But it was rare for an ancient swordsman standing in a position like that of Feng Zhongzui, to go so far as to sacrifice their family’s head’s reputation to validate the story’s authenticity.
This made the story sound much more credible.
However, the content of Feng Zhongzui’s words, upon careful consideration, seed quite exaggerated.
"A sixth-grade spiritual sword, reforged, it’s good if it doesn’t fall to the seventh-grade, right?"
"If it’s strong, it might maintain its original rank, at most it advances to rank-five... an Elephant Dragon, third-grade?"
"Feng Zhongzui, how much did you drink!"
"Feng Zhongzui, I think you’re truly drunk!"
The five regions were filled with curses for a while. This short story inserted here didn’t provoke much thought, just caused an uproar.
But Feng Zhongzui didn’t co just to tell a story and face rejection.
If these things weren’t told to him by the old family head, he wouldn’t have known, let alone believe if soone else said it.
The reason he wanted to tell it now was not because of Cao Ba’s guardianship, but because of the sword case in front of him today!
"Ladies and gentlen, don’t forget ’like father, like son’..."
Feng Zhongzui’s voice trembled, and he stared intently at the sword case in Cao Erzhu’s hands, pulling the people of the five regions back with one sentence.
Whee——
The sword cries within the case continued, growing increasingly intense.
It sounded so familiar, resembling so many ’Owner devouring legends’ from the wild histories related to Lord Shou!
At this mont.
It ignited even more imagination.
Feng Zhongzui dared not just think; when he realized that everything was possible, he could no longer contain his confusion and shouted out loud:
"Could it be, that Lord Shou’s sword was given to Cao Erzhu to be reforged?"
"The guardianship of Cao Ba, passing on the fla?"
The Dao Imparting Mirror zood in closer, no longer focusing only on the increasingly trembling sword case but also on Cao Erzhu’s rugged, sweat-drenched face.
Sweat beads rolled down from his thick eyebrows, and Erzhu’s face flushed red, his emotions uncontrollable.
"Brother Shou..."
He murmured, his tongue tied, unable to utter a word for a long ti.
He seed to have a thousand words he wanted to say, a process to describe, complaints about hardship, and joy to share.
Yet, he couldn’t say anything.
When the world’s focus shifted to Cao Erzhu, and he realized that the Dao Imparting Mirror and the world were watching him.
He couldn’t hold it any longer.
He bent his knees, bowed his body, like a rampaging beast, all words transford into one roaring howl, echoing across the mountains and rivers:
"How can kings and nobles be born naturally!!!"
...
Boom!
The black sword case shattered in response.
After Cao Erzhu finished that shout, the black Sealing Stone resembling iron bars of a Black Stone Prison all turned to powder before him.
"Whee——"
The case and sheathe were no longer constraining.
Now, the sound of the sword cries was no longer muffled.
And it gave people a sense of reality, clarity, even capable of being described as a "bone-chilling" murderous intent.
"Fad sword!"
Feng Zhongzui dared not claim that such a Sword Will was not a fad sword.
Anything with such spiritual quality, with such murderous intent, even if previously unnad, would surely enter the ranks of fad swords later.
Then, could it be...
"Hidden Bitter?"
Feng Zhongzui craned his neck, tense and expectant, "Could it be Hidden Bitter!"
The Spiritual Cultivators of the five regions could not have known how much ancient swordsn were obsessed with nurturing a saber from zero to one, or even from an initial saber to a fad sword.
They wouldn’t have known how arduous this path was, blocking millions like the myriad states of life, where the process mostly ended in sad deaths.
The difficulty in sword cultivation made it impossible even for Rao Yaoyao the Singer of the Stars and Moon, and i Siren’s lover Bai Xi was heartbroken, hence the saying "Xuan Cang erges from the Saint circle, Taicheng traverses the sky again."
Thus, Bazhun’an nad with You Si.
Thus Hua Changdeng cultivates and hunts ghosts.
Thus, among the Five Regions, any who is titled Sword Deity, the strongest saber they wield, is mostly ancient, passed down through generations — the creation of heaven and earth, the glory of predecessors.
Qingju longed for transcendence.
Once Qingju was broken, it also led to downfall.
Even renowned Sword Deities from the current to the past couldn’t escape the arduous path of sword cultivation—how could Hidden Bitter transcend Lord Shou?
But nothing in the world is absolute!
Just like that absurd shout from Cao Erzhu, that "How can kings and nobles be born naturally"...
No one is born a king.
Where would there be a naturally fad sword?
Regardless of natural or nurtured, or human-infused fa, all swords go through the process from cocoon to butterfly.
This "cocoon"—why couldn’t it be Spirit Palace’s Hidden Bitter?
This "butterfly"—why couldn’t it erge today from the broken case?
"How can kings and nobles be born naturally?"
People of the five regions didn’t know why, but their emotions were inflad by that shout from Cao Erzhu, their blood beginning to boil.
