Li Qingming cradled a long sword, weaving through the bustling marketplace. Her petite figure moved like a fish swimming through a crowd, her small head bobbing in and out of sight like a floating duckweed in the ocean, causing onlookers to both marvel and fret, yet she navigated deftly without mishap.
Soon, the young girl left the market and walked onto a quiet path. She slowed her pace a bit, unable to contain her excitement, and lifted the sword she held to examine it closely, like a groom unveiling a bride. But quickly, a look of doubt and hesitation crept into her gem-like eyes.
The sword was three feet four inches long, two inches wide, and weighed about six pounds. It was entirely snow-white, with no visible edge or sharp point, making it a heavy blunt sword in every respect.
The hilt bore vaguely beautiful cloud patterns, though most had been worn away by time, leaving only two ancient characters faintly discernible, exuding an aura of age.
The material was neither metal nor stone, feeling light and agile in hand, yet without any sign of spiritual qi, it was an ordinary whiteboard long sword with no unique divine traits.
Li Qingming couldn't explain why she chose it. While selecting a sword at the market, she was drawn to this unremarkable white sword at first sight and spent her entire savings to buy it.
Though the young girl's savings amounted to just nine taels, a standard whiteboard weapon typically didn't sell for even five taels, let alone this broken ancient sword—the shopkeeper's boast of "Vajra Unbreakable" was not going to fool a fourteen-year-old, who had long outgrown such naivety.
"I hope I didn't make a mistake with you..."
Li Qingming tilted her head helplessly, her face showing signs of worry.
"Nine taels of silver aren't much... but my monthly stipend has been cut repeatedly, and I'm already struggling to afford meals. If I can't master the Windchasing Sword, it would be unimaginable."
"So, let's work hard together!"
Bouncing lightly, Li Qingming cheered herself up, then tucked the long sword back into her arms and dashed along the path.
At the end of the path stood a secluded courtyard, with a dark red gate tightly shut and an old plaque bearing the name "Shen Garden" hanging alone above it. Li Qingming smiled slightly, refrained from pushing the gate, calculated the time with her fingers, and ran to a spot about ten steps from the gate. There, she leaped like a small bird, gracefully soaring over the high courtyard wall.
A gnarled pine tree suddenly appeared in her path like a fierce gatekeeper, yet Li Qingming rushed through, passing through without hindrance, landing lightly on the ground.
The young girl turned back and bowed to the phantom pine tree.
"Thank you, Grandpa Tree, for watching over the place."
She then ran all the way inside, scooped a ladle of cool water from the kitchen's water jar, drank it in big gulps, wiped her mouth with a small hand, took a long breath, and picked up the long sword to stand on the martial arts arena behind the house.
Standing on the platform, the childishness on Li Qingming's face vanished. Grasping the long sword with one hand, she took a deep breath, her small chest slightly swelling, and a compelling aura naturally emerged.
At this moment, she was no longer a mere fourteen-year-old girl but a swordsman.
With a sword in hand, the world lay before her.
Though this swordsman was still quite young and her cultivation was extremely shallow, at only Body Refining Perfection and just entering the Wind-Rising Realm, she was at the lowest tier in the cultivation realm, not even considered as having stepped into it.
The world's cultivation is divided into nine tiers.
Wind Rising and Falling, Cloud Sweeping and Rain Commanding, Mountain Overturning and Sea Shaking, Earth Splitting and Heaven Shattering, progressing layer by layer until the ultimate perfect Void-breaking. These nine realms stack and eliminate progressively, forming the cultivation world's pyramid.
Of course, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. The young swordsman was fully aware of her status, she assumed her stance, calmed her mind, and moments later, her right hand brandished, causing sword light to blossom in the courtyard. Fine as silk yet densely knit, it moved with a momentum like chasing the wind.
Windchasing Sword.
The signature swordsmanship of the Li Family's Outer Sect disciples in Fengcheng, once mastered to great success, the sword momentum was like wind, leaving others defenseless. Li Qingming had studied this sword manual for half a year, practicing tirelessly day and night, and had reached the Seventh Wind Realm. Using the Sword-Drawing Stance, her first three strikes were as swift as a gale, sword glints like lightning, now just a step away from the Gale Realm of great success.
But this single step held her back for a full two months. To transition from a gale to a gale force, the swordsmanship required not just speed but more strength. Otherwise, what use was a breeze that grazes one's face in a battle for victory? The key to Windchasing Sword's prominence lies in merging speed with damage. Practicing to reach the Gale Realm requires the swordsman to focus on strength, striving to cleave with one strike, splitting gold and cracking stone. Given her petite figure and graceful agility, but lacking in stability, reaching the Gale Realm was considerably challenging for Li Qingming. Her notable intuition, however, resulted in some breakthroughs in recent days—the sword momentum became dense, the sword wind fierce, and her force increasingly formidable.
Yet, at this moment, she encountered a not-so-small dilemma: her practice swords were depleted.
The Windchasing Sword's training required her to slice through a hundred wooden stakes each day. The stakes were never a concern, with Grandpa Tree there, they were always available. But after cutting many stakes, even a diligently cared for steel sword would dull or break. Despite her careful usage, a steel long sword lasted no more than three days. Practicing Windchasing Sword for over three months, Li Qingming had already expended more than twenty swords, draining all her spare money.
Just yesterday, after careful calculation, Li Qingming found it more prudent to save up for a longer-lasting quality practice sword rather than replacing one every three days. Not seeking sharpness or agility, nor any Five Elements Divine Mysterious qualities, durability was her priority. Such swords were not rare among white-tier weapons and not too costly either. She rummaged her belongings, sold some childhood toys, pooled together nine taels of silver, and brought this white-tier Ancient Sword home.
