IS Chapter 7

In front of the Sword Casting Shed, a bronze bell stood silently.

The bronze ground was covered with mysterious inscriptions, seemingly subtly resonating with the way of sword forging.

The scene, which should have been mysterious and silent, was now shrouded in a thick layer of blood.

Because the Swordsmith was sitting in front of the bell, blood constantly flowing from his chest, first staining his white hair and clothes red, and then spreading to those ancient inscriptions, finally weaving into a mysterious blood web, exuding a ghostly color in the moonlight.

The Swordsmith in the center of the blood web had a serene expression, as if he was merely asleep.

The Young Disciple was crying loudly on the side.

“Wuwuwuwu, Master—”

“Why couldn’t you see things through—”

“I can’t cook, Master… Wuwuwuwuwu…”

Li Yuan stepped forward and carefully checked the Swordsmith’s pulse.

The life force was already extinguished, impossible to revive.

Li Yuan’s expression couldn’t help but become solemn.

“Looking at his wound, is it suicide?”

“Yes… wuwuwuwu… He said a few words, and then he killed himself… No, who are you…”

Li Yuan didn’t know how to introduce himself for a moment.

But the Young Disciple saw the sword in his hand at a glance.

“Your sword is so good… just as good as the one my master just forged today,” the Young Disciple said while sobbing, “You’re the one who fought with Ye Zhuo, right… wuwu… why did my master die as soon as you guys fought? Wuwuwuwu…”

Li Yuan also wanted to know the answer to this question.

But the Young Disciple was crying so sadly, he bent down and wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve.

“Then what were the last words your master left behind?”

“Master only said that the sword was finished, and he could rest easy… I didn’t know Master was going to die, I was only focused on listening to the sounds of your fight…”

The sword is finished?

Is Ye Zhuo’s sword finished?

Rest easy?

However, upon hearing the news of the Swordsmith’s death, Ye Zhuo had no reaction, as if he had heard that a stranger had gone somewhere else.

He even said that he died in the Right Place.

“Did your master and Ye Zhuo have deep ties?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know! Wuwuwuwuwu…”

The Young Disciple couldn’t stop crying once he started, and Li Yuan hurriedly hugged him and gently patted his back.

“My condolences,” Li Yuan said, “I’ll stay here and help you take care of your master’s funeral.”

Dragons have very long lifespans. In the dragon realm, birth and death are major events. If a dragon dies, dragons from all over the world will come, no matter how far away.

But the Swordsmith’s funeral was very simple, collecting the remains and belongings, and then worshipping heaven, earth, and ancestors.

The Swordsmith had been living in seclusion in the mountains for a long time, not asking about worldly affairs, so there were few old friends who came to mourn, but many uninvited guests came to inquire about the divine sword.

After seeing off the ill-intentioned guests, confirming that the defense formation and guardian formation of the Sword Casting Shed were still operating well, and refining several large bottles of Biguan Pills for the Young Disciple who had not yet fully achieved Biguan, but whose cooking skills were very poor, Li Yuan felt that he could leave.

After these few days, the Young Disciple had improved a lot. However, he was still wondering why his master had died, and it must be related to Ye Zhuo’s arrival.

“Master hadn’t forged a sword in ten years, but as soon as he came, Master started the furnace. Master must have known him for a long time.”

Of course, they’ve known each other for a long time, Li Yuan thought coldly.

Ten years ago, Ye Zhuo took his Reverse Scale, and presumably the Swordsmith forged the Reverse Scale into a spirit sword for him.

Li Yuan asked the Young Disciple, “Where are you going to go in the future?”

“Me? I’ll just stay here, I won’t go anywhere. I haven’t finished reading the books my master left me, and I haven’t learned what he taught me.”

He also said, “My master is the Number One Swordsmith Under Heaven, I want to inherit his mantle and become the Number One Swordsmith Under Heaven too.”

“Good,” Li Yuan said gently.

The Young Disciple’s eyes welled up with tears again, and now he only felt that this big brother in black was a really good person.

He was good-looking and spoke nicely.

He helped him collect his master’s remains, helped him welcome and send off the mourners, helped him take care of the funeral for so long, left him enough Biguan Pills to eat for a lifetime, and now he even encouraged him to become the Number One Swordsmith Under Heaven.

“Brother Li Yuan, you’re so good… wuwuwu…” he sobbed again, “But my master doesn’t let me make friends with swordsmen.”

“Why is that?”

Swordsmiths and swordsmen should be able to be good friends.

So the Young Disciple talked about his childhood.

At that time, he was still young and always saw his master staring blankly at the walls full of paintings of swords.

So he asked his master what he was thinking about.

The master’s words were very circuitous.

He said that the master was thinking about the master’s master.

What happened to the master’s master?

The master’s master said to the master, Disciple, I have something to say to you.

Disciple, I have discovered that you are very lonely.

