Chapter 576

"You are Wuming?"

Just as Wuming was preparing to leave, the five elders who had set up the formation in the sky to protect the imperial city suddenly appeared before him.

"Indeed. What guidance do you seniors have?"

Wuming had originally intended to raise his hands in a fist salute, but after discovering his meridians were severed, both his hands and feet barely obeyed him.

"A pride of the Daijian Sect should not fall so low."

One elder's expression grew solemn as he said,

"Considering we share some ties with the Jian Sect, we'll tell you this much."

"The supreme secret of the Jian Sect, the 'Wanjiangui Sect,' can restore you to your former self."

After speaking, the five elders no longer paid Wuming any heed, and once again rose into the air, returning to the imperial palace.

"Wanjiangui Sect?"

Wuming was at a loss.

If this had been before, he had never seen the Wanjiangui Sect at all, so naturally he did not know what to do.

But not long ago, the Sword Prison, in order to capture him, had deliberately gifted him the sword manual of the Wanjiangui Sect.

During those ten days, Wuming had long since committed the entire sword manual of the Wanjiangui Sect to memory.

Only he clearly remembered that the manual was missing one crucial page.

He had always wondered before what that page could be.

But today, after the elder who claimed ties with the Jian Sect spoke, Wuming was suddenly struck by inspiration.

He immediately struggled to sit cross-legged on the ground, closed his eyes, and began contemplating the Wanjiangui Sect.

"Damnable—who exactly are these five old men? How dare they ruin my plans?"

At this moment, just outside the imperial palace, Mysterious Yin Jian Chen lay in hiding somewhere, watching everything here, filled with resentment.

More than ten days before the great battle at the Yunzhou imperial city, a major event also occurred in the western regions of Yunzhou.

The foremost sword-forging noble house of Yunzhou, the Worshipping Sword Shanzhuang, which had been exterminated by the Yunzhou imperial clan and was wanted, sent out—

Hero invitations throughout the Wu Lin of the Nine Provinces, declaring that the Worshipping Sword Shanzhuang possessed a peerless fine sword about to be completed.

Only a divine sword possessed a spirit and would choose its own master.

The martial artists of the Nine Provinces' Wu Lin, apart from the Qinglong Society, universally longed for a divine weapon but could not obtain one.

This time, the Worshipping Sword Shanzhuang openly announced the news of this divine weapon's emergence, and in an instant, followers gathered like clouds.

Bu Jingyun of the Qinglong Society, as well as Duan Lang, also participated in this grand event at Senior Xiaoyaozi's request.

At first, Watching Bu Jingyun was puzzled—since the Qinglong Society possessed countless divine weapons, why insist he come to this Worshipping Sword Shanzhuang?

But Senior Xiaoyaozi said this was a message relayed from the Great Dragon Head.

This peerless fine sword was fated to be his.

Hearing it was the Great Dragon Head who said so, Bu Jingyun no longer hesitated, and together with Yan Shisan, came to the Worshipping Sword Shanzhuang.

They received the warm hospitality of Seeing Ao Jue, the current master of the Worshipping Sword Shanzhuang.

After two days passed, once the Wu Lin people had mostly arrived.

Seeing Ao Jue led everyone deep into the Worshipping Sword Shanzhuang.

This was a sword-forging furnace, the ground bristling with all manner of divine weapons.

"Wow! The Worshipping Sword Shanzhuang is truly extravagant—even the ones stuck at the outermost edge are Earth-grade divine weapons!"

"Of course! They're the imperial swordsmiths of the Yunzhou imperial clan—how could they lack substance?"

"But among so many divine weapons, which one is the peerless fine sword Master Ao spoke of?"

Upon entering the sword-forging furnace, all the Wu Lin people were stunned, unable to stop discussing among themselves.

Seeing Ao Jue's face was indifferent, his manner aloof, as he stared at the very center of the sword-forging furnace, saying nothing.

Bu Jingyun, seeing him thus, said nothing more.

Duan Lang even whispered to Bu Jingyun,

"Brother Bu, compared to the Divine Weapon Hall, hehe…"

When at the Zhoutianxia Society, Xiongba deliberately suppressed Duan Lang, causing him to envy Bu Jingyun and be at odds with him.

But after the two joined the Qinglong Society, their cultivation resources were vast, and there was no more needless rivalry.

