Chapter 63 - 38: I Believe in You

Long Yan remained silent.

Li Shuang continued, "As disciples of the Sword Sect, all of you should be well aware of how difficult it is to nurture a Wasted Sword Spirit."

The surrounding disciples all nodded involuntarily.

Some of them had also received Wasted Sword Spirits, and in such cases, most had no choice but to give up. The few who chose to try anyway often found the results unsatisfactory, as their Sword Spirits’ power was severely limited.

Long Yan was born tainted by Muddy Qi, a Wasted Sword Spirit among Wasted Sword Spirits.

And yet, Li Shuang had managed to nurture him to this point!

The amount of effort she must have poured into him was simply unimaginable!

"Senior Sister Li, how did you do it?" one disciple couldn’t help but ask.

Li Shuang said calmly, "A naturally tainted Sword Spirit can generate new Muddy Qi at any time, even after being awakened. So, I had to monitor his condition constantly. At the first sign of it, I would immediately use my Sword Qi to wash the Muddy Qi away. This did have one advantage, though. Through long-term use of the Spiritual Energy Sword Formation technique, my Sword Qi became increasingly sharp. If any of you encounter a naturally tainted Sword Spirit, you can come to me. I’m willing to gift this Sword Qi Washing Spirit technique to all of you, free of charge. But... condensing Sword Qi is not simple. It’s incredibly sharp and can easily damage one’s meridians. It was only in recent years that I gained perfect control over my Sword Qi and my meridians stopped taking damage."

As Li Shuang spoke, everyone’s gazes involuntarily turned to Long Yan.

’So... all this time, in order to nurture this Wasted Sword Spirit, Li Shuang was enduring the constant pain of her meridians being damaged!’

’Her Sword Spirit was a burden, her master played favorites, and she still had to spend a great deal of time teaching her junior brothers and sisters.’

’Despite all that, Li Shuang still managed to achieve Core Formation in three years and Nascent Soul Formation in ten!’

’If it weren’t for all these things holding her back, just how brilliantly would Senior Sister Li have shone!’

And on top of it all, Li Shuang was willing to freely pass on the Sword Qi Washing Spirit technique she had gone to such lengths to find.

The disciples couldn’t help but feel more favorable toward her, and a few even stepped forward to ask Li Shuang for the Cultivation Technique Jade Scroll, quickly making their own copies.

Ye Zhaozhao’s expression changed slightly.

’She brought these people here to condemn Li Shuang, not to watch them get won over by her!’

Ye Zhaozhao’s eyes instantly welled with tears. "Senior Sister, I know you’ve sacrificed so much for Long Yan, but he has very deep feelings for you, too! That’s why he’s so heartbroken that you suddenly abandoned him."

With that, Ye Zhaozhao glanced at Long Yan, signaling for him to say a few words and play the victim.

But Long Yan’s lips trembled, and he couldn’t get a single word out.

A flash of anger shot through Ye Zhaozhao. ’Useless trash is still useless trash! He’s completely worthless!’

Li Shuang smiled and pointed out sharply, "That’s right. I didn’t abandon Long Yan when he was just a Wasted Sword Spirit. I didn’t abandon him when he was constantly generating Muddy Qi. But I abandoned him after he gained a physical body and I had already mastered the Sword Qi Washing Spirit technique. Do you really think there’s no reason for that?"

Ye Zhaozhao’s expression faltered. Just as she was about to argue her way out of it,

Li Shuang spoke calmly, cutting her off. "I have already stated this before the Sect Leader. On the Snow Mountain that day, I fought to the death to cover our retreat. Just as my strength gave out, Long Yan betrayed me, controlling Dragon Roar to pierce my Dantian! I, Li Shuang, would never abandon a partner for being weak, nor would I abandon them for being a burden."

The corners of Li Shuang’s mouth turned cold. "But I will never go back for someone who has betrayed me. I will not spare a second glance for a sword that has betrayed me."

Li Shuang had once again brought up the matter of Long Yan’s betrayal.

Sheng Yuan and Shen Yue were stunned for a moment and instinctively looked toward Long Yan.

