Seeing this, Valley Master Nie glanced around and lowered his voice. "This old man remembers that when Young Brother Yang came ten years ago, you seemed to mention that you were exceedingly fond of divine weapons and sharp blades."
Steward Yang was taken aback, then his eyes lit up. "Elder Brother Nie truly has a good memory. That was merely drunken nonsense back then, yet you still remember it so clearly."
Valley Master Nie smiled and drew a short sword from his robes. It was about three inches long, its ancient green-spotted scabbard simple and unadorned. He held it out before Steward Yang. "Young Brother Yang, help me appraise it?"
From the moment the short sword appeared, Steward Yang's eyes never left its scabbard. When Valley Master Nie handed it over, he did not stand on ceremony. He reached out and took it, carefully examining its exterior before gripping the scabbard in one hand and the hilt in the other. With a slight exertion of both hands, there came a soft sound. The gleaming short sword slid from its sheath like a bolt of lightning splitting the level ground. Steward Yang first narrowed his eyes, then opened them wide. After studying it for a long while, two words finally burst from his mouth. "Good sword!"
Then, with great reluctance, he held it back out before Valley Master Nie. "Elder Brother Nie, where did this sword come from? What is it called?"
Valley Master Nie did not take the sword, merely smiling. "Eldest Brother Si of the Weapon Forging Gate found this sword by chance amid the ruins of his sect. It has no name."
"Rare indeed! To think there is such an incomparably sharp nameless short sword in this world—it is practically comparable to the Four Great Famous Swords of