The Heavenly Wandering Sword

Chapter 13

The weather had been quite nice on this trip so Li Jian decided to walk the rest of the way back to the Sect. It had been an interesting trip in many ways. He was curious as well to see the state of things in Baiyang City now that he had been gone for over a week. More importantly, he was eager to collect his winnings from the Sect. Of course, things were never so simple.

In the middle of the road was a royal carriage surrounded by an escort of those wearing the gold colours of the Imperial Guard. Li Jian had long taken off his mask, in case the Golden Temple had already come looking for someone wearing that specific mask. “The Imperial Guard… must be someone from the Palace then.” He muttered to himself. He cannot simply just fly to the Imperial Palace and destroy it, so he had to tread carefully. He would walk along side the carriage, staying off the road to avoid interacting with any members of the Imperial Family. The members of the Imperial Guard around the carriage all looked at him suspiciously but he just ignored them.

“Who is that man walking outside?” Jing Hong asked her brother who sat across from her. Her brother Jing Wu Die looked out of the carriage window and frowned slightly. “I think a commoner perhaps? Or a martial artist coming back from the mountains.” She nodded and stared at Li Jiang walking on the side of the road forward before lowering the curtains. Li Jiang had noticed someone looking at him but he simply did not care. More than that, he wished not to be bothered and dragged into whatever the Imperial family was involved in. He was about to peel off and head to another direction when he felt the killing intent radiating from in front of him and raised an eyebrow with interest.

“Who dares in front of the Imperial Family?” The officer in charge of the Imperial Guard quickly formed a circle around the carriage. “Come out if you have the guts.” Jing Wu Die looked outside, hearing the common and looked at his sister. “Please be careful sister, I think there is trouble ahead.” The Imperial Guard all took their positions and looked around. Out of no where, four attacks flew through them and cut down all four of the Imperial Guard on the north side of the carriage. “Protect the Imperial Family!”

As one the Imperial Guard surged forward to form a line, stepping over the four bodies of their comrades. Another four attacks were launched but this time, the Imperial Guards readied their spears and launched a fierce counterattack. Golden red spear auras were launched forward but they managed to only stop one of the attacks. The other three cut down the Captain of the Imperial Guard before their attacks revealed themselves. Dressed in all black wearing masks of skulls, the four assassins stalked forward, their short killings blades drawn. “Level seven nascent souls” One of the Imperial Guards hissed.

“Brother? Are the Imperial Guard able to protect us?” Jing Hong asked, her face a bit cold. Jing Wu Die shook his head slightly. “Against level seven Nascent Souls? I do not believe so my dear sisters.” He looked far more worried. “Prince and Princess, please escape. We will buy your escape with our lives.” One of the Imperial Guard came over to the carriage and bowed down. Jin Wu Die sighed and shook his head. “Fate has deemed us to die here on this road. This Prince will not bow down and die. If they dare to, they can come take our lives.” Princess Jing Hong stood up and got out of the carriage. She was dressed in a white and red dress, although she wore a golden scarf around her neck as a symbol of her being a member of the Imperial Family. She drew a sword out of her storage ring and looked at the assassins.

“Royal blood is pricey. Come see if you can afford it.” The four assassins leaped through the air in an attack, each of them launching a series of strikes against her. Black sword arcs soared through the air, although the Princess swung back and was able to counter some of those. Those that she was not able to, she stepped back, back flipping backwards and avoiding each attack.

“Master, her skills are not bad. Her realm is not great but look at the way she holds her sword.” Kon Wang appeared floating beside Li Jian, eating another fried dough stick he had stashed from somewhere. Li Jian nodded, there were no complicated moves for the purposes of aesthetics, this girl had learned swordsmanship from someone who has fought with it. Some of the Imperial Guard moves to beside her but she waved them away. “Retreat. Someone must inform the palace of our death. Consider it this Princess’s first and last edict.” She stepped forward and slashed out with her blade, making two fast slashes towards the assassin. The first strike brought out a flash of lightning that arched towards the assassin and the second strike brought forth a golden flash of light, a golden dragon soaring towards the assassins.

