Chapter 374: Luo Wusheng's Good Stuff
The Sword Emperor's Secret Realm was truly a great place.
Especially the ability to freely control the lighting—now that was thoughtful.
Feeling refreshed in both body and soul, Luo Wusheng sat with a light smile on his face.
His robe was only half-worn as he relaxed on a bluestone by the pool inside the secret realm's hall, his gaze slowly drifting.
The great hall had lit up again, and the bright glow reflected off the steamy surface of the water, scattering dazzling ripples of light.
His gaze passed through the hazy mist and settled on the scene inside the pool.
There, a breathtakingly beautiful immortal maiden was cloaked in a thin robe, her slender hands scooping up water to wash away the now-invisible traces of his 'milk' on her body.
…Yes, that gesture had already been repeated many times, and was definitely taking a bit too long.
Watching his wife's slightly flushed cheeks and sensing the occasional sneaky glances she shot his way, Luo Wusheng couldn't help but chuckle silently.
(So she's still embarrassed even after what just happened? She didn't act so shy during the whole thing… Is this that difference between before, during, and after?)
Recalling the steamy XXX rated act that had just occurred, Luo Wusheng rubbed his chin, but didn't call out his wife's little act.
Instead, his gaze openly admired her figure in the pool—unafraid of being caught.
"Now this is the right way to reunite after being apart… That whole mess where I got dragged into a hell-difficulty trial right off the bat? Yeah, let's never speak of that again."
That said…
Getting to see his normally cool and elegant Shuangxue so bashful was a rare treat in itself.
And he had gained something worthwhile from it all.
Not from the fight with the 108 mid-stage Nascent Soul puppets though. Without his identity as the Demon Sect Holy Saint and his overpowering skills, most Peak Golden Core cultivators would've been crushed in seconds by just a few of those puppet guards.
(With my current cultivation, facing mid-stage Nascent Soul enemies head-on without invoking [Phantomless 2.0] is still pushing it… Even if they're puppets with obvious flaws, it's not something I can breeze through.)
Especially considering how his spiritual energy hadn't fully recovered at the time.
If his wife hadn't taken on part of the burden, he probably would've been wiped out by that initial wave of sword energy.
That said, after being brutally crushed and experiencing the trial firsthand—and thanks to his wife's intel after her own ten-plus failed attempts—Luo Wusheng had managed to learn a lot about the third map now open within the Sword Emperor's secret realm.
First of all, that area definitely qualifies as a trial zone.
The trial proctors? A full squad of 108 black stone sword-wielding puppets.
Every time a trial ended, they'd vanish—only to fully respawn at the beginning of the next.
Their cultivation levels scaled dynamically to match the challenger's level, though the maximum cap was still unclear…
(If someone in the Nascent Soul realm tried this? Or even a Tribulation Crossing Realm expert… cough. I mean, the Sword Emperor was clearly a beast back in the day, but not that insane, right?)
One hundred and eight Tribulation Crossing realm puppets—who are able to respawn at will—would be enough to sweep the modern cultivation world.
(What's odd though is that those black stone swords were clearly special—yet the Sword Emperor's broken sword didn't react to them at all, despite going berserk for way lesser swords back in Jianlin City.)
Could it be that everything inside this secret realm technically already belonged to it?
Leaving that aside for now, Luo Wusheng turned his thoughts to the true benefit he'd gained from that trial…
——It came from those mysterious tentacles of water that seemed like punishment.
In truth, after a trial ends, both the punishment and the reward are delivered at the same time.
The moment that pool water morphed into tendrils and restrained them, a pure and strange energy also seeped into their bodies.
While easing the fatigue from high-intensity combat, it also began to refine and alter their physiques.
"As expected of the Sword Emperor… A powerhouse of the ancient era wouldn't leave behind something as basic as an Innate Sword Body."
If the Sword Ancestor could pass on the Flawless Sword Body through a wooden sword, then surely the Sword Emperor could bestow a unique sword body legacy hidden within this trial zone.
That very legacy… was likely sealed within the pool at the heart of the trial.
(Depending on your trial performance, the pool gives out different rewards. At the same time, it 'punishes' those who fail by suspending them… Honestly, I'm more and more convinced the Sword Emperor had a warped view on education.)
(But judging from how things stand now, that reward still isn't enough to fully awaken a special sword body… At most, it just slightly enhances the quality of the Innate Sword Body we condense—it feels like there's still some key element missing…)
Luo Wusheng fell into thought.
If his guess was correct, the reason the Sword Emperor's secret realm had malfunctioned might have something to do with what he'd done two evenings ago—when he used the Thirty-Six Sword Absolute Array and established a deeper connection with the Sword Emperor's broken sword.
