Chapter 51: 51. Chapter Fifty-One

51. Chapter Fifty-One

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The mountain gate of the Tianxing Sect was one hundred and eight thousand li away from Guangkai Town; it was hard to imagine someone traveling such a vast distance just to assassinate a Qi Refining disciple of the Beihai Sword Sect. Moreover, Heaven is his 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. Regardless of whether the person shooting cold arrows came from the Tianxing Sect, they were clearly ill-intentioned. Furthermore, since the opponent could strike without him noticing anything, their cultivation was obviously above his own. The most urgent priority was to evade first.

Consequently, while forming a Sword seal, he reached out to pull Atian. Unexpectedly, this pull did not budge her at all.

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

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

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

"Immortal Elder, are you injured?" Completely unaware of how shocking her actions were, Atian turned her head to ask him.

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

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

To flee a thousand li after a single failed strike—truly the style of the Tianxing Sect.

Zhao Kuo felt a bit flustered. 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, he had been assigned this task, which was supposed to have almost no difficulty. Who would have thought an assassin suspected to be from the Tianxing Sect would appear and disrupt his pace so suddenly? Moreover, this child-bride of his Senior Brother, who looked like a mortal without a shred of cultivation no matter how one observed her, had not only caught the Soul-Chasing Arrow with her bare hands but could also track a cultivator's movements—it truly gave him a great shock.

However, 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 little mortal girl. Only by gritting his teeth could he maintain a calm expression, though after the "beauty saving the hero" scene that had just occurred, his image as an expert from the world beyond was likely unsalvageable.

Bending down to pick up the arrow snapped in two on the ground, he carefully examined the residual fluctuations of magic power on it and made a rough estimate of the enemy's strength—late-stage Qi Refining. This judgment made him heave a great sigh of relief. Although the enemy was a layer or two higher than him, Sword Cultivators were known for their fierce attacks, which were 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 could 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, right?" The true Qi circulating in his body almost went astray.

Yet, he had to admit that for the move Atian had just pulled off, he himself would absolutely not have been able to do it.

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

However, even with many questions in his heart, now was not the right time to investigate. Since they had encountered an unexpected danger, Zhao Kuo could no longer worry about the rule that "a Sword Cultivator's sword must not be touched by outsiders." He directly abandoned the 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 into grabbing 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 a sense of dizziness. It was also at this moment that she gained a real sense that the person before 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 time flying on a sword. 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 Immortal Elder's enemy just now?"

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

Seeing Atian show a curious expression, he gathered his spirits 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 have always been 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 cannot 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." So 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 had 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 "Liar," could not bring himself to tell Atian with a clear conscience that they and the other three great immortal sects were as close as family.

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 and intertwined. Aside from the Sword Cultivators' sharp tongues that begged for a beating, there was the inevitable competition between top forces and the struggle between Dharma Cultivators and Sword Cultivators that had been entangled since ancient times. So many contradictions gathered together, creating a troublesome situation where one side felt the other was unreasonable and sharp-tongued, while the other side felt the other was hypocritical and dark.

However, compared to Dharma Cultivators who could cast a wide net, the cultivation aptitude for Sword Cultivators was much stricter. This also 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 had no advantage when it came to verbal sparring.

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 ranked among the Four Great Immortal Sects.

If the Beihai Sword Sect and the Fangxian Dao were an external contradiction, then the Taixuan Sect and the Fangxian Dao were an internal contradiction, 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 Cauldron, 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 art of talismans and charms. Both sides viewed the other as evil heretics who had defiled the Dao Lineage of the 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 grew up in Guangkai Town, naturally did not understand what the struggle 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 earnestly, "That is to say, both Miss Bei and Miss Fang want to be the 'Town Flower.' Miss Fang is the magistrate's daughter and has power at home; Miss Bei is the scholar's daughter and reads many books. However, reading many books ultimately cannot beat having power at home, so Miss Bei united with Miss Xuan, the rich merchant's daughter, to jointly resist the overbearing Miss Fang."

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

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

Atian thought about how she was just about to attend the Ascension Ceremony held by them, and it was indeed very ungracious to distance herself, so she hurriedly nodded to show her remedy.

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

As a big shot of a generation, 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 send someone whose cultivation wasn't much higher to test him and then just call it a day.

But regarding the act of turning around and running, he could probably understand the other party's feelings; after all, seeing a mortal catch a Dharma treasure with bare hands, he was also quite frightened.

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

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

"Immortal Elder, do not be afraid," Atian said gently, not forgetting to roll up her sleeve to reveal her fair arm and pat the thin layer of muscle on it, "For that kind of weakling, I can take on ten of them by myself."