Lu Yang held the sword case, ascending the stairs step by step.
The staircase of Wangchao Pavilion spiraled upward, the wooden steps polished smooth by time, yet not the slightest sound was made under his tread.
It was not because the floorboards were solid, but because his steps were so light.
For a Boundless Realm Staff Grandmaster, mastery over force had long reached millimeter-precise perfection.
Even carrying a sword case sealed with three talismans, walking through this quiet ancient pavilion was like a feather drifting on a windless night.
The sword case was heavy.
Furnace-Listening Pavilion had spent three years using ten-thousand-year Mount Jinyang iron essence for the bone, thousand-year cold iron from the bottom of the Eastern Sea for the flesh, supplemented by a wisp of Taibai gold essence refined from extraterrestrial meteoric iron.
Only then was the sword “Sheiru” forged.
On the day of its completion, all three thousand seven hundred divine weapons in Furnace-Listening Pavilion's Arsenal Pavilion bowed in unison.
Even “Suiyue,” which Qi Tianchen had kept tucked away at the bottom of his chest for sixty years, trembled thrice in its scabbard.
Even without being drawn from its case, such a sword possessed a crushing weight of presence that made it difficult to breathe.
When Lu Yang reached the eighth floor, he paused.
The sea breeze poured in through the window, whipping his robes with a rustle.
He looked down at the sword case in his hands; the three talismans sealed upon its surface fluttered faintly in the sea breeze.
The edges of the talisman paper had already yellowed, but the cinnabar writing remained as blood-red as ever.
These three talismans were Furnace-Listening Pavilion's secret sword-sealing incantations, impossible to unravel unless unsealed by the sword's true master in person.
If someone forcibly broke the seals, the sword qi within the case would erupt completely in a single instant.
Yet he knew that the man at the top of the pavilion had no need to unravel these three talismans at all.
As long as he wished, he could command this sword through the case itself.
Lu Yang took a deep breath and continued upward.
The ninth floor.
The door to the top floor was ajar, the sea breeze squeezing through the crack with a faint salty tang.
The door swung open.
The ninth floor of Wangchao Pavilion held only a single room.
The four walls were completely bare, devoid of any superfluous furnishings.
Outside the window was the Eastern Sea.
An old chair sat before the window.
A person sat in the chair.
From behind, this person looked barely in his thirties.
His black hair was tied loosely behind his head with a simple blue cloth ribbon, a few stray strands hanging from his temples, fluttering softly in the sea breeze.
His shoulders were not broad, yet his back was straight as a rod.
Yet it was this very man who had sat in this cage for twenty years.
In twenty years, he had not taken a single step outside.
He was the world's second-ranked, Lü Beisheng.
Lu Yang stood at the doorway for a moment.
Then, picking up the teapot beside him, he walked over and gently set the sword case on the low table beneath the windowsill.
He patted the dust from his lapels, walked over to the other side of the chair, and sat down on the floor beside Lü Beisheng.
“The sword has arrived.”
Hearing this, Lü Beisheng nodded.
His gaze remained fixed on the distant sea, not once looking at the sword case.
“Those from Furnace-Listening Pavilion have worked hard. When they head back, give them my thanks.”
Lu Yang gave an affirmative grunt, reached for the teapot on the low table, weighed it in his hand, and found more than half a pot of cold tea left inside.
Unconcerned with manners, he took two swigs straight from the spout.
The tea was from the previous night, long grown cold.
It tasted bitter going down, but quenched his thirst exceptionally well.
He wiped the corners of his mouth, set the teapot back down, and retrieved an oiled paper parcel from his robes.
“Braised beef from Ma’s on South Street.
I stood in line for half a shichen and nearly got into a brawl with some ruffian cutting the queue.”
He unwrapped the paper parcel and spread it open on the low table.
The braised beef was sliced thin, evenly coated in a layer of dark brown sauce.
Glossy and glistening, the savory aroma drilled straight into the nostrils.
Lü Beisheng glanced down, a faint smile finally touching the corners of his lips.
“A Boundless Realm Grandmaster like you, brawling with a ruffian?”
“So what? Being a Boundless Realm Grandmaster means I have to yield to ruffians? Does first come, first served mean nothing?”
Lu Yang pinched a slice of beef from the paper parcel, tossed it into his mouth, and chewed until his cheeks puffed out.
Lü Beisheng did not answer, but also reached out and took a slice of beef.
Lu Yang was used to the taciturn nature of his sworn brother.
Over the past twenty years, he would come sit in Wangchao Pavilion every ten days to half a month.
Sometimes he brought a pot of wine, sometimes a few side dishes, and sometimes nothing at all, merely coming to sit.
Sitting opposite each other drinking wine, they would chat intermittently about old memories.
For the rest of the time, this man, second in the world’s martial dao, Lü Beisheng, sat in that old chair facing the Eastern Sea, staring blankly at the endless waters that stretched beyond sight.
For twenty years, it had always been so.
However, if one thought this Sword God who had attained the realm of Earthly Immortal had settled for complacency and stopped advancing, they would be utterly mistaken.
In this world, perhaps only Lu Yang, who could climb this Wangchao Pavilion, truly knew.
His sworn brother's martial cultivation had not stagnated in the slightest; instead, it was advancing at a nearly terrifying speed.
Lu Yang looked out along his line of sight, suddenly remembering something.
“Right.
A young spearman named Chen Zui checked into Laifu Inn on South Street.
He's the one entrusted by Senior Gu back in Luoyan City to deliver a message to Sword Immortal Shen.”
Lü Beisheng's brow twitched slightly, yet he still said nothing.
Lu Yang continued.
“The kid is rather interesting.
Barely in his early twenties, yet he's already at the Second Rank Mountain-Viewing Realm.
I took a look earlier, and he actually harbors two breaths of Liu Yinsheng's sword qi inside his body.”
Lü Beisheng set his teacup back on the low table and finally turned to look at Lu Yang.
“Oh.”
Lu Yang was choked so hard by this single “oh” that he nearly lost his breath.
“‘Oh’? Couldn’t you spare another word or two?”
Lü Beisheng looked back toward the sea, his tone as placid as water.
“Liu Yinsheng’s sword qi in the hands of a Second Rank martial artist is a completely different concept than in the hands of an Earthly Sword Immortal.
Still, that he gained Liu Yinsheng’s approval suggests his character cannot be bad.
Since he carries Gu Yiyou’s verbal message, let him wait here.
Sword Immortal Shen should be arriving soon as well.”
“Right, there’s one more thing.
The Third Prince, Zhao Li, has arrived in Jinyang City as well.
He sent someone with a message saying he wishes to borrow Wangchao Pavilion on the day of the duel to ascend and watch the battle.”
As Lu Yang spoke, his tone carried unmasked disdain.
He had never harbored any fond feelings for the imperial clan.
Those who had forced Lü Beisheng to destroy his sword and imprison himself back then were mostly in their graves now, but their bloodline remained, and the man on the Dragon Throne remained.
Lü Beisheng merely uttered a single word calmly.
“Fine.”
“‘Fine’?”
Lu Yang's brows furrowed.
“Beisheng, you know full well what kind of person that Third Prince is.
What schemes he's playing by coming south this time can be guessed with one's toes.
He simply wants to use the battle between you and Sword Immortal Shen to absorb shards of sword intent to help him break through.
And you just agreed with a single word?”
Lü Beisheng raised the cold tea, took a sip, and kept his gaze on the distant sea.
“This Wangchao Pavilion has never been my private property.
If he wants to climb the pavilion to watch the battle, let him climb it.
If he wants to use this battle to break through, let him use it.
None of this has anything to do with me.”
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