Chapter 1 Starlight

Starlight sprinkled down, filtering through the leaves of the dense forest, leaving dappled shadows.

The swordsmith sat on the ground, a sword leaning against his knees. The scabbard was black, adorned with unusual patterns.

This sword was called Mo Shi.

The swordsmith's swords were always highly sought after in the martial world, but unfortunately, he never gifted them to those of unknown reputation. Consequently, there were many imitations in the jianghu.

And the most frequently imitated was Long Yuan.

People didn't yet have the concept of works of art, but they had similar pursuits. Each sword crafted by the swordsmith actually held a piece of emotion. Swords were like people; a good sword needed a person to nurture it. Such words all came from the swordsmith's mouth.

In the martial world, countless young swordsmen, upon hearing these words, carried their swords with them at all times, hoping to nourish the spirit within their blades as soon as possible.

However, the Sword Saint had once told Zheng Boye that the swordsmith's "nurturing a sword" didn't mean carrying it around all the time, but rather that a sword needed to be "nurtured" by the person who wielded it.

For example, a beggar might stumble upon a profound black iron sword by chance and hold it in his hand.

On the other hand, there was an ancient, unadorned, and slightly damaged sword worn by an emperor. The latter's value was naturally many times higher than the former's.

The so-called "nurturing a sword" was actually using the wielder's status to elevate the sword's status.

After learning this answer, Zheng Boye simply sighed and said three words:

"So realistic."

At this moment,

The swordsmith, whom Zheng Boye called "so realistic," closed his eyes, his fingertips gently tapping the sword's body, producing a crisp sound.

Behind him, one could faintly hear suppressed breathing and wisps of white air.

Clearly, a contingent of troops was hidden there.

In front,

Fan Li, a figure as tall as an iron tower, stepped out, followed by a group of soldiers slowly pressing forward.

Shield bearers in the front, spear wielders in the back, and crossbowmen in the middle.

In this world, there existed experts who could take on a hundred enemies single-handedly. Their strength was astonishing.

But in the end,

Whether it was Sha Tuo Que Shi's death in front of the Zhenbei Marquis's residence or the Sword Saint's fierce battle at Xuehai Pass, outsiders watched the excitement and marveled at their power, while insiders lamented that it was unknown whether human determination could overcome fate, but at least, it was difficult for one person to defeat a hundred, a thousand...

A well-trained and coordinated army could easily hunt down those so-called experts, as long as they were willing to pay a certain price.

The swordsmith,

A figure who had never drawn his sword but was still ranked among the Four Great Swordsmen. He deserved to be treated with such caution.

After all, sometimes, the unknown was the true source of terror.

Fan Li raised his axe, and the formation behind him began to change again, forming a pincer shape before advancing once more.

The swordsmith remained sitting there,

Still with his eyes closed.

It seemed that he was destined to make a move tonight.

The martial world now generally believed that the Sword Saint was the strongest swordsman in the world, because in recent years, the Sword Saint's brilliance had surpassed that of the others.

Whether it was Li Liang Shen, who had been in the military for a long time and had not competed with anyone, or Bai Li Jian, who had once retreated in the face of the Yan Kingdom's iron cavalry, their brilliance had been almost completely overshadowed by the Sword Saint in recent years.

But there were still jianghu figures who considered themselves "awakened" and believed that the only one who could rival the Sword Saint in swordsmanship was possibly that mysterious swordsmith.

Because he had never made a move, he might not know how to fight at all, and was just deceiving the world to gain fame. But he might also have an incredibly high level of mastery and was too lazy to compete for fame in the mortal world.

The Blind Man had a group of people who were specifically responsible for monitoring jianghu rumors. After learning of these rumors, he laughed and called it "Schrödinger's Swordsmith."

But before his head fell, you really couldn't let your guard down.

Look, even the most good-natured of the Demon Kings had become so cautious.

The swordsmith finally opened his eyes. He didn't see the Sword Saint, but he didn't seem surprised.

He raised his hand,

Mo Shi let out a soft hum,

The next moment,

A group of knights in black armor appeared from behind the swordsmith.

The people of Yan valued black, while the people of Chu preferred bright colors. Therefore, although many nobles in the Chu Kingdom had their own private soldiers, and the styles of their armor varied, black was rarely used. In Chu culture, black meant the marsh, and the marsh meant misfortune.

Especially the cavalry, which was extremely valuable in the Chu Kingdom and was the face of every noble family, naturally even fewer would use black armor to equip these precious darlings.

These black-armored knights who slowly emerged from behind the swordsmith exuded a chilling aura from man to horse. This was a truly elite cavalry.

However, their numbers were not large. Roughly looking at them by the starlight, there might only be four hundred or so riders.

This was nothing to the Yan army, which could easily organize tens of thousands of iron cavalry for battle. But in this narrow area, infantry facing an equal number of cavalry often meant being slaughtered.

However, what was strange was that these cavalry could have directly charged out of the darkness and launched an attack. Appearing openly like this had actually lost them the initiative.

The swordsmith might not understand military affairs, but the elite riders behind him couldn't possibly be ignorant.

