403 The Ultimate Comes Again
A not so tall mountain.
An old and dilapidated cottage.
A young girl who couldn't speak was carrying a blind young man on her back, slowly climbing up the mountain towards that cottage.
A doctor with a long beard and white at his temples stood there, looking at the young girl drenched in sweat as she climbed up. He smiled and said, "How many years has it been since you last saw your people?"
"Five or six years, I forget." A white-haired middle-aged man sat beside the doctor. He coughed lightly before adding, "Now that I look like this, they probably won't recognize me."
The young girl finally carried the blind young man up to the cottage. She looked at the white-haired middle-aged man, tears welling up in her eyes, and after placing the young man gently on the ground, she bent to her knees before the man.
Xin Baicao hurried forward. "What is this? What are you doing? You’ve come a long way. Get up quickly."
"She can't hear you." Ji Ruofeng coughed lightly, stood up and walked forward to support Long Er. He touched her head and sighed. "Don't cry, don't cry. Why are you still like the little girl who loved to cry?"
Xin Baicao shook his head. "You white-haired demon head. Why are you suddenly behaving like some old grandpa."
"I wouldn’t mind being a simple old grandpa." Ji Ruofeng let go of Long Er and walked to Zhu’s side. He placed his fingers lightly on Zhu’s pulse and his brows furrowed into a frown. "Your injuries are so serious. No wonder Sikong Changfeng couldn’t heal you either."
"That disciple of mine is a dabbler. He came here to learn but left after only three months. With his talent, he could have easily become the number one genius doctor under Heaven, but he just loved to wander the martial world. His medical skills are good for bluffing the layperson, but is just barely comparable to that bookworm scholar." Xin Baicao walked to Zhu’s side and took Zhu’s pulse with a light hand. "However, you managed to survive this long after suffering such serious injuries. This disciple of mine could still boast of being trained in Medicine King Valley."
Ji Ruofeng was still frowning. "Just get to the point."
"I can heal him." Xin Baicao nodded.
Ji Ruofeng stood up. "Bring him in, then."
Xin Baicao also withdrew his hand and nodded. "Bring him in."
However, a stretch of time passed and no one made a move. Xin Baicao was stunned for a moment and he looked at Ji Ruofeng.
Ji Ruofeng looked back at him. "Here, you have a little girl who walked such a long way that she’s so tired she can barely stand. And, a cripple who doesn’t even have the strength to tie a chicken. Doctor Xin, you just have to do it yourself."
Xin Baicao sighed heavily and bent down to lift Zhu. He had never dreamed that, as the number one genius doctor acknowledged by all under Heaven, he would be reduced to moving his patient into his house by himself. Why did he bother going out to travel around the world? If he had known, he might as well have stayed in Medicine King Valley and waited for those people to spend tens of thousands taels of silver to fight for a token to enter the valley.
When Ji Ruofeng saw that they had all entered the house, he looked into the distance in silence. Until a goshawk swooped down and landed on his shoulder. Ji Ruofeng reached up and removed a message tube from the goshawk's leg. He retrieved the letter from the tube and after reading it for a long time, he kept the letter inside his sleeve. Then, he patted the goshawk's leg and signalled for it to fly away. But the goshawk seemed to understand human behaviour. It chirped a few times, unwilling to leave.
"Go." Ji Ruofeng flicked a finger lightly and finally drove it away. He looked at the silhouette of the goshawk flying away, and sighed softly. "I should go too."
After four hours, Xin Baicao finally came out of the cottage.
"How is he?" Ji Ruofeng asked.
"He’s fine. That child won’t die for now and the little girl has also fallen asleep. What are you doing here? With your condition, you should go in and rest," Xin Baicao said.
"Is the thing I asked you to prepare last time ready?" Ji Ruofeng asked.
Xin Baicao started. "Are you leaving?"
"Yes." Ji Ruofeng nodded.
"Don't nod your head so easily. Do you know what it means if you leave the mountain?" Xin Baicao growled angrily. "You’re going to throw away the life we fought so hard to bring back!"
"Who wants to live a life like this?" Ji Ruofeng turned around and reached out his hand. "I know you've completed it. Give it to me."
"Sigh." Xin Baicao exhaled gruffly. He took a porcelain bottle out from his clothes and placed it in Ji Ruofeng's hand. "Drink it all at once. It’ll give you two hours. Your martial arts will be restored to its peak, and after that… you die."
"Very well." Ji Ruofeng accepted the medicine bottle. "Goodbye. No, I should say, if fate allows, we’ll meet again in my next life."
Xin Baicao spat a "Bah!" and added, "Good luck!"
"Don't worry. If I can, I'll come back alive." Ji Ruofeng waved his hand and went down the mountain.
Watching Ji Ruofeng's figure retreating into the distance, Xin Baicao finally couldn't help shouting, "You with the white hair, don’t you dare die! We agreed that you’d get better soon so that we can drink together!"
Ji Ruofeng smiled but didn't look back.
Ji Ruofeng, the one who assessed all martial arts under Heaven, once again entered the martial world on this day!
Admirable Desolation City.
The city gates opened slowly, and a middle-aged man in a long, grey robe walked out from inside. He had an extraordinarily long sword hanging from his waist. His pace seemed to be very slow, but he was moving very fast. After walking for about a mile, he suddenly turned his head and glanced behind.
"I’ve finally stepped out of this city." He turned his head, and continued on his way without further hesitation.
He had not left his city for many years. He lived alone in this city and cultivated his solitary sword using the aura of desolation within. Some people once said that his sword arts were unparalleled under Heaven. Some people said that his martial arts were actually crippled by someone and he could not even lift his own sword anymore. Many people came to this city to challenge his sword yet none had ever seen his Nine Songs sword unsheathed. They were all defeated into retreat. Then, nobody ever doubted Luo Qingyang's swordsmanship again.
However, the question of whether Luo Qingyang was stronger or Baili Dongjun was better had always floated around in the martial world. There was still no answer even now. Baili Dongjun seemed to have suddenly vanished from the martial world and disappeared without a trace while Luo Qingyang had remained in his city, never stepping one foot out of the door.
Yet on this day, Luo Qingyang, who was in the top tier of the Ultimate Experts List, who was the number one Solitary Sword Immortal under Heaven, had finally entered the martial world again.
Although they had entered the martial world, the direction they were heading was towards Heavenly Revelations City, the number one place under Heaven.
The Unrivaled City citymaster, who entered the sword immortal realm at a young age, carried his sword casket on his back.
The lonely assassin, who spread fear in the hearts of people, carried with him an oil-paper umbrella.
The once powerful man, who casually picked up a wooden staff from the roadside, was otherwise empty-handed.
The ultimate sword immortal, who always seemed to exude an air of desolation between his brows, carried the world’s longest and strangest Nine Songs sword.
They were all heading towards Heavenly Revelations City at the same time.
New legends were rising while the old legends had yet to end. They were about to start their final battle. But, who would be the final winner was still unknown.
Meanwhile, many people thought that the storm over Heavenly Revelations City had passed, but the real storm was just about to come.