Chapter 51: The Auras of Two

Alright, after countless years as a sword, this was the first time Xiu Qingcheng had to sleep in the same bed with someone else.

And it was the kind where she had to be held in someone’s arms.

‘My disciple’s requests are truly strange.’

“Master, come on!”

Meng Yingxing sat on the bed and opened his arms to Xiu Qingcheng.

If it were any other man, Xiu Qingcheng would have found it unacceptable.
But when she saw Meng Yingxing’s incredibly determined and selfless face, as if he were solely focused on seeking the Way, she knew that he was truly doing this to become stronger.

Meng Yingxing’s mind was free of distractions!

On the contrary, she was the one who knew too much and thought too much.

“Alright, your master is coming.”

Xiu Qingcheng cleared her throat, displaying the air of a venerable master, and slowly floated towards Meng Yingxing.

Meng Yingxing took the Ting Tian Sword, then extinguished the nearby candle with a gust of wind from his palm.
The surroundings were instantly plunged into darkness and silence.

After that, Meng Yingxing lay on his side on the bed, loosely holding the Ting Tian Sword in his arms.

Meng Yingxing: “…”
Xiu Qingcheng: “…”

In the utter silence, neither the person nor the sword spoke.

After a while, Meng Yingxing suddenly asked in a serious tone, “Master, can you feel it?”

Xiu Qingcheng didn’t understand.

“Feel what?”

“Didn’t you say that the method of nourishing a sword might be to nurture the blade with the sword wielder’s aura?”

“So I wanted to ask, Master, can you feel my aura?”

In the darkness, Xiu Qingcheng saw Meng Yingxing’s crimson pupils, which were clean and bright as he asked the question.

“Your aura?”

“Let me try.”

Xiu Qingcheng was caught off guard by the question, but she still calmed her mind and carefully tried to feel Meng Yingxing’s aura.

Perhaps there was some truth to this ‘nourishing a sword’ concept.
Xiu Qingcheng could indeed feel an aura that was unique to Meng Yingxing.

And Meng Yingxing’s aura, with an almost imperceptible flow, was slowly merging with the restrained sharpness of the Ting Tian Sword.

Meng Yingxing’s aura was cold and clean, like a clear mountain spring.

The moment Xiu Qingcheng touched Meng Yingxing’s aura, she felt as if her entire being had quieted down considerably.

She said in a low voice, “Yes, I can feel your aura.”

Hearing this, Meng Yingxing also closed his eyes, trying to feel the Ting Tian Sword’s aura.

However, after closing his eyes, he frowned, a look of confusion between his brows.

“Hmm… I don’t think I can feel Master’s aura.”

“Foolish disciple, I’m a sword, where would I get an aura? At most, you’ll smell the iron on me!”

“That’s true.”

Meng Yingxing moved his head slightly.

Ordinary spiritual cultivators could usually substitute sleep with seated meditation to cultivate their spiritual energy, but meditation was not the same as sleep.

So after a long time, they still needed sleep to rest.

Perhaps it was because he hadn’t slept for a while, coupled with the fatigue from the past few days of fighting, Meng Yingxing fell asleep shortly after closing his eyes.

Xiu Qingcheng felt Meng Yingxing’s aura becoming more and more steady and knew that this guy had slowly fallen into a deep sleep.

“It’s good to be young, falling asleep the moment your head hits the pillow,” Xiu Qingcheng muttered with envy.

Xiu Qingcheng wanted a constitution that allowed her to fall asleep the moment her head touched the pillow.

Unfortunately, after becoming a sword, Xiu Qingcheng had never felt sleepy again.

In the long years of confinement in the Divine Weapon Pavilion, her methods of passing the time were limited to two things: spacing out and talking to herself.

If there were a spacing-out competition in this world, she would definitely win first place, reigning supreme in the art of spacing out.

Xiu Qingcheng felt that she should have gone mad, or at least developed a bit of schizophrenia.

But to her disappointment, her mental state felt remarkably stable.

‘No, really, my mental state is quite good. It’s just that from time to time, I feel like punching the heavens until they explode.’

So Xiu Qingcheng spaced out for a while, and by the time she came to her senses, it was already early morning.

