Sword of Coming

Sword of Coming

On this day, the wine shop was packed with drunkards and gamblers, all of whom were getting along swimmingly, and they were collectively praising Chen Ping’an. Some praised him for his handsome looks that were reminiscent of his senior brother, while others declared that the combination of Bamboo Sea Small World, pickled vegetables, and yangchun noodles was the best delicacy that the entire Sword Qi Great Wall had to offer.

This was a very unsettling turn of events for the true shills present, and they wondered whether a competitor had sent these people to target Chen Ping’an by turning people against him through reverse psychology. Thus, they made sure to memorize the names of those who were praising Chen Ping’an most enthusiastically, and planned to submit this list to Chen Ping’an for a reward.

As for whether they were falsely accusing innocent allies who were actually also shills for the wine shop, that would be down to Chen Ping’an’s discretion. In any case, they were only responsible for reporting what they saw.

On the city wall, Yu Juanfu was having her usual meal of flatbread and water as she cast her gaze toward a certain battlefield in the south. Many extra little pits and holes had appeared on the ground, and given how far away they were, she could imagine that they had to have been as massive as entire lakes up close.

Yu Juanfu visited the top of the city wall very regularly, and she had become decently close with Zhu Mei. Among the swordsmen of the Shaoyuan Empire, Zhu Mei was the one with whom Yu Juanfu got along the best, followed by the Golden Core Tier swordsman, Jin Zhenmeng. As for everyone else, she didn’t like any of them, so she simply didn’t interact with them. If they greeted her, then she would nod in acknowledgment, but any attempt at making conversation would be quickly shut down.

She was here solely to hone her fist techniques, not to expand her clan’s network of connections. Besides, while the Yu Clan had some ties to Stalactite Mountain, it had no connections to the Sword Qi Great Wall at all.

As for Zhu Mei, she felt as if Yu Juanfu were a long-lost sister of hers.

At the moment, Yu Juanfu was feeling a little concerned. She hadn’t brought enough flatbread, and she was going through her supply too quickly. All of the flatbread in her bag was already gone, and there wasn’t much left in her minimization treasure, either.

However, this was just a minor concern. She had come to the Sword Qi Great Wall on this occasion to hone her physical constitution with the intention of following in Cao Ci’s footsteps. However, she hadn’t expected to encounter Chen Ping’an, nor had she anticipated that the sword immortals of the Sword Qi Great Wall would be even more admirable than she had originally imagined.

Even though she wasn’t a Qi refiner, and she certainly wasn’t a swordsman, she still felt like the Sword Qi Great Wall had some unique advantages over the Majestic World.

After finishing her flatbread, she drank some water, and she planned to rest a little before continuing her training.

Training was the most important thing in her life, but occasionally, she could slack off a bit to think about things outside of her fist techniques.

Zuo You’s swordsmanship was certainly worthy of all the praise that it received.

Sword Immortal Sun Juyuan had personally witnessed the entire battle from start to finish, and according to him, Zuo You had struck Yue Qing down from the city wall with ease. The cascading waterfall of sword qi unleashed by his Thousand Feet Spring completely paled in comparison to the sea of sword qi around Zuo You, while his other bonded flying sword, Soaring Cloud Sparrow, wasn’t even able to get close to Zuo You at all.

However, Sun Juyuan also added that Yue Qing had held back during the battle, not out of courtesy, but because he was worried that if he were to go all-out, then Zuo You would do the same and kill him on the spot.

Before long, two sword immortals had arrived on the scene to try and de-escalate the conflict, but Zuo You had completely ignored them as he continued raining down sword qi upon Yue Qing. Even though he hadn’t said anything, his intention was very obvious: anyone could watch from afar, but if they tried to get close, then they would have to join Yue Qing on the receiving end of his wrath.

The two sword immortals were left feeling extremely awkward. One of them attempted to intervene, and Zuo You immediately fired off a warning slash with his sword that sliced an enormous trench into the earth. If he hadn’t intentionally missed, then the sword immortal who had attempted to intervene would’ve likely been sliced to shreds.

In the end, the two sword immortals had no choice but to call upon two more of their sword immortal friends, but even then, none of them dared to intervene. Their concern was that any intervention on their part could make them Zuo You’s primary target instead of Yue Qing, so they could only stand around like fools.

