This Sword Cultivator is Somewhat Dependable

"Your Beast Pet snuck into my room when I was away and I caught it," Zang Xiaojian pointed at the Western Mouse King hiding behind Lu Qingshan.

"I'm not a Beast Pet..." the Western Mouse King murmured subconsciously.

"Right, I forgot to ask you, what's your name?" Zang Xiaojian heard the Western Mouse King's complaint.

Seeing Zang Xiaojian asking about himself, the Western Mouse King immediately stood up straight from behind Lu Qingshan, straightened his back, and thumped his chest with his tiny paws, "I am the mighty Western Mouse King!"

Zang Xiaojian nodded seriously and, wrinkling her nose, said to Lu Qingshan, "Since it says it's not your Beast Pet, sorry, I must have misunderstood. I'll take it away and settle our scores properly, shall I?"

As she spoke, Zang Xiaojian winked at Lu Qingshan subtly.

Lu Qingshan caught on and decided to scare the increasingly troublesome Western Mouse King, cooperating by saying, "Sure, take it away. Do whatever you want, kill or cut."

Zang Xiaojian made a throat-slitting gesture toward the Western Mouse King and chirpily said, "Western Mouse King, huh? Come, let's settle our accounts properly."

Just a moment ago, the once ferocious Western Mouse King turned into a defeated eggplant, his spirits deflated, and he complained bitterly, "Lu Qingshan, you heartless man!"

After teasing the Western Mouse King, Lu Qingshan then seriously turned to Zang Xiaojian and apologized, "It's my negligence for not keeping it under control. I can compensate you with some Spirit Stones to show my sincerity. What do you think?"

Eager to resolve any trouble, as stirring up conflicts wasn't Lu Qingshan's way, he was very polite.

Zang Xiaojian waved her hand generously, "I lost nothing, no need for any compensation.

Actually, I never intended to do anything to it. It tried to fool me by pretending to be a normal giant mouse when I caught it, so I decided to teach it a lesson. That's why I came looking for it."

This foolish mouse, not only did it try to be sly but getting caught in the act was a grave mistake.

Lu Qingshan glared at the Western Mouse King, annoyed.

"Are you a Sword Cultivator?" Zang Xiaojian tilted her head, looked deeply into Lu Qingshan's eyes, and suddenly asked.

Before Lu Qingshan could ask, Zang Xiaojian went on to explain, "Just now outside, I felt the presence of Sword Qi in the room."

Lu Qingshan was startled and finally began to take the young girl seriously.

For Zang Xiaojian to possess such advanced Cultivation at her young age was no small feat.

But being someone who had witnessed many greater events in the game's later stages—where talented NPCs in the Nine Heavens sprang up like bamboo shoots after a rain—Zang Xiaojian's talent only slightly surprised him.

However, he had tried to condense Sword Qi inside the cabin earlier and had only mobilized a minimal part of his Spiritual Power, which was barely detectable. Under such circumstances, Zang Xiaojian was still able to sense the Sword Qi inside the room from a distance, which was truly astonishing.

There could be two possibilities for this, one being that Zang Xiaojian's Divine Soul was far stronger than ordinary people, giving her superior perception abilities.

The other possibility was that Zang Xiaojian was extraordinarily talented.

The next second, Lu Qingshan knew it must be the latter.

Because Zang Xiaojian extended her right hand toward Lu Qingshan, and a strand of sharp Sword Qi suddenly burst forth from her fingertips.

The delicate fingers of the girl flicked, and the strand of Sword Qi shot straight toward the Western Mouse King, dissipating abruptly three inches in front of him.

Zang Xiaojian looked at the startled Western Mouse King, smile laced with mischief, her eyebrows curved, "I am a Sword Cultivator too!"

Not to mention anything else, just being at the advanced stage of Foundation Establishment and being able to emit detached Sword Qi without relying on a Sword Artifact indicated an exceptional talent for the Sword Dao, something Lu Qingshan couldn't explain otherwise.

