Edited by Ea and NZRose

Lin Xuanzhi also slightly frowned and said, “Let me have a look at that sword.”

Tianquan handed the sword to the sword-holding boy and handed it to Lin Xuanzhi. Several Sword Saints stared at Lin Xuanzhi, to see what he could see. After all, the Zhige sword in Lin Xuanzhi’s hand was peerless. As its master, naturally Lin Xuanzhi’s sight was quite experienced. Although the Zhige sword doesn’t occupy a position in the Divine Weapons Ranking, it was because he never drew the Zhige in front of people, and seldom fought with people. Therefore, no one could test which position the Zhige sword can rank. However, these Sword Saints of Myriad Dao Academy had sparred with Lin Xuanzhi. They had seen the sharpness of the Zhige sword and knew that Lin Xuanzhi was knowledgeable. They also knew of Lin Xuanzhi’s knowledge of all kinds of strange treasures in the world. Perhaps he would be able to see where they came from just from holding them. However, Lin Xuanzhi looked back and forth for a while, then hesitated to say, “This rusty sword, because it has been sealed by blood for tens of thousands of years, I can’t see its power for the time being. If the blood rust on it is not rid of, it probably can’t exert too much power.”

Yan Tianhen dropped his head in disappointment.

Sword Saint Tianshu didn’t want to believe it and asked, “Are you sure? Maybe you can get rid of the rust on it?”

“It’s not easy.” Tianquan sighed and continued, “All the swords in Hidden Sword Peak were left by the Sword Venerable when he sacrificed himself ten thousand years ago. If they were stained with blood rust, it had already become one with the sword. It could not be separated easily. The sword’s biggest fear is to be stained with rust, whether it’s copper rust, iron rust, gold rust, or blood rust. Once they are stained with rust, they will become useless. It’s a pity. It’s a pity. Every sword cultivator often wipes his sword. The purpose is to wax the sword and keep it in a brand-new state. At least it can’t rust. Once the sword is rusted, no matter how good it is, its power will be greatly reduced. Unless it is reforged, it will be difficult to completely remove the rust. Even if it is removed, the effect still won’t be as good as before.”

Sword Saint Yaoguang could not stop sighing regretfully, “This sword is so rusty that you can’t even see its original appearance clearly. Ah Hen, how can you choose this sword?”

Yan Tianhen touched his nose and said aggrievedly, “It’s not that I insisted on choosing it, but it’s that it was determined to follow me. I’ve seen all the other swords. When they saw me, they immediately fell to the ground and would not get up, like playing dead, or they flew out and hid in the fog. They don’t want to be found by me. I think it’s better to bring down this sword than go back empty-handed, at least it looks like it has a fate with me.”

“You stupid child.” Sword Saint Tianshu was distressed. “It’s better not to take such a piece of rubbish than to become a laughingstock. If you don’t take it, the most they can say is that you have no fate with Hidden Sword Peak. If you go to another place tomorrow, you could find a sword that suits you. But since you took it down…Sigh.” Sword Saint Tianshu was extremely disappointed. He swung his sleeve and looked away. He made it clear that he was too angry to speak.

Yan Tianhen was a little confused and asked, “Didn’t I just take a sword? If I don’t think it’s suitable for me, I’ll change it for another sword.”

The Sword Saints all looked at Yan Tianhen.

Yan Tianhen: “…What’s going on?”

“Don’t you know?” Sword Saint Tianshu asked nervously.

Yan Tianhen’s face was full of confusion. “What should I know? What else do I not know?”

Lin Xuanzhi also showed a bit of helplessness. “Hidden Sword Peak has its own spirit and its own rules. If anyone removes a sword from Hidden Sword Peak, he is considered to have voluntarily recognized the rules of Hidden Sword Peak. That sword will be your companion sword for life. It cannot be discarded at will. Unless the sword is broken, the sword owner cannot change the sword in this life. Otherwise, he will encounter no more growth on the sword path.”

Lin Xuanzhi’s complexion darkened, and said, “I thought you should have already known about this kind of thing.”

“Yeah.” Sword Saint Yaoguang smacked his tongue and said, “Go and ask other disciples of the sect. Who doesn’t know this rule? In the 《Sect Rules Hidden Sword Chapter》, it is written clearly and plainly. What’s more, if you didn’t have any affinity with this sword at that time, how could you win it and take it down?”

Yuheng also hated that this lump of iron couldn’t become steel faster. “I’ve heard people talk about this sword at least three times. It’s very naughty. When it sees someone going up, it insists on sticking to that person. Everyone looks at it but ignores it. It is enough to ignore it and just find the sword by yourself, why did you have to be so softhearted?!”

Yan Tianhen was even more thunderstruck, his body was about to fall, and said, “What? You said that others have also seen this sword?”

The last little flame in his heart was also extinguished. He thought that this sword had an affinity to him, so it deliberately jumped and jumped to attract his attention. Unexpectedly, this sword was essentially like a trap. Yan Tianhen was about to cry. He felt wronged and looked at Lin Xuanzhi aggrievedly and said, “Huarong Gege, what should I do? I don’t want it anymore. I don’t want that when I fight with people, I will definitely lose.”

Lin Xuanzhi’s fingertips touched the rusty sword’s body lightly, and said, “In the ancient secret books, there was a record of the blood cypress sap. This is the sap of a blood cypress tree that has lived for ten thousand years. It is said that it is the sacred object for smelting swords. If you find it, you can naturally remove the blood rust on it.”

