Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 227 - 192: The Previous - Title Was Strongly Opposed by Shen Qingming

December 29, 2017

"I say, so I can actually use tools?"

Standing amidst a pile of rubble, Shen Qingming gripped a warhammer, his mind blank, as he instinctively asked Wang Jiu through the Mind Passage.

Wang Jiu was equally surprised by the question.

"Why are you even asking that? Even apes use tools. No matter how bad you are, you can't be worse than those apes... at least not worse than most of them. Shen Qingming, you need to be stronger!"

"So annoying! That's not what I meant at all!" Shen Qingming fell into inexplicable frustration again. "Since I can use tools, why did you always make me fight barehanded before? And didn't you teach me Spirit Cat Swordsmanship? Even if I don't use a warhammer, I should at least use the swordsmanship!"

Wang Jiu said, "I thought you didn't like that set of swordsmanship."

"I dislike my bones being shattered into over a thousand pieces even more!"

"I see. I thought you shared a similar preference with your ancestor Shen Kaishan, who used to dislike using Magical Treasures like Flying Swords during battles, preferring to rely on his own flesh and blood."

"He had an IQ of only 2.3! I'm a whole point higher than him!"

"You're only 14, don't be in a rush."

"No one's rushing!"

——

While Wang Jiu and Shen Qingming were caught in a heated argument, Lu Feiyu stood amidst the ruins, helpless as he surveyed the debris, before finally raising his right hand high to signal his surrender to the referee.

With the referee's approval, the match that had brought surprises to countless people finally came to an end. Lu Feiyu let out a long sigh, his heart a mix of emotions.

Looking at the petite girl across from him, there was a hint of unwillingness, and a hint of self-mockery in his eyes.

The Cannon Tower Array he took pride in had not brought him victory — of course, he never really expected to win initially. After a long and intense battle, even though he poured all his True Essence into the Suffering Hammer, desperately salvaging each tower, he ultimately couldn't stop Shen Qingming's relentless Cat Head Hammer.

From the busy hours of last night until now, all of his hard-prepped Cannon Tower Array and Suffering Hammer ended up being destroyed by a ridiculous warhammer!

Hearing this, Wang Jiu put aside his argument with Shen Qingming temporarily and quickly readied his mount, intending to defend the reputation of their weapon.

"Wait, calling it ridiculous is going too far!"

Under Wang Jiu's direction, Shen Qingming, panting from exhaustion, seriously explained, "This is the latest release from the Spirit Cat Plan, the Spirit Cat Warhammer. Made from top-grade fine steel, processed through standardized procedures, with branded paint, it's designed based on the currently popular Spirit Cat idol project. It's certainly not a ridiculous weapon!"

"Idol project merchandise..." Lu Feiyu squinted, closely inspecting the hammer that was taller than the girl herself, finding something off about it. "You're actually planning to sell this thing?"

"Yes, after some slight adjustments following its trial run at the Cyan Cloud competition, it will gradually be launched to the market, with an expected price of 100 Spirit Stones."

Upon hearing the estimated price of 100 Spirit Stones, Lu Feiyu immediately jumped up, "This Cat Head Hammer made with mortal steel and produced through automated workshop processes, and painted with a low-end brand, just because it's associated with the Spirit Cat Plan, is going to sell for a hundred Spirit Stones!? It's overpriced even if it were a hundred taels of silver!"

"This is idol merchandise, it even has the official Spirit Cat Plan logo. You can't compare it to those mass-produced products from a blacksmith's shop."

Lu Feiyu, both angry and annoyed, retorted, "Then tell me, what exactly is the difference between this and the mass-produced products from a blacksmith's shop, aside from the design being utterly ridiculous?"

Wang Jiu concisely replied, "The Spirit Cat Warhammer is a product with sentiment."

"You can actually sell sentiment?!"

Wang Jiu said, "Of course, something that can sell is called sentiment, if it's unsellable then it's just pretension."

"... Good, that's quite convincing." The 19-year-old Lu Feiyu deeply felt his worldview was shaken.

—

In fact, the truly shocking matters were yet to come.

Even though Wang Jiu and Lu Feiyu's conversation happened in full view of the public, and although everyone knew that the pink painted Cat Head Warhammer had a production cost of no more than twenty taels of silver, with the remaining 99 Spirit Stones purely being a markup... the orders were still pouring in!

Even more absurd was that the Fine Steel Warhammer with an indented Cat Head held by Shen Qingming was immediately bought on the spot by an unknown wealthy man for an astronomical price of 1000 Spirit Stones!

1000 Spirit Stones, enough to buy a house in an obscure corner of QingCyan Cloud yun City, were spent by a wealthy man just to buy a deformed Cat Head Warhammer!

