Chapter 252 Merit Soars, First Glimpse of Sword Intent
Inside the small courtyard.
Wei Shaoxuan raised his hand, habitually touched his chin, and finished speaking with a smile.
Everyone was overjoyed and nodded in agreement.
"Thank you for your kindness, Sixth Young Master!"
Ouyang Rong walked away without looking back, preparing to open the sword box.
At this moment, Boss Li, like a lackey, leaned close to his ear:
"Sixth Young Master, what do you think? After viewing the sword, should we go down the mountain to find Mr. Qiu? This mountain is dangerous; Xie Lingjiang and that unknown Yue woman could come knocking at any time..."
Ouyang Rong stroked his chin, glanced sideways at the unfamiliar Persian merchant in front of him, and said leisurely:
"You're going to teach me how to do things?"
"This servant wouldn't dare!"
Mr. Li was so frightened that he lowered his head. After a while, he cautiously looked up and found that the Sixth Prince's face had turned cold. He looked down at him, which frightened the Persian merchant so much that he quickly knelt down on one knee.
"Ugh, what a disappointment."
Ouyang Rong casually pointed ahead:
"You, you, and all of you, get down the mountain first. Wait for us at the usual place. With so many of you following us, it's no wonder the Xie family woman will find out. You're like a burden."
"Liu Fu, stay here and wait for your godfather at the temple with me."
Ouyang Rong slightly bent two fingers and tapped the "Wei" character plaque at his waist, saying with a confident air:
"We've already received word from my godfather that he'll be here soon."
Boss Li was taken aback. He exchanged glances with the other dozen or so black-clad swordsmen who had also been pointed at, and couldn't help but look bitter. He hung his head dejectedly and said:
"I misspoke, please forgive me, Sixth Young Master... Sixth Young Master, what do you mean by 'the old place'..."
Ouyang Rong had no idea about any old place, but at this moment, in the courtyard, all he needed to do was put his hands behind his back and glance at the obsequious Persian merchant.
Sure enough, with a "smack," Boss Li slapped himself across the face and said with a fawning smile:
"It was a foolish question from this servant. Where else could it be but that house on Deer Cry Street..."
Ouyang Rong nodded calmly, while Li Guo'er, who was beside him, seemed unable to bear watching such foolish people and things, and turned her gaze away.
Although he didn't know the purpose of the Sixth Young Master's arrangement, Boss Li hurriedly led the dozen or so black-clad swordsmen to retreat. Before leaving, he vaguely heard the Sixth Young Master, who had been calm and collected, suddenly turn his head and say something that seemed to be addressed to Liu Fu from the back courtyard:
"I just received news that there is another place nearby that seems to have the same sword technique. We'll discuss it when my godfather arrives..."
"Where is the Sixth Young Master referring to?"
Ouyang Rong glanced at the departing figures of Boss Li and the others outside the courtyard and casually said, "Yunmeng."
Liu Fu couldn't help but glance south towards Di Gong Gate, his face suddenly showing realization: "So that's how it is."
Li Guo'er glanced sideways at the person who was calmly making things up.
While listening quietly, she forgot that her wrist was still being held by him. Instead, she pondered the deeper meaning behind Ouyang Lianghan's decision not to take everything down but to say these extra lies.
"Seeing is not necessarily believing." So let alone "hearing".
Li Guo'er suddenly remembered what he had just said.
Only the three of them remained in the courtyard. As expected, Li Guo'er saw Ouyang Lianghan walk over, pretend to open the sword box, turn around with a smile, and invite him to "examine the sword."
Even though it wasn't the first time she had seen it, seeing the "arc" suddenly appear above the courtyard again, Li Guo'er looked up, her pink lips still slightly parted under the thin veil.
Before the Qian and Zhou dynasties, only emperors, royalty, or prominent figures from both secluded and open sects could possess the Ding Sword.
