Chapter 14: Nine Dragon Sword Case

Sitting quietly inside the room, Zhang Nuo opened his eyes gently. Having cultivated for four hours just now, he felt the Spiritual Qi within his body was much more abundant, yet there was still a large gap before breaking through to the Fourth Layer of the Qi Refining Stage.

There were five years left until the Chief Disciple Assembly. Within these five years, if he cultivated at this speed, it was absolutely impossible for Zhang Nuo to enter the Sixth Layer.

"Junior Martial Brother! Master has something to call you for!"

Outside the stone door, a soft and beautiful voice rang out. Hearing that voice, Zhang Nuo knew it was his Third Senior Martial Sister, Ye Linger.

"I know!"

Jumping down from the stone bed, Zhang Nuo arrived at the door in a few steps. Opening the door, he saw Ye Linger standing with her hands behind her back, looking at him with a smile on her face. In the few years that had passed, Ye Linger had grown up to be very elegant. The saying "a girl changes eighteen times before she grows up" was not wrong at all, especially for those who cultivated the Dao; their appearance aged much slower than that of mortals. Now, Ye Linger still looked like a young girl of seventeen or eighteen.

"Hurry and go! Master is waiting for you!"

"En!"

Ye Linger gave a sweet smile, which instantly made Zhang Nuo's face turn completely red. He gave a casual reply, turned around, and ran off as if flying. Perhaps because he rarely interacted with women, Zhang Nuo found it very hard to resist this Senior Martial Sister's smile.

Arriving in the main hall of the Cave Abode, he saw Lin Fan was still the same as always, holding a wine gourd in one hand and resting his chin on the other, not knowing what he was thinking about.

"Master! You called for your disciple, is there something the matter?"

Zhang Nuo's words seemed to startle Lin Fan from a dream. He raised his head, looked at this little disciple, stood up and waved at him, then walked straight toward a Stone Chamber.

Lin Fan's Cave Abode was very spacious, with dozens of Stone Chambers. However, apart from the Stone Chambers where the disciples lived, the other Stone Chambers were all protected by Restrictions and could not be entered under normal circumstances, so this was the first time Zhang Nuo had been taken to another Stone Chamber by Lin Fan.

The master and disciple stopped at the entrance of a Stone Chamber. Lin Fan lightly traced his right hand over the stone door. Immediately, a streak of green light flowed from his fingertips and vanished into the stone door in the blink of an eye. The stone door moved slightly, but after that, there was no further reaction.

Before Zhang Nuo could figure out what was going on, Lin Fan pushed the stone door and walked into the Stone Chamber. After hesitating outside for a moment, Zhang Nuo followed him in.

As soon as he walked into the Stone Chamber, Zhang Nuo felt rays of light shooting everywhere; the countless dazzling rays made it so he could barely open his eyes! Steadying himself, he rubbed his eyes hard with both hands and examined the Stone Chamber again.

He saw many Magic Treasures floating in mid-air inside the Stone Chamber. Most of these Magic Treasures were Flying Swords, but there were also many other things, such as long spears, short blades, and flying forks, with several of each type of Magic Treasure.

"This is...?"

Zhang Nuo's eyes were almost fixed in place. This was the first time in his life he had seen so many Magic Treasures, and for a moment, everything he looked at seemed fresh.

"This is my Magic Treasure room. Originally, I would only bring you in to choose a Magic Treasure once you reached the Sixth Layer of the Qi Refining Stage. But because you are very special, if I waited until you reached the Sixth Layer, I am afraid you would not have time to get accustomed to the Magic Treasure, so I let you come and choose early!"

Hearing these words from Lin Fan, Zhang Nuo was first startled, and then a warm current rose in his heart. This master appeared to be drunk more often than sober, yet at critical moments, he thought of everything very thoroughly.

"Hurry up and choose! The Magic Treasures here were all snatched by me from others, and the Evil Qi on them is very heavy. With your level of cultivation, your body will not be able to stand it if you stay here for too long!"

Hearing his master's urging, Zhang Nuo gave a soft grunt, then his gaze swept across the Stone Chamber. This Divine Sword Sect, as the name suggested, was mainly focused on swords. However, Lin Fan's lineage was very special; he did not force his disciples to use sword-type Magic Treasures. As long as the disciple liked it, they could use any Magic Treasure.

After Zhang Nuo's eyes passed over the numerous Magic Treasures, he always felt somewhat dissatisfied. Suddenly, his gaze fell into a corner of the Stone Chamber, where a rectangular box was placed.

This box was five feet long, one foot wide, and over half a foot thick. It was entirely white, and the surface was carved with many dragon-shaped patterns. It looked like it was carved from stone, yet also somewhat like it was cast from metal. Unlike the other Magic Treasures, it was not floating in mid-air at all, but was lying quietly on the ground.

He did not know why, but when Zhang Nuo's gaze fell upon this long box, the Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect in his bosom became restless, as if it were very happy.

This movement of the Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect terrified Zhang Nuo. Lin Fan was a cultivator at the Golden Core Stage; if there were even the slightest fluctuation of Linger Power, at such a close distance, he would certainly be able to sense it.

However, Lin Fan did not seem to sense the existence of the Mysterious Heaven Gold-Devouring Insect, but upon discovering that Zhang Nuo had taken a fancy to that box, his expression became somewhat unnatural.

"Master, what kind of Magic Treasure is that?"

Zhang Nuo asked, pointing at the rectangular box.

"That is the 'Nine Dragon Sword Case', a gift given to me by the previous Sect Leader of the Divine Sword Sect when I obtained the position of Chief Disciple back then!"

Blinking his eyes several times, Zhang Nuo had not expected that his master was also a Chief Disciple back in the day. But according to this logic, the current Lin Fan should have a limitless future, right? How could he be so lost in drink and dreams? He only thought about these things in his heart and did not dare to ask them out loud.