Chapter 2283: Drawing The Saber
The broken saber was stabbed deep into the ground, pinning the chained jiao to the earth. Even if the blade did not release any pressure, it was still a terrifying sight to behold.
The members of the Xia family stepped out from beneath the jiao, making their way towards Xia Xing while maintaining arrogant expressions on their faces. It was nearly time for them to worship their ancestors.
A short ways away, Xia Zhitong and the other eleven people were forced to kneel on the ground. They were being treated as criminals, and they would receive judgment after the ceremony.
At this moment, Xia Xing glanced over at Lu Yin and nodded.
Lu Yin took a deep breath and stepped forward. The Xia family was offering Yu Hao compensation for what he had suffered, and it was time for Lu Yin to step out and accept it.
Wu Yao’s eyes narrowed, and he stared at “Yu Hao.” The Semi-Progenitor was feeling a bit uneasy. This man had already pledged to Progenitor Bai that he would join the Celestial Frost Sect, yet he was still participating in the Xia family's ceremony to worship their ancestors, and he was even doing so in front of everyone. Nothing had been discussed with Wu Yao, but what could he even say at this moment?
Semi-Progenitor Chai frowned when he saw “Yu Hao” step forward to participate in the Xia family's ceremony. Was this because Yu Hao was still considered the Xia family’s son-in-law, or was he publicly stating his decision?
As far as outsiders were concerned, the Xia family’s ceremony was not very important. They were far more concerned with what happened with Yu Hao.
"Professor!" Nong Siniang could not remain silent. She had been speaking with her own family in recent days, and the Nong family was desperate to stop Yu Hao from joining any of the four ruling powers, but they had no idea how to go about accomplishing such a thing.
Lu Yin looked over and gave Nong Siniang a smile, and he also glanced at the God of Food. Mr. Tang, Prof. Wei, and Virtue Archives’ students were all there as well. "I’ll be back soon."
He then briefly glanced at Wu Yao before continuing on towards Xia Xing.
Although Wu Yao’s and Lu Yin’s eyes had met, the old man had not been able to understand what “Yu Hao” was trying to communicate. Still, a glance at such a critical time could be regarded as an attempt to explain things, and it greatly reassured Wu Yao.
However, both Semi-Progenitor Chai and Mr. Yu had also noticed the exchange, and the two looked at each other right before looking at Wu Yao. What was going on between Wu Yao and Yu Hao? He had only looked at Wu Yao, so had he already joined the Celestial Frost Sect, or was there something else?
No one could understand what “Yu Hao” was doing, including even Xia Xing, who was cooperating with Lu Yin.
Lu Yin slowly walked towards Xia Xing. As an outsider who could only be considered the Xia family’s son-in-law as he had married a member of a branch family, Yu Hao was not qualified to proceed very far. By all rights, he should remain behind all the members of the Xia family’s branch families who were qualified to attend the ceremony, which should place him behind thousands of people.
However, Yu Hao continued on, and he walked past every single person present. He even passed Xia Shenguang, showing no sign of slowing down.
Xia Shenguang’s brow furrowed, as he was not at all happy with this development, but other than the slight change in his expression, he refrained from displaying his dissatisfaction.
In the past, Yu Hao would have been completely unqualified to do this, but at present, the situation was very, very different to before. Yu Hao had a status in Shenwu's Sky that was no worse than Xia Shenfei’s.
Lu Yin did not stop walking until he stood next to Xia Shenfei. He did not step past Xia Shenfei, but he also made sure that he was not even slightly behind the man.
Xia Shenfei looked over at “Yu Hao.” He had not had anything to drink for the day, so he was quite alert and aware. "Congratulations on passing the Sky Beyond the Sky trial. It’s possible our ancestor will accept you as his disciple."
Lu Yin smiled. "I can only hope."
"Do you want to become sworn brothers?" Xia Shenfei suddenly asked.
Lu Yin caught off guard. "You’re asking about that again?"
"It's just a pity we didn't formalize things back then," Xia Shenfei replied.
Lu Yin's eyes flickered. "Alright. When?"
Xia Shenfei's eyes glinted with a cold light. "Right now. We’ll use your blood and mine to establish a bond of sworn brothers. From now on, we’ll live and die together and be united in all things."
Lu Yin’s fingers twitched as he stared at Xia Shenfei. The young man stared straight back at “Yu Hao.”
What Xia Shenfei was suggesting was not the normal manner in which two men would become sworn brothers, as it was instead a ceremony that would use the blood of both participants. However, Lu Yin possessed the blood of the Lu family.
