Sword drawn from the constellations, poison as its edge.

Chapter 56 The Divine Sword Hangs on the West Peak of Sword Lake

This was probably the first time in Duan Yu's life that he had actively schemed against someone, especially his beloved elder brother. He felt a mix of guilt, fear, and a rebellious thrill of a good kid going astray.

He forcibly suppressed his complex emotions, trying to sound like a strategist offering advice: "Big brother, even if you bite off his flesh, you'll lose your own life. How will you protect your junior sister then? In my humble opinion, there is only one path: 'As heaven maintains vigor through movement, a gentleman should constantly strive for self-improvement!'"

Jiang Mingzhe blinked, feigning ignorance, and said, "My martial arts training also involves getting up before dawn and going to bed late at night, practicing in the coldest days of winter and the hottest days of summer. Isn't that considered self-improvement?"

Duan Yu shuddered upon hearing this, thinking to himself, "Practicing martial arts is so arduous, what are these people after? Fine, if my elder brother can endure hardship, he might as well endure my hardship too."

Hardening his heart, he tempted her, "Although I don't know martial arts, I know there are countless martial arts techniques in the world. I imagine the difference between practicing the powerful ones and the less powerful ones is huge. Brother, you are so smart and self-reliant. If you practice the powerful techniques of the Free and Unfettered Sect, wouldn't you be able to advance a thousand miles in a day and ten thousand miles in three days? When that time comes, you will defeat that villain and naturally protect your junior sister without any worries!"

Jiang Mingzhe frowned, then nodded almost subconsciously: "Indeed, divine skills are different from ordinary martial arts, but..."

Duan Yu seemed to guess what he was going to say and immediately interrupted, "So what if you didn't kowtow to the Fairy Sister? The Fairy Sister's jade statue is right there... Hmm, no good..."

He suddenly felt jealous when he thought about Jiang Mingzhe kowtowing to the jade statue, as if this kowtow would mean that he and the fairy sister would never be as close as before.

A wave of bitterness and sadness washed over her, yet she refused to admit that she was jealous of her older brother. She tried to deceive herself by thinking: Although I am not worthy of the fairy sister, my older brother has called her sister-in-law several times. How can an elder brother kowtow to his younger brother's wife? Wouldn't that be the same as my older brother kowtowing to me, which would be a violation of etiquette and morality...? Huh?

He suddenly had another idea and was overjoyed, dancing with excitement: "I've got it, big brother! I kowtowed to the fairy sister, and she passed on her martial arts to me, so they're mine now. How about this, you kowtow to me, but not a thousand times, just eight times, and I'll pass on my martial arts to you!"

"Ok?"

Jiang Mingzhe glanced at Duan Yu with a half-smile: "I treat you as a good brother, and you actually want to be my teacher?"

Duan Yu laughed and said, "Of course not. You kowtow to me eight times, and I'll kowtow to you eight times in return. The Fairy Sister didn't say that if you pass on martial arts skills to someone, you can't kowtow to them, right? We brothers are kindred spirits and hit it off immediately. We'll each kowtow to the other eight times and become sworn brothers. We don't ask to be born on the same day, month, and year, but we ask to die on the same day, month, and year! I just wonder if my elder brother might find me pleasing?"

"Huh?" Jiang Mingzhe blinked and said happily, "That's great! My parents only had me, and I've always wanted a younger brother since I was little. Good brother, you'll be my real brother from now on!"

Duan Yu was also delighted and grabbed Jiang Mingzhe's arm, saying, "What a coincidence! I feel the same way. When I was little, people bullied me, and I often thought how wonderful it would be to have an older brother, big brother!"

Jiang Mingzhe nodded vigorously: "Brother!"

Duan Yu excitedly pulled him along, saying, "Come on, brother, I know a beautiful place. Let's go there and become sworn brothers, letting the heavens and the mountains and lakes witness our brotherhood!"

The two quickly passed through the bedroom and the stone chamber where the statue was located, returning to the passageway with the steps they had come from. They headed straight to the other end of the passageway, which was made up of wide steps. After climbing more than ten steps, they entered a circular stone chamber.

The stone chamber was quite large, with a stone table and benches in the center. A bronze mirror stood on the table, and combs and hairpins were scattered around it. A crystal the size of a washbasin was embedded in the west wall, and the view outside was still of the lake bottom. Thirty or forty bronze mirrors were hung at varying heights on the other walls.

Jiang Mingzhe was taken aback. He thought to himself that no matter how much Li Qiushui loved beauty, she wouldn't hang so many mirrors. There must be a reason behind it!
But Duan Yu pulled him along quickly, and he couldn't see anything for a moment. He followed Duan Yu into a small room with a pungent musty smell, and his vision suddenly went dark. He felt as if he had passed through a door and was walking upwards.

Fortunately, although the road was dark, the ground was extremely flat. After walking for a while, the light ahead became faint, and we realized that we were in a tunnel-like cave.

The cave got lower and lower as he went forward, so Jiang Mingzhe had to bend over and lower his head. Before long, he reached the cave entrance, about three feet above the entrance, where a large rock had been pushed aside.

Duan Yu released Jiang Mingzhe and walked out first, followed by Jiang Mingzhe. All around were steep cliffs and peaks, but in front of them was a huge lake with exceptionally clear water. A waterfall cascaded down the opposite mountain peak, resembling a jade dragon dancing.

Duan Yu laughed and said, "I'm thirsty! Brother, would you like some?"

