Song of Everlasting Regret - Chapter 1

At some unknown point, a custom had arisen in the martial world: once a year, a Martial Assembly would be held where people could make friends through exchanging moves. It was not meant for the great masters of the various factions to determine who was superior, but to give young martial artists from across the realm an opportunity to spar and learn from one another.

It allowed them to witness the martial arts of the wider world and kept them from becoming frogs at the bottom of a well.

It did not matter whether one came from a minor household or a prestigious clan. All who arrived were treated as guests, and anyone within the age limit could step onto the arena. To heighten everyone’s interest, the elders would prepare prizes, using them to encourage the younger generation to train diligently and strive for improvement.

This year’s Martial Assembly was hosted by the Qianyuan Sect.

The Qianyuan Sect had long been hailed as the foremost sword sect under heaven. Moreover, in early February, several major factions had joined forces to eliminate a notorious demon of the Feihua Alliance. With such a satisfying victory still fresh in everyone’s mind, this year’s assembly was livelier than ever, and Tiger Roar Mountain was filled with honored guests.

This day marked the final match of the assembly.

The perimeter of the training grounds was packed with spectators. The competition had ended only moments ago, and the crowd’s cheers had yet to fade. The sharp sword aura lingering over the field had not yet dispersed when the sect master of the Qianyuan Sect, under the watchful eyes of the heroes of the martial world, awarded the prize to the victor.

The winner was a young woman of about sixteen.

Two small braids had been woven at her temples, gathering her long black hair into a high ponytail. She was tall and slender, with pale wrists and flushed skin. Her phoenix eyes and sharply defined brows were as keen as sword edges, and she carried the unruly, fierce air particular to the young.

She stood ramrod straight. When she accepted the prize with both hands, there was not the slightest smile on her face.

The prize was a length of White-Scale Gold wrapped in brocade. It had earned its name because its silvery-white scales could be seen glimmering beneath the light. Exceptionally tough and beautiful, it was a superb material for forging swords and was exceedingly precious. There was no martial artist who would not desire it.

Yet the young woman’s lips were pressed tightly together, her expression dark and gloomy, as though what she had received was not an honor but a punishment.

Once the formalities were complete, she took her leave.

A middle-aged man stroked his long beard as he watched her departing figure. Smiling, he said to the sect master, “Heroes truly emerge from the young. Brother Lou, to have a daughter like this—you make the rest of us unbearably envious!”

Lou Xuanzhi replied, “You praise her too highly. That girl’s natural aptitude is merely average. She only knows to put in more clumsy effort than others. She is impatient, arrogant, and thinks herself above the heavens. She will never amount to much at this rate. I only hope some outstanding young hero will come along and put her in her place, tempering that wild pride of hers.”

“Brother Lou, you are mistaken. For one so young to already understand the value of diligent training is rare enough. Besides, what young person has never been reckless and proud? In my opinion, your daughter’s future is limitless.”

“Enough about her. Enough.” Lou Xuanzhi led the others toward the banquet.

After leaving the training grounds, the young woman headed straight for Xiangri Peak.

Xiangri Peak was lush and tranquil, a place of quiet beauty. Halfway up the mountain lay a jade-green lake. Beneath the sunlight, it resembled a smooth, lustrous piece of green jade and was known as Chengxin Lake.

A wooden bridge crossed the lake, connecting its eastern and western shores. At the center stood a pavilion over the water. The eastern shore led down the mountain, while on the western shore stood Chengxin Waterside Pavilion, with residences to both its north and south.

This was where Lou Xuanzhi’s five inner disciples lived and practiced in seclusion.

A writing desk had been set up inside the waterside pavilion facing the lake. Two young women sat beside it.

One of them wore pear-yellow robes and was sprawled over the desk, her head resting on her arms in a lazy posture. Her face was fair and clear, with a pair of dimples that made her smile look innocent and sweet.

“The Heart Sutra again?” she said. “Every time Master punishes you, he makes you copy Buddhist scriptures.”

The other young woman sat properly before the desk in a blue-and-white dress. Her lowered eyes shimmered like autumn waters, and her gaze was warm and gentle. Her hands were pale, elegant, and slender as she wrote with her brush. Her brows curved slightly with her smile.

“Master wants me to calm my mind.”

Yun Yao sat upright and laughed. “I think Master wants to send you away to become a nun.”

Yu Jingqiu turned her purple-hair brush and lightly tapped Yun Yao on the forehead with its tip.

“Today is the final day of the Martial Assembly. Aren’t you going to watch?”

Yun Yao rubbed her forehead. “What is there to watch? I could think with my toes and still know that Ah-Jing would win. Besides, I only lost yesterday. How embarrassing would it be to stand there?”

