Chapter 39: Everyone Gathers

A month passed very quickly, and Duan Fengyun had arrived outside the Sword Casting Villa once again.

Duan Fengyun stepped forward and boasted to the guards: "Gentlemen, this young master has returned. You won't be chasing me away again this time, will you?"

The guards had long since received notice from their young master that Duan Fengyun was an honored guest and must not be offended.

The guards hurriedly cupped their hands and said: "Hero Duan, you are an honored guest of our villa; how could we possibly slight you?"

Escorted by a group of guards, Duan Fengyun was welcomed into the villa.

Seeing a newcomer enter, a short, sleazy-looking man with a handlebar mustache walked up to Duan Fengyun.

"Your killing intent is exposed, yet your aura is steady. Among the younger generation, there are only two people with such strength and such heavy killing intent. But since you are so grinning and cheeky, you are certainly not the Uncrying Death God Bu Jingyun. You are Duan Fengyun?"

The sleazy man asked tentatively.

Duan Fengyun replied: "Sir, you have a sharp eye; it is indeed Duan. And you, sir, with your cowering manner and shifty eyes, you must be Jian Tan."

Jian Tan rolled his eyes and said: "You also have a sharp eye, sir. I am indeed Jian Tan."

Jian Tan muttered to himself: "Why has this star of misfortune come here?"

Just as the two were bickering, another murderous-looking fellow walked in. It was none other than the other star of misfortune Jian Tan had been thinking of: Bu Jingyun.

Seeing that Bu Jingyun had arrived, Duan Fengyun was overjoyed and said: "Brother Yun, long time no see. You have come as well."

Seeing Duan Fengyun, Bu Jingyun also happily went up to greet him and embraced him, then said: "Junior Brother Duan, long time no see."

At this moment, Chuchu walked out from the side and also greeted Duan Fengyun: "Big Brother Duan, long time no see."

Duan Fengyun replied: "Long time no see, Chuchu."

After speaking, Duan Fengyun looked at the two of them playfully and joked with Bu Jingyun: "Brother Yun, when will you and Chuchu invite me to your wedding feast?"

Chuchu looked shy, and Bu Jingyun shot Bu Jingyun a glare.

Jian Tan looked at Duan Fengyun, then at Bu Jingyun, and muttered to himself: "Why have both of these killing machines come? It seems the Peerless Sword will not be easy to snatch this time."

"How lively, everyone has arrived. Miss Chuchu, you have come too."

At this moment, a voice rang out from behind; it turned out to be Jian Chen who had arrived.

Jian Chen greeted each of them in turn. Jian Tan looked at Jian Chen and felt he looked a bit unfamiliar; he had never heard of such a person in the martial arts world. But when he saw the sword in Jian Chen's hand, he was instantly stunned.

He stammered as he asked Jian Chen: "Kid, is that the Hero Sword in your hand?"

Jian Chen replied: "It is indeed the Hero Sword."

Duan Fengyun stepped forward, patted Jian Tan, and said: "Jian Tan, this young hero is the only successor to the Martial Arts Myth Wuming, oh. His martial arts are quite formidable, oh."

Jian Chen cupped his hands and said: "Brother Duan is joking."

Jian Tan looked at these three: two killing machines and a successor to Wuming whose martial arts depth was unknown. The situation for competing for the sword was a bit precarious.

Just as the few were chatting with each other, a guard spoke up to interrupt their conversation.

"Honored heroes, please move to the backyard. Our young master and mistress have something to explain to you all."

Duan Fengyun took a look; the characters from the original Sword Sacrifice, except for his younger brother, had all arrived.

He wondered how the Sword Casting Villa would complete the Blood Sacrifice of the Three Poisons for the Peerless Sword in this lifetime without Duan Lang participating in the Sword Sacrifice.

Led by the guards, the group arrived at the backyard of the Sword Casting Villa. They saw a large, roaring sword furnace on the grounds of the backyard, and inside the sword furnace was stuck a sword with a strange shape, pitch-black and shining all over.

This was exactly the Peerless Sword in Duan Fengyun's memory.

