Chapter 146: Night Talk (Bonus for 10,000 Collections)

The air in the cellar was thick and stifling, making speech feel muffled. Yet the three of them kept watch here, never once going out to exchange it for fresh air.

Sang Jialiang calmed down and recalled, "Don't look at me as I am now; in my youth, I was a wayward lad. Back then, I read many storybooks, my head filled with dreams of youthful adventures, determined to roam the world as a wandering Sword Guest. I wandered for several years, but aside from making a few good friends, I gained nothing, until one day I fell into a..."

Tang Zhao and Jiang Shenyi said simultaneously, "Mountain cliff?"

Sang Jialiang chuckled and said, "No. I was just wandering in the mountains, walking along, when suddenly, without any warning, the scene before my eyes changed, and the world itself had shifted."

Tang Zhao said, "Sounds like an Empty-Type Demon Cave."

Jiang Shenyi said, "Or perhaps the Mysterious Yellow Land."

Sang Jialiang said, "After entering the gate, there was no legendary immortal mansion, just a very, very long flight of stairs. I wasn't afraid at all at the time; I only felt that my destiny had arrived. I climbed and climbed, climbing for a full day and night. The more tired I got, the happier I became, thinking this was my trial. Finally, I arrived before a great gate. That gate was extremely tall—I'd say at least several dozen zhang high—and thick and heavy. On the gate were many colorful characters, twisted and crooked, with several characters connected together as if they were a painting. I couldn't understand them."

Jiang Shenyi asked uncertainly, "Rune Formulas?"

Sang Jialiang said, "The gate was too heavy; no matter how I pushed, I couldn't open it. In the end, I only found a predecessor on the stairs. He had already turned into bone, but he stood tall and unmoving, leaning on this sword as if guarding the gate. I didn't know what reverence was back then; I touched him with my hand, and he immediately fell apart—half turned to dust, half turned to bone fragments. I hurriedly gathered his body together and found a pouch among his remains."

He touched his chest and said, "That pouch was magical. It looked very small, yet it could hold many things; it was truly convenient. I used it daily. But I usually kept it inside my tunic; when I took things out of the pouch, it was just like taking things from my tunic, so no one ever noticed."

That must have been a spatial Art Tool. There are many types of such Art Tools; the Dharma Artifact that Tang Zhao stores his jars in is of the highest grade, while there are many lower-grade ones with different spatial capacities, different states for the items inside, and different weights after being filled.

Speaking of this, Sang Jialiang felt a bit ashamed and said, "At the time, I had already decided this was my great adventure, so I took both the pouch and the sword, leaving nothing for him. In the end, feeling a bit embarrassed, I brought the predecessor's remains out to bury them. I wanted to build him a grave, but I was afraid of being discovered by others, so I even leveled the mound of earth."

Tang Zhao said calmly, "That is quite normal. Grave robbing is one thing, but since you buried him and kept him from being exposed in the wilderness, you have fulfilled your duty. Taking the relics is also your right. Worldly possessions are not brought at birth and cannot be taken at death; it is better to give them to the living."

This is a common rule, and one that spread from the Qianxian. It is said that after many Sword Guests die on the front lines, their comrades will bury their bodies and also take over all their relics, at most handing the sword back to the legion. As for the pensions for the families of the fallen, that is the legion's duty.

Sang Jialiang gave a few dry laughs and said, "Aside from this sword, the pouch contained that cultivation technique I just mentioned, and something like a fruit. I really thought it was a fruit at the time and ate it in one bite, and as a result, my Internal Energy surged. There were also some stone slabs with the same twisted patterns on them; I couldn't understand them, so I didn't take them out." He opened the pouch and took out a few silver stone slabs.

Tang Zhao took them and said, "Strange Stone? Ah, no, there are Rune Formulas on them; these are Talisman Pages. Could it be that this predecessor was a Talisman Sword Master?"

It was indeed a Strange Stone Talisman Page. This thing is completely impractical; only Talisman Sword Masters use it to record Rune Formulas. Sword Guests carry Art Tools, but they would never carry Talisman Pages. In that case, was this predecessor a Talisman Sword Master?

Or even... a Sword Smith?

He asked again, "Are the symbols on these similar to the colorful symbols on the great gate?"

Sang Jialiang thought for a moment and said, "Yes, they are pretty much the same thing."

It really was Rune Formulas. To use Rune Formulas on such a large scale, could it be...

Jiang Shenyi asked curiously, "What did that fruit look like?"

Sang Jialiang said, "It was just a transparent ball, the skin was very thin and transparent, and there seemed to be a mass of Qi rotating inside the ball. I took a bite, and it felt like it was going to explode, so I lay on the ground and passed out. It took a long time to wake up, and after I woke up, my Internal Energy surged. I was triumphant at the time, feeling that I was destined for greatness. So I ran amok in the world, did a lot of messy things, and even almost fell into the ranks of thieves. It was only after several lessons that I settled down and returned home to protect my hometown in peace."

Jiang Shenyi held up a finger and said, "I'm impressed, old brother, you are truly brave."

Tang Zhao and Jiang Shenyi both guessed that the "fruit" was clearly a container used by a Talisman Sword Master to collect wind-quality materials, and what it contained was likely Internal Energy. That this fellow ate a huge mouthful of pure Internal Energy and didn't explode, but instead had his power greatly increased by a stroke of luck, could only be attributed to his innate talent and truly good fortune.

