The Heavenly Wandering Sword

Chapter 9

The next few days passed by rather pleasantly. For Li Jiang, this was something he had long sought for. He knew of course that he would need a few servants here and there to take care of things. He even wondered if it would be worthwhile to start his own sect. However, he found the thought of so much extra work to be rather headache inducing. He lounged in the garden and looked up at the sky. He wondered now how the other deities were doing. He held up a cup of wine up to the heavens before laughing and emptying the cup. Looking up at the sky, the sun was looking to set soon. Patting his stomach, he got up and was about to leave when there was a series of knocks on his door. Instantly, all 13 Sword Spirits appeared at the door. Waving his hand, one of the Sword Spirits the Assassin King opened the door to reveal a rather stunned Master Huang Wu.

Li Jian bowed towards him politely. “Master Huang, how can this humble junior be of service?” Huang Wu examined the sword spirits and looked around at the house. “Junior, were you the one who set up this sword array?” Li Jian nodded and gestured towards the Sword Spirits. “These are the guardians of the array as well.” Huang Wu muttered to himself as he admired the protection array and sighed. “I hope you will not be offended by me calling you junior, you are clearly a master of arrays.” Li Jian smiled and bowed. “Senior is too kind, I dabble in arrays when necessary.”

Huang Wu put a hand and felt with his spiritual energy the structure of the array but he could not even understand the lay out. With one hundred sword flags set up, anchored by 13 powerful swords, it was nothing like he had ever seen. “Master Li, if you would not mind this junior asking. Would you be willing to impart the wisdom of this array onto myself?” Li Jian bowed apologetically. “Senior, I wish that I was able to. However, Senior is incapable of setting up this array. Please do not take offence to that statement, but an array like this… it required 13 Sword Spirits, each that must be at least Level S sword spirits. Without it, this array can not exist.”

Huang Wu stared at the young man in front of him and sighed. “You are truly an outstanding genius. I wish that I had found you when you were younger so that you could have brought greatness to the Array Formation Association.” Li Jian smiled and bowed again. “Please Senior, what can I do for you today?” The Array Master sighed as he examined the formation one last time. “There is a meeting today at the Purple Pavilion. I wish to bring you along with me.” Li Jian tilted his head. “Senior, it sounds like a rather important meeting. Might I ask why senior wishes for me to be present?” Huang Wu thought about his answer carefully. “I think that your background may not be so simple. I think for what needs to be discussed, it would be advantageous to have you along.” Li Jian nodded. “I understand Seniors intentions.” He was already there when the Imperial Guard had come. Most likely, this issue is something that is beyond what Baiyang is capable of handling, or at least required Baiyang to be more unified. Did that mean he was considered a faction in Baiyang now? Or did the Array master wish to make him part of his faction?

Li Jian followed the array master into a waiting carriage and they were off to the Purple Pavilion. When they arrived, they would enter through the first floor. The Array Master headed directly up the stairs, Li Jian following him to the very top. He had been here before, and he followed the array master in. Inside the meeting room was a group of rather powerful people. Lady Bai seemed to be surprised at seeing him, smiling at him from underneath her silk veil. He bowed slightly towards them before sitting down in the back quietly. The meeting was already under place and he listened as he ate, having been detracted from his initial plans of finding a new place for dinner.

“If the Imperial Palace dares to break the pact, then Baiyang City will be waiting for them.” A dignified man in a General’s armour said. The Alchemist Master that Li Jian had met previously nodded. “And our association will support the efforts with healing pills.” The Array master bowed towards everyone. “Pardon me for my tardiness, but the array association will set up arrays to defend against any attack.” Lady Bai stood up and bowed her head towards all those present. “I thank you all, I cannot help but feel that this affair is entirely my own fault. I think I should have always expected this day to come.” A man dressed in a rather familiar uniform spoke out as well. “Lady Bai, you and the Purple Pavilion are both pillars of Baiyang. If you had not appeared when you did, the Purple Pavilion would have collapsed. The people of Baiyang would have suffered greatly.”

“General Zhen Yi Mu is far too kind in his words.” The various members of the room would all nod in agreement. “The Thousand Sword Sect will support Baiyang City against the Palace. After all, the top inner disciple Liang Wei himself has just reached Level 4 of the Nascent Soul realm, as well as myself who has reached the Level 2 of Dao Seeking realm. I believe the Imperial Guard will not be able to do anything except seek their deaths.” Li Jian yawned slightly as he sipped more at his wine. This was becoming more and more interesting. In truth, he didn’t care too much about what was going on but the free meal was nice.

