The Heavenly Wandering Sword

Chapter 19

The inside of the tomb entrance was perfectly excavated out, all four sides of the entrance smoothed out perfectly. Various words were etched into the walls. “The Legacy is Understanding.” Li Jian read from the wall, just one of many phrases. “Brother Li, just who was the First Sword Emperor?” Jing Wu Die asked, nervously looking around. Li Jian thought about the question carefully. It was entirely possible that he knew exactly who the First Sword Emperor was. “I believe that the First Sword Emperor was the first person to achieve swordsmanship above the realm of mortal understanding. If that is the case, he must truly be an absolute expert in the sword.”

“How would Brother Li rate himself compared to the First Sword Emperor?” Jing Hong asked in her usual dead pan tone. “He most likely knows much more than me. I only knew a few sword arts but the First Sword Emperor is most likely the master of all of them.” It was true but the context was not quite right. The Sword Arts that Li Jian knew were Sword Arts that were incapable for mortal cultivators to understand. The understanding of all the sword arts under the sun may compare to perhaps a quarter of one of his Sword Arts.

“Do you think you could ever become a Sword Emperor?” Lady Bai asked him, but he waved a hand casually. “No no, I would never want to be a sword emperor. It sounds like a lot of work. Everyone wants power and prestige but not enough people understand the responsibilities that come with such a thing.” Jing Wu Die sighed and nodded. “Senior is indeed wise, I am glad to hear that you and I are of the same mind.” Li Jian tilted his head at the Prince’s words. “You don’t wish to be Crown Prince?” Jing Wu Die shook his head as the group travelled along behind the Thousand Sword Sect. “The Senior is correct. I truly wish to live a simple life, but now I am the Crown Prince and many of the paths I could have walked in are now closed off to me.” Li Jian quite approved of this mentality, this was how Emperors should be. Those who were too hungry for power were often much better off being no where near the throne.

The entrance itself opened up to a massive cavern with a huge divine. A dozen different bridges leading across to the other side. The other side was shrouded in mist, and the various people who still survived in each Sect looked at each bridge. There were no insignias and nothing else on the bridge itself. Wan Yu looked at the bridge and frowned before activating his sword force. He tried to fly across the massive divine but there seemed to be a barrier that prevented flying. “Divide into 12 groups, each group takes one bridge. Keep your communication talisman on you.” He ordered. The Thousand Sword Sect divided themselves up and quickly began moving across the bridge. Li Jian smiled to himself and shook his head. In the past few thousand years, it seemed that the Sect had declined greatly.

“Brother Li, which bridge should we take?” Lady Bai asked as she watched the other Sects start dividing up as well to make their way across the various bridges. Ling Xin tried to use her assassins sense to see across the mist but her sight was completely blocked. “A bridge is a crutch. It is not an absolute. There is only one absolute in this tomb.” Li Jian smiled before walking to the edge of the divide. “Follow me.” He would say before stepping off of the side. The other four were stunned, but Ling Xin acted first. “I have faith in Senior.” She said before stepping off as well. “I think we should trust in Brother Li.” Lady Bai said, before leaping off. Jing Hong nodded, before stepping off and Jing Wu Die sighed to himself. “If he’s wrong he will have just wiped out the Imperial family.” Thinking about it over again though, he doubted that Li Jian would need to resort to trickery to do that and stepped off the cliff side as well.

Li Jian was waiting for them at the bottom of the divide. As the others landed, a quick gust of wind arrested their fall in a soft cushion of air, their feet gently touching down at the bottom. “Brother Li, how did you know this would happen?” Li Jian smiled at them. “You will understand when we get inside the tomb.” They began walking through the barren landscape, the only thing there were occasional swords impaled into the ground. Jing Wu Die looked at the various swords they came across, each of them a treasure of the highest caliber. “Don’t touch any of the swords.” Li Jian said, as he lead them down to a path that would eventually turned straight to lead into a palace. “Why did you tell me not to touch the swords?” Jing Wu Die asked curiously. Li Jian looked around and smiled slightly. “This is the tomb of the First Sword Emperor. The swords are offerings to him. Does one casually just take from the offerings of an Emperor?”

