Chapter 869: Get the Hell Out!

“Good. Back to your coop.”

Longyuan had always been the medium the Sword Saint used to draw down the power of Second Grade.

In truth, it was difficult to separate the Sword Saint from Longyuan at all. Man and sword had already become extraordinarily familiar with this sort of descent.

Of course, that did not mean he could simply seize someone else’s Second Grade power and use it as his own. This was, after all, power Baili Sword had drawn down.

But right now, sending it straight back where it came from?

That, he could do.

The Second Grade power descending from the heavens was slapped back upward.

Immediately afterward, Longyuan turned downward and stabbed straight toward Baili Sword.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

In an instant, seven flying swords came racing over.

And behind them came the Swordsmith himself.

Whether Chu’s Swordsmith truly possessed real combat ability, whether his place among the Four Great Swordsmen was genuine or merely a reputation inflated by praise, had always been difficult for outsiders to judge.

Zheng Fan had asked the Sword Saint more than once whether the Swordsmith was actually a fraud.

Once, the Sword Saint had answered:

“If you’ve never eaten pork, surely you’ve at least seen a pig run?”

A man capable of forging so many famous swords of the age...

Every sword he made carried different internal patterns designed to match the way its intended user poured sword qi into the blade. Anyone capable of reaching that level had unquestionably attained profound understanding of sword qi.

Forging swords was not a matter of throwing good iron and fine materials into a furnace and hammering away until something came out.

So when the Swordsmith displayed his sword techniques before the world for the first time, the other two men present were not especially surprised.

Yet in this instant... those seven swords did not fly to intercept Longyuan as it stabbed toward Baili Sword.

Instead, all seven went directly for the Sword Saint himself.

You can kill Baili Sword.

Then I’ll kill you.

There would be no rescue.

The paper-thin friendship between these temporary allies had been performed to absolute perfection.

The Sword Saint, however, did not choose to trade his own life for Baili Sword’s.

Quite the opposite.

He decisively recalled Longyuan and laid the blade across his side.

One man controlling seven swords did not mean that the man who controlled more swords was stronger.

The flashier something became, the more ordinary it often was.

Just as Zheng Fan had recently described the so-called “Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Sect” in front of him.

Perhaps in Zheng Fan’s imagination, summoning hundreds or thousands of swords at once looked incomparably majestic.

But to the Sword Saint, that was simply dividing one measure of force into hundreds or thousands of smaller portions, sacrificing sharpness in exchange for spectacle.

A magnificent silver spear with a wax tip.

So when Longyuan returned to defend, one sword directly knocked aside all seven of the Swordsmith’s blades.

But at that exact moment... another sword flew from the Swordsmith’s sleeve.

It was short and small, yet filled with silver radiance.

The instant it appeared and sword qi poured into it, Longyuan suddenly trembled.

The Swordsmith’s swordsmanship was unquestionably very high.

But in this world, the number of people capable of understanding a little of everything could probably be counted on one hand, perhaps with only one true example.

Everyone else was fortunate if he could cultivate a single craft to its ultimate height in one lifetime.

The Swordsmith had to practice swordsmanship and forge swords.

Naturally, much of his time and effort had been divided.

So in raw fighting strength, he should have been the weakest of the Four Great Swordsmen.

And yet... no matter how weak he was among those four, he certainly understood that pulling out seven swords in front of two true masters of the Sword Dao, merely to prove how wealthy his collection was, would amount to little more than making himself ridiculous.

His real purpose... lay here.

Longyuan.

Who had forged it?

He had.

When he forged that sword, would it truly have been difficult to tamper ever so slightly with the internal formations, etched patterns, seals, and embedded restrictions?

For example... to make Longyuan resonate with this particular sleeve sword of his?

Yet what surprised the Swordsmith was this:

Longyuan did indeed resonate with the sleeve sword when it appeared.

But it did not obediently open some great convenient door for him.

After resonating...

Longyuan simply slapped the sleeve sword flying.

“...” The Swordsmith.

