Chapter 478: Famous Sword Returns to Ultimate Unity

“Little Fish, we’ve made it big!”

Xu Xiaoshou’s eyes suddenly flew open, startling Yu Zhiwen, who was sitting opposite him with her knees hugged, observing the young man. She trembled, and even the spiritual sword skewering roasted meat in her hand flew straight up into the air.

“Whoosh!”

With lightning speed, Xu Xiaoshou shot a spider-silk spiritual thread from his wrist, pulling the airborne spiritual sword into his hand.

“W-what happened?” Yu Zhiwen’s pretty face flushed, her eyes blinking rapidly, her words jumbled. She felt like a child caught doing something wrong, and facing Xu Xiaoshou directly in the narrow cave made her feel like she was sitting on pins and needles.

“We’ve made it big!” Xu Xiaoshou exclaimed excitedly again. He wasn’t going to reveal the entire map he’d found in the Yuan Court White Pearl, but his current joy truly needed to be shared with someone.

Once he had this map, where in the White Cave couldn’t he go? All he had to do was avoid the areas where the Four Swords were being fought over by thousands, and while those others were frantically searching for the ultimate treasure, he could secretly collect resources from other locations. Wouldn’t that combined haul be sweeter than taking one of the Four Swords, which would only bring him disaster outside the White Cave?

With a “crunch,” Xu Xiaoshou bit into the meat on the spiritual sword, making a few smacking sounds before devouring it. “Not bad, Little Fish,” he said, “your roasting really isn’t bad at all.”

Yu Zhiwen stared blankly at the spot where Xu Xiaoshou had bitten. That big bite had completely covered the marks she had just made. “That was mine…” she silently protested in her mind. She couldn’t understand why Xu Xiaoshou was suddenly so excited. It seemed as though this guy had been preparing for this very moment of excitement ever since he first complained of being tired and entered the cave.

“Did you have a breakthrough?” Yu Zhiwen guessed.

“Not exactly, but I’ve uncovered a big secret,” Xu Xiaoshou said, quickly finishing the meat in his hand. “Let’s rest a bit; we’ll leave tomorrow morning. I’ll take you to find treasure!”

“Treasure?”

“Yes,” Xu Xiaoshou nodded. “We can go after anything... except the Four Swords.”

Yu Zhiwen’s eyebrows twitched. She didn’t know what had happened to Xu Xiaoshou, but from his expression, could he have truly deciphered some ultimate secret of the White Cave? But hadn’t she been with him the whole time? Besides the appearance of the Blazingsnake Sword, nothing else special had occurred!

“Except the Four Swords?” she repeated.

Xu Xiaoshou’s hand, holding the spiritual sword, suddenly paused. He asked doubtfully, “Oh, really? Could it be that your goal is also the Four Swords?”

“Yes,” Yu Zhiwen nodded unexpectedly. She, who should have been unable to respond directly, had no thought of lying or changing the subject when faced with Xu Xiaoshou’s straightforward question.

“I see...” Xu Xiaoshou mused. He knew this girl before him was not simple. Perhaps without the Four Swords, he wouldn’t even have had the chance to meet Yu Zhiwen. However, even with Little Fish’s firm goal, Xu Xiaoshou, now aware that Elder Sang certainly had other hidden plans and having already acquired the Blazingsnake, had no intention of wading into those troubled waters.

With a click, he picked up the renowned Blazingsnake Sword, which had been casually placed beside him, and slowly stroked its blade. The sword was incredibly hot to the touch; without a Grandmaster’s physique, an ordinary Spirit Refiner would surely suffer severe burns if they touched it without spiritual energy covering their palm.

The campfire crackled, and the scene suddenly grew quiet.

“You don’t want to go?” Yu Zhiwen was exceptionally clever; how could she not see Xu Xiaoshou’s thoughts?

“It’s not that...” Xu Xiaoshou hesitated. As a legendary sword whose renown surpassed even other renowned swords, ranking among the five great Chaos Divine Artifacts, it would be utterly unbelievable for any swordsman to say they had no interest in it. But this situation was like that; sometimes having the desire but lacking the courage was perfectly normal.

“Do you know how many people in this White Cave want to seize the Four Swords?” Xu Xiaoshou asked.

Yu Zhiwen’s starry eyes blinked, and she nodded slightly. “Besides you?”

Xu Xiaoshou: “...”

“What kind of talk is that? Why am I suddenly the exception? It’s not that I’m afraid. I just don’t like it, that’s all!”

