Painting of the Nine Immortals

Chapter 17: Astounding the City of Qing

Translator: /Tatienne Editor: Tennesh/Rundi

The Tidal Sword Technique was a divine technique that belonged to the Ling Clan. In the small City of Qing, this technique was alternatively called the invincible swordplay. However, it was defeated by a collateral trainee, who was born without the ability to practice Taoism.

This news travelled fast. Very soon, every single Ling household has heard the news. Even the city palace and the other two clans, have heard the rumors.

There were a lot of people at the arena, who were there, when the event happened. Therefore, the news of Ling Xian breaking the technique spread swiftly. Those who heard the news fell into shock, but slowly accepted the reality after the initial tense rejection.

On top of everything, the technique was broken by a public-appointed handicap. He was also able to conquer the technique by pinpointing its weakness rather than fighting it head on with stronger spells. To the Ling Clan, this story was almost a fictional fable.

In the Taoism community, every technique was created by very capable ancestors. Countless predecessors put their blood and soul into building a technique, even the lowest ranked ones were infused with Taoism knowledge that only came with time. No technique could easily be seen through. Those who were able to do so were considered to have a legendary and natural understanding of the Taoism principles. In other words, these people had to be masters of the realms.

To defeat a technique by counterattacking with a stronger spell, could not be categorized as breaking a technique. Truly breaking a spell was to find the spell’s fundamental flaw and destruct the attack.

The Tidal Sword Technique was a swordplay that passed the test of time and caused headaches for the other two clans in the city. The Ling Clan’s ancestors used it to defeat two masters and fought across the City of Qing. The other clans in the city studied it for centuries, but still had no luck finding any flaws.

However, now, the swordplay that was known to be invincible was broken by a young cultivator with no name. What kind of genius was this person?

At the center hall of the Ling palace, a middle-aged man was practicing calligraphy inside his study room. Around 40 years old, he wore a white long robe, and his face was handsome with a touch of class.

He was the clan leader of the Ling Clan. Half a step away from completing the core-building stage of his training, his name was Ling Tian Qing.

Currently, he was fully concentrated on his writing brush. He drew one character on the rice paper.

“Endure.”

The brush slithered across the paper like a snake, creating a masterpiece.

Carefully evaluating the character he put down on paper, the most respected man of the clan shook his head lightly and whispered, “The rain and the wind is already inside my home, endure… how can endurance alone promise safety for my clan in the upcoming war.”

He waved his hand. The writing “endure” disappeared immediately.

Another one emerged.

“Battle.”

Like a dragon’s claw, the ink clung onto the paper, and thoroughly dyed the paper. The presence of the “battle” character was completely different from the character “endure”. It was as if the written word was going to shoot up through the cloud. The room reeked of iciness.

“How do we battle? The opponents are strong and I am weak. It’s like fighting a rock when I am an egg. Even though I have the will and the resolve to fight until death, in a world that follows survival of the fittest rule, outsiders will only laugh at my stupidity to keep fighting. This will end the reputation that my clan has built for centuries.” After a long sigh, Ling Tian Qing frowned and slipped into deep thoughts.

As the Ling Clan’s clan leader, he appeared powerful and charismatic. However, there were hundreds of lives on his back, relying and depending on him. This cultivator has been emotionally exhausted for a long time. He has already grown grey hair.

Ling Tian Qing was interpersonal, reasonable, and bright. His talent has been obvious to others since a young age, resulting in him stepping up as the clan leader at the age of 24. 16 years of hard work, without ever expecting a thank you, he had successfully established the weakest clan into one that was now considered equal with the other two clans.

He was known as a rare alpha male.

If he had spent less energy and time on managing the Ling Clan, he would’ve reached the core-building stage a long time ago. Instead, he was only halfway there.

“With a war on the rise, where does the Ling Clan stand? Where will my Ling Clan go?” Ling Tian Qing’s face was full of complex bitterness. “Endure it is not the way to go, but battling it is not the solution either. Is the Ling Clan really going to diminish in my hands?”

At that instant, a shadow barged into the study room and yelled, “Big brother! I bring good news!”

“Hmm?” Ling Tian Qing looked at his twin brother, Ling Tian Jiao, and questioned, “What kind of good news can make you, who has always been prudent, barge into my room without knocking?”

Ling Tian Qing ignored his statement and forgot about the respectful gestures he usually shows. He grabbed Ling Tian Qing’s hand and laughed. “Haha, big brother! Someone has found the fatal flaw in our clan’s divine Tidal Sword Technique!”

“What!?”

The first impression anyone has for Ling Tian Qing was that he was graceful and elegant. Currently, however, his face was full of shock.

[Impossible.]

[How could anyone break my clan’s Tidal Sword Technique?]

“Haha, when I heard the news, my expression reflects yours.” Ling Tian Jiao was immensely proud of himself. He was really enjoying the surprised look his brother was displaying.

Ling Tian Qing was in shock for a long time. Slowly, he calmed down and dragged himself back to reality. Then, he whispered, “Second brother, are you sure you are not kidding with me? Someone really found the weakness of the Tidal Wave Technique? Someone broke it down?”

“Big brother, calm yourself down. What I’m saying is absolutely the truth. I would never lie about something this important!” Ling Tian Jiao suppressed his smile and spoke in a serious tone.

