Jiang Ye's hand shook in fright, instantly letting go of the sword hilt.
He stared in shock at his own small hand.
Holy crap? Did I just accidentally activate some weird fetish of this sword?!
The entire field fell into dead silence once more as everyone stared at the scene in utter bewilderment.
Inside the Azure Mystic Sword...
The tsundere sword spirit was equally bewildered.
All she had felt in that instant was a surge of pure energy abruptly filling her up to the brim!
That feeling... was surprisingly... extremely comfortable?
Jiang Ye blinked inquisitively and tentatively placed his hand back onto the sword hilt.
The tsundere sword spirit snapped back to her senses immediately, shouting in a delicate rage:
“A mere... oh... oh-ho-ho-ho-ho...”
Jiang Ye hastily released his grip.
Sword spirit: “?”
Jiang Ye touched it a third time.
Sword spirit: “A...”
“Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho...”
...
After repeating this several times...
Jiang Ye found it pretty fun, but the tsundere sword spirit inside was clearly on the verge of breaking down.
One final time.
Jiang Ye firmly grabbed the hilt with a death grip and didn't let go again.
He let out a cold laugh:
“Do you submit or not? Are you coming with me?”
The sword blade trembled violently.
The tsundere sword spirit's delicate, almost longing tremolo rang out hurriedly:
“I submit, I submit! This princess submits!”
“I'll go with you, I'll go with you! Hurry... don't let go...”
Everyone in the audience...
...watched this worldview-shattering scene with their own eyes.
Their shock was beyond words!
“It... it got tamed just like that?!”
Even Sect Master Song Changfeng, who usually cared deeply about his composure, couldn't hold it together at all! The corners of his mouth twitched wildly.
He was a dignified Nascent Soul expert! The Sect Master of the Azure Mystic Sect!
Back when he had wanted to borrow this “ancestral sword” for a bit, he had humbly begged for half a day.
In the end, this sword spirit had rejected him with complete disdain:
“A five-hundred-plus-year-old Nascent Soul? Your talent is way too trashy! This princess looks down on you, so keep your hands off me!”
It had left him extremely embarrassed back then! Luckily, no outsiders had been present.
And now?!
This proud ancestral sword was actually... forcibly tamed by a yellow-haired girl in the Qi Condensation stage?!
And the process was so utterly bizarre that one almost didn't dare close their eyes...
Jiang Ye grinned triumphantly and was just about to pull the longsword straight out.
“Stop!”
Sect Master Song Changfeng's anxious voice instantly drifted down from midair:
“Bai Zhirou! You cannot take that 【Azure Mystic Sword】!”
Jiang Ye paused his movements.
He turned his head and looked up discontentedly at Song Changfeng in midair, retorting:
“I don't understand what you mean by that.”
“Don't the tournament reward rules state that all weapons on the field belong to whoever is capable of taking them?”
This question stumped Song Changfeng on the spot.
The rules were indeed set that way, but he bit the bullet and said:
“Yes, but not this one. Any other weapon is fine.”
Jiang Ye rolled his eyes:
“I don't care. I want this one, and it agreed to come with me, didn't it?”
Just as his words fell...
With a buzz...
A delicately sculpted little girl wearing a teal dress flew out from the 【Azure Mystic Sword】.
With her hands on her hips, she pointed furiously at Song Changfeng in midair and shouted:
“That's right! I just want to follow him!”
“Old man, mind your own business! Don't block this princess from finding her own happiness!”
Silence fell over the whole audience.
Song Changfeng felt his blood pressure surging, his head buzzing.
He had never expected that a disciple in the Qi Condensation stage could actually reach this point!
Normally, the limit for the Qi Condensation stage was below twenty steps, where most weapons were Magic Tools or Treasure Tools.
As for the area beyond twenty steps, it wasn't meant for Qi Condensation cultivators at all!
Back then, Holy Son Li Wangchuan had risked everything to break past twenty steps and obtain a low-grade Spirit Tool.
Though it pained the sect's higher-ups, out of the principle of treating peerless prodigies generously, they gritted their teeth and accepted it, treating it as a worthy investment to attract talent.
