Song of Adolescence

Chapter 74 When Will the Sword Return

Back then, the young Zhao Yuzhen sat on that tall wall and waited for three months.

He kept waiting until winter was over and spring came. All the peach blossom trees on the mountain were in full bloom. Zhao Yuzhen sat under a peach blossom tree, and he didn’t even need that Heart of Fire Array Mantra to be able to eat those big and juicy peaches soon. However, that angelic swordslady who had said she’d return after three months never came back.

Zhao Yuzhen was rather disappointed. His master, Lü Suzhen, said that beautiful women always lied. It was true, after all. He might as well wait to eat his peaches. Zhao Yuzhen lay down under the tree, closed his eyes and smelled the flowers, while he was having his foolish thoughts.

“You lousy priest, still waiting to eat your peaches?” Suddenly, a deep and dignified voice came from somewhere. Zhao Yuzhen raised his head. A figure with a grey veil landed on the branch of the peach blossom tree.

“Little angel, I really want to know what your actual voice sounds like.” Zhao Yuzhen smiled with his entire face. He had never left the mountain in his sixteen years, and his thoughts were as pure as a pool of clear water. He only interacted with Daoist masters every day. What he just said did truly come from his heart, and he meant absolutely nothing vulgar or impure by it. But, to an ordinary person, he couldn’t have been more flirtatious.

Li Hanyi’s expression flashed with a thread of anger. “Little priest, are you seeking death?”

Zhao Yuzhen stood up and brushed the dirt off himself. “Little angel, come down here and talk.”

“Talk for farts!” Li Hanyi scolded back, then the Rainfall sword on her back rose from its sheath in response. With her left hand, she swung her sword at Zhao Yuzhen. Zhao Yuzhen retreated hurriedly, his fingers in a frantic dance as he drew an incantation. In an instant, a gale was howling, sand was flying and stones were sliding. Li Hanyi grasped her sword and stepped back. With her right hand, she drew another sword. A cold light appeared, accompanied by an incomparable biting cold.

“Little angel, this sword of yours is not bad,” Zhao Yuzhen praised.

Ranked third among the top ten famous swords, previously the sword of the Kunlun Sword Immortal, Armoured Glacier, only earned a “not bad” in the eyes of this little priest.

“Little angel, you’re seven days late.” Zhao Yuzhen didn’t seem to have any interest in this ultimate duel at all.

Li Hanyi became a little pensive. “Because I went to get this sword, I was seven days late.”

Zhao Yuzhen returned a faint “oh” sound, then said, “It’s too bad there are no peaches to eat this time too.”

Li Hanyi lost her patience. She wasn’t going to continue this waste of a conversation with this retarded priest. She attacked with her Armoured Glacier sword, her sword energy boundless, like a thousand armoured horses stampeding a wasteland.

However, Zhao Yuzhen raised a hand and softly called, “Stop!”

Li Hanyi’s sword energy dispersed immediately. She held her sword, a little dumbfounded. “What martial arts is this?”

“Daoism. The Great Dragon and Elephant Strength.” Zhao Yuzhen replied with a laugh.

“I’m not good enough for your sword?” Li Hanyi’s eyes were cold.

Zhao Yuzhen shook his head. “The Great Dragon and Elephant Strength is a high level Daoism art. The highest secret arts of Qingcheng Mountain, it could only be higher than the Boundless Swordplay, not below.”

Li Hanyi shook her head. “I don’t care. Use your sword.”

Zhao Yuzhen smiled. “If you speak with your real voice, I’ll use my sword.”

“You.” Li Hanyi raised her Armoured Glacier sword high in her right hand, with her Rainfall sword in her left hand, and yelled, “Die!” She attacked with both swords, and in an instant, she cracked open a deep crevice in the middle of the courtyard. Zhao Yuzhen stumbled on one foot and almost fell in. Li Hanyi seized the opportunity to step forward and swung her sword again.

The Great Dragon and Elephant Strength was indeed a high Daoism art of Qingcheng Mountain. It’s not that it wasn’t a match for this double swords attack, but Zhao Yuzhen also became motivated to defeat her. He shouted in a clear voice, “Peach Blossom!”

Li Hanyi was startled, thinking he was calling somebody. She turned her head and saw that peach wood sword fly out of the soil and rush towards her. She dodged her head and it brushed past her temples to land in Zhao Yuzhen’s hand.

Zhao Yuzhen muttered a proverb, “A victory or defeat, is but one cycle of an eternity. But, before heaven and earth, it’s a boundless eternity.”

Suddenly, the entire Qingcheng Mountain shook. The birds in the forests scattered in flight, the wild beasts in the mountain rampaged, even the rarely seen pangolins, bears and snakes as well as the scorpions and centipedes that lived underground, were hurrying off the mountain in a frenzy. A few pilgrims who were climbing up the mountain to seek Daoism teachings saw a bear twice the size of a man run past them. They were so shocked their legs became weak, but the bear didn’t seem to see them at all, and only focused on running down the mountain.

The Qingcheng Mountain disciples hastily drew their peach wood swords, thinking a formidable enemy was coming, but all they saw were the animals of Qingcheng Mountain escaping the mountain in a frenzy, and could only scratch their heads in confusion. The few Celestial Masters who were cultivating in seclusion also came out. They witnessed the unnatural situation and started counting their divinations furiously.

