Chapter 31: The Sword Forest and the Secret Realm

The two stood off against each other. After a moment, Su Zhuozhi finally reacted, realizing he had just heard someone speaking. He turned to look, but saw no one.

“Did someone just speak?”

Su Zhuozhi, seated in the lower position and looked down upon by Xie Jue, pushed him in dissatisfaction. Who exactly was the master here?

Xie Jue didn’t move, so Su Zhuozhi kicked him again and commanded, “Go check.”

Xie Jue stared at him for a while, lips tightly pressed, his gaze dark and unreadable. Su Zhuozhi felt uncomfortable and wanted to get up, but his ankle was pinned, making it hard to move.

Finally, Xie Jue released him and got up to check the door as instructed. But just after taking two steps, he suddenly turned back and took Su Zhuozhi’s Xuanguang Mirror.

Su Zhuozhi had just relaxed when he saw this action.

“…???”

Was he crazy?

Speechless, Su Zhuozhi’s lips slightly turned down in displeasure. He reached for the bottle of spiritual medicine on the headboard, poured some out, and applied it to his ankle himself.

He didn’t want Xie Jue to help him apply medicine anymore.

By the time Xie Jue casually glanced around, closed the door indifferently, and returned to the bedside, he saw Su Zhuozhi propping up his injured leg, head lowered, awkwardly applying medicine to himself.

Sensing Xie Jue’s approach, Su Zhuozhi immediately looked up warily, clutching the spiritual medicine bottle tightly as if afraid Xie Jue would snatch it away. He said stiffly, “I’ll apply it myself. Don’t need you.”

Xie Jue said nothing, just nodded, looking quite obedient. He sat on the edge of the bed, watching, occasionally reminding, “Young master should press harder. That’s no different from stroking.”

“Shut up. You’re so annoying.” Su Zhuozhi refused to listen. If his fingers weren’t coated with medicine, he would have covered his ears.

Su Zhuozhi placed a foot on Xie Jue’s leg, successfully making him shut up.

After applying the medicine, his fingers were sticky with ointment.

Frowning in disgust, Su Zhuozhi reached his hand toward Xie Jue and said matter-of-factly, “Wipe my hands.”

Xie Jue moistened a cloth with water, took his hand, and carefully wiped each slender finger clean, not missing any crevice.

In truth, a cleaning spell would have easily solved it. Su Zhuozhi had already learned it. But having grown up in the mortal world, he still wasn’t used to spells. In his heart, he always felt that only water could truly clean things.

When he said this, Xie Jue nodded quite seriously.

If he used a cleaning spell, Xie Jue could have saved himself a lot of trouble. He wouldn’t need to attend to the young master in every aspect, but he didn’t dislike it. In fact, he had grown accustomed to it. Many times, he didn’t even wait for Su Zhuozhi to order him; he would step forward and do things on his own, as if enjoying taking care of Su Zhuozhi in every detail.

He didn’t dwell on what these actions meant.

Before they knew it, the time came for the new disciples to choose their path of cultivation.

Su Zhuozhi firmly chose the path of the sword, becoming a disciple of Sword Venerable Tianqing and a fellow junior disciple to Qin Zhao.

Because he loved swords.

In splendid attire and on a spirited horse, wielding a sword and wandering the world—that was the passionate dream of every youth’s heart.

Having collected so many fine swords, how could he not want to swing a blade to slay demons and monsters?

As a sword cultivator, one crucial task was choosing a life-bound sword.

Although one’s own cultivation was key, a good sword could better unleash one’s potential, adding brilliance to perfection.

The Ten Thousand Swords Sect was renowned for the way of the sword, so it had an advantage in this regard. The sect even had a Sword Forest.

Only outstanding sword cultivator disciples were qualified to enter, to choose a spirit sword—and at the same time, be chosen by the spirit sword.

After starting his focused sword training, Su Zhuozhi’s attitude toward cultivation became much more serious. Though practicing sword swings was boring and tedious—repeating the same motion over and over, tiring—it also made him look impressively heroic. Su Zhuozhi wanted to master it and then show off to his elder brother and others.

Winter passed, spring came. Time flew by.

But in the mountain of blades and forest of swords, sword aura swirled. Many lights circled him a few times, yet none truly stopped before him.

