LAVW – Chapter 57 A Sword to Slay Dragons

Although his capabilities had been questioned by his underlings, Shi Qian was a very pragmatic Chinchilla.

What’s so bad about suffering a little less?

Shi Qian focused on absorbing spiritual energy, accumulating it within his body. At this moment, cracks had already begun to appear on his Golden Core.

Once the core shattered, the spirituality within it would escape the dantian.

If all went well, it would head straight for the Mud Pill Palace, seek out the true self, and transform into a Nascent Soul.

That sounded a bit mystical, but Shi Qian simply understood it as: after the Golden Core broke, the stuff inside would burrow into his head and create a “mini-version” of himself.

He just wasn’t sure whether his Nascent Soul would be a miniature Chinchilla, or a miniature version of his old self.

The tribulation lightning had struck for nearly two days before Shi Qian finally formed his Nascent Soul.

Before he could inspect his body closely, the Heavenly Dao’s blessings descended upon him, stabilizing his freshly-broken-through cultivation and nourishing the newly formed Nascent Soul.

Shi Qian sent his divine sense into the Mud Pill Palace once more.

Within the space filled with white light, a round little Chinchilla appeared at the center.

Shi Qian: !

The little Chinchilla also radiated a sense of confusion, perfectly synchronized with Shi Qian’s thoughts.

It was a strange sensation, like having another consciousness—his awareness split in two.

But it was also kind of fun, like he’d just gotten a mini Chinchilla to play with.

The mini Chinchilla instantly got excited too: I can play with the little Chinchilla!

Shi Qian tried poking the little Chinchilla inside the Mud Pill Palace with his divine sense—only for the sensation of being poked to feed right back to himself.

Forcefully suppressing the urge to “play with himself” a bit longer, Shi Qian buried himself in absorbing the Heavenly Dao’s blessings.

Half a day later, his temples itched—it was a sign that his dragon horns were finally about to grow out.

Moreover, as his cultivation advanced, more of the inherited memories in his mind surfaced. From them, Shi Qian comprehended a new method of using a divine ability.

This new divine power was called—Gigantification.

Five days later.

Shi Qian completed his cultivation. The first thing he did was activate the new divine power—circulating his spiritual energy and stimulating his bloodline.

Bang bang! With two soft thuds, the white little puffball inflated like a balloon, scaling up proportionally into a giant puffball.

Judging from his changed perspective, Shi Qian estimated that he was now close to one meter tall.

One meter.

How long had it been since he’d been this tall?

As for how wide or how long he was—details like that didn’t need mentioning. He was a fluffy creature; it was perfectly normal to be round and plush.

Then Shi Qian happily started Squeak-ing (rubbing/squishing) himself—his belly fur was super soft.

The fur on the rest of his body was also thick and silky, but in fact, it was extremely tough and durable.

In this gigantified state, his close-combat strength would apparently skyrocket several-fold. But for now, Shi Qian wasn’t planning on brawling with people or demon beasts.

Beside him, the black sword that had been resting on its side, having flattened a few trees, chimed in: “Zheng—”

Make it bigger.

Shi Qian: ?

“Squeak.”

What for?

“Zheng——”

Just wanna see.

Shi Qian: “Squeak——”

Bigger what? This is the biggest I get.

Just like the black sword is massive and can’t shrink too much, Shi Qian was the same. Right now, this was as big as he could go.

Still, compared to his original size, the transformation was nothing short of astounding. If Mouse Mom and Brother Hei Mao used it too, it would probably be incredibly powerful—and visually overwhelming.

The black sword let out another “zheng” in response.

No big deal, it’s already pretty big.

Shi Qian looked at the black sword in its original, massive form and commented disdainfully, “Squeak.”

Big Black, you’d better shrink down. You’re too much of a hindrance like that.

Upon hearing the nickname Big Black again, the black sword didn’t seem to mind—but it also didn’t listen to Shi Qian. Only when Shi Qian activated their contract to enforce obedience did the thing finally start folding itself back down.

After gigantifying, Shi Qian found his spiritual energy draining too quickly. Once the thrill was over, he promptly canceled the divine ability.

In an instant, he shrank back down, and the world around him suddenly loomed large again.

Shi Qian lingered in that satisfying feeling for a moment, then noticed the black sword had shaken off something.

