Chapter 145: Sword Master

This is a club, quite spacious in area, yet it houses only three people: Gu Changqing, Gao Wenxin, and another middle-aged Awakened one with a cold and indifferent expression.

A sword rests upon his knees.

He is not the Awakened one from just moments ago, but the Sword Master.

"Did you people poison this? With something like an Awakened-suppressing serum?" Gu Changqing asked, looking at the dishes on the table.

"You should have the means to check, shouldn't you?" the other directly asked.

"Nowadays, all Awakened-suppressing drugs take effect within three seconds if injected, and at most three minutes if ingested." Gao Wenxin tasted a bit of every dish.

Gu Changqing shrugged.

After five minutes, Gao Wenxin said, "It's fine!"

Then she stared at a plate of orange meat chunks and ate without stopping.

"Bah, too sweet! Careful you don't rot your teeth!" Gu Changqing tasted a piece of sweet and sour pork and spat it aside.

"That's meant to trick kids. Besides, Awakened ones don't need to worry about such things," Gao Wenxin said indifferently.

The Sword Master looked the two over with keen interest, particularly Gu Changqing.

Then, he too picked up his chopsticks.

Once the meal was finished, the Sword Master calmly asked, "What have you come here for?"

"To beat you to death!" Gu Changqing grabbed a silk napkin, wiping his mouth as he spoke.

His tone and demeanor were filled with a matter-of-fact casualness.

As if he were speaking of the most ordinary thing in the world.

The Awakened ones stationed in the distance possessed sharp senses; upon hearing this, they wore expressions of anger and derision.

In their view, even if Gu Changqing was a Tier-7 Awakened, he was far too ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth.

In their hearts, no one could surpass the Sword Master. This was not blind confidence, but rather the fact that the Sword Master was universally acknowledged as the strongest among the Awakened.

Among the present Qichao Awakened, the Sword Master alone was not angry.

Staring at Gu Changqing for a moment, he began to believe that Gu Changqing might have truly slain Chen Daoling.

The confidence and fierce murderous intent emanating from Gu Changqing were not fake.

"Your reason?" the Sword Master asked calmly.

"Because I want to!" Gu Changqing smiled, his mouth parting in a grin that stretched almost to his ears.

The Sword Master instantly felt a wave of fierce, baleful aura rushing toward him. The person sitting before him was not a human at all, but a vicious beast.

"I thought you came here for the Martial Sovereign Stele!" The Sword Master remained calm.

"What's that? Something obtained from Mount Danyang? You actually reminded me! Tell them later to bring out the Martial Sovereign Stele first, so I don't have to go looking for it after I beat you to death," Gu Changqing laughed heartily.

"Very well," the Sword Master nodded and said.

This composure born from the depths of his heart prompted Gu Changqing to give the Sword Master a couple of extra looks, after which he thoughtfully asked Gao Wenxin, "Don't you think the two of you look a bit alike?"

"Is he really not your father?"

Ignoring him, Gao Wenxin poured herself a glass of fruit wine.

Even with a Qichao Sword Master on one side and a ferocious Gu Changqing on the other, she did not show the slightest bit of awkwardness. Her expression remained serene as she simply continued eating her food.

The Sword Master held some admiration for her, though it was a pity she was not a person of Qichao.

"Right, what's the situation on Mount Danyang?" Gu Changqing tapped the table and asked.

The Sword Master explained:

"That place is not a complete world. Those Martial Sovereigns believed that place was a cage. To achieve the Martial Sage of legends, one needed to shatter the cage."

"Oh?" Gu Changqing raised an eyebrow. This did not entirely exceed his expectations.

In fact, the earliest records of exploration already noted that the edge of that world was similarly shrouded in a expanse of white mist.

Gu Changqing had long guessed that it might be a blessed paradise-like place, likely harboring an exit.

"They tried many times, and all failed. Later, they created a technique to pass down a portion of each generation's Martial Sovereign abilities, thereby giving birth to someone strong enough to shatter the cage."

"They half-succeeded, successfully producing someone who shattered the cage. However, after shattering the cage, that person was contaminated by something from the outside. Although the cage repaired itself, the world became what it is now."

"After the Nightmare Master and Chen Daoling went up the mountain, they didn't see the so-called Martial Sovereigns, but only found a Martial Sovereign Stele," the Sword Master slowly explained.

It had to be said that the Sword Master was actually a very peaceful person, or rather, a person resembling the vast sea.

The surface of the sea was calm and tranquil, but beneath the surface lay an peerless, razor-sharp sword.

Gu Changqing nodded, indicating that he understood the situation.

"I have a rather good impression of you. Do you have any last words you'd like to leave?" Gu Changqing said with a beaming smile.

"I am the Sword Master!" The Sword Master cast aside his previous tranquility, his gaze turning sharp as a freshly awakening blade.

