The Azure Lotus Sword's Previous Owner
Even those Soul Beasts would fight over this fragment.
Li Zhexian held down his storage pouch, then looked at the black fragment in his palm.
"You answered pretty quickly this time."
"Resonance with Twin Martial Souls exists within the ruins."
"Will that resonance blow me to death?"
"Unable to determine at present."
"That line again."
"The sword on the wall is the same as the host's Azure Lotus Sword."
"That wine pot is just like my Drunken Immortal Wine Pot, too."
"Did someone use them before?"
"Unable to confirm."
Li Zhexian raised his head and looked at the image on the stone wall.
"System, can you say something useful?"
"Host is advised to continue forward."
"That line you remembered clearly enough."
He walked up to the stone wall. The lotus patterns on the Azure Lotus Sword had already begun lighting up, one after another.
The shield over his chest also began to tremble.
The disturbance was much stronger this time. Deep within the shield, the golden chains made a faint sound.
Li Zhexian pressed a hand to his chest, his brows slowly drawing together.
It felt as though someone were pushing a door inside the shield.
The brighter the Azure Lotus Sword on the stone wall grew, the worse the pain in his chest became.
"Do you recognize this sword too?"
The shield gave no answer.
The sword pattern was now dazzlingly bright, and white light illuminated the entire stone chamber.
Li Zhexian raised his hand and touched the tip of the sword in the image.
White light filled his vision.
On a raised platform in a valley, a swordsman in white held a wine pot in one hand and a long sword in the other.
Mountain winds swept up his long hair. He raised his head and took a drink, then slashed his sword horizontally.
A streak of sword light swept through the valley.
The stone wall ahead split apart in succession, and countless pieces of rock tumbled down the mountainside.
Li Zhexian had seen only this single strike, yet a dull pain had already begun in his chest.
The swordsman in white turned half his face toward him, but his features were completely obscured by white light.
"Senior?"
The man gave no answer.
The swordsman in white tossed the wine pot into the air, and his blade swept after it, tracing its body.
The wine spilled out and turned to mist. Sword light passed through the wine mist, and the rocks in the valley burst apart one after another.
The vision broke off there.
Li Zhexian withdrew his hand, sweat already beading on his forehead.
"That's it?"
The Drunken Immortal Wine Pot flew out of his body and hovered in midair.
Azure wine mist sprayed from its mouth and spread along the stone wall.
Dust fell from the cracks in the wall.
Several dull sounds came from the floor, and a stone slab rose from beneath it.
Three stone statues were hidden beneath the slab.
One statue held a long sword, its tip aimed at Li Zhexian.
Another cradled a wine pot, its mouth pointed forward.
The last statue held nothing in its hands, but broken chains were wrapped around both its arms.
"Ancient inheritance trial detected."
"Is there a reward?"
"Unknown."
"Will there be attacks?"
All three stone statues raised their heads at once.
Li Zhexian gripped the Azure Lotus Sword.
"Now I know."
The statue holding the stone sword raised its hand and brought the sword down.
Li Zhexian drew the Azure Lotus Sword and raised it to block the attack.
The stone slab beneath his feet could not withstand the force, and cracks crawled outward.
Li Zhexian staggered back three steps in succession, his arm numb from the impact.
The statue cradling the wine pot opened its mouth and spewed out a cloud of gray mist.
Li Zhexian turned sideways and charged out. The chain statue swung its arm, and the links grazed past his waist.
The shield lost 1,800 points.
"You attack as soon as the door opens? Don't you have any rules here?"
The stone sword came bearing down again.
Li Zhexian used Wind Walking Step, moving past with his body close against the blade.
The stone sword struck empty air, leaving a long gash in the stone platform.
He looked at the three stone statues.
"One only knows how to use a sword, one only knows how to release wine, and the last only knows how to swing chains."
Gray mist surged toward him from the front, while an iron chain swept in from the side.
Li Zhexian twisted and rolled to the wall, his back slamming against the stone again.
The shield lost 2,400 points.
"Was I wrong?"
The stone sword statue pursued him to the wall.
