Chapter 293: A Single Sword of Taichu Suppresses the Mountain Hermit

Faced with the Mountain Hermit Yunhe blocking his path, knowing that the man hated him to the bone and that falling into his hands meant certain death, Qin Haoxuan still chose to press forward without hesitation. Deep in his heart, he felt a sense of excitement. The fear of a Spirit Tree Realm expert, so overwhelming that it had once paralyzed him, had for some reason transformed into a strange thrill.

Lan Yan lay on Qin Haoxuan’s back. This girl, who seemed indifferent to everything, had a faint blush on her cheeks. For some reason, a slightly sour feeling rose in her heart. ‘I really want to see what kind of person this Xu Yu is, to have Qin Haoxuan so captivated that he’s willing to risk death just to see her… But I can’t actually go and meet her with him, that would be so awkward! It seems that after we arrive in the royal capital of the Soaring Dragon Nation, I’ll have to find a place to stay and wait for them.’

With all preparations made, Qin Haoxuan slapped the horses’ rumps, sending the three swift steeds galloping off in another direction. He himself activated the Thousand-Mile Talisman and continued along his original route towards the royal capital.

Qin Haoxuan had no grand conviction in his heart. He had only one thought: ‘I haven’t seen Little Sister Xu Yu in several months. I wonder how she’s doing. I must go and see her.’

And he absolutely had to explain that he hadn’t written that letter!

Sensing the deviation in the three horses’ direction, the Mountain Hermit Yunhe, who was blocking the path ahead, was slightly surprised. “Could the intelligence be inaccurate? Did they change their route?”

In that moment of distraction, he suddenly felt a figure flash past him, appearing far ahead in an instant. Who else could this figure be but Qin Haoxuan, the one he thought of day and night, the one he wished he could flay, eat, and grind to dust?

The Thousand-Mile Talisman was a treasure whose speed was comparable to that of a Spirit Tree Realm cultivator. The Mountain Hermit Yunhe had seen Qin Haoxuan use it several times before, but he had assumed it was just an extremely fast Godspeed Talisman. He was still marveling to himself, ‘This kid has so many escape talismans!’

Without hesitation, almost as a reflex, the Mountain Hermit Yunhe formed a sword seal with his fingers. The flying sword on his back shot out of its sheath, transformed, and carried him in pursuit of Qin Haoxuan.

The Mountain Hermit Yunhe’s flying sword was a true flying sword. As it soared into the sky, it left a long rainbow in its wake, its sword qi spreading out, so potent that it could be felt even at the Taichu Sect’s camp several dozen li away.

Immediately, several heaven-shaking auras rose from the Taichu Sect’s camp. These were released by the Spirit Tree Realm elders sent by the sect to preside over the battle, as a warning to him.

Although none of these auras were from a true flying sword, they were clearly not weak. In his current injured state, even with a true flying sword, the Mountain Hermit Yunhe was certainly no match for them.

He wisely chose to immediately descend from the sky and resheath his sword.

He didn’t dare to truly provoke the presiding elders of the Taichu Sect. In his current condition, he would surely be defeated. If he failed to catch Qin Haoxuan and ended up dying an unjust death, that would be a true tragedy.

So, the Mountain Hermit Yunhe could only watch with gritted teeth as Qin Haoxuan disappeared from his sight. He said resentfully, “You’re lucky this time, kid! Since you’re taking this road, I’ll just set up a formation here. Then, no matter how fast you are, with my formation blocking you, you won’t be able to slip past me.”

The Mountain Hermit Yunhe thought through his teeth, ‘I’ll even enhance the power of this formation, so when you run into it, it’ll be like hitting an iron wall. Even if it doesn’t kill you, it’ll knock you unconscious. Let’s see you run then!’

No sooner said than done, the Mountain Hermit Yunhe began to set up a formation.

…

After using the Thousand-Mile Talisman from dawn until the sun was high in the afternoon sky, Qin Haoxuan and his companions arrived near the royal capital.

Even from several dozen li away, Qin Haoxuan could see the city’s majestic and magnificent walls, which were a hundred zhang tall. The pale gray walls stretched from west to east, as far as the eye could see.

Nearing the capital, the spiritual energy infused in the Thousand-Mile Talisman was depleted. Qin Haoxuan simply put it away, found a secluded spot to let Lan Yan down from his back, and had Xing, who had been transformed into a piece of armor, revert to his human form.

