The Spar

The north wind howled across Yishan City, faintly vibrating the stone door of the cave dwelling set into the great mountain. Chi Jiuyun stood quietly outside, letting the biting wind whip his robes, his index finger resting lightly on the sword at his waist as he waited in silence. After a moment, Chi Jiuyun frowned. Gazing at the faint fissures across the dark gray stone door, he murmured, "Junior Brother, there is no need to stall for time any longer. A full three years were granted to you. With your natural aptitude, you must have broken through long ago." After several breaths of silence, the stone door suddenly swung wide. A young man dressed in white robes walked out, his long hair bound up. A bluish-white longsword hung at his waist, and in his hands he held two jade slips. He looked toward Chi Jiuyun with a faint smile. "What instructions do you have, Senior Brother Chi?" Chi Jiuyun looked him up and down and said in a low voice, "A task has arrived from the sect. The Patriarch specifically named you to act." Li Chijing nodded slightly and replied courteously, "Please wait a moment, Senior Brother. Once I make a few preparations, I will go with you." Seeing Li Chijing cooperate so willingly, Chi Jiuyun felt a weight lift from his mind as well. Flicking his sleeve, he took his leave. Li Chijing watched the direction in which he had departed for a moment, then rode the wind, descending toward another cave dwelling nestled in the mountains. "Senior Brother Xiao!" The stone door opened promptly, and Li Chijing saw Xiao Yuansi holding two sprigs of medicinal herbs in one hand while writing something with a brush in the other. Upon seeing Li Chijing, joy flickered across his face, only to darken almost immediately. He spoke: "Jing'er... you've broken through!" Xiao Yuansi was now in his sixties, though he still looked to be in his thirties. Having watched Li Chijing since he first came up the mountain as a ten-year-old child, he had never broken the habit of calling him Jing'er. At this moment, gazing at Li Chijing, his heart ached with sorrow. "I have," Li Chijing smiled faintly and sat down beside him, answering, "The six wheels within my body have already transformed into a Dao foundation. The Dao foundation cultivated through the Moon Lake Autumn Reflection Formula is called 'Lake Moon Autumn.' Its qi is bluish-white, its true essence limpid and clear, adept at change—truly wondrous." Envy instantly surfaced on Xiao Yuansi's face. He remained stuck at the peak of Qi Refinement, still lacking the confidence to establish his foundation. He smiled and said, "The wonder of Foundation Establishment naturally surpasses all our imaginings. I have heard that my family's Patriarch has a Dao foundation called 'Old Man on the Stream,' which is likewise filled with marvels beyond words. It is only that I know not how long I must linger at the peak of Qi Refinement, or whether I can ever pass this pass of life and death." The most crucial step in advancing from Qi Refinement to Foundation Establishment was dissolving the six wheels and condensing them into various Dao foundations. It was fraught with extreme danger; should the condensation fail, one's entire cultivation would come to naught, his vital essence and qi would scatter, and he would die violently within days. Less than one in ten succeeded, and even within the Three Sects and Seven Gates, the mortality rate was as high as seventy percent. "Senior Brother will surely manage it," Li Chijing comforted him. He placed the two jade slips into Xiao Yuansi's hands and explained, "I broke through to Foundation Establishment in the very first year. I spent the remaining time recording the experience and talisman arts I have gathered over the years. Soon, these, along with the Green Ruler Sword at my side, must be taken back to my family together. I must trouble you with this, Senior Brother." Xiao Yuansi accepted the jade slips. A thousand words welled up in his heart, with no idea where to begin. Then he saw Li Chijing step outside the cave dwelling and rise into the air, soaring above Yishan City to look down upon the busy crowds within. His sudden ascent into the sky frightened everyone below. Within moments, several Foundation Establishment and over a dozen Qi Refinement cultivators took flight from within the city, all fixing their gazes on him. Chi Jiuyun rushed up from the mountain peak in haste, shouting angrily, "Li Chijing! What are you doing!" Li Chijing was startled for a moment. Seeing this group reacting to his single small movement as though facing a mortal enemy, he gave a soft laugh and said in a calm, steady voice, "Rest assured, everyone. Chijing will not flee. I merely have a matter or two to ask Senior Brother Chi." The crowd below looked at one another with awkward expressions, then drifted back down one after another, leaving Chi Jiuyun glaring at him with a dark, grim face. Suppressing his temper, Chi Jiuyun snapped, "What else could you possibly want!" Li Chijing cupped his hands and said softly, "First: if I should perish, I ask that the sect return my magical artifact." Chi Jiuyun frowned, glanced at the sword at Li Chijing's waist, and answered, "Granted." "Second: I wish to spar with you, Senior Brother Chi. I hope you will grant my request!" At these words, the onlookers watching from below were stunned into dead silence. Chi Jiuyun froze in disbelief, then laughed in spite of himself. "You have only just stepped into Foundation Establishment, whereas I have lingered at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment for more than twenty years! Do not invite people to say I bully the weak!" Yet inwardly, doubt crept in as he mused: *Could this brat be looking for a chance to throw himself onto my sword, so that I take the blame? How could such a crude trick fool the Patriarch? Is he not afraid his entire clan will be exterminated?!