15 Sword of Charm

"Aren't you a bit too excited? You're not even sure if I will screw things up but you already handed over your house to me."

Xiniu Shan laughs faintly as she looks to the sky, "That's just how I am I guess. It's not like I will be living here forever. When I am 9, I will publicly display my Astral Awakening Ritual to help get back some face for my father. With that, I can also become a Secondary Disciple. Anyone would want more instead of less resources so why not?"

Hei nods in agreement, "I guess so. Just show me your house."

Xiniu Shan points to a house beside Hei's. This sword shaped house looks almost as bad as Hei's, except that it looks like it has been cleaned.

The rust like stains and jagged edges seem to give it a look of going through countless battles. Hei looks on the sword house in shock and slight anger.

"What kind of father would let his own daughter sleep here? He is the person in charge of the entire Tertiary Disciple population. His every word should be law here and this is what he gives you?"

She shakes her head calmly. With no hint of enmity from her voice, she says, "I am happy he did that. If he gave me somewhere good, that would basically change everything. It would look like being biased. In the cultivation world, strength rules supreme."

"I have to get strong enough to defeat those persons who are in possession of better houses. Their bloodlines are mostly awakened or their physiques are really strong. For now, I can only accept that I am weak."

"Whatever you say…If I had a child, I would rather get strong enough to make the rules than let my child suffer…"

Hei says those words with a hint of sadness but he quickly shrugs it off. While she might look chubby and simple minded, that hint of sadness and those powerful words actually didn't slip Xiniu Shan's eyes and ears at all.

She faintly smiles and thinks to herself, "Liu Hei seems to have his own problems too…I wonder if he is in a similar situation like me."

Hei sits in front of her cross-legged. "I am going to meditate before I begin."

Xiniu Shan nods and replies, "hmm".

Hei closes his eyes and enters the very familiar land of darkness as he appears before Ren. "Ren, I need a bit of help. I want to make those houses better. What can I do?" "

Not a problem Master. The astral inscriptions I thought you were the most simplest of them all. While being simple, they are the foundation elements to the most basic of astral inscriptions. They can be transformed into any astral inscription formula of any nature."

"Therefore, you can use the inscriptions to reinforce the materials of the sword house along with giving it new attributes. Since it is a sword house, I suggest using inscriptions that can increase the sharpness, strength and overall sword energy."

"Master can also make the houses seem new again by using astral inscriptions to cleanse the stains and fix all the damages. This can be achieved with inscriptions biased towards creation."

Hei stares at Ren as he contemplates the words he heard. "Hmmm…I see, astral inscriptions can recreate the house. I wonder, is it possible to set up something that can directly absorb the energy from the surroundings, maybe even the other houses?"

Ren thinks for a bit and slowly nods, "Indeed Master, that is possible. By setting up multiple astral inscription formulas in the form of an array, this can be achieved. But, that would require extensive use of your strength. Will Master do such a thing for a person he randomly met?"

"Sure, why not? I am a very nice person after all."

Ren looks on his master in a peculiar manner.

"Kidding, I wanna experiment with her house so I can perfect mines. Hehehe!"

"That's more like it Master! I thought you fell in love or something."

Hei shakes his head with a slightly weird face, "Falling in love sounds painful. Falling on the ground is painful, falling on swords is painful and falling in fire is painful. Why would falling in love not be painful too?"

Ren stares at Hei as it seems he is thinking about the words his great master has imparted.

"I am going. Thanks Ren…" Ren 'smiles kindly' and replies, "It is my duty Master so there is no need for thanks." Hei exits once again as a sharpness flashes through his eyes.

"I have an idea of what to do but I want to hear your input. What kind of sword house do you imagine yourself living in?"

Xiniu Shan rubs her chubby chin and thinks for a bit. She slowly begins to smile then laugh for no apparent reason.

"I know! I want a beautiful sword house with bright lights that look as pure and charming as me!" Hei's right eye slightly twitches but he doesn't reply. He slowly turns around and looks on the house.

"I am going in…no disturbances." "Yes Liu Hei!"

