“You’re talking to me?!” Tai Hua dropped the sword in a panic. It fell to the ground with a sharp clang. He ran back a distance and stared at it. Really, it was just an ornate sword…

‘Who else would I be addressing?’ 

Tai Hua stayed in position, stunned. 

Where have I heard of a talking sword before? Think… think…

Swords don’t talk. It’s common sense. However, from the back of his mind, he could recall a story in which something had possessed a sword, leading it to be able to communicate with living things.

The story goes as such:

A young prince of the kingdom, out shopping one day, was captivated by the captive beauty of the swords of a charlatan. Whether the swords be real or fake, the designs on the hilt were still intricate. 

“Good merchant! Where could one find the creator of these forgings?” He asked.

“Your majesty,” the charlatan bragged, “I myself had found these materials for this sword amongst the foot of the nearby San Mountain.” Even in the face of royalty, he could not stop lying- perhaps this youth would be gullible enough to fall for such tricks and he could sit atop a pile of riches.

The prince's eyes widened. San Mountain was notorious for being no-man's-land, teeming with evil creatures and spirits. He replied, wide-eyed, “Merchant, if I can acquire the materials, can you get me a personalized sword of the exact quality?”

The merchant(?) hesitated. Was the prince so gullible that he would fall for such a bald-faced bluff? He suddenly felt somewhat bad for attempting to trick such a person.

“O-of course, your majesty. However, the materials are very difficult to procure. You would be better off just buying one from me right now… I can even give you half-off on this!”

The prince frowned. “Ah, but that wouldn’t be the same.”

Try as he may, the charlatan kept on asking the prince not to go, but to no avail.

Around two weeks later, the charlatan had kept the incident in the back of his mind, but had mostly let go of it. To his surprise, the prince had come back, and this time with several servants pulling carts.

“Good merchant- I’m back! I have both the materials and the blueprint!” He beamed.

The charlatan was unsure how to react. He hesitated, before the prince motioned him towards the carts to take a look.

Lifting the fabric, he found a pile of  different ores. The prince really did go out of his way to mine the materials aforementioned.

“I wasn’t sure which one would be the best, so I took a small amount of each.” He thrust the blueprint into the charlatan’s hands. “Can you make it now?”

The charlatan could not do anything except for stutter. 

“Oh! I’ll give you as much time as you need- and I can pay you in advance!” 

He accepted the money hesitantly, and contacted a blacksmith. He gave the smith the blueprint. When asked for any particular materials, the charlatan waved his hand. 

“Any old ore will do.”

As for the ores that the prince had provided, he found his way to a man who could possibly know what to do with them- a cultivator by the name of Fu Xing.

Fu Xing was a man who was known for cultivating the “wrong path”- a style of cultivation using demonic energy. Knowing that everything originating from San mountain carried some sort of dark energy, he figured that Fu Xing would be his best bet.

Following this, the charlatan sold the ores to Fu Xing- on one hand, it was to make money. On the other hand, if he were to be arrested for swindling royalty, at least he could direct the fire to Fu Xing.

Following this…

‘Kid. You’ve been in a fugue state for the past 20 minutes.’

Tai Hua snapped back to reality. He looked at the sword. Was it possible that there was another case of a talking sword that was not directly connected to the sword forged by Fu Xing? 

After all, aside from the flashy pattern, there was nothing particularly evil about this sword. In fact, it even had a sort of heavenly beauty. With his senses, he found that there was basically no energy coming from the sword.

What a mystery.

“Sword, is there by any chance that you are connected to the story of Fu Xing?” He asked.

There was no reply.

He kept on thinking about it, when he realised: He'd been out for way too long. Lunch break was probably long over. 

He slowly ripped a bit off the bottom of his overcoat and wrapped the entire sword in it like he was bandaging an arm.

I’ll just take this back, for now. I can figure it out later, for now, I’ll just focus on not getting punished too harshly.