“I’m wondering if Brother Li has an opinion on the matter?” Li Jian looked up to see that Lady Bai had directed the question to him. He smiled and bowed slightly. “I think in a room of masters, my opinion is not really needed. Unless Lady Bai is asking if this junior brother will assist her?” Zhen Yi Mu frowned. “Boy, learn your place. Watch your tone. In a room full of seniors, it’s easy to offend when the tongue is not careful.” Li Jian smiled lightly as he poured another cup of wine for himself. “This junior dares not offend a room of such powerful beings. In that case, junior will take his leave.” He would bow and walked out without another word. He found his way blocked however by Zhen Yi Mu. “Boy, you think you can leave without apologizing to everyone in the room?”

Lady Bai quickly held up a hand. “General Zhen, please forgive me. I was the one who asked a leading question.” Zhen Yi Mu looked at him and frowned slightly. “A boy without any cultivation dares to question Lady Bai? How presumptuous.” He sneered over at Li Jian who simply shrugged. “I think General Zhen is powerful enough to take on the Palace by himself, I don’t believe that I am needed.”

“Boy, do you think you are greater than the Thousand Sword Sect? A Sect with more than two thousand years of history?” Li Jian looked at the General and sighed slightly. “General, I mean no offence. I simply do not see myself as needed. After all, with the Masters in this room, I don’t know how the Imperial Palace would dare stand against you all.” At his answer, the General snorted before sitting back down. “Why did Lady Bai wish to invite this impudent coward?” He asked as he glanced over. Lady Bai could only bow slightly. “The Senior brother is a personal friend of mine and quite skilled.” Huang Wu stood up and bowed slightly. “General, this old man can attest to that as well. Brother Li Jian is a very talented individual.” The General hmphed to himself before settling down.

“This junior hopes you all have a fruitful discussion.” Li Jian bowed before leaving the Pavilion. In truth, he was quite curious about how the Thousand Sword Sect has been. At the same time, he truly wished to avoid this inevitable struggle between Baiyang City and the Imperial Palace. He would wander out for a few hours until he came to one of the many smaller restaurants he saw and sat down, ordering a bowl of noodles in soup. As he waited for his order, he looked through the streets with a thoughtful expression. He could sense someone looking for him and smiled before ordering another bowl of noodles. He had eaten here before and the noodles were quite excellent.

Sure enough, after a few moments of waiting, the cook came out with two steaming bowls of noodles and placed them in front of them. He dug into the noodles and smiles. The broth was a simple one, and the noodles well made. After a few moments, he saw that Lady Bai had come in. She was wearing a much more subdued travelling outfit. “Come sit sister, have some noodles with me.” She sat down hesitantly and undid her veil. He could see that she was worthy of being the Princess of the Imperial Palace. “I’m afraid it’s nothing like the aristocratic cuisine you are used to, but I hope you like it.” She tasted the broth and the noodles separately, atypical of someone raised in an aristocratic setting. “It’s very simple, but very good.”

The two of them sat there silently, eating for a while until she set down the empty bowl and looked down. “I hope that you are not offended, brother.” Li Jian shook his head as he placed his chopstick down on his empty bowl. “I meant what I said Little Bai.” She blushed slightly at the familiarity he took with her name. “You have the Thousand Sword Sect and the two largest association in the city along with the Governor who all back you. Why do you think I am needed?” He waved dismissively and smirked at her.

“Unless Little Bai thinks that I am just too handsome to be without?” She looked at him and rolled her eyes, before remembering who she was rolling her eyes at. “You are too familiar with my name, Brother Li.” Li Jian shrugged as he leaned back. “Have you not taken the familiarity upon yourself when you decided to have people follow me and then come have dinner with me?” She blushed at the accusations before putting her veil back on.

“Brother Li, I have to leave for now. I hope that we will be able to see each other again.” She bowed slightly before departing. “Women.” He thought to himself, always so mysterious. He could read between the lines and see what she was asking but he had not yet decided if he would help her yet. After all, he could afford to offend the Imperial Palace but that would be the end of the low key lifestyle he was starting to enjoy.