Song of Adolescence

Sikong Qianluo kept her spear. She was supposed to be the guardian of the fourteenth floor of the tower today, in part due to her formidable martial prowess. Since young, she had been learning the art of the spear from her father, Sikong Changfeng. Even without her resounding identity as the daughter of the Spear Immortal, she was an accomplished martial artist with a level second only to a select few several like Tang Lian. Even Luo Mingxuan, the disciple of Immortal Maiden Luoxia was weaker than her by a notch. Yet when up against this fleet footed but strangely devoid of internal force youngster, she wasn’t even able to land a blow despite having already stabbed over thirty times.

“Who are you?” Sikong Quanluo tightened her grip on the spear as she asked.

Xiao Se slowly stopped running around and laughed, “Fallen Snow Villa, Xiao Se.”

Sikong Qianluo thought about it for a moment before asking, “Which sect is that?” ƒ𝓇e𝙚𝔀𝐞𝚋𝓃𝐨𝘷e𝙡.𝒄𝗼m

“It’s not a sect. It’s just an inn.” Xiao Se explained.

Sikong Qianluo’s face turned a shade darker, “Are you messing with me?”

“I really am just an owner of an inn. If you don’t believe me, what else can I do about it?” Xiao Se spread out his arms and said.

“…”

Sikong Qianluo saw no need to continue this conversation any further. She simply raised her spear and yelled, “Halting Winds!”

The four famous sights of Snow Moon City: the winds of the lower city, the flowers of the upper city, the snow on Mount Cangshan and the moon on Lake Erhai. Of these four, there was a saying pertaining to the winds below. Long ago, an arctic fox from Mount Cangshan transformed itself into a beautiful lady in order to blend into the mortal world and meet with her lover, a scholar from the Bai Clan. One day, the teacher of the scholar found out about the both of them and, in a fit of rage, tossed a nearby inkstone at the scholar, causing him to fall into Lake Erhai. Wishing to save her beloved, the arctic fox ran to the Southern Sea to look for the Bodhisattva Guanyin for help. The Bodhisattva gave her six vases, each containing a special wind within them. Before leaving, the Bodhisattva reminded the arctic fox to never open her mouth. However, the arctic fox was in a rush to save the scholar so accidents were bound to happen in her preoccupied state.

That was exactly what happened.

When she reached the Heaven Fortune Bridge, she tripped on herself by accident. Caught off guard, she cried out in pain and in the end, the six vases became one. From then on, there was endless wind in lower city. However, the truth was that the lower city was located at the entrance of the mountain. It was located at the valley between Mount Cangshan and Mount Ailao so the winds were particularly strong all year round, especially during the winter and spring.

Yet the moment the words ‘Halting Winds’ left the mouth of Sikong Qianluo, the winds within the entire street stilled in an instant.

Sikong Qianluo shouted once again, “Rising Winds!”

The stilled winds immediately rushed to the tip of her spear. Her spear whistled shrilly from the condensed winds around it, and it was in that unstable state that she thrust out. This spear strike was nothing like those thirty other strikes she used. Instead, it brought along with it all the winds blowing through the street.

The instant the spear shot out, Xiao Se was suddenly reminded of the story the waiter told him the day before: when Sikong Changfeng stood atop the Tower of Ascension, the air in the whole city stilled then began to circulate around that spear wielding man. At this very moment, that legend was being played out in front of him. That spear which could roil up an entire city’s wind was thrusting right towards him this very second.

No… In fact, it was already in front of his chest!

Xiao Se hurriedly retreated. His Cloudsteps was also known as the movement technique whose deftness allowed one to even step on clouds. If he advanced to the next level and learned how to utilize the wind, he would even be able to ride the winds. However, as of right now, faced with that spear barrelling towards him, his Cloudsteps fell short by that one very level.

“Junior Martial Uncle.” The book attendant hastily yelled out, clearly worried and grateful towards the youngster who had just saved him from that previous divination.

