Chapter 399: The Power of One Man and a Group of Women

Chapter 399: The Power of One Man and a Gathering of Women

Arriving at the inner hall, Yang Jingxiu looked at the sight of the crowd gathered together, and his face could not help but twitch slightly.

In his imagination, a reliable physician would have been selected from the auditions to secretly discuss the matter of the divine sword, with at most two or three physicians deliberating together. By no stretch of the imagination could he have foreseen that he would ultimately face this grand crowd of one, two, three, four, five people just sitting here to enjoy the gossip.

Yet Yang Jingxiu was too lazy to obsess over it, for these people were actually all individuals of consequence. For instance, the Cui family and the Wang family must have faced the same problem; it was just that everyone had kept it a deep secret and refused to mention it in the past, but now it seemed there was no longer anything to hide.

As for Tang Wanzhuang and Huangfu Qing, one being the Chief of the Demon Suppressing Bureau and the other a Noble Consort, they likely knew what the Emperor had done better than anyone, so there was nothing to conceal from them either. Reasonably speaking, they should want to stop the revival of his divine sword, but it mattered not; under the watchful eyes of the crowd, they could not openly oppose it.

On this point, Yang Jingxiu had clearly miscalculated. The two of them truly had not known beforehand, and even knowing it now, they had no intention of stopping it.

If in the past Tang Wanzhuang would still have agreed with the policy of weakening and suppressing the great families, that was then and this was now. Currently, it was a time to vie for political alignments and maintain stability amidst chaos; there was no need to say which choice to make.

Yang Jingxiu stopped being evasive and said directly, "You are all people of consequence, and I shall not speak deceptive words to you to invite ridicule. The truth is that a mishap befell the sword spirit of the Lianshan Sword. After years of pondering, we believe that the method used to treat human souls can be applied to heal a sword spirit; the principles are very likely connected. Consequently, we collected quite a few medicines for treating the soul, supplemented them with our own family's medical knowledge, and indeed caused the sword spirit to show a slight reaction, proving that this line of thought is correct."

Wang Daozhong said, "Brother Yang is indeed imaginative. This concept of using methods for treating humans to heal a sword is truly something we have never considered."

Yang Jingxiu said, "Yet the Zhenhai Sword of the Wang family still resolved its issue?"

Wang Daozhong smiled faintly and did not reply.

Yang Jingxiu did not press further and continued, "Regrettably, our medical skills are deficient. We can only cause the sword spirit to react slightly, and as for taking a step further, we are completely without a clue... If we were to start training famous doctors, it would consume too much time, uh..."

He glanced at Zhao Changhe, held it in for a long while, and still continued, "It just so happened that my birthday arrived, so I used the birthday banquet to widely invite renowned physicians to see if there might be any good strategies. Now that the two divine physicians, Cai and Lu, as well as Young Master Zhao, have all seen the problem and proposed beneficial insights, let us put everything on the table, in hopes of discussing a truly feasible plan."

Wang Daozhong signaled with his eyes to Physician Lu whom his family had brought along. Physician Lu then sneered, "What insights could Young Master Zhao possibly have? It is nothing more than learning about the condition of the sword spirit from the Cui family beforehand and relying on guesswork. If you do not believe it, have him state a few medical principles and see what sort of cleverness he can come up with."

Wang Daozhong truly did not want to let Zhao Changhe take action to treat it. This miraculous lad always accomplished things that defied understanding. It could be said that currently no one in the world overestimated Zhao Changhe more than he did. He was truly afraid that the moment Zhao Changhe took action, he would settle the matter directly, leaving absolutely no turn for his own arrangements; he had to strike first.

As long as he preemptively settled the matter, Zhao Changhe could just watch from the side.

Zhao Changhe could roughly guess Old Wang's thoughts and smiled faintly, "I originally lacked confidence and merely had some ideas... Was I not planning to sit outside and watch everyone discuss so that I could have some reference for myself? After all, for the sake of treating an illness, a multitude of counselors ensures wisdom; perhaps it would be good if I could offer some thoughts. In the end, I know not which old biddy forced me onto the stage first, yet refuses to let everyone pool their wisdom for an open discussion. I cannot tell whether you are here to treat an illness or to mess with me. Old Wang, you do not happen to like me, do you? How like a tsundere little girl trying to attract a man's attention."

Wang Daozhong: "..."

Cui Yuanyang smilingly pulled Zhao Changhe's hand, whispering in his ear, "So Brother Zhao likes people attracting attention this way? Then next time I shall..."

"You are not allowed to." Zhao Changhe pinched her cheeks and pulled them outward to both sides, "Your responsibility is just to be cute."

Cui Yuanyang was dazed for a moment, then looked at Tang Wanzhuang with a smile and remained silent.

Tang Wanzhuang sighed inwardly. This girl was unwilling to be just a lucky charm... Yet in truth, Zhao Changhe required nothing else and truly only hoped she would continue on in such a cute and lovable manner...

The thinking of the two sides was somewhat misaligned, but in fact, both were very good, both being manifestations of deeply liking the other.