* Yet Li Chijing merely cupped his hands again and said stubbornly, "I ask Senior Brother to grant my wish!" Chi Jiuyun's thoughts stirred, and he sneered inward: *Master Yuansu is watching from right inside this city. No matter what tricks you try to pull, before a Purple Palace cultivator, it is all futile effort. It would actually do some good to teach this kid a lesson, so he knows there is always someone greater, a heaven beyond the heavens.* And so he gave a cold smile and nodded. "Very well." With those words, he drew his sword and surged upward. Crimson sword qi gushed forth, pointing straight at Li Chijing. Like a scarlet torrent cutting through the north wind above Yishan City, the sword qi transformed into dozens of birds of sword qi, swooping in with scorching heat and razor-sharp edge. "Sword qi leaving the body, just like a spell! Senior Brother Chi must have already tempered his sword origin!" Several figures watching mid-air below let out murmurs of shock and praise at the sight of the sword qi resembling birds and phoenixes. Deng Qiuzhi, however, raised his head and glared resentfully at Chi Jiuyun, sneering, "Merely sword origin." The scarlet sword qi dyed the surrounding air brilliant red, yet Li Chijing merely watched Chi Jiuyun. His left hand rested upon the longsword at his waist; he had not drawn his weapon or cast any arts. Only when the sword qi closed in did he suddenly draw his blade, sweeping out a blazing white arc of sword qi—the Lunar Crescent Sword Arc. Compared to Li Chijing's, the Lunar Crescent Sword Arc wielded by Li Tongya was like a firefly next to the bright moon. In Li Chijing's hands, the Lunar Crescent Sword Arc was like an immense, pure white sail, casting a blinding pale radiance that stung the eyes of all who watched. It obliterated the incoming sword qi completely and surged straight toward Chi Jiuyun's face. Chi Jiuyun frowned and swung his sword to block. Dozens of sword qi streams poured forth at an angle, yet they only managed to dim the luminous arc slightly. Taken aback, he grew far more cautious. Gathering his power, he raised his blade, which burned crimson, and forcibly blocked the arc. "How can this be!" Chi Jiuyun was thoroughly shaken. Before he could speak, he hastily channeled a technique to disperse the sword arc before him, but Li Chijing was already striding forward, sending dozens of plain, unadorned streams of sword qi flying straight at him. Chi Jiuyun swung his magical sword to slash at them, only to find that every one of these dozen-plus streams of sword qi was dense, profound, and sharp. Realizing that Li Chijing's mastery of the sword was above his own, he relied on his deeper reserves of true essence to free up a hand and summon a dozen Foundation Establishment fire spells, hoping only to disrupt Li Chijing's sword arts. Li Chijing shattered the dozen fire spells with a single slash, causing an explosion to detonate in mid-air. It dissolved into a shower of fiery sparks raining down, seemingly poised to ignite Yishan City, only to vanish into nothingness the moment they neared the ground. Deng Qiuzhi observed closely. A chill hollowed out his chest, and he ground his teeth, muttering under his breath, "There really is a Purple Palace cultivator presiding here! Truly water-tight... After already holding our families hostage, they still send a Purple Palace master to oversee things in person! They are truly terrified that we won't obey..." The sword qi and spells clashed in the air for over a dozen exchanges. Chi Jiuyun's face grew uglier by the second; anyone with eyes could see his sword cultivation had fallen behind. Bottling up his fury, he formed hand seals to unleash a barrage of various spells, attempting to overwhelm Li Chijing with his cultivation base. Li Chijing remained unfazed. No matter what myriad techniques came flying, he shattered each one with the bluish-white Green Ruler Sword in his hand. The difference between them was stark at once. Seeing the people below dumbfounded and struck dumb, Chi Jiuyun was seized with frantic rage. Disregarding whatever Li Chijing's cultivation was, he slapped his pouch and summoned a jewel engraved with hornless dragon motifs. Forming hand seals with both hands, he conjured a scarlet curtain of light. Li Chijing glanced at him, abruptly sheathed his sword, smiled faintly, and called out, "Senior Brother Chi!" Chi Jiuyun froze, unsure whether to answer, but saw Li Chijing take a step forward and smile: "Take a sword from me." *Clang!* The moment the words left his mouth, a chorus of metallic clanging resonated across Yishan City. The sword at Deng Qiuzhi's waist twitched slightly, and every blade throughout the city leapt restlessly, trembling without pause.