The dire scenario that the higher-ups of the Profound Pill Sect had been dreading never came to pass. The sword prodigy of Hidden Sword Manor lingered in Profound Pill City for two or three days before departing of his own accord. When the news reached the Sect, a group of anxious old men could finally breathe a sigh of relief, all secretly wondering whether they had misjudged Yang Kai — that the one who had stolen the Qingxu Sword was not him after all.
But if it hadn't been him, then who else in the world could have pulled off such a feat right under the noses of the Four Elders of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter?
Hidden Sword Manor launched a massive investigation that dragged on for five or six years, combing virtually the entire Divine Weapon Realm, yet the Qingxu Sword remained nowhere to be found. In the end, they had no choice but to let the matter drop, withdrawing most of their manpower while leaving only a small contingent to continue searching. But even they knew that after so long with no trace, the chances of recovering the Qingxu Sword were essentially nil.
The theft of the Qingxu Sword had become a true cold case.
That affair, however, kept storytellers in teahouses and taverns well-fed for years. A mysterious intruder infiltrating Hidden Sword Manor under cover of night, battling all four of the Seasonal Elders single-handedly, making off with the Qingxu Sword — these tales were recounted in a hundred and eighty chapters, painted with such vivid detail that listeners felt as though they had witnessed it all firsthand.
The dust over Hidden Sword Manor had barely settled before another world-shaking piece of news erupted across the land.
The Azure Dragon Blade of the Tyrant Blade Sect had been stolen!
As one of the Ten Great Sects and keeper of one of the Ten Divine Weapons, the Tyrant Blade Sect's loss came a full eight years later and bore an almost identical pattern to Hidden Sword Manor's ordeal with the Qingxu Sword.
A mysterious figure had appeared without warning at the Tyrant Blade Sect's main hall, moving like a ghost with techniques beyond mortal comprehension. Over a dozen of the Sect's most powerful elites had joined forces to stop the intruder, yet they were utterly incapable of impeding someone who could come and go without a trace. Before the eyes of all, both the man and the blade vanished together!
The entire world was shaken!
Because of the precedent set by the Qingxu Sword, the Tyrant Blade Sect made no attempt to conceal any details this time. Within days of the Azure Dragon Blade's theft, the news had already spread far and wide, and the Sect simultaneously called upon the other nine Great Sects of the Divine Weapon Realm to assist in the search.
This time, the uproar was even greater than before.
The theft of the Qingxu Sword could have been dismissed as a personal grudge — some vendetta the mysterious figure harbored against Hidden Sword Manor. But the Azure Dragon Blade's theft was enough to put every other Great Sect on high alert.
This shadowy thief seemed to be specifically targeting Divine Weapons. With one cautionary tale already in hand, the remaining Great Sects naturally dared not let their guard down, for no one could say with certainty whether their own Sect would be the next victim.
In the blink of an eye, the entire Divine Weapon Realm was thrown into turmoil. Nearly everyone was chasing leads on the thief's whereabouts and trail, and the Profound Pill Sect was no exception.
Bai Li Yunsang convened a secret council of the Elders and bolstered the defenses around the Medicine King Cauldron. During the discussion, however, the gazes of numerous Elders kept drifting, intentionally or not, toward Yang Kai, which left the man feeling utterly helpless.
After years of frenzied commotion, the Azure Dragon Blade remained lost without a trace, and the Tyrant Blade Sect was forced to call off its search. Sustaining such a sweeping investigation drained enormous manpower and resources — even the Tyrant Blade Sect could not bear the cost indefinitely. In the end, they had no choice but to accept the reality of the blade's loss, mirroring exactly the choice Hidden Sword Manor had made years before.
Several years later, the Ruyi Umbrella of the Flower Rain Palace was stolen.
Nine years after that, the Ten Directions Evil Shadow Spear of Cloud Moon Island vanished.
Eight years on, the Thunder Staff of the Azure Sea Manor disappeared.
For the Divine Weapon Realm, these were decades of upheaval and decades of shifting tides. The name of the Great Divine Weapon Thief spread across the land — known to all, feared by all, his fearsome reputation alone enough to silence a crying child at night.
Rumors held that this man stood three zhang tall, a hideous fiend of terrifying strength and ruthless methods. He targeted only Divine Weapons, arriving without warning and departing without a trace. No matter how many experts stood guard, no matter where the weapon was hidden, he always found it and stole it with ease.
The Qingxu Sword of Hidden Sword Manor was the first. The Azure Dragon Blade of the Tyrant Blade Sect was the second.
After that, the other eight Sects holding Divine Weapons had long since taken precautions. When the Thunder Staff was stolen, virtually every Spirit Rank cultivator in the Azure Sea Manor had been gathered inside the Forbidden Grounds — the entire Sect's strength mobilized — and yet they still could not stop the Great Divine Weapon Thief. Before the eyes of all, the Thunder Staff was simply taken, and numerous cultivators were injured in the process, a humiliation the Azure Sea Manor would never forget.
When the Ten Directions Evil Shadow Spear was targeted, Cloud Moon Island had prepared in advance, spending a fortune to forge three Spirit weapons and placing them in the Island's three Forbidden Grounds, while the true Divine Weapon — the Ten Directions Evil Shadow Spear — was secretly hidden elsewhere, guarded by the three most powerful cultivators on the Island.
Yet in the end, the three imitation Spirit weapons were left completely untouched, and the real Divine Weapon was spirited away without anyone noticing.
In the span of mere decades, five of the ten Divine Weapons had been lost. The five Sects still in possession of a Divine Weapon lived in a state of constant dread.
No one knew who the Great Divine Weapon Thief would target next, and every one of those five Sects had its nerves stretched to the breaking point.
However, those who had witnessed the thief's abilities over the years all recognized one thing: though his methods were extraordinary, he had never killed a single person. The experts guarding each Divine Weapon had been injured at most.
It was clear, then, that the Great Divine Weapon Thief was not the bloodthirsty monster the rumors made him out to be.
The other notable pattern was the regularity of his appearances — once every seven to nine years, never more than ten. No one understood why this was the case, but examining the timeline of all five thefts, the rhythm was unmistakable.
And now, seven years had passed since the theft of the Thunder Staff. Doing the math, the Great Divine Weapon Thief should be appearing once again. The five Sects still holding Divine Weapons were instantly on edge, while the five that had been robbed previously dispatched their elite forces, splitting their troops to station within the remaining five Sects. On one hand, they had been commissioned by those five Sects to help guard the Divine Weapons. On the other, they hoped to seize the opportunity to finally catch this elusive phantom.
But those who had witnessed the thief's power knew that his abilities were far too great — capturing him was likely impossible. Their only hope was to discover who he truly was, or at the very least, catch a glimpse of his true face!