Chapter 752: Shen Yue
It was normal for Chu Li to feel like this.
Back at the Trial, he was the one who strongly suggested that Qin Lie should visit Terminator Sect. He thought of Qin Lie as a brother, and he hoped that his master would acknowledge Qin Lie’s cultivation talents and teach him the thunder spirit arts.
He had treated Qin Lie with utter sincerity.
However, Forefather Terminator had gone so far as to teach Qin Lie the ‘Profound Thunder Heart’. His care for Qin Lie was so great that it was as if he was raising Qin Lie as his own successor. This turn of events far exceeded Chu Li’s expectations, and it made him feel as if he had led a wolf right into his own house.
He couldn’t say anything about it, however.
“It’s not what you guys think. There’s some history between me and the Forefather. Also, I am not a Terminator Sect disciple even though I possess this token. It only serves to provide me with a status.”
Qin Lie took out the token in an attempt to console Chu Li. He said seriously, “Big brother Chu, I am not a Terminator Sect disciple, and I never will be! You…”
“You don’t have to explain anything.” Chu Li shook his head and smiled in response. “That the Forefather values you is the fortune you’ve earned through your own hands. You and I are brothers, so I will never try to take it from you, nor wish you nothing but the best. I may feel a little uncomfortable now, but this feeling will pa.s.s eventually.”
“Now that’s a good brother” Du Xiangyang laughed out loud.
Luo Chen kept quiet and said nothing.
The night was long, and time aplenty. The quartet continued to drink and chat happily with one another, but the atmosphere was no longer as harmonious as it was before.
Both Du Xiangyang and Luo Chen could see that Chu Li was a little distracted.
They sighed on the inside, unsure how to advise Chu Li into eventual acceptance. The only thing they could do was to avoid talking about Terminator Sect as much as possible.
They didn’t even dare show their curiosity towards the ‘Profound Thunder Heart’, much less bring it up as a topic.
The quartet sat for almost an hour under this strange atmosphere.
Suddenly, golden light showered down from above the sky.
The quartet subconsciously looked up to see who it was.
A beautiful smiling woman dressed in gold colored dress descended from the sky on a Rank Six Golden Feathered Luan. She had narrow, phoenix like eyes, an oval face, and a pair of clear and bright eyes. Her bearing was both strong and elegant.
“Did you come for me, senior sister?” Chu Li was just hoping to find an excuse to leave the place, so he hastily stood up and spoke a.s.suming that she had some questions for him.
“Senior Sister Shen Yue!” Du Xiangyang and Luo Chen also got up to greet her.
Since everyone had stood up to greet Shen Yue, Qin Lie too got up and copied Du Xiangyang and Luo Chen’s movements, bowing with cupped hands while saying, “Senior Sister Shen Yue.”
Qin Lie knew of Shen Yue’s name even though he had never seen her with his own eyes until now. She knew that this woman was Shen Kui’s granddaughter and was greatly favored by Nan Zhengtian himself. She was a bright pearl in Terminator Sect.
He naturally examined Shen Yue with a critical eye.
Shen Yue was without a doubt a beautiful and attractive woman. She was tall, well-proportioned, and had an extremely picturesque countenance. She was a beauty at Song Tingyu’s level.
Maybe it was because she was Shen Kui’s granddaughter, grew up in Terminator Sect, and was favored greatly by Nan Zhengtian, but Shen Yue had also cultivated a n.o.bilistic and powerful temperament that very easily drew desire for domination.
Du Xiangyang wasn’t the only one whose eyes were s.h.i.+ning when she came over. Qin Lie noticed that even the stiff and reclusive Luo Chen had started straightening his sleeves as if he was afraid of missing his etiquette and be looked down upon by her.
Shen Yue descended on a reef while smiling at them.
Her bright, moon-like eyes hadn’t fallen on Chu Li, however. Instead, she looked at Qin Lie and said pleasantly, “Are you Junior Brother Qin?”
Qin Lie was dumbfounded.
The remaining trio were stunned too.
“I’ve just chatted with Senior Uncle Xu Ran and heard a little something about you. That is why I’ve purposely came to see you with my own eyes.” Shen Yue smiled softly and produced some delicious snacks and a few wine jugs as if by magic. She said generously, “If you all don’t mind, may I join your tea party, junior brothers?”
“Of course!” Du Xiangyang laughed candidly.
Even Luo Chen revealed a slightly stiff smile and nodded softly in response.
Surprisingly, it was Chu Li who was frowning slightly.
He knew Shen Yue. He knew that she never did something without real intentions. He could see from her eyes and her actions that she was here for Qin Lie.
“She can’t possibly know that master wants to nurture Qin Lie too, right? Is that why she showed up now to make a connection with him?” Chu Li thought doubtfully.
“Do you mind, Junior Brother Qin?” Shen Yue said softly.
“Of course not.” Qin Lie smiled coolly in return.
“That is good. Come, please enjoy this snacks that I’ve made myself. Oh, these wines are from Senior Uncle Xu Ran; he said that it comes from a foreign land. Why don’t you all give it a try and see how good it is?” Shen Yue greeted them warmly.
Du Xiangyang and Luo Chen were all too happy to enjoy the delicious meals and wine.
Qin Lie had nothing to be afraid of, so he smiled, picked up a jug of wine and poured it down his throat. He couldn’t help but let out an exclamation of praise when his mouth was filled with a sweet, intoxicating taste.
Chu Li was the only person who was staring at Shen Yue with odd eyes.
Du Xiangyang too drank a mouthful of wine and let out a praise before saying, “Celestial Artifact Sect’s Senior Sister Luo Kexin is said to be extremely talented in artifact forging, but…” He sighed. “I was hoping that she could check out my new flying sword, but I got into a verbal argument with her because of Qin Lie. It is highly unlikely that she’ll lend me her aid after that.”
