Check out my new translation!
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"Heh!"
Li Sushang let out a long, ringing shout as the golden light within the trash can surged entirely into her body.
Above the small shop, the sea of sword aura shifted at the exact same moment, tilting downward. A golden-red sword-shaped radiance descended from the heavens, aiming straight for the Baihui Point atop Li Sushang's head.
"What… what is this?"
The objects inside the shop rattled under the overwhelming pressure.
Guinaifen gripped the armrests of her chair with both hands, feeling the crushing force bearing down from above. She couldn't even straighten her back—her head was nearly pressed lower than her thighs.
If not for the chair, she would've been flattened to the ground by this overwhelming aura!
"It's just sword aura. Just relax."
Compared to Guinaifen's sorry state, Sylvester was far more composed.
He leisurely sipped his tea, the liquid in his cup completely undisturbed—not even a single ripple.
A few nights ago, he had used [Yin-Yang Evasion] to slip into the Seat of Divine Foresight, disguised himself as a wrongdoer, and launched a sudden inhalation attack at Jing Yuan. He succeeded in obtaining the Lightning-Lord's ability and even strengthened it further. As for how strong it now was—he still wasn't sure. After all, neither Jing Yuan nor Feixiao had been able to tear off his mask.
He glanced toward the ceiling and nodded.
This sword aura was well-behaved—though it had descended from above, the roof remained perfectly intact.
"Easy for you to say!"
Guinaifen wasn't floating so lightly.
Seated on the chair, her body had been bent into an upside-down L shape—actually, a double-layered one judging by the angle.
If not for her flexibility from years of street performance, her spine might have snapped!
As for Li Sushang, the process of receiving the sword aura was anything but pleasant.
It was as if the force wanted to engrave sword intent directly into her bones. The fierce power nearly annihilated every cell in her body before reconstructing them and then merging with her flesh.
But throughout the ordeal, she could clearly feel her sword intent growing—not just through the accumulation of Path power, but undergoing a fundamental transformation in essence.
Finally, the entirety of the sword aura merged into Li Sushang.
By now, her clothes were soaked through with sweat.
She let out a muffled groan, a sound of pain fading into relief. "Nnh…"
And then, suddenly, it was as though the whole world brightened. The instant she finished refining the sword aura, she felt unbelievably good.
Even better—hundreds of times better—than the massages she used to get to ease muscle fatigue.
She exhaled deeply in pleasure. "Hah!"
"Aiyoo, Shangshang… you finally—huh?"
Guinaifen held her back as she slowly straightened herself like she'd just completed a chest-crushing acrobatics stunt.
She was about to complain when the moment Li Sushang entered her vision, she froze.
W-What… what is this?
Though Li Sushang's posture and movements seemed unchanged, even her clothing remained disheveled, Guinaifen inexplicably sensed a noble, forceful charisma radiating from her—an aura so overpowering she didn't even dare speak to her casually.
Even more striking was the sword intent spilling from Li Sushang.
Perhaps because she had just obtained the new power and wasn't familiar with controlling it, even a single glance at Li Sushang made Guinaifen feel like tiny sword edges were slicing at her eyes.
This combination of power, intellect, and beauty… is this really the same bestie Shangshang from five minutes ago?
Guinaifen was utterly shaken.
She shifted her gaze stiffly and muttered to Sylvester, "Shopkeeper Sylvester… I used to believe in science."
"I believed that every strengthening required logic—until Shangshang stood in front of me like this."
Guinaifen was shocked—but Li Sushang, the source of all this commotion, was even more overwhelmed.
T-This is Taixu Sword Aura! But why did it come out of a trash can?!
And why is this sword intent so strong? She had never felt anything like it before.
Just moments ago, she thought reaching the Soul realm would be incredible. But now… she had an audacious guess.
Maybe… she had truly reached the height of the Taixu Ancestor and comprehended the legendary fifth realm—Taixu Sword Deity!
She spun around abruptly, rushing up to the counter, leaning so close to Sylvester their noses were barely a palm apart.
She couldn't help it—if this was true, then both her family's legacy and her life's dream had been fulfilled all at once.
For that, anything short of dying would be worth it.
Seeing her anxious expression, Sylvester spoke before she could open her mouth, smiling. "Your guess is correct. It is indeed your family's Taixu Sword Aura. And yes—you have successfully comprehended the fifth realm, the Taixu Sword Deity."
BOOM!
Sylvester's calm tone detonated like a massive bomb in Li Sushang's ears.
Her rationality was blown straight into the heavens. She froze, eyes blank, unable to react.
"Sushang, what's wrong?"
Seeing that her bestie didn't look particularly happy, Guinaifen felt uneasy and quickly asked.
A moment later, Li Sushang lowered her head, slowly straightened her back, and took a deep breath.
"Wooohoo! I mastered the Taixu Sword Deity!!"
After that brief moment of blankness, Li Sushang leapt up in pure excitement, swinging her fists through the air.
If other people weren't around, she would've been dancing.
"Mother, rejoice for your daughter! I fulfilled your lifelong wish eight hundred years early!"
"Whew~~" Guinaifen let out a breath of relief seeing she was okay.
She stood beside her and congratulated, "Shangshang, congratulations!"
"But—there's a slight difference in the Taixu Sword Aura you mastered."
Sylvester suddenly spoke, interrupting their celebration.
"Eh?"
That sudden "but" nearly scared Li Sushang's soul out of her body.
"Shopkeeper Sylvester… don't tell me being force-fed sword aura harmed me somehow?"
She had felt earlier that sensation of being sliced into tiny pieces and reassembled—it had seemed off. Surely, she didn't have to pay some terrible price now?
Don't tell me the gods heard me thinking 'anything's worth it except death' and decided to cash that in?!
No way—that was just a metaphor!
"Harm? No." Sylvester shook his head firmly at her imagination, then said with mild difficulty, "But it will cause you some trouble."
"Because the strength of the Taixu Sword Aura you mastered far surpasses all previous transcendent levels. In a certain sense, you comprehended a sixth realm that shouldn't even exist—pushing this sword art to an unprecedented height."
"But since there are no matching cultivation techniques for it, if you want to fully control this power, you'll have to figure it out yourself."
Li Sushang blinked blankly. After thinking it over, she arrived at a conclusion even more bizarre than her power level.
"You're saying… I directly became the new Ancestor of the Taixu Sword Aura?"