Chapter 597: At Least Nine Bolts

“Xin Li Garden?” Elder Xia Yi coincidentally walked over at this point. He overheard Chu Liuyue’s words and knitted his brows tightly. “Didn’t Cabinet Master say that he wanted to go to Thousand View Garden’s zither room to take something?”

Chu Liuyue nodded. “Back then, Eldest Young Master Jiang followed Mentor in while I waited outside, so I don’t know what happened. When Mentor came out, he was still fine. After we left Xin Li Garden, he said he wanted to have some alone time… so I didn’t follow him back.”

Elder Xia Yi was filled with confusion. “Did he see the item and was reminded of the past? But it doesn’t seem like it…”

That zither room used to be the place where the Princess loved to go, so she naturally left her mark there. Since Cabinet Master planned to go there and take his items back, he definitely would’ve been mentally prepared and wouldn’t end up like this. When Cabinet Master returned today, he glanced at me hurriedly, and I felt that something was wrong. I originally wanted to go up and ask, but Cabinet Master went to the back of the mountains. Hence, I didn’t follow him.

“Forget it. Let’s not worry about this first. Cultivate properly during this period of time. The timing for this year’s clan compet.i.tion has already been set to a month later, so you have to prepare for it properly,” said Elder Xia Yi.

Ye Ranran said in shock, “It has always been held in February. Why did they advance it this year?”

Elder Xia Yi smiled bitterly. “The timing was set after all the clans discussed.”

Ye Ranran immediately understood why and curtly kept quiet.

Chu Liuyue thought to herself, As expected. Xi Ling holds the clan compet.i.tion once a year to test everyone’s abilities and settle on their status. The compet.i.tion date is almost the same every year, but this year, it was suddenly brought forward by so much. Some people clearly don’t want to wait any longer. Not only Jiu Xing Alliance wants to replace Chong Xu Cabinet.

Elder Xia Yi kindly said, “No matter if it’s earlier or later, this compet.i.tion will come. Ranran, tell the cabinet’s disciples about this and make everyone prepare to put their best foot forward.”

“Yes.”

After Elder Xia Yi was done talking, he left.

Chu Liuyue and Ye Ranran didn’t say anything much, and they left respectively.

…

When Chu Liuyue went to her room door, she coincidentally saw Qiang Wanzhou walking out of his room.

The latter’s aura seemed to be much stronger than before.

Chu Liuyue asked in shock, “You… used another pill?”

Qiang Wanzhou nodded. After a moment, he explained, “You said that I could continue eating more once that pill’s effects were over.”

Chu Liuyue walked over, took his pulse, and was even more shocked in her heart. The harsh, cold air in Qiang Wanzhou’s body depleted at an even faster rate than expected. A portion of the force that was previously frozen has been released.

She knew that following this progress, Qiang Wanzhou’s abilities would gradually strengthen. However, she didn’t expect it to be so fast.

In actual fact, only a small part of his force had been melted. However, the strength it contained was immense…

It’s no wonder he had to use the pill again. At this speed, his body will be well in about three months. Chu Liuyue glanced at him strangely.

Qiang Wanzhou’s thin lips moved, and a question surfaced on his pretty face. “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing… I was just thinking that it really costs a lot of money to raise kids…” teased Chu Liuyue with a smile.

Qiang Wanzhou pressed his lips against each other. “I’m not a kid.”

Chu Liuyue didn’t want to argue with him. Kids love to say that they’re grown-ups, but luckily, I have money now. If not, I would go bankrupt just by helping Qiang Wanzhou nurture his body.

She caressed his head, waved her hand, and returned to the house. “Cultivate properly, and I’ll give you a gift in a while.”

Qiang Wanzhou stared at her back view, and a question slowly surfaced in his heart: Do I really cost that much money? If she wants to give me something, it seems like I need to give her something in return…

His eyes turned as he thought of something, and he returned to his room.

…

After closing the door and the windows, Chu Liuyue took out the Cloud-Sky Copper Sword, placed it in front of her, and scrutinized it carefully.

Upon standing near it, she could feel the sword’s material even better. Even when it was just silently placed there, she could still feel its vague, sharp aura.

This sword was entirely copper, and only the sword tip was glowing in a peac.o.c.k-blue shade.

“Queling Copper…” muttered Chu Liuyue softly. According to what Ancestor said, this item can become a top sword in the world after I refine it. Ancestor’s eyes definitely won’t be wrong, but the key is… How do I refine it?

Even though she was good in all three cultivation aspects, she had never personally refined weapons.

After thinking for a moment, she finally asked her ancestor for advice. “Ancestor, may I know how do I handle this Queling Copper?”

Ancestor’s voice sounded very relaxed. “Haha, this is simple! You just need to find a star stone and sharpen the Queling Copper’s heart against it before triggering lightning.”

Chu Liuyue: “…What did you say?”

I understood the first half of the sentence, but did I hear the second half wrongly? Triggering lightning… This is only something a top warrior can do! Even though I’m not weak now, it would be a daydream for me to trigger lightning.

“Ahem, ahem… Actually, this thing isn’t that hard… You should know that normal fire doesn’t have much effect on this Queling Copper’s heart, so you can only refine it using the power of lightning…”

Chu Liuyue’s eyelids twitched. “I didn’t know. I haven’t even seen Queling Copper previously, so how was I supposed to know all of this?”

Shangguan Jing seemed to have noticed something as he changed his words. “Oh, is that so… Actually, it’s fine that you don’t know about this—”

Chu Liuyue was expressionless. “So you don’t have any other way?”

“…Nope.”

“…”

“Ahem, I can actually help you trigger the lightning…”

Chu Liuyue’s eyes brightened up. “Really?”

Shangguan Jing paused for a while, and his voice suddenly sounded guilty. “As long as… As long as you can endure the lightning’s strength…”

A bad feeling surfaced in Chu Liuyue’s heart. “What do you mean…?”

“Um… So even though I can help you trigger the lightning… the Queling Copper’s heart has a natural defense against it… So if you really want to refine a good sword, you must let the lightning’s power pa.s.s through its surface thoroughly… The best way is to use your body as the bridge to endure the lightning’s power and transmit it into the Queling Copper’s heart…”

Chu Liuyue swiftly put down the Cloud-Sky Copper Sword, and it made a low sound.

The ancestor’s voice suddenly stopped.

The atmosphere suddenly became very awkward.

Chu Liuyue’s brows and eyes did not move. “Are you refining the sword or refining me?”

“Ahem… Girl, you can’t say that… If it’s other people, they naturally can’t do this, but you’re different. You’re already the Long Yuan Sword’s owner now. The Long Yuan Sword received a total of 81 bolts of lightning power, so you have a certain endurance toward the power of lightning.”

Chu Liuyue slightly heaved a sigh of relief. “Then, do I succeed after enduring one lightning bolt?”

The ancestor suddenly paused.

Chu Liuyue’s heart sank.

Shangguan Jing’s voice floated to her ears weakly. “…At least nine bolts.”