books44 Chapter 292 Turning Swords into Plowshares (2)
Chapter 292 Turning Swords into Plowshares (2)
Since then, Yun Li has been adopted by Huai Yan. After witnessing the destruction caused by human greed, Yun Li secretly vowed to retrieve and melt down all the demonic swords forged by her father.
"So you hate your father?" Alicia asked.
"Hate, of course I hate him." Yun Li took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "If he hadn't invented such a demonic sword, he wouldn't have met such an end. What I need to do now is to correct the mistakes he made in his lifetime. So, Miss Alicia... could you please not stop me?"
"What are you going to do?"
"The handover should be mostly complete now. Given the condition of the sword, it will likely be sent to the Engineering Department for repairs as soon as possible after the handover."
"So you're planning to steal that sword from the Imperial Workshop?"
"That's right! Even if I'm held accountable for stealing, I will destroy that sword. That's the vow I made back then!"
"Would you mind adding me as well?" Xing's voice rang out from the side.
"Xing, do you really need to go this far?" Yun Li refused. "I can handle this kind of thing by myself."
"How can I let a beautiful girl risk her life alone?"
“I didn’t rush you,” Alicia agreed. “Yun Li, you don’t need to bear all this alone.”
"But!"
"No buts, after all, you're a beautiful girl, and of course you can be a little willful as a beautiful girl."
"I……"
Before Yun Li could say anything, Alicia grabbed her arm, and the three of them arrived at the Industrial Construction Division under Xing's guidance.
Just then, the box containing the sword arrived, so she began her deceptive scheme, directly getting the craftsmen to open the sword box.
Surprisingly, the sword box did not contain the sword the three had imagined; it was empty. As a price, some rose petals were placed inside.
This is undoubtedly a very bad incident, and if it gets out, the reputation of the Immortal Ship will definitely be affected.
So everyone disregarded everything else and focused on finding the stolen sword.
Just as Yun Li and Xing were guessing who the murderer was, Alicia looked at the rose petals in the sword box and fell into deep thought.
“Perhaps I already have the answer,” Alicia said.
"Really? Who is the murderer who stole the sword?"
"Well, this is a secret for now. Come with me to a place first, and you'll find out when we get there."
With that, Alicia led the two back to the Starship Transportation Center. After wandering around for a while, they finally arrived at a port.
There, Yinzhi was sitting in a chair with her back to the three people. The sword was leaning against the side of the chair. The moment Qixing saw Yinzhi, he understood who the murderer who stole the sword was.
After all, the only person that rose petals can represent is Silver Branch. But why did Silver Branch steal the sword?
But Yun Li didn't care about any of that. She just sighed and walked towards the direction of Yin Zhi.
June 15, XXXX, 4:04 PM.
"Do you know how dangerous this sword is? Hand it over to us before it corrupts your consciousness."
"If you want to take the sword, you'll have to defeat me head-on." Silver Branch stood up, took out her spear, and slowly assumed a fighting stance.
"So you've really been controlled by that sword?"
Yun Li also took out her greatsword and assumed a fighting stance, but Yin Zhi shook her head.
“I was not manipulated. I simply heard the sword’s voice and chose to steal it out of respect for its will. However, due to the code of chivalry, I cannot commit acts such as theft or lying. That is why I left rose petals, which symbolize me, in the sword case.”
"So you deliberately let us find you?" Alicia asked.
"Yes, my goddess. If you can use your power to listen to the voice of this sword, you will understand what I mean."
Now that Alicia has regained her status as the Pure Star Goddess, she does indeed possess the ability to hear the voices of all things, but she needs to borrow some power from Kiana.
Following Silverbranch's advice, Alicia contacted Kiana and obtained a portion of her power from her. Then she heard the sword's inner voice.
"Is that so..."
"Miss Alicia, did you hear something?" Yun Li asked.
“I did hear the sword’s voice. It… that child is exhausted and just wants to rest. He doesn’t want to make another weapon to fight on the battlefield.”
"What do you mean?" Xing asked. "Are you saying that you no longer want to use that sword as a weapon to kill people?"
"Yes."
"How is that possible?" Yun Li said in disbelief. "Those swords are all demonic swords that are good at bewitching others to use them to kill enemies."
"Yun Li, can't you hear the sound of the sword? Why don't you calm down and listen to what it's saying?"