Fan Li raised his axe again, waving it in a half-circle. The armored soldiers around him stopped advancing. The shield bearers slammed their shields into the ground, dragging their bodies backward and leaning against them, holding the shields firmly in place.

The spearmen stepped forward, forming two rows, while the flanks began to rotate, raising their spears.

The crossbowmen advanced forward to prevent the enemy cavalry from outflanking their rear.

The swordsmith still didn't move, and the black-armored cavalry behind him didn't move either, as if they weren't there to fight but to watch a show.

But they were the main performers in this dense forest.

Outside,

There was a rustling sound as the second batch of armored soldiers, led by Jin Shu Ke, surrounded them. The crossbowmen quickly found their positions, while the remaining soldiers formed formations in groups of three or five.

But the swordsmith and the black-armored knights still didn't move, allowing the encirclement to take shape right before their eyes. By this point, the cavalry was in a desperate situation.

The night breeze blew through, and in the not-so-large forest, tension filled the air.

At this moment,

The swordsmith,

Finally spoke:

"I want to fight Yu Hua Ping."

Judging by the situation, it seemed like he was enraged and had chosen a final bit of dignity.

Fan Li frowned slightly. He felt that things weren't that simple.

Jin Shu Ke immediately sent someone to report the news to the Lord in the military camp.

…

"I think he's trying to plead with me," the Sword Saint said. "He still doesn't want to use his sword, he still wants to avoid it. What's more, his cavalry was detected in advance, and now, it's been surrounded."

Some people were high and mighty because you looked up at them from below.

A figure like the swordsmith, even putting aside his status as one of the Four Great Swordsmen, just looking at his origin in the Du Gu family, already surpassed most people.

But the Sword Saint was on the same level as the swordsmith. When looking at him on equal footing, there was no mysterious aura.

The swordsmith was notoriously stingy with his sword.

Before the Yan army defeated the main force of the wild men and surrounded Yupan City, the swordsmith had taken the Eighth Prince and fled early, without even offering to help defend the city.

When the Regent and the Fifth Prince, Xiong Ting Shan, led experts in a game of chess, the swordsmith just sat in the back, drinking his little wine, without offering to take a position.

Now that the Regent was surrounded and the situation in the Chu Kingdom could be described as quite bad, the swordsmith might be willing to use his sword to rescue the Regent.

But after his plan was detected in advance, the five hundred elite riders that could have been used for a night raid lost their usefulness. A night raid was naturally impossible to complete, so it was normal for him to simply choose to sheathe his sword.

For the Sword Saint, who knew him well and had sat at the same table with him, drinking wine and admiring swords, this "old friend" was indeed someone who would do such a thing.

As for the so-called duel, it was just to see him so that he could use Long Yuan to ask for a favor and be allowed to leave.

But Zheng Boye shook his head,

And said;

"I don't think so. It's more like he deliberately put himself in that position."

Zheng Boye pondered for a moment, then added:

"How about this, let's meet. I'll accompany you."

"What's the point of you going?" the Sword Saint asked.

Zheng Boye replied;

"Maybe, you're just a decoy."

The Sword Saint's eyes narrowed slightly.

…

"Three hundred zhang to the west."

Jin Shu Ke ordered someone to shout ahead.

The swordsmith got up,

And began to walk westward.

The five hundred black-armored riders who had appeared with him remained silently in place.

The swordsmith had walked quite a distance, leaving the area of confrontation and encirclement somewhat.

At this moment,

A voice came from his side:

"Alright."

The voice was the Sword Saint's.

The swordsmith shook his head and said, "Not alright, still eleven zhang short."

As he spoke, he resolutely continued westward for a distance, stopping at the final position.

Zheng Boye saw this scene and silently complained in his heart: Severe obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The Sword Saint walked out,

The swordsmith looked at the Sword Saint,

Then,

He turned to the side,

Seeming to want to see who was behind the Sword Saint.

The Sword Saint realized that Zheng Fan had guessed correctly.

Zheng Boye walked out from behind the Sword Saint, but didn't go past him.

Because behind the Sword Saint, Zheng Boye was sure that the Sword Saint could protect him. Any further forward, and it would be hard to say. What if the swordsmith wanted to make an extreme one-for-one trade?

The swordsmith pointed to the northwest,

Which was where Juyang City was located.

"Does Earl Pingye want to capture the king of my Great Chu?"

Zheng Boye nodded,

And said;

"Indeed."

Although he hadn't made a move, and although Zheng Boye had already decided to withdraw his troops into the Daze in a few days, how should he put it? When faced with this question, answering "yes" was the right thing to do.

Who knew, the swordsmith's extremely simple and two-word response caused Zheng Boye's mind to suddenly relax, and he even suddenly felt that this world seemed to be filled with a kind of dark comedic absurdity.

The swordsmith smiled and said:

"Together?"

——————

Thank you probezz for becoming the 147th Alliance Master of *The Descent of Magic*!

Today, Long accompanied Long's wife back to Rong, traveling all day, and was too tired. That's all for today. I'll write more tomorrow. Hold on tight, everyone!