Chapter 137: Chapter 136: An Instant Turns Seas to Mulberry Fields
Wen Qingye found himself drawn toward the ancient bridge. With every step, he could feel a powerful pressure, a faint but pervasive aura. He finally confirmed that this pressure was slowly emanating from the bridge itself.
As Wen Qingye drew closer, he saw that both sides of the stone bridge were engraved with the figures of twelve women. With varying expressions and graceful, captivating postures, there were twenty-four beauties in total.
And in the very center of the bridge, a sword was embedded, half its length plunged into the structure. It was perfectly centered, not off by an inch. The sword seemed even more ancient than the bridge itself, its appearance more primitive, more weathered by time.
The exposed upper half of the blade was covered in ring after ring of cracks. The lower half was lodged firmly in the bridge, where it seemed to have rested for countless years.
"What a fine sword!"
Wen Qingye could tell at a glance this was no ordinary sword. Though it had cracks, its blade still held a hint of a sharp edge. He strolled onto the stone bridge, walked over slowly, and grasped the hilt with both hands.
"Hmm?" Wen Qingye found he couldn’t budge the sword. ’I can’t pull it out?’ he thought with a flicker of confusion.
Wen Qingye circulated his Primordial Qi, putting his entire strength into the effort.
SCREEECH—
The sword was pulled out inch by inch, and the entire ancient bridge seemed to tremble slightly with it.
Wen Qingye felt the tremors underfoot, which only further convinced him of the sword’s extraordinary nature. The world seemed to spin around him, but it wasn’t enough to stop him.
SHIIING!
Wen Qingye yanked the sword free, and the ancient bridge fell still.
Wen Qingye looked at the sword in his hand, feeling the power emanating from the blade. ’A blade sharp enough to capture Flood Dragons and slay true dragons.’ This was an absolutely fine sword; though damaged, it was still an extraordinary weapon.
’Peak of the Ninth Grade!’ Wen Qingye thought to himself, looking at the broken sword in his hand.
Although this sword was heavily damaged, it was still a weapon at the Peak of Ninth-Grade.
BOOM!
Suddenly, Wen Qingye felt the aura before him condense. The surrounding Primordial Qi surged wildly, forming a huge vortex, as if something was about to appear.
Wen Qingye looked up, his brow furrowed. ’Did pulling out the sword trigger some kind of Array? Impossible. What kind of Array could possibly escape my eyes?’
The air currents spun continuously, as if trying to drain all the surrounding Primordial Qi.
WHOOSH!
An immense presence slowly unfurled before Wen Qingye, revealing a vast spectacle.
Towering ancient trees stood in groves, and an aura of the Primordial Chaos permeated the land. Giant birds soared through the sky; with a single stretch of their wings, they blotted out the sun, casting the entire world into shadow.
On the ground below, the slightest movement of a primeval beast could shatter the land and crumble mountains, causing the entire world to tremble. Ancient trees towered, mountain ranges erupted from the earth, and the sun, moon, and stars all seemed to exist within this single scene.
The entire scene carried a visceral impact that pierced one to the soul. An ordinary person would have been utterly horrified by the sight.
This primordial scene seemed to be projected onto the sky, the image constantly shifting, as if it were truly happening before his eyes.
’A Secret Realm?’ Wen Qingye murmured, his hands clasped behind his back as he watched the unfolding scene.
Wen Qingye stood on the ancient bridge, watching without blinking. The primordial aura washed over him, reflecting on the lake’s surface, which in turn seemed to be imprinted on the sky, creating a disorienting and indescribable sight.
’An aura of slaughter! A Demon Weapon?’ Wen Qingye’s eyes suddenly lit up as he recalled the information revealed by the celestial phenomena. ’Could that Secret Realm I just witnessed be the one where the Demon Weapon was unearthed?’
An unknown amount of time passed before the scene slowly faded, growing fainter and fainter.
The primordial aura vanished, the great beasts disappeared, and the giant birds also slowly faded away.
One thought gives rise to a thousand mountains; one thought extinguishes, and the seas turn to dust.
"From now on, I’ll call you One Thought." Wen Qingye looked from the broken sword in his hand to the sky above.
DING!
