Sky-Supporting Swordsman (Part One)

Li Feng's body rose and fell wildly over the young girl, one he did not seem to dislike. Under Li Feng's freakishly swift and powerful thrusts, the girl's body trembled desperately. Vague moans spilled from her lips; it was impossible to tell whether she was in pleasure or pain. Her clear, glistening eyes narrowed slightly as she cautiously, furtively watched Li Feng's handsome yet wicked-looking face.

Li Feng's mind, however, was nowhere near her. His body moved only from an instinct innate to mankind; his divine sense had already enveloped the entire Drunken Fragrance Tower. From the girl beneath him, he could sense only the faintest trace of life force. Her spiritual energy had long since been drained dry by excessively frequent bedchamber affairs. Apart from a pretty shell, there was nothing within her that interested Li Feng.

Holding a woman as hollow as an empty shell, their flesh pressed together in the most intimate contact, Li Feng nevertheless devoted all his divine sense to communing with heaven and earth. He could simultaneously perceive every movement within the courtyard of the Drunken Fragrance Tower: snowflakes drifting down, the cold wind blowing, the night-watch attendant huddled into a shivering ball in the corridor, and those unfortunate soldiers in the rear woodshed freezing blue from head to toe. Beside the woodshed, the fat cook was also doing the same thing as Li Feng with his wife. The pair bickered with each other, yet their happiness possessed a strange harmony.

Li Feng's divine sense turned upward, gazing into the empty, pitch-black sky. Countless clumps of snow drifted slowly down, carrying a beauty that seemed almost eternal. His divine sense then looked down. The sky was like a canopy, the earth like a chessboard. He nearly felt himself become one with heaven and earth. With a swish, an incomparably pure current of heaven-and-earth yuan energy rushed through his Baihui acupoint and into his body, merging with his True Essence. Li Feng trembled all over.

At that very moment, all of Li Feng's strength erupted. He gave one final shudder, spilling forth in a torrent. His mind instantly blurred and slackened, wisps of it drifting out into the surrounding sky. At the moment when both flesh and spirit were enjoying supreme pleasure, Li Feng unexpectedly formed a true connection with heaven and earth for the first time. "Free of desire and seeking nothing, pure and natural"—for the first time in his life, Li Feng had stumbled by sheer accident into this profound and mysterious state.

Powerful, terrifyingly pure heaven-and-earth yuan energy poured down, even stronger than the yuan energy gathered by the Nine Yang Gathering Yuan Array. Without realizing it, Li Feng reached the true realm of Unity of Heaven and Man. The True Essence within him surged madly at a speed he could clearly feel. Great quantities of sweat poured from his body, cleansing his sinews and marrow. Every cell within him cheered and leaped in this supremely pure heaven-and-earth yuan energy, being strengthened without limit. In the brief span of a cup of tea, his muscles swelled by another full circle.

Li Feng opened his eyes, still unaware of how fortunate he had been. A virgin who had never touched a woman in his life, after completing the great task of carrying on the family line for the first time, had, due to the turmoil in his heart and the exhaustion of his body, reached through his harmony with heaven and earth a level that even Xie Yuezi and the others had yet to attain. This had already destined Li Feng's future cultivation path to be somewhat faster than Xie Yuezi's and the others'. This true realm of Unity of Heaven and Man was one reached only by the Five Elders of Yiyuan and the muddleheaded Ling Guangzi.

Li Feng possessed no such awareness at all. Looking at the unconscious girl beneath him, a sudden sense of boredom welled up in his heart. He rose, stood naked before the window, and threw it open, letting the icy wind lash furiously against his bare upper body. Looking down at himself, he suddenly sneered. "So this is carrying on the family line? Trading a moment's pleasure for someone to inherit one's bloodline? Heh heh, a man's life is no more than a hundred years. After a hundred years, if you want people to remember you, you can only rely on your descendants, right?"

