Subduing the Thunderstrike Sword by Winning Hearts and Minds

The Qingping Sword is three feet six inches long, entirely black, with a green lotus carving on its hilt.

The Thunderstrike Sword is three feet eight inches long, its blade shining brightly enough to be used as a mirror. Its hilt features golden lion fangs biting into the blade, giving it a majestic and imposing appearance.

Hmm, or to put it another way, flashy.

Despite being a Tenth-Order Immortal Sword, it was tossed into the storage room, ignored, piled up with brooms and other junk like firewood.

Retrieving the dust-covered Thunderstrike Sword from the corner, An Zhisu picked it up and swung it a few times. She then wiped the hilt with a handkerchief before handing it to Ling Yunpo, saying:

"Here, give it a try? If you can successfully refine it, we won't have to go to the Sword Pool to get a second sword."

Ling Yunpo took the Flying Sword and attempted to connect his spiritual energy to it.

The moment he touched the blade, he was immediately repelled.

Along with the repelling force came a very pretentious, chuunibyou voice:

"Who wants to refine me? A rogue cultivator! Are you an immortal? If not, you're not worthy!"

Ling Yunpo: ...

"Senior Sister," he said earnestly, "I don't have much experience dealing with sword spirits. But for a sword spirit like this, I think we can just throw it back into the Sword Pool and let it spar with the other Flying Swords day and night."

The laughter of the Qingping Sword echoed in his mind, along with the furious curses of the Thunderstrike Sword. An Zhisu chuckled:

"Junior Brother, the Thunderstrike is still a Tenth-Order Immortal Sword. It would be too much of a waste to just throw it into the Sword Pool like that, wouldn't it?"

The Thunderstrike Sword breathed a sigh of relief and continued to sneer in his mind:

"Pfft, it's good that this little girl knows what's valuable. But unfortunately, she hasn't even reached the Golden Core stage. As for you, you crude rogue cultivator, even if you become an immortal, you'll never subdue me!"

"Alright, Senior Sister," Ling Yunpo nodded. "Then I'll take it back and see if I can refine it."

"Mhm, mhm," An Zhisu said with a smile. "Take your time, there's no rush."

Taking the Thunderstrike Sword back to his bedroom, Ling Yunpo placed it on his desk and asked:

"A Jing, Qingping, do you have any methods for training sword spirits?"

The Kunlun Mirror remained silent for a long time before replying:

"What do you mean by 'training'?"

"Making it obey me obediently," Ling Yunpo sneered. "For example, by throwing it into a latrine pit?"

"Are you human?!" the Qingping Sword exclaimed incredulously.

As a Tenth-Order Immortal Sword, it naturally had no fear of any material damage a mere Qi Refining stage disciple could inflict.

But being thrown into a cesspit... the damage might not be high, but the insult would be extreme. The Thunderstrike Sword would likely prefer to self-destruct its spirit rather than retain such a memory.

"May I be so bold as to ask, Sword Master," the Qingping Sword asked cautiously, "if you were to throw it into that filthy place, even if it forced it to submit, wouldn't it be unusable afterward? After all, it would be such a stinky sword..."

"It doesn't matter," Ling Yunpo said leisurely. "It can be washed clean. Besides, Flying Swords don't need to be held in hand to be used. Even if it stinks, it'll only be others who are offended. I don't mind."

Qingping Sword: ...

It wanted to say, "But I do mind," but it knew that this cold-hearted Sword Master would certainly not care about its feelings.

After a moment of thought, the Qingping Sword again said ingratiatingly:

"Sword Master, why don't you let me try?"

"You?" Ling Yunpo asked lazily. "How do you plan to try?"

From his previous sparring session with Lin Duanshan, he knew that the Qingping Sword was no ordinary Immortal Sword—its value had to be actively extracted.

"I can try to persuade it," the Qingping Sword said obsequiously.

"Persuade it how..." Ling Yunpo began, then suddenly asked with suspicion, "Wait, don't tell me you're planning a honey trap?!"