The two attacks, although dazzling was brushed aside by the assassins. “Not bad, good form. Strong grip on the handle, no wasteful motions.” Li Jian said, appearing beside the Princess Jing in a flash. “Try it again.” The assassins, confused by the sudden appearance quickly launched another attack against them. “When they strike it, don’t target them. Target their swords with your attack.” Li Jian instructed, his hands on his waist. The Princess looked at him with the expressionless look on her face that he had noticed earlier and nodded. With a lightning fast step forward, she made the attacks again at the same time as the assassins, but this time her attack broke all four of their black sword arcs. She looked at her sword in surprise while Li Jian nodded.

“A sword blocks by attacking.” He said approvingly. The Imperial Guard looked at the Prince for instructions, unsure of how to proceed but the Prince waved them off. It was clear that this person was no simple farmer or cultivator. “Princess, I do not wish to be involved in the affairs of the Imperial family, if you understand my meaning. I wish for my life to be simple. However you have great potential so please consider this a humble lesson. I will only execute this move once, so please pay attention. If you want to get better with swords, then you must understand what they are.” The Princess stared at him again before nodding. Li Jian placed his hand on the handle of the Void Bringer sword, the assassins launching their attack again and closing in as they activated their full auras.

Black light energy spewing over the country road as they made their move. Li Jian drew his blade and strike in the same instant, the single beam of sword force slicing through the enemy attacks and sliced clean through all four opponents. Stopped in their tracks, they fell to the ground, each assassin dissected into two pieces. He sheathed his sword and looked at Princess Jing. “Princess, do you understand what I am saying?” The Princess stared, the image of the attack re-playing over and over again in her head. “A sword has no opposition.” She said in response. Li Jian smiled at the quick understanding of the Princess. “May our fate brings together again one day.”

As he was walking off, the Prince was about to stop him but the Princess put up a hand. “Brother, did you see the way he handled his sword? He must be a legendary sword master.” Prince Jing Wu Die sighed and nodded. “It would have been great to bring him into the Imperial family.” Princess Jing Hong had never felt an aura like what she had just seen, but she knew that it was someone who was not simple at all. “Brother, we cannot afford to just approach him like this. If we wish to bring him to our side, we must be careful.”

Li Jian finally arrived back at the sect again and went straight to the rewards pavilion. “One King Beast core.” He said as he placed the King Snake’s core on the table. The Elder who sat behind the table leaned forward and examined it carefully, frowning slightly at him. “That is indeed a King Beast core. How did someone with no cultivation like you get your hands on it?” Li Jian thought about it for a moment before smiling at the Elder. “This junior was very, very lucky.” The Elder laughed and handed over the reward, all those spirit stones in a storage ring that Li Jian quickly transferred over. “Well luck is an ability too. I hope junior has excellent luck in the future as well.” Li Jian bowed before leaving. With that many spirit stones in his storage ring now, it was an excellent time to look over at getting his hands on members of the assassins guild. He wondered if those he had killed on the road earlier were members of the assassins guild. It was too late now though.

“Hey, you there. You dare steal from my younger brother?” Li Jian looked up and saw that there was a disciple that looked familiar standing in front of him with a few others behind him. Li Jian tilted his head and shook his head lightly. “I have never stolen in my life. Who are you to accuse me of stealing?” The one in front of him had the insignia of the Inner Sect upon his tunic and continued to glare at him. “I am Lan Yi Fen of the Inner Sect. You stole 50 spiritual coins from my younger brother Lan Gang.”

Li Jian rolled his eyes hearing that. “That idiot who made the bet. I won those coins through a bet. Why would you call it stealing?” Lan Yi Fen activated his spirit aura, showing that he had stepped into the first level of the Nascent Soul. “You an idiot with no cultivation or spiritual energy dare tell me that you were able to best my brother in a test of strength? You clearly cheated your way through. Hand back those coins, and then get on your knees and break your own legs. Then I might spare you.”

“An outer sect disciple has provoked Lan Yi Fen.” Some of the disciples started whispering to each other, as many more gathered to watch what they presumed will be the new person getting beaten down by an Inner Sect disciple. “You call him your brother but I call him grandson. He lost the bet and so he cried to his big brother like a child still in his diapers. Your Lan family should be ashamed to raise such a cry baby. Are you sure he’s hit puberty yet?” Lan Yi Fen’s face turned red. Li Jian had an oddly venomous mouth, but it had gotten a bit worse when he had ascended a few thousand years ago. He learned even more venomous taunts from the various deities around. “You seek death? Then I will grant you this. Life or death battle right now. Do you dare?”