Chapter 284: North of the Great Liang (I)

"Picked it up by chance?"

Chen Chao looked at the Lord Warden Commander with some suspicion; he did not quite believe such a story.

It was something he had been searching for a long time, something he had always wanted to obtain, yet it had eluded him. How could the Lord Warden Commander have simply picked it up so casually?

As if confirming the saying that what you long for day and night might be easily within reach for others.

Lord Warden Commander looked at him and said calmly, "I'm not lying to you. I really did pick it up casually. I thought this thing had something to do with your broken saber, so I brought it to show you. Of course, if you talk about luck, the luckiest thing that happened on my trip here wasn't finding this."

Chen Chao raised an eyebrow and asked, "Did you find money?"

This was meant to be a joke, Lord Warden Commander naturally ignored it and just said to himself, "I accidentally resolved a matter by blind chance. If I hadn't resolved that matter, after I found you, I'd have sent you out to sea to do something else."

Chen Chao asked in confusion, "Out to sea?"

Lord Warden Commander thought for a moment and said, "It's not a problem to tell you now. You can probably understand it as another Myriad Willow Convention, but it's also different. At least, your previous cultivation realm was not qualified to participate. Only after stepping into the Bitter Sea Realm, would you have the qualifications. Many foreign land sects would send their disciples to participate on the lone island out at sea. It targets some demonic races, and the distribution of certain resources is decided through the competition. Of course, you also know that the imperial court has always been at a disadvantage in these matters. If it weren't for you and that girl, the Myriad Willow Convention wouldn't have ended with us as the champions too."

Chen Chao fell silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Has the imperial court not been concealing its weakness in these matters?"

In fact, from the few times he had observed the imperial court's attitude toward the foreign lands, Chen Chao had already sensed something. But he had never found a suitable opportunity to ask. Now that the opportunity had arisen, he wanted to resolve his doubts with the Lord Warden Commander.

The Lord Warden Commander looked at Chen Chao and smiled without saying anything.

Chen Chao furrowed his brows slightly.

Lord Warden Commander smiled and said, "There's actually no need to say it out loud when it comes to certain things. You can tell, they can also tell. But I can tell you that this current world is definitely a good world that's hard to come by for the common people of the world. In the past hundreds, even thousands of years, the world wasn't as good as it is today. Of course, all of these changes are closely related to that Emperor of ours."

Many cultivators in the foreign lands believed that the current Great Liang Emperor had illegitimately ascended to the throne, and there would certainly be opposition from all levels of the imperial court. Furthermore, the objections would not be few either. But it seemed that in the eyes of the Lord Warden Commander, the Great Liang Emperor was a rare strong and wise ruler. He did not care about that past incident at all.

There were probably quite a number of people like the Lord Warden Commander in the entire Great Liang Dynasty.

The fact that the Great Liang Emperor could sit on the throne peacefully for more than a decade without any so-called rebellions within the country spoke volumes. Of course, it did not discount the fact that opposition forces were currently gathering strength. Perhaps one day, when they felt they had sufficient power, there might be a massive wildfire.

On that day, the Great Liang Emperor would not be facing just minor challenges, but a massive uprising from all levels of the kingdom.

Chen Chao pondered for a moment before changing the subject, asking, "Are there any master blacksmiths skilled in forging within the imperial court?"

The ongoing warfare between the Great Liang Dynasty and the northern demons made weapons a top priority. The Ministry of Works likely had many officials skilled in forging. Chen Chao's inquiry aimed to find out if there were highly skilled blacksmiths capable of restoring his broken saber to its former glory.

Lord Warden Commander noticed Chen Chao's goal and did not pursue the matter further. He simply said, "The officials at the Ministry of Works can handle the repair of ordinary swords and sabers, but when it comes to repairing your broken saber and even restoring it to its former state, you'd best not hope that it can be the same as before. Even the most experienced official in the Ministry of Works who are skilled in repairing such weapons don't have this capability."

Chen Chao raised an eyebrow. He had initially planned to return to the Divine Capital without delay. However, after hearing the Lord Warden Commander's words, he became somewhat hesitant.

Lord Warden Commander said, "Have you heard of Sword Qi Mountain?"

Chen Chao was taken aback but instinctively nodded his head.

