Flowers Bloom Beneath the Moon

Flowers Bloom Beneath the Moon

Young Master Silver Flower had seen many dashing, romantic men. He himself believed he was a refined young gentleman, yet he had never seen anyone like this.

It gave him the feeling that an immortal who had transcended the mortal world ought to look exactly like this.

He stood there, looking at him like a towering mountain, like an unbroken wall stretching endlessly onward, leaving his peerless lightness skill nowhere to flee or hide.

He could only stop.

The Four Ghosts of Silver Flower Palace, who had been running at the front carrying the bridal sedan, had now truly become dead ghosts.

Even Young Master Silver Flower, who had followed close behind, had not noticed how the four had died.

They had died without a sound, still maintaining the posture of carrying the sedan as they knelt on West Gate Avenue with it on their shoulders.

Facing the city gate, as though worshipping gods and Buddhas.

"How could this be?"

Young Master Silver Flower knew how formidable his four servants were. They were experts passed down through generations of Silver Flower Palace, close guards attending the Palace Master. Even in Northern Wei, they surpassed first-rate martial artists of the jianghu; among the various states, their martial prowess was still exceptional.

And they had died without anyone noticing?

For some reason, Young Master Silver Flower felt dazed, as if some unseen force had given him a premonition.

Today might very well be the day of his death.

Young Master Silver Flower's expression turned ugly as he stared fixedly at that motionless figure whose aura descended like Mount Tai crushing overhead. "Who are you, sir? What grievance do you have against this Palace Master?"

"Or perhaps you have come for this beauty as well?"

His gaze shifted toward the person inside the sedan. With his experience of having seen beauties throughout the world, she could still rank among the very best.

It was no surprise that such a peerless beauty could draw an expert like this here.

Young Master Silver Flower stood on the avenue outside the city gate. As he spoke, he secretly prepared himself. His precious fan, formerly tucked behind his back, was now gripped in his hand, along with Silver Flower Palace's unique hidden weapon, the Silver Flower Flying Needles.

Killing intent lay concealed.

But Young Master Silver Flower had not expected that the Daoist would not spare the beauty so much as a glance. Instead, he looked at the folding fan in Young Master Silver Flower's hand, the jade pendant at his waist, the silver hairpin atop his head, and the glittering thousand taels of silver.

A righteous expression immediately appeared on his face.

"This poor Daoist is Kongchenzi. I am passing through this place and wish to borrow your head."

Young Master Silver Flower was stunned at first, as though he could not believe those words had been directed at him. Silver Flower Palace had stood in Northern Wei for a hundred years. He had roamed the world unhindered, and the people who had died by his hand were enough to pile into a Mountain of Corpses and Sea of Blood. Never had anyone dared treat him with such contempt.

Those words made killing him sound like passing by the roadside and casually kicking a wild dog to death.

Then a chill flooded his face, and in an instant, his complexion reddened to the extreme.

"Utterly arrogant! In the jianghu, no one has ever dared speak to Silver Flower Palace like this."

"My life is right here. Let us see whether you have the ability to take it!"

Young Master Silver Flower spoke through gritted teeth, and when he moved, he struck with the force of thunder rolling across ten thousand miles.

This was a weapon triggered through a special technique. Hidden weapons scattered toward Gao Xian like flowers strewn by a celestial maiden, silver blossoms filling the sky as they bombarded the city wall.

There was nowhere to hide, nowhere to evade.

Silver Flower Palace's hidden weapon was reputed to be the finest under heaven. Once unleashed, it always killed; no one had ever been able to receive it.

"Careful! Those are Silver Flower Flying Needles!" Sword Saint Xu Bayuan had also reached West Gate Avenue at this moment. Seeing Young Master Silver Flower unleash Silver Flower Palace's peerless hidden weapon, he shouted a warning to the Daoist on the city wall who had blocked Young Master Silver Flower.

The figure atop the city wall moved as well. Green Light Sword Shadow swept through the air, trailing streak after streak of sword phantoms.

