Yu Yaoguang’s gaze swept over Fang Shuwen several times, as if she were trying to see right through him.

At last, she spoke slowly, but didn’t directly answer Fang Shuwen’s question:

"The chill in this place... it has no effect on you at all?"

Fang Shuwen took a moment to feel the air.

"In the sweltering heat of summer, a place like this would be an indescribable treasure."

Yu Yaoguang was taken aback for a moment, then let out a soft laugh. She spoke slowly,

"Wenwan, you may leave us."

Xu Wenwan was startled for a moment, but she still answered obediently,

"Yes."

Before she left, she glanced at Fang Shuwen one last time, then exited the Cold Ice Pavilion.

Yu Yaoguang extended an arm as fair as white jade and gently patted the stone platform surrounding the Cold Ice Pond.

"Sit."

Fang Shuwen sat down readily, his eyes fixed on Yu Yaoguang, quietly waiting for her to continue.

"It was the Master of the Hundred Ghosts."

The first words out of Yu Yaoguang’s mouth were enough to take Fang Shuwen completely by surprise.

"The Master of the Hundred Ghosts... he made a move personally?"

Fang Shuwen was astonished.

"Since this concerns the Asura Iron, it’s not at all surprising that the Master of the Hundred Ghosts would take action himself."

"Asura Iron? What is that?"

Fang Shuwen once again sighed at his own ignorance. He’d spoken at length with Chen Yan and had long conversations with Miao Feichan.

Yet every time he thought he was becoming more knowledgeable, something completely new to him would emerge.

As if reading his mind, Yu Yaoguang smiled faintly.

"The Asura Iron is far from ordinary. Very few in the entire Jianghu even know of its existence."

"It’s no wonder you’re unaware of it..."

She paused for a moment, then sighed.

"This story is a bit long. You’ll need some patience."

"I consider myself a patient man,"

Fang Shuwen said with a smile.

"Please, Sect Leader Yu, I’m all ears."

"The story begins several hundred years ago."

"In the Jianghu of the Central Domain, a demonic path emerged. Its followers called themselves the Asura Sect."

"The Martial Arts of the Asura Sect were all cruel and vicious, chief among them being the Asura Three Dao."

"The first of the Asura Three Dao is the Ghost Night Flower, the second is the Blood Rakshasa, and the third is the Undying Technique."

"To this day, the specifics of how these Martial Arts were performed and utilized have been mostly lost to time."

"The records I read back then only stated... they were among the most evil and vicious Martial Arts in the world."

"The Lord of Asura used the Asura Three Dao to terrorize the Jianghu, starting in the Central Domain. He secretly amassed followers and eventually infiltrated the heartlands of the other four domains."

"Then, with the help of a rare treasure, he gathered people from across the Five Domains Martial World into a single domain, attempting to conquer the world in one decisive battle."

"But in the end, he underestimated the heroes of the realm."

"Although the Lord of Asura’s Martial Arts were formidable, and it was said he was nearly immortal with an inexhaustible supply of Inner Strength..."

"...he was ultimately slain by the combined might of two peerless masters who were present."

"And so, the Asura Dao... came to an end."

Fang Shuwen shook his head as he listened.

"All that power and ambition, but no brains."

’Even though my own Martial Arts are already quite formidable,’ he thought, ’I still wouldn’t dare underestimate the other heroes of this world.’

’The Lord of Asura must have mastered those terrifying Techniques of the Asura Three Dao and thought himself invincible. That’s the only reason he would have dared to gather experts from all Five Domains in one place.’

’But he failed to realize that there’s always a higher mountain. The Jianghu has never been short of hidden masters.’

’When you travel the Jianghu, you can’t let your guard down, not even for a plainly dressed, unassuming young person you meet on the road.’

’What if they’ve just returned from some secluded training at the bottom of a cliff?’

’Offend someone like that, and you might just end up as a stepping stone for their rise to fame.’

Yu Yaoguang thought for a moment, then nodded.

"That’s true, but it’s also a testament to just how high his Martial Arts were."

"From that day on, all traces of the Asura Dao vanished from the Jianghu."

"Until more than thirty years ago..."

"A man carrying a Heavy Saber came knocking on the gates of Yuqing Pavilion. He sought an audience with the Sect Leader of Yuqing Pavilion at the time—my respected master."

"Was it Xu Zeyuan?"

From the description, Fang Shuwen knew it had to be the legendary Hundred-Pound Saber.

Yu Yaoguang nodded.

"By then, Xu Zeyuan had already made a great name for himself in the Jianghu. Even I, young as I was, had heard of Hero Xu and his Hundred-Pound Saber." 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"I accompanied my master to meet this renowned hero of the Jianghu."

"However, I had imagined him to be a dashing, spirited figure. When I actually met him, I found his face was haggard and pale. He was a far cry from the image of a ’great hero’ I had in my mind..."

"Only his eyes, which seemed to shine brightly even in the dark, were impossible to ignore."

"At his side was a little girl—the same Xu Wenwan you just saw."

"The moment he saw my master, he fell to his knees, begging him to grant a single request."

"He wanted my master to take his personal weapon and hide it within Yuqing Pavilion."

Fang Shuwen thought for a moment, then said,

"Your master wouldn’t have just accepted it, surely."

"You’re right. My master asked him why, and he didn’t hide the truth."

Yu Yaoguang said,

"Xu Zeyuan said that in his early years of roaming the Jianghu, he had stumbled upon a secret location."

"The walls there were covered in densely carved text, which recorded an exceptionally vicious school of Martial Arts."

"A fortuitous encounter like that in the Jianghu could easily corrupt a person, but Xu Zeyuan was a righteous man. He knew that if these Martial Arts were ever to spread, the harm would be endless."

"So he destroyed the manual carved into the wall."

"He had intended to destroy everything in the vicinity at the time."

"But he found a piece of iron that could not be destroyed—not by blade or axe, nor by being cast into a furnace."