The Legend of the Devil
Ch. 38 - Statue of the Holy Sword
The sword eyes shone brightly as the light of the morning sun reflected on its beautiful sharp curves. Diqiu Empire seemed as calm as ever, the sound of birds chirping and the soothing scent of trees had always been his friend when training alone on the edge of the hill.
A young man stood on top of one monument of Diqiu Empire. Practicing movements that are quite complicated, with only a foot on the foot above the head of the giant statue.
The statue is one of the famous Holy Sword figures in Diqiu Empire, which became a symbol of courage and prosperity. The statue could match a three-story building, standing defiantly against the sky barely touching the clouds as well as the sword above his head brandishing valiantly. It looked so beautiful as well as terrifying, it had an extremely powerful mystical aura.
Rarely had anyone come to that place other than the guards, Xue Zhan jumped from a height. Roll over when his foot almost hits the ground, avoiding injury to the foot. Then ran into the forest.
Sweat all over his body. His eyes glowed red, staring straight ahead as he unleashed ten thin disc-shaped weapons without looking towards his attack. Imagine that he is currently chasing an enemy and dozens of bodyguards and must kill them at the same time. Xue Zhan stopped his footprints until a cloud of dust flew out.
His body spun on an almost perfect shaft, slashing the sword with the most effective angle to kill directly at the neck. Sweat drops fell to the ground, he remained in that position within five seconds. Then it appeared that the young man was breathing long air repeatedly. Breathing violently.
Xue Zhan looked to the left right where ten artificial wooden statues with one red dot of paper were each stuck by his disc. Eight on target, two missed.
Let's just say Xue Zhan was after one person and ten other enemies tried to stop him.
If on the battlefield were actually the two remaining enemies it would definitely attack Xue Zhan back. That could be a fatal mistake. Xue Zhan had to repeat his training once more. Even though the spinning and attacking movements are good enough. But the accuracy of the throw is still below average.
Xue Zhan's legs started to cramp.
Kang Jian had warned him dozens of times not to overdo it in training. An ordinary swordsman can lose consciousness with a daily seven-hour workout without stopping. Especially for ten hours. But Xue Zhan had a special ability, part of his body contained demonic blood flowing within. He has more endurance than an ordinary human.
Thinking of practicing ten hours each day endlessly still lacking, Xue Zhan felt he had to surpass it and set a new threshold.
"Tomorrow I must practice twelve hours a day. The Intermediate Swordsman Exam is three months away, damn it. Master even said I haven't reached the five circles!" He's getting frustrated.
"What will Emperor Li say? Yesterday he said he would be present at the welcoming ceremony of participants, with my condition so sad. Teacher must be embarrassed. Huh ... Very upset."
Xue Zhan looked up at the sky.
The muscles all over his body were beginning to show due to the relentless training he had been doing for three months, his height was increasing faster than before, several times Xue Zhan had not slept just for the sake of increasing the time to train. He could not be left behind from Jiazhen Yan no matter what.
While his friend for almost two months did not appear. There was one mission that forced Jiazhen Yan to go outside the city. Some say his best friend is getting stronger in his mission and also the enemy facing Jiazhen Yan is not a keroco-keroco. He toppled one of the strongest and has been a hot topic lately. Making Xue Zhan so envious, feeling encouraged to get stronger.
While Xue Zhan himself spent eighty percent of his time on training. There was no mission call, it left him with plenty of time to focus on developing body strength.
Xue Zhan stared at the sword in his hand. The sword had a name carved small on its iron edge. Phoenix, in harmony with the shape of a bird in the sword hilt though not so visible if only a glance.
"Who is the real owner of this sword? Is he gone? Too bad, this sword is too good and seems to merge with my hand. He rejected a sword this good?"
For a moment Xue Zhan raised the sword above him, next to his hand he folded it behind his head as a sleeping pad.
It has become his habit to settle down, practice, and sleep in the forest. Kang Jian's house had been uninhabited for a long time, his Master was also busy with the preparation of the Intermediate Swordsman Exam. He felt lonely all day at home and decided to spend his time in the woods.
Many people hated him, Xue Zhan could not dodge the fact that the demons still seemed to be a frightening specter. For a moment he realized, his journey was still so far away. He got up and stood on the edge of the rocks directly facing the vast city below. His eyes stared deep into a gigantic statue standing on the outskirts of the hill. The morning sunlight made the figure so bright, Xue Zhan saw the hero figure of the statue. The real hero.
"... Can I get to that point too?"
"You who?" ask him politely.
"Huh, this day still don't know me?"
Xue Zhan was sure he had not missed anyone, he had never met anyone like the old man.
"But I really don't know."
"I'm the tree-keeper here!"
Xue Zhan had incredible goosebumps.
"Ha-ghost?! Hiiii!" The young man shuddered in fear, until there was laughter from the elder. The stick in his hand he placed on the side of his body that was coming to sit next to Xue Zhan.
"What do you think of when you see that statue?"
Xue Zhan removed his gaze from the man, turning to the statue.
"Very cool."
"I used to think so, too, as a child. Being a hero is a matter of pride. I want to be like that one day."
A moment of sounding softly in his sentence. "But it is only the desire of a child who has not known the real world."
"What does that mean? Can't be a hero?"
"Being a hero is not just an idol, a pride figure, or even getting compliments." He paused, staring deeply into the eyes of the demon next to him who was also doing the same.
"Being a hero means you're ready to stain your hands with blood, your enemies or your comrades. For duty, duty and devotion. Being a hero means you're ready to turn this beautiful world into a battlefield. Forgetting your family, love, and home. Completely for the Empire."
"Have you ever felt it? I mean ... Being the hero you mean?"
Xue Zhan hesitated to ask.
"The figure you saw on the statue, was me in my youth."
Xue Zhan was surprised, unable to let out any words, his breathing faltered.
"A-you're alive?!"
"You think the statue is old? No. gabe. Haha. After the war ten years ago, my name was famous all over as a Savior. But in reality, I'm not capable of helping myself."
He smiled meaningfully at Xue Zhan, as if he had gone through thousands of painful occurrences. His shoulders looked stiff, his face pias.
"You listening to my story?"