The Heavenly Wandering Sword

Chapter 11

Li Jian chose to walk after leaving the Sect. He made a quick stop over at his manor house to pick up a few extra things. “A life storage ring.” He muttered to himself. That was something he would need to get at some point. After sending a few extra things into his storage ring, he pondered for a bit. What would be the best way to approach this? “Master, you always look so angry when you’re thinking deeply.” Kon Wang floated above, laying on his back as he drifted through the air snacking on fried bread sticks. Li Jian raised an eyebrow to look over at his Sword Spirit and sighed.

“Kon Kon, how are you the God of Sword Spirits and yet you act like a teenage boy?” Kon Wang sighed and leisurely floated up a cup of tea with a finger gesture to sip from it. “Master, it is said that sword spirits take after the personalities of their Master after a few hundred years. Perhaps it is you that is the teenage boy?” Li Jian flicked his fingers towards the God of Sword Spirits, sending him crashing into the wall and having spilt tea all over himself. “Seee?” he said as he got up with a slight flutter of his black wings. “Still, you seem more troubled than usual.”

Li Jian looked over at the scroll he had taken from the job board, reading over the description again. “I am not sure how I should complete this job. After all, I can kill all the beasts in the Beast Glade with one move. So how do I do this and stay being low key?” Kon Wang fluttered himself onto a heavily cushioned seat and shrugged. “Wear a mask.” Li Jian laughed before standing up. “You do have some uses after all.”

A short time later, he arrived at the Purple Pavilion. “I am here to see Senior Yin Chu.” He presented his VIP token to the sentry at the front who quickly led him in and showed him to a room. A servant quickly set down a tray of various snacks as well as hot tea as he waited. Kon Wang floated onto a chair and picked at the snacks. “You know, the Pavilion has some rather talented bakers.” He said as he munched on intricate almond cookies with fruit jelly in the center. Li Jian just raised an eyebrow at him. Shortly after, Yin Chu came in and bowed towards him. “Master Li, I was just about to come pay my respects to you.” Li Jian smiled and stood up, bowing back towards him politely. “Senior, please don’t stand on ceremony, have a seat. I am only here to see if perhaps the mask is ready?” Yin Chu smiled and held up a box in front of him. “Please take a look Master Li.” Li Jian floated the box into his hand with a tiny bit of spiritual force before opening it and smiling widely. “Senior, you have out done yourself.”

The mask was all black with a single red streak diagonally across, going over one of the eye holes. He put the mask on, and he could feel the magic of the item activate as he placed a small amount of spiritual force into it. “I am grateful for your trouble, Senior. Please, take this as a token of my appreciation.” He reached into his spatial ring and took out a spiritheart pill, a small green pill that had a bright vibrant glow to it. The room they were in would be filled by the scent of fresh grass, Yin Chu sighing softly. Even the aura of the pill itself was refreshing for his soul. “This is a Spirit Heart Pill, heavenly grade. Senior, the effects are difficult to explain other than rejuvenation and lifespan. All I can say yes, take it when you can have a place to cultivate. You will see the effect for yourself.”

Yin Chu bowed deeply. “Master Li, I can only thank you for your kindness.” Li Jian looked out and sighed to himself slightly. “Senior, I will be gone for a bit. Please take this token.” He handed over a silver sword token with the words “Sword Manor” etched in onyx on it. “Put a drop of your blood on it. It will belong to you. It will allow you a measure of refuge inside the manor house.” Yin Chu bowed again in thanks as Li Jian stood up and looked out the window.

“I will have to trouble you again, please remember to keep this secret for me. Please be careful.” With that, he flew out the window. It had been quite a while since he had flown. Kon Wang trailed behind him, a handful of almond cookies in his pocket as he munched on them. “Master, why did you bestow a Sword token to that old man?” Li Jian floated through the air casually and thought to himself. “I don’t know. He reminds me of my second uncle. A poor uncle in a fishing village that always tried his best to make sure I was fed.”

The Beast Glade was a massive forest that surrounded a large mountain. It was said that while the Beast Glade itself contained powerful magical beasts, the mountain is home to a variety of top level magical beasts, those who rivalled spiritual realm cultivators. Once Li Jian had gotten out of the city, he would drop down to the ground and began walking. The scent and sight of a forest was by no means inferior to the beauty of a mountain lake. He knew that the first thing he had to do was head to the mountain, especially when he had another task to complete as well.

The trip to the mountain was relatively uneventful. He caught a few magical beasts here and there for food more than anything else, the blue feathered ducks that he had killed were especially delicious roasted over a fire. On the fourth day, he got to the foot of the mountain but found the mountain path blocked. “The mountain is shut off by order of the Golden Temple Sect.” One of the disciples dressed in gold and red announced arrogantly. “How could the Golden Temple sect own a mountain?” he asked casually. The Golden Temple disciple smirked at him, arrogance dripping out of his every word. “Who are you to even question the actions of the Golden Temple Sect? When did ants receive the right of even speaking to dragons?” The four other Golden Temple disciples behind him all laughed.