Each family’s bloodline possessed its own unique characteristics. For example, the Xia family’s blood could allow a person to obtain the battle techniques of the Xia family. Xia Xing had told Lu Yin that Progenitor Chen had most likely obtained the Nine Clones Secret Technique in that manner. The Xia family possessed a powerful bloodline, but the Lu family’s blood was far stronger.
If the two men performed the ceremony to bind themselves together with their blood, Lu Yin would be instantly exposed when the Lu family's blood suppressed the Xia family's blood. Even an idiot would understand that the Yu family's blood could never compare to the Xia family's. The Yu family possessed perfectly common blood.
The only bloodline in the universe that could unilaterally suppress the Xia family’s blood belonged to the Lu family.
Lu Yin was absolutely certain that the Xia family was very familiar with the Lu family's blood.
Xia Shenfei was testing “Yu Hao” yet again. It was the final test before the offering would be given to the ancestors.
"Alright," Lu Yin agreed.
Xia Shenfei's eyes flickered. He had always been suspicious of Yu Hao. The Semi-Progenitors had verified that Yu Hao was not using any sort of disguise, and Yu Hao was confirmed to be aware of the previous exchange between Xia Shenfei and Yu Hao, but Xia Shenfei still questioned the possibility that the Yu Hao in front of him was an impostor. No matter what, Yu Hao had risen too quickly and shown too much progress since he had reappeared. It all seemed impossible.
After all of that, Yu Hao had even passed the Sky Beyond the Sky trial.
One coincidence could truly be a coincidence, but ten became something else.
Xia Shenfei enjoyed drinking, but his mind actually worked better when he was drunk. In some ways, things became clearer to him when he was drunk.
Xia Shenfei had been able to see through Wu Taibai's thoughts, which was why he had almost killed Wu Taibai. On the other hand, Xia Shenfei could not see through Yu Hao, which made no sense at all.
No matter how drastically a person might change, there were certain limitations that could not be broken, but Yu Hao had become a dragon carousing in the sky high above, surpassing all of his peers. The transformation was too extreme for Xia Shenfei to accept.
"Shenfei, this ceremony is for our ancestors. Even if you wish to perform your own ceremony, you’ll need to wait until after we finish paying our respects to the ancestors." Xia Xing immediately stopped the two young men. The sect master was aware of Lu Yin's true identity, and if the blood pact were made, Lu Yin would instantly be exposed, which would not be good at all.
Xia Shenfei replied, "Father, our ceremony has already been altered to include the punishment of several people, so including our pact should only enhance the ceremony. Why would we not want to make today as grand as possible?"
"Don’t be absurd. We can discuss your blood pact after the ceremony is finished. Even disregarding the fact that our ancestor may accept Yu Hao as a disciple, the two of you are from different generations. We’ll speak of this matter later," Xia Xing firmly declared.
Xia Shenfei gave Xia Xing an odd look. There was no logical reason to deny the blood pact during the ceremony, so why had Xia Xing refused Xia Shenfei’s request twice in a row?
Xia Ziheng was feeling rather surprised. "Sect master-"
Xia Xing cut the Semi-Progenitor off with a raised hand. "Nothing is as important as this ceremony to honor our ancestors. Everything else can be discussed later."
He then looked over at “Yu Hao.” "Yu Hao, just stand to the side and watch during the ceremony and the Saber Ritual. You will be allowed to settle your affairs after the Saber Ritual."
Lu Yin answered respectfully, "As you say, Sect Master."
He let out an internal sigh of relief. Fortunately, Xia Xing was helping, as he would have otherwise already been exposed during this ceremony.
Did Lu Yin have some sort of innate bad luck with ceremonies that honored the ancestors? Or was it possible that the ancestors were actually keeping an eye on their descendants?
Lu Yin had been initially exposed during the ceremony to honor the White Dragon Clan’s ancestors, and he had almost been exposed during the Xia family’s ceremony just now as well. He decided that it would likely be best to avoid similar ceremonies in the future.
The Xia family held their ceremony every ten years because of the Saber Ritual. It was a tradition that had continued for countless years.
The so-called “Saber Ritual” referred to members of the Xia family attempting to draw out Progenitor Xia Chan’s broken saber. The Xia family believed that, as long as one of them could draw the broken saber, they would be acknowledged by their ancestor, and the test was regarded as a demonstration of the talent and potential of the family members.
From ancient times to the present, only one member of the Xia family had ever managed to draw the broken saber: Xia Shenji, a genius who had lived during the Daosource Sect era at the same time as the masters of the Nine Mountains and Eight Seas. While Xia Shenji himself had never inherited a Mountain and Sea, he had still been the only person to have drawn the saber throughout the countless years, and he had also captured and imprisoned the jiao.
