The Blackwood Sword

Li Ye brushed one hand over his Storage Bag, and a dark bluish-black longsword appeared in it.

"A mid-grade Law Artifact, the Blackwood Sword..."

His predecessor's father had practically doted on him.

Not only had he done his utmost to satisfy his many demands, but after his predecessor entered the Purple Profound Sect, he had even given him this mid-grade Law Artifact that had been passed down in their family.

He himself had switched to using a low-grade Law Artifact, a black iron hoe.

Otherwise, given his predecessor's temperament and low cultivation, if he had nothing to rely on, how could Senior Brother Cai have taken a liking to him when he had just entered the Purple Profound Sect?

And how could he have survived his repeated adventures?

By now, the Blackwood Sword was also one of the few keepsakes his predecessor still had from his father.

Li Ye examined the sword closely. Many of his predecessor's memories surfaced in his mind, and he sighed.

"Unfortunately, most of this sword has already been destroyed. Its power is probably inferior even to that of an ordinary low-grade Law Artifact now!"

Originally, aside from the Blackwood Sword, his predecessor had also possessed a low-grade shield Law Artifact for defense.

But during that Bandit Cultivator attack, the shield had been destroyed on the spot, and the Blackwood Sword had also been severely damaged.

Now the blade, made of black ironwood, was visibly bent and warped, its edge covered in nicks of all sizes. Quite a few of the restriction nodes inside had also been destroyed.

Its power had fallen sharply!

As Li Ye controlled it with the Object Control Instruction, he could clearly feel that his Law Power did not flow smoothly through it, and the flying sword itself was less responsive as a result.

Watching the flying sword wobble crookedly through the air before him, Li Ye's eye twitched.

He took a deep breath and wore a helpless, resigned expression.

"Refining it again should make it a little better, but I'll still need to get used to it... If it suddenly stops obeying me during a fight, it could cost me my life!"

He was only using it because he was short of money. Otherwise, nothing would have persuaded Li Ye to use such a broken flying sword...

That would have been irresponsible with his own life!

At the very least, he ought to have it repaired, right?

Unfortunately, he didn't have the money for repairs either...

What a cruel fate!

After trying it out for a short while, Li Ye gave up entirely. He put the Blackwood Sword away and mobilized his Law Power to begin refining it.

Although Li Ye's cultivation had fallen from its former level, his Law Power, made somewhat purer by the Jade Sprout Spiritual Essence, was easier to use than before. Refining the Blackwood Sword went quite smoothly.

He could even split his attention, devoting some of his thoughts to his cultivation going forward.

There are no hidden dangers in my Law Power now. With the support of the Jade Sprout Spiritual Essence, it shouldn't take long to recover my cultivation at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer...

After all this time since transmigrating, I've finally stopped that downward slide and can start climbing upward instead!

After the minor interruption of the three visitors, Li Ye continued to live his peaceful life.

Aside from going between his residence and his spiritual fields, he only occasionally visited the Hall of Internal Affairs to see whether there were any sect missions suitable for him.

As for the sect's mountain gate, he never took so much as half a step beyond it.

Whenever he needed anything, he asked others to bring it back for him from the market not far from the sect when they happened to pass by. He never went out there himself.

It wasn't that he didn't want to go out and look around.

But the Blackwood Sword's power had greatly diminished, his injuries were still healing, and he didn't have many Spirit Stones left.

On top of that, he had recalled the circumstances of his predecessor's encounter with the Bandit Cultivators and kept feeling that something was not quite right.

The timing of that group's appearance had been too convenient, without the slightest warning, and their attack had been far too targeted...

It was as though they had known something beforehand and come prepared.

That couldn't help but give rise to some suspicions in Li Ye's heart.

Thus, Li Ye was in no hurry to go out before he had fully recovered, or even before he had earned his first pot of gold.

It was only a little loneliness; it wasn't as though he couldn't bear it.

Yet during those peaceful days, the looks some people gave Li Ye when they passed him on the road began to change.

