Qingcheng! Ghost Realm! Seven Treasures, Eight Profound, Nine Secrets

He spent another half hour regulating his breath in the secret chamber.

After thoroughly stabilizing the energy within his body,

Zhang Chu rose and walked out of the secret chamber.

The disciples waiting outside saw Zhang Chu emerge and hurriedly bowed. "Daoist Priest Zhang, the manor lord requests that you go to the council hall once you have emerged from seclusion."

Zhang Chu nodded and followed him there.

The atmosphere inside the council hall was grave.

Deng Wuzong, Tu Xiong, Li Gang, and the others were all frowning deeply. Clearly, there had been no progress in the matter of the stolen Divine Sword.

When they saw Zhang Chu enter, everyone was startled.

At this moment, Zhang Chu's hair was half white and half gold!

"Daoist Priest Zhang, your..." Deng Wuzong abruptly stood, staring worriedly at Zhang Chu's hair.

The others were the same, concern appearing across their faces. They thought Zhang Chu had suffered grave injuries.

"It is nothing. Daoist Sect cultivation methods are simply unusual." Zhang Chu waved a hand calmly, dispelling their doubts.

Only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

"The sword embryo still has not been found?" Zhang Chu asked after taking a sip of tea, looking at the tightly furrowed brows of everyone in the hall.

Deng Wuzong gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "We have no leads at all. That sword embryo seems to have truly vanished into thin air."

"But perhaps this is for the best. Though the sword embryo was lost after this incident, it may be a blessing in disguise."

Zhang Chu was somewhat surprised by those words.

"Why do you say that, Manor Lord?"

He had never cared much about the sword embryo to begin with, yet judging by Deng Wuzong's expression now, he seemed not to care much either.

Could it be that they were no longer going to search for the Divine Sword Embryo?

"Daoist Priest Zhang, you may understand if you learn the name of the Divine Sword Embryo."

"Oh?" Zhang Chu was curious. He truly had never asked the sword embryo's name, only heard that it was a Divine Sword Embryo.

But he did not know what was divine about it.

The old manor lord spoke. "This Divine Sword Embryo is named 'Regret'!"

Zhang Chu raised a brow. What sort of name was that?

Earlier, he had heard Ma Wuji speak of a Divine Sword called Passing Time. He had not expected this one to have an even more abstract name.

"This matter dates back several decades. Daoist Priest Zhang, have you ever heard of the Twenty-Four Divine Artifacts of the Heavens?"

Deng Wuzong suddenly asked.

Zhang Chu shook his head. "Zhang has practiced martial arts since childhood and rarely paid attention to the outside world. I have never heard of them."

In truth, it was not just Zhang Chu.

Long Tu and the others nearby, even Sun Jingyi, all wore blank expressions. Clearly, they had never heard of them either.

"It is normal that Daoist Priest Zhang does not know. After all, these are merely tales from the martial world, and they concern events from over a thousand years ago."

With a trace of weathered sorrow in his voice, Deng Wuzong slowly recounted a long-buried legend of the martial world.

"Since ancient times, there has been a legend of the Twenty-Four Divine Artifacts of the Heavens. It is said that every one possesses unfathomable powers of ghosts and gods, beyond all imagination. Obtaining even one can bring unimaginable benefits and allow one to dominate an entire region."

"And these Twenty-Four Divine Artifacts of the Heavens can be divided into three categories: the Seven Treasures, Eight Profound, and Nine Secrets. Each possesses its own mysteries."

Everyone listened intently, their eyes full of shock. They had never even heard of the Twenty-Four Divine Artifacts of the Heavens. Hearing of them today, they found them utterly unbelievable.

"Moreover, these are not merely legends!"

Deng Wuzong continued, "My grandfather was once an outstanding prodigy of Sword Forging Manor. His sword-forging skill was unrivaled beneath heaven. While traveling the world in his youth, he chanced upon one of these divine artifacts—the Heavenly Maiden's Tear Gold, one of the Seven Treasures!"

"What?!"

The hall erupted in uproar. Everyone stood dumbstruck, their eyes filled with disbelief.

Heavenly Maiden's Tear Gold—the divine artifact of legend. An ancestor of Sword Forging Manor had actually obtained it!

Zhang Chu was also startled inwardly.

According to Deng Wuzong, the Twenty-Four Divine Artifacts of the Heavens had been nothing more than legends for over a thousand years, yet his grandfather had obtained one. Such fortune truly defied the heavens.

Ignoring everyone's shock, Deng Wuzong continued, "After Grandfather obtained the Heavenly Maiden's Tear Gold, he did not dare let the slightest word leak out. He rushed back to the manor overnight and never again stepped outside. Even Grandmother knew nothing of it."

"Only later, when Sword Forging Manor's first Divine Sword was born—the Qingcheng Sword, one of the ten greatest Divine Swords beneath heaven—did Grandfather dare leave the manor again."

"Because that Qingcheng Sword had been forged from the Heavenly Maiden's Tear Gold. Once the sword was complete, the Heavenly Maiden's Tear Gold vanished, so there was no longer any fear of others coveting it."

"Grandfather had believed that, with the Heavenly Maiden's Tear Gold gone and the Divine Sword in hand, he would be able to bring glory to the family name."

"But who could have imagined that not long after the sword was forged, Grandfather died under strange circumstances? The Qingcheng Sword also vanished without a trace and never appeared again. Sword Forging Manor likewise declined from prosperity and, step by step, became what it is today."

