Chapter 11

Indeed, it was a human figure, and from the silhouette, it seemed to be a woman. Bai Shi frowned, trying to see clearly what this figure looked like. However, strangely enough, the more he observed carefully, the less he could see. It was ethereal, appearing and disappearing, making it hard to fathom. Even so, Bai Shi could roughly discern that this figure seemed to be sleeping, with a delicate hand supporting her head. Although the image was blurry, it exuded a sense of peace...

"Could it be... this woman is the soul cultivated by a great person, the spirit of this sword?" His gaze focused on the sword, Bai Shi pondered and recalled the books he had read at Xichen Manor about sword spirits.

After a moment of thought, Bai Shi frowned and muttered, "I remember, the book said...

If it is a sword left by a great person, there must be a sword spirit within it. However, the soul within the sword leaves with the master. If the sword spirit is separated from the soul's nourishment, it will have no power.

But the sword spirit itself is very powerful, and its strength requires the nourishment of a soul. If someone awakens the sword spirit and nourishes it with their own soul, that person's strength can at least reach the level of the one who left the sword..."

As he pondered, Bai Shi seemed to have an idea. Taking two steps forward, he slowly extended his hands, trying to take down the sharp sword floating in mid-air. But just as his palm was about to touch the sword, it suddenly emitted a humming sound, releasing an invisible force that kept his hand at bay.

"Don't waste your effort... As long as you haven't developed your own soul, even if you mix your blood with the sword, you still can't take it down." Just as Bai Shi was surprised, a voice came from behind him, sending a chill down his spine. Turning around, he saw Dongchenzi standing behind him.

Embarrassed, Bai Shi retracted his hand and said stiffly, "Uncle... You, know everything?"

Dongchenzi's expression was serious as he looked at Bai Shi and nodded, saying, "I can roughly deduce... But you are very lucky to have this sword submit to you. No wonder I was puzzled yesterday, why I couldn't sense your soul. Your soul is so pure... But you must remember, this must never be known by anyone. Not to mention the Chiyan Sword, even your pure soul will attract the pursuit of many evil sword cultivators."

Seeing Dongchenzi's serious expression, Bai Shi understood the importance of the matter and nodded, then left the cave.

After leaving the cave, Dongchenzi carried two jars of wine and said to Bai Shi, "Today, you will temporarily stop practicing and return to the manor with me to meet your senior brothers and sisters..."

Bai Shi nodded and followed Dongchenzi back to Dongchen Manor.

...

Even during the day, Dongchen Manor was quite desolate. Upon arriving at the manor, Bai Shi saw three boys, about his age, sweeping the snow in the courtyard. When they saw Dongchenzi, they respectfully called him "Uncle" and then glanced at Bai Shi, before resuming their tasks.

To them, Bai Shi was just another person who had been eliminated from other manors and had come to Dongchen Manor.

Dongchenzi coughed twice, deliberately startling those sweeping the snow. He raised his voice and said, "This is Bai Shi, he will be your junior brother from now on..."

Hearing this, the three boys looked up, their eyes dull and lifeless. They glanced at Bai Shi, said "Oh," and then continued their tasks.

"Have any of you seen where Su Xuan went?" Dongchenzi continued to ask.

The disciples all said "No" without looking up.

Seeing this, Dongchenzi could only shake his head helplessly and muttered, "That Su Xuan, who knows where he's off to, enjoying himself."

After leaving the courtyard, Dongchenzi arranged a room for Bai Shi and gave him a brief tour of the manor before leaving.

After Dongchenzi left, Bai Shi stretched lazily, fell onto the bed, and soon fell asleep.

At dusk, Bai Shi woke up from his deep sleep, stretched lazily, and looked at his wrist where the golden halo had disappeared. Concentrating his mind, Bai Shi tried to bring the golden halo back under his mental control.

But reality proved everything. No matter how Bai Shi tried to control it, there was no sign of any abnormality on his wrist.

