"Xiao Hua... don’t tell me you are going to..." Yuan looked at her with his eyes wide open.
Xiao Hua nodded and said, "Brother Yuan looked like he wanted to hold the sword, and Xiao Hua believes that she should invest in Brother Yuan’s future, as there’s no doubt that he’ll become a great figure in the future."
"While it’s true that I wanted to try holding the sword, it is an exaggeration to say that I want it..." Yuan said with a perplexed expression on his face.
However, Yu Rou said with a smile on her face, "There’s no need to be humble, brother. You may be able to fool others but you cannot fool me. I know you want that sword, and as Xiao Hua said, you are worth the investment."
"Yu Rou... you..." Yuan shook his head at his little sister who’d betrayed him. The only reason why he refused the Soul Weapon was because he feared the enormous price that Xiao Hua might have to pay in order to obtain it for him.
"Anyway, what do you want in exchange for the Soul Weapon? Are you looking for something in particular?" Xiao Hua returned to Madam Feng.
"Honestly, I have been hoping to exchange the Empyrean Overlord for another Soul Weapon— one that I can use. However, I have had the Empyrean Overlord for over 500 years now, and there have been countless individuals interested in it, but alas, I have not met another individual with a Soul Weapon until today, and I doubt you would be willing to part with your current Soul Weapon." Madam Feng sighed.
"Weapons, huh? Although Xiao Hua does not have any Soul Weapon, she has plenty of treasures..." Xiao Hua then opened her spatial ring and began pulling out weapons one after another until the floor was littered with at least a dozen weapons, each emitting its own powerful aura.
"..."
Not just Madam Feng, but even Yu Rou and Yuan were staring at Xiao Hua with gawking expressions on their faces. Just how many treasures does she have?
"T-These are all..." Madam Feng’s body trembled in excitement after feeling the auras coming from these treasures.
"They are all peak-quality Divine-grade treasures. Pick as many as you want for the Soul Weapon," Xiao Hua said with a calm expression on her face. Since she’d already planned on giving these weapons to Yuan in the future, it wouldn’t make a difference if she traded them for another weapon that he’ll be using.
"D-Divine-grade treasures..." Yu Rou’s mouth salivated from the sight of so many endgame treasures.
A single one of these treasures would shake the entire world and its entire playerbase, yet there were over a dozen of them laying before her on the floor. If she’d posted this on the forums online, nobody would believe her even if they were beaten to death.
After a long moment of silence, Xiao Hua spoke, "You’re not satisfied? If you cannot pick, Xiao Hua will exchange all of them for the Soul Weapon—"
"W-Wait a moment, Senior..." Madam Feng suddenly said in a trembling voice, "I-I am just speechless. A single one of these treasures could easily fetch over 500 million gold coins... And you’re willing to exchange a dozen of them for the Soul Weapon...? That’ll make me look like I am trying to take advantage of you!"
"Then what do you want for the Soul Weapon?" Xiao Hua asked her again, seemingly annoyed that she cannot make up her mind.
"Then if you don’t mind, I will take these three Divine-grade treasures..." Madam Feng picked three of the Divine-grade weapons off the floor and showed them to Xiao Hua.
"Okay." Xiao Hua nodded her head without hesitation, as she wouldn’t have minded even if Madam Feng wanted all of them since Soul Weapons are truly priceless.
Once Madam Feng accepted the Divine-grade weapons, Xiao Hua returned the rest into her spatial ring.
Meanwhile, Madam Feng retrieved the Empyrean Overlord from the display case and handed it to Yuan. "Thank you for doing business with Phoenix Heaven, esteemed guests."
"This is the Empyrean Overlord..." Yuan held the massive sword that was nearly his height with both of his hands, barely keeping it from falling due to its immense weight.
"T-This is much heavier than I’d expected..." Yuan exclaimed afterward.
"Well, it weighs over 1,000 jins, not to mention the Soul Weapon hasn’t recognized you as its master yet. If you can control it, it should become as light as a feather." Madam Feng said.
And then she continued, "Oh, I forgot to ask you this, but have you been acknowledged by your other Soul Weapon?"
"Eh? Does that matter?" Yuan asked her.
"Un," she nodded and continued, "Most people can only contract one Soul Weapon at a time unless they have a strong soul. However, even if one has the capability to control two Soul Weapons at once, there’s a high chance that the Soul Weapons would reject each other, as most Soul Weapons do not like sharing their resources."
