Ch14 - A Fake Zhanyun Sword

That strange sense of menace seemed like an illusion that only lasted an instant. When Tong Guiyu blinked, the fair, obedient youth in front of him was perfectly normal.

Tong Guiyu wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him

The two stepped into the uppermost seats overlooking where the Sword Conference was set to take place. Jiang Yinghe only had his disciples beside him while Tong Guiyu was surrounded by several delicate youths.

However, judging solely based on appearance, Chang Ye would easily win even if there were ten more male furnaces present. Even someone as removed from worldly desires as Jiang Yinghe sometimes suspected that his little disciple was disfigured because the heavens were jealous of his features.

And at this moment, half of his face was covered by a black mask depicting the outline of a savage beast. The protective seal between his brows was only partially visible like his clear eyes and ruby lips. He was affectionately leaning on the seated Jiang Yinghe.

“Shizun,” he began in a small voice, “I took that dragon pearl that used to hang in your room out before we left.”

Jiang Yinghe frowned lightly, “What did you need a dragon pearl for?”

That night, Chang Ye said that the night pearl at his residence was too bright. Jiang Yinghe also didn’t want this kind of precious treasure to just be used as a light, which is why he put it away in a box. It was not done in secret so of course Chang Ye knew where it was.

Since this present showed Jun-er’s respect for his teacher, it was natural for Jiang Yinghe to want to preserve it. Who would have thought this little guy would have taken it first?

“This disciple fashioned it into a pendant.” Chang Ye blinked innocently as he took out a red string from beneath his clothes. There was a bright pearl on it. “I asked Qin-shixiong. Since Shizun wasn’t using it and the dragon pearl’s nature complimented my own, I…Shizun wouldn’t blame Ye-er, right?”

This pearl was definitely not the one gifted by Qin Jun, but it was a genuine dragon pearl of a high quality.

Upon hearing that he had run it past Qin Jun first, Jiang Yinghe did not mind it as much. Still, he reached out a hand to knock on his head. “Who did you learn to act before asking for permission from?

Chang Ye made a show of ducking, then shot a naughty smile at him. He turned to look at his shixiongs standing nearby.

From an outsider’s perspective, Li Huanhan and Qin Jun seemed very close and struck a pleasing image where they stood to converse. But it was very clear to Chang Ye that this was all a farce.

One of them was a schemer who, no matter how deeply he hid the possessiveness in his eyes, radiated it in every one of his movements. The other was even more straightforward and was patiently biding his time by Jiang Yinghe’s side for an opportunity to consume him.

The ancient archdevil who thought himself the most righteous of the bunch nodded in his head. If his tail could be out right now, he would be unable to resist wrapping it around his Shizun’s waist.

Chang Ye couldn’t help but turn around to look at Jiang Yinghe again. He could barely see the outline of his Shizun’s body through the snow white cloak he wore. A ribbon the colour of the moon embroidered with plum blossoms encircled his slender waist.

He withdrew his gaze to his own hands. At his original size, he could press that waist to the ground with one paw, covering it completely. Shizun probably wouldn’t even be able to move.

While the little disciple’s thoughts veered off course, countless cultivators entered the stands below. Almost every practitioner was present, regardless if they belonged to the righteous, neutral or rogue faction.

Protector He who guided Jiang Yinghe before climbed to the center of the stage in a new outfit. He said a few customary greetings to begin. Then, before the eyes of the audience, he suddenly changed the topic. “Everyone here must have heard of the Sword Viewing Scroll, which contains a ranking of all the known famous swords in the world. It is a great fortune that the conference is taking place at He Huan sect this time.

Our deputy sect master has come across a spiritual weapon in recent years worthy of being added to the rankings. It will be presented as one of the prizes for the younger generation.”

After these words scattered discussion erupted below.

“Worthy of entering the Sword Viewing Scroll? It’s not going to be placed at the bottom tier, right?”

“And what’s wrong with that? The Qianlong Zaiyuan sword at rank 99 belongs to Elder Wang of Yao Wang valley…”

“Pah, Hun Yuan Xianjun’s cutting pretty deep into his pockets this time. If he dares to show it in front of Jiang Xianjun who’s practised sword cultivation for a thousand years, it must be a real treasure!”

With Jiang Yinghe and Tong Guiyu’s hearing, they could clearly listen in on the conversations below if they wanted. The degree of privacy between cultivators was determined mainly based on how high their level of cultivation was.

Jiang Yinghe took a sip of his tea and asked Tong Guiyu who was seated across from him, “Can it enter the top ten?”

Tong Guiyu smiled mysteriously, “Higher than that.”

Higher than top ten? Jiang Yinghe became slightly interested. He glanced over to see that He Huan Elder He made a hand seal and unseal a heavy restriction with some difficulty. A silver longsword gradually emerged from a portal in midair.