“Then what do you think your probability of obtaining the Four Swords is?” Xu Xiaoshou went straight to the point. This time, Yu Zhiwen fell silent. After a long pause, she finally said, “It’s indeed not high.”

Xu Xiaoshou nodded, smiling, a ‘teachable child’ expression on his face. Just as he was about to persuade the girl to abandon her idea and roam the world with him, he heard her add: “About seventy percent.”

“Huh?” Xu Xiaoshou’s jaw dropped, mirroring Yu Zhiwen’s own frequently bewildered expression. “Seventy percent? You call that ‘not high’?!”

“You came prepared?” he asked, astonished.

Yu Zhiwen covered her mouth and chuckled. “How could I travel thousands of miles to get here without preparation?”

“True,” Xu Xiaoshou’s eyes oddly scrutinized the girl up and down. He couldn’t see how this seemingly frail young woman could possess such great confidence.

“You should have seen those two swordsmen earlier. You must have experienced their strength; yet, you still have seventy percent?” Xu Xiaoshou’s face was full of disbelief.

“Mhm,” Yu Zhiwen nodded her head. “It’s precisely because of those two that my percentage dropped to seventy.”

Xu Xiaoshou: “...”

For a moment, he didn’t know what to say. It felt like a struggling student talking to a top achiever, desperately trying to ask how they scored 98, only to be told it was just by getting one multiple-choice question wrong. This... How could he explain it? It was inexplicable!

Yu Zhiwen’s pretty face held a smile. Seeing Xu Xiaoshou look so crestfallen truly made her happy. So, this quick-witted fellow had a day like this too! Indeed, to deal with him, one couldn’t use the humble approach reserved for ordinary people. One had to be even more arrogant than him to suppress him!

Suppress? Why suppress him...? Yu Zhiwen suddenly froze. She realized that, without her noticing, she had developed a competitive mindset that had never appeared before. This was completely unexpected. Her master had once said that to reach the pinnacle of this world, one absolutely needed a desire to strive. However, in the past, she was good at everything except striving. This lack of striving, which her master called “mud that couldn’t be plastered onto a wall,” was also one of the reasons she even wore a veil when going out. Being inactive, not standing out, not drawing attention—that was precisely the expression of Yu Zhiwen’s desire to be content with an ordinary life. But facing Xu Xiaoshou, it seemed many of her emotions had begun to change.

“Striving, huh...” A smile played at the corner of Yu Zhiwen’s eyes. She wasn’t sure what kind of emotion this was, but being able to silence Xu Xiaoshou was certainly a joyful one.

“Seventy percent probability...” Xu Xiaoshou murmured. He didn’t know what other thoughts Yu Zhiwen had. Instead, this seventy percent probability stirred up different ideas in him.

Earlier, when the renowned sword appeared, the girl opposite him didn’t even have a thought about it, directly yielding it to him. For someone so generous, he figured he should reciprocate, right?

“If it’s seventy percent, how much would it increase if you had this thing?” As Xu Xiaoshou spoke, he took out the Darkfall Scabbard. He didn’t want to bear the risks of acquiring the Four Swords. But the girl before him seemed completely unafraid. Since that was the case, why not go with the flow and let her acquire the Four Swords? He could also observe what she would encounter afterward and how she would resolve it. After all, she had a powerful backing. What he greatly feared, Yu Zhiwen might not care about at all.

“The Four Swords’ scabbard?” Yu Zhiwen exclaimed, looking at the black scabbard in Xu Xiaoshou’s hand. “You’re giving it to me?” This gift was undoubtedly precious. As the former Eighth Sword Immortal...

“What are you thinking?!” Xu Xiaoshou interrupted her burgeoning fantasy without ceremony, ill-temperedly sticking the spiritual sword, still skewering meat, in front of her. “I just took it out to ask about the probability; don’t overthink it.” As he spoke, he pulled out Hidden Misery from it and placed it beside Blazingsnake.

“If I give you this scabbard, what will my Hidden Misery wear? Doesn’t it need to wear pants?” Feeling the renowned sword’s aura beside it, Hidden Misery wilted, like someone sleeping naked in winter suddenly having their blanket ripped off and being thrown onto the snow.

Xu Xiaoshou’s eyes widened, and he pointed. “Look, it’s only been out for a short while, and it’s already wilting and bending from the cold.”

Yu Zhiwen: “...”

She looked at the man and the sword before her, speechless for a moment. “Stingy,” she muttered softly, not expecting Xu Xiaoshou’s sharp ears to catch it immediately.

“Stingy? How am I stingy? I’m even planning to lend you the scabbard to help you get the Four Swords; is that still stingy? This is help, mutual help!” Xu Xiaoshou’s voice grew excited.

