Late night, June 10, 2017
Under the night sky, a dark golden sword light sped like lightning from the Central District towards the east, reaching the entrance of Shen Garden on East City Lvliu Lane in an instant.
However, just as the sword light was about to enter the courtyard, it was blocked by an invisible power. After struggling a few times, it finally had no choice but to land.
As a Sword Spirit, Wang Jiu naturally suppressed all flying sword-type magical treasures. This message-carrying flying sword, lacking in tier, offered almost no resistance and was easily taken down by him using the Shape Manipulation Array.
After intercepting the flying sword, Wang Jiu curiously took the letter attached to it. Upon opening it, he discovered it was a letter from Li Fengyun.
"Qingming, your mother and I are considering how to make up for the years of neglect towards you. Please let us know how much money it would take for you to forgive us?"
Wang Jiu laughed heartily: That's indeed a good question.
A while ago, he had asked Li Qingming a similar question, not expecting Li Fengyun to arrive at the same conclusion.
With the question in mind, Wang Jiu entered Li Qingming's bedroom, where the young girl was already drowsy, so Wang Jiu kept it short.
"How much money do you think your parents should give you for you to forgive them?"
Li Qingming scoffed: "Not a thought without a hundred thousand Spirit Stones!"
Wang Jiu nodded: "Understood, besides..."
"Alright, I'm going to sleep. Let's talk tomorrow if there's anything else."
"Fair enough."
A moment later, Wang Jiu wrote down Li Qingming's answer on a piece of paper, tied it back to the flying sword, and sent it back.
——
Meanwhile, at the Li Family Mansion, a worried Li Fengyun was being scolded by Lu Xin, being told off completely. Receiving the reply letter was like a heavenly blessing.
"Look, look, she's replied!"
Lu Xin sneered: "Yes, it's probably a letter severing ties."
Li Fengyun was taken aback: "No, it can't be?"
Lu Xin said: "I've explained to you countless times, you're basically using money to insult your own daughter! Qingming may be impoverished, lacking in aptitude and comprehension, and overly stubborn, but after all, she's your flesh and blood and wouldn't accept such contemptible charity!"
"But..." Li Fengyun opened the letter, "she's naming a price of a hundred thousand Spirit Stones."
"...Impossible!" Lu Xin slammed the desk and approached, tiptoeing to look at the letter in Li Fengyun's hand. His expression changed instantly, "I never expected her to be such a Li Qingming!"
Li Fengyun was quite pleased: "That's my daughter! So easy to communicate with."
"What do you mean easy to communicate with! I suspect she's fooling you!"
Li Fengyun shook his head: "No, look at this handwriting, it's full of sincerity. If I didn't know it was written by Qingming, I'd think it was the writing of a man with a heart as steadfast as iron."
"Isn't this the same ghostly writing she used in the daytime!" Lu Xin was hopping mad, "Forget it, since you think it's feasible, I'll find a hundred thousand Spirit Stones from the inner treasury for her tomorrow to see if she'll really change her mind!"
——
Morning, June 11, 2017
It was another delightfully sunny day. Under the still dark but clear sky before dawn, the Sword Spirit of the Celestial Divine Sword was in great spirits.
Recently, the reconstruction of Sword World had begun to accelerate. On one hand, there was a material foundation provided by tens of thousands of taels of silver, and on the other, Li Qingming's True Essence was becoming increasingly vigorous, offering more support as a mount.
Therefore, in the light of the morning glow, Wang Jiu began to construct the Gathering Light Tower in Sword World.
This was one of the most important buildings in the early stages of Sword World's reconstruction, as crucial as the Wind Gathering Array, the source of energy. With this Gathering Light Tower, every day and night cycle, the Celestial Divine Sword could absorb a trace of the Essence of the Sun. Although this essence was sparse, it held an overwhelming tier advantage. In comparison, Lu Xin's Golden Crow Sword Qi was inferior by at least two tiers. The Essence of the Sun not only possessed unparalleled destructive power but also had the mysterious ability to nurture all things. Additionally, when the Gathering Light Tower accumulated enough Essence of the Sun, Wang Jiu could begin to create a sun for Sword World, allowing essence to be perpetually produced without external resources—of course, with the absorption efficiency of just one Gathering Light Tower, it would take hundreds of years to accumulate enough, but as the reconstruction of Sword World progressed, such towers could be built repeatedly, exponentially increasing the absorption efficiency.
The materials needed for such a mystical Gathering Light Tower were surprisingly simple: pure Spirit Wind and the vigorous Qi Blood of young cultivators.
The Celestial Divine Sword's Wind Gathering Array, even in its most basic form, could perform precise filtering when gathering Heaven and Earth Spirit Wind. As the inheritor of the Immovable Tyrant Body, Li Qingming's vigorous Qi Blood was enough to make many Peak Wind-Rising Realm cultivators ashamed—of course, Li Qingming herself didn't have any direct perception of this, as she had spent most of the past month practicing the Immovable Tyrant Body lying in bed with no sense of the Overlord Body.
At its peak, Sword World had nine blazing suns, and their scorching light nourished billions of beings within. When released simultaneously, they could scorch vast plains in an instant. In the ultimate battle, Wang Jiu vaguely remembered using these nine suns as hidden weapons to land squarely on the Great Demon God Emperor's face, instantly scorching his Red Gold eyes and melting his once elegant and proud features into an ugly monstrosity.
Unfortunately, it didn't secure a complete victory.
Of course, with the Demon Race eliminated and the world at peace, Wang Jiu no longer urgently sought to restore the Divine Sword's peak Divine Techniques, but still found creating the first sun as soon as possible quite necessary.
