Daoist Master of Qing Xuan - Chapter 537

Chapter 537: Expedition

Wuding did not care for whatever ideas that Lei Jing had in mind. Like a cascade, the starlight scattered down. With all his power, he sped up the Flying Star Incantation and absorbed all the starlight and moonlight. His body was originally exhausted of mana but he was quickly recuperating. The sharp chirping sounds of the Swallow gradually grew more piercing to the ears. This would surely cause Lei Jing to be unable to do her summoning of wind and rain.

Lei Jing rose into the air. Her beautiful eyes showed indifference and she lifted her head to look up at the galaxy. The sleeves of her robe moved gently and a zither appeared in her hands. The strings of the instrument were abundant and complicated and its body contained numerous winding patterns. The lines on the instrument were remarkable.

With Lei Jing’s beautiful fingers plucking at the strings, there were mysterious voiceless sounds akin to the relaxed chant of the wind or the symphony of golden jade. It cannot be felt or seen but it touched the laws of nature.

At that instant, the galaxy shone with immense brightness. Boundless starlight headed towards Lei Jing and spilled onto her. It became the projection of the galaxy’s virtual shadow. Lei Jing stood atop the galaxy and looked much like the Mysterious Lady of the Nine Heavens.

The onlookers were only able to see the projection of the galaxy wounding all around Lei Jing. Wuding was the only person who could properly experience the fact that he might need to face the most challenging and perilous situation in the entirety of the battle.

In his chest, he could feel an overwhelming sword will, the sword pressure akin to the magnificence of the Asura Blood Sea. This made him feel suffocated.

Lei Jing’s musical strumming was not only mysteriously heart-warming. In reality, it was the manifestation of the laws of the galaxy. Immediately after it was unleashed, an attack of the sword will follow suit, constantly breaking the spiritual response of the interaction of Gods and humans.

The sword will was unique and it was not something that Lei Jing could comprehend by herself. Nonetheless, since the situation had reached the present stage, there was no use in contemplating all these.

No one knew how long the galaxy had been in existence. For it to come together, it would not only be like an endless torrent but also incapable to be stopped. All the more reasons that it could not be restrained. The sword will passed through and it was as though the void was wiped clean and it could no longer bear any impurities.

There were layers upon layers of the mysterious music that caused the galaxy to move. As if without cessation, each note went one step higher than the previous. Bit by bit, Wuding’s spiritual response of the interaction of Gods and humans was weakened.

It took only three breaths for the Swallow power that Wuding drew in with his mark to suffer three layers of weakening.

As for the fact that he actually felt a slight helplessness, if he knew the situation would come to this, mere reliance on his state would already have been insufficient for him to strive against Lei Jing. Though he did not let thoughts of winning or losing occupy his mind, he had no intention of merely forfeiting the battle just like that. Hence he shouted, “Mister Jing, accept another slash from my knife. Regardless of the outcome, I, Wuding will step down gracefully.”

Lei Jing’s cold and quiet eyes glanced at Wuding. She appeared to nod slightly and softened the music. It was considered as a response to Wuding’s words. Her actions represented the fact that victory was within her grasp and she also managed to show off her Master’s tolerance and elegant demeanor which was really applauded by others.

After Wuding received Lei Jing’s answer, he retracted the mark. Every single strand of his hair, from head to toe erected with a killing Qi that shot through the air and caused the stars to move.

When the killing Qi finally took on shape, it was a blade gleam that was sharp beyond comparison, brighter than the stars in the sky. As soon as it appeared, it was suspended in the air and lighted the entirety of the surroundings, abundant with radiance. People were almost unable to blink.

Eventually, he realized that some things were exclusive only to him. Those things would not be wiped out by Lei Jing’s Milky Way sword will. They were also Wuding’s last chance at a counterattack. Once the knife was deployed, he did not have any remaining power. That was the reason for his words of surrender.

Being forced into grasping for life signaled his defeat. In the end, the only way of measuring the competition was winning or losing, not life or death.

Lei Jing’s body continued to be encircled by the galaxy. It was continuous, unbroken, and surged incessantly. The blade gleam took on a shape and with the speed of an arrow that was launched from a bow, a slice of the knife appeared. As if with the moon that had yet to fully wax, it plunged into the crowd.

The knife sliced the water!

The continuous, unbroken, and incessant virtual shadow of the galaxy lost its state of endless growth after being severed by Wuding’s sword gleam. As it turned out, Wuding proved to be the absolute higher person of innate skill that received Shen Lian’s imperial command. His knife techniques had already incorporated Dao and once the blade gleam was unleashed, it successfully cut into the small cracks of the galaxy in one swift move.

