Chapter - 7
*********************************************************************
Qingyun Sect’s peaks were far apart from one another, so naturally, it wasn’t possible to walk between them. People either flew with sword flight or rode on a celestial crane.
But up until now, Qiao Han hadn’t experienced either.
That’s why he was extremely nervous at the moment.
Looking up at the suddenly enlarged sword before him, he felt as if he were watching a scene from a xianxia drama through a screen. It was so damn thrilling.
The Ice Soul Sword shimmered with silver light, and a ghostly blue hue, resembling blood, flowed along its blade. It seemed to flicker, exuding an air of nobility.
Suppressing his excitement, Qiao Han watched Xiao Jiuci step onto the sword. He raised his foot, ready to leap onto the blade himself.
His body in the Qi Refining stage had already proven to be superhuman when he was running earlier. For someone who had been an ordinary person for over twenty years, jumping a meter from a standing position was no problem.
Qiao Han jumped high into the air, only to see his body inexplicably pass straight through the seemingly solid sword. With a resounding thud, he made intimate contact with the ground.
Luckily, the impact didn’t hurt much, considering the strength of this body—he was just stunned. Spitting out the grass from his mouth, he looked up to see Xiao Jiuci, who now appeared somewhat astonished, clearly encountering this situation for the first time.
“Is it... is it refusing to let me ride it?” Qiao Han asked.
Xiao Jiuci's eyes flickered slightly. His sword had already developed a spirit of its own, though no one else knew about this. But since it was his life-bound sword, he naturally understood it. The Ice Soul Sword, however, was still unable to communicate with him, so he had no idea what was going on—it had never acted like this before.
Not only could it carry others, but given Qiao Han’s identity, it should have been even more likely to allow him. After all, they bore the mark of their marriage contract, and the spirit sword should be able to sense that, making it more inclined toward him.
Unless there was one possibility.
A cultivator’s sword naturally repelled members of the demon or monster races and would not allow itself to be used by outsiders.
But...
Just as Qiao Han was getting up, feeling at a loss, Xiao Jiuci extended his hand toward him and said, “Try again.”
Seeing the male lead’s outstretched hand, Qiao Han felt like he was suffocating.
The male lead... holding hands with the male lead... He’s going to hold my hand!
Breathe, breathe, don’t panic! Don’t look weak!
With a stiff face, Qiao Han’s ears turned completely red. He reached out his slightly trembling hand and placed it in Xiao Jiuci’s.
He was numb... His scalp was tingling... It was like electricity shot through his entire body... This was his very first real contact with the male lead—ahhh!
Happiness reached its peak in this moment.
Can I just never wash this hand again?
Xiao Jiuci, naturally noticing Qiao Han’s unusual behavior, slightly furrowed his brows. Nevertheless, he extended his hand, pulling Qiao Han up onto the Ice Soul Sword.
After releasing his hand, he saw Qiao Han lower his gaze, seemingly lost in thought, as he slowly withdrew his hand. His body appeared unconsciously tense.
However, the Ice Soul Sword didn’t reject him again this time.
Xiao Jiuci retracted his hesitant gaze, turned around, and was just about to fly off with the sword.
“Huh? It worked!”
It seemed like someone was a little slow to react.
“There's no chance it’ll suddenly malfunction mid-flight and throw me off, right?”
As Xiao Jiuci smoothly elevated the sword, he responded, “You can hold onto my shoulder.”
“… It feels really stable. There shouldn’t be any problem. I trust the Ice Soul Sword.”
Where did this sudden unwavering confidence come from?
Xiao Jiuci raised an eyebrow, finding the person behind him increasingly difficult to understand—if he really was... human.
A thousand years ago, the cultivation world and the demon world joined forces under the pressure of the demon race to seal them within the Cangming Sea. However, traces of demonic energy still lingered in the world, luring those with unstable minds into the path of demonic cultivation. Some were enchanted by this demonic energy and turned into puppets, while others escaped the sealed area by relying solely on their spiritual consciousness and taking over ordinary people’s bodies.
In recent years, such occurrences have been rare, but whenever they did happen, the consequences were severe.
Especially in the case of body-snatching, it was difficult to detect the demonic energy. Unless someone close to the person noticed the changes, no one would think to investigate their spiritual consciousness.
Xiao Jiuci had personally eradicated such enemies before, sacrificing many cultivators in the process.
Since then, he has become very vigilant about these situations.
Of course, at this moment, he hoped he was just being overly cautious. Yet, he didn’t dare to casually ignore those suspicions.
Oh wow, we’re flying! We’re really flying! The sky above and the mountains and rivers below—it’s so cool to fly with a sword! I must quickly build my foundation; I want to control a sword too!
If it weren’t for the need to maintain his image, Qiao Han would have been dancing with excitement.
Qingyun Sect truly lived up to its reputation as a major sect, boasting thirteen peaks, with distances that stretched far beyond sight.
As they flew from Puxian Peak to Wuding Peak, they passed by two distinct mountains, one where sword qi surged dangerously close to them and another where numerous arrays of light flickered across the horizon.
