Chapter 490: Open the Door

Chapter 490: Chapter 490: Open the Door

"Could the test in this stone house be about swordsmanship?"

Because the biggest scene Shen Hao saw in the memory he was pulled into just now was that boy, probably the Sword Emperor Feng Bubai, performing a series of sword stances.

Judging from the previous trials, Shen Hao figured he probably needed to master the stance from the "Holy Spirit Swordsmanship," and at the very least, make it look effortless.

But then, how do you measure whether someone has mastered it or not? Who decides?

At this thought, Shen Hao’s mind paused. Right, learning a sword technique needs a standard for evaluation, and it sure can’t just be up to himself. But now deep in this ancient tomb, who would decide?

Unconsciously, Shen Hao’s gaze shifted forward, finally landing on the statue in front of the stone house.

He almost forgot—this was the guy who nearly came alive and skewered him with a sword just moments ago.

If he follows logic, it seems the trial is to perform the "Holy Spirit Swordsmanship" stance from that memory in front of this statue, and not just casually, but to a certain level.

After all, this is the Sword Emperor’s domain—what makes you qualified to receive the inheritance if you don’t have sword skills?

Now this is tricky. Shen Hao had always played with sabers, never swords! Now he’s supposed to learn sword techniques? How’s that supposed to work?

Should he just give up?

Shen Hao could only mutter to himself, but in the end, he’d have to find a way. If the normal approach wouldn’t work, he’d try something unconventional.

He held a torch and circled the statue twice, then carefully took a few steps closer. He was hoping to find some kind of mechanism. Because if the statue really was the "judge," it must be linked to the stone gate behind him.

Maybe he got closer, Shen Hao twitched his nose—he seemed to smell some "fragrance," probably coming from the statue. So he walked a few more steps toward it, and sure enough, the aroma got much stronger.

"Wait a second..." As expected, his Black Beast Tattoo suddenly surged with wild "hunger," like a fat chunk of meat placed before a starving hyena.

It was the scent of golden Soul Energy!

Shen Hao hadn’t expected he’d remember this smell so clearly, but after a few sniffs, he was certain it was the same golden Soul Energy he’d devoured in the Cloud Sword before.

Tsk, tsk. The hunger was making him uncomfortable all over, but isn’t there a saying? "Searched everywhere in vain, only found it with no effort at all!"

Why go to all this trouble and risk? Well, isn’t it just to satisfy the damned Black Beast Tattoo on his chest? How to satisfy it? Only with golden Soul Energy!

Now that Shen Hao was sure the statue had what he was looking for, everything became much easier.

Energy has no physical form—no need for the fuss of chipping ice for water. With the inexplicable Black Beast Tattoo, it was just a matter of taking a few extra breaths.

But to be safe, Shen Hao still tested the statue a lot, but saw no reaction at all. Just as before, when the statue moved, it might all have been an illusion. Still, he found a few things—for example, the statue’s material was incredibly hard. Shen Hao’s Yanji Saber definitely couldn’t cut it, meaning its hardness matched an upper-grade weapon-type Magical Artifact.

He thought Black Cut might be effective, but didn’t dare try, worried about making things worse.

Once he was pretty sure there wasn’t any immediate danger, Shen Hao circled to the back of the statue, pushed his head close to the statue’s left cheek by its nose, then took a deep, sudden inhalation!

"Hiss!"

The Black Beast Tattoo, starving for so long, saw the feast and went all out. A pulling force targeted at Soul Energy surged from Shen Hao’s mouth and nose, instantly locking onto the statue.

Almost immediately, the previously lifeless statue jerked violently, as if an artery had been cut, twitching. Its hands instinctively reached for the nearby Shen Hao.

"Hiss!" Shen Hao ignored everything else and pulled again with full force. This time the statue shook even harder, raising its hands but freezing midair, while its body emitted a sharp, metallic screech.

On the third hard inhale, the statue was totally drained of strength, no more twitching, hands dropped, and a lump of golden Soul Energy was forcibly sucked from the statue’s nose.

"That much?!"

The total golden Soul Energy he’d previously devoured from the Cloud Sword wasn’t even half of what was in this statue!

Shen Hao could even feel the yearning overflowing from his Black Beast Tattoo.

Drawn by the suction, the golden Soul Energy pulled free from the statue, briefly looked like it might fly away, but in the next instant got dragged straight into Shen Hao’s mouth.

"Uh..." The hunger vanished, replaced by a sense of fullness. One dose was enough?

Before Shen Hao could be surprised that the Black Beast Tattoo could actually be satiated, the stone gate behind him started opening with a grinding sound. Inside, it wasn’t large—standing outside with the torch was enough to see everything—about two zhang across. Apart from a stone table in the center, there was nothing else.

It just opened like that?

Shen Hao stood outside and looked in; the sword with its sheath lying on the stone table was strikingly obvious.

After checking that nothing seemed off, he walked in and stood before the stone table, considering whether to touch the sword.

By rights, an opened stone gate meant that the "reward for passing the test" should be inside—and it must be the sword on the table. Shen Hao didn’t want to miss it, though unfortunately it was still something sword-related.

But what made Shen Hao hesitate was, just one sword sitting here for who knows how many years, and no one’s taken it?

Bear in mind this was the first stone house—the door reads "Sword One." Any Sword Cultivator coming should find it quite easy to pass the test, enter the house, and take the sword. Yet here it stays, so Shen Hao only had one explanation: this long sword couldn’t be taken away.

Can’t be taken away, yet it’s set out here as "the reward for passing the trial?"

This reminded Shen Hao of that memory mapping forced into his mind earlier. Part of the transmission about "Sword One" was blurred out. Combined with the "Sword One" written on the stone house door, he had reason to believe that touching the sword on the table would trigger another memory mapping like before, but this time not blurred.

After thinking it through, Shen Hao stretched his hand toward the long sword. The instant he touched the blade, things went just as he expected—he was "sucked into" that memory again, but this time it was clear, as he listened to the young man’s master explain the full structure of "Sword One," word by word.

After hearing it all, Shen Hao was a little dazed. Now he understood why learning this "Sword One" sword stance required a full ten years of practice as a foundation—because with just the opening move, it already involved "Intent."