Chapter 77: First Flight and a New Scabbard

“Hurry up and step on it! Why are you dithering, men shouldn’t dither!”
Xiu Qingcheng saw Meng Yingxing still looking hesitant and immediately urged him.
It was just sword-riding flight, a necessary skill for a hero, both cool and practical.

“Disciple, you’re not afraid of heights, are you?”
Xiu Qingcheng asked suspiciously.

Meng Yingxing, of course, couldn’t let Xiu Qingcheng know the impolite thoughts in his heart. He stiffened his neck and said, “Of course not!”

“It’s just, Master, I don’t know how to perform sword-riding flight yet!”
Meng Yingxing’s application of spiritual energy was still in the elementary stage of being used as an attack or a defensive aid.
He hadn’t learned how to manipulate objects with spiritual energy.

“Oh, I’ll teach you that later, or the Tianfeng Sect will teach you too, just get on! I’ll fly you!”
Xiu Qingcheng only then realized that Meng Yingxing was hesitating for such a simple reason.

‘Please, with her around, did Meng Yingxing still need to control the sword himself?’
‘She was a high-tech automatic transmission sword art!’
‘Couldn’t she fly wherever she wanted?’

Even though Xiu Qingcheng said so, Meng Yingxing still hesitated for a moment.

“In that case… then, Master, I-I apologize for the offense.”
Meng Yingxing closed his eyes and stepped onto the blade of the Ting Tian Sword that lay horizontally before him.
The first time Meng Yingxing stepped onto the floating sword blade, the Ting Tian Sword swayed slightly, but under Xiu Qingcheng’s control, it quickly became as stable as the ground.

“Remember to keep your feet pressed against the sword blade at all times. If you fall off later, I won’t be responsible, okay?”
After Meng Yingxing stepped onto the Ting Tian Sword, Xiu Qingcheng still reminded him with feigned seriousness.
But anyone would know that if Meng Yingxing really fell from the sword, Xiu Qingcheng would surely fly over to catch him immediately.

Meng Yingxing, riding a sword for the first time, nodded nervously.
“I will maintain my balance, Master.”

‘Although Master seemed to react a little when he touched her sword body before, she didn’t seem to react now that he was stepping on it with his feet? He hoped Master wouldn’t feel he was too heavy…’

Meng Yingxing looked at the blade of the Ting Tian Sword beneath his front and back feet.
He swallowed.

“Alright, then I’m off!”
As Xiu Qingcheng’s words fell, she gathered her strength and suddenly rushed into mid-air.

Although Meng Yingxing had already prepared himself, he was still caught off guard by Xiu Qingcheng’s action.
He let out a startled cry; if he hadn’t maintained his balance with his upper body, he would have almost fallen from the Ting Tian Sword.

Xiu Qingcheng laughed unrestrainedly, seemingly at the freedom of flight, and also at Meng Yingxing’s awkwardness.
The Ting Tian Sword, trailing a streak of light, vanished from above the Tianfeng Sect.

“Master, wrong way, wrong way!”
Meng Yingxing’s exclamation rang out.

The Ting Tian Sword turned back, reappearing above the Tianfeng Sect, flying in the opposite direction of the trailing streak it had just left.

Xiu Qingcheng was probably doing it on purpose; she flew very high in the sky, accompanied by clouds, with birds as friends.

And Meng Yingxing watched the clouds flow past him at high altitude, unknown birds flying alongside him, the bright sun before his eyes so large and clear, as if within reach.

Meng Yingxing had always thought the Tianfeng Sect was vast, and Yongning City was vast, but at this moment, they were beneath his feet, tiny as ants, something he could outline with one hand.

The world was vast, allowing him to go wherever he pleased—it was an unprecedented experience for him, and a beauty he had never seen before.

“Master is amazing! Look, everything on the ground is so small!”
Meng Yingxing shouted to Xiu Qingcheng, his laughter excited and brilliant, uncontrollable excitement overflowing in his eyes.

“I’ve never seen Yongning City and the Tianfeng Sect like this!”
Xiu Qingcheng hummed proudly twice, “There are countless mountains and rivers in Jintian Kyushu, you haven’t seen so many things yet!”

“With such a powerful Master like me, you can go wherever you want! Why be confined to the small Tianfeng Sect?”
‘Today’s task of subtly manipulating disciple: one out of one completed.’
‘Xiu Qingcheng felt she was truly too dedicated; she wanted to cry for herself.’

