Flying Sword Message

Gongzhou City, the residence of Sword Saint Xu Bayuan.

Though spring had begun, the weather had not warmed these past few days. Instead, it was several degrees colder than winter. A household servant hurried toward the street with a bamboo basket, only to see a letter fall down the moment he pushed open the gate.

The letter bore the three characters: Kongchenzi.

The moment the servant saw it, he immediately dropped the basket, turned, and ran inside.

In the courtyard, Sword Saint Xu Bayuan had risen early to practice. He held a booklet in one hand and a flying dagger in the other, constantly tracing in his mind the Dao resonance of the supreme will contained within that booklet.

The instant his eyes opened, an imposing aura blanketed the entire courtyard. No movement could be seen from him, yet the dagger had already flown out.

With one strike, the dagger buried itself in the forehead of the swaying wooden dummy, plunging in up to the hilt.

Xu Bayuan wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed. "Still far from enough."

At that moment, the steward hurried in with a letter. "Master! Take a look."

Xu Bayuan took it and read it, instantly overjoyed. "This is a letter sent by Great Immortal Kongchenzi?"

He hurriedly asked, "Did you see who delivered it?"

"No. Little Sanzi had just gone out to buy vegetables when he found this letter stuck in the crack of the gate." The steward pointed toward the entrance.

"Immortals truly show their heads but never their tails. Judging from the letter, the immortal should have arrived in River Prefecture."

"Separated by a thousand li, yet he sent the letter directly to Gongzhou. He must have used an Immortal Technique to deliver it."

The more Xu Bayuan thought about it, the more astonished he became. An Immortal Technique capable of sending messages across tens of thousands of li once again shattered his imagination of immortals.

In the letter, Great Immortal Kongchenzi had asked him about the Five Gods Cult in River Prefecture. Xu Bayuan had drifted through the martial world for many years and naturally knew plenty of information, so he immediately wrote a reply.

Yet after finishing it, Xu Bayuan discovered a problem. "The reply is written, but how am I supposed to send it back?"

No sooner had Xu Bayuan spoken than a flash of light appeared, and the letter in his hand vanished without a trace.

Xu Bayuan and the steward stared at each other. In the end, they could only sigh. The mighty power of immortals was utterly beyond the comprehension of mortals like them.

Gushan County, outside a manor estate beyond the city.

Lu Canghai stood before the crisscrossed corpses and looked up at the bloodstained lanterns. The place still retained the festive air of the New Year. The banner over the door still bore the words "Peace and Everlasting Safety."

When he entered, corpses lay everywhere. Men and women, young and old—none had been spared. Everyone in the household had died here.

A pregnant woman lay dead on the threshold of the main hall, one hand reaching outward, her eyes wide open as she stared toward the front gate.

Lu Canghai turned and left, but the hand gripping his sword tightened by several degrees, while his sharp eyes turned cold as frost.

Within Gushan County, a grand residence on Old Well Street served as the Jianglong Gang's headquarters. A group of so-called martial-world gang members drank and laughed wildly. Wine and meat covered the tables, liquor was spilled everywhere, and many had drunk themselves into a helpless stupor.

Suddenly, the main gate exploded open. Several men crashed to the ground, vomiting blood before dying.

The Jianglong Gang members inside immediately charged out on reflex. Yet just as they gathered together and rushed into the courtyard—

They saw the figure at the gate draw his sword.

With one sword strike, everyone saw the shadow of an immortal descend from the heavens.

"Heaven!"

"Beyond!"

"Flying!"

"Immortal!"

When Lu Canghai used this sword, its artistic conception was still far inferior, and it lacked the heavenly phenomenon of flowers blooming across the streets like a divine miracle.

Yet the spectacle was even grander than when Gao Xian had used it.

His sword returned to its sheath, and the people in the courtyard collapsed one after another, leaving only bewilderment in their eyes.

With one sword strike, every enemy had perished.

The onlookers on the long street outside fled in all directions in terror, shouting as they ran, "Murder! The Jianglong Gang is dead! They're all dead!"

"The Jianglong Gang is all dead!"

In an instant, the once-lively street became so empty that birds could nest at the gates.

Only Lu Canghai remained.

