Chapter 9: Tempering the Body with Sword Energy

Beneath the shadow of the black boulder, the fragment of a broken sword was utterly inconspicuous.

Bai Yue’ning did not act immediately; years of caution had long trained her to ensure safety before making a move.

The more harmless something appeared, the more likely it was to conceal unknown danger.

Her gaze swept over the ground and stone walls surrounding the broken sword, quietly gathering her spiritual energy.

“Relax, there are no traps,” Ye Ming said coolly.

“This thing’s spiritual essence has long since dissipated; only a bit of its foundation remains.”

“Hurry up, I can feel its essence nearly fading away!”

No longer hesitating, Bai Yue’ning stepped forward and gripped the broken hilt with her right hand.

It felt icy and hard to the touch, covered with fine marks of corrosion.

With a little force, she drew the sword fragment from the crevice in the rock.

Almost at the same instant, the gray-cloth bundle on her back gave a faint tremor.

Ye Ming’s voice came to her, tinged with an almost instinctive craving: “Bring it closer!”

Bai Yue’ning reversed her hand and pressed the broken edge gently against the sword ridge inside the gray bundle.

A strange suction emanated from Ye Ming’s sword body.

A thread of pale golden light, finer than a strand of hair, was drawn from the fracture and seeped steadily beneath the gray cloth.

The process was silent but swift.

In just two or three heartbeats, the sword in Bai Yue’ning’s hand turned completely to ash, sifting through her fingers.

A satisfied sigh echoed in her mind.

“Though the amount is small, it suits my taste well enough.”

A faint yet pure current of warmth surged from the hilt up Bai Yue’ning’s arm.

This stream felt quite unlike the beastly essence she had absorbed before; it carried a keen, penetrating quality.

Passing through her meridians, it brought a slight sting, but after the pain came an indescribable ease, as if a blocked river had suddenly been dredged open.

The omnipresent pressure of sword energy around her seemed to ease ever so slightly.

She could distinctly “feel” a hairline crack on Ye Ming’s sword body, wrapped behind her, quietly knitting itself together.

“It really works.” She murmured inwardly, sensing the subtle ripple of increased strength.

“More than just useful!” Ye Ming’s spirits were high.

“This place might as well have been prepared for us!”

“Go deeper to the left—there are more treasures there!”

Suppressing the small surge of excitement from her strengthened power, Bai Yue’ning quickly regained her composure.

She moved as instructed toward the left, most of her attention focused on the surrounding environment.

The deeper into the valley she went, the heavier the pressure of the sword aura became.

The air grew thicker, and the metallic dust-like particles of sword energy gathered more densely.

Every step was as if treading on the edge of a blade, requiring her to constantly circulate spiritual power to resist.

For someone at the fifth stage of Qi Refinement, the drain was immense.

“Stop!” Ye Ming suddenly warned.

Bai Yue’ning halted at once.

Ahead lay a seemingly calm clearing, where the air shimmered with subtle distortions.

“Is there something wrong?” she whispered, her eyes scanning the area.

“Do you see those rippling lines, like water?”

“The sword energy is particularly turbulent there—step into it, and you’ll be in real trouble.”

“Go around to the right, stay close to that crooked stone beside you.”

Cautiously skirting the deadly zone, Bai Yue’ning followed his guidance and passed through safely.

“Three steps ahead to your right—duck!”

She bent low instantly, as a formless, razor-sharp sword aura swept over her scalp, slicing off a few strands of hair.

It struck the rock behind her, leaving a deep, bottomless crack.

A cold sweat broke out across Bai Yue’ning’s back.

Without Ye Ming’s warning, she would have been seriously injured at the very least.

“You’re welcome,” Ye Ming accepted her lingering fear with shameless pride.

“Stick with me and you’ll be safe. But, come to think of it, this sword aura, though troublesome, actually seems to benefit you?”

Bai Yue’ning paused, then focused inward.

Previously, her nerves had been too taut to notice, but now she realized:

In resisting the external sword aura, her spiritual power seemed to have become even more refined, circulating with increasing ease.

Her meridians, under the dual effect of the piercing warmth and the outside pressure, were growing tougher.

This Sunken Sword Valley was itself a crucible for tempering the body.

“The sword aura here… it seems to be refining my spiritual power?” She pondered.

“So long as you survive, you’ll gain from it,” Ye Ming concluded.

“So be bold—head northeast next. There’s a much stronger energy reaction there.”

With the earlier gains and Ye Ming’s uncanny alerts, Bai Yue’ning felt a measure of confidence return.

She regulated her breathing, treating the resistance to sword aura as a form of cultivation, and pressed onward.

The path was far from smooth.

Ye Ming’s senses were not omnipotent; some sword aura eddies were so well hidden they merged with the environment, only perceptible when she was almost upon them.

Twice, Bai Yue’ning narrowly escaped sudden bursts of sword energy, saved only by her own reflexes, emerging rather disheveled.

“My mistake, pure oversight,” Ye Ming coughed awkwardly.

“I was tracking three energy points at once, got a bit distracted. Won’t happen again.”

She had no patience for his excuses, pouring her spiritual power to the utmost and growing ever more vigilant.

Along the way, she glimpsed other disciples from afar.

Some, evidently having made finds, wore looks of delight.

Others, less fortunate, triggered a fierce sword aura—defensive talismans shattering, blood spattering as they staggered back.

She even saw two disciples come to blows over a tiny shard of glowing ore, swords flashing.

She avoided all these encounters, unwilling to be drawn into any conflict.

“Exactly, keep clear, let them fight,” Ye Ming approved heartily.

“Our aim is the essence, not that worthless scrap… Though the energy in that ore is decent, it’s nothing next to what I’m sensing.”

Circling around a sword-scarred stone forest, Bai Yue’ning felt a subtle energy fluctuation from the direction Ye Ming indicated.

“It’s right beneath that pile of collapsed rocks ahead!”

“Not buried deep, and the energy is much more pronounced—should be far better than that broken sword.”

Bai Yue’ning quickened her pace, but as she neared the rubble, she stopped short.

Three people stood beside the rock pile.

At their head was Li Mao, the same one who had been at the valley’s entrance with Sun Wei.

They too had sensed something unusual here and were discussing how to clear the stones.

Li Mao’s sharp gaze spotted her immediately; his expression first startled, then openly scornful and warning.

“We saw this place first. Go elsewhere.”

His tone was harsh, leaving no room for negotiation.

His two companions turned as one, hostile eyes fixed on Bai Yue’ning, the pressure of their seventh-level Qi Refinement cultivation subtly bearing down.

Bai Yue’ning considered—forcing her way through would be unwise, but Ye Ming was already fuming in her mind.

“They dare try to take it? This means a lot to me!”

Her grip on the sword tightened, gaze sweeping over the three before settling on Li Mao.

“Opportunities in Sunken Sword Valley are won by skill. This place isn’t your private property.”

Li Mao sneered, stepping forward. “Someone at the fifth level thinks she can talk about skill? Last warning—leave!”

The other two spread out, forming an encirclement.

Bai Yue’ning could feel Ye Ming’s agitation, and the energy pulsing beneath the rocks.

Taking a deep breath, she began to circulate her spiritual power more rapidly.

Just as tensions reached a breaking point, a clear, cold voice sounded not far away:

“Junior Brother Li, you’re certainly throwing your weight around.”