Nine Heavens Divine Weapon! Ink Snow!

Great Bamboo Peak.

The small grove behind Shou Jing Hall.

The crimson flames dissipated.

Yet the heatwave seemed to linger on Tian Buyi's face, burning uncomfortably.

"Master?"

Ye Xuan blinked his eyes.

Tian Buyi suddenly snapped back to attention.

His usually narrowed eyes were now wide open, staring intently at Ye Xuan.

He seemed to be trying to see a flower, or a monster, emerge from the child.

After a long gaze.

No flower, nor monster.

Just the Seventh Disciple he both loved and hated.

"You..."

"That spiritual energy circulation route just now, did you really remember it on the first try?"

Tian Buyi's mouth opened, a fishbone seeming to lodge in his throat, and it took him a while to squeeze out a complete sentence.

"I remembered it."

"It wasn't difficult either."

"It's like... hmm, eating and drinking."

"The Spiritual Energy flows along the meridians, turns at the key points, and then whoosh, it's out."

Ye Xuan said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

He even made a couple of gestures in the air.

A flash of spiritual light flickered at his fingertips, and another small flame shot out.

Seeing this.

The flesh on Tian Buyi's face twitched twice.

Eating and drinking?

Whoosh?

This was one of Great Bamboo Peak's ancestral secret arts!

When he had learned this technique back then, it had taken him three days just to barely memorize the sequence of the seventy-two key points.

At this moment.

Tian Buyi felt a deep malice from the world.

"Alright, alright!"

"Since you've learned it, then... then practice it a few more times!"

"Do you understand that practice makes perfect?"

"Don't think you can get cocky just because you've learned the basics!"

A moment later.

Tian Buyi waved his hand impatiently.

As if shooing away a buzzing fly, but in reality, he was concealing his deeply wounded and fragile ego.

"Master."

"This turtle... oh no."

"This Crimson Flame Body Protection is powerful, but it's still just a defensive technique."

"You see, isn't our Qingyun Sect known as the foremost sword cultivation sect, feared throughout the land?"

"I see my senior brothers practicing their swordsmanship, and they look so imposing."

"That Divine Sword Thunder Control True Art, why don't you teach it to me as well?"

Ye Xuan chuckled, sidled up, and tugged at Tian Buyi's sleeve with his small hand.

A sly glint flickered in his eyes, like a little fox that had stolen some fish.

"Divine Sword Thunder Control True Art?"

"How old are you?"

"You want to fly before you can even crawl?"

"That's a sect-preserving ultimate art!"

"Do you think you can learn it just because you want to?"

Tian Buyi almost choked on his breath, his eyes bulging.

This kid, his ambition is higher than the heavens!

He wants to run before he can walk, and learn to hit before he learns to take a beating!

"Besides!"

"That's a Nine Heavens Divine Weapon, capable of summoning the might of heaven!"

"You don't even have a fire poker in your hand, what are you going to use to summon lightning?"

"Are you going to use that finger of yours? Don't be scared of being struck by lightning and turned into charcoal!"

Tian Buyi snorted, his hands behind his back, trying to regain a sliver of his dignity as a Master.

Speaking of Magic Treasures.

Tian Buyi felt another wave of helplessness.

This disciple's cultivation progress was too fast, so fast that he, as his Master, couldn't prepare in time.

For ordinary disciples, just reaching the first three layers of the Yuqing Realm would take three to five years of grinding.

By then, they would have chopped countless Black Bamboo on the mountain and would have some handy tools.

But Ye Xuan?

How long has it been since he came to the mountain, at most?

His cultivation shot up like a rocket, but now he was still empty-handed.

Just as Tian Buyi was pondering whether he should just find a piece of scrap metal to make do for the kid.

A gentle breeze blew past.

"Buyi, are you lecturing Old Seven again?"

A gentle voice came, instantly smoothing the restless atmosphere.

Su Ru, dressed in a water-green gown, walked over gracefully.

She was holding a long, wrapped object in her hands.

The package was tightly wrapped in cyan silk cloth, yet it couldn't conceal the chilling cold emanating from within.

The surrounding temperature seemed to drop by several degrees in an instant.

Ye Xuan shivered, feeling the heat that had not yet dissipated being instantly washed away by the cold.

