Chapter 77: The Sword Spirit Autumn Beam
Translator: Subudai11 Editor: Chrissy
The Spirit Sword Fifth Elder had never received this kind of treatment—being embraced on the thigh and being called boss—for many years. Usually, it has always been her who did this to someone else, and every time, she would be abandoned like a worn out pair of shoes.
The innumerable magical treasures, elixirs, and so on that she seized from Daoist Master Zhifeng… was indeed still in her possession. In fact, although Daoist Master Zhifeng wasn’t really that wealthy, his possession as a Yuanying Stage from a top sect in the Nine Regions could not be underestimated. However, it wasn’t that easy to sold all of them in such a short period of time like this.
Finally...
“Fine, since you’re so poor that you even lower yourself to beg me, I’ll support you. Alas, who told you to have a below average intelligence, dull perception and not good looking?”
While doing her utmost to ridicule him, the Fifth Elder took out a tiny sword from her mustard seed bag and threw it to her disciple.
“What is this?” Wang Lu tried to twist the toothpick-sized sword with his fingers.
The Master loudly sneered. “In just two months, you already forgot about this? Tsk, sparring with that pretty swordswoman for a long time has shrunk your brain, Little Wang Lu.”
Wang Lu took a careful look and, sure enough, he somewhat recognized that sword; a little while later, he exclaimed, “Damn! This, this is the little Sword of Mount Kun!?”
“If it’s not the Sword of Mount Kun, do you think it’s a toothpick?” His Master shook her head and then carefully explained, “This stuff has nothing of value to me, but you happen to have no mainstay weapon. With this, you can discard that Purple Soft Sword—mortal world’s weapon is already of no use to you—your strength has gone far above that you can’t effectively unleash your strength using them. However, regardless of what, this Sword of Mount Kun is an eighth rank spiritual treasure; based on your low cultivation level, not to mention the Emperor Sword, you’re not even worthy to pick this spiritual sword. Moreover, this time, there’s no Sect Leader’s Golden Seal that can make you unleash her full spiritual treasure power through sheer force. Thus, I’ll help you by creating seals for her. In total, there are nine seals; each subsequent seal would naturally be unlocked once you reach the required cultivation level. With your current cultivation level, you still can’t open the first layer of the seal. Even so, there’s no harm to you in using her; after all, spiritual treasure is spiritual treasure. The material is far from any usual magical treasure can compare, at least you won’t need to worry that playing with her would spoil her… In addition to that, there’s an important matter that you must pay attention to.”
The Master reached out her hand and recalled the Sword of Mount Kun; she softly stretched out her finger and plucked it. Afterwards, a sharp sound echoed out.
“The Sword Spirit of the Sword of Mount Kun is still there.”
Wang Lu frowned. “Which means…?”
“It means you’ve officially become the master of this sword. You must make a choice: do you want to keep this Sword Spirit or not?”
“Is there any difference?”
His Master laughed. “Of course there is. This Sword of Mount Kun wasn’t refined by Daoist Master Zhifeng himself, but by the Master Refiner in the Shengjing Sect around one thousand and two hundred years ago. Do you know what that means?”
Wang Lu thought for a moment. “This sword was designed by a waste with old-fashioned ideas?”
Buzz!
That toothpick-sized sword suddenly shook, seemingly expressing its strong indignation. His Master reached out to suppress that spiritual treasure’s vibration and was extremely shocked. “I thought you’re supposed to be the Spirit Sword’s top student, have you ever taken the basic course for refining?”
Wang Lu righteously exclaimed, “How could a poor place like this Non-Phase Peak be able to support me to study this refining tool class?”
“... Very well. Simply put, in the Immortal Cultivation World, there is an unwritten rule. The greater the age of the spiritual treasure, the higher the value. For example, this Sword of Mount Kun is a millennium old spiritual treasure; although it’s only an eighth rank spiritual treasure, its real value is far higher than a younger similar rank spiritual treasure. That idiot Zhifeng’s cultivation is not enough, and his heart’s dao is shallow, thus, he was barely able to display the power of the seventh rank. It should actually be far more than that; do you know why?”
Knowing that he has never taken a refining course, Wang Lu honestly answered, “I don’t know.”
“Hm, actually, the key point here is the Sword Spirit. The more ancient the Sword Spirit is, the more abundant its experience will be. And this thing called experience is, many times, priceless. A Sword Spirit that has gone through a lot of experience can be far more helpful to its master than a newly created Sword Spirit, em, in simple terms…”
Wang Lu laughed. “I understand, it’s like taking a grandfather with you.”
“Yes, that’s so true. A Sword Spirit could display all sorts of wondrous use beyond just fighting… If the owners of a spiritual treasure always bring the spiritual treasure with him or her, then surely, all the things that happened to the owner would be remembered by the Sword Spirit; the longer this happen, the more knowledge it could gather. So, if you encounter problems, you can consult the Sword Spirit and use it as your semi-teacher; isn’t that convenient?”