While the young man and woman were flirting here with hearts full of thoughts, Yang Jingxiu was too lazy to care that much about them. Seeing that Zhao Changhe seemed to acknowledge his own insufficient skill, he said to Physician Lu, "Then would Physician Lu care to examine the sword first?"

"Whoosh!"

The simple and heavy Lianshan Sword lay across the hall. Even without a spirit, it could make people feel a suffocating pressure rushing at them.

This was a top-tier divine sword passed down from the previous era, on the same tier as the Longque or perhaps even slightly higher. To this day, Zhao Changhe felt that if he were to fight the Longque himself, he would be utterly unable to defeat it. If this kind of divine weapon were willing to recognize a master, many people could completely act as an accessory to the divine weapon, relying on the weapon's own movements to defeat the vast majority of people in the world...

Moreover, the sword spirit carried the awareness of countless sword styles and sword intents. The disappearance of the sword spirit was truly an unbearable weight for a family's heritage. To people like Cui Wenji and Yang Jingxiu, reviving the sword spirit was absolutely more important than life itself. If using their own lives could exchange for the revival of the sword spirit, they would likely not even knit their brows.

Whoever dared to stop such a thing would be an enemy of the entire clan; whoever could assist in this matter would be a heavenly favor, sufficient to influence the strategic inclination of the entire clan.

Physician Lu took a deep breath, sat cross-legged before the Lianshan Sword, and reached out to touch it lightly.

In this sort of matter, medical skill was less important than cultivation. No matter how high your medical skill was, could you give the sword acupuncture or prescribe it medicine? He had a way to stimulate the sword spirit to awaken, but his cultivation could not achieve it; he could only act as a vanguard for others. He performed the operation the Wang family was supposed to do, leaving the subsequent operations to Cai Wenque. The two sides would be split apart, and if anything happened, they could also wash their hands of it.

Physician Lu examined it with an air of pretense for a moment, then produced a lump of seven-colored sea mud.

Different from the kind of sea mud applied to Zhao Changhe earlier that slightly improved skeletal structure, the moment this lump of sea mud was taken out, even Yang Jingxiu could not help but be moved: "Mystic Light Abyssal Soil?"

"Indeed." Wang Daozhong stroked his beard and smiled, "It is precisely the Wang family's soul-nourishing treasure. My elder brother achieved much assistance from this when breaking through to the Third Secret Realm."

"I know, I know." No matter how cultured Yang Jingxiu was, his voice could not help but tremble slightly. This favor from the Wang family was grand indeed... If it was said that the swords of every family had developed problems and only the Wang family had resolved theirs, they had in all probability done so because of the assistance of this exotic object from within the seas. Having this sort of thing, coordinated with certain methods of soul treatment, indeed presented a great opportunity to resolve the issue.

Zhao Changhe watched with a cold eye as Physician Lu went through the motions of smearing the sea mud onto the sword.

The sea mud used to apply to his body previously had been detected by the Heavenly Book to contain the aura of the Sea Race, which through imperceptible influence might alter or infiltrate something... This so-called "Mystic Light Abyssal Soil" was directed straight at the soul; it was unknown whether it would lead to control.

Yet as he investigated carefully, he did not find that this Mystic Light Abyssal Soil contained that particular aura from before.

It was understandable. If there were something bizarre, it should be very difficult to hide it from Yang Jingxiu; his cultivation was nothing to scoff at.

Physician Lu smeared earnest for a while, but ultimately told Yang Jingxiu with regret, "Grand Commandant, pray forgive me. Although I possess the Wang family's divine medicine, my cultivation is insufficient, making it difficult to penetrate and guide its medicinal power... It still requires a more powerful famous doctor to combine soul-guiding techniques with the medicinal power of the Abyssal Soil; then there may be a chance..."

Cai Wenque nodded and said, "I can give it a try."

Yang Jingxiu was overjoyed: "I originally thought only Master Cai could accomplish this. Quick, pray give it a try?"

Cai Wenque sat cross-legged before the Lianshan Sword and also produced some medicinal mud from his person: "I need to combine it with my own medicine... If Master Yang feels uneasy, you may inspect it."

Yang Jingxiu investigated carefully for a moment. Cai Wenque's formulation also belonged to the nature of nourishing the soul and returning it to its source, with no problems found, so he smiled and said, "Of course Master Cai can be trusted."

Cai Wenque nodded, reaching out his hand to smear the medicinal mud toward the sword blade.

His hands were trembling slightly.

The sea mud had no issues, and the medicinal mud had no issues either, but once the two combined, there would be an issue.

That would form a type of yin energy unique to the Sea Race, which would seep into the interior of the sword body when people least noticed, affecting the sword spirit.

The sword spirit would certainly be stimulated to awaken, but whether it would still be the original sword spirit after awakening would be hard to say... It might still appear to be the Lianshan sword spirit on the surface, but in reality, it would never recognize a member of the Yang family as its master, and might instead recognize someone else...

This was, right in front of the master of the Yang family and the tenth on the Earth Ranking, openly robbing his divine sword, and he would still have to thank them.

How could it not make one's body and mind tense?