Now, she could only hope the long sword would prove its worth—if not slicing iron like mud, then at least sturdy and durable enough to help her master the Windchasing Sword.
But after mere moments of practice, Li Qingming felt her arms grow weak and sore. Initially light and agile in hand, the ancient heavy sword felt increasingly cumbersome and weighty, as if an invisible force was dragging her arms. Under such conditions, not to mention achieving the Sword Momentum Chasing Wind, even maintaining the Sword Momentum Continuous Flow was difficult. Completing a set of Thirty-Six Paths of the Wind-Chasing Sword, her grip faltered entirely. In shock, the maiden watched her fingers go numb, causing the long sword to fly out, clattering across the stone ground.
"..."
Li Qingming hung her head as large drops of sweat dripped along her hair, the strands of black covering her blushing face. Although this old house's courtyard was in a remote location, with no one usually around to witness, the thought was still incredibly embarrassing!
Failing to hold onto the sword during practice—such an incident would probably be considered a scandal for the Li Family in QingCyan Cloud yun City for a hundred years.
After a while, Li Qingming raised her head, her gaze falling on the large tree by the courtyard wall as if the guardian ancient tree left by her mother was gazing warmly at her, making her face turn red all over again.
"No, Grandpa Tree, you got it wrong, that wasn't losing my grip, I was just... just practicing the Celestial Flying Sword. You see, after using the Thirty-Six Paths of the Wind-Chasing Sword, suddenly releasing the sword, the enemy would be caught off guard..."
After speaking for a while, Li Qingming felt more and more embarrassed, almost about to explode...
Recalling the awkwardness while practicing the sword, something just didn't feel right. How could a six-pound Whiteboard Heavy Sword cause this? With her childhood achievements in Body Refining, even swinging two sixty-pound stone locks wouldn't cause her to lose grip from exhaustion. There must be something wrong with the sword!
Li Qingming suddenly remembered what the vendor said, "You dare to use a Divine Weapon for fifty silver? Aren't you afraid it could be cursed?"
Though this White Tier longsword wasn't a Divine Weapon, could it also have a curse...?
Thinking of this, Li Qingming got chills, even the gentle May sunlight seemed a bit cold. The little girl subconsciously wanted to rush back inside to get the Exorcism Talisman her mother left, to ward off evil.
But then she realized she might be overreacting; after all, this old house was left by her mother before her death, and there was an array meticulously designed by a Mountain-Overturning Realm cultivator in the courtyard that, even if dilapidated, shouldn't let any evil sneak in...
Picking up the longsword again, Li Qingming recalled her loss of composure and blushed even more: "Broken Sword, it's all your fault, hindering my sword practice."
It was just a casual complaint, but the next moment, Li Qingming suddenly heard a clear voice in her mind.
"Idiot, you clearly practiced the swordsmanship wrong."
"..." Li Qingming was stunned for half a minute before she screamed, threw away the longsword, and rushed back to her room to fetch a stack of Exorcism Talismans, half held in her hand and half tremblingly thrown around the longsword.
"You, what on earth are you?!"
The Sword Spirit was also taken aback by the question.
Before his long sleep, he was known throughout the Jiuzhou Continent as the Celestial Divine Sword. A person might not know their parents, but they certainly couldn't be unaware of the savior of the Jiuzhou Continent, the Celestial Divine Sword. So no one had ever asked him such a foolish question to his face.
However, since the question was posed, he answered earnestly after some thought: "I am the Sword Spirit of the Celestial Divine Sword, reborn from the essence of Jiuzhou by the Jiu Immortal Venerables after a hundred day blood sacrifice, fell into a long slumber after the battle with the Great Demon God Emperor, and awoke at your call."
"..."
"Given that my explanation is concise and accurate, I believe you should have understood my identity, so let's move on to the next question. Let me ask you, are you my steed?"
"Ha?"
Seeing the girl's dumbfounded expression, the Sword Spirit didn't mind; after all, there couldn't be any other answer to this question.
To become the steed of the Celestial Divine Sword is an opportunity no cultivator could refuse. Back then, Li Jiulong was chosen as the chief steed due to his extraordinary Sword Forging Skill, and the other eight Immortal Venerables were envious for quite a while.
And since she didn't refuse, they could move on to the third step.
To sign the Master-Servant Contract.
Currently, the Sword Spirit was extremely weak, unable to move independently. During this time, naturally, a steed was needed, and the girl Li Qingming was the choice he made.
Although this steed was weaker than he was, she had the merit of waking him up, so the Sword Spirit wasn't picky at this moment.
The process of signing the contract was very simple. The Sword Spirit took a bit of the girl's bodily fluid, full of Qi Blood—that is, the sweat from her sword practice—and a bit of her essence—that is, her current full concentration. After merging them with himself, the Master-Servant relationship was established.
And at the moment the contract was completed, the Sword Spirit heard the girl's panicked innermost thoughts through the contract channel.
"What on earth is this thing?!"
"I'm not a ghost, I'm a Sword Spirit." The Sword Spirit earnestly corrected Li Qingming's thoughts.
The girl subconsciously said, "Ghost or Sword Spirit, it's all the same! Wait!? You, you can hear what I'm thinking!?"
"Of course, that's a basic function of the Master-Servant Contract."
The girl was instantly astonished: "What Master-Servant Contract? You, you recognize me as your master?"
The Sword Spirit said, "No, it's you who recognizes me as the master, and I recognize you as the steed."
"..." Li Qingming opened her mouth wide, feeling a bit breathless, "What did you say? Steed?"
The Sword Spirit laughed, "Yes, congratulations, you have been chosen as the steed of the Celestial Divine Sword, henceforth serving me, guided by me, sharing my power and wisdom... now, let's talk about your feelings."
A moment later, the girl's inner cry thunderously echoed over.
"Help!!!"