Chapter 34: The General, the Swordsman, and the Martial Artist Who Carved on the Ninth Stele

The twenty-third year of Dazhi, the fourth day of the third month—a day suitable for burials, sacrifices, animal slaughter, and mourning!

There was no spring rain this day, yet the sky was thick with dark clouds, obscuring even the midday sun. The entire horizon hung in a hazy gray, casting a gloomy pall over the North Gate of Sunan Prefecture.

General Xuanzi, Li Bodu, walked with his hands behind his back, side-by-side with a swordsman draped in an ivory-white brocade robe and wearing a hat with a light veil. Li Bodu was a ferocious tiger of Xuantian Capital, his figure tall and imposing, his presence as vast and formidable as a mountain. The swordsman walking alongside him, however, was lean and slender, barely six feet and five inches in height—hardly a figure of great stature or rugged strength. Yet, walking beside the towering Li Bodu, the lean swordsman possessed an air of effortless composure that did not pale in the slightest.

Especially striking was the long sword at the swordsman’s waist. Its scabbard was pristine white, devoid of any adornments, appearing to be nothing more than an ordinary blade. Yet, when the spring breeze blew, it seemed to part the very wind, slicing it into thousands of fragments that drifted away in all directions. This scabbard alone was a treasure of rare quality.

"The martial spirit of Sunan Prefecture is somewhat weak, yet it is a place of great prosperity and flourishing life—smoke-shrouded willows, painted pleasure boats, screens of green silk, and a million households in a dense tapestry. In such a prosperous place, a natural disaster would be a tragedy too great to bear." Li Bodu’s voice was steady as he looked toward the majestic, towering mountain outside the prefecture.

That mountain, resembling a crouching tiger, had been named Tiger Hill by those who came before. It wound around Sunan Prefecture, forming one of the most magnificent landscapes in the entire Suwu Province. Yet, in Li Bodu’s eyes, this mountain posed a grave threat to the city.

"If Tiger Hill were to collapse into the Clear Water River, the river would surely burst its banks. A million acres of fertile land would be destroyed in an instant, and Sunan Prefecture would likely not escape such a catastrophic fate. I have brought the ninety-thousand-strong Pine and Locust Army here precisely to prevent this." Li Bodu’s expression was somber.

He and the swordsman walked slowly through the bustling market, past rows of pavilions and towers, yet the townspeople seemed entirely unable to see them.

The swordsman, his face obscured by his hat, finally spoke. "General Xuanzi, you are overthinking. Gong Longsu is a true martial artist. His shoulders are broad enough to carry two great rivers, strong enough to bear the weight of mountains, lakes, and seas; he possesses the magnanimity to embrace the moon itself. He comes to Sunan Prefecture merely to heal his wounds. Why would he cause Tiger Hill to collapse into the Clear Water River?"

The swordsman’s voice sounded ethereal and indistinct, yet every word landed clearly in Li Bodu’s ear.

Li Bodu shook his head. "The world knows that Gong Longsu’s pursuit of the martial path has led him to a state of cultivation deviation. They know he sought to pluck the Divine Stone from Daluo Mountain, for which he was gravely wounded. Now, he faces a great battle against the Five-Thunder Lord of the Luofu Sea. He has been roaming about, refining spiritual veins—already, he has consumed four mountains and two rivers. If he has not come to Sunan for the sake of Tiger Hill, then why is he here?"

The swordsman did not agree. "Even when Gong Longsu refines spiritual veins, he chooses those in desolate, uninhabited places. Even in his deviation, he has never harmed the lives of ordinary people. He has spent his life obsessed with martial arts, but he is not a man who would stoop to any means for the sake of power; otherwise, he could not have progressed so valiantly along the martial path."

The swordsman in the brocade robe paused, then shifted his tone. "I suspect the Great Yu imperial court also knows that Gong Longsu will not refine the spiritual vein of Tiger Hill. Otherwise, it would not be General Xuanzi bringing ninety thousand soldiers here, but the Great Yu’s own 'Kui Star' in person. Forgive my bluntness... in all of the vast Great Yu, only the Kui Star could hope to bar the path of a man whose name is carved upon the Ninth Stele beneath the Dao."

General Xuanzi frowned at these words.

"Gong Longsu is severely wounded, and I have ninety thousand troops of the Pine and Locust Army, capable of forming a formidable battle array. Furthermore, the reason I sought you out was to ask you to draw your blade and help me defend this mountain, thereby protecting the millions of souls in Sunan."

Though the swordsman’s face was veiled and his form hidden by loose robes—making it impossible to tell his gender or see his features—his voice resonated from the void. "I have come to Sunan only to seek a sword. The people of Sunan are no concern of mine. General, take my advice: Gong Longsu is unlikely to refine the spiritual vein of Tiger Hill, but if he truly sets his mind to it, even in his wounded state, I would urge you to withdraw your army a hundred miles away and avoid provoking his displeasure."

Li Bodu fell silent. Unnoticed, the two had reached a high pavilion, from which they could look out over the North Gate and watch the flow of people in the streets below.

"The swordsman of old, who once flew through the sky with a single strike and stirred the slumbering dragon in the Emerald Pool—does he no longer have the heart to draw his blade?" Li Bodu asked suddenly.

The swordsman adjusted the brim of his hat and turned his head. Even through the veil, Li Bodu felt a cold, sharp gaze fixed upon him, sending a chill through his frame.

"Gong Longsu’s strength moves mountains and rivers; his spirit overwhelms the age. He once challenged the Five-Thunder Lord with a long spear! He carved the character 'Break' upon the Ninth Stele beneath the Dao, vowing to use his martial path to shatter all laws under heaven. I have no desire to cross blades with such a man. General, you have spent too long in Xuantian Capital. The long ease has made you think the world is nothing but the Great Yu. But the world belongs to seven nations and a hundred sects. I know you have obtained the opportunity of a dragon vein, but you have yet to refine it; this opportunity is ultimately but a bubble. I advise you not to die on the path of trying to refine it."

Li Bodu lowered his head in thought. After several moments, he looked up, a stubborn glint in his eyes. "Tiger Hill is the Tiger Hill of the Great Yu! If Gong Longsu sets foot upon it, I will surely strike at him with my blade. Only then will I be worthy of the title 'General Xuanzi' and the heritage of the Chi-Tiger Heavenly Art."

The cold radiance in the swordsman’s eyes suddenly dissipated. He nodded. "The world says you are inferior to Si Yuanzhao, but I believe you are his match. General Xuanzi, I shall wait quietly at the foot of Tiger Hill. Let us see how you draw your blade against Gong Longsu, should he truly come."

Standing on the high pavilion, they gazed into the distance. At that very moment, a crowd began to gather at the North Gate’s "Wind and Wave Platform," and the sound of many people speaking in loud voices reached them. It piqued the swordsman’s interest.

"Sunan Prefecture has still not abolished the covenant of the Death Duel?" the swordsman remarked. "Minister Song once said that death duels disrupt the law, encouraging reliance on strength and cruelty, and that many excuses for murder are rooted in these duels. I never expected that in a place as wealthy as Sunan, such things would still exist."

As the swordsman spoke, Li Bodu also looked toward the platform. His gaze pierced through the surging crowd and the architecture of the city, falling upon the Wind and Wave Platform. He saw Si Hougui, holding a folding fan with a playful smile, arriving in his sedan chair. He saw the scions and even heads of the great families of Sunan already gathered in the wine houses facing the platform.

He also heard the murmurs of the crowd.

"A death duel using the 'Nurturing Breath' to challenge 'True Essence'?"

Li Bodu raised an eyebrow. "Chen Zhi'an?"