Nangong Shang’s usually proud eyes only held great terror. As he shouted, he instinctively attacked with his sword and expelled all the vital energy in his body.

The sword in this unusually beautiful woman’s hand took form and showed its true appearance.

The color of this sword seemed to be made from the overlay of deep sea water and the darkest of nights. It was so deep in color that people would be pulled in as though there was an endless abyss in the blade.

A hint of anticipation and excitement appeared on the unusually beautiful woman’s face. She pushed the sword forward in a simple motion.

The sword was more than thirty meters away from Nangong Shang’s body but as she pushed the sword, blue ice fell on Nangong Shang’s body.

Nangong Shang trembled in terror.

The cold energy contained in these small pieces of ice caused the flow of vital energy in his body to still. His vital energy could not flow.

How could he fight?

Now he understood why the other was fearless.

The legends about this sword were true.

A person who could control this sword would have realm seven strength!

Looking at the sword essence coming towards him, he thought of many more things.

He became even more shocked and disbelieving.

He used all of his strength to wail like a bullied child as though he found some astounding secret. “You are the eldest miss of the Gongsun Family! How could you make this Nine Hell King Sword into your lifebond sword!”

The Nine Hell King Sword was a vicious sword left behind by the You Dynasty of the past.

This sword was supposedly made from

ether jade in the coldest part of the poles the coldest and most fiendish material in the world. In some legends, the weapons made from nether jade were not mortal weapons, but the weapons of the king of hell and his hell generals.

For cultivators, the powerful cold and fiendish energies would damage the energies of the cultivator. So while the sword was one of the strongest in the world, wearing it for long periods of time was detrimental to the wearer, much less making it into a lifebond sword.

But this sword had been illogically forged into a lifebond sword!

But, compared to this sword, Nangong Shang was more shocked and confused by the identity of this beautiful woman.

Right now in Changling, there was almost no members of the Gongsun Clan left.

But in Changling in the past, before Emperor Yuanwu’s bloody reformation, the Gongsun Clan had been the most famed clan of Changling.

Nangong Shang was a former disciple of the Ba Mountain Sword Field, and had far higher status than Feng Qianzhuo. Emperor Yuanwu, the empress and the two ministers wanted to erase the Ba Mountain Sword Field and “that person” completely from the history of the Qin Dynasty. Any person who mentioned his name might have their entire family killed. “That person” had been the strongest supporter of that reformation and its greatest backer.

So Nangong Shang knew better than the majority of present officials in Changling what happened back then. He knew even more what kind of path Emperor Yuanwu had stepped on to ascend to the throne.

—

Hearing his shout, the unusually beautiful woman’s expression grew cold. She put away her sword, but the blue ice suddenly gathered in the woods, hitting Nangong Shang’s body and gave off popping sounds.

A layer of blue ice formed over Nangong Shang’s body and he was unable to move.

“Why do you want to kill me? Since you are the eldest miss of the Gongsun Family, you should not kill me. Why?!” Feeling the other’s murderousness, Nangong Shang forced out from his throat as he wasn’t even able to move his sword.

Because he knew the story, he was even more puzzled.

When Emperor Yuanwu used the Shang Family for the reformation, he had controlled the court in reality even though he had not yet been enthroned. However, the reformation damaged the interests of too many famed and prestigious families and he encountered unimaginable powerful resistance.

A conflict between powerful families and the court could threaten the throne of an emperor and would even cause a dynasty to quickly decline.

At the time, some powerful clans started to borrow the power of other dynasties to fight back against Emperor Yuanwu.

In the view of the majority and the officials that were loyal to the emperor at the time , the reformation could not succeed.

Yet Emperor Yuanwu was really a great person. Or maybe, “that person” and many of the people who stood with “that person” were all great.

In a situation like this, they had not hesitated at all. They acted at their fastest speed and with their bloodiest tactics.

Emperor Yuanwu started with the most powerful Gongsun Clan.

Using the excuse that the Gongsun Clan’s horses had driven over and destroyed farmland, they were punished according to the new rules. Multiple people were executed. When the Gongsun Clan resisted, in the span of a night, the army and numerous cultivators uprooted the entire Gongsun Clan from Changling.

