Shi Hao followed her and drifted away in the wilderness. He asked, "Are you going to find the swordsmith who appeared in the Hongqiu Society?"
Xu Xiaoyan turned around: "Hey, how did you know?"
Shi Hao said, "Because I can see that you and he should know each other. And he is looking for the Blood Killing Sword. Now we have got the news about the Blood Killing Sword, and at the same time, we just happen to be short of a sword. Putting these points together, it is easy to guess."
Xu Xiaoyan smiled and said, "I didn't expect you to be quite smart."
Shi Hao put his hands behind his back and sighed: "Do I look like such a stupid person?"
Shi Hao followed her for nearly three hours, and they finally reached a mountain when it was almost dawn.
There is no human habitation around the mountain, and it looks like an uninhabited wilderness.
After passing through a dense forest and going deep into the mountain, we discovered that the mountain pass was circular and there was a hidden valley inside.
Shi Hao saw a sword pavilion, from which came the sound of clinking swords. He also saw a sword furnace, from which blazing flames spewed.
There are several stone houses and various utensils around. There are cave dwellings in the distance, as well as a pavilion and some strange buildings whose uses are unclear.
"Uncle Yan?" Xu Xiaoyan shouted loudly.
"Hey, isn't this Xiaoyan?" A fat middle-aged man, wearing a dark blue Taoist robe, rushed out of a stone house.
Xu Xiaoyan introduced to Shi Hao: "This is Taoist Tie Yu, his family name is Yan. He is a famous swordsmith in the martial arts world. Of course, his fame lies in the 'unorthodox ways'."
Shi Hao bowed to Taoist Tie Yu and said, "I am Shi Hao, and I am honored to meet you, Taoist priest."
Taoist Tie Yu looked at him and laughed, "You are the one who attended the Hongqiu meeting with Xiaoyan yesterday evening, right? Not bad, not bad, much more polite than Xiaoyan."
Xu Xiaoyan rolled her eyes quietly.
Shi Hao said: "We encountered the Blood Killing Sword that the Taoist wanted at midnight last night."
Taoist Master Tie Yu instantly became excited: "Where is it?"
Shi Hao said: "In the hands of a young man who looks like a barbarian, his swordsmanship is quite unusual..." He recounted the whole process.
Taoist Tie Yu said, "I see! In other words, you want a sword to fight him tomorrow night? Well, if it were any other time, I could forge the most suitable one for you, but you need it tomorrow night, and the time is too short."
"In the Sword Pavilion over there, there are various sharp swords that I have forged before. Although they are not top-grade swords... Sorry, I have sold all the top-grade swords, but I still have mid-grade ones. Go and pick one that suits you!"
Shi Hao said: "Thank you!"
Taoist Tie Yu chuckled and said, "No, no! If you can really defeat that man and obtain the Blood Killing Sword, I will forge you another real top-grade sword. At the moment, you can only make do with this one. You can go and choose a sword first, and stay here to recuperate before going to compete with that man tomorrow night."
At that moment, Shi Hao went to Jiange to choose a good sword that suited him.
Taoist Tie Yu pulled Xu Xiaoyan aside and said, "Girl, you said at the Hongqiu meeting last night that Ming Yueshu entered the Three-Tassel Ghost Cave and came out alive. Is this true or false?"
Xu Xiaoyan smiled and said, "Uncle Yan, how could I dare to lie at the Hongqiu Conference? Aren't you afraid that old fox will ban me from entering Hongqiu from now on? Of course the news is true, and it won't take long for it to spread throughout the martial arts world, so it can't be false, right?"
Taoist Master Tie Yu asked, "Where did you get this news?"
Xu Xiaoyan said: "Of course I have my own sources of information, just like you, Uncle Yan, did not tell me the sources of your crystal ore for sword making."
Taoist Priest Tie Yu said unhappily: "If I tell you, you will definitely take away my business."
Xu Xiaoyan said: "Oh, look at what you said. I helped you sell so many swords, how come you are regarded as a bad guy?"
Taoist Tie Yu said, "If you are a good person, there won't be many bad people in the world. Wait a minute, did you really encounter the Blood Killing Sword? You are not using this name to cheat me of a sword with him, are you?"
Shi Hao entered the Sword Pavilion, which was much hotter than outside.
The hot air that came from nowhere formed a ball of wind under the careful design inside Jiange.
There were many sharp swords hanging by their hilts high up. Blown by the hot wind, they collided with each other, making clanging sounds.
Shi Hao walked under these sharp swords and looked up, and saw a dazzling array of sword lights.
He looked at them one by one, suddenly jumped up, grabbed a sharp sword and broke the rope on the sword.
He landed on the ground, swung the sword, and the sword light flashed in a circular shape.
