Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 379 Eagle Delivers Long Sword, Central Hall
On this day, Master Xu led his men to inspect the patrol routes of the Mo Family's Mechanized City, adding some high points along the way. This allowed them to see further into the distance and observe the aerial situation to prevent anyone from invading the city from the air.

Accompanying them was another leader, Big Iron Hammer, who, upon seeing this, asked in confusion, "Master Xu, even our Mo family's Vermilion Bird mechanism cannot easily penetrate many of these additional elevated points, let alone the Gongshu family's Flying Wing mechanism..."

"That's not right. In such matters, it's better to be more cautious than to be less vigilant."

Master Xu said earnestly, "The world is vast and full of wonders, and strange people and events emerge one after another. Even if the mechanical wings of the Gongshu family are not as good as the mechanical Vermilion Bird of our Mo family, it is hard to say whether the Gongshu family will make some modifications to them."

Moreover, given Qin's current prosperity, it would be easy for it to attract extraordinary individuals to serve it. Among them might be some exceptional people skilled in taming birds.

Big Hammer was slow-witted, but he didn't argue with that.

He looked up at the sky and said, "Master Xu, according to you, that eagle in the sky has been watching us. Isn't that also a problem?"

"Ok?"

Master Xu looked up and his gaze sharpened immediately: "An eagle?"

There was indeed an eagle soaring in the sky.

To be honest, he couldn't see anything wrong with the eagle, but he knew one thing: eagles prefer open areas, such as grasslands and deserts, where they are quite common.

While eagles can sometimes be seen in environments such as high mountains, deep valleys, and dense forests, they are obviously much less common in comparison.

This is because environments such as high mountains, deep valleys, and dense forests are very unfavorable for eagles.

Prey like rabbits can be completely hidden in the woods or under the shade of trees, making them impossible for eagles to spot from the sky.

Only open environments such as grasslands and deserts are suitable for eagles to hunt.

"You mean it's an eagle that's been watching us the whole time?"

"It has been about half an hour since we came up the mountain."

"Well, better safe than sorry, let's see if we can take down this eagle!"

"it is good."

The Mohist disciples brought out bows and crossbows and fired a series of shots at the eagle.

The eagle flapped its wings and skillfully dodged all the arrows, avoiding being hit at all.

But this seemed to have angered the eagle. It cried out and flew away. Before long, it returned with a sharp sword in its hand, flew over the heads of the group, and presented the sword to them.

"Get out of the way!"

Master Xu and the others thought they had driven the eagle away, but they didn't expect the eagle to retaliate. Fortunately, Big Iron Hammer was always paying attention to his surroundings and immediately noticed something was wrong. He shouted to warn everyone.

Everyone present was skilled in martial arts, and realizing that the eagle had returned for revenge, they immediately used their lightness skills to easily dodge the sharp swords thrown by the eagle.

The longsword pierced through a tree, severing several branches in an instant, and then, with a whoosh, stuck into the ground at an angle.

With a long cry, the eagle flew away again, disappearing completely.

"That beastly bird, it's quite vengeful!"

"Big Iron Hammer," he cursed.

Master Xu, however, set his sights on the sword on the ground.

The sword was three feet and three inches long, with a light blue blade that faintly shimmered with a bluish light, while the hilt was indigo blue.

Master Xu had been forging swords for many years, so he naturally had a good understanding of the quality of swords and could be considered a semi-sword appraiser.

One look at this sword and you know it's a good sword, possibly even a famous sword from a sword manual!

But judging from the appearance alone, you can't recognize him.

Wow…

The few branches that were cut off from the tree, which had been blocked by the leaves, now fell to the ground along with gravity.

Upon closer inspection, one can see that the branches vary in thickness, with the initial section being as thick as a fist.

And this branch was cut off simply because the sword swept through it.

The sharpness of this sword is evident!
"What a sword!"

Master Xu was very surprised: "How did that eagle get its hands on such a fine sword?"

He obviously wouldn't get an answer, since he couldn't exactly go find an eagle to ask that question.

However, with such a fine sword in front of him, Master Xu obviously couldn't let it be left in the wilderness. So he simply picked it up, cut a piece of cloth from a tree branch and his clothes to make a temporary scabbard, and took it with him.

After a day's work, Master Xu and the others returned to the Mechanized City. But as they passed through the central hall of the city, Master Xu suddenly heard the sound of a sword ringing out.

