At least in this world, sword smiths needed to forge these killing tools called swords to make killing more convenient.
Perhaps no one expected Princess Wen Ya to have such an attitude - not using flowery language to disguise herself or making herself sound like a savior.
Soon, Princess Wen Ya had evaluated all twenty-three swords at once. Those that were unqualified were directly eliminated. She used quite a few methods to test them, and in the end, only five swords remained. Xiaoyao's forged sword was actually among them, which was something Xiaoyao hadn't expected.
However, given Princess Wen Ya's evaluation method, it was quite normal for Xiaoyao to be included, because although Xiaoyao had made it casually, it completely met the standards for a blunt sword and perfectly displayed its characteristics.
If judging purely by technique, some of the eliminated swords were much better than Xiaoyao's blunt sword. But the problem was they all deviated somewhat from their sword type's characteristics and were eliminated by Princess Wen Ya.
"Among the remaining five swords, Prince Li Cheng's Giant Spirit Sword has the best technique, and the material selection is perfect. Truly worthy of being a prince of the Greedy Wolf Empire," Princess Wen Ya said. When she was about to say something else, Xiaoyao suddenly spoke up and interrupted her.
"Princess Wen Ya, since Prince Li Cheng's sword is so good, why not have someone perform a sword routine with it? Let us also broaden our horizons," Xiaoyao looked like he really wanted to watch.
Hmph, this is jealousy, right? You want to say this giant sword is too heavy for others to wield and has no practical use, right.
...
...
At this moment, many people thought this way, feeling Xiaoyao wanted to cause trouble. They didn't know that Xiaoyao was indeed causing trouble, but had already done so long ago.
"I'll perform it for you to see," From the Greedy Wolf Empire side, a large warrior jumped out, then picked up the giant sword and began wielding it.
This giant sword seemed like an ordinary sword in this large warrior's hands, very effortless. One could see how tremendous this large warrior's strength was. This kind of giant sword was suitable for these strength-type martial artists.
The giant sword was wielded impressively by this large man, showing not only his martial prowess but also making everyone understand that this giant sword was an excellent weapon.
At this moment, everyone seemed to think that Xiaoyao's troublemaking had failed and instead helped Li Cheng.
Many people looked toward Xiaoyao with some disdain, but Xiaoyao was just smiling, a very calm smile. If one looked carefully, one would discover that this smile also contained mockery.
What was he mocking? The observant Princess Wen Ya noticed this, and she was the only one who did.
Just then, an unexpected situation occurred!
"Bang..."
"Clang clang clang..."
The giant sword in the large man's hands suddenly shattered. The giant sword's fragments fell magnificently to the ground. The large man was stunned, everyone at the scene was stunned, and Li Cheng stared wide-eyed, suspecting he was hallucinating.
No matter who it was, no one could explain this situation. How could this giant sword suddenly shatter? What caused this situation? No one could explain. They would never figure out the reason in their lifetimes.
Princess Wen Ya was stunned and instinctively looked toward Xiaoyao, thinking to herself: Could this be his doing? But why couldn't I detect anything before?
Of course she couldn't detect it, there would be no problems before, but as soon as a little internal energy was added, a reaction would occur. Wielding such a giant sword would inevitably require some internal energy, this was an inevitable result.
Of course, Xiaoyao wouldn't reveal this. He just stared wide-eyed with an admiring expression, "Wow, that's awesome. Is this one of the sword's attack methods?"
"..." Princess Wen Ya was somewhat speechless.
Li Cheng now had black lines on his forehead. He felt Xiaoyao's comment was a completely intentional provocation, this was obvious.
"Young Prince, do you have any explanation for this?" Princess Wen Ya looked toward Xiaoyao and asked, making Xiaoyao the center of attention. No matter who it was, no one understood why Princess Wen Ya would ask Xiaoyao this question. Could Xiaoyao be an even more skilled sword smith than her?
No, if that were the case, why did his blunt sword look so ordinary?
"How would I know? Maybe Heaven thinks his character is bad and he can't become your husband, Princess Wen Ya, so he received divine punishment," Xiaoyao said indifferently. "Now the best sword on the field is Tian He's sword. It looks like the princess will marry a commoner."
Everyone seemed somewhat surprised by Xiaoyao saying this, not because they couldn't see the skill in Tian He's sword, but because these words shouldn't come from Xiaoyao's mouth.
After all, Xiaoyao was also one of the competitors. Such a statement seemed completely unconcerned, making people suspect whether Xiaoyao really came to participate in the marriage competition.
However, regardless, everyone agreed with Xiaoyao's words. Tian He's sword was undoubtedly the most skillfully made. Now without Li Cheng, he should become the only candidate for prince consort.
