86: You are my master

Su Mengyao's mind was still in a daze from today's experiences.

It wasn't until Shen Lian told her to leave that she finally reacted: "Where do you want me to go?"

"You can go wherever you want. It has nothing to do with me!"

Hearing Shen Lian say this, Su Mengyao immediately knelt before him.

"Hm? What are you doing!"

Seeing her attitude, a cold glint shot from Shen Lian's eyes.

Su Mengyao: "Revered Master, where are you sending this Disciple?"

"Shut up. Who is your Revered Master!" Shen Lian was furious. "When did I ever agree to be your Revered Master!"

Su Mengyao: "Revered Master, have you forgotten the words you said when you saved this Disciple in the main hall of the Chess Sword Pavilion so quickly? You said Nangong Li was not fit to be my Revered Master and that you were willing to take me as your Disciple."

"Hm?"

Shen Lian closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, only then remembering that he had indeed said those words half an hour ago.

"Revered Master, since you have acknowledged my identity, this Disciple is naturally willing to honor you as Revered Master. Please, do not send me away."

"Enough!"

Shen Lian interrupted her roughly.

"You saw what happened today. The Chess Sword Pavilion and I are now locked in a life-or-death situation. Do you think I have the spare energy to look after an ant like you? Get lost immediately. Shen Lian never keeps dead weight by his side."

Unexpectedly, Su Mengyao's attitude was extremely firm: "Revered Master, from the moment you taught me the Mistaken Sword Art, this Disciple determined that you are the only Revered Master Su Mengyao will have in this life. Please, Revered Master, do not abandon this Disciple. Even if Revered Master stands against the entire Chess Sword Pavilion, this Disciple is willing to advance and retreat with you. I will absolutely not speak a single false word."

Shen Lian: "What a joke. With your cultivation, which is no better than an ant's, what qualifications do you have to speak of advancing and retreating together? The opponents I will face in the future are not something you can influence even by a hair's breadth. Put away your self-righteous mindset. Using you today was merely to target that bitch Nangong Li. Can you not see that!"

Su Mengyao: "Revered Master, this Disciple knows that my cultivation is low right now, but please give this Disciple one chance. This Disciple will definitely reach the expectations you have in the shortest possible time."

"Do you think cultivation Foundation can be achieved by mere imagination? Su Mengyao, your naivety makes me laugh. Do you think it's possible to step into the threshold of the top tier without years of accumulation? Take your excuses and tell them to the Elders of other Sects. Get lost, before I change my mind and kill you."

Unexpectedly, Su Mengyao kowtowed to Shen Lian three times.

"Revered Master, regardless of whether you are willing to admit it, in this Disciple's heart, you are the only Revered Master. No matter what decision Revered Master makes, this Disciple will support you without hesitation."

Shen Lian flicked his Folding Fan: "Then what if I want to go against the Heavenly Dao? Are you still willing to acknowledge me as Revered Master?"

"This Disciple is willing, and will never regret it!"

Su Mengyao's tone was firm, her answer crisp and decisive.

Shen Lian gently shook his Folding Fan, falling into deep thought.

"Furthermore, Revered Master, when you had the conflict with Nangong Li just now, this Disciple understood that you need that crouching dragon marrow. Although this Disciple has never seen that treasure, I imagine that item must be extremely important to Revered Master. Why not use this Disciple as bait to force Nangong Li to hand it over? That might not be a bad idea."

Shen Lian paced, lost in thought.

About a cup of tea later, he snapped his Folding Fan shut.

"Then you had better be prepared. Being Shen Lian's Disciple means the path ahead will surely be filled with danger. One wrong step and you will be doomed eternally. And I will not give you any help; everything must be fought for by yourself."

Hearing this, Su Mengyao's face lit up with joy. She respectfully performed a Tianyi bow: "Revered Master is above, please accept this Disciple's bow."

This time, Shen Lian did not stop her. He simply turned his back to Su Mengyao, allowing her to complete the apprenticeship ritual.

