Chapter 509: I Think I Have Succeeded

"What a terrifying sword!"

As the sound of the sword humming rang out, that terrifying Sword Intent seemed to invade his spirit and erode his reason.

Merely a sliver of leaking Sword Intent was enough to stir his killing intent, as if a voice were whispering in his ear.

This voice constantly tempted him to take the sword, as if telling him that as long as he drew it, he could obtain terrifying power unimaginable in the past.

As long as he drew the sword, wherever the blade pointed, it would be invincible and unstoppable.

As long as he drew the sword, he would sit upon a throne holding the blade, receiving the worship of all under heaven.

In front of this sword, no one dared to resist; all that anyone had was fear and dread.

"Hmph, just a sword, yet you dare to be so arrogant!"

Following a cold snort, Shen Yu's Vast Righteous Qi shone brilliantly, and at the same time, Sword Intent swirled around his body, as if he had instantly transformed into a sword that reached from heaven to earth.

This sword could sever stars and break mountains and rivers; wherever the Sword Intent passed, it seemed as if even time and space were trembling.

As the Sword Intent around Shen Yu erupted, the humming sound lingering in the palace shattered completely, as if suppressed in an instant.

Then, another sword hum sounded, only this time, there was a bit more fear and submission in it.

"It seems Lord Shen is indeed a heaven-gifted talent, to have actually gained the recognition of this sword!"

At this moment, Qing Han could not help but look at Shen Yu with new eyes. She had witnessed the terror of this sword before.

In her mind, when the sword hum sounded, no one could possibly resist the invasion of this sword, and Shen Yu was absolutely no exception.

Once the sword hum sounded, she would have won; Shen Yu would try every possible way to draw the sword under its temptation.

But she never expected that Shen Yu would actually be able to contend with it, and the final result was clearly that he was a cut above—something even Mu Zishan in his day had not achieved.

Back then, after seeing this sword, Mu Zishan had also been controlled by the Sword Intent, broken the seal, drawn the sword, and used it to stir up a bloody storm.

The truly terrifying aspect of this sword lay in its erosion of the human heart; it could make people fall rapidly, and basically no one could resist such temptation.

As long as one held this sword, one would receive a continuous stream of nourishment and feedback from the Sword Intent, and the wielder's strength would increase rapidly.

And then, through slaughter and blood, it would constantly strengthen itself, while simultaneously using this to continuously invade and occupy the human heart.

The consequence of such rapid improvement was that it made people completely addicted, until they sank entirely, with no possibility of turning back.

The reason Mu Zishan was able to rise so quickly back then was definitely thanks to this sword!

"Is this sword really something Mu Zishan possessed?"

Gazing intently into the interior of the palace, the feeling this sword gave him was very evil; it did not seem like something a person like Mu Zishan would possess.

It was no wonder the people of Qiaoshan Village said that an extremely terrifying person was suppressed inside, and that releasing the person suppressed within would inevitably lead to blood flowing for a thousand miles.

Although the ancestral teachings passed down had some discrepancies, the result was the same.

No matter who came to take the sword, they would have their minds invaded by the Sword Intent and turn into a Sword Slave who killed everyone they saw, inevitably stirring up a bloody storm.

The ancestral teachings of Qiaoshan Village were warning future generations never, ever to release the thing suppressed inside.

"This sword indeed belonged to Mu Zishan; to be precise, it was obtained by Mu Zishan from here, and then suppressed back here!"

Looking into the palace, his gaze seemed to pierce through the thick walls to see the blade locked by heavy chains.

"Back then, Qiaoshan Village still had countless experts, but after Mu Zishan left this place, all the experts were slaughtered by him, and Qiaoshan Village declined from then on!"

"So that's how it is. No wonder Qiaoshan Village claims to be guardians yet doesn't even have a single expert. Did Mu Zishan really do such a thing back then? Wasn't he a great hero?"

"Indeed, Mu Zishan was the purest hero I have ever met, but even he still could not resist the erosion of that sword!"

Her gaze was distant, as if traveling through time and space, seeing everything that happened back then once more.

"Mu Zishan, blinded by this sword back then, once used it to slaughter the world, making the experts of the entire Jianghu tremble and causing the experts of the Imperial Household to wither away!"

"If not for that, how could the Imperial Household have been on the verge of destruction after the Spirit Qi Surge?"

