Volume 4, Chapter 91 – I Keep My Spirit Clear

Once cultivators entered the Venerable ranks, combat between them tended to return to something simpler and more fundamental.

From Bai Xiang’s observation, both Meng Qiaosheng and Lu Yuan rarely used grand, spectacular divine abilities. Instead, they fought at close quarters in a manner closer to cold steel combat. After no one knew how many exchanges, Lu Yuan gradually began to lose ground.

That was perfectly normal, because the nature of the two men’s “momentum” had been different from the very beginning.

Lu Yuan was fighting to win justice for himself. He wanted a fair ranking. He wanted to use Meng Qiaosheng, this famous heavenly pride, as a stepping stone to rise higher. But the moment they crossed blades, he discovered just how troublesome Meng Qiaosheng was. At best, he could only force a stalemate.

And because he could not win quickly, his state of mind immediately destabilized. By that point, more than half his “momentum” had already collapsed. Even if Meng Qiaosheng did not explode with any stronger move and simply kept grinding him down at the current intensity, Lu Yuan’s defeat was only a matter of time.

But Meng Qiaosheng’s “momentum” was obviously very different. Just as Monk Zhuye had said, this man harbored enormous ambition. He actually intended to define Blade Dao. That meant that in the future, he would inevitably have to subdue, and perhaps even kill, the current Blade Dao Master. Only then could he unify Blade Dao and push his spirit pool to the state of full completion.

It was precisely this difference in spirit and bearing that made Meng Qiaosheng grow more and more fierce in battle. Above his head, the Three Flowers condensed to an extraordinary degree, until in the end they seemed to merge into the phantom image of a silver blade. Ordinary people no longer even dared look at him directly with the naked eye, for fear of being wounded by his blade qi.

“Lu Yuan!” the young man roared, and the two silver blades in his hands suddenly merged into one, becoming an even longer and greater blade of light, streaked with silver brilliance as it slashed toward Lu Yuan.

“Ah!” Lu Yuan’s fear showed plainly. Retreating violently, he quickly pulled something from his sleeve and threw it forward, only for it to be split in two mid-flight by that streak of silver light. Lu Yuan himself was cut open by the same blow.

Boom!

The famous Broodmother Immortal Venerable, who had once even squeezed into the top hundred of the Heaven’s Pride List, was shredded into a mist of blood by blade qi on the spot. In the void, only Meng Qiaosheng remained, standing proudly as he panted for breath.

“Ahhh!”

“Young Master Meng! Amazing!!!”

There were spectators watching this battle from many of the great ships. Seeing Meng Qiaosheng win without the slightest suspense, practically crushing his opponent, many young and beautiful women immediately began waving their handkerchiefs and cheering. Even on the section of deck where Bai Xiang stood, it was full of excited voices and fluttering figures. The atmosphere was lively indeed.

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Meng Qiaosheng lowered his head and glanced at Bai Xiang, then nodded to her apologetically. He turned and flew toward the bow on the other side, presumably to straighten up his appearance.

He really was considerate. He knew very well what kind of popularity he enjoyed within the fleet. Afraid that landing directly and coming to speak with Bai Xiang would bring her trouble or inconvenience, he deliberately went elsewhere first and waited for the atmosphere to settle before returning to her.

That alone was enough to show the Silver Sea Merchant Guild’s respect for Bai Xiang. Such a disturbance might mean little to an Immortal Venerable or Venerable, but so long as there was even a possibility that she might find it tiresome, they would carefully avoid it.

After another ten minutes or so, Meng Qiaosheng returned in a fresh set of clothes and took over Bai Xiang’s party again from Steward Li.

“Congratulations, Young Master Meng, on your victory,” Bai Xiang said in formal congratulations.

Since he was giving her face, she did not mind showing her own courtesy in return.

“It was only a minor trick. It isn’t enough to show before Master Bai.” Meng Qiaosheng grinned. It was obvious that Bai Xiang’s praise pleased him greatly, but he still did his best to maintain a modest manner.

One thing worth noting was that, as he said this, his eyes flicked involuntarily toward Bai Xiang’s waist, more specifically, toward the Tianxuan Sword hanging from her waist sash.

The sacred weapon path…

In that instant, Bai Xiang noticed hesitation in his gaze.

Was he hesitating over whether he himself should walk the path of sacred weapons in order to strengthen his combat power?

A lower-tier sacred weapon was not something the Silver Sea Merchant Guild would find difficult to obtain. But she had also noticed that Meng Qiaosheng carried no weapon at his waist. The silver blades from before had in fact been manifestations of his spirit pool.

There might be some particular principle involved here. Perhaps using a sacred weapon would stain one’s conviction, or something along those lines. That would explain why Meng Qiaosheng had always been wavering over whether he should forge one for himself.

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It sounded like an excessively abstract concern, but Bai Xiang was not surprised by it.

Because whether it was Sword Dao, which had grown out of Dao-Void Methods, or the spirit pools of Dao-Void Methods themselves, or even the Path of Qi she had created, all of these root methods placed some emphasis on personal conviction.