A downward chop, a horizontal slash, then a thrust at his chest.
It had finished using all three moves, and Li Zhexian had memorized its sword routine.
He turned sideways to evade the blade, and the wine pot statue took a step forward.
The gray mist thickened, quickly obscuring everything visible inside the stone chamber.
Li Zhexian opened the Drunken Immortal Wine Pot.
Azure wine mist met the gray mist. When the two collided, the surrounding directions immediately became confused.
The gray mist spewed by the wine pot statue struck the chain statue.
The chain statue's footing became unsteady, and the iron chain it swung swept toward the stone sword statue.
The stone sword statue raised its sword to block, and the three statues soon crashed into a heap.
Li Zhexian retreated ten zhang and held his long sword across his body to protect himself.
"Now that's your own people attacking each other."
The chain statue was the first to climb off the ground.
Its iron chain sprang out from between the stones and coiled toward Li Zhexian's legs.
When the links neared his feet, Li Zhexian executed Wind Walking Step, passing over the chain as the Azure Lotus Sword slashed at the statue's knee.
Stone chips scattered.
One of the chain statue's legs broke, and it fell to its knees. The iron chain dragged across the stone slab with a piercing screech.
The stone sword statue came after him from behind.
Li Zhexian turned and struck with his sword, the two sword tips colliding.
The two swords clashed five times in succession.
The impact tore a wound in his palm, and blood dripped onto the stone slab.
"Your sword routine is quite proper, but too direct."
Li Zhexian let the blade pass.
Unable to withdraw its force in time, the statue lunged forward.
He moved close and struck the back of its neck with the back of his sword.
The stone sword statue crashed into the wall, half its body wedged into a crack in the stone.
The wine pot statue spewed out one last cloud of gray mist.
Li Zhexian raised the Drunken Immortal Wine Pot. Azure wine mist enveloped the gray mist and carried it to the top of the stone chamber.
By the time the gray mist fell from above, only a little fine dust remained.
The wine pot statue had lost its cover.
Li Zhexian charged up to it, planted one foot on its base, and thrust the Azure Lotus Sword into the mouth of its wine pot.
The statue's chest split open.
All three stone statues stopped moving at once.
Cracks spread from the tops of their heads to their feet, and pieces of stone fell steadily to the ground.
A fragmentary scroll rolled out of the chain statue's chest.
The fragment was not made of paper, but was merely a thin layer of stone.
Eight characters were carved into its surface.
Between drunkenness and sobriety, only then can the true sword be seen.
Li Zhexian bent down and picked up the fragment.
"I've seen those words before."
"The fragment is resonating with the Azure Lotus Sword and the Drunken Immortal Wine Pot."
"Can I exchange it for a reward?"
"It cannot be exchanged."
"Then tell me something I'd like to hear."
"One sword technique move temporarily unlocked."
"What's it called?"
"Viewing the Sword While Drunk."
Those four characters entered Li Zhexian's sea of consciousness.
His wrist moved in response.
The Azure Lotus Sword did not leave its sheath, but its blade had already begun to hum softly within it.
The Drunken Immortal Wine Pot released a wisp of wine mist that circled his arm once.
He turned the fragment over.
There was also a very faint sword mark on the back, with half a lotus carved at its end.
"Is this senior connected to me?"
"Unable to confirm."
"What else can you say besides that?"
"Host is advised to learn the sword technique."
"That line I can listen to."
Li Zhexian pressed the fragment against his chest.
The chains inside the shield sounded once more.
This time, the sound was much heavier than before.
A crack opened in the ceiling of the stone chamber.
A few pieces of stone fell at Li Zhexian's feet.
He raised his head and looked up.
Beyond the crack was not a mountain forest, only a pair of black boots planted on the edge of the stone ceiling.
The next moment, a figure dropped into the stone chamber from above.
The newcomer wore a black cloak, its hood pulled low.
He paid no attention to the rubble covering the ground. Instead, he raised his hand and pointed at the black fragment in Li Zhexian's palm.
"Hand over the fragment, Twin Martial Souls brat."