Fortunately, the girl's panic lasted only a moment before she calmed down.
Unfortunately, the mount girl's lack of understanding was truly baffling.
The Sword Spirit spent a long time trying but failed to convince the girl that this Master-Servant Contract was a great opportunity to change her fate, and his kind intentions only met with constant suspicion.
"Let me warn you first, don't dare attempt any mind-erasing, soul-borrowing and returning sort of tricks on me. There are plenty of cultivators in my family who know how to eliminate demons, and they'll definitely turn you to ashes!"
"I won't erase your mind or borrow your soul. You've awakened me from my slumber, which is a kindness to me, and I will seriously complete my repayment to you."
"So repayment means turning me into a mount?!"
"Yes, isn't that delightful?"
"Not delightful at all! And I don't need your repayment!"
"But I need it, repaying kindness is a basic virtue."
"..."
After bickering for a long time, no progress was made. The Sword Spirit had to admit that his plan was flawed. After pondering for a moment, he gently said to the girl, "Sorry, I was too presumptuous earlier. There's something I should have confirmed with you beforehand."
"What?" The girl was quite wary.
"You're mentally deficient, right?"
"You're the one who's mentally deficient!"
"It's like this, if I had known you were mentally deficient, I would have chosen a more detailed and gentle way to explain things for your understanding—unless you're severely deficient, in which case explanations aren't necessary, just enforce it."
"You!?"
The Sword Spirit continued: "Well, let me start from the beginning then; a long, long time ago..."
"Enough, no need to say more! I believe you, alright?" The girl was indeed worn out by all the chatter, her head hurting, forcing her to retreat a step, "However, since it's repayment, shouldn't you hear my wish first?"
The Sword Spirit granted the girl's request: "What do you want?"
"Actually, I want you to terminate the Master-Servant Contract, but... could you give me a million Spirit Stones instead?" The impoverished girl decisively made a realistic choice.
"I don't have that many Spirit Stones." The Sword Spirit answered honestly.
"How many do you have?"
The Sword Spirit glanced at the empty Sword World, saying: "Nothing."
"...So, if I wish for a sudden increase in strength, rapid advancement in cultivation realm, you can't do that either, right?"
The Sword Spirit suddenly felt that his assessment of this mount's intelligence needed to be lowered a few notches: "Cultivation is always your own matter, blindly relying on external forces is truly foolish beyond measure."
"Then just honestly terminate the contract!"
"Actually, that's not possible either. Signing the contract consumed all my energy, and to terminate it, I'd need to collect 5 pieces of Vortex Gold, 2 bottles of All Spirits Blood, and a sheet of Vast Agreement..."
"...Never heard of them."
"It's okay, I can introduce them to you one by one."
"No need! This won't work, neither will that. What exactly can you do?!"
The Sword Spirit admitted this was a good question, because at present, without everything in the Sword World, the Celestial Divine Sword was merely a indestructible Whiteboard Dull Sword. As for what it could do...
"How about listening to entertaining tales of the Immortal Demon War in Jiuzhou?"
"Not interested!"
"What about the romantic entanglements of your ancestors, Li Jiulong and Shen Kaishan?"
"I've never heard of anyone named Li Jiulong or Shen Kaishan!"
"I could tell you about their lives."
"Not interested!"
"...Don't want this, don't want that, I can only guide your cultivation."
The girl naturally didn't believe it: "Just you?"
"Well, admittedly, I'm hardly a master of immortal cultivation myself, aside from swordsmanship, I'm not particularly skilled in much else. But at least I can tell you're wasting your precious bloodline right now."
The Sword Spirit spoke while using the power of the Master-Servant Contract to deeply observe his contract mount, Li Qingming.
Undoubtedly a descendant of those old acquaintances, Li Jiulong's Nine Dragon Sword Heart, inherited through countless diluted generations, still clearly condensed within the girl's body. On the other hand, Shen Kaishan's lifelong cultivation achievement, the Immovable Tyrant Body, perfectly displayed in the girl's bloodline.
However, these two highest bloodlines are actually completely incompatible. The Immovable Tyrant Body and the Nine Dragon Sword Heart are basically isolated from each other. Possessing this bloodline means cultivating swordsmanship is twice as hard, and stepping into the Immortal Realm through swordsmanship is several times harder than for others. Normally, cultivators, upon reaching Body Refining Perfection and True Qi overabundance, can attempt to Control Qi into Wind, breaking through human limits to become a Wind-Rising Realm cultivator. If the process goes smoothly, it happens in one go. If not... it could be stuck for a long time.
Li Qingming's situation is clearly the latter; two top-tier bloodlines conflict with each other, making it unsurprising that she has been stuck at this bottleneck for five or six years. Her swordsmanship cultivation becomes more sluggish, even reverting at times, such as when she practices the Windchasing Sword to the extreme, leading to loss of control.
"..."
At some point, the Sword Spirit noticed that the girl was already speechless, her face full of shock, while thoughts in her mind were transmitted through the contract channel and reached the Sword Spirit's ears.
"Everything, absolutely everything hit the mark!?"