Tang Zhao warned him again not to eat things randomly. Sang Jialiang said repeatedly, "I know, I know. I was young then, my head was full of nonsense, thinking that if I encountered an opportunity, I should seize it immediately before someone else snatched it. I wouldn't dare now. Sometimes I think about it and wish I could go back and give my younger self a good beating."

He explained his previous experience in detail, and Tang Zhao made a decision in his heart. He glanced at Jiang Shenyi, who understood and indicated he didn't mind. Tang Zhao said, "Have you ever held this sword? Can you draw it? Did you feel anything at the time?"

Sang Jialiang said, "Of course I've held it; I carried it all the way back. I also tried to draw the sword, but I could never pull it out. As for the feeling... I just felt it was quite heavy."

That means no Inspiration...

People with Inspiration who encounter an incompatible sword, even if they cannot draw it, will have a strange feeling. They might feel repelled, or feel annoyance or disgust. Having absolutely no feeling can only mean there is no Inspiration.

Because it couldn't be drawn and the self-concealing Treasure Sword was truly unremarkable, Sang Jialiang didn't value it at the time. If not for the truly strange experience, he would have almost hung it in the house to ward off evil spirits. Later, as he grew older and his knowledge increased, he gradually realized something was wrong and hid the Treasure Sword deeper and deeper. If Tang Zhao had come a few years earlier, he might have seen the Treasure Sword that martial artists dream of under his pillow.

Tang Zhao looked at Jiang Shenyi and said, "Does Brother want to try?"

Jiang Shenyi shook his head and said, "I already said I don't want to be a Sword Guest. If I try and it's not compatible, that's fine, but what if it is?"

Others hope to find their own sword, but he is the exact opposite, afraid of finding a suitable one. He fears it would shake his resolve.

Tang Zhao said, "I only hold swords I have cast myself. It is a pity for such a fine Treasure Sword to be covered in dust. It is better to leave it where it is. Brother Sang must not show it to anyone else again."

From that brief glance just now, he felt that the sword did not attract him; it was not even as good as the Xiezhi Sword. It seemed there was no affinity between them. Of course, even if it were a match, it would be hard to be a one-hundred-percent match, so it would still be inferior to a sword he cast himself.

Sang Jialiang hurriedly said, "No, no, how can I have peace of mind with such a precious item here? Once you leave, I'll be thinking about this treasure every day; how could I sleep? You should take it."

Tang Zhao said, "Brother Sang, I think that since you were able to encounter this sword, it means you have an affinity. You have no Inspiration now, but that is because you haven't practiced Mysterious Technique. Once you master the Mysterious Technique, perhaps you can stimulate your Inspiration, and then you can try the sword again. Perhaps by then, you will be able to draw it."

He wasn't just gambling on luck; Mysterious Technique can influence a person's direction of Inspiration. That "Mountain Gate Night Watch Formula" and the sword belonged to the same person, so it is very likely the two are a match. The Inspiration Sang Jialiang develops through this Mysterious Technique might very well allow him to pick up this sword. If so, he would be the successor to that gate-guarding predecessor.

"More than this sword, we want to know, where is that Secret Realm?"

That skeleton predecessor was both a Sword Guest and a Talisman Sword Master; if such a prominent figure could only be a gatekeeper, what kind of good things must be inside that gate covered in Rune Formulas?

——

A hundred miles away, Jiming Mountain.

The Righteousness Hall was brightly lit. In the center hung a plaque reading "Rooster Chirping," and below it, five chairs were arranged in a row.

Four of the chairs were empty, and only on the first chair on the left sat a middle-aged scholar dressed in Confucian attire. Before him, a white-bearded old man knelt, trembling with fear.

The scholar was about to speak when he heard someone shouting from behind: "Master Advisor, disaster, disaster!"

The scholar didn't wait to see who it was; upon hearing the voice, he stood up and bowed, saying, "Great Chief. You have returned?"

A dark-faced man walked in from outside, wearing a gorgeous five-colored fur coat. He sat down on the tiger-skin chair in the center and said, "Master Advisor, there is something I need you to do tonight. It's good you haven't slept—eh? Who is this old man?"

The scholar said, "I shall obey. This is the Manor Head of Hu Zhuang. The Great Chief has urgent business, so let him get lost."

The big man thought for a long time but couldn't remember which Hu Zhuang it was, and said, "It's not urgent for a moment—what is a Manor Head doing here in the middle of the night?" He suddenly slapped his thigh and said, "I know, he's here to cry poverty!"

The scholar said, "The Great Chief is wise. This old man is saying that the harvest this year is bad, and he can't gather the tribute, so he wants to ask the stronghold for a grace period."

The big man glared and said, "Fart! This one says it's bad, that one says they don't have it; do they take us for fools? Isn't that grain growing in the fields outside? If they don't pay, drag him out and bury him—"

The old man hurriedly kowtowed like he was pounding garlic and cried, "Spare my life, Great King."

The scholar said, "Great Chief, calm your anger. This old man actually knows what's good for him; he is quick-witted and wants to serve the stronghold in exchange for our leniency."

The Great Chief said dismissively, "Him? I'd think he was too old to even carry my shoes. What service can he provide us?"

The scholar smiled slightly, stroked his small mustache, and said, "He says he can help us get rid of Sang Jialiang of Wushu Bao."