She looked at Meng Yingxing beside her and suddenly felt that this kid had a real talent for suicide.

Because the Ting Tian Sword was extremely sharp, Meng Yingxing had only held it loosely from a distance before falling asleep to prevent himself from getting hurt.

But now, after sleeping for a while, Xiu Qingcheng noticed that Meng Yingxing had changed his sleeping position, pulling the Ting Tian Sword closer.
He was now slowly but firmly pressing her into his embrace.

The blade was very close to Meng Yingxing.

If he continued like this, Xiu Qingcheng could see him killing himself in his sleep.

Xiu Qingcheng swore that when the time came, her disciple’s death would have nothing to do with her.
He was the one who made the first move!

She had wanted to pull away, but Meng Yingxing was holding her very tightly, and if she pulled away like this, he would be injured.

“Hiss! This foolish disciple is upping the difficulty on me again, isn’t he!”

Xiu Qingcheng frowned.
After a moment of thought, she decided against pulling away directly.

“Why do I feel like this foolish disciple is always setting traps for me? Could it be that he’s discovered something?”

Although Xiu Qingcheng wasn’t prepared to tell Meng Yingxing that she could transform, she wasn’t planning on hiding it forever either.
She would just drag it out for as long as she could.

Xiu Qingcheng muttered to herself and, very decisively, transformed into her human form in Meng Yingxing’s arms.

At least this way, she wouldn’t hurt him.

Perhaps Meng Yingxing was sleeping very soundly, as he showed no reaction even when Xiu Qingcheng transformed from a sword into a person in his arms.

“Damn disciple, sleeping like a log!”

Xiu Qingcheng bared her teeth at Meng Yingxing.

After Xiu Qingcheng transformed, Meng Yingxing’s upper arm rested perfectly on her waist.
They were pressed very close together in an intimate position.

Xiu Qingcheng didn’t notice this.
She just thought for a moment, then tilted her head up slightly to look down at her own body.

‘Good! Although my face is now level with Meng Yingxing’s, my legs are clearly much longer than his!’

‘Conclusion: my human form is taller than Meng Yingxing! This round, a complete victory!’

A strange sense of competitiveness brought Xiu Qingcheng a strange sense of satisfaction.

Xiu Qingcheng let Meng Yingxing hold her as she slept for a while.
Later, as if a lightbulb had gone off in her head, she suddenly thought of a way to escape her current situation.

She controlled her body, transforming from a solid state to a spiritual state.
This way, she went from being a person with physical form to a ghost without.

Meng Yingxing’s arm, which had been around Xiu Qingcheng’s waist, passed through her spirit form and fell onto the bed.

Xiu Qingcheng then got up from the bed, silently moving away from Meng Yingxing, and then transformed back into a sword.

Now, the Ting Tian Sword lay beside Meng Yingxing, but not in his arms, perfectly safe.

Xiu Qingcheng silently gave herself a thumbs-up for her cleverness.

‘Could it be that I really am a genius?’

The next morning, Meng Yingxing, who had slept very soundly last night, still woke up early.

He saw that the Ting Tian Sword was not in his arms, but he didn’t think much of it.

“Good morning, Master.”

“Morning.”

After their simple and polite morning greetings, Meng Yingxing immediately and excitedly began to discuss last night’s ‘sword nourishing’ session with Xiu Qingcheng.

“Master, do you think it had any effect?”

“I suppose so.”

“It seems we’ll have to try it a few more times to see the effect.”

Xiu Qingcheng was startled.

‘Again? I have to turn into a girl and be held by him in his sleep every day?’

Xiu Qingcheng bit her little handkerchief in her heart.

‘I’m so jealous, Meng Yingxing. Can we swap souls? I also want to sleep with a girl as beautiful as this body of mine!’

“Also! Master, I think I felt your aura too! I feel like this ‘sword nourishing’ might really be effective!”

Meng Yingxing looked increasingly excited.

Xiu Qingcheng asked nonchalantly, “What aura? Does your master’s rusty iron smell that good?”

Meng Yingxing shook his head.

“No, no. Master’s aura… it’s like the fragrance of flowers. As for what kind of flower… I’m not sure.”