The shopkeeper knocked on the door and brought in a basin of water for Li Xiu to wash his face. Li Xiu quickly washed and changed the water, and Xiao Zhao followed closely behind him.
He then continued to think about the strange possibilities of the Yitian sword.
Last night he had also looked through the Yitian sword and saw that there was nothing strange about the magical array inscriptions on it, at least on the surface.
As for the material problem...
There are many versions of the Yitian sword and its origins are not all the same. Li Xiu only remembers some of the content of the movie version, but this part is particularly blurry in his memory.
"Hey, if you're so interested in the Yitian Sword, do you know its history? Tell me about it." Li Xiu turned to Xiao Zhao.
Xiao Zhao's mind raced. This seemed to be a piece of knowledge that few people in the martial arts world were unaware of. Did this wicked man really not know which hidden sect in the deep mountains it came from? Or was he testing something?
Li Xiu knew that whether Xiao Zhao was truly obedient or just trying to relax his vigilance, she would certainly speak up. So he was in no hurry.
As expected, after a brief hesitation, Xiao Zhao slowly began to speak.
"This goes back several decades. The Guo Jing couple used a piece of black iron from the Divine Archer as the main material and the finest gold from around the world as the auxiliary material to publicly forge a sword and a blade."
"The blade was named Dragon-Slaying Saber and the sword was named Yitian. They were both unparalleled divine weapons."
"Later, there were even rumors that the supreme being in the martial arts world, wielding the treasure blade Dragon-Slaying Saber, could command the world and no one dared to defy them. If Yitian Sword did not appear, who would dare to challenge it?"
"Since then, the martial arts world in the Central Plains has been in constant conflict over the straightforward and most attractive Dragon-Slaying Saber, resulting in countless bloody storms. On the other hand, the Yitian Sword, which originally had its own master, was neglected and has remained safe and sound in the hands of the Emei Sect, one of the six major sects in the Central Plains."
"Until... the Golden Haired Lion King of the Demon Cult, Xie Xun, seized the Dragon-Slaying Saber and disappeared without a trace. After the five major sects of the Central Plains jointly besieged Wudang and killed the Zhang Cuishan couple, Zhang Sanfeng saw that the Emei Sect's Master had poor conduct and took the Yitian Sword, announcing that he would keep it for seven years."
"Just a few days ago, news spread in the martial arts world that Zhang Sanfeng was in seclusion and accompanied by Wudang's second-generation disciples as bodyguards. That's when I decided to go to Wudang and try to use the Yitian Sword to break my cold iron chains."
"But who would have thought, I couldn't even get the Yitian Sword..."
Li Xiu wasn't particularly concerned about the fact that Xiao Zhao intentionally hid her identity in this story. However, the story did give Li Xiu a good understanding of many things and also triggered some memories.
It seems that black iron is meteorite iron. He wasn't sure what fine gold was, but it caught his attention. And it sounded like the Guo Jing couple used all the fine gold in the world at that time.
"Xiao Zhao, what is fine gold? Was there no more in the world afterwards?"
"I don't know. Fine gold is a term that the Guo Jing couple used. I heard that later, many sword smiths tried to find fine gold to forge magic weapons, but after searching through ancient records and traveling all over the world, they never found a single piece."
"So it really is a one-of-a-kind in the world. That's strange. Where did the Guo Jing couple get it from?"
Li Xiu couldn't help but wonder, muttering to himself.
He was thinking to himself, but Xiao Zhao's thoughts had already wandered elsewhere.
"I know, you want to find the Dragon-Slaying Saber to dominate the martial arts world!"
"Without the Yitian Sword, who can compete with the Dragon-Slaying Saber? You should take the Yitian first, and then find the Dragon-Slaying Saber. When you have both swords, you will have the power to control the entire martial arts world. You are truly cunning, cunning..."
Xiao Zhao's eyes flickered as she murmured her guesses, feeling that she had figured out Li Xiu's intentions. Her voice became louder.
But then she seemed to snap out of it, fearing that the wicked man in front of her would kill her to keep his ambition a secret. She realized she had spoken too much and her voice gradually became weaker, while she looked at Li Xiu with a timid expression, still trembling with fear.
Li Xiu looked at her comical appearance, but shook his head silently, indicating that she was completely wrong.
