Four floating vessels and skiffs flew in a line through the air, cruising slowly toward the border of the State of Ji. Inside the rearmost flying boat, Zhang Sheng, who had been sitting upright in cultivation, slowly opened her eyes and rose to her full height.
The flotilla of flying boats was slowing down. Ahead, four young scions in brocade robes stood side by side in a row, barring the convoy's way.
Two Dharma Idol cultivators flew out from the flying boats. Cupping their hands in a salute neither servile nor haughty, they said, "We are the transport fleet of Great Tang's Military Commissioner of Qingyang. May we ask the names and origins of you young masters, and why you have stopped our fleet?"
One young master snapped open a folding fan, waved it gently, and said, "We are the Four Young Masters of Jiangnan. Surely you have heard of our renown."
The two Qingming Dharma Idol cultivators both frowned. They had never heard of any Four Young Masters, nor did they know where this 'Jiangnan' was supposed to be. However, the four before them were remarkably young, yet every one of them was at the Dharma Idol realm, and their auras were quite out of the ordinary—clearly individuals of no humble birth.
Still unaware of their identities, the two Qingming Dharma Idol cultivators remained polite: "Then may we ask why you have blocked our path?"
A young master in purple robes said, "These flying boats of yours are quite interesting. Since you have arrived at the border of the State of Ji, we, as people of Ji, must naturally share the state's burdens. We cannot permit suspicious individuals to roam about as they please. We need to inspect the personnel and cargo aboard your boats to verify whether you have any ties to the rebels. If there is nothing amiss, only then may you proceed."
The faces of the two Qingming Dharma Idol cultivators darkened, and they said coldly, "We offer you four a word of kind counsel: while there is still time, return to wherever you came from, and we shall not pursue this matter of blocking our fleet. Otherwise—"
The four young masters laughed out of sheer fury. "Otherwise, what? Do you know who we are? This one right here is Brother Meng of the Duke of Long's estate! On the soil of the State of Ji, to dare talk big before Brother Meng—you truly do not know the heights of the heavens and the depths of the earth!"
Another young master piped up, "We knew someone would take advantage of national crisis to pass through the land of the Mountain Folk for treacherous ends! If I am not mistaken, these flying boats are loaded with supplies for the rebels, aren't they?"
The young master surnamed Meng declared, "My second grandfather is eradicating enemies on the front lines, so we must naturally do our part for the nation! Today, if you surrender the flying boats, bind yourselves, kneel, and await our judgment, you might be dealt with leniently. Otherwise, just as my second grandfather slays the rebels, we shall slaughter you all!"
"Brother Meng is still far too merciful, to actually offer such people a way out... uh..."
The blue-robed young master suddenly lost track of what he was saying, staring blankly straight ahead.
Behind the two Qingming Dharma Idol cultivators, Zhang Sheng appeared.
Her hair was unbound at this moment, cascading down naturally, and her usual disguise flickered faintly in and out of view. Leaning against the railing, Zhang Sheng's aura rose and fell unevenly, yet her eyes burned bright as morning stars. Her wounds from the previous great battle had not fully mended, and her breathing carried a hint of labored depth, but a biting sword intent was coiled about her, poised to strike. Her skin glowed like snow, lustrous as cold jade. When she occasionally lifted her eyes, glimpses of her true countenance and a peerless demeanor that looked down upon all under heaven peeked through.
The breath and heartbeats of the four young masters all skipped a beat, as though that single breath of time had been plucked away by an immortal.
All four young masters were in the mid-to-late Dharma Idol realm, and together their combined strength was indeed not to be underestimated. Their bodies had already sounded intense alarms, and a chill gripped their hearts, yet their origin spirits refused to look away. Stealing glances or peering from the corners of their eyes, none of the four dared look directly at Zhang Sheng, but neither could any of them bear to turn their gaze away.
Zhang Sheng seemed lost in thought. Above her head manifested a young Daoist, who casually reached out, drew a rusted sword from the sword mound, and sent it shooting toward the one among the four young masters with the highest cultivation.
Young Master Meng had still been in a daze, but in the face of life and death, he finally snapped back to his senses. The moment his divine sense detected the terrifying might of that flying sword, his soul nearly scattered in terror. Screaming, he spun around and fled.
Yet how could a cultivator outrun a flying sword? Seeing the flying sword close the distance in a flash, the other three young masters turned pale as ash, not daring to lift a finger to aid him!
Seeing this while pursued by the flying sword, Young Master Meng was beside himself with rage and shouted at the top of his lungs, "After today, I am cutting all ties with the three of you!"
He wheeled around and fled upward toward the sky, where a stern, imposing old man appeared. The elder snorted heavily and barked, "What brazen insolence! How dare you lay a hand on someone from my ducal estate!"
A massive hand reached out to snatch the flying sword. Yet at the very moment the great hand was about to touch it, the young Daoist's eyes cracked open slightly. The flying sword's speed abruptly surged, driving straight through Young Master Meng's back and bursting out of his chest!
With a look of sheer horror, Young Master Meng looked down at the wound on his chest, then tumbled from the sky.
The elder was first taken aback, then seized by fury and burning humiliation. Hurling a golden plate forward, he brought it crashing down toward Zhang Sheng's head!
The golden plate swelled rapidly, turning the size of a palace in an instant. It not only struck at Zhang Sheng, but blanketed the entire flotilla beneath it!
