Volume Two: Snow Over the Qin Mountains Chapter Nine: The Sword Debate at the Peaks (Part Three)

As the sun sank in the west and the sky filled with sunset clouds, an unexpected guest arrived at Feng Qi’s cave dwelling.

Uninvited guests are rarely bearers of good news.

Watching the visitor, he sighed helplessly, “I have already conceded. What exactly do you want?”

Zhou Zihan looked around his dwelling. “You’re not a serious person, so I didn’t expect your living quarters to be so tidy.”

Feng Qi sighed again. “Could you answer my question first? It’s getting late, and it’s easy for people to gossip when a man and a woman are alone together.”

Zhou Zihan frowned. “Are you always this flippant when you speak?”

Feng Qi sighed once more. “There are plenty of graceful and well-mannered senior brothers in the Snow Cloud Sect; you don’t need to lower yourself to talk to me.”

Zhou Zihan kept her hands behind her back and asked, “Why did you concede?”

Feng Qi replied, “For the time being, I am truly not your match. What else was I supposed to do?”

Zhou Zihan was silent for a moment before saying, “I thought the Heir of Yanbei could be a bit more transcendental.”

Feng Qi raised an eyebrow.

This statement could be interpreted in many ways, but regardless of the meaning, it showed that Zhou Zihan had at least imagined what Feng Qi might be like; otherwise, she would not have used the word “more.”

A premise must exist for a comparison to be made.

Feng Qi subconsciously ignored the former part and asked in return, “I don’t mean to be intrusive, but what kind of person did you think the Heir of Yanbei was?”

Zhou Zihan looked at him very seriously. “Anything but this.”

Feng Qi asked again, “And what am I like now?”

“Slouchy and cynical,” Zhou Zihan said. After a pause, she added, “Or perhaps you are bearing a heavy burden? Who knows?”

Feng Qi smiled, offering no explanation.

Silence fell between them.

Just as Feng Qi was wondering what to do, Zhou Zihan suddenly said, “I want to see your sword.”

Feng Qi was slightly startled, thinking that this was quite a sudden shift in the conversation.

He did not shy away, knowing it would be pointless. Many disciples had speculated during the matches that he didn’t even have a sword, but he knew such things could not be hidden from the true geniuses—at least not from the sword-bearers of the various peaks.

A flash of azure light flickered, and the Qingshuang Sword appeared in his hand.

Zhou Zihan’s eyes brightened. “Is it really an Immortal-grade flying sword?”

Feng Qi curled his lip, thinking, *It’s not yours.*

Zhou Zihan suddenly frowned again. She looked at Feng Qi, then at the Qingshuang Sword, and remarked, “A pearl covered in dust. What a pity.”

Feng Qi felt a bit awkward. “How is it a pearl covered in dust? Don’t think that just because you beat me, you’re something special. I’ll tell you, if I had fought with all my might, you might not have been my match!”

Zhou Zihan tilted her head slightly and asked, “Then why didn’t you?”

Feng Qi said, “You are a woman, after all. If I were to go all out against a woman, it would be too unsightly.”

Zhou Zihan arched her brows. “You look down on women?”

Feng Qi quickly denied it, explaining, “It’s just that the education I received growing up doesn’t allow me to hurt women.”

Zhou Zihan persisted. “Unsightly… is conceding not unsightly?”

Feng Qi smiled. “It’s better than being covered in blood and losing anyway.”

Zhou Zihan said, “I don’t think I’ve seen the sword techniques you used that day.”

Feng Qi replied, “Those weren’t sword techniques; they were spear techniques, called the Overlord’s Spear.”

Zhou Zihan said, “Oh,” and asked, “Can you teach them to me?”

Feng Qi thought to himself, *Why would a young lady want to learn the broad and aggressive fighting style of the Overlord’s Spear?*

Zhou Zihan looked at him. “I remember you said you would give me the essence of your sword techniques.”

Feng Qi scratched his head, putting on an awkward smile.

“I don’t want the sword technique essence anymore,” Zhou Zihan said seriously. “I want to learn the Overlord’s Spear.”

Feng Qi was silent for a while, then stood up and took a stack of papers from the desk to give to her. “These are the notes I organized a few days ago. They contain the spear techniques and annotations on how to perform them with a sword. Everything except for the ‘Last Stand’ is here. Take them back and study them; if you don’t understand something, you can ask me.”

He had written these down from memory after returning from the Wuhen Hall, just to keep up the charade; he hadn’t expected them to benefit Zhou Zihan.

Zhou Zihan raised an eyebrow. “Why not the ‘Last Stand’?”

