Cohabitation with Sword Spirit-Chapter 331 - 68: Armor-Piercing

February 12, 2018, evening

In the Sect Leader’s Suite of the Divine Sword Tower, Shen Qingming looked at the letter opened in her hand, slightly frowning. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"Shen Bailin? Who is this?"

As soon as she spoke, a calm voice from behind, belonging to Wang Jiu, replied: "Shen Bailin, male, 1474-1574, a resident of Shen City, once served as the City Lord of Shen City, President of the Shen City Cultivator Association, President of the Shen City Artifact Refining Association, and an Honorary Elder of the Wuxiang Sword Academy..."

Before he could finish, Shen Qingming interrupted in astonishment: "This is the former City Lord of Shen City? That means... my ancestor?"

Wang Jiu said: "According to the historical records left by the Shen Family, you should indeed inherit some bloodline of Shen Bailin, unless the Shen Family altered history following the usual practice of human governing institutions, and Shen Bailin was actually cuckolded, raising someone else’s children. But considering that the City Lord’s lineage always retained pure Shen Family blood, it might be speculated that the person who cuckolded Shen Bailin was actually his biological brother Shen Wanwei."

Shen Qingming was dumbfounded: "You... you mean your Intelligence Index 9 is used for this kind of wild idea!?"

At this moment, the young lady was too lazy to discuss her family’s ethical issues with this dull sword from beyond the heavens and instead asked: "Why would a member of the Shen Family be chosen for the speed competition? I thought the imaginary opponents were all evil sects."

Before she finished speaking, a light laugh came from outside the bedroom: "This ancestor Shen Bailin, indeed is an evil sect in Shen Family’s history... Of course, it’s not that he did anything intolerable or against ethics, but his personality was indeed extremely peculiar. Do you know why he was called Shen Bailin?"

Such historical details were certainly not difficult for the Celestial Divine Sword with an Intelligence Index of 9, who had long studied the history of the Shen Family.

"Shen Bailin was diagnosed at a young age as having congenital blockages in hundreds of meridians, his strength and intelligence were inferior to his peers, not to mention compared to cultivators, he was not even as good as ordinary people. Without divine elixirs, he wouldn’t have lived past 10. However, Shen Bailin, though born with a great body defect, possessed indomitable will and integrity. At the age of 8, just after recognizing a hundred words, he vowed to break the shackles of fate, renaming himself Shen Bailin, intending to live up to a hundred years old."

Hearing this, Shen Qingming exclaimed: "Born with blockages in a hundred meridians? It’s remarkable that someone like that could be born, let alone actually manage to live to 100!"

Shen Ying chuckled bitterly: "Living to 100 is nothing; when he was born, it was predicted that he’d suffer on a sickbed until 10 and die of exhaustion. But by 6, he had learned the first set of boxing techniques, enduring the pain of meridian blockages to forcibly unblock one, practicing the technique to the Third Heaven, his muscles and bones transformed. When he was 8, it was said he would never master Superior Martial Dao, but by 10 he had cultivated Superior Internal Skills, unblocking several meridians, and by then had a nearly normal physique, with a lifespan extended to over 30. Later, it was said he was alienated from the Immortal Dao, but at 24 he broke through a barrier like the wind, at 30 he soared like clouds, at 35 flipped clouds, and at 45 covered the rain... Generally, after 35, it’s tough to progress in Immortal Dao cultivation, but he advanced steadily, a step a year, reaching the peak of the Rain Cover Realm by 50. Though never reaching Mountain-Overturning Realm, in the Xiangzhou Continent 500 years ago, Mountain-Overturning Realm cultivators weren’t as common as today. Even if the ancestor Shen Bailin didn’t reach Mountain-Overturning Realm, he was invincible in the Rain Cover Realm. Such a cultivator, even today, undoubtedly ranks as a master, and a mere 100 years wasn’t close to his life span’s limit."

Shen Qingming listened, captivated.

This ancestor who spent a lifetime fighting fate, even his brief biography of a few hundred words was full of legendary flair, a man born with blocked meridians yet steeled himself to reach the continent’s top ranks, 500 years later is still endlessly awe-inspiring.

This also raised the question, why would such a person’s life end at a mere hundred years? Even if the lifespan of today’s Xiangzhou cultivators is significantly reduced compared to the Jiuzhou Era, a Rain Cover Realm cultivator should have at least a couple of hundred years.

Could it be he died on the battlefield? But... even a few hundred years ago, the environment around Shen City wouldn’t have been so chaotic that a Shen Family Patriarch in the Rain Cover Realm would die on the Chaos Battlefield, right?

"It was suicide." Shen Ying clarified with one sentence, "He had vowed to live to 100, so on his 100th birthday, he explained to everyone that he lived a life without regrets, heaven was supremely generous to him, and one should not be too greedy. Moreover, having promised 100 years, he couldn’t shamelessly go back on it, so he left behind an 8-year-old daughter, a 22-year-old pregnant wife, a 21-year-old concubine, a 20-year-old lover, and a 19-year-old confidante, went to the neighboring mountain, and attracted a thunderbolt to transcend and died."

"Hold on, I feel like there’s something off with those ages!"

