Chapter 5 This Beautiful and Dangerous World
"Master, Master, ...it's time to get up."
When the dazzling sunlight once again shone on the Lasha Forest, Wuming - no, it should be called Xiangying - gently woke Beichen up with a gentle and doting smile. Seeing her reluctant expression, he handed her a few cleanly washed Tianfeng fruits and a small cup made of leaves of unknown origin, which was filled with clear water.
Beichen became a little more awake by the aroma of breakfast. He took the cup handed to him by Xiangying and rinsed his mouth. Then he stretched, swallowed a small Tianfeng fruit in one gulp, and walked to the stream not far away to wash his face.
"Hoohoo! Wake up, wake up!"
Beichen shook her head like a wet kitten to shake off the water droplets on her hair, then used her fingers as a comb to carefully sort out her hair. Halfway through the action, she looked awkwardly at Xiang Ying who was standing by the side.
"I'm sorry, there's no living facilities in this forest, and I'm getting more and more unkempt."
"No, the master will always be the sharpest in my eyes."
"……ha?"
Xiang Ying was stunned for a moment, then turned his head and coughed lightly.
"Well, I mean... the master is beautiful no matter what she looks like."
Beichen finally realized: In the eyes of weapons, perhaps sharpness is synonymous with beauty? Thinking of this, she couldn't help but laugh out loud:
"Hahahaha... Xiang Ying, that won't do. If you see a weapon lady you like in the future, maybe it would be better to praise her sharpness, okay?"
"No, other weapons have no meaning to me. I will not be interested in anything except you, my master."
Beichen's face instantly turned red like a tomato:
"Waaaaaaa! No, don't say something so misleading!"
"But it's the truth."
"I know! I get it! Anyway, let's talk about something else!"
Seeing her panic, Xiang Ying lowered his eyes.
"Alright, then, let's discuss today's itinerary. Should we head towards town, or continue hunting low-level 'Possessed Moon Envoys' in the forest?"
"Well, stay in the forest."
Beichen immediately gave a solution.
"Okay. ...But can I ask why?"
"You finally couldn't help asking."
Beichen smiled and stretched out a finger and waved it in front of Xiangying:
"It's like this from now on. Don't hold back if you have any questions. Although I agree with you calling me 'Master', it's because you said it makes you feel more at home. In terms of status, I'm not your Master, but your partner. You really don't need to be so reserved with me."
“…Okay.”
Xiang Ying responded softly, and the look in his eyes when he looked at her became a little warmer.
“The answer is actually very simple.”
Beichen pulled Xiangying to sit on a large rock by the stream.
"According to what you said, the most important thing to survive in this world is force, right?"
"Yes, it can almost be said that strength represents everything."
In this world, the two most populous intelligent races: humans and weapons, are constantly racking their brains to improve their own strength. Otherwise, they will either die at the hands of their own kind or die in the mouth or claws of the "Possessed Moon Messenger".
"So, since this is a world that worships martial arts, with our current strength, what good would it do to go into the city? You don't want to be surrounded by contemptuous eyes all day, do you? Me too. Although you said that my physique can sign a contract with a powerful weapon, that is, after all, the power of the weapon, not my own. If that weapon were to leave me one day, I would still be a rookie. I don't need that kind of false strength."
"So, you decided to stay in this forest and hunt those low-level 'Possessed Moon Envoys'?"
"Yeah, didn't you say there were only low-level possessed moon users wandering around here? Then there's no better training environment than this. Not only will it increase my swordsmanship experience, but it'll also give you a good meal. Killing two birds with one stone, right? This is the best way to improve your survivability and chances of survival."
Xiang Ying explained that while the humanoid form is similar to humans, humans feed on meat or fruit, while weapons like Xiang Ying feed on a type of energy called "Star Spirit Power." This energy can be absorbed from monsters called "Possessed Moon Envoys" by defeating them.
