An encounter at the Sword-Washing Pool

Jiang Yang hesitated and said:

"Oh? How so?"

Fang Xu reached out and turned his cup by its rim, saying helplessly:

"From what we discovered, these remnants of a lost Dao Lineage should be a small [Sword-Washing Pool] established by an ancient Sword Cultivator tradition. The pool gathered the essences of many spiritual substances, materials, and plants. Casting a sword into it could wondrously cleanse and refine its body, hone its edge, and nurture its spirituality."

"The [Sword-Washing Pool] is a crucial part of a Sword Cultivator's inheritance. The extravagance of its materials and the sheer quantity of Spirit Resources it consumes are beyond the reach of minor cultivators like us. Even the Yi Sword Gate, hailed today as the foremost Sword Dao sect in the Zheng Kingdom, reportedly has only one such Sword Pool."

Jiang Yang listened attentively, then asked:

"Then wouldn't you have struck it rich, Senior Brother Fang? Did something go wrong?"

"Ah, that was what we thought at the time, too."

Hearing this, Fang Xu could not help heaving a long sigh. He slapped his thigh repeatedly and said:

"You put it well, Junior Brother. What fate has allotted you will be yours in the end."

"I explored the place with two fellow disciples this time. Everything went smoothly along the way. Once we reached the doorway outside the array's core, breaking the array took a little longer, but we did get through in the end. That gave us all quite a boost..."

"But once we entered the Sword Pool, what we found was bitterly disappointing. The array had been sealed for longer than anyone could trace, and the Spirit Vigor within had dispersed, leaving the Sword Pool dried up. Mud and sand had settled inside, with decay and rot everywhere. Every Spirit Sword nurtured there had lost its spiritual resonance, leaving nothing but rust..."

At this point, Fang Xu's teeth fairly ached with frustration. Through gritted teeth, he said:

"Every one of those Spirit Swords had been nurtured in the pool for at least several hundred years. If their spiritual resonance had remained intact, their value would have been beyond reckoning. And since they came from the remnants of an ancient Sword Cultivator lineage, their quality would have been a cut above the rest. The Spirit Resources they could fetch would have been enough to take me to the peak of Foundation Establishment, with some left over."

As he said this, he instinctively glanced outside and lowered his voice:

"I might even have had a chance to reach for the Divine Powers of the Violet Palace."

The staggering price of Divine Powers frightened every cultivator even as it stirred their hearts. The words Fang Xu squeezed through his teeth laid his ambition bare.

But...

From his expression, Jiang Yang knew things had not gone very smoothly. As he nodded to Fang Xu, he was already silently reciting that word.

"But!"

Sure enough, Fang Xu slumped like a deflated ball and said:

"That tiny difference proved to be the gulf between heaven and earth. We knew nothing of arrays and broke through by brute force, which indirectly caused the last trace of Spirit Vigor in the Spirit Array to disperse. The swords in the pool were damaged and rusted. There was no saving them."

"That... really is a shame."

Jiang Yang froze. He had not expected this additional reason, and his heart instantly ached on Fang Xu's behalf.

Had they never known, that would have been one thing. But finding out that their own mishandling had caused it—how could that not fill them with regret?

Jiang Yang understood perfectly. It was like someone in his previous life winning five million in the lottery, only to lose the ticket before claiming the prize. Such a plunge from joy into grief might well drive an ordinary person mad on the spot.

After some thought, Jiang Yang offered a little comfort:

"Try to put your mind at ease, Senior Brother Fang. Fine as those Spirit Swords might have been, they were immensely valuable. Carrying them would have been like a small child walking through a bustling market with treasure in hand. Someone would inevitably have coveted them. Whether they would have brought fortune or disaster is still uncertain."

Fang Xu's lips moved. Several rebuttals sprang to mind at once, but in the end, he said none of them. He knew Jiang Yang was trying to comfort him. Since things had already come to this, he might as well let go.

Fang Xu had a reasonably steady disposition. Bringing it up again inevitably stirred his regret, but he was slowly coming to accept it.

"Ah... whether they were once Qi Refining Level One or Foundation Establishment Level One, these splendid Spirit Swords can now only be sold as Spirit Material for Artifact Embryos. Enough of that. Have a look, Junior Brother."

