The Demon-Slaying Grandmaster

Chapter 147 Flying with a Sword
Dou Shaohui thought of the secret edict that said Li Jingxiao had another important mission in Liaodong.

Not only are they not subject to anyone's jurisdiction or command, but Liaodong Town also has to cooperate with Li Jingxiao, the newly appointed Marquis, as much as possible.

Dou Shaohui thought about it for several days and finally guessed that it was probably related to the rebellion in the West Sea Province of Goryeo.

As for whether it was the work of demons or rebels, Dou Shaohui dared not speculate.

But thinking back to some of the news coming back from the capital, this Marquis had been radiating rage in front of all the civil and military officials and the two emperors when he hosted a banquet in the palace on New Year's Eve last year.

They saved the emperor and his officials.

If everyone agrees on this, then it can't be false.

Thinking of this, and then recalling how Li Jingxiao's army left Liaoyang City with the men of the Left Garrison Command and disappeared without a trace, Dou Shaohui couldn't help but feel secretly relieved.

If the Tatars had joined forces with that demon when they marched south, they could have easily conquered several counties in northern Goryeo.

With this as a foundation, it will be much easier to continue attacking Goryeo or to attack Liaodong Town than before.

Of course, this would also mean facing a pincer attack from both Korea and the Great Zhou.

The thought of the Tatars holding the city and then sending cavalry to launch a surprise attack on their rear was terrifying.

Cutting off the supply lines of either the Zhou or Goryeo army would inevitably cause chaos within their ranks.

If they seize the opportunity to charge, given the Tatars' field combat capabilities, who knows how many Great Zhou soldiers will die.

Thinking of this, Dou Shaohui couldn't help but shudder.

He hurriedly instructed his subordinates to take good care of the three thousand cavalry and seven thousand troops brought by Li Jingxiao.

If any horses are lost, replace them as soon as possible.

The Liaodong generals also knew quite a bit about Li Jingxiao.

Moreover, starting after the New Year, a large number of Koreans fled to Liaodong from Xihaidao. It was impossible for the military officers stationed in Liaodong not to know this.

It's easy to guess that Li Jingxiao rested in the city for three days before leaving with the men of the Left Garrison Command, probably because of the trouble in Goryeo.

He hurriedly bowed to Dou Shaohui and agreed.

Jia Rong, who remained in the city, immediately became the target of inquiries and attempts to curry favor.

Back then, the two Dukes Ning and Rong were highly respected in the army, and many ancestors of military families had served under Jia Yan and Jia Yuan.

Even in the second generation, Jia Daihua and Jia Daishan, they accompanied the retired emperor on several northern expeditions.

Jia Daihua later became the military governor of the capital, and he also had many connections in the army.

Therefore, the military families guarding the border in Liaodong Town, whose ancestors had connections with the Jia family, all came to Jia Rong's door with generous gifts to try and build a relationship.

Jia Rong may not be good at anything else, but as a young master from a wealthy family, he is not much worse than Jia Lian in social interactions.

If given the opportunity to hone his skills, Li Jingxiao allowed him to handle social engagements that he himself was unwilling to deal with, which was indeed making the best use of his talents.

Although Jia Rong was often exhausted during the 1,400-1,500 li march, he managed to persevere.

In addition, he is still young and recovers quickly; his health is much better than when he was still in Beijing.

As for my personality, although I can't change it, I'm no longer as cowardly as before.

Before leaving the city, Li Jingxiao instructed Jia Rong to inquire about the situation in Liaodong. Jia Rong immediately became adept and resourceful, handling the situation with ease.

Li Jingxiao and his men traveled for three days and more than 260 li (approximately 130 kilometers) out of the city before arriving at Zhenjiang Fort.

We're not far from the Saikaido region of Korea.

Before even entering Zhenjiang Fort, one could see a large number of refugees gathered outside the city, and judging from their clothing, they should all be Koreans.

The soldiers on the fort saw a cavalry force of over a hundred men.

Moreover, most of them were dressed in flying fish robes, and the leader was in silver armor with a bright red robe with tiger patterns on the outside.

Wearing a five-jeweled purple-gold crown to bind his hair, the horse he rode was noticeably taller and stronger than the other horses.

You can tell at a glance that he must be an important person.

He hurried off to inform the Commander.

By the time the commander reached the city wall, Li Jingxiao and his men had already arrived at the foot of the fort.

Zhao Junming stepped forward and shouted loudly, "My master is the hereditary Marquis of Xing'an, appointed by imperial decree, and is also the Grand Protector of the Army, the General of Huaihua, the Deputy Commander of the Palace Guard, and concurrently the Commander of the Left Garrison."

"Open the city gates quickly!"

The commander was so intimidated by the string of official titles that his scalp tingled.

The hereditary Marquis of Xing'an was so powerful that even the second-rank general of Liaodong had to pay his respects to him.

He hurriedly ordered the city gates to be opened and respectfully greeted Li Jingxiao and his entourage at the city gate.

