“You sll… nice.”
Her words caught Chen Yin off guard.
Before he could ask what she ant, Sword Maiden had already climbed into his lap, her head nestled against his chest, sniffing him like a curious puppy.
Chen Yin was speechless.
Although she was now dressed, her complete lack of boundaries was both endearing and… slightly awkward.
He could sll the faint, refreshing scent of a mountain stream clinging to her skin.
Her soft body pressed against his, her movents surprisingly… stimulating.
Shen Shuanglian, watching them, her eyes wide with surprise, her cheeks flushed, didn’t know what to do.
…She’s… stealing him from , right in front of my eyes…
“Miss, wait a mont,” Chen Yin coughed, gently pushing her away. “Let’s… talk about this like civilized people. Personal space, you know?”
“What’s personal space?” Sword Maiden asked, her amber eyes blinking innocently.
“It’s… not proper to be so… close.”
“Why not?”
“Why do you ask so many questions?!”
This could go on forever, so Chen Yin gently pushed her away and sat up straight. “What did you sll? What’s so interesting?”
“I don’t know,” she said, her voice calm and steady, her eyes devoid of any emotion, “it just slls nice.”
Chen Yin sniffed himself, confused. He wasn’t wearing any perfu or cologne. He hadn’t even used soap or shampoo since arriving in this world. Master’s bath had cleansing and purifying properties.
He couldn’t sll anything. “Are you sure? I don’t think I sll that nice. Maybe it’s her?”
He pointed at Shen Shuanglian, who stared at him, her eyes wide with surprise, then Sword Maiden pounced on her, burying her face in Shen Shuanglian’s chest.
“Hey!”
“Don’t… that tickles…”
Even Shen Shuanglian, usually so calm and composed, couldn’t help but blush and squirm, her eyes pleading with Chen Yin for help.
“So, did you find it?” he asked, ignoring her plea.
“Mmm…” Sword Maiden frowned thoughtfully. “It’s faint… but there’s a slight… pleasant scent. But yours is stronger.”
She started crawling towards Chen Yin again, and he quickly stood up. “Stop! I’ll take out everything I have, and you can sll it yourself.”
He emptied his pockets: his storage pouch, the bronze sword, his sachet…
He was hesitating about whether to take out the scroll when he noticed Sword Maiden’s gaze fixed on the bronze sword.
“Is it… this?”
“No,” she shook her head, then added, “but it slls nice too. Can I have it?”
Chen Yin nodded.
Sword Maiden picked up the sword, turned it over in her hands a few tis,
Then, to Chen Yin and Shen Shuanglian’s astonishnt, she ate it.
Yes, she ate it.
She put the entire sword, almost as long as she was tall, into her mouth and swallowed it whole.
Seeing soone swallow a sword in person was far more shocking than watching a magic show.
Chen Yin wondered what her stomach was made of.
Sword Maiden licked her lips, and Chen Yin, his voice trembling slightly, asked, “Are you… okay?”
“No,” she said bluntly.
“What’s wrong? Does your stomach hurt?”
“I’m not full. I want more.”
Chen Yin: “…”
Although the bronze sword wasn’t a Dao Realm treasure like the Eternal Light Sword, it was still a high-quality weapon, sothing any sect would treasure.
And she had eaten it like a snack, still looking unsatisfied.
Fortunately, it wasn’t expensive. He pulled out a few more swords from the System Shop and gave them to her.
But she was picky. She refused to eat the lower-quality swords, only accepting those of the sa grade as the bronze sword.
As she devoured the swords, Chen Yin turned to Shen Shuanglian, his voice filled with disbelief.
“Is she… even human?”
“I’ve never seen anyone eat a sword before,” Shen Shuanglian whispered back.
“Then what is she? A demon? A sword-eating beast?”
“I’ve never heard of such a creature.”
Sword Maiden finished the swords and looked at Chen Yin, her amber eyes wide and innocent, her expression expectant.
She looked like Wu Tang, his dog, waiting for a treat.
Chen Yin, although he felt a pang of sympathy, said sternly, “That’s enough.”
“But that’s not the scent I was looking for,” she said.
Chen Yin suddenly rembered sothing and pulled out the fragnts of the Eternal Light Sword.
Sword Maiden’s eyes lit up like a beacon.
“That’s it!”
She grabbed a fragnt and was about to eat it when Chen Yin stopped her. “Wait! Don’t eat that!”
“Why not?” The ten thousand whys were back.
“Because… I have more of the other swords, but this… this is the only one I have left.”
“So what?” she said innocently.
Chen Yin almost facepald. She’s so cute, but also so shaless.
“That’s my sword! I haven’t even asked you to pay for the ones you ate, and now you want more?”
“Can’t I?”
“Of course not! Would you be happy if I asked you to sleep with every night for free?”
