You're Strong But Now You're Mine-Chapter 545 - 543 The Origin of the Saint’s Relic

At the military camp a hundred and twenty miles north of Yanjing, a one-sided slaughter was taking place. The Storm Army and the Ta Bai Army pressed their strongest spear upfront—the Reaper from the Plains brutally pierced through the elite defenses of Yanjing, while the Brotherhood's Seven Emotions Death Warriors sacrificed themselves to assassinate officers at all levels.

The brave generals and warriors of the Near Capital Army survived the demonic scream, only to fall to the fate of being trampled by the Swift Blade Boots.

Suddenly, a terrifying long howl pierced the sky like thunder, shaking the battlefield!

"Vos!!!!"

The bellow of the warrior wearing the horned helmet seemed tangible, stirring up a storm and driving back all the enemies in front of him!

The soldiers of the Near Capital Army looked in the direction of the sound, only to witness a soul-shattering scene—the left general of the Near Capital Army, known as the Maimed Sword Pillar of Wuzhu, Bo Su Yulou, was knocked back by this roar, colliding into the stag's antlers of the fortifications behind him, with the sharp antlers piercing through his abdomen!

"Su Maimed Sword, this little injury doesn't require such a long rest, does it!" The horned helmet warrior held a giant sword in his hand, slicing a Near Capital Army soldier into two, while his left hand raised a steel tower shield to fend off the Bullet Storm. Taking the lead past the defenses, he shouted arrogantly.

"You really... can't fool you!" Su Yulou grunted, not needing anyone's assistance, and pulled himself directly off the antlers. His left hand glowed green, and with a casual swipe, the abdominal wound that wouldn't stop bleeding was sealed. Holding a half-broken sword, he charged at the horned warrior like a wounded lion.

"We've been comrades for five years, who doesn't know the more damaged you are, the fiercer you become, Su Maimed Sword?"

"It's been years, and I didn't expect that kid who was punished to run twenty laps around the camp could wreak havoc on the world."

The battlefield momentarily fell into an eerie silence—Su Yulou and Chen Storm were once bunkmates and bedmates?

"Where is Hundred Rain Gold?"

"You're soon to be a dead man, no need to know where General Bai is."

"Right." Chen Storm stepped forward, casually stabbing the giant sword through a charging Near Capital Army soldier: "Once the Near Capital Army is annihilated, Hundred Rain Gold won't be a concern. After entering Yanjing, I will spare the Su Family."

"No need."

Su Yulou's broken sword ignited with a fierce light explosion, reforging the broken blade like a blade of light!

"Rusted and unusable, it will shatter when it cannot be used... what's called dignity is very much like a sword. But a broken sword can still be reforged, while lost dignity can never be regained!"

"The Su family of Yanjing has been blessed by the Imperial Family for generations, and this very moment is the time to burn out!"

Su Yulou waved the glowing broken sword, like a surging river sweeping towards Chen Storm, his voice resounding through the battlefield like thunder!

"Burn for glory!"

At this moment, the morale of the entire army surged, and the soldiers of the Near Capital Army shouted in unison: "Burn for glory!"

"Fine, then step on the path of your ancestral honor, for absurd and stubborn blind loyalty..." Chen Storm tossed aside the tower shield, gripping the giant sword with both hands, standing like an unmovable mountain opposing Su Yulou's sword momentum.

"May the rest of your life be a useless stele."

...

On the southern wall of the Chongsheng Sect in Yanjing, the defending soldiers suddenly noticed someone approaching rapidly on Swift Blade Boots, immediately becoming tense.

But as the figure became clearer, the expression of the city defense captain changed: "It's Ten String Pillar Martial General Bu Qi! He's seriously injured! Quickly open the small gate to let him in! Medical Officer, quickly call the Medical Officer over!"

When the city defense captain brought down the Medical Officer, they saw the imposing Near Capital General now barely breathing in the arms of a soldier, having lost one hand and one foot, with one eye forcibly gouged out. His wounds kept bleeding, seemingly having exhausted all his strength coming back.

"General Bu, the Medical Officer is here, don't worry—"

"No..."

The city defense captain looked confused, but he noticed that Bu Qi didn't care about his injuries, his pupils unfocused as if still lost in his memories.

"General Bu, what did you say?" the city defense captain asked. "Are you trying to report enemy information?"

"Yes, no... that's not it..."

Suddenly, like a trigger had been flipped, Bu Qi's expression turned hysterically manic, struggling frantically regardless of his injuries!

"Not human!"

"He's not human!"