The group of three strode towards the royal capital.

“The splendor of the mortal world is best seen in the royal capital.” As he approached the city, looking at the long queue at the gate, which was wide enough for ten horse-drawn carriages to pass through side-by-side with room to spare, Qin Haoxuan couldn’t help but feel emotional. “Before I started cultivating, my greatest wish was to see the splendor of the royal capital. I thought I would never have the chance in my entire life!”

The seed of longing for the capital had been planted by Old Scholar Wang, who lived on the west side of Datian Town. In his youth, the old scholar had gone to the capital to take the imperial examinations. Unfortunately, he had failed and returned to Datian Town in disappointment. His experience in the capital became his greatest talking point. Because he had been there, the old scholar, who was seen as a pedantic and useless man by the hunters, was once an idol in the hearts of Qin Haoxuan and the other children. In his youth, he had pestered him all day long for stories about the capital.

The royal capital, the most prosperous existence in the secular world!

The core of power of the entire Soaring Dragon Nation, a land of soaring economy and prosperity.

Jade trinkets and golden treasures, a seventh-rank official at the prime minister’s gate, and three thousand beautiful maidens in the forbidden palace.

Looking at the bustling stream of people entering and exiting the capital like ants, Qin Haoxuan no longer felt the excitement of his childhood. After cultivating, his mindset had unknowingly transcended. Even seeing the magnificent city walls, he only marveled at their grandeur, but felt no excitement in his heart.

‘The path of cultivation is long and arduous, each leaf a new step on a heavenly ladder! Each leaf is a new vista. The Spirit Sprout Realm alone has forty-nine leaves, so many magnificent sights, not to mention the Spirit Tree Realm, Dao Ring Realm, and Dao Fruit Realm that come after. No matter how magnificent the sights of the mortal world are, they are still inferior in comparison.’ Qin Haoxuan’s gaze swept around, looking at the expressions on the faces of the mortals around him—some excited, some numb…

In that moment, he deeply felt the distinction between immortal and mortal. Unlike the busy toiling of mortals, the great concerns of a cultivator’s heart were no longer firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea, nor the scheming and power struggles of the secular world. A cultivator’s opponent was the heavens!

To struggle against the heavens for one’s destiny, to challenge the heavens!

This difference in opponents led to a difference in realms between cultivators and mortals. Mortals were like those mired in mud, seeing only its filth, while cultivators soared through the nine heavens. At Elder Yu’s level, with a true flying sword, one could travel to famous mountains and great rivers in a single thought.

Cultivation was true and great carefree freedom, a true transcendence from the shackles of the mortal world.

“For Little Sister Xu Yu to enter the mortal world in the royal capital will allow her to comprehend the distinction between immortal and mortal even more deeply. That’s really good!” Qin Haoxuan sighed softly. His own trial had been in a military camp, and although he was revered as a god by the generals and soldiers all day, it couldn’t compare to the capital.

The purpose of entering the mortal world was to experience the distinction between immortal and mortal. The capital was filled with all sorts of people. Here, one could more profoundly experience what that distinction truly was, and what it meant to be mortal.

Xing teased, “Of course. You’re a weak seed, an insignificant person, so naturally you were sent to a sparsely populated place to enter the mortal world. Xu Yu is an Unsurpassed Purple Seed, so her location is much better.”

Qin Haoxuan shot Xing a look and played along. “Then how do you think I can better enter the mortal world?”

“How should I know? But when I get stronger in the future, I’ll help you eat those old geezers from the Taichu Sect! I’ll avenge you!” Xing patted his chest, looking righteous. “We’re good brothers, you don’t have to thank me!”

Qin Haoxuan kicked Xing’s butt. “The affairs of the Taichu Sect are our own affairs. I can handle them myself…”

Xing rolled his eyes at him. After spending these days together, he found that old Qin was becoming more and more like a true Taichu disciple. Whenever it came to matters of the sect, he became a bit stubborn. Even with Master Chi Lian, Qin Haoxuan was thinking of cleaning up the sect’s internal affairs himself, rather than relying on other methods to solve the problem.

Qin Haoxuan gave Xing a deep look and asked, “Now that we’re in the capital, with so many people, you won’t just eat people casually, will you?”