As Deng Wuzong spoke to this point, his voice was full of weariness and regret, and everyone was deeply moved.

They had never expected Sword Forging Manor's past to be so fraught with hardship—rising because of a divine artifact, and falling because of one as well.

At this moment, Deng Wuzong shifted the subject. "But what the world does not know is that when the Heavenly Maiden's Tear Gold dispersed within Sky Fire Cave, where the Qingcheng Sword was forged, it left behind a single golden teardrop. That teardrop became the Divine Sword Embryo that has now been lost."

"That is why this sword embryo is called Regret. First, because of that teardrop; second, because I mourn my grandfather. Had he not obtained the Heavenly Maiden's Tear Gold, Sword Forging Manor would not have suffered that catastrophe, nor would he have died so strangely. Everything is regret."

"That is why I say that perhaps losing the sword embryo is instead a good thing. The Heavenly Maiden's Tear Gold was an ominous object from the start. Sword Forging Manor has already paid far too great a price because of it. Now that it is gone, perhaps the manor can escape this fate and begin anew."

After hearing Deng Wuzong's account, Zhang Chu was filled with emotion as well. He had not expected this seemingly ordinary Divine Sword Embryo to conceal so many secrets.

The Heavenly Maiden's Tear Gold, one of the Seven Treasures among the Twenty-Four Divine Artifacts of the Heavens; the rise and fall of Sword Forging Manor—all had been tied to it. The vicissitudes of life could be no stranger than this.

Just then, Deng Wuzong suddenly looked at Zhang Chu.

His expression turned solemn as well.

"Truthfully, I did not tell Daoist Priest Zhang all this today merely to recount Sword Forging Manor's past. It is because the Twenty-Four Divine Artifacts of the Heavens have an immense connection to your missing master!"

"Mm?"

Zhang Chu's pupils suddenly constricted.

The calm expression on his face vanished in an instant.

It was replaced by gravity.

"Manor Lord Deng, is this true? My master's disappearance is actually connected to the Twenty-Four Divine Artifacts of the Heavens?"

Ever since his master had died in Mobei, Zhang Chu had continuously searched for clues. Years had passed without any results, yet now he was hearing news of his master from Deng Wuzong.

At this moment, Tu Xiong suddenly looked at Zhang Chu.

"What the old manor lord said is true. Daoist Priest Zhang saved our lives today. Given our abilities, we likely could never repay such a debt in this lifetime. Thus, we can only tell you this sole clue. It concerns your master's disappearance, as well as another of the Twenty-Four Divine Artifacts of the Heavens."

"Lord Tu, please speak." Zhang Chu looked at the old man, who was still his superior, and spoke.

He had long wanted to inquire with the Sky Patrol Guard about his master. The Sky Patrol Guard belonged to the Imperial Court, with informants spread throughout the land and the most extensive intelligence network.

He had simply never found a suitable opportunity. Now that Tu Xiong had brought it up of his own accord, Zhang Chu naturally would not let it pass.

Tu Xiong slowly said, "The Sky Patrol Guard does not know much about your master's disappearance either, because this matter involves the Twenty-Four Divine Artifacts of the Heavens and is far too secretive."

"But one thing is certain: the reason your master ventured alone deep into Mobei back then was because the Nine Nether Wishing Stone, one of the Eight Profound, had once appeared in North of Mobei!"

"The Nine Nether Wishing Stone?" Zhang Chu repeated softly.

Another of the Twenty-Four Divine Artifacts of the Heavens.

And one of the Eight Profound at that.

"Precisely." Tu Xiong nodded.

He continued, "The Nine Nether Wishing Stone is said to possess the power to defy heaven and alter fate. It can turn life into death and death into life. By the banks of the Styx River, the Nine Nether remains Undying."

"So long as one makes a wish before it, even the most heaven-defying desire may be fulfilled."

"We speculate that the reason your master risked himself and entered North of Mobei alone was to find the Nine Nether Wishing Stone and use its unfathomable ghost-and-god power to revive someone."

"Revive someone?"

Doubt rose in Zhang Chu's heart.

He had entered the mountains as a child and followed his master for over a decade, yet he had never heard his master mention anyone he longed for.

Much less anyone he wished to revive.

His master had been indifferent throughout his life, as though nothing in the world mattered to him. Who could be worth risking his life for?

Seeing Zhang Chu's shifting expression,

Tu Xiong hesitated for a moment before saying, "Daoist Priest Zhang, although we now have news of your master, I still advise you not to go to North of Mobei."

"Mobei itself is already extraordinarily dangerous. Only Sandstorm City stands there, and together with Snowy City, it is known as humanity's last line of defense. It is also the farthest reach of the Imperial Court."

"Beyond that lies an uninhabited region, where chilling winds rage year-round, barren mountains stretch without end, and few living creatures can be found."

"In such a deathly land, even Grandmaster-level experts would struggle to emerge alive. No one knows how many peak martial artists have been buried in that wilderness."

"Moreover, North of Mobei is merely its current name. In ancient times, it had another name—a name that made martial artists throughout the world turn pale at the mention of it!"

Zhang Chu asked in a low voice, "What name?"

Tu Xiong slowly uttered two words. His voice carried both a trace of chill and a trace of reverence.

"Ghost Realm!"

(It's too cold. Please send rewards and urge more updates, so this kid can buy a hand warmer... If the numbers are enough, there will be an extra chapter!)