Volume One: The Son of Heaven’s Sword — Chapter 113: The Dead Uncle’s Commanding Aura

A sudden and unexpected change caught Yun Que off guard.
The black light enveloping him dimmed the entire world, as if night had fallen.
Yet strangely, under such circumstances, Yun Que’s vision was not impaired; instead, it grew sharper, even able to see through walls and sense everything around him!
As the whites of Yun Que’s eyes turned black, the insects and ants in the corners began to behave oddly.
A centipede twisted rapidly within a brick crevice, emitting faint sounds before falling still.
A small mouse carrying food along the eaves suddenly dropped straight down.
Ants in the front and back yards froze motionless, instantly losing all vitality, becoming tiny lifeless corpses.
Within a hundred yards centered on Yun Que, all insects perished!
At this moment, Yun Que felt his eyes filled with an endless torrent of sword energy, controlled merely by the movement of his eyeballs.
It was a terrifying sensation.
The sword energy in his eyes was deathly and stagnant; even the slightest overflow of aura was enough to kill insects and wither plants.
This dreadful feeling was new to Yun Que, yet deeply familiar.
Because this sword energy had long been embedded within his meridians, fused inseparably with him.
It was the power of the Death Tribulation!
Yun Que refrained from reckless action; he sensed the horror of the Death Tribulation’s strength, his body barely able to bear it, every joint softly creaking.
If he were to unleash this power without restraint, he had no doubt his body would collapse first, reduced to dust.
“Uncle Wang…”
Yun Que whispered softly, aware that this strange phenomenon was related to Uncle Wang.
This was also the first time Yun Que saw Uncle Wang manifest power in the outside world.
Within his black sclera, his pupils slowly rotated, fixating on a streak of sky-blue sword tassel, as the voice of Kong Wang echoed in his ear.
“Where did this come from?”
Yun Que was momentarily stunned. “It’s a sword tassel from the Sword Palace. You obtain it after completing missions. I just exchanged for one; it should be quite ordinary.”
He was quite surprised.
He had expected some uncontrollable danger that forced Uncle Wang to reveal his power, but it turned out to be because of the sword tassel.
“Not ordinary.”
The voice shifted from its usual calm tone, showing a trace of emotion.
“No way, many disciples of the Sword Palace have them, even the lowest-ranked sword servants possess them,” Yun Que said, growing more puzzled.
Sword servant Wu Dachuan had several tassels; if it were some rare treasure, how could sword servants obtain it?
“I am not mistaken.”
In Kong Wang’s deep voice, whirlpools appeared in Yun Que’s eyes as the deathly sword energy seemed to come alive.
Yun Que felt a sharp pain in his eyes.
Instinctively closing them, he saw a faint glimmer of azure sword energy!
The energy clung to one of the tassels, resembling a tiny insect or a faint streak of lightning.
A very slight crackle echoed in Yun Que’s ear.
The sound came from the sword tassel. When he opened his eyes again, everything around had returned to normal.

