Urban Martial Saint

Old Wang Ba walked over, took the Seven-Star Ancient Sword from Ye Qing’s hands, and the gentle humming of the sword came to a gradual halt.

As the humming of the Seven-Star Ancient Sword stopped, the Cold Moon Blade also slowly returned to normal, no longer as icy cold. Both weapons, as if devoid of their previous activity, seemed to revert to ordinary weapons once more.

Ye Qing looked on with surprise, and asked, ”What’s going on here?”

Old Wang Ba retorted, ”Do you know what a ’Famed Instrument’ is?”

Ye Qing shook his head, clueless about these things.

”A ’Famed Instrument’ refers to the weapons crafted by our ancestors. In the past, weapon casting was a very tedious process, unlike today where it can merely be done with machines. In ancient times, weapon casting involved dedicated casting masters. These masters each had superb casting techniques, able to forge a variety of sharp weapons!” Old Wang Ba paused, then added, ”However, those weapons were all forged from ordinary materials. Truly exceptional weapons require special materials for their creation. Take this Cold Moon Blade, for instance; it’s forged from Cold Iron that has been suppressed under glaciers for a thousand years.”

”What is Cold Iron?” Ye Qing asked curiously.

Old Wang Ba replied, ”If you want me to explain in detail, I can’t make it clear. According to research, it’s a type of iron with a more complex composition, possibly a substance left behind by a space meteorite when it crashed into Earth.”

”Oh,” Ye Qing nodded and said, ”So, that means Cold Iron might not be from Earth but rather a substance that doesn’t exist here. Outer space indeed contains many rare elements not found on Earth. Could it be these substances?”

”One could say that…” Old Wang Ba glared at Ye Qing and exclaimed, ”Damn it, do you actually want to know about the specialities of these ’Famed Instruments,’ or are you trying to discuss chemistry with me?”

Ye Qing quickly waved his hand and said, ”Please, continue, continue.”

Dissatisfied, Old Wang Ba shot Ye Qing a glance and stated, ”Cold Iron itself possesses extreme coldness. After being suppressed under a glacier for so many years, its chill became even more potent. To think of melting and forging this substance into a weapon is essentially an impossibility.”

”Why?” Ye Qing asked, curious.

”And you still ask, ’Why?’ Think about it,” Old Wang Ba said, ”Cold Iron is so cold that even fire gets extinguished when it encounters it. How could you melt it?”

”I see!” Ye Qing had an epiphany and, looking at the Cold Moon Blade in Old Wang Ba’s hand, he asked, ”Then how was this weapon actually forged?”

”That’s precisely the point I’m getting to!” Old Wang Ba exclaimed, ”In ancient times, the casting of weapons required extraordinary methods. Ordinary craftsmen had no way with Cold Iron like this, but a top craftsman had his own unique techniques. It is said that the Cold Moon Blade was personally forged by a renowned sword casting master named Zong Yue. He placed the Cold Iron at the mouth of an active volcano and used the power of the volcanic lava to bake it for three full years, just managing to suppress the iron’s chill. Then, he immediately placed the Cold Iron into a prepared icehouse. What followed was miraculous—the indestructible Cold Iron cracked and shattered, turning into small pieces. Now, isn’t that amazing!”

Ye Qing thought for a moment and said, ”That’s just a typical instance of thermal expansion and contraction, isn’t it? Even if you take a piece of ordinary iron, heat it up sufficiently, and then freeze it, it would also shatter.”

”Really?” Old Wang Ba scratched his head and asked, ”What’s ’thermal expansion and contraction’?”

Ye Qing was stunned and said, ”You... didn’t you go to school?”

”Who says I didn’t? My primary school diploma is still at home!” Old Wang Ba replied indignantly.

Ye Qing looked at Old Wang Ba skeptically and said, ”Your diploma isn’t like Brother Li’s, bought and paid for, is it?”

A little embarrassed, Old Wang Ba avoided Ye Qing’s gaze and replied, ”Just tell me, what is this heat expansion and contraction, no need to beat around the bush!”

Ye Qing said, ”Heat expansion and contraction is a physical phenomenon. When something heats up, it expands in volume. When it cools down, the volume contracts—that’s heat expansion and contraction.”

”Really?” Old Wang Ba suddenly perked up and asked, ”Does... does this physical phenomenon apply to humans too?”

”It applies to everything!” Ye Qing looked at Old Wang Ba’s suddenly gleaming eyes and slightly frowned, ”However, Eighth Master, don’t blame me for not warning you. If the heat isn’t enough, there won’t be much of a change. And the human body is made of muscle tissue; too much heat can damage the body, so, don’t get any funny ideas!”

”Damn, why didn’t you say so sooner!” Old Wang Ba complained indignantly, ”I was still thinking that this heat expansion and contraction could be used as a substitute for Viagra in the future...”

Ye Qing was left speechless, finding this old man’s thoughts as dirty as his appearance.

”Forget it, let’s continue talking about the Cold Moon Blade,” Old Wang Ba said. ”After Master Zong Yue turned the Cold Iron into small pieces and melted them separately, the cold nature of the Cold Iron greatly diminished and slowly melted away. Then, Master Zong Yue hammered all this molten Cold Iron together, forging an unparalleled divine weapon, the Cold Moon Blade!”