However, just as people thought the matter would end there, that unknown wealthy man labeled the Cat Head Warhammer with a self-made tag: "A limited edition Warhammer permeated with Miss Spirit Cat's original hand sweat and the scent of her personal Storage Bag," then resold it at a sky-high price of 5000 Spirit Stones to a certain Yu-shi divine tycoon, completing a textbook example of a foolish yet profitable transaction.

"Alas, had I known it earlier, I might have exchanged my Suffering Hammer for her Spirit Cat Warhammer while the atmosphere was ripe; losing wouldn't have been a loss," Lu Fangchen leaned back in his chair, swaying with a dreamy gaze.

Beside him, Lu Xin angrily slapped the table: "Nonsense!"

"Just kidding, Second Uncle, don't be so upset."

"Is this a time for jokes? Do you have anything else to add about tomorrow's competition?!"

At this time, in Lu Family Mansion, the Lu Family Elders, along with Lu Feiyu and Lu Fangchen brothers, were once again seated around the round table, discussing the key tactics for tomorrow's match. The number of attendees had noticeably increased compared to yesterday.

Today's quarterfinal matches, apart from the first battle which brought surprises, the other three battles were rather uneventful. Li Wanqing, Lu Fangchen, and Qian Ye each defeated their opponents and advanced to the semifinals. The process was a mix of challenges and ease, but no longer featured one-hit elimination of favorites. In three battles, Qian Ye clashed fists and feet with Master Yang Wu of Vajra Temple for a full hour before Master Yang Wu fell with a satisfied sigh. The spectators were thrilled, while the two commentators were parched...

No matter what, starting tomorrow, the four favorites for the championship will officially collide, with Li Wanqing facing off against Qian Ye, and Lu Fangchen facing Shen Qingming. For tomorrow's battles, the entire Lu Family has mobilized to brainstorm strategies.

A white-bearded elder pondered aloud, "Looking at today's situation, Feiyu's Cannon Tower tactic may not work, right?"

The few companions beside him nodded in agreement, feeling that Lu Feiyu's proposed tactic yesterday hadn't yielded results, with Shen Qingming wielding the Demolition Hammer, reducing 13 Defense Towers to fragments in less than 10 minutes.

However, at this moment, the meeting's focal point, Lu Fangchen, frowned and said, "I actually think Brother Feiyu's tactic was correct, or rather, the only correct solution. Everyone, notice the footage; in the end, although Shen Qingming remained unscathed, she was leaning the Warhammer on the ground, panting heavily, clearly exhausted."

"Demolishing 13 Defense Towers with a Suffering Hammer is bound to be tiring..."

"Certainly tiring for 13 towers, but what about 23, 33 towers?" Lu Fangchen said, with a light slowly flickering in his eyes, "I watched closely from the audience; she was extremely cautious in using her True Essence and Qi Blood from start to finish, maybe from habit, or perhaps... her endurance isn't enough to squander."

Lu Xin also furrowed his brow: "Makes sense, but 23, 33 Defense Towers, that's unrealistic. Feiyu maneuvered 13 towers, relying heavily on drugs and tools, and Feiyu's Divine Sense strength is only slightly inferior to yours..."

Lu Fangchen said, "Second Uncle, your calculus is outdated. After watching Feiyu's battle today, I updated the control algorithm using the Yin Yang Pupils along with Divine Sense operation, efficiency could double. 33 Towers might be a stretch, but 23 Towers are no pressure."

Lu Xin was stunned: "Updated algorithm? You can do that!?"

"Couldn't be done before, but since awakening the Yin Yang Pupils, it's doable," Lu Fangchen smiled, then added, "Moreover, there's another issue. After Brother Feiyu's tower defense tactic was countered today, logically, no one would expect us to repeat it. Thus, if I go against conventional thinking, there might be unusual success."

"That does make sense... however, the problem is..." At this point, Lu Xin couldn't help but laugh bitterly, "Our warehouse is out of stock."

Lu Fangchen chuckled again: "I'm aware, I was the first to retrieve goods from the warehouse yesterday. But, even if there's not enough stock, if we work overtime, we can make it."

"With such intricate mechanisms, even working overtime, we need craftsmen; there are only a few fine craftsmen in our Lu Family, they'd be worked to death..."

"Indeed, fine craftsmen are insufficient, but aren't there enough Great Cultivators who can temporarily substitute as fine craftsmen within our Lu Family?"

Hearing this, Lu Xin's expression changed: "Are you suggesting we have them..."

Lu Fangchen clasped his hands in salute: "I implore everyone to exert more effort tonight; I won't disappoint expectations tomorrow!"