Perhaps in the eyes of the Central Plains people, the doggerel poem by Xu Xiao, the “Butcher of Men,” beginning with the line “Snowflakes fall as large as fists,” is nothing but the nonsense of frontier barbarians. Yet the snowfall between Qingcang and Lin Yao cities at this moment indeed carries the majesty of snowflakes vast as woven mats.
Dantai Jingping gazed upward at the seventh heavenly thunderbolt in the sky. This was originally the final trial of the “Dragon-Elephant Tribulation,” the innate heavenly calamity destined for Xu Xiao’s youngest son. However, due to the interference of the Northern Desert’s true dragon, a rare phenomenon—thunder upon thunder—had arisen. Even without considering the unpredictable eighth bolt, Dantai Jingping doubted whether Xu Fengnian could survive the current seventh. The Grand Master, pale-faced and unable to conceal her anxiety, murmured softly, “The heavens quake and the earth trembles; the sound shakes the firmament. Master, you always used to joke about being a worrier like the Qiman under the mulberry tree, but now the sky truly seems to be collapsing.”
The matter of heavenly tribulations sounds mystical, yet Dantai Jingping understood its intricacies well. For the sages of the Three Teachings, attaining immortality and ascending to heaven was relatively easier. It was like a court official in the Hanlin Academy, whose eventual rise to the Grand Secretariat was almost inevitable. There is an old saying in the mortal world: “Thunder and rain alike are gifts from heaven.” For example, the father and son Celestial Masters of Longhu Mountain ascending to heaven on cranes, and later Yuan Qingshan, the Northern Desert’s national teacher, ascending in a rainbow of light—these were cases where heavenly favor outweighed heavenly wrath. However, warriors like Tuoba Pusa and Deng Ta’a were more like “local officials,” whose paths were far more arduous. In their final moments, heavenly wrath far exceeded heavenly favor. Since the time of Master Lü, the person who suffered the most severe heavenly tribulations was Qi Xian Xia, the “Cloud-Soaring” Celestial Master of the Zhen Slash Demon Platform. At that time, only a few knew of Qi Xian Xia’s incarnation of Master Lü. Regardless of Qi’s intentions, the outcome known to the world was that this celestial immortal failed to withstand the sixth heavenly thunder despite enduring the “Five Thunders Piercing the Heavens,” and regrettably dissolved his physical form to reincarnate. The world had long anticipated how many thunderbolts would descend upon Wang Xianzhi of Wudi City—six or seven? Alas, this universally acknowledged ancient master, capable of rivaling Lü Dongxuan himself, died so suddenly that it was a pity. Now, Xu Fengnian had drawn the terrifying phenomenon of eight thunderbolts overhead. However, such a once-in-a-millennium spectacle had no other spectators fortunate enough to witness it, save for the helpless Dantai Jingping and the opportunistic true dragon.
Suddenly, a warm and slightly teasing voice came from behind Dantai Jingping, “This doesn’t seem like you.”
She did not turn around but asked, “Why are you here?”
A disheveled middle-aged man approached Dantai Jingping. He wore coarse hemp clothing and tattered boots, his face unshaven and unkempt, clearly a bachelor without a wife to tidy his affairs. His appearance was ordinary; he carried neither wine nor sword. If he claimed to be a wandering swordsman, he would surely be laughed at by martial cultivators. Yet, since he could speak with the most revered cultivator of the world, he could not possibly be a nobody. In earlier years, he and his disciple traveled the martial world with a certain flair—riding a donkey and carrying peach branches—not to feign the image of a sage, but simply out of personal interest. In fact, having reached his level, even if he carried the donkey on his back or paraded through the streets with a peach tree on his shoulder, no one in the martial world would dare to disrespect him.
For eight hundred years, swordsmanship has stood alone in the martial world, producing many extraordinary talents. Even those who possessed or approached the realm of Earth Immortals numbered over thirty. Each generation produced one or two Sword Immortals, most of whom became the Supreme Martial Experts of their time. Yet only the young and prodigious Peach Blossom Sword Immortal was regarded as the next great sword master after Master Lü and Li Chungan, earning the title of “Approaching the Dao.” Thus, the name Deng Ta’a would remain unshakable in the martial world for the next three hundred years.
This middle-aged man, born lowly yet achieving great heights, smiled and said, “With such a massive commotion, how could I not come?”
Deng Ta’a then muttered to himself, “As for how the old eccentric Wang Xianzhi exactly lost, I can’t figure it out, but I can guess why. At that time, although the young Xu Fengnian had the ability to project his soul and nurture his spiritual intent, and had previously attained the physical form of a Celestial Body from Gao Shulu, he seemed to be on par with me, Tuoba Pusa, and Cao Changqing. He had the qualifications to challenge Wang Xianzhi, but in terms of life-and-death combat, it should not have ended with Wang’s death. Therefore, I suspect that at the final moment, Wang made the same mistake as Gao Shulu—he abandoned techniques in pursuit of the Dao, trying to surpass Xu Fengnian in the realm of Dao itself.”
