LAVW – Chapter 30 Splitting into Two Groups

Long Ye remained silent, but whenever he interacted with Shi Qian, his emotions were always more pronounced, often failing to control his expressions.

Shi Qian could easily read the unspeakable frustration on his face.

Thinking back to what happened two days ago…

Hmm, no need to dwell on the past! True heroes never boast about past glories.

Skipping the details, Shi Qian laid out the facts and presented his evidence: “Squeak Squeak.”

“Do you have any idea how much effort it takes to bathe and wash your hair?”

The more he spoke, the more justified he felt: “Squeak Squeak.”

“I need a bath too, and a full massage while we’re at it!”

Setting aside the little detail that he refused to be touched in certain areas, Long Ye had indeed enjoyed some attentive care. At the time, he had gone from a state of extreme tension to sudden relaxation, leaving him sluggish and unmotivated—even his hands hadn’t moved.

Thinking back on it, being stepped on by Brother Qian atop his head had actually felt quite nice.

So, Long Ye replied, “Anything’s fine. But I wasn’t looking down on you—I was just surprised. How did you end up like this?”

“Squeak Squeak.”

“I ate. If I didn’t eat, I wouldn’t have been able to get out.”

Shi Qian swore that for the rest of this month, he wouldn’t eat another bite of Star Silver Ore. He was sick of it.

After exchanging a few words with Long Ye, Shi Qian turned his head and gave Wang Xingzhi some sincere career advice regarding his path as a sword cultivator:

“Squeak Squeak.”

“Instead of fighting and killing, why not resort to robbery?”

Wang Xingzhi looked at Long Ye curiously.

Long Ye didn’t translate immediately but asked, “Brother Qian, where did you learn this from?”

Shi Qian wanted to say “Cherish peace,” but knowing they wouldn’t understand, he simplified his answer:

“Squeak Squeak.”

“My mother.”

Long Ye started to suspect that Shi Qian’s mother might have been some kind of legendary outlaw, making a living through robbery. But he had never heard of such fierce mouse-type demon beasts before.

Could it be that Brother Qian was a hybrid between different demon beasts? That would explain why he looked so unique.

Satisfied with his own speculation, Long Ye relayed the message to Wang Xingzhi: “Brother Qian says, instead of fighting and killing, why not resort to robbery?”

“Oh, that.” Wang Xingzhi replied, “The Jiutian Peak secret realm is too close to home. My father says we have to maintain appearances.”

Shi Qian: …

I was too naive.

The cultivation world really doesn’t have many decent folks.

Looking at this adorable little golden child—he turned out to be a habitual robber.

Realizing his words might have slightly tarnished the reputation of sword cultivators, Wang Xingzhi quickly added, “Everyone does it, not just us sword cultivators.”

Long Ye nodded. “That’s true, I’ve heard about it before.”

The competition among human cultivators was far fiercer than that among demon beasts, mainly because lower-level cultivators reproduced too quickly. With limited resources, conflicts were inevitable. In fact, robbery without taking lives was already considered a merciful approach.

Long Ye reached out and patted Shi Qian’s head, thinking, Young ones really are so innocent.

Shi Qian, unaware that his kindness had been looked down upon, caught a glimpse of a silver flash from the corner of his eye.

The silver sword that had been playing nearby had returned.

This time, Wang Xingzhi reacted quickly. His handsome little face turned cold as he commanded, “Xiao Yin! Slow down, don’t scare people.”

The lively silver sword paused mid-flight and slowed down. But seemingly unused to the slower pace, it ended up bouncing along the way instead.

With all these extra movements, its speed naturally decreased.

Now moving at a slower pace, the silver sword appeared a bit aggrieved.

After hopping multiple times, it noticed that Wang Xingzhi remained in an angry mood. Feeling wronged, the silver sword bounced over to its equally silver and timid new companion, seeking comfort.

The silver sword slowed down, allowing Shi Qian to react normally without instinctively wanting to flee.

Like Long Ye, Shi Qian could sense that the silver sword had no ill intentions—it was just like a naive child. Since that was the case, it would be best to find a way to handle it.

