Chapter 46: Chapter 46: Bond
Luo Mingye and Xia ngyao ventured deeper into the labyrinthine side chambers of the palace, their footsteps echoing softly until they arrived at a hall that shimred with an oppressive, tallic brilliance.
The room was a breathtaking display of martial history. Hundreds of artifacts—swords that pulsed with elental energy, spears that seed to hum with the sound of wind, and armor plated in dragon-scale patterns—were displayed with a ticulous, reverent order.
Each weapon rested atop a small, glowing rock that hovered in mid-air, rotating slowly to show off every curve of the smith’s work.
On the base of these floating pedestals, glowing inscriptions detailed the artifact’s rank, its na, and the legendary master who had forged it.
"Wow~!" Mingye’s eyes widened to the size of saucers, the reflection of a dozen high ranking artifacts dancing in her pupils. "Sister ngyao, there are so many! Let’s split the room in half! You take the left, I take the right!"
But her excitent was cut short by a sharp, playful thwack to the top of her head.
ngyao sighed, withdrawing her hand as she shook her head. "I told you, Mingye. Call
’Brother’ while I am in this form. The walls have ears, and my disguise is not just for show."
"Owie~," Mingye pouted, rubbing her head and playfully glaring. "Brother ngyao, that hurts! You’re getting aner!"
"Is that so? I thought you had a special physique that turned pain into pleasure?" ngyao smirked, throwing her own words back at her.
"Why would I feel pleasure from that? It’s not like you’re Young Master Shen," Mingye countered with a huff, crossing her arms.
ngyao paused for a second, her lips twitching as she leaned in and whispered under her breath, "As expected... it really is a special kink."
"Hey! What is a ’special kink’ anyway? I’ve been asking since earlier!" Mingye demanded, stomping her foot.
"And I told you, I have no idea," ngyao lied smoothly, already walking toward the far end of the hall where the spiritual pressure felt densest.
Mingye followed close behind, her fleeting annoyance replaced by a happy hum as she bypassed Rank 5 and 6 artifacts without a second glance, only stopping for a brief mont to admire rank 6 and rank 7 artifacts.
At the very end of the chamber, they found the centerpiece: a grand silver altar etched with celestial runes, and above it, two swords—one as white as a winter moon, the other as black as a starless night—hovered in a perfect, rotating embrace.
ngyao stepped forward to read the ancient script carved into the silver base. "... this is the language from Exlipse Emperor Era that ended 33 thousand years ago."
"Can you read it?" Asked Xueli.
ngyao nodded as she read, "Gan Jiang and Mo Ye: The Married Swords representing Yin and Yang."
"Why does that sound like soone’s na? Not like a na you’d give to a sword." Said Mingye.
ngyao ignored her friend as her voice grew solemn as she read further. "Forged by the great artificer Gan Jiang during the Eclipse Emperor Era. It reached Saint Grade through human sacrifice, with his wife jumping into the furnace in front of the man she loved to ld the Essence of the Five Mountains and the tals of the Six Heroes."
Mingye’s eyes grew serious. This artifact that uses human sacrifice already borders on being a demonic artifact.
Probably the only reason why this artifact didn’t give off demonic aura was because the human who sacrificed herself loved her husband so much it completely erased any trace of demonic aura that would’ve ford when the forging had happened.
She continued, "Individually, they are Rank 9 Saint-Grade Artifacts. However, if used together by two individuals, their resonance allows them to reach the power of a Rank 10 Saint-Grade Artifact."
"Holy shit!" Mingye exclaid, her heart racing.
A Rank 10 Saint-Grade weapon was nearly an Imperial Grade artifact; it was a treasure that could sustain a Second-Rate sect for ten thousand years.
Their Luo Clan doesn’t have one, and in the entire Blue Wind Kingdom, only the Royal Family has one, an Imperial Artifact passed down since the founding of their kingdom.
"Brother ngyao, what do you say? We can’t just leave them here. Let’s take one each!" Suggested Mingye. "We’re best friends, we can totally bring out its full power!"
"Alright," ngyao nodded, her own heart thumping with anticipation. "I’ll take the black sword, Gan Jiang as it matches my cultivation path."
