Qingping Sword was three feet six inches long, pitch-black from end to end, with a blue lotus carved into its guard.
Thunderstrike Sword was three feet eight inches long, its blade gleaming like a mirror. Golden lion fangs were sculpted onto its guard, clamping down on the blade. It looked fearsomely imposing.
Or, to put it another way, flashy.
Though it was a Tenth-Order Immortal Sword, it had been tossed into the storeroom and left to gather dust, piled together with brooms and other odds and ends like firewood.
An Zhisu found Thunderstrike Sword in a corner, caked in dust. She picked it up and flourished it a few times, then wiped its hilt with a handkerchief before handing it to Ling Yunpo.
"Here, give it a try. If you can refine it, we won't have to go to the Sword Pool to get a second sword."
Ling Yunpo took the flying sword and tried to establish a connection with it.
The moment his aura touched the blade, it was immediately repelled.
Along with it came the voice of an unbearably flashy, chuunibyou boy:
"Who wants to refine me? You mongrel! Are you an immortal? No? Then what makes you think you're worthy?"
Ling Yunpo: ...
"Senior Sister," he said seriously, "I don't have much experience dealing with sword spirits. But for a sword spirit like this, I think we could toss it back into the Sword Pool and let it spend day and night crossing swords with the others."
In his mind, Qingping Sword burst into laughter, while Thunderstrike Sword cursed in furious indignation. An Zhisu only laughed and said:
"Junior Brother, Thunderstrike is a Tenth-Order Immortal Sword, after all. It'd be a shame to just toss it into the Sword Pool, wouldn't it?"
Thunderstrike Sword let out a sigh of relief, then continued to sneer in Ling Yunpo's mind.
"Pfft. At least this little girl knows a good sword when she sees one. What a pity she hasn't even reached the Golden Core Stage. As for you, you crude mongrel, even if you really became an immortal, you'd never subdue me!"
"Fine, Senior Sister." Ling Yunpo nodded. "I'll take it back and see if I can refine it."
"Mm-hmm." An Zhisu smiled. "Take your time. There's no rush."
Back in his room, Ling Yunpo set Thunderstrike Sword on the desk and asked:
"A Jing, Qingping, do you know any way to train a sword spirit?"
The Kunlun Mirror was silent for a long while before replying:
"What do you mean by 'train'?"
"Make it obey me." Ling Yunpo sneered. "For example, toss it into the cesspit of an outhouse?"
"You're human!" Qingping Sword cried in disbelief.
As a Tenth-Order Immortal Sword, it naturally had no reason to fear that a mere Qi Refining Stage disciple could physically damage it.
But being thrown into a cesspit... The damage might be slight, but the humiliation would be immense. Thunderstrike Sword would probably rather destroy its own spirit than preserve such a memory.
"Forgive me for asking, Sword Master," Qingping Sword ventured cautiously. "Even if you threw it into that filthy place and forced it to submit, you couldn't use it afterward, could you? It'd be such a stinky sword..."
"That's all right," Ling Yunpo drawled. "We can just wash it. Besides, flying swords don't need to be held. If it stinks, it'll be other people who smell it. I don't mind."
Qingping Sword: ...
It had wanted to say, "But I mind," but it knew all too well that its cold-hearted Sword Master wouldn't care about its feelings.
After thinking for a moment, Qingping Sword tried to ingratiate itself again.
"Sword Master, how about letting me try?"
"You?" Ling Yunpo said languidly. "What are you going to try?"
From his sparring match with Lin Duanshan, he already knew Qingping Sword was no ordinary immortal sword. He had to take the initiative and squeeze every bit of value out of it.
"I can persuade it," Qingping Sword said obsequiously.
"Persuade it how..." Ling Yunpo began, then suddenly asked warily, "Wait. You're not going to use the honey trap, are you?!"
"Listen to you, Sword Master." Qingping Sword giggled. "We sword spirits may identify as one gender or another, but we aren't born male or female. So what honey trap... or handsome-sword trap... could there be?"