Yuheng raised his eyebrows. “What Huarong said is easy. But the 10,000-year old blood cypress tree has sunk into the ground with Puluo Mountain tens of thousands of years ago, and Puluo Mountain today is the Tomb of Youshan. This is one of the top ten forbidden places. There is no return. After so many years of isolation, I don’t know how many monsters have been breeding there. What’s more, who knows if the blood cypress tree is still there. Don’t tell me that Huarong has to gamble personally for this unknown risk?”

Yan Tianhen opened his mouth and said, “The Sword Venerable’s soul consciousness on Hidden Sword Peak indeed told me that. I said that it is difficult to find the blood cypress sap, and he didn’t say anything, then disappeared.”

“What did you say??” Sword Saint Yaoguang tilted his body suddenly, his face turned pale, staring at Yan Tianhen. “Sword Venerable’s soul consciousness? What did you see?”

Lin Xuanzhi raised his left eyebrow slightly, and a thoughtful expression flashed in his eyes.

Yuheng was also dumbfounded. “What Sword Venerable? That peak has been empty for many years, and you are the only one on it. Is it possible that you have encountered something?”

Seeing their reaction, Yan Tianhen couldn’t help thinking in his heart, and said, “You have never seen the man sitting on the edge of a cliff on the top of the mountain before? He is dressed in white, his black hair is winding down the ground, spreading like a black lotus, with ice leaves and snowflakes falling on it. His speech is very gentle, but I could not see his face, his back was always facing me.”

Yaoguang suddenly stood up, walked down the high steps, and said, “Quickly, what did he say to you? Quickly tell me, and about that Sword Venerable’s soul consciousness — where is he, is he still there now?”

The legend of Hidden Sword Peak was that the Sword Venerable transformed into it upon death. This was the most important place of Myriad Dao Academy, and also the symbol of the Sect. However, over the years, tens of thousands of disciples have climbed Hidden Sword Peak, and hundreds of disciples have taken their swords from it. But they have never heard of any one person who had ever seen the soul of that Sword Venerable.

Yan Tianhen shook his head and said, “The Sword Venerable seemed to be gone, I saw him gradually dissipate in the air, and nothing else was left. He didn’t say much to me, but explained that if I took this rusty sword, I could find the blood cypress sap to remove the rust.”

Yaoguang heard the words, feeling a little dazed for a while.

The other Sword Saints couldn’t describe their feelings at this time.

The soul consciousness on Hidden Sword Peak was the spiritual pursuit of many sect disciples, especially the disciples of the Sword God Hall; it was something they couldn’t even accomplish in their entire lives. If they could see this Sword Venerable who sacrificed himself to turn the tide and save the entire Nine Lands, even if he didn’t talk to them, there would be no regrets in this life.

Sword Saint Tianquan asked, “Didn’t you ask anything else?”

Yan Tianhen shook his head. “At that time, I was full of thoughts to find a sword that suits me quickly. That Sword Venerable looked quite scary, like a ghost, so I didn’t dare to come close, and because of respect, I couldn’t look at him wantonly, so…”

After that, there was no need to say more. Tianquan was deeply regretful.

This kind of opportunity, which was hard to find for thousands of years, was wasted by Yan Tianhen. Everyone couldn’t help but grieve and sigh, wishing to pull Yan Tianhen over and beat his ass to let him make him grow a brain!

But Lin Xuanzhi was very calm. He took the scabbard and put the sword back into it, and said, “Anyway, since this sword has been brought down by Ah Hen, it’s considered to be fate. And since the Sword Venerable has already pointed out the way, it seems that we will have to go to Puluo Mountain when the time comes.”

“It’s the Tomb of Youshan.” Yaoguang deliberately corrected the sentence, then frowned. “How can the Sword Venerable let disciples go to their deaths? Are you sure that the person you saw was the Sword Venerable, not someone else pretending to be him?”

Yan Tianhen said, “Can there be anyone else besides the Sword Venerable’s soul consciousness who can appear at the top of Hidden Sword Peak?”

Lin Xuanzhi shook his head and said, “I’m afraid there is no one else.”

Sword Saint Yaoguang said, “The matter of going to the Tomb of Youshan requires a long-term discussion.”

Lin Xuanzhi nodded in agreement.

Outside the gate of Sword God Hall, Yan Tianhen had a bitter expression on his face. There was no one around, so Lin Xuanzhi raised his hand and rubbed Yan Tianhen’s head, and said comfortingly, “I have already said that Dage will help you find the blood cypress sap, don’t be sad, there will always be a solution.”

Yan Tianhen miserably looked at the sword he was holding in his hand, and said, “If I can’t find the blood cypress sap, won’t I have to use such a rusty sword to fight against enemies for my entire life?”

Lin Xuanzhi thought for a while and said, “It’s still better than those who couldn’t even take a sword down.”

Yan Tianhen did not feel comforted.

Lin Xuanzhi said, “In fact, there is another way.”

Yan Tianhen looked up and asked, “What’s the other way?”

“If this sword is broken, the contract with you will be terminated naturally. Why don’t I use the Zhige sword to fight with you and cut this sword in half?”

Yan Tianhen’s eyes suddenly lit up.