Sensing Evan Yang's surprised gaze, the Sword Spirit continued, "I am one of the ten Sword Spirits."
"How did you end up inside a dagger?" Evan, unfamiliar with Sword Spirits, quickly calmed himself and pressed on with another question.
"A dagger? That's just the sealed vessel. Now, among my siblings, only I remain here." The Sword Spirit was first startled, then spoke with a sense of loss.
"You have ten? Are these the ones?" Evan glanced at the nine dim, lifeless blades around him.
The Sword Spirit sensed Evan's focus. "Yes, we're sealed in different places now. Ten daggers, ten Sword Spirits. You're lucky to have refined me—can you help me find the other nine?"
Evan didn't realize it was the Colorless Flame that made refining the dagger so easy. Otherwise, with his current cultivation, it would take years—or even centuries—to refine it.
Puzzled, Evan asked, "Sealed?"
"Yes, sealed. The dagger is not our true form. Our real bodies are swords—these daggers are just sealed containers. If possible, I hope you can help release the seal and find the other nine Sword Spirits." The Sword Spirit continued, its tone full of hope.
"How did you all get sealed in here? Are there really ten daggers?" Evan asked curiously.
The Sword Spirit answered helplessly, "Because of the seal, our memories are locked away. If not for the faint resonance with my siblings, I wouldn't even know there were other Sword Spirits."
Evan was speechless, even more shocked at whoever could seal ten Sword Spirits like this.
"I can sense you have two more Sword Spirits on you. Can I meet them?" the Sword Spirit asked, seeing Evan's surprise.
"I'm afraid that's not possible right now." Evan was only at the Core-Formation stage; to refine the other two, he would need to advance two more realms.
The Sword Spirit pressed for answers, then sighed in surprise after hearing Evan was only at Core-Formation. "If you can in the future, let me meet them."
"Alright!" Evan replied via sound transmission.
"Thank you." The Sword Spirit answered gratefully.
"For now, you can stay here. If I get the chance, I'll break your seal." Evan now realized the dagger was far from ordinary and spoke to the Sword Spirit.
"Alright." The Sword Spirit, aware only of its siblings, had no other memories and could only remain in that space.
With his divine sense withdrawn from that strange space, Evan thought a lot, finally sighing, "Who would've guessed there was something sealed inside the dagger."
"What did you find?" Old Clam exclaimed in shock.
Evan then told Old Clam about his discovery. Old Clam was shocked, "A Sword Spirit! And it can sense you on its own?"
"Yeah, what's the matter?" Evan recalled the sensation of being called, though he couldn't hear any voice, and nodded.
"Kid, you've struck gold!" Old Clam exclaimed with delight.
"Huh?" Evan was puzzled by Old Clam's reaction.
"Only treasure-grade weapons can form even a faint bond between master and weapon. The higher the grade, the stronger the connection. True Sword Spirits only exist in legendary immortal artifacts." Old Clam, well-versed in such matters, explained what he knew to Evan.
Evan was stunned. "You mean I have three immortal weapons?"
"Kid, that's just my guess." Old Clam, seeing Evan get such treasures, felt like cursing himself for having once dismissed those rusty daggers as junk.
"No wonder—they shattered spiritual tools and blocked treasure-grade weapons." Evan remembered the times he'd broken spiritual tools and resisted treasures, and believed Old Clam's words even more.
"Good kid, no wonder you chose it as your Life-Bound Weapon. If you someday gather all ten Sword Spirits, you'll be terrifying." Old Clam couldn't help but marvel.
Old Clam's words made Evan want to collect all ten Sword Spirits. Though he couldn't break the seals yet, he figured he'd find a way once his power grew. But with only three in hand, he wondered how to find the other seven.
Old Clam asked, "How did you get these daggers?"
"Some family juniors tried to kill me, so I took them." Evan remembered how Bai Family disciples targeted Tara Chu before coming after him.
"If one clan has three, there might be a fourth. They must've found an immortal's ruin." Old Clam analyzed.
"Yeah, everyone's saying the Bai Family found a space and got a bunch of treasures and techniques." Evan recalled the mental cultivation method and daggers.
"If we get the chance, let's pay them a visit. I'd like to see whose domain they dug up." Old Clam was amazed.
Evan agreed, smiling. "Definitely, I'll visit the Bai Family someday."
The Bai Family had no idea someone was already eyeing them. Before, they could claim they'd gotten nothing good, but now Evan not only had part of their cultivation method, he'd snagged three 'immortal artifacts.'