Although she was very reluctant to do so, Yun Li still followed Alicia's suggestion and removed the shield from the sword.
The next second, the sound of the sword reached Yun Li's ears. Just as Alicia had mentioned, the sound of the sword was full of weariness, unlike any of the demonic swords she had encountered before.
However, this might just be another trick the sword uses to bewitch people, so Yun Li still wanted to retrieve it. Only in this way could she confirm whether what the sword said was true.
Even though the misunderstanding seemed to have been cleared up, Yinzhi did not intend to hand the sword directly to Yunli.
After all, the Pure Knight is that kind of person; he always says what he means and doesn't mince words. Since he has already said that if you want to take the sword, you have to defeat him head-on, there is absolutely no way he would use any other means to hand the sword over to Yun Li and the others.
Xing understood the reasoning behind this, after all, she knew Yinzhi's personality all too well.
Looking back, she and Yinzhi became friends after a fight. If Pinocchio hadn't avoided a fight because the competition rules didn't require a fight, and Xing had persuaded Yinzhi by understanding her personality, then a fight with Yinzhi could have been avoided.
And now, unfortunately, there's no chance to persuade him anymore.
So Xing stepped forward, summoned his baseball bat, and stood with Yun Li. Yin Zhi raised an eyebrow, her expression becoming excited as well.
"Does my dear friend also want to join this duel?"
"What, do you feel it's unfair?" Xing teased.
"How could that be! It would be my honor to have another exhilarating battle with my best friend. I'd be overjoyed! I'm confident I can handle a mere one against two."
Since the other party had said so, Xing naturally joined the duel without hesitation.
"Since neither side has any objections, let this sacred duel begin under the witness of our goddess!"
After speaking, Yinzhi raised her spear high, and instantly four shields and swords appeared beside her.
"Watch out, my dear friend, this time I won't hold back. I'm going all out from the very beginning!"
Before she finished speaking, Yinzhi transformed into a silver afterimage and rushed towards Xing. Yunli immediately reacted and came in front of Xing, holding her greatsword horizontally in front of her.
"when!"
The spear in Yinzhi's hand clashed with Yunli's greatsword, producing a loud sound.
Then Yun Li exerted all her strength to push away Yin Zhi's spear, and then threw out her greatsword.
Unfortunately, the shield and sword that Yinzhi summoned deflected the flying greatsword in the next second. Yunli pushed off with both feet and caught her own greatsword in mid-air. Then, with Xing's help, she completed a spin in mid-air and slashed the greatsword in her hand at Yinzhi with the force of Mount Tai.
However, Yinzhi simply waved his spear casually, and with another clang of weapons clashing, Yunli was sent flying backward through the air.
These few rounds of exchanges alone are enough to show that Silver Branch's strength is extraordinary.
This also proves that what he said was true; he did indeed use his full strength from the very beginning.
Xing, who was assisting from the side, realized that if she didn't step up her game soon, they might really lose the duel.
So Xing stopped holding back and pushed the imaginary energy in his body to its limit, causing the baseball bat in his hand to glow with a blue light.
The next second, a strike imbued with all of Xing's energy struck Silver Branch's shield and sword. The shield and sword shattered after only a few seconds, and Xing, undeterred, swung his baseball bat toward Silver Branch's face.
However, Silver Branch possessed more than one shield and sword. The next moment, all the remaining shields and swords blocked Silver Branch's path. After destroying the other three shields and swords, the light from the baseball bat in Star's hand finally went out.
Seeing this, Yinzhi also thrust his spear at Xing without any hesitation. Xing did not hesitate at all and drew his lance to fight Yinzhi the moment he made his move.
In an instant, a powerful gust of air burst forth from the tips of their spears, creating a frenzied whooshing sound. Alicia reached out and tidied her wind-blown hair, continuing to watch this exciting duel.
Although he blocked the attack, Xing was not in a strong position.
With a sudden burst of force, Yinzhi broke the stalemate, and Xing was pulled back by the force.
The next second, a hat appeared on Xing's head, and the power of harmony flowed through her body, connecting her with Yun Li.
Yun Li understood and brandished her greatsword to confront Yin Zhi, but unfortunately, Yun Li's actual combat skills were ultimately slightly inferior to Yin Zhi's.
Even with Xing's help, they were only evenly matched with Yinzhi. In the end, it was Xing who took out his baseball bat again and turned the tide.
