rose. As the heat wave struck, by the time Wanjie was completely drawn, fire lotuses were blooming all over the ground, making one feel as if they had returned to the day the residence was burned down.

Atian began to move forward step by step, and wherever she walked, fire lotuses bloomed. Her body trembled slightly, but it was out of excitement. It wasn't that Bai Tian didn't know her strength was low; she was at the bottom of this Beihai Sword Sect group, let alone compared to the Immortal Dao, which possessed countless talents.

She would likely not be able to defeat a single one of them.

But so what?

She wasn't standing here to defeat them in the first place.

Winning or losing didn't matter; to her, the act of fighting itself already held sufficient meaning.

Perhaps she was just born a bit abnormal?

No fear, no timidity; what flowed in her veins was less like blood and more like the will to fight.

She was a Sword, and a Sword must always be unsheathed.

And she, she was going to unsheathe it against the strong.

They were all stronger than her; that was the truly wonderful part of this matter.

With every step Atian took, her aura grew stronger by a fraction, and the number of fire lotuses Wanjie bloomed increased by one. By the time her aura climbed to its peak, the figures rushing toward her appeared in her line of sight.

"Who goes there! Why do you trespass on our Immortal Dao mountain gate!" the young cultivator wearing pale purple Daoist robes shouted loudly, but the response he received was a sharp blade wreathed in flames.

"Beihai Sword Sect disciple Bai Tian," Wanjie's blade grazed the cultivator's cheek, leaving a bloody mark. Atian's voice was soft and gentle. "I have come specifically to learn the brilliant techniques of the Immortal Dao Senior Brother."

As she spoke, she stretched out the tip of her tongue to lick her lips, looking at the clearly stunned Immortal Dao disciple and the endless stream of people rushing over behind him. "If you don't go all out, you might just die, you know?"