Chapter 1199: We, the Main and Deputy Alliance Leaders, Have All Participated in the Sword Questioning Ceremony

Meng Jingzhou felt that some things shouldn't be judged by their appearance. When they arrived in Quyi County during the day, everything seemed peaceful and well-governed, and they even praised Mang Gu for his effective administration. But by night, the truth was revealed. While patrolling the streets in their constable uniforms, they were attacked by two different groups within minutes. Fortunately, the brothers were skilled enough to avoid any harm.

"Forget it," Meng Jingzhou thought. "As a senior brother, I should learn to be tolerant of my junior. Since Lao Lu and I are here, we might as well help Mang Gu maintain law and order in Quyi County."

"Wh-what?!" As Meng Jingzhou was pondering, Old Man Wang was utterly astonished. His sword strike had been meticulously planned, even breaking through a barrier to allow the Bloodthirsty Evil Sword to drink blood. How could it possibly be caught by just two fingers?! Not even members of the Hundred Swords Alliance could do that!

Old Man Wang cut his palm, and blood gushed out, all absorbed by the Bloodthirsty Evil Sword. The sword itself possessed sentience but had fallen into a deep slumber due to a long lack of blood nourishment. Now, Old Man Wang's desperate feeding of blood finally awakened the Bloodthirsty Evil Sword from its slumber! This was the Bloodthirsty Evil Sword in its full glory!

Old Man Wang activated the evil sword, but it hummed and vibrated, as if it had encountered something extremely terrifying. It pulled back frantically, trembling as if in fear, unwilling to confront the person before it.

"Who are you?!" Old Man Wang exclaimed. Who could this person be to make the Bloodthirsty Evil Sword so terrified? This was completely beyond anything he had ever known!

Lu Yang tugged at the collar of his constable uniform and said helplessly, "Didn't we already say? We're constables from the county yamen. My surname is Lu, and this gentleman next to me is surnamed Meng." "The people of Quyi County are truly fierce," he mused, seeing how they were attacked and bled.

Then Lu Yang pulled two unconscious, mysterious figures out from behind him. "We encountered these two criminals while patrolling. After subduing them, they told us their purpose, so we came to understand the situation." Seeing the emblem on the chests of the two mysterious figures, Old Man Wang's pupils contracted. "People from the Hundred Swords Alliance!" Lu Yang simply said, "Oh. It seems they weren't lying; they were looking for you."

"We were a bit heavy-handed when interrogating these two just now, and they passed out before we could finish asking questions. As the victim, you should know something. Why were they looking for you?"

Old Man Wang clenched his teeth and deliberated for a moment, finally sighing inwardly. These two constables were definitely not simple, and concealing the truth would not be wise. "A hundred years ago, I violated ancestral teachings and forged a monstrous evil sword..." Old Man Wang didn't hide anything and repeated the story he had told Little Wang the blacksmith. As Old Man Wang spoke, he secretly observed Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou's reactions. However, he found them to be as deep as an abyss, their expressions never changing, making it impossible to discern their thoughts.

"I see," Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou said, nodding casually after listening. It seemed like a fairly common experience, nothing surprising. "But we haven't heard of a force called the Hundred Swords Alliance," Lu Yang added. From the Five Great Immortal Sects down to even minor third-grade forces, they had heard of most of them. They didn't recall any called the Hundred Swords Alliance.

Old Man Wang shook his head. He didn't know much about the Hundred Swords Alliance either, only that it was full of experts, with many as strong as he was. Old Man Wang lowered his voice, as if revealing a great secret. "One more thing, I heard the Hundred Swords Alliance seems to have official backing!"

"Oh, that's interesting," Lu Yang chuckled, winking at Meng Jingzhou. Meng Jingzhou then splashed ice water on the two mysterious figures and pinched their philtrums, waking up the two Hundred Swords Alliance members.

"Two mere constables dare to provoke members of our Hundred Swords Alliance? It seems you're tired of living—" Meng Jingzhou impatiently slapped them twice. "Behave yourselves! Don't you understand the rules? Answer what you're asked!" "What exactly is the origin of your Hundred Swords Alliance? Why have we never heard of it?"

