Chapter 136: Success!

Both combatants unleashed their saber qi in unison, sending it sweeping over the opposition in the same instant that their two sabers clashed.

Fang Che backtracked two steps from the force of the clash, and on his second step, he sprang thirty feet up into the air in a backward somersault.

Upon launching himself into the air, he immediately unleashed Sun Yuan's Soaring Saber Techniques.

The white-robed man was clearly very taken aback.

He had seized the initiative and lashed out at Fang Che without any warning, yet even though Fang Che was caught off guard and was late to draw his saber, he had managed to defend himself adequately before using the force of the clash to vault himself up into the air and transition seamlessly into a counterattack.

This was a display of immense battle experience unbefitting someone of his age.

The white-robed man took a step forward and raised his saber upward like a torch, but his direction of force exertion was downward.

Fang Che could immediately feel that his assailant's power was dragging him down toward the ground, and he twisted around in mid-air slashing his saber downward, slicing a gash into the white-robed man's saber qi.

Once again, a look of surprise appeared on the white-robed man's face, and he forcefully parried Fang Che's attack, but used a little too much power, sending Fang Che flying back through the air.

An anxious look appeared in his eyes, concerned that he had injured Fang Che, but Fang Che hadn't resisted his power at all, allowing himself to drift back through the air like a weightless feather before descending back down to the ground in a stable fashion.

He was still in a battle-ready stance, having already adjusted his own body position in mid-air, so there was not even a split-second of vulnerability for his opponent to take advantage of.

However, the white-robed man didn't unleash any further attacks.

Instead, he returned his saber to its scabbard, and Fang Che noticed that as he did this, what sounded like a dragon's roar rang out from his saber.

Furthermore, it was a roar that possessed emotion, namely a sense of reluctance, as if the saber didn't want to return to its scabbard.

Clearly, the white-robed man's saber was a divine weapon that possessed full spirituality!

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The white-robed man sized up Fang Che with keen interest as he asked, "Where did you learn your saber techniques from, kid?"

Despite the brevity of their clash, Fang Che was already able to tell that the white-robed man had attained a set of flawless saber techniques, but they were different from the flawless saber forms enclosed in the Boundless Sutra.

"I learned from my master, Soaring Saber King Sun Yuan!" Fang Che declared.

"Bullshit!" the white-robed man scoffed.

He examined Fang Che's stance momentarily, then remarked, "Not bad."

"Who are you?" Fang Che asked again.

As opposed to answering the question, the white-robed man said, "Someone asked me to deliver this to you. Catch!"

He tossed a rectangular object at Fang Che as he spoke, and Fang Che parried it to the ground with his saber as opposed to catching it with his hands.

The rectangular object fell to the ground, where it left a small pothole.

It was a piece of dark purple metal.

"Aren't you a careful one?" the white-robed man scoffed. "That's the divine metal that you asked for."

Fang Che faltered slightly upon hearing this, then asked for a third time, "Who are you?"

However, once again, the question was left unanswered.

"Make sure you don't die! I'll come find you again once you've reached the Sovereign tier or above. Also, you better forge a saber with this piece of divine metal!"

The white-robed man took one last glance at Fang Che, then took a step backward.

Fang Che was struck by a peculiar sensation, as if the white-robed man had just backed out of this isolated, self-contained world with that single step.

With his departure, the entire world instantly fell away, and Fang Che could even see the cracks in space that were left behind.

Immediately thereafter, he returned to the familiar street that would take him back to the Virtue Manor, and all of the surrounding heavy mist had faded away.

It was as if that brief run-in with the white-robed man had been nothing more than a dream.

What just happened?

Fang Che was perplexed.

The piece of divine metal was still laying on the ground, so it couldn't have been a dream.

Thinking back to the white-robed man's aura, his unmatched saber techniques, and the fact that he had delivered this piece of divine metal to him on behalf of Dongfang Sansan...

Could it be that I just met the most powerful Guardian, Xue Fuxiao?

Fang Che's eyes instantly lit up with excitement.

Xue Fuxiao was his number one idol, someone that he never had the privilege and honor of meeting in his past life!

Was it him?

Fang Che picked up the piece of divine metal to discover that it was very heavy for its size.

It was around six feet in length and roughly the same thickness as his calf.

A piece of divine metal of this size could be crafted into any one of the Four Kingly Arms. In fact, it was far more than enough to forge a sword.