Then, an impatient voice interrupted them. It was the present Sectmaster of Qingcheng Mountain, Lü Suzhen, who stepped out of the Great Hall and said, “Why are you all still counting! For every creature to fear his power so much that they’re running away from the mountain, who else on the whole of Qingcheng Mountain could be responsible? Go to Prosperity Courtyard, look for Zhao Yuzhen!”

Li Hanyi had also felt the unnatural phenomenon around her, and slowly revealed a measure of surprise. “Priest, what is this swordplay?”

“Boundless sword, boundless eternity, one who enters this eternity, every life and lifetime, has no hope of reprieve.” Zhao Yuzhen raised his sword lightly. To Li Hanyi, a colossal shadow of a sword seems to grow from behind the little peach wood sword. She couldn’t help but feel a tinge of shock, and she tightened her grip on her two swords.

“I have a sword move named Boundless. The boundless can break all ways, one sword can break all swords.” Zhao Yuzhen spoke softly but fiercely, and swung his sword down. It was almost like a hundred-foot long sword came slicing down.

“Rainfall!” Li Hanyi shouted, the Rainfall sword in her hand vibrated with a cry, and flew out of her hand. The Rainfall sword was forged by the Sword Tomb. It was a sword with a soul, and it could actually feel the dread, attempting to escape the battlefield on its own. Li Hanyi could only raise her Armoured Glacier sword, and shouted clearly.

“You’ve frightened all the beasts on this mountain to flee. I’m going to shed every peach blossom on this mountain!”

As soon as she said her words, all the peach blossoms on the mountain floated adrift. Li Hanyi’s sword had pulled this mountain of flowers and forcefully blocked the soul of that hundred-foot long sword. The peach blossoms in the courtyard flew apart, Li Hanyi sliced through the rain of flowers, and attacked with another sword move. It was spring now, yet Li Hanyi’s sword move brought a spray of cold frost. With the Armoured Glacier sword in her hand, she had finally stepped into the second realm of her River Impeding Swordplay - seeing a mountain not as a mountain, seeing a river not as a river.4

Zhao Yuzhen tossed the Peach Blossom sword from his hand, and in an instant, it formed an illusion of tens or hundreds or thousands of swords!

“Illusions!” Li Hanyi shouted coldly, eliminating those sword illusions in a flash.

Zhao Yuzhen took a step onto the peach blossom tree, lightly broke off a branch of peach blossom, and smiled. “Rather than a boundless eternity, I’d prefer a peach blossom eternity. Rather than an immortal in Heaven, I’d rather the moon before me.” With that, he lightly threw the peach blossom branch at Li Hanyi.

Li Hanyi was going to block it with her sword, but she saw Zhao Yuzhen raise a hand lightly, using his Great Dragon and Elephant Strength to make the peach blossom branch fall, make a u-turn, then rise again. It cut across Li Hanyi’s veil, and the veil once again fell to the floor. Her angelic features were once again revealed before Zhao Yuzhen.

The six Celestial Masters who had just arrived saw the scene before them and halted abruptly. One of the older men with white hair and beard, glanced at Lü Suzhen and sighed. “He’s been your disciple for sixteen years. Finally, he’s still mortal.”

Lü Suzhen also released a sigh and said seriously, “There will be such calamity in one’s life.”

“Little angel, you’re so pretty, why do you always cover your face?” Zhao Yuzhen sat on the completely bare peach blossom tree, asking with a smile.

Li Hanyi didn’t avoid it any more. She looked at the smiling priest on the peach blossom tree and asked, “Your swordplay is excellent. Why are you afraid to go down the mountain and travel?”

“Shifu said I cannot go down the mountain. If I go down the mountain, a lot of people will die.” Zhao Yuzhen shook his head.

Li Hanyi was taken aback. She looked at Zhao Yuzhen who was completely serious, and thought to herself that maybe that legend was true. Instead, she said, “When I return to Qingcheng Mountain for the third time, you will come down the mountain with me.”

Zhao Yuzhen thought about it. Then, he said, “Say it again with your real voice.”

At that moment, Li Hanyi almost wanted to pull out her sword again, but in the end, she let it go and nodded. “When I return to Qingcheng Mountain next time, come down the mountain with me.” Her voice was melodious and gentle, like the sound of water falling on stone.

Zhao Yuzhen hesitated for a long time. Finally, he stammered, “I’ll… ask my shifu.”

Li Hanyi knitted her brows and asked, “How is your shifu’s swordsmanship?”

Zhao Yuzhen thought about it. “It’s slightly higher than mine at the moment, but in a year, it probably won’t be.”

Li Hanyi nodded. “Then, I will return in a year. If your shifu doesn’t allow it, I will beat him until he allows it!” With that, she sheathed the Rainfall sword back into its scabbard and went down the mountain without turning back even once. When she was going down the mountain, she met a young man who was dressed in grey-coloured clothes. The man looked rather sluggish, as if something had captured his soul.

Li Hanyi gave him a stare and the man regained his senses. In a hurry, he said, “My… my name is Lei Hong.”