Discussions began spreading among the low-level disciples about a certain disciple who had often made wild boasts. After one encounter with Bandit Cultivators, he had suffered grievous injuries and a decline in cultivation, been scared out of his wits, and from then on had hidden away like a turtle in the sect's spiritual fields, not daring even to leave the mountain gate.

"Is that him?"

Two low-level cultivators spoke in hushed voices as they watched Li Ye walk past, looking at his retreating back.

"It should be him... In the past, he wasn't afraid to take risks. He only accumulated enough resources to break through to the Middle Stage of Qi Refining by fighting with all his might..."

"And to think I once held him up as an example. Looking at him now, he's nothing special!"

One of them spoke unkindly, as if he had been blind and misjudged the man.

"Judging by his cultivation, he's no longer at the Middle Stage of Qi Refining. He might even be worse off than you and me... I'm afraid his foundation was damaged by his severe injuries, and this is all he'll amount to in this life!"

Li Ye listened indifferently to the discussion behind him, his expression unchanged.

He had already heard plenty of similar remarks lately.

Because of some of his predecessor's past actions, although his cultivation had not been particularly high, he had enjoyed a fair amount of fame among the low-level disciples.

Quite a few people could recognize Li Ye on sight.

But perhaps because his predecessor had been skilled at fighting and still had a fearsome reputation, so far there were only some who dared to talk about him behind his back.

As long as they didn't come and provoke Li Ye to his face, such gossip amounted to nothing.

That was what he thought, but some others didn't agree.

"Junior brother, it's just some baseless gossip. Don't pay those wagging tongues any mind..."

Anger showed faintly on Zhang Liangfu's face as he quietly comforted the calm-faced Li Ye.

Halfway through his words,

before Li Ye could even say anything, he suddenly could no longer contain himself. Raising his voice a little, he cursed indignantly,

"It must have been those three from that day deliberately spreading rumors and maliciously slandering you..."

"Such petty behavior, and that woman was blessed with such a pretty face for nothing... You were wise not to associate with them!"

As soon as he said this, the other spirit-farmer disciples around them chimed in.

Every one of them looked so indignant that anyone who didn't know better might have thought they were the ones being called a turtle hiding in its shell!

"Senior brothers, why get angry? It's just some people talking behind my back. What effect could a little reputation have on me?"

Li Ye shook his head, turned, and pointed to his own spiritual field.

"For people like us, it's better to spend more time pondering the art of cultivating Spirit Plants than worrying about such things... If we can improve, the spiritual rice we harvest will be the real thing!"

"Speaking of which, I've had a few more ideas lately..."

He changed the subject and suddenly began talking about the art of cultivating Spirit Plants, immediately drawing everyone into a discussion.

Their earlier indignation vanished in the blink of an eye, as though it had been an illusion.

"To remain so unmoved by honor or disgrace, Junior Brother Li truly is a carefree man devoted to his Dao Path..."

Among the crowd, a middle-aged cultivator with a somewhat weathered face and hair streaked black and white offered a word of praise, then grew somewhat dejected.

"Unlike the rest of us, busy all day yet mostly burdened by trivial matters, with no hope on our Dao Paths..."

Zhang Liangfu listened with great interest, then glanced at the man and couldn't help laughing.

"Senior Brother Hu, you're wrong there... You have a lovely wife waiting at home, and your son will be born soon. Who knows, he might have quite a fine Spirit Root..."

"With a life like that, what do you have to be dissatisfied with?"

Perhaps because the conversation had turned to his lovely wife at home and his soon-to-be-born son, Senior Brother Hu Zhiquan smiled again and grew spirited.

"You're right. My life now is fairly good, and besides, even if my aptitude is poor and I have no hope on my Dao Path, the same may not be true for my son..."

"I should work even harder. When the child is born, I can't let him go without spiritual items to nourish him!"

With that, he stepped forward and joined the discussion of their craft.

He left Zhang Liangfu standing where he was instead, dumbstruck.