Su Bing had passed out due to her fear of seeing the White Guard's severed head roll beneath her. She was exerting a death grip around Jin Shu's chest, and despite his best attempts to pry her hands off, he was unsuccessful.
The White Guard's body stumbled over to pick its head back up off the ground. When it grabbed its head, it dusted it off, even though it was a spirit and shouldn't be able to pick up any dust. It then put its head back between its shoulders.
The Black and White Guards then seemed to start quarreling silently, making threatening gestures at each other.
Neigh!
They were soon enough interrupted by a loud neighing. Galaxy had been the last to awaken from his absent-minded state.
Ugh! My annoying husband has awakened. Although Sky sounded annoyed when she mentioned her husband, you could still hear a hint of love hidden in her voice.
Everyone looked over to see Galaxy with what looked like a floating field of stars shimmering around him. The stars quickly shifted between various shapes that resembled constellations in the night sky. The stars' shifting became faster and faster over time until they were nothing but a silver blur. Then, suddenly, they vanished, and Galaxy was revealed from within what looked like a cocoon of silver lights.
Neigh!
Galaxy's coat of fur was no longer covered in silver speckles; he had regained his pure jet-black fur. He stepped towards the others, and as he moved, his fur seemed to shimmer with an endless array of silvery starlights. Every step he took left a wake of silvery lights behind, as if he were wearing an endlessly flowing cape of stars.
Neigh!
(Translation: How cool do I look, wife?)
Galaxy neighed as he stepped up to his wife.
You're wasting your energy by doing that; you will need many nights to recover from this expenditure.
Snort?
(Translation: Is this your voice in my head, wife?)
Galaxy was so surprised by the voice in his head that he stopped neighing and went back to snorting.
Hmph! If you aren't less obnoxious in the future, I'll use my new powers to read your mind and see what mares you've been thinking about! Sky lied about her powers to scare Galaxy.
S-snort!?
(Translation: W-what mares? I only ever think of you, wife!)
How about I read your mind, and we can see if that's true or not, hm?
Snort!
(Translation: Nooo! There's no need for that, wife. I'm telling the truth, I promise!)
Humph! Fine, I'll believe you for now. However, you'd better get your act together, or I'll really do it!
Snort!
(Translation: You can trust me, wife!)
Snort?
(Translation: By the way, how are you speaking in my mind?)
It's part of my blessing. Your mind is already linked with mine, so you can speak back using your thoughts as well.
Um? Like this?
Yes, just like that.
Wow! This is very awesome, wife! To celebrate your amazing new ability, how about you and I sneak off from the rest later and—
"Hm, hm! Galaxy! We can all hear your thoughts." Jin Shu cleared his throat to get Galaxy's attention.
Where are Mommy and Daddy going?
Yin'er bets they are going to sneak away to eat food. Sometimes, when Yin'er gets tasty food, Yin'er likes to hide away and eat it so no one else can have any.
Is that what happened to the missing pancakes I made a few days ago?
Yin'er doesn't know what Daddy's talking about... Yin'er said while looking away guiltily.
Jin Shu shook his head while chuckling. Anyways, Sky, why don't you tell us what blessing Galaxy acquired?
Okay. My husband was blessed by the God of Stars. With the blessing comes the power to absorb a special energy from the stars called starlight. With the starlight energy, Galaxy can use it as he did just now—wastefully—or he can infuse it into his Qi to strengthen himself. If he can successfully combine it with his Qi, he could possibly unlock a special attribute known as Starfire! Unfortunately, my stupid husband wasted most of the pure starlight that the God of Stars had added to the blessing to help in the combination process with his Qi.
I'm not stupi—!
Galaxy was going to begin arguing, but with a glare from Sky, he quickly shut up.
This is all well and good; however, we still need to pass on the Goddess of Death's inheritance to the young miss. The Black Guard chose this time to intervene in the conversation, as they had a job to do, and it needed to be done sooner rather than later.
Ah right, I forgot Su Bing was still passed out on my back. Jin Shu tried to pry Su Bing's hands off once more, but she just wouldn't let go, so he was forced to take his outer robe off. He laid her on the ground, leaned over, and attempted to wake her. "Su Bing! Wake up! Wake u—ow!"
Su Bing jolted awake suddenly. As Jin Shu leaned over her, her head slammed into his nose. "Ow! My head!" She held her hands up to her aching head as a small bump formed.
Jin Shu had his hands covering his nose as a silver liquid slowly dripped from between his fingers.
Su Bing glanced up and saw Jin Shu bleeding. At first, she was confused as to why his nose was bleeding, but then realization dawned on her. Oh no! I broke Jin Shu's nose! I hope to the gods I didn't ruin his handsome face! she thought to herself. However, what she had forgotten was that her thoughts were still linked with everyone.
"So, you think my face is handsome?" Jin Shu asked with a smirk, though he winced in pain as talking caused his injured nose to move.
Pfft! Hahaha! Hehehe! Ahahaha!
The Black and White Guards, along with Sky and Galaxy, all began laughing.
