As soon as Shen Qing got the sword, she immediately sensed that it was no ordinary item.
She placed the sword horizontally between the two of them, still with a hint of wariness in her tone.
"I can't accept such a precious gift without doing anything in return," she said.
The man wasn't annoyed. He floated around Shen Qing for two circles. After sensing the familiar aura within her, a strange glint flashed in his deep eyes.
"Of course, I have a request for giving you this sword," he said.
Shen Qing showed an expression as if she had expected this, and the wariness in her eyes faded a bit.
After experiencing a lifetime, she no longer believed that someone would be kind to her for no reason. Those who offered her benefits must have their own motives.
Just like the so - called "partiality" of True Person Heng Ling, it was only for her spiritual bones.
"What do you want me to do?" she asked.
Bi Luo was a great sword. So, if the request wasn't too difficult, Shen Qing would try her best to fulfill it. After all, if she wanted to leave the Qingyun Sword Sect in the future, the more aces she had, the better.
"I want you to take me as your master. Bi Luo can be your apprenticeship gift," the man said matter - of - factly, as if he was certain that Shen Qing would agree.
Shen Qing had thought of many possibilities, but she never expected that his request was to take her as an apprentice. This made her mind go blank for a moment.
In the world of cultivating immortals, there were precedents of having multiple masters, but Shen Qing still hesitated.
She knew nothing about the man in front of her, only that he might be from the Qingyun Sword Sect. As for his cultivation level, character, and even his most basic name, Shen Qing had no idea.
It would be too hasty to agree now.
The man saw Shen Qing's hesitation and wasn't in a hurry for an answer. Instead, he threw out one temptation after another.
"I can help you cleanse your spiritual roots," he said.
Shen Qing was shocked!
"There's a seal in your body, right? I can help you unlock it," he continued.
Shen Qing was even more shocked!!
"What do you think, girl? Think about it," the man's soul leisurely floated around Shen Qing, watching her tangled expression, and the smile on his lips never faded.
These conditions were really tempting for Shen Qing, and she almost nodded in agreement.
But her remaining rationality made her ask a question, "These conditions are all beneficial to me. What about you? What do you want from me?"
The man floated in front of Shen Qing and raised his eyebrows.
"As you can see, I'm just a remnant soul. If I hadn't hidden in this small world, I would have already dissipated in the world," he said.
"But there are still things I'm not willing to let go of. I have all these skills but no successor. In ten thousand years, only you came, and you're very special. I believe you won't let me down," the man's soul said, and a trace of loneliness flashed in his eyes, as if he was recalling distant memories.
There was one more thing that the man's soul didn't say.
From the moment Shen Qing bound herself to the jade pendant, he could perceive the outside world through her eyes.
"Is that all?" Shen Qing asked.
"Just that," the man's soul answered frankly, but Shen Qing still couldn't believe it.
"You don't need to answer me in a hurry. There's still plenty of time," he said.
"How about I help you unlock the seal first? With the spiritual bones, your cultivation will be faster," he suggested.
Shen Qing frowned. He really knew that she had spiritual bones in her body.
"No need," she refused.
Confusion appeared on the man's soul's face. "Why?"
Shen Qing didn't want to say too much and just explained, "This isn't the right time. This is the seal left by True Person Heng Ling. I don't want him to know."
The man's soul paused when he heard Shen Qing mention True Person Heng Ling.
This slight movement was noticed by Shen Qing.
Sure enough, he knew True Person Heng Ling. What on earth was this man's real identity...
"Can you really help me cleanse my spiritual roots?" Shen Qing asked.
The man's soul nodded, but there was regret in his tone. "But since your seal is still there, even if I try my best, I'm afraid I can't help you much."
"Just now you also saw that as long as the light spot in your sea of consciousness touches spiritual power, the seal in your body will create a restriction, preventing you from fusing the spiritual power well," he added.
Shen Qing nodded. The sharp pain in her temples hadn't disappeared yet.
But she still wanted to give it a try.
Seeing her determination, the man's soul sighed and then placed his hand on Shen Qing's forehead.
"Girl, close your eyes," he said.
Shen Qing closed her eyes. A gentle spiritual power wrapped around her body. After Shen Qing relaxed and stopped resisting, the spiritual power slowly entered her sea of consciousness.
The strange spiritual power made Shen Qing instinctively want to react, but the voice of the man's soul came to her ears.
"Don't be nervous. Relax," he said.
The words were a bit strange, but Shen Qing still relaxed as he said.
Just like before, when the spiritual power wrapped around the blue light spot, a sharp pain came from Shen Qing's temples, but the next second, the pain was relieved.
The moment the sealing runes appeared, Shen Qing seemed to hear the man's soul sneer, and then the runes all disappeared.
With the help of the man's soul, Shen Qing successfully began to cleanse her water spiritual roots.
Time slowly passed in the small world. It wasn't until a strong pain came from Shen Qing's temples that the man's soul's spiritual power slowly withdrew.
The blue light spot in Shen Qing's sea of consciousness became transparent, and its color turned blue - purple. White mist was still lingering around it.
"It looks quite nice," the man's soul said.
"You used to have mutated ice spiritual roots, right? I've seen them before. They're even more beautiful. Yours now is a bit like that," he added.
Shen Qing pouted. During this period, they had gotten familiar with each other, and Shen Qing also knew the man's soul's name.
He said his name was Ling Zhou.
Shen Qing felt that the name was familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had heard it.
After Ling Zhou helped Shen Qing cleanse her spiritual roots, his figure became even fainter, and his facial features were barely recognizable.
"What's wrong with you?!" Shen Qing asked anxiously when she saw Ling Zhou's poor state.
Ling Zhou smiled and looked nonchalant. "It's okay. I just need to recuperate. As long as the jade pendant is still there, I'll be fine. Don't worry. I still want to take you as my apprentice," he said.
Hearing Ling Zhou say this, Shen Qing had no choice but to calm down.
Five years had passed in the small world. Shen Qing thought it was time for her to leave seclusion.
So she said to Ling Zhou, "I should go out. You recuperate well. I'll seriously consider the matter of taking you as my master."
Ling Zhou nodded with a smile and watched Shen Qing's figure disappear before his eyes.
"Hehe, interesting..."
As the voice faded, Ling Zhou's figure also disappeared from the spot.
Shen Qing returned to the small courtyard and opened her eyes. All she saw was a mess. She almost thought she had come to the wrong place.
But the boundary stone in the corner told Shen Qing that this was indeed her small courtyard.
Half of her house had collapsed, and the other half was safe because it was inside the boundary.
Her things were scattered all over the place, and the few clothes she had were all in tatters.
The moment the boundary stone was put away, Shen Chuyun's figure instantly appeared in front of Shen Qing.
"You finally dared to come out of that useless boundary. Are you so guilty that you're afraid to face me?!" Shen Chuyun roared.
Shen Qing looked confused.
What on earth was this person going crazy about?