After that, Wang Wu changed the thread of the conversation. “But on the other hand, this advantage has its shortcoming. The more powerful the Sword Spirit is, the higher its level of independence is. Especially this Sword of Mount Kun, which has existed for more than a thousand years; a common Jindan cultivator may not necessarily be able to suppress it… not to mention you, a ‘baby’ cultivator. Even though I have put nine layers of seal on it, which would be of no danger to you in theory, but the true extent of what a one thousand and two hundred years old Sword Spirit can do is anyone’s guess.”
“Therefore, I give you an opportunity to choose; do you want this Sword Spirit to stay or not? If you choose not, then I will request my Senior Brother to wash away this Sword Spirit’s one thousand and two hundred years of memory and she will obediently recognize you as her master. Although she could no longer display various amazing things from her one thousand and two hundred years of memory, but at least, whatever happens, she would remain stable and dependable, if you left her intact…”
Wang Lu bluntly interrupted her, “Of course I want her to stay, is there a need to be hesitant about this?”
His Master smiled. “You’re quite decisive.”
“Humph, if even that retard Zhifeng left her intact, why would I need to bother to destroy this fool of treasure? So what if she’s one thousand and two hundred years old? She’s just a mere Sword Spirit; if I teach her how to behave, won’t she behave?”
Buzz! The Sword of Mount Kun violently trembled; obviously its anger has gone through the roof.
His Master thought for a moment. “To be honest, after that several words of yours, I think you might as well wash away her memory…”
——
Wang Lu eventually did not wash away the Sword of Mount Kun’s Sword Spirit, Autumn Beam’s, memory.
He had an extraordinary confidence in training the Sword Spirit. In his words, if he could even excel in solving the great challenge in the Peach Blossom Village, what’s a mere eight rank Sword Spirit?
However, when Wang Lu and Sword Spirit Autumn Beam met for the first time, things didn’t go well.
With the help of his Master, Wang Lu activated his Internal Inspection Method and extended out his Primordial Spirit’s perception from his Inner Mansion until it touched the nine embroidered seals of the toothpick-sized Sword of Mount Kun.
The interior of this eighth rank spiritual treasure was really extraordinary. A layer of luxuriant cloud covered the greater part of the field of view. Nevertheless, the line of sight reached the undulating mountain range, and in the middle of it, an apricot color dressed girl was quietly waiting for Wang Lu.
She was the Sword Spirit, Autumn Beam.
This was the first time Wang Lu came into contact with a Sword Spirit. From her face, the woman looked about twenties; she was elegant and refined, yet she has an indifferent as ice look. She stood on a stone platform without moving a muscle, as if she had already been merged with it; motionless for a thousand years.
“Em, hello?”
The woman’s eyes were closed, paying him no attention.
Wang Lu became depressed. “A millennium years old bastard has finally met the end. Lady, are you dead?”
And then the woman’s eyes opened up wide; although she didn’t say any words, her eyes revealed her unhappiness.
Then without waiting for him to speak, his Master’s Primordial Spirit quietly floated over and viciously admonished him.
“You idiot! You’re actually able to turn a magnanimous and tolerant earthly-typed Sword Spirit into this icy cold look, you really are something!”
Seeing Wang Wu had also come, Autumn Beam finally said something, “You guys need not worry about anything. In my entire life, I have followed more than ten masters, and never once have I rebelled.”
Wang Wu went silent for a moment. “Even if you follow this unreliable master?”
Autumn Beam answered her, “Indeed, I have never met such a master… but this is a novel experience, so I am looking forward to what kind of experience he can bring me.”
Although she said those words, never once did she deign to cast a glance at Wang Lu.
As she said, the Sword of Mount Kun had been in the hands of too many masters in this one thousand and two hundred years—one of them was even a depraved great devil! Due to her indifferent nature, Autumn Beam always treated each of her master with the necessary loyalty, but it didn’t mean she didn’t have her own ideas.
A grand eighth rank spiritual treasure was actually handed down to a low-level Qi Cultivating novice. No matter how indifferent Autumn Beam was, her heart was still somewhat indignant. Not only her new master apparently has a vile character, but his mouth was also extremely bad; he was really unpleasant!
——
After being bestowed the Sword of Mount Kun, Wang Lu didn’t ask for anything else.
Of course, that was because he knew when to stop while he was still ahead. A poor ghost like his Master was able to be generous and able to grant him hundred of thousands of spirit stones—and now, she was apparently willing to give him an even more valuable Sword of Mount Kun; she was simply a person with the best conscience in the world! In the future, he would still count her to continue to be generous… hahaha!
With the Sword of Mount Kun in hand, until the next month, Wang Lu would be busy.
Busy practicing his swordsmanship.
