Chapter 63 - 40: Rapid Progress, Trip to Baoguang Temple

Chapter 63: Chapter 40: Rapid Progress, Trip to Baoguang Temple

Mu Xiaoyu gripped the White Rainbow Sword and walked back to where she had been practicing. She was just about to try practicing, but then grew a little worried and looked at Li Yinsheng.

"Senior Brother, this sword is covered in cracks. It won’t break, will it?"

Li Yinsheng remained calm. "Don’t worry, Junior Sister. A Magical Treasure is far tougher and sharper than a Magical Artifact, even in its current state."

Mu Xiaoyu breathed a sigh of relief. She stood firm, held her sword, and closed her eyes to regulate her breathing.

Normally, she wouldn’t be this proactive.

But the White Rainbow Sword was simply too beautiful. Moreover, it felt extraordinarily comfortable in her grip. Even though she was quite exhausted, she couldn’t wait to try it out.

After calming her breath, she channeled her Magical Power based on the sensation she had practiced numerous times and executed the Yin Yang Light-Splitting Sword.

However, the moment she executed the Sword Technique, she felt an icy sensation flow from the hilt into her body.

As she circulated her Magical Power to execute the Light-Splitting Sword, this freezing sensation spread through her meridians, sharply piercing over a dozen acupoints and meridians.

The instant the stabbing pain appeared, the flow of her Magical Power shifted slightly. When the Sword Light of the Yin Yang Light-Splitting Sword thrust forward, it was visibly more solid and radiant than before.

"OUCH!"

Mu Xiaoyu had no time to notice any changes in her Sword Light. Clutching her wrist, she looked at Li Yinsheng with a wronged expression.

"Senior Brother, this sword... it stabbed me!"

Li Yinsheng’s expression did not change; Martial Uncle had already told him this would happen.

"Don’t worry, Junior Sister. This is the Spirituality within the White Rainbow Sword using its Sword Intent to guide your practice of the Yin Yang Light-Splitting Sword."

Li Yinsheng explained, "This Sword Intent won’t harm your body. It merely uses the sensation of pain to stimulate your acupoints and meridians.

"This will cause subtle changes in how you circulate your Magical Power, making it more suitable for executing the Light-Splitting Sword. You need to remember these changes, imitate them, and learn from them."

Mu Xiaoyu was dumbfounded, wanting to cry but lacking the tears.

"So this is how it guides me! How is this any different from a tutor smacking my palms with a ruler?!"

Wait, there was still a difference. The tutor would only smack her palms when she failed to do her assignments or acted mischievously. But this sword stabbed her every single time she cast the technique. Wouldn’t that be equivalent to the tutor smacking her hands for every single sentence she read or every line she wrote? That was too terrifying!

Looking at the White Rainbow Sword in her hand now, the fondness she had felt earlier was completely gone, replaced only by pure horror.

"Senior Brother, I don’t want this sword anymore. It hurts too much. Let’s just return it to Martial Uncle!" Mu Xiaoyu said hastily.

"What? Does the Sword Intent hurt that much?" Li Yinsheng was taken aback.

He had asked Martial Uncle about it. The Sword Intent only stimulated the acupoints and meridians to guide the flow of Magical Power. It wasn’t meant to be torture; it shouldn’t hurt that much. Moreover, he had tested it himself beforehand, and it truly didn’t hurt much. It was a far cry from the agonizing burning pain of the Blood Refining Core.

"It really hurts!" Mu Xiaoyu nodded.

"Then... how does it compare to the Washing Marrow and Cleansing Veins from the Qingxuan Divine Light?" Li Yinsheng asked.

Mu Xiaoyu shook her head. "It still can’t compare to that. It’s probably only a tenth of the pain of Washing Marrow and Cleansing Veins... No, a twentieth. Well, not quite..."

After pondering carefully, she gave a definitive answer: "It’s possibly, approximately, probably about a thirtieth of the pain."

Li Yinsheng nodded in understanding.

That made sense. It was about the same level of pain he had felt.

"You can endure even Washing Marrow and Cleansing Veins, Junior Sister. How can you not handle the mere guidance of the White Rainbow Sword’s Spirituality?" Li Yinsheng asked.

Mu Xiaoyu puffed out her cheeks.

Although it was nowhere near as painful as Washing Marrow and Cleansing Veins, who would enjoy getting stung for no reason?

"Senior Brother, even though Washing Marrow and Cleansing Veins hurts a lot, I only have to endure it for a short while every day. Plus, you said it would hurt less and less over time.

"If I use this sword to practice the Yin Yang Light-Splitting Sword, wouldn’t it hurt for as long as I practice? And the pain will never decrease!" Mu Xiaoyu’s face was filled with rejection.

"Why would it always hurt that much?" Li Yinsheng shook his head. "Think about it, Junior Sister. The stabbing pain is only to make the circulation of your Magical Power more precise.

"As your Magical Power circulates more and more accurately, the stimulation it needs to give you will decrease as well.

"Therefore, as long as you become increasingly proficient in the Yin Yang Light-Splitting Sword, it will hurt less and less. It’s similar to Washing Marrow and Cleansing Veins—not to mention it doesn’t even hurt that much to begin with."

Mu Xiaoyu looked thoughtful.

"So that’s how it is..." She was still a bit reluctant. "But it shouldn’t matter if I learn a little slower, right? I think practicing normally is fine, too."