Just as the two medicines were about to come into contact, a stream of spring water interposed itself before him, nearly shearing off half his hand.

Tang Wanzhuang had observed for a long time, and having confirmed her internal judgment at this moment, she finally struck to intercept.

Wang Daozhong had been staring tensely at this group of people. The moment Tang Wanzhuang moved, he simultaneously shifted his body to block her, roaring out, "Xia Longyuan's number one hound, how could she be willing to let your and my divine swords revive? Brother Yang actually listened to the words of that little beast and let the one named Tang enter; your thinking is entirely mistaken!"

These words cut right into the worries within Yang Jingxiu's own heart and were indeed full of inflammatory power. Subconsciously, he struck out to block Tang Wanzhuang: "Chief Tang, pray calm yourself..."

Tang Wanzhuang originally had words to say, but being double-teamed by two members of the Earth Ranking while simultaneously preventing another Earth Ranking member from smearing the medicine before her, under this complete concentration, she was truly blocked to the point of being unable to utter a single word.

Yet she was entirely without fear. The Spring Water Emerald Waves filled the room with light, and she was actually fighting three Earth Ranking members alone, by sheer force making Cai Wenque, who was only a few inches away from the Lianshan Sword, feel as if he were a world apart, utterly unable to smear it further.

Right at this moment, a blood-colored blade light flared up.

A wild and peerless blood-fiend blade qi swept over the sky and covered the earth as it chopped toward Wang Daozhong: "It is time to prove the identity of your alternate persona! Take a strike from this venerable one!"

What a absolute bastard!

Wang Daozhong truly did not even want to care about Tang Wanzhuang anymore. Turning his body back with a sword strike, he stabbed directly at Zhao Changhe's chest: "Die!"

This strike truly sent out wind and thunder as the sword emerged, the void exploding with sound. It contained the years of resentment and fury of an Earth Ranking member, faster than any Thunder Sword.

Yet the aggressive Zhao Changhe did not pounce over at all. Long before he started his move, his torso drifted backward in mid-air in complete defiance of physical laws, directly making a run for it.

Wang Daozhong stabbed his sword into empty air, thinking to himself that things were going poorly.

Sure enough, with just this meager distraction, over there Cai Wenque was forced several feet away from the Lianshan Sword by Tang Wanzhuang, and even the medicinal mud in his hand was scattered onto the ground.

Tang Wanzhuang, who had been unable to speak just now, already had spare energy to speak: "Having been ill for a long time, I have become a physician myself and know its principles quite well. Grand Commandant Yang's concern has muddled his mind; have you perhaps forgotten to check what changes will occur when the two types of medicinal mud combine?"

A small figure quietly slipped to the side of the Lianshan Sword, reaching out to take the medicinal mud from the ground, and then produced a small knife, "swish swish," scraping down some of the Abyssal Soil that had been smeared onto the sword. With a "snap," she kneaded the two lumps of mud together like plasticine.

Cui Yuanyang.

Hearing Tang Wanzhuang's words, Yang Jingxiu had the spare energy to stop Cui Yuanyang's actions, yet his heart stirred slightly and he did not stop her, allowing the little girl to conduct the experiment.

As the mud was kneaded together, a sudden yin energy arose within the air, resembling a wronged soul from the deep sea, washing over everyone's heart. Everyone stiffened along with it; even Tang Wanzhuang, who was prepared beforehand, could not repress a cold shiver and nearly began to cough.

Just as everyone was frozen in that instant, the yin energy seemed to cackle eerily and burrowed toward the Lianshan Sword.

“Damn it!” Yang Jingxiu’s expression twisted violently, and his palm wind slammed down with savage force, but how could it be in time?

Just as the yin energy was about to enter the sword, a hand as fair as frost and snow reached out, playfully caught that wisp of yin energy in its grasp, and with a “pop” squeezed it—smoke and shadow scattered into nothing.

Huangfu Qing clapped her hands, sweeping her gaze across the arena: “Why is everyone staring at me? That yin energy was unpleasant to look at, so I crushed it… Do you really think I only know how to serve with beauty? Who do you think handles the critical moments?”

Wang Daozhong stood dumbfounded.

It was over.

Huangfu Qing’s identity as the Winged Fire Serpent had not been openly revealed; as an imperial consort in the palace, she had been publicly at odds with Empress Wang, and Wang Daozhong had no idea that this consort, an ally of the Four Symbols Sect, was now openly helping an outsider.

But weren’t you and Tang Wanzhuang sworn enemies? How could you coordinate so seamlessly?

“Roar!” The sound of a blade erupted.

Zhao Changhe leaped in again, swinging another strike straight at Wang Daozhong’s head: “I let you have that last one! Take this blow and show me what’s so great about the Wang Clan’s Heaven-Pushing, Sea-Suppressing Sword!”

Wang Daozhong stood frozen in the arena, watching the descending blade of Zhao Changhe, feeling the hostile gazes around him—as if at this moment he faced not just one Zhao Changhe, but the entire world as his enemy.

Was this the strength of one man, backed by his bevy of women?