Chapter 24 — The Divine Sword
The Sword Questions the Heavens · Page 5 of 8
Lu Xueqi assented, smoothed the front of her garment, lightly formed a hand seal with her right hand, and cast a bright, glistening glance at the platform. Now the thin cloud mist that had lain over the white jade slabs beneath her feet suddenly swirled and gathered toward her from every side; quickly a white cloud mass took shape beneath her, and then Lu Xueqi, like a goddess, rose slowly amid that vast white haze, floated up into the air, and drifted onto the platform.
The mountain wind came, and the pure white vapor drifted and coiled like the softest, loveliest silk. Lu Xueqi's garments fluttered, her skin was like snow, her clear beauty beyond all comparison, as though a goddess of the ninth heaven had fallen into the mortal world—so that even as one's heart ached with tenderness, one could not help but feel a measure of awe.
A moment later, thunderous applause erupted below the platform, a roar like mountains and seas. The sound was so immense that Zhang Qingyue, caught off guard, felt his ears ring at once, and he was astonished—he had not expected Lu Xueqi to be so popular. Then again, even he, gazing at that beautiful figure in midair, felt his heart race and his spirit fly beyond his control; it was truly hard to imagine that such beauty existed in the world.
Master Shuijing, seated below, now wore a trace of a smile upon her ever-cold face.
After a moment, a young disciple came up onto the arena from somewhere—no one had noticed him at all—with a square face and thick brows, his appearance decent enough, though he looked rather agitated. Once on the platform he said to Lu Xueqi, "Junior Sister Lu, I am Fang, a disciple of Long Peak. To be so fortunate as to spar with you today is the good fortune of three lifetimes!"
"Hiss!" Boos rose on all sides below the platform.
Lu Xueqi showed no expression and said coldly from midair, "Greetings, Senior Brother Fang. Lu Xueqi, eighth-generation disciple of Xiaozhu Peak, begs Senior Brother Fang's instruction today."
Zhang Qingyue stood below the platform watching Lu Xueqi, still suspended in midair like a goddess, and felt a sudden pain for no reason at all. Only a short while ago, had not Senior Sister Lingsu stood in the air with the same surpassing grace? In his daze, Lu Xueqi's figure seemed to overlap with the image of Tian Lingsu.
On the platform Fang was still chattering away; from the look of him, if he could go on talking forever without ever fighting, until the end of the world, that would suit him fine. Fortunately, the majority in this world were against him: before he had gotten out two sentences, countless voices—including that of Zeng Shuyan at Zhang Qingyue's side—called out, "Are we starting or not?"
"Lecher!"
"Chirping away like a woman! Eh—Senior Sister of Xiaozhu Peak, ah, what are you doing? No—I meant nothing else by it—"
"Clang!"
The final bell of the decisive match rang out at last, and Lu Xueqi's face turned cold as she looked straight at Fang. Under her icy gaze Fang instantly felt a chill over his whole body. Seen from here, Lu Xueqi was peerlessly beautiful even with a cold face, but he dared jest no more; he hastily wiped the smile from his lips, composed his thoughts, and with a seal of his right hand summoned a silver-white immortal sword into the air.
Zhang Qingyue frowned, and could not help thinking again of Qi Hao's immortal sword, "Frostbite." Then he heard Zeng Shuyan beside him: "With Qi Hao as their model, the whole Long Peak lot have taken to cultivating that kind of immortal sword."
Zhang Qingyue's eyes flickered; he looked around and saw only a sea of bobbing heads. Nowhere could he find Qi Hao's shadow, much less the figure he most wished to see in the depths of his heart and least wished to see at this moment.
Where had they gone? Zhang Qingyue lowered his head, and a bitterness rose in his heart.
Suddenly Zeng Shuyan tugged at his arm and said gleefully, "Qingyue, look quick—it's starting."