"Don't come near! Don't come near! Don't—"

Seeing the Ten String Pillar in such a state, the soldiers looked at each other, yet didn't think much, only feeling that the Ten String Pillar might have been injured by demonic creatures during the night of transformation.

At the same time, on a small hill ten miles away from the Chongsheng Sect, a scholarly-looking man wearing glasses was gazing towards the horizon where Yanjing lay. He appeared more like a scholar than a Martial Artist.

A young Martial General wielding a staff approached him from behind, asking with a smile, "Why let him go?"

"Before a great battle, rumors and fear are the best vanguards. However, it seems I went too heavy-handed."

"Very rare, you actually made a mistake."

"Just ten miles more and it's the core of glory, the peak of power, the sediment of millennia of history, the convergence of the faith of millions. Just thinking that Yanjing is within reach, even I can't help but lose composure a bit."

"So." Silver Ancient Moon asked: "Ready to enter the capital? The hunter heads are becoming impatient."

Lan Yan turned around, looking at the millions of troops behind, their flags like a downpour, soldiers like a forest.

"Tell the Firewood Hunters, now is the time to remain calm more than ever."

Lan Yan said, "Mr. Xia says to wait for the Northern Three Region Allied Forces, so we wait."

...

Yanjing, the seventh layer of the Platinum Tower, two young individuals, neither the strongest, but undoubtedly the most unique, are in confrontation.

"Using the Saint's Relic to transform the Divine Weapon, turning it into a Holy Sword Shine that weakens the power but lowers the cost, allowing even outsiders to wield it..."

Cha Shiyin grasped Le Yu's left wrist, touched his Saint's Relic bracelet, shook his head and released it: "What do you think the Saint's Relic was originally made for?"

Though unwilling to admit it, Le Yu was clearly aware that the Saint's Relic might indeed be useless.

In this world, the Holy Sword Shine is akin to a strategic nuclear bomb that destroys heaven and earth, not only with amazing power but also horrifying costs—consuming the ruler's lifespan.

The greatest fear lies between life and death; the most difficult thing in life is to die. Therefore, unless absolutely necessary, no emperor would want to activate the Holy Sword Shine casually; even if desperate, the emperor would prefer to find other ways.

To be fair, the emperor does not hate the destructive violence itself, but hates having to personally control the violence! Although the Holy Sword Shine is bound by bloodline, perpetuating the Ming dynasty Imperial Family for a thousand years without end, yet people always crave more—the emperor wants to continue wielding the sword and use it without any cost!

At least the cost cannot be his own.

But the Holy Sword Shine is an Absolute Divine Weapon that transcends eras; little research was done by successive emperors, not to mention erasing its side effects. Moreover, the Holy Sword Shine is ultimately a heirloom, and the Imperial Family fears damaging it since the Grand Ancestor cannot crawl out of the grave to repair it.

As for researching how to hand the Holy Sword Shine to outsiders, it's even less viable; people have personal motives, and the bloodline binding of the Holy Sword Shine means the Ming dynasty is the eternal imperial family, and the Imperial Family with a bit of intellect wouldn't destroy their unique legacy trait.

Following this logic, the Imperial Family has only one choice: crafting a Divine Weapon with partial power of the Holy Sword Shine, usable by outsiders, ideally controlled by the Holy Sword Shine.

The artisan tasked with making such a demand with a colorful, contradictory checklist would surely curse.

Upon reflection, the Saint's Relic met these absurd requirements: It could be used by outsiders, but the holder wishing to transform it into another Divine Weapon must first touch the main body of the Divine Weapon.

Meaning, when the emperor needs to strike, he sends a trusted aide to wield the Saint's Relic, allowing him to touch the Holy Sword Shine; then the aide can brandish a replica to devastate everything.

Even if the aide betrays at that moment, there is no fear; after all, the replica cannot defeat the genuine article; and if the Saint's Relic is lost, it's not an issue because without touching the sword, one cannot replicate the replica.

However, the Saint's Relic ended up in the populace and not held by the Imperial Family.

Speaking of which, Le Yu had once wondered: Why did Divine Weapons spread globally, possessed by warlords, assassins, and even the Barbarian Race wield Illusion Divine Weapons? Was the Imperial Family aiding the enemy?

But upon close thought, it was understood: Divine Weapons are ultimately tools meant to be used by people, and people have personal motives.

The Imperial Family certainly didn't want Divine Weapons lost, but the emperor couldn't personally wield them, hence had to entrust them to aides. This leads to two scenarios: the aide completes the task and absconds with the Divine Weapon; or the aide didn't intend to escape, but others coveted the weapon, betrayed the aide, and fled with the Divine Weapon.

