"Sshk!"
A streak of purple light flashed, and the Ziwei Soft Sword plunged into a porcelain vase in the room like a blade through tofu, its entire length disappearing up to the hilt.
The sight gave Wang Hao a huge fright, even though he had already been somewhat prepared for it.
After all, that was porcelain. Though his eye for such things wasn't good enough to tell where it had been made, that didn't matter.
Porcelain was always hard and very brittle. Breaking it was easy, but piercing it was almost impossible.
Yet the Crape Myrtle Soft Sword had easily pierced the porcelain vase, which stood some three feet tall. The sharpness it displayed was simply inconceivable.
Even in modern times, there was no such technology, yet a weapon of unparalleled sharpness had been forged in ancient times.
Even in a low-martial world with martial arts, that was quite extraordinary.
Leaving aside the trace of acquired spirituality within it, the Ziwei Soft Sword's unparalleled sharpness alone was enough to rank it among divine weapons.
"What an uncanny sword!"
Still shaken, Leader Zhao gently touched a small cut on his cheek, which the Ziwei Soft Sword had just given him.
If he hadn't reacted quickly and flung the Ziwei Soft Sword away, his entire head might have been cut in two.
Even with his swordsmanship, he had been unable to control it and had nearly ended up dead. How could he not be shocked and wary?
At that moment, his burning greed for the divine sword vanished like smoke, leaving only deep apprehension.
The soft sword was indeed peerlessly sharp, but it was extremely difficult to control. At the very least, his swordsmanship fell far short.
He was, after all, a top-tier expert in the martial world, confident that he was no worse than the elders of the Five Mountains Sword Sect, yet he still couldn't control the divine sword.
By his reckoning, it would take at least a grandmaster-level expert, and a swordsmanship grandmaster at that, to have any chance of controlling it.
Without that level of skill, wielding it was no different from courting death.
How could he still dare covet such a sinister divine weapon?
Leader Zhao had been frightened into a state of deep wariness, but Wang Hao hurriedly picked up the scabbard Leader Zhao had left on the table, rose, pulled the Ziwei Soft Sword out of the porcelain vase, and sheathed it.
He had long anticipated this. If even a formidable figure like Sword Demon Dugu Qiubai had struggled to control the divine weapon, how could Leader Zhao manage it? So he wasn't worried that the man would covet it.
At the same time, a divine weapon so ridiculously difficult to use wasn't suitable as a gift either. If he gave it to a high-ranking member of the assassin organization and the recipient died using it, that would be disastrous.
Leader Zhao, for instance, had just nearly died by the sword. After that lesson, Wang Hao was sure he would never set his sights on it.
"Do you know why Dongfang Bubai attacked our stronghold?"
Paying no mind to Wang Hao taking the Ziwei Soft Sword back, Leader Zhao asked why Dongfang Bubai had attacked.
He didn't think he had ever provoked Dongfang Bubai or had any conflict with the Sun Moon Holy Cult, and he truly couldn't imagine why Dongfang Bubai had come to kill them in person.
As for that sinister divine weapon, the Ziwei Soft Sword, he no longer had any desire for it. Whoever wanted it could have it; he certainly didn't dare take it.
After all, he was a practical man. Faced with a divine weapon he couldn't control and that would instead turn against him, he considered it no different from junk, however powerful it was. He wouldn't even regret throwing it away on the spot.
"Three years ago, our stronghold helped wipe out the Dongfang Lineage a hundred li away. Dongfang Bubai is a survivor of the Dongfang Lineage!"
Wang Hao hid nothing and directly revealed Dongfang Bai's true identity. Dongfang Bai hadn't concealed it either, having explained the reason for her hatred before attacking. Even in the martial world, she had only concealed the fact that she was a woman.
So there was no harm in saying it.
"Three years ago? So this was my predecessor's mess?"
Leader Zhao scratched his head in frustration. He had been assigned to this stronghold a little over two years ago and really didn't know much about what had happened three years ago. Wang Hao, however, had grown up at this stronghold, so what he said had to be true.
He had no reason to lie about it.
But this clearly had nothing to do with Leader Zhao, and now the blame was being laid at his door. At the thought of being targeted by Dongfang Bubai and even the entire Sun Moon Holy Cult from now on, he couldn't help shuddering.
"Since Dongfang Bubai attacked, how did you survive? And how did you get her treasured sword?"
Leader Zhao soon spotted the suspicious points. He had heard of Dongfang Bubai and knew only that she was highly skilled and adept with a purple soft sword. This purple soft sword was obviously hers.
He couldn't understand how his subordinate had survived an encounter with that formidable figure and even obtained her treasured sword.
That made no sense!
"Dongfang Bubai was poisoned by the deputy leader and retreated in a hurry, without even having time to retrieve this divine sword. The deputy leader was also badly wounded at the time, having been stabbed through the chest. But he found a pill in your room, Leader, and tried to kill me to silence me. His wounds were too severe, though, so I turned the tables and killed him."
Wang Hao explained just as calmly as before, though this time his words were half truth and half lies.
At the same time, he pulled open his collar, revealing the sword wound over his heart.
When he had taken possession of the body, the system had only repaired his pierced heart. It had paid no attention to his severed ribs or the sword wound in his flesh.
Fortunately, he had taken a sip of the Great Rejuvenation Pill solution earlier, allowing the remaining sword wound to barely heal. Otherwise, it would certainly have become inflamed within two days.
The moment Leader Zhao saw the wound, he believed Wang Hao. With his experience, he could naturally tell at a glance how serious the sword wound was. Wang Hao was truly lucky to be alive.
But then, as if he had thought of something, his expression abruptly changed.