With an idea in mind, Shi Qian took out a small piece of Star Silver Ore and, right in front of the approaching silver sword, popped it into his mouth, crunching down loudly.

The silver sword froze.

Feeling even more aggrieved, it turned toward Wang Xingzhi, only to see his cold expression remain unchanged. When it turned back, Shi Qian was crunching on the silverstone even louder.

Although Shi Qian was sick of eating it and his jaw was sore, watching the silver sword question its entire existence somehow brought his appetite back.

Enraged, the silver sword clanged against the surrounding ore, then, when Wang Xingzhi wasn’t paying attention, rubbed itself against his clothes, smearing him with Star Silver Ore dust.

Wang Xingzhi took the opportunity to scold the sword, hoping to teach it that Shi Qian disliked it flying toward him too quickly.

This was clearly a difficult issue, as the silver sword didn’t quite understand human speech. For spiritual artifacts that developed a soul, communication was always a challenge unless they were ancient relics or naturally intelligent.

The silver sword could only act based on Wang Xingzhi’s emotions, but even then, it often misread them. It didn’t really understand spoken words.

Now that Wang Xingzhi’s cultivation had dropped, he couldn’t exert as much control, so he had no choice but to let the silver sword figure things out on its own.

It didn’t take long before the silver sword started throwing a tantrum again, circling Wang Xingzhi at high speed. The sharp aura of the sword cutting through the air made Shi Qian nervous.

Worried about his hairstyle, Shi Qian couldn’t help but intervene: “Squeak Squeak!”

“You’re teaching it the wrong way!”

Long Ye translated, “Brother Qian says you’re teaching it the wrong way.”

Wang Xingzhi pleaded for help. “Brother Qian, teach me, then!”

“Squeak Squeak.” Shi Qian stretched out his paw toward Wang Xingzhi.

Long Ye translated in real-time, “Give Brother Qian a handful of Star Silver Ore right in front of Xiao Yin, so it understands that making mistakes comes at a price.”

Wang Xingzhi found this reasonable and immediately reached for his pouch.

But Long Ye corrected him—taking the Star Silver Ore out and showing it would have a stronger impact.

So, Shi Qian happily grabbed a piece in each hand and stuffed them into his storage necklace.

The silver sword, watching from the side, looked utterly devastated and twitched as if it wanted to snatch the stones away.

Wang Xingzhi had initially stopped, but when the silver sword tried to grab more, he deliberately handed out another piece.

After several rounds, the silver sword finally understood: flying too close to Shi Qian meant losing its food supply.

From that moment on, it refused to approach Shi Qian again.

Then Shi Qian played his second move: “Squeak Squeak.”

Long Ye translated, “Push Xiao Yin toward Brother Qian and make it keep him company. Only when it learns to hop over obediently instead of flying will it get a reward.”

Was this keeping it company? More like tormenting it.

Seeing how much fun Shi Qian was having at the silver sword’s expense, Long Ye could barely hold back his laughter.

Wang Xingzhi felt enlightened—his biggest issue had been not knowing how to discipline Xiao Yin, but now he had a perfect solution.

Poor silver sword, unwilling yet forced to be pushed toward Shi Qian by Wang Xingzhi.

And whenever it panicked and messed up, its food got stolen by its new “friend.”

Under such immense pressure, the silver sword quickly learned to hop toward Shi Qian instead of flying. It even started hopping in circles, showing a remarkable improvement in self-control.

Seeing that the silver sword was finally behaving, Shi Qian generously took out some Star Silver Ore and rewarded it.

With his approval, Wang Xingzhi also felt comfortable handing out rewards, giving the sword plenty of treats.

Long Ye fed the sword a few more pieces, thinking he should return the favor to Wang Xingzhi. Motivated, he put even more effort into mining. Wang Xingzhi, wanting to encourage the silver sword, ended up giving Shi Qian a generous amount of Star Silver Ore.

Seeing this, Wang Xingzhi also became more enthusiastic about mining.

