Chapter 711: Six Dragon Sword

Along with the sound of a long laugh, the Six Dragon Sword had already arrived before them.

He looked to be of advanced age, with frost at his temples, a burly build, and he wore a robe that was neither new nor old.

When Tang Zhao saw him, for a fleeting moment, he felt that he should be wearing a dragon robe.

First impression: he was the type of person suited to wearing a dragon robe.

It is no exaggeration to say that the Six Dragon Sword was the person with the most "imperial bearing" Tang Zhao had ever seen.

To speak of an imperial bearing, there does not seem to be a specific look, yet a broad face and double chin, a majestic and awe-inspiring air, or the posture of a dragon and phoenix, the countenance of the sun and sky, or a face resembling a dragon that is startling to behold—regardless, since there are emperors in this world, people have an unattainable imagination in their hearts: that kind of person who stands before the masses, causing everyone to hold their breath and automatically clear a path for him.

Tang Zhao had read many storybooks, so he naturally had an imagination in his heart; originally, in his childhood, this imagination was attributed to the Gaoyuan Marquis, but after meeting him, he discovered that the Gaoyuan Marquis truly could not overlap with this image, so he stopped caring. Now, however, he had seen the imperial posture that matched the imagination of most people.

He did not look like a dragon; he looked like a god-emperor capable of driving six dragons to patrol the horizon.

Although the Six Dragon Sword appeared humble and polite before the Kun Sword, in terms of innate aura, he was truly stronger than Guiyuanshi. Even according to titles, he could only address him as "Your Highness," while Guiyuanshi was the legitimate Emperor.

However, it might also be that Guiyuanshi was a somewhat atypical Emperor.

Tang Zhao secretly pondered: Perhaps this is why the Solar Court has the Six Dragon Sword sit in the Zhaoyangdian; his image truly commands the scene, and anyone who sees him cannot help but feel awe.

Tang Zhao followed Guiyuanshi off the carriage, intending to wait for the Sword Immortal and the Sword Saint to finish their pleasantries before stepping forward to pay his respects, but the Six Dragon Sword had already turned his gaze over, looking him up and down, and said, "Little Friend Tang..."

Tang Zhao felt his gaze flicker for an instant, seemingly carrying a trace of doubt, and his heart grew slightly tense.

Could it be that the Glasses were discovered?

Even knowing that a Sword Immortal shouldn't have this ability, Tang Zhao was still a little afraid of a "what if."

Immediately after, the Six Dragon Sword laughed out loud and said, "Look, if one were to say this child is not the successor of the Jinwu Sword, who could believe it? Although his appearance is different from Qingzhu, standing here, I actually thought Qingzhu had returned."

Tang Zhao tightened his heartstrings; ever since he became a Sword Hero, he had not been treated from the perspective of a "child" for a long time. Even though there were many who could call him a child based on age, those who could view him as a child based on status were already few and far between.

In fact, Tang Zhao had always been humble; whenever an elder used an old-fashioned tone to call him a junior, he would go with the flow. Only today was he braced for a confrontation, having made up his mind to clarify his stance, so he was about to speak.

At this moment, the Six Dragon Sword turned sideways and laughed, "Come, shall we go in? Don't stand here drinking the wind; there is a small welcome banquet inside. It's not a grand affair, just our own people, let's go eat something hot first."

This sentence was truly down-to-earth; one really wouldn't expect it to be spoken by a Sword Immortal.

Tang Zhao didn't have time to say anything before music sounded, strings and pipes playing in unison—there was actually ceremonial music prepared. The three of them, under the protection of the crowd, entered the Zhaoyangdian together.

Passing through the magnificent main hall, the Six Dragon Sword led them directly into the back hall, which was just like the flower hall of an ordinary mansion. A banquet was indeed prepared in the hall, the food steaming hot; it wasn't necessarily filled with rare delicacies or dragon liver and phoenix marrow, but it was definitely sumptuous. Only a few seats were set at the table, and several people were standing before the banquet waiting.

These people did not look low in status or bearing, and their cultivation was even more outstanding—they were all top-tier Sword Heroes. It seemed they were important figures of the Zhaoyangdian or Qianjin City who were all meant to be seated. It was just that if one counted the seats, there weren't enough; someone would inevitably have to stand.

