“You shouldn’t choose Argent Snow,” a familiar voice sounded behind Lu Yun. He turned around to see that Xing Chen had arrived at some point in time.
He tilted his head, discovering that the formidable Nihil World Sovereign was… a child? She’d taken the appearance of a seventeen year old young woman last time he saw her, but this time, she looked to be even younger.
She seemed to be only twelve years old and had the most charming features. Apart from her frosty expression, she appeared just like a porcelain doll.
“Why do you… look like this?” Tongue-tied, Lu Yun stared at Xing Chen.
Her face darkened noticeably and she grumbled, “This is the ninth floor of the Mount Buzhou treasury. All beings can only appear in their true form unless your strength and cultivation level exceeds the Star Sovereign King’s.”
She was immensely dissatisfied and highly suspected that Ah Zhi had created this rule specifically for her. After her cultivation deviated one time in her youth, her true external appearance had been held at twelve years old ever since. She’d tried numerous ways to reverse the change, but nothing was successful in facilitating her growth.
Though Xing Chen now stood at the peak of Nihil World Sovereign and was about to activate sequence, she still looked like a twelve year old child.
Her appearance was sure to invite jokes and laughter—while no one would dare make fun of her to her face, she’d changed her appearance with illusions nonetheless.
“I see.” Lu Yun looked down at himself. His Shapeshifting death art was still active and he remained in the form of Feng Feifan. It wasn’t that his strength was greater than Ah Zhi’s, but that death arts were so wondrous they’d changed his body structure for the disguise.
The Feng Feifan of the mythological realm had been a replica that Lu Yun created from a heaven defying treasure and severed karmic ties with. When his past self transformed into a dao fruit, Feng Feifan had naturally crumbled away to dust.
With Lu Yun being Feng Feifan at the moment, the rules within the treasury didn’t affect his appearance.
“Alright, let’s cut the nonsense. You should choose the Profound Pagoda.” Xing Chen changed the subject. Though she tried to keep the usual arctic tones in her voice, her words still carried a trace of languid sweetness as befitting a twelve year old child.
“Don’t you dare laugh! The pagoda is the first of the eight soul weapons. If you’re strong enough, that’s the one you should pick.” Xing Chen almost erupted with outrage when she looked at Lu Yun’s beet red face. He was flushed with the exertion of holding his amusement in.
“I have the Profound Pagoda already.” He brought out the Army Pagoda with a flip of his hand.
“Is that… the legendary Army Pagoda?” Xing Chen blinked. “But the rules within it have changed and it’s no longer a soul weapon.
“Well, since you have the Army Pagoda, it would indeed be inappropriate to choose another Profound Pagoda. Then you should take Lunar Pivot,” she thought for a moment. “Or Serene Annex.”
“Why not Argent Snow?” Lu Yun frowned. He was already holding it in his hand and had subdued it. He only needed to infuse it with his soul force to use it.
“The sect possesses the complete legacies and battle methods of the other three weapons. Only Argent Snow lacks anything other than the weapon,” Xing Chen explained. “We also only have ten of them—I got them when I destroyed another sect. It’s not one of our own inheritances.
“The only person who is better skilled with it is Xing Mochou’s head disciple, Xing Heng. He’s part of the remnants of the sect I destroyed and he joined us for revenge.”
Having interrogated the traitorous disciple, she now knew everything about him. She’d already executed him and scattered his soul upon the wind. Anyone who joined the Star Sect with such ulterior motives would meet with the same ignoble end.
“Since he’s one of the remnants of that sect, you should be able to search his mind for information about Argent Snow, no?” Lu Yun was a bit surprised that Xing Chen didn’t mention the destroyed sect’s name. There were some other things at play here that he plainly wasn’t privy to.
“No.” Xing Chen shook her head. “I felt it was too much of a hassle and just killed him.”
“And you don’t think coming to persuade me is too much of a hassle?” Lu Yun blurted out.
She raked him with a frosty look. “The Star Sovereign King is too lazy to come, so she sent me instead. This is incredibly annoying. Just take it if you’re not willing to switch to another.” She left without further ado.
Lu Yun rubbed his forehead and looked at Xing Chen’s departing back, then at Argent Snow in his hand. Though he was a Nihil World Sovereign and skilled in formula dao, soul weapons were too powerful and versatile. He did indeed need one with a heritage that he could study.
An Argent Snow without a background would be less useful than the Profound Pagoda, Serene Annex, or Lunar Pivot.
“Which one should I choose?” His head was starting to ache. Argent Snow was most suited to him out of the four soul weapons, but his current mastery of formula dao couldn’t derive anything about its specific uses.
“Xing Heng used its Domain of First Snowfall to pierce through the worlds that I projected from the Metal and Water Virtue Orbs…”
It was the first time in his life to be so indecisive as he didn’t know what to do. Soul weapons were more than just a tool, they were also a cultivation path from which there could be no turning back.
“Argent Snow it is!” He grit his teeth and banished all other thoughts. His first choice had been Argent Snow, so he should follow his gut and hold true to his first inclination.
He infused his soul force into Argent Snow.
Hmmmm.
Silver snowflakes drifted through the void—one hundred and eight in total. This was the first stage out of three in its domains. The snowflakes could be shaped into swords, formations, and talismans.
“Since you’ve chosen Argent Snow, you can visit Ingress Sword Island. There may be its legacy there. And, the sect I destroyed was one established by the Sword Clan. Argent Snow is one of their soul weapons,” came Xing Chen’s voice laden with schadenfreude. “However, you’re a Star Sect disciple. That Her Sovereign Majesty permits you to come to the ninth level means you have the right to access it, but privilege and obligation go hand in hand. Since you’ve obtained Argent Snow, you’re in charge of finding its inheritance.”
Lu Yun: ……
“That… was on purpose!” he chuckled ruefully. “What a nice show of push and pull! She wasn’t here to persuade me to give up Argent Snow, but to make sure I would choose it and search out its legacy!
“If Ingress Sword Island doesn’t have it, she probably wants me to go search among the Sword Clan. But I would’ve gone even without this!”
The forefather of the Sword Clan was Quiet.
