Chapter 52: Not Even Myriads of Stars Could Match a Fraction of Its Brilliance

After Xing Wu left, Feng Xi narrowed her eyes and pondered for a moment.

She used her spiritual sense to communicate with the little black ball:

"Go on and drive a few sea beasts toward Zone A. Make them vicious ones, and ideally, find that eight-armed ghost octopus with the severed tentacle. Tell it that its tentacle was eaten by a cultivator with a top-grade water spiritual root."

The little black ball quickly grasped Feng Xi's intention and fawned obsequiously:

"Master, you are simply too vicious!

You're so wicked you emit smoke! So deceitful you fart in curves!

However, I love it!

Because I'm cut from the exact same cloth—we're both black-sesame-paste-filled little black-hearted darlings..."

Feng Xi: "..."

This mutt's personality was drifting further and further off course!

Although the little black ball talked nonsense, it was quite reliable when it came to getting things done.

By dusk that same day, Xing Wu brought back good news.

He bared his large teeth, grinning from ear to ear:

"I told you that Shen Zhilan had no good end coming to her with all her pitiful showing off! And look now! She's finally getting her retribution!

This afternoon, while she and Mu Zihua were chattering away by the shore, they were ambushed by a few sea beasts!

Among them was an eight-armed ghost octopus missing one of its tentacles, and let me tell you how ferocious it was!

Shen Zhilan was almost dragged right into the sea!

I heard she was so scared she burst into tears!

Yesterday she was still trying to gild her own lily, and today her true colors are showing!

It's so satisfying, so utterly exhilarating!

Too bad I wasn't at the scene to witness such a wonderful spectacle..."

Feng Xi listened with a beaming smile. She didn't think Shen Zhilan was actually that timid; it was probably put on for Mu Zihua's benefit, intended to stir up his pity and protective instincts.

Tsk tsk, even at a time like this, she wasn't forgetting to keep her options open—truly a dedicated professional!

After Xing Wu left, Jun Wen secretly asked Feng Xi:

"Could that eight-armed ghost octopus be the exact one whose tentacle we ate?

We were the ones who ate the tentacle, so why did it run over to take revenge on Shen Zhilan?"

Feng Xi smiled sweetly and said, "Who knows? I suppose she just had terrible luck!"

Jun Wen vaguely felt that things weren't as simple as that, but he couldn't quite figure out why.

Right as he was about to fall asleep that night, a flash of inspiration struck him: could it be that the little junior sister had the little black ball do something?

If that really was the case, the little junior sister's tactic was truly... utterly dogmatic!

Feng Xi didn't take the matter too seriously; these petty pranks couldn't possibly damage Shen Zhilan's foundations. Improving her own strength was what mattered most.

Therefore, after dinner, she began to meditate and cultivate.

She could clearly sense that her strength had improved once again recently, though she wasn't yet sure which level of Foundation Establishment it corresponded to, lacking actual combat experience.

Right, she was also someone who owned a flying sword now!

Shouldn't she practice her swordsmanship?

With that thought, she hurriedly sought out Jun Wen.

"Fifth Senior Brother, accompany me to practice the sword!"

Jun Wen: ...With that piece of junk wooden sword of yours, does practicing make any difference at all?!

Still, he accompanied Feng Xi to an open space and began practicing the sword.

Feng Xi knew all the sword forms, but paired with the wooden sword, the sight was nothing short of agonizing.

When she was supposed to flick, the tip of the sword wouldn't rise for ages; when she was supposed to thrust, she was as slow as a tortoise!

Jun Wen couldn't bear to watch!

He held back, but finally failed to contain himself:

"Little Junior Sister, that wooden sword of yours is completely useless!

There's no way to unleash the might of our Xuantian Swordsmanship with it. Ordinary moves can't be executed properly, let alone major ultimate techniques!

Besides, once we advance to the Golden Core stage, we'll be able to manifest sword qi.

Only spirit swords possess sword qi, so once we return to the sect, I'll accompany you to the Myriad Sword Cliff again!

Perhaps you'll successfully acquire a spirit sword this time, and then you can throw away this piece of junk wooden sword!"

Just as Jun Wen was chattering away, the wooden sword that had been leisurely slow a moment ago suddenly became incomparably swift!