Despite never inheriting a Mountain and Sea, the Xia family had always regarded Xia Shenji as someone on the same level as the masters of the Mountains and Seas.
The broken saber carried the faith of the entire Xia family.
Lu Yin stood where he was, and Xia Shenfei did the same. Neither of the two moved while the rest of the Xia family’s youths started making their way towards the broken saber, including even Xia Shenguang.
"Brother Xia, you don't want to try?" Lu Yin asked.
Xia Shenfei laughed. "I've already tried many times before. If I could draw the saber, I would have done so on my first attempt. Since I wasn’t able to do it before, I still won’t."
Lu Yin stared at the massive form of the broken saber. It was large enough that it towered high into the sky. One by one, the descendants of the Xia family climbed atop the saber and approached the hilt. They each grabbed hold with both hands and tried to draw the blade, but no matter what happened, the saber seemed as immovable as the Mother Tree itself. Lu Yin could not understand how Progenitor Xia Shenji had drawn the saber all those years before.
"Back when I first tried to draw the saber, I knew that it was impossible for me the moment I first touched the hilt—the blade simply didn't recognize me." Xia Shenfei took out a gourd filled with wine and started to drink. It did not take long for his eyes to regain a haziness.
Lu Yin asked, "Is there something hidden to the saber?"
"Yes. Anyone who touches that blade’s hilt will experience the same feeling.
“How should I describe it? Could an ordinary human move a mountain or fill a sea? It's that sort of impossibility that I felt, but even stronger. After all, given enough time, a man might be able to move a mountain or fill a sea, but even if I become a Progenitor, I know that I would never be able to draw the saber. That was the feeling that I experienced," Xia Shenfei explained in a rather emotional voice.
They watched as the Xia family’s various descendants stepped forward one at a time and tried to draw the blade. Both hope and nervousness could be seen in many eyes, but they all left disappointed. However, no one appeared overly disappointed. They all already knew that success was impossible. How many people had been born into the Xia family throughout the endless years? Despite that, every single person, from both the direct line and the branch families, had failed to draw the saber even after countless years. A terrifying number of people had tried and failed.
Xia Shenguang went up, also trying, but he refused to accept his failure.
The Celestial Frost Sect had their Sky Beyond the Sky trial, and any who passed the trial was practically guaranteed to eventually become a Progenitor. As for the Xia family, they had their Saber Ritual. Any who drew the blade would be awarded the Xia family's entire resources.
Lu Yin suddenly felt curious as to whether or not Progenitor Chen had tried to draw the saber. He wanted to ask, but he did not dare to actually voice the question. There was a good chance that raising the topic would offend the Xia family, especially during their ceremony. It would be seen as a slap in the face.
Xia Shenguang failed, and he returned with clear disappointment on his face. He was the greatest genius of his generation in the Xia family, but he had still failed. He had wanted to surpass the four Junior Progenitors and Xia Shenfei. Just the thought of his goals caused Xia Shenguang to look over at Xia Shenfei, but Xia Shenfei had not paid any attention to Xia Shenguang the entire time. He had been focused entirely on his conversation with “Yu Hao.”
"Just now, do you really want to become my sworn brother like you said?" Xia Shenfei asked.
Lu Yin replied, "Of course. You were given the title of Junior Progenitor, and after your trip to the Dominion Realm, you’ve become universally famous. Having such a talented and famous sworn brother will only increase my chances of eventually becoming a Progenitor. Who can promise that nothing will happen to me in the future? I might have completed the Sky Beyond the Sky trial, but so did eight others before me. Not all of them were able to become a Progenitor."
Xia Shenfei took another sip of his wine. "I also genuinely want to become your sworn brother. Just having you present for the pact is good enough. I’ll come find you after this ceremony finishes."
Lu Yin nodded. "I'll be waiting."
Every member of the Xia family who tried to draw the saber failed.
Among the guests from Virtue Archives, Bai Weiwei and the other students were not even watching the Saber Ritual. All of them were staring at Prof. Hao Yu. Besides, everyone knew that it was impossible for anyone to draw the saber.
There was actually a legend that had long since circulated around the Perennial World that claimed that Xia Shenji had never truly drawn the broken saber at all. Supposedly, back then, the saber had not been thrust into the ground, but had instead simply laid on the ground. It was said that Xia Shenji had borrowed the power of the saber to defeat the jiao and then stabbed the saber into the ground. After that, even he himself had been unable to ever draw the saber again.
Of course, this was just a legend, and it could be wildly inaccurate. The Xia family’s history served as proof that the broken saber had always been stabbed in the ground. They also said that the saber could no longer be drawn due to how it was holding the jiao in place. According to some people, if not for the jiao, anyone would be able to draw the blade.
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