"Good. Since you have decided to be my Disciple, I will state the ugly truths upfront. Following me, you will face a world ten thousand times more dangerous than the current one. If you are unfortunate enough to die at the hands of others, I will not avenge you; I can only blame you for having poor skills. Also, my, Shen Lian's, Disciple can never bow their head to anyone. No matter how strong the opponent is, or how strong the backing forces are, you must not show the slightest retreat. If I find out that you have yielded to others out of cowardice, no matter where you are, I will find you and kill you. Do you hear me clearly?"

"This Disciple will engrave it in my heart!"

Su Mengyao answered very decisively.

Shen Lian turned back around and raised his hand, signaling that she could rise.

After Su Mengyao stood up, Shen Lian said: "Since you have acknowledged me as Revered Master, I must naturally prepare a gift for our first meeting."

After speaking, Shen Lian looked around.

Finally, his gaze fell upon a piece of Ore that weighed a thousand jin.

"Come with me."

"Yes."

Su Mengyao followed Shen Lian to the side of that Ore.

Shen Lian put away his Folding Fan, raised his hand, and tapped the Ore a few times, then said: "Since you possess the Supreme Sword Bone, I imagine your future achievements in the Dao of the sword will be extraordinary. I will give you a sword as a meeting gift."

Su Mengyao just wanted to say it wasn't necessary, but she saw Shen Lian flick his long arm.

Instantly, this thousand-jin Ore began to spin rapidly.

The surrounding Spiritual Qi surged madly into the Ore, following the rotating hurricane, triggering bursts of lightning and thunder, stripping away the outer layers of the Ore completely.

In an instant, sand and stones flew everywhere, and the thousand-jin Ore, at a speed visible to the naked eye, gradually transformed into a stone sword, a Spirit Sword.

Seeing this scene, Su Mengyao was so shocked she couldn't say a single word.

"Is Revered Master forging a sword with his bare hands? How can anyone in this world forge weapons in such a way?"

Just as she was filled with shock, Shen Lian was already holding a pure white iron sword, which he then threw directly into Su Mengyao's hands.

"Revered Master, this..."

The moment she caught the sword, Su Mengyao instinctively felt that something was different. The iron sword before her was clearly forged from the most ordinary iron, yet holding it in her hand gave her a completely different feeling.

"Su Mengyao!"

"This Disciple is here!"

"Within ten days, I want you to awaken the spirituality of this ordinary iron!"

Hearing this, Su Mengyao was instantly dumbfounded.

"Revered Master, what did you say? Make this ordinary iron a Spirit Sword within ten days?"

"You can't do it?"

"I..."

Su Mengyao really wanted to say it was indeed impossible.

For an ordinary sword to undergo Soul Transformation was an impossible task.

The Sword Emperor spent three hundred years comprehending the sword and still couldn't turn an ordinary sword into a Spirit Sword. As a novice who had just stepped into the Dao of the sword, could she really do it in a mere ten days?

She immediately knelt on the ground: "This Disciple is dull. Please, Revered Master, give me some guidance."

Shen Lian: "You are indeed dull. The sword is dead, but people are alive. To make ordinary iron undergo Soul Transformation and give birth to spirituality, it depends on whether your Heart Sword is firm."

"Heart Sword?"

Su Mengyao was somewhat confused.

Shen Lian: "The Divine weapons and Sharp Weapons of the world are all made from rare Ore and then cast by absorbing the essence of heaven and earth. However, no matter how supreme such a sword is, it is ultimately just a dead object. If you can apply your own Heart Sword to this ordinary iron and make it communicate with your heart, imagine what kind of combat power it would unleash. Go think about it yourself."

Su Mengyao's eyes lit up: "Revered Master, is the Realm you speak of the Unity of Heart and Sword?"

"That can be considered as having some Comprehension Ability; you aren't as stupid as I thought." Shen Lian snorted coldly. "Unity of Man and Sword is merely the threshold of the Dao of the sword. What you need to do is the Unity of Heart and Sword. Go and feel the sword's emotions. As long as you put your heart into the sword, it will certainly reward you in return."

After speaking, Shen Lian turned and left.

"I will come to see you in ten days. If the sword in your hand is still a dead sword, then don't call yourself my Disciple. Shen Lian does not accept trash as Disciples."

After speaking, he had already turned into light and sped toward the direction of the Chess Sword Pavilion.