Chapter 79 – Sabers and Swords Emerge from Taiyi
The morning bell startled the mist.
The main sect of Taiyi was located in Fufeng, East Continent, with eighty-one peaks. Among them, North Star Peak was the highest mountain in the Twelve Continents, only a meter away from the sky. The Ren River also flowed turbulently around the peaks, with iron ropes suspended across it. At the hour of Yin, when the mountain bell rang, the disciples of Taiyi from every peak and lineage would rise for their morning routine, crossing the river on the ropes to train their courage and strengthen their souls. Disciples who had been practicing for a long time moved with graceful ease, their sleeves like wild geese, while newly initiated disciples were either cautious with every step or charged forward recklessly.
At the end of the rope bridge, an old man in a crane-feather cloak sat cross-legged, fishing, exuding an air of immortality.
Hearing a howl that was “mournful, lingering, and echoed around the rafters,” the old man in the crane-feather cloak flicked his fishing rod, lifted it, and fished a thoroughly soaked “drowned rat” out of the churning Ren River. With a shake of his hand, he tossed the person into a large fish basket nearby.
“Thank you, Elder He.”
The drowned rat crawled out of the fish basket, covered in dirt.
A disciple squatting by the fish basket flipped through a register with a rustle.
“Twenty-fifth time. Penalty: sweep the latrines for three days. Zhuli Peak, deduction of two taels.” After writing the fifth tally mark, the fish-basket senior brother tapped him hard on the head with his brush handle, his disappointment palpable. “Junior Brother Chu! Do me a favor! Zhuli Peak’s monthly allowance is already small enough. If you keep getting it deducted like this, all your senior brothers and sisters will have to drink the northwest wind with you.”
Junior Brother Chu shrank his head, not daring to speak. He quickly got up and continued on his way across the rope bridge.
The fish-basket senior brother stared at the morning lesson register with deep resentment, pondering how to give this kid some extra lessons later… If this continued, he would be forced to give up drinking!
At this moment, a black hound stepped onto the suspension rope, running nimbly and quickly, far faster than the newly initiated disciples.
Seeing this, the senior brothers and sisters loudly scolded their respective junior brothers and sisters: “Look, look! Even a dog runs faster than you! Run, run, run! All of you, start running!” The junior brothers and sisters looked ashamed and quickened their pace. However, the mist was thick and the mountain wind was strong, and soon, a chorus of wails and howls rose and fell.
The fish-basket senior brother counted while the corner of his eye twitched.
He remembered being fooled by such nonsense back in the day… Heavens, if the Howling Celestial Dog, a famous name on the divine beast list, couldn’t even cross a mere rope bridge, then what use was it? It was just that, for some reason, Elder He had raised this revered Howling Celestial Dog to be so rustic and lazy…
“Woof.”
The rustic Howling Celestial Dog placed a letter next to Elder He, then turned and wagged its tail at the fish-basket senior brother.
The fish-basket senior brother pretended not to see.
The Howling Celestial Dog turned around and bared its teeth. “Woof woof woof!”
The fish-basket senior brother reluctantly pulled out a piece of roasted meat and threw it to the dog, thinking deeply of the Little Martial Ancestor. If the Little Martial Ancestor were on the mountain, this mutt would be hiding all day long, and wouldn’t have the time to scam food everywhere. At this thought, the fish-basket senior brother wanted to ask Elder He when the Little Martial Ancestor would be back, but he saw Elder He fold the letter, put down his fishing rod, and stand up to head towards the main peak of Taiyi.
“Eh?!”
The fish-basket senior brother scratched his head.
“Elder He actually left the river?”
Elder He was one of the old monsters of the Taiyi Sect. He had once followed Sect Master Yan Huaiming on an expedition to Kongsang, and later became the guardian of the river in the Taiyi Sect. Unless it was a world-shaking event, not even the sect master could disturb his fishing. The last time Elder He had left the Ren River was eleven years ago, when the Great Wilderness expanded and the Undying City was in peril.
Could it be that something major had happened again?
After scratching his head for a while, the fish-basket senior brother jumped up and shouted at the river, “Elder He is gone! If you don’t want to fall into the river and play ball with the dragons, then hurry up!”
Hearing this, everyone on the rope suddenly became vigilant.