And so the duel went on for a very long time, with Silver Branch ultimately losing to the two's increasingly seamless teamwork.
Yinzhi, true to his word, turned around, took the sword in his hand, and solemnly handed it to Yunli.
"I won't say much now, but I still hope that Miss Yunli can make a decision after hearing the sword's story. I believe that you will change your mind after hearing its story. After all, I was also attracted by the beauty of this sword and wanted to fulfill its last wish."
"Of course I know what you're talking about, and I will also carefully check this sword."
After speaking, Yun Li began to concentrate on communicating with the consciousness within the sword. After all, the power of this sword originated from Sui Yang, and if one was not careful, one could easily be bewitched by it.
The Demon Sword knew where Yun Li's wariness came from, so it didn't say anything more. Only after obtaining Yun Li's consent did it pull Yun Li's consciousness into its memory space.
Thus, Yunli witnessed the magnificent yet weary life of the sword and its owner.
Initially, this sword, like the others, only wanted to take over its master's body. The Cloud Cavalryman was separated from his troops during a battle with the Buli people and was forced to crash-land on a planet.
There, the Cloud Cavalryman saw the oppressed indigenous people and had the idea of helping them.
In the eyes of the Demon Sword, it didn't matter what the Cloud Cavalryman wanted to do, since it would eventually take over his body anyway.
However, in the long years that followed, it and the Cloud Cavalry went through too many battles and witnessed the coldness and warmth of human nature.
During this time, the Demon Sword's heart also slowly changed. It found itself gradually growing to hate fighting. Instead, it actually wanted to live peacefully in a world with the Cloud Cavalry. To prevent the Cloud Cavalry from noticing anything amiss, it hid its true feelings.
In the end, the planet was at peace, and the Cloud Cavalry fulfilled his wish.
The Demon Sword should have been happy, but it was completely unmoved. In fact, when it learned that the Cloud Cavalry's lifespan was coming to an end and the Demonic Yin Body was about to flare up, it felt betrayed and angry for the first time.
This anger wasn't because the other party had tricked it into handing over its body intact. After all, even the body of the Demon Yin Body was no different to the Demon Sword. On the contrary, the body of the Demon Yin Body was even easier to control because the original owner's consciousness was in a state of chaos.
Even if it is suppressed, it can easily spend a long time to break the seal if it wants to.
It was angry that the other party did not tell it the truth, and angry that the Cloud Cavalry had never treated it as a comrade from beginning to end!
But the Cloud Cavalry's anger vanished at the last word, "friend," and turned into sorrow.
Exhausted, it eventually chose to seal itself away and silently guard its only master and its only friend until it died completely.
However, this wish was ultimately not fulfilled. With the arrival of Silver Branch and its identity being recognized, it was sent back to the Immortal Ship.
Its fate was to be repaired and then handed over to a new owner to continue on the battlefield, but it was too tired, too tired to want to return to the battlefield.
If it were to return to the battlefield, it would rather be utterly destroyed!
Perhaps Silver Branch heard its thoughts. After handing it over to the Workshop, Silver Branch secretly took it out of the sword box when no one was paying attention and brought it to the port, which led to what just happened.
"My story is over. Little girl, it's time for you to decide my fate." The weary voice of the Demon Sword echoed in Yun Li's ears.
After much deliberation, Yun Li finally made up her mind. Upon returning to reality, she took the Demon Sword and found Huai Yan, explaining the situation.
Huaiyan naturally knew that Yunli could hear the sword's thoughts, so he didn't doubt it too much and just silently asked Yunli for her solution.
In the end, Yun Li still put the demon sword into the furnace, but this time she did not fuse the demon sword with her greatsword as usual.
Instead, they forged it into a harp and took it to Golden Man Alley, where the delegation had planted golden branches themselves.
Looking at the branches that had now grown into saplings, everyone felt a mix of emotions.
But at least Yunli has fulfilled the Demon Sword's wish. It no longer has the ability to kill, and it can stay here with its master forever.
As for the prize for the martial arts ceremony, Huaiyan will have to forge another sword himself. After the commemoration, everyone prepared to leave.
Just as everyone turned around, a gentle breeze blew by, and the zither, reforged from the demonic sword, emitted melodious music, as if thanking Yun Li for everything she had done for it.