Wandering Sword Seller's Life in the Qin Dynasty

Although some conclusions were drawn based on intelligence, no conclusion can compare to seeing the actual product with one's own eyes.

Just as Xu Qing was sighing, the high priestess who had been guarding the temple of the goddess was suddenly startled. She looked sharply toward the place where the sound came from and saw an unfamiliar figure. Her gaze instantly froze.

She immediately stood up, about to call out to the guards outside the palace to capture the intruder.

Before she could finish speaking, Xu Qing slowly turned around, condensed a wisp of energy at her fingertips, and flicked her finger.

An invisible force swept out instantly, suppressing the high priest's voice and binding her body, rendering her unable to move or even speak.

The high priestess's eyes were filled with horror. She never expected that the newcomer would have such formidable strength, and that she would be easily suppressed without even having a chance to resist.

Xu Qing walked slowly toward the High Priest, his gaze calm and his tone utterly unwavering: "No need to waste your energy!"

Xu Qing didn't care whether the Loulan High Priest could understand what he was saying.

Although in the original theatrical version, these Loulan people with exotic faces all speak Mandarin.

However, based on Xu Qing's personal experience in Loulan, it has been confirmed that it differs somewhat from the theatrical version.

The goddess statue in the movie is in the square, but here it is inside the temple.

This is where the difference becomes apparent.

After saying that, he shifted his gaze and it landed on the "Dragon Soul" on the goddess statue.

The dragon soul, still in slumber, did not transform into a Pixiu; instead, it appeared as a vertical eye embedded in the goddess statue's brow.

Xu Qing wanted to make a move and pluck it off.

But after thinking about it, I gave up for the time being.

After all, his understanding of Loulan came entirely from the theatrical version.

To be honest, I don't really know as much about Loulan as you might think, do I?

And coincidentally, right next to Xu Qing was someone who knew about Loulan.

Thinking of this, Xu Qing looked at the high priest of Loulan again.

Of course, without saying a word, he simply made a gesture, and the other person flew towards Xu Qing. Then, the two locked eyes, and in an instant, the High Priestess of Loulan was bewildered, her eyes losing their luster.

At the same time, all of her memories were read by Xu Qing in an instant.

Even though they couldn't communicate verbally, Xu Qing was still able to glimpse many of Loulan's secrets through his memories.

Not long after, Xu Qing waved his hand again, and the Loulan High Priest immediately fell to the ground.

She had lost all her value, and Xu Qing had completely seen through all the secrets of Loulan.

Chapter 399 Chi You's Sword, Ancient Secrets

After Xu Qing entered Loulan at night and captured the Loulan High Priest.

This foreshadows that even if Loulan wanted to engage in mutual destruction, it would not be able to do so.

After reading the memories of the High Priest of Loulan, Xu Qing also learned what the other party wanted to do. He was preparing to activate the Demon God of Soldiers, which corresponded to some of his previous guesses.

All I can say is that it was indeed quite risky.

Based on the terrifying combat power displayed by the War God in the original work, if Loulan really used the War God to stop the Qin army, it would definitely cause huge casualties to the Qin army.

"To prevent any accidents, you'll stay here from now on."

Xu Qing glanced at the high priest again, still regardless of whether the other party could understand what he was saying.

In the time that followed, he stayed in the temple of the goddess with the high priest.

Meanwhile, after besieging Loulan for several days, the Qin army finally launched an attack on Loulan.

Without the high priest's command, Loulan City descended into complete chaos. The nobles who advocated surrender lost their backbone and failed to mount any effective resistance when faced with the Qin army's attack. Soon, the city gates were breached, and they had no choice but to kneel and surrender.

Of course, before surrendering, they did consider finding a high priest to take charge.

However, they couldn't find the high priest at all.

They illegally entered the Goddess Temple, only to find it completely empty.

At the time, some people speculated that the high priest might have fled first.

Therefore, the Qin state was able to conquer Loulan so easily because people's morale was low and many had no intention of resisting.

As Loulan fell, Qin soldiers, armed with weapons, marched into the city in orderly formation.

Without fierce fighting or tenacious resistance, in just one hour, this ancient city-state, with its heritage spanning thousands of years, completely fell and officially entered the hands of the Qin state.

