"That kid absolutely cannot die here; we must rescue him!"
The old patriarch who had led Wang Hao there spoke decisively, his expression still carrying an undisguised sense of apprehension and horror.
The other elderly men had the same expression!
They had all previously read the thick letter that Dugu Qiubai had Wang Hao bring, which recorded many things, including those concerning the overseas martial arts world and the Heavenly Demon Sacred Cult, and emphasized that Wang Hao himself was likely to be valued by that Shattering Realm expert, the Great Heavenly Demon.
Although they found the contents hard to believe, they also understood that Dugu Goudan, the current Dugu Qiubai, would never joke about such an important matter.
Moreover, their ancestor, the Sword Demon, was clearly not someone who could be described as being at the Innate Realm; he was very likely a Celestial Person Realm expert as mentioned in the letter. Therefore, they were quite accepting of this fact and basically acknowledged the events in the letter and Wang Hao's identity.
However, this only terrified them more. Compared to their ancestors, who were only at the Celestial Person Realm level, the Great Heavenly Demon that had suddenly appeared was a much higher-level Shattering Realm expert.
Such a powerful and terrifying being is not someone they can afford to provoke; even if their ancestors were resurrected, they would be far inferior.
To be valued and nurtured as a training vessel by such figures must mean they take it extremely seriously. If anything were to happen to someone here, who knows what the Great Heavenly Demon, the leader of the Heavenly Demon Sacred Cult, would do?
This is really troublesome!
"How can we save them? Even that Goudan couldn't get close to them once their power is fully unleashed, nor can they get close using any external aids. How are we supposed to save them?"
An elderly man with gray hair muttered something in a depressed mood, expressing his deep resentment towards Dugu Goudan.
How could you, you old bastard, take such a troublesome person as your disciple and then bring him to the Dugu Family?
Are they trying to make them live too long?
"For now, all we can do is wait. Let's hope that kid isn't too unlucky!"
With a sigh, the group had no choice but to give up for the time being.
They dared not act recklessly within the Sword Hall, otherwise they risked incurring the wrath of their ancestor's sword, which could result in death.
So now all we can do is wait!
This wait lasted for a full month. By then, everyone had given up hope and even started preparing to move, lest the Great Heavenly Demon come looking for them and wipe them out.
There was no other way; a whole month was a long time. Even if that kid wasn't crushed to death by the power of his ancestor's sword, he would starve to death.
Although powerful cultivators with high cultivation levels have strong endurance and can go without food and water for several days without much problem, they can only last for a maximum of ten days.
It's been a month already; even Xiantian Grandmaster would starve or die of thirst.
Not to mention that the opponent also had to resist the constant suppression of the Sword Force, resulting in even greater consumption of their own energy and making their chances of survival extremely slim.
They are now just waiting for the power of their ancestor's sword to fade, then they will go in, take it away, and make a quick getaway.
"Clan leader, elders, the Sword Force within the Sword Hall has subsided!"
One day, Dugu Qingshan, who was guarding outside the Sword Hall, suddenly rushed into the village and reported the strange occurrences to several elders.
"Walk!"
The thirteen Half-step Innate experts exchanged glances, nodded, and with a flash, rushed into the Sword Hall, heading straight for the deepest forbidden area.
But what they saw when they rushed in stunned them; everyone was horrified.
There stood a gaunt, Skeleton figure, leaning against a stone platform at the deepest part of the room, and opening two stone boxes on the platform.
This is terrifying!
The ancestor's sword was sealed in a stone box made of special stone by the ancestor, which could suppress the sword's power to the maximum extent. Once the stone box was opened, one would inevitably face all the terrifying power of the sword.
Even the few Xiantian Grandmaster who have appeared in the clan over the past few hundred years have not been able to open them, and they dare not even touch them, but now these two stone boxes have been opened by someone.
"You are... Young Master Zhu?"
The old patriarch carefully examined the clothes on the figure in front of him, suppressing his shock, and asked softly.
That's right, the Skeleton figure was Wang Hao.
"It's you, senior! I was just looking for you! Do you have anything to eat? I'm starving!"
Rubbing his shrunken belly, Wang Hao said with a mixture of frustration and urgency.
He had been through a lot during this period. Resisting that Sword Force was already extremely taxing, and the inability to stop it meant that even with his profound foundation and strong body, he couldn't keep up for long.
This was only because he had filled his stomach before arriving, with three cubic meters of food and water in his digestive system, which relieved the discomfort considerably and allowed him to hold on until now.
Otherwise, it would have died long ago due to the depletion of its vital energy!
He was still shaken by the experience. After the Sword Force fully erupted, he lost control of his body and could only do his best to control his True Spirit Sword Intent to resist it and prevent the Sword Force from completely invading his mind. Otherwise, his consciousness would collapse and he would become a vegetable or an idiot.
He wasn't sure if Xiao Mengmeng could save him in that situation, but he didn't dare gamble, so he could only grit his teeth and persevere.
Fortunately, he persevered to the end, completely extinguishing the Sword Force within the Sword Demon's sword and surviving.
However, he is now almost out of energy, and if he doesn't get some food soon, he really will die.
At this moment, his strength is almost completely gone; any random martial arts practitioner could kill him.
"It really is you, Young Master Zhu!"
Everyone was shocked. After recovering from the shock, the old patriarch hurriedly kicked Dugu Qingshan beside him and scolded, "What are you all standing there for? Quickly go and take out all the spiritual herbs sealed in the patriarch's territory to brew medicinal cuisine for Young Master Zhu. Also, take out the blood wine that the third brother has been hoarding so that Young Master Zhu can taste it..."
