Song of Adolescence

Chapter 45: The Sword Which Recognises Its Owner

It wasn’t that Lei Wujie hadn’t drawn his blade against Li Hanyi before. That day on the roof of the Tower of Ascension, Lei Wujie used up all the strength in his body to execute the Raging Inferno Lightning. Yet that was all to have a chance at meeting Li Hanyi. Today, there seemed to be no reason at all for him to draw his sword.

“Come, draw it!” Li Hanyi’s brows were slightly furrowed and sword intent surged violently around him. The waist of the mountain was instantly engulfed by a howling gale that blasted the surrounding trees and scattered their leaves about.

Lei Wujie felt a monstrous pressure bear down upon him in an instant and his body started to wobble and almost collapse under the weight. Subconsciously, he wanted to activate the Blazing Arts but the instant he raised the qi in his body, Li Hanyi’s sword qi suppressed it.

“I said, draw your sword.” Li Hanyi’s cold voice resounded in his ear.

Lei Wujie could only place his hand on his sword. However, he still couldn’t pull it out.

“Sword, rise!” Li Hanyi gently waved his hand and his world renowned Armored Glacier came flying out of its sheath with a metallic hiss and into his hands.

Lei Wujie was finally out of options so he tightened his grip on his sword and said. “Sorry if I offend you, Teacher!”

Li Hanyi didn’t say a word and he simply slashed out with his sword. In that instant, the air stilled and the leaves which were fluttering about gathered together. The birds which flew out of the forest froze with their wings spread wide open. A wave of sword qi sliced through the air and instantly bifurcated the clouds.

By now, Lei Wujie’s back was already drenched in sweat. He lowered his sword and exhaled deeply. In the end, he still wasn’t able to draw his sword; it felt there was something holding his sword and its sheath together, something that refused any attempt at dislodging it. It was only thanks to Li Hanyi who changed the direction of his strike at the last second, else he would already be a corpse right now.

“Teacher…” Lei Wujie wiped the sweat off his forehead and looked at Li Hanyi with a confused expression on his face.

“The Rainfall Sword is a special sword forged by the Sword Spirit Clan - it can recognise its own owner. You don’t have the intent of drawing the sword in your heart which was why you weren’t able to pull the sword out. You have to find this reason for drawing the sword on your own.” Li Hanyi clasped his hands behind his back and Armored Glacier returned to its sheath.

Lei Wujie was more than awed by what he had just witnessed not too long ago, and that showed in his words. “Teacher, How long do I have to practise before I will be able to do what you just did?”

“Commanding swords? You haven’t even learned to draw your sword and you are already thinking about commanding them? With that aptitude of yours, I would say it will take another ten years.” Li Hanyi didn’t even bother to consider Lei Wujie’s feelings as he instantly shut him down.

“Ten years? But when I was in the Kingdom of Khotan, I saw a kid from Unparalleled City who could command five flying swords by himself.” Lei Wujie’s eyes were a little downcast are that berating.

“Flying swords?” Li Hanyi frowned. “Was he also carrying a sword magazine on his back?”

“Yeah.” Lei Wujie recalled the time when he saw the kid and he said, “He was carrying a sword magazine behind him and there were twelve thin flying swords in it. There was also a scarlet longsword in there. He called them Cloudshuttle, Gentlefrost, Perfection, or something.”

“It’s Ouyang Unparalleled’s Thirteen Swords Magazine. Who would’ve thought that after a hundred years, there will be someone in Unparalleled City who could open it.” There was a slight fluctuation in Li Hanyi’s expression.

Lei Wujie hurriedly forced a smile on his face before saying, “Teacher, how about I use a different sword for practising?”

“Practice?” Li Hanyi coldly said, “We already started. From now on, you will practise against a single sword of mine. Whenever you are able to draw your sword against me, I will teach you the art of the sword.”

“Huh?” Lei Wujie was shocked.

By this time, Li Hanyi had already turned around and was walking back into his straw hut.