The Taiyi Sect had more than a dozen dragons, who were the rescue team for those who fell, besides Elder He. Normally, with them and Elder He around, it didn’t matter if one slipped and fell while crossing the iron rope; at most, one would swallow a bellyful of water. However, under normal circumstances, the disciples of Taiyi would rather be “fished” up by Elder He. After all, the dragons of Taiyi were a bit too lively… Whoever fell down would surely be swung around by their tails and fought over like a ball… By the time they were finally sent into the fish basket by a tail swipe, they would definitely be too dizzy to tell east from west.
That was why the disciples of Taiyi always learned sword-riding faster than the disciples of other sects. While disciples of other sects were still wobbling on their swords and crashing into mountain walls, the disciples of Taiyi could generally perform sharp turns in the air with ease.
There was no other reason. They had all been swung around by dragon tails, and had long become familiar with the feeling of soaring through the air…
The hour of Yin was gradually passing.
The morning practice was about to end. The fish-basket senior brother saw his junior brother wobbling like a big goose, walking to the end of the iron rope.
“Senior Brother, Senior Brother!” Junior Brother Chu said excitedly. “Look, I did it—ahhhhhhh!”
“…”
The fish-basket senior brother flipped to the page for Zhuli Peak and numbly wrote a horizontal stroke.
Well, this month, he could forget about having money to buy wine.
Just as the fish-basket senior brother was about to snap his brush in two with a “crack” and jump up to curse, he suddenly saw a streak of sword qi emerge from the main peak of Taiyi, like a long rainbow across the sky. It was followed by a streak of saber qi, and then another. In just a few breaths, eighty-one streaks of saber and sword light transformed into the Clear Continent, heading south towards the Cangming Sea.
The killing intent was palpable.
The fish-basket senior brother was dumbfounded.
A streak of clear light represented an elder from one of Taiyi’s eighty-one peaks. For each of the eighty-one peaks to send one person out, this situation had only been recorded once in the Annals of Qingzhou.
That time, Sect Master Yan had led the masses to attack Kongsang at the Nine Marshes.
Three thousand years later, sabers and swords emerged from Taiyi once more.
Ninety-nine, eighty-one peaks, not one more, not one less.
***
“How many peaks do you think Taiyi will send this time?” Pavilion Elder Gao Ruyuan sat cross-legged on the Tide-Watching Tower. “Twenty-four or thirty-six?”
“Twenty-four? Thirty-six?” Elder Tao Rong’s brow twitched slightly. “Are you kidding me? Ninety-nine, eighty-one peaks. If even one peak is missing, I’ll jump from here.”
Pavilion Elder Gao was stunned and speechless for a long time.
“That bunch of madmen are usually the most protective of their own. Not to mention this time, the Hundred Clans of Kongsang have brought the fire directly to their Little Martial Ancestor… That one is Taiyi’s reverse scale,” Elder Tao Rong said.
“True,” Pavilion Elder Gao nodded. He looked at the disciples who were repairing Zhunan and pondered for a moment before saying in a low voice, “It’s good that all eighty-one peaks of the Taiyi Sect are coming. Otherwise, with only our Mountain Sea Pavilion’s support, the situation might still be difficult to handle.”
Several days had passed since the catastrophe that determined the fate of the Clear Continent. The winds and waves of the Raging Sea had subsided, but the aftermath had swept through the entire mortal realm, pulling the Twelve Continents and the Thirty-Six Islands into an undercurrent.
After the Heaven-Herding Rope on the Clear Continent’s Golden Crow was severed, the Golden Crow no longer flew back to Kongsang, but instead used the Divine Fu Tree in Fu City as its resting place. The change in the Clear Continent’s Golden Crow’s resting place caused the Clear Continent’s celestial orbit to change along with it. Currently, the Mountain Sea Pavilion’s personnel scattered across various places were all in action, measuring the new orbit of the Clear Continent’s sun and moon. Regarding this change, some people in the Clear Continent were happy, while others were worried. The happiness was that from now on, the sunrise and sunset of the Clear Continent would no longer be controlled by Kongsang. The worry was that the new celestial orbit was different from before, and no one knew whether the new celestial orbit centered on the Divine Fu Tree was better or worse than before.
People outside the Clear Continent had even more to think about.
Zhunan was the commercial center of the world, gathering merchants from the Twelve Continents and the Thirty-Six Islands. A few days ago, people from almost every continent and every island had witnessed with their own eyes that the Little Martial Ancestor of the Taiyi Sect could not only sever the Heaven-Herding Rope, but also command the Golden Crow.
