Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 152 Borrowing a Sword
Normal people cannot contend with cultivators, especially those at the Golden Core stage.

However, the Zhou emperor's personal guards who surrounded the entire courtyard were not ordinary people. They were all martial artists, with the lowest level being the seventh rank. They were the most famous Imperial Guards of Zhou—the most elite guards in the entire Zhou Kingdom!
This wouldn't have been anything special at first, but soon, these Imperial Guards began to emit the same gray mist as the Mirror Master, which enveloped the entire courtyard once again, making Zhang Chengdao feel a bit of pressure.

There was only a sliver of hope, because he spotted the group of Imperial Guards...

They're all corpse puppets too!

If it weren't for the impending great battle, he would have wanted to run outside to check if the entire Zhou Kingdom had been turned into corpse puppets by the thing behind the Mingjing Grand Preceptor!
You see, dealing with hundreds of martial artists might be a little troublesome, but dealing with hundreds of corpse puppets controlled by just one person is not troublesome at all.

No matter how powerful the person behind the scenes is, their brain isn't a multi-core processor. To simultaneously control the actions, movements, and even the internal energy and techniques of hundreds of people—don't be ridiculous, that would require at least a Nascent Soul stage cultivator!

"Ten Thousand Swords Return to Their Origin"

Although he had practiced in the Spirit Mansion several times, Zhang Chengdao could only use twelve swords so far—only slightly better than the nine swords he had cultivated the first time. After all, the effort required to control each additional sword in "Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Origin" was not simply added together, but rather continuously increased. Each additional sword had to coexist and interact with the previous swords, making it extremely difficult.

However, even if I can only control twelve swords, the power of the top-tier red-light technique "Ten Thousand Swords Return to One" is more than enough, except...

'Oh no, I forgot my sword!'

Zhang Chengdao felt a lump in his throat.

It seems we have no choice but to "borrow" a sword from nearby.

As Zhang Chengdao finished speaking the words "Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Origin," the Taiyue Sword Sect members, who were hurrying along the official road dozens of miles away, suddenly sensed something was wrong.

"Ten Thousand Swords Return to Their Origin"

From afar, a resounding sound seemed to fall from the sky, clearly audible, causing everyone to look at each other in surprise and uncertainty.

Next, the sword at the waist of Qu Zhiweng, the leader of the Taiyue Sword Sect, suddenly trembled. He subconsciously grabbed the hilt and drew the sword to see what was going on. But as soon as he drew it, the sword flew out of his hand and turned into a white light in the blink of an eye, disappearing into the horizon.

"Damn it! My sword!"

Qu Zhiweng was stunned.

The sword flying away on its own was something he had never heard of in his fifty years of life! Let alone witnessed it with his own eyes!

The disciples of the Taiyue Sword Sect looked at each other in dismay, and some of the more timid ones even cried out in surprise—"The Master did not speak of strange phenomena, physical prowess, disorder, or spirits; he simply did not speak of them, not that he did not believe them!"

Before anyone could react, another disciple's sword flew out of its sheath and vanished into the sky in a flash, just like Qu Zhiweng's Taiyue Sword.

"Damn it! That was the sword my mother bought for me with all my New Year's money!" The Taiyue Sword Sect disciple, grieving the loss of his beloved sword, no longer cared about supernatural powers or anything like that. Even if he knew that the one who stole his sword was the King of Hell, he would still rush into the underworld to fight him!
Coincidentally, on the other side, in the largest inn in Jingzhao Prefecture, which was also full of martial artists from all walks of life waiting for the martial arts tournament, the Yinmachi Inn, which had just fallen silent after hearing the cry of "Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Origin", suddenly had four precious swords fly out of the inn and pierce through the door!

"My little Cui!"

"My sword!"

"That's a sword I just had made at the Sword Forging Manor, and it cost me a fortune!"

"Mother!"

Several cries of agony rose and fell, and the Yinma Pond Inn was once again filled with noise. However, the previous wide range of topics had turned into discussions about the "Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Origin" and mourning for the four unlucky souls who had lost their beloved swords.

A well-informed martial artist advised, "I recognized that voice just now. It seemed to be the voice of Immortal Baishi, the head of the Baishi Immortal Sect. I just don't know what he's up to, summoning ten thousand swords! I wonder how many martial artists' swords have been taken away..."

Upon hearing that it was the work of "Immortal White Stone," another martial artist chimed in, "Brothers, there's no need to worry. The White Stone Immortal Sect acts with integrity. If it truly was used by Immortal White Stone, they will eventually give an explanation. At worst, we can go to the White Stone Immortal Sect together afterward to help you brothers get your swords back. Even if we can't get them back, we should at least give everyone some benefits..."

"That's right, that's right. I've heard that the White Stone Immortal Sect has a kind of 'immortal peach,' which can prolong life and grant immortality. Only the old emperor of the Northern Xiao Kingdom managed to get some by borrowing the influence of the White Stone Immortal's second disciple. I was a guest minister to a certain lord and personally witnessed him dividing them up—"

One of the boastful martial artists gestured with his finger, whetting everyone's appetite before adding, "We got a huge piece!"

Upon hearing this, the crowd erupted in uproar, with someone shouting, "He won't even give one! This old emperor of the Northern Xiao Kingdom is incredibly stingy!"

The martial artist who had previously boasted about the immortal peaches turned pale and spat out, "Bah! What do you know! Those 'immortal peaches' are for immortals! They are treasures that no one in the mortal world can find! Ordinary people are not even worthy of seeing them! To be able to get a piece is an immense blessing!"

Just as everyone at the Yinma Pond Inn was discussing this, Zhang Chengdao, standing above the Daxing Temple, finally received all the swords he had "borrowed".

These swords all gleamed with a cold light; some had hilts adorned with various pearls and gems, while others were quite simple.

Among them, the sword with the brightest light had a small jade plaque hanging on its tassel, with the words "Taiyue" engraved on it. It was obviously a peerless sword, no less than the White Egret Sword that Chang Ping'an won from the Sword Casting Manor. This was the "Taiyue Sword", the treasured sword ranked third on the list of divine weapons in the world!
The Taiyue Sword stood in the very center of the group of swords, eager to try its hand at the spell, as if it had its own ideas and was very impatient to participate in the "Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Origin" technique.

Twelve swords were arrayed behind Zhang Chengdao. He let out a cold laugh and said, "You'd better watch my move closely—"

As he spoke, twelve swords flew out simultaneously, swift as lightning and powerful as thunder, instantly severing the heads of all the Imperial Guards surrounding the courtyard. Foul-smelling pus and blood splattered out, and the gray mist dissipated—the Imperial Guards seemed to have died less quickly than the palace maids and eunuchs in the courtyard.

The twelve sword lights joined together to form a line, and after cutting off the heads of these people, they also shaved off the top of the bright yellow palanquin.

Thus, the figures in the palanquin were finally exposed to the sunlight.

(End of this chapter)