You scared the life out of me!

After a brief two or three seconds, everyone heard a shrill inner voice.

[Aaaah, you scared the life out of this baby! You scared the life out of me!]

Lan Yue nearly burst into tears. Ghosts, Sadako, and things like that were what she feared most. Wasn't this testing just how much her poor little heart could take?

Across from her, Xing Yue's smile grew even stiffer, and her fists clenched a little tighter.

She wanted to give this kid a beating!

"Scared the life out of this baby?" Above them, the Second Elder sounded puzzled. Where had a little baby come from? Why hadn't any of them noticed?

"There's your baby. A big baby." The Sixth Elder pointed toward Lan Yue and nearly split his sides laughing.

Everyone: "..."

So that was the sort of baby she meant.

After a bout of utter pandemonium, Lan Yue finally gathered her courage and decided to venture into the Blood Pool.

She was already here. Surely she couldn't go back without even bringing a spirit sword?

Besides, such a formidable senior sister had been stationed here to guard it, and it had been placed deep within the Hidden Sword Pavilion. That meant this sword was anything but ordinary!

Only a fool would pass up a spirit sword she could get for free!

But just as Lan Yue lifted her foot, she hesitated again.

This was the Blood Pool, after all. It was filled with flowing red blood. Could she really step into it?

And this senior sister had said that she had to pass a trial to obtain the Ancient Sword.

What if the trial was some Blood Pool horror show? Never mind a horror show-even one stray ghost would scare her half to death.

Maybe she should first think about how to pass? Perhaps there was a trick to it.

Should she check the system first and investigate? If she looked into this senior sister, she might find information on how to pass!

She really was a little genius!

Lan Yue opened the Gossip System again, but to her utter despair, her head had already begun to spin.

Whenever this happened, it meant she didn't have enough mental power to dig into any fresh gossip!

What a miserable predicament. Why had she run out of mental power at such a crucial moment?

By now, Lan Yue had completely forgotten that, to confirm the female lead had found her bonded sword, she had already inspected most of the spirit swords nearby.

Inspecting spirit swords also consumed mental power. Given how much she had, it was already impressive that she had lasted this long.

[In that case, let me give this some serious thought. Should I step in with my left foot first, or my right?]

[Would starting with my left foot be bad? Could there be some rule about that? Then my right foot first? But my right foot...]

[Silver Snow Sword: You're driving me mad with all this babbling! Are you coming to get me or not?]

A young boy's childish voice rang out.

While Lan Yue was still marveling at it, she saw a silver Ancient Sword break free of the Blood Pool's restraints, fly over with a whoosh, and land in her arms.

[Silver Snow Sword: There, wasn't that easy? Humans are such a nuisance! Even walking means fussing over left and right feet!]

"The spirit sword came out on its own!" Beside her, Yun Xi's voice was full of delighted surprise. She was simply happy for Lan Yue.

"So this is the Silver Snow Sword? It seems the two of you have quite a connection. It actually flew out to you on its own." Li Bai studied the spirit sword with a smile.

Yet the three below failed to notice that both the senior sister before them and everyone up near the cavern ceiling were tense, as though facing a formidable enemy.

How could they not be nervous? This Ancient Sword had been left behind on the Ancient Battlefield. Supposedly, its wielder had been an Immortal, but that Immortal had ultimately fallen to demonhood. Who knew how many people's blood had stained the long sword in his hand?

Corrupted by that Immortal Lord's demonic energy, even the spirit sword had grown violent, its very nature transformed.

Though it had not yet fully become a Demon Sword, that was probably only a matter of time.

That was why the Southern Spirit Sect had kept it suppressed in the Hidden Sword Pavilion. They had even used the essence blood of high-rank spirit beasts to draw a Primordial Formation to suppress the Ancient Sword, and periodically assigned an outstanding disciple to guard it.

They had poured untold effort into suppressing the Silver Snow Sword, even stipulating that only someone who passed the trial could take it away.

Yet not only had this spirit sword flown out of its own accord, it was now resting meekly in the arms of a Qi Refining disciple?

Among those hidden in the cavern, even the Sect Master was nearly left reeling in the wind.

In other words, the formation they had painstakingly prepared had been completely useless. Otherwise, how could Silver Snow have come out so easily?

Yun Chong: (꒪⌓꒪)

How should he put it? He suddenly felt that all the Southern Spirit Sect's long-laid plans were nothing but a joke.