The Mountain Sea Pavilion had always been the most calculating. This time, without even having to think, they could guess what the other immortal sects and the overseas islands would be wary of: in the past, the movement of the sun and moon was controlled by more than a hundred clans of Kongsang following heavenly incantations, and the immortal sects could inspect and supervise the celestial orbit. Now, suddenly, there was one person who could control the sun and moon with his own strength. In that case…
Who could guarantee that he and Taiyi would not use the sun and moon to command the world?
Who would supervise him, who would restrain him?
The relationship between the major immortal sects of the Twelve Continents was already far from “united.” It was only on the matter of “supervising the heavens” that they could maintain a unified attitude when facing the Hundred Clans of Kongsang. Now, with the Taiyi Sect displaying the power to control the sun and moon, the fragile balance between the immortal sects was shattered.
In addition, the Hundred Clans of Kongsang had concealed the loss of control over the celestial orbit, Desolate Attendants had infiltrated the Twelve Continents, and the Great Wilderness was once again stirring… Numerous problems were plaguing the Twelve Continents.
The reason why the Twelve Continents were still relatively calm now was due to the upcoming Immortal-Demon Alliance Meeting in half a month. Everyone had tacitly agreed to leave these issues to be discussed at the meeting.
Before that, everything was like a surging undercurrent.
“Human hearts,” Pavilion Elder Gao smiled bitterly. “The other immortal sects probably haven’t been able to rest easy these past few days.”
“It would be strange if they could,” Elder Tao Rong snorted. “This immortal sect alliance meeting is going to be a noisy one.” He pondered for a moment. “Those guys from Taiyi are good at fighting, but not so good at arguing. It’s a good thing they’re coming to Zhunan first… Our Mountain Sea Pavilion’s support alone probably won’t be enough. The Buddhist Sect and Ghost Valley count as two. As for Medicine Valley’s attitude…”
“Speaking of Medicine Valley, the Pavilion Master’s wife…” Pavilion Elder Gao paused and corrected himself, “Lady Yan is already on her way back. She should arrive tomorrow.”
“Tell me, why wasn’t it us old geezers who died?” Elder Tao Rong looked up at a bronze sea pillar. “How are we supposed to face Lady Yan? How are we supposed to explain?”
The Cang River flowed turbulently, its gentle waves lapping against the base of the bronze sea gate pillar. A figure sat cross-legged before the bronze pillar. Days had passed, yet he hadn’t moved.
Pavilion Elder Gao closed his eyes, his voice bitter. “We have no face to see her.”
No face to see her, no face to answer.
Old man, old man! Look! I did it! I told you you were underestimating me… The triumphant voice came to an abrupt halt. Zuo Yuesheng, who had just emerged from the illusory realm, stood in the ruins, looking around in bewilderment.
…Eh, where’s my dad?
No one answered.
***
The sunlight shifted, and the pillar’s shadow tilted.
Zuo Yuesheng sat in the shadow cast by the bronze pillar, watching the seawater surge past its edge, wave after wave, endlessly. A small fish swam to the side of the pillar, pecking at it again and again. Zuo Yuesheng reached out and shooed the fish away.
“Right is right, wrong is wrong. The guilty must be executed, the at-fault must atone,” Zuo Yuesheng rubbed his face, working the stiff muscles into a smile. “Old man, so you remembered all along. I thought you’d forgotten long ago.”
The seawater rose and fell, the sound of the tide rose and fell.
Faintly, someone was still teaching him right from wrong, yes from no.
The last time they fished together on the Cloud Terrace, Zuo Liangshi listened to him drone on about how this sect master was and how that school’s leader was. He got impatient and tapped him with his fishing rod.
…Your dad is much more amazing than them.
…Get out of here. I’ve looked through the Heavenly Pride Rankings from your time, okay? Your name isn’t even on it.
…You little brat, you’ll know in the future.
One strike to slay a high god, one man to purge the mountains and seas.
“Old man, so when you said you were amazing, you were really amazing.”
“In the future, when I go out and brag about who my dad is, everyone will definitely be like ‘wow,’ so jealous. No one will ever dare to say you were the most useless sect master again.”
Zuo Yuesheng’s hand slowly dropped. He stared at the sea surface, and the upturned corners of his mouth slowly fell.
“Old man, they all say you were so cool that day.”
“But so what if you were cool? I didn’t get to see it.”