The Ballad of the Long Sword (Volume 1, 2, 3)

Author: Lunzi
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-11-01
Features: Perhaps time no longer means anything, just a continuous series of legends. Maybe legends themselves hold no value except for people's praise. When the songs of praise have faded, when history becomes the words of bards, everything will eventually return to dust.
The exciting content: The stars revolve swiftly, fate wanders in the mortal world; honor and disgrace, glory and destruction, alternate like the waves of the sea. Everything proceeds—changing like the unpredictable. Finally, set in this era millions of years later, at the other end of the universe. Tans Star, in every aspect, is the most suitable place for human survival after Earth. It is ten times the size of Earth and exceptionally rich in resources. But strangely, there has been no sign of life thriving here until two hundred years ago, when the last descendants of humanity migrated from the distant Earth, bringing true prosperity to this planet that was destined to flourish. In these two hundred years, human development on this planet has surpassed the sum of what was achieved on Earth. Magic has truly flourished, becoming a compulsory course for almost everyone. The Stormwind Dynasty, built on the foundation of magic, calls upon the youth to rise and achieve honor with their own hands. This enabled it to unify the entire continent in less than a year, with the banners of the Stormwind covering every corner of the land, becoming an unending symbol. Magic has achieved an equal status with science, even surpassing it. Because magic further prevents the waste and pollution of resources; and the most abundant resource on Tans Star is the source of magic—crystals. With the help of magic, people have built an environment suitable for human survival. The Royal Magicians completely control the weather, providing a warm and pleasant climate, like spring all year round, in the main areas of human settlement. All over the land, free magic food is provided by restaurants, and a person can live a very comfortable life without doing any labor. The magic geniuses of past generations have continuously strived to make Tans Star a paradise on earth. Whether the scenery is grand and open or elegant and beautiful, whether the creatures are strange and clever or rare and exquisite, whether the palaces and towers are exquisite and magnificent or grand and simple, everything is present, reaching the peak of beauty. With the help of magic, everyone becomes as great as a god, able to freely realize their wishes and satisfy themselves with the easy acquisition of all material and spiritual wealth. Represented by the Celestial King and the Benevolent King, the Stormwind Dynasty's powerful rule ensures permanent peace for the entire continent. People are completely satisfied with their current happiness and have even become somewhat complacent. Time has lost its meaning, and thus, there is no longer a calendar. The thing hanging in the sky, illuminating without setting, is called the sun. Its bright and dark changes are called a day; there is nothing more to time. However, to demonstrate their dignity, the Stormwind Dynasty created another way to measure time: sixty days make a month, and sixty months make a year. This was the third year of the Celestial King, and the only heir to the Stormwind Dynasty, Princess Manshi, was eighteen months old, in the bloom of youth. A group of dozens of people came from the Qitian Mountains in the southeastern border. On the lead horse sat a child, no more than one year old, with a clear and delicate appearance, clearly untouched by hardship. Seeing the yellow dust blocking the sky and obscuring the path, he frowned and said, "Uncle Song, why must we walk like this? Why not bring my Cloud-Skipping Beast? For a thirty-thousand-li journey, it could reach us in an instant. Yet we insist on this hardship." The elderly man next to him quickly turned around and smiled, "Your Highness, please endure for a moment. Before leaving, the Queen instructed: This journey is to pay homage to the Celestial King's third-year coronation ceremony of our own land. To show respect, we must walk these thirty thousand li step by step. The Queen also said that although the tribute is generous, it is ultimately just a few trinkets. The Son of Heaven may not appreciate them, and our small state has nothing to offer with great effort. Only by enduring hardship can we truly express our respect. Please understand the Queen's good intentions and do not mind your own fatigue." The young ruler nodded, "Since the Queen has given this order, then so be it. A thirty-thousand-li journey is not far. Let's go. But I think the Celestial King is a hero and a benevolent ruler, ruling for thirty years with peace and prosperity. If he knew we were using this self-imposed suffering to pay homage, he would surely not approve." The old man continued to smile and said, "Your Highness is right. But since the Queen has given this order, I must follow it. Your Highness is sharing the burden of your mother, which is also a filial duty. However, the sand and dust today are indeed great, and this is a remote and desolate place. Without the coverage of the Dry Heaven Magic, storms often last for days. To prevent any changes, we should prepare early. Your Highness enjoys excitement, so why not let Commander Chen show off his skills?" The young ruler happily cheered, and the old man waved his hand behind him. A burly man stepped out of the crowd, tall and strong, and bowed to the young ruler, saying, "Your Highness, Commander Chen presents his skills." He rode to the front without any magic tools, just murmuring words and slowly drawing with his hands. As his fingers swept past, the air did not heal, but instead formed two pentagrams in front of him. With a wave of his hands, the two stars shot forward with a thousand feet of light, one towards the front and the other towards the back. The two stars' light connected, enveloping the entire group. The storm was already fierce, as if it wanted to reverse the heavens and earth. After this encounter, it was like adding fuel to the fire, turning the storm into black mist and purple smoke, swirling around the group. Sometimes the black mist would surge or collide with the pentagram shields, producing