Maximum Comprehension: Taking Care of Swords In A Sword Pavilion

The clinking of the hammer rang out as Han Muye stood before the large black hammer forging weapons, with the Lord of Yunjiang City standing nearby, holding his long saber and watching.

From time to time, the Master would whisper instructions, from the force and angle of the hammer to the temperature of the flames.

He kept on speaking, as though afraid Han Muye might forget, and sometimes he would repeat himself a few times.

The brightness in his eyes grew more intense.

Under Han Muye’s hammer, the sword embryo gradually took shape, even more resplendent than the one before.

Quenching, polishing—a gleaming sword emerged in Han Muye’s hands.

The mountain lord sighed, then relaxed.

“It’s done…”

His expression was complicated.

The Lord of Yunjiang City, having taken the three-foot-long sword, swung the weapon and turned his gaze to the mountain lord with a cold snort.

“What do you think Feng Yangqing will do if I present him with your head?”

The mountain lord’s face was filled with despair, and he remained silent.

“Lord Mayor, if you defeat Feng Yangqing with this sword and then tell him it was refined by the mountain lord, can you imagine what Feng Yangqing’s face will look like?”

Han Muye’s voice sounded from the side.

The Lord of Yunjiang City was initially startled, then burst into laughter.

“Good, I’ll return with Feng Yangqing’s head.”

The thundering hooves of the warhorse departed, leaving behind group after group of soldiers besieging Broken Sword Mountain.

By the furnace, the mountain lord sported a bitter expression, sighing deeply with sadness.

“I thought I could protect the legacy, I thought I wouldn’t harm Brother Feng with my own sword, I never expected…”

If the Lord of Yunjiang City should defeat Feng Yangqing, then the legacy of Broken Sword Mountain would surely be extinguished.

Both he and Han Muye would be cut down.

All his schemes had come to naught in the end.

Han Muye looked towards the mountain lord and said softly, “We will only know the outcome after the results come in, won’t we?”

…

Ten days later, news spread throughout the martial world that the Lord of Yunjiang City, with a treasured sword in hand, had slain dozens of martial experts and then faced Feng Yangqing in battle.

That battle churned the heavens and earth, with winds and sandy mists billowing for miles around.

In the end, the three-foot-long sword in the Lord of Yunjiang City’s hand shattered, and he met his demise on the spot.

Feng Yangqing regrouped his generals and led the martial world’s masters, already marching upon Yunjiang City.

“How, how did you do that?” the mountain lord exclaimed, looking at Han Muye, dumbfounded.

He had personally witnessed that sword, clearly refined to the utmost limit, not something that Feng Yangqing’s own sword should have been able to withstand.

“Perhaps this is the true essence of the way of the sword?”

Han Muye did not look at the mountain lord. His gaze was fixed on the mountainside.

A group of martial world warriors hurriedly followed a figure with a three-foot-long sword.

“With a sword in hand, justice and moral duty are hard to fulfill.”

“A sword has two edges, it can hurt others as well as oneself.”

The mountain lord had aimed to refine a sword capable of defeating Feng Yangqing but in doing so, lost the righteousness he held dear in his heart.

Yet, if he did not refine that sword, he would sever his own legacy.

This was a dilemma of choice.

The space before Han Muye gradually turned illusory.

Broken Sword Mountain, the mountain lord, the furnace—all seemed non-existent, yet as if they’d always been there.

“The sword in my heart has no such concerns.”

“No matter the dangers, by sword alone, I will cleave through them.”

“Ultimately, a sword is just a sword, and if the one who wields it is no longer, isn’t that sword just a piece of scrap metal?”

“Boom—”

All the scenery before Han Muye dissipated.

The mountain lord bowed to Han Muye and then vanished.

Ahead, a figure holding a three-foot-long sword shouted aloud and then threw his weapon off the cliff.

Han Muye reached out, and a corroded long sword appeared in his hand.

Sword intent infused, layer upon layer of memories within the sword emerged.

The Lord of Broken Sword Mountain perished with the sword, severing his own legacy. Feng Yangqing, bearing that sword, defeated the Lord of Yunjiang City and when he reached Broken Sword Mountain, all that remained was ruins.

Feng Yangqing discarded his sword to live in seclusion, and the world lost an unparalleled swordsman.

“Wind Spirit Sword.”