Front Line of the Beast Tide, Part 33

If a person was angry, Su Qing would have to carefully consider whether to coax them.

But that was Man Qing Sword, her natal sword, her precious sword.

It was throwing a tantrum because they hadn’t seen each other for so long. What was wrong with that? It meant it loved her!

Besides, Su Qing was the one who left without saying goodbye first.

For four years, who knew how Man Qing Sword had lived? That large body, yet it had to hide in a dark storage bracelet, eating air.

Although she herself had been eating demonic energy every day in the Eternal Night world and hadn’t been doing well, no matter how you looked at it, it had every right to feel wronged.

Su Qing tentatively, slowly wrapped her spirit around the sword hilt.

Man Qing Sword still stubbornly refused to respond. Su Qing, taking advantage, forcefully lifted it with her divine sense, then, as if grabbing a cat by the scruff of its neck, pulled it into the bathtub.

However, it wasn’t very stable, causing it to enter the water sideways and splash a large wave out of the tub.

Su Qing herself opened her eyes wide in surprise.

Man Qing Sword was a heavy sword, at least one and a half times a person’s weight.

Yet she could now move it with her divine sense. Although it was unstable, didn’t it also mean she had gained a powerful new weapon?

She was a little curious about the limits of her ability, but the urgent matter was to first appease Man Qing Sword.

Another benefit of having a powerful spirit was that her perception of things became sharper.

For example, at this moment, even though it was a moment of awkwardness, Su Qing felt more closely connected to it than ever before.

She sensed the faint spiritual essence within Man Qing, weak but definitely present, and even more active due to hunger.

It had not yet fully gained sentience; everything was merely acting on instinct.

In simple terms, its intelligence wasn’t very high right now, making it easy to fool, at least much easier to coax than the divine sword Snowfall and Hong Xiu.

After Su Qing meticulously stroked it with her fingers and promised to maintain it with high-grade sword-nurturing paste, feed it at least third-tier spiritual ore, and practice swordplay no less than three thousand times daily, having everything other swords had, and of the best quality, Man Qing Sword no longer harbored any resentment.

It became completely devoted to Su Qing, obeying her every command. She said “go east,” it went east; she said “flip over,” it flipped over. They were once again as close as one.

Being hungry for four years, the moment it came into contact with the medicinal liquid containing high-grade spiritual ore, Man Qing Sword immediately began to greedily absorb the minerals within.

The sword body melted, and the silvery-white mineral liquid flowed into the medicinal liquid like mercury.

The tub was like a vessel filled with solidified moonlight, and Su Qing was immersed in this moonlight.

In a trance, she seemed to feel that she herself had become the object Man Qing Sword was feeding on.

But that was merely an illusion. Because soon, one fiery-red plum blossom after another surged from the water’s surface. Red and silver shimmered together, like a heroic elegy.

Actually, ever since she met Vine Demon A’Luo in the back mountain, she knew that old plum blossom on the sword tomb must have some origin, she just didn’t understand it. Perhaps she could go back and ask the Sect Leader; he might kindly tell her.

Never mind, she still had a chance to ask A’Luo.

While Man Qing Sword was absorbing the spiritual ore, Su Qing began to review this adventure.

Firstly, there was the immortal bone within her.

A large part of it had already merged into her physical body, but the remaining part, compared to its original size, had not decreased but rather increased.

This meant that the extra portion came from the disappeared demonic bone.

This matter couldn’t bear close scrutiny. Could the immortal bone and demonic bone merge, implying: immortals and demons were originally two sides of the same coin? Or shared the same origin?

It was known that the immortal bone came from Carefree Immortal, and the demonic bone from the Demon Lord.

According to Steward Chen Yu, during the Full Moon War, demonic cultivators were highly likely besieging the World Sword School for a chance at immortal ascension.

Carefree Immortal and the Demon Lord battled for three months, and this bloody war ended with the Demon Lord’s demise and Carefree Immortal’s severe injuries.

So, what exactly ignited that war?

