Chapter 4110 – Glimmer of Hope
Translator: Silavin & Jon
Translation Checker: PewPewLazerGun
Editor and Proofreader: Leo of Zion Mountain & Dhael Ligerkeys
These swords had betrayed Yang Kai!
In this world, the swords were categorised into different grades. Although there was no such thing as loyalty in this place, Yang Kai had never come across such an event in the past six months that he had managed his army.
He couldn’t believe that his own army had turned against him!
His subordinates that had been affected by the Gold Sword’s aura turned around and ruthlessly killed their original companions.
Initially, the situation was in Yang Kai’s favour, but after the Gold Sword appeared out of thin air, everything fell apart.
Apparently, Lang Qing Shan hadn’t expected such a turn of events to happen as well, so he hurriedly mobilised the army and took control of everything. Fortunately, there were not many swords that had betrayed them; after all, the Gold Sword’s aura only covered a radius of about three kilometres. Those swords that were beyond that area were unaffected.
Despite that, thousands of swords had become traitors. What made Lang Qing Shan feel extremely distressed was that there were 8 Silver Swords among the traitors.
Before he could come up with a solution, the Gold Sword suddenly turned and shot Golden Sword Qi, which directly penetrated their army.
Wherever the Golden Sword Qi passed, it easily destroyed all swords. Upon impact, the swords directly broke into pieces, including the Silver Swords. They were completely powerless to resist the attack.
Following that, the Gold Sword repeatedly sent out waves of Golden Sword Qi and caused immense losses to Yang Kai’s army.
Moreover, Lang Qing Shan realised that he was no longer able to mobilise the army. The Gold Sword’s presence seemed to have a kind of suppressive intimidation on all the swords. His soldiers were rooted to the spot with some of them even starting to flee.
Everything had become a mess!
When Lang Qing Shan saw this, he knew that there was no way they could win the battle. Left with no choice, he ordered the rest of the soldiers to retreat.
One hour later, the noises on the battlefield died down. Metal scraps that were left behind by Yang Kai’s army were scattered everywhere while the ten thousand swords under the Gold Sword only slightly reduced in number.
Although many of his subordinates had been killed, he had also taken in a large number of Yang Kai’s subordinates. Presently, the Gold Sword still had seven or eight thousand swords that worked under him.
With a pair of bright eyes, Yang Kai gazed at the battlefield and stared fervently at the Gold Sword. He was pondering whether he stood a chance to defeat the Gold Sword if he joined the battle.
While he was lost in his thoughts, the Gold Sword suddenly leapt into the air. There was a stern-looking face on the blade that was facing Yang Kai.
Seeing that, Yang Kai felt his chest tightening and knew that he was in danger.
The next instant, the Gold Sword slashed out a Golden Sword Qi blade right at Yang Kai in a ruthless manner. Following a loud boom, the mountain peak Yang Kai was standing on was cut across. As dirt and sand rose into the air, the broken crest tilted to the side.
With a whoosh, the Gold Sword reached the mountain and hovered in mid-air as he looked for Yang Kai’s whereabouts. After a while, Yang Kai was still nowhere to be seen though, so he turned around to return to his army.
*Hong long long…*
The crest collapsed to the ground and the Gold Sword led his army to depart.
One hour later, a white light shot out from the fallen peak. Its glow was dim, and on the blade, Yang Kai sported a dark expression.
He was totally no match for the Gold Sword. Although they hadn’t actually exchanged blows with it, by just looking at the Golden Sword Qi, Yang Kai knew that there was no way he could defeat the Gold Sword. If they were in a one-on-one fight, he wouldn’t even last a cup of tea’s time.
It was useless to tell his army to charge forward and use wave tactics, either, as the Gold Sword’s presence was too intimidating to the weaker swords. Regardless of how many swords there were on Yang Kai’s side, they were unable to harm the Gold Sword one bit.
When Lang Qing Shan returned with the battered soldiers and saw what became of the peak, he was shocked, but he became flabbergasted upon seeing that the glow on Yang Kai’s blade had turned dim.
“Sir, are you alright?” Lang Qing Shan asked anxiously.
Nevertheless, Yang Kai’s eyes appeared bright as he stared at him, “Qing Shan, did you see that sword?”
There was a helpless smile on Lang Qing Shan’s face, “The Gold Sword was too powerful. I’m sorry for being incompetent. Please punish me.” They had suffered immense losses in the battle. After some calculations, Lang Qing Shan realised that only 70% of the original hundred thousand army was left. They had lost thirty thousand swords in the battle, including more than ten Silver Swords. Yang Kai’s army had shrunk by 30%, so Lang Qing Shan was gripped by a feeling of guilt.
Yang Kai said, “You cannot be blamed for the failure. The Gold Sword was simply too overwhelming. What’s more… he could fly. That’s interesting.”
Despite the fact that Yang Kai had reached the peak of his power as a Silver Sword, he was still unable to fly. The best he could do was leap into the air; however, not only was the Gold Sword able to use a horrifying Sword Qi, he could also fly freely.
As for the losses Yang Kai had suffered, he didn’t mind it one bit.
In this world of swords, there was never a lack of soldiers. He had deliberately kept his army around a hundred thousand in number. If he wanted, he could’ve amassed more than five hundred thousand soldiers in the past six months.