loud noises like thunder striking the ground, shaking the earth. Despite the storm's fury, it could not shake the star shields in the slightest. To please the young ruler, Commander Chen pointed a finger, and the star shields suddenly spun rapidly, the colorful light at the ends of the rays like a rain of meteorites, dazzling and brilliant, completely dispersing the storm. The young ruler cheered endlessly. The old man went even further to flatter him, waved his hand, and another burly man stepped out of the crowd, bowing and saying, "General Zhang Ziruo is also joining the fun." Turning to Commander Chen, he said, "Commander Chen, please move your Star Wolf Shield aside and let me clear the path." Commander Chen smiled and said, "Of course, we still need General Zhang's Open Mountain Axe Technique." As soon as the shield moved, Zhang Ziruo roared, and in his hands appeared two crude short axes. With another roar, the two axes fell straight down. Everyone felt a cool breeze, and the storm was cut open into a long passage. The storm opened and closed, and Zhang Ziruo, as he moved, chopped through it like a furious tide, as if nothing existed. The young ruler, having seen it all before, paid no attention, just clapping and playing. The old man thought that the nearby thousand miles were barren and uninhabited, so he was not afraid of causing trouble, and said, "It's rare for Your Highness to be in such a good mood. Why not have some fun today? You and the others have been restrained for so many days, let's relax our muscles." The attendants had seen the fun of Commander Chen and Zhang, and were only too happy to hear this. Suddenly, they saw brilliant light shaking the sky, sword energy piercing the heavens, stars shifting, and the world changing. The group was all masters who terrified the southern sky. With this full display of strength, they forcefully squeezed the storm in the middle, turning it into two long walls of crystal, changing and extending hundreds of miles forward, only slightly revealing the deep blue sky above. Some still felt it wasn't enough, so they used the technique of forcing the wind to summon spirits, turning the wind into something like a river and sea in reverse. Long columns of wind, like dragons, sucked the ground, turning the sky yellow and making it seem as if the sky were about to collapse. But outside, the fierce wind did not even let a speck of dust touch them. The group was having a great time when they suddenly heard a roar in the wind, "Who is tampering with the wind here? Don't you fear creating calamity?" Everyone was shocked and stopped in their tracks. To their right, the storm like a tide scattered, revealing five people in the middle. Four of them stood tall, like stone pillars, resisting the wind; one sat cross-legged, hands forming a great lotus-like Dharma seal, floating in the air as if doing nothing. But the experts among them knew that he was using inner strength to draw on the life-giving power of his ancestors, combining with the spiritual energy of the four beside him, to reorganize the chaotic energy in the world into the earth's core. This method was said to have been passed down from the Holy King Emperor, but no one had dared to use it, as it drained the practitioner while benefiting others, often causing great damage to their own strength. Unexpectedly, they saw it in this desolate place. What surprised them even more was that the armor the five wore was made of a mixture of black gold and purple crystal, capable of resisting both physical and magical damage. Their helmets were phoenix-shaped, and behind them were, symbols of the Royal Guard's Sky Knight Division of the Stormwind Dynasty. How could they meet here? The knight forming the seal in the middle said, "Judging by your skills, you are rare talents. Can't you see that the wind is gradually forming, being suppressed by you and pushed by the southwestern mountains, moving eastward? A great calamity is approaching. Please leave quickly to avoid being affected. I can act without restraint while casting this spell." The masters from the southern sky looked up at the sky as he said this. The clear and bright blue sky had now turned black as ink, with large patches of dark clouds drifting eastward like galloping horses. The wind also gathered, and when two dark clouds collided, they no longer exploded with thunderous sounds but instead absorbed each other, gradually growing larger. The dark cloud in the east had gradually formed into a huge mass, drifting away from the area. The thunderous sounds in the distant sky grew louder, clearly indicating the formation of a tornado. The group had only focused on pleasing the young ruler and, being bold and skilled, had not noticed the situation. Upon closer inspection, they were greatly shocked. They hurried to withdraw from the wind wall, ready to resist this natural disaster with their combined strength. Before they could act, the knight noticed their intention and said, "Please do not panic. The wind wall cannot be removed. If the wind from both east and west combines, along with your earlier interference, it will be impossible to reverse this disaster. Please work together to hold back the wind from the west while I deal with this side." The old man named Song Gongzhe was a great master from the southern sky. His cultivation, though not reaching the peak, was truly rare. Hearing this, he thought, "We were able to open a path through this storm, so we are not afraid of it. Although the east has already formed and it will be troublesome to clean it up, with our combined strength of dozens of people, how could the sky fall?" With some reluctance, he suddenly heard a series of cracking sounds from the east, and the dark clouds had formed into a black hole-like vortex, shooting a powerful force that made everyone lose their balance. The dark clouds rotated and emitted a howling sound like ghosts and wolves, making everyone uneasy. The dark clouds, blocked by the wind wall, grew even fiercer, like an infinitely large black dragon, connecting to the sky and the earth, shaking violently and crashing against the wall. The force was almost unstoppable, scattering the group in all directions. Song Gongzhe finally understood the power of heaven and earth. He had no choice but to brace himself, and soon, everyone was sweating profusely.