The next instant, the longsword in his hand, which had already been sheathed, spontaneously emitted a sword aura, piercing through the sheath and falling to the ground.

The floor of this central hall is made of solid stone mined from the deep mountains by the disciples of the Mo family. Although it is stone, in terms of solidity, it is only slightly inferior to ordinary steel, but in terms of flexibility, it is far inferior to steel.

But as flooring, it is definitely an excellent material.

At that moment, the sword fell down on its own, but it pierced straight into the stone slab at an angle, with even a tenth of the blade disappearing directly into the stone slab.

"Ok?"

Master Xu was taken aback, but he didn't take it seriously. He thought that there was something wrong with the scabbard he had made on the spot, so he immediately turned around, grabbed the hilt, and tried to draw it out.

As a result of reaching out, an accident occurred.

The longsword, which had been so light in his hand, suddenly felt as heavy as Mount Tai.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't pull it out.

It should be noted that Master Xu's cultivation had already reached the Grandmaster level. Although his strength had declined due to his age, his physique, honed by years of blacksmithing, was by no means weak.

It's strange that even with all my strength, I can't budge this sword.

"What's wrong, Master Xu? Is the sword stuck?"

Big Hammer, of course, had no idea why, and reached out his hand, saying, "I'll do it."

Master Xu looked puzzled and stepped aside.

The sledgehammer didn't seem to care, and casually reached out and pulled...

Ok?
Good weight!

The big iron hammer became a little more serious and then exerted all its strength.

However, this longsword could not be shaken in the slightest.

Big Iron Hammer was a tall, muscular man. Let alone such a small, three-foot-three-inch-long sword, even a normal adult would look rather small in front of him.

And the Great Iron Hammer lives up to its name, as it cultivates a great hammer, a solid heavy weapon.

Its power is self-evident.

But even with all his might, he couldn't budge the sword in the slightest.

Big Iron Hammer's expression changed drastically.

While the area around the central hall isn't exactly bustling with people, there are still quite a few people walking around.

Noticing their strange behavior, one of them teased, "Big Hammer, what's wrong with you? Are you going to put on a show for us?"

Upon hearing this, everyone else burst into laughter.

Big Iron Hammer was one of the leaders of the Mohist school, while the others were just ordinary Mohist disciples. Yet they could joke around freely, which shows that the Mohist school did not have particularly strict rules regarding class.

At this moment, Big Hammer was not in the mood for idle chatter. With a solemn expression, he said to Master Xu, "Master Xu, there's something wrong with this sword!"

"Of course I know there's something wrong with this sword!"

Master Xu also had a solemn expression.

The fact that an eagle inexplicably delivered this sword to them was truly bizarre.

I originally thought it was just a sword that the eagle had gotten from somewhere, but now it seems that it may not be so.

At this juncture, the occurrence of such a strange event instinctively led the two to think of the Qin state. However, upon closer examination, they realized it was unlikely.

No matter what the Qin state was like, could it possibly control a sword?

This sword isn't some kind of mechanism.

Master Xu had carried this sword for almost a whole day. If he still couldn't distinguish between a mechanical sword and a real sword after such a long time, then he shouldn't be a swordsmith anymore.

This is a sword.

A pure sword.

It wasn't some kind of mechanism disguised as a sword.

But why did the sword suddenly break free of its scabbard, and why is it so firmly embedded in the floor, impossible to move?

Master Xu said, "Big Iron Hammer, try again, with all your might!"

Big Iron Hammer dared not underestimate him in the slightest. He gripped the sword hilt tightly with both hands, circulated his inner energy, and once again exerted all his strength.

Even so, the sword remained firmly embedded in the ground, completely motionless.

Such behavior naturally made others around them realize that something was amiss.

One of them asked, "Master Xu, what exactly is going on?"

Master Xu shook his head, but said nothing.

The man had no choice but to say, "Then, how about I give it a try?"

The big iron hammer voluntarily stepped aside and handed it to the man.

Although this person was only a disciple of the Mohist school, he was actually a member of the Mohist school of the Chu state before returning to the Mechanical City.

Chu Mo was a wandering knight-errant, and he was one of them. He had the cultivation of the Innate Qi Realm and was also proficient in swordsmanship.

He reached out and tried it, and was surprised to find that the sword was really as heavy as a mountain and he couldn't move it. Only then did he realize that it was no joke.

Seeing the performance of the big iron hammer, he knew that brute force was not enough, so he used skillful force.

