Chapter 96

Chapter 96: Ye Huai’s Life-Bound Sword

Day after day went by. Shen Sang Ruo did not stop for even a moment, and with the “help” of everyone in Ninghua Sect and Immortal Maiden Azure Luan, her mental state became strangely bright. [This schedule is brutal.]

There was about one month left before the match for Young Sect Master when Shen Sang Ruo finally got a few free days to relax.

Su Xi Yu was busy with her “cooking,” planning to make Song Wei Yan taste it, while Song Wei Yan refused to sit and wait: he chanted his own spells back at her.

The two of them focused on tormenting each other.

With his eyes half closed, Bai Ruo An still watched the fun from the side.

Shen Sang Ruo’s attention, though, was on Ye Huai in the corner, quietly wiping his broken sword.

The blade had snapped at the halfway point. Even so, Ye Huai had polished it spotless, and its fierce aura still showed.

He kept the broken sword very well. Except for that one time he used it to dig the ground, he almost always set it down with great care.

His gaze on the sword was as calm as the aura over his whole body. There was no sadness or pain in it. He simply kept wiping.

Ye Huai’s situation was different from the other three. He could not cultivate, not because his body had a problem, but because his Life-Bound Sword had broken and given rise to a Heart Devil.

If they wanted Ye Huai to recover, they had to start with this broken sword.

Shen Sang Ruo gathered her thoughts and walked up to him, saying, “Senior Brother Ye, what materials were used to forge the Nether Shadow Sword? Maybe I can help you look for them.”

The Nether Shadow Sword was the name of Ye Huai’s Life-Bound Sword.

With Su Xi Yu and Song Wei Yan recovering one after another, Ye Huai also knew that this soon-to-enter-the-sect Junior Sister was truly capable and truly meant to help him.

But his sword was not like other swords. Fixing the blade would not solve the problem.

Ye Huai was about to refuse, saying, “Thank you, Junior Sister,” when Immortal Lord Chang Li walked in, took over his words, and went on, “Repairing his Nether Shadow Sword is not as simple as fixing the sword body.”

Everyone in the room greeted Immortal Lord Chang Li.

Shen Sang Ruo looked at him, waiting for the rest.

Immortal Lord Chang Li sat nearby and said, “The Nether Shadow Sword was not made from rare materials. Restoring the blade is not hard.”

“The hard part is restoring the Sword Spirit.”

Shen Sang Ruo had heard before that Ye Huai’s sword had already nurtured a Sword Spirit.

When the sword broke, it also meant the Sword Spirit was harmed.

A Sword Spirit means everything to a Sword Cultivator.

But in the Cultivation World, the breaking of a Sword Cultivator’s Life-Bound Sword is not uncommon. In battle, accidents happen, and the Sword Spirit can be injured.

Because of this, several top Sword Cultivators once worked together to create a spell that repairs the Sword Spirit while repairing the blade, and it is now widely used in the Cultivation World.

As long as the blade can be repaired, the Sword Spirit can be repaired. This is basic common knowledge.

Yet Immortal Lord Chang Li said that even if Ye Huai’s blade were fixed, the Sword Spirit still would not recover.

Shen Sang Ruo’s gaze fell on the Nether Shadow Sword as she asked, “What is special about Senior Brother Ye’s sword and Sword Spirit?”

Immortal Lord Chang Li replied, “We have to start from before Ye Huai ever forged his Life-Bound Sword.”

Since Ye Huai was always a man of few words, Immortal Lord Chang Li simply told the story for him.

Back then, by chance during a training trip, Ye Huai entered the territory of the legendary Nine-Lives Spirit Cat Clan.

Spirit cats have nine lives, matching the nine tails behind a Nine-Lives Spirit Cat. They were a sign of good fortune, and finding their territory was a rare chance for any cultivator.

Ye Huai was overjoyed and looked forward to seeing the beautiful creatures of legend.

However, when he stepped into the territory, he saw countless Nine-Lives Spirit Cats being slaughtered by a group of Heretic Cultivators.

The sharp, tragic cries of the spirit cats and the thick smell of blood filled his senses.

What had once been peaceful had become a hell where rivers ran red.

Ye Huai was just in his early twenties then. The scene hit him hard.

Thanks to a protective artifact Immortal Lord Chang Li had given him, the Heretic Cultivators did not find him.

After that group left the cats’ territory, Ye Huai numbly stepped out from his hiding place.

The whole clan of Nine-Lives Spirit Cats had been wiped out. Broken tails lay everywhere. The grief of it made even an outsider like Ye Huai feel his eyes sting.

After he was sure the Heretic Cultivators would not return, Ye Huai began to gather the bodies of the spirit cats, one by one, and bury them.

In the worst place, the cats’ bodies were piled like a small hill.

Pushing down his emotions, Ye Huai said nothing. He just kept repeating the motions of separating and burying the dead.

When he reached the very bottom, he found a cub that was still barely breathing.

He then understood that its kin had built a wall of flesh with their own bodies to protect it.

Ye Huai quickly fed it a few pills. After a moment, the cub finally woke.

From its mouth, Ye Huai learned that the chieftain of the Nine-Lives Spirit Cat Clan had died by accident, Heretic Cultivators took advantage and invaded, and this cub was the chieftain’s last bloodline, the new chieftain.

It had watched its kin be slaughtered by Heretic Cultivators. As chieftain, it was powerless, and it even needed its kin to shield it with their blood and flesh. Hatred filled its eyes.

Ye Huai wanted to bring it back to Ninghua Sect for treatment, but it refused.

It was already badly hurt, and the grief of losing its clan had drained it.

Seeing that Ye Huai was a Sword Cultivator, it made a deal with him. It would give up reincarnation, enter his sword with its divine soul, and become his Sword Spirit, and in return, he had to avenge them.

It condensed its divine soul into a small bone, then tore out that bone and handed it to Ye Huai. Every motion showed its hatred for the Heretic Cultivators.

Ye Huai promised to fight those Heretic Cultivators without rest for the rest of his life. He then returned to Ninghua Sect, added that bone to his forging materials, and created his Life-Bound Sword, the Nether Shadow Sword.

The cat’s bloodline was pure, its Divine Soul Power strong, and it also carried the grievance of an entire clan’s slaughter. In a very short time, Ye Huai grew powerful and became famous.

After this, his nature grew steady, and he spoke less and less.

The Sword Spirit nurtured within the blade was that same Nine-Lives Spirit Cat. Together, they hunted the Heretic Cultivators and cut down several under the Nether Shadow Sword.

Later came the great upheaval of Ninghua Sect.

The person who broke the Nether Shadow Sword seemed to have discovered its secret. That person used special means to imprison the spirit cat’s soul and kept draining its Divine Soul Power.

At first, Ye Huai could still sense the cat’s presence. Later, its soul grew so weak it fell into sleep.

Immortal Lord Chang Li let out a long sigh and said, “So the most important part of repairing the Nether Shadow Sword is restoring the spirit cat’s divine soul.”