Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 305 - 42: Void Clarity Body

People who like to study history often find that the real history is quite different from the common knowledge in people's impressions. A dish that is popular throughout the city, hailed as a representative of local culinary culture, might have only a few decades of history, while the genuine cuisine from a thousand years ago has long disappeared because its taste did not meet modern needs. And certain minority groups, clearly branched from the mainstream ethnicities into their own religious beliefs, insist on identifying themselves with exotic ancestors, as if to appear superior.

Similarly, the history of the Shen Family during the Jiuzhou Era has a similar nature.

Back then, Shen Kaishan swept across Jiuzhou with extremely formidable Flesh and Blood Divine Techniques. People greatly admired this incredible technique, said to be even more cockroach-like than the Demon Race for being unkillable and indestructible, and were very curious about the Shen Family that cultivated such a divine person. In order to glorify their ancestors, the Shen Family dug up a bunch of historians from who knows which graves and thoroughly argued that the Shen Family's attention to Flesh and Blood Divine Techniques has a long history, with similar Immovable Tyrant Body techniques already being passed down. They even established a Flesh and Blood Divine Techniques themed village to fully restore the cultural origins of the Shen Family's emphasis on divine techniques. Such commercial activities emerged one after another, dazzling the eyes...

However, those who know the inside story understand that before Shen Kaishan expanded his characteristics, techniques like the Immovable Tyrant Body were always regarded as a cult within the Shen Family. What truly held weight were the exquisite skills similar to the Void Clarity Body.

The Shen Family's Immortal Cultivation Techniques have always been known for their exquisite intricacy, with finesse that can be considered amazing, which is why the status of women in the Shen Family has often been higher than that of men. More than 6? percent of the patriarchs were women, and over 7 percent were psychologically female. It wasn't until Shen Kaishan emerged unexpectedly with an extraordinarily high cultivation at the Late Stage of the Mountain-Overturning Realm, an Intelligence Index as high as 2.3, and male hormones breaking limits, sweeping away all family traditions, that the Shen Family genuinely began to value Flesh and Blood Divine Techniques.

Now, thousands of years have passed, and history seems to have entered a new cycle. In front of Mr. Wang Jiu was Shen Ying, who possessed an innately Void Clarity Body, along with what was clearly a meticulously designed full matching cultivation technique. With ease, she gathered all her surging True Essence Fluctuations internally without a hint of exposure, making it impossible for even those right in front of her to see her Immortal Family cultivation.

Indeed, it was very much like the Shen Family before Shen Kaishan emerged.

Upon hearing Mr. Wang Jiu reveal the characteristics of the Void Clarity Body, Shen Ying was slightly surprised but did not ask more. She simply led a few people into the room.

As Shen Qingming looked at the increasingly familiar room layout, her expression changed several times, and she couldn't help but ask, "What do you mean by this?"

Shen Ying first apologized, "Sorry to have caused misunderstandings, but this is actually the original version. Aunt Yue'e used to live here, and every plant and tree was arranged by her own hands. After she and Uncle left Shen City, they bought a property in Qingyun City and then renovated it in keeping with Shen City's habits, basically restoring the layout here. Even the ancient tree guarding the gate was transplanted from here."

While Shen Qingming was amazed by this piece of history, Li Wanqing asked from beside, "It sounds like you are very familiar with Qingyun City matters as well, to know the Shen Garden setup by heart."

Shen Ying smiled, "Because it's the home of the Qingyun competition champion, I seriously collected data on it. At the time, seeing Little Sister Qingming living in a house exactly like mine made me quite happy because I lost to my brother in the semifinals during the Shen City competition, so I had a longing for such competition champions."

"Lost to your brother in the semifinals, could it be..."

Shen Ying nodded, "Yes, I am Shen Qing's sister, so pleased to have the Qingyun competition's joint winners as guests at home."

Shen Qingming was a bit embarrassed by her words, "That competition championship actually..."

Shen Ying continued, "The unsung hero should be Mr. Wang Jiu, right? The moment I met him I felt he was extraordinary. To be able to see through the Void Clarity Body at a glance is something I've never seen in my life. If he were the one by your side helping you win the competition championship, it would make sense. Of course, to have Mr. Wang Jiu willing to be by your side, you must have extraordinary qualities too."

Li Chaolu was very dissatisfied, "Extraordinary poverty, I guess, hmph, if I were as poor as she was, maybe I would have bought the White Sword back then..."

Shen Qingming sneered, "A sheltered young lady like you probably doesn't even know the door to the commoner market."

"Ridiculous, just pay some poor kids to lead the way, isn't it?"

"...Your sheltered thinking is sorely lacking social discipline. When those kids lead you into an empty alley, you'll see what's up."

Li Chaolu curiously asked, "Why would they lead me to an empty alley? What's so special about it?"

