Chapter 22: Chapter 44: The New Pistol and the Sleepless Night

After a brief tour of her new quarters, Su Yun found an excuse to send Lin Xue away. There were certain things she couldn’t let Lin Xue see, lest her true identity be exposed.

Besides, after awakening her bloodline and becoming a cultivator the day before, she hadn’t found a single moment to practice. Her mind had been elsewhere at the time, but now that things had settled down, she was eager to test her cultivation techniques.

Su Yun currently possessed two manuals. The first was the Moonfall Sect’s *Sword Heart Art*, and the second was Spirit Sword Mountain’s *Spirit Refining and Qi Condensation Art*.

For now, practicing the *Sword Heart Art* was out of the question.

‘The *Spirit Refining and Qi Condensation Art*… Spirit Sword Mountain’s foundational technique. It primarily teaches cultivators how to manipulate the spiritual energy in their bodies to control flying swords,’ Su Yun mused, reading the introduction. ‘But it seems it’s not just for flying swords. It can be used for anything, can’t it? If I could apply this technique to my weapons… wouldn’t they become like remote-controlled funnels? Interesting. Coming to Spirit Sword Mountain was the right choice after all.’ A bold idea began to form in her mind.

With that thought, she began her practice. All ninth-grade techniques were methods for manipulating spiritual energy, largely similar in principle. The main difference lay in their application. The Moonfall Sect’s *Sword Heart Art* was a technique of enhancement, while Spirit Sword Mountain’s *Spirit Refining and Qi Condensation Art* was one of control.

They were two different paths. Yet Su Yun wondered, did they truly conflict? Why would the founders of Spirit Sword Mountain and the Moonfall Sect have had such a falling out over this?

Su Yun felt the *Sword Heart Art* could easily be combined with the *Spirit Refining and Qi Condensation Art* to produce even greater power. Even if they couldn’t be fused, they could certainly be used in tandem, providing both close-range and long-range options.

As Su Yun began to circulate the technique, the spiritual energy of the world started to pour into her body at a visible rate. The sensation was incredibly pleasant. Once inside, the energy followed her guidance, spreading throughout her body before finally connecting with her spiritual root. Spiritual roots could also grow; they weren’t static.

After connecting with her spiritual root, the energy flowed into her spiritual spring—also known as the dantian—the reservoir of a cultivator’s power.

After the spiritual energy had completed thirty-six cycles, she had officially mastered the basics of the *Spirit Refining and Qi Condensation Art*. The technique had nine levels, corresponding to the nine levels of Qi Refinement, each requiring a sufficient level of cultivation to break through.

“Done,” she murmured, though a hint of disappointment followed. “But it’s a shame. I’ll need to reach the fourth level of Qi Refinement to ride a sword, and the seventh to use one for combat.” Having mastered the basics, Su Yun wasn’t in a rush.

She closed her eyes again, this time trying to use her spiritual sense. Sure enough, with her eyes shut, she felt her consciousness separate from her body. She could clearly perceive her physical form, while her awareness roamed freely around the room. Her consciousness saw things with far greater clarity and detail than her eyes ever could.

If she had become a Qi Refinement cultivator sooner, she was confident she could have crafted even more precise firearm components.

“So this is an out-of-body spiritual sense?” she mused. “Unfortunately, at the first level of Qi Refinement, my sense isn’t refined enough for microscopic detail. It’s just clearer than my vision. Still, using this to polish components should yield much better results.” Su Yun quickly retrieved a metal tube from her storage treasure.

She examined the tube with her spiritual sense. Flaws that were invisible to her naked eye became instantly clear.

“Haha! No wonder,” she exclaimed. “This part is too narrow. If only I’d had this spiritual sense sooner.” Su Yun took out a set of tools, all specifically designed for gunsmithing. There were objects for sanding, cutting, drilling, and shaping metal.

Su Yun had asked Su Muxue to help her forge them from materials used by cultivators in artifact refinement. Their hardness and sharpness far surpassed those of ordinary metals.

Without these tools, trying to polish and drill with common metal would have been an arduous task, akin to grinding an iron rod into a needle.

Closing her eyes, Su Yun took out a small, spoon-like tool. She inserted it into the gun barrel, carefully scraping away at the narrow spot inside.

The tool seemed delicate, but as it moved against the metal, it effortlessly shaved off a thin layer from the barrel’s interior.

