The Heavenly Wandering Sword
Chapter 1
As soon as Li Jian stepped through the gates, he was whisked away. Through the sky and the heavens, he landed just outside of a large city. He was still in the forest itself but he felt the beginnings of a peace that he had not felt for a very long time. Not since he had transcended into the Heavenly Court. Dressed in a simple tunic, he had all of his worldly possessions on him. A dimensional space ring that stored his sword, and a heavenly soul gem. The heavenly soul gem was a rare artifact that could take a willing soul into it. With enough power and the right resources, a cultivator was able to take that soul and reconstruct them. For him, it was an empty vessel, a memory of a close friend who had gifted it to him. A friend from before the times of ascension.
Of course, he also had various other things, all relatively minor tokens he had collected from long ago. He sighed to himself slightly and looked up at the sun. It was already a warm afternoon, and he realized that perhaps it would be best to make his way into the city itself. Just outside of the city of course, was a large travelers market. “Oh, the mortal use of coins.” He muttered to himself. He had forgotten about currency. There were the common coins used by mortals, and of course spirit stones used by cultivators. Above that were also spirit coins of varying grades.
First thing first, he had to find a way to establish perhaps a source of revenue. Other wise he would be stuck sleeping in the streets which just might be an interesting enough experience on its own. He browsed through the markets idly, looking to see what mortals consider worthy of trade. He found various pieces of spiritual items that were very useful to beginner cultivators. There were some higher grade items that were found most likely in tombs and various caves, items lost to time and then rediscovered. The prices were of course, ridiculous as well. For Li Jian, none of these items were useful to him. Instead he decided to head towards the city gates to enter.
At the gates were stationed the city guards who answered to the governor of the city. He could see that each of them were at least at the Foundation Establishment level. Not too bad for mortal guards, he assumed. They were at least high enough level to deal with non-cultivators. He was let into the city with a warning of keep out of trouble and don’t cause problems in the taverns. He laughed to himself quietly as he passed through the city gates, stopping to admire the structure of such a large city. The sign at the gates said “Baiyang City”. So that was the name of the place. Already, he could see that there were the uniforms of different sect members going about their errands or various students looking to find more resources for themselves.
Most of these students were at the Qi Condensation stage, although he did see a few that were first level Foundation Establishment ones. He saw a mix of various colours and smiled a little to himself. He remembered the first sect he had joined when he had started on the paths to cultivation. He wondered whatever had happened to the Thousand Sword Sect.
“Get out of the way, clear the way!” A servant who was running ahead called out, the crowd in the road parting to reveal a few young men dressed in the white and blue of the Skysoul sect walking, the servant clearing the way for them as the four young men walked around casually with an arrogance that spoke of a rich background. One of them fanned himself leisurely as he looked over at the various taverns around. “Brother, perhaps it is best to stop at the Skytower Tavern today to amuse ourselves with some wine and snacks?” Their leader nodded and the group made their way into the Skytower tavern, a massive ten floored tower where each floor was a various theme and prices were adjusted accordingly. Li Jian could only sigh to himself and think.
“I need to scrape together some coins if I want to have an enjoyable time at a place like that.” This thought also brought to himself some uncommon joy. It had been a long time since he had a goal, a challenge of some kind. Of course, he could have simply flown to the governor’s palace and demanded a million spirit stones or he would destroy the city. But a concept like that was simply unfathomable to Li Jian.
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Remembering some of the things he used to do when he had started out as a cultivator, he wandered around the streets until he found some disciples who wore a blue and light blue uniform. “Greetings, I am new to town and I hope that seniors would be able to provide some information for me?” He asked them, bowing as he asked the question. The disciplines looked around as if looking for who he was speaking to before realizing that he was asking them. “Greetings traveler. We of the Spiritblade sect would be more than glad to be of assistance.” The three of them would bow politely in return to Li Jian’s greeting. “Seniors, I am new to Baiyang city and I have a poor back ground. I am wondering if there is a way for a new comer to quickly come by some earnings?”