Deng Ta’a nodded to himself, “That must be it. Just like me, if I were to attain the realm of Heaven and Earth in the future, even if I killed someone with my sword techniques, I would still feel that the victory was not entirely honorable.”
Dantai Jingping mocked, “Is every reigning Martial Emperor supposed to be arrogant?”
Deng Ta’a shook his head and smiled, “Arrogant? No, you’re mistaken. It should be said that without the will to defy the world and stand alone against it, one cannot become a Heaven and Earth cultivator.”
Dantai Jingping fell silent.
Deng Ta’a spoke softly, “After Li Chungan lent me his sword, he gained an epiphany, realizing his own limitations. It’s not that I look down on others. My sword has refined the qi to the utmost subtlety and speed to the utmost swiftness. I have cultivated sword techniques to the point of ‘approaching the Dao but not yet reaching it,’ a bottleneck. However, my sword Dao is small but not grand. That is why I flew my sword across the seas for countless miles. Elder Dantai, you have long resided on an island far from the mainland. You must often gaze at the sea and understand the magnificent vision of ‘heating the sun and spitting out rosy clouds, swallowing rivers and rinsing the moon.'”
Deng Ta’a continued his journey, following his whims, slicing through hundreds of islands with one sword after another, chasing the ocean’s tides with the waves, and finally attaining an epiphany in sword cultivation…
At this point, Deng Ta’a fell silent and gazed into the distance.
Dantai Jingping sighed, “No matter how many thunderbolts fall from the heavens, there is always one rule: the final thunderbolt will always be the sum of all the previous ones in power.”
Deng Ta’a clicked his tongue, “Is it like the saying, ‘The last ten percent of a hundred-mile journey is the hardest’?”
Dantai Jingping asked, “Won’t you help?”
Deng Ta’a glanced at the golden-eyed true dragon hovering in the air and shook his head gravely, “What help is there to give? Would I ask Cao Changqing to fight Wang Xianzhi together? Would Cao Changqing ask Xu Fengnian to team up and assassinate the emperor of Liyang? Would Xu Fengnian call for help to kill off Murong, the Empress of the Duan clan?”
Deng Ta’a suddenly laughed, somewhat helplessly, “If possible, that kid probably would. How did Wu Su end up with such a rascal for a son?”
Dantai Jingping said calmly, “He is also Xu Xiao’s son.”
Deng Ta’a mused, “Indeed, but all three of them are stubborn and single-minded. Truly, they wouldn’t be a family if they weren’t like that.”
Dantai Jingping smiled, “If not for that, would you have taught Xu Fengnian to wield flying swords?”
Dantai Jingping usually disliked talking to others, but the oppressive pressure from the impending seventh thunderbolt made her feel extremely agitated. She had no choice but to speak in order to distract herself and calm her mind. “After you attained enlightenment in sword cultivation, who do you consider your ultimate opponent?”
Deng Ta’a thought for a moment, “Probably Chen Zhibao after he transcends into sainthood. That young man is far too patient.”
Dantai Jingping found this unsurprising. Xie Guanying, who had gone into Shu to aid Chen Zhibao, was a man of terrifying depth, hiding even deeper than Yuan Benxi, the imperial mentor of Liyang. He had spent nearly twenty years meticulously laying the groundwork before finally selecting Chen Zhibao. His aim was to enable the faltering aristocratic clans to rise again. Once Chen Zhibao decided to vie for the throne, he would inevitably require the support of those powerful clans, remnants of the old order. In the future, when the empire is unified, the forces behind Xie Guanying would all be considered founding ministers. In fact, one could say that Xie Guanying’s enemies were threefold: Xu Xiao, who had destroyed the foundations of the aristocracy, Huang Longshi, who had further accelerated that destruction, and Zhang Julu, who had opened the door slightly for the commoners. Now one of them is dead, and the other two are nearing their ends. Xie Guanying’s chances of success are very high.
Deng Ta’a suddenly said, “It’s coming!”
He and Dantai Jingping both leapt backward almost simultaneously.
The Northern Desert’s true dragon also turned and swam away, its tail swaying.
Across the deep purple sky, it seemed as if a divine being had lifted a mountain and hurled it into the sea.
High above, violent ripples spread outward in visible waves, expanding rapidly.
The earth trembled in resonance, and snow and yellow sand swirled together.
A deep purple lightning bolt “slowly” pierced through the rippling surface of the lake, like a stone pillar plunging into water.
Xu Fengnian summoned back his Northern Liang saber with his qi—not the same left-handed strike that had once pierced through the Copper Man Patriarch, but for the first time ever, he gripped the saber with both hands!
He lifted his head and gazed upward at the seventh thunderbolt.
With both sleeves seemingly brimming with thunder and wind, Xu Fengnian’s lips even curled into a faint smile.
Enduring heavenly thunder—now that was a technical skill.
Too bad Old Huang and the old man in the sheepskin cloak were no longer around. Otherwise, those two old men would surely be grinning with missing front teeth, or pretending to clean their ears while smirking disdainfully.
