Sword Tomb (Deep Water Bonus Chapter)

Very soon, the day the Sword Tomb opened arrived.

Five Dragons Square was already packed with people.

Above the square hovered a Capture Shadow Box, its image magnified by a special formation and projected into the sky.

The scene inside showed a vast valley.

The valley was barren, with no sign of human habitation.

The older disciples of the Five Dragons Sect all knew this was the Sword Tomb Valley of the Five Dragons Sect.

All the swords used by inner-sect sword cultivators came from there.

The huge square was already buzzing with conversation.

“Who’s going into the Sword Tomb to pick a sword today?”

“Yan Jue, of course.”

“No way. If I remember correctly, first place in this competition was Lord Meng Heng, Qi Xianqing.”

“Exactly. Lord Meng Heng is especially kind to her junior brothers and sisters; she’d probably even be willing to give away such a fine sword.”

“Lord Meng Heng may be willing to give it away, but Drifting Ice may not be willing to accept it. That immortal sword is a famous sword passed down through generations; it was born noble and proud. If an ordinary disciple goes up there, it may not be willing to acknowledge them.”

For every disciple of the Five Dragons Sect, being able to enter the Sword Tomb and draw a sword was an immense honor.

Because the Five Dragons Sect had always been full of sword cultivators, whenever a disciple was lucky enough to qualify to go to Sword Tomb Valley and draw a sword, the sect would set up a Capture Shadow Box on Five Dragons Square specifically so everyone could watch the whole process.

The reason the sect let its disciples watch others draw swords was also to let them learn a little.

That way, when it was their turn, they wouldn’t be completely clueless.

And because the immortal sword Drifting Ice this time was a famous sword passed down through generations, many of the elders in the sect had also come.

Sect Master Mu Zhongzi sat in his chair, staring thoughtfully at the enormous image in the sky.

Everyone’s gaze fell on Yan Jue in the center of the image.

……

The world was dim and yellow, with sand and stones flying everywhere.

The famed Sword Tomb Valley of the Five Dragons Sect actually didn’t have very good scenery.

This was Yan Jue’s first time here. What met her eyes was a pale blue halo; on the mountain wall ahead, a golden door had appeared.

This was the passage the sect had specially opened to enter the Sword Tomb.

Yan Jue subconsciously touched the mark Zhuying had left in her palm a few days ago, then suddenly heard a burst of footsteps beside her.

She paused slightly and turned back.

Beside her stood a fair-skinned woman in a gardenia-colored dao robe; she also seemed to be entering the Sword Tomb.

Yan Jue: “You are...?”

The woman looked at her, her beautiful eyes widening. “Hello, my name is Jiang Mengchu. I’m also going into the Sword Tomb to draw a sword today.”

Yan Jue stared at her for a moment, then suddenly remembered. The runner-up in this Five Dragons Summit competition seemed to be Jiang Mengchu.

Jiang Mengchu: “Sister, what’s your name?”

Yan Jue: “...Yan Jue.”

“You’re also here to draw a sword?” Jiang Mengchu wore a gardenia-colored dao robe, her sleeves fluttering as she stood there with airy elegance. “Uncle Sect Master told me yesterday that the immortal sword Drifting Ice has already been bestowed on me.”

Yan Jue froze. This...

Suddenly, the communication talisman in her sleeve trembled.

Yan Jue took it out, and Qi Xianqing’s voice sounded in her ear.

“You and she; whoever can pull out that sword will get it.”

So that was it.

That Demon Lord had no intention whatsoever of letting her have that sword.

At that moment, a tremendous rumbling came from the sect gate ahead, as if the mountains were collapsing and the earth were splitting apart.

The gate opened fully.

Yan Jue still turned around and politely said to Jiang Mengchu, “Let’s go in together.”

Jiang Mengchu nodded and followed close behind.

Within Sword Tomb Valley, yellow sand filled the sky.

It was a very ordinary-looking valley, but once inside, the wind became even fiercer.

Yan Jue had a rough idea of Sword Tomb Valley’s scenery.

Because the original novel had once described in detail the scene of the male lead drawing his sword.

The two of them walked through a vast valley under a deep blue sky.

The surrounding rock walls were packed with swords. Every sword had a different shape, but all of them were dim and unlit.

Yan Jue knew this was because those swords had not yet awakened.

Before entering Sword Tomb Valley, Yan Jue had obtained an ice crystal.

This crystal could guide her to where Drifting Ice was located.

A faint halo emanated from the ice crystal in Yan Jue’s sleeve, silently pointing out the direction she should go.

