Martial Cultivator

As more and more thin snakes appeared, the old man’s expression naturally grew more serious. Even beads of sweat occasionally dripped from his forehead. Chen Chao stood nearby, understanding that this moment was crucial for reforging the broken sword. He too held his breath, watching intently, yet he did not make a sound.

The old man’s fingers continued to deftly sift through the molten metal, picking out the thin snakes and tossing them onto the ground. Chen Chao could not help but glance over and noticed that the snakes falling to the ground seemed to still be alive, squirming incessantly.

Chen Chao crouched down and observed closely.

The old man ignored him, his entire focus remained on the snakes before him. As a swordsmith, he was adept with forging flying swords, but reforging a broken saber was a first for him. Despite the shared origins among myriad sects, the intricacies and differences were countless and complex. Many aspects had to be navigated based on experience, requiring countless on-the-spot judgments throughout the process.

Chen Chao reached his hand out to touch one of the snakes. But the instant he touched it, he had to withdraw his finger. That was because the snake’s temperature was much higher than that in the furnace earlier.

”These unwanted things might still be enough to make a short sword later. Are you interested, kid?”

The old man seemed to have finally sorted out the thin snakes in front of him and spoke slowly, ”Although it can’t be considered a flying sword, its toughness will be top-notch in the world. It will be suitable for cutting fruits and such.”

Chen Chao nodded, ”Then I’ll trouble you, Senior.”

The old man sighed, ”I really didn’t know it would be this troublesome beforehand. Now it seems that even if this saber is forged, it’ll cost me half my life.”

Chen Chao grinned, ”Only Senior has this ability in this entire world, right?”

The old man chuckled, ”Your words aren’t entirely wrong. If this old man were to pass away, there’s probably no one capable of repairing this broken saber of yours.”

Chen Chao smiled, ”So it’s a matter of timing, isn’t it?”

”It’s also out of account for that Thousand Year Glacial Stone. Otherwise, a martial artist like you wouldn’t catch this old man’s eye.”

The old man retorted, throwing the bamboo that Chen Chao had cut earlier into the furnace, his expression softening.

Chen Chao nodded and joked, ”Only a martial artist like His Majesty can catch Senior’s eye.”

”Kid, must you talk like that? Aren’t you afraid that this old man will accidentally make a mistake halfway through?”

The old man teased with a glance at Chen Chao. Though he had not known this young martial artist for long and did not necessarily like him, he definitely did not dislike him either. Even if Chen Chao had already brought quite a bit of trouble upon Sword Qi Mountain earlier, after experiencing so many storms and having lived for so many years, the old man naturally would not care too much.

”Does a master swordsmith like Senior not have your own principles? Frankly, this junior finds it hard to believe,” Chen Chao chuckled as he looked at the old man. In terms of verbal skills, among the young cultivators of this generation, hardly anyone could match Chen Chao.

The old man sneered, ”Stop buttering me up. Guard the door outside. As long as this old man doesn’t say anything, don’t let anyone in.”

”What if something happens to you inside, Senior?”

”Scram!”

”Alright.”

Chen Chao nodded, then promptly stood up and went to the entrance of the thatched hut. After closing the door behind him, he sat on the chair where the old man had been sitting. He rubbed his forehead, feeling weary despite not being directly involved in the sword forging these days. The tasks assigned to him had already drained him physically and mentally. If the old man had not instructed him now, Chen Chao would have likely closed his eyes and taken a good nap.

However, despite feeling mentally exhausted, Chen Chao was still filled with anticipation about the reforging of his saber.

Having already become so adept with the broken saber, he reckoned that after it was reforged, it would become even more efficient and handy.

There were countless sword cultivators and also quite a number of sword immortals too. Everyone always said that they had great killing power, but in reality, very few cultivators used sabers, and there seem to be none who were particularly famous for it.

Chen Chao shook his head and murmured, ”This world will just have to wait.”

……

……

Li Heng staying on the mountain was something that many swordsmiths did not want to see. However, as the envoy of the Great Liang Emperor, he represented the Great Liang Emperor himself. Trying to blatantly drive him away from the mountain would be an act of immense audacity. After all, the Great Liang Emperor’s will had already descended once, and no one wanted to see the Great Liang Emperor appear at Sword Qi Mountain again.

As the mountain lord of Sword Qi Mountain, Yang Furen had arranged rather decent accommodation for Li Heng. It was unknown whether he had this intention to begin with, or perhaps due to fear of the Great Liang Emperor. It was a bamboo house with an excellent view. The bamboo used for the house was sourced from the nearby bamboo sea, causing the entire house to produce varied sounds when the wind blew, which was quite soothing to hear.

Li Heng stood under the eaves of the bamboo house, watching as the Sword Qi Mountain Lord approached slowly. He smiled and said, ”If possible, I would like to take some bamboo back with me when I leave. I plan to build a bamboo house in the imperial city too, and I believe His Majesty would really like it.”

Requesting something was often not easy and was a delicate matter. But Li Heng’s straightforwardness left Yang Furen with a simple yes or no decision.

