Starting with the divine power of the Great Vajra, he traversed the heavens.

Chapter 53 The Iron Cudgel and the Necklace (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
"father!"

"Master!" *2
Xiang Ling, Ding An, and Tie Tou were all greatly alarmed upon seeing this and rushed forward to help him.

Seeing that Xiang Qie was in so much pain that his face was pale, Tie Tou quickly helped him massage his shoulders and legs until he recovered.

Ding An watched as the iron rod fell to the ground, emitting a dark light that looked extremely eerie. He took a deep breath, bent down, and was about to pick it up.

But to his surprise, it was extremely heavy. He couldn't help but groan, his face instantly turning red: "Drink!" The internal energy of the Blood Blade Scripture mixed with the Divine Illumination Scripture burst forth from his body, and he immediately lifted the iron rod.

Ding An looked at Ren Shaoyang with surprise: "Crippled man, why is this fire poker so heavy?" As he spoke, at Xiang Qiezheng's signal, he stuck it into the floor tile.

With a hissing sound, as if a hot knife had pierced through butter, it slid in smoothly.

Ren Shaoyang said, "It started getting heavier yesterday, and I can't even put it in my belt anymore, otherwise my pants will fall down."

Xiang Qie was resting for a while when he quickly got up to look at the iron rod. After a long while, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, shook his head and exclaimed, "It really is Meishan Iron Essence. I didn't expect it to be wrapped with a layer of meteorite cold iron on the outside!"

Ren Shaoyang was taken aback. He looked up at Xiang Qiezheng and asked seriously, "Master Xiang, do you really know him?"

"I recognized it back on the Lianfeng ship, but I was in a hurry to escape and couldn't be sure. Now that I look at it again, I'm sure I wasn't mistaken."

"Oh?" Ren Shaoyang said, "Master Xiang, you have great insight."

Xiang Qiezheng chuckled and said, "Master Ren, you may not know this, it's not that I have good eyesight. It's that my ancestor once studied under Ouyang Nan, the master of Jiangnan Casting. Master Ouyang used the divine hammer 'Lei Ze Xing Tian' and the 'Hongwu Heavenly Furnace' to forge the Meishan iron essence into a divine sword."

Ren Shaoyang suddenly opened his eyes wide!

Where did his ancestors learn their craft?
Ouyang Nan!
Hongxiu suddenly asked, "Master Xiang, what's that sword called?"

Xiang Qie stared intently at the iron rod in Ren Shaoyang's hand, and amidst the tense breaths of everyone, he said, word by word, "Divine Sword Captures the Dragon!"

"The Divine Sword Captures the Dragon?"

Everyone was muttering this name, and all their eyes were drawn to the iron rod that Ren Shaoyang had pulled from the ground.

Others would hold it with all their might, but in his hands, it was as if he were carrying a straw.

What a strength!
“Indeed!” Xiang Qiezheng said with a sigh, “Back then, when Master Ouyang opened the furnace, the ‘Hongwu Heavenly Furnace’ was extremely miraculous. It was known to damage divine weapons and sharp blades, but it also had a wonderful method, which brought great disaster to the Master’s family.”

"Just then, a person of extraordinary talent and influence arrived."

Everyone listened with great interest and quickly asked, "Who is it that has come?"

"Kunlun Sect Leader, 'Sword God' Zhuo Lingzhao!"

"Wow!" Iron Head gasped. "What an arrogant nickname this guy has!"

“Not arrogant, not arrogant.” Xiang Qiezheng laughed. “That Zhuo Lingzhao is one of the four grandmasters of the martial arts world. His swordsmanship is so good that he can be called ‘Divine sword is like me, I am the sword god.’”

Everyone who heard his words was mesmerized, and they all imagined the illustrious past of their ancestors.

Ren Shaoyang remained expressionless, merely sipping his tea, but inwardly he was reeling: "My God! I just learned the 'Thirteen Swords of Kunlun,' and then I learned about the secrets of the past in Xiang Family Manor, and even that the Xiang family inherited the 'Hongwu Heavenly Furnace'? Is this all just a coincidence?"