Right as Yue Qing was forced to go all-out to defend himself, the old great sword immortal appeared atop the city wall with his hands clasped behind his back, and he seemed to have said something to Zuo You.

Only then did Zuo You relent.

Sun Juyuan was clearly in awe of Zuo You’s swordsmanship, and he wondered aloud if Zuo You intended to ascend from the Sword Qi Great Wall.

Yu Juanfu asked Sun Juyuan what it meant to ascend, but the old sword immortal merely smiled and offered no answer.

Yu Juanfu stood up and began practicing her fist techniques along the top of the city wall. Her punches were very slow, but she was moving very quickly.

After walking for around fifteen minutes, she encountered a white-robed young boy. She had no interest in learning his name, but the choice wasn’t up to her as she was often force-fed information by the excessively talkative Zhu Mei, who told her that this was one of Chen Ping’an’s students.

According to her, his name was Cui Dongshan, and he was from the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent. He was technically a third-generation disciple of the Scholarly Sage, but it seemed that there were some loose components in his head, which was quite a shame, given his stunningly handsome appearance.

Yu Juanfu stepped aside slightly to allow Cui Dongshan passage, but he also did the same thing to avoid her, and they just set themselves directly on each other’s path again.

Yu Juanfu sidestepped in the opposite direction, and Cui Dongshan did the same.

”Just say if you want to move left or move right, Big Sister Yu,” Cui Dongshan said with a sullen expression. ”I’m not going to move anymore. Otherwise, I’m worried that you’ll misunderstand and think that I’m doing this intentionally to harass you.”

Yu Juanfu offered no response as she simply stepped around him before continuing onward, but to her surprise, he suddenly turned around and began trailing along a few paces behind her, then asked, ”Have you heard of the Seal Manual of the Hundred Sword Immortals and the Seal Manual of the Two Hundred Sword Immortals, Big Sister Yu? Have you spotted anything you like from those two manuals? Among my master’s students, I’m the least accomplished and affluent one.

”I don’t want to excessively burden my teacher, so I have to make some money to support my own cultivation. I took a few seal manuals and folding fans from my teacher in secret, then went to Young Master Yan’s silk shop to purchase a few seals for cheap. You can just treat me like a traveling salesman. I have here two seal manuals, three folding fans, six round fans, and six seals. Would you care to take a look, Big Sister Yu?”

Yu Juanfu stopped in her tracks, then smiled and said, ”If I’m not mistaken, that talismanic boat of yours is a prized treasure produced on the Flowing Dawn Continent. Even if you’re the best salesman under the heavens, could you possibly save up enough in even a hundred years of selling little knick-knacks like seal manuals and folding fans to afford a talismanic boat of that caliber? Clearly, you’re not actually short on money. What is it that you actually want from me?”

A complex mix of sorrow, resignation, and pain appeared on his face as he sighed in a distraught manner, ”I thought you were different from all of the other young mistresses from affluent clans, but you’re also looking down on me just for trying to get by. I suppose I can’t be surprised. Even a random pot or inkstone from a clan as wealthy as yours is probably more than I can afford, even if I sell off everything in my possession.”

”You’re not going to come clean with me? In that case, I’m no longer interested in speaking with you,” Yu Juanfu said with a shake of her head, then turned to leave.

”Wait!” Cui Dongshan hurriedly called out. ”Fine, I’ll admit it; I just wanted to talk to you, but I didn’t know how to strike up a conversation. How about this? Let’s make a bet: I bet you that there’s something in my collection that will not only catch your eye, but will also be something that you’re willing to purchase. If there is, then I win. If I lose, then I’ll leave right away, and I’ll never appear in your line of sight again for as long as I live. If I win, then you purchase said item from me. What do you think?”

Yu Juanfu merely smiled and offered no response.

Cui Dongshan seemed to have somehow read her thoughts, and he also smiled and said, ”I know what type of person you are, Big Sister Yu. You’re so gracious in defeat and willing to accept losses, not because you come from an affluent clan, or because that’s simply your personality. Instead, it’s because ever since you were a child, you’ve always felt like you’ll definitely be able to win back everything that you lose. In that case, why be bothered by losses?”

Yu Juanfu’s expression instantly darkened, and she snapped, ”Who are you?!”

”Why are you raising your voice at me, Big Sister Yu? I’m Dongshan,” Cui Dongshan replied with a pitiable expression.