Thinking back on it now, he couldn't help but feel amazed his wife had managed to withstand a full day of trial under those conditions.
"…What are you thinking about?"
A soft voice spoke by his ear.
Without him even noticing, Ling Shuangxue had reappeared beside him. A faint fragrance wafted from her as she used spiritual energy to dry her semi-transparent robe—its damp fabric faintly clinging to the skin underneath. Her delicate hand slid gently into his.
Unlike Luo Wusheng who sat facing the pool, she was now seated with her back to the water, her slender neck raised slightly and her gaze averted, faint blush tinting her cheeks.
"Just thinking about how my lovely wife is still so irresistible… It's getting harder and harder for me to even consider leaving her side."
Luo Wusheng naturally turned to sit behind her, wrapping his arms around that slender waist. He leaned in close and whispered in her slightly reddened ear.
Her delicate frame gave a subtle shiver.
"Y-You… Don't call me that. It sounds strange…"
Ling Shuangxue's voice lowered to a murmur, yet she leaned softly into his embrace.
The mouth says no, but the body says yes…
The Demon Sect Holy Saint shamelessly enjoyed the moment, but didn't push the topic any further.
Knowing when to stop was also a form of wisdom.
"How's the progress with your sword body? Did the power from the trial affect it?"
Hearing that the mischievous man at her side wasn't trying to provoke her again but instead showed genuine concern, Ling Shuangxue felt a small wave of relief. Her thoughts began to settle.
She responded as evenly as possible:
"The Innate Sword Body is still just over halfway condensed. After the trial ended, the condensation didn't progress further—but at least it didn't regress either."
"As for changes… I can sense a subtle difference, but nothing that touches the core of the sword body itself."
"That said, I did try it just now. Going back into the pool to condense the sword body has become slightly faster than before."
Luo Wusheng clicked his tongue.
He remembered how fast his wife had already been progressing before.
If it weren't for the unexpected appearance of that trial zone, she might already be 70% done by now.
And now it was even faster?
Well… On one hand, he was truly happy for her.
On the other hand, he couldn't help feeling like the day he got in trouble was creeping ever closer.
Unable to handle such conflicting emotions, he reflexively gave the soft waist in his arms a gentle squeeze.
And thing quickly spiraled out of control.
. . . . . . . . ..
A few heartbeats later…
When Luo Wusheng sat up from the ground, rubbing the back of his head, his mind had indeed calmed down quite a bit.
The dizziness was fading, and clarity was returning fast.
Ling Shuangxue, having punished him with a mysterious sword technique at ghostly speed, now sat stiffly with perfect posture, wearing the proper air of a Sword Sect Peak Master—not even glancing at the dazed boy she had just smacked silly.
However… the blush still on her face, and the nervous glances she occasionally threw his way, betrayed the unsettled feelings still lingering inside this strikingly beautiful cultivator.
(Looks like we still need more time to properly 'sync up'…)
Luo Wusheng thought, his now-cooled brain working properly again.
The side effects of progressing too fast—they always came eventually.
And this… this after-event awkwardness was a prime example.
"Ahem, in any case… the rewards from the trial zone are definitely tempting. It's just a shame we still don't know exactly what kind of special sword body the Sword Emperor left behind, or what conditions are required to awaken it."
Luo Wusheng cleared his throat and got back to his feet, speaking as if absolutely nothing had happened moments earlier.
He sat back down on the bluestone edge, sidling close to his wife again.
Seeing no resistance from her, he inched closer—then finally sat shoulder to shoulder with the Sword Sect Peak Master.
"Still, from what we've seen, that special sword body can evolve directly from the Innate Sword Body. And now that this place is under our control, we'll have plenty of chances to figure out the missing conditions."
"So there's no need to rush."
Luo Wusheng, attempting to ease the tension, once again reached for the delicate hand of the young woman beside him. When she didn't resist much, he let out a silent sigh of relief, and a relaxed smile returned to his face.
(So it really was just a reflex earlier—her body still wasn't used to it, and the suddenness made her react uncontrollably…)
(Well, it's been several days already—muscle memory fading is perfectly normal.)
With that thought, Luo Wusheng decided not to get cheeky again—he hadn't even eaten yet today, and it would be better to avoid getting punched twice by his own wife on an empty stomach.
So, he tried to steer the situation back to a more serious conversation.
Looking ahead, his tone carried a faint sigh.
"To think that even with your Innate Sword Body only half-condensed, your strength has already increased so much compared to when we fought the Soulblade Specter… If you fully condense it and even awaken that special sword body…"
Luo Wusheng hadn't even had time to react to her earlier move.