Shi Qian ventured into the mine, helping to locate areas rich in Star Silver Ore, and soon became the primary person responsible for keeping the silver sword entertained.

Of course, this was a self-appointed title—Shi Qian considered himself the Sword Babysitter.

For some reason, after a few days, the silver sword no longer resisted getting close to Shi Qian. Strangely enough, it even started sharing its Star Silver Ore with him.

Curious, Shi Qian asked Long Ye to pass along a question to Wang Xingzhi: why was this happening?

Wang Xingzhi gave Shi Qian a peculiar look. “Brother Qian, do you really want to know?”

Curiosity kills the Totoro. After some internal struggle, Shi Qian still insisted, “Squeak Squeak.”

“Brother Qian says he wants to know. Hurry up and tell him.”

“Alright, then I’ll say it.” Wang Xingzhi glanced at the silver sword. “Xiao Yin mistook you for a sword. It thinks you didn’t develop properly—you’re too fat, you move ridiculously slowly, and you can only barely speed up when using spiritual energy. It actually… kind of feels bad for you.”

By the time he finished speaking, Wang Xingzhi was barely holding back his laughter.

Shi Qian, still shimmering with silver streaks in his fur: ?

He pulled out a piece of Star Silver Ore and hurled it at the silver sword.

The silver sword sliced through the stone, dissolving half of it, then hopped over with the remaining piece and placed it beside Shi Qian’s paw, as if returning his “throw.”

In the background, the diligent miner Long Ye burst out laughing, while Shi Qian fumed with rage.

He should have followed the pretty lady instead.

Seriously, why was he hanging out with these miner guys? Now his fur was all silver-streaked —he was one step away from becoming a literal furball, and his once-flawless appearance was gone forever.

Disgusted, Shi Qian picked up the remaining half of the Star Silver Ore and flung it away.

“Squeak Squeak!”

What are you laughing at? If you’re a miner, get back to mining!

Knowing he had gone too far, Long Ye tried to console him before returning to work. “Don’t worry. Once your fur turns white again, Xiao Yin won’t mistake you anymore.”

Shi Qian frowned. “Squeak Squeak?”

But I was white to begin with.

“Xiao Yin isn’t as smart as you,” Long Ye coaxed, casually passing the blame to Wang Xingzhi. “Why don’t you explain?”

Wang Xingzhi, not being part of their conversation, had only understood bits and pieces. But after thinking it over, he quickly grasped the situation—he was quite experienced at saying comforting words.

He said, “It’s probably because Brother Qian’s escape technique is just too good. Super fast. One of the defining traits of spirit swords is their speed—they’re natural kings of the sky.”

Only swords with a sword soul could be called spirit swords, like the silver sword.

Shi Qian was satisfied.

So it was just a misunderstanding caused by being too excellent.

With a flick of his paw, he dismissed the miners. Even the silver sword seemed more pleasing to the eye now. He occasionally fed it treats, eventually coaxing it into flying him around the mines.

Flying around mountain ranges that resembled a galaxy, beneath layers of mist as soft as drifting clouds—it might not compare to the breathtaking beauty of the night, but it still had a dreamlike, fairy tale-like charm.

To put it simply—it felt amazing.

After completing the first lap, Shi Qian made up his mind: no matter what, he had to get his own spirit sword.

The next day, the peace was shattered.

While resting, Wang Xingzhi’s face suddenly turned pale, and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

Long Ye looked around in alarm. He hadn’t sensed anything unusual.

Shi Qian chirped in alarm, and the silver sword immediately flew to Wang Xingzhi’s side.

Wang Xingzhi wiped the blood from his lips and said, “It’s not an enemy—it’s Lian Zhi. Something happened to her.”

“Before we split up, she said she was going to search for an artifact-forging inheritance,” Long Ye quickly added.

Wang Xingzhi nodded. “That inheritance is probably what got her into trouble.”

He had traveled swiftly, passing through several open hidden grounds before arriving at the Star Silver mine to dig for Star Silver Ore. So despite leaving the alchemy hall early, he had still witnessed the brutal reality of cultivators killing each other for opportunities.

