The Sword Pool and the Sword
Su Fuxi greeted Li Yuanqing, then took Lin Sui straight to the Affairs Hall.
There, they registered him on the core disciple roster and collected the purple brocade robes and identity token reserved for core disciples.
As for the rest of the spirit root testing gathering, she paid it no mind and could not be bothered to care. Even so, she had not expected Lin Sui to have a Heavenly Spirit Root.
Anyone whose spirit root manifested a phenomenon was said to have a Heavenly Spirit Root.
The claim that an Ice Spirit Root was a mutation of a Water Spirit Root and, like a Water Spirit Root, belonged to a cultivation furnace physique... was utter nonsense!
Now that they had the token, she could take her disciple to claim a treasured sword.
The sword pool.
Beneath an ancient, unadorned pavilion, in an underground cavern, was an array ringed by ordinary boulders... the sword pool, which was sealed off by thirty-six iron chains and talismans.
Countless swords floated up and down inside. When Su Fuxi first came here years ago, her first thought had been that this place was perfect for practicing Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Sect.
There had to be at least ten thousand swords in the pool.
Anyone choosing a sword had to guide it with spiritual power or spiritual sense, finding one they liked among the countless blades and were able to take out.
The deeper into the sword array one went, the more turbulent the sword intent became. One's spiritual sense might not even be able to probe that far, and even if one chose a sword, one might not be able to bring it out.
"So most people do their best on the outskirts to obtain a treasured sword," Su Fuxi explained from three zhang away, unable to approach the sword pool.
The flying sword she normally used for travel had come from here. Naturally, she carried the sword pool's aura, marking her as someone who had already taken a sword. She could not approach again, nor could she help anyone else take one.
Otherwise, the moment she approached the edge, the aura on her would trigger the talismans on the chains, unleashing countless streams of sword qi and giving her the after-sales service of ten thousand arrows piercing her heart.
"Go on, Lin Sui. You'll have to take a sword on your own."
"Yes."
Lin Sui thought for a moment, then approached the sword pool and slowly circled it. After a long while, he asked, "Master, can I take any sword?"
"Mm, as long as your spiritual power can guide the sword and bring it out."
The swords here varied in quality, but none were ordinary. The sword at the very center was not necessarily the best.
Back then, Su Fuxi had chosen one that caught her eye. She did not think she was a child of destiny who could win a treasured sword's favor.
Lin Sui tried forming a hand seal, turning his spiritual power into tendrils and carefully probing into the sword array. Many swords on the outskirts responded, giving off faint, competing hums.
The farther in he went, the fewer swords he could stir.
He suddenly dispersed his spiritual power and formed another seal. Wrapping a vortex of slaughter he had condensed yesterday but had yet to refine in spiritual power, he carefully sent it inside, guiding it farther in and slowly circling once.
His spiritual power naturally carried his own icy, yin attributes, which happened to match the yin-cold aura of slaughter.
With the two combined, he wondered whether he could find a sword that suited him.
Su Fuxi waited quietly for her disciple.
She had no idea what kind of sword the boy wanted to choose.
She naturally sensed what he was doing. Heh, this boy isn't just hardworking; he's clever too!
Even her spiritual sense could not penetrate far past the edge of the sword pool. How could a mere Qi Refining Fourth Layer cultivator like him-
Hum!
Su Fuxi had just reached that thought when a muffled hum suddenly sounded from the sword pool, followed by an invisible wave spreading in every direction.
She felt a fierce gale rush toward her. Fortunately, it carried no killing intent!
Startled, she saw Lin Sui forming seals with both hands and pouring out spiritual power with all his might. He had clearly stirred a formidable sword.
Then another sword hum, a "Hum!", came from deep within the sword pool, which was dozens of meters wide.
The sword intent inside the pool was chilling, and the light was dim. It was impossible to see anything.
All she could do was listen to the sword hums coming one after another from those shadowy depths.