For the Qin state, which swept across the six kingdoms and conquered the Western Regions, the destruction of Loulan was merely a trivial matter in the process of conquering the Western Regions.

The reason why Ying Zheng wanted to take over this small territory was not because he coveted its population and wealth, but because of Loulan's geographical location.

It is located on the only route to Central Asia and Europe, and is a key intermediate node.

Occupying this place provided Qin with a stable supply line for its westward expansion, laying the foundation for its subsequent advance into foreign lands.

After the Qin army entered the city, they quickly took over the Loulan city-state, pacified the people, and inventoried supplies. Everything proceeded in an orderly manner.

Xu Qing ignored these things.

He handed over the high priest, whom he had imprisoned for several days, to the Qin army, while he himself went to the Loulan underground palace alone.

The Loulan underground palace is hidden beneath the Goddess Temple, and its entrance is extremely secretive. Even if Xu Qing deliberately searched for it, he would have had difficulty finding it if he hadn't read the High Priest's memories.

As you slowly descend the narrow stone steps, the air is filled with an ancient and profound atmosphere. As the candlelight flickers, you can vaguely see the ancient totems engraved on the walls, all of which record the legend of Chi You and the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden.

As he walked deeper into the underground palace, a massive figure suddenly appeared before Xu Qing, causing him to stop in his tracks.

That was the War Demon God, forged entirely from meteorite iron from outer space. Its body was as tall as a mountain, covered with ferocious patterns, and its eyes were inlaid with dark purple crystals. Although it was currently just an inanimate object due to the lack of energy to activate it, it still exuded a terrifying aura, like an ancient beast that was sleeping and might awaken at any moment to unleash a bloodbath.

According to legend, Chi You had eighty-one brothers, each of whom was incredibly strong, with bronze heads and iron foreheads, and could eat sand and pebbles.

In this world, Chi You's eighty-one brothers became the God of War.

However, with the outbreak of the Battle of Zhuolu, eighty of the eighty-one soldier demon gods were destroyed, leaving only this last one, which was sealed in the land of Loulan.

Obviously, in the beginning, the energy source of the War God was not the "Dragon Soul". After all, there is only one Dragon Soul, while there are eighty-one War Gods.

But Xu Qing had no time to speculate about what the Bingmoshen Energy was.

His gaze swept over the God of War, and he muttered to himself, "I'll have either the Mohists or the Gongshu family come here later."

"Although it is an ancient artifact, it was made by the gods and is undoubtedly divine technology. Compared to the mechanical skills of mortals, it should still have its merits."

At the very least, neither the Mohists nor the Gongshu School could have created such a massive mechanical beast.

Xu Qing slowly stepped forward, his fingertips gently touching the body of the Demon God of Soldiers. The coolness of the black iron passed through his fingertips, and the ancient aura remaining on it stirred something within him.

This is the weapon of war left behind by Chi You. Just as depicted in the movie, it is majestic and terrifying. If it were to be activated, the consequences would be unimaginable.

However, he then withdrew his gaze, no longer lingering, and following the clues in the high priest's memory, bypassed the massive body of the War Demon God and continued to walk deeper into the underground palace.

The deeper one goes, the more intense the malevolent aura in the air becomes. It is no longer the heavy, murderous aura of the Demon God, but rather a cold, chilling demonic aura, as if an invisible chill seeps into the body through the pores, making one's heart tighten.

After walking for about half an incense stick's time, a stone wall covered with ancient runes appeared in front of them. The patterns on the stone wall were completely different from the ferocious patterns on the body of the Demon God, and were even more bizarre and complex, faintly exuding a forbidden aura.

Xu Qing raised his hand and, following the method he remembered, lightly touched several runes on the stone wall with his fingertips. The runes instantly lit up with a dark purple glow, and the stone wall slowly slid to one side, revealing the entrance to a narrow secret chamber.

The secret chamber was not large. On the stone platform in the center, a large, menacing sword was stuck in the ground.