“Fine, I’ll draw my sword!” Lei Wujie instantly activated his Blazing Arts up to the Garuda realm and raised the true qi in his body to the limit as he tried to pull the sword out. However, he was unable to move it in the slightest and could only give up in the end. As a sigh escaped his lips, he couldn’t help but feel that this Snow Moon Sword Immortal had a really weird temper.

The reason for him to draw his sword… Was it that important?

Moving back to the silent straw hut, there was actually another person bearing witness to this scene at the moment.

The person wore black robes and a slight smile on his face. Snow Moon City’s third citymaster, Sikong Changfeng, was sitting in a corner of the dark hut as he drank his tea unhurriedly. There was an incense burner beside him where purple smoke billowed into the air.

“You gave him Rainfall? That’s the first sword you held when you stepped into the martial world! You’re really willing to part with it for your disciple…” Sikong Changfeng laughed.

Li Hanyi didn’t say anything and sat down beside Sikong Changfeng.

“You were really hoping for him to be able to pull the sword out in that instant, weren’t you? In the face of death, he would break his limits and draw his sword -that was the plan you thought of. The most terrifying thing would be for him to draw the sword for the sake of someone else.” Sikong Changfeng spoke in a strangely ambiguous manner.

Li Hanyi had no intention of answering either. Instead, he asked a question of his own, “What about your disciple?”

“He has extraordinary movement skills. In my opinion, if he trains for several more years, he wouldn’t be too far off the number one thief in the martial world, Mo Luosheng. His accounting skills are pretty good as well. He’s been here for only a few days but he settled the accounts which have been dead for several months.” Sikong Changfeng chuckled, “It’s just…”

“What?” Li Hanyi’s eyebrows jumped.

“It’s just that his meridians are damaged and he will never be able to practice advanced martial arts in his life. At the start, I thought that he was lying when he told me he didn’t know martial arts since he had the Wuji Staff hanging on his waist.” Sikong Changfeng sighed.

“Damaged meridians!?” The usually calm and collected Li Hanyi yelled in surprise. “How is that possible?”

“I didn’t believe it either. However, I checked his pulse and it was actually broken like he said. It’s possible to forcefully activate his qi but it will cause his blood and qi to boil over, running the risk of his meridians snapping at any second and killing him. Someone probably dealt him a vicious blow in Revelations City in the past. However, he wasn’t willing to talk about it and I didn’t continue to ask.” Sikong Changfeng said.

“Can it be cured?” Li Hanyi frowned slightly.

“It can.” Sikong Changfeng’s answer was crisp and to the point.

“How?” Li Hanyi knew that his third junior brother was proficient in the medical arts and if he said it was possible there was no way he was lying.

“The Heavenly Art of Soul Mending from the Immortal Island of Penglai Island, the home of the celestial beings over the sea.” Sikong Changfeng enunciated each word with deliberate pacing.

Li Hanyi muttered himself for quite some time but in the end, he shook his head.

Sikong Changfeng broke into laughter once again, “That might be for the best as well, as long as that disciple of yours is proficient in the martial arts, it’s fine.”

Li Hanyi seemed to have thought of something and he asked, “In the Kingdom of Khotan, did you see the kid from Unparalleled City?”

“Are you talking about the kid who managed to reopen the Thirteen Sword Magazine? Yes, I saw him.” Sikong Changfeng nodded his head.

“Is he already familiar with the Art of Commanding Swords?” Li Hanyi questioned.

“As of now, he can only control six flying swords. He didn’t have enough power then and I made use of the Divine Circulation Skill to control all twelve of his swords. All twelve of them tried to resist me… Within three years, the sword nucleus of those twelve swords will take shape. Only that thirteenth sword, the Vermillion of Ming, might take a while longer.” Sikong Changfeng said.

Li Hanyi coldly snorted.

“In the future, their opponents will all be geniuses who only come about every hundred years. Hanyi, that burden on your shoulders will be heavy and long.” Sikong Changfeng laughed as though he was rejoicing in Li Hanyi’s misfortune.