Demon Blade's Sentience, Choosing Its Master?!

"What is this?"

"What's happening?"

He was completely dumbfounded now.

He had only sent out a single slash, and then felt a cold flash above his head—a long blade pressed against his skull, carrying a terrifying Sha Qi that enveloped him entirely.

He carefully shifted his body backward, using the sideways motion to slightly retract his head.

Only then did he notice that a long blade was being held aloft by an invisible force, suspended right before his eyes.

The hilt faced outward, the edge inward, pointing straight at him.

"Isn't this the Decapitation Ghost Blade?!"

"...That Demon Blade enshrined in the Inner Courtyard Ancestral Hall?"

Liang Qisheng stared at the long blade before him, growing even more bewildered.

He knew this blade intimately—even the Decapitation Blade in his own hand had been forged in its likeness.

That familiar Sha Qi, the surging chill, left no room for doubt.

The long blade appearing before him was none other than the Demon Blade enshrined in the Ancestral Hall.

But why had it appeared here, and right in front of him?

"It seems to be following me!"

As Liang Qisheng tried to move, heading toward the back courtyard to figure out what was happening, he suddenly found that the blade shifted, the Decapitation Ghost Blade directly changing its angle to block his path again.

"You... want to follow me?!"

He changed direction several times in succession, and each time the Demon Blade blocked him. Liang Qisheng asked instinctively.

To his surprise, this time the Decapitation Ghost Blade responded—its tip dipped slightly downward, like a person nodding.

"Truly sentient! No wonder it's called a Demon Blade!"

Even Liang Qisheng was stunned by this sight, shock and awe flickering in his eyes.

He began to doubt whether this world was really as simple as it seemed on the surface.

Was this still a world of martial arts? Even blades could become spirits?!

Still, after a brief hesitation, he instead extended his right hand.

Instantly, the hilt turned around and delivered itself straight into his palm.

He gripped it on instinct, and the hilt settled into his hand. The real, tangible contact sent a jolt of surprise through him.

He never imagined that the treasured blade, passed down through generations of Yama Gate, would willingly come to him.

"Boom!"

The next second, that terrifying Seven Kill will erupted directly from the blade's body, crashing into Liang Qisheng.

His eyes flew wide, curses spilling from his lips as his body nearly burst from the pressure.

His robes billowed, the howling wind lifting the hems high into the air, carrying a violent aura straight upward.

Standing in the square, Liang Qisheng was like a towering blade shooting into the sky—a fierce, sharp blade intent, filled with unyielding defiance, daring even to strike at heaven and earth.

"Kill kill kill kill kill kill kill, Seven Kill Soul Suppression..."

A formless killing intent surged within his mind, and even the seal on the Seven Kill Blood-Transforming Divine Blade began to tremble, along with the newly formed Ghost Devouring Blade Art seed, which shook violently.

Liang Qisheng finally understood why this Demon Blade had appeared here and sought him out on its own!

His heart calmed, and he realized clearly—this matter had blown up.

The reason the Decapitation Ghost Blade, originally enshrined in the Inner Courtyard Ancestral Hall, had appeared out of thin air:

The blade had a spirit, and it had directly chosen its master!

And Liang Qisheng was the master the Demon Blade had selected.

With such a commotion, there was no way to keep others from knowing.

His newly taken cheap master, Old Monster Chen, would surely have something to say about this.

As for the deeper reason—the blade seed in his mind was the culmination of merging the Seven Kill remnant will with the Ghost Slaying Blade Art.

Coupled with the perfected Decapitation Blade Technique as a foundational primer, in the eyes of the Decapitation Ghost Blade, Liang Qisheng was nothing less than a peerless prodigy of the same lineage!

Who else would it choose but him?

There was simply no one better.

"Decapitation Ghost Blade?"

"Good lad, so it was you after all..."

Liang Qisheng stood gripping the Demon Blade, when a gust of wind swept past him, and a figure suddenly appeared.

It was his master, Chen Delu.

Master Chen arrived too quickly, his speed exceeding the limits of the naked eye—Liang Qisheng didn't even know when he had appeared.

But at this moment, this powerful martial artist, an executioner patriarch of Shi Family County who remained unshaken even as mountains crumbled before him, had his eyes wide open, his face filled with shock, staring intently at Liang Qisheng.

More precisely, he was staring at the Decapitation Ghost Blade in his hand.

His expression finally shifted, as if he had a thousand words to say but couldn't voice them.

Yet his eyes were bright and piercing, deep enough to seem capable of devouring a person's heart.

Looking at Master Chen's demeanor, Liang Qisheng felt a chill run down his spine—it was the sensation of a long-awaited target finally appearing, burning with intensity.

"Master Chen, you've arrived."

Under this silent gaze, this almost scorching stare, Liang Qisheng felt a stir of unease in his heart.

In an instant, his scalp went numb, and his entire head buzzed.

Though he had already taken him as a master, Liang Qisheng always felt that this Master Chen was deeply hidden, carrying an indescribable and inexplicable air.

Thus, unless he was seeking guidance on martial arts, he generally kept his distance.

And Master Chen often went into seclusion, not easily receiving outsiders; even among his disciples, the senior disciple Zhao Hu usually oversaw all matters inside and outside the courtyard.

But now, being stared at like this by Master Chen, Liang Qisheng found it extremely uncomfortable.

After all, the pressure was immense—the other's aura rolled forth, vast and overwhelming, like being watched by a prehistoric tyrannosaur.

Even if the other meant no harm, the instinctual life-force oppression made him very uneasy.

Moreover, he had no idea what the other was thinking.

"...The Demon Blade is sentient, choosing its master on its own!"

Chen Delu forcibly suppressed the shock and confusion in his heart, looking at Liang Qisheng, speaking word by word.

This time, he was truly stunned.

Outsiders might not know about the Decapitation Ghost Blade, but he understood—this blade's sentience, its nature as a fierce, demonic weapon hard to tame, stemmed from an old incident in the sect.

A dying elder of the sect, on the verge of death, had sacrificed his own flesh, blood, and soul to this blade, imprinting his lifelong blade-path inheritance will upon it, entrusting it to him for safekeeping.

Over the years, he had not failed to let many disciples try to wield this blade, but those who could withstand its spiritual impact and the baptism of its killing intent were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, let alone master it and force the blade to acknowledge a master.

What he himself could not accomplish, how could his disciples?

After so many years, he had actually grown somewhat indifferent to this, letting go of a certain obsession.

But now, this cheap disciple he had just taken on told him that he had suddenly comprehended the Seven Kill Blade Intent and made the Decapitation Ghost Blade become sentient and choose its master on its own.

Such a thing, if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have dared to believe it.

Yet the facts were exactly so; even if he were senile, this jolted him back to clarity.

Such a peerless, extraordinary talent had actually come to bow to him in this obscure, rundown little sect?

If that wasn't heaven opening its eyes, what was?