My Wife Is A Sword Immortal

Chapter 74: Chapter 63: Female Sword Emperor
 

That night.

In the Lanxi Lin family estate, the lights were bright everywhere, but a quiet courtyard in the northeast corner was enveloped in darkness, with no lights at all.

The courtyard was elegant, with the gatehouse tightly closed, but looking inside through the open window, one person sat alone at the desk, propping his head with one hand and casually twirling a pen with the other. Utilizing the faint moonlight, he tilted his head to examine an ancient furnace on the desk.

The furnace was nine inches tall and thirteen inches wide.

Its appearance was simple and primitive, with no decoration, shaped like a tripod with two handles and three legs, and it was purplish-black in color.

Zhao Rong was waiting for the moon to rise higher, brewing a richer hue of blue and white moonlight.

His gaze rested on the upper part of a tripod leg, one inch from it.

At that moment, it appeared pitch black, but Zhao Rong knew there was a handprint there.

A handprint of blood left by someone unknown.

Zhao Rong had carefully observed it under the sunlight during the day.

The blood had long dried up; its vividness eroded by the passage of time, now the black bloodstains blended with the purplish-black color of the furnace, making it difficult to discern, much like the Thunder and Rainbow Purple Gold Furnace itself, whose past stories had been washed, eroded, and carried away by the river of time, leaving behind endless imagination for those who came after.

Zhao Rong’s pen-hand stopped, and he extended a finger to gently trace the handprint.

Who left this bloody hand? Who was practicing with this furnace? And why had this Thunder and Rainbow Purple Gold Furnace been forgotten inside a common side hall on Taibai Mountain in Zhongnan Country?

Zhao Rong sighed and shook his head to rid himself of these cluttered thoughts.

Although this morning’s action to retrieve the divine furnace had some complications, it went smoothly overall. After descending the mountain, he drove the carriage hidden in the forest all the way back and saw no Daoists from Taibai Mountain pursuing him.

It seemed they either hadn’t noticed the furnace was stolen, or had discovered it but did not care temporarily.

He even felt a bit disappointed at the time, thinking all the contingencies he had arranged were unnecessary, like winking at a blind man.

On the way back, he even thought about turning back, pretending to be a pilgrim, climbing the mountain again, and returning to the Spirit Temple to check; he even seriously considered whether to inform Chong Xu Temple that someone had publicly taken possibly the most valuable item in their temple, which could be worth several Chong Xu Temples, and to praise their generous hospitality sincerely.

However, these thoughts were quickly extinguished by him.

Why did it feel like a serial killer returning to the crime scene to closely appreciate his flawless methodology while also mocking the clueless officials by providing them with clues and overtly taunting their investigative abilities?

Well, generally, such people do not end well.

“What a madman,” he muttered with a light chuckle, seemingly discovering some hidden tendencies of his own that had been confined by the regulations of that other world. Now, born in the Xuanhuang Realm, he seemed to have achieved a certain degree of freedom.

But he also reminded himself solemnly, “A gentleman has things he does and things he does not do.”

“Who is the madman?” Gui asked curiously.

“Hmm? Nothing.”

“You did well today. I am somewhat looking forward to seeing how you will plague the Cultivation World once you reach the Vast Realm and truly embark on the path of cultivation,” Gui said.

Zhao Rong frowned, “Please remove the word ‘plague’. I am a scholar. Why do you make me sound like an utterly heinous demon?”

“I am praising you, you know. Besides, you didn’t even spare a little Fox Demon who had just started her Transformation. How can I expect you to benefit the Cultivation World? ‘Plague’ is not wrong,” Gui insisted.

Zhao Rong’s eyes widened, “On what grounds are you slandering me? Su Xiaoxiao and I are merely friends. With such thoughts, it seems you are the one who is like that.”

Gui proudly said, “I don’t have your scheming mind. I was devoted to cultivation and never bothered with worldly affairs of affection.”

