Chapter 21: The Art of Drawing a Sword Comes to Maturity, Fa Ming Is Captured
Another day passed, and Jiang Liu’er had mastered the Wind-Stepping Soul-Chasing Falcon Stride. If proficiency were divided into minor mastery, major mastery, and perfection, he had reached minor mastery.
"Brother Yin, could you lend me your sword?"
Jiang Liu’er asked Yin Zhao with eager anticipation.
"Ha! Take it!" Though unsure of Jiang Liu’er’s intentions, Yin Zhao generously tossed his sword over.
Jiang Liu’er caught it swiftly.
After unsheathing the blade, he used his index finger as a "brush" and his magic power as "ink," inscribing incantations onto the sword’s surface.
The Hundred-Charm Heart-Piercing Sword Art, taught by Elder Tang Sanzang, required etching a hundred "Heart-Piercing Charms" onto the blade. Once completed, the sword could be guided by magic to strike an enemy’s heart within a hundred paces!
Who hadn’t dreamed of controlling a flying sword? Jiang Liu’er certainly had.
"Done!" After inscribing the final charm, Jiang Liu’er channeled magic into the blade. Strangely, the sword now felt like an extension of his own body—albeit one disconnected from his physical form.
"Rise!"
He pointed with a sword gesture, and the blade levitated. But it suddenly spun midair, autonomously targeting a nearby soldier’s heart. Panicking, Jiang Liu’er grabbed the hilt just before it lunged. A moment later, and the soldier would’ve been dead.
‘Never wield this sword lightly. Its power demands a life once unleashed.’
The warning echoed in his mind.
［Jiang Liu’er］: "@Muscular Tang Sanzang, Elder! I’ve mastered the Hundred-Charm Heart-Piercing Sword Art! Even a regular blade inscribed with the charms will hunt hearts with a trickle of magic."
［Muscular Tang Sanzang］: "...Good work."
Tang Sanzang’s mood soured. A technique he’d invented at fourteen after a month of effort—learned in two days? Jiang Liu’er’s monstrous talent defied reason.
"Boss... Did that sword just float? Or am I seeing things?" A soldier whispered, swallowing hard.
Yin Zhao, who’d witnessed it too, replied flatly: "My sword flies. Perfectly normal."
......
That night, at Golden Light Temple—a sanctified Buddhist monastery—a demon arrived.
The visitor, "Serpent Captain" of Wolf Gully Cave, a mid-ranking officer commanding dozens of lesser fiends, demanded answers from the abbot.
"Amitabha. Jiang Liu’er was brought here by Monk Faming, but he injured a disciple and fled. Even we seek him now, aided by the authorities."
"Lies!" The serpent hissed. "Your abbacy owes much to our King. Hand him over!"
"Perhaps Monk Faming knows more."
"Faming? That stubborn fool? Are you scheming to waste my time?"
"Amitabha..."
Frustrated but restrained by his King’s ties to the abbot, the serpent sought Faming instead.
Faming, once a contender for the abbacy, had lost to the current leader a decade prior—thanks to the Wolf Gully King’s interference.
Crash!
The serpent kicked open Faming’s door, finding the monk chanting on a mat. A black-scaled, humanoid figure in leather armor loomed, halberd in hand.
"Where’s Jiang Liu’er? Speak, or die!"
Though terrified, Faming steadied himself at Jiang Liu’er’s name.
"What has the boy done?"
"Stole our King’s bride! Disguised as a demon, infiltrated our lair! Where is he?"
"A twelve-year-old lacks such power. Surely a misunderstanding."
The halberd pricked Faming’s throat. "Last chance!"
"I don’t know."
Even if he did—he’d never tell.
"You raised him, yes? His savior?" The serpent grinned. "Perfect."
A blunt strike knocked Faming unconscious. Hauling him up, the demon bellowed through the temple:
"Jiang Liu’er! Your precious monk dies unless you return the bride! Find me at the abandoned shrine ten li east!"
Trembling monks cowered as the abbot clasped his hands before a Buddha statue.
"Amitabha... Faming, your stubborn mercy brings this fate. The abbacy remains mine."
......
