Chapter 377

Xu Qing closed his eyes, his perception spreading out and merging into the black stone in front of him.

The moment he made contact with the stone, a mist appeared in his mind.

From within the mist came faint, indistinct whispers. The sound drifted, seeming very far away, yet also very close.

"The Emperor's Sword... is not easily drawn."

"The moment the sword is drawn... heaven and earth collapse."

Xu Qing's mind shook. He listened carefully, and gradually, those murmuring sounds transformed into streams of information that surfaced in his soul, echoing continuously.

This information was informing him about this Emperor Sword.

The Emperor Sword, also known as the Sword of the Sword-Wielder, is one of the orthodox Imperial-level cultivation techniques of the human race, uniquely created by the Yuan Zaiji Immortal Emperor.

It focuses on slaughter, its power is heaven-shaking, and its killing is boundless.

It has slaughtered myriad clans and was once used by the Great Emperor in ancient times to slay a god.

The ancient Emperor Emperor Xuanyou of that year also praised the Great Emperor's sword highly.

Later, the Sword Palace lineage transformed into Sword-Wielders, and the Great Emperor placed all his Imperial-level cultivation techniques into the Sword-Wielder Department, opening them to all, allowing Sword-Wielders to gain comprehension according to their different ranks.

Especially this light of the Emperor Sword; the Great Emperor, with his vast magnanimity, opened it completely. Every newly promoted Sword-Wielder would receive one chance for comprehension after becoming a Sword-Wielder.

But there is only this one time; afterwards, it must be exchanged for with military merit.

And the Emperor Sword is extremely difficult to comprehend. Throughout history, no one has been able to succeed on the first try; most need many attempts to barely imprint it in their hearts and become a Sword Seed.

As for the power of this sword, it can be strong or weak.

The factors determining the upper limit of its power are related to the cultivator's cultivation base, but more importantly, it is related to time. The Emperor Sword needs to be nurtured; it is not drawn lightly.

And the longer it is nurtured, the longer the time, the more terrifying the power when the sword is drawn.

Although the power falls back to its original state after one strike, this kind of deterrence is shocking.

There was a Sword-Wielder who nurtured the sword for two thousand years without drawing it. The moment he drew it, with a Nascent Soul peak cultivation base, he crossed the Spirit Repository Realm and directly beheaded a first-stage Void Returning great cultivator on the spot.

This is precisely the reason why the myriad clans are wary of the human Sword-Wielder Department, because you never know if there are some old fellows in the Sword-Wielder Department who have been nurturing their swords for thousands of years or even longer.

At the same time, one can imagine that any clan, after mastering such a slaughter technique, would definitely arrange for a group of people to never go out and spend their whole lives nurturing the sword.

Just to draw that one sword at a critical moment, earth-shattering and heaven-breaking.

These are one of the foundations of the Sword-Wielder Department, and also the reason why the Great Emperor wanted to open this Emperor Sword masterpiece to all Sword-Wielders back then.

He wanted to build an eternal, unshakable foundation for the Sword-Wielder Department.

But the difficulty of comprehending this sword is high; not every Sword-Wielder can successfully master it, so the number of comprehension attempts is particularly critical. This time, Xu Qing, the Captain, and Zhang Zhang Siyun were effectively rewarded with an extra attempt.

Xu Qing realized this in his heart. He did not know the passage of time in the outside world. At this moment, he was trying very hard to push away the mist before his eyes, but the mist in his perception was too thick. He gave it his all, but was unable to dissipate it quickly.

He could only continue to give his all, constantly pushing himself forward in the mist, wanting to see clearly what lay behind it.

Just like that, time slowly passed.

I don't know how much time passed, but finally, in Xu Qing's eyes, the mist in front became thin. He faintly saw a sword behind the mist.

With just one glance, this sword occupied everything in Xu Qing's vision, as if it had become the only thing in heaven and earth. His mind was even more overturned, setting off heaven-shaking roars.