He scooted closer for a better look—turned out to be bits of “wood shavings,” but upon closer inspection, they had patterns he knew all too well.

Shi Qian pawed through them with his claws and realized they were the mashed-up remains of melon seed shells. He sniffed them—only to find they’d lost all of their original fragrance.

“Squeak.”

So you were only after the scent?

Before he could retract his paw, a surprised voice sounded behind him—“Brother Qian!”

Shi Qian turned his head to see the young master-ancestor staring at him in total shock… and unmistakable distress.

Shi Qian: …

Wait, I can explain.

Shi Qian quickly shook his head and squeaked, “Squeak——”

I swear I wasn’t scavenging for melon seed shells! Little Master-Ancestor, listen to me!

But Mo Sanchi was too caught up in the shock of what she’d just seen, heart aching with pity.

She rushed forward, scooping Brother Qian out of the pile of seed shells, not even noticing the dragon horns that had grown from Shi Qian’s head. Instead, she dug through her storage pouch and pulled out a high-grade spiritual fruit, shoving it into Shi Qian’s paws.

“Here, Brother Qian, let’s eat this instead.”

Shi Qian held the spiritual fruit, still wanting to explain.

Then he heard Mo Sanchi mutter, “Completely unreliable.”

Just arriving at the scene, Long Ye was promptly glared at: ?

He had literally just gotten here—hadn’t done a single thing yet!

Long Ye looked at Brother Qian in confusion and asked, “Brother Qian, what’s going on?”

Shi Qian quickly spoke up before the young master-ancestor could say anything: “Squeak——”

I got caught by the little master-ancestor picking through melon seed shells, and he misunderstood!

Long Ye imagined the scene and immediately understood why the little master-ancestor was upset. But he still found it strange and pressed, “Brother Qian, why were you digging through melon seed shells? I remember I bought you a lot.”

On the way back, their sea team had gone on a shopping spree. Shi Qian liked to stock up on food, and with all the storage rings and bags they picked up from the island, there was more than enough space—he’d bought a ton of everything he liked to eat.

“Squeak.”

It was Big Black. It spat them out.

Shi Qian pointed at the true culprit—the black sword.

Long Ye asked, “Why would Big Black spit out melon seed shells?”

Shi Qian answered silently in his heart: Because I fed them to it.

If someone asked him why he was feeding melon seed shells to a spiritual sword, then he’d have to explain how he got “kidnapped” by said sword and got tricked on top of it.

Thinking of how Long Ye always nagged about “greedy traps,” Shi Qian decided to avoid a scolding altogether and gave up struggling: “Squeak.”

That’s just how it was.

Resigned to his fate, Shi Qian clutched the spiritual fruit and buried his face into it, biting down without looking at anyone.

But in fact, the other two weren’t even looking at him.

Mo Sanchi had pieced things together and turned to Long Ye, a blush of shame and frustration rising on her face. “I’m sorry—I misunderstood.”

“It’s fine.” It wasn’t the first time, after all.

Long Ye complained internally, but said nothing aloud.

He knew Mo Sanchi had jumped to conclusions because she caught Brother Qian rummaging through melon seed shells—understandable, given the circumstances.

Besides, he had entrusted Brother Qian to her care for quite a while now, which was proof enough that he acknowledged her concern for Brother Qian. It wouldn’t be right to turn hostile now that her usefulness had ended.

Long Ye reached out his hand, and Mo Sanchi passed the spirit beast to him.

Shi Qian also sensed the weird tension in the air and focused hard on eating his spiritual fruit, staying out of it.

Long Ye looked down at Brother Qian munching away and gave a gentle pinch to the newly grown dragon horn before saying to Mo Sanchi, “Little Master-Ancestor, just don’t keep misunderstanding me next time.”

“Since leaving home, it’s been Brother Qian by my side the whole time. He means as much to me as family—if not more. There’s no way I care about him less than you do.”

His voice was calm and even, but it made Mo Sanchi flush deeper with embarrassment and guilt.

She thought for a moment, then admitted, “I did have some misunderstandings and prejudice against you because of certain things. That’s why I acted this way.”

“But those things… for some reasons, I can’t tell you about them. I’m truly sorry.”

Shi Qian thought silently: Yeah, I know what that’s about.