Silver Snow could already come and go freely! Perhaps the only reason the sword hadn't done anything before was that it simply hadn't felt like moving?

That stung a little.

Tears welled in Yun Chong's eyes.

Below, Lan Yue was still in a daze.

[Did I hear that right? Were you the one talking just now?]

She stared at the silver long sword in her arms, then finally asked the question furtively in her mind.

[Silver Snow: You babbling human, who else could it have been? Who besides me could possibly hear your thoughts?]

The silvery-white long sword rolled over perfunctorily, then went still again.

[Holy shit, you can actually hear my thoughts? What kind of spirit sword are you? How are you so amazing?]

[Silver Snow: Hmph, ╭(╯^╰)╮, is it really that surprising? And don't call me a spirit sword. I'm an Immortal Sword! A genuine Immortal Sword!]

Silver Snow suddenly sprang up, bent its blade, and whacked Lan Yue hard on the head with its hilt.

[If you knock me out, there'll be nobody to take you gossiping!]

Lan Yue said it in a daze.

She finally understood why this Ancient Sword had rushed out on its own and willingly stayed in her arms.

So it had heard her thoughts while she was digging into gossip!

Sure enough, gossip was an instinct shared by every living creature. Even a Sword Spirit was no exception!

Lan Yue's guess was indeed correct. At her words, Silver Snow eased up, gave her one final token knock, and swiftly burrowed back into her arms.

[Silver Snow: Hmph, who wants your gossip? I just thought you looked passable and decided to find myself a servant!]

The Silver Snow Sword suddenly erupted in silvery-white light. Its flickering radiance left everyone at the top of the cavern terribly nervous.

Under their anxious gazes, a white long-haired cat strode spiritedly out of the silver light, smacked Lan Yue hard on the forehead, then leaped back into the light and sat there with solemn dignity.

Once again, Lan Yue stood dazed on the spot, a delicate pink paw print on her forehead.

Such an adorable little kitty-and a prickly, proud little kitty at that! Who could resist?

Lan Yue instantly felt another version of herself awaken.

[Lan Yue: Yes, yes, yes, Lord Silver Snow! Let this old servant attend to your every need. Come along with this old servant~ I'll treat you to all the finest food and drink from now on~]

She kept calling herself an old servant, yet her tone sounded like a brothel madam trying to lure away a beauty. It actually made Silver Snow shudder.

What a strange human.

The cat gave the human before it one last look, then its little body vanished.

Only Lan Yue remained standing there, sighing deeply in disappointment.

She hadn't even gotten to stroke the kitty's head yet!

At the top of the cavern, however, everyone fell silent.

Since they could hear Lan Yue's thoughts, they naturally deduced that the Ancient Sword, Silver Snow, was communicating with her.

So Silver Snow still didn't know that everyone within a certain range could hear Lan Yue's thoughts?

Of course, that wasn't the crucial point.

The crucial point was that this spirit sword was actually going with her for the gossip?

Why did it feel as though something inside their hearts had shattered?

"To think the Sword Spirit of the Silver Snow Ancient Sword has this sort of temperament. It seems we misunderstood all along." Yun Chong didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Previously, the entire Southern Spirit Sect had acted as though it were facing a formidable enemy, all but desperate to wrap Silver Snow in layer upon layer of formations.

Who would have thought that the real Silver Snow was just a little fellow who didn't want to be left behind and wanted to join in on the gossip?

A child's temperament, through and through.

By now, Yun Chong had completely forgotten why they had come here in the first place.

When it came to gossip, he, the Sect Master, and the elders beside him were every bit as eager!

Once Lan Yue skipped away with the spirit sword in her arms and the other two beside her, the elders above stared after the little girl's cheerful figure for quite some time.

"Sect Master, is it appropriate to leave this sword with a little girl who has only just achieved Qi Induction?"

The Second Elder turned toward the Sect Master, who had just appeared, looking somewhat worried.

"Even the elder of Spirit Sword Peak couldn't control it. If this sword runs wild..."

Speaking of the elder of Spirit Sword Peak-Lan Yue's master-he had the highest cultivation of them all.

If even he could do nothing, could anyone else manage it?

"It'll be fine..." Yun Chong shook his head.

"Lan Yue possesses an Immortal Artifact. At this point, only an Immortal Artifact can suppress this Ancient Sword."

Why else would he have taken the initiative to send Lan Yue here to collect it? That had been precisely his consideration.

"Perhaps gossip could work too?" After a moment's thought, Yun Chong added another remark.

Everyone: "..."