My Ares Son-in-Law

The positions of those stars...

Jiang Xueren's pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpoints, and his breath caught in his throat for half a second: "The Big Dipper has shifted, and the Greedy Wolf shines in the south... Someone is using the power of the Star Soul to defy fate?!"

He whirled around, his stern voice echoing through the secret chamber: "Pass down the order! Utilize all your hidden agents to immediately investigate all unusual energy fluctuations in the provincial capital tonight! Focus on... the Qin family's 'Hidden Edge Pavilion'!"

"Yes!" came a hurried reply from outside the door, and the footsteps quickly faded away.

……

The Hidden Peak Pavilion has three underground floors.

The sword's cry faded, the starlight dissipated, and the dragon's shadow vanished. Only the lingering starlight in the air testified to the awe-inspiring divine forging that had just taken place.

Xiao Chen stood with his sword in hand, his face still pale, but the sharpness in his eyes remained undiminished. The soul consumption from opening the Reverse Scale Sword far exceeded expectations. Any ordinary martial artist would have already suffered soul damage and fainted, but for him, this consumption was nothing more than a drop in the ocean.

worth it.

He lightly swung his sword, without using any divine energy, and simply made a casual slash.

Three meters away, the dark red stone platform that had once held the meteorite core silently split in two, the cut as smooth as a mirror, as if it had been cut by the most precise laser, without even a single burr. The stone chips didn't even have time to fall before they were pulverized by the residual stellar energy.

Ouyang Ye stared blankly at the scene, his mouth agape, unable to close it for a long time. In his sixty years of forging weapons, he had never seen such effortless swordplay; this was no longer the power of a divine weapon, but the power of the laws themselves!

After a long while, he came to his senses, walked step by step to Xiao Chen, bowed deeply, his waist bent so low that it almost touched the ground: "I am Ouyang Ye, a veteran of sixty years of weapon forging, who thought I had grasped the essence of weapon forging. But today, having witnessed your divine skill, I realize that I am just a frog in a well, looking at the sky from the bottom of the well."

He straightened up, the arrogance in his eyes long gone, replaced by pure, almost devout reverence: "May I ask, sir, does this miraculous weapon-forging technique... have a name?"

Xiao Chen sheathed his sword... The scabbard was made from a piece of rough black jade that Qin Xianglan had found on the spot, and it was not a good match for the Reverse Scale Sword at all. But the moment the Reverse Scale Sword was sheathed, the surface of the black jade scabbard automatically showed the Zhou Tian Star Chart pattern that was the same as the sword, perfectly matching it, as if it was made for him by nature.

“Star Forging Technique,” ​​Xiao Chen said calmly. “However, it has another name.”

His gaze swept over Ouyang Ye, then landed on Qin Xianglan, his voice clear: "The 'Zhou Tian Xing Dou Casting Weapon Formation' is passed down from the 'Land of Fallen Stars'."

Ouyang Ye was jolted awake, as if struck by lightning. He staggered back half a step, his eyes widening in disbelief: "The Land of Fallen Stars?!"

This name has only appeared three times in the oldest records of weapon forging in the Dragon Kingdom. Each appearance was accompanied by the birth of a divine weapon that was enough to change the course of an era.

The first one was the Xuanyuan Sword of the Yellow Emperor.

The second one is the Yuwang Ding, which commemorates Yu the Great's flood control efforts.

The third instance is not recorded in detail in the classics, only a line of blurry writing: "The star fell and the heavens closed, the work of nature was destroyed."

"So... those legends were all true." Ouyang Ye murmured to himself, and turbid tears welled up in his eyes and slid down his wrinkles. "In my lifetime, I have actually been able to witness the Star Forging Technique reappear in the world... It was worth it, so worth it!"

He turned around abruptly and shouted at the two disciples who were still standing there in a daze, "Kneel down!"

