The intelligence that Su Qianqian had given him definitely wasn't unremarkable.
Xu Xiaoshou had learned all of a sudden that his enemy was more than just the likes of Feng Kong and Shao Yi; he had to contend with the likes of the Inner Yard Thirty-three.
Worse still, that was how things were in the spirit palace. If he were to go outside, he would probably have to deal with the Zhang and Wen family of Tiansang Prefecture.
He felt as if his head were about to split open. He'd never thought that a single match would end up giving him such a massive problem.
"That d*mned Wen Chong is to blame for all of this…" He put his head in his arms and seemed to space out.
Su Qianqian looked concerned. Xu Xiaoshou thought for a bit and saw that he had no choice but to put the matter aside.
What would come, would come, and he'd have to deal with those problems sooner or later. There might be further trials and tribulations waiting for him as he grew more.
"I'm alright."
After assuring Su Qianqian that he was fine, he glanced at the massive sword she was carrying on her back and recalled the masked person from last night and what Elder Sang had said.
"Do you mind letting me have a look at your sword?"
"Sure, go ahead."
Without any hesitation, Su Qianqian took the sword in her hand before handing it over and saying, "This thing has its own preference with people and it may not like you."
"Oh?" Xu Xiaoshou put his hand on it, and the blade trembled violently all of a sudden, which caused him to jerk his had back as if he'd been electrocuted. "Yeesh, that's eerie."
Su Qianqian then grinned and continued, "That's how sentience works. The more powerful a sword is, the more sentient it is."
He pondered this, then pulled out Hiding Pain. He said with a grin, "I guess you could say that my sword has sentience as well."
That immediately piqued her interest. She knew that his black sword was no more than ninth-grade.
Could a ninth-grade sword have sentience?
"Take a look."
Xu Xiaoshou turned his sword around and pointed it at himself. The black sword immediately started trembling, despite the fact that he'd done nothing else than point it in his direction.
Vooom!
He then turned the sword around, and the trembling diminished.
Voom!
She was puzzled. The sword's sentience was peculiar.
[Doubted, Passive Points +1]
"Don't believe me?" Xu Xiaoshou then snorted. "You don't get out much, do you?"
He turned the black sword around.
Vooom!
Voom…
Voooom!
Voom…
She was baffled, not knowing what to make of this. "What the…" she thought.
[Doubted, Passive Points +16]
[Doubted, Passive Points +37]
"…"
It was his turn to be startled. Why had he earned so many Passive Points?
He glanced around him and saw that the two of them had caught the attention of everyone who was training nearby.
Some among them had already recognized Su Qianqian. The champion of the Outer Yard visiting Goose Lake with Su Qianqian of the Inner Yard was considered huge news.
Word had spread like wildfire, and the number of people gathering around had gradually increased.
Su Qianqian was unfettered, for she had long gotten used to having people surrounding her and staring at her. Geniuses would attract attention wherever they went, after all.
Xu Xiaoshou also wasn't that uncomfortable, for having more people around meant bagging more Passive Points.
He paid no mind to those people and forcibly took the trembling massive sword in his hand.
Yet, before he was able to take a good look at it, the sword shot into the air all of a sudden and returned to its scabbard strapped to Su Qianqian's back.
He was completely dumbfounded for a moment. He looked at his Hiding Pain, wishing that his sword could be something more.
"Just look at that sword, will you?" he thought to himself. "Now that's sentience. All you have is a tendency to give your wielder trouble!"
Su Qianqian grinned. She pulled the massive sword out again and handed it over to Xu Xiaoshou.
"Be good now."
The sword was just about to tremble again, but when it heard her say this, it quieted down all of a sudden.
Xu Xiaoshou was utterly impressed by what he was seeing, and he took a good look at the sword.
The entire blade was snow-white, and it was unusually thick and heavy. It was totally different from other large swords in that it was more like a thick piece of tablet.
Despite having an [Innate Level Physique], he was actually able to feel its weight.
"What a nice sword," he complimented. This massive blade in his hand was leaps and bounds better than his Hiding Pain.
