Ancient Grudge

Wow, is Old Man Zhang really this terrifying?

"Jiu Gao is usually very steady. He probably has something on his mind. Let's wait here." Master Yao shook his head, not saying more. He wasn't one for gossip.

Seeing Master Yao standing in front of him, blocking him from going further, Li Fan knew that Zhang Jiugao's fight inside wasn't over yet.

So he lowered his head and looked at the piles of various junk on the ground.

Before, they were magic treasures. Once shattered, weren't they just junk? Among them were all sorts of weapons, as well as bottles, statues, jade pieces, and other crafts. There were even broken flying swords, but they were clearly of trash quality, shattered so badly that not even the hilt remained. It seemed the rating standard of Profound Heaven Sword Intent was quite practical. If it wasn't usable, it was just trash...

Li Fan couldn't help but inquire, "... Master Yao, we Ink Bamboo Mountain can also forge swords, right? When will the flying swords be ready? When will there be sect-wide competitions or similar events that grant disciples magic treasures?"

"There are competitions, but the Sect Master usually bestows more elixirs. Artifact refining, especially sword forging, is very difficult. It's costly, time-consuming, and many of its intricacies can't be researched by masters of just one or two generations."

Master Yao stared into the inner hall, his eyes shimmering with colorful light as if he were watching the fight. He answered, "Secret techniques like artifact refining and sword forging are held by ancient mystical sects like the Three Great Sects. Only a select few sects and families can forge flying swords that are rated. Every so often, they'll open their furnaces and release a batch for distribution within the three major powers. High-quality, rated sword embryos are never easily circulated.

These artifact refining families and sword forging grandmasters either have earth-shattering cultivation themselves or are heavily protected by the Three Great Sects, rarely leaving their mountain gate's forbidden areas. They aren't easy to abduct or capture.

Our Ink Bamboo Mountain has too shallow a foundation. Sword forging relies heavily on accumulation, so we still have a long way to go. Perhaps the artifact refining workshop can open a furnace in two months. We'll see the quality, but it's unlikely to produce any masterpieces. If you have good fortune and wealth, you can also prepare rare treasures in advance and queue up to buy them. Roughly prepare wealth equivalent to a million guan, and you might be able to buy some good quality items.

However, you don't need to be too picky. After all, they are all forged by immortals. Even flawed items are at least a hundred times better than these crooked paths that refine things with mortal artifacts."

Good heavens! A million guan? No wonder Monsters fight to the death! Sigh, poverty limited my imagination. Goodbye...

Profound Heaven Sword Intent says, Host, don't be discouraged. I'm not lacking in flying swords. If there are none around Leize, there are other collections elsewhere!

Really? Where else?

Profound Heaven Sword Intent says, I don't remember, but most of them are stored in caves at the bottom of cliffs. If you're bored, jump off any cliff you see and look around. Maybe when you get there, I'll remember.

Holy crap! That's useless! If jumping off cliffs brought opportunities, I'd know that! I don't need you to tell me! You're completely unreliable!

Profound Heaven Sword Intent says, What do you mean unreliable! Where am I unreliable! It's just flying swords! Forge! Forge them! Host, if you have money, we'll forge a batch, simmer it for two hundred years, and then it'll be ready to use!

Are you stewing pig trotters! And two hundred years is too slow!

Profound Heaven Sword Intent says, Host, forging swords requires immense spiritual energy to repeatedly refine and purify. You can't rush things...

Kun says, What tofu! Where's the tofu!

Hey! Stop wriggling around! Be careful you don't get your Kun head chopped off by a stray sword!

At this moment, a thunderous roar of "Boom!" interrupted Li Fan's wandering thoughts.

He peeked out from behind Master Yao and saw the roof of the great hall in front of him blown off. At first glance, it was two black and white, spiraling intertwined dragons!

Upon closer inspection, it was the Qiankun Flying Dragon Sword's sword aura, condensed almost into solid form, filled with countless strands of Qiankun Sword Qi due to the dense sword power.

Zhang Jiugao, surrounded and enveloped by the infinite sword aura, floated slowly in mid-air, riding the twin dragons. More than half of his body was entangled and wrapped by the dragons. These black and white dragons seemed to have been born from his torso and arms.

His faintly visible face was covered as if by a mask, enveloped by a black and white sword wind like a Tai Chi symbol. His facial muscles bulged like dragons, his hair and beard bristled, and black and white sword energy shot from his eyes, extending more than ten feet. He was almost unrecognizable as human.

His two flying swords, one gold and one crimson, shone brightly like lightning and fireballs in the night sky, slowly coiling around the bodies of the twin dragons. They were like the dragon pearls spat by the twin dragons, occasionally bursting with brilliance, gold and crimson lightning clashing, sparks flying, completely shredding the Devilish Cultivators in the hall, who had already been turned into meat paste and charcoal by the Qiankun Flying Dragon Sword's wind, annihilating them all!