Jiang Mengchu stayed right behind her.

After weaving through the valley for a while, Yan Jue came to a huge boulder. The ice crystal in her sleeve suddenly began to tremble violently, sending out waves of scorching heat.

Yan Jue froze slightly and looked up.

There, on the rock, was an ice-blue long sword.

Yan Jue recognized it at a glance because that long sword was the male lead’s life-bound sword, and it had been described in great detail in the original novel.

That ice-blue immortal sword was embedded in the rock just like that.

The blade was slender and straight, glinting with cold light in the sunlight, and faint frost patterns could be seen across its surface.

Its hilt was made of warm, smooth white jade, semi-transparent in appearance, with simple carved patterns on it.

Yan Jue narrowed her eyes slightly, but still couldn’t see it very clearly.

The long sword stood quietly there.

As if it had already waited for this moment for thousands of years.

At the same time, Jiang Mengchu beside her narrowed her eyes and leapt upward. In the blink of an eye, she had reached Drifting Ice’s side.

Drifting Ice stood silently upright. Perhaps sensing her approach, it lit up with a faint blue glow.

Although Jiang Mengchu had not grown up in the Five Dragons Sect, her cultivation talent was also extremely outstanding.

Combined with her extraordinary luck, that was how she had managed to take second place in this competition.

The immortal sword Drifting Ice was also the reward the Sect Master had promised her.

Jiang Mengchu reached Drifting Ice’s side, extended a jade-white hand, and gripped the hilt, pulling with all her might.

In an instant, the immortal sword Drifting Ice burst forth with immense spiritual power and light, so bright it stung Yan Jue’s eyes shut.

Jiang Mengchu closed her eyes, her brows tightly knit, seeming to be in extreme pain.

Everyone on Five Dragons Square watching this scene felt tense.

Spiritual swords all had their own pride; right now, Jiang Mengchu was locked in a confrontation with Drifting Ice.

This was an extremely dangerous process.

In the past, there had even been cases where disciples went mad while trying to subdue a spiritual sword.

Now that Jiang Mengchu had her hand on the hilt, she was actually engaged in a silent contest with the immortal sword Drifting Ice.

“Boom!!”

Suddenly, a massive burst of spiritual power exploded outward in all directions.

Jiang Mengchu’s slender figure was also thrown backward like a bead flicked away with great force!

Her body traced an arc through the air before crashing into a small river not far away.

Utterly miserable.

Yan Jue glanced toward the sky; she knew the Capture Shadow Box was covering the entire Sword Tomb Valley, and the image was being projected onto Five Dragons Square.

Qi Xianqing was watching her.

Yan Jue’s expression darkened as she jumped up.

“Lord Meng Heng, I think you should just keep this sword for yourself. Have you lost your mind, giving the sword to this idiot?” Yun Jie sat beside Qi Xianqing and sneered coldly.

It was no wonder Yun Jie said that.

As the saying went, if virtue did not match one’s position, disaster would surely follow.

There had also been disciples who begged their master to take them into Sword Tomb Valley, hoping to pull out a world-famous sword, only for the sword’s spirit to refuse to acknowledge them. The disciple would then fight the spiritual sword for three hundred rounds, and after three days and three nights, would slink off to pull out some ordinary sword instead.

Things like that happened far too often.

Everyone usually just treated them as a joke.

Qi Xianqing wore white, her back straight; her frost-like face showed no extra expression. “Idiot?”

“Anyone who can get third place in the sect competition can be called an idiot by Senior Sister Yun? Then I wonder what Senior Sister Yun is?”

Yun Jie choked, her face instantly turning livid with anger.

“I watched your match with her too; this person clearly can’t even hold a sword steady. How could she possibly draw one?” Yun Jie shot back.

This should have been one of Yun Jie’s habits.

She was usually quite courteous and respectful toward the other junior sisters in the sect, but whenever she faced Qi Xianqing, she became completely different.

In short, she just wanted to make Qi Xianqing unhappy.

So for a time, there had even been rumors in the sect that Yun Jie might secretly be in love with Qi Xianqing...

Qi Xianqing’s gaze remained fixed, without the slightest shift, on the sky above. “She can.”

……

Yan Jue looked at the towering rock for a long moment before suddenly springing upward.

Under the sunlight, her body was light and agile, the result of specially training in qinggong.

In barely half a cup of tea’s time, she had reached the top of the rock.

The moment Yan Jue stood before Drifting Ice, she felt a chill run through her body.

