Chapter 466 - 463: The Water and the Blade

Chapter 466: Chapter 463: The Water and the Blade

"See those marks on the bank? They aren’t water stains. They’re blood—some creature’s blood. It turns black after it dries, like dark spots on the soil. You can’t see them if you don’t look closely."

"Something was attacked there. This stream isn’t very big, so it’s not like there are crocodiles or anything like that. That leaves only one possibility—the creature was attacked by the stream itself."

The stone in Zhou Dynasty’s hand arced perfectly through the air, just about to fall into the stream.

Just then, a giant maw suddenly appeared in the water. It shot up and viciously chomped on the stone in mid-air, instantly turning the hard rock into dust.

In that instant, birds in the forest fled in a panic. The water hung suspended in the air, like a transparent, giant serpent extending out from the stream.

The serpent’s head was the giant, fanged maw. It seemed to be savoring the taste of the stone, opening and closing its mouth repeatedly.

"I’ll get its attention. You pull out my sword and swing it at the creature," Zhou Dynasty commanded calmly. He picked up another stone and threw it at the water serpent.

The giant serpent twitched and lunged for the stone, once again pulverizing it in mid-flight.

Zhou Dynasty seemed to be luring it away from the stream and onto the bank with the stones.

Li Luo slowly took the Longsword from Zhou Dynasty. After a moment’s hesitation, she drew it.

It turned out the stone exterior was just a scabbard. The blade hidden within was incredibly sharp, and as soon as it was drawn, it emitted a dazzling golden light.

"Stay where you are, aim at it, and just swing once. Be careful not to hurt yourself."

Although she wasn’t entirely sure what the Longsword did, Li Luo didn’t waste any time. She raised the Longsword with both hands, aimed at the water serpent that had now extended its head onto the bank, and swung down with all her might.

The moment she swung the Longsword, a terrifying torrent of gold erupted from the blade and rushed toward the water serpent.

Before Li Luo could even react, the golden torrent had completely swallowed the giant serpent.

But it wasn’t over. The terrifying sword energy swelled in an instant. A cylindrical shockwave completely evaporated the stream, then shot forward, engulfing the entire row of trees behind it.

The trees didn’t last long in the light before they were reduced to charred husks and then disintegrated into nothing.

The golden shockwave continued onward, only dissipating in the far distance, leaving a scene of utter devastation in its wake.

Li Luo, still holding the sword, stared in shock at the scene before her.

The sword energy had split the forest completely in two, leaving a massive fissure down the middle.

The stream was gone, with only wisps of white steam remaining.

A long path of ash stretched out before Li Luo, the scattered dust swirling in the aftershock of the sword energy.

She turned her head woodenly and looked at Zhou Dynasty.

Zhou Dynasty was also stunned, staring at the scene, unable to process what had just happened.

"You... you should put the sword away first. Be careful."

His voice trembled as he spoke. He clearly hadn’t expected the sword energy to be so powerful.

Li Luo followed his advice, carefully sheathing the Longsword, which was still emitting a dazzling golden light, back into its stone scabbard and handed it to Zhou Dynasty.

Zhou Dynasty’s hands trembled as he took the sword. He reached out with both hands, cautiously taking the stone Longsword from her.

"Whew..."

Only after he had taken the sword completely did he let out a long sigh of relief.

"What kind of relic is this?" Li Luo asked in amazement, pointing at the Longsword.

"The Holy Sword," Zhou Dynasty said, clutching the scabbard with lingering fear. "That’s the name I gave it."

"It’s so powerful..."

"No." Zhou Dynasty shook his head. "It’s not that the sword is powerful. It’s you."

"Me?" Li Luo was confused.

"Yes. The Holy Sword’s power is related to the person wielding it. Different people will bring out different levels of power. I’ve never seen it this destructive before," Zhou Dynasty explained.

"But what’s the price?" Li Luo asked, a little worried. ’Such a powerful relic must have a terrible cost.’

"The price?" Zhou Dynasty paused. "Don’t worry. I’ve already paid the price. You won’t have to bear any of it."

As he spoke, Zhou Dynasty took the Longsword and tried to pull it from the scabbard. But no matter how hard he pulled, he couldn’t draw the blade.

"See? I can’t use it. That’s the price of the Holy Sword. Once it acknowledges an owner, that owner can no longer wield it. And right now, I’m its owner..."

Zhou Dynasty walked over to the side, picked up a tree branch, and swung it around.

But before he could swing it more than a few times, the branch inexplicably broke into several pieces.

"I also can’t use any other weapon besides the Holy Sword. No melee weapons, no firearms. Anything I recognize as a ’weapon’ will be automatically destroyed."

"That’s the price."

"What a strange price. I can’t believe a relic like that exists," Li Luo said, surprised by Zhou Dynasty’s explanation.

"There’s nothing I can do about it. By the time I got it, it had already claimed me as its owner. It’s caused me a lot of trouble."

"I only discovered later that the Holy Sword can be used by others. Even though I can’t draw it, anyone else can do so easily, and it’s always quite powerful."

Zhou Dynasty said glumly, patting the stone scabbard in resignation.

This useless stone in his hands was a sharp, treasured blade in the hands of others.

He bore the cost while others used the relic. No wonder he was so dejected.

"But, since you can draw out so much of the Holy Sword’s power, the road ahead should be much easier. Next time we run into danger, I’ll give it to you again."

Zhou Dynasty didn’t stay dejected for long, and his spirits soon lifted.

"Let’s get going," Zhou Dynasty said, pointing at where the stream had been completely evaporated by the Holy Sword’s energy.

"Okay." Li Luo nodded and started walking forward.

...

Inside the Block, Mo Ling was still staring at the Holy Sword in Zhou Dynasty’s hands.

After it was returned to its scabbard, the Holy Sword’s light completely faded.

Peering through the heavy stone scabbard, Mo Ling could still see the sharp blade within. But it no longer had the world-destroying aura from when it was drawn; it now looked like an ordinary Longsword.

’It seems to have started glowing only after Li Luo gripped the hilt.’

The Holy Sword’s energy possessed a destructive power that completely disintegrated everything it touched. The living water from before had been directly decomposed by the sword energy, leaving not a single trace behind.

Not only that, but even the living soil underground was affected.

Although the sword energy didn’t spread underground, the living soil beneath the fissure seemed to have lost its vitality. It was no longer writhing, as if a dividing line had been forcefully drawn.

If those living things possessed "vitality," then the Holy Sword was the exact opposite, seemingly carrying an aura of "death."

’Could there be another reason the captain had Zhou Dynasty, the one with the Holy Sword, stay on the Sky Island?’