Chapter Ninety-Seven: Going to the Border to Fight

After cutting down the Sword Maniac, Ji Huo casually took up his five famed swords. Fine things, these; later he could hand them over to the little brats of the Heaven-and-Earth Cult.

“A grandmaster truly is no longer human.”

Xia Ningshang walked over and looked at the Sword Maniac sprawled on the ground, a lingering fear in her eyes, though there was envy too.

How many heroes had been stopped at the first rank? The Sword Maniac had entered the Way through madness; had Ji Huo not shaken his mind at the very last moment, he might well have become a grandmaster after all.

Ji Huo sighed. “Who knows when I’ll ever reach grandmaster realm.”

Even now, he still felt that barrier to grandmasterhood was as hard as iron. And now that he had learned the Elemental Canon, he even had a strange feeling that if he studied it deeply enough, then so long as his feet remained upon the earth, not even a grandmaster would be able to kill him.

Yet that barrier, he still could not break through.

The Sword Maniac was only half a step from grandmaster, yet he could turn into a scarlet streak and roam wherever he pleased. That, Ji Huo reckoned, was the power of a grandmaster.

To be honest, even now Ji Huo still could not figure out how the man had transformed.

When the Sword Maniac became that red streak, not even the Sovereign’s Sword could cut him down, as though he had truly become a beam of light. It was simply not martial arts at all; it was downright mystical.

Ji Huo suddenly thought of the Sword Saint. That fellow seemed able to bestow sword intent at will, and it even appeared that his will could descend upon the sword intent itself. Could that also be a grandmaster’s ability?

Then what was Father’s ability? Turning into a black bear spirit?

Father already looked as black as a bear. If he could truly turn into one, Ji Huo was already considering getting him a monk’s robe to play with.

Pffft! At that thought, Ji Huo could not help laughing aloud.

“What are you thinking about? That laugh is so indecent,” Xia Ningshang said with narrowed eyes.

“Nothing, nothing.” Ji Huo coughed.

Xia Ningshang curled her lip, then her gaze fell upon the Sword Maniac’s corpse. She, too, was stuck at that threshold to grandmasterhood, and by now she likewise could not break through no matter what.

Speaking of which, my brother has been stuck there for ages too. But when he came back, he swore he had touched something, saying it seemed he had fought the Sword Saint and been grievously wounded by him, and that he had gained some insight from it.

Damn it, I was grievously wounded by the Sword Saint too—why did I feel absolutely nothing?

Could it be because I only cared about running away and never took a direct blow from the Sword Saint, while my brother only ran after taking one head-on?

At the thought of this, Xia Ningshang felt a bit gloomy.

After tidying up for a while, the two of them hurried toward the outskirts of Heavens-Apart Mountain.

Seeing the White Tiger Army soldiers guarding the border, they both relaxed.

They had only intended to watch the excitement, never imagining they would run into such trouble.

After exchanging a few simple words with the White Tiger Army, the two went to an inn near the town to rest.

Early the next morning, a White Tiger Army officer came looking for them.

“Second Young Master isn’t going to the border to take a look?” The officer first glanced at Xia Ningshang, who was sitting nearby, swinging her little feet and looking entirely idle, and only after seeing that Ji Huo showed no reaction did he ask in confusion.

Ji Huo raised a brow. “The Liang Kingdom’s army is pressing the border?”

“That is indeed the case,” the officer said. “The capital should have received word as well. Once the new emperor is chosen, General Flying Bear should be leading the troops out to war.”

As expected, just as the old emperor had guessed, the situation would likely unfold according to his wishes.

However, choosing a new emperor would probably take several days, and even after one was chosen, Heavens-Apart Mountain was far from the capital. By the time word reached them, it would likely be three to five days later. When the news finally arrived, this spectacle would already be over.

“By the way, what is the White Tiger Army’s attitude toward the Sovereign’s Sword?” Ji Huo asked.

He did not believe that while he had been brandishing the Sovereign’s Sword all over Heavens-Apart Mountain, the White Tiger Army had received no news whatsoever.

