Objectively speaking, this collection room was almost larger than an average person’s living room. Deep red sandalwood cabinets stretched from ceiling to floor, covering three walls completely. Inside the cabinets were neatly arranged rows of antique collectibles.
Lacquerware, porcelain, pottery, bronze wares, plates, urns, vases, awls… A dazzling array of ancient objects shone under the delicate lights embedded in the sandalwood cabinets, showcasing their splendor to every visitor in this quiet collection room.
But all of this paled in comparison to the ancient sword resting quietly on a square display stand in the center of the room, nestled in deep red velvet.
–It was a bronze short sword covered in rust.
About two fingers wide and no more than 50 centimeters long, the sword handle was wrapped with circles of engravings, ending in two copper rings side by side at the base. Due to its age and material, the sword didn’t look particularly sharp, but rather dull.
Light and nimble due to its small size, yet seemingly heavy because of its thick blade, these two contrasting qualities registered in everyone’s senses.
The white light surrounding the square display stand illuminated the entire bronze short sword, revealing every detail of the weathered marks on its body. A continuous sword hum echoed throughout the collection room.
An Xiaoxi led everyone over and pointed, introducing, “This sword is called Chengyuan. It’s said to be at least 700-800 years old, and should be the artifact you’re looking for…”
Hum…
The sword’s resonance grew clearer.As they approached, they realized that the bronze short sword wasn’t lying on the display stand, but hovering slightly above it, about a finger’s width away from the deep red velvet.
It trembled continuously in mid-air, its long resonance echoing in the space, carrying an indescribable sense of desolation.
Xue Hao and the others’ eyes immediately lit up.
They eagerly gathered around it. “It’s actually an ancient bronze sword! This type of weapon-class artifact is top-tier in both lethality and practicality!”
Especially for Shi Cheng, who had dreamed of being a sword immortal since childhood, his eyes were practically glued to the sword. The sword he had previously spent a fortune to acquire through underground channels instantly lost its appeal.
Now his only concern was that the price of this sword might exceed their initial expectations, and also…
“Why would you want to sell such a great sword?” He could barely understand An Xiaoxi’s actions. Even though it was her decision that gave them the opportunity to acquire this sword, he still couldn’t help but ask, his tone confused and distressed, “You don’t seem like you’re short on money!”
Hum…
Suddenly, the ancient bronze sword let out another resonance, as if agreeing with Shi Cheng’s words, protesting its fate of being sold.
The Ji siblings also nodded repeatedly on the side, quite perplexed.
Their experience in the Sword Realm had given them considerable insight into cold weapons, and they could naturally see that this was an excellent sword.
Even though it was covered in rust due to the erosion of time, making one worry it might break with a single strike, perhaps due to its transformation into an artifact, the sword’s surface emanated an almost imperceptible aura. Even in the Sword Realm, it would be considered the embryonic form of a divine weapon.
Despite the current flourishing of martial arts, Yao Country’s regulations on cold weapons had become even stricter. Many martial artists practiced with wooden swords and knives. To buy metal weapons legally, one needed to apply with their ID, explain the purpose, and approval wasn’t guaranteed. Countless martial arts practitioners yearned for a suitable weapon but couldn’t obtain one. It was truly puzzling that someone would want to sell such a treasure. Thinking this, they looked at An Xiaoxi with great confusion.
An Xiaoxi just smiled helplessly. “It’s indeed a fine sword, but unfortunately, no one in our family can use it.”
“My grandfather is over 70 years old now. Although he’s learned some health-preserving martial arts, wielding swords would be too much for him. As for me…” At this point, her beautiful eyes showed a hint of uncertainty, “This path has never been part of my future plans.”
Born into a traditional scholarly family, she had been taught the four arts of the Chinese scholar – music, chess, calligraphy, and painting – since childhood. Elegance, beauty, grace, and poise were what her family hoped she would embody. Neither her family nor she herself had ever associated cold weapons like swords with her image.
That uncertainty quickly faded, and An Xiaoxi smiled with resignation. “This sword in my hands is just a hidden gem. It can only serve as a decoration. It’s better to let someone more suitable use it.”
The soft light in the collection room illuminated her floral long dress. With her long hair like clouds and a smile that exuded an indescribable elegance, standing against the background of antique-filled sandalwood cabinets, she looked as if she had stepped out of a painting of an ancient noble lady from hundreds of years ago.
Ji Nian opened her mouth, then closed it again.
Although she felt it was a pity to sell such an artifact, well… okay, a young lady with such a gentle temperament indeed didn’t seem suited for wielding swords. Besides, there was no rule stating that everyone must love martial arts in this era of spiritual revival.
