Chapter 97: A Sword in the Mortal World

  A middle-aged man pointed with one hand, a mysterious and profound thought invaded Chu Cheng's sea of consciousness, leaving an afterimage in his mind. Then he shook his head and chuckled, stretched out his hand, and the snake spirit jade box was already in his hand.

  "Huh, what a strange spirit! Little snake, I don't have any ill intentions, so don't stare at me like that. You saw the transaction between me and your master just now, right? I'm just taking a little gold coin from him, no big deal?"

  "What? You say I took too much? Not 100,000 gold coins? The little snake, the things I taught him are worth no less than your broken spiritual instrument! Take something from him and you're being petty?"

  "Huh? This long spear... seems to be one of his works? That's his masterpiece! He abandoned it in a fit of rage back then, and I didn't expect it would end up in your hands after all these years... You've come here looking for him, I presume? That guy has a terrible temper... Fine, I'll help you out once more!"

  A middle-aged man waved his hand and the Snake Spirit Jade Box returned to Chu Cheng's body.

  Then he took out 100,000 gold coins and threw them at the gatekeeper.

  "Travelers from south to north, all roads lead to Luoyang; dusty guests tied up, how many? A thousand worries wanting to cross the treacherous abyss, one sword cutting off the river of parting sorrows, seven crimes beheading the evil! 'Thousand Worries Parting Sorrows Sword' Red Dust of Luoyang, seeking an audience with Lady Xiang at the elegant Xiang Bamboo Pavilion!"

  A middle-aged man burst out laughing and floated in through the door.

  The strong and handsome gatekeeper didn't dare block them, then they looked at Chu Cheng with eyes full of envy.

  But when they heard the middle-aged man's words, their faces changed even more, and they were so excited that they couldn't hold themselves back.

  "Thousand Sorrowful Parting Hatred Sword" Luo Hongchen, one sword flies across the miserable abyss, one sword cuts off the parting hatred river, one sword chops off the thousand ren mountain, one sword executes the divine communicator!

  This person once suffered humiliation due to his good looks, and single-handedly charged into the Abyss of Suffering with his sword. He cut off the River of Endless Hatred that stretched for ten thousand miles, split open the Seven Sin Mountain that towered over the Abyss of Suffering at a height of one thousand zhang, slew the powerful Seven Sin Elder in the Realm of the Gods, and shocked the world.

  Later, Chu Wang Duhu Xiantianjian passed down the message, and Xuan Lao personally decided to list Luo Hongchen as the first of the top ten strongmen in Shanhaijing, even above "Seven Xuan" Shen Junxia!

  "A thousand worries and sorrows, the sword of parting" Luo Hongchen!

  In the Qin Empire's Table of Mountains and Seas, Luo Hongchen was ranked third, eventually becoming a legendary figure.

  They naturally knew that Luo Hongchen's divine thought transmission method was a very good thing to pass on to Chucheng. Unfortunately, their brains turned slowly, and they didn't think of this method first and bring it up?

  What a pity! Such an opportunity fell into someone else's hands. What a shame! How infuriating!

  In front of the red wooden gate, Chu Cheng was stunned.

  The middle-aged man's light finger pointed, and he conveyed a mysterious image to him.

  One man, one sword, a chasm of ten thousand feet, a winding river, a mountain of a thousand stacks.

  This person stood at the edge of the abyss, took a leap and fell 9,999 zhang down. Then he enumerated the seven cardinal sins of the old man, looked up to the sky and let out a loud roar, raised his long sword high, only to see a flash of sword light that cut through a river over ten li wide, splitting it in two, and cleaved a mountain thousands of ren high into halves.

  In the high mountains, a mournful howl, the notorious Seven Crimes Old Man fell on the spot.

  Then he floated away, leaving behind a long song.

  "Guests from the south and north, all return to Luoyang; travelers in the red dust, how many? A thousand worries want to cross the treacherous abyss, one sword cuts off the river of parting sorrows, seven crimes behead the evil first!"

  Time passed minute by minute, second by second, and in Chu Cheng's mind, only this sword remained.

