Chapter 707: End of Volume: The Foundation of a Legacy (Part 1)

「May 7, 2017. Noon. The Shao Family Mansion.」

A perfectly ordinary weekend.

With excellent grades and an air of confidence, the sixteen-year-old beauty with long, straight black hair was enjoying one of the few holidays she had left, with just over a year to go before her Holy Ascension Selection Test.

On the desk before her, three curved monitors were joined together—one for watching virtual idols, one for playing games, and one for browsing forums. Paired with cyberpunk-colored neon lights, it was a truly blissful setup.

However, Shao Shuangyue, who should have been enjoying this wonderful moment, couldn’t focus on her game. Instead, she kept glancing back anxiously at the figure behind her, an expression of horror on her face.

This lapse in concentration naturally had its consequences—the young woman’s character immediately made a positioning error. Her opponent seized the opening and locked her down with crowd control, after which all five enemies descended and instantly crushed her.

“I mean, it’s one thing for you to watch me play games, Big Bro…”

With her character dead, Shao Shuangyue finally had a free moment. She took off her headset and turned around, her voice soft and even trembling slightly. “But why do you *have* to be holding a blade?”

Behind the beautiful girl with long, straight black hair sat a handsome young man. He sat solemnly behind Shao Shuangyue, cradling an extremely long, straight blade in his arms as he watched her play her game.

“To bond with my blade and give it some prenatal education, of course, my dear sister.”

Su Zhou’s reply to Shao Shuangyue’s question was concise. He then added, “Your character has respawned. Keep playing.”

‘Prenatal education?! What the hell?!’

A dumbfounded Shao Shuangyue turned back to her computer, controlling her character as it soared and dashed through the game world. But the two words ‘prenatal education’ kept echoing in her mind. ‘Who’s pregnant? Whose baby is it? No, wait, the first question should be, why a *blade*?’

As for Su Zhou, he didn’t give it much thought. He simply continued to focus on cradling the Blade of Annihilation, watching as Shao Shuangyue fed the enemy another kill.

Nearly two months had passed since Su Zhou’s return from the Moon.

Su Zhou had been surprisingly idle during these two months. Unless the Divine Beasts of the Beast God Realm were in a full-scale riot, there was no need for a superweapon like the Demon Dragon to be deployed. And as for wiping out dark organizations across the globe, with the Three Great Mysterious Organizations already destroyed, sending him would be like using a hydrogen bomb to kill a mosquito.

Exploring the ever-increasing number of ruins and Secret Realms across the world was a job for the Three Extraordinary Academies and the country’s various professional Cultivators. Unless a place reached the level of importance of the Kunlun Secret Realm, there was no need for Su Zhou to get involved.

Therefore, during this time, aside from his usual, tireless work of teaching and educating, Su Zhou generally stayed home to spend time with his family, clear out the Dew Slimes that had to be dealt with on his balcony every few days, and fertilize and water the Wisdom Tree.

He wasn’t sure if it was Yara’s fault, but ever since the Snake Spirit moved into Su Zhou’s Personal Space and started lounging on the Wisdom Tree, sporadic Dew Slimes had also begun to appear there. Furthermore, unlike the ordinary Dew Slimes from the outside world, which were barely distinguishable from water droplets, the ones on the Wisdom Tree were an evolved version: Holy Water Slimes!

After some testing, Su Zhou was amazed to discover that the Holy Water Slimes’ healing effects were comparable to No. 8 Holy Water.

“What does that have to do with me? It’s the fault of that Cross you put in your home.”

In response to Su Zhou’s baseless speculation, Yara replied, shaking its head. “It Purified all the negative Spiritual Qi. Pure Spiritual Energy now fills this entire neighborhood, which is why there are so many Spiritual Creatures around. Remember that flower shop owner who used to live downstairs? The Flower Fairy in his home is a beneficiary of this environment.”

As for why these wondrous Spiritual Creatures had also begun appearing in his Personal Space, Yara’s answer was simple. “Creating an entire Spiritual Clan from nothing is the specialty of the Divine Wood Series. The Immortal Banyan Tree can even turn ordinary plants into Wood Centipedes. Sure, the Wisdom Tree is still in its infancy, but what’s so difficult about it transforming dew into Holy Water Slimes?”

“It tastes pretty good. A little sweet.”

Su Zhou offered no particular reaction to this. He simply tasted the Holy Water Slime and nodded in praise. “Don’t you want some?”

“…I only need your blood.”

As Su Zhou’s power grew, Yara’s form also gradually increased in size, though not as dramatically as before. For example, when Su Zhou had just entered the Commander Tier, Yara could only disguise itself as a watch or maybe half a hat. Now, however, it could pass for a face mask or a glove.

Aside from these miscellaneous trifles, Su Zhou’s only other important task was to keep the Blade of Annihilation company, using his Spiritual Power to nurture the Sword Spirit within.

Back on the Moon, Su Zhou had already noticed that, steeped in Desire Power, the Blade of Annihilation had developed a rather potent Spiritual Energy. It could even actively mobilize its own power to assist him in battle, saving him a great deal of effort.

However, this Spiritual Energy was still nascent. To make a human comparison, it was still in a fetal state. At most, it could kick its legs a little, but it possessed no clear will of its own.

Therefore, Su Zhou had to constantly use his Spiritual Power to guide the Sword Spirit toward maturity. He had to give it some early education, nurturing its power and Spiritual Wisdom to make its very essence stronger before it was “born.”