"Achoo!"
Yang Zhen rubbed his nose and took out a quilt from his storage ring to cover himself with it.
Although Yang Zhen has reached a level where he is no longer afraid of the cold, he still feels that not covering himself with a thick quilt in the dead of winter lacks a certain sense of ritual.
After covering myself with the quilt, I felt much more comfortable, and I even stopped sneezing.
Yang Zhen looked at Nine Dragons with curiosity and asked, "Now you can tell me, right? You came all this way just to let me meet an old geezer?"
After a moment's hesitation, Nine Dragons said, "No, she is extremely beautiful!"
Yang Zhen shuddered, wrapped himself in the blanket, and moved a little further away from Nine Dragons, looking at Nine Dragons with a strange expression.
An extremely handsome old man—that's a truly chilling sight.
Seeing the lecherous look on Nine Dragons's face, Yang Zhen began to suspect that Nine Dragons might have some kind of sexual orientation problem.
"You brat, what's with that expression?" Nine Dragons asked, glaring at him.
Yang Zhen hurriedly said, "No, no, no, everyone has their own preferences. As the saying goes, 'one man's meat is another man's poison.' Everyone has a love of beauty; it's nothing, really..."
Nine Dragons looked at Yang Zhen with a puzzled expression, then pondered and said, "I called you here this time to meet that senior. On one hand, you might be able to get some guidance on your cultivation level. On the other hand, I need to take you to subdue a Sword Spirit!"
"What the hell is that?" Yang Zhen's eyes widened immediately.
As expected, I knew Nine Dragons was up to no good. Even your nine dragons couldn't subdue the Sword Spirit, and you expect me, this Sage of Saunter, to subdue it? Is that really subduing?
That's practically suicide!
Yang Zhen shook his head and said, "Don't even think about it. Don't even think about letting this 'Sage of Saunter of Sage of Saunter ' touch any danger. My principle has always been that staying alive is better than anything else!"
"You didn't even ask?" Nine Dragons asked in surprise.
"My greatest strength is that I know my own limitations. If even guys like you can't subdue a Sword Spirit, do you think I have any chance of succeeding?"
"A little bit!" Nine Dragons said uncertainly.
Yang Zhen glared at him and said, "Look, look! Even you say it's only a little bit, so how much exactly is this 'little bit'?"
"About 20%, less than 10%!" Nine Dragons was unusually playful, which Celestial Person Yang Zhen.
"Damn it, less than 20%, less than 10%, "Yang Zhen thought, "He's probably going to die."
Seeing the expression on Yang Zhen's face, the Nine Dragons Great Saint laughed heartily and said, "You don't need to be so modest. How much have you accomplished lately? You even dared to offend the Great Saint Fengli, what is a mere Sword Spirit?"
"If it's nothing, why don't you go and subdue it yourselves?" Yang Zhen asked the crucial question.
Nine Dragons sighed and said, "Do you think we don't want to?"
"Why is that?" Yang Zhen genuinely curious. Could there be something strange about it?
Nine Dragons looked up at the heavens and said, "The world is vast, and all things possess a spirit, but most of these spirits are characterized by their obsessions."
Yang Zhen nodded; he agreed with this point. In other words, apart from humans, all other 'spirits' are single-minded creatures.
Seeing Yang Zhen nod, Nine Dragons explained, "All things have a spirit, and Sword Spirit is even purer; its thoughts are solely focused on the way of the Sword Dao!"
Yang Zhen exclaimed, "Oh dear, is that all? I just don't believe that among your old friends, there isn't even one or two masters with exceptional Sword Dao!"
Nine Dragons nodded and said with a smile, "That's not true. Even that old man, Sword Addict, has returned empty-handed. So I believe that it's not necessarily the case that the higher one's skill in Sword Dao, the more likely one is to gain the Sword Spirit's approval."
"Then who can gain the Sword Spirit's approval?" Yang Zhen was taken aback, then pointed to himself and asked, "Me?"
How the hell is that possible?
