Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 45 - 37: The Three Types of People I Hate Most
July 10, 2017
Summer in Cyan Cloud City is truly hot.
The scorching sunlight bathes the land, not spreading vitality, but rather a sizzling poison, making the pedestrians on the streets resemble skewers of raw meat being grilled, showing a despondent lack of enthusiasm as they walk.
Of course, for those top martial artists whose inner strength is profound and have reached the realm of being immune to the heat and cold, or further, for cultivators whose True Qi flows like wind within them, the torment of the blazing summer is much alleviated.
Unless she practices the Immovable Tyrant Body in an overloaded state from early morning, has half of her Qi Blood drawn by the tyrannical master to build the second Wind Gathering Array, and distracts herself with mind calculation exercises for honing Divine Sense left by the tyrannical master during breakfast.
As Wang Jiu watched Shen Qingming leave Shen Garden to head for the Sword Cultivation Club in Cyan Cloud City to spar, he felt like he was seeing a half-baked, limping fat duck being roasted...
But such is the cost of cultivation.
Nearly a month has passed since Shen Qingming decided to break away from her family, and surprisingly, the developments have been smooth. Li Fengyun and Lu Xin, after that family visit, never disturbed Shen Qingming again. Shen Qingming gradually adapted to an independent life—which, in reality, didn’t differ much from her past life rhythm over the last year or two, barring that she couldn’t practice Li Family Swordsmanship in the Outer Sect and had to count on stopping the few stipends.
The young girl’s life is still colorful. With Wang Jiu’s guidance, she has embarked on the path of Body Ascension, relying on rapid physical improvements and advancing in True Essence cultivation by leaps and bounds. According to Wang Jiu’s training plan for his mount, she should be able to break through to the mid-stage of the Wind-Rising Realm by the end of July at the latest, and her practical combat capability far surpasses cultivators of the same realm.
Of course, compared to the progress made by Wang Jiu, it is insignificant.
After a month of effort, Wang Jiu completed two Wind Grinding Platforms, honing the blade of the Pure White Sword Body five times over, turning the Blunt Sword into a sharp edge, rivalling the likes of Heaven-piercing Swords and Dragon-slaying Sabers in martial arts.
Of course, since he hasn’t had time to further process the Sword Body, its sharpness is still somewhat inferior compared to transcendent Divine Weapons. However, combined with the Five-Layered Manipulation Array within Sword World, Wang Jiu can barely strike down an enemy’s head from over a kilometer away—it is undoubtedly a Flying Sword. If further combined with Illusion Sword Technique to disorient opponents in actual combat, and along with combat instincts comparable to a Demon Emperor, one such as Shen Qingming, whose level is supposedly top-tier martial artist/new cultivator, Wang Jiu could handle several of them at once.
But for a Divine Sword that once defeated an Invincible Demon Emperor in a one-on-one duel, this improvement in combat ability doesn’t bring any sense of accomplishment. What truly delights Wang Jiu is...
"Hmm, just one last spoonful of sugar added in, then placed into the oven for an hour, and we will have Qing Province’s fashionable pastry... Baked Bass Apple Pie."
In the kitchen, Wang Jiu contentedly used the Manipulation Array to close the oven lid, then lay quietly beside it, waiting for the Bass Apple Pie.
Over the past month, besides reconstructing Sword World, he spent most of his time refining culinary arts. With the honor of being an Honored Guest Elder of the Li Family Mansion, Wang Jiu could purchase all kinds of ingredients through Dobao Pavilion shopping manual freely, then put into practice the cooking secret recipes Rakugo taught him in the past: Stargazing Pie, Haggis, Herring Cake...
Honestly, the process was quite interesting, allowing the Sword Spirit to experience a novelty never felt before. To be certain, there were two points of regret: one, current Xiangzhou Continent’s products differ significantly compared to the Jiuzhou era, many ingredients are missing and need substitutes; and two, whenever Wang Jiu attempted to get Shen Qingming to try his new dishes, the young girl would resist with a spirit of dying as if facing inevitable doom.
"Even if I starve, die outside, jump from here, I won’t eat your food again!"
"...While I can understand your inferiority complex in front of me, fearing to reach high, such a grand and intense reaction is still somewhat unexpected. Let me confirm, you weren’t falling into the dung pit, were you?"
"I’d rather fall into the dung pit than eat your food again! You, did you really taste it yourself before feeding me?!"
"Of course, and every time I finish it. I came through wartime, I know to cherish food."
"You could finish stuff like that!? Then where do you find the right to forbid me from eating carrots!"
"Notice I said ’food’"
"Ah, you’re really annoying, die, you!"
In any case, after that argument, Shen Qingming’s attitude became remarkably resolute, even threatening with chopsticks at her own throat. Wang Jiu also gave up the idea of cultivating her into a gourmet.
While waiting for the perch apple pie to come out of the oven, Wang Jiu suddenly remembered he had just run out of a niche spice, which wasn’t available in the shopping guide, but was occasionally sold at a small store near the commercial street, so he straightforwardly used the Illusion Sword Technique and went out to buy groceries.
