Chapter 66 One Step Away

Those huge birds which ignored Li Fuyao all the time when he climbed the mountain suddenly attacked this swordsman at the second stage. Although it was surprising, fortunately Li Fuyao was alert since he saw these huge birds. Since they became the test on the way to the mountaintop, he was prepared after he was in a daze for a short while in the beginning.

He had a sword under his arm.

The famous sword Light Snow was the heirloom of the Xie family, and it was even said that this sword was once owned by the Sword Immortal Xie Chen those years. But Li Fuyao had seen Xie Chen on the mountain path earlier, so he didn’t think it was true. Even so, this Light Snow had something to do with the Xie family.

However, Li Fuyao wasn’t interested in this sword’s background. He just thought it was enough as he had such a sword in his hand.

So when those birds almost flew past him, he tried to stab the one which was closest to him.

He stabbed without sword Qi or sword intent which would shock others, and he didn’t even stab that huge bird. However, before the bird flew past him, he cut off one of its wings when he waved the sword for the second time.

It was getting dark, and it was not clear in the front. In the forest far away, Wu Shanhe stared at this guy and stated furiously, “Why are you killing the birds? Hurry up and go to the mountaintop. Otherwise you will be driven away and go down the mountain later.”

His voice was not loud, and he certainly couldn’t let Li Fuyao hear it. Sword Mountain was strict with the climbers. If he rushed out to tell the guy that those huge birds were his illusion and it would be fine if he ignored them, it was uncertain if he would be punished severely, but Li Fuyao would surely lose the qualification to climb the mountain.

In this teenage boy’s heart, he wanted to have a junior fellow apprentice.

Li Fuyao didn’t know that a boy was quite afraid that he wouldn’t reach the mountaintop before dark. He just faced those huge birds and waved the sword repeatedly and tirelessly. Soon there were many feathers around him and those huge birds had left a lot of blood stains.

The huge birds seemed to be endless, but Li Fuyao’s energy was limited.

Soon after he waved and waved the sword again and consumed the vital energy in his heart, he turned pale and his hand which grabbed the sword trembled slightly. In fact, if he could mentally connect with the famous sword Light Snow, he wouldn’t consume his vital energy so quickly, but after all, the sword was borrowed, so it naturally became like this. Li Fuyao who was shaky suddenly turned his head to look at the blood stains on the ground. He was stunned all of a sudden.

All the blood stains on the mountain path were quite similar.

Li Fuyao seemed to realize something.

So this teenage boy didn’t wave the sword anymore but let a bird fly past him and its sharp claws attack him, but those huge birds flew past Li Fuyao who didn’t unsheathe the sword directly, seeming not to touch him.

“It turns out that if I don’t draw the sword, they would be not here. If I wave the sword all the time, I will be exhausted to death.”

Li Fuyao frowned and tried to step forward, but there was still no change.

So he took the second step with relief.

Wu Shanhe who was in the forest far away furrowed his brows and said angrily, “Now that you have seen through it, just walk quickly. Why are you hesitating? Damn it. It’s getting dark.”

However, no matter how Wu Shanhe talked to himself, he didn’t dare to raise his voice to make Li Fuyao hear him.

“Master Xie Lu, the guy that you value will be unable to reach the mountaintop. Won’t you do something?”

As a matter of fact, Wu Shanhe’s worry was the same as the worry of Xie Lu who was in front of the shabby temple at the foot of the mountain.

It was getting dark and the night was coming. Xie Lu finally couldn’t control herself. She stood up and stated peacefully, “I am going to lead Light Snow to climb the mountain. Help me.”

Liu Yibai stood up and didn’t ask how he should help her. He just shouted at the shabby temple, “Xian, it’s time to work.”

Then the middle-aged man in grey walked out of the temple and the sword Qi of Hidden Fish on his waist was overflowing. Before it was unsheathed, the sword chirps could be heard without end.

Xian Chunan had never competed on swordsmanship with anybody because in his opinion, he should unsheathe his sword to help those who suffered from injustice, and competing on swordsmanship was low. But now Xie Lu was going to help the teenage boy climb the mountain, so he and Liu Yibai must take actions, and at least the two of them should compete.

If they wanted to prevent that old swordsman on the mountain from knowing what happened on the way to the mountaintop, they must make more trouble at the foot of the mountain. Only the sounds caused by two swordsmen at the Dawning Stage who competed on swordsmanship could distract the old swordsmen on the mountain who cared about what was going on on the mountain path. They could only fight against each other with swords.

Xian Chunan could disagree, but since he had walked out of the shabby temple, it meant that he had agreed.

So he prepared to compete with Liu Yibai in this temple at the foot of Sword Mountain.

Liu Yibai grabbed the long sword Wild Grass and looked at his senior fellow apprentice, laughing. “Xian, I am unwilling to compete on swordsmanship with Xie Lu, but I am happy to compete with you.”

Xian Chunan stated peacefully, “Hurry up. It’s getting dark.”

Liu Yibai nodded and soon the sword intent on his body rose to the peak. Then he wiped the blade with his finger quickly. Later, he didn’t say anything but tried to stab with his sword.

