"Huh? How did you know?"
Xu Xiaoshou was rather surprised, but when he recalled how quickly Su Qianqian had been able to come to him, he realized that she definitely knew everything.
"That guy came for me last night." What she said surprised him.
He was flabbergasted. "You already knew he came for you and yet you're still all smiles?" he thought.
However, he was stunned at the same time. He figured that the Tiansang Spirit Palace was actually mobilizing the powers of the entire place just to keep this girl before him safe.
Su Qianqian's expression seemed to say "relax." She raised her hand and patted his shoulder for a bit to comfort him.
"There are 21 famed swords on the continent. With the exception of those lost ones, all are pretty much protected by certain sword wielders."
"The previous wielder of Epitaph of City Snow was my grandfather."
"When I was young, three waves of assassins would come to my place every night on average, all of them there for the sword. But then again, as expected, all of them were dead."
"I've gotten used to situations like this." She looked totally unconcerned.
Xu Xiaoshou was shocked. This was the first time he'd heard the little girl talk about such things.
Su Qianqian put her hands behind her back, acting like an old person. It was obvious that she was doing an impression of her grandfather.
"My grandfather fell ill when I was 10. Everyone at home started touching the sword, as famed swords pick their next wielder.
"Everyone had high hopes for my father, as he'd been preparing for that day for decades.
"Yet, a year later, it was I who earned its recognition, and I became its wielder when I was 11."
Xu Xiaoshou caught the underlying bitterness in the otherwise cheerful tone in which she elaborated her story. He then asked, "The number of intruders skyrocketed, then?"
"Yeah." Su Qianqian nodded, and her eyes reddened. "My father, he died fighting…"
"If it'd been him carrying the sword, he wouldn't have died. He had prepared for so long…"
The sword then hummed, and the surrounding temperature dropped sharply. Xu Xiaoshou then patted her on the head to comfort her.
"Everyone has their own encounters, be they good or bad.
"The sword has chosen you, so you're destined to bear more on your shoulders. Don't get saddened over it."
He was overcome with emotion.
Such is the workings of fate. Whether you're prepared or not, when it comes, it comes.
There's no point dwelling in the past.
Whether you can endure and survive it and make it into something that will benefit you is what should occupy your thoughts.
The same thing had happened to him and to Su Qianqian.
He wondered if the others would catch, dissect, or study him if they ever discovered this thing in his mind or somehow realized that something was off with him.
Xu Xiaoshou then shuddered and thought about Elder Sang and that masked man.
The pattern was already there!
However, the thing in his head was still concealed, in a manner of speaking, and even if someone did detect that something was wrong with him, he could still brush the anomalies over with words like "genius," "hard work," or whatnot.
Yet things were different with Su Qianqian.
The wielders of famed swords…
That was an identity that would forever remain known to the public. What she had to face and take on was the greed of the entire world of spiritual cultivation.
Perhaps, instead of being called "fate," this should be called "karma" instead.
Some people were indeed fated from birth to carry certain things on their shoulders.
Xu Xiaoshou then hugged the girl to comfort her, but this meant something else in the eyes of the spectators.
"Sh**! Xu Xiaoshou… you animal!"
"Su Qianqian is still a child! How could you do this to her!?"
"No, Xu Xiaoshou, stop! You're not a member of the Inner Yard yet! How could you do such a thing to a female disciple of the Inner Yard?"
"Arrggghh! I wanna be hugged like that too…"
Xu Xiaoshou then awkwardly let go of her, and she also blushed.
"Well, let's get to the skies. Those mortals…"
He waved and put the [Reverse Sword Subduing] to work and took to the skies.
Everyone watched as the two of them flew higher and higher. They were all left feeling puzzled.
"You're dissing us because we can't fly, huh?" they thought.
"D*mn you, Xu Xiaoshou!"
[Cursed, Passive Points +112]
[Resented, Passive Points +69]
"…"
Both of them chatted as they flew, and it didn't take long for them to almost reach the Inner Yard.
Su Qianqian then left. She had fulfilled the goal of her trip—telling her Brother Xiaoshou to beware of the ones from the Inner Yard—after all.
