Chapter 92: Regicide, Twenty-Eight Forms

“I may have regained the recognition of the Mu Clan bloodline, but this status as a member of the imperial family may not necessarily protect me. In fact, it could very well bring about my death.”

Seated at the head of the hall within the residence, Li Shun spoke slowly.

By now, Li Qing had already calmed down. After carefully considering those words, he nodded in agreement.

“Brother, your concerns aren't unreasonable.”

“The title of the Qian Emperor's hundredth-generation descendant sounds impressive enough, but at most it can intimidate the Blood Armored Guards guarding the Imperial Mausoleum. Within the court itself, it carries no real influence. Besides, the Qian Emperor treats even his own blood relatives like pigs and dogs, let alone everyone else.”

Li Shun glanced at Li Qing and teased him lightly.

“Furthermore, the bloodline of the Great Qian imperial clan is incredibly tempting to all those rebellious forces stirring in the shadows. If someone could borrow my head for a while, they'd become famous throughout the world overnight. Isn't that right, Little Tuanzi?”

Li Qing's face reddened slightly.

“Brother, what are you saying?”

Yet his thoughts moved quickly. Stroking his chin, he pondered aloud.

“Still, if we're being serious, your identity as the Qian Emperor's hundredth-generation descendant does have some value. Think about it. If even the Qian Emperor's own descendants can no longer endure his rule and rise in rebellion, wouldn't that serve as even greater proof of his tyranny and incompetence?”

The more Li Qing thought about it, the more excited he became.

“Brother, why don't you just join me and rebel already?”

Li Shun simply ignored the suggestion and replied calmly, “The Imperial Mausoleum's sealed earth has been breached. This is no trivial matter. There's no way it will end so easily. The twin suns hanging in the sky and the Blood Guards' lockdown are probably only the beginning. Little Tuanzi, stay at home and keep your head down for the next few days.”

Li Qing nodded, though excitement still lingered in his eyes.

“I wonder what kind of hero it was. To actually break into the sealed earth grounds and emerge unharmed... I'd really like to meet someone like that.”

Halfway through his sentence, he noticed that Li Shun, the very person who had just ordered him to stay home, had already risen and stepped outside.

Stunned, he asked, “Brother, where are you going?”

“To pay Elder Wei a visit.”

Li Shun's appearance had done nothing to change the atmosphere in Dongshan Town.

Fear still hung over every street and alley.

The bustling crowds of the past were nowhere to be seen. The roads lay nearly deserted.

Following a familiar route, Li Shun soon arrived before Elder Wei's residence.

The gate was half-open.

He pushed it open and entered.

However, he did not see Elder Wei in the courtyard polishing that wooden sword branch as usual.

Instead, hearing faint sounds of air being cut somewhere in the rear courtyard, he followed the noise.

There, he saw Elder Wei standing alone.

The old man held the rough sword branch in his hand and moved it slowly through the air.

At first glance, an intense contradiction immediately arose in Li Shun's heart.

The movements appeared exceedingly slow to the naked eye.

Yet the transitions between one stance and the next were impossibly fast, surpassing all common sense.

It was as if the entire process between movements had been severed.

One moment, Elder Wei was in one posture.

The next moment, he had already appeared in another.

Standing beneath the eaves, Li Shun held his breath and watched.

The unfinished branch, still rough and unpolished, seemed to transform into an unrivaled divine sword in Elder Wei's hands.

Every movement of the blade appeared capable of illuminating the entire courtyard with invisible flashes of lightning.

Not a trace of killing intent leaked from any of the forms.

Yet as an observer, Li Shun felt an overwhelming pressure descend upon him.

Like a mountain collapsing overhead.

Like the heavens themselves were about to cave in.

The air seemed to be drawn from his lungs by the sword's edge.

Breathing became increasingly difficult.

An invisible weight settled onto his shoulders, causing his bones to creak faintly under the strain.

Clang.

A faint sword hum rang out.

Elder Wei's wrist halted.

The sword dance ended abruptly.

The oppressive clouds that seemed to have gathered above the courtyard instantly dispersed.

Only then did Li Shun exhale heavily.

To his astonishment, he discovered that despite merely standing and watching, his clothes had long since been soaked through with cold sweat.

“You managed to remain standing after watching my entire sword art.”