One of the women was dressed particularly gorgeously; it looked like palace attire, yet it was as brilliant and beautiful as clouds and mist, and her appearance could be called stunning. Tang Zhao's heart stirred. The Six Dragon Sword had already invited Guiyuanshi to the seat of honor, then pulled Tang Zhao up and said, "Little Friend Tang, come sit by my side."

Suddenly grabbed by a Sword Immortal, Tang Zhao couldn't react in time and was somewhat stunned. The Six Dragon Sword had already laughed and said, "Little friend, our fate is not shallow." After saying this, he pulled him to sit in the seat next to him.

Guiyuanshi had originally intended to let Tang Zhao sit by his side, but he noticed the Six Dragon Sword's somewhat strange enthusiasm; his heart stirred, and he did not stop him. Aside from Guiyuanshi and Tang Zhao, only two others were seated; the others, including the gorgeously dressed woman, were standing by to serve, clearly acting as protocol officers.

Seeing Tang Zhao glance at the woman several times, the Six Dragon Sword laughed, "Speaking of which, you should have heard of her. This is Guan Jiqing..."

This name... he didn't recognize it?

"Palace Master of the Colorful Clouds Return."

"Oh..."

Then he recognized her.

After all, Tang Zhao had once been chased by the Colorful Clouds Return. If he hadn't taken the advice to decisively flee back to the Human World, he might have become a Sun-Holding Envoy of the Colorful Clouds Return by now.

Tang Zhao remained calm and did not mention past grievances. Guan Jiqing, however, was poised and generous, stepping forward to bow and say, "Colorful Clouds Return pays respects to Benefactor Tang."

This form of address actually stunned Tang Zhao, who said, "I dare not accept this; what do you mean by this..."

Guan Jiqing said, "For many years, Colorful Clouds Return searched for the Jinwu Sword to no avail, and we have already failed the world, not knowing how to conduct ourselves. In these years, we were panicked and lost, acting in reverse like headless flies, truly unbearable. If not for Benefactor finding the Jinwu Sword, Colorful Clouds Return would have had no end but total destruction; how could we have parted ways as peacefully as today? Benefactor is naturally the great benefactor of all of us in Colorful Clouds Return."

Uh...

It could be explained. But it might not be sincere, right?

Guan Jiqing should have known about the grievances between Tang Zhao and Colorful Clouds Return, but she was straightforward enough. These words placed Tang Zhao on a high pedestal, making him a "great benefactor," and implicitly admitted that Colorful Clouds Return had acted perversely because they saw no hope, asking Tang Zhao not to haggle with desperate lunatics, thus brushing the grievances aside.

What could Tang Zhao say?

If he wanted to argue, he could certainly still argue... Back then, you were so arrogant and domineering, and now you say you were crazy and it's all forgotten? Even if a lunatic isn't sentenced for killing, they should be locked in a mental hospital, right?

But he wasn't that relentless... To put it bluntly, Colorful Clouds Return were the envoys of the Solar Court, or to put it uglier, the mad dogs of the Solar Court. If one were to pursue it, one should trace it back to the Solar Court, and Tang Zhao had no way to pursue the Solar Court, so chasing after Colorful Clouds Return relentlessly had no meaning.

In the end, he and Colorful Clouds Return hadn't reached the point of deep, irreconcilable hatred; Colorful Clouds Return hadn't done anything to him, so it wasn't hard to let it go. He could personally erase the grievances, but if there were someone like Zheng Yun who wanted to seek revenge on Colorful Clouds Return, then Tang Zhao could help out.

At this moment, in the Zhaoyangdian, he only sighed: "Parting peacefully? Has Colorful Clouds Return dispersed..."

The Six Dragon Sword said at this time, "It has already dispersed. Colorful Clouds Return was established to find the Jinwu Sword; now that the Jinwu has arrived, there is no need to keep Colorful Clouds Return. Originally, we could have kept those Disciples to serve the new Jinwu Sword as a transition, but thinking about it, these years they have done nothing but search for people and know nothing else; they are not the best candidates to serve the Jinwu Sword, so why hold onto the old? We simply disbanded Colorful Clouds Return and reclaimed the territory to use for the new Jinwu Sword; it has more value."