Still, regardless of everything else, the Swordsmith’s intervention had saved Baili Sword.

Baili Sword’s own weapon finally returned late to its master’s hand.

The Sword Saint landed once more on the riverbank.

His fingertip lightly flicked Longyuan’s blade.

The Swordsmith remained standing atop the river and asked in confusion:

“That shouldn’t have happened.”

“There’s nothing strange about it,” the Sword Saint replied. “Back when I killed the Mistress of Xinian Manor, her Phoenix-Locking Hand—an art inherited from deep within the Chu imperial palace—was completely useless against Longyuan. That was when I realized you liked adding ingredients to the swords you forge.”

The Sword Saint spoke very plainly.

This had happened before the war between Yan and Chu.

At the time, the scout war between both sides had been exceptionally brutal. The Mistress of Xinian Manor personally came to the outskirts of Snow Sea Pass and happened to encounter the Sword Saint.

When the Sword Saint stabbed forward back then, even he had not expected things to proceed that smoothly.

Her final trump-card technique had been completely ignored by Longyuan.

In the blink of an eye, he had taken her life.

And the Phoenix-Locking Hand was a secret art transmitted only within the Chu imperial clan.

The Swordsmith said:

“But the last time you came to me to repair your sword, I added it back in.”

Longyuan had once been corrupted.

Far to the north of the snowfields, it had been contaminated by the blood of the black-armored captive.

After returning from that campaign, Zheng Fan had specifically sent the Sword Saint to find the Swordsmith and repair Longyuan.

Hearing the Swordsmith’s words, the Sword Saint nodded.

Then said:

“Afterward, I lightly stabbed that thing with it again.”

Back when he repaired Longyuan, the Swordsmith had asked what exactly had corrupted the blade.

The Sword Saint had answered:

Something.

The Swordsmith’s mouth slowly opened.

He truly had not imagined this.

After painstakingly repairing Longyuan... the Sword Saint had deliberately taken the newly restored sword and stabbed that thing again?

And “lightly stabbed” it...

That clearly meant he had intentionally scraped off just enough contamination to interfere with the hidden mechanism.

“Brother Yu, how did you become like this?”

The Sword Saint sighed.

“I don’t know either.”

He actually did know.

He simply could not be bothered explaining.

The Sword Saint turned around and looked once more at the pits his son had dug.

There were already two.

But neither was very deep.

Clearly, his foolish son possessed no experience digging graves.

“If you dig them like that, those two uncles will have to curl their legs when you lay them inside.”

Liu Dahu scratched his head.

“Father, should I dig deeper?”

The Sword Saint waved a hand.

“Forget it. Close enough.”

Then... he looked once more at Baili Sword and the Swordsmith across the river.

“You two should leave.”

Baili Sword spoke.

“Brother Yu gained the upper hand in the previous exchange. I admire you. But as I already answered earlier, this is killing, not sparring.”

The Swordsmith nodded as well.

“If we miss this opportunity, killing that man next time will be far more difficult.”

The Sword Saint understood.

“This won’t produce a result. You should still leave.”

“Why wouldn’t there be a result?” the Swordsmith asked. “We can abandon face if necessary. Worst case, the two of us fight you together.”

The Sword Saint replied:

“Because you’re afraid to die.”

“That’s true.”

The Swordsmith admitted it openly.

“But if it’s two against one, surely we can gamble a little, can’t we?”

Baili Sword said:

“Brother Yu should remember this too. Back then, you went into the Tianduan Mountains to obtain Absolute Crystal material for this man so he could forge Longyuan for you. And yet he secretly tampered with it.”

The Swordsmith turned toward Baili Sword beside him.

“Brother Baili, you can’t do that. Later I repaired Brother Yu’s sword for him, didn’t I? And I didn’t charge him anything that time. That favor should count as repaid.”

Then... the Swordsmith looked toward the Sword Saint again.

“Brother Yu, you retreated just now too. That proves you don’t want to die either, right?”

The Sword Saint nodded.

His eldest son was standing beside him.

