In a small village far from the Life and Death Arena, Old Man still rocked leisurely in his rattan chair as he had in years past, enjoying a fleeting moment of peace and quiet beneath the banyan tree's shade, amid the mottled halos of sunlight.
"Eight Leaves, my friend of a lifetime, this is all I can do for you.
"If he can kill that young man, all the better—it will count as avenging you. If he cannot, then I imagine that young man will never be able to raise a blade again. For a powerhouse who had hoped to advance into the realm of Forgetful Blade, even the supreme Dao of the blade, that is more terrifying than death.
"But if, after today, he can once again raise his blade and fight, I will be overjoyed, for there will be another fellow traveler on the path..."
In the corner of the woodshed in the little residence, a broad-backed woodcutting saber leaned silently against the wall. As the old man's thoughts stirred, it suddenly flashed with a gleam of brilliance—peerlessly sharp, peerlessly domineering—as though it had once been a divine blade capable of shocking the world.
"Brother, what do you think? Dao Qianqiu's martial path seems to have entered a realm beyond anything either of us can imagine. Do you still want to discuss the blade with him?"
At the very back of the arena, two people with identical builds and appearances, yet utterly different attire and bearing, occupied a corner. The people around them seemed to turn a blind eye, as if something had obscured their sight.
These two were naturally the two sect masters of the Blade and Sword Flowing Open Edge Gate, Blade Obsessed and Sword Obsessed, as well as twin brothers.
With their cultivation, they naturally