Chapter 51: The Blackstone Gambit

The black market was a labyrinth buried beneath the skeletal remains of the Old City, its veins pulsing with illegal goods, whispered bargains, and the faint hum of barely-functional machinery. A dank fog pooled at every corner, carrying the tang of rust and lingering desperation.

Ye Xiu tugged at his hood, making sure his face stayed hidden. He wove carefully through the crowded market, the wooden sword pendant clutched tightly beneath his cloak. It was warm against his palm—warmer than usual—as if responding to the environment's hidden dangers.

He paused at the doorway of an aged steel hut, the sheet-metal patched with faded remnants of corporate logos and warnings. Hanging above was a crude sign etched in fading neon: "Yuan's Goods & Curiosities."

Stepping in, Ye Xiu's eyes adjusted to the dim interior, noting shelves stacked haphazardly with strange components: black crystal fragments, rusting cybernetic limbs, and vials of suspicious fluid. Behind the cluttered counter, a gaunt man with sunken eyes and pale, translucent skin watched him approach, eyes sharp despite the darkness.

"Looking for something special?" the merchant asked, his voice oily but wary.

Ye Xiu hesitated only a second before drawing out the wooden sword pendant. The merchant's eyes narrowed sharply, glittering with sudden, ravenous interest.

"You recognize this?" Ye Xiu asked, voice low.

The merchant reached toward it instinctively before catching himself. His hand withdrew slowly, carefully. "Kid, that thing… It'll get you killed quicker than radiation sickness."

Ye Xiu held his ground. "Then you know what it is?"

The merchant's thin lips curled slightly, revealing cracked, yellowed teeth. "I know enough to stay clear. But if you're desperate, it's worth three doses of top-grade RadClean."

Ye Xiu's heart quickened. Three doses could sustain his mother for weeks, buying precious time until he could uncover more about her condition. Yet, something in the merchant's eyes made him wary. "Why so generous?"

The merchant laughed bitterly. "Generous? Hardly. That sword reeks of trouble. I've seen symbols like those before—lost relics from an age nobody sane should mess with."

He leaned closer, whispering, "Take my advice, boy. Get rid of it fast, or you'll wake something much worse than radiation."

A shiver traced Ye Xiu's spine, his grip tightening around the wooden sword. As he did, he felt a gentle pulse within it, as if responding to the merchant's warning. "Thanks, but I'll hold onto it."

The merchant shrugged dismissively. "Your funeral. But remember—I warned you."

Ye Xiu quickly tucked the pendant away, senses alert, heart racing. He hurried from the shop, eager to leave the merchant's ominous words behind.

Yet the black market's oppressive atmosphere refused to fade. He passed by rows of makeshift stalls selling mechanical debris, scavenged implants, and other illicit technologies. But his thoughts remained fixed on the wooden sword—on its strange warmth, the deepening crimson veins appearing each time he used it, and the sword's quiet humming that now haunted his dreams.

Lost in thought, he nearly collided with a group of scavengers, their filthy armor smeared with soot and oil. They shot him suspicious looks, and Ye Xiu quickly ducked aside, pressing himself against a damp wall.

"Hey, watch it," one grumbled.

Another voice cut in, sharper, more urgent. "Hurry up! They say a sword-cultivator appeared out by Sector 9's mechanical graveyard. Slaughtered an entire squad of security drones."

Ye Xiu froze, heart hammering. Sword-cultivator?

The scavenger snorted. "Impossible. Cultivation's a dead art."

"It's true," insisted his companion fervently. "My cousin saw it himself. Just one guy, swinging a wooden sword. The drones couldn't even touch him. But get this—he wasn't a mutant or one of those cyborg freaks. Just a regular man."

Ye Xiu's blood roared in his ears. Someone else wielding a wooden sword? His fingers instinctively closed tighter around his own pendant. Could there really be someone else who understood this power?

⸻

Ye Xiu wasted no time, sprinting through back alleys and broken streets towards Sector 9's outskirts. Dust clouds billowed around him, carried by winds scented with smoke and charred metal. His lungs burned with each breath, but excitement and dread pushed him forward.

