Silent Crown

Chapter 490 Have a Look

Chapter 490 Have a Look

At dawn, an unusual customer came to the Yujing Shan Mountain.

A young man with white hair and blue eyes stood in front of the Jie Jian Stone and gave a salute. "I am Jingming Zhangsun, the third son in the Zhangsun Family. I want to pay a visit to the head of the Yuan Family."

The disciple who guarded the entrance of the mountain checked his identity, and quickly went up the mountain.

He stepped on the stone steps, walked through the Blue Stone Memorial Archway and the Copper Smelting Hall. When he saw He Yuan, the eldest son of the Yuan Family, he told him there was a man waiting at the bottom of the mountain who wanted to see the head of the Yuan Family.

He Yuan nodded and said, "I will lead him to see our Master." He waved his hand and ordered the disciples in front of the hall to continue with the pair exercise. Then he changed his clothes and hurriedly rushed to the rear of the mountain. Soon, he arrived at the bottom of the mountain.

"I am He Yuan."

He cupped one hand in the other before his chest and said, "My friend who comes from the Zhangsun Family, this way please."

Jingming Zhangsun did the fist-palm salute in return. Then he followed behind He Yuan and went up to the mountain.

It was at early dawn. In the dim light, the disciples of the Yuan Family were already having their early lessons in front of the Copper Smelting Hall. In the distance, the warriors were holding edgeless swords and doing pair exercises in the square. Still, Jingming Zhangsun could hear the sound of swords colliding with each other.

Tens of strangely-designed long swords cut through the air, accompanied by crisp sounds as loud as the trembling strings of a Zither. The sounds overlapped, which made Jingming Zhangsun unable to judge the distance. After listening for a while, he felt bewildered and awed by the sound.

In particular, just like one could not see the whole body of a dragon hiding among the clouds, he couldn't see the whole picture of the music theory contained in the sound. Even so, he felt threatened by this sound.

As for the swordsmanship, Jingming Zhangsun could feel that it was very powerful, but he couldn't get a complete picture of it either.

He stood in front of the hall, looking into the distance, and sighed deeply.

"The swordsmanship is indeed powerful! I am honored to be able to see it on this journey."

Hearing this, He Yuan smiled and didn't say anything.

The two crossed the Copper Smelting Hall and headed straight to the rear of the mountain.

In the front of the mountain, there were many green cypress and pine trees, and an old path leading deep into the mountain. It was really a good and quiet place for one to practice Taoism. The deeper Jingming Zhangsun went, the more desolated it became. He couldn't see any trees or grass or creeks, and felt very cold while walking among the bizarre stones.

As he walked, Jingming Zhangsun could feel the heat in the ground and was stunned by it.

Is the Yujing Shan Mountain a volcano?

Soon, he noticed the Aether permeating the air. At the same time, he vaguely felt there was some cold light lurking around and steering the Aether. As if there was someone brandishing an invisible sword and controlling all this with his mind.

Jingming Zhangsun felt that if he took one step wrong, he would be cut to pieces by the invisible sword.

He Yuan noticed that Jingming Zhangsun was feeling rather cautious. He smiled and explained. "All the predecessors of the Yuan Family practice the sword in the rear of the mountain. The third uncle of my father is practicing the swordsmanship of Messy Cave these days. He is in the critical moment and is about to break the limit. That's why you feel there is someone brandishing an invisible sword. This swordsmanship is just a bit dangerous and belongs to the level of Resonate, so it isn't a good choice for pair exercise. One wrong step and you are dead."

Hearing this, Jingming Zhangsun knew what was going on at last. Then he asked, "So, the heat in the ground also…?"

He Yuan shook his head and replied, "Previously, when the first, second, and third generations of my ancestors escaped by execution, they cut through the earth plate by accident and caused the hellfire. So the heat is not caused by the third uncle of my father, sorry about that."

Hearing this, Jingming Zhangsun was startled.

