Chapter 27: The Ten Famous Swords of the World
Yang Jueding, frightened by Xu Ning, began to quarrel with Cheng Canghai.
At first, Cheng Canghai was also afraid, but as they argued, he became agitated and tried to get up and fight.
Yet, when Xu Ning glared at him, he trembled and knelt back down.
“Enough. Beating him to death now won’t help. Think about how to make amends instead.”
Li Qingqiu spoke calmly.
Although stealing was despicable, what Cheng Canghai had taken wasn’t something of great value — the crime wasn’t worth death.
Yang Jueding glared at Cheng Canghai, then turned to Li Qingqiu and said, “This man’s name is Cheng Canghai. His lightness skill is unmatched; he’s known in the martial world as the King of Thieves. Once, he sneaked into a Prefect’s mansion and stole a treasured artifact, then sold it to a noble and used the money to help disaster victims. He’s somewhat of a chivalrous man. Moreover, he’s known for keeping his word — if he promises something, he fulfills it. To this day, he has never broken a promise.”
He actually admired Cheng Canghai quite a bit.
In these degenerate times, there were few martial artists who still upheld the spirit of chivalry.
Li Qingqiu looked at Cheng Canghai and asked, “Why did you come to the Clear Sky Sect?”
Cheng Canghai replied, “I was being hunted by the authorities. The newly appointed Magistrate of Blackstone County is skilled in martial arts and compassionate toward the people, but he set his sights on me and refused to let me go. I was chased all the way to the Ancient Great Mountain Range. Starving and desperate, I had no choice but to commit a petty act to survive.”
“That doesn’t make sense.
The world is vast — why did you have to come here specifically?” Li Qingqiu’s gaze turned sharp, his tone tinged with displeasure.
Cheng Canghai’s face changed slightly, and he gritted his teeth.
“To tell you the truth, next Spring Festival, the Crown Prince will come to the Ancient Great Mountain Range to hunt.
I came early to prepare — to steal the Peace Sword from his waist.”
Yang Jueding’s eyes widened.
He cursed, “You’re out of your mind! Doing that will cause the court to send heavy troops to search the Ancient Great Mountains! Our Clear Sky Sect will be dragged into the chaos!”
The surrounding disciples also looked at Cheng Canghai differently now.
They hadn’t expected him to be so bold.
Zhang Yu couldn’t help but speak, “The Peace Sword — that’s the very sword bestowed upon the late Emperor by a grandmaster when he unified the realm! It ranks second among the Ten Famous Swords of the World! If you steal that, the entire world will be thrown into chaos!”
Cheng Canghai smirked proudly.
“Exactly. If I succeed, the name of the King of Thieves will reach new heights. I intend to slap the face of the royal family — they boast of a peaceful and prosperous era, yet they never look down to see how the common people actually live. As for implicating the Clear Sky Sect — I thought the sect would’ve disbanded after Lin Xunfeng’s retirement. I only came here today looking for shelter… who knew you’d be roasting chicken…”
“It smelled so good — I couldn’t help myself!”
By the end, he couldn’t stop himself from swallowing hard.
After the beating he’d received, he was even hungrier.
Li Qingqiu turned to Yang Jueding and asked, “You said his lightness skill is unmatched?”
Yang Jueding restrained his anger and nodded.
“In all of Guzhou’s martial world, his lightness skill ranks among the top.”
Then suddenly, he realized — how had Xu Ning caught Cheng Canghai?
He couldn’t help but glance at Xu Ning.
Cheng Canghai noticed the look and hurriedly said, “If I hadn’t been starving, how could she have caught me? Of course… her lightness skill is also quite formidable…”
Xu Ning, already at the Second Layer of the Nourishing Vital Energy Realm, had long begun cultivating the Wind Sprint Technique.
She was already adept at moving swiftly through the forests.
“In that case,” Li Qingqiu said sternly, “you’ll stay in the Clear Sky Sect for one year to teach my disciples your lightness skill — that will be your atonement. During this time, we won’t let you starve. But if you refuse, I’ll hand you over to Blackstone County.”
Cheng Canghai’s face shifted.
“Could you make it shorter? I have plans I can’t delay.”
“So many people have heard about your ‘plans’. Do you really think you can still pull them off? Stop wasting time. Yes or no?”
Li Qingqiu was getting impatient — he was waiting to eat.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Cheng Canghai hesitated, then finally nodded in agreement.
“Good. Let’s eat!”
Li Qingqiu clapped his hands and walked toward the long table.
The disciples dispersed quickly to prepare for the meal, leaving Cheng Canghai kneeling alone.
He was dazed — he hadn’t expected the Clear Sky Sect to be so straightforward, nor Li Qingqiu to trust him so easily.
He quickly got up and walked over to Yang Jueding.
He was truly curious about this Clear Sky Sect — it was nothing like the rumors he had heard.
When dinner was served, Cheng Canghai shamelessly squeezed in next to Yang Jueding to join the meal.
“Since we’ve got nothing better to do, how about the King of Thieves tells us his story? Let everyone get to know him better.”
Zhang Yu spoke up with a smile, breaking the tense mood.
All eyes turned to Cheng Canghai.
Cheng Canghai looked at Li Qingqiu.
Seeing that Li Qingqiu didn’t object, he downed his cup of wine and began his tale.
“Where should I begin… let’s start from when I began practicing martial arts. I was born in the first year of the Kai Dynasty. The times were chaotic — my family was executed by imperial order, all exterminated. My father managed to smuggle me out, but the soldiers discovered us and chased me to a cliff.
I steeled myself and jumped!”
