Chapter 104: 99 Initial Ascent

99 Initial Ascent

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

The sound of the wind whistled past his ears; Tang Zhao was flying, flying very high and very far.

It might be hard for others to believe, but he was flying while holding a cat.

When that fat, chubby cat grew no wings, yet carried him into the air out of thin air, his first reaction was to be stunned, and his second was:

Are you finally done pretending?

This was not hindsight; although he had never had a clear train of thought, Tang Zhao had long felt that this cat was problematic.

In fact, any normal person should have seen that this cat was problematic. This creature was elusive, appearing everywhere, darting around various parts of the Demon Cave, and it possessed astonishingly high intelligence, often doing unreasonable things before vanishing in a puff of smoke. He still remembered one time—it seemed to be the first time Xing Ji met him at the Black Spider Villa—this cat was in the living room, and it even made Tang Zhao's hair stand on end with a meow—this was a manifestation of his Spirit being touched. Early on, without his Glasses to guard against spiritual harassment, he was often led into trouble by sword-related things.

Therefore, he had long vaguely felt that the cat was problematic, but firstly, every encounter was hurried, leaving no time for careful observation, and the cat had no conflict with him; secondly, the fat cat was quite cute, felt good to hold, and didn't mind him absorbing its energy, so they had always gotten along well.

Even now, with the cat carrying him into the air, he kept holding on without letting go; this was also trust, believing it had no malicious intent, otherwise, if he were worried it would drop him mid-air, he should have let go and fallen while they were still low.

"What exactly are you? You are certainly not a Fierce Beast, nor a Spirit Image. Could you be a Charm Pet? A Dharma Artifact? Or perhaps... a sword?"

Although the last guess was bold, Tang Zhao suspected it was more likely, because this cat was too real; every hair was soft, and no matter how he held, rubbed, or absorbed it, there were absolutely no flaws. It was a living, breathing creature; only a sword could turn into such a miracle.

Guessing it was a sword, Tang Zhao immediately thought of its Sword Guest.

Actually, it was not hard to guess; although he had only met her once, Tang Zhao had a deep impression of that young girl who had deceived both the Land Inspection Division and the Black Spider Villa, attempting to let him go. He still clearly remembered her handing him candy upon their parting:

"Cats like to eat candy, too."

This was the hint she gave him.

Later, he indeed gave the candy to the cat to eat; it should be that only this cat would like to eat it. Real cats, it seemed, did not eat sweets.

Was she really that powerful?

Although a Sword Guest's sword also has a Sword Image, those Sword Images cannot exist for long and can only appear when mobilizing powerful strength, which is "Advent." To allow a Sword Image to exist for a long time, or even to have the same real texture as ordinary objects without flaws, one must reach the second realm of the Sword Heart, allowing the Sword Image to "Manifest." Just like Ping Jiangqiu's Time Jar.

Does that mean that young girl who looked no older than twenty is a Sword Hero?

Although the Sword Hero Ping Laotou lowered the sense of awe Tang Zhao held for Sword Heroes, he knew rationally that Sword Heroes were still very powerful. For instance, Lord Judge; he was a powerful Sword Hero, and he should be of the same status as the girl.

"Since you have come, why hasn't your Sword Hero come? The situation is not good right now; is she still unwilling to act? Isn't she a member of the Land Inspection Division?"

Although he hadn't connected the cat and the sword earlier, he had always guessed the girl was from the Land Inspection Division because she addressed Xing Ji as "Town Guardian." It seemed all members of the Land Inspection Division addressed each other directly by their official titles, whereas outsiders would add honorifics like "Lord." The girl addressed him that way too, which didn't reveal her rank, but if she were a Sword Hero, her official rank might even be above Xing Ji's "Town Guardian."

"Perhaps her duties don't involve matters here?" Tang Zhao thought, when suddenly the fat cat sank downward.

His vision suddenly exploded with light; water vapor and electric light rushed toward his face!

Only then did Tang Zhao realize that, unknowingly, they had flown above the dark clouds and could already see the lightning flashing within the clouds, dancing like light-snakes.

And the cat was diving headfirst into the clouds.

"Slow... slow down..." Before Tang Zhao could finish, the mist turned into a mouthful of water vapor and drilled into his throat, nearly choking him.

At this moment, he was surrounded by pitch-black clouds; the layered clouds completely blocked the light, making it almost impossible to see one's own hand. Only the suddenly flashing lightning would occasionally illuminate everything in snow-white, leaving no other color, before plunging back into darkness.

Traveling through the clouds, his whole body felt as if it had been submerged in cold water; in the blink of an eye, he was soaked through inside and out. Brushing past the lightning snakes from afar, he could smell the charred scent of the air burning and feel the destructive power right before his eyes. Both the cold and the scorching forces were imminent, gripping him tightly. This short shuttle felt like walking through hell.

Tang Zhao endured the discomfort while worrying: at this point, the situation must be dire; how were Chief Xing and the others?

Immediately after, his vision brightened slightly; they had already passed through the cloud layer.

It was only slightly brighter; the surroundings were still extremely dark, and the water vapor had not decreased, but had instead become thicker.

Because below the cloud layer, it was pouring rain!

Tang Zhao had once fought his way out of the rain that fell like the Tian He flowing backward at Xue Fu, and he had felt it was difficult then, but the rain here was even more ferocious because, besides the downpour, there were strong winds!