”It may sound simple, but in fact, the price Master Zong Yue paid to craft the Cold Moon Blade was significant!” Old Wang Ba continued, ”When the Cold Moon Blade was being forged, for some reason the molten Cold Iron started to disperse and couldn’t fuse together. Seeing this, Master Zong Yue immediately bit his finger and dripped his blood onto the blade. Strangely, where the blood touched, the Cold Iron began to fuse. However, in places the blood didn’t reach, the Cold Iron continued to disperse. In the end, having no other choice, Master Zong Yue cut off his own left arm and sprinkled the fresh blood over the entire blade, finally allowing the Cold Moon Blade to take shape. But that cost him his arm for good!”

Sighing, Old Wang Ba then said, ”Actually, not only during the creation of the Cold Moon Blade but also with many other famed instruments, it was similar. The Gan Jiang Mo Ye Sword, for example, was forged at the cost of two swordsmen’s lives. Thus, since ancient times, famed instruments have been extremely rare—first, because the materials are scarce; second, there aren’t many skilled casting masters, and third, there are few casting masters who are willing to make such a sacrifice!”

Ye Qing looked at the swords beside him. What Old Wang Ba said was quite marvelous, but he held a different view. As a college graduate, he had always been skeptical of superstitions. To him, Master Zong Yue’s act of sprinkling blood on the Cold Moon Blade to solidify the Cold Iron was also a matter of chemistry. Like modern steelmaking, which requires the mix of different elements to control the strength and hardness of the steel. Probably Master Zong Yue’s use of blood was based on the same principle!

”You’ve talked so much and still haven’t made clear why the sword is like this,” Ye Qing said.

”Don’t rush me, let me explain it to you slowly,” Old Wang Ba replied. ”Famed instruments are extremely rare since ancient times, but once a famed instrument is forged, it inevitably becomes the object of contention among heroes of the world. Why is that? Because famed instruments possess consciousness, they can recognize an owner. Once a famed instrument accepts someone, it will exhibit extraordinary strength in that person’s hands. Like with your current situation, by infusing your Inner Strength into the Seven-Star Ancient Sword, your Inner Strength can be greatly amplified, making it incredibly powerful.”

”The Seven-Star Ancient Sword has recognized you, treating you as its master. But just now, you were holding the Seven-Star Ancient Sword and also pulled out the Cold Moon Blade, and that’s where the problem started,” Old Wang Ba continued. ”Both the Seven-Star Ancient Sword and the Cold Moon Blade are sentient famed instruments with tremendous power. Before recognizing a master, famed instruments generally hold hostility toward everyone. Like with Cui Yulong’s Ink Pattern Black Gold Blade, that blade is very sinister; before it recognized Cui Yulong, even he would get hurt just by touching its hilt. Although the Cold Moon Blade is not as sinister as the Ink Pattern Black Gold Blade, its hostility towards you still exists.”

”Since you were holding the Seven-Star Ancient Sword, which recognizes you as its master, it would protect you with all its might. When there is another famed instrument hostile towards you, the Seven-Star Ancient Sword would naturally do its utmost to defend you. That’s why the Seven-Star Ancient Sword emitted a light hum—it was deterring the Cold Moon Blade. When the Cold Moon Blade felt the Seven-Star Ancient Sword’s power, it too began to gradually release its cold air, competing against the Seven-Star Ancient Sword. However, once you let go of one of the weapons, this antagonistic scene would immediately end, with no further abnormalities occurring!”

Ye Qing was agape with astonishment at hearing all this. Just two weapons, yet they possessed hostile and amicable consciousness? And they could even compete with each other? Were they really just weapons, or were they people?

”Eighth Master, aren’t you exaggerating a bit...” Ye Qing said softly, ”They’re just two weapons; can they really have sentient consciousness? That would mean they’ve become spirits, wouldn’t it?”

”Heh...” Old Wang Ba looked at Ye Qing and replied, ”Just two weapons? Little Leaf, do you realize how many people have died under their cold edge, and how many lives have been lost in the struggle to seize them? These are all lives, actual human lives. With so many deaths, it’s not too far-fetched for some strange things to happen, right?”

Ye Qing stared at the two weapons, still skeptical of Old Wang Ba’s words. In his eyes, such claims were no more than tricks used by charlatans from the jianghu to deceive people, rooted in feudal superstition. However, since the incident in Xishan City where Old Wang Ba accurately predicted something about Liu Changping, Ye Qing had to admit that some of what Old Wang Ba said could be true. But did these superstitious things really exist?

”Young Ye, it’s already quite remarkable that the Seven-Star Ancient Sword has accepted you. Now that you have the Seven-Star Ancient Sword, there’s no need to worry about the Cold Moon Blade anymore. It’s impossible for two famed instruments to recognize the same master,” Old Wang Ba advised, weighing the Cold Moon Blade in his hand. ”I suggest you find someone to sell this Cold Moon Blade soon. Keeping this weapon with you is always going to be a problem!”