Volume One: The Emperor’s Sword Chapter 12: The Secret Code
Inside the jostling carriage, Yun Que’s brows suddenly twitched.
He sensed something unusual from the snake token inside his storage pouch.
The small token was emitting a faint, urgent glow—almost like a strange signal.
Since there were servants and Han Jiao in the carriage, it was inconvenient to examine it openly. Yun Que made an excuse to halt the carriage and slipped alone into a grove by the roadside.
He took out the snake token and inspected it repeatedly but found nothing out of the ordinary. Then, on a whim, he tried channeling spiritual energy into it. Instantly, an unfamiliar, hoarse voice sounded in his ear.
“It’s been so long. Are you that busy over there?”
Yun Que was startled. So the snake token could transmit voices—it must be one of the Medicine Cultivator’s accomplices!
Not wanting to arouse suspicion, Yun Que merely grunted in response.
The transmission altered his voice, making it sound rough and metallic, like scraping iron—impossible to distinguish the real tone.
“How much longer until you succeed? I have everything ready on my end; all I need is the final push from you.”
There was clear dissatisfaction in the stranger’s voice.
“Soon,” Yun Que replied evasively.
He had no idea what success the other was referring to, but it was obvious these two were plotting something.
“You said that last time, too. It’s just a heavily wounded blind serpent—how hard can it be to tame?”
The voice was clearly complaining.
At this, Yun Que’s mind sharpened. So the creature in the porcelain vial was the so-called blind serpent—the Medicine Cultivator was trying to tame a demon beast.
“Why don’t you do it, then?” Yun Que replied with feigned impatience.
Sure enough, the other party stopped pressing. “Forget it. I’m no good at taming demon beasts—especially a seventh-grade blind serpent. One bite and you’re half dead. You’d best hurry. As long as that old relic in the Northern Court lives, none of us will have peace.”
Yun Que was shaken.
The Northern Court?
Could the other party be inside the Sword Palace?
The only place in Yan State known as the Northern Court was one of the four divisions of the Sword Palace.
“How is he now?” Yun Que asked casually, hoping to glean more information.
“The same as ever—can’t come out, can’t die. That’s enough talk. Get a move on and finish the task so we can return in triumph.”
It seemed the other wanted to end the conversation, but added, “Sword of the Vast Sea.”
Yun Que assumed the connection was cut and began pondering the information he’d gathered.
Suddenly, the stranger exclaimed, “Hmm?”
“What’s wrong with you? Sword of the Vast Sea!” the voice now carried suspicion.
Sword of the Vast Sea—what nonsense was that?
Yun Que wanted to curse. How was he supposed to know what “Sword of the Vast Sea” meant?
Wait!
He suddenly recalled the strange phrase the Medicine Cultivator had shouted with his last breath as he sank into the River of Forgotten Swords.
“Sever the Ages.”
When Yun Que spoke these three words, the glow on the snake token gradually faded, and the other party, satisfied, ended the transmission.
Sword of the Vast Sea, Sever the Ages.
That was the slogan the Medicine Cultivator had shouted before dying. Yun Que had thought it was the ravings of a dying madman—but it was actually a crucial password!
If he had failed to respond just now, the other would never have contacted him again.
“It seems the Sword Palace is not as peaceful as it appears,” Yun Que mused.
The Medicine Cultivator’s cultivation was profound; his accomplices could not be ordinary people.
He turned the snake token over.
Among the twelve zodiac animals on the back, the image of the Horse still retained a faint glow, which soon faded.
The Medicine Cultivator was the Serpent; the one just now was the Horse.
“Twelve Zodiac Tokens… What are these people planning, that they even dare plot against the Sword Palace?”
At this thought, Yun Que felt a chill down his spine.
The Sword Palace was an existence apart from the world, a colossus renowned throughout the cultivation world—a place countless cultivators dreamed of and worshipped.
Within Yan State, no power or individual dared challenge the Sword Palace.
Clearly, those who possessed the Zodiac Tokens harbored grand ambitions, backed by forces that were even more terrifying.