Xiang Qiezheng continued, "The Sword God brought Meishan Iron Essence, used the power of heavenly lightning to remove the outer shell, the Ancestral Master hammered it, and the Sword God personally pulled the bellows. After so long, the Heavenly Furnace actually shattered."

"It's broken?!"

Upon hearing this, everyone was dumbfounded and exclaimed in unison.

"Yes, it shattered." Xiang Qiezheng said with a wry smile, "The Heavenly Furnace, a divine object, has its own spirit. After being forged into a divine sword, it burst open on its own."

Xiang Ling asked, "Father, is the furnace in the manor not the original one, but a fake one?"

Xiang Qiezheng laughed heartily and said, "What nonsense! Although it is not the original, it is still a recasting of fragments! The original Heavenly Furnace was more than ten zhang tall, taller than the city wall of Jingzhou. Now it is only about ten zhang tall, and is called the 'Hongwu Small Divine Furnace'."

Ding An asked curiously, "Master, is it in that house?" As he spoke, he headed straight for the smoke coming from the chimney to the east.

“That’s right!” Xiang Qiezheng nodded, then continued, “Later, the Divine Sword Dragon Captured was born, and Zhuo Lingzhao wielded this weapon and became invincible.”

At this point, the little beggar interrupted again, asking earnestly, "Master Xiang, did Zhuo Lingzhao always wield the Divine Sword to capture the dragon?"

"Of course not!" Xiang Qiezheng looked at her and replied, "He offended the powerful minister Jiang Chong, was besieged and killed, and the Divine Sword Capturing Dragon was thrown into the valley." He sighed endlessly as he said this.

Everyone fell silent after hearing this.

Xiang Qiezheng then looked at Ren Shaoyang and said, "I never expected that after so many years, I would still be able to see the Divine Sword Capturing Dragon!"

His expression brightened.

"But now that the Dragon-Capturing Sword is imprisoned, and the Starfall Cold Iron is extremely hard and difficult to melt except by the Hongwu Small Divine Furnace, is it not Heaven's will that Hero Ren be sent to our Xiang Family Village to make the divine sword see the light of day again?"

Ren Shaoyang's eyes lit up: "Master Xiang, do you have a way to break through the outer shell of this iron rod?"

"Of course!" Xiang Qiezheng exclaimed confidently. "The divine sword has a spirit, so it naturally seeks the help of the forging materials. That's how it is!"

He pointed at Tie Tou: "Tie Tou, when you get married, we'll reopen the Hongwu Small Divine Furnace and unseal the divine sword!" He said, his face full of affection, "It'll also be a way to make a name for you."

Upon hearing this, Tie Tou knew that this was a signal from his master that he was about to be chosen as his successor, and immediately smiled and said, "Thank you, Master!"

The laughter was simple and honest, just like that of Ding'an.

Xiang Ling retorted angrily, "Still calling me Master?"

Tie Tou scratched his head, and tentatively asked, "Dad?"

Xiang Qiezheng snorted and turned to Ding An: "Ding An, although you are missing an arm, your skills are profound. Come and help me then." Ding An nodded: "Okay."

Xiang Qie smiled and looked at everyone: "Everyone, my daughter and my apprentice will be married in three days. It will also be the day that the Little Divine Furnace will unseal the Divine Sword. Please rest well and wait for this joyous day!"
-
The next morning, the little beggar was still lazing in bed.

"middle!"

Ren Shaoyang shouted and slowly threw a punch at Ding An's right rib.

Ding An is missing his right arm, leaving half of his body defenseless. Now, with his right rib attacked, he is vulnerable and in great pain.

Ding An remained calm. With his short sword in hand, he moved with the agility of a snake, his fiery energy swirling around Ren Shaoyang's wrist.

Ren Shaoyang chuckled, flicked his wrist, and changed from a fist to fingers. The force of his fingers trembled like flowers, and at several points, it was like a waterfall splashing waves, which was wonderful.

Ding An suddenly felt that the finger shadows in front of him were like a dream, with powerful energy and the momentum of the sky collapsing and mountains shifting. Facing them head-on, he felt short of breath and hurriedly flipped his hand to block.

Ta-da!

