The little sword spirit was extremely strong. She pinched Shi Xiaobai's cheeks and pulled it open forcefully while Shi Xiaobai was still reeling in shock. The black and white fragments that were gathered on the ground suddenly flew up into the air like soldiers that had received their orders. They charged into Shi Xiaobai's open mouth and went deep into his throat.
Typically, Shi Xiaobai should not have been so easily attacked. However, the little sword spirit had not only been concealing her true personality by acting like a cute loli, she was also hiding her strength. She was even stronger than Shi Xiaobai in his normal state. Furthermore, Shi Xiaobai was in a weakened state due to the 'Holy Tree Sin Poison', so he could not put up any resistance.
Additionally, the sword spirit had planned the attack so while taking advantage of Shi Xiaobai's shock, the black and white sword fragments had already arranged themselves and flown deep into his throat in a straight line at an astounding speed.
In just seconds, there was not a single fragment left on the ground!
The Power of Taotie immediately began to 'digest' the black and white fragments that had entered his throat, turning them to 'anti-poison'. The remnant 'Holy Tree Sin Poison' on Shi Xiaobai's forearms and calves immediately cleansed at a speed visible to the eyes.
The sword spirit released her hand and smacked Shi Xiaobai in the chin, forcing him to close his jaw. Her strength was so large that it nearly left Shi Xiaobai's jaw dislocated.
"Hmph, did you need to force This Sword Spirit to be rough!?"
The little sword spirit grunted coldly and rubbed her hands. Her eyes were narrowed into a slit and her expression was overbearing. She didn't look naive or cute like what her six-year-old body demanded of her.
Shi Xiaobai widened his eyes in disbelief. His expression changed drastically as he opened his mouth and tried to cough dryly.
"Eugh!"
Shi Xiaobai genuflected on the ground, lowered his torso and tried his best to vomit, hoping to vomit the black and white fragments from his stomach. However, nothing came out of his gullet. He even reached his fingers deep into this mouth and tried to lodge his throat. His voice tore as he seemed to attempt to vomit his organs out but all that came out was saliva.
"A waste of effort."
The little sword spirit looked up slightly and glanced at Shi Xiaobai from the side. When she saw him vomit a pool of saliva, she frowned slightly and looked at him scornfully.
Shi Xiaobai did not seem aware of it as he continued vomiting but the Power of Taotie had transformed his stomach. It was like a net that bound all the food that was swallowed. Even a drop of water wasn't spared, not to mention the black and white fragments.
Drip! Drip! Drip!
Shi Xiaobai kept digging at his throat with his mouth opened wide. Only saliva dripped to the ground, making him look like a starving beast that had seen its prey.
Drip!
Suddenly, another kind of liquid rolled down the corner of his mouth and mixed with the saliva.
It dripped to the ground and produced a splash that created ripples.
The little sword spirit's expression changed slightly as she grunted coldly and said, "A man does not shed tears easily. What are you crying about?"
Shi Xiaobai was in a prostrated position so his expression could not be seen. However, the burning tears were streaming from his eyes, forming large beads that fell to the ground.
Shi Xiaobai was tearing but there was no sound of his crying, only the heart-wrenching sound of dry vomiting.
The little sword spirit frowned and with an ugly expression, she said, "You don't cry in extreme pain. You don't cry when poisoned. You don't cry when facing a fatal situation but now, you are crying for two junk swords. How dumb are you?"
Shi Xiaobai stopped his dry vomiting after a long time. He said in a hoarse voice, "This King is too weak after all."
Shi Xiaobai had his head lowered. He did not retort her, nor did he blame or reprimand her. Instead, his arms were limp and his head was lowered like an old withered tree. He was muttering to himself.
"If This King were stronger, just by a tiny bit… If This King can split apart the Nine Revolutions Transcendental Tower with one strike, or punch the Transcendent King's remnant soul into smithereens, or cleanse the Holy Tree Sin Poison with a thought…"
"If…It's just an if after all."
"This King is too weak! Too weak! Too weak!"
"Because This King is too weak, nothing could be protected."
"Because This King is too weak, This King isn't able to create an outcome where nothing is sacrificed."
"Because This King is too weak, these two swords could not even be saved!"
"No, that's not right. It's This King's weakness that had caused their deaths!"
Shi Xiaobai clenched his fists as he blamed himself. He once again felt the importance of strength. Kali had once asked him, "Youth, do you desire power?" Back then, he did not deliberate on the question. He only felt that if strength could protect whatever he wanted to protect, then it would be something he desired.
But in fact, he was only deliberately avoiding a more cruel and real answer—Without strength, he could not protect anything!
He desired strength after all. And at that moment, this desire was immensely strong.
"Hmph, you can still redeemable for being able to realize that you are too weak."
The little sword spirit was not sparing with her words. She stared at Shi Xiaobai with squinted eyes for a few seconds before suddenly saying coldly, "But your foolishness is beyond redemption. Who told you that the two junk swords are dead?"
"What?"
Shi Xiaobai lifted his head in surprise and saw the little sword spirit open her hands. There were two pearl-sized crystalline blobs of light in her fair palms. One on the left and one on the right. They were black and white and they were still emitting a weak sword hum.
The little sword spirit frowned and said, "These two junk swords have pretty good luck for them to have formed a sword spirit neonate. Although the sword is destroyed, the neonate still remains. This Sword Spirit has given them a bit of Core Qi to preserve their sentience. In the future, they just needed to be imbued into a sword to be restored. Aren't you ashamed of crying so badly?"
The little sword spirit raised her head and scoffed as she moved her hands toward Shi Xiaobai. "Take it!"
Shi Xiaobai took over the black and white light blobs in a daze. Clear sword hums were immediately issued. There was an uplifted feeling coming from the weak blobs of light as the black and white blobs of light vibrated gently in Shi Xiaobai's palms.
Shi Xiaobai's slightly red eyes gradually lit up.
The black and white swords were still alive!
"This…"
Shi Xiaobai was left dumbfounded from the sudden change of tragedy to joy.
"What this!?"
The little sword spirit's arms were crossed as she said with a glare, "As This Sword Spirit said, it's only junk metal. Yet you refused to eat it. You had to force This Sword Spirit to be rough. You even created a pool of saliva, tears, and snot. How dirty is that!?"
Shi Xiaobai's face turned red as he mumbled, "Why couldn't you explain it earlier…"
"Hmph! This Sword Spirit was completely infuriated by you!"
The little sword spirit pointed at Shi Xiaobai and reprimanded him, "It's alright not having some general knowledge but to have a person who lacks it so much be This Sword Spirit's master, do you know how much dread This Sword Spirit feels on a daily basis? A sword can be destroyed but the sentience cannot be destroyed."
"You lack even such general knowledge. How can you not be ashamed to say that you are a practitioner of swords? If not for This Sword Spirit, you will not only cause the death of the two junk sword's sword spirit neonates but you will also pay a terrible price for a pile of junk metal that isn't worth anything. How dumb are you? How can This Sword Spirit not be infuriated seeing this?"
Shi Xiaobai gave an embarrassed smile. He could not deny that what the little sword spirit had said was very reasonable. He had nothing to offer in response.
The little sword spirit clearly had a lot of grievances as she continued her barrage. "You are still young, so it's fine if you are weak. Although This Sword Spirit hopes that you can reach the Psionic Imperial Realm as soon as possible so that you can allow This Sword Spirit to recover her Core Qi quickly, but This Sword Spirit will not do things like 'helping shoots grow by pulling them upward'."
"So you just need to become stronger at your present pace. But! Can you develop your mind a bit more? Can you earn a bit more general knowledge and read more books?"