“If you devoted more attention to martial arts, you could also achieve a respectable result.”

“No, no. I’m not Ah-Jing. She likes nothing except practicing martial arts. I only love three things in this life.”

Yun Yao’s eyes curved into crescents.

“Eating, sleeping, and listening to Senior Sister recite scriptures.”

Yu Jingqiu smiled and shook her head.

Yun Yao casually flipped through a book. “Still, I never expected the very first match to be between you and Ah-Jing. Ah-Jing has trained hard, and it certainly paid off. She actually defeated you. Otherwise, you would probably be the one standing in the training grounds right now.”

Yu Jingqiu’s brush paused.

After a moment, she smiled faintly. “She cultivates diligently day and night and improves with each passing day. It was only right that she won.”

A cold voice suddenly rang out.

“Was it right because you gave it to me?”

Yun Yao turned around. Seeing the newcomer, she asked in surprise, “Ah-Jing? Is the Martial Assembly over?”

Lou Jing held a long, slender object wrapped in brocade in her left hand and a sword in the other. Her expression was icy and fierce.

She did not answer.

Instead, she tossed her sword into the air, caught the hilt, and drew the blade in one smooth motion. The sword turned, its point shooting straight toward Yu Jingqiu.

The attack was astonishingly fast.

The sword aura was sharp and fierce, carrying an overwhelming force like a raging bull charging headlong.

Neither Yu Jingqiu nor Yun Yao had expected such a move. Faced directly with the blade, Yu Jingqiu could only retreat and dodge. Yun Yao, caught in the crossfire, fell backward to avoid the strike.

With a single slash, Lou Jing split the writing desk in half as easily as tearing a sheet of paper.

Yun Yao stared at the wreckage scattered across the ground.

“Lou Jing, what’s wrong with you? Did you swallow gunpowder?”

Lou Jing did not stop.

She leaped onto a table beside the moon-shaped window, hooked the sword still in its scabbard from the rack with the tip of her foot, and kicked it toward Yu Jingqiu.

The sheathed sword flew like an arrow released from a bow, shooting directly toward Yu Jingqiu’s chest.

Yu Jingqiu swept out her sleeve, dissolving the force behind it, then caught the sword in her hand. Yet as Lou Jing pressed forward, she still did not draw the blade.

Lou Jing moved as lightly as a swallow. With a tap of her toes, she pursued Yu Jingqiu onto the bridge as swiftly as lightning.

Her green-edged blade danced, sword aura crisscrossing through the air until waves rose upon the once-calm lake.

Lou Jing swept her sword across the water. With a series of clear, tinkling sounds, several droplets were sent flying. Though water was naturally gentle, the droplets shot forward with the sharp force of knives and swords.

Yu Jingqiu brushed out her long sleeve, softening their momentum and blocking them all. Large wet stains immediately spread across the fabric, making the embroidered golden osmanthus blossoms on the cuffs appear even more vivid.

While Yu Jingqiu was occupied with the droplets, Lou Jing had already closed in.

Her sword moved like thunder, every strike utterly merciless.

Yu Jingqiu used her still-sheathed sword to circle and parry while retreating, defending without attacking.

Lou Jing’s anger burned even hotter.

“Draw your sword!”

Yu Jingqiu called softly, “Jing’er…”

Lou Jing glared at her.

“Do you think I couldn’t tell? In the final move on the platform, you deliberately gave me an inch!”

One advanced while the other retreated, and soon they had fought all the way to the opposite shore.

Yun Yao had only just run after them when another person entered the waterside pavilion.

The newcomer was tall and strongly built, with an impressive bearing. He appeared to be around seventeen. His thick brows split distinctly at the ends. Had his eyes been deeper set, his face would have appeared naturally intimidating.

However, the young man’s eyes were bright and untainted, giving him an honest and upright appearance.

He called to Yun Yao, “Ah-Yao.”

Yun Yao shouted back, “Little Monkey.”

The two of them had entered the sect on the same day and presented their apprenticeship tea to Lou Xuanzhi together. Because Di Hou was older than her, he regarded himself as her senior brother.

Yun Yao refused to acknowledge it and continued calling him by his childhood nickname.

Di Hou had once tried to correct her, but no matter how many times he spoke, Yun Yao never listened. Eventually, he simply indulged her and let her call him whatever she pleased.

Di Hou had only just returned from the training grounds. The moment he arrived, he heard the sounds of fighting.

He glanced toward the lake and frowned.

“Why is Junior Sister fighting Senior Sister?”