But now?! This "Bai Zhirou" before them had bypassed all the Spirit Tools and headed straight for the ultimate sacred sword that served as the sect's foundation!
And looking at her posture, even the usually arrogant sword spirit was shamelessly insisting on going with her!
How could this be allowed?!
This was one of the core foundations of the Azure Mystic Sect!
If an outer disciple just walked off with it, he, the Sect Master, might as well resign in disgrace!
Just as Song Changfeng was contemplating how to handle this...
Nangong Yue's voice transmission echoed in Jiang Ye's ears:
“Old Sixth, this 【Azure Mystic Sword】 concerns the very foundation of the sect and cannot be taken. Pick another one.”
Jiang Ye froze slightly upon hearing this.
He wasn't particularly surprised by Nangong Yue's words.
Rather, the moment her sentence fell, the quest progress on the game panel updated:
【Main Quest: Crisis of the Azure Mystic Sect】
【Current Progress: 15% — 20%】
“Holy crap?”
Jiang Ye felt a small shock in his heart.
“So this sword is actually a key story item for a late-game main quest?!”
Since it was a key item, he certainly couldn't take it away right now. After all, he couldn't beat these NPCs at his current level anyway.
But what kind of person was Jiang Ye? A Fourth Calamity player who never walked away empty-handed and plucked feathers from every passing goose!
Since he couldn't take the biggest prize, he definitely had to fleece them for a hefty chunk of compensation!
Seeing that Nangong Yue had stepped in to persuade her disciple, Song Changfeng added:
“Bai Zhirou, except for this Azure Mystic Sword, anything else is fine. Go ahead and choose.”
Hearing this, Jiang Ye let out a sigh and said in pained heartbreak:
“Sect Master, I really don't like what you're saying.”
“Don't you know that this Azure Mystic Sword... is my dearest relative, my own flesh-and-blood brother?!”
Song Changfeng: “...” You've known this damn sword for less than three minutes!!
Aboard the distant Dharma Boat.
Dao Mystic Peak's True Disciple Zhao Gaoheng, who had been quietly enjoying the show, felt the corners of his mouth twitch wildly upon hearing this familiar line.
Clenching his fists tightly, he cursed internally: “Fuck! That trick again!! How many damn dearest relatives do you even have?!”
Song Changfeng couldn't help transmitting a complaint to Nangong Yue:
“Peak Master Nangong, you know what's at stake here! Aren't you going to quickly advise this precious disciple of yours?!”
Nangong Yue stood quietly without even batting an eye, replying with a calm voice transmission:
“She's merely putting on a show to wring out some benefits. As the dignified leader of a sect, just toss her a little something to send her on her way.”
After transmitting her reply, Nangong Yue said no more, merely watching the scene below with a faint, amused smile.
Song Changfeng was choked with frustration, but he knew full well how protective Nangong Yue was of her own.
Helpless, he could only continue transmitting to Jiang Ye: “Fine! Stop acting! Name your price—what compensation will it take for you to let go?!”
Since Jiang Ye hadn't reached the Foundation Establishment stage yet, he couldn't use voice transmission.
He could only shout at the top of his lungs:
“I don't want much!”
“Just give me five or six top-grade Spirit Tools, whatever you have lying around!”
“As for Heaven-grade techniques, for the sake of our shared sect, just give me six or seven to make do...”
“Pfft— Cough, cough, cough!”
Song Changfeng nearly spat out a mouthful of blood, his face turning as black as the bottom of a wok.
You really dare to open your mouth wide, don't you?! If I gathered everything you just listed, selling the entire Azure Mystic Sect wouldn't even be enough!!
What followed was a round of fierce bargaining.
In the end, with an aching heart, Song Changfeng agreed to compensate Jiang Ye with a High-Grade Earth-Grade Technique.
Jiang Ye curled his lip and agreed with a face full of disdain.
Yet in his heart, he was wildly ranting: “The village chief of the starter village is so damn poor! Stingy over every little thing, treating trash like treasure.”
Rate on N.U.
