Chapter 104: Chapter Seven: Healing the Sword

Pei Ye stared at this magnificent yet brutal scene, unable to resist slowly extending his hand—only snapping back to himself as his fingers neared the blade, realizing how abrupt his motion had been.

He retracted his hand and said, “Sorry…”

Ming Qitian gently pushed the sword forward: “I specifically asked you to look at it.”

Pei Ye paused, then took the legendary sword—it felt warm and smooth as jade in his grasp.

“Ask me? Oh, you mean these dragon bloods?”

Ming Qitian nodded: “Can you… eat them like that?”

“I’ll try.”

Pei Ye brushed his fingers along the blade; the deep blue within indeed stirred his urge to consume—but the desire was faint, nowhere near as intense as when he’d faced the dragon’s corpse.

Like a wolf spotting meat, only to find it dried out upon closer inspection.

Its essence was still dragon blood, but now it had frozen, then been forged into iron, and finally cast by the Immortal Lord into a sharp, unyielding weapon.

Even a beast that loves meat would rather chew flesh than gnaw on bones.

Pei Ye found a trailing end, pressed his fingertip against it, and began to draw in the energy.

“Be careful—they still have the capacity to harm,” Ming Qitian said, ready to intervene at any moment.

Yet the dragon blood clung tightly; after half a quarter-hour of effort, only two tiny shards broke free from the main mass, slowly drifting toward his finger within the blade.

Ming Qitian flicked her finger—a slender thread of white true qi coiled around Pei Ye’s fingertip, poised to assist.

The two shards, like tadpoles, drew nearer until they finally emerged from the blade and pressed against his fingertip. Pei Ye felt a sudden chill and sting—his hand snapped back from the sword.

The coiled white true qi darted into his finger like a swallow snatching an insect.

“No, no need,” Pei Ye raised his hand. “It has no desire to harm me.”

The two ice shards entered his body, then dissolved rapidly, becoming a thin thread of dragon blood that flowed into his dantian, and moments later emerged as pure true qi, merging into his meridian stream.

They still retained their capacity to harm—they still relentlessly gnawed at this legendary sword—but now they acted only on instinct.

With the Immortal Lord dead, they had lost their sentience; their final command was simply to destroy this sword.

They were now a pack of snakes locked onto Zhanxin Liuli, refusing to let go—Pei Ye pulled them by their tails, forcing them out; though they still had the power to turn and bite him, they lacked the awareness to do so—mouths already torn from the blade, they still strained forward, fangs bared and tongues lashing.

Pei Ye easily unraveled them from their tails.

“It can be done,” Pei Ye mused, frowning slightly. “But it’s too slow. At this rate, I won’t clear even one percent today.”

“No matter—we can take our time.”

“But aren’t you leaving tonight?”

“I’m leaving it with you.”

“Huh?” Pei Ye glanced at the long sword in his hand, then looked up. “You’re going to ask the sword without it?”

“I have other swords. Besides, asking the sword never relies on Liuli’s power.”

“Oh.” Pei Ye remembered how, on their first meeting, the woman had said she could give him a sword.

“I’m counting on you during this time,” Ming Qitian said. “Liuli has great spirit—it’s in great pain now. Sometimes… you may need to soothe it.”

“What?” Pei Ye widened his eyes, certain he’d misheard. “Soothe?”

“Yes.” Ming Qitian placed two fingers on the red plum within the blade and tapped it with a slow, irregular rhythm. “It likes this. You can speak to it too—but if it’s too complex, it won’t understand.”

“Oh.” Pei Ye tried mimicking the woman’s motion, tapping with his fingers.

“You don’t have to stick to this exact motion—any gentle, moderate stimulation pleases it.”

Pei Ye nodded, deeply intrigued.

“Then that’s settled?” Ming Qitian glanced at the sky. “During this time, you must continue advancing in sword realm and study the ‘Overview’ diligently. When I return, I’ll teach you further based on your progress—I hope to help you enter the ‘Spirit’ realm before we reach the Divine Capital.”

“Alright. Are you leaving now?”

Ming Qitian nodded: “Is there anything else?”

Pei Ye thought a moment: “I think not. Then, may your quest for the sword go well.”

“And may your martial contest shine,” Ming Qitian gave a light nod.

With that, the woman rose like a celestial crane from the courtyard. The sunset blazed, half the sky dyed brilliant gold; her white robe drifted like clouds, folding into a single speck of white jade against the golden river of the horizon.

Pei Ye lowered his gaze to the legendary sword in his hand.

This sword, sought by all under heaven as the most divine and sentient of weapons, now rested in his grasp—and he felt it unreal.

At the same time, he felt a pang of regret—why did this sword have to be Zhanxin Liuli?

Not that it wasn’t powerful—in fact, its ability to sever consciousness and plunge the wielder directly into the opponent’s mind was rare among legendary swords. But Pei Ye preferred those with visible powers—fire, water, wind, thunder—something you could see, something that made the five elements bow at your command, how majestic!

Though he didn’t know the names or abilities of other legendary swords, he guessed there must be some more… “ordinary” ones.

Mainly ones he could use right now.

He tilted his head, studying the translucent, strange blade, then suddenly brought it down with force and shouted: “Zhanxin!”

Nothing happened.

Pei Ye lowered the sword before his eyes and chuckled foolishly.

Still, it felt kind of majestic.

He glanced around, searching for a sparrow to test it on.

Then he felt the sword tremble in his hand.

Pei Ye looked down—it wasn’t an illusion; the sword jerked again, struggling to escape his grip. Its wounded, weakened state only made its desperate flight more poignant—he felt like a kidnapper holding a virtuous maiden.

He loosened his grip slightly—the sword shot free at once.

Then it hovered in midair, pivoting twice as if searching, before suddenly halting and plunging straight down into the well.

Pei Ye’s heart nearly stopped—he thought the sword entrusted to him had vanished. He dashed forward two steps at once—only for the sword to burst out again moments later, like a streak of light, leaving behind a shimmering trail of droplets like a chain of pearls.

It hovered in midair, shuddered once, and shook off a spray of water.

Pei Ye stared at it, baffled—and it remained suspended, motionless.

Pei Ye cautiously took a step forward, reached out—immediately, the sword retreated a few inches.

“.”

A strange thought suddenly struck Pei Ye—could it be… disgusted by him?

He took another step forward—the sword instantly pulled back again.

“.”

Fine.

So it had just gone into the well to bathe.

Pei Ye took a deep breath and spoke gently: “If you won’t come down, how can I treat you?”

Zhanxin Liuli spun twice, clearly resolved to die rather than let him touch it again.

“I was just fooling around before—I’m not usually that stupid,” Pei Ye tried to reason.

Zhanxin Liuli simply turned and flew straight toward the county magistrate’s office.

Thank you to Boss Wu Jing Xiao Li for the gift! Thank you to Boss Shang Chunqiu for the gift! Thank you to Boss Yan Yi You for the gift! Thank you to Boss Seal the Seal for the gift! And to many other bosses—thank you for your recognition.

(End of Chapter)