Chapter 831: Be at Ease

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Xu Fengnian closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He finally caught his breath. It was as if he intended to use this breath to expel all the indignation in his chest and draw in the world's fortune. But by all accounts, this was the worst possible moment to take a breath.

Xie Guanying's lips curled into a smile. He raised his arm and gently flicked a finger forward, uttering, "See no evil." My Confucian school has been establishing rules for the world for nearly eight hundred years. You, Xu Fengnian, may not bow to the Heavenly Dao, but as long as you live in this world, how can you not bend and submit to heaven and earth? As the scholar's finger pointed, two jade seals shot towards Xu Fengnian's eyes.

Xie Guanying moved his finger again, continuing nonchalantly, "Hear no evil." Two more jade seals flew towards Xu Fengnian's ears. When Xie Guanying uttered the words "Speak no evil," a fifth jade seal, as if sentient, moved at his command. The beam extending from the Heavenly Pagoda beneath Xie Guanying's feet likely buckled under the strain, beginning to crack with a piercing sound that assaulted the eardrums. Life hung by a thread.

Xu Fengnian twitched the corner of his mouth. "When the time comes, heaven and earth will lend their combined might." Heaven and earth are governed by reason before ritual. You, Xie Guanying, may believe yourself to be wielding the rules of propriety, but that may not be the true reason of heaven and earth. At the very least, that Duke Yansheng, who had someone send me an item before his departure, did not believe you were in the right!

Just then, a pendant dropped from Xu Fengnian's waist; what was attached to it was square. Just as the five jade seals were mere inches away, Xu Fengnian's mind stirred: "Do not move without reason." Not only did that square jade seal vibrate intensely, but the other square jade seals not yet manipulated by Xie Guanying also trembled incessantly.

Back then, when the young prince returned from his second journey, an old man pointed to a piece of meat cut from a vassal's body on a plate and told his son that from then on, reasoning with others would be up to the young people themselves. This time, crashing into the Qintianjian in Tai'an City, no matter how sharp and ruthless his methods of killing and breaking formations, the young prince's expression remained consistently calm and gentle, at least devoid of any savage fury.

Suspended in the air by a golden long rope, Xu Fengnian began to walk, drawing his blade, towards the Heavenly Platform, towards Xie Guanying, who had schemed against him and Beiliang at every turn. The long rope was dragged into a semi-circular arc. Frightening scenes of lightning and thunder appeared around the tip of Dragon Tiger Mountain's founding patriarch's Yulei Sword and the hands of the Lotus Crown Immortal. The two immortals stomped their feet almost simultaneously, desperately trying to halt the rope's fierce momentum.

Xie Guanying's face was filled with astonishment. His gaze darted to two locations: one on the ridge of the imperial palace hall, and another outside the southern gate of Tai'an City, as well as the more southern capital region within the same line of sight. Amazement and rage mingled within him. "Zhao Zhuan, you brat! Tantai Pingjing! Duke Yansheng! How dare you conspire to ruin my grand scheme!"

Xu Fengnian, whose shoulder was still pierced by the long rope, swung his blade. Standing on the beam of the Heavenly Platform, Xie Guanying clutched with five fingers, drawing four jade seals into a line formation to protect him from Xu Fengnian's strike. He himself vanished in a flash, letting the four square jade seals plummet straight to the ground, while the beam beneath his feet crashed and broke into two. With one strike, the entire majestic Heavenly Pagoda was cleaved in half!

At an altitude of unknown hundreds or thousands of zhang, the residual force of that blade struck something with a resounding thud. The two immortals exchanged glances. After their gazes met, they released their grip almost simultaneously. After his strike, Xu Fengnian turned and sneered, "Trying to leave?!"

The Daoist in the lotus crown, with a thread of red silk climbing his sleeve, sighed. With one hand, he pulled back the entire long rope, along with the red thread that was about to spread further, letting the two threads of red silk freely dance around his sleeve. The old Daoist gently nodded to the young Daoist who had abandoned his Yulei talisman sword, the latter's expression complex. These two crimson threads, like small snakes, were actually imbued with Han Shengxuan's death energy and Qi Jiajie's sword qi. Both men came from the Liyang imperial court, both having died for the Zhao imperial clan. Using the Liyang Zhao imperial clan's destiny to attack the Dragon Tiger Mountain Zhao family's destiny was a contradiction, yet wonderfully ingenious. This must have been the trump card the young prince had previously used to disrupt the immortals' purity.

