Chapter 87: The Old Antique's First Experience with Sword Control

"Are you... all queueing here?" Su Tianji only realized, as she stood aside with several of her disciples, that An Huwei and the others were actually standing in a line?!

She finally took a detailed look around the establishment, noticing that it wasn't just them—there was a substantial line forming throughout the entire shop!

As for Nalan Hongwu, he was sitting in his seat, though it was impossible to tell what he was currently engrossed in.

Did a higher status allow one to sit while waiting in line?

"Daoist Silver Dragon, Daoist Su, Daoist Wang..." An Huwei and his companions spoke up as they watched the Legend of the Sword and Fairy over Nalan Hongwu’s shoulder. "It's still early, and the wait will likely take a while. Why not have a tub of Haagen-Dazs to pass the time?"

Seeing them staring intently at Nalan Hongwu, he explained further, "Old Master Nalan is occupied at the moment; I'm afraid it isn't quite convenient to converse with him."

Nalan Hongwu had already been warned by Fang Qi several times for shouting and carrying on, so he had cut himself off from outside communication to prevent himself from accidentally bellowing phrases like "Riding the sword upon the wind." The old man was a shrewd soul, and if he caused another shop-closure incident like last time, no one would be able to bear it.

"Haagen-Dazs?" the Elder Silver Dragon recalled suddenly. "Didn't City Master An mention last time that this Haagen-Dazs possesses an extraordinary flavor, surpassing even the finest spiritual fruits of the Liuyun Daoist Palace? This is the perfect chance for us to try it!"

An Huwei let out a hearty laugh. "Splendid, then as the City Master, the treat is on me. Please have a taste, everyone—this is a specialty unique to my Jiuhua City! You absolutely won't find it anywhere else!"

As he spoke, he remained standing behind Nalan Hongwu's chair, resting his hands on the backrest without a seat of his own, cutting a truly awkward figure.

To the point where even Su Tianji began to suspect whether the person before her might be an impostor City Master?!

"Xiaoyue!" An Huwei had by now grown quite familiar with this young shop assistant. "Bring us three tubs of Haagen-Dazs!"

Before long, the group saw a little girl dressed in white approaching with three exquisitely crafted small tubs.

They were icy to the touch, as if the contents within were fashioned from frost itself.

The group marvelled in great curiosity, "Could what is contained inside actually be ice?"

"You will know once you taste it, fellow Daoists," An Huwei explained.

"Does City Master An not partake himself?" the Elder Silver Dragon found it stranger still. If it was such a fine delicacy, why was it only for them, while An Huwei went without?

"..." An Huwei’s face flushed with awkwardness. "The wares of this little establishment are wonderful indeed, but there are simply too many rules. For instance, this Haagen-Dazs can only be consumed at a limit of one tub per person each day."

"To think such a rule actually exists?!" The Elder Silver Dragon was the eldest among them and the most well-traveled, yet even he was filled with immense curiosity at this moment. "This old man must see for himself what kind of mere snack dares to impose such a regulation."

"I, too, wish to see if this Haagen-Dazs is truly as remarkable as City Master An claims, to the extent that it eclipses the spiritual fruits of my Liuyun Daoist Palace!" Although the proprietor possessed profound brilliance in swordsmanship and principles, Su Tianji remained somewhat unyielding at the suggestion that the Liuyun Daoist Palace fell short in every single aspect.

With that, she took up the wooden spoon, scooped a morsel of the Haagen-Dazs ice cream, and placed it into her mouth.

Immediately, her eyes widened in astonishment, as though she had experienced something utterly inconceivable!

The ice cream dissolved the instant it touched her tongue. It was currently the height of summer, and savoring a mouthful of chilling ice cream was refreshing beyond measure; more importantly, as it melted away, a rich milk fragrance enveloped in vanilla wrapped around her taste buds. This profound, mellow sweetness felt as though all the warmth and tenderness in the world were blooming within her heart at that very instant.

Such a delicacy left a lingering, endless aftertaste! It even noticeably uplifted her originally gloomy disposition!

"Delectable! This is a divine delicacy of the mortal realm!" The Elder Silver Dragon and Wang Kuan were likewise lavishing praise while lost in the exquisite flavor of the Haagen-Dazs.

"Yet to think only one tub is permitted per person each day—I must eat this sparingly!" When this notion surfaced in the depths of her mind, even Su Tianji herself stood dazed. "Can this truly be my own thought?!"

