Chapter 160 Making Things Difficult
Looking at her father, Lilia furiously answered, “Teacher isn’t blind! He’s just temporarily sick! He’ll get better very soon!”
Kirst’s City Lord let out a cold laugh. He had gotten someone to find out about Fang Xingjian’s condition. Unless a Divine level expert was willing to help, even if Fang Xingjian could sense ether particles, he would only be able to see things within a ten-meter radius at best.
And it was because of this that he had hurried over to bring Lilia back. He knew his daughter all too well.
Lilia’s mother had passed away when she was just three years old. Since young, her father had been the one to take care of her, but there would always be a difference between a father’s love and a mother’s love.
For Lilia to be able to take care of herself, he had taught her to be strong, brave, and self-reliant. However, he had not taught her that a girl should be gentle, obedient, and docile.
This led to Lilia’s inclination to wave sabers and spears around since young, like adventures, always running about in mud and in the forests. It also led to her being independent from a very young age, and also developing a very stubborn character.
When Kirst’s City Lord let Lilia pick a weapon of her choice at the age of eight, Lilia had just recently read the Rose Knight’s biography. This was why she was bent on choosing the sword, on learning sword arts, on becoming a swordsman.
The aristocratic clan Kirst’s City Lord belonged to was one which passed down spear arts.
Kirst’s City Lord had put in great efforts in trying to persuade her for a month, putting her under confinement, not giving her food, even scolding her and bashing her up. However, he had still been unable to change her mind. In the end, he had no other choice but to get her a sword arts teacher.
He had experienced first hand how obstinate his daughter was. She had a character which made her walk down the path she had decided on to the bitter end, even if the ending was not a good one.
This was why he had rushed over. If Fang Xingjian had previously been a young man with a very bright future before him, then for the Fang Xingjian now, the best future he could have was to become a Kirst Academy’s instructor.
“Lili,” Kirst’s City Lord gravely looked at Lilia and said, “Do you know what you’re doing? Fang Xingjian is blind. He can no longer be a Knight, let alone a Conferred Knight. If he were to dash out now, he might just get himself killed. He can’t even get himself a drink by himself.
“Do you really intend to stay beside such a cripple all your life?”
Lilia looked at Kirst’s City Lord and answered without blinking, “He who teaches me a day is my father for life. He is the first true Master that I’ve acknowledged. It was teacher who gave me newfound confidence in sword arts. Now that he’s sick, I can’t leave him alone.
“It’s because teacher is not very well-liked. If I were to leave him alone… no one else will be there for him.”
“Sigh…” Kirst’s City Lord sighed. The passion and affection reflected in Lilia’s eyes made his heart sink. Things had really turned out for the worst, just as he had hoped not to see.
He had been concerned from the very beginning, but that was when Fang Xingjian had a bright future before him, so he had let nature take its course. But now that the situation had changed, he needed to pull the plug on things.
The next moment, at the speed of lightning, he suddenly landed a hand chop on Lilia’s neck. With his abilities as a Conferred Knight, there was no way that Lilia could dodge it. He held onto Lilia after she lost consciousness.
Looking at Lilia who was like an angel in his arms, Kirst’s City Lord let out a sigh, “Lilia, you’re my daughter, Kirst’s princess. I cannot let you stay by a blind man for life, giving up your youth.
“You don’t understand this now, but in the future, you’ll thank me.”
With that, he carried Lilia and left the academy.
Fang Xingjian who was in the room lifted his head. He seemed to have sensed something, but it also looked as if he did not know anything. He merely glanced towards the direction Lilia was leaving in before lowering his head again.
With his body in the middle, streams of sword Qis were flowing about in all directions. These sword Qis and the indestructible feeling slashing outwards from the Supreme Mistwind Sword felt different. They had a soft and gentle feeling to them. Wherever they passed by, be it tables, chairs, cups, books, or anything else, there was no damage done. It was as if a slight breeze had brushed past them.
Amidst the darkness, he once again went back to his sword arts cultivation.
…
However, it had not been long after he started before someone else came to look for him.
It was the sole survivor from that fishing village. When the person saw Fang Xingjian, he immediately dropped to his knees and started kowtowing.
Fang Xingjian turned to him impatiently and said, “Alright, I did not kill for your kowtows. If there’s anything you have to say, speak up. Otherwise, leave. Don’t hold me back from cultivating.”
That person shouted, “Sir, thank you very much! I have nothing to repay you with, but if there’s anything I can help you with in the future, I’d put my life on the line for you.”
Fang Xingjian waved him off. The reason why he killed was to exterminate external demons. It was not because he pitied the weak and wanted anything in return.
The person left. Fang Xingjian’s attention turned to the fruits, fish and meat he had left behind. He then turned to the maid, Lina, who was standing at the side and said, “You can have all these.”