"That was why emperors all wished for a hundred sons and a thousand grandsons, wishing for their dynasties to endure for ten thousand generations. They could not bear to see their grand ambitions and mighty achievements vanish into smoke; they did not wish for their glorious names to turn to ashes and scatter on the wind. That was why Qin Shi Huang sought immortality in the East Sea, and Emperor Wu of Han cultivated the Golden Core with Daoist masters. That was how it was. They were too great—so great that they could not accept their own disappearance. They wanted to remain in this world forever."

Li Feng clenched his fists hard, the muscles all over his body twitching one by one. He roared soundlessly at the pitch-black sky. "I can't accept it either. I can't accept it... If I were still that little hooligan from Suzhou Prefecture, then as long as I ate my fill and dressed warmly, I would ask nothing more from this life. But I'm not anymore. I'm now a disciple of the Yiyuan Sect, a cultivator of the Yiyuan Sect."

Li Feng howled madly in his heart, Why? Gods and Buddhas filling the heavens, you can sit high above the clouds and look down upon all living beings, while I, Li Feng, can only struggle and howl in this world? Why?

Gritting his teeth, Li Feng cast a glance at the girl gasping softly on the bed. He slowly put on his clothes, seized the Dragon Spring Sword, tossed two ingots of gold onto the table, and slowly opened the door to leave. A resolute enlightenment had appeared on his face. He raised his head to look at the sky, a wicked smile curling his lips. Humming a folk tune from Suzhou Prefecture, Li Feng staggered downstairs. He kicked a night-watch attendant warming himself in the corridor and asked, "Has the matter I told your madam to handle been taken care of?"

Seeing that it was Li Feng, the attendant hurriedly bowed and scraped. "Master, rest assured, it has all been handled. Those fellows' lower bodies have been smeared with filth. Anyone experienced can tell at a glance that they have just had bedchamber affairs. And we gave each of them more than a jin of Erguotou liquor from the northeast just now. They'll be reeking of alcohol, enough to fool no one."

Li Feng tossed him a piece of silver and nodded. "Good, very good. If anyone comes to investigate this matter, just follow the testimony I gave you. If anything happens, I'll bear it for you. But if you ruin my plans, I'll settle accounts with your Drunken Fragrance Tower. In Yanjing City, it wouldn't be difficult for the Eldest Prince to shut down a pleasure house and arrest a few people, would it?"

The attendant's face turned pale as earth, and he groaned bitterly to himself. You great masters fight for power and profit, but it is ordinary folk like us who suffer. Do you think making a living in a brothel is easy? Yet how could he dare complain before Li Feng? He could only nod meekly and say, "Yes, yes, what you say is right. If the Eldest Prince wants to arrest people like us, wouldn't it be as easy as eating? Rest assured, how could we dare disobey your instructions? We'll definitely pin the matter on them."

Li Feng sneered. "Good. When Master Dugu wakes up, tell him I've returned to the residence first. Mm, nothing else."

Li Feng's body moved like a ghost across the more than two-foot-deep snow in the courtyard, leaving not a single footprint. The attendant saw this sight and was so frightened his tongue stuck out. He murmured in terror, "Trace-less Snow Step! That is the sort of skill only storytellers talk about. I never thought there were truly people in the world who could do it. No wonder he can serve as deputy commander in a prince's residence, while I can only be a turtle here. Sigh... A man's fate is born with him; there is no blaming anyone." He shook his head, contentedly rubbed the more than two taels of silver Li Feng had thrown him, and broke into a grin. Squatting down, he warmed himself over the small brazier.

Li Feng drifted out of the Drunken Fragrance Tower and slowly headed toward Zhu Xi's residence. He thought to himself, You, Zhu Geng, are a prince after all. You don't understand the methods of the martial world. You think having someone beat me up will drive me away? What a joke. I'll slowly teach you how to play these games of framing and planting evidence. Heh heh, Zhu Geng, Murong Tian—you are merely two martial brutes. Beating you would be beneath me. For a moment, Li Feng felt somewhat proud. But he swiftly slapped himself across the face and muttered, "What am I proud of? Am I stronger than the Right Saint, stronger than the master they speak of? Before them, I'm nothing but a lump of dog shit. What is there to be proud of?"