And what Feng Zhongzui hoped for.
What ancient swordsn longed to see.
And what all Spiritual Cultivators at this mont saw in the Dao Imparting Mirror screen...
Once the sword case broke.
The black sword within soared upwards, straight to the Nine Heavens.
It was like a returning sea dragon breaking its chains, twisting away, like an Elephant Dragoon shedding its constraints and landing back, its force was awe-inspiring.
"Hidden Bitter!"
Feng Zhongzui’s face flushed red as he roared hoarsely.
Even though it was just a fleeting glimpse, the Dao Imparting Mirror barely managed to capture the twisted sword that was escaping to the heavens, longing for freedom.
Yet that twist, that writhing, those eerie cries...
As soon as it appeared.
Feng Zhongzui recognized it.
It must be the saber Hidden Bitter that Lord Shou carried from the Spirit Palace; there was no doubt. And most shockingly...
"Hidden Bitter First Grade!"
...
"Hidden within are eighteen dragon elephants, born of a thousand lives of bitterness."
When the black sword pierced through the sky, sword cognition rippled, and sword power resonated.
Its strength and path subdued the endless spiritual swords of the five regions, bringing this sound of Taoist music to Spiritual Cultivators among all spiritual swords.
All who heard the Taoist music found their spirits dazed, as if witnessing the visions during Hidden Bitter’s rebirth.
They saw, amidst a sea of fire, on a giant silver shield, beneath a roaring thunderous hamr...
A three-foot sword, sobbing with wailing cries.
Countless forgings, countless grindings, tearing it to pieces, yet reshaping anew.
Its spirituality never ceased.
Its nature was immortal.
The hardships and violence did not obliterate this sword; instead, they endowed the sword spirit with the most tenacious toughness. At the mont the final hamr fell, at the instant Cao Erzhu bestowed rebirth upon Hidden Bitter:
"Dong—"
The five regions, as if hearing the final hamr’s sound, seemingly also heard the first unremarkable sound when this sword first erged.
No words needed to be spoken.
Understanding could be reached by intuition.
"Hidden within are eighteen dragon elephants, born of a thousand lives of bitterness."
Everyone suddenly realized the "rebirth" Cao Erzhu bestowed upon Lord Shou’s saber was a uniquely tailored new beginning:
This dragon is not a dragon, this elephant is not an elephant.
The water dragon reigns supre, the terrestrial elephant cos first.
Cao Erzhu endowed Hidden Bitter with the strongest:
In the strongest place, with the strongest shield, the strongest hamr, through countless afflictions and trials, forged the strongest spiritual quality!
And now, Hidden Bitter breaks free from its case.
After these visions of rebirth disappeared.
Before the Dao Imparting Mirrors across the regions, spectators, whether ancient swordsman or not, seed to see Lord Shou’s entire life, their own life:
From the Spirit Palace, to now.
From "having nothing," to "deservingly renowned"!
...
"This is the Number One Sword Deity!"
Feng Zhongzui was already overwheld with emotion, unable to extricate himself.
He had personally witnessed the birth of the "fad sword," and personally recorded the entire process with the Dao Imparting Mirror.
What of the 21 Fad Swords?
Though Hidden Bitter was not yet included, at this mont, it had just erged, just revived, and its strength could suppress the fad swords, the 21 could scarcely challenge it.
Youthful ambition, seeking to compete for glory.
When witnessing Hidden Bitter break free from its case and soar toward the horizon, drawing a black sword light above the Nine Heavens.
What Feng Zhongzui saw was...
The day when he himself would be renowned across the Four Seas, known throughout the five regions.
He took a deep breath, unable to hide his awe, murmuring under his breath:
"Though Qingju is broken, its na is also spread."
"Hidden Bitter does not age, Sword Li is in the making!"
...
The setting sun like blood, a black rainbow across the sky.
Youthful blood boiling, elders sighing.
At He Ting Mountain in the Central Region, i Siren stood beside the nearly dry Mizao Spring.
When seeing Xu Xiaoshou summon the sword, Cao Erzhu present the case, and Hidden Bitter beco fad with youths heading toward respective vistas.
He shook his head and smiled.
He also saw his younger self.
But he had already passed his youth, and now, just sealed as a demi-saint, the road ahead vague, feeling more lost in old age than in youth.
i Siren too shared sentints, yet could not contain them:
"The spirit is youthful and lively, the intent is bright and evident."
"White crane plucks the lotus, the immortal road is long and distant."
...
Is the road of the Sword Deity truly long and distant?
Three years may suffice, yet transcendence is warranted!
Bazhun’an Jianwo returns, concealed deeply in the domain, amidst the vast sea of humanity.
He could not see.
Yet he could hear Hidden Bitter break free, black rainbow pierce the sky.
This is the sword.
This is also not for oneself?
"Ten years hide one sword, the world seeks the naless."
"This day hears the rainbow awaken, gods and ghosts are shocked and startled."
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