Chapter Ninety-Five: The Sword and the Talisman

Looking at the images on the Moon-Reflecting Mirror, cheers echoed from the city and the towers, but the Jade Jade Terrace grew unusually silent. Especially those around Cheng Xinzhan, who stared straight ahead as if trying to discern every detail in the fragmented clouds.

The Lord of the Returning Pearl Tower grasped the cloud ridge remotely. The scattered cloud ridge seemed to be grabbed by a giant hand, swiftly compressed and reduced, transforming into a glowing orb about half the size of a fist, pulsating with light.

“The Sword Arena determines victory by duels. Now, the remaining seven hundred fifty-seven participants will be divided among thirty-six arenas set up within this tower, each simulating the realm of thirty-six minor heavens. The top thirty-six fighters who bested the cloud ridge are the first-round champions and may choose their arenas. When entering the arena, all participants will have their magical power suppressed to the first realm.”

As the Lord of the Returning Pearl Tower finished speaking, a miraculous event occurred:

The massive Moon-Reflecting Mirror, illuminated by moonlight, split into two, then four, and in moments transformed into thirty-six mirrors, forming an encircling formation that enclosed both a Peacock City and a Returning Pearl Tower!

Within the great realm, the city and tower scenes reflected in the mirrors overlapped and interpenetrated, making it impossible for those inside to tell if they were within the city and tower themselves or trapped inside the mirror images.

Qian Boya’s pupils contracted sharply as he exclaimed, “Brother Shanshou! I have never seen your Moon-Reflecting Mirror possess such power before!”

The Lord of the Returning Pearl Tower smiled faintly, replying, “The best is yet to come.”

With a thought, he caused the moonlight reflected on the mirror surface to twist and shift. The scenes inside the mirrors changed—not showing the Jade Jade Terrace or the city and tower, but instead depicting diverse realms.

Some mirrors contained vast islands and great lakes, others displayed deserts under setting suns, while still others showed dense, boundless green forests—each unique.

Qian Boya turned pale and said, “Brother Shanshou, this treasure mirror of yours must be an immortal treasure, no?”

Weapons and treasures in the world are generally classified into three categories: magical implements, magical treasures, and spiritual treasures. Magical treasures form a broad category, including pill instruments, embryonic instruments, and immortal instruments. Nowadays, pill instruments are rare, so embryonic instruments are elevated and sometimes called half-immortal instruments. To flatter, some even call embryonic instruments immortal instruments. True immortal instruments are the pinnacle, distinguished from half-immortal instruments and sometimes called immortal treasures. Spiritual treasures often appear in ancient divine legends but rarely exist in the mortal world.

In Qian Boya’s eyes, this treasure mirror, capable of manifesting thirty-six minor heavens, surely deserved the title of immortal treasure.

The Lord of the Returning Pearl Tower smiled without answering. He raised his left hand, and thirty-six people on the Jade Jade Terrace were lifted up. He said, “Choose your arenas quickly! First come, first served.”

The thirty-six, knowing the advantage of choosing an arena, leapt eagerly into their respective mirror realms.

Cheng Xinzhan was one of the thirty-six. His gaze immediately settled on the mirror of the thunderous realm and flew straight toward it, for such a place was rare in the mortal world.

Most others chose mirrors abundant in the five elements, and many began to fight even on the way to claim their treasure mirrors.

However, no one approached the thunder realm mirror Cheng Xinzhan had chosen, so he entered smoothly.

Upon touching the mirror surface, it felt like a layer of water. With a flash of light, he found himself in another world.

He looked around. Here, mountains rose and fell in waves, their surfaces barren and shining with a purple-black hue. The sky was heavy with thick, low clouds, silver-purple lightning snakes darting within them. Thunder occasionally struck the mountains, scattering sparks of lightning fire.

On a tall stone stele, he read the name of this minor heaven:

Accumulated Thunder Mountain Minor Heaven.

He could not help but laugh aloud, amazed there was such a wondrous place.

