That Kind of Thing, No Thanks

After three years in the sect, Xiao Bai had never met the mysterious Myriad Laws Elder, but he had heard countless tales about him.

The Myriad Laws Elder was named Lin Xizi, a brilliantly gifted young spellcraft prodigy. He was not yet a hundred years old, even younger than Elder Yuhu.

Since ancient times, the Snow Flame Sect had excelled at artifact forging, swordsmanship, and beast taming. Spells and pills had always been its weak points.

Yet Lin Xizi had single-handedly elevated the Snow Flame Sect's spellcraft specialization to heights it should never have reached.

Even Master Yuhu had never accomplished that.

After all, her research leaned slightly off course. The pills she refined had excellent effects, but their toxic side effects were severe.

Yet Master Yuhu was a rare ice-cold beauty of unmatched temperament, immensely popular within the sect.

Lin Xizi was equally striking in appearance, so naturally his popularity was no less impressive.

The two were both idols to the younger disciples.

Unfortunately, during the Sect-State War twenty years ago, Lin Xizi had been wounded by One Sword Fox.

His cultivation had fallen to the Golden Core Realm. When he tried to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm again, inadequate preparation led him to take forbidden medicine and suffer Cultivation Deviation.

Even so, he had refused Master Yuhu's antidote, relying on forbidden arts to preserve his sanity while entering seclusion to heal his wounds.

Perhaps it was the pride of the Myriad Laws Elder. Or perhaps, after being wounded by One Sword Fox, he no longer trusted Master Yuhu.

A peerless genius of a generation had nearly fallen, leaving people sighing in regret.

As for One Sword Fox, who had slaughtered indiscriminately during the Sect-State War and caused devastating casualties, she had been expelled from the sect, denounced by the Xiahou Dynasty, and finally imprisoned by the Dao Alliance, becoming the shame of the Snow Flame Sect.

Regarding Lin Xizi's Cultivation Deviation, the Dao Alliance had demanded that the Snow Flame Sect send him to the Dao Alliance Headquarters for treatment, only for Master Chun Xiao to refuse.

After all, the Dao Alliance's treatment for Cultivation Deviation was practically bone-crushing and ash-scattering.

In exchange, when One Sword Fox was dead drunk, Master Chun Xiao had sent several female disciples from the sect to escort her into the Dao Alliance's prison.

In Master Chun Xiao's view, as long as Master Yuhu remained in the Snow Flame Sect, Lin Xizi might not be beyond saving.

Moreover, Lin Xizi's value to the sect was beyond measure, while One Sword Fox brought the sect nothing but harm.

The problem now was that Myriad Laws Elder Lin Xizi was a man. How had he suddenly become a woman?

Master Chun Xiao stared upward for a long while before daring to confirm that this really was Lin Xizi.

The facts proved that when a handsome man became a woman, she would most likely still be beautiful.

"Junior Brother Lin Xizi? Weren't you in seclusion at Myriad Laws Peak... How did you become dressed as a woman?"

Above the plaza, Lin Xizi's Wind Breath Clone drifted and fluttered like a Dunhuang mural, inexplicably giving off the air of a celestial maiden.

"Only after changing into a daughter's body could I barely suppress the demonic obstruction within me. The next time we meet, perhaps I'll have the body of a little girl."

Master Chun Xiao's feelings were complicated. He could only sigh.

"No matter what, being alive is enough."

Changed into a daughter's body...

So he wasn't a cross-dressing master after all. He had gone straight to the final form.

Xiao Bai vaguely guessed that the Myriad Laws Elder had suddenly appeared to give him a gift, so he clasped his hands toward the sky.

"Disciple Xiao Bai pays respects to Senior Brother... Senior Sister Lin Xizi."

Lin Xizi nodded slightly and gave a small bow.

"Please accept this humble gift as well."

Xiao Bai suddenly felt that this somewhat androgynous voice sounded rather pleasant—quite natural.

The Onmyoji's voice, on the other hand, was a little too sultry. It was obvious she was full of bad intentions.

No sooner had he spoken than—

Whoosh—

A sword came from the west!

From the Underground Cave Abode beneath Myriad Laws Peak, it flew backward all the way into Xiao Bai's hand.

It was a sheathed sword. Its dark red Sword Sheath was embroidered with black orchids. It felt heavy in his hand, and one glance told him it was a fine sword.

A custom promoted by the Dao Alliance during the Tian Yuan Era was that gifts could be opened on the spot.

With a grand sweep of his hand, Xiao Bai drew the sword in a dashing manner.

The words "fine sword" nearly burst from his lips!

Then...

There was nothing inside the Sword Sheath.

A deep, dark-red empty Sword Sheath...

Something was wrong!

Xiao Bai guessed this might be some kind of sexual implication.

Or perhaps some kind of tease.

Oh no, could the Modifier even attract transgender people?

That kind of thing, no thanks...

Xiao Bai was speechless to the extreme. Wearing a pained expression on his handsome face, he asked:

"Senior Sister, what you mean is..."