After saying that, it scoffed, “Think about it, ever since I woke up and met you, other than being quite surprised by your act of stealing the furnace, what good have you ever done? Was it not involving heavenly beauties in romantic entanglements, shattering their Sword Hearts, preparing to be a kept man, or recklessly playing the hero to win a beauty’s heart? Now you are staying here to help Lin Wenruo, a notorious traitor, in the Confucian debate.”

It said earnestly, “Well done, Zhao Rong. What next? You’ve stolen goods, are you planning to steal a person next?”

The slandered scholar, unable to defend himself, wanted to explain but didn’t know where to start. Arguing with it seemed a waste of time, so he rubbed his nose and sighed, “Ah, I am sorry to have amused you. I really had no idea my intense popularity among women would make you feel so uncomfortable, my apologies, eternal virgin.”

The moment Zhao Rong uttered the last few words, Gui exploded like a cat with its fur on end, cursing Zhao Rong. However, it repeatedly used the same few words, and Zhao Rong was not intimidated by it.

At this moment, a full moon hung high in the Nine Heavens, the air was clear and crisp, not a single cloud in sight.

Zhao Rong glanced at the gridded window and the desk half-covered in moonlight, reminded of the important tasks ahead, and stopped bickering with Gui.

He picked up the Thunder and Rainbow Purple Gold Furnace and walked to the window, placing it in the moonlight.

The pure and bright light, resembling white frost, sprinkled over the interior and exterior walls of the Thunder and Rainbow Purple Gold Furnace.

Zhao Rong took a close look inside the furnace, only to find it as empty as during the daytime.

He frowned, reached into the furnace, and his palm brushed over the seemingly chaotic and dizzying strange patterns. Despite a thorough search inside, he found nothing.

Zhao Rong’s face hardened, “Didn’t you say it was performing alchemy? Where is the pill? It’s still not there even under the moonlight.”

Gui responded irritably, “What’s the rush? Let it bathe in the light a bit longer. This pill is a bit special, and I’m not sure whether to say you’re lucky or unlucky… Also, take that scowl off your face. You, a mere Ascending Realm cultivator, dare to stare at Thunder and Rainbow Patterns like that? Are you tired of living?”

Zhao Rong raised an eyebrow, a smirk forming at the corner of his mouth, “Thunder and Rainbow Patterns? These? Ridiculous scribbles, what harm could they do to me?”

Having said that, he still shifted his head to avoid blocking the moonlight.

Gui casually remarked, “It could render you impotent.”

Zhao Rong: “…”

He was scared now.

Zhao Rong immediately wanted to distance himself from it and not even glance at it again, but after hearing Gui’s laughter, he roughly guessed it was a jest. He cleared his throat and continued to examine the inside of the furnace, still careful not to gaze too long at the walls.

Time ticked by, second by second.

“Why isn’t it ready yet?”

“Don’t rush. Wait a bit longer; this furnace hasn’t been opened under the lunar influence for many years.”

“Can’t you stop being mysterious and just tell me what it actually is?”

“A treasure, something that is more than ten times better than this Thunder and Rainbow Purple Gold Furnace for a Sword Cultivator.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Rong fell silent for a moment then said, “My luck seems to be too good.”

Gui chuckled softly, not responding.

The two of them fell silent for a while.

Zhao Rong stood quietly by the window, holding the Thunder and Rainbow Purple Gold Furnace. After an indeterminate amount of time, at one moment, he felt as if the surrounding moonlight dimmed slightly.

No, that’s wrong!

The moonlight inside the furnace had grown brighter!

The next second, Zhao Rong saw that what seemed like a ladle of pale white water had been poured into the furnace. Right at the center, it reflected a round moon in the sky, impeccably pure and white.

Inside the furnace, the surface of the water formed by the moonlight gently swayed with the body of the furnace, but strangely, the moon reflected therein remained undisturbed, as if the celestial moon had truly fallen into the furnace.

Zhao Rong instinctively looked up at the moon, then suddenly realized.

The moon in the sky was a full moon, but the one in the furnace was missing a piece.

This was not merely a reflection of the celestial moon.

This was clearly…that pill!

“Li Ji Sword Pill,” Gui softly said.

“Who is Li Ji?”

He answered his own question.

“The first female Sword Emperor of ancient times.”