An Old Friend from Tianshan, for the Divine Sword

The old Daoist had never expected that, in this wretched weather, Nalan Ming, the Grand Elder of the Tianshan Xuantian Sect, would come looking for him.

With a wave of his hand, he activated the formation at the mountain gate. Then he left the main hall and went out into the bitter wind to meet them.

He said to Wang Xian, "Keep practicing your swordsmanship. This has nothing to do with you. That old man has come for your master."

He had not expected his disciple's divine sense to be so powerful.

He could see visitors several miles away, outside the mountain gate.

Wang Xian let out an "Oh!"

Then he continued watching the snowflakes drift down from the sky, though his mind was occupied with other thoughts.

Last time, the martial uncle from the Kunlun Sword Sect had come and brought him the fortuitous encounter of the Heavenly Book. Would these two old men bring him another surprise today?

Before long.

The old Daoist led the two guests into the main hall and prepared to boil water for tea.

Nalan Ming introduced them. "This is Fifth Elder Wang Ruowang. We have come for that beam of divine light!"

Without beating around the bush, Nalan Ming stated his purpose directly.

The gray-robed elder, Wang Ruowang, who sat nearby, frowned. The tea had not even touched their lips, and he had already laid out their purpose. Was that really appropriate?

Even so, he remained silent.

The old Daoist replied, "You came too late!"

"What do you mean?"

Nalan Ming instantly raised his head and asked, "Could it be that someone took the Divine Sword from your hands, Dao Brother?"

The old Daoist stared at him and quietly asked, "Do you like swords?"

Nalan Ming nodded and smiled. "I only like spirit swords. Divine Swords... Kunlun Sword Technique is said to be unmatched, and I never expected a Divine Sword to emerge as well. It truly is unbelievable!"

Hearing this, the old Daoist revealed a strange smile. "You want it?"

Wang Xian, who was practicing beneath a snow pine, had already pricked up his ears, afraid of missing any useful information.

He was waiting, waiting for the two guests to give him a surprise.

Nalan Ming replied, "So long as Dao Brother is willing to part with it, I am willing to pay any price!"

He said this bluntly and decisively, making his sincerity clear to the old Daoist.

The old Daoist smiled.

Still smiling, he replied, "When I said you came a few days too late... my junior sister came by a few days ago. She had the same idea as you."

Wang Ruowang asked, "And then?"

Nalan Ming added, "I would be glad to hear the details."

The old Daoist sighed and said leisurely, "She searched this place for ten days, then left empty-handed. You can go to the Kunlun Sword Sect and ask her about it."

"Tch! So it was all for nothing!"

When Wang Xian heard that the two old men had come with designs on the Divine Sword, he immediately lost interest.

When Martial Uncle Dongfang Nishang had come, he had not even known what a Divine Sword was.

Not until he entered the Heavenly Book World, not until he encountered that mysterious woman.

Only then did he learn that the treasure his martial uncle had pestered his master for was actually within his own Divine Sea.

It seemed that his master and that mysterious woman had both acted to conceal the workings of Heaven for him.

The old Daoist continued, "You should know what my junior sister's temper is like. Even I cannot afford to provoke her..."

The old Daoist spoke these words just as directly.

After all, it was a fact that Dongfang Nishang had come to Yunqi Temple looking for the Divine Sword. There was no need for him to hide it.

And after Wang Xian awoke from the Heavenly Book, the Coiling Dragon Divine Sword had already hidden itself deep within his Divine Sea. Even he, as Wang Xian's master, would see nothing but darkness if he did not look carefully.

"I don't believe it!"

Nalan Ming slapped the table and muttered, "Dongfang Nishang of the Kunlun Sword Sect is not one to involve herself in worldly affairs. Why would she like such a thing?"

A common man was innocent, but possessing a jade made him guilty.

Naturally, Nalan Ming understood this principle. Given the old Daoist's reputation, if he had obtained a Divine Sword, then even if it were like musk's fragrance or an antelope's horn—

He would not escape Dongfang Nishang's entanglement.

He even began to wonder if he had seen wrongly.