Xiao Jiuci wasn’t sure if Qiao Han had ever been to these peaks, but given their status, he naturally felt obligated to introduce them.
In fact, even without the male lead saying anything, Qiao Han was quite familiar with them, as he had a thorough understanding of the original story. However, standing in the “sword” of the male lead and listening to him speak felt indescribable—wonderful!
Sword Barrier Peak: This was the peak where sword qi surged wildly, home to skilled sword cultivators. Their favorite pastime was to gather their fellow brothers to Wuding Peak for sparring sessions with the male lead and his master.
Star Picking Peak: The peak filled with the most brilliance, resembling a neon world, where cultivators specialized in formations and talismans resided. All the formations under Qingyun Sect were managed by them. Whenever they had free time, they would come to the male lead for help, asking him to break their formations and assist them in patching up their flaws.
For now, let’s not mention the others, as they had already arrived at the rather desolate Wuding Peak.
Aside from a few celestial cranes, there wasn’t a living soul in sight.
The only building was a small courtyard at the top, made of ordinary fences and bamboo houses. In the middle was a small garden tended by the male lead, which looked quite nice. If it weren’t for the protective barrier formation and the glow of the spiritual plants in the courtyard, one might have thought it was just an ordinary mountain.
This was all thanks to the male lead’s eccentric master, the Qiong Bi.
Master Qiong Bi was very stingy, believing that having too many disciples was a waste of money and energy. She preferred to take care of her sword instead and had no intention of taking in disciples; she only wanted to cultivate by herself. However, as a genius sword cultivator, it was one thing not to inherit Sword Barrier Peak and gather a bunch of disciples, but at least she should take on one disciple to appease the elders, right? Otherwise, wouldn’t their salaries be for nothing?
In fact, the sect leader wanted to pair Xiao Jiuci, who was also a genius, with her.
Initially, Master Qiong Bi had been stubbornly dragging her feet, but the sect leader secretly provided her with funding and promised her the freedom to teach as she pleased. Eventually, she realized that this disciple was easy to manage, considerate, and respectful towards his master, so she reluctantly agreed.
As a result, Wuding Peak only had the two of them—this master, apart from occasionally giving guidance to the male lead, was either in closed-door training or mysteriously missing, making very few appearances in the original text.
At first, Qiao Han often criticized this master, feeling that she was irresponsible; if she were present, she might have been able to protect the male lead.
However, later on, when she faced death to save the male lead, collapsing in his arms while complaining, “I told you I shouldn’t have taken on a disciple. This is a losing business,” Qiao Han could no longer harbor any disrespect for her.
So now, looking at the somewhat shabby Wuding Peak, Qiao Han couldn’t help but smile.
As the sword landed on the path outside the courtyard, Qiao Han jumped down, pretending to fix his hair and clothes that had been tousled by the wind, but in reality, he was carefully observing the courtyard.
Xiao Jiuci sheathed his sword and walked toward the courtyard door. Qiao Han always lagged half a step behind to avoid accidentally triggering any formations.
But soon, he encountered the most urgent problem.
Upon entering the courtyard, the male lead halted his steps.
Qiao Han also stopped, suddenly feeling tense in his heart.
Xiao Jiuci spoke up, “Aren’t you going back to rest?”
Qiao Han's legs stiffened.
Go… go where?
This small courtyard may be compact, but it had several rooms. Aside from the obvious guest hall, how was he supposed to know where his own room was?
Help, system!
The system was outside the service area…
Qiao Han swallowed hard, already feeling the male lead's gaze sweeping over him.
“I just advanced and still want to cultivate for a while. There are spirit plants here, and the air is fresh. I’ll cultivate here for a bit; you can head back first.”
I really am a clever little fox! As long as the male lead goes back to his room, the rest will be easy; he can just find them one by one!
Xiao Jiuci glanced at Qiao Han, nodded, and then stepped toward the building on the left.
The houses here were all elevated; if the ground level was the first floor, then the building on the left was on the second floor, accessible by three steps. A unified corridor connected two houses on the east and west sides.
On the right, those buildings were noticeably taller, with five or six steps leading up to them. Accordingly, the rooms were larger, and there was only one.
As for the back rooms, he didn't know for now, but the larger building on the right should belong to Master Qiong Bi. Currently, she was not at the sect, and her whereabouts were unknown.
As for the left side… The male lead had entered the eastern room, so the western one was likely his!
Seeing the male lead actually enter the room, although he didn’t close the door, he probably wouldn’t come out for a while.
Qiao Han needed to act quickly to confirm, so he hurriedly ran over.
Reaching the door, he pushed it open and stepped inside to take a look.
However, he didn't have time to clearly see the layout inside.
Just then, he heard the male lead’s distinctive and pleasant voice come from the doorway.
“Qiao Gongzi, is there something you need for coming into my room?”
Qiao Han instantly froze, feeling a chill run through him.
*********************************************************************
Comments
Post a Comment
Leave a Comment before you leave(*u*)