“If the sky falls, there will be taller people to hold it up—worrying is useless,” Yun Que told himself, letting go of his concerns.
With so many powerful figures in the Sword Palace, there was no reason for a minor Marquis like him to fret.
He took out the porcelain vial once more, his expression turning uncharacteristically grave.
“A seventh-grade demon beast—a blind serpent.”
With a low murmur, Yun Que felt the vial in his hand grow as heavy as a mountain; he was sorely tempted to throw it away.
The grades of demon beasts corresponded to the cultivation levels of practitioners.
A first-grade beast matched a Qi Refining cultivator; grades two to four matched Foundation Establishment; grades five to seven matched Core Formation.
In other words, the blind serpent in the vial was equivalent to a late-stage Core Formation cultivator!
In the Sword Palace, Core Formation was an elder’s rank; late-stage Core Formation was nearly unrivaled below the Nascent Soul stage.
If the blind serpent escaped, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Too dangerous!
The porcelain vial in his hand was like a burning coal—he couldn’t keep it, but couldn’t throw it away either.
Hesitating, Yun Que thought of Kong Wang.
He focused his mind, and his soul entered his sea of consciousness.
All around was empty, shrouded in endless mist.
“Uncle Wang, I’m in trouble—I have a seventh-grade blind serpent here,” Yun Que called out.
Before long, a figure in a tattered black robe drifted into view, ghostly and expressionless as ever.
“A mere seventh-grade—what trouble is that?”
That was exactly what Yun Que had hoped to hear. “If it’s no trouble, then, Uncle Wang, could you help me extract the serpent’s gall? I hear it’s quite valuable.”
The floating figure paused—clearly, Kong Wang had underestimated his new master’s shamelessness.
“Seventh-grade demon beasts generally possess a complete demon core, which is worth far more than the gall. If you wish, you need only draw its spirit into your sea of consciousness.”
“Thank you, Uncle Wang!”
Following Kong Wang’s instructions, Yun Que carefully opened a tiny gap in the vial.
Before the serpent’s tongue could even flick out, he sent a surge of sword energy into the bottle.
The sharp blade energy forged a special connection, and in the next instant, Yun Que’s sea of consciousness erupted with a world-shaking roar!
A colossal form appeared.
It was a massive serpent, eyeless, with a blood-red maw, its body covered in star-like spots that made one dizzy to behold.
The blind serpent—a seventh-grade demon beast, on par with a late-stage Core Formation expert!
The serpent loomed high, regarding the tiny human before it with the majesty of a king.
Judging by the size of its soul, Yun Que realized this blind serpent was even stronger than the Medicine Cultivator.
“A fine target. Rather than extract its core, why not use it to practice your swordsmanship?” Kong Wang’s deep voice echoed as the River of Forgotten Swords materialized, its surging waves striking terror into the serpent, causing it to coil in fear and tremble.
No matter how strong a spirit, before the River of Forgotten Swords, it was nothing but a prisoner.
“If you can thoroughly defeat the serpent’s soul and make it submit, it will obey your every command. This is the most reliable method of beast taming, and will not easily backfire,” Kong Wang advised.
There were many ways to tame beasts, but the most fundamental was to subdue their spirit—though, naturally, it was also the most difficult.
Demon beasts were fiercely wild by nature; barring special circumstances, they could hardly be truly tamed by humans.
But once subdued, they would be loyal unto death.
“Two birds with one stone—excellent idea!” Yun Que drew a strand of sword soul from the River of Forgotten Swords, which immediately formed a sharp longsword in his hand, and attacked the blind serpent.
He used the serpent as a living target, honing his swordsmanship under Kong Wang’s guidance.
While his cultivation realm remained unchanged—still at the first layer of Qi Refining—his mastery of swordsmanship advanced by leaps and bounds!
Throughout the journey, Yun Que often maintained a strange state of feigned sleep, speaking little.
Han Jiao suspected she had somehow offended the Marquis, and worried secretly in her heart.