Without wasting any time arguing with the other party, Li Jingxiao directly occupied the government office of Zhenjiang Fort.

From the game's item inventory, I took out the Monkey Spirit Wine that I had made these past few days by using two purple-gold gourds to absorb the spiritual energy of the flower fairies in the game and refine it.

Then let the three Shi brothers, the Hu family uncle and nephew, and the Liu family siblings come together.

With two small flag bearers and 20 captains, and carrying four jars of five-jin monkey spirit wine, they went to find the Hu and Liu families who worshipped the spirits Hu and Liu.

I had already made arrangements with Hu Xian and Liu Xian to find out the details of that tiger demon.

Give them each 10 jin of Monkey Spirit Wine.

Now that we've reached the Korean border, it's time to fulfill our promise and give them the reward.

Incidentally, I invited the fox spirit and the willow spirit to come and serve as my guards so that I could enter the Goryeo West Sea Road.

Go find trouble with that tiger demon.

After everyone left, Li Jingxiao met with the commander.

He offered a few words of encouragement, then tossed his tiger tally and official seal to the other party for inspection.

After confirming that everything was correct, he instructed the other party to prepare provisions.

Just as the commander looked troubled, Li Jingxiao casually tossed out two 2-jin (1 catties) gold ingots as food expenses for his group.

It was a well-known fact that the border troops were short of food.

But this does not mean that there is not enough food in the border areas; in the capital, a sheep costs 2 taels of silver.

In Liaodong, 2 taels of silver could buy at least 2, or even 3, sheep.

Li Jingxiao wasn't short of money, so he never thought of making things difficult for the soldiers stationed on the frontier.

The commander hurriedly caught the gold ingot, his expression changed, and he was about to say something.

Li Jingxiao waved his hand, "Alright, do your job well, and I will reward you."

The commander was overjoyed and understood that the Marquis had indeed not intended to disturb the local area.

He thought to himself that although the Marquis was young, he was a reasonable man.

Border towns are not wealthy to begin with, and they often default on military pay.

Zhenjiangbao is located on the border. Although it is not extremely poor, it is not very profitable either.

Most of the caravans traveling between Goryeo and Da Zhou preferred to travel by sea.

Not only does it have a large transport capacity and faster speed, but it also has a much lower cost.

Of course, if you insist on taking the land route, you basically won't come to Zhenjiangbao.

Therefore, it was indeed difficult for him, the commander of a thousand households, to bear the burden of food and provisions for more than a hundred people in Zhenjiang Fort.

Now that they're paying, everything is negotiable.

Even without good wine, it's no problem to ride a horse to a small town dozens of miles away, or even to buy it from the Jurchen people living in the local mountains.

After a fairly substantial lunch, Li Jingxiao waved for Erfu and the others to leave the room.

My focus was on the skills panel.

After 27 days away from Beijing, without my wife's help, my level is still 24 (110/4800).

But these days, we travel during the day and camp in the field at night. Apart from arranging some military camp matters, we have a lot of free time.

Naturally, he focused all his attention on cultivation.

He practices sword control for at least ten hours every day. Moreover, he can also practice sword control while riding a horse, so he spends at least seventeen or eighteen hours a day practicing this technique.

He would occasionally pick up the purple-gold gourd hanging from his waist and take a sip of monkey spirit wine.

Therefore, at this time, his mastery of sword control had increased from the level he had when he left the capital (420/4000).

It has risen to (3855/4000).
The Longevity and Immortality Technique, due to the Yi Jin Duan Gu Chapter, grants 6 points of proficiency daily.

In order to relieve his hangover, Li Jingxiao had to spend about two hours every day practicing the Longevity Technique to neutralize the alcohol in his body.

So in the past few days, my proficiency with this mental technique has increased by more than 170 points.

Proficient (278/2000)

Only the Lightning Thunder Fist was mastered at this time (75/2000).

Moreover, every day when setting up camp, Li Jingxiao would set aside one or two hours to practice the Lingbo Weibu (a martial arts technique).

Perhaps because he had already mastered the skill of chasing stars and catching the moon, his proficiency in other light-body skills increased rapidly.

In just a few dozen hours, Lingbo Weibu reached the minor mastery level (430/500).

This light-body skill can also be used from the outside in; the more you use the Lingbo Weibu (Light Steps on Waves) to travel, the more true qi is generated.

Surprisingly, it even increased my proficiency in the Longevity Technique.

As for other skills, there has been some improvement.

Two days later, Li Jingxiao went into seclusion to cultivate the sword control technique and broke through to the Great Completion Realm in one fell swoop (2/1).
In an instant, countless cultivation experiences and insights flooded into his mind.

Suddenly, streaks of sword energy appeared out of thin air in the room, swirling and scattering throughout.

A chilling sense of oppression immediately spread around them.

Erfu and the others who were guarding outside sensed danger, and their expressions changed drastically.

Back when Li Jingxiao was practicing the Seven-String Shadowless Sword in the yamen, they felt dizzy just from hearing the music.

The sense of oppression this time was even stronger than before.