Who said it didn’t matter if she learned slower? Did she have any idea she only had three years?! Li Yinsheng grumbled inwardly.

"I see. If you don’t want to use the White Rainbow Sword, that’s fine too..." Li Yinsheng said casually.

Mu Xiaoyu’s eyes lit up, and she immediately bounded over to return the White Rainbow Sword to him.

"I had thought that if you were willing to practice with the White Rainbow Sword, its efficiency boost would allow you to practice the Yin Yang Light-Splitting Sword for half an hour less each day," Li Yinsheng finished his thought.

Mu Xiaoyu stopped dead in her tracks, suddenly adopting a solemn expression. "Senior Brother! I think the White Rainbow Sword actually doesn’t hurt that much!"

"So you still want to practice with the White Rainbow Sword?" Li Yinsheng asked.

"Yes!" Mu Xiaoyu nodded emphatically.

Then, feeling a bit insecure, she asked, "So, Senior Brother, will you really let me practice the Light-Splitting Sword for half an hour less?"

"Of course. Actually, I was even considering that reducing it by half an hour might not be enough. I might just have to reduce it by a full hour," Li Yinsheng chuckled.

"Senior Brother! From now on, I will only practice with the White Rainbow Sword!" Mu Xiaoyu said without hesitation.

Her face filled with determination, she gripped the White Rainbow Sword tightly. Enduring the stabbing pain in her body every time she cast the Yin Yang Light-Splitting Sword, she began executing the Sword Technique time and time again.

Watching this scene, Li Yinsheng nodded in satisfaction.

He wasn’t tricking Mu Xiaoyu; he truly did intend to reduce her sword practice time. That was because he had another very important matter to schedule into his junior sister’s daily routine. But since her schedule was already completely packed, he had to cut down on her Cultivation or sword practice time to free up space for it.

Cultivation was her foundation, so the time spent cultivating could not be reduced. As for sword practice, with the White Rainbow Sword as an aid, his junior sister’s progress would increase significantly. Squeezing out half an hour from it wouldn’t be a big problem.

Just as Li Yinsheng was deep in thought, Mu Xiaoyu, who was practicing the Yin Yang Light-Splitting Sword, suddenly let out a soft shout.

As she raised her sword and thrust it forward, the originally single Sword Light instantly split from one into two, shooting out. Moreover, each individual beam was several times superior to the previous singular Sword Light.

Li Yinsheng’s eyes lit up.

Although upgrading from one Sword Light to two was indeed very easy, and his junior sister had already practiced it for two days, achieving two Sword Lights so quickly proved just how much of an advantage the White Rainbow Sword provided.

Of course, this still couldn’t compare to a Daoist like Li Yinsheng. Over the past two days, he had only taken a little of his free time to practice the Yin Yang Light-Splitting Sword, yet he could already split out ten Sword Lights.

The White Rainbow Sword’s effects were even better than Li Yinsheng had anticipated. Not only did it help his junior sister master the second Sword Light shortly after she started using it, but after practicing late into the night, even a third Sword Light began to vaguely take shape.

He figured that if she practiced diligently enough, the third Sword Light would likely be mastered the next day. However, before that, he had to take his junior sister on a trip to Baoguang Temple tomorrow. Besides letting her restock her snack stash, it was also for the matter he needed to add to her schedule.

The next morning.

The Cold Bright Sword, enlarged to nine feet in length, descended in front of the Baoguang Temple gates.

Wearing a Conical Hat, Li Yinsheng led Mu Xiaoyu down from the blade and stored the sword back into his Qiankun Bag.

"Let’s go. We can stroll around, and you can see if there’s any food that interests you," Li Yinsheng said.

"Okay!" Mu Xiaoyu patted the Qiankun Bag at her waist, her face full of excitement.

This time, she was going to fill her Qiankun Bag to the brim!

Mu Xiaoyu charged into Baoguang Temple taking the lead, while Li Yinsheng adjusted his Conical Hat and followed closely behind.

A while later, after strolling, eating, and shopping at various roadside stalls, Mu Xiaoyu turned a corner and saw a shop completely surrounded by a crowd of Cultivators.

The Cultivators were packed shoulder to shoulder at the shop entrance like ordinary mortals, their voices loud and clamorous. ℯℯ𝑙.

"What are they buying in there? Business is so good with this many people lining up."

With a stick of candied hawthorns in her left hand and a bamboo tube of Ganlu Brew in her right, Mu Xiaoyu tilted her head as she looked at the besieged shop. But she quickly realized that something was wrong.

The Cultivators surrounding the shop didn’t seem to be lining up at all. Instead, they were cursing?

Li Yinsheng walked up from behind and patted her shoulder. "What, did you not recognize the shop? That’s the Refining Furnace Shop where we bought your Quenching Essence Lock last time," he said with a smile.

Mu Xiaoyu looked up at the somewhat familiar signboard, a flash of realization crossing her eyes.

Oh, so it really was this shop. No wonder it was being blocked and cursed at by so many people. They deserved it! They completely deserved to be cursed at!

Weighed down by the over three hundred catties of the Quenching Essence Lock hanging from her body, Mu Xiaoyu took a vicious bite of her candied hawthorns, a vindicated smile curling her lips.

Li Yinsheng patted her head. "Interesting. Come on, let’s go see what exactly is going on."

Those people definitely weren’t blocking the door because they had bought Quenching Essence Locks. He was genuinely a little curious about what had happened.