Gu Changqing could even discern his meaning from those four brief words.

I am the Sword Master, the absolute best under heaven; on what grounds do you think you can defeat me?

"Hahahaha!" Gu Changqing burst into hearty laughter, shoved the table aside, and walked outside.

The other two also departed in succession.

Outside lay a rather large courtyard, and everyone within a radius of one kilometer had been cleared out, leaving only Qichao's Awakened ones lingering around the perimeter.

Gao Wenxin also leaped to the side, watching the Sword Master with unblinking eyes.

The Sword Master's path held immense significance for her.

"Is the Nightmare Master not showing his face?"

"Anomalies are humanity's greatest enemy! He has many things to do. If I truly die by your hand, Qichao still needs someone to hold the fort," the Sword Master explained calmly.

"Is that so... then I'll grant you this courtesy!" Gu Changqing indeed had a favorable impression of the Sword Master, yet it only made him want to kill him all the more.

Since the other party wanted to leave the Nightmare Master to protect Qichao, he could spare the Nightmare Master for now.

"If I die, send the Martial Sovereign Stele to him!" The Sword Master's tone remained flat, yet the sharp aura piercing from his entire standing figure was palpable, the shadow of a tiny sword reflecting within his pupils.

Within his spiritual sense, Gu Changqing suddenly sensed a slight anomaly; his body twisted, his shoulder grazing past a bloody gash.

Had he not dodged that split second, his throat would have been pierced straight through.

"Oh?" Gu Changqing raised an eyebrow, "That's formidable!"

"This is a gaze technique I created myself. Its foundation is merely sword intent! It relies entirely on catching the opponent off guard. Once you are on guard, it loses its effectiveness," the Sword Master said calmly, sounding as though he were instructing others.

Yet there was still a hint of self-satisfaction within his words.

After all, having honed sword techniques to his level, he could truly be called brilliantly talented.

"Are you aware that you are going to die here, leaving your last words behind?" The smile on Gu Changqing's face was exceptionally brilliant, and bloodthirsty.

"Anything can happen, which is why one must make all kinds of preparations so that when things occur, one will not panic or commit grave errors. Just like my sword—I have studied all the martial arts and abilities in this world, so when facing anyone, I can always find a method of suppression."

"I don't believe it!" Gu Changqing sneered. A azure dragon manifested outside his body, and a river of blood surged toward the Sword Master.

Simultaneously, a Kui drum appeared in Gu Changqing's hand, its beast-head facing the Sword Master. As Gu Changqing brought down the drum mallet, a muffled peal of thunder instantly shook the sky.

The Sword Master's longsword sprang from its scabbard. With a single upward thrust, the river of blood was cleaved apart from end to end.

Immediately afterward, he planted the sword vertically in front of himself.

The moment Gu Changqing's drum mallet fell, the Sword Master struck the sword body sharply, and a dragon-like roar instantly rang from the blade.

"Guard the mind as one! The sword alone is sovereign!" the Sword Master gave a soft shout.

The air directly around the Sword Master exploded, and visible shockwaves rippled outward in all directions.

Having seen the drum in Gu Changqing's hand, the Sword Master had been prepared, yet blood still seeped from his ears.

How could the Kui drum be so easily resisted?

However, an even sharper edge gleamed in the Sword Master's eyes. He forcefully withstood the blow of the Kui drum, then vanished from his spot, reappearing by Gu Changqing's side in a flash. With a single sword strike, he slashed against the azure dragon projection enveloping Gu Changqing, nearly tearing the dragon apart.

Two-thirds of the azure dragon was sliced open before the momentum of the sword blade was finally checked.

A yellowish bead hurtled toward the Sword Master. Sensing the fierce, whistling wind and immense weight of the bead, the Sword Master instantly realized he must not take the blow head-on.

The tip of his sword flicked upward, intending to deflect the bead.

Yet when the sword tip met it, an immensely heavy force struck him, nearly snapping the blade in two.

Though this Mysterious Yellow Earth Bead was only the size of a fist, it weighed ten thousand jun.

At that moment, the drum mallet in Gu Changqing's hand fell once more.

This time, however, the Sword Master slashed his longsword through empty air, the blade vibrating incessantly as if attempting to use those tremors to block out the sound of the Kui drum.

The next second, blood spurted from the Sword Master's ears and nose.

Seizing the opportunity, a bloody crescent moon flashed and vanished within the sea of blood.

Blood Prison Soul-Suppressing Blade!

Having just endured the heavy impact of the Kui drum, the Sword Master was still able to spin around and raise his sword to block before him—a true testament to his formidable strength.

Yet the next instant, the sword shattered with a loud clang, and the upper half of the blade dropped to the ground.

The Sword Master's body stood frozen in place, a trace of lingering regret in his eyes.

What a pity, he had failed to take that final step further.

Then, the river of blood engulfed the Sword Master entirely.