Until the era of the Mad Emperor's frenzied plundering of swords and sword techniques, the struggle for power between the Northern and Southern Dynasties ended, and the unification of the country came. Many swords were lost, and now only a handful are still known to the world and have a definite ownership, and they all belong to top powers.
"Sixth Young Master, is this the New Cauldron Sword?" Liu Fu asked excitedly.
"How about it?"
Ouyang Rong squinted, watching it against the sunlight alongside the lame old man with seventh-grade cultivation beside him. The vortex of energy in his dantian began to disappear one by one, but he asked softly:
"Is its appearance a bit surprising?"
"This old servant is somewhat surprised." Liu Fu clicked his tongue in amazement. "I never expected to be able to witness a newly born cauldron sword up close in my old age. This is a mythical object that is extremely rare in the world."
"Then stand closer and take a look?"
"Thank you, Sixth Young Master."
"You're welcome," Ouyang Rong said with a smile.
"Sixth Young Master." Liu Fu reluctantly withdrew his gaze and asked curiously:
"This old servant has heard that every Dingjian sword has a unique Dingjian technique, which the swordsman must master. Each time the swordsman advances to the next rank, he can master one of these techniques."
"Legend has it that some of the unique skills of the Dingjian Sword are area-of-effect attacks, while others are unparalleled single-target attacks."
"I wonder what the unique sword technique of this new Ding Sword is. Right now, with the Ding Sword newly born, only the Sixth Young Master should know about it."
"Actually, I don't know either," Ouyang Rong said honestly. "However, I do know about the 'Humble Scholar's' unique sword technique."
"A humble scholar? Is that the sword technique that the Sixth Young Master practices?"
“That’s right.” Ouyang Rong turned his head, looked at the lonely old man in front of him, and said softly:
"The swordsmanship of the poor scholar is just like its name, just like a poor scholar who starts from humble beginnings, first hides and then reveals himself, and finally meets a great wind, soars up and transforms into a Kunpeng."
"By this time, the poor scholar is no longer a poor scholar, but he is still a poor scholar. This is because at this time, although the emperor's anger can cause millions of corpses to float and blood to flow for thousands of miles, the anger of a poor scholar can cause blood to flow for five steps and the world to be draped in mourning."
"This is the kind of person who can either slay emperors or escape the mortal world to become a poor scholar."
Liu Fu seemed to understand, but nodded in amazement: "Then how exactly does it 'cut upwards'?"
Ouyang Rong nodded: "It's very simple. First, lay out your sword, as if climbing a high place. As your momentum gradually rises to the top, within 'five steps,' even kings and generals will bleed and lose their heads."
"A sword? How do you set up a sword?"
“Look, like this.” Ouyang Rong gestured with his chin, pointing to an “arc” that was quietly floating above their heads.
Liu Fu looked up, frowned, and asked, "What do you mean... uh."
Three feet above his head, a cold, menacing sword seemed to be staring at him with a cold gaze.
The lame old man suddenly stopped speaking.
He turned his head stiffly.
Ouyang Rong turned his head to look at him.
A brief, deathly silence fell over the courtyard.
Liu Fu's aura was completely locked by the cauldron sword, and he was filled with grief and rage: "Sixth Young Master, why!?"
Unfortunately, no one answered him before the body was separated from its head.
Ouyang Rong removed his mask and slowly uttered, "Let's go back."
The lame old man's leaping body disintegrated in mid-air, at the same height as the eaves, falling back to the ground piece by piece.
Liu Fu didn't even have time to snap the neck of the "Sixth Young Master" next to him. He hurriedly jumped up and was shattered into pieces in mid-air, with clear blue light radiating from his body.
A clear blue arc returned to Ouyang Rong's side, unstained by any blood.
He sidestepped the falling pieces of the young man, tucked the mask into his robes, and nodded toward the old man's head, which lay on the ground, its eyes wide with unseeing rage and disbelief.
"See that? This is the anger of a poor scholar."
Ouyang Rong turned his head again and calmly asked, "How many breaths?"