In his youth, he had always dreamed of the martial world, imagining that a true master must carry himself with dignity and grace, earning cheers and applause wherever he went. Yet, in the end, the two masters he revered most had no such air of grandeur at all.
Dantai Jingping, still retreating several miles backward, kept her eyes fixed on the magnificent battlefield—this was truly a literal battle between heaven and man.
In her vision, a purple thunderbolt descended, and a streak of white light ascended.
Then the mighty purple thunder was split in two by the slender white light, transforming into two torrents of lightning that flowed down onto the earth.
The white light climbed higher and higher.
The purple thunder kept surging downward, seemingly without end.
In Dantai Jingping’s eyes, it was as if a giant ” Person” (person) had appeared.
If one included the “lake surface,” it would form an incomplete ” Great” (great).
That brilliant white light, like a comet, climbed slower and slower, beginning to show signs of stagnation. Though it was only a dozen feet from the lake’s surface, it could no longer advance even an inch further.
Dantai Jingping’s expression turned sorrowful, murmuring, “Human strength has its limits. All one can do is fulfill one’s duty and await heaven’s decree.”
Like rowing upstream, to stop is to fall back.
When the white light finally halted completely, the purple thunder did not cease.
The white light was pushed down, inch by inch, back toward the ground.
Deng Ta’a laughed aloud, “Who was it that said, ‘An ant trying to shake a great tree—admirable, yet foolish!'”
When the white light struck the ground, a deep, low roar echoed from the earth.
Xu Fengnian kept his right hand on the saber’s hilt, but with his left hand, he slid along the blade’s spine outward, disregarding the sharp edge, and gripped the tip tightly with his five fingers!
Purple thunder surged like a flood beneath his feet.
Xu Fengnian’s arms were torn and bloodied.
He held on with all his might.
He did not loosen his grip, nor did he release the saber.
The purple thunder rained down for a full incense stick’s worth of time!
Dantai Jingping could hardly bear to watch, whispering, “After the seventh thunderbolt comes the eighth.”
By now, Xu Fengnian’s seven orifices were bleeding, and his vision had long since blurred.
Yet, in a daze, he seemed to see something atop the saber’s tip.
A purple-gold lotus bloomed.
Small, yet swaying gracefully.
Across the earth, where the purple flood had flowed, one lotus after another—two, three…
Lotus blossoms erupted into bloom.
Like a lotus pond.
And above, the endless stream of purple thunder finally came to an end.
The more this happened, the more sorrowful Dantai Jingping felt. She repeated the words again, “After the seventh thunderbolt comes the eighth.”
Deng Ta’a fixed his gaze on the true dragon, no longer merely watching from afar.
Taking advantage of the brief pause between the seventh and eighth thunderbolts, the dragon was greedily absorbing the purple lightning.
Its body had already stretched to a hundred zhang in length.
Xu Fengnian stood amidst the torrent, barely able to support his swaying body by leaning on his saber against the ground.
Far above, the Northern Desert’s true dragon actually curled its lips and let out a mocking sound.
But soon, it suddenly widened its golden eyes in confusion and fear.
That tiny ant had risen into the sky, standing at the same height, facing the dragon in a standoff!
At this moment, not only Dantai Jingping was stunned beyond comprehension, even Deng Ta’a’s eyes widened.
From within the lotus pond, a colossal white serpent, two hundred zhang in length, emerged, rolling and swaying.
Xu Fengnian stood atop the serpent’s head.
Dragon and serpent locked eyes!
Above their heads, purple thunder rolled.
Dantai Jingping closed her eyes.
Deng Ta’a sighed, “His final choice was not to face the eighth thunderbolt, but…”
Deng Ta’a did not finish his sentence.
He was going to slay the dragon!
The serpent lunged swiftly at the true dragon.
The Northern Desert’s dragon kept absorbing the purple lightning, but when the distance between them was less than ten zhang, the true dragon had only grown to one hundred and fifty zhang.
The true dragon raised its head, its whiskers flaring like a wrathful deity, roaring at the towering serpent.
The white serpent paid no heed to the dragon’s intimidation. It opened its mouth and lunged, sinking its teeth into the dragon’s neck.
Xu Fengnian gripped the saber’s hilt with both hands, leapt high into the air, and brought the blade down!
He drove the saber into the dragon’s skull.
At the same time, the serpent, its jaws locked around the dragon’s neck, pulled down with all its might.
Man, dragon, and serpent plummeted together.
They crashed heavily to the ground.
Xu Fengnian slammed both hands down, driving the saber completely into the dragon’s skull, leaving only the hilt exposed.
The dragon and serpent continued to tear and twist at each other.
Heaven and earth overturned.
When all was still,
The Northern Desert dragon’s head was severed, rolling aside.
The white serpent was barely alive.
Xu Fengnian, Clamp the saber under his arm, his face smeared with blood, neither laughing nor crying, reached out tremblingly and placed his hand on the serpent’s head.
At the same time, the eighth thunderbolt descended from the heavens, slanting across the sky, striking the man and the serpent.
A boy, sword clenched in teeth, raced back with a fierce determination and slammed headlong into the thunderbolt.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage