Chapter 82

And the first encounter with the protagonist wasn't very deep; Zhou Shuo felt somewhat bemused. To be honest, he still wanted to get close to Hong Yi, perhaps exchange the past Amitabha Sutra, but he didn't expect the other's attitude to be so cautious, with no intention to say more, and he left after his own words, while Chan Yinsha also seemed too lazy to bother with him.

Although they hadn't become acquainted with the protagonist on their first meeting, Zhou Shuo's purpose in going to sea with Chan Yinsha this time was fully achieved—Chan Yinsha obtained the Primordial Female Heaven Pearl as she wished, and she also gained a certain degree of trust in him. When they returned to Shenfeng State, they no longer rode sharks but instead used mutual soul energy to lift each other's bodies and flew straight back to Taoshen Harbor.

After returning to Taoshen Harbor, Chan Yinsha immediately took the Primordial Female Heaven Pearl back to the Chuyun State firm: first to use the pearl to boost her cultivation, second to gather news about Yunmeng and Da Qian so as to decide when to seize the Qiankun Pouch; as for Zhou Shuo, he also returned to Ru Ting Residence to make some preparations.

Compared to Chan Yinsha, who needs both to raise her cultivation and gather information, Zhou Shuo's preparations are much simpler—he only needs to boost his combat power. His own cultivation has already reached its limit, his techniques are mastered, and there's little room for improvement in his 'software,' so he will upgrade his 'hardware' equipment.

Speaking of equipment, what Zhou Shuo first wants is a flying sword—riding the sword on the wind to exterminate demons between heaven and earth, which was his childhood aspiration; and he now also meets the requirements for forging a flying sword.

Both the Yangshen World and the Yi Ren World speak of flying swords. In the Yangshen World, a flying sword is an object controlled by thought; the materials that can hold thought, besides fragile wood and stone, are rare blood-pattern steel and heavenly treasures—things ordinary people may encounter but cannot obtain. In the Yi Ren World, a flying sword is the product of artifact technique: specific materials are infused with true qi to nurture and refine it, allowing both control and use as an amplifier.

Zhou Shuo combined the two worlds: in the Yangshen World, heavenly treasures are hard to come by, and blood-pattern steel is difficult to temper; in the Yi Ren World, it's similar—nurturing an artifact takes too long—but fortunately he still has the Qin Era World.

When in the Qin Era World, Zhou Shuo allied with the Seven Absolutes Hall and Flowing Sand, using their channels to harvest a large amount of rare resources, among which was mystic-crystal strange iron; moreover, the Qin Era World has a method for refining the essence of metals. Zhou Shuo once thought that alloy could replace blood-pattern steel, capable of holding a person's thought, but later it proved ineffective—yet that material can still hold true qi.

From his stores in the Qin Era World, Zhou Shuo took some metal essence and mystic-crystal strange iron, then, following the method in the Fangxian Classic and modern physics knowledge, forged them into a sword; at this point the sword is still an embryo, and it must be nurtured and refined using the Yi Ren artifact method, infusing true qi and thought.

Because the hardware materials were excellent and his knowledge complete, Zhou Shuo's efficiency in forging a flying sword was high. After the three-foot-long sword left the furnace, in less than four or five days it could resonate with him—not only could it fly at his thought, but with Zhou Shuo's sudden inspiration, using a special method, he not only brought the sword to the 'transformation of things' stage, but also gave the blade a certain spirituality, enabling it to sense others' malice and warn its master; this indicates the sword has entered a higher tier of treasure.

In the Yi Ren World there are the concepts of nurturing objects, transforming objects, and refining artifacts. Nurturing an object means using qi to nourish and control it; transforming an object goes further, turning the nurtured item into a tool that enhances oneself; and finally, refining an artifact means cultivating the nurtured object to produce an independent extraordinary ability—such an item that gives birth to an independent ability is a treasure.

'Refining.' Zhou Shuo sat in the courtyard, holding the three-foot cold light in his hand, placing the gleaming sword blade against the palm of his other hand, feeling the sword's inwardly gathered sharpness, pondering the key points of artifact refinement.

Nurturing and transforming matter depend on cultivation, while refining artifacts hinges on sacrificial refinement; it cannot be mere thought infusion. The reason his forged flying sword possesses spirituality is that he considered the unity of body and spirit of a martial artist, using the method from the Treasury of Heaven to refine the innate one qi, altering the sword's qi so that sword qi remains constant and, like the seven corporeal corpse dogs within one's body, automatically reacts upon sensing malice.

'Hn!' Zhou Shuo was pondering the points of artifact refinement when he suddenly lifted his head and looked toward Fu Bo walking in.

'Young Master Shuo, outside there's a Chan, Miss Chan Yinsha.' Fu Bo carefully sized up Zhou Shuo; the past two days, this master of the house had said he wanted to find Princess Chan Yinsha of Chuyun State, and Fu Bo had even offered some ideas, but seeing no movement, he'd thought the matter was dropped—yet today a woman claiming to be Chan Yinsha actually showed up at the door.

'Oh, please come in, don't look at me like that—she's the one I mentioned to you, be careful.' Zhou Shuo looked at the cautious old man, nodded, then recalled something and blurted out a reminder; his intention was to tell Fu Bo not to neglect Chan Yinsha, but to the old man's ears it sounded like something entirely different.

