Back inside the cave dwelling at Wuyou Peak, the stone door was tightly shut.
Ling Xiyue had already put on her training outfit and gone out to practice swordsmanship.
Luo Qingchen dumped the contents of her storage pouch onto the gold-thread nanmu table.
Star Sand, Earthcore Fire Essence, Refined Mystic Iron.
She took a deep breath to steady her heartbeat, her eyes locked onto the rusty iron shard lying at the corner of the table.
This was the core of that broken sword.
Her mind flipped through the Forging Art Hundred Refinements, jumping straight to the chapter on Law Stripping.
‘Stripping a Law requires heartblood sacrifice to provoke heavenly energy as a blade.’
Luo Qingchen bit her fingertip.
A drop of crimson blood landed on the broken sword.
She formed hand seals, and spiritual power gushed from her fingertip.
Hum—
The broken sword trembled, rust flaking off.
A transparent silver thread slowly emerged from deep within the blade.
The Law of Space—
Wild and keen.
Luo Qingchen’s expression changed.
The moment this power left the broken sword, it went berserk inside the cave dwelling.
Wherever it passed, stone tables and wooden chairs were sliced into clean crevices.
“Settle down!”
She barked, trying to suppress it with spiritual power.
But the Law energy refused to obey.
Like a slippery fish, it savagely slammed against her meridians.
Sharp pain shot through her meridians.
Cold sweat beaded on Luo Qingchen’s forehead.
Just then, the Sword Mark left by Jian Daoren on her wrist suddenly grew hot.
A cyan sword intent burst out of the seal, instantly wrapping around that silver thread.
The wild Law of Space seemed to meet its natural enemy.
It immediately calmed down, firmly suppressed by the sword intent.
“Perfect chance!”
Luo Qingchen seized the moment and summoned the Five Elements Blade, melting it with Earthcore Fire Essence into liquid form.
She manipulated the silver thread—
Still wrapped in sword intent—
And forcibly drove it into the core of the Five Elements Blade.
Crackle—
The Five Elements Blade blazed with dazzling five-colored radiance, then the light was forcibly compressed and concealed deep within the dagger.
The dagger no longer had its original ordinary metallic texture.
A faint, distorted transparent edge shrouded the blade.
Upgrade successful.
Luo Qingchen gripped the dagger.
It felt a bit heavier in her hand.
With a thought, her figure instantly vanished from the spot as she activated the movement technique from Ghostly Wail.
She reappeared on the other side of the cave dwelling.
Facing a solid bluestone three zhang away, she slashed through the air.
No piercing sound of sword qi.
No ripple of spiritual power.
Luo Qingchen sheathed the dagger and stood still, quietly watching the bluestone.
Three seconds passed.
The bluestone remained intact.
“Failed?”
She frowned, about to step forward and check.
A breeze blew.
Shatter.
The half-man-high bluestone turned into fine dust in that instant, leaving not even a fragment, dissipating cleanly into the air.
“Holy crap!”
Luo Qingchen’s eyes went wide, and the corners of her mouth couldn’t help but curl up wildly.
That was Space Slash! Ignoring physical defense, directly shredding the target at the spatial level.
Paired with the Concealed Breath Technique, if anyone dared to mess with her in the future, she wouldn’t even need to show herself—
Just hide in the shadows and give a light cut.
The opponent would die without knowing how.
This was the ultimate essence of the sneaky assassin!
Luo Qingchen carefully put away the Five Elements Blade, then fished out the Wuyou Sword Box that Wangyou Zhenren had given her from her storage pouch.
She placed that Yellow-grade top-quality Mystic Light Sword into the sword box, then hid the Five Elements Blade in a secret compartment at the bottom of the box to nurture it.
After doing all that, she clapped her hands in satisfaction.
“That’s solid now.”
She pushed open the stone door and walked out of the cave dwelling.
At that moment, Ling Xiyue was practicing swordsmanship in the open space not far away.
The Green Scale Sword traced sharp, cold flashes in the air.
The sword wind kicked up dust and sand.
Luo Qingchen walked over, leaned against a nearby rock, and watched Ling Xiyue finish a whole sword technique.
“Senior Sister, your swordsmanship has improved a lot.”
Ling Xiyue sheathed her sword, turned around, and looked at her calmly.
“Something on your mind?”
Luo Qingchen grinned, sidled up to Ling Xiyue, and put on a fawning expression.
“Senior Sister, look at our Wuyou Peak—we have some assets now, but my cultivation is still too low. Master doesn’t feel easy letting me go on an adventure, so I’m going to train outside and also check up on his old flame at Dao Healing Valley.”
Ling Xiyue frowned slightly.
“The Dao Healing Valley is far away, and the road is fraught with danger.”
“Yeah, that’s why I’m a bit nervous.”
Luo Qingchen tugged at Ling Xiyue’s sleeve and gently shook it.
“Senior Sister, you’re really capable. Could you… come with me?”
Ling Xiyue was silent for a moment.
She looked at Luo Qingchen’s eyes—
So full of “please carry me”—
And remembered all the liveliness the cave dwelling had gained lately.
The cold barrier in her heart wavered.
“Master wants you to go alone?”
“That old geezer just gave me a map and told me to figure it out myself.”
Luo Qingchen pouted, her face full of grievance.
“If I get eaten by some demon or monster along the way, who’ll manage Wuyou Peak’s finances? Are you going to drink the northwest wind?”
Ling Xiyue looked at her, the corner of her mouth twitching slightly as if she wanted to smile, but she held it back.
“Alright.”
Luo Qingchen was stunned.
She hadn’t expected such a straightforward answer.
“Really?”
“I need training too.”
Ling Xiyue turned her back to Luo Qingchen, her voice neutral.
“Go pack up in the cave dwelling. We leave tomorrow.”
Luo Qingchen watched Ling Xiyue’s retreating figure, feeling smug.
Having a Core Formation bodyguard at her side meant this trip to Dao Healing Valley was locked down.
She turned and went back into the cave dwelling.
She strapped the sword box on her back and checked the pills and talismans in her storage pouch again.
Night deepened.
The cold wind howled over Wuyou Peak.
Luo Qingchen lay in bed, her fingers lightly tracing the Sword Mark on her wrist.
This trip—
Whether to break the curse or to become the mighty cultivator she dreamed of, able to command the clouds with a flip of her hand—
She had to come back alive.
She closed her eyes, a faint smile on her lips.
In her dreams, she was already the richest cultivator in the world, sitting on a small mountain of spirit stones, counting money until her hands cramped.
The next morning, the thin mist hadn’t dispersed.
Luo Qingchen stood at the cave entrance, sword box on her back and a bulging storage pouch at her waist.
Ling Xiyue had changed into training clothes, the Green Scale Sword hanging at her side.
She looked much more capable.
“Let’s go.”
Ling Xiyue summoned her sword.
The longsword turned into a beam of light, hovering in midair.
Luo Qingchen hopped onto the blade with practiced ease, standing behind Ling Xiyue, clutching her clothes.
“Senior Sister, keep it steady. I get motion-sick on swords.”
Ling Xiyue ignored her nonsense.
With a light tap of her toes, the Green Scale Sword shot into the sky, turning into a cyan light that streaked toward the outside of Hidden Sword Mountain.
The wind howled in her ears.
Luo Qingchen watched the shrinking Wuyou Peak below.
The anxious feeling in her heart was suppressed by a certain anticipation.
“Dao Healing Valley, here I come.”
She muttered under her breath.
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