Shen Qingming suddenly blushed, "You're pretending to be innocent!"

"As someone who poses provocatively on stage, do you have the nerve to accuse someone else of pretending to be innocent?"

"Who posed provocatively?!"

——

Shen Ying smiled slightly without stepping into the dispute among Li Family members, serving tea, and then turned her head to explain to Li Wanqing, "Sorry for hiding my identity before, but in that situation, I really couldn't invite you directly as Shen Ying, since it didn't align with the family's established policy."

"Established policy?" 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

"Yes, according to family education, when you see the Li Family on the street, you should immediately disdain them face-to-face, the more saliva the better."

"..."

"Ah, don't worry, spitting everywhere is unhygienic, we won't really do that. At least I won't."

Hearing this, Li Wanqing seemed thoughtful.

"You don't have a good relationship with your family?"

Shen Ying smiled: "Actually, the relationship is quite good. My family has always taken good care of me. This courtyard was bought for me by my father when I left the Outer Courtyard, he bought it in a hurry at a price much higher than the market rate, but he didn't bat an eye. It was quite touching. Before, my brother was obviously so favored in the family, but whenever he wanted to buy something, Dad always used 'lack of funds' as an excuse to refuse."

"Since the relationship is good, why live alone here?"

Shen Ying said helplessly: "Because it's inconvenient. After I achieved Great Success in the Cloud Surge Realm and my True Essence began to merge with the Void Clarity Body, the body's divine techniques gradually manifested, causing all sorts of trouble in the Outer Courtyard. My presence became so weak that I was often treated like an invisible person, bumping into people while walking, stepping on my feet everywhere, having my favorite dishes taken away right in front of me at meals, and men discussing my figure right next to me! It's a terrible feeling, especially when the instructor called roll, and I raised my hand several times, only for him to still mark me absent with a frown, it was infuriating!"

"..." Everyone couldn't help but look at her with sympathy.

Mr. Wang Jiu explained: "When a cultivator initially uses True Essence to activate the Void Clarity Body's divine techniques, similar out-of-control phenomena do occur. If others don't use Spiritual Vision and just look with the naked eye, they can easily overlook the Void Clarity Body. However, once you get through this phase and the divine techniques become controllable, things get much better."

Shen Ying said: "But I've already gotten used to living alone, so during the Outer Courtyard's graduation assessment, I used the Void Clarity Body's advantage a little bit to graduate early and moved out. Alright, enough idle chatter, you all must be curious about why I invited you to my home—though I initially only invited one of you, it's actually better that everyone is here. I want to help you."

"Help us?"

"To resolve the historical animosity between the two families," Shen Ying said, "That's why you're here, right?"

Mr. Wang Jiu responded: "That's indeed the case, but according to your family education, you should be doing everything to stop us."

Shen Ying laughed: "Let's just say it's a thank you for helping my dad repair the Silver Frost Divine Sword. When it comes to artifact refining, he loses all rationality. Without your help, who knows, he might have really sacrificed my brother under the cover of night."

"..."

"Moreover, speaking of family education, perhaps because I've always had a weak presence since childhood, I've never managed to integrate into the family atmosphere like other siblings. So the family's brainwashing education didn't really work on me. When others were being incited by instructors to be passionate, I was always the one watching coldly from the side—to suddenly join in risked being trampled. Over time, my thinking became increasingly different from others. While everyone else cries for battle and blood against the Li Family, I think it's rather foolish to cling to old grudges from decades ago. Looking at the current situation in Xiangzhou, QingCyan Cloud City and Shen City have neither conflicting interests nor irresolvable blood feuds, so this vehement hostility seems inexplicably misplaced. Conversely, the two families actually have a strong need to cooperate. As southern border cities, if we want to compete with developed cities like Heaven-Reaching City and Golden Jade City, working closely together should be a natural choice."

As she spoke, Shen Ying sipped her tea, seeing that the Li Family was listening intently, nodded, and continued: "In fact, the current Shen Family's hatred for the Li Family is maintained by historical inertia, no one truly hates them. After all, when Uncle swept through Shen City, many of us weren't even born yet, so there's no deeply felt pain."

These words truly touched the Li Family members deeply.

Having been in Shen City for so long, there were indeed very few who openly cooperated with them with good intentions. The Li Family's diplomatic team even struggled to have an audience with City Lord Shen Ruoshi.

Li Wanqing asked: "How can you help us?"

Shen Ying said: "To be honest, direct help may be difficult. After all, I'm just a junior who recently graduated from the Outer Courtyard, with little influence. But having observed the family coldly for so many years, I have unique insights into many people and affairs in the family, and I'm sure they can help you break open the situation."

Mr. Wang Jiu pondered: "For example?"

Shen Ying said: "For example, from what I've observed, the instructor in the Shen Family Outer Courtyard has long wanted to retire and return home to get married."