The more Su Qing thought about it, the more chills she got. Was the immortal destiny they fought over these kinds of bones?

Did that late Spirit Transformation stage Taihe Zhenren come here also for these kinds of bones? The answer was very likely “yes.”

In that case, the Song family actually sent three Spirit Transformation cultivators to snatch it, which proved that these types of bones had extraordinary origins.

And the tens of thousands of living beings in the Myriad Beast Forest were all influenced by this bone, causing them to commit suicide for years.

Moreover, in the Eternal Night world, Su Qing ultimately escaped danger only with the help of the immortal bone; it was the immortal bone that purified all the demonic energy.

Furthermore, the Abyssal Void, Blood Thorns, and other various demonic cult evil cultivator organizations had been lurking and waiting here for years, spending immense material and financial resources to set up traps and cast nets, also for this bone.

From this, one could see how terrifying its power was, and how coveted it was.

Su Qing felt a chill. Such a thing, one was already terrifying, and she now had two.

If it weren’t for Earth Mother covering for her beforehand, she would definitely have used her sword to dig it out. This was not something her cultivation realm could hold onto.

Even with Earth Mother’s concealment, preventing high-level cultivators from seeing the anomaly within her.

But the immortal bone’s divinity could still be revealed through other events, such as the heart-fire alliance’s Twenty-Six, who could purify demonic energy in the Eternal Night Forest.

A perceptive person could instantly deduce where her ability came from.

Su Qing suddenly felt fortunate that she was cautious enough never to reveal her origins.

With Rainbow in charge, all members of the Heart-Fire Alliance had sworn an oath of living and dying together, so they shouldn’t intentionally harm her. But caution was necessary.

From now on, she had to grit her teeth even harder and not reveal any heavenly secrets. As for who Swordsman Twenty-Six was, she knew nothing.

With the immortal bone, a powerful and unpredictable magical artifact, as a counterweight, nothing else mattered.

It was just that Su Qing always felt she had forgotten something, but couldn’t recall it.

After the medicinal liquid was fully absorbed and Man Qing Sword reformed, Su Qing quickly tidied herself and walked out.

Outside, the sky was bright, the air typically cool, but the sun was radiant, and the sky was as clear as washed sapphire—a rare good day.

Su Qing narrowed her eyes, gazing at the sky for a while.

She suddenly felt a lightness on her body, and the invisible yet heavy burden on her back disappeared.

Her steps lightened as she walked out, bumping into Tang Yueling, who was walking briskly. Tian Ning walked beside her, dressed in black as usual, her face cold.

“Finally awake.” Tang Yueling’s eyes lit up. “A full six months! You woke up at just the right time, right for the farewell banquet. I was thinking even if you didn’t wake up, I’d still drag you out this time.”

“Six months?!” Su Qing was also startled for a moment. “That long?”

Tang Yueling raised an eyebrow, “Lin Hebai said your body kept breaking down and healing, breaking down and healing. Being able to collapse and rebuild so many times is a rare good thing. Even though Pill School’s Zhu Yushu belatedly offered a fourth-tier Ice Muscle Jade Bone Pill, she wouldn’t let you use it. She just kept you soaking in that bitter medicinal broth, saying it had miraculous effects for body tempering. Whether it was miraculous or not, I don’t know, but I saw the bloodied water being changed many times.”

“Good thing I was unconscious.” Su Qing said thankfully, “I didn’t feel any pain at all.”

Or perhaps it was so painful that she became numb, and her pain threshold increased.

Tang Yueling rolled her eyes at her, speechless, “How could it not hurt?”

Four years apart, the wind in Yinlan City, sharp as a knife, had even roughened Young Lady Tang a bit. That meticulousness, down to every strand of hair, had vanished.

Tian Ning hadn’t changed much. If anything, the coldness around her seemed to have intensified.

But she was a child forged from ice and snow; others couldn’t discern her changes.

However, one of Su Qing’s specialties was reading her heart. For example, she could tell at a glance that Tian Ning was not in a good mood.

