Sword Flight

Although making Meng Jingzhou drop to his knees was deeply gratifying to both body and mind, Lu Yang's focus was not on that. Setting aside the sword formation's raw power for a moment, this forced kneeling effect was undeniably first-rate in utility. Take Meng Jingzhou's reaction just now: even though he had assumed a defensive stance, the sudden drop to his knees caused an immediate shift in posture and center of gravity that left him entirely unable to maintain his defense, catching him completely off guard! As for the upper limit of this technique, there was no need to say more. Immortal Kirin had tested it in practice; once mastered, it even worked on immortals. He just didn't know which cultivation realm the first layer of the sword formation could affect. It definitely worked against the Nascent Soul stage, but what about the Soul Formation stage? That was hard to say. Besides, the Soul Formation senior brothers and sisters in the sect could hardly be treated as ordinary Soul Formation cultivators, so testing on them wouldn't offer any meaningful baseline. "Forget it. When I have time, I'll find some unlucky Soul Formation cultivator to try it on." Lu Yang was sincerely grateful to Immortal Kirin for leaving behind such an extraordinary sword formation. When the opportunity arose, he would definitely share this good news with Senior Lianyi to repay Immortal Kirin's kindness of eating dirt. "Come on, let's keep going!" Lu Yang pulled at Meng Jingzhou, insisting on finishing the experiment they hadn't concluded earlier, but Meng Jingzhou adamantly refused. What a joke. I'm not stupid! Kneeling once wasn't enough, and you expect me to kneel twice? "Fine, fine. Then what did you come looking for me for?" Knowing Meng Jingzhou's character, he certainly wouldn't have sought him out without a reason. "You know I ran away from home, but I've been spending the spirit stones my little sister gave me before I left. If word gets out, it'll ruin this young master's reputation. "This young master has found a great way to be self-reliant and earn money—make my own and spend my own. "It just so happens I heard about a black market in the outside world that regularly hosts gatherings of old Nascent Soul monsters. The old monsters gather there to exchange intelligence, barter goods, and buy rare treasures. I plan to head over and make a killing!" Going alone would be boring, so it was better to drag someone along. Lu Yang stroked his chin. It sounded like a decent place. Although both he and Meng Jingzhou were in the Multi-Nascent Soul stage, rounding off, it still counted as the Nascent Soul stage, so they qualified to enter. "Alright." Meng Jingzhou grinned and clapped Lu Yang on the shoulder. "I knew you'd agree. I'll go fetch Old Horse." Lu Yang caught hold of Meng Jingzhou as he turned to leave. "No need to fetch Old Horse. I'll take you." Meng Jingzhou looked puzzled. "How are you taking me? Sword flight?" Lu Yang offered a mysterious smile. "Close enough." ... With the growing popularity of the flying car Lu Yang had invented, more and more cultivators had taken a liking to this novel transportation artifact. Its safety was guaranteed; even in a midair collision, the airbags inside would preserve one's life, making it far more practical than the flying swords of the past. Aside from the usual flying boats in the sky, the proportion of flying cars was rising year after year. Flying cars were still a novelty, relatively uncommon for most cultivators, and occasionally someone would turn their head, drawn by the sight of one gliding gracefully past. Yet today, a transportation artifact even more eye-catching than a flying car streaked through the air, drawing frequent sidelong glances from the passengers on flying boats. It was an artifact roughly two and a half meters long, one and a half meters wide, and one and a half meters high, built in an open-top design with a spacious interior. A cultivator could stand, sit, squat, or lie down in it at will. Its grayish-brown exterior appeared low-key yet dignified, while the uneven marks across its surface bore witness to the weathering of the years, demonstrating both the ancient heritage of the artifact and how steadfastly it had endured through time. The Sword-Washing Pool was currently carrying Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou toward their destination, the two of them reclining on opposite sides of the basin. "This is what you called sword flight?" "Is a scabbard part of a sword?" "Yes." "Is the purpose of a scabbard to hold a sword, making it a type of container?" "Yes." "Is the purpose of the Sword-Washing Pool to hold swords, also making it a type of container?" "Yes." "Then doesn't the Sword-Washing Pool equate to a scabbard?" "Yes." "Then isn't the Sword-Washing Pool part of a sword?" "Yes." "Then when I pilot the Sword-Washing Pool through the air, isn't that fundamentally sword flight?" Meng Jingzhou: "..." You actually make a lot of sense. "You know, you're not wrong—this really is more comfortable than ordinary sword flight." Meng Jingzhou stretched languidly, so relaxed he felt like dozing off, fully conceding Lu Yang's point. Out of respect for public decency, Lu Yang hadn't filled it with pool water. Taking a bath in plain view of everyone wouldn't have looked very dignified. A flying boat glided past. On deck, a child holding a female cultivator's hand pointed at the two young men lying in the stone basin and asked in a piping voice: "Mommy, what kind of artifact is that?" The female cultivator hurriedly pulled the child back into the passenger cabin. Just as Lu Yang was relishing the unique sword flight available only to sword cultivators, an official in government robes blocked their path. With a stern face, he raised his right hand, bringing the Sword-Washing Pool to a halt. "Cease flight." "Is something the matter, officer?" Lu Yang stood up from the Sword-Washing Pool, looking bewildered. From the style of the official's uniform, he appeared to belong to the aerial traffic enforcement bureau. Yet Lu Yang couldn't fathom why they had been pulled over. Novel artifacts weren't allowed in the sky? There didn't seem to be any such rule. Flying under the influence? Neither of them had touched a drop of liquor. "You are overloaded." Lu Yang: "..." Meng Jingzhou: "..." "Who is piloting this artifact?" "I am," Lu Yang replied. "What is your cultivation realm?" "Nascent Soul stage." The officer looked down and began writing a ticket. "The law stipulates that during sword flight, an artifact may carry only one person. Violators are subject to a base fine of fifty to one hundred spirit stones, scaled up proportionally for higher realms, excluding special circumstances such as emergency hazard avoidance or rescue operations. "You are at the Nascent Soul stage, so your fine falls between five thousand and ten thousand spirit stones. Seeing that you have a cooperative attitude, according to regulations, your fine is set at five thousand spirit stones. Any objections?" "Wait a minute, this counts as sword flight?" The officer nodded, his expression completely routine. "Is a scabbard part of a sword?" "Yes." "Is the purpose of a scabbard to hold a sword, making it a type of container?" "Yes." "This is a sword-washing pool, correct?" "Yes." "Is the purpose of a sword-washing pool to hold swords, also making it a type of container?" "Yes." "...Alright, officer, say no more. I accept the fine." Resigning himself to bad luck, Lu Yang could guess with his backside what the officer was going to say next. "Then sign here." The officer tore off the citation and handed it to Lu Yang. "Hold on." Meng Jingzhou caught Lu Yang's arm. Five thousand spirit stones wasn't an exorbitant sum, but Meng Jingzhou felt that since they had come out to make money, having to pay a fine before earning a single coin was terrible luck. He took the initiative to step forward and plead on Lu Yang's behalf. "Officer, you see, my brother here is practicing sword flight for the first time and didn't know the rules. We're disciples of the Dao Seeking Sect. Could you cut us a little slack?" Upon hearing that the two were disciples of the Dao Seeking Sect, a look of surprise crossed the officer's eyes, and his demeanor shifted noticeably. "You two are really from the Dao Seeking Sect?" "Could that be faked?" Meng Jingzhou produced his identity jade pendant to verify their status. The officer took back the citation, allowing both of them to breathe a sigh of relief. Then, the officer began writing out a brand-new citation and handed it to Lu Yang: "Orders from above: Dao Seeking Sect disciples are subject to double fines. That will be ten thousand spirit stones."