Only This One Person Could Ride the Sword

Only This One Person Could Ride the Sword

Shi Nian noticed Qian Renxue's confusion and took the initiative to explain.

"This is one of the daily-use Soul Tools proposed by our Tower Master. It is called a Soul Guiding Elevator."

"As for what it does... you'll understand once you try it."

As he spoke, the two metal doors opened at that very moment, revealing a silver space roughly ten feet square.

"Let's go."

Shi Nian stepped inside first with practiced ease. Though Qian Renxue was still rather bewildered, it did nothing to dampen her curiosity.

Once inside, everything she saw was unlike anything she had ever encountered, instantly refreshing her senses.

Had there been anyone from the modern era present, they would have recognized that it was merely an ordinary elevator.

Shi Nian lightly pressed a button engraved with the number "seven."

The next moment, a brief sensation of weightlessness struck her.

When she opened her eyes again, the metal doors had opened, and the two of them had arrived several dozen feet in the air.

"This... Tower Master Qin... is truly a genius."

Qian Renxue stood there dumbfounded for a long while before finally forcing out words full of admiration.

"The Tower Master has been waiting for some time. Let's go in."

Shi Nian pushed open the final set of doors, and the sight before them instantly left Qian Renxue rooted to the spot in shock.

It was nothing like the ancient solemnity or extravagant decadence she had imagined.

What Qian Renxue never expected was that the seventh floor of Star-Plucking Tower contained an artificial Mirror Lake filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers.

The entire area was roughly the size of a football field.

A small lake sat at its center, surrounded by flowerbeds alive with fluttering butterflies and buzzing bees.

In the middle of the lake, isolated by the water, stood a small Lake Heart Pavilion only several dozen feet across.

"This is... a lake?"

"Yes. The Tower Master is in the pavilion. We'll head over."

After calming herself, Qian Renxue was just about to move.

But after looking around, she realized there was not even a path from the shore to the pavilion.

"Your Excellency, how are we supposed to get over there?"

"Of course we fly over?"

Shi Nian answered as though it were only natural, with even a trace of confusion in his tone.

"Uh, but... my Soul Power cultivation hasn't broken through to Soul Saint yet."

(The Soul Master Competition had only ended not long ago. At this time, Qian Renxue was probably only a Soul King or Soul Emperor.)

The moment she said that, Qian Renxue immediately wanted to slap herself, inwardly on the verge of tears.

Who could have expected the seventh floor of Star-Plucking Tower to be like this?

At this moment, she was terrified that Shi Nian would say, "Doesn't the Swan Martial Soul of your Heaven Dou Royal Family know how to fly?"

If he really asked that, Qian Renxue would have no choice but to make up some clumsy excuse.

That would greatly increase the risk of her abnormality being noticed.

Still, it was better than actually releasing her Martial Soul and flying over, since that Swan Martial Soul was merely a disguise created from the Six-Winged Angel.

Such a crude trick might be enough to fool low-level servants under normal circumstances.

But if she released it before an expert at the level of a Titled Douluo, they would probably notice something was wrong without even looking.

Yet Shi Nian seemed to have suddenly lost his wits and failed to notice such an obvious flaw in the slightest.

"My oversight. How about—"

Before he could finish, a flying sword descended from the sky like a streak of silver-white lightning.

In the blink of an eye, its elegant blade came to rest before Qian Renxue, hovering silently in midair.

"This is..."

"Step on."

The voice seemed to come from the distant heavens, echoing throughout the entire seventh floor with incomparable ethereality.

"This is..."

Qian Renxue stared at the sword before her. Though she had already guessed the answer, her face was still full of disbelief.

"It is the Tower Master's sword. This one is called Chen Shui."

Shi Nian's voice came from beside Qian Renxue's ear, his tone carrying a clear hint of envy.

In all the world, the only person qualified to step onto this sword was probably the one before him.

"Is this Tower Master Qin's Chenshui Sword?"

"The very sword Tower Master Qin used to seize the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast from beneath the eyes of the Clear Sky Douluo in front of Spirit Hall?"

Qian Renxue's gaze remained fixed firmly upon the sword before her.

Her face was filled with admiration for Qin Shiyuan.

Yet beneath that admiration, her heart also held no small amount of confusion and puzzlement.

I have never met this Tower Master Qin of the Star-Plucking Tower. Why is he treating me like this?

"All right, get on already. Don't keep the Tower Master waiting too long."

Shi Nian's urging interrupted Qian Renxue's thoughts.

At his words, her expression grew solemn.

She had already made this Tower Master wait for so long. If she continued hesitating here now, it would be terribly improper.

With that thought, Qian Renxue no longer hesitated. She stepped forward, carefully suspending both feet half an inch above the blade.

"Stand steady."

From the center of Lake Heart Pavilion came another ethereal, melodious voice.

As the words fell, the Chenshui Sword began gliding slowly toward the center of the lake, skimming close to the water's surface.

On either side of the Chenshui Sword, the mirror-still water was cut open by a faintly white trail.

The splashes left on both sides formed small waves, slowly rolling outward six or seven feet before settling once more.

"Get down."

A voice startled Qian Renxue awake from the beautiful scenery.

When she came back to herself, she discovered that she had somehow already descended onto the ground at the center of the pavilion.

Qian Renxue hurriedly stepped back and got off the Chenshui Sword.

Following the sword's path as it returned to its sheath, she finally saw for the first time the Lord of the Star-Plucking Tower, Qin Jianjiu—the man whom the outside world had made out to be almost mythical.

Just as the rumors described, he wore an outfit that was both familiar and unfamiliar.

A Silver Mask, a white robe...

At that moment, seeing the "Crown Prince" before him staring blankly at him, the corners of Qin Shiyuan's lips curled upward pleasantly behind the mask.

At the small stone table in the center of the pavilion, surrounded by a few scattered stone chairs, he reached out and pushed over a teacup, filling it seven-tenths full with tea that had already been brewed in the pot.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, please sit."

At his words, "Xue Qinghe" seemed to deliberately put on an expression of nervousness.

After hesitating for a long while, she finally sat down slowly, as though deeply uneasy.

"This junior, Xue Qinghe, Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, pays respects to the Lord of the Star-Plucking Tower."

"Hehe, don't be nervous. I have always been kind. It's not as though I'm going to eat you."

Hearing Qin Shiyuan's teasing words, Qian Renxue secretly curled her lip.

Kind? Only a ghost would believe that.

His feats in front of Spirit Hall not long ago had shown not the slightest sign that the man before her was kind.

"Senior, this junior came to seek an audience this time because..."

"Stop."

Before Qian Renxue could finish, Qin Shiyuan raised a hand and cut her off completely.

"I know what you want to say. You want me to help your Heaven Dou Empire, right?"

"I advise you to give up on that idea as soon as possible. Even if your Emperor is poisoned to death and the imperial family changes its name, it has absolutely nothing to do with me..."