Sword of Coming

Sword of Coming

There was a mountain called the Nine Battle Peak that was laden with palaces and pavilions, and while it wasn’t a small world, it certainly seemed like one.

The mountain was constantly taking in spiritual energy from all of the mountains outside of the Jade Tablet Sect’s ancestral mountain, as well as all of the sect’s rivers, lakes, and creeks. The mountain was very special because all of the sect leaders throughout the history of the Jade Tablet Sect had once cultivated on its summit. 

The same applied to the current sect leader, Xun Yuan, and it was only after he became sect leader that he moved out of the mountain.

It was said that back when Jiang Shangzhen reached the Golden Core Tier, he had thought that the Nine Battle Peak was his for the taking, only for the rug to be pulled out from under his feet. 

He had been so enraged by his unexpected failure to move into the Nine Battle Peak that he had left the Parasol Leaf Continent to go and wreak havoc on the Northern Complete Reed Continent, completely ruining the Jade Tablet Sect’s reputation on the Northern Complete Reed Continent in the process.

After Xun Yuan moved out of the Nine Battle Peak and before Wei Ying moved in, it had remained unoccupied because everyone knew that the next person to reach the Golden Core Tier on the mountain would undoubtedly become the next sect leader.

Wei Ying was still an infant when he was taken to the Jade Tablet Sect, and at nineteen years of age, he moved into the Nine Battle Peak, an outcome that came as a surprise to no one.

Ever since he moved into the Nine Battle Peak, Wei Ying always liked to cast his gaze toward the Divine Script Peak, never making any effort to conceal his gaze. In his eyes, that was his next home. As long as he cultivated in peace and didn’t do anything unnecessary during this time, the Divine Script Peak was eventually going to be his, so there was no need for him to hide his ambitions.

On this day, Wei Ying was standing in the walkway on the top floor of a building, casting his gaze toward a certain spot on the Divine Script Peak, but on this occasion, he was joined by a tall and slender young man. Unlike his father, the young man had a rather unremarkable appearance. His eyebrows were very sparse, and the only piece of resemblance that he bore to his father was his extremely long and narrow eyes.

The man was Jiang Heng, but his name was listed as Jiang Beihai in the Jade Tablet Sect ancestral hall and the Jiang Clan’s genealogical records. However, those who were familiar with him still habitually referred to him as Jiang Heng.

Among the younger generation of the Jade Tablet Sect, it was considered an important point of difference whether they could refer to Jiang Beihai as Jiang Heng, because regardless of whether it was Jiang Heng or Jiang Beihai, the fact of the matter was that he was Jiang Shangzhen’s only son.

At the moment, Wei Ying was the heir-apparent to Xun Yuan, so Jiang Heng was definitely inferior to him in status, but he was still most likely going to be the next owner of the Cloud Cave Blessed Land. However, in recent years, there had been some rumors proclaiming that Jiang Shangzhen had had another son in the Lotus Flower Blessed Land under his alternate identity of Zhou Fei, and that had been a constant sore spot for Jiang Heng over the past few years.

Still, he had no choice but to suppress his dissatisfaction, and he certainly didn’t dare to reveal his intention of sending someone into the Lotus Flower Blessed Land to kill off this younger brother of his. The reason for this was very simple: the one that Jiang Heng feared the most was none other than his own father, Jiang Shangzhen. Everyone on the Parasol Leaf Continent was aware of how terrifying Jiang Shangzhen was, and Jiang Heng feared him even more than the average person did.

Jiang Heng’s mother was the daughter of an old ancestor of an extremely lofty status in the Jade Tablet Sect, and she knew that Jiang Shangzhen had never truly loved her. However, whenever she spoke of Jiang Shangzhen to Jiang Heng back when he was still a child, a genuinely happy expression would still appear on her face, and she would tell him that she was very content just to be able to stay by Jiang Shangzhen’s side.

On the day that she passed, Jiang Shangzhen had sat beside her sickbed with a gentle expression, holding onto her hand in silence. Even on the verge of death, Jiang Heng’s mother clutched tightly onto Jiang Shangzhen’s hand, and she smiled as she said something that made Jiang Heng’s heart sink.

”I went to see that woman in secret once. She was already an old woman at that point, and I could tell that she wouldn’t have been all that pretty even back when she was young. I know you decided to name Jiang Heng what you did for her sake, and I granted you your wish, yet you never even thanked me. In all of the years that we’ve been together, that’s the only thing that I’m mad at you about.”

Jiang Shangzhen reached out his other hand to gently pat the back of her hand, and he chuckled, ”Did you know that while you were observing her in secret, I was also observing you in secret? At the time, you looked so adorably triumphant, like you had just scored some major victory.”

The woman nodded in response, then departed from the world with a smile still lingering on her lips.

Jiang Heng was sitting on a chair by the side of the bed, sobbing in an inconsolable fashion.

”How long are you going to keep crying for?” Jiang Shangzhen asked as he turned to Jiang Heng with a smile.

The child immediately sat up straight and suppressed his sobs in a fearful manner.

At the time, Jiang Shangzhen told him something that he didn’t understand, but still committed firmly to memory. ”If you can’t be yourself, then learn to deceive yourself. It’s not going to be easy being my son.”

