Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 298 - 35: A New Target for Strategy Appears

Looking at the "Silver Frost Divine Sword" over five feet long and with a square head in front of her, Li Wanqing couldn't help but twitch her face.

Despite Wang Jiu's eloquent descriptions of divine sword elements and the Silver Frost Divine Sword with warhammer characteristics, no matter how she looked at it, this was undeniably a long-handled warhammer, bearing no resemblance to the original exquisite and fierce silver longsword.

Such a result, Shen Zicheng won't accept it, right!?

However, when Li Wanqing turned her head, she saw Shen Zicheng looking thrilled, even somewhat trembling with disbelief, his eyes bursting with the happiness of a father hearing his child's cry outside the delivery room.

"Is this the reborn Silver Frost?"

Wang Jiu nodded: "Exactly, this sword is five feet six inches long..."

Li Wanqing really couldn't listen any further: "Stop calling it 'this sword'! Do you think people are blind!?"

However, Shen Zicheng indeed demonstrated blind potential, taking the newly reborn Silver Frost longsword with great excitement, first weighing it single-handedly, then gripping the hammer's handle with both hands and swinging it back and forth, delightedly saying, "This weight is simply flawless!"

Then he cradled it in his arms, bringing the hammer's head to his nose for a sniff: "The smell hasn't changed one bit!"

Finally, he concluded: "It's indeed the unrivaled great sword that's even better than before!"

Wang Jiu also said with satisfaction: "Truly someone who understands swords."

"Oh, not at all. Compared to a real grandmaster who can reforge a broken sword, my skill is but laughable..."

Li Wanqing really felt her stomach hurt listening, and couldn't help but admire Little Sister Qingming—how did she live with Wang Jiu day and night for so long?

But regardless, after dealing with Shen Zicheng, the Li Family finally found a foothold in Shen City.

The Outer Courtyard has been thoroughly subdued, essentially lacking the ability to turn the tables. The four most outstanding young cultivators in the Outer Courtyard, the youngest, Shen Wuyong, was beaten from the first day by Shen Qingming. After that, Shen Feihong and Shen Qing were defeated by Li Wanqing one after another, as for Shen Feihu, he had no fighting spirit to confront the Li Family head-on.

Up to this point, the leading Wang Jiu hadn't even taken action personally, yet the Li Family had already achieved a great victory.

Although objectively speaking, the Li Family's outstanding representatives of the younger generation did not truly demonstrate overwhelming superiority in strength—Li Wanqing was only comparable to Shen Feihong in terms of raw strength, and slightly inferior to Shen Qing. The 14-year-old champion of the Cyan Cloud contest relied mainly on the advantage of having an Immortal Soldier, with his actual strength being only at the peak of the Wind-Rising Realm. As for Li Chaolu and Li Xinyu, they were almost invisible throughout...

However, this objective analysis had no comforting effect; the martial and combative Shen Family members never cared about this kind of paper discussion, real battle results were the only convincing evidence. And the current result was clear: the Shen Family Outer Courtyard was nearly defeated entirely.

This made the young members of the Shen Family, who respected result-oriented conclusions, feel deeply humiliated, and inevitably developed strong curiosity or even a favorable impression toward the Li Family.

In Shen City, there is no problem that worship of the strong cannot solve. If there is, then get another strong person. The Li Family sent out five strong people at once, quickly capturing the hearts of a large number of young members of the Shen Family with their series of victories.

Ten days ago, Shen Jinghai threw the group into the Outer Courtyard, asking them to start resolving the feud between the two families from the younger generation. Now it seems that the Li Family has achieved it.

Next up are the elders, and currently, among the senior figures, they have also successfully pried open Shen Zicheng, this stubborn angle.

——

"I see, so that's what Shen Jinghai said..."

In the Artifact Refining Workshop, Shen Zicheng listened with a solemn expression as Li Wanqing calmly recounted the events.

"So after I left that day, things developed like this..." Shen Zicheng mused for a moment, "It does fit with Shen Jinghai's usual style; the man likes to handle things this way, always talking about procedures and rules, but he has already made up his mind, procedures are just an excuse..."

Speaking of this, Shen Zicheng looked up: "If Shen Jinghai personally brought you to the Shen Family Outer Courtyard, it could be troublesome from here on out. With his nature, what he did back then was essentially telling you to leave, sending you back to Qingyun City. The current development must be beyond his expectations."

Shen Qingming asked, "Isn't that a good thing?"

Shen Zicheng smiled wryly: "Things are not that simple. Think about it, if you were Shen Zicheng, what would you do at this point?"

Shen Qingming said, "Find other problems to make things difficult for us?" and seemed eager, "Whatever their challenges, bring it on!"

Shen Zicheng shook his head: "If it were other members of the Shen Family, they might indulge in this situation of confrontation, but Shen Zicheng wouldn't. Once you display abilities beyond expectations, he would choose the most secure method to eliminate unstable factors."

Shen Qingming's expression changed: "Killing us!?"

"..." Shen Zicheng was silent for a moment, looked at Shen Qingming with a complicated gaze, and then said, "Kill you all and incite QingCyan Cloud yun City to send troops for a crusade, with the Saint Sect sanctioning a global attack?"