But things often happen beyond expectations. No one thought that the person Princess Wen Ya announced would be—
"Young Prince! You are my chosen one, my future husband. I hadn't finished speaking earlier, even if Prince Li Cheng's giant sword hadn't shattered, my choice would still be you..."
The entire venue fell silent. No one understood what Princess Wen Ya's choice meant, not even the King. Why would it be Xiaoyao? His blunt sword was the most unremarkable.
Could it be that you're choosing the worst one?
Xiaoyao was equally stunned. After a while, he reacted, jumped up, and loudly questioned, "What the hell! How did you choose? My blunt sword is clearly the worst in technique, their skills are all much better than mine. Could it be you want to choose the one with the worst technique so you can dominate your husband? Damn, you have such twisted tastes..."
Everyone looked at Princess Wen Ya with strange expressions in their eyes...
Princess Wen Ya's face reddened as she angrily said, "What are you thinking. My standard isn't technique. Do you all think that after testing you all this way, I would definitely judge based on your skills in the end?"
"Isn't it?" Xiaoyao asked. This was really habitual thinking, feeling that since Princess Wen Ya had been examining sword forging skills before, the final standard would surely be sword forging proficiency, meaning forging technique.
"No, actually what I examine is your hearts. When you forge swords, you more or less put your state of mind into them. I have a special ability to sense the sword smith's heart. Prince Li Cheng has an arrogant personality and didn't really come for me, I'm not worthy; Young Master Tian He, you have some evil aura and aren't from the righteous path, you're not suitable for me..."
Ah, she actually had this ability. Li Cheng was indeed like this, but this honest-seeming Tian He actually had an evil aura and wasn't from the righteous path. Could he be...
"Haha! I've been discovered, how interesting. Well, forget it then. I'll just take the Peerless Sword directly. I am Tian He of the Demon Cult's Ghost Shadow Sect, remember that," Tian He laughed loudly, his figure like a phantom, flashing to Princess Wen Ya's front, taking the Peerless Sword, then disappearing.
These actions were completed simultaneously while speaking. It was just an instant. Everyone heard Tian He's voice but could no longer see his figure.
This was the Demon Cult's phantom movement technique, also called Ghost Shadow, one of the continent's top movement skills. There weren't many experts present, and with the sudden occurrence, they just let someone take the Peerless Sword in front of everyone and leave arrogantly.
The entire scene fell silent again, completely quiet. They seemed unable to process what had just happened.
Another Demon Cult member? Did they know the Peerless Sword's secrets, or did they purely want to find a divine weapon?
Whatever, this doesn't concern me. I won't think about it. However, he also served as my scapegoat. Now the entire world knows the Peerless Sword was seized by the Demon Cult...
Xiaoyao thought to himself, wondering what expression Tian He would have when he discovered the sword in his hands was a replica. Who told you to pretend to be an honest person and deceive me? I thought you were a good person - serves you right!
"Cough cough, quickly pursue him! The Peerless Sword was taken by a Demon Cult member. It seems today ends here, everyone disperse," At this moment, leaving was most important for Xiaoyao. Li Cheng had already failed, the "Peerless Sword" had been stolen, There was nothing good left to stay for.
Most critically, this Princess Wen Ya had suddenly gone crazy and taken a liking to him. If he didn't leave now, when would he?
"Where are you going? Do you want to escape? Naturally, people will pursue the stolen Peerless Sword. We haven't finished our business today.”
Xiaoyao wanted to leave in the chaos, but the other party didn't give him this opportunity. Whether it was the King or Princess Wen Ya, although they were surprised about the Peerless Sword being stolen, they only froze for a moment before quickly ordering others to handle it, while they naturally stayed to continue.
As a nation's ruler, one must distinguish between urgent and important matters. If the Peerless Sword was stolen, so be it, they couldn't just abandon the current proceedings because of it.
In fact, even if they abandoned everything, it wouldn't help recover the Peerless Sword at all.
Seeing Xiaoyao wanting to leave using the opportunity, Princess Wen Ya felt helpless. It seemed he really was just here to play around, which was why he feared being chosen.
Regardless of your purpose for coming, now that I've chosen you, you can't escape even if you try.
Therefore, when Princess Wen Ya saw Xiaoyao wanting to slip away, she immediately spoke up, not letting him escape easily.
"My daughter is right. Everyone needn't worry about the Peerless Sword matter. Let's finish the business here first." The King spoke at this moment.
It seemed they really didn't know the secrets within the Peerless Sword. How interesting, as the owners, something that had been passed down for three thousand years, yet only outsiders knew its secrets.
This was very ironic!
(End of Chapter)