43: Invincible Kitchen Knife 1

[Introduction to this mission's plot]:

This is a Cultivation World in its Dharma-Ending Age, where Spiritual Qi is sparse.

The Original Owner was an ordinary kitchen knife... This ordinary kitchen knife was a birthday gift made for Su Xue by her parents before they passed away.

It accompanied Su Xue as she grew from a young child with hanging hair to a young woman of marriageable age.

Over fifteen years, it chopped wild vegetables dug from barren slopes, lean bones bought in town, and radishes stored in the cellar for winter.

When the blade dulled, Su Xue would sharpen it again with a whetstone.

The handle developed a warm patina from the light calluses on her palms.

One night, while Su Xue was slicing cured meat, a drop of blood carrying her body heat splashed onto the kitchen knife, unexpectedly causing it to develop self-awareness.

It had no name or title; it only saw that when Su Xue held it, even the hardest bones could be easily chopped through.

The kitchen knife triumphantly gave itself a name—the invincible kitchen knife.

But only a few days after its sentience awakened, an Elder of the Jade Maiden Sect passed through the small town and immediately recognized Su Xue as a rare "Innate Spirit Body" seen only once in a millennium, offering her an olive branch on the spot.

Su Xue clutched the kitchen knife and cried for half the night, but in the end, her eyes were dazzled by the Great Dao of Cultivation, and she departed on a flying sword with the Elder.

Afterward, she casually tossed the invincible kitchen knife into a broken clay jar in the corner of the stove.

No one knew that the kitchen knife waited in the darkness day after day.

Listening to the dust settling in the kitchen and the rain leaking through the roof, the blade gradually became covered in dust.

Later, the farmhouse changed hands, and the new owner, finding it took up too much space, threw it onto the woodpile in the backyard, leaving it to the wind and rain.

It watched its iron body rust and its edge dull, its sentience weakening bit by bit under the erosion of time, yet it always held onto a grudge.

Why did fifteen years of companionship not measure up to the phrase "Cultivation Opportunity"?

Two hundred years passed in the blink of an eye; the woodpile had long since been burned away, and the iron body of the invincible kitchen knife had decayed into a pile of red rust.

Before its last bit of consciousness dissipated, only two obsessions remained:

First, to make Su Xue regret abandoning it all those years ago with heart-wrenching pain.

Second, to tread the path of immortality and become a Divine Artifact feared and respected by everyone in the Cultivation World.

So that she, who had long since achieved Immortal Ascension, would not even have the qualification to look up to it.

[Plot introduction complete]

"Interesting... I'll help with this."

With those words, Qin Jiuge directly threw out a wisp of Grandmist Immortal Fire, which flew toward the world where the invincible kitchen knife was located... As the Grandmist Immortal Fire refined the rust-covered blade,

within the sentience of the invincible kitchen knife,

half was the resentment from rusting in the woodpile for two hundred years,

and half was the warmth of fifteen years spent chopping vegetables together.

It condensed into a three-foot blade, with red patterns wrapping the handle and a cold edge reflecting light,

Its first reaction was not to show off its prowess at the Thousand Treasures Convention,

but to fly toward the Jade Maiden Sect.

It wanted to see Su Xue.

It wanted to ask her why she hadn't looked back then.

If she were willing to admit her mistake and ask it to stay, perhaps... it could still follow her.

But before it even reached the mountain gate of the Jade Maiden Sect, it heard cries coming from the foot of the mountain.

The invincible kitchen knife hid its aura and landed on an ancient tree. Looking down, its eyes nearly split from rage.

Over a dozen Jade Maiden Sect Disciples were surrounding a village, their whips lashing the villagers until they rolled on the ground in pain.

The woman leading them, dressed in white with a beautiful face, was none other than the Su Xue the kitchen knife had thought of for two hundred years!

"Just a bunch of mere mortals, yet you dare to hide Spiritual Plants?"

Su Xue's voice was cold as she stepped on an old farmer's hand.

The old farmer screamed in pain, but she smiled cruelly.

"Burn the village down. Take the men to the mines,"

"and take the women... back to be servants for the Disciples."

"Sect Master, have mercy! Those Spiritual Plants are for saving lives!"

The old farmer cried and begged for mercy, his forehead bleeding from kowtowing.

But Su Xue kicked him away in disgust.

"Saving lives? In my eyes, your lives aren't even as precious as a single hair from my Disciples. Do it!"

The Disciples immediately lit torches and threw them at the thatched huts. Flames shot into the sky as cries and screams rose one after another.

Su Xue stood before the flames, her white clothes as pure as snow, but there was no warmth in her eyes. Instead, they held a sort of morbid pleasure.

