1 Warm Inn Woodshed (1/2)
Prologue
The Blue River Region terrain stood tall and erect with its continuous mountain range. However, if anyone asked about the highest mountain, people would eventually point to a certain place.
A sword-like towering mountain that pierced through the clouds on the plateau. On this mountain, there was a sect named Spirit Sword Sect, one of the leading prestigious great sects in the cultivation world, which dominated the Blue River Region. Hence, this mountain was also named Spirit Sword Mountain.
Spirit Sword Mountain summit. In an exquisite small bamboo chamber, an old man wearing a sword-type hairpin was looking at the clear sky. His hands were holding a silver sword. The sword reflected the starlight, and the delicate and complex symbols slowly rose along the sword like the flow of water. But halfway through, the flow abruptly stopped.
The old man's eyebrows wrinkled, his heart secretly thought that this was a bad omen.
”The sword's light has been interrupted; this means premature death. Sect Leader Senior Martial Brother, are you reading your own fortune?” As the voice came from behind him, a white-robed barefooted woman carrying a yellow wine gourd in one hand and a green bamboo sword in the other, along with the smell of smoke and alcohol that reeked from her body, appeared behind the star-gazing old man.
The star-gazing old man's deduction was interrupted, so he had no choice but to control his breathing to stop what he was doing. Soon, he breathed out a foul air from his mouth.
”Fifth Martial Sister, next time, remember to knock on the door.”
”I knocked when I went out of my room.”
”I mean my door, not your door.”
The Sect Leader sighed, ”Why are you looking for me?”
”To borrow money.”
”... If I remember correctly, you still owe me twenty thousand spirit stones,” the Sect Leader said, his expression serious and his eyes solemn.
The woman very bitterly said, ”Ai, it's all because our Spirit Sword Sect is too poor. I, the magnificent Fifth Elder, the number two expert in our sect, unexpectedly only has five hundred spirit stones as salary each month, how can I pay off my debt? Martial brother, how about you abdicate your position and give it to me, I can then embezzle the public's money to pay back my debt...”
”Martial Sister, if you really want this sect leader position, then...”
”Then you will give it to me? Martial Brother, sure enough, you are really benevolent and righteous!”
”I want to say, if you want to be the sect leader, first you have to give up the bad habit of getting drunk and cultivating in seclusion for five years. When you reach the Yuanying Stage, then you can talk to me again.”
The woman in white immediately pretended that nothing has happened. ”Martial Brother, lend me some money.”
”...”
”... For whom did you just do your divination for that to result in premature death?”
The Sect Leader Martial Brother said in a sinking voice, ”Spirit Sword Sect.”
The Fifth Martial Sister's complexion changed as she immediately sobered from the alcohol and argued, ”You're joking, right!? Spirit Sword Sect will meet extinction?”
”It's more than just Spirit Sword Sect; I am afraid this sword's light is pointing at the whole cultivation world. Do you remember the legend about the end of time... Alas, this sword's light broke one-third of its way, I am afraid the days of peace in the cultivation world will only last for several years. Could it be that we really need to produce one billion spirit stones to sponsor the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals to repair those five prehistoric divine boats?”
”Spirit Sword Sect's Big Stars Diffraction Technique is among the very few deduction method in the cultivation world, and martial brother is a person of outstanding talent, so it is unlikely for you to make an error. But just now, when Martial Brother used the immortal sword, it is seemingly not the 'Year' sword.”
The Sect Leader Martial Brother was stunned. ”Not the 'Year' sword?” He hastily bowed in order to take a closer look; the character on the hilt of the sword was really not ”Year”, but...
The next moment, this awe-inspiring expert whose name shook a whole nation uttered a cry of horror, ”Why is this a tea sword!? Does it mean that only a few tea time is left before our end?”
The Fifth Martial Sister was scared silly, and the wine gourd in her hand fell to the ground with a bang; the golden liquor gurgled out, but she completely ignored it.
”Sect Leader Martial Brother, how many times have I told you that you are nearsighted and you should honestly wear eyeglasses, you can't even tell the difference between 'Tea' and 'Sword'...Forget it, since we only have a few cups of tea before the end of time, Martial Brother, hurry up and abdicate your position to me, let me die in that position.”