With wind breath that seemed to whistle on its own, Lin Xizi said coldly:

"Your sword is far too poor. It is nowhere near worthy of your sword technique."

It seemed this elder had been watching him from the shadows all along.

"You didn't have to give me an empty sword, did you?"

Xiao Bai nearly cried.

Lin Xizi shook her head.

"This was once my personal sword, the Swastika Spirit Sword."

"After my Cultivation Deviation, to prevent the Swastika Spirit Sword from being affected, I sealed its Sword Body in the snow atop Sword Wielding Peak. In my current state, I fear I will never have the strength to retrieve it in this lifetime."

"If fate allows, you may retrieve it in my stead and reforge a new sword."

The entire venue fell silent.

Everyone was filled with emotion, their expressions complicated.

Even his Life-Bound Sword was being given away. It seemed the Myriad Laws Elder was already a candle in the wind, on the verge of withering away...

The Swastika Spirit Sword?

Xiao Bai did not understand. Was this thing really that precious?

Why make it sound so mysterious?

Mu Yun quietly reminded him from the side:

"The Swastika Spirit Sword can adapt to any spiritual power. Its sword spirit can drive all spells, saving the time needed to form hand seals. To a cultivator who does not specialize in the sword path, it is priceless. More importantly, the Swastika Spirit Sword is an Earth-tier Divine Artifact!"

An Earth-tier Divine Artifact!

Now that was enough to wake Xiao Bai right up.

In the Tian Yuan Era, living entities such as cultivators, spirit beasts, spirit herbs, Demons, Monsters, Ghosts, and Goblins were generally ranked by cultivation level.

Spirit artifacts, cultivation methods, and pills, on the other hand, were ranked by grade—

Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, Yellow.

Below those were the vast majority of low-tier items.

Above them were the legendary Divine-tier Immortal Methods, divine artifacts, and Immortal Pills used by immortals. Yet no one had ever seen them; they remained mere legends to this day.

Generally speaking, cultivation methods, spirit artifacts, and pills of different grades had no cultivation requirements for their users.

But they had extremely high requirements for the user's talent.

The higher the grade of a cultivation method, spirit artifact, or pill, the greater the talent required of its user. At the same time, its power and medicinal effect would also be greater.

If one's talent was sufficient, then at the same Qi Refining cultivation level, wielding a Heaven-tier spirit artifact would be far more powerful than wielding a Yellow-tier one.

Generally speaking, only Rogue Cultivators and Outer Sect disciples cultivated low-tier methods and used low-tier spirit artifacts and pills due to insufficient talent.

The Snow Flame Sect's Inner Sect teachings basically began with Yellow-tier cultivation methods, while the spirit artifacts and pills assigned to Inner Sect disciples were all Yellow-tier as well.

Once you mastered a Mysterious-rank cultivation method and possessed Mysterious-rank spirit artifacts and pills, you could basically remain undefeated within the same minor realm.

The Butcher's Sword Technique and Xiahou Body Technique Xiao Bai currently cultivated both belonged to the category of Mysterious-rank cultivation methods.

Even though Xiao Bai had max-level proficiency, limited by the ceiling of Mysterious-rank cultivation methods, he could currently only be invincible within the Qi Refining Realm.

Once you mastered an Earth-tier cultivation method and possessed Earth-tier spirit artifacts and pills, you could fight across minor realms.

What Xiao Bai did not know was that the Spine Gu Worm from Yuhu within his body was precisely a living Earth-tier pill!

If you mastered a Heaven-tier cultivation method and possessed Earth-tier spirit artifacts and pills, you could fight across major realms.

The reason Lan Daozi, at the Golden Core Peak, could rival a Nascent Soul Cultivator was said to be because he had mastered some Heaven-tier Sword Technique...

From what Wei Shanjun had said earlier, Xiao Bai learned that Lan Daozi truly possessed a Heaven-tier Sword Technique as his trump card!

According to Mu Yun, not only was the Swastika Spirit Sword Earth-tier, more importantly, it could use the sword to cast any spell.

In that case, Xiao Bai's wild, reckless slashing could be paired with all kinds of flamboyant spells...

The image was too beautiful to imagine!

However, sealing a sword was easy, while retrieving one was difficult. This sword would not be easy to claim.

To take any sword from Sword Wielding Peak, one had to pass trial after trial.

For now, Xiao Bai did not know any spells, nor did he urgently need such a thing. Taking it later would not be too late.

The bigger question was that Xiao Bai and the Myriad Laws Elder had never met before. Wasn't it far too generous to give him an Earth-tier Divine Artifact right away?

Something about this felt wrong...

Putting away the Sword Sheath, Xiao Bai clasped his hands toward the sky and thanked her.

"Thank you for your kindness, Senior Sister Lin Xizi. Once I reach Foundation Establishment, I will certainly go to Sword Wielding Peak to inherit the sword."

Her ethereal, handsome face suddenly stiffened. Unable to estimate how long it would take someone with Balanced Five Elements to reach Foundation Establishment, Lin Xizi shook her head and sighed.

"I hope I can live to see that day."