Liu Hei slowly walks into the house. Surprisingly, the door did not fall off. It seems she might have done small modifications to the house already or it originally was like that.

Hei closes the door and looks around. Apart from the simple furniture made from stone, not many personal belongings can be seen. This is more than likely because cultivators tend to keep their more precious items in storage items which are always on their person.

"Alright…the first thing is the overall look of the house. I will have to modify that first then I will deal with structural integrity."

Hei slowly releases astral essence that is naturally stored in his bloodlines and creates the astral inscriptions with them. These astral inscriptions which are the foundations of supposedly all the astral inscriptions slowly rotate around each other in harmony.

Hei carefully manipulates them to sink into the stone bed. With a thought of his mind, these inscriptions begin rotating which actually forms a link between the bed and himself.

"I see, so that it can be done like this. That's why Ren didn't explained in detail how to do it…If I connect the astral inscriptions with an object, I will be connected to said object. I can modify the object with the power of the inscriptions."

With that train of thought, Hei tries to actually remove the jagged edges on the stone bed then stops. "Creation…what if I could change this stone completely…?"

Ren's voice rings out in Hei's head, "That would be simpler than destroying the rock Master. All matter is made up from tiny particles. If these tiny particles are manipulated, then a rock and a piece of iron is the same thing. It is just how the material's particles are arranged along with factors such as density for example."

"Focus on the material you want and use the inscriptions to modify the rock."

Hei nods as he closes his eyes and envisions a large bed of cotton. As he thinks, he focuses on the inscriptions which are currently connecting him and the bed.

After a few moments, the bed itself slowly breaks apart in Hei's mind. A dense cluster of dust like particles can be seen in Hei's mind which seems to be the stone bed. He thinks of the softness and white color of cotton, shaped into a bed.

The dense particles of dust slowly begin rotating, similar to the way the astral inscriptions would rotate until they completely rearrange themselves.

The new product looks totally different from before. At this time, the dust like particles seems a bit more spaced and gives off a much softer feeling.

Hei nods as he removes the astral inscriptions and opens his eyes. To his surprise, a very large and fluffy cotton bed is seen. This bed shaped object is seemingly made of pure, white cotton. It gives off a clean and comfortable feeling. Hei nods at his work with a slight smile.

"Success! With this, I can modify the structure of physical objects. Hehehe, let's see what else I can change.

Hei walks around the small sword house and begins spreading his astral inscriptions around. He slowly envisions the various walls into much smoother but soft looking stone, which actually change to his desires.

The creaking board floors are slowly changed to similar stone that is on the walls too. Then, the small dining table made from stone along with the chairs is all modified to look more regal and expensive. The regular looking table is turned into a cleaner and sturdier looking table.

The stone itself looks more similar to polished jade and the tables all match it. The area for sitting on the chair along with where the back is pushed against is also modified to have cotton on it. Armrests with cotton are even added to the chairs.

Hei nods with a slight hint of pride on his face.

"It seems a bit girly now…I should do outside though I am feeling a bit tired. Maybe I should rest a bit." Hei walks outside and closes the door behind him.

"You look so tired…are you finished already?"

Hei shakes his head and faintly says, "I finished the overall look for inside so I will do outside once I recover a bit...do not go inside since I haven't dealt with structural integrity as yet." He sits down and immediately enters his dimension again.

"Hmmm…I can strengthen the house with some astral inscriptions engraved into it. I wonder what kind I should use. Maybe I should write her name with a bit of 'charm' along with making the sword house emit beauty. I'll work with that."

Hei meditates for a few minutes until he feels a bit better. He slowly opens his eyes as he exits his dimension. He gets up and slowly walks to the house. Gently placing his hand on the house, he channels astral inscriptions into the house itself and closes his eyes.

The entire structure can be seen in his mind as the outside looks like a broken sword stabbed into the ground. Hei slowly envisions a more beautiful sword that is extremely shiny but gives off a soft and subtle look.

This sword seems to be made from pure and polished, bright green jade. On the outside, Xiniu Shan looks in shock as she sees her house slightly glowing.

Incredibly, the outside structure seems to vanish and instead, strange particles being surrounded by complex astral inscriptions constantly rotate in a mystical manner.

