Chapter 156: 150 Joy and Gold

Ai Xin gave a start, stood up abruptly, his eyes gleaming with a fierce light, and shouted, "How do you know!" As he spoke, a vast expanse of golden light faintly appeared behind him, seemingly in the shape of a gold ingot, but the next moment, the gold dissolved, and the gold ingot transformed into countless specks of golden dust, as if innumerable golden gnats were flying in chaos.

The Sword Smith said, "I am a Sword Smith, so naturally I know. The Sword Intent is joy, and the Sword Image is a gold ingot. Therefore, your sword is called—"

Ai Xin swallowed a mouthful of saliva and said, "Treasure Gathering Sword. When I obtained this sword, I wanted to gather the wealth of the world."

At this moment, he already believed to some extent that this Sword Smith was truly this miraculous, knowing the Sword Intent and Sword Image just by taking a single look. Things he himself could not do were not necessarily impossible for a master in this world.

The Sword Smith, truly high-level.

One must know that even his Big Brother could not accurately know his own Sword Intent; the Sword Smith was even superior to the General Chief of Baixiong Mountain in this regard.

The Sword Smith released his sword blade, leaned his body slightly, propped his cheek with his hand, and with a relaxed demeanor, said, "Very good, as long as you are willing to talk, that is fine. Relax. Since I have come, it is to solve your problem. If you are even evasive about the problem, how can you untie this dead knot?"

That Ai Xin stared at this overly young face and also gradually relaxed; the red tide in his eyes faded slightly. Thinking carefully, he had sought out the most expensive Sword Smith, whose reputation was undeniably high, and the performance of this young Sword Smith just now was undeniably divine. Looking at this calm and composed bearing, plus the man's own skills, he could consider himself saved.

The Sword Smith explained slowly, "Problems appearing between a Sword Guest and their sword are mostly because the Sword Guest has developed a problem. Because a Sword Guest is a person, and people are always fickle. The Sword Guest the sword originally chose is not necessarily the Sword Guest who grew up later. But there are also times when the hidden danger existed from the beginning, and the rupture was bound to happen. What was your compatibility with this sword at the beginning?"

Ai Xin said, "Eighty percent."

The Sword Smith showed a slight look of surprise and said, "That is not low. Were you a person full of joy at that time?"

Ai Xin said, "I was not—I was just a small fry at that time, understanding nothing. Whatever Big Brother said, I listened. At that time, Big Brother obtained that sword and gathered everyone together, saying that everyone should try it; whoever could pick it up would be given fifty taels of gold."

The Sword Smith nodded and said, "Hearing about gold at that time, you must have been very joyful." His voice was very soft and distant, as if it could lead a person into their memories.

Ai Xin closed his eyes and said, "At that time, I had never seen gold. But I knew gold and silver were good things. With gold and silver, I wouldn't go hungry, I could eat whatever I wanted, wear whatever I wanted. I could buy a big house, take a wife, have money to treat my old mother's illness, and my younger sister wouldn't have to be sold for money..."

When he said these things, his tone was very agitated, and within that agitation, there was a trace of joy.

Although this trace of joy was meager, it was very pure; one would think that at the time, he possessed far more than just this trace of joy.

The Sword Smith said, "So that is how it is; at least for you at that time, joy was gold."

Ai Xin did not answer and continued to speak to himself, "I was full of longing, went up and drew the sword, and with a *swish*, I pulled the sword out by an inch. The whole hall was shocked at the time, Big Brother laughed very heartily and immediately took out a gold ingot and threw it to me. I held the gold ingot, so golden and heavy, I had never been so happy before..."

"I took the gold ingot and bought a big house at the foot of the mountain. I had a room, my old mother had a room, my younger sister had a room, and there were several others. I also bought several acres of land; in the spring I sowed seeds, and in the autumn grain grew... That autumn, the crops on my land had a bumper harvest. I looked at the golden color of the rice, just as beautiful as a gold ingot. My heart was truly happy, and with a *clatter*, that sword sprang out. Small gold ingots appeared on the sword; that was my Sword Image. At that time, I became a true Sword Guest."

The Sword Smith said slowly, "Not bad, it only took one spring and one autumn to comprehend the sword. That peerlessly intelligent person in the world also took a year to go from a Sword Student to a Sword Guest."

Ai Xin smiled proudly and said, "Big Brother said the same; it took him three years to comprehend the sword. He said my future was limitless. Those times were truly good. I followed him walking the rivers and lakes, enjoying vengeance, taking whatever I wanted, killing whoever I didn't like with a single blade, and taking all their gold. Just as Big Brother said, living in this world, one only seeks to be happy. As long as I am in a joyful mood, my sword is invincible."

The Sword Smith's brow furrowed imperceptibly, and he said, "But you have not always been joyful."

Ai Xin said, "Yes, I don't know from when, but I wasn't that happy anymore. Before, no matter what I did, as long as I finally got the gold in my hands, I was happy, and once happy, I would comprehend an incomparably powerful Sword Art. Big Brother knew my pleasure, and every time we went out to rob, the cash went to me. My gold became more and more, but later, seeing gold didn't make me that happy anymore. I put the gold at home, piled it into a small mountain, and put it on the bed. I painted the rafters and pillars with gold lacquer and lived in a house of gold. But year after year, I became less and less able to be happy."

