A Token of Thanks

"Two hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. I'll buy it!"

A graceful blue figure drifted over.

Her aqua-blue hair cascaded over her fragrant shoulders, and her slender figure was exquisitely curvaceous. Most astonishing of all was her flawlessly beautiful face, like a lamp lit in the darkness, dazzling and radiant.

The blue-haired girl approached with light, elegant steps, carrying a fresh fragrance with her. She lightly walked up to Fang Xuan, winked at him mischievously, and looked utterly enchanting.

"You..."

Fang Xuan froze for a moment. Looking at the girl who had suddenly appeared, he asked in surprise, "Who are you again?!"

"How hateful! You forgot me right after we parted ways?!"

The girl's eyes widened. She stamped her foot furiously and said, "I'm Shui Bing'er!"

"Oh, so it's you!"

Fang Xuan nodded, then asked suspiciously, "We never started anything. How could we have broken up?!"

"Uh... I misspoke."

Shui Bing'er blushed as she realized her wording had been inappropriate.

At the same time, Shui Yue'er arrived right behind her. Pinching her nose, she reluctantly walked into the filthy blacksmith shop and grumbled, "Wow, it's so dirty in here! Why would that idiot Prince be in a place like this? Begging for food?!"

"Yue'er, you don't understand. How could anyone beg for food in a place this poor? His Highness the Prince is probably here to work. The world's first working Prince has been born..." Shui Bing'er said.

Revenge—this was blatant revenge!

Hearing Shui Bing'er's mockery, Fang Xuan immediately understood. She was holding a grudge because he had forgotten her and wanted to get back at him with a few verbal jabs.

Who would have thought that although this girl looked so pure, she had a dark heart too.

"Two hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins. I'm buying this blade!"

As she spoke, Shui Bing'er took a glittering Purple Gold Card from the Ring Soul Tool on her hand and placed it on a clean coffee table. "This is one hundred and fifty thousand..."

"Yue'er, lend me fifty thousand."

She turned and held out her hand toward Shui Yue'er behind her.

"Huh, Sister, are you really buying that blade? We Soul Masters have Martial Souls. What do we need that broken blade for?"

Shui Yue'er clutched her pocket tightly, looking like a little miser as she pouted. "I'm not as loaded as you. This is all the money I have left."

"You little brat, quit talking nonsense and hand over the money!"

A fierce expression appeared on Shui Bing'er's pretty face. In an instant, she turned into an unreasonable bandit, searching Shui Yue'er from head to toe and swiftly confiscating a golden card!

"Ahh! That's my secret stash! I saved it bit by bit, cutting back on food and everything else!" Having all her savings snatched away by her sister, Shui Yue'er's little face filled with grievance, and she could not help but wail.

"You little cheapskate, I'll pay you back in a couple of days!"

Shui Bing'er shot Shui Yue'er an irritated glare, then pressed the gold card atop the Purple Gold Card and looked at Old Madman. "That's two hundred thousand. Count it!"

Old Madman glanced at the two gold cards on the coffee table, nodded, and said, "The blade is yours."

"Hey! Wait a minute, I saw that blade first!"

Fang Xuan was slightly stunned, immediately sensing that things were going wrong. He looked at Shui Bing'er warily and hugged White Blade · Shadowless tightly, refusing to let go.

Shui Bing'er was actually trying to openly steal his beloved blade. This was intolerable!

Fang Xuan's expression darkened as he prepared to reason with Shui Bing'er, but she looked at him as if he were an idiot. "I bought it for you in the first place!"

Uh...

Fang Xuan's body stiffened, and his expression gradually turned solemn. Staring seriously into Shui Bing'er's eyes, he said firmly, "I don't have money to pay you back!"

"Who wants you to pay me back!"

Shui Bing'er rolled her eyes at Fang Xuan and muttered softly, "Consider this blade my thank-you gift for saving me."

