Chapter 284: Sick Sword

Thump-thump-thump! A carriage trundled across the land, ancient and unassuming.

In the Southwestern martial world, martial arts sects dotted the landscape. Many martial artists competed, their combat power already comparable to the Western Era. Swordsmen who had cultivated to the extreme could cleave mountains and sever rivers with a single strike.

Finally, Meng Mei gritted her teeth and offered her price. She was simply too curious!

Observing the scene from the mirror, Xu Zhi found himself quite comfortable, watching the character with interest. He had just tricked someone, and now they were clearly feeling the sting.

“To assassinate all the grandmasters of the martial world as a first-tier mortal, an ordinary person, and to cleave open the Immortal Gate with a sword—there is only one such person in this world.”

A detached voice echoed from within the carriage. It was Bai Xiaosheng answering the question.

As always, he turned his head slightly, gazing indifferently out the window. “Eighty years ago in the martial world, there was the Liu family, a sword-forging clan. Their forging skills were superb, but their cultivation levels were never high from generation to generation, and they lacked lethal combat techniques. They lived by forging swords.

The head of that generation possessed only a Divine Repository realm cultivation, yet his sword-forging techniques were exquisite. He forged peerless swords and various divine weapons for heroes across the land.

His renown was at its peak, but he bore a daughter, Liu Wenjian, who could not inherit the family business. She was sickly and frail, her meridians blocked, making cultivation impossible and preventing her from wielding a forging hammer.

However, she had a stubborn personality. Seeing her father’s repeated disappointed glances as he left, she resented not being a son, unable to inherit the family business. Even as a daughter, she was frail and sickly, unable to cultivate or even lift forging tools. Unyielding to fate, she constantly studied in the library, thoroughly mastering the family’s sword-forging techniques. She became so engrossed that she reached an unprecedented level in sword forging.

At twenty-three years old, she displayed astonishing talent in forging. Though unable to forge personally, her guidance to the Liu family artisans was enough to ensure the family’s rise and dominance. She had surpassed what a son could achieve, believing she had finally triumphed over her difficulties and overcome a life of hardship.

But villains emerged in the martial world. Several major sects acquired a piece of meteor iron formed from a Heavenly Dao bone. They came and took control of all the men in the Liu family's manor, forcing them to forge a divine weapon. Once the weapon was complete, they murdered the smiths who had forged it. Only the elderly, weak, women, and children of the Liu family remained, and Liu Wenjian survived by hiding among them.”

Meng Mei and the little fox lowered their heads, silently listening as they looked at the frail, old, one-armed woman lying in the carriage.

“Then Liu Wenjian descended into madness.” Bai Xiaosheng’s expression remained cold and devoid of emotion as he slowly continued, “She hated herself for being useless, for not being a man. She hated that she had studied so hard yet could not wield a hammer.

She further hated her powerlessness, her blocked meridians that prevented cultivation, making revenge impossible. She wailed hysterically, so much so that she plunged her own arm, alive and whole, into the molten furnace. She was mad. Driven by intense hatred, despair, and sorrow, she, with blood and tears, swung a small hammer in the raging flames, enduring immense pain to forge her arm. She threw in various divine metals and purple copper, forcefully clearing her blocked meridians.”

To forge her own flesh and blood into a weapon?

Meng Mei held her breath, her eyes wide with shock. She couldn’t imagine such pain, deeply understanding the madness and sorrow that consumed Liu Wenjian. Again and again, Liu Wenjian had tried to escape her fate, only to be shattered by a life of relentless hardship!

“Her forging skill was almost divine. After clearing her meridians, she astonishingly severed her own arm and continued forging it. Through countless hammerings, she condensed a cultivator’s dantian within the arm. Each strike was miraculous, landing in unimaginable places, forging the essence of the Dao… She transformed her arm into a divine sword. She could not cultivate herself, but she controlled her sword to cultivate. Like a madwoman, she ceaselessly forged the sword, pouring her very lifeblood into it.”

Bai Xiaosheng lowered his gaze, looking at the old woman with the weathered face. “She transformed her body into a sword, wielding herself as a sword. She named it the ‘Malady Cleared Sword,’ signifying that her great malady had been overcome.

She was a mortal, of flesh and blood, susceptible to illness and colds. Wielding a peerless divine weapon that augmented her body, she moved unseen in the shadows. With exquisite swordplay, she would discern the opponent’s meridian pathways and fatal weaknesses, striking with a single killing blow before swiftly escaping. In this way, she massacred the sects that were her enemies, exacting her vengeance.”

Meng Mei’s voice grew serious. Having heard this, she understood some things and spoke suddenly, “Ultimately, she was a mortal unable to cultivate, simply holding a divine weapon. She would age, sicken, and die, her body extremely frail. If struck, she would perish instantly. She had no defense, only extreme offense, a single fatal strike. She was the strongest assassin.”

The little fox, Hu Haihan, interjected, “If she was a mortal, then everything makes sense! Unlike cultivators who grow stronger with time, her most active period was her thirties and forties. After that, her body aged, becoming as pitiable as any mortal, with a short lifespan, like a fading flower. Her spirit was willing but her flesh was weak; she gradually became unable, even resorting to a walking stick. That’s why she wanted to cleave open the Immortal Gate at forty, at the peak of her brilliance, to leave an eternal mark on her life.”

“Unfortunately, she failed,” Meng Mei said, sighing as she looked at the old, one-armed woman. “Her sword shattered, and her martial dream utterly ended. She truly became an ordinary mortal, old and withered in her twilight years...

Duan Qianyu knew her, but after her failure, he couldn’t find this younger friend, his 'year-forgetting acquaintance.' He knew her to be stubborn and proud, unyielding to fate. She vanished into the vast crowd, refusing to accept his assistance, preferring to grow old and die alone in some forgotten corner.

Thus, this Land Immortal chose to cleave open the Immortal Gate, commemorating this ephemeral martial legend. Her life was like a weapon, refined from a crude blank, constantly tempered in hardship, forged step by step, breaking through to new heights. Yet, she encountered new difficulties, undergoing countless more refinements. Like a sharp sword emerging from rigorous grinding, or plum blossoms fragrant after bitter cold, she ultimately did not prevail.”

“This is unfair of the Heavens! I need to find time to go back and give the Heavens a good beating,” Meng Mei exclaimed, looking down at the old woman. “Now, she has come to us.”

It was unimaginable that this was truly a mortal, one who forged a sword with terrifying perseverance. Her life had been plagued by misfortune, yet she struggled relentlessly, and for a mortal body to have reached this point was simply incredible. Her ‘Malady Cleared Sword’ was a testament to her hope that her great malady was over, yet she could not escape the twilight of her life.

Xu Zhi also sighed. He hadn't known of this person’s existence before, almost missing her. This highlighted the mechanical nature and limitations of the intelligent sub-brain; in its judgment and big data screening, she was merely a low-level mortal. Her intelligence was not exceptional, and she possessed no earth-shattering talent. Her aptitude was only upper-middle, even inferior to that of the saintesses they had just met. Strength isn't solely defined by innate cleverness; true strength lies in perseverance and obsession, which can lead people to forge incredible paths.

“Teacher, what should we do?” asked the little fox, Hu Haihan, filled with admiration for such a legend.

“Of course, we follow the previous rules,” Meng Mei replied, looking at the unconscious old woman, then at Bai Xiaosheng, a strange smile appearing on her face.