Chapter 149: I’ve Been Robbed
"He was here just now," Xiuying muttered as she scanned the area around the rock formation, her brows furrowed in confusion. Her eyes darted between the crevices and shadows, searching for any trace of Xiang Yu who had seemingly vanished into thin air.
"Who was?" Meiling asked as she gracefully landed beside the girl.
"Xiang Yu," Xiuying replied, her voice tinged with disappointment.
"It’s Grand Elder," Meiling corrected firmly, making sure to emphasize each syllable.
"Oki," Xiuying responded with a casual nod, though Meiling could clearly tell the correction hadn’t truly registered.
Meiling released a weary sigh, reaching out to grasp Xiuying by her collar with a gentle tug.
"Give up on the Grand Elder," she instructed, her tone brooking no argument. "You and him are not compatible at all."
Xiuying’s lips formed an adorable pout as she protested, "I just wanted him to teach me the disappearing technique." Her eyes still sparkled with fascination at the memory of Xiang Yu’s sudden appearance and vanishing.
"I’ll teach you an even better movement technique," Meiling offered, hoping to redirect the girl’s enthusiasm toward a more appropriate goal.
"No!" Xiuying protested, her hands balling into tiny fists. "Yours is not as impressive!"
Meiling paused, then a calculating expression formed on her face. She released Xiuying’s collar and took a step back, assuming a more serious posture.
"Actually, I know a way for you to marry the Grand Elder," she explained, her voice dropping as if sharing a valuable secret.
Xiuying’s eyes widened dramatically, her previous disappointment instantly forgotten. "Really?" she asked, hope illuminating her features.
"That’s right," Meiling confirmed with a nod.
"Tell me! Tell me!" Xiuying exclaimed, practically bouncing with excitement, her slippers barely touching the ground as she hopped from foot to foot.
"Actually, the Grand Elder is engaged to the Sect Master," Meiling explained. "As long as you beat her, you can have the Grand Elder."
Xiuying’s enthusiasm dimmed slightly as uncertainty crept into her expression. "Isn’t the Sect Master really strong?" she asked, her voice smaller now.
Meiling leaned in closer, her voice taking on an encouraging tone. "You are both geniuses of the same generation. Do you want to lose out to her?" She asked. "You’ll face each other sooner or later as people of the same generation. Will you bow to her then?"
Xiuying’s hesitation evaporated as determination hardened her childlike features. She shook her head firmly, her resolve visibly strengthening.
"Good," Meiling said with satisfaction. This kid could be taught after all, she thought, silently congratulating herself on her successful plan of redirecting her attention. It was better for her to focus on Li Yao than on her man.
As for her actually beating Li Yao... well, people can dream, right?
Meanwhile, inside the spirit vein, Xiang Yu suddenly felt an ominous shiver race down his spine, the sensation so sharp and unexpected that he paused mid-movement. "Why do I feel like something bad just happened?" he wondered aloud, his voice echoing softly in the cavern.
After a moment of anxious contemplation, he forced himself to calm down. Perhaps he was simply being overly cautious because Li Yao wasn’t around.
He reminded himself that Meiling had decided to stay the night. Though they had initially planned to leave immediately to report their discoveries to their sect master, they chose to remain while Xiang Yu refined more qi absorption pills to help convince him. She had even provided a substantial amount of high-quality materials for the refining process.
A satisfied smile spread across Xiang Yu’s face as he contemplated his good fortune. He had truly hit the jackpot. With Meiling’s powerful presence, the sect should be safe for today, and he had secured valuable high-level resources in the bargain, killing two birds with one stone.
He carefully set the materials aside, deciding to refine them tomorrow morning as per his usual schedule. Now, it was time to focus on creating sixth-grade explosion talismans. A devilish smile played across his lips as he imagined the devastating power these advanced talismans would possess. Something with the potential to harm even a Nascent Soul expert had to be impressive indeed.
As he prepared his workspace, Xiang Yu suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to give the spiritual weapons to his martial aunt. The high-level weapons would significantly enhance the elders’ combat capabilities in case of emergency. Better late than never, he decided, turning to retrieve the nine spiritual weapons he had crafted earlier.
His movements froze as his eyes scanned the empty space where he distinctly remembered placing the weapons.
"Hmm, that’s weird," he muttered, his brow furrowing in confusion. "I could’ve sworn they were here."
"I’ve been robbed"
...
"They couldn’t have just grown legs and walked away, right?" Xiang Yu wondered aloud.
Crouching down, he examined the area where he’d left the spiritual weapons. Something about the ground caught his attention—it appeared unusually soft. The stone floor, normally solid, had a peculiar texture in this specific spot.
Curious, Xiang Yu pressed his palm against the surface, applying gentle pressure at first. When he encountered minimal resistance, he drove his hand directly into the soft ground with deliberate force. His fingers pierced through the earth-like substance with surprising ease, as though reaching into thick mud rather than solid stone.
