Immortal Soaring Blade

Everyone, welcome to 2021!  2020 has been an absolutely horrid year for many people on many levels, and I think many (most? all?) of us are glad to leave it behind.  With that said, I wanted to give everyone a preview for some of the things that are coming up in the coming few months for Wuxiaworld.

Front-End Site Redesign - This one has been a long time coming!  Historically, we've focused more on incremental changes and feature build-out rather than overhauling the site itself, but for quite a few months now...

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The two of them choose remote places to fly, and night gradually arrived. They had gone to the Duty Hall near noon and had spent a few hours recovering their spirit force. The closer they got to Yellow Flower Ridge, the darker the sky became. Zhao Jiuge carefully calculated the spirit force left inside him. He decided to keep going until they had to recover their spirit force.

After a few dozen more kilometers, Zhao Jiuge and Bai Qingqing decided to rest for the night. There were rarely any people in these endless mountains. It was fortunate that Zhao Jiuge had been accustomed to doing this kind of thing from a very young age.

After landing, the two of them found a place near a cliff. Bai Qingqing was going to sit down to recover her spirit force when Zhao Jiuge looked around. He smiled toward Bai Qingqing and said, “Since we aren’t going to travel in the evening, there's no rush to recover our spirit force. I’ll show you my skills today.”

Bai Qingqing’s beautiful eyes widened and she gave Zhao Jiuge a strange look as he headed into the woods. She quickly sat down. The two of them had rushed about 150 kilometers, so they were almost halfway there. They would rest tonight and would likely arrive at Yellow Flower Ridge tomorrow night. Once they arrived, it wouldn’t be so leisurely.

Shortly after, Bai Qingqing heard some rustling sounds and opened her eyes. She saw Zhao Jiuge holding two rabbits, which left her shocked. They had reached the Foundation Realm, so they no longer needed to eat, but it was fine to eat every once in a while. They mostly ate spirit fruits and herbs to increase their cultivation.

“We have free time anyways. After being at the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect for a year or two, I haven’t eaten anything good. Today, I’ll show you my skills, just you wait.” Zhao Jiuge immediately began picking up dry firewood.

After hearing Zhao Jiuge’s words, Bai Qingqing became interested. She found Zhao Jiuge’s actions strange. She didn’t know that Zhao Jiuge was extremely used to camping out like this since his childhood.

He used the Purple Golden True Fire Gourd to immediately light the dried firewood. After the fight against the Three-Tailed Yin Cat, the gourd was damaged and its power was a lot weaker. It could no longer be used to battle, so Zhao Jiuge used it to make a fire. He looked at the dim gourd and decided that after this mission, he would go to the Treasures Pavilion to get a few decent treasures.

The light from the fire lit up their faces. Bai Qingqing stared at Zhao Jiuge as he skinned, cut, drained the blood, and then skillfully stuck the meat on a stick to roast. After doing all of this, Zhao Jiuge looked up and noticed Bai Qingqing staring at him. Bai Qingqing quickly looked away and pretended like she didn’t care. Zhao Jiuge felt like there was something on Bai Qingqing’s mind, but he didn’t think too much about it.

“Life is short like a blade of grass from spring to fall. I had never thought I would be able to walk on this path. Perhaps today I would still be like these two rabbits, living calmly in the mountains without leaving a trace.” For some unknown reason, Zhao Jiuge sighed, but his hands didn’t stop moving.

“Since I stepped on this road, I must put in the effort to go as far as I can. The end of the road is more interesting. Living plainly is living, and living excitingly is also living. Just live so you have no regrets in the future.” Bai Qingqing surprisingly didn’t comfort Zhao Jiuge, but instead had a teaching tone.

“That’s right, if we don’t walk to the last step, everything will be pointless. Strength is good, but it can easily confuse you. Strength can bring you comfort and make you not desire to change. In cultivation, if you don’t progress, then you regress. The first three years after entering the sect are most leisurely, and we only have one more year left. In the future, we will have to keep worrying about improving our cultivation.” Zhao Jiuge felt a bit helpless. Although he was saying they should go slow and look toward the future, he was lacking time.

Bai Qingqing no longer spoke and had a complicated gaze. She also didn’t have much time left. After this year, she would have to say goodbye to this life. If not for this, she wouldn’t have been so depressed during this whole journey.

After a long time, Bai Qingqing looked at Zhao Jiuge’s actions and slowly said, “No matter what, we just need to have a clear conscience. Everything in the future is unknown, but our friendship now is real.” She looked at Zhao Jiuge profoundly, but he was staring at the meat being roasted, so he didn’t notice.

The smell of meat gradually filled the air. Zhao Jiuge sprinkled some unknown leaves and herbs on the surface of the rabbit meat. Bai Qingqing intentionally avoided these heavy subjects and smiled. “Oh, you don’t look like it, but you seem to have some skills.”

“It’s a must. Don’t you see who I am? I grew up hunting in the mountains, so learning how to roast meat was a must. That’s right, I gained my cultivation method by chance in the mountains, and that’s what allowed me to embark on this path.” Zhao Jiuge spoke proudly and then told Bai Qingqing the secret he had kept hidden in his heart.