The sword ray emerged, and the sword Qi rushed out like a great river entering the sea.

In a flash, it swept across the top of Menchen Mountain.

At the moment, the short sword Hidden Fish on Xian Chunan’s waist hadn’t been drawn.

In an instant, Xian Chunan unsheathed the sword. Hidden Fish and Wild Grass smashed together without any sound, but soon the sword Qi of the two swords spread.

Xian Chunan’s grey clothes made sounds, and Liu Yibai’s long hair was blown and danced with the wind.

They competed on swordsmanship not to win but tried to make loud sounds. So the sword Qi on the competition at the foot of Sword Mountain immediately started to pour to the mountain because of their intentional acts.

There was only one path to climb the mountain. The real Sword Mountain was different and much more splendid than what Li Fuyao had seen. When the two swordsmen at the Dawning Stage at the foot of the mountain tried their best to fight, on the main peak of Sword Mountain, an old haggard swordsman with lots of sword Qi walked out of the main hall where the Sword Immortals in the history were worshiped. He looked down at the foot of the mountain with a confused expression.

Soon a middle-aged swordsman riding a sword came from not far away. After he came to the main hall, he didn’t dare to continue to ride the sword. There were rules on Sword Mountain. In front of the main hall, no matter whether he was a swordsman, if he floated in the air, he would be regarded as the enemy of Sword Mountain, so after this middle-aged swordsman ran to the old swordsman, he expressed respectfully, “Master, I don’t know why the two masters at the foot of the mountain are competing on swordsmanship today.”

The old swordsman put his hands at his back and looked at the stars showing up in the sky gradually. He didn’t care about what was happening at the foot of Sword Mountain but asked, “The teenage boy still hasn’t reached the mountaintop?”

The middle-aged swordsman was surprised to hear that but soon responded, “He almost reaches the top, and he just needs to walk a few more steps. Shall I bring him into Sword Mountain?”

The old swordsman shook his head. “There are rules on Sword Mountain. He couldn’t reach the top in due time, so he failed in climbing the mountain. I don’t want to ruin the rule. You tell him to go down the mountain.”

The middle-aged swordsman’s lips moved and he said in embarrassment, “Old master, this is the only teenage boy who climbs the mountain in these ten years, and he almost walks to the mountaintop.”

The old swordsman turned around and said with no emotion, “Just do as the rules on the mountain.”

The middle-aged swordsman raised his head and glanced at the old master but didn’t say anything.

He was going to turn to leave and lead the teenage boy down who climbed the mountain.

The old swordsman suddenly stated, “I will lead him down in person, in case that some people ignore the rules.”

The middle-aged swordsman nodded and kept silent.

Anybody on the mountain always admired this old man whose age was unknown, the backbone of Sword Mountain. Before Chao Qingqiu became a Sword Immortal, this old master had a chance to enter that stage, but that year, Sword Mountain was provoked, and the old master cut the offender with his sword regardless of anything. After the body of that Dao cultivator at the Ascending Stage was killed, his heart wasn’t destroyed unexpectedly, so he ran several thousand kilometers away. But this old master also used his sword with the sword Qi spreading several thousand kilometers away and killed that Dao cultivator who was famous in Liangxi at one blow. So Sword Mountain fell out with Liangxi and there was almost a big war. Although it was settled in the end, the old master missed the chance and would never become a Sword Immortal.

However, after Chao Qingqiu reached the peak and became a Sword Immortal, he went to Chenxie Mountain alone with a sword, and nobody could stop him.

He had to let this Sword Immortal with the unmatched fighting ability block the home door, and even that temple owner had never shown up. After all, a cultivator close to a sage was much inferior to a real Sword Immortal.

Without some magic tools, a Taoist sage might not dare to compete with a Sword Immortal. If the Sword Immortal was close to him, even a sage could do nothing.

Since the ancient times, the Sword Immortal’s military capability was incomparable in the human world.

Before the old swordsman was determined to throw Li Fuyao down the mountain, he had stood on the mountainside and rebuked the people at the foot of the mountain, “Stop messing about.”

So before Xie Lu led her heirloom, the famous sword Light Snow, she spat blood and fell on the ground. Liu Yibai and Xian Chunan looked at each other and then Liu Yibai shouted at the mountaintop, “Master, can’t you give him a way out? That little man is Chen Sheng’s disciple!”

The old swordsman stopped walking but still responded indifferently, “The rules on Sword Mountain can’t be ruined. You are the three supervisors at the foot of Sword Mountain. Have you forgotten about the rules on the mountain? You are really foolish.”

Xie Lu sat straight and said decisively, “I forgot to tell that bloke that he should reach the mountaintop within one day. If there is something wrong, you should punish me. How can you implicate that boy?”

The old swordsman snorted and didn’t say anything.

He waved his hand randomly, and Light Snow under Li Fuyao’s arm flew back to the foot of Sword Mountain.

At last, the old swordsman ordered coldly, “Wu Shanhe, go back to the sword grave.”

Wu Shanhe who was on the path to the mountaintop turned pale and stayed silent. He left the path as soon as possible and went to the sword grave which was the last place that he wanted to stay in.