Sword drawn from the constellations, poison as its edge.

Chapter 87 Poison as a Weapon

For the next two days, Jiang Mingzhe spent all his time in the courtyard studying the Seven Child Swords, except for meals.

Just as he expected, there were seven swords, each with a different color of light.

Duan Yu was in high spirits, searching through the texts and picking out names for each of them.

The Black Crystal Sword has a pure black sword aura and extremely strong corrosive power. When it hits wood or stone, it is initially unharmed, but soon decays on its own. It is called the "Sword of Ultimate Yin Transformation".
The White Crystal Sword, with its pure white sword energy, is masculine and righteous, and possesses the greatest power. It is named "Pure Yang Evil-Slaying Sword".
The Blue Crystal Sword has a deep blue aura and an icy cold texture. Wherever it goes, the grass and trees freeze in frost. It is called the "Mysterious Netherworld Cold Sword".
The Azure Crystal Sword possesses a vibrant, ever-flowing, supple, and enduring aura. When it strikes grass and trees, they remain unharmed at first, but soon wither and die. It is known as the "Azure Wind Bone-Eroding Sword".
The Crimson Crystal Sword, with its crimson aura and fiery nature, leaves scorch marks on stone and ignites wood upon contact; it is named the "Sword of Essence and Fire".
The Golden Crystal Sword, with its gleaming golden aura and swift, sharp edge, is named "Golden Essence Piercing the Battle Sword".
The Yellow Crystal Sword, with its earthy yellow sword aura, is solid and heavy, and is named "Kun Yuan Prison Suppressing Sword".

Furthermore, the seven swords consumed different amounts of internal energy. The white, red, and gold swords consumed the most, followed by the black, blue, and yellow swords, while the Azure Crystal Sword consumed the least.

If Jiang Mingzhe were to unleash a sword light of about one foot in length, and his inner strength were at its peak, he could sustain it for about two incense sticks' time. If he disregarded the consumption of energy, he could unleash a sword light of up to two feet in length. However, the sharpness of this sword light was far inferior to that of the white and gold sword light.

Furthermore, he tested the power of the sword light on walls and trees; it is difficult to know how it would differ if it were on a human body.

After repeated attempts, Jiang Mingzhe suddenly had a brilliant idea: he could transform the Northern Darkness True Qi into pure poison, which could then be launched through the Seven Child Swords.

For some reason, after being catalyzed by the poison, it couldn't transform into a sword light. Instead, it shot out a highly condensed mist from the sword tip, sometimes red, sometimes green, sometimes blue, sometimes yellow—

Jiang Mingzhe was most familiar with the dark blue-green mist, which was the wood-attribute centipede poison he had previously condensed. However, its color was purer, and its power was obviously slightly greater.

If the poison is continuously injected, the mist will not travel far, but will instead swirl around the sword, making the entire sword appear to be faintly visible.

Jiang Mingzhe was overjoyed, thinking that regardless of the toxicity, the mist itself had a miraculous effect. For example, if I fought someone in the dark, I could catalyze the black mist to envelop the sword, and how could the enemy see where my weapon was?
Having figured out the functions of the Seven Child Swords, Jiang Mingzhe sought out Zuo Zimu, wanting to have a scabbard made.

Everyone in Wuliang Mountain learns swordsmanship, and there are skilled blacksmiths they know well. Zuo Zimu took Jiang Mingzhe to the blacksmith shop in the town at the foot of the mountain, where they saw the father and son forging iron.

The father was in his thirties and used a small hammer, while the son was only thirteen or fourteen years old, with lean muscles that seemed to be cast in bronze and iron. He swung a large hammer, striking the anvil again and again, sending up sparks of iron.

Upon seeing Zuo Zimu, they stopped what they were doing. The father clasped his hands in greeting and said with a smile, "Master Zuo, your presence must be an important business opportunity for us."

Zuo Zimu nodded, patted the boy's arm, and said calmly, "This kid has quite the talent. If he were to become my disciple, he might achieve great things."

The boy lowered his head, a hint of disdain flashing in his eyes, which was seen by Jiang Mingzhe from the side.

Seeing that the boy remained silent, Zuo Zimu assumed that the country boy was just shy. He said to the blacksmith, "This Master Long is a legendary figure in the martial arts world. I have come here to ask you to forge a sword for him."

When the blacksmith saw that Zuo Zimu's words were frightening, he quickly bowed and said respectfully, "This humble servant greets Hero Long. May I ask what kind of sword Hero Long would like to have made? If it is a precious sword, this humble servant only has ordinary wrought iron here, and I am afraid it is difficult to fulfill the request."

Jiang Mingzhe has always been extremely polite to technical personnel, afraid of accidentally offending them and causing them to become uncooperative or even malicious.

