Reborn As Super Heiress

Chapter 982: Chapter 978 Qixing Longyuan

In the center of the sword’s blade, two large characters are engraved clearly, squarely, and the words ”Longyuan” stand out.

Combining the Big Dipper mark on the hilt, Huo Sining already vaguely understood the origins of this bronze heavy sword.

Thinking of the various legends surrounding this sword, Huo Sining almost instinctively pulled out a strand of hair from her head and blew it towards the sword’s edge.

In a mere moment, the strand of hair split into two.

Huo Sining still couldn’t believe it, so she rummaged through her storage ring and found an iron rod, using the sword to strike at the rod.

”Crack!”

The sword light flashed, and an iron rod as thick as a little finger was cut into two sections as easily as tofu by the sword’s energy, and the cut was smooth and seamless, almost effortlessly.

At this moment, seeing the performance of the precious sword, Huo Sining was fully convinced of her guess.

Even though she had appraised many antiques and seen a lot of the world, Huo Sining never thought such a sword as described in martial arts novels, that can ”split hair and cut iron like mud,” truly existed. But now, she unexpectedly stumbled upon such a sword. More importantly, this sword has an extraordinary name.

In the history of Huaxia civilization, there was once a glorious period of bronze artifacts, where ancient craftsmen equipped with wisdom and skills loved to adorn bronze artifacts with inscriptions and paintings.

The value of bronze artifacts is not only in the item itself but also in the inscriptions carved upon them.

Usually, for a similar bronze item like a tripod cauldron, the one with more inscriptions tends to be more valuable.

In the craftsmanship of inscriptions, there is an intricate technique known as ”Gold and Silver Inlay,” which illuminates the bronze era like a gorgeous sunset.

The so-called ”Gold and Silver Inlay” refers to using gold and silver wires embedded on the surface of bronze artifacts to form patterns or words, making these inscriptions the most valuable. This technique reached a high level of standard during the Spring and Autumn period, demonstrating the exceptional wisdom of ancient craftsmen.

The sword in Huo Sining’s hand, with those characters emitting a faint golden glow, precisely uses the Gold Inlay inscription.

Initially, Huo Sining thought gold inlay was similar to modern craftsmanship, where characters are pre-etched on the surface, then filled with gold, cooled, and refined, but upon touching those gold-inlaid inscriptions, she realized she was wrong.

These characters are embedded within the bronze itself; touching it feels seamless, as if it was naturally formed, showing no signs of being fitted later. This is definitely not crafted and refined afterward.

Huo Sining couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. No wonder even thousands of years later, the technique of gold inlay is still celebrated and praised by modern bronze artifact experts and enthusiasts. In ancient times, devoid of any high-tech facilities, crafting such exquisite items by sheer hand is truly admirable.

Looking at the glowing ”Longyuan” characters on the blade, Huo Sining sighed involuntarily.

Speaking of the Ten Famous Swords of ancient Huaxia, many might be able to name a few of them, but counting every sword’s name isn’t so simple.

Of course, there are many famous swords in Huaxia’s history and legends, none ranked officially by historical records. The ranking of Ten Famous Swords is merely an unofficial list freely spread among the folk.

In Huaxia history, the widely spread ranking from tenth to first is Chengying Sword, Chun Jun Sword, Yu Chang Sword, Mo Ye Sword, Gan Jiang Sword, Longquan Sword, Tai’a Sword, Chixiao Sword, Zhan Lu Sword, Xuanyuan Sword.

And since we’re talking about the Ten Famous Swords, we must mention one person, and that is Ouyezi.

Ouyezi was a man of the Warring States Period from the Yue Kingdom, considered the ancient master swordsman and the creator of Longquan Sword and Zhanlu Sword.

The series of renowned bronze swords forged by Ouyezi are crowned the greatest in Huaxia. During the wars of the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States, these swords displayed immense power and captivating artistic charm.

Ouyezi forged five precious swords for King Gou Jian of Yue: Zhan Lu, Ju Que, Sheng Xie, Yu Chang, Chun Jun; and three famed swords for King Zhao of Chu: Longquan, Tai’a, and Gongbu.

Among these swords, five were selected as part of the Ten Famous Swords of Huaxia, attesting to Ouyezi’s remarkable achievements and skill in bronze sword forging.

Among these ten famous swords, one must mention the Longquan Sword.

Legend has it that to forge this sword, Ouyezi carved open Cishan, released the water within, guiding it to the smithing furnace in seven pools arranged like the Big Dipper, named ”Seven Stars.” When the sword was completed, overlooking its blade felt like gazing to a deep abyss from a high mountain, seeming as though a mighty dragon was lying within, thus named ”Longyuan.” Hence this sword was named ”Seven Stars Longyuan,” abbreviated as Longyuan Sword.

During the Tang Dynasty, to avoid using the given name of Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan, ”yuan” was changed to ”quan,” hence called ”Seven Stars Longquan,” abbreviated as Longquan Sword.

However, these are all just legends, and many Longquan swords have been mimicked based on these tales in later generations. Yet, no one could replicate even a fraction because nobody could fully depict what the true Longquan Sword looked like.

Nevertheless, when the copper rust was completely removed, and the purple aura enveloped the sword broke forth, Huo Sining discovered that the purple spiritual energy contained within this blade was more intense than any other antique she had encountered in over a year.

With inlaid gold ancient characters, sharp cutting edge, along with this thick purple aura, holding this sword emitting a chilling sword intent made Huo Sining have a very strong intuition that this sword is likely the legendary hard-to-pass Seven Stars Longyuan.

Of course, until a definite answer is obtained, Huo Sining can only ponder. In this aspect, Zhou Shitao is the authority. Back when King Goujian’s sword was unearthed from Ebei Province Jiangling Mashan No. 5 Chu Tomb, Zhou Shitao was on site; he should be very familiar with Ouyezi’s precious swords.

Huo Sining didn’t delay; she wrapped the sword again in an old T-shirt and hurriedly took a taxi to the Zhou Family.

Arriving at the Zhou Family, before she could enter, Huo Sining met Ji Kun and another old man who was coming out.

”Junior sister? You’re back from Dongyang?” Ji Kun was delighted upon seeing Huo Sining.

Huo Sining nodded: ”Back to handle some matters, leaving tomorrow.”

Huo Sining greeted Ji Kun, glanced at the old man, feeling he looked familiar, but since people from the circle often came to Zhou Shitao for exchange, she didn’t pay much attention.

However, the old man seemed surprised to see Huo Sining. Glancing at the shabby long fabric package in Huo Sining’s hand, he suddenly smiled at Ji Kun: ”Looks like Miss Huo has found something good again. Why don’t we go in together and have a look?”