Wang Jiu explained, "Don't mind her, her Intelligence Index is only 3.3."

Shen Zicheng nodded and said with relief, "I see."

"You two..."

Shen Zicheng continued, "With Shen Jinghai's character, he'll simply ignore you. He has already lost a move in the Outer Courtyard chessboard, so he certainly won't risk playing another game with you. He's the Deputy City Lord and has countless reasons to say he's busy with official duties, especially with the City Lord's grand birthday approaching, he truly is busy."

Seeing Shen Zicheng speak so sincerely, Shen Qingming couldn't help but feel troubled.

Even though she's ignorant of worldly affairs, she understands that if a Deputy City Lord has decided to coldly handle them, there's hardly a chance for a breakthrough, unless...

"Well, Second Uncle, can you think of a way to help us?"

The term "Second Uncle" made Shen Zicheng feel a shiver throughout his body. He turned his head, only to see a 14-year-old girl blinking her watery eyes at him, her gaze and actions making one's bones go soft in an instant.

Shen Zicheng hastily recited in his mind: "My true love is Artifact Refining, my true love is Artifact Refining..." finally regaining his composure, and then seriously explained, "I would love to help, but unfortunately, my influence is minor, and for matters concerning Lord City Lord, I frankly can't help you."

Speaking candidly, Shen Zicheng wasn't shy to reveal his predicament, "I've been an oddity in the family since childhood. Other siblings, regardless of their willingness, will always end up like normal Shen Family, mastering top-notch combat skills. Even your mother, rebellious as she was, relied on her exceptional talent and occasional cultivation to develop formidable combat capabilities. But for me, my talent is limited, and I've never been interested. I've been immersed in the world of Artifact Refining, and my combat skills rank at the bottom among my siblings in middle age, now merely a captain of the Outer City Patrol Team. This position appears glamorous to outsiders, but compared to others, I'm undoubtedly marginalized."

Shen Zicheng paused, gave a bitter smile, and added, "Even my wife, Li Yu, is closer to the core power circle than I am. But being distanced from the core power circle allows me to forge my Divine Weapon peacefully, and I happened upon the Silver Frost Divine Sword, which is of true priceless value to me. Mere power and influence are fleeting, but such Divine Artifacts can truly endure."

Upon hearing this, Wang Jiu was greatly impressed.

Meanwhile, Shen Qingming was unsure whether to sympathize or congratulate him, and she wore a bitter smile.

Shen Zicheng continued, "Now that you're attempting to ease the tensions between the two families, I suggest you start with Shen Ziqiong. He's the City Lord's eldest son, of a thick and stable disposition. His sons Shen Feihong and Shen Feihu are among the top geniuses of the current generation; Shen Feihong is even the City Lord's appointed heir. As such, Shen Ziqiong, being a father, is undoubtedly part of the core power circle. Moreover, he isn't as stubborn as Shen Jinghai and Shen Yueying, maintaining a neutral stance on past events. With your current status, you might find a breakthrough with him."

——

Objectively speaking, the clues Shen Zicheng provided weren't particularly valuable.

The group already had a reasonable understanding of Shen Ziqiong while preparing in QingCyan Cloud yun City.

Indeed, as Shen Zicheng mentioned, Shen Ziqiong isn't an adamant person, but on the other hand, within Shen City's high-level core power circle, he is renowned for his neutrality. Although he wouldn't be opposed to the Li Family like Shen Yueying and Shen Jinghai, it's also unrealistic to expect him to fight against Shen Yueying and Shen Jinghai for the Li Family's sake.

As a Supreme Emperor, Shen Ziqiong is very aware of his boundaries, never showing any interest in clashing for fame and profit.

Convincing such a person to forget past grievances between the two families is easy, but expecting him to do much more is difficult.

However, one must take things one step at a time, tackling people one by one. In the absence of more suitable targets, even someone like Shen Ziqiong, who is seen as a placeholder, must be tackled first.

When the group arrived at Shen Ziqiong's residence, they unsurprisingly were met with a closed door.

Even mentioning Shen Zicheng's name was to no avail; Shen Ziqiong didn't even bother to respond with disdain.

The group lingered at the entrance for a while, dismissing tactics like arson, smoke-outs, and flooding as either reliable or unreliable, finally falling into a stalemate.

"What do we do?" Li Wanqing spread her hands, "Although I just tried and could find a way for the maids within the courtyard to secretly open the gate... it would implicate them later, so forget it."

Shen Qingming was also at a loss, "Second Uncle's letter has been delivered, and they haven't even given a reply... truly a marginalized person."

Li Xinyu suggested out of boredom, "Do you think if we find a chance to capture him and threaten Shen Ziqiong with a human head, it might have some effect?"

Li Chaolu scorned mercilessly, "Stupid, when has Shen Family ever negotiated with terrorists? In such situations, they'd unleash a flurry of arrows, killing both the hostages and the terrorists alike. Did you do your homework in QingCyan Cloud yun City for nothing?!"

Li Xinyu was berated but laughed instead of being angry, "Chaolu, you're finally talking to me... ouch!"

While the siblings were play-fighting, it was Wang Jiu's superior skills that devised a way to open the door.