Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 148 - 118: Forgiving Armor

Evening of October 15, 2017

East City District Shen Garden Training Ground

Li Wanqing silently circulated True Essence within her body, quickly adjusting to a combat-ready state, while a slight smile unintentionally curled up on her lips.

Things went as smoothly as expected; that Sister Qingming's personal expert completely ignored her warnings and agreed to the duel right there.

As expected, all men in the world are equally foolish. Since we're all people of the Immortal Dao, can't he see the huge disparity in strength between us? The difference in True Essence fluctuation should be obvious.

It's nothing more than not being able to stand a woman being stronger than himself, just a petty ego at play. At this moment, the more you warn them, the more stubbornly they will stick to their guns.

So seeking one's own demise is just like this, I suppose.

In fact, if Wang Jiu had refused the duel, coming up with various excuses to evade, Li Wanqing wouldn't have forced him. After all, she disdains bullying the weak. If it had come to that, getting this pretty boy to stay away from Sister Qingming would have taken much more effort...

Fortunately, Wang Jiu unexpectedly accepted the duel in one go and directly brought her to the Shen Garden Training Ground for an immediate fight.

Li Wanqing placed the gifts she brought—a luxurious new dress from Celestial Fragrance Pavilion and a precious bouquet—on the table outside the training ground. While adjusting her breathing, she surveyed the area to see if there were any terrain conditions she could use to her advantage.

On the other side, Wang Jiu stood casually in the center of the field, waiting for Li Wanqing to finish her warm-up.

Li Wanqing remained calm and unhurried. Although she was confident of victory, she wasn't careless in the least. She thoroughly permeated her body with the dense True Essence that spread like dark clouds within her. Meanwhile, she wore a relaxed smile and started some small talk, trying to gather information to know both herself and the opponent.

"Hey, when you lose later, do you have another place to go? Should I give you a few days to move out?"

Wang Jiu seriously calculated, "Two days, maybe. For me, it doesn't matter; I can leave anytime. But Shen Qingming has a lot of furniture and luggage, all with sentimental value, so moving might be slower..."

His words were interrupted by Li Wanqing's surprise, "Wait, wait, wait, when was it said that Shen Qingming needs to move out too?!"

Wang Jiu explained, "If I move out of Shen Garden, of course, she has to move with me." After all, they had signed a Master-Servant Contract, sharing life and death.

Li Wanqing was taken aback but not angry; she just chuckled, "Hey, hey, hey, are you teasing me? If you both move away, what's the point? In that case, I want to change the conditions. If I win, you leave Shen Qingming, okay?"

"Hmm, specifically? What's the standard for leaving? What's the method? The time limit also needs to be clarified..."

Li Wanqing sighed tiredly as she listened, "You, why are you more nitpicky than a woman... Just make sure you won't see her again in the future."

"That's still not specific enough. Not seeing Shen Qingming again, I could just bury her alive..."

"Hey, if you keep quibbling, I won't hold back later! Don't cry if I ruin your face!"

Wang Jiu was already accustomed to dismissing anything confusing as quibbling. In fact, when Li Wanqing discarded his stack of theoretical skills like they were trash, Wang Jiu had already classified her as the same type as Shen Qingming.

So Wang Jiu wasn't angry, just calmly insisted on his requirement, "I need a clearer statement; otherwise, the duel wager can't be established."

Li Wanqing, feeling exasperated, thought to herself why this pretty boy had such weak cultivation! If his True Essence fluctuation was a bit stronger, at the peak of the Cloud Surge Realm, this wouldn't count as bullying the weak, and she could just skip the talk and punch him in the face!

"Okay, okay, if you want a clear statement, then..." Li Wanqing looked around and suddenly had a bright idea, pointing to the table at the edge of the training ground, "Look, see that paper bag? Whoever loses later will wear a Celestial Fragrance Pavilion skirt for a month!"

Wang Jiu asked curiously, "Wearing a skirt for a month?! What kind of condition is that?"

Li Wanqing laughed, "What, scared?"

Wang Jiu was puzzled, "Why do you think I'd be afraid to wear a skirt?"

Li Wanqing's expression turned serious, "You- You wouldn't be saying that you actually enjoy wearing skirts, would you?!"

"Of course I don't like it."

Li Wanqing again put on a smile: "Just as well, I don't like it either, so isn't this bet great? The loser has to wear a little skirt for the entire next month—rest assured, the skirts from the Celestial Fragrance Pavilion have self-cleaning functions, saving you from even needing to bathe, so you must wear it for a full month, no excuses allowed."

Wang Jiu pondered for a while and felt that this condition was relatively clear, although there were still some ambiguities and oversights, it was at least generally enforceable.

"Alright, then it's settled."

——

Looking at the man in front of him, Li Wanqing was full of confidence. Before entering the training ground, Wang Jiu began to thoroughly analyze her strength.

Her True Essence Realm was at the peak of the Cloud Surge Realm, which, given her age, wasn't exactly astounding, but it was definitely top-tier within the current Xiangzhou world. And more intriguing than her True Essence Realm was the peculiar fluctuation of her true essence that made Wang Jiu all the more curious.