“If I sleep with you,” she asked innocently, “can I eat it?”
Chen Yin was defeated.
He had never lost an argunt so completely.
Shen Shuanglian tugged at his sleeve and whispered, “She doesn’t seem to… understand. Please… don’t ask for too much…” Her voice was filled with a nervous apprehension.
Chen Yin looked at her, confused. “What do you an?”
“If you… need soone to… sleep with…” she blushed and lowered her head, “I can… I can do it… please don’t… take advantage of her…”
…Is that how you see , Shen Shuanglian? A predator preying on innocent young girls? I’m not that kind of person.
But Shen Shuanglian’s concern wasn’t entirely unfounded.
In her current state, Sword Maiden would probably agree to anything.
Chen Yin sighed and said, “I can’t give you this, Sword Maiden. It’s a fragnt of a very important sword. But if you want more of the other swords, I can give you so.”
“If I eat other swords, I don’t have to sleep with you?” she asked, her eyes clear and bright.
“…Why are you so obsessed with sleeping with ?”
Chen Yin rubbed his temples. “How about this. One sword at a ti is too troubleso. Let’s do a monthly subscription. If you’re a good girl and listen to , I’ll give you a sword every day. And if you’re very good, there will be a bonus. If you misbehave, I’ll deduct your… salary. And at the end of the year, there will be a bonus of a hundred swords.”
Sword Maiden nodded imdiately. “Okay.”
So easy to deceive. She’s clearly never had a job before.
Chen Yin could easily find ways to avoid paying her, to make her work for free.
And there was no labor arbitration in this world.
But at least he had found a way to keep her occupied.
He could figure out the Immortal Venerable’s secret later.
“But…” Sword Maiden said, holding a fragnt of the Eternal Light Sword, her brow furrowed slightly, “why is it broken?”
Chen Yin’s cheerful expression vanished, and he was silent for a long mont, then he said softly,
“…Because, as you said,”
“You can’t cultivate the Sword Dao with a dishonest heart.”
“Perhaps its owner… was a liar,” he said, forcing a smile.
Sword Maiden didn’t understand, but Shen Shuanglian, seeing the sadness in his eyes, felt a pang of sympathy.
“It’s such a pity… such a high-quality sword… it’ll be difficult to repair…” Sword Maiden murmured, turning the fragnt over in her hands.
Chen Yin and Shen Shuanglian froze.
“Difficult, but not impossible?” Chen Yin grabbed her shoulders, his voice filled with a sudden urgency. “Do you know how to repair it? If you can fix this sword, you can have as many swords as you want! I’ll give you anything!”
“There might be a way,” Sword Maiden said calmly, despite his tight grip on her shoulders, “but like I said, I forgot.”
“Forgot what?” Chen Yin’s gaze was intense.
“Everything.”
“I heard Grandpa Black Dragon say… I wasn’t born here. Soone brought here a long ti ago. But I don’t rember anything before that. I don’t even rember who brought here. I don’t know if I forgot, or if sothing else happened. But I have no mories of my life before this place.”
“Then how do you know you can repair the sword?” Chen Yin asked.
“Intuition,” she said, looking at the fragnts, her voice calm and steady, “I feel like I can fix it. But I don’t rember how.”
…Right.
It was like asking soone, “Are you a professional athlete?” and they replied, “I feel like I am.”
Useless.
Chen Yin sighed. “I can’t just wait for you to rember. What if you never do?”
“Maybe if I eat it, I’ll rember.”
“…And what if you don’t?”
“Then it doesn’t matter,” she said, her amber eyes clear and bright. “If I eat it, then you won’t have to worry about repairing it anymore.”
…This girl’s brain is… unique.
Chen Yin didn’t know how to respond, but Shen Shuanglian, after a mont of thought, said, “If the Immortal Venerable brought her here, perhaps he also erased her mories. Instead of waiting for her to rember, maybe we should try to figure out why she forgot.”
Chen Yin nodded, stroking his chin thoughtfully. “Erasing soone’s mories isn’t easy. The mind is fragile. He probably used a formation. He was a master of formations. If he sealed her mories with a formation, then we just have to break the formation.”
He placed his hand on Sword Maiden’s shoulder, intending to scan her body with his spiritual sense.
But the mont his spiritual energy entered her body, his brow furrowed deeply.
…It was chaos.
Unlike a normal person’s, her ridians and acupoints were almost invisible, replaced by a swirling vortex of Sword Qi, a chaotic storm of pure, unadulterated sword intent.
No wonder Shen Shuanglian had been injured just by touching her.
“…Is she even human?” Chen Yin muttered, his voice filled with disbelief. The Sword Qi within her was powerful enough to shred her internal organs.
