The calculating brush had been floating in mid-air, but now it secretly dropped down, trying desperately to burrow into the Tuntun Shu’s mouth.

But the Tuntun Shu was so frightened that it covered its eyes with its paws, its teeth chattering, preventing the brush from entering.

Yin Changli was the slowest to react—had he just been scolded by this little brat?

He wanted to say, fine, today would either see the Heaven Fury Sword awakening or Xiang Haikui’s head splitting open.

But before he could speak, the Heaven Fury Sword flashed with a spark, followed by a great burst of black light!

This…

This stupid sword did awaken.

“Senior Yin, I’m truly sorry.” Xiang Haikui knew when to be humble, immediately bowing and begging for forgiveness. “Time is pressing, and look—this was much faster than me carrying the sword out to kill beasts, wasn’t it?”

“Hmph.” Yin Changli gave a cold laugh and waved his sleeve. “Little White, to the Ten Thousand Bones Cave.”

The Tuntun Shu obeyed, swallowing the calculating brush and scurrying out of the hall. As it passed Xiang Haikui, from an angle where Yin Changli couldn’t see, it quickly made a gesture with its little paw across its chest, as if saying “you’re badass.”

As soon as it jumped over the threshold of the great hall, it traversed through the mist and appeared in a primeval forest where a small black ball hung from a tree branch, swaying gently in the wind.

It scampered up the tree, took down the small black ball, and hung it around its neck before making its way through the forest toward the Ten Thousand Bones Cave.

Yin Changli and Xiang Haikui were both inside this small black ball.

…

The sword expert Yin Changli mentioned was in the Ten Thousand Bones Cave.

And the name “Ten Thousand Bones Cave” sounded rather terrifying. Xiang Haikui felt it wasn’t the sort of place a proper sword cultivator would stay.

However, looking down at the Heaven Fury Sword in her hand, it didn’t seem like a proper sword either.

But she had no spirit root. Her father had tried every method and could only help her build a foundation. Now that she had a chance to cultivate, who was she to be picky?

Since there was no choice, why overthink it? Just train and be done with it.

After taking a nap, Yin Changli emerged from the bedchamber in the rear hall and came to the front hall. He saw that she had also fallen asleep, lying on the ground using the sword as a pillow.

Her sprawled posture made him raise his eyebrows in disgust.

Xiang Haikui suddenly awoke, her body tensing like stone. Seeing it was him, she gradually relaxed.

Yin Changli still wore that smile: “I must say, Miss Xiang’s ability to accept things is truly astonishing.”

Xiang Haikui wanted to say it wasn’t true—she had just been having nightmares, dreaming of floating up and down in water, dreaming of her father killing people with bloodshot eyes.

However, she couldn’t deny that her acceptance ability was indeed quite strong.

Just like her body’s ability to recover, which was also very strong.

Initially, when beaten to a pulp by physically disabled and mentally disturbed children at the orphanage, it took days for her wounds to heal even with medicine.

Later, she became accustomed to it and didn’t even bother applying medicine, yet her wounds healed even faster.

Just as when she grew older and stronger, able to fight back, whoever dared to provoke her, she would charge at them with a kitchen knife, ready to fight to the death.

Eventually, whether the orphanage was orderly or chaotic depended entirely on her, Xiang Haikui.

Though her fists weren’t the hardest, the barefooted don’t fear those wearing shoes—that was the principle.

“Senior, did you need something from me?” Xiang Haikui didn’t follow his conversational lead, getting up from the ground. Now she could lift the Heaven Fury Sword without using gloves.

Yin Changli examined her strange attire: “We’re almost at the Ten Thousand Bones Cave. You need to change your appearance.”

That’s right, she was going to take a master, so she should be more formal: “But I don’t have…”

Yin Changli: “Follow me.”

When they arrived at his treasure repository, Xiang Haikui’s eyes glowed so brightly they could almost be used as flashlights.

Actually, wasn’t this more like a department store?

The powerful expert must have a collecting addiction, no wonder he had no interest in women.

She browsed for quite a while, and in the extremely huge “wardrobe,” selected a sea-blue waist-cinching dress she liked, paired with matching feather earrings.

She didn’t know how to style her hair properly, so she simply tied it into a neat ponytail, which looked tidy enough.

After she was ready, Yin Changli led her out of the small black ball and into the depths of the Ten Thousand Bones Cave.

Xiang Haikui didn’t see the entire view of the Ten Thousand Bones Cave. As soon as they emerged, they were inside what looked like a “wasp nest.”

The walls were covered with holes, and behind each hole was a pair of glowing green eyes.

They might have been afraid of the man in front of her, as they didn’t dare to move, only watching them with their eyes.

Xiang Haikui felt her hair stand on end. She quickened her pace to stay close to Yin Changli.

“Are you afraid?” Yin Changli instead stopped and turned to look at her.

Xiang Haikui nodded honestly. In this eerie place, being stared at by a group of unknown monsters, how could she not be afraid?

Yin Changli’s expression became somewhat strange: “You’re not afraid of me, yet you’re afraid of these cute little fellows?”

