39 Third Floor
Yeon looked down at the sword in his hands. The sword itself was heavy, but with every swing, Yeon could feel the destructive power that hid behind those simple movements.
The way the sharp edge cut through the air was like he was cutting through the atmosphere itself.
He was sure that if he held this treasure in his hands, it would cut through any Sub-Kanjus defending claws and potentially even a Kanju's if he performed the Divine Sword Downward Slash technique.
It was by far the deadliest weapon he had held in his hands. It was perfect for performing the Divine Sword Style as the rigid and heavy sword emphasized singular powerful strikes.
"It doesn't suit me," Yeon said.
"Eh?" Meilin let out a confused sound.
The sword dance she had just witnessed was beautiful and lethal. She was sure that Yeon was expertly handling the weight of the sword, but he seemed displeased with it.
She quickly put the sword back to where it belonged and led Yeon to a thinner sword on display.
"Rare grade, 100 Myriad Sabre. It is shorter than the Wicked Steel Longblade, and its ore is much lighter. It is much cheaper since it does not fit in well with the Divine Sword Style and other fierce sword styles that are popular in this city."
Yeon held the sword in his hands, its colour much lighter than the Wicked Steel Longblade. It had a shiny silver sheen that reflected light whenever he inspected the blade.
Its gentle curve was more prominent than the Wicked Steel Longblade and was more suited to slashing than stabbing and piercing.
He began his sword dance, starting again with a simple downward strike that made use of the sword's own weight rather than his strength. But before he had even made 3 moves, he stopped his dance midway, much to the disappointment of Meilin.
"It's better than the last one," Yeon spoke out.
"Eh?" Meilin let out a confused sound.
It was the same skit, but the scenario was different.
"Cultivator Yeon, if this sword is more suited to you, then why did you stop your swings halfway?" She asked.
"Should I wrap it up for you right away?" Meilin added. There was always the chance that Yeon had liked it so much that there was no need to experiment with it any longer.
"No…"
"Then is there anything else I could do for you, Cultivator Yeon?"
"That's not it. The balance was perfect, and it fit well. I could feel my grip on the handle with every swing. It felt secure and powerful," Yeon explained.
Even he was a bit confused. The 100 Myriad Sabre was a sword that suited his swordsmanship quite well. Considering how it was even a Rare grade treasure, he should be pleased with it by all means.
Yet now that he was fully focused on finding something that he found comfortable using, he felt a dissatisfaction that couldn't be erased. The 100 Myriad Sabre was ok, but that was it.
He never got the feeling that it was the one, but he himself wasn't sure what it was that he wanted. His sword style wasn't something established; It was something he did instinctively when he wielded a sword.
This meant that it could also freely change along with what his subconscious desired. Instinct was merely that at the end of the day, the subconscious.
"Then is there an issue with the grade of the treasure itself?" Meilin asked.
Since she believed that Yeon had an incredible secret background, she thought that he might be displeased with the level of the treasure, finding its quality subpar.
Little did she know that it was actually the best sword he had held in his life.
He felt comfortable using it, more so than any other sword. But it wasn't the one.
"Maybe…" Yeon replied.
He wasn't entirely sure what was missing but he might as well try and find the source of this dissatisfaction now that the opportunity had presented itself.
He had previously believed that the odd feeling was because Adil's practice sword was too long for him. But now he realized that it was an entirely different matter.
Meilin nodded and led Yeon to the third floor.
There, they were stopped by two guards at the Core Formation realm.
"Identification," The guard on the right stated.
"Meilin, Lead Receptionist of the Golden Hammer," Meilin replied while holding up the plaque that she had been using to open up the glass displays.
The guard nodded at Meilin before turning to Yeon.
"You too pretty boy,"
'I suddenly appeared one day, rising from the corpse of Adil. As such, I don't have any form of identification.'
"Yeon," He replied curtly.
The guard was being rude to Yeon and so he felt no need to denounce his worth to treat the guard politely.
The guard's brows furrowed his brows at Yeon's attitude.
As a Core Formation cultivator, he could tell that Yeon was only a Bone Cleansing cultivator. How could a junior treat him so rudely?
He was only acting as a guard as a favour for Senior Owen. In fact, most of the guards were there for that exact reason.
It was harder to find weapons of a matching grade that suited an individual the more powerful they got. He had heard rumours of the 'Golden Hammer' and had travelled all the way to Sapling City just to earn his favour.
