Chapter 58: 58. Chapter Fifty-Eight

58. Chapter Fifty-Eight

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The mountain gate of the Tianxing Sect is one hundred and eight thousand li away from Guangkai Town; it is 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 is 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 can enter the Beihai Sword Sect is a fool. Regardless of whether the person firing the cold arrow came from the Tianxing Sect, they were clearly ill-intentioned. Furthermore, since the opponent could approach without him noticing anything, their cultivation was obviously above his own. The most urgent priority was to evade first.

Thus, while forming a Sword technique with his fingers, he reached out to pull Atian. Unexpectedly, this pull did not move her at all.

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

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

Zhao Kuo looked at the signature magical tool of the Tianxing Sect, now 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 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 sure he has already left?"

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

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

Zhao Kuo felt a bit flustered. Disciples of the Beihai Sword Sect must descend the mountain for training once they reach a certain age. Considering his young age and low cultivation, this task—which had almost no difficulty—was assigned to him. Who would have thought that an assassin suspected to be from the Tianxing Sect would appear and disrupt his plans entirely? 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 a Soul-Chasing Arrow with her bare hands but could also track a cultivator's movements, which 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 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 aloof expert was likely unsalvageable.

Bending down to pick up the arrow that had been snapped in two, he carefully examined the residual magical power fluctuations 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 always known for their fierce attacks, which was enough to make up 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 just now.

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, right?" The True Qi circulating in his body nearly went astray.

Yet, he had to admit that the move Atian had just pulled off was something he himself could absolutely not have done.

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 many questions in his heart, this was not a good time to investigate. Since he had encountered an 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, and changed his hand seal. The long sword rose from the ground and shot straight into the clouds.

This was Atian's first time experiencing sword flight. Even though she was always 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 a sense of dizziness. It was only at this moment that she had a real sense that the person before her was truly an "Immortal Elder" with 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 unwell, Miss, you must tell me immediately." Even though he did not think that Atian, with her heaven-defying physique capable of snapping magical tools 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 reveal a curious expression, he gathered his spirits and continued, "Since you have a connection with our Immortal Sect, Miss, I do not know if there will be other dangers on this journey, so 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, Miss, is called a Soul-Chasing Arrow, which is their signature magical tool. The Tianxing Sect's techniques have always been known for concealment and speed. However, we only saw one arrow, so it is unknown if someone else was impersonating them," Zhao Kuo said, "It is just that the Tianxing Sect and my Beihai Sword Sect have no past grievances or recent grudges; I truly 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 each other." 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 is 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 have 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 that they were as close as family with the other three great immortal sects.

The Yuanguang Continent is only so big, and there are only so many people who can cultivate. They bump into each other every few days, so no matter how good their tempers are, friction is inevitable—not to mention that the ability of Sword Cultivators to offend people is just 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 are complex and intertwined. Aside from the Sword Cultivators' sharp tongues that beg for a beating, there is the inevitable competition between top-tier forces and the struggle between Dharma Cultivators and Sword Cultivators that has been entangled since the ancient era. So many contradictions gathered together created 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 can cast a wide net, the cultivation qualifications for Sword Cultivators are even more stringent. 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, so they were at a disadvantage in verbal sparring.

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

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

Fundamentally, these two great immortal sects share the same origin and were one family in the ancient era, yet they took completely different paths in their subsequent development.

The Fangxian Dao cultivates 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 call themselves the Talisman Sect and are famous for their talisman arts. Both sides view the other as demonic heretics who have defiled the Dao Lineage of the founding masters. If one were to count the grievances between the two sects, one could probably write a grand chronicle.

Against this backdrop, it was only natural for the Beihai Sword Sect and the Taixuan Sect to band together against 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, Miss Bei and Miss Fang both want to be the 'Town Flower.' Miss Fang is the magistrate's daughter and has power at home, while Miss Bei is the scholar's daughter and is well-read. However, being well-read ultimately cannot defeat having power at home, so Miss Bei joined forces with the wealthy merchant's daughter, Miss Xuan, to jointly resist the overbearing Miss Fang."

After finishing, she sighed, "You all 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 while, he squeezed out, "... What 'you all,' we should say 'us'."

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

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

As a big shot, it is 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 was not much higher to probe and then just leave it at that.

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