Chapter 59

Shu Xiu stood frozen in shock, the water sword narrowly missing her head, scattering her black hair and causing the purple sash that held her bun to fall into the mud. Her deep robe, which accentuated her well-proportioned figure, fluttered forward. The water sword, though thin, carried a formidable sword aura, and the rumbling in Shu Xiu's ears did not cease for a long time.

With a pale face, Shu Xiu, who did not wield a sword, was still so shocked. Lu Qiantang, who had studied swordsmanship for thirty years, opened his mouth slightly. The highest level of swordsmanship was always about the Way of the Sword, not sword techniques. The strength of the sword intent and the scale of the sword aura were not directly related. The old man on the carriage had a finger that was very much like the Qiantang River tide in his hometown, which was the most spectacular in the world every August 18th. Lu Qiantang had built a thatched hut near the Haiyan Pavilion, the best place to appreciate the "ten thousand soldiers' sound at midnight," and practiced swordsmanship for years, which led to his current expertise with heavy swords.

Lu Qiantang looked at the carriage, where the old man in the sheepskin coat was indistinct. He wondered, "There's no sword master with such a dominant sword intent among the six guards of the armory." Despite his musings, Lu Qiantang did not dare to be careless and, along with Yang Qingfeng, kept a close eye on the red-armored figure lying on the ground. Lu Qiantang noticed that the seemingly weak middle-aged man's hands were bleeding, and he had drawn a blood symbol on his back, which the heavy rain could not wash away. Whether it was a Longhu Mountain Celestial Master's talisman or a Maoshan exorcism spell, Lu Qiantang was not proficient enough to determine. Yang Qingfeng squatted on the ground, his fingers embedded in the mud, causing it to churn. Surprisingly, several silver-white earthworms emerged from his withered arms.

Xu Fengnian frowned and asked, "Is this water armor dead?"

The old man with a divine talisman in his hair took the oiled paper umbrella from Qingniao and sneered, "Not so easily. These five red-armored talisman warriors, though not as powerful as Ye Hongting's yellow-purple armor, cannot be killed by a mere finger. Ye Hongting, at the Vajra Realm, always wore down his opponents over days and nights. Unless someone like Han Shengxuan stripped the armor and skin together, no matter how severely injured or killed, Ye Hongting would not feel a thing. Condensing the yellow-purple aura into armor was a great magical skill. Now, since the red armor is created according to the Five Elements, the real show begins when the talisman warriors gather. Since I have taken action, I will see it through. No matter how stubborn, they are not as annoying as Ye Hongting was."

"Found it," the old man looked to the east.

Qingniao shot out.

"Since you won't come out, I'll break one armor first and see if you still have the patience. The Five Elements lack water, so let's see how you use your water-grinding technique." The old man took a step and leaped over Shu Xiu's head, then stepped down, crushing the chest of the red-armored talisman warrior that was just about to rise, right where the water bead sword had created a hole. Lu Qiantang's Chixia Sword and Yang Qingfeng's carefully arranged spirit-nourishing exorcism were both shaken away by the old man's move. It was not just unreasonable but also brutal. However, neither Lu Qiantang nor Yang Qingfeng showed any resentment, only retreating.

The old man took another step, crushing the head of the red armor into the mud. He then instantly retracted the umbrella, using it as a sword. This time, the sword intent was boundless, and the heavy rain was enveloped by the umbrella, forming a massive rain tornado around the old man. He whispered, "One sword, immortal kneels."

The umbrella and the rain tornado pierced the head of the red-armored talisman warrior like a silver river, and the heavy rain suddenly stopped, the raindrops rebounding upward as if defying the laws of nature. There was a light "snap."

The old man opened the oiled paper umbrella and slowly walked back to the carriage.

Qingniao returned gracefully and shook her head, "The enemy has retreated."

Xu Fengnian, still on the horse, closed his eyes in deep thought. This must be a sword that only a terrestrial immortal could wield, right?

He practiced knife skills before sword skills, and it was indeed the right choice. If he had learned sword skills early, seeing today's two finger techniques would have left a psychological shadow that he could not shake off. Although he was still far from the heart, aura, and intent of the sword, he feared he would never have the courage or confidence to wield a sword again. In the competition between knives and swords, if we talk about the number of top-notch experts, they are about equal. However, when it comes to the very top, the sword masters consistently outshine the knife experts. Especially those revered as sword gods, each of them was almost at the pinnacle of martial arts. The previous generation's Li Chunjiang was invincible with his wooden ox, and the current generation's Deng Tai'a, with his peach branch, was unmatched. Even the arrogant Cao Guanzi admitted he was inferior to Deng Tai'a. This statement clearly set a boundary between Wang Xianzhi and Deng Tai'a and the other eight greats. Wang Xianzhi was already seen as a celestial being, a once-in-five-hundred-years phenomenon. Deng Tai'a, however, still had a human touch, and the Peach Sword God was even remembered in the imperial palace.

