The Heavenly Wandering Sword
Prologue
Amongst the Heavenly Palaces, the Court of the Gods was a place where few cultivators will ever see. No matter the level, unless chosen by the Heavenly Court, it would never matter. However for Li Jian, this was a place where he had always been destined to enter ever since five thousand years ago, since the moment he had first picked up the sword and learned it. Not just the way of using a sword in battle and war, but also in understanding the innate nature of the sword. Today, he sought out the Great Deity himself, a rare occasion for he usually kept to himself at Sword Mountain. The guards of the Heavenly Palaces, the Zodiacs each bowed at his entrance.
“Sword Deity” Shen Leung, the Dragon Captain of the Zodiacs greeted Li Jian. The Sword Deity bowed in response. “Brothers, you have all been working tirelessly, I thank you.” Li Jian has always been humble, a deity or not, the contribution of others should not be disregarded. Shen Leung smiled graciously, as Li Jian walked in through the main entrance of the Court. Not all the Deities spent their times in the Court, usually only the Great Deity himself was there. This time however, the Deity of Martial Art as well as the Deity of Beauty were there as well. Li Jian also saw that Xian Lan, the Deity of Wine was there as well. Beside the Great Deity was also Tan Tie, the Deity of Smithing.
“Brother Swordsman, it is a rare honour for us to see you in our presence, I had forgotten just how handsome you are.” Shen Huli called out, her delicately made up eyelashes battering at him, the ever presence glamour of her martial powers sending attention to her regardless of gender. For Li Jian however, such a glamour did not work on him. At best, she was in the Heavenly Realms. Such realms were now beyond him. The one beside her however was not so polite in his greeting. “That is because Brother Swordsman has forgotten us, and thinks too much of himself only. How could he possibly have us in his eyes?” Hei Chuin Zi said.
The God of Martial Art has always been abrasive, partially because he had never forgotten the grudge that existed between the two different heavenly portfolios. Hei Chuin Zi had always thought that Swords portfolio should exist under Martial Art. In fact, underneath Martial Art portfolio existed boxing, archery, wrestling, as well as the use of sabers. Yet the sword was not included. It is something he never understood and will always hold a grudge for. Li Jian didn’t bother wasting any time, only bowing in greeting. “Sister and brother Deity, this humble swordsman did not mean to offend. The blame rests solely on myself for being absentminded.”
The Great Deity, whos portfolio was uniquely only that of “Emperor”, smiled. Each deity had different personalities, but Li Jian has always been the most low profile one. Even Sword Mountain was a humble place. A place where spiritual energy was dense, yes, much like all of the Heavenly Palace. However, Sword Mountain contained only a single humble manner for guests while Li Jian himself lived in a simple house at the very top. What he desired most was room to practice swordsmanship, and tranquility. In contrast, the other deities each had great manor houses and multiple servants. The Great Deity recalled only a small handful of servants there, and they each had more to do with the larger guest house than anything else. Li Jian himself only had one or two servants to do laundry and errands.
“Come now, Brother Swordsman, please don’t take the words of Brother Hei to heart. We all know he expresses his affections in such callous manners.” True to the nature of his portfolio, Xian Lan was much more outgoing and much more willing to be friendly than the Martial God. Of course, under the portfolio of the Deity of Wine was also that of friendship and good company. Each Deity had multiple portfolios that transcended down to smaller portfolios. All except The Great Deity, the Divine Emperor, and of course, Li Jian.
Li Jian only bowed at the waist; his hands clasped together in a traditional greeting. “I am but a humble swordsman, all I can say is that Brother Hei is a mighty Deity and will be forgiving.” To something like that, the Martial Deity could only grumble, there was not much he was able to say to a response such as that. The Divine Emperor simply smiled and nodded. “Brother Swordsman, tell me then of the purpose of your visit? You are a deity of purpose.” Li Jian bowed respectfully towards the Divine Emperor. “Divine Emperor, you are indeed wise. Today, I come to inform you all that I will be leaving the Heavenly Court to travel in the mortal realms. I seek to go down the mountain to travel once again.”
At this, the Martial Deity Hei Chuin Zi smashed his hand onto the marble table in front of you. “Impunity, you dare to tell us that you wish to leave? Is Brother Swordsman so arrogant that you do not even hold the entire Heavenly Court in your eyes? There is the law of non-interference in the affairs of mortals. Whether mortal civilians or the martial artists in the world, we cannot directly intervene. We are forbidden by the Dao itself.” Even the Divine Emperor nodded in agreement. “I do not believe that Brother Li is being arrogant. But surely you are aware of the law of non-interference? Tell me, why do you seek to go down the mountain?”
The other deities looked at each other in surprise. In many ways, the end goal of all mortal practitioners is to reach the Heavenly Court, to go through the final trial of entering the Heavenly Gates. To see if the carp truly can jump the gates to become a dragon. “Please do not misunderstand, I speak not out of arrogance. I wish to leave to see the world once again. Detachment brings wisdom, but experience brings guidance.” Li Jian said in response, while the Hei Chuin Zi’s face began turning red. He was a powerful figure with an intimidating aura. “You dare spout such nonsense in front of us? If you continue to insist upon leaving the mountain, then don’t blame me for enforcing the law of non-interference and being impolite.” The Divine Emperor himself held out a hand and looked at Li Jian. “There must be more to that Brother Li.” Li Jian thought for a moment and responded. “Divine Emperor, I have stood on top of Sword Mountain. However, the tip of the sword must be constantly sharpened. I cannot simply keep sharpening my sword the way I have always done, in order to reach further enlightenment, then I must learn how to sharpen my sword better.”
