Chapter 24 — The Divine Sword
劍問蒼天 · Page 5 of 8
The mountain wind came, and that pure white cloud-vapor drifted and curled like the softest, loveliest silk. Lu Xueqi's garments fluttered, her skin like snow, her beauty pure and beyond compare, as though a fairy of the nine heavens had fallen into the mortal world—rousing tenderness in the heart, and with it no small measure of awe.
A moment later thunderous applause erupted below the platform, a roar like mountains and seas, so loud that Zhang Qingyue, caught unawares, felt his ears ring at once. He was astonished—he had not thought Lu Xueqi so adored. But then, even he, gazing at that lovely figure in midair, felt his heart race and his spirit fly beyond his control—truly it was hard to imagine such beauty existed in the world.
Even Master Shuijing, seated below, whose face had ever been cold, now bore a trace of a smile.
After a moment, onto the platform stepped a young disciple from somewhere—no one had noticed whence he came—with a square face and thick brows, presentable enough in appearance, though he looked rather agitated. Once on the platform he said to Lu Xueqi: "Sister Lu, I am Fang of the Long Peak disciples. To be so fortunate as to exchange pointers with you today is the blessing of three lifetimes!"
"Boo!" Hisses rose from below the platform.
Lu Xueqi's face was expressionless; coldly, from midair, she said: "Greetings, Brother Fang. Lu Xueqi, eighth-generation disciple of Xiaozhu Peak, begs instruction from Brother Fang today."
Zhang Qingyue stood below the platform, watching Lu Xueqi still suspended in midair like a fairy, and felt a sudden, senseless pang at his heart. Just moments ago, had not Sister Ling'er stood aloft in just such surpassing grace? In his daze, Lu Xueqi's figure seemed to overlap with Tian Lingsu's likeness.
On the platform, Fang was still chattering away; by the look of him, if he could go on talking like this without ever fighting, until the end of heaven and earth, he would not mind at all. Fortunately his opponents in this world were the majority, and before he had got out two sentences, countless voices—including Zeng Shuyan's beside Zhang Qingyue—cried: "Aren't you going to start?"
"Lecher!"
"Chirping and chattering away like a woman! Eh—this senior sister of Xiaozhu Peak—ah, what are you doing, no, I absolutely meant nothing else—"
"Dong!"
At last the final bell and cauldron of the contest sounded. Lu Xueqi's face turned cold, and she looked straight at Fang. Under that icy gaze Fang felt a chill run through him; though from here even with a cold face Lu Xueqi was peerlessly beautiful, he dared not jest any further. He hastily wiped the smile from his face, composed his mind, and with a dharma sign drawn by his right hand summoned a silver-white immortal sword into the air.
Zhang Qingyue frowned, and could not help thinking again of Qi Hao's immortal sword "Hanbing". Just then he heard Zeng Shuyan beside him: "With Qi Hao as their model, the folk of Long Peak all love to cultivate this kind of immortal sword."
Zhang Qingyue's eyes flickered; he looked all around, and saw a bobbing sea of heads—but nowhere could he find any trace of Qi Hao, much less that figure he most wished to see and, at this moment, most wished not to see.
Where had they gone? Zhang Qingyue lowered his head, and a bitter sorrow filled his heart.
Suddenly Zeng Shuyan tugged at his arm and said gleefully: "Xiaofan, quick, look—it's starting."
Zhang Qingyue raised his eyes to the platform and saw that Fang had already summoned his immortal sword; a piercing cold instantly filled the platform. Yet in Zhang Qingyue's eyes it seemed plain that compared with Qi Hao when he had fought Tian Buhui in the old days, Fang still fell some way short in wielding the Hanbing immortal arts.