“How is this mutual help?” Yu Zhiwen raised her chin slightly, the firelight reflecting in her sparkling, starry eyes, and immediately retorted, “I directly gave you the renowned sword, and you’re only ‘lending’ me a scabbard?” She deliberately emphasized the word ‘lend,’ a cunning look in her eyes, wanting to see Xu Xiaoshou suppressed by her again.

To her surprise, Xu Xiaoshou didn’t hold back at all. “I’ve actually gone through the process of ‘lending,’ and you just ‘yielded’ it. Does that make you more reasonable, huh? Think about it: when Blazingsnake appeared, you just watched me take the renowned sword. Now, the Four Swords haven’t even appeared yet, and I already have the idea of ‘lending’ you the Darkfall Scabbard. When you get the sword, won’t my contribution be just a little bit more than yours?” Xu Xiaoshou clapped his hands together. “Tell me, isn’t that how it is?”

Yu Zhiwen was immediately stumped. This... What he said seemed to actually make sense, didn’t it?

“Sigh.” Xu Xiaoshou deflated again, sitting back down by the campfire helplessly. “Is this what women are like? Always thinking their contributions are a little more than others. Sigh, so sad, tearful.”

“I—” Yu Zhiwen was instantly enraged. “Leaving aside the fact that your words are sophistry, even if you’re right, what does that have to do with us girls? How can you generalize like that and then lump everyone together?”

“I’m not talking to you anymore,” she said, standing up in a huff. She glared at Xu Xiaoshou, who was burying his head and wiping away tears, stomped her foot, and walked straight out of the cave.

“Darn it.”Cursed, passive value, +1.“Hey, where are you going?” Xu Xiaoshou, amused by the girl’s reaction, stopped feigning tears when he saw her about to leave simply because she was outargued, and stood up to call out to her.

“To sleep!” Yu Zhiwen replied without turning her head.

“To sleep, and you’re running outside?” Xu Xiaoshou chuckled. “Are you lightheaded with anger, girl? You go inside to sleep!”

Yu Zhiwen paused, turning to glare back. “I like sleeping outside; can you stop me?”

“Is that so...” Xu Xiaoshou couldn’t persuade her further. Watching Yu Zhiwen huffily shuffle out of the cave, listening to her deliberately heavy footsteps, he couldn’t help but find it utterly adorable.

“Sleeping outside is fine too. Then I won’t bother you, okay? Just be careful.” He called out, then went back to his previously built large grass bed, sighing with a smile, “That’s great. I prefer sleeping inside anyway...”

The footsteps abruptly stopped.Cursed, passive value, +1.Thought of, passive value, +1.

The next day. Well, not really the next day. Xu Xiaoshou was simply woken up by Yu Zhiwen halfway through his sleep. The girl, it turned out, was indeed not one who could sleep soundly outside. While he was sound asleep and passively cultivating, she actually ran back into the cave and started practicing her sword!

Xu Xiaoshou was instantly astonished beyond words. “In such a small cave, what sword are you practicing?” he asked. The reply he got was merely a resentful, “I like it; can you stop me?”

So Xu Xiaoshou said nothing more. Of course, not being able to sleep also had its advantages. Lying in bed in the night, admiring such a pleasing sword performance from a woman, despite the constant risk of being stabbed, Xu Xiaoshou, with his Grandmaster physique, was perfectly fearless. He watched for a long time, chin in hand, and with the addition of a “That’s a beautiful performance,” Yu Zhiwen blushed and gave up.

Ultimately, he gave up the grass bed in the cave and built himself a small earthen mound outside to sleep on. One dream, one wake, one night passed. When they set off again, they were already a considerable distance from where the White Cave Blazingsnake had appeared.

“Shhh.”“Keep it down.”It was still the familiar small mound. Xu Xiaoshou led Yu Zhiwen to squat behind it, watching rows of giant white skeletons in front of them, some sitting, some standing, some lying, some crouching. Compared to the two fighting groups they had seen before, this group of white skeletons was even stronger. Not only did they wield terrifying massive weapons, but their entire bodies were also wreathed in a faint white flame.

“Grandmaster-level white skeletons?” Xu Xiaoshou squinted, observing, vaguely discerning the completely transformed bone structure of these bone giants.

“Emberflame Kindling!” Undoubtedly, the heads of these creatures no longer contained fiery energy liquid that could burst. Instead, it had been compressed and formed into Emberflame Kindling, an energy core. Under the repeated calcination of this kindling, it was no surprise that all the white skeletons before him possessed Grandmaster physiques!