Shen Yue’s presence meant that they couldn’t speak as openly as they did before. Therefore, they could only switch to another topic.
He could see that a bit of friction had appeared between Qin Lie and Chu Li due to Forefather Terminator’s high regard for Qin Lie. Therefore, he was doing his best to divert the topic from Terminator Sect in order to avoid deepening the rift between the duo.
“The Five Flames Flowing Light Sword you got is defective?” Luo Chen looked a little surprised.
“A little, yes.” Du Xiangyang smiled wryly.
Luo Chen’s frown grew deeper. “You had the chance to enter Heavenly Sword Mountain to choose a flying sword yourself after you aided the sect in obtaining the ancient elite remains, and you wasted this chance on a defective flying sword?”
“Err, that’s right,” Du Xiangyang felt embarra.s.sed now that he put it that way.
Their conversation made both Chu Li and Shen Yue curious. Chu Li couldn’t help himself from asking, “Why have you chosen a defective sword?”
They both knew that the reason Heavenly Sword Mountain was called ‘Heavenly Sword Mountain’ was because they literally had a mountain that was covered in flying swords. This mountain was named Heavenly Sword Mountain.
All Heavenly Sword Mountain martial pract.i.tioners practiced sword wielding. The sword was the only spirit weapon a Heavenly Sword Mountain martial pract.i.tioner could possess.
Flying swords of all grades were littered across the peak of Heavenly Sword Mountain. One could find Profound Grade, Earth Grade, and even Heaven Grade flying swords in that place.
These flying swords had all sorts of backgrounds. Some of them were bought from the artificers of the Land of Chaos, and some of them were left behind for future generations by deceased Heavenly Sword Mountain martial pract.i.tioners.
There were also some that were obtained through various ways during various operations outside of their territories.
Heavenly Sword Mountain disciples were allowed to select a flying sword that suited them if they reached a certain realm or made a ma.s.sive contribution to the sect.
The mountain was protected by many restrictions. Generally speaking, the disciples who won the right to enter this place could only choose a flying sword that was closer to their realm.
Manifestation Realm or Netherpa.s.sage Realm disciples were allowed to choose Profound Grade flying swords, while Fulfillment Realm and Fragmentation Realm martial pract.i.tioners were allowed to choose Earth Grade flying swords. Only those who had entered the Nirvana Realm were allowed to choose Heaven Grade flying swords for themselves.
The reason for these rules was so that martial pract.i.tioners could unleash full potential of the flying sword they chose.
After Du Xiangyang had ascended to the Fulfillment Realm, he was given a chance to enter the mountain to choose a suitable sword. That was how he came to possess the Five Flames Flowing Light Sword that complemented his fire spirit art.
However, Du Xiangyang quickly realized that there was a problem with the spirit diagram inside the Five Flames Flowing Light Sword after he circulated his spirit art through the sword.
He wasn’t an artificer, so he couldn’t see what the problem was even though he knew that it was defective somewhere.
He had gone to the seniors of Heavenly Sword Mountain to inquire about the sword, but unfortunately for him none of his seniors were artificers. Therefore, they couldn’t provide him with any aid.
The reason he insisted on attending this meeting was to fight against the Heaven Ghoul Race, increase his own experience and knowledge, and find a Celestial Artifact Sect artificer to check out his Five Flames Flowing Light Sword.
Before he came to look for Qin Lie, he had sought out a couple of his friends in the Celestial Artifact Sect to check out his weapon.
Unfortunately, the friends he knew were all junior disciples and their artifact forging skills and knowledge were very shallow. They weren’t even able to help him identify the problem. They all suggested that he sought out Luo Kexin to help him.
That was what he was going to do.
However, he got himself into a verbal argument with Luo Kexin for Qin Lie while the latter was in seclusion. He inevitably burned the bridge in front of him.
That was why he was so depressed that he drank a little more than he usually would. His intoxication made him slip up and say something that caused a rift between Qin Lie and Chu Li.
“Show me your flying sword,” Qin Lie said suddenly.
“You want to have a look?” Du Xiangyang looked astonished. He laughed in an odd tone. “Don’t tell me you know how to forge artifacts too?”
“I know a little, sure.” Qin Lie answered carelessly.
“You and your boasts!” Du Xiangyang ultimately decided to toss his flying sword over to Qin Lie despite the laughing abuse. “Sure, have a look.”
Neither Luo Chen nor Shen Yue paid any attention to this. They both thought that Qin Lie was just fooling around and a.s.sumed that his knowledge of artifact forging was superficial at best.
In their eyes, Qin Lie was a martial pract.i.tioner who cultivated the Blood Spirit Art, a thunder spirit art, a frost spirit art, the power of earth and now a fire spirit art.
There was only so much a person could do. In their minds, it was absolutely impossible that a person who cultivated such a wide variety of spirit arts could have any accomplishments in artifact forging as well.
But the moment Qin Lie caught the Five Flames Flowing Light Sword in his hands, a strange feeling suddenly sprung into their minds—he actually does know how to forge spirit artifacts!
The seriousness on Qin Lie’s face, the concentration in his eyes and the manner in which he held the flying swords all betrayed the hint of a master at work.
They were all knowledgeable and experienced people. They could discern at first glance if Qin Lie was just pretending to be skillful.
“Ah, so this is where you guys are.” Suddenly Luo Kexin’s giggle rang from the sky. “Du Xiangyang, I heard from two of my junior brothers that you were seeking me out to repair a flying sword? Is that true?”
Luo Kexin descended from the sky on a ray of rainbow light the moment she said this smilingly.
“Eh? You know how to forge artifacts?” She couldn’t help but exclaim softly when she saw Qin Lie holding the flying sword. Her face was full of astonishment.