Chapter 42

In recent days, Lu Xiaodeng had been busy researching the Spirit-Gathering Liquid, and Qi Qi had not come to ask about the progress, nor had he appeared before Lu Yaohang, seemingly content to stay within the sword body.

Peace had been restored on the Heavenly Pill Peak, and everyone was performing their duties, living their small lives in an orderly manner.

"I see, cultivators disperse the divine souls of demon beasts and forcibly inject them into the sword body, making them lose their ability to resist and thus be devoured by the sword soul. As for the heavenly and earthly spirit materials, they are refined into the sword body, merging their spiritual energy with the sword body, so they do not dissipate like they would if they entered the sword soul." Lu Xiaodeng finally figured out how cultivators enhanced the power of their spirit artifacts. It didn't sound difficult, but it was a rather brutal method. To refine the Spirit-Gathering Liquid into a pill, it seemed she needed to understand the liquid better first.

The Spirit-Gathering Liquid she had taken a few days ago had not brought her any progress; it had only dispersed and revealed some things that caught her attention, so she needed to continue experimenting.

As she walked and thought, she planned to visit her spirit herb friends today. However, before she could even leave the Heavenly Pill Hall, someone suddenly appeared and walked alongside her.

Lu Xiaodeng turned her head to look at the person beside her, puzzled, and asked, "Black guy, why are you here again? Didn't I say there wouldn't be any progress for now?"

"I have a name, it's Qi Qi." It was indeed Qi Qi, who had disappeared for a few days and now reappeared with a better attitude, smiling and speaking.

"Got it, so Qi Qi, what do you want from me?" Lu Xiaodeng nodded and asked again.

Qi Qi lowered his head slightly and smiled, saying, "I suddenly realized something these past few days. You are the only spirit artifact with a physical body, which makes you a treasure among spirit artifacts. Now that you are living among cultivators, you must not disgrace the spirit artifacts and must be stronger than those cultivators."

Such a requirement?

Lu Xiaodeng said blankly, "I can't cultivate, how can I be stronger than them? Besides, I have no interest in fighting and killing; I'm not like you sword souls, who are naturally fond of slaughter."

"That's not the way to look at it. Precisely because you can't cultivate, you should protect yourself even more. The thing that protects you can only stop other spirit artifacts, but it can't stop cultivators from attacking you, so you must become stronger," Qi Qi said earnestly.

That was true, but Lu Xiaodeng was a bit at a loss, saying, "So how do you suggest I become stronger? It's impossible for me to cultivate; my body can't absorb spiritual energy, and I can't learn the spells of cultivators. As for spirit techniques, I only know the Spirit Realm, which doesn't consume divine souls, and I haven't developed any others. Even if I did, I wouldn't dare use them."

"Everyone uses spirit techniques by consuming divine souls. I only have one soul and two and a half souls, and I don't know if using spirit techniques would consume my soul or my body. I can't afford to lose either, so I don't even dare to try," Lu Xiaodeng had long realized that she was in a very troublesome situation, not even daring to use spirit techniques, which was worse than when she was just a spirit artifact.

Qi Qi, with his arms crossed, nodded in understanding and then said, "So, you need a defensive weapon. You need to find a suitable spirit treasure that can be very powerful without requiring much spiritual energy, so you can protect yourself in times of danger. Although you have your original cauldron, it looks old and worn, and if it gets damaged, you would be affected, right?"

"Yes," Lu Xiaodeng nodded firmly, remembering that it had been damaged before.

Seeing her honest response, Qi Qi was almost moved. Spirit artifacts in the early stages of their spiritual transformation were very innocent and naive, and it seemed that even after taking human form, they remained the same. He himself had a dark history, and he didn't want to recall his foolish self back then.

He said solemnly, "So, have your senior sister take you to buy it. The sooner you buy it, the sooner you can be at ease. Otherwise, what if someone tries to harm you? You are a master alchemist, and if you are kidnapped, you might never come back, and you won't see any familiar faces again."

"Being kidnapped... My senior sister has mentioned this before, so I rarely leave the sect." Lu Xiaodeng had known about this before and usually stayed in the sect, rarely venturing out.

"Even if you know, you still don't plan for yourself. Hurry up and ask your senior sister to go out with you. Even within the sect, there might be people from other sects who could kidnap you and put you in a bag, and you would never come back," Qi Qi immediately put on a stern face and ordered her, making her feel lost, and she turned and ran to find Lu Yaohang as if possessed.

Lu Xiaodeng found Lu Yaohang in the spirit herb storage, where she was checking the quantity of spirit herbs. Lu Xiaodeng told her that she wanted to buy a defensive spirit weapon but didn't mention spirit treasures or spirit artifacts, as she couldn't afford them anyway. However, Lu Yaohang was very busy, with the number of spirit herbs in the storage being incorrect, and she was trying to figure out if it was a mistake or if some had been lost.