But on the outside, she looked perfectly normal, her features delicate and beautiful, her skin smooth and flawless, albeit unusually pale.
He carefully navigated the chaotic storm of Sword Qi, but he couldn’t find what he was looking for.
…There was no formation.
“If it’s not a formation, then perhaps it’s a drug?” Shen Shuanglian suggested. “Like the one Shen Li used on Ye Ling’er. We should take her to Nan Xiaoxiang. She might be able to help.”
Chen Yin hesitated, then nodded. “That’s a good idea.”
Sword Maiden looked at them, her eyes curious. “Are you taking with you?”
“Do you want to co?”
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter where I am. As long as I have swords to eat, I’ll go with you.”
“Then we’ll be in your care, Sword Maiden,” Chen Yin said, bowing respectfully. “This sword is very important to . I have to repair it, no matter the cost.”
Sword Maiden didn’t reply, just looked at him, her amber eyes clear and bright, her expression unreadable.
Chen Yin noticed her beauty, so pure and untainted, her delicate features and her clear, unwavering gaze giving her an almost ethereal quality.
“But I can’t leave,” she suddenly said. “The formation won’t let .”
Chen Yin: “…Why didn’t you say so earlier?!”
“You didn’t ask,” she said innocently.
…Right.
He sighed and led her to the edge of the formation. As she tried to step through, an invisible barrier stopped her.
“A formation…” Chen Yin sighed again. “That Immortal Venerable… always making things so complicated.”
“It’s a complex formation,” Shen Shuanglian said, examining it closely, her brow furrowed. “It might take so ti to break it. I’m sorry, my understanding of formations is still limited…”
“Stop apologizing,” Chen Yin said gently, flicking her forehead. “We don’t have ti. Let’s do this the… direct way.”
He pulled out another sword from the System Shop.
Sword Maiden’s eyes lit up, and she reached for it, but Shen Shuanglian quickly pulled her away.
“Hey, Old Black Dragon! Are you watching?!” Chen Yin shouted.
“Trying to break the formation?” a deep voice echoed from the mist. “You’re too naive, human. You have no idea who created this—”
“Just a warning. Tell your friends to step back. I’m not paying for any dical expenses if they get caught in the crossfire.”
“Such arrogance,” the black dragon grumbled. “We haven’t been able to break this formation in thousands of years. What makes him think he can?”
His question was answered a mont later.
A blinding flash of sword light, so powerful that it seed to split the very earth beneath their feet, ripped through the mist.
The black dragon and the other ancient beasts stared at the deep chasm that had appeared before them, their eyes wide with shock and disbelief.
…Was that… necessary?
“Why… why are humans always so monstrously powerful?”
“That Gu boy, and Mo Wuyou, and that Yu girl a few centuries ago…”
“They’re all stronger than us, ancient beasts who have existed since the dawn of ti…” the demons whispered amongst themselves.
The black dragon sighed. He had been defeated by Mo Wuyou, trapped in this place by Gu Changliu, and then beaten back by Yu Ling when he tried to escape.
And now, this Chen Yin…
“Humans… they’re truly a blessed race,” he murmured.
Perhaps it’s safer to stay here, after all.
Inside the formation, Chen Yin looked at the shattered remains of his sword and sighed.
…As expected. None of these swords can handle my Second Sword.
It was frustrating, this feeling of untapped power.
He tossed the broken sword to Sword Maiden, then turned to leave, but she was staring at him, her eyes wide with awe.
“Your sword… it’s so powerful.”
“Thank you,” Chen Yin said casually.
“How did you beco so strong?”
“Natural talent. Jealous?”
“Can you teach ?”
“Probably not.”
“Why?”
“It’s… a secret technique, passed down only through the male line,” he lied.
“If I beco a man, can you teach then?”
Chen Yin stared at her, a beautiful young woman, then shuddered at the thought. “…Let’s not. Respect your gender.”
“Why not? Is gender that important?”
“It is,” Chen Yin said seriously. “I prefer beautiful girls, not… n who look like girls.”
Sword Maiden didn’t understand what he ant, but she understood that he wasn’t going to teach her.
She frowned thoughtfully.
“Then,”
“If I sleep with you, will you teach ?” she asked, her eyes clear and innocent.
“Why are you so obsessed with sleeping with ?!”
Chen Yin was exasperated. She was beautiful, but also incredibly… dense.
And although they had only just t,
He sensed a certain… purity about her.
An almost inhuman purity.
Her entire world seed to revolve around the sword.
As if nothing else mattered.
Chen Yin had always considered himself and Ye Huang to be sword fanatics, but compared to this girl, they were amateurs.
“How about this, Sword Maiden,” he said gently, “if you can repair my Eternal Light Sword, I’ll teach you my technique. Deal?”
Sword Maiden nodded seriously.
“Okay. I trust you.”
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