Moreover, they were the buyers this time. Why were they trying to persuade the seller not to sell? Feeling that something was wrong with her thinking, she patted her forehead and decided to change the subject. “Can we pick it up and take a look?”
“Of course,” An Xiaoxi agreed readily, then suddenly remembered something. “You are real martial artists who have cultivated internal energy, right?”
“Yes, both my brother and I are,” Ji Nian smiled, pointing at her brother. She was a bit curious why An Xiaoxi asked this question. Seeing An Xiaoxi let out a small sigh of relief, she continued, “Feel free to look. However, this sword might not be very obedient. Be careful when touching it…”
“How is it disobedient?” Ji Nian’s interest was piqued. Without much thought, she reached out to grab the bronze short sword. But just as her fingers were about to touch the hilt, her hand twitched, and she suddenly pulled back as if shocked.
An Xiaoxi’s answer came at the same moment. “It releases sword energy…” Before she could finish, she noticed the impulsive Ji Nian and was stunned.
…Was it already too late?
“Hiss—”
Ji Nian sucked in a cold breath, bringing her palm close to her eyes. Sure enough, there was a tiny wound on her index finger, as if it had been lightly brushed by a sharp piece of paper, leaving a red mark.
She finally understood what An Xiaoxi meant by “might not be very obedient.”
“Are you alright?” Hearing An Xiaoxi’s anxious question, Ji Nian casually blew on her finger. “It’s nothing, it’s nothing. Good thing I reacted quickly. Looks like this sword won’t be easily contained.”
An Xiaoxi sighed in relief, but her eyebrows furrowed again. “It seems I thought too simply…”
Since the emergence of artifacts until now, apart from the nameless and faceless deity statue that had caused significant impact, most discovered artifacts seemed to have evolved from ordinary items. Although they were all strange and unique, their power was generally not too great yet.
It seemed they were like the minor spirits and monsters in myths and legends that had just gained sentience – with low cultivation and little advantage against martial artists who had physical and mental strength far beyond ordinary people due to their internal energy cultivation. So most artifacts were easily contained.
Perhaps the only troublesome aspect was their unpredictable nature. Before fully understanding them, it was easy to make mistakes.
This bronze short sword, according to An Xiaoxi, didn’t have any strange properties. However, anyone who tried to touch or grasp it would be attacked by invisible sword energy.
Currently, An Xiaoxi was the only one who could touch it without being attacked. Even she couldn’t explain why. If artifacts were so easily understood, they wouldn’t be called artifacts.
Hearing this, Xue Hao and the others became intrigued. “That’s amazing. Could this sword have a sword spirit? Let me try.”
“Me too, me too.”
“Let me give it a shot.”
They took turns trying, and indeed, all of them had the same experience as Ji Nian. The moment they touched the ancient bronze sword, their fingers felt as if cut by a razor blade. The faint pain made them instinctively withdraw their hands. They had no doubt that if they hadn’t pulled back, it would have been more than just a slight sting from invisible sword energy.
Shi Cheng, who had fantasized about being the chosen one, received the same treatment as his companions. He shook his stinging finger and gaped, “Isn’t this just like the blood recognition in fantasy novels? It seems this sword has chosen you and completely ignores others!” His gaze towards An Xiaoxi was full of the resentment a loser might feel towards a protagonist. He deflated completely, “I feel like I shouldn’t have come on this trip…”
He had dreamed of being a sword immortal since childhood, spent years searching for his golden finger in antique markets without giving up, and read countless Taoist classics. Yet he still couldn’t cultivate even a wisp of internal energy. And now, someone who had a divine sword and chose them but didn’t even want it and found it troublesome…
…This shouldn’t be possible, at least it shouldn’t.
“This is what you call sending yourself to be slaughtered! I have reason to suspect you deliberately tricked us here to be discouraged.”
Shi Cheng’s soul-crushed expression caught An Xiaoxi off guard. Had she really caused such a severe shock to him? She waved her hands apologetically, “I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to. I’m not interested in martial arts cultivation, let alone sword practice. Although they say spiritual energy is reviving and the era of extraordinary beings is coming, there are still so many ordinary people without martial talent. As long as the national order remains, I think ordinary people will have their own way of life too.”
The trajectory of her life for over twenty years and the direction of effort she had persisted in for so long were not easily abandoned.
“So that’s how it is? If you want to be an ordinary person, that’s fine…” Although Xue Hao and the others didn’t understand, they agreed with her reasoning. Buying the sword was out of the question now, but since they had met, they started giving her advice. “But since this sword has chosen you, it might be hard to get rid of easily. Even if someone with high martial cultivation could suppress this sword, if they used it in battle and it suddenly released sword energy, it would be like having a mole! I guess no one would want to fight enemies while gripping a razor blade.”
