sinovels Chapter 23 The Return of the Azure Sky
Chapter 23 The Return of the Azure Sky
Lu Chenzhou's heart clenched.
The style of that jade pendant was almost identical to the one in his arms.
The only difference is that the piece in the hands of the dragon crossing the river is complete, while the piece in Lu Chenzhou's hand is incomplete, only half of it.
"Qingming..." Guojianglong murmured to himself, stroking the jade pendant, "Where are you...?"
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly looked up, his gaze shooting towards the door like lightning!
"Who?!"
Lu Chenzhou was startled—had he been discovered?
He immediately retreated, but it was too late.
The figure of the dragon crossing the river pounced at the door like a ghost, striking the spot where Lu Chenzhou was hiding with a palm! The palm strike was fierce and carried a foul odor, clearly indicating that it had been poisoned.
Lu Chenzhou dared not take the blow head-on, so he dodged to the side and drew his iron sword, thrusting it towards the wrist of the river-crossing dragon!
"Ding!"
The dragon crossing the river actually caught the sword blade with his bare hands! The collision produced a crisp sound like metal clashing. On his hands, he had somehow acquired a pair of jet-black gloves with a metallic sheen.
"Good lad, you've got some skills." Crossing-the-River Dragon grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "Too bad you've come to the wrong place."
He unleashed both palms simultaneously, the wind from them howling, instantly sealing off all of Lu Chenzhou's escape routes.
Lu Chenzhou advanced instead of retreating.
He knew that in the confined space of a basement, running away was the most foolish option. The only way to survive was to fight his way out.
The sword flashed like ink, slicing through the dim yellow light of the oil lamp.
"Seven Killings Style: Breaking Army!"
This is one of the nine techniques Lu Jinghong taught him, specifically designed to counter hard martial arts. The sword tip trembled, transforming into seven cold stars, targeting seven major acupoints on the body of the dragon crossing the river!
Crossing-the-River Dragon's expression changed, clearly not expecting the young man's swordsmanship to be so exquisite. He dared not take the blow head-on again, and quickly retreated, his right hand reaching for his waist—
"call out!"
Three streaks of dark light shot out, heading straight for Lu Chenzhou's face!
It's a hidden weapon!
Lu Chenzhou withdrew his sword, drawing a circle in front of him and precisely deflecting three streaks of dark light. Upon closer inspection, they were three bone-piercing nails, their tips gleaming with an eerie blue light.
poison.
And it's a very potent poison.
"Kid, not bad." Crossing the River Dragon had already retreated to the desk, his hand resting on a mechanism under the desk. "But this ends here."
He pressed down hard.
"Snap!"
Suddenly, more than a dozen small holes appeared in the basement ceiling, and countless white powders poured down!
It's lime!
Lu Chenzhou immediately closed his eyes and held his breath, but it was too late—some powder still got into his eyes, causing a burning pain. Worse still, the powder seemed to contain something else; when he inhaled it, his head spun.
Aphrodisiac.
"Hahaha!" the insurgent laughed loudly. "You think you can leave my territory once you've entered?"
He approached step by step, his palm shimmering with dark light, clearly gathering his strength.
Lu Chenzhou barely opened his eyes; his vision was already blurry. He gripped his sword tightly, relying on his senses to determine Jiang Long's location.
I can't die here.
Absolutely not.
He bit his tongue, the sharp pain bringing him to a moment of clarity. Then, he made a risky decision—
Instead of retreating, they advanced, charging headlong into the river-crossing dragon!
"You're asking for death!" Crossing the River Dragon grinned maliciously, striking Lu Chenzhou's crown with a palm.
But Lu Chenzhou's target was not him.
It's a desk.
Just as the two were about to make contact, Lu Chenzhou twisted his body strangely, sliding through the palm of the Crossing-the-River Dragon like an eel, while simultaneously reaching out with his left hand—
He grabbed the jade pendant on the table!
"You!" Crossing the River Dragon was furious and turned around to strike with a palm.
But Lu Chenzhou had already used the momentum to crash into the wall!
That wasn't an ordinary wall—he had noticed it when he came in; the wall was a slightly different color from the surrounding walls, and the brickwork was neater, like a hidden door.
Take a gamble!
"Bang!"
He crashed into the wall, but the wall didn't budge.
It’s over.
Lu Chenzhou's heart sank.
But at that moment, the jade pendant in his arms suddenly burst out with a dazzling blue light!
The light was so intense that it instantly illuminated the entire room. The Dragon Crossing the River, blinded by the bright light, instinctively closed his eyes. Meanwhile, Lu Chenzhou felt the intact jade pendant in his hand also heating up and vibrating.
