Chapter 28: Beginning

While the Central Plains were thrown into constant panic and lacked a guiding pillar due to the chaos of the West Sword Flow in Mianjiang, and the mysterious disappearances of Shi Yanwen and Bailing Langjun, Jingri Guming of Mianjiang lay lazily inside his royal manor.

"With someone as lazy as this king, how could I possibly rack my brains to scheme? Just follow the original plot! In any case, it will suffice as long as the Dragon Pearl enters and swallows the one formed by the Nine Dragons Leylines!"

Jingri Guming mused to himself:

"As for the struggle for royal power, I care little for victory or defeat; I simply treat it as a trial for little Cangmang! The prerequisite is..."

Although he was essentially reincarnated and retained his memories, he had after all accepted the favor of the Mianjiang royal family, and this karmic cause had to be repaid!

Every cause has its effect, and the seed of the Great Dao of Karma follows this very rule. Put simply, every action demands a corresponding price—even if it is not paid now, it will be exacted in the future!

Therefore, leaving Mianjiang to little Cangmang was acceptable, provided that little Cangmang grew up to be presentable enough!

"What is Royal Ancestral Uncle thinking about?"

Cangmang entered at some point and asked abruptly when he saw Jingri Guming lost in a deep trance, right as the latter came back to his senses.

"This king was thinking about how to forge your heart!"

Jingri Guming took the ice cream cone handed over to him by little Cangmang and took a bite.

"Mmm, the taste is quite good! Jinchi's culinary skills have improved once again!"

"It is thanks to Your Highness's partiality."

Yao Jinchi curtsied respectfully and then withdrew.

"Forge my heart?"

Cangmang looked somewhat puzzled, his rather foolish expression making Jingri Guming feel as though he were bullying a child.

At that moment, he suddenly thought of Sea Yaksha, who shared the same naive look.

"As for strategy, this king has already taught you everything that should be taught; as for martial arts, Qianxue has imparted his skills to you without reservation!"

Jingri Guming looked at Cangmang, who possessed an excess of benevolence. If he were merely a pugilistic hero, such a personality would be fine, but as a ruler of a nation, it was far too lackluster!

"Do you know why your performance has remained so mediocre?"

Indeed, Cangmang's performance was not particularly outstanding. If he had grown up entirely on his own, achieving this level would have been commendable.

However, as a prince of Mianjiang, enjoying all the privileges Mianjiang had to offer, to have achieved only this much...

Perhaps Cangmang had experienced too little, which explained his overly simplistic nature.

"Cangmang's aptitude is dull, and I have troubled Royal Ancestral Uncle."

Cangmang said with a wry smile.

In truth, Cangmang used to perform quite well, but perhaps because he resembled Xida too much, Haoqiong Guming was reminded of Tianque Guming.

Not wishing for Cangmang to be overly exceptional, Haoqiong Guming had rarely assigned Cangmang any independent tasks over the years.

There had even been a subtle undercurrent of suppression. Since childhood, Cangmang had never enjoyed Haoqiong Guming's favor, a fact to which he was particularly sensitive.

Having perceived Haoqiong Guming's intentions, he had fallen somewhat into a state of self-abandonment.

Jingri Guming looked at little Cangmang; all these changes had occurred under his watchful eyes, though he never spoke of them aloud!

Jingri Guming patted little Cangmang's head to show encouragement, and with a swift turn of his thoughts, he made a decision.

***

That night, the Dragon Emperor of Wind and Cloud received the Armor of Magic sent by Jingri Guming's emissary.

This was the genuine Armor of Magic, not a counterfeit, and its destination went without saying—it was to be delivered to the West Sword Flow.

As for the messenger who delivered the armor, it was none other than the sword-obsessed Linghu Qianli.

The Dragon Emperor of Wind and Cloud understood that his true self wanted him to offer some guidance to Linghu Qianli, seeing as the main body was currently inconvenient to step forward personally.

"You practice the sword!"

The Dragon Emperor of Wind and Cloud led Linghu Qianli to the martial arts arena.

"Isn't that self-evident?"

Linghu Qianli raised the sword in his hand.

"Make your move!"

The Dragon Emperor of Wind and Cloud did not wish to speak with Linghu Qianli any further; it was simply too exhausting.

"His Highness did not tell me to attack the Alliance Leader!"

As soon as Linghu Qianli spoke, the Dragon Emperor of Wind and Cloud's expression darkened. What an absolute blockhead.

"Prince Beijing instructed me to give you some pointers, and the price is the item you brought! Attack!"

