A green rainbow surged across the land, its sword qi piercing and devastating, unstoppable in its might.
It charged straight at Xu Long Xiang.
The youth stood beside the black tiger that once served Qi Xuanzhen, not wielding a saber to meet the enemy, but instead plunging his war blade into the earth.
Three years had passed, transforming the stubborn child who once refused to go to Longhu Mountain with the old immortal of the Celestial Masters Sect into the commander of Beiliang’s elite border forces. In the eyes of the world, this young man was quite different from his elder brother, who often wandered the martial world neglecting official duties. He seemed more like the son of Xu Xiao, the Butcher of Men—disliking luxury, not adept at flirtation, but like his father, renowned on the battlefield. He gained fame as a warrior capable of defeating thousands even at the beginning of his career. His only shortcoming was never having faced a Grandmaster-level expert in single combat. Yet, unlike Xu Fengnian, who struggled from a prince to become the King of Beiliang, Xu Long Xiang faced little doubt. Despite his youth, he was entrusted with leading the Iron Cavalry of Longhu, quickly earning the respect of his men. At one time, even the officials of Beiliang whispered dark rumors—why wasn’t the astonishingly gifted Xu Long Xiang the one to inherit Xu Xiao’s title?
Under the careful tutelage of Zhao Xituan of Longhu Mountain, Xu Long Xiang was taught the art of the Great Dream of Spring and Autumn, gradually opening his heart and mind. The “Foolish BarbarianChild” was no longer the simpleton he once was; his intellect had matured to match any ordinary man’s, while retaining a rare innocence. Though the phrase “the heart of a child” comes from Confucian sages, it is akin to the secret records describing one who “bears no karma and is thus called a Buddha’s child” or “touches no dust and is thus called a Daoist embryo.” Such innocence is considered the immortal essence of the three great sects. Unfazed by the massive sword qi rushing toward him, Xu Long Xiang instead turned and smiled at the black tiger. To outsiders, this spirit beast—once a companion to the Great Immortal Qi Daren, who had listened to sages speak for decades before attaining enlightenment—seemed to have fallen into unworthy hands. Yet the tiger, twice the size of a common jungle king, responded with a very human-like expression, devoid of malice, lowering its massive head to gently touch the youth’s forehead.
Xu Long Xiang reached out and stroked the tiger’s head, murmuring, “When I was little, my mother often punished my brother by making him memorize books. Back then, I couldn’t understand anything, and even when I did listen, I would forget. But I always thought the way my brother held a book and read…”
At this, Xu Long Xiang mimicked the younger Xu Fengnian, shaking his head slightly, “It looked… really good.”
A faint smile appeared on the youth’s face. “Later, my father would often say in private that our ancestral tomb must have been giving off green smoke, finally producing a scholar in the family.”
The black tiger suddenly lay down on the ground, its expression deep with nostalgia at the word “scholar.” Once upon a time, on the Demon-Slaying Platform of Lotus Peak, the immortal known to mortals as the “Morning Glow Feeder” would recite scriptures at sunrise and sunset. Occasionally, visitors would climb to the summit to debate Dao with Qi Xuanzhen, whose words would bloom like lotuses and thunder like spring, creating wondrous phenomena. What a glorious scene that had been. The black tiger, long by Qi Xuanzhen’s side—believed to be the reincarnation of Master Lü—had received boundless blessings and fortune. Even the high-ranking officials of the Celestial Masters Sect would treat it with utmost respect, never daring to see it as mere beast.
The green rainbow was now less than ten miles from the youth and the tiger.
Xu Long Xiang smiled and said, “When I was little, my eldest sister was lazy. She didn’t even bother learning to sew, let alone read. She only loved listening to my brother’s stories of immortals and monsters. Whenever she couldn’t sleep, she would drag my brother to sit by her bedside and tell her tales, only allowing him to leave after she had fallen asleep. No matter how tired my brother was during the day, he never refused. He would always tidy up the things in her room when he had time. Later, when my eldest sister married far away in Jiangnan, everything in her room was neatly placed exactly where it belonged. My brother, who should have felt relieved, instead seemed… always very…”
Apparently unable to find the right word to describe his brother, the youth scratched his head and simply let the thought rest in his heart.
