Chapter 122: The Imperial Dragon Divine Sword |
"I genuinely want to beat you senseless!"
Bu Chengyang shot Ah Bin a glare, the True Qi within him roiling with barely suppressed fury as he fought the urge to reach out and give his martial nephew a thorough thrashing.
"How many times have I told you, do not transmit your voice in front of him, do not transmit your voice in front of him!"
Bu Chengyang raged back through his own voice transmission, his expression thoroughly unpleasant, saying, "If you want to die, don't drag your martial uncle down with you. What if he thinks we're plotting something? You'll turn nothing into something!"
As he spoke, he stole a cautious glance at Li Musheng, and seeing that the man's attention was not directed their way, let out a small breath of relief.
Then he turned his gaze slightly toward Ah Bin and transmitted, "If you don't want to die, then from here on out you do whatever he says. Even if he tells you to betray the sect, just agree to it. I won't hold it against you."
Hearing this, Ah Bin pressed his lips together and looked at Bu Chengyang with genuine gratitude.
According to the Great Yan Sword Sect's rules, anyone who betrayed the sect was to be sentenced to death by a thousand sword piercings through the heart.
For his martial uncle to set aside the sect's rules for the sake of his survival showed how extraordinarily well the man treated him.
Ah Bin: ...
...
On the other side, after Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue completed their interrogation of the violet-robed elder and the others, they had at last confirmed the whereabouts of two of the Tianqi Secret Treasury keys within Shangyang City.
One of them was indeed in the hands of the Second Prince, Li Que. The other, according to the violet-robed elder, should still be held by a member of the Great Li imperial family.
But all these Great Qi remnants knew was that the holder was a woman, one who was either a consort somewhere within the palace or the current Eldest Princess of Great Li.
Beyond that, these Great Qi remnants also speculated that the master of Qingshan Tower likely held a key to the Tianqi Secret Treasury as well.
However, the Qingshan Tower master was a figure of supremely profound martial Dao cultivation who came and went without a trace, and even Heaven-Human experts on the level of the violet-robed elder had almost no knowledge of his whereabouts.
As for the remaining three keys, based on years of quiet, unceasing investigation by Qingshan Tower, it could be determined with reasonable confidence that they were held by the imperial families of the other three dynasties aside from Great Xuan.
Having extracted a rough account of the Tianqi Secret Treasury key leads from the violet-robed elder and the others, Li Musheng mulled it over briefly and concluded that while the information these Great Qi remnants had provided was not necessarily entirely accurate, the reliability was likely not low either.
After all, these people had never given up their search for the keys over all these years, and would naturally have gathered something of value along the way.
With that thought, Li Musheng gave a slight nod. A thought stirred in his mind, and the bronze sword slowly rose and floated into the air before him, its massive hilt end pointing directly toward him.
Regarding the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword, according to what the two elderly eunuchs had said, wielding it required first obtaining the sword's recognition.
And to obtain the sword's recognition, one had to command the Azure Dragon True Qi that was fused as one with the blade forged from meteoric iron fallen from beyond the heavens.
Li Musheng studied the bronze sword before him and rubbed his chin.
With his level of martial Dao cultivation, commanding and controlling the Azure Dragon True Qi would be a simple matter even without the Azure Dragon Profound Darkness Scripture.
That said, he had absolutely no interest in the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword and had never intended to claim it for himself.
After a moment's thought, he turned his head to look at Cang Yinyue not far away and suddenly asked, "Miss Cang, do you sometimes quietly wipe away tears alone in the night, troubled by how your martial Dao cultivation is too low to match my current strength and standing?"
Hearing this, Cang Yinyue was momentarily taken aback, and the expression on her fair and delicate face shifted through a series of changes.
In the end, a flicker of quiet sorrow passed through those obsidian-dark eyes, and she lowered her gaze gently, saying, "Does Your Highness feel that I am no longer of use, and can no longer serve..."
However, Li Musheng waved a hand and cut her off directly, saying with a smile, "Nothing of the sort. I simply want to give you an opportunity right now to become the master of the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword and step into the Heaven-Human Realm as soon as possible. What do you say?"
"Huh?"
The moment she heard this, Cang Yinyue lifted her head sharply, her cherry-red lips parting into a perfect circle as she stared at Li Musheng in utter astonishment.
But very quickly she shook her head at once, and with the utmost sincerity said, "Your Highness, the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword is a divine artifact ranked on the world's weapon rankings. Experts of the martial world, whether at the Innate Realm or the Heaven-Human Realm, all covet it desperately."
"Anyone who obtains this sword, even a Heaven-Human expert, can greatly elevate their own strength. Now that the sword has fallen into Your Highness's hands, Your Highness ought to keep it for yourself."
Hearing this, Li Musheng shook his head and said, "Miss Cang, you are mistaken about that. This sword truly is of absolutely no use to me."
The next moment, Li Musheng reached out across the distance and seized the bronze sword in his grip. The blade swept through the air with a faint metallic ring, then thrust toward the center of Cang Yinyue's brow.
At the same time, he spoke in an unhurried tone, saying, "Miss Cang, a good employer naturally has to look out for their employees' wellbeing. I am certainly not some exploitative capitalist."
The moment the words fell, the enormous bronze sword suddenly began to shudder violently, as though struggling under the pressure of some overwhelming force. Then cracks split open across the blade and rapidly spread to every part of the sword's body.
Crack, crack...
Piece after piece of bronze fragment tinged with verdigris broke away and scattered outward, dissolving in the blink of an eye into fine, glowing green dust that drifted through the air.
At the same time, with the bronze outer casing shed away, the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword at last revealed its true form.
A blade three zhang long, crystalline and lustrous throughout, as translucent as water and vivid as a jade gemstone of cyan green, radiated a blazing cyan luminescence that in an instant illuminated nearly the entire dark bronze palace in brilliant light.
The dazzling, razor-sharp aura pulsing from the blade erupted into a soaring tide of sword energy, filling the entire hall with sweeping streaks of sword light in every direction.
Bu Chengyang and Ah Bin, watching from not far away, were both utterly captivated by the sight.
A divine weapon of such quality held an incomprehensible allure for any martial artist who walked the path of the sword.
Both of their gazes burned with intense longing, but very quickly they steadied themselves, and simply watched quietly in the direction of Li Musheng and Cang Yinyue.
From the looks of things, Li Musheng seemed to intend to bestow the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword upon Cang Yinyue.
In Bu Chengyang's estimation, however, Li Musheng commanding the sword to recognize him as its master through the sheer force of his martial Dao cultivation combined with the Azure Dragon Profound Darkness Scripture should present no difficulty. But Cang Yinyue's martial Dao cultivation was truly far too meager.
She had not even reached the Grandmaster Realm, let alone the prospect of wielding a divine weapon of such terrifying and overbearing power.
Though Li Musheng treated this young woman with extraordinary generosity, it was probably nothing more than wishful thinking on his part. There was simply no way to make Cang Yinyue, with a frame as slight and cultivation as weak as hers, become the master of the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword.
Bu Chengyang slowly shook his head, and just at that moment, the Imperial Dragon Divine Sword blazing with cyan brilliance suddenly let out a resounding dragon's cry.
Immediately after, the blade swept out a terrifying streak of cyan sword light several zhang in length, splitting the domed ceiling of the bronze palace clean in two.