Feng Qi said seriously, “It’s not that I can’t, but if you can handle the risk of being exposed, I wouldn’t mind teaching you.”

Zhou Zihan’s face flushed; she seemed to recall exactly what the “Last Stand” entailed.

Feng Qi looked out the window. “It’s late. You should go.”

Zhou Zihan didn’t move.

Feng Qi asked, “Is there something else?”

***

Zhou Zihan hesitated for a moment before asking, “Could you accompany me on a trip outside?”

He realized that “a trip” here surely wouldn’t mean just wandering around the Snow Cloud Sect—otherwise, there would be no need for her to ask him along. Was she talking about leaving for training?

Feng Qi thought, *This must be the real point.* Without hesitation, he asked, “Where to?”

Zhou Zihan said, “Anywhere will do. My master says I lack experience and need to see the outside world to ensure my Sword Heart remains clear.”

Feng Qi raised an eyebrow. “Why me? There should be plenty of people who would want to accompany you.”

Zhou Zihan replied, “I heard you have read many books.”

Feng Qi said, “In the event of a fight… what good would books be?”

Zhou Zihan said seriously, “Fighting is my job; I just need an encyclopedia. Now, you only need to give me your answer.”

Feng Qi was silent for a while, then asked, “When do we leave?”

Zhou Zihan thought for a moment. “I originally wanted to leave tomorrow, but you should probably watch Senior Brother Mou Linhan’s sword debate. You’ve just joined the sect and have much to familiarize yourself with. How about two months from now?”

Feng Qi nodded. “Very well, it’s settled then.”

***

Battles in the Hui-Xin Realm were much more spectacular than those in the Hun-Yuan Realm because the practitioners were at a higher level. More importantly, those who performed well in the Inter-Peak Sword Debate were likely to be favored by elders or even Peak Masters, potentially being taken on as direct disciples, thus no longer needing to learn from the chief disciples of their respective peaks.

Watching the back-and-forth on the stage, Feng Qi couldn’t help but yawn.

It wasn’t arrogance; he had fought a major battle yesterday, followed by being scolded, then returned to his cave to fabricate evidence to cover his lies, and finally hosted Zhou Zihan. He was genuinely exhausted.

After watching two matches, he shook his head and closed his eyes for a nap.

Seeing this, the disciples from the various peaks whispered among themselves.

“Is this the Heir of Yanbei?” asked those who hadn’t been able to attend yesterday.

“What a disgrace! Does he think he can act so arrogant in Snow Cloud just because he has some talent?” a disciple from Fenglei Peak raged.

“I thought the North was full of nothing but rough, uncouth men. I didn’t expect there to be a young man like Junior Brother Feng, so slender and well-proportioned with such star-like brows,” a disciple from Zhuiyue Peak swooned.

The disciples of Wuhen Peak were still occupied with grievances for their Senior Brother and found the sight of Feng Qi even more irritating, but they said nothing. With their senior brothers of the Hui-Xin Realm absent, none of them were a match for Feng Qi.

Feng Qi heard the murmurs but didn’t care. When he opened his eyes again, the first day of the Inter-Peak Sword Debate was nearing its end.

Mou Linhan stood on the stage, his Yuanhong Sword hovering a foot above his shoulder.

His opponent was the second disciple of Fenglei Peak, Mei Hanqing.

The matchups were randomized. While unfair to some top-ranking disciples, it ensured that every day of the debate was worth watching.

Mei Hanqing asked softly, “Do you want me to lose to you on purpose?”

Mou Linhan was surprised. “Are you sick in the head?”

Mei Hanqing became anxious and angry. “Could it be that you have no objections to the Sword-Bearer position being snatched away?”

Mou Linhan was even more surprised. He shook his head and said, “Wan Jiang was right. The disciples of Fenglei Peak are all delusional. From Zhang Chen on down, there isn’t a single one with a normal brain.”

He paused and mocked, “Who becomes the Sword-Bearer is a private matter for Wuhen Peak. What does that have to do with whether you lose to me or not? Besides, if Zhang Chen were standing here, he might have the capital to say such things. Who are you? Do you think you deserve to talk to me like that?”

Mei Hanqing said no more.

He pushed his finger against the hilt, revealing an inch of the blade.

Two sword lights collided, the sound of metal ringing crisp and clear.

Several deep sword marks appeared on the stage.

The sword lights clashed incessantly, and the platform soon began to crack, clearly on the verge of turning into ruins.

As third-generation disciples, there was no visible gap between the chief disciple and the second-ranked disciple. Taking Wuhen Peak as an example, Mou Linhan could definitely defeat Wan Jiang, but he certainly could not do so easily.