The oldest one, probably around 19 or so, would step forward. “Respectful traveler, I am Ling Feng. These are my fellow disciples, Chi Ruyan and Teng Ye Lung.” The other two smiled in response. “If the traveler has no ability, then it would be to become a servant of one of the families in town. If they accept you, then you are guaranteed a decent life and perhaps may indeed step into the realm of cultivation one day. If the traveler has ability, then perhaps you can try your luck at joining a sect or perhaps to participate in the city’s fighting rings.” The last part perked Li Jian’s interest and he smiled. “Fighting rings.. that is of interest to myself. Perhaps you would be so kind as to point out the way?” Ling Feng bowed and gestured towards the eastern part of the city. “There is a massive pagoda. As long as one can pass the test of the examiner in the beginning, then one can perhaps find a match to fight in.”
Li Jian bowed in thanks and went on his way. “Do you think he will do well there?” Chi Ruyan, a rather striking young woman of 18 would ask. “I couldn’t detect even a single thread of Qi in him. I don’t think a powerful man would be poor, so perhaps he is trying his luck?” Ling Feng nodded. “Let’s follow him. If he overestimates himself and gets hurt, well, I believe that I bear responsibility as well if he was to get hurt.”
Li Jian would walk casually towards the eastern part of the city. He was already calculating how he would get involved in the fighting but it might be difficult to pass the examine. He had to make sure that his strikes had no Dao force in them, not to mention spiritual force. He did however sense that the previous three he had met were following him. Were they going to see if he was capable? Or were they waiting to rob him if he had won? The heart of mortals were truly a mystery to him.
Shortly after, he would arrive in front of the pagoda. It really was a massive place and he could see a monitor at the front speaking to various people who came into fight. “If you have no skills or no cultivation, do not bother. It would be a waste of time. Fights must be profitable. No bets, no profit. If you can’t win, don’t bother.” The monitor was a large muscle bound man dressed in the purple colours of the Purple Pavilion, and in front of him were a group of young men who all seemed to be here for the same reason that Li Jian was. “The test is simple. Take three punches from me. If you can survive that, you can fight here.” The monitor was at the 9th level of Foundation Establishment and his punches were capable of shattering walls. There were already those who could not take one punch, and the monitor seemed to have lowered the amount of force he used when he saw that they would not be able to take his punches.
Li Jian bowed once it was his turn. “Please enlighten the junior, Elder Monitor.” The monitor stared at the seemingly 20 year old young man in front of him. “Son, do you come from a poor family?” He would ask quietly, judging by Li Jian’s simple clothing. “Yes Elder Monitor, this junior comes from a fishing village.” The Monitor sighed. “Little brother, if I give you a few coins, will you re-consider not risking your life here? If you cannot take even one punch and get heavily injured…” Li Jian bowed to him. “This junior understands the risks. I am ready for your pointers Senior.” Li Jian could see that the monitor was kind in his heart and reduced his defenses. He didn’t wish to crush the cultivation of the monitor accidentally.
The monitor nodded and using only 25% of his powers and punched Li Jian in the stomach. It would have been painful, but not lethal if Li Jian was a mortal. Of course for the monitor, he felt as if he was punching a wall as Li Jian did not react and simply stood there. “This boy is not simple.” He thought before using 50% of his powers and punched Li Jian again. Li Jian simply stood there, and the monitor finally put 100% of his power into the last punch. Li Jian grimaced, knowing what the result will be. The monitor punched him in the stomach but the backlash caused the monitor to stagger, his fist bruised heavily. “You may enter little brother.” Even with his heavily bruised knuckles, the monitor bowed and handed over a small token to be worn which signified that he was allowed to fight. Li Jian bowed before entering.
“Looks like the traveler is not so simple.” Ling Feng said. The three of them had seen the monitor bruise his hand, unable to make the man move at all with his three punches. “This might be a fight worth watching then.”