Good heavens.

This thing is not simple.

Tian Buyi's gaze fell on the package, his lips twitched, wanting to say something.

But in the end, he just sighed heavily and turned his head away.

Su Ru walked up to the two of them, her gaze lingering on Tian Buyi's broad back for a moment.

A flash of apology crossed her eyes, but it quickly turned firm.

"Old Seven, come here."

Then.

Su Ru turned to Ye Xuan, a loving smile appearing on her face.

"Mistress."

Ye Xuan obediently walked over.

"Your Master is right!"

"To learn profound Dao techniques, you cannot be without a sword in your hand!"

Su Ru said, her slender fingers gently untying the knot on the cyan silk cloth.

Her movements were slow and gentle.

As if she wasn't opening a weapon, but a long-sealed past.

As the silk cloth was peeled off layer by layer, a dazzling pure light suddenly bloomed!

"Zheng--"

As if a sword cry exploded in everyone's ears.

An ancient sword in its scabbard lay quietly in Su Ru's hand.

The scabbard was dark green all over, with faint flowing light swirling on it.

Upon closer inspection, the sword seemed alive, with fine patterns that seemed to breathe.

The hilt was carved with intricate cloud patterns, ancient and majestic, exuding a sense of profoundness that had weathered the ages.

What was most astonishing was the aura.

Even though it had not yet been unsheathed.

The air around them had condensed into tiny ice crystals.

A Nine Heavens Divine Weapon!

Ye Xuan's pupils contracted slightly.

As a transmigrator who knew the plot, he immediately guessed the origin of this sword!

Ink Snow!

It was the divine weapon Wan Jianyi had taken from the Myriad Poisons Sect's Hundred Poisons Master and gifted to Su Ru back then!

Ever since Su Ru married Tian Buyi.

To protect her husband's pride and to sever some past affections.

Su Ru had sealed this sword away, and it hadn't appeared for a hundred years.

She never expected that today.

For him, the Mistress would actually take it out.

At the same time.

Tian Buyi's shoulders sagged slightly, appearing somewhat dejected.

But he didn't turn back, nor did he make a sound to stop her.

He knew the significance of this sword to his wife.

He also knew how much his wife had sacrificed for this family, for Great Bamboo Peak.

Now.

For her disciple's safety.

She had even unearthed this sealed memory.

This sentiment, this heart.

If he, Tian Buyi, were to be petty about it now, he wouldn't be worthy of being the head of Great Bamboo Peak, nor worthy of being her husband!

"This sword is named Ink Snow."

"It is one of the Nine Heavens Divine Weapons, with unparalleled power."

"It was gifted by an old friend from the past."

Su Ru's voice was somewhat ethereal, as if coming from a great distance.

She gently stroked the cold scabbard, her fingertips trembling slightly.

When she uttered the word "friend".

Su Ru's voice became almost inaudible.

Tian Buyi's ears twitched, and another crack appeared on the bluestone slab beneath his feet.

"Seventh."

"Your talent is extraordinary; you are the most outstanding disciple of the Qingyun Sect in the past hundred years."

"Ordinary magic treasures are not worthy of your talent."

"This Ink Snow has been sealed for a long time, and today I will pass it on to you."

"With it, I can rest easier when you travel down the mountain."

Su Ru took a deep breath and handed the sword to Ye Xuan, her gaze becoming solemn.

"Take it."

Su Ru's hand was steady, her eyes filled with expectation.

She truly doted on this disciple.

She didn't want him to suffer because his magic treasure was inferior to others, nor did she want this uncut jade to be tarnished for lack of a good carving knife.

Ye Xuan looked at the Ink Snow sword before him.

Divine weapons had spirits.

As if sensing Ye Xuan's uniqueness.

The body of the Ink Snow sword actually trembled slightly within its scabbard, emitting bursts of joyful hums.

This was undoubtedly a treasure that countless cultivators dreamed of.

With just a reach to accept it, one could immediately possess combat power that would make them the envy of their peers.

One could even contend directly with older generation powerhouses with this sword.

However...

Ye Xuan did not take it.

He stood there, his small frame held straight, his gaze clear, devoid of any greed.

Then.

Ye Xuan respectfully bowed to Su Ru.

"Mistress."

"I cannot accept this sword."