Normally, when tasks required cooperation, since both hailed from the Yunzhou Zhoutianxia Society, they occasionally collaborated.

So it was that after not too long, the two's relationship had actually improved considerably.

"Mm! But which one is the peerless fine sword?"

Bu Jingyun actually had little interest in the so-called peerless fine sword.

Only since this was the Great Dragon Head's word, the Bidingbu Society would be wrong.

At the center of the sword-forging furnace was an elder, who, seeing the bustling and noisy crowd, said,

"Fellow members of the Wu Lin, the divine weapons within this sword-forging furnace have been forged by our Sword-Forging Shanzhuang for over a hundred years."

"Each and every one is a divine weapon."

"And each one could be our heart's-blood creation—a peerless fine sword!"

"Therefore, to seek the peerless fine sword, one must enter the sword-forging furnace and make a trip!"

The so-called sword-forging furnace was precisely what everyone saw before them—a place bristling with treasured swords and divine weapons.

The ground here was glowing red on one side, clearly at an extremely high temperature.

If one's strength was insufficient, let alone seeking the peerless fine sword, merely entering the sword-forging furnace would result in injury.

"The temperature is this high—how are we supposed to search?"

"That's right! Old man, why don't you just point it out—which one is the peerless fine sword? Wouldn't that do?"

GLOSSARY:

【Wuming, Jian Sect, Wanjiangui Sect, Sword Prison, Mysterious Yin Jian Chen, Yunzhou, Worshipping Sword Shanzhuang, Wu Lin of the Nine Provinces, Qinglong Society, Bu Jingyun, Duan Lang, Senior Xiaoyaozi, Great Dragon Head, Yan Shisan, Seeing Ao Jue, Sword-Forging Furnace, Divine Weapon Hall, Zhoutianxia Society, Xiongba, Bidingbu Society】

The crowd of Wu Lin people saw the situation clearly and couldn't help but complain.

"People of the Central Plains are such cowards. Watch me."

For this grand gathering, Ao Jue had widely distributed hero invitations, and even people from Dongying were present.

Seeing that the martial artists of the Nine Provinces' Wu Lin had not moved, a Dongying warrior let out a mocking sound and directly leaped into the Sword-Forging Furnace.

He casually picked up a Heaven-grade divine weapon and swung it a couple of times,

"Could this possibly be the so-called Peerless Sword?"

The moment the words fell, a blaze of fierce flames surged beneath his feet.

In an instant, the Dongying warrior was burned to ashes.

That Heaven-grade divine weapon was once again plunged into the Sword-Forging Furnace.

"Master Ao, what do you mean by this?"

The crowd of Wu Lin people all burst into an uproar.

Although the one who died was a Dongying person, a dead man is still a dead man.

Everyone thought, if it had been themselves who recklessly jumped down just now, wouldn't the one dead be themselves?

"The temperature within the Sword-Forging Furnace is extraordinarily high; only those in the Earthly Immortal Realm may enter the furnace."

Ao Jue remained coldly silent without offering an explanation. Instead, it was the old man within the furnace who spoke,

"Moreover, any divine weapon within this furnace—if any of you can pull it out and bring it out of the Sword-Forging Furnace,"

"Even a Heaven-grade divine weapon, Sword Worship Shanzhuang is willing to give it to everyone."

Earlier they had thought there would only be one Peerless Sword, but now hearing the old man say this,

The hearts of the crowd of Wu Lin people surged with excitement.

What matters most to martial artists are Wu Lin secret manuals and divine weapons.

A Heaven-grade divine weapon might be nothing special in the Qinglong Society, or even in the Three Great Imperial Dynasties.

But in the eyes of ordinary Wu Lin people, it is a divine weapon worthy of being a family heirloom.

Hearing that they could obtain a Heaven-grade divine weapon, some martial artists whose cultivation had reached the Earthly Immortal Realm finally could not hold back.

They one after another leaped into the Sword-Forging Furnace, searching among the many divine weapons for one suited to themselves.

Others who had not reached the Earthly Immortal Realm could only watch with envious eyes.

Take Duan Lang for example—although he had completed several missions, he was still only at the Peerless grade. He couldn't help but say to Bu Jingyun,

"Brother Bu, what a pity. Mine is only Peerless grade; I cannot enter the Sword-Forging Furnace."

Saying so, he raised the precious sword in his hand and said proudly,