"Sharing their resources?" Yuan raised an eyebrow.
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"Soul Weapons grow with their owners, but if you have two Soul Weapons, it’s only logical that they will have to share that experience, slowing down their growth by half." Madam Feng explained to him.
"I had no idea it would be like that... and yes, I am already contracted with the Starry Abyss," Yuan said to her. "It would suck if I am unable to contract it because of the Starry Abyss since I like them both equally."
"Well... there’s no harm in trying. If it doesn’t work out, I don’t mind giving you a refund," Madam Feng said.
"Don’t worry, Brother Yuan. With your talents, you’ll have no trouble controlling two Soul Weapons at once!" Xiao Hua said to him.
"That’s right, brother. Don’t underestimate yourself." Yu Rou patted his back for encouragement.
Yuan nodded and laid the sword on the floor. He then poked a hole in his finger with the Starry Abyss before squeezing a drop of his blood onto the sword.
The moment his blood touched the Empyrean Overlord, it immediately began trembling. However, it was not just the Empyrean Overlord that had a reaction to Yuan’s blood, as Madam Feng suddenly felt a shiver going down her spine.
’This smell is...?’ Madam Feng unconsciously raised her eyebrows after smelling an indescribable fragrance that had suddenly appeared in the room and instantly attracted her attention.
Meanwhile, the Empyrean Overlord on the floor suddenly began levitating off the floor.
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"Oh?" Yuan became excited after seeing the Empyrean Overlord reacting the same way the Starry Abyss had when he contracted it.
The Starry Abyss in his grasp also suddenly began trembling, almost as though it was trying to communicate with the Empyrean Overlord.
After an entire minute had passed with both Soul Weapons trembling nonstop, they suddenly stopped moving.
Another moment later—
«Congratulations! The Empyrean Overlord has recognized you as its owner!»
«Empyrean Overlord»
«Level: 0»
«Rank: Soul Weapon»
«Growth Rate: Very Slow»
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«Requirement: ???»
«Description: A mythical sword once wielded by the Sword Emperor. It can be as light as a feather or as heavy as a star»
"It worked! The contract worked! It recognized me as its Master!" Yuan shouted in excitement after seeing the notification.
"Congratulations, Brother Yuan." Xiao Hua said to him without much surprise on her face.
"See? There’s nothing you cannot do, brother." Yu Rou said with a smile on her face.
However, as they were celebrating, Madam Feng suddenly moved and approached Yuan.
"What’s wrong, Madam Feng?" Yuan asked her when she got extremely close to him.
"I’m sorry, but I cannot control myself right now..." Madam Feng spoke as she suddenly grabbed Yuan’s hand that was still bleeding slightly and lifted it towards her own face.
"Aaaah..."
Madam Feng took a deep breath with an elated expression on her face before she opened her mouth and shoved Yuan’s bleeding finger into her own mouth, shocking everybody there.
"M-Madam Feng?!" Yuan exclaimed, yet he couldn’t remove his arm when he tried, as he was being tightly held by a Spirit Grandmaster, and he could feel Madam Feng sucking on his finger— or more precisely, his blood.
"W-What are you doing to my brother?!" Yu Rou also cried out loud, her eyes wide with shock.
However, almost as though she was in a trance, Madam Feng ignored everything around her and continued sucking on Yuan’s finger with an enchanted expression on her face, looking like she was charmed by the taste of his blood.
"Get away from Brother Yuan!" Xiao Hua waved her sleeves with a frown on her small and round face, forcing Madam Feng off the terrified Yuan.
"Thank god my finger is still here!" Yuan sighed in relief after seeing that his finger, albeit wet with Madam Feng’s saliva, was still intact.
After a long moment of awkward silence, Madam Feng finally snapped out of her daze, and when she realized what she’d just done, she immediately kowtowed on the floor with her face flushed with redness, "I-I-I am so sorry! I don’t know what happened to me just now! Something about your blood had attracted me, and I unconsciously...! I swear I didn’t do it on purpose!"
"My blood...?" Yuan looked at her wet finger with raised eyebrows. Why would his blood attract her? Unless Madam Feng turned out to be a vampire, there was no logical explanation behind her actions just now.
"Please! Believe me! I really don’t know what happened just now!" Madam Feng continued to beg for forgiveness.
"It’s fine... I was just a little surprised, that’s all..." Yuan said with a smile on his face.