Chapter 63

Chapter 63: I Believe You Can Do It

Long Yan stayed silent.

Li Shuang went on in a steady tone as she said: “Everyone here knows how hard it is to raise a Defective Sword Spirit, especially as disciples of the Sword Sect.”

The onlooking disciples could not help nodding.

Some of them had also received Defective Sword Spirits. Most had chosen to give up. A few tried anyway, but the results were poor and the Sword Spirit’s power stayed limited.

Long Yan had been born polluted. He was a Defective Sword Spirit among Defective Sword Spirits.

For Li Shuang to raise him to what he was now took an amount of effort that was hard to imagine.

A disciple could not hold back curiosity and asked: “Senior Sister Li, how did you do it?”

Li Shuang answered calmly: “A Sword Spirit born polluted can grow foul energy again even after awakening. So I watched him at all times. At the first sign, I used Sword Qi to wash away the filth. There was one benefit. By using spiritual power and shaping it into a sword for so long, my Sword Qi became sharper and sharper. If any of you meet such a Sword Spirit, you can come find me. I am willing to give you this Sword Qi Purification Method for free. Just know this. Condensing Sword Qi is not simple. Sword Qi is sharp and easily injures the meridians. Only in the last few years did I gain perfect control, and only then did my meridians stop getting hurt.”

Hearing this, everyone looked at Long Yan.

So all that time, to raise this Defective Sword Spirit, Li Shuang had been enduring the pain of damaged meridians again and again.

Dragged by a Sword Spirit, weighed down by a biased Master, and still spending huge amounts of time teaching her Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters.

Even so, Li Shuang still reached Core Formation in three years and Nascent Soul in ten years.

If no one had held her back, what a brilliant light Senior Sister Li would have shown.

When Li Shuang added that she would share the Sword Qi Purification Method for free, several disciples stepped forward to ask her for jade slips and began to copy it on the spot.

Ye Zhao Zhao’s face changed.

She had brought these people to condemn Li Shuang, not to watch them get won over by her.

Ye Zhao Zhao’s eyes brimmed again as she said: “Senior Sister, I know you gave so much for Long Yan, but Long Yan also cares deeply about you. That is why, when you suddenly abandoned him, he became so sad.”

She glanced at Long Yan, signaling him to say something pitiful.

Long Yan’s lips trembled, but he could not force out a single word.

[Useless, truly useless,] Ye Zhao Zhao fumed inside.

Li Shuang gave a light smile and pointed to the heart of it as she said: “Yes. When Long Yan was only a Defective Sword Spirit, I did not give up on him. When he kept growing foul energy, I did not give up on him. When he gained a body and I had mastered the Sword Qi Purification Method, that was when I let go. Do you really think there was no reason?”

Ye Zhao Zhao’s face twitched. She opened her mouth to argue.

But Li Shuang spoke first and said evenly: “I told the Sect Master already. On that snowy mountain, I fought to hold the rear, and when I was at the end of my strength, Long Yan betrayed me. He controlled the Dragon Roar Sword and stabbed my dantian. I, Li Shuang, will not abandon a partner because they are weak, and I will not abandon a partner because they are troublesome.”

Her lips cooled as she added: “But those who betray me, I will never look back for. A sword that betrays me, I will never spare it a glance.”

She brought up Long Yan’s betrayal again.

Sheng Yuan and Shen Yue froze and looked at Long Yan without meaning to.

When she first said this, they had not believed her.

But now they knew how much she had paid to raise Long Yan.

And still she chose the Black Abyss Sword over the Dragon Roar Sword.

Could it be that on the snowy mountain that day, things were truly as First Senior Sister had said?

Ye Zhao Zhao panicked and said: “Senior Sister, maybe you found it too troublesome to keep training Long Yan, so you gave him up. The snowy mountain was not like how you say. I was surrounded by dozens of Snow Fiends. When did you help me?”

Li Shuang smiled and said: “That mountain breeds new Snow Fiends every so often. How about this? We go back there, and you get surrounded by dozens of Snow Fiends again. Then we see whether you can break out with no one helping you.”

Ye Zhao Zhao’s face changed as she stammered: “Senior Sister, that is… that is ridiculous.”

But she could not say exactly where it was ridiculous.

Shen Yue looked at Ye Zhao Zhao and fell into a brief daze.

Today on the arena, Junior Sister had dropped her sword and fled. Anyone with eyes could tell that Zhao Zhao knew nothing about swordsmanship.

Those Snow Fiends were not easy. Otherwise only First Senior Sister and Junior Sister would not have been the only two at Nascent Soul Stage who could barely climb to the heights, while the rest of them at Golden Core Stage could not even pass the freezing winds at mid-slope.

[Could someone with Junior Sister’s sword skills really pluck a Snow Lotus alone, fight dozens of Snow Fiends alone, and leave without a scratch?]

Emotionally, he did not want to doubt Ye Zhao Zhao.

But reason told him the truth.

[She could not do it.]

Without help, Ye Zhao Zhao could not have done what she claimed.

He was not the only one who realized this.

The looks from the crowd toward Ye Zhao Zhao turned complicated.

Ye Zhao Zhao forced a smile and said: “Li… Senior Sister Li, why bring up something so far in the past? You say Long Yan’s betrayal, but that is only your side. His spirit was damaged because of you, and that is real. You have helped him so many times. Why not help just this once more?”

“It is different,” Li Shuang said without changing expression. “He is your Sword Spirit now. Ye Zhao Zhao, you should solve this yourself.”

“Senior Sister Li,” Ye Zhao Zhao cried in pain, “if you will not act, then we can only kneel here until we die.”

She was playing the rogue and had no intention of standing up.

Li Shuang stayed calm as she said: “Why beg me? I am only at Qi Refining Stage now, and he is a manifested Sword Spirit. I cannot drive out his foul energy. But you can.”

She handed Ye Zhao Zhao a jade slip she had specially copied and said with an encouraging look: “This method of washing with Sword Qi took me time to learn. At the start I was a beginner too, but I never hurt Long Yan. If you move slowly and keep a steady hand, at worst your meridians will suffer some damage, but Long Yan will be fine. I can see his state is indeed not good, so you should hurry. He is your Sword Spirit. You cannot toss him aside just because you found out he is a Defective Sword Spirit. I believe you. To save him, you will surely be willing to bear the pain of torn meridians.”

Ye Zhao Zhao stared at the jade slip, completely stunned.

[What is happening?]

She had come to morally pressure Li Shuang.

Why did it feel like she was the one being morally pressured now?