The very first line that popped up on the System screen made Theodore's heart thump in excitement.
He'd once gotten Staffwork Reaches the Divine from Hagrid, and to this day it was one of his most terrifying combat methods.
When he swung his staff, he could stir up the baleful qi between heaven and earth; paired with Adamantine Body, Unclouded Mind, the sheer force of it was enough to shake ghosts to tears and gods to silence.
But that staff talent had only come after forming a Life-and-Death bond with someone on the level of Yuan Hong. That had not been easy.
Now this new Swordwork Reaches the Divine talent had come from nothing more than reaching Casual Acquaintance with the Weasley twins.
Pure profit.
And as it happened, he was in Gryffindor—and everyone knew, wherever there was Gryffindor, there were sword saints.
First, Harry Potter in his second year, beheading a thousand-year Basilisk with the Sword of Gryffindor.
Later, Neville Longbottom taking that same blade and chopping down the final Horcrux, Nagini.
Even Gryffindor's House relic was a sword.
It all said one thing: to be a true Gryffindor, your magic could be mediocre—
But your swordsmanship could not.
If Theodore ever managed to get his hands on the Sword of Gryffindor and pair it with Swordwork Reaches the Divine, the power he could unleash might very well surpass even his ancient staff combined with Staffwork Reaches the Divine.
And besides…
The style points were off the charts.
People spoke of sword immortals. Who had ever heard of a staff immortal?
As a cultivator, you could get by without using a sword—but you absolutely couldn't get by without having one.
Now, at least, that hole in his loadout had been patched.
He continued reading down the System screen.
[You and Jin Zha have formed a Life-and-Death Bond. You gain the talent — Spirit-Rhino Insight.
Heart like a spirit-rhino, eyes that see with wisdom—used in cultivation, this talent multiplies your comprehension and intellect; used in battle, it lets you pierce through an enemy's feints and flaws. Jin Zha relied on this to cut down one powerful foe after another during the Investiture Calamity, earning great merit.]
[You and Mu Zha have formed a Life-and-Death Bond. You gain the talent — Sword-Heart Illuminated.
Entering the Dao through the sword, questioning the heart with the sword—this talent forges a crystal-clear sword-heart. It grants divine aid to all sword arts, spells, and divine abilities; your sword grows ever fiercer in battle and pairs perfectly with Swordwork Reaches the Divine. Among the third-generation disciples of the Chan Sect, if any is first in the Way of the Sword, it is Mu Zha.]
Theodore's gaze turned thoughtful.
Jin Zha and Mu Zha were blood brothers. After entering the Chan Sect, both had apprenticed to masters with deep karmic destiny.
Jin Zha had followed Wenshu Guangfa Tianzun.
Mu Zha had followed Puxian Zhenren.
In later ages, both would enter the Western Faith as the future Bodhisattvas Manjushri and Samantabhadra—both bearing swords as dharma implements. Just from that, you could tell how deeply they'd trodden the path of the blade.
No wonder the Casual Acquaintance rewards from both had been the same Sword Arts Innate talent.
But the roads they themselves had walked were very different.
Mu Zha's path was that of a pure sword cultivator, a sword immortal devoted to killing edge.
In the Investiture era, his treasured weapon had been the pair of Wugou Twin Swords bestowed by Puxian Zhenren. When those twin blades crossed, sword-qi ran rampant; few could contest his swordsmanship head-on.
Jin Zha, on the other hand, walked the path of wisdom and foresight—seeing through an enemy's moves before they made them. His weapon was the Dragon-Pinning Stake, perfectly suited to his style.
See through the flaw, pin the opponent in place with the stake, then kill with the sword.
Not just brave, but cunning; though Jin Zha's raw combat strength was somewhat inferior to Mu Zha's, the merits he'd racked up in the Investiture Calamity were not less—in some ways, they were greater.
Once he'd pieced all that together, Theodore understood why the Life-and-Death rewards from the two brothers were so different.
[Life-and-Death Bond with Jin Zha → Divine Ability — Wisdom-Cuts the Myriad Confusions.
Swing the sword of wisdom to sever your own tangled thoughts, leaving your mind crystal-clear like coloured glaze. In boosting comprehension and insight, this stands peerless among divine abilities.]
[Life-and-Death Bond with Mu Zha → Divine Ability — Sword-Light Myriadfold.
A technique reserved for sword immortals who have perfected the Way of the Sword—one swing looses sword-qi that splits into ten thousand strands, from which you can even weave a sword formation. A savage, world-cleaving killing art on the sword-path.]
Theodore drew in a long breath and forced himself not to think too far ahead.
Jin Zha and Mu Zha had chosen different Daos.
He, on the other hand, wanted all of them.