The patrolling soldiers saw the gold badge hanging at Li Feng's waist and did not come forward to question him, allowing him to wander the streets in the dead of night with a longsword. Li Feng had forgotten the way to Zhu Xi's residence. There had been many people when they came, all shouting and clamoring, so he had paid no attention to the route. Now he was alone, and Yanjing City had countless streets and alleys. He promptly lost his way. Left with no choice, he stopped a patrol, gave their captain an ingot of silver, and had the soldiers lead him to Zhu Xi's residence.

Several guards standing night watch at the main gate hurried down and warmly asked, "Chief Li, why are you back already? Was the girl's service not satisfactory?"

Li Feng chuckled. "Tsk tsk, I fought three hundred rounds and kept at it for more than an hour without stopping. Later, I was truly a little tired, so I simply came back to take a bath and sleep like hell." Heaven knew that his cultivation had just advanced greatly, his entire body overflowed with vital force, and his flesh had just been cleansed and refined. His energy was at its peak. The so-called fatigue was merely an excuse.

The guards burst into laughter. "Chief Li, you really are impressive. More than an hour? Heh heh." Knowing looks appeared on all their faces. After all, such things could be understood but not spoken aloud. Seeing that Li Feng truly belonged to Zhu Xi's residence, the patrol called out a busy farewell and went on its own way through the deep snow.

Li Feng laughed softly. "Tonight, all you brothers can go along as well. Let those fellows who exhausted their spirit and strength earlier stay behind on night watch. Heh heh, this time, I've made a grand gesture. The pretty girls from the Drunken Fragrance Tower weren't enough, so I called over the best girls from four or five nearby pleasure houses too. Tonight, as long as you have the stamina, you can have however many girls you want, all on me. Hahaha!"

At once, the guards' flattery surged like a tide. They crowded around Li Feng as they led him through the main gate, assigning a clever fellow to guide him toward the quiet residence arranged for him. As Li Feng looked around along the way, he shook his head repeatedly. Sure enough, his first impression from yesterday had been right: Zhu Xi's residence truly could not compare even to the courtyard of a wealthy merchant from Jiangnan, much less to those renowned gardens beneath heaven. Li Feng suddenly asked himself in surprise, No matter what, Prince of Yan's fief should bring in so much income every year, shouldn't it? Where did all that silver go? How could his son's residence end up so shabby?

Still, Li Feng was fairly satisfied with his own quiet residence. It was not luxurious, but it had been swept spotlessly clean, and not one of the things it ought to have was missing. There was even a small bookshelf in his room, with several books placed upon it. Li Feng paced a few steps around the room, then fell backward onto the bed and gave a comfortable sigh.

Just as dawn began to break, Li Feng sprang from the bed. After cultivating Qi for the entire night and sleeping for less than half an hour, the energy coursing through his body felt as though it were about to explode. Like a wisp of green smoke, he swept out through the window, lightly floated down the height of two stories, and landed beside a small pond. Li Feng casually plucked three bamboo leaves from the bamboo by the pond. With a slight circulation of qi, he flicked his hand and shot the leaves out. With three soft swishes, the three bamboo leaves sank deeply into a rock in the artificial hill ahead. Li Feng nodded in satisfaction. "The storytellers were not simply making things up after all. Flying flowers and plucked leaves can wound a man—it is true."

He clapped his hands and walked through the snow toward the courtyard ahead. He still had not figured out how meals were handled three times a day. Presumably Zhu Xi was responsible for feeding everyone in the residence? Otherwise, feeding several hundred people would be quite a problem. The nearby restaurants could not seat that many people.