Linghu Qianli said no more, raising his sword to strike.

Linghu Qianli practiced the path of the swift sword, which emphasized that nothing was unbreakable except for speed!

His swordsmanship was like the wind, his footwork like the wind, coming and going like the gale. When the sword struck, the wind had not yet risen; when the sword fell, the wind had not yet arrived.

However, no matter how fast Linghu Qianli's sword was, the Dragon Emperor of Wind and Cloud always managed to dodge it by a hair's breadth.

After a few moves, Linghu Qianli stopped.

"I cannot hit you!"

"Oh? Why can't you hit me?"

The Dragon Emperor of Wind and Cloud countered.

"You anticipated my movements. My sword is still not fast enough!"

Linghu Qianli looked at the sword in his hand, pondering how to make his strikes faster and more urgent.

"If you encounter a true master, will you simply wait for your defeat and death?"

The Dragon Emperor of Wind and Cloud looked at Linghu Qianli. He was nonetheless a piece of raw jade, worthy of being sculpted and put to use.

Seeing that Linghu Qianli was still fixated on his sword, the Dragon Emperor of Wind and Cloud had to change his approach.

"Attack again!"

Linghu Qianli immediately launched another assault. This time, the Dragon Emperor of Wind and Cloud did not merely dodge; he began to counterattack.

Linghu Qianli was still as swift as the wind, his sword strokes like a gale. Yet every move and stance of the Dragon Emperor of Wind and Cloud was unhurried, even leisurely, and yet the lightning-fast Linghu Qianli could not evade them.

After several exchanges, Linghu Qianli was struck lightly on vital points by the Dragon Emperor of Wind and Cloud's sword fingers a dozen times.

Linghu Qianli stopped, closing his eyes in contemplation. The Dragon Emperor of Wind and Cloud's moves were not intricate; they were also straightforward and direct, yet he had been defeated by someone moving slower than him!

"Speed is relative. Fast is speed, and slow is also speed. Do not blindly pursue mere swiftness; at the appropriate times, slowness is far more useful than speed!"

The Dragon Emperor of Wind and Cloud nodded. Linghu Qianli finally understood.

Such a person was the natural nemesis of strategists. No matter what profound principles one explained, he would only talk to you about speed, making any discussion of tactical variations completely useless.

Linghu Qianli readied his sword and prepared to leave, but the Dragon Emperor of Wind and Cloud sighed.

"Remain at the Heaven's Will Alliance for a few days. Do not return until your cultivation has advanced further!"

With that, the Dragon Emperor of Wind and Cloud arranged a closed-door cultivation chamber for Linghu Qianli.

The room was filled with silkworm threads, from which hung tiny ice pearls, and the Dragon Emperor of Wind and Cloud demanded that Linghu Qianli practice his swordsmanship within this chamber.

Whenever his sword generated wind that swayed the ice pearls back and forth, the pearls would collide and snap the silkworm threads.

From then on, Linghu Qianli remained in seclusion there—progressing from breaking a single thread at the beginning to filling the entire room with a dense web of silkworm threads by the end.

Linghu Qianli finally perfected his swordsmanship to be as slow as ultimate stillness and as fast as ultimate motion, countering speed with slowness.

Following that, he was required to shatter every single ice pearl with the tip of his sword to achieve absolute precision and power.

By the time Linghu Qianli emerged from seclusion, two years had passed since he delivered the Armor of Magic.

The Central Plains were undergoing turbulent changes, while Mianjiang was quietly gathering its strength, waiting for the moment when the West Sword Flow and the Central Plains would exhaust each other in mutual destruction.

Yet this wait ultimately brought a variable.

Within the Mianjiang army camp, Hemong Shaoshi listened to the intelligence reported by his subordinate.

"The Eastern Demon God was reborn on the night of the Nine-Star Alignment. Cang Jingren and Shi Yanwen joined forces to resist the Illusory Demonic Lord of Flames. This concerns the honor of the General; your subordinate would never dare to transmit false news!"

"Impossible! If Luobi is truly cooperating with Shi Yanwen, it is an act of treason against our clan. No matter what, I must personally enter the Central Plains to investigate the situation!"

Hemong Shaoshi made a resolute decision. Such a matter was of immense consequence—akin to the Minister of Defense committing treason—how could he not be terrified?

Just as he took a step forward, Hemong Shaoshi halted and asked:

"How many people within the Mianjiang tribe know of this matter?"

"Only your subordinate knows!"

"Good, seal off the information. Do not let a single soul learn of this!"

"Understood!"