"What?"
As a purple-black blaze surged skyward alongside Sword Qi that seemed poised to ascend to immortality, the spectators erupted in cries they could not hold back.
Countless eyes fixed on Xiang Tiange.
They could not believe it.
On the raised platform, the invisible fields woven by the Grandmasters fell into unmistakable disarray.
Lu Changsheng's fingers tightened around the armrest, leaving five impressions in the hard Red Sandalwood.
"Purple Qi Comes from the East..."
Disbelief rang through Lu Changsheng's voice. "That is the supreme art of the Mount Hua Sword Sect, foremost among the Five Sacred Mountains. Who in the Great Xin Dynasty doesn't know that the Purple Rosy Cloud Divine Art is passed down only through the sect leader's line?"
His gaze followed the purple qi to Xiang Tiange's sword edge. That ethereal, solitary sword stance seemed to belong to another world, and the corner of Lu Changsheng's eye twitched.
"One Sword to Immortality..."
"Could he be a secret disciple trained by Mount Shu rather than a hidden asset of the Five Sacred Mountains Sword Alliance?"
Lu Changsheng swiftly worked through the possibility, then dismissed the absurd thought.
"No. Purple Qi Comes from the East is Mount Hua's foundation, but One Sword to Immortality is unmistakably Mount Shu's supreme legacy."
During the Sacred Dynasty, the Azure Lotus Sword Immortal, whose embroidered lips could pour forth half a dynasty in verse, had passed Mount Shu. He drank and danced with his sword atop its sea of clouds, then, moved by the moment, left behind a poem that shook the ancients and dazzled the present. Sword Intent lay hidden between its lines.
Kill one man every ten steps; cross a thousand miles without a trace.
When the deed is done, brush off your robes and leave; hide yourself and your name