Having been heard and fully refuted, Xiao Zhao's temper flared up.
"Don't try to be clever! Do you dare to say you have no thoughts about the Dragon+Slaying Saber? The Yitian Sword is already so powerful, and the secrets hidden within the Dragon-Slaying Saber are even more astonishing. Who in the martial arts world wouldn't want it?"
Upon hearing this, Li Xiu frowned and keenly caught onto two words.
"Hidden? Does that mean that the Dragon-Slaying Saber itself is not as good as the Yitian Sword?"
Now, Xiao Zhao truly doubted whether this man had crawled out of some remote mountain or forest.
"Of course, the Dragon-Slaying Saber itself is not as good as the Yitian Sword. However, there is a secret about the Dragon-Slaying Saber in the martial arts world that makes it even better than the Yitian Sword, so it is the ultimate proof of supremacy in the martial arts world."
Li Xiu fell into thought again. If both swords were made from the same materials and came from the same furnace, why was the Dragon-Slaying Saber itself not as good as the Yitian Sword?
But upon closer thought, it made sense. If the Dragon-Slaying Saber had the same extraordinary abilities as the Yitian Sword, then Xie Xun would have already been the top expert in the world and would not have been chased after even if he had the Dragon-Slaying Saber.
As for the secret of the Dragon-Slaying Saber, Li Xiu knew it well. It contained the Wu Mu Legacy, the strange and mysterious martial arts techniques written by Yue Fei, while the Yitian Sword contained the Nine Yin Manual and the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms.
These were the basic foundations of the Yitian Sword, just like how Zhang Wuji was definitely the grandson of Zhang Sanfeng. He believed that these things would not change.
The Yitian Sword was no longer simply a sharp sword, but a divine weapon that could increase one's martial arts abilities. It was no wonder that the noble martial arts sects in the movie were almost maniacally obsessed with obtaining the Dragon-Slaying Saber.
As for why the Yitian Sword was so strange, Li Xiu couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he thought about it.
He decided not to think about it anymore and to start his own plan instead, after all, time does not wait for anyone.
"Let's pack up and go," Li Xiu suddenly said.
Xiao Zhao asked, "Go where?"
Li Xiu didn't pay attention to her and only focused on packing up, so Xiao Zhao didn't ask any more questions.
After Li Xiu packed up his silver, he put the two secret books and the clothes and miscellaneous items he had previously bought into a bag and slung it over his shoulder, then left the inn with Xiao Zhao, who was limping.
They bought some dry food and hired a good carriage, and everything was ready to go.
Previously, Xiao Zhao had suggested buying two sets of clothes to change into, and Li Xiu had agreed, but when she asked to go to the hospital to treat her injuries, Li Xiu refused. Xiao Zhao's broken bones would not worsen her injuries because she practiced internal martial arts, and her injured leg would save Li Xiu a lot of trouble.
The carriage driver drove the carriage, and Li Xiu lay on one side, studying sword techniques while Xiao Zhao, who had nothing to do and whose reasonable request had been brutally rejected, returned to her angry look of wanting to stare Li Xiu to death with her eyes.
During his leisure time, Li Xiu found Xiao Zhao's immaturity amusing, and he was usually immersed in sword and boxing manuals, so he ignored her on the road.
However, if a rough-looking man had treated him this way, Li Xiu would have slapped him and knocked his head off. It must be said that the love of beautiful things is always one of human nature, and of course, when Li Xiu is angry and the timing requires it, these can be abandoned.
On the way, Li Xiu told Xiao Zhao to remind him if they passed any sects or guilds. If there were none, it didn't matter, but if there were, Li Xiu would take Xiao Zhao to the door and search for secret books.
These were all small and medium sects, and Li Xiu let the big sects go, because it would take a long time and he was afraid of stirring up a hornet's nest.
Xiao Zhao also asked Li Xiu what he was doing, and Li Xiu said with a proud and serious expression that he was collecting the best of the martial arts and determined to create a supreme martial art that would dominate the world.
Of course, he was just making this up on the spot, but Li Xiu couldn't say that he was searching for secret books in order to desperately improve his martial arts foundation and fill in his knowledge of martial arts.
After all, in Xiao Zhao's eyes, he was an amazing martial artist, a skilled and clever master who was between Zhang Sanfeng and Bo Zhong.