Li Guo'er lowered her head, gently twisted her fair wrist beneath her sleeve, and answered precisely, "Fifteen breaths."
Ouyang Rong nodded slightly.
From tricking Liu Fu into observing the sword within 'five steps' to the completion of the sword-making process and the complete locking of Liu Fu's aura... it took a total of fifteen breaths.
This is the time it took him, still at the ninth rank, to kill a severely injured seventh-rank Qi cultivator with a severed arm by using his full power of "Return to the Past." It was quite normal.
Ouyang Rong did not yet know how long it would take to "draw his sword" against enemies of even higher rank.
The type of enemy, the surrounding environment, and one's personal condition all have a significant impact.
You need real-world experience to learn.
However, his current ninth-grade dantian, filled with spiritual energy, does not yet support a prolonged "sword placement" lasting more than fifteen breaths.
Ouyang Rong didn't know the specific effects of the "Transcendent Golden Pill" that Xie Lingjiang had given him last time, but he vaguely felt that the capacity of his dantian wasn't outstanding, and the effect of that "Transcendent Golden Pill" didn't seem so outrageous, as if it had been discounted...
Before unleashing "Return to the Homeland," each breath required to draw upon the sword consumes a large amount of spiritual energy. The further one progresses, the more spiritual energy is drawn away; it is not a simple, uniform accumulation.
Take the killing of Liu Fu as an example; this was Ouyang Rong's third real battle.
After the two Qi-replenishing pills I swallowed earlier filled my body with spiritual energy, there was still about one pill's worth of medicinal effect remaining.
His full dantian spiritual energy, which could only support the cloth sword for ten breaths, should be able to barely kill an eighth-grade Qi cultivator.
The key is that the extra five breaths were sustained by a Qi-replenishing pill that had not yet been digested: while digesting the pill and rapidly releasing spiritual energy, setting up the sword also consumed spiritual energy frantically. In these five breaths, the spiritual energy was consumed faster than in the previous ten breaths.
Finally, Ouyang Rong felt that his income was insufficient to cover his expenses. Originally, he could have finished setting up the sword in twelve or thirteen breaths, but he had to wait for the spiritual energy of the Qi-replenishing pill to be released, which dragged on for fifteen breaths.
Therefore, there is a discount to the "fifteen breaths" because if the dantian has enough capacity and the spiritual energy is abundant, the sword can be laid out faster.
In short, as expected of the swordsman of the mythical lineage, he is good in every way, except that activating the cauldron sword consumes too much spiritual energy!
Someone ignored their own incompetence and dumped all the necessary "reflection" on Dingjian and Juemai.
Fortunately, just in case, I tricked the Persian merchants and their group away; otherwise, I would have had to spare some energy to kill them, and I definitely wouldn't have enough spiritual energy.
Ouyang Rong let out a long breath.
He turned around and, together with Li Guo'er, cleaned the yard for a while.
Right now, his dantian is empty of spiritual energy again. After using up the two qi-replenishing pills he swallowed, his injuries have healed by about 50-60%, and he can move around without any problems. The remaining hidden injuries will probably require a slow and careful recuperation.
Ouyang Rong rubbed his face, secretly assessing his current condition.
He touched the small porcelain bottle in his pocket, where there was still one Qi-replenishing pill left. He planned to save it for a critical moment, since this item was rare and even his junior sister didn't have one, although she had good talent and abundant spiritual energy.
Boom!
Just then, a loud noise suddenly came from the southern horizon, like the roar of an angry tiger.
Ouyang Rong and Li Guo'er both looked south.
Upstream from Butterfly Creek, amidst the mountains, the original blue smoke signals had been replaced by pitch-black smoke signals!
The Di Gong Gate has collapsed!
Ouyang Rong and Li Guo'er exchanged a glance, then rushed to a lawn outside the courtyard with a good view and opened their eyes to look out.
"Oh no!"