Although I, this Sage of Saunter, possess many sword techniques and am a master swordsman, I am not an expert in the Sword Dao way of the Sage of Saunter.
The underhanded tactics are alright, but the question is, is this thing even useful?
Yang Zhen looked at Nine Dragons with a suspicious expression.
Nine Dragons smiled and said, "That's why I'm letting you give it a try."
"No way!" Yang Zhen pouted and said, "So many seniors are watching. What if we fail? How embarrassing would that be for them?"
Upon hearing Yang Zhen's words, Nine Dragons burst into laughter, nearly falling off his dragon-like creature. Pointing at Yang Zhen, he said, "You little rascal, you think you can be embarrassed?"
Yang Zhen glared at him. "Isn't being shameless a kind of shame?"
Nine Dragons was taken aback, then said with great agreement, "That makes sense!"
Ah, that's right!
Yang Zhen patted the dragon-like creature and said, "Brother, we can go back now!"
The dragon-like creature turned around and mooed at Yang Zhen, sounding like a bull—it was incredibly unpleasant, but it sped up even more.
"No, you... why are you speeding up?" Yang Zhen was completely bewildered.
The Nine Dragons Great Saint couldn't stop smiling!
"You don't need to be so afraid. How could you possibly take away the Sword Spirit discovered by the Heavenly Mountain Holy Land so easily?"
Upon hearing the words of the Nine Dragons Great Saint, Yang Zhen was stunned, staring blankly at the Nine Dragons and asking, "What do you mean?"
After a moment of contemplation, Nine Dragons said, "Young man, I once owed the Heavenly Mountain Holy Lord a favor. Consider this a favor to me. Subduing the Sword Spirit this time is merely to have you oversee things from the sidelines. You young people have boundless potential and can easily gain the Sword Spirit's approval."
"To provide support?"
Yang Zhen exclaimed "Oh!" intrigued, and said, "So this isn't my show, but rather the one who was shouting '666' on the sidelines?"
Nine Dragons nodded and said, "Although I don't know what you're talking about, it's probably like this. You can stay and oversee things from the sidelines. The task of subduing the Sword Spirit will naturally be handled by the geniuses of the Heavenly Mountain Holy Land. In fact, compared to your slightly over 10% success rate, that girl Fuyao from the Heavenly Mountain Holy Land has a higher chance."
Yang Zhen's face darkened. He walked up to the Nine Dragons Great Saint, pointed at his own nose, and asked in a deep voice, "Old man, do you think this ' Sage of Saunter' is the kind of person who just stands by and shouts '666'? That's a bit underhanded!"
Nine Dragons chuckled and said, "Don't worry about that. Inviting you here is equivalent to doing two favors. Both I and the Heavenly Mountain Holy Land will satisfy you. I can guarantee that."
Yang Zhen chuckled, patted the Nine Dragons Great Saint on the shoulder, and said, "Look at what you're saying, we're practically family. Your favor is my favor too. I'm helping you repay your favor, why would I want anything in return?"
Just as the Nine Dragons Great Saint was about to speak, Yang Zhen shushed him and said, "Listen, how refreshing and refined the sound of this wind is!"
Upon hearing Yang Zhen's words, the Nine Dragons Great Saint was taken aback, smiled, and said nothing more.
Yang Zhen breathed a sigh of relief. "This ' Sage of Saunter' was just being polite. Don't take advantage of it. Do you think I'm the kind of person who does business at a loss?"
I originally thought I'd have to fight the Sword Spirit to the death, but it turns out I'm just repaying a favor for the Nine Dragons Great Saint. I can just sit on the sidelines, relax, and cheer.
Yang Zhen felt extremely comfortable. With Nine Dragons's guarantee, he could get whatever he wanted, and he could even watch a performance by the prodigies of the Heavenly Mountain Holy Land. It was truly delightful.
"Achoo!"
Yang Zhen rubbed her nose and wrapped herself even tighter in the quilt.
Life needs a little ritual!