Sword Spirits Will Never Be Slaves, Unless Food and Lodging Are Included

"Sword Spirits Will Never Be Slaves, Unless Food and Lodging Are Included"

"Nothing left."

Chen Zhixing spread his hands.

He could sense with incomparable clarity that the aura radiating from Sword Spirit Qing Zhi had already risen from the Void Transformation Realm to the Profound Clarity Realm! "All right." Sword Spirit Qing Zhi nodded, a little deflated.

"Don't be in such a hurry. Once we return from the Southern Frontier, I'll let you eat your fill to your heart's content," Chen Zhixing said with a smile.

"Really?"

In an instant, Sword Spirit Qing Zhi's eyes lit up, and she began cheering with delight.

"Of course, really." Chen Zhixing smiled.

This Sword Spirit Qing Zhi seemed to have existed for an incomparably long span of years, but in truth, she had spent the vast majority of that time asleep.

Her temperament was about the same as a young girl's.

Immediately after.

With a flip of Chen Zhixing's right hand, a Black Sword Case appeared in his hand.

The entire sword case was crafted from Black Gold Dragon Sandalwood, and on it, Nine Heavens Star Sand had been used to carve simple formations that nourished the divine soul.

This was a supreme treasure specially used to nurture divine weapons!

This sword case alone was priceless out in the world! "Th-this is for me?"

Sword Spirit Qing Zhi stared blankly at the sword case.

"Of course. If not for you, then for who?" Chen Zhixing raised an eyebrow.

Sword Spirit Qing Zhi looked at the sword case, then at Chen Zhixing's matter-of-fact expression, and could no longer hold back her emotions. With a "waah," she burst into tears.

"Wuu, wuu, wuu. Back when I followed that Ye Chen, forget a sword case, I didn't even have a scabbard. I, the dignified Longevity Sword Spirit, was wrapped in a lousy cloth sack, battered by wind and rain all day, scorched by the sun and drenched by the rain..."

"What I ate was scrap copper and rotten iron, and what I lived in was a lousy cloth sack..."

Sword Spirit Qing Zhi could not hold it in anymore, and all the grievances in her heart poured out.

"I was so good to him, even protecting him with my life several times, and in the end, this was how he treated me..."

The more Sword Spirit Qing Zhi thought about it, the more wronged she felt. By the end, she was wailing loudly.

Chen Zhixing froze for a moment, somewhat at a loss for how to respond.

He could only reach out and stroke the sword hilt, saying as if coaxing a child, "All right, all right. Don't cry. Be good."

"From now on, follow me, and I guarantee you'll eat fragrant food and drink spicy wine."

Sword Spirit Qing Zhi sobbed twice, then gritted her teeth and said, "Where is that bastard Ye Chen's corpse? If I don't chop him a couple more times, I won't be able to vent the anger in my heart!"

Chen Zhixing rubbed his nose, somewhat speechless.

Were women all this vengeful?

"His corpse was fed to the dogs long ago," Chen Zhixing casually replied.

"That's letting him off easy!"

Sword Spirit Qing Zhi gave a cold snort, then looked at Chen Zhixing. In her heart, she had completely made up her mind: she had to hug this thick thigh tightly and work under Chen Zhixing.

The next moment.

Sword Spirit Qing Zhi leapt up and fell into the sword case.

At once, it was as if she had entered a warm ocean. Strands of power that nourished the divine soul surged over from all directions, slowly repairing and moisturizing her divine soul.

"Having money is really nice."

Qing Zhi sighed happily in her heart.

Click.

Chen Zhixing closed the sword case and walked step by step out of the Secret Chamber.

"Could this be what they call a sword spirit never being a slave, unless food and lodging are included?"

He could not help thinking to himself.

The next day.

Early morning.

A Bell and Drum Sound rang out, resounding through the entirety of cloud-wreathed Ziwei Mountain.

In that instant, all nine mountain peaks of Ziwei Mountain were thrown into an uproar.

One young cultivator after another opened their eyes.

"It's here!"

The Ninth Peak, the mountain peak where the Chen Family's collateral descendants lived.