“Disciple, hold on tight, Master is going to accelerate!”
The Ting Tian Sword carried Meng Yingxing, tracing an exaggerated trajectory in the air. Meng Yingxing couldn’t help but let out another panicked shout, as if he were on a thrilling roller coaster.

After Xiu Qingcheng went at full speed, the mountain path that would have taken Meng Yingxing half a day was covered in only seven or eight minutes.

Xiu Qingcheng landed outside Yongning City, letting Meng Yingxing jump off the sword.

“So tiring.”

Xiu Qingcheng wiped non-existent sweat with non-existent hands, then immediately automatically retreated into the scabbard on Meng Yingxing’s back to rest.

“Thank you for your hard work, Master.”
Meng Yingxing patted his wind-chapped face, then glanced at the hilt of the Ting Tian Sword on his back out of the corner of his eye.

“No trouble at all, no trouble. In the future, you just need to repay your Master with good things that I like.”
“Things Master likes?”

Meng Yingxing thought about it; he only knew that Xiu Qingcheng loved to eat delicious food.

“If Master ever likes anything in the future, you can tell me.”
“What? Are you thinking of flattering your good Master then?”

Xiu Qingcheng thought the boy was teachable.

“No, I just want to understand Master more.”

Meng Yingxing replied neither subserviently nor arrogantly.

‘Meng Yingxing felt he didn’t understand Xiu Qingcheng deeply enough.’
‘If possible, he hoped to know more about his Master, anything at all.’

Meng Yingxing walked along the road towards the city gate, still feeling emotional about the speed of sword-riding flight.

“If we travel by sword, it really saves a lot of time.”
“Then please, Master, teach me the art of sword-riding!”

Meng Yingxing sincerely asked Xiu Qingcheng for guidance.

“Actually, I’ve seen you’ve pretty much mastered the Four Clouds Come Swords, so I’m preparing to teach you new sword moves.”
“As for sword-riding, I’ll teach you that later.”

Xiu Qingcheng thought for a moment and decided to teach Meng Yingxing new sword techniques first.
As a noble automatic transmission, she could fly herself, so there was no need for Meng Yingxing to specifically learn it.

However, the art of sword-riding was an extension of the art of telekinesis, primarily a test of spiritual energy manipulation, and it was a good technique for Meng Yingxing to improve his control over spiritual energy, so it would still be better to learn it.

“New sword moves?”
Hearing this, light reappeared in Meng Yingxing’s eyes.

‘The sword move unleashed during the Demon King battle.’
‘Sword cries filled the sky, boundless sharpness.’

‘He wondered when he would be able to learn that level of skill.’

Entering Yongning City, which was just emerging from the shadow of the demon attack, Meng Yingxing saw that many buildings were still undergoing intensive repairs.

Neighbors helped each other, creating an atmosphere of warmth and harmony.

Meng Yingxing arrived at the blacksmith shop where he had ordered the scabbard, and upon entering, he asked the blacksmith responsible for his order about its status.

The blacksmith immediately recognized Meng Yingxing and eagerly took out a long, rectangular box, placing it in front of Meng Yingxing.

“Young hero, it’s all safe and sound, your order is ready!”
“These days, to repair Yongning City, I’ve had many more orders, but I still finished yours ahead of schedule!”
Meng Yingxing frowned.
“I’m not in a great hurry; even if it were a little slower, it wouldn’t matter. You shouldn’t delay other important matters for me.”

‘His scabbard was insignificant compared to the matter of repairing Yongning City.’

“Eh! Young hero, don’t say that! If it weren’t for the efforts of your Tianfeng Sect, we wouldn’t have such peaceful days!”

“You’re a disciple of the Tianfeng Sect, this… consider it a small token of my gratitude to the Tianfeng Sect!”
As he spoke, the blacksmith smilingly handed over the box containing the scabbard, and even placed some spirit silver on top of the box.

This amount of spirit silver almost covered Meng Yingxing’s custom order fee.

“Take it quickly! Just consider this my payment for their hard work in dealing with the Huang Cang Demon King!”
Xiu Qingcheng was utterly unapologetic.

But Meng Yingxing clearly didn’t think that way; after a repeated back-and-forth with the blacksmith, he still returned the money.

This action naturally made Xiu Qingcheng sigh repeatedly, once again calling him a spendthrift disciple.
Meng Yingxing just smiled.

After leaving the blacksmith shop, Meng Yingxing opened the box in an secluded corner.

“Master, what do you think of this scabbard? Want to try it?”