It was obvious, his wife had grown significantly stronger since their battle with the Soulblade Specter.
He'd already noticed this during their recent fight against the 108 puppets. Even while helping to ease his pressure, the Sword Sect Peak Master had single-handedly taken down nearly thirty puppets, each at mid-stage Nascent Soul level.
That kind of combat power was essentially already on par with late-stage Nascent Soul.
If she had possessed that strength back when they fought the Soulblade Specter, it was likely they wouldn't have found themselves in such real danger at all.
After eliminating various other factors, Luo Wusheng could only attribute this leap in strength to the benefits of condensing her sword body.
As for himself, Luo Wusheng hadn't tried using the pool's water to condense an Innate Sword Body.
He wasn't a specialized sword cultivator, after all.
Though he had bypassed the label of a "fraudulent swordsman" by gaining full-mastery sword intent through cheats, he lacked a sword heart and solid foundation—his sword body condensation speed was far behind his wife's.
And right now, he didn't have the time to sit and soak in that pool.
His sighing comment reached Ling Shuangxue's ears.
Just as she had been searching for a way to continue easing the atmosphere between them, her expression turned slightly strange. She subtly turned her pretty face to the side just in time, avoiding his gaze so he didn't catch it.
"...Mm."
She gave a half-hearted reply.
It was a cover, one meant to hide the conflicted feelings rising in her heart.
(He really… doesn't understand sword cultivation all that well.)
(Just condensing an Innate Sword Body—or not even completing it—how could that possibly explain such a massive leap in strength?)
Ling Shuangxue knew her own condition clearly.
She was perfectly aware of where this rapid improvement came from.
First and foremost was the amplification from her perfected Sword Heart.
It had triggered a powerful breakthrough in her long-stagnant cultivation, unleashing years of accumulated strength that had been stuck at early stage Nascent Soul—now forming the solid foundation she possessed today.
And then came the biggest and most important reason of all...
(Though I don't know if other Diabolic Saint Physique in the past worked the same way… his body… is definitely an exceptional furnace physique.)
Ling Shuangxue's thoughts lingered on this conclusion.
The man in question had absolutely no awareness of it. He even believed that because his cultivation level was lower, he was the one benefiting more from their dual cultivation.
Seeing all of this with her own eyes, the Sword Sect Peak Master decided… it was probably better not to burst his bubble.
In addition to those two reasons, the intensity of the trial zone had also played a contributing role.
Though not much, it did help her body better adapt to the explosive increase in power she had recently gained.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Luo Wusheng—having received his wife's lukewarm response—was feeling a bit of a headache.
(That reply was a little too flat... not quite the reaction I was hoping for... Should I try calling her 'my wife' again a few more times?)
(No. I still have one more card to play.)
Pausing for a moment, something suddenly came to his mind.
He reached out with his divine sense and scanned his storage bag.
"Oh right. I brought a few things back from the royal capital, it's meant for you…"
So much had just happened that he'd almost forgotten the gift he had prepared.
…
Luo Wusheng had prepared a lot of things for Ling Shuangxue.
The most valuable among them, of course, were the two bottles of top-grade pills—capable of instantly restoring a Nascent Soul cultivator's spiritual energy—obtained from the two Alter Egos of the Empress.
In a critical moment, these pills could turn the tide of a battle.
Then there were the countless local specialties he had collected from Qifeng City.
To be honest, Luo Wusheng felt that when his wife saw the sheer variety of common snacks and souvenirs, the satisfaction she expressed seemed even greater than when she received the pills earlier.
It wasn't that Ling Shuangxue was more interested in trinkets or food than powerful elixirs.
Rather, it was because through these little things, she could feel how the young man had kept her in his heart, even during the time they were apart.
That thought alone made her soft figure lean a little closer toward Luo Wusheng again, a gentle warmth rising between them.
And then... she fell silent when she saw the final gift he had prepared for her.
"This is a new kind of outfit I designed. For now, let's call it… a qipao."
"I modified the materials using artifact refinement techniques—those threads are made from Spirit Dao Gold and Profound Immortal Jade..."
"It was tailored exactly to your figure. Though it's technically a mundane item, it has some unique effects. I'd say it's one of my proudest creations."
"Oh, and when you wear this, it should be paired with these—these are black stockings..."
Looking down at the garments that had been shoved into her arms, and then meeting the eager, hopeful gaze of her Dao Companion...
Ling Shuangxue… fell into silence.
<+>
Note: Link to the character Illustration:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lkIcPnCxeyuyZA4Kkb621dPC05UvWjhD[1]
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[1] https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1lkIcPnCxeyuyZA4Kkb621dPC05UvWjhD
[2] https://www.patreon.com/user?u=93297024
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