The little girl was like a lightning bolt as she raced toward Hou Jingshu, who knelt and spread out her arms to catch the child. The young girl couldn’t have been older than nine or ten. She had the same hair color as the woman on Yu Chenguang’s left, a somewhat lighter shade of brown. Her eyes, however, were the color of chocolate. She had fair, peach-like skin and chubby little cheeks. If Wu Jian had to describe her, he would have said she was cute as a button.

“Mao’er, what are you doing here? Don’t tell me you’re coming with us?” said Hou Jingshu.

“Uh-huh. Daddy said I can come with you since mommy is going too,” said Mao’er.

Wu Jian’s confusion must have shown on his face because Yu Qiang leaned over and whispered to him. “You see those two women next to Uncle Yu? Those are his wives. The one on his left is Li Hua. She’s Little Mao’s mother. The one on his right is Liu Haifeng. She’s Uncle Yu’s second wife. Both of them are at the Ninth Subrealm of the Asura Realm. They’re the two second strongest cultivators in the Shang Kingdom.”

So the wives of the Shang Kingdom’s strongest cultivators were the second strongest cultivators in the kingdom? Wu Jian once heard a saying that the strong attracted the strong. He believed it had come from a book he read long ago. It seemed there was some truth to those words.

“I hope it’s not a problem if she comes with us,” said Yu Chenguang, stepping forward with the others. “She is a precocious child, and I did not feel comfortable leaving her at home.”

“Of course, she can come with us,” Hou Jingshu agreed, letting go of the little girl so she could address Yu Chenguang. “I do not mind at all. And the rules say nothing about allowing someone who can’t even cultivate to attend.”

“Thank you for your understanding.” Yu Chenguang offered the princess a traditional martial bow.

While the kingdom’s strongest cultivator spoke with Hou Jingshu, Zhou Lihua sauntered up to Wu Jian and smiled. “You look to be in high spirits. Are you ready for the tournament?”

“I believe so,” said Wu Jian. He tilted his head to study Zhou Lihua. “And what about you? You seem excited.”

“Oh, my. Is it that obvious?”

“I rarely see you with such a large smile on your face.”

“Hee hee. I guess so.” Zhou Lihua clasped her hands behind her back, rocked back and forth on her feet, and beamed brightly at him. “I have not left Shang Imperial City since coming here, so I’m quite excited to finally be allowed to leave.”

Because Zhou Wen was standing right behind Zhou Lihua, they could not act as intimate with each other as either of them would have liked. Wu Jian wanted to take this woman into his arms. Actually, what he really wanted to do was kiss her sweet lips, but that would have been… bad. Letting the Zhou Clan know about their relationship would be disastrous, nevermind the fact that doing so would require everyone to see his face.

I really hate the fact that I have to keep this mask on.

But there was no telling what allowing someone to see what he looked like would do. His necklace was already on the verge of breaking. He couldn’t let someone else find out anything about him, lest he run the risk of people learning that Wu Jian was alive and well.

“I believe we should head out now,” said Yu Chenguang. “Your Highness?”

“Of course,” Hou Jingshu agreed.

Their caravan only consisted of two carriages--one belonging to the Shang Kingdom and one to the Zhou Clan respectively. Because etiquette dictated that members of the imperial academy ride in the Shang Kingdom’s carriage, Wu Jian and Hou Jingshu were split up from Zhou Lihua. The Zhou Clan heiress looked very put out when Zhou Wen dragged her into their carriage. Her pout was oddly adorable.

Hou Jingshu, Wu Jian, Yu Qiang, and Yu Mao entered the Shang Kingdom carriage, which was spacious enough to seat six--three on each side. The carriage became imbalance when Yu Mao decided she wanted to sit with Hou Jingshu. Poor Yu Qiang ended up sitting on one side by himself. The man’s aggrieved smile as he watched the other three sit together all but said he felt left out.

“How long will it take to reach the Saintly Sword Sect?” asked Wu Jian.

“About one month, give or take a few days,” answered Hou Jingshu. “The Saintly Sword Sect is located south-east of Shang Imperial City. To reach it, we must first reach Jiànkè City, otherwise known as the City of Swordsman. From there, we travel through Lòng Pass to the Saintly Sword Sect’s entrance.”

“Big Sis! Big Sis! Stop talking about all this boring stuff and play with me!” demanded Yu Mao.

“Okay, Mao’er. What would you like to play?”

“I wanna play CC!”

“Cultivator Cards, is it? I assume you brought a deck with you?” asked Hou Jingshu as she summoned her own deck of cards from within a storage ring.

“Of course!”

Yu Mao did not have a storage ring since she couldn’t use chi, but she pulled a deck of cards from within the voluminous sleeves of her white and blue hanfu.

While the two began playing a game of cultivator cards, Yu Qiang told Wu Jian what he knew of the Saintly Sword Sect.

“I’ve never been there myself, but the Saintly Sword Sect is located within its own unique space that’s separated from the Xaio Continent. We call them small worlds.”

“You mean it’s like the White Tiger Sect Ruins?”

“Just like that. Most small sects like theirs wouldn’t be located in its own space, but they are a branch of the Heavenly Sword Sect. That has afforded them certain benefits a normal sect like the Burning Hand Pavilion or Ice Phoenix Sect do not have.”

It made sense that a sect, even a branch sect, would have more power than a normal sect. Of course, there were the rumors that the Burning Hand Pavilion was a branch of the Burning Flame Pavilion of the Ming Province. They were unsubstantiated. Even if that were true, the Burning Flame Pavilion lacked the power and resources of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

Wu Jian was excited to find out more about the Saintly Sword Sect. Perhaps seeing another space like the White Tiger Sect would help him gain greater understanding in the Dao of Space.