A horrified expression took over Su Bing's face, and tears began forming in her eyes from the embarrassment.
"I'm sorry, it was just a joke, Su Bing!" Jin Shu apologized when he saw the tears in her eyes, thinking that she was about to cry.
"Sniff! I'm fine." she said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
Young miss, I'm sorry to interrupt, but my colleague and I don't have much time left. We can only stay in the human world for a few more hours, and we must complete our objective. Otherwise, we risk annihilation!
Su Bing surprisingly didn't scream in fear when the Black Guard floated over towards her. She was probably still in a state of shock from having her embarrassing thoughts heard by everyone.
I would like to refuse.
Young miss, please reconsider! If you don't accept this inheritance, we will have our souls destroyed! The Goddess of Death allows for little leeway in the accomplishment of missions that she personally handles.
Do I have to deal with ghosts if I accept her inheritance?
Ghosts...? Oh! You mean vengeful spirits? You would not deal with such lowly creatures. With the inheritance of the Goddess of Death, once mastered, you would be akin to a minor deity of death! You could mold the souls of the dead with a mere thought! If you take the techniques in the inheritance a step beyond mastery, you could even rise again from death! And raise from the dead someone who had recently died! Let me tell you something, although this may sound harsh, so I apologize in advance. If you don't accept this inheritance, you will lag far behind this young man here. I possess a meager ability of divination, and I have sensed that this young man's destiny will be far beyond your own. You will eventually be left behind as he goes on to heights beyond a mere mortal's reach unless you accept the Goddess's inheritance!
After hearing the Black Guard's long speech, Su Bing was too stunned to speak. She stared blankly at him for a few moments before gradually awakening from her stupor. So, no ghosts?
The Black Guard didn't know whether to laugh or cry after hearing her question. He answered her after shaking his head in disbelief. No, there will be no ghosts.
Um... okay, I'll try accepting the inheritance.
What a wonderful choice! And I'm not just saying that because my life is on the line, haha! Here, take this. The Black Guard held out a jade slip. This jade slip contains the Goddess's inheritance. Place this against your forehead and infuse it with your Qi. The inheritance will be directly imprinted in your mind.
Su Bing hesitantly reached for the jade slip. When her fingers accidentally brushed against the Black Guard's fingers and passed through them, she shuddered. However, against all odds, she didn't scream. Her tolerance for ghosts seemed to be improving.
How does a piece of jade contain an inheritance?
This piece of jade is what is called a Jade Scroll. It is used by cultivators to store knowledge and can be a very useful tool for passing on techniques.
She held the Jade Scroll against her forehead and infused it with her Qi. The knowledge inside of this jade slip was immense, so it took more than a couple of minutes for her to absorb it all.
---
It had been an hour since Su Bing started to inherit all of the knowledge inside the Jade Scroll, and she had still yet to inherit all of the knowledge contained inside. Everyone else used this extra time to get used to their new abilities, except Yin'er and Star, who ran off to play nearby. Galaxy, with some help from Sky, had begun the process of combining his Qi with the starlight energy in the hopes of acquiring the Starfire attribute. As for Jin Shu, he was currently inside his mind space. Sky had explained a bit more about how to effectively use his new ability, so he was trying out a new feature he had just learned of.
Analyze model 1. Jin Shu spoke inside his mind. A mechanical voice responded.
Analyzing model 1... error, unknown metal... updating database with host's memories... update successfully completed... re-analyzing model 1... changing designation of model 1 based on host's memories... model 1 designation changed to M1911... analysis complete... would the host like the analysis now? Or should it be saved?
Now.
Reading analysis... M1911: - class: runic weapon... sub-class: firearm... grade: peak low-grade... runes: lowest-grade durability, Qi circulation, explosion, sharpness... low-grade flame, wind... power: peak spirit-strengthening realm... material: Living Metal... material grade: unknown... material properties: can merge runes onto each other... recommendation: based on data of similar materials with similar functions, it is recommended that the host merge all runes into one rune. If the analysis is correct, the result will be a sum greater than their parts.
This was the new feature that Jin Shu had just discovered. It allowed him to utilize what was essentially a computer program to analyze the 3D models in his mind space. Jin Shu found it to be quite futuristic compared to the world he was currently living in. However, he had admittedly only seen a minuscule fraction of the world and had no idea what lay beyond the boundaries of the lands he lived in.
Before he could experiment more with this new feature, Jin Shu heard a cracking noise from behind him. He turned to see Su Bing shaking off broken pieces of jade from her hands.
Was this supposed to break? she asked the Black Guard, who had been floating near her the entire time.
Yes, that Jade Scroll was designed to be only one use to safeguard the Goddess's inheritance. Now that you have inherited the Goddess's techniques, our job is done. Now it is up to you to master those techniques, and when you are strong enough, you must travel to the Underworld and pay your respects to your master. As the Black Guard was speaking, both he and the White Guard slowly faded away. They had gone back to the Underworld, no doubt to report their mission successful.