Following the same narrow tunnels that had taken him to the cave, he moved quickly. Finally reaching a dim light, he saw that the sun was already setting. At this rate, when he got back, he would be super late for curfew. 

He ran as quickly as he could, careful not to drop the sword. Finally reaching the huge walls surrounding the sect, he spotted Dong ShuangZui at the entrance, holding a lantern. 

Sneaking away from the entrance of the sect, Tai Hua quietly climbed over the wall and tried to sneak into dorms. 

“Ah, there you are.” 

Tai Hua nearly jumped out of his skin.

“Es-esteemed elder Dong! I was…”

“Aha, you took the curfew thing to heart, huh?” Dong ShuangZui let out a light chuckle. “It’s ok, I’ve already informed the sect leader of this. You’re not in any trouble… although you should have informed an elder of your departure rather than run off after only telling a disciple.”

Whoever this disciple is, Tai Hua definitely is indebted to now!

“No matter. However, while you curfew is already extended, it is still almost time for you too to go to bed. Try not to disturb the other disciples too much, or else I’ll take away this privilege.”

Tai Hua bowed deeply, before turning around to go to the dorms, holding the sword as inconspicuous as he could. Dong ShuangZui turned around and said nothing, continuing to patrol the interior with a lantern.

‘Are you a student here?’

The sword finally spoke.

Tai Hua whispered, “You shouldn’t speak. You’ll get discovered.”

‘No matter.’ It replied nonchalantly. ‘You’re the only one who can hear me anyway.’

How convenient. Tai Hua said nothing as the sword kept talking.

‘That guy was really something, huh? I don’t mean it in a negative way, but he feels very weak-willed. This sect… is filled with people like him? How disappointing.’

This sword really was evil. 

‘Oh, but I mean no offense… Please don’t toss me into a ravine or something.’

Tai Hua continued to walk through the halls to the boy’s dormitory, ignoring the sword’s jabbering. Quietly changing his clothes so as to not wake up the disciples who were already sleeping, he tucked the wrapped sword between the straw mat and the wooden slats. It finally shut up.

Finally, peace has been achieved. Tai Hua shut his eyes, and prepared to get little to no sleep- after all, he had to wake up earlier in the morning than others. To sweep the damn exterior gate… 

‘Psst. Kid are you sleeping now? Why did you put me in here?’

Ah, what a pain.

Tai Hua whispered in the lowest voice he could- 

“Please, talking sword. Allow me to get some rest.”

‘How about I tell you some… say… cultivation techniques? You seem to be into that. I haven't spoken to anyone in a REALLY long time, can you please listen?’

Tai Hua slightly perked his ears in interest.

“Ok. I'm listening.”

‘Wonderful! Have you heard of a breathing technique called “Demonic Emperor’s Breathing”?’

Tai Hua murmured, “yea. It's forbidden, though…”

‘Ah? For real?’

“Mn.”

‘Ok… the “Mu Qi Breathing”?’

“Mn.”

‘Does that mean yes? Nevermind. I believe I felt the presence of a tree earlier. As you are aware, every life form has its own type of energy. By usurping the energy from those life-forms, you can cultivate to the top!’

Tai Hua turned down that idea. Whispering, “It sounds eerily similar to forms of Demonic Cultivation- what with the stealing from other living things. I'm good with just regular breathing.”

‘Sigh. Kid, let me tell you something. That mindset is probably the reason why you're still at the second realm. I don't believe I've seen someone else fail this hard at cultivating.’

Tai Hua tensed up. 

‘Come on, just follow my advice! I know what I'm doing!’

Tai Hua opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. A talking sword was begging him to cultivate a darker path. Ah, what a situation this is. 

“I will, if you tell me who, or what you are first. How could I trust you if I don't even know that fact?”

The sword fell silent. After a moment, it replied.

'You're the only one I can talk to as of now, so I suppose I will.’