Looking up from above, one can see with the naked eye, amidst the lush green mountains to the south, a thick "waterline," resembling a python, twists and turns through valleys and roads, followed by a roaring, slow-moving sound.
The floodwaters caused by the birth of the Dingjian sword eventually crossed the Digong Sluice Gate and rushed down from the Yue Nu Gorge upstream, crashing down towards Longcheng County downstream with the force of Mount Tai.
Just as the people who had abandoned their homes and sought refuge in the mountains were filled with despair, this torrent of "giant pythons," which was beyond human control, suddenly encountered a strange fork in the road as it approached Longcheng County.
It is the Broken Wing Canal.
As soon as the overwhelming torrent left the valley, it was quickly diverted by the new canal.
Aside from the initial surge being too strong, the subsequent flow of water was much calmer, filling the new channel but not overflowing much.
The Zheyi Canal is frantically discharging floodwater!
The original Butterfly Creek channel, together with the newly built straight, zigzag canal, is working together to quickly divert the devastating floodwaters from upstream.
In Longcheng County, located between the two rivers, most of the buildings were surprisingly unharmed, except for the docks and other places that were destroyed due to the surging river.
The great flood, like a tamed wild beast, became docile and obedient in the eyes of the people.
Ouyang Rong, who had created all of this, stared in a daze.
The people of Longcheng, perched atop Dagushan Mountain, could also see the scene below clearly.
None of the people who had taken refuge on the mountain expected that the newly built Zheyi Canal by a young county magistrate would have such a miraculous effect in preventing natural disasters!
In an instant, cheers and jubilation erupted from the entire mountain, overwhelming and reaching Ouyang Rong's ears, even surpassing the howling mountain winds.
Li Guo'er also turned her head, looking at him with a somewhat complicated expression.
However, at this moment, Ouyang Rong heard an even louder sound.
It was the crisp sound of a wooden fish drum, rising continuously.
Ouyang Rong gazed at the scene below where the broken-winged canal had been transformed from decay into something miraculous, and suddenly felt a surge of emotion:
"Myths are born from dust..."
He suddenly remembered a sentence the old craftsman had said before he threw the sword into the furnace, a sentence that was left behind along with the real name of the craftsman for the new sword.
The scene before him today plunged Ouyang Rong into deep thought, prompting him to murmur to himself, "What exactly is the true myth?"
While the Ding Sword is indeed a mythical object, isn't the Zheyi Canal, built by the united efforts of the people of Longcheng, another kind of "myth"? It can easily resolve the floods caused by the mythical Ding Sword.
The Broken Wing Canal was built bit by bit by a group of ordinary people!
It shares a similar principle with the old swordsmith who drew inspiration from a humble female craftswoman to forge an "ordinary" masterpiece!
These days, not only is the old swordsmith forging a "myth," but Ouyang Lianghan and the people of Longcheng are also forging a "myth."
Ouyang Rong closed his eyes. Inside the Merit Tower, the cyan-gold merit points surged by hundreds every breath, even causing the Blessing Bell to be enveloped in dense purple energy. It was difficult for him to digest this surging merit, which also caused his eyes outside to turn slightly purple.
Just then, a clear blue light flashed before his eyes. Upon closer inspection, he saw that "Craftsmanship" had suddenly approached him, seemingly attracted by the purple light in his eyes, circling around him and clinging to him.
Ouyang Rong was taken aback.
At this moment, he had never felt so close to "craftsmanship," as if he had become one with the sword, and a certain bond between them was growing stronger.
A glimpse into the meaning of "craftsmanship".
Ouyang Rong, struck by a sudden inspiration, blurted out:
"You not only absorb spiritual energy, but you also like my merit purple mist... and my righteous aura?" he changed his question.
In front of him, an "arc" seemed to flash in response.
"You little glutton, you've been eyeing this for a while, haven't you?" he muttered.
Ouyang Rong, who was originally worried about the lack of spiritual energy and his inability to fully utilize the cauldron sword, suddenly had a bold idea pop into his mind...
(End of this chapter)
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