Therefore, he didn’t mind losing some soldiers as he could simply recruit new ones quickly. Nevertheless, the existence of the Gold Sword was like a glimmer of hope in the darkness of night for him.
Since there was a Gold Sword, it meant that he could also reach that grade. By then, he might be able to unravel the secrets of this world.
The problem was how he could achieve such a breakthrough. Was there a secret method he was unaware of?
He had tried killing many Silver Swords, but that yielded no result. Since it wasn’t the right way, was there anything else that he needed to comprehend? But, as a sword, how was he supposed to comprehend anything in the first place?
A few days later, they found a new location that was pretty expansive. There were over twenty thousand swords that were led by more than ten Silver Swords.
Just like Yang Kai and Lang Qing Shan, the strongest Silver Sword had reached the peak of his power.
After a quick battle, they easily snatched this mine. Yang Kai and Lang Qing Shan joined forces and defeated the leader, but they didn’t rush to kill him.
There was a face of a middle-aged man on the blade of the strongest Silver Sword and presently, he sported an apprehensive expression.
“I have something to ask you.” Yang Kai stared calmly at him, “If you can answer me, I will spare your life.”
Like a drowning person clutching at a straw, the Silver Sword hurriedly said, “Please ask!”
“How does one become a Gold Sword?” Yang Kai looked fervently at him.
The Silver Sword became startled as he hadn’t expected Yang Kai to ask such a question, but he still answered honestly, “You can become a Gold Sword as long as you obtain the golden liquid.”
“The golden liquid?” Yang Kai said doubtfully, “What is that and where can I find it?”
The Silver Sword replied, “One only finds golden liquid in gold ores.”
“Gold ores?” A startled Yang Kai swept a glance over the ores in this mine and fell into a dazed state for a moment before bursting into laughter.
At that instant, he realised that he had always ignored the key to achieving his breakthrough.
He was always curious about why these Silver Swords only stayed in the same locations and told their subordinates to mine ores. If the purpose was simply to increase their own strength, it was too inefficient.
Now, it seemed that besides trying to strengthen themselves, they were also making preparations to become Gold Swords. The gold ores must be extremely rare, which was why Yang Kai had never seen them despite the fact that he had snatched quite a large number of mines.
The Silver Sword in front of him must have stayed in this grade for a long time, which was why he was aware of this information. The Silver Swords under Yang Kai were all upgraded from Black Iron Swords, which was why they had no idea about this secret.
Now, he had finally figured out that the ores were the key to helping him become a Gold Sword!
“Qing Shan!” Yang Kai called out.
Lang Qing Shan immediately leaped into the air and slashed at the strongest Silver Sword that was already covered in cracks.
Turning around, Yang Kai gazed at the huge mine and grinned, “Tell them to start mining ores right away.”
Lang Qing Shan grunted in acknowledgement before passing down the order. After that, clanging sounds were continuously heard in the mine.
Without being idle, Yang Kai told Lang Qing Shan to take charge of this place, then he led ten thousand soldiers to occupy other mines.
Gold ores were clearly extremely rare, and he might not be able to find them in this mine, so Yang Kai had to make preparations.
They went on to snatch more mines and repair themselves by killing other swords. Like a snowball, the army was growing larger day by day. After they occupied a mine, Yang Kai would leave a Silver Sword behind to be in charge of mining operations.
In just one month, Yang Kai had taken control of six large mines. There were several tens of thousands of swords in each mine that worked tirelessly to excavate ores.
After that, Yang Kai settled in a certain spot. Lang Qing Shan would patrol around the mines they had occupied so far, and as soon as any gold ore appeared, he would immediately report it to Yang Kai.
Yang Kai didn’t trust the other Silver Swords that worked under him. If they absorbed the power of those gold ores without informing him about it, that would be a huge loss for him. Therefore, Lang Qing Shan had no choice but to work harder.
As time passed, countless ores were excavated every single day, but the gold ore Yang Kai had been looking for was still nowhere to be found. He was already aware that gold ores were extremely rare, but he had never expected that it was so difficult to find even one.
He had about 300,000 soldiers that continuously mined ores for him in six locations, but not a single gold ore had appeared.
Four months later, Lang Qing Shan came to Yang Kai with an excited expression and told him that a gold ore had been excavated in one of the mines.
An elated Yang Kai hurriedly left with him.
Upon arriving at their destination, Yang Kai indeed saw a glittering gold ore lying in an open space. It was surrounded by swords and no one else could go near it.
Suppressing the excitement in his heart, Yang Kai hopped up to the gold ore and realised that it was only the size of a plate. The surface was uneven, but it radiated an alluring glow.
He stared at the gold ore and fell into a dazed state for a long time. It wasn’t until Lang Qing Shan called out to him that Yang Kai sighed and said, “It’s been one year since we came to this world. I hope this gold ore will help us work out its deepest mysteries.”
Upon finishing his words, Yang Kai leapt into the air and jabbed his blade into the gold ore.
Following that, a pure energy streamed into Yang Kai’s figure. He could clearly feel that there was something else in the gold ore, which he supposed was the golden liquid.
Knowing that he was bound to achieve a breakthrough, Yang Kai was filled with joy.
As expected, as the energy of the gold ore penetrated his body, Yang Kai could clearly feel his strength increasing rapidly, and the bottleneck that had been troubling him shattered in an instant.
The silver glow on his blade was now replaced by a golden one and a golden aura began swirling around his blade.