Early the next morning, daylight was just beginning to break.
As Lu Changfeng got up and dressed, Snow Robe was still sprawled on the windowsill, wings spread and little claws pointing skyward, sleeping like the dead.
He reached out and tapped its head. "Time to go."
Snow Robe groggily opened one eye, muttered, "Just a little longer," then rolled over and went back to sleep. Lu Changfeng refused to indulge it. Grabbing one of its claws, he carried it upside down and strode out of the courtyard.
Snow Robe flapped its wings twice in midair, finally waking fully, and squawked in protest, "Master! Can't you be a little gentler?"
"Get up on your own next time."
Snow Robe flew onto his shoulder in a huff and smacked him twice with a wing to vent its displeasure.
They washed, ate, and got everything ready before heading toward the mountain gate.
Shen Lingyue was already waiting outside.
He had changed into practical traveling clothes, his gray-white robe neatly cinched, an ancient sword hanging at his waist. Its scabbard was plain black, entirely unadorned, and looked utterly unremarkable.
Yet not a single person in the entire Jianghu dared underestimate that sword-
For two characters were engraved on its hilt: [Tai'e].
The Tai'e Sword, one of the ten divine swords, the sword of sovereign might.
Its origins were extraordinary. Forged during the Spring and Autumn Period, it was said to be the joint work of Ou Yezi and Gan Jiang, who gathered the essence of the five metals and united the might of heaven and earth, taking three years to complete it.
On the day the Tai'e Sword was finished, its blade had formed naturally. Without even being sharpened, it sent Sword Qi soaring into the heavens.
Strangest of all, its might came not