Chapter 95: Chapter 87: The Other Side of the Divine Soldiers’ Tale

"Oh, this blade has taken quite a few lives."

While chewing on a still-warm meat bun, the middle-aged man drew out the Broken Horse Long Saber and examined it closely.

"This... did you kill people from the grasslands? Those coming from Jibei?"

"How could you tell?"

Du Chengfeng couldn’t help but feel curious.

Although he sensed that this middle-aged man was deducing it from the marks on the blade, being able to determine who the blade had killed just by eyesight was somewhat too far-fetched.

He knew that even if he wanted to find out more, he would have to grind the blade himself.

How did this mysterious middle-aged man know?

"The marks."

The middle-aged man pointed to some scuff marks on the edge of the blade.

"Craftsmen are scarce on the grasslands, and armor is expensive, so most War Soldiers prefer wearing cheaper hard leather armor or thick jackets to fend off harm... If it were metal armor, the marks left would be metallic scratches, which can easily be confused with blade clashes, but leather armor, because it’s generally thicker, leaves wider scuff marks."

"... Excellent eyesight."

Du Chengfeng couldn’t help but give a salute.

A master, he had encountered a master. Unlike those who sensed the past of blades through directly linking with the Evil Qi, this person could achieve such feats just through observing with the naked eye.

Unlike those he had encountered who used writing or homemade wine to grind a blade, this middle-aged man might be the most reliable sharpening Master Craftsman he had ever seen.

"So, do you really know how to repair this blade?"

At this moment, Du Chengfeng suddenly felt that if it were this man, he might really be able to do it.

The bun he gave out just now seemed worth it after all?

"I do know, but I need to understand how far you’ve gotten with your process first."

After swallowing half a bun, the middle-aged man looked up.

"Since you’re a student here, you’ve probably shown this blade to the head of the academy here, right? What did he say?"

"Well..."

Du Chengfeng scratched his head and roughly recounted the story Ruan Shantao had told him.

It wasn’t something that needed to be kept secret. After all, Ruan’s story, while not exactly well-known, was something quite a few people had heard of — and of course, there were those like Liu Bolun and Du Chengfeng who didn’t know, which, in Ruan’s eyes, was a sign of ignorance.

"So, to resurrect this blade, I’d have to sacrifice a friend... but I don’t want to do that."

"Your thinking is correct, you’re brave and wise, loyal and righteous. This is the true mark of a man."

The middle-aged man nodded repeatedly.

"A promising young talent... Kid, how about learning from me?"

"... Learn from you?"

Du Chengfeng frowned slightly.

Although he admitted this middle-aged man might have some skills, to outright say he should learn from him... Learn what?

"Yes, learn from me."

The middle-aged man chuckled.

"You can indeed learn many things here, but the teaching here ultimately remains somewhat... superficial. Like the story that head of the academy told you, haven’t you ever wondered how that young man seeking revenge managed to meet the Chu King?"

"... Uh?"

Du Chengfeng was startled.

Wasn’t it by directly breaking into the palace? Could there be another version?

Yes.

There really could be another version.

With the middle-aged man’s narration, Du Chengfeng gradually began to understand another aspect of the story.

The initial part was quite the same, the ruthless Chu King, after obtaining the Treasure Sword, killed the skilled Swordsmith, leaving the widow and orphan to hide in the mountains. Ten years later, the orphan’s mother sacrificed herself to forge the sword, and the orphan set off for Yingdu of the Chu Kingdom to avenge his parents.

And this is where the story diverged.

Unlike the version Ruan told, where the orphan directly confronted the Chu King, in this middle-aged man’s tale, the orphan couldn’t even see the Chu King’s face — after all, Yingdu was the capital city of the Chu Kingdom, the most heavily guarded place in the entire Chu land, not only with numerous armors and weapons but also groups of Sharp Warriors. There were also nine seasoned generals taking turns guarding it, leaving no room for infiltration.

A lone orphan, with just a sword, probably couldn’t even get close to the city wall before being perforated by spears and arrows from the Sharp Warriors.

Even if he had exceptional martial skills, advancing against all odds, he’d get his head chopped off by the battle-tested generals rushing over upon hearing the commotion.

As the saying goes, a Chu King, wielding a rare blade and campaigning east and west for over a decade, couldn’t possibly be a fool, could he?

"It was at this time that a black-clad figure approached this orphan."

He took the wine gourd Du Chengfeng handed over, took a swig to moisten his throat, and continued the story.

The black-clad figure approached the orphan, claiming they could help him get his revenge. Driven by intense hatred, the orphan followed the black-clad figure’s plan — the orphan used the sword, forged by his mother, to sever his own head and then handed both sword and head to the black-clad figure.

Even without his head, the headless body continued the process of revenge, a testament to the extreme of hatred.

And the head itself, naturally, under this extreme evil, transformed into a fearsome monster.

The black-robed man drove the orphan’s sword into the monster’s head and brought the creature to the Chu King’s palace, proclaiming to the Chu King that he had found the remnants of years past. However, the other party would rather be catalyzed into a monster by ferocious evil to avenge this blood feud. Although the monster is under his control now, to completely eradicate it, a large cauldron is needed to cook the monster thoroughly.