The fierce sword aura came and went, flying back into the swords.

Su Zhuozhi was a bit bewildered, not quite understanding what was happening. He stepped forward and tentatively pulled out a spirit sword, swung it to test a few moves. It felt quite handy in his grip, and the spirit sword didn’t resist him. But after the moves ended, the sword slipped from his hand and returned to its original position on its own. It clearly didn’t seem willing to go with him.

In the end, Su Zhuozhi walked out of the Sword Forest empty-handed.

Sword Venerable Tianqing was surprised. In his estimation, given Su Zhuozhi’s talent, many spirit swords should have chosen him. So before Su Zhuozhi entered the Sword Forest, he had specifically instructed him on how to find the sword that best resonated with him.

But the result was beyond his expectations.

“They didn’t refuse to let you wield them, which means they recognized you,” the usually taciturn Sword Venerable said with a hint of delight. “Perhaps the life-bound sword meant for you is not here. Your opportunity has yet to come. Don’t worry. You’ve already been through the Sword Forest.”

Su Zhuozhi was dejected for a while, but soon his mood lifted. He would make do with a regular spirit sword for now.

Although it wasn’t his life-bound sword, he cherished it no less. He liked shiny gemstones, and the tassels on his sword were especially exquisite and ornate.

Whenever his spirit sword was drawn, its dazzling luster was eye-catching.

Moreover, he didn’t decorate it haphazardly. Having cultivated his aesthetic sense since childhood, no one could find any fault with it. They would only think, “Look at others, then look at myself. No, I have to give my spirit sword wife the best too!”

Because of him, poor sword cultivators felt the pressure. They competed fiercely and worked even harder to earn money.

Su Zhuozhi’s Qi Refining level kept rising. He smoothly advanced into the Foundation Establishment stage and gradually mastered sword flight.

At first, standing on the narrow blade, he couldn’t help but feel panicked and scared. Once, due to poor control of his spiritual power, he lost his balance and transformed back into a little fox, falling from midair.

Xie Jue’s breath caught. He shot forward and caught the fluffy white ball just in time.

His speed was so fast that others couldn’t even react.

…Was this person really a triple spiritual root?

But soon, their attention shifted away from Xie Jue. They couldn’t help but look at the little fox in Xie Jue’s arms—fluffy, soft white, icy blue eyes moist, and its paw pads were pink! Pink! So cute!

Ordinarily, Su Zhuozhi’s half-fox-half-human form was already attractive enough. Just looking at him could make one absent-minded. No one expected his fox form to be this adorable. Who could resist?

Naturally shy, Chu Ge rarely took the initiative. He tentatively raised a hand and asked weakly, “C-Can I pinch your paw?”

“No.”

The little fox and Xie Jue’s voices sounded almost simultaneously.

Su Zhuozhi didn’t like being touched by strangers, but Chu Ge was on good terms with him. And since he only wanted to touch the paw—equivalent to a hand—Su Zhuozhi didn’t mind much, so he gave a soft whine of agreement.

But Xie Jue coldly refused.

Su Zhuozhi looked up at his sharp jawline, then lowered his head to rest on his own paws. Xie Jue thought he didn’t want it after all. Well, it wasn’t that important.

Communicating as a fox was hard, and Su Zhuozhi was too lazy to write with a brush in his paw—too difficult. So he yawned lazily, and in his open mouth, one could faintly see a small pink tongue.

Chu Ge also realized his request was a bit abrupt. After being rejected, he didn’t bring it up again. But he couldn’t help stealing glances at Su Zhuozhi, once, then again.

Then he was pierced by Xie Jue’s icy glare.

Chu Ge immediately averted his eyes, his spine stiff and straight.

He had accidentally stumbled upon their ambiguous scene before. Later, Su Zhuozhi explained it was a misunderstanding—just applying medicine. But watching their daily interactions, Chu Ge always felt something was off.

At this moment, Xie Jue looked just like a jealous partner.

Chu Ge thought silently, unable to understand.

Outside, it wasn’t suitable to transform back. Su Zhuozhi was carried back to his quarters by Xie Jue. Only after being placed on the bed did he circulate his spiritual power to return to human form, pulling the blanket up to his waist. He reached out to Xie Jue for his robe.

