114 Demon-Slaying Divine Artifact
The black sword melted extremely quickly, like a sword made of snow falling into a pot of boiling water. However, the snow was black.
Almost instantly, the entire sword melted into black water and flowed down between Huo Qiyun’s fingers to the ground.
Huo Qiyun felt a familiar burning sensation and saw a strange red color on his hand where the black water touched. Shock immediately appeared in his eyes. He suddenly looked at Lin Ran and asked in surprise, “That black water is actually a sword?!”
“That ‘water’ is actually a large swarm of insects, but I condensed it into a sword.”
As Lin Ran spoke, he waved his hand, and the black water on the ground immediately began to gather. In just a few seconds, it condensed into the shape of a sword.
Huo Qiyun still looked puzzled. Lin Ran could only continue to explain, “These insects are extremely small and have to be connected to their companions. The more insects there are, the more active they will be. However, once they leave the swarm, they will immediately lose their vitality.”
“In addition, I realized that other than metal, they also feed on sword intent and evil aura, so I activated sword intent to gather them to form a sword.”
“Your idea… is quite unique.”
Huo Qiyun nodded with a strange expression. “But why do you want such a sword?”
“To slay the demon.”
Lin Ran opened his eyes, his fighting spirit soaring high. “Actually… I met the demon a while back.”
Huo Qiyun’s expression immediately turned solemn. “What did you say? You’ve actually seen the demon? Then why didn’t you just kill it?”
“Because I can’t kill.”
Lin Ran replied with a forced smile. Then, he recounted the conversation he had with the demon at the Eight Directional Mountain.
At that time, when the demon said that it was unkillable, it didn’t say it out of mockery, but a plain statement of fact. Therefore, Lin Ran had always been curious why he couldn’t kill it.
It was only today that he finally found the answer.
“The so-called demon is actually a spirit born from the violent sword intent. From a certain perspective, it’s also another kind of “sword intent”.”
Huo Qiyun analyzed it tentatively. Seeing Lin Ran nod, his face immediately revealed fear. “No one can kill the sword intent, just like no one can kill the air!”
“Not necessarily, as long as you have a vacuum pump.”
As Lin Ran spoke, he raised his hand and waved. The black sword soared into the sky and landed steadily in his hand. “Perhaps there’s a sword that can devour evil aura.”
“These insects will feed on evil aura. I guess the Heavenly Saint Emperor put it there to delay the birth of evil spirits. As long as I have this sword, even if I can’t kill the demon, I’m confident that I can severely injure it!”
Looking at the sword made of small insects, Huo Qiyun suddenly felt hope, but he quickly felt that something was wrong.
“Since these insects can delay the birth of evil spirits, what will happen in Sword Grave if you take them away now?”
Huo Qiyun frowned and asked worriedly, “Without these insects, won’t the next demon appear faster?”
“Well…”
Lin Ran was speechless. Seeing that Huo Qiyun was about to fly into a rage, he hurriedly explained, “Don’t worry! I still left half of them in Sword Grave. Moreover, I’m only borrowing these insects. I’ll return them after I kill the demon!”
Only then did Huo Qiyun hold back his curses. He paused for a moment and said worriedly, “But even so, it’s still very risky…”
“That’s why we have to kill the demon as soon as possible and return these insects.”
Lin Ran interrupted Huo Qiyun and walked over to hold his shoulder. He said sincerely, “This is the only way to minimize the risk, right?”
“Right, right…”
Huo Qiyun looked at Lin Ran’s sincere eyes and nodded in agreement. However, he felt that this idea was a little unreliable, and he had an ominous feeling.
“What are you going to do?”
Huo Qiyun asked seriously, “Do you know where the demon is?”
Lin Ran smiled and shook his head. “I don’t know, but I know where it wants to go.”
…
In the palace.
Under the deep starry sky, two figures flashed across the sky like lightning and flew straight in the direction of Mingzhao Hall!
The palace guards along the way noticed the abnormality and were about to attack when a surging sword intent suddenly descended from the sky. Everyone immediately knew who the figure was and sheathed their swords to continue patrolling.
In Mingzhao Hall.
After Lin Ran and Huo Qiyun washed up, they changed into clean clothes.
Then, Lin Ran took out a jade token and handed it to Huo Qiyun. “Give this to His Majesty… By the way, she should be in the bedroom.”
“Bedroom?”
Huo Qiyun was stunned when he heard this. “Shouldn’t she be dealing with state affairs in the imperial study at this hour?”
“Something happened. Go and ask her yourself.”
Lin Ran sent Huo Qiyun away. After the sky turned completely dark, he sneaked all the way to the Hidden Sword Pavilion.
Although the Hidden Sword Pavilion was a forbidden area in the palace, it was usually not guarded by anyone. Only a few teams of guards would pass by occasionally. After all, the array formation in the pavilion was enough to protect the secret.
Suddenly, a breeze blew past and Lin Ran quietly appeared in the yard.
At this moment, the door of the Hidden Sword Pavilion was open, and the brass lock had been shattered and thrown to the ground. Lin Ran was not surprised at all. He only smiled and walked into the Hidden Sword Pavilion.
After passing through the rows of ebony shelves, he arrived at the empty space in the center of the Hidden Sword Pavilion.
A seven or eight-year-old girl was sitting there, drawing something in the air with a rattle drum. Other than emptiness in her big black eyes, there was also a hint of anxiety and confusion.
Seeing Lin Ran walk over, the little girl only glanced at him indifferently before continuing to draw something in the air.
Lin Ran already knew that this little girl was the incarnation of the demon, but when he saw her again, he was in no hurry to attack. When he was seven or eight steps away, he sat down opposite the little girl.
“Last time, you fooled me.”
Lin Ran smiled at the little girl, his eyes flickering. “How about we talk again? As usual, every time each person asks a question, the other party has to answer honestly.”
The little girl originally ignored him, but when she heard the last sentence, her hand that was drawing in the air suddenly stopped. She turned her big black eyes to Lin Ran. “How do I find the secret room of the Hidden Sword Pavilion?”