Chapter 66: The Moon-Dancing Divine Sword, Thirteen Styles of Chaotic Swordsmanship

People often think of things they shouldn’t at inopportune times—this is one of humanity’s greatest pains. (Gu Long)
……
Qiyue gently laid Liu Yi down to make him more comfortable. Seeing the dagger still clutched in his hand and the severe wound on his wrist, Qiyue suddenly felt a sharp pain in her heart.
Qiyue also lay down softly. Thus, undisturbed by anyone, the two fell asleep in silence. Perhaps they would never wake up, but maybe…
In a daze, Liu Yi opened his eyes again. Qiyue’s movement startled him, and he sat up abruptly, asking, “How are you? Are you okay?”
Liu Yi smiled at Qiyue and said, “I’m fine. You underestimate me. I was just a bit tied up, but now that I’ve slept, I’m okay. It’s just that these four night pearls are too bright; they made it hard for me to sleep.”
Qiyue stood up and walked over to the four pearls. Being tall, she could easily reach down and take them one by one. Thus, she removed all four pearls.
When the fourth pearl was taken down, the room became less dazzling and instead grew dim. At the same time, with a loud rumble, the ground began to shake, and the room started to sway.
Liu Yi said anxiously, “We’re not falling any further, are we? I think the place we’re in is deeper than the Eighteen Layers of Hell.”
Qiyue, holding the four pearls, struggled to walk over to Liu Yi and sat down beside him. She said, “Fine, then let’s keep falling to see where it gets even deeper than the Eighteen Layers of Hell.”
But imagination is often unrealistic, and this time was no exception. Although the floor shook, it didn’t crack, and neither Liu Yi nor Qiyue fell!
Qiyue thought for a moment and said, “I might have triggered some mechanism again, but why isn’t anything changing here?”
At that moment, the only light in the room came from the four night pearls on the ground. With the two of them blocking part of the light, only a small area around them was illuminated.
Liu Yi replied weakly, “I don’t know. The ancient books don’t mention it, but I have heard a saying!”
Qiyue asked eagerly, “What saying?” Unconsciously, she had developed a strong dependence on this scholar.
Liu Yi forced a smile and said, “Those who survive great disasters will surely have good fortune! Go around and look around with the pearls. Maybe you triggered some formation, and there might be a secret passage somewhere.”
Qiyue really picked up a night pearl, stood up, and raised it high above her head…
White light shot out in all directions. Qiyue, beneath the light, resembled a fairy descending from heaven, even more dazzling and eye-catching.
Suddenly, Qiyue froze and blurted, “That can’t be real.”
Liu Yi asked anxiously, “What’s wrong?”
Qiyue quickly pointed to an angle beside her and said, “Look…”
Liu Yi, still weak, turned his head with difficulty and was also stunned. It was exactly as she had described—there really was a door two zhang wide and over one zhang high, with no light inside.

Liu Yi also took a night pearl and, struggling to support himself, stood up and said, “Let’s go in and take a look.”
Qiyue nodded and asked, “Can you do it?”
Liu Yi obviously knew Qiyue was referring to his weak body. He smiled and replied, “No problem. Let’s go!”
The two slowly walked toward the dark room. To see further, they both held the night pearls high above their heads, but still couldn’t see much inside…
Suddenly, Qiyue said, “Look, there are torches here.”
Liu Yi replied, “We don’t have any kindling. How are we going to light them?”
Qiyue smiled mysteriously and said, “It’s okay. I can.” With that, he raised his right hand, and suddenly, a golden arrow with flames shot straight at the torch. With a “pop,” the torch actually caught fire. As that torch burned, continuous “pop” sounds came from the surroundings—turns out, there were torches everywhere. After the first torch ignited, for some reason, the others also caught fire, and in no time, the entire room was lit up.
Liu Yi exclaimed, “What kind of hidden weapon is that? It’s so powerful, and it even has fire!”
Qiyue said, “It’s a sleeve arrow. The shaft was specially crafted by me, with an ancient formation inside. Once channeled by true energy, the formation activates, causing the shaft to burn before being shot out. I call this arrow ‘Flowing Fire’.”
Liu Yi nodded and began to observe the room. Clearly, it was five or six times larger than their previous room. Right in front of them was a stone statue, carved so vividly it seemed real. If not for the bright torches, Liu Yi might have mistaken it for a real person.
Below the statue was a stone table, empty except for a large rock about half a person’s height. On top of that rock stood a sword.
Looking around, countless wine jars were placed in the corners of the walls, along with dried food and salted meat that could be stored for a long time.
At that moment, Qiyue said slowly, “The ‘Dancing Moon’ Sword.”
Liu Yi glanced at it briefly. It seemed ordinary—a slender sword, a bit more beautiful than usual, with two red gems on the hilt that looked quite valuable. But he didn’t think much of it.
Qiyue, however, was different. He had come here through so much hardship just for this sword. Although they hadn’t found any treasures here, this sword was worth more than all the treasures combined. The “Dancing Moon” Sword could rank among the top eight divine swords, and it certainly had its merits. Such a spirit-infused sword could not only elevate one’s cultivation to its limits but also, due to its spiritual energy, form a sword soul. Its contribution to achieving the ultimate state of unity between the practitioner and the sword, as well as reaching the realm of a celestial being, was immeasurable. But after all, divine swords were rare treasures. Now that Qiyue had seen it, how could he not be excited?

