Chapter 11: Different Paths, Different Plans - Section 18: The Dance of the Flying Celestials (Part Two)

The disciples of the Jianyue Sect cleared a space, and Li Yijian pointed his sword toward the ground beside him, stating solemnly, "Make your move."

Wu Fei barely shifted her feet. Li Yijian, whose lightness skill was excellent, soared into the air to pursue her. Unexpectedly, Wu Fei opened her umbrella mid-air; her body drifted horizontally as light as cotton, forcing Li Yijian to slash out with sword qi to attack. His sword qi struck the umbrella, yet could not damage it in the slightest, being entirely deflected and nullified.

Wu Fei drew her sword while airborne. A sudden burst of sword light bloomed, dancing in a frenzy before her. Pink streaks of sword qi shot out like meteors from all directions toward Li Yijian in mid-air.

A year had passed, and Li Yijian’s cultivation had improved. His physical stats were: Physique 2500, Internal Energy 2500, Spirit 10, Soul 1, Combat Power 10,000. Because his soul energy usage could double his physique and internal energy during combat, his actual combat power was 20,000, with an absolute peak of 40,000.

However, Bu Jingxian knew that Li Yijian was not proficient in the application of internal energy; the sword qi he unleashed did not gain power bonuses, relying entirely on his unique soul energy usage to double its impact. Conversely, Wu Fei possessed a solid foundation in internal energy and specialized in the sword path; her sword qi was more than capable of harming Li Yijian.

Suspended in mid-air with no room to dodge the barrage of incoming sword qi, Li Yijian was forced to parry. Yet, with his power flow restricted and unable to establish an effective defense, he was reduced to absorbing Wu Fei’s sword qi with his own internal energy. By the time he parried over seventy pink streaks and landed, his internal energy had been completely exhausted by the violent collisions. Bu Jingxian’s Spirit Eyes saw clearly that Wu Fei’s sword qi increased the lethality of her internal energy by seventy percent. Each of the seventy-three streaks could inflict a hundred points of damage upon Li Yijian; had it not been for his unique talent, he would not have survived the landing.

Li Yijian had been too careless, losing the initiative by chasing her into the air, and the speed at which Wu Fei released her sword qi was staggering. In that brief exchange, Li Yijian had already lost more than half of his combat power.

He dared not leap again, instead sprinting across the ground to chase the drifting Wu Fei, relying solely on his footwork to dodge her continuous volleys of pink sword qi. Just as he was about to close the distance, Wu Fei twirled her floral umbrella and, without touching the ground, borrowed force to soar another forty feet high like a tuft of cotton.

Only then did Bu Jingxian realize how she had earned the title "Flying Sword Dance." Such peerless lightness skill was truly like flying. He immediately felt that Li Yijian had no chance of winning today; his fast sword style relied on close-quarters combat, yet he could not close the distance, and his internal energy was insufficient to withstand her attacks. No matter how fast his sword was, it was useless if it could not reach the target.

The Jianyue Sect disciples cheered and applauded, and the diners were left dumbstruck.

Wu Fei repeatedly used her umbrella to drift in mid-air, while Li Yijian, chasing from below, could never reach an effective striking distance. He relied only on his footwork to dodge, but the continuous sprinting and intense mental focus caused his physique to deplete rapidly. Seeing his swift movement, Wu Fei changed her sword qi into an area-of-effect attack.

Li Yijian found it even harder to dodge and was wounded twice by the exploding sword qi. His physique plummeted to 1200.

Bu Jingxian had not expected Wu Fei to be this formidable. Seeing that Li Yijian would surely die if this continued, he contemplated how to intervene. Although Li Yijian’s temperament was extreme, he was a righteous swordsman. Their previous bout at the Shenwu Arena had left Bu Jingxian with a favorable impression, and he did not want to see him die here.

Li Yijian attempted several times to predict Wu Fei’s trajectory and intercept her, but each time she twirled her umbrella, her drift would shift effortlessly. When she was high up, she moved like weightless cotton, descending extremely slowly. This kept Li Yijian in a state of constant suppression; before he could recover enough internal energy, it was depleted by the residual force of Wu Fei’s exploding sword qi. He could only endure passively.

