Chapter 154: The Sword Qi Travels Far

The so-called "Sword Qi Within Reach" is the sword technique cultivated in the hearts of martial artists in the pugilistic world, which is nothing more than the notion that within a radius of four paces, I am invincible.

And "Sword Qi Beyond Reach", though called a sword technique, is actually more of a state of mind.

The fate of the nation, the realm under heaven, and the predicament of the human race are likely just about this.

...

He Chang'an and Ah Ran sipped the bamboo leaf tea brewed personally by the white ape while listening to the old ape's eloquent discourse, their expressions gradually growing solemn.

According to the old ape, this place was named "Five Willows Manor", but it actually held a name that had once made the blood of countless human sages surge with passion—

Sword Mountain.

Of course, it could also be called the Sword Gate Pass.

"This Sword Gate Pass is not the strategic military fortress known to worldly mortals, but a spatial rift leading to the realms beyond..."

After shrinking its stature, the old white ape looked slightly shorter than an average person, lean and withered, resembling an eccentric old man.

Its eyes rested on Ah Ran, filled with smiles. "Ugly lass, on True Martial Mountain, you should have heard of this Sword Gate Pass, right?"

Ah Ran nodded slightly, her gaze wandering toward the hazy landscape in the distance, somewhat distracted.

"Senior Ape... what is the situation beyond this Sword Gate Pass?" He Chang'an asked.

"It is Above the Mountains," the old white ape grinned, taking a sip of the bamboo leaf tea. "Or perhaps, it is also called the Heavens."

"Those old fogies on True Martial Mountain, Dragon-Tiger Mountain, and Wudang Mountain, as well as those so-called Buddha realms of the Western Buddhas, are all places of cultivation in the mortal world. I don't know who gave them the audacity to call themselves people of the mountains.

Heh, simply ridiculous!"

"..." He Chang'an.

"..." Ah Ran.

The old white ape extended a single finger, pointing remotely at the hazy landscape in the distance, and laughed bitterly. "You two little dolls can actually go and see for yourselves, to witness what a true person of the mountains is like.

That is the heavens; every single one of them damn well is a terrestrial immortal."

The old white ape's fingertip flicked lightly, like an invisible sword, drawing a white scar across the void: "They blocked the malice of the evil seeds from beyond, but they also severed the cultivation heritage of this world.

Hah! I truly don't know whether my master and the others were right or wrong back then..."

Amidst these words, the old white ape's ugly face was filled with sorrow and bitterness. It slowly lowered its head and remained silent for a long time.

He Chang'an and Ah Ran could only wait quietly, not daring to say much.

This old white ape had lived for who knows how many years, harboring a belly full of grievances and sorrow, which made the two of them feel somewhat sympathetic.

Especially Ah Ran, who seemed to recall something. She quietly stood up, walked over to the edge of a pond, and squatted down. Plucking an unnamed blade of grass, she rolled it between her fingertips as two clear tears slowly welled up and fell.

'Mother...'

...

Half an hour later, the old white ape activated the teleportation array, leading He Chang'an and Ah Ran into the Sword Gate Pass.

After experiencing dizziness for a dozen breaths and stumbling a few steps, the two humans and one ape landed on the ground. Raising their eyes to look around, they were greeted by a vast expanse of whiteness.

Waves of bone-chilling gales howled past. Even with He Chang'an's physical conditioning, he found it somewhat difficult to endure, feeling the cold seep into the marrow of his bones, and could not help but shiver.

Miss Ah Ran found it even harder to resist. Her delicate face turned pale in an instant, her lips tinged with blue, and she wrapped her clothes tightly around herself, to no avail.

"This is the gang-wind, which is most harmful. You can try circulating your breathing technique."

The old white ape took Ah Ran by the hand, and a sphere of cyan light emerged around them, enveloping her. "This ugly lass is not a martial artist after all, and her physique cannot withstand this for the time being."

He Chang'an silently circulated his breathing technique while executing the footwork from the "Ancient Boxing Technique," taking a step forward.

It proved effective.

The spiritual Qi and righteous energy within his body circulated incessantly, pulsing like a drum. Two cyan-white Qi dragons emerged from his nostrils, lingered for half a breath, and then dived back into his mouth.

The old white ape glanced at him, nodded silently, a trace of approval flashing across its face, and strode forward.

He Chang'an closely followed behind.

"This area is still within the protective range of the formation. Walk half an hour further, and you will be beneath the Sword Gate Pass."

"Beyond the Sword Gate Pass lies the territory outside the realms. You two little dolls, take care not to be injured by the sword Qi."

Hearing this, He Chang'an turned solemn, yet he did not alter the circulation of his Qi or the footwork of the ancient boxing technique. Step by step, leaving a print with every stride, he moved slowly forward, exuding the demeanor of a grandmaster.

...