Spirit-Rhino Insight from Jin Zha would fuse perfectly with his Seven Apertures Exquisite Heart, evolving into an even higher-tier comprehension talent.
In the future, paired with Wisdom-Cuts the Myriad Confusions, his comprehension and intelligence could keep climbing, breakthrough after breakthrough.
As for Mu Zha's sword path, it would let Theodore control any flying-sword-type treasure with frightening precision once he started forging them.
All of these rewards were disgustingly practical.
"System," Theodore murmured inwardly, "claim Swordwork Reaches the Divine, Sword-Heart Illuminated, and Spirit-Rhino Insight."
The next second, three new talents slowly lit up on his panel.
A razor-sharp aura burst out around him, like a divine sword leaving its sheath; sword-intent rang in the air.
All at once, Theodore felt as though he and the sword were one; inexhaustible sword-intent condensed around him.
He brought two fingers together like a blade and flicked his hand.
Just as Staffwork Reaches the Divine drew in baleful qi for the staff, now Swordwork Reaches the Divine and Sword-Heart Illuminated drew fine threads of that same baleful qi to coil around his fingertips.
With a casual stroke—
An invisible arc of sword-qi sliced through the air.
"So this is the blessing of Sword-Heart Illuminated and Swordwork Reaches the Divine?"
"My sword is already beyond my staff."
"All I lack is a blade worthy of my ancient staff."
Naturally, his first thought was the Sword of Gryffindor.
A famed weapon if ever there was one; in terms of material and magic, it might well surpass even his wand-staff.
If he had a chance in the future… could he maybe bleed on it and see if it recognised him as master?
For now, though, there was no taking that thing.
But that didn't mean Theodore had no alternatives.
If he couldn't get a physical sword, he already had an invisible one.
Sectumsempra, empowered by Reversed Demonic Source, had shed its black-magic taint and fully revealed the "divine edge" hidden in its name.
The last time he'd used it, he'd already felt it—an unseen sword-qi flying through the air, nothing able to withstand it.
Now that he also had Swordwork Reaches the Divine and Sword-Heart Illuminated, even without any sword divine abilities yet, and without a proper flying sword in hand, what was stopping him from treating Sectumsempra as his sword-qi?
"Sectumsempra."
As he spoke, invisible edge burst forth.
But compared to the previous times he'd cast it, the difference now was absurd.
The awe-inspiring keen edge radiated a soul-shaking sword-intent. It seemed alive, flickering through the air like an invisible flying sword, going wherever Theodore willed and displaying swordsmanship that would make hearts tremble.
In the air, stray wisps of baleful qi were drawn to the spell, twining into the edge and boosting its lethality even further.
Then something stirred in Theodore's mind, and he barked softly:
"Go!"
The sword-qi shot forward, pierced straight through the wall of the Room of Requirement, and streaked up into the sky, neatly shaving the tip off a nearby tower spire.
Even Theodore couldn't help bursting into laughter at the sight.
"All by chance at play I loosed my divine sword,
And toppled Zhongnan's foremost peak."
"These are the tricks of a sword immortal," he crowed. "And now I've got them too."
Once he carried out another round of talent fusion, this flying sword of his might climb yet another level.
Of course, that would require even more merit—the talents he wanted to fuse now were all high-tier, and he'd feel heartsick losing any of them.
He exhaled slowly.
"Here's hoping the twins' troll-dung Dungbomb project goes smoothly."
And, sure enough, early the next morning an owl brought him a letter asking him to come to the Forbidden Forest at once—the senders, unsurprisingly, were the Weasley twins.
When Theodore arrived at the Forest, his expression changed at once. He hurriedly held his breath.
He stared at the twins in shock.
"You two… what happened to you?"
"How did you get this smelly?!"
The twins themselves were gagging, eyes watering, but their faces glowed with exhilaration.
"Our theory worked. Using troll dung as the main ingredient really was a stroke of genius."
"It's terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. Theo, you cannot imagine how terrifying this thing is."
"I'm willing to call it the most vicious prank item in history—past or future. I'd bet you anything, if You-Know-Who himself saw this thing, he'd turn and run."
"Here—this is the troll-dung Dungbomb you wanted!"
"Ugh… you take it. We can't. We're going to stay out here in the Forest until the smell wears off before we go back to the castle."
A moment later, Theodore pinched his nose shut and, with ten times his usual caution, accepted one (1) troll-dung Dungbomb.
On the System screen, blood-red warnings instantly flashed.
[This is the Nine Heavens Divine Thunderbolt forged by Jin Zha and Mu Zha using top-grade Nitre Spirit-Soil from Meishan.]
[Once unleashed, its thunder shakes the Nine Heavens above and the Netherworld below—
The earth quakes, spirits cry—
Even gods and ghosts will be struck with terror!]
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