"Heh," one of the mysterious figures sneered disdainfully. "The world is far from as simple as you imagine. Where there is light, there is darkness. The so-called ranked sects are merely the superficial divisions of power. Our Hundred Swords Alliance is a force that walks in the shadows!" Lu Yang nodded, then "translated" it: "So, an unregistered, illegal organization."

"Watch your language, brat!" the other mysterious figure snarled, feeling Lu Yang was insulting the Hundred Swords Alliance. "Our Hundred Swords Alliance aims to collect all the divine swords in the world. Every member possesses a Heaven-Grade Divine Sword, and each divine sword has unparalleled power!" "My 'Ghost King Soul-Severing Sword' can wound the three souls and seven spirits! His 'Thunder Dragon Bone Sword' can summon lightning!" "Our Hundred Swords Alliance's main and vice-leaders are even more unfathomable. They are both Soul Transformation sword cultivators who participated in the Sword Pagoda's Sword-Asking Ceremony!"

"Sword-Asking Ceremony?" After they talked for a long time, Lu Yang finally heard a familiar term, a little surprised. Was being qualified to participate in the Sword-Asking Ceremony something so boast-worthy? He had thought any sword cultivator was eligible to participate, but it turned out there were thresholds.

Seeing Lu Yang's shocked expression, the two mysterious figures continued to sneer. "Now you know what kind of power you've provoked, don't you?!" Meng Jingzhou kicked the two sneering figures, making them roll over, and grumbled, "I thought you were from some major power. Turns out you're just a minor third-grade sect. What's with all the arrogance?!"

"A minor third-grade force?" Both the two mysterious figures and Old Man Wang doubted their ears. Since when was a third-grade sect associated with the term 'minor force'?

"Alright, let's quickly sort this out while we're on night duty. We can ask about the Hundred Swords Alliance on the way," Lu Yang said, picking up the two mysterious figures and preparing to leave Wang's Blacksmith Shop. Seeing this, Old Man Wang called out to Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou. "Wait a moment, aren't you going to arrest me?!"

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou were puzzled by Old Man Wang's question. "Arrest you for what? Because you attacked us? Didn't we clarify everything? You mistook us for members of the Hundred Swords Alliance, which is understandable."

"But I forged an evil sword!"

"Grandpa, don't go!" Little Wang the blacksmith cried, hugging Old Man Wang. Old Man Wang affectionately stroked Little Wang's head, remembering when he first found the child. "You've grown so big in a flash. It's a pity Grandpa won't be able to stay with you anymore." "These past years, Grandpa has suffered day and night. If I hadn't defied ancestral teachings and forged the evil sword back then, none of this would have happened today. Perhaps spending the rest of my life in jail would bring Grandpa some peace of mind."

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou listened to Old Man Wang, finding his words increasingly strange. "Forging an evil sword isn't against the law."

"That's impossible!" Old Man Wang became agitated, even pulling out an ancient booklet from his pocket—the ancestral teachings of the Divine Craftsman Wang family—and arguing with Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou. "One of our Divine Craftsman Wang family's ancestral teachings is not to forge evil swords, and the reason is that forging evil swords is against the law!"

Lu Yang was silent for a moment before asking, "When were these ancestral teachings established?" Speaking of the Divine Craftsman Wang family's history, Old Man Wang was filled with pride. "Our Divine Craftsman Wang family is a reclusive family spanning ten thousand years. Naturally, these teachings were left ten thousand years ago!"

Lu Yang nodded. "No wonder, then."

"No wonder what?"

"When the criminal law was revised eight thousand years ago, the clause about forging evil swords was already removed." "After all, whether an evil sword is 'evil' or not depends entirely on how it's used. This Bloodthirsty Evil Sword is quite suitable for nurturing with one's body. If nurtured long enough, it might even develop a sword spirit."

Before leaving, Lu Yang took out a book and handed it to Old Man Wang. "Oh, right. We constables also have an obligation to promote legal knowledge. This is the latest version of the criminal law. Read it more often when you have time, instead of scaring yourself all the time."