He crested the ridge overlooking the infamous mechanical graveyard—a sprawling wasteland of ruined technology, rusted mechs, and twisted metal. Several drones lay in smoldering pieces, sparks occasionally flickering from their shattered frames.

At the center stood a single figure, cloaked in tattered robes, grasping a wooden sword identical in appearance to Ye Xiu's pendant but larger, fully realized. The figure swayed slightly, blood trickling from wounds across his torso, forming dark pools beneath his feet.

Ye Xiu approached cautiously, eyes wide with awe and disbelief. He'd assumed he was alone, a solitary anomaly. But here was proof: another cultivator, wielding a power supposedly extinct in this world ruled by science and machines.

"Who… are you?" Ye Xiu called out softly.

The figure raised his head slowly. Beneath his hood was a weary, middle-aged face streaked with blood, eyes filled with pain yet defiance. He studied Ye Xiu, lingering on his hidden hand where the wooden sword pendant rested.

"You…carry the blade," the man rasped. "Then the cycle continues."

"Cycle? What cycle?" Ye Xiu demanded, urgency tightening his voice.

The man coughed, blood flecking his lips. "There isn't much time. The sword chose you. It always chooses. You must take this." He shakily produced a crimson jade slip from his sleeve, carved intricately with swirling symbols.

"What's this?" Ye Xiu whispered, accepting it cautiously. The instant his skin touched the jade, warmth surged through him, flooding his veins like molten metal. His vision blurred as new knowledge assaulted his mind:

The Scarlet Sky Sword Sutra.

A second cultivation technique, more potent and dangerous than his fragmentary Nine Heavens Sword Art. His breath quickened, pulse thundering.

But when clarity returned, the man was sinking to his knees, clutching his chest. "Beware… the sword's curse. Each strike draws you closer to ruin. Do not trust the Sword Pavilion…"

His voice faded, head slumping forward, lifeless.

Ye Xiu stared, chest tight with sudden grief for a stranger who'd carried his same burden. Then panic surged—footsteps, heavy boots crunching gravel. Security drones hummed closer, and armored soldiers advanced, rifles raised.

Ye Xiu had no choice. He fled, clutching the crimson jade slip, mind spinning with revelations and warnings.

⸻

Hours later, he staggered home beneath oppressive twilight skies, ducking surveillance drones and patrols scouring for the so-called sword-cultivator. Safe inside his makeshift home, he checked on his mother lying motionless in her battered medical pod. Her breathing remained shallow, skin pale and fragile beneath its harsh lights.

Gently touching her cold hand, Ye Xiu whispered, "I'll find answers, mother. Just hold on."

In the quiet of his room, he withdrew the jade slip, trembling. Its carvings glowed faintly under his touch, resonating softly with the wooden sword pendant. A desperate thrill ran through him—here was a power that could challenge their bleak existence, yet at what price?

He remembered the cultivator's dying warning: "Each strike draws you closer to ruin."

Ye Xiu hesitated briefly before gripping the pendant tightly, feeling it pulse eagerly, warmly, a silent promise and threat combined. He pressed the jade slip to his forehead, closing his eyes, surrendering to the surge of ancient knowledge flooding into his consciousness.

As the first lines of the Scarlet Sky Sword Sutra seared themselves into his mind, Ye Xiu understood he had crossed an irrevocable boundary. The path before him promised strength—but also pain, danger, and truths better left hidden.

He had no choice but to walk it, step by step, until he reached the end—or fell, consumed by the darkness lurking behind the sword's gentle hum.

Outside, unseen, the merchant from earlier watched through binoculars, a sly smile curling his lips as he whispered into his comm device, "Target confirmed. He's activated the Scarlet Sutra. Prepare the next stage."

Unaware of the danger already stalking him, Ye Xiu clenched the sword tighter, resolute despite the dread twisting in his gut.

The sword had awakened. His true journey was just beginning.