Love Travels through Time (My father who traveled through time and space to cultivate immortality came back to pick me up) - Chapter 37
Chapter 37: Pillar of Shame
Xiang Heng genuinely intended to challenge him to a duel, rather than just putting on a show. However, Jingwen had no desire to fight him; winning would bring no glory.
Jingwen transmitted his voice cold and privately, “I know I have damaged your prestige this time, and you wish to rebuild it before the people of Silver Sand. But City Lord Xiang, know when to stop. Do not cross the line.”
Xiang Heng had not thought that far ahead. He was acting purely to seek justice for his daughter.
Since the two of them were communicating via private voice transmissions, Xiang Heng simply wanted Jingwen to privately apologize to his daughter.
What was so difficult about that?
He did not feel his demand was excessive at all, “Senior, please!”
Jingwen had originally come to demand accountability, but he had not expected to find himself caught in such a dilemma.
The fury of his killing sword flared up once more, “Even if I apologize to her, would she dare to accept it?!”
He was truly refusing to show any respect. Xiang Heng’s stubborn streak flared up as well. Although his cultivation was inferior, he was not entirely helpless.
Even if he had to risk everything, he would definitely make him lose a few teeth!
Abandoning the private transmission, Xiang Heng shouted directly in public, “Little Kui! If Senior apologizes to you, do you dare to accept it?!”
The emotions of the people in the city underwent dramatic twists and turns within a short span of time.
Earlier, when Jingwen invaded Xiang Heng’s sea of consciousness, everyone had been terrified. Later, seeing Jingwen withdraw his sword intent and chat pleasantly with Xiang Heng, they assumed the “misunderstanding” was resolved, breathing a collective sigh of relief.
Yet before long, Xiang Heng suddenly released surging battle intent with a stance of risking his life against Jingwen, bringing their hearts right back into their throats.
As for Xiang Haikui, her feelings mirrored those of the townspeople, shifting wildly from anxiety to shock. With voice transmissions blocked, she could not ask what was happening and could only worry helplessly.
Now, her father’s shout finally made her realize that he was seeking justice on her behalf.
Drenched in blood, her blue dress long turned red, Xiang Haikui had not flinched once. Yet with just one sentence from Xiang Heng, her eyes grew red. She sniffed hard to choke back the tears on the verge of welling up.
Meanwhile, the worry among the townspeople morphed into a surge of pride.
“Little Kui!” Xiang Tianqing frantically transmitted her voice to Xiang Haikui.
Having witnessed Jingwen’s terrifying strength when he twisted her treasure sword into a coil, she was thoroughly frightened, “Dad is no match for Jingwen and will definitely get hurt! Quickly yield to Jing Wen and give them a way out!”
Deeply moved, Xiang Haikui was a bit slow to react.
Jingwen spoke first, “How about I take you into my sect and compensate you by instructing you in the sword Dao?”
Having been cursed at by her earlier, Jingwen knew these father and daughter shared the same temperament—both stubborn donkeys.
Forcing a direct apology would only embarrass him further.
Since things had reached this point, he might as well use the opportunity to offer to take her as a disciple.
He believed this would defuse the situation and satisfy everyone.
The moment Jingwen dropped the bombshell of taking her as a disciple, gasps echoed everywhere. Even Xiang Heng was quite surprised.
Xiang Tianqing felt a very complicated mix of emotions. On one hand, she felt Xiang Haikui truly brought honor to their father, even winning the recognition of a Sword Venerable.
On the other hand, a faint expectation stirred in her heart. If Xiang Haikui became Jingwen’s disciple, she would have to go to the Royal Capital, leaving Silver Sand and leaving their father behind.
To everyone’s surprise, once Xiang Haikui recovered her thoughts, she rejected him outright, “I appreciate Senior’s kindness, but I must decline.”
Jingwen assumed she was acting out of anger and guided her patiently, “And your reason?”
Xiang Haikui found it hard to stand steadily, using Tian kuang as a crutch as she raised her head, “Junior already has a master.”
Jingwen asked, “A master of the sword Dao?”
Xiang Haikui replied, “Yes.”
Jingwen inspected her bone age once more.
She was indeed in her early twenties, “How long has your master taught you?”
Xiang Haikui spoke truthfully, “Eighty days.”
“What kind of master can someone be in just eighty days?” Jingwen stood atop the city tower, looking down at her high and mighty, the corners of his lips curving slightly, “However, it is commendable that you hold such respect for your teacher.”
How did eighty days not count as a master? Xiang Haikui found it laughable.
Her master’s eighty days of instruction were packed with real substance, enough to benefit her for a lifetime.