Because that sword, although it was just a very ordinary and plain sword, contained heaven-shaking slaughter within it. An indescribable malevolent aura and a killing intent that shook the heart and soul radiated from this sword.

It seemed to want to rush into the clouds, slaughter everything, and destroy everything in heaven and earth.

The black stone it was in seemed unable to seal it anymore; it needed the layers of iron chains above to barely allow this sword to leave a lingering shadow.

Xu Qing's breathing was rapid, his mind a blank, with only that sword behind the mist becoming clearer and clearer in his eyes, and the heaven-shaking intent upon it becoming more and more obvious.

And in this state of distraction, the outline of a sword slowly appeared in his sea of consciousness.

Xu Qing's comprehension ability surprised even Seventh Uncle, which shows how peerless it was.

At this moment, an intense desire surfaced in Xu Qing's spirit. He was just about to push the mist away again, just about to let himself more deeply gather this sword within his heart and mind.

But just at this moment...

A terrifying suction force suddenly came from behind him, yanking his body outward violently. After a moment of the world spinning, Xu Qing's body shook. When he suddenly looked up, he discovered that he was no longer in the place of comprehension, but outside the great hall.

Zhang Zhang Siyun was also here, his eyes blood-red, as if he were trying his best to suppress the desire in his heart.

The red-clothed woman, Qing Qiu, was not far away, looking at them coldly. She knew these people had gone to comprehend the human race's Imperial-level cultivation technique. She didn't know why she wasn't qualified, but the Sword-Wielder Court still let her wait here.

"Wait, wait, wait, what exactly am I waiting for!"

Qing Qiu was very unhappy.

Xu Qing did not pay attention to Qing Qiu and Zhang Zhang Siyun. He quickly looked up toward the direction of the place he had gone to comprehend before, an incomparable desire rising in his heart.

Especially after he felt the outline of the sword that had appeared in his sea of consciousness.

Although it was very blurry, he could see that it was indeed a lingering shadow of the sword, but it was rootless and was slowly dissipating.

Looking at its speed, he feared that in two years at most, it would be completely gone.

All of this gave Xu Qing a feeling that he had been just a hair's breadth away from truly seeing that sword clearly just now.

This feeling of being forcibly yanked back and suddenly cut off caused an infinite sense of loss to rise in his heart.

At the same time, the Captain's figure also appeared from the void. After landing, like Xu Qing, his breathing was rapid, and he suddenly stood up and looked into the distance.

"What the hell, you guys, I was just a hair's breadth away from succeeding, my mouth was already open!" The Captain felt infinite depression rising in his heart. He didn't dare to say these words out loud, so he could only be dissatisfied in his heart.

"Calm your minds!"

Just as both Xu Qing and the Captain were experiencing waves of emotion, a calm voice echoed like heavenly thunder in their minds.

The middle-aged Sword-Wielder who had led the way before appeared in front of them.

The powerful pressure coming from him caused Xu Qing to take a deep breath, suppressing the desire in his heart. "Do you feel that you were just a hair's breadth away from succeeding?"

"I can tell you that every person who comprehends has this feeling, but in reality... you are still a long way from successful comprehension."

"Furthermore, there is a reason why comprehension is limited to three hours."

"Throughout history, all Sword-Wielders who comprehended for more than three hours instantly mutated and died during the comprehension; not a single one was saved."

The middle-aged Sword-Wielder spoke indifferently. The words he spoke caused Xu Qing's heart to sink.

"The reason for this is that the Great Emperor once slaughtered a god back then, but this sword was also cursed by the god, so anyone who comprehends for more than three hours will mutate and die."

【To be honest, I've been using Wild Fruit Reading to keep up with books recently. It has many sources, and the reading voices are good.. yeguoyuedu works on both Android and Apple.】

"And you don't need to worry. You are very lucky; the previous time was an extra reward. When you reach the Capital District, you will each have one more chance for comprehension."

"Now, it is time to deal with another matter. The lords have been waiting for a long time."

Zhang Zhang Siyun's expression was somewhat puzzled; he didn't know what the next matter was.