"Besides, since I've already sworn myself to you, I'll be your immortal sword in life and your broken sword in death. How could I possibly debase myself by fawning over another sword..."
"All right, all right." Ling Yunpo realized he might have been overthinking it, as if he were going out of his way to get cuckolded. "I'll leave it to you, Qingping. Don't disappoint me."
He set Qingping Sword on the desk too, then slowly walked out with his hands behind his back.
"Hmph, you piece of scrap iron. What are you planning?" Thunderstrike Sword asked haughtily from the table.
The next moment, an utterly terrifying aura rose from Qingping Sword beside it.
With nothing better to do, Ling Yunpo strolled around the summit of Green Snail Peak, his hands clasped behind his back.
The peaks of Shu Mountain lay in the land of heavenly abundance, stretching across a vast expanse of beautiful scenery. Though they were not as magnificent as the snowy peaks of Kunlun, they possessed a different sort of delicate, graceful beauty.
Vines wound through the trees, flowers bloomed in profusion, streams ran through mountain ravines, and birds and insects filled the air with song. Everywhere, nature teemed with life.
By a stream behind the temple, Ling Yunpo spotted two lines of poetry carved into a nearby cliff face as if by blade and axe:
Heaven and earth may last forever, yet they too must end; This sorrow, unending, will never cease.
Ling Yunpo: ?
The handwriting didn't look like Senior Sister An's.
But his cheap master, Su Jian of the Seven Killings Formation, was said to have devoted his whole life to the sword. It was hard to imagine him harboring such tender, heartbroken feelings.
Well, he had no idea which senior had left those words behind.
After taking a turn outside, Ling Yunpo returned to his room and saw the two Tenth-Order Immortal Swords still lying quietly on the desk.
He slung Qingping Sword over his back, picked up Thunderstrike Sword, and tried to establish a connection with it.
Thunderstrike Sword didn't resist at all, which puzzled him a little.
So he tried speaking to it.
"Thunderstrike, you..."
"Oh! I'm here!" Thunderstrike Sword replied ingratiatingly. "Sword Master, what can I do for you?"
Ling Yunpo: ???
He wanted to make a black man with a question mark face, but seeing as there was no one around to witness it, he patiently asked instead:
"Qingping... what did it say to you?"
"Sword Master," Thunderstrike Sword replied respectfully, "Her Majesty taught me many principles. For example, a wise bird chooses its tree to perch on, and a discerning sword chooses a master to serve. And while a sword may have pride, it mustn't be arrogant..."
"Enough." Ling Yunpo cut it off. "What's with this 'Her Majesty'?"
"Qingping considers herself the empress of swords, so I call her Her Majesty," Thunderstrike Sword said cheerfully.
"And what's your gender?"
"I don't have a gender for the time being," Thunderstrike Sword hastily replied. "If Sword Master likes women, I can be a beautiful sixteen-year-old maiden. If you prefer men, I can be a pretty young man. I can even change my voice to match..."
"Enough!" Ling Yunpo scolded irritably. "What do you mean, 'prefer men'? From now on, speak in the voice of a little girl!"
"May I ask what a little girl is, Sword Master...?"
"A girl around thirteen or fourteen."
"I obey." Thunderstrike Sword began to sound out the words, its voice growing higher and sharper. "Uh, oh, ah!"
At last, it succeeded, producing a voice as clear as silver bells, with a hint of childish sweetness.
"Sword Master~ Does this sound good?"
"Hmph. That'll do," Ling Yunpo said coldly.
With Qingping Sword slung over his back and Thunderstrike Sword dangling from one hand, he calmly left his room and went to Senior Sister An's door. He knocked.
"Senior Sister An," he said in a low voice, a smile creeping into his tone. "I've subdued Thunderstrike Sword!"
"Really?" Hearing his voice, An Zhisu hurried over and opened the door. She looked at the Thunderstrike Sword in his hand and asked in delighted surprise, "How did you subdue it?"
"By making it submit through virtue, of course!" Ling Yunpo declared solemnly.
Before you continue