Frowning, Bai Shi mused, "Could it be... this strange phenomenon needs blood to resonate with it?"

Without much thought, Bai Shi lightly bit his fingertip, letting a drop of blood fall onto his wrist. Strangely, when the drop of blood landed on Bai Shi's wrist, it emitted a brilliant golden light!

"Indeed, it is so!" Bai Shi exclaimed, looking at the golden light. Under his gaze, the golden light gradually formed a circular halo. Within this halo, the same scene from the cave appeared again. There were strange flowers and plants, eerie bones, and even the steps to refine elixirs and some alchemical furnaces.

"Truly marvelous!" Bai Shi marveled at the scene within the golden circle. He stared intently at the images, and at one moment, he suddenly noticed that the images had stopped, as if they had come to an abrupt halt.

Frowning slightly, Bai Shi clearly remembered that the rapid images that appeared in his mind were much more numerous than what he saw now. The speed and quantity of those images made it impossible for Bai Shi to remember them all.

But he was certain that the images appearing now were only a small part of the illusions that appeared in the cave.

Wiping away the blood on his hand, the golden halo disappeared instantly. Bai Shi furrowed his brow and speculated, "Could it be... this is related to one's strength? The great person left this place, and it can only be gradually unlocked through the improvement of one's cultivation? Just like the sword spirit, although it has a physical form, to unleash its power, the most important thing is the improvement of one's own cultivation."

As he speculated, Bai Shi paced a few steps in the room. Not knowing the answer, he decided not to speculate further and said to himself, "Well... I'll follow the steps shown in the images and go into the mountains to find some herbs. After refining them, I'll wait for my strength to improve and then verify it."

With that, Bai Shi walked to the door and gently pushed it open. Bracing against the howling cold wind, he wrapped his coat tighter around himself and looked towards the Daochen Mountains, his gaze determined.

"I'll explain the specific steps to brew Maotai to Uncle Dongchen, and then I can go to the mountains to find herbs..."

Bai Shi was very clear that entering the Daochen Mountains required being prepared for any possible danger. In the Daochen Mountains, it might take a whole day to cross just one peak, and the mountains stretched endlessly, beyond the horizon.

"Snap!"

Just as Bai Shi was pondering, he suddenly felt a light sound at his neck, followed by a bone-chilling cold. He quickly grabbed his neck and found a handful of snow!

"Ha ha! You're new here, right?" As Bai Shi turned around, he saw a plump, chubby boy laughing at him.

Despite his plump and seemingly simple appearance, Bai Shi could see a lively glint in his eyes, something the other disciples lacked. Bai Shi felt a sense of familiarity, and this feeling made him not get angry when he looked at the boy.

"Right, who are you?" Bai Shi's tone was very calm.

Clapping his hands, the boy put on a superior air and slowly walked over to Bai Shi. Putting his thick arm on Bai Shi's shoulder, he said, "I'm Su Xuan, the senior brother here..."

"Oh, so you're Su Xuan." Bai Shi said, remembering that Dongchenzi had looked for this person today.

"Yes... From your words, it seems you already knew me? But that's not surprising, when someone becomes famous, it's like this. Understand, understand..."

"What do you want from me?" Bai Shi asked.

"Since you already know me, why didn't the other juniors tell you what you need to do on your first day at Dongchen Manor?" Su Xuan deliberately frowned and said.

Hearing this, Bai Shi immediately realized that Su Xuan had ill intentions. But Bai Shi still shook his head and said, "I don't know what I need to do on my first day at Dongchen Manor."

Letting go of Bai Shi's shoulder, Su Xuan said seriously, "Alright, since you don't know, I'll tell you. Of course, it's this..." Su Xuan then extended his finger and rubbed it in front of Bai Shi.

Deliberately frowning, Bai Shi smiled and said, "Oh, just say it. I thought it was something else, but you just want some protection money, right..."

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