He only first heard of the Sword Qi Mountain in those ancient legends. It was not until he met Yu Xiyi, especially after seeing that incomparably sharp Wild Grass that he gained a relatively good understanding of Sword Qi Mountain.

His current interest in it was primarily due to Xie Nandu leaving the Divine Capital with him, heading to Sword Qi Mountain. The news that came later on made it clear that the genius girl had taken nine flying swords from Sword Qi Mountain, all of which were superior flying swords second only to the Hundred Year Swords.

"Don't they only forge flying swords?"

Chen Chao knew that when it came to everything related to flying swords, there was probably no one more skilled than the Sword Qi Mountain. However, those were flying swords, and what he had in his hands was not a sword, but a saber.

It was a saber.

As if knowing Chen Chao's concerns, Lord Warden Commander said, "What's the difference between sabers and swords?"

It seemed that Chen Chao had never pondered about such a thing before the Lord Warden Commander asked the question.

"I've heard of remote sword control and I know the unparalleled killing power of sword cultivators in the world too. But remotely controlling a saber, wouldn't it be... somewhat strange?" Chen Chao said, looking hesitantly at the Lord Warden Commander with a peculiar expression.

Lord Warden Commander smiled and said, "As you progress in your cultivation, even if you're a martial artist, if you are willing, you can naturally control a saber remotely too." As he spoke, Chen Chao suddenly felt his broken saber at his waist trembling, as if it wanted to leave its sheath. He instinctively grasped the handle, but a tremendous force kept pushing the broken saber out of its sheath. Despite his struggle, Chen Chao could not stop it, and the broken saber left its sheathe by over an inch, emitting a rather sharp aura.

The Lord Warden Commander exclaimed, "What a fine saber."

As he spoke, the broken saber in the scabbard seemed to lose its vitality and returned to its sheath.

"Something that foreign cultivators often say is that martial artists are uncouth and don't understand the true essence of the Great Dao. But in reality, when facing a martial artist with an accomplished cultivation base, they also need to be on full alert. As for the so-called daoist spells, it's just the operation of qi. We martial artists return to simplicity and authenticity; it's also the same."

Lord Warden Commander slowly said, as if giving guidance.

Chen Chao joked, "Your Excellency, it's really quite... rare to hear you say something like this."

Chen Chao tactfully swallowed the word "shameless" back.

Lord Warden Commander shot him a glare. He was not really angry, but redirected the conversation, "Since the Sword Qi Mountain is incredibly familiar with flying swords, it shouldn't be difficult for them to reforge and repair your broken saber. However, what price you would have to pay, I'm not quite sure."

Chen Chao frowned and said, "I've heard that the sword cultivators who went to take swords didn't face any difficulties."

"Those cultivators on Sword Qi Mountain, forging flying swords is their hobby. Since they forge so many flying swords and can't use them all, what's the point of keeping them on the mountain? Naturally, they have to gift some out. As for why there were no difficulties, it's probably because the selected sword cultivators were all pretty talented. Such sword cultivators generally achieve great things. Using the flying swords they forge, Sword Qi Mountain's reputation naturally grows. Oh, have you heard the other story?" "When outsiders bullied Sword Qi Mountain, those sword cultivators who had taken swords from them before would become their great assistance. Oh, it's said that there are several sword immortals in the current age whose companion swords were taken from Sword Qi Mountain."

When those who cultivated the sword stepped into Nepenthe, they could be called sword immortals.

"The girl you like, she went up the mountain a few days ago to choose her swords. Do you think that Mountain Lord only let her take away so many flying swords on account of the Dean's face? It's also because he's eying her talent, that's all. It's very likely that she'll become a female sword immortal in the future. If you do end up marrying her, I reckon your days won't be too easy."

In the foreign lands, when cultivators affirm their relationship, they would be called Dao companions. But in the Great Liang Dynasty, people still liked to describe this relationship as marriage.

Lord Warden Commander changed the topic, "But martial artists such as us might not necessarily be treated well."

Chen Chao was absorbed in thought.

Lord Warden Commander did not give him too much time and continued saying, "But right now, you'll probably have to make a trip back to the Divine Capital first."

Chen Chao asked, "Why?"

Lord Warden Commander looked at him and whispered, "The Northern War is quite intense, but it's also nearing its end."

Chen Chao looked at him, somewhat curious.

Then he remembered that commanding officer, Song Lian, when he was in the Left Guard.