Song of Adolescence

Chapter 436 The Fourth Floor

"I dispute that!"

A young voice that rang even louder followed his proclamation immediately, reverberating throughout Heavenly Revelations City.

Xiao Se stood on the roof of the teahouse, his robes already stained red with blood. His body was covered with wounds but his face showed no sign of giving in. He paused for a moment and yelled again, "I dispute that! What are you going to do about it!"

Luo Qingyang did not reply. He leapt into the air and landed in front of Xiao Se.

"Come and get it!" Xiao Se muttered under his breath, swung his heavy sword, and braced himself to meet the attack.

"To repay the king's favour on the Golden Terrace, I shall wield this jade dragon and die for my king. An excellent Berserk Dragon." Xie Xuan took a sip of his tea. "This duel is not over yet."

Xiao Se, who had already fallen in defeat, suddenly erupted again. The sword of the Berserk Dragon danced wildly in his hand.

Because that was his last sword.

Because he had reached the end of the road.

Xiao Se gathered everything he had learned in his life, the Wuji staff, the Bagua Core Formula, his Cloud Step Wind Riding skill, the Warring Kingdoms swordplay, and combined them all together. He attacked Luo Qingyang as if he'd gone mad.

Even Luo Qingyang was stunned for a while, awed by this crazy wild attack. Within a short time, the two of them exchanged tens of sword moves, and neither could gain the advantage.

Li Fansong frowned and said, "This duel has been going on for a long time."

This sentence became an omen, and the two actually fought from noon to dusk, but still, there was no winner. Xiao Se's heavy sword was full of nicks and Luo Qingyang's hair had gotten loose. He looked somewhat more dishevelled than usual.

In a sedan chair not far away, Princess Qing, who was dressed in fine brocade robes, smiled and asked her teacher of sword arts next to her, "Shifu, do you have any regrets? My Liu-ge said he was only borrowing the swords, but he didn't say how many nor did he say after borrowing them, they would be used in this way."

"Since they're already broken, then let them be." Luo Bu's tone was actually free of regret.

Princess Qing was taken aback. She had been practising her sword with Luo Bu for many years and naturally, she knew how much her master valued each and every sword. She was surprised by his reaction. "Shifu, you don't regret it?"

"Do you think a sword prefers to be enshrined within a great hall, never seeing the light of day for decades, or would it prefer to return to its prime once again and be wielded by a peerless fighter, broken by a sword immortal?" Luo Bu asked back.

Princess Qing murmured the words to herself for a while, then nodded her head. "Qing'er understands."

Luo Bu chuckled. "His Highness Yong'an Prince is not bad of a swordsman."

"But he's going to lose, right?" Princess Qing sighed.

Luo Bu shook his head. "He's stronger than I. How could I determine whether he'll win or lose?"

Inside the Yong'an Prince Residence, a youth dressed in red finally pushed open the door of his room and walked out.

At that moment, his eyes were as clear as crystal.

He held his sword in his hand and around the hilt of the sword, it seemed to be charged with lightning.

Lei Wujie had never experienced such a perfect feeling in his life. In a clear voice, he called out, "Xiao Se, come out quickly. I feel as if I could draw my sword and slay a dragon. Let's go and fight that Luo Qingyang!"

There was no reply. Of course, nobody replied to him.

Lei Wujie frowned. Suddenly, he yelled, "Steward!"

The most assiduous house steward in all of the Yong'an Prince Residence ran over hurriedly. "Young master Lei."

"Where's Xiao Se?" Lei Wujie asked warily.

The house steward wiped the sweat on his forehead and lowered his head. "His Highness has gone to the sword duel."

"Sword duel? With who?" Lei Wujie's expression was filled with confusion.

"Who else is holding a sword duel in the city? Of course, it's the Solitary Sword Immortal outside the palace gates…" The house steward sighed.

"What!" Lei Wujie was badly shocked. "Is Xiao Se crazy? What school of sword arts does he know?"

The house steward shook his head. "I don't know anything about that."

"Out of my way." Lei Wujie pushed aside the house steward, took a flying leap, and ran in the direction of the palace gates.

