Chapter Twenty-Three: The Sword of Longevity (Part Two)

The remaining wild spirits, under the command of Ye Litan, attacked Fei Liguo with a frenzy. Yet soon they realized that Fei Liguo was counterattacking them without the slightest regard for his own safety. Despite Ye Litan’s support from the center, several more wild spirits were wounded by the Longevity Sword. Their ferocious assaults only succeeded in burning Fei Liguo’s outer Daoist robe to tatters, but a layer of violet light shimmered around him, making him appear unharmed. Beneath his ruined robe, another violet Daoist garment was revealed, adorned with eight gemstones set in both the front and the back in the formation of eight poles. Whenever an attack landed on the robe, the sixteen gemstones would light up one after another, emitting a violet glow that dissolved the assault into nothingness.

This violet robe was none other than Fei Liguo’s other magical artifact, the Eightfold Violet Surcoat. Embedded with sixteen gemstones of the eighth and ninth ranks, arranged in the pattern of the eight poles on front and back, it had been refined with secret Daoist rites. It could automatically draw energy from the gemstones to shield its wearer, offering protection even more wondrous than Fei Liguo’s earlier Five Sacred Mountains Incantation—a veritable treasure for self-defense.

Thus, Fei Liguo now stood in a virtually invincible position. This Violet Surcoat, more powerful than the Five Sacred Mountains Incantation cast by sorcery, drew inexhaustible energy from its sixteen high-grade gemstones. No matter how fiercely the wild spirits attacked, their blows only made the violet light ripple like water.

Suddenly, a sword-shaped pillar of black light struck the Eightfold Violet Shield, making it tremble as never before. The black light seemed to infiltrate and unravel the violet glow, startling Fei Liguo so much that he abandoned his pursuit of a fleeing wild spirit and hastily recalled the Longevity Sword to defend himself. Fortunately, all sixteen gemstones on the Surcoat shone at once, and though the violet light was nearly shattered, it soon stabilized, turning danger into safety.

Ye Litan was shocked. He had not used white magic to protect his companion, but had instead seized the opportunity to cast an eighth-rank dark spell, the Sword of Darkness. Yet even a seventh-rank dark spell had failed to pierce Fei Liguo’s defenses.

Thus, the battle returned to its original stalemate, sinking into a protracted and muddy struggle. Ye Litan had to abandon thoughts of ambushing Fei Liguo with dark magic and continued instead to use white magic to support his allies, hoping to wear down the Eightfold Violet Shield as he had with the Five Sacred Mountains Incantation before. Having just taken an eighth-rank spell, Fei Liguo, though saved by his Surcoat, grew more cautious and dared not let all the wild spirits’ attacks strike him at once. If another Sword of Darkness was hidden among their strikes, his Surcoat might be broken. Now, even the Longevity Sword occasionally aided in his defense.

As the battle dragged on and yielded no result, Fei Liguo grew angry. He had intended to vent his earlier frustration on this band of wild spirits, but after expending much of his core energy to wield the Longevity Sword’s Unbound Swordplay, and facing Ye Litan’s formidable power and the band’s expert coordination—no wonder they were the most feared thieves in the region—he found himself unable to prevail. Whenever the Longevity Sword was about to deal a heavy blow to a wild spirit, Ye Litan would cast high-level white magic for defense; if Fei Liguo focused his attacks on Ye Litan, the other spirits would ignore their leader and assault Fei Liguo together. Though the Surcoat shielded him from individual harm, if every spirit focused their attacks on a single spot, Fei Liguo dared not trust that the Surcoat would hold, especially with the threat of another Sword of Darkness.

Both sides were astonished. Never before had the wild spirits suffered such losses—and at the hands of a lone human! Should word spread that nearly a hundred wild spirits were held at bay by a single man, it would be beyond belief. Together, they could challenge a young dragon, with Ye Litan alone a mage of magister rank. Yet Fei Liguo was all the more enraged, for he had boasted just moments ago, and Wei Wuji and the others had not gone far—the shame was considerable.

As the stalemate continued, the gemstones on Fei Liguo’s Surcoat began to flash faster and faster, a sign that their energy was being rapidly depleted. At last, Fei Liguo decided to use the second Daoist art imbued in the Longevity Sword. Though the sword was permanently enhanced with two Daoist arts, he could not use them endlessly; after each use, he needed to replenish the sword’s energy.

This battle, then, was even more frustrating than the last. At least before he had faced a Daoist brother, matching sword with sword and losing only narrowly—no great shame. Now, even a band of wild spirit thieves was tying him down, and he found it humiliating.

“Break for me!” With a furious shout, Fei Liguo invoked the sword’s second Daoist art: the Cycle of Sun and Moon. A radiance like a red sun burst forth from his body, forming a double-layered defense with the Eightfold Violet Shield, blocking all melee and ranged attacks from the wild spirits. At the same time, a vast silver crescent moon spun and howled, shredding over a dozen nearby wild spirits into pieces. Even Ye Litan’s hastily-cast seventh-rank white magic, the Starlight Cloak, shattered after only a few blows.

Ye Litan, recognizing the peril, was thankful that though his Starlight Cloak was destroyed, he had cast several self-enhancements: Stone Bones, Shielding Art, and Aura of Evasion. These allowed him to escape the first sweep of the Cycle of Sun and Moon. Before the second sweep, he had already fled beyond the spell’s reach, abandoning his companions and plunging into the dense forest.

The remaining wild spirits tried to flee as well, but they were less fortunate than Ye Litan and could not all escape unscathed. Luckily, Ye Litan’s Aura of Evasion, a sixth-rank group white magic, boosted their agility and reaction speed for a time. Those further from Fei Liguo, engaged in ranged attacks, managed to escape the spell’s area; those closer, however, were too late and were torn apart by the Cycle of Sun and Moon.

Fei Liguo dared not pursue. He grew paler still. After two consecutive battles, he was greatly depleted; the Eightfold Violet Surcoat was nearly exhausted, and the two Daoist arts on the Longevity Sword could not be used again until he replenished their energy.

——

With Fei Liguo holding off the wild spirits, Wei Wuji led the group to the riverside. With neither boat nor bridge in sight, everyone wondered how they would cross.

Wei Wuji took a deep breath, his color returning, and began to chant a sacred incantation, tracing a Sunlight Talisman with his hand. As the mist lifted, harsh sunlight poured down, and the recited incantation gathered all the sunlight into his fingertip, which now shone as brilliantly as a miniature sun.

As the others watched in bafflement, Wei Wuji, as if bearing an enormous weight, slowly pointed his glowing finger toward the far bank.

Blazing sunlight coalesced into a rainbow bridge, arching across the Negró River. The onlookers stared, dumbfounded.

Wei Wuji’s shout rang in their ears: “This bridge is conjured by my magic and will only last for the time it takes an incense stick to burn. Why are you not hurrying across?”