"Senior Brother Lu, if I recall correctly, you have a Sword Spiritual Root?" Tao Yaoye glanced at the ancient, unadorned sword hanging at Lu Yang's waist, then down at the calluses on the web of his hand formed from swinging a sword day after day. For such a transformation to occur in a mere year was proof enough of how hard Lu Yang practiced.
Lu Yang nodded and said with modest reserve, "I can barely pass for a sword cultivator."
Cultivators were categorized according to their specialties into alchemy cultivators, talisman cultivators, formation cultivators, body cultivators, sword cultivators, and so forth. Among them, sword cultivators possessed the most devastating offensive power; in combat at the same realm, no one wished to face a sword cultivator.
A sword cultivator's most famous motto was to break ten thousand arts with a single sword—no matter how heaven-defying your Dao arts may be, I will shatter them with one strike.
Contrasted with sword cultivators were Dao technique cultivators: no matter how heaven-defying your swordsmanship may be, I can shatter a single sword with ten thousand arts.
Beyond breaking ten thousand arts with a single sword, famous sword cultivator arts also included Opening the Heavenly Gate with a Sword, sword flight, and many others.
Dressed in robes as white as snow, treading upon a flying sword, riding the wind and cleaving through waves—what a dashing, heroic figure that cut!
What did one seek in immortal cultivation? First, to be powerful; second, to look cool. It just so happened that sword cultivators perfectly met both criteria. Countless cultivators yearned to walk that path, but lacking the necessary talent in the sword Dao, they were denied the chance.
"So, Senior Brother Lu, what do you plan to do once you learn sword flight?"
Tao Yaoye had never heard of a sword cultivator who was afraid of heights.
When others cultivated immortality, they soared through the heavens and burrowed into the earth, free and unrestrained. But as for this Senior Brother Lu, she feared his cultivation would consist purely of burrowing into the earth and burrowing into the earth, free and unrestrained.
Lu Yang said with a completely straight face, "A sword immortal doesn't necessarily have to be equated with soaring into the sky. Junior Sister Tao, have you ever heard of an Earthbound Sword Immortal?"
Tao Yaoye froze. Seeing how serious Lu Yang looked, and finding the phrase "Earthbound Sword Immortal" so vaguely familiar, she nodded along.
"Who says immortals must always be high and aloof? An immortal, after all, still has 'human' in the name. The immortal belongs to heaven, while humans walk the earth; an immortal roams freely between heaven and earth, ascending to pluck the stars and moon above and plunging into the nine abysses below, boundless and unfettered.
"The title of Earthbound Sword Immortal signifies that sword immortals do not merely dwell in the sky—they can also walk upon the earth. With a single flying sword, they can claim the head of a demon from thousands of li away!
"My goal is to become an existence just like an Earthbound Sword Immortal!"
Tao Yaoye was just about to nod along with the stirring atmosphere, but fortunately, her habitual composure kicked in, and she caught the flaw in his logic: "Wait, hold on a second. I've only ever heard of an Earthbound Immortal. Where did this term 'Earthbound Sword Immortal' come from?"
Lu Yang stared at Tao Yaoye in silence for three seconds, as though brewing a secret from the dawn of time, before speaking slowly.
"I made it up."
"..."
His attitude was so utterly sincere that Tao Yaoye was left speechless.
She decided not to pursue the topic any further. In just three short days of traveling together, Senior Brother Lu's image had already crumbled beyond recognition in her mind.
During the first trial, she had personally watched Lu Yang test positive for a Sword Spiritual Root. Back then, in her eyes, Lu Yang had resembled an upright, unyielding sword destined to cleave open the heavens—taciturn, yet indestructible.
When the second trial ended, she heard him recount his unconventional method of clearing it, and thought that a sword cultivator with such flexible thinking would surely achieve even greater heights in the future.
During the third trial, on Heart-Questioning Mountain, she had been so exhausted she could barely keep her eyes open, convinced that no one could possibly scale the fiftieth step. It was at that moment she saw Lu Yang reach the fiftieth step and pass the trial. His success gave her immense confidence, lending her the resolve to keep climbing and successfully make it through.
A year later, she met this Senior Brother Lu who was terrified of heights and exceptionally chatty.