"He Chang'an, this set of ancient boxing techniques of yours is not bad," the old white ape said with a chuckle, its voice muffled and echoing, seeming in fairly good spirits. "It's just that the foundation of your Qi circulation technique is not solid enough. Experiencing more sword Qi will actually be a fine fortuitous encounter."

"He hasn't even entered the inner chamber, nor does he practice orthodox techniques from the mountains. How is he able to withstand the sword Qi and gang-Qi instead?" Ah Ran asked, frowning in puzzlement.

Though she was under the protection of the old white ape's Qi, her face remained somewhat pale. Tucking her neck in, she looked at He Chang'an with an expression of disbelief.

"He is a martial artist and swordsman; naturally, he has some unorthodox tricks."

Seeming unwilling to elaborate, the old white ape merely dropped a hint and fell silent again. Its strange eyes flickered as it pondered something.

He Chang'an turned back and smiled warmly at Ah Ran. "No choice, the child of a poor family must mature early, and having a sturdy physique is the only way out. Otherwise, I would have long been sucked dry as nourishment by those ghostly entities outside the mountains."

Ah Ran widened her eyes in astonishment, her two spirited sword-like eyebrows lifting slightly as she muttered, "Truly a cheap bone indeed. Next time my martial aunt runs into you, she'll beat the dog-shit out of you."

He Chang'an smiled faintly and said nothing, pressing forward in one breath.

'Beat the dog-shit out of...'

This lass certainly had a sharp tongue. Hailing from the orthodox lineage of True Martial Mountain, she didn't pull any punches in her speech. It seemed the worlds above and below the mountains truly were as different as heaven and earth.

As different as clouds and mud, one might say.

The two humans and one ape walked forward in silence, each preoccupied with their own thoughts. For a time, the atmosphere was quite awkward, yet no one took the initiative to break the deadlock.

Thus, after about the space of half an hour, they finally walked out of the blinding array fog and appeared before a towering, cloud-piercing giant city.

Strictly speaking, it could not be considered a giant city.

Because, in He Chang'an's view, this was no city at all, but rather a colossal mountain peak, upon whose cyan boulders ancient and profound runes were carved.

Without inspecting closely, one could sense purely by instinct that the runes on the city walls of this place were countless times more profound than those on the walls of the Great Scatter Pass at the northern border of the Great Tang.

A layer of clear, hazy light wrapped smoothly around the city walls, particularly heart-palpitating under the dazzling sunlight.

"That is the Sword Gate Pass, towering over three thousand zhang high and stretching some three hundred miles long," the old white ape said, pointing remotely at the city before them with deep emotion. "Pity that it is dead."

"Dead?" He Chang'an turned back in astonishment and asked.

"Of course it's dead. It cannot attack, nor can it shift positions. It can only be counted as a barrier, not a magical treasure." The old white ape narrowed its strange eyes thoughtfully.

"According to my master, this is the final barrier, used solely for defense.

The so-called Sword Qi Within Reach means that within four paces a sword immortal is invincible, but the problem is, what about beyond four paces? What about the common folk of the world? Not to mention ordinary people, speaking of this, even my master felt a sense of shame.

In the mortal world, above the imperial court, common folk are mere pigs and dogs raised within one's courtyard; in the distant pugilistic world, they are nothing more than wandering lambs, to say nothing of ghostly entities and demons, who treat them merely as small, home-reared bloody snacks.

What do the so-called terrestrial immortals take this world to be?

Therefore, my master said that while this Sword Gate Pass protects this world, it also imprisons itself within a pen. Damn it all, what bad luck!"

The old white ape muttered quite a bit, leaving He Chang'an and Ah Ran somewhat baffled and melancholic at the same time.

The [Master] spoken of by the old white ape must have been a great sword immortal, likely even more formidable than those so-called terrestrial immortals. Yet his remarks were filled with demoralizing sentiments, truly bringing a sense of ill omen.

"Senior Ape... can we go in?" He Chang'an asked.

"Don't call me senior, just call me old ape," the old white ape seemed somewhat annoyed, raising a fist the size of a foot-washing basin and heavily pounding its forehead a few times.

"Bringing you in is meant for you to see the Sword Gate Pass, to let you comprehend a bit of sword intent and sword Dao. Your stuttering speech makes me already regret it."

Though it spoke thus, its pace did not halt in the slightest as it took the lead and walked toward the giant city.

He Chang'an quickly followed, offering an apologetic smile. "Generally speaking, whoever has the bigger fist is the boss, so one cannot avoid being courteous. Please don't take offense, Mr. Old Ape."

The old white ape rolled its strange eyes, without turning its head, hoisted Ah Ran up to place her upon its shoulder, and exerted force through its legs. With a booming roar, it shot toward the city wall like a stray meteor.

"If you have the ability, climb up yourself."

From afar came the old white ape's teasing, strange laughter, before it vanished after a few bounds.

