Chapter 450: Sword and Blade dual mastery

Translated by: La0o9

Proofreader: Arya

The long-bearded cultivator flew from the jade tag down to the ground.

His gaze swept through Qing Rou, Wan Er, then finally stopped on Gu Qing Shan.

Gu Qing Shan’s gaze met with his.

He’s a sword cultivator.

Both of them had the same thought.

This was a sort of intuition from the realms beyond, although one of them was already dead, true sword cultivators easily recognize each other at a single glance.

The long-bearded cultivator nodded, confirming his a.s.sumption.

Gu Qing Shan also felt a bit curious.

“ Could this humble one ask for your name?” Gu Qing Shan clasped his fist and asked.

“Tian Shan Ye” the long-bearded cultivator answered.

That name sounds familiar, where have I heard it before…

While slowly recalling from his memories, Gu Qing Shan suddenly realized who this was.

This was a renowned figure from the history of Guang Yang sect.

Even in this world, the name Tian Shan Ye represented a legend.

Sword and Blade dual master, Tian Shan Ye.

Over 1000 years ago, before the realm demon came to this world.

Back then, this world’s moon, stars, sun and even the earth still existed.

The world of cultivation was full of geniuses, secret techniques and treasures were so vast it seemed infinite.

During a tournament that all the sects partic.i.p.ated in, Guang Yang sect’s Tian Shang Ye managed to triumph over all opponents with both his sword and his blade, completely undefeated.

During that period of time, thanks to the existence of Tian Shan Ye, Guang Yang sect stood at the very top of the world, the undisputed number 1 sect.

It was the most glorious age for Guang Yang sect.

“Could you be our sect’s 9th sect master, Tian Shan Ye?” Gu Qing Shan couldn’t help but ask.

Tian Shan Ye glanced at him and answered: “That is indeed this venerable one”

“This humble one is Qi Yan, this generation’s Zwei Wei Hall’s Hallmaster, greetings to sect master Tian——– but why is sect master Tian here?”

Gu Qing Shan bowed as per etiquette and asked in confusion.

Tian Shan Ye shook his head lightly, as if remembering some sort of terrible memory.

But in the end, he sighed: “1500 years ago, w.a.n.g Hong Dao begged me to be his master and cultivated under me for 300 years”

w.a.n.g Hong Dao!

Gu Qing Shan became serious.

So, Tian Shan Ye was w.a.n.g Hong Dao’s master.

But then why is Tian Shan Ye’s soul hidden in a place like this, what exactly happened?

Then Tian Shan Ye continued: “During a spar, I killed a friend of mine by accident, also heavily wounding myself in the process”

“Due to my own guilt, my mind was in chaos. Despite being my best disciple at the time, w.a.n.g Hong Dao had taken advantage of my recuperation to take me by surprise”

“Unwilling to die in such a way, I used a secret technique to possess this sword technique jade tag”

Gu Qing Shan was suspicious: “What an honor it must have been to be your disciple, why would w.a.n.g Hong Dao have to sneak attack you while you’re recuperating?”

“Because I only taught him the Blade without teaching him the Sword” Tian Shan Ye answered.

“I remember now” Qing Rou silently tugged Gu Qing Shan’s sleeve and told him: “Back then, sect master Tian was called the Sword and Blade dual master, the strongest cultivator of the land”

“Any cultivator that could learn one or two of his Blade techniques could travel across the world without worry”

“Any cultivator that could learn sect master Tian’s swordsmans.h.i.+p was even more fortunate as they are destined to become an unrivalled great cultivator”

“During one time of sparring against a cultivator of the same level, he completely disappeared, never to be seen again”

“Cultivators of the world all agreed that sect master Tian felt ashamed from accidentally killing his friend, so he went into the s.p.a.ce vortex to find another world.”

Gu Qing Shan’s mind moved quickly and followed up: “Because you didn’t teach him your sword techniques, w.a.n.g Hong Dao held a grudge and wanted to steal your sword techniques, is that right?”

Tian Shan Ye nodded with a look of deep regret in his eyes.

“Truthfully, I shouldn’t have taught him the Blade with his temperament either” Tian Shan Ye said.

“His temperament? Why do you say so?” Gu Qing Shan asked.

