Chapter 92: Downgraded Grade—There’s Still So Much He Doesn’t Know…

“……”

The atmosphere in the arena was deathly quiet. The disciples of the Crimson Sky Sect who had been jeering just moments ago were now as silent as corpses.

The elder from the Clear Thought Sect took one look at the scene and, based on his understanding of his own sect’s disciples, already guessed what had happened.

With so many people present, everyone had clearly seen who made the first move. There was no escaping responsibility.

One of the alchemy elders from the Clear Thought Sect stepped forward and said, “This was our sect’s fault—poor discipline. We ask this young friend not to take it to heart. The Returning Immortal Sect will be compensated another day.”

Murong Yi looked at Lian Mu, whose face was blank, like she didn’t even want to acknowledge the Clear Thought Sect’s people.

“This matter must be dealt with strictly,” said the Azure Profound Sect elder. “Take this sword cultivator away. We’ll inform the Clear Thought Sect’s elders later. As for the Returning Immortal Sect’s second-seat… she didn’t start the fight. She won’t be held accountable.”

Strangely, the Clear Thought Sect elder didn’t object. He simply carried off the injured second-seat sword cultivator in silence.

Lian Mu rotated her wrist, feeling a lingering restlessness all over, an unexplainable irritation.

Murong Yi looked her up and down. Seeing she was still standing firm, he relaxed. “Later, go find an alchemy cultivator. Check for internal injuries.”

Just then, Xu Xianxing and Ji Mingyue arrived. Seeing a group of elders gathered, Xu Xianxing paused and turned to Ji Mingyue, saying, “Didn’t they say the elders wouldn’t interfere in the disciple competitions?”

Ji Mingyue replied, “Something must’ve happened.”

The two approached. Murong Yi instructed them not to cause trouble for the time being, then left with the other elders, taking the Clear Thought Sect’s second-seat sword cultivator with them.

Lian Mu felt a wave of emptiness in her dantian, her vision darkening. Luckily, Ji Mingyue rushed up and caught her.

“You’ve overdrawn your spiritual energy again?” Ji Mingyue whispered, “Didn’t I tell you to rest and recover first?”

Out of the corner of her eye, Lian Mu spotted the newly repaired Wealth Bringer and instantly understood.

She found an empty spot to sit down, while the others gathered around. People nearby also glanced in her direction.

Ji Mingyue took out a high-grade spirit-replenishing pill refined from rare herbs gifted by someone from Flying Sea Pavilion. But Lian Mu’s body was so depleted of Qi that even a high-grade pill wouldn’t last long.

After a moment of silence, Lian Mu suddenly muttered, “So annoying… fighting people is so annoying.”

Ji Mingyue: “?”

Xu Xianxing: “You were up against the Clear Thought Sect’s second-seat sword cultivator? Then it makes sense. I’ve heard that disciples of their sect are trained in a kind of interference technique—their spiritual energy can disrupt an opponent’s emotions during battle, while they themselves become increasingly calm.”

Wen Yun added, “He didn’t look calm at all to me. Did you see how he was fighting near the end? Completely unhinged.”

Lian Mu thought for a moment and voiced her suspicion. “Why could he ignore pain completely?”

Except for that final kick, all her previous attacks had felt like striking cotton—no reaction at all.

Baili Que speculated, “I remember some types of Golden Beasts are naturally without pain perception. Maybe his sword was fused with a spirit armor made from such a beast. When man and sword achieve complete resonance, he gains the beast’s traits. But humans and beasts are still different—at a weak point, pain would be magnified. One strike could cause serious injury.”

“There’s something like that?”

Lian Mu glanced at her Wealth Bringer. Some parts of the golden beast armor had been replaced. She hadn’t achieved full resonance with the sword yet, so she had no idea what beast traits it held.

“In fact, any spiritual weapon made with demonic beast materials works like that,” Xu Xianxing said. “I’ll admit, the Clear Thought Sect’s second-seat sword cultivator does have some strength, but his temperament is poor. Their team leader didn’t stop him—probably because they’re hoping for someone to replace him.”

“They’re testing you,” Wen Yun said. “Not just the Clear Thought Sect. If the elders hadn’t shown up, I bet the Crimson Sky Sect people would’ve made a move too.”

Lian Mu replied, “I figured.”

She didn’t mind being tested. After all, a fight was inevitable—just a matter of when. But she didn’t want to fight someone right after she’d just replenished her Qi.

Wiping the blood off her wrist, she looked toward Xu Xianxing and said, “My sword’s been fixed. Take a look and tell me if there are any flaws. I’ll have my friend tweak it later.”

Ji Mingyue: “Wait, didn’t you—”

She abruptly cut herself off, realizing Lian Mu might not have told Xu Xianxing she was an artifact refiner. She swallowed her words.

