The Sharpness of Mist Blades

Familiar recipe, familiar taste.

Wu Tie soaked in the translucent white liquid. Next door, Yang Jian, with slightly narrowed eyes, gazed at him through the two layers of crystal ball walls.

Wu Tie was accustomed to Yang Jian's presence. He cast a reverent glance at the hollow left by Yang Jian's vanished third eye on his forehead before stretching his limbs.

The numbness and weakness were receding, fading away bit by bit. Strength was slowly returning. Wu Tie could feel the blood in his body gradually regenerating, filling and saturating every inch of him.

Old Tie stood on the ground, his eyes flashing with blood-red light. Figures flickered within the blood-red projection screen, showing the exact reactions of the two Grand Commanders, Eunuch Gu, and Eunuch Lan just moments ago.

Silently watching the screen, Wu Tie secretly marveled at the power of those small metal spiders.

With them, wouldn't the Longevity Cult and Mist Blades hold no secrets from Wu Tie?

"Tell me, what are they up to?" Old Tie asked, raising a claw in confusion and pointing at the screen. "Hmm, I'm good at fighting and killing, but when it comes to intelligence gathering and tactical analysis... ha..."

Wu Tie blew a few small bubbles from his mouth.

This Old Tie... he always claimed to be a medical-type Ancient Divine Weapon.

But judging by his words and actions, and the hints in his speech, he was clearly a bloodthirsty killer, skilled in arson and murder. How could he be associated with the word 'medical'?

Of course, if soaking Wu Tie in a crystal ball counted as 'medical,' then Wu Tie had nothing to say.

After blowing a few more bubbles, Wu Tie shook his head.

He couldn't guess what Eunuch Gu, Eunuch Lan, and the two Grand Commanders were planning either. However, Old Tie's earth-shattering strike was terrifying. Even while fleeing, Wu Tie couldn't resist looking back; the sheer power was horrific.

If that strike had been unleashed within the Wu Family Stone Fort... wouldn't the entire Wu family, over a thousand people, along with the stone fort and all of Wu Valley, have been utterly flattened?

"They were scared off... or are they going to find reinforcements?" Wu Tie asked Old Tie, sliding out of the crystal ball now that the wounds inflicted by the Origin Breaking Blood Blade had healed. After wiping himself clean and donning his fitted armor, Wu Tie frowned.

This was merely his guess, and he wasn't sure if it was correct.

If his guess was unfortunately right, then this entire secret realm would soon face a much larger war. Especially if the experts from the Longevity Cult and Mist Blades came here, even the Ancient Divine Weapon Camp might not be safe.

"Old Tie, how many times can you unleash an attack like that?" Wu Tie thought of a very serious question.

Old Tie sighed heavily, lying down on the ground and scratching his head with his front claws.

"That Howling Celestial Dog, I don't know what he did before he died, but his body looks fine on the outside, though it's quite damaged internally," Old Tie shook his head. "Big Iron is useless, and there's no equipment here to repair the Howling Celestial Dog..."

"Probably... once every six months?" Old Tie looked at Wu Tie, the blood-red light in his eyes flickering a few times. "You were too merciful with those Mist Blades assassins... you shouldn't have just injured them, you should have killed them with all your might."

Old Tie sternly lectured Wu Tie: "Inflicting significant, unacceptable losses on the enemy in a short period is an effective way to end a battle and achieve tactical objectives. You only injured those assassins, you didn't kill them... which was a wasted effort."

Wu Tie sat in front of Old Tie, remaining silent.

He had carried a large banner to declare war on the Mist Blades and the Longevity Cult, overcoming his hesitation and fear. He had done it.

But asking him to kill those Mist Blades assassins...

Wu Tie couldn't bring himself to do it.

After all, he was still young. He had been taught by Master Hui since he was a child in the Wu family, unlike his father and three older brothers, who were already accustomed to fighting and killing for territory and profit.

Old Tie looked at Wu Tie with deep contemplation. After a long while, he finally nodded. "Alright, this isn't something that can be rushed... I've seen those soft-hearted rookies who wet their pants on their first battlefield... with enough killing, even softies will become skilled fighters. It's only a matter of time."

"Now, we begin a new lesson."

"Intelligence, or useful information, is a crucial element that cannot be lacking in any war."

"Whether it's the Longevity Cult or Mist Blades, we actually know nothing about them."

"And they exist in the Azure Flame Domain?"

"What's the situation in the Azure Flame Domain? Where did the Longevity Cult come from? How strong is the Mist Blades' influence in the Azure Flame Domain? What is their relationship with each other? We must clarify these issues... especially since our resources are limited now. War is not a game."

