Published at 26th of January 2026 9:26 am

Chapter 335

This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl

The Old Sword.

It was a sword with a dulled blade, rusted over. At a glance, it was obvious its condition was terrible.

It was a sword that didn't even seem capable of cutting anything.

Could something like that even be called a sword? I had that thoughtthen stopped.

"... Whose sword is this?"

Hm?

When I asked warily, Sung Hun looked puzzled. He probably wondered why I was on guard with what was obviously an antique.

'How ridiculous.'

I had no choice.

"Is this like, whatthe sword of the former Heavenly Demon, or the previous Alliance Leader, or the very first Alliance Leader or something like that?"

The Divine Sword at my hip. That, too, was once a broken sword at first, so maybe this worn-out sword also had some bizarre history behind it. I couldn't just touch things like that carelessly. Thinking that, I spoke to Sung Hun.

... It's just a sword I used long ago.

"So does it have, like, some kind of secret technique of the Mount Hua Sect, or a hidden meaning...?"

It's just a decent sword.

"'Decent'?"

I didn't ease my suspicious gaze.

Then

... It was made as a top-grade weapon by the Tang Family of Sichuan, at least...

"See? I knew it!"

A top-grade weapon, huh. For heaven's sake.

I narrowed my eyes and glared at Sung Hun. He scratched his head with an awkward smile.

There's not really any significance to it, that's what I meant.

I could even hear a note of grievance in his voice.

Look, it's barely even fit to call a sword at this point.

"That's not the issue here."

I understood his words, but I remained firm.

"Whatever its worth as a sword may be, it's still ultimately an item of value."

Not to mention, if it's a top-grade made by the Tang Family, it has to be impressive just by looking at it...

"Wait."

I frowned mid-sentence. Top-grade, he said?

"If it's the top-grade existing at Mount Hua, then..."

One particular sword came to mind.

The Plum Blossom True Sword .

The Tang Family of Sichuan. Among the top-quality weapons crafted by the Poison Sovereign, one had been given to Mount Hua.

'Is this it?'

Is this that sword?

This dilapidated old blade?

"... How do you even manage a sword to put it in this condition?"

Compared to other top-grade swords, the Plum Blossom True Sword wasn't even that old.

Especially compared to Sword Saint's Full Moon. While Full Moon had been rough and a bit damaged, it at least looked decent after being cleaned up.

'But this one isn't even like that.'

The Plum Blossom True Sword was in utterly dreadful shape.

That only made it a bigger problem.

"What am I supposed to do with this? You're not seriously hoping for me to repair it, are you?"

This was troublesome. I had already accumulated karma with Yu Chun-gil's incident, there was no way I'd take on even more here.

But to repair a top-grade weapon on top of that? No way.

"I can't do something like that."

Of course not. I'm not expecting you to repair it. This sword can never return to its original form again. The craftsman has already ascended to the heavensthere'd be no point expecting that.

"..."

He must be referring to the Poison Sovereign.

"So what then?"

I just hope you'd deliver it.

"... To deliver it."

It seemed he meant Yu Yun. To ask me to give her this battered albeit once top-grade sword?

'... I don't think I should.'

No matter what, it was a top-grade by the numbers. Was it right to just hand that over so easily?

I'll give you another Divine Pill.

"... That's not even the problem right now."

Divine pills or whatever, it wasn't the time to accept such things. Still

'... Damn it.'

Yu Yun's face flashed across my mind.

"... What difference is it supposed to make, bringing this to that kid?"

None at all.

"None?"

Even if she has the sword, that child won't use it. She'd just hold onto the significance, nothing more.

"Then why even give it to her?"

Just the foolish lingering regret of an arrogant old man, let's say.

"..."

Regret.

That word made my eyes narrow.

"You're not even dead yet, anyway."

He was still a lingering spirit after all. Sung Hun might have collapsed, but he hadn't yet drawn his last breath.

At that, Sung Hun gave a thin smile.

Why wouldn't things turn out that way?

"..."

It seemed so simple to just carry an old sword, but the problem was that it was something left behind by a ghost.

Clack.

First, I gripped the sword.

Wooooong.

A wave of spiritual energy seeped from the blade into my body.

"Ha."

It wasn't shallow. This was a fairly serious weight.

'Heavy.'

It felt heavy to just carry it.

Not physically heavy, but heavy with spirit. If you handled something like this carelessly, cleaning up afterwards wouldn't be easy.

'Hmm.'

Maybe I should just give up? That thought drifted through me.

Yu Yun.

"..."

Her name briefly crossed my mind.

The image of the girl who stood before me with her tiny back, declaring she'd save methe image wouldn't leave me alone.

'This isn't good.'

That kind of thing was never good. Ah, now it was getting on my nerves for no good reason. My least favorite kind of situation.

'Damn it.'

A thought occurredjust then.

"... Hmm."

A solution came to mind. It wouldn't be a perfect answer, but at least there was a way to ease it a bit.

Squeeze.

I tightened my grip on the sword.

Holding it, I spoke to Sung Hun.

"... Whatever about the sword, but this Divine Pill This is the thing the Sect Leader mentioned, right?"

As I said before, I'm not certain. Just, considering Divine Spear's situation... this would be better than the Great Rejuvenation Pill.

"... Why?"