Xu Fengnian asked softly, "Is the water armor dead? Has the mastermind retreated?"

The old man, who had just shown off his sword skills without a sword, ignored the prince, smiling at Jiang Ni, who had seen nothing clearly, and asked, "Little girl, do I still have some leftover courage?"

Jiang Ni vaguely saw the rain tornado, but it was too far away, and as an outsider, she was only impressed by the spectacle, far less than Lu Qiantang and Shu Xiu. Besides, she had seen great things before! The white fox's dual knives in the snow were much more beautiful, and the knives were prettier, and the person even more beautiful! So, the old sword god's display would probably end up being a wasted effort. Seeing the little girl's confused and indifferent expression, Li Chunjiang laughed and patted the divine talisman, feeling quite pleased. During the years when the wooden ox was not broken, he had heard too much flattery and praise, and now, the little girl's confusion was quite refreshing.

The old man handed the oiled paper umbrella back to Qingniao and said casually as he entered the carriage, "Perhaps the other side doesn't want to tear the face and fight to the death. They left a water armor. If you act quickly, you can still see the secrets of the red armor. Once the puppet inside the armor loses its vitality, the talisman on the red armor will lose its meaning."

Xu Fengnian's expression was complex, and he hesitated before bowing to the old man and riding towards the place where the red armor was killed by the umbrella-sword.

He waved away Lu Qiantang and Yang Qingfeng, then squatted in front of the red-armored figure. The head armor had been shattered by a sword, but the inscriptions on the red armor were exquisite. What Xu Fengnian was most proud of was not his fledgling knife skills but his memory. The red armor was inscribed with Daoist talismans and Buddhist mantras, which he could understand to some extent, thanks to his mother's Buddhist faith and the stories of Daoist talismans told by Wei Shuyang. Shu Xiu, emboldened, tried to shield the prince from the rain but was coldly told by Xu Fengnian, "Get out of the way!"

Shu Xiu's face stiffened.

Lu Qiantang, however, smiled slightly.

Yang Qingfeng approached at an appropriate distance and respectfully said, "Your Highness, I know a bit about talismans and mechanisms. May I take a closer look?"

Xu Fengnian did not look up, only asked, "Can you prolong the vitality and aura?"

Yang Qingfeng bowed slightly, confident, "Yes."

"Do not disappoint me." Xu Fengnian drew the Chunlei knife, lifted the red armor's arm, and examined every detail. The chest, hit by the old man's finger, was mostly unrecognizable, but the hands and feet were intact.

Yang Qingfeng squatted carefully and said with a bitter smile, "Your Highness, this armor seems to have been a dead person from the start."

Xu Fengnian's movements were fluid, not startled by Yang Qingfeng's revelation, and frowned, "Seems?"

Yang Qingfeng's heart skipped a beat and said firmly, "I can be certain."

Xu Fengnian did not dwell on this and asked, "What do you see?"

Yang Qingfeng stared intently at the red armor and said slowly, "Indeed, most of it is the work of a great alchemist from Longhu Mountain. The saying goes, 'Water does not need to be deep; with a dragon, it becomes spiritual.' The difference between Longhu Mountain and Gezao Mountain is that Longhu Mountain does not care about the form of the talisman, only the flow of qi. Your Highness, look at the ancient seal script on the arm, depicting cloud patterns, which are the famous cloud talismans of Longhu Mountain, with seven layers. Unfortunately, it is not the eight-layered purple sky talisman that oversees the underworld, and the most profound nine-layered celestial script only exists in the records of Longhu Mountain. The nine-square grid talisman, however, is from Gezao Mountain's 'Lingbao Moving Mountain Classic,' and the brushwork is different. The image of the Celestial Lord on the left leg is undoubtedly a high-level talisman from Maoshan, with both form and intent, just a step away from the divine. As for the Buddhist mantras, I cannot make a definitive judgment, but I suspect there are traces of the Heavenly Secrets Tower of the Yin Academy."

Xu Fengnian tapped the armor