"Yes," the identity of a Sword Cultivator wasn't something secretive. Lu Qingshan readily nodded in acknowledgment. Simultaneously, a similar strand of Sword Qi appeared on his fingertip, which flickered a few times before dispersing quickly. Shaking his head, Lu Qingshan said, "Still no good, I'm far behind you."

Zang Xiaojian looked at the dissipating Sword Qi at the tip of Lu Qingshan's finger and said seriously, "The reason your Sword Qi can't maintain its form for a long time is not because there's a problem with your skills."

Lu Qingshan's heart skipped a beat.

One of the challenges he faced after his rebirth to the Nine Heavens was that, although this world was like a game world, it was not actually a game, so there were many differences in reality.

For instance, Sword Qi — he had mastered the Sword Qi Silk Transformation in the game, but the problem was that, in the game, it was only a set of data, a buff effect he obtained after passing the Sword Dao tutor's test.

After crossing over, he could only inherit how to match and apply these skills at a tactical level, but how to cast the skills must be learned from scratch.

This was also why, even though he had been a Great Sword Cultivator who could slash with overwhelming Sword Qi in the game, after his rebirth, he had to consult and research the true essence of Sword Qi provided by Dantai Qingrun and try to condense Sword Qi.

In such circumstances, if it were not for the unmatched Sword Dao talent bestowed by the Innate Swordseed, he couldn't imagine spending decades mastering the launch of Sword Qi.

Perhaps by then, he would have already advanced his Cultivation to the Golden Core Stage using Experience Points?

A Golden Core Sword Cultivator who couldn't release Sword Qi?

That would be quite ridiculous.

Lu Qingshan clasped his hands together and said, "Please enlighten me, fellow Daoist."

"My mother once said, 'There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world,'" Zang Xiaojian paused, a thoughtful expression appeared on his face, and finally, as if making a big decision, he giggled, revealing a row of shiny white teeth, "But since you are the first Sword Cultivator I've met since I... came out, this time, consider it a freebie."

Came out? The first Sword Cultivator?

Lu Qingshan noticed the peculiar words in Zang Xiaojian's speech and subconsciously matched them with a suitable family or sect in his mind.

A surname Zang with a powerful Sword Cultivator family was unheard of, so they must be from a sect.

Sword Sect, Nascent Soul could leave the sect, Sword Cleansing Pool...

The information revealed by Zang Xiaojian was too scarce; Lu Qingshan searched his mind but couldn't immediately determine Zang Xiaojian's origins.

"Your problem is that your Cultivation is not enough, and your control over Spiritual Power is insufficient, so you cannot maintain the form of Sword Qi.

Even I could only achieve this in the late stages of Foundation Establishment without relying on a Sword Artifact to condense Sword Qi!" Zang Xiaojian said cheerfully, with a bright tone.

Is it because my Cultivation is not enough?

Hearing Zang Xiaojian say this, Lu Qingshan was taken aback.

The Jade Slip with "True Essence of Sword Qi" given by Dantai Qingrun only detailed the experiences with condensing Sword Qi using Sword Artifacts and did not mention anything about condensing Sword Qi out of thin air, so he had no choice but to bury himself in research.

Actually, this was not Dantai Qingrun's fault.

For, the Sword Qi formed out of thin air, in terms of power, is much inferior to the Sword Qi emitted by a Sword Artifact.

Besides being a flashy skill, it was not very useful; instead of spending time on this, one might as well nurture one's Life-bound Sword and practice Sword Techniques. Lu Qingshan wouldn't have spent his effort researching this if not for the desire to practice the Five Elements Sword Armor.

Normally, which Sword Cultivator would specifically research condensing Sword Qi out of thin air? Most often, this skill was mastered naturally as one's understanding of the Sword Dao increased.

But usually, it was only Sword Cultivators in the Golden Core or Nascent Soul Stage who could achieve this realm.

When the Sword Qi he condensed out of thin air couldn't maintain its form, Lu Qingshan had always thought there were some special tricks he hadn't grasped, but he never expected the reason to stem from his own level of Cultivation.