Gold Tyrant Flying Sword

"Gold Tyrant Flying Sword??" Shin Sumi answered in a breath as a flash of golden light erupted from Fen Wudao's bag of holding.

When the light from summoning dimmed, he was holding a long dagger with a leather handle. The metal from the sword shone brightly and it seemed that it truly was made of gold.

Shin Sumi was speechless. The edges of the blade were so thin that it looked as if it could cut through anything.

"I obtained this sword as a reward from the sect about a year ago. It is a really good flying sword, very loyal" Fen Wudao said as the sword started hovering gently above his palm.

"Flying sword? Loyal?" thought Shin Sumi still disguised as Yan Yan, "what does that even mean?"

Fen Wudao kept talking, clarifying Shin Sumi's inner questioning.

"Flying swords are the most common weapons used by cultivators. I'm surprised that with the amount of spirit stones that you are making every time you sell plants you still haven't gone to the Myriad Sword Pavilion."

Shin Sumi's eyes lit up as she remembered hearing about it. It was a tall building close to the Cultivation Plaza in the northern side of the lower valley. The tower-like building housed an incredible amount of weapons for disciples to buy.

Shin Sumi never bothered to visit it as she didn't find the use of a weapon necessary. She was only an Honorary Disciple and the only times she left the lower valley were to go to the training grounds, still inside the sect's borders.

And whenever she would find herself on the way to the chasm, the nut's warnings were enough to deal with whatever danger she found herself in.

A brief image of Elder Zhu flashed in her mind.

"There is actually another source of danger. But with my cultivation base, what chance do I have against a sect elder at the great circle of the Liquid Realm?"

Despite her thought process having taken less than a fraction of a second, Shin Sumi found Fen Wudao looking at her with a strange gaze.

Once again it was as if he had been reading her thoughts. She replied "I haven't been there yet, it is true. I don't think I would know what to do with a weapon, Senior Brother Fen."

Fen Wudao laughed a bit, although remaining serious.

"You are still young. I guess after only a few months in the sect, you still don't know a lot about the cultivation world."

His sentence was said in a careless manner, but Shin Sumi felt the hair on her forearm raise as if by a cold wind.

"Does he know who I am? Or is he guessing?"

Shin Sumi didn't fear Fen Wudao. After all the white robed Liquid Realm cultivator had always been gentle. His eyes contained only warmth and care, without an ounce of malevolence.

But Shin Sumi found it very disturbing to not know that her disguise may have been breached.

"This is still your spirit plant so I won't force you to exchange it for my sword. I came here today as a Senior Brother looking after his generation."

Shin Sumi stayed silent once again. It felt as if Fen Wudao still had some things to say although he had already started to turn around.

It didn't fail as he looked back at Yan Yan.

"Sister Yan, with what is coming around, you really should consider a weapon" he said as the golden sword disappeared in his bag. "If you want, I'll leave you a week to decide. Go check out the Myriad Sword Pavilion in the meantime to see if you can find a sword that suits you better. And if you don't want to, the choice is ultimately yours after all."

Shin Sumi felt a prick coming from her right wrist. It was a good thing that the Confusion Pill altered the entire body and not just the face, as the leaf pattern was hidden at all times.

The nut had come out from hiding for a split second, not enough to be seen or felt but plenty of time to bite. It wasn't a strong bite or a capricious one. It really felt... urgent.

"Senior Brother wait!" she called out as the young man was about to fly off on his silver winged arrow.

"Yan Yan would like to exchange her spirit plant. It is just that... I don't know how I can repay you for such favor. Surely this Gold Tyrant Flying Sword is worth more than a Violet Dew Lila" she said in only one breath.

Fen Wudao stopped immediately. Once more the shine of gold resplended in the deserted market area.

"Good. You don't need to think about repaying me. I am simply taking care of my junior. Besides I have other swords and this one doesn't suit me well."

Fen Wudao took the sword to his forehead. With a deep thrumming sound, the sword vibrated for a second. When Fen Wudao reopened his eyes, the sword fell to the floor. Shin Sumi caught it by reflex, carefully avoiding the sharp parts.

It had lost all its luster, looking more like copper than gold. Its edges now looked blunt and almost broken. It was in no way similar to the sword that Fen Wudao had been holding a second before.

"What happened to the sword?!" asked Shin Sumi out loud. "What is this piece of crap?" she asked herself in her head.

"This is one of the greatest tricks to this sword ahaha!" Fen Wudao laughed. Seeing the deeply disappointed face of Yan Yan as she held what looked like scrap metal, he laughed so hard that tears welled up in his eyes.

Flying away on his magical arrow before Shin Sumi could do anything, he said "You will soon understand!" before disappearing, too fast for the eye to follow.

