“What kind of magical artifact is this?” Su Jing stared blankly at the rope binding him. He could feel the true qi in all his meridians draining away. A wave of helplessness washed over him, mixed with a touch of panic.

Liu Xiaolou knew perfectly well how powerful his treasure was. He didn’t dare keep it wrapped around Su Jing for too long. Forming a quick hand seal, he recalled the Groundbinding Spirit-Scattering Cord. It slipped back to his wrist and sank beneath the skin, once again becoming a bluish vein. Smiling, he asked, “Still not convinced?”

The loss of true qi stopped at once. Su Jing felt the weight lift from his chest and let out a long breath of relief. Shaking his head while catching his breath, he said, “That’s not it.”

For any cultivator, a good artifact was the clearest sign of strength. And when it came to treasures, sword cultivators valued them more than anyone. They would spend years searching and toiling just to forge a flying sword that truly suited them.

Take Su Jing’s own Tidewatching Sword, for example. His master, Bai Changzhen, had helped him gather the essence of sea shells from the islands of the South Sea, as its main material. It was refined for three full years in the rise and fall of the tides before it finally took shape. In truth, half of Su Jing’s cultivation efforts over those years had gone into this sword.

So losing out to such a treasure didn’t feel shameful in the least. “Brother-in-law, what’s the name of that cord?” he asked.

Of course, Liu Xiaolou couldn’t tell him its real name. After a moment’s thought, he gave it another: “This is my Sanxuan Sect’s treasured heirloom, the Mysterious True Cord.”

“May I take a look at it?” Su Jing asked.

“This cord isn’t something that can be shown lightly. Once it comes out, it binds.”

Su Jing straightened, a solemn look on his face. He climbed to his feet and cupped his hands. “I understand. Thank you for the lesson.”

The white goose flapped its wings with a loud squawk, then waddled off with a pompous air. The black cat trailed behind, glancing back at Su Jing now and then. With a sharp meow, it leapt onto the roof beams and disappeared from sight.

Su Jing asked again, “Brother-in-law, how was this Mysterious True Cord refined? What does it take to make such a treasure?” His tone carried genuine respect now, a true request for guidance.

This Thirteenth Young Master, who was now willingly calling him “brother-in-law,” was someone Liu Xiaolou found himself growing fond of, someone he felt a natural kinship with. Still, he couldn’t reveal the cord’s true origins. Instead, he offered an indirect answer.

“Refining an artifact isn’t so different from cultivating advanced arts. A weapon passed down from someone else might be usable, but more often than not, it won’t suit you. The ones that truly matter are those that have grown with you, weathered storms with you, even faced life and death by your side.”

Su Jing nodded. “Tempered in the midst of life and death.”

“Exactly.” Liu Xiaolou nodded, pleased. “Only then can you and the artifact breathe as one and endure hardship together. And if that isn’t possible, you must at least take part personally in its refining. This time, your brother-in-law went to Mount Jinting to help the Jinting Sect refine their grand protective formation. The master overseeing it was Grandmaster Tang… have you heard of him, Thirteenth Young Master?”

Su Jing’s expression grew serious. “Do you mean Grandmaster Tang Song, the formation master?”

Liu Xiaolou waved his hand. “Yes, that’s the one.”

“I’ve heard he’s at the same level as the elders of Mount Siming. Is that true??” Su Jing asked.

Liu Xiaolou chuckled. “Their cultivation levels are about the same, but within our field of formation masters, his reputation is just a bit higher. The Jinting Sect went out of their way to invite him from so far away to oversee the refining of their protective formation. That says it all. As for me? With my meager skills, how could I dare show off? Grandmaster Tang was kind enough not to dismiss me, and let me serve as his assistant, supervising the other formation masters while they refined the formation disks. Nothing more than that.”

“Ah… amazing! Please go on, brother-in-law.”

“Heh. While supervising, I noticed almost every formation master insisted on refining the disks with their own hands. Even Grandmaster Tang himself, he personally refined the core formation disk that served as the formation’s very heart. During that time, Elder Zhao of the Jinting Sect was there as well… you’ve heard of Elder Zhao, haven’t you?”

