Chapter 489 - Unknown World (1/2)
“Before you leave, can you tell me the name of your race?” Jasmine said as she looked straight at the spirit. But in her heart, she could more or less guess what the answer would be.
The remnant spirit kept silent for a while, and then faintly sighed, “Well, I guess there is no harm in telling you. Perhaps you have heard of the name, or perhaps it has long been forgotten. The race I belong to is called the “Sword Spirit God Clan.”
“Ah so it was really the case!” Jasmine said as her eyebrows quivered.
“But, the little mistress, she is not one of us.” The spirit continued.
“Oh?” Jasmine’s eyes flashed in shock, “If she is not a member of the Sword Spirit Clan, then why do you address her as ‘little mistress’? And she can obviously transform into a sword! In the records, the ancient race which could transform into swords was only the ‘Sword Spirit God Clan’.”
“Back then, this was a secret within my Sword Spirit God Clan, and only four people in the entire clan, including myself, knew of this secret. All the other clansman thought that she was the daughter of our king. But the truth is, the little mistress was someone our king picked up by accident and he let it be known that she was his daughter. As to why my king did the things he did, or where my little mistress came from, all of this knowledge was lost once my king died. However, while the little mistress’ ability to transform into a sword is the same as our clan, the sword she transforms into is entirely different. Because when my clansmen become swords, they have always been light and agile blades, but when my little mistress transforms into a sword, she becomes a heavy sword that is exceedingly difficult to control.”
“My king had never told anybody the origins of our little mistress, but he had always doted and cared for her in an extravagant manner. In those days, both my king and my little mistress had been struck by the devilish poison, and my king would rather die so we could use the Coffin of Eternity to protect our little mistress. My king definitely had his reasons for placing such great importance on her. And all these years that I have been bitterly guarding my little mistress and searching for the Sky Poison Pearl… have finally borne fruit. Whatever fates lie in store for my little mistress, I no longer have the ability to see it through or protect her from. So please, no matter what happens, please treat her kindly.”
“Besides the Sword Spirit God Clan, what other race could transform into swords…” Jasmine mused to herself silently
“Our Sword Spirit Clan are of the Celestial Spirit race. Once we are born, we innately possess the energy of heaven and earth. Of course, we still have to cultivate and the stronger our profound power, the stronger the sword we transform into becomes. But the little mistress does not need to cultivate; instead she consumes swords as food. Everytime she eats a sword, she will absorb a portion of its sword strength and sword spirit, and her strength will increase by a bit. The stronger the sword she consumes, the more she will grow. In those years, my king sought the most famous swords under heaven to be food for our little mistress and this resulted in immense growth for her. But after she was struck by the devilish poison, all of her sword strength was consumed to depletion. If you want to cultivate her strength, find all kinds of strong swords for her; the stronger the sword, the more my mistress would desire to eat it.”
“...There was actually a person who could rely on eating swords to strengthen herself!” Jasmine looked deeply at Hong’er. She rummaged through her memory banks, but she could not recall coming across such a record or rumor.
“I have already answered your question, Now, can you answer mine. Which Star God do you derive your strength from?” The lingering spirit asked Jasmine.
“Heaven Slaughter Star God!” Jasmine said expressionlessly.
“Among the twelve Star Gods, the Heavenly Chief has the disposition of a king, the Heavenly Wolf is the strongest, and the Heavenly Slaughter is the evilest, feared by all. You have inherited her power, but your mindset does not seem to have been influenced much. That is good.” The spirit said slowly.
“What?” Jasmine laughed coldly, “Hmph, don’t assume things. Even though I have only inherited the Heaven Slaughter Star God’s power for less than ten years, the amount of people I have killed in that time span is more than one hundred times the number of people you have killed in your entire life!”
“The amount of people you have killed has nothing to do with the evil in your heart.” The spirit faintly said, “You have a spirit body, I am also a spirit, whether you are good or evil, I naturally have my way to judge… But I have one more question. You seem to place great importance on this human, to the point where you would not hesitate to use the ability ‘Soul Star Relegation” which you can only use once in your lifetime. So why did you not help him leave the Primordial Profound Ark after he had been trapped? And the eighteen months he spent braving the spatial turbulence, existing at the border of life and death, suffering an agony that surpasses that of the agony of one hundred generations combined; why did you seem to turn a deaf ear to it?”
“Looks like you aren’t that clever after all.” The corner of Jasmine’s mouth curved slightly, and she gave a cold laugh, “In the two years from when I first met him, I had used my powers to save him from certain death countless of times. At that time, the devilish poison in my body was incomparably intense, and the power I could use was much weaker than what I can use now, and whenever I used that power, I would have difficulty suppressing the resurgence of the devilish poison afterwards.”
“I did not want him to rely on my power, and neither did he. But as long as my existence and power remained, this reliance would never fade, even if he tried to reject it. When he faced a bleak situation, his subconscious would forever have the concept that ‘as long as Jasmine is here, I can never die’, and this would lead him to never being able to exhaust his determination in those dire situations. So, three years ago, I faked the sealing of my powers, and caused him to be unable to rely on my strength. Like when we were in the Primordial Profound Ark, he would have relied on my power to aid him in killing Ye Xinghan who was chasing him… When the spatial turbulence came, he would have relied on my power to leave the Primordial Profound Ark, and when it started its attack, he would have first thought of using my power to resist it… Even if he had wanted to use his own strength, he would not have used all his strength and willpower to endure, and go through the countless exceeding of his own limits that had happened in this period.”
“In the years that I had persisted in maintaining the perception that my strength was sealed, his growth became exceedingly fast in the period where he could not rely on my power. And he used his own strength and willpower to brave countless hopeless situations, and all this time, I have not raised a single finger to assist him. To the contrary, I even specially increased the intensity of the spatial turbulence within the Primordial Profound Ark. And the final result, had far exceeded my wildest expectations. Half of the devilish poison in my body has been purged in these years, and the remaining half has already been stabilized and is under control.”
Jasmine had said this very evenly, but if Yun Che had heard it, he would have been struck dumb.
In the years where Jasmine faked the sealing of her powers, Yun Che’s growth had far outstripped his previous growth. And it was precisely because he could not rely on Jasmine subconsciously, that he could decide to fight to death when he was buried beneath the Sword Management Terrace, why he could continuously evolve as he faced first the Burning Heaven Clan, then the Divine Phoenix Empire, and why he could keep on making breakthroughs time and again even though he kept facing life-and-death situations in the Primordial Profound Ark.
Without the slightest exaggeration, if Jasmine had not ‘sealed her powers’, Yun Che would never be able to climb to such great heights. As Jasmine had said, as long as her power existed, that reliance would never fade. What existed in one’s subconscious could not be overcome through sheer willpower.
“I hoped that he could become stronger at a much faster rate, because it is only if he is sufficiently strong that I can have a chance of attaining a new body. And I can only be his guide as he walks the path of the strong, because he needs to walk every step of that road by himself! Any obstacles he faces along that road, he needs to shatter by himself; any cliffs he faces needs to be crossed using his own strength as well. If not, he will never become truly strong.” Jasmine closed her eyes and said those words slowly. Even though her appearance was that of a thirteen year old girl, her words and demeanor was that of a wise master.
“However, if he had encountered an inescapable dead end, at the moment right before his death, I would have naturally intervened.” Jasmine said casually in an even voice.
“Ah so it’s like this.” The remnant spirit lightly nodded her head, her ethereal voice carrying both trepidation and admiration, “With you as a guide, his future will definitely not be a common one. With the little mistress in your care, I am much more relieved…”