“What? Even Master could not control it?” asked Ling Yichen in surprise. “Master had never mentioned this to me before, though.”
“At the time, our master was very badly wounded and had almost lost his life,” shared Fu Chengyu as his expression turned serious. “Naturally, he would not tell his disciples who were unaware of the incident out of worry that they would go looking for the weapon out of curiosity and ended up in harm’s way themselves,” recounted Fu Chengyu as he recalled how miserable his master had looked back then. At that point in time, his master was barely breathing and he had only managed to hold onto his life by depending on the herbs that were given to him by others. That miserable look he wore on his face was nothing like the one worthy of an expert he had worn in the past. Fu Chengyu truly did not know exactly how scary was that divine weapon was to put his master in such a state.
“Then, Chuxi, let’s put away this treasure map first,” suggested Ling Yichen with a frown as his expression also turned serious. “For now, let’s not search for this. We’ll discuss it again in the future.”
“That’s right,” agreed Fu Chengyu with a nod. “If my deductions are correct, there is indeed a divine weapon buried where this treasure map leads. Chuxi, wait till your cultivation is strong enough first before embarking on such a quest. Keep this away safely in the meantime.”
“All right,” said Ling Chuxi with a nod as she put the treasure map away. Then she said with a sigh, “The Wen family was really quite foolish back then. What was the point of having such a precious item that nobody could truly benefit from? Just throwing away this treasure map would have been the better thing to do. They kept it hidden and tucked away safely but in the end, the family met with such a tragic ending because of it.”
“Not everyone can see things so clearly in the present as they can when it is in the past,” lamented Fu Chengyu gently with a sigh. “Although many principles are understood by many in theory, when the time comes to actually carry it out in practice, how many people are actually able to do so?” How many people had obsessions they could not let go of in their hearts? Sometimes even though they knew the result of such obsessions would be tragic, they were still unable to let go. Humans were such sad and contradictory living beings.
Hearing Fu Chengyu’s words, everyone quietened down. Ling Chuxi also went silent. One could not deny that what Fu Chengyu said was a fact. It was just that it was a fact that left one feeling helpless.
The atmosphere had become serious and depressing, therefore Xia Zhuoyi spoke up to lighten it. “Hey, in the future when all our cultivation levels are sufficient, we can go and take a look. If the map really leads to a peerless divine weapon, then it would also be quite good if Chuxi could wield it.”
“If a divine weapon really is buried there, then whoever who is able to use it should use it. I feel that my Luo Chen Sword is already good enough for me,” said Ling Chuxi satisfactorily as she patted the Luo Chen Sword by her waist with a smile.
Ling Yichen and Xia Zhuoyi both looked at Luo Chen Sword hanging by Ling Chuxi’s waist and did not say anything more. Either way, they could not tell how the sword was different from any other sword. However, since Ling Chuxi had implied it was, they very wisely chose to shut up about the matter.
Nobody had noticed. Even Ling Chuxi herself had not noticed it. When she had said that her Luo Chen Sword was good enough for her, the Luo Chen Sword shuddered ever so slightly in its sheath. It only shuddered for just an instant before it returned to its usual sedentary state.
…
The following days were spent preparing for battle. The whole academy was tied up in nerves. All the students who had signed up for the competition were cultivating desperately every single day as if they had received shots of chicken blood as the saying goes. The people on the streets of the capital had also increased in number yet again and many inns were full. What dissatisfied Ling Chuxi most about the influx of people was that the amount of people at each eatery had increased exponentially. Most of the time, the shops and stalls that sold good food had long queues in front of them.
Take for example, right now. This roasted duck shop had such a long queue in place stemming from its front shop door. Ling Chuxi was so upset at this that she was gritting her teeth. She had to wait for over an hour before it was her turn to order. Yet, when her takeaway order was ready, she saw that the roasted duck in the bag was lean and small. This made Ling Chuxi feel as though there was a whole ball of fire inside her stomach. Carrying the bag containing the disappointingly small roasted duck, Ling Chuxi returned to Fu Chengyu’s residence.
Once she turned the corner after taking this shortcut, she would reach the street where the residence was. Ling Chuxi quickened her pace. She had just turned the corner when she heard the sound of quarrelling up ahead. Moreover, the quarrelling voices seemed familiar.