If you yourself did not believe that you could control this rule, then how were you supposed to condense and create your own spirit pool?

“There is one thing Meng does not quite understand.” Sure enough, Meng Qiaosheng faced Bai Xiang squarely. “It may be somewhat presumptuous to ask, so I hope Master Bai will forgive me.”

“Please speak, Young Master Meng.”

“Meng already knows where this sword came from…” Meng Qiaosheng lowered his eyes toward the Tianxuan Sword again. “Since Master Bai possesses such ability, then why would you…”

At that point, he trailed off.

But his meaning was already perfectly clear. He found it strange that, since Bai Xiang had the power to defeat cultivators wielding sacred weapons, why would she submit herself to the sacred weapon path?

“To me, this sword is only a weapon,” Bai Xiang said calmly. “And I have never intended to walk any sacred weapon path.”

She paused. Seeing that Meng Qiaosheng still looked somewhat puzzled, she added, “Since Young Master Meng has the spirit to become the common master of Blade Dao, why should you care whether there is actually a blade in your hand?”

“Whether you should have one, and whether you do have one, ought not those things be decided by you alone?”

Meng Qiaosheng narrowed his eyes and said in a low voice, “My mother once told me something very similar. At the time, I did not understand it deeply. Only today, after seeing Master Bai with my own eyes, do I realize that in the past my own breadth of vision was not enough.”

He saluted Bai Xiang again to show how grateful he was for her guidance. Then he led Bai Xiang and the others on the rest of the tour of the great ship, arranged rooms for them, and only after that did he leave.

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“Exalted One!” He Xian immediately rushed up to her. “That kid definitely has bad intentions toward you!”

After saying that, he cast a wary glance at Monk Zhuye, afraid that even this bit of advice might be stolen from him first.

Monk Zhuye could neither laugh nor cry. Shaking his head, he recited a Buddhist invocation and said, “In this world, the more one says, the more one is likely to be wrong.”

“Layman He might do well to learn from Layman Zhu. Silence is golden.”

“Then why don’t you shut up yourself?” He Xian shot back, unconvinced. “Aren’t you the one who talks the most?”

The group bickered behind her, but Bai Xiang paid them no mind. She found her own room, entered alone, and shut the door.

The guest rooms here were all inscribed with runes that could block a cultivator’s qi-sense to a considerable degree. The moment the door closed, everything fell quiet. Bai Xiang walked straight to the center of the carpet, shut her eyes, and sat down.

She was not so foolish as to think Meng Qiaosheng was interested in her.

His excuse for questioning her had probably been just that: an excuse. His real goal was to establish a good relationship with her side, so that in the future he would have a reason to “repay her kindness.”

But his gaze had been clear when he spoke. He obviously possessed a firm Dao-heart. He was not the sort of person who chased after women out of ordinary desire. It might even be said that he had no interest in such matters at all.

Still, she had indeed obtained information…

Seated in meditation, Bai Xiang began sorting through the gains of all this information.

The Venerable List. The Heaven’s Pride List.

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The Nine Prefectures Sword Meet. The Dao-Void Martial Tournament.

Name after name arose in her mind, together with Weapon Dao, root methods, and all the other pieces of information. As they gathered together, ripples spread through Bai Xiang’s heart.

It was easy to foresee that, as the effects of the tribulation struggle truly began to show themselves, and especially as the Dao-Void Martial Tournament proceeded, many people and many forces would surface one after another, just as the Silver Sea Merchant Guild had done, entering the lands of the main world to contend for the dragon-throne.

So this was the great age of struggle just beginning to show its edge?

Bai Xiang knew very well just how dangerous her own position now was.

Great Yu Sword Dao was the mortal enemy of Dao-Void Methods. Each side longed to devour the other in order to strengthen itself. Broadly speaking, that relationship was similar to that of the countless people across the world who had condensed spirit pools around Blade Dao: they had to defeat every last one of their own kind before their spirit pools could rise to the highest level, before they had the right to say they had truly redefined the concept of Blade Dao.

The Path of Qi was the same. At least in the eyes of Dao-Void Methods and Sword Dao, it was the same. Every one of them wanted to devour its own kind and complete the definition of the Dao alone.

The reason this had not fully erupted yet was, on one hand, their fear of the strength she had already displayed. On the other hand, they were waiting.

Waiting for the Dao-Void Martial Tournament to take place. Waiting for the final result of that competition.

Then it really does leave me no room for even the slightest slackness…

Opening her eyes, Bai Xiang took a small booklet from her storage jade plaque. On the cover were written the words Zunyue Vajra Scripture.

This was the body-tempering method she had confiscated from Zhu Canghai. It recorded several hidden acupoint meridians, and there were a few places among them that Bai Xiang had not yet manifestly refined.

She opened the scripture and read it carefully. Summoning the soul-vision of the Body-scape out of the void, she devoted herself wholly to it and immersed herself in study.