"Tell me, how can we obtain the intelligence we need?" Old Tie stared intently at Wu Tie.

Wu Tie frowned and pondered for a moment, then suddenly smiled. "Capture someone and ask them?"

Old Tie grinned, emitting a dry chuckle. "Exactly, capture a spy and interrogate them... Hmm, so we need to choose our target carefully. You can't defeat someone at the level of a Mist Blades Grand Commander, and I don't have the strength to do anything to them right now... What could slaves possibly know?"

"Therefore, choosing the right target for capture is very important."

Choosing the right target was important. Two days later, after the 'Void Sun' had set and 'night' had fallen, Wu Tie stole a raft belonging to the Mist Blades, crossed the great river downstream, and infiltrated the outskirts of a Longevity Cult stronghold.

Without expending too much effort, and with Old Tie's guidance, Wu Tie used a thin thorn and a specially concocted plant-based paralytic toxin to easily capture a young man who had been standing behind Eunuch Gu.

There was no warrior ready to die for his cause, nor a tough guy who could endure torture. Perhaps it was Old Tie's ferocious and unique 'human-headed dog' appearance that intimidated the young man, who was quite handsome with his oily hair and powdered face. He answered every question truthfully, spilling all the information he knew.

The Azure Flame Domain, in the eyes of the Longevity Cult, was a remote, wild, and underdeveloped great domain.

The main domain of the Azure Flame Domain consisted of eight large caves of varying sizes. The largest cave was only two-thirds the size of the current secret realm, while the smallest was about a hundred miles in diameter.

These eight caves were divided among three of the most powerful families. Within these eight caves, hundreds of rock tunnels of various sizes led to thousands of smaller caves, each housing a varying number of families...

Countless large and small caves were located above or below, some close to each other, others hundreds of miles apart...

Coupled with countless intertwined and chaotic mining tunnels, passages, secret routes, stone forts of all sizes, settlements of all sizes, and the mining slaves living in the tunnels and pits, as well as wild natives...

And then there were organizations like the Mist Blades, and various other strange groups of all sizes...

All of this constituted the Azure Flame Domain.

The reason for the Azure Flame Domain's name was that in the largest of the eight core caves, there was a lava river containing the heavenly spiritual fire 'Azure Flame.'

The Azure Flame was pale blue, extremely hot, and contained an incredibly mysterious power.

Weapons forged with Azure Flames are twice as sharp and tough as those made from the same material. They are manageable in the hands of Foundation Establishment realm cultivators, but can unleash even greater destructive power in the hands of those in the Xuan Sensing realm, especially the Chonglou realm.

For example, the personal weapons of the nine Grand Commanders of the Mist Blades are all exquisite creations from the Lu Family.

The Azure Flame Domain gets its name from the Azure Flames found in this very lava river.

Among the three most powerful families in the Azure Flame Domain, the Lu Family, ranked first, dominates this lava river. This allows them to produce exceptionally fine armaments, giving them an edge over the Yan Family and the Shi Family, the other two major powers.

As for the Longevity Cult, they are not indigenous to the Azure Flame Domain.

Decades ago, a small affiliated family of the Shi Family in the Azure Flame Domain, while mining, used Mountain Splitting Thunder to blast through a vein and discovered a new passage.

This passage, stretching over a thousand miles, marked the Azure Flame Domain's first contact with the outside world.

It was at the end of this passage that an exploration team, formed by the three major families of the Azure Flame Domain, encountered a merchant caravan from the outside.

Coincidentally, there were informants from the Longevity Cult within that caravan. This led the Longevity Cult to set their sights on the Azure Flame Domain and begin their infiltration.

Given the overall strength of the Azure Flame Domain, the Longevity Cult merely dispatched four experts – Grandma Chi, Grandma Hong, Eunuch Gu, and Eunuch Lan – to oversee their branch in the region.

The young man captured by Wu Tie was also a native of the Azure Flame Domain, abducted and trained by the Longevity Cult from a young age.

All he knew were basic details about the Azure Flame Domain and the Longevity Cult's branch there. As for the true power of the Longevity Cult or the circumstances of its high-ranking members, these were beyond the reach of a disciple at his level.

After all... even though he was Eunuch Gu's personal attendant, the Longevity Cult was bizarre and evil. Their 'personal disciples' were often mere assistants during Eunuch Gu and others' cultivation, or even 'potent elixirs' to temporarily boost power and replenish energy during combat.

Their status was awkward, and they were never privy to true secrets.

However, despite not knowing the full potential of the Longevity Cult, this youth did reveal a considerable amount of information about the Mist Blades.