”Show me what you’ve got!” Yu Juanfu harrumphed.

Cui Dongshan looked down with an embarrassed expression, then hurriedly turned away as if he were a shy maiden.

Yu Juanfu threw an exasperated punch directly at his temple, but he didn’t take evasive measures at all, as if he were so frightened that he was completely immobilized, or he was simply oblivious to the oncoming blow.

Yu Juanfu immediately reined in her power, and by the time her fist made contact with Cui Dongshan’s head, it did so with only the power of a fourth tier martial artist.

Yu Juanfu was unable to determine Cui Dongshan’s cultivation base, but by her estimates, he had to have been somewhere between the Abode Tier and the Nascent Tier. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to walk and breathe so freely on the Sword Qi Great Wall. For an Abode Tier Qi refiner, a punch to the head from a fourth tier martial artist definitely wouldn’t be enough to inflict any substantial injuries, but it would certainly still hurt.

However, to Yu Juanfu’s alarm, Cui Dongshan spun end over end countless times like a rag doll from the force of her punch, then crashed heavily to the ground close to twenty meters away, where his entire body began spasming uncontrollably.

Did I kill him?

Yu Juanfu hurriedly rushed to Cui Dongshan’s side to discover that he was bleeding out of his nose, and he didn’t seem to be faking his condition.

However, as soon as she leaned down for a closer look, Cui Dongshan immediately wound his arms around her leg and exclaimed, ”Big Sister Yu! I thought I was a goner just now!”

Yu Juanfu’s brows furrowed slightly as she released her fist intent to shake off Cui Dongshan, and that sent him sliding back along the ground for another close to twenty meters.

He sat up from the ground before wiping the blood from his nose, then motioned to wipe his hand on his robe, but seemingly didn’t want to dirty his clothes, so he wiped the blood off on the ground instead.

Yu Juanfu was growing more and more exasperated by the second.

Clearly, Zhu Mei had been correct in her assessment that there were some loose components in his head.

Not wanting to waste more time, she turned to leave again, only for Cui Dongshan to whip out two seal manuals before placing them onto the ground. However, instead of placing the seal manuals alongside each other, he stacked them on top of one another to hide all of the seals, folding fans, and round fans behind them.

After completing his setup, Cui Dongshan beckoned to Yu Juanfu with a grin and invited, ”Come, Big Sister Yu! Let’s have a little gamble!”

Yu Juanfu hesitated momentarily, then made her way toward the makeshift gambling table.

Cui Dongshan hurriedly folded his hands over the seals and fans, and his two oversized sleeves formed a canopy over the collection of items.

Yu Juanfu sat down with her legs crossed, then moved the two seal manuals aside. Clearly, she had no interest in purchasing them.

However, before she moved the two seal manuals aside, Cui Dongshan reached down to cover two particular seals with his hands.

Yu Juanfu moved all of the fans aside as well, then began examining the seals that Cui Dongshan had left unconcealed. All of them bore interesting inscriptions, but none were able to catch her eye.

Thus, she set them aside as well, then smiled and said, ”That leaves only those two seals.”

Cui Dongshan’s hands remained clasped over the seals as he proposed, ”How about we raise the stakes a little, Big Sister Yu? The bet I proposed earlier still stands, but on top of that, let’s bet on whether you’ll like the seal on the left or the one on the right. Alternatively, we can go even further, and you can bet that neither seal is going to catch your eye, or that you’re not going to purchase them even if they do. You had the courage to challenge my teacher; surely you have the courage to take on a bet like this!”

”For the two new bets that you just proposed, what are we betting on?” Yu Juanfu asked.

”If I win the first bet, then all I ask is that you pass on a message to the Yu Clan for me,” Cui Dongshan replied through his mind’s lake. ”If I win the second bet, then I’ll get you to pass on another message for me, this one to Zhou Shenzhi. Rest assured, I won’t make you do anything beyond that. If I do, then we’ll scrap the bets entirely.”

”Can I not take on any of those bets?” Yu Juanfu asked as she condensed her voice into a line.

”Of course,” Cui Dongshan replied with a smile. ”I can’t force you to gamble with me, nor can I force you to buy any of the things that I’m selling. I understand that the stakes have become a lot higher for you. After all, you’re a member of the Yu Clan, while Zhou Shenzhi is a respected senior of yours, so you would be placed in a very difficult predicament if you were forced to pass on an undesirable message to either party.