Jing Wu Die nodded as they continued. “Brother Li, do you really think a cure for my family’s Golden Curse will be found here?” Lady Bai asked as she walked beside him. “I think, that the Golden Curse can be cured but I also think there will be a price for it.”

Jing Hong nodded her head slightly as she followed behind them wordlessly. They came to the straight road in, the road itself lined with twelve statues of different swordsmen. Even though the tomb had been sealed for a thousand years, the statues had no weathering on them and remained as detailed as the day that they had been carved. Li Jian stopped them from advancing any further and smiled. “The twelve statues are the Twelve Sword Saints, the servants of the First Sword Emperor, his personal guard and enforcers. In the mortal world, they are the ones who are responsible for spreading the various sword arts to around the world.” He could sense spiritual energy radiating from all of the statues as the wind rushed into the barren road. The pressure increased steadily until he heard a gasp from behind him. With the exception of Ling Xin who was concentrating to put an aura of spiritual force around herself to protect from the pressure, the other three were almost ready to collapse from the intense pressure.

Li Jian reached out and tapped each of them on the forehead, imparting the tiniest spark of his Dao force into them, the pressure quickly easing off of them. “This is a good place to cultivate for you. The pressure will temper your bodies.” The three nodded and quickly got into meditation positions to take advantage of this opportunity. “Princess Jing, for yourself especially, you must open your dantian to this pressure. It will help improve your swordsmanship immensely.” He gestured for Ling Xin to follow him as he walked down the path towards the statues. As soon as he stepped beyond a certain point, the statues glowed with spiritual force and came to life.

“We are the twelve Sword Saints of the First Sword Emperor, the guardians of his tomb. We will test your worthiness to enter.” Each of the Sword Saints were at the level of Immortal. Although all were of the level of Ancestor Realm before their deaths, the immense power it took to keep their spirits alive and still active was immense. As one, all twelve of them drew their blades. Li Jian however didn’t move at all. Ling Xin was about to reach into her storage ring and draw her daggers but Li Jian held up a hand. “There is no need for that.”

He turned and saw that the other three were busy cultivating and focused on their own inner essence which will make this part easier. He let some of his sword intent flow over the Twelve Saints, the wave of force washing over the spirits still remaining. “Which amongst you is worthy to stand in front of me?” He spoke, but he spoke with an authority that not even the First Sword Emperor was capable of. “You are the Twelve Sword Saints, then you should know the Law of the Sword Dao.”

With a single step forward, all Twelve Sword Saints collapsed onto their knees, their swords fallen down in front of them; unwilling to be picked up and directed at him. With each single step was another level of pressure from his sword intent, until he stood in front of them. All twelve Sword Saints were on their hands and knees at this point, unable to hold out against his sword intent. Without a gesture, he released the sword intent and looked at them. “We do not dare stand against you. We obey the Law of the Sword Dao.”

“Clear the way, I intend to go in.” He said softly. The Twelve Sword Saints immediately fell in line on the side of the road, their heads bowed towards him. “Sister, get the others.” Ling Xin nodded, unsure of what she had just witnessed before going over to where the other three were cultivating. After a few moments, they followed, having let the pressure of the Sword Saints temper their bodies to a further stage. “What happened Brother Li?” Lady Bai asked as she looked around her, unable to understand why the Twelve Sword Saints that she had heard about as a small child, stood there on the side of the path with their heads bowed. Ling Xin kept her mouth shut, knowing that Li Jian had no intention of telling them the truth.

“It was a riddle that I was able to solve.” He smiled as he told her. Princess Jing nodded solemnly. “Brother Li then is truly wise.” Jing Wu Die however was more stunned than anything else. Just who was this mysterious master that their sister had become acquainted with?