𝒐𝐕𝗅xt.𝑪𝗈𝑚
Shi Lang arrived at the peak, and everyone was almost ready. The goodbye was not very mushy or long, but one that stuck with him hard was Wen Lengxue, who can up to him and said, “When you come back, let us have a duel. This time, I will show you a side worthy of drawing your blade.”
Surprised, Shi Lang nodded and said, “I shall look forward to it, Senior Sister.”
He paid his respects to every one of the elders before boarding the spirit boat and leaving with the disciples of the Dragon Sword Sect. The spirit vessel trembled, and it gained height. Shi Lang waved at his friends. The terran was excited to explore this world.
He knew he was going to an unknown place but was not afraid. The Federation became the Federation because they dared to venture into the unknown. Even if he was an old soul, the glory of the Federation still left some mark on him. When he was still a school student, he thought the Federation was like those strong people who bullied others.
However, when he became a bigger part of the military, he realized that if the Federation took something from the ingenious, they returned them with something too. Yes, they had discrimination, but they did not harm the people needlessly. They did not allow them to join the military until Shi Lang took the reins, but that was because both parties were passively aggressive and untrusting of each other.
…
The spirit vessel flew through the sky, cruising on the clouds. Shi Lang did not bother anyone, as the disciples were busy comprehending their gains. He stood at the ship’s bow, and a voice echoed in his mind, “Would you have fought against Yue Shi?”
Shi Lang turned around and found Long Shan standing behind him. He bowed and said, “Yes, Sir. I would have fought her.”
Long Shan asked, “Were you not afraid of death?”
He was curious to know how this guy’s mind worked. Shi Lang smiled and said, “It is not like that, elder. Of course, I was scared. However, if I were to look away from my belief, my dao heart would have crumbled. That situation would have been worse than death.”
The grand elder stroked his beard and said, “I understand what you want to say, but sometimes you should learn to take a step back and inspect the situation.”
Shi Lang bowed and cupped his fists, “Thank you for your advice, elder. I have no problem accepting a fair defeat, but if it is bullying, I will not tolerate it even if I die.”
Long Shan asked again, “What if Yue Shi were to cripple you? Wouldn’t that wash away all your effort?”
Shi Lang smiled and said, “As long as I try my best, even if Elder Yue Shi were to cripple me, I would not mind, but some people would.”
Long Shan probed, “Do you mean Immortal Sovereign Tian Long?”
Shi Lang shook his head and replied, “He has his hands full with the demons in the central plains. However, when people from my world ascend, they will look for me. They will find news about me if they do not find me.”
Long Shan smiled and commented, “It is good that you have such confidence, but do you know how big the immortal plain is?”
Shi Lang chuckled and said, “Elder, my people can travel across the sea of stars without spirit energy to aid them. Do you think this world will stop them?”
Long Shan was shocked to hear this. The two people began to communicate, and night fell. The grand elder looked at the sky and said, “I will go and meditate. Your lower realm seems fascinating.”
Shi Lang replied, “Thank you for the compliment.”
Long Shan vanished, and Shi Lang jumped off to the deck. He found a spot and sat down in the lotus position. He placed his new sword on his lap and dripped blood on it. He wanted the sword to have a better connection with him.
After the blood ritual, the terran focused on refining the sword. However, it was harder than refining ordinary swords. This thing had a shallow trace of lightning consciousness and seemed to be repelling Shi Lang’s spiritual energy.
Shi Lang did not give up. The Lightning Shura sutra countered the effect, but taming lightning was arduous. The terran suddenly recalled his newly acquired technique.
He began meditating on the Silent Moon Technique, and his body absorbed the moonlight. The nature of the moonlight was yin, and it was different from the spiritual energy between heaven and earth.
The cold nature of the moonlight gave his immortal soul a lot of relief. One night passed, and he realized that one night of practice would not give him much chance to advance because the chance was negligible. The yang of the lightning attribute was so strong that it burned most of his accumulated yin into nothing.
Shi Lang did not give up. He just sat in the same spot for the next two days and kept cultivating. He did not bother erecting a spiritual barrier. On the third day, when the disciples of the Dragon Sword Sect came out of their seclusions, they found Shi Lang sitting on the deck.
When someone tried to approach him, Bo Qingtan stopped them. The people asked, “Senior Brother, why do you stop us?”
Bo Qingtan said, “He completed the refinement of his sword, look.”
The people looked at Shi Lang and found that the sword in his lap was now covered with lightning sparks and trembling slightly. After a few minutes, the sword began to levitate and revolve around Shi Lang.
The people understood what happened, and Xia Lingtian asked, “Senior brother, what is the cause of this levitation?”
Bo Qingtan smiled and was about to say something when Long Shan arrived and said, “The bond of a sword and the master.”
The disciples bowed and greeted him, “Greetings, Grand Elder.”
ƥαṇdαs ηθνε| Long Shan nodded and said, “You all must be thinking that he has a new sword, but what he did was clever. To make sure that the sword adjusts to his temper and his mood. He refined it with his spiritual energy. This energy can be derived from two places, one is the meridians, and the other is the dantian where your Immortal Solider weapon is residing.”
Bo Qingtan nodded and said, “The energy that passes through the immortal weapon is purer and also carries a hint of your specialty or your persona. The sword is filled with his spiritual energy, resonating with the energy inside him.
The significance of this whole process is the resonance. It becomes easier to handle your sword in a real battle, but also do not underestimate the difficulty and delicate balance needed to master this phase.”
Long Shan nodded, and the rest of the people began to discuss the process. Some of them even tried to repeat it carefully under the supervision of Bo Qingtan, and they found that the effect was really strong.
…
Five days passed quickly, and Shi Lang dedicated all his time to cultivation and sparing with Bo Qingtan. The two people only competed in the only sword skills and learned from each other.
Shi Lang won the duel in the competition because he had strong spiritual techniques. In terms of sword arts, he was still somewhat lacking. Bo Qingtan was the most accomplished sword master that he had met. His understanding of the enemy allowed Shi Lang to reflect on his weaknesses and improve quickly.
The result at the end of the trip was something Bo Qingtan could not shrug off, and he said, “Brother Shi Lang, you are a monster.”
Shi Lang said with a bitter smile, “Brother Bo, are you cursing or complimenting me.”
Bo Qingtan smiled and said, “Complimenting you, of course. You are the quickest learner I have seen in my entire life. In five days, you have grown to an outstanding level. I bet that your sword intent has improved too.”
Shi Lang smiled but did not comment. He did not wish for the others to know what he was capable of now. In the past five days, he had learned and integrated everything that came his way in his sword fighting. It still had a lot of room to improve.
The two conversed when a disciple said, “We are here.”
Shi Lang was curious, and Bo Qingtan took him to the ship’s bow. He said, “Welcome to the Coiling Dragon Mountain, or as people call it, the Dragon Mountain.”
Shi Lang saw a mountain rising to the sky that looked like a dragon coiled around a sword. Bo Qingtan said, “This mountain was carved by the founding father of our sect, First Master Hie Xin. We all wish to be like him someday.”
Shi Lang gulped and asked, “What kind of power would be needed to carve something like this? Amazing.”
The closer the ship flew the clearer the detailing of the mountain became.