Among the Nine Families, everyone in the Ye Family was slut; the Liu Family had many offspring, but they were too feeble; everyone in the Bai Family was too stubborn… from time to time, an offspring of the Bai Family might appear to not be a stubborn person, but he was still the same as his peers.

The Yuan Family had retreated into the deep mountain and cut connection with the outside world. They never joined in conflicts among the Nine Families, thus the Yuan Family was not that famous. However, the members of this family were famous for being paranoid, and the music theories contained in the swordsmanship they practiced were about killing.

The musicians who were practicing the sword all looked very normal, but after talking to them for a short period, one would find they were very paranoid and eccentric. Jingming Zhangsun would never make fun of anyone before he knew his personality.

The two were walking deeper into the forest. The deeper Jingming Zhangsun went, the more intense he felt the cold Aether wave.

When he closed his eyes, he felt like an intruder, as if there were many people coldly staring at him.

However, what he saw were just the ancient swords inserted in the stones.

Against the sunlight, the swords shone in a cold light. Jingming Zhangsun couldn't help looking at these swords, then he asked in curiously: "Could the sword be…?"

He didn't finish his sentence, but He Yuan already knew what he meant and shook his head.

"There are many rumors in this world, and most of them are not true. I consider you a wise man, and the so-called 'making a sword with the bone ashes' is all b*llsh*t."

Jingming Zhangsun realized he had been wrong, and nodded to show his approval.

He Yuan continued, "The blood of our Yuan Family is different from that of the other Nine Families. Our blood can only work with the help of a certain object. All our ancestors would make a sword with their own souls before they died…"

Jingming Zhangsun laughed a bit and didn't reply.

Making a sword with a soul?

Put frankly, the so-called "making a sword with a soul" meant "making a sword by consuming a human's life." This was much more cruel than "making a sword with the bone ashes." A human had to jump into a smelter during the process of making a sword, his bone would be the blade, and his blood and soul… at last, he vanished from this world as if he had never come into it.

Jingming Zhangsun looked at the sword hanging on He Yuan's waist and asked, "Could it be possible that your sword is also…?"

He Yuan looked at his sword, which was called "Wenling," and smiled without answering.

"Here it is."

He Yuan suddenly stopped.

In front of them, there was dark cave. Seeing this, Jingming Zhangsun was stunned and looked at He Yuan in surprise.

He Yuan said, "Just walk straight, and you shall see the head of the Yuan Family. He has finished his morning lessons by this time, so you won't be a nuisance."

Then He Yuan left.

Jingming Zhangsun was in a daze and stood in front of the cave for a while. He forced a smile and walked into the cave.

The cold wind blew towards him, and he felt very cold and as if he was being cut by a knife. The temperature in the cave kept getting lower and lower, and after a while, Jingming Zhangsun saw that everything around him was covered with at least two inches of ice.

Although he was wearing a winter coat, he still felt so cold that he couldn't help shaking. He wanted to warm himself by activating a music movement, but he immediately gave up this idea when he realized that he was now in the rear of the mountain of the Yuan Family. If he activated a movement, he was afraid that he might activate the alchemy array here and be cut to pieces.

He continued to walk deeper into the cave. After a long while, he glimpsed a figure sitting in the middle of boiling lava.

The pungent and poisonous sulphur air swirled around the boiling lava and the dancing fire. Right in the middle of the lava, there sat a man with an ancient sword in front of him. The ancient sword was ringing, and it gave off an infinitely cold air. The cold air spread and froze the lava around him.

Jingming Zhangsun was awed by this scene.

He was totally bewildered and worried, as if there was a big rock on his chest.

"I have been waiting for you for such a long time, 'Hu' of the Zhangsun Family."

The fire and the cold air collided with each other and created a ball of gray fog. As soon as the man began to talk, the fog dispersed to both sides. Then a slim figure showed himself.

Among the Nine Families, the Zhangsun Family was the only one that lived in the border area. Since their eyes were blue, someone called them "blue eyes." Sometimes, they were also called "Hu," which was a bit insulting.

