Song of Adolescence

Chapter 51: The Tale of a Daoist Sword

Roughly fourteen years ago, there was a sudden glut of young talents who appeared out of nowhere in the martial world. Those talents included the then disciples of the previous Head Eunuch, Eunuch Li. His disciples being Chen Jingzhou of the Frostwind, Mo Yichen the Little Confucian Master. Naturally, names like Zhao Yuzhen, the future Daoist Sword Immortal who single handedly embodied both the martial and daoist fortunes of Mount Qingcheng, were included in that as well. The three esteemed figures who would push Snow Moon City to the forefront came from that generation too. As for the Lei Clan, they promised two famous youths of their own. One, Lei Hong from the branch family of the Lei Clan, he who revived the lost Blazing Arts. The other was the then young master of the Lei Clan, Lei Yunhe, who not only practised the Lei family’s arts, but also had a fortuitous encounter of his own with a yellow robed figure on Mount Longhu. That figure taught him the daoist arts, and that allowed him to combine his Lei martial arts and his newfound knowledge into his arts that could even call forth thunder.

Naturally, these young heroes were fond of adventuring as well, and would often cross blows with each other. Despite being from different backgrounds, one being from the branch family and the other being from the main family, the two geniuses from the Lei Clan shared a carefree personality and clicked well together so they decided to join hands and venture forth together. Throughout those days, they never once felt dissatisfied with the other’s company. Later on when they both split up, they made a pact to meet again in the Lei Clan a year later. It was then that Lei Yunhe went up Mount Longhu and met the yellow robed figure.

Right off the bat, the figure told him to become his disciple, which Lei Yunhe naturally found absurd. Thus, he raised his fists at the man, three in total that might have lacked any intent to kill but were still a force to be reckoned with. Yet in spite of that, the yellow robed figure chose not to block them, only losing a single strand of his beard in the process. He even chuckled and mused that he seemed to have underestimated him. It was then that Lei Yunhe realised that he was standing face to face with an expert. Not one to mince words, he immediately acknowledged the man as his teacher and began learning the daoist arts.

Lei Hong, on the other hand, went up Mount Qingcheng. Zhao Yuzhen was the earliest person in his generation to make a name for himself. He was born in a village at the foot of Mount Qingcheng and on the day he was born, a multicolored ray of light shot into the house. Even before his parents knew if this was a sign of fortune or calamity, the six Astrologians who were residing on Mount Qingcheng had descended the mountain. When they arrived, his mother was already embracing him tightly. He wasn’t wailing but neither was he a stillborn. Most people knew that when an infant didn’t cry at birth, it would most likely turn out to be a stillborn. However, this kid had a cold expression on his face and there was a faintly discernible ray of rainbow light coming from the middle of his eyebrows.

When Zhao Yuzhen’s mother saw the six Astrologians, she was shocked. Her first thought was these six immortal-like figures were for her son who, in her mind, was most likely some demonspawn. However, the otherworldly headmaster, Lu Suzhen, merely took the child from the hands of the stunned woman and teared up, “After a bitter hundred years of waiting, a perfect piece of jade finally appears in our Mount Qingcheng.” As such, the child was named ‘Zhao Yuzhen’. He was raised by the six Astrologians on Mount Qingcheng and he was the first disciple to train in both the Grand Dragon Qi and the Unlimited Sword Art. Naturally, he didn’t let down headmaster Lu Suzhen by becoming an Astrologians at the mere age of sixteen. The reason Lei Hong climbed Mount Qingcheng was to challenge Zhao Yuzhen. Yet when he ascended the mountain, Zhao Yuzhen was in the middle of duel with someone else.

It was the then second disciple of Snow Moon City, Li Hanyi. He had just obtained Armored Glacier and was there to spar with Zhao Yuzhen.

In the end, the battle ended in a draw. The instant Zhao Yuzhen’s Daoist Sword appeared, all the beasts on Mount Qingcheng stirred. Those that could fly, flew, and those who could run, ran. During his climb up the mountain, he spotted all manners of wildlife rushing down the mountain: wild chicken, monkeys, leopards, and even hibernating bears and pythons. Even though the sword wasn’t aimed at them, they could feel the innate danger within. As proceeded onwards, he realized that even though it was spring, there were snowflakes drifting about in the wind. Li Hanyi’s Water Impeding Sword Art had already reached the second realm and coupled with the might of Armored Glacier, it could freeze the moisture in the air.