No. The two couldn't even be compared in the first place.
As he took a good look at the sword, he was able to sense misery and sorrow from the quieted snow-white massive blade.
He couldn't help but be pulled in by it, and he seemed to see a massive gravestone, one that looked like it'd been standing since ancient times, on a vast, boundless swath of wasteland covered in snow that had never seen change for thousands of years.
Loneliness and sorrow flooded him.
His vision then blurred, and the image disappeared suddenly, leaving only the sword before his eyes.
Xu Xiaoshou shook his head for a bit before looking up.
[Doubted, Passive Points +64]
[Revered, Passive Points +89]
"Huh?" he thought.
"What just happened?"
Then, in his periphery, he saw that Goose Lake was covered with a layer of frost.
"What the f**k?
"It's summer now and the sun is hanging high above, man!"
He was gradually called back to his senses by the anxious, concerned voice of Su Qianqian calling out to him, "Brother Xiaoshou?"
However, it was more the chattering noises from everyone around them that filled his ears.
"Holy sh**! Why was there a chill all of a sudden? It felt like my soul was about to be frozen over!"
"Look, the lake froze!"
"Well, something so peculiar could've only come from Xu Xiaoshou. Just what the hell happened?"
"Is there anyone knowledgeable enough to enlighten me? I'm so d*mn confused!"
No one replied. They were all puzzled, and Xu Xiaoshou was just as puzzled as they were.
Su Qianqian was the only one who was filled with shock. "You could see it?"
She then realized something all of a sudden. "Oh, right. You have [Innate Sword Will] too."
Xu Xiaoshou struggled to hide the roiling shock that he was feeling inside. So, this was what famed swords were like?
One look and it could drag people into its world?
"Epitaph of City Snow… a gravestone?"
"Yeah." Su Qianqian didn't deny it.
"Could you tell me its story?" Xu Xiaoshou felt that the sword definitely had a story of its own.
Su Qianqian then giggled gleefully, not expecting that someone other than her grandfather would like to hear her tell a story.
She took the sword over and caressed it. The sword then hummed with pleasure, looking like it was very much enjoying it.
"In ancient times, there was a sword saint named Chengxue.
"He had a very good friend who was also a sword saint. This friend was into the killing arts, and as such, was known as the Killer Sword Saint.
"He succumbed to demonic tendencies one day and accidentally killed Chengxue. The Killer Sword Saint was in pain and regretted it when he came to, so he set Chengxue's sword up as a gravestone to weather the ages."
Xu Xiaoshou waited for quite a bit, but Su Qianqian didn't continue.
"You're done?"
"Yeah." Su Qianqian then looked up with a puzzled look on her face. "That's the story of the Epitaph of City Snow. Did I miss anything?"
"…"
Xu Xiaoshou was feeling rather flustered by this point. Yeah, the story was straightforward and got to the point, but somehow he felt...
Shouldn't there be more to the story than that?
What happened to the details?
Shouldn't the death of a sword saint be sorrowful yet epic at the same time?
What was she thinking by skimping on the details like that? She couldn't have told a more simpler story if she'd tried.
"Nice one."
"Simple and to the point."
He couldn't help but feel impressed, and then asked, "Are there swords more precious than this in the Tiansang Spirit Palace?"
Su Qianqian flashed a beaming smile after hearing his compliments. Then she shook her head casually. "None."
"Think hard and serious. There's yet another sword more powerful than this one!" Xu Xiaoshou said seriously.
Su Qianqian's smile froze, and she tilted her head and pondered this, then answered seriously. "None."
"For real?"
"Yep."
His heart sank right away. He'd figured that was the case, yet it just couldn't be.
If there were indeed none, then the sword that the masked person was looking for would be none other than Su Qianqian's Epitaph of City Snow.
That guy was someone even those big shots in the Tiansang Spirit Palace couldn't take out. If he were to set his sights on Su Qianqian, what would become of her?
"Sh**." Xu Xiaoshou was feeling anxious.
Su Qianqian glanced at him, then seemed to realize something. "Brother Xiaoshou, are you concerned about that masked guy from last night?"