Chapter 79

translator: xiin

editors: BlueBug & alamerysl

Su Xuanyan was like a boss in human form, and with his help, collecting materials for Xue Ling's sword went quite smoothly. Presumably because his heart felt at ease around the man, Xue Ling did not try to hide anything from him, skipping the prerequisite quest chains and going directly to the final destination. They would kill off the boss, get the materials Xue Ling wanted, and leave.

The man felt a bit helpless, but also rather joyful. Xue Ling clearly knew that what he was doing was not normal, but had no intention of hiding it from him, and everything he did in front of him seemed so normal, so natural, that Su Xuanyan felt extraordinarily pleased. So, he casually tore away the data from certain places completely, ensuring that the main computer was so busy that it had no time to worry about what its precious disciple was doing.

Once he had collected enough materials, it was time to start crafting his sword. Xue Ling had originally planned to craft it in the sect, but the sect had just accepted quite a lot of newcomers that were also trying to forge their own swords. It would be bad if he caused a scene and exposed his sword's peculiarities, so Xue Ling debated for a while and agreed to Su Xuanyan's suggestion to craft his sword in a secret place he had found.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Su Xuanyan was even more mysterious than Xue Ling, and knew a lot about the game. He was especially knowledgeable about the game's secrets, but Xue Ling did not look deeply into his identity. The two of them maintained a strange sense of harmony as they teamed up to kill monsters and occasionally flirted with each other, but they did not speak clearly about anything. Xue Ling found his interest piqued by this kind of situation, and was particularly happy spending time with the man like this.

The higher one's level of sword cultivation was, the higher their chances of success when crafting their sword. Right now, the new players would not bond with their swords even if they could make them, and only use it for regular practice and as a handy weapon. But Xue Ling was different. Although this was his first time making a sword, he planned to make an artifact level sword that would grow with him and become his life bonded sword.

Su Xuanyan did exactly what he said he would. Not only did he really find Xue Ling a concealed place where he could craft his sword, but he also acted as his dao guardian outside. Xue Ling brought out all the materials that they had collected over the past few days and began to craft according to the process the system had looked up for him. He casually cheated, and maxed out his forging ability, which made the entire process extremely smooth. Only, in the moment when the sword was finished, Xue Ling sensed that the sword was trying to break away from his will.

This was an artifact level sword with a sword spirit. The sword spirit inside the sword panicked; it was not yet awake, but it obviously did not want to be used by the low-levelled Xue Ling. Xue Ling was too lazy to ** with a sword spirit and directly erased it. He had the system enter the sword instead, becoming an existence similar to a sword spirit.

The artifact was completed in a grand way, but the man suppressed all the visual effects into a restricted space, and nobody noticed anything at all.

It was only when Xue Ling came out carrying his sword that he discovered that there had been no strange occurrences outside. Despite that, he was very clear that the lightning tribulation had come and gone, as ten strikes of lightning had struck directly onto his sword. After absorbing the power of the lightning, the sword had become even more translucent, and held an iciness within that could be felt even in the surroundings. As its owner, Xue Ling was not affected, but Su Xuanyan could feel a chill from the sword.

He nodded and praised, "Not bad."

Xue Ling curved his lips in a rare smile, somewhat proud and arrogant as he raised his head slightly. "Of course. You should consider who made the sword."

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Su Xuanyan reached out a hand and pinched his face as he smiled rather indulgently. "Let's go, then. It's not suitable for you to stay here too long. It won't be good if someone finds out."

"Where is this?"

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There was no smile Xue Ling's face as he kept up an indifferent expression. He saw Thousand Miles Without Pause look over, and only said, "I'm only here to baptise my sword." His sword was newly forged, and had not been christened with blood yet. Doing an instance so that it could drink its fill of blood was indeed one of the reasons Xue Ling had decided to come this time. As for the second reason...

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

His gaze landed on a person who looked like a novice. He raised his brow and asked, "A newbie that just reached level 10?"

When he said it like that, the people in the team's expressions all turned awkward. Everyone in the team was friends with Thousand Miles Without Pause, and today was the first time the protagonist shou had joined their party. According to the original plot, Xue Ling had also been in the party when they found this instance ahead of time thanks to Listening to Rain on a Bridge's bumbling and mistakes. Back then, Thousand Miles Without Pause had brought along his friends, but they had been short one person, so they had to post a recruitment notice in the world. The person they had found that time had not been Su Xuanyan, but rather the senior disciple of Ten Thousand Swords Sect, Depth of Despair.

"This is my younger martial-brother." Thousand Miles Without Pause kept Listening to Rain on a Bridge behind him as he said, "He was the one who opened this instance, so we have to bring him along. Don't worry, I won't let him pull us down."

Because all the people that they had recruited before had left because of him, Listening to Rain on a Bridge bowed his head, feeling rather distressed. Thousand Miles Without Pause's protectiveness made him feel a little warm, and he pressed his lips together as he glanced at Xue Ling, his gaze filled with wariness. "I'll try my best not to be a burden." He appeared very pathetic as he spoke.

Xue Ling's sword made a soft whispering noise as Xue Ling curved his lips. He no longer looked at Listening To Rain On A Bridge and only said, "Let's start."

It sounded as if he had agreed. Listening to Rain on a Bridge clutched at Thousand Miles Without Pause's sleeve and let out a long sigh of relief before finally raising his gaze to look deeply at Xue Ling.

This person was so good looking it was almost ridiculous, and he was as cold as ice, but it appeared that he wasn't a hard-hearted person that was impossible to get along with...

Since nobody in the team had any objections, Thousand Miles Without Pause brought Listening to Rain on a Bridge over to speak with the NPC and start the instance.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

This instance was called the Zi Period instance, but it did not mean that it could only be started during the Zi period, which was between 11pm and 1am. After entering the instance, everyone discovered that time had stopped for them and it was 11pm in the instance. The interior was dark, without even the tiniest bit of light. They could only hear the sound of rustling coming from somewhere.

Listening To Rain On A Bridge's voice sounded out as he explained the purpose of the instance to everyone. "The master guard of Zou City discovered that a lot of people have gone missing in the city recently, and that they had all disappeared around the Zi period. He asked me to help him investigate this matter, but I never thought that it would open up an instance. Everyone's time has been stopped at this point, and the master guard asked us to rescue these people and bring them out."

"Did it mention anything about what is inside this instance?" Someone asked.

"No".

Xue Ling pressed his lips together, and a strange light flashed through his eyes.

What else came out during the Zi period? At that hour, naturally it could only be some evil spirits and ghosts.

Unfortunately for his sword, it seemed that he could only exterminate some ghosts, and he had no idea how long it would be before it could be stained with some hot blood.

Su Xuanyan stood idly behind Xue Ling with his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes glued to Xue Ling's body with no intention of moving away. The others paid him no heed, and he was happily enjoying himself, sweeping his gaze over Xue Ling from his head to his feet, then from the bottom back up again. No matter how he looked, he felt that this person was particularly pleasing to the eye, and especially suited to be embraced in his arms to kiss and touch. Xue Ling was so delightful that Su Xuanyan would be unable to tear himself away.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

The private chat channel appeared in front of the man, showing a single line of text that made the smile lurking in the corners of his mouth even more attractive.

Did he really think he wouldn't be able to feel it? That kind of gaze that wanted to peel off all his clothes and lick him from head to tail? It was too outrageous!