***

It took roughly two weeks to reach Jiànkè City. Most of the time was spent either chatting or playing CC--Cultivator Cards. Wu Jian would have liked to reflect on the Dao of Space, but a certain little girl made that impossible.

Yu Mao was a rambunctious child who never ran out of things to say and was a constant distraction. He couldn’t quite blame her. She was only nine-years-old. Children like her, who had yet to reach the age where they became adults, were unable to do much cultivating. They could train their physical body and learn martial arts. That was it. It seemed Yu Chenguang and his wives also made her constantly study both martial arts and other subjects like etiquette, history, math, language, calligraphy, and so on. The girl was probably excited about having a break from all that.

While he did not blame her, nor was he upset, her incessant stream of chatter left him unable to concentrate on his meditations.

He often got roped into playing Cultivator Cards, which was a card game that used a deck consisting of three player cards and thirty support cards. Player cards were based on famous cultivators and magical beasts. Each one was given a number value between 5 and 10. The higher their number value, the more “damage” they could take. The idea was to pit your character cards against your opponent’s character cards. Victory was achieved by bringing the opponent’s character cards value down to zero.

“I win again! Yay!”

Wu Jian sighed as Yu Mao threw her hands in the air and cheered. She had roped him into playing because she couldn’t beat Hou Jingshu. He had never played the game before now, so he wasn’t very good. He didn’t understand all the rules and was unable to fully utilize the support cards. On that note, he used Hou Jingshu’s deck since he didn’t have one of his own. It really let him know how bad he was at the game. The princess had yet to lose a single match with the same deck of cards, but here he was, losing every match.

It must be because I don’t have faith in the cards.

“It looks like we’re coming up on Jiànkè City,” said Hou Jingshu. “You can see it if you look out the window.”

“Really?!”

Yu Mao was the first one to look out the window, pressing her face against the glass. Wu Jian stood up and also leaned over to look out the window.

The city coming into view was much smaller than he expected. There was only one multi-story building, a pagoda located close to the city’s center. The rest of the buildings were made from gray stones and possessed red roofs. It looked like a very quaint town, hardly worthy of being called a city. As they came closer, two statues depicting a pair of swordsmen came into view.

“I know it doesn’t look like much, but every cultivator in the Shang Kingdom who wants to join the Saintly Sword Sect comes here to train. Roughly ten thousand cultivators come here every year. Only a handful are allowed to join, however,” explained Hou Jingshu.

Unlike the Shang Kingdom Imperial Academy, which allowed anyone who had broken through to the Hunger Realm to join, the Saintly Sword Sect was selective in who they allowed entrance to. Their requirements were much harsher. This meant they didn’t have nearly as many members as the academy, but it also meant the people who did join were much stronger.

“It looks like several sects have already arrived,” Yu Qiang said.

Hou Jingshu narrowed her eyes. “Yes, I see caravans with the crest for several sects. Look at that one with the polearm crest. That’s the Iron Blockade Sect. They specialize in defensive and spear techniques. And the one over there belongs to the Illusory Water Pavilion. As their name implies, they focus heavily on illusion techniques that utilize water. I’ve heard their water techniques are capable of transforming mist into powerful illusions that can defeat the senses of cultivators several subrealms higher than their own.”

The Shang Kingdom might have been small compared to some nations, but it was still over 100,000 lî from one side to the other. Hundreds of cities, forests, lakes, and plains dotted the landscape. There was more than enough room for several dozen sects. Some were located in cities and others made their own homes far away from any residents.

Their caravan entered the city under the watchful eyes of several other sects. Some people pointed their carriage out, but others snorted derisively. The Shang Kingdom Imperial Academy was often looked down on by most sects because they promoted cooperation instead of pitting cultivators against each other, which was the standard practice used to make powerful individuals.

The carriages stopped before the pagoda, which Wu Jian realized was an inn when they entered. He stood alongside Hou Jingshu, Zhou Lihua (who joined them the moment they exited the carriages), and Yu Mao as he gazed up at the mosaic on the ceiling. It depicted a man with gray hair and a beard holding a sword covered in light above his head. The rest of the hotel was every bit as snazzy. This place must have been built specifically for the tournament.

Yu Chenguang spoke with the clerk at the front desk and came back with several keys, which he handed out to everyone.

“These are the keys to your rooms. I’ve divided you up by gender. Her Highness and Zhou Lihua will share a room. Jian Wu and Yu Qiang will share a room. I’ll be sharing a room with my wives and daughter. Zhou Wen, you have your own room.”

Zhou Wen looked like she wanted to protest, but Zhou Lihua snatched two keys from Yu Chenguang’s hand, handed one off to Hou Jingshu, and grinned.

“I’m glad we get to stay together tonight. We can chat all night long,” she said.

Hou Jingshu smiled. “Yeah. It’s been a while since we’ve had a sleepover.”

Once everyone had their keys, Yu Chenguang said, “You’re free to do whatever you want, but be sure to turn in early. We leave tomorrow at dawn.”

Zhou Lihua grabbed Hou Jingshu and Wu Jian and left the pagoda. Yu Mao squawked at being left out and raced after them. The group of four journeyed around the city, but there wasn’t much to see. The open market sold mostly food, swords, and cultivation resources like alchemy pills. There wasn’t a single shop selling jewelry or makeup. Well, this was a city for swordsman and women. Wu Jian couldn’t expect to find something not related to sword fighting or cultivation.

“Well, now. Look at who we have here. Been a while since I’ve seen you, Little Sis,” said a voice that Wu Jian had become acquainted with just a few days ago.