Martial King’s Retired Life

Book 15: Chapter 71

From Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary’s perspective, Ling Jialan was an important individual who could‘ve swayed the power balance. They had enough female disciples to warrant the creation of Cloud Sanctuary and Frost Sanctuary, two branches for solely female disciples. Due to the natural strength difference between men and women, swordswomen favoured a style that emphasised flexibility and dexterity over rigid power. The two branches were dedicated to perfecting and teaching the style better suited to swordswomen. From early morning, one could hear them rigorously training. The sight of them strolling on the mountain in spring to view the flowers was a distraction for the guys who were supposed to be training. Perhaps two of the most prominent swordswomen from them among their many female disciples at present were Her Majesty and Patriarch Ming’s wife. Howbeit, there weren’t many who reached Ling Jialan’s level.

Ling Yaoshi had a son and daughter. His son, Ling Ruoyun, was indifferent to fame and wealth, and he was quite the quiet character. Among those in his age bracket, he was rather skilled with the sword. In contrast to her brother, Ling Jialan was notorious for being wilful and overbearing due to being spoiled, always giving her seniors a hard time.

Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary could handle one wilful lady. No matter how overbearing she was, she was still easier to handle than the last generation’s second eldest daughter. The difference was that she had an unbelievable aptitude for swordplay, and she was obsessed with it. It wasn’t surprising Her Majesty was spoiled, but not even Ming Huayu’s wife could’ve compared to Ling Jialan when the former wasn’t yet married. If one ignored Ling Jialan’s hubris, she’d be among Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary’s top three prodigies.

From childhood, Ling Jialan was fonder of swordplay than her elder brother by far. At just the tender age of nine, she had started learning Flying Thrust, which was sooner than any of her predecessors. Notwithstanding her talent, the clan didn’t consider her a potential leader. Defeating her elder brother at twelve years of age didn’t earn her praise. Ling Hanzhong, who currently headed the clan, didn’t celebrate his granddaughter’s achievements. He viewed her as a tool for marriage, or rather a tool to reap the benefits of a strategic marriage, such as he did with his daughter – Her Majesty. The more skilled she was, the harder it was to find a suitor. What value did that bring to the clan? To circumvent her being unsuitable for marriage, Ling Hanzhong forbade her from continuing to train.

Ling Hanzhong’s decision was later proven to be utterly foolish, and the clan as a whole was still paying for his foley. It went without saying that Ling Jialan was unhappy about the ban, but she couldn’t go against the order. That was the only command she bent to. Thanks to her father, she wasn’t just impulsively and blindly overbearing, though.

Ling Jialan proved that a true prodigy was hard to stop and didn’t need help. Even Ling Hanzhong’s seal wasn’t enough to shackle her. Though she couldn’t hold a sword, the matches on the mountains, in the forests, by the creeks, and every manual at home continued to raise her level for the next three years.

Following Ling Hanzhong’s crushing defeat in Hangzhou, Ling Yaoshi replaced the former as the clan’s leader. Under Ling Yaoshi’s lead, Mount Lu Sword Sanctuary returned to being a clan that held the sword above all else. Ling Yaoshi united the clan, doing away with the hierarchal class system that prevented members from communicating with each other, and the seven branches were able to open their doors to everyone again. All disciples were allowed to access the manuals previously only accessible to those with special privileges.

The hierarchal system between disciples that Ling Yaoshi instated consisted of stages, but they were no longer based on accomplishments, status, or family. Everything was to facilitate their standards of swordplay. Three stages made up one level. There were disciples in charge of testing those wishing to advance. Gradings were possible anytime and anywhere. As long as they could win against their tester, they had the right to advance to the next stage. Once they reached the ninth stage, annually, they had one chance to challenge their branch leader. If they won, they would replace the reigning branch leader. Likewise, every branch leader had the right to challenge the interim patriarch.