  Compared with this sword, the swords of Jiugongzi, Sun Yan and Xiang Zixuan are nothing. Even Dugu Hansheng's sword light is far inferior.

  Only the sword light on the mountain city twelve years ago was faintly beyond it.

  This sword cut off all of Chu Cheng's understanding of swordsmanship, finally making him understand what a true sword is.

  In his mind, he watched and simulated the sword move again and again, Chu City was immersed in the realization of this sword, but he didn't know that outside, a day and night had passed.

  The first wind and dust opened the door to welcome guests, and the guests came in an endless stream, all of whom were powerful and wealthy. And almost every strong person who came here would narrow their eyes and feel a hint of mysterious aura and faint sword intent from Chu Cheng's body.

  And so they stopped in their tracks and stayed where they were, gazing at Chu City from a distance.

  As time passed, more and more people gathered around, their faces growing increasingly somber.

  Among these people, some hold high positions and are extremely wealthy, but no matter who they are, their vision is always very high. They are used to seeing geniuses all the time, so seven drops of Blood Essence aren't anything special. However, being twelve years old... is indeed rare.

  "This person... is actually a young master from which family? With just twelve years of age and seven drops of blood essence, he can be ranked among the top hundred young men in the current generation of Chu Wang." A burly man with a leopard-shaped head and ringed eyes said loudly.

  "This person is not from the capital of Chu. Look at the emblem on his body, it's a small city symbol, it seems that he comes from one of the 365 small cities in the capital, but I don't know which one exactly, and yet they managed to cultivate such a genius." A slightly wealthy-looking middle-aged man with a merchant's attire shook his head.

  These two people seem to be of high status, when they speak, others dare not make a sound.

  "Three hundred and sixty-five small towns? Hehe, in front of us is the city of Shanyin with Chu Longyuan, behind us is the city of Shanyang with Chu Tiange, Xiang Tianling, Dongfang Sanyi, and Chu Tianjiao. Five years ago, Chu Tiange's son, Chu Yan, emerged out of nowhere, astonishing everyone with his talent. In recent years, Shen Yuchi has been catching up to Chu Yan's footsteps. And then there are Xiang Ziyang, Chu Manfu, Huang Tiance, and others, all ranked on the Heavenly List. These two cities, Shanyin and Shanyang, are almost surpassing most of the middle-tier cities. This little kid in front of us might also be from one of these two cities?" The burly man with a leopard-shaped birthmark around his eye looked at the wealthy merchant.

  "As soon as I arrive at the capital of Chu, there's nothing that I won't be able to investigate. Just wait for a moment, and I'll immediately look into this person's information." The middle-aged rich merchant smiled slightly, narrowing his eyes, seemingly contacting someone.

  However, after a dozen breaths or so, a look of astonishment flashed across the middle-aged rich man's face.

  "What? This person isn't just some ordinary fellow, is he? The master of Warm Jade Building?" said the burly man with a leopard-shaped head and ringed eyes.

  "Indeed." The middle-aged rich merchant known as "Warm Jade Building Master" smiled and said, "Lin Duqiang, this person's origin was indeed guessed by you."

  "Huh? Is it Shanyin City or Shanyang City?" Lin Duogun asked.

  "Shan Yang City." Warm Jade Building Master said: "This person is the second son of Chu Tian Ge, the second brother of Chu Yan. Two months ago, he was still an ordinary person, but then rapidly rose to prominence. He was swallowed by a giant whale in the Shan Yang River and later appeared in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains, where he joined forces with Ninth Young Master to kill 'God's Left Arm' Han Zuo, taking advantage of the chaos to also kill Xiang Zi Xuan."

  "Afterwards, this person entered the Yin Spirit Ancient Path and through a unique hunting method, seemed to have gained some benefits, with their cultivation advancing by leaps and bounds. Moreover, on the Life and Death Arena, they killed Godly Archer Chu Yi's Golden Clone, killed Jinyao City's Sun Family's Sun Yan, seemingly having a good relationship with the Golden Shadow General and Silver Shadow General."