She wanted to snap back, but with her father present, she had to consider his reputation, “Thank you for the favor, but it is truly unnecessary. My master has a hot temper. If he learns that I changed sects, he will be furious. Furthermore…”
“Oh?” Jingwen still assumed she was venting anger.
Forget it, better not say it. Xiang Haikui shook her head.
Jingwen coaxed, “Speak your mind, there is no harm.”
Xiang Haikui was already struggling to restrain herself under Tian kuang’s instigation. With him pushing persistently, she could no longer hold back.
She turned toward the crowd, locking her gaze on the female sword attendant standing beside Jing Ran.
Hearing that her Sword Venerable wanted to accept a female disciple, the female attendant’s expression had turned exceedingly dark.
When Xiang Haikui looked over, the disgust on her face was still plain to see, causing her to lower her head in panic.
In her mind, no one would ever refuse to become the disciple of a Sword Venerable.
Once she became a disciple, she would become her “young mistress”.
With strict boundaries between master and servant in the Sword Pavilion, her own days would become difficult.
Xiang Haikui signaled toward her direction with her eyes and asked, “Senior Jing, how many years has she followed you?”
The question caught Jingwen off guard.
The male sword attendant stepped forward hurriedly and replied, “Nearly two hundred years.”
Xiang Haikui said, “After so long, you do not accept her as a disciple, yet you want to take me. Is it because I am stronger than her?”
That woman had glared at her numerous times.
Did she think she hadn’t noticed? Arrogant masters bred arrogant servants.
Jingwen nodded, “Naturally.”
The female sword attendant gritted her teeth.
Xiang Haikui held up her left index finger and right pinky finger, “I am also comparing the two and choosing the stronger one. I am unwilling to betray my master.”
The moment she spoke, dead silence fell over the entire city. Everyone began guessing in their hearts—could the Second Young Miss’s master be one of the other two Sword Venerables?
Xiang Tianqing lowered her eyes, avoiding the reactions of the crowd.
From the moment Xiang Haikui raised her blade and cleanly severed that small black snake, she knew that sooner or later, everyone would come to see Xiang Haikui as more of their father’s daughter than herself.
She simply hadn’t expected this day to arrive so swiftly and so violently.
“Sister Kui is truly…”
Lu Xiqiao gave a thumbs-up, transmitting his voice to Bai Xingxian.
If a Sword Venerable were willing to accept him as a disciple, he estimated his stingy father would have offered storewide discounts for seven days in a realm-wide celebration.
Bai Xingxian frowned, “Little Sister Kui is telling the truth.”
Lu Xiqiao was astonished, “Then who is Sister Kui’s master? In Zhongzhou—no, in our entire world, is there really such a figure?”
Jingwen originally thought she was deliberately ridiculing him, but her eyes held no sarcasm whatsoever, merely describing an ordinary fact.
Jingwen frowned, “Is it those two?” He was referring to the two grand figures who shared equal fame with him.
“No,” Xiang Haikui said with a touch of pride, “Beyond the heavens lie more heavens, Senior.”
Jingwen knew there were many hermits in this world.
Hearing Xiang Haikui say this genuinely piqued his interest, “May I know which sect your master belongs to, what his name is, and where he resides?”
The words My master hasn’t played the big boss for many years almost slipped out of Xiang Haikui’s mouth, but she forcibly reshaped them, “My master has been in secluded cultivation far from the world for many years, long ceasing to concern himself with red dust affairs.”
“You cultivate the heavy sword, which belongs to the path of the war sword. A master in secluded retreat is not suitable for you,” Jingwen transmitted his voice, “Tell me where he is. I will go challenge him and win you back, letting you know who the true powerhouse is.”
Xiang Haikui felt bewildered.
Was there something wrong with him?
She suggested, “Senior, if you are truly this idle, why not go kill the mirage demon outside the pass?”
Jingwen pressed on unrelentingly, “Speak.”
“My master’s movements are elusive like a divine dragon. I do not know where he is,” Xiang Haikui realized she could transmit her voice again, immediately sending her voice into Dao Chen’s sea of consciousness, “Senior? Are you alright?”
Yin Changli’s voice responded, “Do not worry, I am fine.”
His voice sounded quite steady.
She wondered if he was just putting on a front to stop her from worrying.
As Xiang Haikui was pondering, her ears were suddenly jarred by a wave of sound.
It was Jingwen using qi to form a sword, sweeping his hand to write the character “Invite” atop the Silver Sand city tower. Consuming spiritual energy with a grand voice transmission art, he projected his voice far and wide, making it heard with absolute clarity across at least several hundred towns within the vicinity.
