Chapter 4: The Fabricated "Ancient Method"

Zhou Qingwan had already stepped closer, her gaze fixed intently on the sword buried in the mouth of the armored rhinobeast. Her tone was probing.
"Junior Sister Bai, that sword of yours can't be an ordinary steel blade, can it? To think it could pierce the defenses of a second-rank demon beast."
"Not only did the bone spikes and fangs earlier crumble to ash, but now the blade itself seems to be mending, as if nourished by the beast's blood—many of the cracks have healed..."
"What exactly is going on here?"
Bai Yuening's heart sank sharply. She hurriedly stood, grasped the hilt, and tugged with all her might.
With a soft squelch, the blade came free, smeared with viscous saliva and dark red shreds of flesh.
Ye Ming's voice sounded in her mind with a satisfied sigh, tinged with exhaustion after a narrow escape:
"Ah, finally out. The taste in this beast's mouth was truly overpowering! Still, there's plenty of energy to go around."
"Just brush off your senior sister's suspicions. Don't forget that horn, though."
A subtle twitch passed across her eyes as she fought the urge to hurl the noisy, bothersome sword away once more.
Her mind raced. For now, she had to answer her senior sister's question.
Drawing a deep breath, she wove a half-truth, half-fabrication: "Senior Sister, your insight is keen. This sword... is indeed somewhat unusual.
"Some days ago, in an abandoned mine at the back mountain, I chanced upon it. Beside it lay a half-ruined scroll, apparently describing an ancient method called 'Spirit Infusion.'
"It claimed that with certain materials, one might nurture a damaged weapon, drawing out its essence."
"In a moment of desperation just now, I thought to try it—and unexpectedly, it worked."
"Spirit Infusion, is it? My, you spin stories well under pressure. You almost convinced even me," Ye Ming remarked in her mind, full of wry amusement, but quickly urged,
"Good job, stick to that tale. Now focus—getting that horn is what matters most!"
"Spirit Infusion?"
Zhou Qingwan's brow furrowed; clearly, this was unfamiliar to her.
Liu Lingyun, however, was captivated, her round face alight with wonder. "Such a miraculous technique exists?"
"No wonder you've been acting differently today, Yuening! It turns out you had a stroke of fortune. Tell me, are there any limits to this method?"
Bai Yuening quietly breathed a sigh of relief and seized the opportunity: "There are great limitations...
"First, it requires very specific materials—not all spiritual items will do, and the higher the grade, the better.
"Second, it seems to work only with this sword. I've tried it with other weapons, and nothing happened.
"Third..."
She let herself appear thoroughly exhausted, her face pale, and lowered her voice: "It greatly taxes the mind and spirit. After this attempt, I feel utterly drained."
Zhou Qingwan's eyes flickered, uncertain whether to believe.
She walked to the massive head of the armored rhinobeast, her gaze darting between the valuable horn and the now-restored sword in Bai Yuening's hands.
After a moment, she nodded as if accepting Bai Yuening's account and spoke calmly:

"This beast was slain by your own hand. According to sect rules, the primary spoils are yours to claim."
"The entire creature is a treasure, especially this horn—prime material for crafting defensive artifacts, and worth a small fortune."
"What do you intend to do with it?"
"Isn't it obvious? Feed it to me!" Ye Ming shouted impatiently in her mind.
"Tell them you need it for the very same Spirit Infusion. This is about our survival!"
A fierce struggle raged within Bai Yuening.
She knew the horn's worth—it could purchase months of cultivation resources.
Yet the smooth flow of spiritual power in her body, the easing pain in her meridians, all thanks to the sword's repair and its symbiotic bond with her...
They reminded her, wordlessly, that Ye Ming spoke true: their fates were now entwined.
"By rights, we three should divide the materials equally. If I hadn't hesitated, neither of you would have been hurt..."
She bit her lip, met Zhou Qingwan's searching gaze, and forced herself to speak:
"Senior Sister, I'd like to try using the 'Spirit Infusion Method' on this horn, to see if I can further restore the sword."
"If it regains even a fraction of its former power, it would be my best protection."
Liu Lingyun nodded enthusiastically. "Of course! Once repaired, your sword could pierce even the armored rhinobeast's defenses—its power is astonishing!"
"Yuening, your good fortune is truly enviable!"
Zhou Qingwan pondered briefly, then nodded. "This is your opportunity—make the most of it. But..."
She changed her tone, offering a warning: "This method of nurturing a damaged blade is unheard of. Junior Sister Bai, you must be cautious. Don't let ambition drive you to self-harm."
"Thank you for your reminder, Senior Sister. I will remember it," Bai Yuening replied softly.
Zhou Qingwan spoke decisively: "We should not linger here. The scent of blood may attract more beasts. Gather the materials quickly—we must return to the sect at once."
With combined effort, the three soon extracted the most valuable scales, some prime meat, and the all-important horn from the armored rhinobeast.
Bai Yuening was tasked with handling the horn. Guided by Ye Ming's precise instructions in her mind, she managed to remove it flawlessly, drawing another gasp of admiration from Liu Lingyun.
On the way back to the sect, the atmosphere was silent, each lost in thought.
Bai Yuening clutched the heavy horn wrapped in beast hide. It felt less like resources for cultivation and more like the ration of an ancestral spirit demanding to be fed—her mood was a tangled mess.
Ye Ming, for once, was quiet, apparently absorbed in "digesting" the essence absorbed from the rhinobeast.
Every so often, though, he sent waves of longing toward the horn, like a starving man eyeing a plate of braised pork.
...
Outside the Outer Disciples' Hall of Qingyun Sect, the air was abuzz with voices.
At the task counter, when Bai Yuening and her companions laid out the materials—especially the pristine armored rhinobeast horn—they attracted many stares and murmurs from surrounding disciples.
"A second-rank armored rhinobeast? Those three, still in the Qi Refining stage, actually hunted it?"

"What luck! They must have stumbled upon it at just the right moment."
"Look at that horn—what a specimen! How many contribution points could it fetch..."
The disciple in charge of verifying the materials was a tall, gaunt young man. He examined everything closely, his hands lingering on the horn with a flash of surprise in his eyes. He looked up at Zhou Qingwan, the leader of the trio.
"Junior Sister Zhou, did you truly hunt this yourselves? Where is your proof?"
Expressionless, Zhou Qingwan handed over a slightly dim jade slip.
The disciple infused it with spiritual power, and a hazy, jostling light projection appeared—
It showed the armored rhinobeast charging at Liu Lingyun, Bai Yuening stabbing out with a desperate strike, and the beast falling.
The image was shaky and indistinct, but the result was beyond doubt.
A collective hiss of surprise rippled through the hall.
The verifying disciple put away the jade slip and regarded Bai Yuening with new respect.
"Fine work, Junior Sister Bai! The mission reward is one hundred and fifty contribution points. Materials will be bought back at market price."
"The horn is worth two hundred, the scales eighty, the prime meat forty-six—for a total of four hundred seventy-six points. How will you divide them?"
"We need the horn for another purpose and will not sell it. The rest of the contribution points, split equally among the three of us," Zhou Qingwan stated crisply, glancing at Bai Yuening and Liu Lingyun.
"Agreed!" Liu Lingyun chimed in at once.
Bai Yuening nodded as well. "I defer to your arrangements, Senior Sister."
In the end, each of their identity tokens was credited with ninety-two contribution points.
"Junior Sister Bai, I will report today's events truthfully to Elder Li," Zhou Qingwan said, her gaze lingering on the beast-hide bundle in Bai Yuening's arms. "You... take good care of yourself."
Bai Yuening's heart clenched. She bowed her head. "Yes. Thank you for your concern, Senior Sister."
Zhou Qingwan said no more and left.
Liu Lingyun was far more enthusiastic: "Yuening, you've spent so much energy today. Go rest and recover quickly!
"When I have the chance, I must ask you all about the wonders of that 'Spirit Infusion Method!'" With that, she too hurried away.
Left alone in the bustling hall, Bai Yuening felt nearly drowned by the whispers and curious glances.
The bundle in her hands seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, leaving her utterly weary in both body and spirit.
With a sigh, she strode toward her humble, secluded wooden hut at the foot of the mountain.