This is... killing the hound once the hare is caught, right?

A thought flashed through Tang Zhao's mind: the word "disband" sounds light and airy, but behind it involves the future and lives of so many people.

He remembered Fan Haiyu saying that Colorful Clouds Return was crazy to the outside and cruel to the inside. Its own Disciples not only had few opportunities, but even if they were lucky enough to become Sword Guests, they could not practice as they wished; they were only allowed to comprehend Sword Arts within the rules. Even if they became Sword Guests, if those above thought you had no future, they would forcibly take your sword and give it to the next generation of people with promise...

With such a style, would they still take care of and arrange for their own Disciples after disbanding?

Those young Disciples probably have nowhere to go.

And he had only officially merged with the Jinwu Sword for a short time; counting the time, it hadn't even been a month, and Colorful Clouds Return had already been disbanded...

He heard that even Chen Zong had to apply to resign from his hometown a month in advance.

Colorful clouds are easily scattered indeed.

Looking at it this way, saying Colorful Clouds Return was driven mad is not entirely an excuse.

This also reminded Tang Zhao: this Six Dragon Sword might not only have an imperial bearing, but his style of doing things is also imperial logic.

An emperor, high above, views all living things as ants, ruthless and decisive!

An emperor may not be without feelings, but ordinary people are not qualified to talk about feelings with an emperor. Even if they get close, they are nothing more than tools, and there are ways to treat tools.

Come to think of it, it was Tang Zhao who had seen too little before. Not to mention how many people's help he had received along the way, just the fact that the first powerhouse he saw in the sky was Guiyuanshi might have given him an impression: powerhouses, though strong, are flesh and blood and not hard to get along with.

But in fact, Guiyuanshi might be the exception; perhaps because of his Sword Intent, he was a bit too down-to-earth. Once one truly reaches the step of ascending to immortality, they are physically a different species from everyone else.

The emperor of the Human World is still a mortal body, yet already holds the mandate of heaven and is supreme; a single word can cause blood to flow like a river, so why would the Sword Immortal in the sky care about mortals?

Tang Zhao felt that the mental preparation he had done before coming was still insufficient; perhaps it was because he hadn't seen "ordinary" powerhouses in the real world—he had been too lucky before.

The Six-Dragon Sword did not know that Tang Zhao had become even more vigilant in the span of a single thought, and he remained very cordial toward Tang Zhao, saying, "Those Sun-Holding Envoys have not been disbanded; they are all people of the Jinwu Sword. Now that the Jinwu is absent, they naturally fall under your command. We will transfer them once the Sword Deity has grown. I suspect they would all be happy with that."

The Sun Court later found out about Zheng Yun taking the risk to return to Caiyungui to poach talent, but since the Jinwu Sword had reappeared, the Sword Immortals did not care and treated the matter as a minor episode. However, if the Jinwu Sword had failed to emerge, Zheng Yun's fate right now would likely not be very pleasant.

This was all idle chatter; the Six-Dragon Sword continued to introduce the remaining people at the table, and then the banquet began. Only then did Tang Zhao realize that the middle-aged man sitting before him, who looked slightly plump, was actually the City Lord of Qianjin City and an ancestor of the Great Jin Dynasty's royal family. That was a figure who could stir up the Human World and whose word was law, and he was sitting right next to Tang Zhao.

This ancestor was very appreciative of Tang Zhao accepting the title conferred by the Imperial Court, saying that his heart was toward the Imperial Court and his loyalty was commendable. Tang Zhao chuckled a few times and could not say anything; was he supposed to say that if your damn Imperial Court were overthrown tomorrow, I wouldn't even blink?

After three rounds of drinks, having eaten and drunk well, Tang Zhao felt the proceedings were about done; it was time to get to the main point, right?

At this moment, he heard the Six-Dragon Sword beside him chuckle and say, "Little Friend Tang, the Mysterious Technique you are cultivating is the Great Sun Divine Carriage Sutra, isn't it?"