The gale was powerful, as if pressing against his face; the rain was blown sideways, splashing down directly like a deluge. In the wind and rain, even breathing was difficult, let alone opening his eyes. Thunder rolled in his ears, rain roared, and between heaven and earth, there was only wind, rain, and electricity!

In an instant, Tang Zhao went from being soaked to looking like a drowned rat; his body temperature dropped rapidly, his face turned pale and blue, his whole body felt weak, and his heartbeat went out of control.

At this moment, he finally understood why one had to practice Qi before becoming a Sword Guest. Compared to the great power of the sword and nature, a person is too insignificant. Without the protection of Qi, once trapped in such harsh conditions, one would be in mortal danger before even seeing the enemy, let alone fighting.

Had he come to the wrong place?

In the heavy rain, he struggled to open his eyes and saw the figure of the dragon from afar; its massive body seemed to be dancing in the wind and rain.

Was it fighting?

He couldn't see clearly, only seeing a tiny bit of red light flickering, which might be that red Pixiu, but he couldn't see any specific human figures at all. In the downpour, the red light and the dragon's figure were like a withered leaf and a giant ship in the middle of the ocean.

As for the others, he couldn't see them at all.

With such heavy rain, could the others still hold on?

He had the heart to get closer to the dragon, but firstly, the rain was pouring down, making it truly difficult for him to move forward, and secondly, even if he went, what could he do?

Truth be told, Tang Zhao had come up intending to watch the battle from the sidelines and see if there was any opportunity for him to be of use, but now, caught in the downpour, he felt only wretched and adrift. Never mind helping; it would be good enough if he didn't add to the chaos by getting close.

Was there really nothing he could do?

He was so wretched, so insignificant; he should have retreated from watching the battle, but he was truly unwilling, and he couldn't rest easy.

If the situation here were favorable, even if the battle were deadlocked, he could just retreat and not add to the chaos. But with the rain before him, he could guess that the battle was unfavorable, perhaps even as precarious as a pile of eggs.

Not to mention that Tang Zhao was already a reserve member of the Land Inspection Division, just the fact that Xing Ji was his extremely important mentor—a rare person in the world who cared if he was still alive—meant that in terms of both grace and righteousness, the weight was heavier than Mount Tai. Now that he was fighting for his life, was there really nothing he could do for him in this crisis?

What could he do?

With his remaining Dharma Artifacts, he couldn't even use a Sword Technique; could he rush up and behead the dragon? Could he build a defensive line? Or could he imbue them with some kind of status...

Wait?

Status?

"Sister Cat..." Tang Zhao whispered into the tabby cat's ear: "Can you lend me some power?"

"Meow?"

The cat was confused.

It seemed that was not possible.

Tang Zhao had only asked casually, not expecting it to work. In fact, he had long known that the Sword Essence of a sword and the power of a person were two completely different types of power; even if a sword could transmit power to a person, it could only be to its own Sword Guest. Even his Glasses, when absorbing power, could only absorb the power of a Rune Formula and could not absorb it directly from the sword itself.

Especially since he had been continuously absorbing Art Tools these past few days, he understood more and more that what he was absorbing was not the power of the Art Tool, but the Rune Formula. The power of a sword and a Rune Formula were two different things; the power was not even in the same league, and the power of a Rune Formula was much shallower. Even his most miraculous Glasses could only Knock Sword when facing a sword; they could never absorb a sword.

Since asking for help didn't work, there was nothing left to do but... give it his all!

"Then, Sister Cat, can you grab me from above? I need to use my sword."

This time the fat cat understood; it promptly crawled out from his embrace, flipped onto Tang Zhao's back, and bit down on the back of Tang Zhao's collar.

This swaying sensation was like being dangled by a fishing line in a torrential current, making Tang Zhao tremble with fear, terrified that the quality of his clothes wouldn't hold up, which would be the end of him. Furthermore, the torrential rain poured madly into his open collar, drenching his entire body in cold water and making him feel even colder.

But regardless, his hands were finally free.

He took out his sword again; it was his most suitable Dharma Artifact, the Lihuo Sword. However, he needed more than just that.

He put on his Glasses.

He opened the Sword Manual.

"Simulate holding—Yanggu Sword!"

A brilliant golden light lit up from his hands, as if it were a sun.

Yanggu, the place where the sun first rises; Yang, the Rising Sun. This was the sun!

The sun represents light, warmth, dryness, and vitality.

The warm light shone upon his body, rapidly evaporating the moisture and gently wrapping around him.

It was as if he had suddenly jumped out of the rain and found a warm shelter from the storm; the shelter was clean and cozy, filled with the scent of Sunlight. He changed into clean, new clothes, sat before a warm stove, drank hot tea, and listened to the dull sound of rain outside, feeling a drowsy sense of fatigue...

No, now is not the time to enjoy the warmth.

What kind of warmth is the warmth of one person alone?

One should let the Sunlight illuminate all directions!

"Sword Technique, Golden Light Illuminates All..." he murmured.

No, he could no longer afford to use a Sword Technique, and that wasn't the most suitable Sword Technique anyway.

Just do it directly!

"Sword Image—Manifestation!"

"Rising Sun!"

The light flared, and a red sun burst forth from the sword's edge, carrying a brilliant halo as it rose higher and higher—

Just like the sun rising over Dong Mountain, Purple Qi Comes from the East, and Sunlight Illuminating All!

In an instant, Clearing Clouds to See the Sun!