However, setting aside his deep-seated fear of his father, Jiang Heng actually lived a very good life in the Jade Tablet Sect. In fact, aside from a tiny handful of people in the sect, one of whom was Wei Ying, he led a better life than everyone else.

At this moment, Jiang Heng was following Wei Ying’s gaze, looking out at the Divine Script Peak as he smiled and asked, ”You still can’t forget Sui Youbian?”

”Yes, but also no,” Wei Ying replied with a shake of his head. ”It’s true that I still can’t forget her, but not because I’m in love with her or anything like that. What bothers me the most about her is that she would rather die than come to visit my Nine Battle Peak.”

Wei Ying leaned against the railing, then turned his gaze to Jiang Heng and chuckled, ”When it comes to knowing a woman’s heart, Uncle Jiang’s expertise remains unmatched.”

Jiang Heng rested his elbows down onto the railing, not wanting to discuss this subject.

His name was a joke among many of the old ancestors of the Jade Tablet Sect, and many of them were no match for his father in both battle and mind games, so they enjoyed taking out their anger toward Jiang Shangzhen by picking on Jiang Heng. All of them could tell that Jiang Shangzhen didn’t have any high hopes for Jiang Heng anyway, so they could pick on him without any qualms.

”Looking at the state of the Divine Script Peak, I’m sure our sect leader will be able to reach the Ascension Tier,” Jiang Heng said, changing the subject.

”Indeed,” Wei Ying agreed with a smile and a nod. ”It looks like I have a long wait ahead if I want to inherit the position of sect leader. Thankfully, the Jade Tablet Sect can only have a single sect leader, but the Parasol Leaf Continent can accommodate two to three Ascension Tier cultivators. I wonder who’s going to become the third one. 

“If you ask me, Huang Ting of Peace and Tranquility Mountain and the child who left the Planchette Writing Sect to go to the Confucian academy are the likeliest candidates.”

Jiang Heng genuinely admired Wei Ying for the latter’s willingness and courage to speak about anything that he wanted. He hadn’t gained this courage after moving into the Nine Battle Peak. Instead, he had been like this ever since he first embarked on the path of cultivation.

Jiang Shangzhen had always been very fond of Wei Ying. He often lamented that his true son wasn’t like his son, but thankfully, he had Wei Ying, who was more like a son to him than his actual son, living on the Nine Battle Peak.

At the moment, things were going very well for the Jade Tablet Sect, and not just on the Parasol Leaf Continent, either.

Not only was Sect Leader Xun Yuan about to reach the Ascension Tier, the Jade Tablet Sect’s lower sect, the True Realm Sect, had also already completely established itself in Bamboo Scroll Lake.

On top of that, the Parasol Leaf Sect, Peace and Tranquility Mountain, and the Planchette Writing Sect had all recently been dealt heavy blows, and there were many people proclaiming that if the Jade Tablet Sect wanted to expand northward, then no one would be able to oppose them, even if the aforementioned three sects were to join forces. 

The Jade Tablet Sect had always been number two on the Parasol Leaf Continent for thousands of years, yet all of a sudden, it had risen to the top without really doing anything. Looking into the future, it seemed like the Jade Tablet Sect’s position would remain unchallenged for at least the next few thousand years, even if it were to continue to do nothing.

Surely, Sect Leader Xun Yuan was laughing himself awake at night.

Of course, the dramatic fall from grace of the Parasol Leaf Sect had played a pivotal role in the Jade Tablet Sect’s rise to the top.

First, their Ascension Tier ancestor, Du Mao, inexplicably perished, and not only that, but he had even taken down a small world with him. To make matters even worse, even the colored glaze golden body fragments that he left behind didn’t all fall to the Parasol Leaf Sect. 

On top of that, Zuo You had brought the entire sect to its knees, scarring the Dao Hearts of virtually every single cultivator in the sect to different degrees in the process. The Parasol Leaf Sect had fallen so far that Jiang Shangzhen even dared to hold a banquet high up in the clouds right on the border of the Parasol Leaf Sect’s territory. 

In the past, when Du Mao was still alive, Jiang Shangzhen would’ve had to flee for his life if he didn’t want to be cut down on the spot.

Immediately following this unfortunate sequence of events came the defection of that Upper Five Tiers ancestor, who went to the Jade Tablet Sect with one of the Parasol Leaf Sect’s most prized treasures. 

That same Upper Five Tiers ancestor ultimately accompanied Jiang Shangzhen to the Eastern Treasured Vial Continent to establish a lower sect for the Jade Tablet Sect, but nothing had been heard of him in recent years. Apparently, he had gone into seclusion.

”On the subject of Huang Ting, I think it’s quite a shame that her fortune is solely restricted to a single continent,” Wei Ying suddenly said. ”If the swordsmen of the Parasol Leaf Continent weren’t so reclusive, and more of them were willing to travel to the Sword Qi Great Wall, then even if the Parasol Leaf Continent ultimately still can’t become the Northern Complete Reed Continent, it should’ve at least accumulated enough fortune to give rise to one or two Immortal Tier sword immortals long ago. 

