114: Chapter 1 Winter Solstice_2 114: Chapter 1 Winter Solstice_2 A flying sword swept out from behind the screen.
The man in heavy armor’s pupils contracted, while the woman casually flicked her hand, and the speed of the flying sword almost surpassed the range of his Divine Thought.
In just a moment of distraction, the residual image of the flying sword reached in front of him.
The next moment, the flying sword grazed the edge of the heavy armor, sparking a series of dazzling flashes before ultimately embedding itself in the pillar of the great hall!
Sword Sound enveloped the area.
The man in heavy armor was sent tumbling backward by the fierce Sword Qi.
He stared blankly at the flying sword, an ordinary quality weapon at best, perhaps only fourth or fifth rank, a “substandard flying sword.”
With Her Majesty’s status, why would she toy with such an inferior product?
“A few days ago, I visited the Refining Department and stumbled upon this sword,”
the woman said with a smile, “Does it look familiar to you?”
The man in heavy armor looked complex, turning his head to gaze intently.
Sweat beads fell from his forehead.
His voice hoarse, he said, “Is this…
“Although it is a counterfeit, this ‘Chen Ke’ remains the standard flying sword forged by the Refining Department for Sword Cultivators below the Yin God Realm.”
The woman slowly sat down, “I have heard rumors circulating outside…
claiming that the person who wields this sword will one day become the master of the Da Sui Sword Palace.”
“Your Majesty, over the past ten years, the entire North Sea has been almost turned upside down,”
Qing Sun, with sweat soaking his back, quickly bowed low and said, “The master of this sword has long been dead…
I don’t know which foolish diviner came up with that prophecy; should I investigate and cut out the tongue of that blind fool?”
The woman chuckled lightly.
Some issues are not that important.
But without an answer,
they become very important.
The man in heavy armor quickly crawled forward a few steps.
He looked up at the figure high at the end of the great hall, cautiously probing, “Your Majesty, do you think that person is not dead?”
he must be dead, otherwise, there wouldn’t have been peace these ten years,”
the woman said softly with a self-mocking laugh, “It’s just that lately, I’ve been feeling restless.
It’s unrelated to that person, yet related to Chen Ke.”
The man in heavy armor paused.
This statement was worthy of deep thought.
Unrelated to that person, yet related to Chen Ke…
Behind Chen Ke lies the Da Sui Sword Palace!
“I’ve heard that the Da Sui Sword Palace is about to reopen its school, and Xuanshui Cave Heaven is selecting a new master,”
the woman took a deep breath and ordered solemnly, “Qing Sun, make a trip to the Sword Palace, keep it quiet, and reopen investigation into the Xuanyi case from those years…
by all means, let me have a good dream.”
Da Chu and Da Li, two dynasties, have stood in opposition for five hundred years.
Known as north Da Chu and south Nanli, but in reality, Da Chu occupies the northwest, robust in strength, with a territory nearly twice the size of Li Kingdom.
Five hundred years ago, this land beheld ten dynasties vying for supremacy.
The chaos among the ten countries was eventually quelled by two sovereigns, leading to the ongoing north-south dispute.
This led to what’s now called “North Chu” and “South Nanli.”
In earlier years, Nanli had slightly outpaced Chu, but the catastrophe of “Primordial Energy withering” came too quickly, coupled with the emergence of miasma, forcing Nanli to abandon a large tract of land—
Then the miasma spread.
Da Chu also had to give up a “wasteland,” yet this disaster gave Da Chu a geographical advantage.
This area, shrouded in miasma and uninhabitable, eventually became Southern Border, independent of the two nations.
Of the vast Southern Mountains, if not for the miasma, Nanli would dominate over ninety percent.
Initially, both Chu and Nanli set up “border posts” at the edges of the South Border to expel law-breaking cultivators by stripping their cultivation and exiling them to the Southern Border.
Miasma thrived in the vast Southern Mountains.
Unexpectedly, these cultivators, even deprived of their cultivation, managed to survive in the miasma.
Among the initial exiles were a few “men of great talent,” who miraculously found a “way of life” on the wastelands of Southern Border, where Primordial Energy had withered, and pioneered various heretical cultivation methods…
Blood Sacrifice, Corpse Refinement, Gu Poison, the two dynasties never expected that in less than a century, the Southern Border Evil Sects flourished, attracting many cultivators of innate inadequate talent.
But this was not necessarily a bad thing.
This world is not merely black and white.
Both Da Chu and Da Li…
actually need “Southern Border” to exist.
Today is the winter solstice.
For Southern Border Evil Cultivators, this day holds no significance.
Under the shroud of miasma, the vast Southern Mountains are perennially hot, always in an eternal summer, with only the occasional rainfall.
Perhaps it’s due to the excess chill of Da Chu.
South Border is greeted by a heavy rain tonight.
All the major sects hastily form arrays to collect the rainwater.
Even if cultivators possess immense Divine Skills, capable of Sword Control to travel a thousand miles a day, they cannot escape their mortal bodies, with only one in a hundred being able to fast; not to mention these Evil Cultivators…
Because of their heretical practices, their passions and desires are stronger than others, making fasting all the more difficult.
If there is no water to drink, they would have to resort to drinking human blood.
Although human life is cheap, rainwater is still cheaper.
Clouds gather thickly overhead.
Thunder shakes and trembles.
On a remote desolate mountain, two itinerant Buddhist monks make their stop.
Although Southern Border is the domain of Evil Cultivators…
the two dynasties do not impose restrictions, so other cultivators often set foot in this land.
Taoist, Sword Palace, Buddhist Sect.
The young disciples of these three major teachings frequently come to Southern Border to cultivate.
During the times when the three great sects of Southern Border were at their most rampant, they were severely suppressed.
Latterly, the practice of “Subduing the Demon every Jiazi” even emerged.
“Master, these past few days…
we haven’t seen a single shadow of an Evil Cultivator, could it be that they were all killed by that guy?”
The young monk sighed lightly, “Heading further north, we’ll soon reach Da Chu, does this mean our Demon Subduing journey is effectively over?”