The Enigma of Qingyou
"Understood!" Yue Qianchou nodded, thinking to himself, "As expected, there was a restriction. Luckily, I didn't sneak over here before."
The two swiftly skimmed across the lake's surface, landing on a hillside. They were now out of the bright sunlight above the Thousand Mile Lake and enveloped in a thick, melancholic mist. Ahead, they could vaguely see overlapping mountains, not high, but with abrupt, undulating terrain. Strange plants and ancient trees with intertwined roots grew densely, and the melancholic mist drifted through the forest, obscuring any path. Combined with the eerily quiet atmosphere, it all seemed somewhat terrifying.
"Stay close to me!" He Li instructed again, his figure drifting into the forest, with Yue Qianchou closely behind on his sword, his feet barely touching the ground. The two moved nimbly through the dense forest, advancing and retreating, twisting and turning countless times. This made Yue Qianchou, who had intended to memorize the path, dizzy and dared not be distracted, for fear of losing him and causing trouble.
The two wandered through the dense forest for a while when suddenly the thick vegetation vanished, revealing a valley with alternating green cliffs. Yue Qianchou looked around; the eerie atmosphere from before had disappeared. He glanced down again and asked, "Is this Twilight Valley?"
He Li hummed in agreement and chuckled, "What you just saw was an illusion created by the Valley Protecting Grand Formation, but don't underestimate this illusion. It's fraught with murderous intent and could kill you if you're not careful."
"Was this formation Senior Bi?" Yue Qianchou asked. He Li shook his head. "This formation has existed since High Antiquity times. My master doesn't know when it was set up. The method for entering and exiting the formation was passed down by the previous 'Punishment Envoy' of the Demon Ghost Domain. Come on! The Azure Flame you want to see is down below."
The two darted down into the valley between the green cliffs. After landing, Yue Qianchou looked up at the dimly lit sky. Being in the valley really did have the feel of nightfall; no wonder it was called Twilight Valley. He carefully observed the surrounding scenery. Occasionally, large rocks were arranged in a pleasing manner, and there were traces of carving on the stone walls on both sides of the valley. Although they were ancient, they were clearly man-made.
Following He Li forward, they observed the surroundings. A series of carvings began to appear on the stone walls, mostly depicting a man and a woman in various locations, with occasional scenes of the man forging weapons. As they ventured deeper, another man suddenly appeared in the stone carvings, followed by more scenes of weapon forging. Viewed together, it seemed as if they were forging a sword.
The two walked towards the end of the valley. The portrait on the stone wall became more complex. The man who had forged the weapon was laughing wildly, holding a sword that shone brightly, as if he had forged some extraordinary treasure. The man who appeared later was bowing in congratulations. At this moment, the portrait first showed the two men drinking Yan Huan, then suddenly a turn of events occurred. As the latter was admiring the sword, he suddenly attacked, instantly cutting the weapon-forging man to the ground. The attacker took the sword and was about to flee when he suddenly encountered the woman from before. The two immediately fought, but the man was no match for the woman. The woman snatched the sword back and fled in panic. The woman gave chase, but it seemed she lost him.
The final scene shows the woman standing in mid-air above the vast ocean, her expression one of utter grief, as she throws the sword into the sea. With this, the scroll's content concludes, except for a carving of a sword at the end, beside which are the two large characters "Qingyou".
These old, melodramatic stories are nothing more than tales of someone betraying their friends, killing their comrades, and stealing treasure. Yue Qianchou had no interest in them, nor did he have much sympathy for ancient people. He and He Li walked to the end of the valley, where there was a cave deep underground. Beside the cave stood a stone tablet with the inscription. "Twilight deepens, and the valley echoes with the sound of instruments. Unextinguished and inextinguishable, the blazing flame is named Azure."
