Chapter 427: The Sword Master

It was a broken sword, its main body a pale green, utterly ordinary, with the sun, moon, stars, and all phenomena of the heavens carved on its front, and gods and demons bowing, with humans, gods, demons, spirits, and buddhas all contained within its back.

It was ancient beyond measure.

It felt as if a single touch would turn it to dust instantly; its surface was coated in bronze and iron rust, and the weathered marks suggested this broken sword had lain buried for countless years.

Yet even so, it could not conceal the sword's grandeur—its radiance dimmed, stained with blood, buried until now, only emerging at last.

"This sword…"

The First Immortal of Jiuzhou stepped forward, examining the broken sword while glancing at the exploded tomb.

The tomb's explosion was tied to this sword, for it was a ceremonial tomb—inside, apart from a shattered coffin, it was empty.

Clearly.

This grave held the broken sword itself—a ceremonial tomb.

"A fine sword!"

The Tianxie Sword Immortal spoke bluntly; as a sword madman-level cultivator whose sword intent far surpassed that of gods and demons, he knew the moment he saw it how extraordinary this broken sword was.

Though broken, its sword intent was unextinguished, enduring eternally upon it, ageless and immortal.

He carefully picked up the broken sword, as if handling a newborn infant, moving with utmost caution, afraid of harming it.

"Sword Immortal, did you come here because you sensed this broken sword?"

Having lived over twenty thousand years, the First Immortal of Jiuzhou had already deduced the probable reasons since the sword fell.

The Sword Immortal's arrival was connected to the broken sword in this tomb, and the tomb's explosion was tied to the sword; as for why the sword remained unexploded before but exploded now, it must be linked to the Sword Immortal.

"The Tomb of the Sword Master."

Xiang Hong leaned close to the tomb; though the grave had exploded, the stele remained intact, untouched by the blast.

Here, he added in astonishment:

"Again, oracle bone script."

The First Immortal of Jiuzhou's attention was drawn by Xiang Hong's words: "Oracle bone script? So the one buried here was also from Chinese mythology—who was he?"

Chinese mythological figures were too numerous; the First Immortal of Jiuzhou was not from the Initial Realm and knew little of them.

But this time, Xiang Hong did not answer—in fact, he could not answer; he scratched his head, his eyes filled with confusion.

"Strange—I don't recall any great figure in Chinese history named Sword Master. Sword Master… that name is way too over-the-top."

Sword Master, as the name implies, is the master of swords.

What an arrogant name—simply the two characters "Sword Master" conveyed its meaning, and the word "sword" here was not limited to a single blade, but vast and boundless.

The Tianxie Sword Immortal was astonished.

As a sword cultivator, he understood best the meaning of "Sword Master."

Throughout all history and time, he had never met a sword cultivator bold enough to call himself Sword Master—even he, the greatest sword cultivator in his world, dared not claim such a title.

He believed sword cultivators from other worlds felt the same.

The title "Sword Master" was not for just anyone to take; no sword cultivator, no matter how arrogant, would dare call himself Sword Master—they always added another character.

Like Cloud Dragon Sword Master, Star Dome Sword Master, and so on.

This was a sword cultivator's reverence—for the Dao of the Sword, and an eternal affirmation that the path of the sword had no end, for no sword cultivator believed he had reached its peak; he only felt the Dao stretched endlessly ahead, forever out of reach.

The Dao of the Sword was endless—live and learn, never had anyone believed the path of the sword could be fully mastered.

At least, in the Tianxie Sword Immortal's world, throughout all history, not a single sword cultivator had ever believed he had reached the end of the sword Dao.

That was why the Tianxie Sword Immortal, though the greatest sword cultivator in his world, dared only call himself Sword Immortal, never Sword Master—the title "Sword Master" was an ultimate honor, and an ultimate taboo.

Simply put, no sword cultivator would ever desecrate the Dao of the Sword; their love for it was too deep—how could they dare to desecrate it, knowing their path was still long, how could they call themselves Sword Master?

"You don't know Sword Master?"

The Tianxie Sword Immortal was surprised, even puzzled.

One who dared call himself Sword Master and was buried here could not be some boastful fraud—after all, some mortals and transcendent beings loved to brag, and there were indeed those who called themselves Sword Master.

But those people were empty shells—plainly, fools who pretended to understand the sword without knowing it.

Those who truly understood the sword would never claim the title Sword Master.

Yet this one was buried here, meaning he had fought on the Initial Battlefield, implying his title was known even to the gods and demons of the Initial Battlefield.

The Tianxie Sword Immortal could deduce with certainty: the Initial Battlefield's gods and demons could not have had only one sword cultivator named Sword Master—there must have been many.

And none of those sword cultivators could have been unaware of someone calling himself Sword Master.

Yet no one opposed his title; they accepted it—the stele bore the four characters "Tomb of the Sword Master," proving this Sword Master was extraordinary in the Dao of the Sword, so much so that even the gods and demons of the Initial Battlefield acknowledged his title.

Such a figure, a master of the sword Dao, could not have been obscure—he must have left a profound mark in Chinese mythology.

Yet Xiang Hong, a native of China, had never heard of such a person.

Whether in his history classes or since becoming transcendent, he had studied Chinese history and mythological figures extensively, yet never heard of a great figure named Sword Master.

"Don't know him. Never heard of any such figure in Chinese mythology."

Xiang Hong answered honestly, utterly baffled:

"It's not that I'm ignorant—I've been cramming Chinese mythological figures lately, focusing on the major ones, and I know most of them. Sword Master? I've never heard the name."

Now even the Tianxie Sword Immortal and the First Immortal of Jiuzhou were stunned.

The First Immortal of Jiuzhou was not a sword cultivator, but at his level, he understood the meaning of "Sword Master."

"Could he really just be some arrogant fool who picked the name randomly?"

"Maybe he died, and his companions honored him by giving him this tombstone name."

"Could it be even more ridiculous? The tomb is real, but the stele isn't—the original one was carved wrong? Maybe it was supposed to say Sword King, and the top horizontal stroke of the 'king' character was carved too faintly?"

The three of them tossed out wild guesses, one after another.

Just as they were at a loss and about to give up, a voice came.

"Young friend, Sword Master is not unrecorded—do you know the origin of the sword?"

The voice was very soft and faint, carrying an indescribable magic that made one involuntarily feel close, like a conversation among family and friends, leaving no room for any unnatural reserve.

Gao Xiang Hong, hearing this, also answered as if a friend had asked him:

"Of course I know the origins of the sword. According to the historical records of Hua Country, the sword was first created in the era of the Huang Di Xuan Yuan. According to the Huang Di's Main Chronicle: 'The Emperor mined copper from Mount Shou to forge swords, and inscribed them with ancient celestial characters.'

And according to Guanzi, Chapter on Earth's Numbers: 'In ancient times, gold was unearthed from the mountain of Ge Tian Lu; Chi You received it and fashioned it into swords and armor.'

From the above two accounts, it appears that both the Huang Di and Chi You had already made swords as weapons.

According to these records, regardless of who the original creator of the sword was, its birth in the era of the Huang Di is beyond doubt.

The Huang Di's era belonged to the early Bronze Age. From this, historians infer and know that the emergence of the sword is extremely ancient, with a long history."

……