—”Today, Jingwen, Supreme Elder of the Jinling Sword Dao Academy, sets down a wager here at Silver Sand City! I challenge the sword Dao master of Xiang Haikui, daughter of City Lord Xiang Heng of Silver Sand. I kindly ask everyone to spread word of this matter. Jingwen will await him at the Royal Capital for a ten-year limit. If he does not come, his disciple Xiang Haikui shall belong to me!”
Having finished, he turned to Xiang Haikui, “Ten years should be enough for him to receive the news, correct?”
Xiang Haikui was thoroughly shocked.
She was especially dumbfounded when she noticed that the crowd did not find this absurd at all, even looking at her with gazes full of envy.
Xiang Heng sent a private voice message to her, “Daughter, this is how things work in this world. When two sword cultivators with similar realms set a duel, all possessions can be used as wagers.”
A disciple was considered a form of possession.
Refusing the challenge was an option, but one would be mocked by other sword cultivators and nailed to the pillar of shame.
An actual physical pillar of shame.
Apart from Silver Sand, many cities in Zhongzhou featured a pillar of shame shaped like a broken sword. Whenever sword cultivators of some renown engaged in a duel, the losing party, as well as the party that refused to answer a challenge, would have their names carved onto the pillar.
Of course, the pillar of shame on the Grand Jinling Plaza in the Royal Capital was the most “magnificent and grand” of them all.
This was also one of the reasons Xiang Heng had abandoned the original owner’s path of sword cultivation to pursue a different path.
“Isn’t that way too twisted?”
What Xiang Haikui had glimpsed from her dreamscape was limited to Silver Sand, so she truly hadn’t known about this.
“I also thought it was twisted at first,” Xiang Heng looked at her blood-soaked wounds, feeling another surge of heartache, “But to a certain extent, it restrains the impulsiveness of sword cultivators.”
Before Zhongzhou erected pillars of shame, sword cultivators would engage in life-or-death duels over the slightest disagreement, causing massive numbers of sword cultivators to die in internal strife every year.
Xiang Haikui said, “My master is currently imprisoned. It is impossible for him to accept the challenge.”
What would be written on the pillar of shame?
Xiang Haikui’s Master?
“Xiang Heng, are you satisfied with the resolution I have provided?”
Although Jingwen’s action stemmed from his true desires, he also felt he had given Xiang Haikui more than enough honor.
Soon, the entire world would know Xiang Haikui’s grand name.
They would know that he, a grand Sword Venerable, was competing with another person to claim this girl as a disciple.
Xiang Heng’s battle intent had indeed dissipated, though not because his daughter was about to become famous across the lands.
He had already learned from Yin Changli that his daughter possessed a formidable master.
Though imprisoned, through his interactions with Yin Changli, he felt this group of Shanhai Tribe figures were capable of doing anything.
It was highly likely that Jingwen’s name would soon appear on that tall, thick pillar of shame in the Royal Capital Plaza.
How could his anger not dissipate?
“There is one more matter,” before leaving, Jingwen landed his gaze on Xiang Tianqing, transmitting his voice, “Xiang Heng, I wish to take my disciple’s daughter with me. She shares no blood relation with you. In this world, I, as her grand-master, hold a closer connection to her.”
Xiang Heng refused directly, “She is my daughter.”
“I hope you can ask for her opinion, but do not tell her about the old grudges of the past,” Jingwen ultimately could not openly declare taking her as a disciple like he did with Xiang Haikui. After finishing his private message, he glanced at Dao Chen meditating nearby, “I will head to the Buddha Grotto to wait first, and I will only depart at sunset tomorrow. If she wishes to follow me, come to the Buddha Cave before sunset.”
With those words, he transformed into a flying sword and departed.
Xiang Haikui still had more to say, but Jingwen’s speed was far too fast for her voice transmission to catch up.
However, it inadvertently allowed her to notice that Meng Xilou had taken advantage of Jingwen drawing everyone’s attention to sneak out of the city.
He was likely well aware of her father’s methods and wanted to flee.
She originally intended to inform her father, but after rolling her eyes with a quick thought, she spoke, “Lu Xiqiao, Little Bai, follow me first.”
Meanwhile, Xiang Heng had been eager to help his daughter tend to her injuries and had so much he wanted to say to her.
But seeing Dao Chen on the same city tower stumbling as he tried to stand, Xiang Heng hurriedly stepped forward to support him.
“Senior Yin, are you alright?” Xiang Heng couldn’t tell whether this was Dao Chen or Yin Changli, but sending a voice transmission into his sea of consciousness would work regardless.
“He needs rest,” Dao Chen signaled for Xiang Heng not to bother him.
“No, I don’t,” inside Dao Chen’s sea of consciousness, Yin Changli’s consciousness had originally been groggy, but hearing the word Senior, he sat up abruptly like a dying man, “Uncle, I am fine. Forgive me for causing you concern.”
