Whimper~
Whimpering—
At night, the wind was strong, blowing in through the open doors and windows, chilling to the bone.
Tang Xin scratched her face, feeling so cold that she climbed out of bed and rubbed her eyes that hadn’t fully opened yet.
“Did I sleep this long?”
Qi Refining Foundation Building cultivators still can’t escape the physical constraints, so eating, drinking, and sleeping are indispensable, only that they can sleep less than ordinary people.
Getting out of bed and stretching, Tang Xin prepared to discuss tomorrow’s matters with Elder Linghua.
Whimper!
A gust of wind swept through, closing the window with a startling noise.
“Is the wind always this strong at night on Jingxin Peak?”
Tang Xin complained, looking around the wooden house, only to find that Elder Linghua was not inside.
Hmm… She wouldn’t have run away, right? Just to avoid the duties that an elder should undertake?
Impossible, truly impossible…
“Let’s leave it till tomorrow,” the night wind made Tang Xin shiver, she hugged her arms and muttered to herself, “Back to the warmth of my bed…”
Whimper~
“I don’t want to die~ I’m not ready to die yet~ Please no~”
A faint voice arose beside Tang Xin’s ear.
“Let me out~ Hurry, let me out~”
She frowned, confirming that the voice was real and not her own hallucination.
Snap!
The door of the wooden house eerily closed on its own, and inexplicable echoes began to fill the room.
Haunted?
A grand cultivation sect, and it’s haunted? Is this some kind of mistake?
“Tang, Tang Xin…”
Someone was calling her name.
“I stand upright and fear no shadow, unmatched in righteousness,” Tang Xin pointed with two fingers towards the direction of the voice, “Evil spirits, begone!”
And then…
“Can you let me finish speaking,” Su Ling muttered, her face being pointed at, “Do you have to bully me first?”
Tang Xin quickly withdrew her hand.
“I should have said so earlier, I thought it was haunted…”
“No,” Su Ling frowned, “It is haunted… I forgot, tonight is the Sword Tomb Day.”
“Sword Tomb Day? What’s that?”
She asked.
“In the eyes of us sword cultivators, swords have life,” the young girl explained, “Since they have life, they also have death. The Sword Tomb is akin to a graveyard for swords. At a certain time, all the resentment in the graveyard converges, and that is the Sword Tomb Day.”
“Uh,” Tang Xin propped her chin, “Don’t tell me there’s a Sword Tomb on this mountain…”
“Correct, there indeed is,” Su Ling spoke softly, “Normally, such an ominous place like the Sword Tomb should be located in a remote area, but our master is a highly skilled sword cultivator, fully capable of suppressing it… Speaking of which, where is the master?”
“I don’t know…”
“This is bad,” Su Ling’s expression turned grim, “Did she also forget about the Sword Tomb Day? Without her here, the resentful spirits in the Sword Tomb are going to cause havoc!”
“How bad is the situation?”
Tang Xin already guessed what they had to do next.
“If we don’t suppress the resentful spirits in the Sword Tomb, they might break through the formation and escape outside,” the girl said solemnly. “It won’t kill anyone, but it will cause a lot of trouble and harm innocent disciples.”
【Main Quest Triggered】
【Suppress the Sword Tomb with Su Ling to maintain the peace of Xuanling Sect.】
【Quest Reward: A Soul Devouring Banner】
Hiss, this reward?
Why does it feel like it’s meant for a villain?
“No, I have to check it out!”
Su Ling strapped her spirit sword to her waist and walked towards the gate with a serious expression.
“Alright, I’ll take a look too.”
Tang Xin followed her.
“You?” The girl was somewhat surprised. “The Sword Tomb tonight is very dangerous.”
“I am the chief disciple,” Tang Xin pointed to herself. “Maintaining the peace of Xuanling Sect is my responsibility.”
Su Ling gave her a deep look.
“Alright,” she lowered her voice. “Follow me closely, move carefully, and if you get scared, hide back in the wooden hut. The residual power of our master here should be enough to protect you.”
“Understood!”
…
Outside the wooden hut.
The eerie howling became clear and audible. Many areas were covered in a layer of ghostly green, looking quite sinister and terrifying.
“It is a bit scary,” Tang Xin said. “I wouldn’t want to walk here at night either.”
She turned her head to look at the trembling sword cultivator girl hiding behind her and sighed.
Just coming out of the cabin, you’re already this scared? How are we supposed to make it to the Sword Tomb like this?
“Why aren’t you scared at all?”
Su Ling asked, stuttering.
Why should I be scared? If a ghost comes, we’ll just fight it off, right?
【Option generating…】
【Option 1: Use the sky as a blanket and the earth as a bed, do what should be done on the bed, push down Su Ling amidst the terrifying atmosphere.】
【Success rate 50%, reward: top-grade material, Sun Moon Star Pearl. Failure results in instant death.】
【Option 2: Mock Su Ling with “Is that all? Is that all? Is that all?”】
【Success rate 100%, reward: medium-grade material, Thunderstrike Wood.】
【Option 3: Open your arms to Su Ling and say “Let’s hug.”】
【Success rate 100%, reward: a cup of spring water from Tranquil Peak.】
“…”
Tang Xin opened her arms to Su Ling.
“What are you doing?”
The girl looked at her, puzzled.
“Protecting you,” Tang Xin replied. “I heard that vengeful spirits like girls who are flat-chested. If we hug, maybe they won’t target you.”
“Pervert!”
【Current shyness value: 2.5】
However, Su Ling was much more spirited after being diverted by Tang Xin, regrouped, and together they reached the Sword Tomb at the top of Tranquil Peak.
From a distance, this place showed signs of ominousness.
Visible emerald mists lingered on the tombstones, rolling around without dispersing. Harsh, jumbled noises continuously emanated from the Sword Tomb.
“I want to get out…”
“Bring me a young girl…”
“No, no, I prefer someone with a more explosive figure…”
Swords, being weapons of slaughter, are more susceptible to corruption by negative emotions than other spiritual tools.
These negative emotions, accumulated over years, would transform into spirit bodies without consciousness, commonly known as resentful spirits.
Ordinary resentful spirits could only scare people in graveyards and possessed no other abilities.
However, this place was a cultivation sect, abundant in spiritual energy. The swords in the Sword Tomb were not ordinary, with some even retaining traces of their weapon spirits.
Their power was not to be underestimated.
“Master said,” Su Ling held the spiritual sword tightly, vigilantly watching ahead, “many of the broken swords here were defeated by her…”
In the Sword Tomb, some spiritual swords were missing their hilts, some were left with only half of their blades, and some appeared intact but felt deathly still, hardly a single one was in good condition.
“The defeated under a Nascent Soul cultivator are very dangerous for us,” Tang Xin stimulated her dantian, ready to fight at any moment, “How do we suppress this Sword Tomb?”
“There’s a Sword Cleansing Pool in the center of the Sword Tomb,” Su Ling said, “Removing the resentment from those spiritual swords will quiet the tomb… But the swords in the pool are extraordinary.”
“Alright, let’s be careful…”
Meanwhile, in the Sword Cleansing Pool of the Sword Tomb, a broken sword with only half of its blade left, engraved with the character “氵”, emitted a strange glow…