'Yes, yes, yes.' Fu Bo, hearing Zhou Shuo's words, nodded and bowed to go invite the outside guest in; he too was practiced in reading looks. Although he saw only a solitary person outside, the other's bearing was extraordinary, and he never had the thought to slight them—if he truly wanted to slight them he wouldn't have come to report—but Zhou Shuo's words reaching his ears inevitably carried another meaning.

The Yao sisters had never publicly announced their relationship with Zhou Shuo, but the servants in Ru Ting Residence could see the subtleties, Fu Bo even more so; and today, with Chan Yinsha suddenly appearing, he couldn't help suspecting that this master had stirred up romantic affairs outside, and he told himself not to gossip loosely.

'This really is a difficult matter, ah, I'd better pretend not to see!' Fu Bo thought of the two former mistresses, the male master who had just reminded him, and the person now waiting in the parlor; he felt a headache coming on, and as he approached the parlor he made up his mind: these people are ones he cannot afford to offend, or should he just play blind?

Everyone's life is different; Zhou Shuo didn't know Fu Bo's inner thoughts, nor did he want to, merely playing with the three-foot-long sword in his hand, waiting for Fu Bo to bring Chan Yinsha over.

'You're really leisurely, huh, this sword…' Chan Yinsha followed the old steward into the courtyard, looking at the fellow holding the long sword, and couldn't help rolling her eyes, but before she could finish speaking, she was startled to see the long sword in Zhou Shuo's hand emitting light.

'My new work, have a look.' Zhou Shuo watched Chan Yinsha's expression shift from slight annoyance to surprise, turned the long sword in his hand, and offered the hilt to her.

'This sword, a good sword, this isn't blood-pattern steel…' Chan Yinsha gripped the long sword in her hand, feeling a slight surprise; she could sense that the sword's material could hold a person's thought, yet it was not blood-pattern steel.

'Fu Bo, please don't let anyone disturb me.' Zhou Shuo smiled and nodded, meanwhile glancing at the old steward attending nearby.

'Yes.' Fu Bo lowered his gaze slightly, retreated, and drove away all the surrounding servants.

'It's not blood-pattern steel; I forged it from some materials I could obtain—how is it?' Zhou Shuo sent the old steward away, looked over at Chan Yinsha, having only ever handled top-grade pattern steel and never the legendary blood-pattern steel, he didn't know what level the quality of his long sword reached.

'A fine sword; this blade is not inferior to the Fangxian Dao's Cinnabar Cauldron Sword and Primordial Yang Sword. With this sword, we have enough to deal with Bi Shi Hua and break his Doomsday Cloak.' Chan Yinsha ran her fingers over the blade, somewhat reluctant to let go, giving her appraisal, and delighted at the increase in combat power, making the goal easier to achieve.

'Mm, with your words I can relax.' Zhou Shuo, hearing Chan Yinsha's words, involuntarily set his mind at ease; having put in the effort, if he'd produced a useless piece, nobody would be happy.

'How did you obtain these materials? In the world, the finest flying sword materials aside from fragile divine wood and stone are blood-pattern steel, but blood-pattern steel is extremely hard to forge, requiring the fresh blood of a martial artist whose body and spirit are united; in the world only the Fangxian Dao's Cinnabar Cauldron Sword and Primordial Yang Sword are blood-pattern steel flying swords…' Chan Yinsha fondled the treasure sword in her hand, somewhat reluctant to let go, looking hopefully at Zhou Shuo, wondering if there were more of these materials.

'There's still plenty of material left; I'll forge one for you, enough.' Zhou Shuo saw Chan Yinsha's hopeful gaze and naturally wouldn't disappoint her.

'Give it to me?' Chan Yinsha's eyes lit up.

'Mm.' Zhou Shuo chuckled as he looked at the world-renowned demon immortal nodding; this wasn't some scarce precious item, so for a friend he naturally ought to be generous.

'That's really great, thank you so much—oh, right, I came this time to deliver you medicinal pellets; the Primordial Female Heaven Pearl is something we obtained together…' Seeing Zhou Shuo agree, Chan Yinsha couldn't help feeling delighted, but then recalling why she'd come made her a little embarrassed; she had originally come to deliver pellets refined from the Primordial Female Heaven Pearl, yet after suddenly receiving Zhou Shuo's big gift, sending over those pellets seemed a bit petty and nitpicky.

'And the pellets?' Zhou Shuo looked at the girl, half-speaking and a bit embarrassed, and couldn't help chuckling; 'Mm, suddenly I feel a bit like a tall, rich, handsome guy.'

'Here's what I'll do: I'll give you six million taels of silver, plus a few manors; if you're willing to come to our Chuyun State, I'll guarantee you a generalship, uh, and more…' Chan Yinsha produced the medicinal pellets she'd brought, feeling a bit embarrassed, then felt around for what else she could offer.

'What…?' Zhou Shuo watched Chan Yinsha feeling around for valuables, and involuntarily opened his mouth slightly; the feeling of being a tall, rich, handsome guy seemed to vanish in an instant.

'What?' Chan Yinsha looked at Zhou Shuo's expression and involuntarily blinked her eyes.

'Nothing, just wondering how your scouting went—any movements from Yunmeng and Da Qian?' Zhou Shuo looked at the blinking girl, closed his mouth, and asked about the situation in Yunmeng and Da Qian, then, to plan the next step, considered when to seize the Qiankun Pouch.