Unlike in past secret realms, where fights only broke out over treasures, this time, it was about seizing fate itself—dragging in even those who didn’t wish to compete.

If not for Shi Qian’s ability to sense danger, both he and Long Ye would have nearly fallen victim to “hunts” multiple times.

Remembering how the beautiful Lian Zhi had slipped a pouch into his hands before they parted, Shi Qian anxiously chirped, “Squeak Squeak!”

Enough talking! Let’s go save her!

Long Ye passed along the message, and by then, Wang Xingzhi had steadied his breath and summoned the silver sword.

“My cultivation is too low—it’s troublesome,” Wang Xingzhi said. “I can’t carry you both while flying. I’ll go ahead alone.”

Shi Qian was frustrated. His movement techniques were fast in short bursts, but in terms of sustained speed, he couldn’t compare to a spirit sword like Xiao Yin.

But to everyone’s surprise, the silver sword suddenly expanded, large enough to carry Wang Xingzhi. Then, it swooped down toward Shi Qian and Long Ye, inviting them aboard.

Wang Xingzhi was astonished. “Xiao Yin, can you handle this?”

The silver sword trembled slightly, and then—brilliant silver light burst from its form, even more dazzling than when they first entered the secret realm.

It had grown stronger—thanks to its good diet.

And so, the silver sword carried two people and one dragon-cat, slicing through the air toward the location Wang Xingzhi indicated.

As they rushed toward their destination, Shi Qian chirped at Wang Xingzhi, “Squeak Squeak Squeak?”

What happened to Sister Lian Zhi?

After hearing Long Ye translate, Wang Xingzhi shook his head. “I’m not entirely sure. But she activated the jade ring infused with a trace of my divine soul. Unless it was an emergency, she wouldn’t have used it.”

Long Ye, remembering that Wang Xingzhi had also given him a white jade ring, asked, “If the ring is destroyed, will your divine soul be damaged?”

“Yes. But this method ensures that the signal goes through no matter what—it can’t be blocked by any kind of interference.”

Warnings from artifacts could sometimes be undetectable or go unnoticed. But if his soul was injured—he would definitely know.

Long Ye took out his own jade ring, intending to return it to Wang Xingzhi. “Since we’re traveling together, we won’t need this.”

“No need, keep it,” Wang Xingzhi said seriously. “There will come a time when we have to split up. I gave it to you as thanks for saving my life.”

Their conversation was starting to irritate Shi Qian.

He shoved a piece of Star Silver Ore at Xiao Yin, wordlessly signaling for the sword to speed up—a habit they had developed while playing together.

Though he fed the sword, the effect was weak due to the rush.

Shi Qian moved to the front, sighing as he watched the secret realm’s scenery blur past.

His sighs were so exasperated that even Long Ye found the conversation a hassle and simply said, “Fine, I’ll keep it. Hopefully, I won’t need to use it.”

Wang Xingzhi rubbed his faintly aching forehead and fell silent.

About fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the Weapon Hall.

Its architecture was nearly identical to the Alchemy Hall, especially the grand palace that housed the inheritance.

But this time, the entrance looked different from what Shi Qian had last seen.

Several bodies of fallen cultivators lay strewn across the entrance. Blood had soaked the once-pristine white stone slabs, creating eerie patterns that looked almost alive—like black-red flowers blooming from the depths of the earth.

A few cultivators lurked nearby, their auras restless yet restrained.

It wasn’t until Shi Qian and his group entered the hall that those cultivators spoke up.

“Wang Xingzhi is here. Do you think his sister ran into trouble inside?”

“Most likely. This place holds the last remaining inheritance that hasn’t been claimed—of course, the fighting here would be the fiercest.”

“Too many have died. The ones left are either brutal killers or cunning foxes. There’s no point waiting around at the entrance anymore. Now that Wang Xingzhi’s involved, maybe we should try our luck elsewhere?”

As they spoke, Shi Qian got his first look inside the Inheritance Shrine of the Weapon Hall.