Erfu hurriedly shouted "Quick, hide!" and without hesitation, he scrambled and crawled out of the yard.

The other guards also sensed the danger and rushed out one by one.

Then I saw a scene I'll never forget.

Suddenly, streaks of sword energy flew out of the house, nearly blowing the roof off.

The surrounding walls were riddled with holes.

Li Jingxiao opened his eyes and saw that the house was about to collapse.

With a mix of surprise and embarrassment, he shook his head, waved his hand, and his sword energy smashed through the already dilapidated door.

He flashed and appeared outside the house.

The Flying Immortal Sword in his game inventory also appeared out of thin air at his feet.

They held him up in the air.

Li Jingxiao couldn't help but feel secretly pleased.

With the ability to fly on a sword, I will no longer be affected by the terrain and can roam freely between heaven and earth.

Moreover, Li Jingxiao also felt that he could control ten flying swords with his mind at this moment.

There are at least dozens of longswords that I've encountered in the game.

With a thought, nine level 20 longswords appeared out of thin air and began to rotate around Li Jingxiao.

However, before he could fully appreciate it, he suddenly heard footsteps.

Looking over, one could see Shi Delong and the others running quickly toward them.

A small, snow-white fox was perched on one of the shoulders of Hu Rou'er and Liu Yizhi.

A small black snake was coiled on its head.

Li Jingxiao immediately realized that these were Hu Xian and Liu Xian, who had made an agreement with him to use Monkey Spirit Wine to hire them as bodyguards.

Although they are called immortals, they are actually just spirits who have cultivated for a long time and can change size and transform into human form.

But these spirits are intelligent beings; they know that although cultivating diligently is slow, it is still safer than eating people and stealing their souls.

They also use the hands of 'spirit mediums' to heal the sick, save lives, and collect incense offerings and merits, which can also accelerate their cultivation speed.

If one could gain the approval of the Heavenly Court and become a registered mountain god or land deity, although the position would be pitifully small, it would still be a divine office with a rank.

Even if they are just outsiders, if they can gain the approval of the Heavenly Court, they will have a powerful backer in the future.

These two immortals are single-mindedly pursuing this path.

Seeing Li Jingxiao standing in mid-air on a flying sword, surrounded by other gleaming flying swords spinning around him.

It's chilling to look at.

Hu Xian exclaimed in surprise, "A sword immortal?"

A look of shock was clearly visible in Liu Xian's eyes.

Sword cultivators have always been the most powerful killers among cultivators of the same level.

Unfortunately, since 99 of the dragon veins in this world were severed, sword cultivators have become very rare.

I thought Li Jingxiao was just a minor Taoist priest who had achieved some success in his cultivation, and that he was lucky to hold a high position. What I really valued was the power Li Jingxiao possessed.

Unexpectedly, this person was not only a sword cultivator, but also possessed a cultivation level that allowed them to fly on a sword.

The two immortals exchanged a glance, thinking to themselves that the tiger demon had really asked for its own death.

Although it's cold over there in the vast ocean, it's still a carefree and leisurely place.

Now things are much better. Not only has the Great Zhou mobilized three thousand elite cavalry to Liaodong Town, but it has also attracted all these sword cultivators.

If things go wrong, the tiger demon will be annihilated.

With a single thought, Li Jingxiao put all nine flying swords into his inventory.

As the flying sword beneath his feet slowly descended, a scabbard appeared out of thin air in his hand.

Li Jingxiao jumped off the flying sword, and the Flying Immortal Sword automatically flew into its sheath.

Li Jingxiao gripped his longsword and stared intently at Hu Xian and Liu Xian for a while, confirming that the two demons had no sins on them, and that there was a faint scent of incense swirling around them.

He then bowed respectfully.

"My name is Li Jingyou. I greet you both."

The two spirits were delighted when they heard Li Jingxiao address them as "fellow Daoist".

My liking for him immediately increased by three points.

He jumped down from the two little girls.

Upon landing, they transformed into two beautiful middle-aged women in their thirties.

She curtsied slightly and said, "This humble servant is Hu Xian'er, Liu Cuitong, and greets Your Excellency."

This was the first time that Hu Xinrong and Hu Rou'er, uncle and nephew, and Liu Yixiu and Liu Yizhi, brother and sister, had ever seen their own deity treat someone so politely.

Even his tone carried a hint of awe.

Looking at Li Jingxiao, I couldn't help but feel more and more admiration and envy.

Moreover, the Flying Immortal Sword in Li Jingxiao's hand was only a level 20 item in the game.

However, a faint glimmer of light emanated from the sword's surface, leading the four members of the Hu and Liu families to believe that this sword might actually be a celestial weapon.

He thought to himself, "No wonder my great immortal has changed his eccentric temperament."

He even said his own name, which showed he was completely intimidated by the Marquis.

Li Jingxiao also knew that the methods he had just displayed were enough to instill fear in people.

But Li Jingxiao didn't believe that a demon capable of transforming into human form wouldn't have means of self-defense and deadly moves.

(End of this chapter)