“That person” and the numerous famed swords of the Ba Mountain Sword Field were the reason that the Gongsun Clan was not able to retaliate.

The strongest cultivators of the Gongsun Clan died in the hands of “that person” in a night.

That night was one where all of Changling bowed under the might of that sword. The rumors said the only one of the Gongsun Clan who survived was the miss of the Gongsun Clan.

That miss had been slightly unhappy with her family and been travelling all the time.

The Nine Hell King Sword had originally been in the hands of the Gongsun Clan. Supposedly, she had taken it when she left the Gongsun Clan.

The rumors also said that the eldest miss of the Gongsun Clan had been unhappy with her family because of some feelings between her and “that person.”

The Gongsun Clan had been the head of the resistance against the reformation. They would not agree to her having any close relations to “that person.”

However, no matter the unhappiness, home was still home.

“That person” and Emperor Yuanwu destroyed the entire family. The eldest miss of the Gongsun Family should hate “that person” and Ba Mountain Sword Field.

Nangong Shang thought himself a traitor of the Ba Mountain Sword Field in the process of Emperor Yuanwu was destroying the Ba Mountain Sword Field. But if this beautiful woman was the eldest miss of the Gongsun Clan, she should not hate him and want to kill him.

He had helped Emperor Yuanwu destroy the Ba Mountain Sword Field. He should be considered one of those who helped get revenge for the Gongsun Family.

“You are the eldest miss of the Gongsun Family!”

“The Nine Hell King Sword is in your hands. Are you the eldest miss of the Gongsun Family?!”

Because of his great bewilderment, Nangong Shang shouted repeatedly in madness, “When the Ba Mountain Sword Field destroyed the Gongsun Family, I was just an insignificant soldier. At the time, I wasn’t even in Changling. Later, I helped in the process of destroying the Ba Mountain Sword Field. So why do you want to kill me, why?!”

“No need for so much nonsense.”

The unusually beautiful woman said coldly, “I will kill you to sacrifice to my sword because you helped to destroy Ba Mountain Sword Field.”

Nangong Shang still could not understand.

But before he could speak again, the unusually beautiful woman continued, “How is it possible to sort out the past favors and grudges? Emperor Yuanwu is the main culprit. You helped him when destroying the Ba Mountain Sword Field, is this a reason for me to be grateful to you? Also, why I want to kill you has nothing to do with this … I want to kill you because while I hate the people of Ba Mountain Sword Field, I respect them. At least their path has never changed. The things they persist in have never changed … I want to kill you because you are truly lowly scum. Just like Emperor Yuanwu, who originally was walking the same path as them before stabbing them suddenly in the back, you are lowly scum. I feel your actions are unjust, and I am displeased.”

“I want to kill you because I am displeased.” The unusually beautiful woman said in an unusually stubborn manner, “For many people who have reached realm seven, it is not possible to sort out the favors and grudges of the world, especially in a place like Changling where they tangle together. I care not for the favors and grudges, only my own pleasure.”

Nangong Shang was stiff all over and unable to move as he looked dazedly at the unusually beautiful woman.

Could a person really ignore the favors and grudges to only seek their pleasure?

Was it because he was not experienced enough? Or was it because “that person” and the many swords that had stood shoulder to shoulder with him had been broken and no longer existed in this world so this woman could not care about the favors and grudges, and only her own pleasure?

He could not understand what this woman truly thought, but he was certain that she was more stubborn than any person he had ever seen, and could not be maneuvered around.

So his eyes were pleading.

“I will tell you the recipe for the Five Goat Pill, please do not harm my family members,” he begged.

I did not want to kill your family to start with. However, Ding Ning said that this could force you to speak, Zhangsun Qianxue thought inside. However, her expression did not change and maintained its coldness. She nodded and agreed to Nangong Shang’s request.

Translator Ramblings: Zhangsun Changxue’s history finally comes out. She was pretty lazy in how she made her new name. For example, Gongsun (grandson of a duke) was used by the grandsons of various warlords and nobles who liked to call themselves dukes. The change to Zhangsun, meaning “eldest grandson,” is only one character, keeping a part of her surname, and also references her status as the eldest.