Having been an immortal for three hundred years, she had long forgotten the hardships of the small town back then.

She had forgotten her parents' final instructions.

Power and cultivation had long since turned her into a demon who oppressed the common people.

The invincible kitchen knife hung in the tree, its body trembling violently—not from excitement, but from rage!

It remembered how, back then, Su Xue would hold it to chop wild vegetables and share her only white flour buns with begging children.

It remembered how, when her parents passed away, she held it and cried, saying she would be a good person and never bully anyone... But now, how had she become like this?

"Su Xue..."

The spiritual sense of the invincible kitchen knife carried a bone-chilling coldness.

It finally understood that being abandoned back then was no accident.

It was because, in this woman's heart,

there had only ever been her own Great Dao of Cultivation, without a shred of sentiment!

Two hundred years of waiting had become a joke at this moment.

The last bit of warmth in its heart was instantly incinerated by its rage.

It turned and flew away, the blade cutting through the air and leaving a cold arc behind.

From then on, it no longer held any nostalgia.

It had only one thought:

To make Su Xue pay a thousandfold, tenfold price for her evil and for abandoning it!

To make her kneel on the ground and beg for its forgiveness, yet not even have the qualification to approach it!

...Three days later, the Thousand Treasures Convention opened as scheduled.

The invincible kitchen knife, wrapped in coarse cloth, landed directly on the highest auction stage.

The blade vibrated, shattering the coarse cloth, and the lustrous white edge lit up the entire venue.

"Hmm? What's the deal with this kitchen knife falling from the sky?!"

"This kitchen knife... such strong Spiritual Qi!"

"It's at least a Top-Grade Spiritual Artifact!"

...Amidst the discussions, Su Xue also arrived.

She had just finished suppressing a village that "dared to resist."

She was in a good mood and wanted to find a treasure at the convention that could help her break through to the Tribulation Crossing Stage.

But when she saw that kitchen knife, her pupils shrank. This familiar feeling... the curve of the blade, the feel of the handle—it was clearly the one she had left on the stove back then!

"Impossible... Two hundred years have passed. That kitchen knife should have rusted into ash long ago!"

"Could it be a Divine Artifact?"

"I knew it! Why else would my parents give me a kitchen knife!"

Su Xue's heart skipped a beat, immediately followed by a surge of ecstasy.

"If I can reunite with it, with its Spiritual Qi, it will definitely help me break through!"

Just as she was about to speak, the Young Lord of the Heavenly Thunder Sect suddenly jumped out, holding an ancient immortal sword flickering with lightning.

"Where did this crappy kitchen knife come from, daring to occupy the auction stage?"

"My 'startling thunder sword' is an Immortal Artifact. I'll shatter you, you common iron!"

Before he finished speaking, the startling thunder sword lunged at the invincible kitchen knife with a thunderstorm.

A flicker of anticipation flashed in Su Xue's eyes.

She wanted to see the quality of this old knife.

If it were fragile, there would be no need to fight for it.

But in the next second,

the invincible kitchen knife suddenly swept out. With a flash of cold light from the blade and a crisp "crack,"

the startling thunder sword was actually snapped in half! The cut was smooth, and the lightning instantly dissipated.

"My Immortal Artifact!"

The Young Lord of the Heavenly Thunder Sect screamed and spat out blood, collapsing to the ground.

After a moment of dead silence, a world-shaking cry erupted from the crowd:

"A Divine Artifact! This kitchen knife is a Divine Artifact that can cut through Immortal Artifacts!"

Su Xue's heart pounded wildly. Greed gnawed at her like a venomous snake.

This knife was originally hers! She had to have it!

She immediately forced a smile and called out as tenderly as a wife:

"Knife, I know it's you!"

"I was wrong back then. I shouldn't have left you behind!"

"Come back to the Jade Maiden Sect with me. I'll give you the best resources,"

"and make you the strongest Divine Artifact!"

"I will definitely... treat you well from now on!"

The surrounding Cultivators all looked askance.

Everyone knew Su Xue was notoriously ruthless.

Seeing her being so "tender" to a kitchen knife now,

she was clearly trying to seize the treasure.

The invincible kitchen knife slowly turned toward her, its body gleaming with cold light, its spiritual sense full of mockery.

Seeing the kitchen knife remain unmoved, Su Xue tried to play the emotional card:

"Everything from the past... do you really not remember?"

The invincible kitchen knife was silent:

"Everything from the past..."

"The past..."

"Are you talking about the past?"

The invincible kitchen knife couldn't help but fall into memory... fifteen years of companionship with Su Xue, her heartless departure, and its own two hundred years of lonely waiting.