In the deserted market area, Shin Sumi was left alone. She couldn't think of any explanation as to what had happened.

Fen Wudao was usually gentle and open, but Shin Sumi already knew about his mysterious and eccentric side. After all when she had just gone through all three tests for the entrance of the sect, pushing her towards her mental and physical limit, he still had dared to joke about a fourth test.

"He really is not as simple as everybody thinks" she told herself, leaving towards the woods before the Confusion Pill's effects vanished.

As her appearance reverted itself to its usual form, Shin Sumi surprised herself to think that she didn't actually care if he knew who Yan Yan really was.

She waited until she was back in the privacy of her courtyard to take out the sword from her bag. She couldn't have delayed, after sending everybody away from the usually crowded market, even Fen Wudao couldn't expect the Honorary Disciples to wait for too long.

"Gold Tyrant Flying Sword, eh?" she said as a dull yellow light flashed in the open.

The name could only lead up to great expectations. And Shin Sumi had been genuinely impressed when Fen Wudao had pulled out a golden sword with edges as sharp as a tiger's claw.

But no matter how she looked at it, right now it only conveyed one thing to Shin Sumi. Scrap metal.

Not worried, she ran her finger along the edge of the blade, one after the other. Nothing. Not even a tidy indent left in her smooth skin.

"This wouldn't even be able to cut a tree leaf!" she said, frustrated.

It was only then that she thought about bonding with the object. In the cultivation world it was frequent that a magical artefact would only work to a small percentage of its full potential after bonding with a master.

Fen Wudao had said that the sword was 'loyal'. Whatever he meant by that, Shin Sumi had no idea but she had seen him release the sword from his control.

But Fen Wudao was a Liquid Realm cultivator, he could do things with Shinsoo that Honorary Disciples couldn't. Shin Sumi thought about the only thing she knew about bonds.

After all she possessed two great items that were linked to her, both by blood. That was of course the copper bell that she had acquired in the dark chasm and the little nut that lived under her skin.

"But how do I bond with something that is not even capable of drawing blood from my fingertip?!"

Shin Sumi tried biting her tongue, a crimson droplet falling onto the rusty blade but nothing happened. Unlike the other times she didn't feel the slightest connection to the sword.

She was becoming more and more frustrated. Fen Wudao was its last possessor, so how could it be normal? Was all his talk about looking after his junior bullsh*t he made up just to get a spirit plant without paying?

She couldn't believe it. In one last desperate attempt, Shin Sumi brought the sword to her forehead, probing it's cold materials with a wisp of Shinsoo.

As soon as the metal connected to her skin, a shivering sensation propagated along her spine.

In her head, cries of despair, pain but also pride and strength rang. Something within the sword made her feel cold and warmth at the same time. It was akin to the soft touch of the sun in the coldest of winters.

Shin Sumi immediately removed the sword from her forehead and threw it away by reflex.

The sensation of being probed, or rather probing someone else's memory was too much for her to take by surprise.

The sword bounced once on the stone tiles with a 'clang' and rested about two meters away from the bench where she was sitting.

The weapon had the exact same unalluring looks to it but now whenever Shin Sumi looked at it, she couldn't help but fear it a little.

For more than two incense stick of a time she was too afraid to pick it up again. When she actually decided to try again, her breath was ragged.

"Big Brother Fen gave it to me so it should be safe. Just one more try Sumi, one more!"

The whole time she kept an eye on the leaf pattern on her wrist. At any sign of the nut showing up to prevent danger, she would throw the sword away.

She knew the little grey nut let her try the first time but with what she had experienced, she couldn't bring herself to accept that it was safe.

The metal was still as cold as before when it touched her skin. Sending once again divine sense in the sword, she braced and accepted whatever was to come.

Past the first second, the cries that seemed to come from the victims of the sword throughout the ages slowly dried out. Now she realized that they were probably just a test or a measure of protection from the sword itself.

A strange energy wrapped around her flow of Shinsoo. Shin Sumi did nothing against it. It brought her comfort in the middle of the cries. She realized it was a bit of Divine sense left by Fen Wudao just as it started talking.

"Junior Sister, you made the right choice with this sword. The fact is I myself met my limits with this particular weapon and that is the reason I decided to give it away."

Fen Wudao must have left this Divine sense imprint when he renounced his mastership of the flying sword.

"Before you reach the Liquid Realm you will unfortunately be unable to access its full potential but it is still a fantastical weapon that will prove useful in the time to come."

"This sword has been owned by many masters, and in order to make it your own you need to pass the challenges left behind by the last generation. Luckily for you I am the last generation."

Shin Sumi looked calm and composed, the dim rusty sword pressed against her head. She was glad Fen Wudao left some instructions. She could tell by the tone of his voice that it was important.