After fully envisioning the sword, the inscriptions actually modify the house and then stop. Upon opening his eyes and release the astral inscriptions, the sword house fully takes form.

A beautiful jade sword with seemingly smooth edges, a gentle window and door along with a very circular and smooth hilt can be seen. The sunlight reflects dazzlingly off the house as it gives off a prestigious and expensive look.

Xiniu Shan looks on her house with shock and fear. "Im…Impossible! Is this my house!? AAAAH!" Her mouth opens so wide, many things could fit in there.

"Indeed, it is your house. Not too shabby for my first attempt," Hei says in a nonchalant tone.

Those words nearly make Xiniu Shan choke on the deep breath of air she takes in.

"It's…it's so beautiful! Hei…I can't accept this! Change it back quickly! This is too expensive! I couldn't…I couldn't possibly accept this!"

Hei shakes his head, "You misunderstand…this is just a look. I haven't even done the bulk of the work yet. Just relax and let me finish." Even more shock appears on her face as she thinks to herself, "what more could he possibly do!?"

With a simple thought, the astral inscriptions which constantly rotate appear in the palm of Hei's hand. He slowly changes the inscriptions to form the word 'charm'.

With that, he actually merges the word with sword house. This causes the house to begin emitting even more light as a seemingly irresistible charm is diffused from the house.

The sunlight seems to perfectly merge with the jade and actually casts a green shadow that is soft but brilliantly placed on the green grace. Even the grass in the yard not only release sword energy but also seems a bit softer and gentler.

As Xiniu Shan is about to say something, she notices Hei has already closed his eyes and seem to be meditating even though he is standing.

This makes her keep quite but cannot help but stare at her new house which seems so unrealistic. Hei looks on Ren in his dimension in contemplation, "If I want the house to gather energy from the surroundings, I would have to engrave energy gathering inscriptions. How do those look exactly?"

A subtle laugh is heard from Ren as he replies, "The laws of the heavenly dao naturally attract similar energy. Whatever you engrave will naturally hold the charm of the heavenly dao. With that…it will attract a similar kind of energy."

"This sect has pure sword energy in a simple form. It can be gathered and converted into something specific." Hei nods in understanding as he continues to restore himself. He slowly opens his eyes and creates more astral inscriptions.

He then changes them to slowly form a soft sword. This astral inscription soft sword radiates a gentle sword energy which could bewitch a person into surrendering or letting their guard down.

This sword seems less lethal and appears to be related to parrying attacks as a flexible look can be seen. He slowly engraves this inscription into the sword house. Upon being fully engraved, the house gently shimmers with sword light that twinkles similar to a beautiful star in the night.

Energy can be felt slowly gathering towards the house and actually lingers around it. This leaves the house in a slightly misty haze which increased the beauty of the house even more.

With a final step, Hei forms gentle inscriptions to write her name on the door of the house. "Done, don't you dare deny it or else I wreck this place and let you sleep on the grass."

Xiniu Shan looks on the completed house in disbelief. The 2 last houses at the back are spaciously separated from the other houses in the first place, therefore, her only neighbor is Hei and upon looking at his house then hers, she cannot help but shed a few tears.

"Hei…this is too much, look on your house then look on mines. I…I can't believe this. You're a genius…A genius among geniuses! Thank you so much! I will forever be grateful!"

She looks to Hei with her tear stained face. For some reason, Hei gets the feeling he should run. Suddenly, Xiniu Shan runs up to Hei and hugs him tightly.

Her squishy body completely 'devours' the little and weak looking Hei. She swings him left and right and sobs, "Hei, thank you so much! I am so happy!"

Hei barely replies as he is being suffocated, "I…can't…breathe." "Oh! Sorry Hei…" She lets him go as he falls to the ground.

"Hei! Are you alright!?" She begins shaking him like a ragdoll with her monstrous strength. This makes Hei feel dizzy and even more tired.

"AAAAAAH! Stop trying to kill me! Is this how you repay my kindness!? Ah Fuck!" Xiniu looks on Hei with shock. "You used a curse word! You're a baddie!"