How Much Longer Are You Going to Keep Pretending?

The ancient bronze sword hanging on the wall was immensely old, its surface covered in green patina. Even the blade and scabbard had been swallowed by rust.

Rather than an ancient sword, it looked more like a bronze rod caked in rust. Yet in Shen Yuan's eyes, this unremarkable old sword was the source of the entire estate's cold, sinister aura.

At the sword guard, beneath the mottled rust, he could vaguely make out patterns entirely different from those on the rest of the sword. With only a few strokes, they outlined a majestic divine dragon.

This legless divine dragon coiled atop the sword guard, its eyes shut as though asleep. With every breath, it continuously inhaled and exhaled vast amounts of cold, sinister aura.

The cold, sinister aura ceaselessly eroded the surrounding space, blanketing the entire estate within its domain.

Old Master Fu's withered, haggard condition also seemed to stem from this ancient bronze sword.

Shen Yuan frowned deeply and was about to reach out and take down the ancient bronze sword. But before his palm could touch it, a clear sword cry rang out from within the rust-covered scabbard.

In an instant, an invisible sword light descended from the ancient bronze sword along with that cry. Shen Yuan only had time to circulate the Qi Refinement Method and wield his vital essence in defense, but the sword light easily broke through his protection, leaving a wound across his palm.

"What a vicious sword!" A grave expression appeared on Shen Yuan's face.

Shen Yuan withdrew his outstretched right hand. As vital essence circulated, the wound rapidly healed without even a drop of blood seeping out.

Even so, Shen Yuan began to feel wary of this ancient bronze sword.

The spiritual energy tide had only just returned. Even if some secluded sects had preserved precious magical treasures, the present world's environment could hardly support those treasures in displaying their true power.

Yet this ancient bronze sword could absorb and expel the world's meager spiritual energy, creating a field of cold, sinister aura that covered the entire villa. When Shen Yuan had reached out to touch it, it had even counterattacked on its own. Its power was clearly extraordinary.

"To retain such power after three thousand years of spiritual energy depletion... if this sword were at its peak, I probably wouldn't even be qualified to approach it."

"A magical treasure? A spiritual treasure? Or perhaps an even higher Dao artifact?"

Shen Yuan could not help but grow curious about the ancient bronze sword's origins.

Among the journals Shen Yuan had obtained in the Falling Cloud Grotto-Heaven, someone had mentioned the ancient cultivation world's classification of magical treasures from ten thousand years ago. From lowest to highest, they were magical implements, magical treasures, spiritual treasures, Dao artifacts, and immortal treasures that existed only in legend.

Magical implements were already the limit that ordinary cultivators could come into contact with. Magical treasures and spiritual treasures were controlled by high-level cultivators who roamed the world unhindered.

Even the Falling Cloud Sect, which had once produced mighty Earth Immortals ten thousand years ago, possessed only a Dao artifact as its sect-protecting treasure: the Mysterious Dao-Seeking Furnace, which had been enshrined for several thousand years.

For this ancient bronze sword to survive the era of spiritual energy depletion and still retain such power, its original grade had to be extraordinary.

While Shen Yuan was unsuccessfully trying to remove the ancient bronze sword, the Fu family members recovered from their earlier shock and gradually arrived in the second-floor room.

Having learned his lesson, Fu Jian naturally did not dare offend Shen Yuan again. Instead, he turned and gestured for Fu Hua to speak with Shen Yuan.

Fu Hua walked to Shen Yuan's side and cautiously asked, "Mr. Shen, my father's condition..."

Before Fu Hua could finish, Shen Yuan interrupted him.

"Old Master Fu isn't ill. It was caused by the ancient bronze sword hanging on that wall."

"An ancient bronze sword?"

Fu Hua could not help but freeze, following Shen Yuan's gaze toward the wall.

"The ancient bronze sword you mentioned... is in this room?"

The moment those words left his mouth, Shen Yuan's brow furrowed, and a bad feeling immediately rose in his heart.

"You can't see the ancient sword on the wall?"

Fu Hua shook his head blankly. The other Fu family members behind him also stared at the wall with puzzled expressions.

Shen Yuan's earlier rebuke had made them realize that he was no ordinary man, so they did not doubt him.

But in their eyes, the wall had no decorations whatsoever, much less the ancient bronze sword Shen Yuan had described.

"This is becoming interesting."

Shen Yuan gave the ancient bronze sword on the wall a meaningful look, then swept his gaze over the Fu family.

Though the ancient bronze sword was quite mysterious, it had already been severely damaged and absolutely could not have appeared in this room out of thin air. Someone must have deliberately brought it here.

During his earlier test, even Shen Yuan, who had already entered the mid-stage of Essence Refinement, had been unable to remove the ancient bronze sword. For an ordinary person to touch it was sheer wishful thinking.

Thus, whoever had brought the ancient bronze sword must possess some method of avoiding its harm, and perhaps could even control it to a certain extent.

Shen Yuan's gaze was like a sharp sword piercing straight into people's hearts. Any hidden thought seemed to have nowhere to hide beneath his eyes. Wherever his gaze fell, everyone instinctively lowered their heads, not daring to meet his eyes.

Amid the crowd, one person tried desperately to steady his breathing, but his increasingly rapid heartbeat betrayed him.

Everyone held their breath, waiting for Shen Yuan's response.

Yet unexpectedly, after sweeping his gaze across the crowd, Shen Yuan merely walked toward Old Master Fu's bed.

He pressed two fingers lightly against the unconscious Old Master Fu's forehead. After briefly examining him, Shen Yuan said indifferently:

"This room isn't safe. Prepare to move Old Master Fu out first. The Fu family should have another residence in Wen City, correct?"

"Yes, yes!"

Fu Hua hurriedly agreed, then called for everyone to prepare to take Old Master Fu out of the room.

But just as they were about to help the unconscious Old Master Fu leave, the old man lying on the bed suddenly opened his eyes weakly.

"What... are you doing?"

The aged voice emerged from his throat like a broken wooden door endlessly creaking, harsh and shrill, carrying a rotten undertone.

"Mr. Shen came to see you and found the cause of your illness. As long as we move away from here, everything can be resolved."

Fu Hua explained patiently.

"Leave?" Old Master Fu's voice instantly became several degrees sharper, and a trace of savagery appeared on his aged face.

"I won't! I won't leave this place. I can already feel my illness beginning to improve."

Old Master Fu's refusal was unusually forceful. Fu Hua looked awkwardly toward Shen Yuan.

"Mr. Shen, can we not leave this place?"

Shen Yuan smiled and nodded. But in the next instant, he suddenly reached out with his right hand, grabbed Old Master Fu's head from the hospital bed, and smashed it heavily into the solid wooden headboard.

The solid wooden bed was smashed into a huge crater. The tremendous impact nearly made the entire room tremble, followed by horrified cries from the Fu family.

"Stop!"

"What are you doing?"

"Let go of Old Master!"

Shen Yuan remained completely unmoved. He merely looked at the head buried amid shattered wood and asked with a smile:

"How much longer are you going to keep pretending?"