When Lei Hong arrived on the peak of the mountain, Zhao Yuzhen’s peach wood sword was flashing about in mid air and had suddenly transformed into tens of thousands of swords, all rushing towards Li Hanyi. Li Hanyi formed a vortex of peach blossoms with a wave of his sword and met the peach sword head on with a mountain’s worth of petals. After the move was broken, the two of them kept their swords and none of them declared themselves as the winner.

Lei Hong turned around and left the mountain that day. With his cultivation, there was no way he was an opponent for either Zhao Yuzhen or Li Hanyi. However, the thing which shocked him wasn’t the difference in strength. Instead, it was the beauty of their technique. He returned to the Lei Clan ahead of time and locked himself in his courtyard for three whole days and three whole nights. Just as the elders were at a loss of what to do, he finally opened his door, and the first thing he did was to forge a sword.

He fused the sword with the Lei Clan’s gunpowder and officially named the sword ‘Murderous Dread Sword’. However, he had already went against the teachings of their ancestor by doing so and the elders had convened several meetings in a row in order to stop him. It was then that Lei Yunhe returned to the clan and when he saw the enamored Lei Hong he asked, “Why did you decide to pick up the sword all of a sudden?”

Lei Hong replied, “I once saw the beauty of the sword.”

Lei Yunhe turned around and left on his crane. However, it wasn’t easy to look for the wandering Li Hanyi so, in the end, he directly approached Zhao Yuzhen who had never left Mount Qingcheng in his life. He was the complete opposite of Lei Hong who had a deferential attitude when climbing the mountain. It was clear that he was there to cause trouble the instant his crane came close to the mountain. He yelled at the top of his lungs, “Zhao Yuzhen, get the h*ll out here!” In the end, more than a hundred daoist came out to stop him but with a single finger, he cleaved a path leading up the mountain. With two fingers, he destroyed the roof of the Heaven and Earth Hall, finally reaching Zhao Yuzhen who was in the midst of his seclusion.

“I have a brother who after seeing your sword, said that out of all the martial arts in the world, the sword art is the most beautiful. I want to have a look for myself.” Lei Yunhe stared at the young daoist master who had his eyes closed and stretched out three fingers.

If this was the Zhao Yuzhen that Lei Hong met that day, Lei Yunhe would have stood a decent chance of winning. However, Zhao Yuzhen was currently in seclusion and it was in the midst of this crucial timing that Lei Yunhe smashed the Heaven and Earth Hall with two fingers. His concentration forcefully broken, he nearly went insane from the backlash. Yet, in that frenzied state, he seemed even more powerful than usual. With one slash, he chopped off Lei Yunhe’s arm, he himself vomiting a mouthful of blackened blood from the rampaging qi in his body. Then, Snow Moon City’s eldest disciple, Baili Dongjun, appeared on the scene and he swiftly suppressed the berserk Zhao Yuzhen along with Headmaster Lu Suzhen. In the process, Baili Dongjun brought away the heavily injured Lei Yunhe as well.

From that moment on, Lei Yunhe disappeared from the martial world. As for Lei Hong, he took out his completed Murderous Dread Sword and left the Lei Clan once more. Just like before, he climbed up Mount Qingcheng. This time however, Zhao Yunzhen was in a critical state from his backlash and was in the midst of recuperating. Thus when Lei Hong stepped into Mount Qingcheng, the person he saw on the mountaintop was the future Snow Moon Immortal, Li Hanyi.

No one knew the result of that battle, all they knew was that Lei Hong left the mountain with no injuries while Li Hanyi maintained his undefeated streak. After Lei Hong returned to the Lei Clan, he didn’t leave it for several decades

“Even you don’t know how the battle ended?” Lei Wujie hurriedly asked.

Tang Lian drank a mouthful of wine and muttered, “Mhm, I have no idea. That’s because when we reached this point, my teacher got drunk. You can go and ask the second esteemed teacher yourself.”

“I don’t dare to…” Lei Wujie scratched his head. He suddenly thought of something and said, “Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I’ve arrived in Snow Moon City, why haven’t I met the first citymaster, Baili Dongjun, yet?”

Tang Lian laughed and shook his head, “That’s where you’re wrong, you’ve already met him.”