Baili Que noticed Ji Mingyue’s strange expression but, seeing it vanish quickly, dismissed it as his imagination.

Xu Xianxing took Wealth Bringer and drew the blade. His brow immediately furrowed. “Tsk… is your friend a fire spiritual root?”

“Yeah, and she has a metal root too. Aren’t artifact refiners best with a metal spiritual root?”

“That’s the general belief, but your friend’s fire root is dominant, and the metal root acts as support… I can only sense faint traces of metal Qi on this sword.”

Lian Mu recalled that she had indeed used more fire Qi during refining. “So… metal would have been better?”

“Not necessarily. Spiritual roots differ, but in the end it depends on the refiner’s skill.” Xu Xianxing pressed a hand to the sword hilt, spiritual energy flowing through his fingers. “…Weird, the grade is fixed?”

Wealth Bringer’s grade was stuck at the seventh tier—one level lower than before.

Yet he couldn’t identify the composition of the materials. The components were too chaotic.

“What’s wrong?” Lian Mu asked, puzzled by his serious expression.

“It’s hard to say,” Xu Xianxing hesitated. “The grade went down, but the sword feels stronger. I’ve never seen anything like this. Have you refined it again?”

Lian Mu shook her head. “Not yet, but I’ve been planning to.”

If she could get her hands on a metamorphosis-stage demonic beast core, Wealth Bringer could be upgraded again. But she didn’t have one now, so she kept that idea to herself.

Xu Xianxing thought for a bit. “There are no flaws in Wealth Bringer—your friend’s pretty skilled. But there are some strange things I can’t explain. I’ll have to message my master.”

“Fine by me.” As long as it worked well, she wasn’t worried.

Lian Mu didn’t think Wealth Bringer was strange at all. In fact, it felt better than ever. Before, trying to resonate deeply with the sword always felt off. Now, after reconstruction, that awkwardness was gone. If she spent some time bonding with it, maybe full resonance wasn’t far off.

“By the way, how does one upgrade a sword’s grade?” Lian Mu finally asked the question she’d been holding in.

“Asking for my friend, she’s not too sure about that part.”

“Refine it three times until it’s perfected at its current grade,” Xu Xianxing explained. “Then it can be upgraded by fusing a demonic beast core. But very few spiritual weapons can actually advance. Take Wealth Bringer for example—it’s in a shifting grade state, now stabilized at seventh tier. To advance, it’d need a core from a beast between tier six and five. And even then, it’s not guaranteed to succeed.”

Ji Mingyue added, “Actually, grade isn’t everything. What matters is that it suits you and doesn’t harm the user.”

She glanced meaningfully at Lian Mu, but the girl seemed completely unaware, lost in thought.

Wen Yun clapped her on the shoulder. “What can you do? Every sword cultivator has a weird obsession with high-grade famous swords.”

Ji Mingyue: “……”

The group was in the middle of a discussion when Guan Shize, who had been silent the whole time, suddenly spoke up. “…Just now, I saw the chief disciples from all the sects arrive, but I didn’t see Senior Brother Guan. It seems he hasn’t been around these past few days.”

Guan Shize had been replaying the battle between Lian Mu and the Second-Seat Sword Cultivator of the Clear Thought Sect in his mind, imagining how he would have responded if he were in her place. Then he suddenly remembered a technique that Guan Huailin had used before, and that’s when he realized—their team leader had been gone for quite some time.

“Senior Brother Guan won’t be back for this entire month,” Baili Que said. “Something came up in the sect, and he had to return to deal with it. Most likely, he’ll be back before the next illusion trial begins.”

Wen Yun asked casually, “What happened?”

Feeling a bit worn out, Xu Xianxing sat cross-legged and spoke without thinking, “I heard they caught one of the demon clan members who infiltrated the Spirit Tower. Senior Brothers Ye and Xiao are currently on their way back to the sect.”

The moment he said this, both Lian Mu and Ji Mingyue paused. “…”

Lian Mu silently sheathed Wealth Bringer, saying nothing at all.

Xu Xianxing widened his eyes in sudden realization and immediately turned to Ji Mingyue to explain, “Wait, I only heard it through the grapevine—it might not even be true.”

After a long pause, Ji Mingyue smiled faintly. “It’s fine. I understand.”

Xu Xianxing: “…”

The atmosphere suddenly became quiet. Guan Shize wasn’t sure what was going on, so he glanced over at Lian Mu and noticed that her expression didn’t look too good either.

But her attention clearly wasn’t on Ji Mingyue—she had her head lowered, deep in thought about something else entirely.

Guan Shize: “…”

Looks like there are still a lot of things he doesn’t know.