If viewed from above, it would truly look like black and white twin dragons descending from the heavens, suppressing Tiantai Mountain, leveling Lanshan Temple, with sword energy reaching the sky, an astonishing spectacle!

Master Yao nodded, "He actually took the Dragon Embryo Ascension Pill. This has forced out all his potential. But after fighting for so long, he should be exhausted, right? He can still control Nascent Soul level Dao energy... It seems Jiu Gao's Qiankun Flying Dragon Sword has indeed reached great mastery."

Profound Heaven Sword Intent says, Hmm, this old man named Zhang is still at this level without breaking through to Nascent Soul. Although his talent isn't great, his swordsmanship is quite diligent. It's rare to see someone research a single move like Qiankun Flying Dragon Sword so profoundly, even in the main sect. And...

Ink Bamboo Mountain actually obtained a strengthening elixir recipe that crosses realms? Strange, which family's alchemy ancestor did they poach...

Li Fan also nodded and commented, "Holy crap, Little Crane is awesome..."

"Nangong Wuchen--!! Come out and die!" Zhang Jiugao roared, the twin dragons roared, spewing a massive sword aura that directly blew away the crumbling great hall. Half of the temple was swept away by the sword aura, razed to the ground!

Then, a bright light suddenly erupted from underground. Flames and lightning shot into the sky. A hundred-zhang-tall pillar of fire violently broke through the ground, leveling the ruins and piercing the clouds. A fiery pillar visible for three hundred li around Tiantai Mountain stretched towards the sky! It then transformed into a trident, like a phoenix spreading its wings!

Li Fan peeked out from the other side behind Master Yao, concentrating his vision to steal a glance.

Within the pillar of fire, a figure floated up into the sky. It was a general clad in heavenly soldier's armor, with five-colored divine light protecting his head behind him. Three golden flowers bloomed on his chest, shoulders, and head, their petals scattering and igniting a large fiery cloud in the sky.

His face was covered by a golden armor mask with a cloud-swallowing beast design, making his appearance indistinguishable. Furthermore, his right arm was missing, and he held a Fangtian Huaji with only his left hand. Even the three-pronged hairpin on his head and the purple-gold crown with phoenix tail tassels was missing a strand on the right. Clearly, this person was Nangong Wuchen, who had been injured by True Man Luo earlier and was hiding underground to recuperate.

"Dog-like thing! How dare you call this King by name!" Nangong Wuchen ignored the imposing twin dragons in front of him and pointed his Fangtian Huaji towards Master Yao. "A mere Golden Core is not worthy of facing this King! You fatso! If you have the guts, don't use magic treasures! Take one of my halberds!"

Master Yao chuckled, "Your Excellency is probably Master Zhang's heart tribulation. Why don't you fight him first? If you win, this humble Taoist will let you escape."

"Ha! He's worthy!" Nangong Wuchen laughed in fury. "If I die, I die! Come and take this King's head! If I so much as frown, I'm not a true man of the Nangong family! You actually send a cripple, strengthened by external objects, to seize this King's destiny? Such humiliation! Ink Bamboo Mountain has gone too far!"

Zhang Jiugao was silent for a moment. The sword energy on his face suddenly turned black. His head and upper body, exposed outside the twin dragon sword aura, were clearly engulfed by black energy. His skin and flesh burst, his muscles bulged, directly tearing through his robes and knocking off his crown. "You don't recognize me anymore! You bloodthirsty fiend! You don't even remember the person who killed you?!"

"En?" Nangong Wuchen heard this and turned to look at him, then suddenly let out a cackling laugh. "So it's you! It turns out it's the boy who ambushed this King back then! I didn't expect you to still be stuck at Golden Core after all these years! You've gotten so old, I didn't even recognize you, you little brat! Hahaha! You actually have to take medicine to dare seek revenge! Hahahaha! Where is the fighting spirit you had when you stabbed the King and attempted regicide! Ah!!"

A red light ball flashed beside Zhang Jiugao, as if about to draw his sword. Zhang Jiugao roared, "Chi Qiu! Do not move! This head is mine! Do not fight me for it! Nangong Wuchen! You cowardly rat who only attacks women! I'll tear you apart with my bare hands even without flying swords! Come and die!"

Nangong Wuchen became enraged, "You wicked spawn! Just you? I didn't come looking for you, and you delivered yourself to my doorstep! Since you're so eager to reunite with your whore! Let this King send you to join that slut!!"

"Nangong Wuchen--!!"

"Bastard! Die--!"

To avoid disturbing everyone's colorful nightlife, the second update is tentatively scheduled for 12:00 PM daily.