He returned the greeting politely and smiled, saying, "Brother Blacksmith is older than me, please don't be so polite. I need two things made. Here are the blueprints. Please take a look and see if they are suitable for your crafting."

He then took out two finished drawings and pointed to the first one, saying, "This is the scabbard, divided into two compartments, one visible and one hidden. The hidden compartment must be concealed yet easy to open. As for the material, it must be sturdy and hard." The blacksmith looked at it for a while and nodded, saying, "This is easy. I will use ironwood to forge it. This wood is extremely sturdy and difficult to damage with an axe or chisel, but it is very heavy."

Jiang Mingzhe waved his hand and said, "It doesn't matter if it's a bit heavier. As for this weapon, it can be made of fine iron, but we need to put some thought into the key points."

He pointed to the illustration, which showed seven two-foot-long short swords, shaped like the Seven Child Swords. The swords were wide and flat, without guards or pommels, and directly connected to the hilts. The ends of the hilts were connected by buttons, which could be opened to form a fan and closed to form a sword.

The blacksmith examined the drawing closely, and his son, also curious, leaned over. After a couple of glances, he shook his head and said, "Young master, is this an ancient sword from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods? Look at its width and length; that's because blacksmithing skills were limited back then. Nowadays, no one uses such weapons anymore. And you're going to combine seven swords into one iron fan, which must be quite heavy. The saying goes, 'A sword moves with lightness and agility.' Your weapon is both heavy and short. If you were to fight someone with a sword, wouldn't you be at a disadvantage?"

Zuo Zimu shouted sternly, "Stop being so insolent! How dare you, a mere child, show off in front of us?"

The young man wasn't angry. He merely glanced at Jiang Mingzhe, then turned and walked away, muttering to himself, "What's so great about using such a clumsy sword?"

Jiang Mingzhe had mastered internal strength and possessed keen hearing and eyesight, so he could hear everything clearly. But could the child's words really be true?

He simply smiled and said to the somewhat apprehensive blacksmith, "Your son's insights are indeed quite good, but I need to learn a skill and require such a weapon. Please trouble yourself."

After saying that, he took out a gold ingot and stuffed it into the blacksmith's hand. This gold was what he and Azi wanted. Azi didn't originally have any, but she got it by extorting Zhong Ling.

The blacksmith looked down and said in alarm, "Young master, this is too much, no, no..."

Jiang Mingzhe pressed his hand down and laughed, "Gold has a price, but craftsmanship is priceless. How can an ordinary person compare to a master craftsman personally introduced by the Left Sect Leader?"

These words made both Zuo Zimu and the blacksmith feel proud. Zuo Zimu laughed and said, "Hero Long, now that we're in Wuliang Mountain, how can I let you spend money? Quickly put it away, and I'll settle the bill with him."

Jiang Mingzhe laughed and said, "The Left Sect Leader was going to pay for me anyway. This piece of gold is a separate gift for the blacksmith. Blacksmith, if your son wants to learn swordsmanship in the future, you can use this money to buy some good iron and make him a fine sword!"

The young man turned back in surprise, walked back, and looked Jiang Mingzhe up and down. Suddenly, he straightened his back, clasped his hands in a solemn gesture, and said, "I love listening to storytellers recount tales of chivalrous heroes in the martial world, but among all the many wandering heroes who have come and gone from this town, I have never seen a hero like those in the stories. I thought they were just made up by the storytellers, but after meeting you today, I realize how short-sighted I was. Since you have given me this gold, please leave your name and signature. If we meet again in the martial world, I will surely repay you!"

Seeing his serious expression, Jiang Mingzhe laughed and flicked the blueprint: "Young brother, my nickname is Invincible Swordsman. I am probably the only one in the entire martial arts world who can use this weapon. By the time you have mastered the sword and entered the martial arts world, I will already be famous all over the world. It will be very easy for you to find me. If we do meet, we will drink and have a good time."

He was just teasing the child, but the boy's eyes lit up with a strange light, and he nodded very seriously: "Okay, I will definitely come to find you in the future and treat you to a drink!"

Just then, the horses' hooves clattered as they approached. The group turned to look, and a disciple of the Wuliang Sword Sect strode in, excitedly exclaiming, "Sect Leader, Hero Long, the Prince of Zhennan of Dali has arrived at Jianhu Palace!"

Upon hearing that the Prince of Zhennan had arrived in person, Zuo Zimu could no longer stay still. He hurriedly put down a large ingot of silver and quickly pulled Jiang Mingzhe away. Jiang Mingzhe asked the blacksmith about the time and agreed to send someone to pick it up in seven days.

After leaving the house, Jiang Mingzhe glanced back unintentionally and saw four characters written on the signboard outside: Dugu Iron Shop.

　It will be officially available tomorrow!

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(End of this chapter)