For instance, the Mist Blades were the most powerful local force in the underworld of the Azure Flame Domain, the fourth major power besides the Lu, Yan, and Shi Families. The Mist Blades lived a dangerous life, and while their relationship with the three major families was strained, these families often relied on the Mist Blades' assistance...

If judged purely by the number of elite warriors and absolute military might, any one of the three major families fighting alone would not be a match for the Mist Blades...

The Azure Flame Domain was broadly characterized by the three major families among the natives standing as equals, with these three jointly suppressing the Mist Blades. Simultaneously, the three families and the Mist Blades together guarded against the Longevity Cult's encroachment.

While Wu Tie was busy capturing a "tongue" in the secret realm to extract information, an ambush had just concluded in the passage connecting the Azure Flame Domain to the outside world.

Ever since contact with the outside world was established, the three major families of the Azure Flame Domain had jointly constructed a fortress in the passage, garrisoning a large contingent of elite soldiers year-round to strictly guard against large-scale invasions by external forces.

In the passage outside the fortress, piles of luminous vegetation emitted a bright glow. A section of the passage, extending for dozens of miles, was quite illuminated, comparable to the brightness of the Void Sun.

A massive stone wall, two miles wide, sealed off the entire passage. On the towering walls, several generals from the three major families, clad in armor, stood behind the battlements, smiling and pointing outwards.

Dozens of tall Ox Tribe warriors, armed with great steel axes, stood on the wall, grinning and chuckling gruffly.

Over a hundred tall Lizard warriors, renowned for their astonishing archery skills, held longbows. Their amber eyes rolled around, fixedly staring at the assassins in black combat attire lying in pools of blood outside the city.

It was a small merchant caravan. Over a dozen Gray Rock Lizards pulled four-wheeled carts, parked quietly at the edge of the passage.

More than twenty caravan guards lay dead in pools of blood, their bodies riddled with arrows. Many hadn't even drawn their weapons before being mowed down by the dense volley.

Eunuch Gu and Eunuch Lan lay in the blood, their clothes soaked.

Eunuch Gu lay on the ground, a straight blade having severed his neck, almost completely detaching his head. His eyes were wide open, staring blankly at the thousand-meter-high dome.

Eunuch Lan gasped for air.

His chest had been split open by a straight blade, his lungs were cut, and large bubbles of blood continuously seeped from the wound. Bloody foam also gushed from his mouth and nose. He panted rapidly, his hands spasming and trembling as he crawled laboriously towards the fortress several hundred meters away.

A man in tight black soft armor, with a black cloak draped over his back, flickered into existence and silently appeared beside Eunuch Lan. He stomped heavily on Eunuch Lan's back with his right foot.

"Try it. Shout loudly here and see if you can get your words... heard by them?"

The man crouched down, his slender, powerful fingers gently poking Eunuch Lan's head. He suddenly let out a soft laugh, "Close call... Although Old Six, Old Seven, and Old Eight were a bit greedy, at least they understood... "

"How could those three possibly swallow that place? Unless it was the entire Mist Blades, they couldn't swallow it."

"However, being able to quietly take that treasure land is much easier than fighting over it with your Longevity Cult and those three families..."

Eunuch Lan struggled to lift his head, looking bitterly at the man in black.

The Mist Blades had nine Grand Commanders, from the first to the ninth, each a Chonglou realm expert.

Legend had it that the Mist Blades also had a Grand Commander-in-Chief, whose nickname was 'Mist Blade'. It was rumored that this Grand Commander-in-Chief's strength surpassed that of the other nine Grand Commanders combined.

Eunuch Lan had initially believed the legend was just a legend.

But he never expected the legend to be true... He and Eunuch Gu, working together, couldn't even withstand a single strike from this Mist Blade Grand Commander-in-Chief.

If they had known the Mist Blade Grand Commander-in-Chief was so terrifying, they should have transmitted the news of the secret realm back to the Longevity Cult's main headquarters in advance...

With a 'crack', the Grand Commander-in-Chief snapped Eunuch Lan's neck and stood up with a chuckle.

He lightly shook his hand and called out unhurriedly towards the fortress, "You three families, come out and collect your dead... It's bloody and messy, it'll scare away any merchants who come to trade with our Azure Flame Domain!"

"Tell your family heads... I, the Mist Blades, have helped the Azure Flame Domain eliminate the Longevity Cult branch. You owe me money for this contribution. If you don't pay, I'll come knocking on your doors personally."

With a 'hehe' laugh, the Grand Commander-in-Chief's figure gradually became transparent, melting directly into the air.

"Now, it's time to meet that legendary expert... Shattering several miles in a single blow? Tsk... Is this guy crazy?"