The individual to make a name for herself once the new policies were implemented was none other than the prodigy who was shackled for three years. Ling Jialan showed up at the third stage disciple’s testing ground and, to everyone’s exasperation, defeated the tester in nineteen exchanges. Many teachers were ecstatic to finally find a prodigy among them flourish, while her junior and senior sisters crowded around her to congratulate her. Meanwhile, she stood as still as a statue for a long while. When she left the arena, she still held onto her sword because it was the first time she was able to hold a sword in three years.

The three years ban didn’t render her depressed. Instead, it gave her time to study, analyse and contrive counters to every technique she had learnt and seen. She had mentally rehearsed the techniques she used in the duel thousands upon thousands of times prior. When she finally drew the sword, it dawned on her that the feeling of having a sword in hand was totally different.

The year after, Ling Jialan defeated the tester in the sixth stage arena in nine techniques. When she turned eighteen in the third year of the new policies, the tester in the ninth stage arena only lasted two exchanges. Once she cracked the ninth stage, she conquered the leader of Cloud Sanctuary and became its new leader.

Ling Jialan’s rise motivated other disciples to train harder, but it also created a new problem for the clan. It wasn’t her intention; however, the pugilistic world started to compare her to the new generation of heroines, such as Song Clan’s Song Yanluo. Among swordswomen in Jiangnan, the one in Hangzhou was the one who she had to challenge. Hence, she, like her brother, journeyed to the outside world to further her training for the inevitable duel. Suffice to say, Ling Yaoshi, as her father, had another reason for sending her away. If she continued training tirelessly at home, then there really wasn’t going to be anyone who dared to marry her. Instead, letting some affluent young masters see her might’ve changed that trajectory. Alas, Ling Yaoshi’s plan failed miserably.

Unlike her brother, Ling Jialan only had one thing on her mind during her travels – swordplay improvements. Although she’d draw her sword to protect the innocent, her priority always was seeking a challenge. That was a daunting task considering the level of mastery she had achieved. Nevertheless, she never lost heart. After all, there was still plenty to learn from every single opponent when martial arts were a vast subject. Regardless of affiliation, there was nobody she didn’t dare to challenge. The orthodox sects’ seniors didn’t mind her rudeness on account of her father, but the unorthodox factions didn’t care about rules and operated in the shadows, so they were even harder to find.

Meeting Feng Qizhi was pure coincidence, not that Ling Jialan could’ve avoided the fate. She considered the meeting a blessing for she finally found an opponent worthy of her time. The returns she got from coincidence after coincidence finally gave her an improved opponent. One year prior, she hid herself among a group of kidnapped women to search for a worthy challenger whilst teaching the kidnappers a lesson. The bandits weren’t enough for a warm-up, but she bumped into Feng Qizhi when he came to the captives’ rescue.

It all started with Feng Qizhi reading aloud a painfully long and lame script about protecting the world, which made the bandits laugh uncontrollably. It would’ve gone on for even longer had Ling Jialan not drawn her sword.

Feng Qizhi was the only one who managed to escape becoming part of the raining blood and flesh. His plan was to read his script, tell the bandits they were wrong, then rescue the captives.

Ling Jialan expected to cut down everyone without much effort until she discovered that Feng Qizhi was more formidable than his appearance suggested. While he was nowhere as clever as her, their skills with a sword were extremely close. It was her first time finding such a different opponent, so she refused to miss the opportunity to test her mettle. In contrast, Feng Qizhi begged for her to let him off the hook because she fought with no regard for her life. Of course, she refused, so they decided to have a proper fight in August.

Everything went smoothly until Feng Qizhi suddenly disappeared. The last person who he came into contact with was a guy named Ming Feizhen. Ling Jialan managed to track down Ming Feizhen. Unfortunately, that led her to the beginning of a perpetual loop of missed-the-date duels.

Glossary

Title – In ancient times, they used bowls made from jade to store ice, which they would then extract in summer for cooling. The sight of dew about to melt on a jade bowl is a way of describing a beautiful woman. Why is dew on a jade bowl considered a sight to behold? You think I can afford a jade bowl to experiment and tell you? I haven’t even bought Klee’s skin.