Chapter 37

The sect leader Lian Jing and the few elders who had come with him gathered around, staring at the Sorrowful Sword in her hand for a long time, but none of them dared to touch it, as if it were poisonous and could infect them.

After they had their fill of looking, Lian Jing finally spoke with deep concern, "Xiu Dan, your disciple is probably unmatched among the Foundation Establishment cultivators. However, with this sword, she will surely attract many enemies and may die an unnatural death."

"Master, you say I will die an unnatural death as soon as I get the sword. That's not very nice, is it?" Lu Yaoxiang said unhappily, not holding back her thoughts just because he was the sect leader.

Lian Jing was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter, "Xiu Dan, your disciple's personality makes it hard for her not to make enemies. But our sect needs such pride and arrogance; how can we cultivate swords without it!" Surprisingly, he didn't dislike such a bold disciple but rather appreciated her. A sect full of honest people would be swallowed up in a few days.

Yu Xiudan, being an honest person, was frightened and quickly apologized to the sect leader on behalf of Lu Yaoxiang, admitting that he had been too lenient in disciplining her.

Lian Jing didn't blame them at all. Instead, he took out a black jade pendant and flicked it to Lu Yaoxiang, "Take this moist jade pendant. With it, you can breathe underwater. It will be useful when you are being pursued."

Lu Yaoxiang caught the pendant and looked at him in surprise. Just meeting her, he gave her a spirit artifact. Could he really see such potential in the Sorrowful Sword? She knew her limits. Even someone with Lu Dan's talent couldn't get anything from him, let alone her, whose talent, even if not hidden, wasn't much. He must have given her a defensive spirit artifact for the sake of the Sorrowful Sword. It seemed this sword was truly extraordinary.

Finally, everyone stared at the Sorrowful Sword with conflicted expressions for a long time before sighing and leaving, leaving only Yu Xiudan and Lu Yaoxiang.

"Master, what's the background of this sword? Why did the sect leader say I would be unmatched at the Foundation Establishment stage?" Lu Yaoxiang asked curiously. Just having a spirit sword made her unmatched; what was the point of others working hard to cultivate techniques?

Yu Xiudan looked at her and said, "How would I know? Those are secrets of high-ranking cultivators, and I've only been at the Golden Core stage for five years. I've only heard that this sword is very powerful and inauspicious, but I don't know much else."

"I forgot about that. Master's cultivation is still low," Lu Yaoxiang realized, understanding that her master wasn't considered a high-ranking cultivator.

Speaking so bluntly about it, Yu Xiudan said irritably, "Let's go back. In the future, you should help Lu Dan more. I think he's too busy to handle everything alone."

"That's because he's slow. I used to manage everything myself, and he has too many tasks," Lu Yaoxiang said, hanging the Sorrowful Sword at her waist and following him back to the Heavenly Pill Peak.

Lu Xiaodeng had been waiting for her, eager to see what good spirit sword her senior sister had chosen with her help. If the sword spirit was powerful, she wouldn't have to lick Lu Dan's sword, as the two sword spirits were very timid and always huddled together, which was boring.

Seeing Lu Yaoxiang appear in front of the small building, she hurriedly went up to her and looked at her waist, "Senior Sister, what good sword did you choose?"

Before Lu Yaoxiang could speak, the Sorrowful Sword began to tremble, startling Lu Xiaodeng, who stopped and stared at it with wide eyes.

Suddenly, a black shadow emerged from the sword, spinning in the air before a man appeared before them.

His long black hair was casually tied back, his skin as white as snow, and his eyes were half-closed. If not for the dark, cloud-like robe that was open, revealing his flat chest, one might mistake him for a handsome woman.

Lu Yaoxiang, who had only seen a basin-sized shadow before, was even more surprised to see a man emerge from the sword. Even low-ranking cultivators knew that a sword spirit could condense into a human form, which meant the spirit sword had to be at least a spirit treasure level.

The Sorrowful Sword in her hand was a spirit treasure, though she didn't know which of the four types it was. But it was a spirit treasure!

"So, it's you. I thought you were something else, but you're just a little girl. You're quite well-built, and you must taste good," the Sorrowful Sword spirit extended a pale hand, lifting Lu Xiaodeng's chin and lightly touching her lips with his index finger, filled with surprise. If he devoured her, he might also have such a physical body.

Lu Xiaodeng stared at him blankly, letting his finger caress her lips. Suddenly, she opened her mouth and bit down.

"Ah!" The Sorrowful Sword spirit quickly withdrew his hand, seeing that his right index finger was gone. He roared in anger, "You actually devoured me!"

Lu Xiaodeng chewed and swallowed, licking her lips and smiling, "It wasn't very satisfying, but it melted in my mouth. I'll take one of your hands if you don't want me to devour you completely."

The Sorrowful Sword spirit sneered, "Little girl, you're too young to devour me. Give me my finger back!" Saying this, he lunged at her, trying to retrieve his finger and devour Lu Xiaodeng.

