The Heavenly Wandering Sword

Chapter 21

As soon as the Sword Emperor’s spiritual resonance disappeared, Jing Hong collapsed to the ground. Li Jian carefully moved to lay her down on her back. The Jade Dragon Sword was gone, and if everything had gone correctly he knew exactly where it was. However where the sword had been impaled to the ground still had a bright green energy sword in its place. That gave Li Jian some reassurance, knowing that his disciple was not completely gone. He reached out to the energy sword impaled in front of the coffin and injected a sharp burst of his Dao energy into it. It strengthened not only the barrier that had been put up but it also gave a massive boost to the defences set up in the tomb.

Picking up the Princess, he would walk back down to where the others were waiting. Ling Xin bowed while the other two rushed forward. “Is Sister Jing alright?” Lady Bai asked with concern. Jing Wu Die however, was more mystified. “Senior, who was that you were speaking with?” Li Jian smiled fondly. “That was Jian Zhan, the First Sword Emperor.” For Jing Wu Die, Li Jian had stopped becoming so mysterious in a lot of ways. In his mind, the plain looking person was already undefeatable and infinite in his power. Of course, his delusions came pretty close to how powerful Li Jian really was.

“Princess Jing will be fine. She will need rest and additional treatment.” He reached down and began undoing the Princess’s dress much to the horror of Jing Wu Die but he dared not say anything. “Brother Li, is right now really the best time to… you know, this?” Li Jian looked up with an offended look on his face. “Sister Bai, I am checking for the curse.” Lady Bai blushed a little and nodded. Li Jian undid the knot on the side before pulling part of the dress away from her mid section and checked. Indeed, the black scars were receding. “The curse was indeed cured, but she paid a heavy price for it. Prince Jing, I am afraid that Princess Jing will need to stay with me for a few days for her to fully recover.”

Lady Bai saw that this was a great opportunity to perhaps get to know Li Jian better. She knew that in his hands, her sister will recover just fine. “Then please pardon this inconvenience Brother Li, but I wish to stay with my sister while she recovers.” Li Jian nodded solemnly and looked over at Ling Xin. “I understand Brother, I will make the arrangements for Princess Bai.” The former assassin was also quite intrigued by what had just happened. “What about the legacy of the Sword Emperor?” Jing Wu Die asked, now reassured that his sister would be well taken care of. “Prince Jing, many come to the tomb to seek the legacy of the Sword Emperor. In truth, there is no inheritance. There can be none or there can be many but what exists in this tomb is simply the will of the Sword Emperor. It is up to him to see if there are any worthy. Your sister has been found worthy, but I’m afraid that she also has had to pay the price for it.”

Jing Wu Die nodded. It seemed however that his sister will be fine, and has opened the way for himself as well to learn the Imperial Sword Arts. “Master Li, I will not forget this debt the Imperial family owes you.” Li Jian smiled at the prince a bit sardonically. “Prince, are you sure you can speak for your father?” Prince Jing blanched a little. “If my father will not honour this debt, then be assured that I will.” He removed a token from his pocket and handed it to Li Jian. “This is the Phoenix Token of the Imperial palace. It means that any request you may have must be treated as if it came from me.” Li Jian took it and nodded in thanks. He was quietly impressed by this prince. “Master, it would not be a bad thing to have him as the Emperor of Huaxia.” Kon Kon said with a yawn. Kon Wang would often sleep when his Master went on his adventures, as there were rarely stalls set up with the delicious food that peaked his interest. Li Jian sent a mental signal of agreement to his sword spirit before dressing up the Princess again.

“It is time for us to leave.” He picked up Princess Jing and began walking out of the palace itself. Outside of the palace, he stopped for a moment at the Sword Saints that guarded the tomb. Seeing him, they all dropped to your knees. “The Sword Saints await your orders.” Li Jian nodded and held out a finger, imparting a massive amount of Dao force into their statues. “You have all worked hard to keep the Sword Emperor safe. Please continue guarding him.” The Dao force infused into their statues increased the powers of the Sword Saints who went on their hands and knees at such a gift. “The Sword Saints will not let you down.” With a slight nod, he continued to walk out of the palace, the others following him becoming ever more mystified by the interaction. “Just what is his relation to this place?” Ling Xin thought to herself. It was obvious that he was a cultivator of great power but it seemed that his background itself was also quite mysterious.