"What are you saying, Sword Master," the Qingping Sword giggled. "For us sword spirits, we only have a self-perceived gender; we don't have innate male or female distinctions. How can there be a honey trap... a 'beautiful sword' trap?"

"Besides, since I have pledged myself to the Sword Master, I am your Immortal Sword in life and your broken sword in death. How could I possibly cater to another sword..."

"Alright, alright," Ling Yunpo felt he might have been overthinking it, trying to find a reason to be jealous. "Then I'll leave it to you, Qingping. Don't disappoint me."

He placed the Qingping Sword on the desk as well and leisurely walked out with his hands behind his back.

"Hmph, mere iron, what do you intend to do?" the Thunderstrike Sword asked arrogantly from the table.

The next second, a terrifying aura emanated from the Qingping Sword beside it.

Ling Yunpo, with nothing better to do, strolled around the summit of Green Snail Peak.

The Shushan peaks were located in the Tianfu region, a vast and beautiful land. Although the scenery was not as magnificent as the snow-capped Kunlun peaks, it possessed a delicate and exquisite charm of its own.

Vines and creepers, clusters of flowers, mountain streams, birdsong, and insect chirps—all were signs of vibrant natural scenery.

By a stream after his walk, Ling Yunpo noticed two lines of poetry carved into a stone wall nearby, as if chiseled by a knife:

Heaven and earth may have their end, but this sorrow will last forever.

Ling Yunpo:?

Judging by the handwriting, it wasn't written by Senior Sister An.

But his nominal master, Su Jian of the Seven Kill Array, was said to be obsessed with the Way of the Sword his entire life, so it was unlikely he would have such lingering, sentimental emotions.

Hmm, I just don't know which senior left it behind.

After walking around outside for a bit, Ling Yunpo returned to his room and saw that the two Tenth-Order Immortal Swords were still lying quietly on the table.

Ling Yunpo slung the Qingping Sword over his back, picked up the Thunderstrike Sword, and connected his aura to it.

The Thunderstrike Sword offered no resistance at all, which made him a little confused.

So he tried to communicate with it:

"Thunderstrike, you..."

"Ah! I'm here." The Thunderstrike Sword said obsequiously, "Master, what do you need me for?"

Ling Yunpo:???

He really wanted to make a "black person asking a question" face, but considering there was no audience around, he patiently asked again:

"Qingping... what did it say to you?"

"Master," the Thunderstrike Sword said respectfully, "Your Majesty taught me many principles, such as a wise bird choosing a tree to perch in, and a wise sword choosing a master to serve; and also that a sword can have integrity, but not arrogance..."

"Stop right there." Ling Yunpo shouted, cutting off its rambling, "What the hell is 'Your Majesty'?"

"Qingping Your Majesty considers herself the empress of swords, so I call her Your Majesty." The Thunderstrike Sword said with a giggle.

"Then what is your gender?"

"I don't have a gender for now." The Thunderstrike Sword quickly replied, "If Master likes girls, I'll be a beautiful young maiden; if you prefer men, I'll be a handsome boy toy. I can even change my voice..."

"Go, go, go!" Ling Yunpo cursed impatiently, "What do you mean 'prefer men'? From today on, speak in a little loli voice!"

"May I ask Master, what is this 'little loli'?"

"A young girl of thirteen or fourteen."

"As you command." The Thunderstrike Sword began to make sounds, its voice gradually becoming higher and sharper, "Uh, oh, ah!"

It finally succeeded in transforming into a silver bell-like, slightly milky girl's voice.

"Master~ Is this okay?"

"Hmph, fine." Ling Yunpo said coldly.

With Qingping on his back and Thunderstrike in hand, he calmly walked out of his room and turned to knock on Senior Sister An's door.

"Senior Sister An," he said in a deep voice, a smile in his tone, "I've subdued the Thunderstrike Sword!"

"Really?" An Zhisu heard his voice and quickly came to open the door for him. Looking at the Thunderstrike Sword in his hand, she asked in surprise, "How did you subdue it?"

"Of course, by reasoning with it!" Ling Yunpo said righteously.