A terrifying memory from the past suddenly ambushed him.

Then Long Ye said, “Ah, that matter—I actually know about it.”

Mo Sanchi: “You do?”

Shi Qian: … No, wait—you two are definitely not talking about the same thing.

Shi Qian originally wanted to stop them, but on second thought—if he, a little dragon-cat, guessed the wrong script for this “understudy plot,” it shouldn’t be that big of a deal.

After all, he was only sixteen, and his body was physically just one or two years old.

So Shi Qian just hugged his spiritual fruit and listened to Long Ye keeping silent, Mo Sanchi pressing him, and then Long Ye finally revealing the “truth” he thought he knew.

“I just happen to look like that man. That’s all there is to it.” Long Ye sounded a little awkward but tried to stay composed. “But that man is who he is—you need to distinguish between us. Otherwise, it’ll interfere with your cultivation.”

“You know that man?” Mo Sanchi was even more shocked.

The details of that memory scene weren’t even fully known by the Supreme Elder. She had once deliberately concealed the presence of “Long Ye” and the child in the scene, so she assumed no one else knew about it.

Shi Qian: Let me just sit here and listen to you two talk at cross-purposes.

The enlightened being of silence said nothing and just kept eating his fruit.

Amid the crisp crack of biting into spiritual fruit, Long Ye nodded and said, “Yes, I know.”

Mo Sanchi started to sense something was off. Why did she feel… that the man Long Ye was talking about wasn’t the same one she meant?

Otherwise, Long Ye wouldn’t look so calm, even trying to spare her embarrassment.

So Mo Sanchi cut through the fog and bluntly asked, “You know? That man—was you.”

Long Ye: ?

Shi Qian bit into his fruit so hard he nearly burst out laughing, then choked instead and started coughing violently.

Startled by the cough, Long Ye quickly used his spiritual energy to pat Shi Qian and help him spit out the bit of fruit that had gotten stuck.

Then he looked at Brother Qian, and for a moment, it felt like the shock they both experienced was perfectly synchronized.

What kind of nonsense is this—that man was actually him?

Why on earth didn’t he know?!

Stunned, Long Ye said, “Little Master-Ancestor, make yourself clear—what does that have to do with me? I met you for the first time, and you were already giving me that cold face, treating me like dirt.”

Shi Qian nodded and chimed in as if playing the impartial peacemaker: “Squeak.”

Yeah, yeah, we all thought it was strange at the time.

Long Ye continued, “We all guessed you were in love with some man. Maybe I resembled him a little. Then that day at Phoenix Courtyard, you had some sudden realization and happened to think of him, got upset, and took it out on me and Brother Qian.”

“But now you’re saying that man was me, and I didn’t even know it? What kind of logic is that?!”

His voice rising with frustration, Long Ye’s face had turned stern and cold, brows furrowed tightly.

Hearing the irritation and accusation in his voice, Mo Sanchi raised her hand and pointed directly at Long Ye’s chest. “Right here—you have a mole, don’t you?”

She pointed with exact precision to the location of the mole beneath his clothing.

Long Ye thought back carefully. “I took off my shirt when I went into the sea.”

The implication was clear—if Mo Sanchi had been paying attention, she’d have seen it.

But Mo Sanchi hadn’t looked at him. She’d gone out of her way to avoid him.

Understanding what he meant, Mo Sanchi gave him a sharp glance. Then she raised her hand, and the Qingfeng Sword appeared in her grip.

She thrust the blade forward, aiming it right in front of Long Ye’s legs—barely a foot from his feet.

Long Ye didn’t flinch. “If you want to fight, fine.”

Switching to holding the spirit beast in one arm, he summoned his own spirit sword with the other. The killing intent was real, and his aura didn’t lose out in the slightest.

If you want war, I’ll give you war.

Shi Qian looked down at the stand-off, a little nervous for Long Ye, who was still angry and clearly didn’t understand the full picture.

She doesn’t want to fight you. She wants to teach you a “lesson.”

As Shi Qian expected, the frustrated Mo Sanchi didn’t care about the embarrassment anymore. Her gaze swept down like a blade.

“And you have one there too. Light brown.”

“You didn’t go into the sea without pants too, did you?”

That he definitely hadn’t.