With that, Fang Xu rose and led Jiang Yang into the inner room, gesturing as he said:

"They're all here. Take your pick, Junior Brother."

Everything inside had been laid out haphazardly. Seven or eight Spirit Swords were piled together, casually bundled like dry firewood. Scattered beside them were jade slips, most broken or missing corners, with only a few intact.

Jiang Yang took a few steps over and crouched to inspect them. The Spirit Swords varied in length, their blades corroded. Some were bronze-colored, others an earthy gray. Rotten, broken cords still clung to their mottled hilts, barely recognizable as sword tassels.

He extended his Spirit Sense and swept it around the blades. Sure enough, aside from a faint luster lingering in the Spirit Material, the swords were like dead objects, without a trace of spirituality to be detected. A careful sniff even revealed the earthy reek of decay.

Fang Xu watched with his arms folded and explained:

"Poverty among Sword Cultivators is passed down through their lineage. Everyone knows it. Whatever Spirit Resources they have go either into their swords or into themselves. So aside from the swords, all this Sword Pool yielded was a handful of damaged jade slips."

"As for Elixirs, Mystic Artifacts, and the like, forget it. They wouldn't have left even a single Elixir behind."

Jiang Yang could not help curling his lips in a smile at that. He thought that Sword Cultivators certainly had an unusual reputation, with more than a hint of stubborn nonconformity.

He casually untied the binding and picked up a sword. Its blade was broad and thick, and the whole weapon bore the greenish hue of aged bronze. Drawing it from its sheath, he could just make out the words [Azure Torch] engraved on the blade.

Fang Xu spoke from beside him:

"This sword is named [Azure Torch]. It is three feet six inches long and weighs over eighty jin. It was forged primarily from the Foundation Establishment Spirit Treasure [Earth Goose Dark Copper]. Before its spiritual resonance dispersed, it was a Foundation Establishment Mystic Artifact. Judged by its Spirit Material alone, it is the most valuable of these swords."

Hearing that, Jiang Yang hastily put the weapon down and looked at the other Sword Weapons. He was not extravagant enough to start out with a Foundation Establishment Level One weapon. Even if he only had to pay for the Spirit Material, it was still beyond his means.

Fang Xu paid no mind when Jiang Yang set it down. He had only meant to give him fair warning anyway, sparing him the embarrassment of choosing something he could not afford.

Naturally, he had examined every Sword Weapon here. Apart from one with an attractive design that he had kept for his collection, all the others were here.

Looking over the array of Spirit Swords, Jiang Yang could not distinguish the good from the bad. He could only inspect them one by one and trust his first impression.

His gaze swept across them and settled on the last sword.

It was the only sword among them without a sheath. Its blade was slender and light in form, but a layer of rust hid its original color. Earthy gray from end to end, it looked utterly unremarkable.

Yet for some inexplicable reason, Jiang Yang found it beautiful, so he reached out and picked it up.

Fang Xu frowned at the sight, but still said:

"This sword... has no name. It is roughly three feet nine inches and six fen long, and weighs over seventy-two jin and seven liang. I cannot tell what Spirit Material it was forged from, but it is quite resilient and nimble."

This sword had naturally come from the Sword Pool as well. Unlike the other Spirit Swords, which had stood upright in the pool, this one had lain flat inside the Sword Pool. As a result, it was also the most severely corroded.

Had the Sword Pool not dried up, he might never have found it. After obtaining it, he had asked others to examine it, but none recognized what Spirit Material it had been made from.

Even after careful study, the sword revealed nothing extraordinary. Its only noteworthy quality was its resilience and resistance to breaking.

But sturdy Spirit Materials were plentiful, so that hardly counted as much of an advantage. After discussing it, the group finally guessed that it must have been made from a Spirit Material associated with some Dao Lineage whose lineage had died out.

With so much time having passed and its Dao Lineage severed, its wondrous properties had faded. Naturally, no one could recognize its kind or true name.

Yet Jiang Yang found that it sat comfortably in his hand. Had the room not been so cramped, he would have been tempted to give it a few practice swings.

I can't tell good from bad anyway. This is the one.

Having made up his mind, Jiang Yang looked up at Fang Xu and said:

"Senior Brother Fang, how much are you asking for this sword?"