It wasn't a cultivation technique inherited from the Li Family Mansion. Judging from the operation path and characteristics of her true essence, it wasn't any kind he knew of. Its feature was very distinctive—despite its not weak power inherently, it fundamentally relied highly on external objects. It was somewhat akin to the Heart Sword Skill among Sword Cultivators, which requires a lifebound magical treasure to unleash the full power of the cultivation technique.

However, Li Wanqing, as a member of the Li Family, possessed an extremely strong inherited bloodline, even superior to Li Fengyun. With such aptitude, why didn't she practice swordsmanship and instead chose other divine techniques?

A moment later, Wang Jiu's question was answered.

A thick black mist rapidly surged out from Li Wanqing's body, transforming into a uniquely shaped pitch-black armor that completely enveloped her.

Wang Jiu could not help but raise his spirits, seriously observing this set of pitch-black heavy armor, and soon his expression turned serious.

"This is..."

Li Wanqing said: "Yuqing Taoist Armor, let me remind you one last time, while wearing this armor, any cultivator below the Cloud Flipping Realm cannot penetrate my defense at all. So, if you admit defeat now, I can let you wear the little skirt for only half a month."

"Yuqing Taoist Armor, so that's what you call it..."

In the Jiuzhou Era, this responsive and indestructible battle armor was known as the "Pure Glass Armor," a new experimental armor most known for its incredibly strong defense, which was almost unimaginable. In battles of the same realm, the one clad in a Pure Glass Armor nearly starts off in an invincible position. Moreover, the Pure Glass Armor is a typical low-start, high-ceiling growth-type magical treasure. After cultivators use corresponding cultivation techniques to refine it into their lifebound magical treasure, they continually enhance it, theoretically, the Pure Glass Armor can ultimately ascend to become a Supreme Immortal Treasure.

It's a pity that until the end of the Immortal Demon war, Wang Jiu hadn't seen anyone successfully elevate it to the tier of an Immortal Treasure.

The reason is that this extraordinarily effective magical treasure has strict requirements for its wearer. Half of its defensive power comes from rare Heavenly and Earthly Treasures and exquisite structural design, while the other half derives from the cultivator themselves. The Pure Glass Armor can transform the unformed beliefs of a cultivator into tangible defense. The stronger the cultivator's beliefs, the stronger the Pure Glass Armor's defense.

However, as the Pure Glass Armor advances along with the cultivator's growth to higher tiers, the requirements for the cultivator's beliefs soar exponentially, soon becoming insurmountable. Because the Pure Glass Armor is usually refined into a lifebound magical treasure, if the treasure cannot advance, the cultivator's path in the Immortal Dao will also come to a halt.

The upgrading record of the Pure Glass Armor is held by the artifact refining master who invented this treasure initially—Supreme Spiritual Treasure, half-step Immortal Treasure.

That artifact refining master was a prodigy of extraordinary talent, breaking through to the Earth Split Realm before turning 50, and clad in the Pure Glass Armor he invented in his early years, he was unmatched within the same realm, once gaining tremendous attention and prominence.

It wasn't until he ventured into the Heaven Shattering realm, attempting to achieve the position of Immortal Venerable, that he realized himself encountering a massive hurdle. To achieve the Heaven Shattering realm, the lifebound magical treasure Pure Glass Armor had to be upgraded to the Immortal Treasure tier, but to upgrade the Glass Armor to an Immortal Treasure required an almost perverse level of belief strength from the cultivator!

That extraordinary genius, in order to upgrade, even vowed not to marry until he became an Immortal Venerable, ultimately enduring ten years of torment, watching his fiancée become more and more disappointed, and eventually turn to someone else, maintaining his composure to temper his willpower. Yet ultimately, aside from turning the Pure Glass Armor he wore into a lush green, it could not be elevated to an Immortal Treasure.

It was after that incident that the value of the Pure Glass Armor significantly decreased. Unable to ascend to an Immortal Treasure meant it could not penetrate the high-end market of the Jiuzhou Continent. And with its high manufacturing cost, it was unsuitable for widespread use in the mid-low-end market. Relying on the unwavering resource support from his family, the inventor finally managed to produce it.

But these problems, when set in today's Xiangzhou World, are no longer issues. Now, even reaching the Earth Split Realm is challenging for cultivators, with Mountain-Overturning Realm pinnacle being an ultra-elite. Hence, the Pure Glass Armor's incompatibility with the high-end market issue is non-existent. Conversely, its performance advantages in the mid-low-end market are unrivaled.

No wonder Li Wanqing would abandon the Li family's hereditary cultivation techniques to develop her cultivation system centering on the Pure Glass Armor.

The only problem is...

The Pure Glass Armor changes in appearance and emits different lights according to the cultivator's beliefs and temperament. To Wang Jiu's impression, during the Jiuzhou Continent days, most Pure Glass Armors glowed gold or silver, with a few special enthusiasts having it glow green like its founder.

But no one had dyed the armor pitch-black like Li Wanqing.