“It seems my theory was correct. Next, I just need to learn artifact refinement. Then I can forge these components from rare materials and build even more powerful firearms,” Su Yun thought, her heart swelling with excitement.

****

Time trickled by, and soon night fell. It was around nine o’clock.

With a final, satisfying *click*, Su Yun held a newly assembled black metal pistol in her hand. She worked the slide and pulled the trigger a few times. The sound was crisp. Though there were still some imperfections, this pistol was undoubtedly more accurate and had a longer range than the one she had made before. It was a significant step forward.

This new handgun’s appearance was nearly indistinguishable from a common pistol on Earth. Her previous creation, by contrast, had been clunky, more akin to a hand cannon, with a short effective range and limited stopping power.

The only reason she had managed to shoot through Han Yu’s leg was because he had recklessly charged forward, practically offering himself as a target. In theory, her previous gun had an effective range of only about fifteen meters.

This new one, however, she estimated had an effective range of at least thirty meters. As for its accuracy, that remained to be tested.

She couldn’t very well test it here. She would have to find a place where she wouldn’t be discovered.

“Ah, my firstborn,” Su Yun sighed, picking up her first, crude pistol. “It’s time for your retirement.”

Though it was rough, that gun represented countless failures over nearly five years of work. It was a testament to all the frustration and heartache she had endured.

‘This is another huge step forward,’ Su Yun thought, lying back on her bed and admiring her handiwork. ‘At this rate, if I can just break through a few more cultivation levels or master artifact refinement, I might be able to build a semi-automatic or even a fully automatic pistol. Other firearms would just be a matter of time.’

This pistol could only be loaded with one bullet at a time. It was effective for a surprise attack, but its limitations were still too great.

As for why she couldn’t make a semi-automatic pistol, the difficulty of crafting one by hand was simply immense.

After all, she had struggled just to properly make the most primitive handgun. Crafting something more advanced was a distant dream.

****

Meanwhile, in Lin Xue’s quarters, sleep eluded her. Her mind kept replaying the moment Su Yun had held her that day, making it impossible to focus on cultivation.

“Damn it, Lin Xue, what is wrong with you? Are you in heat? How could you be flustered over another woman?” Lin Xue patted her cheeks, her expression a mask of frustration.

As her thoughts spiraled, Lin Shuang, miles away yet intimately connected, found her own cultivation disturbed. She closed her eyes and shot a mental rebuke at her sister.

‘Hey, what are you freaking out about in the middle of the night? Can you please get those filthy thoughts out of your head? You’re distracting me!’

Although the two could sense each other’s thoughts, the connection was limited to clear, defined feelings. It couldn’t pick up on vague, muddled emotions.

And right now, Lin Xue herself didn’t understand what was happening to her.

Ignoring Lin Shuang, Lin Xue took a deep breath, stood up, and walked outside.

She looked up at the sky. The moon was brilliant tonight, large and perfectly round. The cool breeze on her skin helped to clear her head, and she felt herself calming down.

This was the difference between a mature woman and a young girl. Having experienced the intimacy between a man and a woman, Lin Xue was far more sensitive to matters of the heart. She wasn’t like Lin Shuang, who knew nothing of such things and simply acted on impulse.

“Ah! This is maddening,” she whispered. “Why do I see his shadow in a strange young woman? Is it just my imagination?” Lin Xue turned slightly, her gaze falling upon the pavilion where Su Yun was staying.

As she looked, she noticed a light still glowing from within.

“What is she doing up so late?” Lin Xue’s curiosity was piqued, and she started walking over, only to stop halfway and retreat.

She was not an impulsive fool like Lin Shuang. She wouldn’t disturb someone so late at night.

“Forget it. I’ll practice my sword forms. Maybe that will help distract me.” After a moment’s thought, Lin Xue drew her sword and began to practice on the platform outside her quarters.

Inside her room, Su Yun’s ears twitched as if she heard something. She quickly walked to the window, opened it, and peered outside.

Her eyes widened at the sight. A woman in white was dancing with her sword under the bright moon. The elegant posture and sharp, decisive swordplay captivated Su Yun completely.

“Is that Lin Shuang or Lin Xue?” Su Yun wondered, puzzled.

But after observing for a moment longer, she was certain. The look in her eyes was completely different from Lin Shuang’s.

It was Lin Xue.