Chapter Ninety-Three: The Origin of You Xue's Birth

Chapter Ninety-Three

The Sword Spirit of the Heaven-Devouring Demon-Slaying Sword, You Xue

Li Hao asked in confusion, "Why do you call me master, young lady?"

You Xue answered with utmost respect, "I am the spirit of the Heaven-Devouring Demon-Slaying Sword. Since the sword has already acknowledged you as its master, you are my master for all eternity."

Li Hao was left baffled by all this talk of the sword, recognition, and spirit, and asked, "Could you explain that more clearly? I'm a bit lost."

Xiao Jiu suppressed his laughter and trotted over to Li Hao's side, helping him understand. "She means that the giant sword you took into your sea of consciousness when you passed the trial is called the Heaven-Devouring Demon-Slaying Sword. And like I am the halberd spirit of the Nine-Dragon Battle Halberd, she is the sword spirit of the Heaven-Devouring Demon-Slaying Sword. Since the sword has recognized you as its master, you are her master."

Li Hao said, "But I never intended to take any sword."

His answer left both Xiao Jiu and You Xue speechless.

Then Li Hao seemed to realize something. "Could it be that the sword just now was not meant for suicide, but was merely an illusion in the final trial? After I succeeded in choosing, the Heaven-Devouring Demon-Slaying Sword automatically recognized me as its master?"

You Xue replied, "Yes, Master."

Li Hao waved a hand and said to her, "Don't call me master. I'm not used to it. Call me young master, just like him."

"Yes, Mast... Young master!"

Only after all that did Li Hao notice that his companion was gone, and only then did he hurry to withdraw from his sea of consciousness. After he left, Xiao Jiu looked at the beautiful girl who was accompanying Li Hao within his sea of consciousness, and excitement surged through him so fiercely that he could hardly restrain it.

He trotted over to You Xue and said mysteriously, "Our master is good in every way, except that he's far too young!"

Before Xiao Jiu could finish, You Xue cut him off with an expressionless face. "I know. If Master were not good, the Heaven-Devouring Demon-Slaying Sword would never have recognized him. What does being young or not have to do with me? He'll grow up slowly on his own."

Xiao Jiu said, "It does matter. If the master grows up, he won't blush when he touches you!"

Hearing such nonsense, You Xue showed no reaction at all and answered flatly, "What does it have to do with blushing when Master touches me?"

Xiao Jiu sighed, "Ah! I really don't know what I'm saying. This is so hard."

After sighing, Xiao Jiu said to You Xue, "Fortunately, you met our handsome, gallant, radiant Young Master Li Hao, who has passed through a hundred flowers without a single leaf touching him. Otherwise, you'd be done for."

You Xue asked, "Why would I play eggs?"

Xiao Jiu was helpless. "I don't know what to do with you."

When Xiao Jiu spoke to her, all sorts of lewd images of men and women kept flashing through his mind. Yet You Xue always managed to dispel his insinuations with ease.

The reason she was willing to speak so much with Xiao Jiu was that they were both weapon spirits serving Li Hao. Had it been anyone else, it would have depended on You Xue's mood. Whether she truly did not understand Xiao Jiu's meaning or only pretended not to, no one could tell.

Xiao Jiu asked, "Miss You Xue, how old are you?"

You Xue replied, "I don't know. Several billion years, perhaps."

Xiao Jiu was stunned on the spot.

He asked, "Then why do you still look so young?"

"My appearance has been eternally sealed at the age of eighteen."

Xiao Jiu, puzzled, said, "That can't be. If that's the case, then you're a woman with many stories!"

At this, You Xue seemed to fall into thought. Hearing Xiao Jiu say that she was a woman with many stories seemed to stir unpleasant memories in her heart.

Seeing the young girl before him lost in thought, Xiao Jiu did not disturb her. Man and woman floated silently there. After a long while, You Xue finally spoke.

"I was born into a family of weapon refiners. My grandfather once forged a peerless sword of overwhelming tyranny. From the day the sword was first forged, he labored day and night for three thousand years. In the end the sword took shape, but for some reason, its blade could not be opened."

Xiao Jiu interjected curiously, "That's not too strange. Maybe it needed some sort of sacrifice?"

You Xue said, "Yes. Back then, after my grandfather forged that giant sword, he left it in the forge chamber. Another three thousand years passed in the blink of an eye, and then I was born into the family. I heard that on the night of my birth, that entire star domain was filled with storms, lightning, and thunder."

Xiao Jiu interrupted, saying, "A birth that stirs the heavens and earth? I've heard that such people are doomed by fate! There are two kinds of such doomed beings: those who come to save the world, and those who are born to destroy it."

You Xue said, "Yes. Many people said the same about me. Except for my mother, everyone else despised me, so I had no friends growing up. Besides my mother, I never felt any warmth from my relatives."

Hearing this, Xiao Jiu felt a kindred sorrow. He replied, "I'm actually much the same! We were all lonely people back then. At least you knew what your family looked like. I don't even know what my family looks like."

You Xue cut him off. "What's so good about that? It's not as wonderful as you make it sound. I'd rather be like you and never know what my relatives looked like. Then at the very least, I could keep an illusion in my heart, and in my imagination they would be beautiful. But because they truly existed beside me, they made me feel more like strangers than strangers. When my mother was still alive, I did not feel much, since she was with me. But after she was gone, my heart was filled only with hatred."