Unlike the Alchemy Hall, where entering the riveted gates led to an open interior, here the entrance led to a pitch-black corridor—utterly devoid of light.

Even Xiao Yin, who usually gleamed with silver radiance when excited, and Shi Qian, who still had remnants of silver fur, found their light completely swallowed by the darkness.

Wang Xingzhi took out a spirit stone lamp, but it failed to illuminate anything. They could only feel their way forward.

In this light-devouring darkness, only Shi Qian—a spiritual beast—had the natural advantage of being able to faintly see.

Their path was soon blocked by a stone door.

Shi Qian pressed his face against it and finally spotted a mechanism.

The door bore four identical-looking carvings of weapons, like a spot-the-difference puzzle.

Shi Qian turned to inform the others.

Wang Xingzhi, more experienced, quickly explained, “It’s likely testing our ability to distinguish fine details—an essential skill for refining weapons. The differences can only be seen with the naked eye because they are often soaked in Soul-Devouring Liquid during forging.”

A cultivator’s version of a spot-the-difference game?

“Squeak Squeak.”

Let me try.

Shi Qian carefully scanned the engravings, then had Long Ye and Wang Xingzhi use their hands to feel for inconsistencies.

His vision was nearly overwhelmed, but fortunately, Long Ye’s observational skills were exceptional—he found the flaw by touch.

With that, the stone door creaked open.

But the delay made Shi Qian uneasy—he felt time was running out.

He grew anxious. “Squeak Squeak!”

Should I go ahead and scout?

Although his fur was starting to return to its beautiful white, that was only because all the Star Silver Ore had been absorbed.

Shi Qian could now barely use his escape technique inside the Alchemy Hall’s Inheritance Shrine, though it was more strenuous than usual.

The problem was, he couldn’t bring others along in this environment, and—frankly—he was terrible at fighting.

The moment he spoke up, Long Ye stopped him, pointing out the flaw in his plan:

“Even if you go, you won’t be able to help. Besides, Wang Xingzhi and I can’t see anything in here.”

It was a dilemma.

Wang Xingzhi immediately understood that Long Ye was stopping the spiritual beast from rushing ahead. Suddenly, it made sense why Long Ye called a spiritual beast ‘brother.’

He spoke up, “Something’s wrong with the Weapon Hall—it shouldn’t be this dark under normal circumstances. If you go alone, we won’t be able to rest easy either, Brother Qian.”

Charging in recklessly would be useless. Was there another way?

As they groped their way forward, Shi Qian wracked his brain for a solution.

At the next checkpoint, Wang Xingzhi and Long Ye brute-forced their way through, swiftly destroying a group of mechanical puppets lurking in the darkness.

These puppets were mechanism-controlled—normally, one could pass by shutting down the control system.

Shi Qian listened to the sounds of battle and suddenly had a brilliant idea.

“Squeak Squeak!”

I can’t take you guys with me, but I can take Xiao Yin!

The problem wasn’t him, but rather that human bodies couldn’t withstand the technique.

But a spirit sword? That was different.

Xiao Yin was tough—it could eat Star Silver Ore like snacks, so it wouldn’t have any trouble surviving a stone chamber forged from outer-layer minerals.

Plus, having Xiao Yin with him would significantly reduce Shi Qian’s risk.

And if Wang Lianzhi had Xiao Yin, her combat strength would skyrocket.

It was the perfect solution—all their problems solved. As long as he didn’t have to carry two miners with him, everything would be fine.

Perfect.

Wang Xingzhi never expected someone to separate a sword cultivator from his sword like this.

But… it actually made sense?

Long Ye, having more experience, was the first to agree—after all, he had ventured into the Alchemy Hall alone last time.

Thinking back to how Shi Qian fattened himself up last time, and considering that he had Xiao Yin for protection this time, Long Ye felt reassured. Besides, he and Wang Xingzhi would still be heading there—it wouldn’t be too late.

He nodded. “I think this could work. What do you think, Wang-xiong?”

“Alright.” Wang Xingzhi shrunk Xiao Yin down and handed it to Shi Qian.

“We’ll split up.”