After these attempts at choosing a divine sword, which had even turned up a Ghost Creature, Yun Xi was still feeling shaken.
She wondered if she should simply use the whip she already had. It was a high-grade spiritual artifact her bargain-bin father had given her, and it was quite useful.
So absorbed in her thoughts that she paid no attention to her surroundings, she accidentally kicked a dusty longsword out of the earthen wall beside her.
"Huh, this sword was actually buried in the dirt."
[Yes, yes, yes, this is the spirit sword! Nü E has finally found her bonded spirit sword. It really wasn't easy! I never noticed when I read the original novel-did Nü E really go through this many twists and turns when choosing her spirit sword? What an ordeal!]
Once Yun Xi confirmed it, she quietly wiped the spirit sword clean and cradled it in her arms.
"This spirit sword is perfect." Her voice was firm.
At the mountaintop.
Watching his daughter cradle that spirit sword, Yun Chong was rather baffled himself.
The spirit sword looked dusty and even bore traces of rust. Was it really a bonded spirit sword that could grow alongside his daughter?
Since when had the Hidden Sword Pavilion held a spirit sword like that? He had never seen it before.
Still, it was hardly surprising that he had never seen it. The Hidden Sword Pavilion had a history stretching back nearly ten thousand years, even longer than the Southern Spirit Sect itself.
Many secrets lay here, which was why so many elders and disciples were needed to guard it.
Since he had taken over as sect master, nothing particularly significant had happened in the Hidden Sword Pavilion. He had almost forgotten that this place had once been part of an ancient battlefield.
Over the years, the sect's elders and disciples had placed plenty of spirit swords in the Hidden Sword Pavilion, one after another. He had no idea whether the one his daughter had obtained was an ancient sword left over from that battlefield or a spirit sword added later.
Judging by his discernment, it ought to be the former.
It was thanks to Lan Yue's reminder, too. Otherwise, his daughter would probably have missed this opportunity.
Still, returning that spirit sword to Spirit Moon Peak would count as repaying this karmic debt.
Meanwhile, Li Bai had also finished choosing his spirit sword. With their selections complete, the rest was straightforward: the two accompanied Lan Yue farther into the depths.
Although this place was a cave, it covered a vast area, with many dark passages leading in unknown directions.
They followed the arrangement of the spirit swords with their eyes. At the very end of this passage lay a pool.
And that pool was filled with bright red blood. There was even an eerie dripping sound.
All three stepped back in unison, identical expressions of lingering fright on their faces.
Um, how about we run first?
They exchanged glances, looking at one another in alarm and uncertainty.
"Here to collect Silver Snow?" An ethereal female voice echoed through the cave.
The voice gave all three such a fright that they nearly jumped.
When they looked closely, they saw a woman in black robes sitting upright in the blood-red pool, her long hair hanging loose.
The woman's long hair was glossy black and smooth. She sat so quietly in the blood pool that she seemed to have become one with it.
"Blood-drinker?" Li Bai's face drained of color.
Could our sect be hiding a Demon Sword no one knows about?
Has this Demon Sword already developed sentience, just waiting for little weaklings like us to deliver ourselves to its doorstep so it can feast on us?
Without realizing it, Li Bai had spoken his thoughts aloud, leaving the two young girls beside him trembling.
"I-it's all right. I'll protect you!" Yun Xi mustered her courage, straightened her chest, and took out her spirit whip again.
"Xixi, my life is in your hands!" Lan Yue darted straight behind the female lead.
Seriously, if that black-robed woman could enter the Hidden Sword Pavilion, she had to be incredibly powerful. A little weakling like me would obviously just be serving myself up on a platter.
But the female lead is different. Protagonists all have the law of immortality on their side, and they always manage to save their companions at the critical moment.
Of course I'm going to cling to such a sturdy thigh!
With Lan Yue placing such wholehearted trust in her, Yun Xi found her courage again.
Only those hidden at the top of the cave were left at a loss for words.
"Am I remembering wrong? Wasn't Lan Yue already at the fifth level of Qi Refining?" For a moment, Yun Chong began to doubt his own memory.
"Sect Master, you are indeed remembering wrong. That was Lan Yue's cultivation three months ago. Last time, I noticed several more disturbances at Spirit Moon Peak. Her strength has probably improved again," the Second Elder reminded him.
"But with an immortal artifact protecting her, even we can't discern her exact cultivation now." The Second Elder sounded a little regretful. He was very interested in Lan Yue and wanted to know just what astonishing talent someone who possessed an immortal artifact might have.
"So, a senior sister who's at least at the fifth level of Qi Refining is hiding behind a junior sister who has only just completed qi induction?" Yun Chong's voice was incredulous.
How could she be so thick-skinned? Could someone with an immortal artifact really be that different?
At that thought, everyone around him froze for a moment, their expressions turning peculiar.
"Perhaps she isn't good at fighting?" the Sixth Elder speculated.
After thinking it over, he added, "Otherwise, she wouldn't have failed to learn sword flight after three whole months."
At that, the other elders laughed without restraint. So even immortal artifacts could misjudge people!
Yun Chong: "..."
"Keep it down. If the immortal artifact detects this, you'll all be going into seclusion."
The other elders immediately fell silent, not daring to make a sound.
Seriously, who would dare stand against an immortal artifact?
The elite inner disciples beside them: "..."
So the elders were this gossipy, too. What an eye-opener.
While the elders sat as quiet as chickens, Xing Yue below was equally bewildered.
What was going on with these three junior disciples? Had I been in seclusion so long that hundreds of years had passed outside?
Otherwise, how had every one of them become so... impossible to describe?
"Didn't Elder Lu say you were coming to collect a spirit sword?" After a moment's thought, Xing Yue asked again.
"Silver Snow is Spirit Moon Peak's ancient sword. But this sword is rather special. You must gain its recognition before you can take it away."
"Silver Snow? Snow as in snowflakes?" Li Bai, who had just been so alarmed, suddenly realized his mistake, embarrassment showing on his face.
On hearing "blood-drinker," he had assumed it was some Demon Sword that had never emerged into the world. How embarrassing.
Now that he thought about it carefully, why would a vicious Demon Sword be kept in the sect's Hidden Sword Pavilion? Even overlooking a single Ghost Creature was probably an extremely rare occurrence.
"What else would it be?" Xing Yue looked at them strangely.
[Honestly, you can't blame Eldest Senior Brother. If I took one look and saw a long-haired woman sitting in a Blood Pool, I'd let my imagination run wild, too.]
A timid inner voice drifted over.
Clad in black robes, Xing Yue froze. She had been meditating all this time and had paid no attention whatsoever to what was happening outside.
Suddenly hearing someone's thoughts like this felt rather strange.
But she soon composed herself, because Yun Chong had already sent her a telepathic explanation, afraid she might accidentally let something slip and anger the immortal artifact again.
"You're Lan Yue, right? Silver Snow is beneath the blood pool. As long as you can withstand the trial, you'll have a chance to summon it."
Looking at the girl hiding behind the others, Xing Yue tried her best to make her voice gentler.
But perhaps because she had scarcely smiled in decades, or even a hundred years, this sudden smile made her face look even stiffer than before.
Just then, a few drops of blood fell from above, striking her long eyelashes and trailing down in a long bloody streak.
The entire space instantly fell silent. Even the elders above, who had been as quiet as chickens, craned their heads to look.
Before you continue