"I don't have time to go out these next few days. Let's go in a couple of days, and I'll buy you a good spirit weapon then." Getting a spirit weapon wasn't a big deal, but Lu Yaohang was really busy.

Lu Xiaodeng pouted, not wanting to bother her senior sister by insisting she go out with her. The storage was chaotic with people coming and going, so she turned to leave.

This made Qi Qi, who had returned to the sword body, very anxious. He wanted to go out with Lu Yaohang and then use some tricks to make her provoke someone, killing them to replenish his finger. If she was too busy to go out, his plan would be in vain.

So, he used a soul language that cultivators couldn't hear and shouted at Lu Xiaodeng, who was about to leave, "How can you just leave like this? Come back and ask her to go out with you. The longer you wait to get a defensive spirit weapon, the more dangerous it is. If you are kidnapped tonight, you will regret it!"

Lu Xiaodeng stopped and sighed, speaking softly, "But my senior sister is busy. She won't go out if she's this busy. How unlucky can I be to be kidnapped tonight, unless you do it."

She couldn't speak like Qi Qi and the others, making it inaudible to cultivators; it was more like she was complaining to herself.

"Hey? Xiaodeng, what are you mumbling here?" Suddenly, Lu Dan's voice came from the side. Lu Xiaodeng looked and saw it was indeed him, feeling hopeful. She immediately said, "Lu Dan, I want to go to Luxing City to buy a spirit weapon for self-defense, but my senior sister is too busy. Will you go with me?"

Lu Dan had just finished his work and smiled, "Sure, it's still early. Let's go out together."

"Okay." This was great, Lu Xiaodeng called to her senior sister, "Senior sister, I'm going to buy a spirit weapon with my junior brother."

"Hmph, you two are so idle, leaving me to do all the work. Go quickly, buy what you need and come back. Remember not to bring back any useless things," Lu Yaohang, who was busy, glared at them and immediately lowered her head to continue checking the accounts, while Lu Xiaodeng left with Lu Dan, chatting and laughing.

Unexpectedly, Lu Dan appeared, and Qi Qi gritted his teeth in anger. The damn guy, what was he doing here, ruining his plan! Lu Xiaodeng had already found someone to go out with, and if he insisted she call Lu Yaohang, it might raise her suspicions, making it harder to use her in the future.

Although he was very reluctant, he had to let it go this time. Qi Qi, feeling烦躁 (irritated), couldn't stay in the sword body anymore and decided to go find Bai Wu to play.

Lu Xiaodeng, carrying her cauldron and holding onto Lu Dan's sleeve, stood on his Reverse Emotion Sword and flew to Luxing City. Going out with a Foundation Establishment cultivator had many benefits; he would pay for the crystal beans, and it was better than going alone.

On the way, Lu Dan asked curiously, "Xiaodeng, what kind of spirit weapon do you want to buy?" Lu Xiaodeng, without spirit veins and unable to cultivate, would use ordinary spirit weapons like a mortal, so buying one was just for show. The main thing was to pick a pretty one.

"I don't know, what kind of spirit weapon would go well with my cauldron?" She wasn't sure about this, as she had never heard of a spirit artifact using a spirit weapon. If it weren't for her physical body, which had reduced her cauldron from a spirit treasure to a spirit weapon, she wouldn't need one for self-defense.

"Matching the cauldron..." Lu Dan thought for a moment and joked, "How about a fan? You can use it to fan the fire when refining pills, increasing the heat."

This was just a joke, but Lu Xiaodeng's eyes widened in surprise, and she said excitedly, "Lu Dan, you are so smart to think of a fan. This is perfect for me. Let's buy a fan!"

"Alright, as long as you like it." Lu Dan was speechless but thought it was fine if she just wanted to play with it.

With him leading the way, they quickly arrived at Luxing City and headed straight to the Treasure Pavilion on East Street, which was a shop affiliated with the Cloud Sword Sect and the most luxurious and well-stocked store in the city for various spirit weapons.

Seeing that the visitors were Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Cloud Sword Sect, the shop owner immediately invited them to a private room, asked what kind of fan they wanted, and brought out all the spirit weapon fans in the store.

With over a dozen fans on the table, Lu Dan said, "Xiaodeng, which one do you like?"

Lu Xiaodeng walked over and looked around, but none of them caught her eye. She picked up a relatively sturdy Cloud Iron Fan, "I'll take this one. It looks fire-resistant and very sturdy."

This was just a low-grade spirit weapon, and Lu Dan had intended to give her a high-grade one, but she refused when he pointed it out. Lu Xiaodeng thought the high-grade fan's paper surface was useless since she couldn't use spiritual energy.

Lu Dan knew that if she used the Cloud Iron Fan to hit a stone, the stone would break, not the fan.

Seeing that she insisted on the Cloud Iron Fan, Lu Dan had no choice but to buy it. Thinking about how Lu Yaohang would mock him for being stingy when they returned to the sect, he felt a bit frustrated.

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**End of Chapter**