"I’ll take Mo Ye then! It’s so pretty," Mingye said, reaching out.
Simultaneously, the two of them grasped the hilts of the hovering blades.
But the mont their fingers closed around the grips, a massive, glowing Yin Yang symbol erupted above their heads, bathing the entire armory in a blinding black-and-white radiance.
The swords didn’t stay in their hands, but actually dissolved into pure spiritual light and surged into their bodies, settling directly into their respective Dantians.
However, the transformation didn’t stop there as a shimring, ethereal Red String of Fate appeared, winding around ngyao’s wrist and stretching across the space to bind itself tightly to Mingye’s hand.
"What the-!?" Their eyes widened in shock.
The strings glowed with a brilliant crimson light for a few seconds before fading into invisibility.
Suddenly, their minds were flooded with mories that didn’t belong to them.
ngyao saw Mingye’s childhood—her tantrums, her secret lessons, her first crush.
While Mingye saw ngyao’s life—the burden of being a "Heaven’s Chosen," the secrets of her gender, the loneliness of the Flower Mountain Sect.
Through the karma of the swords, their souls had been permanently linked.
"W-What was that!?" Mingye shrieked, clutching her wrist as if she could still feel the thread. "That red string... did those swords just... marry us!?"
ngyao’s face was pale.
She ignored Mingye’s shouting and began to frantically circle the altar, looking for any further ssages left behind by whoever placed these swords here.
Finally, she found it. Carved in tiny, cheeky script on the very back of the silver base was a final note; so small it can barely be seen.
"The only way to take these swords is for two people to touch them together. But be warned: the swords will bind the two people together for eternity, effectively marrying them off in the eyes of the Heavens. So make sure to bring your Dao Companion with you! ????"
ngyao felt her cheek twitch, and the "Peace Sign" at the end of the ssage was specifically, and incredibly annoying.
"What the hell!? Why is such an important ssage written at the back where nobody can see it!?" Mingye scread, reading over ngyao’s shoulder.
"I guess the Bright Silver Emperor was a bit of a troll," ngyao sighed, rubbing her temples.
"Troll? How is the Emperor related to those ugly, barbaric creatures from the northern swamps?" Mingye asked, genuinely confused.
"Ah, not that kind of Troll. A ’troll’, well, just think of them as people who enjoy watching others make fools of themselves. People who set traps just to hear the snap," ngyao explained, her voice dripping with exhaustion.
"Oh." Mingye nodded, her eyes welling with tears. "Then this Emperor is a massive troll!"
ngyao sighed, looking at her hand. "Well, there’s nothing we can do about it now. The bond is sealed in our Dantians."
"No! No! We need to do sothing!" Mingye wailed, her panic reaching a crescendo. "You can feel it, right? If we try to marry soone else, or if we betray this bond, the swords will riot inside us and cripple our cultivation! I don’t want that! I’m not interested in girls, ngyao! I want to get married to a handso man! I want a wedding!"
She began to cry pitifully, the reality of being "spiritually married" to her best friend sinking in.
ngyao watched her for a mont, her mind racing through the logic of the bond.
If the swords required a "pair" to function and demanded loyalty to the "unit"... then the only solution was to ensure their future was tied to the sa destination.
"Then..." ngyao suggested, her voice hesitant but calculating, "how about we just... marry the sa person?"
Mingye paused, her eyes widening by the second.
"...huh!?"
"Hear
out!" ngyao raised her hand, "Technically speaking, if we both marry the sa person, then we wouldn’t be betraying the bond, we’re just adding another person into our lives...right?"
"...That makes so much sense I’m speechless." Said Mingye.
ngyao straightened her back, "That’s why, if you have any suitors, or if you have soone you like, bring them to et
first. I’ll just if they are worthy of the two of us."
Mingye scratched the back of her head, "But Sister ngyao, you’re literally the most talented person in Central Region, and my granpa is the best Zither Arts Practitioner in Central Region! Who even in the Central Region can be worthy of the two of us?"
"...perhaps those from the Imperial Capital?" ngyao frowned, deep in thought.
"...like young master Shen?" Asked Mingye.
The two imdiately went silent.
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