He had to protect him.

His youngest son was still an infant.

He missed him deeply.

There were too many things he could not bear to leave behind.

So he did not want to die.

Seeing this, the Swordsmith proposed:

“How about this, Brother Yu? Between Brother Baili and me, choose one person to remain here and confront you. The other can simply pretend he saw nothing. That way, Brother Yu fulfills his duty and righteousness toward Prince Pingxi, and none of us has to lose too much face. What do you say?”

Baili Sword said:

“Then I’ll stay. I know Qian territory well enough. I’ll remain here and exchange techniques with Brother Yu for another few days. Once this stretch of time passes, we can all go our own way.”

“That isn’t for you to decide,” the Swordsmith said. “Brother Yu gets to choose. Brother Yu, which one of us is easier on your eyes? Go on. Pick.”

Liu Dahu found the way these two uncles spoke extremely strange.

They did not possess the slightest air one would expect from members of the Four Great Swordsmen.

Still, Liu Dahu understood something.

They behaved this way only because they were standing in front of his father.

The Prince had once lectured Chen Xianba:

“When you stand high enough to see every mountain below you, you are a god. But when two or three people stand shoulder to shoulder beside you, you become human again.”

The Sword Saint looked toward Baili Sword.

“Brother Baili, are you still unconvinced?”

Had the Swordsmith not intervened earlier, Baili Sword would at minimum have suffered severe injuries.

When peak swordsmen fought, the Sword Saint’s previous method of defending continuously was exceptionally rare.

Ending victory and defeat in an instant was the real norm.

“Next time I’ll just be more careful. Trying to control a flying sword in front of Brother Yu was already me getting arrogant.”

Baili Sword did not appear discouraged.

Because what he said was true.

The Sword Saint continued:

“The reason both of you are hesitating is because you’re afraid I’ll decide to stake my life and drag one of you down with me even if you fight together. Correct?”

“Yes,” Baili Sword answered immediately.

The Swordsmith nodded too.

“No need to hesitate anymore.”

“Oh?” the Swordsmith asked. “Why? Brother Yu has thought it through?”

The Sword Saint nodded.

“These past few years... I’ve had a little too many moments of enlightenment.”

“Tsk. Brother Yu, now you’re showing off,” Baili Sword said with a laugh.

For people at their level, enlightenment was something that could only be encountered through fortune and never deliberately sought.

Yet this man across from them had just said... a little too many.

“It really has been a little too many.”

The Sword Saint spoke with complete seriousness.

Every so often, something happened and enlightenment descended.

Sometimes he would be talking normally, then suddenly have to sit cross-legged and enter meditation.

It was strange.

That fellow Zheng was himself only somewhat excellent at martial arts.

So many gentlemen beside him constantly trained him, Tian Wujing had even personally helped stabilize and strengthen his state of mind, and after all these years he was still only a Fifth Grade Martial Artist.

Yet somehow... the man constantly caused the Sword Saint beside him to fall into sudden enlightenment.

The Sword Saint placed Longyuan before him.

The blade floated in the air.

“Too many moments of enlightenment still have some use. Grains of sand eventually build a tower. And not long ago, I personally witnessed eight thousand iron cavalry willingly die for one man. I happened to comprehend a new sword technique from that. I haven’t named it yet. Perfect timing. I’ll ask you two brothers to help me think of one.”

With that... the Sword Saint opened his palm.

Longyuan swept across it.

Two cuts immediately opened in his flesh and blood flew outward.

Sword qi mixed with that blood.

In an instant... three blood-red sword intents condensed into existence.

“What kind of sword technique is this, Brother Yu?” the Swordsmith asked with a laugh. “If you’re short on swords, just ask me. Your brother can’t promise much else, but good swords? I’ve got as many as you need.”

Condensing sword intent with essence blood was not particularly difficult.

The Sword Saint smiled faintly.

The next instant...

Longyuan shot straight into the sky.

From the firmament above, it drew down a terrifying force.

Second Grade... opened!