Xing looked annoyed, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. His face flushed red, and he said indignantly, “You insult me with those words! These mortals are so dirty and smelly, why would I eat them?”

Qin Haoxuan looked at him with distrust, given his prior record.

Xing explained with displeasure, “In my eyes, cultivators are food, like pigs and sheep, still edible. But mortals are just ants! You humans eat pigs and sheep, but would you eat ants?”

Mingling with the stream of secular people, the three of them looked indifferent as they slowly moved forward with the crowd, until they reached the gate marked with the three large characters “West City Gate.”

“Halt!” A burly soldier with a full beard and a fierce expression blocked their path, the tip of his long spear glinting coldly. He said in a cold voice, “Where are your travel permits?”

“Travel permits?” Xing and Lan Yan exchanged a look, not knowing what those were. Their gazes then fell on Qin Haoxuan. They had no interest in talking to these ant-like mortal soldiers.

Back at the battlefield camp, even the generals who commanded a hundred thousand soldiers were humble and polite before the most ordinary new disciples of the Taichu Sect. Xing and Lan Yan had spent several months in the military camp, where common soldiers handled mundane tasks like cleaning and laundry. In their eyes, a general commanding a hundred thousand troops was just a slightly larger ant, and an ordinary soldier was an insignificant one.

If they couldn’t even be bothered to talk to the big ants, why would they have any interest in talking to the small ones guarding a city gate?

Qin Haoxuan, having come from the secular world, was different from Lan Yan, who came from a cultivation family, and Xing, who was from the Netherworld. He still said politely, “Big brother, we don’t have travel permits.”

A travel permit was a pass issued by the various prefectures. It proved that you were a good person. Without one, you couldn’t even enter a larger prefectural city, let alone the heavily guarded royal capital.

Hearing Qin Haoxuan say they didn’t have permits, the nearby soldiers immediately grew wary. They glared fiercely at the three of them, and one of them took out a thick stack of wanted posters, flipping through them quickly to confirm they were not wanted criminals.

After looking through the thick stack and confirming they were not wanted, the soldier snapped impatiently, “If you don’t have a permit, what are you doing here? Scram!”

The soldiers who could stand guard at the four main gates of the capital were all elites of the army. They had no patience for these three ordinarily dressed people.

Qin Haoxuan was not angry. With his cultivator’s mindset, he understood that these soldiers were just doing their duty. Although their tone was unpleasant, it was not enough to make him fly into a rage.

“I don’t have a permit issued by a county office, but I have the credentials of an immortal. I wonder if I can enter with this?” As he spoke, Qin Haoxuan revealed the jade pendant hanging from his neck, which was carved with the two characters “Taichu.”

The soldier glanced at the jade pendant and sneered. “If you don’t have a permit, you can’t enter the city. Credentials of an immortal? Even if a real immortal came, he wouldn’t be able to get in!”

In the Soaring Dragon Nation, civil officials had to be of the fifth rank or higher, and military officers had to be a fifth-rank lieutenant general or higher, to even be qualified to know of the existence of cultivators. County-level officials were mostly unaware of them, let alone these common soldiers. It was perfectly normal for them not to recognize the token of the Taichu Sect. After all, the Taichu Sect was high and mighty; how could these ordinary soldiers possibly know of it?

Seeing that Qin Haoxuan was still not leaving, the soldier drew the steel saber from his waist. With a ferocious expression and a murderous aura, he pointed it at Qin Haoxuan and said, “Are you going to scram or not?”

According to the laws of the capital, anyone causing trouble could be executed on the spot without trial. This was especially true at the city gates, which were crowded and full of all sorts of people. If the soldiers killed the three of them, all they had to do was report it as “bandits causing trouble,” and the matter would be easily dismissed.

The fact that killing was not a crime was the greatest advantage of the capital’s guards!

Qin Haoxuan frowned slightly. Judging by the looks of these soldiers, they clearly had no intention of letting him in. And after this soldier drew his saber, the several hundred soldiers of this guard battalion at the gate also drew their weapons and stood ready. The archers had also nocked their arrows, prepared to kill him at any moment.

If it were an ordinary person, they would have been scared off by this display long ago. But Qin Haoxuan was in a hurry to see Xu Yu. He had with great difficulty obtained a ten-day leave and was unwilling to waste time with these soldiers. Behind him, Xing said coldly, “These things don’t know death, old Qin. Don’t be polite!”