”... Even if I die, I will not shame our Spirit Sword Sect.”
”I don't want to die with a monthly salary of five hundred spirit stones! I will die unable to close my eyes!”
As they argued, time flew by, and the few cups of tea time quietly slipped away.
At the Spirit Sword Mountain summit, the bright starry sky was especially dazzling. The stars in the sky were slowly but firmly up and running; each star flurriedly trembled, like pollen particles in water being observed in detail under microscopic observation. It was a never-before-seen occurrence in the Nine Regions for thousands of years.
Seeing this, the martial brother and sister's hearts were shocked.
The Big Stars Diffraction Technique was not false; the herald of the end of time casually came to the land to prepare for the merciless extermination of the cultivation world.
At the last moment, the Sect Leader Martial Brother, with a trace of paleness in his face, said...
”Martial Sister, there is one thing I would like to say over a century ago, but never had the opportunity to say it, since now the end is within sight...”
As the Sect Leader sent his firm yet magnetic voice, his brimming-with-truth words entered the opposite party's ears as the trembling of the stars continuously intensified.
”I think it is time to tell you the truth.”
In these last minutes, time once again flew as the starlight vigorously burst like blooming flowers; the night sky was bright as day. A broom-like shooting sky pierced through the sky.
That was the legendary herald of the end of time, the Halley Comet. When the comet fell, the world's vital energy dried up, and the end of time arrived...The summit of the Spirit Sword Mountain trembled under this ”heavenly wind”, as though the sky was about to collapse.
The white-clothed woman's bright eyes swept around; a trace of the reverse image of the golden light was reflected in her frantic eyes. She lazily dragged her bamboo sword upward to cover her eyes from the light in the sky, as if she wanted to hold the falling sky.
However, the sky did not change, the shooting star flew past the land, and after that, the trembling stars and everything else went into silence.
The Fifth Martial Sister bewilderedly swung the bamboo sword around like a tentacle to sense the change in the world's vital energy.
”It seems... all right?”
The woman turned her head towards her Sect Leader Martial Brother for confirmation; her martial brother's cultivation was two realms higher than her - although she was not afraid to fight, but regarding this change in the heaven and earth, she still looked up to someone with authority.
The Sect Leader Martial Brother's face was desolate. ”At least this is not the end of time.”
”Oh, so the Big Stars Diffraction Technique is wrong? But that's okay. Martial Brother, why do you look so disappointed?”
”It's nothing.”
”It is rare for us to avoid such a doom, let us celebrate by relieving my debt.”
”...”
The doomsday crisis went past, remembering the surging desire to surrender to his passion just now, the Sect Leader inwardly heaved a long sigh. In addition, he became more puzzled.
The Big Stars Diffraction Technique was not absolute, but his earlier premonition was not wrong. Just now, the doomsday event really brushed past the continent.
Regarding this suddenly arrived and suddenly left crisis, the Sect Leader was at a loss.
But there was something that could be determined with certainty; it only had a meager impact on the continent.
The old man looked up at the vast galaxy, sighed, and once again fiddled with the immortal sword in his hand. After thinking for a long time, he said, ”After escaping the calamity, there must be a blessing. The aftermath of this crisis will likely usher a golden age of the cultivation world... By the way, when was the last time we had an Immortal Gathering?”
The Fifth Martial Sister widened her eyes. ”Raw, raw and fresh general assembly?” While talking, she almost began to drool. [1]
The old man ignored her as he pinched his finger to count. ”At the very least, it has been more than a hundred years. Let's do it again in twelve years. When the time comes, the change in heaven and earth should somewhat appear. I am not asking too much; as long as the golden age a hundred years ago appears again, then our Spirit Sword Sect's revival is to follow.”
Hearing about the sect's revival, the Fifth Martial Sister withdrew her smile and took a long yawn. Regarding this, the old man could only smile wryly.
”We missed the golden age one hundred years ago, from all the golden generation that time, there are only ten of us left, this time, no matter...”
After that yawn, the fifth martial sister coldly humphed, turned and walked away.
Meanwhile, below the Spirit Sword Mountain, at the unnamed corner of the Blue River Region, with a loud cry, a baby was born to the world.