You didn’t participate in this Blade Tasting Conference, and you don’t like to go to that Sword Forging Ceremony, and the Dao Sect’s Dao Discussion Conference of the Upper Purity Mountain is only held once every ten years, and you don’t even know where you threw the invitation. What’s going on, disciple?

–Master, it’s because I don’t want to.

Disciple, a person in the martial world must have a nemesis and a few friends to be happy. As for the nemesis, I see that you are hard to meet an opponent in the way of forging, but you always have to have a friend, right?

–Master, I will have friends.

But you don’t make friends, so how can you have friends?

–I will be the Number One Swordsmith Under Heaven in the future, so my close friends must be the Number One Swordsmen Under Heaven.

Hearing these words, Li Yuan felt a little yearning.

“And then?”

“Then Master sighed. He said, Disciple, these are all things from when I was young, and I have long regretted those words.”

Li Yuan: “Why regret?”

The Young Disciple showed a painful expression: “I asked Master why, and Master grabbed my ear, telling me not to make friends with swordsmen in this life. I disagreed and asked him why, and he said–”

The Young Disciple repeated word for word:

“He said, swords in the hands of swordsmen kill people.”

“Is it the swordsman who kills, or the sword? If a sword kills someone, is the one who forged the sword guilty?”

“He also said that metal and stone are heartless, and knives and swords are also innocent, but… it’s just that in people’s hearts, the world is full of darkness.”

Li Yuan felt that this sentence was not wrong.

Thinking about Ye Zhuo’s actions, he was truly dark-hearted, unpredictable, and unattainable!

“Since this is your master’s teaching, then we are not friends,” he said, “But if you need anything, you can still ask me for help.”

The Young Disciple thought this was very good.

“I don’t know how to repay you,” the Young Disciple said, “Since I am now the owner of the Sword Casting Shed, then I invite you to visit the Sword Viewing Pavilion.”

“In the past, whenever my master forged a sword, he would draw it, and then ask the sword owner to leave a wisp of sword energy sealed in the painting and hang it in the Sword Viewing Pavilion. Sword cultivators who came to visit my master liked to watch this very much.”

According to the human way of speaking, Li Yuan was considered a sword cultivator. It was normal for sword cultivators to like swords.

He looked at those paintings one by one from the beginning, without missing a single one.

On those paintings, the various spirit swords had both form and spirit, and there was also sword energy flowing, each showing its sharpness. Some of the pictures also wrote about the life of the sword and the world’s comments. Li Yuan watched with fascination.

In a trance, his understanding of swordsmanship deepened a bit.

The higher up the Sword Viewing Pavilion, the more extraordinary the spirit swords painted, and the more unique the sword energy. In the end, almost every sword was a rare weapon that could only be forged with painstaking effort.

Finally, Li Yuan ascended to the highest level of the Sword Viewing Pavilion.

Unlike the lower levels, which were spacious and bright and contained numerous paintings, the highest level was a small pavilion, which was empty at a glance, revealing a bit of dilapidation.

When Li Yuan walked up, it was already dusk, and the setting sun outside the window was a blood-red color.

He saw that only one painting hung on the empty wall, which was clearly the familiar Reverse Scale Sword, with the newly inscribed sword name “No Self”.

Li Yuan was speechless.

Indeed, the grade of the Reverse Scale Sword was higher than all the swords downstairs.

The name “No Self” was also a little more substantial than the perfunctory “No Heart”.

But this did not mean that he was willing to stand here and appraise the sword that his own Reverse Scale had been refined into.

Quickly shifting his gaze as if avoiding a plague, Li Yuan saw that on the wall illuminated by the setting sun, there was also an unopened, dust-covered painting hanging.

He became curious and went over to untie the rope. The yellowed painting slowly opened, and a deep, chilling aura rushed towards him–what was painted on it was actually a divine sword that was not inferior to “No Self”.

The whole body was ice-white, like a thousand years of accumulated snow, unchangeable for eternity.

The painting had its name inscribed on it.

Xiang Xi.

There was nothing else written besides this.

Looking at it, he only felt a chill rising all over his body, and it seemed that his lungs had turned into ice and snow. Li Yuan paused in front of the painting for a long time, and after feeling a little cold and uncomfortable, he moved to another place.

In the empty pavilion, there seemed to be nothing other than the two paintings. Li Yuan was about to leave, but suddenly saw a dusty sword box in the southwest corner.

Could there be a sword in the sword box?

Li Yuan walked over, picked up the sword box, and weighed it. It had weight.

Could there be a third divine sword here?

So Li Yuan placed it properly on the table and opened it piously.

A clear and delicate aura immediately brushed his face, like a gentle breeze.

A long sword like glazed blue and white porcelain lay quietly in the box, slender and agile, with a lotus-like red at the hilt, engraved with the sword name “Huai Xiu”.

–Isn’t this the sword that Ye Zhuo used when he was young to take his Reverse Scale?

Why is this person everywhere?

Li Yuan felt very bored and turned to leave.