“Tsk, tsk.” Xu Xiaoshou could barely imagine how Grandmaster physiques, so rare in the outside world, would appear in clusters within this White Cave. These creatures must not have cultivated the Emberflame Heaven-Burning art. So, it was likely that for them to solidify into Grandmaster physiques, they could only have achieved this qualitative change, one in ten thousand, through years of excruciating calcination.

“Never mind the qualitative change. Even after achieving qualitative change, these creatures still live in groups, and with other white skeletons also possessing Grandmaster physiques...” Xu Xiaoshou himself found it unbearable. He didn’t have the confidence to take on so many of them at once. It was a good thing these creatures didn’t have the cunning minds of Spirit Refiners. Otherwise, if they continued to reproduce, it would be the end of the world!

“Thirty-six,” Yu Zhiwen cautiously counted, then asked, “What do you want to do?”

“Dig for treasure, of course!” Xu Xiaoshou said as if it were obvious. What Yu Zhiwen saw as merely thirty-six white skeletons, to him, meant thirty-six Emberflame Kindlings! At that time, just three Emberflame Kindlings had allowed him to transform into a congenital physique, unmatched in the entire Heavenly Sang Spirit Palace. This showed that the terrifying energy within the Emberflame Kindling alone could perhaps suppress most fire-element treasures in the world. If he didn’t take them, how could he live up to his reputation of “plucking a feather from a passing goose”?

“How will you get them?” Yu Zhiwen asked, troubled. She suddenly reached out and lightly tapped Xu Xiaoshou’s arm, feeling the resilient strength beneath her touch, and exclaimed, “They’re also Grandmasters, right?”

“They have Grandmaster physiques, but they’re not as strong as I am.”

“But there are many of them.”

“I’m not planning to run down there and fight...” Xu Xiaoshou rolled his eyes in annoyance, slowly drawing out his new companion, the renowned Blazingsnake Sword. “Fighting requires wisdom. You need to figure out what counters what first!” He poked Yu Zhiwen’s forehead with a finger, pushing her away, then stood up straight, adding, “Also, don’t just touch me randomly; someone could die.”

Yu Zhiwen’s cheek flushed from Xu Xiaoshou’s sudden poke, and her heart felt a little flustered. It was only then that she realized how, despite having only known him for a day, she felt no distance between them. They were so close!

“What kind of death...? Will someone die if I just touch you?” she mumbled subconsciously. Seeing Xu Xiaoshou leap into the air, she then worriedly advised, “Be careful.”

Xu Xiaoshou nodded. He looked at the group of white skeletons below, who seemed not to have noticed him yet, and was slightly surprised. “Are their eyes burned out or something...?” he scoffed mentally. Then, he let out a loud shout: “Hark! Monsters, prepare to die!”

The bone giants raised their heads upon hearing him. “Roar!” Immediately, roars echoed through the sky, almost blowing up the small mound where Yu Zhiwen was hiding.

Xu Xiaoshou’s eyes focused. His finger glided along the sword’s body, feeling the searing heat within, as if it too had ignited, and his fighting spirit surged. This renowned sword, it seemed, had only acknowledged him as its master under the compulsion of that disheveled Saint. Thus, subconsciously, Xu Xiaoshou found it difficult to even sense the sword’s latent spirituality. But even so, acknowledged as master meant acknowledged as master. Once the sword was drawn, once its sword intent resonated, its most direct feedback of battle desire would be transmitted in real-time.

“I don’t know what your intentions are, but since you’re with me now, let’s fight together! In this world, there’s rarely anything that truly happens willingly. Just like how I didn’t even want to touch you initially...” Xu Xiaoshou looked down, solemnly speaking to Blazingsnake, “Even though I’ve formed a connection with you, I was also forced into it; it wasn’t voluntary. But what does it matter?”

As he spoke, he looked up, facing the sky that had no sun, no stars, no moon, only a faint crimson mist, and suddenly, sword intent blazed in his eyes. “A future without stars or moon can be cut open! A destiny already in hand is called mastery!”

He held the sword in his hand horizontally. Xu Xiaoshou gripped it with one hand, as if seizing an elusive destiny. Sword intent poured into it.

At this moment, Blazingsnake seemed to also sense the surging will hidden within its master’s heart, a will he never revealed in daily life. “Ohm!” The Grandmaster sword intent rising around him suddenly gained a few degrees of fiery heat. Sword Sect realm. Renowned Sword, Perfect Union!