She finally understood what it meant for distance to create beauty.
"Judging by the time, it's about time to disembark."
Lu Yang unrolled a large map. It was detailed to an astonishing degree, marking the Dao Seeking Sect, the Imperial City of the Great Xia Dynasty, famous mountains and great rivers, vital cities, and grotto-heavens and blessed lands.
This was a map covering one-eighth of the Central Continent.
There was also a tiny red dot on the map, moving at a crawl; without close attention, one might easily mistake it for stationary.
The red dot marked their current position.
This was no ordinary map, but an essential magical treasure for travel.
Yet as detailed as the map was, Taiping Township was far too small to be recorded on it; it was already an achievement that Quhe Commandery was marked at all.
From the Dao Seeking Sect to the Imperial City of the Great Xia Dynasty, this flying boat traversed countless hundreds of millions of li. Over such immense distances, let alone Taiping Township, even Quhe Commandery was merely a negligible speck that barely earned a name on the parchment.
The flying boat would not stop at a minor place like Quhe Commandery. If it stopped everywhere, its speed would drastically drop, leaving its efficiency barely superior to that of a horse carriage.
It only docked at major transportation hubs, such as the Dao Seeking Sect, Qingyun City, Heaven-Reaching Valley, Crouching Dragon Mountain, and the Imperial City.
Lu Yang had heard from Eldest Senior Sister that if one wished to disembark, one simply jumped off.
Hearing that had made his eyelids twitch wildly.
A flying boat was similar to an airplane from his past life—extremely fast, with efficiency as the top priority. The biggest difference was that passengers in his past life had to wait obediently for the plane to land before getting off, whereas passengers in the cultivation world jumped whenever they pleased.
It truly showcased a spirit of freedom and flexibility.
This was Lu Yang's first time jumping off a boat, and his heart surged with excitement.
This excitement manifested concretely as his legs trembling.
After all, they were ten thousand meters in the air!
"Senior Brother Lu, do you know how to disembark?"
"Naturally." Lu Yang puffed out his chest with a hint of pride.
From ten thousand meters up, falling straight down without a clever trick would turn even a late Foundation Establishment cultivator into meat paste.
Lu Yang had asked Eldest Senior Sister how one was supposed to get off, but Eldest Senior Sister hadn't answered. She only told him not to consult books or ask others, but to find a way himself and cultivate the good habit of independent thinking.
And so, Lu Yang successfully devised a method and made all his preparations.
They were not the only ones preparing to disembark; seven or eight strangers were there as well.
Lu Yang, Tao Yaoye, and the seven or eight strangers lined up along the edge of the deck.
The strangers each took out a standard-issue paper umbrella.
Tao Yaoye took out a meticulously refined red paper umbrella.
Lu Yang took out a parachute.
"Huh?"
Lu Yang felt as though he didn't quite fit in. Why was what everyone else brought out so different from his?
Just as Lu Yang was wondering what they were doing, an impatient middle-aged man in black held his umbrella and leaped from the flying boat.
The man's body plummeted like a cannonball, falling faster and faster.
Without a hint of panic, he channeled spiritual energy into the paper umbrella. The wisps of light spiritual energy coiled like a nimble green snake, running up the handle to wrap around the ribs.
As if imbued with life, awakening from winter hibernation, the paper umbrella unfolded. The middle-aged man's descent gradually slowed, swaying gently as he drifted down to land safely.
Releasing his grip, the paper umbrella snapped shut, transforming into a streak of flowing light that darted through the sea of clouds and returned to the flying boat.
The paper umbrella did not belong to the man; it was merely lent out by the flying boat for passengers to use.
The seven or eight strangers and Tao Yaoye all turned their heads in unison to stare at Lu Yang. Even Tao Yaoye's eyes were filled with bewilderment.
They were holding umbrellas to jump from the boat; why was he strapping a pack onto his back?
On the surface, Lu Yang didn't blush or bat an eye, greeting their puzzled stares with a radiant smile as though he weren't the odd one out at all.
Inwardly, however, his mind was in utter turmoil, overflowing with so much exasperation that he didn't even know where to begin complaining.
All those thoughts condensed into a single cry:
*Eldest Senior Sister, you led me astray!*
Chapter 17