With so many female cultivators in the team, Long Ye still had his dignity. The only time he took off his clothes was when they were playing in the sea and he got all sweaty—he just wiped himself down a bit on the spot.

Right now, all the fight in Long Ye vanished, leaving only deep confusion. “You—how do you know that?!”

Shi Qian: “Squeak.”

Little Master-Ancestor said she couldn’t tell you.

Long Ye shut his mouth.

He was innocent, but somehow the whole situation made it look like he definitely wasn’t.

After thinking for a moment, he said, “Anyway, I really didn’t know.”

Mo Sanchi had calmed down as well and let out a long breath. “Now that I know you’re innocent, I apologize for how I treated you before. It won’t happen again. The person you are now—that’s the real you.”

Her words were a little roundabout, but the meaning was clear. The current Long Ye was just Long Ye—not the person from those visions. Mo Sanchi could tell the difference.

Those visions had been so vivid, they must have been formed from various fragments of real information, without Long Ye’s awareness. Which meant the real him had to be involved somehow.

“I’ll send a disciple later with a token of my apology. Please accept it. That disciple will also help you get familiar with the sect and take care of some formalities for your mountain assignment. I have other matters to attend to, so I’ll excuse myself now,” Mo Sanchi said.

Long Ye replied politely, “Thank you, Little Master-Ancestor.”

Shi Qian, watching this neat and respectful ending, finally let out a sigh of relief.

Side mission: Little Master-Ancestor—successfully completed!

Mo Sanchi looked at his small figure and conjured a spiritual hand to gently pat Shi Qian’s head.

“Did I scare you? Don’t be afraid.”

“From now on, Brother Qian, you’re welcome anytime at Sanshi Mountain. That small building will always be kept for you.”

Shi Qian nodded. “Squeak.”

I’ll come.

Mo Sanchi looked toward Long Ye, waiting for him to interpret.

Long Ye translated, “Brother Qian says he’ll come.”

But I won’t.

Satisfied, Mo Sanchi left, leaving Shi Qian and Long Ye behind.

Long Ye turned to him. “Brother Qian, you guessed wrong.”

“Squeak?”

What was wrong? It turned out the same anyway.

Shi Qian thought: Whether you’re a stand-in for yourself or for another man, what’s the difference, really?

“Whatever,” Long Ye sighed, exhausted. He turned to the spirit beast, who was more familiar with the surroundings. “Brother Qian, where should we go now?”

Shi Qian raised a paw and pointed toward the small building. “Squeak.”

Let’s go back there first.

Long Ye tucked the spirit beast into his arms and started walking in the direction Shi Qian pointed.

When stepping over the sword gouge in the ground, he suddenly thought today’s wind felt a bit chilly—he might need to add another layer of clothing.

After walking a bit, Shi Qian suddenly remembered—“Squeak!”

I forgot my sword!

“Zheng—”

The black sword rang out beside them.

Shi Qian looked toward the sound and saw the familiar black brick-like weapon.

Not lost.

Still knows to follow. Good sword.

So Shi Qian naturally decided not to bother: “Squeak.”

Big Black, you keep up on your own.

From the way Shi Qian looked, it was obvious he didn’t even feel like walking, let alone dragging a spiritual sword around.

Black Sword: “Zheng—”

Got it.

Long Ye: …

Long Ye spoke up, “Brother Qian, once your cultivation improves and you catch up to your spiritual sword, you’ll be able to store it inside your body.”

What you actually store is the sword’s spirit—essentially a mini version of the spiritual sword. The sword spirit can shrink at will, while the physical sword body remains hidden inside it.

Long Ye hadn’t quite caught up to his own sword yet either, but his strong physique allowed him to do it anyway.

Of course, he wouldn’t expect the same from Brother Qian. That wouldn’t be fair.

He was just offering a reasonable suggestion.

Shi Qian: “Squeak.”

We’ll see. I just hit Nascent Soul stage.

Shi Qian felt like his cultivation was still far from Big Black’s. The day Long Ye mentioned felt way too distant—he couldn’t get excited about it yet.

He switched the topic, suddenly enthusiastic as he shared with Long Ye: “Squeak—”

Brother Ye, let me tell you—my Nascent Soul, it’s a little chinchilla-dragon, and it’s so much fun!

Long Ye was emotionally struck down on the spot.