Fen Wudao had left previously by laughing, happy to have played a good trick on his junior but now Shin Sumi knew he was serious.

A message imprinted itself in Shin Sumi's mind. It wasn't a voice imprint, more like a carving on an ancient plate. The plate seemed to be carved out of a dark golden metal and just like the rusty sword, gave Shin Sumi a sense of deep cold with a hint of warmth.

When Shin Sumi dropped the sword, the Divine sense imprint of Fen Wudao dissipating, the ancient carving stayed in her head.

Although she hadn't claimed ownership of the sword, she had been accepted as a potential owner. Unless she gave up the sword's challenges, she couldn't go back now.

The metallic plate had been carved so many times that the inscriptions were a bit blurry.

"It must have been all the challenges issued by the past owners". Shin Sumi was thoughtful for a long time.

The first line was the only one she could read. Surely the others would become clear once she succeeded the first one.

"Use the sword to carve out a new handle."

Shin Sumi didn't know what to think of it. Was kind of test was that?

She had tried the sword previously but hadn't even been able to cut her finger open. Now she was supposed to carve a handle?

"There is no way I can do that. Why did Big Brother Fen choose such a challenge?!"

The Gold Tyrant Flying Sword was useless in the meantime!

"The sword should prove useful in the time to come... What is he talking about?"

Shin Sumi pondered these questions for a long time but was unable to come up with any answer. The sky was dark when she stood up from the stone bench.

She decided to cultivate for a bit inside her house, hoping for an idea to pop up in the meantime.

For a few days Shin Sumi alternated between cultivation and experimenting with the Gold Tyrant Flying Sword.

She tried it against many different materials but the sword was exceptionally blunt and seemed completely unable to cut.

"How can that be called a sword?! Apart from bludgeoning my opponents, what am I supposed to achieve with this?" she said desperately.

She even tried to have the nut work its magic on the weapon, carefully waiting for any response from the little grey ball.

She couldn't reveal that she possessed such a sword to her friends, Lan Hui and Xiao Yue but she still asked them a lot of questions about bonds and magical items. Although it ended up being useless for her case, Shin Sumi still learned a lot from it.

She even went one day to the Myriad Sword Pavillion.

It was the oldest looking building in the lower valley and also the tallest one. From the outside there were five levels, each with big windows covered by paper screens.

The door was locked when she arrived. Standing on top of the last step of the stone stairs, Shin Sumi looked up at the impressive building.

She felt insignificant in front of the building. In fact usual disciples would feel even worse than she did, but Shin Sumi was a special case.

The Myriad Sword Pavilion was a capricious building, with a spirit automaton comparable to that of the Quests Pavilion. Usually the pressure it would inflict on disciples would be difficult to bear, although anyone with enough determination could enter.

The red robed disciples especially would often have to try multiple times before they could force their way through the invisible wall of pressure.

Shin Sumi approached without knowing anything of all this. She had her green identification medallion on her at all times, and that was enough to make the spirit automaton let her in.

She lifted the heavy knocker on the door. It was shaped like an ox' head and vibrated the door upon contact.

"Why does everything in the Immortal World seem so dramatic all the time?" thought Shin Sumi unimpressed.

Finally the door opened onto a dark room, closing once again right after Shin Sumi walked in.

Outside of the Myriad Sword Pavilion, a red robed boy that appeared twelve or even younger stood with his jaw opened so wide that it almost touched the floor.

The calm manner with which Shin Sumi had approached the building and banged the door was like nothing he had ever seen.

"In one year in the sect I have never managed to get close to the door of the Pavilion. How did she do that?!"

***

Inside, Shin Sumi's eyes fluttered for a second. As soon as the heavy door had closed behind her, shining lights had appeared all around.

Before she even had time to acclimate to the light, a crystalline sound rang in her ears.

She knew what the sound was and also knew that nobody else was hearing it.

In her bag of holding, the little copper bell shook twice, dimming the lights in the room so that Shin Sumi could see perfectly.

When she realized, she forgot to maintain her composure for an instant as she realized that the bell didn't only work in the dark.

"This place... Light, warmth, it is strongly of the Yang type! But the copper bell acted and made it more normal" she thought.

"I understand now! It is all about balance isn't it? From the Yin, the bell brings the Yang. From what is Yang, the bell changes to Yin!!"

Her sudden comprehension made her happy, although she now realized she should have understood that a long time ago.

"Balance..."

The word resonated in her mind. A second wave of comprehension struck her as she stood there unmoving.

She knew what needed to be done with the sword!

She turned back on her feet, preparing to leave to try out her new ideas, when a deep voice boomed behind her.

"Does this young lady need Elder Xi's guidance?"