Part of the reasons why Wuding was able to seize this opportunity was because Lei Jing immersed herself for too short of a time in the Milky Way sword will.

However, Wuding’s successful attempt at cutting off the virtual shadow of the galaxy which protected Lei Jing did not cause the latter to feel the slightest bit of franticness.

All the spectators who were watching in the dark cried out in surprise within their hearts because Lei Jing was too unperturbed to the point of where she did not make a single movement. It was clear that the unmatched blade gleam eventually landed on her body.

A slight lifelessness could be made out in Wuding’s eyes. Despite his anticipation of various possible scenarios, he never would have thought that Lei Jing would cease to resist the attack.

The blade gleam came just in time to cut open Lei Jing’s body. Curiously blood did not splatter everywhere and neither was there the proverbial decaying of jade or the wilting of a flower so often used to describe the death of a beautiful woman. Instead, there was a branch of the plane tree in the void, cut in half.

“The Art of Li Dai Tao Jiang[1].” Wuding blurted out with a look of slight disbelief.

‘Li Dai Tao Jiang’ was the most powerful substitution dharma in Xuanmen. Wuding’s master, Wen Zhong, once explained to Wuding that even if the person had the same level of power of Wen Zhong, the technique could only be utilized by the user alone. Furthermore, it cannot be inscribed onto any weapon for battle or transferred to anyone else to use. Wuding himself could not use the technique. He had only vague memories of it.

The substitution technique of Li Dai Tao Jiang did not flow from illusions but passed off distortion as reality. Even the mediocre heavenly immortal could make an oversight if they lose their concentration for a short moment.

Wuding was stunned and subsequently felt something peculiar on his waist and abdomen. It appeared to be a scarf that was winding around his waist and abdomen. With a light movement, the scarf brought him to a patch of earth and unwrapped itself from him. Wuding tumbled to the ground and saw a beautiful person quietly standing on the shore of Lake East, watching him silently. She softly said, “You have lost.”

Wuding felt a slight agony. After all had been said and done, Wuding did not take to heart the matters of winning and losing. The reality was that he lost and he naturally harbored an unwillingness to resign to that fact.

At the time, Lei Jing did not relish in the joy of being the victor but only glanced at the direction where her teacher had originally been. His traces had long vanished. Lei Jing’s heartfelt somewhat forlorn. She felt a considerable yet slight feeling of upset, notwithstanding her victory.

A great distance away from Diqiu City, there was a vast army. They numbered approximately fifty thousand people. They marched in unison and their Qi of Essence converged like a smoke signal indicating the presence of hostile forces, penetrating the blue sky. The Qi of Vigour that radiated from their bodies were each capable of thawing the spirit, especially the spirits of the former cultivators of Dao and Buddhism. If the cultivators had yet to attain the Primordial Spirit, a mere three days in the army would cause death to both their bodies and their Dao.

Shen Lian stayed in a luxurious chariot, almost like an exquisite room. Food, drink, and everything that should be available was there. A precious and calming incense was even lighted in the chariot. The scent lingered in the room and not only calmed the Qi but also cleansed the spirit.

The army of fifty thousand was only a part of the elite soldiers of Xia. All of them were stationed at Yangcheng. Troops for this punitive expedition towards Dongyi, led by Emperor Xia were only requisitioned from Yangcheng. None of the troops from Diqiu were used.

Emperor Xia bore responsibility towards his military force. As long as he was there, there would be no battle he could not conquer and no fight he could not win.

Shen Lian abided by his promise and set off with the troops. In his hands was a scroll of book, the very collection of ‘Lianshan’ that Guan Longzi so painstakingly compiled. This time, Guan Longzi also set off with the troops.

Shen Lian concentrated his attention and studied ‘Lianshan’. He could largely understand whatever that was written on it. But when everything was put together, a deeper meaning was revealed. Upon an attentively mulling over, it was revealed to have much in common with the Taixu Strategy. The only difference was that the principles in Lianshan were much more profound.

Black tiger was very pleased with himself, having had the chance to set off with Shen Lian to battle while Pegasus had no such chances. Since Shen Lian was the national advisor of Xia, naturally the luxury he received was second only to that of the emperor. The chariot was thus filled with offerings of luxury goods as well as other everyday essentials.

By following Shen Lian, black tiger enjoyed a share of the good life.

[1] 李代桃僵 – literally meaning “the plum tree (李) withers (僵) in place (代) of the peach tree (桃)”, it is defined as the substitution of one thing for another in order to gain the long-term goal. This technique is the eleventh strategems in the thirty-six strategems which is commonly used in politics, war, and civil interaction. This is the scapegoat strategy whereby someone else suffers the consequences so that the rest do not.