This elder had only just stepped into Scenery Command, yet his offensive arts were formidable and his discernment exceptionally sharp. With Zhang Sheng injured and lacking a seamless, cohesive aura, he saw with a single glance that she was overwhelmingly powerful in offense but weak in defense.
After all, Zhang Sheng had only recently completed the Dharma Idol's Spirit Nurturing Realm. The toughness of her Dharma body was unremarkable, and her total reservoir of Dao power was ordinary, yet her killing methods were earth-shaking and beyond comprehension, and her Dao heart was flawless and impenetrable.
Facing the mountain-like golden plate, the elder Daoist reappeared above Zhang Sheng's head. Black and white qi revolved in his hands, and the golden plate suddenly lost its trajectory, veering upward and flying straight out into the heavens beyond.
Startled, the elder hastily pulled the golden plate back under control; otherwise, the treasure might truly have flown beyond the sky.
Meanwhile, the young Daoist drew the immortal sword beside his seat and pointed it into the sky, suspending it high in the western expanse. He then drew three more swords from the sword mound, hanging one each in the east, south, and north. With a flick of his finger, the four swords vibrated, ringing out in a unified chime!
The elder felt his mind reel. His origin spirit nearly separated from his body, and his aura plummeted! At such a moment, if his origin spirit left his physical shell without the protection of his body and sea of consciousness, even a random Dao Foundation cultivator could obliterate him.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, relying on his tenacious Dao heart and iron will, the elder broke free from the sword chime's sway. But with that strike just now, he had already brushed against the edge of demise!
Both terrified and infuriated, the elder instantly pulled away and barked, "Just who are you? Must you make an enemy of the Duke of Long? If you do, you will not take a single step forward in the State of Ji!"
Though his words sounded harsh on the surface, he had in truth already softened his stance. With Zhang Sheng's bearing and methods, slaying opponents across higher realms seemed like everyday routine. How could a figure like this lack a colossal background?
While invoking the Duke of Long's prestige, the elder probed Zhang Sheng's identity, hoping to see whether they could negotiate.
Yet Zhang Sheng had no intention of wasting words with him. She said flatly, "It is Qingming's rule that anyone who dares intercept our cargo fleets is slain first, and questions of right and wrong are debated later. Take another sword from me!"
The young Daoist raised his hand and flicked toward the sword formation in the sky!
The elder snorted heavily and said, "Fine, fine, fine! Remember this well—this matter will not end here!"
Barely had the first few words left his mouth when his figure vanished, leaving behind only a strand of dharmic power to finish the parting bravado.
This trick took Zhang Sheng completely by surprise as well. Truly, extraordinary eccentrics abounded under heaven, and strange methods were endless. Today had been quite an eye-opener for her.
The three young masters in the air remained frozen in place, not daring to twitch a muscle. Hailing from prominent backgrounds, they still possessed good discernment; knowing full well they could never outrun a flying sword, standing obediently still offered a far better chance of keeping their lives.
Zhang Sheng glanced at them, pointed toward the bow of the ship, and said, "Come over here and kneel."
The three scions obediently flew over and dropped to their knees. Sealing their own dharmic power, they retrieved all the magical treasures and valuables on their persons, stacking them neatly before themselves.
Seeing this routine, even Zhang Sheng was taken aback. She asked, "How are the three of you so well-practiced at this?"
Flushing with embarrassment, the three young masters were too ashamed to utter a word.
By then, the two Qingming Dharma Idol cultivators had flown down to retrieve Young Master Meng and set him down on the bow as well. Zhang Sheng's sword strike had rattled his sea of consciousness; while his physical wounds looked gruesome, they were not actually fatal. At the time, Zhang Sheng had not fully recovered and had little Dao power to spare, needing to conserve strength against the Scenery Command elder lurking in the air. Thus, she had used Young Master Meng as bait, and sure enough, reeled the old man out.
A Qingming cultivator brought over a chair. Retracting her dharma idol, Zhang Sheng settled into the seat and asked, "Are the lives of you four worth a lot of money?"
All four nodded frantically like chickens pecking at grain, even Young Master Meng, who had just come around.
Zhang Sheng asked again, "Are your families rich?"
One young master hurried to answer, "Yes, yes! While our families cannot claim to be the wealthiest in the State of Ji, we all rank at least in the top ten!"
Zhang Sheng said impassively, "Write letters to your families and have them bring money to ransom you. The exact amount will depend on what your pathetic lives are worth."
With that, Zhang Sheng stood and returned to the cabin.
Only now did the four young masters dare slightly raise their heads, stealing another glance at Zhang Sheng's figure. Their hearts and breath skipped yet another beat.
Their emotions had swung through wild highs and lows, becoming thoroughly tangled. When they first laid eyes on Zhang Sheng, they had thought her a divine being, utterly subjugated by her earth-shattering methods. But now, with money never leaving her lips, she revealed a touch of her mortal side, no longer an unreachable immortal maiden floating so high above that one dared not even look up.
The four scions had long since abandoned any thought of comparing themselves to Zhang Sheng on the path of Dao, but when it came to wealth, their confidence soared. Each began quietly tallying his family's assets. Three of them believed their families were richer than the Duke of Long, secretly resolving to squeeze Young Master Meng out of the picture first.
All three felt uneasy yet stirred by a sliver of hope, their moods fluctuating wildly: they just didn't know whether, after offering up their entire family fortunes, they might earn a chance to be severely punished by her. If being beaten was out of the question, being scolded a few more times would be wonderful too.
Chapter 977