"Do you really think only the experts in the Jianghu benefited from the Spirit Qi Surge, and the experts of the Imperial Household did not?"

"That is because, before that, the Imperial Household had dispatched a large number of experts to hunt him down after discovering Mu Zishan was constantly killing, only for them to be slaughtered to the last man."

"The true experts of the Imperial Household, those Palace Attendants, were almost all killed by Mu Zishan."

"Before the Spirit Qi Surge, the Imperial Household's armies could rely on Military Formation to suppress Jianghu experts. So even if top experts withered, the Imperial Household remained the Imperial Household."

"But after the Spirit Qi Surge, the upper limit of Jianghu experts increased by a large margin, and the Military Formation of the Imperial Household's armies became somewhat inadequate."

"Yet the Imperial Household's experts were still in a state where the new generation could not keep up with the old, so back then it was almost finished; from high-ranking Imperial Household experts down to the Capture Gate, Black-Clad Guard, and so on, almost all experts were slaughtered."

"Who could have imagined that at the final moment, it was a group of idle, spendthrift wastrels who stood up and held up that sky!"

Recalling the past, Qing Han could not help but sigh with emotion. Troubled times produce heroes; at the most difficult moments, there will always be someone who stands up.

"In that battle, a group of playboys devised a plan, held a letter left by Mu Zishan containing a strand of Sword Intent, and trapped and killed the top experts who were causing chaos. At the cost of their own lives, they quelled the disaster."

"Afterward, the Imperial Household did not recover its Original Qi until a heaven-gifted talent from the Imperial Household rose up and stopped all of this."

"However, I recently heard that the Imperial Household expert has disappeared, though I don't know if it's true or false. But the truth doesn't matter anymore; the Spirit Qi Surge is imminent, and no one will stir up trouble at this time."

"Lord Shen, having heard this, you should also understand how Mu Zishan became the number one in the world, and how he managed to suppress the world so that no one dared to provoke him?"

"You mean, it was all thanks to that sword?"

"Yes, and no!" Shaking her head, Qing Han said slowly, "Mu Zishan being a heaven-gifted talent was the most important thing, but this sword also played an indispensable role!"

"Back then, he held the blade and was invaded by the Sword Intent, and afterward, he fell into complete confusion, killing countless people in the Jianghu, while his own strength increased again and again!"

"But in the end, he successfully saw through the illusions and found himself, which allowed him to break through his limits in one go, and afterward, he became even more unfathomable!"

"By the time the Spirit Qi Surge arrived and he was willing to suppress the Forbidden Land alone, no one knew what realm he had reached."

"Lord Shen, the world says you are the second Mu Zishan, but in fact, you are more excellent and have more potential than Mu Zishan."

Pointing toward the direction of the palace, Qing Han said with a hint of temptation, "As long as you walk in and draw the sword, you will inevitably possess power that surpasses Mu Zishan!"

"Miss Qing Han, you just said there were no traps; isn't this digging a pit for me? What if I can't resist it? Wouldn't I be sunk forever?"

Even Mu Zishan couldn't resist this sword back then; in this woman's eyes, he probably couldn't resist it at all.

And the result of failing to resist the invasion would be to completely degenerate into a killing machine that only knew how to kill, becoming a Sword Slave dominated by this sword.

Just because Mu Zishan was able to wake up back then doesn't mean others can; the greater possibility is that one would never wake up again from that point on.

When all is said and done, this woman has ulterior motives!

"Forget about drawing the sword; I still prefer to believe in myself. As long as one is willing to work hard, there will eventually come a day when one surpasses it!"

"That's just talk; if hard work were useful, the entire martial arts world wouldn't be devoid of anyone capable of breaking their limits, aside from Mu Zishan!"

"If there is no external force to give you a push, how could you ever surpass it? Lord Shen, wealth and honor are sought amidst danger!"

"Miss Qing Han, the pit you've dug is not successful at all; my heart remains completely calm!"

"Is that so? But why do I feel that I have already succeeded? The moment you arrived here, I already felt that I had succeeded!"

Looking at Shen Yu, Qing Han seemed to see the Mu Zishan of yesteryear. The same scholar, the same swordsman, the same mysterious confidence!

"You will definitely go to draw the sword, because you are very much alike, equally confident. You will believe that even if you draw the sword, you will never be blinded by it!"