During those two hundred years, it had always hoped Su Xue would come looking for it, but this woman was so heartless.

At this moment, the invincible kitchen knife's heart was filled with sorrow:

Su Xue, you've changed. Cultivation really does turn people bad. You are no longer the Su Xue I knew!

When you were stepping on that old farmer's hand just now, why didn't you think about what was "wrong"?

When you burned the village, why didn't you think about what you "shouldn't" have done?

At this moment, the invincible kitchen knife had made up its mind; it had completely drawn a line between itself and this heartless woman!

"Do you have anything else to say?"

Hearing the other party's dismissive tone, Su Xue's face instantly froze, and she then became angry out of embarrassment:

"You were mine to begin with. If you know what's good for you, come with me!"

"Otherwise, I'll dismantle you, you crappy kitchen knife!"

She revealed her true nature, her tone cold and threatening.

The surrounding Cultivators were in an uproar.

So Fairy Su Xue's "tenderness" toward the old item was all an act!

"Dismantle me?"

The invincible kitchen knife laughed, its laughter filled with extreme mockery.

"With just you?"

It suddenly swung, and a burst of Saber Qi grazed Su Xue's cheek, splitting the auction stage behind her in half.

Wood chips splashed onto Su Xue, and she backed away repeatedly in fright, her face pale.

"I bid one billion High-Grade Spirit Stones!"

At this time, the Sect Head of the Ten Thousand Sword Sect suddenly called out a bid:

"Lord invincible kitchen knife, come back to the Ten Thousand Sword Sect with me, and I will honor you as our Guardian Divine Artifact!"

"I bid two billion! Plus three Nine-Cycle Soul-Returning Grasses!"

"I bid three ancient Divine Artifact fragments!"

Bidding voices suddenly exploded. Watching this scene, Su Xue trembled all over with rage.

She wanted to bid too, but the Jade Maiden Sect's fortune had long since been spent by her on building a luxurious Immortal Cave and buying Medicinal Pills; she couldn't produce any decent chips at all.

She could only watch helplessly as the major Sects frantically vied for the kitchen knife she had once discarded like trash, jealousy and rage burning in her heart like fire.

In the end, the invincible kitchen knife was bought by the Ten Thousand Sword Sect for "one ancient immortal sword plus three billion High-Grade Spirit Stones."

As it left with the Sect Head of the Ten Thousand Sword Sect, it intentionally circled in front of Su Xue, the cold light of the blade falling on her face:

"Su Xue, didn't you want to seize me?"

"Watch closely. From now on, you will only drift further and further away from me."

Su Xue looked at the back of the invincible kitchen knife, a trace of ruthlessness flashing in her eyes.

If she couldn't have it, no one else would!

...The Ten Thousand Sword Sect treated the invincible kitchen knife like an ancestor.

But it didn't covet the crystal palace or spiritual liquid at all.

Every day, it went out to "patrol."

Wherever there were Cultivators oppressing the common people, its Saber Qi would appear.

When Cultivators from the Black Wind Stockade stole grain from a village,

the invincible kitchen knife split the stockade leader in one blow and returned the grain to the villagers.

When a certain Sect's Elder forcibly abducted a woman,

it directly severed the Elder's immortal bone, turning him into a cripple.

It even dared to go head-to-head with a Tribulation Crossing Stage old monster who had embezzled disaster-relief Spiritual Plants.

With one strike, it shattered the opponent's defensive Magic Treasure, forcing the old monster to kneel and beg for mercy.

Over time, the invincible kitchen knife became known as the "God of the Just Saber" in the Cultivation World.

The common people built shrines to it while it was still "alive," and Cultivators spoke of it with both respect and fear.

Meanwhile, Su Xue hated it more and more.

She was jealous of its fame.

She was jealous of its strength.

And even more jealous that everyone revered it, yet feared her.

"Sect Master, that invincible kitchen knife is far too arrogant,"

"if this continues, our Jade Maiden Sect's reputation will be completely suppressed by it!"

The Disciples were indignant.

Su Xue's face darkened, and a malicious scheme flashed in her eyes:

"Hmph, it's just a broken knife, isn't it?"

"I have a way to make its reputation go down in ruins!"

She had dozens of villagers captured and brought to the mountain gate of the Ten Thousand Sword Sect, intentionally making them cry out:

"Lord invincible kitchen knife! Please save us!"

"The Sect Master of the Jade Maiden Sect said that if you don't go with her, she will kill us!"

She calculated that the invincible kitchen knife would come out, wanting everyone to believe its "stubbornness" had harmed the villagers, thereby ruining its reputation.