"It doesn't matter if I'm not happy, Big Brother also often sighs, saying he's tired, afraid, and so on, but my sword doesn't allow it. If I am not joyful, I cannot comprehend new Sword Arts, and later, many old Sword Arts could not be used either. In the end, the gold ingots cracked, the sword could not be controlled, and instead, it constantly stirred up chaos, causing me to fall into chaos and be unable to extricate myself... This damned sword!"

He suddenly shouted loudly, his body trembling, and yelled, "Why? Why is this broken sword so difficult to deal with? Only if I am joyful can I drive this sword? Others are not like this! Other people's swords are all fine, very docile, very obedient! Not a single problem! Why does only my sword have such difficult requirements? Who can be joyful all the time? Even a fool cannot be joyful all the time, right?! When I meet a strong enemy, it tells me to be joyful; when I am in a crisis, it tells me to be joyful; how can you expect me to be joyful? If I am not joyful, it keeps harming me; this is a cursed magic sword!"

He suddenly grabbed the Sword Smith and shouted loudly, "That Young Master, you come help me! You help me subdue this magic sword!"

The Sword Smith's expression was calm, and he said, "Your meaning is, you still want to return the sword?"

Ai Xin paused and said, "No... I don't want to return the sword, I want to be a Sword Guest! I want to return to how it was before, holding the sword, and the sword would listen to me. I want to be able to wield the sword naturally, release Sword Arts with ease, just like back then!"

The Sword Smith pondered slightly upon hearing this, pointed to the stool in front, and said, "Sit down."

Ai Xin was stunned for a moment and sat down involuntarily.

The Sword Smith said, "Your Sword Heart is still at the Gold and Stone Open stage, right?"

Ai Xin said "Ah?" as if he were not very familiar with the Sword Heart realm.

The Sword Smith said, "With a Sword Heart like yours, don't even consider the matter of Sword Intent. I will speak bluntly: your Sword Image collapsing has nothing to do with the Sword Intent of joy. The Sword Intent is joy, which does not mean you must be joyful at all times. The Gold and Stone Open state of mind indicates that you and the Sword Intent are only in simple communication and have not yet interacted; it only requires you to keep the Sword Image complete and the communication smooth."

Ai Xin listened, feeling confused, and stared straight at the Sword Smith.

The Sword Smith said, "Let me put it more plainly. You and the Sword Intent are two grasshoppers, with the Sword Image acting as a rope, tying you together. The problem you have now is not that the grasshopper on the other side wants to fly away, but that your rope is about to rot. That is to say, originally you could be joyful when you saw a gold ingot; the gold ingot was the bridge between you and joy. But you can no longer be joyful when you see a gold ingot, so you cannot connect to the Sword Intent. Understand?"

Ai Xin was dazed for a moment and said, "Is that so?"

The Sword Smith said, "Exactly. In the final analysis, the Sword Image you chose at the beginning was not good. That was not the Sword Image in your own heart—you thought you loved gold ingots extremely, but that was only your desire. At that time, you lacked wealth and craved money, but as soon as your desire for wealth was satisfied, you no longer loved the gold ingot itself, and it could no longer bring you joy. The so-called 'the abyss of desire is hard to fill'; you are now still craving other things, and they can still bring you joy, but your Sword Image is fixed to the gold ingot. If you don't love the gold ingot, you have no way to get close to the Sword Intent; being joyful at other times is useless."

Ai Xin was silent for a long time, then suddenly slapped his thigh and said, "So that's how it is, damn it, so that's how it is! Then what should I do? Young Master, you help me!"

Unknowingly, he had completely trusted this Sword Smith.

The Sword Smith said, "Two methods: one treats the symptoms, one treats the root cause."

Ai Xin said, "Please instruct me."

The Sword Smith said, "The method to treat the symptoms—find again your love for money. Recall how joyful you were when you first obtained the gold ingot, and then convince yourself that what you love most in your heart is the gold ingot."

Ai Xin lowered his head to think, then gritted his teeth and said, "I don't want to—I'm tired of looking at that gold! Those gold ingots are piled up, they can't be eaten or drunk. Other brothers take gold and silver out to have fun, but I have it all piled on the *kang*, using it as a stone to press the bed. They think I'm happy, but I haven't been happy for a long time. I want to spend a lot of money, I want to be romantic and have fun!"

The Sword Smith said meaningfully, "I guess that was also the case back then. Back then, when you thought of gold, you were happy, but it wasn't that you liked gold itself, but that you wanted good food and drink, to buy houses and land. It is evident that you didn't like gold more than the average person; you just concretized your desires onto gold. Then the other method—change to a different Sword Image."

Ai Xin said with a trembling voice, "Can that be done?"

The Sword Smith said, "It is just Sword Washing—we Sword Smiths can naturally do it. After the sword is washed, the Sword Image is gone, and you can just comprehend it again. What you comprehend then will have to do with your current state of mind, and nothing to do with me. It is just that Sword Washing is not cheap."

Ai Xin was overjoyed and said, "It doesn't matter if it's expensive! I haven't spent much of the money I've robbed over these years! It's all piled up in my hometown, piles and piles of gold. If you can change the Sword Image for me, take it all. It's all yours!"

The Sword Smith said, "If I take it all, and you have no gold left, you might find that what you like most is gold again. It would be a wasted effort."

Ai Xin laughed loudly and said, "That's impossible! If I want gold, I can just go out and rob; there is as much as I want. What is there to like about something that is so easily obtained?"

The Sword Smith said "Oh," and asked, "Then tell me, as of now, what can truly make you joyful?"

Ai Xin thought intently for a moment and said, "Maybe... killing?"