Then heaven and earth changed color.

An immortal beneath the moon leaped down, sword shadows carrying the moonlight that filled the heavens as they came surging forth.

"Flying Immortal Beyond the Heavens!"

A clear, resonant voice carried in all directions.

No matter how the countless silver blossoms closed in from every side, the sword went only toward one point, carrying the momentum of one sword breaking ten thousand techniques.

Zhongxing Du of Great Zhou's Martial Rites Division and Heart Sword Lu Canghai, who had followed from afar, arrived just in time.

That sword pierced through the silver blossoms filling the sky, becoming the radiance of the bright moon as it swept across all directions.

With one sword descending, victory and defeat were decided.

Young Master Silver Flower's head flew into the sky, while the hot blood in his chest splashed across the long street like a great blooming flower. His body collapsed directly to the ground.

His severed head still bore the confusion from before his death. Perhaps he could not believe such swordsmanship existed in this world, or perhaps he was stunned that someone could break Silver Flower Palace's peerless hidden weapon.

Yet the sword immortal atop the city wall seemed not to have moved at all, still maintaining the posture from before he had drawn his sword, as though that earth-shaking strike had been nothing but an illusion.

The sword immortal sheathed his sword.

"Tap!"

"Creak!"

Faint sounds drifted over from the long street.

Sword Saint Xu Bayuan looked toward where the sounds had come from and immediately saw that on West Street near the city gate, winter had departed and spring had arrived; flowers bloomed across the trees, as though the season had changed overnight.

The osmanthus trees lining the street had all blossomed. Their fragrance drifted for ten li, fresh and intoxicating.

Sword Saint Xu Bayuan stared from afar, utterly dumbfounded. "This... this..."

In the end, he could only say, "There is actually such swordsmanship in this world."

Zhongxing Du blew a bronze whistle, summoning all nearby Martial Rites Division personnel to gather here. He was deeply wary of the man who had killed Young Master Silver Flower with a single strike, as well as that sword.

Only Heart Sword Lu Canghai, though unable to see, recognized who it was from the Sword Intent alone. "So it was him."

He recalled the sword strike from that night. Yet today's strike had far surpassed the one before; it could truly be called the sword of an immortal.

"A Sword Comes from the West, Flying Immortal Beyond the Heavens. Young Master Silver Flower did not die unjustly."

Sword Saint Xu Bayuan was still savoring the lingering aftertaste of that sword. After hearing this, he sighed. "So this move is called Flying Immortal Beyond the Heavens."

Zhongxing Du immediately looked toward Lu Canghai in surprise. "Brother Lu actually knows this great master?"

Lu Canghai stroked his beard and shook his head. "Cannot say, cannot say."

In truth, he did not know much about Gao Xian either. Other than his name, he knew nothing. If he said too much, he would expose himself, so he could only use it to put on airs.

Li Rong'er, immobilized inside the sedan, had actually seen the scene most clearly of anyone present. That figure standing atop the city wall, wielding one sword across heaven and earth, had completely shattered Li Rong'er's understanding of the entire world.

"So immortals truly do exist in this world..."

That immortal flashed from the city wall to West Gate Avenue, then flashed again and stood before the sedan.

The curtains of the sedan were open. Li Rong'er, dressed in splendid robes, stared blankly at Gao Xian. He was a young Daoist with a Daoist mark between his brows, extraordinary from birth, like an immortal child stepping out of the Heavenly Palace. His ethereal aura resembled the bright moon high in the nine heavens.

Gao Xian lowered his head and glanced at Li Rong'er. A trace of astonishment stirred in the depths of his eyes, and his brows lifted slightly.

He turned and waved a hand, drawing in Young Master Silver Flower's precious fan and several treasures from his body. Then, after several flashes, he vanished into the distance at the end of the street.

He was already gone, and Xu Bayuan and Zhongxing Du, who had been watching this side all along, both breathed a sigh of relief.

Then sounds came from even farther away. A large force of constables arrived along the street behind them, just in time to collect the corpses.