Chapter 491: Appraising the Sword
He didn’t know how much time had passed, but as far as Chen Changsheng was concerned, it felt like an extremely long time had gone by before the chief steward of the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion finally shifted his gaze away from the scabbard and looked at him with a smile.
Chen Changsheng had no idea if there was any deeper meaning behind this, and could only hope there wasn’t.
The chief steward gently stroked the scabbard and said with emotion, “A fine treasure indeed.”
Tang Thirty-Six certainly knew this scabbard was a fine treasure.
Any spatial artifact could become the supreme treasure of an ordinary sect’s mountain gate.
This scabbard of Chen Changsheng’s had once poured out an entire mountain of swords in the Library Pavilion, and that wasn’t even everything inside it, which gave one an idea of just how vast its internal space was.
On the continent, whether appraising a cultivator’s level or the quality of a magical artifact, the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion was unquestionably the best choice; otherwise, those famous rankings wouldn’t have such credibility. Tang Thirty-Six knew the chief steward had come to examine the Stainless Sword, but he didn’t want to miss the chance to get his appraisal of this scabbard as well. Testing the waters, he asked, “How good is it?”
The chief steward looked at him very seriously and said, “Extremely good.”
Hearing this, Chen Changsheng nearly laughed, and his tension eased a little. Tang Thirty-Six, on the other hand, was quite frustrated, thinking that this chief steward’s shamelessness in speaking was a match for his own. Irritated, he said, “Could it be good enough to be listed on the Hundred Artifacts Ranking?”
He had said this out of spite, but unexpectedly, the chief steward’s expression turned serious at his words. After thinking it over carefully, he shook his head.
Tang Thirty-Six felt both smug and a little disappointed.
But just then, the chief steward added, “As I recall, this scabbard has always been on the Hundred Artifacts Ranking, so naturally, there’s no need to list it again.”
The Library Pavilion fell into a profound silence.
Tang Thirty-Six glanced at Chen Changsheng, Mo Yu looked at the scabbard, and Chen Changsheng didn’t know where he should look.
“This is Concealed Edge,” the chief steward said, tapping the scabbard lightly with his fingers and listening to the heavy yet not muffled sound it made. He remarked with emotion, “It’s been over twenty years since I last saw it.”
Although Mo Yu had some suspicions about this, her expression still shifted slightly as she asked, “Is this the Concealed Edge that used to be in the Li Palace?”
The chief steward didn’t answer her immediately. Instead, with a solemn expression, he drew the short sword from the scabbard.
Gazing at the short sword, he said slowly, “If it weren’t Concealed Edge, how could it contain a sword of such unparalleled sharpness?”
One often heard remarks like “unparalleled sharpness,” but if such a comment came from the rigorously precise Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion, it was far from ordinary.
—This meant that the sharpness of Chen Changsheng’s short sword was truly unmatched in the world. In terms of sheer sharpness alone, the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion believed no other divine weapon on earth could surpass it.
This short sword looked truly ordinary. Chen Changsheng had never taken meticulous care of it, rarely even wiping it clean, yet it was clear to see that the blade bore no grime, not even a speck of dust. This sword had killed many people in Chen Changsheng’s hands and been stained with much blood, yet no trace of blood could be seen.
“The sword is named Stainless, and indeed it is without stain,” the chief steward said with emotion.
This short sword was so sharp that its blade was incredibly smooth, allowing it to pass through a myriad of flowers without picking up their fragrance, enter the mundane world without attracting worldly dust, and cut through all things without disturbing them.
Mo Yu looked at Chen Changsheng and asked, “What material is this sword made of?”
To make a sword this sharp, aside from extremely superb forging skill, the most important factor was the material of the sword itself.
Only the densest, hardest, and most resilient material, unafraid of high heat or extreme cold, could withstand the countless hammerings and temperings.
Chen Changsheng shook his head. He truly didn’t know what material the short sword was made of. Then, along with Mo Yu and Tang Thirty-Six, he looked toward the chief steward.
The chief steward shook his head and said in a cold voice, “This matter cannot be spoken of, or thunder will stir in the heavens above, and the fates of both the speaker and the sword’s wielder will encounter great peril.”
Tang Thirty-Six detested this kind of mystifying, oracle-like posturing the most, thinking to himself that the Heavenly Mechanism Pavilion just loved to play at being mysterious.
After appraising the sword, the chief steward left the National Academy first, saying he needed to prepare for revising the Hundred Artifacts Ranking once again after so many years.
Mo Yu didn’t leave. She looked at Chen Changsheng and said, “Concealed Edge is a treasure of the Li Palace. Back then, your master stole it away, and now you carry it with you like this—it seems somewhat improper.”
Chen Changsheng thought to himself that before today, only the Pope had recognized the origin of his scabbard. As long as you don’t go around spreading it, what impropriety could there be?
“First of all, my master was once the dean of the National Academy, the Pope’s senior brother, and a legitimate successor of the state religion. Even if we’re dividing up the family property, he had the right to take some things from the Li Palace.”
He continued, “Secondly, if you think it’s improper, I can go to the Li Palace today and return it to the Pope, then ask him to bestow it back to me. But… don’t you think that would be redundant?”
Mo Yu looked at him as if he were a stranger, raising an eyebrow and saying, “Today, your words are sharper than your sword… This isn’t like the usual you.”
Chen Changsheng replied, “Maybe it’s because I’ve been sharpening my sword quite a bit lately.”
Mo Yu knew he was referring to the events that had been happening at the gates of the National Academy these past days. She looked at him for a moment and said, “Not bad, you really have become much stronger than before.”
After repeatedly battling experts at the initial Star Condensation stage, and then guiding the new students to fight opponents far stronger than themselves, Chen Changsheng’s words were true. This process had been arduous, like using countless large stones, small stones, round stones, and square stones to grind his own sword. As long as the sword wasn’t broken, it would inevitably grow sharper and sharper.
From the Heavenly Book Mausoleum to the Zhou Garden, from Xunyang City back to the capital, the experiences, fortunes, and insights of this period had been constantly hammered and burned in this process. All the impurities were squeezed out or burned away into wisps of smoke, vanishing without a trace, leaving only the most essential part, which ultimately became his own strength and cultivation, never to be lost again.
Chen Changsheng had truly become much stronger now. If he were to fight Xue He, the Divine General, and Liang Hongzhuang again at this point, he should have a chance of victory in one of those battles.
“But all of this is meaningless.”
Mo Yu looked at him with a calm smile and said, “Because she is about to return.”
“Everyone keeps telling me she is about to return.”
Chen Changsheng said very seriously, “But I actually think this is also meaningless.”
Mo Yu said, “You are the future Pope, and she will become the Holy Maiden. If you lose to her, what kind of voices do you think will arise within the state religion?”
This involved the thousand-year-long rivalry between the northern and southern factions of the state religion. Although the conflict hadn’t been as intense in recent years because Xu Yourong was born in the capital, Chen Changsheng knew Mo Yu wasn’t exaggerating. After a long silence, he asked with complex emotions, “Do we really have to fight?”
…
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(But all of this is utterly useless—just now, when I wrote those two sentences about meaninglessness, I almost wrote it that way.)