At the age of 10, Li Qingming completed the foundational courses of the Body Refining Stage, proudly graduating as the Inner Sect Chief of the Li Family. However, over the next four years, her cultivation made virtually no progress as her peers from the family mastered Controlling Qi into Wind, broke barriers, and rose through the Wind-Rising Realm. Yet, she lingered before the Wind Barrier for four years, and her swordsmanship became increasingly less proficient with each passing day. These four years were truly difficult; not only was she expelled from the Inner Sect, but her status also gradually declined in the Outer Sect…
She initially thought her cultivation aptitude was too poor, making it impossible to connect with the Immortal Dao, but now it seemed there might be another reason?
The Sword Spirit said, "Speaking purely of aptitude, while you are not considered outstanding, you shouldn't be blocked by the Wind Barrier. The main issue is with your cultivation method."
"Is, is that so…" the girl hesitantly said, but in her heart, she was slowly convinced.
Despite her current predicament, both her parents were among the finest individuals in the world. Her cultivation aptitude shouldn't be this poor, nor should her progress be this slow and difficult! It's unfortunate that her mother passed away too early, and her father is in such a state… leaving her unaware of whom she should rely on now.
Afterwards, the girl's thoughts became chaotic and disordered, until much later a clear and somewhat hesitant voice emerged.
"So in your opinion, what should I do now? Just to clarify, I don't completely trust you, I only want to hear your opinion."
The Sword Spirit pondered for a moment and then said, "In my view, your talent in Sword Cultivation is rather average. It's better to focus on the Immovable Tyrant Body to fully exploit your bloodline advantage, at least to break barriers and rise through the Wind-Rising Realm, thus stepping into the Immortal Realm."
"Bloodline advantage?"
The Sword Spirit explained, "During your Body Refining Stage, was your progress not exceptionally rapid, requiring hardly any training, with your physical strength improving substantially with each day?"
Li Qingming said, "I was quite diligent in my daily training since childhood! Although progress was quick, it could be attributed to my diligent cultivation."
"Oh? Did you ever train to the point of breaking tendons and bones or rupturing internal organs?"
"Who would go to such lengths!"
"Your ancestor Shen Kaishan did. In any case, since you didn't even spit blood, don't talk about diligent cultivation. You're simply relying on your bloodline advantage."
"… Alright, alright then." Li Qingming paused and said, "So how do I leverage my bloodline advantage? That Immovable Tyrant Body, will you guide my cultivation?"
"Certainly, it's the basic content for repaying kindness, and when the mount encounters difficulties, the master is duty-bound to help."
"… Although I'm still somewhat unhappy with the mount-master relationship, thank you."
"You're welcome."
"By the way, you signed a Master-Servant Contract with me, only telling me what you would do for me, but don't you need something yourself?"
This question from the girl slightly increased the Sword Spirit's fondness for her, as he indeed had some requests for his mount.
"There are indeed some trivial matters needing your help… My Sword World was ravaged to the ground by the Great Demon God Emperor; rebuilding it requires ample materials and pure True Essence."
Li Qingming laughed, "Sure, if I succeed in my cultivation someday, I'll definitely help you gather materials and provide True Essence. But this process might be very long."
"Oh, thank you, I'm not in a hurry." The Sword Spirit sincerely expressed gratitude.
After mutual thanks, the atmosphere became slightly relaxed. The Sword Spirit believed they had established a basic level of trust and planned to ask her some questions about the current world affairs.
However, before he could open his mouth, Li Qingming said, "Speaking of which, you entered into a contract with me without my permission, yet I still don't know your name."
The Sword Spirit said, "Hmm, that's an interesting question. I've forgotten my name from when I was human. After reincarnation as a Divine Sword, your ancestors often called me Brother Jian or Divine Sword. As for you…"
Li Qingming lightly laughed, "Should I call you Elder Jian?"
"No, considering the generation gap and contractual relationship between us, you ought to call me Master."
"..."
Li Qingming, who had just relaxed, felt her nerves suddenly tense, her temples throbbing, her hands tightly gripping the sword handle…
Then touched the handle where several worn-out ancient characters could be faintly discerned.
While cultivating in the Inner Sect, the family had hired an instructor from the Celestial Book Tower to teach reading and writing of ancient characters—for the world is vast, and ancient cultivator relics often are unearthed, containing cultivation secret manuals naturally written in ancient script. Understanding their writing and reading is crucial for determining their value.
Li Qingming's Inner Sect years had always shown excellence in cultivation and study, so despite the great age of the ancient characters on the sword, they still could be faintly recognized.
"The characters here are… Jiu, Wang?"
The Sword Spirit felt the girl's touch explaining, "That was a sword ornament made for me by Zhao Yuming, called Nine Dragon Sword Heart on the front and Sword King on the back, supposedly showcasing Divine Sword prestige. However, I always suspected she was teasing me because every time it was shown to others, they'd laugh to no end… Faced with Zhao Yuming, who would pout and act cute in front of me, crying and fussing—how could I, a dignified Divine Sword, be serious with a little girl—Jiulong and the others said offending Xiangzhou's number one beauty would be more perilous than offending the Great Demon God Emperor, so I tolerated it… So it seems four characters were worn away, leaving only nine and king. Even Bright White Amber can't resist time's erosion; how long have I been asleep? Which year is it now?"
Li Qingming, however, paid no heed to the latter words, murmuring, "Xiangzhou Qingyuan May 13, 2017… Well, since only Wang and Jiu are left, I'll call you Wang Jiu from now on."
"Ah?"
Only hearing the girl laugh mischievously saying, "Wang Jiu, let me help you get acquainted with the environment; we'll be striving together in cultivation from now on."