Fingers and knife clashed, and a fierce wind arose.

After Ding An rolled over, his face turned bright red, clearly from exerting his internal energy. He asked with surprise, "Crippled man, is this...is this swordsmanship?"

“Yes, it’s the authentic Kunlun sword technique,” ​​Ren Shaoyang replied proudly.

"How did you learn that?" Ding'an asked bluntly.

Ren Shaoyang chuckled and said, "I heard about the 'Sword God' yesterday, and as the saying goes, 'What you think about during the day, you dream about at night.' It must be that Master Zhuo appeared in my dream last night and taught me."

Ding An spat out, "Pah! Do you think you're the top courtesan in a brothel? You think I'd believe you if you said you'd appear in my dreams at night?"

Ren Shaoyang pointed his fingers and said loudly, "Give it a try! I used 'Sword Leopard' just now, now you try 'Sword Wave'!"

During the exchange, the two players fought at breakneck speed, exchanging dozens of moves.

During this period, Ren Shaoyang restrained his divine power, using only five-tenths of his strength to fight his enemies, focusing on honing his newly learned swordsmanship.

The more they fought, the more alarmed Ding'an became.

Shao Yang was fighting his own short sword empty-handed.

However, the sword techniques he used were either domineering, complex, ruthless, unpredictable, subtle, or like a waterfall cascading down. In a short period of time, he used more than ten different sword techniques.

What surprised him even more was that Ren Shaoyang could change his strength at will whenever he changed his sword techniques, and could even change several times in a single breath without fear of damaging his meridians.

Ding'an even had the illusion that Shao Yang's moves were increasingly reminiscent of Cao Shaoqin's—incredibly concise yet aimed directly at the core.

Although Ren Shaoyang only used five-tenths of his strength in this exchange, the destructive power of his movements was completely different from what he had used before.

"Don't fight, don't fight!"

Ding An sheathed the short sword in his arm, plopped down on the ground, panting heavily, and looked at him with a complicated expression.

"You cripple, are you really like Cheng Yaojin, receiving divine instruction in a dream and learning the Kunlun Sword Technique?"

"I told you, but you didn't believe me," Ren the hooligan said, shaking his head.

Ding An said, "When you change your sword technique, how can you change your strength so easily? Aren't you afraid of damaging your meridians?"

Ren Shaoyang plucked a blade of grass and put it in his mouth, a smile on his face: "This is the 'Heart-Sacrificing Style' supernatural power that I have come to understand. It uses the extraordinary power of the middle dantian to protect the meridians, and the body moves with the mind. By changing the force, one can be fearless of damage. It is faster than anything else."

"Wow!" Ding An's eyes widened. "I don't understand, but it's still amazing!"

Ren Shaoyang laughed and stepped forward, extending his hand.

Ding An smiled, pushed himself up, and was about to lend a hand.

But just then, he raised an eyebrow and felt something poke him.

Ding An tilted his head, then bent down and picked up something.

Seeing this, Ren Shaoyang also looked over, only to find that it was a pendant.

It is made of twisted gold thread, and the pendant is made of two five-sided black iron pieces with a few small characters engraved on them.

"Huh, what's this?" Ding'an asked, somewhat puzzled.

Ren Shaoyang felt that the blacksmith looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it before, so he casually said, "It might be something left behind by the blacksmith in the village. I'll ask Tie Tou later."

"Alright." Ding An nodded, stuffed the pendant into his pocket, and went back to the room with Shao Yang.

Meanwhile, on the official road leading to Zhejiang outside Jingzhou, a large, fat man was leading an even larger, simple-minded boy on his way.

Just then, the sound of hooves rang out, and three sword-wielding knights brushed past them.

The burly man frowned upon seeing it: "Official boots?" He then seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness, thank goodness I left early."

Having said that, he quickened his pace.

"Dad, Dad, wait for me!"

The fatter, simple-minded boy followed behind with a silly grin, chanting as he walked: "Floating clouds stretch for three miles in the sky, thunder roars across five mountains and rivers, a heart filled with Buddhist thoughts reaches the four seas, boundless power reaches the eight directions."

(End of this chapter)