Soon, after some small struggles, all thirty-six mirrors had champions.

“Now, others may challenge the arenas one at a time. The winner holds the arena; the loser must leave. During sword duels, no magical implements or treasures other than the sword itself may be used. Other than that, no restrictions except killing is forbidden.”

This was much more lenient than the previous sword arena rules.

As the Lord of the Returning Pearl Tower’s words fell, some people flew up from the Jade Jade Terrace and entered the mirrors.

On the Jade Jade Terrace, Liang Zhenjing’s face flushed bright red. He wanted to challenge Cheng Xinzhan in the Accumulated Thunder Mountain Minor Heaven but, knowing the power of Cheng’s thunder sword, hesitated. He realized that the arena battles were a form of round-robin; it made sense to wait until someone else had drained Cheng’s magical power before stepping up.

If even a specialist in thunder magic like him thought this, others were even more cautious. Many recalled the sword’s arc of light from earlier and, now seeing Cheng bathed in thunder, dared not advance.

Thus, when sword qi surged wildly in the other thirty-five minor heavens, Cheng Xinzhan remained alone in the Accumulated Thunder Mountain Minor Heaven.

Bored, he began to observe the thunder. He quickly realized much of the thunder was illusory—only radiance and sound—but some thunder plasma was genuinely hidden in the clouds. When thunder clouds collided, true lightning would descend.

A thought suddenly occurred to him: The thunder here must have been captured by the Sword Immortal himself or gifted by others. The thunder’s secret mechanisms were inscribed on others. Cheng had only gathered thunder in the Great Heaven realm half a month ago, so his own thunder secrets belonged to the Great Heaven and could only collect spring thunder next year. But could he gather thunder here?

The Sword Immortal designed this arena to make sword duelists use the power of a realm to enhance their sword qi. Though his opponent had not yet appeared, it was harmless to gather some thunder first.

He tentatively released “Gao Zhen” to intercept the thunder descending from the clouds.

A silver snake of lightning was drawn to “Gao Zhen,” falling into the gourd.

He waited, but nothing else happened.

Smiling grimly, he released “Gao Zhen” again.

Liang Zhenjing’s face reddened even further.

Estimating he had gathered about ten percent of the thunder plasma, Cheng stopped collecting and sat on the ground, watching the scenes in other mirrors, purposely observing the earth, water, and wood minor heavens.

One giant mirror showing mountain scenery caught his attention. The mountains resembled those of the Southern Wilderness. Upon closer inspection, a stone stele bore five characters:

White Stone Mountain Minor Heaven.

Indeed, these were the mountains of the Southern Wilderness.

Two people inside the mirror were dueling magic. One was a middle-aged Taoist, standing with his sword before his chest, chanting softly. The mountains trembled, rocks tumbled, and stones gathered into a giant, which the Taoist commanded to attack.

This was the God Summoning school of magic swordsmanship.

His opponent was a practitioner of Earth Dao. His sword swept horizontally, sword qi crashing like an avalanche.

This was the Qi Cultivation school of magic swordsmanship.

Cheng then turned his gaze to a minor heaven with a high mountain and waterfall. On the waterfall’s stone wall were inscribed:

Mount Lu Minor Heaven.

Two young people were dueling swords there. Judging by their robes, Cheng realized they were disciples of the Mount Lu Sword Sect.

Their sword movements attracted countless flying waterfalls, transforming them into water dragons. The abundant water spiritual energy of that realm surged and collided with their sword qi.

This was the Spirit Control school of magic swordsmanship.

Cheng’s eyes darted everywhere, overwhelmed but greatly benefiting from the spectacle.

Meanwhile, Liang Zhenjing on the Jade Jade Terrace still hesitated. He wondered why no one dared challenge Cheng Xinzhan.

Suddenly, a string of synchronized Gu pearls on his body sounded:

“What are you waiting for? Do you want the world to think Longhu Mountain knows nothing of thunder magic?”