The sword is entirely dark iron-colored. The pommel at the top of the hilt is shaped like a twisted and ferocious beast horn and withered bone. The guard is shaped like outstretched bat wings with fine bone patterns on the surface. A strange and eye-catching blood-red gem is inlaid in the center, resembling a bizarre vertical eye. The blade is thick and wide with a high spine. The sides are covered with ancient totem scroll patterns. Near the tip, there are reliefs of ferocious beasts and mysterious runes. The tip is sharp and diamond-shaped.

Of course, while its appearance is imposing, it is not the most crucial factor. The most crucial factor is the demonic aura emanating from this sword.

After arriving here, Xu Qing noticed that the area around the stone platform was covered with numerous array patterns. These array patterns sealed the sword and prevented its power from leaking out. However, even so, a terrifying demonic aura still emanated from the sword, making people feel awe and chills when they looked at it from afar.

Naturally, this sword is Loulan's greatest secret, and it was also Chi You's personal weapon in the past—Chi You's Sword.

Xu Qing approached, ignoring the sword's demonic nature, and began to examine it closely.

His mind was filled with images of the demonic sword from the movie.

The most terrifying aspect of this sword is not its domineering and ferocious appearance, but its deep-rooted bloodlust and powerful demonic nature.

It can devour the essence of living beings and subtly influence the mind of the swordsman. No matter how strong-willed a person is, once they grasp the hilt of the sword, they will eventually be corrupted by demonic nature and become a sword slave who only knows how to kill.

In the past, Chi You was a benevolent ruler of the earth, with a heart for all living beings. However, after wielding this sword, his temperament gradually became violent, eventually turning him into a cruel and inhumane ruler. He then launched the Battle of Zhuolu, causing immense suffering to the people.

Chi You's transformation was inextricably linked to this sword, which induced him to become extremely tyrannical and then devour the essence and blood of countless living beings.

This sword is an absolute demonic sword; its ferocious aura is entirely composed of the souls of the dead.

As someone well-versed in the art of sword forging, Xu Qing judged this sword by the system's classification of sword grades and immediately reached a conclusion in his mind.

This Chiyou sword is undoubtedly a fifth-tier divine weapon.

It was also the highest-level sword he had ever seen.

Whether the so-called "Xuanyuan Sword" exists in this world is hard to say for now, but the Chiyou Sword is indeed right before our eyes.

His gaze swept over the array patterns around the stone platform, and he understood that these must be seals left by the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden.

When Chi You was defeated, this sword was sealed here. Over the long years, it was this seal that gradually eroded the demonic nature of Chi You's sword, firmly restraining its violent power.

Otherwise, the Loulan people alone would not have been able to suppress this demonic sword, and would probably have been devoured by it, turning the entire Loulan into scorched earth.

Xu Qing focused his mind slightly, releasing a trace of his senses to carefully probe the aura of the Chi You Sword.

Sure enough, just as he had sensed, the sword's demonic nature was still fierce, and the chilling aura it exuded was unsettling, but it was far less terrifying than he had imagined, and certainly not to the point of being out of control.

He couldn't help but recall the plot of the movie, where Wei Zhuang once wielded this sword. Although he was once corrupted by demonic energy, he eventually broke free from the sword's control. Even when he was defeated later, it was not because of the demonic sword's backlash.

It is likely that the seal of the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden, after thousands of years of wear and tear, has long suppressed the power of the demonic sword to its limit, preventing it from wantonly devouring minds and slaughtering living beings as it once did.

"In that case, it's easier to handle than I thought!"

Xu Qing murmured to herself as she slowly walked forward.

Regardless, this is a fifth-tier sword. Even if it is essentially a demonic sword, Xu Qing doesn't want to miss it now that he has seen it.

If one could understand the secrets of this sword, perhaps one could truly reach the level of a fifth-tier swordsmith.

Although Xu Qing felt he had reached the peak of the fourth rank several years ago and could attempt to forge a fifth-rank sword, he had to find the right time, place, and people. Before these conditions were met, Xu Qing never attempted to forge a sword.

Approaching the Chi You Sword, Xu Qing did not attempt to unseal it.

Even as the sword sensed the approach of the living and continuously released its demonic energy, attempting to manipulate Xu Qing's mind and influence him, Xu Qing remained calm and unaffected by the sword.

"I won't let you out knowing you have a problem!"