“Ah-Jing drew her sword and started attacking people the moment she came in. She said Senior Sister held back during their match.”

Di Hou headed outside. “I’ll stop her. Isn’t she simply making trouble without reason?”

Yun Yao grabbed him.

“What do you mean, making trouble without reason? You know Ah-Jing’s personality. If Senior Sister really did what she said, how could she not be angry? Don’t go over there. She might cut you down too.”

Yun Yao refused to release him.

“Oh, don’t go. Once Ah-Jing has fought enough, her anger will naturally fade.”

“What kind of reasoning is that?”

While the two of them struggled, Lou Jing and Yu Jingqiu had already exchanged more than thirty moves.

Lou Jing pressed forward relentlessly, while Yu Jingqiu retreated again and again, still refusing to draw her sword. Eventually, she had nowhere left to retreat and Lou Jing’s blade came to rest against her chest.

Lou Jing shouted furiously, “Draw your sword!”

Yu Jingqiu did not move. She silently gazed at Lou Jing.

Lou Jing gripped her sword so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

She gritted her teeth. “Do you look down on me?”

“Jing’er, that was not what I meant…”

Lou Jing lowered her sword and took a step back.

“I don’t know what you were thinking, but you let me have that move. You let me win because from the very beginning, you were convinced I could never defeat you. You looked down on me, so you humored me.”

“Yu Jingqiu, aren’t you far too arrogant?”

Lou Jing’s eyes had turned red, moisture shimmering within them. She looked as though she had suffered an enormous humiliation. Her face and neck were crimson, and veins stood out at her temples.

“Even if I can’t beat you, even if you knock every tooth out of my mouth and leave me rolling on the ground, I don’t need you to go easy on me!”

“…”

Faced with Lou Jing’s accusations, Yu Jingqiu had words in her heart but could not bring herself to voice them.

As the atmosphere reached a stalemate, voices came from the distance.

A group of people approached along the mountain path. The man at their head wore splendid brocade robes. He was handsome and possessed an extraordinary bearing.

Lou Jing wiped the back of her hand across her eyes, brushing away the tears that had yet to fall. All that remained were a pair of bloodshot eyes filled with ferocity.

Lou Jing was already in a terrible mood, and this group had the misfortune of arriving at precisely the wrong moment.

She demanded irritably, “Who are you?”

The group clearly had not expected to be questioned so coldly and froze for a moment.

A man beside the brocade-robed young master, apparently an attendant, was the first to recover.

“We are from Caoliu Manor. This is our young master. We were traveling for pleasure and happened to arrive here.”

The brocade-robed young master then introduced himself. Cupping his hands, he said, “Cao Ruxu of Caoliu Manor.”

Yu Jingqiu returned the greeting.

“Yu Jingqiu of the Qianyuan Sect.”

Lou Jing ignored their introductions.

“This is where the inner disciples live and cultivate in seclusion. Outsiders are forbidden from entering. Leave at once.”

Such a rule did indeed exist, but Cao Ruxu had not known about it.

“The disciple at the foot of the mountain clearly said we could come up here to look around. Yet now you say we cannot. Why does everyone here tell us something different?”

Lou Jing sneered.

“What sect allows outsiders to tour the living quarters of its female inner disciples? Does Caoliu Manor have such a custom?”

Having received such a cold and discourteous reception, the people of Caoliu Manor were already somewhat angry. However, they did not argue further and turned back down the mountain.

Still, Cao Ruxu could not swallow the insult.

He scoffed. “Hmph. How unreasonable. So this is how the mighty Qianyuan Sect treats its guests—judging people by their status before deciding how to serve them.”

Lou Jing heard him muttering behind her back and criticizing the Qianyuan Sect. Already irritated, she called after them.

“How reasonable the mighty Caoliu Manor is, gossiping behind people’s backs.”

“You…” Cao Ruxu turned around, and his gaze met Lou Jing’s.

One stared like a wolf or tiger.

The other looked as sharp as a blade.

Cao Ruxu flicked his sleeve and snorted coldly. Disdaining to quarrel with her, he continued down the mountain.

The attendants beside him began complaining one after another.

“How arrogant. She merely won the Martial Assembly, yet she already thinks no one else is worthy of her notice. Does she believe herself invincible under heaven?”

“If our young master had not been delayed on the road and missed the assembly by a step, no one can say who would have emerged victorious!”

Cao Ruxu raised his chin slightly, evidently agreeing.

“The Qianyuan Sect is nothing special.”

The instant those words fell, a figure flashed before them.

Lou Jing had descended lightly and blocked their path.

“Wait.”

Cao Ruxu frowned.