Bai Qingqing’s expression changed a bit. This was the first time she had heard Zhao Jiuge mention this, but she didn’t ask more. After all, this involved his privacy, and Zhao Jiuge would never talk about Ye Wuyou.

Soon, the two hares were finished roasting. Bai Qingqing wasn’t very interested before, but the smell made her feel hungry. She couldn’t help but grab one and take a bite. Fortunately, there was no one in the mountains, or else the other fellow disciples would all be shocked. They were at the Foundation Realm!

She gently chewed the rabbit and felt like it tasted pretty good. This made her appetite really good, and she even praised Zhao Jiuge. This made Zhao Jiuge very proud, and he also began wolfing down the rabbit. While eating, he couldn’t help but joke, “Eat more. After reaching Yellow Flower Ridge, we won’t be able to eat anymore. It’s going to be a life or death battle, and this might be our last meal! Haha!”

This joke made Bai Qingqing roll her eyes. The night sky was filled with stars. Zhao Jiuge looked up at the night sky and sighed. He wondered how long this kind of life would last. After he gained enough strength, he would have to leave the sect and adventure on his own. At that time, he wouldn’t have the protection of the sect and things would be dangerous.

After eating the meat, Zhao Jiuge felt unsatisfied. Bai Qingqing had only eaten half before stopping. It was late into the night now and the two of them didn’t want to delay much more, so they quickly began to cultivate to recover their spirit force. They still had to get back on the road early tomorrow morning.

Zhao Jiuge frowned slightly. After reaching the mid stage of the Foundation Realm, his cultivation had been slowly increasing. He wouldn’t be able to make a breakthrough anytime soon, but all he needed was time. What gave him a headache was the two golden dragons in this dantian—they hadn’t completely recovered yet. They also needed time to be nourished by spirit force. The critical matter was that after reaching the Foundation Realm, he still hadn't condensed the third golden dragon yet. He still had over 1,000 spirit stones, so he should have enough for the third dragon. However, he didn’t dare to try recklessly, because he was afraid it would cause too big of a commotion. There was still a bit over a year left until the selection. He decided that after this mission was completed, he would go back to the sect and cultivate.

While cultivating, Zhao Jiuge was also thinking about Han Songcheng. It would be a lie to say that he was not nervous thinking about how he would soon get into a life or death battle with an unknown cultivator. If not for the fact that Bai Qingqing was here and they held an absolute advantage in terms of cultivation level, he would not have taken the mission alone. He lacked actual combat experience. Aside from the youth with the scar, he had only fought the Three-Tailed Yin Cat. Right now, Zhao Jiuge felt excitement and tension.

When the early morning sun shined on the ground, Bai Qingqing and Zhao Jiuge opened their eyes. After a night of cultivating, not only had their spirit force completely recovered, it had even increased a bit. They were going to reach Yellow Flower Ridge today and then adjust their condition to their peak. Then they would find and kill Han Songcheng.

Smelling the fresh, morning air and listening to the sound of the birds, Zhao Jiuge’s mood was very good. The nervousness he felt about the fight that was to come gradually faded.

Seeing Bai Qingqing’s calm expression, Zhao Jiuge couldn’t help but ask, “What does your family do? How come you’re not nervous at all? Dealing with people is not the same as dealing with those spirit beasts.”

After Bai Qingqing heard this, her brows furrowed and she averted his gaze. She pondered a bit and said, “There is nothing to be nervous about. Strength can bring about self-confidence. Once you have strength and practical experience, you won’t be nervous when facing others. After all, you are still too inexperienced.” However, she dodged the first question. She didn’t bring up anything about her family at all. Zhao Jiuge didn’t think too much about it. He just thought Bai Qingqing was like Bai Zimo and Mu Zijun, a child of an influential family.

In order to prevent Zhao Jiuge from questioning further, Bai Qingqing quickly changed the topic. “Let’s go, we should strive to quickly arrive today and begin recovering so we can go search tomorrow.” She got on her Wind Flower Sword and flew off.

Zhao Jiuge was originally going to ask more, but seeing Bai Qingqing urging him, he gave up. He quickly stepped onto the Blue Plum Sword and chased after her.

They didn’t fly very high this time, so they were close to the treetops. The further they were from the sect, the more careful they had to be.

Along the way, they crossed mountains and rivers. Zhao Jiuge and Bai Qingqing could sense spirit force fluctuations, but they were all low quality spirit herbs and spirit beasts that had just gained intelligence. This made Zhao Jiuge sigh. The outside world was filled with treasures to harvest. The risk taken matched the rewards. It was difficult to imagine how many treasures were hidden in this vast land. However, the two of them didn’t stop for anything. After all, none of these things were useful to Zhao Jiuge. Right now, he just wanted to kill Han Songcheng and finish the mission. Sect contribution and practical experience were the most important things to him right now.

The area within 500 kilometers within the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect was under its protection, so there wasn’t anything too dangerous. Similarly, there were also no heavenly treasures in this area.

The two of them continued to blade soar until their spirit force was almost used up and they would begin to walk. Once their spirit force had recovered, they would blade soar once more. Just like this, the two of them rushed toward Yellow Flower Ridge until they were only about 50 kilometers away. They decided to stop and adjust themselves into peak condition before heading into Yellow Flower Ridge.

However, they didn’t know that when they got close, they had already been targeted by others.

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