Jun Wen failed to dodge in time, and the topknot on his head was cleanly sliced off.

Feng Xi let out an "ah" and said, "Fifth Senior Brother, if I say I didn't mean to do that, would you believe me?"

Jun Wen, whose hair was now hanging loose and disheveled: "..."

Actually, Feng Xi really hadn't meant to. The wooden sword had always been sluggish, so when she changed her form, she assumed Jun Wen would definitely be able to react in time.

Who would have guessed the wooden sword would suddenly speed up.

Jun Wen cared a great deal about his appearance. This was only because it was Feng Xi; otherwise, he would have fought her to the death.

He squeezed out a smile that was uglier than crying: "I believe you."

Feng Xi felt rather guilty, offering a basketful of sweet words and even helping Jun Wen design a brand-new hairstyle, which finally improved his mood.

Feng Xi continued practicing her swordsmanship. Having just experienced that one moment of sudden resurrection, the wooden sword had returned to its sluggish self.

Even so, Feng Xi practiced over and over again.

She argued quite reasonably: "Fifth Senior Brother, I've heard that ordinary people in the mortal realm tie sandbags to their legs to practice lightness skills. Once they've practiced enough, when the sandbags are removed, their bodies become as light as swallows.

If I can master practicing with this sluggish wooden sword, when it finally breaks out of its cocoon and transforms into a butterfly, I'll surely be able to slaughter all directions!

I also believe this wooden sword is merely a dormant dragon in the abyss for now. When it makes its triumphant return one day, ten thousand stars won't compare to even a fraction of its radiance!"

Right as Feng Xi was chattering away, she vaguely thought she saw a flash of white light at the tip of the sword, but because it lasted only a split second, she wasn't certain.

She asked Jun Wen, "Fifth Senior Brother, did you see the white light at the tip of the sword just now?"

Jun Wen's mouth curled downward into the shape of a ladle!

"Little Junior Sister, I've told you before, only the Golden Core stage can manifest sword qi. Besides, look at this wooden sword of yours—well, in any case, it's highly unlikely."

He actually wanted to say something harsher, but having just had his hair bun sliced off, he still had some psychological trauma, so he swallowed it back.

Hearing him say this, Feng Xi figured she might have just seen things, so she said no more and continued practicing her sword.

At that moment, the Endless Sea suddenly began to churn as if boiling over. The waves rolled incessantly, and then a gigantic sea beast's head poked out from the water's surface.

Two fierce beams of light shot out from its golden eyes.

Jun Wen let out a startled cry: "Golden-Eyed Blood Sea Elephant! A mid-stage Nascent Soul sea beast! Why is such a high-tier sea beast in the shallow water area?"

The moment his voice fell, the Golden-Eyed Blood Sea Elephant submerged back into the water and vanished.

Quite a few people witnessed this scene and broke into heated discussions.

High-tier sea beasts generally lived in the deep-sea area and rarely showed their faces in the shallow waters. Some even deliberately avoided this stretch of the realm's waters because they loathed the human and demon races.

Why had this Golden-Eyed Blood Sea Elephant suddenly appeared here?

Beneath the water, that Golden-Eyed Blood Sea Elephant was silently cursing up a storm!

Sea beasts had territories, and this stretch of ocean was precisely its domain.

Recently, quite a few sea beasts had come to it to complain, saying they didn't know what was going on lately, but fish and shrimp kept leaping ashore, forcing them to venture into other sea beasts' territories to hunt.

Originally, the Golden-Eyed Blood Sea Elephant hadn't wanted to bother, but after all, they were its subordinates, so it had reluctantly swum from the deep-sea area to the shallows.

Before it could figure out what was going on, who knows which wicked bastard had ambushed it!

It had been shot with a massive hole right at the base of its tail!

Fortunately its hide was thick and tough, otherwise it would have died of pain!

Its very first reaction was that the human race had done it!

However, when it poked its giant head out just now to take a look, although there were quite a few people on the shore, they were all weak little chickens without that kind of capability.

It had originally intended to make a show of force, but sensing that there were Spirit Severing cultivators nearby, it cursed quietly and shrank back into the sea.