The two disciples trembled in fear and immediately knelt on both knees, not daring to raise their heads. "If you dare to divulge even a single word of what you have seen and heard today..." Ouyang Ye's eyes flashed with ruthlessness, his tone resolute, "I will personally cleanse this sect and cripple your weapon-forging potential!"

"We dare not!" the two replied in unison, their voices trembling, clearly frightened.

Qin Xianglan finally recovered from her shock. She took a deep breath, walked up to Xiao Chen, and solemnly performed the "welcoming ceremony" that had been passed down in the Qin family for thousands of years, bowing deeply as she said:
"Mr. Xiao, the Qin family's 'Hidden Edge Pavilion' is now completely open to you. All the materials stored within, the ancient weapon-forging manuals, and the intelligence networks of both the secular and the hidden world are at your disposal."

This is the highest level of commitment from the Qin family.

As a family of weapon-making masters with a thousand-year-old heritage, their profound foundation and the weight of this promise are enough to shake the hidden order of the entire western region.

Xiao Chen nodded slightly, without any politeness... He needed the Qin family's resources to quickly advance the investigation into Jiang Meng: "I need to rest."

"A quiet room has already been prepared upstairs, soundproof and moisture-proof, and a spirit-gathering array has also been set up." Qin Xianglan quickly got up and led the way, "Please follow me."

Xiao Chen turned to leave, but behind him came Ouyang Ye's trembling voice: "Mr. Xiao... if I may be so bold as to ask, may I... may I observe this sword here for a moment? I will not touch it, I will only observe it from a distance, just take a look!"

His tone was almost pleading, and there was not a trace of the airs of a military genius.

Xiao Chen paused, raised his hand and placed the Reverse Scale Sword, still sheathed, on the stone platform beside him, and said calmly, "A quarter of an hour."

"Thank you, sir! Thank you, sir!" Ouyang Ye was overjoyed. He carefully moved closer, but dared not cross three steps. He stared intently at the star pattern flowing on the scabbard, muttering to himself as if reciting an ancient weapon-forging manual, afraid of missing any detail.

Qin Xianglan led Xiao Chen away from the third basement level, through a dark passage, and when they pushed open the heavy wooden door again, the night was already deep.

In the backyard of Cangfeng Pavilion, bamboo shadows swayed, and the cool moonlight filtered through the gaps in the bamboo leaves, casting a layer of dappled light and shadow on the ground.

“Mr. Xiao,” Qin Xianglan suddenly stopped and asked softly, “the ‘Land of Fallen Stars’ you just mentioned… what is that place?”

Xiao Chen looked up at the night sky. The stars were exceptionally bright tonight, and the positions of the stars in the sky were clearly visible, faintly echoing the star map on the Reverse Scale Sword.

“A place that has disappeared into the past.” He replied calmly, his tone carrying a hint of barely perceptible vicissitude, “but before it completely disappeared, it left behind many things.”

For example, the Star Forging Technique, the predecessor of the Reverse Scale Sword, and... some truths he was pursuing.

Qin Xianglan wisely refrained from asking further questions and simply continued to lead the way silently.

As they reached the door of the meditation room, Xiao Chen suddenly spoke, his tone icy: "Tonight's commotion was too great to keep from anyone. Tell Ouyang Ye that if he wants to protect his life and his legacy, he and his disciple should keep their mouths shut."

Qin Xianglan's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly nodded, "Yes, I understand. Then the Qin family..."

"Since the Qin family has taken the initiative to choose sides, they should be prepared to bear the consequences."

Xiao Chen pushed open the door to the quiet room, glanced back at her, and gave a clear instruction, "Before dawn tomorrow, I need detailed information on all the 'hidden families' in the western region, the more detailed the better. Especially those families that have had dealings with Jiang Meng, the wife of the God of War!"

"Please rest assured, sir, the intelligence will be delivered to you before dawn." Qin Xianglan bowed and agreed, not daring to be the slightest bit negligent. (End of this chapter)