Even with such words, the Chu King did not believe him, but upon seeing the sword nailed to the monster’s head, his resolve wavered.

The reason was naturally because the once unrivaled Chu King’s Sword was now long past its prime.

Like humans, swords have a lifespan. Although with proper maintenance, weapons can outlast humans, no matter how well it is maintained or how good the sword is, it cannot withstand over a decade of unending eastern conquests.

In fact, considering how violently the Chu King used it, that the Chu King’s Sword could last over ten years was enough to demonstrate the swordsmith’s exquisite skill.

Therefore, upon seeing this other sword, the Chu King naturally would not let it go. He needed to continue waging wars and plant the Chu Kingdom’s phoenix flag across the land.

Thus, even though he harbored doubts, the Chu King still sent people to forge a large cauldron to throw in the monster’s head topped with the sword.

They started a fire under the cauldron, boiling it for three days and nights. Seeing that the cauldron was still without any response, even the most patient Chu King began to feel anxious.

At this moment, the black-robed man spoke up again.

"Great King, it should be almost done inside the cauldron, why don’t you take a look?"

The Chu King, sufferer of three sleepless days and nights, was exhausted both mentally and physically. Thus, hearing the black-robed man’s suggestion, he approached the cauldron without suspicion and peeked inside.

Then, the Chu King’s head also fell into the cauldron.

It turned out, as the Chu King leaned forward to look into the cauldron, the black-robed man drew the Chu King’s sword, and with one swift motion, beheaded the king.

"Hold on."

Upon hearing this, Du Chengfeng suddenly felt confused.

"The Chu King’s Sword must have killed many, right? With that single strike..."

"That’s right, the Chu King himself also transformed into a monster."

The middle-aged man chuckled.

Nevertheless, the two heads, even without bodies, continued fiercely tearing at each other under the influence of evil qi. At this time, the black-robed man also tossed the Chu King’s corpse into the cauldron. With the aid of the headless corpse, the Chu King’s head became formidable, quickly overwhelming and shredding the orphan to pieces.

Yet, just as the transformed monster Chu King claimed victory, a sharp blade pierced through its head.

It was the already battered Chu King’s Sword.

Nailing the Chu King inside the cauldron, the black-robed man sealed the lid and increased the fire’s intensity.

The fierce fire burned for forty-nine days before the black-robed man finally uncovered the cauldron, pulling out a wicked long halberd twisted like a spine.

Subsequently, the new Chu King wielded this terrifying halberd, forged from the fusion of two sharp blades, leading the charge into battle, undefeated.

After such occurrences, through three generations of the Chu King’s succession, this terrifying halberd ultimately led the former Chu Kingdom to conquer the world, establishing the later Great Chu Dynasty.

"...wait a minute?"

At this point, Du Chengfeng finally came to his senses.

"So that black-robed man was actually the Crown Prince of Chu Kingdom? He just tossed his own father into the pot like that?"

"There was really no choice. After all, the Chu King of that time was indeed overly tyrannical. For over ten consecutive years, he waged wars without allowing the people of Chu to rest, let alone the impossibility of a Crown Prince reigning for forty years..."

Saying this, the middle-aged man couldn’t help but shake his head.

"Alright, this kind of narrative sounds rather unpleasant, so it’s generally not passed around outside."

"This..."

Du Chengfeng found himself speechless.

It felt different, very different. If, in Elder Ruan’s version of the story, he could still feel a certain fervor, then this alternate rendition by the middle-aged man left him chilled to the bone.

Initially, he thought using human sacrifices to forge weapons was outrageous enough, but now, they first transformed people into monsters and then melt them into weaponry... On second thought, could this maybe be a viable method?

"So, as long as I find a monster and extract its spine, I can resurrect this blade?"

"Huh? You’re not opposed to such a method?"

The middle-aged man was taken aback, yet his smile widened.

"However, it’s not as simple as you say. After all, your blade is dead. To bring a dead weapon back to life, ample evil qi is essential, but fortunately, because your blade is merely average, killing a few hundred people might suffice. Then, when you find someone possessed by evil qi, wait for them to become a monster, stab them to death with a single strike, and throw both the corpse and the knife into the furnace..."

The middle-aged man spoke earnestly, and Du Chengfeng listened attentively. One teaching, one learning, it appeared to be a scene of imparting knowledge.

However, good times didn’t last long.

"Do not impart your misleading things to my student."

Under heavy pressure, even the gentle breeze that stirred the grass and trees came to a halt.

"My student is not your concern."

"Ruan, we were classmates once, let’s not be too harsh, shall we?"

Returning the Broken Horse Long Saber to Du Chengfeng, the middle-aged man stood up, offering a gentle smile towards the burly old man approaching.

"Both you and I came out of the Imperial Academy. Whether you teach or I teach, what’s the difference?"

Upon hearing this, Du Chengfeng suddenly realized why this middle-aged man always gave him a peculiar sense of familiarity despite having never met before.

This person was the former beloved friend of Ruan Shantao, the gentle old man associated with the memory of the Rectangular Sword.

He was the Scholar Xiang Rong from the Imperial Academy.