Holding his sword as he sat before the Jianglong Gang's gate, Lu Canghai suddenly felt somewhat lost.

"Why are there always evil people in this world that cannot be killed? Why are there always tragedies that cannot be exhausted?"

"With only myself, I am like an ant trying to shake a tree. How could I possibly change this world?"

At that moment, a letter suddenly descended from the sky and landed in Lu Canghai's hand.

Joy instantly appeared on his somewhat dispirited face.

Lu Canghai opened the letter. Inside was not only a message, but also a piece of jade branded with an Azure Dragon Magic Seal.

Looking at the letter sent by Great Immortal Kongchenzi, he suddenly felt that perhaps he could ask the immortal.

Less than two hours after Gao Xian sent out the Flying Sword Message, it had crossed hundreds, even thousands of li and returned. The effects of this Flying Sword Message technique seemed quite good. From now on, he had another means of ultra-long-distance communication and item delivery.

Gao Xian also learned the information he wanted from the letter.

It turned out that the Five Gods Cult had been called the Five Poisons Sect a century ago. It had originally been a martial-world sect, but after the Great Zhou was founded, the Five Poisons Sect was renamed the Five Gods Cult because it had helped the Son of Heaven of Great Zhou contend for the dragon throne.

The founding Son of Heaven of Great Zhou had also bestowed the title True Lord Xuanzhu Huode upon the deity of the Five Gods Cult, allowing the Five Gods Cult to spread its teachings throughout River Prefecture.

From then on, it changed from a martial-world religious sect into a deity-worshipping force formally invested by the imperial court. Throughout River Prefecture, its power could be said to blot out the sky with one hand.

Having roughly understood the Five Gods Cult, Gao Xian also prepared to leave.

Before setting out, Gao Xian wrote another letter in reply to Lu Canghai.

Only one sentence was written on the paper.

"Fish swim upstream."

"Sand drifts with the waves."

Afterward, Gao Xian pushed open the door.

This time, he went directly to Jiangting Commandery.

At the entrance to Linjiang Village, several men carried a wild boar down the distant mountain road, returning in high spirits.

What had happened yesterday had completely changed the fate of the villages within ten li. It also filled Sun Tieshan with boundless gratitude toward Great Immortal Kongchen. He had gone hunting in the mountains early, hoping to find something good with which to entertain the immortal.

Before reaching the village entrance, Sun Tieshan spotted a Daoist riding a donkey out from Linjiang Village in the distance.

Sun Tieshan recognized him at once. It was Great Immortal Kongchenzi.

Anxious, he hurried forward to stop him.

"Great Immortal! Great Immortal Kongchenzi! Where are you going?"

"The village elders are still figuring out how to entertain you. Why not stay a while longer?"

The Daoist said, "The demon has been slain, the fiend has been purged. Why should I remain?"

"Why must you leave in such haste, Immortal? The village has long prepared everything. Please at least stay for the banquet before you go."

The Daoist shook his head. "This place no longer needs this poor Daoist, yet demons and fiends still plague the world."

"The arising and passing of fate are all determined by heaven. If we are destined, we shall naturally meet again someday."

"If you truly wish to thank this poor Daoist, there is no need for a banquet, nor for gold and silver. From this day onward, simply do more good deeds with sincere hearts and cultivate more good fruits."

Having said that, the donkey traveled away along the narrow path.

"Immortal, please stay! Immortal, please stay!"

Sun Tieshan chased after him all the way, but though the donkey appeared to be moving leisurely, he could never catch up.

In the end, he could only watch the immortal ride away on the donkey, gradually merging with heaven and earth atop the distant field ridges.

"Great Immortal—"

On the field ridge, tears suddenly streamed down Sun Tieshan's face. It was as though he had been moved beyond measure, as though for the first time he had seen someone in this world so compassionate and so wholly devoted to the Dao.

Simply looking at that figure was like having the great sun shine into his heart. Only then did he feel the vast brightness of heaven and earth, and the greatness of a person's heart and spirit.

He knelt and kowtowed, remaining there for a long while without rising.

Please send some recommendation votes. The contract status should probably be changed in the next couple of days; handling the contract by courier during this period is a bit troublesome.