But just as he was focusing his attention to listen, the middle-aged Sword-Wielder raised his right hand and waved it. Instantly, Zhang Zhang Siyun's figure disappeared from this place.

"This matter has nothing to do with him; it concerns the three of you." The middle-aged Sword-Wielder didn't care what Zhang Zhang Siyun, whom he had moved away, was thinking, and spoke slowly.

Xu Qing's heart stirred. He looked at the Captain, then at Qing Qiu, lost in thought.

Qing Qiu frowned. She vaguely guessed the answer, but this answer made her feel very unlucky, and a sense of grievance rose in her heart.

The Captain also thought of something, a strange light appearing in his eyes, faintly carrying some excitement, and he quickly spoke.

"My lord, does this have to do with the Three Spirits Dao-Suppressing Mountain?"

The middle-aged Sword-Wielder ignored Chen Chen Erniu. In his view, this Chen Chen Erniu, who only caused the Great Emperor's statue to shine for one zhang, was basically a disgrace to the Sword-Wielders. In fact, it wasn't just him who thought this; many other Sword-Wielders had the same thought. After all... to some extent, this was equivalent to being unqualified in ideology and not standing upright.

So he couldn't be bothered to pay attention to him, instead looking at Xu Qing and Qing Qiu.

"The three of you once appeared at the Three Spirits Dao-Suppressing Mountain and also saw our Sword-Wielder Court's suppression of the Youjing Jueyang Lingzun."

"Now, the Youjing Jueyang Lingzun has already been imprisoned by our Sword-Wielder Court and is being interrogated. The lords need the three of you to appear to stimulate the Youjing Jueyang Lingzun, so that its emotions are no longer as still as an ancient well, but instead show violent fluctuations."

"Only then will it be convenient for the lords to explore the secrets within its soul."

After speaking, the middle-aged Sword-Wielder walked toward the distance.

Xu Qing and the other two stood up and followed behind. On the way, the Captain blinked, his mind quickly weighing things.

"It seems my one zhang of brilliant light is not very well-received."

"No, I must perform well this time and strive to add some points in the hearts of those old fellows in the Sword-Wielder Court. Otherwise, if things go on like this, it won't be easy to get promoted."

While the Captain was alert in his heart, he was also very depressed. He still felt how it was possible that he only had one zhang of brilliant light.

"My answer was correct. Although the Great Emperor's question wasn't among those thousand-plus questions, forty-seven of them could be answered from the side."

"I said all the answers once; it was definitely a super-standard answer. Each one had at least reached a height of several hundred zhang, so added together, it must have been ten thousand zhang. The spirit stones couldn't have been spent in vain."

"I even flattered him a lot, and every sentence was different!"

"And to perform, I even said, 'Great Emperor, you are a god.'"

"There was nothing wrong with saying that. At that time, the Great Emperor's light shook violently, which shows how satisfied he was in his heart." Thinking of his performance at the time, the Captain became even more indignant.

"Why did you only give me one zhang!"

The Captain felt depressed in his heart and looked at Xu Qing, feeling a lot of pressure.

While his thoughts were churning in his heart, the three were led by the middle-aged Sword-Wielder to the front of the prison inside the Sword-Wielder Court.

This was a gloomy secret room, surrounded by countless restrictions. Everyone who stepped in here would be locked onto by spiritual sense.

After the inspection, under the guidance of the middle-aged Sword-Wielder, the four walked into the prison. As they walked along a narrow staircase under their feet in the dim yellow light, the voice of the Youjing Jueyang Lingzun, calm yet carrying an elegant intent, came from afar.

"Listening to the footsteps, is this...

someone coming again?"

"It's useless. You want to search my soul, you want to stimulate my emotions; this is impossible."

"I am transformed from the human soul of the Ghost Emperor. My emotions have no fluctuations, and even if they did, they are not something you low-stage Void Returning cultivators can stir."

"My true body is in the Spirit Repository Realm; you lot... are nothing but ants."