"It's over, it's over. We finally came to Heaven Dou City, and I thought we'd get to eat our way through the whole city. Now it's all over—we're broke!" Shui Yue'er wailed miserably.

Without spending a single Gold Soul Coin, Fang Xuan had obtained such a fine blade. He was overjoyed and could not help developing some goodwill toward Shui Bing'er.

"Old Madman, what is this blade called?" He looked curiously at Old Madman by the furnace.

"White Blade · Shadowless," Old Madman said quietly.

Shadowless...

Fang Xuan lovingly stroked the snow-bright blade. As if it had developed a spirit of its own, the Shadowless Blade trembled slightly and let out a clear hum.

With such a fine blade suited to his hand, his strength would undoubtedly rise greatly.

Though he was only a Soul Master now, his superb Blade Drawing Technique allowed him to fight Soul Grandmaster-level opponents. Now that he had the Famous Blade Shadowless as well, he was like a tiger with wings.

After roughly assessing himself, he felt that at his absolute limit, he could contend with a level-thirty Second Ring Great Soul Master. However, he was still no match for a Soul Elder.

Once a Soul Master reached level thirty, they could absorb a Soul Ring over a thousand years old and break through into the realm of Soul Elder. The boost brought by a Thousand-Year Soul Ring was enormous; such a gap in strength could not be easily overcome.

Soul Rings...

At the thought of Soul Rings, a trace of gloom flickered in Fang Xuan's eyes.

The Copy Martial Soul could not absorb Soul Rings. He still felt some regret about that.

Fang Xuan calmly sheathed the blade and fastened the Shadowless Blade at his waist. Due to the iron essence mixed into it, the blade was twice as heavy as an ordinary iron blade, yet it felt exceptionally comfortable in his hand.

"Oh right, Old Madman, is that weapon I asked you to make last time finished?"

He suddenly recalled something and looked toward Old Madman expectantly.

At that moment, beneath Old Madman's hammering, the originally rough iron billet gradually became long and thin, already taking the rough shape of a blade.

He used iron tongs to lift the red-hot iron blade and plunged it into the cold-water pool beside him to quench it. After a simple round of tempering, an ordinary iron blade was finally forged.

Throughout the process, Old Madman remained completely focused, utterly unaffected by the outside world.

Fang Xuan did not disturb him. Instead, he quietly stood to one side and watched. It was his first time seeing the complete blade-forging process, and he had certainly broadened his horizons today.

Only after the blade was finished did Old Madman wipe his large, sweat- and oil-stained hands on his tattered cotton coat. Without a word, he walked to the cabinet on the left and rummaged through it with a series of clatters.

At last, he pulled out a blackened box and handed it to Fang Xuan. "This is what you wanted."

When Fang Xuan opened the lid, a black belt slowly came into view.

The belt was made of ordinary leather and looked utterly unremarkable. But when Fang Xuan gently pulled the iron buckle on it—

An extremely thin, slender soft sword was immediately revealed. It was incredibly sharp; even from a distance, one could sense the terrifying chill radiating from its edge.

Seeing the sharp soft sword concealed within the belt, Fang Xuan nodded in satisfaction. "Thanks."

"You're young, but you sure have plenty of tricks up your sleeve..." Old Madman glanced at Fang Xuan meaningfully.

"Safety first!"

Fang Xuan calmly fastened the black belt around his waist and asked Old Madman, "How much?"

"Forget it. I made two hundred thousand today, so I'll give you this belt." Old Madman said.

"Then thanks." Fang Xuan did not stand on ceremony.

"Goodbye, Old Madman. I hope you haven't grown so old that you're in a coffin by the next time I come..."

Before leaving, Fang Xuan looked at Old Madman's aged face, tossed out those words, and then left the blacksmith shop with the Shui sisters.

Old Madman watched Fang Xuan and the others leave, standing there in a daze.

"Old... am I really that old?"

After a long silence, he looked at his hair, more than half of it already white, and said mournfully, "I'm not even forty yet..."