Xu Long Xiang exhaled deeply, looked ahead with determined eyes, and said gravely, “My father is a rough man, and the border affairs are extremely heavy. Though he may have the will, he has no time to properly interact with us children. It was always my brother who looked after my two sisters and me, the foolish child. I may not know much, but now that enemies have come to our doorstep, and since I was born with some strength, I can’t keep letting my brother bear everything alone like when I was little. Before I joined the Longhu Army, my second sister told me that the Northern Liang had some cultivators skilled in aura observation, specifically targeting the top experts of Beiliang to plan their moves in advance. She also said that the Northern Liang had secretly devised a series of ‘Dragon-Slaying’ plans, placing my brother at the top of the list, and me within the top five. So my second sister forbade me from harboring killing intent or unleashing my full strength, to prevent my aura from leaking. But I think, rather than letting them sneak around and attack my brother, it’s better for me to be the bait and disrupt their plans!”
Xu Long Xiang pointed at the unstoppable green rainbow and laughed joyfully, “You see? Someone has already taken the bait!”
This time, going against military orders, Xu Long Xiang led his troops to intercept the Qiang riders without wearing his indestructible talisman armor, not even bringing it. It remained in the commander’s tent outside Qingcang City.
From childhood, his elder brother Xu Fengnian had always given him the best—Xu Zhihu, Xu Weixiong.
It had always been this way.
Xu Long Xiang clenched his fists and struck hard before his chest.
Across a thousand miles of yellow sands, it was as if a great bell had been struck.
From him as the center, countless grains of sand rolled outward violently.
At the same time, the sword qi arrived before the green rainbow did.
Far away, the swordsman Huang Qing of the Chess-Sword Music Bureau advanced with his eyes closed. His ancient sword, Calming the Storm, remained sheathed more than two inches.
In this battle, aside from the black tiger, no one else witnessed it. Even the Copper Monk, who was a hundred miles away, inexplicably rushed eastward, drawn toward the purple aura.
Yet, if someone had seen this scene without knowing the identity of Huang Qing, even a minor master at the second rank would have lamented the prodigious waste of sword qi. When masters fight, it is not about flashy moves, but about concealing power during preparation and delivering a fatal blow in one strike. For a swordsman like this green-robed one to already radiate such overwhelming aura before the clash was indeed recklessly arrogant. Only a peak expert at the first rank, the Finger-Sky Realm, could discern the truth—this swordsman was not showing off like a street brawler, nor was he drumming up morale like a general before battle. The sheer might of his presence, while keeping his sword sheathed, was simply too overwhelming.
When the moon is full, it wanes; when water is full, it overflows.
Huang Qing’s sword qi had reached a terrifying level, so intense that he had to deliberately suppress it in daily life to avoid harming others.
Huang Qing of the Chess-Sword Music Bureau truly lived up to his title, “Sword Qi Approaching.”
If one already possessed wealth rivaling a kingdom, what was the cost of spending a thousand gold pieces?
With his eyes still closed, Huang Qing silently intoned, “A Basket of Pearls, offered to the Diamond Realm.”
The sword in the sheath extended from two inches to three.
One basket equals a hundred measures, ten dou.
How much does a single pearl weigh? How many pearls would a basket contain?
The three-inch blade suddenly erupted, instantly forming hundreds, even thousands, of jade-green pearls made entirely of sword qi.
The pearls of sword qi, varying in size, rolled forward like countless thunderbolts across the earth, rushing straight toward Xu Long Xiang.
Far away, Xu Long Xiang, already witnessing this magnificent spectacle, merely tugged at the corner of his lips, as if in disdain.
With one hand gently raised, the youth delivered a heavy punch to the ground.
The first time Xu Fengnian appeared at the martial arts drill of Beiliang’s border forces, the young Xu Long Xiang had personally beaten the war drum.
In the next moment, between the youth and the swordsman, dunes exploded, the earth heaved like a dragon rising, yellow sand filled the sky, as if the very ground was turning upside down.
A youth born with the Diamond Realm and the strength of dragon and elephant, facing the swordsman whose qi approached like a storm.
Their battle might become a clash of power unlike any before or after.
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