Looking at the sword, it was not too long, about two feet and three inches. Although it was much longer than the average dagger, it was still short among long swords.
The sword body was narrow, but the edge was sharp. There was brocade next to it for testing swords. With a slight cut, the brocade broke.
"Good sword!" Shi Hao praised subconsciously.
Although Taoist Tieyu said that the swords here were only of medium quality, Shi Hao had never used a sword of such good quality before.
There was a plaque on the hilt with only a serial number on it. He found a scabbard with the same serial number on the wall. The scabbard was silver-white with plum blossom-like patterns, which seemed a bit too gorgeous to him.
Shi Hao took the sword and left the Sword Pavilion. Next, he settled down in this circular valley.
Shi Hao practiced swordplay the entire day.
This was Shi Hao's first time to have a formal sword fight with someone, and he was eager to win.
Although there are eighteen kinds of weapons in the martial arts world, the "sword" will always be the highest-ranking and most respected weapon in the martial arts world.
Swordsman, swordsman, sword immortal... The status of the sword can never be compared with other weapons.
Moreover, Shi Hao also wanted to try it out. What kind of status did his swordsmanship have in the martial arts world
When it got dark, Shi Hao sat cross-legged in the temporary stone house, adjusting his breath.
It has been a few days since he left Yuanshi Cave Heaven. During these days, he has never stopped practicing cultivation.
The Jujing Liuzhu Jue and Moxiao Wuji Gong were always competing with each other in his meridians, running non-stop. They either released or retracted, running one big circle after another in the fight with each other, and then slowly continued to maintain a delicate balance in their improvement.
—He sat until the middle of the night, then Shi Hao got up, went outside, and walked among the trees and hills under the moonlight.
He held the sword in his left hand and took out the Jade Clear Stone with his right hand, letting it absorb the moonlight.
At the same time, in his mind, he replayed over and over again the process of his sword fight with the barbarian youth last night.
Last night, he used the Jujing Liuzhu Jue and performed the six Xianli moves in a row, but he didn't gain the slightest advantage. He felt that it was not just because he had nothing in his hand and only used a branch he picked at random.
He felt that compared to the barbarian youth, he lacked the "spirit" and the indomitable spirit required for a duel between strong opponents.
Although he had not practiced martial arts for a long time, he had actually killed quite a few people so far. However, the people he killed were either weaker than him, or they were assassinated after careful consideration of the situation.
But the barbarian youth was different, he was a swordsman. What he needed was an upright duel of swordsmanship. In this situation, state of mind, momentum, etc., all became very important.
As for the weapon, although he was holding only a branch, the young barbarian did not use the advantage of the weapon to deal with it after discovering this, but avoided the collision of the sword and tried to win with swordsmanship. In this regard, Shi Hao actually took advantage.
But in the end, when he tried to use the Azure Thunder Sword Technique, the branch could not withstand his own sword energy and shattered.
This also made Shi Hao hold his breath.
He must win the battle tomorrow night no matter what. He wants to prove himself as a swordsman and prove that the swordsmanship he has learned is not inferior to others!
In the second half of the night, he slept for two hours, and after dawn, he continued to practice swordplay.
Chapter 55: We Have to Do Something Big
That night, the darkness was like a tide, quickly covering the mountains and forests.
There were towering mountains all around, and although the moon rose, it was blocked on the other side of the mountains.
The young man with the Blood Killing Sword was sitting on the grass in the most traditional Chinese "upright sitting" posture.
He was wearing a fur coat that exposed his right shoulder, and his short hair was like a pot lid on his forehead. One could tell at a glance that he was not Chinese.
The Blood Killing Sword was placed across his thigh, and the blood energy was becoming stronger and stronger.
He could sense the Blood Killing Sword's excitement and hunger, which indicated that the person it was locking onto was getting closer.
The night seemed to split apart at this moment, frost swept across the grass, and night birds were startled and flew all over the sky.
A Chinese youth in a long gown, with a sharp sword on his waist, stepped forward with his hands behind his back, as if he was parting the darkness and stepping out: "The Zhao guest's hair is like a barbarian's tassel, and the Wu hook is shining like frost and snow. The silver saddle shines on the white horse, and it gallops like a meteor. I can kill a person in every 10 steps, and I will not stop for a thousand miles!"
The barbarian youth sitting on the grass narrowed his eyes.
He could feel the opponent's oppressive aura. At this moment, the dark night seemed to come back to light because of him. Before the sword was unsheathed, the sword intent had already covered the sky and rolled over.
The barbarian youth slowly stood up, and the Blood Killing Sword was like a poisonous snake, spewing out fierce sword intent.