The Great Rejuvenation Pill exists for martial artists to break through realms and restore or increase internal energy, but this one is more focused on healing.

"Healing?"

Yes. Of courseit was made by the greatest physician in the Central Plains.

"...!"

My eyes widened at his words. Sung Hun had made this Divine Pill?

If even this doen't work, I'd have to go myself. But that won't do, will it?

"..."

He was right. I sighed, sword in hand.

"... Just to reiterate,"

Slowly wrapping the sword in cloth, I added,

"There won't be a second time. I can't do any more."

My soul trembled softly. It was a warning: not to break the rules of karma. Ignoring that, I spoke to Sung Hun.

Thank you.

He said it in a quiet tone. Hearing it, I clicked my tongue.

Like Chief Baek had said to me,

'You really need to learn to mind your own business less.'

Once again, I was reminded how true that was.

***

I stepped outside. There wasn't much time left.

Rumble.

As soon as I exited, the mechanism closed automatically. Seeing that, I remarked in amazement to Sung Hun.

"This... did the Poison Sovereign make this too?"

Oh, how did you know?

"..."

As expected.

'That old man's something else.'

The Poison Sovereignconsidering he crafted the secret vaults of the Blue Moon Sect and Sichuan, his skills must be extraordinary. For him to have made even Mount Hua's secret vault too...

'He's got quite the hands.'

Not just with weapon-craftinghe seemed to have real talent with stuff like this, too.

'Well then, let's...'

Head to my next destination, I suppose. The moment I thought of that

"Where are you coming from?"

"...!"

I froze. At the sudden voice, I turned.

'Sword Emperor...?'

There stood the Sword Emperor, arms crossed, staring at me.

"... Elder."

"You'd vanished, so I wondered what happened. Then I sensed your presenceit was strange. You're coming out of someplace odd."

"..."

Did he see it all? He seemed to have witnessed everything.

"So"

"What's that?"

Tap.

It happened instantly. The Sword Emperor appeared and snatched the sword from my hand.

"That's..."

"A sword, huh."

He glanced over it, then returned it just as nonchalantly, not particularly interested. However

"Never mind the sword."

The Sword Emperor's sharp gaze raked over me.

"Did you have some kind of fortuitous encounter?"

"..."

Gulp. I swallowed dryly. He seemed to see right through my changes.

"There's been a lot of noise. So the rumors were true?"

The Eight Demonic Beings. Already, the word was out that I'd taken down the Great Demon. So the Sword Emperor had heard, too.

"It doesn't seem like it was just some startling realization... Besides, it shouldn't have even been the time for such an epiphany. What did you experience?"

"... I... don't really know myself."

I played dumb. What was I supposed to say? That I got possessed by the Heavenly Demon and then broke through to the peak? No way.

"'You don't know,' huh."

His eyes narrowed at that. Sharp. The air seemed to chill around us.

As things were getting tense

'Huh.'

I noticed something about the Sword Emperor.

"... By the way, elder."

"Speak."

"Where did you go, exactly...?"

"Why do you ask?"

"I smell blood on you."

"..."

At my words, the Sword Emperor stiffened. Then the corners of his lips curled up slightly.

"Keen senses."

"...."

Was that agreement that it was blood? Actually, more than the scent of blood...

'He's covered in soul remnants.'

His body and the area around him were packed with Soul Remnants.

'How many did he kill?'

Given it wasn't just one or two, I could guess he cut down quite a number.

"You smelled it even though I concealed the scent. You have better instincts than you look."

"...."

Was I supposed to take that as a compliment? Hard to say.

"Not bad. In that case"

He stepped closer toward me, compliments abandoned.

"So, how were they?"

"... Excuse me?"

"I've never heard of this 'Great Demon'. But you ran into a Ghost Demon, didn't you? How disgusting was it, really?"

"..."

There was only one honest answer.

"... Pretty disgusting."

Just as the Sword Emperor seemed to think, too.

"Haha."

He burst out laughing at my answer.

"That's a response I like."

"... Elder, do you know about Ghost Demon?"

"I'm not ignorant."

He frowned, suggesting he didn't get along with them.

"He's not one you want to get involved with. We ought to kill him off while we have the chance..."

"... You're going to kill him?"

"If I get the opportunity."

Sssss.

A sharp murderous intent brushed past my throat. It sent chills down my spine.

'That much?'

I knew he was after something. And it was obvious that 'something' was the Broken Heaven Palace group. But then

'So why hasn't he shown himself?'

Why didn't he appear during our battle? I knew the Sword Emperor wasn't at Mount Hua when everything broke out.

'Where did he go, then?'

With all those traces, he clearly hadn't just gone for a stroll. Just what had he been up to? Curious, and yet more curious.

As I struggled to ignore the suffocating killing intent

"Well, then. I suppose I can resume what I'd been meaning to do."

He brought up the lesson he'd postponed.

"It should be easier now."

Now that my cultivation had improved, he seemed to imply it would be a breeze.

"Oh, just a moment."

"Hmm?"

"The lesson sounds good, but... I actually have something else to do."

"Something to do?"

"Yes."

His face twisted at my words. I guess he hadn't expected me to have an errand at such a time. So I added an explanation.

"I have a fight with someone, you see."

"...?"

The Sword Emperor's expression darkened even further than before.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

Now that he has reached Transcendence, is he confident to defeat Yu Yun?

Share