“We are leaving the mountain as you ordered. What else do you want?”

“Since you failed to participate in the Martial Assembly, I’ll give you a chance. Fight me now. Otherwise, today one person will claim they did not arrive in time, and tomorrow another will say they were delayed. Then it will seem as though the Qianyuan Sect has an undeserved reputation and that our victories were handed to us by others!”

Lou Jing raised her hand and tossed the long brocade-wrapped object onto a tree branch beside the path. She glanced sideways at him.

“If you accept and defeat me, the White-Scale Gold will be yours. If you refuse, then stop spouting such nonsense!”

Cao Ruxu had never been entirely convinced that the Qianyuan Sect deserved its reputation as the foremost sword sect under heaven. He had always wanted an opportunity to suppress its prestige.

Unfortunately, he had been delayed and missed the competition.

The moment Lou Jing issued the challenge, he immediately responded, “Fine! I will personally experience the might of the Qianyuan Sword Art!”

Neither wasted further words.

They drew their swords simultaneously. Before their blades had even crossed, the sword aura already forced everyone around them to retreat.

Yu Jingqiu knew Lou Jing was still furious. Once she began fighting, she would certainly show no mercy.

It would be bad if she injured herself, but it would also be troublesome if she wounded someone from Caoliu Manor.

Yu Jingqiu moved to intervene.

“Jing’er…”

She had only taken one step when Lou Jing realized what she intended to do.

“If you come over here, I’ll fight you too!”

Yu Jingqiu fell silent.

On the other side, Yun Yao and Di Hou had watched Lou Jing and Yu Jingqiu finally stop fighting, only for Lou Jing to immediately begin another battle with someone from Caoliu Manor.

Both felt an enormous headache coming on.

Di Hou also wanted to stop them.

“That man is still a guest. How can we treat a guest this way?”

Yun Yao continued holding him back.

“Let them fight. Who told that brat to insult the Qianyuan Sect? Let Ah-Jing teach him a painful lesson.”

Lou Jing and Cao Ruxu moved like thunder as they exchanged blows. Snow-white sword shadows blossomed like flowers in the air.

Cao Ruxu truly possessed considerable skill. At first, he fought Lou Jing on equal ground.

Caoliu Manor’s Zhengyang Sword Art was known for its unmatched ferocity. This was because Caoliu Manor’s ancestor had attained mastery of both the saber and the sword, blending the two together. Thus, the sword art carried the bold, powerful force of saber techniques.

The Qianyuan Sect’s Qianyuan Sword Art, meanwhile, was divided into two paths.

The Qian Formula possessed a sharp and rapid sword intent, its edge nearly impossible to withstand.

The Kun Formula consisted of continuous, flowing sword techniques that changed unpredictably.

Lou Jing cultivated both paths.

The principles behind the Qian Formula and the Zhengyang Sword Art were similar, but Lou Jing had also mastered the Kun Formula. Her sword was therefore two parts more agile than Cao Ruxu’s.

The difference was not apparent at first. However, after the time it took half an incense stick to burn, Cao Ruxu began to fall behind. Gradually, the situation slipped beyond his ability to reverse.

Finally, Lou Jing unleashed her last move, known as Dormant Dragon.

This technique resembled a dragon or serpent coiling its body and storing its strength. It remained still until it struck—and once it struck, it would never miss.

Cao Ruxu’s vision blurred.

It seemed to him that a vicious dragon had opened its bloody maw and was roaring as it lunged toward his face like a flash of lightning.

Overwhelmed by its imposing force, his entire body became incapable of moving.

By the time he regained his senses, Lou Jing’s sword was already pressed against his throat. Another inch forward would take his life.

Cao Ruxu’s throat bobbed, and cold sweat trickled down his temple.

Lou Jing scoffed softly.

“Cao Ruxu of Caoliu Manor. The Zhengyang Sword Art? Utterly incomprehensible rubbish.”

She raised her chin and looked down at him. She had wondered how formidable he might be, but this was all he amounted to.

Cao Ruxu was extremely proud. Never before had he suffered such contempt.

His face burned fiercely.

“You!”

He remained speechless for a long while. In the end, he shot Lou Jing a vicious glare and stormed away.

Lou Jing paid no further attention to the noble young master who had intruded unexpectedly.

She retrieved the White-Scale Gold from the tree.

After the fight, her emotions were no longer as intense as before. She walked over to Yu Jingqiu and, without caring whether Yu Jingqiu was prepared to catch it, shoved the White-Scale Gold into her arms.

“Your prize. Take it!”

Then she brushed past Yu Jingqiu and walked toward the residences beside the waterside pavilion without looking back.