If he was lucky, Senior Owen would forge him a personal weapon. He would still have to pay the full price for it, but the appeal of having a suitable weapon was that great.
It was easier to increase your skill by improving the quality of your equipment rather than laboriously cultivating. It was an easy way out, and they could still feel as if they were working towards their improvement by doing so.
Lastly, they could earn money by doing this rather than spending it like they did when they were cultivating. Cultivation required resources after all.
And now, some weak cultivator had come up to him and treated him like a mere passer-by when he should be the senior in cultivation.
Just before he could rouse his cultivation to pressure Yeon, Meilin butted in after sensing the tension between the two.
"I can guarantee his identity."
The guard faced to stare at Meilin. He couldn't care about who Meilin was. He thought that she was sexy and attractive but that was it. He was only working there for Senior Owen; he couldn't care less about the other.
He decided to vent his anger out on the interfering Meilin by exuding his killing intent.
Meilin felt a shiver run down her spine as she felt as if she were being faced by death itself before a familiar scent filled her with a comforting sense of reassurance as the feeling of fear left her just as quickly as it had arrived.
Yeon had quickly moved in to cover for her.
He then began exuding his own killing intent in response to the rude guard.
"Hck!" The guard grimaced.
'H-how is this possible?! He should only be a Flesh Cleansing cultivator!'
In the eyes of the guard, it felt as if Yeon's body was wrapped in a dreary grey aura whose murky smog smothered everything around it.
The doors to the third floor were flung open and a bearded muscular man walked out in overalls.
"How am I supposed to work when you're all trying to kill each other!" He roared, his impressive aura as a Core Consolidation cultivator washing over the squabble between Yeon and the guard.
His bushy brows wriggled in anger as he jabbed his finger at the guard who had been the cause of this situation.
"How many times do I have to tell you that you need to control yourself, Jack!"
"I apologize, Senior Owen," Jack said while cupping his hands in perfect manners, a complete change in behaviour from before.
"It was just that this arrogant junior needed to be reminded of his place!" He sneered while glaring daggers at Yeon.
"No! Senior Owen, this Meilin can testify that it wasn't like that," she said while shooting a frown at Jack.
"Cultivator Yeon is an upright individual who I can vouch for!"
"Hohhh," Senior Owen let out an admiring sound while he inspected Yeon from top to bottom.
"And why is that?" He asked Meilin, looking for justification to back up her words.
"Um…" But now that she had to look for a reason, she couldn't think of one.
She merely felt that Yeon was a righteous individual from his aura and actions so far, but that wasn't enough to act as proof.
"I protected Meilin when she was assaulted by Senior Jack with killing intent. Considering how Meilin is a mortal, she could have died," Yeon answered, emphasizing the words 'assaulted', 'killing intent', and 'mortal' to further his argument.
"Hmmmm, that's right. I did feel that. So, you're telling me that you, Junior Yeon, was the one who released his killing intent second, right?" Senior Owen asked.
"Yes. That is indeed the case, Senior Owen."
"Interesting, how interesting. So that horrible killing intent was yours, a mere Flesh Cleansing cultivator?"
"I-It's true!" Meilin backed up Yeon's words.
She had to make sure that Senior Owen knew that it was retaliation rather than assault on Yeon's part. Little did she know that Senior Owen didn't care for that at this point, but rather the killing intent itself.
'The amount itself was weak, but the intent was unbelievably pure. He hasn't killed many, but the intent is strong. Usually it's the other way around with the intent becoming purer only after taking thousands of lives…'
Senior Owen looked at the young man who looked too young to be an adult but too old to be a child. His face was stunningly beautiful and bewitching but it didn't look like the face of a bloodthirsty murderer.
'And the intent was slightly different from the one's I've experienced so far…'
"Anyhow, stop standing there like fools and come inside. You're here to look for weapons aren't you?" Senior Owen spoke up.
He wanted to observe this intriguing man some more and he felt that it wouldn't be dangerous to do so either. He could just kill Yeon if he caused trouble and that would be the end of it.
"B-but Senior Owen!" Jack shouted angrily. How could they simply let this breach of seniority pass?
"Shut up, Jack," Senior Owen snapped at Jack.
"I've had enough of your childish tantrums. You're over 60 years old so act like it. You're fired. Don't return tomorrow."
The other guard who had been silently watching till now gulped nervously. His coworker had been fired just like that!