Darkness faded, and light returned.
Only one tassel on the sword tassel was missing.
Yun Que knew that tassel had been obliterated by the Death Tribulation’s power, vanishing completely along with the sword energy on it.
“There’s sword energy on the sword tassel! And it’s lightning-element sword energy?” Yun Que exclaimed.
Though he had closed his eyes to block his vision, the Death Tribulation’s power remained, and nothing around could escape his perception.
Therefore, he could easily detect the lightning sword energy on the tassel.
“It’s not ordinary lightning sword energy,” Kong Wang said in a low voice. “That is the aura of one of the Nine Tribulations, the Thunder Tribulation Sword.”
“What!”
No matter how composed Yun Que was, he couldn’t help but be startled.
He had just heard news about another sword spirit of the Nine Tribulations!
And it was right on the sword tassel he had just obtained!
Since the fall of the Yun family’s ancestor, the Nine Tribulation Sword had split into nine sword souls scattered across the lands, lost without a trace.
Yun Que had only heard from Uncle Wang that it was the least suitable sword spirit for weak cultivators, because its Death Tribulation power was too terrifying and had to constantly consume sword energy to survive.
The world was vast, with more than just the Yan Kingdom; all of Yunzhou was boundless, with countless nations. Yun Que thought it would be a long time before he encountered other sword spirits of the Nine Tribulations, perhaps not even in this lifetime.
Unexpectedly, here was a clue to the Thunder Tribulation Sword spirit!
After the shock, Yun Que began to think quickly.
The sword tassel came from the Sword Palace, from the Spirit Sword Sect, meaning the Thunder Tribulation Sword spirit was very likely present within the Spirit Sword Sect!
And the sword tassel was the only clue to track down the Thunder Tribulation Sword spirit.
Judging by the terrifying power of the Death Tribulation Sword, the other Nine Tribulation swords would not be any weaker.
A burning desire rose within Yun Que’s heart.
If he could gather all nine sword spirits, wouldn’t he have a chance to restore his ancestor’s treasured sword and bring the true Nine Tribulation Sword back to life?
As if sensing Yun Que’s thoughts, Kong Wang’s deep voice sounded again.
“Do not dream of gathering all nine sword spirits. With your current weak cultivation, you would die miserably.”
This single sentence extinguished Yun Que’s hopes.
Yun Que smiled wryly.
People, indeed, were easily tempted by greed.
He was merely a Qi Refining cultivator, yet to even remove the drawbacks of the Death Tribulation Sword; how could he covet another Nine Tribulation sword spirit?
Yun Que had a natural trait — he corrected his mistakes once he recognized them.
He deeply heeded Uncle Wang’s advice, calming his thoughts.
“Uncle Wang, what should I do?”
Yun Que sincerely asked for guidance.
He had long regarded Kong Wang as his best teacher and naturally sought advice when confused.
In his ear, Kong Wang’s voice continued.
“Before your power can fully harness the Death Tribulation’s might, keep as far away from other sword spirits as possible. They are all very dangerous to you.”
This statement carried deep meaning, and Yun Que immediately understood.
To him, the other sword spirits were absolutely unbeatable foes, capable of killing him with a single finger.

But for Uncle Wang, the other sword spirits were merely opponents, not threats.
Curious about Uncle Wang’s strength among the Nine Tribulation sword spirits, Yun Que asked directly:
“Uncle Wang, can you defeat the other sword spirits?”
“How many?”
Yun Que was momentarily stunned; the answer sounded quite arrogant.
“How many can Uncle Wang defeat?”
“Three sword spirits together might be able to hold me to a draw.”
Yun Que was dumbfounded for a long moment.
Three sword spirits combined!
And they might only be able to tie with him!
Didn’t that mean Uncle Wang could single-handedly take on three, even four or five sword spirits?
“Uncle Wang... so powerful!”
Yun Que truly admired him; it seemed the Death Tribulation sword spirit was the strongest among the Nine.
“Does the Thunder Tribulation sword spirit have a name? Do the other sword spirits have their own consciousness?”
Yun Que’s curiosity about the Nine Tribulation swords had lingered; he hadn’t asked before because they were too far removed from him, but now that he had discovered the Thunder Tribulation sword energy, he wanted to learn more.
“Thunder Tribulation, Xing Ru.”
Kong Wang’s deep voice echoed in Yun Que’s ears.
“Thunder Tribulation is the calamity of ten thousand swords, aloof and cold, dangerous to approach. Each of the Nine Tribulation sword spirits has a different personality: some are aloof, some arrogant, some violent and frenzied, some cunning and treacherous, some lively and restless, and some pessimistic and world-weary.”
“The Nine sword spirits differ in power, attributes, and temperament, but they share one thing: they are all extremely dangerous.”
“A sword spirit’s body comes from the sword itself, and a sword is, after all, a deadly weapon.”
Hearing about the various strange personalities of the Nine Tribulation sword spirits, Yun Que felt overwhelmed.
It seemed Uncle Wang was easier to get along with; if other sword spirits possessed bodies, it might cause many troubles.
But this also meant that gathering all nine sword spirits in the future would be even harder.
They were not just nine sword spirits but nine terrifyingly powerful beings.
Taking a Spirit Origin Pill, Yun Que cultivated his heart method.
After one day, he finally broke through to the sixth layer of Qi Refinement!
Testing his flying sword, he indeed achieved the ability to release five swords simultaneously.
At the mid-Qi Refining stage, releasing five swords at once was unprecedented, unmatched before or after!
Only those at the peak of Qi Refining could wield four flying swords simultaneously, and Yun Que’s current number of swords surpassed even the tenth layer of Qi Refining.
No one would believe this if told.
That night, Wu Dachuan and Luo Xiaoyu came to see him, saying they had something good to show.
Upon entering, Wu Dachuan mysteriously produced a map, spreading it across the entire table.