On the rock where the immortal sword Drifting Ice stood, even under the blazing sun, a thick layer of frost had formed.

In truth, ice-attribute swords tended to have this effect to some degree; for example, Bai Chuli’s immortal sword “Flowing Silks” at the competition venue that day had also been able to release cold air.

But this was the first time Yan Jue had seen an immortal sword condense such thick ice.

Yan Jue stared at Drifting Ice for a long time.

In an instant, warmth began to rise in her palm.

The mark Zhuying had left there two days ago lit up.

The scorching heat in her palm grew stronger and stronger...

Yan Jue slowly reached out and gripped the hilt.

Boom.

In an instant, countless ancient characters exploded across Yan Jue’s mind; the torrent of information almost tore her apart.

Dazzling light... strange patterns... words that verified the Heavenly Dao...

Yan Jue frowned tightly.

Her mind was noisy, as if two voices were chattering endlessly inside it.

"This is the person you recommended?"

A childlike, clear voice was speaking. "Yeah. For my sake, you’d better accept her."

"I’ve slept here for a thousand years; I’ve been quite comfortable, and for now I don’t want to leave the mountain."

"As an immortal sword, how can you be so lazy!"

"It’s not because a few years ago you stole my Qi Xianqing from me. I was supposed to be the one beside Qi Xianqing. After going through that tribulation, I became disheartened and had no choice but to fall asleep again."

If Yan Jue hadn’t guessed wrong, this should have been the immortal swords Zhuying and Drifting Ice speaking.

Immortal swords had spiritual nature, and their sword spirits were roughly as intelligent as five- or six-year-old children.

"In this world, the only person I would ever acknowledge as my master is Qi Xianqing!"

Drifting Ice actually started rolling around on the spot.

"I want Qi Xianqing; give me back Qi Xianqing!"

Yan Jue: “...”

Listening to their conversation, Yan Jue couldn’t help but sigh that Qi Xianqing’s Immortal Spirit Physique was truly incredibly popular. Whether spirit beasts or immortal swords, they all liked her very much.

Suddenly, a voice interrupted her thoughts.

“What right do you have to make me accept you?” The two voices stopped talking, and the slightly deeper, clear childlike voice turned to speak to Yan Jue instead.

Drifting Ice.

Yan Jue opened her eyes and looked at the dazzling blue light before her. “Do you know? Qi Xianqing will face many dangers in this world. I swore I would protect her well.”

Drifting Ice fell silent.

Yan Jue: “I don’t have the qualifications to protect her.”

She was telling the truth.

The path of cultivation was long; whenever Yan Jue woke from dreams in the middle of the night, she couldn’t help feeling restless and uneasy.

What would she encounter in the future.

What would Qi Xianqing encounter in the future.

This world was full of undercurrents and hidden storms; beneath its calm surface, far too many schemes were concealed.

No matter what, there was one thing Yan Jue could be certain of.

Yan Jue paused, then slowly said, “But if I had you, I could protect her better.”

"You like Qi Xianqing that much; don’t you want to protect her properly?"

-

At the same time, the people on Five Dragons Square had also erupted into an uproar.

Sect Master Mu Zhongzi looked up, coldly watching the image in the sky.

Yan Jue absolutely could not be allowed to get that sword.

This time he had specifically sent Jiang Mengchu to go with Yan Jue.

Jiang Mengchu was naturally suited to cultivation; her talent could be called extraordinary, yet even she had been unable to subdue Drifting Ice.

Then this ordinary Pure Yin Physique was simply impossible...

Thinking of this, Mu Zhongzi could not help but let a smile appear on his face.

Yun Jie smiled, then turned to look at Qi Xianqing with leisurely composure. “Lord Meng Heng.”

Suddenly, waves of exclamations rose from Five Dragons Square.

On the image overhead, a strong, blinding blue halo suddenly flared.

The blue light was dazzling, as if it were swallowing everything whole.

Only especially aggressive magical implements could burst forth with such fierce light!

That halo lasted roughly half a cup of tea before gradually fading.

What then entered everyone’s eyes was Yan Jue, holding a long sword.

Under the sunlight, the hem of Yan Jue’s lotus-green robe fluttered wildly in the wind, and her jet-black hair streamed behind her.

She raised the immortal sword high, her expression solemn. Cold light flowed through Drifting Ice in her hand; Yan Jue’s fair face was lit to a brilliant white by that chill, and the amber depths of her eyes reflected Drifting Ice’s radiance.

Drifting Ice had actually been drawn out!!