Cheng Canghai’s tone rose and fell dramatically, immediately capturing everyone’s attention.
Even Li Qingqiu found himself intrigued.
That night’s dinner lasted for a whole hour.
For the disciples of the Clear Sky Sect, stories like this were rare, and after hearing it, they couldn’t calm down for a long time, eager for Cheng Canghai to continue another time.
Li Qingqiu didn’t care if the story was true or false — as long as the disciples enjoyed it, he had no reason to stop him.
He arranged for Cheng Canghai to share a room with Yang Jueding.
That night, faint sounds of fighting came from their room, but soon it quieted down.
The next morning, disciples noticed Cheng Canghai’s injuries had worsened.
When they asked, he only smiled and said it was nothing.
Though stealing a chicken was despicable, Cheng Canghai’s tales of chivalrous deeds quickly won over the disciples’ goodwill.
He soon became friendly with many of them — though whenever he saw Xu Ning, he made sure to walk the other way.
In the days that followed, Cheng Canghai, like Zhang Yu and Yang Jueding, grew increasingly curious about the Clear Sky Sect.
The immense strength of Wu Man’er made him feel as though he had encountered a monster.
But what truly stunned him was that Li Sifeng, not yet thirteen years old, could almost match his lightness skill.
Though he still won, the gap wasn’t large.
Could the Clear Sky Sect have so many monstrous geniuses?
No — it must be that the sect hid some unfathomable legacy!
……
Seven days later, Zhang Yuchun and Jiang Zhaoxia finally returned.
Upon hearing the news, Li Qingqiu went to the sect courtyard.
When Jiang Zhaoxia saw him, he raised three fingers with a smug grin before heading off to change into a new sect robe.
Third Layer of the Nourishing Vital Energy Realm!
That kid had caught up again.
The advantage Li Qingqiu had gained through “cheating” had vanished once more.
Li Qingqiu sighed inwardly, though he was happy — at least the Clear Sky Sect had grown stronger again.
Zhang Yuchun approached Li Qingqiu and pointed toward an old beggar nearby.
“Senior Brother, this is the expert I mentioned — his name is Wu Baoyu. Third Brother told me not to say this, but the first time he challenged Senior Wu, he lost. He secluded himself for two days, then challenged again — only then did he win.”
Li Qingqiu raised a brow.
Jiang Zhaoxia, already at the Second Layer of the Nourishing Vital Energy Realm, had actually lost?
This Wu Baoyu was no ordinary man.
Sensing the inner energy within him, Li Qingqiu thought — this was another Lü Taidou.
“You make the arrangements. After all, you were the one who brought him.” Li Qingqiu smiled softly.
Since Zhang Yuchun often went down the mountain, having such an expert with him would bring great peace of mind.
Zhang Yuchun was overjoyed and bowed deeply in gratitude.
Li Qingqiu patted his shoulder and accompanied him to meet Wu Baoyu.
Unfortunately, Wu Baoyu was aloof and indifferent toward Li Qingqiu.
Seeing this, Li Qingqiu didn’t try to force friendliness.
After exchanging a few awkward words, he excused himself.
He still had to return to cultivate the Rejuvenation Ghost Immortal Needle.
……
Summer passed and autumn came.
The mountains around the Clear Sky Sect were now cloaked in autumn hues.
Below the mountain gate lay a newly built courtyard at the end of a ten-zhang-long stone staircase — five houses surrounding a simple martial arena, where disciples often sparred.
It had been a month since Wu Baoyu joined the Clear Sky Sect, and four new disciples had also been recruited by Zhang Yuchun from the foot of the mountain.
That afternoon, Li Qingqiu sat by the mountain gate, playing with the small dagger gifted to him last year by Jiang Kuotian.
Yang Jueding sat down beside him, gazing toward the courtyard below, where Wu Baoyu was watching two disciples spar.
After donning the Clear Sky Sect robe, Wu Baoyu looked every bit a martial arts grandmaster.
Though thin and slightly hunched, simply standing there with his hands behind his back gave him an air of extraordinary presence.
He was fifty years old, his hair already white, yet his sharp eyes still radiated an oppressive intensity.
“This Senior Wu Baoyu is no ordinary man,” Yang Jueding said quietly.
“He might be an apex expert. Even though I’ve cultivated the Primordial Unity Scripture and reached the First Layer of the Nourishing Vital Energy Realm, I still wouldn’t be confident in defeating him.”
Each time he met Wu Baoyu’s gaze, his whole body felt uneasy, so he tried to avoid him when possible.
Wu Baoyu rarely spoke, but when he did instruct the younger disciples, even a few words could enlighten them.
As a result, his reputation among them was sky-high.
Li Qingqiu looked over and smiled.
“He’s indeed remarkable. But that’s a good thing, isn’t it? Tell me — how many in the Azure Sect could match him?”
“For the Azure Sect to have such power, there must be top experts among them — most likely their Sect Leader. Still, you should stay cautious of Wu Baoyu. I can’t shake the feeling that he’s suspicious. Waiting in the mountains for challengers — that story doesn’t sit right with me. I suspect he came for the Clear Sky Sect. Maybe not for your Master, but for your Grandmaster.”
Yang Jueding spoke gravely, fearing Li Qingqiu might trust Wu Baoyu too easily.
Li Qingqiu nodded slightly.
Since Wu Baoyu joined, his loyalty had never been particularly high — though at least above sixty, so Li Qingqiu didn’t bother to interfere.
It was worth noting that Wu Baoyu had no special Fate Trait.
Though an apex martial artist, his cultivation aptitude was merely average.