The next moment, the Lotus Crown Daoist, knowing he couldn't escape his fate, stood a few steps from the Dragon Tiger Mountain's founding ancestor, gently bowing in farewell. One person's Dao perishing and entering reincarnation is better than both perishing in the mortal world. A mirror appeared behind the old Daoist. It was precisely the South Sea Guanyin Sect's treasured mountain-guarding artifact: the Water Moon Well, which had suppressed countless individuals of great fortune in the world! The old Daoist was forcibly pulled into the well, murmuring, "As long as the Heavenly Dao doesn't collapse, the incense will not cease. I respectfully see our patriarch off to the Heavenly Gate."

The young Daoist, who looked like a junior descendant of the old Daoist, ignored the Lotus Crown Immortal's generous sacrifice. He merely raised his hands and questioned himself, "Where is it, ah?" The few remaining Dragon Tiger Mountain immortals on the Qintianjian square each showed expressions of sorrow, akin to a rabbit grieving for a fox. While the immortals were heartbroken, their grief was mixed with an unspeakable awe. This unprecedented descent to the mortal realm, one that no one before or after could match, how could it have fallen to such a tragic state? However, the two younger Dragon Tiger Mountain immortals, Zhao Xiyi and Zhao Danxia, father and son, who were less experienced than their predecessors, showed a hint of relief on their faces. They exchanged smiles; though there was bitterness, there was no fear.

A voice came from above the founding patriarch's head, laden with heavy sarcasm: "At your grandma's house!" The young immortal immediately looked up, finally showing unconcealable anger. He laughed furiously, "Do you really think this humble Daoist wouldn't dare sacrifice his life and perish with you, Xu Fengnian?!"

Xu Fengnian stood high in the air, disinclined to waste words with this immortal. Just as he was about to draw his blade, his shoulder suddenly tilted, as if someone had patted it. A string of words softly sounded in his ear. "Kid, not bad. That old bastard Xie Guanying's broken bowl has been shattered by you. Leave the rest to me. Don't thank me, Deng Tai'a; this sword strike, I comprehended it yesterday at Xiamawei. This sword strike is called 'Spirit.' Hmm, if you think the name isn't good, you can help me come up with a more imposing one later. Like Jian Jiu Huang's final sword strike, that was a good name. If there's a chance, we'll meet again on the battlefield outside Beiliang Pass someday."

Xu Fengnian was stunned by Deng Tai'a's final words: "I, Deng Tai'a, am leaving, and someone else has arrived. That sword…" In the distance, on the high wall near Cao Changqing and Luoyang, the Peach Blossom Sword God was no longer to be seen. The woman in white calmly said, "Xu Ying, you stay. I am leaving. If we can avoid meeting again, then let us not." Without waiting for the woman in red robes to try and keep her, Luoyang turned and walked away alone.

Further away, by Chai Qingshan's side, when Deng Tai'a drew his sword, the boy's eyes widened, while the girl closed hers. The boy and girl probably didn't realize then that the difference between their open and closed eyes marked a world of difference in their swordsmanship. All the martial arts grandmasters on the high ground near Chai Qingshan were so shaken by Xu Fengnian's blade and Deng Tai'a's sword that they fell to the ground in disarray. Just as they managed to sit up, they were knocked off their feet again. A sword, moving from south to north, arrived once more.

However, between the sword's departure and its return, Dragon Tiger Mountain's founding patriarch's face flickered between gloom and light. In the end, he swallowed his anger, no longer looking at Xu Fengnian, and shouted towards the nine heavens, "Open the Heavenly Gate!"

Xu Fengnian gripped his blade with both hands, looking up at the sky. "If you dare open the Heavenly Gate, I'll cleave the Heavenly Gate along with it!"

Then that sword arrived. It effortlessly pierced through the head of Dragon Tiger Mountain's founding patriarch, and on the Qintianjian square, every other immortal, except for Zhao Xiyi and Zhao Danxia, father and son, also had their heads taken by a single sword strike. Xu Fengnian was already fast and ruthless enough in killing immortals. This one, however, seemed to surpass him.