“I will give you a chance to save your life then. Leave right now and all five of you may live.” The disciple laughed at him. “I am Ching Xen Fang, in the Nascent Soul realm as well as the second master of the Ching family. You dare offend both the Golden Temple Sect and the Ching family? Have you grown tired of living?” Ching Xen Fang sent out his killing intent with a smirk, expecting Li Jian to collapse on the ground. On the contrary, Li Jian simply yawned and waved a hand. “Juniors nowadays always speak so much. You will not heed my warnings then?” Now with an angered redness seeping over his cheeks, Ching Xen Fang attacked, an ice spear appearing in front of him.

Stepping forward with assured movement, he struck both his fists out towards Li Jian, sending the ice spear towards him. For Li Jian, this was a trivial move, although he did recognize it partially. It was a small part of the martial arts that Shen Huli practiced, the Divine Elements. The ice however was still very white, lacking enough spiritual force. Li Jian simply caught it in his hand and crushed it. “If you practiced for another 500 years, you might have the ability to back up your arrogance. Unfortunately, your life has come to an end.” With a single mental thought, he sent forward Kon Wang.

The Sword Spirit appeared in front of the five Golden Temple Sect Disciples. The only thing his opponents noticed was him putting his sword back into his sheath. They stared at him questioningly, even as their bodies fell apart. “Void Emperor Sword Arts.” Li Jian muttered, as the ten pieces of now inert flesh fell to the ground lifeless. “Master, why did you call me out for these ants? I feel insulted.” Li Jian laughed. “Kon Kon, Master’s arms are a little stiff from walking for so long. Now, we need to head up the mountain and see what we can find. It can’t be a coincidence that the Golden Temple sect blocked the entrance way off.”

Thankful for his mask, Li Jian went up the hill more. The higher up he went, the more spiritual force he felt. Something seemed off however. Sensing a sudden spike of spiritual force, he heard a roar high up in the mountains. “Let us see what is the cause of this.” Sending his innate sword force into his limbs, he flew up into the mountain towards where he had detected the sound coming from. Near the top of the mountain, he saw a sight that had been quite common a few hundred years ago.

There were close to one hundred members of the Golden Temple Sect, all gathered around a magnificent white tiger who roared out at them, spiritual force imbued in its roars. Li Jian could see that it was at the Spiritual Realm which made it quite a rare and powerful beast. However, something was not quite right, a white tiger was a King Beast. King Beasts should be at a higher realm, usually Dao Seeking Realm. He decided to observe for a bit and see what was truly going on.

“Quickly, bring in the King snake again!” One of the sect members called out. Four Elders it seemed, all in the spiritual realm released part of an array they had formed together that bound a massive cobra snake that was entirely gold. The hint of venom could be smelled by Li Jian even though he was a few hundred meters away. “So that’s it, poisoning the beast to try and bring it down.” He muttered to himself. It seemed that the White Tiger had already been poisoned. The Cobra struck forward again, a lightning fast strike as he landed another bite on the flank of the White Tiger. The Tiger roared in pain as it retreated back a bit more.

“Master, they seek to capture the tiger. Most likely to forcefully bind its soul to a weapon.” Kon Kon appeared beside him. Li Jian frowned slightly. Many sects, instead of training a sword and letting it develop it’s own sword spirit, would often seek to capture a King Level beast and bind its soul to a weapon. To Li Jian, this was something that went against nature and could not be allowed. “Very well, the Tiger has met his providence today.” With a single leap, Li Jian appeared in front of the tiger, smacking away the snout of the King snake as it tried to strike again.

“This is how the Golden Temple acts? Using poison to achieve their goals?” He stood in front of them, the snake hissing at him. A king level beast, that was perfect. “Who the hell are you? You dare stand in front of the Golden Temple?” Cai Wu the Sect Master of the Golden Temple stepped forward with an arrogant smile on his face. “If you do not wish to live, then simply kneel down and kill yourself. Other wise junior, I cannot guarantee that your family will not have a whole body to bury.” Li Jian looked at the white tiger who stared at him warily. “I am here to help you. Be calm and heal.” He sent a mental message into the mind of the tiger, who then stared at him and nodded slightly, before retreating back.

“We can’t let it get away. Elders, go after it!” The four Elders quickly lept forward past Li Jian as the Sect Master drew a long golden spear from his storage ring and smiled coldly. “Who gave you permission to leave?” Li Jian said before making a single waving gesture with his hand. The four Elders were launched back and thrown onto the ground in front of him.