Chapter 18: One of the Six Famous Swords

Inside the dungeon, Ji Wuyue was trembling all over.

At this moment, the pain in her body was nothing compared to the pain in her heart.

She did not understand.

She had thought about it for three days and three nights, yet she still could not understand.

Why... Why had Jiang Xie become like a completely different person?

Was the way he was now his true self?

Had using her against her father been his real intention all along?

Has everything been a lie?

She did not understand... she truly did not understand.

Over these past three days, she had tried countless times to read something from Jiang Xie’s eyes and expression.

But she was disappointed.

It was as though the Jiang Xie from before had all been false, all an act.

“Ah!!”

She could not help letting out a cry of anguish.

“Why... Why are you treating me like this... Jiang Xie?!”

...

Inside the room outside the dungeon, Jiang Xie had been waiting for this very moment.

Judging by the speed at which the statue’s light had spread, he had guessed that it would be completed within three days.

Sure enough, he had been right.

Just now, he had also come to understand this ability called Devouring Counterattack.

Simply put, his body had undergone some changes.

He could now devour other people’s attacks and use them to launch a counterattack.

Of course, the amount of power he could devour still depended on his own strength.

That left Jiang Xie somewhat helpless.

It gave him the feeling of sitting atop a mountain of treasure without the tools to dig it out.

“Is this not just a complete scam???”

He felt rather exasperated.

Fortunately, even with only the cultivation of the Body Tempering Realm, he could still devour enough power to kill an expert of the Soul Forging Realm.

Although killing a Soul Forging Realm expert was not such a remarkable thing in itself, he was only in the Body Tempering Realm!

That meant crossing three major realms.

Luckily, this was not what his strength depended on anyway.

Not to mention that he still had the ability of Undying, so even if he were killed, it would not matter much.

Tomorrow would be the day the Blood Demon Sect began interrogating Ji Wuyue.

Looking at it now, he had to act today.

“Hm? My cultivation has increased.”

Only now did Jiang Xie realize that his realm had already reached the ninth level of the Body Tempering Realm.

It was probably because the statue had been activated...

But that increase was still far too little...

His cultivation talent truly was beyond saving.

From the first level of the Body Tempering Realm to the ninth, it had taken him a full nine years...

Nine years!!!

Even a pig should have reached the second realm by then...

Alas, what a miserable thought.

Jiang Xie even found himself wondering whether he would still be here safe and sound now if the first statue he had activated back then had not been the one of Longevity, but one of the others instead.

No one knew the answer.

Pulling his thoughts back, Jiang Xie called out toward the outside, “Old Wu.”

“This subordinate is here.” Old Wu immediately entered the room and stood quietly, awaiting orders.

Jiang Xie took out a mask and handed it to him.

Confusion appeared in Old Wu’s eyes.

“Put this mask on and do your best to lure away the two men from the Blood Demon Sect and the Tiansha Sect.”

This time, with Ji Wuyue imprisoned here, each of the three factions had sent a Skyborne Realm expert to stand guard.

As for the Jiang Family, that was naturally Old Wu.

That had also been Jiang Xie’s request.

As for why they had not sent stronger experts, or more of them, and had instead only sent so few people, the reason was simple.

For the past two years, Ji Wushuang had never received any news of Ji Wuyue, so he had entrusted other sects of the righteous path to help search for her.

And the demonic factions just so happened to be their greatest suspects.

Once there was any large-scale movement of personnel, it would inevitably be noticed by the forces of the righteous path.

Before they obtained Ji Wuyue’s own admission that she was the Saintess of the Haoran Sect, it was not suitable to make too much noise.

The purpose of forcing Ji Wuyue to admit her identity was not for their own belief, but to make Ji Wushuang believe it.

“Understood.” Old Wu took the mask from Jiang Xie’s hand.

He did not ask any questions.

As long as it was something Jiang Xie told him to do, he would obey without complaint.

If Jiang Fengliu had not saved his life back then, he probably would not have lived to this day.

After putting on the mask, Old Wu left.

Jiang Xie, meanwhile, slowly sat down, untied the gourd at his waist, twisted the stopper once, then opened it and took a fierce gulp.

After one mouthful, his complexion looked much rosier.

“Refreshing!”

Old Wu only knew that there was tea in the gourd.

He did not know that there was wine as well.

After putting the gourd away, Jiang Xie removed his own mask.

Then he took off his outer robe and changed into a white long robe.

He even changed his hair ornament.

All so that he would look more like a member of the righteous path.

“Ah... oh...”

He tried adjusting his voice as well.

After confirming that there was no problem, he placed the mask he had been using onto the face of the black-clothed man lying on the ground.

After finishing all of this, he quietly began to wait.

Boom!

Suddenly, a loud explosion rang out from outside.

What followed immediately after were furious shouts.

“Who are you?! What is your purpose in approaching this place?”

“What petty trespasser dares to break into the dungeon?!”

...

A gleam flashed through Jiang Xie’s eyes.

He understood that Old Wu had made his move.

He was in no hurry. Instead, he continued waiting.

Only after all sound outside had completely died away did he lift the man from the ground and walk out.

He had long since learned the structure of this place.

Completely familiar with the route, he easily avoided quite a few guards and arrived outside the cell where Ji Wuyue was being held.

From a distance, he glanced at the two guards outside.

Although they were only in the Yuan Control Realm, he still had to use a few tricks.

The corner of Jiang Xie’s lips lifted, and he said softly, “Come out.”

As his words fell, faint ripples spread through the air.

An ancient, unadorned longsword slowly emerged before him.

The sword was three chi and six cun long, and its design was utterly ordinary.

It was so ordinary that if it were thrown on the ground, no one would even spare it a glance.

It looked completely unremarkable.

No one could imagine that such a sword contained a power that made one shudder.

That had been true even for Jiang Xie before this.

Looking at the sword before him, Jiang Xie’s thoughts could not help drifting back to when he was twelve years old.

That year...

Snow filled the sky.

After learning that he had no talent for cultivation, he had suddenly lost all hope.

In this world, to be born without talent was like being born crippled on Blue Star.

The pain and despair in that were beyond words.

Then, in the depths of his despair, he discovered that palace hidden in the darkness whenever he closed his eyes.

That gave rise to hope within him.

Then later, during one outing, he picked up a jade pendant.

A few days after that, with nothing better to do, he wandered aimlessly through the city.

By chance, he heard a burst of cursing.

“Take a good look at this sword of yours. Does it look like some peerless treasure to you?”

“But the man who sold me the sword said it was a supreme treasure!”

“You have obviously been swindled!”

...

After a bout of arguing, the man selling the sword flung it to the ground in one angry motion.

Jiang Xie even observed it for quite a while.

He discovered that it really was so worthless that no one would even bother picking it up. Curious, he bent down and picked up the sword himself.

Who would have thought that the moment he touched it, he would lose consciousness?

When he woke up again, he was already back in the small courtyard.

Only then did he learn that Old Wu had carried him back.

The sword itself had vanished without a trace, and yet he could clearly sense that it was right there by his side.