A light sweat appeared on Lin Sui's forehead. It felt as though the sword wanted to move, but some force seemed to be imprisoning it, leaving it unable to budge.
"Master, may I come back another day to choose a sword?" His strength at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer was simply too weak after all.
Su Fuxi froze, then said hesitantly, "Well, that should be possible. After all, you haven't chosen a sword, and the sword pool doesn't say you can't... wait! Is it because you aren't strong enough?"
"Yes. This disciple isn't strong enough to bring it out."
Hum. A sword hummed in the distance, seemingly responding to Lin Sui.
At that moment.
Deep within the sword pool, though not at its center, was an ancient, unadorned longsword. Its blade was covered with inch-long yellow talismans, and a palm-sized talisman of imprisonment was pasted near the hilt.
In the dim reflection, fine cracks could be glimpsed across the blade through the gaps between the talismans.
Sensing the spiritual power Lin Sui was using to guide it gradually weakening, the sword could not help trembling all over.
A corner of a talisman at the edge of its tip shook loose, revealing a sliver of dark red light.
"So it isn't that the sword itself is unwilling, but that you aren't strong enough-"
Su Fuxi pondered briefly, then suddenly remembered something. She slapped open her storage pouch, and an abstract yellow paper figure flew out, with two crude cinnabar circles drawn as eyes.
Su Fuxi quickly formed a seal and sent a spiritual incantation into the paper figure, chanting, "Vajra warrior, go!"
The yellow paper figure sprang upright and dashed across the ground toward Lin Sui on its two thin little paper legs. It reached him in the blink of an eye and jumped onto his shoe,
Then continued up along the hem of his robe, went around from his front to his back, climbed up, and pressed itself firmly against his back, where it stayed motionless.
A golden light flashed across the paper figure. With a boom, an invisible, immense force surged into Lin Sui's body. He instantly felt as though a vajra had possessed him, his strength as great as a mountain!
He immediately poured out his strength, sending it along the path of his spiritual power tendril, straight toward the sword he had sensed.
The force was so mighty that it briefly pushed aside the sword qi filling its path, forcibly carving out a passage!
"Sword, come!" Lin Sui shouted at once.
Keeping the hand seal formed, he poured out his strength, turned his spiritual power into a rope, wrapped it tightly around the blade, and pulled hard.
"Hum!" The sword felt a great force helping it resist its imprisonment. It immediately hummed with excitement and shook incessantly, trying to break free of the sword array's restraints.
Even Su Fuxi watched Lin Sui a little nervously and reminded him, "Lin Sui, put more strength into it! This paper talisman's power can only last a quarter of an hour!"
"Sword-come!" Lin Sui did not want to give up today, especially after using up his master's magic treasure. Clenching his jaw, he stared fixedly at the sword pool and sent every bit of his spiritual power rushing out. "Come!!!"
What kind of sword is it, that he still can't pull it out even with this strength talisman figure? Su Fuxi could not help pressing a hand to her forehead.
This had been her last paper talisman figure, and she had never imagined she would use it to help her own disciple.
Seeing that half the time had passed and the paper talisman figure's effect would soon weaken, Su Fuxi prepared to step closer and risk helping him.
"Rumble-"
With a boom, the entire sword pool rattled and shook. A tremendous force burst outward in a ring, only to be quickly dissipated by the array around the sword pool.
Clearly, the person who had laid the array had anticipated this.
Then, with a metallic clang, a longsword flew straight out of the dim sword pool toward Lin Sui, trailing a chilling aura.
With a bang, the sword abruptly broke free of the sword pool's pull. Exhaustion and momentum sent Lin Sui tumbling backward more than a zhang, and a dull pain shot through his back as he hit the ground.
Immediately afterward came a clang, and a longsword half a palm wide and almost as tall as he was pinned him completely beneath it, nearly knocking the breath out of him.
"Lin Sui!"
Su Fuxi stared in shock for a moment, then hurriedly flew over and helped up the person who had nearly become the first in history to be crushed to death by a sword.