The white-robed man had told him to forge it into a saber, but there was no way he was going to do that.

His first piece of divine metal had to be forged into a spear!

He began to think through his future plans as he made his way home. He had to train all of the Four Kingly Arms, and divine weapons were a necessity as well, but he had no expectations of reaching the very top in all four weapons.

Instead, his idea was that mastering these four weapons would open up more opportunities for him in the demonic churches.

Given his level of aptitude, if he could master all of the Four Kingly Arms, then that would give him a wide array of options when searching for a new backer above Yin Shengong.

***

Upon returning home, he set the piece of divine metal down in his study, then immediately went into the underground secret chamber.

Mu Linyuan was looking a little better, but it was still going to take him some more time to completely eradicate Dong Changfeng's spear intent.

By the looks of it, he would be lucky to be fully healed within twenty days.

"How has your cultivation gone today?"

"It went well. I reached the second rank."

"Splendid! At the very least, you have to reach the fourth rank before the Parasite Ascension Project. Even then, the vast majority of the participants will have a cultivation base advantage over you, so you have to be careful."

"I will. Have you eaten yet, Uncle-master Mu?"

"I have. That little maidservant of yours is proving to be quite useful."

After chatting for a while, Fang Che could see that Mu Linyuan was looking a little weary, so he stood up to depart.

"I'll leave you to rest, Uncle-master Mu."

"Alright. There's no need to come down here to chat with me every day. You should be dedicating all of your time to cultivation."

He felt very lonely and trapped in this secret chamber, so it warmed his heart that Fang Che took some time every day to come and chat with him, but he was also worried that this would hinder Fang Che's cultivation.

Fang Che departed from the secret chamber, then closed the door behind him.

Now that he was certain that Mu Linyuan wouldn't suddenly come up to interrupt him, it was time to begin integrating the piece of divine metal.

***

Fang Che sat down with his legs crossed in his study, then laid the piece of divine metal across his legs.

From there, he tapped fully into his spirit sense, and he grabbed onto the divine metal when he felt his own focus and concentration reach their peak.

After that, he injected his spirit sense into the divine metal, searching for the faint spirituality inside.

All divine metals possessed a hint of spirituality that could be integrated with one's soul, and once a certain level of familiarity was reached, the divine metal's form could be slowly altered according to the will of the person that it was bonded to.

However, once that change was complete, the two would become inseparable, and that was why the weapons of the most powerful warriors were always destroyed upon their demise.

The divine metal was extremely dense and heavy, but Fang Che didn't feel much resistance as he injected his spirit sense into it.

The biggest difference between divine metals and normal metals was that the former possessed limitless capacity.

Weapons forged using divine weapons may not necessarily be sharper than others, but they possessed a limitless potential.

For the average wind steel sword, a projection of sword qi of six feet was already the limit. If the wielder were to push the sword beyond that, then it was very likely to break. However, a divine sword could withstand sword qi projection of six hundred feet, six thousand feet...

There was simply no comparison between the two.

Fang Che's spirit sense slowly roamed through the divine metal's interior, and he could sense a faint will trying to avoid him with all its might.

It was like a fearful little fairy wandering through a boundless expanse of darkness.

It was lonely, timid, helpless, anxious...

Fang Che's spirit sense released a burst of warm power that converged toward the faint will from all directions, leaving the vulnerable fairy with nowhere to hide.

In the end, it could only cower in a corner of the divine metal, trembling incessantly, watching in despair as a vast wave of warmth and light slowly swept toward it.

Finally, the little fairy was enveloped by dazzling light from all directions, and it could only helplessly accept the radiant embrace.

However, it then experienced a sense of boundless warmth, and it felt much better than being all on its own in the darkness.

Its despair turned to hope, and it felt like even its heart were being warmed up.

"You'll never be lonely again with me, little guy."

The little fairy was enveloped by warm and affectionate intent, and it didn't struggle any longer.

It had been alone in the darkness for thousands, perhaps even tens of thousands of years, and the joy of having a companion after all this time washed over it like a wave.

It began to skip around in the warm spirit sense, wandering this bright new world with wonder and amazement.

It was as if it were getting to know its own home again for the very first time.

After some exploring, it returned to the center, where it felt warmest and most comfortable, then darted away again before quickly returning a second time.

In the end, it laid down in the heart of the warmth and fell asleep.

Fang Che was finally able to heave a sigh of relief.

He had done it!