Lan Xiaohui’s sword — my vessel — effortlessly pierces through the head of the boar-like demonic beast, in the Nascent Soul realm, and kills it instantly. This particular variation of a boar neither had high defenses, like the metal-skinned variant, nor any hope of preventing my blade from severing it from life even if it did have high defenses.
In particular, this boar — the Fire Guardian Boar — was a creature closely related to the energies of fire, and its hide, bones, and tusks have extremely high melting points, and thus a high resistance to fire, making them particularly valuable materials for barter and trade.
Not that I give any such considerations any thought as I open my [World Eater] talent and devour the creature, hoping to get closer to confirming one of my more pressing theories.
Creatures of the Nascent Soul realm are intelligent enough to not only possess long-term memory, but I can also absorb a part of that knowledge.
Even though we have never ventured into this particular part of the Forbidden Lands, I am aware of several locations that contain hints of high-grade treasures, mostly materials for rebuilding my Inner World or alchemical endeavors, thanks to the boar's contribution to my knowledge.
Lan Xiaohui sighs as her victim disperses around her weapon and is absorbed entirely by my ravenous, demonic nature, and then smiles. “You could’ve let me butcher it,” she says like it is the most normal and ordinary thing for a person with a lady-like background, like herself, to do such a meaningless, dirty job — let alone the fact that she enjoys it and considers it part of her training.
As if this whole situation was not deviant enough already; a Core Cultivation realm cultivator, effortlessly slaying a Nascent Soul realm beast — in an area that most avoid because Nascent Soul beasts are present — is unsatisfied that they didn’t get the opportunity to butcher it themselves.
However, this is not that strange.
For a Core Cultivation cultivator, or anyone for that matter, to defeat such an opponent that outclasses them, at least two things are necessary: Far greater experience and a sword that is sharp enough to cut through their defenses.
The Fire Guardian Boar had neither of those things; As a demonic beast of the fifth rank, the demonic beast must have faced many life-or-death situations to cultivate to this level, but, even among demonic beasts, Lan Xiaohui is a monster that has been in this scenario countless of times within my Inner World, and with my recent body cultivation advancement, there are very few things that my blade cannot cut.
In this world, my owner is an anomaly who can circumvent her inherent disadvantages in fighting against a superior opponent by never allowing them to utilize their superior cultivation.
After a moment, she sighs again and still holds me in the same place, uncertain how long she has to hold me like this before I am finished devouring the corpse — which I already have.
“You must’ve been hungry,” she says. “It has been so long since I fed you. I promise I will do better from now on.”
I have no doubt that she will. Ever since her meeting with Elder Qin, Lan Xiaohui has been exhibiting a subtle change in her demeanor and motivation.
The large hole in her heart that remained after the Princess Events — where her confidence used to be — has been a part of my concerns regarding Lan Xiaohui’s future. But after she met with Elder Qin, and after she submitted a formal challenge against Xie Zhiqiang at the Martial Pavilion, my owner has been very motivated to go out into the rivers and lakes, obtain more experience, and most importantly, obtain access to my Inner World and Secret Sword Realm Nexus function to comprehend the [Fractured Sword].
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Even though there are faster and more certain methods to obtain the power to fill that hole in her heart — like Elder Qin’s [Sun Calamity Sword] that she could perhaps be allowed to study, or the sect’s [Galaxy Sword Method] or even the [Life-Severing Sword].
“I am not so confident in my sword anymore,” she said before we left for the Forbidden Lands. “Back then, the only solution I could find was to trade my life to preserve my dignity. If I want to advance further on the Dao of the Sword, I think I must learn the Fractured Sword, no matter what.”
There was a hint, in those words, that she felt that if she possessed the [Fractured Sword] back then, the Princess Events would have concluded differently. I strongly agree with that sentiment. If Lan Xiaohui posed any kind of a threat to the entity Eternal Red of the Nine Frozen Suns, Lan Xiaohui would most likely no longer be alive.
After a moment, Lan Xiaohui finally relaxes and allows my form to hover next to her right shoulder as she looks into the distance.
“This feels similar to how we used to be,” she says with a faint smile. “Even though they were difficult times, I miss them. Maybe this is how things are meant to be for us. In the future, when we leave this continent, we will travel a lot and see many places.”
“That depends on whether or not you can keep your promise to the princess,” I tell her, using the word promise to lessen the blow of what that condition truly was — a death sentence and a curse.
Lan Xiaohui chuckles briefly and nods. “Twenty years is a long time.” With a sigh, she steps forward and continues walking. “Unfortunately, it is the only time I have and I cannot waste it. I need to find the materials you need.”
“In regards to the materials, I have obtained some information from that demonic beast when I consumed it,” I transmit telepathically. “There is an area close to this place that has an unusually high qi density even though there are no high-grade materials present.”
Lan Xiaohui purses her lips thoughtfully and seems to consider my words for several moments.
“Underground deposit?” she asks, uncertain.
“Most likely,” I confirm.
She smiles, her eyes twinkling with satisfaction at the prospect of a successful material search, not to mention the potential riches she could obtain if she found an underground deposit of high-grade stone, ore, or possibly both — that is, if she wasn’t planning on giving it all to me.
The fact that I could use the boar was itself a fortunate event. The Fire Guardian Boar possesses a very keen ability of perception — the sense of smell mostly — and is capable of detecting the minute and trace changes of qi density in a vast area, a feat that Lan Xiaohui herself would not be capable of.
Strictly speaking, this technique of using qi density to prospect for underground deposits is reminiscent of the gravitational survey technique from my old life — gravity is not uniform across a planet, and therefore small, localized anomalies are indicative of the presence of heavy elements beneath the earth.
Other than searching for surface deposits, or those in caves, or strip mining the entire area, I have no other method available to me, at the moment, to find the materials I need.
However, if Lan Xiaohui comprehends the [Fractured Sword], I will be able to utilize far superior methods of surveillance and information gathering, though I do not look forward to having to potentially explain Folded Geometry Theory or Local Lattice Mechanics to Lan Xiaohui. I doubt she even knows about electrons.
“Which way?” she asks, humming in satisfaction.
“You should know, this area, according to the information, is guarded by a Core Formation demonic beast,” I tell Lan Xiaohui.
Lan Xiaohui knits her eyebrows together. A Core Formation beast in an area where the Nascent Soul realm is not the exception, but the norm? Not that there are no Core Formation beasts in this place, there are quite a few, but they all live under the tyranny of the Nascent Soul entity that lords over them.
Lan Xiaohui turns around to look toward the Starsword Peak. “Is it back the way we came?”
“It is deeper into the Forbidden Lands,” I reply. I understand her confusion; if the area she is looking for is guarded by a Core Formation beast, it should be back toward the Peak, not deeper into the forest.
This confirms Lan Xiaohui’s suspicions and she nods. “All right. I will be careful.”
Lan Xiaohui also understands that for a Core Formation beast to be a sovereign here, it must be an anomalous existence like herself — possessing of both high intelligence and dangerous combat capabilities.
I transmit a package of knowledge to my owner, which causes her to briefly close her eyes, but after a few moments, she proceeds onwards toward our new destination.