Baili Sword nodded when he saw this.

“Using the sword itself as the medium to open Second Grade. Brother Yu’s blade truly has been brought fully to life... Hm? This...”

There were countless methods for drawing down Second Grade power.

Eight immortals crossing the sea—each displayed his own divine method.

The Sword Saint used Longyuan.

Baili Sword relied on Qian’s dragon qi hidden within his body.

As for Martial Artists, because the body itself was their strongest weapon, they could sometimes attempt to draw Second Grade power directly into their flesh.

What shocked Baili Sword was not Longyuan successfully drawing down one stream of Second Grade power.

It was this: the three sword intents mixed with essence blood suddenly rose into the sky as well.

Above them... three more barely perceptible vortices appeared.

The three sword intents spiraled separately.

And above each one... hung the faint yet unmistakable aura of Second Grade power.

This... was not merely opening Second Grade.

This stance... was intended to forcibly open Second Grade four times at once and draw down four separate streams of Second Grade power!

It was not an empty bluff.

He had already opened the path.

That proved he could continue.

Even if doing so would extract an unimaginable price.

Even if the terrifying burden directly ground his physical body into dust.

Baili Sword sighed with feeling.

“I never imagined Brother Yu’s understanding of the Sword Dao had already reached this point. I rely upon reverence, assisted by dragon qi, merely to draw down Second Grade power. As for the threshold of Second Grade itself... I’ve only stuck my head through the doorway and looked around inside. Brother Yu... you’ve already stopped revering it. Master Yao once said that Prince Pingxi treated composing poetry and prose as a way to relieve boredom. He cared nothing for state of mind or artistic intention. Something lofty, refined, and worthy of reverence became little more than childish doodling in his hands. Brother Yu’s method now... has that same flavor.”

The Swordsmith frowned.

“How did you do it? No. How did you fool it?”

The Sword Saint replied:

“Stop taking the sword so seriously.”

Do not treat Longyuan as Longyuan.

Treat it as ordinary.

Longyuan could carry shoulder baskets.

It could chase chickens.

It could turn his son’s cradle.

It could slaughter pigs.

Once a sword became an ordinary tool... then, in reverse... an ordinary thing could also become a sword.

The realization was extremely profound.

After all, Longyuan truly was a famous sword.

Earlier, when the Sword Saint fought Baili Sword, Baili Sword had immediately fallen into danger after losing his own sword because Longyuan remained in the Sword Saint’s hand.

That did not mean the principle was wrong.

It depended entirely on where you applied it.

When fighting another person, Longyuan was indispensable.

Without a weapon that suited you, relying on flesh alone meant you could not endure more than a few clashes.

At that moment... the sword was genuinely a treasured blade.

But when facing Heaven itself... why would Heaven care whether the sword below was genuine or false?

So long as the intention was there... that was enough.

Humans possessed instinctive reverence toward the firmament.

Clearly... the Sword Saint no longer did.

He had begun cheating Heaven itself.

The next instant... across the sky... four muffled peals of thunder seemed to roll one after another.

The Sword Saint stepped forward.

Wind lifted his sleeves.

Then he said:

“I told you earlier that neither of you needs to hesitate anymore. Because I can guarantee one thing. If I enter this battle resolved to die... I can drag both of you down with me. I don’t want to die. But I am different from the two of you. You two... truly fear death. Brother Baili once turned away beneath Shangjing when faced with Yan iron cavalry. Brother Dugu, during the war between Yan and Chu, continued nurturing your hidden blade and could not bear to draw it. I, Yu Huaping... once opened my sword beneath Snow Sea Pass and swore an oath before all swordsmen beneath Heaven. I have already died once. I would not dare call myself fearless. Nor would I dare call myself completely free and unrestrained. But in the end... I fear death... just a little less than the two of you. So now the matter is very simple. Either... the two of you die here together with me, Yu Huaping. On the road to the Yellow Springs, we can continue comparing sword techniques and won’t be lonely. Or... get... the hell... out!”

[End of Chapter 869]