Chapter 454
"This is quite embarrassing."
Du Shenbu, who had never been one to drink tea but praised it nonetheless, laughed heartily and downed the cup in one go.
"What exactly happened in the outskirts of the city?"
Du Wufeng asked again.
This time, Lu Shenbu didn’t keep them in suspense. After a moment of contemplation, he said, "This matter starts with my disciple. I assigned her to the northern outskirts to investigate the Blood Refining Hall..."
As he sipped his tea, Lu Shenbu continued, "She suddenly sent a message today, and I knew we had a lead. I immediately took people to find her, only to discover that the location of the message was an abandoned temple."
"And beneath that temple lies the stronghold of the Blood Refining Hall. My disciple and a few like-minded heroes had already infiltrated the den of thieves, but at that time, dark clouds were gathering, as if someone was undergoing a tribulation..."
Xie Yiding asked, "What does this have to do with the Tianren Divine Sword?"
"Don’t rush, my friend. I’m getting to that," Lu Shenbu nodded. "The one who triggered the heavenly tribulation is the third of the Qianlong, the Ice Fairy Ying Bing. She used the Tianren Divine Sword to leverage the power of the tribulation, breaking open a gap in the outer defenses of the Blood Refining Hall's fifth realm."
"How did she end up there?"
"Isn’t the Tianren Divine Sword in Li Mo's hands?"
Both Lu Wufeng and Xie Xuan asked simultaneously.
"The Divine Hammer, the Little Overlord, is at the stronghold. According to him, he had sent the Ice Fairy to assist in advance, but I suspect..."
Lu Shenbu, having received benefits, was quite straightforward: "It seems like the Ice Fairy went there on her own."
"And then came the arrival of Lord Qian, who swept away the evil spirits. The Blood Refining Hall was left with a few survivors. I’ll have to return and interrogate them before I can inform you all."
"Thank you, Shenbu."
"It’s no trouble. However, this is a matter of the court, and it would be inappropriate for me to leak it. I hope you all will keep it to yourselves."
With that, Lu Shenbu exchanged a few pleasantries and left with his subordinates.
Once he was gone, Du Wufeng remarked sarcastically, "That guy, talking about 'inappropriate leaks' and 'keeping it to ourselves'—pfft! He’s just a coward who won’t act until he sees the rabbit."
"Brother Du, it’s just a matter of money. It’s not important."
"I just can’t stand his smug face."
"A good official is one who can get things done for money in the capital..."
After a few comments, they returned to the main topic.
The people of Tianshan Sword Manor were reflecting on the information they had just received.
What they were most concerned about was not the divine power dissipating; that was something that could be revived with the spring breeze. They couldn’t rely on Lu Shenbu for that.
What they cared about was the Tianren Divine Sword.
"Using the Tianren Sword to summon heavenly thunder, and bypassing Lord Qian—what does that imply?" Du Wufeng was not questioning but rather expressing astonishment.
This was hard to believe, yet it was a fact.
"This indicates that the divine sword in her hands is no less effective than when it’s wielded by Junior Sister Shi. Perhaps... even more so?"
Xie Yiding gazed at the snowy peak of Tianshan, his eyelids drooping slightly. This master of the Xuan realm still instinctively concealed his emotions to this day.
The peak of Tianshan had not always been covered in snow.
It was once a place where Junior Sister’s swordsmanship reached a transformative state, and after the Tianyi Sword, sunlight never graced this place again, leaving it in eternal snowfall.
"Junior Sister once recreated the realm of Tianren City, just a step away from opening up the heavens. If Ying Bing..."
"Master, the sword is with the Divine Hammer, the Little Overlord."
Xie Xuan snapped back to reality, having cursed in his heart countless times, "Li Mo, you really should be dead."
"......"
Du Wufeng clenched his fist and slammed the table. "I was foolish! I should have refused Jiang Yu’s request to forge a hammer weapon for Li Mo back then. Who knows, it might have become the Tianren Divine Hammer."
"At that point, with one wielding the divine hammer and the other the divine sword, wouldn’t they be soaring?"
Old Du often regretted this matter lately.
"Anyway, after the Qianlong Conference, the divine sword will return to Tianren City."
Xie Yiding shook his head.
"I suspect that kid has some issues with his mindset."
Du Wufeng seemed to have made a decision: "I can’t let him stray further down the path of the sword. I’ll pass on the forging techniques to him. He must find his way back."
"I was still fantasizing about a hero saving a beauty, and he’s already become the one being saved."
Xie Xuan looked up at a forty-five-degree angle.
How was he supposed to learn that?
......
Buyun Tower.
After cheering for Princess Xiao Jiang during the dragon-slaying event, Li Mo took a moment to reflect on his martial arts insights and began testing his current physical condition.