The same held true for the other peaks.

They were all heaven-sent geniuses; who was really that much worse than the other?

Except for Sheng Yun.

Even in the Snow Cloud Sect, where monsters abounded, he was the most dazzling of them all.

Perhaps Zhou Zihan and Feng Qi could catch up, but that would still not diminish his glory.

On the stage, the battle was deadlocked. Off the stage, the atmosphere was heated.

High on the spectator platform, an elder from Wuhen Peak frowned.

A massive surge of vital energy erupted from his body, gathering beneath the two colliding sword lights to condense into a new platform.

***

“Evening Clouds Retreat!”

“Wind and Thunder Emerge!”

As the battle intensified, the two top disciples began to use their trump cards.

A mist of sword energy rose from the stage, looking like sunset clouds in the evening.

Within the mist, a white light darted around, resembling lightning swimming through the clouds.

Feng Qi sighed, a look of regret appearing in his eyes.

Li Ruoyu, sitting beside him, was startled by the sigh and asked, “Why does the Sword-Bearer sigh?”

Feng Qi said, “I sigh because the Senior Brother is about to lose.”

Li Ruoyu was puzzled. “Why would Senior Brother lose?”

Feng Qi was about to speak when Wan Jiang said coldly, “If you don’t know, shut up! ‘Evening Clouds Retreat’ has always been the nemesis of ‘Wind and Thunder Emerge.’ Now that Mei Hanqing is trapped in the Senior Brother’s sword mist, how could he lose?”

Feng Qi was silent for a moment and then smiled. “Second Senior Brother is right. It was my presumptuous talk.”

Just then, the unexpected happened.

A cry of a swallow suddenly echoed from within the sword mist.

Wan Jiang was stunned.

Li Ruoyu asked in surprise, “Isn’t it ‘Wind and Thunder Emerge’? Why is there the sound of a swallow?”

Feng Qi stood up. “Because the Sword-Bearer of Fenglei Peak is not using ‘Wind and Thunder Emerge,’ but ‘Flying Swallow Chasing the Moon.’”

Wan Jiang’s face turned ugly. “You knew it was ‘Flying Swallow Chasing the Moon’?”

Feng Qi said, “Although ‘Wind and Thunder Emerge’ and ‘Flying Swallow Chasing the Moon’ look very similar on the surface, the former is much more violent. Not to mention the Hui-Xin Realm, even someone in the Yin-Hui Realm couldn’t use it dozens of times in a few seconds. Therefore, that darting sword light could not have been ‘Wind and Thunder Emerge.’”

He paused and added, “If the Senior Brother had used ‘Immovable as Rain’ immediately after realizing Zhang Chen’s attack, he might have been able to force a draw… I don’t know why the Senior Brother chose to go all-in with ‘Evening Clouds Retreat.’”

As soon as he finished speaking, the sword mist on the stage collapsed, turning into scattered sunset clouds.

Mei Hanqing breathed heavily, his gaze toward Mou Linhan filled with newfound gravity.

Mou Linhan’s sword robe was riddled with holes, and blood stained half his body.

Perhaps due to blood loss, his face was pale, but his expression remained calm, just as it always was.

He bowed slightly to Mei Hanqing. “I concede the match.”

“You…” Mei Hanqing started.

Mou Linhan didn’t let him finish. “I know what you’re confused about, but I might encounter Zhang Chen later, so I can’t tell you.”

Mei Hanqing was speechless.

The disciples of Wuhen Peak erupted in cheers.

The morale of Fenglei Peak was low, but that was to be expected; after all, it was a second-ranked disciple challenging the chief, so losing was acceptable.

Zhang Chen gestured to Mei Hanqing. “Come back.”

***

Wuhen Peak.

Feng Qi looked at Mou Linhan, who was bandaging his wounds. “Senior Brother.”

Mou Linhan frowned, his forehead covered in sweat, and grunted in acknowledgment.

Feng Qi weighed his words. “Why didn’t you want to win?”

Mou Linhan grunted again. “Didn’t I win?”

Feng Qi said, “But you didn’t have to get hurt like this.”

Mou Linhan looked up at Feng Qi before focusing back on his wounds. “It’s nothing. It’ll heal.”

Feng Qi was silent for a while. “Was it really not because of me?”

Mou Linhan smiled. “What does it have to do with you?”

Feng Qi thought of the comments he had heard during the debate and hesitated. “Sword-Bearer…”

Mou Linhan burst into laughter and interrupted him. “You fool. Even if I beat Mei Hanqing, what does that prove? They are two unrelated things; there’s no need to connect them. Don’t overthink it.”