The White Tiger Army’s attitude toward him was rather ambiguous, so it was worth asking. If anyone from the court came, then unless it was his father in person, Ji Huo would kill every last one of them.

The officer swept his eyes around the room, his face plainly saying that he knew nothing.

“The Sovereign’s Sword? What Sovereign’s Sword?”

Before the words had even faded, there came a whoosh. A glittering golden sword flew out from the bed and turned into a golden line as it vanished into the sky.

The officer: “...”

Ji Huo: “...”

Xia Ningshang: “...”

The atmosphere in the room grew a little strange. After a few seconds of silence, the officer’s dark face turned beet-red. At last, he burst into laughter.

“Hahahaha! That’s what I’m saying—what Sovereign’s Sword?”

“There’s nothing at all, hahaha!”

“Second Young Master sure knows how to joke.”

Ji Huo also awkwardly rubbed his nose and said with a laugh, “Exactly. There is no Sovereign’s Sword. It’s all just rumors from the jianghu.”

“That’s right, that’s right—rumors from the jianghu.” The officer nodded vigorously as well.

Ji Huo asked again, “Who is commanding the Liang Kingdom this time? Flying Valiant?”

If it was Flying Valiant, one of the Four Great Generals, then this battle would be difficult indeed. Added to the injuries on his father’s body, Ji Huo would probably still need to go to the battlefield and take a look.

“No, it is Dorifu, who has long been stationed at the border and possesses first-rank strength. Compared to General Flying Valiant, he is not nearly so troublesome, though he is still an old general with both courage and strategy,” the officer said.

Ji Huo nodded. In the Great Zhou, Dorifu was roughly akin to one of the commanders of the four major legions.

So long as it was not Flying Valiant, the problem was not serious.

Clearly, this White Tiger Army officer also felt there was no real issue, and was thinking of having Ji Huo join the battle to sharpen his skills and prepare in advance for taking over the Flying Bear Army in the future.

Mm, perhaps in the eyes of these military men, they had already tacitly accepted that the Flying Bear Army would be inherited by Ji Huo. After all, he was the second person in the world able to use the Thunderous Fiery Bear Fist.

The officer smiled and was about to speak again when, suddenly, another golden line flew in through the window and turned back into a brilliantly radiant sword that looked absurdly out of place.

This time, the Sovereign’s Sword did not even bother drilling back into the bedding. It stood straight in front of Ji Huo, constantly shaking its hilt as if showing off something.

The officer: “...”

He was silent for two seconds, then turned to the sky and muttered to himself, “Probably I’ve been overtraining the troops lately and grown weary. My eyes are getting blurry—why are there so many mosquitoes flying around in front of me...”

Ji Huo looked at the cloth strip on the Sovereign’s Sword. With a strange expression, he untied it and scanned it only twice before his pupils abruptly contracted. He recognized the handwriting as Eldest Brother’s.

“Second Young Master, has something happened?” the officer asked.

Ji Huo said with a smile, “Please trouble the general to prepare two fast horses for me. As soon as possible.”

The officer understood at once and cupped his fists. “Second Young Master, rest assured. The horses will be delivered very soon.”

With that, he took his leave.

Ji Huo looked toward Xia Ningshang, who was still sitting there idle, and asked, “Miss Xia, what are your plans next?”

“Me?”

Xia Ningshang blinked and thought for a moment. She had probably intended to go to the capital to look for remnants of the demonic weapon, but that plan was hardly reliable. After all, the Great Zhou’s imperial dragon aura protected the capital, and she might not even be able to get in.

“Actually, I don’t have much to do,” Xia Ningshang said with a shrug.

“Then how about coming with me for some fun?” Ji Huo said with a smile. In his view, Xia Ningshang was very likely first rank as well, and she also carried a remnant of a demonic weapon. No matter how you looked at it, she was a top-class fighter.

“Sure. Where are you going?” Xia Ningshang answered casually. The capital might not be accessible anyway, and now that her injuries had healed, wandering around sounded pretty good too.

“To fight at the border,” Ji Huo said with a smile.