The two jade pendants resonated with each other.
Then, the wall moved.
Silently, it slid to one side, revealing a deep passage behind it.
Without hesitation, Lu Chenzhou dashed inside.
The wall closed behind him again, shutting out the roar of the dragon crossing the river.
---
The passage was narrow, allowing only one person to pass at a time. The walls were rough stone, covered in slippery moss. A heavy, damp mist hung in the air, like… the scent of the riverbed?
Lu Chenzhou clutched his chest; the intact jade pendant was now frighteningly hot, pressed tightly against the broken one in his arms, like two magnets attracting each other.
The blue light was still emanating, illuminating the path ahead.
He walked forward along the passage. After walking about a hundred paces, he heard the sound of water ahead—splashing, splashing, rhythmically.
It is river water.
At the end of the passage was a natural grotto. Half of the grotto was underwater, and the other half was above water. A small boat, barely big enough for two or three people, was moored on the water. On the boat was a gas lamp and a package.
Lu Chenzhou jumped onto the boat and inspected the package. Inside were dry rations, a water bottle, a tinderbox, and a sheepskin map.
The map was old, with torn edges, but the lines were still clear. It seemed to depict the underground waterways of Jiangling City—intricate and complex, like a giant spider web.
In the center of the spider web, there is a red dot.
Next to the red dot, there is a line of small text:
"The place where the blue sky returns".
Lu Chenzhou's heart began to pound.
The Azure Netherworld's Return... is it the location where the Azure Netherworld Sword is hidden?
He carefully put the map away and then inspected the small boat. The oars were still there, and the hull was undamaged. It seemed that the dragon crossing the river had prepared this escape route long ago—or rather, it was specifically prepared for the person who possessed the jade pendant.
But why are there two jade pendants?
Lu Chenzhou took out the two jade pendants and compared them under the light.
The complete piece has a coiled dragon carved on the front, holding a pearl in its mouth, with a small "青" (qing) character engraved on the pearl. The back has cloud patterns and a strangely shaped groove in the middle.
The missing piece, on the front, is half a dragon's tail, and on the back... it fits perfectly into that groove.
It turned out to be the case.
Only when the two jade pendants are put together can they be considered complete.
His mother left him half of it. The other half is in the hands of the Crossing Dragon—or rather, in the hands of the Stormy Waves Society.
Now, he has both of them.
Lu Chenzhou put the two jade pendants together.
Perfectly fitted.
Then, something even stranger happened.
The two jade pendants, now joined together, began to glow. It wasn't a blinding blue light, but a warm, jade-like luster. The light flowed along the patterns on the pendant, finally converging on the bead held in the dragon's mouth.
The bead lit up.
Like a tiny star, shining brightly in the palm of your hand.
At the same time, Lu Chenzhou felt the restless sword energy in his chest suddenly calm down.
An unprecedented calm.
Like the sea after a storm, lifeless, yet containing a deeper power.
He held the jade pendant and looked into the depths of the grotto.
There, the water murmured, and darkness stretched endlessly.
But the light from the jade pendant illuminated a small patch of water.
There seems to be something glowing underwater.
Lu Chenzhou took a deep breath, took off his outer clothes, leaving only his underwear, and then put the jade pendant in his mouth—this was the safest place.
He jumped into the water.
The river water was cold, bone-chillingly cold. But the jade pendant emitted a warm current that flowed down my throat and into my limbs, dispelling the chill.
He dived down.
The deeper you go, the greater the water pressure and the dimmer the light. But the jade pendant's light grows brighter and brighter, like a guiding light.
He swam about three zhang (approximately 10 meters) underwater and saw it.
A sword is stuck in the water.
Most of the sword was buried in the mud and sand, with only the hilt and a small section of the blade visible. The hilt was jet black, wrapped with decaying silk threads. The blade... was bluish-green.
The Azure Sword.
Lu Chenzhou swam over and reached out to grasp the sword hilt.
It felt cool to the touch, yet within that coolness lay a strange sense of warmth. Like a long-lost friend, like a blood relative.
He pulled hard.
"Clang!"
The moment the sword emerged from the water, the entire grotto trembled.
The river surged, churning up silt and sand. A beam of azure light shot up from the sword, piercing the water's surface, penetrating the grotto, and soaring into the night sky!
Inside Jiangling City, countless people were awakened from their sleep.
Inside the Prince's residence, Prince Zhao Yun of Jiangling opened the window and looked towards the dock, his expression grave.
In the Tingtao Villa, the woman in purple stood by the window, and the teacup in her hand shattered with a "crack".