Liu Yi, however, showed little interest in the sword. He was very weak; at the sight of food and drink, he could hardly bear it anymore. Without waiting for July, he ran to the base of the wall, picked up a piece of salted meat, opened a jar of wine, and began eating and drinking heartily. The salted meat didn’t seem special, but the wine was exquisitely fragrant—probably aged for a hundred years. It seemed this trip hadn’t been in vain after all.

July glanced at Liu Yi and walked over to the sword. There, the “Dancing Moon” sword was deeply embedded in the stone. Its hilt was dark silver, reflecting a tempting glow under the torchlight. Two red gems were mounted on the hilt; as July approached, they flickered on and off, as if alive.

One must understand how tempting a sentient sword is to a swordsmith. Having been sentient for a hundred years, it absorbed the spiritual energy from the heavens, forming a sword soul that could help a swordsmith transcend the realm of mortals and reach the pinnacle of swordsmanship—a realm of ethereal perfection. Many people had ruined their reputations and lost their families in pursuit of such a divine sword. But how many such divine swords existed in the three realms?

July gently placed her hand on the dark silver hilt. Suddenly, a tremendous force surged through her. With a dull thud, she was pushed back several steps by the sword’s power. Yet instead of giving up, this only made her more obsessed with it. Clearly, the sword was resisting her. If it could resist, it meant it was not only sentient but likely had reached the state of a sword soul. If it hadn’t appeared at this time, it might have ranked first among all swords.

Liu Yi glanced at July but ignored her, continuing to eat and drink. After a few sips of wine, he felt a warm sensation and began to get drunk. Suddenly, he glanced unnaturally at the wall across from him. There were indeed figures on the wall. Liu Yi shook his head violently—there really were figures moving on the wall, practicing swordsmanship with swords in their hands.

Liu Yi quickly shouted, “Miss July, look! There are people on the wall!”

July looked at the wall Liu Yi was pointing at, puzzled. “Are you drunk? There’s nothing on the wall.”

Liu Yi shook his head and looked again. The figures were still moving. He muttered to himself, “Maybe I really am drunk.”

July glanced at Liu Yi but ignored him and continued preparing to draw the sword…

While eating and drinking, bored, Liu Yi watched the people on the wall practicing swordsmanship. There were thirteen moves in total, each strike coming from an unexpected direction.

After finishing a jar of wine, Liu Yi, extremely thirsty, opened another jar and started drinking. After a few sips, the figures on the wall disappeared, replaced by lines of text.

“‘The Thirteen Chaotic Styles’—created by me a hundred years ago, passed on to those destined today. I hope it will benefit all people and help me slay demons and evil forces.”

Liu Yi shook his head, thinking he was drunk. But the text disappeared, replaced by another line.

“‘The Thirteen Chaotic Styles’—disordered sword moves that can be considered a form of ‘swordless’ technique, yet encompassing thirteen chaotic styles. It relies on true energy and a divine sword to wield these thirteen chaotic swords, confusing the enemy by disrupting their mind, intent, pulse, swordsmanship, steps, energy, spirit, and vision… ultimately confusing the enemy in thirteen ways.”

Liu Yi drank wine and ate while thinking to himself, “This is truly ruthless. With such chaos, won’t the opponent be unable to use anything and left at the mercy of being slaughtered?”
Watching the words disappear on the wall, another line appeared: “Of course. There’s no invincible technique in the ‘Chaos Thirteen Styles.’ If the opponent’s true energy is truly several times stronger than one’s own, they can use their powerful true energy to block the chaotic swords and remain unaffected. Of course, as one’s cultivation improves, the power of the chaotic swords will become even more apparent.”
Liu Yi took a sip of wine and thought, “So there are such amazing sword techniques in the world. Then, as long as the opponent’s cultivation isn’t much higher than one’s own, using this technique would make one invincible, right?”
The figure reappeared on the wall, but Liu Yi no longer paid attention. His memory was excellent, so he had already memorized it. Moreover, this sword technique required the use of a divine sword, making it extremely difficult. He would practice it later when he had a precious sword… Besides, he had already sunk deeper than the eighteenth layer of hell. Even if he had wings now, flying out would exhaust him to death.
Due to drinking too much alcohol, Liu Yi fell into a drowsy sleep…
As for July, facing repeated resistance from the ‘Dancing Moon’ sword, her stubborn nature took over, and she insisted on pulling the sword out at all costs!