They hadn’t really believed Li Shuang when she said it before.

But now...

They now understood clearly just how much effort Li Shuang had poured into nurturing Long Yan.

She would rather have the Black Abyss Sword than Dragon Roar.

Could it be...

That on the Snow Mountain that day...

...things had really happened just as their senior sister had said?

Ye Zhaozhao grew anxious and blurted out, "Senior Sister, maybe you abandoned Long Yan because you decided he was too much trouble to raise? What happened on the Snow Mountain wasn’t at all like what you said! At the time, I was besieged by dozens of Snow Monsters, and you never once helped me, did you?"

Li Shuang laughed. "Ye Zhaozhao, the Snow Monsters on that Snow Mountain regenerate after a certain period of time. How about this? We’ll take a trip back to the Snow Mountain and let you get besieged by dozens of Snow Monsters again. We’ll see if you can break out of the encirclement without anyone’s help. How does that sound?"

The color drained from Ye Zhaozhao’s face. "Senior Sister... you... what you’re saying is absurd..."

But she couldn’t say what, exactly, was so absurd about it.

Shen Yue gazed at Ye Zhaozhao, his expression growing unsettled.

’On the stage today, our junior sister dropped her sword and fled. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Zhaozhao knows nothing about Swordsmanship.’

’Those Snow Monsters are not easy to deal with. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have just been our senior sister and junior sister, the two Nascent Soul Stage cultivators, who managed to struggle their way to the upper reaches. The rest of them, being only at the Golden Core Stage, couldn’t even break through the fierce winds at the mountainside.’

’Besieged by dozens of Snow Monsters... Our junior sister’s Spiritual Power might be a little more profound than Senior Sister Li’s, but with her swordsmanship... could she really have plucked the Snow Lotus by herself, fought dozens of Snow Monsters single-handedly, and then escaped completely unscathed?’

Emotionally, he didn’t want to doubt Ye Zhaozhao.

But reason told him.

Ye Zhaozhao... she...

...couldn’t have done it.

Without anyone’s help, Ye Zhaozhao simply couldn’t have done the things she claimed.

Shen Yue realized it.

And clearly, the others had realized it too.

In an instant, the way everyone looked at Ye Zhaozhao became fraught with meaning.

"S-Senior Sister Li, why do you have to bring up things from so long ago?" Ye Zhaozhao said, forcing herself to hold her ground. "Your claim that Long Yan betrayed you is just your side of the story. But the fact that his Spiritual Body was damaged because of you is undeniable. You’ve already helped him so many times, what’s one more time?"

"It does," Li Shuang said, her face devoid of expression. "He’s your Sword Spirit now, Ye Zhaozhao. You’d best think of a solution yourself."

"Senior Sister Li!" Ye Zhaozhao cried, her face a mask of anguish. "If you won’t help, then we’ll just have to kneel here until we die!"

She was resorting to shameless tactics, with no intention of getting up.

Li Shuang remained perfectly calm. "Ye Zhaozhao, why are you begging me? I’m only at the Qi Cultivation Stage, while he is a Sword Spirit that has achieved Solidification. I can’t expel his Muddy Qi. But you can."

Li Shuang made a copy of the Sword Qi Washing Spirit Magic Technique, handed it to Ye Zhaozhao, and said with an encouraging expression, "I had to master this technique little by little, too. I was just a novice at the start, but I managed not to hurt Long Yan, didn’t I? As long as you proceed slowly and pay attention to the intensity, the worst that can happen is some damage to your meridians, but Long Yan will be fine. I can see that Long Yan’s condition is indeed not good. You’d better hurry. He’s your Sword Spirit, after all. You can’t just abandon him because you found out he’s a Wasted Sword Spirit! I believe in you. To save him, I’m sure you’re willing to endure the agony of your meridians being torn."

Ye Zhaozhao stared at the Jade Scroll, utterly dumbfounded.

’Wh-what was happening?’

’She had come here to guilt-trip Li Shuang.’

’So how did it feel like... she was the one being guilt-tripped by Li Shuang now?’