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“The sword of an emperor... should not be casually unsheathed.... But once unsheathed, it can destroy the heavens and crush the earth.”

Shaken, Xu Qing listened carefully. Gradually, the murmuring turned into streams of information within his very soul.

Each bit of information told him something about The Emperor’s Sword. The Emperor’s Sword, also known as Sword of the Swordsage, was one of the orthodox imperial-class techniques of humankind, and was the creation of Yuan Zaiji, Grand Emperor of Immortal Ultrabrilliance. It was designed to kill, was filled with formidable power, and could slaughter endlessly. In the past, it had been used to cut down countless species, and in the ancient past, had even been used by the Grand Emperor to fell gods.

Years ago, even Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity had once sighed in admiration for the Grand Emperor’s sword technique. Later, when the members of the Sword Palace turned into the swordsages, the Grand Emperor took all of his imperial-class techniques and imparted them to the Swordsage Division, breaking them up into smaller sections that the swordsages could seek enlightenment of. As for The Emperor’s Sword, the Grand Emperor generously made it possible for even brand new swordsages to learn. That said, it was only the first instance that was free. Later on, military credits were required to seek enlightenment.

The Emperor’s Sword was difficult to gain enlightenment of. From ancient times until modern, no one had ever succeeded fully in one session. Instead, it required multiple sessions of enlightenment to brand the technique onto the soul in the form of a sword seed.

The sword could be both powerful and flexible. The cultivation base of the cultivator was one factor that determined how mighty the sword was. But even more relevant was the factor of time. The Emperor’s Sword needed time to gather power, and wasn’t to be casually unsheathed. What was more, the more time it was given to gather power, the more terrifying it would be when unsheathed. After being unsheathed, the sword would return to its ordinary state. However, the power that could be unleashed was shocking.

In the past, there was a swordsage who didn’t unsheathe his sword for 2,000 years. Then, when he did unsheathe it, his peak Nascent Soul cultivation base actually surpassed the power of the Spirit Trove realm, allowing him to easily slaughter a Void Returning opponent.

Of course, that happened before the arrival of the broken face of the god, back when the spirit energy of heaven and earth was abundant, and living beings had shocking longevity.

The modern world couldn’t compare to the ancient world. And yet, The Emperor’s Sword was still something that caused countless species to deeply fear the Swordsage Division. After all, it was impossible to know how many old-timers in the division had lived for many years without unsheathing their swords.

Anyone could imagine how a group with a technique like that could assign certain members to stay in seclusion for a long time without fighting, just to power up their swords. If those swords were used in the right moment, they would be virtually unstoppable.

The Emperor’s Sword was one of the Swordsage Division’s main reserve powers, and its deadly nature was one of the reasons why the Grand Emperor had made it available for all swordsages to learn. He wanted to give the Swordsage Division a solid foundation that would last through the ages.

That said, it wasn’t easy to gain enlightenment of the technique, so not every swordsage was able to use it. Furthermore, multiple sessions of enlightenment were usually required. And Xu Qing, the Captain, and Zhang Siyun had all been rewarded with a single session.

Xu Qing had no idea how much time was passing. He simply tried as hard as possible to clear the fog. Unfortunately, as he sought enlightenment, the fog just seemed to get thicker, and no matter what he did, he couldn’t drive it away. All he could do was try to push through the fog to see what was beyond it.

In that matter, time slipped by slowly but surely.

Eventually, the fog in front of Xu Qing started to clear, and he saw a sword. The moment he laid eyes on it, it became the only thing in existence from his perspective. Heaven-shaking, earth-toppling rumbling sounds filled his mind. Although the sword seemed completely ordinary in appearance, it contained pure slaughter. The baleful aura within the sword was difficult to put into words, and it could cause the mind to tremble. It seemed like it wanted to burst up into the sky and cut down anything and everything. It was as if the black boulder couldn’t constrain the sword, and it was only the chains that managed to keep it in place.

Xu Qing struggled to control his breathing. His mind was a blank, except for the image of the sword beyond the fog, which grew clearer and clearer as the moments passed. He was almost in a daze as the outline of a sword developed in his sea of consciousness.

Xu Qing’s powers of understanding had shocked even Master Seventh, and they were no less amazing right now. Suddenly, a deep desire rose within Xu Qing, and he prepared to completely drive away the fog and imprint the image of the sword into his heart and mind.

However, right then...

A terrifying gravitational force erupted behind him, dragging him away. Everything spun, and he shivered. Looking up, he realized he wasn’t in the hall anymore.

He was outside.

Zhang Siyun was also there, his eyes bloodshot as he struggled to control the desire within himself.

Qing Qiu was off in the distance, looking at them coldly. She was aware that the others had been seeking enlightenment of an imperial-class technique. Though she hadn’t qualified, the Swordsage Court had arranged for her to wait here.

Wait, wait, wait! What exactly am I waiting for? she thought impatiently.

