0056 The Divine Sword Hangs Over the Western Peak of Sword Lake

This was probably the first time Duan Yu had ever actively plotted against someone in his entire life, and moreover, he was scheming against his beloved eldest brother. For a moment, he felt a mix of guilt, apprehension, and a faint, rebellious thrill of a good boy learning bad habits.

Suppressing his complex emotions, he forced himself to act like a thoughtful military strategist: "E-Eldest Brother, even if you were to bite off a piece of his flesh and lose your own life in the process, how would that protect Junior Sister? In my, in this younger brother's humble opinion, there is only one path: as heaven's movement is ever vigorous, a gentleman must unremittingly strive for self-improvement!"

Jiang Mingzhe blinked and feigned incomprehension: "When your older brother practices martial arts, I start at the third watch and sleep after midnight, practicing through the harshest winters and hottest summers. Is that not striving unremittingly?"

Hearing this, Duan Yu shuddered, thinking to himself: With martial arts training being so agonizingly difficult, what on earth are these people striving for? So be it; since Eldest Brother can endure hardship, he might as well endure it on behalf of his younger brother as well.

Steeling his heart, he tempted: "Although this younger brother knows no martial arts, I do know that there are countless martial arts manuals in this world. Surely, practicing powerful techniques must be vastly different from practicing mediocre ones. Since Eldest Brother is so clever and capable of unremitting self-improvement, if you were to practice the formidable techniques of the逍遥派 (逍遥派 / Carefree Sect), wouldn't you progress a thousand miles in a day and ten thousand miles in three? By then, you could utterly defeat that villain and naturally keep Junior Sister safe and sound!"

Jiang Mingzhe frowned and nodded almost instinctively: "True, supreme martial arts techniques are indeed different from ordinary martial arts, but..."

Guessing what Jiang Mingzhe was about to say, Duan Yu immediately interrupted: "Isn't it just failing to kowtow to the Goddess Fairy? The jade statue of the Goddess Fairy is right over there... Ah, no..."

The thought of Jiang Mingzhe kowtowing to the jade statue suddenly filled him with jealousy, as if once that kowtow was performed, he and the Goddess Fairy would no longer share their previous intimacy.

For a moment, his heart ached with bitterness and sorrow, yet unwilling to admit that he was jealous of his own good brother, he engaged in self-deception, thinking: Though I am unworthy of the Goddess Fairy, Eldest Brother has after all called her sister-in-law several times. How could a brother-in-law possibly kowtow to his sister-in-law? Wouldn't that be the same as Eldest Brother kowtowing to me, turning propriety and ethics upside down... Wait?

Another scheme suddenly popped into his head, and he became so overjoyed that he danced around: "I have it! Eldest Brother, I kowtowed to the Goddess Fairy, and since she passed her martial arts on to me, they belong to me now. How about this: you kowtow to me—no need for a thousand times, just kowtow eight times, and I will pass my martial arts on to you!"

"Hmm?"

Jiang Mingzhe slanted a glance at Duan Yu, his expression ambiguous: "I treat you as a fine virtuous brother, yet my virtuous brother actually wants to become his older brother's master?"

Duan Yu laughed heartily and said, "Of course not! You kowtow to me eight times, and I will kowtow eight times back to you. The Goddess Fairy never said that once someone is taught martial arts, they can't kowtow to each other, right? Our brotherhood is harmonious and we hit it off at first sight. We'll each kowtow eight times, and from this day forward, we shall become sworn brothers, not asking to be born on the same day of the same month and year, but wishing to die on the same day of the same month and year! I only wonder if Eldest Brother deems this younger brother worthy of your regard?"

"Oh?" Jiang Mingzhe blinked, delighted. "That would be wonderful! My parents only had me, and ever since I was small, I've always wanted a younger brother. Good brother, from now on you are my own blood brother!"

Duan Yu's face also lit up with joy as he grabbed Jiang Mingzhe's arm and said, "What a coincidence! This younger brother is just the same. When people bullied me in my childhood, I often wished I had an older brother. Eldest Brother!"

Jiang Mingzhe nodded vigorously: "Brother!"