On the other side, a young girl was hiding on a high slope covered with dense weeds. She looked at the young man who was attending the party in a dashing manner and muttered, "You still need to recite poetry?"
"I'm Shi Tu Xiong!" The barbarian youth tried to use a more orthodox, Central Plains accent, but it also sounded a little weird. "Tell me your name!"
The blood-colored sword energy of the Blood Killing Sword expanded further, as if there was an invisible giant python, baring its fangs and claws above him.
The Chinese youth said calmly: "Shi Hao!"
The invisible sword intent turned into a tangible entity and confronted the two men. Criss-crossing sword marks appeared on the ground and weeds flew in the air.
The girl on the high slope couldn't see who drew the sword first... Maybe they both drew their swords at the same time.
The shining sword light, at that moment, seemed to divide the two sides of the battle into two distinct worlds, one side was covered with ice and snow, and the other side was shrouded in blood.
Their bodies kept changing and moving quickly in the interweaving. Occasionally, a sword light, like lightning or a blood-red rainbow, would penetrate into the opponent's color, and then be quickly repelled.
The sound of the swords clashing was not loud, just like the tinkling of pearls falling on a plate.
The sword shadows were so dense and numerous, one after another, that it was difficult to see clearly.
The girl was secretly surprised. She had some connections with Taoism and the Demonic Sect, and knew a lot about the major sects in the martial arts world.
But she couldn't recognize the sword styles of these two people at all.
The only thing that can be confirmed is that they are all mysterious and unbelievable superior sword techniques.
The two fought from the grass to the forest. The girl could not see their figures in the forest, but the amazing sword light that occasionally flashed and cut through the night made her know that the battle had not stopped... and it was getting more intense.
This is a battle between life and death. If you make a mistake, you may be doomed.
Trees fell down in large numbers, and the two men came out again in a fierce battle. The sound of swords swishing was so sharp that it still hurt her ears even from such a distance.
Sword energy seeped into the ground, and then suddenly transformed into sword shadows that shot out, like bamboo shoots after rain. In a very short period of time, they quickly emerged... but were quickly suppressed by another sword energy.
There were sword shadows like a flood, one wave after another, continuous and endless. The overwhelming sword tide could be described as a raging storm... but it was unable to break through the opponent's defense line.
The girl was stunned, even from a distance, her eyes could no longer follow the interlocking sounds of the two people.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang.
This roar was the loudest since the battle began.
The sword energy of ice and fire collided in a flash, and two air currents rolled back at the same time after the collision, and both men were knocked back half a foot.
She saw that the barbarian youth grabbed the sword with both hands, the Blood Killing Sword extended backwards, and the sword energy was like a stacked tower, climbing up layer by layer.
It felt like a magnificent building appeared above him.
Shi Hao stood still, with the sharp sword against his chest, stabbing upwards. Layers of sword shadows, like a tornado, swirled like a dragon in the air. Then, the dense sword shadows condensed into thunder and struck with all their might.
The thunder and the Blood Palace collided with each other with a loud bang. Amidst the earth-shaking sound, the Blood Palace exploded and the Blood Killing Sword flew up. The barbarian youth staggered back and fell to his knees with a thud.
The girl on the high slope finally breathed a sigh of relief... At this point, the winner was finally decided.
Shi Hao held the sword and approached the barbarian youth step by step.
The barbarian youth named Shi Tuxiong grabbed the grass unwillingly, trembling all over: "Kill me!"
Shi Hao slashed down with his sword, and with a clang... what he hit was not Shi Tuxiong, but the Blood Killing Sword.
At that moment just now, he felt that the Blood Killing Sword seemed to come alive, exuding blood and moving towards the corpse of Tu Xiong.
He knew that this was the "Devil Sword Devouring the Master", so he cut off the devil's shadow with one sword.
Grabbing the magic sword on the ground, he turned around, floated away, and quickly blended into the night.
Leaving the barbarian youth alone, shivering in the night wind—
—
Shi Hao rushed to the hillside, and soon, Xu Xiaoyan jumped out from the grass.
"Why not kill him?" Xu Xiaoyan walked around him.
Shi Hao said calmly: "He has already lost!"
Xu Xiaoyan smiled and said, "I hate those who want to be swordsmen the most. They have a lot of rules."
Looking at the Blood Killing Sword in his hand: "Forget it, just get the Blood Killing Sword."
Together, they flew towards the circular valley. On the way, Shi Hao said, "By the way, you said last night that there was a 'big business'. What are you going to do?"
Xu Xiaoyan smiled and said, "It's amazing that you still remember this. You said it yourself that petty thefts are too uncool, and if you want to do something, do something big..."
Shi Hao said: "I didn't say the latter part."
Xu Xiaoyan said: "It's about the same."