The scholar hesitated for an instant. Initially, his plan was to not show off his martial arts until he met that person. Plus, he had a feeling that this Xiao Se was still hiding something up his sleeves.

“Sigh…I was careless. Never would I have imagined that someone so pretty would have such amazing martial skills.” Xiao Se shook his head and sighed as he retreated.

Sikong Qianluo was stunned.

Pretty? This man who was prettier than a girls was calling her pretty?

In that nail bitingly precarious situation, Sikong Qianluo’s face actually flushed red. Her face became so red it was like someone sprinkled peach blossoms on a field of snow.

In that last moment of distraction, the tip of her spear veered ever so slightly to the side and tore the sleeves of Xiao Se’s blue robes into shreds. Withdrawing her spear, the winds howled through the streets once more.

“What an exceptional spear strike. If even the daughter is so exceptional… I wonder how majestic the Spear Immortal’s own strike must be ” The scholar exclaimed as he bathed in the wind sweeping across the street.

Xiao Se ripped away the torn sleeve and looked at the Spear Immortal’s daughter who was still standing there with a red face as she stared blankly at him. He laughed, “I’m unable to hinder you any further, you may leave.”

Sikong Qianluo came back to her senses and stowed her spear. She looked at the youth who still retained a dignified air about him despite his shredded robes before mounting her horse. “Tell me, what’s your name again?”

“Xiao Se.” Xiao Se smiled.

“We’ll see each other in the future.” Sikong Qianluo spurred on her horse but just as she did so, she saw an attendant rushing over from the direction of the tower. She frowned. “What’s the matter? Has that person already left for the fifteenth floor?”

“No, Young Master Tang Lian is already guarding the fourteenth floor.” The attendant replied.

“Senior brother?” Sikong Qianluo’s eyes went wide for a moment before giving Xiao Se a thoughtful look. She suddenly asked, “Do you know how powerful my spear is?”

“In this generation of disciples of Snow Moon City? At the very least, you should be ranked in the top ten.” Xiao Se thought about it and replied.

Sikong Qianluo declined to comment about Xiao Se’s evaluation and simply continued, “Senior brother is ranked first amongst us. With my spear, I can survive an exchange of one hundred blows during a duel. If we were to really fight with our lives on the line, he could end my life with a simple raise of his hands and three hidden weapons. Not to mention the fact that according to my father, Senior Brother has reached the level of an ordinary elder three months ago. By stopping me, you got the strongest disciple in Snow Moon City instead. Was it worth it?”

After hearing Sikong Qianluo’s words, Xiao Se didn’t panic in the slightest. Instead, he became much more relaxed. He even broke out into laughter, “If it’s Tang Lian, it’s definitely worth it.”

“Senior brother, it’s been a while.” Lei Wujie’s laughter resounded in the room. Meeting Tang Lian right now like meeting an old friend in a foreign place. It felt comfortable.

Tang Lian waved his sleeve and a Bone-piercing Needle grazed Lei Wujie’s ear. Several strands of hair fell but Lei Wujie’s face didn’t change the slightest, the smile on his face was as brilliant as before. Tang Lian sighed and said while shaking his head, “Didn’t I tell you not to call me senior brother before entering Snow Moon City?”

“Perhaps it’s alright not to address other as such, but you, Senior brother, are the only one I will definitely address as such. After all, we went through life and death together.” Eyes smiling, Lei Wujie didn’t seem the least bit hurt by Tang Lian’s indifference.

However, that stone cold face never budged, “Why are you here challenging the Tower of Ascension? As a disciple from the Lei Clan, you merely have to ask your elders for a recommendation if you really wanted to enter the Snow Moon City.”

“Senior brother, have I told you about my teacher? He is Lei Hong. Tens of years ago, he was hailed as a genius that only came about once every hundred years. However, he chose to walk his own path instead of the one the elders chose for him. One fateful day, while wandering around the martial world, he came across a certain someone whom he later made an agreement with. This agreement had him cooped in a tiny unseen portion of our courtyard.”