“If I were in charge of the Parasol Leaf Continent, I would immediately send all of the swordsmen to Stalactite Mountain, and each time they returned, they would bring back some fortune with them. Over time, the Parasol Leaf Continent’s Sword Dao fortune would be bolstered year after year. 

“Of course, these traveling swordsmen would have to be kept in the dark. Otherwise, they’d all go to the Parasol Leaf Continent with impure intentions, and it wouldn’t work as well. If Sui Youbian had remained in the Jade Tablet Sect, I would’ve been willing to help her compete against Huang Ting in the Sword Dao.”

Jiang Heng didn’t know if this was something that Wei Ying had thought of himself, or if he were merely parroting something that Xun Yuan had told him. In any case, he wasn’t going to ask.

As for how Sui Youbian had come to the Jade Tablet Sect and why Wei Ying thought so highly of her, Jiang Heng didn’t care to know.

”I’m just a useless guy who lives only for the sake of it,” Jiang Heng said with a lazy smile as he cast his gaze into the distance. ”I’ll leave it to you to think about all of this big picture stuff.”

As Jiang Heng stared off into the distance, his thoughts began to drift back to his past journey to Stalactite Mountain, to Lady Gui on the Osmanthus Island, to the sword above the clouds in Old Dragon City, to the Plum Blossom Garden on Stalactite Mountain...

Jiang Heng had embarked on that journey with full confidence and resolve, determined to own the Parasol Leaf Continent’s first intercontinental ship and open up a new money-making avenue for the Jiang Clan. It wasn’t going to generate much income, but at the very least, it was something, and perhaps it would finally make his father think highly of him for once.

However, everything had gone against him on that journey, and it ultimately ended in failure. To further compound his woes, a disgusting rumor began to spread not long after he returned to the Jade Tablet Sect, proclaiming that he had somehow ended up with a younger brother.

After leaving the Nine Battle Peak, Jiang Heng returned to his own residence, which was still the same old residence where his mother had once lived.

He sat on the doorstep, looking into the empty room, and his voice began to choke up as he said, ”Father was lying to you, Mother. At the time, he was still in the Cloud Cave Blessed Land, so how could he have gone to see you? Do you know he was lying? Of course you do. You were always so smart and introspective; there’s no way you didn’t know. This is how you always were your entire life. 

“Everything you did was for the sake of that heartless bastard. Wait for me, Mother. Someday, I’m going to make him personally apologize to you; I swear it! From that day forth, I will no longer be Jiang Heng. My name will be Jiang Beihai...”

All of a sudden, an extremely familiar voice rang out nearby, one that sent chills running down Jiang Heng’s spine. ”Now, now, that’s no way to be talking about your father, is it?”

Jiang Heng’s entire body stiffened up as he turned around to face the smiling man behind him. 

”I finally come home for once, and I immediately overhear my own son plotting my downfall,” Jiang Shangzhen sighed. ”It’s a good thing I couldn’t care less about you. Otherwise, I would surely be so enraged and disheartened that my Dao Heart would be instantly broken, causing me to plummet down several tiers in cultivation base.”

Jiang Heng rose unsteadily to his feet with an ashen complexion.

Jiang Shangzhen observed Jiang Heng for a moment, then smiled and nodded as he said, ”You’re a little dumb, but I suppose that can’t be helped, considering you do take after your mother, but that’s not entirely a bad thing. They say that fools are often fortunate because they’re always quick to forget their sorrows. I’ll let you off the hook just this once. 

“As your father, I haven’t really ever been around, so it’s not really my place to reprimand you. However, you must remember that even if I haven’t been the best father, you still have to be a good son, and while you’re at it, be kind to your siblings as well. Don’t cause more trouble for me than you need to.”

Jiang Heng’s mind was in a complete daze, and he could only nod in response in a wooden manner.

Jiang Shangzhen turned to depart as he sighed, ”How did I give birth to an ugly runt like you? You’re such a massive eyesore to look at! Don’t you feel ashamed being so hideous with such good-looking parents? From now on, whenever you’re in my presence, only speak to me with your head lowered.”

Only after Jiang Shangzhen was gone did Jiang Heng dare to wipe the sweat and tears from his face, feeling as if he had just brushed shoulders with death.

If someone were to overhear the scathing remarks Jiang Shangzhen had aimed at his son, perhaps they would’ve been sympathetic towards Jiang Heng, but in reality, compared with some of the things that Jiang Shangzhen had said to him in the past, this wasn’t even all that bad.

After leaving the residence, Jiang Shangzhen went straight to the Divine Script Peak ancestral hall to welcome Xun Yuan as the latter emerged from seclusion, following a successful breakthrough to the Ascension Tier.

Wei Ying possessed both the cultivation base and the status required to have a seat in the ancestral hall, and one that was ranked quite highly, at that, but due to the special nature of the Nine Battle Peak, he didn’t have a seat in the ancestral hall.

This was a rule that had existed in the sect for a very long time, and there was no room for negotiation.

Jiang Shangzhen was in a rather foul mood after overhearing Jiang Heng earlier, but his mood was instantly lifted as soon as he entered the ancestral hall.