Cauldron of 9 Deaths…
The young man was bound tightly to the tower-like cauldron. An old woman approached him and began cleaning the ash on the ground with her broomstick. Even though the old lady was sweeping casually, each of her swings looked like swordplay.
"Hmm… not bad," the young man commented in a sarcastic tone.
The old lady stopped and looked at the young man with a serious face. "A lousy sword spirit dares to comment about my skill," the old lady scoffed as she spat on the ground.
"You…!"
"What?" the old lady gave a retort as she stepped closer to him.
The young man stared at her with killing intent, but the binding chains immediately released a poison aura. Soon, the young man who was a sword spirit fell to his knees in agony.
"Poor sword spirit, what crimes have you committed to get yourself stuck to this Cauldron of Nine Deaths?" the old lady asked with great interest as she stared into the eyes of the sword spirit who was in human form.
The young man slowly stood up while controlling the pain of nine deaths and gave a slight smile to the old lady.
"What should I say? Many powerful people tried to subdue me and make me a slave to them. Even the Three-Faced God asked me to become his slave. But I rejected him without giving him any face." The sword spirit replied in a calm tone.
The old lady raised her brows in surprise, and shock filled her face completely.
"You… you rejected the 3 faced god???" The old last was in disbelief for a long time. "Aren't you a sword spirit? It is your nature to serve a capable master. Why did you reject the Three-Faced God?" the old lady asked with a questioning look.
"Why should I? Why should I become a slave??? " the young man questioned back with a serious look.
"Hmmmhh… now I can understand why you are trapped within this Cauldron of Nine Deaths. I am more surprised that you are still alive after rejecting the Three-Faced God."
The young man only smiled in response.
After a deep silence…
"I really pity you, Henry Clark. How about I help you leave this torture?" the old lady asked with a mysterious look as she leaned close to him.
The sword spirit Henry Clark felt utterly surprised as he heard his old name from the lips of this old lady. There was a strange excitement on her wrinkled old face.
"There is no use," Henry Clark replied instantly. "Even if you release me, the Three-Faced God will find me and imprison me with more restrictions."
"Don't worry about the Three-Faced God. Start from scratch, rebuild your body, and become powerful enough to face the Three-Faced God!" the old lady said while staring into Henry Clark's eyes.
"What do you mean? My body is already perfect and divine. Why should I rebuild?"
But only an evil laugh came in reply. The old lady who stood close to him, took a few steps back and raised her broomstick like a sword.
Henry stared at her in confusion.
"What is she trying to do? Did she…?!!!" Before he could finish the last sentence, the broomstick in the old lady's hand turned into a golden saber.
"Thank you, young man, for refusing the Three-Faced God."
"No…!!!" the sword spirit Henry cried out.
But soon his anger turned into agony as the golden saber cut down his legs. In the next instant, he returned to his original sword form — not as a complete divine sword, but as a broken sharp sword.
The old lady sliced the space and opened a void. With a single saber light, she sent the broken sword into the void.
All this happened in split seconds before Henry realized what had happened. He was banished into the lower mortal world.
—
—
—-
Where am I?
Henry Clark's consciousness slowly awakened.
For a second, he stared at the surroundings in confusion.
"What's going on… how did I appear inside a human body? I clearly remembered that golden saber cutting me down. How am I still alive, and why do I feel so incomplete?"
Henry tried to sit up on the bed, but he couldn't move his legs. With his hands' help, he pulled himself to lean against the wooden bed.
"Ahhh… Henry! You… you woke up!"
Henry turned his head to see a girl who had surprise and happiness on her face.
The girl, maybe 18 or 19 years old, was fair as snow with rosy lips and a charming body. She carried hot soup toward Henry.
Staring at the soft and gentle girl, Henry took a closer look and unknowingly let the words escape his lips. "Wifey…"
"Don't speak. You are already very weak. You don't know how worried I am? Thank God you finally…" The young lady continued to speak while blowing on the spoonful of soup. She carefully stretched the spoon forward to feed Henry.
Henry Clark, the broken sword spirit who was still in a lot of confusion, slowly opened his mouth while staring at the beautiful lady who was showing so much concern for him.
Just as the warm soup touched his lips—
"Get up…" a cold voice rang in Henry Clark's ear. In the next second, the soup bowl was kicked down to the floor.
Henry felt instant rage as he turned toward the young man who had just used his foot to kick the soup bowl.
The beautiful girl cried out in shock, and soon her face filled with fear.
"You useless piece of trash… your face even pisses me off!" the young man shouted while pointing his finger at Henry.
"…"
Henry frowned as he stared at the young man's face. He tried his best to recall what was happening around him. Slowly, the memories of the previous owner began surfacing.
"Philip… don't scold Henry. He's still sick," the girl replied in a weak tone while staring at the floor in fear.
"So what? There is no use in feeding this cripple." Philip cried out in ridicule.
"Stop scolding Henry… otherwise…"
"Otherwise… otherwise what?" Philip stared at her with an angry look. "Luna… I came to collect the spirit stone. Last month also you failed to pay the family fund. If you dare to talk back… first pay the family fund. Or else I will let both of you die on the streets." Philip snorted coldly and looked at Henry with disdain. "I'm sure that a trash like you won't be able to survive on the streets for long."
Henry felt like standing up and slapping Philip left and right after hearing his comments. According to the previous owner's memory, he already understood what was happening.
This previous Henry was actually a genius mage of the Clark family. But due to a feud at the Wizard Academy, he got crippled in combat and was sent home. Since the death of the old patriarch, the family had stopped supporting Henry, who lost his parents at a young age.
Now this Philip, the son of the current patriarch, was using this situation to his advantage.
"Philip… the patriarch said I can pay the spirit stone next month," Luna replied in a meek tone.
"Those words already expired. My father went on a trip to the capital city. I am in charge here," Philip declared arrogantly with an evil grin.
"Also, you only have one day to pay the spirit stone. Otherwise… I will…" Philip slowly leaned forward to touch Luna's face.
"Bang…!"
Henry directly tossed the water jug against Philip's face.
"Ahhh…"
Philip cried out in pain, clutching his face.
Luna hurriedly moved toward Henry as she wanted to protect him from what might happen next.
As expected — Philip moved toward Henry to slap him with full force.
"…"
But Henry stopped him mid-motion. Not because of Luna… it was Henry who held Philip's hand tightly like iron claws.
In the next second, Philip fell to his knees and began crying in pain.
"Leave me, bastard… I will kill you!" Philip uttered in a painful tone.
But Henry didn't even budge. The veins on Philip's face bulged as he struggled like a trapped monkey.
Even Luna felt fear after seeing Philip's painful expression.
"Henry, leave him. He is still your brother," Luna replied in a shaky tone.
After a small delay, Henry slowly released his grip. Not because he wanted to… but because the strength of his current body was still weak.
Philip, who was on the floor, slowly stood up with great effort. He hesitated to take revenge as his hand wasn't responding. Holding his arm, he rushed out like a defeated dog.
"Henry, are you alright?" Luna hurriedly held Henry's hand and examined it closely.
"I am okay," Henry replied slowly.
"No… your arm is red. Rest now… I will bring herbal water." Luna immediately left with tears-filled eyes.
Henry sighed heavily while staring at the leaving back of his new wife. Several thoughts flooded as he closed his eyes.