Dao Companion Crippled, Coveters Move

Chapter 138 - 137: Master, You're Hurting Me

Pei Yuhang looked at the broken sword embedded in the dragon's head, surprise on his face.

'This sword... Why didn't I notice it at all when I was fighting the dragon corpse?'

Pei Yuhang's sharp senses told him something was wrong. With his level of perception and mastery of the Sword Dao, how could he possibly have missed a sword in such an obvious spot on the dragon's head?

Unless... some kind of perception-distorting magic was at play.

"Xiaoxiao, when did you notice this sword?"

"Umm... I noticed it the moment this dragon burst out of the ground."

Hearing Yu Xiaoyan's words, Pei Yuhang couldn't help but frown.

His disciple's words confirmed his suspicion. It seemed no one but Yu Xiaoyan could actively perceive the sword.

'Is this the so-called will of heaven... or is the sword deliberately choosing its wielder?'

Pei Yuhang instinctively grew wary, concerned for his disciple's safety.

'If I find a remnant soul in this sword trying to possess my disciple, I'll make sure that bastard suffers the cruelest torture imaginable.'

"Xiaoxiao, I'm going to pull this sword out and inspect it."

"Mm."

Yu Xiaoyan nodded, watching as her master strode to the frost-encased dragon's head, reached out, and gripped the hilt.

She saw Pei Yuhang's hand tremble twice... but the sword didn't move an inch. 'He... he actually failed to pull it out!'

Yu Xiaoyan covered her mouth in astonishment. Having made a fool of himself in front of his disciple, Pei Yuhang felt a little embarrassed too.

"Ahem... It's probably just awkward with one hand. Let me try with two."

Pei Yuhang gripped the hilt with both hands, continuously releasing his Divine Sword Thought in an attempt to awaken any lingering spiritual essence within the blade.

But no matter what he did, the sword seemed to have fused with the dragon's head. It simply wouldn't budge.

"Master... can you let me try?"

"..."

In the end, Pei Yuhang let go and watched Yu Xiaoyan step forward to try her hand at the sword.

He stood by, ever vigilant. The moment he sensed anything foul from the sword trying to invade his disciple's body, he would strike like lightning and separate her from it.

"Xiaoxiao, if you feel anything strange, call out to me immediately."

"Mm."

Yu Xiaoyan held her breath, her gaze fixed on the sword. She slowly placed her hand upon it. The hilt was cold to the touch, its texture coarse with patches of rust.

Nothing unusual happened.

It was as if it were just an ordinary sword. Even when she infused it with Spiritual Qi, it was like throwing a stone into the ocean—there was no response at all.

With a small grunt, Yu Xiaoyan decided to use all her strength to pull the sword free. But the moment she tensed her arm to pull, she yelped in surprise and tumbled backward.

'Why did it feel so loose? I barely pulled and it came right out!'

"Careful!"

Pei Yuhang lunged forward just in time to catch his disciple, preventing the girl from tumbling off the dragon's head.

Yu Xiaoyan was, of course, happy to fall into her master's warm embrace, but—

"Master, you're squeezing too tight..."

A blush crept up the girl's delicate, snow-white neck. Her shy murmur brought Pei Yuhang back to his senses.

He realized his hand was squeezing her Little Dao Fruit out of shape.

His grip had been anything but gentle.

"Sorry..."

Pei Yuhang retracted An Lushan's Claw, momentarily unable to meet Xiaoxiao's innocent gaze.

'Damn it. It's all that girl Yu Gu Nan's fault for constantly coming over and teasing me. Now, the moment I hold Xiaoxiao, my hand just acts on muscle memory...'

Pei Yuhang took a deep breath, looked at the broken sword clutched in Yu Xiaoyan's hand, and changed the subject.

"Xiaoxiao, how do you feel? Is the sword saying anything to you? You know, like there's some ancient master's spirit inside or something..."

Yu Xiaoyan gave Pei Yuhang a strange look.

"Master, what are you talking about? Why would there be a grandpa in a sword? It... just feels like an ordinary rusty sword. It doesn't react at all when I infuse it with Spiritual Qi."

Yu Xiaoyan sounded a little disappointed by the end. She had assumed that a sword stuck in a dragon's head must be a divine blade of incredible origin. She thought pulling it out would surely cause some celestial phenomenon, and that even her senior sister's Luminous Shadow Sword would pale in comparison.

'Who would have thought it'd be so... ordinary.'

Pei Yuhang took the broken sword from Yu Xiaoyan and examined it for a moment. As expected, he found nothing unusual.

"Xiaoxiao... since this sword is fated to be yours, let's take it back for now. I'll find an Artifact Refining Master to help you reforge it."

"Mm."

Yu Xiaoyan placed the sword in her Jiezhi Storage Ring and followed her master back onto the Spiritual Ship.

Standing on the Spiritual Ship, Pei Yuhang calculated the time.

He had reported the situation on Tree Sea Dragon Island to the Sect long before Qing Yueqiu's Celestial Tribulation. By his calculations, the fellow disciples sent to collect the dragon corpse should be arriving soon.

Sure enough, almost the instant Pei Yuhang had the thought, the blue sky above them rippled violently, like the surface of a pond disturbed by a stone.

The next moment, a colossal ship, a hundred times larger than Pei Yuhang's Spiritual Ship, appeared in the sky. Its hull cast a shadow that nearly blotted out all of Tree Sea Dragon Island.

Carved upon its hull was a single, majestic character: Dao.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH—

Several small, four-colored flags—blue, white, red, and black—descended from the sky, planting themselves around the dragon corpse according to the positions of a special Five-Elements Array.

Array Masters dressed in the robes of the Xuanyuan Dao Sect emerged from the colossal ship. Forming hand seals, they guided countless streams of Spiritual Qi with their Divine Thought, condensing it into tangible runes. The runes swirled and combined into a multi-layered array that enveloped the dragon corpse.

As the small flags flared with divine light, the dragon corpse—along with a hundred-meter radius of the ground beneath it—was engulfed in a brilliant white light. The whole mass transformed into a sphere of light that slowly ascended toward the Dao Sect's colossal ship.

At the bottom of the ship, several chilling chains as thick as pillars were connected to a hundred-meter-wide, box-shaped bronze container. As the sphere of light was absorbed into the bronze container, Pei Yuhang could no longer sense the dragon corpse's aura.

"Sword Immortal Pei, will you be returning to the Sect with us?"

The lead Array Master asked Pei Yuhang respectfully.

Before coming here, Great Elder Xiao had specifically instructed him to ensure Sword Immortal Pei's safety. Now, seeing that Pei Yuhang was fine aside from some disheveled clothes, he was relieved.

"There's no need. I'll take my Spiritual Ship."

"Very well. We won't disturb you any further, then."

Pei Yuhang stood on the deck of his Spiritual Ship, his expression grave as he watched the Dao Sect's colossal vessel tear through the void and vanish from sight.

'I thought this was just a simple trip—help my junior disciple find a sword, and find an opportunity for my senior disciple's breakthrough. I never expected to encounter an ancient being like a dragon corpse.'

'Although, looking at the results, Qing Yueqiu successfully broke through to the Nascent Soul realm, and Yu Xiaoyan found a Sword Embryo for her Lifebound Spirit Sword. Both were inextricably linked to this dragon corpse. You could even say the dragon corpse *was* the great opportunity of this trip...'

"But it's still so troublesome."

Pei Yuhang could already imagine the tedious debriefing he would have to endure upon returning to the Xuanyuan Dao Sect.