271 There’s No Free Lunch in the World

Hearing Liu Hongshan’s words, the waiter agreed and nodded at Lin Ran before leaving.

Lin Ran raised his hand and moved the tray to the side. Liu Hongshan placed the wooden box on the table and tapped the surface of the wooden box with two fingers. “I’ve brought what you wanted.”

“Is it a famous saber?”

Lin Ran asked casually. He crossed his arms and was in no hurry to check. “I don’t want it if it’s not a famous saber.”

“You’re really pushing your luck.”

Liu Hongshan smiled helplessly. Then, he took out a small booklet from his pocket. “This is the Great Yong Dynasty’s ‘Famous Saber Scroll’. See for yourself if it’s a famous saber.”

When Lin Ran heard this, he reached out to open the wooden box. Just as he lifted the lid of the wooden box, he immediately felt a sharp aura surging out.

Unlike the light and ethereal sword intent, this aura felt heavier, but its sharpness did not decrease at all.

Lin Ran’s eyes lit up as he continued to open the wooden box. The first thing he saw was a bright yellow brocade. When he lifted the brocade, a slender black blade appeared in front of him.

It was unknown what material this saber was made of. The blade was two fingers wide and completely black. Only the blood grooves were snow-white.

At first glance, it looked exactly the same as the Yin-Yang Sword, but Lin Ran knew that there shouldn’t be any connection between the two.

Lin Ran was usually more comfortable with using the Yin-Yang Sword, and Liu Hongshan had brought him such a black and white saber. It was unknown if he did it on purpose or not.

As soon as Lin Ran exerted his strength, his expression changed slightly. Although the blade of this saber was only two fingers wide, it was even sharper than Tu Baichuan’s heavy sword!

After being stunned for half a second, Lin Ran exerted more strength and finally lifted the saber out of the box. During this time, the tip of the saber accidentally slashed across the table, instantly leaving a cut nearly half an inch deep.

“Slicing iron like mud.”

Liu Hongshan raised his eyebrows and smiled. “I don’t know if the workmanship of this saber is considered exquisite, but the quality is definitely top-notch!”

“I can tell.”

Lin Ran nodded in agreement. He raised the saber with one hand and waved it twice, causing the air to buzz.

Most importantly, Lin Ran did not activate his internal energy, but when the saber slashed through the air, it left a bright trajectory. Although it only lasted for a moment, one could tell that this saber was not ordinary.

“This saber is called ‘Black Shadow’.”

As Liu Hongshan spoke, he flipped to one of the pages on the Famous Saber Scroll. “It’s ranked 16th among the famous sabers of the Great Yong Dynasty.”

“Only sixteenth?”

Lin Ran frowned slightly. It was not that he felt that the ranking was too low, but it was unbelievable. Such a good saber was not even in the top ten?

Liu Hongshan clearly misunderstood Lin Ran’s meaning. He smiled bitterly and said helplessly, “From the eighth to the fifteenth, they are all sabers of the generals of the Great Yong Dynasty, and the first eight sabers are possessed by the royal family. This is already the best saber I can get.”

Hearing the words “the royal family”, Lin Ran’s eyes suddenly flickered. He looked at Liu Hongshan and probed, “The ranking of Fluttering Cloud, the saber used by your emperor, should be very high, right?”

“I really underestimated you. You actually know ‘Fluttering Cloud’?”

Liu Hongshan looked at Lin Ran in surprise. Then, he flipped open the Famous Saber Scroll a few pages. “Fluttering Cloud is used by the emperor. It’s ranked fourth in the Famous Saber Manual.”

Lin Ran looked at the Famous Saber Manual and realized that it was indeed the case. Then, he looked puzzled. Shouldn’t the emperor use the best saber there was? Why was it only ranked fourth?

As if sensing Lin Ran’s confusion, before he could speak, Liu Hongshan took the initiative to explain, “Actually, in terms of quality, Fluttering Cloud will definitely be in the top three.”

“However, the first three famous sabers were once the weapons of the founding emperor of the Great Yong Dynasty. Therefore, other than the quality of the sabers themselves, they also have some symbolic meaning.”

“I see.”

Lin Ran nodded in realization. It was just like the Sacred Abyss Sword of the Heavenly Saint Dynasty.

In terms of quality, the Sacred Abyss Sword was definitely inferior to the Ten Miles Dragon Roar. However, it was once the sword of the founding emperor of the Heavenly Saint Dynasty, so as long as the Sacred Abyss Sword existed, the Ten Miles Dragon Roar could not be called the best.

Thinking of the Ten Miles Dragon Roar, Lin Ran suddenly thought of something that had puzzled him for a long time.

“Can I ask you a question?”

Lin Ran looked at Liu Hongshan and asked, but he didn’t give him any room to refuse. Before Liu Hongshan could say anything, he continued, “When you fought Sword God back then, what method did you use to break the Ten Miles Dragon Roar?”

“At that time, all my attention was on fighting him. When I noticed it, the Ten Miles Dragon Roar had already been broken.”

Liu Hongshan replied calmly without thinking, but seeing his trembling eyes, Lin Ran knew that he was hiding something.

Seeing that Liu Hongshan didn’t want to tell him, Lin Ran didn’t ask further. It was useless to ask anyway.

Putting the Black Shadow Saber back into the wooden box, Lin Ran picked up his chopsticks and ate slowly. “Tell me your plan. If it’s harmless to the Heavenly Saint, I’ll go back for the time being. We’ll talk about the duel in the future.”

Of course, Liu Hongshan couldn’t tell Lin Ran about his plan. Lin Ran must know this too, so he was clearly being shameless!

“I advise you not to push your luck.”

Liu Hongshan sat opposite Lin Ran and gently tapped his finger on the wooden box containing the Black Shadow Saber. “Don’t blame me for not reminding you. When they find out, it’ll be too late for you to leave.”

“Find out? Find out about what?”

Lin Ran’s chopsticks stopped in midair. Looking at Liu Hongshan’s faint smile, he suddenly had a thought. “Did you steal this saber?”

Liu Hongshan shrugged calmly with a smirk on his face. “It’s not me, it’s you.”

Lin Ran tightened his grip on his chopsticks and made a clicking sound. Before he could say anything, he heard someone shout on the street outside, “Search carefully! Someone saw that thief running towards this area!”

“You’re really cunning!”

Lin Ran looked at Liu Hongshan and gritted his teeth.

Liu Hongshan smiled and stood up to walk to the window. After saying “good luck”, he flew out of the window.

At this moment, Lin Ran could already hear many people going upstairs. He knew that he couldn’t stay here for long, so he picked up the wooden box and followed him out!