Chapter 401 - 194: The End of the Myth
Chapter 401: Chapter 194: The End of the Myth
「The rear mountain, the Sword Tomb.」
It seemed that every sect renowned for its swordsmanship had such a place.
When a sword’s master died, they were laid to rest.
And their sword would come to a final resting place of its own—a burial ground for blades.
To the people of the Sword God Palace, the sword in their hand was never just a sword.
It was their closest companion, a trusted friend to whom they entrusted their very lives...
Those who had abandoned their swords on the training grounds earlier had also forsaken a lifetime of conviction.
For the rest of their lives, they would never again have the courage to pick up the blades they had cast aside with their own hands.
It was because of this bond that some said mastery of the sword came from the depths of emotion. Others said, "While the sword lives, so does the man; when the sword dies, the man dies with it."
They poured all their emotions, their heart and soul, into their swords.
Yet, even after their masters’ deaths, the Sword Qi infused within these blades had not faded.
So, the moment Fang Shuwen set foot in the Sword Tomb, he felt an overwhelming surge of Sword Qi.
He also understood why Ye Wufeng had come here.
A faint smile touched his lips as Fang Shuwen strode inside.
It was a massive cavern, with a rugged, winding path stretching into the darkness ahead.
Flanking the path were two enormous sword pools.
Within the pools lay swords of every kind.
They varied in length, width, and size...
Some blades had rested there for who knew how many years, their bodies long since covered in rust, yet they still emanated a biting sharpness.
Fang Shuwen watched with fascination as he continued forward.
Finally, his gaze fell upon the deepest part of the Sword Tomb, where Ye Wufeng was standing.
He saw seven swords.
Each of the seven swords was unique in its appearance. Ye Wufeng stood before them.
Pointing to the one on the very end, he began to speak, as if to himself.
"The Evening Star Sword. Stars sink and the moon sets, yet the Evening Star alone shines bright."
"It is three feet and three inches long, its tip as sharp as starlight..."
"This was my late father’s sword. In his lifetime, he slew seven hundred and eighty-two enemies with it."
Then he pointed to the second sword.
"The Incomplete Sword. A heavy sword needs no edge. This blade weighs thirty-six and a half catties. Of course, to the likes of you and me, that’s nothing."
"The founder of our sect chose this sword because he refused to be bound by convention. He wanted to forge a legend all his own..."
As Ye Wufeng pointed to the third sword, Fang Shuwen, for once, did not interrupt.
He listened in silence, hearing the stories of the swords, and of the men who wielded them.
The third sword was named ’Ephemeral,’ for a life that is born at dawn and dies at dusk.
The fourth sword was called ’Zipei.’ It was a woman’s sword, two inches shorter than a typical blade. A small bell was attached to the guard, which must have chimed crisply whenever the sword was wielded.
The fifth sword was a longsword, still in its scabbard. It looked utterly ordinary. An ordinary hilt, an ordinary scabbard, and an ordinary name: ’Nameless.’
Its master, so the story went, was just like the sword: ordinary, without a name to be known by.
But an ordinary scabbard cannot hide a sharp blade. Once unsheathed, this sword—like its master—would become known to all the world in a single stroke.
The sixth sword was crimson. It was named ’Crimson Sky.’
It was forged from an extremely rare material and contained a searing Fire Force.
When infused with Inner Strength, it could unleash that Fire Force, merging it with one’s Sword Qi to devastating effect.
Its master, it was said, was a man with a heart of fire. How else could he have withstood the frigid winds of Celestial Jade Mountain?
But the seventh sword was not resting with the others...
It was in Ye Wufeng’s hand.
"This sword is called ’No-Thought’."
Ye Wufeng said softly.
"It was the personal sword of the founding patriarch of the Sword God Palace, and it is our sect’s most Famous Sword."
"Even if I were to tell you its stories for three days and three nights, I could not tell them all..."
Fang Shuwen chuckled.
"You don’t have that long to live."
Ye Wufeng looked up at Fang Shuwen, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Fang Shuwen, look around you..."
"This is the legacy of the Sword God Palace, passed down through generations. It is the foundation we have built in the Northern Domain, one that has endured to this day."
"I know your Martial Arts are unparalleled, but... if you think you can destroy the Sword God Palace, you are deluding yourself!"
"Even if I were to allow it, do you think these swords would!?"
Fang Shuwen burst into laughter.
"We’ve known each other for such a short time. I never realized you were such an amusing man."
"On the training grounds, you ignored those three thousand Divine Swordsmen, letting them die or flee as they would."
"And now... you pin your hopes on the lingering spirits of the long-dead and the swords they left behind..."
"When a man dies, his light is extinguished. The swords, too, should have been left to their eternal rest."
"It is you who has disturbed their peace."
Ye Wufeng’s thin lips pressed into a tight line. HUMMM, HUMMM... A chorus of humming blades rose from all directions.
In that instant, the entire Sword Tomb seemed to come alive.
Fang Shuwen’s eyes narrowed. He saw that Ye Wufeng had already raised the No-Thought sword.
"I know your Body-Protecting Divine Technique is formidable."
"But all Martial Arts in this world have their limits..."
"Today, I, Ye Wufeng, will use the centuries-deep foundation of the Sword God Palace to see if we can break what even Zhao Wuji could not!"
SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING!
As Ye Wufeng activated the Primordial Sword Sutra, every sword within the Sword Tomb was drawn by its power.
They flew from the sword pools, converging in the air above Ye Wufeng’s head.
The other six named swords, all but No-Thought, also flew from their resting places.
In that moment, it was as if Ye Wufeng truly shouldered the weight of the entire Sword God Palace and its centuries of legacy.