Normally, if someone directly called Jingming Zhangsun "Hu," Jingming would have fought him hard. This slim figure, Changqing Yuan, was the powerful head of the Yuan Family, and even dared to call his father "Hu." So Jingming Zhangsun didn't show any disapproval, and carefully took out a letter.

"My father asked me to give you this letter."

Changqing Yuan made a gesture, then the letter floated and fell into his hand.

He read the letter and kept silent for a long while. Then he sighed and threw the letter into the lava.

The letter was burnt to ashes. Blue smoke rose from the lava, and a vague figure formed in the blue smoke and bowed to Changqing Yuan.

"You are too impatient," Changqing Yuan said in a very low voice. "The whole world is going to be very chaotic, and a huge change that has never been seen before will take place soon. This strangeness can already be seen in the west. Zhendan may not be the place to hide from this disaster. In this critical moment, we need to calm down. Go and tell your father to wait patiently."

"Wait patiently?" Jingming Zhangsun was stunned by this answer. Since he had come this far from the border area to the Yujing Shan Mountain, he had never thought he would receive a simple sentence in reply.

"Have a look."

Changqing Yuan gently touched his long sword and said, "Everywhere is the same, no matter if it is in the East or the West."

"Just have a look first."

The sword was shining, and Jingming Zhangsun felt his soul was going to be pulled out by this light. He shivered and swallowed back the words he meant to say. After he bowed to Changqing Yuan, he left.

Soon, He Yuan appeared in the cave and respectfully reported, "Uncle, I have been told that Baiheng has indeed left the capital. Indeed, the Zhangsun Family is not to be blamed, even the acting King is too anxious to wait patiently any longer."

Changqing Yuan laughed. "Fine. I have been sitting in this cave for almost thirty years. I just said that young man's father is being too anxious, but now I am also becoming anxious. After all, the Pontifex Maximus is going to ascend to throne; I should also go and have a look."

"I will come back as soon as this business is over."

"Take care." He Yuan lowered his head and heard the ringing of Changqing Yuan's sword.

The ancient Chun Jun Sword was vibrating and ringing.

The sound was just like a bird's chirping, low and deep. He Yuan felt as if there was a cold spring pouring into his head and his soul was going to flee away from his body—the soul fleeing swordsmanship!

A vague figure suddenly arose from Changqing Yuan's old and slim body. The figure took the sword, turned into a light, and flew away.

Jingming Zhangsun had just arrived at the foot of the mountain. He suddenly had a strange feeling, and he raised his head to see a cold light flying to the west.

The light was flying quickly and didn't leave any trace behind it, not even an air wave or tornado.

Jingming Zhangsun was awed by this scene.

Thirty years ago, Changqing Yuan had already arrived at the Imperial Nine World and was at the same level as the Saints in the west.

The music theory inside his body was constantly in conflict with the physical world around him, and he had also inherited the blood of Deva. This had made him unable to escape from the punishment of the God. Since then, he had been practicing Taoism in the rear of the Yujing Shan Mountain.

Judging from the speed of this light, Changqing Yuan had greatly enhanced his power, and even surpassed his ancestors to reach to a new level.

Watching the light flying into the distance, Jingming Zhangsun recalled that he had been very confident about his skills of persuasion when he left his home, and felt a bit ridiculous about himself.

Thinking of this, he forced out a smile.

"The world is just like a game of chess, and one can only have the chance to be a player if he has reached the same level as Changqing Yuan…"

In just ten minutes, the light had traveled thousands of miles. During the journey, it crossed the Northern Plain, the Misty Hill, one hundred thousand mountains, and the magnificent desert. Then it passed the Commonwealth of Caucasus, and the Kingdom of Asgard.

Far away, there was the City of Iron and Steel.

Judging from the energy arising from this Holy City, Changqing Yuan felt that about ten people were there already. He then exclaimed, "I never thought that so many people would come here."