My Journey to Immortality Begins with Hunting

In truth, Bai Xiayi had already decided. Once the bout ended, she'd haul him home. No one reached fifth rank without a lineage; somewhere behind this oaf lay a secret inheritance every bit as mysterious as that of The Bladeseeker, which the Lotus Cult had discovered.

Li Yuan drew a plain sixth rank blade he'd brought from home and grinned. "Ladies first!"

Twin swords flashed. Mist curled.

Steel rang under the open sky as the mismatched pair clashed above Silkfloss Province's war-scarred earth.

If it had been anyone else, Bai Xiayi would already be fuming. But for some reason the hulking brute before her radiated nothing but wide-eyed sincerity.

She glanced at the plain, workmanlike blade in his hand and couldn't help laughing.

"Mister Dian, no, Bubba," she said, "you really do need to come with me. A fifth rank martial artist shouldn't be swinging farm tools."

With a flick of her sleeves a cool mist billowed out; ice crystals began to blossom along the length of her twin swords.

Li Yuan watched in fascination. "Why's it foggy all of a sudden? Looks mighty pretty swirling 'round you."

"Eyes on the fight," she chided.

"Got it." He propped his chin on one hand and continued watching.

The mist thickened; more and more crystals formed in mid-air, each razor-edge glinting like polished steel.

Accumulation first, explosion later, he mused.Classic style of the Moon Reflection Tower. Bet her footwork's slick, too.

"Coming through!" Li Yuan suddenly whooped, lunging forward with a single slash.

The blade stopped at her neck.

Bai Xiayi let out a light laugh, body twisting like a butterfly; in a blink she'd slipped away.

Good footwork, Li Yuan judged, but he'd already solved her speed and angles. Still, he didn't give chase. He wanted to see the next move.

Moments later, the free-floating ice shards had fused into 12 swords, six ringing each of her real swords.

With both palms she thrust, hurling the swirling 14-sword vortex straight at him, a roaring river of cold.

Doesn't even hold a candle to my Dragon's Breath…Li Yuan inwardly smirked but feigned alarm. He frantically waved his blade.

Klang klang klang!He batted aside sword after sword, acting as though each parry cost him all his strength.

The two looked evenly matched.

Then, in the split second she eased the pressure, he barked a battle cry, blurred like lightning, and re-materialized with his blade resting against her throat.

"Hahaha! I win, I win!" he crowed.

I lost…Bai Xiayi froze.With a spirit artifact? Impossible…

Yet reality was harsh. Before she could replay the bout, the bald giant was already vanishing into the distance.

"Dian Wei! Bubba!" she called, but the sky held only fading wind.

"Where did such a freak appear from…?" she muttered, eyes grave. "I'd better inform the tower."

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The duel left Li Yuan disappointed. An ordinary fifth rank simply couldn't scratch his itch for arealfight.

"Maybe I should look up Qing Hancheng," he considered.

Of everyone he'd seen, the temple master of the Holy Tree Temple was the strongest, with a combat power of 8,772~35,166. Yet even after all these years the man still hadn't broken through to third rank. If he had, the world would have heard the thunder.

Well, plans could wait. For now he would keep roaming, eyes open, until something—or someone—truly worthy crossed his path.

Li Yuan ran a quick calculation, glanced at the 4,530~69,496 hovering by his own shoulder.

"Could it be," he realized, "that in all of Silkfloss Province I'm already the ceiling above the ceiling?"

A plan began to crystallize.

"If I don't want enemies swarming me, I should simply stay out of their quarrels. So let's live as a pure-bred martial fanatic, nothing more.

"I suppose I didjustadopt that persona anyway. That sounds good. An honest-looking, battle-hungry fool is useful to everyone and threatening to no one. They'll tempt me with favors, cheat, coax, or bribe me. Fine, I'll just pocket the spoils and smile.

"Of course, there's risk involved. But with no one stronger in sight…why not? I still have the thousand-mile-thread and a vial of my fourth rank blood stored away safely in the black market ghost domain as insurance."

His smile widening, Li Yuan dropped from the cloud layer to low altitude and began rehearsing the finer points of a naive martial arts fanatic

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A few days later.

Mid-flight, a slim figure shot up to bar Li Yuan's path.

"Dian WeiI presume, or should I just call youBubba?"

Li Yuan halted. The youth before him was lean, handsome in a fox-like way, and carried a thin blade at his hip. Those eyes were half-lidded like a snake measuring distance.

Li Yuan actually knew this man. It was Yuan Zongzi of the Sacred Fire Palace, once a sixth rank, now clearly fifth. The blade at his waist fairly radiated heat.

So the rumor was true. Tie Sha followed him south,Li Yuan thought, casting his gaze towards the ground.

There, he saw a burly unkempt man, none other than Tie Sha himself. He had broken through from seventh rank and hovered at peak sixth rank, only a step away from fifth rank.

"So?" the airborne youth prompted.

Li Yuan removed his mask, bald pate gleaming. "That's me. Who're you?"

"Yuan Zongzi of the Sacred Fire Palace," Yuan Zongzi answered with a thin smile. "I'm inviting you to come visit our halls."

Li Yuan's stomach rumbled on cue. "I'm hungry. You treat me to food and wine. Beat me fair and square afterward, and I'll tag along to…whatever-that-palace-is."

"Sacred FirePalace," Yuan Zongzi corrected, eyebrow twitching. Still, he thought,A lone fifth rank wandering right under my nose. The Sacred Fire Palace will reward me handsomely for this. Feed him, then beat him, and he's as good as ours. The Moon Reflection Tower elder had lost because her style needed charging time; no shame there.

"Deal," Yuan Zongzi said, and dropped toward a nearby town.

Li Yuan followed.

Tie Sha moved first, polite as ever. While other disciples smirked at the rustic bald man, he bowed low. "Senior, this way please."

Then he melted back into the ranks.

Inside the tavern the disciples scattered to their own tables, clearly unimpressed by a seemingly clueless bumpkin, even one of the fifth rank.

Yuan Zongzi merely tilted his head. "Tie Sha, keep our guest company."

"Yes, sir." The big man bustled over, pulled out a chair, wiped the sticky table clean, ordered wine, recommended stronger wine, and ordered food… He never stopped moving.

From the next table came muffled laughter, "Old Tie's an oddball of the Earthfire Roaming Technique. You wouldn't even know it looking at that easy going temperament of his. Hah!!"

Yuan Zongzi snorted. "Hmph, that's what's good about him! You think I'd want one of those ill tempered fools around me?"

Not long after, a small mountain of empty wine jars towered between Li Yuan and Tie Sha.

Li Yuan chuckled, cheeks flushed. "You're a good man, Old Tie. When I head back to Cloudpeak Province someday, swing by and visit me, eh?"

Tie Sha grinned, raised the next jar in salute, and the two old friends drank as though 20 plus years had never passed.

Tie Sha treated the offer everyone else took as a joke like a royal edict. Bowing, he asked, "Senior, how can I find you?"

"Name's Dian Wei, but you can call me Bubba. I'm from Nineguard County in Cloudpeak Province," Li Yuan said with a grin. "Just ask around."

He planned to tip off the Tang Sect ahead of time. If anyone came asking for a bald fellow named Dian Wei from Nineguard, he'd know immediately it was Tie Sha.

He wanted nothing from Tie Sha, really, just a drinking partner who happened to be an old friend. The man was entertaining company.