He stepped forward, scooped up some water, and drank deeply. Jiang Mingzhe also took a few sips, finding it sweet and refreshing, and exclaimed, "Good water! Brother, this place is surrounded by cliffs on all sides, and you don't know martial arts. How did you manage to get down here?" Duan Yu said solemnly, "This is a long story, brother, please let me explain in detail—"

“Speaking of my family, we do have a martial arts lineage, but I have never liked to learn it since I was a child. In the early years, my family was able to tolerate it, but now that I am older, my father and uncle have become anxious and have tried every means to force me to learn martial arts. I was impatient and secretly went out to play. On the way, I met an old man named Ma. He was invited by a sect on Wuliang Mountain to be a witness for the martial arts competition between their East and West sects. I had long heard that Wuliang Mountain had a wonderful atmosphere, so I asked him to bring me along.”

"That sect is called Wuliang Sword. Yesterday morning, the two sects had a martial arts competition. Because I laughed out loud, they made things difficult for me and even slapped me twice."

As he spoke, he tilted his head back for Jiang Mingzhe to see, and sure enough, there was still some redness and swelling.

Jiang Mingzhe narrowed his eyes and said, "Martial arts practitioners should never bully the weak. You don't know martial arts and you're a guest, yet they insulted you like this. It's extremely rude. If I don't slap them back two hundred times, I'm not worthy to be your elder brother."

Duan Yu was deeply moved and waved his hand, laughing, "Brother, you don't need to hit him. Firstly, although I was a little angry at the time, I later thought that it was a bit wrong of me to laugh while others were fighting, so I'm not angry anymore. Since I'm not angry, the grudge is gone. Besides, even if I were angry, you couldn't hit him. Brother, can you guess why?"

Jiang Mingzhe thought to himself, what else could this be? Most likely, the person who hit you died, so naturally I couldn't kill him.

He didn't say it aloud, but pretended to think for a moment and then hesitated, saying, "Could it be that this person is highly skilled in martial arts, and you are certain that I am no match for him?"

Seeing that he hadn't guessed correctly, Duan Yu was indeed happy and shook his head, saying, "No, no, my brother has learned the martial arts of the Free and Unfettered Sect, so he must be much more powerful than him. It's just that the man is already dead. It turns out that during the martial arts competition between the two sects, the Shennong Gang attacked. This Shennong Gang is formidable; everyone in them knows poison. In the ensuing melee, the Wuliang Sword Sect suffered a crushing defeat. Seeing the dead bodies all over the ground, I was terrified and ran away. But a guy from the Shennong Gang mistook me for someone from the Wuliang Sword Sect and chased me all the way here..."

Duan Yu pointed to a certain spot: "I was so panicked that I fell down from there. Fortunately, I was saved by a five-year-old pine tree and didn't die. I slowly climbed down to the bottom of the cliff."

Jiang Mingzhe laughed and said, "Good brother, when I first met you, I said that you had survived a great calamity and would surely have good fortune in the future. I didn't expect it to be so true. If you hadn't come here, you would never have met your fairy sister."

Duan Yu blushed, nodded, and then said, "Brother, do you know why the Shennong Gang came to fight Wuliang Sword? From their answers, I learned that it was actually for this item!"

He pointed to the waterfall, and Jiang Mingzhe looked in the direction he was pointing. He saw a smooth stone wall beside the waterfall, like a clear mirror. He knew that this must be the Wuliang Jade Wall, and asked in surprise, "A stone?"

Duan Yu hurriedly said, "Brother, don't underestimate this stone. It is said that the patriarch of the Boundless Sword Sect once saw an immortal dancing with a sword in this stone. His swordsmanship was extremely superb. Therefore, the East and West Sects held a competition every five years to seize the opportunity to cultivate in the Sword Lake Palace so as to observe the immortal's swordsmanship. By the way, this lake is the Sword Lake."

Jiang Mingzhe stared at the large rock for a moment, then shook his head and laughed, "It's probably just hearsay. If we could really learn the Immortal Sword Technique, would we have been attacked by the mere Shennong Gang?"

Duan Yu laughed loudly, "Brother, you are indeed a master with profound insights! It was only after falling into this canyon that I realized this matter is not entirely the fault of the patriarch of the Boundless Sword. Brother, look over here!"

He pulled Jiang Mingzhe around, and Jiang Mingzhe then noticed that next to the cave they had crawled out of, there was another perfectly smooth stone wall, only much smaller than the one on the waterfall. Standing in front of it, one's shadow was faintly visible.
There were many broken vines around, which must have been hidden by the vines before Duan Yu accidentally discovered them, tore the vines, and revealed this stone wall.

Jiang Mingzhe looked at the small mirror and then at the large one, and slowly said, "Could it be that my sister-in-law's parents practiced martial arts here many years ago? The moonlight shone obliquely, projecting the image of the person in this small mirror onto the large mirror, so that the people on the peak thought it was a god dancing with a sword?"

Duan Yu clapped his hands happily and said, "Brother is really smart. He figured it out in no time, unlike me. If the moonlight hadn't just happened to reflect my shadow, I would never have been able to figure it out."

Then he revealed a mysterious smile: "But brother, this spectacle of reflections under the moon in the mirrors is nothing special. I have an extraordinary discovery to tell you!"

He pointed west and whispered, "There's a peerless sword hidden on that cliff over there! I'm not interested in weapons and wouldn't bother with it anyway, but since you're a martial artist, wouldn't it be like adding wings to a tiger if you got that divine sword?"

What? Could it be that besides the Northern Darkness Divine Art and the Lingbo Steps, there is actually a divine sword here?
Jiang Mingzhe was stunned. He tried hard to recall the details in the book, but he couldn't remember them at all.

　I highly recommend a masterpiece by the author Zhe Dong Pi Fu – "Starting from Crushing Dunkirk"! Zhe Dong Pi Fu and I are the same operations officer, and although we've never met in person, we've been friends for a long time. This book is truly excellent.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)