Even hiding away the Divine Weapon doesn't help; a storage always requires a guard; wherever people intervene, vulnerabilities exist.

Over time, Divine Weapons naturally scattered among the populace. Yet this movement wasn't one-way since ceremonies required to activate Divine Weapons are quite conspicuous, many holders of Divine Weapons also reveal themselves—those lacking confidence live cautiously, but those ready to explode at any moment live arrogantly.

Sometimes the Imperial Court reclaimed Divine Weapons, only for them to spread again; once an emperor gathered half the Divine Weapons and even formed a "Divine Weapon Division," sending holders to recover them, only for the division to abscond with them afterward.

But fundamentally, the Imperial Family didn't greatly prioritize Divine Weapons.

It's not that the Imperial Family doesn't care about Divine Weapons—it does, but there's currently no perfect procedure to use them. No matter how they intercept them, Divine Weapons will be lost, so it's not worth the effort.

Furthermore, with the Holy Sword Shine suppressing all, Divine Weapons pose no threat to the Imperial Family, and in peaceful times, the Imperial Family doesn't need so many Divine Weapons, hence isn't focused on them. By contrast, Divine Weapons falling into the populace generally stir up bloodshed, indirectly helping the court eliminate idle societal elements.

However, different Divine Weapons hold different significance to the Imperial Family; for instance, the Illusion Divine Weapon·Flying Boots, once lost would invoke nationwide pursuit, deaths disregarded—the reasons being twofold, firstly, Flying Boots are highly practical, secondly, all emperors wished to soar freely in the sky.

Who in their youth hasn't dreamed of flying?

Flying Boots illustrate the Imperial Family's capacity to monopolize certain Divine Weapons; hence Saint's Relic in the hands of Chenfeng Ding Family merely shows one thing—the Imperial Family doesn't care about it.

The reason is evident—it's merely an amusing toy unable to replicate the Holy Sword Shine's power, less significant even than Flying Boots.

"You've seen the Divine Weapon list too, aren't you puzzled by the name Saint's Relic?"

Cha Shiyin suddenly shifted the topic: "Divine Weapon names fall into two types, one based on functionality, e.g., Phantom Blade, Blood Essence Stone, Golden Touch, Crazy Mask; the other based on poetic depiction, e.g., Veil of Strife, Violet Grudge, Overlord Butterfly..."

"Saint's Relic isn't based on function, nor is it a poetic depiction."

Cha Shiyin extended a slender finger to lift the blood-red strands by Le Yu's ear: "It originates from its manufacturing process."

"The twelve Extreme Divine Weapons are said to be made by the Lie Sect, but the process spanned the Lie, Wen, and Zhao dynasties. Saint's Relic, due to its complexity, was the last Divine Weapon made."

"The initial code for Saint's Relic was 'Replica'. During Wen's youth, the forging of the Replica began, yet as Wen grew old and weak, the Replica was still incomplete, failing to reach its ideal target: becoming a replica of the Holy Sword Shine."

"Thus, Wen concluded, the Holy Sword Shine, as the progenitor of Divine Weapons, can't be duplicated by replicas. The only way for replication is for the Replica to become genuine."

"How to make a replica genuine? By drinking in the blood and flesh passed through by the Holy Sword Shine. Wen thought so, and did exactly that—already dwindling like a candle in the wind, Wen exhausted the last of his life wielding the Holy Sword Shine, then jumped into the furnace, becoming a part of the Replica."

Le Yu: "He failed?"

"He succeeded, but also failed." Cha Shiyin calmly said: "He succeeded, the Replica could indeed duplicate the Holy Sword Shine; he also failed because, as he claimed, the Holy Sword Shine cannot duplicate replicas."

Le Yu frowned slightly, clearly puzzled by Cha Shiyin's cryptic talk. Cha Shiyin grinned: "You've witnessed the summoning of the Holy Sword Shine twice, you should know, unless intentionally summoned, the Holy Sword Shine is shapeless, nonexistent."

Le Yu vaguely sensed something, "So, when no one summons it, the replica can become genuine."

"Correct answer." Cha Shiyin said: "But when the Sword Master summons it, the replica remains a replica, the Holy Sword Shine returns to the Sword Master's hand."

"Even wielding the replica, if you don't earn the Holy Sword Shine's recognition, you can't unleash any of its power."

"Meaning, the replica is merely a scabbard."

"A scabbard capable of infinite variation."

"A scabbard exclusively for emperors."