Love Sword

37

The sky today is quite bright and sunny. The sunlight shining on the earth's surface feels like a limelight showing off the merry celebration of the martial arts world at the grand gathering of clans today.

This grand gathering happens once every four years and will be held at the peak of mount Hou Quan where the clan leaders resides in. Legends have it that this Hou Quan mountain is the birthplace of all martial arts in the world. The elders of Hou Quan are ones who've achieved immortality in their martial arts.

There are seven elders in total. Each of them representing the seven elements of the earth. Elder Yan (Fire), elder Hong (Water), elder Kun (Earth), elder Feng (Wind), elder Yin (Darkness), elder Yang (Light), elder Lei (Lightning).

The martial arts world consists of thousands of small clans and sects, however, the four major clans are the Jin clan, the Hu clan, the Puxiang Xie clan, and the Wu clan. These four clans are ancient clans, each of them with prestigious backgrounds, producing outstanding martial artists every year.

Nevertheless, the clan which is most powerful has to be the Jin clan. Rich in history and impressive feats made by its martial artists, anyone who are new to martial arts would want to join this one. The Jin clan's heir, Jin Shan, is the most famous martial artist of the generation. He is renowned for his strong skills in combats and the incredibly powerful leader mind he possesses. Adding his appearance to the topic, he sure is the ideal man any woman would want to marry. The elders seems to have favored Jin Shan ever since his birth, elder Yang was the one most fond of this boy. All of them saw something in him and their foresight did not disappoint.

The Hu clan comes in second most powerful. The Hu clan used to be so powerful before that it was the Jin's clan top rival two centuries ago. However, the ongoing war and power struggle in the clan between the Hu heirs caused the clan's decline. The downfall the clan faced was so harsh that they nearly got beaten by the third ranking clan. Until this day, though, they still managed to keep their place as second. Despite this, the Puxiang Xie clan is almost catching up to them. Hu Long was the sole standing heir of the Hu clan. When he had to ascend to leadership, his words were absolute in the clan. However, his frivolous nature as a womanizer caused him to have a few illegitimate heirs from his concubines. This, is the reason why the Hu clan will not lack heirs in the future.

The third most powerful clan, Puxiang Xie, is famous for their bright minds. Martial artists in the Puxiang Xie clan are all intelligent and quick-witted. Each one of them are strong-willed and quite strong in their swordsmanship. They've impressed the martial arts world multiple times for their problem-solving solutions and ideas. Xie Lu Wei is the current heir of the Puxiang Xie clan, he is the eldest child of the Xie lord. The Xie madam died a few years back due to sickness. He has a younger sister, Xie Ting Ting, who is said to be the most beautiful woman of the martial arts world. Being the beloved daughter of the Xie lord, he wants to make sure his daughter gets married to a man that could fit her which has to be none other than Jin Shan.

Standing as fourth is of course, the Wu clan. The Wu clan has profound background. It is no surprise considering the fact that this is also one of the four greatest clans. Although, over the years, the power of this clan died down a little as they only minded their own business. This is probably the most peaceful clan of all the martial arts clans out there, only practicing on their own and never bothered to get involved with conflicts of other clans. The current head of the Wu clan is lord Wu Tang, he is a peaceful elderly who is kind and generous. The heir of this quiet and tranquil clan is Wu Kai, lord Wu's only son.

It just so happens that this grand gathering is the coronation of the Jin clan's heir and also his engagement to the Puxiang Xie's young miss as well. The decorations and celebrations are undoubtedly more lavish than usual.

Maids are hustling and guards are patrolling the grounds of Hou Quan. People of all ages ranging from the smallest most insignificant sects to the most powerful are arriving one by one.

'Did you hear? The Jin clan's heir is so handsome!'

'Of course I heard! Who haven't heard about Jin Shan's appearance? He is unparalleled in both looks and skills. How amazing is that?'

'Haiya, I'm so jealous of Ting Ting. I wish I could be her.'

'Hush! Are you asking for a death, saying such words out loud?'

Whispers and gossips broke out amongst the martial artists who has arrived. Unsurprisingly, the announcement of the engagement of Jin Shan and Xie Ting Ting actually took the martial arts world by storm.

———

Seven figures are gathered around a table, drinking tea and talking leisurely among themselves in a lush green garden. Exotic flowers grew everywhere around the area, the soft fragrance of nature danced around freely, expressing its smell to lure the people in.

The seven people gathering around each other are all exuding a dignified aura, the air around them slightly oppressive but respectable. One of the seven elders, elder Hong raised his teacup to take a small sip. After placing it back onto the table, he pulled up his sleeves to continue his move on the Go game that he is playing against elder Feng.

'I heard the young heir of the Jin's is getting engaged?' Said a melodious voice. The voice is extremely soothing but the tone shows that the person is quite old.

This voice belongs to elder Kun. He pulled out his dark green fan and began to gently flap it against his face with a small smile.

'That girl isn't suitable.' Said elder Lei, eyebrows scrunched.

Elder Feng placed his move on the Go game before letting out a small laugh.

'Whether she is suitable or not, is not for us to decide.' He said gently with logic.

'That girl becoming the madam of the Jin clan in the future? That clan's future seems bleak.' Scoffed elder Yan.

Among the other elders, elder Yan is a little bit more ruthless with his words as he pays no heeds to whatever other people thinks about him. His temper is quite short which correlates to the fire element in him.

Elder Yang sighed

'Let fate decide for itself.' He said, his eyes looking off into the horizons.

To Be Continued...