At that moment, the Bai Family had just arrived in the city with Rockwell Nance and Forden Wayne. After gathering information, the group sat together.
"That damn beggar really knows how to stir up trouble. He immediately messed with the Wu Family brothers." Forden Wayne sneered after hearing the news.
"Oh? What happened to him?" Rockwell Nance, waiting in the inn, asked curiously. The Bai Family members perked up, eager to hear what Evan—the infamous beggar—had done.
So Forden Wayne recounted everything about the gambling house and Flowerview Garden.
After hearing this, Rockwell Nance and Old Ghost Bai were both surprised, each showing different expressions. Old Ghost Bai spoke first, "Hmph, this kid really is something. He’s offended all four elite youths—he’ll pay for it later!"
"Who is this beggar, anyway?" Rockwell Nance’s expression turned odd after hearing that.
"Rockwell, you’re not backing out, are you?" Old Ghost Bai had lost two sons—there’s no way he’d let Evan go. He’d agreed to join Rockwell’s scheme, but now seeing Rockwell’s face, he wondered if he’d quit.
"Of course not! He can’t be allowed to join the Hundred-Year Grand Festival!" Rockwell Nance snapped back with a cold laugh.
"Exactly. If he competes and wins, tons of people will line up to back him!" Old Ghost Bai smiled when he saw Rockwell hadn’t changed his mind.
"City Lord Rockwell, Patriarch Bai, is there anything you need me to do?" Forden Wayne saw both men were stronger than him, so he had to bow his head—especially since they had the same goal.
"Keep gathering intel at the gambling houses. Here—take this pouch with one hundred thousand low-grade Spirit Crystal Ores." Rockwell Nance handed him a cloth space pouch.
Forden Wayne took the pouch and left the inn with a spring in his step.
"That one’s pretty clever." Old Ghost Bai chuckled as Forden Wayne left.
"Yeah, he’ll make a good scapegoat if anything goes wrong." Rockwell Nance sneered.
"You’re the real strategist, Rockwell." Old Ghost Bai laughed heartily.
Evan had no idea Old Ghost Bai, Rockwell Nance, and others had arrived in Skyline City. He was cultivating on a mountain peak, and with Old Clam’s help, no one could find him unless they got close.
While Evan cultivated, Skyline City grew busier. Many had already secured their slots for the preliminary competition—whether rogue cultivators, sects, or clans, everyone was scheming to stand out.
"Dad, how many sects and clans are competing this time?" In an inn, a young woman asked a middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man thought for a moment. "There are hundreds of clans and hundreds of sects this time."
"That’s a lot of people!" the young woman exclaimed.
"The Eastern Continent is huge. There are countless sects and clans—just picking a few hundred is tough. So anyone who gets to compete is no ordinary person. Be careful out there." The man spoke with concern.
"Don’t worry, Dad. Since I chose to come, I’ll make sure the Chu Family shines." The speaker was Tara Chu, who had just arrived in Skyline City with her family and settled in a modest inn.
"If not for your uncle... Ah, never mind." The man sighed, unable to finish his thought.
"Dad, Uncle colluded with outsiders to swallow the Chu Family, but that's impossible. I'll win back our honor for the family." Tara Chu answered confidently.
"This time you're assigned to the Foundation-Building group. If your body hadn’t changed so much lately, I wouldn’t have let you compete." The man felt terrible, but for the family’s sake, he had no choice but to let his daughter fight for glory.
"Dad, I'll go get ready. You take care." Tara Chu knew what her father was thinking, so she sensibly withdrew, leaving him to his thoughts.
Tara Chu returned to her room, gazed at the green sphere inside her body, and sighed. "You sometimes give me sudden strength, but I still can’t control you."
Ever since Evan Yang condensed that green energy cluster in her body, Tara’s cultivation had soared. Even without much practice, she’d jumped from early Foundation-Building to the peak, leaving her baffled. After thinking it over, she could only attribute it to the pale green energy.
The man who’d spoken to Tara Chu was her father. After she left, he also departed the inn, heading somewhere else.
On the third floor of a gambling house, a crowd had gathered. As soon as he arrived, a grating voice rang out, "Second Brother, you’re finally here!"
The man walked toward the voice. "Big Brother, didn’t expect you to get here so early."
"Of course. As the main patriarch of the Chu Family, I can’t be late." The speaker sneered.
Others greeted the man as well, though some sided with the earlier speaker and ignored his arrival.
Besides them, a man sat at the front and spoke, "You’re all group leaders for the Foundation-Building round. I’ll skip the unnecessary pleasantries."