"So you swallowed that Great Rejuvenation Pill? Do you know that the master of our Blood Robe Tower personally demanded it? How many assassins did we lose at Shaolin Temple to get it? Even now, that terrifying old bald donkey from Shaolin Temple is chasing the tower master all over the world.
"And now you've swallowed the Great Rejuvenation Pill. Aren't you afraid the tower master will kill you when he returns?"
Leader Zhao's eyes widened as he realized what pill Wang Hao meant. After all, the only thing in the stronghold that could quickly heal such injuries was the Great Rejuvenation Pill, a sacred medicine of the martial world.
Only the Great Rejuvenation Pill would have been enough to make the deputy leader take such a risk. Add the peerless divine sword, and it was indeed worth betraying their Blood Robe Tower for.
"I was nearly dead at the time. How could I worry about all that? Besides, I've already eaten the Great Rejuvenation Pill. Killing me would really waste it, so I don't think the tower master will make a deal that leaves him at a loss."
Wang Hao chuckled, displaying a cunning completely at odds with his honest-looking face.
He was utterly confident about this. He only needed to buy a little time, and he could rely on the system to quickly grow stronger and prove his worth.
When the time came, he believed that as long as the tower master wasn't a fool, he would never kill him.
He could also use the opportunity to obtain the Blood Robe Tower's resources and speed up his growth. He could accomplish several things at once, so why not?
The assassin organization is called the Blood Robe Tower? This is the first I've heard of it.
Wang Hao was somewhat surprised by the name Blood Robe Tower. He hadn't found it in his predecessor's memories, and no one at the stronghold had ever mentioned it.
Perhaps only the three leaders knew this secret. If Leader Zhao hadn't let it slip in his shock today, Wang Hao still wouldn't have known!
"I thought you were just a simpleton. I didn't expect you to have this side to you!"
Leader Zhao looked Wang Hao up and down, as though seeing his subordinate anew.
Over the two years they had spent together, Wang Hao had struck him as honest and not very bright, but his behavior today had been far beyond his expectations.
Either the Great Rejuvenation Pill's effect of cleansing the sinews and marrow had opened the fellow's mind, or he had deliberately been hiding his abilities before.
But it didn't matter. Either way, it made no difference to him.
"I'll return to the stronghold and verify everything you've said. You'd better not be deceiving me. Otherwise, you know what will happen without me having to tell you."
Leader Zhao gave Wang Hao a cold look, rose, and took the treasured sword hanging on the wall, preparing to head to the stronghold to investigate and verify his account.
After all, both the matter of Dongfang Bubai and the Great Rejuvenation Pill were too important. He had to verify them personally.
If things were truly as this fellow had said, that was fine, but if he had concealed anything...
Even so, Leader Zhao didn't believe Wang Hao would dare conceal these things. Moreover, the fact that he had dared come to Leader Zhao after swallowing the Great Rejuvenation Pill proved his loyalty to some extent.
"Leader, wait!"
Seeing that Leader Zhao was leaving, Wang Hao hurriedly called out to stop him.
Leader Zhao turned his head and glanced sideways at Wang Hao without speaking, quietly waiting for him to continue.
"Leader, your swordsmanship is excellent. Could you teach me a set of sword techniques?"
Wang Hao rubbed his hands together, looking a little embarrassed.
"You want to learn the sword?"
As though he had heard something unbelievable, Leader Zhao turned around and looked Wang Hao's nearly nine-foot-tall frame up and down. He shook his head slightly and said, "Your build isn't suited to learning the sword. I suggest you use a broadsword or a great axe, or better yet, a heavy weapon like a war hammer. That's how you can bring your advantages into play."
There was no helping it. Wang Hao's build was simply too imposing. An ordinary man standing seven feet tall was already considered a giant, but this fellow reached a full nine feet.
Standing there, he was like a wall!
Leader Zhao couldn't imagine how bizarre it would look for a fellow like that to wield a three-foot blade and perform a set of soft, nimble sword techniques.
Moreover, with that fellow's build and strength, a weapon like a longsword, which excelled in light and gentle movements, simply couldn't withstand him. It would probably break after only a few swings.
So swordsmanship really didn't suit him.
"Lately, I've felt that I've gained some insight into the way of the sword. You don't need to teach me anything profound, Leader. Any ordinary sword technique will do. I'd like to give it a try."
Wang Hao still insisted on learning swordsmanship. This was also an opportunity for him to prove his worth.
Afterward, he only needed to use the system's Dao Comprehension function to quickly master the sword technique and demonstrate some of his value. That would give him a better chance of surviving after returning to the Blood Robe Tower headquarters with Leader Zhao.
So this was crucial!
He also wanted to see just how powerful the Dao Comprehension function was, so he would know where he stood.
Another reason was that his predecessor had learned only the hard-body art Iron Cloth Shirt, a commonplace, lowest-grade martial art. What his predecessor had obtained was an incomplete version at that, so using the Dao Comprehension function on it would be a waste.
Besides, a hard-body art like Iron Cloth Shirt was difficult to master quickly, making it hard to produce a sufficiently stunning result in a short time.
By comparison, an external martial art like swordsmanship was more suitable.
And Leader Zhao, who stood before him, was a master of the sword. He surely knew plenty of sword techniques, and any one of them would be enough for Wang Hao's purposes.
As for why he chose swordsmanship rather than martial arts using other weapons, it was all because of the Ziwei Soft Sword.
After all, this was a peerless divine weapon that had nurtured a trace of acquired spirituality. It was destined to be the strongest weapon in his hands in the future, so naturally he had to develop his swordsmanship.