He was a martial arts cultivator and could not eat these things, without any nutrition. If he did, he would need to waste his vital energy, blood and effort to digest them.
Lina nodded and took the gifts away, thinking to herself, ‘This lord is so snobbish.’ She only felt that Fang Xingjian’s attitude towards commoners was too rude and greatly disdainful. Therefore, she began to despise him.
This was how minor characters thought. Sometimes, no matter how much one does, it might not be comparable to a mere few pretty words.
…
Seven days later, sword Qis could brush past the surface of physical items, without creating any damage. They had reached an extremely soft and gentle level.
The next moment, sword Qis whistled, tearing the air apart, and causing all the material items in the surroundings to shatter into pieces. Even the marble surface had been left with sword scars tens of centimeters deep. This was a switch from the extreme level of softness and gentleness to one of extreme strength.
An interchangeable complementation of toughness and softness.
Although Fang Xingjian was blind, the level of his sword arts cultivation was still progressing at a fast speed, especially due to him performing the Supreme Mistwind Sword twenty-four hours a day, while his body was inherently cultivating his sword arts. Now, he had eighty-two sets of sword arts at the maximum level. He could feel that his sword arts cultivation was getting increasingly profound.
He had also managed to digest all the combat experience gained from having consecutively battled with Garcia’s Great Warriors during the war, and from fighting with Mumukeya. All this experience had turned into nourishment for his sword arts, prompting his great progress in sword arts comprehension in the past seven days.
Fang Xingjian was also able to freely switch the nature of his sword Qis between soft and hard, which allowed him to depend on the wind and sounds to check out the situation in his surroundings.
Although he was living in darkness, unable to see any colors, with the help of the gentle sword Qis and the sound reverberations, it was as if Fang Xingjian could see countless streams of wind constantly moving about. In his mind, they would form black and white images of the things within a radius of a hundred meters around him.
‘Seven days have passed. There’s only three months and three weeks left to the Regional Selection.
‘Although I can sense the surroundings now, there’s still a limit to the sounds… If the other party is faster than supersonic speed, I won’t be able to see him.’
Fang Xingjian calculated the remaining time every single day. However, no matter how much he calculated, it only got more and more pressing, being of no help to him in sensing the ether particles.
Unparalleled Sword Intent, Effulgence Weapon, Universal Sword Dominance Lunisolar mental cultivation method, and rising up to level 19 in order to increase his agility attribute… These were the four paths he could take to raise his abilities in the shortest time possible.
But there was one more prerequisite for his participation in the Regional Selection. He needed to break through the limitations of his blindness.
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
“Sir, your lunch has arrived.”
“You can leave. I’ll settle it myself.”
Fang Xingjian sniffed, but suddenly frowned and asked, “Wait a minute, Lina. What are the dishes today? Why is there no meat or ferocious beasts?”
The maid called Lina looked at the three dishes and the bowl of soup and said, feeling awkward, “Sir, the academy has given notice that your previous meal allocations are not within standards, and all allocations and medicinal food will cease from now on.”
Fang Xingjian’s brows twitched. To cease all supplies of ferocious beasts and medicinal food… Would that not mean that there was no way for him to replenish the depleted vital energy and blood after his usual training? Would that not mean that he would be unable to keep up with his constant twenty-four hour a day cultivation?
He coldly replied, “This is what I deserve as a Prefectural Champion. Go tell them to send what should be sent before sunset. If not, I’ll come look for them myself.”
Lina nodded in agreement, but a hint of disapproval flashed in her eyes as she thought to herself, ‘You’re but a blind man. Do you really think you’re still the genius you were before?’
Naturally, Fang Xingjian was unable to see the changes in her expression.
Fang Xingjian could only finish the food he was sent first. Streams of sword Qi swirled around, like many gentle hands, sending food to Fang Xingjian’s mouth, and displaying an extremely high level of sword arts.
After the meal, Fang Xingjian rested for half an hour before he started his cultivation again. However, it had not been an hour before he was interrupted once again.
“Sir, someone from the Western Garrison has sent the Seism Steel and is asking for you to check the goods.”
Fang Xingjian nodded and followed the maid to the door. The delivery man smiled and said, “Hello sir, this is a hundred kilograms of Seism Steel. Please check.”
Suddenly, the delivery man’s body shivered, as if cold gusts of breeze were blowing from all directions.
The deliveryman thought to himself, ‘Why is the wind blowing all of a sudden?’
Fang Xingjian nodded. Sword Qis akin to a breeze brushed past everything in the area, allowing him to sense the general situation of things.
He reached out his hands, touched the box before him, and with a slight tap of his finger, revealed ten pieces of Seism Steel inside.
Fang Xingjian casually picked up a piece and felt it. The deliveryman said, “Sir, don’t worry. There’s definitely no problem with it.”
Fang Xingjian shook his head, “Let me check the goods first.”