At that moment, An Huwei fixated his gaze upon Nalan Hongwu’s screen and remarked solemnly, "This progress... he's nearly reached the Liu Residence already?! So fast?"

"What Liu Residence?" The trio looked over while continuing to enjoy their Haagen-Dazs. They had previously noticed that the screen before each person displayed different scenes and figures, but they had not examined them closely.

Now, seeing An Huwei staring so intently, they shifted their attention to the screen in front of Nalan Hongwu as well.

In the dead center of the screen, a palm-sized young man was executing lightness skills, sprinting the entire way and only halting when he encountered other people.

What struck the others as even stranger was that every character actually bore their own name floating above their heads?!

"Hmm...? What is this?!" The group immediately found it incredibly bizarre. It resembled a spiritual artifact used for recording projections, yet it also seemed entirely different. After all, where in a recorded projection did people walk around with names floating above them?

Of course, these names could actually be turned off, but as a veteran gamer, Nalan Hongwu kept them displayed for convenience. In truth, most veteran players did the same; only newcomers would disable the name displays for a more immersive experience.

"This is the Legend of the Sword and Fairy," An Huwei spoke up. "Weren't you all here to play the game?"

"This is the Legend of the Sword and Fairy?!" The group felt that everything here was extraordinarily peculiar. Could it truly be that they had remained in seclusion too long and lost touch with society?

"Then what about Senior Wine Sword Immortal?!" The group looked at the screen in astonishment, remembering that whenever anyone mentioned the Wine Sword Immortal, they spoke of the Legend of the Sword and Fairy. "Must we use this to communicate with Senior Wine Sword Immortal?"

"It is something along those lines." An Huwei figured that a computer game was a concept difficult to explain to these cultivators who spent years in closed-door meditation. Just then, a patron at an adjacent station logged off.

An Huwei reasoned that since they were guests, and he was the City Master after all, it wouldn't do to leave his fellow Daoists hanging while he played alone. Thus, he stepped aside and said, "Which of you wishes to go first? This City Master shall introduce it to you; this is also one of the grand specialties of our city!"

An Huwei proclaimed with a thick-skinned grin.

The group exchanged looks, thinking to themselves, "This Senior Wine Sword Immortal is truly eccentric. Not only are his rules bizarre, but even his manner of meeting is this peculiar?"

After a polite exchange of courtesies, they ultimately deferred to the eldest, the Elder Silver Dragon, to try first.

The Elder Silver Dragon settled into the gaming chair and, under An Huwei’s guidance, commenced the game.

Following the prelude of the new tale, the Elder Silver Dragon discovered that he had seemingly entered an entirely different world!

Meanwhile, Su Tianji watched him intently from behind, seemingly intent on witnessing exactly what sort of phenomenon would occur upon utilizing this spiritual artifact.

At this moment, the Legend of the Sword and Fairy 1 officially began.

The onlookers standing behind suddenly observed the youth within the screen leap down from a supreme summit, riding a sword directly up into the nine heavens!

"The Sword Control Technique?! I have actually learned the Sword Control Technique directly?!" The Elder Silver Dragon cried out in sudden shock, subconsciously taking control of Li Xiaoyao and soaring into the air!

"With a sword in hand, ascending straight into the high heavens—this is a dozen times more formidable than what Sect Master Ye described!"

"Learned it directly?!" The companions behind him were shook to the core. "A dozen times more formidable?!"

How could that be?! One had to know that the Sword Control Technique executed by Ye Songtao was already exceptionally exquisite!

Yet the Elder Silver Dragon claimed it was a dozen times more formidable?!

The Elder Silver Dragon was currently utilizing the trial version of Li Xiaoyao's Sword Control Technique, in which all swordsmanship within the dreamscape had achieved grand mastery. Its power was fundamentally incomparable to the beginner version; naturally, it was overwhelmingly tyrannical!

One man, one sword, traversing between heaven and earth!

Looking down, the sea of clouds beneath his feet resembled a torrential river, recrossing backward at an extreme velocity!

All around, furious winds howled, and thunderous lightning cracked directly above his head!

In this fleeting instant, he felt a surge of heroic pride swelling from his chest, as if "with a sword in hand, there is nowhere under heaven I cannot go!"

This was a mighty swordsmanship truly capable of ascending into the azure skies and descending into the netherworld!

Though he had never imagined experiencing the Sword Control Technique in such a fashion, this single moment of firsthand sensation was enough to strike awe into the heart of anyone!