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Tan Tie spoke up. “Brother, I understand why you wish to walk such a path. But you understand that to walk back through the Heavenly Gates, you would lose your portfolio?” Li Jian simply shrugged casually. “We have not seen yet if the Heavenly Gates is capable of such a thing.” “IMPUNITY” Hei Chuin Zi roared and stood up, the table with wine in front of him knocked over by his gesture. “Li Jian, don’t blame me for being impolite, you have gone too far.” Li Jian looked at him and then back at the Divine Emperor. “Li Jian, you cannot simply leave and walk down. If you do, the Heavenly Gate will take your immortality. The Dao will not allow such a thing.” Li Jian bowed down to the Heavenly Emperor. “My Divine Emperor, please do not take my comments as rudeness. I do not believe that there is a single person in the universe that can stop me from walking out of the Heavenly Gate. My path down the mountain is as etched in stone as the carvings on the Heavenly Gates themselves.”
At this, a murmur broke out through the various Deities. “Brother Li, please do not go too far. I consider you my closest friend.” Tan Tie said. “Brother Tan, I must go down the mountain. I cannot live the life of a Deity continuously; I do not have such a lofty ambition so as to rule. I wish only to sharpen my sword, and to find out what it’s like to once again living the life of a simple man. To live a simple life. I will return once I gain more enlightenment. I would be most grateful if I can give up the title of godhood. ” Tan Tie sighed and shook his head. It was something that Li Jian and him have spoken about a few times. Each of the Deities had ascended through the Heavenly Gates, the Dao itself, the law and will of the universe, judging them to be the apex of their respective craft. In that, it was just so much that they had become powerful and skilled; it was that they by the law of the universe were the absolute best at their portfolio.
“Very well I will take your portfolio Brother Li, and I will teach you the lesson that you have so desperately needed to learn.” Hei Chuin Zi roared as he jumped out from where he stood, his Sky Rendering Spear appearing in his hand, a golden red light covering the spear. It was a spear of legends, said to have been forged from the stars themselves with the authority of divine kings. Li Jian looked at the Divine Emperor and got down on one knee. “Divine Emperor, if I do not have your blessing then I will simply let Brother He strike me down.” The Divine Emperor sighed. “The world of cultivation is a brutal one, Brother Li. If you can defeated the Martial God then I will let you try to leave the mountain. I cannot control the Heavenly Gates, but I will not stop you from trying. If Brother Hei wins, you must stay and make no attempts for the next five hundred years.”
“Come then Brother Swordsman, see if your single portfolio is truly capable of besting the Supreme Martial God!” Hei Chuin Zi roared out as he readied his spear to attack. Li Jian simply bowed his head to the Martial Emperor. “This subordinate understands.” He stood up to face the Martial God. “Please do not blame me for being impolite then.” Hei Chuin Zi swung his spear and roared, the golden red flames of his spear riding in colour until every deity in the room felt the heat. “See if you can survive three spears against me then!” Before he could charge, the pressure in the room suddenly increased. “Brother Hei, let us settle all grudges we have have had. I have told you before that I do not wish to fight you. I do not wish to fight you because you are not my opponent. I do not wish to fight you because I do not wish to harm a fellow deity. If you wish to have this fight then, I will make this very clear to you. You are not worthy to see my sword. You have no right to make me draw my sword.”
The pressure increased further, even as the deities themselves had trouble keeping themselves up. Even as they tempered their bodies and steadied them with heavenly spirit force, the pressure was too great. However it seemed that the pressure was not directed at any of them but only on Hei Chuin Zi. The Martial God was forced onto his knees, holding desperately onto his spear to try and prevent himself from collapsing on to the floor. “That is his sword intent.” Tan Tie murmured as he boosted his body further with heavenly spirit force. For the Divine Emperor, this was eye opening. He was on the Godly Realm and used Divine Force to imbue his body but still he felt the pressure. “Just what realm had Li Jian reached?” He thought.
“Let me show you why I am not someone you can just provoke, Martial God.” With a simple wave of his hand, the heavens themselves opened up. The deities that were still able to crane their heads looked up towards the sky and saw more than a million swords in the sky, aimed at the Martial God. “This is 10 percent of my power, Martial God. Please give me pointers.” Each sword in the sky was part of his sword intent, part of what mortals would call “Sword Law.” With a wave of his index finger, all one million spirit swords flew down towards Hei Chuin Zi, stopping only when the Martial God was fully forced onto the ground. The Swords were stopped 20 meters away from him, Li Jian dismissing them with a wave of his hand. The moment the swords disappeared, the pressure disappeared, a heavy wind flowing through the Heavenly Court as the pressure collapsed. Li Jian looked over at the other Deities and simply bowed and then left.
As he walked up to the Heavenly Gates, he could not help but admire the architecture. Carved out of golden marble, the Gates were massive. “Heavenly Gate” was carved in simple writing on top. The guardians of the gate stood there, the four guardians of the Heavenly Gates. The four dragons, each coiling around the gates themselves bowed their heads in greeting. Li Jian looked at the Heavenly Gates and held out a hand. “Heed this command, I order you to open to the mortal realm.” The other deities all looked at him unsure of what might happen. The law of noninterference would prevent the gate from opening, and would not allow a Deity to step through. However, this time the gate itself spoke. “I obey the word of law.” With that, the gate activated with a golden light.
“Li Jian, I cannot let you keep your portfolio.” The Divine Emperor said. “It is forbidden.” Li Jian nodded and held out a hand, a small sphere of white light appearing, the symbol of a Sword in side of it. The orb of light transferred and he sent it floating towards the Divine Emperor. The Divine Emperor sighed. The Dragon of the Twelve Zodiacs stepped forward with a golden box and opened it, Li Jian sending the floating orb of light into the box.
“I bid you fare well, may fate bring us together once more.” Li Jian bowed, and thus walked through the gate.