“If that’s the truth… at such a crucial time, our clan’s strongest technique was broken. Do the heavens want my clan to become extinct?” Ling Tian Qing was just about to get a little hysterical, when he suddenly remembered the excited way Ling Tian Jiao looked. He bashed, “Why are you so happy that our Tidal Sword Technique was broken down? If I didn’t watch you grow up, I would be suspicious that you are a spy for the other two clans!”

“Big brother, please calm your anger. How could I be a traitor?” Ling Tian Jiao explained hurriedly, “I am excited because the one who broke our technique was a member of our clan! Not an outsider!”

“Someone from our clan.” Ling Tian Qing realized. “Who? Who in our clan saw the flaw of our Tidal Sword Technique? Is it our father?”

“Not our father, but someone else.” Ling Tian Jiao smiled mysteriously, he purposely did not reveal who the person was.

Recognizing the fact that Ling Tian Jiao was purposely making a big deal out of it, he became very angry and screamed, “If you play with my emotions anymore, I will beat you until your butt splits!”

“Big brother, don’t be mad, I will tell you now,” Ling Tian Jiao realized that his brother was getting serious about hurting him, so he quickly soothed, “Big brother, this person is named Ling Xian, he is a sibling of the clan.”

“Ling Xian? It sounds a bit familiar…” Ling Tian Qing thought about it for a second. “Are you sure he is in our clan?”

“Don’t worry, I have investigated. He is not a mere collateral sibling who was given the Ling name. He truly does have the ancestral Ling blood flowing through him. There is nothing unusual.” After hearing the news, he thoroughly investigated Ling Xian’s background. After all, this news was important. If it were an outsider who broke the technique, then he would’ve found a way to terminate that person.

“I recall now. He is the kid whose parents died on a mission. The one who was born with an inability to practice?” Ling Tian Qing frowned. How could a handicap pinpoint the fatal flaw of the Tidal Sword Technique?

“That is correct. Despite his inability to practice Taoism, Master Fang has often claimed that he was born talented. On top of that, he has already reached level five qi and he defeated the Tidal Sword Technique in one go. Everyone at the arena are witnesses.” Ling Tian Jiao found it strange also that a handicap could somehow acquire level five qi and find the flaw in the technique. However, reality was in front of him and he had to believe it.

A hint of wisdom flashed across Ling Tian Qing’s eyes, and he softly grinned. “This kid has been through hardships. It could be that his parents both have passed on, therefore he chose to cultivate in secret, or something unusual happened to him.”

“Big brother, should we investigate deeper?” Ling Tian Jiao asked.

“Definitely not,” Ling Tian Qing shook his head and answered sternly, “If this person was not one within the clan, I would’ve killed him immediately. However, because the Ling blood flows inside him and you have made sure that he is not a traitor, then we must foster him. He is a rare talent that the heavens have given us. We cannot agitate him by trying to uncover his secrets.”

Ling Tian Jiao paused. “But…”

Before he could finish, Ling Tian Qing interrupted. “I understand your worry, but think about it. Everyone has secrets. If we decide to chase to the end of everyone’s secret, then we would be hurting each member within our clan. If we decide to spy on him, we would lose more this talented kid. We would also startle the clan and lose everyone’s trust.”

Ling Tian Jiao seemed to have understood. He stayed silent for a while. “You are right. I understand.”

“As long as you know where I am coming from. The most important quality a clan needs is teamwork. Do not disunite others because of the little things. If we do so, we will eventually become extinct.” Ling Tian Qing lightly smiled and gazed at the white clouds outside his window. He was full of anticipation.

“Luck has blessed us. The rare genius who saw through the Tidal Wave Technique was a member of our clan. Could it be… that the divination symbol casted by the mysterious elderly landed on this young kid?”

…...

At the same time, inside the central palace…

Ye Xiao Tian was sitting peacefully on the majestic chair that represented supreme position and power. He had listened to all his assistants’ reports by now. Even though he had political duties to take care of, he could not help but to forget about his title, focus on his own cultivation journey, and participate in the recent gossip.

Before he stepped up as mayor of the city, he visited the Ling Clan in attempt to acquire the Tidal Sword Technique- knowing the damages it can achieve. The moment one strike hits, the continuous and countless strikes that come after it could not be blocked. The only way he was able to make it out alive was through his high qi levels.

“The divine and powerful Tidal Sword Technique in the City of Qing was completely broken by a 14-year-old little bastard. Unbelievable. Could it be that he is in touch with the legendary frontier?”

Ye Xiao Tian muttered to himself. He masked the unexplainable emotion he felt with his tiger like eyes.

…..

The other two clan leaders, upon hearing the news, had drastically different reactions.

The Qi Clan had a face of pity, he sighed after sighs, “Such a shame… A rare genius was born into the Ling Clan. Why can’t my Qi Clan have luck that good?”

The Fang Clan on the other hand, was in a frenzy of rage. He summoned his warriors and ordered a death penalty.

“I don’t care what method you use, you must acquire the secret to the Tidal Wave Technique from Ling Xian. After you force him to tell you the fatal flaw of the technique, kill him!”

At the end of the day, some reactions were good, some were bad, but the one thing in common was the amount of shock the entire City of Qing was in. The name Ling Xian has crept into the ears of all the great leaders in the city and has been imprinted into their brains.

The entire City of Qing, because of Ling Xian’s spontaneous actions, fell into a tide of astonishment.