Chapter 638

But it was enough to comprehend the Evil King's Ten Tribulations!

447 The legendary Deer-Slaying Blade?

In Jiangnan of the Great Song, since Murong Longcheng of Gusu Murong had his true face exposed by the Heavenly Dao Golden List, and was slain at Mount Wudang by the Qinglong Society.

The once-renowned Gusu Murong clan of Jiangnan, and the Shenhe Shanzhuang that influenced the Jiangnan Wu Lin, vanished into thin air.

Nowadays, the one holding the reins of the Great Song's southern Wu Lin is, unexpectedly, a rising power — the Wugou Shanzhuang.

Or it could also be called the Lian Family Fort!

Last time, Shen Bijun of the Shen Family Fort made it onto the Heavenly Dao Hundred Flowers List, and because of the Seven Mansions of the Azure Dragon, Shen Bijun actually eloped with Xiao Shiyilang.

After the battle at Qixia Town, most people only knew of super experts like Xiao Jingtian, Old Fahai, Bu Yuanting, and the Four Swords of Chihu.

As for the outcome of the battle between Xiao Shiyilang and Lian Chengbi, no one actually knew.

In fact, in that battle, Xiao Shiyilang actually lost to Lian Chengbi.

The reason was that Lian Chengbi, who originally only had Grandmaster Realm skill, after his swordsmanship was no less than Xiao Shiyilang's bladework.

He suddenly erupted with the cultivation of the Earthly Immortal Realm!

On top of that, his hands and feet could suddenly stretch out over ten zhang, incredibly miraculous.

Caught off guard for a moment, Xiao Shiyilang was defeated by him.

Then, after the people of Dengqinglong Society and the Soul-Searching Palace had all left.

Lian Chengbi suddenly turned on Shen Bijun, sealing her acupoints and carrying her off as well.

When the two of them came to, they found themselves inside a closed-off Shanzhuang.

This Shanzhuang was built in a peculiar way, atop a towering Gaoshan that plunged into the clouds, surrounded on all sides by bottomless cliffs.

Xiao Shiyilang searched for over ten days, but could never find a way out.

He could only remain trapped in this strange Shanzhuang with Shen Bijun.

Just as the two were at a loss, Lian Chengbi suddenly transformed into a god-like being who could pierce through heaven and earth.

A single head alone was bigger than the sun, blocking out the sky above the Shanzhuang. Seeing the two of them nestled together, he said with a cold smile,

"Xiao Shiyilang, Shen Bijun, do you want to stay here for the rest of your lives, or come out?"

Seeing Lian Chengbi so overwhelmingly powerful, Xiao Shiyilang found it utterly bizarre, while Shen Bijun felt a measure of sheer terror.

Could it be that Lian Chengbi had cultivated some world-shaking divine art and already become an immortal?

The present world was already an age of great contention.

It was far too different from the world of the past.

Though becoming an immortal was still elusive, take for instance Ximen Wudi, the Grand Dragon Head of the Qinglong Society — what difference was there now between him and an immortal?

So seeing Lian Chengbi like this was Shen Bijun's first reaction.

"Lian Chengbi, what is this place? And what do you want from us?"

Xiao Shiyilang, however, felt something was off. Though he was only a Grandmaster Realm martial artist, he was ultimately not like Shen Bijun, and did not believe Lian Chengbi could have become an immortal.

Everything before his eyes was most likely an illusion.

He also didn't know how exactly Lian Chengbi had managed it.

After all, every blade of grass and tree, every table, chair, and bench, every meal and drink of water in this Shanzhuang was utterly real.

Even the surrounding cliffs wreathed in mist, so deep one could not see the bottom, felt entirely genuine.

Clearly, he and Shen Bijun were in a real world, not a hallucination.

Then it must be that Lian Chengbi had used illusion arts to become so overwhelmingly powerful.

But Xiao Shiyilang could also sense that Lian Chengbi's head hung high in the sky above, and with every breath, could stir the currents of the air.

Every word, every syllable, was like thunder rolling across the heavens.

Such a situation didn't seem fake either!