This sword was a grayish-silver with hundreds of ghosts traveling through the night carved onto its hilt. Wisps of dark miasma occasionally drifted out.

The audience was shocked into silence. A horrifying thought emerged uncontrollably from their hearts. The arena became quiet enough to hear a pin drop. Everyone stared at this evil sword with halted breath.

“I trust that everyone knows of the Zhanyun sword!” Protector He said loudly, “Three thousand years ago, the Spirit Patriarch passed through his fifth test of mentality and became the first ghost cultivator to ascend. And his weapon, the Zhanyun sword, became a founding treasure of the undead!”

“Like its name implies, Zhanyun is able to sever the fates of others without exception. It was with this sword and his despicable wraith constitution that the Spirit Patriarch was able to withstand seven whole rounds of heavenly lightning from the Dao!”

Some people in the silent audience seemed to swallow back their desire.

“The sword you see before you was reforged from a fragment of the original after it shattered following the defeat of the Spirit Patriarch. But its miasma is too thick and unsuitable for the techniques our He Huan sect practices, which is why the deputy sect master is willing to offer it to the sword cultivator with the best performance at the conference today!”

Protector He’s voice was filled with reluctance, and the audience also breathed a sigh of relief. It seems that this sword could be used without restriction. If it was the original Zhanyun sword, merely unsheathing it would send all the underground ghost cultivators into a frenzy and invite them to come and take it by force.

Even so, the sword cultivators below had been suitably impressed by the weapon’s origins. The sounds of their fevered discussion merged into a dull roar.

And in the platform above, Li Huanhan asked without moving his eyes, “Zhanyun sword? Fragments?”

Qin Jun narrowed his eyes beside him and smiled. “A high quality forgery.”

Li Huanhan glanced at him. “There’s even forgeries?”

Forgeries was too light of a word to describe the situation three thousand years ago when ghost cultivation reigned supreme. There were almost as many ‘Zhanyun’ swords as there were hands. All the ghost cultivators preferred a silver-gray sword body, and this ‘Zhanyun sword fragment’ could just be one of those fakes. Only the passage of time was true.

Qin Jun retorted lazily, “As if you don’t have any.”

Li Huanhan carefully considered this. There really weren’t any copies of his blood sword. But demonic cultivators were so desperate for the cultivation benefits that the heavenly demon physique provided that an artifact to change one’s eyes to a blood-red colour was popular for a while.

At the time he controlled the Heavenly Demon school. It was like a terribly sharp sword that cut down all the obstacles in Li Huanhan’s path. Due to that, the artifact was a short lived trend because everyone who dared to use it was killed for ‘treason’.

While the audience remained excited, Qin Jun was too bored to even give that forgery a second glance. He instead approached his Shizun and pulled his ‘cute’ little shidi over. He lowered his head and said with a smile, “Little shidi doesn’t have a sword yet, so he should pay closer attention.”

Chang Ye used an unknown method to have a short conversation with Jiang Yinghe before, so Qin Jun couldn’t clearly hear what they talked about. His intuition told him this was not a good thing.

The brutal rage archdevils were known for flashed in Chang Ye’s eyes as he was unceremoniously dragged away from Jiang Yinghe’s side. The resentment in his eyes soon faded when Jiang Yinghe spoke.

“Jun-er is right. You should be more focused, Chang Ye.”

Although Shizun’s voice was cold and distant, there was a unique warmth when he called his name. Chang Ye swallowed minutely and was about to reply when Qin Jun tossed him in Li Huanhan’s direction.

Qin Jun smirked, “Look after him, Shixiong.”

That’s how this carnivorous flower masquerading as a little white lotus landed in Li Huanhan’s hands. And his demonic shixiong coldly grasped the scruff of his neck to secure his shidi. He replied in a calm voice, “En.”

It might just be him, but Jiang Yinghe felt that…Huanhan and Jun-er got along like a house on fire when it came to disciplining Chang Ye. It was as if two mortal enemies who couldn’t wait for the other to die already started working together to take care of an interloper…

Jiang Yinghe spaced out while looking at the progress bars on the display. He quickly shook his head to clear those thoughts.

What was he thinking? With a role model as strict and well-mannered as he was, his disciples must all be the epitome of righteousness and bursting with love for their sect siblings!

Jiang Yinghe nodded and patted himself on the back. This must be a sign of the deep affection between his disciples!

Author’s Corner

Jiang Yinghe (with 20 km long disciple-loving glasses): Quit trying to mess with my deductions!

The inspiration for Chang Ye’s name came from Su Shi’s work ‘Snow Under the Stars’: I don’t mind the long night wrinkling my clothes, but I fear the sting of the rising sun in my eyes.

The inspiration for Li Huanhan’s name is too famous and doesn’t need to be said.