Chapter 79 — Seven
劍問蒼天 · Page 4 of 6
The old man nodded and said softly, "Cangsong, is it! His eye for a disciple is keen enough, heh heh."
Even as he spoke, he reached out a trembling hand and grasped the Slaying Dragon Sword where it stood thrust into the earth before him.
Watching his slow movements, Lin Jinghong suddenly tensed, as if some expectation stirred within him too, and he found himself holding his breath.
Those two withered, aged palms—how many frosts and winds they must have weathered—as they once more touched the hard, cold hilt, and then closed tight upon it!
From within the Ancestral Hall there suddenly came a faint, mournful sound of bells and cauldrons.
"Clang—"
Of a sudden, the Slaying Dragon Sword, dim but a moment before, blazed up with emerald radiance, a light so full it was like the proud sun of the sky, blinding and not to be looked upon! The old man slowly drew the sword forth, and with each inch it seemed to tremble with agitation, a dragon's chant unceasing, that soul-shaking sound rolling out and soaring straight to the nine heavens.
The old man straightened himself and slowly laid the sword, now ablaze with emerald light, before him, stroking it gently with his hand. That hand, weathered by the years and calloused, moved as tenderly as if caressing a beloved woman.
The Slaying Dragon Sword keened, and even Lin Jinghong and the demon cultists, far off as they were, felt the sword's sudden, almost living agitation.
Lin Jinghong stared blankly at the Slaying Dragon Sword he could scarcely recognize, radiating incomparable, brilliant glory in the old man's hand. And that withered old man, now that he gripped this divine blade, seemed himself transformed; an invisible majesty poured out from him, as if he were the sword-god of ancient legend.
"Child, watch closely. The Slaying Dragon Sword is not used as you were using it!" the old man said faintly amid the surging, billowing emerald light.
The words had scarce fallen when the emerald radiance burst forth in an instant, and the whole open ground was in that moment cloaked in green, sky and earth alike. Amid a keen whistling, the Slaying Dragon Sword flew from the old man's hand, darting out like a flash of lightning.
The demon cultists, seeing the old man's overawing presence, had long been on their guard; now with a shout they drove their treasures up to attack together—only Zhou Yin stood at the very back, brows tightly knit, and did not move.
The three almost used the same method as before against Lin Jinghong: the halberd attacking head-on, the flying sword rising up, the white bone sword poised to strike by stealth. But the old man paid the yellow flying sword and the white bone sword no heed at all; the Slaying Dragon Sword became a pillar of light like a mountain, sweeping on with the force of seas and mountains. The demon cultist who wielded the halberd paled in fright and hastily raised his halberd to parry—but with a single crisp sound the Slaying Dragon Sword, as if slicing ice and cutting snow, sheared the halberd clean in two and, without the slightest pause, came cleaving down upon his head.
"Ssst—"
Before Lin Jinghong's gaping eyes, and in the horror-stricken gaze of all, that demon cultist was split clean in two from head to foot, blood raining down. And scarce pausing, amid that sky full of gore, the emerald radiance—now almost demonic—reversed and swept toward the other two.
The flying sword and white bone sword that had been attacking the old man were now stricken with terror; how dared they attack further? At once they shot back, urgently recalling their treasures. But the Slaying Dragon Sword's keen radiance filled the heavens and arrived in a blink, crashing into them before the eyes of all.
There was scarce even a cry of alarm; the green light swallowed the two of them, and in an instant the sound of shattering burst forth—what befell those two within, none could tell.
Cold sweat poured down Lin Jinghong; his reason was all but overwhelmed!