He Chang'an was stunned.

The city wall was too high; he couldn't climb it.

Moreover, he could distinctly feel a gentle yet irresistible formation power repelling him far away from the city wall, making it impossible to advance even an inch. How could he possibly climb it?

Named the 'Sword Gate Pass', in He Chang'an's eyes, there were only city walls, with no city gates to be found.

This point, at least, made sense.

Presumably, when the human sages constructed this giant city, they never considered city gates at all. Those who could come here were undoubtedly beings akin to terrestrial immortals, capable of treating a towering mountain peak with effortless ease and ascending to the heavens in a single step.

He Chang'an shook his head with a bitter smile and walked another several hundred paces forward.

Finally, he could go no further.

...

The formation power on the city wall pushed his figure far back, making it impossible to advance another inch.

Furthermore, what made He Chang'an even more helpless was that mixed within this formation power were gang-Qi and sword Qi, acting like sharp blades cutting horizontally and vertically, stabbing him down to his bones and deep into his viscera.

Most uncomfortable of all were his Dantian spiritual ocean and his sea of consciousness.

'Fine, the heart-drilling swordplay is starting again.'

He Chang'an had grown accustomed to this 'treatment'.

Along his cultivation path, the trials he encountered always seemed inexplicable—either self-mutilation, or marching steadily on the road to self-mutilation.

The old white ape had brought Ah Ran into the city ahead of time, leaving him behind; there must have been some profound intention, right?

He Chang'an retreated over a hundred paces until the breath-stifling pressure became bearable. He simply sat down cross-legged, took out some dried meat and inferior wine, and began to chew slowly.

Having tossed and turned for half a day, his stomach was long empty. He might as well fill his belly first, recover some energy, and then figure out a way to enter the city.

At the same time, he pondered what purpose the old white ape had in leaving him outside alone.

The only explanation, roughly, was that... figuring out a way to enter the city was also a form of cultivation.

He recalled that fellow who called himself a swordsman, who back then had acted in precisely this manner, throwing a raw martial artist rookie straight into the Dragon Gate waterfall, torturing him until he was half-dead and wishing for death.

Still, the effect had been quite good, not only solidifying his martial physique but also allowing him to comprehend a trace of sword intent...

'High men and high apes are probably all alike...'

He Chang'an tidied up, checked his storage Dharma artifact around his waist, and inspected miscellaneous items such as talismans and pills to ensure that if he were injured, he could still 'rescue He Chang'an'. Then, he began to walk forward again.

His set of ancient boxing techniques flowed as smoothly as drifting clouds and flowing water, naturally and spontaneously.

The breathing technique taught by old man Chen was also put into circulation, while the Qi-absorbing formula used solely by martial artists for body-refinement—though somewhat like a tasteless chicken rib—was likewise set in motion.

Better than nothing.

Thus, several cultivation methods that originally had nothing to do with one another were forcibly lumped together by He Chang'an, this 'slow-witted bird'. He had no time to judge gains, losses, or errors; he just got them all running first!

Such was He Chang'an's boldness of heart.

To simultaneously circulate several cultivation methods like he did would be regarded by some mountain sects as courting death—leading to Qi deviation at best, and shattered meridians at worst.

Fortunately, ignorance is bliss.

Who told the cultivation heritage of this realm to have been severed ages ago, damn it?

Judging by appearances, he, He Chang'an, had learned quite a few [cultivation methods] and possessed quite a few hard-hitting techniques to make a living, laying a foundation that was among the best of peers at the same realm.

In reality, he had no proper heritage whatsoever, no sect, no master. Everything was crossing the river by feeling the stones, which was simply absurd.

'If it doesn't kill me in practice, practice it to death!'

He Chang'an hardened his heart and simultaneously set in motion all his 'trump-card' garbage techniques, stepping forward step by step.

Every landing of his foot was like a heavy hammer, fiercely striking the earth and producing dull, rumbling echoes, sounding like an ancient giant drum beaten with thunderous force.

Thud!

Thud!

Thud!

...

Upon the city wall, the old white ape grinned with naive joy, glanced down, and promptly lost interest.

Behind the old white ape and Ah Ran stood several ragged high-level cultivators. Overlooking He Chang'an, who was making his arduous way forward step by step beneath the giant city, all of them revealed looks of astonishment, shaking their heads with bitter smiles as if looking at a little monster.

Among the human race, there was no lack of such passionate men, nor was there any lack of brilliant and talented figures of all kinds. However, very few forcefully integrated martial body-refinement, ancient demon clan physical refinement, and the breathing methods of qi practitioners all at once.

Of course, there were those who succeeded.

For the vast majority, however, the grass on their graves had already grown into a forest.

"What is his name?" a tall, lean elder asked with a frown.

"He Chang'an," Ah Ran crisp voice replied.