Yet Xiao Shiyilang felt that one side had to be false.

Perhaps Lian Chengbi's illusion arts were simply that brilliant.

He had trapped himself and Shen Bijun here, clearly for another purpose.

After all, the Seven Mansions of the Azure Dragon he wanted most was no longer with Shen Bijun.

"The legends say the Xiao clan is the blade-protecting clan.

Xiao Shiyilang, my intelligence isn't wrong, is it?"

Lian Chengbi paid no heed to Xiao Shiyilang's wild thoughts and asked directly.

"That's right! You want the Deer-Slaying Blade?"

Xiao Shiyilang guessed Lian Chengbi's intention at once.

"Precisely! As long as you hand over the Deer-Slaying Blade, I can let you and Bijun leave this Puppet Shanzhuang.

I can even grant the matter between the two of you."

Lian Chengbi was originally Shen Bijun's fiancé, but he was consumed by jealousy, and to drive a wedge between Xiao Shiyilang and Shen Bijun's feelings.

He went mad and gave Shen Bijun's grandmother, Old Madam Shen, a strange poison called Hour-Arrival.

Once the hour arrived, the crippled Old Madam Shen would transform into a murderous fiend.

In the end, after Xiao Shiyilang investigated and uncovered the truth, for the sake of Old Madam Shen, he personally severed her head.

But alas, there are no walls in this world without cracks.

Though Xiao Shiyilang did not explain, Shen Bijun had already come to know.

Thus her relationship with Lian Chengbi ended right there.

But Lian Chengbi was unwilling to accept it, and finally chased Xiao Shiyilang and Shen Bijun for thousands of miles.

Now, for the sake of the Deer-Slaying Blade, he was even willing to acknowledge the relationship between the two.

"To be honest, I've never seen the Deer-Cutting Blade."

It was true: though Xiao Shiyilang was of the clan sworn to guard the blade, he had never laid eyes on the very blade he was meant to protect.

"Here!"

Lian Chengbi suddenly hurled a precious sword from the sky, its scabbard inlaid with gemstones.

It plunged straight into the ground beside Xiao Shiyilang's feet.

"This is the Deer-Cutting Blade I found in the Shen Family Fortress."

"Open it for me—let me see..."

Xiao Shiyilang and Shen Bijun exchanged glances.

Could Lian Chengbi be mad?

Just moments ago he was demanding the Deer-Cutting Blade from Xiao Shiyilang—and now he produces one, supposedly from the Shen Family Fortress?

"This is indeed our family's precious blade, but no one has ever called it the Deer-Cutting Blade..."

Shen Bijun bent down, studying it closely, and recognized the blade as the one hidden deep within the innermost vault of the Shen Family Fortress.

As a child, curious, she had asked Shen Lao, what this precious blade was, and why it was locked away so tightly.

Shen Lao had laughed and said it was the very lifeblood of the Shen family—she would learn its secret only after marrying and taking over the fortress.

Yet now Lian Chengbi claimed this most treasured blade of the Shen family was the legendary Deer-Cutting Blade?

Xiao Shiyilang gathered his Qi and effortlessly pulled the blade from the ground, where it had sunk three inches deep.

When he drew it from its scabbard, he found the so-called precious blade was nothing but a rusted, useless hunk of iron.

"This... this is the Deer-Cutting Blade? Lian Chengbi, have you been fooled?"

A blade of such lavish scabbard turned out to be this rusted ruin—Xiao Shiyilang couldn't help laughing.

But now Lian Chengbi held his breath, as if stunned.

After a long silence, he said,

"Put the blade back into its scabbard. Let Shen Bijun try."

A rusted blade? Xiao Shiyilang didn't care—he returned it to the scabbard and handed it to Shen Bijun.

Holding her own family's precious blade, Shen Bijun was equally baffled.

Why would her grandmother call the Shen family's lifeblood a rusted ruin?

She examined the gemstones on the scabbard, the texture of the leather, the grain of the fittings.

Shen Bijun confirmed: this was indeed her family's blade.

After a moment's hesitation, she gripped the hilt and pulled with all her strength.