Xu Qing wasn’t paying attention to Zhang Siyun or Qing Qiu. Looking back into the hall where he had been seeking enlightenment, he wrestled with the intense desire within himself. Especially noteworthy was the outline that had appeared in his sea of consciousness. It wasn’t very clear, but it was obviously the incomplete image of a sword. And it was fading, although it seemed like it would take at least two years to vanish completely. Xu Qing had the feeling that he had come very close to seeing the true image of the sword. The feeling of being interrupted and dragged away left him deeply disappointed.

Meanwhile, the Captain appeared out of nowhere, looking similarly disappointed. Getting to his feet, he looked back into the hall.

What the hell? I was just about to succeed! I even had my mouth open!

“Calm down, all of you!” a voice said. The same middle-aged swordsage appeared in front of them. The pressure radiating off of him caused Xu Qing to inhale sharply and suppress any feelings of disappointment. “I bet you feel like you were just about to succeed, right? Like you just needed one more moment. That’s what everyone feels. But the truth is... that you weren’t anywhere close to gaining enlightenment.

“What’s more, there’s a reason you were limited to six hours. From ancient times until now, all swordsages who sought enlightenment for more than six hours would instantly experience mutation and die. Not a single one survived.”

The man’s words caused Xu Qing’s heart to sink a bit.

“The reason is that the Grand Emperor once killed a god. However, that god also cursed the sword. As a result, anyone who seeks enlightenment for more than six hours will mutate and die. There’s no need to feel anxious. You’re all very fortunate, as your reward actually includes one additional session of enlightenment. Once you reach the county capital, you’ll be able to take advantage of that opportunity. And now it’s time to handle another matter. The exalted ones have been waiting long enough.”

Zhang Siyun looked suspicious about what was to come.

However, before anything else could happen, the middle-aged swordsage waved his hand, and Zhang Siyun disappeared.

“This doesn’t have anything to do with him. Just you three.”

Surprised, Xu Qing looked at the Captain, then Qing Qiu. Then something occurred to him.

Qing Qiu frowned as she also realized what seemed to be going on. That said, it only irritated her more.

The Captain came to his own conclusion, and it caused his eyes to shine with excitement. “Exalted one, does this have something to do with the Three-Spirits Dao-Suppressing Mountain?”

The middle-aged swordsage ignored him. As far as he was concerned, Chen Erniu, who had only received one meter of light from the Grand Emperor’s divine likeness, was an embarrassment to all swordsages. He wasn’t the only one. Quite a few other swordsages felt the same. After all... his result seemed to indicate that he was mentally unfit.

Not feeling inclined to answer the Captain, the middle-aged swordsage looked at Xu Qing and Qing Qiu.

“The three of you were present to see what our Swordsage Court did to August Spirit Nethersprite from the Three-Spirits Dao-Suppressing Mountain.

“August Spirit Nethersprite is currently imprisoned in the Swordsage Court and undergoing interrogation. The exalted ones want the three of you to provoke her. At the moment she’s impervious to any form of instigation. That needs to change. If you can rile her up, then the exalted ones will have an easier time getting secrets out of her.”

With that, the swordsage turned and started walking off.

Xu Qing, the Captain, and Qing Qiu followed. Along the way, the Captain assessed the situation.

It seems they aren’t very happy with my one-meter light. This isn’t going to work. I definitely need to be on my best behavior. I need the old fogey swordsages to actually like me. Otherwise, I’m going to have a hard time getting promoted.

The Captain was both vigilant and depressed as he thought about that one-meter light.

My answer was great! Although the question the Grand Emperor asked wasn’t among the thousand I was ready for, there were 47 that were similar.

By reciting all of those answers together, I definitely exceeded the standard for success. Each answer should have gotten me a few hundred meters, and when you add them all together, it should have easily reached 30,000 meters! There’s no way all those spirit stones I spent were a complete and utter waste.

Besides, I even threw in some brown-nosing by repeating each answer! And to top it all off, I finished with, “Grand Emperor, YOU are a god!” What’s wrong with that? Given how violently the Grand Emperor’s light trembled when I said that, you could tell that he was very pleased.

The more the Captain thought about his performance, the more frustrated he got.

I just don’t get why I only got one meter!

The Captain glanced at Xu Qing and felt even more pressure than ever. As he stewed in such thoughts, the middle-aged swordsage led them to the Swordsage Court’s prison. It was a dark and gloomy place filled with countless warding spells. Every person who entered the prison was closely tracked by divine will.

After they were scanned, they entered the prison and walked down a narrow, torch-lit staircase. As they reached the bottom, they heard August Spirit Nethersprite’s graceful voice.

“Footsteps? So you’re bringing more people? It won’t do any good. I know you want to soulsearch me. I know you want to rile me up. It won’t happen. I’m the manifestation of the Ghost Emperor’s soul. My emotions can’t be stirred. And even if they could, it wouldn’t be possible for Void Returning cultivators like you to do it. My true form is a Smoldering God. You people... don’t even count as bugs.”