"Damn you, Xiao Se, always vying to be the hero. Coming back to Heavenly Revelations, you also had to do it alone. Fighting the sword immortal, you also want to fight by yourself! Did you think I had to help you because I’m one of the Four Guardians of Heavenly Revelations or whatever? Bah! And I thought we were brothers!

"We agreed that as brothers, we'd fight together to the end. I, Lei Wujie, have practised my sword for over ten years. Isn't it because I want to be a hero for once? So that those storytellers in the future will one day tell my story, that Lei Wujie drew his sword for the sake of his brother, Xiao Se, in a decisive battle for the power of Heavenly Revelations!

"This is pissing me off! Wait, wait, wait, wait, I can't get angry. I can't afford to disrupt my sword heart.

"I don't even know how that fellow is doing. Is he dead yet? No, he can't be. That fellow is second to none at escaping with his life.

"Sigh, you better wait for me."

Suddenly, Lei Wujie raised his voice and yelled out loud, his voice reverberating throughout the entire Heavenly Revelations City. "Xiao Se, don't you dare kill Luo Qingyang. Leave some for me!"

At that moment, Xiao Se was half-kneeling on the ground and he spat out a mouthful of bloody spittle. He cursed angrily, "Idiot!"

"Oh? Is that kid coming?" Xie Xuan laughed.

Li Fansong was helpless. "So, are they taking turns?"

"We just have to kill Xiao Se. This duel has no other purpose." Xiao Yu laughed and tossed the winecup he was holding on the floor.

Su Changhe's clothes ruffled lightly for an instant, but quickly settled down again. Su Changhe was still standing in the same spot, not one step out of place.

Because downstairs from the teahouse, two people suddenly appeared there.

Xie Xuan drew his Book of Knowledge and Yan Zhantian held up his Army Destroyer sword.

Two sword immortals were standing guard with their swords drawn.

Xie Xuan raised his head slightly, his expression half-smiling and half not, and he said mildly, "Please stay where you are."

Xiao Se got to his feet with difficulty and the final heavy sword in his hand suddenly broke into two.

Upstairs in the teahouse, Wushuang knocked lightly on his sword casket. Inside, the Bright Vermilion Phoenix had been humming since a while ago.

Xiao Chong frowned and said, "Are you thinking of lending him your sword?"

"I'm afraid that in his current state, he won't be able to bear it." Wushuang sighed lightly.

Xiao Se looked at the broken sword in his hand and smiled bitterly. "The last one is gone too."

In the west side of Heavenly Revelations City, inside a resplendent tower, a man in black was sitting idly in the darkness when he suddenly opened his eyes. "No, you have one more."

The consummate noble son who once stood on the battlefield in the past, Xie Zhize, the most famous of the Five Pillars of State of Beili, stood up and walked up the stairs. He was on the third floor of the First Tower Under Heaven and when he walked up the stairs, he was going to the fourth floor.

No one had ever climbed to the fourth floor.

Legends said the fourth floor could let you ascend into Heaven with one step.

Xie Zhize opened the door. All was silent.

On the fourth floor, there was no peerless sword aura left by a sword immortal, there was no ghostly remnants left by the founding celestial master of the Directorate of Astronomy, nor was there that replica of the battlefield of carnage and Hell on earth.

There was only a sword.

The blade of the sword was extremely dull. Xie Zhize took a few steps forward, lowered his body and ran his fingers across the rust that had accumulated on the blade.

"It's been a long time since I last saw you, Heaven Breached sword." Xie Zhize sighed softly.

In legends, only the Son of Heaven chosen by Heaven could use the Heaven Breached sword!

But why was it a rusted sword?

Xie Zhize tapped lightly on the hilt of the sword, and then waved his long sleeves. "Go, then."

The Heaven Breached sword burst through the window instantly and flew towards the gates of the Heavenly Revelations palace!

Xie Zhize stood where he was, watching the sword burst into the air and smiled slightly. Then, he sat down cross-legged.

"A century of dreams in slumber, a noble existence through the ages."

In an instant, Xie Zhize turned into dust and disappeared.