Wind Gathering Array, Light Gathering Tower, with these two structures, the Sword World can truly enter a cycle independent of outside resources. Most of the structures and lifeforms within the Sword World can be synthesized through Spirit Wind and Essence of the Sun, though the efficiency of this synthesis is very low and not as effective as using ready-made materials for construction.
But who would have thought the mount, Li Qingming, is such a poor soul? Ever since they met, almost all resources have been earned by Wang Jiu himself. And the mount, who should be handling chores for its master, is practically useless other than lying in bed waiting for the monthly 9 taels of silver—oh, it recently increased to 100 taels.
"You're so annoying! Don't let me hear your monologue!"
On the bed, Li Qingming weakly protested, as the side effects of the Immovable Tyrant Body are particularly noticeable in the morning, taking at least half an hour from opening eyes to getting up...
And since she couldn't move, Li Qingming could only bicker with the Sword Spirit.
"Hmph, don't think you're so great just because you've earned some money. If it weren't for my cultivation of the Immovable Tyrant Body, I could earn money too, maybe even better than you."
Wang Jiu curiously asked, "Specifically how?"
Li Qingming was at a loss for words; it was just a spur of the moment argument, and the Sword Spirit took it seriously! As a young girl at the early stage of Wind-Rising Realm, how could she possibly earn hundreds of thousands of taels of silver or several hundred Spirit Stones all at once...
But at this point, she couldn't admit defeat to the Sword Spirit, so Li Qingming stubbornly said, "I can go to the Mutual Aid Association and take up tasks. If even you can earn money by copying books, I certainly can too."
Wang Jiu frowned, pondering over what kind of association task would allow his mount, with her limited skills, to earn tens of thousands in silver coins... After thinking it over, the only viable way seemed to be organ trafficking. Her practice of the Immovable Tyrant Body for nearly a month meant she was close to perfecting the First Heaven, greatly enhancing her physical condition; her five internal organs were remodeled, so aside from the brain, the other organs should fetch a good price.
Just then, a knocking sounded outside the door, accompanied by the transport Flying Sword, so Wang Jiu used Illusion Sword Technique to transform into a colorful dwarf to open the door.
When the door opened, a golden Flying Sword carrying a huge iron box floated in front of the door. As a transport Flying Sword, its hilt faced forward, with the sword tip at the back. In front of the hilt floated a piece of paper, which was the delivery confirmation slip.
"The recipient Li Qingming, please sign here after verification."
Wang Jiu, unable to mimic the mount's handwriting, casually doodled a smiley face of Li Qingming, and since the Golden Sword was a Magical Treasure lacking an Artifact Spirit, it actually accepted this form of signature. After dropping off the box, it disappeared in a flash.
Wang Jiu used a Shape Manipulation Array to lift the iron box, but he couldn't move it at all; the box weighed at least several hundred pounds, beyond the current capacity of the Shape Manipulation Array within the Sword World.
Fortunately, at this moment, Li Qingming finally shook off the side effects of the Immovable Tyrant Body, staggered to the door, and upon seeing Wang Jiu helplessly standing beside the iron box, couldn't help but laugh out loud.
But before the laughter stopped, Wang Jiu said, "The mount has arrived? Just in time, help me move this thing back."
"..."
Grinding her teeth, Li Qingming lifted the several hundred-pound box and returned to her room.
After opening the box, a dazzling light filled the room.
Wang Jiu exclaimed, "So many Spirit Stones!"
"Spirit Stones?"
"Yes, a full one hundred thousand pieces."
"What kind of joke is this!" Li Qingming squinted her eyes, "How could this box hold a hundred thousand Spirit Stones..."
"This is a modified storage box using Immortal Technique," Wang Jiu said, entering the box and taking a look around, "The space is quite vast; according to the Dobao Pavilion manual's pricing, the box alone is worth hundreds of Spirit Stones."
"Heavens, who... who would suddenly give me a hundred thousand Spirit Stones?" Li Qingming said, her voice trembling uncontrollably with excitement, "Could it be some kind, distant relative left their entire inheritance to me? Hahaha, I told you, if I earnestly make money, I can definitely do better than you!"
"No, this is sent to you by your mother." Wang Jiu found a letter inside the box.
"Mother?!" Li Qingming raised her eyebrows in astonishment and then frowned sharply, "Lu Xin?! Why would she give me so many Spirit Stones?"
Wang Jiu, holding the letter, said, "She wrote in the letter that she hopes to use this money to make up for the past neglect towards you... Well, congratulations, you're rich now."
But turning his head, Wang Jiu saw that Li Qingming's face had completely darkened.
"Are you regretting that you set the price too low last night? Indeed, considering Lu Xin's efficiency in spending money and the Li Family's asset level, you could've asked for fifty hundred thousand Spirit Stones."
Li Qingming slammed the box shut with a bang — nearly catching Wang Jiu's remaining sword body inside — then angrily said, "This is an insult to me!"
"Insult? Why?"
"She arrogantly thinks she can buy me off with money! Can't you see? She thinks that the harsh treatment she gave me in the past can just be remedied with money; damn it, I don't care about money at all!"
Wang Jiu said, "...If one day you truly don't care about money, now that would be a real oddity."
"Can you not speak so bluntly!" Li Qingming banged on the money box, "In short, I absolutely won't take this money!"
Wang Jiu paused for a moment, "Alright, since you don't want it, then..."
"You can't take it either!" Li Qingming said fiercely, "I will return this box, and then tell them that I, Li Qingming, will never eat the bread of idleness!"