Even Wang Ruowang was deeply disappointed. After all, Dongfang Nishang of the Kunlun Sword Sect was like a man's name and a tree's shadow!

Though she had never entered the world, under the praise of the Sword Sect's elders and disciples, her detached reputation had made her an otherworldly existence in the hearts of cultivators throughout All Under Heaven.

The old Daoist sighed. "I have only one broken sword. You can see it yourself—my disciple is still using a wooden sword!"

"Is your sword truly that broken?"

Nalan Ming replied coldly, "How about I trade with you?"

"You are overthinking it!"

The old Daoist shook his head and sighed. "Though the one I use is worn-out, it is still an item of the Daoist path. How could I trade it to your Tianshan?"

Hearing this, Wang Xian glanced at the wooden sword in his hand. This sword is quite good, isn't it?

Whoosh!

With one slash, he cut out!

He could even sense the artistic conception his master had described—one sword strike, ethereal and without a trace!

In that instant, he suddenly understood the words that mysterious woman had spoken. Unless he entered the Spirit Transformation realm, he would be unable to wield the Divine Sword.

A single Divine Sword was enough to make him guilty for possessing jade.

Enough to make cultivators throughout All Under Heaven covet him, even launching a pursuit that would not end until death.

"You cannot let me come all this way for nothing!"

The expression on Nalan Ming's face shifted again and again before he shouted coldly, "You must give me an explanation and let me give up completely!"

"I can let you inspect the storage rings of both master and disciple!"

The old Daoist's expression suddenly changed as he replied coldly, "But if you still fail to find it, then leave behind the storage rings of you two. How about it?"

Boom!

It was not thunder, yet it was more shocking than thunder, crashing down upon the two men's heads.

At first, Nalan Ming was delighted upon hearing this. Then he froze, unable to say a word.

Because he did not dare gamble. If he failed to find the Divine Sword, would he not cry himself to death?

The old Daoist sighed and continued, "My temple is only this large. You can dig three feet into the ground if you wish. Do whatever you please!"

What a joke! Not even his junior sister, that extraordinary woman who had seen the Heavenly Book—

Had seen the Divine Sword inside his disciple's body, much less Wang Xian after his Divine Sea had formed.

In the old Daoist's eyes, after his disciple awoke from the Heavenly Book World—

Even the look in his eyes when he watched others had become much deeper.

Nalan Ming glanced at Wang Ruowang. Wang Ruowang lightly furrowed his brow and shook his head, indicating that he did not have such confidence.

After all, the Kunlun Sword Sect was on the northern slope. At worst, they could simply head over to the Sword Sect and ask Dongfang Nishang about it. It was hardly any trouble.

His entire fortune was in his storage ring. How could he gamble?

Thinking of this, he suddenly said, "Senior Brother, Dao Brother is also a talisman master."

The implication could not have been clearer: either leave, or go to the Kunlun Sword Sect to ask Dongfang Nishang. Whatever they did, they must not provoke this old man.

Nalan Ming froze, then could not help looking at the old Daoist. "I merely wish to exchange pointers with Dao Brother. You would not use talisman arts to fight me to the death, would you?"

Outside the main hall, the cold wind howled as it swept across Wang Xian's body.

A ray of heavenly light pierced the clouds and fell upon the wooden sword in his hand. To the two guests in the hall, it looked like a talisman the old Daoist had drawn.

Protecting his disciple from the assault of wind and snow that filled the sky.

That ray of heavenly light even looked like a talisman.

Fortunately, the old Daoist had covered the writing on the table with a stack of yellow paper.

Otherwise, if the two old men saw every stroke upon that table, he would not even know how to answer.

Could he possibly say that it was his disciple's handiwork?

Little did he know, Nalan Ming still harbored a lingering dissatisfaction. Back then, in his battle with the old Daoist at Tianchi, it had seemed that his sword had wounded the old Daoist's arm.

Yet he had not known that the old Daoist's sword had nearly severed his head.

He had endured in concealment at Tianshan for many years, yet today, because of an unknown Divine Sword, he had finally come to Kunlun.

Since he had come, there had to be a battle.