Excitedly dragging him along, Duan Yu said, "Come, Eldest Brother, I know of a scenic spot. Let us go there and take our oaths of brotherhood, letting the heavens, earth, mountains, and lakes witness the bond between us brothers!"

The two of them swiftly crossed the bedroom and the stone chamber housing the statue, returning to the tunnel with the staircase they had taken earlier, and headed straight for the other end. The passage was entirely composed of wide steps. Walking up a dozen or so steps, they entered a circular stone chamber.

This stone chamber was quite spacious. In the middle were a stone table and stone stools, upon which stood a bronze mirror, alongside scattered combs, hairpins, and ornaments. The west wall was embedded with a crystal slab the size of a washbasin, through which the scenery of the lake bottom remained visible, while the other walls hung with thirty to forty bronze mirrors of various heights.

Jiang Mingzhe felt a momentary internal jolt, thinking that no matter how vain Li Qiushui was, she wouldn't hang this many mirrors; there had to be some profound mystery behind it!

However, Duan Yu was pulling him along in a rush, leaving him no time to investigate. Following Duan Yu, he entered a small, pungent, moldy-smelling room. Their vision instantly plunged into darkness, and it felt as though they had passed through a gateway, walking continually upward.

Fortunately, although this stretch of the road was dark, the ground was extremely even. After walking a short distance, a faint light appeared ahead, revealing that they were in a tunnel-like mountain cave.

The cave grew lower the further they went, forcing Jiang Mingzhe to lower his head and bend his waist. Before long, they reached the cave mouth, which was about three feet high, where a large boulder had been pushed half open.

Duan Yu released Jiang Mingzhe and climbed out first. Jiang Mingzhe followed him out to find towering cliffs and precipices all around, and before his eyes lay an exceptionally vast lake. The lake water was extraordinarily clear and crisp, and on the opposite peak, a waterfall cascaded straight down like a dancing jade dragon.

Duan Yu laughed, "I'm just thirsty! Eldest Brother, would you like a drink?"

With that, he stepped forward to cup the water in his hands and drank his fill. Jiang Mingzhe also drank a few mouthfuls, finding it refreshingly sweet and cool, and praised, "Fine water! Brother, there are cliffs on all sides here, and since you don't know martial arts, how were you able to get down to this place?"

Duan Yu said solemnly, "This is rather a long story. Listen carefully, Brother, as I tell you all about it—"

"Speaking of my family, we actually have a tradition of martial arts, but ever since I was young, I never liked studying it. In my early years, my family could still tolerate this, but now that I'm older, my father and uncle have grown anxious and used every possible means to force me to learn martial arts. Unable to bear it, I sneaked out to play, and along the way, I met an old master named Ma. He had been invited by a sect on Wuliang Mountain to act as a witness for a duel between their eastern and western branches. Having long heard of the wonderful scenery of Wuliang Mountain, I asked him to bring me along."

"That sect is called the Wuliang Sword. Yesterday morning, during the duel between the two branches, because I laughed out of turn, they subjected me to all sorts of hardships and even slapped me twice."

As he spoke, he tilted his face up for Jiang Mingzhe to see, and sure enough, it was still somewhat red and swollen."

Jiang Mingzhe narrowed his eyes and said, "Those who practice martial arts consider it strictly taboo to bully the weak with strength. You do not know martial arts and are moreover a guest, yet they dared to humiliate you so; they are truly utterly devoid of manners. If I do not return two hundred slaps to them, I am not worthy of being your elder brother."

Deeply moved, Duan Yu waved his hand with a smile and said, "Eldest Brother, you needn't strike him. For one thing, although I was somewhat angry at the time, upon reflection, they were engaged in a martial duel while I burst out laughing, which was indeed somewhat improper, so I am no longer angry. Since I am not angry, the grievance is wiped away. Besides, even if I were angry, you wouldn't be able to hit him anyway. Eldest Brother, can you guess why?"

Jiang Mingzhe thought to himself: Why else would that be? Most likely, the person who hit you is already dead, so naturally it wouldn't be appropriate for me to go and beat a dead man.

Yet he kept this to himself, feigned thought for a moment, and hesitated, "Could it be that this person's martial arts are exceptionally high, and you judge that I am no match for him?"