His fingertips brushed against something solid beneath the surface. Wrapping his hand around the object, he pulled upward with a swift, decisive motion, pulling it out.
"What in the..." he muttered, examining his discovery with narrowed eyes.
It was a sword—or rather, half of one. The once-gleaming spiritual weapon he had crafted with painstaking precision was now reduced to a mundane fragment. He turned it over in his hands, studying the dull metal with growing confusion. The spiritual energy that had previously radiated from the blade had completely vanished, leaving behind nothing but common steel.
"It’s just a regular sword now," he observed, his brow furrowing deeper. "No spiritual energy at all."
His mind raced, wondering what could’ve happened for it to turn out like this. Then, a memory surfaced—something he had read in the cultivation texts his martial aunt had provided when he became Grand Elder. He recalled a passage about spirit veins and their evolution.
"Spirit veins can be upgraded by consuming treasures," he murmured, the realization dawning slowly. "Is that what’s happening here? Did the spirit vein actually consume the spiritual weapons to nourish itself?"
Xiang Yu extended his senses, carefully assessing the ambient qi density throughout the cavern. Indeed, the spiritual energy had increased slightly—almost imperceptibly, but definitely enhanced compared to before. It was a subtle change that most cultivators might miss entirely, but his heightened sensitivity to energy fluctuations allowed him to detect the difference.
After several minutes of contemplation, Xiang Yu reluctantly set aside this mystery. "I’ll test this theory tomorrow when I craft more spiritual weapons," he decided, accepting the temporary setback without excessive frustration. The loss was annoying, but potentially beneficial in the long run if it meant improving the spirit vein.
With that issue solved, he turned his focus to the evening’s primary goal—crafting sixth-grade explosion talismans. The system-granted insights had revealed several interesting new talisman blueprints beyond the standard upgrade path for existing ones.
Most were merely promising, requiring further refinement before practical application. But one design stood out from all others: the soul shock talisman.
Unlike conventional talismans that dealt physical damage, this one could directly damage a cultivator’s soul. Thinking about it, it seemed reasonable. Sixth-grade talismans were supposed to be at the level of Nascent Soul cultivators so it made sense that they could attack the most important aspects of a Nascent Soul cultivator.
What truly captivated Xiang Yu, however, wasn’t the talisman itself but its underlying principles. His eyes gleamed with excitement as he studied its mechanisms. "If I could reverse-engineer this design," he thought, his mind already racing with possibilities, "I might finally develop a proper soul attack technique."
This had been a goal he’d had ever since he unlocked the soul stat. He had meticulously studied every available sect technique, searching fruitlessly for soul-oriented combat methods to draw inspiration from. Now, with this talisman blueprint, he possessed a genuine foundation to build upon.
"First things first," he reminded himself, retrieving a blank talisman paper from his spatial ring. "I need to understand it completely by crafting one myself."
The crafting process was fundamentally different from his usual talisman refining process. While standard designs relied exclusively on spiritual energy, this soul-oriented talisman required something more—actual soul energy. After all, how could mere qi alone injure something as profound as a cultivator’s soul?
Settling into a meditative posture, Xiang Yu held the blank talisman paper before him. He concentrated his spiritual awareness upon it, following the familiar refining process. The blueprint began etching itself onto the paper through his spiritual sea energy.
This time, however, he felt something else being drawn from within him. Turning his awareness inward toward his spiritual sea, he observed his soul infant with concern. The tiny being’s expression had hardened with determination as it stretched out its hands, offering soul energy to complete the talisman.
The soul infant’s face showed unmistakable strain, its luminous form dimming slightly with each passing moment. Xiang Yu hesitated momentarily, concerned for his soul’s well-being. But the opportunity was too valuable to abandon midway—the knowledge gained would be worth the temporary discomfort.
After several more intense minutes, the soul infant finally reached its limit. With a tiny, silent gasp, it collapsed into unconsciousness, floating gently upon the surface of his spiritual sea. Fortunately, the energy provided had been just sufficient to complete the talisman.
Xiang Yu wiped beads of cold sweat from his forehead as he examined the finished product. This was a genuine trump card against higher-realm cultivators.
"This small thing was really expensive to make," he acknowledged, carefully storing the soul shock talisman in his spatial ring. The price had been steep, but the potential benefits were incalculable.
"I should wait for my soul to develop further before attempting another," he decided, unwilling to risk permanent damage to his infant soul for short-term gain. "Otherwise, I’d just be harming myself."
After allowing himself a brief rest to recover from the spiritual exertion, Xiang Yu returned his attention to crafting his usual talismans. Though less innovative, these would provide essential protection for the sect during Li Yao’s absence.