”However, there can be nothing gained with nothing wagered, but ultimately, the choice is up to you. I know that you’re always gracious in defeat because you’re confident that you can recover your losses, but I’m afraid that if you lose today, you may not ever be able to recover. Of course, it’s not like this is a big deal. We’re just having a little fun, are we not?”

”Are you trying to goad me into taking on your bet?” Yu Juanfu asked.

”So what if I am, and so what if I’m not?” Cui Dongshan asked with a smile. ”If you retreat a step today, you can just walk two steps tomorrow to make up for it. You’re a pure martial artist anyway, not a Qi refiner, and on the path of martial arts, speed has never been of the essence.”

”You’re setting a trap for me, aren’t you? You know that if I lose and pass on a message to my clan for you, then, given my personality, I’ll reintegrate myself into my clan and no longer have the heart to continue traveling, isn’t that right?” Yu Juanfu asked.

”Of course,” Cui Dongshan replied with a smile and a nod. ”Only a fool would dare to propose a bet to someone that they didn’t know inside and out. I understand that you’re unhappy with your clan for arranging your marriage, but I also believe that you don’t harbor any resentment toward your clan on a fundamental level.”

A wry smile appeared on Yu Juanfu’s face.

She decided there and then that regardless of whether she won or lost this bet, she was going to be giving Zhu Mei a piece of her mind.

All the while, she had been carefully observing Cui Dongshan, trying to see if there were any visual cues to suggest which seal Cui Dongshan had more confidence in, but the more she tried to analyze, the more undecided she became.

Yu Juanfu pulled out a lesser heat coin and flipped it; it landed on the reverse side.

”I pick the seal under your right hand!” Yu Juanfu declared without any hesitation. ”I bet that I won’t be interested enough in the seal to buy it.”

Cui Dongshan extended a hand to reach for the lesser heat coin.

”What do you think you’re doing?!” Yu Juanfu snapped.

”I’m claiming my winnings, of course,” Cui Dongshan replied as he looked up at her with a confused expression. ”Why would I go to all this trouble if I’m not doing this for money? My teacher may be a walking charity, but that doesn’t apply to me!”

Yu Juanfu glowered angrily at him.

Cui Dongshan withdrew his hand with a grin, then lifted his hand to reveal the seal underneath as he mused, ”You’re still so pretty even when you’re angry, Big Sister Yu.”

Yu Juanfu reached out to grab the seal, and she discovered that it wasn’t on the Seal Manual of the Hundred Sword Immortals or the Seal Manual of the Two Hundred Sword Immortals.

The inscriptions on the sides of the seal read: ”The stone in the stream serves as a pillar. Beautiful clouds hang in the sky, but fist intent rises even higher.”[1]

The inscription on the face of the seal read: ”Martial Goddess, beside Chen and Cao.”

Yu Juanfu held the seal tightly in her hand, and after a long silence, she raised her head and conceded, ”Alright, I lose. Tell me what message you want me to pass on to my clan.”

What was most remarkable about Cui Dongshan wasn’t that he was aware of her two aliases, nor was it the fact that he knew about her ties to Zhou Shenzhi. Instead, it was the uncanny grasp that he had on her personality and mental state.

He knew that if she lost, she would integrate herself back into the Yu Clan and no longer continue to travel the world. This meant that regardless of what message Cui Dongshan wanted her to pass on to the patriarch of her clan, she would ultimately owe him a favor. At the same time, he had also identified that her greatest wish right now was to catch up to Cao Ci and Chen Ping’an in her pursuit of martial arts.

Yu Juanfu looked down at the ground with a defeated expression, but after waiting for some time, Cui Dongshan still didn’t tell her the message that he would like to have relayed to the Yu Clan.

Thus, she raised her head with a look of resolve on her face and said, ”I’m willing to accept my loss, so please tell me the message you would like me to pass on.”

Cui Dongshan observed her with an amused smile for a moment, then told her the message.

”That’s it?” Yu Juanfu exclaimed with a surprised expression.

1. Stone in stream is a translation of 石在溪 (Shi Zaixi), which, if you’ll recall, is the alias that Yu Juanfu used on the Golden Armor Continent, while beautiful clouds is a translation of 绮云 (Qiyun), which alludes to the alias of Yu Qiyun that she used on the Middle Earth Divine Continent.