Suddenly, the body of the sword began to vibrate with a soft hum.
’A Sword Spirit?’ Wen Qingye raised an eyebrow, a flash of surprise in his eyes.
Normally, to raise a Sword Grade, one would refine it with sufficient ores and metals until it reached a critical point. To improve it further beyond that point, the sword had to give birth to a Sword Spirit.
Only after gaining a Sword Spirit could a sword’s grade be raised again.
After Wen Qingye put away the One Thought Sword, he realized the sky had slowly darkened. The moonlight had begun to peek out, shining on the surface of the pool and making it shimmer.
Suddenly, Wen Qingye thought he heard the faint sound of a flute. It was as pure as white mist, as clear as cleansed water—a celestial melody that seemed to originate from the highest heavens.
Before Wen Qingye’s eyes, several beautiful figures seemed to begin dancing. Streams of light fluttered, and skirts billowed. They were hazy and ethereal, shimmering with beautiful colors, yet so very distant and unreachable.
_The twenty-four bridges on a moonlit night; where is the fair one who teaches the flute?_
Wen Qingye looked up at the moon, its light shining directly on the pool.
’The pool?’
SPLASH!
A sudden thought struck Wen Qingye, and without hesitation, he leaped into the air, landing right in the spot illuminated by the moonlight.
As soon as Wen Qingye entered the water, he was assaulted by a frigid chill. It was a cold that seeped into his very bones, piercing him to the soul. Then came the pressure. The mysterious aura was even more intense here, and his heart began to pound in his chest.
’This water is so cold. I wonder if there’s any Water of Heaven and Earth here,’ Wen Qingye thought to himself as he looked around.
Wen Qingye’s eyes sharpened as he continued to swim downward. The surroundings were deathly still—no animals, no plants, only the frigid water of the pool.
After swimming for an unknown amount of time, Wen Qingye felt the pressure growing stronger and the water growing colder.
’This... pressure... it’s so strong,’ Wen Qingye thought, his brow tightly locked. It was like a pressure that was branded onto one’s very soul. If a person with a weak Primordial Spirit were here, they would be crushed to death by it instantly.
’What on earth is this thing?’
The water’s color gradually deepened. After another long while, the water itself began to feel heavy, taking on a thick, dense quality.
CRACK!
Wen Qingye felt a sharp pain in his knee, accompanied by the faint sound of bone cracking and shifting out of place.
Wen Qingye took a deep breath, winced, and continued to swim forward.
Suddenly, a light appeared ahead. A fan-shaped object came into view, emitting an endless pressure that radiated outwards in all directions.
’A Dragon Scale!?’
Wen Qingye finally knew what the object before him was. It was a Dragon Scale, a single scale from a dragon’s body.
And this one Dragon Scale was the source of that immensely powerful pressure!
The Dragon Race was a renowned clan in the Immortal Realm. This, of course, did not refer to the likes of the Water Dragon or Flood Dragon clans. The true Dragon Race was rooted in the Demon Realm. And though the ruler of the Demon Realm was not a dragon, everyone knew this was only because the Dragon Race had chosen to live in seclusion.
The Dragon Race possessed immense influence, both in terms of strength and power. The Dragon Scale before him was from a pure-blooded dragon, which was why it emanated such a powerful aura.
Wen Qingye shot out his hand and grabbed the Dragon Scale. The pressure immediately assaulted him, and a faint glimmer flashed in his eyes.
RUMBLE!
The surrounding water of the pool erupted as if it were flash-boiling, surging in all directions.
Wen Qingye gripped the Dragon Scale tightly. His hand immediately felt heavy, and a sharp pain shot through his mind.
After an unknown amount of time passed, Wen Qingye felt his mind become clear and serene.
Wen Qingye examined the Dragon Scale in his hand closely. Only then did he realize that it had been divided into several parts. It looked as if it had been made into one-eighth of an Eight Trigrams Disc. The Dragon Scale before him was likely only one-eighth of a complete scale.
This fragmented Dragon Scale was engraved with the character for ’Heaven’.
A single Dragon Scale had been divided into eight pieces. Where were the other seven? What would happen if all eight pieces were brought together? Wen Qingye couldn’t help but feel a surge of curiosity.
