- In Marvel: I Start by Marrying Scarlett Witch [Complete]
- MWM Chapter 230
“Thank you, senior brothers and sisters, for your encouragement. I will work hard and strive to form my core as soon as possible. Let’s set off! But as I’m only at the Foundation Establishment stage, my speed when flying with magical treasures is a bit slower, so I might slow you down,” Leo said, shifting the conversation back to their journey.
He knew it was time to move on and avoid overplaying his strengths. While showcasing talent could be impressive, it might also spark jealousy. By admitting some limitations, he struck a good balance, and as expected, his comment immediately relaxed the group, bringing smiles back to their faces.
“No problem, Sister Shangguan will take you!” Shangguan Qian, the youngest of the Seven Sons of the Cloud, quickly offered, patting her chest confidently. Knowing Leo was only in the Foundation Establishment stage and feeling somewhat outshined, she wanted to prove something—perhaps to show just how fast Core Formation cultivators, especially Emei sword cultivators, could fly.
The other six knew Shangguan Qian’s competitive nature and merely smiled, shaking their heads. They didn’t say anything, though, as it was indeed time to head to Drunken Immortal Cliff as quickly as possible. Any delay could complicate things with the Lotus Fairy.
“Thank you, Sister Shangguan.” Leo gladly accepted. He was eager to experience the renowned speed of Emei sword cultivators, which, according to Li Qingfeng’s memories, was unmatched in the cultivation world in both combat and flight.
“Come over here and place your hand on my shoulder,” Shangguan Qian instructed, waving him over. Leo put away the Red Spirit Fire Pearl and approached her, following her directions by placing his hand on her shoulder.
“Body and sword as one! Let’s go!” Shangguan Qian chanted a spell, and a flash of golden light flew from the back of her head, enveloping both of them. In an instant, they shot into the sky, disappearing from sight.
The other six quickly activated their own sword techniques, transforming into six streaks of light that followed closely behind.
Emei sword cultivators had two primary methods of flying. The first was similar to other cultivators, standing on flying swords or magical treasures for a steady but slower speed, conserving their true energy. The second, sword escape, fused body and sword together for incredible speed, usually reserved for urgent travel.
“Wow, Sister Shangguan, you’re so fast!” Leo praised Shangguan Qian as they sped through the air. At the same time, he mentally calculated their speed.
If his Red Spirit Fire Pearl could reach speeds near Mach 1, around the speed of sound, Shangguan Qian’s flying speed was at least Mach 20—twenty times faster.
Mach 20 was far beyond anything even Iron Man could achieve.
“Haha! Of course! And this isn’t even my top speed. If I wanted, I could go even faster!” Shangguan Qian beamed, clearly pleased with herself. She cast another spell, and their speed increased again, now reaching around Mach 22, as Leo estimated.
The speed of Emei sword cultivators was indeed no exaggeration. And this was just a Core Formation cultivator. What about Nascent Soul or even Earth Immortals? No wonder the Twin Thunder Swords, when used together, could reach speeds faster than the eye could see—nearly the speed of light.
From the battlefield where Leo had fought the Xuanyin Sect elder to Drunken Immortal Cliff, they flew for about two hours. During that time, Leo managed to gather quite a bit of useful information from the talkative Shangguan Qian.
Though Shangguan Qian was over 130 years old, most of her life had been spent in secluded cultivation. Even when she went out to slay demons and eliminate evil, she was always accompanied by her senior brothers and sisters. As a result, her maturity level seemed to Leo more like that of a young woman in her late teens—pure and innocent.
One question that had always puzzled Leo was why Master Baimei, given his immense power, hadn’t directly dealt with the Youquan Blood Demon earlier, preventing the destruction of Huashan and Kunlun. From Shangguan Qian’s chatter, he finally got some answers.
It turned out that Master Baimei had reached the peak of the Earth Immortal stage several hundred years ago and was on the verge of ascending to the upper realms. However, he deliberately delayed his ascension because he feared that once he ascended, there would be no one strong enough to suppress the demonic cultivators. But because of this, he couldn’t act freely. If he did, it might trigger his ascension prematurely.
When the Xuanyin Sect’s founder, acting under the Youquan Blood Demon’s orders, slaughtered a city, Master Baimei intervened to make an example of him. However, it almost caused his ascension, which meant that when Kunlun was destroyed, he wasn’t able to help in time.
Leo also learned more about the Seven Sons of the Cloud. For instance, despite his rugged appearance, Chu Yuxiang, the eldest, was very meticulous and cared for the group like a mother. His weapon was the Plum Blossom Flying Sword. The second, Zhan Donglai, was tall, silent, and used a giant flying blade with immense destructive power in battle. The third, Cheng Xuanfeng, wielded the Gentleman’s Sword, and the fourth, Qin Ruohua, used the Lady’s Sword. These two were a couple in their previous life, and because they were too old and had families when they joined Emei, they couldn’t cultivate to the Nascent Soul stage and instead chose to dissolve their bodies and reincarnate with a sliver of their soul intact.
In this life, they were brought back to Emei by Master Baimei as soon as they were born, and within less than 200 years, they had both reached the peak of the Core Formation stage.
Leo was curious about the concept of body dissolution and reincarnation, so he asked Shangguan Qian for more details. He learned that it was different from what he had imagined. He had thought it was like his own reincarnation in the Marvel universe, where, despite a new body, he retained everything from his previous life.
However, in reality, body dissolution left only a sliver of the soul intact. While the new person would have memories of their past life, they weren’t truly the same person. For example, Cheng Xuanfeng and Qin Ruohua had gradually regained their past-life memories after they were born, which might have made them more intelligent than other children and given them an advantage in cultivation. But they were still essentially new people with the memories of their previous lives.
This explained why it wasn’t unusual for a disciple to search for the reincarnation of their master, guiding them back to the Dao and even accepting them as their own disciple in their new life.
However, these past-life memories could influence emotions as well. Cheng Xuanfeng and Qin Ruohua had been husband and wife in their previous lives, and this connection had led them to become Daoist partners again in this life.
In Leo’s view, this kind of reincarnation, where one couldn’t fully retain their original self, was only marginally better than true death. After all, who would willingly choose reincarnation unless absolutely necessary?