It was now a good chance to learn more about w.a.n.g Hong Dao.

So it turns out this Grand Elder of Guang Yang sect actually killed his own master.

Knowing about this clearly will help me understand w.a.n.g Hong Dao’s personality and thought patterns

There’s no harm in knowing more about an enemy.

Tian Shan Ye explained: “The path of the Blade is nothing but heroic”

Gu Qing Shan nodded.

Of the Blade users he met, Ning Yue Xi once said something similar.

“Dedicating the Blade to Dao, heading forward to become unrivalled”

——-Ning Yue Xi was a Blade user through and through, with how pure her thoughts were, her Blade qi was true and it showed from her fast growth.

Gu Qing Shan actually really liked being friends with Blade users.

Because most Blade users are mostly heroic and sincere, seeing the world as truly black and white, separating grudge and favor really clearly.

Such straight-forward and simple people were excellent companions.

Of course, you weren’t called a Blade user simply by being a cultivator who uses a Blade.

Just like how you can’t be called a sword cultivator by just holding a sword.

Tian Shan Ye sighed: “w.a.n.g Hong Dao’s mind is too secretive and afraid of death, he’s not suitable to use the Blade. I only left him by my side because he’s my first disciple, holding absolute loyalty for over hundreds of years——- but that was a grave mistake”

Gu Qing Shan sighed as well: “You were a talented and experienced person, I think it wouldn’t have been easy for you to make a mistake in judging character”

“Disguising your true self for 1-2 years is already something extremely hard to do, let alone dozens of years. But when w.a.n.g Hong Dao was under me, he was considerate, loyal, fair and sincere to everyone without a hint of arrogance for being the sect master’s disciple, this perfect act of his continued for 300 years without any fault” Tian Shan Ye explained.

Qing Rou and Wan Er exchanged looks, seeing the horrible chill in each other’s eyes.

To get what he wanted, someone actually managed to disguise himself for over 300 years.

And for those 300 years, not a single one of his gestures caused any suspicions at all.

What kind of temperament and character would be capable of such a feat?

“Sect master Tian, what if we bring you out to let the world know this?” Wan Er tried suggesting.

“That is meaningless” Tian Shan Ye shook his head.

“That’s right, w.a.n.g Hong Dao is already the strongest cultivator in the sect, even if people knew about this, what can they do to him?” Qing Rou spoke.

“Furthermore, this world is already on the verge of destruction, everyone only has themselves to worry about, who would be so free as to bother with someone else’s matter?” Gu Qing Shan also sighed.

He then clasped his fist: “Sect master Tian, what do you want me to do?”

“I can sense your sword qi, and you’ve never practiced any spells of Guang Yang sect, correct?”

“Indeed” Gu Qing Shan admitted.

“w.a.n.g Hong Dao doesn’t know how to use the sword, only the Blade and corpse-manipulation spells, so he shouldn’t have a disciple whose expertise is with the sword like yourself”

“I am indeed not his disciple”

“This is w.a.n.g Hong Dao’s turf, not even the sect master of this generation could enter this place”

“But despite being so young, you managed to get in here, this has to be because some trouble must’ve happened in the outside world”

“That is indeed the case” Gu Qing Shan admitted without pause.

“If that’s the case, I want to offer you a deal”

Saying so, Tian Shan Ye appeared determined.

“Please speak”

“There is a powerful sword technique written in this jade tag, back when w.a.n.g Hong Dao was still studying the Blade, he really wanted to learn it, but I felt that he wasn’t suitable for the sword. In fact, if it wasn’t for his a.s.sumed loyalty, I wouldn’t have taught him the Blade either”

“Which means you’ve never taught him any sword techniques”

“Correct, I didn’t fully teach him my Blade techniques either”

“What happened then?”

“When I was attacked and found that I would definitely die, I activated a lock seal to destroy all the Sword and Blade technique jade tags I kept”

Tian Shan Ye then pointed at the jade tag in Shannu’s hand, saying: “This jade tag was the only one I purposefully left as a trap”

“A trap?”

“Correct, my soul possessed this jade tag so that anyone who touches it would be taken over”

Gu Qing Shan silently told himself, sure enough.