The moment he stepped out of his own courtyard, Li Feng saw Zhu Xi standing in the yard with a livid face, roaring loudly. "What? Second Brother sent people to arrest Dugu and the others? He says they besieged Lei Zhenyuan? What exactly happened? When did this happen? What? He sent people to arrest my guards? What does he take me for? Can he bully me however he wishes? Am I not his elder brother? Is he not my second brother? I... Little Li, prepare the carriage. I'm going to see Father immediately."

Li Feng deliberately made his footsteps heavy, crunching through the snow. Zhu Xi abruptly turned around and, upon seeing Li Feng, exclaimed joyfully, "Li Feng, you're here? Good, come with me to see Father. I want to ask whether Yanjing City belongs entirely to Second Brother now. If he can act so outrageously in every matter, then I... I might as well go directly to Yingtian Prefecture."

Seeing Zhu Xi's anger, Li Feng immediately added another bowl of fire oil. "Shopkeeper... ah, Your Highness, I know this matter from beginning to end." He recounted everything that had happened at the Drunken Fragrance Tower without concealing a thing from Zhu Xi. With an indignant face, he said, "The Second Prince is truly bullying you right over your head. Think about it: if he arrests the guards from our residence this time, and Your Highness shows no response whatsoever, unable even to make the Second Prince apologize, then would Your Highness not lose even the slightest scrap of face in the future?"

Zhu Xi's eyes rolled wildly as he nodded. "So that's how it is. Mm, your plan to frame Lei Zhenyuan was a good thing, but now Murong Tian has taken everyone away. What can we say?"

A cold glint flashed through Li Feng's eyes as he sneered. "Murong Tian dared bring men to arrest them. To put it plainly, wasn't it because of two reasons? First, he believes Your Highness has no one under you capable of defeating him. Second, Your Highness has fewer troops than he does. That is why he dares to stand on Your Highness's head and spit. At its most serious, this matter is what they call attacking an officer; at its lightest, it is merely a drunken brawl. If we cannot fight for a proper explanation this time, then we need not keep mixing around Yanjing City in the future."

Zhu Xi frowned and barked, "Fine. What do you suggest?"

Li Feng stamped his foot fiercely and shouted, "Your Highness, this time you must display your authority and give the Second Prince and Murong Tian a hard taste of your power. We must make this matter as big as possible. I have already arranged the testimony at the Drunken Fragrance Tower, and Brother Dugu's side has already coordinated their stories. It would be best if we made such a stir that it alarmed the Prince, until the Prince personally came out to handle it. Then we will insist that Lei Zhenyuan violated the girls of the brothel without paying, then beat people indiscriminately while drunk, and that our brothers from the residence acted out of righteous indignation. As long as we bite down on this story and refuse to let go, they will have no chance at all to turn things around."

Delight appeared on Zhu Xi's face. "That does sound reasonable. How do you plan to proceed?"

Li Feng feared that the world would not be chaotic enough. He said coldly, "First, ask Your Highness to issue an order mobilizing troops and bring out one guard unit under your command. We will surround Murong Tian's military camp. At the same time, send someone to report to the Prince, saying that Murong Tian has used his power to bully others and raised troops in rebellion." Li Feng racked his brains, recalling all the schemes of framing and false accusation from the books he had read, and proposed them one by one. Beside them, Little Li shivered all over, looking at Li Feng as though he had seen a ghost.

The imperial descendants of the Great Ming had a strange habit. It seemed to have been inherited from their Emperor Taizu: none of them had particularly good tempers, especially the various feudal princes scattered across the land. Once their anger rose, they dared to mobilize troops and kill people. Zhu Xi was already burning with fury, and after hearing Li Feng's words laced with a trace of the Mind-Illusion Technique, he immediately threw a command token from his sleeve and shouted, "Good, that is what we shall do. Li Feng, I grant you full authority to handle this matter. Little Li, go report to Eunuch Lü and tell him exactly what Li Feng said. Hmph, I will go with Li Feng to meet Murong Tian. Let us see whether Murong Tian dares act insolently before me."