For an eighth level Qi Cultivating Stage cultivator, an eighth rank spiritual treasure, even if it had nine layers of seal, was still too heavy. Even under the guidance of his Master, he almost abandoned all of his spell training to focus on mastering the way of the sword, so that in the future, he could excel in one sword break all the moves. But now, the Sword of Mount Kun was still too imbalanced for him, which made it difficult for him to focus.
The third level of Non-Phase Sword Art was an otherworldly top sword art in the mortal world, yet this millennium old Sword Spirit Autumn Beam was quite cruel to him; she simply could not tolerate the flaws upon flaws in Wang Lu’s swordsmanship. Therefore, when Wang Lu was showing his sword move, Autumn Beam would often subconsciously correct his movements.
This made Wang Lu feel very uncomfortable. “I am training my own sword art, what has this got to do with you? Your sword art is brilliant, but it’s different from my Non-Phase Sword Art, so I don’t need your corrections! As a Sword Spirit, you should realize your place and just be a good spectator!”
Upon hearing this reprove, Autumn Beam trembled in anger. “Fine, since you’re so confident, why don’t you hold the sword with your own strength!”
After that, Autumn Beam no longer talked to him. This, of course, didn’t matter to him. The most troublesome problem was… as soon as Autumn Beam’s voice disappeared, the Sword of Mount Kun suddenly became extremely heavy. After exclaiming “what the hell!”, Wang Lu dropped the Sword of Mount Kun, which nearly dislocated his wrist!
When he went back to consult his Master, he was told that for a spiritual treasure, the communication between the owner of the sword and the Sword Spirit was extremely important. The most important factor that influenced the level at which one could unleash the power of the spiritual treasure was the synchronization rate between the cultivator and the Sword Spirit. Daoist Master Zhifeng was quite kind to Autumn Beam, but he was limited by his perception, heart’s dao, and other factors. Thus, their synchronization rate was only eighty percent max. And by relying on other means, he was barely able to push the output to that of a seventh rank spiritual treasure. Wang Lu’s situation was way worse. Not only did he fail to have a good relationship with Autumn Beam, their synchronization rate was actually negative too! The fact that the Sword of Mount Kun didn’t fight back its master was the proof of Autumn Beam’s kindness.
In order to solve this problem, Wang Lu didn’t try to quarrel with Autumn Beam, instead, in a whole month, he only did one thing: practice his swordsmanship.
How to practice? Of course, to find someone else to help him train! Find who? Of course, it was Aya!
A while ago, the chef of the Misty Peak Cafeteria was incited by someone into thinking about the sword art. Nowadays, her mind was only filled with sword moves that she partially neglected her dish—her damned signature Western food, the look up at the starry sky, only has fishbones remaining on the fish!
Thus, the Misty Peak visitors became even more scarce. Besides practicing sword moves with Wang Lu, Aya has basically nothing to do.
At first, Aya was taken aback; how could in just a few days, this genius youngster had suddenly turned much weaker now! Was her “look up at the starry sky” really has no nutritional value!? Afterward, when she queried about the truth, she commended his choice.
If one has the determination to have a significant progress in the swordsmanship, one has to overcome the obstacles and break through hardships along the way. Thus, Wang Lu tied burdens on his wrists whenever he practiced his sword moves. This might seem foolish, but just like how a distant runner would strap sandbags on the legs to practice long distance running, it might also double the fatigue, but the effect of the practice would be better.
Thus, a month flew past. During this month, Wang Lu cultivated his Non-Phase Sword Art and Non-Phase Sword Bone. Although he didn’t break through any level or layer, but his current level gradually stabilized and had a little improvement in terms attributes. However, most of his energy was spent on practicing swordsmanship with Aya. Therefore, the part that progressed the most was his swordsmanship.
According to his Master, he was still on the third level, however, there was a difference between “third level” and third level. A month before, his third level of Non-Phase Sword Art was just a mortal world’s sword art. After a month, although his sword move was yet able to produce sword qi, nor cover up the sky with the curtain of sword light, nevertheless, his swordsmanship had actually attained a higher realm, and now has the qualification to be called an Immortal Sword Art.
Because, besides his third level of Non-Phase Sword Art, he also got the help from the Sword of Mount Kun. In other words, Autumn Beam had gone out from her hiding.
Although this millennium old Sword Spirit still didn’t like her new master Wang Lu, but after a month of careful observation, Autumn Beam had to admit that Wang Lu was really a great swordsman. Although his preliminary form of sword art still has countless flaws, as the basic foundation and framework, it was good enough.
Thus, after some discretion, Autumn Beam gradually began to coordinate with Wang Lu. Although the synchronization rate between the two were still so low that one could not bear to take a look, and even though this spiritual treasure also carried nine layers of seal, but that was because Wang Lu’s cultivation level was still insufficient. However, in the course of a real battle, the defensive ability of Wang Lu’s Three Feet Sword Defense had been enhanced by several times. With Aya’s superb swordsmanship, under the premise of maintaining the same amount of exertion, she needed one hundred moves before she could break through his defense.
Finally, the experiential learning for the new recruits had officially begun.