Both of their cultivations had advanced further. Tang Yueling was now at Foundation Establishment Layer 7, and Tian Ning was at Great Perfection of Foundation Establishment. But her aura was overflowing, indicating she was just one step away from Golden Core.

Su Qing’s current cultivation was Foundation Establishment Layer 5. Indeed, opportunity and danger went hand in hand.

After dying once (metaphorically), her cultivation had actually caught up, not falling too far behind.

Su Qing didn’t know that while she was unconscious, Tang Yueling and Tian Ning had both been brought by Lin Hebai to see her several times.

Although her spirit had suffered a lot, her physical body hadn’t changed much.

But muscle loss was still muscle loss, especially in the eyes of a body cultivator, it was particularly noticeable. Tang Yueling couldn’t help but challenge, “If we arm wrestle again this time, it’s not certain you’ll win.”

Su Qing couldn’t tolerate it. “You just wait.”

She would start practicing the Protein Queen’s unique skill right now.

Tian Ning, very understanding and expressionless, said, “City Lord Yan just invited us to a banquet. Eat more to recover.”

Unlike most farewell banquets that were held in the evening elsewhere, the custom in Yinlan City was to hold them at noon, so people could continue working after eating.

“A banquet? Is it a farewell banquet?”

Su Qing hadn’t expected that she would sleep through the final stage of this event. The Sword School was actually returning home.

“Partly,” Tang Yueling frowned. “The other part is because the Yan family’s old City Lord self-detonated and perished. This farewell also carries the meaning of a farewell to her.”

‘Is it really appropriate to combine two different types of banquets?’

Su Qing suddenly understood everything again. “Indeed, after all, Yinlan City is a place that doesn’t look back, only forward to tomorrow.”

They walked a few more steps. With her friends, Su Qing’s heart completely settled, her steps became much lighter, and she couldn’t help but smile.

They also casually talked about their own matters.

Tang Yueling said that Array School people were too cunning.

Su Qing thought, ‘Isn’t that already known? Yueling’s current sigh must be due to something she experienced. Perhaps she was tricked by Array School people again, but given her relatively calm emotions now, it doesn’t seem like it.’

Tian Ning, as usual, walked beside them, quietly listening to their conversation. She would still occasionally get distracted and zone out. Su Qing keenly noticed that her brow remained furrowed by a millimeter. This was a sign of her impatience and agitation.

It probably was because the Daozi had already advanced to the Golden Core stage four and a half years ago, but Tian Ning’s cultivation had stagnated.

Because he was an enemy, Su Qing had learned about the innate Dao body.

The greatest advantage of this physique was that it wouldn’t get stuck at bottlenecks, almost like a cheat device.

As long as one had enough experience, they could upgrade without the torment of Dao Heart inquiries or the generation of inner demons. Even lightning tribulations merely served as a body tempering function.

Even knowing that talent couldn’t be forced, such a physique being on the Daozi was particularly irritating.

It was also at this moment that a hoarse cry suddenly came from a treetop.

A pitch-black bird flapped its wings and flew past.

Su Qing stared blankly at the bird, a certain image surfacing in her mind.

Those forgotten memories reappeared before her eyes.

She remembered. During her spiritual confrontation with “Taihe Zhenren,” she had seen his memories. Although fragmented and blurry, she had indeed captured a certain scene.

Before this image sped past the smooth cerebral cortex, she immediately took out her talisman brush and talisman paper and began to draw rapidly.

Tang Yueling asked in surprise, “What’s wrong?”

Su Qing drew the pattern of a bird, like some kind of ancient emblem, yet containing an untouchable deterrent power.

Just as she finished sketching the bird’s outline in a few strokes, poised to add its eyes with her brush—

Tian Ning’s face suddenly changed dramatically.

Snowfall Sword instantly unsheathed, severing the talisman paper.

She still felt it wasn’t enough, so she covered the talisman paper fragments with ice spiritual energy, hardening the thin paper and crushing it to ash.

Her abnormality was too obvious, causing the previously gentle atmosphere to instantly change.

Su Qing realized, “You know the origin of this symbol?”