No one understood the uses of Geng Metal Essence better than the people of the Sword Sect. Geng Metal itself was a rare material among metal ores. A sword was indomitable, enduring a hundred setbacks without bending, and Geng Metal was especially necessary for it.
That was even more true of a rare mineral like Geng Metal Essence, something that might not be encountered in a thousand years. Adding just a little to a life-bound sword could raise the sword’s grade by another level.
With this Geng Metal Essence dangling before them, Jiang Chan did not believe the people of the Sword Sect could remain unmoved. Sure enough, they paid particular attention to such things. They loved their swords as dearly as their lives. Even a Dao companion might not be as important as the sword in their hands.
During this period, people from the Sword Sect came in an endless stream, but all returned defeated. Jiang Chan had spread word that this item would go to its destined recipient. She could sense that the Geng Metal Essence had already developed its own intelligence.
Under these circumstances, she could not casually give it to just anyone. She had to let its consciousness make its own choice. She did not reveal that, or even more people would covet it.
Privately, Jiang Chan still hoped Feng Qiwu would be the destined recipient of this piece of Geng Metal Essence. Ultimately, in the previous life, if Feng Qiwu had immediately handed Xiao Jin over to Gu Miao’er, she would not have ended up dead, her path of cultivation cut short.
She had simply been caught up in someone else’s trouble. This was also why Xiao Jin’s wish was for Feng Qiwu to continue far along her path. Ultimately, it was about repaying kindness. Since she was repaying kindness, she needed to find good ores, rare cultivation resources, and the like for her.
Sword cultivators did not rely on pills, practice spells, or depend on magical artifacts. Their sole reliance was the sword in their hands. Jiang Chan had thought for a long time before coming up with this idea. The other things were of no use to Feng Qiwu.
Since she was giving a gift, she needed to choose something the recipient liked.
This Geng Metal Essence attracted far too much attention. Some had considered seizing it by force. But after Mo Yu revealed her Nascent Soul strength, those people sheepishly abandoned their little schemes.
In an era like this, a Nascent Soul cultivator could already serve as the patriarch of a second-rate sect. Even the Sword Sect had only a dozen or so Nascent Soul cultivators in total.
You wanted to rob a Nascent Soul cultivator’s shop? Were you tired of living? Besides, the Sword Sect was watching closely. In their view, this Geng Metal Essence had clearly been prepared for their sect. Only their Sword Sect could make use of it.
Although other sects also had people who practiced the way of the sword, at a time like this, they needed to present a united front against outsiders. Thus, during this period, the Sword Sect also helped turn away quite a few people with ulterior motives.
At the Sword Sect, Feng Qiwu was practicing on the Sword Trial Platform. With her lips pressed tightly together, she swung the broadsword in her hands again and again. Her movements were impeccably precise, striving to make every swing flawless.
“Senior Sister, Senior Sister!” A young disciple ran over, his head covered in sweat. Seeing Feng Qiwu swinging her sword, he sheepishly stopped. Only after she had finished her daily thirty thousand swings did he cautiously approach.
“Senior Sister, a new shop has opened in the marketplace. They say it has Geng Metal Essence.”
“Geng Metal Essence?” Feng Qiwu wiped away her sweat, her heartbeat quickening a little. She was a sixteen-year-old girl, after all, and her ability to maintain composure was naturally not that great. Hearing of such a treasure inevitably stirred her emotions.
“Yes, a fist-sized piece of Geng Metal Essence. Unfortunately, the shopkeeper is very strange. It’s a gift, not for sale, and only for its destined recipient.”
The young disciple’s eyes were full of envy. He had tried too, but the shop assistant had told him outright that he was not the destined recipient of this Geng Metal Essence.
“Its destined recipient? Something that vague?” Feng Qiwu paused. She had never really believed in luck since childhood. Perhaps because her own luck had always been poor, she believed more in things obtained through her own strength. At the words “destined recipient,” she began to hesitate.
“Yes. Almost every disciple in our Sword Sect has gone to try during this period, and not one has been chosen.”
The young disciple spoke animatedly. “Then I remembered you haven’t tried, Senior Sister. Why don’t you go too? There’s nothing to lose by trying. If you really succeed, you’ll have gained something wonderful.”
Feng Qiwu turned her head. “You go. I’m not going. This talk of a destined recipient sounds like a swindle. Going would waste my time.”
Seeing Feng Qiwu reach for her broadsword again, the young disciple’s eyes darted about. He grabbed her arm. “Don’t, Senior Sister! I’m here under orders from Martial Uncle, the sect leader. He specifically asked me to have you try. If you don’t go, I won’t be able to explain myself to him!”
Seeing that Feng Qiwu remained unmoved, the young disciple began to wail. “Little cabbage, yellow in the field. Martial Uncle and Senior Sister don’t care about me…”
This young disciple was only eleven or twelve and looked exceedingly clever. His wailing gave Feng Qiwu a headache, and the hand resting on her sword hilt kept itching.
He was a little scamp. How was he anything like their Sword Sect’s disciples, who were all steady and upright? Unfortunately, he was her martial uncle’s disciple, so she could not say anything, or her martial uncle would come and have a word with her.
With a headache, Feng Qiwu pressed between her brows. “My little tormentor, can you stop wailing? I’ll go. I’ll go, alright?”
The moment Feng Qiwu agreed, the young disciple fell silent. There was not a single tear on his fair, tender cheeks. Clearly, it had been all thunder and no rain. Helplessly, Feng Qiwu pinched his cheek. “This is your only trick. Where is that shop? Shall we go take a look?”
By now, Feng Qiwu’s curiosity had also been aroused. What could have attracted so much attention from her own father that he had specifically sent her junior brother to bring her there?
Going out to broaden her horizons would be good too. Feng Qiwu and her junior brother went to Jiang Chan and Mo Yu’s shop. It was already early evening, and there were no other customers inside.
Mo Yu lay lazily over the counter. A feline, after all, always thought about sleeping.
Jiang Chan was arranging things on the shelves. Although she had not given away the Geng Metal Essence, many of the shop’s other spiritual materials had sold. She was considering when to return to the forest of magical beasts to restock.
The young disciple darted in through the door and called out as soon as he entered, “Assistant, show my senior sister that Geng Metal Essence! She hasn’t been here before. Bring it out and let her try, to see whether she’s its destined recipient.”
Jiang Chan turned to look. What met her eyes was a face with a heroic air, though she could tell it belonged to a young girl. With swordlike brows, starry eyes, and a slender figure, was this not Xiao Jin’s former master, Feng Qiwu?
Sensing Xiao Jin’s excited thoughts, Jiang Chan suppressed the unfamiliar emotion. She glanced at the broadsword on Feng Qiwu’s back. “How should I address this fellow Daoist? You’ve reached Foundation Establishment at such a young age, and you even seem to have developed sword intent. The Sword Sect truly is a sect with a legacy spanning thousands of years, with so many outstanding talents.”
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