Hearing this, Xiao Jiu felt somewhat saddened, thinking that never having met his parents might actually be a blessing. He asked, "Could it be that your mother's death had some injustice behind it?"

At this, You Xue's eyes seemed to brim with tears. Seeing this, Xiao Jiu grew afraid that this beautiful young lady might actually cry, and quickly waved his hands. "Don't cry, whatever you do. You mustn't cry. I can't cure tears. If you're going to cry, then don't say any more."

His words only made You Xue roll her eyes. Those eye-rolls left Xiao Jiu staring blankly, and he thought to himself, "How beautiful!"

You Xue said, "Cry? It's been so many ages since I last felt that. When my mother left, I had already cried enough. Besides, my true body is a sword now; even if I wanted to cry, I could not. Even if I could, no tears would fall."

Hearing that, Xiao Jiu felt his worries ease. "Well, that's good, that's very good!"

Since You Xue had not finished speaking, Xiao Jiu continued, "What exactly happened to your mother?"

You Xue answered, "She was killed by that beast of a father of mine for trying to protect me!"

Ah!

Xiao Jiu stared in shock, speechless for a long while.

At that moment, Xiao Jiu felt that he had been too abrupt, causing You Xue to recall those unhappy and tragic memories from long ago. With guilt, he apologized, "I'm sorry. I made you remember so many unhappy things."

You Xue did not seem to feel much of anything, remaining calm and indifferent. Hearing him, she replied, "It's all right. Even if you didn't ask, I still think of it from time to time. Still, thank you. After so many endless years, no one has ever spoken to me. Having you here to chat with me is already wonderful."

Xiao Jiu said, "We are both the master's weapon spirits now. We'll be keeping each other company for who knows how many years to come!"

You Xue said, "Yes. Since I've told you so much already, then I'll tell you everything."

Xiao Jiu answered, "Go on. I'm all ears."

The two of them floated there within the world of Li Hao's sea of consciousness, speaking with one another.

You Xue went on, "My mother came from a humble background. She had once been a servant girl in the clan, but because of her exceptional beauty, that beast forced himself upon her, and that is how I came to be. My mother had a lowly status, and when I was born, there were also strange signs in heaven and earth, so everyone in the family feared I would bring them ruin. Thus, they abandoned the two of us.

"In my sixteenth year, that old beast betrothed me to a fool. My mother heard this terrible news and, for the sake of my future happiness, had no choice but to kneel before that old beast and beg for mercy on my behalf. Yet not a single person in the family spoke for us mother and daughter. Afterward, my mother pleaded again and again, but nothing changed. In her heart, she recalled the past, when that old beast had seized her body by force, and in a sudden surge of rage she cursed him, calling him less than human. And thus my mother was slain by his sword.

"Because of her death, I was utterly consumed by hatred and lost all reason. I wanted nothing but revenge. But what could a weak woman with no strength to speak of do against such a vast family?

"At that time, I remembered a legend. It was said that the giant sword in my family's forge chamber had been unable to be opened because its power was too great, and because it lacked a sword spirit. Aside from revenge, I had no attachment left to this world at all. So I went to the forge chamber and threw myself against the sword, dying by its edge, willing to become its spirit for all eternity.

"Whether all of this was too much of a coincidence or whether it was arranged by heaven's law, I cannot say. My life seemed as though it had been born for the sword.

"After I died, the giant sword was finally opened. But its power was so immense that, with no strong cultivator to control it, the force within the blade ran wild and destroyed everything around it. This continued for thirty days before it finally stopped. By then, half the star domain had been ruined, and those wolf-hearted, dog-livered beasts were all reduced to dust and bones. Since all the ones I hated were dead, I fell asleep within the sword, not knowing how many ages passed. Then I was found by my former master, and from that day on, I followed him in conquest across the world.

"My previous master was also extremely powerful. Wherever we went, we swept through all before us, and nothing could withstand our combined strength. We fought for tens of thousands of years. In the end, when my master's lifespan was nearly exhausted, he sealed me in this place. How many tens of thousands of years I have spent here, I do not know. It was only today that I met a new master, met you. There, I have said everything."

After hearing so much, Xiao Jiu deeply sympathized with You Xue's suffering, and his usual carefree manner disappeared. At times her story was so heartrending it seemed to tear his heart to pieces; at others it was enough to chill him to the bone, especially when she spoke of the sword qi that had destroyed such a vast region for thirty days.

You Xue did not ask Xiao Jiu his name. Since she had told him so much and her own fate seemed even more tragic than his, Xiao Jiu felt great sympathy for her. He took the initiative and introduced himself. "Hello, my name is Xiao Jiu."

You Xue's expression remained calm and indifferent as she replied, "My name is You Xue. You've listened to my story. Shouldn't you tell me yours as well?"

"All right."

Xiao Jiu used the laws of heaven and earth to shape two lotus-like cushions, then made a courteous gesture toward the sword spirit of the Heaven-Devouring Demon-Slaying Sword and said, "Please sit. I'll tell you slowly."

You Xue did not stand on ceremony and sat cross-legged upon the cushion Xiao Jiu had formed.

The two weapon spirits sat face to face, one beginning to speak in an endless torrent, the other listening with rapt attention.