The Passive Points accumulated in his mind had already exceeded the 5000 mark by the time he sent her away.
He gleefully landed on the ground.
He realized that this was definitely quite a way of earning points. Although he wouldn't have much of any fight to fight in the future, he could still get to the streets to earn points.
His being able to fly alone had already earned the envy of a good number of people from the Outer Yard.
Because none of them knew how to fly.
He thought of something else and stood looking at the gate of the Inner Yard for a long time.
Nothing was extraordinary about that gate. It had no barriers, and no one was guarding it, as there was simply no need to.
The law had it that disciples of the Outer Yard weren't allowed inside, and any who was discovered doing so would suffer harsh penalties.
Yet, Xu Xiaoshou stepped inside all the same.
That one step made him felt like he'd crossed into a different world. The concentration of spiritual energy was very high. But, having upgraded his [Breathing Technique] to [Innate Level], it didn't phase him.
Instead, he felt ticklish all over.
It felt comfortable yet uncomfortable at the same time.
That was the very reason why he was extremely reluctant to upgrade the [Breathing Technique], as a change in his living space meant having to get used to everything all over again.
However, he deemed that it was important to accept all of it.
He clenched his fists and did his best to hang on.
Ahh~
He still was unable to bear with it.
He immediately felt a lot better after he moaned and released his tension.
He relaxed, and he recalled the scene when he'd bowed to Elder Sang as his master, the sun rising in the east in the background.
It felt dreamy and unreal.
Elder Sang lived up to his reputation as an extremely peculiar person. Right after the ritual, the elder had set up rules.
First, Xu Xiaoshou was forbidden to call him "master."
Second, he wasn't allowed to tell anyone else about the relationship between the two of them.
Third, he had to look for Elder Sang once at the Spiritual Library Division within three days.
Xu Xiaoshou was completely fine with the first two rules, but it was the third one that was giving him a headache.
He started to get restless as soon as he thought of having to see that old fart on his own accord, even though Elder Sang had become his master.
Yet, said old fart had made that a rule nonetheless, which spoke volumes of its importance.
However, if Xu Xiaoshou were to just do according to his own wishes, hiding in his place to build his house in secret, said old fart would come looking for him and that would be the end of him.
"Whatever. The sooner I get it done, the sooner I can put it behind me. I'll make the order at the Spiritual Affairs Division after I see Elder Sang."
He quickened his steps as he thought about this, and it took him mere moments to reach that unassuming, rustic three-storied building.
The Spiritual Library Division.
The barrier had already been opened by the time he got close, and the door was wide open.
Xu Xiaoshou was feeling rather impressed. "You knew I was here without having to see for yourself, huh?" he thought.
He steeled himself and walked into the place.
There were the familiar shelves as soon as he walked onto the first floor.
He touched them as he walked past.
"Get to the third floor," an exasperated voice was heard in his mind.
Third floor?
Xu Xiaoshou took a book out and shook it for a bit. As expected, there was nothing.
He recalled how, the last time he was there, Xiao Qixiu had emphasized that they were not allowed to go to the third floor, which made the third floor very mysterious to him.
He'd initially thought that the place held [Master Level Spiritual Techniques], but from the looks of things, he wondered if that was where Elder Sang lived.
"Well, a floor reserved specifically for the caretaker doesn't seem like a big deal," he thought.
Tap, tap, tap.
He walked briskly up to the second floor and was immediately attracted by the halos.
During his last visit, he was so obedient that he'd stayed on the first floor and hadn't so much as even batted an eye at the second floor.
As such, he totally didn't expect the place to look like this.
No more shelves and only halos instead then…
"What are these by the way?" he thought.
He walked up to them out of curiosity.
"Third floor!" the voice in his head firmly rang out again.
Xu Xiaoshou was baffled.
"What's the rush, man?" he thought. "Like it's time for reincarnation on the third floor or what?
"The rules said to look for you in three days.
"Couldn't you let me read the books for two days before that instead?
"I've been a human in two lives, and this is the only time I've been so studious."
It went without saying that he didn't dare to say any of this out loud.
He quickly walked to the third floor afterward.
"Coming up now!"