Having been together for so long, Xie Jue had become much more efficient and nimble. But sometimes he would still be dazed, needing to be called twice before he acted.

Like now. Clearly, when putting him on the bed, he should have fetched the clothes and placed them thoughtfully by the headboard.

Instead, Xie Jue’s mind was full of who-knows-what, and he forgot what he should do.

It took Su Zhuozhi two months to master sword flight. Hovering high in the sky, he experienced a feeling even more exhilarating than galloping on horseback.

It was around this time that the secret realm opened generously.

The secret realm opened once every fifty years. Inside were countless precious spiritual plants and spirit beasts—an excellent training opportunity for all new disciples.

Not only the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, but disciples from other sects would also go.

Su Zhuozhi, Xie Jue, Chu Ge, and Nie Kai formed a team and entered the secret realm together.

Su Zhuozhi had always been quite lucky, and inside the secret realm, it was no different. They hadn’t gone far when they found a small patch of lush, vibrant spiritual herbs, rich in spiritual energy and of no low grade.

The four of them decided to divide the herbs equally. They picked them and stored them in their mustard seed pouches.

Just as they were about to finish, footsteps approached.

Su Zhuozhi glanced over, then indifferently looked away. First come, first served—they wouldn’t even yield to fellow sect members, let alone outsiders.

But that casual glance somehow infuriated the other party.

“Su Zhuozhi, what makes you think you can look down on me?!”

The roar was deafening. Frowning, Su Zhuozhi looked puzzled. “Do I know you?”

Xie Jue chuckled softly, leaned in, and explained to the young master.

It turned out that back when Su Zhuozhi lent spirit stones to the stand-in cultivator Yan Ruishi, the Heavenly Sect and the Ten Thousand Swords Sect held a small, informal competition between new disciples. The purpose was to train the disciples and let them see the strength of other sects. The speaker was the opponent Su Zhuozhi had faced back then.

This man was called Peng Guanfei. He was proud of joining the Heavenly Sect, considered himself exceptionally talented, and regarded himself as an important figure in the sect. When he heard about Su Zhuozhi lending spirit stones to Yan Ruishi, he was particularly displeased. Yan Ruishi was a member of their Heavenly Sect and should be dealt with by their own people. Who was this outsider to meddle?

So, he planned to teach Su Zhuozhi a lesson during the competition. But unexpectedly, he ended up losing thoroughly.

To this day, Peng Guanfei still vividly remembered the humiliation of that match and vowed to avenge it one day.

Peng Guanfei was fuming. He roared, “Su Zhuozhi, do you think you’re so amazing? You just rely on your father’s dirty money to have all those high-grade magical tools, robes, and elixirs. Your strength isn’t real at all—it’s all built with spirit stones! Without your father, you’re nothing!”

He shouted at the top of his lungs, as if he represented justice, his face full of sarcasm. “Even these so-called friends of yours are just bought with your spirit stones. Do you really think they follow you sincerely?”

Chu Ge and Nie Kai both looked furious. Chu Ge was insecure and always thought of himself as useless, but Su Zhuozhi never saw him that way. He sincerely considered him a friend, believed in him, and helped him a lot. They could insult him, but he couldn’t stand them insulting Su Zhuozhi.

Nie Kai, already fierce-looking and hot-tempered, easily angered. He remembered Su Zhuozhi’s kindness and considered him a brother in his heart. Hearing these words, he clenched his fists so tightly that veins bulged hideously, and without a word, he rushed over to punch the man.

But a dark shadow flashed by, even faster than him.

In the blink of an eye, before anyone could see what happened, Xie Jue had already knocked the man down and was stepping on his face. His gaze was dark and terrifying, cold and chilling, like a demon crawling out of hell.

“What did you say about my young master?”

Peng Guanfei saw stars, his whole body in pain. He barely managed to see who was above him and recognized the person who always followed Su Zhuozhi.

Gritting his teeth, Peng Guanfei struggled to get up and counterattack, unwilling to back down. “Aren’t you just a dog raised by Su Zhuozhi? How dare you bark at me!”

Despite being insulted like that, Xie Jue wasn’t angered. Instead, he looked down at the man squirming like a maggot on the ground, curling his lips into a smile. “Yeah, so what?”

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