”This way, if the world talks about Sword Qi Mountain again, everyone will probably say that Sword Qi Mountain has no backbone.”

Yang Furen lamented. ”Mr. Li, you surely understand that in life, many things we do or don’t do actually have nothing to do with what we think. The idle comments of others can greatly influence the outcome of events.”

Li Heng smiled and said, ”Then we can spend a lot of money to buy it. Does Sword Qi Mountain dare to sell it? Or rather, do you dare to openly sell it?”

Yang Furen was silent for a moment, not immediately answering the question. Instead, he said, ”That Emperor doesn’t seem to like leaving any leeway for maneuver.”

Li Heng smiled and said, ”His Majesty hasn’t had much leeway afforded to him in his life. Initially, he just wanted to be a good vassal prince, but there were people who didn’t want His Majesty to live. When you’re in a deadly situation, there won’t be any so-called leeway.”

”Something like this is probably only someone as close to the Emperor as you, Mr. Li, would dare to say.” Yang Furen glanced at Li Heng. He had always treated this seemingly ordinary eunuch with caution.

”There’s no such thing as being close to the Emperor. In His Majesty’s eyes, I’m just a servant that he’s a little closer to. Serving as an official in the Great Liang Dynasty, some people think about fame and fortune. So, these people are always seen as subjects in His Majesty’s eyes. But I’ve been lucky, following His Majesty from an early age, so we have a closer relationship. Naturally, there are some things I can say.”

Li Heng smiled and said, ”A cultivator like you, Mountain Lord, naturally wouldn’t want to admit being a citizen of Great Liang, nor acknowledge His Majesty as the common ruler of all under heaven. But none of that really matters. The world is so big, and there are so many people. His Majesty can’t manage everything, nor does he want to.”

Yang Furen asked, ”Since that’s the case, why have you come to Sword Qi Mountain, Mr. Li?”

This time, Li Heng smiled without answering. He simply walked out from under the eaves, took a few steps, stood under a tree, and plucked off a leaf. He smiled and said, ”It’s just a leaf, Mountain Lord wouldn’t care, and neither would the tree. But the person who wants it would naturally care.”

Yang Furen still remained silent.

Li Heng suddenly sighed and said, ”After so many years of overseas operations, our Great Liang has been quite lucky and has gained some rewards. That piece of Thousand Year Glacial Stone, such a wonderful thing, but it’s a pity that His Majesty is just a martial artist and doesn’t use swords.”

Yang Furen looked at the tree and did not speak. On the surface, the two seemed to be chatting casually, but everyone knew they were not talking about that leaf or any trivial matters.

Yang Furen murmured softly, ”In this world, too many things are like this. The ones who truly need something can’t get it, while those who don’t need it have plenty.”

Li Heng shook his head and said, ”Who owns something isn’t always who holds it. It can be given away, as long as one is willing.”

Yang Furen remarked, ”This touches on rumors and gossip.”

Li Heng fell silent for a moment before saying, ”From this perspective, someone like His Majesty is truly remarkable.”

Yang Furen did not argue. He simply said, ”But how many are like His Majesty?”

Li Heng remained silent, gesturing towards Yang Furen to join him on the bamboo chairs under the tree. Once seated, Li Heng continued, ”After I leave the mountain, the imperial court will send a batch of supplies to Sword Qi Mountain, free of charge, as compensation and a gift. How you wish to handle it, Mountain Lord, is up to you. Either way, His Majesty won’t say anything about it.”

Yang Furen furrowed his brow, about to speak.

But Li Heng interjected first, ”The goods will definitely arrive at Sword Qi Mountain. Whether Mountain Lord accepts them or not is not for you to make a decision, but just to inform you.”

As he said this, Li Heng suddenly recalled a phrase His Majesty had uttered back when he was still in the Divine Capital.

”Who ask this world to be surnamed Chen?”

Upon reflection, it was not about who asked this world to be surnamed Chen, but rather, who asked the current Emperor to be His Majesty.

His Majesty was really too domineering.

But, since he was their emperor, what could anyone do about it? Li Heng saw nothing inappropriate about it. In fact, he found it fitting.

”That Emperor of yours really doesn’t like leaving any leeway for others.”

Yang Furen sighed once again, his words now tinged with bitterness that Li Heng could discern.

”His Majesty hasn’t cut off all routes of retreat, there’s still leeway for Mountain Lord to choose.”

Li Heng said this, but left half of the sentence unsaid.

Yang Furen found himself unable to say anything more, only remaining silent. Faced with such a Great Liang Emperor, what could he do?

Li Heng suddenly asked, ”How much longer will that young man need to reforge the saber?”

Yang Furen shook his head, ”I’m not sure, but it will likely take quite some time.”

Li Heng nodded, smiling, ”Then Mountain Lord has plenty of time.”

Yang Furen looked at Li Heng and smiled bitterly.

Li Heng said seriously, ”I hope there’s something that won’t need to be said before I leave the mountain.”