A sense of spiritual connection, like water and milk blending, permeated directly between Xu Xiaoshou and Blazingsnake for the first time in the face of battle, breaking through the subtle barrier that had previously remained unbroken.

At this moment, Xu Xiaoshou deeply felt the will of the renowned Blazingsnake Sword. He floated in the void; although there was nothing in front of him, he seemed to see himself transform into a colossal serpent tens of thousands of feet long. Where its serpent eyes gazed, there was the Reaper’s attention. The will cultivated within its body was the renowned sword’s arrogance: noble, inviolable, and contemptuous of all beneath the heavens.

“Fight!” A low shout. The Blazingsnake phantom before him shattered, directly transforming into points of light that merged into Xu Xiaoshou’s body.

Facing the White Cave giants who were leaping horizontally from below, similarly raising massive killing weapons and directly smashing them down, Xu Xiaoshou held the renowned sword upright in his hand, and his sword intent suddenly retracted. The next moment, the world shook!

“Boom!” The surging sword intent that erupted again was completely unlike the slight scorching heat from moments before. Instead, an aura akin to erupting magma, capable of melting the heavens and earth, accompanied the gushing sword intent, instantly overturning the charging white skeletons below and causing the very ground to explode!

“Man-sword unity...” Yu Zhiwen murmured, spellbound. Man-sword unity was a concept that sounded simple but was incredibly complex in practice. It not only required a swordsman to have the most solid foundation in swordsmanship but also had extremely stringent demands on their comprehension of the Dao of Heaven and their chosen sword. Of course, Yu Zhiwen knew that given Xu Xiaoshou’s cultivation level, if he used Hidden Misery, he certainly wouldn’t achieve man-sword unity, as the sword wouldn’t keep up. But with a renowned sword, he definitely could. Even with such psychological preparation, she was still shocked to see Xu Xiaoshou complete the “man-sword unity” process after merely sleeping with the renowned sword for less than one night.

“How strong must his understanding of the Way of the Sword be! Or rather, can Xu Xiaoshou even assimilate the will, the never-yielding arrogance of a renowned sword, in an instant, achieving self-unity?” Yu Zhiwen stared blankly for a moment at the young man floating in the void, who, with just his sword intent, was sending the white skeletons below tumbling.

At this moment, she couldn’t tell the difference. Was it the strange, unrestrained Xu Xiaoshou she saw in front of others? Or was it this Xu Xiaoshou, standing with sword in hand, looking disdainfully at all directions, who was the real him?

Admired, passive value, +1.

“So strong.” Xu Xiaoshou had no mind to check the information panel, naturally unaware of the chaotic thoughts the woman behind him had about him. Wielding the renowned Blazingsnake Sword, he looked at the white skeletons below, who had resumed their positions, and for a moment felt as if he could annihilate them all with a single strike. “Was it an illusion?” Xu Xiaoshou was lost in thought for a while, until the sword intent suppressing the bones below dissipated, and until the white skeletons’ deafening roars echoed.

The battle was silent.

“Zzzzt!” Yu Zhiwen shivered at the sound, looking at Xu Xiaoshou, who had appeared beside her at some unknown point, and was now slowly sheathing his sword. This “zzzt” sound was the strange noise of the Darkfall Scabbard, which wasn’t quite suited for Blazingsnake.

“What are you doing? They’re flying at us!” Yu Zhiwen pointed in alarm at the dozens of White Cave giants charging from behind them, their towering figures blocking out the sky, their terrifying weapons radiating immense power—it was simply too frightening.

“Them?” Xu Xiaoshou turned his head and smiled. “They’re already dead.”

“Huh?” Yu Zhiwen was just about to duck and cover her head when she heard dozens of “rumbling” sounds. She immediately turned around and was horrified to see that the thirty-six white skeletons that had just charged towards them had, at some unknown point, been decapitated and were now falling heavily to the ground!

“You...” Yu Zhiwen’s starry eyes widened. She couldn’t even see when Xu Xiaoshou had drawn and struck with his sword! How was this possible? Just a renowned sword could grant this guy such a massive increase in combat power? Even her starry eyes couldn’t perceive it clearly?

Xu Xiaoshou’s motion of sheathing his sword concluded. As if performing a ritual, he tilted his head, eyes fixed on the ground, letting the strong wind from the falling white skeletons’ bodies sweep through his hair.

“Winds of the West, Withered Snow.” As the words settled, the “zzzt” sound finally faded completely, and the gentle click of the renowned sword’s hilt against the scabbard’s mouth softly rang out.

“Click.”

Yu Zhiwen’s heart was precisely flustered.

Spied upon, passive value, +1.