It was the voice of the Little Celestial Master.

Liang stiffened, gritted his teeth, and flew up.

The crowd in the city and tower cheered as someone finally flew toward the Accumulated Thunder Mountain Minor Heaven mirror. At last, they could witness Master Cheng’s swordsmanship. What’s the point if they didn’t fight?

Looking closely, the challenger wore purple robes with blue dragon and white tiger embroideries on the sleeves—this was a Daoist from Longhu Mountain!

Cheers erupted even louder.

Liang Zhenjing knew he was now the center of attention, whether he liked it or not.

Cheng Xinzhan smiled upon seeing Liang approach, noting he had changed clothes—a familiar face indeed.

“I knew your thunder talismans were formidable, but I didn’t know you were skilled with magic swords too,” Cheng greeted him.

Liang’s face darkened. Yes, even the Three Pure Ones sect knew he excelled in thunder talismans, not swordsmanship. But the Little Celestial Master insisted, so what choice did he have?

Cheng also noticed Liang’s sword—interesting indeed: a two-foot-long copper coin sword with a wooden hilt, seemingly peachwood, and a blade made of a string of copper coins linked by golden thread.

“Enough talk. Let’s finish quickly. I’m not afraid of you!” Liang was the same impatient man. Once inside the minor heaven, he immediately attacked. He swung his magic sword, thunder sparking along the copper coins and golden thread before detaching and slashing toward Cheng.

Cheng responded with a horizontal slash of lightning, then another, six sword qi attacks flashing in an instant.

Liang cursed inwardly. This sword was recently given by the Little Celestial Master. It hadn’t been tempered by himself, so it contained little thunder qi. The sword qi he released earlier to cut through the cloud ridge had drained much of it. He dared not squander it like Cheng.

He rode a huge silver thunder talisman, moving much faster than Cheng’s fiery clouds. He dodged sword qi while hurling a thunder talisman with his left hand from behind his back.

The thunder talisman transformed into a purple beam, shooting toward Cheng. Liang had employed some unknown technique—the talisman’s speed rivaled the sword qi.

Seeing this, Cheng raised his magic sword high, forming sword seals with both hands—one finger pointing up, the other down, wrists touching—and chanted,

“Thunder Lords of the Five Directions, I know your names. Come when called, swift lightning whips. Descend!”

As the chant ended, thunder talisman sparks flickered along “Gao Zhen’s” blade. A bolt of lightning shot into the clouds. The thunder clouds roiled, and a thunderbolt descended, striking the thunder magic Liang had launched.

Liang anticipated this and manipulated his thunder talisman from afar, chanting, “Swift!”

The thunder talisman suddenly accelerated, dodging the descending thunderbolt.

Yet Cheng’s thunder magic was no simple matter. “Gao Zhen” traced a slash in the air, and the descending thunderbolt, still connected at one end to the clouds and the other to the earth, formed a thunder whip. As “Gao Zhen” moved its tip, the thunder whip swayed as if wielded by the magic sword, striking the thunder talisman at lightning speed.

Though fast, the talisman could not compare to the thunder whip descending from the sky. When they collided, the two forces—some of the most restless energies of heaven and earth—exploded into a silver-purple lightning halo.

Under the cover of the massive thunder glow, Cheng moved his finger seals, and “Gao Zhen” transformed into a bolt of lightning, shooting straight at Liang.

Liang was momentarily distracted by the lightning and failed to see clearly. As the thunderbolt approached, he quickly scattered a cluster of thunder talismans. Naturally, they formed a formation, each talisman emitting dazzling light and shooting out lightning bolts. The bolts connected with nearby talismans, forming a thunder net. Each talisman was a node, and the lightning formed the strings.

The thunderbolt transformed from “Gao Zhen” struck the net but could not pierce it and reflected back without effect.

Cheng’s eyes brightened; he had not considered this use of thunder talismans before!