Excuse me, what did he say?

Cute little fellows?

Xiang Haikui flattered him: “Senior, I don’t understand what you’re saying. Being with you feels comfortable, how could I be afraid?”

Yin Changli nodded: “How comfortable?”

“It’s like…” Xiang Haikui was searching for adjectives when she suddenly realized—was he unexpectedly making suggestive remarks?

She had thought with his scholarly appearance, he was a cultured person, but he turned out to be a wolf in sheep’s clothing?

Xiang Haikui quickly stepped back, truly frightened now.

Yin Changli raised an eyebrow: “Remember what I said, the person inside is tough on the outside but soft on the inside. Later, try to appear as pitiful as possible.”

“Yes, yes, yes.” Xiang Haikui agreed.

As they continued forward, Yin Changli waved his sleeve, and all those eyes retreated from the holes in the rock walls.

The passageway was almost at its end, and Xiang Haikui could already see that a person was imprisoned at the end.

He appeared quite young in features, but his hair and beard were completely white and disheveled, his clothes equally tattered.

His shoulder blades, both wrists, and both ankles were pierced by iron hooks, with electrified chains connecting the hooks to the mountain wall.

The scene somewhat resembled that in “The Deer and the Cauldron,” where Aobai, after being subdued, was chained in prison by Emperor Kangxi.

It carried a sense of tragic heroism of a fallen champion.

Could this be the sword mentor that the great Yin found for her?

It must be. The closer they got to him, the more violently the Heaven Fury Sword trembled in the scabbard on her back.

Heaven Fury was excited.

“Lord Qi.” Yin Changli stopped without going too close, slightly cupping his hands in greeting.

The Tuntun Shu at his feet balanced a wine jar on its head. Though the jar was still sealed, the fragrance of the wine permeated the air.

Perhaps tempted by the aroma, Qi Yin, who was bound by the chains, slowly lifted his eyelids: “You haven’t been caught yet?”

Yin Changli smiled: “If I were caught, who would bring you wine?”

Qi Yin smiled coldly: “Besides wine, you always bring trouble.”

Yin Changli continued smiling: “This time it’s not trouble. I’ve brought you a disciple…”

He seemed to be communicating through sound transmission. After a while, Qi Yin’s gaze shifted from Yin Changli’s face to Xiang Haikui’s.

His gaze was sharp as a sword edge, yet his eyes were clear and pure. Meeting his gaze was like falling into a pristine lake.

Xiang Haikui was entranced and only came back to her senses after a while. She quickly averted her eyes. Damn, was this the world of the powerful? Even a mere glance carried so much weight.

She knelt and paid her respects: “Junior Xiang Haikui greets Senior Qi.”

Yin Changli asked: “How is it? Her mental state is not bad, right?”

Qi Yin shook his head: “What use is mental state? She has no spirit root, no sword bone; she’s just an ordinary person—completely unsuitable material for sword cultivation.”

Yin Changli smiled gently: “It’s precisely because of the difficulty that Changli has brought her to the Sword Emperor Qi.”

“Stop giving me titles.” Qi Yin was immune to his sweet talk, completely unmoved. “This is simply an impossible task. One hundred days to initiate her? You might as well kill me…”

As soon as he said this, his pupils contracted: “Heaven Fury? Heaven Fury has awakened?”

Yin Changli’s smile deepened: “So, a hundred days is enough, right?”

Qi Yin ignored him and looked at Xiang Haikui: “He’s been talking endlessly. Is it he who’s taking a master, or you?”

“Junior…”

Just as Xiang Haikui was about to speak, Qi Yin continued: “Now, give me one reason to convince me.”

On the way here, Yin Changli had anticipated this question.

Xiang Haikui had thought about it the entire journey and prepared various persuasive speeches. But at this crucial moment, she discarded all her preparations and answered with just five words: “Junior doesn’t want to die.”

Doesn’t want to die.

And cannot die.

Revenge and other such things were too distant; she had no energy to resent the injustice of the world.

Her current goal was simply to survive.

During her father’s two to three years of seclusion, no matter how difficult, she had to hold on, absolutely could not die.

Qi Yin’s eyebrows slightly furrowed. In his lifetime, he had heard countless answers, and this was truly the most spineless one.

Yet by his ear, he seemed to hear the sound of a tree seed breaking through the soil—fragile, tiny, yet immeasurable.

After a moment, Qi Yin suddenly laughed like a madman: “Good! Yin Changli, this disciple you’ve brought, I, Qi, accept! Within a hundred days, I shall completely transform her!”

At the edge of the Central Plains, in Yin Sha City.

Outside the formation plate stood a man in a sleek black robe with delicate features—this was Xiang Haikui’s father, Xiang Heng.

Sitting on the formation plate was a man with short, tousled hair and deep-set features—this was Xiang Haikui’s senior from university, Jing Ran.

In the modern world, he had only been missing for a few days, but in Yin Sha City, he had already stayed for quite some time.

“Young man, I’m truly sorry.” Xiang Heng apologetically cupped his hands, expressing his regret once more. “I’ll send you back now.”