"What about you, Tang Zhong?" sneered the Valley of Hidden Swords Elder, looking at Tang Zhong as if he were prey.
Without uttering a word, Tang Zhong clenched his teeth tightly. At this moment, he could only use Blood Soul Transformation to regenerate his blood and maintain his original strength. He had not expected the Elder’s strength to be so formidable, but Tang Zhong was not one to admit defeat.
"I will slaughter all of you!" Tang Zhong gritted his teeth and said.
"You sure talk tough!" the Elder replied. "Unfortunately, that’s all you have—tough talk. In this world, strength ultimately does the speaking!"
"Do you know why I am still talking so much with you right now?"
Tang Zhong narrowed his eyes. Ever since that Martial Arts Elder from the Valley had started, they had always wanted to bring him back to the Valley of Hidden Swords. He was curious as to why.
"That’s because I need your blood!" the Valley’s Master said with a laugh.
"My blood!" exclaimed Tang Zhong.
"Yes, your blood. I heard that you once drew our sword at the Fang Family’s martial arts gathering!" the Master said.
Tang Zhong remembered this. When he had drawn that sword back then, that Martial Arts Elder had always wanted him to enter the Valley.
"It’s not just your blood, to be precise. Anyone who can draw that kind of sword is needed by us. We need to bring them back to the Valley of Hidden Swords, kill them, take their blood, and use it for our purposes!" the Master explained.
Hearing this, Tang Zhong finally understood. No wonder that Martial Arts Elder had been so intent on bringing him back to the Valley; this was the reason.
"Damn it, aren’t you afraid of divine retribution for killing people, Valley of Hidden Swords?" Tang Zhong said through clenched teeth.
"Divine retribution? What a joke. Is there even such a term as ’divine retribution’ in this world? All I know is that my strength is formidable, and I am revered by tens of thousands. That’s enough. Others dying for my cause is their honor!" the Master proclaimed.
"Then why do you need our blood?" Tang Zhong needed to understand everything.
"Because your blood can help me complete a very significant task!" the Master explained. "You are about to die, and as soon as I take your blood, I can definitely complete that task. So telling you will have no impact whatsoever. I want to use your blood to reclaim something that I’ve been researching for over fifty years. If everything goes as expected, that thing will soon appear. Once I reclaim it, I will definitely reach the peak of the Sword Dao and enter the ranks of the unparalleled experts, ha ha!"
Tang Zhong’s brow furrowed slightly. Reclaim something? What was it?
And just at that moment, the stone he held in his arms began to vibrate incessantly as if attracted by something.
Tang Zhong quickly grasped the stone, unsure of what was happening.
Just then, the Master’s voice rang out: "He is coming out!"
Tang Zhong’s brows furrowed instantly. Unsurprisingly, the ’He’ the Master spoke of must be related to this stone.
In an instant, the entire Earth began to tremble.
It was like an earthquake.
This earthquake enveloped the entire Hidden Sword Mountain.
Everything on the mountain trembled at this moment.
The martial artists at the doorstep grew nervous. "What’s happening? What’s going on?"
If either the Master or Tang Zhong had taken action, the others might not have been so surprised. But since neither of them had moved, it meant that the disturbance was coming from somewhere else.
All the animals and plants on Hidden Sword Mountain began to shake, and unbeknownst to them, every creature on the mountain trembled.
Even the tourists at the foot of Hidden Sword Mountain felt the tremor.
They all looked towards the distant mountain, which resembled the tip of a sword pointing towards the sky.
"What’s happening? Is this an earthquake?"
"But the tremors are too weak!"
"Look... look at the sky above Hidden Sword Mountain!" someone in the crowd shouted.
It was only then that everyone immediately looked up, and they were all stunned.
They could only see that atop Hidden Sword Mountain, red lightning flashed violently, lighting up the sky as if it were on fire.
"What... what in the world is happening?"
"Could it really be an earthquake? Quick... run!"
The tourists turned around and ran, getting farther and farther from Hidden Sword Mountain.
At that moment on Hidden Sword Mountain, the anomalies became even clearer. The entire sky above Valley of Hidden Swords was enveloped in red fire clouds, with red lightning occasionally striking the ground.
The Martial Arts experts had all retreated in fear, looking up at the sky in terror.
"What... what is this?"
"Could it be that a divine weapon is about to be born? In this world, there are many miraculous items that can trigger natural phenomena when they appear. Now with thunder roaring and fire spreading across the sky, this is truly an extraordinary sign. Could it be that a divine weapon is emerging?"
"It sounds likely. According to ancient texts, a long time ago when the Xuanyuan Sword, which belonged to Emperor Xuanyuan, was born, golden light descended from the sky and the Xuanyuan Sword fell from heaven. Could it be a similar phenomenon this time?"
"It’s very possible. This is Valley of Hidden Swords after all. Could a divine weapon be appearing here?"
The people around were all discussing this.
At that moment, the Master of Hidden Swords looked at the phenomena in the sky and then directed his gaze towards the back mountain.
"He’s about to come out, that thing locked in the Sword Prison. I’ve unsealed the sword that was sealing him, so very soon, it will break its seal."
Sword Prison? Breaking seals? When Tang Zhong heard these terms, his brow furrowed.
He seemed to understand everything now. In this world, to obtain a weapon, one must receive affirmation from Blood Power since weapons can recognize their owners, just like Emperor Xuanyuan with the Xuanyuan Sword, Guan Yu with the Azure Dragon Crescent Blade, and Lv Bu with the Fang Tian Halberd.
In the Sword Prison of Valley of Hidden Swords, it seemed a weapon was sealed. The Master of Hidden Swords could not subdue it; hence, he had been searching for the Blood Power that could suppress this weapon. That’s why he organized sword-pulling events around the world, recruiting disciples into Valley of Hidden Swords. If the swords they pulled had the same aura as the sealed weapon, then the Blood Power of those disciples could suppress the sealed weapon. However, the Blood Power of a single person was not enough, so the Master killed them to seize their Blood Power in order to suppress the weapon for his own use.
If the Master included Tang Zhong’s Blood Power, he could completely suppress the sealed sword, so he unsealed the sword within the Sword Prison, letting the weapon appear.
But what kind of weapon could it be?
If the current Master of Hidden Swords could control those Flying Swords, then Tang Zhong was definitely not his match, but if he could subdue that weapon, he could definitely challenge the Master of Hidden Swords.
Tang Zhong’s eyes narrowed. Since it was said that his blood could suppress that weapon, he definitely needed to see what it was when it appeared.
Just at that moment, the ground shook even more violently, and then, a Flame Divine Dragon burst forth from the earth.
Was... was that the weapon?
(I apologize for the severe block today, dear readers. I still owe you 75 more updates, but rest assured, I will complete them!)