67: Chapter 67 "Sword"

"Cough... the message... still can't get out..."

Cang Mingyue coughed up another mouthful of blood laced with ice shards, her azure eyes filled with despair.

"This space... is completely sealed off..."

Su Daji also let out a miserable laugh.

"Even if it could get out, who would it go to?"

"Little zhuge has to guard Jinguan City, and Little White Snake has been deep in a public opinion storm recently because of a murder case, being monitored very closely."

"As for the other small fry... if they come, won't they just be giving away their lives?"

"Jingjun, Mingyue... it seems today, we really will perish here, together with this land he loved."

Ye Jingjun gripped the sword in her hand tightly, a look of near-relief appearing on her cold face for the first time.

"That's fine. At least, it's dying in battle."

She glanced at the merfolk girl.

"Cang Mingyue, back then I was the one who snatched the status as his wife before you."

"If we meet him again in the afterlife, you can be the primary wife, and I'll be the secondary."

Cang Mingyue shook her head.

"Bah, bah, bah, stop talking such depressing nonsense."

"We still have one way out."

"I know how powerful your Sword Qi Storm is, Sister Jing. Perhaps it's the only move we have right now that could possibly injure a powerhouse above the Thirteenth Realm."

"It just needs time to condense, right?"

Ye Jingjun nodded, her pretty face full of gravity.

"Sister Jing, my Aquamarine Bead can deploy a defensive field."

Cang Mingyue wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and quickly explained.

"It can withstand these monsters for about half an hour."

"During this time, we should be absolutely safe."

"If you can condense the Sword Qi Storm within this time, kill one or two monsters, and tear an opening..."

"Maybe, we still have a chance to survive."

With that said, the azure bead in her hand instantly emitted an azure dome, enveloping the three of them.

Seeing the dome, the exotic beasts slammed their massive bodies against it frantically, but they couldn't get in.

However, all three women could see that the beautiful luster of the azure bead in Cang Mingyue's hand was rapidly fading.

"Cang Mingyue, isn't this what Husband used to wear..."

Ye Jingjun's eyes widened as she suddenly remembered something.

"Yes."

The merfolk girl nodded with a miserable smile.

"As a member of the Merfolk Clan, I can only shed one such tear in my life for the man I love."

"On the day of your grand wedding, he wore this bead I gave him on his chest."

"After today's battle, regardless of victory or defeat, this bead will likely dissipate..."

Ye Jingjun was momentarily dazed.

But she quickly sat down, raised the ancient sword that was nearly shattered, and began to hold her breath and focus to condense the sword qi.

"This sword... isn't it also the only proof of his existence?"

"...Today, let's use the last things he left us to fight this battle!"

...

[Second Investment Begins]

To Su Chen's surprise, this time when he entered the investment world, he didn't directly encounter the "investment target" mentioned by the system.

[In the first year of investment, you were born in a blacksmith shop in Qingzhou Prefecture of Great Ning.]

[You are a sword, forged by his own hands.]

[The owner of this shop is a divine craftsman famous far and wide in Qingzhou, and his shop has a constant stream of customers.]

[Even the most prestigious martial artists in Great Ning often have to line up to buy a sword here.]

[The swords he forges personally are almost always sold out in an instant.]

[But you are an exception.]

[Having been created for a very long time, you have been hanging in the most prominent place in the blacksmith shop, yet no one has ever been willing to give you a second look.]

[The reason is simple.]

[You are a flawed sword.]

[From the outside, your shining silver blade is carved with one hideous crack after another.]

[You are a failed experiment.]

[When the divine craftsman created you, he wanted to increase the sharpness of the sword by raising the temperature of the sword-casting furnace.]

[As a result, the experiment failed.]

[He created a sword like you, which looks quite flimsy.]

[Naturally, no one was willing to buy you.]

[You were hung on the wall of the blacksmith shop, day after day.]

[Under the system's settings, only when someone is willing to drop blood to let you, this sword, recognize them as master, can you obtain that precious one hour of transforming into a human each day.]

[Since no one has chosen to buy you, you can only hang on the wall lonely.]

[Just as you were starting to feel a bit of despair.]

[One night, the door of the blacksmith shop was suddenly kicked open.]

...

That night, the moon was hidden and the stars were sparse.

The cold wind swirled withered leaves, slapping against the closed wooden door of the divine craftsman's shop.

Inside the shop, the furnace fire had long since been extinguished.

Only an oil lamp remained, and by its dim yellow light, one could vaguely see the shadow of Su Chen's crack-filled longsword flickering back and forth on the wall.

Suddenly.

The shop's main door was slammed open by a massive force.

Not to mention the divine craftsman boss, even Su Chen, who was fast asleep inside the sword body, was woken up by this loud bang.

A figure stumbled in.

It was a Man in Black.

He was tall but hunched over, as if enduring immense pain.

His long black hair was disheveled, covering most of his face.

But from the small section of his face that was exposed, one could see that this man possessed a handsome appearance.

The most striking feature was his eyes.

Although they looked as black as ink, they lacked any luster.

He was a blind man.

But the aura about him—sharp as an unsheathed sword, which even a heavy injury could not completely conceal—

Made even Su Chen, hanging on the wall, feel a sense of invisible pressure.

One must know that the swords forged by the divine craftsman were all at the level of divine artifacts.

Su Chen was no exception.

This man, in this Great Ning World where martial artists gathered, was definitely considered a top-tier expert.

"Sword!"

"Shopkeeper, are there any swords for sale!"

"Give me a sword, I need it now, hurry, I have to leave here by dawn."

His voice was accompanied by hurried gasps.

One hand was pressed against a wound on his lower abdomen, trying to stop the blood from gushing out between his fingers.

The Old Divine Craftsman ran out from the inner room in a panic and saw the visitor's appearance.

Especially those lusterless eyes and the thick, inseparable bloody murderous aura around him.

Even though he had seen many martial arts experts, he was still frightened into a shiver.

"Guest, you are..."

"The swords finished in the shop today were all taken by distinguished guests this afternoon..."

"It takes quite a while to forge a sword; there are really no finished products in the shop right now."

"None?!"

The Black-clothed Sword Immortal suddenly looked up.

Although he couldn't see, the Old Divine Craftsman felt as if a wave of murderous intent had locked onto him.

"A sword forge with no swords? Heh..."

"I've killed my way all the way from Yanjing to your Qingzhou Prefecture just to find a suitable weapon, and now you're telling me you have none?"

The Old Divine Craftsman's body trembled.

Hearing what the swordsman said, he must be someone who had rebelled against the imperial court.

Such a person must have a lot of blood on his hands.

If he really couldn't produce a sword today, it wasn't impossible for the man to kill him to silence him.

"Really, there really are none left."

The Old Divine Craftsman was so anxious he was about to cry.

His eyes frantically scanned the empty weapon racks, and finally, his gaze landed on the cracked longsword on the wall that had always been ignored.

"Except for that one..."