Shen Ying chuckled: "In any case, the ancestor Bailin was someone who acted in unpredictable ways. In his lifetime, he never shied away from death, often saying all men must die, no need to fear the end... Thus he loved to tempt fate, like inserting selves from different periods into Battle Array Maps, then inviting family members to challenge him in various ways. It’s said he especially enjoyed when young talents in the family could perform fancy executions of his same-age self..."

Listening to this, Li Wanqing curiously asked: "I have some gossip to inquire, were his many confidantes all strong-willed women?"

Shen Ying was surprised: "How did you know? The ancestor Bailin’s wife was the famously spoiled young lady of the Lu Family in Lingshan City, particularly fond of bullying the ancestor Bailin. It’s said... just said, you know, that he often handled chores like laundry and cooking himself at home and even occasionally washed his wife’s feet... But those are only found in unofficial histories and chats among some family elders, never recorded in official histories."

"Truly someone who understands..." Li Wanqing clicked her tongue repeatedly, but she didn’t dwell on this idle rumor, instead, she asked seriously, "What’s so impressive about Shen Bailin? In terms of cultivation techniques and magical treasures?"

Shen Ying said, "Sorry, I never really paid attention to that..."

Shen Qingming was exasperated, "You remember so clearly about his first wife at 22 and his soulmate at 18! How could you not pay attention to such important matters!?"

Shen Ying defended, "These important matters will always have someone paying attention to them, but regarding his romantic escapades, if I don’t pay attention, they might gradually be lost to time."

"Don’t worry, later on, some novelist will definitely pick up these stories!"

The Shen Family’s master of gossip might be useless, but there is always someone useful in the end.

"As for Shen Bailin, the books record that he spent his life defying fate, focusing mainly on resilience, with a cultivation technique that emphasizes defense, which was quite unconventional in Shen City, which at the time emphasized ’attack, attack, and more attack.’"

"With a focus on defense, no wonder he was appointed as an Honorary Elder at the Wuxiang Sword Academy, using such a character for a speed competition is truly a bit challenging for people. How are we outsiders supposed to know Shen Bailin’s strategic secrets?"

Shen Ying said, "You say it as if we could know. First, it’s been many years since anyone has confronted the Hundred-Year-Old Ancestor in the battle array map, after all, many of his strategies are outdated. Besides, he was really annoying, no matter how you fought, you couldn’t kill him, within the same realm, without special cultivation techniques, breaking his defenses was very difficult... we Shen Family members generally don’t like to fight such opponents. Second, Shen Bailin, after all, was the City Lord of Shen City and the leader of the Shen Family; much of his data is strictly confidential, and what we see is always superficial. Therefore, we lack understanding of this ancestor from over 500 years ago. Now that you got the speed question in advance, you’re already at a big advantage."

Shen Qingming deeply agreed, with Wang Jiu, a combat expert, even if he just gave a few pointers on the spot, it could have miraculous effects, let alone having gotten the speed question two days in advance. With a little preparation, defeating the unsuspecting Outer Courtyard people should be a piece of cake.

——

"Haha, this time, revenge will be as easy as pie!"

At the same time, in the Shen Family Outer Courtyard, Shen Feihu let out a long breath, clenching his fists tightly.

After painstaking research, he finally found battle information related to the Hundred-Year-Old Ancestor Shen Bailin in a yellowed ancient book in the Outer Courtyard library.

Generally, information related to the City Lord of Shen City is strictly confidential, with only limited parts released to the outside, and content involving cultivation techniques requires complex procedures even for internal Shen Family members to access.

But out of a hundred careful measures, there are always some details that gatekeepers overlook, inadvertently leaking secrets.

For example, in the autobiography of one of Shen Bailin’s Outer Courtyard classmates, many details of fighting alongside Shen Bailin were recorded. Although there were no direct depictions, by comparing it with known materials, it’s not hard to infer the features of Shen Bailin’s cultivation techniques at various stages in the Outer Courtyard.

"Since it’s a battle array map speed competition, selected should be the Hundred-Year-Old Ancestor’s mirror image from the Cloud Surge Realm to the Cloud Flipping Realm. During this period, the ancestor’s most powerful means was a set of Ice Meteor Battle Armor he crafted himself. Not only indestructible but when wearing this battle armor in combat, heavy ice blocks continuously fall around him, attacking opponents, and he is almost entirely immune to the Power of Water among the Five Elements... Facing such an opponent, if unaware beforehand and unprepared, one might suffer greatly. Fortunately, we’ve prepared early..."

Beside him, Shen Qing furrowed his brow, "What good is being prepared early? I’ve heard of the Ice Meteor Battle Armor’s formidable reputation. It was forged only with difficulty by the ancestor in his youth when he happened to gather materials from beyond the heavens. Even compared to Li Wanqing’s Yuqing Taoist Armor, it is not inferior. If it appears in the enhanced form in the battle array map, it’s feared even breaking the defense would be difficult!"

"Of course, it’s hard to do barehanded." Shen Feihu said, "But in the speed competition, there’s no rule that prohibits using magical treasures. If you attack with targeted magical treasures, even the best battle armor has weaknesses."

Hearing this, Shen Qing had a bad premonition, "Targeted magical treasures? You don’t mean..."

"That’s right, when it comes to Armor-Piercing, is there any magical treasure more effective than a Warhammer!?"