Looking at the sword before him, Jian Tan mistook it for the Peerless Sword and rushed up, wanting to pull it out to take a look.

Jian Chen had been raised with upright and honorable ideals since childhood; he could not tolerate such petty, thieving behavior from Jian Tan. Moreover, a person like Jian Tan had crooked intentions, and the Peerless Sword must absolutely not fall into his hands.

Jian Chen scolded: "Sir, please put down the Peerless Sword, otherwise do not blame me for being heartless with my sword."

Once Jian Tan saw the Peerless Sword, how could he still heed Jian Chen's words? Now, there was only the Peerless Sword in his eyes.

Seeing that kind advice was ineffective, Jian Chen drew the Hero Sword directly and stepped forward to stop Jian Tan.

Seeing the Hero Sword thrusting toward him, Jian Tan could not care about anything else; ignoring the scorching heat of the sword furnace, he directly pulled the Peerless Sword out of the furnace.

Jian Tan held the Peerless Sword and began to battle with Jian Chen's Hero Sword, but after only a few moves, the sword in Jian Tan's hand was slashed in two by the Hero Sword.

Duan Fengyun pretended to know nothing and mocked: "Just this? This is worthy of being called the Peerless Sword?"

Bu Jingyun also chimed in: "If this is the Peerless Sword, then please forgive me for not keeping you company. Farewell."

At this moment, Aotian, Lady Ao, and Jian Mo walked out; the group had long been listening to what was happening in the backyard from behind.

Aotian smiled and said: "Everyone, rest assured, this is of course not the Peerless Sword. This is merely a model of the Peerless Sword. The Peerless Sword will be revealed after the Sword Sacrifice held in the Sword Pool behind the Sword Casting Villa at the hour of the Rat tonight."

Seeing that the principals had arrived, Duan Fengyun and the others all cupped their hands in greeting.

Jian Chen also introduced himself to Aotian and the others: "I am Jian Chen. Acting on the orders of my master Wuming, I have come to assist the Sword Casting Villa in protecting the Peerless Sword."

Upon hearing this, Aotian happily replied: "Thank you, Senior Wuming, for your support of our Sword Casting Villa. After the Sword Sacrifice, I will certainly follow Young Hero Jian Chen to pay a visit to Senior Wuming."

Seeing that Lady Ao had arrived, Duan Fengyun teased: "Lady Ao, I have come to your villa again. You won't be chasing me away this time, will you?"

Lady Ao replied with a wry smile: "Young Hero Duan is joking. This time you are an honored guest of our villa; how could we chase you away?"

Aotian stepped forward and said: "Everyone, our villa has prepared guest rooms. Please move to the guest rooms to rest and attend the Sword Sacrifice promptly at the hour of the Rat tonight."

The guest rooms of Duan Fengyun and Bu Jingyun were next to each other, and the two who had not seen each other for a long time naturally had much to say.

Looking at the Wushuang Sword in Duan Fengyun's hand, Bu Jingyun asked in confusion: "Junior Brother Duan, wasn't the Wushuang Sword broken by me? Where did this Wushuang Sword of yours come from?"

Duan Fengyun explained: "Brother Yun, there is something you do not know. This Wushuang Sword is actually a pair; the one you broke back then was only one of them. When I went to see Youruo, she saw that my Fire Scale Sword was broken and stole this one from Xiongba's room for me."

Bu Jingyun sighed: "So that is how it is. Junior Brother Duan, although Youruo is Xiongba's daughter, she is sincere and kind; you must cherish her well."

Duan Fengyun nodded. He thought for a moment and felt he should clarify things first.

He looked at Bu Jingyun and said: "Brother Yun, in this struggle for the Peerless Sword, we shall each rely on our own abilities. I will not go easy on you, oh."

Upon hearing this, Bu Jingyun also nodded and said: "Good, I was just about to say this to you as well. The Peerless Sword belongs to the capable; we shall each rely on our own abilities to seize the sword."

The two martial brothers had clarified things in advance to avoid their relationship breaking down due to the seizing of the sword.

Now that everything was prepared, everyone rested in their respective guest rooms, waiting for the Sword Sacrifice to begin at the hour of the Rat.