When they had gotten out of the massive array that protected the palace itself, they found themselves back in the barren waste that they had first came to. “How do we get out of here now?” Lady Bai looked up and around to see around them. If Li Jian was not here, she believed that she would have a hard time being so calm in a place like this. Li Jian without a word sent Kon Wang to go seek out the exit. After a few moments, Li Jian could feel a slight spiritual force where his sword spirit had left a marker. “The teleport location is over there.” He lead them carefully back through the sword grave yard that they had first walked in from until they got to a small garden where a single pagoda was. “These are all priceless spiritual grass.” Jing Wu Die gasped as he saw thousand year snow lilies just decorating the small garden. Li Jian examined them carefully and smiled before picking a few select ones, handing them out one by one to the others so that they each had one.

“Thousand year old snow lilies, do not let someone convince you to turn it into a pill. Put the leaves into a hot bath and cultivate in it. That is when the spiritual force will be the greatest. Making it into a pill will only destroy most of the spiritual energy from this unless you can make the pill out of only thousand year old herbs.” Lady Bai looked at the flower placed in her hands and then raised her head questioningly. “How come you are not taking one for yourself?” Li Jian just sighed and shook his head. “I’m afraid those are of no use to me.” Lady Bai nodded but in her mind, she could only see that perhaps the gap between them is so large that not even a thousand year old lily can be used by him. The others quickly stored the precious plant in their storage rings.

Once they had gathered in the pagoda, Li Jian closed his eyes and forced some of his sword intent into the pagoda, and with a sudden flash the group appeared outside of the tomb. Ling Xin let out a soft breath of air and looked around them. There were various other sects who were there as well, as well as the Thousand Sword Sect. “Look at them, they just teleported out of nowhere.” Someone said. The Thousand Sword Sect Hidden Elder came up to them quickly and examined each. “What sort of treasure did you find?” He said suspiciously. Li Jian simply waved a hand and placed the unconscious Princess Jing on the ground. “Senior, the only thing we found were sword specters that attacked us. If you will excuse us, one of our companions is injured and needs treatment.”

The Hidden Elder looked like he was going to let it go but the other Elder from the Thousand Sword Sect also came up to them. “Hidden Elder, I think we should be allowed to inspect their storage rings to ensure the truth?” Ching Fu the Thousand Sword sect Outer Elder said with a conniving look on his face. The Hidden Elder Wan Yu thought about this for a minute. “That sounds reasonable then. If you will all submit to a search of your storage ring then we can let you go.” Li Jian frowned slightly. “What gives you the right to search our storage rings? Or do you perhaps think our companion is faking her injuries?” Ching Fu smiled at them with obvious evil intention. “Well the barrier was broken by the Thousand Sword Sect leading this excursion so of course we have the right to.”

Jing Wu Die stepped forward. “Honoured Elders, there is no conflict between the Imperial family and the Thousand Sword Sect. It might be best to needlessly create friction where there is none.” He displayed the token of the Crown Prince of the Imperial family. “Please give me some face as the Crown Prince.” The Hidden Elder thought about this for a moment and nodded. “In that case, we apologize for not recognizing the Imperial family.” He would wave back the Outer Elder, Li Jian carrying the princess away.

“Follow them. I do not trust their intentions.” The Hidden Elder instructed secretly, Ching Fu nodding in agreement. Li Jian of course, heard this and had truly already expected this. He would place a spiritual healing pill underneath the tongue of the Princess Jing so that it would dissolve before picking her up again and walking out into the forest just outside of the tomb entrance. “Prince Jing, like it or not you are now the Crown Prince of the Imperial Family. Lady Bai, you have had more interactions with the Sects. Please allow me to show you the true ugliness that are inherent in all sects.”