A youth with a full head of purple hair abruptly opened his eyes.

Within his eyes, countless Great Dao Runes flashed past.

"Has the Southern Border Trial finally begun?"

His figure flashed, and in an instant he stepped out of the house.

This time, he would make the Chen family see who the true Chen Family Hidden Dragon was!

Seventh Peak.

A thousand-zhang waterfall poured down from the summit, crashing onto the bluestone beneath the pool and sending up a vast spray.

This was a famous scenic sight of Ziwei's Chen Clan, named Thousand Zhang Si.

At this moment, beneath the waterfall of Thousand Zhang Si.

A bare-chested youth with disheveled hair, revealing a body of lean, well-proportioned muscle, stood beneath the waterfall with his head lowered and twin blades in hand, letting the roaring torrent—powerful enough to shatter Blue Rock—scour over his body.

He remained unmoving as a mountain.

"Ten years. It's finally about to begin."

He slowly raised his head, revealing a face that made the heart jolt.

His entire face was covered in savage markings like crawling centipedes.

He was called Chou'er.

Chen Chou'er.

Simply because he had been born ugly, his father—known as a mighty ruler of his generation—had only glanced at him, called him Chou'er, and then thrown him to the Seventh Peak where the servants lived.

For a full sixteen years, that father of his had never come to see him again.

At the very beginning, that father of his had at least occasionally asked the servants in charge of the Servant Quarters about his situation.

But ever since his father had sired a Chen Family Hidden Dragon who was a Nine Ancient Marks Wielder, it was as if he had completely forgotten him.

Even when Chen Chou'er had taken the initiative several times to go to First Peak and request an audience, he had been driven straight out of First Peak.

He had even feared that his Hidden Dragon son might overthink things, and directly sent people to threaten him harshly, forbidding him from telling anyone about their father-son relationship! And all of this was only because he was ugly! Only because his mother had been nothing more than a servant girl! You don't think that just because you bore me a son, you can climb aboard the great ship of the Chen family, do you?

Let me tell you, our Chen family has no such lowly, ugly bloodline! You are not worthy of being my, Chen Tianxiong's, son either!

Behave yourself and stay on Seventh Peak. I'll allow you to keep living in the Chen family. But if I hear even the slightest rumors on the wind, don't blame me for showing not a shred of old affection!

The mocking words Chen Tianxiong had once had someone pass on to him and his mother rang again and again in Chen Chou'er's mind.

Chen Chou'er's hand gripping the sword hilt creaked from too much force, blue veins bulging.

"Chen Tianxiong!!!"

He squeezed the name out through the cracks between his teeth.

The next moment.

He took a deep breath, and his expression gradually returned to calm.

"Mother, watch carefully from the heavens. Watch how I carry your spirit tablet, step by step, into the Chen Family Ancestral Shrine."

At once, he turned his head to look in the direction of First Peak. A low laugh sounded from his throat, and his entire face was pulled by that smile into an especially ferocious shape.

"Chen Zhaosheng, the young king, is it?"

"Good. This time, I'll defeat and crush you in full view of everyone, and let the entire Chen family see who the future hope of the Chen family truly is!"

"The blood of the Chen family flows in my body all the same!!"

Chen Chou'er's eyes were filled with burning heat.

At the same time.

First Peak, atop the mountain summit.

Chen Zhaosheng stood with his hands behind his back. The invisible dignity between his brows had grown deeper by the day, as though a true king stood there, making others not dare look straight at him.

His gaze swept across the Ziwei Nine Peaks one by one, and finally landed on the position of Third Peak.

"My younger brother, I very much want to see just how much longer you plan to hide."

"Exactly what step has your cultivation reached? Could it be the same as mine—the Profound Clarity Realm?"

Chen Zhaosheng's expression was calm, as if he were talking to himself, yet also as if he were conversing with someone across the distance.

No one could see it.

In the deepest depths of his eyes, a spark of excitement was quietly blooming.

Thank you, all great ones, for your monthly tickets. Thank you to great one Wind Spirit of Secluded Quiet for the 500-coin tip. Many thanks, many thanks.