“Husband, what do you make of this person's background?”
Inside the Wangyue Sect's largest mountain cave abode, Yan Jingyu inquired.
Gu Feiyuan handed her the jade slip in his hand. “This person came straight toward the Wangyue Sect from the Kunlun Domain. The spy I planted in the Kunlun Domain reported that she seemed to have emerged from the Interprovincial Passage into the Kunlun Domain. Before this, she had never appeared there.”
“Could she be in disguise?” To access the Interprovincial Passage, one had to be at least at the Nascent Soul realm to contact Soul Formation cultivators and obtain their aid to pass through. Moreover, one had to belong to one of the factions participating in establishing the passage across the provinces.
Yan Jingyu opened the jade slip to look. Yet upon examining it, the likeness from her appearance in the Kunlun Domain up until now was indeed that of the person who had rescued Gu Linshu.
“Disguised or not, her cultivation is only Foundation Establishment.”
Gu Feiyuan had considered the possibility, but with his Soul Formation cultivation, he had checked Wen Li and found her to truly be only at Foundation Establishment Great Perfection. If she were truly sent by the Kunlun Domain or the other two Fourth-Grade Cultivation Kingdoms, her cultivation wouldn't be so low.
Yan Jingyu suddenly recalled the sword Wen Li had produced. “Husband, with only Foundation Establishment cultivation, can a sword cultivator's natal weapon possess a sword spirit?”
Gu Feiyuan immediately caught on. “You've seen it?”
“Yes. Just now, Shu'er wished to discuss the Dao of the Sword with that cultivator. Worried, I accompanied him personally, only to discover that cultivator was actually prying spirit crystals off the wall, preparing to skip town. I do not believe such a person could be an undercover agent sent by those people,” Yan Jingyu said with a nod, analyzing the situation.
“Afterward, I examined the artifact in her hand. It can shift shapes and has awakened sentience. Though the sword looks ordinary, I sensed something amiss and wanted to touch it, but she claimed the sword dislikes contact with strangers, so I let the matter drop.”
Gu Feiyuan frowned. “A sword that even you found unusual? No, I must go see for myself.”
Shu'er was still in that person's cave abode.
The two set off at once. Yet the moment they flew out of the cave abode—
“Aaaagh!!!”
An excited, exhilarated shriek rang out.
“That's Shu'er!”
Yan Jingyu's expression changed. Her figure vanished from the spot, and Gu Feiyuan followed closely behind.
“Aaaah—”
Gu Linshu, who had just been dangling from Hold On's hilt earlier, was now standing steadily upon it after being tossed into the air. Carried along to soar between heaven and earth, he had flown down from the clouds of the ninth heaven, clutching a bird in his hands.
A delighted grin spread across Gu Linshu's face. It was so much fun.
“Chirp, chirp!” He let the bird go.
In the next second, Hold On plummeted in a steep dive, bursting out of the clouds and sweeping toward the picturesque mountains and rivers like a white rainbow piercing the sun, throwing the entire Wangyue Sect into an uproar.
“Who is that, daring to act so presumptuously in the Wangyue Sect?”
“Hey, that looks like the Young Master!”
“What?! Quick, save the Young Master!” Everyone knew the Young Master possessed zero sword talent and could barely fly on a sword without falling off. How could he engage in such a dangerous stunt?!
Many members of the Wangyue Sect took to the air to give chase.
Although Hold On was hurtling at high speed, it was consciously guiding Gu Linshu in sword flight, helping him stabilize his stance, sense his resonance with the blade, and comprehend the ambient spiritual energy and sword intent between heaven and earth.
This allowed Gu Linshu to shift his posture and maneuvers in mid-air, even daring to execute a full 360-degree flip.
“Ah, I didn't fall!” In his excitement, he didn't even stutter.
Gu Linshu was overjoyed. The scholarly air about the youth began to recede, giving way to a distinctive swashbuckling heroic spirit.
Chasing from behind, Wen Li saw that he was gradually finding the rhythm and getting the hang of it, so those five spirit crystals hadn't gone to waste after all.
However, looking back at the swarm of pursuing Wangyue Sect cultivators, she sighed. Why hadn't the parents arrived yet? If they didn't show up soon and Hold On went completely wild, it would be hard to clean up the mess.
Speak of the devil.
Hold On was currently carrying Gu Linshu skimming across the surface of a lake, letting him feel the hair's-breadth distance between sword flight and the water, when—
“Halt.”
Gu Feiyuan and Yan Jingyu flashed into view right in front of Hold On, their expressions dark and stern.
Gu Linshu patted Hold On immediately to signal it to stop, knowing his father was angry.
Yet Hold On listened to no one except Wen Li. It executed a slick, seamless turn, spraying a fan of lake water right into Gu Feiyuan's face.
Splash.
Gu Feiyuan merely narrowed his eyes, and the wall of water instantly froze in mid-air.
Wen Li caught up at this moment. Further away, many Wangyue Sect members had caught up as well, but none dared approach upon seeing the Sect Master appear.
“Hold On.”
Everyone instinctively turned to look at her, assuming she had something to say.
To their surprise, the sword seemed to hear the summons and flew straight toward Wen Li, returning to her grasp in an instant. Gu Linshu, left with nothing beneath his feet, was caught and supported by Wen Li before he could fall.
“Oh, I wasn't telling you all to hold on. My sword is named Hold On,” Wen Li explained with a smile, seeing everyone staring at her as if waiting for her to speak.
“...”
The air seemed to congeal. Even high-level grand figures like Gu Feiyuan and Yan Jingyu were rendered utterly speechless.
What kind of sword cultivator gave their sword such a name?!
With a single thought, they realized this name was designed specifically to mess with people. Truly...
“Father, Mother, M-Master was helping me c-comprehend sword intent earlier. Sh-she didn't mean to d-disturb the Wangyue Sect on purpose!” Gu Linshu explained anxiously, terrified that Wen Li might be misunderstood.
“...”
Silence descended upon the atmosphere once again.
Wen Li: “...” Had he even given her disciple-acceptance gifts yet? Yet he was already calling her Master.
The Wangyue Sect crowd: “...” Young Master, your thrilled screams earlier didn't sound like that at all.
Gu Linshu's parents: “...” They hadn't even confirmed whether she was an enemy yet, and their son had already taken her as his master. What should they do?
While each party was lost in their own silence, Wen Li was the first to break it.
“Wait, when did I ever say I was accepting you as a disciple? I'm not that easy. I already have two disciples, you know. If I took disciples willy-nilly, I'm afraid my two disciples—who only moved my heart with their sincere devotion after bowing three times, prostrating nine times, and showering me with countless natural treasures—would be furious.”
【Host, showering you with countless natural treasures is the real key point, isn't it?】 the system chimed in with a roast.
Wen Li muted it.
Rate on N.U.