But ordinary weapons are not enough to defeat those monsters - they will regenerate. Even the human form of the weapon will not work, as they will still regenerate. Only weapons in weapon form, operated by humans, can defeat them and completely end their lives.
In other words, only a pair of humans and weapons that cooperate with each other can defeat the "Possessed Moon Messenger".
After defeating the "Possessed Moon Messenger", the weapon becomes stronger by absorbing the power of the star spirits, and humans also gain greater power because the weapon they have contracted with becomes stronger. This is the complementary relationship between humans and weapons.
"I understand. Your considerations are correct, Master. But I am a little worried that your body is overexerting itself."
"No, I'm not tired, I'm just a little dirty, hehe... Taking a shower in the mountains always feels like I can't get clean."
Beichen scratched his head a little embarrassedly, but Xiangying seemed not to care at all and just smiled and shook his head.
"Honestly, it's amazing. After signing the contract, it feels like the techniques for using the sword appear in my mind on their own. When I need to use it, I learn it naturally."
Beichen is still excited and curious about this. At the beginning, her sword-swinging movements were guided by Xiang Ying, but now she can swing it as she pleases, and even draw some simple sword flowers.
"Yes, this is the 'contract' of a formal contractual relationship. It's like... well, how should I put it, an instruction manual? But it only teaches you how to use it. Your mastery of me is a result of your own hard work. Before this, I had never encountered anyone before. To help me master my skills, you took me hunting every day."
"Eh, so each weapon has its own 'deed text'?"
"Yes. Because I'm relatively low-level, I don't have many indentures. Some high-level weapons will have a large number of indentures once the contract is signed, making it difficult for the owner to keep up."
"I see. I think there's nothing wrong with having less. The more basic things are, the more practical they are. I believe this theory is the same in any world. If you have less, then just practice those skills to perfection first!"
Beichen said this, stood up from the big rock, and clapped his hands as if to cheer himself up.
"Okay, Xiangying, change back into your weapon form, and let's go hunting!"
"Yes, Master!"
In the blink of an eye, another day passed quickly.
In the evening, as usual, Xiang Ying, who had absorbed enough star spiritual power, carried the exhausted Beichen back to their base - a small shed built under a big tree by the stream.
Xiang Ying gently placed Beichen on the clean, soft haystack in the shed, then went out to light the Ailan grass she had gathered during the day. This was a unique herb whose scent lingered in the air for a long time after being lit, and it was precisely this smell that the "Possessed Moon Envoy" hated the most. With it, Beichen could sleep peacefully in the shed.
There weren't many ordinary animals in the forest, but today they happened to run into a hare. As soon as Xiang Ying gave a warning, Beichen immediately rushed over like a leopard cat pouncing on its prey, and stabbed the rabbit through with a fierce blow.
Compared to when they met, Beichen's physical fitness has also improved greatly. Of course, this is because she hunts desperately every day and practices hard in actual combat.
Xiang Ying knew that she worked so hard not only for herself, but also for him - so that he could get rid of the inferiority complex caused by his lack of strength as soon as possible.
He skillfully skinned, deboned, and gutted the rabbit, carefully washed away the parasites with clean water, then disinfected it with star power. He lit a fire, skewered the rabbit meat on the prepared small sticks, and began to roast it.
When the rabbit meat began to emit a fragrant aroma, Beichen, who was sitting in the pergola, was so greedy that he staggered to Xiang Ying, sat down next to him, and then stretched out his hand with a smile.
Xiang Ying smiled and stuffed a string of rabbit meat into her hand.
"I have some good news, Master."
"What what?"
Beichen asked incoherently while chewing the rabbit meat.
"I have to change my name again. Long Sword·Xiangying·Sanmang·Quantitative Seed."
"Eh, eh! Did you advance?! That's great!!"
Seeing the sincere smile on Beichen's face, Xiang Ying's mood became even brighter.
"Yes, at this point, it barely meets the minimum standard for a qualified combat weapon in this world."
The naming format of the weapons is very clear.
