CHAPTER 47: GOLDEN AZURE SWORD AND HUANG VALLEY TRIALS

Li Shen stepped out of his cultivation cave. Suddenly, it was already late at night, and Li Shen had no idea how long he had been inside the cave.

He looked ahead and saw with a shocked expression that the Azure Pillar Sect was quiet and deserted, with no activity whatsoever as many of the disciples were resting. Li Shen flew down, arrived at the sect area and set foot right in front of the main courtyard.

"This place is too quiet," Li Shen said.

Since he didn’t see anything there, he stepped back and walked towards the main building of the sect. When the door opened, Li Shen was startled to find Ruo Fei asleep, wrapped in a thick blanket and sitting leaning back in a soft chair in the middle of the hall. It was the chair that Li Shen used to sit in.

Li Shen smiled. He slowly stepped forward without a sound, without a vibration, and without any spiritual energy. He didn’t want to wake Ruo Fei, who was still fast asleep and comfortable.

"Li... Shen," Ruo Fei called out from her subconscious.

The man crouched down, his hands reaching out to tuck Ruo Fei’s black hair behind her ear, revealing the beautiful face of the woman Li Shen wanted to protect.

If Li Shen lifted her, there was a chance Ruo Fei would wake up from her sleep. But if Li Shen sat down next to her, it would make Ruo Fei uncomfortable and wake her up.

In the end, Li Shen chose to sleep leaning against the wooden chair. That way, Li Shen would still be able to watch over Ruo Fei.

***

The next day.

The Main Building of the Azure Pillar Sect.

"Achoo!"

Ruo Fei slowly woke up, opened her eyes and saw Li Shen sitting leaning against the wooden chair. Ruo Fei was really taken aback. She didn’t expect Li Shen to sleep there all night.

"Li Shen?" asked Ruo Fei.

But Li Shen remained silent and didn’t respond. It seemed that the people at Lotus Hill Sect had caused Li Shen to exhaust a lot of his spiritual energy. That was why Li Shen was fast asleep from exhaustion after yesterday’s events.

The main building of the sect opened, Ruo Fei’s loyal servant came to help Ruo Fei. Yet, how surprised she was to see Li Shen near Ruo Fei, sleeping on the floor with his body leaning against a wooden chair.

"What happened?" asked Ruo Fei’s loyal servant, curious.

"It looks like he came last night. He saw me sleeping here, but he didn’t want to disturb me," replied Ruo Fei with a smile.

"You may leave. I will stay with Li Shen," requested Ruo Fei.

Her loyal servant responded with a nod. She took a few steps back as she said goodbye, then turned around and walked towards the main building of the sect.

Two hours passed, Ruo Fei was still sitting on the chair, waiting for Li Shen to wake up. Slowly, the moment Ruo Fei had been waiting for happened. Li Shen’s eyes opened slowly, he turned his head and saw that his woman had woken up.

"Fei’er?" Li Shen greeted her.

"Li Shen," Ruo Fei replied.

Their hands clasped each other tightly, their hearts pounding with wide smiles on their faces. They felt relieved and happy for each other, their foreheads touching as they embraced.

"Thank you for coming back, Li Shen," said Ruo Fei.

"Of course. I will never leave you and this sect," said Li Shen.

"I’ve done it," Li Shen added, leaving Ruo Fei confused, but she was certain he was referring to the Lotus Hill Sect.

Li Shen tapped his magic pouch, summoning a golden sword with an Azure dragon pattern on the hilt and blade. Ruo Fei was amazed; the sword was no ordinary weapon, as a powerful spiritual energy aura emanated from within it.

"Show yourself, Bai Shan!" Li Shen said firmly.

A ball of spiritual energy flew out from the blade of the sword, revealing the sword spirit, which was small about the size of an adult male’s hand. Bai Shan smiled and introduced himself to Ruo Fei.

Ruo Fei smiled and asked about Bai Shan. Li Shen said that Bai Shan was the sword spirit.

The ancient sword was famous for its power, but when combined with a sword spirit, its power and durability increased many times over.

Ruo Fei continued to smile, as if attracted by her interaction with the sword spirit Bai Shan. Not only that, Ruo Fei had a special interest in the ancient sword.

"What is the name of the sword?" asked Ruo Fei.

"The Golden Azure Sword," replied Li Shen.

"The Golden Azure Sword, that’s a good name.

"If you like it, you can have it, Fei’er," said Li Shen, deciding to give the sword to Ruo Fei.

"Eh? I can’t accept it, my body is unstable. I’m worried that the sword will become useless if it is mine, " said Ruo Fei.

Li Shen shook his head. Although Ruo Fei was still trapped in her cultivation curse, that didn’t mean she couldn’t use her abilities.

According to Li Shen, Ruo Fei could still use her abilities, even if only for small things. The Golden Azure Sword would be very useful to Ruo Fei if she fully recovered.

"That sword will be useful to you later. That’s why I want you to hold it for me," Li Shen requested.

Li Shen placed Bai Shan into the blade of the sword. He took the sword and gave it to Ruo Fei, who reluctantly accepted the beautiful sword named Golden Azure Sword.

"I will return it to you if I think my abilities are not enough to use this sword," replied Ruo Fei.

"Of course."

***

One week later.

Azure Pillar Sect.

The day that Hao Ziyue and Xiao Bai had been waiting for had arrived. They stood in the front yard of the sect, right in front of Li Shen, Ye Fa, Gu Mei, and Ruo Fei.

"The Huang Valley Trials will be held in the Gu City area. There, there is a mysterious portal created by cultivators in the past to travel to another dimension. We call it the Huang Valley Trials," explained Ye Fa.

"You and Ziyue have obtained participation tokens. Your task in this trial is to go there and find the most valuable treasure," replied Ye Fa.

"The winner of the Huang Valley Trials is decided by how valuable the item obtained by the cultivator is. You are only allowed to submit one item for review," added Ye Fa.

"Do you understand?" asked Ye Fa. Hao Ziyue and Xiao Bai nodded in understanding.

Li Shen stepped forward, directly toward them. He advised the two to remain cautious and vigilant. The Huang Valley Trials were not only filled with monsters, but also other cultivators.

"You will face double the threats. So stay together and don’t act recklessly," explained Li Shen.

"Yes, Sect Master."

"Are you coming with us?" asked Hao Ziyue. Li Shen shook his head.

"Elder Ye will accompany you. I must stay here to guard the sect," explained Li Shen.

Hao Ziyue looked down, feeling sad that he couldn’t show his best abilities in front of Li Shen.

As they were talking before sending Hao Ziyue and Xiao Bai to Gu City, Li Xun flew over quickly, accompanied by two elders from the Li family. Ruo Fei smiled and called out to Li Xun softly.

"Xun’er," Ruo Fei greeted her, and Li Xun smiled back.

"Mother. I have good news for you," Li Xun explained, looking at Li Shen.

"What is it?" Li Shen asked.

"I found where the Nature Baby Fruit is!"