“That’s right, you should give up on selling it. Your villa’s collection room is so big, if you don’t want to practice martial arts, you might as well just keep it here. Just treat it as an antique.”
An Xiaoxi wavered a bit, but then thought, “Maybe that’s the only option, but keeping it at home might not be easy either. Before this, there were actually three bronze swords in the collection room. But the day after the Chengyuan sword became an artifact, those three bronze swords all shattered.”
She had discovered those fragments while organizing the collection room for her grandfather, which was when she noticed that the Chengyuan sword had become an artifact.
At first, she thought something had happened during the Chengyuan sword’s transformation, accidentally shattering the other swords with some unintentional force. Just like in those Xianxia novels, where monster transformations often involved raging winds and invisible power vortexes.
But not long ago, her grandfather had acquired another ancient sword. As soon as it was placed in the collection room, it was shattered by invisible sword energy. This made An Xiaoxi suspect that it was the Chengyuan sword’s doing.
“… A few nights ago, it suddenly went berserk in the collection room. Several antiques were damaged by the sword energy, and there are still scratch marks on the door. Grandfather was awakened in the middle of the night and was very worried. If this continues and the Chengyuan sword’s power grows stronger, destroying the collection room would be the least of our concerns. It could endanger everyone. That’s why he reluctantly decided to let it go and asked me to find a suitable person to take the sword as soon as possible.”
Xue Hao and the others finally realized the severity of the situation. Such a powerful weapon, if not intended for use, would indeed be dangerous to keep at home. Ji Heng raised his hand, “It seems we can only hand it over to the government. I happen to know someone, so I can help you contact the Special Investigation Division for containment?”
Many people prefer private transactions for artifacts and are reluctant to involve officials, mainly because the government’s purchase prices are not as high as private deals. Some people also like to imagine that official institutions forcibly seize items…
“The official purchase price is indeed a bit lower, but the safety is guaranteed. Even if no one can use this sword and it has to be sealed, I believe the Special Investigation Division won’t allow such a lethal artifact to remain in circulation.”
“I guess that’s the only option,” An Xiaoxi nodded hesitantly.
Her gaze swept over the bronze short sword, her eyes tinged with an indescribable regret.
She had hoped to find a suitable master for the Chengyuan sword, to give it a chance to shine in battle… but would it just be moved from one collection room to another?
For some reason, she felt inexplicably melancholic.
Just as Ji Heng had taken out his phone and was dialing Li Fufeng’s private number, a shrill alarm suddenly sounded.
The noise continued incessantly, echoing throughout the entire villa.
“It’s the villa’s security system being triggered,” An Xiaoxi suddenly jolted. “Has a stranger broken in?”
Based on experience, she keenly sensed something was wrong. “There are security guards hired from a security company in the villa. If it were just someone who wandered in by mistake, or a few thieves, it wouldn’t be a problem. The alarm wouldn’t sound for this long without being cancelled. Something must have happened!”
Thinking of her grandfather still in his room, her face slightly changed.
“… Let’s go check it out!”
Xue Hao and the others also reacted quickly, rushing towards the collection room’s door. After a few steps, Ji Nian, with her hearing far more acute than normal people, suddenly stopped. She grabbed Xue Hao who was about to crash into her from behind, while Ji Heng instinctively reached out to hold back the other two. The siblings simultaneously flattened themselves against the wall.
“Wait, someone’s coming!”
Bang!
Just as they pressed against the wall, the heavy door of the collection room was violently pushed open, and people burst in.
One, two, three, four…
The group, plastered to the wall, stared in shock at the sudden intruders, seemingly frozen in fear.
As their eyes swept over the strangers who had suddenly barged in, they noticed the exceptionally thick aura emanating from some of them, as well as their hostile expressions. Their hearts sank as they realized the gravity of the situation.
— Martial arts practitioners!
— And four experts at that!
Tick, tock.
The collection room fell into dead silence. A deep red liquid with the scent of blood dripped from the intruders’ fingers, soaking into the red carpet.
That was… blood!
Realizing this, An Xiaoxi’s heart skipped a beat, and she couldn’t help but lean back against the wall.
“Don’t move.” The leader noticed her movement, his gaze as cold and sharp as a hawk’s. He seemed to smile, but there was not a hint of warmth in it. “Stay quiet and cooperate, and we won’t take your lives.”
He raised a hand, making a circular gesture towards the room full of collectibles. Sticky fresh blood dripped from his palm, but his expression remained unchanged as he ordered the others.
“Move quickly, take everything here! Be careful not to knock or bump anything!”
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