The first one is the type of weapon appearance, such as "long sword", "spear", "dagger",
The second is the contract name, which is also a general name used for addressing. The contract name can be given by the current owner. Some advanced weapons will also name themselves. All weapons are collectively called "nameless" before being named with a contract name.
The third name represents the level, from low to high, they are Single Leaf, Double Wings, Triple Edge, Four Wheels, Five Strings, Six Stars, Seven Scars, Eight Moons, and Nine Stars. When I met Xiang Ying, he called himself Double Wings, which was level two, and now it is Triple Edge. Every time he advances to a higher level, the name of the weapon will change.
The fourth name represents the "bloodline" of the weapon. According to Xiang Ying, there are four bloodlines for weapons: the strongest and rarest "Star Vein Species", followed by the "Yeyue Species" with special abilities, then the special "Fallen Dark Species", and finally the "Quantitative Species" of mediocre quality that can be found everywhere. Bloodline represents the basic strength of a weapon. Species of the same level may have huge differences in strength due to different bloodlines. For example, even the Nine-Glory Quantitative Species may not be as powerful as the Two-Winged Star Vein Species.
As for the minimum standard for qualified weapons, yes, it is the three-pointed quantitative species. Weapons that fail to reach this standard after adulthood will be regarded as defective products and thrown directly into the weapon tomb. Because without human help to hunt the "possessed moon messengers", what awaits them is only the dissipation of star spirit power, and then turning into real iron tools, which means death.
Beichen was chewing on the barbecue, and then suddenly seemed to remember something and shouted in surprise:
"What?! So, it wasn't your fault that you were thrown into the War Weapon Grave!"
"...Ah? No, this is indeed my own strength..."
"wrong!"
Beichen interrupted him, "It's the fault of your previous user. If he had used you diligently for hunting, and you had absorbed enough astral energy, you would have been perfectly qualified! Your weapons can't grow in strength through your own efforts, so it's more a matter of judging whether your user is a lazy, lazy person. It has nothing to do with your own strength, right?"
Xiang Ying smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"No. My previous user said that the amount of celestial energy I need to absorb to advance is almost twice as much as other weapons. This shows that my growth aptitude is quite poor."
"That's nothing," Beichen rolled his eyes. "Isn't it just twice as much star power? Using twice as much effort as others to achieve the same level, which in turn means that with the same level of weapon, my proficiency in handling the weapon is twice as good as others, right? This is a huge advantage!"
“…”
Xiang Ying no longer answered, but just lowered his head, clenching his fists as if he was enduring something.
"What's wrong? I, I didn't say anything to make you unhappy, right? Xiang Ying?"
"No, it's not."
Xiang Ying lowered her head, placed her hands on her knees, and looked at Beichen awkwardly: "Can I hug you, Master?"
"Oh, okay,... no, no, wait!" Beichen said, and ran to the stream to wash off the grease from the rabbit meat on his face. Then he ran back in Xiangying's helpless look and opened his arms to him.
"Okay, hold me."
"……Um."
He took a step forward and gently held her in his arms as if she were a fragile item.
"I am lucky to have met you, Master."
"Hehe, on the other hand, I'm also very lucky, otherwise I would have died in the War Weapon Tomb."
"I don't know how long you will stay in this world, but as long as you are here, I will do my best to protect you."
"Um……"
Beichen was in his arms, looking up at the night sky with blue-purple moonlight.
"Although this place is several times more dangerous than the world I used to live in, I surprisingly don't find it disgusting now... I even find it a little interesting."
Then she turned her gaze to look at the blond man who was hugging her.
"I didn't know before that I could live so hard and yet be so happy. Thank you, Xiang Ying."
Xiang Ying was speechless again, but the heat from his trembling arms clearly conveyed his mood.
When words cannot express oneself, let actions speak for themselves - thinking of this, Xiang Ying wanted to increase the strength of his arms, but Beichen jumped in his arms.
"Oh my, the rabbit is burnt! Ahhhhhhh my rabbit..."
“…”
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