As Li Yijian’s physique continued to drop, hitting one hundred, Bu Jingxian grabbed a teacup from the table and flicked it toward the drifting Wu Fei.

"Young Hero Li, leave quickly!"

Wu Fei swung her umbrella to deflect the cup, using the force to float even higher. Hearing the voice, Li Yijian looked back and saw it was Bu Jingxian. Fearing that revealing the name of the Northern Lord would bring him harm, he could only offer silent gratitude, leaped onto his horse, and whipped it into a gallop.

Wu Fei did not release any sword qi to pursue him, letting Li Yijian ride away as she drifted lightly back to the ground. The Jianyue Sect disciples were furious, pointing their swords at Bu Jingxian and demanding, "Who are you! Are you also an accomplice of Li Yijian?"

Bu Jingxian cupped his hands and said, "I once had a brief acquaintance with the young hero and could not bear to see him lose his life, so I offered some help. This has nothing to do with the Zheng State, and I hold no hostility toward the Jianyue Sect."

"That is hard to say!" the disciples persisted.

Unexpectedly, Wu Fei walked over and said, "Do not implicate the innocent. I never intended to kill that Li Yijian in the first place."

The Jianyue disciples dared not disobey, hurriedly sheathing their swords and thanking Wu Fei, before going off to recapture the three fugitives to report back.

"Many thanks, Lady Knight."

"You are too kind." Regarding Bu Jingxian’s thanks, Wu Fei was indifferent. She cupped her hands and said, "Farewell." Then, she left money for the tea and buns and went on her way.

Bu Jingxian felt a sense of admiration for Wu Fei. He had not expected the matter of helping Li Yijian to be resolved so easily; he had initially anticipated a fight. This made him realize that the world of martial arts was vast indeed. At the time of the Shenwu Arena, he thought he had seen many masters, but that was clearly not the case.

Given Wu Fei's age and aptitude, her decision to forgo the second Shenwu Arena clearly indicated an ambition to reach the rank of Martial Venerable, hence her dedicated training. Bu Jingxian’s knowledge of Jianyue Sect techniques came only from what Ling Luo had relayed from the Elder of the Northern Spirit; he felt Wu Fei’s swordplay did not resemble the orthodox "Returning Wind and Falling Goose" style of the Hengshan branch, but he dared not be certain.

At this moment, scattered snowflakes began to fall. The departing Wu Fei opened her floral umbrella, hiding her small frame beneath it. On the muddy road broken by ice and snow, she looked particularly striking and unique.

Three miles from the East Pass of the Zheng State, there was a town called Dongshang Town.

Merchants entering and leaving the pass would stop to rest in Dongshang Town, driving the prosperity of this small place. It was a bustling hub with people coming and going, and the streets were lined with vendors.

During her travels in July, she had visited the Yan and Wei States. After the war between Zheng and Wei broke out, she received a letter from Zheng Linran, the Sect Leader of the Flying Immortal Sect, tasking her with leading the sect’s disciples sent to the Wei State, specifically to eliminate the various martial arts sects and wandering knights who were working for Wei. With the recent stalemate in the war and Zheng unable to advance further, she had brought some fellow disciples to Dongshang Town to meet with Zheng Linran.

These months of travel had changed July significantly. Having witnessed many affairs of the pugilistic world and experienced over a hundred battles, she was no longer as emotional as a child. Though she did not wish to meet Zheng Linran, she understood the importance of the war and knew it was unavoidable.

Upon arriving in Dongshang Town, the accompanying senior sister arranged for them to rest at an inn. As the five of them were eating and drinking, they suddenly heard a commotion outside.

July rose and went out to look. She saw a group of soldiers dragging away two young women, while a middle-aged couple was crying and desperately clinging to the two young women, who were also sobbing uncontrollably.

"What are you doing?" July shouted at the group of soldiers.