The young man in an ordinary Wudang Daoist robe arrived leisurely after the flying sword. Before the father and son Real People could recover, he tossed them into the sky like little chicks, offering a parting remark: "Be good immortals. The affairs of the world will be settled by mortals themselves. Qi Xuanzhen's Daoist connection with Dragon Tiger Mountain also ends here." Then, this elusive young Daoist stood grinning in front of Xu Fengnian, blocking the path of his blade.

Xu Fengnian exploded with rage, roaring, "You, surnamed Hong!" The young Daoist drew back his neck, forcing a smile. "Your Highness, you already have enough burdens on your shoulders. Don't take on this one too. There's this humble Daoist, there's Wudang, there's Sect Master Li Yu Fu. That's enough." Xu Fengnian glared at him. The young Daoist swallowed, murmuring, "We can't let your sister worry, right?"

Xu Fengnian mumbled, "You're asking for a beating again, aren't you?" and instinctively, habitually kicked out. The young Daoist hopped a few steps to the side, also accustomed to his own timidity. Many years ago, His Highness the Prince would have felt that his kick possessed the demeanor of a master, and the young Daoists on the mountain observing the battle between their young martial grand-uncle and the dissolute prince would have sincerely believed their grand-uncle was truly amazing, always dodging those kicks with such immortal grace, year after year. Now, His Highness the Prince had become the King of Beiliang, one of the Four Grandmasters of Martial Arts. That timid yet amiable young martial grand-uncle had also become an immortal Daoist riding a crane down to Jiangnan, becoming Qi Xuanzhen, becoming Lü Zu. But when they reunited, he was still himself, and they were all still themselves.

Xu Fengnian's eyes subtly reddened, and his voice was hoarse as he said, "You should have come down the mountain earlier. Even one day earlier, and my sister could have been happy for one more day." The young Daoist pursed his lips, his face creased, tears streaming down, unable to speak.

Xu Fengnian suddenly slung an arm around the young Daoist's shoulder and asked in a low voice, "With Li Yu Fu's help, you'll still be able to see my sister, right?" The young Daoist nodded vigorously. Xu Fengnian scoffed, "From now on, no matter which you or what life you're in, if you see my sister again, you'd better treat her well! Otherwise, I can still beat you up. So what if you're Lü Zu? I'm still that person, and that other person—I have a much stronger background than you." A relatively promising younger brother, afraid that his elder sister, who has married and left home, would be bullied. This is probably how all brothers pretend to be fierce when talking to their brother-in-law, isn't it?

The young Daoist brought up a sore point, wondering, "Didn't you sever your ties with them?" Xu Fengnian, with his Beiliang Saber now sheathed at his waist, punched the fellow under his armpit. The latter gasped, unsure if it was genuine pain or merely playing innocent like in earlier years. He smiled foolishly, tears still on his face.

Xu Fengnian hesitated. "Are you leaving? Are you truly no longer the one who can subdue anything?" The young Daoist shook his head and chuckled, "I hate carrying burdens the most; I can't do such things. Besides, I could never beat you back on the mountain, and even if I could, I've been bullied by you so much that deep down, I'm still afraid." The two stood side by side, looking together at the bustling, lively Tai'an City below their feet. Xu Fengnian spoke in a voice perhaps only he could hear: "Whenever I miss my eldest sister, I like to imagine her sitting on the crane's back with you. At that time, she must have been very happy, smiling. Thinking this way, I don't feel so sad."

The young Daoist said nothing, his form becoming ethereal and uncertain, as if he might dissipate with the wind at any moment. Xu Fengnian's voice dropped even lower. "Having someone like you… I'm actually very proud… brother-in-law." A suppressed, struggling laugh came from beside him. "Hey! Brother-in-law!" Enraged and embarrassed, Xu Fengnian kicked out. The young Daoist Hong Sixiang was no more.

Xu Fengnian stood stunned on the spot. After a long moment, he slowly floated down onto the Qintianjian square, walking towards the Altar of State. As he ascended the steps, he bent down and scooped up a handful of earth. Xu Fengnian stood at the top, squatted down, extended his hand, and tilted his palm, letting the earth slip through his fingers. The young man, who had entered dressed in plain white and now stood here covered in blood, closed his eyes and murmured to himself, "Father, Mother, Eldest Sister… I am well. Please don't worry."

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