Yue Qianchou raised an eyebrow. The valley was probably named Twilight Valley) because of the first two characters of the first two lines of the text. The last two lines were undoubtedly about Twilight Valley (Azure Fire), the meaning of which was not difficult to understand. His gaze swept over the signature, but that casual glance immediately stunned Yue Qianchou, his mouth agape. The signature was none other than the three characters "Mo Ruqi" (莫如器).
"Damn it! Mo Ruqi? The Divine Craftsman Mo Ruqi? This is where the Divine Craftsman Mo Ruqi forges treasures? Holy crap! If the man forging treasures is the Divine Craftsman, then is the woman in the mural Xiaoxue? "Yue Qianchou shook his head in disbelief. He Li noticed his strange behavior and asked curiously, "Brother Yue, what's wrong?"
"Wait!" Yue Qianchou waved his hand, said no more, and turned to walk back. He kept muttering to himself, "Damn it, Mo Ruqi is recognized as the number one craftsman of High Antiquity, which is why he was given the title of Divine Craftsman. A treasure that can excite Divine Craftsman like this must be no ordinary treasure. It would be a real pity not to appreciate it."
He stopped again before the "Azure Nether" sword carved on the stone wall, examining it closely. The more he looked, the Yue Qianchou. The sword in the painting was strangely familiar; its shape and the patterns on its blade were exactly the same as the Azure Nether Sword he had seized after killing Liu Changqing.
"Damn it! Don't scare me, I'm a coward!" Yue Qianchou's heart pounded, and he muttered to himself, "Apart from their appearance, how come even the names of the swords differ by only one character? Could they be sister swords? That shouldn't be the case! The painting shows that only one was forged. Could it be that any resemblance is purely coincidental? It's very possible. A treasure that can make Divine Craftsman so happy can't be an ordinary treasure. If it really is this kind of treasure, Liu Changqing wouldn't have died so easily; it would probably have taken much more effort."
He Li also returned and saw Yue staring thoughtfully at the sword in the mural. He couldn't help but laugh and said, "Brother Yue, are you looking at the painting of the Azure Nether Sword? This is the final masterpiece of the Divine Craftsman. Legend has it that this sword has broken through the category of top-level spiritual treasures and can be ranked as a celestial artifact. Unfortunately, after the sword was forged, the Divine Craftsman was killed by his close friend who was trying to steal the treasure. Brother Yue, you just saw the mural, so you should already know a thing or two about what happened."
"A celestial artifact? How is that possible?" Yue Qianchou expressed his doubt, his brows twitching slightly as he pointed to the portrait in front of him and asked, "If it's a celestial artifact, then why couldn't the man who seized the sword defeat Xiaoxue even with a celestial artifact in his hand?"
"Master learned from the previous Punishment Envoy that the 'Azure Nether' sword shone too brightly after it was forged. To avoid trouble, the Divine Craftsman placed a restriction on the sword, controlling it within the range of a high-grade Law Treasure, in order to conceal Azure Nether's dazzling brilliance. With the Divine Craftsman's skill, how could an ordinary person break the restriction he placed? This may be the reason why that person couldn't defeat Xiaoxue even with the sword!" He Li explained.
A restriction? Controlled within the scope of a high-grade Law Treasure? Yue Qianchou's heart clenched. Wasn't the Azure Nether Sword in his hand a high-grade Law Treasure? How did it match another requirement? Could it be that I've actually acquired a celestial artifact?
"Ha! This is High Antiquity history, and it's hard to tell if it's true or not. It's just a legend. Why do you care about this, Brother Yue? Don't you want to see the Azure Flame anymore?" He Li laughed.
Yue Qianchou waved his hand and said, "No, no. It's just that the name of the Divine Craftsman is too famous. I didn't expect to see some High Antiquity relics here. I was a little mesmerized. Actually, compared to the real thing, the Azure Fire is more attractive to me. After all, it is something from the real world." After explaining, the two walked away chatting and laughing. When they passed the stone tablet at the entrance of the cave, Yue Qianchou still couldn't help but take a few more glances.
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