After accumulating for a month, the overall standard of Sword World had reached a considerable level, allowing him to go buy groceries without his ride under the scorching sun.
Walking from East City Lvliu Lane all the way to the Central District commercial street, Wang Jiu was very happy not to be disturbed - ever since he received the honored guest elder appointment personally sent by Li Fengyun, he had frequently appeared as the Sword Spirit True Form in QingCyan Cloud City. However, it didn’t take long before he started being besieged by some ignorant girls asking for signatures, photos, and touching, which was quite a hassle. It’s not that, as a Sword Spirit, he had any superiority over humans, but his so-called true form was transformed by the Illusion Sword Technique and didn’t have a physical body, which made it easy to show flaws when besieged by ignorant girls.
Fortunately, most ignorant girls couldn’t withstand the summer heat and rarely appeared in bright sunny days, allowing Wang Jiu to successfully reach the spices store located in a remote corner adjacent to the commercial street. This shop frequently sold some extremely niche seasonings, and although its goods were not comprehensive, they were sufficiently novel, making it Wang Jiu’s favorite, yet unfortunately, the customer flow remained sparse, constantly facing the risk of closing down...
However, this time, when Wang Jiu pushed open the door, he found that there was already a customer inside, a customer who initially appeared to be two people.
Judging by appearance, probably a young man, not tall, just about half a head taller than Shen Qingming, but his width is at least as much as two Shen Qingming. He alone occupied most of the small shop space, making it inconvenient to navigate.
When Wang Jiu entered, he inadvertently glanced over, and then couldn’t look away, his face showing a surprised expression.
"Are you perhaps the newly appointed honored guest elder of the Li Family? Is your name Wang Jiu?"
Wang Jiu was equally surprised, his admirer extending from ignorant girls to dead fat people? But at the next moment, Wang Jiu noticed familiar True Essence Fluctuation from him; this person’s realm was approximately at the initial Cloud Surge Realm. Considering his age, he could be considered promising for his youth. However, compared to truly promising Cloud Surge Realm cultivators, this person’s True Essence was somewhat mixed, and his Spiritual Sense Cultivation seemed too coarse, yet the intentional or unintentional wisps of Sword Qi released displayed quite the maturity – the Li Family’s Earth-shaking Sword.
And that fat young man, having obtained the answer from Wang Jiu’s expression, joyfully approached, extending two white, plump, yet tightly muscled hands, wanting to shake hands with Wang Jiu.
"Is it really Wang Jiu? Greatly admired, truly greatly admired! Didn’t expect to meet you here! It’s fate, truly fate!" The fat man said, his voice beginning to tremble, "I heard that you live together with Li Qingming, is that true?"
"..."
Seeing Wang Jiu expressionless, the fat man hurriedly explained, "Please don’t misunderstand, I do not mean anything else... Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Li Xinyu, son of Li Kongcheng from the Li Family Mansion’s third branch, and also Sister Qingming’s cousin. Recently, I heard that my uncle issued an honored guest elder appointment to an outsider, so I inquired about your affairs, then learned that you actually live together with Sister Qingming in Shen Garden! I felt back then you were likely a kindred spirit, and upon seeing you today, I didn’t expect you to be like this... more handsome and elegant than I imagined!"
Wang Jiu listened more and more baffled and remained silent, waiting for him to continue explaining.
Li Xinyu was also patient, and said again, "It’s like this, I, I also like little girls."
"Hmm?"
"You know, those small-sized, tender-skinned, bright-eyed, pure like white lotus girls, for example, like Sister Qingming!" As Li Xinyu spoke, a trace of serene longing appeared in his eyes, but soon it dimmed, "Only every time I mention it to someone, they call me a pervert... In fact, over in Golden Jade City, people like me are called ’Lolicons’ and are protected as a precious species, but the culture of QingCyan Cloud City is still too backward."
Li Xinyu suddenly raised his head: "But now it’s different! With a fellow kindred spirit like you, the image of us Lolicons will greatly improve. In the future, when discussing this topic with others, just mention your name and say that the handsome and elegant guest elder Wang Jiu walking down the street is chased by ignorant girls and is also a Lolicon. Surely those ignorant people will respect me!"
"..."
Li Xinyu finished speaking, nodded vigorously, then wanted to come and grasp Wang Jiu’s hand: "In short, from now on, we are comrades on the road of the Lolicon!"
Wang Jiu skillfully stepped back to avoid Li Xinyu’s hand, although he didn’t quite understand what he had just said, his intuition as a Sword Spirit was telling him it was best not to get involved with such people... Zhao Yuming had told him a long time ago, there are three types of people she dislikes the most in this world, and they are fat slobs, fat slobs, and fat slobs.
The Li Xinyu before him should clearly belong to an undisputed fat slob...
And just as Wang Jiu was contemplating how to buy the needed spices while avoiding interaction with the fat slob, the store door was forcefully pushed open again, accompanied by an exceedingly familiar burst of youthful anger.
"Wang Jiu! Today I must beat you to death!"