“Senior brother, you’re from the Tangmen so you should understand as well. In a clan as huge as the Lei Clan, the main family lives with alongside the countless branch families within the same compound. However, all the glory belongs to the main family. If the branch families would like to bask in that same glory, they would have to expend twice the effort in order to do so. My teacher was a disciple of the branch family. The moment he outlived his usefulness, none of them cared about him anymore. They allowed him to live his days out in his tiny courtyard without bothering about him.”

“My parents died at a young age. Ever since I was young, I lived with my teacher’s family and he treated me very well. At the end of the day, however, he was only considered a worthless disciple from the branch family who deserved no honor. There were times where he drank till he was wasted. Once, I ran into his courtyard and found him sitting quietly there, head raised at the sky, and in a daze. I asked him what he was doing but got question instead. He asked if I wanted to learn martial arts from him… From that day on, I’ve been learning martial arts from my teacher. In a blink of an eye, ten years have passed like that.”

“Three months ago, my teacher suddenly said to me that he was about to die, roughly a year or so. Before dying, he wished to meet someone one last time. And that person happens to be in Snow Moon City. However, those that were able to see this person were far and few between. I do not possess a recommendation because, unlike Senior Brother, I’m not a prominent figure in our clan, merely a branch family’s disciple. However, I will fulfill my teacher’s wish, I will meet that person.”

“Haha…after saying all that…” Lei Wujie laughed in embarrassment. “All I was trying to say that I’m just here to fulfill a wish of my teacher’s, not for glory, nor for fame. I hope Senior Brother won’t mind if I don’t hold back when we come to blows.”

A silver light flashed in Tang Lian’s hand and his Fingertip Knife, which was slowly becoming famous in its own right, appeared in his hand. “Lei Wujie, you really think you can win against me?” 𝘧𝘳𝐞𝚎𝑤ℯ𝘣𝗻𝘰ѵℯl.c𝐨𝚖

“If it was in the past, I definitely wouldn’t be a match for you, even if I used all my power. However, I met someone in the lower city, and he gave me three cups of wine. My Blazing Arts has improved by three levels since then. If I try my hardest and senior brother goes easy on me, I feel that I have a chance to succeed…” Lei Wujie circulated his true qi and his eyes instantly turned red.

“Go easy?” Tang Lian suddenly threw out the Fingertip Knife in his hand. The seemingly transparent knife started to dart around in the room in random directions.

Lei Wujie immediately gathered up all of his qi without a moment’s hesitation, instantly raising his Blazing Arts to the fourth level, the Inferno Realm.

“Still not good enough.” Tang Lian coldly laughed.

Lei Wujie clenched his teeth and raised his true qi once again! The fifth level of the Blazing Arts, the Dragon Fire Realm!

“That’s better.” Tang Lian’s Fingertip Knife returned to his hand.

Lei Wujie looked around his surroundings and he realized that during the time the Fingertip Knife was dancing around the room, a strand of almost transparent Spider Web had already covered the area.

There was one weapon in the world which was as sharp as knives even without possessing blades. It was a one-of-a-kind weapon. These seemingly transparent threads were terrifyingly sharp and when they killed, the wounds which they inflicted were completely smooth.The skin around the wound won’t curl upwards at all, like a knife slicing through wax. This weapon was called…

“Blade Wire?” Lei Wujie frowned slightly.

Tang Lian nodded his head. “Teacher has good friends with the patriarch of River Hades for a long time. now He knew that I was researching hidden weapons which was why he requested for a roll of Blade Wire. This is the lethal array I created myself, the Heaven and Earth Net. Lei Wujie, there was one thing you were wrong about just now, I won’t go easy on you at all.”

“It’s an honor for me if senior brother goes all out.” Lei Wujie laughed. He knew that there was no room for discussion there.

In an instant, the air in the room seemed to ignite as the phantom of a Blazing Bird gradually revealed itself behind Lei Wujie.

Sixth level of the Blazing Art, Garuda!