"Do you think I'm afraid of you just because you look good? Let's see what you can do," Lu Xiaodeng was even more excited. She usually saw sword spirits without human forms, or she avoided showing her face to the sect leader. Now, seeing such a human-like being was like meeting an old friend, and she was overjoyed.

The two immediately tangled together, fighting like children. Lu Yaoxiang stood by, speechless. She had been worried that Xiaodeng might be eaten, given how powerful the Sorrowful Sword was. But to her surprise, he didn't use any magic, just pounced. Did spirit artifacts not use magic against each other?

After watching for a while, she became more certain there was no danger. The fight was meaningless, and she had no idea what they were doing. So she turned and went back to her room to cultivate.

An hour later, when she came out, she saw the Sorrowful Sword spirit had returned, sitting at the table, supporting his head in thought. His right hand, missing the index finger, was on the table, tapping with the middle finger.

Seeing the finger, Lu Yaoxiang knew he hadn't devoured Xiaodeng and asked indifferently, "Did you lose?"

"What!" The Sorrowful Sword spirit raised an eyebrow, glaring fiercely, "If it weren't for something protecting her, I would have devoured her long ago. Do you know she has a restriction on her?"

Lu Yaoxiang, of course, knew what it was. It was the protection of a senior. If Xiaodeng were devoured by her sword, she would die too. She said somewhat blankly, "I don't know why you're after my junior sister. She's not a sword spirit but a living person."

"Ignorant." The spirit artifact must have been well-disguised. The Sorrowful Sword spirit bit his teeth in frustration and glared at Lu Yaoxiang. Then he slapped the table and said angrily, "No, my purpose in coming out is to devour her. If I can't, then I came for nothing!"

He stood up and flew out the window, disappearing instantly.

"I should have known better than to coax the sword to choose me. The previous sword would have been much more obedient," Lu Yaoxiang regretted, seeing the sword spirit who ignored her. She should have been less greedy. This sword spirit was as foolish as Xiaodeng, and she couldn't control him.

The Sorrowful Sword flew high into the sky, looking down at the peaks below. Buildings and pavilions were scattered throughout the mountains, and everywhere were people of the Cloud Sword Sect. He spread his hands, and his spiritual sense extended throughout the Cloud Sword Sect.

After a moment, colorful lights flew out from the Cloud Sword Sect, gathering around him.

A white light was the first to reach the Sorrowful Sword, immediately forming a refined man. He crossed his arms and asked coldly, "Seven Sobs, you're making a big show as soon as you come out. What do you want?"

"White Shaman, are you still following that Lian Jing?" Seven Sobs raised an eyebrow, asking disdainfully.

"He's the sect leader of the Cloud Sword Sect now and hasn't disgraced me. But you're not bad either. That woman is the best-figured person in the Cloud Sword Sect; you have good luck," White Shaman smiled faintly, his attitude truly infuriating.

Seven Sobs snorted, "You didn't even show yourself when you saw me come out, waiting for me to call you."

White Shaman smiled indifferently, "Why should I come to you? I'm an excellent sword spirit and don't want to associate with a sword spirit like you who always kills its master."

"Is that so? Hmph." Seven Sobs sneered.

At this moment, many sword spirits had gathered around them. Over thirty had taken human form, while others were only half-formed or small and stood far away.

"Seven Sobs, are you still trying to bully us outside? Don't call us if you have nothing to do. I don't want to see you at all," a red-clad female sword spirit with a high bun on her head said, looking at him with disdain.

Seven Sobs looked around. In front of him, the sword spirits who didn't tremble in fear and couldn't even raise their heads were all present. He raised his head and laughed contemptuously, "You bunch of trash, if I hadn't come out, you would have missed such a good thing."

He smacked his lips and said to White Shaman, "And you, don't act so proud. I can't believe such a big treat was right under your nose, and you didn't even know. How useless are you?"

"Seven Sobs, what are you talking about!" White Shaman was annoyed by his insults. He was now the strongest among the sword spirits in the Cloud Sword Sect, excluding those who were absent and Seven Sobs. Following a woman out was one thing, but coming out and insulting others as useless was another. With his master's strength, he couldn't fight him now, but why was he so arrogant?

"What am I talking about?" Seven Sobs spread his hands and laughed, "Don't you know that there's an unowned spirit artifact in the Cloud Sword Sect?"

All the sword spirits present looked at him in surprise, "You mean there's an unowned spirit artifact here! Impossible, if there was one, we would have found and devoured it long ago."

Seven Sobs looked at them with disdain, especially at the self-important White Shaman and the sword spirits of the peak masters, "Of course there is, and she has a physical body."

"..." The sword spirits were stunned into silence, all of them shocked.

White Shaman, losing his refined demeanor, bared his teeth and asked sinisterly, "Where is it?"

"Ha ha ha!" Seven Sobs laughed satisfactorily.