"Indeed, after mastering the Eight-Nine Profound Art, the power of the Tianren Sword can now envelop my entire body. Of course, the ability to enlarge specific areas is still intact. I can still use the Qilin Arm..."
"The duration of the Indestructible Vajra has also reached five seconds. I can confidently say I’m a five-second real man, but I still need to be mindful of timing."
"That’s not a problem. In my past life, I played so many rounds of the Barbarian Three Blades; no one understands how long five seconds is better than I do!"
"Let’s spar with the Great Sage again today."
But the problem was, the Star Staff was gone.
Li Mo couldn’t possibly keep channeling the power of the world to fight the Monkey King with the hammer.
"Use a sword?"
This thought, along with the image of the Ice Fairy wielding a sword and descending like a celestial being, flashed through his mind.
Li Mo had never tried sparring with the Great Sage using a sword, and the outcome was obvious.
But now that he had the divine sword and had seen it shine in the Ice Fairy's hands, he felt a desire to give it a try.
Just a try, after all—there was no loss in that...
"Come, sword!"
Little Li the Swordsman, with an air of icy aloofness reminiscent of the Ice Fairy, casually summoned the sword.
"....."
The Yin-Yang dojo fell into silence, the sound of a pin dropping could be heard.
"Ahem, I’m calling you!"
Li Mo called again, and the Tianren Divine Sword wobbled over.
Gripping the hilt, Little Li the Swordsman frowned.
Why did it feel like the Tianren Divine Sword was just waking up, all limp and unwilling? It didn’t have the awe-inspiring sword intent and divine radiance it had in the Ice Fairy's hands...
Is this the same divine sword?
Li Mo scowled at the sword and said, "Can you be a bit more spirited? Stand up straight; I’m taking you to fight the Great Sage."
The Tianren Divine Sword seemed to have dozed off again, remaining unresponsive.
Maybe it just yawned; in any case, it was still lazy.
"Is it because my talent lies in the hammer path that you’re ignoring me? Don’t forget your roots; you were forged one hammer strike at a time, you know."
"....."
"Alright, alright, playing dead, huh? How about now?"
Buzz—
With a sound of sword singing, the Tianren Divine Sword perked up.
This was because Li Mo was holding the sharp and fierce hammer weapon, radiating a murderous aura.
And he had threatened the sword with the hammer, saying if it didn’t behave, he’d reforge it.
Under the pressure of the hammer’s might, the divine sword shed its nonchalant attitude and reluctantly powered up.
"Well, that actually worked..."
Li Mo’s lips twitched.
Using a divine weapon to intimidate another divine weapon was quite something; he couldn’t let the Qianlong Conference go like this, could he?
.....
P.S.: Some audience members mentioned that Li Mo’s swordsmanship was lacking, yet he kept adding points.
This isn’t just about finding a place to expend martial insights; it’s actually tied to the plot.
The groundwork laid earlier for the little underdog is meant for something big to come later, right in Tianren City. Thank you all for your patience! Mwah! -3-
---
Chapter 507: Where is My Wife?!
In the early morning.
After honing his divine intent, Little Li finally accepted the fact that even with the Tianren Divine Sword, it was difficult to unleash even one-tenth of its power in conjunction with himself, and he got a good beating for it.
Rubbing his forehead, he woke up from the bed and took the Tianren Divine Sword to the sword training ground in the house.
Releasing his intent, the sword rhythm from the divine sword projected out once more.
The atmosphere thickened.
"Which sword should I learn this time...?"
In the hazy vision before him, images began to materialize.
A bustling marketplace, filled with people coming and going. In front of a pork stall, a figure clad in leather skirt revealed a smooth, bronze back.
The knife in his hand was a butcher's knife, yet he wielded it with sword techniques, slicing the pork tenderloin into six perfect pieces, each cut precise.
At night, the butcher changed into a different outfit, stowing away the butcher's knife and pulling out a dusty iron sword, approaching a grand estate.
This was the residence of a provincial governor.
"Governor, do you know that the snow that fell this June was because of you?"
He spoke loudly.
This remark suddenly stirred Li Mo’s memories.
Over forty years ago, the governor of Fengzhou colluded with a gang and was ultimately killed by a swordsman. Some said that swordsman looked strikingly similar to the pork butcher on the street.
Naturally, no one paid attention to his words; the door opened with a flash of blade light.
The blade light was fierce, stirring up an endless gale that swept across the ground, as if placing the victim of the blade in the midst of a desert sandstorm.
"My sword will sweep away all injustices."
The man raised his long sword, plain and unadorned, the rusty weapon gradually radiating a blinding light.
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