Brother Qian even gave his Nascent Soul his surname.

And Mo Sanchi had the nerve to suspect he’d mistreat Brother Qian? Was she even human?

When they arrived at the small building, Shi Qian showed off his giant transformation technique and thoroughly flaunted his new ability.

Then he gazed at his reflection in the stream, admiring the new dragon horns he had grown.

Shi Qian’s dragon horns were like a young dragon’s—generally shaped like a “Y,” with smooth rounded tips, and a glossy, pearly white color. They looked very well-behaved.

Long Ye relaxed against a rock, looking at the reflection in the water.

The little dragon horns reflected the sunlight, giving the already adorable and spiritual fluffball an added touch of mystical wonder. If he showed up in the mortal world, they’d probably worship him as a divine omen.

That afternoon, the disciple Mo Sanchi mentioned arrived and helped Long Ye handle all the formalities for joining the Sword Sect.

Two days later.

The recruitment assembly was coming to an end. According to tradition, the new disciples would soon be randomly assigned to one of the sect’s ten disciple peaks for a year of foundational training.

After that year, the talented ones would be selected by senior sect members to become personal disciples.

Those who weren’t chosen—or who declined—would still be guided and taught by the sect’s teachers. Only a very few, those who showed serious problems, would be expelled.

In previous years, the mentors would just talk a bit, casually mentioning which talented disciple they had their eye on ahead of time.

This year, however, there was a new issue—two rather unusual newcomers had appeared among the new disciples.

Two Nascent Soul stage cultivators, and one of them was even a spiritual beast.

How were they supposed to teach them? Naturally, this required further discussion along with the other matters.

“I say we just follow the rules. According to Xingzhi, that spiritual beast—Brother Qian—only learned the entry-level sword techniques taught by Sanchi, and Long Ye just stood by watching. I doubt either of them knows much about swordsmanship.”

“They already fooled two spiritual swords into following them, and you still say that with a straight face? I say they’re ready to take a master now.”

“A Soul Formation cultivator trying to take a Nascent Soul disciple? Aren’t you shameless? Not much in the looks department, but you sure can dream.”

“Learning should come first. But they can train with swords while also tagging along with the previous group’s curriculum—pick things up from both sides.”

The first-year training was extremely basic, mostly meant to temper the heart and mind. For Shi Qian and Long Ye, much of it would be unnecessary.

“That’s acceptable,” said Chang Youcai, nodding. “I don’t plan to take on any more disciples. The rest of you do as you please. Just don’t stir up trouble or make it ugly.”

If anyone had the ability to pick up such ready-made disciples, they could go ahead.

They then moved on to the matter of assigning mentors to the new batch of disciples.

Each of the Ten Peaks needed a Peak Head to manage affairs, chosen from among the senior disciples.

Because the job was demanding and required serious dedication, the sect awarded a generous amount of contribution points, so most who were chosen wouldn’t refuse.

Thus, after the news was passed down, Wang Xingzhi made his way to Cuilong Mountain, the peak chosen by Shi Qian and Long Ye.

Cuilong Mountain was long and narrow, supposedly shaped like a dragon. Shi Qian didn’t see the resemblance, but the mountain was saturated with spiritual energy, making it ideal for cultivation.

The “Cui” (emerald) part of the name came from the abundance of pine and bamboo on the mountain, giving it a lush, vibrant green look all year round.

Besides that, there were many spiritual fruit trees and vines on and around the mountain.

Its downside was a lack of spiritual farmland. But Long Ye had no interest in farming. He only planned to grow a few spiritual melons and peanuts to feed the two mouths at home, so he didn’t really need farmland.

Beneath the dappled shade of the trees, Shi Qian sat on a large tree stump at a table, flipping through a Sword Sect rulebook.

Because the Black Sword was lying there doing nothing, Shi Qian used it as a bookshelf.

Wang Xingzhi came running over and plopped down familiarly on a wooden stool, leaning on the table. “Brother Qian, I’m doomed.”

Shi Qian looked up, confused: “Squeak?”

What happened?

“I just got back, and they’ve already assigned me to manage a new disciple peak. You don’t know how tough it is—first-years are the hardest to manage…”

After Wang Xingzhi finished his rant, Shi Qian pointed at himself: “Squeak Squeak.”

