The black furnace gave off a crimson glow, illuminating every corner of the dim hall.
Dressed in black, Ye Jingtang stood beside the blast furnace, his right hand holding the slender Sword Strip wrapped in his sleeve as he watched the old man opposite him.
The gray-haired Linghu Guanzhi stood before the black blast furnace with a broken whip in his hand. His gaze remained fixed on the pale-gold Sword Strip, the alarm and uncertainty in his eyes never subsiding since its appearance.
Thirty years ago, Linghu Guanzhi had lost to Lu Jieyun and retired in dejection after suffering damage to his qi meridians. The humiliating defeat rankled, and losing all his martial skills in his forties was even harder to accept. He had drifted through years in a daze, and just as his heart was about to turn to cold ashes, he encountered the still-young Long Zhengqing.
Long Zhengqing had come to ask him to forge a sword and brought him many things-Snow Lake Flowers to restore his qi meridians, gold burial objects dug from the tombs of several virtuous emperors of Great Wu, a handle removed from Northern Liang's national treasure, the First Emperor Cauldron, a longevity lock that Taizu of Wei had taken into his imperial mausoleum...
These objects were all priceless treasures. Never mind obtaining them-even the slightest rumor of their existence would bring utter ruin, with both dynasties hunting the possessor to his death.
Linghu Guanzhi had no idea how Long Zhengqing had obtained them. Never mind accepting them-merely seeing them would probably bring utter ruin upon him.
But in the end, Linghu Guanzhi accepted the objects. He could not resign himself to fading into obscurity, and he truly needed the Snow Lake Flowers. Moreover, those strictly forbidden objects all contained Dragon-Scale Stone.
Legend held