Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 241: Chapter 167: A Qi Refiner Imparts a Method

At the edges of the bands of light, vague silhouettes could be seen swimming about. They resembled fish, and also snakes, but upon closer inspection, they vanished.

Wan Ze’s expression turned grave.

He had thought this world was merely desolate, never expecting it to harbor such creatures.

”Those are Deceitful Beasts,” the Broken Sword wrote.

”Deceitful Beasts?” Wan Ze asked, looking at the Broken Sword.

The Broken Sword nodded again and again, then wrote on the ground: ”Eat Souls. Bad. Master fights.”

It paused, then added: ”Many. Can’t beat them all.”

Wan Ze fell silent.

’It seems I’ve underestimated just how dangerous this world is.’

After it finished writing, the Broken Sword pointed its tip at Wan Ze, then toward the ruined temple, signaling for him to go inside and hide.

Wan Ze didn’t move.

He looked down at the Broken Sword, then glanced toward the distant mountains, and suddenly asked, ”Can your master defeat them?”

The Broken Sword seemed to pause for a moment, then its blade went ramrod straight, and it nodded forcefully.

The gesture was clear: ’Of course she can!’

But it quickly drooped again and wrote on the ground: ”Takes long time.”

Wan Ze understood.

’The Female Sword Immortal is currently in the mountains fighting those Deceitful Beasts. She won’t be back for a while.’

He thought for a moment, then extended a hand toward the Broken Sword. ”Come over here and explain it to me properly.”

The Broken Sword stared at his hand, hesitated, and didn’t dare to approach.

’It felt a hint of malice in Wan Ze’s eyes as he spoke, just like the last time he’d tried to ambush it.’

Wan Ze was speechless.

’This little thing!’

He retracted his hand and turned toward the ruined temple.

The Broken Sword followed, maintaining a safe distance of a few feet.

The ruined temple was dim, with red moonlight filtering in through the collapsed roof.

The Faceless True Monarch Statue still sat cross-legged on the stone platform, its body emanating a faint golden glow.

As Wan Ze stepped through the temple gate, the True Monarch Statue’s eyelids twitched slightly, but its eyes remained closed.

The Broken Sword followed, cautiously inching its way into the temple. Just as half of its blade crossed the threshold... the True Monarch Statue’s eyelids twitched again.

The Broken Sword froze solid.

It was stuck, unable to advance or retreat, and remained half in the doorway, its blade trembling faintly.

Wan Ze glanced at the sword, then looked at the True Monarch Statue. Clasping his fist, he said, ”Senior, would you mind letting it in for my sake?”

The True Monarch Statue was silent for a moment, then shifted its body slightly to the side.

It turned its back to the entrance.

A silent acquiescence.

As if granted a pardon, the Broken Sword shot into the temple with a WHOOSH.

But it didn’t dare get too close. It scurried along the base of the wall, keeping its distance from the True Monarch Statue, and quickly carved two words into the ground:

”Thank you.”

No sooner had it finished carving than it quickly erased the words, terrified the True Monarch Statue would see them and be displeased.

Wan Ze chuckled. He found a spot in the temple to sit down and watched the sword and the statue. The scene was suddenly rather amusing.

The Broken Sword shuffled on the ground before writing again: ”Deceitful Beasts. Eat Souls. They want this place. They want to claim the mountain as their kingdom.”

Wan Ze stared at the words, lost in thought.

’This world is far more complex than I imagined.’

’There are Cultivators, Sword Immortals, and this mysterious stone statue. And now, there are even Deceitful Beasts that specifically devour Souls.’

’All of this exists on a completely different plane from the world I came from.’

He thought of the only offensive Swordsmanship technique he possessed... the Void Spirit-Slaying Sword.

The problem was, the entry requirement for this Swordsmanship taught by the Female Sword Immortal was absurdly high: All Attributes had to be at least 3.5.

His highest Attribute, Strength, was only 2.71, still a good way off from the requirement.

’But if these Deceitful Beasts can only be fought with a Cultivator’s methods, I have to master this Swordsmanship as soon as possible.’

He looked to the Broken Sword, hoping to get more information about this world.

But the Broken Sword’s intelligence was limited; it couldn’t explain many things clearly.

Questions like where the Deceitful Beasts came from, why they were targeting this place, or the exact relationship between the Female Sword Immortal and the True Monarch Statue... it couldn’t answer a single one.

He then turned his gaze to the True Monarch Statue.

’This guy... he’s been protecting me since we first met and has never shown any malice.’

But Wan Ze couldn’t for the life of him figure out why.

After a moment of silence, he ventured,

”Hey, old friend. Care to explain?”

The True Monarch Statue remained motionless.

A moment later, it raised a hand and scratched its head.

Wan Ze was speechless.

’Right. Forget I asked.’

Seeing this from the side, the Broken Sword quickly scrawled on the ground: ”It’s dumber than me!”

It had just finished writing and hadn’t yet had a chance to erase the words...

BOOM!

The True Monarch Statue spun around, its giant stone hand snatching at the Broken Sword!

The Broken Sword shot out of the temple door with a WHOOSH, moving as fast as a beam of light!

The True Monarch Statue gave chase to the doorway and stopped. It didn’t pursue any further, but just stood there, its golden light flickering, and pointed a finger at the Broken Sword.

’Come and get it if you dare!’

Watching this unfold, Wan Ze suddenly thought...

’...this pair is actually pretty interesting.’

He stood up and walked to the temple entrance.

The Broken Sword was hiding behind a distant tree, only half of its blade visible as it peeked in their direction. When it saw Wan Ze come out, it flinched and ducked further back with a WHOOSH.

Wan Ze waved to it. ”Let me know as soon as your master gets back.”

The Broken Sword nodded.

Wan Ze then looked back at the True Monarch Statue and clasped his fist. ”Old friend, I’m leaving.”

The True Monarch Statue didn’t move, only nodding its chin slightly.

Wan Ze took a deep breath and severed the connection to his Spiritual Form.

...

”WHOOSH!”

His figure vanished.

The ruined temple fell silent once more.

The Broken Sword peeked out from behind the tree. After confirming Wan Ze was truly gone, it slowly flew back, circled the temple entrance twice, and peered tentatively inside.

The True Monarch Statue was back in its original spot, sitting cross-legged and motionless on the stone platform.

The Broken Sword hesitated, not daring to go inside.

It landed on the ground. Its tip scratched at the scorched earth, writing a line of text:

”He is gone.”

It wrote, then erased.

Then it wrote again:

”He... is special.”

It wrote, and erased again.

The True Monarch Statue remained perfectly still.