This technique allows him to wield an ordinary longsword as lightly as a straw, yet it still cannot budge the longsword in the slightest.

"I...I can't..."

He exhausted his inner energy, and it had no effect whatsoever, so he had no choice but to retreat helplessly.

Even at this point, the others were not entirely convinced that Big Hammer and he really couldn't lift the sword, and they all stepped forward to try.

Only after experiencing it firsthand did I truly marvel at it.

"This sword, how could it be so wondrous?"

"Is it too heavy, or is there a hidden mechanism that's holding it in place?"

"Could it be that Master Xu has forged another famous sword?"

Everyone was talking about it.

Master Xu had no choice but to offer an explanation, but this explanation was worse than no explanation at all.

The reason is that the way this sword appeared was too mysterious; at first glance, it seemed like a story from a folk tale.

Most people would never believe it to be true; they would just think it's someone else making excuses.

If it weren't for Master Xu's high reputation in this mechanical city, someone would probably have already made sarcastic remarks.

Even so, not many people still believe it.

Master Xu had no time to explain, and immediately ordered someone to summon Gao Jianli and the other leaders.

The leaders studied the sword repeatedly, but they couldn't figure it out or even budge it.

“The location of this sword is really unfortunate. If it were anywhere else, it would be fine to simply seal it off, but here…” Dao Zhi frowned.

The Central Hall is called the Central Hall because it is the central area of ​​the Mo Family's Mechanical City.

This may sound like a truism, but it highlights the importance of the hall's location.

The Mechanical City is a city that the Mohists spent hundreds of years designing and building. Every mechanism in the city has its own mission.

This central hall, of course, also serves its own purpose.

It is the main thoroughfare of the entire city.

Of course, given the ingenious design of the Mechanized City, it's impossible for the city to cease functioning if this main thoroughfare is blocked.

The entire Mechanized City has no roads, which is a major drawback. As long as you are willing to take a detour, you can never gamble in the Mechanized City.

Even so, the central hall is extremely important. If it were sealed off, perhaps a third of the people in the city would have to take a long detour for their daily work.

Not to mention things like transportation.

In just this short period of time, dozens of Mohist disciples have passed through the central hall and been drawn to this event.

Keep in mind that there are only about a thousand people in the entire city!

It would be completely irrational to block off such a major transportation route just because of a potentially faulty sword.

If this were to get out, outsiders would probably laugh at the Mohist leaders for making a mountain out of a molehill.

"If we can't seal off the entire central hall, then let's seal off the area around this sword for now. This sword is indeed a bit strange; don't let anyone get close."

Gao Jianli pondered for a moment and then gave the order.

Then he looked at Master Xu and said, "This sword may be a famous sword, but it is not well-known. Master Xu can go back and check some ancient books to see if he can find out anything about this sword."

"Um……"

Master Xu nodded, a thoughtful expression on his face: "Now that I think about it, I do seem to have heard of it at some point..."

"It's the 'Seven Swords' that I told you about half a year ago!"

"Hmm? Xiao Tian?"

"Old Xu, your memory is really bad. You can't even remember something that happened half a year ago?"

Wu Liangtian smiled and said, then clasped his hands in greeting: "Greetings, leaders."

"Wu Liangtian, do you know anything about this sword?"

Gao Jianli asked.

Wu Liangtian nodded and said, "In the Ming Kingdom, east of the Nine Provinces and Four Seas, there have been several special swords like this one. Once inserted into the ground, they cannot be shaken at all, as heavy as a mountain."

"Now that you mention it, I remember it."

Master Xu said, "I thought it was just hearsay from people in the martial arts world, so I took it all as a rumor and didn't pay any attention to it. I never imagined that such a sword actually existed!!"

Gao Jianli frowned: "Explain in more detail."

Master Xu then briefly recounted what he had heard from Wu Liangtian half a year ago.

Wu Liangtian added from the side.

The matter being described is, of course, the legend of the Seven Swords.

Although this matter initially only occurred in the Ming Dynasty, as one of the Seven Swords appeared after another, the number of people paying attention to it gradually increased.

The news gradually spread from the Ming Dynasty to other countries.

This was partly fueled by the influence of Jianghu Monthly Report.

However, by the time the news reached the Qin state, it had become a complete rumor. Even though the Jianghu Monthly Report did not distort the facts in the general world, it still contained a great deal of exaggeration.

This reached Gao Jianli's ears, causing him to frown.

(End of this chapter)