In the past, only orthodox sects gathered thunder under the guidance of masters. Though Cheng and Liang disliked each other, they had never clashed. Now, during this sword duel event, Cheng was eager to see just how much skill Liang possessed.

“Gao Zhen” transformed into lightning and guided the thunder from the sky to fall like rain upon Liang.

Liang did not back down. Though chased by “Gao Zhen,” he skillfully dodged while waving his sleeve, releasing another stream of thunder talismans—not for defense or offense against Cheng, but numbering ninety-nine arranged in a line, seemingly strung together by an invisible thread.

With his left hand forming a Blue Dragon seal and his sword raised, he chanted a thunder summoning spell. The talisman chain plunged into the thunder clouds. When emerging, the chain was wrapped in thunder and lightning, resembling a thunder dragon—the Dragon Spine.

The thunder dragon, fed by thunder, descended from the sky, charging at Cheng.

—

“This is a sword duel—why is he using talismans?”

In the Sea Market Tavern, Xiao Shiyi Niang suddenly stood up. The lion cat, which had been resting on her knees, abruptly fell to the ground, bewildered but quiet upon seeing its mistress shout.

—

In the Zizhi Chamber, the young Master Gongchang in purple robes smiled. One magic sword from Longhu Mountain was enough to awe the world. In such a sword duel, just having a Longhu Mountain member show their might reminded the world of their power. Whether they used a sword or talismans was irrelevant. Liang Zhenjing simply didn’t understand this.

—

Cheng watched the thunder dragon attack, dodging but smiling. Today, it seemed his previous restriction to talismans had been too narrow-minded.

To outsiders, the scene in the Accumulated Thunder Mountain Minor Heaven mirror was amusing: two thunder dragons faced off—one formed by Cheng’s magic sword guiding the descending thunder, the other by Liang’s string of thunder talismans. Yet their masters were scattered, dodging each other’s attacks.

While fleeing, Cheng suddenly retracted his cloud carriage, the Dragon Cart, and threw out a string of thunder talismans. These were not offensive. Floating seemingly at random before him, he stepped forward, landing on one. It exploded, transforming into a swift bolt of lightning carrying Cheng away.

As the lightning faded, it landed on another talisman, igniting it, which then carried Cheng onward. In moments, flashing lightning carried him nearly a hundred miles away, leaving the thunder dragon behind.

He inwardly praised Liang’s ingenuity. Connecting talismans by lightning allowed them to link and activate each other, forming formations like his thunder dragon and thunder net. This was not a mere sum of numbers but a qualitative transformation.

Watching from afar, Liang’s eyes nearly popped out.

At that moment, Cheng looked back at Liang and smiled, pointing at him with his right hand as he chanted,

“Quake!”

Liang and the spectators in the city and tower were bewildered.

Only the Lord of the Returning Pearl Tower smiled knowingly. With a thought, the mirror scene of Accumulated Thunder Mountain Minor Heaven suddenly shrank rapidly until Cheng and Liang became mere black dots.

The spectators finally glimpsed the entire realm within the minor heaven and could not help but exclaim:

From afar, “Gao Zhen” dragged lightning like a brush dipped in silver ink, while Liang resembled a tiny mosquito. As the brush chased the mosquito, it also painted in the heavens and earth—a grand talisman stretching from sky to earth, already completed.

A thunder talisman.

As Cheng’s command echoed, the enormous thunder talisman blazed brilliantly and exploded!

“Boom!”

A tremendous roar echoed, overpowering the city and tower, reverberating far and wide like a thunder chariot racing relentlessly.

Yet Cheng had no intent to harm. It was a thorough Tremor Awakening talisman, using thunder’s sound to overwhelm.

Liang was almost enveloped by the thunder talisman. As expected, the overwhelming thunder sound stunned him, his eyes glazed, limbs stiffened. His thunder dragon lost control, the lightning dissipated, and the talisman papers fluttered down. Liang himself fell from the sky.

Cheng, using his newly learned stepping talisman to ride lightning, caught him.

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