  "After leaving the Yīn Líng Gǔ Dào, this person and Lěng Cáng Fēng, Dōng Fāng Yě ambushed the Red-Haired Devil, Red William. At a critical moment, they were rescued by a mysterious strong expert who could use divine abilities, suspected to be an expert of the Divine Ability Realm."

  "After entering the imperial capital, this person relied on their strength to step onto the 27th floor of the Warm Jade Building. They had a decent relationship with Ling Die'er and Huo Fengyu, but clashed with Xiang Zijian, gaining the upper hand. However, they suddenly left and disappeared for a period of time."

  "Afterwards, he was led into a small forest by a piece of paper, presumably to meet his older brother Chu Yan. Then he came to this place, met a mysterious strong man, received the mysterious strong man's mind transmission method, and fell into a state of sudden enlightenment."

  The master of Warm Jade Building smiled slightly: "Lin Duogun, do you know who that mysterious strong man is?"

  Lin Duqiang also seemed to be shocked by this encounter, and he snorted, saying: "To be able to impart the divine method of Chu Cheng, one must have a connection with Chu Cheng, or rather, with Chu Yan or Chu Tian Ge. There is a faint sword intent on Chu Cheng's body, that person must be skilled in using swords, could it be Qi Xuan Shen Junxia?"

  Mentioning Shen Junxia, Lin Duojian's face turned somewhat unpleasant, as if he had a very bad relationship with Shen Junxia.

  "That's not it." The owner of Warm Jade Building shook her head with a smile.

  "Is that a powerful figure from the Xuantian Temple? Or perhaps a guest minister of the royal family?" Lin Duogun's expression eased slightly upon hearing it wasn't Shen Junxiao.

  "It's not necessarily so." The master of Warm Jade Building shook his head again.

  "I'm completely stumped. The King of Chu is only this big, and there are so many strong swordsmen, who could it be?" Lin Duojian shook his head and said.

  "Lin Dugu, you've forgotten, where are we now? What day is today? You've forgotten that the one living in Hongchen Xingluo's seventh floor, Xiangzhu Yage is who?" Warm Jade Building Master smiled and said.

  "Xiang Zhu Ya Ge? Mrs. Xiang! Could it be that the person is actually......" Lin Duogun's face turned pale with shock.

  "That's right, it's him!" The master of Warm Jade Building collected his smile and his face turned solemn.

  It's actually him!

  Lin Duxiu's eyes were filled with incredulity and a hint of unnoticeable reverence.

  As a famous Chu Wang Du gun master and a strong man in the Shan Hai Jing, Lin Du Gun may not be among the top ten strongest, but even the top ten strongest wouldn't dare underestimate him.

  Even Shen Junxia, who ranked second among the top ten strongmen, dared to offend him and was not afraid at all.

  But for the one who ranked first, he had only respect and admiration in his heart, not even a hint of a challenge. Because that person was simply too powerful, too terrifying.

  Among the top ten strongmen, perhaps all of them have the ability to contend with the weakest Shentong realm strongman, but only he has the achievement of killing a Shentong. Just based on this point, no one dares to question his qualifications as the number one in the Shanhai realm.

  Lin Duogun looked at Chu Cheng with an envious gaze once again.

  "Unexpectedly, someone as powerful as him would actually give a mere twelve-year-old child the divine transmission of the mind. If this gets out, it will inevitably cause a huge stir. What is Chu Cheng's current ranking on the Qing Ming List?" Lin Duogun asked.

  For his existence, Xuantian Supervisor set up Qingming List, naturally having some hearsay.

  "The Earth List is currently ranked first. However, I think there will be changes soon. Chucheng will inevitably enter the Heaven List, but as for what ranking he will get, it depends on how well he understands that person's sword intent." The Warm Jade Building Master sighed.

  "That person's sword intent is extremely high, even the successor of Chu State's eight great sword techniques can't compare to him, it's naturally extremely difficult to comprehend. If Chu Cheng, who is only twelve years old, could comprehend a thread of sword intent, he would probably be able to rise by over ten places on the Qing Ming List." Lin Duojian slowly shook his head.