Without turning around, Elder Wei's aged voice drifted over.

“It seems your progress during this period has been considerable.”

“Within the sealed earth, one day outside is equivalent to a year inside. I've spent over twenty years within the sealed earth. It would be strange if I hadn't improved at all.”

After offering a few humble words, Li Shun asked,

“May I ask what this sword art is called, Elder Wei?”

The answer was simple and direct.

“Regicide.”

Li Shun fell silent.

For a moment, he had no idea how to respond.

After a brief pause, he finally spoke.

“When I entered the Imperial Mausoleum's earth grounds this time to retrieve Lu Tinglan's armor, I heard echoes from the past.”

While observing Wei Wuqi's expression, Li Shun recounted everything he had heard within Zhanghua City.

A subtle fluctuation appeared on Elder Wei's face.

“May I ask, Senior... was that young man surnamed Wei...?”

Elder Wei nodded immediately.

“That's right. The Lao Wei you heard in those conversations was me.”

“As for the other two, they were Mu Wujiu and Si Shaoqian.”

A trace of nostalgia flashed through his eyes.

It lasted only an instant before vanishing completely.

The coldness returned.

‘As expected.’

His suspicions confirmed, Li Shun was about to continue questioning him.

Yet Elder Wei interrupted before he could speak.

“Old matters are not worth discussing.”

“Since you're here today, you'll accompany me in practicing swordsmanship.”

Before his words had even finished, Elder Wei flicked his wrist.

The rough sword branch shot toward Li Shun like an arrow.

Instinctively, Li Shun reached out to catch it.

The moment it landed in his hand, his expression changed drastically.

For some reason, the seemingly ordinary piece of dead wood had become astonishingly heavy.

Caught off guard, he nearly dropped it.

Fortunately, the power within his body surged forth, allowing him to forcefully stabilize the branch once more.

“The Regicide Sword Art contains twenty-eight forms.”

“The First Form: Comrades.”

As Elder Wei spoke from the side, the branch in Li Shun's hand suddenly seemed to come alive.

It carried his body along automatically.

Streams of force struck various points across his body, correcting his posture and guiding his movements.

Like a puppet, Li Shun found himself involuntarily practicing the Regicide Sword Art within the courtyard.

“Trimming the Candle. Sweeping the Six Directions!”

The previously steady, flowing sword momentum abruptly turned cold and fierce.

“Winter Cicada. Questioning Bone. Solitary Awakening. Severing Hair!”

The sword path then veered into strange and unconventional angles.

Like a drunken man wielding a blade, his steps staggered as the sword intent descended into madness.

“Burning Books. Severing Principles. Deceiving Heaven. No Sovereign...”

As the sword art entered its third phase, terrifying killing intent erupted from the blade.

It felt as though even the will of heaven itself could be severed.

Yet when the sword art finally approached its concluding stage...

The world-destroying sword intent suddenly receded like a retreating tide.

“Forsaking Righteousness. Returning to Mortality. Endless Night...”

Elder Wei's cadence grew slower and slower.

Not a trace of killing intent remained.

Just as Li Shun had witnessed earlier, the old man appeared no different from an ordinary elderly villager casually waving a wooden stick in his courtyard.

“Old Friend...”

Elder Wei spoke the name of the twenty-eighth and final form.

Li Shun's body turned with the movement.

He suddenly realized that the opening stance of this final form was identical to the first form, Comrades.

There was no killing intent whatsoever.

Only flaws.

Countless flaws.

It resembled two old friends reunited after a long separation, exchanging techniques with smiles in a courtyard.

Yet during the final instant when the sword was thrust forward...

The terrifying killing intent accumulated, suppressed, and refined through all twenty-seven preceding forms erupted in an instant.

Like a mountain flood bursting through a shattered dam.

All of it exploded from that seemingly dull and clumsy sword tip.

Pfft!

The killing intent was far too sharp for Li Shun in his current state.

The sword branch flew from his grasp.

Struck as if by heavenly lightning, he violently spat out a mouthful of blood.

“Wrong.”

“The final form's killing intent should likewise remain concealed.”

“If even a trace of killing intent arises in your heart, you will never be able to kill the Qian Emperor.”

Standing with his hands behind his back, Elder Wei spoke in a calm, indifferent tone.

Then he reached into the air.

The flying branch instantly returned to his palm.