“Nascent Soul Elder Zhao Yongchun? A true master…”

“Exactly. He’s very kind and approachable. I learned a great deal from him, too. Even someone of his stature participated personally, giving it his full focus. In moments like that, rank or cultivation level made no difference at all.”

“I understand, brother-in-law. This Tidewatching Sword of mine, I did take part in refining it, but my master led the process. It still lacks the tempering of life-and-death trials.”

“As for tempering, there’s no need to rush. When the time comes, fate will provide the chance.”

“Brother-in-law…”

“Hm?”

“I’ll give it my all. One day, I’ll break into your great formation and challenge it head-on!”

“…Well, I believe in a few more years you’ll be able to do it.”

News of Liu Xiaolou’s return hadn’t yet spread, so he gained a stretch of peace to focus on opening his acupoints. Cultivation wasn’t limited to cultivating the meridians, but during the Qi Refinement stage, it was the foundation. Only after all the meridians were opened could one circulate qi through the body, build the Qi Sea, and eventually condense the Three Flowers.

Ever since his dual cultivation with Green Bamboo, the True Mysteries Scripture and the Yin-Yang Arts had merged into one, allowing him to open each acupoint along the meridians nearly twice as fast. Over the course of a year, he had already opened nine of the fourteen points along the Foot Faint Yin Meridian: Dadun, Xingjian, Taichong, Zhongfeng, Ligou, Zhongdu, Xiguan, Ququan, and Yinbao. The progress wasn’t as explosive as that first time dual cultivating when the bottleneck had broken wide open, but it was still far faster than his past self had ever managed.

Beyond that, training his sword light had always been one of his main focuses.

Even back at Mount Jinting, while refining formation disks and rushing between various earthfire vents, whenever no one was around, he would pour his true qi into the Three-Mystery Sword, tirelessly honing its sword light. Through relentless effort, that light had grown from barely an inch a year ago to over three inches now. A clear and impressive improvement.

What puzzled him, though, was that the sword light remained thin and soft. Compared to when it first appeared last year, it was still like a blade of grass. A longer blade of grass, a willow twig, a vine…

At least it had become sharper than before. With the added length, it was also more practical in battle, almost like wielding a flexible sword. Still, the way it stayed limp left him feeling it lacked presence, not quite something he could proudly show off.

Truly strange and baffling!

That aside, in less than three years since marrying into the Su family, he had already advanced two layers, from the third layer to the fifth, and was more than halfway through the fifth. His speed was remarkable, owed largely to never lacking for spirit stones.

He didn’t have to scramble and toil for resources. With regular meals of spirit rice, spirit wine, and spirit-bred fish and shrimp, his cultivation had been steady and secure, free of great risks or worries. Such was the benefit of joining the Su household.

It was a pity he’d never been to the back mountain of Shenwu Peak. To this day, he still hadn’t seen the Su clan’s spirit beast, the Water Serpent-Duck. He’d heard it was a water-type spiritual beast—hatchlings were born with innate water techniques, strong enough to rival a mid-stage Qi Refinement. Once grown, they had the strength of a late-stage Qi Refinement, and the exceptional ones could even fight a Foundation Establishment cultivator. They were one of the Su clan’s most important pillars of power.

These serpent-ducks made their home in White Dragon Pool behind the mountain. They fed on the nine-holed water chestnuts growing there, and also had a taste for golden-whiskered dragon carp, ao-shrimp, and giant toads. What they didn’t finish, the Su clan would catch for their own tables.

Liu Xiaolou himself was forbidden from entering the back mountain, though Big White and Little Black had both snuck in before. Once, when Big White came back on Little Black’s back, he was frozen stiff like a block of ice. Liu Xiaolou had to boil a pot of hot water and warm him up for a long while before the poor goose revived.

By his count, only three months remained until the three-year agreement. He probably wouldn’t get the chance to glimpse the serpent-ducks at all. In fact, not only would he miss seeing them, but shut away in the SunRain Hibiscus Garden, he barely even saw the Su family themselves. Aside from servants delivering his meals on schedule, almost no one from the clan came by to look in on him.

Liu Xiaolou, for his part, didn’t mind. If the Su clan didn’t want to see him, well, he wasn’t eager to see them either.

Of course, not every Su family member. Aside from Susu, hadn’t he just gained a younger brother-in-law who actually acknowledged him?