Okay, but what’s that got to do with me?

Wang Xingzhi didn’t even need to understand him to respond with a grin: “You and Long Ye are new disciples too, and you both need sword training. Why not come to my peak—the… Tenth Peak.”

Shi Qian: That sounds like the remedial class.

But hey, what was their relationship? They were brothers.

Shi Qian patted his chest, indicating that he was on board—he’d make sure those new disciples fell right in line.

Wang Xingzhi: “Great. I’ll appoint you as Senior Brother of the Tenth Peak, and Long Ye can be Second Senior Brother.”

Senior Brother? Second Senior Brother?

Shi Qian was even more pleased now. He nodded cheerfully and even pulled out some spiritual fruit to feed Wang Xingzhi.

On the side, Little Silver climbed up onto the table and poked the unmoving Black Sword with the tip of its own blade.

In its small heart, Little Silver felt a big sense of worry for its little companion.

Spending all day with a so-called spiritual sword that didn’t act like one… no wonder its friend was turning out stranger and stranger.

Just as Little Silver was deep in worry, its little companion began feeding it again.

The Star Silver Ore was nearly gone, so Shi Qian switched to another kind of ore. He fed a piece to Little Silver, then casually gave Black Sword two bites as well.

After all, he couldn’t really not feed his own spiritual sword.

Long Ye had also strictly forbidden him from feeding Black Sword melon seed shells anymore. Shi Qian had sworn an oath never to do that again—but Long Ye didn’t seem to believe him.

The trust between brothers… wasn’t all that strong.

Wang Xingzhi didn’t end up waiting for Long Ye and had to leave for other business. Shi Qian passed the message along, and Long Ye agreed without hesitation.

It didn’t matter where they practiced swordsmanship. Besides, Wang Xingzhi was someone they knew, which made things more convenient. Long Ye was also more than happy to help him out.

Later, on the Tenth Peak.

Shi Qian squatted on top of Long Ye’s head, watching Wang Xingzhi sit on Little Silver Sword, stern-faced, explaining the sect rules to the group of new disciples.

After the simple orientation, it was time for the mandatory class on basic sword techniques.

Wang Xingzhi had solid fundamentals and explained everything in a way that was both clear and engaging.

Shi Qian had listened to Master Mo Sanchi’s lectures before, and now hearing this again, he still gained something new.

Each day, only three moves were taught. After Wang Xingzhi finished the demonstration, the disciples were left to practice on their own.

Shi Qian hopped down and found Black Sword lying in a corner.

Long Ye, naturally, was also there. He immediately began practicing swordsmanship—and he knew the entire set—instantly drawing the attention of every new disciple.

However, with his stern expression and being a Nascent Soul cultivator, no one dared approach him. They could only admire his swordplay from a distance.

Long Ye, of course, used his spiritual sword. Shi Qian glanced at his own black brick and obediently pulled out his old small sword.

Black Sword deliberately made a sound: “Zheng—”

Use me.

Shi Qian: “Squeak.”

Use you to practice with a brick?

Sword training was all about looking cool. Expecting him to train with a giant slab of a sword? No way.

To this day, Shi Qian still couldn’t accept that while others soared through the skies on flying swords, he rode a flying brick. One slip-up and he’d become the laughingstock of the Sword Sect.

Black Sword already knew how this would go and laid back without protest.

Shi Qian ignored the curious glances and quietly practiced the three sword moves, going over them again and again, bit by bit.

His sword talent was far below Long Ye’s, but little by little, with serious effort, he would eventually improve.

After diligently practicing for three-quarters of an hour, Shi Qian decided to give himself a short break.

Suddenly, he remembered something and asked Long Ye: “Squeak!”

Brother Ye, what’s your spiritual sword’s name? I’ve never heard you say it.

For once, Long Ye’s sword movements faltered, ruining the flow of a move.

Shi Qian watched with growing curiosity: “Squeak!”

Come on, tell me!

Long Ye looked at the little dragon horns on Brother Qian’s head, then thought of himself, feeling conflicted as he said, “Its name is… Dragon Slayer.”

He placed a hand on the blade.

“This red mark here—is dragon blood.”

Shi Qian: …

Damn, Brother Ye.

You’re slaying… yourself.

Wait a second! Doesn’t that mean I’m also—