...
[1] TL: The words said by the sect leader are -Sheng Xian, meaning ”Immortal ascension” or ”Immortal” which is a homonym to the words ”raw and fresh”.
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Warm Inn Woodshed
Time flew by as the Halley Comet event became an anecdote in the entire Nine Regions. Few people knew that their world was once very close to annihilation.
The people in the Blue River Region only cared about one thing, the Immortal Gathering. It was last held one hundred years ago, and next month, it would once again be held. No one knew from where a talented hero would come to the fray.
This so-called Immortal Gathering was the immortal cultivation sects' recruitment event. After entering the sect, they would begin their cultivation path, which would then lead them straight towards the main path to becoming an immortal. However, only the five great sects in the Immortal Cultivation World can call their recruitment as Immortal Gathering.
The number one great sect in the cultivation world was the Shengjing Immortal Sect within the Central Region; the well-known origin of the Immortal Cultivation, the Kunlun Immortal Sect; the number one repository of Immortal Records, the Ten Thousand Arts Sect referred to as the Immortal Cultivation Museum; the Nine Regions' number one sect in terms of strength, the Royal Soldier Sect. There was also the disciple-less, money-less, inheritance-less, god-knows-why-they're-included-in-the-list-of-the-five-great-sects-by-the-union-of-ten-thousand-immortals Spirit Sword Sect.
The Spirit Sword Sect's disciples were few, and their affairs were low key. Regarding the sect's influence, they were even somewhat inferior to the normal first-rate sects, much less to the other four great sects. But the glittering advertisement from one of the five great sects made people unable to look straight. Moreover, it has been long since the Immortal Cultivation World held an Immortal Gathering.
The message of the Immortal Gathering from the Spirit Sword Sect spread around the Nine Regions three years ago. Anyone at the age of twelve or less, regardless of condition, could participate. In comparison, the other sects would sometimes require a background check of one's eighteen generations of ancestors which was simply unbelievable. Thus, as soon as they heard this news, it galvanized the ambitious youths all over the continent, the villagers in remote mountain villages, the sons of the wealthy and powerful families, and even princes... The temptation of entering the Immortal Path was simply too strong; the mortal world was relatively too boring.
At this time, it was still more than a week away from the gathering, yet the Spirit Creek Town under the Spirit Sword Mountain was already packed with people. This Spirit Creek Town was the transit gate between the Spirit Sword Mountain and the mortal world. The number of local residents was only several hundreds of people, but now the population of the newcomers has almost reached ten thousand people. At this point, the handful of inns were all full, people even built tents next to the public toilets as a temporary solution.
With these many people and so little space, it was inevitable that people would clash, especially at the famous Ru Family Inn; the rooms in that inn was a hotly contested spot.
Bang!
In front of the main door of the inn, the shadow of three people flew out and rolled into balls on the ground. The tallest two among them had bleeding noses as they scolded.
”Hey, little lady, our master is the honorable teacher of the state from the Azure Billow Country, how dare you be so rude to us!?”
However, the one being supported by the two, whose height was a head shorter and has a brown curly hair, was obviously a youngster with a less prestigious identity. With blood dripping down from his nose, he looked at the sneering Lady Boss inside the main door of the inn with his incredibly dull eyes.
Since young, the boy, Wen Bao, was never hit by anyone, not even his father. Unexpectedly, he took a big slap from the Lady Boss of this inn!
The Lady Boss was not old, she was seemingly around fourteen or fifteen years old only. She wore a coarse cloth robe and greasy apron, yet she looked proud like a princess.
”So what if your master is the teacher of the country? Even if your emperor is here, the result will still be the same! I told you, it's fully booked here, don't you understand human words!? Now even the Prince of the Great Ming Empire is obediently squatting in the firewood room, yet your tiny country wants to use force to live in the main building!? And you don't think you deserve those slaps!? Is there no family education in the Azure Billow Country?”
Wen Bao was a man who has a great national pride; feeling angry, he loudly roared, ”How dare you insult our Azure Billow Country!? Don't think that just because you live in this Spirit Creek Town, we're already afraid of you! You...”