42 FINALLY, THE SWORD (2)

Li Jie walked slowly towards the light source, the area kept getting broader and there was the sword, laying on top of a huge black stone.

Li Jie looked around himself and found himself out of the cave. The place around him looked something straight out of a fairy-tale.

The whole place was sunny and well lit but the temperature was perfect, neither too hot nor too cold. The grey, round stones were floating on the clear blue water with beautiful, colourful fishes visibly swimming in it. The stone path leads to the sword.

The place was filled with trees that looked like they were emerging from the water but neither roots nor the top of the trees could be seen. The whole region was shimmering in a golden light which made the place look more magical.

The sword was rotating on top of a huge black stone slab. Instead of stepping on the stones, Li Jie flew over towards the sword and landed on a stone beside the sword.

The sword looked extremely beautiful and deadly. The long shiny blade with a red hue and black jade handle which was looking extremely inviting. Anyone would be compelled to get the blade.

Li Jie looked at the sword for a few seconds and raised his hand but instead of gripping the handle of the sword in front of him. He clenched his hand to form a fist and slammed his fist into the stone slab. The stone slab broke into many fragments.

The instant, Li Jie smashed the stone slab. The sword and the beautiful trees, the magical and beautiful surroundings vanished.

The whole place was soon shrouded in black mist, the temperature also rose to a very high degree which made Li Jie very uncomfortable.

It took a few minutes before the black mist was gone. After the black mist was gone, the whole place was changed and mainly there was no sword in the vicinity.

Instead of a sword, there was a figure floating on the ground. The figure was wearing a large black cloak, the end of the cloak was tattered and no feet could be seen under the cloak.

Li Jie squinted his eyes, trying to see the face of the figure but there was only black mist in the place of a face.

Li Jie looked around himself and instead of clear water and beautiful stones, the ground under his feet was cracked and red lava was flowing between those cracks. All those trees were nowhere in sight, there were heaps of bones.

" Li Jie, son of Li Cheng, " The figure said in an extremely deep voice.

Li Jie was quite shocked after hearing the man calling his and his father's name but he quickly adjusted his emotion and looked back at the blurry man with vigilance.

" Follow me," the blurry figure said in its emotionless tone but Li Jie overlooked the part when the blurry man tilted his head to look at the engraved tattoo on his wrist.

Li Jie followed the blurry man as it was the only choice that he had. He looked at the back of the floating blurry man who did not cast a shadow on the ground.

Li Jie almost thought that this was also an illusion but before he could do anything, they were already standing in front of a den.

Li Jie whose attention was wholly on the den as he was feeling the immense amount of sword energy from the den, failed to notice that the blurry man was slowly fading in a very peaceful way.

Li Jie who was unaware of the end of the blurry man only heard a sentence.

" LIVE YOUR LIFE, WITH NO REGRETS " the voice was similar to that of the blurry man's but it had a slight warmth to it.

Li Jie looked in the direction of the voice, only to see a wisp of black fog floating away. He put his hand on his chest and made a vow to always remember the man's words and moved forward.

Li Jie entered the cave with a heavy heart, the den was surprisingly very beautiful just like the illusion but this time he could feel the vitality of the surroundings, the warmth of the sun on his skin and the water touching his feet.

This reassured Li Jie that this was a reality and not an illusion.

Li Jie continued to walk forward in search of the sword that was still in the view as before and went deep into the cave to get it.

The sword became clearer and Li Jie could finally look at the glorious sword. the sword in front of him was very different from his beautiful and deadly sword.

The sword in front of him was broader and also looked heavier than his sword with a silver blade.

The only difference was that there were some incantations engraved in the middle of the blade that made the sword look more mystical.

The hilt of the sword looked majestic with a dragon head on the top and its tail slowly rounding towards the blade.

Li Jie walked towards the sword and looked carefully at the incantation on the blade but was unable to decipher it. Then he looked at the dragon which looked very lifelike with its shiny scales and beautiful and delicate work.

He lifted his hand and carefully stroked the area near the closed eyes of the dragon which were the only thing that made the sword look slightly incomplete in a weird way.

The soft scales under his hand were smooth and hard. he couldn't stop touching them over and over till he noticed that the eyes of the dragon were now open and the scales which were silver were now in shimmery gold and red colour. As for the eyes, they were silver and glowing.

Li Jie retracted his hand as if he was electrocuted but the sword remained in his hand and its temperature rose at an alarming rate.

The next thing he knew the whole scene around him dissolved in front of him and he was back in his car at the other end of the street.