The elder clan leader rattled off a long list, practically offering up all the most precious medicinal herbs and wines from the clan's territory.
They really couldn't let anything happen to Wang Hao, after all, who would willingly leave their hometown unless absolutely necessary!
Not to mention that even if they leave, they might not escape the pursuit of that so-called Great Heavenly Demon. After all, the other party is a legendary Shattering Realm expert, and who knows if he has any means to find them.
Therefore, it's best to save this kid's life; sacrificing some material possessions for it is nothing.
Although the other elders whose names were called were heartbroken, they did not dare to refuse and agreed to donate their family treasures.
As long as that kid is alright!
After a lot of arranging and fussing, everyone finally stopped for a while. Wang Hao was sitting in a grand chair that had been specially brought in by everyone, holding a peach tree branch in his hand.
The peach tree branch looked very fresh, with a pink peach blossom blooming in the middle, as if it had just been picked.
But no one dared to underestimate this peach branch, for it was the sword left behind by their ancestor, the Sword Demon.
"Is this really the sword of our ancestor?"
The most unpredictable Dugu Qingshan kept pouring the Third Elder's treasured blood wine into Wang Hao's wine bowl while staring incredulously at the peach branch in Wang Hao's hand.
There are very few records about the sword of the ancestral Sword Demon, and most of them only record the power it displayed, but no specific details about its appearance have been left.
He had made countless guesses about this, believing that his ancestor's sword must have been a peerless divine sword that was famous throughout the world, and only such a divine weapon could be worthy of such an extraordinary figure as his ancestor.
But what he saw now was an ordinary peach tree branch, with even a single peach blossom on it.
It's truly unimaginable that our ancestor used this fragile peach branch to fight against eight Innate masters of the Confucian School, and battled for ten days and ten nights.
How is that possible?
"What's so special about that? When your cultivation reaches a certain level, everything in heaven and earth can be used as a weapon. Moreover, the fourth level of your Dugu Family's Sword Dao is that grass, trees, bamboo, and stones can all be used as swords. Even the highest level, the No Sword Realm, can transform Sword Intent into Sword Force. At that time, you yourself will be an unparalleled divine sword, and that is truly terrifying."
At that level, it makes no difference whether you wield a divine sword or a branch.
While drinking blood wine to replenish his energy, Wang Hao offered a brief explanation, demonstrating his knowledge.
In fact, this is mainly because this world limits the development of the strong. The strongest divine weapon he has ever seen is the Ziwei Soft Sword in his hand, which is only a product of the Profound Steel level.
This weapon is most commonly used by experts at the Mortal Realm Third Tier, while Dugu Qiubai, who has cultivated Sword Force, has at least reached the Mortal Realm Fourth Tier.
The gap between the Third Tier and Fourth Tier is huge, with a massive difference in strength. Even if one cannot break through due to the suppression of the world level, they are still extremely powerful.
At that level, the divine sword in one's hand is truly useless; even Profound Iron would be no different from tofu in the eyes of such a being.
It was probably for this reason that Dugu Qiubai broke off a peach branch to use as his sword when he fought.
According to the records in the Sword Hall, the Sword Demon used it to fight against the Innate Realm experts of the eight major branches of Confucian School. That battle was the pinnacle of his life, and it was probably because of that battle that he was able to perfectly integrate his Sword Force intent into that peach tree branch.
It was precisely because of the Sword Force's aura and the stone box made of special stone that this peach tree branch remained strangely fresh, and even the Flower Capital looked incredibly beautiful, as if it had just been broken off.
You guys better keep this safe!
After examining the Peach Tree Branch Sword of the Sword Demon in his hand once more, Wang Hao casually tossed it to Dugu Qingshan, who was standing nearby, and told him to put it away.
This startled Dugu Qingshan greatly, after all, that was the terrifying ancestral sword!
He still feels lingering fear from the terrifying Sword Force that erupted from it. When he saw the peach branch being flung at him, he instinctively pointed his fingers together like Sword One and thrust it out.
A sharp sword aura flashed, and the flying peach branch was easily cut in two and fell to the ground. The Flower Capital left the branch and turned into petals that drifted down.
This scene stunned everyone present, followed by boundless rage.
"You unfilial grandson, prepare to die!"
An old man flew into a rage, his aged face contorted in a grimace. Trembling, he pointed at Dugu Qingshan, ready to immediately kill this unfilial grandson in the name of justice.
It should be noted that this ancestral sword is the strongest foundation of their Dugu Family. The reason they were able to cultivate several experts at the Innate Realm was because they relied on the Sword Force emanating from that ancestral sword.
But now their ancestor's sword had been destroyed by this unfilial grandson; how could they not be furious?
"Brother Zhu, you've ruined me!"
Faced with the wrath of his grandfather and many elders and clan leaders, Dugu Qingshan turned ashen-faced and knelt down with a thud, then stared at Wang Hao beside him with deep resentment.
It's all that bastard's fault!
Just as everyone was about to take action to uphold justice and eliminate their own kin, he awkwardly said, "Ahem... Seniors, please don't take action. Actually, this is not Brother Qingshan's fault. The main reason is me. I fought against that Sword Force Sword Force for a long time and completely wore it down."
That's why your ancestor's sword lost all its power and turned back into an ordinary peach tree branch. Even without Brother Qingshan's sword, this peach tree branch wouldn't have lasted long."
Although he really wanted to pin the blame on Dugu Qingshan, it seemed that if he actually did, this guy would definitely be beaten to death by these furious old men.
This would make his conscience uneasy, so he had no choice but to confess.
As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the cave froze, and everyone's eyes turned to Wang Hao, their expressions all very unfriendly!