Seeing that he had guessed wrong, Duan Yu was naturally delighted and shook his head: "No, no! Once Eldest Brother learns the martial arts of the Carefree Sect, you will surely be far superior to him. It's just that that person is already dead! As it turns out, while their two branches were dueling, the Shennong Gang also launched a surprise attack. This Shennong Gang is formidable; every single one of them knows how to use poison. In the ensuing chaotic battle, the Wuliang Sword Sect suffered a disastrous defeat. Seeing corpses all over the ground, I fled in terror, but a fellow from the Shennong Gang mistook me for a member of the Wuliang Sword Sect and pursued me all the way here..."

Duan Yu pointed toward a certain spot: "In my panic, this younger brother lost my way and tumbled down right from there. Fortunately, I was broken in my fall by a grand five-officer pine tree and didn't die from the drop, so I slowly climbed down to the bottom of the cliff."

Jiang Mingzhe laughed, "Good brother, when I first met you, I said that you would surely have subsequent blessings after escaping such a great disaster, and indeed it turned out to be true. Had you not come here, you wouldn't have even laid eyes on your Goddess Fairy."

Duan Yu's face flushed red, and he nodded, then continued, "Eldest Brother, do you know why the Shennong Gang came to attack the Wuliang Sword? From listening to their exchanges, it was actually because of this object!"

He pointed toward the waterfall. Jiang Mingzhe followed his finger and saw a smooth cliff face beside the waterfall, resembling a mirror of glazed glass, knowing instantly that this must be the Wuliang Jade Wall. He feigned surprise and asked, "A rock?"

Duan Yu hastily said, "Eldest Brother, you must not underestimate this rock. It is said that back in the day, the patriarch of the Wuliang Sword once saw an immortal dancing with a sword within this stone, executing peerless sword techniques. Therefore, their eastern and western branches hold a competition every five years precisely to vie for the opportunity to cultivate in the Sword Lake Palace so they can observe the immortal wielding a sword. Ah, that's right, this lake is called Sword Lake."

Jiang Mingzhe stared at the massive rock for a moment, shook his head, and smiled, "That must merely be a case of misinformation spreading wildly. If one could truly learn an immortal's sword techniques, would they still end up being raided by a mere Shennong Gang?"

Duan Yu laughed heartily, "Eldest Brother truly possesses the insight of a supreme expert! It's just that after this younger brother tumbled down into this canyon, I realized that this matter cannot actually be blamed on the Wuliang Sword patriarch either. Eldest Brother, look over here!"

He pulled Jiang Mingzhe around to face another direction. Only then did Jiang Mingzhe notice that right beside the cave exit from which they had emerged, there was another flawlessly smooth cliff face, though it was much smaller than the one on the waterfall. When a person stood before it, their hazy shadow was cast upon it.

Surrounding it were numerous severed vines, suggesting that the cliff face had previously been covered by them until Duan Yu inadvertently discovered it and snapped the vines, revealing the stone wall.

Jiang Mingzhe looked at the smaller wall, then back at the larger one, and slowly said, "Could it be that Junior Sister's parents practiced martial arts here many years ago, and when the oblique moonlight shone down, it projected the human shadows from this small mirror onto that large mirror, leading the people up on the peak to believe it was an immortal dancing with a sword?"

Duan Yu clapped his hands in delight and said, "Eldest Brother is truly clever, guessing it at a single thought, unlike this younger brother, who would never have figured it out if the moonlight hadn't conveniently cast my shadow."

Then, a mysterious smile reappeared on his face: "However, Eldest Brother, while that spectacle of dual mirrors reflecting human shadows under the moonlight is one thing, this younger brother has an extraordinary discovery to tell you about!"

Pointing toward the west, he whispered, "Over there on the cliff, there is a peerless treasured sword hidden away! This younger brother has no interest in weapons and would normally not care about it, but since Eldest Brother is a practitioner of martial arts, wouldn't acquiring a divine sword be like adding wings to a tiger?"

What? Could it be that besides the North Ocean Divine Power and the Soaring Wave Microsteps, there was actually a divine sword hidden here as well?

Jiang Mingzhe was momentarily stunned, racking his brains to recall details from the book, yet how could he possibly remember?